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stevie-petey · 12 days

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episode one: suzie, do you copy?

Steve sighs. “Those kids are manipulating your power over me to get what they want.” “You call it manipulation, I call it bonding.” Another sigh escapes Steve. “You’re going to be the death of me.” “And yet you stay.” You tease. “And yet I stay.”

Summary: you help nancy sneak through jonathans window, the party uses you for your "in" with steve, and you sorta become the reason dustin almost blinds lucas. meanwhile, steve tries, and fails, to make you his girlfriend (this will happen all summer), but have no fear ! dustin intercepts a russian code and makes everything even harder for everyone. what a sweet brother <3

Rating: general, swearing

Warnings: allusions to violence, swearing, fem!reader, use of y/n

Words: 9.6k

Before you swing in: shes here !!! season 3 of come home <333 im so excited for yall to read what i have planned, and thank you so much for being so patient as i planned the season out and started the chapters :) season 3 is pure chaos and i hope yall love what ive created, im proud of the changes i made <3333 we get some more insight into bug this season, which i also hope yall love !

June 27th, 1985.

A summer breeze gently creeps into Jonathan’s room, bringing the scent of dandelions and your childhood with it. It’s early evening and Jonathan hums to himself quietly, laying in his bed as he lazily skims through a comic he stole from you last week. You’re next to him as you carefully cut pieces of construction paper to glue onto the posterboard. Dustin comes home from camp in a few days and you want his welcome home banner to be perfect.

In the other room you hear the floorboards creak, followed by the sound of Joyce and Will laughing at whatever movie they’ve put on in the living room. Hearing their laughs makes you smile; it’s been so long since you’ve heard them laugh.

The tune that Jonathan hums now becomes a familiar one, and absent mindedly you begin to hum along with him. The cool summer night’s air encases the two of you, as if it senses that you want to freeze this moment forever. You’re in the Byers home, pressed against Jonathan’s side as you hum together an old song from when you were both fourteen and thought you had the world all figured out,

It’s nice, having this moment all to yourself with him. Moments alone with him have become few and far between, and it saddens you to think about.

There’s a new mall in town, Starcourt, and within a few months of it opening, Bookstrordinary has slowly been edging out of business. The entire town of Hawkins quickly fell in love with the mall, but with this love came the abandonment of downtown Hawkins.

Mrs. Waters can barely afford to have you work more than a few hours a day, so you’ve been spending your days visiting Nancy and Jonathan at their internship at the Hawkins Post or hanging at Scoops Ahoy to see Steve and Robin. While your friends have been lovely, you can’t swallow down the fear that you’ll lose your job by the end of summer.

As if somehow reading your thoughts, Jonathan puts down his comic and pokes your cheek. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask if you and Nance thought of anything else to try and save Bookstrordinary.”

You glue down a letter and try to distract yourself with the miniscule task. Nancy has been brainstorming a million ideas to try and help Mrs. Water, and while you appreciate her effort, it’s no use. Swallowing down even more dread, you shake your head at Jonathan. “No, nothing. Nancy offered to help organize a book drive to get more customers, but…”

“It wouldn’t be enough.” Jonathan finishes for you.

“Not nearly enough,” you sigh, desperately wanting to change the topic now. “But besides me possibly losing my job soon, how has yours been at the Hawkins Post?”

Now it’s Jonathan’s turn to sigh. “It’s… okay? I guess. I–I mean, definitely not what I expected it to be. The hours suck and the men are awful, but…” he shifts uncomfortably and looks away from you, embarrassed. “A job is a job.”

You rub his arm, understanding what he means. The Byers have always struggled with money, but ever since Will went missing two years ago and Jonathan lost his last job at the Hawk movie theater, it’s only gotten worse. They’ve tried hiding it, but last week you sneakily paid for Will’s ice cream at Scoops Ahoy while no one else was looking.

“I get it, bee.” You reassure him, hating that he even feels embarrassed in the first place.

Jonathan smiles and leans into your touch, appreciative of the fact that you know his family well enough by now to understand all he’s too ashamed to say. The two of you sit quietly for a few moments before he tries to lighten the mood with something else. “You excited for your birthday, bug?”

“Ugh,” you shake your head in disgust, which Jonathan laughs at. He knows you’ve never really liked your birthday. “Don’t remind me.”

“It’s in a few days, so you gotta suck it up.” Jonathan flicks your forehead and you swat your hand at him. “Besides, I bet $5 that Steve has some grand proposal planned for your birthday this year. He’s spent the entire summer drooling over you.”

His words make you blush furiously. “He has not–”

“He definitely has,” Jonathan tries to flick you again but you dodge, giggling. “I’m surprised he hasn’t publicly declared your love for you yet. I think there’s a betting pool going around the party.”

You gasp. “You’re lying!”

“Nope. Lucas and Max both lost last week, they bet mid June. Now it’s only me, Nancy, Will, and Dustin in the running.”

“What about Mike and El?”

“Mike didn’t want to encourage you dating Steve and the party agreed it felt unfair to have El gamble seeing as how she’s, ya know, still getting used to being in society.”

Despite yourself, you laugh. The idea is so bizarre and lovely, knowing how invested everyone is in your alleged love life, and it makes the worry you’ve been feeling fade away. “Can I join the pool? If I actually lose my job, I’ll need the money.”

Jonathan scoffs at you. “That goes against every gambling rule–”

“Please? I could be poor soon!”

“No, it’s not going to happen–”

“But–”

A knock on the window cuts you off. The two of you look up at the sound and find Nancy standing outside, waving and smiling. You hurry over to let her in, happy as always to see her. She’s been spending more and more nights at Jonathan’s, always sneaking in through the window.

It’s disgusting, and you couldn’t be happier for them.

Jonathan helps the girl climb through the window and greets her with a kiss to the forehead. “Hey, Nance.”

She smiles up at him with a shine in her eyes, and you know it’s time to leave. It’s getting late, anyways. You start to gather your banner supplies as you greet Nancy yourself. “Welcome back, Wheeler.”

“Hello to you too, Henderson.”

You wink at the girl and quickly ruffle Jonathan’s hair. “I’m going home, bee. My mom wants me to help prep Dustin’s room and I wanna have his banner done by tomorrow.”

“Bike home safe, please.” He says with a stern finger pointed at you.

Rolling your eyes, you give a mocking salute to Nancy and Jonathan. “Use protection, kids. I’m too young to be an aunt.”

Nancy gasps while Jonathan practically trips over his own two feet at your words, and you laugh. You leave them alone to compose themselves, closing the door to Jonathan shouting, “That wasn’t funny!”

You’re still giggling to yourself when you walk into the living room and see Joyce and Will sprawled on the couch. Their movie has just finished, the credits are rolling as you stand next to the TV and wave goodbye to them.

“You leaving so soon?” Joyce asks, surprised to even see you leave Jonathan’s room in the first place.

“Yeah, gotta finish up Dustin’s welcome home banner,” you hold up your supplies. Then, through the house’s thin walls, you all hear Nancy’s soft giggle. At the sound, you lean in close to Joyce and Will and dramatically whisper, “Plus, between the three of us, company came, so…”

Will’s eyes widen. “Yuck!”

Joyce chuckles, remembering how in love she was at Jonathan’s age back then. “Would I be a bad parent if I told Nancy she could just use the front door?”

“I don’t think so, but it’s fun watching them think they’re getting away with it.” You steal a piece of candy from the bowl Will had been eating out of, and he holds it up higher so that you can grab more. “Thanks, little bee.”

“You think it’s fun teasing Nancy and Jonathan now, Y/N, but when you’re the one sneaking in through a boy’s window one day…” Joyce shrugs, a twinkle in her eye. “You’ll understand.”

Will looks up at you with his own evil glint in his eyes, and before you can stop him, he turns to his mom and says, “I wonder how high Steve Harrington’s window is.”

You pretend to attack Will and he giggles as he flees his seat and runs to the other side of the living room. “Will Byers I will spit in your cookies–”

Joyce covers her mouth and gasps. “Y/N, are you hiding a boyfriend from me?”

Quickly you stop chasing after Will, terrified of the idea of the woman thinking you’d hide anything from her. “What? No! I’m not dating Steve–”

“Yet!” Will exclaims from across the room, but his retaliation is followed by a shriek as you chase after the kid again.

“If you keep this up, I’m telling Steve to stop letting y’all sneak into the movies!” You threaten as you chase the boy around the room.

Joyce watches in amusement, she’s never been able to take her eyes off of you when you’re with her boys. Will dodges a grab and you stumble, giving him just enough time to hide behind his mom’s armchair.

He pokes his head out at your threat, his eyes now uncertain. “You wouldn’t really tell Steve that, right?”

Catching your breath, you collapse onto the couch and shake your head at him. “No, little bee. I wouldn’t.”

You’d never do that to Will. He’s been so keen on spending as much time as possible with the party this summer, spending each and every moment planning DnD campaigns and biking all over Hawkins to spend mere seconds together. Will has spent all summer trying as hard as possible to be a kid again because so much of his childhood was stolen by Upside Down.

Will slowly gets up from behind the armchair and sits next to you, relieved. “Okay, good. We wanna see a movie tomorrow night and I already promised everyone you’d get Steve to let us in. That would’ve sucked.”

You and Joyce laugh at the boy’s response, and it feels so good to have this moment with the two of them. You allow it to wash over you for a second, the Byers home has always had such a comforting effect on you, before getting up and gathering your things once more. “I really should go, though. My mom is waiting.”

Joyce and Will say goodbye and tell you to be safe on your way home, and it warms something within you. As you bike down their driveway home, you inhale the summer night’s air and wonder, days before you turn seventeen, how much longer you have left of just this: being a little kid going home after a long day.

–

When you get home, Tews greets you with an angry meow.

The cat had been a Christmas gift for your mom from you and Dustin, seeing as how you accidentally killed Mews. Your mom had cried seeing the little kitten, and had cried even harder when your brother suggested the stupid name “Tews.”

But it stuck, and now Tews glares at you as you take your time feeding her.

In Dustin’s room you can hear your mom rustling around, frantically cleaning the place as if it currently isn’t the cleanest it’s ever been since the kid has been gone all month. After you feed Tews, you make your way over to your brother’s room to help with cleaning.

A few hours later, you’re laying in bed, exhausted from your long day. Dustin’s banner sits on your desk, right next to the phone that resides in the corner. Yawning, you glance at the clock, but when you see the time, you smile.

The phone rings.

“Right on time, honey.”

“Aren’t I always, angel?” Steve’s voice soothes your aching bones, his words like honey, the very thing you’ve come to associate with him.

Phone calls have become more and more common between you and Steve. You’re not sure when this tradition formed, but when you aren’t at Scoops and he isn’t at your house infiltrating your family, you’re on the phone with one another.

Hearing Steve’s voice puts you at ease, and it wasn’t long before you started calling each other before bed every night.

“How was your day?” You ask him, spinning the phone’s cable around your finger as you lay in bed.

Steve lets out a dramatic groan. “I swear, after you left today, Robin intentionally amped up her taunts. It’s like you’re her buffer or something. The second you leave,” you hear him snap his fingers, “she turns against me!”

“Robin would never do that.” Your voice is monotone as you say this, which only makes Steve groan dramatically once more. Robin would most definitely do that; you both know this.

“You two are the worst together.”

“Yeah, well,” you pull your blankets up to your chin and readjust into a comfier position. Your eyes feel heavy and Steve’s voice settles over your body. “Prepare for more pain tomorrow night. Will and the party have grand plans to sneak into yet another movie.”

Steve sighs. “Those kids are manipulating your power over me to get what they want.”

“You call it manipulation, I call it bonding.”

Another sigh escapes Steve. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

“And yet you stay.” You tease.

“And yet I stay.”

You bite back a smile; you can almost perfectly envision Steve laying in his own bed, phone pressed to his ear with his hair messy and eyes half lidded as he talks to you. You wish, more than anything, that you could be there with him right now; instead, you fall asleep to the sound of Steve’s voice, slightly raspy from his own exhaustion.

–

The next day you wake up to an empty house. Your mom has been spending her summer at Hawkin’s pool, like all the moms in town now do, to admire Billy at his new job.

It grosses you out to no end, and when your mom comes home some days swearing that Billy winked at her, you have to swallow down the phantom pain of his fingers wrapping around your windpipe.

By the time you get to work, Downtown Hawkins, as always, is a ghost town.

It’s been this way ever since Starcourt opened, and as you park your bike and lock it up, you can’t help but be unnerved by how quiet everything is. It was only a few years ago that you had to scream at a crowd of onlookers when Jonathan and Joyce had had that fight when they had found Will’s body in the quarry.

Now, walking slowly towards the front doors of Bookstrordinary, all you hear is silence in the once lively area. There are posters scattered throughout the old town, but they’re worn from the sunlight and torn from the weather. It’s a depressing sight.

Mrs. Waters greets you kindly when you walk in. “Hello, dear.”

“Hi, Mrs. Waters.” You give her a quick peck on the cheek as you quickly swipe your card to clock in. The bookstore is empty. “Any new shipments today?”

The old woman shakes her head forelonly. “Afraid not. We still haven’t sold last month’s shipment.”

You duck your head down and curse. This is the second shipment you weren’t able to sell. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Waters.”

“Oh, don’t be!” She walks over to you, her wrist shakes as she uses her cane. She has aged so much these last few years. “I’ve owned this store for thirty years, dear. I’m just happy that I can give you and Alex a job before you kids go off to college. Besides, it’s given me something to do these last few years without my husband…”

The woman’s eyes glaze over, something that has started to happen more and more now, and you grab her arm gently and give her a little shake. “Hey, Mrs. Waters. You still with me?”

She blinks, looks around in a confused daze, before breaking into her old smile once more. “Of course I am! Now, sort some books while I ward off those debt collectors with this cane.”

Despite the gravity of the situation, you can’t help but laugh at Mrs. Waters as she waves her cane around madly and gives you a wink. She hobbles back to her office and leaves you alone with the books and the ghost of Downtown Hawkins.

Only two customers come in during your four hour shift, and by midday Mrs. Waters releases you so that she can give Alex a few hours of work as well. She’s trying her best to keep you both hired for as long as she can, so she splits your hours. What she doesn’t know is that Alex now has a job at Hawkins’ pool and only comes into work because he just can’t bear to quit, and neither can you.

You bike to the mall, sad and needing a pick me up. Jonathan’s teasing from last night echoes in your head. How could you possibly think about your birthday when your boss is slowly losing both her mind and her business?

At the mall, your feet unconsciously take you to Scoops as they always do. This has become your favorite part of your dreary days: going to Scoops after work. The smell of ice cream greets you as you walk into the shop.

Robin sees you first and waves excitedly from the register. “Y/N!”

“It’s me!” You run up to the counter and lean over it to squeeze the girl into a tight hug.

There’s a loud crash from the backroom and just as you’ve pulled away from Robin, Steve bursts through the doors and leaps over the counter to join in on the hug. “Thank God you’re here, Robin was about to make me clean the tables.”

You giggle while Robin scoffs, pulling away. “It’s your turn, dingus.”

Steve, still hugging you from behind, hums. He begins to rock you back and forth in his arms, which only makes you giggle more, while he pretends to think about what the girl has said. “Nope, don’t remember it being my turn.”

Robin gives you a pleading look to back her up, and you reluctantly slide your arms over Steve’s and release his grip. He groans in complaint at the loss of your touch, and you roll your eyes at him as you turn around to now face him. “C’mon, let’s go wipe the tables so dear Robin can man the register in peace.”

Steve groans even louder now as Robin cheers, and you snatch the rag from his pocket and begin to wipe down the tables. He follows eventually, moaning and groaning as he cleans next to you, and you hit your hip against his. “Hey, at least you’re getting paid for this.”

“I give you free ice cream!” He argues, pieces of his hair falling out of his adorably dorky sailor’s hat that he has to wear for this job. It’s incredibly endearing, and as he hunches over to scrub at a particularly dirty table, his thighs strain against his probably too short shorts and you can’t help but stare at them. As you admire this spectacular show, Steve catches you and flicks your nose. “Quit ogling me and get back to your free labor, angel.”

“I wasn’t ogling, I was simply admiring.”

Robin gags from behind the register. “I can hear you guys, you know!”

You and Steve both stick your tongues out at her before going back to work.

The hours pass by quickly after that. The midday rush of tweens and teens alike infiltrate Scoops, so Steve helps Robin fling ice cream while you get comfortable in your designated booth in the corner. You’ve hidden a supply of comics underneath one of the booth’s cushions and you spend your time catching up on the latest Spider-Man arc.

You’re so engrossed in what you’re reading that you don’t notice a body slide into the booth next to you until the person speaks.

“Spider-Man, huh? Heard he’s a pretty cool guy.”

Startled by the stranger’s voice, you almost drop your comic in alarm. When you see that it’s just Jason Carver sitting next to you, you place a hand to your chest and inhale quickly, trying to settle your rapid heartbeat. “Christ, you scared me.”

“Sorry!” He genuinely looks apologetic, so you wearily set down your comic and straighten up.

You’ve never spoken to Jason before, even though you’ve been in the same classes ever since eighth grade. He’s always ran with the popular crowd, being a jock and all, and you’ve always ran with Jonathan. However, despite being on the basketball team, Jason has never been mean to either of you, so you figure it’s safe to offer him your attention.

“Can I ask why you’re here?” You cock your head at him, feeling your hair fall over your shoulders.

Jason smiles at you, in a sort of cute and charming way. “Stopped by to get my little sister some ice cream,” he points to a little girl next to him, who waves at you, and you wave back. “Then I saw you sitting here all alone reading one of my favorite comics, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to say hi to such a pretty girl.”

You blush at his bold words. You’ve never received such attention from anyone before, at least not anyone normal thanks to Billy, and you’re not really sure why Jason seems to be paying attention to you now. He’s had years to do this.

Jason sees your sudden shyness and chuckles. He stands up and offers you his hand. “Why don’t I buy you some ice cream, maybe you could help me show my sister around the mall–” Steve’s shoulder collides roughly into the teen’s, causing him to stumble into his sister’s ice cream cone and get chocolate ice cream all over the front of his pants. Jason looks up at Steve and balls his fists in anger. “What the fuck, Harrington?”

You quickly cover the little girl’s ears, though she giggles.

Steve shrugs as he looks at Jason. “Sorry, man. Didn’t see you there.” Then, he turns to you, and offers his own hand. “Anyways, I think it’s time for your daily free ice cream, angel.”

Jason’s eyes narrow as you accept Steve’s hand and spare him an apologetic glance. Before you leave, you dig some cash out of your overalls and hand them to him. “For your sister’s new ice cream cone.”

He sighs and accepts the money. Jason knows that Steve is still holding your hand as he stands behind you, but he has nothing else to lose at this point. He takes a deep breath and shakes his head. “I didn’t stand a chance, did I?”

Steve twirls you with your interlocked hands, causing you to giggle, and guides you to the ice cream counter. As he leaves, shouts behind him, “Not at all, buddy!”

You know you should feel bad, but Steve twirls you again and all you can do is giggle breathlessly as Jason Carver walks out of Scoops with his sister in tow.

–

Later that night the mall is busier than ever, and as you’re gossiping with Robin about Steve ruining Jason’s pants, you’re interrupted by Mike’s grubby little hand repeatedly hitting the bell.

Seems it’s time for their movie.

You flick the kid’s head, which Lucas, Max, and Will snicker at. “Enough!”

“Ow, Y/N!”

“Thanks,” Robin sends you an appreciative smile before she calls towards the backroom, “Dingus, your children are here!”

Within seconds, Steve opens the sliding windows and sighs when he sees Mike and the party. “Again? Seriously?”

“I warned you.” You say, shrugging at his annoyance. “Let the kids have some fun.”

Mike rings the bell again. “Do what Y/N says.”

Steve sighs in defeat and motions for the kids to follow him behind the counter. “Fine, but only because I’m nice, not because Y/N said so.”

“Right.” Everyone says, not at all believing him, which Steve chooses to ignore.

You all follow him through the back entrance of the mall. Checking to make sure the coast is clear, Steve waves the kids inside. “I swear, if anybody hears about this–”

“We’re dead.” The kids all respond, voices monotone with annoyance after hearing this threat a million times.

However, before they all leave, Will gently tugs at your hand to get your attention. “Are you coming with?”

You want to say yes, but then you catch Steve’s eyes and he silently pleads with you to stay, and you know you can’t tell him no. Squeezing Will’s hand, you shake your head. “Sorry, little bee. I promise I will next time, though.”

Mike scoffs in disgust, disappointed in you. Your relationship with Steve has always confused him, and you’ve only gotten closer to the teen since Dustin left for camp. He pities what the boy will think when he comes back to his sister all lovey-dovey with an idiot like Steve Harrington.

Once the kids leave, you go back into Scoops with Steve and settle into your booth once more. Grabbing your comic, you flip to where you left off before looking up at the teen and saying, “you have me for another hour. I can’t be out late tonight, Dustin comes home tomorrow and I promised Mike I’d be up at like seven to let everyone in.”

Steve salutes you and hops back behind his counter to help Robin with some customers. You smile at his antics and go back to reading. A few minutes pass, Spider-Man has just kissed MJ, before the lights above you start to flicker and then go out completely.

Everyone in the mall gasps and murmurs in a slight panic as they’re thrown into darkness. The hair on your arms stands up; you no longer trust lights that flicker. Robin catches your eye and gives you an odd look when she sees the fear on your face.

“Scared of the dark, Y/N?” She teases, not understanding what you really fear: what lies below Hawkins.

“That’s weird,” Steve mumbles to himself as he goes over to the light switch. He starts to flip the switch repeatedly, and you roll your eyes at him. He’s an idiot sometimes.

“That isn’t gonna work, dingus.” Robin says, looking over at you once more as if to silently ask, why are you attracted to him?

You shake your head at her as Steve continues to flip the switch, now only quickening his movements. He stares Robin down as if to challenge her. “Oh, really?”

Nothing happens, because contrary to what Steve may believe, he can’t fix what is likely (and what you hope) is simply a blackout from the summer heat. He flicks the lightswitch a few more times before the generators kick back on and Scoops Ahoy is once again lit up.

Steve raises his eyebrows at Robin and smirks at her, pleased. “See? Let there be light.”

You drop your head to the table, now also questioning why you’re attracted to the guy.

However, when it’s time to head home and Steve walks with you to your bike outside, he kisses your cheek and wishes you a good night; you know that this is the reason you’ve fallen for him: his kindness. With his kiss lingering on your cheek, you bike home.

–

When Steve gets back from saying goodbye to you, he’s met with a nosey Robin.

She stands against the counter with her arms crossed. There aren’t any more customers in the shop, they closed about ten minutes ago, and Steve was really looking forward to driving home and taking off his stupid uniform.

Robin, however, clearly has other plans.

“What did I do now?” He asks her, not daring to take any step closer.

“Why haven’t you asked Y/N out yet?” Steve’s eyes widen at the question and Robin knows she’s got him cornered. “I’ve spent hours with you guys, and it’s driving me insane that you haven’t manned up!”

“‘Manned up’?” Steve sputters out, completely offended.

Robin throws her arms out in front of her. “Yes! I mean, it’s so obvious that you’re in love with her and that she’s in love with you. Just… Just get it over with!”

Blushing, Steve slumps against the wall and closes his eyes. As much as it pains him to admit it, he knows that Robin is right. “It’s… complicated.”

“Well, go on.” The girl now hops on the counter and sits on it. “Explain it to me, then.”

“Y/N used to be in love with…” Steve stops, unsure if you’d want him to be telling Robin this. “Someone.”

She rolls her eyes. “Everyone knows she was in love with that Byers kid.”

“Right.” He clears his throat, uncomfortable with the reminder that at one point, everyone in Hawkins truly believed you were destined for Jonathan. “Well as I’m sure you know… He got with Nancy, who–uh, I had been with.”

“Okay, so what?”

“I–” Steve isn’t sure what Robin doesn’t understand. “I needed… time?”

Robin frowns. “After Nancy dumped you?”

“Technically I dumped her–”

“What does this have to do with Y/N?” Robin presses.

Steve groans and rubs at his eyes. He’s tired and wants to go home to call you and go to bed with your soft voice in his head. “Y/N understood that the breakup with Nancy hurt, and–well. She told me she’d wait for me. I guess. While I figured my shit out.”

Robin thinks this over for a minute. “Okay, I think I can understand that, but–wait, when did this all happen again?”

“... December.” He closes his eyes, bracing himself for the girl’s inevitable anger.

“Harrington!”

There it is.

“I know, okay?” Steve tugs at his hair in frustration. “I’m over Nancy, I’ve been over her since at least April, but… But what–what if Y/N has lost interest in me now? What if–maybe I made her wait too long, or–or what if she thinks she’s just Nancy’s replacement?”

Steve is rambling now, months of his anxious and insecure thoughts now spilling out. “I mean, it’d kill me if–if I ever made her feel second to anyone! She’s… She’s incredible and–God, I don’t even know why she likes me and I’ve spent this entire summer trying to–I don’t know… Figure out how to confess my feelings to her in a way that matters, ya know? Like, a grand proposal to show her that I’m crazy about her.”

Robin is silent for several minutes after Steve’s frantic spiel, he’s panting by the time he’s done. Then, finally, she says, “Dude… You’re way overthinking this.”

Steve winces. “I mean, her birthday is in a few days. I can… I can ask her to be my girlfriend then. That’s romantic, right?”

“You’re hopeless.”

–

“Dusty comes home today!” Your mom’s shrill voice wakes you up as she prances around the house getting ready. You roll over in bed and stretch, tired but excited to see your brother again after a month of being apart.

You get out of bed and press a kiss to your mother’s cheek before telling her to drive safe. Glancing at the clock, you see that you have just enough time to shower before the party arrives. The entire thing had been Mike’s plan and you were more than happy to help arrange everything.

After you’ve gotten ready, you hear three swift knocks on your front door and you answer it. “Right on time, Wheeler.”

Mike salutes you as he and the others walk in. El gives you a hug and Max high fives you as the boys start setting up the robots. The six of you get started on the plan: place all the robots in Dustin’s room, all hidden in various corners, and then use El’s powers to control them and guide him to the living room so that you all can surprise him.

It’s a brilliant plan, one only a Wheeler could think of.

It takes you, Lucas, Mike, and Will to successfully hang up Dustin’s banner that took you all week to make. There’s cursing, yelling, a few trips, and multiple snickers from El and Max while the four of you struggle to hang the thing, but eventually you manage to secure the banner into place in the living room.

Just as you’ve finished hanging it up, you hear your mom’s car pull into the driveway and you quickly shove the kids into a closet. “Quick! That’s my mom’s car, hide!”

Lucas yelps and Max punches his shoulder to shut him up, but thankfully you manage to close the closet door just in time before Dustin walks in. You hide behind the couch, quiet so as not to be seen by him, and carefully listen for his footsteps to retreat down the hall and into his room.

Once he’s gone, you scramble towards the closet and open the door. “Okay, he’s in his room, time for step two.”

“Did we all really have to hide in the closet?” Will asks, rubbing at his shoulder that had been shoved into a hanger.

“Yes, now shush and hide behind the wall so he doesn’t see you.” You order, and the kids all listen. Once you’re all pressed against the wall, you nod at El. “Ready?”

“Ready.” She responds, closing her eyes. Static fills the air and you hear one of the robots turn on in Dustin’s room. Then the other one turns on, then the monkey, and soon all the toys have been activated by El’s powers.

Mike pokes his head around the corner. “Okay, now start leading the robots here.”

Blood slowly begins to drip from El’s nose and you feel bad that she’s doing this, but the kids all look excited, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little giddy yourself. The noise from the robots grows louder as El draws them out from the room and towards you guys.

You hear Dustin’s uncertain voice following behind them. “It’s just a dream… You’re dreaming.”

Then Mike whispers to El, “Now!”

The robots all die in the center of your living room and slowly everyone starts to creep out from behind the wall. Lucas is holding his own poster he made and you hand everyone party noisemakers. Dustin is investigating the robots and doesn’t hear you stalk up behind him. Max silently counts to three, and on her signal, you all blow your party noisemakers and surprise him.

Dustin screams and immediately holds up his Farrah Fawcett spray, blinding Lucas as he continuously sprays it. The poor boy screams as well and the rest of the kids back away, out of the line of fire. However, as soon as your momentary shock wears off, you manage to snatch the hairspray out of your brother’s hand and save Lucas.

“Why is Farrah Fawcett your weapon of choice?” You exclaim, shoving a still screaming Lucas towards your kitchen so that you flush the spray out of his eyes. Max joins, rubbing soothing circles into the boy’s back.

“Why would you scare me like that after the hell we went through this year?” Dustin shouts back at you, clutching at his chest.

Dustin’s words make you stop for a moment and think. Huh. He has a point. “Yeah, we should’ve thought about that, honestly.”

“A little help here?” Lucas brings the attention back to him and you apologize, helping him once more to flush his eyes out. As you and Max tend to him, Dustin tells the others to follow him to his room so he can show them what he built at camp.

Max splashes some more water in Lucas’ eyes. “Better?”

The boy stands up and wipes his face, though he’s careful not to touch his eyes. “Still stings.”

“I feel like I should call someone…” You mumble, Your first aid knowledge doesn’t include Farrah Fawcett in the eyes.

Lucas blinks a few times and looks around. He leans in closer to Max’s face and for a moment you’re scared he’ll kiss her, but instead he chooses to be an idiot. “Is that a new zit?”

You wince and Max’s eyes widen in disbelief. She looks at you and you both seem to come to the same agreement: grabbing the back of Lucas’ neck, the two of you shove his face back into the water. “What is wrong with you?”

Lucas screams again and you leave Max to deal with him, laughing to yourself as you go see whatever creation your brother has brought home. You love Lucas, you do, but you have no idea how Max puts up with his boyish antics.

Inside Dustin’s room, you find him and the others hunched over a collection of wires and metal pieces. You walk in and join them.

“I would like you to meet Cerebro.” Dustin presents his creation, but you honestly have no idea what it’s supposed to be.

You squint at it. “It’s… Pretty?”

“What exactly are we looking at here?” Mike asks, unimpressed.

“An unassembled, one-of-a-kind, battery powered radio tower!” Dustin explains with a proud smile on his face.

A beat of silence passes before Will carefully asks, “So… It’s a ham radio?”

Dustin’s excitement only grows. “The Cadillac of radios.”

“Still not understanding, buddy.” You now voice, usually always lost when it comes to the more AV stuff the party likes.

“This baby carries a crystal-clear connection over vast differences.” Your brother clarifies for you, and you nod along. “I’m talking North Pole to South. I can talk to my girlfriend whenever and wherever I choose.”

You, Mike, El, and Will all look at each other in shock at the word that has just left Dustin’s mouth. “Girlfriend?”

Your brother nods, looking all smug, and you immediately berate him with a million questions. “What’s her name, where is she from, how long have you been dating. Tell me everything, now!”

“Relax, dear sister. Her name is Suzie, and I’ll explain in a second. We can even talk to her if you guys help me set Cerebro up on Weathertop hill.”

You’re the first to start grabbing all the supplies, giddy and eager to hear more about your baby brother’s girlfriend. It’s almost too good to be true. Mike, Will, and El follow along and soon you’re all holding materials for Cerebro as you follow Dustin out of the house.

As you all leave, Mike starts asking questions again. “Wait, so her name is Suzie?”

Dustin nods. “Suzie, with a ‘z’. She’s from Utah.”

“People from Utah actually exist?” You ask, which the others laugh at.

“Girls go to science camp?” Will asks.

You give him a stern look. “Anyone can go to science camp, Will.”

“What Y/N said,” Dustin continues explaining his girlfriend. “And Suzie does, she’s a genius.”

“Is she cute?” Mike can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“Think Phoebe Cates, only better.”

You re-adjust one of the poles for Cerebro in your arms. “Can we focus on her being smart instead? I think she sounds lovely.”

From the kitchen, Max sees the four of you open the front door as she helps Lucas with his eyes. “What’s going on?”

“We’re going to talk to Dustin’s girlfriend.” Will informs them.

Lucas whips his head up from the sink as he and Max exclaim, “Girlfriend?”

“I know, right?” You say, motioning them to follow.

–

“Alrighty, one scoop of chocolate. That’s a buck twenty-five.” Steve hands the ice cream cone to the girl he’s currently serving. She’s pretty enough, and when he notices her Purdue shirt, he can’t help but say something about it. “Ooh, Purdue! Fancy.”

The girl smiles and hands Steve her change. “Yeah, I’m excited.”

“Yeah, you know… I–I considered it. Purdue.” He types the code into the register and places the change inside. “But then I was like, you know what? I really think I need some real life experience, you know, before I hit college. See what it’s like.”

The girl and the friend she’s with exchange weird glances, and Steve knows he’s rambling like an idiot. “Uh, what I mean is… You’re girls, right? How would the two of you like to be asked out by a guy?”

“I’m sorry?” Purdue girl asks, looking at her friend, creeped out.

The cash register begins to beep at him and Steve hits it a few times to shut it up. “Sorry, uh… Anyways, say you’ve seen this guy every day for like, months, and feelings are shared, you know, as they are. Then time passes and the guy never makes the move because he’s, well, he’s an idiot–”

“Yeah, totally.” Purdue girl interrupts him and her friend giggles.

“Exactly, so… This was, like, so fun. This little chat. Anyways, what do you think? How would you want the guy to ask you out?” Steve puts on his most charming smile, hoping that the girls will say that maybe he isn’t crazy for waiting so long to ask you out. As he hands them their change, he drops part of it. “Oh, sorry about that. Uh…”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t wanna be asked out.” Purdue girl says as her friend snorts.

“Sure, but I mean, it’s complicated, you know? And–”

Purdue girl interrupts him once more. “No, I’m sorry, but it sounds like you missed your chance and you’re like, really weird.”

“But the guy isn’t me!” Steve shouts as the two girls leave, only embarrassing himself even more. He sighs, closes his eyes, and wonders how he got here.

“And another one bites the dust.” Robin announces from behind him. He turns around and watches as she marks another tally underneath the you suck column of her whiteboard. Next to it is the column you rule, which currently has zero marks. “You are oh-for-six, Popeye.”

Steve crosses his arms. “Yeah, I can count.”

“You know that means you suck and that Y/N isn’t the problem here, you are, right?”

“Yup, I can read, too.” Steve swallows down his annoyance, he knows he’s only done this to himself.

“Since when?”

“It’s this stupid hat,” Steve complains, as if this is the only appropriate answer. “I’m telling you, it’s making everyone think I’m some pathetic guy who can’t ask a girl out.”

Robin leans against the window. “Yeah, company policy is the reason that you’re an idiot for not asking out Y/N.” She thinks for a moment and tries to offer the teen some advice. “Ya know, it’s a crazy idea, but have you considered telling the truth?”

“What? That I’m hopelessly in love with her? Sure, I’m such a catch who couldn’t even get into Tech and whose douchebag dad is trying to teach a lesson, now making three bucks an hour with no future.” Steve laughs at himself. “A catch who, by the way, could’ve been hers back in December had he not been a complete moron? What a great truth.”

Robin frowns, now feeling bad for making him feel this way. While she doesn’t understand everything, she gets that Steve has had a difficult few months. Taking pity on him, she points out some girls approaching and tries to lighten his mood. “Hey, twelve o’clock! Maybe they’ll see your side of things.”

Steve turns around and sees the girls as well. “Shit, okay. Okay, I can do this! I’m going in.” He quickly snatches the sailor hat from his head and tosses it to Robin. “Screw company policy, I’m getting advice about Y/N one way or another.”

For a second, Robin has hope for him, but then he opens his Scoops Ahoy greeting way too loud and then immediately starts to ramble about you, and she sighs in defeat and marks another tally underneath the you suck column.

–

Hiking up a giant, grassy hill in ninety degree heat while hauling heavy equipment for a giant radio that your brother built to talk to his alleged long distance girlfriend definitely wasn’t what you had in mind today. In fact, you mourn the fact that you aren’t working today.

You’re only here to hear about Dustin’s girlfriend, honestly.

“Aren’t we high enough?” Lucas pants, voicing what everyone else is thinking.

Dustin shakes his head. “Cerebro works best at a hundred meters.”

“You know, I’m pretty sure people in Utah have telephones.” Max quips.

You wipe sweat from your brow and cringe, you feel disgusting. “Max, you’ve always been so wise.”

“Suzie’s Mormon.” Says Dustin, and you almost trip over a rock.

“You’re dating a Mormon?”

Lucas talks over you. “Oh, shit. She doesn’t have electricity?”

“Oh, that’s the Amish.” Max corrects him, and you get flashbacks to when you had to correct Steve about Nazis and Germans.

Will frowns at you. “What are Mormons?”

“Scary people–”

Dustin interrupts you. “Super religious white people. They have electricity and cars and stuff, but… Since I’m not Mormon, her parents would never approve.”

“Please don’t become Mormon,” you beg, dripping even more sweat. “I need someone sane in our family.”

“I won’t,” Dustin reassures you, though he has a far off look in his eyes. “But it’s all a bit Shakespearean, don’t you think?”

“Shakespearean?” Max laughs and you also can’t help but giggle.

Dustin doesn’t let your teasing deter him from reminiscing, though. “Yeah, like Romeo and Juliet.”

“They both die, Dustin.” It’s important to you that he knows this.

“But they were also star crossed lovers.”

“Who killed themselves.”

Below, Mike shouts to the rest of you, “Hey, guys!”

You all turn and you frown when you see just how far he and El are, both of them empty handed and dry as a daisy in the summer heat. When Mike sees that he has all of your attention, he taps at his watch. “This is fun and all, but, uh…”

“I have to go home.” El announces, her arm intertwined through Mike’s.

Dustin points towards the top of the hill no less than a few yards away. “We’re almost there.”

“Sorry, man. Curfew.” Mike shrugs, he isn’t really sorry and you all know it. He then grabs El’s hand and they descend down the hill, giggling and enamored with one another.

With a gleeful laugh, El says goodbye. “Good luck!”

Dustin looks down at his watch. “Curfew at four?”

You’re startled by the time, having assumed it was at least closer to six. Hopper may be an overprotective grump of a man, but not even he is crazy enough to enact a curfew for El at four in the afternoon. “That… Doesn’t sound real.”

“They’re lying.” Lucas explains, frustrated.

“It’s been like this all summer.” Will says bitterly, something that you take note of.

Max nudges you with her shoulder. “I think it’s romantic.”

“It’s gross!” Will voices again.

You bite your lip. “I don’t know, it’s your guys’ last summer before high school and…”

“It’s bullshit.” Dustin finishes for you, hurt in his voice. “I just got home.”

You flick him. “Language! But… I agree.”

Dustin watches with annoyance as Mike and El walk down the hill hand in hand. While he’s incredibly hurt that they’ve ditched him after being gone for a month, he remembers what Steve has taught him. People can suck, but there’s nothing he can do about it. “Well, their loss, right? Onwards and upwards, Suzie awaits!”

Max and Lucas groan at the idea of continuing the hike while you admire your brother’s perseverance. You’re proud of him for not letting Mike and El ruin his plans with the others. He’s excited to be home, and you’re more than happy to go along with whatever schemes he has planned.

You’re about to follow the others up the hill when you realize that Will hasn’t joined. You turn around and see that he has his hand around the back of his neck as he stands there, frozen. Then, he turns and faces Hawkins, stumbling back a bit as he does so, and you watch with a frown on your face.

“Hey, little bee, are you okay?” You gently place a hand on his shoulder, which seems to break him of whatever spell he’d been under.

“I’m fine,” he lies, and you don’t at all believe him. Will looks uneasy, as if he’s just seen a ghost. A part of you begins to worry, but you don’t push him. For all you know, it could be about Mike and his growing distance from the others.

“Well, c’mon, then.” You grab Will’s hand and together you ascend the rest of the hill.

At the top, Dustin drops his bag and sighs. “Made it!”

“Yeah, only took five hours,” Max pants out, stumbling the final few steps up the hill.

You collapse onto the ground and fight to catch your breath. “I run almost every morning. I think I lost a lung back there.”

“Why couldn’t we just play DnD?” Will collapses next to you.

Lucas grabs the flask of water, and as you struggle to get air into your lungs, you watch as he chugs the remaining water without a care in the world. Max watches as well, annoyed, and once again you pity Lucas. He’s such a boy.

Building the radio takes longer than expected. After your short five minute break, Dusin puts you all to work. There’s a million pieces to the thing and your fingers ache from screwing bolts into slots and extending poles. The sun has begun to set when you finally push the giant radio into an upright position. It’s easily fifteen feet high, and it’s an impressive sight that you can’t deny.

“Not bad, Dustin.” You admit, walking around Cerebro in awe.

“Ready to meet my love?” He asks everyone, and you all sit down next to him and eagerly await. Dustin switches the radio on. “Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over.”

No one answers. All you hear is radio feedback.

Dustin scratches his nose nervously. “One sec. She’s probably… She’s still there.” Again, no one answers, and he ducks his head down in embarrassment. “Suzie… This is Dustin, do you copy? Over.”

More radio static follows in the absence of Suzie’s response.

You wince, despite trying to appear supportive. You can’t help it, this is embarrassing for your brother. While you don’t doubt that he has a girlfriend, you admit that this doesn’t look good for him. A long distance girlfriend who is hot and smart and magically needs a radio to communicate with? Unlikely.

“I’m sure she’s there,” Dustin tries to explain to you guys, now even more embarrassed. “It’s dinner time, and she’s busy…”

“Yeah, sure.” Lucas tries to be supportive and play along, which you appreciate him immensely for. Max nods as well, but Will just stands there silent.

“Maybe try again?” You encourage, trying to be nice.

Dustin nods and tries once more to contact Suzie, and it goes on like this for a while. He radios, no one answers, and eventually you and everyone else lay down in the grass as you wait for nothing.

Almost an hour passes and the crickets begin to chirp as the sun goes down and the moon comes up. Dustin is still trying to reach Suzie, but Max finally has enough. “Dustin, come on! She’s not there.”

“She’s there, alright? She’ll pick up.”

“Dustin…” You sigh, unsure how to tell him that you also want to leave. You had plans with Steve tonight, he invited you over to watch a movie and you should’ve left ten minutes ago.

Will lifts his head up from the grass. “Maybe Cerebro doesn’t work.”

“Or maybe Suzie doesn’t exist.” Lucas argues.

Dustin gasps. “She exists!”

“She’s a genius and she’s hotter than Phoebe Cates? No girl is that perfect.”

You pinch the bridge of your nose at Lucas’ words and wait for Max’s inevitable offense. He truly, deeply, is such a boy. As predicted, Max sits up and looks down at him with annoyance. “Is that so?”

Lucas shuffles up in panic, now realizing too late what he’s said. “I mean–you’re perfect! I mean, like, perfect–in your own way, in your own, uh, special way!”

“Lucas,” you hit his shoulder. “Stop talking, dude.”

Max laughs, pleased with herself. “Relax, I was teasing. I’m obviously perfect and Dustin is obviously lying.”

“Okay, no,” you now sit up. “He isn’t lying, it’s just a very unfortunate circumstance.”

Max doesn’t listen and instead offers Lucas her hand to help him up so that they can leave. “Come on, Don Juan.”

“Where are you going?” Dustin follows, not understanding yet what’s happening.

“Home,” Max huffs, before remembering that you’re there, too. “Bye, Y/N!”

“Bye,” you wave at them weakly, knowing that this will only upset your brother further as she and Lucas slowly head home.

Dustin stands next to you now. “Well, guess it’s just us and Byers, Y/N,”

Will now stands up and awkwardly avoids your brother’s gaze. “Um… It’s late. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow we can play DnD, or something fun, like we used to?”

Dustin clenches his jaw. You know he’s close to tears, and it breaks your heart to watch. You stand up and rest your arm around him as he responds to Will. “Yeah, sure.”

“Welcome home,” Will says sadly before he starts to walk down the hill as well.

You anxiously watch as he leaves. “Be careful, please!”

“I will!” He reassures you, knowing that you’re still terrified of losing him again.

As you watch Will, Dustin whispers to himself, “Yeah, welcome home.”

His words break your heart even more. Forgetting about your anxiety over Will, you wrap both arms around your brother and hug him. He had been so excited earlier to be home and see all his friends after a month of being away. You understand that the kids are all growing up, but you had always hoped that they’d grow together, not apart.

“You still have all of July and August,” you try to comfort Dustin, desperately hoping that you aren’t lying to both him and yourself. “I’m sure they’ll come around.”

Suddenly the radio attached to Cerebro switches on and Dustin pushes you off of him so that he can get to the radio in time. He stumbles over his feet and trips, and you watch with amusement and curiosity.

He manages to finally untangle himself from the radio and answers. “Suzie, Suzie, is that you?”

You sit down next to Dustin and lean in close to the radio, excited to finally meet your brother’s girlfriend. Instead, you hear what sounds like a foreign language. It’s distinct, slightly muffled, but you know what it is. “Is that…”

“Russian.” Dustin whispers.

Everything changes, then.

–

You force Dustin to go home immediately. He wants to stay, see if he can find any more hidden messages, but you refuse. He’s elated, talking a mile a minute as you bike home, theorizing every possible answer as to why you heard Russian in Hawkins, Indiana.

“Dustin!” You yell at him, terrified that someone could be listening. “Not here, okay?”

He deflates, but pedals home alongside you.

You’re terrified as you bike home, a million thoughts are running through your head. You don’t at all like what any of this could mean; you’ve had enough sketchy government facilities and secret government agencies to last you a fucking lifetime.

When you get home, you order Dustin to go to bed.

“But Y/N, we’ve got to tell someone about this–”

“Tomorrow, okay? Just, please, Dustin.” You’re exhausted and confused and overwhelmed.

Your brother senses that you’re at your limit and reluctantly backs down. “Fine, but can we at least tell Steve tomorrow?”

Hearing Steve’s name puts something at ease within you. Tomorrow, you’ll go to Scoops with Dustin and ask Steve what he thinks about all of this. Comforted by the fact that you now have a plan forming, you begin to calm down. “I promise we’ll tell him tomorrow, okay?”

Dustin nods and heads to his room, wishing you a good night. When you hear his door click shut, you slowly head to your own room. You’re terrified, and there’s only one thing you want to do to lessen the fear that scratches at your throat. After crawling into bed, you call Steve.

He answers immediately. “Y/N? Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” you breathe out, his voice like an exhale of a summer’s day. “I… I’m sorry I missed our movie night.”

Steve laughs softly. “Angel, I’m just happy you’re okay. I was getting worried there.”

You close your eyes. “It’s been a weird day.”

“Did something happen?” Steve senses that there’s something you aren’t telling him, which worries him.

“Dustin… He may have found something, but I just–I don’t want to talk about it just yet. I… I don’t want to jinx it,” you squeeze your eyes tight and will away the fear you feel. “I–I’m just, I’m so exhausted, you know?”

“Y/N, are you in danger–”

“No,” you dispel any fear that Steve may feel. “I promise I’m okay, I just really need to hear your voice right now, okay? Can you just talk to me, please?”

“Of course I can.” Steve agrees without any questions asked, and you love how he trusts you enough to do this.

Exhaling the remaining fear, you allow the warmth from Steve to hold you through the night. “Thank you, honey.”

“Anytime, angel. You know that.”

And you do.

Steve begins telling you a story from today, how he dropped an ice cream cone on a toddler and enraged the mom, and you fall asleep that night to the sound of his voice over the phone.

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6ix9inewiturmom · 21 days

Text

Rated R Video (Chris’ Version) Part One

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Summary: You and chris are dating and you got invited for a special edition car video which slowly turns into chris doing everything you asked for! Chris x Fem Reader!!

Warnings: Cursing, talking of sexual acts, use of Y/N

A/N: here’s a chris version for yall chris girlys!! lemme know how yall like this one!! part 2 will be smutty so :)

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me and chris have been dating for a little over a 2 years now, chris was was absolutely perfect in every way known to man, but chris had only had 1 body before me so needless to say he a couple things to learn. his fans knew about us since about 6 months in, and i mean obviously we’ve had sex but it’s not like we’ve shared it with all 6 million of them but matt and chris thought it was a good idea to make a ‘Rated R’ video about all three of them (chris and i being a package deal) and their ‘personal’ life regarding sex mostly… i mean i was down if chris was down and boy ive only ever heard him say yes quicker then when he asked me if i was down to join the video… let’s just say nervous was not even close to what i was feeling.

“IM SITTING NEXT TO Y/N” nick yells across the parking lot of target that the boys suggested on filming in

chris rolls his eyes “she’s MY girlfriend and considering the topic don’t you think i should sit next to her?”

i laugh softly “you guys have assigned seats in the car chris, i’ll sit next to nick, don’t worry”

chris hugs me quickly placing a soft kiss on my head before entering the passenger side of the car sitting next to matt and i sit in the passenger rear seat behind him next to nick. matt sets up the camera and presses record.

“HELLO COOL CATS AND KITTENS” nick jokes

“please never start a video like that again” chris can’t help but laugh

“grumpy.. BUT since we talked about a rated R video you guys absolutely blew up talking about it on tiktok and every other form of social media so you ask and shall receive!” nick starts “BUT today we have a very special and important person in the car today.. shes my version of an ‘IT girl’ and i love her to DEATH… Y/N!” nick continues

“hiiii” i say shyly waving towards the camera

“she’s also my girlfriend nick” chris turns around and looks at nick and i with a smirk

nick brings me into a hug and holding me like a child “you know.. CHRISTOPHER… without me yall wouldn’t even know each other” nick says while petting my head in a joking manner

“okay first off, chris turn around. second nick let go of Y/N she looks like she suffocated by the way your holding her” matt spits but with a smile on his face

“okay tuff guy” nick lets me go and i get readjusted to my seat “so i asked you guys to send me some deep questions for us to answer…let’s just say there’s a LOTTT… so let’s get horny shall we” nick smirks doing a little shimmy with his shoulders.

“never say that again” matt breaths out in between laughs

“do any of you guys own any sex toys” nick says with the straightest face i’ve seen

“Y/N owns a vibrator” chris speaks up for me. i move my arm from my side and give him a light slap on his arm.

“well thank too chris for answering a question for me… might as well tell em the color” i laugh out loud

“AND ITS PINK WITH A LITTLE SPARKLE TO IT” chris yells a little too loud so again i give him another slap on his arm

“that was rhetorical chris…” i say shaking my head smiling

“you know i love Y/N like a sister and all considering she’s gonna marry my brother and all but im not sure how long i can sit through this video” nick says laughing

“matt do you own anything” chris says turning his flashlight on to interrogate him

“it’s just me and my left hand as far as i know” matt says holding up his left hand and moving it a little in a motion of ‘jerking off’

“OKAY NEXT QUESTION” nick stops matt abruptly “deepest sexual fantasies” nick looks up from his phone wiggling his eyes brow’s

“WELL mine would be letting my freak flags fly and go all freaky on my girlfriend” chris says smirking and shimmying in the passenger seat as a blush of embarrassment creeps up on my lips

“Y/N your turn” chris turns around to look at me with a deep stare

“ummm well i uh told chris anything he wanted to try sexually” i cringe “i would be down” i shrug my shoulders

“you don’t have ONE deep dark sexual fantasy in that brain of yours” nick questions

“well i guess to be fully submissive to someone i guess…i don’t know tho” i nervously laugh as i look up and see chris nodding his head and turning around

“matt? go on” chris says slapping matt on the arm

“not gonna lie same as chris but im single so one day” chris lets out a playful scream and attempts to dab up matt before nick places his hand in between the two

“that’s not something to dab someone up for ya freaks” nick laughs out

“NEXT QUESTIONNNN” nick says in a sing songy voice “okay most of these are about chris and matt.. really weird…” nick says almost gagging

“no way let me see” chris snatches the phone from nick “OH MY GOD” chris yells making the entire car jump

“i told you jackass” nick snatches his phone back “OOO OKAY A JUICY ONE… how many times in one night have you done it” nick smiles

chris smiles devilishly “6” he says a little too loud and proud

“UMMM Y/N SIX FUCKING TIMES?!?!” nick says turning to me quickly

“WHATTT… you guys were in boston for 3 weeks.. i’m a woman with needs” i hold my hands up trying to defend myself and laughing

“yeah most i’ve ever done is 3…” matt says smiling at chris “you got me beat by DOUBLED” matt dabs up chris

“chris can you not” i laugh at chris

“sorry ma” he smiles at me softly before chuckling

“okay yeah on THAT note thank you guys for tuning in on this adventure of information that even i didn’t wanna know BYE EVERYONE” nick laughs as matt grabs the camera zooming into chris

“i’m gonna get laid” chris says smirking and i slap his arm AGAIN playfully

“Christopher Owen.. shush” i laugh as matt ends the video clicking the red button on the top of the camera

there was a bit of silence in the car as matt was pulling out of the parking lot that was until nick says the most out of pocket thing he’s said to me since i’ve known him

“you know if Y/N was a vibrator she would be a pink and sparkly one.. so her having one is so Y/N coded” he had the straightest face ever plastered on his face as i burry my face in my hands.

“hey don’t talk about Jennifer like that” chris laughs

“YOU NAMMED YOUR VIBRATOR JENNIFER??” nick snaps his head around to look at me

“chris over sharing is a thing and im pretty sure you have a doctorate degree in it” i say muffled in my hands

matt turns up the radio for the rest of the drive but i hear a ping from my phone as i lift it up unlocking it and noticing chris texted me… why would he text me while being in the same car.

“You won’t be walking for the next week when we get home” chris’ message read and i immediately subconsciously press my thighs together and flip my phone over and turn it downwards trying to hide my blush on my lips.

we arrived at the triplets shared home and i’ve never seen chris get out of the car so quickly and dragging my hand out of the garage.

“we’re so tired so we’re gonna go to bed love ya guys” chris yells while practically running upstairs to our shared bedroom and throwing me on the bed letting a yelp escape my lips.

“i wasn’t kidding Y/N.. you’re gonna count how many times i can make you cum in one night” chris says sternly causing a rush of wetness and heat to my core.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

HERES PART 1 OF RATED R VIDEO CHRIS VERSION!! LEMME KNOW HOW YALL LIKED THIS ONE! i tried to make it different from matt’s but LEMME KNOW! it’s a little

short but i didn’t wanna make it exactly like matt’s version but stay tuned for part 2… she’s a working progress BUTTT she’s SMUTTY

#Spotify #chris sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #matt sturniolo #nick sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #sturniolo smut #sturniolo x reader #the sturniolo triplets #sturniolo triplets

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quintinh43 · 2 months

Text

Heavy Heads and Heavy Hearts | Quinn Hughes

Summary: Quinn gets injured as a game. His girlfriend takes him and cares for him.

Pairings: Quinn Hughes x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Anxiety, Head injury, food, angst, mentions of vomiting (no actual vomiting)

Notes: Hi guyss! Hope everyone is doing ok! Injured Quinn got the most votes, so here we are! This one is the longest one ive done so far, I definitely did not mean for it to be as long as it is but here we are. Also, im not a professionl in any way, so i cant say this is concussion accurate. I just went off of my experience in dealing with athletes that have Concussions, and my own Concussions lol. Anywaysss I hope yall enjoy. Love Soph.

---

There was something so gut-wrenching about watching the man you love get injured. One second, Quinn was cutting quickly around the back of the net, and the next, he was getting slammed into the boards hard. It was nothing. You get hit, you get up, and you keep going. It was simply a part of hockey.

Except this time, Quinn wasn't getting up. He wasn't moving at all. You stand up, heart in your throat. The room feels like it's tilting. The sharp shrill of the refs whistle cut through the air, stopping the play as the refs skate over to where Quinn is lying motionless on the ice.

They are calling for medics. Your head is spinning with the worst possible scenarios as you excuse yourself from your seat and practically sprint to the locker room. One of the security members holds out a hand to stop you.

"Ma'am, you can't be here, please exit this area"

Great. Just fucking great. This is exactly what you need right now. The overwhelming need that aches in your bones demanding to know that Quinn is ok makes you want to cry. Because now this fucker won't let you through. And you're nearly too panicked to do anything about it.

The logical route would be pulling out Quinns wallet, that has his ID in it, and explaining that you are his girlfriend. But with your anxiety high, and your heart in your throat logic is not the first thing on your mind.

"Listen buddy," you start, ready to absolutely rip this guy a new one. Thankfully for him, one of the trainers who knows you happens to be exiting the locker room.

"Let her through, Jace, that's Hughes' girl" he says, waving you forward. The security guard- Jace apparently, lets you pass with a grumble.

By the time you get rink side, Quinn is (half) conscious- thank God, and being half carried off the ice by Petey and Boeser. He's transfered to the care of two medics, who sit him on a bench and begin to check him over.

One of them is asking him questions gently, both to keep him awake and assess the damage to his head. While the other stabilizes his neck. "Can you tell me your full name and today's date?" One of the medics asks.

"Quintin Jerome Hughes," he slurs, eyes fluttering, "its Feb'uary... twenty-second, twenty-twenty-four"

Your breath hitches. He got the date wrong. You can't help the panic that rushes through you. "Good job Quinn, do you know where you are?"

"Van, Roger's arena," he mumbles, "playing hockey"

"Good," the medic hums. "we need to take off your equipment to make sure you aren't injured anywhere else. Is that ok?"

"Y/n" he mumbles, eyes closing and head tilting forward, his head snapped back up a moment later, and if the other medic hadn't had his head stabilized he would probably have mild whiplash.

"Stay awake for us, Quinn. Is Y/n someone you'd like us to call?"

You spring forward at the mention of your name, "I'm here," you say, pushing past a couple of people who are standing around, ready to assist if the situation gets worse.

"My girl" Quinn slurs, his lips tilting into a small smile. Your heart flutters at that. In the midst of his delirium, he still cares about you dearly.

"Hello Y/n, I'm Sam," the guy who's been asking him questions, "and that's Kieran," he says, nudging his head towards Kieran, who gives a small smile.

"Do you think you could help us remove his equipment?"

"Yes absolutely, just tell me what to do" you say, glad that you can help.

"Can you remove his jersey and shoulder pads? Kieran needs to keep his neck stable, and I need to check for any other possible injuries. And keep him talking"

"Yeah, of course," you start by bending his elbow to slide it out of the sleeve of his jersey.

"Hey Quinny" you say softly, sliding his other arm out of his jersey "you played really really good today, I'm so proud of you"

"Thanks baby," he murmers, "glad you're here." He tries to lean his head against your chest, he huffs when Kieran doesn't let him, and you can't help but let out a breathy laugh, patting his head lovingly.

Kieran tilts his head to one side, allowing you to pull the jersey over his head. You deposit it in his cubby behind him and make quick work undoing his shoulder pads and pulling them off gently.

"I'm glad I'm here too. What do you wanna eat when we get home?"

Sam gently asks you to move out of the way so he can check Quinns upper body for injuries. The second you aren't doing something, the anxiety rises back to your chest. You take a deep breath and begin to unlace his skates. You pull them off, slipping a pair of slides on his feet so his socks don't get wet.

"Hmm" he hums in thought "potatos...?"

You laugh, "Alright Quinny. We'll have potatos"

Finally after palpating his whole body to make sure he doesn't have any other major injuries, testing his reflexes, and asking him a bunch more questions. They diagnose him with a minor concussion, and give you a list of things to look out for.

They deem it safe enough to leave you alone with him for a little bit and tell you to change him into something more comfortable. It takes a bit of work to take off his hockey pants and shinguards and get him into a pair of sweats and a hoodie.

By the time you're done, the equipment manager and the medics have collected the rest of his equipment. After making sure his hockey bag is fully packed with everything, you grab his keys from your purse, while the EM helps you bring his bag to his car, and the medic helps you half carry him down.

He can mostly walk on his own, but better safe than sorry. On the ride home he keeps his head resting against the window, a cool compress is wrapped around his neck, and he's holding one over his eyes with one hand, while the other holds yours tightly.

You trace your thumb over the backs of his knuckles soothingly and keep him talking the whole way home. "What kind of potatoes do you want when we get home, Hon?"

"Can I change my mind?" He asks sheepishly. He's still talking very quietly and slurring his words a little, but the medics said that was nothing to worry about unless he started getting worse. So far, it was nothing to worry about.

"Of course my love, anything you want" you bring your intertwined hands to rest on your chest. It's a comforting weight over your heart, that you didn't know you needed until it was there.

Your phone lights up from the cup holder, it's a text from Petey, saying that the Canucks won the game. There are a few other texts, from his parents and brothers. You make a mental note to reply to them as soon as you get Quinn settled at home.

"Can we have noodles?" He mumbles.

"Yes, of course, love." You can't help but kiss the back of his knuckles. Watching Quinn get injured to the point of losing consciousness was not something you ever wanted to experience ever again.

"Your boys won, by the way," you say softly.

"The did?!" Quinns head shoots up front the window, and he is filled with instant regret as a sharp twinge shoots down his neck and to his shoulder.

"Ow fuck" he mumbles, laying his head back against the cool window.

"Careful love," you gasp, squeezing his hand.

"I know, I'm sorry," he mumbles, squeezing your hand back. You sigh, you have been on edge since he got injured, and it didn't look like the anxiety would dissipate for a while. You would just have to deal with it and try not to be an over bearing worry wart.

"You guys won 5-2" you smile, finally pulling into your apartment parking lot.

"I didn't do much except get my brains knocked around" he grumbles. "Some captain I am"

You scoff, flicking him in the nose lightly. "Don't sell yourself short, Quinny. Three of those points are yours."

Quinn wrinkles his nose and leans forward to bite your finger. You yelp, snatching it away with a glare. He sticks his tongue out at you, and you laugh, your chest feeling a little lighter than before.

"Come on, let's get you upstairs. " You say, undoing your seat belt and getting out of the car. You run around to his passenger side and open the door for him, and help him step out of the car. He throws an arm over your shoulder, and you wrap one around his waist. He's not as wobbly on his feet as he was earlier, but he still isn't at full strength.

Quinn squeezes his eyes shut and tucks his face against your hair. The florescent elevator lights were not pleasant in his state. "Can we keep the apartment lights off?" He mumbles against your hair.

"Sure love," you said rubbing your hand up and down his back soothingly, "we're almost home," you fish the keys out of your purse and unlock it. You toe your shoes off at the door while Quinn slips his off easily and you guide him to the couch.

"What do you want first, baby? Food or a shower?"

"I'm not really hungry" Quinn mumbles, laying on the couch and adjusting the ice pack under his neck. You sit on the couch handle, stroking his hair back from his forehead. "I know honey, but we should try to get something light in your system, if you're feeling upto it."

Quinn sighs. He knows you're right. "I can make you toast? Or a sandwich or something?" You offer, smoothing your thumb over his hairline.

"Do we have bagles?" He asks

"Yeah, we have bagles, I'll make you one of those?"

"Yes please," he mumbles, you plant a kiss on his forehead and go pop a bagle into the toaster, "can you do it with cream cheese and jam?" He asks, chewing on his lip nervously.

"Sure, Hon, I'm gonna make myself some tea. Do you want a cup?" You ask as you pull the cream cheese and jam out of the fridge.

"No thanks, I'm ok" he mumbles. After his bagle is done being made, you help ease him into sitting position, and sit next to him with your cup of tea. He eats a bit more than half the bagle, and you finish off the rest before deeming it time to shower.

You remember all the messages from his family, and quickly shoot them texts, saying that he's ok and you just got home and you'll talk more when he gets settled.

"I'm gonna put these back in the freezer while we shower, yeah?"

Quinn nods, handing the ice packs to you to put in the freezer. You help him up slowly and lead him to the bathroom. You keep the lights off and leave the door open so you have a little bit of light from the bedroom.

While the shower warms up, you grab a clean change of clothes for both you and Quinn and set them on the counter before helping Quinn strip. He has to brace an arm against the wall while you hold him steady with one hand and maneuver his clothes off with the other.

"I'm sorry," he murmers against your hair as you help him step into the shower.

"Oh Quinn, there's nothing to be sorry for," you say, sitting him on the shower seat.

"I'm sorry you have to take care of me like this." He huffs, resting his head against the cool Ike of the shower wall, "I feel so pathetic, " his voice cracks, and your heart nearly breaks.

"Quinn, my love, taking care of you is not a burden. It's a pleasure. I love you to the ends of the earth, and I would do anything for you, my sweets. " You kiss him on the forehead sweetly as if to prove your point.

He doesn't say much about it after that, but you can tell he still feels bad. You make quick work of washing his hair, being very careful of where a small bump has formed on his head. You scrub him down and rinse him off before shutting off the water.

You wrap a towel around yourself and then dry Quinn off gently before helping him change into his pajamas. "Let me change and then dry your hair a little bit before we have to put an ice pack on your head, ok?"

Quinn nods. He sits on the counter, leaning against the wall while you change into your pajamas. You plug in the hair dryer and dry his hair, keeping his head steady with one hand. As soon as his hair is no longer soaking wet, you help him off the bathroom counter and into bed. You grab the ice packs from the freezer and help him position them on his head and neck until he's comfortable.

"I'll be back in less than ten minutes, baby. I'm just going to grab your stuff from the car, ok?" You say pulling on a pair of sweats and a hoodie over your pajamas.

"Ok" Quinn mumbles, "I'll call if anything" he says patting his nightstand to make sure his phone is there.

You kiss him on the forehead and pull the bedroom door halfway closed so the light from the hall isn't too bright. Grabbing his car keys and your phone from the counter, you hit the call button on Ellen's contact as you slip out the door.

She picks up on the first ring "Hows he doing?" She asks immediately. She sounds distressed, maybe like she's been crying. You don't blame her. They probably haven't heard anything unless someone on the team contacted them, and you have no idea how bad it looked on TV.

"He's ok, Mrs. H, it's a mild concussion. His symptoms aren't worsening at all, and they said with some rest he'll be significantly better by tomorrow"

Her sigh of relief was unmatched. "He'll be out of play for a couple of weeks, but they just want to make sure he's back to 100% before he's playing again." The elevator finally opens, and you hit the button for the parking garage.

"Thank you so much, Y/n, im glad you're there with him. I know he's in good hands. I'll leave you be love, Jack and luke are super super anxious and would appreciate a call from you. Text me if anything happens."

"I will, Mrs. H, tell Mr. H I say hi"

"I will dear, thanks for taking care of our boy"

"Of course El, he's my boy too," you smile.

You swear you can hear Ellen smile over the phone. "We love you dear, I'll talk to you tomorrow ok. Don't forget to take care of yourself too"

"I will, I love you guys too. I'll text you updates"

"Alright, bye dear."

"Bye," you sigh, pressing the end call button, just as the elevator opens to the parking garage. As you press the button to open the trunk, you call Jack.

"Y/n," he huffs out, not even after a full ring. "How's Quinn? If he ok? What happened?" Before you can answer any of Jacks questions, Luke's voice cuts him off, "is Quinn ok? Are you guys at the hospital? It looked really bad -"

Before their panicked tangents can get worse, you interrupt them both. "Take a breath, you two," you say calmly, breathing exaggeratedly so they can copy you "in and out, relax. Quinn is ok. He's ok"

"He's ok?"

"He's ok" you repeat. You feel the tears start to build, and your voice cracks "He's ok"

"Oh Y/n." Jack says softly.

"It's ok, I'm ok" you say, more to yourself than to Jack as you wipe the tears away. "Hold on, gimme one sec." You say, setting down your phone as you pull Quinn's hockey bag out the car. You close the trunk, make sure the car is locked and head back to the elevator.

"Hi, sorry I'm back. I was just grabbing Quinn's stuff out the car."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Luke asks softly.

"He's got a concussion, and he's a bit bruised up, but other than that he's alright"

"Fuck, how bad is it?" Jack asks, the fear is evident in his voice, and you can't blame him. Concussions can be really bad sometimes.

"They said its a mild concussion, he's not throwing up at all, his memory is ok, he didn't injure his spine or anything, he'll be ok after a few days of rest. He probably wont be playing for a few weeks, but better safe than sorry."

"Oh thank God" both Jack and Luke huffed "isn't he not supposed to sleep for 24 hours after or something?" Luke asks.

You shake your head with a small smile "Thats a myth, Lukey. As long as I check on him every few hours its ok for him to sleep."

"Ohh, ok. Well that's good" Luke says.

"We are glad he has you Y/n, thank you for taking care of our brother."

"Always" you say softly.

"We'll let you go now, keep us updated?"

"I will, Jackie. You two get some rest, you have a big game tomorrow, love you guys"

"We love you too Y/n/n" both boys say, hanging up.

You sigh, leaving his bag at the door. "Y/n?" Quinns weak voice calls out from the bedroom. You rush to him immediately, scared that something is wrong.

"Yes, Quinny, I'm right here" you say kneeling beside the bed, and stroking his hair.

"You took long," he mumbles, pressing his lips against your wrist.

"I'm sorry love, I'm here now," you stand, stripping the hoodie and sweats off and climbing into bed next to him. You stay a little distance away, not wanting to hurt Quinn. But he grumbles at you, tugging on your shirt to get you to come closer. Normally, he would just grab you and pull you closer, but he's still weak.

"I don't wanna hurt you" you mumble, scooting closer so that you are tucked against his side. He tangles your legs together and rests his head against yours.

"Never" he says, pressing his lips to the side of your head. You rest one of your hands on his hip, under his shirt, stroking your thumb over his hip bone.

"How you feeling?" You ask softly.

"Beat" he mumbles "thanks for taking care of me"

"I'll take care of you for as long as you let me love" you say, pressing a gentle kiss to the underside of his jaw.

"Forever?"

"Forever."

---

Wc: 3.1k

#qh43 #quinn hughes #nhl imagine #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes x y/n #luke hughes #vancover canucks #jack hughes #hockey #nhl x y/n #nhl x you #nhl imagines #love soph

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ma1dita · 3 months

Text

buddy system

a ‘partners in crime’ installment - luke castellan x dionysus!reader

words: 4.2k

summary: (pre-established relationship) The one where he comes with you to rescue your twin brothers, Pollux and Castor. A weekend 'quest' teaches you a lot about Luke, and about yourself too. Luke Castellan x fem!Dionysus!reader

a/n: um i cant apologize for this word count and ive been looking at this for too long so fuck. Anyways do yall think Luke felt bad when he found out Castor died in battle because of his army in this universe? just me?? okay :) also trouble gets a cool magic item that makes an appearance here, kinda works like polyjuice but with smoke

(posted 2/7/24 betad by lovely ellie @lixzey might edit again when i get some sleep)

—

“No. You might be my father, but you’re crazy, man!”

You’re standing in D’s office at the Big House, and what was supposed to be a short talk before the counselors’ meeting has turned into a full-blown argument. It’s hard to focus on anything other than the words leaving your godrent’s mouth.

You’re going to pick up your little brothers.

“Those two statements are both true, kid. You’re old enough to understand that!”

They need your help.

“You’re really letting your 16-year-old daughter drive down to Florida by herself to pick up some kids she’s never met? Won’t even send me with any quest companions, or like, Grover?” you say exasperatedly, before slumping down into a seat.

“Think of it as family bonding! They’re great from what I remember. You all need to get along anyway.”

Whether it was jealousy or the sudden urge to be petty, you impulsively grab your dad’s Diet Coke and chug it, crushing the can with your fist as a tiny act of rebellion.

Another one appears on the desk and you chuck it over your shoulder. Mr. D sighs as he conjures another one, to which you do the same thing.

“I can do this all day, kid.”

“So can I, and you know if I do, we’ll be sitting here until I’m 40,” you say expectantly, tapping your fingers on the hardwood surface of his desk.

“What do you want?”

The keys to his car are a start, as well as extra pocket money—but there was something, or rather, someone missing to make sure this weekend goes as smoothly as possible.

Your smirk widens at your father, and he wonders when you’ve gotten good at playing his own game.

It’s like looking into a mirror but his worst nightmare manifested as a teenage girl.

—

There are only two things Luke can think about when he hears the sound of your laughter.

The first is that, unlike your angelic singing that could rival the Muses, your laughter takes after the sound of a maniac, an incredulous crescendo that only something curated by Hades in the deepest pits of Tartarus could produce. It was almost madness-inducing, and it went off in his brain like you were a siren (although he means the kind used for weather advisory, he too gets lured in by your laughter each time he hears it like he’s lost at sea).

Second, as he watches you storm down the lawn of the Big House, your anger brewing something comparable to a Category 5, he raises an eyebrow and thinks, well this ought to be good. Or entertaining at the very least.

“You,” you growl at him, guttural and sharp like the finger you jab into his chest, “we’re going on a quest!”

“Me?” Luke blurts, eyebrows furrowing at you.

A loud groan echoes through the grassy space between the house and the counselors as everyone looks up to see Mr. D dragging his hands down his face at the sheer thought of his daughter causing him more gray hairs.

“That’s not what we agreed on, kid!” “If you want any of your children to come back to this hellhole in one piece I need backup!” “There’s more of you?”

Both you and your dad glare at Luke now, like he’s interrupting a private conversation.

“Since when do you like asking for help, princess?”

Mr. D’s arms are crossed over his chest as he speaks to you. Though your height severely differs due to the wooden steps of the Big House, the air is palpable with fear only an Olympian could invoke, reminding the counselors that the man wearing the ugliest Hawaiian shirt known to humankind, is in fact inhuman. You, however, are standing tall in the freshly-cut grass in your combat boots with wrath that could rival Ares’ as you stare your father down like the rest of them wouldn’t get struck into the next lifetime due to your impertinence, as Annabeth loves to call it. She looks up at Luke, with her eyes conveying that she thinks you must be clinically insane, but he knows that already so he shrugs.

“I’m not asking for it, I’m demanding it. Besides, he’s like my ESA,” you say, then taking Luke by surprise as you grab him by the wrist and drag him off the front lawn. You think you can hear Beckendorf and Clarisse bite back chuckles.

“Someone tell Rodriguez he’s in charge of 11!” you yell into the air, and words of affirmation and good luck are muttered in response.

“Don’t I get a say in this, trouble?” Luke says playfully, tugging at your arm lightly but unresisting as you sigh and pull him along. Who in their right mind says no to a long weekend away from this place? Monsters and demigods be damned.

“No. Besides, they’re gonna need more luck than we do.”

“Liam, I don’t know why she trusts you, but if my daughter dies, I’ll make sure you’re next!” Mr. D yells out to your retreating figures, and all of the counselors turn to face him realizing that without you, well… that means he actually has to be in charge.

“So what’s the meeting supposed to be about, Annabelle?” Mr. D says, looking at Annabeth only knowing that she’s supposed to be the smart one—and the small girl sighs.

This is gonna be the longest weekend yet.

—

You’re speeding down I-95 with the windows down and the wind brushing through both of your hair. While Luke watches you from the passenger seat with the road signs blurring past his periphery, he also notices that it’s the first time in a while that he’s seen you this carefree. With both of you taking up counselor positions a few months ago, and your dad appointing you to be in charge of all of them (because why have a counselor for a population of one), there’s a lot about you that’s grown up in the two years you two have known each other. But what type of demigod gets to enjoy their childhood anyway, right? Luke can only remember bits and pieces of his.

“How do you even know where we’re going? I can barely read the signs,” he asks.

“Cool blessing from my stepmom. Ariadne’s chill. We talk sometimes and she likes that I keep D in check, so now I can never get lost,” you grin toothily, violet eyes flickering to meet his.

“Was it true what your dad said? That you trust me?”

His voice is a bit louder than it should be over the wind tunnel that blocks out the sound of the radio as the air whips in and out of the car.

“Well, I wouldn't say trust,” you drag out, leaning back against your seat with your eyes still on the road, “More like if I got abducted by a harpy, I think you could cut its wings off and give me a fighting chance at living.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t invite Mason to come,” he mumbles, and you smirk.

“Who?”

His hands are clenched in his lap as a blush brushes his cheeks, windswept in the rays of the late summer sun.

“Your boyfriend. Wouldn’t he be a better companion?”

Something about the older son of Apollo always ground his gears. It was even worse that you both would sing Broadway musicals together during his sparring sessions. Your harmonious voices echoing from the amphitheater aside, the repetitive grating feeling in his stomach reminds him not to go see Hamilton if he ever makes it out to the city.

“He’s not…” you huff, tapping your fingers on the steering wheel as you think hard on what to say next, “He’s nothing serious.” You pull the sun visor down as you squint, tilting your head in case he says something else, but you hear nothing. Luke’s staring at your side profile, unable to hide his grin at the new information, biting his cheek.

“Besides, he’s a fucking terrible shot. And you’re supposed to be the best, so I’ve heard. Who else would I want on this trip with me?”

He chuckles at this lightly, your words bolstering his ego.

“So you’ve heard.”

And for a second, the sight of his smile distracts you enough that the car swerves a tiny bit closer to the median. You both ignore it and keep driving.

—-

Hypnos increases his hold on your senses as you finally take a break somewhere in North Carolina, taking refuge in a dimly lit corner of a gas station parking lot. The old car reeks of greasy fast food and all the sugar Luke could get his hands on at rest stops (it was really cute to see him indulge in more normal things like sweets instead of swordsmanship), and both of your seats are leaned back, but it’s hard to get comfortable after having your butt in the same seat for several hours.

You readjust yourself again, making the car shake a bit as you turn over to face Luke.

“What’s wrong?” he mumbles through closed eyes. His head’s banged against the window one too many times, and it was starting to get annoying.

“Sorry. Just can’t sleep. Thinking too hard.”

He sighs, reaching over to toss your pillow into the backseat, and as you sit up, he rips your blanket off of you too.

“Hey!”

You go silent when you watch him make a makeshift bed for you, turning back with tired eyes as he gestures, “Go ahead. I don’t mind.”

“I feel bad, Luke. You’re taller than me and your knees almost hit the dashboard.”

He rubs at his eyes, looking at you impatiently, and you know his body is calling for comfort too.

“I’ve slept in worse conditions, you gotta remember that, trouble.” The stories Annie used to tell you about the both of them sleeping on the streets pull at your heart, and as you crawl towards the back, you move before you think rationally–tugging on his arm.

“Come on over here.”

“You sure?” “Before I change my mind, yeah.”

You both move around trying to find a place both of you can be comfortable in, first starting with your heads at opposite windows, legs tangling in the middle before he laughs a little too hard at your fumbling and you launch your pillow at his face. Awkwardly, you climb over his legs into his outstretched arms, slotting yourself against his side as he pulls your hair up from getting trapped between his shoulder and your back.

It’s deadly quiet, and Luke thinks if you could move any closer to him, you might hear his heart thundering in his chest.

“You smell like french fries,” you grumble into his sweater, and his laughter shakes you like an earthquake, uprooting the faint traces of sleep in your mind.

“At least the monsters won’t find us. Gonna be harder when the twins get here. A lot of demigod smell to ward off.”

You don’t answer, and he thinks you may have fallen asleep until he notices your hand playing with the frays of his sweater.

“Trouble?”

“They’re really little,” you mumble, so low that he barely hears the hesitance in your voice.

“The monsters? Yeah, I fucking ho–” “Pollux and Castor. My…half-siblings, with really Greek names, and a mom that depends on me getting them to camp safely…” you trail off before your head jerks up to meet his eyes. It’s colder at night now, your bodies and the tiny throw blanket from your trunk providing ample heat even if his socked feet fight their way out from underneath.

“How old are they, nine?” He feels you nod against his chest before he continues, “I was nine when I left home.”

Your eyes get glassy at the thought of a smaller version of Luke, one who’s not all gangly legs and lean muscle—one much softer and innocent than the boy you lean your weight upon, running away from home to find a place he can belong.

“I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.”

He shrugs, the arm propped against the headrest wrapping around you and resting on your hip, tapping you to continue your previous thought.

“I don’t know how to do this, I guess. I’m ripping them from their home and I—” “You’re not some kind of monster y’know? You put yourself down too much sometimes,” he sighs, and he watches the windows slowly start to fog up, “What don’t you know how to do?”

Ignoring his question, you change the subject hoping to talk about something lighter, and far less revealing to the thoughts inside your head.

“Do you remember all of that? Going to school and chalking up the sidewalks on the way home, hopscotch and ice cream trucks… I don’t want to take them away from that.”

Luke ponders, digging through his brain for anything happy from his childhood, but through the years his memories started to collect dust in the back of his mind.

“I don’t remember much.”

“Gods, I’m sorry…”

Mason had told you of your habit of putting your foot in your mouth. You dealt in extremes, giving too much or too little, always saying the wrong thing—and it was the reason why things didn’t go further with the son of Apollo. As well as with the daughter of Aphrodite you saw briefly that told you you didn’t know how to love, not if you didn’t know how to share yourself with others (yeah that one hurt a lot).

Sharing.

That’s what you’re hesitant about.

“Don’t be. It was a long time ago now,” Luke mumbles, a beat of silence passing before he redirects the conversation like you did, “What don’t you know how to do, trouble?”

“How to share. Be a sibling. Someone likeable.”

Luke doesn’t mean to laugh at your expense, but he does, and you punch his stomach hard enough he gasps for air.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Everyone likes you.”

“Everyone’s usually scared of me because of D, or hates me because I take dessert privileges and write them up,” you say matter-of-factly, staring out the window above his head at the gentle shine of the moon on his features. It’s a crime for him to look so soft under the low light, and you realize you’re staring when he calls your name.

“No, you don’t get it—you’re the most selfless person I know. You give up sleep to sing to kids before bed, conjure juice boxes so they don’t pass out during training—I’ve seen you carry a kid almost as tall as you across camp because they broke their ankle. You’ve got a lot of love in that twisted heart of yours. I’d know… I mean—I have to share a lot… I’m basically an expert.”

You blink at him as if seeing him in a new light, and you realize then why you picked him to go on this weekend quest with you. Your heartbeat slows despite the show of vulnerability in front of him, and you understand now that Luke makes you feel safe. Biting your lip to hold back a sigh, you decide to just unload the rest of your thoughts, knowing that you’re in the hands of someone who wants to hold the weight. “I’m just used to being alone, I think. I mean who knows what we're like when we're alone but us, right? What a terrifying thought,” you deflect, and Luke closely watches the slope of your nose, down to the smoothness of your lips, unable to put the right words to how he’s feeling.

I know you, he thinks, and it's not as all bad as you make it seem.

“We’re never truly alone, y’know. Besides, even if you are, you still have me,” he says nonchalantly, and the warmth on your cheeks could generate enough heat to run the car for miles. Chuckling lightly as your eyes flutter closed, you know you need to rest before morning comes since you’re the only one between the two of you that can drive. You reckon you’ll teach Luke by the end of the year if he wants to.

“We’re getting pretty terrible at this enemies thing, Castellan,” you jest with nothing hard to back it, and a smile falls onto both of your lips.

“We were never really enemies, trouble. I just like getting on your nerves.”

Your laughs fall silent, settling into a comfortable silence, until his next words send you off into slumber as you listen.

“I remember my mom singing in the kitchen as she put peanut butter on my sandwiches. She'd act like she left the dishes out for me to wash, but let me lick the knife clean every time and I’d put too much soap and the sink would be filled with bubbles. I don't remember much else but that. Her kitchen. She smelled like…chamomile.”

A wandering hand pulls his free one into yours, holding it until sunrise.

—-

You push Pollux and Castor out the door before the sun rises after a short stay at their mother’s house, and as the engine heats up, you and Luke watch them say goodbye to her with the both of you thinking of last words with your own. The both of you ward off the hellhounds biting off at your heels for a few hours like how you deceived the police the day previous, a purple Zippo lighter in hand whose smoke grants temporary illusions wafting through the car, and it smells like grapes (thanks D!). The kids sleep most of the way, none the wiser and heavy with sleep and their emotions of leaving everything they’ve ever known. Your eyes flicker to their sleeping heads in the rearview mirror, ready to take them home.

Hours later, Luke decides to make you stop at a diner to get you a bit of rest, get actual food, and let the twins pee, and your head is bobbing slightly in front of your plate of food once he brings them back from the bathroom.

“You wash your hands?” you say tiredly, both Pollux and Castor shaking wet hands in your face in response, making you giggle before sipping at your coffee. Luke cut you off from Redbull yesterday, saying he was scared for your liver and saying you needed to drink something else for a bit. He bristles at the sight of you drinking more caffeine, and you smile as the mug touches your lips.

“You’re gonna kill yourself one day. At least your dad drinks Diet Coke.”

“Not by choice, though what a way to go!” you joke, and the twins giggle as the both of them gulp down root beer like it’s essential to their being. Luke sighs at the idea of you having two minions under your belt, who you’ll most definitely train to raise hell on Camp Half-Blood now that you’ve taken more of the administrative side of things.

“Is he your boyfriend, sissy?” Pollux, or maybe it’s Castor pipes up, swinging his legs under the table and you smile at the sound of the nickname, noticing the dimple in his cheek. Luke chokes on his burger, coughing until you elbow him.

“He’s more of my ESA,” you remark, and he still doesn’t know what that is, so he raises an eyebrow like your brothers do as they peer up at you from across the table.

“What’s an ESA?” Castor, you realize, who has no dimples, spits out behind munches of a pickle.

“Luke’s my emotional support animal.”

He eats the rest of your fries despite your confidence in that response, grumbling exactly how a resistant dog would.

As you’re paying the bill, a large shadow looms over the sunny disposition of everyone at your table—and then Luke shouts for everyone to cover their eyes. Glass shatters over you, revealing a hellhound the size of a minivan, and it pounces toward the twins, large teeth bared at their throats. Before Luke can pull his sword out, you whistle sharply and the sound whizzes through the air like a bullet as you toss the Zippo lighter at him as he’s pushing the kids to the car. Though he’s reluctant to lose sight of you, he wards them with an illusion, locking the doors despite their cries and he runs headfirst back into battle, you with your thyrsus and him with his sword, back to back.

“They okay?” you heave, jabbing at the red-eyed canine between the eyes as Luke pulls around to slash it across the neck, coming out of the tussle unscathed as you both watch it keel over at your feet into golden dust minutes later.

“Yeah. Are you?”

Though you originally found it funny, Luke does perform his job well, getting you to calm down as he holds you to his chest until you can breathe normally again.

“Mhm. Just scared me.”

The two of you run out of the destroyed diner and into the warded-off car before the police show up hand in hand as you escape without detection. As he falls asleep, Castor dreams that you two are Bonnie and Clyde like in an old Western movie he was definitely not old enough to watch.

—-

You’re finally back on the Island now, only an hour away from Montauk and Luke is getting restless in the passenger seat. He pulls apples out of his backpack, wiping them off with his shirt as you sing along to a Taylor Swift song playing on the radio.

And maybe someday when we’re older, this is something we’ll laugh about…. Foolish one… you hum, tapping the wheel to fight off your exhaustion.

Pollux and Castor are using their fingers to pretend to hop over obstacles in the smudged windows, babbling about something they did in class last week. The son of Hermes pulls out a pocketknife he nicked from a gas station this morning as he starts to cut the apples into pieces, putting some into a ziploc bag for the boys to share, and you smile at him, wistful at your trip nearing its finish line. If you weren’t enemies before this like he said, it’s crazy to consider him your closest friend. But he is, isn’t he?

His knuckles nudge yours over the console, pressing an apple slice into your palm.

“You know, Castellan, you’re sweet when you want to be. Shame you and that sister of Annie’s didn’t work out.”

Luke scoffs at the reminder of his ex, slicing another piece off for you to eat. She did say he had wandering eyes…always looking for you. He’s not going to admit that though.

“I just know you like your apples cut. Saw you battling it out with a butter knife last week. Couldn’t help but notice,” he says lowly like it’s normal for people to be that considerate about others, normal for him to care about you like that, a constant push and pull between you two.

“Hurts my teeth,” you mutter, and Luke chortles like you’ve told him something life-changing. Your hand bumps into his again, feeling nothing but his calloused fingers, and when you look up his cheek protrudes with the last slice.

“Tax,” he winks, and you’re delirious with this feeling that only he can bring you, almost comparable to being high.

The popstar’s voice continues to trill in the background, with my head in my hands, saying “How could I not see the signs?”

You both don’t realize you’ve stopped singing until Pollux pipes up asking for you to play Fireball by Mr. 305 himself.

—-

The car finally pulls into the driveway of the forest path and you’re all greeted by the campers holding blazing lanterns. Chiron, your father, and the nymphs are waving as the twins marvel at the fairy lights strung up along the way for a warm welcome.

“You’re alive,” your dad remarks, and this time he doesn’t say it in jest, sounding more relieved.

“I was in good hands,” you affirm, looking up at Luke amongst the noise of your cheering friends and the feeling that comes with calling this place home.

The boys are tucked in at your side, shyly looking at the crowd, Pollux holding your hand while Castor holds onto Luke’s, and Chiron calls your attention.

“I know you didn’t get your official announcement,” he starts, and you laugh at that, remembering the bubbles in the lake.

“Because I pulled a fast one on D.”

“Nonetheless, I would love for you to get recognized for your efforts. Dionysus. Storyteller, Herald of Chaos,” he continues by announcing your name, and then,” Pollux, and Castor– children of the grapevine, the God of Wine!”

The campers are kneeling and you look at Luke, who’s smiling from the ground beside you.

“Take a picture, trouble, it’ll last longer.”

“My children are home safe. And thank you, Castellan, for being a formidable companion. My deepest appreciation.” Mr. D sounds serious for once, pulling Luke up as he nods in respect.

It’s a crazy feeling to finally feel at home though you’ve been here for two years now. But you remind yourself quickly of why that is when you see Luke carrying Pollux on his shoulders as Castor latches onto his legs.

“You know, your family is a nightmare. You two hellions will fit right in,” he grins.

You can’t help but agree.

—

“I hadn’t told them about you, but they saw you bathing in my eyes. I hadn’t told them about you, but they saw you in my written words. The perfume of love cannot be concealed.” -Nizar Qabbani

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#luke castellan x dionysus!reader #luke castellan x reader fanfic #luke castellan x reader #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo x reader #luke castellan fluff #made by ma1dita ♥︎#trouble!verse #thank you for reading my love ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

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cashmoneyyysstuff · 3 months

Note

I don’t know if This is the place where people make requests but I was thinking Katsuki and y/n have been friends since childhood but as they grow up Katsuki takes the hero path and y/n chooses the villain path it’s like the 2nd year of UA Katsuki knows y/n is a villain and keeps it a secret she’s also in the class. I don’t know how much I’m aloud to ask but hiiii and if this gets picked thank you

ouuuu this is such an interesting request ! i luv me some angst once in a while ! this is also probably the angstiest fic ive written rn lmfaoo ! i tried to honour your request as best i could and i hope you like it ! (also yall keep enabling my katsuki friends to lovers addiction its not me its yall sooo🤥..) also here, reader’s family is part of a crime syndicate sorta like the chie hassaikai !

fem reader, blood n injuries, kinda angsty but i cant bring myself to fully write angst so take the bittersweetness <33 katsuki claims he hates reader but he doesn’t, reader has a sorta traumatic backstory but if u squint HARD, reader feels guilty, slight miscommunication trope, lemme know if i missed something !

"how long are you gonna keep doing this ?"

you're rolling up your bloody sleeves when you hear the question you'd been expecting fall from your best friends lips.

"what do you mean ?" you're playing dumb, you know it. and unfortunately, katsuki knows it too.

he narrows his eyes at you, you ignore him "don't give me that shit." he all but growls at you "how many more times are you gonna come to me all fucked up like this ?" you'd expected him to be louder, but you blame that on the fact it’s so late. angrier isn't the term you're looking for, you've known him long enough to know he's trying to hold back his anger. for you. you feel your stomach twisting at the thought.

"as long as you'll have me" you jest, smiling at him. you never took anything seriously. from the time you were kids until now, katsuki hates that about you. "you'll keep taking care of me, won't you suki ?"

you're spoiled, you think everything is a fuckin' joke. katsuki hates that about you.

he huffs, grabbing your outstrechted bruised and bloodied arm "i won't if you keep wakin' me up so late. we've got school tomorrow, you dumbass." his actions are softer than his words, like they always are. he cleans at your injuries with the med kit he has stashed away in his room for emergencies, emergencies being you. you snort and katsuki can barely cover the smirk growing on his face at the sound.

"you're such a goody two shoes." you sigh playfully, but your tone is more loving than playful like you'd hoped.

you'd been hiding your lifestyle from kastuki until you no longer could. coming to him one night heavily injured because you thought he was the only one you could come to, a decision you regret to this day, even as you sit here in his bedroom again.

you'd never meant to get him involved in your mess. katsuki, who's future was so promising. katsuki, who since the ripe age of 5 with starry eyes and bandaged cheeks proclaimed he would be the best. katsuki, who had wanted you to be together when that moment came.

but you had to ruin it. and you're sure that even as he sits there with you and cleans up your wounds, a part of him hates you for it. you don't blame him, how could you ?

you ruined everything. you always do—

you feel a finger flick against your forehead and when you focus again katsuki's eyes bore into yours.

"don't go zoning out on me, idiot. don't go falling asleep on me either. 'f i can't sleep, neither can you." you huff out a laugh at his petulant demand. you hum as he bandages your arm up carefully. " i think i can do that." you sigh.

"i wasn't asking." he retorts, looking up at you seriously "don't go knocking out on me."

you're left speechless at his words. because despite what he says, you know what he means. you've known katsuki for too long not to.

it’s stupid that such a simple sentence has you blinking rapidly, sniffling away the tears forming in your lash line. katsuki sighs. even when you tried acting tough, you’ve always been such a crybaby.

neither of you say a word as he finishes bandaging up your wounds. he insists on rewrapping up your hand and your heart squeezes because you know he’s stalling and it would be time for you to go soon.

it’s for the better, you think. despite your heart tying itself in knots, you won’t allow katsuki to get caught up in them.

he finishes and no words are exchanged. he stares at you, pleading for something you’re not quite sure about, or at least that’s what you tell yourself (you’ve known him way too long not to know what he wants). you avoid his gaze, your eyes growing misty again when you hear him sigh in defeat before he gets up from his bed and leaves the room.

while you’re throwing your jacket on and tugging your dirty boots back on (katsuki was a stickler about keeping his room clean) you can’t help but look around his room. it makes you giggle how he hadn’t really changed that much at all.

he’s thrown out most of his action figures but it seems he just couldn’t separate himself from the all might one’s. he’s still got the all might poster, his pride and joy that he never stopped showing off when you were kids. and then you see something on the shelf where he keeps all his manga.

katsuki walks back into the room and his shoulders visibly sag when he sees you ready to go. you don’t see it though, you’re focused on something on his shelf, he raises a brow.

before he can ask you anything though, you turn to him with a sly little grin, the grin he knows you have when you’re about to say some dumb shit. he hates that about you.

you’ve got a small rubber band looking thing pinched around your finger and katsuki feels his stomach drop.

"you still have this ? " you twirl the braided friendship bracelet you’d made for him when you were kids around your thumb and index finger, giggling when you see katsuki’s expression morph from curiosity to embarrassment. faster than you could blink, he’s already stomping over to you. he wobbles around a little on his bed to reach over your shoulder to snatch the bracelet back.

“don’t go snooping through my stuff !” his fingers are inches away from the bracelet when you switch it over to your other hand. a struggle breaks out where you push and shove at each other. you end up underneath him with him trying to open up your hand tightly clutching onto your bracelet.

“s’not snooping—if it’s just sitting out in the open !” you giggle. he finally manages to snatch his bracelet out of your death grip with a huff and a pinch at your thigh. you don’t miss the way he inspects it carefully before deciding it was unharmed and placing it right back where you’d found it. your heart squeezes despite yourself.

“either way, don’t go puttin’ yer dirty paws on my stuff. you’ll get your germs on them.” he snickers childishly. you’re just as if not more childish because you blow a raspberry at him. katsuki squishes your cheeks out with his hand in response.

you realize you feel a little too comfy, then realize you’re laying in katsuki’s bed and suddenly spring up to try and leave but a hand pushes at your chest, stopping you from doing so. “where the hell do you think you’re goin’, huh ?”

“home ?”

“don’t think so.” he utters simply, pushing you down onto his bed harshly “you’re not going anywhere.”

“katsu—“

“shut up. none of that bullshit you spout all the time” he leans down until your noses almost brush against each other, you inhaling sharply and katsuki grips the sheets next to your head “ if you get yourself in trouble again, i’m the one you’re gonna come bother and i’m trynna sleep. you’re staying.”

the asshole knows exactly what to say to make you feel bad, even if he doesn’t mean to. so you swallow the lump in your throat and concede “okay, fine” you nod “but i gotta leave super early, so don’t be surprised to see me gone when you wake up.”

“s’less trouble for me if you are.” he quips. he’s mean, he’s always been mean. yet his eyes tell a different story. there he goes again with those pleading eyes. the ones that make you want to spill your entire heart and more, to give your life and soul to him. you turn your face away from him.

“stop that.” he whispers, nosing at your neck, your heartbeat picks up and his does too.

“stop what ?” you're playing dumb, you know it. and unfortunately, katsuki knows it too.

“stop trying to act all hard. you know i won’t fall for that shit. those other extra’s might, but i won’t.” he’s awfully quiet. it almost gives you whiplash how he’d went from wrestling you to doing..whatever this was. you don’t mind, despite yourself. “known you too fuckin’ long, unfortunately.”

“yeah” you choke out “yeah, unfortunately.” you feel tears burning in your eyes but you refuse to let them fall, that’d be unfair. you’re not allowed to be upset over something you’d caused.

“for fucks sake’s, yn” katsuki goes from gripping his sheets to gripping your wrists, you close your eyes. “ just—fuckin’—“

“i’m sorry.” you whimper, he pauses.

“i’m sorry, i shouldn’t have come tonight, or any other night” you sniffle “i should’ve—you should’ve forgotten about me.”

you’re babbling, you always do when you get in your own head. when you refuse to tell him what’s bothering you, determined to do everything yourself, katsuki hates that about you. though it’s something he can’t really get too angry at you for, cus he does it too.

you’re babbling and you’re crying like you always do because you’re a crybaby despite acting like you’re not, and katsuki hates that about you. that’s why he sighs and flips you both over so you’re laying on top of him. immediately despite your better judgment, despite claiming he should’ve forgotten you, you cling to him like he’ll disappear if you don’t.

you’re clingy. you’ve always clung to him. you’re annoying, spoiled and bratty. you make dumb jokes and you never take anything seriously and you cry easily and katsuki tells himself he hates all of that about you.

because it’s easier to say than admit he’s hopelessly in love with you.

he doesn’t care about waking up late to treat your wounds, he’d stay up all night even if it meant fucking up his sleep schedule just to take care of you. he’d give everything he has just to hear you giggle at your own stupid jokes and he’d offer up every limited edition all might figure he has just to stay here and bicker with you over nothing. he’d always comfort you cus you cry easily and he wants to breathe the same air you do constantly, he’d swallow you whole and keep you safe right next to his heart if he could.

you’re clingy, annoying, spoiled and bratty and all of the above but katsuki would do absolutely anything for you.

so he comforts you as you lay crying into his chest. apologizing about something he has no idea about. he’ll ask and he knows you won’t answer him, but he doesn’t care. as long as you’re here.

you fall asleep soon after and you’re still clutching onto him. he reciprocates by holding onto you just as tightly, hoping it keeps you safe as you dream. it’s a stupid thought, he thinks. but it seems you’ve gone and wiped your germs onto his heart.

“you drive me fuckin’ crazy.” he whispers into the air. you’re still wrapped up snuggly in his embrace and his black sheets. in his room where you’d spent the majority of your childhood together. until you came to him with a snotty nose and big wet eyes and told him you weren’t allowed to come play at his house anymore.

fate must think it’s so fucking funny, because despite you not coming over anymore you’d ended up going to the same school every year afterwards, even now ending up in the same class. and with you sneaking into his room almost every night to have him clean up your injuries.

he knows you’ll be gone in the morning, somehow untangling yourself from his snake like grip. with tired eyes and some treat from that coffee shop you know he likes, your stupid way of apologizing to him. katsuki wants to tell you you don’t have to do that because he’d forgive any crime you commit. he’ll turn a blind eye to whatever you do even though he’s studying to do the exact opposite because it’s you and he loves you. but you’ll get in your own head and start assuming stuff. so he accepts your chocolate covered croissants and splits both with you.

you must’ve hit your head extra hard during your late night excursion to think katsuki would ever forget about you. you’re stupid that’s for sure, and katsuki wants to say he hates that about you. but that’d make him stupid too.

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the-record · 5 months

Text

COWBOYS LIKE YOU

SYNOPSIS: you should stop letting her through that door

PAIRING: cowboy!abby x reader

WARNINGS: a touch of homophobia

A/N: this isnt great, and makes me sad, but i like it!! trying to be a little less dialogue focused

“do you have to go?” your voice is soft as abby lets the question linger in the air. “i hate it when you leave. its lonely.”

her fingers slide carefully up and down your arm and she sighs. “im sorry angel.” abby wraps her arms around you and pulls tight, trying to get you as close as possible. “you know it ain’t safe for us out there though.”

you knew she was right, seen first hand just what people think about sappho and her friends. felt the rage and anger that came when two women who just loved each other.

these nights with her were nice. the sun still going down and the heat with it. crickets started their song and birds finishing theirs. you had pulled the sheets up halfway when it cooled, the sweat on yalls skin disappearing with the breeze.

abbys nails were kept short always, but theyd begin to grow out and were gently scratching at your skin. her hair had finally grown out again and you twisted it around your fingers.

when you’d found her that night, you had to bring her back. clean up her hair, her wounds, her clothes. you couldnt leave a sweet thing like her out in the cold to die. or the boy that was with her. you never did see him again, but it meant more time just you and her.

“i can stay one more day. but then i ought to get back on.” she pressed a sweet kiss to your forehead. “you get some rest now, let me make us somethin’ warm and good for dinner.” you whine as she untangles herself from you, but only laughs before leaving the room.

you don’t remember when you nodded off, but you do remember waking up to something smelling good. she stumbled in with a tray full of plates and cups. she smiled when she saw you sit up.

“well good mornin’ sunshine.” you rolled your eyes as abby settled in beside you. “now, no more of that attitude, not when i made you somethin’ nice.”

you scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest. “now i know good and well that you, abby anderson, are not talking.” she returned the eye roll, albeit not very well. “now what is on my menu tonight mrs anderson?”

abby always left without warning, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. but you always managed to make a move on from her, prepared with the fact that she may never be back for you.

you tended to the farm, your cows. made breakfast and dinner each and every day, sweet tea and lemonade for the hot afternoons. you did afternoon tea in the ladies parlor on saturdays and church on sundays. you kept on the way you always did, never missing a beat.

until a fateful cool evening when someone came knocking on your screen, scaring you half to death as you stirred beside the stove. you sighed as you made your way to the door, wiping your hands on the apron you had on.

you nearly tripped over your own feet seeing abby at your door. took everything in you not to rush and pull her in.

she was different than when you last saw her. new clothes, hair in a loose braid, cuts and blood all over. but you didn’t yet even open the door, she had much to say first.

“before i even start, know how sorry i am. know i didnt mean for it to be this long.” she winced as she leaned on her other leg. “i wanted to come, truly i did, but ive been running all over hell’s half acre. i had business.”

you huffed, pulling the door open and taking her with you to the kitchen. “im so sorry angel, please talk to me.” you sat her down on a stool before heading back to your dinner. “what do i need to do to make it all better?”

she quieted down when you didnt respond, watching you cook. she always loved watching you do household things. made her feel right at home again.

she smiled when you sat her bowl down infront of her, stopping and staring with a frown. she wanted to tell you how pretty you were but held off, you scared her quiet a bit. her hands moved to your hips but you slapped them away and grabbed the wet rag she hadnt noticed.

“eat your damn food.” she slowly spooned the meal into her mouth as you wiped at the old cuts on her face. she winced and pulled away but you pulled back. “stop movin’ when im tryna fix you up.” she nodded as softly as possible.

when you finished, you took the rag and half finished plate with you, pulling the fork from abbys mouth. “go wash up, you will not be dirty in my house.” she nodded, though you weren’t looking, and left to the bathroom.

the plate sat on the counter as you heard her harsh steps up your stairs. you held your head in your hands and took a shaky breath.

you didnt expect her to come back. figured it was final this time. and you certainly didnt expect her at your door like that. you had to pull it together though, couldnt let her see you like this.

you washed up and wiped the kitched till it was spotless before heading upstairs to abby. she was still sitting tending to her wounds when you found her. “you’re doing it wrong.” she dropped what she was doing and slouched. “let me.”

you were gentle with your touch, knowing it was always what she needed. she lived such a hard life that sometimes she needed a gentle touch, some loving. “what in the god damn world did you get yourself into this time?” abby sniffed and you looked up for the first time.

“i hate going out there. i dont wanna anymore.” you hushed her, pulled her close. “can i stay?”

“you can do whatever you want.” you kissed her face, running your fingers through her hair. “im here no matter what you decide.” she nodded and squeezed your hand. “now let me fix up these stitches. you have no idea what your doing. bless your heart.” she laughed softly and you copied. “seriously though, sit still for me.”

“im sorry i always leave.”

it was a quiet night. crickets too tired to so much as hum, and the cow sleeping to forget the chill of the dark. the house had a chill but you and abby huddled to ignore it. it was peaceful. you missed this peace.

you hummed in response, leaning on her chest to see her face. “so don’t.” but she said nothing. did nothing. “abby…”

she shook her head. “im sorry.”

#abby anderson x reader #abby anderson fluff #abby x fem!reader #abby anderson x female reader #abby anderson tlou2 #abby anderson tlou #abby the last of us #abby anderson x y/n #abby anderson x you #abby anderson angst #abby anderson

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minustwofingers · 1 year

Text

exoplanet part 5

pairing: ellie williams x fem!reader

masterlist! read all the other parts here!

summary: you’ve won the life lottery as one of the few people on earth with parents who gained admittance to the most prestigous safezone in the world after the outbreak. but after a lab accident sends you out to jackson, wyoming, real life hits you fast. it’s a good thing that a hot lesbian finds u. (lol). mean ellie at first, slowburn, enemies to friends to lovers, fem reader asf

warnings: violence, Angst with a capital A, ellie being an asshole, nsfw content (minors dni), mentions of vomiting, language, that’s all i can think of now

a/n: ...hey...how yall doing...sorry for edging u all nonstop. that was kind of silly of me. in my defense a) this was a super tough chapter for me to write bc i am very concerned abt how this is going to come off after the lead up and b) i kind of forgot i was a person for the past month bc ive been legit just studying every waking minute and doing nothing else. but anyway here it is! i am so so thankful for everyone’s patience and i’m sorry it took me so long to get this out!

word count: 11k

tags~ @intrnetdoll @dazedshoon @lovecaraya @pctcr @sariyaflowr @loser-keiji @prettyplant0 @666findgod @sawaagyapong @rystarkov @buzzybuzzsposts @addisonnie @galacticstxrdust @parkersmyth @pinkazelma @ariianelle @lu002 @blairfox04 @sparkleswonderland @elliesflower @muthafuckingstargirl

exoplanet inspired playlist!

note - this chapter is not very heavily edited despite (and perhaps because of) its size. i am so sorry if there are really obvious and lazy errors—i will come back and do an overall edit once the series is completed!

enjoy <3

When you were 16, you had your first taste of infinity, wrapped up in the elegant bow of calculus.

You see, all calculus is is the study of change. That’s what your professors drilled into you over and over again. All these fancy symbols and derivatives and integrals—they meant something. All these strange curly brackets and greek letters had a home in tangible reality.

Everything except for the infinity symbol.

You struggled for months on the concepts of limits, on the idea of harnessing infinity. If something was truly infinite, how could you possibly decide where it would end up? How did anyone perform any calculations with the overhanging threat of “goes on forever”?

Everything that has ever existed is finite. It always has been finite, always will be. Even the Sun that warms your skin and grows your crops will eventually explode. Even energy, with its nifty rule of conservation, will stand no chance against a black hole.

There are no natural instances of infinity.

So why were you—of all people—the one who turned your nose up at the consideration that so much of mathematics was based off this shoddy theory of the never-ending—so fucking stupid as to believe that what you had going on wasn’t bound to the same laws of nature?

“Shit,” you said, staring down at the paper. “Shit. Oh my god.”

When you finally tore your eyes from the paper and looked back up at her, she wouldn’t look back.

“It had to be someday now, right? They weren’t going to just leave you out here.”

You swallowed. It did nothing for the gargantuan sized lump in your throat that was currently threatening to escape as a sob. “I—I didn’t think I—”

“No use dwelling on it, huh?” She finally met your eyes, sending you a tight smile. “I assumed it’d be any day now.”

Something twisted inside of you. “What? You were expecting this?”

She shrugged, then reached out to nudge your shoulder. “Come back to bed?”

“I—” The lump that was in your throat rolled higher to the point where it was beginning to choke you out. “Why—”

Ellie paused, lingering by the door and saying nothing.

“You’re coming with me,” you announced once you’d gathered your words. “I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

“Let’s not do this out here,” Ellie said. She appeared so passive and undisturbed that it made you want to scream. “It’s so early. We’ll talk about it when we’ve slept more, okay?”

You stood, your feet glued to the rickety floorboards of Joel’s porch as you calculated. As if you could just go to sleep after all of this.

“You can just stand out here too if you’d like,” Ellie finally said. “But I’d like to take advantage of what time we have left. Is that okay?”

What time we have left. Like a future where she was still in your life was such high fantasy that she wouldn’t even entertain it.

“Right,” you said. Your voice nearly broke. “Let’s—let’s do that.”

You did not sleep. Instead, you watched the sunlight slowly fill the room, catching on the objects and trinkets that littered her desk and walls that you’d never gotten to see outside of the dark of the night. Instead, you thought about how jealous you were of the posters on her walls and the figurines on her dresser, granted the blessing of actual permanence in Ellie’s world—a gift that had always been denied to you.

You harbored a suspicion that Ellie was also awake. You could feel her blink against your neck.

The day began with the subtlety of an anvil falling from the sky. The moment the clock struck 8, there was yelling and audible bustling in the streets as Jackson discovered the notices that had been dropped from the sky hours before.

There was a soft knock at the door.

“Ellie? You up?”

She sat up, sending you an apologetic look as she ran a hand through her hair to smooth it. “Yeah.”

Before you could process what was happening, the door creaked open to reveal a fully dressed Joel, holding one of the envelopes in his hand.

Upon seeing you in her bed, he blinked once, hard. A shock of fear ran through you before you remembered you weren’t at home.

“I’m sorry,” he said, taking a step back. “I didn’t realize you were in here, Y/N. I would’ve come back later.”

“It’s fine, Joel,” said Ellie, her face a crimson red.

He coughed awkwardly. “Well, anyway. Y/N, I’ve got some good news for you. Looks like they’ve located you.”

“I, uh, heard,” you said. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“I’ve been looking over the coordinates,” he said, holding up the paper and squinting in the morning light. “It looks like this just a week or so up north. Short jaunt. Not too dangerous, from what Tommy says. One of us can take ya. We’ve got plenty of time from now until the pickup date to prepare.”

“Thank you.” Your voice wavered, and your eyes searched for Ellie’s. She was staring down at her sheets.

Joel bid his goodbyes and told Ellie he’d need her in the afternoon, then shut the door softly behind him.

You turned to her. “Can we talk about—”

“No.”

“Please.” Your fingers curled around her wrist as you angled your face into her line of sight. “Can we at least talk about it?”

Her teeth pulled at her bottom lip. “Talk about what? I have a home here, Y/N. I can’t leave. I have Joel, and Dina, and Tommy, and…” She swallowed, pulling away from your grip. “I’m not like you. I can’t live in a place like Terranova. I wouldn’t fit in.”

“I’ll take anyone you want with us,” you promised her, moving to cup her face in your hands. Her eyes were resigned as they met yours. “And you don’t have to be anything you don’t want to be. I’ll do all the talking.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Trying this hard,” Ellie elaborated. “You’ve only known me for—what—3 months? And you’re going about this like it’s normal to expect me to uproot myself from where I live? This may just be an inconsequential random snippet of your life to you, but Jackson is my home. Leaving it isn’t so easy for me.”

“I never said leaving is easy.” You were dangerously close to breaking down. “I don’t want to leave you. Don’t you understand?”

“You’re going to be fine without me.” Ellie’s voice was sour.

“But the thing is that I won’t be,” you retorted, ignoring how your voice cracked. “You asked me last night how long it would take me to forget you. The answer is that I won’t. I’m never going to forget you, and I’ve never met anyone who makes me feel quite like you do. Maybe you don’t feel the same way. That’s fine. But can you fault me for at least trying to save the one thing in my life that I want? The one thing in my life I chose for myself?”

When she didn’t respond, you continued.

“I am so, so tired of letting life happen to me,” you said, your throat dry. “I have lived 20 years of my life making myself convenient. I did everything right. I went to the right schools. I got the right grades. I hung out with the right people. But nothing has ever made me feel more alive than you. So I would like to at least attempt to keep you.”

There. You’d said it. Out of anything else to say, you slowly retracted your hands, letting your fingers slip through that fabric of her shirt that you’d been gripping.

“I am not a thing.” The words fell heavily out of her mouth. She wouldn’t look at you. “Don’t you see how selfish you’re being? This is where I belong. You can’t just expect people to follow you around because you want them to.”

“That’s not—” Your voice broke. The hurt in your chest was so acute that you’d take being shot with an arrow over it any day. You sucked in another breath and tried again.”That’s—not what I want you to do. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that you saw me that way.”

You were so stupid. So, so stupid. She let you sleep in her bed once, and that was enough to convince you that she would drop her entire life here to come stay with you. Of course she didn’t see you like that.

But you were upset, so you decided to add the nail in your coffin.

“Would it be so bad if I stayed?”

Ellie let out a long sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose between her fingers. It occurred to you that maybe you were annoying her. Maybe she wanted you to leave.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said flatly. “You’re going back.”

“What if I didn’t?”

“You promised.”

“I don’t want to go.”

Ellie blinked hard, then set her jaw before meeting your eyes with startling intensity. “Listen,” she said, her voice harsh, “You do know that you’re just a guest, right?”

“What?”

“You’re a guest,” she repeated, her tone clipped. She continued to stare into you. “You do realize that you’re living in a house that isn’t yours, right? You’re eating food that’s paid for by work shifts that you’re barely equipped to do?”

You furiously swept away the tears brimming on the edge of your eye socket as the gravity of her words finally sunk in.

A guest.

That’s all you’d been.

“This has been a very enlightening conversation.” You pushed off from her bed, throwing the blankets off and straightening out your clothes while you avoided looking at her. If you did, you’d see that look of conviction in her eyes—the one that told you that she meant every word she said.

You stopped at the door, flexing your fingers on the knob as you turned back in her general direction, staring at the floorboards near her feet.

“Thank you for being honest.” Your voice cracked over the final syllables, crunching in your throat and sounding profoundly pathetic.

You were gone before she could say anything else.

Ellie didn’t knock on your door after that. In fact, you hardly ever saw her apart from the occasional blur in the kitchen, her hair thrown haphazardly into a half-bun and her backpack slung over one shoulder as she prepared to leave for whatever work she had to do.

The few times you ever were next to her were when Dina invited you along to get-togethers with her and her friends. Ellie was late once and the only empty seat was next to you. She lingered by the doorway, her few seconds of pause making your chest tighten.

“Sit down, Ellie,” Dina said, snorting and rolling her eyes.

She sat down with so much space between you two left that it was all you could do to not stare at the expanse of vacant fabric. It was funny how something so simple could be so glaringly offensive.

From the corner of your eye, you watched her fingers flex and toy with themselves in a way you’d come to recognize as one of her nervous habits. You yearned to reach out and fold your hands over hers like you would have done just a week or so ago, but you forced that feeling down with all the self-control you could muster.

After everyone else had left, Dina stopped you.

“Did something happen between you and Ellie?” Dina asked, her eyebrows furrowed. “I noticed that you guys don’t hang out together anymore.”

Your mouth opened. There was so much that you wanted to tell her, so much that you’d held back. When you saw the kindness deep in her liquid brown eyes, you couldn’t help yourself. You burst into tears.

“Oh, Y/N.” Her voice was soft as she led you back to the couch, draping an arm around you and letting you get snot all over her shoulder. “What happened?”

And so you told her, albeit with the occasional hiccuped or sniffled interruption as you tried to gather yourself up. Dina’s hand ran up and down your arm in a motion so comforting that if you thought too hard about it you were going to just start crying harder.

“Ellie’s an asshole sometimes,” she said finally. “I think—I think this is a shitty situation for everyone.”

“It doesn’t seem particularly shitty for her,” you said, sniffling loudly. “She doesn’t even seem to care.”

Dina sent you a look. “This is what Ellie does when she cares. She’s just really fucking weird like that. It’s, like,—do you have stray animals in Terranova?”

You shook your head miserably. “No.”

“Of course you don’t. Well,” she continued, “They’re normally very complicated little things. They want love but don’t know how to ask for it. And when they get it, sometimes they don’t know what to do with it.”

“Ellie doesn’t love me. She’s made it very clear what she thinks about me.”

“If she didn’t care, she wouldn’t be going around sulking all day,” Dina pointed out, reaching around to tug a lock of your hair in emphasis. “Don’t let this hurt you. She just doesn’t know how to handle this.”

“I don’t know what to do,” you said. You pulled your knees up to your chest. “She avoids me as much as she can. And even if I managed to catch her, I don’t know if I could handle what she’d say to me.”

Dina sighed, leaning into you. “I’ll talk to Joel. He’s the only one I know who can talk some sense into her.”

Jackson was steadily warming. You’d never seen so much sun before in your life—not even in the peak of the Terranovan summers. It was a cruel contrast to the numbness that was steadily spreading within you, the numbness that grew whenever you saw Ellie and it hit you that you were nearing your last few interactions with her.

That night, Joel had officially told you that you were leaving in a week to make the date that the Terranovan contacts had set. You’d decided to go on a walk after, unable to stay still in your room while you heard the familiar creaks and bumps from Ellie’s room.

As you walked onto the porch, you heard Joel’s southern drawl say something hushed to Ellie. You paused at the front door, wondering if you’d be able to catch it, but Joel remained silent. There was a tension that hung in the air, as if they were waiting for the door to fully shut behind you. You took the hint and let it fall closed.

The gravel crunched under your feet as you walked, feeling the early summer breeze waft across your skin. It was just warm enough to be comfortable. When you were back home in just a few weeks, you were going to have to get used to the constant rain and chill that battered Terranova until July.

You were going to have to get used to a lot of things, actually. But it was probably best not to think about that now.

There was nothing left of the sun beyond the slimmest line of cerulean resting on the peaks of the mountains in the distance by the time you reached where you were headed. It was an empty meadow, originally intended for extra horse paddocks that no one had ever gotten around to building. You’d discovered it one night in April when you and Ellie had been walking back from Dina’s, admiring the night sky and talking about nothing to each other.

It was the only place within the walls where the grass was clean and dry enough to lie back and stare up at the night sky. So, here you were, sprawled out in the greenery and watching the universe unfold and brighten above you.

You’d spent so many years of your life staring at textbook photos and fantasizing about what it must’ve been like to gaze up at the stars without the haze of light pollution. Terranova was so compact that you’d be lucky to look up and see any stars, even in the height of winter.

There was an observatory that was set up near the outer border, but even that wasn’t far away enough to escape the city lights. No one (well, now it was almost no one) had the clearance to leave the walls. Astronomers who had come before the time of the outbreak now had to settle for their tiny sliver of the sky, instead passing on their stories of beautiful starry nights in Africa and other foreign lands that you’d never get to see.

Here, though, you were able to see beyond what you could ever imagine. Alongside the dazzling brightness of every star within sight were the colorful wisps of the Milky Way, threading in and around the billions of twinkling suns. It was an explosion of light that brimmed with possibility. Maybe there was a world out there just like this one. There had to be—with trillions or gazillions of solar systems just like our own, you were probably looking in the general direction of a planet just as populated and industrialized as yours.

It hit you then like a ton of bricks—you would never see this again.

Something rustled behind you, but you stayed put, letting your weight sink into the ground and feeling the coolness of the Earth against you.

The rustling continued, passing your ear.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a pair of familiar ragged black converses by your feet.

Ellie laid down close enough that you could feel the waves of heat coming off of her bare arm, but not so near as to touch you.

There was so much that you wanted to say, but nothing came out. All you could do was stare up at the sky, wondering if she was doing the same or looking at you.

There was a nudge at the edge of your hand, tentative at first before Ellie fully slid hers under yours, entwining your fingers and tightly squeezing. It felt suspiciously like an apology.

You sent a pulse back. Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes as her thumb began to gently trace the skin on the back of your hand, back and forth.

The clammy coolness of Ellie’s hand faded into warmth as you two sat there without a word, letting the heavy silence speak for itself. The line on the horizon faded to black, leaving nothing but the moonlight to wash over you.

There were so many things you wanted to say to her. You wanted to apologize, to tell her you never meant to impose. You wanted her to know that you didn’t expect her to give up her whole life for you. But the weight of the quiet hanging between you two felt far too massive to shake off.

An arc of white streaked across the sky, its tail long and dazzling before it vanished.

“Shooting star!” you exclaimed, jutting your free hand up to the heavens and temporarily forgetting your speechlessness. You’d never seen one before, despite your many years of studying the meteor showers and examining the geological composition of meteorites.

“Do you not have those back home?”

“No,” you said. Now you felt a little embarrassed about how the first thing that you said to her was about the star, not about any of the other pressing issues. “Too much light pollution.”

“That sucks,” mused Ellie, her voice oddly casual. “That’ll be an adjustment for me.”

You froze. “What?”

“I said,” repeated Ellie, “That’ll be an adjustment for me. When I come with you.”

The jolt of shock that shot through you stole your breath, leaving you to just stare at her while her words sunk in.

Her gaze shifted from the sky to you. The ghost of a familiar smirk pulled at the corners of her lips, but something was missing.

“You’re joking.”

She shrugged. “Only if you want me to be.”

“I can’t ask that of you.”

“You don’t need to ask me. I’ve decided.”

“You’re sure?”

There was a sheen in her eyes that you hadn’t seen before. “Positive.”

“Oh my god!” You threw yourself at her, laughter spilling from you as you buried your face in her neck.

Ellie didn’t say anything. She just threaded her fingers through your hair, an arm coming to rest around your waist.

“I’m sorry for everything I said to you,” she said, her breath tickling your ear.

“That’s okay.” You sat up, leaning over her as your fingertips traced the curve of her jaw. Being allowed to touch her again after wanting it so badly for weeks felt unreal. “I just missed you.”

She smiled up at you, but her eyes were sad. “I’ve missed you, too.”

It made sense that she wasn’t completely elated, you reasoned as you reveled in the feel of your skin dragging across hers. She was going to have to say goodbye to so much—even the stars.

“I told you that Joel can come along,” you reminded. “And Tommy. And Maria. Whoever you’d like.”

“I think they’re set on staying here,” Ellie said, sighing.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said.

You dipped your head down, pressing your lips to hers. It was a light brush, but it was enough to send your head spinning after not touching her for so long.

“It’s worth it,” she added.

Your heart swelled, and you were overwhelmed with the desire to freeze the moment as it was and live in it forever. Everything was perfect—the gentle weight of the summer breeze, the light chattering of the crickets and croaks of the frogs in the nearby creek, the way her lips felt against yours, the sky that stretched out infinitely above you. Everything, especially Ellie.

After the night in the meadow, things shifted. Ellie was no longer just publicly interacting with you when forced and keeping all intimacy confined to the hours after 10, but instead finding every excuse to kiss you and touch you, regardless of the context.

It felt almost sinful how abundant Ellie’s affection was now after it had been withheld for so long. The intimidating and distant side of hers crumpled before your eyes, leaving in its wake the remains of a girl who was scared and desperate for affection.

You slept in her room now. That had been a development that you hadn’t expected, but after you two had walked in from the meadow, her hand wrapped around your wrist as you made to go to your room. You hadn’t been back to your bed since.

Ellie was an extraordinarily clingy sleeper, even when the heat outside was mounting. You’d wake up in the middle of the night feeling her cold hands stuck under your shirt, her hair occasionally in your mouth when she burrowed her face into your neck.

When she woke up with a jolt, mumbling something about a nightmare and clammy with a sheen of sweat, she’d let you play with her hair and tell her stories of your life before Jackson.

She would eventually drift, her breath hot against your skin as you sat and watched the stress lines disappear from her face.

On nights that were especially bad, she’d babble to you about her experiences with Joel. That’s when you learned about David—about what really happened the day that she saw a stalker the first time. You’d been stunned into silence, blinking at her as you tried to process what she’d just told you.

Fourteen. She’d been a child when that’d happened.

The more you learned about Ellie’s life, the more you wanted to wrap her up in bubble wrap and never let her go outside again. What you’d once seen as bravery and an inherent toughness revealed itself to be the result of a gruesome and abhorrent process, of a collection of events that could have easily stripped away her humanity.

But she had saved you. And not only that, she was coming with you. She was giving up everything for you.

Something nagged at you as the day for your departure grew nearer, something that told you that she would get cold feet when it came down to packing up and actually leaving Jackson. But she’d promised you. She’d sworn that she’d come with you.

So there was nothing to worry about.

A spring shower accompanied you in your walk down to Dina’s house, appropriately dampening your hair so that it was about the same wetness as your eyes that brimmed with tears.

You were leaving in two days. This was going to be your goodbye to her.

In some ways, you couldn’t help but feel guilty the way you’d spent significantly less time with her ever since you’d made up with Ellie. At the time, it had just happened. The elation of being in Ellie’s good graces had clouded over the thought of seeing anyone else, Dina or otherwise. Now the fact that you would never see her again was slowly sinking in, coupled with the dread of leaving everything you’d known for the past season.

You mulled over your thoughts as you knocked on her door, wiping your eyes so as to not embarrass yourself. If Dina saw that you were crying, then she’d say something really sweet and comforting, and then you’d be reduced into a sniffling mess within minutes.

You had to pretend that you were fine for at least the first few minutes. You could give yourself that.

Nothing but silence greeted you on the other side of the door. You frowned. Dina was off in the morning; you’d been sure to check. Was she mad at you?

The following knocks at her door continued to go unanswered, and worry started to rise in your throat. Maybe she was mad at you. It had been pretty shitty, disappearing off to hang out with your sort-of-girlfriend when Dina was the one you’d be ultimately leaving.

“Dina?” you called out as a last ditch attempt. “You there?”

There was a shuffling sound from inside the house—quiet, but there. “Y/N? Is that you?”

“Yeah! It’s me!” You couldn’t quite read her tone yet, but she didn’t sound like the care-free, happy Dina that you’d come to be familiar with. Something was wrong.

“Just come in!”

She’d never not been there to answer the door. Dread began to build within you.

The door groaned as you turned the doorknob and pushed it in, revealing Dina’s dimly lit sitting room. The overhead light was off, the curtains were drawn tight, and just one flickering candle in the middle put off any light.

And there was Dina, crouched on the couch, knees up to her chest and tucked under her chin.

“Are you okay?!” You shut the door behind you and rushed to her side, the old couch wobbling as the cushion adjusted to your weight.

“You weren’t supposed to see me like this,” said Dina, wiping the tear streaks away from her cheek with her palm. “I’m sorry. I was planning on doing a fun going-away thing for you and Ellie. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

“What happened?” you asked, bringing up a hand to rest on her shoulder.

Dina stayed quiet, instead burying her face into her knees and letting out a rattling sigh.

“Is it because Ellie’s leaving?”

She laughed then, a short, disbelieving chuckle. “No,” she said, sniffling. “It’s not Ellie.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’m—oh, God, I can’t say it.”

“You can tell me anything, you know,” you said gently, your hand moving to rub circles into her shoulder. “I’m not going to judge you. Or tell anyone else, either. Not even Ellie.”

“I’m…” She took in one breath, then shut her eyes. “I’m pregnant.”

Your heart skipped. In all of your worries about the apocalypse, you’d forgotten that comparatively trivial issues like teen pregnancy existed.

“Pregnant?” you repeated.

“Yes.” Dina furiously swiped at her face. “Pregnant. Fucking—fucking pregnant, and I’m not even with Jesse anymore. It’s bullshit, all of it. I didn’t think I—I was so careful—”

“And you’re totally sure?” you asked, trying to school your features into something that didn’t resemble absolute horror and failing abysmally. “Like, is it possible that you’re just late or something?”

She shook her head, hiccuping once. “No. I’ve missed two now. I thought the first one was just because I was stressed. Then the second happened, and I took a pregnancy test that I’d snagged, mostly for jokes, from one of the pharmacies I passed during a patrol.”

“And it came back positive?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe you don’t need to worry about it yet.” Despite the content of your words, hysteria was rising in your voice. “Maybe it’s expired. They do that, don’t they? That thing has to be—what—almost 30 years old? Maybe it’s faulty.”

“I know that I’m pregnant,” Dina said firmly. “I don’t know how else to put it. I just know I do. Something’s not right. I’m tired all of the time. I don’t get periods, but I’m spotting. I’m just not myself anymore. I’ve never felt like this.”

You swallowed. Pregnancy was something that you had always mentally earmarked as a problem for your older self. The thought of growing a human being inside of you and then pushing it out chilled you to the bone, and that was even with the knowledge that if you ever fell pregnant you’d be giving birth with an epidural and the help of trained medical professionals.

Out here, though? There was none of that.

“I know this is stupid,” Dina began, her voice raspy, “But I’m so, so scared. I’ve fought hordes of infected and killed people, but the thought of having to go through this is too much. I don’t think I can do it.”

“Has anyone here given birth before?” you asked, thinking for a moment before adding to your question. “...Successfully?”

“Maria. Once. And a few unsuccessful attempts. One of my old patrol buddies Wryn…she wasn’t so lucky.”

“Oh,” you said, hoping the horror on your face was sufficiently hidden. “Um—do you know how your mother was when she had you? That’s a good indicator, right?”

Dina sent you a watery smile. “Uh, that’s the thing. She didn’t make it.”

Your heart thudded harder in your chest as her smile melted away and she choked out another sob, dropping her head onto her knees. She looked so impossibly small and frail. It was difficult to reconcile the image with the Dina you were most familiar with, the one that was larger than life and wasn’t afraid of anything.

“What if you came with me?” you heard your voice say.

Her eyes snapped up to yours. “What?”

“Come with me,” you said, doctoring your words to sound more commanding. “I’ll take you with me and Ellie. We’re leaving in just a few days. You’ll be safe. Your baby will be safe. You’ll survive. You’ll have the best doctors alive in the world—I’ll make sure of it.”

“I can’t ask that of you,” she said. Her arm came up to swipe under her nose, and you could see the dark marks from the previous snot on the faded maroon fabric. “That’s—no. I can’t.”

“I’m telling you that I’ll take you. I don’t need you to ask me. I want you to live, Dina. I want you to have a good life. I’ve told you how it is there, right? How nice everything is? How everything’s at your fingertips? That can be yours.”

“How do you even know they’ll let you bring guests?”

“Because they know my family,” you said. “If I say that I’m not coming home without you and Ellie, then they’ll take you.”

“Oh, so you’re some big shot?”

“Sort of.”

“Right.” Dina laughed dryly, throwing her hands up. “Why the fuck not. I’m going to Terranova.”

“Do you believe in aliens?”

Ellie’s voice cut through the crickets and frog song in the night air. You two were lying down in the meadow, soaking in the last few hours you had left.

“Of course,” you said, turning to face her.

“What do you mean, of course?” she said, a mocking lilt in her voice as she mimicked you.

“I mean that of course there’s aliens out there,” you elaborated. “How could there not be?”

“Why, have you met one?”

You laughed, rolling your eyes. “Obviously not. It’s just—I dunno, it’s an academically accepted hypothesis that there likely is. The universe is so big.”

Ellie was quiet for a few beats before she spoke up again. “It is?”

“Yeah.”

“None of my books ever said anything about that.”

“They wouldn’t have,” you said, a weight settling into your chest. “That was decided after the outbreak occurred.”

When she stayed silent, you elaborated.

“You know that book that I brought? The one about exoplanets?”

“Of course.”

“We think that most stars out there have exoplanets,” you explained, reaching your hand up into the sky, letting your fingers trace over the familiar constellations. “We’re not sure how likely it is to find one with Earth-like conditions, but there’s so many stars with so many possible solar systems that there has to be something out there.”

“That’s so fucking cool.” The rare display of Ellie’s enthusiasm made you crack a grin.

“Right? And when you come back with me, you can study with me. I can get you enrolled in the university. We can go out to the observatory and you can use a real telescope to look at the stars.”

“Yeah,” said Ellie, though she sounded a little more distant now.

You knew you were getting carried away, letting all the fantasies that had been rattling around in your brain come flying off your tongue, but you couldn’t help yourself.

Ellie was coming with you.

You still weren’t sure if you’d ever get used to it. You didn’t understand how she was so okay with it—how she didn’t even need you to ask her to come after she’d said no the first time. The fact that she was so willing to give up everything for you was so heartwarming that it moved you to tears.

No matter how you tried to look at it, you couldn’t quite come to terms with what had driven her to come with you and leave everything behind, even Joel. How Joel was even letting her go was yet another mystery, but as long as you had her, then what did that matter?

That night, after you two had finished stargazing in the meadow, Ellie had held you tighter than ever in her bed, pressing her to you like she thought you were going to run away.

“Is everything alright?” you asked, voice muffled from where your face was pressed into her shoulder.

“I’m just cold,” Ellie complained. She reached down to pull the comforter up to cover you both in emphasis, letting her hands slide under your shirt and rest between your shoulder blades.

“Are you nervous about leaving?”

“A little. You?”

“No,” you said honestly, lifting your head from her chest to meet her gaze with soft eyes. “Not since you agreed to come.”

Her lips pulled into a tight smile before she leaned forward, dropping a kiss onto the tip of your nose.

In your dream, you and Ellie were in your dorm. You explained the meaning of your posters and let her borrow your books.

In your dream, you rambled on about the Hubble space telescope and the life cycle of stars. You pointed to your posters, letting the pads of your fingers catch on on the rough edges of the canvas. When you turned back, Ellie was gone. You’d been rambling to yourself, you realized. Ellie wasn’t there. She’d never been there. All the books you remembered pulling off your shelf to place in her waiting hands were still there, a thin layer of dust on their spines from the neglect your absence had caused.

You awoke in a cold sweat to find that the bed was empty. There was no warmth on the other side that would suggest that Ellie had been there at all.

Sunlight spilled into the room at an angle that suggested it was barely dawn, dust particles dancing in its beam. The light stopped before it reached your backpack, stuffed full with the things you were taking home.

Home. You were going home.

Instead of the relief you were expecting, you felt nothing but acute dread. Maybe you were just tired, you reasoned. It was normal to feel sad that you weren’t going to be seeing the same people that had welcomed you in with open arms for months on end. It was normal for a budding astrophysicist to miss the night sky and the clean air.

The sun had slowly crept up to swallow more of Ellie’s room while you had thought. Though you and Ellie hadn’t specified an exact hour for leaving, it was getting pretty late in the morning. It was time to go.

After you’d dressed and slung your backpack over your shoulder, you took one last look over your shoulder into Ellie’s room. You’d made the bed, of course, but you could still see the divets at the end of the bed where you two had sat on her comforter the night prior.

Ellie had surprisingly left many things, apparently internalizing your stories about Terranova and its abundance of…everything. It was strange, though. All of the classic Ellie items that you’d come to associate with her—the joke book, the broken Walkman, the comic books—were left just as they always were, stacked on her dresser like she was planning on cracking open one of her comic books later.

A sound in the kitchen shook you out of it, reminding you that you were probably holding everyone up.

Joel was in the kitchen with Ellie, handing her a bundle of what you could only assume to be ammo as she rummaged through her backpack.

“Morning, Y/N,” he said casually. “Feeling ready?”

It was strange to see how nonchalant he was acting at the prospect of sending off his adopted daughter forever.

“Yeah,” you said, smiling at him. “Sure you don’t want to come? You’re going to run out of my coffee soon.”

He laughed. “I like it here in Jackson just fine. But thanks, kiddo.”

The dread in your chest grew. Why wasn’t he more upset? Had you overestimated the closeness of their relationship? Was Joel just exceptionally talented at hiding his emotions and being stoic?

That wasn’t true. You knew that that wasn’t true, given that you’d seen him mope around for an entire day before Ellie indulged you and explained that it was the anniversary of his daughter’s—his biological daughter—death. He clearly knew what it was like to experience loss. So why was he so ready to give up Ellie?

Was she even going to come?

That was ridiculous, you thought, scolding yourself. Of course she was going to come. She was packing her bag right in front of you.

As if you’d willed it into existence, Ellie turned around and smiled. “Hey. Sorry for not waking you up. You were out cold.”

“It’s okay,” you said, your cheeks growing steadily pinker. You’d need to remind Ellie that she couldn’t say things like that once she met your family. The implications that you two shared a bed without it being explicitly necessary would be…troubling, to say the least.

Thankfully, Joel didn’t seem to pay it any mind, instead fussing with the straps of her bag.

“You sure these things are comfortable?” he said, turning to Ellie. “It looks like the fasteners are loose.”

“I’ve never noticed,” said Ellie flatly.

You lingered in the space between the counter and the door, awkwardly silent as you tried to figure out what to do. Ellie and Joel were acting really weird, and you couldn’t figure out why. Maybe this was how people in the apocalypse did it—they just avoided saying goodbyes.

Why wouldn’t Joel want to come?

“I’ll go check on Dina,” you said, your cheeks still hot as you stepped back through the door.

Joel and Ellie’s heads lifted.

“Bring her over,” said Joel in response. “We’ll be ready by the time you get back.”

Jackson was bustling as you made your way down the street. You waved to the few schoolchildren you’d been introduced to by Dina and accepted a hug from Bonnie, who was profoundly sad to see you go.

“I’ll miss you,” she said, sniffing as she wiped her nose with the back of her hand without shame. “It really fucking sucks that you have to go home, you know? It was fun patrolling with you.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” you said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Have you said goodbye to Ellie and Dina yet?”

“No,” Bonnie said, her voice wavering. A sheepish look spread on her features. “I’m always bad at saying goodbyes.”

“That’s okay. We’re not leaving until Ellie’s all packed, so you have a bit if you’d like to stop by before.”

“I’ll try,” said Bonnie, touching your elbow and stopping away. “But if I don’t see you again, be safe, alright?”

Dina was sitting on the steps of her front steps, her dark hair spilling over her shoulder as she contorted over to tighten her laces.

“Hey you,” you said. It was the first time you’d spoken to someone without feeling profoundly guilty for leaving. Ellie was being ripped from her family. The friends you’d made here were being left behind. Joel was losing a daughter. But Dina? Dina was being promised a life of safety.

You could be happy without feeling bad about it with Dina.

“Hey yourself,” she echoed, tilting her head up to grin at you. “Feeling ready?”

“Barely,” you admitted, joining her on the middle step. “I’m scared shitless. Just going on patrol is scary enough. What if we get jumped?”

“We probably will.”

“Dina!”

She shrugged, giving you a devilish look. “I’m just being honest. But you’ve got me and you’ve got Ellie. Together we’re very scary.”

“Terrifying,” you said gravely, nodding.

“You’ve gotten such an attitude,” said Dina. “Ellie’s rubbing off on you.”

“I wasn’t kidding!” you said, slapping her shoulder.

She grinned back at you, and you felt a rush of gratitude so strong that it nearly moved you to tears.

“I’m ready to go,” she said, sitting up and reaching for her pack behind her. “You?”

“I’m ready too,” you said. “Joel told me to come get you and bring you over. I think they’re almost all prepped too.”

“Exciting,” said Dina, wiggling her fingers at you. “Baby’s first adventure.”

You rolled your eyes. “Baby’s last adventure. Hopefully we’ll never need to go traipsing about the woods again.”

“Are there even any woods where we’re heading?”

The gravel crunched under your feet as you and Dina retraced your path back to Joel’s. “Nowhere near where we’ll be. It’s woodsy near the borders, but no one ever goes there.”

“It’s going to be weird to live in a city.”

“You’ll get used to it. It’s nice, really. Anything you’ll ever need is within a block of you,” you told her. “Every fruit and vegetable you can imagine is a short walk away. The first thing I’m doing once I’m back is buying an orange. I miss those.”

“An orange?” Dina’s face was shocked. “Oranges? How do you even grow that stuff?”

You shrugged. “I’m not really sure. I know it can’t be grown in Terranova. It’s way too cold to be doing that. I think they must be imported from somewhere.”

“How could that be?” Dina asked.

“I have no idea.”

Joel and Ellie were on the porch by the time you two reached their home, with Joel resting a hand on her shoulder as he said something into her ear, too low for you to hear.

Ellie nodded, the bun that gathered the top of her hair bobbing. Then she turned to you.

For a moment, you thought she might tell you that she was staying. But then she bounded down the stairs to you, a smile on her lips as her backpack thudded once against her back.

“You ready?” she asked.

“Yeah,” you said, swallowing hard.

“You’ll be fine,” Ellie said, giving your shoulder an affectionate shove. “Have you said your goodbyes already? We should really head out.”

You had said almost all of your goodbyes—but there was still one left.

“Joel,” you said, a lump forming in your throat as you ascended the steps toward him and threw your arms around his shoulders.

He was stiff, awkwardly patting your back, but when you pulled away you could see that he was smiling.

“You’ve been so kind to me,” you began. “I can’t even begin to thank you enough. I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, kiddo,” he said, affectionately tousling your hair. “Don’t die out there, okay? And think of me whenever you’re buying coffee.”

“I will,” you promised, no longer caring about the mistiness in your eyes. “I’ll look after Ellie, too.”

Something flitted past his face before he schooled it into a mask of indifference. “Right. You three better be off, alright? Don’t want it getting dark before you’ve got a good head start.”

And that was the last thing Joel said to you before sending you all off. He had the good graces to linger on the porch, though, waving at you as you made your way alongside Ellie and Dina past the gates.

Traveling was more boring than you expected. Each morning was the same—wake up, eat whatever rations Ellie had packed in her bag, and boil enough water from the stream to fill all of your water bottles.

The actual going wasn’t much more exciting. Where you were headed was so desolate that there were hardly any infected, Ellie explained to you. Any of the few infected that had the misfortune of stumbling across you were made quick work of by Ellie and her knives.

Ellie was always tetchy about letting you take over watch as she and Dina slept. She’d sidle up to you in your sleeping bag and rest her head on your shoulder, but you could tell that she was fighting to stay awake in case there was any trouble.

When she did sleep, it was fitful. She’d murmur and thrash around, making you bite your lip more than once to keep yourself from yelping and startling her and Dina awake when she’d accidentally kick you.

And when she was awake, she wasn’t much more affectionate. Maybe it was because Dina was there and she was embarrassed to be touchy, you rationalized, but it still stung when she’d only briefly peck your lips or brush her mouth across your forehead when you were nearby, like she was just doing it mechanically.

On the sixth day—one day before you were due to be at the pickup point—things finally ramped up.

You awoke to find the sleeping bag cold, accompanied only by the soft sounds of Dina’s rhythmic breathing. The forest floor was cold against your hand—it had been unconsciously flung out onto the bed of pine next to you in your sleep. Dew had collected on it, making your hand damp as you pulled it in to inspect it.

The sun was barely beginning to peek over the horizon, sending a few golden rays through the trees and illuminating just the tops of the trees above you.

Ellie was nowhere to be seen.

“Ellie!” you hissed, sitting up and looking around frantically. To your horror, you discovered that her pack was missing, along with her shoes and the jacket she’d hung over the tree branches next to the clearing you were sleeping in.

It was like she’d never been there.

“Ellie!” you said again, louder this time.

Nothing. Just a few nervous titters from the birds in the underbrush, startled into taking flight to higher ground. Stupid, stupid you. If anything was out here, you’d just revealed where you were. Hopefully you were still far enough out from any civilization that there were no infected to hear. If you weren’t…

You gulped, reaching into your pack a few feet away to pull out the small gun Joel had given you. Dina was still out cold, snoring quietly to your side. She’d been getting weaker as her pregnancy progressed, given that she was almost a trimester along already. Between the two of you, you were stronger, which was not a very comforting thought to have. If she was a little more nourished, things might’ve been different. But given how severe Dina’s morning sickness had gotten, it was lucky for her to keep anything down.

It was all you. You had to be the protector, for the very first time. Without Ellie, there was no one else to save you.

A twig snapped somewhere behind you, and you whirled around. The cool metal of the gun bit into your hand as you held it up, dragging its tip across the span of the forest that you could see. There was nothing there—not yet.

Maybe it had been a squirrel.

Then you heard them—light footfalls. Human footsteps, clearly from someone who was trying to avoid branches and evade detection.

You willed your hands not to shake as you held your gun up again, feeling the adrenaline pulse through you with every heartbeat. The thick spring underbrush that had made you feel safe and concealed as you traveled through the forest was now something you resented, obscuring whatever was in the woods while letting it see perfectly well into your clearing.

A rustling came from your right, and you swung around to see a slightly bedraggled Ellie, holding the carcass of two rabbits.

“Fucking Christ!” she gasped upon seeing your gun. “Put that down! It’s just me!”

There was a twig sticking out from her hair.

“Sorry!” You let your gun fall, feeling suddenly very embarrassed. “I just—I woke up, and you were gone. I thought something had happened.”

“Sorry,” said Ellie, slinging the rabbits over her shoulder as she approached you. “We were running out of food. I set these snare traps last night and thought I’d check them while you two were still asleep. There’s nothing out here. I wouldn’t have left you if I thought otherwise.”

“You could’ve told me,” you said accusingly.

“I forgot to,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

Then she knelt down and kissed you, her chapped lips rough against yours.

A retching sound startled both of you apart.

“Sorry,” said Dina, wiping her eyes after she’d dry heaved on the dirt next to her sleeping bag. “That wasn’t because of you guys. I love gay people.”

“Good morning,” you said, blushing. “Sorry for waking you up.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she responded. She was looking terribly frail. “Did I miss anything?”

“You missed Y/N trying to kill me,” offered Ellie.

“She’s lying,” you told her. “Don’t listen.”

The rest of the morning went on without a hitch, with Ellie cleaning the rabbits and setting them over a small fire. It was strange that she’d gone through the trouble of getting two whole rabbits—you three were about to be picked up and Dina wasn’t eating anyway—but you supposed she just set as many snare traps as she could and didn’t want to leave any evidence of them being there.

Then, once you three had finally reached the coordinates and set up camp just as the sun was beginning to kiss the forest ridge, Ellie disappeared in the woods again, leaving you both at the edge of a large, flower-filled meadow.

“Why does she always do that?” you asked Dina, rolling out your sleeping bags and brushing off dirt.

Dina was sat on her roll, looking weaker than ever. You were more thankful than ever that the journey had almost come to an end. Though you were hoping that she was just having a difficult first trimester, you couldn’t help but wonder if it was something more serious.

“It’s Ellie.” Dina’s voice was tired, ragged. “She always does shit like this.”

“Hm,” you said, finishing with your sleeping bag and looking back at her. “Do you need help? Do you think you’re up to eating something?”

“No, and no,” she said, hanging her head between her knees miserably. “Even the thought of eating makes me want to puke.”

“Noted,” you said. “You should really try for some water, though.”

Dina let you help her take small sips from the bottle in your pack before shoo-ing you away. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “No need to fret over me like this.”

“Just think of the care you’re going to get tomorrow,” you told her, reaching up to brush a piece of her hair behind her ear. “They’ll probably hook you up to an IV. You’ll feel better than ever.”

Dina sent you a weak smile, but before she could answer, a shot rang off in the distance and cut her off.

“Shit,” you said, reaching for your pack.

Another shot. Then another, closer this time.

It was unmistakably from the direction that Ellie had gone.

Both you and Dina kept your guns trained firmly on the patch of the woods that Ellie had disappeared into, hearing nothing but the sound of your breathing. Even the birds had gone quiet, scared into silence from the loud noise.

One more shot rang out before the sound was replaced by crashing in an underbrush.

Ellie appeared in the meadow, gun drawn and chest rising and falling rapidly.

“Ellie!” You momentarily forgot your fear of being jumped by something in the woods and rushed towards her.

She was covered in blood and reeked of that sickeningly sweet stench that could only come from someone infected with Cordyceps. It took you a few agonizing seconds to realize that the blood wasn’t hers—just splatters from whoever was on the other end of her gun.

“What happened?” you asked, eyes wide.

Ellie holstered her gun. Then she swallowed. “I was setting another snare and got jumped. Apparently there were a few by the creek—probably carried in from a town by the current. It’s fine. I took care of them.”

“You don’t look fine,” said Dina from behind you. “You look like shit.”

“I could say the same for you.”

That shut Dina up.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Your fingers danced across the planes of her face, checking to see if there were any wounds. You didn’t understand why she’d set a snare when you were all getting picked up in less than 24 hours and already had enough food, but you decided to save that line of questioning for another time.

“I’m fine,” she promised. “They didn’t get me.”

Satisfied, you returned to your makeshift camp and helped Dina build a small fire to warm up the last of your rations. Ellie sat beside you on the sleeping bag, suspiciously quiet. Once all three of you had finished eating and the sun finally disappeared, Dina passed out cold, leaving you and Ellie.

“You really scared me today,” you said, your voice soft in an attempt to not stir Dina.

“I can handle myself.” Ellie reached up and affectionately tapped the top of your nose. “Don’t worry about me.”

You stared into her eyes, feeling a swell of affection so potent that you probably would’ve been forced to take a seat if you weren’t already. She still hadn’t cleaned off the speckles of blood on her face—probably because she hadn’t noticed. There were no mirrors in the woods.

“You have something” was all you said before you reached up to her face, pulling the sleeve of your shirt under your fingers so you could thumb away the droplets on her cheek. She graciously allowed it, not even flinching when you pressed too hard on her nose.

“Sorry,” you whispered guiltily.

You were sure she was going to make some sort of snarky comment in response, but to your surprise, she didn’t. She leaned forward and kissed you deeply instead, threading her fingers into the hair at the nape of your neck and tilting your head.

It was a real kiss. She hadn’t really kissed you since you left Jackson.

Even after she pulled away, her touch lingered, her hands resting on your neck and in your hair. There was still a little blood on her, but the fire was quickly dying and without it one ill slip of the hand might result in poking her eye out, so you refrained and just joined her in the sleeping bag.

Ellie didn’t say anything for a while, instead just wrapping her arms around you and resting her head on your shoulder. Her breathing was slow and even, and for a while you thought she’d actually fallen asleep.

Then she spoke. “I’m really glad I met you.”

“I’m really glad I met you, too,” you said, the smile that spread across your lips entirely uncontrollable. You couldn’t remember the last time Ellie had so willingly offered such affectionate words unprompted.

You slept easily that night, listening to the sounds of Ellie breathing and tangling your fingers into her hair.

The next morning arrived quickly, and before you knew it, the sun was high in the sky and your trio was poised at the edge of the meadow, waiting anxiously.

For a moment, you genuinely wondered if Joel had been wrong—if the coordinates had been copied down incorrectly—if they had given up on retrieving you after all. As you and Dina and Ellie stood, there was nothing but the heavy blanket of silence weighing over your shoulders.

Not even the birds were singing.

That should’ve tipped you off, you realized. Not a second later after this revelation did the rattling chop chop chop of a helicopter’s wings begin to sound from the distance.

Dina gasped, her finger lifting as she pointed to the horizon. “Is that them?”

Crows leapt from the peaks of the forest, taking to the sky in troves as a black helicopter appeared over the treeline, small at first but growing quickly.

“Better hope they land quickly,” said Ellie gruffly. “Every infected in earshot is going to come sprinting once it lands.”

That thought hadn’t occurred to you, and you gulped at the prospect of having to outrun a horde just in the nick of time to leap onto the helicopter

But as the helicopter drew closer and began to descend, sending a strong gust of wind that gathered your hair and whipped it away from your face, fear wasn’t the only emotion flooding through you. It was accompanied by relief.

You’d made it. You’d traveled nearly a week in the wilderness to get here, and all of you came out in one piece, even with Dina’s rapidly declining state.

And all of you were coming to Terranova.

Maybe once it finally sunk in for Ellie that you were both safe, she’d finally go back to being more vulnerable with you.

The helicopter touched down roughly, nearly pitching to the side as it rocked on the uneven footing before it managed to steadily distribute its weight on its landing skids. After spending months away from home, the roar of the motor and the distinct smell of gasoline in the air felt foreign.

The door in its body opened up, halving the painted copy of the blue and white Terranovan flag as two men dressed in what you could only describe as military uniforms and carrying guns leapt out.

Guns? Why did they have guns?

“Y/N?” one of them yelled, holding the hand that wasn’t gripping his rifle to shield his eyes from the sun. “Y/N Y/L/N? Is that you?”

There was something in the tone of his voice that tugged at the strings of your memory. He almost sounded like—

“Simon?” you called out, a grin splitting your face. “Is that you?”

Simon had been a classmate of yours in high school, a distant family friend. You hadn’t seen him since you moved onto university, though.

“Who are your friends?” he yelled back, though the blade was slowing down as the motor cut out and another soldier appeared behind him.

“Dina and Ellie,” you said. “They—they saved me. They’re going to stay with my family until we figure things out.”

It was difficult to see well with the blindingly bright sun, but you could just feel his disbelieving stare. One of his colleagues leaned over to him and whispered something in his ear, and he nodded, holstering his gun and reaching for something else on his belt.

“What are you doing?” you asked, nervousness building. You’d never really let yourself consider the possibility that they wouldn’t let Dina and Ellie in with you. With your parents being who they were to the founder, it was difficult to imagine them saying no to anything you asked, especially when Simon knew your family personally.

“Mandatory testing,” said Simon, waving a black contraption with a flashing screen that you’d never seen before. “If they pass, they can come.”

You audibly sighed in relief, letting out a laugh that sounded more like a choked sob. In that moment, you could’ve hugged Simon.

They were coming.

You turned to Ellie, ready to celebrate the good news with her. She was already looking back, but she wasn’t smiling.

“Y/N,” she said, her voice unlike anything you’d ever heard from her mouth before. It was resigned, solemn. “I need to tell you something.”

There was a beep to your left, and you saw that the screen on the black stick had turned green upon touching Dina’s skin.

“Can it wait?” you asked, looking eagerly towards the testing tool. If Ellie’s prediction of all the infected in the area being drawn to the commotion was correct, you wanted out of there as soon as possible. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk on the ride there.”

“No,” she said shortly. “We need to talk now.”

Without paying any attention to the words exchanged, Simon stepped towards you and pressed the machine into the flesh of your forearm. It was cool and slightly damp. Within seconds, there was a flash of green as the display came alive.

“What can you possibly have to say to me now?” you asked, keeping your voice light despite the return of that nagging dread that something was terribly wrong.

Ellie opened her mouth, then shut it, casting her green eyes up to the sky and blinking rapidly. It could have just been the trick of the light, or maybe it was just sweat, but you could have sworn the droplet that Ellie swiped away quickly under her eye was a tear.

Simon moved onto Ellie, and after what looked like some deliberation on her part, she obediently let him lift her hand and press the tester into her skin.

“Spit it out. You’re making me nervous,” you said, your voice wavering as it weakly attempted to sound light-hearted, because she really was stressing you out.

Ellie met your eyes, her lips slightly parted as her eyebrows drew together. There was that look again—the one that you could never decipher. The one that almost looked like an apology.

The screen glowed red.

For a moment everything froze. Then someone who sounded like you screamed.

“She’s staying,” said Simon, stepping away from Ellie quickly. “Let’s load up.”

“No!” you cried, grabbing onto Ellie’s arm and holding tight. “She’s not infected. Something’s wrong with your scanner.”

“Nothing’s wrong with it,” said Simon. “She’s sick. We need to go before she turns.”

“She’s not!” you argued back, putting yourself in between Simon and Ellie. “I’ve been with her for the past week. If she’d been bit, I’d know it.”

A hand rested on your shoulder. “Y/N, you have to let me go. I’m sorry.”

You whipped around to stare at her, tears spilling from your eyes. Ellie was looking back at you, her face broken.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, softer this time. “I’m really sorry.”

“When?” you managed to choke out. “How?”

She just smiled sadly at you, her eyes flicking over your shoulder to look at the Terranovan authorities behind you before resting on you again. “You’ll be okay. Go on, alright?”

“You can’t be infected,” you tried again, but even as the words came out of your mouth you weren’t sure if they were true. You’d cleaned off Ellie after she’d told you about the run in she’d had the evening before, but you’d never asked to check her. It was totally possible that she’d been bit and you’d never known. “Not after—not after everything you’ve been through. You can’t.”

Then she stepped forward, drawing you into her arms and curling them around your sides. You buried your face into her neck, not caring about how hard you were crying now. She let you hang onto her, let your fingers twist in the fabric of her windbreaker.

“I lo—”

“Don’t,” she said hoarsely, finally dropping her arms and stepping away from you. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

Simon wrapped a commanding hand around the flesh of your arm, tugging you away.

“I’m never going to forget you,” you rushed out, twisting in his grip as you tried to meet her eyes. “I won’t. I promise.”

In response, Ellie raised a hand, waving to you as Simon dragged you up into the helicopter. There was no surprise on her face—just a sense of resignation that made you realize that she’d already prepared for this. Probably last night, when you were trying to sleep.

That’s what she’d wanted to tell you. She’d wanted to say goodbye.

Simon shut the door, yelling something to the man sitting in front of you in the cockpit. Dina wrapped her arm around you, pulling you into her side, whispering something that was probably meant to be comforting in your ear. But you couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t focus on anything but the Ellie-shaped shadow slowly fading into the backdrop as you took to the sky.

Before you knew it, that was gone too.

final a/n: after this we are out of the woods! i am so sorry again for making u all wait so long for something with this kind of cliffhanger. i sincerely wish that i had more time to work on this fic. i really want to get it finished before my semester ends in may tho so i can just work on original work after so i’ll try and churn out the next 2 parts + the epilogue!! thank you for reading as always!

#ellie williams x reader #ellie williams imagine #ellie williams x oc #ellie williams x y/n #ellie williams fluff #ellie williams x you #ellie williams angst

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