#makes me wanna puke get these girls outta here

[study-coffee-chicago]

Country College (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister Imagine; Part of AU-gust)

A/N: Thank you for reading! Remember to like/reblog and comment! I'm also donating all the proceeds that from my buy me a coffee account to Save The Children to help the children of Afghanistan. Buy me a coffee link here.

Also, here's the playlist of songs I listened to while writing this and some of these songs are actually mentioned in the imagine in case you guys wanted to listen while reading: Country College AU playlist.

I went on vacation and I swear, this entire imagine was based on stuff I did in Tennessee and country songs I listened to while there.

Anyway, enjoy!

"You got everything?" Jay asked you at six in the morning.

"For the last damn time, Jay, yes, I have everything," you answered as you jumped in the passenger seat of his truck and put your backpack at your feet and your tumbler of coffee in a cup holder.

"Jesus. I was just asking because I will not be turning this truck around," he said as he moved around the basket of snacks in the backseat so that the two of you could reach them easier. "Someone's cranky."

"Yes. When I finally got to sleep at 12:30 last night and had to wake up at 4:30, I'm gonna be cranky. Please tell me we're stopping for coffee."

"You already have coffee," Will said as he walked up to the truck. "Why do you need more?"

"Shut up. I know for a fact you drink way more coffee than I do, Mr. Med Student."

"Jesus, Jay. You sure you're gonna be able to put up with her for eight and a half hours?" Will asked.

"I dunno, man. Maybe I'll make her ride with you," he joked.

"Yeah, no way in hell that's happening," Will said.

"In all seriousness," Jay started, "stop for coffee in about an hour and a half?"

"Sounds good to me," you agreed.

"Same here. I only have to ditch you guys when we get like eight hours in," Will said.

"Gonna be weird not having you on the drive down, man," Jay mused.

"Yeah, but at least we can meet up at the rest stops and we'll  be in the same state."

"Are we gonna go?" you asked. "If you two were just gonna talk, I could've slept for an extra ten minutes."

"Holy shit," Jay muttered. He turned to Will. "Guess we should get going then."

"Yeah, see you in an hour and a half. Don't piss off the driver too much, Y/N."

You rolled your eyes. "Goodbye, Will."

Will got in his car and Jay got in the driver's side of his truck.

"Eight and a half hour drive plus traffic," Jay started as you both pulled out of the driveway, "so how do want to split it up?"

"I'm tired and I wanna sleep and I don't want to drive through Knoxville because I have no idea where to go," you answered as you pulled your headphones out of your backpack.

"Okay, Miss Sassy Pants. You can drive in the middle, through Kentucky. Might hit traffic, but we'll hit traffic in Tennessee, too, so we'll both have to drive through it. Just please, do not crash my truck."

"Relax. I know how to drive. Just make sure Will stays on your ass the entire time so we don't lose each other."

***

"And, we're officially in Kentucky!" Jay announced. "Time to change the music. At the next rest stop, we'll pull over and go to the bathroom and grab some lunch."

"Jay! You can't be on your phone while you're driving!" you yelled as he reached for his phone in the cup holder, which was also acting as the GPS...even though Jay claimed he could get there without it.

"Y/N, I'm fine. I've done this for three years now. I think I know what I'm doing."

"If you say so."

He turned on a song you didn't know.

"Got a truck, get it lifted," Jay started to sing.

"The hell is this?" you asked.

"Country music. Gets changed from pop to country the second we cross the border into Kentucky. Now, shh. This is a good song. You'll like it. It's upbeat."

Jay drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and sang quietly to Redneck Be Like by Thomas Rhett as he drove while you listened. He was right. It was a pretty good song.

"All day in the sun, always havin' fun, always gettin' stuck in that muddy river. Always got a buzz, always double cup..."

"You'll know the next one," Jay promised.

"And you know this how?" you asked.

"Because it's on Tiktok. When we get there, Adam and Hailey are gonna have to teach you some southern culture."

"So, I'm gonna need a definition of southern culture."

"You'll see when you get there. Now listen. I know you know this part."

Yeah we fancy like Applebee's...

Jay was right: you did know this song. It was Fancy Like by Walker Hayes.

"On a date night," you sang along. "Got that Bourbon street steak..." Jay joined in. "With the Oreo shake. Get some whipped cream on the top, too. Two straws, one check, girl I got you. Yeah we Bougie like Natty in the styrofoam..."

Five minutes later, you pulled off to a rest stop with a McDonald's nearby. Jay and Will filled up their vehicles while you ran inside to go to the bathroom. Once you were inside McDonald's and at a table eating, you asked Will if it was true that he and Jay always changed it to country music when they crossed the border into Kentucky. Will said yes, so you knew you were in for a long car ride. Then, you and Jay switched so that you were now the one driving and you were off again.

***

Hours later, Will took a different exit to get to Nashville and gave you and Jay a salute to tell you goodbye when he changed lanes and then took the exit.

"Not long now," Jay told you. "You excited?"

"Yeah, but a little nervous," you replied.

"Oh, don't be nervous. They're all really nice. And you've already met Hailey, so that helps."

"Yeah, she was nice. She had a cute little southern accent, too."

"One of the many reasons I fell in love with her in the first place."

Before Jay left for a weekend last summer to meet Hailey halfway and then stay in a hotel for a weekend to spend time with her, he finally told you the story of how he and Hailey met.

"Hey, we're goin' to the marketplace," Adam said on the first weekend of their junior year. "You and Will up for it?"

"Uh, Will's studying like normal. I'm up for it. Kim coming, too?" Jay asked.

"I promised her ice cream, so yeah, she's comin'. Baby, you ready?" he yelled down the hall.

"I'm coming, Adam!" Kim yelled back and then walked out of the bathroom.

"Let's go and make some bad decisions," Adam stated, causing Jay and Kim to laugh.

"We can't even buy alcohol yet, you dummy," Kim said.

"I may be a dummy, but you love me." Then, Adam gave Kim a kiss on the cheek.

"Please stop before I puke," Jay said and made a gagging face.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Let's get outta here."

***

Kim was laughing at a horrible joke Adam made while he had his arm slung around him. He had taken off his signature cowboy hat and had let Kim wear it because she forgot her sunglasses. Adam said he felt naked without it on.

They were walking towards Kilwin's when Jay spotted it: a homeless guy next to a blonde who couldn't be more than college age.

"Man, look," Jay pointed.

The three walked faster.

"No, this is for my friend back at the dorm," the girl explained.

"Lady, I'm hungry. Can I please just have your leftovers?" the guy asked.

"I'm sorry you're hungry, but this is for my friend."

The guy reached for the food.

"Hey, that girl sits behind me in my women and the law class," Kim stated.

Jay, Adam, and Kim took off on a run.

"Hey, baby," Jay said and slung an arm around the girl. He leaned in close to her. "Just go with it," he whispered in her ear. "You got Anna's food?"

"Yeah," the girl said hesitantly. But then, she realized that this guy was trying to help her out. And, he was pretty sure that the girl with him sat in front of her in her women and the law class. "Yeah, I've got her food."

Jay raised an eyebrow at the guy and then looked at Adam as if asking the man to try the two of them.

"Alright, well y'all have a good night now," he said and then turned around and walked away.

Once the man was a few shops down, Jay took his arm off of her. "Sorry about that. Just thought you might need some help," he said.

"Was greatly appreciated, thank you, uh..."

"Jay."

"Jay, well I'm Hailey. Nice to meet you."

He didn't miss her cute little southern accent and he loved it.

"You getting ice cream?" he asked.

"No, I uh was just textin' my roommate to tell her I'd be back soon."

"Well, I-- we'd feel much better if you came into Kilwin's with us. Just so that creeper doesn't come back."

Hailey smiled and agreed.

Kim and Hailey started talking about their class while Adam and Jay ordered their ice cream. Then Kim ordered.

"You want anything, Hailey?" Jay asked.

"Oh no, I'm fine, thank you, though."

Jay nodded, but then turned to the worker. "And can I also get a single scoop of chocolate in a waffle cone, please?"

"Sure thing." As she scooped it out, Hailey looked at Jay and he just shrugged.

When they got to the cashier, Hailey pulled out some money and tried to hand it to Jay.

"I've got it," he said.

"But--"

"Hailey, it's fine. I can pay for a little ice cream."

She loved the way her name rolled off his tongue.

"Okay." She took her ice cream cone.

"Hey, Hailey," Kim began when they walked out of Kilwin's. "Do you have friends you need to meet up with?"

"No, I was just gonna head back to my dorm," she replied.

"Oh, did you drive?"

"No, I walked. It's only like a twenty-minute walk from the sophomore dorms."

"Well, after all that, I'm pretty sure we'd all feel more comfortable if you rode home with us."

"I don't know..." Hailey trailed off.

"Those dorms are only like five minutes away from the house we stay at. And, it's on our way there anyway. Please, just come with us."

Hailey sighed. It would be a lot faster than walking. "Okay."

Then, they finished their walk to Adam's truck and the two girls got in the backseat and the two boys got in the front.

And that is how Jay Halstead met the sweet Georgia peach that is Hailey Anne Upton.

***

Jay, Adam, Will, Kim, and Hailey were all at a sports bar one Saturday night in October. It was loud, it was rowdy, everyone was going crazy over the football game on tv, and Hailey was totally over it. And Jay noticed.

"Hey," Jay whispered from his seat next to her. "You wanna get outta here?"

She turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "You'd wanna leave and not finish the game?"

In the past two months, Hailey had been spending a lot of time with Kim, and by default, she had been spending a lot of time with Adam, Jay, and Will. She will admit going over to their three-bedroom house they all rented together was a lot better than being stuck in her small dorm with her roommate. So, she went over there quite a bit to study with Kim. And, turns out she and Jay were both law studies majors, so they had a lot of the same classes, but they were in different sections, so they did a lot of studying together, too. And, she knew like most college boys, Jay loved his football. Not as much as Adam, but he watched it whenever one of his teams were playing. Which, was Chicago or Tennessee.

"Yeah," Jay started, "it's kinda loud in here anyway. And, it's just Tennessee playing. I'd be more likely to stay if the Bears were playing."

"Okay, let's get outta here. I know a great little diner we can go to for milkshakes. Pretty sure they're open until 11 and it's only 10, so we should be able to make it."

"Adam," Jay said over the game. Adam turned to face Jay. "Me and Hailey are gonna get out of here. I'll see you back at home."

"See you," Adam said and then turned back to his game.

"Guess we know where his loyalties lie," Hailey laughed.

The two of them stood up from their chairs at the table.

"You better get my friend home safe, Halstead!" Kim yelled.

"Yes ma'am," he said, borrowing a line from Adam. "You've got nothing to worry about."

Then, the two of them made their way out of the local sports bar and to Jay's truck.

***

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," Hailey said as the two of them walked up to the diner. "They're closed. Closed at 10 and not at 11. I'm really sorry, Jay."

"That's okay. Got anywhere else you wanna go? Or I can just take you back to your dorm if you want?" Jay suggested.

She sighed. "Just take me back I guess."

The two of them walked back to Jay's truck and got in. Hailey gasped at the song that was on the radio.

"What?" Jay asked, quickly turning to look at Hailey.

"This is my favorite song!"

Lights go down, wheels go around. I'm taking you home. Hoping for a slow song to come on the radio now.

Slow Dance in a Parking Lot by Jordan Davis continued to play through the speakers of Jay's truck.

"What's it about?" Jay asked.

"Slow dancing in a parking lot."

Jay listened to a few more lines and then decided to turn up the radio and jump out of the car.

"Jay, what are you--"

But he was already at her side of the car and pulled her door open.

"Dance with me?" he asked, sticking his hand out for her to take.

"What?" she laughed as a huge smile grew on her face.

"You said the song's about slow dancing in a parking lot and we're in an empty parking lot, so, why not recreate the song?"

Hailey laughed once more and shook her head and then grabbed Jay's hand. He helped her out of his truck and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist and they swayed to the music.

"Slow dance with you. Spinning you round by the Walmart sign and moving our feet over the painted white lines. Getting close to you. Making the most of whatever we got, even if it's just slow dance in a parking lot," Hailey sang quietly.

"Spin," Jay said as he held his hand up.

"What?"

"Spinning you round just like the song says."

Hailey laughed and reached for his hand and did a spin.

"Beautiful," Jay complimented.

"Yeah, right. That's was probably the messiest spin known to man."

"Well, um, it was beautiful. You're beautiful, Hailey."

She was glad it was dark so that Jay couldn't see the heat that rose to her cheeks.

"You're somethin' else, but thank you." She rested her head on his chest as they swayed to the rhythm of the rest of the song.

The song ended and the broadcaster started talking.

"Can I kiss you?" Jay asked.

"What?" she pulled away from his chest.

"I asked if I could kiss you. Was that too much? You know what, just forget--"

"Yes, Jay, kiss me," Hailey smiled and then she and Jay both leaned in.

It was just a peck, but it was their first kiss and despite it being in a dark parking lot late at night, it was still magical.

"You know," Jay began once the quick kiss was over, "there's a Walmart across the street. What do you say we go grab pints of ice cream from there and then you can show me your favorite country songs?"

"I'd like that. Adam didn't show you enough?" she asked.

"I've only got like thirty I like. I need to expand my horizons."

"Okay, let's go."

They held hands in Walmart and then picked out their respective pints of ice cream. Then, they went back to the parking lot of the closed diner and Jay plugged in the aux, allowing Hailey to show him her favorite country songs while they ate their ice cream from the pint and even shared with each other.

Hailey knew nobody would have a first kiss story like that.

Then, at the beginning of the winter semester, Hailey's roommate decided not to live in the dorms anymore. Hailey couldn't afford to pay for a dorm all by herself, so Kim offered to let her stay with her, Jay, Adam, and Will. So, that's how she ended up living with her boyfriend and sharing a room with her best friend, Kim Burgess.

"We're here," Jay announced. "Well, actually, we're a few streets away, but that's one of the lecture halls on your right."

You looked out the window to see a big red and brown brick building with white pillars on the steps. There was also a white sign telling you what building this was.

"Wow," you said in awe. "It's like those old-fashioned colleges. I love it."

"Well, we'll give you a tour and help you find your classes sometime this weekend before classes start on Tuesday. That way, you aren't getting lost on the first day. But, we'll head to the house for now and get all unpacked."

"Sounds good to me."

Five minutes and a few back roads later, you pulled up to a simple two-story brick house.

"Alright, let's get our stuff out and get inside," Jay said.

You stepped out of the truck and started grabbing some stuff out of the back seat.

"I'll jump in the truck and hand you the suitcases. Think you can grab them when I hand them to you?"

You nodded.

"Halstead!" you heard someone shout and you and Jay both whipped your heads around to see Hailey and Adam walking out of the garage and toward the two of you. Adam, well who you assumed was Adam, was carrying two cowboy hats and he and Hailey each had one on themselves.

"Catch!" Adam said and threw one to Jay where he was standing in the box of the truck. Jay easily caught it and placed it on his head.

Adam walked over to you.  "And one for you, darlin'," he said as he placed the hat on your head.

"Thank you," you said. "But I thought Kim was darlin'," you said. It'd make sense because if this guy was in fact Adam, then he and Kim were dating.

"You didn't tell her?" Hailey asked Jay.

"Didn't think there'd be a need to." Jay shrugged.

"Tell me what?" you asked.

"Well, Adam calls every girl darlin'," Jay explained. "It's just normal for him. And, down here, you're gonna get a lot of huns, sweeties, and sweethearts. A lot of waiters and waitresses do that here."

"And what do they call you two?" you asked, motioning to Jay and Adam.

"Sir," they said in unison.

"Oh, and you'll occasionally get a ma'am," Hailey added. "But, that one's rare because we don't look old enough to be called ma'am."

"Okay. And, uh, not to be rude, but what's with the cowboy hats?" you asked.

"It's a tradition we just started last year," Adam explained. "We unpack, wear cowboy hats, and drink moonshine. Oh, I'm Adam by the way, darlin'."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Y/N."

Jay handed you a suitcase and you set it on the ground. Then, you did the same thing with two more suitcases.

You grabbed your backpack from the front seat, your duffle bag from the back, and your two suitcases.

"Here, I can take those two for you," Adam said.

"Oh, okay," you said and then allowed him to take the two suitcases from you. So this is what Jay meant by southern hospitality since Adam was from Tennessee and all.

"Jay, lemme take your suitcase," Hailey said.

"Baby, I've got it," Jay argued as he jumped out of the box of his truck and closed the tailgate.

"The hell you do," she argued. "I see all your other stuff in the backseat and that basket of snacks you gotta carry in, too. Just lemme take your one suitcase."

"Let 'er take the suitcase, Halstead. Best to listen to your lady," Adam said.

"I like Adam already," you laughed.

He let go of one of the suitcases and tipped his hat. "Thank you, darlin'."

This caused all four of you to laugh and then you all went inside carrying both yours and Jay's stuff in one trip between the four of you.

***

"Shine in the fridge?" Jay asked after you and he had brought all your stuff to your room.

"Shine, Jay? How southern do you get when you're here?" you asked.

"Oh, he gets pretty southern, hun," Hailey said.

"See?" Jay asked as he pointed to Hailey. "Told you you'd get called hun."

"So, Adam's thing is darlin' and Hailey's is hun?" Hailey nodded. "And it's because you're from Georgia and he's from Tennessee?"

"That's right, darlin'," Adam confirmed and then turned back to Jay. "Yeah, shine's in the fridge. And Kim just texted and said she's on the way back with pizza."

"You got apple pie flavored shine?" Jay asked.

"Hang on. I'm just gonna grab 'em."

The three of you sat down on the bar stools at the counter and waited for Adam to pull them out.

"Alright," Adam started after he put the bottles of moonshine with sip lids on the counter. "We have peach for Miss Georgia Peach." He passed the peach bottle of moonshine to Hailey. "We've got apple pie shine for me and Jay. We've got strawberries and creme for Kim because that's her favorite." He turned to you. "And for you, I got you blackberry because it's not that high of a proof, so it's not that strong." He slid the jar to you.

"Nuh uh," Jay said quickly and grabbed the bottle.

"What the hell, Jay? Give it back! Adam said it's for me, not you!" you argued.

"Last I checked, you're only eighteen."

"Last I checked, Dad's not here. And I know for a fact you drank before you were 21, so pass me the blackberry shine, please."

"I'll take the first sip and then you can have it." He made sure the straw part was open and then he took a sip. "Adam, that shit's like a chaser compared to the apple pie one."

"I know. That's why I got 'er that one," Adam said.

You heard a door shut.

"Pizza's here!" Kim announced.

She walked into the kitchen with three boxes of pizza.

"I got us three pies," she said as she set them down on the counter. "We got one pepperoni and green olive, one supreme, and one meat lovers." She turned to you. "And you must be Y/N. I'm Kim. I see Adam already got you started on that Tennessee moonshine."

"Nice to meet you," you said. "You're from New York, right?"

"Yup, not New York City, though. More upstate."

"Of course she's from New York, Y/N!" Jay exclaimed. "Who else would call pizza a pie except for a true New Yorker?"

"I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks, Jay."

Jay raised his bottle of apple pie moonshine in a fake cheers and then took a sip.

"Now that's the strong shit I need to start off this semester right," he announced and then set the bottle down.

"Oh, and if your brother didn't tell you yet, he turns into a borderline alcoholic when he's at school," Kim told you.

You laughed. "He didn't tell me that, no."

"Better than being a caffeine addict like Kim and Hailey here," Jay argued.

"Shut up," Hailey said. "You know you're a caffeine addict during finals week just the rest of us."

"I was a caffeine addict in high school, so we'll see what happens," you shrugged.

Kim grabbed a stack of paper plates and set them on one of the pizza boxes. "Dig in. Oh, Y/N, did Adam get you the blackberry flavored moonshine?"

"He did. Haven't tried it yet because Jay has yet to give it back to me."

Kim quickly reached down and grabbed the jar of moonshine.

"Hey, Kim! She's only 18!" Jay protested.

"So? I know you drank an insane amount during your freshman year. So shut it." Kim popped open the sipping lid. "Taste."

You took a sip. It did taste like blackberry, but it was also sort of strong, but it didn't burn your throat that bad like you had read in books that alcohol did.

"This is actually pretty good."

"I know, right? And, me and Hailey will let you try ours when we help you unpack," Kim said. "But, do not try the kind the boys have because it's nasty."

"Baby, I don't know what you have against apple pie moonshine, but it's good," Adam said and then took a sip of his moonshine. Kim rolled her eyes. Adam leaned across the counter. "The New York in her is coming out, darlin'."

"Oh, shut up," Kim said and reached over to steal Adam's cowboy hat off his head.

"Baby, now I feel naked without it," Adam argued and tried to reach for the hat.

"Sucks for you. Now eat your pizza before it gets cold."

***

"Morning," Jay said when you walked into the kitchen the next morning. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good. it's nice not having to share a room with anyone like you and Adam, and then Hailey and Kim have to. It was fun having them help me unpack last night, though," you said.

Last night, Kim and Hailey had helped you unpack and when you mentioned that you didn't really know any country music, Hailey pulled up all of her favorite country songs to play for you. You especially liked Girl in a Country Song by Maddie and Tae. They showed you the music video for that song and it was about how, in most country music videos, girls had to dress up in little skimpy outfits and have the boys just stare at them all day. So, in their music video, they changed the roles, and the guys had to dress in skimpy clothing in the music video. It was pretty funny and the song was catchy.

"Let me guess," Jay began, "Hailey showed you some good country music?"

"Yup. The songs she showed me were pretty good, pretty upbeat. Didn't sound like a cat being put in a blender like old-fashioned country, so I guess that's good."

"What do you have against old-fashioned country, darlin'?" Adam asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"I dunno." You shrugged. "Too slow for me and I just don't like the voices I guess."

"You know what we ought to do, Jay?" Adam asked and Jay raised his eyebrows, silently telling adam to continue. "We should show her all the songs that are mentioned in What's Your Country Song."

"Wait, wait. I think I know that one. I think Hailey played it for me last night. Is it the one that mentions Chatta- Chatta..."

"Chattahoochee?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, that funny word. What even is that anyway?"

"It's a river that runs through Georgia," Jay answered. "Pretty sure Hailey used to go tubing down it like we're gonna do today."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "We're going tubing? Like behind a boat?"

Adam laughed. "Christ, Jay! Do you tell her anything?"

"He doesn't," you answered. "So, explain, one of you."

"Alright, I'll do it," Jay said as he poured milk on top of a bowl of Raisin Bran. You looked at him intently. "What we do is, the first Saturday that we're all together before school starts, we go on tubes and float down the Tennessee River. We bring a cooler full of snacks, sandwiches, booze, and water, and a waterproof speaker and we just have a fun time. Oh, and this year, you're the DD."

"Me?" you asked as you pointed to yourself. Jay nodded. "But I don't know where to go! I haven't even been in Tennessee for a full 24 hours yet!"

"Kim's like the mom of the group," Adam supplied. "So she'll still be pretty lucid and could probably drive if she needs to. But, she'll at least be able to give you directions on how to get back here."

You sighed. "Good. That makes me feel a lot better."

"Where are the other two girls anyway?" Adam asked. "They're usually up a lot earlier than we are when we go on the river."

"I think they were a little buzzed last night," you said. "Might still be sleeping."

While you were unpacking, you took a few sips of your jar of blackberry moonshine, but not a lot. You'd never really drank before, much less drank moonshine and you didn't really feel like puking from being drunk or having a killer headache from a hangover...at least, that's what you thought happened from what you had read in books and seen in movies and tv shows. But, Kim and Hailey had each finished like a quarter of their jar, so they had been buzzed last night. They weren't drunk because they could still walk in a straight line and knew what they were talking about, but they did have little dopey smiles on their faces while they helped you unpack.

"She's right," Kim said as she and Hailey walked into the kitchen. Hailey's hair was wrapped in a towel, alerting you that she had just taken a shower. "Adam, can you grab me an Advil?" She took a seat on a stool and put her head in her hands. "My head is fucking killing me. I didn't even think I drank that much."

Adam laughed. "You do this every semester, baby. First shine of the year and you always drink a little too much." He handed her the pills and a cup of water and Kim quickly washed the pills down.

"I just need some coffee," Hailey announced.

"We know, you don't get hangover headaches," Kim groaned.

"Yeah, but I feel exhausted all day. Everyone goin' for coffee? I'll make a bigger pot if that's the case."

Everyone said yes and Hailey started on the coffee.

***

"Okay, we got the tubes, the speaker, swimsuits are on, we have the towels, cooler," Jay rattled off as the five of you sat in his truck. "Anyone double-check the cooler?"

"I did," Hailey said. "We got water, the same shine from last night, some white claws, the sandwiches me and Kim made for everyone, chips, and a few other snacks."

"And I threw in a little first aid kit with bandaids, alcohol swabs, Neosporin, and other stuff. And I've got the sunscreen, too," Kim said.

"See, what'd I tell you, darlin'?" Adam asked as he turned around from his spot in the passenger seat. "Kim's the mom of the group."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Kim said. "It means I'm responsible and prepared."

"Those two would get so damn sunburned and dehydrated if it weren't for Kim," Hailey said as she pointed to Jay and Adam in the two front seats.

"Thanks, Hails," Jay replied sarcastically. "Real nice."

"You're welcome," she said with a smile.

You leaned your head against the window. You were supposed to get stuck in the middle, but seeing as you got car sick easily, Kim said she'd switch spots with you.

"You okay?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, just, Jay really needs to turn on the AC before I throw up from motion sickness and how damn hot it is in here."

"Least you got that cowboy hat to puke in if you need to," Jay laughed as he reached for the AC. "You better not puke in my tuck or you will be walking home."

Adam smacked him upside the head.

"Ow!" Jay exclaimed and took one hand off the wheel and rubbed the back of his head. "The hell was that for?"

"Dude, be nice! Look at her!" Adam exclaimed.

Jay looked in the rearview mirror and saw you leaning your head against the window with your eyes closed and pinching your nose. You groaned.

"Here," Jay said and tossed you a blue bottle of Gatorade from his cup holder. "Drink this. Get you some hydration and electrolytes."

You took a few sips and then handed the bottle back to him. "Thanks."

"Mhm."

Kim moved the vents so that the AC was blowing on you more. "That help?"

"Little bit, thanks."

"Think you'll be good to go down the river?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, because then I won't be trapped in a hot box going sixty down the road!"

"She's right about that," Adam agreed. "You'll be lucky if you go five miles per hour, darlin'."

"Alright, so the motion sickness should stop. Thank God."

"Just rest your head against the window and listen to some country music," Jay said. "Speaking of that, who's controlling the music on the river?"

"I got it," Adam volunteered. "Everyone give me a song and I'll get the queue started."

***

You had been going down the river for about half an hour now and had finished a bottle of water and eaten a banana, too. You felt fine now. Adam was right, you were going slow enough that you didn't get sick, and you also weren't in the backseat of a truck.

"Hey, Kim," you started, "can you pass me my moonshine?"

"Mhm," she said. You guys had tied a cooler to a tube, which was then tied to Kim's tube. Because, the boys figured that between the five of you, she was the most responsible. They toyed with tying it to your tube because you probably wouldn't get shitfaced (like the boys most likely would) since you were underage, but you had never gone tubing down the Tennessee River before, so they decided on Kim. "Here, Hailey, hold my white claw."

She passed Hailey her drink and then maneuvered the cooler towards her, opened it, and handed you your moonshine.

"Thank you," you said and popped open the sip lid and took a sip. "Ahhh."

"Hey, drink it slow," Adam warned, turning towards you and practically yelling over the music. He and Jay were in front of the three of you girls so they could tell you if there were a ton of rocks coming or if it was super shallow coming up. "Heat makes getting drunk a lot easier because you keep drinking it because you're so thirsty."

"I don't think that's how it works, man, but whatever you say," Jay laughed.

Another song started.

"Hey!" you yelled. "I know this song!"

"Yeah, because it's old as hell," Jay laughed.

"Shut up! I like it!"

Baby you a song you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise. Down a back road, blowin' stop signs through the middle every little farm town with you.

"And this brand new Chevy with a lift kit, would look a hell of a lot better with you up in it. Baby you a song, you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise," the five of you sang Cruise by Florida Georgia Line while holding your drinks in pure happiness.

Because of this, you didn't notice Jay drifting off to the side toward the trees.

Jay let out a sinister laugh as he got closer. "C'mere, buddy, c'mere." The black snake stuck his tongue out and hissed. "Yeah, I know, you wanna scare Y/N, too." Jay held his hand out toward the snake. "I'm nice, I promise." The snake slithered and went up on Jay's hand and started up his arm. He turned once most of the snake was on him. He started using his other hand to paddle himself back toward the group. "Y/N!"

You turned and looked at him. You saw the snake on his arm and tears pricked your eyes. "No! No!" you shouted.

Snakes were your biggest fear and knowing that they were in the river that you were in right now was absolutely terrifying to you. And, with each paddle, Jay and the snake were coming closer and closer to you.

"Jay, please, please!"

Adam turned and looked at Jay and then back to you. "She scared of snakes?" You quickly nodded as tears ran down your face. "Jay! Stop! She's terrified!"

Jay laughed. "No!"

He was coming closer and closer to you.

Adam quickly paddled over to you and went in front of you. "I won't let it go near you, darlin', don't you worry."

"Uh huh," you said and grabbed onto Adam's arm in complete and utter terror.

Unknown to Jay, Hailey was making her way to him. But, she was behind him, so Jay couldn't see his girlfriend coming up behind him with her empty bottle of white claw raised high in the air.

He felt it before he heard her.

"Don't." Smack on the head with the empty can. "You." Another smack on the head with the empty can. "Do." Another smack on the head with the empty can. "That." Last smack on the head with the empty can.

"Ow!" Jay yelled. "Hails, stop!"

"Put the fuckin' snake back and stop scarin' the daylights outta your little sister or I will keep smackin' you, Jay!" Hailey told him.

"Fine, I'll put it back," he groaned.

"Hailey, keep that can raised above his head. If he tries to come back here, hit 'im again!" Adam yelled.

"You got it!" Hailey said. "Hear that baby? Your head is gonna come in contact with this 'ere empty white claw can again if you don't get a move on."

"I'm going, I'm going," Jay grumbled.

"Good, then you won't get smacked again."

"Just for all that," Adam started, "you wanna pick the next song, darlin'?"

"Can you play Better Dig Two by The Band Perry?" you asked. "That counts as country right?"

"Sure does, darlin'." He started messing with his phone. "Comin' right up."

"I told you on the day we wed, I was gonna love you 'til I's dead," you started to sing. "Made you wait 'til our weddin' night, that's the first and the last time I wear white."

"Snake's gone! Made sure he put it down and I even watched it slither away!" Hailey announced. "Put me in the ground, put me six foot down," Hailey joined in after she had finished yelling over part of the first verse.

"And, as for you, Jay," Adam started over the music and all of you singing. "You don't get to pick a song for the next hour."

"Son of a bitch," Jay muttered.

"Hey, you brought this one on yourself, buddy. So just sit back, relax, listen to our music choices, and enjoy your shine."

***

One week later

"And we're here!" Adam announced as the five of you pulled onto a long dirt driveway. "You ready to ride some horses, Y/N?"

"I dunno," you said. "I've never ridden a horse before."

"Oh, Adam'll make sure you're super safe," Kim reassured you.

"Okay, so whatever horse I ride won't buck me off?"

"Oh no," Adam said quickly, "we'll put Jay on Buck."

"Like hell you will!" Jay argued from the backseat.

Despite the studying the five of you had to do, you were at Adam's childhood home. Adam's parents had rented a cabin in North Carolina for the weekend since it was Labor Day weekend and needed someone to watch the five horses they owned.

His parents used to own a riding place with multiple horses, but since their kids got older, they stopped doing it because they were getting older and couldn't give the tours anymore. So, they sold most of their horses, left five so that their kids could ride them with their friends, but still kept the house and the land. Whenever Adam's parents went out of town, either he or his sister would come and stay over at their childhood home and take care of the horses. Seeing as his sister was married and just gave birth to a daughter, this left Adam. And, luckily for him, his parents were fine with some friends coming over to help Adam out.

"Relax, man," Adam began, "I'll ride Buck."

"Wait, is he called Buck because he bucks people off?" you asked.

"You would be completely right, darlin'. Which, would be the reason I'm riding him and neither of you four will be doing that."

Adam put the truck in park and you got out of the passenger seat. Yes, you had ridden in the front because Adam said you could because of your motion sickness. Jay wasn't too happy, but it was Adam's car, so therefore it was Adam's rules.

You got inside the house and it had two extra bedrooms, one of which was Adam's childhood room and had an extra twin bed in it for when his friends wanted to sleepover (Because, in Adam's words, it was only girls who shared beds at sleepovers and he said guys didn't do that, so that's why there was the extra bed). In his older sister's childhood room, there was a full-sized bed, so Hailey and Kim would share the bed and the boys said they'd move a couch into that same room for you to sleep on.

Adam opened the fridge once all of you had put your stuff in the rooms that would be yours for the weekend. "Ooooh, y'all, my mama left us some food!"

"Oh, he southern southern now," Kim laughed and walked over to the fridge. "What'd she make?"

"Let's see. We got fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cornbread, gravy, biscuits, grits, tater salad, peaches that she canned herself, and apple pie. She must really miss me if she cooked this much!" Adam laughed after he rattled off the food his mom made for all of you.

"Mama's cookin', paper plate, and tater tater salad," you said, quoting a song Jay had played on the way down here that you had taken a liking to and had added it to a playlist and been listening to it a lot the past week.

"Did you just..." Adam trailed off.

"She did!" Jay exclaimed.

"Is it that hard to believe that I know more than two country songs, y'all?" you asked.

All four of them gasped.

"She's southern! She's southern, y'all!" Hailey yelled.

"What?" you asked as you looked around at your brother, his girlfriend, and his two friends in confusion.

"That was yer first y'all, hun!" Hailey told you and pulled you into a hug. "Yer a regular southern belle now."

"Next thing you know, girl's gonna be fallin' for cowboys," Adam said.

"Aw, hell nah," Jay said. "Ain't no way she's datin' a cowboy. No way."

"Shit, Jay just went southern southern, too," Adam laughed.

"What can I say, when my girl goes hella Georgia, I go hella Tennessee," Jay said.

"That made zero sense, baby, but okay," Hailey said. She turned to Adam. "When we ridin'?"

"We can go right now if you want. Everyone good with that?"

You all nodded and then Adam told all of you to put on your cowboy hats.

***

"This 'ere's Maddy," Adam said before he helped you onto the horse. You put your feet in the stirrups. "They feel good? You can reach 'em well?" he asked.

"Yeah," you told him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, darlin'." He turned to Jay, Hailey, and Kim. "You three remember how to get on the horses since we rode so much last year?"

"We're good," Jay said.

"Hey, baby?" Hailey asked and turned to Jay. He turned to look at her. "You think you can help me on 'im? Pretty sure Diablo's gotten a lot bigger since I rode 'im last."

"Yeah, sweetheart, I got that."

"Did he just..." you trailed off and looked at Kim.

"He did," she confirmed. "She turns into sweetheart around this time every year. Jay gets really southern after only being here a week. Might also have something to do with Adam calling me sweetheart sometimes and he just picks up on it."

Jay helped Hailey onto the huge horse named Diablo and then got on his horse. You were riding Maddy, Adam was riding Buck, Jay was riding Sinbad, Hailey was riding Diablo, and Kim was riding Atta'Boy.

"All y'all need to watch me now," Adam announced from the front. All four of you gave Adam all your attention. "Well, mostly Y/N because she's never ridden before." He paused. "To make your horse stop, just give the reins a little tug. To turn, hold the reins on your right side, and pull towards your right hip, like this." He demonstrated and pulled the reins like he told you and Buck's head turned to the right. "And turn left, do the same thing on the left side. To make them go, just flick the reins a little bit, but they're pretty well-trained, so you shouldn't need to do that. But, if they still won't go, give 'em a little kick. I promise you won't hurt 'em. But, most of all, keep at least one hand on the reins at all times. Oh, and they will try to eat on the trails, but they ain't supposed to, so try and get them to stop by pulling up on the reins if you can.

"Any questions? Everyone sure their stirrups and saddles are good?" Adam finished.

Everyone answered with a chorus of "yeses" and then the five of you were off...that was until Maddy decided she was hungry about a quarter-mile (400 meters) in.

And, to make matters worse, you were in the mountains (because everyone is in the mountains here) and Maddy was bringing you closer and closer to a small ravine.

You did not want to have the experience of trying to control your horse and deciding whether or not to jump off or not and possibly being rushed to the hospital.

"Maddy!" you yelled and tugged up on the reins. Nothing. "Maddy!"

"Pull hard!" Jay yelled from behind you.

"I am pulling, Jay!" you yelled back. "Come on, Maddy!"

Shit, she was still moving towards the edge and trying to eat more.

"Pull to the left!" Jay yelled. You pulled. Nothing. "All the way around! To your left hip!"

You did so and she moved. Finally.

"Now straighten out the reins," Jay told you. You did. "And give her a kick to move."

You did and she continued walking...this time with a huge branch and leaves hanging out of her mouth because she had gotten herself a nice little snack.

"What's with all the yellin'?" Adam asked as he turned his head around and had Buck slow down a little bit. Then, he saw Maddy. "Maddy stop to eat? She acts likes she's starvin', but I promise you she's not."

You kept going and then you started going down a hill.

"Lean forward when going down a hill," Adam yelled back to all of you, "and lean back when going up a hill."

You started going down the hill and kept trying to maneuver yourself so you were in the middle of the saddle. You felt like you were leaning too much to the right, so you kept trying to fix it, but with Maddy still walking, it was kind of hard.

You clenched your stomach muscles to try and pull yourself back to center, but it wasn't working. You tried to push up with your left foot because you were leaning to the right, but that wouldn't work either.

"Just hold on tight, Y/N," Jay told you. "Adam!" Jay yelled as you kept leaning to the right and pulled the reins a little harder to make sure that Maddy would stop.

"What?" Adam yelled back.

"We need a little help back here!"

Adam turned Buck around and he got halfway to you and stopped next to Hailey and Diablo.

"She's fallin' off, you big dummy! You gotta go!" Adam yelled. He flicked his reins. "C'mon, go!"

It was like Buck knew what was going on because the minute he lifted his head up and saw you trying to stay in the saddle, he started coming towards you.

"Buck, stay," Adam said sternly and jumped off him. He walked to your right side. "Now, I'm gonna push your saddle to the left and I need you to lean the same way, okay?"

"Lean to the left?" you asked.

"Yup," he confirmed. "One...two...three."

He pushed up and you leaned to the left, which allowed the saddle and you to be re-centered.

"Can you reach the stirrups okay, darlin'?" he asked. "Or do you need 'em a bit higher?"

"I think I need them a bit higher," you answered. "I thought they were fine, but I guess not."

"That's okay. That's what I'm here for. Take your right foot out."

You did as he said and then he adjusted the stirrups and helped you get your foot back in. Then, he did the same for the left foot.

While Adam was adjusting your left stirrup, Maddy was curious about what was in his first aid bag that was attached to Buck's saddle.

"I ain't got no treats in there, you fatty." He put his hand on Maddy's head. "There's nothin' in there for you. Get out." She started chewing on a drawstring that was on the bag. "Okay, I guess you can chew on that."

"So, to get her to turn, do I just pull like this?" you asked and showed Adam.

"Yes, but put your hand further down the reins when you do that. Works better like that."

"Okay, thanks."

"And, if she keeps tryin' to eat, pull up hard--but not too hard and far that you make her walk backward--and if that doesn't work, give her a quick kick. I promise you won't hurt this little fatty right here."

"Okay, awesome."

"You good?"

"I'm good," you confirmed.

"Okay, so if you ever need to adjust yourself, just grab this 'ere saddle horn." He put his hand on the stub on the front of the saddle. "And put two hands on it...unlike me, and then just push down with your foot on which side you want the saddle to go. Pretty simple."

"Okay, got it," you said.

Then, Adam jumped back on Buck and you were off again.

***

You and Kim were sitting up on the bed in Adam's older sister's childhood room that you were staying in and watching a dumb comedy when Adam poked his head into the room.

"Both you up?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kim answered. "Why?"

"Well, I want to go to the rope swing, and Jay and Hailey both fell asleep spooning while watching some shitty movie in the living room, so do you two wanna go? I'm bringing alcohol."

"Adam, it's like 11 o'clock at night!" Kim laughed. "We won't even be able to see the water!"

"Honey," Adam laughed. "I'll leave the headlights of my truck on! I'm not that stupid to have us jump in blind!" He paused. "You two in?"

"Sure," Kim agreed and then turned to you. "Y/N?"

"Why the hell not? I'm in college, let's go!"

"Alright, I'll let you two get changed and I'll grab the towels and the booze," Adam said.

"Adam, if you're the one driving, you cannot drink a ton!" Kim told him.

"I know! I'll just take like two shots and use moonshine as a chaser."

"You got more moonshine?" you asked.

"Holy hell, Adam," Kim agreed.

"Where do you two think I was the past hour? I went into town and grabbed a few flavors. and, I got both your flavors, too. So, y'all can't yell at me. Now, get changed so we can go before Jay and Hailey wake up and decide they want in on this, too."

***

"You good to sit in the back, Miss Car Sick?" Adam asked you.

"Yeah, you said it's only like a five minute drive, so I'll be fine. Thanks for asking, though," you answered.

"No problem, darlin'."

Then, the three of you were off to this rope swing to jump into a river in the middle of the night.

Five minutes later, Adam threw his car in park and left the radio and headlights on. The three of you got out and Adam grabbed the booze and shot glasses and then you followed him around to the back of his truck. He handed the stuff off to you and Kim to hold while he flipped his tailgate down. Then, he used the flashlight app of his phone to see as he poured each of you a shot of gummy bear flavored vodka.

"Cheers to late night decisions and possibly bad decisions!" Adam toasted.

The three of you clinked your shot glasses together and then took the shots.

"Shit. That was strong," you coughed.

"Chaser, chaser," Adam said as he flipped open the sip cap on the blackberry moonshine.

He handed it to you and you took a few sips.

"Compared to that shot, this moonshine tastes like nothin'," you said.

"See? Told you it had a low proof!" Adam exclaimed. "Now, do you two want me to go first so I can show you how it's done?"

"That might be a good idea, yeah," Kim agreed. "You've only brought me here during the day and it's been over a year, so yeah, you go first, cowboy."

"Oh, that reminds me." He took his signature cowboy hat off. "Hold this for me, will you, sweetheart?" He held the hat out to Kim and she took it from him. "Thank you. Now, watch and learn, ladies, watch and learn."

Kim laughed. "Whatever you say, babe, whatever you say."

Adam walked up to the edge of the river and waded in the water to grab the rope. You and Kim stood on the edge of the river and watched as Adam dragged the rope with him as he stood on a rock, which was right below the tree that the rope was tied to. Then, he cinched the rope between his feet and jumped up and swung forward.

"Yeehaw!" Adam yelled.

Then, after a few seconds, he let go of the rope and fell into the river.

The rope dangled back and forth until Adam grabbed it and dragged it in with him.

"Who's next?" he asked as he held the rope out.

"You wanna go, Kim?" you asked.

"You sure you don't wanna go before me?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Go ahead," you said.

"You nervous, darlin'?" Adam asked you as he took his hat back from Kim and placed it on his head.

"A bit." You looked down at your feet. "Are there snakes in there?" you practically mumbled.

"Oh, darlin'," Adam said with a wave of his hand. "I can promise you that there's no snakes in there. You've never seen a snake in there have you, baby?" he asked Kim.

"Nope, no snakes. I promise. Now, I'll go, and then you gotta go because it's so much fun!"

Kim grabbed the rope and then made her way up onto the rock. She did the same thing that Adam did and soon it was your turn.

"I'm stealing your aux, babe," Kim said as she walked toward Adam's truck.

Adam raised an eyebrow. "I don't know why you can't just listen to the radio like we've been doing, but go ahead, baby."

Kim walked over to the truck and changed the input to aux and then quickly pulled up Spotify. From there, she pulled up the song Like A Lady by Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum. She turned the volume all the way up on her phone, plugged it into the aux, and hit play.

"Lady!" came out of the speakers as well as the opening chords.

You gasped as Kim came running back to you and Adam.

"How'd you know this one of my favorite songs?" you asked.

Ever since Hailey had played it for you on your first night in Tennessee when you were unpacking and sippin' on moonshine, you loved this song. It was all about feeling like a lady while wearing jeans and drinking and being comfortable with yourself and not needing a man.

"Y/N, I follow you on Spotify. I can see what you listen to. Now, go get to it, lady!" Kim cheered.

You smiled and turned around. You walked to the rock and climbed up on it just before the chorus. You grabbed onto the rope.

"'Cause I feel like a lady," you sang loudly to the music. "Sippin' on tequila with my Levis on."

You clamped your feet around the rope and jumped.

You felt weightless for just about one second and then you let go of the rope and fell into the water with a splash.

The water wasn't freezing, it was a little cold, but it was still decently comfortable. You started swimming back to the shore and grabbed the rope when it swung back toward you.

"Hell yeah!" Adam yelled as he ran up to you and took the rope so you could pull yourself up onto the river bank. "You did awesome! Did you like it?"

"I loved it! Let's do it again!" you yelled.

"See?" Kim said. "I told you that you'd love it!"

"I propose a celebratory shot for Y/N's first time jumping off the rope swing!" Adam said and the three of you headed back to his truck to have more booze.

And that is how you learned that you didn't get hangover headaches like Kim, but got hella tired the next day just like Hailey. But, a little hangover (despite not being old enough to legally drink) was all worth it because of how much fun you, Kim, and Adam had.

***

Months later

"Welcome to Chocolate Moose, everybody!" Adam announced and fumbled with the lockbox to get the key.

Since it was exam season, there was a tradition that started during the winter semester of their sophomore year that was where they'd all go up to a cabin (each cabin had a name and yours was Chocolate Moose) in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which was an hour away from school, to go study without the temptation of parties and the libraries that were packed as hell and barely had any seats open because everyone and their mama had decided to study there.

He unlocked the door and opened it.

You walked in and were in awe. When you walked in, you saw a small kitchen complete with a stove, oven, microwave, and pots, pans, plates, bowls, cups, mugs, and silverware stored in cabinets and drawers. There was also a small pantry to your right the minute you walked inside.

Off of the small kitchen were the living room and the dining area. There was a circular wooden table with six chairs and there was a tv and a couch that folded out into a bed. Right next to that was a bedroom with a bathroom, which also had its own tv in it.

And, if you walked to the end of the living room, there was a door that led to the first-floor deck that overlooked the Smoky Mountains. On the deck was a wooden table that matched the wood of the deck and six stools, so it would be a nice place to study or eat breakfast or sip coffee in the morning.

The stairs to go to the second floor were above the table (so the table was tucked beneath the second set of stairs). When you got up there, there was a pool table, a bubble hockey table, another couch that folded out into a bed, and a coffee table in front of said couch.

To the right of the couch and coffee table was a California king-sized bed with a trunk in front of it which held the bedding for the pull-out couches. Then, there was a dresser with a mirror to the side of the bed and a closet. There was also a full bathroom with a washer and dryer and a dressing table (so tons of counter space and two mirrors) upstairs as well.

And, there was another deck on the second floor. This one didn't have a full-sized table, but it did have two chairs with a small table between, and a small couch complete with a bunch of throw pillows on one end of the deck. This deck too overlooked the beauty that was the Smoky Mountains.

"Who's that?" you asked fifteen minutes later after you had finished touring the cabin and figuring out sleeping arrangements.

It had been decided that Adam and Kim would take the first-floor bedroom and that you'd take the pull-out couch on their floor. Hailey and Jay would sleep upstairs and you wondered why you couldn't take the upstairs couch like you wanted to because Jay was quick to tell you no.

You knew they weren't gonna try to do the nasty up there since there was no door shutting the upstairs off from the downstairs, so you had no idea why he wouldn't let you sleep on the pull-out couch upstairs.

"Who's that?" you asked again while looking out the kitchen window.

Then, you saw a head of red hair in the driver's seat and rushed out the door to where the person parked their car.

"Will!" you shouted as he got out of the car. "I missed you!" You wrinkled your nose at what he was wearing: a pair of blue scrubs.

"I drove here right after I got off a twelve-hour ED rotation," Will told you. "Hence the scrubs."

"I would give you a hug, but who knows what kinda bodily fluids have been on those."

"Good choice. We'll postpone the hug until after I take a quick shower and change."

Adam, Kim, and Jay came outside and said their hellos to Will, and Jay took Will's backpack, making a joke saying that it felt like he stuffed a ton of rocks in there.

So, now you knew why you couldn't sleep on the pull-out couch upstairs: Will was sleeping there.

***

"Fuck!" you yelled as you felt a bee sting you on the upper part of your left inner thigh.

"What?" Adam asked.

You, Adam, and Kim were outside at the table on the first-floor deck studying while Will was upstairs studying and Jay and Hailey were studying one of their law studies classes at the kitchen table together.

"The fuckin' bee stung me!"

"Well, you were swattin' at him, darlin'," Adam said, which earned him a smack to the arm from Kim.

"Because he was between my legs!" you argued. "What was I supposed to do? Let him fly up my shorts and sting me there? Oh hell no!"

You got up and walked inside.

"Will!" you shouted the minute you closed the door to the deck.

"Y/N! Keep it down!" Jay scolded. "We're trying to study!"

You had made it up the first set of stairs and leaned over the railing. "Well, I just strung by fuckin' bee, so I think I can yell a bit, Jay! Will!"

"What?" he said and ripped out his headphones when you got all the way upstairs. "Med school's no joke, you know!"

"Well, what do I put on a bee sting?" you huffed.

Will sighed. "Hold on. They asked me to be the one who brought the first aid kit and I'm glad I did."

He got up and then came back with a bottle of lotion.

"Put this on it. Should cool down the stinging. Tell me if it gets worse or starts itching."

"Okay, thanks."

You put it on and hoped it would be better soon.

***

Okay, so this bee sting wasn't getting better. It was actually getting worse.

It had been itchy all day and you were currently shaving your legs in your shower. You felt the place where the bee had stung you and it was swollen as if someone had shoved a disk the size of an Oreo in your leg at the place the bee had stung you.

You got out of the shower, got changed, and walked out of the bathroom where country music was blasting and Jay and Adam were playing a friendly (okay, so maybe not so friendly) game of pool.

"Hailey, is my bee sting supposed to be super itchy?" you asked as you sat down on the couch next to her.

She and everyone else was drinking one of their two allotted white claws. Yes, during finals week you had all decided there needed to be a daily cut-off for alcohol so that you could all get your shit done. And, it helped keep everyone accountable since everyone in the cabin was only having two per day...and you weren't spending a ton of money this weekend on alcohol.

"Um, none of mine have ever been," she said. "Will!" He turned to look at her from where he was sitting and intently watching the pool game...mostly to make sure neither Adam nor Jay cheated. "Her bee sting supposed to itch?"

"Not unless she's allergic to bees...and she's not." He stood up. "Go lay on the bed and let me take a look."

"Oh, fuck no! I am not letting my brother look there!"

"Y/N, I'm a med student. I've seen a helluva lot more than a bee sting on your inner thigh. You can even go put on some short spandex if that would make you more comfortable."

You currently had on loose-fitting shorts that you knew would fall back to expose what underwear you were wearing if you let Will take a look. "Actually, I think I'll go do that," you said.

You quickly grabbed a pair of spandex from your suitcase and went back into the bathroom and changed into them.

"Y'all check for a stinger?" Adam asked.

Will must've filled him in when you were changing your shorts.

"Shit," Will cursed. "I knew there was something I forgot to do."

"What kinda fuckin' doctor are you if you forget to check something like that?" you asked Will rhetorically. "Hailey, I'm gonna need that empty white claw bottle to smack Will over the head with like you did to Jay on the river."

"Sorry, hun," Hailey apologized. "I ain't finished with this 'ere can yet."

"I'll hit him!" Jay yelled, putting down his pool stick and grabbing his empty can.

He hit Will on the arm with the empty white claw can as hard as he possibly could.

"The fuck?" Will yelled. "Why'd you do that?"

"I dunno." Jay turned to Adam. "Why were we hitting Will, again?"

"Holy shit," Adam muttered to himself. "Because he forgot to check Y/N's bee sting to see if the stinger was still there."

"Oh, okay. That was stupid, Will."

You laid on the bed and let Will look at the spot the bee stung you. Then, he put on a pair of gloves and pulled out a pair of tweezers.

"Hailey?" he called. She looked up expectantly. "Can you come over here and hold up a flashlight? I think I found the stinger."

Hailey got up and turned on the flashlight on her phone and crouched down next to Will.

"That good?" she asked as she finished positioning the phone so the phone's flashlight was pointing directly at your bee sting.

"Yup." He looked up at you. "Now, I'm gonna put one of my hands above the bee sting, that way you won't be able to see the tweezers go in. Sound good?"

"Mhm. At least this is better than when Jay tried to attack me with a snake!"

Will laughed. "I bet."

Five minutes later, the stinger was out and Will told you to put Neosporin and a bandaid over it just so you didn't keep itching it because he told you the itchiness wouldn't go away immediately.

"I need a drink," you said after you were all done.

Hailey handed you a raspberry white claw from the mini-fridge next to the couch and you popped it open.

"Thanks," you said.

"You're welcome."

"Everyone shut up!" Adam yelled. "This is Jay and Hailey's song...well, they didn't exactly meet at a bar and Hailey wasn't drinking a white claw, but it was a Saturday and those two did ditch us. So, dance you two!"

They tried to object, but Adam dragged Jay over to Hailey and Kim pushed Hailey up off the couch and towards Jay.

"Sittin' over there in the corner, baby, I saw pretty red lips workin' on a white claw," you all sang along to Single Saturday Night by Cole Swindell. And, you'd be lying if you said that this song didn't remind you of the story that Jay had told you about the first time he took Hailey out when she was bored one Saturday night in a sports bar. "Shakin' to a little Shook Me All Night Long. And I thought, man, what a beautiful sight."

You smiled. Four months ago, there'd be no way you'd know this song. But, thanks to your brother's friends and his girlfriend, you knew so many more country songs. But, most of all, if your first semester of freshman year was any indication, you were going to have the time of your life going to college here in Tennessee.

A/N: Thank you guys so much for reading! Again, please remember to like/reblog and comment because I love reading all your comments and seeing that you voted because that means you enjoyed reading the imagine! As always, if you want to be added to my taglist, just tell me and I’ll add you! Again, I am donating all my proceeds on buy me a coffee until the end of AU-gust to Save The Children to help the children in Afghanistan. Buy me a coffee here.

Taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl@dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox @onechicago18 @iamasimpingh0e @i-like-sparkly-things @herecomesthewriterwitch @liampayne88

#jay halstead #will halstead #imagine #fanfic #fanfiction #jay halstead imagine #will halstead imagine #jay halstead fanfic #jay halstead fanfiction #will halstead fanfic #will halstead fanfiction #halstead sister #halstead sister imagine #chicago pd #chicago med imagine #chicago med #chicago pd imagine #halstead brothers #halstead bros #adam ruzek #kim burgess #hailey upton #upstead #burzek #au-gust #writing #writer #my writing #au #alternate universe

[slaytimesover]

Getting the C**NTS back together

—————

made up text chat between the euphoria gals, set after the finale & minus (SPOILER) fez getting in the shootout

I JUST WANT MY GIRLS TO BE HAPPY BROOOO

content: wholesome, tryna be realistic w how they text

—————

March 1st, 2021

Maddy: hey anyone

add cass back i still have the bitch unadded

Kat: bro don’t u know her username

Maddy: no this is my new phone rmb

literally showed u in class today:/ rude mf

Kat: shit sry babe

Maddy: </3

*Kat has changed the chat name to cassies hot tub vomit💯💯*

Maddy: HAHAHAHAAAAA GTFO

BB: 🤣🤣🤣Funny ash Nahhhh Kat

Jules: uMM bro how come idk anything abt this…

story time ???

*Kat has added Cassie*

Cassie: Um what the fuck guys….

Kat: SORRY CASS THE OPPORTUNITY WAS RIGHT THERE

BB: Can still Smell that shit on me ICL🤣🤣😂

Maddy: 💀💀fucking helpppp

Jules: I STILL NEED THAT STOYTIME ???

Cassie: Can I ask what the hell is going on

Is this new or smth? Also the names not funny

Jules: new as in … like 3 months old then ye

Cassie: WTF

Not a single one of yall has talked on the other chat for ages is it bc u guys were fucking here?

BB: Ya we have

Jus like u banged Nate for Ages n Shi 💀💀

Kat: out of POCKET

Maddy: LMAO BARBARA

Jules: PFF

no hard feelings tho cass :)

we all wanna meet up soonish

Maddy: yup friday at 8, my place

sorry this fkn introduction was brutal but babe we wanna properly get together again

all 7 of u cunts

Kat: 7? there’s 5 in the gc🤨🤨

Jules: wait wait wait can we like BACJTRACK to the cassie hot tub thing??

Cassie: No Jules we really can’t

Also Maddy are you sure?

Maddy: girl puked her guts out at my party after drinking herself half to death <3

sent me into fkn cardiac arrest ill tell u that

love u though babe

and yes ofc. we outta put this past us

Cassie: MADDY!!! Girl!!!!

Jules: LMAO POOR CASS

no shame in it weve all been there ❤️

Cassie: Shut upppp

Tell me if I’m ever gonna hear the end of that story…

Maddy: @Kat forgot to add em but i want rue rue & lex there too

going full out bitches

Kat: cass keep dreaming lolll

BB: Jule boutta see her Ex Yooooo😫😫

Kat: fuck fuck oh yeah

are yall cool now? i saw u two tgt after the play

BB: Play was Fire Though Lexi Ate🔥🔥🔥

Cassie: …

Jules: uh

well

that’s the question 😃

Maddy: jules b what happened?

Kat: yeah ive been meaning to properly check in holy crapp

Jules: we aren’t seeing each other anymore in that way, & maybe its for the best but im still processing it yk?

it was… weirdly calm even after the intervention bullshit went down

ig we had an unspoken agreement that we shouldnt be together

even if theres still love between us

its hard to tell where we stand is all im sayin

Kat: shit dude i hope ur okay

Maddy: yeah…

so much respect for u

itll get better n itll be worth it <3 i promise

wish i coulda realised that on my own, ur fuckin fearless

Cassie: I hear you Maddy

I’m happy for u Jules

BB: Go Jule 🙏

Cassie: I mean, if ur all okay then I’ll come

I really want to make amends I don’t know what had gotten into me

I feel terrible

Maddy: a friend told me that in her experience, it was just the right amount of attention at the wrong time, yh? anyways girl i kno u deserve amother chance even if u fucked up

& jules

same goes for u n rue, how abt we all hang out like old times and see where it goes on from there hm? pretty pls

Jules: i cant promise that itll nott be awkward but im down mads!

Maddy: bettt

*Maddy added Rue and Lexi*

Lexi: uh hello

what is this gc name 😭 don’t remind me omg

Kat: 😹😹

Maddy: okay listen up girls, my house 8pm friday, not optional so clear ur shit. no excuses.

& im talking to u lex with that fez mf

Lexi: noo stop💀

BB: She Blushin through the screen on Godd LOL

Rue: wait hey what’s going on

Maddy: rue rue

we wanna come together like the olden days & properly have a girls night

think we deserve a celebration after the shit weve been thru this year

Lexi: really?

thats sounds so nice I like that !!

Kat: ur play def sealed the deal for us dude<3

we fr just need a big catch up & some actual fun

Jules: literallyy

Maddy: everyone in fr?

Lexi: yess

Cassie: Yes

Jules: yep!

Kat: ofc

BB: Yass

Cassie: Rue?

Lexi: um I think fez just took her phone hold up

Jules: NOT YOU WITH FEZ AGAIN AHHH

Rue: YO WHO THE FUCK IS CASSIE AND WHY SHE THROWING up in the bathbutt

Kat: man said bathbutt😭😭

Rue: TUB*

Tu(/(/)£&&&@&@&&&@@@@@@@

Sorry55555555555555 that was fe££&&

FEZ TOOK My phone sry guys

Maddy: sadly were not inviting fez </3 shame we can’t meet the bf lexi but rue come join us brooo

Rue: i mean…

we can try

lotsa shit went down between us tho are u all good?

Cassie: Yeah, & we can just take it step by step anyways

Jules: yepp, i wanna see u all

no matter what

Rue: well

ill try n be there

so sure guys:)

BB: YOOOO It Worked

Maddy: ahhhhhh! cant fucking wait

god i missed this bs<3

#euphoria #euphoria season two #euphoria fanfic #maddy perez #rue bennett #bb euphoria #jules vaughn #cassie howard #lexi howard #kat hernandez #zendaya #fezco euphoria #fezco fanfic #euphoria fluff

[simplybakugou]

Runaways

↝ After being forced into a wedding, Bakugou whisks you away from having to partake in the ceremony.

BINGO SPACE: Wedding

⋆ PAIRING: prohero!bakugou x fem!reader ⋆ WARNINGS/TAGS: fluff; swearing ⋆ WORD COUNT: 1736

A/N: yes this is a @bnhabookclub bingo piece lol. when i got this prompt for bakugou (thank to the anon who requested bakugou btw) i was originally going to write out a whole wedding ceremony before i thought that would be boring imo lmao. so i decided to go with this concept! imo i don’t really like weddings so you can sort of see that through this fic lol.

credits to @bnhahcs​ for the beautiful colored bakugou cap!

FULL BINGO MASTERLIST

✐posted 08.23.2020✐

Suffocation. It was like your air was being cut right from you, like you were fighting just to breathe. All you could do was inhale and exhale big deep breaths as you tried to calm yourself, attempting to slow down your racing heart beating against your chest. But it was no use; you still were as overwhelmed as you were since the day started.

“Are you ready?” Yaoyorozu asked, her tone laced with excitement as she was overjoyed for one of her closest friends on her big day.

You mustered up a smile, the corners of your lips quivering as you attempted to seem merry. But Yaoyorozu saw right through you as she frowned at your expression. “What’s wrong? You don’t look so happy?”

“It’s nothing, I’m good.” A lie; there was nothing exciting about this day for you.

Mina creeped up from the other corner, fully dressed as she was more than ready to head out into the ceremony. “Are you scared about getting married?”

You shook your head. “No, it’s nothing like that.” The girls decided to not pry any further as they did their best to help you get fully dressed as well as help your other friends.

For most people, a wedding is one of the most exciting and exhilarating days that could happen in one’s life. Although each culture does their ceremonies differently, there is still something to celebrate as a couple vows to spend the rest of their lives with one another.

But you had other views on weddings.

You met your husband to be when you were both in high school in U.A. While Bakugou was in the hero course, you were in the support course and your paths would cross as each respective course would often mingle with one another. The minute you laid eyes on Bakugou, you were immediately fascinated. His quirk was impressive and you wanted to ask him a million and one questions just to understand how his quirk worked and the repercussions his body faces as a result of overusing his quirk. 

With this fascination, you would pester him as you thought you were interested in his quirk until you slowly realized you were actually interested in him. Being as bold as you were, you decided to ask him on a date. You surprised him with your dauntless proposal so he shocked you by agreeing. Even more surprising, Bakugou actually enjoyed your company outside of the classroom and the rest was history as you had been dating ever since.

After graduating from U.A., you both broke off into your respective professions, Bakugou with pursuing professional heroism and you deciding to become an engineer and create support items for heroes. You were both idolized as the perfect duo by the media, your professions working hand in hand perfectly. And six years into your relationship, Bakugou proposed to you which you practically screamed out ‘yes.’

Like a majority of young women in committed relationships, you were ecstatic to be able to spend the rest of your life with the man you loved. But on the other hand, you and Bakugou both had mutual feelings toward wedding ceremonies: they were just a waste of time and money. Something about hosting a grand occasion to show off how in love you were just seemed like overkill and you had no intention of hosting one. You and Bakugou agreed to be registered as a married couple in Japan through the usual paperwork until both of your parents were strictly against this decision.

Your parents and Bakugou’s parents, especially his mother in particular, wanted you to have a traditional wedding. Leading up to the ceremony, you fought with your mother, voicing how you had no interest in partaking in the wedding but it was like you were speaking to a brick wall. Bakugou tried reasoning with Mitsuki as well, at least his version of reasoning, but this resulted in Mitsuki nearly bringing the house down from her rage.

So here you were, forced against your will to be officially married in front of your family and friends. 

“Are you all set?” Uraraka asked as she entered the room. She gasped at the sight of you. “You look so beautiful, Y/N!”

You smiled gratefully at her. If there was one thing that came out of this whole thing, it was that you at least got to dress up for once instead of being covered in grease and sweat from slaving away at your day job. “Thanks, Ochako.”

The door opened and your mother entered, making you want to groan internally. “Ladies, please wait outside.”

The girls nodded, waving at you as they expressed their words of encouragement as they left. Your mother’s fake smile lifted from her face the minute you were alone with her. She proceeded towards you, smoothing out a crease in the front of your uchikake. “So you’re still acting like a child about this whole thing?”

You had to prevent yourself from rolling your eyes, not wanting to hear her start complaining about that, too. “You would be acting like a kid, too, if you had to do something you didn’t want to.”

Your mother snickered, grabbing your hand to practically drag you out of the room as the ceremony was about to begin. You froze in your footsteps, coming to a halt. “Could you give me five minutes? I need a breather.”

Your mother sighed, already fed up with your antics and the day had barely begun. “Fine. I’ll be back here in exactly five minutes.”

You nodded, letting out a sigh in relief as she finally left the room. You made your way to the large mirror in the room, frowning at the sight of your perfectly painted face. You readjusted your headdress on your head, poking your cheeks as you dragged your lips upward into a smile. It was so hard to make it seem like you were happy.

As you were about to make your way out the door and join your mother, the window slammed open. You whipped your head towards the source of the sound, confused to see Bakugou casually propped onto the ledge of the windowsill as he was latched onto the outside of the wall. 

“Katsuki?!” You exclaimed, rushing over to the window without tripping over your feet. “What’re you doing? You can’t be here!”

Bakugou scoffed. “You think I was gonna let our dumbass folks make us do shit we don’t even wanna do?”

He leaned over, grabbing your arm and hoisting you up on the windowsill. “We’re getting outta here.”

Before you could express your disapproval for this idea, as not only were you going to be carried around in your boyfriend’s arms as he attempted to maneuver around with his quirk keeping you both afloat, your mothers were going to murder you once they realized the bride and the groom had left their own wedding.

“Hold on to me,” he commanded as he dropped down into the air. Your voice was caught in your throat as you gripped your arms around his neck, only his right arm around your back holding you as his left arm blasted you both through the air.

“You’re insane!” You screamed against the wind.

Bakugou smirked as he blasted through building after building. “Not as insane as you are for agreeing to marry me.”

***

The flight you were forced into taking was one you never wanted to experience ever again. Somewhere along the way your headdress had flown away and your perfectly pinned hair had been tousled and became a mess. You nearly puked at the thought of being lifted hundreds of feet in the air with only your fiance’s arm keeping you from falling.

“Y/N, open your eyes,” Bakugou chided.

You shook your head vigorously as your eyes were still screwed shut and your fists held onto Bakugou’s black kimono. “You’re trying to trick me, I know you are!”

“You idiot, we’re not even in the air anymore.”

You opened one eye slowly, peeking as Bakugou had landed atop of a building, both his arms  now carrying you. You gasped as you released your grip from Bakugou’s clothes and you settled down onto the ground.

The sight of the sky painted in purple and orange hues as a result of the setting sun was dazzling to see. The buildings from afar were starting to light up, showing how long you and Bakugou had been basically flying through the air, not to mention your wedding was supposed to take place later in the evening.

“It’s so pretty!” You squealed, leaning against the railing of the building’s rooftop. 

Bakugou walked beside you, looking out at the sight along with you. “Do you even know where we are?”

You turned to him. “I thought we were at some random place? Didn’t you land at the first building you found?”

Bakugou rolled his eyes playfully. “How are you the smartest woman I know but also the most fucking dense one, too.”

You narrowed your brows at him. “You don’t have to be rude about it.”

Bakugou smiled, wrapping his arm around your waist as he brought your body closer to his. “Think a little harder.”

You turned to face the view once more, your eyes roaming around to find something that could help indicate where you were. Finally you located the arch with your alma mater’s name on it and you gasped. “We’re at U.A.?!”

“It’s about damn time.” Bakugou looked down below him. “A lot of shit went down at this place but at least I met you.”

You grinned, nuzzling your face into his chest as your makeup stained the fabric of his kimono. “You’re so cute, Katsuki.”

“I’m not fucking cute. I wanted to get as far as I could from that fucking place,” Bakugou said, taking back his previous statement as he spoke about the religious center your ceremony was supposed to take place. “I’m not gonna let our old hags tell us how we’re gonna live our lives, especially when we’re finally starting a new one together.”

You nodded in agreement, chuckling a little. “Guess we’re starting out our new life together as runaways?”

Bakugou smirked, looking down at you as he planted a kiss on your forehead. “I don’t give a fuck where we go from here, as long as I’m with you.”

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[dumb-little-trans-writer]

Rust and Black Thorn Trees. Chapter 2.

The girl tiredly wandered, getting increasingly exhausted.

She didn’t know where she was.

She knew nothing.

What Miranda neglected to focus on, however, was the fact that she also transformed when on the brink of death, to attempt to find something, anything, to eat, or to wear.

She saw a pack of lycans.

She silently transformed, as how Mother taught her.

Or, more accurately, beat into her.

She stalked the lycans for the perfect moment.

They grabbed bunnies as though they were chips, the high-pitched screaming echoing through her ears.

As one of the lycans had a rabbits leg in it’s mouth, Dasha struck the lycan closest to her, slashing it’s throat. She quickly moved from lycan to lycan before they could react.

As she transformed back, she immediately started tearing the flesh from the lycans with her teeth. She found that eating right after transforming prevents the nausea and the puking, it doesn’t prevent the leaking of the liquid from her eyes and nose, though.

She binged, knowing that this may be her last meal for a while.

She could smell winter on the horizon, and this was her life for the next six years.

Over these six gruesome years, she was able to find the occasional lost tourist or hunter in the forests surrounding Heisenberg’s Factory.

She stole their weapons, and their clothing.

She found that she preferred men’s clothing.

The girl would transform less and less, using the limited ammo and resources she had.

Karl Heisenberg watched her last hunt, as it was the closest to the factory she’d ever been.

Risky.

Hmm, he thought as he watched her dance with the lycans.

With a shotgun shell to the face, of course.

“Hey, you know, there isn’t anyone who can sell you ammo around here,” Heisenberg said, walking toward the girl. She jumped, cautious, “if you run out, you’re kinda fucked.” he stated, putting out his cigar.

She had heard of Lord Heisenberg. Never met him though.

“What are you implying?” she spat.

“All i’m saying is that running out of shotgun shells during the wintertime, when it’s nearly below zero, can be deadly,” he paused, spitting on the cold leaves, “especially for someone as tiny as you.” he laughed at her glare.

“Don’t call me tiny.” she replied, walking past him.

In the recesses of her mind, she was okay with it.

Heisenberg led Dasha to his factory.

It was loud.

The metal clanging against itself, the periodic releases of steam, and the...chainsaw revving?

Heisenberg opened a hatch, and screamed “SHUT YOUR HOLE, ROTTEN CUNT.”

The revving stopped.

“Is one of your failed experiments down there, Karl?” she teased, taking off her jacket as the humidity made it extremely warm, and uncomfortably sweaty. It revealed how muscular she had grown. She was still slim, but a little buffer from when she was with Her.

He seemed taken aback by her calling him Karl, instead of Lord, or even just his last name.

He liked that she didn’t pay his status any mind, he knows he didn’t give a fuck.

“Maybe. I’ll throw you down there if you decide to say some shit.” Heisenberg said with a slight growl.

“I could take it, i bet.” she purred.

“Don’t tempt me, bitch.” Heisenberg whispered, emphasizing ‘bitch’

The girl lightly skipped down the hallway, amusing Heisenberg.

“If I didn'thave a spare room I'd make you sleep outside.” Heisenberg called. She turned and nodded, “It’s right over here.” he pointed to a door on the side of another hallway. The room they were currently in had the bare necessities, albeit it was a mess.

She really didn’t mind though.

She walked to the room he was talking about, and opened the door to a bed that seemed to be collecting dust.

In fact, everything seemed to be barely touched.

Despite her past with cleaning, she needed to at least dust everything down.

“You got something i can wipe this shit down with? Looks like a tomb in here.” she yelled.

“Yeah, gimme a sec, christ” Heisenberg seemed to be struggling with something. She left the room, confused, and then amused at the sight before her.

He seemed to be trying to fix his oven, or cleaning it, whatever he was doing, he was struggling with it.

“Pfft, need help?” she asked, smirking.

“I’d rather kill myself than get help from you.” he coldly replied, sighing as he took his head out of the oven. His face was slightly stained with ash, and he was sweating. She leaned up again the counter, looking at him with an eyebrow raised. Now that she had a closer look, he seemed to be cleaning to oven judging by the ash stained rag soaked in water he was holding.

“This isn’t how you do it, let me help you.” she demanded. Heisenberg was slightly surprised by this, but silently swallowed a bite of his pride, and stood up, arms crossed.

“So how do YOU do it?” Heisenberg asked in a condescending tone.

“You got baking soda?” she suddenly asked, “’cause we’re gonna need a decent amount.” she added, taking out the oven racks.

“I have a lot of it, i guess.” Heisenberg replied, slightly confused.

“Do you realize how much of a fire hazard this is? I might scrub your entire fucking house down at this rate.” Dasha exclaimed, “where’s the baking soda?”

“There.” he pointed to a cabinet. She opened it and grabbed the tin, holding it for a moment to see if she’d need another one.

“Vinegar?” she asked.

“In the same cabinet.” Heisenberg said, annoyed and impatient.

“This is gonna take a day, I hope you know.” Dasha laughed.

“Fucking WHAT?” Heisenberg asked, shocked.

“Yeah. I have to-”

“I DON’T EVEN KNOW YOUR NAME AND YOU’RE CLEANING MY OVEN.” Heisenberg said, frustrated.

“...Do you wanna know my name?” she asked, pouring baking soda and water into a cup, “or how to clean your own fuckin’ oven?” she said, sarcastically.

“Both’s fine I guess.” Heisenberg rolled his eyes.

“Dasha Jelíneková. That’s my name.”

“Dein Name ist schön...” Heisenberg muttered.

“...what?” Dasha asked, confused.

“Nothin’. Explain why it’s gonna take a day.” he quickly changed topics.

“Well, wiping down the interior with a soaked rag might get some of the grime off, but it won’t get it all off,” she paused as she mixed more baking soda in with the water to make a paste, “deep cleaning your oven like this also helps heat disperse evenly.” she explained.

“Seriously..?” he muttered, thinking about how his last meal was damn-near raw in some spots, and burnt in others.

“So, you take baking soda and water, make a paste with it like this,” she stuck the cup in his face, “you got rubber gloves, right?” she asked.

“Take a fuckin’ guess.” Heisenberg laughed at the question.

“Hand ‘em to me, dickhead.” she said, making a poor attempt to hide a smile.

“By the way, dunno if this has anythin’ to do with you, but i’ve been finding pretty large lycan carcasses that are either brutally killed and then eaten, or seemingly killed in self defense, all of ‘em had gnarly claw marks,” he paused, “know anything about that?” He asked. Her blood ran cold, but she tried to keep her composure. 

“Maybe it was a mutated Lycan.” she quietly said, applying the paste to every crevice in the oven. Heisenberg was confused as to why she was acting strange, and more importantly, how she knew the Lycans were caused by...that.

“Well, uh, keep an eye out, yanno?” Heisenberg uncomfortably laughed in the awkward silence.

“Can you plug the sink, and pour some baking soda on ‘em? Then pour the vinegar on ‘em.”

“Okay...what now?” Heisenberg asked.

“Wait for it to stop foaming, and stick em under the water. In the sink, i mean.” she explained, finishing applying the last of the paste.

“Okay...” he muttered.

“Now, we wait for at least ten hours.”

“...Are you serious?” Heisenberg asked, seemingly shocked.

“Why wouldn’t i be?” she replied, confused.

He looked down, “That doesn’t seem reasonable-”

“You don’t seem to be either, Mister Heisenberg.” she smirked at him.

“You know...” he started, “You should be happy I haven’t chucked you down that chute.” he threatened, towering over her small frame with a hand in her hair, mimicking a ponytail, pulling her close to him. He outwardly smelled like cigar smoke, gasoline, and sweat. His breath reeked of whiskey, his hot breath on her cheek. But she smelled more than just that, due to the experimentation with the Cadou.

She could smell what people feel, she always sort of could, but this was heightened by the experimentation.

This was new, it smelled like a heavy, rich devil’s food cake.

It smelled like sin.

She glanced downward at his crotch, and he was definitely pitching a tent.

“You really don’t want this, Karl.” she whispered. It was true, at least in her mind.

No one should want a monster.

She didn’t even know what she wanted, outside of Her dead.

Staring directly into his eyes, she gently placed her hand on the hand he was using to grip her hair. He violently let go, glaring and walking outside.

He hated how similar, yet different they both were. He wanted her to stay with him, despite barely knowing eachother.

It was a bag of mixed emotions.

Dasha followed behind, she found Heisenberg collecting firewood.

“I’m makin’ hotdogs.” he stated.

“On a fire, I’m assuming?” she asked, “i had to learn how to make a fire by myself. Got good at it too.” she bragged.

Heisenberg ignored her comment, “Can you get the ‘dogs and the buns for me outta the fridge?”

“Sure, what rack are they on?” she asked.

“Figure it out.” he coldly replied.

She scoffed, and went back inside, muttering to herself.

Heisenberg thought for a while while she was inside.

Why did she know about the Cadou? Why does she live in the forest? Is it by choice? I wonder if she’s useful...I wonder if Miranda- he thought. He zoned out, and realized his hands were dangerously close to the fire. He nonchalantly pulled them away, added a little more wood, and grabbed a chair. He thought for a moment, and pulled another chair over from the wood pile.

She came back, hot dog buns and hot dogs in tow.

Heisenberg used his powers to make two metal sticks come to him.

“What the fuck.” she whispered, taken aback.

“Oh. Here.” he said, handing one to Dasha.

“No, what the fuck was that-?” Dasha nervously laughed.

“Oh, yeah. I can do that. Only metal though.” Heisenberg explained.

“Huh.” she replied, giving a bun and a hot dog to him. He stuck the tapered metal point through the middle of the hot dog, and stuck it over the fire.

Dasha did the same.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for what felt like a hour, but really was five minutes.

Heisenberg, obviously, was the first to break the silence.

“So I know you’ve never really mentioned it, but I’m thinkin’ you LIVE in the forest, right?” Heisenberg asked.

“Yeah. Why?” she asked, holding the hot dog above the fire.

“Just haven’t really seen anyone willingly live in the forest.” Heisenberg shrugged. There was another period of silence between them as the fire popped and crackled.

“Do you live in the forest willingly?” Heisenberg asked, taking his hot dog off the metal stick, placing it into the bun.

She looked at him, and opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words to describe her situation. She blinked a couple times, trying to find the words.

“I don’t know.” she furrowed her brow, and had an unmistakable look of i’m-remembering-things-i-don’t-want-to-think-about. Heisenberg wasn’t amazing with emotions, despite being able to read someone like a book.

“Sorry.” he quietly said, looking away from her.

“You had no way of knowing. It’s fine.” She leaned towards him. Then, she took her hot dog away from the fire, and just ate it off the stick. This sight amused Heisenberg.

“How long have you lived in the forest?” Heisenberg asked with his mouth full.

“Around six years? Hard to keep track.” she said, after swallowing a bite.

“Damn. So how old are you now?”

“I don’t know, around twenty-three, i think?” she replied.

“That checks out.” Heisenberg smugly joked.

“At least I don’t look like I’m from World War II.” she retorted, laughing.

“And what if I am, huh?” Heisenberg joked, knowing he was in fact born around when WWII ended.

“I was kidding, shut the fuck up.” she laughed. Heisenberg realized that he really, really liked her laugh. Maybe it’s from the isolation in the factory, and now he finally has someone that seems to enjoy his company. This feeling scared him, just a little bit.

“Yeah, sure.” he laughed. There was silence again.

“This might be coming out of nowhere, but could you...refer to me as a boy? I know this is strange coming from someone who looks like me, but-” he got cut off.

“I get it, it’s alright. No worries. You got a new name?” he asked.

“Dimitri.”

“Still a pretty name.” Heisenberg muttered.

“I heard that.” Dimitri laughed.

“Oh.”

The both of them finished their hot dogs, and they went inside. It was getting cold.

“Starting tomorrow, you’re gonna help me around the factory. Otherwise I won’t hesitate to throw you out.” Heisenberg threatened.

“Alright, you’re gonna have to show me how it works around here though, depending on my job.” he replied, taking his jacket off. He got into his room and rummaged through his bag, looking for a tank top or something. He found a black one that he looted off of a tourist, and swapped into it. Even when it was freezing outside, it was mildly uncomfortable to wear a sweater like he was. He didn’t even think about his immense number of scars being visible, from various creatures and pitiful self-defense attempts. One benefit from the Cadou was that it gave him a healing factor. The only downside, in his eyes, was that killing himself was impossible. He walked out of the room, and into the living room. Heisenberg was making multiple small metal parts like gears and screws float in a certain fashion, making outlines of various things.

He sat on the couch that looked as though it was about to fall apart.

“You’re almost as scarred up as me,” Karl laughed as he pulled up his shirt, revealing a multitude of scar marks, and a happy trail.

Fuck, okay maybe I do know what I want... he thought. He felt a small tingling around his cheeks, as he laughed. He turned around and pulled up the back of his shirt to reveal some of the worst scars he’s gotten. Heisenberg felt himself tense up, his cheeks went red too.

“Can i..?” he asked as he reached his hand out halfway.

“Touch them? Sure.” Dimitri replied, scooting backwards.

He felt his calloused hands gently trace over all of his scars, even the smaller ones. Despite Karl’s rough and mean demeanor, he was so gentle. His hand gently ran down to his waist. He was surprised, but it was calming.

Karl pulled away, fearful of being intimate with him. He had just met the guy, why did he feel this pull?

“I was okay with that, you know.” he said, facing him and letting his shirt fall back to it’s place. He moved a bit closer, wanting the closeness of someone that he never had. “...Please?”

Heisenberg was confused. He was reluctant because of trust issues, yet Dimitri was the polar opposite?

Why did he come here..?

I wanted to use him as an experiment, why-?

“No.” he stated, “I can’t.”

He wordlessly left, Dimitri assuming into his room.

He sighed, and left into 'his' room too.

"Shit." he muttered, thinking about how bad that was. Dimitri went to sleep, trying to forget the entire damn day.

#karl heisenberg #daddy heisenberg #resident evil #resident evil village #fanfic #heisenberg x oc

[feverinfeveroutfic]

chapter nine: pleasures of the flesh

Sam boarded that plane with Chuck, Tiffany, Alex, Eric, Greg, and Louie at about ten minutes to the hour.

On one hand, it almost felt wrong to do that when she should be on the plane back to Los Angeles. Bill awaited her and she knew that she would have to face the music with him at some point anyway. She figured that the sooner she would have to see him, the better, and as far as she knew, he had ruined his own house.

But then again, as far as she knew, he had ruined his own house. She would have to return home to nothing.

She settled back in the seat next to Louie, and right next to the window as well.

Given it was so early in the morning, she peered out the window at the stretch of mainland United States under the veil of darkness. Clouds dotted the lower part of the sky beneath them: the soft orange and pink shades that kissed the tops made her think of watercolor. Despite it being so early in the morning, she was still wide awake from that latte that Eric had bought for her. A three hour flight back to San Francisco and there was no way in which she could fall back asleep.

Louie stayed wide awake as well, and she realized that was the first time in literal months that she and him had been alone together as well. He turned his head and showed her a wistful little smile.

“Almost home,” he said in a broken voice.

“Almost home,” she echoed him; if nothing, she could make her way down the Central Valley into Los Angeles and then Lake Elsinore, but that was for another day when it deemed necessary. Louie sighed through his nose and turned his head back to where he stared straight ahead at the seats in front of them: Greg and Alex were right behind them and had long fallen asleep once again, while Chuck, Eric, and Tiffany were right across the aisle, all asleep as well.

“My dad's gonna be here eventually,” she told him.

“It'd be nice to see him, wouldn't it?” Louie replied with a twinkle in his eye.

If only there was a way. If only there was a way she could convince him that he and Zelda belonged together, but if only there was a way she could tell him that he had a family in the background somewhere there.

“Absolutely. Especially after moving out here, too.” She fell silent for a moment. “Have you talked to Zelda lately?”

“I haven't, no,” he confessed. “I mean, we did see her and the girls back in Europe but I didn't really get alone with her and talked to her, though. Probably should, though, don't ya think?”

“Absolutely,” Sam replied and she nestled down in the seat some more.

“You know, Sam, if I'm being perfectly honest with you—I love how concerned you are about these sorts of things.”

“I just try to be a good friend,” she confessed.

“Well—and this is something I've learned from being around Zelda, too—sometimes you have to let people live. Sometimes some things are just better left unsaid.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well—” He turned his head to the row right across from them, and the three of them sound asleep. Neither Greg nor Alex made a peep since they left the airport. “I told you she got it out of me, right?” he asked her in a near whisper.

“How could I forget.”

“I figured that there are times where it's better to keep secrets so no one can use them against you because that's—kind of what happened between me and her.”

“Oh, really?”

“Oh, yeah. She told me that if the secret gets out between us—and that includes you, too—there will be hell to pay. If Testament is going anywhere in the world, and we probably will, just knowing these two fellas right behind us right and Chuck's searing vocals, there are some things that need to stay private.”

“It's none of people's business anyways,” she pointed out.

“Exactly, right! So that said, I hope to god that things will stay under wraps with us—you, me, and her. I trust you, Sam. I trust you and I trust Zelda, too. I trust that these things will stay between us.”

Sam extended her pinky finger for him.

“Excellent,” Louie remarked as he hooked his finger around hers.

“I should ask—where should I stay when we get back to the Bay Area?”

“You can stay with me,” he offered her.

“For real?”

“Yeah, I'm kinda—by myself now.”

“Aw.” She tilted her head at that and he nodded with a solemn look on his face.

“Yeah—but I'll take good care of you, though. When we touch down there, I'll do the first thing I did for Zelda after I started frequenting Rhode Island more and I'll take you out to breakfast. I'll ask Thing One and Thing Two back here if they wanna join us.”

She giggled at that.

“If there's one thing I couldn't do for my old girlfriend but I learned to do, though, it's that. It's treating you girls right.”

“I just think of that sentiment Charlie told me when I was hanging out with Anthrax back home in New York: you guys embrace your female fans.”

“Absolutely,” he said. “We absolutely love our female fans—mainly because there's not a lot of you running around, especially with us and this... I wanna say it's a second wave of thrash coming out of the Bay Area in particular. There's us and Death Angel, and there's a few others—we'll have to introduce you to them once we land.”

“There's Exodus, too,” she pointed out.

“Exodus has been around almost ten years now,” he corrected her. “Formed in the last gasp of the Seventies straight outta high school like us and Death Angel. And of course, Anthrax have some now, mainly with the help of the Cherry Suicides, but they've got some. I've seen a few women at our shows wearing Among the Living shirts and shirts with 'NOT' written on the front in big letters. I dunno if you've seen them throw that word around lately, but they have, though.”

“Like a catch phrase of some sort?”

“Kinda, yeah. I don't know if you seen Scott with that word shaved into his chest hair before but it's kinda funny, actually.”

“I don't remember,” she confessed.

“And it's a select few women, too. Between you, the four of them, and Marla, I haven't really seen any for Testament aside from the odd small bunch over in Europe.”

“Yeah, I probably counted all of five women in the crowd last night,” Sam recalled.

“Exactly!” Louie chuckled.

Sam then reached down between her legs for her purse and she took out her journal, her pencil, and a couple of her pens.

“Ah, you wanna draw for me!” he declared.

“Well, I also wanna show you the thing I made for Greg last night on the night flight,” she told him, and she flicked open to that one page. He gaped at the sight of the black ink on the page before him.

“Wow! What is it?”

“It's Joey and Alex on either side of one of the trees from the Black Forest. They're like praying to the tree together.”

“Oh, yeah, that's Alex and the little bit of gray upon his head—and the one with the curls is Joey.”

“It needs a little more touching up, but that's what I get for drawing so late at night and being partially asleep all the while, too.”

Louie chuckled at that when a low guttural noise cut him off. Sam stopped right in her tracks.

“Was that you or me?” he asked her in a low voice.

One of them in the seat behind groaned in his throat: Sam craned her neck back at the sight of Alex shifting his weight in his seat. Even though he was still asleep, nothing could deny the pained look on his face.

“The young buck,” she told Louie with a nod of her head back behind them.

“Aw—oh, yeah, he's not quite yet a full grown man so he's still suffering from that teenage hunger.”

“You ever get that hunger where it feels like you're about to puke?”

“All the time! You ever get the kind that sneaks up on you? Like you're fine one minute and then all of a sudden, you're like, 'holy hell, I'm hungry.' I used to get it all the time even when I hit twenty years old. I had my daughter then, too.”

“So that's why you were always struggling for money,” Sam noted.

“Nah, I was struggling for money because there was no money to be made yet. Zelda was only making enough to pay our rent and buy groceries and that was it—no idea what they must be making now. There still really isn't at the moment, not with us. Our label isn't giving us squat and touring is only really keeping our lights on. Seriously, Sam, it's only every so often we can splurge on something like going out to eat—and in Alex's case, it's to keep him at his parents' house still. I figured I have enough for a cab ride back to my place and then I can get something to eat after that, but that's about it. Really, that's why we're all on this plane and not a private one like Metallica are.”

“Metallica have their own plane now?” She was stunned by that, and Louie nodded his head and tucked a piece of flat hair behind his ear.

“Yeah. Surprised me, too. But as we were leaving Munich for the first night, Alex was talking to Lars over the phone and they had flown to Copenhagen via their private jet.”

Sam brought her gaze down to the floor. To think Metallica were making enough money to have their own flight plan, and Cliff wasn't even there to witness it himself.

“Did he say how they got it?” she asked him.

“Nah, Alex was just like 'how in the world did you manage that one?' and Lars said they were just making enough money from their touring at this point that they were finally able to get it for themselves. Touring in the wake of losing Cliff, too.”

Sam shook her head. There was no way she could hold it against them for making money off of their dead friend because it wasn't their fault. But at the same time, merely addressing that the thing was a thing and going no further than that left her unsettled.

“I think it's interesting that Alex started wearing that skull ring, too,” Louie continued.

“Why's that?”

“'Cause Cliff had one himself. Remember that?”

Sam paused for a moment. Even though she only got to see him a handful of times prior to his death, it was such a vague little detail for her to remember altogether.

“By the way, when's everyone's birthdays again?” she spoke again. “I know Alex's is on the twenty ninth of September, and you're two days after me in January. I remember Chuck and Eric telling me once but it's escaped me.”

“Chuck is right after the summer solstice, June twenty third. Eric is May fourteenth and Greg is April twenty ninth.”

“All of us born later in the month, my goodness!” she declared.

“I know, right? Us Aquarians know how to throw people, you know?”

“We bear the water, after all,” Sam pointed out, “I bear the goat horns, too. I'm on the cusp.”

“I ain't getting in an argument with you,” Louie joked, “the goat horns and the bones, too.”

She giggled at that, and then she remembered the skull ring in question. And she began to wonder Alex's exact intent as the sun's first rays followed them all the way back to California.

They touched down in the Bay Area, right as the first wisps of that thick fog gathered right outside of the coast, and Sam was eager to step outside and feel the fog on her face and the crown of her head. Greg and Alex trudged behind her and Louie all the way to the area outside of the gate.

“Hey, you guys wanna join us for breakfast?” she offered them as she adjusted the straps on her purse and her overnight bag. “Lewis here is gonna take me out in a few minutes.”

“I'm ready for a nap,” Greg told her.

“Yeah, I'm probably just gonna mosey on back home and curl up in my bed,” Alex added as he rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. “Get on home and eat something, too. But I kinda miss my bed.”

“Exodus is playing tomorrow night, though,” Greg pointed out.

“Yeah, that's right!” Louie recalled. “Right across the street from me, too.”

“Oh, well, lucky us,” Sam proclaimed.

“Yeah, c'mon, Sam I am—I'll take ya home with me.”

She followed him out to the parking lot and towards the sidewalk on the far side of the black top. And then she realized that he didn't have a car.

“Are we taking the bus or—?” she asked him, but then her voice trailed off as he raised his arm up for a taxi, and the little green car pulled up to the curb before them.

“You know, the entire time I've lived in New York, I've only seen a few taxi cabs,” she told him as he held the door for her.

“Really? Well, you lived in the Bronx most of the time, though. Most of the cabs I've seen were down in Manhattan or over in Brooklyn. Like more so in the inner city part of it all rather than a straight up neighborhood such as that.”

“Right, and we lived in Hell's Kitchen, too! Down by the water and it was more like that, too. I always either hitched a ride with Charlie and Marla, or I took the subway or the bus with Bel, or I walked places.”

They climbed into the back seat together and Louie told the driver they were headed for Hayward.

“That's a name I haven't heard in ages,” she noted as they got rolling along the streets.

“What, Hayward?”

“Yeah. All the names out here on the West Coast, actually. It's astonishing, really. A few weeks ago, Chuck, Tiffany, Alex, Greg, and I all went to see Death Angel in Alhambra and the four of them were staying in Corona. When Cliff and I were together, and we visited my parents in Reno, it was kind of surreal, almost like a dream of sorts. To see all the street names and all the old neighborhoods again. And it's like visiting an old friend to an extent.”

“When Zelda and I split up, and I moved back here,” Louie explained, “the exact same thing happened to me, too. Like, wow, I can't believe I'm actually telling someone to take the 880 Freeway down to Fremont and San Jose, and the 92 bridge across the Bay over to San Mateo. Like, it wasn't that long ago, I was looking up directions from Narragansett to Boston. We're going to be a block away from the cemetery, too.”

The driver nodded in response: meanwhile, Sam peered out the window at the early morning fog as it collected all around the sky overhead. So much that Cliff hadn't shown her when he was alive, and at that moment, in the back of that cab, she witnessed it for herself. All the little shops that lined the streets and the small slivers of parks throughout the place all the way over to All Soul's Cemetery and the ramshackle apartment complex right across the way.

Louie kept his promise and paid the fare for them.

The two of them stood on the sidewalk together and he groaned.

“What's up?” she asked him.

“The place I wanna take you isn't open yet,” he explained.

“It is still pretty early,” she pointed out.

“True, true.” He led her up the sidewalk to the apartments: after he held the door for her, and she stepped inside, the fatigue of having traveled so much settled over her right then.

“We're just on the ground floor here,” he guided her down the hallway to the fourth room on the right and he unlocked the door for her.

A cozy one bedroom apartment with a small couch tucked in one corner and across from that was a small television upon a milk crate. To the right of her stood a large wooden armoir that looked as though it hadn't been painted with a coat of veneer once in its lifetime. Before her was a short hallway that led back to the bedroom in question as well as a bathroom and a closet: to the left was the small kitchenette with a narrow shabby table that needed a paint job in and of itself.

“Well, at least this place isn't dirty,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, I mean, it's just me here now—it's not like there's much to clean here anyway. You can set your things in my room if you wish.”

“You're gonna make me sleep on the couch, aren't you?” she asked him.

“Nah, you can sleep head to toe with me in my bed,” he offered her. “It's a comfy bed, I promise you that.”

Indeed, Sam showed a little grin and then she made her way into that little bedroom so as to set her things down. In one corner of the room was a small pile of laundry: on top was a black T shirt and inscribed on the front, in swirled sparkled red letters, read “The Cherry Suicides”. Right within the name was a pair of cherries with the stem split apart by a butcher knife: on the handle of the knife was a white bow.

“You have a Cherry Suicides shirt?” she called out to him.

“Oh, yeah!” he called back to her from the front room.

“I didn't know they sold shirts!” she declared. “All the times I saw them, there was like no merch to be seen.”

“Yeah, Zelda gave that to me when we were going out,” he explained as he stood in the doorway behind her. “She actually made that for me because they couldn't get a thing to make merch for themselves—well, they probably can now, but a few years ago, they weren't able to so she made her own. You can have that if you'd like. It doesn't fit me.”

“Aw, thank you. Yet another sleep shirt.” She picked up the shirt from the pile: indeed, she knew it would be a bit of a snug fit for her given she had far more curves than Louie at that point.

“I should ask you,” he began again, “have you shown Alex that drawing?”

“I haven't, no. I haven't shown him any of my art so far.”

“Oh, man, you should. You know those drawings you made for Charlie for this past tour? He was awestruck by them. Whenever Chuck and I asked him about it, he was like, 'dude, that's some of the best art I've ever seen in my life.'”

She gaped at that.

“But he couldn't put two and two together and realize that it was me who made them, though?” she asked him, to which Louie shook his head.

“Seeing as you're back out here on the West Coast, you ought to catch a moment alone with him when you can. Really show him your art, like do a demo for him.”

“He was heart broken when Jean Michel Basquiat passed away recently,” she recalled.

“Oh, I bet he was! He's more of an art nut than Lars and Charlie both. So you ought to do it for him. Anyways, I'm gonna change my clothes and I'll take you over to the place I want to take you for breakfast. You'll love this place, Sam. Best coffee and pancakes in town.”

“We'll be the judge of that,” she told him as she peeled off her shirt right there in front of him, much to his gasping. But she put on that homemade Cherry Suicides shirt for herself: the body hugged her breasts and her belly a little bit but it fit her as if Zelda had crafted it just for her. The neckline hung low upon her chest so it accentuated a bit of skin, and Louie nodded at that.

“My turn!” he said, and he took off his shirt as well. Sam kept her eye on his slender drummer's body as he stepped past her for a plain dark gray sweatshirt himself. He fixed his hair and then he gestured for her to follow him back outside to the restaurant in question.

Cozy and warm and a slice of life away from the deathly feeling right up the block from them, and Sam soon saw that he was right about the coffee and the pancakes: she helped herself to a large fat stack of five of them, each of them light and fluffy and loaded up with butter and a small kiss of fresh blackberries.

“So where are we seeing Exodus at tonight?” she asked him as she mopped up the rest of the blackberry syrup with a final bite of pancakes.

“Right over there—” He pointed out the window to the block on the other side of the cemetery, where she spotted a low but bright lit bar with dark stained glass windows. “Doors open at about five o'clock so we'll be meeting Alex and Greg over there around then. Since we're friends of Exodus, we get in for free. You'll probably have to pay five bucks, though.”

“Sounds good, though,” she assured him, and then she raised her coffee mug for him and they made a toast to one another. “Wait a minute, it's a bar, though,” she pointed out. “What's Alex gonna do there?”

“They sell food until about eleven,” he told her. “So he can go in there.”

“All the food his tummy could ever wish for,” she said as she took another sip of coffee. After breakfast, Sam settled into the apartment for a few hours with her journal and her pencil until Louie put on his Chuck Taylors and then his watch. She figured she had enough to not enough to cover the way into the bar as well as a drink for herself. She ran a brush through her hair and then she followed him back outside to the cool afternoon: most of the fog had burned off at that point, but a few wisps and thick clouds dotted the otherwise rich blue canopy overhead.

“The girls also played there,” he told her.

“Really?”

“When Zelda and I were first going out and I was trying to hide my old life from her, yeah. That was where she treated me to a show and she offered to take me home to Rhode Island with her.”

“So this is like coming full circle here,” she followed along as she put on her sunglasses; even though they weren't going very far up the street, she decided to wear them regardless of anythin g.

“Exactly! Right up the street, too, so it's oh so close to home.”

He led her up the sidewalk and all the way around the circumference of the cemetery, to the furthest point and under a row of tall oak trees. She thought about that night in Brooklyn and the Day of the Dead ceremony. She knew she would have to do it again for Cliff as they crossed the four lane road together: he reached the sidewalk first. A gust of cool oceanic wind sent a shiver down her spine but she figured the pancakes from that morning would keep her warm enough until they reached the bar.

“Hey, there's Eric!” Louie pointed out. Up ahead, wrapped in thin black leather and with his inky black hair down so it freely twirled in the wind, Eric lingered outside of the front door of the bar and shuffled his feet about. As they came closer to him, and Sam realized she had made a mistake by not bringing a coat with her, he flashed them a grin.

“Not in the Big Apple anymore,” he declared to her. “Bitchin' shirt, by the way.”

“Not even close,” she said over the whistle of the winds, “I literally forgot how cold and dry California is, even up here. And thank you! This is courtesy of Zelda herself.”

Eric held the door for them and she stepped into the big spacious room first. Given they were right across the street from a cemetery, small sugar skulls lined the walls around them. Old names from years and decades past there in the San Francisco Bay Area lined the phony bricks that were plastered upon the main wall to the left, all in thick calligraphy and block letters like the names in obituaries. Posted up at one of the tables by the wall was Alex and Greg, the latter of whom waved at her. Meanwhile, Alex adjusted the skull ring on his right hand and leaned back in the chair. He had dyed his hair jet black once more, albeit with a bit of haste, however this time around, it was hard to tell that he even had a gray streak there over his brow to begin with.

“Really, who says you can't be girly and badass at the same time?” Greg asked her as part of his greeting.

“I thought being girly was a part of being badass, dude,” Alex pointed out.

“It's badass to be manly, too,” Sam assured as she took her seat there next to him.

“Right?” He clenched his fist to show her the silver skull on his ring finger.

“I'm gonna check on the guys,” Louie told them.

“I have to pay the cover charge,” she retorted to him.

“Oh, yeah, do that,” Alex advised her.

But lucky for her, she found out that she could have half price for a drink, and thus she treated herself to an Irish coffee. A thick frosted glass of that light brown coffee with a thick foam up top and so early in the evening to boot, and she knew that the party would start. She returned to Alex and Greg, right as the former put his hands around a glass of root beer and the latter sipped on some actual beer.

“Why would you do that?” Alex was asking him once she returned within earshot.

“Why not? I could probably do it with one ball first and then work my way up to two.”

“You do that, it's just throwing a single thing in the air,” he pointed out.

“You're still doing it, though,” said Greg.

“No—?” Alex chuckled at that.

“What're you guys talking about?” she asked them with a bit of laughter herself.

“Juggling,” Alex replied, “apparently, he wants a shot at it. He wants to start I tout with one object, too.”

“That's not juggling, though,” she pointed out.

“See what I mean, dude?” He took a sip of his root beer when Eric returned with a plate with a slice of pepperoni pizza.

“Oh, yeah, you get pizza and I just get root beer,” Alex scoffed at him.

“Courtesy of the guys, little man,” Eric advised him and he gestured to the other side of the room behind him.

“I'll be right back,” Alex told the three of them and he bowed over to the table there by the bathrooms, where Louie was helping himself to a plate full as well. Indeed, Sam brought her attention over there and she spotted the man right in front of Louie. She almost didn't even recognize him from his now shorn hair and the fact his face looked as though it had been boiled in a vat of water.

“Oh, man, Zetro doesn't look good,” Sam remarked.

“I guess they haven't been doing too well,” Eric told her as he covered his mouth with one hand. “This last record they put out—last October, I think? It was a total flop—I thought it was pretty good, though. The guitars sound like chainsaws and Zetro's vocal delivery is just not for the faint of heart. I mean you heard him, when he was with us.”

“Oh, right, right! Real screechy, high vocals.”

“Indicative of thrash! But yeah, everyone hated it upon release, though.”

“Do you think maybe Zelda might have something to do with it?” she asked him.

“No clue, to be honest. Could just be nerves—you know, the sophomore slump thing, but who knows, really. That is a possibility, though, 'cause he was a wreck when she and him split and she made amends with Louie. One can only hope that their next one will be a bonafide masterpiece.”

Within time, Alex and Louie returned with plates, for themselves and for Greg and Sam in that respective fashion.

Within the hour, more and more people filed into the bar and Exodus prepared to take to the stage. Eric and Louie made their way over to the stage to check in on the band themselves, and Greg had gone off to the men's room. Thus, Sam and Alex were left alone yet again, that time with empty plates before them. He lifted his glass of root beer to his lips but he didn't take a drink for himself.

“Samantha, when you turned twenty, how'd you react to it?” he asked her.

“How'd I react to it?”

“Yeah, like—what was going through your mind then?”

“I just kind of—resigned to the fact that I was going to be twenty years old soon, like I wasn't going to be a teenager anymore.”

She dropped her gaze to his fingers as they curled around the base of his glass of root beer. She wondered what was going through his mind right then.

“Why?” she asked him as she leaned her head in closer to him. “Alex? Is there something you want to tell me?” She peered over her shoulder once again. They were alone yet again; she returned to him. “You can tell me. You are my best kept secret—you can tell me if something is troubling you.” He sighed through his nose.

“I'm just—kinda—realizing the fact that I'm not a kid anymore,” he confessed, to which he knitted his eyebrows together. “I haven't really felt like a kid in a long time, either. You know? I feel like I've had to grow up a great deal in the past six years. Hell, the past three years, I feel like I've had to grow up a great deal.”

“Well—you're still Alex, though,” she pointed out in a low voice. “You're just—a little older is all. My mom told me that when I turned eighteen in fact. She said, 'you're still my little girl regardless of how old you are.' So to that, you're still little boy Alex to me. You're still that chubby sixteen year old with the yarmulke, the one whom I first met in New York City.”

He raised his head at that and he raised his eyebrows: the softest she had ever seen him at that point.

“You think so?”

“Yeah. I bet your parents feel the same way about you.”

He paused for a second. “They do, actually. In particular my mom. They did a lot for me—they still do, actually. My mom helps me do laundry and sometimes there's just something about coming home and feeling her hug me. Feeling my dad hug me, too. You know?”

“Oh, yeah! That's one thing I miss about living close to my parents is hugs from them, especially my dad.”

He ran the tip of his finger around the rim of his glass.

“So do you know at all when he's coming out here?” he asked her.

“Who, my dad? I don't, no.” She paused herself. “Why, you wanna meet him?”

“If it's not too much trouble,” he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “I always introduced my friends to my parents growing up. That was actually the first time I really heard the word 'meshuggah' was when I brought one of my friends over to jam guitars with. My dad was like 'my kid's meshuggah!' to their parents. And I mean—you know, it's all of us out here in the Bay Area together now—it just—kinda makes sense that we all get together and hang out together when we're not on the road.”

“Which is quite often,” she followed along.

“Oh, my god, yes! We're supposed to be back in the studio soon, too. And we've got those shows down in Reseda before Christmas.”

“By the way, when's Hanukkah this year?” she asked him without a moment's hesitation.

“Hanukkah? Oh, god, I dunno. I do know Rosh Hashana is coming up here in like two weeks or something like that, but that's where it starts and ends with me, though. I couldn't tell you when Yom Kippur is or even—almost twenty years old and I know for a fact my mom's gonna take me over her knee and I'm gonna get spanked for this—Passover. Besides my family's non traditional Jewish. I don't always wear my yarmulke or my Star of David.”

“Still a Jew boy, though,” she pointed out with a giggle.

“Oh, yeah. This last name is definitely indicative of that. There's not a lot of us running around but it's there, though. I mean, if my dad utilizing a word like 'meshuggah' isn't enough indication, I dunno what to tell ya.”

He shrugged his shoulders and rolled those deep eyes a bit, and she giggled some more at him.

“Do you celebrate Hanukkah at all?” she asked him.

“We did when I was little! Like when I was a toddler and when I first started school, but like I said, my parents are non traditional. So it doesn't bother them in the least if we miss any of the holidays at any given time, and they usually do, too.” He picked up his glass and sipped on the rest of his root beer, and then he turned his attention back to her, that time with a thoughtful look on his face. “We do have a menorah, though,” he said in a low voice.

“A real menorah?”

He nodded.

“Oh, yeah, it's as real as the black dye on my head right now.” She giggled at that. “And I'll tell you what. When Hanukkah starts—whenever it does this year—you ought to come on over. We'll light up the candles for each of the eight nights, and I'll do it for you, too.”

Someone up on stage laughed out laughing right at that moment.

“It's not that funny,” Sam cracked, and Alex cackled at that. Someone else up there addressed Alex by name, and he turned his attention towards them with a twinkle in his eye.

“I dunno, man, why you asking me!” he called out in that big bold voice, and Zetro made his way to the middle of the stage with the microphone in hand. He pointed in their direction and Sam sank down away from the look of mischief on his face.

“I see exactly one Alex Skolnick out there in the audience,” he declared and his speaking voice filled up the entire room, “—twenty years old in a few weeks time—you know, he's only in here 'cause there's food.”

People in the audience chuckled at that. Alex bowed his head and closed his eyes, to which Zetro stuck out his tongue and flashed Sam a wink. She peered over at him and before she could even so much as put her hand on his arm, Zetro spoke again.

“Anyways, come on up here, little man—come on up here and give us a li'l kick in the ass and give the cherry a good poppin'. We could use it right about now to start us out.”

Sam and Alex glanced at one another, and she shrugged her shoulders at him. He rolled his eyes and downed the rest of his root beer, and then he stood to his feet. People applauded him as he took the walkway on the other side of the room. Soon, over the small sea of heads, Sam recognized his head of jet black hair against the overhead lights. One of their stage hands gave him a big white flying V guitar, much like the guitar which Dave gave Joey for auditions.

Her jaw dropped as she watched him take center stage next to Zetro.

Alex absolutely dwarfed the five of them. He didn't even need the gray streak upon his head for Sam to recognize him from clear across the room: he had that handsome oval face and those prominent features. Indeed, there was that indication she had for him: his hair could turn completely gray and she could still recognize him, but she made that sentiment when she locked eyes with him. But as she watched him up there on stage with Exodus, she realized that it was more than that.

The kid literally stood out like a monolith. Long lanky legs wrapped in those fitted black jeans and his slender little body accentuated by that black button up: at some point on the way up there, he had undone the top two buttons and revealed a sliver of his chest to the audience. He ran his fingers through his inky black curls and showed off a bit more of his neck.

She had never seen him like that before, such that it was almost too much for her to bear right then. She wanted another slice of pizza but she wanted to pay more attention to him.

Thus, she climbed off the stool and almost ran right into Greg, who gasped at the sight of her.

“Oh, my—hi,” she muttered to him.

“Hi,” Greg said back to her. One inch of clearance separated them. “Do you know where Alex is?”

“I don't, no—I was—I was just gonna ask you.” Sam peered down at his narrow legs and his belt as it poked out from underneath the hem of his shirt. “Oh, no, wait, he's up there with them.”

“Oh, yeah!” Greg clapped his hands over his head as Alex let his fingers do the talking on the guitar's fret board.

“Oh, my,” she muttered, to which she fanned herself.

“Practice it, man!” Zetro bellow into the microphone.

“Yeah, practice what you preach!” he shouted into the microphone right behind him, and his voice was even bigger for that room in comparison to that of Zetro. All Sam could think about right then was Soundgarden, the Seattle band at the show in Dusseldorf.

Her heart fluttered inside of her chest all the while. The way Alex stood there with that white guitar pressed against his body.

“Watch my purse for me, Greg?” she asked him.

“Sam, I will walk up and down the street with your purse over my shoulder if I have to,” Greg replied, and she bowed away from there, but then she doubled back for her glass.

The fact she was legally married to a man and the fact that she had a boyfriend back home in New York. It was almost too much for her to bear.

Sam shook her head. No amount of Irish coffee could soothe the warm feeling in her face: if anything, it only added to the feeling within her. That fluttery feeling in her chest and the way her hips wanted to sway about with his rhythms.

She sipped on the glass again and then she bolted from the table.

She couldn't even make it to bathroom when Alex himself bumped into her there at the corridor's entrance.

Not again. He hadn't even broken out in a sweat for a second. But his body lingered there before her, all big and tall and with two buttons undone, as if he had done it all for her.

Not again.

“Oh—hi,” she sputtered and he raised his eyebrows at her.

“Hi,” Alex retorted back to her. One inch of clearance separated them, just like with her and Greg. “Uh—I need a drink of water, I'm like dying of thirst right now.”

“And I gotta use the ladies' room—” He tried to bow past her but she went in the same direction as him. She went the other way and he followed her as well.

“Damn it—” he chuckled at that.

“Pardon me,” she told him as she finally bowed past him and into the women's bathroom. She shut the door behind her and she peered into the mirror in front of her. A light touch of pink crossed her face. She shook her head about and let out a long low whistle, even though that did nothing to settle the nervous sensation in the pit of her stomach.

Yet another moment where she hadn't seen Alex without that stoic expression on his face.

She didn't even have to use the bathroom but she needed to be away from the table, away from Greg's prying eyes. She washed her hands and splashed a little cold water on her face before she returned back out to the bar. Greg had gone off, and Alex was back in his spot there at the table. His face was flushed and he pushed his bangs right off of his face so as to keep himself cool.

“Are you okay?” she asked him once she took her seat again.

“Yeah. I just—wasn't expecting to see you over there.”

“I see.”

“What about you? You look like you're about as red as a cherry tomato.”

“It's this Irish coffee,” she told him with a tap of the glass. “I almost wanna Jew it up.”

“Jew it up?” he echoed her. “Why would you wanna Jew it up?”

“What's wrong—with Jewing it up?”

“You Jew it up, you make it kosher and dry. And you don't wanna do that to coffee.”

“Maybe I do,” she teased him. “Make coffee nice and dry.”

Alex shook his head and stuck out his tongue at that, and then he gave her that hearty laugh once again.

“I don't think I'm ready to understand you, Alex Skolnick,” she teased him once again.

“A lot of people don't,” he promised her. “I'm just gonna tell you this right now—really, listen to me, Samantha. A lot of people don't understand me, especially my parents.”

And yet a part of her told her that it was only just the beginning with him.

#fanfic #fanfiction #chapter 9 #fever in fever out #fever in fever out fanfic #book four #souls of black #testament fanfic #testament band #testament #exodus #louie clemente #greg christian #alex skolnick #eric peterson #steve souza #REALLY long post #long reads #slice of life #also on ao3 #also on wattpad #writing #text

[jooniyah]

Fool’s Diamonds

Pairing: Park Jimin x Fem Reader

AU: Thief!Au

Genre: Angst

Warnings: Illness, angsty mentions of poverty, diamond mines, drunk character, character death, vague mentions of non con, suggested human trade, robbery, implied smut, general theme of mistrust and deception.

Word count: 6.39 K

Disclaimer:  This is a work of fiction and I do not condone any of the actions of the characters in this fiction. This is to be treated as pure fantasy, and should not be misconstrued to be demeaning the idols in any way. If any of the above warnings cause you discomfort, kindly refrain from reading.

Author’s note:  This fiction is set in a time when cell phones and social media didn’t exist. Nationalities are purely for fictional purposes, I bear no ill-will towards any nationality, nor am I xenophobic.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

The air was dry and felt like parched paper. You fancied you could break it into pieces just by extending your hand out. A bead of sweat rolled inside your shirt, running down your midriff. Gosh, it was so very hot. Why was it that July felt like Earth was having a fun time roasting all the terrestrial life on a barbecue? A strong cigar smell curled around you, worsening the situation, making you want to retch.

“I’m outta here, Billie,” you shouted, leaving the money on the table. The wet circles left by the beer mugs hadn’t even dried. “Money’s on the table.”

The tattooed girl nodded at you, hollering a hearty “Sure, darlin’. See ya around.”

The heat was reflecting off the road in waves. It wasn’t like you had chosen to stay there. With a drunkard for a father and a ruined mother, you had to stay back and make sure your father didn’t set the house on fire in one of his rages. You spat down, wiping the corner of your mouth. Father. You didn’t even know what real fathers did.

Wait, of course, you did. Real fathers worked to bring bread to the table. They raised their children and tried to get their babies to live better lives. They didn’t collapse by the sewer and roll around in their own puke. It was a challenge every night to find which gutter he had passed out in.

Your mother had worked her ass off to get clothes on your back. Forget college. You had starved on days when your father stole your mom’s daily wages to go and get his brains saturated with alcohol. Did you ever think of killing him? No. Well, maybe. Okay, a lot of times.

But the old woman was strangely attached to him. She went out and dragged him home if you said you couldn’t be bothered to go find him.

“Tis your dad, girl,” she would pant, dragging the wasted scoundrel by his shoulders. “You got only him to call dad, like it or not.”

You would huff and storm out of the room, not interested in getting lectured at. Well, there wasn’t a lot of rooms in your house. There was just a living room, a kitchen, and a bedroom. Your drunk dad would usually snore in the living room. Your mother would join you in the bedroom, where she would lie on an old ratty mattress. It grossed you out to lie on it, just imagine the times it would have seen your parents’ body fluids. Ew. You would lie on a pallet, trying to suppress the anger brewing in your heart.

Every other girl in the town had left, either to college or in search of better jobs. Some had married, just to escape the clutches of the banal town, which was tainted with general unease and distrust. No one was ever able to breathe freely. It was like the whole town was constantly on edge, waiting for something bad to happen.

And when you reached home, the bitter aftertaste of the beer still on your tongue, the cruel hand of fate had struck already.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

“Momma?”

You raced over to her side, trying to get her to breathe. Her lips were a deep blue, the eyes were rolling back into her head.

“Y/N.”

Her breathing was strained as if every draw of her breath peeled a little piece of life away from her.

“Momma?” You repeated dumbly, tears spilling down your cheeks. “Don’t go, please,” the saliva pooling in your mouth made you slur.

“Y/N,” she rasped, struggling to look at you. “Get—”

A spasm made her wince, and you watched helplessly, waiting for her to resume.

“Get outta this…” she swallowed, willing herself to finish her sentence. “… this town. Get out.”

Her eyes scoured the place, trying to see her husband’s form in the bright afternoon light. There he was, fast asleep, not minding in the least about his family or the fact that his wife was looking for him before her last breath.

“I’ll wake him up,” you said, trying to get up.

“No,” her voice was soft. “I been done waiting for him to wake up.”

“Momma,” you whined, voice laden with sorrow.

She shook her head, flashing a watery smile at you. “My baby,” her cold fingers clasped yours. “Get outta this place. Live your life, girl.”

You turned to stare in disgust at the man stretched in the doorway. “But him…”

She cut your words, whispering hoarsely. “No use, girl. He’s good as dead. You gotta go.”

Her beady eyes searched your face, relaxing when you nodded and sobbed.

“I love you, baby.”

Her chest stopped heaving.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

You were wiping hot angry tears off your cheeks, thinking what a waste your father was. He hadn’t even stirred when you shook him awake, screaming at him.

“Momma’s dead!” you had cried, hitting his chest as if it would get his brain hum-started. “You weren’t even sober, you fucking loser!”

When your mother had been around, you had kept a lid on swearing. But the dam broke, unleashing a torrent of suppressed anger spilling out of your heart in waves.

He had grinned dumbly, saying in a slurred voice:

“One less mouth to feed, then.”

You hadn’t meant to, but your fist came into contact with his nose, followed by a sickening crunch.

“You loser,” you shouted, going crazy at the thought of a world without your mother.

He shrugged, lying down on his side, supporting his head with his hand.

“My girl be takin’ care of me, I ain’t got nothin’ to worry about.”

You jumped to your feet, fingers trembling in rage. Your mother had lived and died, trying to support the scoundrel lying before you. But it wasn’t your cross to bear anymore. Your mother had been right, he was of no fucking use. He would simply leech off you and get drunk till his last breath. No, that wasn’t what your mother had wanted. You had to get out of the damned place.

But how? No money. No jewels. Nothing you could pawn off. Your father had already done that and drunk away all the little precious things your mother had ever owned. There was nothing to support you out in the wild, wild world.

You had a job at the local convenience store, but it didn’t pay much. It was your first job since finishing school. You had taken it instead of leaving the town, just to support your poor mother. There wasn’t much respite, but it did provide you bread when your father ran away with your mom’s wages.

You hadn’t saved a lot. But you needed leave the cursed town before it trapped you for life. Your mother had lived and gone to dust, working solely to keep you from dying of starvation. It was time to leave. To begin a new chapter elsewhere, where drunkards didn’t puke all over your foyer.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

“Billie,” you called, moving closer to her. “You got any jobs here?”

The girl pursed her mouth, shaking her head.

“Sorry, girlie. Ain’t got no jobs right now.”

You nodded in understanding. Fair enough. It was a rotten place, with not a lot of opportunities. It was a wonder that Billie kept running the pub after her old man died. It was evident that she wanted to leave the place. But like you, she had been tied to the town because of her sick father.

You were curious why she still hadn’t closed shop and left town for good.

“Billie, didn’t you ever think of leaving this place?”

She lifted a finger to be excused for a moment. She moved to pour out beer for a tall man who was standing at the counter. She pocketed the change, shouting “Enjoy your beer” at his retreating back.

When she returned, she wiped her hand on her apron, thrusting her tongue out carelessly.

“Well, I sure did, but this place ain’t got no other pub. And the money’s good the last couple o’weeks.”

You leaned in, interested.

“Anyone struck diamonds? Give me the juice, girl.”

She laughed, wiping the beer spills on the counter, nodding as she did so.

“Aye, there’s a couple guys who struck it rich. They’re comin’ and leavin’ big fat tips.”

She patted her pocket to emphasize her point. Billie was obviously in need of the money to keep the place running. You grinned, interested to hear more.

“Tell me about them.”

She handed out another mug of beer and pulled a stool to sit near you.

“There’s this guy from Russia, he been scouring for stones since last August. He bought a trench from old Mr. Hadley and started diggin’ two weeks ago. Big diamonds, you see,” she opened her thumb and index winger to show you the size, “Big ones. He been buyin’ drinks for everyone in the mine to celebrate it.”

You whistled. The only thriving business in the town was mining. People came from all parts of the world to try their luck at finding the crystallized carbon rocks. Most of them returned broke, some fell sick from the dusty haze and polluted air. Some even died in vain, succumbing to the hot burning sun.

“And the other one?”

She giggled, letting you in on her little secret. “He asked if I wanna go to Ireland.”

“He’s asking you to marry him?” It wasn’t a surprise. A lot of girls in your town had gone and married potential miners just to escape.

She shook her head, grinning. “We were foolin’ around and he thought I was serious.”

Well, poor man. Billie wasn’t the type to settle down without roaming the Earth to her heart’s content. She was simply chiseled from another rock. She didn’t like being caged.

“Talk of the devil,” she whispered, wiping the counter furiously. “There’s Mr. Russia.”

You turned and eyed the big guy entering the pub, his eyes lighting up when he saw Billie. The people in the pub cheered when he entered, and he raised a big palm to accept the claps, smiling widely.

He strode towards the counter, catching sight of you.

“And who’s this lovely lady?” he asked, smirking in your direction.

“Y/N,” Billie replied, handing him his lager. “She works in the convenience store by the old railroad.”

“Pleasure,” he said, extending his big hand to you. When you shook it, the callousness reminded you of sandpaper.

“You haven’t left town yet?” he asked, sipping his lager casually. “I mean, I thought Billie was the only lass in town.”

You smiled. The curiosity was well-earned. “I’ll leave soon enough,” you replied, keeping the obvious eagerness from spilling into your tone.

“Y/N’s momma died, so she got nothing to stay back for anymore,” Billie said, looking at you with sympathetic eyes. She had been in the same position, and she understood.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, his thick accent bubbling out of his chest.

“It’s okay.” You looked at the time. “Ah, I gotta run, Billie. See ya.” Turning to the man, you dipped your head with a soft “Nice to meet you.”

He nodded chastely, watching your back as you scurried back to work.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

“Y/N!” the man hollered, “customer for you!”

You were at the back, checking the expiration dates and noting which ones to take back home. It was common in your town for salespeople to take items that were a day or two beyond the expiration dates. You stopped what you were doing and rose up to look over the aisle.

It was the Russian man. His face registered recognition, and he raised his hand to wave a small Hi to you.

“Yes,” you said, walking up to him. “How can I help you?”

He told you he was looking for some souvenirs to buy for his daughter back home. You led him to the small section that had girls’ trinkets and stuff like hair slides.

“These are all we have. You could try Miasie’s too. She might have some more accessories.”

He nodded, carding through the fake jewelry items. He whistled in a low voice.

“They look like real diamonds,” he said, pointing to a bracelet studded with stones.

“Zirconia,” you replied, taking the bracelet out of the plastic cover. You had to admit, it really looked authentic. It was a running joke in your town that the fake jewelry outshone the diamonds mined there.

“Maisie has a lot of Zirconia jewels, these are made by locals,” you said, running your finger through the stones. “

People who fared badly at the diamond mining expeditions returned home with Zirconia jewels to save face, to try and convince their people that they had in fact dug a few diamonds out. Hence the market for fake diamonds boomed, and a lot of locals thrived on it.

“I’d rather buy this, at the hands of the beautiful maiden holding it,” he said.

Was he hitting on you?

You nodded crisply, asking if he wanted anything else. He hesitated, looking around. “Is it- is it fine if I ask you out?”

There it was. Gosh. It was an endless game of cat and mouse in that town. For hundreds of young miners, there were only a handful of young girls, so the competition was crazy.

“I guess,” you said, hoping he would just get you a beer and call it a day.

“So, I’ll come and get you at…” he licked his lips. “…where do you live?”

You thought about it, thinking if you should just tell him to come to the store after all. But you got off work at 4, and you didn’t want him to see you carrying expired food back home. You wrote him the address, telling him to reach your home at 6.

He smiled and left, promising to call on you later that evening.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

“You gotta be kidding me,” you hissed when you returned home to see your father conversing with the Russian like old buddies.

The men snapped their heads to follow the sound of your voice, and there you were, holding an armful of stuff from the store.

“Y/N,” the Russian said, getting up to help you carry the items inside.

“Alexei! What are you doing here?” The time certainly wasn’t 6 pm. What the hell was he doing, cozying up to your father?

Your father grinned his sickly fishy smile. “Y/N, don’t raise your voice…”

“Shut the fuck up,” you said, cutting him off. You hated when the loser lectured you. “I wasn’t talking to you.” All the foodstuff in your arms dropped down with loud thuds.

Alexei stooped to pick up the small cartons. “Y/N, let’s not shout,” he was saying, when you swatted his arm away.

“You don’t tell me what I should do, not at my own house.”

He raised his palm in a gesture of peace.

“Why are you here? I told you to come at 6. It’s only 4.30.”

He looked over at your father, catching his lip between his teeth.

“Well, I was free and thought I’d pay you a visit…”

“When I was away at work?” you questioned.

Your father cut in harshly. “I sold you to him.”

His voice was blank, devoid of any emotion. The shocked silence prevailed undisturbed for a good five minutes before you found your voice.

“You what?”

Charging forward, you went flying towards the old man, when Alexei caught hold of your hips, holding you in place.

“It’s not what you think, Y/N,” the big man said, heaving in exertion as you squirmed and cursed out loud.

“Get your hands off me! Get your hands off me!”

He let go, but clasped your wrist instead.

“I just asked if I could take you with me to Russia. He said he didn’t have anyone to support him if you left, so…”

“So? So, you offered money to take me away? Who do you think you are?” Your voice was rising to dangerous limits. “Am I an object you can just buy? Fuck you.”

Your father was sober for like the first time in months, and then he went and sold you off to make money to drink even more?

“And you!” Pointing your finger at the old man, you screeched in anger. “You fucking sold your daughter to get drunk even more? Why didn’t you die instead of mom?”

“Enough, Y/N,” he shouted, getting up and smacking his dry lips. “You be goin’ with the Russian. It’s the least you can do for yer’ old man.”

“Are you listening to yourself?” You screamed, voice breaking and throat going dry from all the screeching.

“Now, now, Y/N, take a breath.” Alexei came nearer, whispering in your ear. “You want to escape this place; I offer you a pass. Why do you resist?”

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

Billie widened her eyes in shock.

“Y/N! Are ya fuckin’ outta your mind?”

You shook your head, aware of Alexei watching you from across the pub.

“Far from it.”

She leaned down and lowered her voice.

“Girl, ya know what ya gettin’ yerself into?”

“Yeah, I know. Billie, he’s gonna take me outta this wretched town!”

“At the cost of what, Y/N? He’s married, he’ll probably sell you to another guy or worse he’d put you in a brothel.”

“I know.” You sipped the beer and swallowed the liquid before adding:

“I will be careful, Billie. He got strength, but I got brains.”

She scoffed. “Seems more like them brains evaporated in the heat, based on what nonsense yer talkin’, girl.”

You were touched by her concern. Being the only two girls in the neighborhood, it went without saying that she was like a sister to you. And if the most spirited daredevil of the town was worried about you, there really was a grim storm brewing for you.

“Listen, Billie. I’ll be sharp. I won’t get kicked into a brothel. You know me, girl.”

She considered your determined face, before giving up. “Well, if ya say that ya’ll be alright, it gon’ be alright I guess.” She looked over at Alexei. “When ya leavin’?”

“This afternoon. There’s a train to the capital. A ship’s leaving for his country on Thursday.”

“So, the three days until that…”

“He says we’ll stay and look around the capital until the ship sails.”

She curled her lips at you. “You got balls, girl.”

You grinned, smiling at her as you downed the rest of the beer. Both of you knew that you were never going to see each other again.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

“Want to go to bed?” the man asked, pulling you snug against his side profile.

“Alexei.” Your tone was curt. “Don’t touch me unless I say it’s okay to.”

Bitch. Well, he would break you in soon. He’d have you begging on all fours. Just wait till he got on that ship with you. There was no way he was going to wait longer than that.

“Apologies, I will see you tomorrow then.”

He withdrew to his own hotel room. You had arrived at the capital at 11 am. It was Tuesday. Three more days to go before you sailed to Russia with him. You had demanded a separate room. He had tried to reason with you, but you just wouldn’t hear of it.

Alexei saw you slam the door shut, standing on the verandah. He lit his cigar. Soon, he said to himself. Soon he’d have his dick inside that uptight ass of yours.

Your father had been surprisingly easy to bend. He had just said that he had struck diamonds when the old man folded like a napkin. He had honestly meant to gossip until you returned, but he quickly saw a delicious opportunity right before his eyes.

He had innocently talked about how it would be difficult for the old man if you left town, and soon enough, he had wrapped him around his little finger. He just gave him one of the smallest diamonds, the most unclear of them all, but the man danced like it was Christmas already.

“Take her, yes, by all means,” he had said, rolling the stone around in his palm. “The lass don’t have much savings, it would be damn difficult for me to get ‘er a man. Better you take ‘er. I’m happy.”

Alexei had been quite taken aback. The man really was willing to give up his daughter for a low-quality diamond. But hey, he had no qualms. He was getting the best looking girl he had laid eyes on, and soon enough he would trade you for money, or better yet, another girl.

He blew out the smoke, slowly imagining how your naked body would feel under him. Those pert tits, he could almost see them in his mind. He would make you take back every sharp word you had said to him since the day he bought you. He looked down, exhaling the smoke again. He would have to take care of the tent in his pants by himself. Until Thursday.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

“Jimin-ah,” the girl drawled, draping herself against his warm, shirtless torso. “Stay a bit longer.”

He raked his slim fingers through his mussed hair, clicking his tongue.

“I’m sorry, baby, but I have to go.”

She pouted at him, sticking out her lower lip. “When will you be back?”

He scooped her up, kissing the top of her head.

“Soon. Really soon, baby.”

He slipped his shirt on, shaking his hair free and arranging it again.

“Don’t stay up too long, I’ll be back tomorrow.” He kissed her knuckles, reluctantly letting her hand go.

“I love you, Jimin-ah,” she whined, gazing forlornly at his back.

He grimaced unbeknownst to her. He didn’t love her. And he most certainly wasn’t going to see her again. He rapidly exited the dingy hotel, not caring in the least that the poor woman would wait for him to return. Gosh, the extents a guy had to go to, to get a nice fuck these days.

Jimin didn’t really go to sex workers. It wasn’t his style. No, he was the playboy. He liked the thrill of seducing a woman, making her a gooey mess, making her tremble in anticipation of his touch. He was skilled at those games. But once the initial thrill was over, he didn’t have much to do with the girl. The longest he had been with a girl after sex was 3 days. He shuddered. What a whiny bitch she had been. Ugh.

He was strolling through the streets, scoping out potential targets. He was already hungry. He had to pick a few pockets soon if he wanted to sleep with a full tummy. The street was bustling with people. He eyed each person as he slowly danced through the crowd.

Park Jimin was a slippery thief. He had the agility of a panther stalking its prey. For anyone who looked at him, he would seem like an innocent baby-faced man in his early twenties. The air of childish charm made it very easy for him to fool people. He had to do nothing but stare wistfully at the street from the window of the coffee shop, and boom! He would have a kind-hearted unwitting girl wanting to buy him coffee. So easy.

His hand slipped into the loop of your handbag, and before he knew, you had clasped his wrist tight. Alexei went on walking before you, apparently not seeing the man digging his hand into your handbag. You didn’t say anything, walking on sedately behind Alexei, not budging an inch as Jimin whispered cuss words and tried to wiggle his wrist free.

When Alexei was beyond earshot, you hissed at Jimin angrily.

“What the fuck were you doing?”

He tagged along, unable to believe that he had been caught so easily. The cat burglar, caught in plain daylight by a woman? Was he losing his touch?

Alexei was still walking ahead, inhaling the aroma of fresh roasted coffee beans wafting throughout the pavement. You came to a halt, narrowing your eyes at the gorgeous man who was squirming under your grip.

“I- I was hungry,” He had decided to turn his charm tap on. Maybe you were one of those gullible women who would melt. “I’m sorry, I had no choice.” He hung his head in shame. “I lost my job, there’s no money for food…” His tears flowed easily. A corner of his mind wondered if he should take up acting. He could give those Broadway actors a run for their money.

You let his hand go, watching Alexei’s back warily. Digging into your purse, you pulled out an old currency note. It wasn’t much, but it was all that you had.

“Take this. Get something to eat.”

He accepted it silently. “Thank you, ma’am.” His hunger made him fold. Jimin knew that you could have called the big man to box his ears, and he admired your nerve.

His eyes scanned your persona, and his inner thief sang when he saw the chain and bracelet you were wearing. You were wearing what was worth his entire month’s fun.

“I’d like to repay you. I will return the money as soon as I can.” He watched you, simultaneously keeping an eye on the big man who had stopped to examine something in a roadside shop.

“Don’t worry about it,” you said, touched by the man’s sincerity.

“No, I insist. I’d have become a thief if it weren’t for you.” He smiled inside at the soft expression blooming on your face. Damn, girls were so naïve.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

Alexei was knocking on your door impatiently.

‘Y/N? Let me in!”

You feigned a yawn and opened the door just a little bit.

“What is it?”

He tried to pry the door open, but your resistance was surprisingly strong. “It’s Wednesday, remember the carnival I told you about? Come on now.”

You put on the best sick face you could, rasping slowly, “I feel so tired, Alexei. My head hurts. You go on. I’ll come with you in the afternoon.”

He tsked, annoyed at having to leave you behind. But he wasn’t foolish enough to leave you unguarded. He had slipped two enormous wads of cash into the bellboy’s hand as soon as you had arrived at the hotel. The bellboy and the man guarding the door would never let you set foot outside the door. You were as good as trapped.

“Well, okay then. I’ll come to fetch you for lunch.”

When you closed the door behind you, an audible sigh emanated from under the bed. Jimin climbed back into the bed, his naked upper body shining in the morning light. He was only wearing his boxers, and his toned thighs were deliciously on display as he wiggled his toes at you.

“Come on, Y/N,” he purred, voice heavy with lust. “I can’t have enough of you.”

You smiled at him, climbing into his lap like a kitten. His fingers carded through your hair as you watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He drew soft patterns on your skin, murmuring affectionate words and sighing happily.

His eyes were on the chain and bracelet you had carelessly left on the bedside table. It was making his palms itch. He had listened to you all night, patting your back gently as you told him all about the dilemma your father had put you in. Part of his brain had been focused on you, but the other had been drooling at the chain glinting on your chest.

“It’s okay baby,” he had cooed, “We’ll get you out of the guy’s clutches.”

You had made passionate love; it had been your first time ever. But that hadn’t stopped you from enjoying it. Billie the encyclopedia had given you lots of inside information, so much that you knew a lot more than playboy Jimin even did. Jimin had no idea he was fucking a virgin, so good was your theoretical knowledge.

“Jiminie,” you said, grazing your nail against his chest.

“Yeah, baby?”

“The ship leaves tomorrow. How can we escape before that?”

“I wish I had money to get you tickets for another ship, baby. But you know I’m penniless.” He held his breath, waiting to see if you would say the words he longed to hear.

“I don’t either, Jiminie.” Well, obviously. Think harder, airhead. “But maybe you can sell the diamonds and get enough money.” There you go, pea brain.

He licked his lips, waiting for you to reach for the jewels on the table. Wow, he was going to live a goddamn rich life. But his face scrunched up when you reached inside your bag instead.

“Baby, whatcha doing?”

You looked up at him innocently, extracting a little tied-up handkerchief from your bag. “Getting you the diamonds.”

His confusion dissolved when he saw you untie the kerchief, revealing a big pebble-sized diamond and a handful of smaller button-sized diamonds. Oh, he’d be damned.

You picked the big one, handing it to him. “Can you try and sell it? It’s of the best quality.”

He licked his dry mouth to life. “So many- so many diamonds?”

You laughed. “Alexei has a lot more. He gave me these to make me agree to go with him to Russia.” Alexei had no idea that you had stolen from his bag, but Jimin didn’t need to know that.

Jimin turned the diamond over in his palm. Fuck, it was the biggest he had ever seen. His mind was working on overdrive.

“Why not give all of them to me, baby? I’ll sell them all and bring the money.”

Like hell you would. You shook your head.

“No, it’s easier to sell one and get going. We can sell the rest as the need arises.”

Tight bitch.

He had to think of a way to purloin the rest of the lot later. For now, he would go with your plans.

“Sounds like a good plan, baby. I’ll get going then.”

You watched him dress himself up in a rush. He was so beautiful, naked or otherwise. So damn beautiful.

Jimin saw your eyes drift to the table. He cursed under his breath. The chain and bracelet would have to wait.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

Naturally, Jimin knew the best places to go to. He was a thief, and he was buddies with a lot of pawnbrokers.

“Heya there, Jimin!” the man called, smiling his crooked smile at his favorite customer. Jimin brought a lot of stuff to his shop, and he was glad to do business with the innocent cherub.

“Brought a diamond today, Han,” Jimin said, looking around the cold, dark room. No other person was around. Jimin loved the cold ambiance of pawnshops. The metallic smell of old silver and brass made him feel at peace. There were so many interesting things on display. He felt like a child taken to Disney Land.

“Let’s take a look,” Han said, extending his palm.

Jimin looked around at the stuff Han had recently acquired, whistling softly while the man appraised the diamond.

Han looked up from his loupe, eyes wide. “How ever did you get such a good stone, Jimin? This one is easily worth thousands!”

Jimin’s heart lifted. He had been worried that you might have sent him on a wild goose chase. He had doubted if it really was a diamond at first, because you were ready to part with it freely. He smiled at Han.

“A chick I know had it.”

Han winked. “Got rid of her yet?”

Flashing him a conspiratorial smile, Jimin drawled, “Will do soon.”

He turned to Han on his way out. “I’ll bring you some more, hold on to your breath.”

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

Jimin was on his way back to your hotel. He had stopped to buy a ticket to Bermuda. He was going to sail away happily. The only thing was, he needed to rob the rest of your diamonds before the end of the day. He would stay up after you slept, and sneak off with them.

He had so much money in his hands, and his robber instinct told him to flee already. But then, those button sized diamonds beckoned, appealing to his greedy heart. Some more money wouldn’t hurt. There had been at least 10 diamonds in there. Not to mention your jewelry. Greed made his feet walk automatically back to you.

When you opened the door, you were dressed up. It was evening already, nightfall was approaching. Maybe you had gone to the carnival after lunch with that Alexei guy. Jimin didn’t really care where you went as long as the diamonds were safe.

“Hey,” you whispered, letting him slip into your room. “Did you sell it?”

He grinned and dangled the thick wads of cash before your eyes. “Uh-huh. See? We’re gonna run away together, baby.”

You clapped your hands in delight, taking the wads from his hands. You counted carefully, looking up at him with a startled “15 thousand?”

Jimin had taken five thousand for himself, but he wasn’t going to tell you. He simply nodded.

You were surprised. Wow. You had thought that the diamond required more polishing. You had only expected a few thousands. But this was so good.

“Jiminie, you were right, will you hold on to these diamonds too?”

You thrust the diamonds bundled in the kerchief into his hand. “I don’t want Alexei to find out at the last minute.”

He had to put so much effort to stop himself from laughing out loud. This was going so deliciously well.

“Sure, give it, I’ll keep it safe.”

He tucked the bundle neatly into his pocket, innocence painted all over his face.

“Hmm…” you embraced him, sighing in contentment. You were going to escape Alexei. The thought made you giddy with happiness. You tied the wads of cash into a scarf, securing it under your pillow.

Jimin watched you, fascinated. Ooh. He could run away with the diamonds and the cash. Midnight would be the best time. It wouldn’t hurt to fuck you a couple times to while the time away.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

“Y/N?”

Jimin had watched you go into the bathroom. But you hadn’t come back yet. Maybe it was the right time to run.

He dug his hand under the pillow, groping blindly to feel the cash. It wasn’t there. Fuck.

He turned to see the light still streaming from under the bathroom door. He had to decide if it was worth the risk to try again. His hand roamed on the bedside table. Thank goodness, the jewels were there. He grinned to himself. Awesome. He had to make a run for it.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

When Alexei opened the door in the morning, there was no sign of you. He stormed into the bathroom, calling out your name. No answer.

He ran down furiously, looking for the bellboy.

“Where is Y/N?” he shouted, bunching up the boy’s collar in rage.

“I don’t know, sir,” the boy said, surprised and caught unawares.

“You little cocksucker,” Alexei screamed, shaking the boy until his joints rattled. “You just cost me my bitch!”

The bellboy remembered the crisp notes you had slipped him at midnight. It was more than Alexei had paid him to keep you inside. You had been the highest bidder, so it was only fair that he let you go.

“I honestly don’t know,” he said, allowing Alexei to box his ears. “I never saw her come down.”

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

You were on a cruise ship to Bermuda. It left at 9 am, and you had found the ticket luckily in Jimin’s pocket at midnight. The guy had to learn how to safeguard his stuff. You stifled a giggle. Poor bastard. He was probably shocked when you never returned from the bathroom. You snorted, and an elderly man looked at you in surprise.

At last, you were free. Life was so exciting; you had a whole new chapter waiting to be written. It was going to be a ride, and you were determined to enjoy it thoroughly. You remembered Billie. She would have loved to go with you.

Retiring to your cabin, you picked out a paper and started writing a letter. Detailing your adventures, you finished with the lines:

‘You were right, Billie. I would never have survived out here if it weren’t for brains. I fled and made sure Jimin would be responsible for the stolen diamond and not me. My hands are clean.’

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

Alexei found out that a big diamond was missing from his rucksack, and he stormed off to get in touch with the police. They assured him that they would look into all the diamonds pawned over the last couple of days.

He thought you were too naïve to embark on a journey alone. You were probably hiding out in a motel, waiting till the hue and cry died down. He was sure that the investigations into the pawnshops would lead him to you.

Han was sweating profusely when Jimin returned.

“Whatever’s the matter, man?” Jimin asked, raising his eyebrows at the guy.

“Police are sweeping all the pawnshops in the district for that diamond of yours. My cousin runs a shop too, and he just dropped by to share the news.”

Jimin tensed. It would be a tight stretch to pawn the rest of the diamonds to Han. The man was in enough trouble already.

“Okay, I’ll come back after a while then.” He shook the tied-up bundle before Han’s eyes.

“Yeah, you do that. It’s for the better.”

Jimin paused to think. Han might give him away if the police pressed too much. He untied the bundle and extracted a couple diamonds, passing them over to Han.

“Here’s a gift, you keep quiet and you can have them for free.”

Han looked at the stones in his hand wide-eyed, unable to stammer out his thanks. He nodded silently, bending down to examine the stones.

Police sirens were sounding in the distance, growing closer by the second. Jimin’s foot was almost out the door when Han called:

“These ain’t diamonds, they’re Zirconia! They’re worthless!”

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

#bts fanfic #bts jimin #bts #bangtan fanfic #bangtan #parkner #park jimin x reader #park jimin x oc #park jimin x y/n #Fool's Diamonds #jimin #bangtan boys #bts fanfction #bts park jimin #chimchim #thief au

[statticscribbles]

Heathers

Summary: Kurtz/Reader Request: If Kurtz was JD in Heathers; set to Heathers (Sorry the songs are out of order i think it fits better)

You’re not sure what to expect; all your friend had said was the Bulldogs knew how to have a wicked good time and you’re not expecting any less when she brings you to a mansion of a house where you can already hear music and laughter streaming from it. You’re laughing, having been given at least four jello shots and some sort of Jangle infused drink; you’re pretty sure it was watered down vodka mixed with Jangle but either way you can tell you’re not sober when the Riverdale kids seem to crowd the front door.

“Jesus fucking christ!” You can see the Serpent’s all in black and you make your way forward watching as Lance, the head Ghoulie grins from the doorway. “Leave.” You’re not sure how they can hear each other but you know the alcohol and jangle thrumming in your system is responsible. “I didn’t realize the Serpent’s went soft; and pink too. You should let him in, isn’t your whole thing acceptance?” You looking the girl in the pink sweater up and down laughing before you nudge her out of the way. You don’t mean for her to trip but she does stumbling backwards and you watch the Serpent’s advance. Lance pulls you behind him and you roll your eyes. “I’m fine Lance.”

“Okay.” He smirks spinning you around where you vomit onto the ground and half of the pink girls jeans. ————————————————————————————-

“Holy shit!” “One of the Ghoulies is getting the shit beat outta him!!!” You glance nervously around, you know that Lance hadn’t been transferred over to Riverdale and you wonder who they’re talking about. You make your way to the lunchroom, frozen as the ghoulie is in the middle, hands up, one of the Bulldogs pinning him onto the table by the throat; the grin on his face is worrying, stretching in the way that hints he knows something the Bulldogs don’t. “Holy fuck.” You watch as he twists to the side, foot hooked behind the Bulldogs leg so when he moves it sends him toppling to the ground. He stands brushing his leather jacket off smirking.

You watch the rest of the students milling around before you turn your attention to where the Ghoulie is leaning over the stairwell where he winks at you. “You wanna see a snake fly?” You frown looking up confused before he hauls up Fangs Fogarty and dangles him half off the second story landing. “Fuck this is gonna-“ You’re shoved out of the way as Fangs is dropped, Jughead and Sweet Pea coming to his rescue. You watch the look on the Ghoulies face; he seems angry; you’re not sure if its cause he didn’t kill Fangs or if its cause you were shoved. He finds you moments later pulling you with surprising softness towards the chemistry room; where upon inspection in the hazard shower’s mirror you find you have a scrape on the side of your face and he has bruised knuckles and a split lip.

“I can help?” He nods grinning as he lets you clean the blood from his knuckles. “Thank you.”He grins and you shrug. “It’s nothing I took a summer CPR and first aid course.” “Huh really?” “Did you take it too?” “No that’s just really useful; considering I spent the summer getting the shit beat outta me.”

—————————————————————————— “Kurtz?” You question and he smiles at you from where you’ve walked into Pop’s “You okay?” “Course.” “You’ve been here before?” You nudge his foot off the side of the booth and slide into it. “No; they’re all the same.” “Milkshakes?” You gesture to the three empty glasses. “No; small towns.” “Oh?”

“Been through too many to pay attention them anymore; you’re the only thing that’s caught my attention.” Kurtz stand grabbing what you assume is a to go shake and waltzing outside, you follow. “Kurtz?” “I’m fine.” “How many of those have you had?”You watch as he empties three jangle tubes into his shake. “Two besides these three. Assuming you mean the Jangle not the shakes.” He grins and you nod. “Jesus, how do you hide that from your parents?”

“My what?” He laughs. Pulling you against him offering the shake out. You shake your head. “What happened?” “To me? Or them?” “Both?”you question and he shrugs. “They got too into drugs; couldn’t pay back there dealer; he’s my uncle now; we move around a lot. Hence the diner’s.” “What about them.” “They’re always the same; it’s a comfort.” “So what you’ll just wait till you move and drain the next one of all of it’s shakes?” He grins shaking his head. “Don’t wanna leave now; not with you here.”

———————————————————————- “Hey Jones, you fall off your bike or something?. Didn’t take you for a klutz.” You call out laughing when you point to the scar on his shoulder. Betty narrows her eyes at you. “You’re a ghoul right? You should know all about how that happened.” She snarls and you tilt your head. “I wasn’t aware the Ghouls were still in business, let alone threatening a teenager like myself.” “You better watch it.”

“Or what you’ll get the snakes to beat me up? What is that ten against one, yikes not good odds, betcha you’d make bank on bets though.” You watch the way Betty smirks and you remember she practically owns the Blue and Gold as well as the River Vixens. “I’ve told you to stay in your lane before.” “Seems like my lane is getting small and smaller these days.” You bite back and she nods.

“Watch it.” Cheryl grins like a shark and you slink out of school after practice wandering around until you spot Kurtz in Pop’s window. “Hey.” He looks up smirking. “Hey. You need something?” Your grin matches his as you pull his burger over. “Food I’m starved and Cooper’s gonna kill me tomorrow.” “Last meal then.” You grin at him. He laughs nodding. You leave after eating half of his food and wander around town until you decide you shouldn’t just wait to die.

When you make it front of a relatively normal looking house you watch for a moment seeing the downstairs light go off and a new light appear on the window to the left, you reason the right is Kurtz room and you climb up the ladder that’s been left on the side of the house. “Kurtz?” You mumble into the darkness watching as he sits up, light turning on. “Y/N the fuck you doing in my room.” “I decided to change my last meal.” “Oh? To what?” “You.” He pulls you against him kissing you until you can’t breathe. “Please Kurtz?” You mumble dragging his hands against your skin and under your clothes. “Come on; I’m yours.” He swallows anything else you were going to say in a kiss. —————————————————————————

“Y/N. You okay?” “Yeah fine.” You try to shrug off how Kurtz leans over to look at you. “What happened?” You turn from him shrugging. “Nothing.” “Y/N.” You try your best not too look him in his eyes but you can’t help watching as his hand brushes your shoulder and up to your face. “Come on Y/N, was it the Bulldogs? The Serpents? Who hurt you?” You chew your lip. “They didn’t mean it Kurtz I swear; it was just at that party before you came in Lance was trying to be funny got me tangled up in the Serpent’s radar for puking on Betty. It’s not a big deal.” “You have a handprint on your cheek from where someone slapped you. That’s more than enough.”

“Kurtz, please don’t hurt anyone like you tried to hurt Fangs.” “I won’t. I promise; no hurting anyone like Fangs.” “How do I know you’ll keep it?” You feel his hand drifting up to your uninjured cheek brushing it softly. “I love you. I won’t let anything I or anyone else does take you away from me.” You flush when he kisses you. He pulls back calling a boy over. “Hey Ricky; you know your friend JellyBean? I have a quest for both of you; sound fun?” Kurtz grins and you roll your eyes fondly as he pulls out his G&G book. “Yeah, can we start now Game Master?” “Of course. Go wild.” He grins and you laugh Ricky turns. “Oh is this your princess?” Kurtz nods and you laugh more; turning as Ricky leaves. “Princess? Have I been missing out on getting spoiled then?” You laugh as he pulls you against him kissing you.

———————————————————————————— “Kurtz? Jughead said that you were trying to kill his little sister? That she’s missing?” Kurtz turns shaking his head smiling at you. “No she’s staying at Ricky’s I gave them one of those like two day off board quests. They’re pretty involved.” He smiles pulling you into his arms kissing you. “Nothing to worry about, now would you be willing to come with me to Pop’s?” “On a date?” You grin and he nods pulling you closer resting his head on yours. “Jone’s is gonna say all sorts of nasty shit about me. He and Cooper, and her friends have it out for me. Think it’s cause I used to run with the Ghouls.” “I’m guessing that’s why I’m preferred dead as well.” You laugh and Kurtz shakes his head in disbelief.

“You weren’t a Gargoyle though?” “Yeah I got out of it after the Ghoul’s went up north. Didn’t want to be without ‘em. Figured I could go back to being a normal high schooler ya know.” “And look how easily that went out the window.” he nods and you shrug. “I’ve had worse than some wannabe gang leader calling my boyfriend a kidnapper just cause he doesn’t like his little sister’s new friend.” Kurtz nods kissing you once more. “Stay with me?” “Always.” You hum as he gestures to his bike, you swing on it before curling against his back.

————————————————————————————- You know you weren’t meant to find out what was actually going on with the Jones’; everything that they were going to suffer through; you hate how fitting it was for them and you can’t help but feel less sorry than you should as you read through the instructions and plans Kurtz had been given and laid out. You read through confused at the addition of a gun; none of the parts of the quest had bothered saying to threaten them; the idea that Jellybean was going to be hurt was more than enough motivation. You get to the last pages something about ascension and you remember Kurtz mentioning it as a sort of prize at the end of the game. You know you shouldn’t be poking around in it; everyone had been saying it was how those kids ended up dead but when you overhear Betty and Jughead talking about it; talking about the suicide does the gun being added click into place.

“Y/N can I ask you something?”You turn where he pauses tracing patterns on your bare shoulder as you sit up from his chest. “Of course.” “If I was going to; would you ascend with me?” “Don’t I have to play the game? When are you planning it?” You laugh a little and he shrugs. “Just, would you?” He watches and you nod slowly.

“Of course. I want to be with you.” He smiles nodding back and kissing you. “I love you.” “I love you too.” You untangle yourself from him in the middle of the night. You hate the idea of going to the Serpent’s but you tap on one of the trailer doors. “Hey Fang’s right?” You watch the Serpent nod, half asleep. “Yeah you’re Kurtz-“ “He’s going to try to kill me.” —————————————————————————————–

You don’t care that the Serpent’s are staying out of it. You’d thrown together a convincing ‘sleeping body’ in your bed and then returned to following Jones out towards where you knew Jellybean wasn’t. You watch as he pulls the gun nodding towards Jughead. You don’t say anything staying in the shadows and waiting. You watch, they’re talking, it’s taking too long you wonder why Jughead is trying to keep him talking. You watch as he shoves Jughead into the box and locks it. You stumble forward when he raises the gun. “Kurtz?” He turns frowning. “Y/N, no you’re not supposed to be here! You should be in bed!” “So one of the Gargoyles can kill me?” “No so you don’t have any part in this, so you’re safe!” He shouts and you cringe back. “Kurtz, just-“ You step closer as he steps back and you pause.

“Please Kurtz; please.” You reach forward and can see him lower the gun slightly, it shakes and you nod. “Just please put-“ He shoves you down firing into the dark. “Stay down, don’t move. Please Y/N don’t move.” He mumbles as he shakes you slightly, you assume someone is waiting in the shadows to see the job through, hence why he shot at them. He leans over you pressing his forehead to yours.

“I’m sorry. Just give me a minute okay baby? Just a second I swear; I’ll be back when its safe.” You’re confused when he presses a line of tape over your mouth and steps back. You hear the gun go off once more. You wonder if he hit anyone. ——————————————————————————-

“It’ll be okay.” You know he’s talking to you but you don’t bother looking back up to him. “You’ll be fine; now that this whole Gargoyle king business is over you can go back to actually being a normal high schooler.” He laughs and you turn your head away. “Y/N? You okay?” You look over to see Jughead and the rest of the Serpents. “Yeah. Fine.” They don’t say anything just nod and you turn back to watch Kurtz face crinkle in annoyance. “You shouldn’t hang out with them. Serpent’s are as dumb as a sack of rocks.” He laughs and you shake your head. “Had more sense than you.” “Low blow Y/N; Low blow.”

“Should’ve taken your own advice.” “And what? Shot my heart? I wasn’t about to shoot you.” “Could grazed your arm; something to shed blood but not;” “Not what?” Kurtz twists scowling as you start to cry. “Hey Y/N; you okay? We’re going to get Pop later; you want to come?” You nod turning away from the carved stone and the gargoyle statue that sits in front of it. “Yeah sounds good.”

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[muchadoaboutbucky]

Love Thy Neighbor - 1

Set post-Endgame: Bucky’s got a crush on the girl next door. 

PAIRING: Bucky x Native American!Reader WARNINGS: slow burn, minor anxieties, eventual smut

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“Hey, we got a mission.”

Bucky jerks awake, shoving his hair out of his face. His eyes are heavy with sleep, and the sun’s shining heavy through the thin curtains. Alpine, disturbed by her master’s movements, shoots Sam a glare and curls back up on her pillow, tail curling around her feet. 

“What time is it?” Bucky asks blearily.

“Almost nine, you missed your run.” Sam snaps his fingers. “C’mon. Fury wants us to report in ten.”

Bucky grumbles, fighting the urge to burrow back beneath his comforter and fall back asleep. He’d had a hard time falling asleep, eventually drifting off after downing several extra-strong tablets of melatonin that are still trying to work their magic.

He stumbles out of bed, reaching down to graze his metal palm over Alpine’s sleek white fur. The cat purrs lowly and rubs her head against his fingers, and then resumes her nap. In the bathroom, he runs his toothbrush through his mouth with closed eyes and splashes cold water on his face. He doesn’t bother putting on street clothes; he’ll only have to change when they leave the house and his sweats are more comfortable than they need to be.

They get assigned to Paris. A black-market arms dealer is set to sell a truckload of guns and ammunition to a suspected terrorist cell, and with less than two days on the clock until the deal is set to go down, they have to hurry. Luckily, Bucky keeps an emergency go-bag under his bed, and he’s just stepped into his boots when he spies Alpine still snoozing.

Someone needs to keep an eye on her.

“I gotta find someone to watch Alpine,” he says while Sam’s lacing his sneakers in the living room. 

“What?” Sam cranes his neck to look up into Bucky’s anxious face. “C’mon, man, she’s a cat. She’ll be fine for a couple days.”

“What if it’s longer than a couple days?” Bucky swallows. “Someone needs to put her food out and change her water.”

“We’ll be back by Thursday.” Sam stands, arms folding across his chest. He only holds firm for a few seconds, until Bucky’s eyes go wide. “Okay…” he gives in, “ask Y/N. Since you didn’t see her this morning, might as well make up for it.”

Bucky’s cheeks go red. He looks down at the floor as Sam passes him on his way to the hallway closet. “I didn’t… she doesn’t—”

“Dude, stop pretending you don’t have one of the biggest crushes of all time, it’s painful.”

Bucky’s gut twists as he pulls his spare key to the apartment from the front pocket of his duffel bag. “I just… she’s nice, that’s all. Not a lotta people look at the guy who used to be the Winter Soldier and think good things, y’know.”

“You got exonerated in a court of law, nobody in their right mind thinks you’re guilty of anything.” Sam heads into the kitchen to grab a protein shake for the jet ride. “Especially Y/N.”

“I know.” Bucky sighs. “I’ll… I’ll be right back, I’ll see if she’s home.”

He drops his bag on the couch and heads out the door. It’s a brisk morning, and he zips his jacket up, tucking his hands in his pockets as he walks to the next door down. His heart is pounding in his chest, because he knows you have a security camera and he doesn’t wanna look like a creep knocking on your door when you’re not home. 

Within seconds, however, your door swings open. You’re wearing a baggy AC/DC tee shirt and a pair of leggings… the ends of your hair are wet. You must have just showered. 

“Hi, Bucky,” you chirp, flashing him a brilliant smile that makes his knees weak. “I missed you in the park this morning.”

He swallows the sudden dryness in his throat. “Overslept,” he excuses. “Look, I… I hate to put this on you, but my friend and I got called out for a job and we… or I need someone to…”

God it sounds stupid. So, so stupid… he’s a grown man with a cat, what the hell is he doing?

You lean against the doorjamb. “What is it?”

“I was wondering if you could watch Alpine for a few days,” he blurts out. “If you don’t mind, that is.”

“I can do that.” You smile again, and Bucky’s stomach untwists. “When will you be back?”

“Thursday…” Bucky tries as best he can to muster a confident smile as he holds the key out in his flesh palm. “She just takes dry food, her bag is under the kitchen sink.” Bucky’s breath hitches when your fingers graze his skin. “So… I’ll leave a list, I guess…”

“Or you could text me?” You tug your phone from the pocket in your leggings. “What’s your number?”

He can barely speak. He’s been dying to ask for your number for weeks now and here you are just brazenly offering it up. He takes a solid three seconds to remember the digits, and he rattles them off, watching as you type his name into the little section and add one of those little emoticon things… the sun.

“I just sent you something,” you smile, “so you got mine too.”

Bucky almost pukes. “Okay,” he stutters out, “she’s got food and stuff for now, but just later today…”

“Got it.” You slip your phone back into your pocket. “I gotta get ready for work, but I’m off at six. I’ll pop by and feed her.”

“Thanks.” He swallows thickly. “Really, thank you, it means a lot.”

“It’s no problem.” You swipe your tongue over your lower lip. “Have a safe mission, okay?”

He bows his head, trying as hard as he can to stop from blushing. “I will. Thanks again.”

You close the door, and he turns on his heel, hiding a grin in his coat collar as he heads back to his own apartment.

***

The mission goes easier than either of them thought it would. They’re in and out of Paris in less than forty hours, and they take the opportunity of their “undercover-ness” to scout out a few local shops in search of something good to eat and a few souvenirs for their efforts. 

Bucky doesn’t shop for himself beyond food. He has no need for little trinkets. Sam can browse all he wants, but Bucky tries to think of something that you might like. One shop has it all: a ton of Eiffel Tower ornaments, candies, T-shirts… at one point he catches himself sniffing tentatively at a lavender-scented soap bar.

No, no way. Way too personal. 

In the end, he settles for a little snowglobe. It’s small enough to fit in his bag, and he makes his purchase while Sam’s still trying on sweatshirts.

They get in late on Thursday night, just as Sam predicted. Bucky sends you a text when they land at the airport, and the Avengers’ private car has them back at the complex in no time at all. The light is on in your apartment when Bucky gets to the fourth floor, and as soon as Sam’s vanished into their apartment, he knocks on your door. It only takes a few seconds to answer, and Bucky’s heart catches in his throat when you open the door, beaming up into his face.

“You’re back early,” you say, smiling widely. 

“Yeah, uh… mission went quicker than we thought.” Bucky swallows heavily. 

“I just filled Alpine’s bowl an hour ago and cleaned out her litter box,” you reply, almost completely unfazed by his awkwardness, “and I bought her a little catnip plant from work, I hope you don’t mind.” 

“Oh, you, uh... “ he clears his throat, “you didn’t have to do that, the litter box, I mean, I—”

“It’s no bother, my mom was a veterinarian, I’ve dealt with way worse.” You fumble for something on the little table behind your left knee and hold up the little bronze key. “You might need this back.”

“Thanks.” Bucky pockets it without really thinking—the touch of your hand on his matters more. “Oh, I got something for you,” he blurts out, unzipping the top pocket of his bag and fishes out the little snowglobe. “Just as… well, a thanks.”

You accept the little trinket, blushing furiously. “I love it,” you reply, “thank you.”

God, Bucky wants to kiss you so bad…

“D’you wanna get coffee?” he asks suddenly. “Or see a movie? That is, if you don’t y’know, have someone already, I don’t wanna intrude.”

If possible, your face flushes even more. “I-I’d like that,” you stammer, “a movie sounds good. Um… when are you free?”

“Saturday?” Bucky shrugs. “The place downtown has cheap tickets on Saturdays.”

You nod. “I… I can do that. I get off work at six again.”

Bucky chews on his lower lip. “I’ll come by for eight?”

“That works.” You smile awkwardly. “I, uh… I should probably let you go get some rest, huh?”

“Yeah.” Bucky takes a step back because if he doesn’t make some space he might just kiss you right then and there. “I can text you, yeah?”

“Totally, yeah.” You run your fingers through your hair and match him, stepping back into the little entryway. “I’ll, uh, I’ll see you Saturday, then?”

Bucky nods. “Yeah.”

You close the door, still blushing furiously, and Bucky walks into his apartment thinking of a million ways that could have gone wrong. 

“I bet you were smoother than that in ‘43.”

Sam’s standing in the kitchen, smirking as Bucky drops his bag by the door and kicks his boots off.

“Shut up, I’m outta practice.” He shrugs his jacket off and hangs it on the rack. “Did you really hear all that?”

“We’re neighbors, I can hear everything.” Sam grins and pulls fixings for a turkey sandwich from the fridge. “Look, man, you’re trying to fit in. It’s a good thing.”

“I know.” Bucky sighs. “I didn’t even know if she was gonna say yes.”

“Well, she did.” Sam slaps the top layer of bread onto his sandwich and gestures to the plate. “Want one?”

Bucky shakes his head. “If I eat, I’m gonna puke. I’m just gonna go to bed.”

Sam watches him shuffle silently down the hallway and into his room. Alpine’s snoozing on her bed by the window, and she leaps off when Bucky closes the door, eagerly wristing around his ankles and purring happily. 

“Hey, girl.” Bucky reaches down to rub his knuckles against the top of her head before changing into a pair of flannel pants. He’s exhausted and stressed, and his chest feels tighter than it should. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he rests his head in his palms, taking long, deep breaths to try and ease the tension. Sensing her master’s distress, Alpine rubs herself against his side, and Bucky only breaks his position to give her a habitual pet across the back before slipping into his bathroom and downing five tablets of melatonin. His system will kick it in within a few minutes, and he slips beneath the covers as Alpine curls up on her designated pillow.

“Everything’s gonna go smooth, right?” he asks. “I can do this. It’s just a girl, nothing to be scared of.”

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[edgythought]

Strangers in the Bar III

Part I  |  Part II

Alex Turner x OC (I guess??)

Description: Two lonely people observe each other in a bar. It leads to something nice.  Word count: 3,297

Warning: swearing, alcohol consumption, smoking, non-explicit mentions of sex, physical harassment.

A/N: I hope you enjoy the last bit for this. Please, let me know what you think about it. Thank you for reading, it means the world to me!

The sky was deep blue as I walked out of the bar and looked around for a spot to inhale some nicotine. I was kinda worried and a little embarrassed of rushing away from the Dancing Dude. Sweetie, you have to accept you are stupid, I told myself while I lit my cigarette and took a long drag, exhaling thick smoke into the breezy air. It was difficult to process what happened inside a couple of minutes ago, but I tried my best taking drag after drag. It's weird though, his disappearance. I did not expect that. But I shall be silent, because it's also me who ran away from a cocktail and a proper introduction.

Few stars were already present, shining discreetly on the velvet background of the spring LA sky. I enjoyed the view immensely, I was always fascinated by space and everything about it. Being so complicated and far, I always found space interesting enough to spend much of my free time researching information and staring at the sky. Nothing particularly changed since middle school.

Suddenly my stream of consciousness was interrupted by a familiar voice and my heart skipped a beat. The Dancing Dude was walking towards me across the road, sly smile oh his lips. "Waiting for me, eh?" - he asked, when he reached me. "I was just staring at the sky and smoking, don't take too much on yourself" - I said, taking out another cigarette out of the pack and searching for a lighter in a small bag of mine. He couldn't manage to watch me struggling to find a lighter and offered his, that I had to accept, because the bag was both ridiculously small and really big to fit a handful of stuff inside. I smiled to myself a little and looked at him. He was busy lighting his own cig and running his fingers through his half-wet, half-gelled hair. He looked so mysterious to me, everything I wanted in that moment was to get into his head. And he smelled great. -We seemed to have quite a nice time there, why did you rush away? - he was looking me straight in the eyes, his hand on his waist, a cloud of smoke twisting behind his left ear. -Oh… Sorry about that, I felt a little dizzy. Didn't want to ruin your bomb look with my puke. - I did not expect him bringing it up and I had to come up with a simple lie to cover up my growing anxiety. He took another drag from his cigarette, exhaling smoke to his left so it won't get into my face. -How are you feeling now? Is everything okay? - he touched my shoulder to get my full attention. - Yeah, don't worry, I am totally fine - I shrugged and took my last drag. He seemed a little bit spaced out, standing in front of me smoking. I found him smoking pretty sexy combined with his hair and overall rockstar vibe. He finished his cigarette and turned to me - Wanna get outta 'ere? - Sure. Any ideas? -Not really, but I think it'd be nice to get some fresh air, eh?

The night was still young when we paid the bill and got out of the bar. He grabbed my hand and routed to the sound of waves crashing at the beach. His palm was warm and dry, while mine was cold and it was an immense pleasure for me to warm myself up a little. I was watching him slightly while we were walking in silence. His most distinctive feature was his nose: big and straight, the tip teeny tiny bit crooked down. His big warm eyes didn't suit his demeanor at all, but I suppose, he's a lot more than he wants people to see.

Suddenly I realized I didn't even know his name. We never got to introduce ourselves. Dumbasses, nothing more to say. I sighed a little and grabbed his hand a little tighter to catch his attention. -Hey, what's your name? - I asked him, pulling his hand a little more to make him turn to me. He stopped and for a second I thought he was surprised? Am I supposed to know who he was? Oh my god… -You can call me Alexander, Al for short. Alexander is my official name and you know, my mom used to call me like that while whooping my ass. - he smiled softly, - And what is your name, love? Instead of just telling him my name I decided to show off a little bit. I let go of his hand and fished one of my business cards out of my purse. Before giving it to him I made sure it wasn't anything else, since my purse (of any size) is always a dump. -I'm impressed! - he chuckled as he examined the card carefully. - Well, that will do for now, miss, but I am interested to know more. - he pushed me to the side playfully with his hip and I smiled at him. -Anything for you, Mr Alexander. -Anything? How about some stargazing on the beach then? A little bit of oversharing probably? - he let out a small chuckle.

He surprised me once again and I realized we were right across the road from the beach. I didn't pay attention to the route we took because I spaced out watching Al. Wow, girl, you need to concentrate. Alcohol is not helping though, it always makes me dizzy and starry-eyed when it comes down to a charismatic stranger. The breeze was pleasantly cool, so I let my hair down out of the light knot I rocked in a crowded pub. It was a blessing and Alex graciously admired me tossing hair to give it a little bit of shape. -Stop teasing me, baby, you look gorgeous. - he told me, placing his hand on the middle part of my back. I shivered to his touch, still not used to it. -That was not my intention, but glad you like it. - I smiled slightly, reaching to touch his own hair. It was not as slick as it was when we met, but those little strands framed his face so beautifully I couldn't take my eyes off him. He winked at me and turned to watch the waves hit the shore. The sound was ASMRish and I felt a lot less tense. I almost lost myself to the breeze and calm noise the water made, Al's hand still on my back. I closed my eyes. It felt so right, there's no other place I'd rather be today. -Whatcha thinking about, babe? - Al asked, as we were sitting on the pavement and watching the sky and the ocean collide in the dark. -Nothing in particular, really. The vibe is quite melancholic, I should say. Maybe the whole LA thing has something to do with it. -Elaborate. -Well, I feel a lot more lonely here than anywhere else. Like I am heartbroken for whatever reason and, like in a movie, I am watching myself almost from the side, as if I am not quite myself anymore. Does it make any sense? -It does, yeah. LA is a cruel place, you see, love. It's not easy here, probably, anywhere is easier than here. This feeling of loneliness and distortion never left me since I moved here a couple of years ago. -Oh, from where? -Small town on the other side of the planet. Doesn't matter, really, I am living here now. -It hasn't grown on you yet, as I can see. -Not really, yeah, but you get used to it eventually. I wrote some great songs here, though… -You're a songwriter? -Yeah, a musician, a singer, something like that. Does it matter? -Yeah! I don't know, I wouldn't be happy to go stargazing with a drug dealer - I chuckled and hit him lightly on the shoulder. -There are a lot of drug dealers here, love, you can't even imagine… - he smiled at me and placed his hand on mine. His presence in such proximity was both overwhelming and disturbing. I didn't know what to think and tried to relax again, but failed miserably, listening to my own heartbeat go crazy and feeling my intestines twirl unpleasantly.

It took us a while to stop stargazing, but as the time flew fast we agreed on having something to eat. Dancing was rad and we were tired, so a bit of fuel wouldn't hurt. We got up and Al took my hand in his as we walked down the cobbled path to the road to call a taxi. - I know a nice place not far from my house. They serve delicious tacos there. You like tacos? - he asked me. -Oh, I've never tried them, although I really enjoy a nice home made guacamole. - I laughed a bit. - Pardon me, how long have you been here for? - Two weeks, I guess? - And you never managed to get yourself some tacos? Oh my, you're a disaster! - he threw his other hand in the air in a dramatic gesture. I laughed, he was pretty cute doing all the theatrical stuff both on the dance floor and now. Still, although his gestures felt natural and genuine, I couldn't stop worrying for no apparent reason.

Al's Uber appeared soon enough to interrupt his subtle efforts to kiss me and I was glad he did not succeed. I couldn't pinpoint what exactly was wrong, but it was. I enjoyed Alexander's company though. He was not the nicest man out there, but he was hilarious in his own way and I happened to appreciate that. Our taxi ride was mostly silent, as I was staring out of the window all the time, not paying much attention to a man sitting beside me or his hand sliding up and down my thigh quite erotically. This whole LA aesthetics with neon signs, blue and orange street lights and wide streets somehow crippled to the back of my mind. I wasn't sure if I ever could forget this city, a real living organism, merciless and unforgiving. I felt small and weak in that car, in Los Angeles. I was out of the place, spacing out each time I had an opportunity to. Quite an unpleasant situation, to be honest. Alexander did not make it any better. He was all right, but I was on the verge of a panic attack near him, which was totally surprising, since dancing with him was an amazing experience. Perhaps, it is not always a good idea to get to know a person you've danced in a bar with. He can turn out to be something completely different from what you've expected. I was fascinated by everything in that particular moment during the drive, alcohol in my blood made me feel like yet again I was in a movie about my life instead of reality and I gave up to this feeling. I turned to watch Al. He looked alien to those surroundings, like he was inserted by someone in Photoshop. Still, he was very handsome and I took my time to admire him in the neon light passing by quite often. He side-eyed me and smiled softly when he realized he was being watched. -Is there summat on me face, love? - he asked me, smiling and stroking my hair. -No, I was just admiring your beauty, mystery man. I will continue, if you don't mind. -Whatever pleases you, baby girl - he responded and turned to the window on my right, so I could see his face a little better. I smiled at myself, my heart was racing uncontrollably and it was way too hot in the car. Again, his proximity was too much to handle, being both exciting and worrying.

Finally, we arrived to the destination point, the taqueria Al liked so much. It was a nice neighbourhood, as I managed to notice during the ride, and several men were standing outside the 24/7 coffee shop next to the taqueria, laughing loudly. It took me a while to get out of the car, because my door was blocked and I had to wait until Al comes out to follow him. He graciously helped me out and I couldn't help but admit he was a gentleman. We decided to have a smoke before food, Al started talking about his musical aspirations. I didn't listen to him attentively, because I was watching him talk. He had a very expressive face and I loved that about him, really. Still, I didn't trust him at all, he was way too much to be sincere. We finished our cigarettes and headed to the cafe, as one of the guys coming out there in front of us, stopped in his tracks and went "Wooo, girl, you are one sexy lady! Dump this skinny ass of a dude and come with me". I looked him dead in the eye and told him to go fuck himself. He proceeded to give me a mean smile, while he was moving towards me out of the cafe. Alexander stood behind me, his hand in my waist, but he had to let go as I started going inside. Then, the dude slapped me on the ass, real hard. At the sound of a slap Al turned and grabbed him by the collar. I didn't see his face, but his back was tense enough to understand what's going on. -Oh, fuck off, you piece of shit! - I cried in anger, turning to slap the bitch, but he was too far from me to reach. - Al, let him go. - He still looked enraged when the dude was strolling down the street, turning at us several times and giving us the finger. Al did the same and we finally got inside. -Wanker. -What? - I laughed. - Don't be angry, man, let's eat our troubles away. -Fine, but what the fuck just happened… - he brushed his hair with his fingers. - What shall we eat? - he asked, looking at me with a mixed expression. -Whatever, you choose. You see, I haven't tried tacos, I have no opinion on the topic… - I smirked at him and went to a small table by the wall to sit down. Al went to the counter and asked the guy for beef tacos, salsa, guacamole with chips and some french fries. He looked at me questioningly and I just nodded in approval. In 10 minutes our food was ready and I was excited to eat because I suddenly felt exhausted. -Try it. -As your Highness commands. - I said and bit the taco Al offered me. - Mm, delicious! -Told you, they are amazing. You shouldn't be such a prude, by the way. I bet, these tacos are the best thing that happened to you today - he smirked and put the whole taco in his mouth. -Ew, gross. Haven't your mother taught you some manners, Alexander? - I teased him as he was chewing. -Fuck right off, okay? -Suck a bag of giant black cocks - I responded with a shit-eating grin. -Sounds like a tongue-twister  - Al looked at me and smiled. -I was always good with them at school, you know. I speak 3 languages. My tongue does miracles. -Oh really? Care to demonstrate? I smiled mysteriously at Al. I had no intention to show my skills right off, if you know what I mean. Not that I was comfortable with him to go past second base today, but teasing is not illegal. Plus, I enjoyed flirting with him. We finished our food and realized we didn't order any beverages to sustain the water balance, so Al went to the counter once again and bought us two cans of soda. It was refreshing enough to pull me out of the chair. -So, what shall we do next? -My place, maybe? I can play you some of my songs. -Sounds nice, but I don't think it's appropriate. - I told him as we were leaving the taqueria and walking down the street. -I insist. - I looked at him and our eyes met. He looked intimidating, in a semi-sexy way. I was confused, my mind paced from one stupid decision to another. - There's no limit to the length of the dickheads we can be. - he stated as he walked past me. -Is it far? -No, come 'ere. - He took my hand in his and looked at me. His other hand was at the back of my neck as he reached out to me and kissed without warning. He tasted like soda and cigarettes and smelled so good I lost myself a bit. Wowza woo. Oh, how the tables have turned. Al grabbed my hair and pulled a bit to break the kiss. I blinked a couple of times to gather myself. -Shall we go a bit faster?

It really wasn't far from the taqueria, so in around 10 minutes Al was already opening the front door of his house for me. The walk happened to be not interesting, since we were waggling our tongues in each other's mouths most of the time. I liked it, but it still didn't feel safe at all. That probably was the main trigger for my absolute failure in keeping my arousal to myself. You go, girl! Keep it up! Anyway, I was inside his house already, I suppose I have to finish what I'd started, right? -You okay, darling? - he asked, touching my shoulder softly. -Yeah, sure… You promised to play me some of your songs earlier, where shall we do that? - I ruffled my hair nervously as I replied and looked at him. He noticed I wasn't quite fine, but didn't say a word about it. Weird? -Oh, change of plans.- he took both my hands in his and pulled me closer. - I think we should have some fun first. - he added and went full on me, kissing hard and grabbing my ass painfully. I squeaked a little, but he didn't pay attention to it at all. He kept pulling me closer and closer, as he kept pushing us towards something behind my back, which I couldn't see. I wasn't afraid, I was curious how everything will turn out. I was nervous. He was all over me, I couldn't escape his embrace, even if I was physically able to. He held me tight, biting my neck, tracing wet lines between my ears, lips and collarbones. And then I lost it.

He was too much and not enough. Mysterious, unexpected… Dangerous. His teasing was a heavenly torture. I forgot myself. He was cruel, angry, violent even. My senses were overloaded by him doing what he had in that twisted mind of his. Nasty shit, kinky, gross and overly expressive, explosive. He moved like a predator, he watched me die in his arms time after time, he never let me breathe deep enough to form a coherent thought. I grasped for air, panted, cried and screamed with him. Dirty. Ugly. Cosmic. Pure. I slowly opened my eyes. The sun was way too bright for my liking, shining through a huge wall window. The sky was pinkish orange, with a slight silhouette of the moon still visible, marking it was early morning outside. It was inexplicably hard to gather the thoughts. Was it even necessary at this point? I guess not. I blinked several times to brush away the sleepiness. Suddenly, a soft voice somewhere behind me asked: -Is it everything you've come to expect, baby girl?

#Alex Turner #Alexander David Turner #alex turner fanfiction #alex turner fanfic #alex turner x oc #arctic monkeys #The Last Shadow Puppets #Miles Kane #Nick o'Malley #jamie cook #matt helders #writing #short story #romance #strangers in the bar

[thelastspeecher]

I can’t think of a good title, so I’m not gonna give this a title.

A little while ago, I got in a major mood for my Stay-at-Home Stan AU (my AU where Stan becomes a stay-at-home dad), to the point that I wanted to write a thing for it, but couldn’t think of one.  Luckily, @bluestuffeh came up with a premise.  So, here’s Stan, the legendary stay-at-home dad, helping Ford, the legendary mess, with a parenting problem.

Enjoy.

——————————————————————————————

              Stan strolled into the house, whistling.  He dropped his keys in the bowl by the door.

              Well, this is what life is gonna be like when the girls finally start school.  His hands on his hips, he looked around the living room.  Danny and Daisy had just been dropped off at some summer program being thrown by the local library.  They were finally old enough to do the activities alone, so Stan was trying to get used to spending the day at home on his own.  After all, they would be starting kindergarten in the fall.

              “What am I supposed to do?” Stan muttered to himself.

              It’s been so long since I did something other than take care of them. I forgot what I can do with free time.  Stan frowned thoughtfully.  Hobbies are a thing, right?  I haven’t been able to have hobbies for five years.  What did I like before I became a dad?  I know there was at least one thing.

              “You could always do some cleaning,” Angie’s voice said in the back of Stan’s mind.  Stan thought on that for a moment.

              Nah.  Trying to remember what hobbies I have is better.  Before Stan could spend any more time thinking, the phone rang.  He sighed in relief.  Good.  Coming up with hobbies sucks.  He walked over to the phone.

              “McGucket residence,” he said, picking up the phone.  “Stan speaking.”

              “Stanley, good, I- I need your help,” Ford’s voice said desperately. Stan pinched the bridge of his nose.

              “What did you do this time?”

              “Nothing!”

              “Really?  The last two times you needed my help, it was ‘cause ya made a deal with a demon or weren’t observing proper lab safety.”

              “I disagree with Angie’s assessment of my behavior in the lab.”

              “She’s got a PhD, too, Ford.  And I trust her a bit more with science, since she’s never grown wings.”

              “Despite you calling her your angel,” Ford muttered.  Stan flushed.  During his last visit, Ford had overheard Stan trying out new pet names for Angie.  And he refused to let Stan live it down.

              “All right, guess ya don’t need my help, then,” Stan said briskly.

              “No, wait!  I- I really do,” Ford said quickly.  “But it’s not because of something affecting me.  It’s Tate.”  That got Stan’s attention.  He straightened.

              “Did another supernatural whatsit try to adopt him?” he asked.

              “No, he’s sick.”

              “Okay.  What’s he sick with?”

              “He claims it’s the flu, but his symptoms don’t align with influenza.” Ford’s panic was evident in his voice. Stan could picture Ford running his hands through his hair, practically pulling it out in distress.  “He also says he’s had it before!  Stanley, what’s-”

              “Geez, Sixer, calm down,” Stan said, exasperated.  “Kids get sick all the time.  Don’t you remember how often we puked our guts up when we were Tate’s age?”

              “Um.  Yes?”

              “Look, it’s probably nothing.  Just ask Fidds what to do.”

              “He’s not here.”

              “Where is he?”

              “A conference.”  Ford’s voice rose in pitch.  “Stanley, it’s the first time I’ve been left in charge of Tate on my own!”

              “Really?” Stan asked.  “He’s lived in Gravity Falls with you and Fidds for a year.”  Ford spluttered for a few moments.

              “I- his ex-step-mother doesn’t have much faith in my childcare abilities, and she still has partial custody of him, so legally she has a say in who watches him.”

              “Right.”  Stan rubbed his forehead.  “Jenny still hates your guts, huh?”

              “Unfortunately, yes.  Stanley, I don’t know what to do, what if Tate’s seriously ill?  He’s clearly delirious if he’s claiming he has influenza and he’s vomiting,” Ford said in a rush.  Stan raised an eyebrow.

              “He’s puking?”

              “Yes!  I know we vomited as children, but-”

              “Ford.  He doesn’t have the actual flu.”

              “Of course not, his symptoms-”

              “He’s got stomach flu.”

              “…What?” Ford asked, dumbfounded.  Stan leaned against the wall, playing with the phone cord.

              “Stomach flu.  The girls had it last year.  I’ve seen some messes, but twin toddlers exploding from both ends?  Might have been the worst.”

              “What’s a stomach flu?”

              “You-”  Stan kneaded his forehead.  “How do you not know what the stomach flu is?  You’ve got a doctorate!”

              “Not in medicine!”

              “Yeah, but-” Stan huffed.  “You’re falling into that trap of having so much education you forgot the basics.”

              “Pardon?”

              “Angie does it sometimes.  She says that because she’s learned so much in her specialty, she sometimes forgets the things people first learn.”  Stan adjusted his position.  “Anyways, stomach flu is called…I forget the science word for it.  It’s not the actual flu, it’s an infection of your digestive tract. Or something like that.”  Stan frowned.  “Uh, the girls had…I think it’s called a rotavirus.  Most adults aren’t very vulnerable to it, but kids get them a lot. Could be what Tate has.  If it is, all ya gotta do is manage his symptoms and wait for him to get better on his own.”  Ford was silent for a moment.

              “How do you know so much about this?” he asked quietly.

              “Whenever anyone in her family gets sick, Angie goes nuts researching the illness.”  Stan sighed. “It always makes her more paranoid, so I don’t really like it.”

              “Why do you let her do it?”

              “I can’t ‘let’ my wife do anything, Stanford.”  Stan stretched.  “It’s not super harmful for her to do, so I just complain a bit.  She usually backs off once she realizes what she’s doing.  Anyways, when the girls got their stomach bug, she rattled off all sortsa stuff about it. Even while she was sleeping.”

              “She’s a sleeptalker?”

              “Yeah.”  Stan grinned. “It’s somethin’ else when someone who’s dead asleep is giving you a science lecture.”

              “Hmm.”  Ford cleared his throat.  “So, this is likely a viral intestinal infection?”

              “Probably.”

              “So there’s no reason for me to take him to the emergency room?”

              “Sweet Moses, Ford, no!  Don’t do that!” Stan yelped.

              “Wh-”

              “You’ll just run up a bill and the docs ‘ll send ya away with Pepto-Bismol. Not to mention, shit sometimes goes down at ERs.  Just keep him home and make sure he drinks plenty of fluids.  Make him soup, give him juice and water.  Has he had the Hershey squirts yet?” Stan asked.  Ford let out a long-suffering sigh.

              “No, Tate has not had any diarrhea.”

              “He probably will.  Be prepared for that.”

              “Great,” Ford mumbled.  “…Thank you, Stanley.”

              “No problem, Sixer.”  Stan chewed on his lip.  “Next time-”

              “Next time?!”

              “Ford, I literally told you five minutes ago that kids get sick all the time. Kids are germ factories that play with other germ factories and don’t know not to eat dirt.”

              “I knew not to eat dirt,” Ford muttered.

              “Well, not all kids do.  Tate’s gonna get sick again.  And again. And again.  Part of being a parent is dealing with that.  Calmly.  You can’t act like the world’s ending every time Tate pukes.  Take it in stride.  Give him some 7-Up and crackers, let him lay down and watch TV, and just keep an eye on him. Nine times outta ten, kids puke once and then they’re fine.”

              “What if Tate gets worse?”

              “Then you take him to see the doc.  But you don’t make a big deal outta it.  Kids pick up on how grownups act.  If a grownup is panicking, kids are gonna panic, too.  Even if you wanna scream, you keep it to yourself.”  Ford was silent.

              “I feel I’ve become a fool, Stanley,” he said after a moment.

              “Nah.  You’re just a first-time parent.  You think I was this good at being a dad when I started out?  No!  I freaked out all the time!  You get used to it.  And if you feel like you’re doing something wrong, you can always call me.  The girls are doing a thing at the library all summer, so I’m home alone during the day.”  Stan grinned.  “I kinda like telling my genius brother things he didn’t know, anyways.”

              “Ha ha, very funny,” Ford said.  Stan could hear the eye roll in Ford’s voice.  “I…I really do appreciate that, though.  Fiddleford will be gone for a few more days.  I’ve prepared as best as I can, but-”

              “Kids torpedo all your plans,” Stan said, nodding.

              “Yes.”

              “Now that you’ve calmed down a bit, you should probably go check on Tate. Make sure you set him up near a bathroom and make him some soup.  Tate likes the canned cream of chicken.”

              “I believe we have some of that in the kitchen.”

              “Warm it up for him, then.  And get off the phone.  I’ll help you with big things, but I’m not gonna hold your hand for this part.  You know how to take care of a stomach bug.”

              “…Yes, I do.”  Ford chuckled softly.  “Suddenly, I can recall all of the times we became sick with clarity.”

              “Yep.  Panicking makes you ignore things sometimes.”

              “You are correct.”  Ford took a breath.  “Thank you, again.”

              “No problem.  Go take care of your kid.”

              “I will.  Goodbye.”

              “Bye.”  Stan hung up the phone.  He looked up at the ceiling blankly for a few minutes, wistfully remembering some of Danny and Daisy’s firsts.  After a while, he broke free of the memories.  He was glad to have had those moments with his daughters, but he was also glad they were in the past.  Panicked phone calls to Angie’s parents weren’t something he missed.  He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

              “So…what hobbies do dads have?”

#I've said it before and I'll say it again: dad Stan is best Stan #DAD STAN IS BEST STAN HE'S SO QUALITY #that man was MEANT to be a dad #Stanley Pines #Stanford Pines #Stay at Home Stan AU #ficlet #my writing #my stuff #speecher speaks

[usual-day-dreamer]

Let Me Touch Your Fire (Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader) Chapter Nine

MASTERLIST

You were driving as fast as you could ignoring Steve's complaints as the car bumped harshly.

The car jumped again, and you cursed under your breath, the tunnel seemed endless and your anxiety was killing you.

"Jesus! Slow down" you heard Steve say.

"Yeah, what is this, like, the Indy 500?" Robin said, their voices slurred, and you tried to calm your breathing. You heard them arguing at the back, Robin called Steve a dingus and you'd have laughed if you weren't anxious as hell. Then they laughed loudly, your stomach sunk a little, but you pushed the feeling aside.

"What is wrong with them?" Erica asked

"I don't know!" Dustin answered, worry lacing his voice. You looked at the kids beside you and tried to look at the teens behind.

"Y/N be careful!" Erica screamed and your attention went back to the road, passed a ramp rapidly and lost control of the car, crashing against some barrels. Steve and Robin groaned, and you looked at them.

"Are you guys okay?" you asked

"They're fine" Dustin said and stepped out of the car with Erica, you did the same rushing towards the back to help Steve and Robin out. Dustin opened the door.

"Let's go!"

Steve and Robin sat up slowly "Come on! We have to go!" Dustin ushered them

"Come on!" Your mixed voices were desperate as Steve and Robin tried to stand. Dustin grabbed Steve's arm and pulled him harshly, he stumbled into your arms. You caught him and he looked at you with a smile and half lidded eyes.

"Hey there cutie" he said, and you blushed

"Hey!" You turned towards Robin, Steve still in your arms "Catch me too my knight in shining armor" she moves her arms widely around and jumped towards you, you managed to catch her just as Dustin opened the elevator's door.

He walked back towards you and helped you with the two giggling teens, Erica walking behind you with both eyebrows raised.

As soon as the doors closed, Steve and Robin started goofing around. Steve was on a cart and Robin was moving it.

"Steve! You are surfing" you rolled your eyes.

"They seem drunk" Erica noted.

"Why would they be drunk?" Dustin asked and your mind clicked.

"Whooossshhhhh" Steve moved his arms trying to regain his balance and then fell. Dustin rushed to his side, Steve's eyes were closed as he laughed, Dustin placed his hand on his forehead

Steve opened his eyes "Y/N?"

"It's Dustin and he's burning up"

"You are burning up" Steve started placing his hand on Dustin's face trying to push him away. You heard them talking as Robin approached you, eyes unfocused and a smile adorning her face.

"You look so pretty today Y/N" she said, placing her arms around your neck and hugged you

"Thanks Robin, you too"

"Your hair is so pretty, and you smell nice" she breathed deeply

"Hey! I want to hug her too" Steve said angrily "Ouch"

"His pupils are super dilated" Dustin looked at you. You grabbed Robin's face and looked into her eyes, hers were dilated too.

"Are you going to kiss me?" she giggled and made kissy faces at you "No fair!" you heard Steve in the background.

"Maybe they're drugged" Erica said.

"Boop" Steve bopped Dustin's nose.

"Steve, are you drugged?"

"How many times, dad? It's only marijuana" Steve defended

"I need to know what they did to you" Dustin argued "Are you gonna die on us?" God, you hoped not.

Steve bopped Dustin's nose again. Robin made a really weird comment about dying and Dustin and you looked at each other, confusion on your faces, she was still holding you, her body almost dangling.

Dustin went back to Steve "They are going to be waiting for us out there so you must tell me where you parked your car"

"Wait, can we stop at the food court before we leave?"

"I would kill for a hot dog on a stick" Robin said.

"Ooohhhh"

You giggled a little at his sound.

"Uhm, Yes, Yes, food. You can have whatever you want and as much as you want but only if you tell me where you parked your car"

Robin smiled widely at Dustin.

"Uh-oh"

"Uh-oh?" You said.

"They took the keys" Steve answered.

"What?" Dustin asked him.

"The Russians took the keys" a giggle followed the sentence and Robin laughed. Dustin started looking for the keys inside Steve's pockets while he kept talking.

"That's a bummer, right?" He said with a laugh. Dustin, Erica and you exchanged worried looks. What the hell where you supposed to do now? They kept laughing until you arrived at the top. You untangled from Robin's grasp and you quickly walked between Erica and Dustin, Steve and Robin behind you.

"This tastes so good!" Robin exclaimed with her tongue out "Steve can you taste the air?"

"I taste it! I taste it" he answered excitedly. Idiots, you thought.

The gates in front of you opened, two armed guys made their way towards you "Shit" you turned back and ran towards Steve and Robin.

"Come on!" Dustin said. The guys yelled in Russian and you grabbed Robin's hand dragging her quickly behind Steve and Dustin, Erica was pushing Robin forward.

"Why are we running?"

"Okay! Okay! Okay! Wooo" Robin raised her arms as you stepped inside the mall. Dustin waited for the rest to come inside and then closed the door.

You kept walking, Dustin seemed to know the way and you were trying to make Steve and Robin keep quiet. Dustin opened a door, and after checking around and guaranteeing it was clear you passed through it.

You were inside the cinema; Dustin opened the double doors that led inside the room. Back to the Future was playing.

"Come on" all of you followed Dustin quickly. You arrived at the front row and he instructed Steve and Robin to sit there.

"These seats are too close" Steve objected

"Then don't watch the movie"

"But we wanna watch it" Robin argued

"Then watch it!" you said annoyed.

Some guy shushed you and Robin shushed him back.

"Sorry" Dustin apologized "Whatever you do, don't go anywhere" he finished.

"Fine, dad" Steve answered, his mouth full of popcorn. You eyed the popcorn suspiciously, where they on the trash?

Dustin, Erica and you walked to the other side, sitting down on the same row as Steve and Robin.

"It's official, I'm never having kids" Dustin said as the three of you finally sat down, you chuckled.

"What are we doing here?" Erica asked.

"Laying low"

"We need to get outta here" Erica said and the guy behind shushed her, she shushed back angrily.

"Okay, you watch those idiots. Make sure they don't go anywhere"

"Where are you going?" You asked.

"To find us a ride"

"I'll go with you" you stood up with Dustin "Watch them" you told Erica and went back upstairs behind Dustin.

Luck was finally on your side, the small back room was empty, and you sat down and exhaled loudly, you relaxed as Dustin took his radio out and called for help. Someone finally replied.

"Mike?" Dustin asked. Mike? As in Mike Wheeler?

"Dustin!"

Dustin quickly tried to explain the situation to Mike.

"Dustin I can't here you, are you there?"

"Mike? Do you copy?"

"Dustin-"

The signal was gone, and the battery too.

"Shit! Not now, please not now!" he slammed the radio against his leg. Your luck was gone again.

"And that's why Steve told you to stop using it a few hours ago" you said with a sigh.

"That's not really helpful you know?" he sounded pissed and tired, he looked inside his bag and pulled out some Double-A batteries, but he needed more "Wait here" he stood up and walked back with Erica.

You closed your eyes and leaned against the wall, finally getting some rest after a lot of stressful hours. You fell asleep for a few seconds.

"Y/N!" Erica's and Dustin's panicked voices woke you up with a jolt.

"What's wrong?" you were quickly on your feet ready for action.

"Steve and Robin are gone" Dustin said and you widened your eyes, running out of the cinema with Dustin and Erica.

*

The cold water felt like heaven against Steve's lips as he drank. Robin was behind him, waiting for her turn.

"So, I wasn't really focused in there or anything but I'm pretty sure that mom was trying to bang her son" Robin said.

"Wait, the hot chick was Alex P. Keaton's mom" Steve looked at her.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure"

"But they are the same age"

"But he was in the past"

"Then why is it called Back to the Future?"

"Because he has to go back to the future because he's in the past. So, the future is actually the present, which is his time"

"What?"

"It's my turn now. You've had enough" Robin pushed Steve again and he stumbled a little before standing up correctly.

Steve looked up with amazement. "Hey Robin" he said "You gotta check this out" Robin was quickly beside him, looking up.

"The ceiling is beautiful" he said "Just like Y/N"

"Yeah" she said softly and chuckled, spinning slowly around, her gaze never leaving the ceiling. They grunted, the lights on the ceiling spinning aggressively around and they ran towards the nearest bathroom.

They fell on their knees, both inside different stalls as they emptied their stomachs.

Five minutes later Robin spoke "The ceiling stopped spinning for me, is it spinning for you?"

Steve looked up "Holy shit, you think we puked it all up?"

"Maybe. Interrogate me" she said with a Russian accent and Steve laughed.

"Okay, sure" he sat up in a more comfortable position "Uhm... when was the last time you peed your pants?"

"Today"

"What?"

"When the Russian doctor took out the bone saw"

"Oh my god" Steve laughed "Yeah, it is definitely still in her system"

They laughed.

"My turn" Robin said "Have you... ever been in love?"

"Yep, with Nancy Wheeler" Steve said without hesitation "But, you know..." he imitated the sound of an explosion.

"Are you serious? She's such a priss"

"Turns out, not really"

She scoffed, "Are you still in love with her?"

"No"

"Why not?"

"Because I think I found someone better for me. It's crazy" Robin kept quiet "Ever since Dustin came home, he's been saying 'You gotta find your Suzie'"

"Who's Suzie?"

"Some girl from camp, I guess his girlfriend. To be honest, I'm not really sure she's real... but that's not the point, the point is this girl I like. It's someone I didn't even know existed"

Robin closed her eyes, sadness overcoming her senses.

"She's... she is not like anyone I've ever met before. She's incredibly funny, since she came into my life, I have laughed harder than I've laughed in a long time. She is smart too; I mean she helped you crack a Russian code. She has a great taste in music and to be honest" Steve paused "She is just so great and beautiful it scares me because I... I think I am in love with her"

Robin brought her knees towards her chest and buried her head between them. Her chest tightened and suddenly the empty bathroom became suffocating for her as she struggled to breath properly.

"Robin" he tapped the stall. Robin looked up "Did you just OD in there?" Steve sounded worried and she felt like crying.

"No" she said with a sigh "I am still alive"

Steve slid towards her,

"The floor is disgusting" she said.

"I already got a lot of blood and puke on my shirt so..." a small silence fell upon them "What do you think?"

"About?"

"This girl"

"She sounds awesome" Robin said, a sad smile on her face

"She is awesome" Steve nodded

"You should know, this girl, she really is something special and you really have no idea how much it affects me... and hurts me"

"Robin..." his eyes were full of concern.

"It's really not like that" Steve shut his mouth "You probably won't be my friend anymore if I tell you"

"You know that's not true"

Robin sighed "Remember when I told you about those charity concerts? And that I was obsessed with you?"

"Yeah"

"It isn't because I had a crush on you" Steve frowned, clearly lost "It's because... I wished she would look at me the way she'd look at you"

"Y/N?"

Robin nodded "She was my everything, but every time she'd talk about you and the way she looked at you... and I couldn't understand because you were noisy and you failed a lot of classes and because you wouldn't even look at her the way I did, you didn't even liked her and I would go home and just scream into my pillow" she blinked the tears away.

"But she's a girl"

"Steve..." she looked at him, sadness all over her face as he stared at her.

"Oh" he was speechless, and guilty too.

"Even now" she looked away "I still wish she'd look at me the way she looks at you" she whispered and looked back at him.

"Steve?" He didn't answer "Did you just OD over there?"

"No, I just... I'm just thinking"

"Okay"

Steve looked away and then back at her "We are still friends, right?"

Robin laughed and hit his shoulder playfully "Of course dingus" he laughed.

And even though Robin knew she'd never have you the way she wanted she was happy, because you weren't going away again and now, she had a new friend that liked her just the way she was. She felt at peace with herself.

They laughed together after some dumb joke Steve said as you busted inside the bathroom with Dustin and Erica.

"What the hell?" Dustin said and they laughed again. You rolled your eyes but smiled, glad they were okay.

You waited until the movie was over so you could get lost in the crowd. Dustin opened the door and the whole group looked outside. You stepped out once you knew it was saved, blending easily with the crowd.

"Oh shit, that worked" Erica said.

"Of course, it worked" Dustin said and you kept walking at a steady pace "Now we just have to get in the bus with the rest of these people and home sweet home here we come"

You smiled, you really wanted a nice and hot shower.

"Dustin?" Steve said.

"Yeah?" He answered and looked at him.

"Yeah we might not wanna go to your house"

"Why?" You asked.

"Well I might have told them your full names" he admitted.

"What is wrong with you? Dustin asked

"Dude, I was drugged"

He had a point. You huffed.

"So?" Dustin argued.

"So?"

"You resist! You tough it out like a man"

"Oh yeah, that's easy for you to say-"

"Guys" Robin stopped and the whole group did the same looking ahead. A bunch of guys were checking everyone that was walking out.

"Shit" You said, looking around for another exit.

One of the guys looked your way and you ran towards the stairs. They were off but you slid down between them with ease.

You could tell everyone had already left, except for the bad guys of course. You were hiding behind the counter, grasping Steve's hand tightly as you tried to keep quiet. Your other hand covering your mouth and nose, eyes tightly shut.

You heard footsteps approaching you and suddenly the car alarm blared making the whole group jump. A few seconds later you heard a loud noise and a crash. Did someone push the car or something?

You stood up slowly with the rest. The car was thrown aside m, it was destroyed, and all the bad guys were lying dead on the floor. You looked at the upper floor, a bunch of kids were there, you recognized some of them.

You followed behind your friends as they made their way towards the others. Dustin laughed running towards the girl Mike was helping walk.

"You are going that thing like a Hot Wheel!" He enveloped her in a hug.

"Lucas?" It was Erica

"What are you doing here?" He asked his little sister.

"Ask them, it's their fault" she pointed at you.

"True, Yeah, totally true, it was actually our fault" Steve was quick to answer.

"I don't understand what happened to that car" Robin said looking at Dustin.

"El has superpowers" you looked at the girl with the yellow shirt. So that's the famous El.

"That's El?" Erica pointed at the girl.

"Who's El?" Robin asked.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" A new voice said, and you looked at her, it was Nancy.

"Y/N?" She said, you waved awkwardly at her as you felt everyone's eyes on you.

"Your sister came back?" Mike asked

"Yeah! Isn't it great?"

"And I'm Robin, I work with Steve"

"They cracked a secret code" Dustin said.

"Yeah and that how we found out about the Russians" Steve continued.

"What Russians?" You guessed he was Jonathan.

"Those were Russians!" Steve pointed at the bodies on the floor.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked.

"Didn't you hear our code red?"

"Yeah" Mike answered "We couldn't understand what you were saying"

"Goddamn low battery"

"How many times do I have to tell you about the low battery?" Steve scolded Dustin and he rolled his eyes.

"Well, everything worked out didn't it?"

"Worked out? But we almost died!" Erica exclaimed.

"But we didn't, did we?" Dustin answered.

You looked at El, she looked sick. She started walking away as everyone else argued. You were just going to walk towards her to see if she was okay when she fainted.

The noise made everyone stop.

"El!" Mike was the first to arrive at her side "What's wrong?" He turned her around.

"My leg. My leg" she cried, and you looked at her leg.

"Get that off" Jonathan demanded and they took the bandage off. Everyone exclaimed in disgust as her wound was revealed. Something moved inside the wound and she groaned in pain.

Everyone looked scared. Nobody really knew what to do. And El just kept screaming in pain.

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #stranger things

[youreinit]

Riverdale Rewrite S01xEp 01

Summary: It’s literally just the show’s storyline if you were a part of it, from your pov

Pairing: Sweet Pea x Female Reader

Warnings: Language, severe parental abuse, parental death, mentions of being depressed/suicidal (that’s it, I think? let me know if I missed anything)

A/N: So I decided to do a thing to try and ease myself back into writing. It’s been years since I’ve actually sat down and really written something, so I’m really sorry if this sucks. 

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN RIVERDALE, IT'S CHARACTERS, OR ANY OF THE ORIGINAL SHOW WRITING. I AM ONLY ADDING TO THE ORIGINAL WRITING TO PUT MY READERS INTO THE STORYLINE. PLEASE DON'T SUE ME.

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"Are you excited? Nervous?" Kevin says, lounging on Betty's bed, surrounded by the soft pink and white of her bedding (and walls... and dressers) I glance over to Betty, applying her light layer of makeup in preparation for seeing the boy in question.

"Both. I haven't seen him all summer." Betty glances at us through the mirror. Betty and Archie have both been off doing their own things all summer, so her apprehension is entirely understandable. Who's to say they didn't both change?

"Which is why nerves are acceptable, but we agreed, Betty It's time. You like him, he likes you." I finally speak up, standing to help Betty smooth out her ponytail.

"Well, then why, (Y/N), hasn't he ever said or done anything?" Her shoulders visibly slump as I tie off the signature Betty Cooper look. I can't help but feel bad for the girl. She's been pining after Archie Andrews for years now. They seem like they would be perfect, just like everything else in this town.

"Because Archie's... swell, but like most millennial straight guys, he needs to be told what he wants. So tell him. Finally." Kevin is obviously tired of this back and forth between the two, and honestly I can't blame him. It's so.... expected. She's been waiting all this time for Archie to make the first move, what's to say she's not allowed to be the one to make that leap?

"Well, we'll see. I mean, it depends."

"Oh, my God!" Kevin's outburst catches both of our attention, causing us to whip around to face him. He's looking out the window, face frozen in a look of shock.

"What?" Betty asks moving to look out of the window too. Finally catching up, I see what they're both gawking at. Good God.

"Game-changer. Archie got hot! He's got abs now. Six more reasons for you to take that ginger bull by the horns tonight."

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"Have fun you two!" After meeting up with Archie and seeing the two off, Kevin and I stood outside the Cooper household, watching the two hopeful lovebirds walk off in the direction of Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe.

"You wanna come over for a little bit? My dad's been so busy lately, it's been getting a little lonely."

"Sorry, Kev. I made plans with some of the Serpents. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure. Have fun!" He gives me a smile and a hug, and we head our separate ways.

Throwing my leg over my bike, I start it up and head off over the tracks. The Whyte Wyrm is bustling tonight. Being the last night of summer, many (if not all) of the younger Serpents have decided to get one last good night in before school gets back in motion. Of course, school isn't exactly something that's going to stop them from being out all night, it's really just an excuse to party. Pulling into an empty spot near the side of the bar, I cut the engine and hop off, my boots crunching the gravel under my feet. I unzip the leather jacket around my shoulders, adorned with a snake on the back, allowing the cool air of the night to meet my body. It's a beautiful night, and if I hadn't promised to meet my friends here I would've kept driving, maybe into Greendale, who knows. But I'm here now, so I unbuckle the strap holding my helmet in place and pull it off my head, shaking out my hair in the process.

"Hey, (Y/N)! You made it!" Turning to the back entrance of the bar, I spot Toni pushing herself off the wall to come greet me.

"I said I'd be here, didn't I? If nothing else, I'm a woman of my word." I meet her halfway and throw my arm over her shoulder, turning her around to head back into the bar. "Is your break over?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Just in time to get you your first drink of the night. What's it gonna be?" As soon as the door is open, the smell of alcohol, cigarettes and leather meet my nose and I smile as I step into the familiar surroundings. I look around for the other two people I agreed to meet here, spotting them by the pool tables.

"How many drinks have they had?"

"Four. Each. And there's no sign of them stopping any time soon." She gives a half smile as she watches the boys, sliding behind the bar.

"Great. I'll take Sweet Pea if you take Fangs? They definitely shouldn't be driving home tonight"

"Sounds good to me. Water then?"

"Yeah. And one for Beavis and Butthead over there, too, please." I sigh and tap my fingers on the bar while Toni gets my drink. It's not like this is unusual. We rather frequently have to take those two home after long nights at the Wyrm. Usually, though I'm here early enough that I can get them to slow down a little.

"Here ya go. Good luck." She hands me the three glasses and I turn to head toward the pool tables, balancing the glasses of water as best I can while maneuvering my way through the crowd. When I reach my destination, I find the table the boys had claimed and get my things settled in. Pea and Fangs were so wrapped up in their game that they didn't notice me come up behind them.

"Evening, boys." Fangs visibly jumps, while Sweet Pea just turns, his dark brown eyes meeting mine as a gentle smile graces his lips.

"Jesus, (Y/N), you scared the shit outta me." Fangs laughs, turning to greet me with a hug. I return the embrace, laughing at my drunk friend's jumpiness.

"Wasn't my intention, Fogarty, but maybe you should slow down on the drinks for a while. I mean, I was able to sneak up on you two pretty easily."

"Nah, we're just getting started, princess!" I curl my nose at the nickname that Sweet Pea had sarcastically given me when we first met. He laughs at my reaction, pulling me into his side to give me a hug. "Nice of you to join us, though. Thought you might blow us off for those Northsider friends of yours."

"Sweet Pea." The warning tone in my voice is enough to make him throw up his hands, letting it go for now. We've been through this argument many times over. "Take a break you two, I got you some water." Fangs groans and throws his head back, reminding me of a child about to throw a tantrum. Rolling my eyes, I grab his hand and pull him over to the table, Sweet Pea following behind us, pool stick in hand. I hand the two their waters  and make them drink, Fangs putting up much more of a fight, but eventually giving in.

"You're such a baby, Fogarty." Fangs looks betrayed by his friend's words, looking up to meet Pea's joking gaze.

"Hey, drinking water makes you sober up, and that's the last thing I wanna do tonight."

"I don't know about sobering you up, but I do know it'll help save you from alcohol poisoning, so drink up Fangs. By the way, Toni and I are giving you a ride home tonight. You'll thank me tomorrow when you don't have a hangover for your walk back to your bikes."

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A few rounds of pool later, and several glasses of water practically forced down their throats, Toni's shift is over just in time for Fangs to run outside, just making it out the door before puking his guts out.

"Great. I swear to god, if he pukes on me I'm gonna throw him off my bike." Toni says, gathering Fangs' things.

"I mean, it wouldn't be the first time." I say with a chuckle, only laughing harder when Toni throws a playful glare my way.

"I'd better get him home. We do have school in the morning."

"Yeah, I should probably get going, too. Fred will kill me if I come home at 2 in the morning on a school night. See you later Toni." I give her a quick hug before she rushes out the door. Turning to the Sasquatch of a man, I can already see that he's gonna fight me on leaving, even though he can barely stand up straight without his pool stick to lean on. "Ready to go, Pea?"

"C'mon, (Y/N), it's not even that late." His slurred words make me roll my eyes as I gather his things for him, slipping them into the backpack he had brought with him.

"Do I need to get Hog Eye to help you to my bike?" He sighs, knowing the battle is lost and being too drunk to really fight me on this. I pull the stick from his hands and place his arm around my shoulders, guiding him through the rapidly thinning crowd and to the back entrance, waving bye to the bar staff on our way out. Getting Sweet Pea on the bike was a much more difficult task, seeing as the boy is over a foot taller than me, but with what little help he can give, we manage, me getting on in front of him and forcing him to hold on. The ride to his trailer isn't a long one, but it's always much harder to make it when I'm having to focus on not letting him fall off. Pulling into Sunnyside trailer park, I maneuver through the dirt path as smoothly as I can, pulling up in front of Pea's trailer and shutting off the bike. "Alright, you big oaf, let's get you to bed."

"I got it, I got it." He shoves my hands away, clumsily climbing off the bike and almost face planting when his foot catches on the seat.

"Yeah, you got it alright." I pull him up by the arm and wrap it back around my shoulders, pulling his house key out of my pocket, unlocking the door and stepping in first to help him step up into his home. Thankfully, he doesn't have very far to go to get in bed. Once he's through the door, we basically just pivot and he flops onto his mattress. It's a dance we've done many times, and by now it's practically routine. I pull his boots off, followed by his jacket, and place them neatly by his door before opening his mini fridge and pulling out a gatorade. Placing it and a bottle of ibuprofen by his bed, I sit down next to him, placing a blanket over his form. "You gonna be alright, Pea, or do you want me to hang out for a little bit?"

"I'll be fine." He mumbles, already half asleep and not thinking clearly. "Why're you so good to me?"

"It's what friends do, Pea. We take care of each other." I gently smile at him and brush his curls out of his face. God, do I wish it was more than that.

"You should move back to the Southshide. You could stay with me. It would make this whole thing a lot easier at least."

"You know I can't do that, Sweet Pea. Foster Care placed me with the Andrews, that's not something that can just be ignored. But thanks for the offer."

"Hmm..." He closes his eyes and snuggles into his pillow, sleep coming to him quickly.

"Call me when you wake up so I know you're alive, okay?"

"Mmhmm." I chuckle, standing and heading to the door.

"Goodnight, Pea. Sweet dreams."

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"Archie, come on!" I yell up the stairs, trying to hurry the redhead along. He comes rushing down the stairs, almost bowling me over on his way to the kitchen.

"Sorry (Y/N)! Hey, Dad. First day of school and I'm already late. Hey, Vegas." Grabbing a piece of toast, he rushes to the door, petting the lab on his way past.

"Hey, you, uh, you stopping by the site later?" Fred stops him just before we head out the door.

"Dad, it's my first day."

"Oh, we got to get you going in the office, so next summer you're not on the crew."

"Well, I can't. I've got football tryouts. Or is that not okay?"

"No, it's, uh It's okay. Good luck. You two have good day." Fred walks back into the kitchen, leaving us to (finally) head to school.

"Hey, you need a ride?" I ask, heading to my bike.

"Nah, I'm gonna walk with Betty."

"Alright, I'll catch you later."

"See ya."

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Pulling into my usual parking spot, I hop off and head into the school, preparing myself to face another year of drama and bullshit. Spotting Betty just outside the office, I head her way, trying to place the brunette standing beside her. It's a small town, I know everyone here, she's gotta be new.

"So I usually start out my tours with a little history and context. Riverdale High first opened its doors in 1941 and-" Betty starts, guiding the new girl through the halls.

" And hasn't been redecorated since, apparently. Honestly, I feel like I'm wandering through the lost epilogue of Our Town." I chuckle at the reference, realizing quickly that the brunette is much more sophisticated than a majority of people here.

"Uh-huh." Kevin and I come up on either side of the two, me looping arms with the youngest Cooper.

"So what's the social scene like here? Any night clubs?"

"A strip club called the Ho Zone and a tragic gay bar called Innuendo. Friday nights, football games and then tailgate parties at the Mallmart parking lot. Saturday night is movie night, regardless of what's playing at the Bijou, and you better get there early, because we don't have reserved seating in Riverdale. And Sunday nights Thank God for HBO." Kevin quite succinctly summed up what there is to do around town, obviously leaving out the Southside. The last thing the new girl should be doing is wandering across the track on her own, she'd be robbed in a heartbeat.

"Veronica Lodge, Kevin Keller. Veronica's new here. Kevin is -" Betty introduces the two, motioning to Kevin as she spoke.

"Gay, thank God. Let's be best friends." Veronica jokingly says, placing her hand on Kevin's arm and smiling warmly. She turns to me, still holding the smile and looking me up and down. "And who is this?"

"This is-"

"(Y/N)." I say, reaching my hand out for her to shake.

"Nice to meet you." She says, still smiling while taking my outstretched hand. "Love the whole Devil's Angels vibe you've got going on."

"Thanks." I chuckle, relieved that she wasn't more like Cheryl. "If you like this then you'll love the motorcycle I've got parked out front."

"Is it true what they say about your dad?"  Kevin interrupts our conversation, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

"That he's the devil incarnate? I stand by my father. Does everyone here know?" We all stay silent, giving her sympathetic looks. "Wonderful. Ten minutes in and I'm already the Blue Jasmine of Riverdale High."

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"Oh, and of course there's the Back-to-School - semiformal dance this weekend." Kevin says, continuing to regale Veronica with all of the upcoming events in the town.

"Oh! There's the hottie we were with last night. The red-headed Ansel Elgort. Is he your boyfriend?" Veronica asks Betty, still pointing to Archie as he makes his way down the hall. I chuckle at her description, knowing just how much of a goofball he really is.

"- No, we're just friends."

"- No, he's straight." Kevin and Betty say at the same time. We all give him a weird look and he just looks at us and shrugs his shoulders.

"In that case, mind putting in a word? I've tried every flavor of boy but orange." Veronica says, going back to staring at Archie.

"Actually, to clarify Betty and Archie aren't dating, but they are endgame." Kevin says, breaking Veronica out of her trance.

"You should ask him to the semiformal then." The brunette turns to Betty, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"She should, but I heard it might be getting canceled. Because of what happened to Jason. They're gonna tell us at the assembly." I say, leading the way down the hall to the gym.

"Who's Jason and what happened to him?" If only we could all be ignorant to what happened this summer.

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"Thank you for that moment of silence. Many of you were lucky enough to have known my brother personally. Each and every one of you meant the world to Jason. I loved my brother. He was and always will be my soulmate. So I speak with the confidence only a twin could have Jason wouldn't want us to spend the year mourning. Jason would want us to move on with our lives. Which is why I've asked the School Board not to cancel the Back-to-School semiformal. But rather, to let us use it as a way to heal, collectively, and celebrate my brother's too, too short life on this mortal coil. Thank you all." Cheryl Blossom finishes her speech to the roaring claps of the school filling the gym. It was very flowery speech, but not very convincing. I don't doubt that she misses her brother, I just don't think she's telling the whole truth about what happened. No one buys it, really, not even her inner circle. As we all file out of the gym to go to class, I catch a flash of orange hair out of the corner of my eye. Where is Archie going in such a hurry?

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Sitting at our usual lunch table, we all listen to one of Archie's songs. I'd heard it in bits and pieces throughout the summer, but I'd never heard it all put together until now. He really is a pretty good musician, which explains why he chased down Ms. Grundy after the assembly today. I just hope he can figure out how to tell his dad before he runs himself ragged trying to keep up appearances.

"Can I join?" Veronica asks, Archie quickly stopping the music and closing his laptop as she approaches.

"Yeah." Betty says, her and Kevin scooting over to make room for her on the bench.

"What are we doing?"

"Listening to one of Archie's songs. I thought we were going to have to pretend to like it, but it's actually really good." Kevin informs her, looking as surprised as he sounds.

"Wait, that was you singing? Something you wrote?" The brunette seems as shocked as the rest of us, eyes a little wide and a small smile on her lips.

"It's rough." Archie says, a little insecure as always.

"No, it's great." Betty reassures him, Kevin and I nodding in agreement as she reaches towards him.

"It's incredible, actually, the little snippet I heard. Is that your thing? Music? Are you doing something with that?" Veronica rests her chin on her hand, genuinely curious and wanting to get to know us.

"Yeah, that's the plan. So how's your first day going? Good?" Archie changes the subject, trying to get the attention off of him.

"Not to be a complete narcissist, but I thought people would be more-"

"Obsessed with you? Any other year, you'd be trending number one, for sure. This year, though, it's all about Cheryl trying to win the Best Supporting Psycho Oscar for her role as Riverdale High's bereaved Red Widow." I laugh at Kevin's description, finding it surprisingly apt in this situation.

"Hey, I should go. I got that meeting with Grundy and then football tryouts, so." Archie gathers his things and begins to stand up, heading off to do exactly what I had hoped he wouldn't do.

"You play football, too? What don't you do?" Archie smiles and shrugs at Veronica, then rushes away, the rest of us watching him leave until we're sure he's out of earshot.

"Before you ask, Blue Jasmine, no, she has not invited him to the dance yet." Kevin says, looking at Betty accusingly as she moves around the table to take Archie's empty spot.

"Not yet, and don't talk about Archie." I follow Betty's gaze and spot the other red head in the school coming our way.

"Veronica Lodge, I'd heard whisperings. I'm Cheryl Blossom, may I sit? Betty, (Y/N), would you mind?" Cheryl doesn't even wait for us to respond, instead pushing her way into the seat, forcing me to press myself into Betty to avoid being sat on. "So, what are you three hens gossiping about? Archie's Efron-esque emergence from the chrysalis of puberty?"

"Extracurriculars. Weatherbee wants me to sign up for a few." Veronica expertly diverts the conversation, throwing Betty a sly smile.

"Cheerleading. You must. I'm senior captain of the River Vixens." Cheryl proudly puffs out her chest and gives her signature 'I'm better than you' smile.

"Is cheerleading still a thing?" Kevin says, trying to say it quietly, but speaking just loud enough to receive Cheryl's spiteful glare.

"Is being the Gay Best Friend still a thing?" She snaps, and then, in true Blossom style, she turns the charm back on and looks back to Veronica. "Some people say it's retro, I say it's eternal and iconic."

"At Spence, I sat at the top of the Elites' pyramid. I'm in. Betty, you're trying out, too." Veronica smiles softly at the blonde, who shrinks into herself slightly at the suggestion.

"Of course, anyone's welcome to try out, but Betty's already got so much on her plate right now and being a Vixen is kind of a full-time thing." Of course Cheryl would fat shame her. Some things never change. "But open to all!" She stands then, allowing Betty and I to move back across the bench. "Follow me on Twitter and I'll do the same. My handle is @cherylbombshell."

"Good riddance, she-wolf." I say quietly as Cheryl walks off, immediately turning back to Betty and putting a hand on her arm for comfort.

"Okay. Go ahead and hate on cheerleading, but if Hipster Prince Harry-" Veronica starts, but Betty interrupts her.

"I'd love to be a cheerleader. It would look great on my college applications. But last year, when I tried out, Cheryl said I was too fat."

"Too season 5 Betty Draper. It was a great line, but not at all true." Kevin backtracks after seeing the look I sent his way.

"Well, you're a total smoke show now. I mean it. As hot and as smart as you are, you should be the Queen Bey of this drab hive." Betty laughs lightly, looking around the table at all of us. "Look, if you want to be a River Vixen, I'll help you prep. I have moves." Betty considers the offer for a few seconds, before perking up suddenly and taking a deep breath.

"Okay. You know what? Show me your moves."

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"We're blue! And gold! We're dynamite! We'll take you down, and fight the fight! Whoo! Go, Bulldogs!" Standing at the side of the bleachers where Cheryl can't see me, I watch Betty and Veronica perform their routine. It's pretty good. I mean, it's.... cheerleading.

"Hmm. Ladies, where's the heat? Where's the sizzle?" For once, I actually kinda agree with Cheryl.

"Well, you haven't seen our big finish yet." Veronica says before whispering something to Betty and reaching for her. Before Betty has time to question her, they're... kissing?

"Check your sell-by date, ladies, faux lesbian kissing hasn't been taboo since 1994. So let's see if you do better with the interview portion of our audition. Betty, how's your sister doing?" Oh no, this is gonna get bad.

"Um, Polly's fine, thanks for asking-" Betty is visibly uncomfortable, wiping lipstick off her face and wringing her hands.

"Veronica, has Betty told you about her sister yet?"

"Uh, no-"

"Go ahead, Betty. Tell Veronica about your sister and my dear brother."

"Polly and Jason dated." Poor Betty looks and sounds defeated as she talks about her sister.

"I wouldn't say "dated"." Cheryl scoffs as she continues to berate the blonde for things that are obviously out of her control.

"It didn't end well." She meekly explains to Veronica.

"In fact, Jason's probably why your sister had a nervous breakdown and now lives in a group home, isn't it? That's what my parents think. What do you have to say about that, Betty? Go ahead, the floor is yours. Whatever you've been dying to spew about Jason and how he treated Polly, unleash it. Destroy me. Tear me a new one. Rip me to shreds. Annihilate me." Cheryl seems to be trying to pick a fight with Betty, and I prepare myself to step in on her behalf.

"I just-" Betty starts, hands clenched into fists and her whole body tense.

"Finally." Cheryl sighs. Betty visibly deflates, forcing herself to calm down.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened to Jason. I can't even imagine what you and your family must be going through."

"Right. Veronica, welcome to the River Vixens. Betty, better luck next time." Cheryl gives Betty a cold look as the blonde shrinks back having received exactly the result she expected. I push myself off the wall and move to confront the captain of the squad, but before I can even move into sight, Veronica speaks up.

"Wait, what? Why? Because you couldn't bully Betty into being a bitch?"

"I need girls with fire on my squad." Cheryl offhandedly comments, waving off the angry tone in her voice.

"I know what you need, Cheryl, because I know who you are. You would rather people fear than like you, so you traffic in terror and intimidation. You're rich, so you've never been held accountable, but I'm living proof." Veronica is stepping closer to Cheryl with every word, eyes set in a harsh glare. "That certainty, that entitlement you wear on your head like a crown? It won't last. Eventually, there will be a reckoning. Or Maybe that reckoning is now. And maybe, that reckoning Is me. Betty and I come as a matching set. You want one, you take us both. You wanted fire? Sorry, Cherrybombshell, my specialty's ice."

Well damn.

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Entering the girl's locker room, I hear the chatter and giggling of the newest round of River Vixens. It's the kind of excitement and happiness that's so innocent it almost brings a tear to your eye. Scanning through the rows of lockers and showers, I spot Veronica zipping up Betty's new uniform.

"Perfect." Veronica smiles as she smooths out the shoulders and turns Betty around to give her a hug.

"Very Betty Draper, season 1." I speak up and smile at the two, loving the looks of joy on their faces.

"Veronica. Why did... Why did you defend me? I know the crowd you ran with in New York. Why are you being so Nice?" Betty asks, turning back to Veronica and slowly gathering her things.

"When my father got arrested, it was the worst thing ever. All these trolls started writing horrible things about us. We'd get letters and e-mails saying that my dad was a thief, my mom was a clueless socialite, and that I was the spoiled rich-bitch ice princess. And what hurt the most about it was" she sighs and takes a seat on the bench, obviously troubled by the memories. "The things the trolls were writing were true. I was like Cheryl. I was worse than Cheryl. So, when my mom said we were moving to Riverdale, I made a pact with myself to use this as an opportunity to become maybe, hopefully, a better version of myself."

"That's a lot of pressure." I said, placing my hand on her shoulder to try and offer some sort of comfort.

"When Polly and Jason got together..." Betty sits beside the brunette and takes a deep breath, finally talking about her sister for the first time in a while. "It meant everything to her and nothing to him, and..." she sighs "and things got super intense and weird and toxic and my mom turned on Polly. Said Polly wasn't her daughter anymore, said all these awful things to her. Jason hurt Polly, but it's my mom who broke her."

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After the girls finished getting ready and gathering their stuff, we walk out of the locker room and head toward the parking lot, finally done with the first day of school. As we walk the track, the football team passes us, heading to the showers.

"Archie!" Veronica calls, waving him over and clinging to Betty's arm. "You're so doing this."

"What?" Betty's eyes get wide and her cheeks begin to lightly flush.

"Slaying your dragons, Betty Cooper, one by one. Hi, Teen Outlander." Veronica smiles brightly at Archie as he comes to a stop in front of us.

"Hey. Nice outfits." Archie smirks, obviously surprised to see the cheerleading getups.

"Betty here has something she wants to ask you about the Back-to-School dance. Go on, Betty, ask."

"I was wondering if you wanted to come with both of us." Betty was obviously flustered and flying by the seat of her pants.

"Huh?" "What?" The two spoke in unison, mirroring the confusion that was on all of our faces.

"It's your first dance at Riverdale. You should have someone to go with, even if it's just a friend." I gotta give it to her, that girl knows how to cover her ass.

"I mean, I'd love to." Veronica recovers faster than the rest of us, going with the story that Betty had created. "(Y/N)? Care to join us?"

"Uh, that's okay, guys. I was gonna go with Kevin." I'm really not in the mood to be in the middle of that cluster-fuck. Guess I better inform Kevin of this.

"I'm not really in the headspace for a dance." Archie says, scratching the back of his head and trying not to hurt anyone's feelings.

"Oh. That's okay." Betty begins, obviously dissappointed.

"Totally unacceptable, Archiekins. We need an escort. Take a break from being a tortured musical genius and come spend a blissful evening with not one, but two newly-minted River Vixens. We'll text you time and place." Veronica finishes her demand with a radiant smile, leaving no room for Archie to argue.

"Okay. Yeah, okay." Archie says, chuckling and nodding his head before running off to the showers

"Bye." Betty waves.

"Bye."

"Wow, Betty. Smooth. You two have fun with that, I've got some business to take care of. See ya later!" I say, backing away from the two before turning and heading to my bike.

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"Hey, FP!" Knocking on the door to the trailer, I impatiently rock on my feet. FP had me subtly keeping an eye on Jughead for a while now, ever since he moved out and decided to be homeless. The Jones family had been slowly falling apart for some time now, FP unconsciously following in his father's footsteps and picking up the ugly habit of drinking.

"God, stop knockin like that, girl. You'll wake the dead." FP opened the door and walked back into the kitchen, signaling for me to come inside. I do so and close the door behind me, watching as FP pours something from his flask into his coffee.

"Starting off the day right, huh FP?"

"Yeah, yeah. I didn't ask for your judgment, (Y/N). I'm assuming you're here about Jughead?" He takes a seat at the dining table, motioning for me to take the seat across from him.

"Yeah," I sigh, pulling the chair out and sitting down. "and no. Jughead's fine. Still camping out at the drive in, still writing. Though, him and Archie aren't really talking anymore. I'm not sure what that's about, but I'm trying to get to the bottom of it without raising suspicion."

"Okay. That's good work, thank you." We're both quiet for a minute, FP watching me over the rim of his coffee cup. "What else is on your mind, (Y/N)? Somethin's bothering you."

"It's just... this whole thing with Jason. It's bringing up some really bad memories." I blink away a few tears that had gathered in my eyes, not wanting to cry over this again. Before Jason, the last person to have died in Riverdale was 2 years ago. A woman from the Southside killed by her abusive husband. My mother. What people would come to find out is that she died protecting me from him. He had been beating us since I was 3 years old, and got us to stay quiet about it by threatening our lives. That night, he had gotten high and decided he was going to beat me with a baseball bat. By the time my mom got home, he had broken my arm and several ribs, and cracked my skull. It was the worst beating by far. My mother pulled him off of me and told me to run. And I did. I bolted out the door, and ran. Out of Sunnyside Trailer Park. Out of the Southside. Hell, I would've run right out of Riverdale, if it hadn't been for a single truck driving home down the streets of the Northside. When I saw the headlights, I thought it was my father, and I bolted into the bushes of the nearest house, praying that he hadn't seen me. When the truck came to a sudden stop, I thought for sure I was going to have a heart attack. I just knew that that was the night I would die. But then a familiar head of red hair appeared through the bushes, and Archie and Jughead started calling my name, asking what was wrong, yelling for Fred. The rest of the night was a blur, but Alice Cooper's article on it the following week filled in a lot of blanks for me. Apparently, Jughead and Archie got me in Fred Andrew's truck, and they drove me to the hospital. After a lot of coaxing, it was Jughead that finally got me to tell them what happened. The cops showed up at our trailer and found my mom's body. They tracked down my father a few hours later in Greendale, still covered in blood. He went to jail and was only in there for a few weeks before a "riot" broke out, and he was killed in the scuffle. Suddenly, I was an orphan, and Fred and Mary graciously agreed to adopt me. It was only a year later that I went through the Serpent's innitiation, and I found my family again. The support that I found during that time turned my life around. FP, Jughead, the Andrews', Betty, the Keller's, all of the Serpent's. It was more than I felt I deserved at the time. But I would still trade all of it to have my mom back.

"I know, sweetheart." FP sighs, running his hand through his hair before reaching toward me and taking my hand in his. "You know we're all here for you, whatever you need. You should take it easy for a while, just spend time with friends. Try to get your mind off things."

"Yeah, I know. I've been doing my best not to be alone since the news broke. The Serpents have been a huge help, honestly. And having this job to do. It keeps me busy." I smile at him and sigh again. "I gotta get home, I'm going to the Back-To-School Dance tonight, so I guess I gotta get ready."

"Alright, have fun." He says, watching as I head to the door. "And hey," he says just as I'm about to leave. I turn back to him and he stands, taking the two steps to the door and wrapping me in a hug, "my door's always open, remember that."

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When I get home, Archie's on the porch playing guitar, seeming stressed.

"What's up 'Archiekins'" He looks up at me and we both laugh at the nickname given to him by Veronica. "Seriously though, you seem stressed."

Archie sighs, about to answer me when the front door opens and Fred walks out. Archie immediately looks back to his guitar and avoids making eye contact with his dad.

"I, um I got a call from your coach today. He's under the impression that you can't play varsity football because I'm making you work for me. Which is odd, because you made it seem like you couldn't work for me because you were playing football. So my first question is Who are you lying to? Me or your coach?"

"Neither." Archie starts to lie, but stops and sighs, dropping his head before shaking it and finally looking at Fred. "Both. Dad-" He sighs again. "I want to study music, I want to write music."

"Football takes you to college. College takes you to business school-" Fred starts, going through the 10 year plan that he and Archie had come up with over the summer.

"- Business school - Takes me back here. To work for you in Riverdale." Archie finishes, obviously not feeling this plan anymore. I stand there, leaning against the porch railing, hoping that my presence would diffuse the situation a bit.

"Not for me, with me. And eventually for yourself, son. The company would be yours."

"No disrespect, Dad, but I don't want it."

"Three months ago, you did. What happened?"

"I've changed. Everything's changed. This summer-"

"This summer what?" Fred asks, practically begging Archie to explain. When he doesn't, Fred sighs, putting his hands on his hips and facing his son head on. "That's it? We don't talk anymore?"

"Dad-" Archie starts, but at this point Fred's practically fuming and Archie knows that whatever he says will just set him off.

"I would never force you to play football. I don't care if you play football. And you don't have to work with me or for me, ever again. But some advice, man-to-man? These decisions that you're making now, son, they have consequences. They go on to form who you are and who you'll become. Whatever you decide, be confident enough in it that you don't have to lie." Fred turns and heads inside to cool off, leaving me and Archie on the porch awkwardly avoiding looking at each other.

"He's right, you know. And he's not mad that you want to do music. He just thought he knew what you wanted, and now you don't. All he wants is you to talk to him about it."

"I know, (Y/N). I just don’t know how."

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"Oh! There they are!" I say, grabbing Kevin's hand and pulling him towards Betty just as Archie walks off.

"Betty, you will not believe who just propositioned me in the bathroom. Give you a hint His name may be Moose, but I'd describe a certain appendage of his as horse-like." Kevin gushes, dying to tell her all about his drama. Following behind the two to the edge of the gym, I spot Archie at the refreshment table talking to Ms. Grundy again. I mean, that's normal, right? He's trying to get into music, and she is the music teacher. So why does it seem like there's something else going on there? While Kevin tells Betty all about his bathroom ordeal, I keep my eyes on Archie, trying to figure out why the interaction between the teacher and student made me uncomfortable. My thoughts are interrupted by Cheryl walking on stage, demanding the whole room's attention.

"Good evening, friends. Are you all having a good time?" The gym erupts in cheers and clapping. "As honorary chairperson and de facto queen of tonight's semiformal, it is my great pleasure to introduce this evening's main entertainment. To know them is to be obsessed with them. Though they usually perform their own material, tonight, they're making an exception and debuting a cover of the song my parents claim they were listening to the night Jason and I were conceived. This one's for you, JJ. I give you Josie and the Pussycats." Cheryl hugs Josie and walks off stage, giving the Pussycats the floor. Just as the music starts, Veronica runs up and grabs Kevin's arm.

"(Y/N), mind if I steal Kevin for this dance? I need his help encouraging Betty to finally tell Archie how she feels."

"Go for it, I'm not much of a dancer anyway."

"Yes! Thank you." And with that, I'm left alone, moving off of the dance floor and choosing to sit on the sidelines and watch from a distance. I had to laugh at the meddlesome duo's idea of 'encouragement', but I don't get to enjoy the humor for long. The talk obviously didn't go well. Looking away from the awkward scene, I catch sight of Cheryl, also watching the train wreck of a scene before leaning over to her cronies and whispering something to them. Whatever she's planning, I want no part of it.

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"Hey, (Y/N), we're heading over to Cheryl's after party, care to join?"

"No, thanks. Whatever that witch is up to it's not gonna be pretty. I think I'm just gonna head home." I laugh, patting Kevin on the arm.

"Do you want a ride? It'd be pretty awful if your date just ditched you after the dance."

"Thanks, Kev, but I'm good. You go have fun. Keep me updated on the drama."

"Oh, of course." We hug, I say goodnight to everyone, and I begin my walk home, dreading the thought of being alone. As I walk, I pull out my phone and search my contacts, looking for someone I know will pick up. Sweet Pea. Of course. Pressing the dial button, I press the phone to my ear and listen to the ringing. On the third ring, he picks up.

"Hey, (Y/N). What's up?" I can hear the laughing and chatter of a party slightly muffled over the line. He must've walked away to talk to me.

"Hey Pea. I was gonna see if you were up to hang out tonight but it sounds like you're kinda busy."

"Nah, some of the Serpents are hanging out at the quarry. You can come join us if you want."

"I would, but I have to go home and change, and I get the feeling I'm not gonna be in the best state to be driving after that." The disappointment is clear in my voice, even with me trying to disguise it. I can already feel the dark thoughts creeping in, and the last thing I need to do right now is drive a motorcycle anywhere near a river.

"I mean, I could come get you. It wouldn't be a problem." I can hear the concern in his voice. The Serpent's are all very well aware of my poor mental health, and Toni led a crusade to teach all of them how to help me when things get bad. It was more than I ever could have asked for, and more than I ever expected. "I don't want you to be alone right now." I chuckle a little, walking up the steps to my home.

"Yeah, Pea. That'd be great. Just give me, like, 20 minutes."

"Alright. Call me if you want me to come sooner."

"Yeah. Hey Pea?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." Hanging up the phone, I open the door and head inside, going straight up the stairs and changing into jeans and a t shirt. Grabbing my jacket, I head back downstairs and into the kitchen where Fred is sitting at the island looking over bills and drinking a beer. He looks up at me and smiles, putting down the papers and giving me his full attention.

"Hey. How was the dance?"

"It was alright, just another school dance, y'know?" Fred chuckles at that, nodding his head lightly.

"Yeah, I know all too well. Where's Archie?"

"He went to Cheryl's house for an after party."

"Ah. I feel for that family. Can't imagine what they're going through." He sighs and shakes his head, glancing down and back up at me. "How are you doing through all this? I know it can't be easy for you."

"I'm coping. Having people to hang out with and things to do really helps. Actually, I felt almost normal at school today, so that's a new feeling, I've never actually looked forward to school before." We both laugh at that, the air feeling a little lighter. Once we've both settled, Fred takes on a more serious look and meets my eyes.

"You know, you can talk to me anytime, about anything. I'm here for you, whatever you need." His words bring tears to my eyes once again, and I can't help but wonder what life would be like if my father were more like Fred.

"I know. Unlike Archie I don't feel the need to hide my life choices."

"God, yeah. I don't know what's gotten into that boy. Why would he think he had to lie to me about something like that?"

"Honestly, he's afraid he's gonna upset you. He loves you so much, and he just wants you to be proud of him. He's not going about things the right way right now, but I think he'll figure it out. He just needs time." My phone buzzes in my hand, letting me know that Sweet Pea is here. "Speaking of hanging out with friends, Sweet Pea's here. I'm gonna go hang out at the quarry for a while."

"Alright, be safe. And remember to be back by curfew." Standing up, I move to leave the kitchen, deciding at the last minute to turn back around. I quickly and awkwardly make my way around the island and wrap my arms around Fred, one of the handful of times I've felt comfortable enough to show physical affection to the man that took me in when I had no one.

"Thank you."

"Of course, kiddo." He returns the hug and presses his cheek to the top of my head. "Anytime." He pats my back and we separate, smiling at each other and going back to our respective activities.

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THIRD PERSON POV

"For the record, I'm not gay." Moose says, following Kevin through Fox Forest.

"Obviously not, Moose." Kevin chuckles, looking back at the larger boy. "You're on the football team. But if you were gay, what would you like to do?"

"Everything but kiss." Moose catches Kevin by the waist, turning him so the two were face to face. Kevin right out laughs this time.

"I love a good closet case. So, let's start with skinny-dipping and then see what happens?" Kevin suggests, pulling out of his grasp and moving to the water, stopping in his tracks and yelling a bit at the sight that lays before him.

"Dude, are you okay?" Moose hurriedly catches up, looking first at Kevin, then down to the boy lying on the river bank. "Oh, my God, it's Jason. He was shot." He moves a little closer, only looking back at the sheriff's son when a dim light shines behind him. "What are you doing?"

"Calling my dad."

#riverdale #riverdale fanfiction #sweet pea #sweet pea x reader #riverdale rewrite #riverdale x reader

[niksixx]

Loved By Tommy

Requested: By my daughter @motley-queen (I got really outta hand with this I hope you like it)

Pairing: Tommy Lee x Female Reader

Description: Tommy takes time out of recording to care for a sick Reader

A/N: Reblog!

*Picture is NOT mine. Found on Google. Credit to the owner*

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Watching the boys record their newest song in the studio should have been an excitable and enjoyable moment for you, but every time you glanced up from the bucket perched in your lap, the room began to spin and your head would find its way into the bucket once more.

Being pregnant wasn’t as glamourous as people made it out to be. At sixteen weeks, you didn’t want to move from your warm place in bed unless it was to watch the boys record. Per usual, Tommy would fuss and complain, doing his best to keep you home, but you wanted to be taken care of. And if he couldn’t be home with you, then you’d followed wherever he went so you’d always be within his reach.

“Y/N, you alright?” Doc placed a comforting hand on your shoulder as you glanced up from the bucket. He was frowning.

“I’ll be…fine.” You retched again, squeezing your eyes shut. Doc sighed before moving to one of the recording booth microphones.

“Hey, Tommy, you might wanna come here.”

Looking up from the bucket, you noticed Tommy standing up from his drum set, handing his sticks over to Mick before opening the studio door. He wore a smile, but it matched the sadness in his eyes.

“Baby boy giving you a hard time?” Kneeling beside you, Tommy placed a hand on your belly. You mentally kicked yourself for convincing Tommy to bring you to the studio. You were in no condition to be sitting in a chair for three hours, and now he was missing studio time to wait on you hand and foot.

“Why do you keep saying it’s a boy?” Since eight weeks, Tommy had been convinced you were pregnant with a boy. “It could be a girl. I hope it is because I already have six girl names picked out.”

Chuckling, Tommy brushed a strand of hair away from your cheek. “My mother couldn’t stop puking when she was pregnant with me. That’s how I know. And she also needed a lot of rest which is exactly what you need, so we’re going home.”

~~~

Once Tommy had helped you into bed, he ran around the house looking for everything you needed. New bucket? Beside your bed. Glass of water? Resting on the side table. Blankets? End of your bed. Pillows? Behind your head. Movie? Playing on TV.

If he treated you like this now you couldn’t wait to see how caring and attentive he was at five or eight months pregnant. You’d always wanted a family with Tommy, and sure the pregnancy wasn’t exactly planned, but both of you were excited. You knew Tommy would make a great father.

“I’m sorry you had to leave,” you whispered shyly, anxiously tapping the remote. “Do they need you back yet?”

Reaching under the blankets, Tommy pulled your bare foot into his lap. He gently massaged his fingers into the skin and you moaned slightly at the relaxing movements. “Even if they did I’m not going back. I’m staying right here with my wife.”

You stretched out in bed, loving how the word “wife” sounded leaving Tommy’s lips. Your plan had been to try for a baby after two years of marriage, but after only six months of being married to Tommy Lee, you had a baby on the way.

After massaging your feet, he moved to your shoulders, carefully rubbing the sore spots. Occasionally you’d feel his lips gently glide along your neck, and every time it sent chills down your spine.

“I know you won’t agree with me on this,” Tommy whispered, pulling your hair to the side. “But you look even more beautiful carrying our child.”

Tommy always knew how to make you feel beautiful even if you wouldn’t allow yourself to feel it. There wasn’t a day that he wasn’t smiling at you, looking at you as if you were a work of art. He vowed during your wedding day to always take care of you and make you feel special, and Tommy wasn’t one to fail.

After an hour of sinking into bed allowing Tommy’s fingers to rub away all the stress in your body, he quickly disappeared into the bathroom. The sound of running water filled your ears and Tommy came back over to you with a grin on his face. “Let’s get you cleaned up, baby.”

~~~

In the warmth of the water, you sighed happily and pressed your back against Tommy’s chest as his hands roamed your body underneath the water. Everyday Tommy made sure you were the center of his attention, but today his affection had gone above and beyond.

“Do you…do you think I’ll be a good mom?” Even if you wanted to believe you would be, there was always that fear that lurked in a pit in your belly.

Tommy’s arms encircled you, his lips by your ear. “I have no doubt in my mind that you will be the best mother to our child.”

“But what if the baby doesn’t like me?”

Tommy frowned. “That’s not possible, honey. Our child will love you and look at you as if you are the center of their world. I know because that’s how I look at you now.”

Nothing in the world could compare to the way you felt being loved by Tommy. He was your friend, protector, husband, and father of your child all in one. Just from the way he took care of you, you knew he’d make a wonderful dad. And as his hands slid across your belly, his way of connecting with your child, you smiled for the first time that day.

#nikki sixx #mick mars #vince neil #tommy lee #douglas booth #daniel webber #mgk #iwan rheon #the dirt nikki sixx #the dirt vince neil #the dirt tommy lee #the dirt mick mars #the dirt #the dirt 2019 #the dirt movie #the dirt actors #the dirt fanfiction #the dirt fanfic #motley crue fanfiction #motley crue fanfic #motley crue #tommy lee imagine #tommy lee x reader #tommy lee fanfic #tommy lee fanfiction

[stattic-writes]

Heathers

https://statticscribbles.tumblr.com/post/639099629845233664/masterlist

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