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spookysteddie · 4 months

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The Very First Date

Modern!Steve Harrington x college!fem!reader

Part two to "lemon drop martini" ... Read part one here

18+ MINORS DNI

desc: you finally call Steve for that first date. And it goes better than you imagined

cw: alcohol mention (reader is not in the slightest drunk), slight Dom!Steve, cocky!Steve begging, pet names (baby, sweetheart, angel), unprotected sex, p in v, creampie. (let mw know if I missed anything)

wc: 2.8k

a/n: I hope y'all enjoy this! based off of this ask who asked me for a part two a while ago (I am so sorry). My writers block has lifted after like a year and here we are! So expect more fics soon!

...

Three days.

You’d waited three days before calling the number on the napkin.

Well that’s a lie. You actually called the number the next day (after eating a greasy meal, drinking a shit ton of water, and downing some aspirin… nothing like a hangover) from your roommate Alixs phone. But the second he answered, you hung up very fast.

Alix, of course, called you a little baby back bitch and told you that you needed to call him. That it’d be nice to have some perks around your little college town.

You rolled your eyes at the sentiment.

To say you were nervous talking on the phone with him would be an understatement, in fact you were shitting myself. Scared he’d be able to hear it in your voice how nervous you were. Or, worse, that he wouldn’t remember you.

Four days ago:

“This is Steve Harrington speaking. How can I help you?”

You took a deep breath, putting a smile on your face in the hopes it’ll translate through the telephone.

“Hi, Steve. I-it’s y/n. From the bar the other night.” You cringe at the slight stutter and the wave in your voice. “You gave me your number on the napkin.”

You can practically hear the smile in his voice, coolness seeping from his voice, “lemon drop martini girl. Of course I remember you, sweetheart.”

You quietly sigh in relief that he remembers.

“Oh good! I’m sorry for not calling sooner. I was a little hung over and then I had to study and take exams. Finals season.” You laugh awkwardly, cursing yourself for rambling and making a fool out of yourself. Alix would be rolling her eyes.

Steve laughs on the other end of the line, “ah yes. I hated finals. Very frustrating. Hence why I dropped out, much to my fathers dislike.”

One thing about you is that you love oversharing. But you love when other people overshare even more. There’s nothing like bonding over a trauma dump.

You giggle into the phone which makes Steve giggle too, the sound mimicking a sweet song. All you want to make him do it again.

“Anyway, sweetheart, I was wondering if you had plans for Friday night?” His tone is cool and relaxed. You could only wish to sound like that.

Your heart pounds in your chest, words failing you for a moment. “Oh! Um, nothing actually.”

“Perfect. Hows ‘bout you and I go on a little date? I know a great place. Kinda fancy. What do you say?”

You could kick your feet like a little girl at the prospect of going out with him. You, also, are tempted to make him wait. To give him just a little bit of a hard time. It was what you'd usually do to the men you like. But there was something in the back of your mind begging you not to.

“I-I would like that, Steve.”

“Great! I’ll pick you up at 7. Give you time to study and get ready. Take a nap even.”

…

“I can’t do this. I can’t go. I mean, fuck, I have nothing to wear.”

Nothing to wear was an understatement. You could hardly see the floor of your bedroom, clothes littering it with only a small path for where you keep walking from the mirror to your closet.

Alix sits on your bed, drinking some wine and eating some popcorn. “I liked the black leather. I don’t know why you won’t just wear that one. You look hot in it.”

You slide your hands down the front of the blue, sequence dress you have on. “I just feel like that’s not enough. And isn’t it a little … short for a dress for a nice restaurant?”

Alix shrugs, “I mean, probably but who cares. You look hot.” She sips her wine and says again, “well you look hot in everything.”

You look over at her, “while that’s sweet, he’s going to be here in fifteen minutes and I need a few shots to calm my nerves so help me pick a dress, please.”

She rolls her eyes at my dramatics, downing her wine. “I think you should wear the short black one you wore two weeks ago. Not the leather one, the velvet one. Makes your ass look great. Oh with your Louboutins! You spent a lot of money on them and have worn them once. It’s a sin.”

One thing is for sure, you did spend a lot of money on them, charging them to your dads credit card.

One change and two shots of vodka later, you were walkin down the steps of your condo to an awaiting Steve. He’s in dark jeans, a black t-shirt and a gray jacket. His hair is just as perfect as the last time you saw him. (which was via instagram… gotta do the research right?)

He whistles long and low as you approach, and in a quick stroke of confidence you decide to do a little spin. He claps slowly as you face him and so, you bow. Just slightly so you don’t accidentally flash him. Not the way you want to start this date.

“Well hello to you too, Harrington,” you say as you smirk.

He slips his hand in his pockets, a smirk on his lips that you feel right between your legs. “You look very pretty tonight, sweetheart. I mean you’d look pretty in a potato sac but,” he shrugs. “We should get going.”

You smile and nod at him.

And the bar is clearly in fuckin hell, because him opening the door for you makes you want to jump his bones. But then again, no man has ever opened a door for you so… we can let it slide.

“Such a gentleman.” “Chivalry is not dead sweetheart.”

…

Steve is very thoughtful. Sure, he asked all the usual questions you ask on a first date.

What’s your major?

Do you have any siblings?

What do your parents do for work?

Oh, your dad is in sales? Funny mine too.

He gives you guilt money? Mine too! Look at us

He also, orders you and him a bottle of wine (he has great taste) but lets you order your own meal (again the bar is in fucking hell). The place he takes you to is nice and the food is the best food you’ve had since you left home after summer break.

“So Steve, what made you decide to open up a bar in town?” You eat a spoonful of dessert, eyes never leaving his.

He takes a spoonful of his own dessert. “I was sick of working for everyone else. I knew if I made a unique bar, something you and your friends have never seen, others would want to check it out. Then you’d tell all your friends, who’d tell their friends, etc.” He grins as he talks, keeping eye contact with you.

It felt like a game of ‘who is going to look away first.’ A game you weren’t going to lose. Slowly, you pull the spoon out of your mouth, dipping it back in to your dessert. “Interesting. Great concept if you ask me.”

He huffs a small laugh through his nose, “I’m glad you enjoyed my bar.”

You scrunch your brows, the wine making you bold, “who said I enjoyed it?”

Now he really laughs, “you seemed to really enjoy all those lemon drop martinis. So much so you had a hangover the next day. I tried giving you waters but you threatened to gut me.”

Your jaw hangs open, “fibber.”

“I haven’t been called a fibber since I was a kid,” he smiles. “But yes you did tell me you would gut me. And then you left and I thought I’d never hear from you again.”

You can’t help but feel slightly guilty inside for not calling sooner. Well, you did call sooner but chickened out.

“And here we are.”

“Yes, here we are.”

He seems to think for a moment, sipping his wine (one he ordered that would go well with the dessert. He was right.)

“Wanna get out of here, sweetheart?” He looks up at you through his lashes, tongue rolling down the inside of his cheek.

He wasn't… demanding. You knew without a shadow of a doubt that you could turn him down. That he would take you home with a smile on his face. There would be no fuss, no fight, no name calling. No pressure.

And for that very reason, with a smile on your pretty face you answer him, “yours or mine?”

…

You’re not even through the door of his apartment before his mouth is on yours, his large hands on your face. The kiss starts soft, testing the waters and it isn’t very long before you deepen it. Your tongues dance but there is no fight for dominance, you let him win. You want him to win.

His lips trail over your jaw before slowly moving down your neck, gently nipping at your skin.

“Such a pretty girl,” he says in between kisses.

He sucks a bruise into your shoulder, easy to cover up, just in case. You let out a soft moan, hands coming up to tug at his hair.

“You-you’re pretty too.”

You can feel him grin against you, head lifting as his body cages you in, “I don’t think anyone has ever called me pretty. Well besides Eddie but that was mocking.”

You laugh, moving in and kissing him slowly, sweetly, “you are a very pretty boy.”

You can feel his hard dick jerk at the sentiment, and you keep it as a mental note. You know, just in case you need it.

“Fuck, can’t say shit like that.”

“No? Why not?”

“Cause it makes my cock hard. And it’ll be very embarrassing if I cum in my pants. Can't ruin my reputation.” The smirk on his face makes you almost pass out. You swear to God you can feel every word in your core.

“Hmmm, we can’t have that can we?” You push his jacket off his shoulders before running your hands down to the hem of his shirt. “Should take me to bed so we don’t risk you cumin’ early.”

It’s all the permission he needs. His lips are back on yours, his hands under your ass and picking you up. You wrap your legs around his waist, hands in his hair as he carries you to the bed.

He puts you down gently, his lips never leaving yours. Not for a moment. Not until he pulls away to tug his shirt over his head. You take the moment to take him in, his body lithe and toned. You also can’t help noticing the scars on his side that look a little like bite marks. Bite marks from something that isn’t human, something you make a mental note to ask him about at a later date.

“Sculpted from marble, god damn.” You don’t mean to say it out loud, never wanting to stroke a man's ego.

Steve just grins as he finds the zipper on the side of your dress, pulling it down slowly down, his knuckles slowly touching your skin, leaving goosebumps in his wake. You shiver under the touch and he notices. You’re quickly learning that Steve notices everything.

It isn’t long before he’s pulling the dress down your body, leaving you in only your underwear. Underwear that barely covers you, a wet patch on full display. If it was anyone else, you’d be embarrassed.

“Are you this wet for me?” His tone is mocking and he’s practically cooing at you, “go on. Answer me.”

Your eyes widen. Men have been demanding in the bedroom, plenty of them thinking they’re little tough guys. But none of them get that from you, none of them deserving. You’re not sure why you want to give that to him. You’re not sure what makes him different. And honestly, that is a problem for future you to talk about in therapy.

“Yes,” you reply, voice a little higher than usual. “S’all for you.”

The smirk he gives you makes your heart speed up. “Such a sweet, pretty thing. God, I want to devour you.”

His lips move to your chest, sucking a peaked nipple into his mouth. You can’t help but arch into his mouth, a small moan falling from your lips, his hand coming to play with your neglected breast. And it isn’t long before he swaps sides, his teeth nipping and sucking.

“Please. More.”

He laughs, moving to oblige you and kissing down your sternum before settling between your legs. “May I?”

Him asking makes your heart stutter in your chest, “yes. God yes. Please.”

Steve tugs your underwear down your legs, tossing them to meet the rest of the clothes on the floor. “I think I could get used to praying to me.”

He doesn’t give you time to answer before he licks up your cunt, stopping at the top to suck on your clit. The moan that comes out of you is loud and you’re thankful the windows are closed. “Fuck, Steve!”

He pushes a finger inside of you, curling them to reach the spongy spot inside you. “And you moaning my name is even better. Why don’t you do it again, angel”

He pushes another finger inside you, the burn causing you to grip his hair. “Steve please!”

“Please what, sweetheart?”

He moves his fingers faster, continuing to hit your sweet spot over and over again. His mouth moves to your clit, sucking gently. He keeps his eyes on you, observing, listening to every sweet moan and sigh that comes out of you. He files them away in his brain so he never forgets what drives you crazy.

“Need to… I-I need”

He sucks hard before pulling back, “need what? Go on, use your words.”

You gasp, “to cum. I- please.”

Begging wasn’t what you did for men. If anything, they begged you. Begged you to let them cum.

Steve doesn’t say a word, just grins and uses his free hand to press on your stomach. That is your undoing. “Steve!” You pulse around his fingers, breath getting caught in your chest. You feel warm all over, head emptying as he works you through it.

“That’s it baby. That’s a good girl. Bet that feels so good doesn’t it?”

You try to answer, you really do. But all you can manage is a small nod.

“Gonna let me fuck you?”

Again, you can only manage a nod.

“That’s my girl.”

And before you can even process his words, he flips you over on your stomach, hands pulling your hips in the air. You’re on full display for him. He can see everything. But you couldn't care less, all you want is him inside you.

And you get your wish. He moves slow, making sure he doesn’t hurt you. He’s big and you can feel every inch of him stretching you. It’s a tight fit even with how wet you are.

“Holy shit this pussy is amazing baby. Squeezing me so tight.”

His other hand braces himself by your head before dropping down to his forearms. He’s so close to you now, inside and out, his hips moving slowly so you adjust to him, and his breath fanning across your face.

“F-faster. Faster.” Your hands rake down his back, nails digging into his back, making him hiss.

He snaps his hips faster, grinning down at you. “Just so needy huh?”

You nod feverishly, “yes. F-feels so fucking good.”

He laughs at you now, kisses you. “Such a dirty mouth, baby. Pretty girls aren’t supposed to swear.”

“Says-says you… swear all the time. L-like a sailor.”

He hums. “Dirty mouth for a dirty fuckin girl.”

“That-that’s me.”

He fucks you faster and you feel like coil growing tighter and tighter inside you. You wrap your legs around his waist, not wanting him to get too far away. He groans and you can tell he’s close.

“Want… no need you to cum inside me. I’ll d-die if you don’t,” you beg. You know you’ll probably regret it in the morning, all that you’ve said here in this bedroom. But at the moment you can’t find it inside you to care. Mainly because he was taking up every inch of you.

“Yeah? Need it? I’ll give it to you baby. Will give you anything you want.”

And it’s all you need to fall over the edge, walls clenching around him so hard he falls with you. A mutual “fuck!” falls from both your and his lips.

You're both panting as you come down from the high. He pushes your hair out of your face and kisses you sweetly. Suddenly Steve is giggling, his head falling into the crook of your neck.

“What? Why are you laughing?” you ask with just a little bit of worry.

“I am so fucking glad you ordered a lemon drop martini.”

#stranger things #steve harrington #stranger things fic #Steve Harrington smut #Steve Harrington x reader #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x fem!reader #Steve Harrington fic #steve harrington imagine #steve x reader

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secretagentsociety · 1 year

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loves makes people crazy

yandere dragon X madly in love reader

Here's another idea,a yandere dragon like all powerful and scary the villager is scared of him,the king is scared of him,the Wizards and pretty much everyone and their grandmother is scared of him but then there's you,you different breed of a human decides to see him for the first time and say "yes that's my hubby" and the rest is history

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• people often called you crazy, dilusional and others not so nice insults for being still not being married despite hitting the big 2 0 that and also rejecting the local lords and basically anyone who tries to court you

• now just because people say it doesn't mean you HAVE to follow it yk?oh but you did you played their little fantasy of you being crazy so perfectly people were honestly scared for your mental well being,why?you may ask

• well it's because when khum first arrived at the village (I say first but it's really his 100th time terrorising the village) you decide to whisper something that some people might have heard "he's perfect" you said eyes filled with hearts watching him scaring the sht out of the locals

• honestly you're staring so much he could feel you boring holes into his head,curious he looked around for whoever it is that dared to stare at him for so long and BAM! He saw you,at first he thought you're staring at him in contempt or anger maybe both but then you sigh lovingly and waved at him a fools smile placed upon your face

• he had to look around and points at himself just to made sure he even mouthed "m-me? you're talking to me?!" But you blowing him a kiss and winking made it pretty clear it was him,well let's say after that he couldn't help but think about you "what an odd human" he thought

• "oh my god haven't you heard?! The dragons visit has been so frequent lately our village can't keep affording the rebuilding cost!" One of the villagers said,you aren't paying attention but just hearing him coming back more and more made your heart flutter "I know it's a blessing" you sighed melting into the seat as you remembered the first time he talks to you

•well it happened,khum stood Infront of you folding his hand,what is his plans anyway?kidnapping a human all of a sudden,a weird one at that,"human,do you have a name?" He said

• "you can call me yours,and I'll call you mine" you said "how about the name....treasure?no too basic maybe clove?nah um.....oh darling?" he said tilting his head,khum never thought one day he'd witness a human visibly explode and faint but here we was

• it was a rocky start to the relationship,well...rocky as in everything was so perfect it's scary, here's the recap,on day five of your kidnappings you've opened up to how the villagers had been treating you(not that it's hard to make you open up,all he had to do was give you food and call you pet names while stroking your head and bam! you're dumping your entire trauma onto him) and oh boy was he not happy

• now despite everything he's still a classy dragon,he ofcourse had hoarse of treasure but he also had a pretty nice castle he may or may not seize from a royal you don't have to know that tho so moving on,and with a huge castle come servants and with those come soldiers who needs to maintain security,not that he needs any but you know he likes to have thing's completed and that including the castles needs

• now when his subordinates first saw you absolutely gushing on how cute he was they were absolutely shocked,because one he literally look like a demon ripping out people's heart and two this isn't some flower field it's a grusome battle scene yet you couldn't help but blush when his shirt got torn off,you even closed your eyes to savor the moment after a while

• khum really can't understand your fixation on him,is it like his love for you?but even then he acknowledges your weird behaviour but you literally looked at him as if he was a god,not that he minds,he gotta admit that day he kinda wore a shirt that's a couple of size down so when he does some movements that needs intents flexibility his shirt would rip off in some cool cinematic style,it worked,it worked too well

• so apparently his stamina had their limits he'd come to know it last Night after the battle,oh but the details won't be necessary,oh but don't be fooled if he were to actually try you'd be the one to pass out

• now is he dilusional?nope he knows full well that it's not healthy but does he care?nope he's a powerful dragon,are you dilusional?maybe?...idk...probably....yes?.... Well he is cute so I'll give you that

• he is possesive, but it's really hard to show possesive when the person he loved won't look at other people,you will talk to people normally but once he entered your line of sight the other people can forget ever having a conversation with you

• now for the big question does this technically make you a yandere? maybe..yes.

•i feel the need to say he is 100% taller than you, I'm sorry but it's just the rules 乁⁠(⁠ ⁠•⁠_⁠•⁠ ⁠)⁠ㄏ

• yes he has two pp lets move on now

• he had a way of marking you so other beasts knows to back the fuck off it's called biting,the first night you ever discover the chamber of secrets together(wink wink nudge nudge)he bit down on your neck,it leaves a pretty little flower mark that's imbued with his power it's very very very tiny teeny I cannot stress enough how tiny it is so it's safe

• now if you EVER even say someone else is cute then oh boi oh my,now I have established that he is jealous have I?,no?well too bad because he is,and his jealousy doesn't play nice,he will rip out the heart and torture the person over and over and over each time reviving them again and again and put a curse of Resurrection on them only to leave them in a forest of ravaging beasts that has lost their minds to be feasted upon and tortured until he sees them having suffered enough. ಠ⁠︵⁠ಠ Moral of the story? don't just don't say anyone is cute (yes not even babies) (he won't like k.o them but he will like curse them or sum sht )

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on that note good night people

#yandere dragon #Yandere X reader #tw yandere #yandere monster x reader #Yandere dragon X reader #yandere x yandere #yandere oc x reader #yandere x willing reader #Dear god why is tagging so frustrating?#monster fic

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tightjeansjavi · 5 months

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The Menu | Part 4

“splinters in his knuckles bangin’ on your door”

A/N: remember that meme I posted earlier about how this was supposed to just be a silly little smut fic? Yeahhh about that..🥴

~word count: 6.3k~

Pairing | dark!joel miller x f!reader

Summary: Joel goes a little berserk after he doesn’t see you for almost an entire day.

Warnings: SA (not by Joel, not described in detail) implied prostitution, abuse of power/abuse by law enforcement, (FEDRA) unhealthy trauma response, degrading language, mentions of guns, threats, injures from punching a door, mentions of blood, removing splinters, dark!joel, mean!joel, protective!joel, is shit at communicating his feelings!joel, asshole!joel, FEDRA SUCKS, no smut, denial of feelings, stalking, possession, morally gray relationship to the reader, (they’re kinda toxic but it’s complicated) hurt feelings, angst, some fluff, age gap, (Joel is in his 40’s reader is in her late 20’s) reader has no physical descriptions, +18 minors dni!

Joel Miller cracked under the pressure when almost an entire day went by without a lick of your presence. Cracking under the pressure was..a severe misjudgment. All rationale was thrown out the door; he had gone completely balls to the wall insane.

It started in the morning when you didn’t show up to your ‘job’ where you and Joel would spend grueling hours dumping deceased infected. Of course, everyone around him could give less of a shit about your absence. And why should they care? It was a dog eat dog world in the QZ. Every man for himself. To Joel? This was a real problem. A thorn in his side because, well, frankly? You might have meant more to him than just a vice to fill a void. Or a warm body to stick his dick in. Maybe he had reluctantly grown to care for you in his own Joel way.

So, when he found himself in line for his ration cards, his eyes zoned in on the FEDRA officer you fucked out of spite. The same one who did business at Joel’s table while Joel’s fingers fucked you to ruin. He had to start somewhere, right?

“Y’got a minute?” Joel asked casually as he shoved his ration cards into the pocket of his jeans.

“Shoot.” Benjamin, better known as Benji, what the fuck kinda name is that.

“Y’seen Angel around this mornin?’ She’s usually out here with me. Didn’t show up.”

“Nope.” Benji responded smoothly.

Joel’s brow raised as he studied the other man’s face intently. He was looking for any clues, any indication that maybe this Benji fellow had something to do with your bizarre absence.

“Right. Well, if ya see her, tell ‘er Joel’s lookin’ for her.” He shoved his hands deep into his jean pockets.

If Benji was good for anything, it was ratting QZ folks out. So, maybe he did know where you were. He had no viable reason to tell Joel shit. In fact, he was the main reason for your absence. Not only did he catch you out past curfew, but with a handful of contraband that could have easily gotten you a week in lockup. He showed you just a smidge of mercy simply for the fact that you offered him a blowjob just to keep your ass off the line, and only in lockup for one single day.

Joel had no business knowing that, of course.

“Well, well, well. Whad’we have here?” Benji stepped out from the shadows of the darkly lit alleyway as a FEDRA patrol vehicle drove by.

“One hour past curfew, Angel. That’s a deduction of cards, and a night in lockup.” He tsked.

Your face scrunched inwards, as if you had tasted something pungent and sour. “Benji? Fuck. C’mon, man. Just let me pass on through. It’ll be like I was never here.” You thought you were being fairly reasonable especially since he did a lot of business with Joel. You thought that maybe you could get yourself off the hook easily.

“Can’t do that, Angel.” He sighed.

“My name is not Angel. And yes, you can. Just pretend that you never saw me.”

“Oh.” He chuckled, shaking his head as he reached for his concealed handgun. “So, I guess buddy boy can call you Angel, but I can’t?”

For fuck sakes.

“Christ, is that what this is about? Who has the bigger dick? What, are you jealous or somethin?’” You egged him on as you reached for your own concealed gun before an unpleasant chill ran down your spine from the familiar clicking sound of the revolver.

“Jealous? Now, why would I be jealous, Angel? Ain’t you just a common street whore? You’ll let anyone stick their dick in ya if they pay well. Ah, but you got that Joel Miller wrapped around your pretty little finger. Everyone ‘round here knows he’s your guard dog. Where is he now, hm?” He cocked his head to the side.

“Look, Benji, you’re a good lookin’ guy and all that, but I fucked you out of spite. I’ll stroke your ego or whatever, but can I please just fuckin’ go home now?” You were exhausted from the grueling day. Your feet ached, your whole body felt like a bunch of pins and needles were stabbing it all at once. All you wanted was to go home, pour yourself a stiff glass, and have a smoke. Was it really too much to ask?

“Turn around. Hands against the wall. No sudden movements.” He ignored every word that left your mouth as if it meant nothing as if you truly were just a whore. For the first time in a long time, you felt dirty. Like something that was disposable. A toy that was no longer shiny and new, but dull and tattered. It made your blood boil.

“Benji—is that really necessary?” You tried to reason with him, but your attempts were fruitless.

“I said turn the fuck around and put your hands against the goddamn wall. Don’t make me ask you a third time, Angel. I ain’t have all night.” His jaw ticked impatiently.

“Okay. Okay. You don’t have to ask me again.” You reluctantly turned around with your hands above your head before placing your palms flat against the brick wall. You bit down on the inside of your cheek, slicing the skin open from the pressure as you tasted copper along your tongue when he yanked you back by the hips as if he owned them.

“That’s right. Because that Joel Miller sure turned you into an obedient little cockslut, didn’t he?” Benji chuckled deeply against the shell of your ear. His hot breath on your skin sent a wave of nausea crawling up your throat.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talkin’ about, Benji.” You hissed through your gritted teeth as he began to forcefully pat you down. You thought about trying to escape, but decided that would have been fucking reckless to even try.

“Oh, now what do we have here?” He said rather gleefully as he pulled out a baggy of pills. The same baggy of pills that Joel gave to you the night before to deliver to a client.

“Those aren’t mine.” Well, that was dumb.

“No? Hmm. You’re not good at this whole lyin’ game, Angel. Let’s see what else we got here.” He pulled out your gun from the belt loop of your jeans along with tinfoil wrapped cigarettes; fresh ones that Joel had rolled you.

“Well, my dear, you’re lookin’ at about a week in lockup just from this alone. Unless..” he trailed off knowing exactly what you’d offer him in return.

“You’re sick, y’know that?” You scoffed under your breath. Men really did only ever think with their dicks.

“Jus’ doin’ my job, Angel. So, what’re you gonna offer me, hmm? Make it good and I’ll only throw you in there for a day. Sounds fair?”

“Right. Your job at bein’ a fuckin’ rat? I’ll give you a blowie, right here, right now. I think that seems pretty fair, don’t you?” The sooner this is over, the sooner I get to go home.

“Hm.” He pondered it for a moment, as if he really had to think hard on your offer. “Deal. But I want you to act enthusiastic this time, and take your tits out. I’m gonna paint them and your face in my come, and you’re gonna sit there and fuckin’ take it, and if you don’t?” He flipped you around swiftly, caging you against the wall as he brought the barrel of the gun right against your temple, “I’ll spray your brains out right against this fuckin’ wall.”

This wasn’t the first time you had been threatened by a man in the QZ, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, but the all too real gun being pressed against your forehead was alarming, and your brain went into compliance mode in an instant. Truthfully, you didn’t want to die, and certainly not in a manner such as this.

All you could think about as you slowly sank down to your knees, and as the pavement nipped at your exposed skin, was that Joel would never do something like this to you.

“Sure, you’ll be the first to know if I’ve seen her, Miller.” He nodded.

Something about Benji, and his stupid face, sent Joel’s hackles rising. But before he could even mutter a reply, Benji was walking away towards the other FEDRA officers.

Joel shook his head while he flipped through his ration cards for the day. He was doing his best to block out all the possible scenarios of your disappearance, but he failed miserably when he realized there was a high possibility that you were either dead, or infected. It happened more often than people would think.

The real start of his manhunt began after he confided in Tess in the utmost Joel fashion. He found himself pacing the length of his apartment while all she could do was watch from the entryway in the kitchen. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she leaned back against the countertop. Her eyes trailed after his frantic movements.

“Look, before you go thinkin’ about doin’ somethin’ reckless, did you ever stop to think that maybe she’s just in her apartment? She could have slept in—”

He cut her off sharply with a quick shake of his head. “Sleepin’ in? Really, is that all Y’got for me, Tess? I knew she should have just fuckin’ spent the night. She’s so goddamn stubborn. I would have even slept on the couch and she could have taken the bed if it was such a big deal. She’s so hot’n cold!” He growled frustratingly. His hands moved upwards towards his head as his fingers tangled through his hair, yanking at the roots till he was feeling a splice of pain. “Or, better yet, I should have just walked her home myself!”

“Texas, you’re actin’ fuckin’ insane right now! Pacin’ the goddamn apartment like a dog. Ripping your hair out?!” Just calm the fuck down for a second. Take some deep breaths, have a smoke or somethin’ and then let’s both think rationally.” She tried to reason with him. All this got her in return was a narrowed glare, a scoff and an eye roll.

“She could be fuckin’ dead, Tess! What if somethin’ happened between her leavin’ here last night and walkin’ back to her place?”

“I highly doubt she’s dead. And if she was, we would have heard about it by now, Joel. Do you want me to help you look for her? Cause I can start askin’ around.” She pushed herself off the side of the counter just as his pacing came to a complete standstill.

“Sure, yeah. Go ahead and ask around. But, before you do that, I need ya to tell me where Angel lives. I’m aware that you know, and that she doesn’t want me to know, but you’re gonna tell me either way.” He stated as a matter of factly.

“Joel, she doesn’t want you knowing where she lives for obvious reasons. How about you stay here, and I’ll go to her apartment. Like I said, I’m sure she’s just fine.”

“Yeah? Well, those reasons are irrelevant as of right now. So, quit your little girl code you got goin’ on with her or whatever, and tell me where the fuck her apartment is.”

Tess didn’t even bother to argue. She knew Joel long enough to know that he wasn’t going to stop until he found that you were safe. Otherwise, the unknown and the ‘what ifs’ would eat him alive, literally.

“You’re fuckin’ relentless, Texas. Y’know that?” She pulled out her own personal map of the QZ before laying it out on the worn down kitchen table. She pointed to your exact apartment building. “She’s on the third floor at the very end of the hall.”

“Yep. You damn right I am, Tess. You know me too well.” He merely glanced down at the spot on the map where Tess was pointing at before he snatched up the parchment, folding it neatly and tucked it into his back pocket.

“I’ll be needing that back, Texas.” Tess reminded him.

“And I’ll be bringin’ it right back as soon as I find her.” Joel responded smoothly, dripping in confidence to mask his true nature. Just like those women he used to sleep with, he could put up a facade with just a snap of his fingers.

“Yeah, well, you’re losin’ daylight. Better go find that Angel of yours.”

“Better me than anyone else.” Joel added with a curt nod. He left the apartment in a rush, skipping a few steps down the stairs. He never handled change of any kind all that well. Especially when you had become a constant in his life while living in this shit hole place. If something had happened to you, Joel would force himself to take all the blame. He felt responsible for you in some capacity.

“Swear to god when I find this girl..” he muttered to himself, shaking his head while slipping past the front door of the apartment building. Evening was steadfast on the horizon; he needed to move fast.

Was it something I said last night?

Was it because I asked her to stay?

Was it the goddamn strap on??

Is she avoiding me on purpose?

Is she dead?

Did she fuckin’ get infected?

Did..she find someone else?

These thoughts and more were swirling through his frantic brain. He fucking hated the fear of the unknown. Absolutely despised the whole entire notion of its existence. He’d much prefer when things were yanked off like a bandaid. Quick and mostly painless.

He triple checked Tess’s map the entire trek to your apartment building. He had no time to fuck this up, and to the passerby he probably looked like a crazed man; which would be an accurate statement given the circumstances.

Your apartment building was nearly an exact replica of his own. Same shitty staircase, peeling wallpaper, the occasional cry of an infant, or scream of a child. Just the day-to-day sounds of the QZ that we’re all white noise to Joel.

When he found himself standing outside your door, he scoffed at the faded “Welcome :)” mat outside of your door beneath his boots. The smiley face had nearly rubbed off entirely, and he wondered if the mat had been there by your doing, or the previous inhabitants.

Focus, Joel.

He pressed the side of his head against the outside of the door, falling silent as he listened with his good ear for any movements on the other side.

Nothing.

“Angel? Y’in there, doll?” He asked through the thin wood.

Silence.

“Look, I’m sorry if I said somethin’ to upset you last night, but I haven’t seen you all fuckin’ day, and I’m real worried that somethin’ bad happened to ya. So, if you’re in there, can you please say something?”

Nothing.

“Okay. Okay, so maybe I do deserve the silent treatment after I made you hold my cock in your mouth like a cum bucket whore, but it was uh—out of affection? And if you’re upset that I asked ya to stay the night, then I’m sorry. It was just late and I wanted to—”

This is fucking stupid.

“Can you fuckin’ answer me, please? Just fuckin’ say something!” He growled, throwing his fists against the door once for good measure. “I’m about five seconds away from lookin’ like a complete and utter psychopath if you don’t open this goddamn door!” His frustration was on the cusp of boiling over, like a kettle on the stove.

“Okay, so we’re gonna play the silent game, huh?! I swear to god, Angel. If you’re behind this goddamn door and you’re ignoring me on purpose?! Good god, girl. You got another thing comin’ for ya!” He laughed, one of those unfriendly, chills down the spine, oh shit! I’m fucked kinda laughs.

Joel Miller had completely lost all remaining shreds of rationale.

“I’m gonna give you to the count of five to open this fuckin’ door, y’hear me?!” He snarled threateningly.

“Five.”

“Four.”

“Three.”

He didn’t even get to two before his fists absolutely began to rain down on your doorframe. The cord had snapped and he was fully spiraling without giving a damn of who could see or hear him.

With adrenaline, rage, and fear pumping through his veins, he couldn’t even feel the skin along his knuckles being absolutely torn to shreds from how hard he was laying his fists into the wood.

It's like he had completely blacked out and all he could see was red. Red. Red. Red. Red.

Benji was ‘generous’ enough to let you out of being in lockup early and sent you right back out onto the streets. Ridden with exhaustion, you practically dragged yourself back to your apartment with only the thought of a stiff drink and your bed bringing you some form of motivation to keep going.

Your keys jingled in your grasp while you trudged up the stairs. You were oh so close to just plopping down in the hallway, but your apartment was only just down the hall. You could make it.

You passed by one of your neighbors on your way. And when you went to wave, they completely avoided making eye contact with you at all costs. Somehow you just knew that Joel was involved in this behavior, but how the hell did he know where you lived?

Then, you heard the sounds of banshee yelling intensifying the closer you drew to your door.

Jesus fucking Christ. Can’t a girl catch a break?

When you turned the corner, you were met with a grizzly bear of a man. Joel Miller had nearly beaten your door in with just his bare fists. You weren’t even all that shocked to see him outside of your apartment, but, nonetheless, you were pissed.

You leaned against the corner of the hallway, arms crossed against your chest and a displeased, yet mildly amused look plastered on your face.

“Joel?”

He whipped around in an instant at the familiar sound of your voice. His eyes were wide, nostrils flared, blood dripping down between the ridges of his knuckles, staining the already faded carpet crimson beneath his boots.

He looked crazy.

“Where in the fuck have you been? Do you know how fuckin’ worried I’ve been all goddamn day?! Huh, sweet girl? Do you have any idea—”

“You’re bleeding, sweet boy.” You mumble softly. You had hoped that you could advert his attention, but he was already stalking towards you, something indescribable flashes in his eyes when you call him, ‘sweet boy.’

“Yeah, baby.” He huffs out a raspy laugh. “I’ve got splinters in my knuckles bangin’ on your door. Tore ‘em all up.”

He’s so close now that you can taste his breath and see that flicker of fear in his eyes. His hands encaged around your face. Soft, wet from the blood, but gentle.

Droplets of blood trail down your neck and down the clavicle between your covered breasts. You shouldn’t be turned on—but that cunt of yours has a mind of her own, sometimes.

“Joel, you didn’t have to show up here like a crazy man and nearly go and break down my door.”

He glares, bloodstained thumb swiping across your lower lip. “Don’t tell me what I did and didn’t have to do, Angel. Haven’t seen you all day. Thought you were fuckin’ dead or somethin.’”

“Yeah, well, I’m not dead. I’m right here. Why the hell did you even care in the first place, huh? Can’t even go one day without losing your cool?” It’s your turn to challenge him now. You place your palms flat on his chest, giving him a firm shove.

He glared, eyes narrowing into slits. His head cocked to the side in a condescending manner. His jaw clenched and unclenched. He dropped his hands from your face only to then encage your wrists above your head. He used his sheer mass to press your back directly against the hallway wall. He loomed over you to appear more menacing, like a predator going in for the kill. “Who said anythin’ about me caring, huh? Is that why you think I’m here, Angel? Cus’ I care?” He questioned, pushing you further into the wall. His chest was pressed right against yours, leaving you no room to escape, let alone breathe.

“Why would I give a damn where my whore on stilts wandered off to? Y’think you mean anythin’ to me other than a hole to fuck? Don’t be so naive.” He scoffed.

“You have got to be the worst fuckin’ liar, Joel. Right. You don’t care. You just happened to track down where I live, proceeded to bust down my door, just because I’m a hole for you to fuck? Right. Keep on telling yourself that, buddy boy. Keep livin’ in your delusions. See how far that gets ya.” You held in your laugh from slipping past. Could he not see that you were exhausted? You had been beaten down enough as it was, you didn’t need Joel fucking Miller pushing you down further.

“That’s it? That’s all y’can say to me? No bite back? No fuck you Joel? What the hell happened to you, huh?” He pressed further, tightening his hold around your wrists. “What happened after you left my place last night, Angel?” His tone was much softer now, gentle, laced with concern.

You couldn’t keep up with his mood swings if you tried. Joel Miller was one hot and cold man.

“No. We are not about to do this again. Not when in one breath you’re a complete asshole, and the next?!” You laughed bitterly. “Joel, I’m fuckin’ exhausted, okay? I had a shit night, and I just want to go and have a stiff drink. If you want to join, then be my guest, but I won’t take another minute of your bitching. Y’got that?”

Joel found himself studying your face. He thought that maybe he could read between the lines and figure out exactly why you were so exhausted, but you weren’t budging, not even for him. What was that bit about him fucking hating the fear of the unknown? Oh, yeah.

“Angel, look..I’m—”

“Oh, fuck no. You are not about to apologize for that. No. You meant every word, Joel. You don’t get to take that back.” You shook your head in disappointment, breaking your wrists free from his gradually loosening grip before you pulled away entirely.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

You didn’t even wait to see if he would follow you, you could care less if he did, or didn’t. With your keys in hand you unlocked your door, muttering about how it probably wouldn’t lock properly anymore from the damage Joel inflicted on it.

Joel’s fingers twitched at his side. He was silently debating his options. It was pointly obvious that something had happened to you, but he had no right to pry. His footsteps followed yours like a shadow.

“You should probably get your knuckles patched up.” You muttered under your breath while carelessly tossing your keys onto the kitchen counter.

“They’ll be alright. Nothin’ I can’t handle.” He replied smoothly and shoved his hands into the deep caverns of the pockets on the front of his worn jeans.

“I have a first aid kit in the bathroom.” You stated plainly. Your back was facing him behind the counter while you grabbed your stashed bottle of whiskey, and two glasses.

He was observing you with a careful eye when you turned around to face him. “Are you offering to patch up my self-inflicted wounds, baby?” He asked in a crackling rasp, like logs on a fire.

“Sure. If that’s how you want to phrase it.” You shrugged before popping the cap off the bottle with your teeth. You poured a generous splash of the amber colored liquor into both glasses. You opted to take a quick swig from the bottle, needing that little bit of relief to kick in sooner, rather than later.

“Why?” He questioned. He reached for the glass, guiding it towards him before he snatched it up in his hand. He took a hefty sip, letting the warmth from the liquor spread through his system like a warm hug.

“Are you really that fuckin’ stupid, Joel?” You wanted to laugh, but it came out more like a strained scoff if anything.

“‘Fraid so, my Angel.” He smirked over the rim of the cloudy glass.

“Guess the apocalypse shrunk men’s already pea sized brains even more.” You muttered with a shake of your head before downing the liquor from your glass in one swift gulp. Your hand wrapped around his thick wrist, and before he could protest, you were dragging him to your bathroom.

“Sit” you commanded with a gesture to the closed toilet seat.

“Look, you really don’t have to do all this, it’s justa—”

You interjected swiftly, giving him a stern glare before grabbing the first aid kit from behind the cabinet door that was barely holding on by the hinges. “Okay, so then leave, Joel.”

His brows furrowed at your response, and his lips pursed tightly. He ultimately decided to plop down on the toilet seat with a huff. “Are you going to tell me where the hell you’ve been all day? Or are you just gonna keep avoidin’ my question?”

“If you’re good, then I’ll tell you. Cause frankly, right now? I’m sick of your shit, Joel. But somehow, some way, my cold cold heart has a shred of kindness left for you.”

He scoffed, resting his head back against the peeling wallpaper. “You’re sick of my shit?”

“Yes. Because you’re a fuckin’ asshole, Joel. How many times am I going to repeat myself? Normal people don’t stalk someone, attempt to break down their door, and then demand to know where they’ve been all day!”

“Oh boy, we’re still on that topic?” He placed his bloodstained hands on his knees and shook his head before he sat back. “So, what would you rather me have done, hmm? Sweetheart, I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” he gestured with his hands, “it wasn’t like I could fuckin’ call you up! Do you see a phone in sight anywhere? No? Wow, I wonder why! It’s almost like we’re in a fuckin’ apocalypse!” He said with sarcasm dripping with every breath.

And then you threw Joel Miller for a loop when you whipped out a fucking spray bottle and sprayed his snarky ass right in the face!

It didn’t even matter where the hell you found the damn spray bottle in the first place, it was the fact that you had the balls to spray him in the face, not once, but twice when he went to open his mouth. You swore you could see the steam rising from the water droplets on his skin. Like he was an animated bull from those old animated movies. Nostrils flaring red hot flames, smoke billowing from his ears. The tea kettle had reached its boiling point.

On the opposite end of the spray bottle, you saw that very bull with steam spewing. He was flabbergasted, bewildered at your rash decision. “Did you just fuckin’ spray me like I’m a goddamn cat or somethin?!’” His voice boomed like an overhead crack of thunder unleashing its rage in a crescendo.

“I did.”

“And why the hell did you think that you could jus—go’n spray me in the face like that?!”

“You say an awful lot of stupid and hurtful shit to me, Joel Miller. You hurt my feelings, pissed me off, and I’ve just about had it. So, everytime you open that big fuckin’ mouth of yours and say somethin’ mean and stupid, I’m gonna spray you in the face with this.” You waved the spray bottle around for a moment to get your point across.

Displeased, drenched like a damn cat, Joel sent daggers your way with one harsh glare. “Oh, I didn’t realize we were throwin’ a fuckin’ pity party ontop of all of this.” He scoffed.

“Did you not—” you laughed incredulously, “hear a goddamn word I just said? Fine. Well, let me remind you what happens when you’re fuckin’ stupid!” You sprayed him again.

This time he shut up..for now.

“Refreshing.” He mumbled very much like a dog with its tail between its legs.

You set the spray bottle down along the edge of the counter where it was in arm's reach, before you sank down between his spread knees with the first aid kit tucked under your armpit. “Let me see just what kinda damage you’ve done to your beautiful hands, Joel.” Your voice was much softer now compared to moments earlier. At least now you had him tamed and compliant.

“I didn’t break ‘em. Although, if you hadn’t shown up, I probably would have. And they ain’t beautiful, Angel. They’re ugly.” He gruffed out.

“They’re beautiful to me, Joel.” You reached for his hands once they were presented in front of you. The blood had already begun to congeal and dry in some places. “Yeah, you definitely have some splinters in there that are gonna have to come out.”

“Fuck no. Just leave ‘em.” He shook his head.

For the first time in over 24 hours, you smiled. It was really just a slight tug of your lips, but it was there. “Are you afraid of tweezers or somethin?’” You mused.

He scowled at your question and picked a spot on the wall to stare at so he didn’t have to make eye contact. “No.” He grumbled, jaw ticking under the dangling bathroom light.

“You sure about that?” You asked while placing the first aid kit alongside you on the floor. You popped it open, rifling through the different aids before pulling out disinfectant spray and tweezers.

“Crystal.” He confirmed.

“Ookay.” You did your best to hide your little grin while you held the disinfectant spray a few inches above his hands. “This might sting a little.” You softly warned him.

He barely flinched when he felt the sudden coolness from the spray adhering to his open wounds. His nose did twitch the slightest when the stinging sensation settled in.

“You’re being an excellent patient for me, Mr. Miller. Maybe if you’re a good boy for the next part, I’ll reward you with a lollipop.”

He finally looked at you, tearing his gaze from the wallpaper to meet your eyes. His lips curved upwards into a small smirk. “Sounds wonderful, Doctor. Do you promise to be gentle?” He played along.

“Always, Joel.” You replied.

His eyes stayed locked on your own for what felt like hours, neither of you quite ready to break the contact just yet. He cleared his throat, shifting along the closed toilet seat. “Uh, will..you hold my hand? I lied about the tweezer thing. Splinters hurt like a bitch, and uh—yeah.” He muttered under his breath while the heat began to rise rapidly to his cheeks. Even the tips of his ears turned beet red.

“If it’ll make you feel more comfortable, Joel.” You nodded reassuringly. Your left hand reached for his own when he had pulled back slightly in a jerking movement. You could sense his palpable hesitation radiating off of him before he finally relaxed.

“This is stupid.” He said suddenly, feeling more bashful as the seconds ticked by.

“It’s not stupid at all, Joel. Splinters are no fun at all.”

I mean, This. Me and you. It’s stupid. I shouldn’t be blushing like a schoolgirl right now. And over what? Holding hands? He thought to himself.

He’s kinda sweet..in his own Joel way. You thought silently to yourself.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Sweet. Sweet. Sweet.

“Get on with it, please.” He nearly whispered when his left hand finally reached towards your own. He was the one to thread his fingers through yours and let your entwined hands rest along his left thigh comfortably.

It took all of twenty minutes for you to successfully remove every splinter from his hands. Some fragmented pieces of wood were a bit deeper than others. He was a real champ, and you surprised him with a kiss. A soft reward that he felt he was undeserving of.

“I think you should let them breathe a bit longer and then we’ll bandage up.” You said while moving to stand back up. Your left hand was still engulfed in his own when he stopped you from standing up.

“Aren’t you gonna kiss them all better, doctor?” He asked with a tilt of his head. He looked like a puppy with his tousled, wild hair, and big brown eyes staring at you.

You found your lips kissing his broken skin before you even had a chance to respond. A kiss was pressed to each knuckle in an affectionate manner.

He broke the silence when your hand departed from his and you busied yourself with putting away the first aid kit.

“Are you going to tell me what happened to you out there, or are we gonna keep dancin’ around the subject?” He asked rather softly. Almost as if he was concerned.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Joel.”

Please don’t ask me again.

“Angel..”

“Let’s go finish our drinks.” You interjected with a hidden fake smile.

His eyes follow your silhouette when you swiftly remove yourself from the small bathroom. He shakes his head with a sigh before he finally stands up. He eyes the spray bottle still resting along the bathroom counter, and in an extremely cat-like fashion, he swiftly knocks it over into the trash bin below.

Good riddance.

When Joel left your bathroom, he soon found you with your feet tucked under your thighs on the far end of the couch. You appeared to be staring off into space while you nursed your glass of whiskey in silence. He really wasn’t quite sure what to think of your behavior, let alone how he should approach you.

Nonetheless he grabbed his own glass and joined you on the couch. Your eyes stayed focused on the wall even when you felt the old cushions dip down from Joel’s weight pressing down on them gradually.

He swirled the contents around in his glass absentmindedly before he took a small sip. You could feel his eyes along the side of your head when he moved the glass to rest between his knees.

“I really wish you would jus’..talk to me, sweetheart.” He rasped softly while he twiddled with his fingers that weren’t wrapped around the glass. He was never really good at having these types of conversations, but he’d be damned if he didn’t try one last time.

You shifted uncomfortably from his words. You didn’t want to tell him what happened to you in that disgusting alley. Or the way that Benji’s touch made you feel nauseous. You didn’t want to tell Joel that you were made to feel like literal human trash. Pond scum, gum beneath men’s shoes. You didn’t want to confess that you spent a night in lockup, crying against the cold concrete till your body could no longer produce tears while Benji, and a few of his FEDRA friends proceeded to violate you further, stripping you of your autonomy and dignity with grime stained fingernails, and cruel laughter. Nothin’ but a common street whore, that one. Make her gag on it. I wanna see tears streaming down those pretty fuckin’ cheeks, boys. Miller ain’t here to save you now, Angel. You belong to us.

You didn’t want Joel to believe that you were this broken, damaged person. You didn’t want him to take pity on you. That was quite literally the last thing you wanted from him. But, you were only human, after all, and pain had a sneaky way of revealing itself even when you had done everything possible to cloak it.

He watched as you drained the contents of your glass wordlessly before you slipped down from the couch, falling to your knees between his thighs.

She loves it, don’t be fooled boys. She loves to be fucked like a dirty little whore. Ain’t that right, Angel? Joel Miller got her all obedient, just for us. She’ll do anythin’ you ask of her.

“Angel.” He started, words lodging in his throat. Something about this felt wrong.

You ignored him, reaching for his belt with trembling fingers as you worked it open.

Cus’ a whore is all you’ll ever be, sweetheart. The best pussy in all of the fuckin’ QZ. Bet he’ll smell me all over ya, Angel. I hope he does. I hope that guard dog can fuckin’ taste my come inside of ya next time he takes you.

Joel finds himself frozen in time when he sees the way your fingers tremble. He’s stunned and unsure what he should do in this situation. He’s never seen you like this before. He’s used to your brashness. Your confidence. Your swift, snarky, sarcastic remarks. The woman on her knees between his thighs is not you. He knows then that he has to stop this. He has to say something.

“Angel, baby. I don’t think we—” he struggles to find the right words to say. To be delicate, but firm. This had nothing to do with his own feelings, and had everything to do with yours. “This doesn’t feel right, sweetheart.”

Your heart sinks to the pits. He knows. He fucking knows. He knows, and thinks you to be worthless, just like the rest of them.

You sink back along your thighs, tears pooling in your eyes. “You don’t..want me anymore, Joel?” You ask above a whisper, holding on by a mangled thread.

He shakes his head slowly, his heart breaking in the process.

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strangerstilinski · 5 months

Text

eddie the hero

summary; the holidays bring about daddy issues of the decidedly un-sexy variety, but eddie is a total sweetheart and a goofball to boot. (this is very self indulgent.) 2.6k warnings; some angst but a very very fluffy end, trauma from overly-critical parents, eddie being sweet, some blood, a brief anxiety attack maybe?, i think reader is written gn (eddie refers to reader as a fair maiden but like jokingly? so do with that what you will) a/n; turns out, a combination of being home for the holidays and listening to mean by miss swift on the drive out brought up, uh... this. shout out to my dad for being himself over this holiday season, and shoutout ruby for very delicately insisting (repeatedly) that i get my shit together and simply.. make something of this trauma dump. so here it is; a wee bit of angst with lots of fluff to round it all out.

The kitchen is in chaos.

You've got about a hundred different things going at once in an effort to get everything ready for the holiday dinner that you and Eddie agreed to host. The smell of cinnamon from your morning baking endeavors still lingers in the air, though it's slowly being overtaken by rosemary and and the earthy scent of fresh vegetables. The hair at the nape of your neck is beginning to feel a bit stifling with heat from the oven already warming house, and you make a mental note to crack a window once your friends and family begin trickling in.

It's a little overwhelming, but you're doing your best to get what you've deemed the more detailed-oriented aspects of preparation done while Eddie is busy in the shower.

You intend to be finished by the time he's done getting ready. A mental plan has been laid out. You'll have the knife in your hand washed and dried and put away before he even emerges from the bathroom— no problem.

There was a problem though: you hadn't been quick enough.

You're in a zone of sorts. So much so, that you don't notice the footfalls of your boyfriend making his way down the hallway toward the kitchen. When he speaks from the doorway, his voice takes you completely by surprise.

"What are you doing?" Eddie's voice is soft as ever, though you're unable to process the gentle innocence in the tone of his question.

The realization that you've been caught has the heat in the kitchen very suddenly feeling entirely too warm. Your collar is entirely too tight around your neck while your mind whirls with sudden anxiety.

It's as if Eddie is no longer there. Instead, your ears are filled with the echo of your father's voice, the condescension in his tone ringing sharply in your skull.

"What are you doing?"

"Why are you doing it like that?"

"It's not that hard, bud. Just do it like this and it'll be better. How many times do I have to tell you-"

His voice would toe the line between irritated and amused, narrowed eyes making you feel a fool. It would prompt a frustrated prickle behind your own eyes and a tightness in your jaw when he'd show you the way you should've been doing it in the first place.

You heart races now with that unhealed scab of your father's never ending dissatisfaction. His impossible standards. His mean little digs and criticisms that masqueraded as him merely wanting you to be better.

Because you could always be better.

Growing up it was sports, your effort in school, it was the way you putted in mini golf, it was 'why on earth would you not dry the glasses when you washed dishes? That's just stupid because now they'll air dry with spots and-' From there began the slow evolution into the way that you drove your car, the way you spent money, how often you called and what time of day you called when you did..

Nothing you did was enough. In his eyes, there here was always something wrong, something that could be improved.

It's entirely possible that the stress of the holiday is getting to you already, if the way you've very quickly begun to spiral is any indication. And though there's nothing more than curiosity in your boyfriend's question, the familiarity of it makes you flinch nonetheless.

It happens in a flash. The paring knife in your grip slips and the blade slices the edge of your thumb instead of the potato you'd been getting prepped for boiling. A sharp sting that you barely notice. The sight of the blood that pools quick from the shallow cut has your ears ringing, Eddie's soft curses sounding muffled when they curl at your ears. It's a bit like you're underwater, sounds eerily distorted and brain fuzzy with the heavy beat of your heart.

"Sorry—"

It comes out as nothing more than a murmur under your breath. With a slight delay, you have the foresight to move your hand from above the bowl of already sliced and cleaned potatoes. Wrist now clutched to your chest, you zero in on the drops of blood that have already stained a few of them, red bleeding into the starchy whiteness.

"S-sorry, I just-"

Your voice is shaking as Eddie grabs a kitchen towel, his hands gently cradling your own and dabbing the towel at the cut so he can examine the severity of your injury. His brows are furrowed beneath the wispy curtain of his wet bangs, brown eyes wide with worry. His fingers are free of their normal assortment of rings, likely because he'd come out with the intent of helping you cook. Your eyes flick between his bare fingers and his shower-damp hair, between the roundness of his chin and the frown pulling at his lips — guilt pools heavily in your gut at the sight.

"I shouldn't 've been using a knife anyway, but I couldn't find the peeler s-so I just used the knife. I-I know it wastes more of the potato, I know that's not-" Your breath comes out trembling, your whole body wracking with it as your eyes prickle and burn with embarrassment. Your words come quicker, panicked, "I just wanted to get them done so I could get them in the water and start on the beans, but now I-"

"Hey, hey, hey," Eddie soothes, wide palm coming up to your flushed face where his thumb drags slow over the apple of your cheek while his other hand works to secure the dish towel in your fist to stop the bleeding, "Breathe, sweetheart. You're okay."

"I'm sorry," You whisper, voice thick with tears, "Was s' stupid, I'm sorry-"

"Baby.. Baby, hey-" His voice is soft. He squares his shoulders and follows your movement as he tries to meet your eye, brown finally connecting with shining pools that threaten to spill over. The pad of his thumb catches the first drop the moment that it breaks free, smoothing the moisture along your skin as he repeats the slow back and forth motion over your cheek. "The cut's not bad, it's not very deep.. What's going on, sweet thing? What's got you so worked up?"

Your next breath catches and it has your whole body quaking when it eventually whooshes out of your chest, a pitiful little sniffle escaping you in response to the sudden influx of tears.

"I- I was doing it wrong. I know- And then I- I got blood all over the potatoes-"

"We can wash the potatoes." Eddie says all too easily, though his voice still has that anxious edge to it that does nothing to make you feel better.

"We can.. We can wash the potatoes.." You repeat cautiously, as if the thought hadn't yet occurred to you.

"Yeah, baby. We can wash the potatoes." He echoes gently.

A shaky breath falls past your lips as you nod, "Sorry." You say again.

"I'm sorry," He insists with a shake of his head, "I came in here like a bat outta hell while you were holding a knife, and I scared you into hurting yourself. I was just- Potatoes we're supposed to be one'a my jobs. And, uh-" A grimacing excuse of a smile pulls at his lips, his eyes drifting to the discarded knife that lay at the bottom of the sink, "Well.. You couldn't find the peeler because it's in the dishwasher-"

You have to fight back a sigh at his admission, "Eddie-" You admonish weakly.

"I know, I know. It's not dishwasher safe. I know that, I do," Eddie says in a rush, "You've told me a million times, I just forget in the moment. I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm sorry."

His earnest apology has you reeling a bit. The fact that Eddie's instinct is not just to apologize, but also to explain away his mistake with guilt dripping heavy from his words-

You suddenly feel a bit like a monster. A cruel, perfection-driven bully of your father's creation. It has a fresh wave of tears pooling in your eyes and threatening to well over.

"God," The word comes out a choked sounding thing, buried beneath the tightness in your throat, "I'm sorry, Eddie. It's not a big deal, really, 's just a peeler. If the dishwasher ruins it we'll just buy another one for, like, a dollar."

"Yeah?" Eddie treads, a cautious smile pulling at the corner of his mouth while his thumb continues to drag soft over the wetness spread across your cheekbone.

"Yeah," You sniffle around the word, panic and realization settling in and promoting your chest to heave with quick breaths, "Jesus. Y-You shouldn't be worried about my reaction to something so.. So stupid. Fuck. I- I'm just like him-"

"Woah, woah, woah. Baby, hey.. Just like who?" Eddie interrupts with a renewed sense of urgency, "What're you talkin' about?"

"My dad-" You sob, shoulders trembling with it.

"Oh, baby, hey. Hey-"

In a flash, Eddie is guiding your head into the crook of his neck, wetness transferring onto his skin as a dam breaks and your body trembles with a series of heavy sobs. You slot into the space below his jaw just as perfectly as you always do, the two of you fitting together like puzzle pieces.

He smells like shaving cream and the conditioner you'd bought him especially for curly hair. The combination of the rich masculine scent on his skin with the sweet citrusy perfume clinging to his damp hair makes your head spin as you try valiantly to follow his soft demands for you to calm down.

His voice rumbles soft over your ear as he shushes you, his lips pressing a gentle kiss to your temple all the while. The towel wrapped around your fist tightens when Eddie's bigger hand encases your own, a slow sway overtaking your body as he urges your weight to shift from foot to foot in a soothing motion. He rocks you back and forth, your socked feet shuffling against the kitchen tile, your boyfriend's chest pressed tight to your own.

A wide palm smooths up and down your spine, a tune that sounds distantly familiar rumbling over your ear when Eddie begin to hum softly into your hair.

A minute passes, shuddering breaths come and less, the heaving of your chest and the tears in your eyes settling until each sniffle feels more embarrassing than anything else. A weak laugh bubbles up from your throat as you hone in on your boyfriend's socked feet nudging at yours with every shift side to side, your fist tightening around the blood-stained towel for a moment before you're hooking your own fingers around the back of his hand, palms clasped together.

"'re we slow dancing right now?" You ask a bit breathlessly, finally lifting your head from the curve of his neck to peer up at his with swollen, reddened eyes.

"Mhm," Eddie hums and drops his forehead against your own. That hand on your spine hikes you up against him, air forced from your lungs and another bubbling laugh pushed up your throat.

"You trying to woo me, Munson?" Your tease comes out a bit raspy from all of the crying, but you watch a grin pull at his lips regardless.

"Why?" Big brown eyes flick between your own, a little cross-eyed with how close your faces sit, "S'it working?"

You bring your free hand up to curl around the back of his neck, fingers slipping beneath his wet curls to ensure his forehead doesn't leave yours.

"It might be.." The words come out in a murmur.

You're feeling a bit mesmerized by his proximity, even after all this time. A sudden spin from your boyfriend has you stumbling over your feet, the only thing keeping you from losing your balance completely being the steadying hand that quickly finds a place on your hip and slides back to the base of your spine.

"It might be?" Eddie repeats with a scoff, "Oh, it might be, you say." A small huff of laughter escapes you and puffs out against his chin as he continues on, "Well I guess I'll just have to up the ante then, won't I? What shall I do, my fair maiden? What is it you desire? I could finish this lovely holiday dinner by myself, provide thee with sustenance-"

It's you who scoffs this time, "Right, hilarious. Our friends and Wayne will be here in less than two hours-"

"Or perhaps I'll wait until nightfall, pluck a star straight from the sky for you. Because what other courting gift could be better suited for a maiden who shines so bright-"

"Eddie," You can't help but laugh at his dramatics. The drying tear streaks on your cheeks are long forgotten now, the ridiculous man in front of you is nothing if not an expert in getting your whole attention focused on him.

"No. No, you're right. That couldn't possibly be enough to prove my endless love and devotion," He makes a show of shaking his head as he releases you from his hold and takes a step back. A sidestep has him bumping into the sink basin, a wide grin already pulling at his lips. "But this!" He announces as he snatches the bloody paring knife from the sink with a flourish, "This cursed object! Laced with evil, I'm sure! This blade that has brought harm upon you!"

You watch Eddie dispose of the knife with a smile pulling at your lips, and you only spare a small wince at the fleeting worry that it might tear through the plastic bag lining the inside of the garbage can. Eddie drops to his knees in a flash, dark denim coming into contact with the kitchen tile at your feet. His hands grip at the backs of your thighs as he looks up at you with wide eyes, the brown pools swimming with mischief and humor and love.

"-It is dealt with, my dear. It will never hurt you again. This I swear-"

The blood-stained towel falls to the floor as you take his head in your hands, carefully avoiding the drying cut on your thumb. You're swallowing down laughter as you guide him to his feet again. Your heart feels full enough to burst, and Eddie's expression of faux-seriousness is almost enough to push a giggle from your lips.

"Oh, my hero," You whisper with all of the dramatisation you can manage, "My big, handsome savior. Whatever would I have done without you here to protect me? How can I ever thank you?"

Eddie brings his palms up to your cheeks in a flash, and you know it must be a ridiculous sight. The current disaster zone that is the kitchen; ingredients lining every available inch of countertop space, a pot of salted water very nearly boiling on the stovetop, and the two of you standing at the center of it all — cradling one another's faces with all the care in the world.

Brown eyes flick slow over your face, the freckles on the bridge of Eddie's nose catching your attention all the while.

"One million kisses." He proposes.

A laugh does escape you now, though it's a giddy one, slightly flustered by just how sweet the man before you is. Your cheeks feel warm with it as your uninjured thumb drags soft over his cheek.

"One million?"

"One hundred million!" He counters immediately.

"One hundred million?" You repeat in disbelief, "Now, what's a guy like you going to do with one hundred million kisses should I give them to you?"

"Maybe you're right. Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Eddie nods valiantly, "We could start with just one, and work our way up."

"That sounds more than reasonable," Your cheeks are beginning to ache with your smile.

You push up onto your toes to brush your lips over his, scarcely touching. But when Eddie pushes forward, you rock back in an easy move, your mouth remaining just out of his reach.

"I am going to need that knife to finish dinner though," You whisper, the hushed words rushing over his lips in one breath, "The others are too dull-"

"Consider it retrieved and washed," Eddie says easily, "As soon as I get my kiss-"

It ends up being more smile than kiss, in the end, but there will be millions more to make up for it.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader fluff #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x gn!reader #eddie munson x gender neutral reader #eddie munson stranger things #eddie munson imagine #stranger things imagine #stranger things fluff #*

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jennay · 7 months

Text

I'm Not Scared, You are!

Request: hi!!! what about a cute cozy night in with noah? cuddles, movies, whispering sweet things to reader. just loving on her. maybe she’s had a hard week at work and he just wants to give her a night to relax. kinda vague but i think it could be a very cute idea!

Word Count: 1700ish

Noah Master List

Noah Sebastian x Reader

An: I hope this is what you were looking for 🤞🏻

You'd never been so happy to clock out of your shift. You feel your body drained by the endless hours and the constant pressure from the day. Your feet constantly ache from standing long hours, and your ears ring from the coded calls.

It was emotionally wearing you down. You wondered if you were cut out for this, telling people their loved ones wouldn't pull through or explaining situations no one truly understood.

You were a doctor, and people assumed you could play god as well...but you weren't god; you were just another person trying to give back to the world.

You shouldn't complain. You chose to be a trauma doctor. You went to school for this, you trained for this...this was on you.

Sometimes, when driving home late at night with blood on your shirt and exhaustion in your eyes, you wondered if it was worth it. Every day, you were sacrificing your happiness, health, and relationships.

You kept these things to yourself, scared that people would judge you. The last thing you wanted was for people to think you weren't grateful.

You miss having time for your loved ones, especially for Noah. You know he deserves more attention, affection, and quality time. You know he is patient with you and understands how things work, but it never stops you from worrying that he'll grow tired of waiting for you to come home or waiting for you to wake up from a nap. You knew it frustrated him that you could never say you had a day off. You had your scheduled days, but that didn't mean you wouldn't get called in or accidents didn't happen. Just because it was a Tuesday didn't mean people stopped getting sick or injured.

When you pull into the driveway of your home, take a moment to yourself. You try to take deep breaths and eliminate the day's worries. You know you can talk to Noah about anything, but you didn't feel right walking into the house and dumping everything on him.

Tonight was the first night you two would have together in a long time, and you hoped your day off tomorrow wouldn't lead to another disappointed sigh from Noah telling you it's OK that you have to go back to work because it wasn't. You wanted time with him. He deserved it, and so did you.

You gain the courage to get out of your car, and with slumped shoulders, you make your way to the front door, dragging your feet with every step.

You open the door, putting a smile on your face. You weren't going to be the reason this night was ruined. "I'm home!" You yell, hearing your voice echo against the walls.

The aroma of food fills your nostrils, and you suddenly feel a pang of hunger. "Wow, it smells delicious in here." You drop your bags near the counter and join Noah, who smiles as he serves your plates.

"It's just spaghetti, but I made it with extra love." He leans down, kissing your cheek. "And, I bought some wine. I don't know if it's good, but it's that one that you and Nick drank at the Christmas party."

You and Nick weren't allowed to drink together anymore. You annoyed the shit out of everyone, and at one point, the two of you were crying and laughing on the floor over Noah's reaction to losing at a board game you cheated on.

"Oh god," You laugh, "You want a repeat of that night?"

Noah sighs, putting the pot back on the stove. "No, but you were so happy that night, and I love hearing you laugh." His voice is tinged with sadness, and you feel a lump in your throat. "I'm not saying you don't laugh anymore, but you know…" He hands you a fork from the silverware drawer. He carries the two plates to the table. "I'll get the wine, go change into something cozy."

You nod, "OK." Walking down the long hallway, you feel guilt in your stomach. You felt like you were causing pain, to Noah. It wasn't intentional, of course, and you don't think he would ever directly tell you it's your fault, but the way he states things makes you feel like you're just not there, like he talked about you in the past.

You slip into some cozy pajamas, feeling the soft fabric against your skin. You run a brush through your hair and tie it in a bun; you wish you had time to shower, but you don't want to miss a moment with Noah.

When you return to the table, Noah is waiting for you with a warm smile. His eyes light up when he sees you. He loves you so much. You can tell by the way he looks at you. "Comfy?" He asks, his voice gentle and inviting. You nod, taking a seat at the round table. "So much better." You sip your wine, feeling the sharp sensation on your tongue and the heat in your throat. You wonder how you and Nick drank a whole bottle of this stuff.

"I hope it tastes good." He says, watching you take a bit, "You know I'm not the best cook in the world."

You smile at him, savoring the bite. "It's amazing, babe. I see you got fancy with the basil." You reach across the table, holding his hand and rubbing your thumb over his skin. "It's perfect. Thank you so much."

He beams at you, his eyes sparkling with love. "I have a plan. We still have tomorrow together, right?"

You nod, eating the food with more appetite than you expected. You can't recall if you had your lunch at work or if it's still rotting in the fridge. You'll have to toss it out when you go back. The thought of returning to work makes you feel anxious and depressed. "Babe?" He says softly, "Did you hear me?"

You snap out of your trance and look at him guiltily. You were too distracted by your work worries to pay attention to him. "No, sorry."

"Ah," He leans back in his chair, bringing his glass to his lips. You notice how much he drinks and wonder if he's getting frustrated with you.

"I'm sorry, love, my mind is still stuck on the hospital." You bite your lip. "One more time, please."

He smiles gently. "I was thinking maybe we could stay up a little later tonight, finish off this bottle, watch a movie, and do one of those fun face masks you love so much." His brown eyes twinkle with hope. "Or we can go to bed and get some rest." He adds quickly, trying to read your expression. "I know you had a hard day."

You slide your chair back, pick up your empty plates, and carry them to the sink. "That sounds amazing." You flash him a radiant smile before turning around to wash the dishes. "I missed you a lot today." You confess, your back still facing him. "I know things have been crazy lately, and I'm hoping they will hire some more staff and things will calm down, and I won't have to be away so much-" You stop when you feel his hands on your hips, drawing you close to him, nuzzling into your neck.

"It's OK." He soothes you, "Our jobs require us to be busy a lot."

You shiver as you feel his words vibrate against your neck. You turn off the water, dry your hands on your pajama pants, and spin around to face him, wrapping your arms around his neck. You stand on your tiptoes, pulling him down into a passionate kiss, and he eagerly responds, showering your face and neck with kisses.

You feel your heart race from all of the stimulating touches, all the gentle love and kind words he whispers against your neck.

"How did I get so lucky?" You ask as you rest your head on his chest and hug his hips. You feel blissful right now.

He holds you momentarily, smiling when he feels your body melting into him. "C'mon," He pulls away, holding your hand and leading you to the living room. "Go ahead, choose your spot, snuggle up." He says with a snort, "I'll be right back."

You reach out to the throw blanket resting on the armrest of the couch and wrap it around yourself, feeling its softness and warmth.

You snuggle into the sofa, bringing your legs close to your chest. Noah returns with your glasses and a bottle of wine, placing them on the table before sitting beside you.

He lifts his arm, inviting you to snuggle into his side. You oblige, not wanting to waste any snuggling time.

Noah gently pulls your legs over his lap, repositioning the blanket to cover you both.

"Perfect!" He snatches the remote from the table and hands you the wine. "How about one of those horror movies you love?"

You look up at him with wide eyes, "Really!?" "Absolutely." He grins. "Anything for you."

You sit up eagerly, take the remote from him, and browse the horror section. Noah admires you with a smile. His brown eyes sparkle with happiness as he senses your excitement.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" He caresses your face with his hand, making you blush; you were so focused on the screen that you didn't notice him gazing at you.

You press play on the screen, and The Shining starts playing.

"A classic." Noah chuckles as he pulls you closer to him.

"Oh good, you've seen it. I didn't want to pick something that would scare you too much." You tease.

Noah rolls his eyes playfully, "Excuse me. I'm not scared; you're the one scared. I can handle any ghost or demon with my karate skills."

You roll your eyes back, "Sure, tough guy."

"Before things get intense." He pauses, trying to suppress his laughter. "Is there anything we need to talk about?"

You frown with confusion. "No?"

He laughs and raises his hands in defense. "I'm just asking because you've had some wine, and I know you get random thoughts while watching movies and then we end up chatting through the whole thing and missing it."

You slap his chest lightly and scoff. "Oh, I'm so sorry that I enjoy talking to my boyfriend."

"You're forgiven." He jokes with you.

You shake your head, cuddling up to his chest, "Are you really going to karate chop the ghost?"

You feel his chest vibrate with laughter, "Are you scared?"

You nuzzle your face into his neck, whispering, "Sometimes."

He places his hand on your hip, squeezing, and kisses the top of your head, "Then sure, I'll kick the shit out of all the ghosts for you."

Tags: @thisbicc @yumikitten @lma1986

#noah sebastian fanfiction #noah sebastian x reader #noah sebastian fic #noah sebastian fluff #noah sebastian x y/n #noah sebastian x you #noah sebastian oneshot #Noah fic #bad omens fanfiction #bad omens fic

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theladybarnes · 14 days

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CRIMSON AND CLOVER: CHAPTER EIGHT

“I told you, I'm fine. Okay? I mean, as fine as someone who's hurtling towards a gruesome death can be.”

▸ summary: the group splits off again and a breaking theory comes your way ▸ characters: steve harrington, dustin henderson, max mayfield, robin buckley, nancy wheeler, & lucas sinclair ▸ word count: 12.7k ▸ warnings: angst, fluff, mentions of death, slight canon divergence, & trauma ▸ series masterlist

“It was here..right here!”

“A grandfather clock?”

“It was so real.”

You watched carefully from the back of the group as Max explained what happened once she had snapped out of her brief frozen state. Time had not ran out and it was only a few seconds into your panicking that she gasped before you guys, waking up.

“..And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just..I woke up.”

“It was like she was in a trance or something.” Dustin chimed in, looking over to the rest of you. “Exactly what you and Eddie said happened to Chrissy.”

You met his gaze with a small nod, unsure what to think next. Chrissy never woke up to the sound of you and Eddie calling out to her. And while Max didn’t either, she still snapped out of it.

Turning around to the group, Max couldn’t help but dive into more information. “That’s not even the bad part.” she started before she led all of you back to Ms.Kelley’s office. Surrounding the stack of files, she shared a couple between Robin and Nancy, setting up the base of what you guys gathered.

“Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Ms.Kelley for help..they both were having headaches, bad headaches that just wouldn’t go away. And then..then the nightmares..trouble sleeping. They’d wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things..bad things..from their pasts. In these visions, they just, they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually..everything ended.”

“Vecna’s curse.” Robin clarified.

Curse. You thought.

Stomach churning at the idea of not only yourself being cursed, but Max too. How could she be hit with any more hardship than she already has? Even as she had explained everything as perfectly as she could, there was still a heavy terror in her voice. One that hit you harder than you expected.

But what could you do? How could you be of any help when you were going through the same afflictions that her and the others have? The only difference in the patterns were the visions. Instead, you were tormented by a voice. A dreadful voice that seemed to know all your insecurities and dump them into your mind at the worst times.

You glanced around at your friends, their faces etched with sad, sombering looks as they listened to what Max had to say.

“There’s still time to figure things out,” you said, speaking up finally. “No one is giving up just yet.”

Max slowly shook her head. Her bright eyes still lingered with a few unshed tears as she tried to reason with you.

“Chrissy’s headache started a week ago, Fred’s, six days ago. I’ve been having them for five days.”

Your heart dropped at that, unsure what you could even say to help make things better for her. But to your dismay, she went on. Even through her own body betraying her regular strength, she couldn’t help but crumble at her conclusion.

“I don’t know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than twenty-four hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock!..So..” her breath was shaky as she stepped towards the desk. Gripping at the chair while she looked at everyone. “..it looks like I’m gonna die tomorrow.”

There’s a loud clang in the distance. Causing the group to jump a bit and pause the conversation. Steve doesn’t hesitate to step up, turning to the others with a frown on his face. “Stay here.” he ordered calmly, and turned to leave the room. But not without grabbing a nearby lamp to use as a weapon.

It took only a couple of seconds of him leaving the room before you quietly muttered to the others. “Yeah, screw that.”

Trailing after him, you made sure to check the hall behind you guys before following in close after him. Without having to look back, you could hear as the others quietly did the same. Sticking close behind Steve as well as he ventured out to the source of the noise.

Steve barely glanced over his shoulder and noticed you all before he sighed disappointedly. “You gotta be kidding me.” he muttered to you.

“Like you aren’t used to us not listening.” you whispered back. “Besides, you’re using a damn lamp. It’s not like you’re ready to fight either.”

“It’s the best thing I got!” he hissed, trying to keep quiet. The sound of clattering stirred up again, shutting you both up.

In the distance you could hear the sound of feet running begin to pick up, creating an anxious chill to run down your back.

All around the rest of the group grew tense, waiting behind to see what would be coming into the view. Steve raised up the lamp, ready to take his aim on the target when suddenly a familiar face jumped into the hall.

Steve and Lucas began to yell once coming to head with each other, causing everyone to let out a panicked cry as they staggered back.

“IT’S ME!” Lucas cried out, holding his hands out before him defensively.

“Lucas?!” Nancy called out, flashing another light on his face.

“It’s me!” he cried again.

“JESUS, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU SINCLAIR?” Steve yelled, looking flushed as the panic came over him.

“I’m sorry!”

“I could’ve taken you out with this lamp!” he chided dramatically. You reached over for his arm and pulled him away from Lucas to rest back and give the kid some obvious air since he was panting particularly hard.

“Easy there, he-man.” you patted his arm, earning yourself an annoyed look from him.

“I’m sorry, guys, sorry! I was..I was biking for eight miles.” he held up a finger, holding onto the front of his gut. “Give me a second, shit.” he said before remembering what he really wanted to say. “We’ve got a code red!”

“What?” Steve asked, confused all over again.

“Dustin,” He said as he staggered over to your cousin, still panting as he laid out more crap for the group to worry about now. “I’ve been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they’ve gone like totally off the rails! They’re trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You’re in terrible danger!”

Dustin, while taken back by this, still can’t help but keep the main problem at focus. “All right, Yeah, that definitely sucks.” he agreed. “But we’ve got bigger problems than Jason right now.”

You could only watch as Lucas slowly glanced over at Max. The two locked eyes and you could just see the pain in Max’s face. Without even realizing it, you’ve instinctively reached out for Steve’s hand. And thankfully, he doesn’t say anything but squeeze back.

“We wouldn’t be able to access the program for it here. The family computer isn’t exactly gonna cut it.” sighed Nancy, downing the rest of her water. “Besides, I’m not even sure how to write up the kind of files we’d need to pass as real.”

“There’s always a chance the library could have some examples.” you threw out, leaning against the counter to look at the two girls. “If we head there early enough, we could be the first ones in, type it out, and get it done by early morning.”

“We can try that, but there’s always a chance it might not work. Hawkins doesn’t really have the newest resources. Even today we had to dig pretty deep to find the newspaper headlines.” Robin countered, crossing her arms as she stood beside you.

The three of you had been in the kitchen for a good few minutes discussing what you guys could do.

After leaving the school, it was pretty easy to just collect everyone and keep watch of each other in the safety of the Wheeler basement. Especially with Max’s countdown recently coming into light to hang over the rest of you.

“Well,” Nancy piped up, “there was a rumor I heard at school..” You and Robin shared a confused look before nodding at her to continue.

“Jordan Wallis. He’s in the A.V. Club. They said his older brother Nick used to help create fake IDs and permits for a certain price..”

“Wasn’t his brother also sent to a Military school for getting caught?” Robin asked, looking a little skeptical.

“He was.” she nodded, scrunching her nose at the fact. “But, I’ve heard that Jordan and a few of his buddies have taken on the family business. They might know a thing or two about forging documents. Some of them are in the newspaper so I might have a way in if we need to talk to him.”

The three of you mulled it over for a minute. Contemplating how much this idea could work.

Nancy let out a long sigh, sounding tired as she set down the cup in the kitchen sink. “It’s a long shot in the dark, but–”

“It’s the best we got.” you finished for her, watching as she nodded her head. “I say we do it.”

Robin silently agreed with a shrug, looking over to Nancy. “Do you think you can reach them in time tonight?” she asked, scratching nervously at her cheek. “We’d have to leave first thing in the morning.”

She turned her watch over, noting the time before she offered a tight lip smile. “It’s not too late. I can make a couple of calls.”

“Then let’s get to it.”

Robin left the two of you to join the others downstairs, possibly giving Steve some sort of relief from ‘babysitting’ while you and Nancy ventured up her stairs. It was easier to conceal the type of phone calls you guys were making from her parents in the privacy of the room. And after about ten minutes, three different conversations, and one sweet minute of pleading, there was a plan made to get the files.

You waited until everything was set and ready for the next day to ask Nancy if you could use her phone for a moment alone. She seemed a little worried, but gave a small smile and quietly left the room.

Reaching for her phone, you stared down at the receiver, wondering what was suddenly coming over you as you pressed in the familiar number. A glance at your watch and you were thankful for once for the time difference.

“The number you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please try again at a later time.”

Frowning, you tried dialing it again.

“The number you are trying to reach is un–”

Ending the call, you tried to figure out just what could be holding the line. Since reaching Jonathan seemed out of play, you dialed the next person you needed to speak to.

It only took one ring for her to pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Mom?”

“Oh, Duckie!” your mother gasped. “I was hoping I’d hear from you soon!”

The sudden joy in your Mother’s voice brought a blooming happiness over you. It had been a couple of weeks since you had the chance to properly speak with her, and hearing her chirpy tone now felt like just what you needed.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting for so long..”

“I would wait forever if it meant to get a call from you.” she cooed teasingly. “How are you, Duckie? Are you guys finally on Spring Break?”

“Yeah, just started on Friday. Are you and Dad at the beach house?”

“Yes! We just arrived the other night. We’re definitely missing you here. The Johnsons brought their little Dune Buggy that you liked to ride on the shore line.”

The memories of spending breaks over at the seaside home came flooding in. If you were living there now you’d find yourself spending the evening with your parents getting ready for a lush dinner. Not currently dwelling over what you were going to do to save a friend from the fate that you might very much fall into as well.

“Duckie?”

“Sorry,” you coughed, feeling your throat tighten up from your thoughts. “I’m just out of it today. Kinda tired.”

“Well it’s a good thing you’re on break! You’ll get to go out with your friends, have fun date nights with Steve–By the way! How is he? It’s been so long since you’ve told us about you guys. We’ve got that picture of you two from his graduation in the drawing room. It’s too cute!”

Instantly you’re covering your face up. Not sure how you could even dive into explaining everything that was going on with Steve. Especially when right at this moment, you’re pretty sure you’re the last person whom he’d want talking about how well he is.

“Oh, uh, Steve’s fine.” you stuttered a bit. “He’s just been working really hard.”

“Hopefully not too hard. I know how much you two are in love~ Must be going crazy with seeing each other all the time..” she teased, nearly making you groan out in pain.

“Yeah, we’re..inseparable.” Balling your hand up in a fist, you lightly punched at your thigh, trying to keep it together. "How are you and Dad doing?"

"We're doing just fine," she sighed, her answer comforting you a little. "Your father's been trying to cut back hours in the firm, he wants to get some vacation time.. I’ve just finished designing a showroom for Margaret Chandler. She’s redone her whole home since her daughter graduated. But, mostly, we miss you. It's not the same without you around."

You swallowed hard, trying to push down the surge of emotions threatening to overwhelm you at the endearing words you’ve been needing to hear lately. "I miss you too, Mom. It’s kind of late here..um, I’ll try to call again soon, okay?”

“Okay, Duckie. Don’t wait too long this time. I wanna hear all that you’re up to, okay?”

“Yeah.” you managed to choke out. “I love you..so much.”

She let out a light laugh, possibly thinking you’re in a loving mood tonight. “I love you too! Talk to you soon.”

You waited until the line disconnected before slowly putting the phone back down. The silence of the room suddenly became so overwhelming.

Covering your face, you tried to control your breathing, reminding yourself to calm down before you went and join the others. But the tears still welled up in your eyes and your vision blurred.

Would that be your last conversation with your Mother? Should you attempt to reach Jonathan again? What protocols would one have to follow when dealing with a curse?

There was a dip on the bed next to you and suddenly you were being engulfed into a pair of arms. They were so warm, so familiar, you don’t even have to open your eyes as you pushed your way into his chest.

“It’s okay,” Steve whispered as his hands rubbed at your back. “You’re okay.”

You don’t cry as much as you’d like to. Not when you knew you had to be around the others in just a few moments. But you allow the escape of Steve’s hug to give you a few moments of peace until you were pulling back.

“I’m sorry.” you sniffled. “I just..I just...”

The words died right off your tongue and you watched as he merely brought a hand up. Rubbing the pad of his thumb across the tears that stained your cheeks. His warm eyes looked over your face as he slowly shook his head. “You don’t have to explain yourself, baby. I just wanna be here for you.”

His words nearly made you break down all over again and you can’t help but push your face back into his chest once more. Resting against his pecs while listening to the sounds of his comforting heartbeat. He placed his head gently on top of yours, simply holding you close while you took the chance to calm down.

The interaction between the two of you was very much the opposite of what you guys had just a couple of hours ago. When you both tried ways to jab at each other. But to your dismay, like all other fights, Steve would always come to comfort you when you felt you least deserved it.

“Hey do you think you guys can go–”

The sudden voice of Robin booming into the doorway caused you both to pull back from each other. Her blue eyes went wide at the sight of you two before slowly turning into a small grin. “Am I interrupting anything?” she asked teasingly, until she noticed the leftover tears in your eyes. “Shit, am I?”

“Robin,” Steve sighed, letting go of you so he could get up from the bed. He stepped towards the door and closed it enough that it was only him that Robin could see. Giving you the chance to fix yourself up. “What were you gonna ask us?”

“Sorry,” she chuckled nervously. “Do you think you guys could maybe get us some pizza? We’re all kinda starved and don’t wanna bother Mrs. Wheeler or anything.”

“Oh, I’m not sure that’s a good thing right now..” Steve said, most likely thinking you needed a minute. But the idea of stepping out for a moment sounded a lot more pleasing when you really thought it over. “Maybe we could just-”

“We can go get it.” you said softly.

The two peeked turned at your voice, watching as you got off the bed, wiped your cheeks and made your way to the door. You reached around Steve to open it up again, allowing Robin to get a better look of you again.

“Are you sure?” she asked, moving to place a hand on your shoulder. “If you guys need a second it’ll be fine. I can try and heat us some frozen waffles or something.”

“It’s fine, Robs.” you reassured her, attempting to shoot her a small smile. “We can go.” Turning to glance at Steve, you give him a hopeful look. “If you’re up for it?”

His eyes were skeptical as he took in your question. Most likely because he probably didn’t believe your sudden change in demeanor from moments ago on the bed. But to your surprise, he’s not against it and slowly nodded his head. “Let’s go.”

As Steve drove down the winding path toward town, the tension in the car was slightly nerve wracking.

Quietly you sat beside him, trying to keep your composure together. Not wanting to go back to how you were not five minutes ago in Nancy’s room. But there’s no denying what was bound to happen. The moment Steve came into the room and overheard you, you knew what he was going to ask. If not now, then eventually.

The problem was, were you willing to tell him the truth?

From just a glance you could see as his eyes focused on the road ahead. Jaw clenched and lips pursed in a tight line. He was most likely running ideas about how to approach this with you. Not that you had any clue on how he could. It made the guilt return back quickly.

The whole fight earlier felt petty now.

Max was now closer to falling into Vecna’s curse, and there was a possibility that you might be next. How could you even care about stupid things like exes and kisses? Not that he was aware of the severity. All he knew was that his ex girlfriend was acting out of normal for a couple of weeks now. But in reality, you were far into this web of problems that you weren’t sure you had it in you to trap him in it with you.

How could you drag him in when you weren’t sure how to get out?

Carefully, he veered off the main road into the quiet woods, just outside of the main parts of town. You could feel your heartbeat quicken. How many times could you lie to Steve and tell him you were okay? Would he easily see through your lie again and call out the bullshit? There was no way he could attempt to unravel the myriad of problems surrounding you.

But like always, despite all your best efforts to push him away, he just came back with a force.

The car came to a slow stop and he turned off the engine. Cutting off the only noise left between the two of you. Outside the chilly spring night brought a blue hue over the woods. It was the same way it looked the other night when you were left to find your way back home.

You must have been shivering at the memory because suddenly Steve was slipping off his jacket and placing it over you. His eyes stayed focused on making sure you were covered up before he leaned back in his seat with a sigh. The smell of his cologne still lingered over his jacket and you can’t help but allow the heat of the fabric to comfort you briefly, giving you a small relief before you cleared your throat to speak up finally.

“So,” you said lamely, pointing out towards the field. “Chilly night isn’t it?”

He stared quietly, raising a brow at you like he was expecting some sort of breakdown.

“I, for one, think that it is too cold for Spring. Back home, Spring nights felt crisp but still nice enough for a walk.”

"So you’re just gonna act like what happened in Nancy’s room didn’t happen?" he frowned, his voice laced with worry.

You shook your head, trying not to dive into that as you plastered on a smile, hoping it would be enough to deflect his concern. "Nothing happened. That was just me being homesick.."

“Homesick? You’re kidding me..”

“It’s the truth! I haven’t been away from home in so long. It’s complicated. Not to mention, it’s been a long day and I’m a little tired.”

He scoffed lightly, his hand reaching out to grip onto the wheel tightly. "Bullshit, Trouble. You look like you haven't slept in days, you’re crying after a phone call home, you were just in an accident the same night you saw a girl die from some curse. When are you going to finally be honest with me, here?”

“I’m fine.” you replied, voice a little too forced. "Just... worried about Max too, you know? With everything that's been happening. It’s a lot.”

Steve's brow furrowed, his gaze lingering for a moment too long. He could always see right through you. Always sensing when something was off. It was both a blessing and a curse, especially now when you were desperately trying to keep your own secret buried.

"Look, we’re all worried, but I know there’s more. You're not just worried about Max, are you?" His voice was soft, though laced with a hint of hurt.

You swallowed hard, your throat suddenly dry as you tried to ignore the guilt coming back in your stomach again. "What do you mean?"

"It’s him too?" has asked carefully, his eyes never leaving yours. "You’re worried about Eddie too. I mean..that kiss..”

“Well, I am worried he might get attacked by a mob of evangelicals. But that kiss, it was just..it was nothing.” you said quickly, “He does it all the time. It’s more so to annoy me than to mean anything else.”

“That’s not what it looked like to me.” he mumbled, glancing out the window.

A lump formed in your throat. Trying to push out any sort of excuse that could ease him of the hurt he had over what transpired earlier. All this time, Eddie was the only thing that helped distract you from Steve. He didn’t care about making anything deep, and neither did you. It was perfect.

But now Steve was here, and he was trying to help you, and all you could think was to apologize for making things worse.

"I'm sorry, Steve," you whispered, reaching out to gently place a hand on his arm. "I want to say that it’s nothing, because it is nothing to me. I’m not even thinking about that. Right now I just want to work on making sure Max is okay."

“There’s more you’re not telling me.”

“I‘ve said all that I need to say—“

"No, nope. I’m not letting you avoid this," Steve said firmly, turning to face his body towards you. "We don’t lie to each other, okay? Even when you’re mad you always eventually tell me what’s wrong. But now? You’re just..”

“I’m just trying to keep focus, Steve.”

He quickly shook his head, frowning now. “You can't keep shutting me out, pretending like everything's okay when it's clearly not. I'm not going to stand by and watch you keep whatever it is that’s eating you up inside! I’ve made that mistake before and I won’t do it again.”

You wanted to protest, to tell him it wasn’t anything he should be concerned over, but the words caught in your throat. How else could you fail in keeping him safe when even keeping him out of the loop caused him to feel this hurt?

But before you could think of anything to say to him, his voice softened, his eyes searching yours as if the answers were right there. "I just want to help you, honey..I lo— I care about you, And it's killing me to see you like this. I made a promise to you a long time ago and all I do is keep breaking it.”

“Promise?” you whispered, leaning in close to him. “What promise?”

He reached out to cup the side of your face. Warming your cheek with the palm of his hand as he came in to rest his forehead against yours. “Last summer. Back in my room, I said no one was ever going to hurt you again. Because no one was going to look out for you better than me.” he whispered back. You stayed quiet, trying to take in those words again. Steve nervously licked over his lips, scared to push the limit of the conversation. “Do you remember why?”

The memory hit you instantly. The way you two looked over each other, trying to make sense of all the pain and suffering you both endured after Billy and being captured by the Russians. You never wanted to see Steve hurt again. You still don’t. His words, however, came back to your mind and you found your eyes slightly prickling with tears.

“..because I’m your girl.”

“That’s right.” he sighed, “You’re my girl..”

Without saying anything, he pulled you into his arms. Holding you so tightly, as if his arms could shield you from the world and all the doom that wanted to make its way in. And truthfully, in that moment, it really felt like they could.

“Can we just..forget about everything? Just for right now?” you asked, keeping your face pressed into his chest. “I don’t want to talk or think about breakups, exes, fighting, or curses. I just..want this right now. Just us.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, pulling back so he could hold your face in his hands. “We can do that.”

There’s a little disappointment in his eyes. Probably from the lack of progress in the conversation. But you��re grateful for the pause. Needing to be selfish just once more with Steve, and focus on the kindness and sincerity of his words that made the ache in your chest lighter.

“Can you say it again?” you asked, leaning close to his face. The faint brush of his breath flushed over your skin and you reached out to place a hand over his chest. Basking in his closeness to you.

A small, pleased sort of smile, pulled at his lips as he nodded his head slowly. He reached out to push a hair away from your face before he finally spoke again.

“You’re my girl.” A kiss to your forehead.

“You’re my girl.” A kiss to your cheek.

He took his time leaning down, only brushing his lips briefly over yours, affectionately. “My girl.” he breathed before he sealed the moment with one last kiss.

The night thankfully didn’t result in more crying. After the two of you allowed yourselves just a little bit of time to just forget everything, you remembered that you had a whole group of people to feed. Some who were kind enough not to point out how long it took for you guys to receive the food.

Eventually the full bellies led for some to go in and out of falling asleep. You took the chance of having a quieter basement go over everything. Sleep, as much as it called to you, did not sound like a good idea. Not when every night now it’s led to another nightmare.

You managed to keep yourself busy, going over all the files again as well as taking in the new information about this Victor Creel guy. Now and then you’d peek over and watch Max over at the desk. She had grown quiet after eating, only asking Nancy for a pen, paper, and envelopes before settling into the back of the room.

It was hard not to want to pester her with worrisome questions. You knew better than to poke her with that kind of approach. But it didn’t help ease you at all. Not when you knew she was probably scared out of her mind.

Eventually the night passed and it wasn’t until morning came that Nancy and Robin left to go try and reach one of the boys who Nancy had called the night before. You offered to join them but they pressed for you to stay back when they noticed your tiredness. It was decided you’d stay back and attempt a bit of a nap.

After a brief hour or two spent up in Nancy’s quiet room, you made your way down to the basement again after downing two pain relief pills. The dreaded headache only turned worse after the reveal of symptoms. But now you were up again and seeking out the company of the others.

You had just sat down beside Dustin, relaxing against the cushion when the other two boys decided to venture into the small pile of information left for them to read over again. It wasn’t until Steve’s grumbling that you peeked an eye open to look over at them.

“Okay, be honest. Uh, you guys understand any of this?”

“No.” Lucas sighed defeatedly.

“Pretty straightforward.”

“Pretty much all of it.”

You and Dustin looked over at each other approvingly before casting a glance over at Steve who was frowning over at the two of you now.

“Oh, straightforward, really?” Steve asked, perplexed, eyes shifting between the two of you.

“Well, what’s confusing to you?” Dustin sighed, tiredly. “So far, everyone Vecna cursed has died, except for this old Victor Creel dude Nancy found. He’s the only known survivor. If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it’s him.”

“Exactly,” you chimed in. “Which is why he’s our best lead on this.”

“Yeah, that’s assuming he was cursed, Hendersons, which we don’t even know.” Steve muttered, a hard frown on his face. “God, How can Vecna have existed in the fifties? It doesn’t make sense.”

“As far as we know, Eleven didn’t create the Upside Down. She opened a gate to it.”

“Jonathan and I asked Will about this before, he mentioned that the Upside Down looked sort of out of time. Like everything was aged. But that was only from the area surrounding his house, not sure about the whole town..” you said, trying to remember if Nancy had ever mentioned anything. Dustin seemed to agree with your direction, snapping a finger at you.

“The Upside Down has probably been around for thousands of years. Millions. I wouldn’t be surprised if it predated the dinosaurs.”

Steve couldn’t help but grow even more frustrated at that. Waving his arms over in a crossing motion. “Dinosaurs? What are we–”

“Okay! Okay!” Lucas intervened. “But if a gate didn’t exist in the fifties, how did Vecna get through?”

“Oh! And how’s he getting through now?” Steve threw in, pointing to Lucas.

“And why now?”

“And why then? Just pops out in the fifties, kills one family, and he's like, ‘Yeah, I’m good!’ and poof, he just disappears. Just..gone?” You watched carefully as Steve put together his own idea, waving his fingers in the air dramatically. “Then only to return thirty years later and start killing some random teens? No, I don’t buy it.”

He glared down at the newspaper again before starting up again. “Straight forward my ass.” he mumbled, turning to go over to his seat. “You know what? Honestly, Hendersons, a little humility now and then, it wouldn’t hurt you guys.”

Dustin is quick to apologize. Muttering out a ‘sorry’ while he allowed Steve the small win.

The man looked over at you next, raising a brow questionably, but all you could do is chuckle at his reaction. Holding your hands up defeatedly before settling back into a resting position. With a flick to the paper and cross of his legs, Steve finally seemed to relax again.

It was only a few more seconds of silence before Dustin changed the subject.

“Any idea what she’s writing?” The four of you slowly diverted your attention to the girl in the back. She was still quiet, working at the desk like she did late into the night. “Did she sleep?”

“No,” you answered softly, trying not to speak so loud and clue her in on your guys' tactless conversation about her.

“I mean, would you?” Lucas asked.

“I wouldn’t.” you answered honestly. That earned you a worried glance from Steve. Thankfully, before any questions could come out from that, the loud shut of the basement door cut into the room.

Nancy and Robin quickly came down the stairs, a small approving look on their faces as they held onto the folders you had been patiently waiting for.

“Okay, so, we have a plan.” Nancy announced, mostly to those unaware of last night’s conversation. The files were given to the others, allowing them a clue in while Robin explained where they had gone that morning.

“Thanks to Nancy’s minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame.”

“Ugh, Notre Dame?” you asked, earning a small amused look from your friends before they passed you the last folder. Apparently you’d be joining them this time.

“I’m now Ruth.”

“And I’m Rose.”

“Ruth?” Steve asked amusedly. You would have joined in on the silly name, if your eyes had not landed over the name at the top of your page.

“Rhonda?!” you gaped, eyes flickering between the paper and your two friends. “Of all the names–”

“The Beach Boys happened to be playing on the radio when we couldn’t think of another name.” Robin excused quickly, waving her hand to point over to the student status card. “Look at your pretty extracurriculars.”

Dustin leaned over to glance at your file. “You guys do have nice GPAs.” he said, throwing in some positive feedback.

“Thanks.” Nancy said cheerfully before explaining further. “So we called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we’d like to speak with Victor Creel for a thesis we’re co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics–”

“To which they said no.” Robin threw in, adding some reality into the plans.

“But, we landed a three o’clock with the director.”

“Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor.”

“Then maybe we can rid Max of this curse.” Nancy finished, hopefulness in her voice.

“All easy things, of course.” you muttered sarcastically, handing your file out to the small rotation that was happening with the boys.

“Yeah, about that.” Steve joined in, “We’ve been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh, we got some questions.”

“Lots of questions.” Lucas emphasized.

“So do we,” Nancy agreed. “Hopefully, Victor has the answers.”

“Wait, wait, wait a second.” You all looked over to Steve as he confusedly looked over the papers before him. “Where’s mine?”

It was only a matter of seconds into Nancy’s room that Steve went into a mini tantrum.

“Nancy, you’re outta your mind if you think I’m babysitting again.”

“Okay, first of all, they’re not babies anymore. And Max is in real danger. She needs people around her.” she turned to open her closet before stopping. “Also, It wasn’t just my idea, you know.” she said to him, throwing a glance over at you.

Steve looked at you with wide eyes.

“Way to throw me under the bus.” you muttered, making your way to lie down on her perfectly made bed. Thankfully he didn’t let that part of the conversation linger and returned back to the main focus.

“I know she needs people. But why does it always have to be me?”

“Oh my God, you have a Tom Cruise poster!” Robin gushed as she came into the room now. The excitement on her face is so opposite of Steve’s annoyed one that you can’t help but be entertained from your spot. “You have a Tom Cruise poster~.”

“That’s old!” Nancy replied, trying to justify her previous celebrity crush.

“You act like you’ve never been in a girl’s room before.” you chuckled to your friend, watching her go through Nancy’s tapes next.

“This is Nancy’s room, It’s like a whole new personality to find out.”

“Can you please not touch anything?” she tried telling Robin. Again, Steve is left to try and bring the focus back onto him and his current agenda.

Leaving the babysitting business.

“I just-I just- I can’t do anything here, Nance. Maybe I can be helpful with this asylum director dude. I don’t know. I could turn on my..my charm.”

“Not the charm we need.” she shut down kindly, still hurting his ego in the process.

“Ouch,” he turned before he caught you watching comfortably from the bed. “Well, why does she get to go?” he pouted, pointing over at you

“Hey!” you frowned, sitting up now. “What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing! Just that if I’m stuck babysitting again then so should you.”

“We need her.” Nancy butt in, poking her head out from the closet. “Not only is she Ivy League type, but some of her assets might be what we need to convince them if all else fails.”

“What assets?” you and Steve asked at the same time.

“She means your boobs.” Robin said plainly, holding onto one of Nancy’s sunglasses from her dresser. “Let’s be real, she’s as hot as she is smart so it’ll be of use when we need to get through.”

You couldn’t help but glance down at your chest, frowning at the ‘assets’ in question before your eyes landed back on Steve for his reaction. He’s unfortunately looking at the same thing as you were, nodding his head despite the frustrated frown still on his face.

“I’d like to make a note that her confidence is good enough to convince anyone she belongs in a room.” Nancy threw in, giving you a sympathetic smile. “Plus, she can charm the pants off pretty much any guy that comes her way.”

“I suddenly feel dirty.” you scoffed, rolling off the bed. “But I suppose I have no other choice but to play the role of femme fatale.”

“I can charm.” he grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ve charmed the charmer.” he pointed out, looking at you again.

Nancy looked over at him with a sad smile as she tried to reassure him of things again. “I just– Look, I did a little digging last night, and it turns out this Dr. Hatch is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Harvard visiting scholar, okay? This is a lifelong student of the world. And if we’re gonna win him over, we’re gonna have to convince him that we are too. That, like him, we are true academic scholars.”

“Holy shit.” Robin whispered while playing the music box loudly. “There’s a little ballerina in here.”

It’s comically quiet for a second while the three of you gaped over at her. Steve can’t help but look at Nancy dumbfoundedly.

“Academic scholar?” he asked, using his hand to point attention to his friend. “She’s giving you an academic scholar vibe? Yeah..”

“No,” Nancy replied honestly. “But, she will.”

You all cast your eyes over the frilly pink shirt Nancy had been rummaging for her in the closet for. It’s a lovely top you’ve seen your friend wear before. But for someone like Robin, whom you’re pretty sure you haven’t even seen in a skirt before, it must have been a frilly nightmare.

“Oh, please, tell me that you’re joking.” muttered Robin, horrified.

You made a mental note that while you were more than happy to be a team player, you weren’t going to be walking around a mental asylum cinched into Nancy’s clothes. “I’m going to shop over at the Karen Wheeler selection.”

Leaving the room, you quickly made your way over to Nancy’s parents room. Thankful that the other members of the Wheeler family had set out for a busy day to give you the chance to sneak in. It was only a second later that Steve came in after you. Frown still on his face but attitude slowly disappeared when he noticed you started to change.

“I don’t think I need any help here, Steve.” you said playfully, reaching for one of Karen’s two piece suits.

It was a pastel green peplum top with a nicely fitted blazer skirt. The pastel color wasn’t your thing but it was paired up with a silky white button shirt. It made the whole ensemble look mature with the small bit of sultriness you needed. “Props to you, Karen.” you mused, squeezing inside the skirt.

You were about to reach over for the top next when Steve suddenly took your hands. “Trouble, we need to talk.” he said softly, stopping you from continuing getting dressed.

“You talk, I’ll get dressed.”

"I don't like this," Steve said while he watched you reach back for the top again. "You guys don't even know what you're walking into. And you’re doing it alone"

“How can three people be alone?” You asked, letting out a long sigh before buttoning up your shirt. “Also, we know what we’re walking into. A guarded asylum, run by staff who we’re hopefully going to trick into letting us interview one of their high risk schizophrenics patients.” you said simply, reaching over for the blazer next. “Kinda, straightforward.”

That earned you a tired look.

"Are you sure about this, Trouble?" His voice was laced with worry, his eyes searching yours for some sort of reassurance.

“Look, we’re just going to ask some questions and hopefully get out of there with something useful.”

“But what if something happens? What if you guys get caught?”

“Then you’ll get to be that brave Knight in white Nikes, again, right?” You teased, reaching out to cup the side of his face. He let out a heavy sigh, resting his hand on top of yours as he leaned in closer.

“Trouble, you know what I me—”

You pressed your lips against his, kissing him gently and stopping him from running into more scenarios. “We have each other, we’ll be safe.” You promised, pecking his lips once more before you pulled back to look at him.

Steve's concern persisted, his gaze searching yours for any sign of hesitation. "I just don't want anything to happen to you," he murmured.

“Nothing’s gonna happen to me.” You said softly, rubbing your thumb across his cheek. “Worst case scenario is we get arrested for false documents and that’ll just be a phone call to my Dad. Which Dustin or Max will help get for you.”

He nodded his head slowly and you gave a small pat to his cheek before letting go to switch out for some cute pumps Karen had hidden in the back of her closet. The outfit looked good, but was it enough for what you guys needed to do?

“All right,” you sighed, grabbing his attention again while you fixed your hair. Hoping it was still fine after having such a restless night. “How do I look?”

Steve, for the first time, didn’t seem to be bothered now that he was watching as you turned in spot to give him an overall view. His hands reached out to grab at your hips as he pulled you closer. Letting his height tower over you while he gave you a small smirk.

“Like a scholar,” he murmured. “A very pretty scholar, who uses her kisses to try to make me forget how worried I am about her.”

Your heart beats a little fast, but you find yourself almost pressing up to him. “And is it working?”

“Sorta.”

Nancy suddenly called out your name from down the hall, cutting the conversation short.

Or so you thought.

Steve waited until you were walking toward the door before he reached for your hand and tugged you back into his arms. You’re about to ask what he was doing when he leaned in to press his lips against yours again.

The kiss is deeper this time. More needy and hot than the sweet calming one you gave to him. Instantly, your body fell for it and tried to mold against his. There were always going to be unsettled feelings between the two of you, but the physical ones never seemed to be the problem.

It’s not until Robin called out your name, more aggravated than the way Nancy did, that he reluctantly pulled back. His eyes were warm, and looking at you in a way that made your cheeks burn a bit. "Just... be careful, okay, Rhonda?" he pleaded, his knuckles brushing lightly against your cheek.

The simple touch sent a shiver down your spine and you nodded meekly before offering a faint smile. “We will,” you reassured him. “Mr. Charmer.”

He shot back a beautiful smile as he finally let you go. From down the hall you could see as he picked up your discarded clothes while he whistled a familiar tune that tugged at your heart. It wasn’t until you were at the bottom of the stairs that you noticed your slightly disgruntled friends.

Nancy was rubbing the side of her head while Robin awkwardly kept adjusting at her bra. You open your mouth to tease her about her being dressed up as a Nancy clone, when she held up a hand before you could make any comment. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” she grunted before stalking to the front door.

Nancy and you were left rushing after her until you were all outside. The other two led the way towards Nancy’s station wagon when you stopped and noticed Steve’s car parked nearby. The front windows were down a bit, giving you a look inside to something you’ve been aching to see again.

Running to the door, you reached your hand in and carefully tugged on the sun visor until you were able to pull the metal out. Not wanting the other girls to catch you, you ran back towards the car and quickly climbed into the back seat.

It’s not until the drive over had begun that you finally opened up your palm and stared down at the item. The sun perfectly illuminated the shining S, giving you something of comfort to have it in your possession again. You quickly pushed the necklace into the pocket of your jacket, feeling it relax your silently anxious nerves.

“So what did you steal from his car?” Nancy asked, looking out the front window as she pulled out of her driveway onto the street. Her blue eyes flickered over to you in the rear view mirror, almost like she already knew.

“Just...something for luck.”

The three of you arrive at Pennhurst in a good amount of time. There was still time left in the day to get what you needed and hopefully return to Max before the twenty-four hours were up.

As you all exited the car, you couldn’t help but watch as Robin struggled to balance herself in the very low heels that Nancy had her in. “I feel like I’m watching a newborn deer walk.” you said with a sly grin.

The girl bobbed her head over at you, giving you a glare as she adjusted her footing again.

“Do not test me, Henderson. I can’t breathe in this thing, and I’m itchy. I’m itching all over!” she huffed.

“It’s not all about comfort.” Nancy retorted. “Okay? We’re academics.”

“Who are evidently coming straight from Easter brunch.” Robin hissed, stumbling once more before she gripped at the side of her underarms. “Also, this bra that you gave me is really pinching my boobs!”

“We’re also college girls and college girls definitely don’t say boobs. Not to mention, they know how to handle wearing heels. Especially measly one inch heels, Robs.”

“Oh, I hope you get rotten eggs in your basket this year.” she swore, giving you a small glare as she tugged at the sides again. Nancy let out a small, tired, exhale and turned to look over at the two of you.

“Okay. Could you two just let me do the talking? If that’s even possible?” she asked, sounding overwhelmed.

“It’s not only possible, it’s inevitable.” Robin threw back. “Because shortly, I’ll be dead from strangulation.”

Somehow you three managed to cover up the discomfort between the three of you in order to enter inside and get in for the meeting with Dr. Hatch.

It’s a wasted few short minutes of him overgoing all three files while you guys patiently sat around his desk. Robin somehow, got between the two of you, and started to itch again. Nearly getting the attention from the man now and then.

“Three point nine GPAs.” He mused offhandedly. “The three of you…impressive.”

“And this is a recommendation from Professor Brantley.” Nancy added in, offering the man one of the other letters written up from the Newspaper lackeys.

“Yeah, I know Larry. Quite well, actually.” The director replied, making all three of you sit up a bit straighter. His eyes looked from the paper as he gave off a small teasing smile. “Eh, you know what they say, ‘Those who can’t do, teach.’”

The other two girls give off an encouraging chuckle, while you can’t help but open your mouth at this guy’s slightly patronizing behavior.

“I always felt Aristotle said it better,” you pointed out, leaning forward to throw off one of your more charming smiles. “Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach.”

The other two girls nervously glanced your way, raising a brow at your sudden opinion. Over at the desk, sat Hatch as he took in the words you said. Only letting out an amused chuckle before he nodded his head. “That is a positive way of looking at it.”

“That’s actually why we’re here.” Nancy spoke up. “I mean, we can only learn so much in a classroom.”

“Mm. And I’m sympathetic to your struggle, truly. But there is a protocol to visiting a patient like Victor. You have to put in a request, and then you have to undergo a screening process, at which point the board will make a decision.”

You felt frustrated hearing his reply. All those were logical reasons that you three did not have time for. Glancing to your right, you watched as Robin began to squirm in her seat. Adjusting the collar and edges of her skirt over and over as she tried not to scratch. You reached out to grab at her hand, giving her a warning look that only caused her to pout at you.

“I can see you’re disappointed. But I’m more than happy to give you a tour of our facility. Perhaps you can even speak to some patients in our low-security wing.”

“And we’d..we would love that.” Nancy said, looking over at you guys to nod in agreement. “It’s just that, um..our thesis is due next month.”

“And you’re out of time.” he figured.

“Unfortunately, yes.” you sighed, trying to sound a little guilty about it. “Things got a little pushed back–”

“Whose fault is that?” he asked sharply, nearly making you throw him a glare. From the side you watched Nancy’s eyes widen a bit as she attempted to throw in a bit of damage control.

“Ours. Absolutely. And I do apologize–”

“Don’t apologize, Ruth. Screw that!” Robin interrupted. “The fact of the matter is, we did put in a request months ago and were denied. And then we reapplied and were denied again. And coming here was our last-ditch effort to save our thesis. And I really..I can’t breathe in this thing!” she said, turning to glance at Nancy.

“Well, Rose, maybe you’d like to go outside and get some air. I think Rhonda and I can handle this.” she insisted, giving Robin a pleading look.”

“Maybe I should, Ruth!” she said, slapping at the arms of her chair before she got up from her seat. “Because I’m starting to think this whole thing is a colossal mistake. I’m breaking out in a rash. My boobs hurt. And I’ll tell you the truth, Anthony. May I call you Anthony? These aren’t actually my clothes. I borrowed them because I wanted you to take us seriously. Because nobody takes girls seriously in this field. They just don’t.”

From your seat you can’t help but gape at your friend because either she’s been taking acting lessons without your knowledge or that shirt was really so torturous that it was giving her the best ending speech of her life.

“We don’t look the part or whatever. But can I tell you a story? 1978, I was at summer camp. And my counselor Drew told me and everyone in Cabin C, the true story of the Victor Creel Massacre. And little Petey McHew..You know Petey, right, Ruth, Rhonda?”

“Of..of course.” Nancy stuttered.

“Totally!” you chuckled nervously, wondering where this was going to go.

“Yeah. Little Petey McHew started sobbing right there on the spot. Full-on hyperventilating. And all the other campers, they couldn’t sleep for weeks. And I couldn’t sleep either but not because I was scared. Because I was obsessed with the question, ‘What would drive a human being to commit such unimaginable acts?’ Other kids, they wanted to be astronauts, basketball players, rockstars. But I wanted to be you! I wanted to be you. So, forgive me if I’ll now try anything in my power, including wearing this ridiculous outfit, if I might get to speak to the man that ignited my passion and learn a little bit more about how his twisted, but let’s face it, totally fascinating mind works. So, yes, we don’t have the official paperwork, but don’t tell me that cry-baby Petey McHew wouldn’t have gotten an audience with Victor in a matter of moments if he’d asked politely, because you and I both know that he would.”

A beat of pause and you were practically glued to the edge of your seat. Glancing between a very red faced Robin and what looked like a suddenly moved Hatch.

“So..ten minutes with Victor. That’s all I ask.”

It felt like forever as the three of you stared over at the man with bated breath.

“Follow me, girls.”

Without question, you all shot out from your seats and quickly followed the man out. Robin stood proudly between the two of you, allowing Hatch to lead the way while she held her palms out for you both. Nancy and you happily gave her a pleased smirk before pulling your hands out and giving Robin the well deserved high-five.

By the time you guys were walking the grounds of Pennhurst, the sun had died even more. Throwing the whole yard into an overcast gray as the four of you made the way to Creel’s holding.

“These are our gardens.” Hatch announced. “Beautiful aren’t they? We allow them two hours of outside time a day.”

“Can’t they just escape?” Robin asked, glancing at one of the patients waving nearby.

“They could. But the vast majority choose to be here. They like it here.”

“And they’ve said this themselves?” you muttered, worriedly glancing over to a particular woman near a flower bed. Something about this place didn’t feel right to you and his indifferent tone wasn’t helping you feel any better about it.

The three of you are led into a building. The soft sounds of music could be heard from outside the room before you guys walked in.

“This is one of our more popular areas. The listening room.” Hatch said in a much quieter voice. “We found that music has a particularly calming effect on the broken mind. The right song, particularly one which holds some personal meaning, can prove a salient stimulus.”

The right song..

That sparked an interest within you. Recalling how just the other night, Eddie managed to calm down your bad dream with the simple strum of the familiar tune.

Hatch straightened up as he led you girls towards a room in the back. Voice turned eerie as he went on. “But there are those who are beyond a cure.”

Down the stairs, what looked like a basement floor, stood a lonely guard. Curiously glancing at the four of you guys while you made your descent.

“Uh, Dr. Hatch, do you think it might be possible for us to speak to Victor alone?”

He paused at that, casting a shocked glance at her question. “Alone?” he asked, walking back over. You perked up, offering him a kind smile as you tried to help make the idea sound not as crazy as it really was.

“I have to second that request. I think it’d be beneficial for the three of us to gain hands-on experience in this.”

Robin nervously nodded along with you, throwing in her piece.

“I-I think that we would just love the challenge of speaking with Victor without the safety net of an expert such as yourself. Then we could really rub it in Professor Bradley’s face. When we get back to campu–”

“Professor Bradley?” he interrupted. “I don’t believe I know a Professor Bradley.”

“Brantley!” Nancy corrected, trying to fix Robin's slip up. “She..she meant to say Brantley.”

“Didn’t I say Brantley? What did I say?”

“You keep messing up today!” you playfully chided, forcing a giggle to come out as you lightly slapped the back of her hand.

“Sorry, silly me. Words, letters.” she chuckled nervously. “Guess I’m just nervous..I mean, excited. SO excited to speak with Victor. Preferably, as they mentioned, alone?”

Much to your dismay, the suspicion never left his eyes as he watched over the three of you quietly. You’re beginning to think that this whole plan has failed and that you three would be leaving with nothing. But soon enough his stoic face broke as he spoke.

“Yes,” he said, smiling over his frown now. “Why not? You’ve caught me in a rebellious mood.”

You forced a chuckle with the others, hopefully sounding enthralled with his humor enough that he’ll return back to trying to be charming once more.

“There’s something rather urgent I need to check on anyway, so.. Sure.” he said before looking towards the guard. “Keep a close eye on them.”

With that, he quickly made his leave to the stairs. All of you shot off thanks to him as he made his exit before following the guard into the area.

It’s an ominous hall of cells. Clamoring and groaning with other patients that seemingly weren’t allowed the freedom of wandering the lawns of the asylum. You can feel your heartbeat in your throat with every step after the guard, not daring looking into the cells of the patients you walked past while the guard laid out some rules.

“Do not startle him. Do not touch him. Do not pass him anything. Stand five feet away from the bars at all times. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.” the three of you said together.

He approached the last cell of the block, using his baton to hit against the metal bars to the patient inside.

“Victor!” he sang out. “Today’s your lucky day! You got visitors…real pretty ones.”

There’s an echoing scratching noise that had you wincing slightly. Victor said nothing, keeping his back to you guys.

“Must be in one of his moods.” shrugged the guard. “Have fun.”

Without another taunt, he left down the hall from where you came from. Leaving the three of you to get started on the work finally. Nancy is the first one confident enough to speak out to the man, ignoring the fact that he was quietly snarling to himself in the chair.

“Victor?” she called out gently. “My name is Nancy. Nancy Wheeler. And these are my friends.”

You and Robin quickly tell him your names, careful with how loudly you spoke out to him.

“Um, we have some questions.” Robin added, voice higher with nerves.

“I don’t talk to reporters.” Victor spat out. “Hatch knows that.”

“We’re not reporters.” Nancy quickly, but gently, corrected. “We’re here because..we believe you. And because..we need your help.”

Robin took her turn, her voice steady despite the fear in her eyes. “Whatever killed your family, we think it’s back.”

Silence hung heavy in the air as you three waited for a response. When none came, you sucked in a sharp breath, summoning every ounce of courage your friends had to come to you. "And we're not leaving until we get some answers, Victor.."

All your words must have sparked something of an interest to the man, causing him to pull away from the desk and emerge from the shadows. Revealing an older man. Worn down by years of torment that must have come from that night. But the most haunting part of his appearance were his eyes. Swollen eyes shut by some previous stab wound.

But even with that in mind, there was something about his gaze that felt off. As if he was staring right through you.

“..When he attacks, our friend described it as a trance. Like a waking nightmare. That’s why we think he’s coming for her next. Does any of this, anything we’ve told you, sound like what happened to your family?”

From your spot you could hear as Victor’s breath began to shake. Almost fearfully.

“Victor.” Nancy spoke out again. “I know this is hard–”

“You don’t know anything!” he bellowed.

His voice echoed throughout the hall. Almost shutting up any other noise around you guys.

“You’re right.” Nancy nodded slowly. “We don’t know. That’s why we’re here. To learn, to understand.”

“We need to know how you survived that night.” Robin added, earning a disbelieving laugh from the man.

“Survived?” he asked sardonically. “Is that what you call this? Did I survive?” He slowly approached the bars, almost as if he knew where to direct his growing anger towards. The three of you pressed closer to each other. Keeping a safe space back as he spoke again. “No, I assure you, I am still very much in hell.”

Surprisingly, that did not stop Victor from beginning his story.

The return home from war, the new fortune that fell into his family’s lives, and the promise of a new chapter in their lives. The reminiscence in his voice almost sounded..loving, far beyond the tone of a man who had murdered those he spoke of.

“It was a magnificent home. Alice said it looked like it was from a fairy tale.”

He spoke of the name so fondly, almost like sighing her name brought relief to him.

“Alice. Was this your daughter?” Nancy asked.

“Mhm, Yeah. But Henry, my boy, he was a sensitive child..and I could see he felt something was wrong.” His voice turned low for his other child. Sort sombering to his previous mood. “We had one month of peace in that house. And then it began..”

He shook his head slowly. Memories seemingly coming to his mind.

“Dead animals, mutilated, tortured, began to appear near our home. Rabbits, squirrels, chickens, even dogs. The police chief blamed the attacks on a wildcat. This..” He paused to let out another feigned laugh. “This was no wildcat. This was an evil. An evil neither animal nor human.”

He walked towards the bars again as he whispered out next words.

“This was a spawn of Satan. A demon. And it was even closer than I realized.”

You felt a shiver run down your spine. Trying to picture out what it was that could have been attacking their home. But like the night you saw Chrissy die, you knew that force was unseeable. That its fury came with no warning.

“My family began to have encounters conjured by this demon. Nightmares. Waking, living nightmares. This demon, it seemed to take pleasure in tormenting us. Even poor, innocent Alice.”

So this curse spared no one. You couldn’t help but think. If his daughter wasn’t safe from it, neither would Max. And that made your stomach turn even more. You pushed your hand into your pocket, squeezing around the metal of the necklace. It brought a moment of comfort until you listened to more of Victor’s story.

“It wasn’t long before I began to have encounters of my own.” he recalled, turning away from you all. “I suppose all evil must have a home. And though I had not a rational explanation for it, I..I could sense this demon..always close. I became convinced it was hiding, nesting, somewhere within the shadows of our home.”

You can’t help but think about this presence. This sense of dread, always creeping up on you these days. Like it was haunting you.

“It had cursed our town. It had cursed our home..It had cursed us.”

A hand reached out for your arm and you glanced down to see Nancy gripping onto you while her face stared hard at Victor. Quietly, you gave you a small reassuring pat before watching as Victor flopped down onto his bed defeatedly.

“It took Virginia first.”

The flashback of Chrissy’s body being twisted and pulled into different directions came to mind. You barely knew her and it shocked you to your core. You couldn’t imagine the horrors if you had to see it happen to someone you loved. Someone like St–

“I tried to get the children out, to save them!” he exclaimed, pulling back your attention. “..But I was back to France, back in the war..It..it was a memory. I had thought German soldiers were inside. I ordered its shelling. I was wrong.”

Victor physically started to become tormented by his own words. The very words that must have been half the torture as whatever was going through his mind. You felt yourself being pulled in, wishing to help this poor man, but you had to hear it all.

“This demon, it was taunting me. And I was sure it would take me, just as he’d taken my Virginia. But then..I heard..another voice. At first, I believed it was an angel. And I..I followed her, only to find myself in a nightmare far worse…While I was away, the demon took my children. Henry slipped into a coma shortly after that. A week later, he died.”

Without realizing it, you pressed against the metal bars. Listening to what you thought might be the very future you were to face. But even with that new fear in you, you couldn’t help but seek out one missing piece.

“Did you hear it?” you whispered.

“Hear what?” he muttered back.

“The ticking..”

He turned his whole body around, facing in your direction calmly before he nodded his head.

“Yes..it was there..it was always there.”

You staggered back, hope fleeting quickly as you came to realize that even with your small difference in things. Your fate would end the same. From the side you could feel Nancy and Robin cast you a worried look before Victor spoke up again.

“I tried to join them…I tried!” His voice sounded almost like a small child, pleading for forgiveness to his upset Mother. He raised up two fists and pressed them to his eyes. It weighed down on your already heavy heart.

“Hatch stopped the bleeding.” he sobbed. “He wouldn’t let me join them!”

The three of you watched as he slowly lied down on the bed. Reaching up to his pillow to hold close to his face for comfort.

“The angel you followed, who was she?” asked Nancy gently.

He didn't answer as he swayed gently. Only humming out the best that he could in his distress state. It sounded familiar. Something you’ve heard long ago. But you couldn’t quite recall it now.

“Victor?..Victor!”

“Is he everything you hoped he would be?”

You guys jumped at the booming voice, turning around to glance down the hall. Hatch, along with two security guards behind him, were making their way over now.

“I just had a very interesting conversation with Professor Brantley! Perhaps we should discuss in my office while we wait for the police.”

The three of you were quickly rushed out of the holding cells. Pushing impatiently through the stairs until you were back in the listening room. Nancy raced after Hatch, trying to plead out to him.

“You’re not listening. Our friend is in danger!”

“Do you really expect me to believe anything you have to say at this point?”

“It’s the truth!”

“You are free to tell your sob story to the police.”

You clung close to Robin’s side since leaving the cell. Victor’s words still echoed in your mind as you guys weaved through the tables of people. Every now and then a guard would give your shoulder a shove and you’d have to step faster to keep close to the other two.

Once you guys were back outside, Robin gripped at your arm and pushed you close to Nancy as she leaned in to speak to you two better.

“Victor said the night of the attack, everything went on in the house, but he made specific mention of music.”

You nodded your head a little. “The night at Eddie’s trailer. The only reason I knew something was up was because of the lights outside. But there wasn’t any music..”

“Right, but that might have been the key difference!” she pointed out. “He said music was playing. And then, when we asked him about the angel, he started to hum.”

She hummed the tune a bit before singing out the lyrics. “Say nighty-night and kiss me. Hold me tight..”

“Dream a Little Dream of Me!” Nancy caught on.

“Yeah, Ella Fitzgerald.”

“The voice of an angel!” you and Nancy gasped.

“Hatch said that music can reach parts of the brain that words can’t. So maybe that’s the key, a lifeline.”

“A lifeline back to reality.” Nancy added.

“Something to ground them.” you muttered, mostly to yourself. But would that have really worked at the stage when you and Eddie were calling out to Chrissy? It wasn’t just a trance she was in, she was being lifted off the Earth. You were so lost in thought, you almost missed catching your friends checking over their shoulders.

“You’re gonna have to lose those.” Nancy muttered towards your feet as she stole one more glance.

“Lose them?” you asked confused, looking from your feet to the guards behind you three.

“I think we can beat him.” Nancy whispered. This time it was Robin’s turn to be confused.

“What?”

“To the car.”

Robin’s face paled a bit at the idea.

“Okay. I’m warning you right now, I have terrible coordination. Like it took me six months longer to walk than all the other babies.”

“Yeah, I’m not really any better.” you sighed, feeling the rush already start to climb up your body. “Last time I tried running off I got caught.”

“She’s right.” Robin nodded. “Those Russian guards caught her in seconds.”

Nancy gave you two both exasperated looks before she sternly turned towards the way she wanted you three to go. “Just follow my lead.”

“No, my God!” Robin panicked.

In a split second the three of you sprinted off in the lawn. Shoes flying off feet as you ran through the grounds, past the orderly and patients that covered the large lawn. The guards continued to call out for the three of you to stop but you guys pushed through.

Behind you Robin was panicking, and you were trying to control the dry heave that wanted to come out of your throat as you attempted to follow Nancy. You could hear one of the patients call out as you all zoomed past him.

“Cinderella, you dropped your shoe!”

You were definitely gonna have to buy Karen Wheeler a nice pair of pumps after this.

Somehow you guys managed to make it to the front of the Asylum. The air burned your lungs and you let out a tired cry at the sight of the station wagon. All of you quickly climbed inside, shutting the doors in record timing. Nancy’s hands were barely on the wheel before the guards began to pound at the windows.

“GOGOGOGOGO!” Robin babbled, panicked at the sight of the men.

The tires screeched loudly as Nancy shot out of the parking spot. It’s a mess of emotions as you let out a small thankful whine while Robin continued to panic.

“Holy shit! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!”

“You really are a weird runner!” Nancy said to Robin, earning an annoyed look from the girl. Dustin’s voice perked up from the radio, cutting into the quick celebration.

“Robin, where the hell are you? This is a code red. I repeat, a code red!”

“Max!” you gasped, allowing Robin’s steady hand to take the radio from you.

“Dustin, it’s Robin. We copy!”

“Holy shit, finally! Please, please tell me you guys have this figured out!”

“It’s music! She needs to hear music as a lifeline. Use a song she’s connected with to bring her back!”

The line went painfully quiet.

“Oh God.” you gasped, feeling the tears spring to your eyes. Not Max. It couldn’t happen to her. Not the small girl who sparked such a fiery personality. The one who offered you nothing but a genuine friendship back home. The only person who understood what it was like dealing with the real Billy. She was your friend, she was like family at this point. And despite the current rifts that hit your current relationship, you still deeply cared for her.

If she was going through what Chrissy and Fred did—you weren’t ready for that reality.

“Please not her.”

Robin could only reach forward to grip at your hand while Nancy pressed harder on the gas. Jerking the car a bit as she sped back towards town. You quickly began to hyperventilate, wondering if you’ve just lost your dear friend when suddenly Dustin’s voice broke through again.

“We got her! Shit..She’s back, it worked!”

All three of you let out a sigh of relief together.

“Thank God.” you heard Robin whisper.

The beat of your heart is still erratic and you cover your face to take a second and catch your breath. It wasn’t over yet. You guys still had time.

“Time?” said a familiar deep voice beside you.

Slowly, you pulled your hands away from your face. Around you the world began to shift, turning into the dark middle of the night as it took you into a different reality. You were driving suddenly. Holding onto the large wheel of the car that seemed so familiar.

“No.” you whispered, shaking your head, this couldn’t be real. You were..you were just in the station wagon. Turning your head, you were shocked to find Billy sitting on the seat beside you. Mouth still oozing from the dark blood as he threw you a smirk.

“Don’t you know, babydoll?” he asked playfully. “Times up.”

You were so shocked, so stunned to see Billy outside of a dream, that you never really noticed the headlights that were coming your way…

“DUSTIN! STEVE! WE NEED HELP! – OH SHIT, SHE’S CURSED GUYS, HOLY SHIT! — GODDAMNIT, ONE OF YOU BASTARDS ANSWER ME. – WHAT’S THE SONG!? – STEVE! WHAT’S HER FAVORITE SONG!?”

A/N: Hey guys! This chapter was a bit lengthy, but I could not find it in myself to skip out on Victor’s story. The actor, gives off such great emotion and I’ve been a fan of his when he was back playing Freddy~ ANYWAY, I tried to include some scenes I hope you guys love. Please excuse any mistakes and let me know what you think! Would love some feedback~

TAGGING LIST: k @cluz1babe, @starofavolonea, @primroseluna, & @siriuslysmoking

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington x henderson reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x female reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x henderson!reader #eddie munson x henderson reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x you #cac #angst #fluff #stranger things fic

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tizzypizza · 2 months

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MY BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS WITH A DISORDER design masterpost! i won’t be sharing their full story here just because it’s super convoluted and i’ve only really been telling it by word of mouth. a few fun things i wanted to note on and clarify because i’m a linguistics nerd:

- the name she chose for herself, saphia, is technically a pun on 3 things. sophia, the feminine greek name from christian gnosticism that means wisdom to allude both to her lack of wisdom in her naïveté and her excess of traumatic knowledge, the sapphirina copepod (which i based the tentacles off of) which is a kind of parasitic arthropod (rubs my hands together evilly), and sapphire, the gem. despite growing attached to it, she never gets to use this name. i picked a name of a greek origin because the prefix neo (as in neo agent 3) is also hellenic 🫶

- nana named themselves after a banana. i named them after the nanacara anomala, the goldeneye cichlid, and musa, the genus that bananas fall into.

i use nana to refer nana as they are currently. saph will be used interchangeably with neo to refer to them With That Other Hairstyle in general depending on context (neo as a title, saph as a name)

ramble about pronouns under the cut because. geez

ok pronouns are subject to change actually because i’ve been wracking my brain over this for the past day. were they made intentionally to be a female inktoling? would tartar have tried to model its batch of inktolings after the male and female inkfish in society? would they have been born genderless? i feel like they would want to trend towards being female with the name they picked and the fact that they idolized female inklings. but ALSO if anything nana would use she/her. BUT i’ve gotten VERY used to using they/them for them and as they stand they already use she/they. i feel like nana being they/them nonbinary makes just as much sense because they’re a blank slate.

if anything i might just give up and make them use they/them the full way through, but my reasoning generally was that she was modeled to be feminine and idolized female inklings and wanted to be like them -> does not give a flying fuck about pronouns but presents pretty femininely so rolls with the two pronoun sets they get called the most -> was so disillusioned by the trauma of finding out they Live In A Society of which they no longer wish to participate in so they’ve completely abandoned the notion of gender. gender just becomes an afterthought. which i think is pretty funny.

i love dumping a bunch of complicated lore on my character that only i can understand. i am excited to solidify their story (and their pronouns. god) soon 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶

#saphiwa #<- new tag for my komaeda baby #babana #tiz art #splatoon 3 #splatoon fanart #splatoon #inktoling #side order spoilers #side order

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rallamajoop · 7 months

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The Baker Incident Report and the Resident Evil 7 Guidebook

While I’m talking obscure sources of RE7 lore, there's a couple more I’ve been poking through lately: the Baker Incident Report file (only available with the RE8 Trauma Pack DLC), and the BIOHAZARD 7 resident evil kaitaishinsho or RE7 guidebook (only available in Japanese, though some translations have made their way online).

I’m not the biggest fan of these kinds of ‘canon’ – fans shouldn’t have to go pouring through pages of DLC-exclusive-text-dumps or untranslated supplements to find out WTF was supposed to be going on – and both of these have other problems I’ll get into below. All that said, here's some of the more interesting new info they give us.

From the BIR, the Winters were moved to ‘Eastern Europe’, as witness protection from the Connections. That's still frustratingly unspecific, but more than we’re ever explicitly told in the game.

The lab that created Eveline is in Munich, Germany, per the BIR. This one does add up: close enough to Eastern Europe for Miranda to be involved, but not so close that it would necessarily ring alarm bells for Mia when the BSAA wanted to move them right to Miranda’s doorstep. Mia’s obviously been to the Munich lab, but presumably didn’t know exactly where the mould comes from (something redacted out even in their own reports). The guidebook also places the lab in Europe, but doesn't give a city. The BIR adds that the Connections are active in Eastern Europe, and we know they have facilities in Central America. Presumably there are offices in Texas too ‒ Mia can't be commuting cross continents to get to work every day.

Eveline was shipped to Central America due to an attempted raid by the BSAA, which is far more we learn from the "Orders" file from the game. The BIR goes so far as to imply that this botched operation was indirectly responsible for the whole Baker Incident, with Chris and his team leaving due to their frustration with the BSAA's attempts to cover the incident up. The guidebook, however, tells us Chris Redfield was actually the guy leading the team behind the failed raid. I assume we’re meant to take it that the mission failed because of an info leak, but I’m still amused by just how ineffectual this franchise keeps making Chris out to be.

Post RE7, Zoe is working as a reporter for a small paper in New Orleans. We don't know if she too went through witness protection but her name was listed among the dead at the Baker mansion.

Ethan is called a systems engineer in both the guide book and the BIR (this one does seem to have been spread around fandom more widely).

Eveline was created in the early 2000s, according to the guidebook. This one really doesn't add up for me: if the project started in 2000 and had already advanced through the A-E series by the early 2000s, why did it stagnate there for the next 10 years without further progress? Did Miranda leaving the project set it back so far? They can't have been waiting for Eveline to grow up, she can age 25x faster than usual, and is being deliberately maintained at the age of a 10yo girl. IDEK, I'd be inclined to ignore this one.

The guidebook states that Mia told people she worked for a "trading company," and was often away from home for work, something which had already strained the Winters’ marriage. I'd guess she told people she spent a lot of time accompanying shipments of goods when she was really smuggling materials or taking part in covert operations for the Connections.

The guidebook gives 2010 as the year she started working for the Connections (a year before her marriage to Ethan in 2011, though it doesn’t mention when they met, which may well have been 2010 or earlier). Mind you, this is also the one bit that randomly calls her "a researcher", so take it as you will (more on this below).

Of Mia's involvement with the project that created Eveline, it says only that the Connections' Special Agents Alan and Mia were assigned to transport Eveline to America. No real indication Mia was ever involved before then.

Of Mia's relationship to Eveline, it says that Mia "found Eveline creepy, but felt sympathy for her lonely situation." You and the rest of us, Mia.

Eveline forced Mia to lure Ethan to the Bakers' property in hope that adding Ethan to their family would make Mia more compliant, according to the guidebook. Eveline was especially fixated on Mia, having known her longer than the Bakers, and was frustrated with Mia's continued resistance to her control. Mia seems to have tried to keep Ethan's existence secret from Eveline to protect him, but somehow let it slip. All this is already implied in-game, of course, but it's nice to have it spelt out.

The Bakers feed people infected food because “oral and mucosal infections” are supposedly better for mould-powered mind-control. Ethan is obviously already infected AF well before their attempts to feed him 'dinner' (there's no way his severed hand would be usable otherwise), but IDK, maybe ingesting some extra mould would have made it easier for Eveline to control him? I'm sure a 10yo girl and a family of hillbillies do not have this down to an exact science, and I wouldn't even be surprised if feeding people mould was counter-productive somehow, given their success rate.

So why did none of those infected prisoners join Eveline's "family" alongside the Bakers? The guide book tells us simply that all were "deemed unfit" as family members, and were thus killed, and converted into molded instead.

We get official names for all the molded types we meet in the game (Moulded, Blade Moulded, Quick Moulded and Fat Moulded – pretty self-explanatory).

As a side-note, Ethan himself gets referred to as a ‘molded’ around this fandom a lot, which really isn’t correct. Ethan’s infected by the mold in the same manner as the Baker family, whereas ‘molded’ is a term coined to describe what amounts to mutamycete zombies (see above): the unintelligent, inhuman monsters that made up the generic enemy types of RE7, whose whole bodies are simply “superorganisms formed of countless mycelia.”

The guide book also implies that Jack’s final, mutated form reflects that he’s starting to become a moulded himself, which is a very interesting little detail.

Notes attached to concept art suggest that most moulded are created from dead bodies, covered by mould in bathtubs to convert them. Eveline is also seen spontaneously converting people to shapeless mould though, and clearly converted much of the ship’s crew into moulded-creatures in a very short time after her escape. It’s not super-consistent, but it is all horror-logic at its best (read: the rules are whatever will make this scene scarier).

There’s a bunch of additional stuff in the BIR naming the Connections’ founder as Brandon Bailey, someone who naturally has ties to Umbrella, blah, blah, blah ‒ I’m sure it all means more to fans of some of the older games. I can't pretend to have much interest in this part myself.

So with all that interesting info, what's my big problem with these sources? Well, for one thing, you don’t have to look far into the guidebook to find info that contradicts what we already know – and sometimes even itself. One page clearly describes Mia as a special agent working for the Connections ‒ a description that matches the wording used in the Orders document, and everything we see Mia doing in the game. But then another page randomly tells us Mia was hired as "a researcher" ‒ a description that matches nothing else we know about her (though it's an irritatingly common misconception, and this book may be the reason why). No-one's checking any of this stuff for consistency.

The guidebook also features such other gems as telling us Ethan currently lives and works in Los Angeles, when both Mia’s driver’s license and all geographical logic tell us they’re from Texas. Then there's that weird bit about Eveline being created in the early 2000s... and realistically, I can only assume a lot of what made it into the book may have come from earlier concept notes that were never updated as the story developed ‒ and if you read anything else on the production of this game, you'd know that concepts changed massively as development went on.

But more frustrating is everything the book doesn’t tell us. There isn’t a word said about the oh-so-mysterious "imprinting protocol" that Mia references in the game. How does it work? Is it, as the ending text spiel seems to imply, merely something that can be implemented in a hurry when Eveline needs to be transported across the globe? Can she be imprinted on more than one person at once? Has she ever been imprinted on anyone else? That seems likely, given that the lab’s in Munich while Mia lives in Texas (and if she's really been around since the early 2000s and Mia joined the company only in 2010, she logically must have been), but we don’t find out. Does Eveline get similarly obsessed with everyone she’s imprinted on, or is Mia special? Not a clue.

Since the guidebook was released in March 2017, long before the Not a Hero and End of Zoe DLCs, neither expansion is mentioned in the text. And since we don’t even learn the name ‘The Connections’ until the Not A Hero DLC, the group that created Eveline is referred to simply as the “mysterious organisation” (with quotes) whenever it comes up.

Nothing is said in the guidebook about the new incarnation of Umbrella which was so prominently involved at the end of RE7 either. Possibly, this too was to avoid spoilers for Not A Hero, which does at least give us some info on them – but then, the Baker Incident Report doesn’t mention the new Umbrella at all either, and it doesn’t have that excuse. That omission is all the stranger, considering that Zoe’s whole purpose in writing it is supposedly to expose the cover-up after the Baker Incident – doesn’t Umbrella factor into that at all? It’s like their whole role in RE7 has just wiped clean.

It's also obvious there was so much more lore written for this game that the guide book doesn’t share. Early versions of collectable documents that can still be found in the game files give the D-series head and arm some fascinating backstory, but there’s nothing about them in the guide book, which is a real shame.

Mia especially stands out as a character who must have so much backstory we never hear anything about. How did she get involved with a company as evil as the Connections? How did she justify it to herself for so long – what excuses did she make to herself? Did she genuinely believe they were finding ways to win wars without losing soldiers? Was she gathering evidence against them, was she scared they’d kill her if she left? Not one single word in either the guidebook or the BIR to explain.

Even more annoying to me, though, is just what a wasted opportunity the Baker Incident Report is to add more to Zoe’s story, when she’s one of my favourite RE characters. Included in the text is a letter she received from Mia, giving what should have been the perfect opportunity to flesh out the relationship Zoe and Mia must have built in the three years they spent trapped in the Baker property, the only two (semi-)sane people present – and what does the letter do? Imply they hardly knew each other at all. It’s the most boring possible answer, it contradicts hints from the actual game (Marguerite outright tells us they've been working together, even!), and GDI, you do not get to tell me that my girls didn’t know each other! ;_;

Ethan and Mia similarly get the short shrift. Throughout RE7 their every interaction is building to a big scene that never actually happens where Ethan finds out the truth – Ethan knows Mia’s been keeping secrets, he never stops asking questions about it, and Mia says outright that she wants to come clean. So what does the BIR tell us? Well, post RE7, Mia mentions in an interview that she doesn’t want anyone telling Ethan. Not a word about what changed her mind. Not a word about why Ethan would just stop asking. Total cop-out.

And there’s so much more it could have covered too. There's nothing about Ethan’s ‘military training’. Nothing about the Winters' relationship with Chris. Mia’s conversation with him in RE8 suggests he was personally involved in relocating them to Eastern Europe, but the BIR doesn’t mention that either. The BIR at large is basically just an extended lore dump, and it doesn’t even sound like Zoe’s voice.

So this is about where I finish up with both of these sources: frustrating, inaccessible, inconsistent, and more missed opportunities than real material. There’s a lot in both I’ll happily go on ignoring. But I’ll still pour through them for every last interesting detail, because I am that obsessed with this canon right now, and they’re what we’ve got.

#Resident Evil 7 #Resident Evil Village #Eveline #Mia Winters #Zoe Baker #Ethan Winters #The Connections #The Bakers #RE lore #meta

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elfqueen006 · 2 months

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Siren

Continuation of "Trash"

Tags: drunk Joseph, emotions a lot of emotions, non-consentual touching, unrequited love

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You dragged a hooting Joseph through your apartment door, struggling to keep his arm slung over his shoulder.

“What a night, huh?” he slurred.

“Yeah,” you turned halfway to shut the door behind you. You advised him to lean on you while you took a second to think.

You seriously considered just tossing him on the couch and calling it a night. Though with the way he’s practically thrashing right now, you doubt it could handle him. You’d come in to find it knocked over or the legs broken come morning.

Instead, you opted for his bedroom. It was more comfortable, and stronger as to hold his large frame.

Besides, what’s a few more seconds of a sore shoulder?

Guiding him along down the hallway, you then reached his door, which you kicked open. And now that you’re inside his room, you take the opportunity to look around. You’ve never actually been inside, only ever catching short glimpses when he had a guest over before he pulled them inside for half a day of debaucherous sex.

There wasn’t a lot inside, just the closet, a dresser with no defining features other than a smeared vanity mirror and an ashtray sitting on top of it. And of course, there was a bed set with the comforter you lent him, but no sheets.

“Why didn’t you tell me you needed bedsheets?” You asked, voice low so as not to rattle him up or excite a headache.

He half shrugged, “It doesn’t bother me none…”

You lead him around to his bed and get him out of his jacket. Easing him down to sit, you then lift up each leg of his to pull off his boots. They have a very pretty design of a rose and some other etchings on each side of them. He told you once they were his most prized possessions. And you wouldn’t be surprised if he were serious.

“Alright, come here,” you take a hold of his hand, and it's massive over your own. Massive and hairy. Even a guy like him has lonely nights.

You push him up the bed lightly and guide him down by the back of his neck.

“Theeere you go.”

Once he’s settled, you turn to leave, but he doesn’t let go of your hand, and in a split second you're pulled back and tumbling over his large frame. You grunt when you land face first in the pit of his arm.

“Jesus, Joseph!” You exclaimed.

You tried to get up again, but he just pulled you back down. You’re brought up to where your back is to his chest and you straddle one of his thick legs. He wrapped both of his strong arms around your torso.

Joseph rested his head on your neck and sang your name, “Where you goiiing?”

You huffed, “To my own room, Jo.”

“You don’t gotta do that,” He mutters, “Whatcha wanna do that for?”

“I like my own space.” You replied plainly.

“I like your own space.”

You pushed and struggled against his body, but he’s way too strong for you. It’s admittedly a bit frightening, especially when he’s in this state.

He pressed his lips into your neck and your face burns hotter than anything you’ve ever felt.

“What are you doing?!”

Joseph snickered, “What am I doing?” he buried his nose in your hair, sniffing deeply, “You smell good.”

“Well you stink.” And that was the truth, despite your attempt to shield your embarrassment with annoyance. His breath smelled of booze.

“Stop being mean to me,” he said, falling back onto the mattress again. And with no other choice, you follow. “Stay with me.”

He’s never been this close before. You’ve had your quiet moments with him before. And you’ve lived together long enough that he became comfortable with telling you a few breakup stories and trauma dumps. You even told him a few of your own in turn.

But it never escalated. Nothing changed.

“Stay with me, baby.” Joseph slurred.

For seemingly no reason, you felt tears prick your eyes. “No, Joseph.”

“I’ll…make you…breakfast…”

You shifted a bit to face him. He couldn’t even keep his eyes open in his drunken stupor. He looked so pretty while he slept. Wavy hair falling over his brow, lashes fluttering slightly from the struggle to stay in a dream and to open his eyes. Meanwhile, you were wide awake, feeling like a sailor being led to the rocks.

Breakfast did sound good in the morning, though.

#sunny day jack fanfiction #sunny day jack #somethings wrong with sunny day jack #sdj x reader #sunny day jack x mc #sdj joseph x reader #joseph haberdae x reader #sunny day jack x reader #my fics

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mynameisnotsoda · 2 months

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NOW INTRODUCING.... THE CRITTERS !!!

Technically Corvid is still a part of an au, i really like everyone's designs so i guess its just like a weird little au that are also kinda ocs?? Idk. Im still tagging it as the animatronicfication au and using the other ccs names but im completely separating wilbur from Corvid.

The one that probably changed the most is simp LMAO i just went back to his old design that was inspired by Luna (@starrixle's transfem simpbur turned oc) and Spencer is such a fitting name in my mind i literally can not imagine him with a different name *bwomp*

Also I'm working on refs for the other characters associated with the respective critters! I wanna finish them all and dump them into one post and I'll link it here when I'm done.

ANYWAY INFODUMP TIME

Before we go into individual characters i want to say that this is absolutely Minecraft. Like. The world is built off of Minecraft lore yk !!!! The overworld will still be called the overworld but it's basically just earth, with more magic and humanoid species! Along with supernatural creatures and cryptids n stuff :D also with more advanced tech considering Corvid exists pFF

Spencer for the most part kinda was like he is in canon or whatever. She used to lean more towards incel ideology because she was REALLY insecure and uncomfortable with herself for the longest time. Despite that, Spencer and Adrianne (egirl) started dating when they were 17, his unhealthy obsession with her was only fueled by her unhealthy attachment to him. They needed each other and it wasn't good for either of them. Spencer had developed horrible separation anxiety which only made things worse. Over time Adrianne became suffocated by his constant neediness, overwhelming insecurity, short temper and lack of contribution to household chores. It pained her to leave, but things needed to change. It wasn't until the breakup that Spencer met Shepard, who was his first irl friend in a long time. They met when they were around 22/23, at first Spencer just used Shepard as a distraction from Adrianne, especially since he was surprised that they wanted to even be his friend in the first place. But after a while he genuinely started to enjoy their company, plus they offered him really good advice and helped him through a gender/sexuality crisis. Eventually they became partners! Maybe not romantically, as they're both aromantic, but life partners nonetheless.

OH and i did make Spencer white/Salvadoran. Her mom is the first generation from immigrant parents while her dad is British; And her dad's younger brother is Adam's dad! He's also an ex-christian, he left due to religious trauma and moved to America to escape his family hA

Spencer's also a no sabo kid LMAO (he knows some words/phrases but other than that he cant speak Spanish to save his life)

ALSO ALSO. Oh my god i could talk about Spence all day LMAO but i made him a werewolf !!!! Hes SOO jealous of Adam because she wanted the cat genes but instead got bitten and turned into a werewolf as a teenager. She's done a pretty good job at hiding it from her family so Shepard's the only one who knows.

I already dumped everything about Adam into that other post, so I don't really have much else to add. HOWEVER !! Him and Spence are cousins now :3 Adam doesn't get to meet Spencer in person until he moves to America with Charlie & co, but he does follow her socials with his secret accounts that his parents don't know about. The only reason they know they're cousins is because Spencer's dad told her so and she reached out! Much to the dismay of Adam's parents but they've secretly kept in touch online.

Keith's pretty much stayed the same apart from a slight design revamp. Although I've made him a little older since originally i made him look young. But then I decided hes a dad so i started drawing him older for the asks pFF he also has a hooked nose now! In case it's not obvious. Keith got married to Jean VERY young, they were maybe 17/18 in human years. It was an arranged marriage and their only goal was to have an heir to the throne. Well they did, they had two kids, the eldest being a boy named Lune and the youngest being a girl named Sunny, who's the would be heir. Until Jean took both the kids and left. It was completely unprompted and left everyone in the kingdom confused, especially Keith. Sure, they had a loveless marriage and maybe he was insufferable at times, but he wanted to make it work if not for the kids then for the kingdom! But its been almost a year since she left, he's lost hope in ever finding her. Keith desperately wants his kids back, not because Sunny is the rightful heir— though that is part of it—but he loves them both dearly. He misses them the most.

Wilfred has pretty much stayed the same as well! I did give him a grey tshirt and darker hair to further distance his design from wilbur though. Hes just as unhinged and immoral as he used to be !!!! Nothing has changed aside from appearance actually.

Tobi also pretty much stayed the same except for its now got an orange jumper and lighter brown hair pFF although i do now have a story for him! Tobi was found by Alejandro in a storage auction, he managed to sell a lot of pretty valuable things from there but Tobi stood out, obviously, so he kept it. Alejandro is a travel vlogger and lives in an RV with his friends: Tomas, Philip and Charles. His friends just call him Alex. Anyway, they go from town to town trying local food, visiting tourists traps and vlogging the journey! While doing that they also try to find out how to get Tobi's memories back and possibly turn him human again, if they even can. So far they haven't had much luck but maybe one day...

Corvid was created as the backup singer and lead guitarist of the first all animatronic band! Brought to you by Beloved Entertainment! The other members include lead singer Ranboo Beloved, keytarist Tommy Raccoon, and bassist James Tomcat. Located in Ranboo's Mega Pizzaplex, the only location in the world (so far). Corvid adopts a showman personality while on stage, hes charismatic and such a heartthrob, very popular with the ladies. Off stage he's very calm and soft spoken, he's rather shy but still manages to be a flirt and a tease. Lightly poking fun at his bandmates, coworkers and even guests at times. He's definitely a fan favorite for a reason!

This was so fun to write and i cant wait to share more !!!! Stay tuned !!!!!!

#simpbur #studentbur #keith the dragon #dr malpractice #tinybur #animatronicfication au #sodas critters

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12boogaloo · 3 months

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Okay, I cant take it anymore. The brain rot is REAL

Been on a writing hiatus since 2019 or 2020 (I honestly don’t remember so don’t @ me)

And what gets me to finally start writing again?

You guessed it ladies, gents, and serpents!

Fucking TROLLS 3

Let’s get this bread or die trying y’all 😈

~•~

So first things first: I didn’t come up with the AU’s I’m using here! They were created by TheMiraculousMat and Keebsification on here and AO3

The AU’s in question are The Eldest and The Youngest and Out The Train Wreck

I just love it when people see John Dory and think “hmmm yes this grown man can fit so much eldest daughter energy in him” cuz SAME

So I thought: what if I just… put em together? OTT! JD and E&Y! JD have a grip on my soul and I’m filling a formal complaint in the form of fanfiction for not just 1, but 2 other pieces of fanfiction!!! Cuz why not

I’m gonna post the notes I’ve had about this idea for the past 2 week, at least the first part.

Well… it’s half notes, half chapter really…

Maybe. MAYBE. I’ll clean it up and post it on AO3. Maybe… probably lets be real

Anyway. Y’all can call me Boog and this is Project: Hyperfixation Won

Actual story name pending…

~•~

Part 1: Author’s Actual Notes because they are a nerd

Got an idea

Gonna scratch the itch

Half brain rot dump and half story here

Combination of the Eldest and Youngest JD and the Train Wreck JD

I also head canon that trolls have tails and claws and fangs

They’re lil creatures

Basically the same stuff happens in TW with the manager and John being Branch’s father.

Branch grows up knowing JD is his dad while everyone else thinks they’re brothers.

He and Luka are dating. He’s basically Branch’s other dad.

Luka gets taken and John thinks he died. He keeps his glove to remember him.

The fight still happens. John still leaves but promises Branch that he’ll come back.

He goes to the Neverglades for the next four years.

When he gets a letter about Rosiepuff and Branch he immediately heads back to the tree to take care of him.

Pretty much all of E&Y happens but with the change of Branch knowing JD is his dad.

Makes the trauma of him leaving worse in a way which adds to the angst of the first parts delicious, but it also makes their bond really solid later on.

John forgot that everyone in the village knew them as brothers until Poppy asks him if John is Branch’s daddy out of the blue. He panics and says “no” on instinct and they both decide to just go with it. Easier than explaining it to everyone.

She still doesn’t know. Nobody does.

John still loses his arm trying to save Creek(nasty ass).

One morbid silver lining John felt was that at least it wasn’t the hand he wore Luka’s glove on. Small miracles. Lol I’m sorry

Branch doesn’t remember Luka anymore, at least not really. He sorta remembers a burgundy haired troll that he thought was important but couldn’t remember anything else about them so he didn’t think too much about it.

John doesn’t really like talking about him and Branch hasn’t ever asked so he doesn’t bring it up.

He starts dating Hickory and he does tell him about Luka. He admits that while he definitely is falling for Hickory, a part of him will always belong to Luka and their relationship will always be really important to him.

Hickory is more than okay with that and even tells him that he would’ve loved to have met the man that made his sweetheart so happy and kept him safe before it was his turn. (John just about cried when he said that same buddy and agreed that they’d probably get along pretty well.)(He shows Hickory pictures of him and Luka one day and they laugh over the fact that John clearly has a type.)(And, based on Hickory’s own light blush, same.)(He immediately said Luka was ‘real cute’ and John still laughs at him for it.)

He also tells him about Bold and how Branch came to be. (Hickory spent solid hours comforting him afterwards and spent an equal amount of time thinking of ways he could get Dickory to help him torture the bastard if he ever saw him.)(He decides in that moment that he’d do anything to protect his boyfriend and his son. Anything.) (He’s also even more grateful to Luka when he hears about how he protected his love the day they met. He really wishes he could thank him…)

Branch makes jokes about not calling Hickory his stepdad till they get married, which makes John flush bright blue. (Hickory just laughs and winks, the traitor.)(Hickory secretly really wants Branch to call him ‘Pops’ and he’s so obvious about it.)(Branch finds it hilarious and doesn’t on purpose. He’d actually love to call him that, he’s just being an ass.)(You’d think he wouldn’t ever want to but no. For some reason, it’s only thinking of Hickory as ‘Papa’ specifically that makes him feel wrong. Like that’s not available to him. I wonder why.)

After saving Floyd, the boys all start spending more time together as a family. Floyd and Clay move into the bunker with John and Branch. Bruce still lives on Vacay Island but he tries to visit at least once a week, even bringing his wife and kids with him if he can.

They still love doing shows together and will do a big one every two weeks at least.

A few months later, they’re getting ready to hangout together after a performance in PopVillage. Hickory isn’t with them, he was actually watching with Tiny in the crowd, so he can’t see them.(Lil dude is really attached to his “Uncle Cowboy” and “Uncle Johnny” it’s adorable.)(And yes Guy is close by, Tiny is still very very grounded.)

Poppy wants to introduce them to a former stage manager that she’s worked with before that had come to see the show from TrollCity. Branch has met him once before and thought the guy was weird and a little creepy but nothing else made him feel suspicious so he kinda just ignored it. He figured if Poppy trusted him, it was fine. (Obviously he still kept an eye on the old bastard, cause your boy isn’t paranoid for nothing. And you never know.)

They all agree to meet and when they get backstage… it’s him.

Bold.

The bros old manager. The man who hurt their eldest unimaginably.

JD basically shuts down as his younger brothers immediately shield him from view.

They need to get out of here without causing a scene. Fast.

“Poppy, I think we need to go…” Floyd mumbles, his usually soft features twisting in both anger and slight fear as he stared the old troll down.

Poppy looks at them in confusion, “Wha- but you guys said you wanted to see everything we set up!!” She looks between the brothers and the older manager, Branch joining her as his eyebrows furrowed.

“Sorry, kids, I don’t think we can do that…” Bruce doesn’t take his eyes off of the old man as he steps back, closer to Clay and Floyd who were holding John Dory’s arms and hands to keep him steady in their safety bubble, their tails wrapped around his waist. “Not when he’s here.”

Poppy blinks in confusion. “What do you mean? Have you met Mr. Bold before?” She asks.

The old bastard chuckles. “Don’t worry, Miss Poppy.” Poppy huffs a bit at being called ‘miss’. (She’s Queen, dammit. Only Hickory calls her ‘miss’ and it’s always as a joke.) “I was the boys’ manager back in the day! It’s just been a while since we’ve seen each other.” He looks over each brother, clearly trying to get a look at John Dory and noticeably souring when he’s blocked. Then he smirks, taking a few steps closer, his wooden cane thunking against the floor. John flinches with each tap, tap, tap. “You’ve all grown up so much.”

Bruce holds his ground, crossing his arms and rolling his shoulders, his bigger body blocking most of JD from view. Clay was growling behind him, both him and Floyd curling closer to John and their ears pressed back in irritation. Bruce gives a humorless chuckle. “Heh. Yeah, we’ve grown up, Bold. We grew up and you’re fucking old now.”

Poppy gasps. “B-Bruce, that’s not nice!” She turns to Bold and smiles nervously. “I’m so sorry-“

The man waves her off. “Don’t fret. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it. He’s right after all.” He looks at them again all smugly, leaning on his cane. “Like I said, it’s been a long time.”

Floyd scoffs. “Not long enough.” He growls, baring his teeth. His claws start coming out and he’s thankful he’s holding John’s prosthetic arm as he feels them scratch the metal.

“Woah, okay, what the hell is up with you guys?” Branch finally steps in. That was so unlike Floyd to say something like that. He’s never seen the older troll that angry before, he’s never seen any of his uncles that angry before.

Bruce huffs. “What’s up is that we’re leaving. Now.” He goes to turn around to start steering his brothers out of the room when he hears Bold chuckle, making them all freeze.

“You all really have changed so much,” He says, his tail swaying side-to-side behind him. John looks up and they manage to lock eyes, Bold smiling sickly as John stares in horror. “Especially you, Johnny Baby.”

John feels sick. He feels like he’s gonna pass out. He feels his legs start giving out as Clay and Floyd rush to hold him up. He feels his body going completely limp and his vision blurs and his chest hurts and he can’t breATHE-

Bruce tackles the old troll, immediately landing brutal hits to the bastards face. He screams between punches, “DON’T TALK TO MY BROTHER!” Bold tries to hit him back, only managing to smack Bruce in the side once with his cane before continuing to get pummeled.

Branch and Poppy jump in frantically to pull him off of the man and the three of them stumble back. Bruce shoves them off and glares at Bold again. He was lying on the ground, groaning and clutching his nose, there were scratches and bruises on his face and he was covered in his own glittery copper blood. “Stay. The FUCK. Away. From John.” Bruce pants and shakes out his hands, flexing his exposed claws. He spits on the ground. “Bastard.” He turns back to his brothers. “Cmon, let’s get out of here.” He lifts JD up bridal style and Clay and Floyd follow him as he starts rushing to the door.

“Wait, hold on!” Branch runs after them, leaving Poppy standing in confused horror at what just happened.

~•~

That’s what I’ll give for now lol

I have like wayyy more written out but I’m mean so 😈

Anyway

Thank you for coming to my ted talk

Lmk what y’all think ig

Check out the folks that created these AU’s plz @matmiraculous and Keebsification (idk their tumblr so plz don’t yell at me) both on AO3 where I found them

Later yall

#trolls band together #hickdory #eldest and youngest au #out the train wreck #trolls john dory #holy shit what has happened to me #hyperfixation ftw #trolls clay #trolls floyd #trolls branch #trolls bruce #my fav besides John Dory

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kooktrash · 1 year

Text

love lies | jeon jungkook [3]

summary: it’s hard for anyone to believe what you have is genuine. it doesn’t help that the last they heard was that you broke up, but it doesn’t seem to last. you’re back together and everyone is stuck sitting back waiting to see who will ruin the other first. and you both wonder the same things since neither of you could forget the past of the other.

warnings: 13.2k words. angst. smut. yandere jungkook. college student au. established couple. rich kid jungkook. f!reader. unhealthy attachment. manipulation. gaslighting. slutshaming. toxic friendships. implied emotional trauma from both ends. cunnilingus. table sex. asshole jk. jealousy. possessive. car sex. unprotected. quick.

prev | end

It’s been three days and thirteen hours since he last saw you. He’s been trying to give you space, let you see that you miss him and that you made a mistake. It’s just been so hard. So hard to check your location and wonder who you’re with. Wondering if you’ve gotten over him so fast while he’s locked himself in his home waiting for just one notification from you. If he could just know what you’re thinking, know that you’re thinking about him then he can finally try and get you back. He still can’t believe you tried to dump him just like that.

Over one simple mistake as if he hasn’t been the perfect guy for you. As if he hasn’t treated you better than any other girl he’s been with. It makes him so mad just thinking about how you left him. Like he was just some fly you were happy to get away from. Like you hadn’t asked him if he loved you while he filled your tight walls with cock. As if he didn’t have you begging for more, for him. Like he hadn’t spent the anniversary of his mother’s abandonment with his dick in your mouth while you tried making him feel better. As if he hadn’t heard the way your own mother talked to you like you were not good for anything but getting a guy. He’s been there for you since the moment the two of you got together and now you’re just throwing him away?

After you claimed to love him too? Like you hadn’t been begging for his love, ruining your friendships for him, and letting him take care of all your needs? Fuck, that pisses him off. All he can think about right now is what you’re doing that you can’t be with him. Like you’re ready to move on to the next guy and if you think you’re getting rid of him that easily—ha, the thought alone makes him laugh bitterly.

How could you claim to be a naive girl in love while jumping at the chance to drop him like you didn’t need him in the first place? Do you expect him to apologize? As if Yeonwoo hasn’t called you stupid time and time again for your poor life choices instead of guide you and be there for you? As if Taehyung wasn’t just looking to use you for sex? As if Soomin hadn’t blown up at you only to run out and follow him basically telling him why he shouldn’t be with you and reconsider her? God, you need him to help you see things clearly because right now… you’re not.

He doesn’t even know what he’s supposed to do. Though he hasn’t seen you or talked to you, he’s texted you a couple times but you haven’t responded. He’s basically at his wit’s end. He needs to see you, now.

That’s why he’s currently standing in front of the entrance you usually go through for class and he waited. He could see you walking with your head down focusing on your phone. He went for it, walking right up to you catching you off guard. You nearly dropped your phone, “What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk,” Jungkook said, reaching for your hand and looking behind at who might be around. “Jungk—“

“No Y/n, I gave you time to get over the other night so I came to see you—“

“But why here?” You sighed walking away from him thought he still held onto your wrist pulling you back into him. “Because you’ve been ignoring me and I needed to see you. What else was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, I just need some space,” you sighed a little worried one of your friends [who currently weren’t talking to you except Yoongi] would come out and see you. Jungkook clearly didn’t care though, “I gave you space. Can you please just see that I’m really trying here? Just talk to me.”

“Fine, but not here,” you told him and he just nodded and took you to his car. Be turned to you, “Let’s go back to my place.”

You looked out the window, “I don’t know.”

“I have something for you there,” Jungkook told you and though reluctant, you agreed. He drove you to his place which was so much bigger than yours that you sometimes get lost. He took you to the living room still yet to actually talk about anything and you still weren’t having any sort of conversation.

You looked over at him as he sat closer to one corner of the couch and you toward the other. He stared back at you, resting an elbow on the arm rest and his head on a fist. He looked at you with lazy eyes as you spoke, “So what do you want to talk about?”

He bit his lip nervously, “I can’t talk to you when you’re so far away.” You rolled your eyes trying to contain a smile choosing instead to sigh and kick your feet up on the couch, “I think we can talk fine just like this.”

Jungkook shook head as he moved to slide across the couch and pick up your legs. He put them on his lap making sure he was sitting as close as possible. His hands ran over the outside of your thigh, ignoring the fact that you were wearing a short skirt that raised witn the bend of your legs. His other arm rested on the back of the couch practically trapped you in the corner. “Do you really not want to get back together?”

You looked down at his hand that had began leaving small patterns on your thigh, resting your head on the back cushion, “I don’t know, I didn’t like what you did.”

“And I’m trying to take responsibility here and admit that I fucked up,” Jungkook said taking your hand that had been at your side and holding it on your thigh. “I shouldn’t have gone out and caused a scene. I should’ve just waited and listened to you. I know that, I really do but… but to dump me just like that? After I was finally able to tell someone we’re dating?”

“I mean I told you I would,” you said and he waited, no, hoped for more. He was still holding your hand against your thigh. You looked back at him, “I just feel like… I don’t know. You claim to love me but you clearly don’t care enough about my wishes. You’re still going to do whatever you want, so I don’t know if this is worth it.”

You know you’re vulnerable and naive and stupid when it comes to love. And it’s not always the case. You know when someone is not good for you but you also didn’t seem to care. You wanted to hold your ground with Jungkook because you wanted more, something you’re not sure of. But you know he can give it to you and he’s basically the perfect guy you’ve been searching for. You want to be with him though, even if you dumped him just days ago. You wanted him to feel anxious because you dumped him. You want him to know that if you’re going to do what he wants, he has to do what you want.

Everyone sees you as dumb in love but you saw it differently. You like to think of yourself as decently self-aware. You jump into relationships a lot. You get hurt when they end and yet you do it all over again. It’s basically ingrained into your brain since childhood to make a man happy and you never seemed to be able to do that unless you had sex. And you didn’t think Jungkook had any feelings for you when you missed the first night and he still might not but you also knew he did. So maybe because his feelings were a sure thing, and he was clearly disheveled when you dumped him, it made you more vocal about what you didn’t like.

You’re used to keeping your personality down in fear of someone not liking it that you didn’t realize how silent you’ve been. It took a lot for you to speak up to your friends or mother and boyfriends too. But since a part of you knows he’s getting serious about it whether he likes it or not, he’s letting you speak your mind. You’re telling him how you feel knowing he’s still going to love you or want you after.

The same way he knows that you don’t want him upset with you. There’s feelings there but he knows you’re probably not good for each other. He just wants you so bad, can’t you see him trying?

“Can you see things from my perspective?” He ended up asking, “I’m not making excuses, I’m just saying. I know none of them like me and honestly, rightfully so but can you please just do what you want to. Don’t think about what they have to say, think of what you want. You want me but you feel guilty about it because everyone constantly attacks you for who you date and now Soomin is putting all the blame on you. But trying to break up just like that… that’s bullshit in my opinion.”

“The first second I fuck up you’re ready to run away? Did you just expect me to want to be lowkey forever? Were you just never planning to tell anyone we’re dating.”

“It’s nobody else’s business—“ “And yet every other person you’ve been with, you’ve happily paraded them around publicly. But I’m not good enough to even admit that we’re dating?”

“Nobody said you couldn’t, but with Soomin and Yeonwoo and all of them. Why did you have t—…You know how shitty you treated Soomin. We all saw it, I saw it too and yet here I am with you. Obviously none of them are going to be happy about it. So why would I want you admitting that?”

“I don’t know what to say,” he admitted as he used his fist to rub some of the tension away from his muscles on his face. “I want to change and I want you to want to be with me, but clearly I’m the problem. I just want you to give up on me, so please. I’ll do whatever you want if you just give me one more chance.”

You think he’s just bullshitting you but you’ve never seen that sincerity in his eyes before. And like, Yeonwoo and Soomin were already mad at you. They already think you won’t leave Jungkook and honestly, if he gives you whatever you want, why would you?

“One more chance,” you pointed a finger up but he went to bite it before leaning into you for a kiss, “I love you so fucking much.”

Your lips met abruptly, a little too needy for only being apart a week. His face pressed against yours, lips moving against yours and breathing through his nose so wouldn’t need a break. His hand still clutched yours and the other was behind your head but not touching you. Your long nails dig into his cheeks as you push him back by the chin.

He looked into your eyes, breathless and already in awe with you. He tried to get a kiss again but your grip only tightened making his lips part with the press of your fingers. Fine he’ll wait, impatiently though. Your eyes looked over his surprisingly submissive face right now and the way he let you sink your fingertips in a little, “I love you too, but I’m going to need you to prove it to me instead of just repeating it.”

He nodded, head moving the side enough to catch your thumb in his mouth, “I’ll do whatever you want.” As he said those words he finally released your other hand, choosing to run his fingers toward your raised skirt. Only a few inches away from your panties as he tested the waters to see if you’d stop him, “Even if you want to use me a little.”

“Was it too long for you? I’m surprised you didn’t go find a girl to fuck,” you said before you could stop yourself. It’s that same bitter tone you used before you got involved with him. The same distaste Yeonwoo had at the club, and you had it too. It went away but you were still a little insecure. He was a womanizer and you would not be surprised at all if he slept with someone else despite all he’s told you. Maybe it’s just your trust issues or maybe it’s because you’ve seen what he thinks of girls.

Jungkook’s jaw tightened but he tried to keep his tone light as he said, “Why would I when I was waiting for my girlfriend to stop being mad at me?”

“I wasn’t your girlfriend,” you said and even you didn’t believe it. He did still text you and you wanted to respond. It has only been a week and once you got over it you were waiting for him to reach out without even knowing it. You couldn’t even classify it as a break but apparently it was agony to Jungkook. He gave you a look that said he knew you were bullshitting yourself. You both knew it was more of just an argument you had despite how heated you both had gotten. You said some hard truths to each other and yet you’re both ready to start again. For a first fight it was tense but it didn’t seem to bother either of you that much.

Jungkook just kissed you again, catching you off guard but you managed to kiss back in time.

There were eyes on you, each telling something different and yet you couldn’t read any of it. You had to force yourself to ignore how awkward this felt, and of course Jungkook didn’t feel the same at all. He was pretty relaxed with his arm around your waist as he drank to his heart’s content with his friends. Jimin had a smirk on his face, “Y/n, you look really familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?”

“You already know so why ask,” Jungkook cut in immediately, “And drop it if you know what’s good for you.”

“Very scary Kooky,” Jimin chuckled before looking back to you, “I didn’t know it was a sensitive topic. Are you still friends with that chick?”

“It’s complicated,” you answered truthfully. It really was. Yoongi talked to you because he was on your side. Though he didn’t like the idea of you with someone like Jungkook, he knows nothing he says will stop you. All he can do is be there to support you no matter what you choose. Unless Jungkook gives him a reason to step in, he won’t. But what he saw in Jungkook over a week ago, was nothing like the way he’d look at Soomin. Just the way he went after you the second you left when before Yoongi used to watch Jungkook storm out not caring how he left Soomin crying.

“If Jungkook wouldn’t have gotten to you, I would’ve taken you for myself,” Hoseok joked, knowing it’d get him annoyed easily, but he wanted to speak some truth too. “But did you know Jungkook told me to not even think about it? It was at that party months back when he was still dating Soomin. I asked him if he had your number and he told me that if I tried anything he’d beat my ass.”

He looked over to Jungkook, “Now that I think about it, you were always way too protective over us talking to Y/n. Be honest,” he grinned, “You’ve wanted Y/n all along, didn’t you? Even when you were dating Soomin and even after you ghosted her.”

“Maybe I did,” Jungkook said with a shrug clearly not caring even when you looked over at him in confusion. “Really?”

“I told you already and you didn’t seem to have a problem with it. Who cares now?”

God and you really didn’t care now. You should feel guilty or turned off by the fact that he was thinking of you while in a relationship but it’s not like he ever did anything. It’s not like the two of you didn’t get together a long time after they broke up. It’s not like you’d been seeking him out. And it was kind of hot knowing he wouldn’t let them talk to you. You gave a shrug, “I don’t care I just don’t get why you’d stay with Soomin if you felt that way.”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t want me if I tried leaving Soomin for you,” Jungkook answered honestly, “That’s when you two were super close.” You didn’t say anything, just gave a nod of your head and took your drink in your hands.

“Sneaky little Jungkook, you were scheming to get with Y/n. Be honest, is that why you ghosted Soomin?” Jin asked, making Jungkook more irritated than before. Jungkook just glared at him and everyone around. He didn’t need any of them asking questions or telling you that they wanted to get at you. He already had to deal with the fact that you were in multiple relationships when he was with Soomin and it would annoy him that he couldn’t do anything about it. He doesn’t need to know what they thought of you and if it meant distancing from his friends then he’d do it.

“Drop the topic hyung, it’s in the past and I don’t appreciate you all telling me how you wanted to get with my girlfriend,” as Jungkook said that his arm tightened around your waist. Hoseok rolled his eyes, “Jungkook please, we’re just curious and besides, we’re not the only ones looking at you and Y/n. Hell, that bottle service guy checks Y/n out every time he comes back.”

Jungkook’s eyes darted to the service guy, dark and glaring, “I know, and it’s really starting to get on my nerves.”

Your hand was on his thigh as if that made a difference but clearly he was feeling irritated. He’s not the usual type to get overly jealous, possessive maybe but it was always because he wanted to prove that who he was dating was his. It was like a winning prize for him and yet with you he felt raging jealousy. Like, even if a man gave you the smallest of smiles he’d get mad. He doesn’t want them thinking you can be easily swooned when you’re with him. He doesn’t think of you as a possession but he definitely can be possessive over you.

He rolled his eyes in annoyance as he watched the guy in question come with more alcohol for the table. The bartender was coming around every few minutes but he knew it wasn’t because of the liquor. It was the third time Jungkook caught him staring at the skirt you wore tonight. The Chanel one he just bought you yesterday. The guy wasn’t even trying to hide the fact he was checking you out. Not even as you quite literally dug through his shirt to feel his chest while whispering in his ear. It’s not like it wasn’t obvious the two of you were dating.

“Don’t get so upset,” you whispered to him but he wasn’t listening, even when your fingers ran along his sternum. It was soothing that’s for sure, but with his friends and just getting you back, he can’t seem to relax. Just in case you’re snatched from him or worse, leave him high and dry again.

The guy set a bottle down at the table at the request of Hoseok but his eyes trailed back to you. He looked a little familiar but you couldn’t pinpoint from where. He looked up at you once more as he set the bottles down and Jungkook called out to him, “Hey you. Do me a favor.”

You looked at your boyfriend now, unsure of how he’d react. You’ve never seen that look in his eyes except for when he saw Taehyung in person at the restaurant. The guy looked up, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. He stuttered over his words a little, “Of course sir.”

Jungkook smiled as he fixed the sleeve of his Givenchy button up, “Stop staring at my girlfriend or we’re gonna have a problem.”

The guy opened his mouth in complete bewilderment as you turned to glare at Jungkook, a blush raising in your cheeks. He only held the guy’s eye contact, intimidation radiating off him daring the guy to respond. Jungkook’s friends seemed all too amused, looking at the guy to see what he’d say. You attempted to make yourself shrink, hand suddenly growing cold against his chest.

“Are we clear?” He asked with his glass of Scotch raised a little and his leg crossed over the other, all while he had an arm around you. The guy seemed to malfunction for a second as he looked between you, leaning down and bowing. He didn’t look away from the guy until he left.

“Great, you’ve scared off our guy,” Jimin huffed in feigned annoyance fixing his suit jacket as he sat on the edge of the booth. He reached for one of the double shot glasses the guy had set out for your table. Jimin looked off to where the guy left in disappointment, “He’s been bringing us drinks all night.”

Jungkook didn’t react, choosing instead to look at you and how your expression changed. It’s so strange to feel jealous when someone even looks at you when before he thought it was hilarious when guys would gawk at the girl he was with. This was far from hilarious when he was serious about you.

Is it bad that you kind of liked it? You’re used to being ignored by your partners and very rarely did they consider you when with their friends. Jungkook spoke up for you when his friend’s asked personal questions and he made it known that you were an item. You’re used to guys wanting it on the low but Jungkook was obvious. He was protective and intimidating yet you kind of liked it. You’re not used to seeing him like this.

Without thinking any further you were turning his face toward you so you could capture his lips with yours. He didn’t concern himself with the way you two appeared to everyone right now. Sloppy tongues meeting in a familiar motion while he deepened the kiss. His lip ring was warming up with your touch and you went to run your tongue over it making him groan. The two of you shamelessly kissed right there while the others simply rolled their eyes and looked away.

“Unless you’re gonna start undressing to give us a show, put it away,” Jin joked and you swear Jungkook gave a low grunt in annoyance as you went to pull back.

To be honest, you didn’t expect to meet his friends. You’ve been dating for weeks minus that week you tried to dump him as an impulsive decision. You told him earlier that you didn’t mind staying behind if he wanted to see his friends but he wasn’t having it. He told you he wanted every single one of them to know you’re together. He wanted to show you off because he could. It is strange to hear them talk so vulgarly to each other. Sure you’ve joked with your own friends in such ways but you couldn’t picture yourself openly telling Soomin or Yeonwoo that their boyfriends were attractive and that you wanted them before. It’s awkward of course now that you’re dating Jungkook but you never had ulterior motives when he was with Soomin. Even when he first approached you at the club, you weren’t at all happy to see him. It’s taken some time to get where you’re at.

But hearing everyone, and even himself, tell you he was way too aware of your presence despite having a partner, put you on edge. Maybe he’d do the same to you as he did to Soomin and the thought alone suddenly changed your mood completely.

Jungkook obviously noticed it because he noticed everything you do and pressed you into his side. His face in your hair, “We leave whenever you want, alright?”

You just gave a nod not looking at him instead looking at your phone. He watched you scroll on Instagram ignoring the conversation his friends had to look at what you were doing. Your feed was a bit of everything from nail designs to your friends and celebrities. It’s when you’d scroll past pictures of guys you knew that his jaw would tense. If only you knew how annoyed he’d get back then when he’d stalk your profile just to see all these guys following you and commenting on your stuff. He doesn’t even want to think about your DMs. Now his mood had become sour too.

You were gathering your handbag now, “I want to leave.”

“Alright let’s go,” Jungkook said, his tone a little bitter but he did what you wanted anyway. It doesn’t seem to matter if he wards off guys in person when you’ve got so many on your phone. His friends just watched your exchange, “Already?”

“Yup,” Jungkook said, giving no room for more questions. Jimin noticed first the change in mood you two had but it didn’t even seem to be fully toward each other. He’s not sure if he’s ever seen Jungkook be so willing to do what his partner wants and yet that’s all he’s seen when Jungkook is with you. Even when you’re not together, you seem to be the only thing on his mind. It was obsessive almost but not quite?

The car ride was silent as he took you back to your place where he’s been staying the last couple days. Little pieces of Jungkook were everywhere. His toothbrush, extra clothes, snacks, backpack, laptop, things he’d buy, all spread throughout your small apartment. You wondered if he felt cramped here and was only being nice. Various things of yours were at his place too but it was way more spacious you barely made a mess.

It became obvious early on that your emotions seemed to mirror each other, practically bonded. If you were mad, it’d put him in a mood too, and vice versa. If he was happy then you were too. If you were smiling, he was too. If you were over being out with his friends, then he was too. Sometimes it’s a good thing, sometimes when you’re both annoyed, it’s not.

You were barely through your door when he was following after you, hand gripping your wrist. You turned to look at him and there was something in his eyes you knew all too well. You hadn’t even taken your shoes off, barely throwing your bag somewhere when he was dragging you into him. You squealed a little at the suddenness when he was bending down to hook his arms around your thighs.

Your hands flew to his shoulders being hoisted up in the air as he carried you further into your place. Suddenly he was setting you down on the surface of your dining table and aiding you to lay back. “Wha—Jungkook!”

“I need this,” he said kissing your leg as he picked them up, scooting a chair over for himself so he could sit between them, “I want to feel you and taste you. Seeing all those men look at you like they wanted you, it really pissed me off. And I don’t want you thinking for one second that they could make you feel what I do. And I don’t want you thinking anyone can make me feel the way you make me feel. So just give me a taste.”

“You’re such a smooth talker,” you teased even as he slid your skirt up dragging you to the end of the table to be closer, “But take what you want.” He chuckled sitting up to lean over the table and catch your lips with his, “Don’t tell me that. I’m a very greedy boy.”

“Really? How greedy?” You asked as his fingers traced your thighs further up to where your panties were. He smiled down at you, “I won’t stop until I have my fill, unless you’re begging me to.”

His thumb was grazing your center over the panties you wore. His hand was flat on your thigh letting his thumb run over your clit looking down at you with dark eyes. His gaze traveled down the expanse of your body, still fully dressed but with your skirt fluttering up and exposing only your mound. You lied flat on the table like a platter waiting to be feasted on by Jungkook. He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth as he went back to your eyes, “I don’t want another man to even look at your body. It’s mine, okay?”

You rolled your eyes looking away from him suddenly remembering what put you in a bad mood earlier. How many girls has he said that too? So annoying. The hand that had been between your legs was suddenly at the side of your ribs, waiting for you to respond.

Annoyed that you weren’t looking at him anymore he bent over you again, “Pay attention to me," He mumbled as he used his nose to nudge your face to look up at him. He gave your lips a soft lick letting his tongue part your lips enough for you to kiss him back.

Jungkook pulled away with a soft grunt as if the action alone was unbearable before making his way down to your cunt. He looked ridiculously gorgeous as his back muscles flexed when he slid down between your legs. His face lined up with your arousal, he didn’t hold back, immediately going in to bring you pleasure. He licked a line up your folds until his tongue hit your clip. He licked up at you turning his head to the right and then to the left. His tongue was stiff and with every shake of his head, it bumped your clit until it pointed out from under the hood.

He had you pulled to the end of the table as he sat on a chair between your legs. The legs in questions were over his shoulders with his hands keeping them spread. When Jungkook noticed what was happening to your clit, he moved quickly to wrap his lips around it giving it a light suckle. He kissed it with a sense of urgency like he couldn’t get enough and you felt it through the way he pressed his face into your cunt. Your head fell back on the table with a soft moan, “Jung…kook.”

He hummed in response shaking his head as he kissed you to stimulate your folds. It looked sinful, legs spread wide wide and your knees bent for your feet to be at the edge of the table. Jungkook between them fully dressed in the designer clothes he’d gone to the lounge bar in. His head shaking with every messy tongue kiss he gave your wet pussy. It was truly erotic.

Jungkook looked to you every once in a while watching your reactions. Deciding to take up a notch he pulled his mouth away from your clit. Suddenly he was pushing his tongue in and out of your entrance collection your slick on his tongue. Your arm went up, blocking your face, as you moaned, “Oh my god.”

“Look at me,” he lifted his head, heavy pants of breath before diving back in. His hand slid between your legs, palm flat on your pelvis, thumb at your clit. His tongue didn’t stop plummeting into your cunt as far as it could go and you hear the squelch of your slick on his face.

His head tilted to the side doing as he pleased to bring you closer to the edge of orgasm. His thumb circled your clit making sure to dip it into your slick every now and then so it wouldn’t dry.

He was going to bring you to orgasm just with his tongue and he could feel it. Jungkook could feel the way your legs trembled and your hips began to raise and meet his greedy mouth. Your arm blocking your face again completely forgetting that he ordered you to look at him. You were moaning his name now and it sounded like music to his ears. He just loved you so much. So much and he didn’t care that his cock felt heavy in his briefs.

Even with how hard he’s become he ignores it so he could focus on you. You were so close, just let go. Your stomach tensed, “I’m gonna cum, oh fuck.”

He hummed, letting you move his face with the jutting of your hips not taking his tongue out of your pussy. You gave him one last whine of his name as your walls broke. He felt the flood of release hit his tongue and he lapped at it like an animal. He was thirsty, wanting to have whatever you gave him. Everything about you turned him on, especially the way you looked when he made you cum.

Jungkook didn’t stop until there was no more, and when he did he place kisses along your thigh, catching his breath after the work he’d just done. He watched your chest as you did what you could to catch your own breath. He kicked back the chair as he stood and leaned over your body again. Black button up rolled up to his elbows and belt firm around his slim waist. His hands pressed into the table looking down at you with a gaze that you couldn’t look away from.

Below him, you were perfect in his eyes. With your hair splayed on the table, eyes on him, breasts raising and lowering with each breath. Dressed in your small top and skirt that fluttered down on itself since your knees were still bent upward. Your center almost touched his bulge but neither one of you moved your eyes to it.

“Do you love me?” You asked but not in the same naive and vulnerable tone anymore. He nodded his head, “Yes.”

“Mm,” was all you said you raised an arm to wrap around his neck and lifted yourself up as his hand went to your back. Your legs wrapped around his mid section. He carried you in his arms all the way to your bedroom like it was nothing. He laid you down gently and got on top of you.

A smile broke out on his face before capturing your lips with his.

The following day after making up with Jungkook you left to class early and waited to see if Yeonwoo would come in. She caught you sitting down a row toward the front and came to you. It’s still slightly awkward but she’s obviously been more open to talking to you again than Soomin. Soomin is 100% still mad at that and part of you can’t blame her and the other part thinks it’s overreacting. When she got to your row she made her way through it and took the seat next to you, “Hey.”

“Hey,” you said back as she looked down at your desk where your things were put out. Her brows went up, “You still haven’t bought a new laptop?”

“With what money?” You said with a small laugh looking down at the cracked screen. It was actually pretty bad but you did not have money to splurge on a new laptop at the moment, “Besides it still works, it’s just the screen that’s cracked.”

The small talk ended right there when the professor came in. It wasn’t a lecture today, you had to do these partner questions so you obviously partnered together. It was a pretty bland back and forth between you but every once in a while her attention would drift to your phone. You’d receive a text that you would choose to ignore and then another. By the third text you finally had enough and picked up your phone. You typed back a response and set it back down. Yeonwoo sighed, “So you really are still with Jungkook?”

You looked up at her now, “Um… yes.” It’s not like you could hide it anymore after Jungkook’s burst the other night. It still felt weird to admit it but what else could you do? It was the truth. It wasn’t even like you were embarrassed to date him. How could you be? You’ve always been aware of the fact that he’s unbelievably hot and charming. You wondered how many girls have a campus crush on him that you didn’t even know. You couldn’t even think about all the girls who follow him around all day.

She released a deep sigh, “I know what I say doesn’t mean shit to you anymore but I seriously don’t like you two together. You’re just wrong for each other.” Her eyes were on her assignment even as she spoke to you, “Whatever though, you’re going to do what you want even if it’s not good for you.”

You didn’t say anything back for a while before finally saying, “What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know, be honest with me as your friend?” Yeonwoo said, “Is he at least treating you right? Because he treated Soomin like shit, in case you forgot.”

You thought about it for a moment. You know Jungkook treated her like shit, you didn’t forget but you clearly chose to ignore it. She doesn’t need to be reminding you of it but here’s the thing. He has never even yelled at you when he’s upset. Even the night at the restaurant he was more worried about you breaking up with him than mad. Most of the time you spend with him it’s hard to even get your own space because he’s always around. The only time away from him you get is either on campus or work. He doesn’t have to worry about a part time job when his entire future is already mapped out and he could live as careless as he wanted. You can do that when your father’s a CEO but it makes it hard on you. He always wants to see you and it leaves you with no alone time. The most alone time you’ve had was the few days you weren’t speaking to him. Otherwise he’s always trying to communicate with you. So, you can’t say he ignores you, or fights with you, or even yells at you.

“He’s good,” was all you said. Jungkook definitely says some stuff sometimes that you don’t fully believe but you know there’s things you say that he doesn’t believe either. Still, you couldn’t say he treated you badly. It was just taking some time adjusting still. Yeonwoo’s eyes narrowed at you as if trying to see if you were lying but you really weren’t. The only downside to having him as a boyfriend is that he’s probably more clingy and needy than you.

kook<3: am I seeing you tn?

kook<3: maybe you could stay at my place for a few days

you: I have work these next couple nights

you: so I probs should just stay home

Your phone had been back on your desk when it started buzzing, people looked over at you slightly annoyed as you fumbled to turn it off. Yeonwoo looked at it, “Is he always blowing up your phone?”

“Sometimes,” you said honestly, “He wanted me to stay at his place for a couple nights but I’ve got work.”

kook<3: well I can just stay at your place then

you: I’ve got a study session tn so maybe tomorrow

kook<3: with who?

you: yoongi

kook<3: hm

By the end of class it was close to lunch time and with a long break between lectures you and Yeonwoo had time for a long meal. “Can Soomin and Joon join?”

“Obviously,” you told Yeonwoo, “If she knows I’m here and still wants to come though.”

“Yeah, I told her. We’ll see how it goes.”

So you ou left to a nearby cafe and Namjoon joined you first, “Y/n, I was wondering if you could help the Student Council with some advertising for the Summer Exhibition coming up. We’ve got to upload on the school blog and post around campus. If you have time can we meet up?”

“I can see if I can fit it between classes, if not you and Yeonwoo can come over sometime this week?” You said once you all had been seated with your drink orders put in. It didn’t take long for Soomin to walk in and the first few moments she completely ignored you. Alright, she’s still upset but at least you were having lunch together so maybe that was a step forward. You were still in between on if you wanted to be friends with her because she said some pretty mean things to you. At the same time though, you know she was under duress when Jungkook suddenly popped up. You’re not sure if anything happened after that since you left in a cab but you hope it wasn’t anything too bad.

“Hey,” she muttered to you forced to take the seat next to yours since Namjoon was next to Yeonwoo. You mumbled one back and got a second it was awkward between you all until Yeonwoo cut in, “Taehyung’s going to have some people over this weekend. Did he tell you guys that?”

“He sent a text the other night,” you told her, “I might go.”

“With my ex?” Soomin asked, looking over to you. Your jaw became tense wanting to avoid this topic. You still weren’t sure how to go about this but you also didn’t want to just be shitted on. If they didn’t want you around, why don’t they just tell you? You decided you didn’t want to stay quiet, “If he wants to then I guess.”

Soomin glared at you, “He probably will since he’s been in love with you for who knows how long. Since I dated him I’m sure.”

“Soomin,” Yeonwoo warned clearly exasperation with hearing this over and over again. At least with you she didn’t have to worry about listening to the same thing every day. She understands Soomin is upset but give it up or stop talking to you. Soomin shook her head, “What? It’s not like what I’m saying is a lie. He told me himself.”

“I don't know what you want me to do, Soomin. I’m not dumping him if that’s what you want. And even if he had feelings for me—which I doubt—I didn’t know and I would have never done anything to you,” you lied. You obviously knew that he did, in fact, have feelings for you back then but you didn’t know at the time. You’ll say whatever makes you sound like a better person.

She scoffed, “Right, because you’ve always been able to resist a guy giving you attention. I saw the way you used to look at him.”

Your brows furrowed. When he dated Soomin you never thought anything more than that he was good looking. You actually hated him up until the first night you kissed and you only did it because you were drunk. You didn’t say anything now, too annoyed to keep listening to her and focusing on your menu instead. Your phone began to vibrate again, and though it was facing down everyone knew who it was. You chose to ignore it.

“Just answer,” Yeonwoo said the second time it began to ring and you did just that.

“Let’s have lunch if I can’t see you later,” was the first thing Jungkook said to you once you answered. You wanted to get up and talk somewhere private but you also knew that would just give them an excuse to talk shit while you were still around.

“I’m already having lunch,” you told him and you could practically see the way he rolled his eyes. “You don’t care about me then.”

With a small sigh you had to excuse yourself this time after you just said you wouldn’t. You went toward the restroom, “No, you don’t care about me. I’m sorry I can’t be with you 24/7 but why don’t you just give me so—“l

“Space? So you’re dumping me again.”

“Holy shit, I just might if you keep being this clingy,” you said impulsively, “I can’t even work anymore without you complaining that I’m ignoring you. If I’m not giving you enough attention, find someone who will.”

“Oh so you still don’t want to be with me? You’re very quick to try and leave me and now you want me to find someone else?” Jungkook asked bitterly as he walked toward his campus lunch room. “Because I can, there’s a ton of girls here who’d die for my number.”

“So give it to them and I’ll do the same.”

His jaw clenched at the thought of whatever guy might be into you who he doesn’t even know. His grip tightened around his phone, “Give them your number Y/n. I dare you.”

“I will, since you want to say that I don’t care about you, I’ll show you.” With that you hung up and he snapped.

His phone hit the pavement under him with a shatter, others staring at him in confusion as he glared, “What?” He bent to pick it up hoping to call you again but it wouldn’t turn on. Great, he had to get a new phone, find you, and take you away.

“Fighting? You took forever,” Soomin said and that seemed to annoy you more than Jungkook just did. “He wanted to have lunch together.”

“You should’ve invited him then,” Soomin said with a bitter laugh, “Or were you still hoping to hide him like we don’t know you’re together.”

“Look, if you don’t like me anymore fine, don’t talk to me. Talk shit about me I don’t give a fuck,” you said, you were close to snapping, or maybe you were already doing it, “I’m not the one who dumped you, he was. Go take your problems to him even though I know he wouldn’t give a shit. I’m sorry you found out this way but I’m not sorry that I’m dating him. If every time I see you you’re going to be a bitch then whatever, I’m not going to beg you to be my friend. Unless Yeonwoo dumps me too, you’re stuck seeing me so you either get over it or leave, I don’t care anymore.”

“See you guys later,” you added as you stood, thankfully you’ve only ordered a water so there was no bill and you could still leave, “Or I’ll see you at the party.”

“You can’t come,” Soomin said but you just shrugged, “That’s not what Taehyung said. But don’t worry, I’ll stay away from you.”

“Bye,” you said with a smile to Yeonwoo and Namjoon who gave one back shyly ignoring the glare Soomin sent them.

So neither you nor Jungkook stayed mad for long. You were busy with work and school but he did end up coming over on Friday night when you were finally free. On Saturday he took you to the Mac store and bought you a new laptop to apologize. You normally wouldn’t take gifts like that but whatever, he’s got the money for it and at least you know he loves you enough to buy you shit.

Your mom always told you that if a man wants to prove he loves you then he’ll do whatever you asked and apparently that was true. He pretty much does everything you ask except give you space. You complain that your laptop is broken and he buys you a new one. You complain about your feet hurting and he takes your heels off for you. You tell him you want his head between your legs and he jumps at the opportunity. A greedy, spoiled, needy bunny. That’s what he was and you definitely took advantage of that when you weren’t arguing.

Like right now, he was clinging to your back when you greeted Taehyung who smiled widely and pulled you into a hug, “Drinks are in the kitchen, sorry there’s more people than expected. Um, hey, Jungkook, right?”

Jungkook nodded ignoring the hand Taehyung had stretched out choosing instead to drag you off. You had gotten drinks before moving to the couch waving at Yoongi and the others, even Soomin. Fuck that bitch, if she wasn’t going to get over it you were going to be petty now. Jungkook didn’t know that but it didn’t stop him from pulling you onto his lap where you sat with an arm around his shoulders and his around your waist.

“You look so pretty, baby,” Jungkook whispered to you as his finger traced an imaginary circle on your thigh, “I want to take you right here.”

“Don’t you wish,” you smiled pressing your cup to his lips and he happily drank from it. His hand slid back to your waist, “I do, and if I see another guy check you out I’ll do it right now.”

You leaned forward a bit to get Yoongi’s attention, feeling Jungkook’s hand move to your ass now as if in warning. You were playing with him, you know, but you liked that he was possessive and you wanted to test it. “You left your coat at my place the other night. I was gonna bring it to you but I forgot.”

“That’s fine, I’ll go pick it up tomorrow when we get dinner tomorrow,” he said looking to Jungkook who glared at him. He smiled tensely, “Mind if I get dinner with you and my girlfriend tomorrow? Or is it invitation only?”

“Invitation only,” you said watching him slump back annoyed. He slid you off his lap suddenly as he stood, “I need to use the bathroom.”

“Down the hall to your right,” Namjoon said and he was off.

It was awkward, you’ll admit that. Soomin was doing as told and ignoring you but you didn’t care. You could easily ignore her entire presence even if she sat three people away from you. You’re tired of everyone thinking they can just say whatever and you won’t respond. Taehyung came shortly after looking to you, “I need a partner for beer pong, can it be you?”

You nodded, taking his outstretched hand as he looked around for Jungkook, “I would’ve asked the others but they’re shit.” “Lucky for you, I’m skilled in a lot of things.”

“I bet you are,” Taehyung said with a little smirk, “Too bad Jungkook’s the only one who gets to see it all.”

It was strange between you and Taehyung. There was nothing there, obviously but you know—and everyone knows this too— that you’re a flirty person. It’s not even that you want him, you love Jungkook, but sometimes it’s just fun. Old habits die hard.

“Not all, I keep some things hidden,” you told him as he led you to where the others were waiting for him, “I like my secrets.”

“I’m sure you do, kept your boyfriend from me even when we went on that double date. Shame on you,” he said with a shake of his head but his tone was playful.

“Now that wasn’t my fault, Yeonwoo insisted but aren’t you happy you met me?”

“Of course, just sad I didn’t get to you first.”

“First for what?” Jungkook asked behind you making Taehyung freeze, “Don’t stop on my account. Keep going, I want to hear what you have to say.”

“We’re talking about a game,” You lied and very poorly at that.

“Really? Because right now it looks like he’s flirting with my girlfriend so lie to me again,” he said making you roll your eyes. “Don’t be dramatic.”

Jungkook took a deep breath forcing himself to smile, “Alright. I’ll give you your space tonight. Have fun.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion as he walked off but the awkward air around you and Taehyung made you focus on him. “Let’s play.”

It was taking everything in Jungkook to not turn back and bash Taehyung’s head in. The audacity the guy had to openly flirt with another man’s girl. And for you to do it back, oh that was the cherry on fucking top. His fists tightened to release some anger, feeling his nails dig into his palm. What was wrong with you? What the actual fuck is wrong with you? You’ve got the best guy and you want to hang out with him instead? Were you trying to make him jealous? If that’s the game you want to play, he could do it better. Matter of fact, he’ll show you how easy it is to get a girl and he won’t even have to lift a finger.

And he was right, the second he stood alone at this stupid ass party he knew there would be someone itching to get closer. It didn’t even take ten minutes before a girl came up to him with a smile on his face, “You don’t seem happy to be here at all.”

“Well my girlfriend is off doing her own thing,” he played the sympathetic guy, a victim of his mean girlfriend, the sweet one. The girl smacked her lips in disapproval, “Doesn’t she know that you could get snatched any second?”

His face went cold, “I’m sure she’s not worried. But, why do you say that? You think there’s someone else out there who might want me?” Play naive, he can do that. The girl shrugged, “Oh I know there’s a few.”

“You included?” “Me especially,” she whispered taking a step closer to him. From across the party he could see you make eye contact with him and it made him want to keep going, “That’s bad, my girlfriend might get jealous.”

“Then maybe she should watch you more carefully.”

“Oh I think she’s doing that just fine, but you don’t seem to care, do you?” He asked once again playing stupid. The girl shook her head looking at him from head to toe, “And when I see something I want, I know how to get it.”

“Is that easy for you?” Jungkook asked with a raise of his brows, “That confident? I guess I understand, you’re attractive.”

He shrugged when she blushed and he looked over to you still glaring at him and it made him smile as he looked down to the girl. He was making you jealous, good, you need to know how he feels every second you’re away from him. He smiled at the girl, “But compared to my girlfriend, you’re pretty fucking ugly to look at.”

Her smile dropped but Jungkook kept going. He knew that from your point of view you could misjudge the conversation and think he was flirting back with her. That’s what he wanted. The girl looked taken back by the sudden switch in his tone so he went on, “And I don’t like girls who chase after taken men. You don’t get what you want because you’re attractive. You get it because you’re clearly an easy person to sleep with. So don’t be so confident in yourself. I’m not looking at anything special.”

“What the fuck,” the girl said and yet he still smiled when he saw you begin to come over. Perfect.

“Oh I’m just kidding,” Jungkook laughed, “I just wanted to see how you’d react.” He was stalling, trying to keep the girl here until you came. He wanted to see what you’d do.

“What are we talking about over here?” You asked as you approached with a big, fake smile. The girl looked at you up and down as Jungkook put an arm around your shoulders, “Oh, this chick was trying to flirt with me even though she knew I had a girlfriend, baby.”

“Hm, and I’m sure you said no, right?” You looked at him now and he just shrugged, “I was just doing what you were doing with Taehyung.”

“Your boyfriend’s an asshole and I promise you I don't want him,” the girl said with a scoff and you lifted a hand to cup his chin, fingers squeezing his cheek. “You sure? But he’s so handsome.”

At that, Jungkook fought against your hold to kiss you but you moved away even as he squeezed you closer to him for the kiss. The girl looked between you clearly confused by you two, “I’m sorry, I promise I don’t want him.”

“And yet you came over to flirt with him, right? And you’re still here talking,” you said harshly, “I’ll tell you what, if you want him, take him. I’ll let him fuck you if he wants to.”

Jungkook chuckled, you were clearly being a bitch to her on purpose. As if you thought he’d leave you for her and you know that. You’re just too much like him but he thinks it’s so hot. It’s just too fun being an asshole to everyone because you can. He wasn’t even mad that you had been with Taehyung. He hugged you from behind, arms snug around your waist, chin resting on your shoulder, “Oh come on baby, don’t be so mean. She meant well, she thought you left me for another guy.”

He looked the girl up and down, “I told you my girl would get jealous.” She looked uncomfortable and now fed up, she left with a roll of her eyes. You looked at Jungkook from over your shoulder who just gave you a cheeky smile, “You’re so hot when you’re jealous.”

This time you rolled your eyes too, “Whatever. I’m ready to go.”

“Alright,” Jungkook bent down sliding his arms down to your thighs and hoisting you up. “Stop,” you groaned trying to get his arms off of you but it was too late. He was already walking you to the door with you facing forward and his arms around your legs. You tried to hide your face but it was no use. As if your friends wouldn’t recognize you.

Jungkook was laughing as you pushed on his arms to get him to let you go but he walked you out the door just like that. He didn’t set you down until you made it to the stairs and you glared at him as you pulled your skirt back down. His hand went to your ass as he nibbled on your earlobe knowing how sensitive it is, “Seeing you jealous turns me on.”

“Whatever.”

“Don’t whatever me, you know how annoyed I get when you’re with another guy?” Jungkook said exiting the building and pushing his button to unlock his car. Instead of opening the passenger door he goes to the back instead. You shrugged, “I know.”

His jaw clenched, “Get in.”

“In the back?” Your brows furrowed even as you did as told. You didn’t expect him to follow after you pushing you down, “Yup because I can’t wait to get home to show you how much better I am.”

“Better at what?” You asked spreading your legs enough for him to get between them crawling over you to kiss you. “Everything,” he kissed your neck.

“What if someone catches us?” You asked though you didn’t seem too worried about it as you chose to sit up instead of lay under him. His hands went to your waist letting you climb onto his lap as he moved over to the middle seat. He began to inch your skirt up letting his hand touch your ass again. He loved that you wore skirts a lot. It gave him easy access to the parts of you he wanted to touch. He gave you a smile as you tilted his chin up to you, “Nobody is going to see through the tints, baby.”

You released a sigh as you pressed your lips against his with a teasing kiss, “That's a shame. I kinda wanted them to.”

Jungkook’s jaw opened in a lax expression when you kissed down the side toward his ear sending a shiver down his spine. Fuck, you turned him on so much. Everything you did from the way you slept to the way you moaned his name. He wanted you so badly, needed you. What you just said made his whole body tremble feeling the blood rush his dick that was confined by too many layers. He couldn’t even wait for foreplay. He needed you now. Like right now, in the back of his tinted car, no protection and still fully dressed.

You must’ve felt the same because you were lifting yourself up to let him unzip himself while you tried taking your underwear off. He freed his hard cock giving it a couple quick strokes while he brought his other hand into his mouth. His tongue lathered his fingers in spit before bringing it down between your legs to your heat. You were already wet and his fingers worked to spread the slick along your folds and clit to avoid any roughness. You instantly began to move your hips against his hand making him look up at you, cock in hand.

You moved over his lap again and he took the mive to point his member up, watching you look down and try and line him up with your entrance. His hands were under your butt fighting the slip of your skirt over them as you adjusted to his dick, unprotected and without much prep. You probably shouldn’t be doing this but who was going to drop you when you were so horny? God, it’s like, you know it’s bad to be jealous. And you know he was trying to make you jealous, but it was hot. Not the part where the chick flirts with him but the part where he degraded her a little in your presence. It was bad. You shouldn’t like it but you do.

You like the way he shows you off and touches you like he doesn’t care. You like that he’s sought after and that so many girls want him while he’s with you. Your hands were around his neck as he finally raised you up, letting you land back against his hips with one thrust. With your response he did it again, a little quicker now. The slide of his cock in a steady, still cautious, rhythm was good, but you wanted more. You let yourself move against him, doing a small grind every time you dropped onto his thick cock.

“Fuck,” his brows scrunched together in concentration. He’d love to see the look on those guy’s faces when they see you taking his cock so well. All those guys who are on your phone or who you dated in the past thinking about the fact that you’re Jungkook’s. He’s keeping you and he’s not letting go, especially not when you sucked him in so well, taking every inch of him enveloping him in a warmth he craved.

His head fell back against the seat watching you take control, bouncing on his length in a quick and rough pace, clearly in need of release. That’s fine, he’ll watch you fuck yourself on his dick. You make him feel so good even when he’s not the one doing the work. He could just sit back, watch you jump on his cock, and enjoy. He didn’t even care if the car moved or if you two were even loud enough to be heard outside. All he knew was that he needed to cum, now.

His hands found their way to your waist again, not to stop you but to hold you in place as he shifted further down his seat. His feet spread and planted on the car floor for support as he raised his hips. You moaned into his hair as he began to fuck up into you, arm tightly snaked around your waist as he went faster. You could hear the slap of skin as he chased his release. Wanting to bring you closer too he yanked down your shirt and groped your tit. His mouth quickly wrapped around the nipple making you shiver.

“Oh fuck,” you whined letting your hips grind forward and back while having him pound into you from below. His head moved with your breast whenever you used your whole body to drop onto his cock.

His tongue licked up and down on the hardened bud, your hand digging into his bicep to hold yourself steady. “I need you to cum baby,” his grunt was swallowed by your tit and he never stopped thrust in his cock between your folds into your creamy pussy, “Right fucking now.”

“Okay,” you moaned desperate now to hit your orgasm so he could slip out of you before he did. The car was definitely moving now and there was a light fog inside. “Okay,” you repeated quickening your pace as you ride him, “I’m gonna cum…”

“Fuck,” he groaned doing everything to bring you closer from the thrust of his cock to the sucking of your nipples, “Do it, fuck Y/n, hurry up!”

“Oh my god,” you half groaned as you hit your limit. Your walls tightened around his cock squeezing him so snugly that he visibly tended. Forcing himself not to cum inside you his body shuddered with every twitch of your cunt, feeling your release pool against his base. Your body twitched as you tried sliding him off and he groaned loudly with the final chance of warmth and tightness now feeling way too exposed and cold.

Without further instruction, you leaned forward catching his head in your mouth, knowing this was it. You didn’t even have to stroke him, he was ready to blow his load and he did. Your throat was hit with a spurt of creamy release feeling it fill your mouth. You desperately tried to swallow as he moaned your name in pleasure. You lapped up as much as you could in order to save a mess waiting to happen and let him soften before taking him out of your mouth. He looked an even bigger mess than you and that was saying a lot.

He dragged his body back up to sit right as he tried tucking his member into his briefs. He looked at you, zipping up his jeans as you fixed your twisted skirt. He just thinks you look so pretty after sex, no matter how quick it is. With a sudden desire, he quickly snuck a kiss against your cheek before sitting back where he was. You gave him a little smile as you looked for your underwear. You slipped them back on trying to fix yourself up, “So are we going to your place?”

“Nah, I want to get drunk,” Jungkook said looking up at the building now, “Let’s go back to the party.”

“Ugh,” you whined looking at yourself through the rear view mirror, “I feel icky.”

You didn’t really care about returning to the party. You got what you needed and you were fine now. Jungkook opened the door already sliding out, “We’ll get you cleaned, don’t worry.”

He held you by the hand as the two of you went back in. The door was unlocked so you snuck back in making a beeline for the bathroom. Jungkook pushed you inside laughing as he locked the door shut, “Hurry up.”

“Shut up,” you told him as you lowered your underwear to sit on the toilet. He passed you the toilet paper roll that sat on the opposite end of the sink counter and turned away to let you clean yourself as best as you could. He checked himself out in the mirror before opening the cabinets under the sink. He found some wet wipes and lotions so he took them out. These have to belong to Taehyung or his roommate so in Jungkook’s mind, free reign. When you finished you flushed the toilet and stood next to him at the sink. You went to turn the faucet on watching him wipe face and neck with a wipe and moving to his arm pits. “Ew,” you pretended to cringe but he just shrugged.

“I’m doing this for you, I don’t care if people know we had sex,” Jungkook answered as he tossed it in the trash and grabbed another. You took one from the pack too, doing the same as funny as it was before washing your mouth. Jungkook passed you Taehyung’s mouthwash and poured some into your cupped hands. You swish it around in your mouth before spitting it back down and washing the liquid away.

“We should do that again sometime,” Jungkook said as the two of you joined everyone else in the main area.

“So what again?” Yoongi asked popping out from your right. His eyes narrowed, “Nevermind, I don’t want to know.”

“Is everyone still here?” You asked following after him as Jungkook went after you. Yoongi nodded, “Yeah but no clue where anyone went. Want a beer?”

“Yeah,” you said as he went to the kitchen. He came back with two and moved to the couch again, where he’s most likely been all night like the antisocial he is. You joined him on a armchair and Jungkook stood behind your chair as you talked to Yoongi. Now that you’ve had sex, he feels much more at ease. He still didn’t like you talking to other guys but he’ll make an exception.

“So, how you been?” Namjoon came up to him suddenly. Jungkook was surprised, the guy’s made little effort to talk to him these last few days. Before, when he was with Soomin, he spoke to Namjoon more. They weren’t friends by any means but he talked when their girlfriends got together. The second time around it was clearly awkward with him when his girlfriend and her friend were fighting with his other friend—you. All because of Jungkook, so yeah, he hasn’t talked to you. Right now though, he’s choosing to talk.

“Good, how about you?” “Same,” Namjoon cleared his throat awkwardly, “Personally I think you and Y/n match well.” Jungkook agreed but he also knows you’re both a little fucked in the head for reasons neither of you cared to explain.

“I think so too,” he responded in honesty. You felt Jungkook’s hand touch your head from where he stood behind you now carrying a conversation with Namjoon.

“I don’t know if I should ask this chick out or no, is she hot?” Yoongi ignored the hand that traced your cheek. A finger pressing against your lips even as Jungkook ignored it. He kept talking to Namjoon while trying to caress your face still thinking about demon time and how he’d like to do it again.

“You know Jin? Yeah he’s a good friend of mine,” Jungkook spoke casually, “Have you met Jimin?”

You moved your head making his hand slide to your neck, “I think she’s a strong 8.5”

“Hmm,” Yoongi looked down to his phone, “What happened to the other 1.5?”

“I don’t know, something I don’t like,” you answered him giving him back his phone. He looked down at the photo he had shown you and tilted his head in thought. You took the chance to look around at the people still here. Yeonwoo was on the other end of the room talking to Soomin and some other girl. You can’t tell if they’ve alienated you because of your choices or if you’ve alienated yourself just because you don’t know how to deal with it. All you know is that Soomin kept looking over here at you and then to Jungkook before talking to the other girls again.

You’re not sure if that meant she was talking about you or not but what you were sure of is that seeing you with Jungkook bothers her. Maybe it’s some of the mean things she’s said or the constant bashing on you, but you couldn’t bring it in yourself to care how she felt. Especially not when her eyes traced the length of his arm to the hand that was caressing your face without much thought into what he was doing. You know she still feels something for him.

It might not be love but there was something there for her. She had loved him enough when they dated and he treated her awful. Being left so suddenly clearly took a toll on her since she avoided everyone for months. Then, to see the person who just left you like it was nothing now with an old friend of yours? Oh, that’s gotta hurt. So sure, Y/n should feel a little guilty and she did at first. Now not so much, like whatever, it happened, move on. You’re just at that point where you don’t care what anyone thinks anymore. Her eyes met yours with a glare.

Without any debate you tipped your head back making Jungkook look down at you. His hand was on your jaw keeping you in place as he suddenly bent down to catch your lips with his. Namjoon’s words seemed to slow down as he witnessed the two of you kiss. Jungkook kept it short and sweet because if he did it longed he’d want to take you back out to the car. He smiled down at you, finally moving his hand to brush your hair back as you turned to talk to Yoongi again.

“I still can’t believe Y/n is dating Jungkook,” Soomin said with a sigh as she pulled her gaze away from you to turn to Yeonwoo. She just shrugged her shoulders watching her boyfriend talk to Jungkook, “I can’t either.”

“You’re the one who kept it from me,” Soomin said with a bitter tone that had Yeonwoo rolling her eyes.

“Well, you weren’t even talking to us when Jungkook came around the first time,” Yeonwoo pointed out, “And in my defense, I didn’t think anything would happen after they kissed.”

“After how he treated me I can’t believe Y/n would do that,” Soomin sighed and Yeonwoo just nodded silently. She tilted her head in thought as she watched you talk to Yoongi. Jungkook looked over to you every now and then but for the most part he was talking to Namjoon. Yeonwoo would just have Namjoon tell her what they talked about.

She just doesn’t trust you or Jungkook. There’s obviously heavy feelings between you two and that’s not a lie. She just can’t bring herself to believe it’s as perfect as you both are making it seem. Two people don’t just change overnight, especially not you.

Soon you’ll get bored, get your feelings hurt and move on. She’s surprised you haven’t done that yet but you will, she knows it. You’ve got this mentality where you think you have to be perfect for your partner. But you also think that if they’re not showing you what you think is affection, it won’t matter if they’re good to you or not. It won’t matter if they’re the sweetest guy in the world, you’ll find an excuse to leave. You got lucky with all the assholes you date because they never want anything serious. You don’t either because you think that there's a perfect guy out there just waiting for you. Well, there isn’t, and it’s definitely not Jungkook.

Jungkook had no sympathy for anyone but himself. He doesn’t care about another person’s feelings or if he’s done anything to hurt them. Actually, she knows he doesn’t care who he hurts. Just look at Soomin, he treated her like garbage and not a single part of him looks guilty.

So, she wants to say that you’re not good for each other. You get your feelings hurt too easily and he jumps into the relationship with you like it was nothing. You’re just not compatible. If Jungkook doesn’t do something to hurt you first, you’ll get him. You have a way of painting yourself as someone naive but she knows you’re not. She knows you’re using Jungkook just as much as he’s probably using you.

One of you isn’t being honest to the other. Either Jungkook is lying about how in love with you he is or you’re lying about how much you love him. Maybe he’s disguising his strange obsession with you in love, or you’re taking advantage of it to finally feel what you’ve been lacking all your life. She knows you, knows how you play and how you act when you’re no longer obsessed over someone.

There’s a reason why every guy you’ve ever dated didn’t stick around and it’s not just because they’re complete douchebags. She knows that when your resolve falls and you’re not the sweet and naive girlfriend anymore, you’re probably just as bad as them. Once you feel like they aren’t giving you what you want you change. You go from gentle and vulnerable to mean and obsessive. It’s not possible that every guy you’ve been with leaves you. If every single one of them does that, doesn’t it mean that you might be the problem? Maybe they see the real you that you don’t show Yeonwoo or anyone else. She just knows you’re not as pliant as you paint yourself. She saw it the other day when you snapped back at Soomin. Rightfully so, but you don’t usually speak your mind like that. Not that there’s anything wrong with it but it’s just not something she’s used to seeing.

Even with Jungkook, sometimes it seems like you’re the one in control. You’re the one leading him, you’re the one bringing him to things, you’re the one he obsessed over. But when she looks to see if you’re just as obsessed with him, she just can’t tell.

You don’t have a problem ignoring him like he’s not around. You don’t think twice about his feelings especially if he's going against whatever you told him to do. As strange as it sounds, Jungkook seems way more into you than you’re into him which is unusual since you’re the one usually more wrapped up in the other. Maybe you think Jungkook won’t leave you or you don’t care if he does.

All she knows is that you’re different from how you’ve been with other guys, and that she’s never known Jungkook to be so affectionate? It’s just hard to believe that this means you’ve both changed for the better. It just doesn’t seem genuine, nothing about your sudden changes feels honest.

One of you is going to regress into your old selves or maybe neither of you ever changed. Old habits die hard, everyone knows that. If there’s anyone who had bad habits when it came to relationships, it would be you two. The guy who doesn’t care about how awful a girl is treated. And the girl who seems to fall in love too fast and gets bored even faster.

One of you is lying, or both. There’s just no way two people change that fast, not you two anyway.

prev| end

::.

taglist: @jub-jub @moonfaery @hoseoksluv89 @jeonzll @kookieaddicted96 @darkuni63 @btspurplesky @kristinalucio

okok it was a long wait and was it worth it? idek. imma tell y’all rn there will only be one part left and I still don’t know if it’s gonna be a good or bad ending for jk and y/n

also be honest 👀who do you guys think changed the most from the first part and you do think will hurt the other more? they’ve both got jealousy and trust issues and i feel like we saw it a bit here

it’s giving him and i by g-easy and halsey but minus the cringe of the song me thinks

there’s also 100% hella errors in this but listen i gave myself a time limit

#kpop #jeon jungkook #jungkook smut #jungkook yandere #jungkook angst #jungkook au #kim taehyung #bts #jung hoseok #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi #park jimin #bts smut #love lies

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