#it was a porch before but i felt like it looked super weird with the heavy roof

[luffyandaceswife]

𝐊𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐔𝐏

⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: AFAB reader, Country ace 😍‼️, Cigarettes , Slight alcohol, literal sweet tooth rotting fluff..

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄: Romance

𝐖𝐂: no idea!

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

You sat outside your bedroom window, on the roof, you lived on a dam farm so you got quite the veiw of the stars since the city lights didn’t outshine them. They were as beautiful as ever, it was quite the chilly night, but no commotion. The animals were all asleep, so was your fellow homesteader Ace, or so you thought, You had moved in with him a few weeks ago ever since you and your landlord got into a fist fight and were evicted, he offered up quite quickly, but he was a charming and friendly man so it didn’t seem weird. You accepted the offer and moved in with him at his farm, it was surprisingly in order and tidy. You imagined someone like him with such a firey personality would have things a little less in control but to your suprise, he was QUITE responsible.

When you first arrived, you drove your car up to his few acres of land and stepped out of the car, he was sitting on his porch, shirtless and sweat dripping down his back, an ice cold beer in his hand. You were quite flustered by the image alone but once he stood up and offered to help you move your things inside the house you felt your stomach doing flips.

“You alright darlin?”

He asked with a slight southern drawl, his voice alone was enough to make you crumble, even if you two had been friends since childhood, you as-well grew up with Dadan, but you and ace weren’t all that close since he did his best to stay away from you, and later on Making as well. You assumed it was because he was a teenage boy at first until he started to specifically avoid you until your adult years, you two grown quite close in the years of adulthood but he lived quite far away from the rest of the “family”. Luffy usually was traveling with his group of friends, and Sabo was some sort of officer who had to travel a lot for work, but Ace hadn’t moved, chilling at the farm he bought a while back.

Once Ace heard the news of your bitchy landlord kicking you out, him fuming was an understatement, even if he seemed quite distant to you the first two or three days of you living there, he would use the excuse of “I wanted to let you settle in” or “I’m busy” but something told you that wasn’t quite the truth, since you would look out your window to see him lazily watching over the cornfield behind the house, and he did that quite frequently, like right now, he was standing with a lit cigarette between his lips as he sat on a foldable chair on the back deck. You stared down at him before sighing and stepping back into your window from your room.

You decided you wanted to go down there with him to see what he was doing up this late at night, with him having to take care of dark duty’s super early in the morning. You stepped down the creaky stairs, wincing at each step even though there was quite literally no one to wake, you slipped out the back door and stood by Aces side. He didn’t notice you at first and jumped a bit.

“Shit darlin, you scared me.”

He would say with a chuckle while holding his hand over his heart dramatically, you smiled at his reaction and leaned against the support beam of the roof that was covering the porch.

“Sorry Ace, saw you out here and thought you might want some company.”

he smiled and took a drag of the cigarette, washing down the pungent taste with a swig of alcohol, his raven hair slightly blowing in the southern wind, the light of his cigarette and the stars keeping you two from being enveloped by the darkness.

“Is that so?”

He took another drag of the cigarette before flicking it out and dragging the embers with the bottom of his boot.

“Can’t sleep?”

He asked quite quietly, staring at your slumped figure as you leaned against the support beam, you met his gaze and nodded hesitantly, you hadn’t been able to sleep much since moving in here, it wasn’t the environment, nothing was wrong with Ace or the farm but you hadn’t ever handled change very well.

“Nah, you?”

You asked, grabbing his pack of cigarettes from the table and holding your hand out, beckoning him for a lighter, he dug in his pocket and pulled out an orange lighter with a blue symbol on it, you looked at it for a second before lighting your cigarette that was nested between your lips and handing it back to him.

“Nope, haven’t slept in two or three days.”

You frowned and took the cigarette from between your lips and held it between your two fingers.

“Is it because of me, Hotshot?”

Ever since you two were children you had used that nickname on him to get on his nerves, it had always seemed to work until you were adults, not he seemed eager to be called the playful nickname.

“Ofcourse not darlin, Trust me i prefer your presence rather than the silence of the night… or the animals-“

You placed the cigarette between your lips again only for ace to walk over and grab it, taking a drag for himself and flicking it out, to which you sighed heavily, he smirked at your reaction and stood closer, his face slightly visible now, he had his hat on the entire time but you had yet to notice until now, when he had gotten closer to you.

“Prefer me eh? Am i that special Hotshot?”

You leaned your back against the support beam now, facing him, and he scoffed.

“If you think your anything less than special your dead wrong.”

He said louder than before and stepped closer, his chest pressing against yours, his thick calloused fingers grabbing hold of your chin, forcing you to look at him.

“Wanna see sumthin special?”

Ace asked with a soft smile, his head tilting to the left ever so slightly, he was so close now you could smell the faint scent of alcohol on his breath, and count every freckle on his face, it distracted you for a second before you replied with a nod, and before you could think, you were being dragged to his old red truck, you hauled yourself into the passengers seat, and Ace drove alone the old dirt path connecting his land to some place in the middle of the woods. You looked outside the windows to see the trees were clearing a bit and Ace parked the truck. He got out and opened the door for you, helping you down since the truck was lifted.

“Watch your step darlin’.”

He whispered and pulled you into his arms to keep you from tripping, he grabbed your hand to lead you through the dark of the woods, a few fireflies lighting up the worn down path, you felt the ground beneath your feet change textures. The sound of wood clicking against the slight heel of your boots was loud in contrast to the quiet nights and the frogs croaking in the distance, Ace grabbed something from who knows where and lit the lighter, it was a lantern, and now your veiw was illuminated, it was a pond, the moon high above them, softly gleaming against the calm waters.

“My favorite place to go when i can’t sleep.”

You smiled, the view was breathtaking for somewhere this deep in the south.

“It’s beautiful Hotshot.”

He turned to face you and softly his pinky intertwined with yours, your breath hitching as your hand slowly crept to meet his, his fingers wrapped around yours in an instant, his grip tight but gentle. His fingers were rough and calloused but warm, it was comforting. Your cheeks felt hot..The cold night breeze started to pick up, and Ace pulled you into his warm embrace. His body heat warmed you up instantly. His arms were wrapped up to your chest, Still holding your hand. You leaned your head back against his shoulders and closed your eyes. The distant ambiance of the forest and the soft breathing of the man holding you was enough to rock your restless soul straight to sleep. Ace felt the same way. He gently picked you up and took you back to the car once he noticed how sleepy you were getting.

“Watch your step Hun’..”

He drawled, holding your waist to help you up into the passenger seat of his truck, he shut the door behind you once you were all situated, and he climbed into the drivers side of the car, before starting to drive back to the farm, and once you arrived, you were eager to get to bed, but too tired to walk.

“Need help there?”

Ace asked with such genuine sincerity that it made your heart pound against your chest. You have a lazy nod and he lifted you from the seat, holding you with one arm as he shut the door behind you. Ace carried you bridal style up to your room, where you had left the window open. You groaned at the cold temperature of your room and noticed ace turning around to depart to his own room.

“Wait.”

He turned back around, leaning against your doorframe.

“Yes Firefly?”

You felt your cheeks heat up instantly and your words got caught in your throat.

“Stay.. please, it’s uhm.. cold.”

He snickered and held out a hand.

“My room is warmer, come on doll.”

You looked down at your boots as you two walked to his room, which was in-fact much warmer, But also neat and tidy. He drew back the sheets and patted the side of his queen sized mattress, motioning for you to get on, you sat down on the side of his bed and started to unzip your boots, but he walked over and moved your hand back into your lap.

“I got it princess.”

He smiled softly and unzipped your boots, gently taking them off an leaning closer to your shins, looking up at you with loving eyes, before kissing the sides of your calves so gently it felt like a feather, you shivered and bit your lip, but he stopped and crawled into bed with you, pulling you close.

“Sleep well firefly.”

You shivered, His strong arms wrapped around your waist, his face resting in the crook of your neck, you fell asleep almost instantly, comfortable, and safe within your country boys arms.

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐???? 𝐋𝐌𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒!!

✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪

#one piece x reader #portgas ace x reader #one piece #portgas d ace #ace #fanfic #romance #country #southern #monkey d. luffy #sfw #Spotify

[princessbrunette]

love ur blog SO much could scroll thru it for hours and hours <3

for jj (if you want!): dealer!jj and reader who has a crush on him comes to buy weed for the first time? in my head she smokes by herself, gets super high & then panics and comes back to jj’s and confesses LOL bc that would be some shit I would do!!!

thank u so much !! and yes,, i love this idea hehe ◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜ ‹𝟹

⊹ . ⁺ 🐰🎀⋅˚₊𐙚

the first half of your weed purchasing experience went fairly smoothly, well — as smoothly as it can for someone who has no idea what they’re talking about.

you’d shown up just a little after 4 in the prettiest skirt and your lashes extra long, coated in black. you couldn’t believe you’d worked up the courage to wind up buying weed from the guy you’d had a crush on since you were little (who seemed too chaotic to ever pay attention to little old you!) but it was soon you were stood in his house, having him talk you through each strain — and you had to try extra hard to focus because he looked so good and his hands were so big and —

“i’mma take a shot in the dark and say you’re fairly new to this right? in that case i’d prooobably suggest this, s’on the milder side, just chills you out a bunch.” he slides a packet towards you, eyes flickering up to you to catch you already looking at him.

“how’d you know i’m new to this?” you start digging in your purse for the wad of cash you brought to avoid looking at him.

“oh jus’ vibes.” he shrugs, smiling when you look back up at him, cash in hand. “its cute though, i dig it anyway.” he takes the notes from you and you swallow a love confession. “want me to roll it for you?”

he rolls the joints for you, and you try not to stare like a creep before you’re out the door in no time, breathing in the balmy late afternoon air and riding off on your bike to your empty house, family away for the weekend, to smoke your maybank special.

the second half of your experience, not so smooth.

you chaotically steer your little bike with a basket up to his house not even two hours later, paranoid and practically crashing the vehicle onto the grass as you hop off it, hands shaking at your side. jj, embarrassingly is already on the porch, stroking a stray cat with a cigarette in his mouth.

when he spots you frantically moving towards him he stands slowly, tossing the end of his cigarette aside. “ohhhh boy.” he speaks to himself like he knew what was coming.

“hey, hi, uhm.” you pant, violently struggling for breath as you clench and unclench your hands at your sides.

“you good?” he frowns, stepping towards you.

“i just— i’m so sorry to bother you but i — i smoked it alone for my first time and i don’t think i did it right or maybe it’s just reacting with me super bad and now i’m shaking and i feel really weird and i didn’t know who to go to — i— i just was wondering if there was a way to become un-high, cos i — i didn’t really wanna do it in the first place i just came to buy weed from you because i have this ridiculously huge crush on you and i thought hey what the hell—”

“heeeey, hey. breathe, okay? deep breath in girlie, look at me, right here.” he places his hands on your shoulders, face right infront of yours and for a moment you’re stunned. not only because you said all of that out loud, but because his hands were on you. “thats right, now breathe out.” he puffs his cheeks out, blowing out himself like he was encouraging a baby and you copy him, wide glassy eyes fixated on him like he was your life line.

“sorry.” you whisper and he smiles, adorable dimples indenting his cheeks.

“for what? come in, you look like you need some water.” he guides you inside his house, closing the door behind you as you try your best to stay calm. your brain felt slow and fast at the same time and all your nerve endings felt alight, constantly on the verge of a panic attack. “here, sit down— yeah? mi casa es su casa, or whatever. i never took french.” he ushers you to the couch, clumsily tripping over an empty beer can before kicking it aside and skidding off to the kitchen, returning with a glass of water.

“you ride your bike here?” he realises, sitting beside you as he hands you your drink.

“y—yeah.” you release a shaky exhale, bringing the glass to your lips.

“drink that nice n’slow, atta girl. see? you’re alright!” he makes an effort to keep his voice gentle, looking like he was going to reach out to put a hand on your arm but decided against it. you put the glass aside, palm coming to rub uncomfortably over the skin on your chest where your heart was. “heart feel a little fast?”

“mhm.” you mewl pathetically, mortified. you must have fumbled it, there was nothing sexy about winding up on your crushes couch having a panic attack.

“thats pretty normal, yeah. just gotta breathe n’shit.” he nods, resting his elbows on his knees as he watches you. “it’ll feel better when you just let it do what it needs to do, trust me.”

you try and follow his advice, sitting quietly for a few minutes as you lean back and relax into his couch, taking deep breaths and letting the high run its natural course. after a little while, you feel a giggle bubble up.

“uh-oh, there she is.” you hear the smile in his voice and he’s already looking at you.

“i totally freaked, m’sorry.” you’re all blissed out now, finally relaxed.

“oh you’re good— uh, yeah. what even happened? like—how much did you smoke?”

“the whole joint.” you shrug, snickering again.

“yeah that… probably was a lot for your first time, huh?” he grins, shaking his head. “if i knew you were this clueless about this shit, no offence, i would have offered to smoke with you, ‘ya know? be your guide. your ganja guru, if you will.”

“maybe you can teach me the right way to do it next time?” you try, feeling braver under the influence. his eyes flutter with something unrecognisable in your state and he nods.

“y—yeah. yeah for sure. totally.”

“unless i kinda ruined the vibes with that whole embarrassing confession outside.” you groan, lifting a hand to smush against your warm cheek. his eyes widen and he shakes his head.

“no! no, it was cute… i had no idea man, i would’ve closed. you crushing on me? c’mon man i’d be all over that.” he chuckles awkwardly, watching your face melt into the softest and sweetest smile he’d ever seen.

“really? you mean that?”

“hey, it’s not everyday i got a pretty girl on my couch needing me to save her, okay— this is big for me.” he teases.

you spend the rest of the evening riding out your high, before sleepily riding out your dealer beneath the glow of the television. he’ll consider it payment.

⊹ . ⁺ 🐰🎀⋅˚₊𐙚

#anon #dealer!jj #jj maybank prompt

[fangirldreams101]

Coming Home pt. 5

DBF! Daryl, Rick, Shane & Negan x Reader

TW: Severe age-gap, older men

Chapter Index

Rick cursed, going to shield you from Shane's sight with his body.

"What the fuck do you think yer doin?" he seethed at Shane's cocky smile.

Rick's rage skyrocketed as he noticed Shane's eyes glance at your body underneath before he shrugs, "You should be thankin' me. Her good ol' dad was gonna be the one to come in and check on ya'll. Givin how ya were lookin at her earlier, I kinda figured it'd be sumn like this."

"Thank you," Rick grit his teeth, "Now leave."

"Nah, I dun think so. What would good ol' dad say knowin' his friend was aboutta fuck his little girl? Dun think he'd be too happy about it, but that's jus me," Shane drawled, picking at his nails.

"Shane," your timid voice called out, still in shock over what just happened, "please don't tell him."

Shane's cocky demeanor softens at the sound of your voice, and he sighs, "Gorgeous, I wouldn't do that to ya. 'N Rick, stop standin' over her like a rabid dog and let her dress herself."

Rick practically growled at Shane's words, kind of proving his point. You gently tapped the man above you on the arm, a quiet signal that it was okay. Rick sighed, tucking himself back into his pants and helping you put your clothes back on while trying to protect you from Shane's unwavering gaze. It was no use however, Shane's dark gaze drunk in every ounce of exposed skin he could. You heard him take a sharp inhale of breath at the brief glimpse he got of your wet pussy. Rick also heard it, whipping around and glaring the younger man down.

Shane cleared his throat and motioned for you to grab the drinks. Rick snatched a few off the counter, the blue balls clearly bothering him, and you did as well, taking a few into your grip. You guys began to head out of the room with Shane the last one to leave, grabbing the remaining bottles and giving a small chuckle.

As you guys approached everyone else, your dad exclaimed, "The hell took you guys so long?"

You felt Rick freeze and Shane took a step forward about to speak up, when your voice sounded out, "I accidentally dropped 2 of the beers and they shattered on the ground. Rick was helping me clean up cause the glass got everywhere."

"Aw, you didn' get hurt, did you," your dad ask, concerned as Rick and Shane looked at you in astonishment, marveling at your quickly thought out lie.

"Nope," you said cheerfully, "everything is all good now. They were very...helpful!"

You all kept the façade up as you went to your seats and settled down. You tried to ignore the dampness between your legs and Daryl's curious gaze. Daryl's eyes kept switching between you, Rick, and Shane, but when Shane gives him a smirk, he scowls and goes back to eating. You all easily reenter the current conversations at the table and time goes by until the incident with Rick feels like a weird fever dream. Even though Rick caught you a bit off guard, you were super pleased to know that at least one of the men you were interested in was willing to get with you. You hoped that once the party was over, you'd be able to have a talk with him and maybe make it a reoccurring situation.

Dinner did eventually begin to die down, with the folks with children the first to head out. Next were the couples, tipsy and giggling amongst themselves, probably going home to have some fun. Everyone helped clean up after themselves before heading out, and eventually the remaining group went outside to the porch to rest. Your Dad was having a conversation with Morgan and the local priest, Gabriel. You decided that this would be the perfect time to go talk to Rick but as you went to find him among the remaining people, Daryl sought out your attention.

"Hey," his gruff voice called out, "gotta momen'?"

You sighed, "What's up, Daryl?"

"Ya migh' be able ta pull the wool over ya daddy's eyes, but don'cha lie ta me," he leaned in, "Wha were ya doin' w' Rick?"

Your face flushed and you harshly whispered, "None of your damn business."

"'m jus tryna look out for ya. I care about cha," he mumbled, his eyes searching your own.

You maintain eye contact, getting lost in his desperate gaze before huffing, "You had your chance."

Rage flared in Daryl, "The sunnabitch touch ya?"

His head whipped around, searching for the sheriff. You grab his arm roughly and bring his attention back to you.

"What I may or may not be doing with him is again, none of your business. Don't you dare start anything," you hissed.

Daryl blinked at you. Internally he was fuming, but seeing your angry gaze directed at him was enough to reel him back in. He nodded and you took that as your chance to leave. The porch surrounded the house so you went to go look for Rick at the sides but as you did, you bumped into another person you were trying to avoid,

Shane chuckled as he grabbed onto your arms, "Whoa there, gorgeous, where ya runnin' off to?"

"Shane please, let me be. It's embarrassing enough that you saw me... that way," you mumbled.

Shane leaned into your side, whispering into your ear, "Was it? Cuz I found you to be mighty damn cute."

He presses a fast and hard kiss to the side of your head, "If you ever want a real man to treat you good, I will never say no to someone as lovely as you, gorgeous.”

You stammer a little as Shane saunters off into the night, throwing a grin and wave.

Rick comes up behind you, "We need to talk."

You beam up at him and he feels a pang of guilt knock through him. You follow him and you both find a quiet nook.

"So I-," you both began, and you let out a light laugh, not noticing the grimace Rick had.

"You first," you smile but Rick shakes his head, indicating that you start.

"I, uh, really enjoyed what happened," you said bashfully, "and I was hoping we wouldn't let this be a one time thing?"

Your hopeful tone and shining eyes made Rick feel like the worst person in the world, and maybe he was.

He shakes his head sternly, "This can never happen again, (Y/N)."

You gaped at him, "W-what?“

”Yer dad is my friend, you could be my daughter's age. What I did was vile. I'm so sorry for doin' that to ya, w' what's been happenin' w' my ex-wife and the kids, it jus' took a toll, but it dun excuse my behavior. I should've never-"

"Enough," you sighed, "we did it. You didn't take advantage of me, I wanted it."

"I can't believe this is happening again," you murmured, running your hands through your hair.

Rick's brow furrowed, "Wha' was tha'?"

"Nothing. Forget it. Okay. That's fine. Have a good night, Sheriff."

You walked away, reentering the house and going straight to your room. After both Daryl AND Rick now rejecting you, you think you needed a break from older men.

Taglist: @eternalrose81

#daryl dixon #daryl x reader #the walking dead daryl #twd daryl #daryl x you #daryl dixon x reader #twd #twd daryl dixon #x reader #rick grimes smut #rick x reader #female reader #shane x reader #daryl dixon smut #twd shane #smut writing #shane walsh #shane walsh x reader #shane walsh x you #shane walsh x y/n #rick grimes #twd rick

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

arcane adoration

summary: “are you a witch?”

warnings: Eddie Munson x witch!reader, magic, kissing, sexual references, lesbian witch aunts, all of the fluff

word count: 1722

∼ gentle reminder that feedback, but especially reblogs are the way you support writers on here ∽

masterlist | join my taglist | witch!reader au masterlist

“It’s not that weird.”

“No,” Eddie pushed, swinging your interlocked hands back and forth, “no, it’s a little weird. I have been your boyfriend for five months-“

“Five months, nine days and three hundred and seventy-two minutes,” you interjected, not even needing to look down at your watch. 

Squinting his eyes at you for a moment, “…right,” he let out a small, breathy chuckle. “You’ve been my girl for that long and I’ve never seen your room. I’ve never even been inside your house. I mean, you’ve seen my room like a million times.”

“Hey, you know my aunties rule. No boys allowed on the premises.”

“They won’t find out,” your vine-covered home came into view as you rounded the corner, “I’m real sneaky, promise.”

“Eddie…” you came to a stop right at the small garden gate, making the dry leaves crunch beneath your boots.

“What are they gonna do, huh?” your boyfriend beamed, “skin me alive?” oh boy, if only he knew… “they’ll probably just kick me out or whatever parental figures do when they find your secret boyfriend hidden in your closet.”

“You’re not secret,” you stated as if it was obvious. Opening the gate, you walked up the pebbled path to the porch, “they know plenty about you.”

“They do?” you heard the clatter of his footsteps against the small stones behind you. 

“Yeah, they think you’re adorable,” you ascended the steps and stopped right before the colourful door. 

“Adorable?” he stopped right before the stairs and couldn’t help but laugh a tiny bit, “just what exactly did you tell them?”

“Oh, you know, just the usual,” you smirked down at him, your genuine words unintentionally sounded like you were blowing smoke up his butt, “drug dealer, devil worshiper, all of that.”

“Right,” he chuckled, not believing a word you said. “So,” he stepped up, inching closer to your height, “what do you say?” nodded in the direction of the eccentric home behind you, “can I come in? Just for a second?”

“…fine,” you agreed slowly. 

Suddenly remembering a way to aid in his stealth mission, “just,” you grabbed his face with both of your hands, pulling him up the rest of the way onto the creaky veranda, “give me a kiss first.”

Flashing you a sly smile, he grabbed the back of your head and pulled you in. Unbeknownst to him, you tapped out an incantation against his flush, wind-smacked cheeks and around his head, ending it with a sharp tug at one of his dark strands at the nape of his neck, making him wince lightly against your lips and ease back. 

“Sorry,” you sneakily wrapped the loose hair around your pointer finger, finishing the spell. 

“It’s okay, you know I don’t mind that, just didn’t know you wanted to get rough on your front porch, sweetheart,” he dipped down for more, but you quickly ducked away with a smile. 

“Keep it in your pants, Munson,” you giggled, reaching for the doorknob, “and be super fucking quiet, okay?”

Doing a motion over his smiling lips as if he was locking them with a key and then dramatically throwing it over his shoulder, he followed you inside. 

Tiptoeing in, luckily none of your guardians was anywhere to be seen, so up the long, creaky staircase you went, Eddie's long strand still securely wrapped around your finger to insure his magically enhanced stealth. 

“Wow,” Eddie muttered as he stepped over the threshold. You promptly let go of the dark hair, letting it fall to the floor and quietly shut the door behind you, “this is your room?”

“Yeah,” you suddenly felt a bit awkward, knowing full well that your boyfriend just lived in a tiny trailer, “this is it…” 

Bending down, he brushed the tip of his finger over a few of the many rocks you had on your windowsill and murmured, “I love it.”

“Sorry it’s a bit messy,” you hoped and prayed that he wouldn’t go snooping in your bookstand, the titles adorning most of the spines on the shelves weren’t exactly that mundane. 

“Sweetheart, you already know my definition of messy,” he turned to you with a smirk dripping in suggestive memories, “this isn’t it.” Catching the knit of your sweater, he pulled you in, wrapping his arms around you. 

Maybe you just had to make sure all of his attention was on you…

Looking up into those big brown eyes, your hands went under the leather barrier of his jacket, and you felt his ribs expand sharply at the contact. 

“You know,” you bit your bottom lip, “we’re not on the porch anymore…”

“You don’t say,” he smiled, a palm coming up to rest on your cheek as he leaned down to meet your lips. 

During the playful kiss, he slowly back you up till your legs hit the hard frame of your bed. Taking the dive with you, you let out a small giggle as the fall had nearly knocked all of the air out of your lungs. Tilting your chin up for a moment to catch your breath, you felt his lips take it as an excuse to move down your neck.

“There's actually something that I wanna ask you,” he murmured in between kisses. 

“Hm?” you hummed, wrapping your legs around his hips, bringing him that much closer to you. 

You expected something completely different to fly out of his mouth. Can I tie you up? Can you call me daddy? Can I stick it in your ass? But instead of an erotic enquiry, he just asked you sweetly, “are you a witch?”

“W-what?” you let out a nervous laugh, “no!” he propped himself up on his forearms, hovering above you, “that’s-, oh boy, you’ve been playing too much dnd!”

Squinting his eyes at you, he slowly said, “alright…”

“Am I a witch, no I’m not a witch! There’s no such thing as magic-“ the sound of footsteps caught your ear, making you drop the case at once. Blinking up at your boyfriend, you whispered, “you gotta hide,” and pushed him off of you. 

Alarm written all over his face, matching your own perfectly, he backed up, searching furiously for a hiding spot. Seeing the brass handle begin to turn, you acted quickly, shoving him behind the door just as it opened. 

“Hey, Rebecca,” you greeted your tall aunt, leaning your arm awkwardly against the door, “what’s, um, what’s up?”

“When did you come home? I didn’t hear you.”

“Just like a few minutes ago. I know you're really busy these days, so didn’t wanna disturb you.”

“Busy, yeah, you should be busy as well” she crossed her arms, “did you swing by the forest on your way home? Get a fern leaf?”

“Nope, no today,” you tapped your foot against the hardwood floor. 

“Well, just make sure you get it by tomorrow. Wouldn’t wanna dance naked under the full moon without coming home to a fern leaf under your pillow.” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll do it tomorrow!” you rushed out, eyes as big as saucers. 

“Darling!” your aunt Scheherazade suddenly came into view, cocktail glass in hand, pressing her ruby lips against her wife’s cheek, “I think using absinthe in the daiquiris instead of rum was an amazing idea. We already know I’m a master of potions, but this- oh, hi Y/n!” she finally noticed you, “you’re home!”

“I am indeed home and now that we’ve all established that-“ you attempted to make them leave, but Scheherazade interrupted. 

“Do you want a drink?” she lifted her glass up, sloshing the pink beverage around, “still fresh and frosty.”

“No, thank you, I’ve got like, a lot of homework, so…” you gently pushed on the door, keeping your face still visible as it slowly shut. 

“Well, I can just make you one later,” she waved a hand, then turned to her wife, not picking up on any of the signals you were dropping, “did you ask her about the full moon? Is she ready?”

“Okay,” you sighed, then shut closed the door completely, “see you guys at dinner!”

Shutting your eyes, you leaned your forehead against the door, not having the nerve to face your once again visible boyfriend. 

“Holy shit…” he breathed out, “holy shit.”

When you finally gathered up the courage to look into his eyes, you knew that he knew. “Please don’t tell anyone, not a soul. Promise?”

Staring at you in complete amazement, “you really are a-“ 

“Eddie!” you interrupted as you felt yourself begin to panic, “do you promise?”

“Yeah, yes, yes, I promise!” he spouted out, not needing time to think on it. Letting out a sigh of relief, promptly you flung yourself onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling, listening as Eddie continued his astonishment, “oh my god… I was only half serious before, but, fuck…” feeling the mattress dip beside you, “do you have a wand? Can you fly on a broom? Do you have a spell book, and can I see it? Or do you call it a grimoire?” 

“No, yes, yes and no. I don’t want you to accidentally hurt yourself,” you sat back up, crossing your legs, “and both words work, it’s more of a regional thing, you know, like soda and pop.”

“Do you worship satan?”

“Nope,” you answered, then added jokingly, “sadly you will have to stay as Hawkins’ one and only fan of him.”

Resting his flickering eyes on yours, he stated quietly, “…my girlfriend is a witch…”

“…and my boyfriend has long dark hair,” you snickered, your tone almost made the fact sound like a question. 

“My girlfriend is the coolest,” he ogled, the adoration dripping off his words. 

“You can play the craziest guitar riffs without even blinking, and I’m the cool one?” you took his hand.

Expecting him to say more, ask more questions, anything like that, he didn’t. He just leaned in and kissed you, like it was the only action that could express his emotions correctly at this very moment. 

After a good minute of just kissing you tenderly, he slowly but surely regained his usual carnal confidence and purred against your swollen lips, “so, is this where the magic happens?”

A small chuckle bubbled out of your body, and you smiled, “now that you’re here, in my bed, yes, most definitely.”

© 2022 thyme-in-a-bubble 

#eddie munson x witch!reader #lea’s writing #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson drabble #eddie munson hc #eddie munson headcanons #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson au

[glittter-vamp]

Chapter Two

Warnings: Little Bit Angsty. Disclaimer, I've never been to the midwest let alone Ohio so just bare with me and play along lol.

Word Count: 3k

Seeing Joe tonight and having that awkward dinner with him was something you didn't think would happen at all this holiday season. You knew he had made it big in the NFL, even going to the super bowl once in his career so far. You definitely didn't think you'd catch him in Athens whatsoever, especially since it was the middle of football season and he lived almost an hour away in Cincy. Seeing him again brought back all the memories, all the good ones until you remembered he pretty much ghosted you once he made it to LSU. You two stood there awkwardly in front of everyone not knowing what to say. He looked very different yet the exact same. "Why don't we go in for some Hot Cocoa, it's really cold out here and I think we could all use the treat." Pops suggests breaking the ice. "Jimmy and I were just about to head to a family dinner but Joe, you should stay and catch up with Y/N and Junior." Robin suggests patting his shoulder. "Oh um- Yeah, come on in." Junior nods. "You kids catch up, have fun." Jimmy smiles giving Joe a pat on the shoulder as he remained quiet, and so did you. Junior broke the ice though, thankfully. Other than you, Junior was the other one who was pretty close to Joe when we grew up. Eddie and Trey were a bit younger than everyone so they weren't always allowed to ride around with us for safety reasons. Junior and Joe spark up a conversation as you all head back in the house to warm up and finally decorate the tree. 

You felt really anxious being around Joe and you needed your best friends Jay and Sammi right now. Sammi is going to obviously spend her holidays with her fiancé and their families back in New Hampshire but you made a mental note of facetiming the both of them later tonight and tell them about all this. They knew about Joe so they were going to want hear this. Hanging your coats up you make your way over to the Christmas tree trying to ease your nerves. "Extra peppermint and marshmallows?" Pops asks you as the guys sit on the couch and you kneel down next to the box of ornaments. "Please!" You smile at him. "You guys better not spoil your dinners." Nana points to us. "I'm making meatloaf and pumpkin pie for dessert." She winks. "Oh, that sounds great but I can't stay for dinner. I have to get back to Cincinnati before 8PM." Joe shakes his head as he looks at his phone for the time. "Well good thing the food is already being made and there's no snow on the ground so you can speed." Nana says and You scoff. "Nana!" You look at her in disbelief that she would suggest such a thing. "Mind ya!" She says walking into the kitchen. leaving you there in shock. 

"She... really doesn't change." Joe chuckles. "She's gotten worse I'd say." Junior says making you guys laugh. "Sorry about her., you don't have to stay if you don't really want to." You mutter feeling a tad bit embarrassed she acted that way towards Joe. "You don't have to apologize, I've missed the crazy things your grandparents say. I can spare a few hours for them." Joe smiles at you and you give him one back feeling a weird tension. You start with the lights on the tree and your mom and Mark come back inside from the front porch. You were wondering where they had went. "Everything okay?" You ask them, seeing that your mom looked very upset which wasn't like her at all. "Ashlie." Mark sighs giving you a look of annoyance as they head for the kitchen. "I'll... go see what's going on." Junior says to you and Joe. In your head you practically scream for him not to go and leave you alone in the living room with Joe knowing how awkward this was for the both of you. 

Junior leaves you two and you decided to occupy yourself with the lights for now. You plug them into the nearby electrical socket to see if they worked and you start to wrap the lights around the tree. "So, uh- how have you been?" Joe asks sitting awkwardly on the couch fiddling with his thumbs. "Good. You?" You ask still focusing on the lights. You were perfecting the lights on the right side of the tree when the other side fell off. "I got it!" Joe jumps up to his feet to help. "But, I've been good. Working hard to get us to the super bowl but it's looking a bit meh." Joe sighs, clearly seeming stressed with his career at the moment. "That's cool." You nod still not bothering to look at him and reach for more lights being that this tree was super tall and full. "Look Y/N, I should really apologize for the way I acted with you." Joe says and you finally look up at him hearing those words. The lights were illuminating his face in such a warm beautiful way that almost made you into putty. 

"No need, we just grew apart." You shrug trying to make it into no big deal even though it still hurt. "No, you reached out ; multiple times and I pushed you to the side, that wasn't okay-- Here you two go, some Hot Cocoa!" Your Pops interrupts the conversation. "Thanks Pops." You smile at him slowly walking over with the hot mugs trying not to spill anything. "Thanks Mr. S" Joe smiled kindly at him. You noticed how much he's changed his appearance, even his teeth were completely different and perfectly white and straight.  "So, how are we doing this season?" Pops asks him diverting the conversation away from what Joe and I were talking about. Mom and Junior come back into the living room with their own mugs on hot cocoa, mom going directly to the tv to put on some Christmas music as usual. Junior joins in on the sports talk and mom comes over to help you out with the tree. "Those lights are perfect for it! I always loved a classic tree, white lights with red and green ornaments." She says clearly in a better mood now. Not wanting to upset her again you make a mental note of asking Junior what happened with your sister. 

"Me too, although I love a classic white and red tree as well." You smile setting your hot mug down somewhere safe and continuing your tree decorating as Little Saint Nick by The Beach Boys played on the tv. Soon enough you felt a bit of the Christmas cheer with the whole family gathered around but there was still some weird tension between you and Joe. As he had conversations with the guys and you kept by the tree you guys kept stealing glances between each other from across the room. "Why don't you go talk to him?" Your mom speaks up as you guys now deal with the ornaments. "Don't have much to say." You mutter giving her a little shrug. "You guys were inseparable when you two were growing up. Just cause things are a bit different now doesn't mean they have to completely change." Your mom responds. "It's complicated." You sigh. "We'll talk later but don't think I don't notice the weird looks you've been giving each other." Your mom says making you blush. 

The night continues before your Nana comes in to tell you all that dinner was finally ready. You all file into the dining room, there being an exact number of chairs for everyone except for one person. "Here, take this one Joe, I'll get an extra chair from the garage." Junior says giving him the seat across from you. "Oh um--Thanks man." Joe says seeming to change his mind about protesting the seat as he made eye contact with me. "This smells amazing mom." Mark says from across the table. You and Joe glance at each other as the food starts to be passed around the table and you knew this dinner was going to be a long one. 

************************************

"That was a great dinner Mrs.S! Thanks so much for the leftovers." Joe says as he gets ready to leave with a bag of leftovers that Nana made him take. It was well after dinner now, the dinner itself wasn't too interesting. Everyone mostly talked about the holidays, football and stuff that has been happening around the town the past few months. You tried your best to not stare at Joe during the dinner, you just wanted it to be over if you were honest. You hated the tension between the two of you and you were sure he felt the same. "You come by anytime, I'll make you another pie just for you." She smiles at him. "Maybe after the season ends, this was enough of a cheat meal for the whole month." He chuckles holding the Tupperware with all the leftover food and dessert. "It was nice seeing everyone, I uh invited Junior out for some burgers this week at the diner. Hope you can make it." Joe says turning to you kind of putting you on the spot. "Oh um, sure that sounds nice. Dina and Peter would love that." You give him a small smile. Joe bids everyone a goodbye before he leaves out the door and everyone turns towards you. "Is there a reason everyone is just staring at me?" You ask looking at all of them weird. "I thought you two were still friends?" Nana speaks up visibly confused. "We really haven't been friends in years. Drifted apart once he transferred to LSU, he stopped talking to me and that was pretty much that." You shrug going back to finish the tree. "Well honey, why didn't you tell us? This must of been so awkward for you. " Your mom asked. "It's not a big deal, you guys had a good time having him for dinner. It's fine, we just grew up, grew apart...it happens." You shrug wanting this conversation to be over. "Now, Let's finish this beautiful tree!" You smile wanting to move on from the topic, hating this feeling of awkwardness and judgement from everyone. 

Joe's POV: 

Walking to his car in the cold crisp Midwest air, Christmas lights everywhere were illuminating around the street, Joe simply couldn't wrap his mind around just seeing Y/N and having dinner with her family after so many years. He wasn't expecting to see the girl he had fallen for so many years ago. He had felt annoyed at his mom for just tossing him in the ring like that and not being able to say no to Y/N's grandparents once they offered their hospitality to him. Joe also felt incredibly guilty by the way he stopped contact with Y/N all those years ago, he knew he really messed up there. He wished he could of gotten more privacy with her in order to apologize in a much better and heartfelt manner about how he acted towards her but he hoped she would actually take the offer of catching up at the diner to reconcile.  

As Joe got into his car and pulled out of his parents drive way, his ex-girlfriend Mallory calls him. Sucking his teeth in annoyance, he reluctantly answers as he drives out of his childhood neighborhood. "Yeah." Joe answers not wanting to entertain her at all right now and just wanting to drive home in peace. "Well hello to you too Mr. Burrow." She giggled making him roll his eyes. "What do you need?" Joe sighs. "I found a dress for that annual holiday dinner, so you can match your tie with me." Mallory informs him. "Uh, why would you need a dress for that?" Joe asks clearly confused as to why she would think she would still be attending that with him. "Because we always match? Duh!" She says which makes Joe snort sarcastically. "Mal, we broke up a month ago. I already told my mom and she agreed to accompany me since I can't really cancel a plus one." Joe responds. "Oh please, no one knows we're broken up yet and I know you're not taking your mom to this instead of just pretending to be a couple again for one night. That's super lame." Mallory scoffs. "Mal, its a done deal, return the dress or whatever you want with it. Now if that's all, goodbye." Joe responds feeling annoyed at his ex-girlfriends audacity. Next thing he knew, he heard her scoff one last time and abruptly the call ends. Letting out an exhale Joe focuses on his ride back home but he couldn't get you out of his mind. All the memories of the two of you just stood in his mind no matter how much he tried to focus on other things he has going on right now.

******************************************************

Y/N's POV:

"So, that's it? You two didn't talk about what happened?" Sammi your best friend asks as you do your skincare routine before bed via Facetime with her and Jay. "No! Like he apologized for the way he stopped talking to me but I'm sure he doesn't even remember what even happened in 2014. The guy is a star quarterback, do you know how many girls he's been with since then?" You scoff. "So?! You were his first, you don't forget that, plus he's been in a relationship with Mallory Ross since he was at LSU...I'm sure there hasn't been that many people in between you two." she replies. "Who knows, but I'm sure us hooking up when we were 18 isn't something he cares about plus it would be weird to bring it up like, 'oh remember the time we had sex in your parents basement on your star wars bedsheets and your mom almost caught us?' Like that would be so weird." You shake your head making Sammi laugh.

 "Star Wars sheets are kind of hot. Did you guys role play the emo guy and Natalie Portman?"  Jay asks making you roll eyes in annoyance. "That's all you have to say about this?" You scoff.  "What are the odds you even run into him again after this? He doesn't even live in Athens anymore anyway." Jay states. "He invited me and Junior out for some burgers at the diner this week." You give him a look through your phone. "Oh." Sam and Jay say in unison. "Well, maybe he'll bring it up if Junior goes to the bathroom and gives you two a moment alone." Sammi shrugs. " This is all so weird...maybe I should of came just that week of Christmas, I probably could of avoided him." You sigh putting your things away in your toiletry bag. "You'll be fine! At least he apologized and made a gesture to reconcile. Give him a chance, it's Christmas! It's the season of giving!" Jay says making you snort. You knew he was right, you should just let things go and close this chapter properly at the diner. Your grandparents were selling the house, no one from your family that you were close enough too lived here in Athens anymore and given the life Joe lived now...this was probably going to be the last time you'd ever get this chance to just squash any sort of animosity you had towards him. 

"Yeah I guess you're right, I'll talk to you guys later. Today's been a long one." You yawn. They both bid you a goodnight and you get into bed still thinking about Joe. It was beyond weird and awkward seeing him tonight and you couldn't shake that feeling off. You thought about one Christmas you spent here when you were a kid that you and Joe spent all day sledding and both got really bad colds as a result. His mom had given him permission to come over and lay on the couch with me watching cartoons all day while we had Nana's soup since she had to work and Joe's dad was away because of his coaching job he had back then. Falling asleep thinking about Joe and the memories you two shared all throughout your childhood, you hadn't noticed the snow fall that started to happen outside.

******************************************

Wednesday:

"Nervous?" Junior asks you as you two sit in pops truck and he drives to the diner to meet Joe like you three had planned. "No, more like dreading this actually." You awkwardly chuckle. "I think it will be like old times, stuff our faces with burgers and milkshakes. Laugh at stupid jokes that only we find funny." Junior shrugs pulling up to a light that was to turn onto the street where the diner was located. "I kind of highly doubt that. Most people that make it big like him change and unfortunately not in the most appealing ways. I'm kind of scared to get to know this Joe." You bite your lip feeling a but uneasy. "Well, while I was talking to him when he was at the house, he seemed the same just more mature and a bit less shy than usual." Junior responds, of course he'd stick for Joe. "I don't know, someone who just stops talking to their childhood friend the way he did... doesn't show me that they're the same as they once were." You shake your head looking at the amount of traffic that was in this town now compared to when you were younger and all the snow that had fallen in the last 48 hours. "Well, there's only one way we get to find out!" Junior says pulling up to the familiar diner. 

You two notice Joe's car that he was driving the other day indicating he was already here waiting for your both. You two make your way out of the truck and into the diner spotting Joe already sitting at the old booth just like when you two were kids. 

A/N: What did we think of Joe's POV? Thought I'd try something new in my writing lol Hope you guys are enjoying it so far! I know it's starting a bit slow but the fun is about to really begin! 💚❤

#joe burrow #joe burrow fanfiction #joe burrow imagine #joe burrow series #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow fan fic #joe burrow fic

[storiesofsvu]

Love Comes Quietly Ch 7

Alex Blake x reader warnings: language, the usual amount of chaos, more detailed case work/situations involving an unsub and injury/death. Some hurt/comfort with a bit of a bad brain day kinda vibes.

You hadn’t realized just how incredibly weird it was going to feel being home alone in the house all weekend. Alex was gone to the airport before you even woke up on Saturday, leaving you a warm pot of coffee for whenever you did decide to start your day. But aside from that there was not a single thing to tell you that she was around, it just felt like you’d rented an Airbnb from someone. All her dishes had been cleaned and put away, laundry was folded on her bed, the door to her room only left open a crack. She’d been so quiet your plan of being up to say goodbye and give her one last offer of a ride to the airport had been squashed.

Instead you poured yourself a mug of coffee, sliding the glass patio door open as you debated what to have for breakfast. It turned out you didn’t have to worry about making that choice as Emily was at your door less than fifteen minutes later with breakfast sandwiches and honey butter tots from Cracked Eggery. Somehow she’d forgotten coffee, so you refilled the machine to brew a fresh pot while she settled in at the kitchen island, sliding you your preferred sandwich while the tots stayed centered.

“I can see you eyeing the pool already.” You teased with a grin, stealing another tot.

“I’m just saying… it’s supposed to be super nice all weekend and she’s gone til Wednesday.”

“You know you’re allowed to come over when Alex is here, right? And that she’d be fine with you using the pool.”

“So… that means if I happen to have a repurposed go bag in the car we can lounge by the pool all day and do a hot tub wine night?” She practically pouted at you and you laughed.

“Yeah, but after we’ve gone to see these houses.” You drained your coffee, “I can’t keep being a freeloader forever.”

“How are you a freeloader?” Emily’s brow furrowed, nearly furrowing further at the pink tinge in your cheeks as you placed the coffee mugs into the dishwasher.

“Alex… doesn’t make me pay rent.” You shrugged.

“Oh, so you’re already married, I’ll jot that down to remember.”

She winced, knowing there was a well deserved punch coming to her shoulder as you rounded the island.

*

You were wandering through stop number one in Crestwood, $1.05 mil for a 3 bedroom 3 bath, much more space than you needed but you knew you’d figure out what to do with the extra rooms. The realtor had guided you through the main space, walking you through some of the specs and details before letting everyone explore on their own. You’d gotten to the top of the stairs, looking into the main bedroom before glancing back to Emily to find her nose scrunched.

“What?” You asked dryly.

“I absolutely hate how it’s all just one room.”

“We’re in a closed off hallway.”

“No, the main level. Like there’s no privacy or like… ability to make rooms have different vibes. Besides, if you burn something in the kitchen the entire place will smell like burnt.”

“Eh, you make a point there.”

*

Spot number two only took a knowing glance between you and Emily to know that it was a hard pass. You knew you’d prefer a full house but figured you may as well add on some apartments to the list in case you found something cheaper that you loved. The place was cramped, not very stylish, and the elevator had been out of order making you climb up the four stories.

*

Stop number three was a little more enticing, $1.27 for four bedrooms and bathrooms. It was a new construction listing, gorgeous marble in the bathrooms with more space than you really knew what you would do with.

“You’re biting your lip.” Emily murmured with a chuckle, “what’s not to like, aside from how fucking white everything is.”

“That is the downside to all these new places isn’t it?” You asked with a sigh, “it’s gonna sound petty but I wish the front porch was better. Alex’s is perfect, if it’s too sunny for the backyard it’s the perfect place to curl up with a book.” You explained as the two of you wandered onto the back deck.

“There’s little to no privacy here either, look how close the neighbour’s deck is.” Emily replied with a head tilt toward the barely there fence between yards. “Like yeah, it’s nice to know your neighbours when you’re away from home as often as we are but I’d also like to be able to be in my yard and know I can’t be seen.”

“Fair point.” You stepped back inside the house, exploring further into the main level as you’d already done the upper ones.

“And the amount of stairs? I mean isn’t that a little excessive?”

“You know, growing up I always wanted a place with an upstairs, it seemed like it was a rich people thing.” You both laughed, “my place in Boston had one, and I fucking hated it.”

“Get up in the morning, get all the way downstairs only to realize you’d left your phone upstairs?”

“Yeah.” You laughed, “I can’t imagine having to go up two flights every single time I needed to go to the bedrooms. It’s been so nice at Alex’s having everything on one level.”

“Imagine trying to figure out the stairs to the basement while drunk.”

“See,” you laughed, “this is why I made you come with me, you think of all the off kilter things I never would.”

*

“This place is considerably smaller.” Emily pointed out, needing to take only two steps between the living room kitchen combo and the bathroom.

“Yeah but it’s considerably cheaper.”

“You’re really telling me you wanna swap that jacuzzi tub at Blake’s for only a stand up shower?”

“Ugh.” Your nose crinkled. If it wasn’t a hot tub night, you’d been using the luxurious tub to soak in after long weeks away in shitty hotel room beds. As if Emily could read your mind, a grin on her lips as she made her next point,

“Not to mention this one also has no yard. No sunny porch days, and certainly no pool.”

When you glanced up to the smirk on her lips you shot her a glare, but she was right.

*

Your final stop was a $1.2Million three bedroom in Glover Park and upon first glance, there was not much wrong with it. The porch out front was slightly smaller than Alex’s but still adorable, while Emily pointed out, once again, how much white there was inside, you reminded her that a thing called paint existed. The kitchen was stunning, all new stainless steel appliances, and the perfect sized breakfast bar and the entire place got an incredible amount of natural light.

You were tossing back and fourth the idea of putting an offer down with Emily as you toured the place. It was a nice area, it wouldn’t add to your commute, it was still close to both Emily and Alex, who you spent the most of your time with. Even with Emily pointing out that Alex’s place was nicer, you still only left after you’d put down an offer.

*

It was less than three hours later when you got the call that your offer had been outbid, the house being sold to the highest bidder. You let out a groan and Emily simply slid you a can of cider and tugged you into the backyard to spend the afternoon lounging in the sun. Dinner got ordered in and once dishes were taken care of wine glasses were poured and the rest of the evening was spent relaxing in the hot tub until exhaustion got the best of both of you and you retired to bed.

**

When Wednesday rolled around Alex barely had time to make it home from the airport to grab her go bag before you were ushering her out of the house with a homemade breakfast sandwich and full cup of coffee. Emily had called, you had a case and wheels were up in twenty so she really didn’t have a choice but to follow you into your car so you could beat traffic.

She could sense that you were a little on edge, wondering at first if it was just the early call in to work, being the first time you’d be parking and going directly to the jet. But she knew there was something more to it, you had an air of defeat wafting off you and she could tell by how strong the coffee was that you were more than tired. She didn’t want to press into it, but as you were stuck on the freeway she gently asked how your weekend was and you let out a weary sigh. You explained about the housing situation and apologised that you’d be sticking around a little longer to which she simply smiled, squeezing at your arm and reminded you that you truly were welcome as long as you wanted. You talked about the places you’d seen, how you thought your heart was set on the last one you’d been outbid on and everything you looked at online now just didn’t live up to expectations. Though you knew part of that was Emily’s voice in your head pointing out all the flaws or all the amenities that you currently had that the new places didn’t. When you mentioned Emily had stayed over for the weekend Alex chuckled, making a comment about that being why you were so tired. You rolled your eyes, but shot her a tired smile, agreeing that when Em was around you definitely didn’t get as much sleep. Not only would she drag you off on adventures, the woman was a restless sleeper, including talking in her sleep and because you didn’t want to banish her to the couch you’d shared a bed both nights. Alex laughed again, saying that if she was ever away again Emily was welcome to use her bed so you could get some beauty sleep. As you fell back to silence she could tell you were still somewhat dejected, that your optimism was slowly fading and you felt guilty about still being in her space and taking up so much of her life when you’d thought it would only be a few weeks at most.

Your optimism had only one direction to go once you were getting briefed on the jet and that was south. The case was bad, and as it ended up, it was the first one that you got stuck in the field with the unsub and victims. The warehouse was decrepit and had been falling apart for years already, condemned for demolition at an unknown date. Which meant that it went up in flames in a matter of minutes.

Derek managed to take out the unsub after a brief three way scuffle between all of you and the moment you knew he was okay to take the unsub on, on his own, you jumped for the victims. Three of them, all chained to separate pipes on three different walls of the room, you felt relief with the first, your optimism skyrocketing at how easy it was to get them undone and passed off to Derek. As you sprinted across the room to work on the second, your optimism began to crumble, clearly your first vic had been the unsubs last, rushed, messy and unfinished, enough to keep them restrained but not to the full capacity they’d wanted. Flames were dancing through the room, your skin covered in a sheen of sweat, lungs already choking on thick black smoke, your hands slipping on the restraints worse and worse with each second that you tried to undo them as your eyes started to water. You could hear Emily on your earpiece to get the hell out of there and Derek was repeating the same beside you, his hand wrapping around your bicep the moment you got the chain undone and the vic leaped into your arms, sobbing into your shoulder. You could hear the pleading screams of the third victim, attempting to surge in that direction but there was no way you were breaking free from Derek’s grip, his hand tightening around your arm as he dragged you from the warehouse to safety, the screams getting muffled the further you got from them as the sound of the fire engulfed your hearing.

“Please don’t ever fucking do that again.” Emily murmured softly as she wrapped you in her arms, squeezing at you tightly, her words both coming from a best friend and a boss.

“I know.” You mumbled back, relaxing into the hug enough to calm your raging adrenaline but not enough to bring down the mask you needed to keep up.

That was the problem about days like this, once you were cleared by the paramedics it was back to the jet to head home. The jet had zero privacy, so you did what you could, tugging your hoodie tighter around you and curling up into one of the seats in the back corner in an attempt to avoid everyone’s worried stares and questions.

You weren’t sure how you were able to fall asleep, blaming it on the exhaustion of the weekend, but it certainly didn’t last long, jolting awake at the sound of screaming, your body temperature skyrocketing as your eyes stung, blinking open and you realized where you were. You took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm yourself down, your gaze drifting out to the clouds outside the window when you felt someone come up beside you, silently settling in the seat before your eyes flicked to them.

“Coffee?” Alex offered, placing the cup down on the small table.

“Thanks.” You gave her the best smile you could muster and picked up the cup, hoping the caffeine would keep you from anymore nightmares in front of coworkers.

“That hurt?” She asked, fingers delicately brushing your hair off your face so she could get a better look at the forming bruise, the slow swelling of your cheekbone.

“I’ve had worse.” You admitted with a sigh, hiding behind the cup of coffee before your eyes found the window again.

A moment later, Alex’s hand wordlessly found yours, squeezing softly and you felt relief sinking through you. She watched carefully out of the corner of her eye as your shoulders relaxed, her thumb gently stroking over your knuckles to silently remind you that you weren’t alone, that you were safe and that she was there for your.

Her hand didn’t move until the wheels of the jet were back on the tarmac in Quantico.

“You mind if I drive?” She asked and you shook your head, pulling the keys from your bag and tossing them to her. Once settled in the car she switched off the radio, still playing high energy pop from your drive into work and shifted the car into drive, her hand reaching over to briefly squeeze at your thigh before she started driving.

You’d never been more thankful for Alex being home and her being the one to drive you back. You knew you were in no shape to drive right now and if Emily had offered there would’ve been constant chattering, questions, comments, anything to keep you engaged. But this car ride was pleasantly silent, Alex letting you figure things out in your head on your own. It wasn’t that big of a surprise to you, she was a profiler after all, and she’d always been able to read you relatively easy, an extra coffee on your desk on a day she knew you’d slept like crap, Midol left out on the kitchen counter when she knew you were on your period, extra ice cream stashed in the freezer, homemade chicken noodle soup on a day you were just slightly under the weather, before you’d even realized you were sick yourself.

Your elbow was on the windowsill of the car, your chin propped in your hand as you stared out to the blurring streets passing by, praying you wouldn’t get stuck in traffic. Tears were threatening to swim into your eyes already, your brain pulling all the bad thoughts of the week in at once mixed with images from inside the warehouse. You’d already been feeling unsuccessful, a bit of a burden before the case even started, now you were trying to fight the battle in your brain that you didn’t deserve to be on the team. You knew that your reports would match up, that Derek’s would say he drug you out of that building, that Emily would back you, deep down that you made the right call but you knew it was going to eat at you for a while.

“You awake over there?” Alex’s soft voice broke through your thoughts, her hand squeezing at your thigh and you nearly jumped, glancing around to realize you were in the driveway and you nodded, ducking your gaze so she couldn’t see your face.

You dumped your go bag by the door, only bothering to collect your phone before you beelined it to the bathroom. Stripping out of your clothing you turned the shower on, stepping into the stream in an attempt to relax yourself, washing away the day, washing away the smell of smoke, the memories you hoped you’d be able to forget. You welcomed the sensation of this kind of heat on your skin, staying under the stream until it had nearly begun to turn cold and you finally stepped out.

You were thankful for the distance between the sides of the house, able to dart back to your bedroom without being seen. You wrapped yourself in the coziest, warmest pyjamas you could find, tugging a hoodie on over them as you plugged your phone in, making sure it was on silent before you slipped under the blankets and flicked the television on, finding something mind numbing to hopefully distract you and lull you into sleep.

*

Alex heard the shower stop running, glancing in the direction of the hallway, unsurprised when the door clicked open and shortly after your bedroom clicked shut. She let out a soft sigh, she knew what this was like, cases like this, days like this, they were hard. It was your first technical loss as part of the BAU and while she wasn’t completely certain on your history, she was thinking it was likely your first real loss, one that you felt very responsible for. She heard the telltale click of your door again, waiting for a moment for your to appear but it was followed by the rustle of blankets and your television quietly playing. You weren’t ignoring her, but you did want your space and she would respect that.

She spent a bit of time following up on a couple of emails, replied to a couple of texts from Emily before she felt her stomach grumbling. There wasn’t much in the fridge after your last minute case, but she found enough between it and the freezer to make up some chicken fajita bowls, hoping the sounds and smells of food would entice you out of your room. She wasn’t necessarily worried about you, but she cared about you and wanted to make sure that you knew you weren’t going to be held accountable, that you were loved and you were good at your job. So an hour after she finished the dishes, she prepped a couple of things, and grabbed a couple more before wandering down to your door.

*

Your ears perked up at the sound of a very soft knocking at your door, a pause before Alex pushed it open, finding you burrito’d in your blankets on the bed.

“Can I come in?” She asked, a gentle smile on her face and you nodded. She slowly moved through the room, placing down an Uncrustable and a steaming mug of hot chocolate, complete with whipped cream on the bedside table, a matching one in her free hand. “I figured you weren’t up for dinner, but you should eat something. You barely ate breakfast. And I thought maybe some cocoa could cheer you up.”

You didn’t say anything, unsure of what you could to try and properly get your emotions across to a linguist like Alex, but you did push yourself up to sitting, delicately taking the mug off the table to take a small sip. The beverage soothed through your body, warming up the deepest parts of your soul that you didn’t even know could be reached by something made of chocolate and Alex smiled at the way the corner of your mouth briefly twitched up.

“Would you like me to go?” She asked, nodding toward the door and you shook your head, shifting over on the bed so there was proper space for her.

Both of your attention turned to the television, Alex unsurprised that you had Love Island reruns on to distract you as the two of you sipped at your drinks. As soon as she was settled on the bed your head instantly found a home on her shoulder, your body nuzzling into her for relief and her free hand easily slipped into yours once again, squeezing softly. She could feel you attempting to hold back, little sighs or shivers from your body becoming your tell as you tried to ignore them.

An episode later and both your mugs lay empty on the bedside table. Alex heard you sigh, take a shaky breath and her hand finally left yours so her arm could wrap around your shoulders, her lips leaving a feather soft kiss to the top of your head.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it and know that I am absolutely not trying to profile you, or professor you, but what happened today was not your fault. I know that things have kinda been off, that maybe you’re doubting yourself, that to your brain it may feel that way, but it is not, you cannot blame yourself.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, soothing straight into your soul, but it somehow also managed to start to break you.

“Sarah’s parent’s sure can.” You finally spoke, your voice wavering and Alex honestly found herself surprised that you’d spoken.

“No, no they cannot.” She assured with a squeeze, “they will never know the details of what happened in that warehouse. And the person they are to blame is the unsub. You did everything you could. And the parents of those other two girls? They’ll be eternally grateful to you and Morgan.”

“Then why do I feel so fucking inadequate?” You mumbled, burying yourself deeper into her arm and Alex let out a soft sigh.

“Okay, c’mere.” She tugged at you, slipping under the blankets of the bed as she sat against the headboard, urging you between her legs so you were properly nestled against her chest, arms softly wrapped around her as one of hers rubbed up your back, the other still linked with yours. “You had a rough week, you’re overtired, right?”

“I’m sorry.” You mumbled.

“For what?” She asked, brushing the hair off your face.

“You let me crash, I never meant to stay this long but I never thought finding a place would take this long.”

“Please.” She smiled with a small laugh, “you do my dishes, you take out the trash, you’re a help to this household, not a burden, okay?” You nodded but she pinched at your shoulder, “uh-uh, I need to hear it.”

“Okay.”

“Okay what?”

“I’m not a burden.” You mumbled, taking another shaky breath.

“That’s it.” She smiled, her hand squeezing at yours, “and you are excellent at your job. That is not me bluffing either. I know your phone’s turned off but Emily and Morgan have been texting all night to check in on you and commend how well you did today.”

“I’ve never done something like that.” You admitted with a whisper, your hand quickly coming up to wipe away a tear that finally found its way to escape. “I couldn’t leave her… we were so close…” You trembled in her arms and Alex felt her heart wilt, squeezing at you softly.

“You know it’s okay to cry, right?” Her lips ghosted at your temple and with that encouragement you finally let out the shuddering breath, tears streaking down your cheeks.

Alex held you tighter, her hand softly rubbing up and down your back as you finally let all of your emotions out from the past week. She wished she had something more to say, a better way to comfort you, to let you know that it was all going to be okay, that you were loved, that you were great at your job, that tomorrow would be better. But she didn’t know how to piece it together so she simply held you, letting you get it all out until your breathing finally regulated and she realized you had cried yourself to sleep.

*

Alex felt a warm ray of sun across her face and her brow scrunched. Her room didn’t face the sunrise, the birds chirping outside the window were certainly not outside of hers and for a moment she thought she was still in a hotel room. Then the warmth of your body against hers jolted her conscious awake. You were still very nestled into her side, your arms loosely wrapped around her as you slept peacefully. She glanced up, the television was displaying the ‘keep playing?’ menu on Netflix and the sun was barely streaming through the curtains. It had to be early. She did her best to slowly slip from under the blankets, making sure you were still blissfully asleep before she disappeared from the room.

_________________

@svulife-rl @clarawatson @hbkpop @momlifebehard @alexusonfire @itisdoctortoyousir @temilyrights @alexxavicry @evilregal2002 @alcabots @ladysc @dextur @disneyfan624 @augustvandyne @supercriminalbean @lex13cm @prentiss-theorem @happenstnces @whiteberryx @heidss @geekyandgay98 @onmykneesformarvel @inlovewithemilyprentiss @desperate-gay @amypoehlfey @overtrred28 @emobabeyy @1974-sp @theclassicgaycousin @kalixxa @leftoverenvy @bigolgay @daddy-heather-dunbar @regalmilfs4me @scorpsik @riveramorylunar

#alex blake #alex blake x reader #criminal minds #love comes quietly #alex blake: criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic #alex blake fanfic

[unclewaynemunson]

Prompt for steddie - A+ if it's angsty - but Steve trying to Conceal Don't Feel TM his crush on Eddie by going on dates and Eddie letting out a "hope she's everything you're looking for :))" at some point

Also good luck with your thesis Anna!!

Oooh I love this, thank you so much!!! Here you go, I hope it's angsty enough for you ;P

'How was your date last night?'

Steve was at the trailer with Eddie, having a smoke on the front porch, their knees lightly touching each other as they were sitting side by side on the dirty old couch.

'It was great,' Steve lied.

'Did you get any?'

'Yeah, it was fucking amazing.' Another lie – well, not entirely. He had slept with Rachel. But she had looked distracted and he hadn't been able to stop thinking about big brown eyes or long dark curls or ring-clad fingers while he should've been looking at her.

'Nice,' said Eddie, but there was an odd look in his eyes.

'You know, I really think it's going somewhere with her,' Steve blurted out in an attempt to drive the weird tension that was suddenly hanging between them away.

Eddie raised an eyebrow as he took another drag from his cigarette. 'Really?'

'Mhm. You know she's exactly my type, right?'

Eddie just rolled his eyes. 'I hope she's everything you're looking for, then,' he said. The way he made it sound just slightly biting made Steve's skin crawl.

'Yes, she is!' he said, a little too loud. 'You know what? She's exactly everything I'm looking for, she ticks all those goddamn boxes! She's, like, super hot, with her blue eyes and her long blonde hair and fucking perfect boobies! And she's freaking hilarious, one of the funniest girls I ever met. And we like the same music, she loves basketball, and it – it's fucking terrifying, Eddie. It's freaking me out.'

'What was that?'

Those dark eyes piercing into his own made him completely forget what exactly he was saying. 'It's all wrong, Eddie,' he said, unable to keep the despair from his voice. 'Because she's perfect for me, and I should've been head over heels for her after the first date, but I – I – ' He couldn't tell him. He couldn't say it.

But Eddie was still looking at him like that and he couldn't really think properly anymore.

'Steve.' He felt Eddie's hand cover his own. 'No need to freak out, man. Just keep breathing, alright? You can talk to me. What's going on?'

'I think I'm broken,' he admitted, quietly.

'What?'

He couldn't stand having those eyes on him for even one more second, so he glanced away, bowing his head to stare at the wood underneath his sneakers. Eddie's hand was still touching his, warm and gentle and driving him crazy in a way that nothing about Rachel had driven him crazy the night before.

'I'm thinking about the wrong person,' he tried to explain, unable to keep the frustration from his trembling voice. 'I've been on dozens of dates to get him out of my mind, but nothing seems to be working. And now there's this fucking perfect girl, and if even someone like her can’t get you out of my mind, then probably no one can, and – it doesn't make sense! You fucking broke me, and I can't even have you.'

'Steve?'

Eddie's hand finally left his, and Steve kept staring at his sneakers intently, knowing all too well what it meant that Eddie let go of him so quickly, knowing that Eddie would for sure be disgusted by him.

But then, he felt Eddie's fingers gently touching his chin, lifting his head up to make their eyes meet again.

'Steve – you – you were thinking of me while you were dating all those girls?' His voice was barely more than a whisper.

'I am so sorry, I know I shouldn't have told you, and I didn't – '

'Jesus, Stevie. Do you have any idea how fucking jealous I've been of those girls, hearing all your gross date stories? And all this time, you were into me?'

'Wait – hold on – jealous – huh – what?!' He couldn't even produce a complete sentence anymore.

Eddie chuckled softly at his stammered words. 'What on earth made you think that you can't have me?'

He was too embarrassed to keep looking at Eddie. 'Well, you're... you. You're this cool metal nerd person. We don't share any interests like me and Rachel do, I'm just some lame ex-jock who peaked in high school and works at some stupid video store, while you are this perfect, amazing, fascinating – '

'Okay, shit, there's a lot to unpack there,' Eddie interrupted him, 'and we'll do that at some point, but right now, I need you to shut up, Stevie. Can you do that?'

Steve could only nod as Eddie moved closer towards him. And when their lips finally touched each other, the taste of smoke on his tongue and Eddie's hands in his hair and on his back, Steve immediately knew that he never wanted to go on any date with any girl ever again. He had found everything he was looking for, right here on this dirty old couch in Forest Hills.

#don't mind me rambling about stranger things #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #idiots to lovers is how i like them best okay #stranger things #fruity ficlet

[chaoscriess]

Hi! Could you maybe write something with Stu Macher. Where Stu and reader are watching horror movies and reader gets scared and Stu puts his arm around her to comfort her?! ☺️ just some really fluffy stuff

oh my gosh this is so cute I love stu macher... may not be as fluffy as you wanted but I tried!!

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒! horror movie, cussing, stu being touchy-feely, makeout session at the end, kinda but not really steamy

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒! again, doing this on mobile so the format may be weird. lowercase intended, double periods intended.

stu macher x fem!reader

you and stu had been dating for quite some time. by now, you had a routine together

every friday night you would go to his house to watch a movie, and you would pick what you watched.

but tonight was different

earlier, you and stu were talking in the hallways at school and a girl came up to him, asking if she could get his number

you were dumbfounded, how could she not have known you were his girlfriend?

I mean, his hand was literally on your ass cheek when she walked up

the girl must have had a serious death wish or something

you were leaning against your locker after your second-to-last class of the day, joined by your loving boyfriend stu. it was too hot for your liking, you were sweating and you didn't want to be too close to anyone, but stu loves physical affection. so do you! but when it's hot out, you don't like the way skin feels against yours. so, you settled on having his hand on your waist. every so often he would lower his hand and squeeze your butt, but you didn't mind. the others had just left, going off somewhere to talk about the killings that were happening in your town. you never liked to talk about it, you knew stu and billy were the killers, so you had no reason to theorize who may or may not be the killer, even if it made you look suspicious. stu knew that, and he didn't want to leave you by yourself so he offered to stay behind with you.

you grabbed his hand and pulled it up, attaching it to your waist. you gave him a pointed look and giggled as he kissed your cheek. a girl walked up, a pretty one. you got nervous but calmed down a bit when you felt stu's hand move lower. he was showing that you were his. normally, you wouldn't like this too much but right now, you loved it. "hey! I was wondering.. you're like, really hot, can I get your number?" your brows furrowed, confused by the girl's audacity. "yeah, no. I got this pretty lady, so I'm fine." you blushed and buried your head in his chest, laughing at him calling you a pretty lady. the girl rolled her eyes and walked away, mumbling a 'whatever'. stu looked at you and lifted your chin to look at him before connecting your lips and wrapping his arms around you. suddenly, the heat wasn't so bad anymore.

stu definitely killed her the next day. maybe grabbed her heart after gutting her and put it on your porch or something, in a box addressed to you. super romantic, right?! Joking.. Well, maybe.

stu wanted to give you something special that night, no matter what it was. he just wanted you to feel special. you were his special girl!

so here you were, cuddled up on the couch with you on top of a shirtless stu, a blanket covering the both of you from the cold air conditioning in stu's house. you were hiding your face in the crook of his neck and trying your best to block out the screams in the background.

he had a giant smile on his face, looking down at you.

"seriously stu I'm fucking terrified! she just got fucking possessed!" your face scrunched up in disgust as you pushed your face into his neck harder. "oh come on, baby! it's just a movie, she didn't actually get possessed. besides, I'm not gonna let anyone hurt my baby, demon or not". he wrapped his arm around you and pulled you closer to him. you pulled away slightly to look up at him and smiled, pecking his lips gently as he moved his hands to squeeze your ass. "god, stu, you're like a 12 year old who just found his dad's playboy mag! so goddamn horny all the time" he laughed loudly as you rolled your eyes, a wide smile taking over your face as he squeezed harder.

you kissed him again and again, forgetting about the gruesome movie playing in the background.

all in all, stu is the best boyfriend you could ever ask for.

#stu macher #im in love with stu macher #stu macher x reader #ghostface x reader #stu macher is my soulmate #chaos calling! #chaos' army

[izayoizuki]

Mine To Keep Ch. 2

GIF by thorinsbeard

Pairing: Hangman x F!Mitchell!Reader

In which there is talking. So much talking.

Wordcount: ~3.8K

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Chapter 2: Going To The Mattresses

You shouldered open the storm door, calling out to your Godmother.

"Roro!"

"In here, honey!" You heard her distinctive voice, and that in itself was enough to make you feel like everything was going to be ok. Carole was excellent at doing that.

You walked into the kitchen, sniffing appreciatively at the smell of cookies in the air. Your Godmother wasn't exactly domestic- oh, she and your godfather managed the house better than alright, but she wasn't going to be any threat to Martha Stewart anytime soon- but what she lacked in domesticity she made up for in vigour and determination. Everything she did she gave it her all, and her all was often wonderful; so whenever she got a baking bee in her bonnet, your whole family was highly appreciative.

"You're here!" Carole exclaimed as you walked into her line of sight, and gave a squeal at the flowers you held out to her with a grin. "For me? Oh, you shouldn't have! They're wonderful!" She sunk her face into the blooms and inhaled appreciatively, as if she didn't know they were from the little mart on the way home. "They're gorgeous! Honestly baby, if you were a guy, I'd leave Goose for you." She hugged you as your body shook with giggles; you knew better than to believe her. All the gold in the world wouldn't entice her to leave your godfather.

"C'mon, come up here," she hiked herself on the kitchen island and patted for you to sit on the other side of the L, a tray of still warm cookies between you. "I heard you slam the door, and drive away on that terrible beast of yours, and I knew something wasn't normal." She picked up a cookie and handed it to you before picking up one herself. "Actually I knew when I woke up this morning. The clouds hung all still in this weird way, and I just knew." She got straight to the point in that precisely roundabout way of hers. "Tell me everything!" Her tone was light, but you recognised it for what it was, a command.

And you were super good at obeying hers. So you promptly spilled your guts, breaking into tears now and again even though you tried really hard to stay level. Carole pulled you into her shoulder, rubbing your back. "My poor baby. Pete shouldn't have said those things. He means well, but that wasn't the way to talk." It felt so good to have her taking your side that you just cried harder; you were sure you were soaking her t-shirt but you couldn't bring yourself to neither care nor stop. Your stuttered inhales took in the comforting scent of her, of garden flowers and clean cotton and soft shampoo, and it helped you calm down. You must have been loud enough though, because Bradley ambled in, scratching his tummy absentmindedly.

"You know what your problem is?" He looked you in the little bit of eye peeking from Carole's shoulder, and you shook your head slightly. He opened the fridge and took out a jug. "You're having those cookies without milk." That got a chuckle out of you, and a guffaw out of his mom.

"Go with Bradley, sweetheart. You can sleep in your room if you like, it's all set up." She made shooing motions with her hands. "I'll talk to Pete, don't worry. And take these away from me, I shouldn't be eating so many of them so late." She handed you the tray. You wanted to be a big girl, but you couldn't bring yourself to even protest her stepping in. Carole had a way of making your dad see when very little else could. Your mom had that gift too, you thought sadly, but you shoved that thought away before it got any bigger. Instead you hopped off the counter, carrying the tray while Roo carried the milk glasses, heading to the rocking chairs on the back porch.

You set the tray on the little table between the chairs, easing into the chair and staring out; you could see glimpses of the beach from here, and you tried to find exactly where the sky and sea met, only to get distracted by the stars. The silence was comfortable, and Roo was being considerate, matching his pace to your rock.

Finally he broke the silence. "You know Unca means well, right?" 

"Roo, I don't wanna-" 

"I know, I know, believe me, I know." He waved a hand and let his head drop back, watching motes of air wander in front of the little porch light. "I'm saying that I know it may seem like everything really is like what he's saying, but it's not. Or well, it is, but it's also the way you see it." He huffed before trying to figure out the words he was going for, determined to make sense. "It's like, ok, you ever know how in class we had to write those book report things after we all read the book together?" You hummed to let him know you were following him; you and Bradley had been in the same English lit class for one year because you were "ahead of your grade level" and "under-stimulated" and "disruptive"- or so quoth your report card anyway. "Ok, you remember how we would think something, and sometimes the other kids would have a completely different opinion? And their opinion kinda makes sense right? But at the same time it doesn't make it the only right idea, right?" Bradley gestured wildly with his hands, and you cocked your head to watch him. "Anyway, what I'm trying to tell you is that, I've got your back ok? Like even if you wanna become a stinky old ornery lady, I've got your back." You teared up. Bradley was clumsy, and there had been a time in your teenagehood where you’d really seen where Cain had been coming from, but age had helped him out a lot, and to give credit, he always made an effort. He reached over and tugged your earlobe, making you smile, and you reached over to ruffle his hair. "Makes you laugh, doesn't it?"

You looked at him, cocking an eyebrow in question. "You know, between us, we tried both routes, navy and non-navy, and both made our dads unhappy." That got a giggle out of you. 

You raised your glass and clinked his, "To our dumb dads." Bradley clinked and toasted back, and you both grabbed a cookie and settled back. A wash of calm settled over you. Yeah, the past couple of years had been absolutely terrible, but you had your family at your back. You didn't know how long after, but Bradley was nudging your foot with his. 

"Hey, you asleep? Oh no no no, you're not falling asleep here." He grabbed the back of your collar with one hand, grabbing the cookie sheet with the other, before frog-marching you to the guest bedroom, which was for all intents and purposes yours, depositing the cookies on the coffee table as you both passed it by. He shoved you under the covers, waiting for a moment to make sure you were fully in. 

He started to walk away, but turned around, grasping your upper arm. "You're not allowed to do anything stupid, ok? You're the only little sister I got." He gave you a slight shake.

"Love ya too bud." You mumbled as a reply. Satisfied, he walked away.

*******************

Carole sat on the front porch with her first, most magical, most precious coffee of the day, glad that she was a morning person, especially when she thought about how her two kids weren’t, nor were her husband or brother-in-law. It was blissful to sit in the day before it truly came into its own, to watch fate decide the way it would shape destiny and see it manifest in every ray of dawn that broke across the dark night.

Today she wasn’t going to be as left alone as usual though; she could almost feel the ground thunder before she saw them riding up the little crest of the hill to their house. They parked, dismounted, and the early morning glow bathing them sent Carole back; it was as if time had faded away, and she was looking at the boys they had been decades ago, the boyish grins, the effortless banter, the sheer exuberance as they bounded up the steps to her. Nick kissed her, an I’m home kiss, a kiss he continued to perfect every day of their marriage, before tiptoeing through the storm door, and Pete bent to her cheek. She quickly clipped the edge of his jacket as he straightened, eyes pointing to the rocker beside her.

Maverick raised an eyebrow but slid easily into the rocker.

“You remember how she used to get Bradley to put her in a duvet case and swing her around?” Carole started, apropos of just about absolutely nothing, in a way that meant it was absolutely about something, and it made all the short little hairs on the back of Mav’s head stand up even as slouched himself into a comfortable position.

“Don’t even remind me. Then she got Bradley to climb into the duvet case and tried to swing him. He had a good fifteen pounds on her, at least.”

“And then she got Bradley to do that whole dance with her? On the roof?”

“To Christy Spears?”

“Britney Spears.”

“Didn’t they steal your halter tops for that?”

“And that time in English Lit where they got their class to have a protest coup?” Carole smiled indulgently, dreamily. This was a path of memories well trod on. “We used to tag team the kids’ parent teacher meetings something fierce back then.”

“I recall you did a lot of the heavy lifting in that arena, yeah.” Mav quietly reached a hand out for the coffee cup.

“Give yourself some credit,” Carole passed it along to him, watching as he took a sip and grimaced at how cold it was by now, “you and Goose came as often as possible. Not to mention the number of times you bailed out the two of them.” the smile came through in her voice.

“Oh God. I practically had to grovel. Four star admirals haven’t worked me over that hard. And that time in eighth grade…” Maverick trailed off, scrubbing a hand over his eyes.

“Yeah, and you remember the comments?” 

“Oh yeah…” He adopted the nasally tone of the principal, “Ms. Mitchell shows great promise, but is not living up to her potential. Ms. Mitchell makes careless mistakes.” He shifted to make eye contact with Carole as they both intoned, “Ms. Mitchell does not test well.” they both cracked up over the memory, trying to keep their cackles quiet.

“Damn near had a heart attack when they called me in about her IEP. I thought it was something terminal.” Maverick's smile remained on as the laughter petered out, but his eyes had that look in them, no matter how much he insisted that he only had one look.

“It was all so different, especially after our experience with Bradley. I swear that boy has elevator music playing in his head sometimes.”

“You should see him fly, Ro. He’s like a sleeper agent that comes alive when he’s in that cockpit.” He looked down into the now-iced coffee cup. “She’d have been a great pilot. I’ve seen her in my ‘stang, she’s good, she has the instincts. That overthinking brain of hers was made for it.”

“I’ve no doubt. But Pete, do you think she’d have survived to get to that point? Hell, do you think you’d leave anyone alive if anyone treated her the way you were treated? Not to mention how she would have done emotionally. She puts earthworms back into the grass, Mav.” Carole placed her hand on Maverick’s cuff. “She doesn’t test well, Pete.” her voice was soft, reminding rather than accusing. “She’s got principles she’s trying to live by, and we have to be the ones who have her back.” She unknowingly echoed her son from just a few hours ago. 

“I know, it’s just-” Pete broke off, head in his hands as he tried to vent his frustration. “My job is all I know- it’s all I can do for her- and it’s only a matter of time- and it’s just me…” every one of his fears and worries came bubbling up, fighting for priority and prominence and he couldn't voice a single one of them to completion, partly because there was just so much and partly because he was terrified, not so deep down, that by saying them out loud he would somehow speak them into existence. 

Carole gathered his head to her shoulder with an easy arm. “Well, I hate to be the one to break it to ya, Pete, but you’re wrong on all counts there. We’ve been through a lot, and we’ll go through a lot more if we have to.” She gave him a squeeze. “Although, gawd, I hope we don’t have to.”

**********

Your body stirred as you felt the edge of the bed dip, before a soft voice spoke up. 

“Hey, kid.” You had to hand it to your dad- even though you were upset with him at the moment- he had a good dad voice. It was nice and soft, good for bedtime stories and corny jokes-

Your train of thought cut off as you felt and heard the curtains being ripped open, letting the full glare of the California sun pounce on you. You gave a wordless scream of rage and tried to bury yourself in the pillow. You took it back, your dad was an as-

You felt the bed dip again, this time Mav lay alongside you on top of the covers, hands behind his head. He spoke up to the ceiling. “I said a lot of things last night, didn’t I?”

You weren’t going to answer him. 

“Well, here’s the thing. I’m sorry about the way I spoke. And I said a lot of unnecessary shit too. But I’m not mad about what I did.”

“It’s called nepotism, dad.” Shit, you weren’t going to speak to him. And was that what he called an apology? The nerve of this man…

“First of all, there’s no more nepotism to this than through any recruitment drive. I didn’t lean on anyone. I didn’t talk to anyone. I didn’t mention it to anyone at all. They wanted someone who matched your skillset, and I simply slipped in your resume. The biggest clue is the fact that we share the same last name, and it’s not like we have a rare one. It’s not my fault they decided on you.”

“But it’s the navy-”

“It’s a diplomatic tour, sweetheart. Isn’t this what you’re always talking about? Keeping lines of communications open? Resolving international situations with tact rather than force? So what if we have a big stick with us as insurance?”

“That’s a mighty big stick.” you muttered darkly.

“I’ll give you that. But think of this as the start. If we all do our jobs real well, maybe someday there won’t be a need for any stick at all.”

You didn’t have a reply to that, so you kept your silence. 

“How about this: you come on as a contracted specialist. After this is done, it’s done. You choose what you want to do next. And I will never do something like this again. Just one shot kid. For your dad. For your granddad.”

You groaned. Your dad never trotted out the granddad thing, which made the whole request that much more potent. You knew how your dad felt about your granddad, about the circumstances of his death. Just as you knew you now had to take the job.

“Fine.” you sighed. “Now get off my blanket so I can shower.”

“That’s my girl.” He kissed your forehead before jackknifing up and off. “Oh, wear something you can move around in, I wanna get more plane parts from that nice Korean guy and I need you to translate.” you couldn’t help but let out a grumble, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “How about we get some breakfast first?”

*******

You’d showered, worn jeans and an old old old teenage mutant ninja turtles t-shirt that was so soft it could have been a baby blanket, shared brunch- his a whole diner breakfast, yours cheese fries and pancakes (you still have the diet of a five year old/ wow gee thanks mr. fourth-cup-of-coffee/ isn’t that your third cup, ms. pot?)- with your dad, and translated back and forth as your dad got the part for the mustang p-51 he was constantly repairing or upgrading. Their conversation, which had devolved into something completely tangential (you’d somehow started translating on autopilot, and you were sure the words Alan Alda had left your mouth at some point) had gone on long enough that you didn’t have time to work on the plane itself. Instead, you were being dropped off at the mall to help Goose.

“What am I helping him with again?”

“I don’t know, he’s not really saying anything, but he’s pretty worked up, whatever it is.” He stopped in front of a cafe. “He’s gonna meet you here. He insisted it was you, whatever it was.” 

"Ok, now you're making me anxious."

"Just...Be good.” He reached out his hand to pinch your cheek.

“I always am.”

**********

You sat at a cute little table with a piece of tiramisu and a deep, rich espresso which you definitely weren't going to tell your dad about. Your godfather wasn't the most punctual- it wasn't that he didn't want to be, but he has the attention span of a goldfish and a desire to help everyone whose path he crossed, and so he frequently got waylaid.

"We have got to stop meeting like this." It was Sugarpie in August, and just like last time, your head whipped round, suppressing the urge to reach for your aviators as he speared you with his golden smile, coming to stand behind you, giving you an ache in your pre-aged neck.

"Sit, you're giving me a crick." you pushed out the other chair with your foot, and he trotted over obediently with a quietly smug little "Yes'm" that did something odd to your heart.

"The navy's trained you well." You teased him. 

"Yeah? Come with me and I'll show you roll over too." He grinned unrepentantly as if he could see the way your heart fluttered at his words, and you found it contagious, your lips curving up to match his even as your brain told you to get out of the whole thing. You’d been able to not pay attention to it last night between the fight with your dad, Bradley’s return, and everything else in the middle, but the fact of the matter was, guys like Sugarpie and girls like you didn’t mix. Or to be more accurate, they mixed, but it always ended up belonging to a dumpster fire.

"So what is it you do…" you were fairly certain whom you were speaking to, but you didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

"Hangman," he supplied easily.

"Yowch," you pretended to be surprised, "your parents hate you or something?"

His grin got wider, which you hadn't thought was possible, and smugger, which was even more of a feat, as he replied. "Nope, it's my callsign, I'm a naval aviator." Then he flicked his gaze to the sweet cloud of cream and coffee in front of you. “That any good?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, flyboy.”

“Wanna share?” 

“Wanna be maimed?”

“Listen, I’m just saying,” Since when had he had that toothpick in his mouth? And why was he that adept at manoeuvering it around? “If we share it, and we like it, we can get more. And if we don’t like it, we’ll’ve cut our losses.” 

Apparently he was really good at both, crimes against the English language via contracting words, and making persuasive arguments, because you heard yourself say “Fine,” even as you felt your soul leave your body. “But you’re getting your own fork, and your own drink.” a boundary, that’s what you were establishing, a healthy boundary. 

Healthy boundary your ass. 

"Fair enough. So which turtle is your favourite?" he gestured to your shirt with his fork as he pulled the plate towards him. 

You looked down to your torso and then back at him. Where had he gotten that fork from? You snapped back into focus "Go on three?"

He put up three fingers.

Three.

Two. 

One.

"Mikey!" You both chorused.

"Why?" He was grinning that terrible, horrible, no good grin of his as he stabbed through the pristine pastry.

"He’s sassy and adorable and dual wielding. And fast. So fast." you were fully aware that you sounded like a 4 year old explaining their top 3 favourite dinosaurs but you were thankful that you didn’t come off even more incoherent in light of the human equivalent of the full blast of the sun. Small mercies. Very small mercies. You oneshotted your espresso.

"You have a thing for speed, huh? What's the fastest thing you've ever seen?" He licked his fork. Confident he could steer the conversation to his impressive exploits one way or another no matter how contrived the shoehorning was. But you were entranced by the very pink, very nice- were tongues nice? Was that a thing?- tongue that had played hide-and-seek with the fork, and you followed the utensil’s path down, down-

And realised that the ratfink was well on his way to eating most of your dessert, and that snapped you back like nothing else ever, possibly, could.

"I could tell you,” you pulled the plate back to yourself, “but I'd have to kill you." Hangman threw his head back and laughed.

Perhaps not strictly true, but judging by the number of NDAs you'd had to sign before witnessing your dad become the fastest man alive (or so Hondo had said, but you had questions; what about astronauts for instance?), death would be the more merciful option. So you just stared at Hangman, unperturbed.

“Good one.” He caught the look on your face. “Wait, what?”

Just then you heard a goose honk and looked outside to your godfather sitting in his boat of a car, waving.

"Who’s that?"

You shoved the remaining portion of the tiramisu into your mouth as you grabbed your bag, rushing out, and answered his final question over your shoulder. "My godfather."

taglist: @therebeccaw @imjess-themess @blue-aconite @dempy

#hangman x reader #jake seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #hangman #top gun #top gun 1986 #top gun maverick #mavdad #pete maverick mitchell #bradley rooster bradshaw #carole bradshaw #nick 'goose' bradshaw #The Receipts Universe

[rabbittwinrithings]

How happy are you with your current follower mods you've created? Whether that is stage of development, general features, appearance, things like that.

While I'm at it, what do you think of the followers you authored as characters, personaility wise?

Oh shit, man, this is loaded. But I don't mind it. This may be some strays thoughts.

So first off, I love my characters. In fact, I've never gotten attached to character's I've written so much like my custom voice followers. And it amazes me how much I will feel for them. There was a moment in time where I was having a hard time writing a scene where one was super angry, and for that week I, in real life, was so angry for them. I actually had to step away for a bit to calm myself down and make sure I wasn't actually causing any harm with that anger.

I have moments where I will think of Khash and, idk, it's so weird, start crying and think of how proud I am of her and that's she's made so many friends and so many care for her, as if I am a real mother thinking about her daughter.

I feel this way towards the other's too. I'll look at Varrick and think 'You're doing so good. And you're trying your best, I'm so proud of you.' Or Caryalind and say 'I promise things will get better. You've found your tribe, they'll protect you.' It's so odd and I never thought of that aspect before writing them.

-

Next, personality-wise, every follower I make has a piece of me. There are two writing advice I take to heart a lot, and that's 'write what you know,' and 'write what you want to know,' though I take them both two different ways. With 'write what you know' I look at how I want that character act, what they're like, etc. Caryalind wears his heart on his sleeve, Varrick wants to protect others, Fir has problems socializing, Disnel has ties to her culture (which is native American coded,) and Khash, well, Khash is a lot of different stuff about me mashed into one. I try and have my character's have parts of me in them.

This also goes with 'write what you want to know,' when it comes to their conflicts or problems, those are parts of me too, but mostly taken to insane extremes. (I can't say Khash's yet cause it would be spoilers for her questline.) Fir has social anxiety and depression of being a shut-in, Caryalind has done stuff in his past he percives as unforgivable and yet it was done in ignorance, Varrick is dealing with religious trauma, and Disnel deals with anger towards the disrespect of her culture and wanting to become closer to it.

Because of writing stuff that I too was having issues with, I was able to find personal solutions to issues or shed some light on them, even if they aren't completely, or even partly, fixed.

I also want to add that there followers have parts of me I wish I had. Khash and Disnel both are very un-bashful about who they are, and that's something I wish I had. Disnel says weird stuff, and her laugh is off, but she doesn't care. She doesn't stop and think 'oh, was that weird, do the people around me think that was weird?' I wish I was like that now. Or Khash is who I wish I was as a child/teen. As someone who was bullied horrifically throughout elementary, middle, and high school, I wished I didn't care what other's thought and was just myself.

(But to be fair, Khash also has an attitude of 'why should I care what others think when I have my family,' Which was something I felt strongly as a kid despite now having self-cofidence issues.)

I do want to point out though, my follower's all having daddy issues got nothing to do with my personal life. My dad is fuckin' awesome!

(Funny enough, a line from Khash where she quotes Marlok about how a certain type of bird "are jerks," is taken by quote from my dad. We were sitting on his front porch bird watching, and I was taking notes for Khash and what she would like about nature, and he said that so I wrote it as quick as I could.)

-

I don't have much to say about appearance. I love how all the followers look, but even then I'm not picky. Like I adore seeing replaces and seeing how people interpret them. I may not agree with them 100% of the time, but I don't care. I love seeing my character's get reimagined like that!

out of all the followers, these two for Varrick and Caryalind are my favorites!

Obviously, though, I add little quirks I like to all of them.

I adore Khash's little stuck-up nose.

I love Caryalind's curly hair.

I love Varrick's fashion sense.

I love Fir's striking eyes.

I love how flat Disnel's side profile is.

Okay, maybe there is more I could say about their appearances, but I'm sure it would just be more 'I love (insert some detail about them.)' cause I just love how they all look!

-

Stage of development is a tricky one cause I have mixed feelings about it. School has really kept me away from my followers, and it hurts, but with summer break I've found I have the time to finally work on them.

I recently been working on a road map of the followers to hopefully see what all I need (at least for the initial release for some,) and want.

Caryalind should have an update soon.

I'm hoping to get the first half of Varrick's romance up during the summer.

I want to get most of Fir written and implemented over the summer.

I hope to get Disnel out by the end of the summer. (Not completed, but still a good chunk of stuff there.)

And Khash, is another matter I will discuss at the end...

Sometimes I feel bad for not making more or quicker updates. Some mod authors are absolute gods at it, and I wish I could update as quickly, but I also try not to get myself upset about it. This is meant to be fun for everyone, including me. Part of me says it's selfish, and another part then hits and says 'no, that's not.' (If you couldn't tell, anxiety is something I struggle with pretty badly.)

Okay, now the thing about Khash, cause I really didn't want to disrupte any flow with above is her questline has created such a huge headache, at first. I made Khash when I first learning the ck and the same for more complicated questing. Because of this, her questline is a huge, buggy mess. because of that, and seeing the state Khash's esp is in, I decided to try and make her from the ground up again, along with additions and changes. Cause like, now, a questline like her's is a cake walk from what I've done in Ganval and Disnel's stuff. I just didn't know how to do it at the time of making Khash. But this also means Khash's development and update will take much longer than I hoped. While the lines are going pretty steadily (I think I started rebuilding two weeks ago and half of the of lines are implemented,) It's voicing that will probably take the longest. This is because I haven't done Khash's voice in perhaps a year and my throat isn't used to it anymore. because of that, voicing lines will take the longest time to do. But, for a sneak peak, some other additions are:

New introduction quest

More inventory room (Khash will have a backpack the player can toggle on and off.)

And I really hope to give her some kind of pet.

There are other obvious ones like how I want to add her adoption. I would also like to add more questions for the player to answer about themselves. Khash didn't know much about Marlok's past, and if she is looking to the player as a new guardian, she wants to try and learn more about you. But these are still up in the air, aka, not written, so I don't want to promise anything until it is for sure written.

Hopefully this whole reboot will fix alot of her bugs, story issues, and other stuff in the og mod.

With all that said though, I hope to have an update or a good chunk of each follower done by the end of the summer. I'm not sure where that will put Ganval in development. I started Ganval just for fun set design, and then thought it could be a good quest portfolio piece. But with how much questing my current followers are getting, I think just themselves are good portfolio pieces.

Sorry for just this huge wall of text. I may have gotten a bit carried away. But I hope this all answers the question really well. I know writing all this did help me get some thoughts I had out of my brain and out there.

Love y'all!

#for those that don't want to read everything #I talk about how I feel for the followers #Then how they relate to me #Then how they look #And finally development stuff #I wanted to add in the tags cause I know some may want to read the development stuff without all the rest #khash the argonian #varrick veil #Disnel the Changeling #Caryalind Thallery #Fir Jald #Ganval

[elvendria]

NOTICING YOU - e.m x fem reader Part Three

tw: Reader is a cynic who doesn't believe in love, Claudia Henderson isn't the best :/ (is that a trigger? idk.), big sister acts like a parent, smoking, insomniac (??kinda if you squint??), swearing, jealous!Eddie (if you squint), pet names

word count: 4710

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

part one part two part three part four part five part six part seven

Y/N'S POV

"So, were you able to get through to someone to get your car fixed?" Mom asked. I told her the conversation I had over the phone with Eddie and explained that he'd be here first thing in the morning to collect the car and take it to the shop. 

"First thing? But they're always swamped with cars on a Saturday. I thought you wouldn't get seen till Sunday, Monday at the latest." Mom said. 

"Same here," I attempted to stifle a yawn but failed. "I've to be up early so uh... goodnight." I turned around and walked away.

I was never close with Mom, and then things kicked off with Dad. 

I guess it was then I realised I wasn't as close with either of my parents as I had thought.

I padded down the hall towards Dustin's room in my bare feet, the feeling of the cool wood underneath my feet relaxing me with each step. I passed by my room to see Tews sitting on my bed cleaning herself. I hate that cat and I have no idea why my mom loves it so much. 

That's not to say all cats are bad, I just don't like this particular cat. 

Knocking on Dustin's bedroom, I waited to hear him say "It's open," before opening it slightly and sticking my head around the door. 

"Goodnight boys," I smiled at them, all gathered around together talking about god knows what.

 Mike, Will and Lucas will always feel like little brothers to me, I've known them so long. It felt weird seeing them as a trio, and a part of me missed seeing Will around the place. I hope he's happy in California. 

"Night Y/n!" 

"Thanks for letting us stay over!"

"Sleep. Soon." I said pointedly, "Just because you're in high school now does not mean you are to be up all night. You'll just end up being super tired tomorrow."

"But can't we just have-" Dustin started. 

"Dustin the last time you had coffee you went nuts. Not happening again under my watch." I said, leaving the room

"Technically we're under Mom's watch," He mumbled back defeatedly. 

I stuck my head back around the door, giving him a look that blatantly said 'Really? Moms' watch? Have you ever even met our mother?' before he groaned causing me to laugh as I exited the room. 

Sometimes I love to play the authoritative big sister card just to mess with him, it can really piss him off. 

I didn't know how what time 'first thing' was, I'm grateful and all but couldn't he be a bit more specific? Either way, I was going to need to get to sleep so I could wake up early. I set my alarm for 7:30 am, which isn't even a time that should exist on a Saturday morning, so I could get up and be ready for when he calls. I had switched off the handbrake and managed to push the car till it was outside my house. Could've done with Robin's freakishly strong arms but she had her Family Video shift, plus I'm fairly sure I earned a few muscles of my own. 

Changing into a pair of old biker shorts and an oversized misfits t-shirt, I crawled into my bed and lay on my side, willing sleep to come, but my head was so full of thoughts it was like there was no switching it off. I lay like that until I could hear everyone in bed, and the faint sound of my mother's snoring echoed through the halls. 

When I was certain that she was asleep, I snuck out of the house and sat on the swing bench on our porch, curling my knees up to my chest underneath my shirt and resting my head on them. 

There was something about the nighttime, the way the town went silent. As a kid, I used to believe that because it was so quiet, everyone would be able to hear the slightest noise you make. On nights like these, I sometimes wonder the same thing. 

Except now I know about science and the speed of sound, so the idea is a complete fantasy. 

Sitting on the bench, lighting up a cigarette from my stash that kept my hands slightly warm. I looked out at the sky, not seeing a single star. Not seeing anything but the faint glow of the street lamps from down the road. There was a faint breeze that wrapped around my ankles now and again, but other than that it was a warm night, unusually warm for October. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sat there until I could see orange streaks beginning to paint the sky. So much for trying to get some sleep. I unfolded myself from the swing and walked to my room, careful not to wake anyone. Checking my alarm clock, I saw that it was 7 am. I could try and get a 30-minute nap in but knowing me, I'd sleep past my alarm. 

I took a shower, scrubbing the smell of the night air off my skin. I wanted to stay in the shower, to feel the steam rise around me, but I didn't have the time. I turned off the water, wrapped my hair and body in a towel, and then made my way to my room to start getting ready. 

I debated drying my hair but decided I wasn't in the mood to deal with the frizz today (I never am). Pulling on a low-cropped white shirt, black ripped jeans and combat boots, I got changed and grabbed some cereal before sitting on the couch and reading. By the time Eddie pulled up, my hair was almost dry but still damp in places. 

The doorbell rang and I looked at my mother, not surprised to find her fawning over that stupid cat once again. I got up and answered the door, a part of me freaking out before remembering why he was here.

"Hi," I said quietly, fear washing over me as I suddenly realised this was my first time talking to Eddie, face to face. 

"Hey," he replied equally as sheepish. Was something wrong? Had I done something?

His eyes moved down towards my exposed waistline, and I desperately wanted to grab a hoodie to cover up.

He must've found the shitty brown carpet very fascinating because he couldn't seem to look away from it. "So the truck is parked out front, I've hooked your car up to it and everything, I just need you to come down to the shop to fill out some stuff." He told me. I figured I'd have to go to the mechanics at some stage today, I just didn't think it would be so soon.

"Do you want a coffee or something before we go?" I pointed my thumb towards the kitchen, the mannerisms that my grandmother drilled into me coming into play again. He looked up, our eyes holding each other and suddenly I felt like there was a magnetic in each of his eyes, drawing me in closer. 

From where we were standing you could see beside the kitchen, where my mom was sitting there, talking to Tews like it was a human baby. 

"Uhm, maybe some other time?" He said, suppressing a grin.

"Yeah sure," 

Had I just 'yeah sure' d the idea of coffee with Eddie Munson? 

"I'll grab my mom's car keys, just hang on two seconds." I turned towards the living room where my Mom was sitting, combing the cat with an old comb of mine. 

"Um, there's room up the front of the truck if you want to ride up there with me?" He asked me, "It might be a bit easier." 

I turned one more time to look at my mother, who was now singing lullabies to this freaky cat before agreeing.

God, I miss Mews. Now that was a cat who did not like to be coddled.

Just as I was about to pull the door behind me, my mother called out. "Remember you're trying on dresses for homecoming this afternoon! We'd better hurry or all the good ones will be sold out!" 

My heart dropped and I wanted to strangle her. I prayed to whoever was up there that Eddie hadn't heard her.

I threw my book bag over my shoulder, I never liked to leave home without it. He opened the car door for me and waited till I was in okay before running to check that everything was hooked up properly. While I was waiting for him, I sat noticing all the little details in it. Things like his pack of cigarettes and a lighter, or a few jumbled-up mix-tapes sitting in the glove box and in the pockets on the driver-side door. A black bandana was thrown across the dashboard, most likely the one that Eddie carries around all the time. 

What surprised me most was the pack of hair ties hidden underneath his rolling papers. Although I guess when you have as much hair as he does and work as a mechanic, tying it up is more of an occupational precaution.

He opened his door and threw off his coat before jumping in. He grabbed a hair tie and pulled his hair back, and I tried my hardest not to look as every muscle in his arm flexed. Made all the more visible by his grey muscle shirt, his tattoos on full display.

"Buckled up?" He asked me, I nodded as I closed the seat belt around myself. He did the same and then started up the car. He drove with one hand on the wheel and another on the gear stick, right next to my knee. Every so often there'd be a bump in the road and his knuckles would graze against my jeans or my exposed knee, sending off shocks from where he touched me. 

The silence was deafening, the only noise coming from the metal music on his radio. It was a bunch of different bands which made me think it was a mix-tape. I was going to say something, compliment the music, but Eddie beat me to the punch before I could open my mouth. 

"So, you're going to homecoming?" His eyes were fixed straight ahead on the road. There was a tone to his words that I couldn't quite decipher, almost nervous.

"Um. Yeah," I fidgeted with my hands in my lap. "last year and all that, figured I'd see what all the fuss was about while I still can."

"And uh," His grip on the steering wheel tightened, his eyes unwavering from the road ahead, "and do you have a date?"

My chest tightened and I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe given the thickness of the air around us. 

"No, it's just me and Robin," I said lowering my head, suddenly very fascinated by my hands, "We'll probably both just sit on the bleachers till 10 pm before figuring out some way home."

"Good," he muttered quietly, almost as if he didn't want me to hear him. I had so many questions, but a few stuck out in my mind. 

 Was he happy I wasn't bringing a date? Or that I wouldn't be dancing?

"Are you going?" Why had I asked that? 

"No, it's uh," He chuckled slightly, "Not really my scene,"

I don't know why my blood felt cold and my heart sank as he said this, but they did. 

 Master of Puppets by Metallica came on, and I started tapping my foot quietly, letting the questions and feelings fade with every strum of the guitar. Dad hated this song, but I always thought it was a good one. Hearing it again after so long caused goosebumps to make their way across my skin.

"Come Crawling Faster,"

I thought I was singing under my breath, but that last line came out louder than expected. I sat there and prayed he hadn't heard me. 

"Obey Your Master," He sang back, a smirk plastered on his face. 

His voice sent tingles down my spine and makes the hair on my arms stand upright, leaving me with goosebumps all over my skin. He was so close to me that I was almost certain he could feel the tension rising within me. 

He looked like he was going to say something, but then we turned onto the gravel path leading up to the mechanics, and the moment was gone.

Why does he make me feel like this, it's not like I have a crush on him or anything. Crushes are for girls in middle school and people with their heads in the clouds.

Maybe it was just because he was helping me out with the car. Yeah, people find plumbers and firefighters hot all the time, it's just because they're providing a service. 

Not that I find Eddie hot. I mean he is very attractive, and when he stretches his arms it makes me feel all weird inside, but I am most certainly not attracted to Eddie. 

The truck came to a halt outside the workshop. Eddie jumped out of the truck and rushed around to my side just as I was opening the door. 

"Here, it's a bit of a step-down. I'll give you a hand." He said. I swung both of my feet out as he held the back of my arm with his large hand, and I would've been fine. 

But I'm me, and I have to fill my daily awkward quota.

I started to climb down, my back to Eddie as I side-stepped out of the van, the coldness of his rings sending mini shockwaves from where he held my arm and wrist when my ankle went from under me, making me fall sideways. 

I squinted my eyes, sure that I was going to hit the pavement. An absolute goner that was going to end up in the hospital before dying of pure embarrassment. But the ground never came to meet me. 

Instead, I was pulled tight against something, a pair of arms wrapped around my back and legs. It felt like all the breath had left my body, and a strong smell of cigarettes and sandalwood filled my nose. 

I opened my eyes as Eddie gripped me to his chest, looking down at me as he held me bridal style. I felt my breath hitch in my throat as his dark orbs explored my face. 

I don't know if he did it on purpose or not, but he rubbed his finger in circles across my knee where his hand gripped my leg. The air felt electric, almost as if it could shock us both if we moved. His arm was on my back and I was glad it wasn't a few inches lower.

I was almost certain his dark eyes flickered down to my lips and lingered for a second, before quickly returning to look me in the eye. 

We looked at each other in silence. I felt his hot breath fan my face and caught the smell of mint.  I was almost certain he was going to say something, but he just cleared his throat.

"Sorry," 

"Are you okay?" He said at the same time as me. 

"Oh uh. I'm okay." I stammered through my words, "Thank you." 

We looked at each other again, and a small part of me didn't want him to put me down, but that idea was quickly erased from my mind when Eddie cleared his throat again, gradually lowering me till I was on my feet. I could tell that the awkwardness I was feeling was mutual as we both shuffled our feet.

The workshop was on the other side of town, it was a long walk home without the car, and I didn't want to trouble Eddie with driving me home. But it was like he was reading my mind because the next thing he said was, 

"You should come in and sit down," He motioned to the desk and chair beside him, piled high with paperwork. "It's supposed to rain on and off all day. I'll drive you home after I take a look at this baby." He unhooks the car from the truck before pushing it into the shop.

"Oh, thanks. You don't have to." I replied, moving towards the desk and placing down my book bag,  desperate to keep the nerves out of my voice.

"My pleasure." He smiled.

 He bent into the driver's side, fiddling for something. 

"Oh, there's a knack for popping the hood,  here I can-" I started, but before I could finish he had done it, a small grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. 

Eddie looked at me, and suddenly the concrete floor became very interesting, "Just a bit of pressure and some elbow grease should do the trick." He says, climbing back out of the car. 

He opens up the hood and takes a look as I sit down and place my bag on my lap. I want to ask if he minds me doing homework, but I don't want to look like I'm ignoring him or being rude.  

"Ok so, " he started, and I suddenly felt a drop in my stomach. What if my baby was fucked, and I could never drive her again? What if all she was good for anymore was spare parts? I was so worked up about never being able to drive my girl again that I completely forgot about the guy inspecting her. 

My freak out must've been clear on my face because Eddie's face became very soft and gentle, 

"Hey, hey, hey, don't worry, it's only a faulty spark plug and wire casings. You're alignments a bit off and your transmission is failing, but it's nothing I can't fix for you. There are some other things here and there that I'll need to get some parts for, and no offence but your car is an older model so it might take a while to get them all." He gave me a small smile, easing my nerves slightly. Eddie sounded like he knew what he was doing, so clearly he did. Right? 

"I'll be honest, none of that makes sense," I said, as he walks around and pulls out the chair for me. He's surprisingly chivalrous, opening car doors and pulling out chairs. I don't know what I expected him to be like, but it wasn't this. "I don't think she's ever been looked at after Dad renovated her." I sat in the chair and wonder why I ever thought my dad was a reliable person as Eddie walks into what I assume is a storage closet. 

"Here," he says, handing me a radio and a box of tapes that were just around, "Pick out some music, I wanna see what you choose." He had put the car on a lift earlier and was in the process of raising her, a skateboard and toolbox beside him. Once he was happy she was at a reasonable height he dropped to his knees beside the board, then flipped himself over so he was lying flat against it, using it to push himself under the car. 

I was flicking through the mix tapes he had when one stood out to me. Dad used to play it for Dustin as a kid, which in hindsight seems a bit weird but at the time it made him laugh and dance like crazy. 

Rock You Like A Hurricane by Scorpions started to echo around the building, and I hesitantly pulled out my economics textbook and attempted to try and understand this nonsense they tried to teach us, while Eddie just silently bopped his foot along to the tempo. 

Silence passed between us as I attempted to do homework and Eddie tried to fix my car, the only sound surrounding us being the music from Eddie's radio. Once homework was completed I started on a piano lesson plan for Joanna Kelly, a girl who lived down the street from us, I gave her parents a discount given how nice they were to myself and Dustin growing up. 

When that was over, I slyly pulled out a math notebook and began to work out my expenses. Eddie could try and sugarcoat it as much as he wants, but I knew this service wasn't going to be cheap. I mean, needing to get replacement parts? It's got to cost at least $2000+, which is definitely more than I make teaching kids how to play twinkle twinkle and three blind mice. I'd landed a job over the summer at the Hawkins Hypnotic Record Store, but only as a way to save up for college.

Now I'll have to apply for scholarships if I want any hope of getting into somewhere decent. That meant taking on more extracurriculars and writing a killer college essay. 

Ms Kelly had advertised on the intercom the other week about finding someone to help out in the front office for extra credit. Looks like I was going to be taking her up on it.

 I'm barely going to have time to breathe let alone sleep. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Listening to Eddie banging and crashing around the car had me nervous, but only a small bit. Eddie knew what he was doing, his uncle didn't seem like the kind of guy to give Eddie a job based on familial connections. 

Suddenly Eddie comes flying out from under the car, grease and oil covering his face and sweat glistening along his arms, his tattoos practically shining. 

I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts about how much this was going to cost me that I didn't even notice him talking to me. 

"Hey, Y/n?" He asked with a touch of confusion, "Hellooo?" 

My head snapped to look at him, his voice bringing me to my senses.

"Sorry, I was lost in my own mind. Worrying about stuff y'know?"

He rubbed the grease off his face with a cloth and a soft grin, his eyes closed. I took this moment to examine him a bit further. He looked like he had strong arms, and his tattoos were kinda impressive and cool. I heard he paid his friend a 3 months supply of weed, and they did them with a pin and some type of ink. 

But I don't know if any of that is real.

"What does a pretty girl like you have to be worrying about?" 

Pretty girl.

The words bounced around my stomach before settling between my thighs. I squeezed them together as if on instinct, the words rolling over my skin like waves.

I remained silent, not too sure how to answer that, my mind was blank as I tried to ignore the sudden throbbing I felt.

A few moments pass by and Eddie sits up and looks at me, his hair coming loose from the hair tie.

"Hey, could you pass me the wrench? It's on the counter over there, it's the one with the round-"

"I know what a wrench looks like Eddie, I'll grab it now," I said shuffling around to the counter to look for it, silently loving the way his name felt on my tongue

5, maybe 6 minutes pass, and I've no luck. I had handed him a wrench, but apparently, it wasn't the right wrench. So now I was back staring at a workspace full of stupid tools with stupid names. 

I hadn't even heard Eddie come up behind me until I felt his breath. 

"Here, let me help" He spoke softly, "It's the least I can do,"

I wanted to tell him that he was fixing my car, and it was the least I  could do to find the stupid wrench when suddenly his hand was on my waist as he moved to step beside me. His fingertips brushed off me like tiny flames searing into the exposed skin, and I knew what was coming next.

I tried to resist it, believe me. But I can't help it. I've never been able to, it's my number one weakness. I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth as I braced myself.

His fingers trailed along the base of my back. I managed to suppress the moan, but that was about it. Like always I arched my back and jerked sideways in a fit of the most unattractive laughs you can picture. 

Eddie didn't have to pull his hand away, I had already squirmed from his grip as he looked at me stunned. A toothy grin formed on his face as he crossed his arms. 

"What was that?" He said laughing slightly.

Looking at him laugh made me laugh more. It was like someone flipped my giddy switch. I turned to the countertop and bent over on it, determined to catch my breath with my hands clasped behind my head. 

"Oh god," I said breathlessly, "I'm sorry, I just have a really ticklish back."

I couldn't see his face, but when he spoke he whispered, 

"Heh, yeah," He said lowly, "That's definitely a first. I'll try not and accidentally tickle you in the future." I felt like he was grinning, but I was too embarrassed now to even look him in the eye. 

I nearly made a potential sex noise in front of Eddie Munson. 

After a bit of silence, I hear him say "Found it, it was a torque wrench I was looking for, sorry for the confusion."

His voice had become very soft, and once again we were wrapped in silence, only now it wasn't uncomfortable.

As the day went on, and while I was fretting over how I was going to pay for my car and most of the house bills, a few people came in to drop off their cars, barely exchanging words with the guy classed as the town freak. Eddie didn't look too bothered as they tossed him their keys before turning on their heel and walking away, but something told me deep down it annoyed him.

But what could I do? I doubt he'd want any consolation from me, he barely knows me. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, from the looks of things, the repairs shouldn't take more than 3 to 4 weeks. Maybe 5." He told me, which downhearted me slightly, I mean a whole month without my car? Maybe more? That was a whole month getting the bus to school, adding an extra touch of hell onto the day. 

"Oh, okay. Would you be able to give me a rough idea of the price? It's ok if you can't, I really appreciate you doing this for me." I gave him a slight smile and watched curiously as he looked to the ground and walked behind the counter. He almost looked nervous. 

"It's not going to be cheap, as you probably guessed, but luckily for you," He released a breath that sounded like he had been holding onto it for a while, resting his fist underneath his face "Flattery works with me." 

I gave a small chuckle, relieved that he was easing the tension. 

"I'll write up a docket next time you're here, we can sort something out then." He said calmly, moving to sit back in his chair. Meanwhile, my heart had started beating a mile a minute. 

"Next time I'm here?" I asked curiously

"Yeah, next time you're free and I'm working on your car. It's kind of nice to have someone around who appreciates good music," He was flipping through papers on the countertop, and I was praying he didn't look up anytime soon and see the mixture of surprise and confusion on my face. He looked at the clock on the wall behind him and I saw that I had spent the whole day here, and it was almost 9 pm. 

"C'mon it's getting late. Plus now you definitely can't walk home, it's too dark. My car is parked out front, I'll give you a lift." He pulled his keys off the rack and threw on his jacket that he took in from the back of the van earlier. 

"Um, thanks. Means a lot." And suddenly I was back to tripping over my words in front of him. 

He likes having me around?

He appreciates my music taste? 

Edward Munson, what are you doing to me?

------------------------------------------------------------------

part one part two part three part four part five part six part seven

#eddie x y/n #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson stranger things #eddie the freak munson #eddie stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie x reader #eddie x you #stranger things eddie #stranger things eddie munson #stranger things #slow burn #friends to lovers

[delimeful]

you can’t go back (6)

warnings: tension, fear, miscommunication/cultural misunderstandings, mentions of pain/injury, maybe cliffhanger?, lmk if i missed any

-

Patton was on a mission.

He adjusted his armful of tupperwares and stared down the front door to the Torres household with the determination that had carried him all the way through two hours of baking and a thirty minute bus ride.

His friends had been acting super weird lately, and he was going to find out why.

First it had been Roman, who had been too distracted to hold even the most basic of conversations for ages, and now it was Logan, too, who backed up every silly rambling excuse Roman made with a completely straight face.

Patton didn’t want to push too hard, especially since he knew Remus’s absence was still weighing heavy on Roman’s mind, but the way they were acting… whatever this was, it didn’t seem to be about that. At least, not entirely.

And honestly, being left out was kind of hurting his feelings! The two of them had been having secretive whispered conversations in the halls that just so happened to end as soon as Patton got within earshot.

He’d held out for a while, hoping that maybe there was a surprise party for some holiday or anniversary he’d forgotten about, but enough was enough.

Patton was done joking. He was going to walk in there, sit his friends down, and talk to them about how he felt, no matter how awkward it might end up!

… Well, at the very least, he’d try and bring the topic up at least once. He’d brought their respective favorite cookies to butter them up, and hoped that being a little bit more honest about everything would encourage them to open up about whatever was bothering them in turn!

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

There was no answer, but since Mr. & Mrs. Torres were at work, that wasn’t too surprising. Roman was supposed to be home, but he would sometimes miss a knock at the door, busy blasting theatre music in his room or painting with headphones in.

Luckily, Patton had been friends with Roman since they were kids, and there had been plenty of times in the past where he’d let himself in. He shook the house key out of the hollow, palm-sized dragon statue on the porch, and wasted no time in stepping inside.

The house was eerily quiet in a way Patton rarely saw it. He tiptoed into the kitchen, feeling a little bit like a home invader, and set his tupperware tower on the counter.

“Hello? It’s Patton!” he called up the stairs, loud enough to hopefully reach the ears of any errant friends.

Still, there was no sign of Roman, or Logan for that matter.

“Miaow,” a petulant, adorable little voice called up to him, and Patton looked down to see Lady Macbeth practically standing on his toes, little furry head craned back to look up at him with the most potent pair of pleading eyes he’d ever seen.

“D’aww,” he said, crouching to scratch under her chin and mentally promising himself that he’d remember to wash his hands afterwards.

Lady tolerated the affection for a few seconds, and then ducked away and walked a few steps before looking over her shoulder at him expectantly.

“You need something, kitty?” He was already standing to follow her, expecting to be led to an empty food bowl or feather toy.

Instead, she pranced over to the back door and sat expectantly in front of it.

“Outside?” Patton asked, surprised. Lady Macbeth typically preferred the indoors, especially when there was a lap nearby to curl up on. “Is that where Roman is?”

“Mow,” Lady told him, standing on her hind legs to press her paws against the plastic portion of the screen door.

Good enough for him!

He took a brief detour to scrawl a brief message on a sticky note, leaving it on top of his tupperware, just in case.

Without wasting another moment, he unlocked the back door and pushed it open, watching as Lady trotted outside with her tail held high in the air, with none of the usual lingering-in-the-doorway shenanigans she normally loved to partake in. In fact, Lady seemed to be on a mission of her own, heading directly down the dirt path as though she was a tiny kitty businessman, late for a kitty business meeting.

Patton grinned at the thought, and then hurried to follow her.

To his surprise, they went right past the new barn and the animal paddocks, two of the most likely places Roman might be.

Instead, Lady led him all the way through the overgrowth to the creaky old barn near the edge of the property, the one that hadn’t been in use for at least a year or two now. The doors were closed, the bolt slid shut, but Lady only sniffed disdainfully at them for a moment before circling around to the side and inspecting each window along the sides of the barn.

“What would Roman be doing in here?” Patton wondered out loud, stepping closer to look at the windows himself.

They were all shuttered, despite the fact that they were long past the season for heavy storms, and there wasn’t supposed to be anything important inside this barn, anyhow.

Lady had already figured out that the windows were blocked, and was sitting at the base of the locked doors impatiently, pinning Patton with an imploring stare the moment he turned his attention back to her.

“Alright, alright,” he chuckled, moving forwards to knock gently on the doors and then slide the bolt free. “Let’s see what’s got you so worked up, hm?”

When the doors opened, he actually missed the most startling thing in the room at first.

To be fair to him, the last time he’d seen the barn’s interior, it had been after the lingering old tools finally hauled over to the freshly built shed, so it had been all but empty.

Now, however, it was decidedly not.

There was a large folding table shoved into one corner, the surface of it covered in scrawled-over papers, an odd helmet, and what looked like lab equipment checked out from their school’s library. There were a few old chairs along the sides of the table, and one sitting with its wooden back against the opposite wall of the barn.

There was a heap of old linens and even a faded comforter next to the chair, and that was where Lady Macbeth was headed now, probably intending to curl up in the lumpy pile and enjoy the warmth of the afternoon.

Patton tilted his head. Had the blanket mound just… twitched?

Lady stopped right at the edge of the blankets and mewed loudly. In response, an entire person sat upright with a wheezy-sounding inhale, as though abruptly waking from a nightmare.

“Ro…,” Patton started, and then immediately trailed off as a distinctly-not-Roman face twisted to lock eyes with him.

It only took a heartbeat of staring for Patton to register that it was a distinctly-not-human face, too. “Oh!”

The stranger didn’t widen their eyes, and there didn’t seem to be a mouth visible to them to gape with, but Patton could still see clear alarm in the way they tried ineffectually to shuffle back while still entangled in about three different blankets.

He related; he’d frozen in surprise, his gaze flicking from the dark shiny plates covering their skin to the windows cut into their synthetic-looking jumpsuit that revealed gill-like slits along their sides.

Abducted by aliens, Roman had claimed, and— unless this was a theatre friend that was extremely skilled at costuming— he’d apparently been more on the nose than anyone in town had believed.

This wasn’t anything near what Patton had expected them to be hiding.

The silent stare down only lasted for a moment longer before being interrupted by another distinctive, wheedling meow.

It was hard to tell where exactly the alien was looking, no pupil or iris discernible in their shiny dark eyes, but Patton did catch a tiny flicker of movement in the muscles around their eyes, presumably to look over at the feline friend currently kneading her claws into the edge of a blanket.

“That’s Lady Macbeth,” Patton offered, lifting a hand to gesture to the cat in question.

The alien moved nearly as soon as he did, lunging forwards with startling quickness, and for one short moment, the thought that the alien might not be friendly rocked through him like a plunge into icy water. “Wait—!”

Instead of grabbing at Lady, though, the alien had simply shifted to be slightly hunched over her, arms lifted as though to block her from view, head turned to keep that unnerving gaze locked on Patton.

By the time he finally opened his mouth to speak, an entire bundle of confused thoughts were already racing through his mind, all of them practically tripping over his tongue to be the first question asked: Was the alien trying to protect her from him? Was Lady Macbeth their friend? Were all cats secretly aliens all along? Had something just twitched behind their back?

The question that came out instead was, “Are those oven mitts?”

A set of clear eyelids flickered over the alien’s eyes twice in rapid succession, but they otherwise remained still, their oven mitt-covered hands hovering in place over Lady Macbeth like a protective forcefield of gingham-patterned fireproof fabric.

Impatient as always, Lady pushed up to sit on her haunches and promptly butted her head against one of the oven mitts.

The alien jolted back as though they’d been burned, somehow making a low, vehement click-click-click-churr sound as their head snapped back and forth between Patton and Lady with comical speed, seemingly trying to watch both of them closely at the same time.

“She wants you to pet her,” Patton explained, and then stretched his hand out a little further. “I’ll show you?”

When no clear objection came, he carefully stepped closer, and then held his hand out and rubbed his fingers together. “Pspsps, Lady, c’mere.” He received a deeply disdainful look for his efforts. “Hey now, I know you want attention, but forget out of this world, our buddy looks like they’re about to have an out of this body experience if we keep bothering them.”

He winked at the alien, who was staring at him and holding very still, like a deer in front of a T-rex.

After a few more seconds of coaxing, Lady seemed to grasp that her new best friend wasn’t going to start bestowing scritches upon her anytime soon, and turned to meander over to Patton instead.

The alien’s stillness abruptly began to feel more like the tension of a loaded spring. Patton kept his movements slow and gentle as he stroked a hand over Lady’s head a few times. “Like this, see? Roman says she’s arrogant, like a little queen receiving her dues, but I think she’s just got a lot of dignity packed into that teeny tiny frame. She loves when you scratch under her chin, too.”

He scritched lightly behind her ears before moving to do just that, and within a second or two, Lady had started up her low, rumbly purr, her eyes closing in the kitty version of a deeply pleased expression.

When he glanced up, the alien had leaned forwards slightly, watching them closely. This close, Patton could tell their eyes were actually a dark purplish color.

“You wanna try?” he asked, and carefully reached a hand halfway to one of their oven mitts and held it in the air there. An offer.

The alien recoiled slightly at first, but Patton simply waited, arm outstretched. After a few moments, they extended their own hand with painstaking slowness, caution lining their every move.

“There you go,” Patton encouraged, and took hold of the edge of the oven mitt to carefully guide their hand over to hover above Lady’s head. “She won’t hurt you, okay?”

Those uncanny eyes stared at him for a long moment, and then they lowered their mitt to brush the top of Lady’s head, the contact as light and delicate as someone handling fine china.

Predictably, Lady immediately bumped her head up into the mitt, a clear demand for more attention. Patton had no idea how she’d grown so attached to an alien that didn’t know how to pet cats– that didn’t even seem to know cats liked to be pet– but clearly she remained just as good a judge of character as ever.

Though the oven mitt made things a little more difficult, the alien managed something resembling clumsy chin scratches, and Lady made a little chirping meow at them. They tilted their chin up slightly and made a sound that wasn’t anywhere near a meow, but imitated a similar rolling cadence as the chirp.

Patton couldn’t help it; he grinned big enough to make his cheeks bunch up, overcome by how adorable it all was.

The alien took one look at him and shoved themself back hard, the plates on their skin abruptly flushing an inky black like a startled squid. Even Lady jolted, scurrying a few feet away as the rapid movement startled her in turn.

Patton’s expression dropped like a hot potato, but it was too late: the alien overbalanced, an unsteadiness to their movements, and hit the ground back-first.

They didn’t scream or yell even as their whole body seemed to sharply convulse with pain. Instead, the only sounds they let out were choked, hissing breaths as they scrambled for purchase against the dirt and twisted onto their side as quickly as possible.

The motion relieved pressure from their back— and also gave Patton a perfect view of the long, spindly limbs that protruded from their spine, bound together and convulsing like a cramped muscle.

There were four of them, almost insectoid in nature, made of the same material as the shiny plates over their skin, but thicker, more solid. Like the difference between a fingernail and a tooth.

The restraints weren’t digging into anything, but Patton could see the way the alien shuddered with each little twitch of the limbs, causing more pain with every automatic attempt to recoil from it.

With the oven mitts on, there was no way for them to remove the restraints.

Roman and Logan had a lot of explaining to do.

Patton knew his friends. They weren’t cruel, not intentionally and they wouldn’t do something like this without reason. Maybe it would be smarter to wait for them to return, get the full story. But they weren’t here now, and he didn’t know when they’d get back.

Patton had never been particularly good at staying still when there was something wrong happening right in front of him.

The alien was still making those horrible, pained little breaths, struggling to keep themself still.

The moment Patton audibly shifted forward, they seemed to realize just who their back was facing, and let out a rattling hiss, a sort of kh-kh-kh-kh that was more vicious than any other noise he’d heard from them so far.

He swallowed, but didn’t let himself falter.

“I want to help you,” he told them. “I don’t know how well you can understand me, but I can see that you’re in pain. I want to help, I— I won’t hurt you.”

Gradually, the defensive hiss faded, though every part of the alien he could see was still rigid with tension.

“I’m going to reach out and touch the restraints, okay?” Patton waited a beat, and then did just that, carefully avoiding touching the sensitive-seeming limbs themselves. Their back twitched slightly, probably not helping the pain, and Patton winced in sympathy. “Sorry, sorry. I can see the knots they did, and I think I can undo them. I’m going to try to loosen them by pulling, okay? If it hurts, hiss and I’ll stop, okay? Give me a sign and I’ll pause, I promise.”

The alien made a low click-click in the back of their throat, but let the side of their head rest against the floor, pointedly not reacting when Patton started moving his fingers again, working at the knotted strips of fabric.

Logan had probably designed the clever way the restraints connected, but Roman had definitely been the one to tie them. He’d gone to a sailing camp one summer when he was younger, and apparently learned all sorts of knots and ropework there. Patton still remembered him showing off the process of tying a butterfly knot at lunch.

It took some wiggling, and a few tense pauses after Patton accidentally tugged too hard in one place or another, but eventually he’d gotten the restraints loose enough to slowly pull them off the limbs without causing any further agony.

The alien pushed themself up to hand and knees as soon as the fabric slipped free, putting some distance between them and Patton before beginning to stretch those folded up limbs out… and out… and out.

“Woah,” Patton breathed, seeing the way the limbs uncurled to be almost as long as Patton himself was tall.

Using the wall as a support, the alien finally stood fully upright and turned to face Patton. Their newly-freed limbs spread out even wider, hovering in the air behind the alien like a scorpion’s tail held aloft, each ending at a curved point. Something about the sight of them made a faint, primal impulse in the back of Patton’s mind light up, sending a thrill of fear down his spine and demanding he get as far away as possible, as fast as possible.

His breath hitched just slightly, and he struggled to force the feeling away and ignore the pounding of his heart in his ears. The alien hadn’t tried to hurt him, and they weren’t being mean now. It was just his brain falsely recognizing a threat and flooding him with automatic wariness, much in the same way a cat’s mind filled with panic at the sight of an unexpected cucumber.

Even a comparison as silly as that couldn’t erase his body’s reaction, though, and when the alien took a delicate step forward, Patton’s shoulders rose up to his ears like a turtle shrinking back into its shell.

To his surprise, the alien halted their approach, apparently watching him just as carefully as he’d been watching them. After a moment of hesitation, their face pinched slightly, almost like the expression a human would make when wrinkling up their nose, and then– the flat thick shell covering the lower part of their face cracked in two.

With a series of crackling sounds that sounded pretty similar to Patton’s mom stretching her back in the morning, two interlocking plates separated and pulled back along the jawline, overlapping into hard ridges like a set of hard-edged wrinkles on either cheek. Where the plate had previously covered, there was a recognizable mouth, though the oddly-shaped lips were faint and thin, and the teeth configuration certainly had a lot more visible fangs than any human Patton knew, even with their mouth mostly closed.

The alien’s sharp limbs folded and unfolded slightly, moving in an absentminded way that made Patton think they were concentrating hard on something else. Their torso swelled with a visible breath, lower than Patton expected, and then their mouth finally moved

“Won’... hur,” they enunciated distinctly, with a sharp, inhuman click at the end. Then, they repeated the words again, the click more muted, almost sounding like a ‘t’. “Won- t. Hur- t.”

Won’t hurt.

Echoing Patton’s earlier promise one more time, they rotated one of those narrow limbs forward and extended it into the space between them.

Patton knew his eyes had to be wide as quarters, his apprehension replaced by a heartfelt awe as he reached out and watched as the end of that alien limb tapped gently down into his hand.

This close, he could see that the edge wasn’t actually razor sharp or barbed. Instead, it was similar to a cat’s claw, safe to lightly touch, but just curved and thin enough to catch and tear if force was put behind it.

There was no force behind it now, though, and Patton ghosted his fingertips over the smooth insect shell-like surface, surprised by how cool and sleek it felt.

He smiled broadly to himself, delight rushing through him. “I’m holding hands with an alien,” he confided to the alien in question, who had gone still for a moment before hesitantly smiling back.

Well, really, it was more of a brief, awkward baring of teeth, and the two halves of the face-plate clicked back into place shortly afterwards, but Patton was too overjoyed to care.

“This is so cool, I can’t believe it! We’re friends now, aren’t we? After that, how can we astronaut be friends, am I right? I’m going to tell you so many things about cats, you have no idea,” he rambled, easily releasing his new friend from their sort-of handholding when their limb seemed to twitch nervously. “Lady, pspsps, here kitty, come back over here and sit with us!”

Patton plopped himself down on the dirt floor, patting the ground nearby in a gesture that apparently translated well enough, because his alien friend only wavered in place for a moment before slowly folding their backwards legs to sit next to him.

Lady was lured in quickly by the temptation of cuddles like a heat-seeking missile, and Patton swiftly scooped her up and crooned at her before turning and setting her in his friend’s lap. “Here, let’s get those funny mitts off of you, you’ll have much better odds of being her new favorite if you can pet her properly!”

His new friend might be a little hard to read, but there was no misinterpreting the delicate care in every motion as they curled their talon-like fingers through Lady's fur. This alien was a fellow cat-lover, and Patton was feline pretty sure that this was the start of a wonderful friendship.

“There you go, you're doing great! Lady sure warmed up to you fast, didn't she? My other friends are probably going to freak out a little more, but don’t worry about a single thing, okay? I’ll explain everything to them, no purroblem!”

—

Inside a house not very far away, a pair of teenagers stared at the counter, where a small mountain of cookie-filled tupperware sat. On the top of that mountain, they had found a bright blue sticky note with a message in familiar handwriting.

‘To Roman (or Logan! or both of you!)

‘Accompanying Lady Macbeth on a fur-ocious journey through the backyard wilderness to find a missing prince! If you get back before me, come join us!

‘Love, Patton <3 <3 <3’

Roman and Logan exchanged matching horrified glances, and then bolted for the back door without another word.

They had a friend to rescue.

#sanders sides #sanders sides fic #humans are deathworlders #ts patton #ts virgil #alien au #bthb #ycgb #you cant go back #My writing #writing #today is basically almost saturday when you really think about it /j

[isbus]

The House of Villains

Chapter 3: Teach Me How To Love

First serious-ish chapter!

At night, when Santana was alone, he would read teen magazines. He didn't find the human male's magazines interesting so he read the female ones. He didn't understand it very much but he continued reading to find out how regular humans felt.

Dio gave him the idea; he remembered the time clearly.

"Here. Read these. You have to act normal so maybe reading these would make you act like a regular teen."

"Why? Because you look like a teen and we need to act normal for others!"

So he read all the boy ones, because his sex was male. But, like I said earlier, he didn't care for them. They were about sports, and stupid stuff. He wanted to get a girlfriend so he thought that maybe reading about women would help.

He only read them at night so that no one would know. He threw them away on the day he got them so that Dio thought he wouldn't read them. But, later on, he took them out and read away.

So tonight, he continued to read. He got to a page. "How to impress a Boy" He already had an idea of how, so he skipped the page. The next one was makeup tips, then clothing ideas, everything a girl should have, blah blah blah..

He decided to go back and read that dumb page. Why not how to impress girls? Oh well. I guess they don't know that boys can read this. He read it word for word, line after line.

Maybe I could make a friend like this...

- Time skip brought you by: Little Santana just wants to make a friend -

Morning. That's when humans wake up. So when morning came and sun shown up, he got dressed in regular attire and grabbed his parasol.

"Where are you going?" Kars asked before Santana set foot out the door. "Especially without sunscreen."

Santana groaned but kept his mouth shut when thinking about that time when he told Kars his thoughts. He told him once that no sunscreen can prevent him from burning. Kars immediately grounded him for it. No television for a week.

Kars put some sunscreen on his nose, then walked away. He gave a signal before going towards the attic; a signal that told Santana that he can go now.

Once he exited the home and shut the door behind him, he rubbed the sunscreen off. If some cool guy saw him with sunscreen (ONLY ON HIS NOSE) they would probably think he's a coward or a stupid vampire, but there are more chances of being called a coward.

Once he got off the porch and past the driveway, he decided he would look around the neighborhood. He knew that the Joestar residence is filled with boring protagonist-like people, so he decided to adventure to the other side of the block.

1508 had a family having a picnic, wearing their swim attire. How weird. The only normal ones were a girl with pink hair, and a boy in a sailor style- only because they wore regular clothes in this irregular neighborhood.

1507 had a handicapped man in a wheelchair and (presumably) his friend who sat in a rocking chair next to him. A man in a jockey outfit was flirting up a storm with a girl who had pink hair. That's probably a no go too.

1506 came with the boy with the baseball player outfit, a man with a fuzzy hat and horns, a man with long pink hair daydreaming, a lady with medium hair looking at her phone, and a girl sipping on a super big gulp filled with water. They look cool but, let's look some more.

1505 had a man with lilac hair and a man with a black bob sitting and talking, a man with a hat and a boy with messy hair running around, shouting and shooting each other with squirt guns, and lastly, a boy reading with a girl looking in a mirror (maybe she's adjusting her makeup).

1504 came with a LOT of people. They had an outdoor table and a chef who was barbequing. One with a mostly shaved pomp and a man with a blonde braid talked, two small boys talked to- wait- THE FAMOUS MANGA ARTIST?! Also a few other's but hey, they don't matter.

1503 had three men and a dog. There was one with cherries playing mobile games, one with a tall flat top talked with an Egyptian man who held the dog on his lap. They seem cool.

1502 had a man with a blonde flat top talking to a younger blonde man and a woman with shades and a cigarette. They look cool too!

And last but not least. There was 1501 which had two men sitting by an outdoor table, sipping on wine, eating salted sandwiches, and trying on each other's hats while a little kid ran around. A woman with blonde hair watched with a smile.

Time to think about which one to see!

7 and 8 have weirdos, so no. 1 has a cool family thing going so they probably wouldn't care. 3 and 5 seem too cool for me. 4 feels like a family reunion so going there would be bad. So 2 and 6.

He began stepping over to 1506. "Hey, uh, you guys look cool... Can I hang out with you guys and maybe become your friend?" It sure was hard talking to others.

The one with the big gulp and the base-boy smiled. But the daydreamer kept doing his thing as the other stayed on her phone. The hat man raised an eyebrow. "Maybe. But you would have to talk to Jolyne."

"Oh, OK. See you guys later then." At least speaking like a human was easy...

Who even is Jolyne? He thought. Probably someone from the Joestar Residence...

He walked towards 1502. Being sure to stay on the sidewalk, avoid the squirt guns, try not to stare at the manga artist, etc.

1502. He could hear the taller blonde man talking and shouting, sometimes in German, which gained Santana's attention. "You! Ja you!" Santana looked at him. "Are you new here?"

"Yeah, kind of."

"Well I haven't seen you out of the house since you first moved." He chuckled at the joke that Santana didn't understand. What did the teen pillar man do? Laugh as well. "When someone laughs and makes a joke, laugh with them, it makes them feel better for the joke." He read that in a magazine.

"Haha, yeah. I've found video games and now I'm obsessed..." They both laughed about that one.

The man got out of the laughing fit. "I understand that feeling." He said in his thick German accent and chuckled again. "I'm Rudol Von Stroheim. What's your name?"

"I am Santana. It's nice meeting you."

Rudol thought for a second. "Can I give you a nickname?"

"What's a nickname?"

Rudol laughed even though Santana was serious. "It's a fake name you would give another."

"I guess you can then."

"I shall call you Sanviento!"

"Can I give you nickname, Rudol?" Stroheim nodded. "I will call you, Stroheim."

He sighed. "Sure, why not?"

"Are we friends now?"

- Time skip, brought to you by: Santana made a friend! -

As the days passed, their friendship increased. Santana began ditching the magazines (for real this time), and started going outside more often. He spent more and more time with Stroheim and started feeling weird- but only when Stroheim was around.

What was this feeling? Was it the same feeling between Wamuu and Kars? No... It couldn't be...

Was he.. IN LOVE?!

Santana decided to confront this feeling... by talking with his family. He started from the latest members of the family. He went to the living room to see the couple watching a documentary on TV. Surprisingly enough, they were the only two down there.

"Valentines. I made a friend and I feel weird when talking to him." He stated.

Scarlet put her hand over her mouth in shock. "This can only be one thing!" They both exclaimed.

"Hatred!"

"Love!"

They both shouted. Scarlet looked at Funny. "Yes. It has to be love!" Funny looked away, embarrassed. "Just tell him or her how you feel."

Santana thanked them, and went to Pucci's room. He repeated the statement. Pucci, told him it was love. He went to see Doppio and Diavolo, repeating the statement, getting the same answer. Kira told him he didn't know. Dio was being weird so he gone to the attic.

Santana took a deep breath, exhaled, the entered.

"Lord Kars, Esidisi.. I made a friend, and I think I'm in love with him."

Esidisi looked shocked. "It's a boy? Santana, that's adorable!"

Kars glared at Esidisi, signaling at him to shut up. "That's great, I'm just surprised you found another vampire in this neighborhood."

"That's the thing, he's... not.”

Kars' eyes widened. "You.. are trying to love a squirrel?! I'm surprised you caught one but-"

"He's not a squirrel either. He's human."

Esidisi began bawling his eyes out. "He's in love with a hamon user! What have we done wrong?!"

Kars, once again, glared at him. "Who is this human you are interested in?"

"He's in the house 1502. His name is Rudol Von Stroheim." Santana explained.

Esidisi leaned towards Kars. "Sounds like a hamon user..." Esidisi said a little too loud.

"He's not a hamon user! He's just extremely attractive, and humorous, and smart-"

"And he's human! What will happen if he finds out you're a vampire?!" Kars cuts in the sentence with an angry tone. "Will he try to kill you? Or will he accept you? If you want to see if he loves you too, tell him who you really are and see what his response is!"

Esidisi tries to rejoin the conversation. "Kars, calm down, please."

Kars takes a breath. "Until you decide to confess, you're staying in your part of the attic to think it over." Kars and Esidisi exit the room, going down the stairs.

- Time Skip Brought To You By: Santana got a love interest but at what cost? -

Santana sobbed into a pillow that night. He wanted so bad to just go out and prove Kars wrong, but he was scared. What if he was right? What if Stroheim would try to kill him? He decided to look in a magazine. He wanted to tear it up since it was full of useless information, but then he saw a page that would change his thoughts.

"Don't be afraid. If you don't do it, you might lose the chance."

That was it. Exactly what he needed.

- Time Skip Brought To You By: Confidence Upped! -

The next day came a little sooner then he could handle. He wanted to practice what to say, he also wanted to slap Kars in the face while he was sleeping, but he wasn't allowed to do either. So when the day hit like the smack he wanted to give Kars, he was terrified. "Are you going to confess?" Kars squinted at Santana when he woke up. Santana nodded and gained the balls that he didn't know he could gain when Kars was around.

When Kars opened the door to the Attic, Santana hissed. "That's my boy." Esidisi and Kars said in unison.

Santana gone down stairs, and picked up his parasol. "Ooh! Look who's going to see his lover boy!" Dio mocked him. Santana was already confident, so instead of passing by like Dio said nothing, he glared at him and flipped him the bird before exiting the house.

Going to 1502, seeing Stroheim waiting for him. When he saw the redhead, he got excited, then angry, then a mix of both. "Where were you? You weren't out yesterday!" He shouted with that thick German accent- that damn accent that sent butterflies down Santana's throat and into the stomach of the young pillar man.

"I have thought about things- serious things." Rudol raised an eyebrow. "I have two things to tell you."

*GULP*

He didn't know which to say first. They were both hard to say.

*SIGH*

"I love you... I think." Stroheim was first in awe, then he laughed when hearing the last part.

"You think?"

"I have never loved humans, which brings me to my next point." He sighs again. "I am not human."

...

"Are you an alien? Werewolf? Zombie?" Santana shook his head at all of them.

Santana felt a little weight taken off when seeing that Stroheim hasn't ran away. "I am a pillar man, a vampire."

Stroheim blushed. "I have two things to confess to you." Santana hummed. "I love you too, and... I have a thing for vampires." Surprisingly enough, Santana knew what he meant; blushing when realizing those two factors.

Santana and Stroheim had the same idea. So they mooched like there was no tomorrow right there. Santana nearly dropped his parasol in the process. After a minute passed of their make out session, they felt like someone was watching. Santana looked behind him and saw Wamuu while Rudol looked behind him and saw Caesar.

...

"What the fuck, Stroheim?!" Caesar said in his Italian accent. "How did he get a boyfriend?!" He looked at Wamuu.

"I know, right?" Wamuu threw his hands up. "How did Santana get a boyfriend before me?"

The two s' shrugged and mooched again, lightly this time.

"Can you teach me how to love, Stroheim?"

He nodded. "If you can show me how you feed off humans..." He winks.

Caesar and Wamuu nearly vomited right there.

- END SCENE -

#isbus #fanfic #jojo au #jojo fanfic #fanfiction #chapter 3 #jjba #santana jojo #rudol von stroheim #he’s not a n*zi in this au #jojo dio #jojo pucci #pillar men #references #jojo reference #in case it wasn't obvious #jojo funny Valentine #isbus original #original story #house au

[ofbluesandyellows]

One: Jitterbug Love - Eddie Munson/ Reader

Warnings: swearing

Word count: 4,261

a/n: here it is first chapter, feel free to tell me what your thought are. Enjoy it :)

You’ve been in Hawkins for a week and this was the first time you ever dared to go out of your aunt’s house. It was crazy how you went back to where you started, to this random town in Indiana. You were born there, after all the chaos related to lost kids and rumors about it being cursed, you never saw anything out of normal, the only curse you were sure the town had was the one of boredom.

You and your parents moved out of town in your last year of high school. New York was cool, you met people from all over the country once you went into college. You shared room with two other girls that were really nice, yet no one was like Robin.

The first time you met her was the summer before your freshman year, she was in the same section of the mall you were, where clothes weren’t dresses nor had bows and sequins, you bonded over a shirt of Bowie you and she were planning on buying. Since then you both stayed friends, two beautiful years of true friendship, it was heartbreaking when you gave her the news of you moving out. Either way you called each other every couple of weeks and she was the source of gossip you had in town, not that there was much going on, not until the summer of ’85, she disappeared for a couple of weeks, she didn’t contact you and when you tried to talk to her she was always busy or with her new best friend Steve Harrington.

Steve was a nice guy, you shared English and Chemistry with him for a whole year, he was not the best student but he tried and he was always willing to lend you a pencil when you needed it, since you helped him pass his exams either by helping him study or giving him the answers of the test, he found a way to pay you by inviting you to all the parties he threw at his place and the basketball games, you always took his offer lightly because it was Steve Harrington, besides he had Carol and that nasty guy Tommy as friends, who were absolute jerks, of course you had Robin and you needed no one else. Now he had stolen your only friend left in Hawkins and that was not cool, not cool at all. It hurt like a stab in the back and he was twisting it without noticing.

Somehow Robin found out you were back for the summer to stay at your aunt’s, she had called you nonstop since day one, and finally after a lot of insistence from her part you agreed to finally see her, your ego was bruised by her treason but you loved Robin more than anyone so you basically threw yourself at her when she appeared at the foot of your door, she had that big smile and a pack of skittles with her.

A peace offer.

You were eating the candy on the porch of your aunt’s house when she jumped from her spot and started pacing, telling you about this place called The Hideout and how you should go with her.

“My friend is playing, he has a band and it’d be super fun if you come with me. Other of my friends are coming so you are totally invited… you need to come, promise it’s gonna be fun!”

Her enthusiasm and constant movement already made you feel dizzy, her hand found its way into your forearm, you looked at her ruby-painted-nails and up to her bright blue eyes, you smiled. “Sure. I don’t know where that is but yeah, It's not like I have much to do.”

“Excellent! If you want we can meet somewhere and go from there together.”

You nodded, and soon enough you found yourself walking beside Robin later that day, she had added black eyeliner in her waterline and she looked badass, you only put on some mascara to look a little more presentable. And that night for some reason she made you think that maybe Hawkins had salvation after all.

It was weird to be back, because things changed, life went on without you in the small town.. Your hands felt clammy when you arrived at the place, Robin was suddenly saying hi to almost everyone around her and you only nodded once or twice, no one paying attention to you, no one recognized you.

A group of young teens started to wave their hands once they saw Robin coming in, you weren’t usually an extremely shy person but you were feeling like you were going to have a panic attack when Steve Harrington turned your way and furrowed his eyebrows when his eyes connected with yours.

It was easy to distinguish Dustin, he was very talkative and out there. He once gave you a band-aid when you fell outside his house when you were rollerblading. You saw him hang out with Steve a couple of times after that, you weren’t sure about the rest but they all were smiling at you, welcoming, yet the tension was palpable.

Steve dragged Robin to the side as you obviously noticed they were talking about you, but Lucas and Max invited you to sit with them while they questioned you about what New York was like.

“It’s pretty big and dirty and it’s also very interesting. You should come one day. I'll give you the whole tour and if you are lucky you can see some weird stuff on the subway.” You said, Dustin had just joined you after he went to interrupt Steve and Robin.

“Assholes,” he mumbled, “Steve is upset because Robin dragged you here and now he thinks he has to look after us because Robin is going to be with you the whole time… as if we needed him to take care of us, we’re practically adults.”

“Well, he is our ride home so I guess he is kinda right.” Lucas intervened.

“Yeah but Steve has no other friends his age that’s why he feels left out. That’s not our fault.” Max added and you really felt like you were intruding.

Steve suddenly plopped his body on a chair right in front of you. “Hi y/n, long time no see.”

“Hi,” you answered, he didn’t seem upset but he was definitely not giving you the time of day, he was only being polite for Robin’s request most likely.

Robin arrived a few minutes later with a can of coke for each one of you.

“Thanks,” you said to her over the suddenly very loud music, Ramones playing.

Robin smiled your way and shot Steve a quick glance. “Don’t mind Steve, he is upset because he had a date planned with this girl he just met and I happen to have already invited the teens and you. He thinks I’m trying to ruin his life, basically he’s just being a diva.” She whispered into your ear.

“I still feel bad, you should’ve told me.”

Robin waved her hand diminishing the whole situation, “He'll survive.”

People started to gather around the stage, and you noticed then that there were lots of people, young ones specially, the teens at your table were the youngest but somehow they allowed them to be there as adults drank beer and sang at the top of their lungs.

When Helter Skelter started playing, it was like a cue for everyone to start shouting and get even closer to the stage. You’ve been to a couple of gigs in New York, those were a bit more crappy but the whole vibe of The Hideout felt bigger than what you have experienced before, it was the aspect of community and familiarity, you guessed.

Robin took your hand and dragged you out of the table, you heard Steve grunt at your back but you didn’t care, you followed your friend to a spot on the left side of the stage.

“This is going to be awesome.” Robin squealed when the reflectors turned off.

More shouts and whistles ringed in your ears, at the pit of your stomach blossomed that feeling only live music was able to manifest.

Shadows went up to the stage, instruments got plugged in, a few tried to tune their guitars one last time as the cymbals chimed. The spotlights went back to life to show you the band everyone was waiting for.

“What’s the name of the band?” You screamed as Robin leaned closer to you.

“We are Corroded Coffin!” the guy with long hair said into the mic, answering you.

“Wow.” Your eyes widened, that sounded… aggressive.

“You’re gonna like them.”  Robin said, and you trusted her.

The few songs they played put you in the mood of screaming and jumping, Robin and you had gone mad on the side of the mini stage, dancing and making faces to each other to the point that other people joined you in your little bubble of madness, you were all sweaty and thirsty by the end of their set.

Dustin was laughing at you two when you approached them at the table, Steve was now happily talking to a girl. He kind of smirked when he saw you two all red faced.

“Water please!” you whined sitting down.

Lucas slid a cup across the surface of the table, you almost chugged half of it when Robin nudged you to share the drink.

“Never seen Robin have this much fun at one of Eddie’s shows.” Lucas pointed.

“This is the first show you attend with us, Lucas.” Max pointed, snorting, “Robin and I always have the best time.”

“You should’ve joined us, it was so… liberating!” your friend with red cheeks and a splash of freckles smiled at you. “We need to do it again.”

“I’m always willing to have a good time, you should come to New York though, there are tons of places where they play shows like this, you’d love it.”

“Maybe one day,” Robin said, but you saw her face waver.

“Just pay for your bus and you can stay at my place, all of you!” you even dared to look at Steve who was low-key listening to you all talk.

Dustin shrugged, “we can start saving and go, I want to see so many places, we can even go to Forbidden Planet, they say you can find whatever comic you’re looking for there.” his eyes sparkled longing for the opportunity.

You smirked, “whatever you like guys, just come! Yes, Robin?”

“Come on!” Max insisted, her smile contagious. You already liked her.

“I guess we can try, yeah we can do it.” Robin squealed and side hugged you.

Going for another round of water filled cups and sodas, you left them planning the whole trip, you heard them talk about the statue of liberty, Empire State, the Brooklyn bridge, Queens and Central Park. On your way back to the table you clocked Dustin talking to the guys in the band with the super scary name, right on the far end of the venue, near the back exit. It was funny to you to see how the teens were friends with older guys, it felt so natural to be around them, it was impossible not to notice how strong the connection was between them. You’ve never had that with anyone before, only with Robin.

“That is Eddie, you remember him?” Robin pulled you out of your train of thought. “He went to our school. He’s so cool, and he is going places with his band, they have like a tour coming or something big like that.”

You didn’t remember him really but the name rang a bell in the deep corners of your mind, it was the way some wrinkles formed in the corners of his mouth when he smiled, that was enough to throw you into a loop of memories, he was the one kid that played the guitar better than anyone in middle school, you were jealous because you always wanted to play guitar but unfortunately your fingers were not that long and your coordination was nonexistent.

“I remember him,” you saw how Dustin moved aside to talk to the other band members, Eddie—“what was his last name? Mason? Monroe?”

“Munson,”

“Yeah… Eddie Munson,” you and Robin were watching him, Eddie had straightened a little, he fixed his hair as a girl with big eyes and sweet smile went to him. “That must be the girl he likes.” You nodded towards them.

Robin chuckled, “Good eye. He has a crush on her but he is terrible at hiding it.”

“Yep, he is pretty obvious.”

“You wanna meet him? He seems scary but he is harmless, like a puppy on the inside.”

Letting yourself be guided by Robin you waited for him to stop talking to the smiley girl. You saw first hand how he transformed, he relaxed and his ringed fingers wiggled as he waved at Robin.

“Hey Buckley! Thanks for showing up!” he bowed at her.

“Stop it, we always come! Sometimes we are late but we’re always here for you!” she punched him on the shoulder playfully.

“I know, I know, still it means a lot.” Eddie gave you a once over “hey, who’s your friend.” A smile appeared on his lips, he was definitely not as intimidating as he appeared to be.

“Y/n, she’s staying with the Johnsons.”

“Hi! Oh, you were amazing up there,” you quickly added to avoid the staring.

Eddie chuckled, “Thanks, wow I like your friend Buckley.” Robin only rolled her eyes, a smile still plastered on her lips. “Y/n, right? You seem familiar.”

“I lived here until a couple of years ago. Was in the same year as Steve Harrington.”

“Hmm… no, I don’t remember you from school, must be something else.” His eyes were intense though, trying to scan your face for any trace of information that could trigger his stored memories. “I’ll remember, don’t worry.”

“Shit!” Robin tugged at the sleeve of your shirt, “There’s Vickie! Oh my god, what do I do? Was she here since the beginning? Why nobody told me!” she tried to fix her hair, brushing it down and doing her best to fix the smeared eyeliner, she looked wild.

“I don’t even know who Vickie was ”

Robin was having a moment where she didn’t know if she should hide or run or fix her clothes or cry.

“The one with the short hair, freckles, bandana around her neck.” Eddie whispered near you.

“Oh… wait, that's Vickie as in your crush Vickie?” Now you were looking at Robin, eyes like saucers. “Dude!! Go talk to her!”

“What? No, no I can’t, I look horrible! Oh god no, she looked at me oh no, do I look okay?” Robin showed you her teeth, “Something there?” you shook your head, a thumbs up.

Eddie was smirking, seeing you trying to fix her bangs that were still plastered with sweat over her forehead. There was not much to do but she looked good, as good as one can look after a concert, she could do it.

“Go, Buckley, you look fine.” Eddie intervened.

“But I can’t leave you here, y/n.”

“I’ll take care of her, don’t worry.” Eddie put his arm around your shoulders, a subtle smell of weed reached your nose.

“You sure?” she looked at you.

Shrugging, you nodded, “Just go, you can tell me all about it tomorrow.”

“Oh you are the best! If you want a ride home, look for Steve, he is… somewhere.”

“Sure,”

With that you and Eddie saw Robin walk to Vickie, the red haired girl almost tackled your friend with a hug, you felt happy for Robin, she deserved all the happiness in the world.

“So… wanna meet the rest of the band?” Eddie looked you in the eye, his arm still on you.

“Yeah,”

“Cool, please follow me.”

Jeff and Gareth were the ones around, the fourth member of the band had fled before his ex could find him. As soon as you approached them, they involved you in a conversation that got you discreetly laughing, it was absurd really, starting with what was the best dessert they’ve had; croissant with whipped cream, black coffee with submerged Oreo cookies, fries with McDonalds ice cream, after that it jumped all the way to what beer they liked most, Eddie was the only one debating if he liked the lagers or the ales best, but for desert it was definitely a good double scoop of chocolate peanut butter cone.

“There’s gonna be this afterparty at Jordan’s. You’re coming?” Jeff asked Eddie specifically.

“Nah I don’t think it’s a good idea, I should head home. I’m drained, man.”

“We heard Chrissy and her friends are coming.” Gareth added, with wiggly eyebrows.

Eddie’s demeanor changed in a millisecond, “uh, I guess we can stop by to see if things are good, I could get one last drink.”

You wanted to laugh, his cheeks were rosy.

“Want to come?” Gareth asked you.

“No, thanks. I’m going to find Robin or Steve and go home, but thanks. You guys did amazing today, I had a really great time. Have fun at your party, though.”

“No, thank you for coming, always nice to have cute… I mean pretty… I—it’s good to have new people around…” Jeff went all red.

A chuckle escaped your lips. “Well… bye guys.”

You turned on your heel, the small venue was still packed and pretty loud too. You heard your name being called, the moment you turned there was Eddie and his friends waving at you goodbye but they were being… guys, pushing each other and laughing.

“See you around!” he shouted, saluting you. Eddie had a lopsided grin that somehow didn’t leave your mind. You noticed how beautifully his doe eyes were.

Looking for someone was hard. You pushed past so many people that you ended up all sweaty again. After what felt like twenty minutes of searching, you came to the conclusion: Robin left, she had disappeared from The Hideout without telling anyone. And the teens, they were gone, Steve and the girl gone too.

Great.

Lucky you, you were not far from your aunt’s place and you actually paid attention to the turns you made to get there. Grabbing your keys a little tighter between your fingers, you walked down a few streets, some places were still open with neon signs washing the streets with colorful lights..

At least this gave you time to think, think about life, and how maybe you could come back to Hawkins after college, become a teacher or something and keep being friends with Robin forever, maybe you could win over Steve again and be friends with him with both of them, become the three musketeers. Now that you could actually mull the thought, you weren’t sure why Steve was so annoyed at you, you could only guess it was because of the same reason you were a little annoyed at him, for becoming your replacement in Robin’s life, now it was your turn to regain your spot as the best friend.

A few cars passed by every now and then, mostly drunk people, causing your hand to grip the keys against your palm with too much force.

Being alone was something you enjoyed, you needed to recharge after long social interactions but being lonely was the one feeling you didn’t like, it was when intruding thoughts happened to find a way out, and it provoked crying sessions out of nowhere, and the overthinking was unbearable; was it so hard to keep a friend around? Were you the problem? Was that the reason you had to try harder for someone to like you?

A honk startled you to the point of making you jump.

“Woah sorry.” Eddie popped his head out of the window of his van, “Want a ride?” he smiled, that big smile showing you his almost perfect teeth.

“Yes, yes, thank you.”

Unexpectedly Eddie got out of his seat and helped you open the door, offering you his hand to get inside the back of the van.

“Please buckle yourself up, don’t want Buckley to murder me if something happens to you.” He glanced at you from the rearview mirror. He only started moving when you put the safety belt on.

“Weren't you going to the party?”

“I am, but forgot my guitar at The Hideout. Can’t leave her there all alone.” To your right there it laid a guitar case. “Weren’t you going to get a ride from Harrington?”

“Yes, but he was gone and Robin too… so I walked.”

“It’s not safe to walk on your own at night,” He gave you a stern look from the mirror again.

“I know, but I had no other option.”

He nodded, “do you want to come to the party? Just for a while, promise not to take long, I need to pick up Jeff’s bass. He can’t drink and have his bass around. Last time he threw up on it, he had to buy a new set of strings. It was gross and funny but mostly gross.”

You scrunched your nose, “yeah, thanks for the details,”

Eddie laughed, “so you want to come with this poor bastard to keep his friend’s bass safe from disaster?”

There was something to Eddie’s whole existence that didn’t let you say no to him, it felt wrong to say no, so you sighed.

“I guess so, I mean you are giving me a ride after all, I owe you.”

“That’s enough for me.”

The party was literally around the corner, the house was huge, and there were people already passed out on the grass.

You jumped out of the van with Eddie’s help.

“This is quite the party.” He said.

You followed Eddie inside, the music was too loud to even try and talk over it. Teens dancing over tables, broken glass on the wooden floor, couples kissing here and there and the intense smell of weed mixed with alcohol and something else made you gag.

“Not a party person I assume.” Eddie was handing you a glass of what you expected was water.

“Yeah, not really my scene.”

“Same, I prefer to be at mine playing the guitar.” You found a quieter spot in the garden. Gareth was on the grass smoking a joint and Jeff… well he was either dead or asleep. “Look at these fuckers.”

You waited as Eddie approached them, kicking Gareth softly. Eddie started making tons of hand gestures while Gareth waved a hand at him, you didn’t hear a thing about what they were saying so you drank from the cup you had in hand, it was water,  you chugged it down and left the cup on a window sill. A moment later Eddie turned around, heading back inside the house again, with a nod he made you follow him. If you thought it was crowded before, now it was twice as bad.

“No, definitely not a party person.” You stated to yourself, still you heard Eddie laugh behind you. His hand found your shoulder, your eyes couldn’t help to give a quick look at his fingers, rings adorned them nicely.

“Here,” he guided you to the living room. The bass was resting against the wall. You almost sighed in relief. “Can you hold it, I’m going upstairs to find the case. Meet me up front. Yeah?”

Dark eyes again found yours, you nodded. Feeling shy all of a sudden.

The fuck’s your problem with his dark shiny eyes. Keep it together.

Legs moved fast against glass, wooden floor and grass. You had to sit down on the sidewalk when Eddie took more time than necessary. Even asked a very drunk dude what time it was; past midnight. Good, you were going to be grounded if your aunt was still awake.

You hugged the bass close to your chest, people went in and out of the house, the waiting grew longer to the point of seeing someone throw up near a three, you barely held it in, it was disgusting. The limit to your patience was wearing thin, Eddie was a lucky guy, because you were a minute away from leaving the bass and head home, you knew where you were so why wait for him?

But of course he showed up at the last second. The girl from the venue at his side, both were talking lively, his cheeks were red and her whole expression was of amazement, almost adoration. It felt wrong to be looking at them like that. The thing was that neither noticed you were there.

It was better if you left Eddie alone, you were actually intruding in his plans for the night. If it wasn’t because he saw you walking alone he probably would’ve been with that girl all night. You put the bass on the side of his van, hopping no one would notice the item leaning there.

Your head turned to look at them. Eddie had his back to you, but you perfectly saw his rings shine under the ugly yellow light from the lamp posts, he was playing with the ends of his hair, you laughed lightly at that.

That night you walked back home alone just as it was supposed to happen since the beginning. Keys between your fingers. What was different was how lonely you knew you were.

Next chapter

#eddie x reader #eddie lives #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fluff #corroded coffin #steve harrington #robin buckley #dustin henderson #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #80s rock #vickie stranger things #stranger things #eddie munson #rockstar eddie munson #reader insert

[kitsunes-multiverse]

Sweet Symptoms

Chapter 9: Well Earned Downtime

That weekend, Jesse was on his way to visit Kitsune. This wasn't a common event, but every now and again they'd spend time together at each other's houses. He wasn't sure what they'd do when he got there, but he was confident they'd figure it out. Honestly, he didn't care what they did. He just liked spending time with the young woman whenever it was possible. They could just sit outside and talk and he wouldn't at all mind.

Upon arriving at the house, he made his way to the porch and rang the doorbell. Within a few moments, the front door was opened and he was greeted by the smiling face of his friend. It was a bit strange seeing her out of uniform, but he didn't mind. It was a simple outfit, yet it was still cute. It consisted of a white short-sleeved shirt, and black shorts- along with gray knee-high socks. Her hair was down as well for a change, showing off that it went just above to her mid-back.

"Hi Jess! Good timing- I just got finished with the popcorn. I was thinkin' about watching this cool horror series I found online! Wanna join me?" Kitsune greeted.

Jesse smiled in response, chuckling a bit. He should've guessed she'd be planning that. Horror was arguably one of the redhead's favorite things- every other week it felt like she'd have a new horror media to talk about. It could be anything from a TV show, a videogame, a manga, or an internet series.

"Hello, Kitsune. And yes, I'd love to." He responded, walking into the house. "What's the series about?" He asked.

And just like that, Kitsune's eyes lit up. She always got super excited when given the chance to talk about her interests- a trait of hers that Jesse found absolutely endearing.

"Ok-! So like, it takes place in an alternate universe where there's this giant eye thingy from space. And for some reason, it came to our world and now I guess it's trying to eat our solar system? Something like that. Anyways, it's basically controlling one of the planets -Neptune I think- to send solar storms to our planet that causes these weird plant things to grow- oh! And giant monsters that look kinda like spiders." Kitsune rambled for a bit. (Side note, tell me if you recognize this series.)

Jesse shuddered a bit at the mention of spiders. "Oh, you would choose a series with spider creatures.." He muttered. He never liked arachnids. Their long, multitude of legs and uncanny movement made them horrible to look at in his eyes. Not to mention that some were venomous, and can move at surprising speeds.

Kitsune giggled a little. "Hey, they're not really spiders." She assured. "Anyways, I'm gonna get the popcorn. Feel free to have a seat in the living room!" She chirped, heading for the kitchen.

The taller male nodded, entering the living room. On the back of the couch was a familiar kitten with black fur and blue eyes, wearing a purple collar around its neck. This was Boo, Kitsune's beloved cat. He looked up at Jesse, letting out an excited meow as it hopped off the couch- making a loud thump noise in the process.

Jesse smiled, bending down and scooping the kitten into his hands. "Hello to you as well, Boo. I hope you've been staying out of trouble." He said, before plopping down onto the couch- still holding Boo in his hands.

Before long, Kitsune had returned- a bowl of popcorn in hand. "I'm back- oh! I see Boo missed you." She stated, giggling a bit as she walked over and sat with him.

She set the popcorn down on the coffee table, dimming the lights with a remote. "Why are you doing that?" Jesse questioned, watching as Kitsune proceeded to turn the TV on with a separate remote.

The redhead grinned, glancing over at him. "For atmosphere, of course! If we're gonna watch something scary, we may as well set the mood for it!" She chimed.

Jesse sighed, shaking his head out of playfulness. "You're just asking to get scared. Just a few days ago, I scared you by calling your name in the break room." He smirked.

Kitsune huffed, blushing from embarrassment. "Oh, shut the hell your face, Jess.." She muttered. "There was no one in that room, and I didn't even hear you come in. I thought you were a ghost or somethin'." She defended.

"All I'm saying is; you're easier to scare than you let on, Kitsune." Jesse remarked, leaning back into the couch. "Also: 'Shut the hell your face'? That's a new one."

"Shhhhut!" Kitsune whined, throwing a small pillow at him. Jesse laughed, blocking it. He enjoyed times like this, when him and Kitsune could just be casual and take jabs at each other.

The redhead huffed, leaning against his shoulder. "You're lucky I..." She muttered. Or at least, Jesse was sure she said something else. He just couldn't hear it.

He glanced at her. "Sorry, what was that?" He asked.

"Ah- um- nothing really. It's cliche anyway- it's just how we're so close and stuff." Kitsune shrugged off.

"Hm. Well, you certainly have a point there." Jesse responded. "We are rather close... And to be frank, I don't think I'd want it any other way." He commented.

'Although... I do wish we could become closer.' He thought, not daring to voice it out loud.

Kitsune giggled a bit. "Yeah, me too, Jess... I'm glad you and I are friends." She responded. Jesse smiled again, albeit somewhat weaker. Friends, she says.

But does it really have to be just that?

(Tag list- @arc-carnes @drsweetcake @tessathepeanut @sarahthebookdragon )

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

I hppe you feel better soon.

So, l remember yiu once said that you have seen HSMTMTS so woil you mind giving me an overview of your thoughts on the series, favorite ships, and the upcoming S3 and stuff

I used this show as an example in my final year project in school, comparing it to the show Glee, though I haven't thought about it a lot for a year haha.

But I thought the series was very chaotic right off the bat. I never felt like I could take anything seriously, but that was also very charming about it.

I really liked S1 and especially the penultimate episode, with the "Stick to the status quo" performance. In S2, I also loved "A dancer's heart", and these two songs I still listen to every now and then.

However, I thought the last episode of S2 was incredibly weird. It was so short, it was so rushed... it just ended like that. I gotta say I sat there feeling like "ok wtf just happened".

Though, season 3 looks really interesting this far! I've always loved when characters are at a camp - an enclosed space where they have to be with each other 24/7... relationships and bonds you form there are so deep. I went to a 3 week confirmation camp when I was 14 and like, you can just imagine, being 14 and hanging out with 25 other 14yos all the time... I don't really have contact with any of them anymore except for following them on social medias, but like... even if I didn't know any of them super well, we got pretty tight during those weeks since... well, we only hung out with each other all the time. Plus, when you're at that age... feelings and hormones and everything just are all over the place... and you can change as a person - one of my childhood bullies went to the same confirmation camp as me and I felt pretty awkward about that, but he TOTALLY CHANGED because he fell in love with a girl at camp and they legit snuck out every night and... well, I don't know what they were doing but they sat on the porch or by the lake a lot and cuddled. She calmed him down a lot and suddenly it was like the boy who when we were 8 threatened to murder me because I missed to capture a ball in gym class was all gone.

And the kids in HSMTMTS aren't 14 - they are all around 16-18. And when you're at camp at that age, feelings and hormones and all that are taken to the NEXT level when you're in an enclosed space with people around the same age as you. Of course, this is a Disney show so idk how far they would go with that, but also I have watched Siempre Fui Yo and that show really dared to do things many disney shows didn't (though, granted, all the characters in that show were like 22, but still). Though, I wouldn't be surprised if there are some intimate conversations between characters when they are alone in someone's cabin or by the fire place alone. I also don't think it would be unlikely if characters who haven't interacted much before get much closer at camp.

Now, ships: I don't have big opinions on any ship. I think most of them are fine, but I really don't care very much. Sometimes it feels like Ashlyn has a crush on Gina, but I feel like the fandom sees them more as sisters - and I remember getting some vibes from Nini and Gina from the final episode in s2. Though, that's only non-canon ships and I really am just happy if they get some nice scenes in s3, it does not matter to me if they would actually date or not (since they most likely, won't). But the main, canon ships? I don't have much of an opinion on them. They're cute but I don't have much to add.

#thanks for the ask! #hsmtmts