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filmtv2022 · 10 months

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“Together” Part 3 (Final Part)

Previous Part

All Works Masterlist

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x Reader

Summary: Jake & Y/N face her brother's funeral together. They finally realize the true depth of their feelings for one another.

Warnings: Smut + language + part of the story takes place at a funeral reception

A/N: So first of all, I yet again apologize for the super long break between posts. Life has been pretty crazy. I'm now currently on the mend from a rough bout of covid, but thankfully I felt good enough to write today. With that being said, I'm so sorry for any editing mistakes, my brain fog is rough right now. With that being said, I hope you enjoy the final part of the "Together" mini-series!

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A constant buzz of white noise filled your ears as people continued the awkward shuffle of condolences. They meant well, but what could they possibly have to say that would take the edge off the pain? The funeral had been everything your brother deserved, but that neatly folded flag could never replace him. This wasn’t how life was supposed to be. Matt was supposed to get married and start a family of his own, but now those dreams were turned to ash. Their embers burned hot against your soul as you waited for this horrific moment in time to be over.

Unable to take any more weepy hugs, you finally excused yourself from the reception hall, choosing instead to wander quietly through the hallways. The early evening sun poured in through the stained glass that lined the space painting a wash of red and blue across the carpet. Reaching the first set of swinging doors into the nave, you pushed gently into the space, and the hinges creaked lightly with the pressure of your touch. The high vaulted ceilings fell into shadow as the lights remained off, but even in the dimness, you could see the strong frame that was seated at the front of the pews.

Keeping silent, you made your way toward Jake, the sound of your footsteps echoed slightly as you moved. Closing the last few paces, the tension in his body was apparent in the way his dress whites pulled tightly over his back, his head in his hands as he tried to piece himself back together. Reaching the front pew, you found the spot to his right and took it, allowing yourself to lean into his side. Acknowledging your presence, Jake lifted his head from his hands, revealing the dampness that sat on his cheeks, though his eyes remained focused on the cross hanging at the front. Needing to feel you, to be closer to you, Jake weaved your fingers together before bringing them to his lips. Placing a soft kiss on the back of your hand, he exhaled deeply before gaining the courage to speak.

“You know what he said to me the last time we saw each other?” Jake’s voice was hoarse as he broke the silence, but you were thankful for the sound of it nonetheless.

“Tell me.” Your own words were soft as they brushed along the fabric of his uniform.

“It was our last day flying together before we were reassigned to our new squadrons. We’d finished our runs and I’d been flying out of my mind, hitting maneuvers perfectly, one right after the other, but I was reckless. I was just one mistake away from ending my career or someone else’s, but I couldn’t see that, not then. But he saw it, that foolish pride… nothing ever slipped past him.”

“Trust me, I know. I never got away with shit as a kid.”

Jake huffed a small laugh at the shared memory of Matt’s astute gaze and superior moral compass. His wingman’s heart never faltered, even in the face of great peril, “He laid into me in front of God and everybody. I’d never seen him so angry. He told me I needed to figure out who the hell I was fighting to come home to because if I didn’t I was gonna die in that plane, all alone with no one to care when they brought my body back.”

“He said that to you? Jesus Christ, Jake. I’m sorry he-.”

“Don’t be, he was right. He was always right. It just took me way to fucking long to figure out what the hell he was actually talking about.” Jake twisted his upper body in your direction, forcing you to lift your head from his shoulder. His strong hands found a home on your body as he anchored himself to you. The feeling of him left you breathless, your vision narrowing to only the man in front of you.

“He was talking about you. I didn’t get it then, I was too young and stupid to realize. He saw it though, he saw us, the two of us. Together.” Jake’s breath rattled as he inhaled deeply, “I love you, I always have. I was just too big of a dumbass to figure it out sooner.”

“Jake.” Holding fast to him, you kept your eyes fixed on his. There was such great sorrow and pain within their depths, and yet there was unmistakable hope, “You’re not the only one who can be a bit thick sometimes.”

The two of you shared a smile at the mutual confession of your feelings and your failings. Leaning further into your space Jake captured your lips in a gentle embrace, the sensation of your uniform under his figure tips was intoxicating. Breaking the kiss, Jake rested his forehead on yours as he breathed in the scent of your sweet perfume, his own tears now flowing harder than before. Feeling his body begin to shake, you wrapped your arms around him and pulled tight. With your face tucked into his neck, you allowed yourself to fall apart together. And there you stayed, mourning the loss of a brother and wingman.

The rest of the evening sun faded away beneath the horizon leaving the nave in murky darkness, only the light from the outer hallway added any illumination. Sensing the shift, Jake broke and stood to his full height, taking you by the hand as he moved. Holding each other close, with laced fingers the two of you made your way back to the reception in silence. There were still a fair amount of people gathered around the tables nibbling at food as they reminisced.

Sitting around a circular white table across the room was the rest of your family. Their eyes were fixed on the steaming styrofoam cups in front of them. It took only seconds to cross the space, but it felt as though it took hours. All eyes snapped to you and Jake, your polished uniforms like a beacon of strength and sorrow.

“Y/N, Jake.” your mother stood, pulling each of you into vigorous hugs. Her black dress seemed to hang from her slight frame as she dabbed away the tears that threatened to spill.

“Ma’am, I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, but Jake… this is your loss too. Matt spoke highly of you the entire time you flew together. He… he thought the world of you.”

Jake’s throat bobbed as he tried to find his words, but they never came. Instead, he leaned down to hold your mother. The hug lasted mere seconds, but when he moved back to wrap his arm around your waist it was as if you could see the healing begin. Wiping over his mouth with his hand, Jake leaned down and placed a kiss on your temple.

“Why don’t the two of you take off, hm? We’re gonna be awhile and you both have done more than enough today.”

“Are you sure, Mom?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Now go.” her warm smile failed to reach her eyes, but there was such sincerity in her words.

“Thanks.”

Turning from you, her focus snapped to Jake once more, “You get her home safe, okay?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Leaning down to hug your mother one more time, you watched as she whispered something softly into his ear. A quick nod of his head accompanied the silent words.

…

Back at home, the quiet was deafening. The plush carpet muffled each step as the two of you made your way downstairs to the guestroom. Frigid air filled the finished basement causing you to shiver as you began to unbutton the front of your uniform.

“Here, let me.”

Turning you around gently, Jake’s sure hands made quick work of the task. His lips brushed lovingly from the shell of your ear to the base of your throat as he pushed the jacket from your shoulders. Needing more, you wrapped your arms around his neck as you removed his hat before threading your fingers into his hair. Slowly, but surely, the pair of you removed the barriers between you. Hands and lips explored the freshly exposed skin.

Jake’s body shuddered as you nipped lightly along the broad expanse of his chest, soothing over the marks with your tongue. Caught up in the feeling of your skin on his, Jake found himself lowering to the ground before you. Mouthing at your body as he went. Paying attention to every scar and bump left behind by the grueling demands of your job, each one a sign that you were here despite the many attempts the world had taken to tear you away from him. Running his hands along the back of your thighs, he stood once more, pulling you off the ground with him.

Wrapping your legs around his waist, you returned your attention to his lips. Pleading for more, you ran your tongue along his before taking his lower lip between your teeth. Gently, you pulled it earning a hiss and groan from him before he crashed back into the kiss. Walking you back into the door, it slammed shut with the force of his actions. The two of you lasted like this for a few minutes more, but desperation filled the air as the two of you continued to fall into the moment.

Unable to maintain his patience, Jake fixed his grip on you before turning to find the bed. Feeling the edge of the bed against his knees, he lowered you to the mattress. Breaking apart, Jake guided you back onto the bed, the cotton of the bedspread soft beneath you.

“Jake.” Your words failed you, but that didn’t matter because he was already there, reading your body like an open book.

“I’m right here, sweetheart.”

Sliding his hand along your side, he trapped your wrist above your head, leaving the other free. Chest to chest you breathed in the scent of his cologne as rolled his hips into yours. A sharp gasp fell from you, your lips grazing his as your head tipped back into the pillow.

“I need you.” Jake rasped into your ear and she reached between you coaxing yet another moan from you as his fingers found their mark.

“Fuck, Jake… please.”

Your permission opened the floodgates. Dipping lower Jake coated his fingers with your slick, teasing your mercilessly until he could feel the muscles in your legs begin to tighten. Knowing you were close he removed his hands from your body, earning a pitiful whimper from you at the loss of his touch.

“I know, baby.”

Carefully, he leaned over the edge of the bed, fishing inside his bag for a condom. It took only a few seconds for him to locate what he needed, his eyes falling back to you as he tore it open and prepared himself. Turning back to you he placed tender kisses over your stomach and chest before returning to your lips. There was no real space left between you, but it wasn’t enough, you needed to be closer. Reaching for the hand that still rested above your head, he laced his fingers through yours as he pushed inside, removing the remaining distance between you. A deep groan fell from his lips as he relished the feeling of you wrapped around him.

Slowly, Jake began to move, his focus entirely on you. The way your breath hitched, the sound of your moans as they tumbled from your lips, the touch of your skin as your bodies moved together. Once more he felt the changes in you as he pulled you closer to the edge. Fighting for control of himself, Jake continued to focus on you, wanting nothing more than to stay like this forever, lost in this peace that he found with you.

Time stood still as the flood of your release washed over you. Jake’s hips began to stutter, his pace faltering as he too tumbled over the edge. Totally, and completely, spent, Jake rested his weight on his forearms next to your head. Brushing the strands of hair stuck to your forehead behind your ear, his eyes fell on yours. Even in the shadowy light of the guestroom, it was easy to see the love in his eyes. The corners scrunch softly forming light lines. Those lines were a permanent reminder of the years that had passed since the two of you first met.

“I love you, Jake.” your warm breath floated over his cheeks as the stared deep into your eyes, your soul laid bare for him and him alone.

“I love you too, Y/N.”

Feeling his arms grow weak from dropping adrenaline, Jake rolled onto his side taking you with him. Sure that you were safely laying on your side, he gingerly pulled himself from you. It took a few minutes for him to clean the two of you up, but Jake returned to his spot in the bed as quickly as he could. The warmth radiating from the two of you was more than enough initially to fend off the chill of the air, but as your heart rates returned to normal goosebumps began to spread across your skin. A shiver ran down your spine from the temperature change. Shifting under the covers, he drew you in close, his hand resting just under your breast as his front fell flush with your back. Inhaling deeply, your breaths began to fall in sync with one another, the two of you drifting off to sleep in the comfort of each other’s arms. This was the beginning of a whole new world, one where the pair of you would finally allow yourself to feel the happiness of time spent in one another arms. A world where you realized that you were stronger together than you ever could hope to be apart.

#top gun maverick #jake seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake hangman x y/n #jake hangman smut #hangman x reader #hangman smut

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supercriminalbean · 10 months

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No secrets without lies.

Chapter 5 --- Understanding

Aaron Hotchner x GN!Reader.

Summary: After sleeping with Aaron the reader and him sit down and talk about what should happen next and then what they actually want.

Warning: Mention of sex, swearing, drugs mention, backstory of toxic relationship, age gap. (Anything else please let me know)

A/N: GUESS WHOS BACK!! Yay I’m back and finally posting again for now. Im not entirely happy with this but fuck itttt also sorry for the delay took a much needed break, hoping to get back into a routine soon xx

A/N: If you want to be added to taglist let me know xx

Words: 4.1k

“No Jack, let them sleep” Aaron calls out, trying to catch him, but before he could stop him. Jacks barging in, your eyes slowly flutter open hearing little footsteps approach. With a small poof, you feel Jack jumping on the bed, giggling softly, your eyes fully opening, spotting a smiley Jack on the bed with you. Looking up as Aaron comes running in, chuckling as he spots Jack climbing on top of you.

“Wakey wakey (Y/n) time to get up” Jack giggles, shaking your shoulders making you laugh.

“I'm awake Jack” Laughing as you tickle his side, making him giggle and squirm trying to get off you.

“No no daddy help” Jack giggles loudly, Aaron laughs walking over.

“Okay you two, come on we have stuff to do this morning” Shaking his head with laughter as he picks Jack up off you. Smiling softly at you, as Jack runs back out.

“Well good morning” Giggling softly as you sit up.

“Morning, sorry I did try to keep Jack out” He smirks at you.

“It's alright sorry I didn’t mean to sleep in” Smiling softly as you sit up.

“You didn't, Jack is too much of an early bird” Aaron smiles, checking you out subtly. Pride fills him as he spots the dark marks he left on your neck.

“Oh I wonder where he got that from” Laughing teasing him lightly.

“You left your bag here the other night by the way it's on the couch”

“Oh that's perfect” Smiling as you stand up stretching slightly. You could feel Aarons eyes sliding over you, making you smirk, about to say something snarky but you're interrupted.

“Dad hurry up” Jack yells loudly from the kitchen, making you both laugh.

“I see he has your patients as well” Smirking as he walks out.

~~~

You're currently washing the dishes after having breakfast with your boys. Aaron in the study answering a few missed calls from during the night. Jack has already been picked up for a play date. While you're cleaning up, you start over thinking about last night. You slept with your boss, how the hell are you going to get through that. Not only is he your boss but he's also your closest friend, could anything make this worse. Last night was amazing, your body has never felt so at peace with someone. The way his words had so much affected on you was incredible. His mouth has so many talents, and you wish you could explore it a lot further. But there's no way you could continue sleeping with him. Hes your fucking boss for one, and crap, if the team is ever to finds out. Not only would they never stop teasing you, but they would judge you, accusing Hotch of having a favourite. People would accuse you of doing it to get further in your career, and that would be the farthest from the truth. You put yourself through the FBI academy all by yourself, got into the BAU which was your dream when you started the academy. You did that all by yourself with no support from your family and barely any friends. To hell, will you let what happened last night affect your career at all. The sex was great but that's all it was. Sex with your boss. Doesn’t matter that you are already craving more of him, or how during breakfast this morning you couldn't stop staring at his hands. Your cheeks heat up, as you remember how good they felt on your body.

~~~

Time seems to pass by slowly, as you sit on the couch reading one of your favourite books. Waiting for Aaron to finish the phone calls, sighing as you check your phone. It's now 10:45am, He's been in his office for just over an hour and you were growing bored of just hanging around. If you didn't want to talk to him so badly about last night you would have just left by now. Going through your new text message you have received, clicking into Garcia texts, deciding to easily ignore the 20+ unread texts you have from Sean.

Nerd Queen: So how was the date?

You: It sucked, but the night ended up being great ;)

Giggling softly, as you could only imagine how Garcia is going to beg for details tomorrow at work. Oh god. Lying to Garcia is easy but, having to make sure you don’t slip up and accidentally mention his name. While you describe how amazing the night was, and how you ditched your date for another guy. You know you could possibly hide it from the team, but from Rossi? Oh hell no. After yesterday it's like he already put everything together, before you had even had sex with Aaron. Your thoughts are interrupted by new texts from Garica.

Nerd Queen: Oh I am going to need extreme details tomorrow my love ;)

Nerd Queen: I still don’t get why you caught up with that dickward anyway last night.

You: It was mainly for his dick ;)

You: I mean if I didn’t I wouldn’t have ended up where I did sooooo.

Nerd Queen: Seems dirty, I love it. We need to drink and catch up on so much. You me and JJ, next night off.

You: It's a date.

Laughing softly, staring down at the texts. You love Penelope, you have grown so close the last few months. She was the one you talk to about the guys you date and what not. Holy shit does it feels so weird not texting her, telling her how you just fucked Aaron Hotchner. You had slipped one night a year ago on a bestie night out, with her JJ and Emily, that you thought your boss was hot, they never let you live that down. They kept teasing you, calling out your daddy issues. Which you had fun at first reminding them that your dad was nine years older than Hotch, which you soon found out, did not help the issue at all. In fact it made it worse.

Clicking out of the texts from Garcia you move onto the long string of texts, from Sean. Groaning softly as you click into them, immediately regretting them as you read the last few.

Sean (ex): I'm so sorry, I know I screwed up. Can you please text me so I know you got home okay at least. Sent 1:49am

Sean (ex): Oh come on (Y/n) I know I fucked up but please, It was only ecstasy you never use to care. Sent 2:01am

Sean (ex): Look I know I agreed to get clean but I'm not as good as you. Sent 2:17am

Sean (ex): Last night was going so great and sex with you is amazing and you know that's why I took it so It would be way better. Sent 3:42am

Sean (ex): Ok that sounds bad, and I'm sorry can you please message me, I need you to know how sorry I am. Sent 8:22am

~~~

Letting out an angry disgusted huff, slamming your phone onto the coffee table. The bang echoing throughout the room.

“Woah, what was that?” Looking up you see a startled Aaron standing half way between you and the study door. Aaron was watching you, almared, he has never seen you react like that before, and there have been plenty of times where you could have.

“Just my stupid Ex, trying to apologise but more like trying to make me seem like the bad guy” Sighing, rubbing your temple softly, the stress bringing a headache to the party. You feel the couch dip beside you, turning your head to see Aaron sitting beside you, concern present on his face as he faces towards you.

“You want to talk about it?” His soft caring voice makes the stress ease off of you, shaking your head lightly.

“I feel like we have other things we should talk about first” Leaning back into the couch, your body feels so tense and exhausted from the last 24 hours.

“(Y/n) we can talk about that later, I know you were looking forward to last night, what happened?” His words are firm but gentle, turning to look at you better giving you his full attention.

~~~

Sighing softly, your hands start fidgeting, nervous as you think back to the dinner last night.

“Last night was great, you know two old friends catching up” Smiling softly, as you let yourself think back to your and Sean relationship.

“Me and him, we had a good relationship at first, we started out as friends, met at a party when I was 20, he's a few years older than me” Your mind flicks through memories as you reflect back to all those first you had with Sean. “The party sucked, so we decided to ditch and go back to his place just to hang and um we got high” Gulping slightly as your eyes shoot over to Aarons, disappointment flickers onto his face for a short moment.

“You did drugs?” His eyebrow raised, the disappointment in his voice, reminding you of a parent telling of a child.

“Not often, It was only during my party years and mainly just weed, it helped relax me on the weekends. I stopped before I joined the BAU, I haven’t touched it since” Gulping, shame fulling you. You couldn’t understand why you felt so shamefully, you never did when you shared that information with your other friends. Aaron sighs disappointedly, but smirks briefly, shaking his head.

“I can’t get mad at you, I have tried it before” His bashful smile makes you relax, laughing faintly.

“Really, you got high once?” The surprise evident in your voice. Your eyes are as wide as your smile. “I now really want to see you high Aaron Hotchner”

“That is never going to happen” His laughter breaking through his words. The moment allows you to relax and reminds you that this is your Aaron, your friend, not Hotch you boss. Even though sometimes you wonder if your boss even treats you the same as he used to.

“Aw fine” Smiling, take a breath as you continue your story. “Well that night we really connected and realised we had a lot in common, so we started hanging out a lot. After a year we became more than just friends, but as our relationship grew, so did both of our drug habits. I stopped myself before I could fall too far into the druggy hole, and made myself focus more on my studies” Your heart starts racing, your palms start sweating. Taking a small breath to help ground yourself. “Once I got into the BAU, he was getting more into drugs, my schedule was busy with studying and with work experience with you guys, I use it as an excuse so I didn’t have to deal with him, because it was exhausting, when he wasn't working, he was at my place doing drugs and wanting to have sex, if I said no it ended in arguments. I was so done” Sighing feeling exhausted, thinking back to it all. As if all the feelings you had felt back then were returning and hitting you hard.

“I knew back then you had a lot going on, but a toxic relationship as well. No wonder you were exhausted all the time” He smiles weakly, observing you. Your body has tensen up, and you're leaning so far into the couch, almost like you're hoping it will swallow you up. Your leg bouncing up and down, your hands fidgeting with each other as your chest was heaving deeply as you spoke. Your words had been rushing out, not allowing you to get any breaths in.

~~~

Laughing softly at his words. “Oh yeah, back then I barely had time for anything, I remember once you told me off because I hadn’t slept in almost 60 hours due to I had tests and we had just finished a case” Aarons eyes rolls as he shakes his head.

“I felt like I was parenting you back then, You had way too much on your plate, and then you were also trying to help everyone on the team with their issue too” He sighs, smiling back at the memories.

“God I was so young back then” Sighing softly, resting your head on the couch, turning your head to look at him. His face drops looking offrened,

“Excuse me, but you do not get to feel old right now” The offence and disapproval in his tone throws you off, his eyebrow raised, staring at you as he smirks lightly.

“Oh and why can’t I?” Staring at him in confusion, a small smile playing on your lips.

“It wasn't even that funny (Y/L) what made you lose it like that?” You hadn’t seen him this relaxed and happy in a while. It warms your heart, in a way you couldn’t understand.

“You are only 27, I was 38 when we first met, I'm now 43, that is old” His laugh is gentle and full of silliness and joy. You can’t stop the roaring laugh that leaves you, forcing you to bend over, the laugh making it impossible to breathe as all you can think of is. Wow you had sex with a guy who was 1 5when you were born, your daddy issues really do lead your sex life. Trying to take deep breaths to stop your laughter feels impossible, because as you try to calm down. All you can hear is Aarons booming laugh, and wow, the sounds he makes, always seems to make your cheeks feel like they are going to burn. Once you two finally calm down and manage to breathe normally.

~~~

“I had sex with a guy who is 15 years older than me last night opps” Giggling as you bite your lip gently. Hotch tenses up, his facial expression changing from relaxed and happy to seriousness.

“Yeah I guess we need to talk about that, that age gap is a bit of an issue” He exhales deeply, his hand moves up to rub his temple as stress starts coming back to him.

“Oh don’t worry about the age gap Aaron, I've slept with older guys than you” Your mischievous grin is taking over. “I blame my daddy issues for falling for the older guys”

“I think that's something we should discuss another time” The look of concern confused presented on his face, which makes you scoff and roll your eyes in response.

“You know I don't like it when you roll your eyes at me” He sighs annoyedly, crossing his arms.

“You seemed to like it last night Sir” Smirking at him trying hard to contain the laughter, as he huffs and shakes his head as his lips curl up into a smirk.

“Really (Y/N), seriously?” He snickers quietly, shaking his head. “Okay come on we need to talk about what we're going to do about this”

~~~

You both take deep breath taking time to settle down and get serious about the topic.

“No one can know about what happened between us Aaron at all, It could ruin our career, I worked hard to get where I am now and If it gets out that I've slept with my boss, it could ruin my future career” Letting out a long stressful exhale. Staring at the wall behind him, not trusting yourself to look him in the eyes. You know you need to keep this between you two, for your job and to keep your friendship. You know that's what's best for both of you even if that's not what you truly want.

“I agree, If people find out it could ruin us both, So that means you can not tell Garcia, I know you tell her everything” He watches your body languages change, trying to make sure that this is what you want. That what happened was just a one night thing, a part of him wanted to have you again but he knows deep down he can’t have a relationship with you, even if it would be just sex.

“Oh seriously Hotch, I know that, our biggest issue is going to be Rossi, Jack told him we sleep in the same bed yesterday when we hadn’t even seen each other naked yet”

“He was the one who told me I should sleep with you” Aaron groans softly, irritated. Dave loves butting into people's business, it's what makes him a great profiler.

“Wait, is the reason you slept with me because Rossi told you to?” Your eyes flick to him, your face filling with disbelief, “Wow, it doesn't take you much to sleep with someone does it?” Smirking, shaking your head as you tease him.

“Hey I’ve been wanting to sleep with you for a while” Aaron huffs shaking his head, his face dropping as he realised what he just admitted to.

“A while huh, how long?” A grin spreads across your face, pride filling you.

Aaron's face fills with light irritations, staring daggers at you, with a playful smile on his face. “Really, that's what you're focusing on here?” He sighs faintly as he notices a flicker of mischief flash in your eyes. “Your not going to let this go are you”

“Oh Aaron, you know I'm going to annoy you until I get my answer” You smile cheekily at him, grinning even bigger when his shoulders drop low and he huffs furstard. He knows you will, it is one of your ‘talents’ it works well on the unsubs in interrogations.

“If I promise to tell you later can we finish our conversation now” Aaron sighs feeling annoyed that you keep distracting this conversation, wanting to finish it.

“Alright deal” You smile agreeing, taking a breath as you try to refocus on the topic.

~~~

Aaron walks back over carrying cups of coffee, you had decided that you couldn’t continue this topic without caffeine.

“So obviously we have to pretend nothing happened and just stay friends, at work everything stays professional just like it normally is” Aaron says matter of factly, smiling faintly, studying you closely. Sometimes you grew to get annoyed at him when he would unconsciously be profiling you. You understood that it was hard to turn off and that it is an automation action to do some days, but other times it could easily just as well bug you.

“Yeah Aaron, all we need to do is carry on like normal, I'll try to cover up those marks you left on my neck” You huff jokingly, feeling aggravated sending him a dirty look. Which results in him giving you a small apologetic smile, a little regret on his face. As he opens his mouth to talk but you cut him off. “It's fine Aaron, all we need to do is not talk about the fact we fucked or ever have sex again and we will be fine we don’t need to stress” You let out a small breath, smiling warmly meeting his eyes. Aarons eyes are filled with emotions, too many to decipher. You feel like you could pick out disappointment, happiness, desire, and grief. Four different emotions that can play off each quite often.

~~~

“What if that's not what I want?” Aarons words coming out too quickly before he could stop them. Keeping eye contact with you, his body slowly relaxes allowing his guard to lower. “What if I don’t want to do that?” The raw emotions are clear in his voice, the care, the affection and concern he has for you escaping through his tone. The passion he's trying to hide, is starting to break through which completely throws you off. Your heart begins to speed up as your eyes widen in surprise, your body starts to tenses up slowly.

“What, I thought that what we had decided was best for our careers” You stare at him, like he's crazy. The confusion and nervousness evident on your face. Swallowing the lump in your throat as you stare at him. His confession, making your own feelings you buried deep down start to arise.

“No you decided it would be good for our careers I just agreed to everything you said, I don’t want anything to be complicated, but I can’t let us to go back to how things use to be” Aaron speaks steadily, he's not sure if this is the right time to confront everything but to hell if he isn't going to try. He knows from his past just how short life is and how the future is never set out how everyone hopes it will be.

~~~

Taking a deep breath as you allow his words to sink in, studying his body langues. The way he stares at you, as if you are the only thing that matters in the moment. His finger tapping against his cup slowly, is a sign of his anxiety playing up, you’re noticed him doing it on cases and before important meetings at work.

“Aaron.. I don't want things to get strange between us, you're practically my best friend at this point, I’ve never seen us as being anything more than that… I don’t date coworkers. I have rules about that” You let your words come out slowly, not wanting to hurt him, not wanting to lose the most important person in your life currently. But you don’t want to lead him on.

“I don’t want us to date either (Y/n) I think Im not being clear I’m sorry” Aaron smile faintly, trying to correct himself. Making sure you can’t see past him bending the truth to fit whatever the hell is going on between you two.

“Then what is it you're trying to say Aaron?” You ask, letting your eyebrows narrow in confusion.

“I also see you as one of my closest friends and I know I’m also your boss, so I understand if I’m blurring the lines here but, I like what happened last night and I know you did too” He smirks, licking his lips as he notices your expression changes briefly. Your eyes flicker with passion and excitement due to thoughts of last night's activities.

~~~

“Last night was different, you know I enjoyed it Aaron but” Your weak protests are interrupted quickly by an amused but serious look.

“I'm pretty sure ‘enjoying it’ is an understatement, but yeah last night was great so why don’t we just keep doing it, we already did it once, so why stop?” He looks at you seriously, smiling softly. “As long as no one finds out and it doesn’t affect our work why should it matter, you said yourself you barely have time for sex due to our job and between our job and Jack Neither do I”

Your cheeks heat up as he casually mentions sex, the way he just says it as if it's a normal thing you two talk about.

“You and me have the same schedule so it would be easy for us, plus we both could use a little bit of stress relief,with no strings attached, we know each other well, so we know this is just for now until things changed” Aaron smirks being subtle, when he notices your body langues change slowly as he explains his reasoning.

“I mean everything you're saying makes sense” You bite your lip gently, gulping as you look back at him. “And last night was hella good, I didn’t realise you were going to be that good at all last night” You tease him lightly, loving the way his light laughter just falls out of that talented mouth of his.

“Last night that was barely anything, just you wait to see what else I can show you” He winks smoothly, licking his lips letting his eyes glide over your body. “That is if you are on board with casual sex, of course?” Shaking your head slowly at how cocky his voice got at the end, laughing lightly.

“You know it's already a yes Aaron, I could use a personal stress reliever, but if we do this we need to have some ground rules” Looking at him seriously, for once.

“Of course, what are you thinking?” He nods at you to continue.

“Well for one, oblivious no one can know, ever. Two we don’t do anything when we are on a case, we wait til we get back home and three it's just sex, just friends with benefits no feelings are to get involved at all” Speaking matter of factly, nodding along as you speak.

“Okay, yes I agree with all of that, we just continue like normally, just after movie nights here you end up in my bed, properly now” He lips curl up at the thought of you in his bed again.

“Now that is the only way movie night should finish with you” Smirking at him, as you lick your lips. Happy with the arrangement that's finally been arranged properly.

~~~

Taglist: @lalalove-56 @ssamorganhotchner @montyfandomlove @lilozg-123 @hola-you-blog @lmg-stilinski24 @kakashis-formal-simp @heidss @spottedzebrasinpartyhats @mrs-ssa-hotch

#criminal minds #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x gn!reader #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x bau reader #no secrets without lies #aaron hotchner x gn!reader smut #aaron hotchner x bau gn!reader #aaron hotchner one shot #aaron hotchner fluff

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emerald-chaos · 1 year

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SUUHPRIIIIISE SHAWTY

I terrorized my friends with this and they inspired me to go ahead and post it. It’s the first thing I’ve written in a while—please be kind 🥺👉🏼👈🏼. Thank you to my loves in the group chat and to, as always, my muse @animehearteyes 🤍

Pairing: Joel Miller x reader

Word count: ~900 words

Warnings: ANGST (sorry about that…), alcohol mention, brief and minute spoiler for the game and episode 2 of the show

“I ain’t doin’ this with you right now.” He gruffs, his teeth clenched so tightly together you’re surprised one hasn’t snapped out of his mouth.

His tone matched his hands—cold, calloused.

“So when are we gonna to do it then, Joel? Tomorrow? The day after?” Your voice got louder with each syllable you spoke.

“Or is it gonna be when I’ve been bit and I’m waitin’ to rot away into one of them fuckers, like you did to Tess?”

One of your hands wildly gestured outward toward the window. You regretted the words as soon as they left your lips but there was no going back. As much as they stung—you meant them.

This hurt had been building for years. Between moments of tangled limbs and sunshine threatening to burst out of your goddamn mouth—there was this. It’s a damn miracle this fight didn’t happen ages ago.

Joel’s head snapped toward you, nostrils flaring with each ragged breath he took. Over the years you've seen your fair share of pain—of suffering. But you’ve never seen anything quite like that look on Joel’s face.

“Don’t speak,” He started, his voice dangerously low and chilling to the core, “on something you ain’t got the slightest clue about.”

“I get it, Joel.” The hand that had been outstretched toward the window now at your side—the heaviness in your body becoming almost too much to bear.

“You’re broken. You’re fucked up. That doesn’t make you special around here, in case you haven’t noticed. And it sure as hell doesn’t give you the right to continue to hurt people because you can’t patch up that wound in your chest.”

Unmoving—Joel stood before you, chest rising and falling in time with the beat of your erratic heart. Joel never really was a man of many words—but then again, he didn’t need to be. His face always said it all.

The lines decorating his skin make him look older than he is—more worse for wear than you’ve seen him in a long time. The beard that decorates his jaw ragged—patchy in some places, the ones you always loved to kiss. On a rare occasion, you see those lines tell a different story—one of love, of laughter—but it feels like you haven’t seen them for some time now.

“You’re never gonna let me in—and you know what? I can live with that.”

For a fleeting moment you think that maybe—just maybe—you see his face fall. As though the idea of letting you walk through that door hurts more than abandoning his pride.

“But what I won’t do, Joel, what I can’t do? Is continue to let you use me when I can’t get a single fuckin’ ounce of you in return.”

There’s a small waver in your voice, a moment when it cracks and your entire body feels as though it’s on the precipice of break down.

“God.” A noise leaves your chest that you don’t quite recognize before turning on your heels and crossing the room away from him.

Your hand cupped your mouth as your eyes squeezed so tightly together that flashes of color spread across the darkness of your vision. The voice in the back of your head screams, “do not do this, do not let him see you cry.”

The silence inside the room is deafening—the drip of the leaky faucet and the squeak of the loose floorboard magnified tenfold in the quiet of the moment.

“I can’t be…who you need me to be.” The voice was low—causing a small jolt within your body as the words crept inside your mind like vines and wrapped themselves around every single part of you.

“You can’t?”

You turned toward him—eyes red rimmed and wet as you met his gaze.

“Or you won’t?”

There it was—the pang of guilt and pain that he’d been holding back this whole time, the emotions you’d been trying so damn hard to pull from him for so long. However—before Joel could speak, there was a loud pounding at your door.

Glancing toward the door, you sniffled before walking into the kitchen—rubbing your face and clearing your throat in order to pull yourself together. The last thing you needed was for somebody around here to occupy themselves in your business.

You weren’t able to see anything from where you leaned against the countertops, but you could hear that it was Tommy.

“Where the hell you been, man? You ready to go yet? I’ve been waitin’ out here in the damn cold for you for hours.”

Your eyes closed tightly once again—praying deep down inside yourself that he hadn’t heard any of your fight. Tommy was sweet, but he didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut to save his life.

Joel sighed.

“Sorry, Tommy. I-I just…” His voice trailed off.

Your heart squeezed forcefully inside your chest as you knew he was looking back toward the kitchen—looking for you.

“Uh—is everythin’ okay?” Tommy’s voice changed quickly, probably sensing the palpable tension as soon as the door opened.

The beat of silence before Joel’s answer didn’t feel nearly long enough.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Let’s go.”

Next thing you know, the front door closes and the footsteps retreat until you can’t hear the crunching of the snow beneath the boots anymore.

It should feel good—right? Stickin’ up for yourself. Finally bringing light to this issue you’ve been dancing around with for years.

So…why doesn’t it?

Why, instead, do you feel like you’re in a room full of clickers—holdin’ your breath and prayin’ to whoever the hell that’ll listen that nobody hears you move.

You swallow harshly, all the moisture seemingly disappearing from your mouth by the passing second. Rummaging through the cabinet for a moment produces an old bottle of bourbon—you always hated the taste, but you kept it around because you knew Joel liked it.

Making your way to the bedroom, you kicked off your shoes as you went. A thud, followed by the groan of the springs inside of the mattress welcomed you in like a warm hug.

Whatever you were feeling—you decided—would be dealt with tomorrow. Hell, maybe even the day after that. You were good at putting up with shit for way too long—right?

Tonight it was just gonna be you, this bed, and a whiskey lullaby.

#joel miller #joel miller drabble #Joel miller angst #Joel miller x reader #Joel Miller x you #joel miller x y/n #Pedro pascal #Pedro pascal character #joel the last of us #the last of us #tlou #tlou hbo

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loveelle · 1 year

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Thank you, Jerry~ Part 5

Luke Patterson x Alive!Reader Series

Summary: After getting an afternoon free from the band, Luke decides to see his parents, only to find out something he wasn’t expecting.

A/N: Alright, I’m tired of editing this part and changing how this was going to go, so I’m gonna bite the bullet and post it. Enjoy. Hopefully it won’t have too many more parts to it, so it won’t take me forever, but please, for the love of my sanity, don’t just demand part 6 now. Tell me what you like. Please?

WC: 4.4K

SERIES MASTER

Part 5: Is this an interrogation?

---

Luke was most assuredly not fine.

At first, the rest of his bandmates wanted to ignore him being late to rehearsal, or how he always seems to have somewhere to be that isn’t with the rest of them, or how something has made him bury his nose and scribble in his song book more often than his friends have ever seen, alive or dead. Between Julie, Reggie, and Alex, none of them could figure out what was wrong with their friend.

“Do you think he got himself roped into something like the club again?” Julie asks as the three of them await Luke’s return and sit around the couch in the studio, Alex’s drumming on the coffee table in front of him kept the room from being silent in between the ideas being thrown around.

“He wouldn’t do that.” Reggie tells her and she nods, knowing how absurd the idea was in the first place. “Do you think he’s in another band?”

“He wouldn’t do that.” Alex says and Reggie lets out a deep breath of relief. Getting nowhere with figuring out what was up with his best friend, Alex lets his mind wander. Not so surprisingly, his mind wanders to Willie and he smiles unconsciously for a moment before a thought strikes him and his drumsticks slowly come to a stop. “Do you think he met someone?”

For the first time all afternoon, no one denies that idea could happen.

“What are you all sitting around for?” The three of them scramble off the couch at the sudden voice in the studio and relief floods through them all when they realize it was only Flynn and not Luke.

“We think Luke met someone.” Reggie tells her as Flynn plops next to her best friend on the couch, her mouth immediately falling open in shock.

“Like another ghost?”

Julie, Reggie, and Alex all look between each other and shrug. “We don’t know.” Alex tells her.

“Wow.” Flynn lets out a long breath. “Well, good for him.”

“Yeah.” Julie agrees, throwing her arm around her best friend. “Good for him.” Alex and Reggie nod and yet something deep in Julie’s gut tells her there might be something more to the situation. Something she can’t see just yet, or can’t make sense of, but something was going on more than Luke just causally meeting someone.

And Julie was determined to figure out exactly what was going on with Luke.

---

“Um, 536?” You tap your pen against your lip before sighing and falling back on your bed.

Wrong. You can almost imagine Jerry saying as the index card having been floating in the air in front of you slowly drops to the bed and out of the corner of your eyes, you can barely read the number 579 scribbled down in just barely legible chicken scratch.

“It’s your fault.” You grumble, shoving a pillow in your face until you hear the sound of a whiteboard pen squeaking against a little whiteboard, your newest gift to Jerry. You smile to yourself before taking a glance, only to see the word ‘how’ scribbled on it. “Well, I could barely read it!” You defend yourself but you know the excuse was weak, you were just priding Jerry this morning on how better his writing has been since the two of you had been talking. The whiteboard slaps against your arm gently as you let out a small laugh, rubbing the spot before continuing to lay down. “Let’s take a break for a bit.” You tell Jerry and immediately see the cards you’ve been using to study for the last hour tossed onto your desk and your pillows next to you shift a bit, letting you know Jerry was laying down next to you.

Luke didn’t think hard about offering to help you when he popped into your room earlier and saw you studying for your math test the next day. Your brows were scrunched and your pen had bite marks from how hard you were chewing in concentration. It was one of those moments where Luke wished he had a phone to take a picture. It was also followed by a quick smile when he flicked your lamp on a few times to get your attention. That’s what led him here, laying on his side on your bed and staring at the side of your face as he hugs your pillow tightly. You were looking up at the ceiling instead of him, but in your defense, last time you both laid on your bed like this, you tried looking at him and both of you found it too weird. You would focus on something behind him and Luke would have to scooch down in his position just so his eyes would meet yours. This, staring at the ceiling, was more preferable.

“So, how was your day?” You ask Jerry, knowing you were just with him this morning.

Luke chuckles to himself before grabbing the whiteboard and scribbling down a quick ‘good :) how was yours?’.

You sigh and shrug. “It was fine.” You say but Luke knows you well enough to know there was more to the story.

‘Still not a lot from Kendall?’ He scribbles, having to write your old friend’s name more than once as he sees you struggle to understand what he wrote. When you do understand you let out a dry chuckle before shaking your head. Luke feels awful for you, he’s seen you try and text her over the last few weeks, but you never said anything about her responding more than a text or two every once in a while. Mentally slapping himself, he wants to cheer up a little. ‘How about your new friends?’

Reading Jerry’s new question, you don’t hold back the smile on your face, something Luke loves to see. “They are amazing.” You tell him, hugging a pillow close to your chest. “I loved my old friends, but Flynn, Julie, and her band just make me feel-” you cut yourself off, unsure what you’re going to say but knowing nothing you could say could make Jerry fully understand how much you love them.

Luke can’t help himself as he scribbles a quick, “And your crush?” He knows he shouldn’t ask, especially since he is more than certain you were talking about him, despite you never actually saying his name during the talks.

Your eyes tight and look away for a moment, not wanting Jerry to see the no doubt embarrassed look on your face thinking about Luke. “Yeah, he’s pretty good too.” You finally say before looking back up at the ceiling, unaware of the beaming smile and small blush creeping up Luke’s cheeks. You’re quiet for a moment before laughing to yourself. “And there’s you.” You roll your eyes at yourself and Luke finds himself completely red in just a few moments at the prospect of what you are going to say. “You know you’re my best friend, right?” You’ve said it to Julie and Flynn on your first girls’ day a few weeks ago, but you weren’t sure if you ever told Jerry.

Not seeing Jerry pick up the whiteboard, your heart quickens. “Obviously, you don’t have to say that back, especially since I know you have other best friends, like the ones you died with- I just wanted to say that, you know, b-because you’re like my best fri- best ghost friend-”

You were rambling and Luke wasn’t a genius but he didn’t need to be one to know that you would probably keep going unless he stopped you. You keep talking as he quickly scribbles on the whiteboard, holding it in front of your face in order for you to see it.

“You’re one of my bestest friends.”

Your whole body relaxes into the bed as you read his words and you can’t help yourself as you whisper, “That’s not a really word, but I’ll take it.”

Luke rolls his eyes and uses the pillow he’s leaning on to gently hit your face. He rolls off the bed to the sound of your loud laughs, accidently hitting the desk chair next to him.

“Grab the cards while you’re up.” You point to the pile and groan as you sit up ready to start another round of studying with Jerry.

---

Luke arrives back in the studio later that night. His goofy smile at spending the afternoon with you was barely hidden before he hears his name called, his friends all gathered around the piano without him. He doesn’t think anything about it at first as he jumps on over, tossing his arms around Alex and Reggie once he’s there. “What’s going on?” He asks, unable to stop his smile from making another appearance.

The rest of the band stays quiet, looking about each other before Alex clears his throat. “Why don’t you tell us?”

Luke’s smile slowly leaves as he furrows his brows. “Is something… wrong?” He looks to Reggie but the boy can’t make eye contact, then he looks to Julie, who’s eyes are wide and also locked onto the piano in front of her. “Julie?”

She finally looks up at him and takes a shaky breath. “We just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Okay?” Luke’s arms fall from his best friends as he takes a step back. “Is this an interrogation or something?” He jokes, hoping his friends will stop acting weird.

“What is going on with you?” Reggie speaks, keeping his head low and playing with his fingers. “These last few months, I mean, it’s like you’re not even here, and when you are, it’s like you’re not even yourself.” He finally meets Luke’s eyes. “You’ve missed rehearsals, dude. Rehearsals. You didn’t even miss those when we were still kicking!”

As his stomach twists with worry, he shrugs. “So?”

It was Alex’s turn. “You’ve been keeping secrets from us, bailing when we have plans, a-and writing love songs?” He pulls out Luke’s song book that Luke didn’t even know he left laying about.

“You went through my songbook?”

Alex shakes his head, hoping his best friend would know he’d violate that rule. “I didn’t! You just- you left it open on the table the other day and this song was on top of the pile and it’s a love song.” Alex hands the book back to Luke who takes it quickly, tucking the page back into the book. Alex rocks on his heels, unsure what the three of them should say next to Luke, possibly an apology, but Alex can’t help himself but ask, “Sunflowers?”

Luke closes his eyes tight, wishing he hadn’t left his book on the table so carelessly when he went to visit you the other night before you went to sleep. He was about to defend himself before he sees Julie’s head snap to Alex’s.

“Wait, what did you say?” She asks and for a moment, Luke gets worried. She wouldn’t make the connection between sunflowers and you… would she?

Alex furrows his brows. “Sunflowers? It’s the name of his song.” He looks from the girl to Luke before taking a step forward. “Which by the way rocks, and if it wasn’t totally a secret love song, I’d totally suggest we preform it.”

Luke only nods his head gently at Alex’s words as he focuses on Julie, whose eyes were darting back and forth in front of her before finally settling on Luke.

“Is this about Y/N?”

“What?!” Alex and Reggie gasp at the same time, their jaws practically hitting the floor at the question.

Julie doesn’t acknowledge their shock as she puts together the pieces of Luke’s mystery. “This all started when she moved here, when she moved into your house!” She was starting to get excited, her voice rising as she claps her hands together. “When she moved into your house, with a ghost in it!” At that last realization, her stomach falls and she meets Luke’s eyes, brown, depressed, and boring into her own. “Oh, Luke,” her voice was soft now, “please tell me you didn’t.”

Luke remains silent.

“You’re Jerry?” Luke doesn’t know what else to say as he grips his book tight, seeing the page titled ‘Sunflowers’ sticking out, a small flower scribbled on the top, crumpled corner.

He can barely nod before his friends watch him disappear.

---

The next day after your math test leads to you skipping the rest of the day, opting for a walk along the beach instead. One thing about moving to LA is definitely the ocean air to cheer you up. You’ve been wandering for almost a half an hour, wiping under your eyes and trying your best not to sniffle.

You considered heading back to your house and enjoying the time without your dad home or even heading back to school for the final classes, but before you could make your decision, you see Luke, sitting on the edge of the boardwalk and kicking his legs out in the air with a frown on his face.

Seeing him here made you feel a little better, even if it was just for a moment. Hyping up your courage, you make your way over to him and take a seat next to him. “Hey, you.”

Luke looks up instinctively when he hears someone talk but he almost goes straight back to his previous position before he sees you staring directly at him as you sit down. He didn’t even realize he was visible at the moment; he was too far focused on his thoughts. “Hey,” he says finally, scooching over so you had more room next to him. The two of you are quiet for a moment before Luke turns and looks at you, his already sad expression becomes worse. “Are you crying?”

You let out a huff, forcing a smile to your face and quickly wipe your cheeks. “No, I was just uh,” You don’t know how you were going to finish the sentence as you meet Luke’s eyes. “It’s stupid.” You tell him but he offers you his ear to listen. “I just failed my math test.” You shrug, watching your feet as you kick out in front of you.

Luke feels awful. He knew last night how worried you were about this exam and a large part of him regrets distracting you as much as he had, especially when he convinced you to take music break and sing to all your favorite songs, which accidentally lasted an hour long since you wanted to play some songs and bands that Luke knew as well.

“Sorry that happened.” He says and you can’t help but smile at him, feeling a little better.

“It’s okay.” You whisper. “There’s always another test.” You lean back on your hands and look at Luke, watching his smile grow a little when he meets your gaze. “What about you? You alright? Kinda look like you’ve been crying too.”

Luke has to laugh at that. He hasn’t been crying, or at least that’s what he has told himself, but since he left Julie’s place and all of his friends last night, he’s been bouncing between places to be alone, wondering what on earth he was going to do about this whole situation. “I’m okay.” He lies and your eyes narrow, knowing he’s not saying the truth.

“You know, I’m really good at keeping secrets.” Luke’s shoulders relax as he leans back on his hands too. One corner of his lips quirks up when his shoulder brushes with yours.

No matter how many times Luke and you have talked since that first night you stayed at Julie’s, there was always a moment, that first moment after talking to you so long as Jerry where he touches you and it feels like he has come alive again. Where he’s just him, and you’re just you, and he can touch you, he can feel you, and he loves it. You and him, it’s just feels natural, no matter who he is in your life.

Luke sighs, pleading with himself to look away from you, but he couldn’t do it. “What would you do if you found out someone was lying to you?”

His question causes you to inhale sharply. Your next laugh comes out short. “Um, I guess it depends on who it is, you know?” You weren’t really sure what Luke was asking.

“What if it was your best friend?” Luke plays with fingers, unsure himself where he was going with his questions.

You’re quiet a bit too long for his liking, but in truth, you’ve been worried about the prospect of Jerry lying to you for far too long. You’d like to think at this point you knew Jerry, but of course, since you’re unable to actually see him or talk to him, you’ve never truly known if it was the truth. Before you could answer, Luke shakes his head. “Sorry,” he begins, “You don’t have to answer that. “

Luke wasn’t sure if he wanted the truth or not. He knows what he’s doing as Jerry and yet, stopping those visits with you was so far from what he wanted to do, he just wasn’t sure if he could tell you… everything.

“Happy talk?” You ask Luke and he is quick to nod and the two of you shift in your seats to look at each other, glad to move on from the sad talks. “So, tell me about Sweden.”

Suddenly this happy talk wasn’t as easy as Luke thought it would be. “Sweden? You, uh, you don’t really wanna know about Sweden, right?”

“Come on!” You nudge his leg with yours, keeping your leg pressed against his when you were done. “I wanna know about where you’re from.”

Luke takes a deep breath and tries to figure out how to get out of this situation. “Well, I didn’t live there long.” He lies and immediately his stomach starts to turn. “It’s um, it’s very big.”

You wait for him to say more but he just nods his head and you raise your brows. “It’s big?” Luke nods. “Okay, um, is that all?”

Luke was beginning to think that he should’ve learned more about Sweden when Julie told everyone they were from Sweden, especially since you were bound to have asked him about it at some point, he knew you well enough that he should’ve assumed that. Instead, he could only sit there and say, “yep.”

Luke was being weird, he’s been like this before when you’ve mentioned Sweden, so figuring he’s just homesick or something, you drop the question. “Dogs or cats?”

Luke’s brow arch and he stares at you through his lashes, as if your simple question was a trick and he was supposed to figure the right answer. “What?”

You smirk, leaning forward and inadvertently getting closer to him. “Dogs or cats, it’s an easy question.

Luke leans forward as well, his eyes narrowing and he’s quiet for a moment before quickly saying, “Dogs.”

“Really?” you ask him, a little surprised by his response. Luke chuckles softly at your expression.

“Yes, really, why? What’s yours?”

“Both.”

“Both?”

“Yup.”

“I didn’t know we could say both! I thought that was against the rules.”

You click your tongue. “I make the rules, so I say both.”

“Fine, I say both too.”

“Fine with me.” It was clear, after a single conversation were neither felt upset or like you were lying, that your spirits had lifted. Just like the first night you had met Luke, the conversation only flowed from there. You talked about anything and everything you could think of. Luke had to admit that he heard quite a few of the stories for the second time since some were stories you told Jerry, but he didn’t care. He’d listen to the stories a thousand times if it meant he could see you smile and laugh your way through them.

As the sky started to darken, the two of you realized just how long you’ve been captivated by the other. Luke was certain his friends were going to be looking for him eventually as it’s been almost a whole day since he left the studio.

“I should probably get home.” You told him, rubbing your arms as the ocean causes the air to prickle your skin. Luke nods and stands up, stretching his limbs out and reaching down to offer you a hand getting up. You happily take it, slipping your hand into Luke’s and neither of you let go when you were on your feet.

Perfectly timed with your stretching, your phone goes off and you look to see your dad’s contact on the screen along with an angry text about why you skipped school today. “Oooh, someone’s in trouble.” Luke teases you as he bumps his shoulder against yours. You chuckle at his actions before reading.

“He wants me to clean out the attic as punishment.” You sigh, shoving your phone back into your pocket.

Luke’s face scrunches. “The attic? Who does he think you are, Cinderella?”

You laugh again and shrug. “When we were moving, I didn’t feel like going through all of the boxes, so I may have shoved quite a bit of boxes up there so my dad didn’t see them. Unfortunately, that lasted about a week, but I don’t know why he’s making me clean it now, he must need something in there.”

Luke nods, looking down at your entwined hands before smiling softly. “Walk you home?” He offers. The smile on your face was all Luke needed to know you’d say yes.

Your house was barely a half an hour walk from the beach and to be honest, you’ve barely remembered the walk, only keeping Luke’s hand in yours and talking the whole time. You didn’t realize you were in front of your house until Luke stops walking, squeezing your hand tight.

“Good luck with the attic.” He tells you and you roll your eyes. “I’d offer to help but-”

“But you know I wouldn’t let you?” Luke nods at your comment before you both laugh, accidentally coming close together. Your chest was almost pressing against his as your gazes meet one another and you stay in your close bubble for just a moment longer before you clear your throat and take a step back, slowly dropping Luke’s hand at the same time. “Goodnight.” You whisper to him and Luke can’t say anything or do anything except nod. His cheeks were no doubt pink and he hoped the sky was dark enough so you wouldn’t see it. You smile at him, coursing a smile of his own to appear because how could he not smile at you. It was you.

He watches you disappear through your front door before he jumps and spins with excitement. God, it really was one thing to be able to talk to you instead of just writing things down, but when you touched him, it was like electricity. It felt like the stamps from the Hollywood Ghost Club except there was no pain. There was happiness, and warmth, and what Luke was beginning to believe can only be described as love.

---

The attic wasn’t as clean as you had remembered it being. A few of the boxes you had shoved up there had toppled over, sending a few things flying out of the boxes themselves and a layer of dust covered almost the entire room. You sent your dad a text, asking if he needed something up here or if he wants you to pull all the boxes out. Turns out you were right and he just wanted a pair of shoes you threw up here. Luckily for you, you knew exactly where they were and within 10 minutes, you were ready to get out of this dusty place. You were just about to leave before a box topples over from you shifting them around to get through. You sigh heavily, thinking about just leaving until next time someone comes up here, but you knew it would be yourself and you couldn’t do that to yourself.

So, you trudged your way back to the box, finding it easily and shoving the belongings back inside. It only took you a minute to realize none of the things in the box were yours or your dads.

They must be the old owners, you think to yourself. You knew there was probably a box or two that was forgotten was the old owners moved out, but you hadn’t seen them before when you were putting boxes up here, but you weren’t really paying attention. You thought against snooping, letting the older couple have their privacy and see if there was a way you could contact them and send them their boxes, but you couldn’t help yourself. Especially not after you see a pamphlet for an old band laying out on the ground.

The band name sounded familiar but you couldn’t remember listening to anything from a ‘Sunset Curve’. Judging by the band name and song names and the date listing the ablum in the mid-90s, it didn’t seem like the sort band a pair of grown adults would listen to. They must have had a kid or someone who was interested in this sort of music.

You almost tossed it aside. You almost shoved it back into the box without another thought to it and kept the box up here in the attic and never thought about it again. That was, until you remembered something a certain someone said to you the night you first met.

My friends and I, we had a band called Sunset Curve.

It must have been a coincidence that Luke’s band before Julie was named Sunset Curve. Maybe they just copied it right from this band, it’s been done before. But something was telling you that wasn’t the case.

You’ve never pulled out your phone faster, thumbs hitting every wrong spot on the screen until you finally pull up the internet and manage to type ‘Sunset Curve’. There were surprisingly quite a few websites that popped up and you click on the first one.

Sunset Curve: A Hollywood Tragedy

You don’t read the article yet. How could you when the picture of Luke, Alex, and Reggie along with a fourth boy were staring you in the face? You tell yourself again that it’s a coincidence, that this is taking about another Sunset Curve, that they used the wrong picture or something, that this band wasn’t a Hollywood tragedy in the 90s because your friends were barely older than 18, that this is all one big misunderstanding.

And then you read the article.

They died 26 years ago. They died 26 years ago when they were 17 years old. They died 26 years ago, when they were 17 years old, after eating hotdogs and getting food poisoning. They died 26 years ago, when they were 17 years old, after eating hotdogs and getting food poisoning together as friends.

You’ve heard this story before. You’ve cried over this story before. At first, all you thought you had to deal with was Luke, Reggie, and Alex being dead, being ghosts.

Julie and the Phantoms. That’s starting to make sense to you right about now.

Then the other pieces start to slowly slip together. Each passing second only leads you to one almost undeniable fact.

Either Luke, Reggie, or Alex is Jerry.

And you had a pretty good guess which one it was.

If you want to be added or removed, please send an ask!

Jatp: @bekkimahonxx95 // @tattoo-of-a-bird // @luna670 // @sagittarianwolf // @magicalxdaydream //

TYJ: @quillsandtypos // @bxtchboy69 // @oldnatgwenaccount // @quackitysdrugdealer // @nightfurya //

#Luke Patterson x reader #Luke Patterson imagine #Luke Patterson fanfiction #Luke Patterson #jatp x reader #jatp imagine #jatp fanfiction #jatp #Luke Patterson series #jatp series #Julie and the Phantoms x reader #Julie and the Phantoms imagine #Julie and the Phantoms series #Julie and the Phantoms fanfiction #Julie and the Phantoms #Thank You Jerry #TYJ

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faela404 · 1 year

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☆ The Library ☆

kazuha x gn! reader

prompt: - you and kazuha attend the same university, him being a english lit major and you being a person in stem😎 your paths never crossed until that day in the library…

*this is an smau so please do expect a lot of twitter posts and messages to read, there will be proper writing too but, it will mostly be that!!*

warning! mentions of a fight, swearing

masterlist - prev | next

☆ let the fight begin ☆

“you made it!” his cheery voice echoed across the small hall.

“of course we did, childe! we wouldn’t have missed this for the world, right y/n?” ganyu smiled at me, god her smile’s so pretty

i nodded towards her before quickly wishing childe good luck as he was dragged away by his coach. i’m honestly a bit afraid for him, i know childe is a good and very capable fighter but, it would still hurt so much to see him getting hurt in anyway.

guided by ganyu, hu tao and i found our seats as more people began piling in. the crowd soon consisted of friends and some family of the boxers, curious students from our university and even a few of the professors turned up.

the seats next to me sadly weren’t empty so i couldn’t stretch out like i wanted too. however, it quickly became clear to me who was sitting in those seats.

those tuffs of black and teal hair made it undeniably obvious; xiao. he was an IT major known for being extremely quiet and almost quite rude, though frankly being friends with scaramouche makes it hard to find anyone else rude. he was scrolling through his phone when we sat down, the seats next to him were empty though from the looks of it people were going to be sitting there. bags, coats and all kinds of winter wear were lined up neatly infront of each seat. now i like to keep warm sure, but i highly doubt all of those belonged to just xiao.

my thoughts were cut short when a loud voice began booming about all the different kinds of slushies they had. the twins had arrived, along with 3 other people i couldn’t quite make out. aether continued to enthuse about these wonderous slushies as the 5 new people began shuffling in next to xiao.

finally, i could begin to make out all of their faces.

aether and lumine were the first i saw, and they were the only ones not currently trying to get to their seats, i assume they’re sitting at the end of the row. lucky bastards. next was gorou, a humanities major with beautiful ginger and white hair, it’s clear he takes a lot of pride in the way his hair looks. finally, 2 final boys squeezed in, one next to gorou, who i quickly figured out was albedo, the nice biochemistry major who offer a lot of tutoring sessions in subjects he doesnt even take. he so smart it’s actually kind of crazy, almost unhuman like. then there was one next to xiao.

holy shit, that’s kazuha.

i really didn’t think he’d like something like boxing-

though in all fairness i’m only here for childe, so perhaps he’s the same.

or he loves watching people fight, who knows.

my attention was swiftly snapped from the pretty blonde when the first round was announced.

tartaglia vs. osial

round 1

…of 10

and then the winner fights someone else.

this is gonna be long.

finally, after 5 rounds (all won by childe), a break was given for the fighters. im pretty sure that doesn’t tend to happen in boxing but, because they’re both only uni students, it has to be given.

ganyu and hu tao, quickly excused themselves to the bathroom, though if i’m being honest i’m almost completely certain that hu tao’s only going because lumine went a few seconds ago.

i pulled out my phone and began mindlessly scrolling through twitter and instagram as the people around me began shuffling around. they probably need the bathroom or a drink.

however, i didnt notice how only the majority left.

it took his words for me to realise.

“and then there were two” he mumbled so lightly i hardly even heard him. i turned towards the sound of his voice only to find that indeed all of kazuha’s friends had left aside from him.

there was only kazuha and i left on this row.

“oh- hey, sorry i didn’t realise” i chuckled lightly

oh theres that melodic laugh of his again, “it’s alright” he shuffled into xiao’s seat next to me “are you here for childe too?”

“hm? oh yeah i am, are you? i didn’t realise childe are you were friends” i smiled lightly at him as i placed my phone back down, i don’t want to seem rude damn.

“ahh yeah, i’ve known him for quite a while now. though we don’t get to talk as much as usual”

i frown slightly “oh, why’s that?”

my eyes widen a fraction, oh shit. shit. shit! i can’t ask things like that! what if it’s private? or embarrassing for him? or for childe? god he’d kill me if i embarrassed one of his other friends or worse, childe himself-

before i could freak myself out even more, kazuha smiled and responded “we both just got quite busy, but i do enjoy these times when i can see him”

god he’s so sweet. his voice is just undeniably soothing, i swear every worry i had prior just floated away.

that calmness was quickly eradicated.

the screeching of the whistle ruined it.

the sixth round was beginning.

our friends quickly began appearing again, but kazuha didn’t make an effort to move. even when xiao returned, he just lightly smiled to him and turned back to the match.

xiao didn’t seem too bothered, well he never really does, as he swiftly sat down in kazuha’s seat.

the fight was long but, atleast i had someone to talk too. while, my friends were next to me they were way too engrossed in the match to want to talk even a little bit, but kazuha just randomly began whispering things about the match to me. things that were going wrong, excitement over childe landing a good punch, laughing at all the silly faces that each fighter made after getting punched.

he’s actually quite entertaining, quite funny.

maybe we could actually be decent friends.

atleast, then i wont have to be alone in the library right?

a/n - omggggg this took way too long for me to write lol, im quite literally the ruler of procrastination😎 but, here ya’ll have it! chapter 4!! i hope ya’ll enjoy it! i think i say this every time but i really do mean it, i appreciate all of ya’ll’s continued support of this series! and thank you all so much for getting me to 100 followers!!🫶🫶

(i literally threw up and had my cat pull the christmas tree in my room down onto my other cat while writing this-

they’re both fine dw but good god a lot happened while trying to write this PFFT-)

taglist - open! @kazuhaprnt @ryhie @scaraapologist @thissoulisnotok @kazuhalvrr @rifran @sleepyhamster1001 @mccnstruck @micahmxi @whipped-for-fictionals @sashiette @kozumieee @lazy-sanns

bold= blog couldn’t be found

#faela404~🍓🍰writes #genshin fluff #genshin imagines #genshin au #genshin impact #genshin smau #kazuha x reader #hu tao #kazuha #childe #ganyu #xiao #gorou #albedo #faela404 #hope you guys enjoy #🫶#smau #faela404~ 📕🍰the library

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drconstellation · 7 months

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On Pride and Prejudice and S3 parallels to watch for

(*no Nazi zombies included)

I don't think it's the second "marriage proposal" that is going to matter in S3. That's just the icing on the cake. What's really going to break your heart to pieces will be the parallel to the lake scene encounter at Pemberley Estate. That comes before the quiet, gentle, second suggestion of "lets make a team of the two of us" again.

I keep seeing people write "oh, aziracrow are going to throw themselves together! Oh, its going to be violent! And frenzied! They wont be able to hold back!" Ah, no. I respectfully disagree. I see it possibly playing out very differently.

Recently we had this observation:

Let this old Gen X-er take you back nearly 30 years to 1995, when the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice pictured above came out (and I believe this is the version Lord Gaiman has recommended you watch - for good reason! But I may be biased here...) Colin Firth played Mr Darcy, and I dare anyone to name anyone else in the production off the top of their heads, because Firth's Darcy at the time was considered just *sigh.* The lake scene was so famous in its day it became became a meme before memes were a thing, in a time when we still had VHS video tapes and the internet didn't exist (gasp!)

We must set the scene.

Elizabeth has come the Lake Country with her aunt and uncle on a bit of a holiday, and they have called in on Mr Darcy's home, Pemberley Estate, to have a sticky-beak (as you do, apparently, in those days). He's not home, not expected until the next day, but the housekeeper is happy to show the visitors around the mansion, filled with amazing furniture and paintings and nick-knacks that all good rich Georgian families should have. The aunt and uncle ooh and ahh appreciatively and ask questions, and the housekeeper paints a glowing picture of how kind and generous her master is. Hmmph, thinks Lizzy, that's not the Mr Darcy I thought I knew.

Meanwhile, galloping across the fields on his lovely steed, comes Mr Darcy, a day early. And the visiting party slowly make their way out into the gardens. (cue the building tension...)

Darcy decides he is hot after the long ride, and strips down and goes for a swim in a lake (or pond, or duck!pond - whatever, its wet) to cool off (ha! I'm surprise that puddle didn't evaporate into steam as soon as he hit it) while Lizzy continues to wander and ponder what she is learning about him...

And as Darcy strides blithely across his demesne, practically nekkid from the waist up in his wet see-through shirt - he runs into the object of his desires.

This is their Vavoom! moment. (Well, maybe better Austen scholars than me would disagree, but for the purposes of this post, I declare it is.)

The point is...

The point I'm trying to make is this is going to be the important part of P&P in S3 of GO. Our two love birds have sprung each other unawares, and one of them in particular is in a vulnerable situation. They are vulnerable physically, with their damp, tousled hair (*sigh*) and, as aforementioned, is not appropriately dressed to the expected presentation for polite company at the time (*ahem* wet see-through-linen-shirt-that-doesn't-leave-much-to the-imagination *ahem*) so is also somewhat emotionally vulnerable. And the other is witnessing them in this vulnerable situation. The one they least wanted to see them like that. And neither of them can unsee it.

After the shock, Darcy struggles to pull his dignity back together and make some awkward small talk, before continuing onto the house to rapidly make himself socially presentable again and become the perfect host for the rest of the visit. And, well...things went rather splendidly after that, in short.

See, that's what I mean. The second proposal doesn't matter. Its the after thought. It just tidies up the loose ends. Ices the cake. Makes us feel all warm and gooey, like we're hugging a hot chocolate topped with little marshmallows in our cold hands. Its the equivalent "lake scene" that is going to slowly creep up on you like a fist around your heart, then squeeze when you least expect it, and leave you gasping with its rawness.

Now I'm not going to declare which of Aziracrow was representing Darcy, and which was Elizabeth. Crowley gave the better proposal for being a team of two, but Aziraphale gave the societal put down to Crowley. They kind of split the parallel proposal between themselves.

Hmm, so what kind of "lake scene" could we see in S3? Which of the two would reveal their vulnerable side? Who has the large domain where the other comes a visiting? Who learns something unexpected about the other? Who goes chasing a villain to redeem themselves in the other's eyes? Don't know. Not even even going to guess at this point. But I am going to go and do my homework so I'm ready when the time comes.

We should acknowledge that the first proposal just wasn't going to work, that they had to go their separate ways and grow, just as Lizzy and Darcy did. Smashing them back together like Blackbeard playing with his cake toppers, to cross fandoms, is just...stupid. You can't keep making the same mistakes. It wont work. Not in the long run. And these are immortal beings, (lord, I want to write a whole post on immortality, but not here, right now) the long run is to long to contemplate.

I'm saying wait and see - but be watchful. You might be caught out where you least expect it.

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens 3 #pride and prejudice #aziraphale #crowley #lake scene parallel #Surely it was a duck pond?#ducks!#second marriage proposal #vulnerability #may as well be naked #Mr Darcy #no one remembers any one else from 1995 #bit of a dark horse

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moonchildreads · 11 months

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small town

Chapter 15 - Don't You Want Me

IN THIS CHAPTER: Illicit library naps, a sleepover, and Important Questions get asked [7.3k]

WARNINGS: fear of coming out (lighthearted, everything turns out okay), self doubt, bisexuality? idk if that's a warning but if you haven't noticed yet, eddie and dot are both bi lol

A/N: happy pride friends! i swear to god i didn't plan for this chapter to be out and proud in june, i set the outline in stone months ago but i'm taking it as a happy accident. sorry for posting a day late, yesterday was Not Great but we should get back to friday updates this coming week. enjoy <3

masterlist - prev - next | playlist

You know I can't believe it When I hear that you won't see me

Monday, May 12th - 1986

The rainy spell that haunted Hawkins at all times continued throughout most of the Monday, up until lunch time when it finally relented. The sky was still mostly dark with heavy clouds hiding the sun while the Hellfire seniors stood just outside the cafeteria doors, waiting for Eddie to be done with the conversation he was about to engage in so they could head to their next classes. All four of them - Dottie, Gareth, Donny, and Jeff - were staring pointedly at him as he approached the cheerleaders’ table.

“Got the goods, Cunningham?” Eddie raised his voice to call Chrissy’s attention.

“Yup! Got ‘em right here!” she said, smiling brightly and reaching into her pocket to grab the remaining prom tickets she’d promised to save for him. He gave her the money and she accepted it gracefully, but when he leaned forward to grab the tickets, she snapped her hand back, lifting it over her head. “You better suit up, Munson, or I’ll personally block your way in.”

“We’ll dress up, I promise,” he said, crossing his heart. “Scout’s honor.”

“You’re not a Scout, Eddie.”

“You don’t know what I get up to in my free time,” he snatched the tickets from her hand and began walking backwards quickly towards the doors. “See you around, Chris! Have a good day, ladies!”

Not a beat had passed since he’d walked away before Chrissy’s friends surrounded her, gossiping loudly about the situation they’d just witnessed. The Freak talking to their Captain? Who did he think he was?

“Ugh, he’s so… scruffy! Why do you let him talk to you like that?” Libby, a junior tumbler said, crossing her arms and burrowing further into her cheer cardigan.

“What do you mean? He was perfectly polite,” Chrissy defended him. “He just wanted to buy some prom tickets.”

“He shouldn’t be talking to you anyway, you aren’t in charge of selling them,” Melissa, a senior flyer and Chrissy’s second in command, scoffed. “I bet he’s not even gonna go, he probably just wanted an excuse to be near you. God, he’s such a freak.”

“I’m on the Prom Planning Committee, it’s more than okay if people ask me about tickets. And don’t call Eddie a freak anymore. It’s not right,” Chrissy said, stomping away to her next class.

“What the fuck is wrong with her?” Libby turned to look at her senior.

“I don’t know but she thinks she’s hot shit since that Ohio State cheer clinic she went to during Spring Break. I don’t like it,” the flyer replied, but Chrissy never heard her, already busy getting her books out of her locker.

Eddie was pulling out of his driveway to take Dottie home after their usual after school study session when she asked him to drop her off at Gareth’s instead. She mentioned they were having a sleepover at his house so they could work on a Chemistry project that had to be delivered during first period on Tuesday, and that didn’t do anything to calm the little knot Eddie was beginning to recognize as jealousy that formed at the pit of his stomach. The rational part of his brain, the one that knew there was nothing going on between two of his best friends, was at war with the dumb side that wanted to stop the van in the middle of the road and throw a tantrum. He settled on gripping the steering wheel until his fingers hurt when he saw her hug Gareth hello like she hadn’t seen him in years; the younger boy waved at him like Eddie’s heart wasn’t cracking at the slightest hint of being undesirable.

Oblivious to his friend’s feelings, Gareth guided Dottie inside towards his living room where his phone was so she could call her Dad and let him know she'd arrived safely. Once James had been informed of his daughter’s whereabouts, the teens got to work on the coffee table until Gareth’s dad came home from work. Gareth’s mom, Lydia, was a sweet looking woman with bright blue eyes her son had inherited and a big blonde hairdo. She really enjoyed being a hostess, which is why she had gladly slaved herself away in the kitchen all afternoon making a sweet and sour brisket she claimed was her specialty.

"Okay, so we're thinking regular crackers, marshmallows, cereal, toasted bread, untoasted bread, and dry pasta?" Dottie read from their notes.

"We should add something that we know is unhealthy, just to test it out."

"We have marshmallows."

"Yeah, but those are full of air, they'll probably burn really fast. We need something more dense, like… uh…," Gareth thought hard about what they could find in his pantry and still came up with nothing.

"D'you have peanuts? With the shell?"

"Peanuts are unhealthy?"

"I mean, not really, no, but they are, like, high in fat? And I bet the shells burn well."

"Let's do peanuts then," he nodded, jotting it down onto their notebook.

Their last project of the year was free choice, and after perusing a few science magazines in the library, they had settled on building a calorimeter. Truth be told, they should have done it earlier but between Mother’s Day, Hellfire and Dottie spending so much time with Eddie helping him get ready for his exams, Monday night before the project’s due date had to suffice. Gareth had asked his Dad for help to build two calorimeters, which were ready to go on the desk in his bedroom along with the blow-up mattress Dottie would be sleeping on right next to his bed. His Mom had been a little hesitant to let them bunk in the same bedroom, but her son had brought up a good point: his sister, Gretchen, would positively lose her mind if a stranger slept in her bed, so Gareth’s floor was a good compromise as long as they left the door wide open.

When Gareth’s dad, Gavriel, arrived home from a long day at work, dinner was almost ready to be served. Gareth was in the middle of an animated rant, explaining to Dottie about a very special part of their meal he had begged his Mom for to mark the special occasion. He had never really had a sleepover before, and even though they’d be up late into the night working on their project, he was still very excited at the prospect of hanging out with someone he considered one of his closest friends with no time constraints or adult supervision.

“You said you’ve never really tried Jewish food before, so I asked my Mom to make these for you,” Gareth explained, carrying a big plate to the dining table where they usually sat to do homework on Wednesdays, Dottie trailing behind him carrying cutlery and bread.

“They look like hash browns,” she said, peering at the mystery food.

“They are better than hash browns. These are called latkes. My Mom only makes them during Hanukkah, but honestly, I’d eat them every day if I could.”

“Didn’t know you did Hanukkah,” Dottie frowned. “Didn’t you say you went to your Grandparents’ for Christmas last year?”

“Yeah, we do both! And neither, now that I think about it,” he frowned too, like he was just realizing something about his own traditions. “We’re not really religious, I mean… We celebrate, but it’s more about family and getting together. We mix both sides.”

Gavriel was Jewish and Lydia was not, which in turn made their children half-Jewish. This was something Gareth’s friends were aware of, but didn’t entirely understand since they never really talked about what it meant. This, coupled with the fact that the youngest Coleman hadn’t really had close friends until he reached high school and joined Hellfire, led to his now very apparent enthusiasm while showing Dottie everything that made him… well, him. He didn’t consider himself spiritual in the broad sense of the word, but being Jewish was one of the only things he had always known about himself, the part of his identity that no matter what happened would always be his and he was proud of who he was.

Dottie sat at the dinner table with Gareth and his parents to share a lovely meal together and wondered for the millionth time in her life what it would be like to have siblings. She knew her friend and Gretchen, his older sister, hardly saw eye to eye: she was outgoing, sporty, had a lot of friends and a loving boyfriend, and Gareth was nerdy, shy, and obsessed with horror movies to a degree people that didn’t know him too well found off putting. Despite these differences though, it was clear from the way Gareth spoke about his sister that he would gladly walk through literal fire for her, even though he was the first one to chew her out every time she came home and left enough hair to make a wig on their shower wall. He put two latkes on Dottie’s plate, one with applesauce on top, the other one with sour cream and waited for her verdict, big blue eyes shining with excitement.

“Which one’s your fave?” Dottie asked him, holding the one with sour cream like Lydia was doing across from her.

“I’m not gonna tell you, you can’t be biased,” Gareth scoffed, fork halfway to his mouth full of decadent meat. “Gotta form your own opinion.”

“I’m gonna try them both, I just wanted to know which one you liked more,” she defended herself before trying a bit without any sauce first, just to get a feel of the texture. “Okay, yeah, I see what you meant now. These are better than hash browns.”

“Told ya,” he grinned. “Now try it with the sour cream.”

“Gareth, don’t be pushy,” Gavriel warned, but there was no need, she was already on her second bite.

Gareth waited with bated breath as she switched to her other latke, this one with applesauce. He watched her chew, her face giving away nothing while she wiped her hand on a napkin. A few moments of silence went by, both Lydia and Gavriel looking at each other with curious eyes, their son’s eyebrows going higher each second that ticked by. He had never been particularly patient, and Dottie was making him sweat for her review.

“So?” he asked, leaning towards her. “Which one’s better?”

“Are you gonna throw me out if I don’t agree with you?”

“Dot.”

“Sour cream’s better,” she said, and he groaned loudly. “It’s not that applesauce is bad, I just liked the other one more! The chives in the cream make it feel special. Thank you for making these for us, Mrs. Coleman, they are great.”

“Oh, you don’t have to thank me, sweetie!” said Lydia, beaming at the praise. “I like them with chives better too.”

“You are both so wrong,” Gareth said, looking at his father for support. “Tell them they’re wrong, Dad.”

“I like them with both sauces,” Gavriel declared before kissing Lydia’s cheek. “Your mother is a great cook, just eat and be grateful.”

“Ugh. Got no allies in this house.”

“Finish your dinner, Gare, it’s getting cold,” Lydia said, knowing better than anyone else how dramatic her son could be.

As the dinner progressed and his parents chatted with Dottie, eager to know more about her, Gareth couldn’t help but notice just how different it was to have a female best friend than to only have multiple sweaty metalheads around all the time. He loved Jeff, Donny, and Eddie, and he was pretty confident that he would go to war for them if they ever needed him to, but there was a soft quality to his friendship with Dot he had never really experienced before, not even with his sister. He felt less pressure to be traditionally boyish, could have longer, deeper talks and not have to worry about anyone making fun of his feelings when they overwhelmed or confused him. And truthfully, it wasn’t that he couldn’t be 100% himself with the boys, but having a girl in their tight-knit group had meant they were now a lot more careful about how they approached certain topics, or how they behaved in general.

No more farting around in each other’s faces when they got into the van or pausing to stare at boobs during Fast Times at Ridgemont High - they were much more in tune with each other now, noticing the little things they would have easily disregarded before, like Jeff’s apprehension towards the big brother he had once looked up to and tried to emulate, or Donny’s budding excitement at the thought of joining his family’s business after graduation. Or perhaps it hadn’t been Dottie at all who had changed the dynamic of their group, and they had simply, well, grown up. Graduation was just a month away, after all.

After dinner, Gareth’s parents retreated to their living room to relax after a long day while the teens gathered their supplies and slipped outside to the garage to do the practical portion of their project. Gavriel had spent a couple of hours on Saturday helping his son build all the necessary parts for two homemade bomb calorimeters; mainly they had just drilled holes into cans and hoped things would fit in once assembled. Once everything was in place, they got to work with the ease of two people who had been lab partners for a while and knew exactly what their tasks were: Dottie was in charge of the charts and Gareth of the equations. They were both equally excited about the burning though.

“God, this smells like a s’more,” he groaned, the barely there fire under their can of water consuming a marshmallow.

“I don’t like s’mores,” she said, jotting something down on their chart.

“You are so weird.”

They were both sitting in the driveway in front of the garage, the pavement under their jeans a little bit chilly from the day’s overcast sky. They had already burned the bread (toasted and untoasted), cereal, and dry pasta, and were now moving onto the remaining foods, the sickly sweet marshmallow scent mixing with the smoke in the night air.

“So…,” Gareth began, measuring the temperature of the water in the can.

“So?”

“Heard Eddie got you a ticket for prom.”

“Yeah,” she said, nonchalantly. “We got into an argument last week and he wanted to make it up to me.”

“Are you two going together now?”

“No, we’re still going as a group. He just did something nice for me.”

“Sure,” he smirked. “Something nice. Absolutely not strange at all.”

“Just spit it out, G, what do you actually want to ask?” Dottie turned to him with a tired expression.

“What’s going on between you two?”

“Nothing!” she said, a little bit too defensively, which made him lift an eyebrow in response. “Nothing is going on, I promise. We’re just friends.”

“Dot, come on,” he shook his head, big curls swaying back and forth. “Are you seriously telling me that you two aren’t swapping spit during your dates? He bought you a prom ticket, he takes you to dinner all the time, he might as well have fucking tattooed your name on his left tit.”

“Okay, first of all, ew. Swapping spit, really? God have mercy on however kisses you,” she ducked to avoid a marshmallow to her head. “Second, we don’t go on dates. We get together to study and sometimes we eat together, that’s it. Nothing inappropriate has ever happened, so knock it off, okay?”

Gareth saw her jaw clench and decided to drop the subject entirely, switching topics to their current assignment and the different smells certain charred food reminded him of. They completed their work quickly and efficiently, packing up for the night before retreating to the safety of his bedroom. He offered her his shower and Dottie accepted it gladly, desperate for a few minutes alone to clear her head. He fished out clean towels from the hallway storage cupboard, and sent her on her merry way to the Jack and Jill he shared with his sister, wondering if maybe he’d mistaken the signals he’d gotten from watching two of his best friends interact with each other.

Dottie was spiraling. There was no other way to describe what she was doing while staring at the big bottle of hair conditioner in Gareth and Gretchen’s shared bathroom. The water was scalding, leaving her skin pink and her fingers pruny but she didn’t attempt to move from under the stream for several seconds. Had she really been that obvious? Could people tell that she liked Eddie? Could he tell? What if he didn’t know, but found out and was disgusted about it? She’d shared so much of her past lately, what if he used it as a weapon to hurt her? Oh, but Eddie wasn’t like that. He could be mean when he wanted to, but never to his friends, or at least not intentionally. He could be harsh sometimes, but he didn’t mean to hurt anyone. And besides, he’d offered up his life story to her too so that meant he trusted her. But what if he started hating her? What if he hated that he’d confided in her while she was secretly harboring this big ass crush that seemed to grow every day and left her breathless every time their hands touched? What if -

“Dot? You okay in there?” Gareth’s voice cut straight through the madness swirling inside her head.

“Y-yeah! I’ll be out in a sec!”

“Okay! You want egg cream?”

“What?” she turned off the water and wrapped herself in a fluffy baby pink towel, padding closer to the door.

“Egg cream, it’s like an ice cream float but with no ice cream. Like foamy chocolate milk. You wanna try it?”

“Uh, okay. Sure!”

She could hear him walking away towards the kitchen, socks cushioning his steps, and quickly changed into her pajamas trying to come back down to the present. Gareth had always been incredibly nice to her, and she considered themselves to be pretty close. She thought of all the boys as her best friends, but Gareth and her had immediately clicked in a way that was different than with the rest of them. Jeff was very much an equal, a calming presence, the friend she turned to when she was nervous and needed advice, and he sought her out for comfort as well, their relationship shaped around a sort of gentle give and take. On the other hand, Donny was the big brother she’d never had, guiding her in D&D when she felt particularly lost, sharing music with her, and helping her become more confident in her own skin. She’d return his affections with endless enthusiasm and curiosity, their friendship based on mutual admiration and genuine fondness. And Gareth… Gareth was the rambunctious twin she’d always dreamed of. They bickered incessantly, she’d steal his sweatshirts and then let him copy off her homework, and he’d threaten to burp in her face only to then steer her away from bullies in the hallways. Out of all their friends, he was the most likely to give her his real opinion on something without filtering it, and that’s why when she hung up the towel to dry, she decided he deserved to know the truth.

“Hey,” he said, looking up from the glass he was pouring chocolate syrup into. “You can have that one, I didn’t make you a big one in case you didn’t like it.”

“Thanks,” Dottie smiled lightly, and he smiled back. “What did you say this was called? Creamed egg?”

“Egg cream,” Gareth snorted. “It’s chocolate milk, but with seltzer. It sounds crazy but it’s really good, I promise.”

Dottie took a small sip and scrunched her face instantly making him laugh. With a confused expression, she went in for a second sip, and then a third one. She wiped the foam from her upper lip and set the cup down.

“It’s not gross, but it’s not good either.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda weird, right? That’s why I like it. It’s better with Fox’s U-Bet, but I only have Hershey’s,” he said, before taking a big gulp and downing half his glass in one go. “Ready for bed?”

“Can we take down your Freddy Krueger poster? It gives me the creeps.”

“You’re such a baby,” he teased her, but he was already on his way to his bedroom to unpin it from his wall.

They settled in for the night after brushing their teeth while sharing the sink, playfully bumping each other with their elbows for more space. Gareth not only took his Freddy Krueger poster down, but also his Night of the Living Dead and The Evil Dead posters while Dottie fluffed her pillow, the air mattress bouncing softly every time she moved. They lay in the dark for a few minutes, moonlight barely giving shape to the bumps in the bedroom before she turned to him.

"G?" Dottie whispered, not wanting to wake him up if he'd already fallen asleep.

"Yeah?"

"If I tell you a secret, you promise not to tell anyone? Not even the guys?"

"Of course," the sheets shifted against his legs as he rolled onto his side and she saw his hand extend until it was right next to her. "Pinky swear."

She lifted her own hand up and linked pinkies with him, shaking on it once. He stayed on his side, squinting in the darkness to see her profile but she never spoke. He thought she'd maybe dozed off, but the blow-up mattress began crackling when she turned on her side to look at him. A car sped down the street illuminating the room and both teens stared at each other until the lights dimmed again. Gareth could tell, if only for a brief moment, that she was terrified of what was stuck in her throat.

"Do you… do you wanna, like, come up here?" he asked, thinking of how he used to climb into his sister's bed when he had nightmares as a kid. Gretchen would always protest against it, but when he woke up in her arms after the sun had gone up, he knew she didn't really mind that much.

"Yeah. Yes, thank you. Just for a bit, though."

"Just for a bit," he repeated, moving back towards the wall and leaving space for her to crawl under his covers.

They lay on their sides sharing a pillow, their heads so close they could have smelled each others’ minty breaths if they just inched forward a bit more. By all means, the situation should have been extremely weird, but it wasn't. There was no rush, no expectations, just two friends waiting until one of them was brave enough to spill some truth into the midnight. Only mild nervousness at the conversation that was about to unfold could be found on Gareth's bed at that moment.

"I think I like Eddie," Dottie said, breaking the silence and bracing for an impact that never came.

"You think you like Eddie?"

"I… no. No, I know I like him. I like Eddie."

"Okay. And he doesn't know?"

"I haven't told him, so I hope not."

"And you don't know if he likes you back?"

"I was kinda hoping you'd help me out on that."

"Well," Gareth began. "Not sure I can. I've known him for years and he just doesn't talk about that stuff with us. Not since Polly Sue at least."

"Polly Sue?"

"This girl he liked back when we first met him. They were in junior year, I think they sat together in class. He asked her to prom and she laughed at him in front of everyone," he explained. "It was really bad. Her friends made fun of him for like a whole week."

"That's horrible."

"He never talked about girls again after that. I know he's kissed some after gigs but it hasn't happened in months."

"Maybe he found someone he likes?" she said, chest seizing at the thought.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. He's literally spending all his free time with you, so you must be doing something right. I bet he likes you too, but he’s too awkward to say it."

"Yeah? You think so?"

"Yeah! Come on, he'd be a dumbass if he didn't like you back. You're great!"

"You have to say that, you're my best friend," she nudged his leg with hers.

"As your best friend I have to also tell you that you're a freak for not liking latkes with applesauce."

"You're the freak, you sleep with socks on."

Both teens giggled at the absurdity of their fight, Gareth swinging a leg over her hip while she gave him a hug with her left arm only, the right one tucked under her head. He hugged her back, also with one arm, his chin barely touching her forehead.

"You know, if you really want to know, you could just ask him," he suggested.

"I can't walk up to him and go "hey Eddie! Do you like me? Oh, why am I asking you say? Don't worry about it, just curious!". Like, I'd literally rather fucking fall into the quarry."

"I'm not saying you should ask him like that, smartass. You could just ask him if he likes anyone, it’s a friendly question."

"And if he says he does and it's not me?"

"Then you know and you can move on. But honestly, I don't think you should worry. He got you a ticket for prom, he's getting all his grades up for you. I think you're good. Just, keep going like that, y'know? Show him what he’s getting with you if he grows some balls."

"You're really smart sometimes, you know that?" she teased, but her voice was full of fondness.

"Eh, I have my moments," he grinned.

They chatted for another hour, gossiping about things they'd heard in the hallways and making plans for the summer after graduation, the places they wanted to see, the food they wanted to try, the people they wanted to meet. Dottie slipped back into her mattress when the yawns became frequent, sheets cold but heart warm with the knowledge that if everything failed, she'd always could count on Gareth to be her best cheerleader.

Tuesday, May 13th - 1986

If Eddie thought dropping Dottie off at Gareth’s the previous night was bad for his blood pressure, he had no way of preparing himself for the absolute shock it was to see them hanging onto each other near Jeff’s locker where all his friends were congregating before their third period. Gareth was barely awake, clinging to Dottie to keep himself upright despite his head lolling onto hers every few seconds. Dottie looked equally sleepy but seemed to be less in danger of falling to the floor, shoulder tucked under his armpit and locking her body in place. All of that would have been enough to give Eddie a heart attack, but the fact that she was wearing Gareth’s oversized Van Halen sweatshirt tucked into her overalls had his brain firing in wild directions.

"Hey, man," Donny said, standing next to Jeff.

"Hey. You two good?" he asked the tired duo.

"Hi, Ed," Dottie smiled at him sleepily, and Eddie felt his insides turn to mush. "We got an A+."

"First A+ I've gotten since middle school," Gareth muttered, eyes closed but with a satisfied grin on his lips.

"Probably the last one too," Jeff teased, making the curly haired boy blindly lunge at him.

The sudden movement dislodged Dottie’s comfy stand, making her wobble against Eddie's side, left hand coming up to clutch the front of his shirt softly. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders to help stabilize her, but truth be told, he just wanted to hold her and it seemed like a good enough excuse. She didn’t seem to mind, letting herself relax into his soft embrace.

"Sorry," she said, stifling a yawn. "We stayed up really late last night, I'm exhausted."

"I can see that. You wanna skip Calc and take a nap in my van?"

"We can't skip Calc, finals are in a couple of weeks."

"Princess, you're dead on your feet right now."

"We aren't skipping Calc," she said firmly. "I'll nap in the library during fourth."

"Okay," he chuckled. "I'll wake you up for lunch."

Eddie didn't have the heart to wake her up after she fell asleep. Once fourth period started and they were free to study wherever they wanted, he dragged her towards a dark-ish corner at the back of the library and worked on his drawing portfolio quietly while she snoozed on the carpeted floor, her head resting on his lap. She slept straight through fourth period and lunch, and he made no attempts to rouse her from her slumber before the bell rang signaling the start of the last period and the end to their shared classes for the day. He walked her to her Home Economics classroom where Donny was waiting to fully wake her up with a bone-crunching hug, and hurried towards the Biology class he shared with Jeff who asked about their absence at the lunch table with a worried expression.

By the time they all reconvened in the parking lot at the end of the day, she was looking much more alive and he was hungry as hell. They didn’t stop to get snacks as they so often did, choosing instead to share Dottie’s BLT and chips she’d packed for lunch and the brownies she’d made during Home Ec on their drive to the trailer. She didn’t even wipe his tepid bottle of water before taking her own sip, and he hung onto that detail for far longer than he should have. Who could care about her wearing Gareth’s clothes when she lifted a bit of sandwich to his mouth while his hands were busy switching gears and pulling into a turn?

Wayne, as always, was happy to see her and gave her a big hug when they walked into the trailer. Dottie offered the last piece of brownie to him and Eddie could have sworn the old man thought about bringing out adoption papers right there and then. He left them to chat while he rearranged the mess in his bedroom and then the two teens retreated to the dry comfort of his bed, looming clouds threatening to rain again after it had drizzled all morning. Nobody had told Dottie the midwest was this goddamn rainy before she’d made the big move, but she’d much preferred it to how hot she knew summer was going to get as the days went by. She finished her homework for the day quickly and Eddie let her wander around his room while he steadily worked on his, Biology textbook open next to his knee.

When he was on his last question, he noticed she seemed to be bouncing with energy, keeping herself busy by rearranging his tape collection again. He snapped his textbook shut with enough force for her to jolt her head up, and as soon as he’d cleared his bed from any stray papers, she jumped on it, kneeling in front of his crossed legs with shifty eyes and rosy cheeks.

“Okay, spill. You look like Gareth when he overhears something juicy in the hallway,” Eddie said, leaning back onto the wall behind his bed and crossing his arms.

“Speaking of Gareth,” she began, and Eddie waited patiently. “We were talking about prom last night, and, well, it doesn’t really matter, but I was just wondering if you… because we’re all going together as a group, right? But you got me my ticket and I didn’t want things to be awkward if you did so I thought-”

“Princess, I’m so lost right now.”

“Right. Sorry,” she said sheepishly. She took a deep breath while she rearranged her legs to sit criss-cross in front of him. “I was just wondering if there was someone you liked, you know? At school? Because you got me my ticket and I’m really grateful, but I don’t want to ruin things for you if you want to get a date or something.”

“Did Gareth tell you I liked someone?” he narrowed his eyes in confusion.

“No! No, I asked him about- I can pay you back if you want,” she wrung her hands on her lap.

“You don’t have to pay me back,” he said, sitting up. “I don’t… there isn’t anyone I want to take to prom. I want to go with you. And, y’know, the guys. Hellfire Class of ‘86 and all that, right?”

“Yeah, no, I just thought…,” she chewed on her lower lip, not knowing where to take the conversation. “It’s okay if you wanna go with someone else.”

“Do you want to go with someone else?” Eddie asked, wary.

“I wanna go with you,” she said, and looked up at him suddenly. “Hellfire Class of ‘86, l-like you said.”

“Okay,” he said, untangling her wrung fingers and pulling one hand into his. “Good. Nothing’s changing then. You don’t have to pay me back.”

“Okay,” she repeated. “Good.”

Eddie pulled her by her hand until she fell forward into him, legs tangled on top of his blanket and arms around hers. Where were these questions coming from? Had Gareth mentioned something to make her doubt that he wanted nothing more than to take her to prom? He couldn’t wait until the moment he got to sit next to her in his van with her fancy dress on and a love stricken smile on his face. Dottie settled comfortably on his chest, the side of her nose pressed to his sternum, cheek squished against the soft cotton of his shirt. He wondered if she felt it too, that inexplicable pull between them, that overwhelming need to be close, to feel the heat coming off from each other’s skin.

One time very early into their friendship, Mike had mentioned that it was strange how touchy they both were with one another considering they hadn’t known each other for long. Eddie was someone who never hesitated to pull a friend into his arms, always play fighting with the boys, not entirely understanding what the phrase “personal space” meant. He was loud and boisterous, and he was equally showy in his affections regardless who was on the receiving end: Eddie Munson didn’t half ass anything - anything that mattered to him, anyways. Dottie on the other hand was much more reserved, but still didn’t shy away from physical contact. She was always letting her head fall into someone’s shoulder, consistently linking her arm with her friends’ while they walked through hallways, giving everyone strawberry chapstick kisses on their cheeks as a goodbye. But even after Dustin had pointed all of this out to Mike and everyone had agreed with his assessment and dropped the subject, Eddie had never stopped thinking about it.

In more recent times, he’d begun hoping that maybe all the work he was putting in was actually coming to fruition. He still had a long way to go in his eyes, but he couldn’t complain about the fact that he was currently holding the girl he was secretly in love with while laying on his bed, in the room she had helped clean, with his tummy full of the food she’d prepared. Would it really be too much of a sin to push things further a little bit? To start figuring out where he stood compared to everyone else in her life?

“What about you?” Eddie asked, hand coming up to brush her broken curls out of her face.

“Hm?”

“Do you like someone at school?”

“Not really, no,” she muttered, and he could feel her heart rate pick up under his own chest.

“What about Gareth?”

“Ew,” she said instantly, making him snort. “I love him, but I don’t like him like that. He’s like… Like an annoying brother. Did you know he snores?”

“Be glad all he did was snore. I’ve heard him fart in his sleep and it’s not pretty,” she chuckled. “Be honest now though,” he paused dramatically. “Do I snore?”

“You don’t snore,” she lifted her head, chin hovering where her cheek had been. “Do I?”

“Yeah. Thought we were gonna get kicked out of the library today, it was like an earthquake,” he said, making her gasp and slap his side. “No, you don’t snore, darling. You slept like a baby.”

“What about you though?”

“Do I sleep like a baby?”

“No - Do you like someone?”

“Not really,” now it was his turn for his heart rate to pick up. He hoped she couldn’t feel it under her hands that were now between her chin and his chest.

“What about Chrissy?”

“What about her?” he was confused.

“Dunno. The guys said you weren’t friends until recently and I just wondered. She’s pretty.”

“I suppose so, yeah,” Eddie thought about Chrissy for a bit. He did think she was pretty, but in the same way he thought a sunset was pretty. Nice to look at, pleasant to be around, but not particularly breathtaking. Not to him at least. He hoped Jason Carver thought Chrissy was as stunning as the way he thought Dottie with her wild hair lying on top of him right now was. She deserved that kind of adoration. “I don’t really see her that way. She’s a good friend, though. I told her she should talk to you, I think you’d get along.”

“Why?”

“Why I think you’d get along?” he asked for confirmation, Dottie nodded. Because I’m in love with you and she’s gonna be my maid of honor slash best woman slash whatever that shit’s called at our wedding. “You’re in World History together, right? You’re both sweet, and kind, and caring. And you both like Elton John. And Queen!”

“Everyone likes Queen.”

“Yeah, but not everyone has their records. I don’t. You could talk about that with her, she owns all of them. She says her Dad always gets a new one for her when he’s on a work trip.”

“You really are good friends with her, huh?”

“Like you and Gareth,” he said, wanting to make it clear his eyes were not wandering. He didn’t need Dottie thinking he wasn’t interested in her. “Well, maybe without the sleepovers.”

“Isn’t it dumb though?” Dottie said, furrowing her brow in mild irritation. “How people just assume that if you’re friends with someone of the opposite sex you must be into them?”

“I mean, sometimes friends like each other.”

“Sure, yeah, but not all friends do. Like, no one thinks you and Jeff are dating and I’ve seen you two almost kiss sharing a mic. If you did that with Chrissy, people would think there’s something going on.”

“Dot, you know exactly why people think that,” he lifted an eyebrow. “Fuck Reagan, remember?”

Dottie sat up immediately, looking very rigid. He took his time sitting up too, but took it as a win when she grabbed his hand and began playing with his rings. It almost looked like she was preparing herself to drop a bomb on him, and he couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t necessary. He knew what she was gonna say before she even opened her mouth, because whatever she looked like right now, was exactly how Eddie looked like a few years back when Wayne found a very special magazine he’d bought in Indy hidden underneath his bed amongst all the other ones he didn’t care to put away properly most of the time.

“Eddie, there’s… there’s something you should-”

“I know,” he said, thumb ghosting along hers. “Me too.”

“You too?” she said, confusion and hope mixing in her eyes. He nodded.

“Darling, you love Rocky Horror. That’s kind of a dead giveaway.”

“I like musicals,” she tried to pull back her hand but he held on.

“You do. But we both know it’s not Rocky and Brad you’re into when you watch it.”

“And,” Dottie swallowed a big lump in her throat before continuing. “-that’s okay with you?”

“Why would I care? It’s not like I watched it for Janet,” he revealed, a knowing smile on his face.

“So you like… boys?” she asked, wanting to turn all the cards on the table upright.

“And girls,” he said, her eyes snapping back to his. “And you like girls?”

“And boys. Like you.”

“Like me.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds before she let out an airy laugh, like she had been holding it for a while. Eddie wondered if he was the first person she’d ever told this to. Maybe someday he’d tell her that Wayne wouldn’t care either, and when it happened, she’d tell him that her Auntie Rachel didn’t mind as well, but for now, this shared secret would stay between the four walls of Eddie’s bedroom that no longer smelled like mold or vinegar. It smelled like home.

“Have you…,” Dottie began, not knowing how to ask. He picked up on what she meant instantly.

“Yeah. A couple of times at The Hideout. The guys don’t know though.”

“Do you think they’d have a problem with it?”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think I’m ready to find out yet,” he said honestly. She nodded in agreement. “Have you?”

“Just one time. A kiss at a party. We were playing Truth or Dare.”

“Real steamy,” he joked, and she pushed him lightly.

“I was fifteen, okay? It was enough to send me into cardiac arrest.”

“I bet. I thought I was having a weird trip my first time. Didn’t help that we definitely smoked some strange shit before.”

“I feel silly now,” she admitted. “I thought you’d be upset.”

“Come here.”

He opened his arms and she crawled between his legs, squeezing his middle. He rocked them both side to side for a bit to make her giggle and loosen up. Eddie had a good feeling about where they were headed after this and let himself enjoy it, knowing that the knot in his stomach he’d identified as jealousy had begun unraveling. She didn’t like anyone at school and now she knew that he didn’t either. This was good. Things could grow on fertile ground, and he was doing a damn good job at prepping the soil. It was time, he felt, to turn up the heat.

“Hey,” he said, and she hummed in acknowledgement, not lifting her head from his shoulder. “So, you know my birthday is this week, right? Jeff was telling me today that we could have a movie night in his basement. You game?”

“On Thursday?”

“I was thinking on Friday after Hellfire. And on Thursday you can come over and we can, like, hang out? Wayne said he’s gonna get a cake, and I’d kinda really like to spend the day with you both. Nothing big. We can still do homework and stuff, I mean, I’m only halfway done with my portfolio and-”

“I’d love to come. Count me in, birthday boy.”

“Great. I’ll tell Wayne later.”

Later that night, when Dottie was tucked into her own bed after two long days filled with very interesting conversations, she pondered on Gareth’s words. Show him what he’s getting with you if he grows some balls, he had said. Just before she fell asleep, a sudden thought entered her brain and stuck to the front pushing away everything else. Maybe I am the one that needs to grow some balls.

taglist (comment below or shoot me a dm if you want to be added!): @munsonology @kurdtbean

#bunny writes #small town fic #eddie munson x female character #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson #eddie munson x ofc #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst #stranger things 4 #gareth stranger things #jeff stranger things #chrissy cunningham #joseph quinn #baby's first fic

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starshinerush · 1 year

Text

celebrations and confessions

george russell/reader

bullet-point formatting because i hastily wrote this at 1am after seeing A Vision (???)

i don’t actually know if they do post-race celebrations but for the sake of this imagine they do and i’m also allowing them to get absolutely hammered while doing so

(can you tell i love the childhood friends to lovers trope...)

as always, feedback, likes and reblogs are much appreciated♡

you couldn’t believe it. george russell, a formula 1 champion.

you’re a friend of his since when both of you were children, and you’ve seen his love and passion for the sport, working extremely hard and always giving it his all

through thick and thin, you’ve always been by his side

and now watching him step onto the podium brings absolute joy and pride to your heart

you couldn’t help but let the tears escape your eyes as you watched him receive the trophy, no doubt still crying out of happiness himself

the team decided on hosting a party that very night to commemorate george’s win, alongside mercedes’ 1-2

needless to say george got a little bit too excited and downed some too many drinks

by the end of the night it was you who had to drag him back to his hotel room, seeing that he wouldn’t let go of his iron grip on you and would almost whine whenever you even tried to walk away

after a very eventful trip back to his hotel room and fumbling with the door card, you managed to heave him into the room and onto the bed

as he was still holding onto you, he pulled you on top of him onto the bed with him

“george i need you to let go of me so i can help you undress and get ready for bed”

“i didn’t expect you to be this bold”

you smacked his arm, and after struggling for 20 minutes you finally got him out of what he was wearing and in a pair of comfortable pants to sleep in

you decided to let him deal with the showering part by himself in the morning

“don’t leave,” george intertwined his fingers with yours after you tried to pull away from him to get back to your own hotel room

while the both of you have had a fair share of sleepovers ever since being friends, they’ve never came close to sleeping together on the same bed before

and you, with your ever growing crush on the man in front of you, you didn’t want to overstep boundaries nor distract him from his racing career, so you’ve never said a word about your feelings to him

george lightly tugged your hand in was holding onto, and you couldn’t help but climb into bed with him, being unable to say no to his softening eyes and small pout

you both laid in silence, and it was once again george who breaks it

“are you proud of me?” he asks softly

you turned to face him and gave him a smile, “very much, george. i couldn’t be any prouder.”

he closed his eyes and smiled before moving closer until you both touched foreheads

you panicked, not knowing where this was going, and leaned away before he could do something that he would regret in the morning

he opened his eyes again and looked almost disappointed

“i love you,” he let out, like it’s the most natural thing to say

your breath hitched in your throat, did he really mean it? was it just the alcohol talking?

“i’ve always had,” he continued, looking at you as if he was expecting something, though failing to keep his eyes open as the drowsiness took over

you stroked his cheek, “we can talk in the morning, g.”

morning comes and you wondered if what george said last night was just a fever dream or not

you set some painkillers and a bottle of water on the bedside table, getting ready to head back to your own room

“you didn’t say it back.”

you froze, thinking he didn’t remember the conversation before falling asleep, that he didn’t mean it

“i love you, i’ve always had.” he repeated his words from last night, getting out of bed himself and ignoring the pounding headache

“honestly i don’t remember when i’ve not been in love with you. at one point after all those sleepovers we’ve had, i couldn’t help but think how it’s you i want to wake up next to. you’ve always been very important to me and i… i want you. i want us. i can’t imagine the rest of my days without you.”

you couldn’t help but let out a laugh as you teared up. “that’s a little bit heavy for a first confession, don’t you think?” you joked

“i’ve been in love with you since we were teenagers,” you continued “i want you so close to me it hurts”

he walked towards you and took your hands in his “i’m right here, and i won’t leave, i don’t want to”

“i love you, george.” you finally said, looking up at him

he let out the widest grin, mirroring yours, before cupping your face and leaning down for a kiss

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onirique-amaranth · 4 months

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Heyy, I know you’re probably not going to see this since you’re not using this account anymore but i think i used to be ⛄️ anon. You might not remember me but that’s okay 😭😭🙏 I loved this account soo much i used to read all the posts on this acc on my free time last year 😭 espicially when im at school in breaktime (and sometimes in class..😟) but after graduating everything has just been busier and life yk 😪 so i never got the chance to read all your amazing fics anymoreee for a long time. I think we only talked once on the posts, LIKE I WAS SO SHY LIKE I WAS THINKING SHOULD I SEND THIS? OR SHOULD I NOT? WILL I GET BULLIED 😭?? I don’t knoww i just looked up to you smm like you’re such an amazing person like you were so nicee to me and stuff and i just wanna thank you for all the amazing memories you gave me this year and last year 😭🫶🏾🫶🏾 idk if you know but you had a big impact on me this year n last year. Your posts taught me how to set boundaries wit ppl, to take care of myself and that its okay to take breaks, how to write really good fics 😈and your adorable little son who always brightened up my day and made me smile whenever i felt shitty 😋 EVEN THOUGH I FEEL PRETTY SAD THAT YOU’RE LEAVING IM REALLY GLAD TOO, like im glad you’re prioritising your mental health and just i dont know how to explain it but im really happy you’re doing whats the best for you 😭😭 I hope you continue to make more fun and pleasant memories in the future and continue to do the things you love and brings out the best in you 😁 OKAY I THINK I’VE YAPPED ENOUGH IDK HOW TO MAKE APPRECIATION LETTERS BUT I REALLY HOPE YOU’RE DOING BETTER NOW THANK YOU FOR BEING IN MY LIFE AND MAKING ME HAPPY IM GOING TO MISS YOU SMM BYEEE I REALLY WISH YOU THE BEST AND IM GOING TO MISS YOUR SON SM BUT THATS OKAY 😭😭 OKAY ENOUGH ENOUGH BYE DRINK PLENTY OF WATER AND TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF BYEE <33

I do remember a ⛄️ anon! (I think I remember almost all the anons I had, even since I started this account.)

You shouldn't be reading fics during class time! (but I did it sometimes too so I can't say anything.) Congratulation for graduation by the way, that's awesome and I'm really proud of you!! It's a big step, and even if the path after gets busier and more difficult, it's something to take huge pride in.

I am happy when anyone send anything, even a comment or ask without words, so thank you for taking the time to do it. I think I should thank you just as much, along with everyone else who accompanied me this year and part of the year before. You did make my life awesome, and I've rarely been this happy before, so it's thanks to you all.

I'm grateful for reading this, that really bring a smile to my face. I wish you the best just as much, that you can enjoy yourself and your life, make friends and be happy. Keep setting boundaries, prioritise yourself and your feelings, be a lovely and nice person. Don't forget to drink water and eat easier, take a break when you get too tired or start to burn out, and stay positive about all the small things that make you happy.

Thank you a lot, and I wish you a Happy New Year. My son (Sherlock) does too.

#♡.first (re)login

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fragrantpines · 9 months

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Why hello there! I saw your prompts open so if I may..May I humbly request Shredded Jerky and/or Peking Duck with the prompt rooibos tea?

Certainly! Shredded Jerky and Peking Duck accompanied by some rooibos tea coming right up!

(Link to prompt request/prompt list post)

Warnings: Suggestive (Shredded Jerky... it's jerky, what else is expected ww)

Rooibos tea; what’s their favourite thing to do with their s/o?

Shredded Jerky

▪︎ He loves having you watch his shadow puppet shows. They are his pride and joy, and having you in the crowd further motivates him to put on a brilliant show that will captivate your attention for the rest of the night

▪︎ Sometimes, he'll invite you to see one of his practice shows under the guise of “wanting to understand the audience better”. In reality, he wants to take as much of your time as possible, keep you by his side for just a little longer before you have to go back and fulfill your duties as the young master

“... At last, the mother and son reunite and live the rest of their days in tranquil peace. The end.”

The curtains on the puppet stage fall, breaking you out of your trance before your applauds fill the room. “What a touching story, I'm sure the people will love this story too!”

Shredded Jerky peeks out from the back of the stage with a small grin. “Of course, when have my shows ever disappointed anyone?”

“Pft, right.” You look at him with doubtful eyes yet couldn't bring yourself to doubt him fully. Amongst all of the shows you've seen, none of the audience ever leave disappointed, always discussing the show with smiles on their faces as they leave swiftly, excited to share today's story with their friends and families before dragging them to come see the next puppet show. It was heartwarming to see people enjoy your lover's work and seeing his proud expression right after never fails to fill your heart with a sense of joy as well.

Suddenly, a small tug on your sleeve pulls you away from your thoughts, making you cast your gaze downwards until your eyes spot a little shadow puppet standing right next to your hand. The moment it notices that your attention is on it, it makes a gleeful sound before flying next to your face, rubbing it's paper face against your cheek as if giving you a kiss.

“Well well, looks like this little one is especially happy with your compliments.” Shredded Jerky mused, taking a seat next to you before propping his arm up against the armrest comfortably. He stares at the puppet with part admiration and part jealousy, unsure on whether he should let it be or pull it away so that your attention directed towards him again. However, before he could decide, you laugh cheerfully, rubbing the little puppet with one finger and putting your other hand over his arm.

“Should I also praise the puppet master for inviting me to see such a wonderful show?” You asked teasingly, smiling from ear to ear.

Shredded Jerky smirked, not missing a beat as he captures your hand with his other hand before leaning next to your ear, whispering with a sly tone.

“I would be honored to hear more praises, but perhaps we should move to somewhere else before you start reciting them. I don't want to let anyone else hear you call my name with that lovely voice of yours.”

Peking Duck

▪︎ Much like Jerky, he likes having you by his side while he's working. A king must always be productive, and what better way to increase his productivity than to have his lover standing by his side supporting him?

▪︎ Actually, if you stare at him for long enough, he'll start getting flustered and ask if there's something on his face. If you reply no or don't say anything while continuing to stare at him, he'll try to find a way to break your gaze on him. Whether it be looking away, covering your eyes or distracting you, he'll come up with a million different ways to redirect your gaze to somewhere else

▪︎ .... Every way except directly asking you to stop (Because he actually enjoys the stares very much but is too embarassed to admit it so he just uses it as an excuse to get closer to you. Please don't tease him any further, he's going to become an overcooked Peking Duck if you continue)

“You're staring.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not... unless you would like to turn around and see for yourself?”

You rest leisurely on a coach behind Peking, watching endearingly as his ears were starting to turn into the same bright red shade of his hair under your unrelenting gaze.

Meanwhile, Peking didn't turn around nor say anything, resorting to trying to block out his surroundings in order to better concentrate on his work. However, he soon found it impossible as your gaze on his back was too powerful of a force to resist, making him putting his brush down as steadily as he can with shaking hands before turning to face you with a pout. “Love, I need to submit all this paperwork before tomorrow. If not, then the ducks might cause havoc in Kongsang again.”

You frown, clearly displeased. “But you've been working nonstop stop for the past few hours. It's not good to work so hard, especially when you've just returned from a long expedition.”

“I.....”

Peking averts his gaze, causing you to sigh underneath your breath. Instantly, you stand up and wrap your arms around him from behind the chair, resting your chin on his shoulder. “Come on, I think it's time to take a break. An afternoon nap won't hurt anyone.”

He wants to protest but as soon as he opens his mouth, all the tiredness that he had been suppressing overtakes his body in an instant. A loud yawn escapes his lips before he rubs his face against your cheek, murmuring in a soft tone. "Alright, just a small nap. You're not allowed to leave my side while I'm napping, okay?"

You chuckle before pressing a kiss against his cheek. "Your wish is my command, my dear king."

A faint laugh escapes his lips, his heart melting fondly underneath your touch. Swiftly, he pulls you back to the couch and lies on it with you, wrapping his arms loosely around your waist before closing his eyes peacefully.

This time, he won't leave you. Not now, not ever.

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narrators-journal · 2 months

Text

Crime and punishment

I have no clue how to write orgies! So, I did my damnest with this, and I pray it’s good, but I can’t fiddle with this anymore. I hope it’s fun and somewhat hot, and if someone has any tips for writing anything like this, feel free to share, bc I am at a loss of how to balance the focus and feel inclusive.

(I again, posted this to the wrong blog)

CW: I can’t say how good this actually is. Potential dubcon implications, bondage, an orgy, everyone here is assumed to be a senior, so around 18, pegging, a bit of femdomvibrators are used lol. Aigis is a bitch to Ryoji <3.

skin slapping skin, moans, sighs, curses, the scent of sweat mingled with the smell of the bath’s waters and shampoos, the dull buzz of toys. It all mixed together to create a thick, hazy fog within the girls’ room within the inn. Minato Arisato was in the midst of it, with his hands tied behind his back while his ass was in the air, held in place by Mitsuru’s manicured nails so that he couldn’t escape her. A fate the other three men had also met. Each tied up and left at the mercy of at least one of the women who they had mistakenly spied on in the bath.

And, truly, it had been a mistake. They had lost track of time, and before they’d realized it, Mitsuru, Fuuka, Aigis, and Yukari were disrobing and slipping into the warm water without realizing the men were there. But, when they had plead their case to the court of Kirijo, she hadn’t believed them for an instant.

I guess I should thank Ryoji after this. Minato thought while each slow, deep thrust of his leader’s strap-on sent up fresh sparks of warmth within his belly. If he hadn’t been there...Mitsuru would’ve killed us with Penthesilea.

And, as if he’d heard the midnight-haired man thinking about him, Ryoji whined from his own spot in the room. His hands tied behind his back with his vibrant scarf, his ass held prisoner to the far more vicious plowing of Aigis, with his face buried in Yukari’s cunt to simultaneously muffle his moans and put on a show for Junpei. Who sat with Akihiko near the trio. Tied up with a gag in his mouth and a small, remote vibrator tied to the base of his cock. A toy for which the brunette archer clutched the controller. “Y’know,” Yukari panted, finally breaking the heated silence while one of her hands tangled in Ryoji’s messy hair to keep his mouth captive against her drooling cunt, “we should punish the boys like this mo- ah! More often!” She moaned, her hips lifted slightly to grind against Ryoji’s tongue as he did his best to please her while Aigis pistoned into his ass as if she aimed to break his hips. “Takeba, we can’t just peg them whenever Junpei gets on your nerves.” Mitsuru chuckled, her thrusts unrelenting in their drive to get the captive wildcard to combus. Her pace not even effected when she spoke. “But why not! He deserves it!” the brunette continued breathlessly with a small chuckle while she toyed with the controller in her hand. Knowingly sat in little else beyond her open bath robe in front of Junpei, her legs spread to let Ryoji lap desperately at her core while Junpei could do little else but watch and squirm beneath the dull, gentle stimulation of the toy.

And, while Minato’s pride was hurt by the slow dribble of lube down his inner thigh, he was still in a better position than Iori. Unlike the other three, his best friend didn’t get the direct attention of any of the girls. Aigis had almost shot someone to be the one to peg Ryoji, and Yukari had struck a deal with the robot for her spot in their trio. Fuuka didn’t have it in her to do anything to Minato, so Mitsuru had taken him while Fuuka instead sat beside the usually energetic man. Licking and suckling at Akihiko’s dick in a tentative, slow game of light kisses and slow strokes that drew out a fair number of grunts and groans from the fighter.

All Junpei could do was writhe in the confines of his bondage while the wadded up panties in his mouth teased him further with the taste of a woman on his tongue and Ryoji got tag-teamed by the two beautiful women in front of him. A mess of moans beneath the harsh thrusts of Aigis’ strap on, only muffled by Yukari’s plush thighs as he stole all of her attention. Only leaving his fellow brunette with the occasional increase of the vibrator’s speed to flood his veins with a fresh wave of muscle-spasming lightning. And, the cherry on top of his neglected sundae was, he couldn’t even complain through his gag.

Though, he did get a small glimpse of hope when Fuuka asked, ”Oh, shouldn’t we like, swap partners or something? Isn’t that how orgies go, everybody sleeps with everybody?” her cautious ministrations paused so she could look over to Mitsuru, who hummed thoughtfully while she continued to grind into the mindlessly wildcard. Yet, before the elegant woman could choose a response, Yukari squeaked and pulled Ryoji up by his messy hair. “Th-they don’t have to be!” He gasped the moment he got a gulp of air that didn’t escape as another moan, “Have you been in an orgy before, Mochizuki? You slut.” Yukari teased as she gave Aigis a small signal so that the blonde finally slowed down to let him continue, “I-I haven’t! But I’ve looked them up.” He panted, the minimal break all it took to allow a shudder of overstimulation to rake through the man’s soft body before he could form a coherent enough thought to continue. “Ah...all you need for an orgy is five or more willing people and sexual activity. P-partner swapping is more fitting for a swingers par-” He was cut off once more when Aigis all but slammed his face back into the floor. “You have fulfilled your purpose. Shut up.”

While it was a cold way to put it, Aigis’ words got a chuckle out of the girls, as well as a thoughtless giggle from Minato before Mitsuru returned to her movements and washed whatever shreds of thought he scraped together. And, the others soon followed Mitsuru’s lead with little more than an apologetic glance from Fuuka to Junpei before she returned to Akihiko.

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agendabymooner · 4 months

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4, 8, 12, 19, 20

OMGGGGG ILY THANK YOU FOR ASKING!!!

(Currently 3AM here how about there?)

4. How many WIPs do you have right now?

- haha shiiiit~ a lot. I come back to my drafts every other hour/half hour and most of which are chapters of series or scenarios. BUT if I were to count them (including chapters that are already completed and ready to be posted), I would say around… 15-25 WIPs? Yeah. I’m batshit.

8. What project(s) are you currently working on?

It really depends on my mood 😫 As I said before, I make things out of pure enjoyment. I’m refraining from posting more social media snapshots of dad!F1 drivers because I feel like I’m just being lazy doing that. I do love me some dad!F1 drivers tho!

But right now, I’m trying to get back to the Hearth Sisters universe groove! That means I’m trying to find inspiration for the Toto Wolff series (Colour Me Your Colour), Max Verstappen series (To Loathe and To Love) and potentially more dad!Charles scenario (About Names)

Another thing I’m working to get back on would be the Honey Honey series! I feel like I haven’t been inspired to write/make posts about that LN4 series so now it’s my break… yeah.

OH! And yeah more dad!F1 fics! The chances of me posting standalone scenarios for F1 drivers as dads are higher than the chances of flooding your timeline with series chapters LOOOOL!

12. Do you have a playlist for your current WIP(s)? Share it!

I’ve only made two playlists for two series that I’ve made!

HONEY, HONEY! LN4

TO LOATHE AND TO LOVE — MV33

19. Give us a small teaser from one of your WIPs.

I’ll give you two eheh

…

FROM ABOUT NAMES || CL16 SCENARIO (3)

“It only makes sense,” Aimee shrugged. “Since either of us are presenting to his peers and their other guardians— why don’t we talk about his names?”

The Ferrari driver thought about it for a moment. His sons and their names meant a lot for the couple, with them being named after people that meant so much — people that both Charles and Aimee looked up to.

Sacha ‘PJ’ Leclerc, much like his brothers, was named after the people that gave meaning to Charles and Aimee’s relationship and their lives way before the kids came along. It only makes sense that the couple answer the questions of who were the kids named after.

Especially when PJ’s teacher, Julie, grew curious about the boy’s nickname. His name was Sacha yet the adults called him PJ— why?

“Okay,” Charles nodded, “we can do that.”

“One condition,” Charles continued, making Aimee nod.

His slight scowl was mimicked by little Alain as Charles spoke, “I’m not messing with the glitter glues.”

“No gwue!” Alain exclaimed as if he struggled with the glittery sticky material before.

…

FROM PRIDE AND PETTINESS || JB22 SCENARIO (2)

SILVERSTONE GP 2005

I haven’t seen someone as excited to see me as Jenson Button. At first, I thought I wasn’t planning to head back to the race any time soon but because of my manager’s insistence — in her words, “You are Britain’s best darling!” — I attended the race in England once more.

Of course, I haven’t lost contact with Jenson. His insistence of “keeping contact” wasn’t anything harmful — and so I just went with it. Except I only kept my emails and responses to a minimum as he continued to pester me. Seeing him in the race once more certainly made my stomach flutter— he was just as handsome as I’d seen him last year.

What he told me however was surprising. He was invited to the event for the Pride & Prejudice premiere. He said this with his usual irritatingly handsome smile. I’ve never been in such a tizzy feeling before… at least until now that I’ve met him.

God. I’ve never been so whipped over a man before. He’s irritating, indeed, but he’s making me want him more. Not that I’ll ever allow my heart to break just like that. In fact, maybe he should work on it.

Our encounter after the race was what had everyone going mad. After all, it wasn’t every day they got to hear a man and a woman talk like they’d known each other for a long time despite only knowing each other through emails.

20. What’s a favorite title for a fic you’ve written?

I have a thing for alliteration. Like same sound or letter at the beginning of every word in the sentence and all? Yeah. I love me some alliteration. So I would say my favourite title came from my Sebastian Vettel fic, “Sebastian and Sons (& Soufflés)”

Special mentions: Oscar Piastri SMAU series (Jollibee, Madrid and All That Romance Fiasco), “Daddy, Debriefed!” Series (The Leclerc Daycare & The Hamilton Daycare), Something Sinful Series (F1 smut!)

SHOOT ME A MESSAGE!!

#convo with mooners #f1 fiction #f1 #writing asks

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vixlenxe · 11 months

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📝 If your still doing this meme we wanna see your Aymeric or your Edmont

📝+ A CHARACTER AND I'LL WRITE THEM FOR A POST.

He feels as if the stacks of papers that fill is desk only grow when he is not attending to them, despite no one actually arriving to place more documents upon his desk. Of course, only when not working on them, does he truly realize how mountainous they are.

What he tackled now was only but a momentary distraction from such things, however. Sky blue eyes honed in on the older gentlemen before him.

"I see. You are with your full rights to be concerned." A noble of the Holy See, one of the few that was ready to make changes to their beloved nation stood before the Lord Speaker's desk.

"I do trust the word of the Warriors of Light & Darkness, but I can not deny that I held no small hesitation when I heard they would Ward the Princess of Makoto & house him in Ishgard, given our owns previous history with shadowing secrets." The former count of the Fortemps House spoke openly. Before another, he would yet stay his tongue, but with Lord Aymeric, he felt he could speak honestly. He balanced most of his weight onto his cane as he stood, still with all the pride a count of Ishgard would have. "Lord Aymeric, would it not look ill to our new Dravanian allies if we were to house someone who themselves shepherd a large secret used to deceive others?"

"You have full rights to your worries, Lord Edmont, I'll readily admit I felt the same such woes." Aymeric folded his hands onto his desk. "However, I believe if we were to do the opposite, it would have a harsher effect."

The ex-count raised his eyebrow. "Explain."

"For as much as the Princess of Makoto may have been a silent tool in this plan, he is also the one to bring light to it- the one to break the silence. If mine own case can be put to present, the Dravanians honored me as the silence breaker, they would do the same to him." Aymeric began, pausing & taking a breath before continuing. "It does speaks in volumes to his growth that he had spoke alltogether, compared to the King, who has not only not said a word publicly about this, I am told this was his 'grand idea' from the beginning."

"If we do not honor the risk that Princess Sakura took in this endeavor, then how can we move forward into this age of truth & fairness I wish to build in the Holy See?" A little smile did graze his lips, as he once again took a breath. When speaking his passions, he need learn to pace himself, least he hurt himself on his old wounds. "And I am much like you, Lord Edmont, I have all the faith in the Warriors of Light & Darkness's judgement. If they wish to Ward the Princess, then they have my support & I am prepared for any backlash it may give me. I will be sure to keep my eyes on letters, items & people that come from Makoto to be sure the only heir to Makoto's throne & their dear friend does not come to harm."

"... I see." Perhaps Edmont was far too worried about things he should not. He's meant to be retired after all. That Princess has the backing of the star's two greatest heroes, & that of the Lord Speaker, even if there was push back or an ill taste left by housing someone who held such a secret, he'd have not to worry for with honorable & powerful people like them in the princess's corner. "Thank you, Lord Aymeric for you time, I'm delighted to say my doubts have been rested."

#anonymous #musings [lore; ideas and aesthetics]

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dancingbabya-notes · 1 year

Text

Too helpful

<-♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧->

There is supposed to be an explanation (fyi I wrote this sometime in 2018-19) But um welcome to my previous era of writing walls of text ^-^

Gamzee x oc

summery: Zalara was walking to work like normal (does it show that I've never had a 'real job' before?) when she happens on her co worker who is severely injured.

<-♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧—♧->

I was walking down the street, as the chilly September winds blew through my warm long hair. The hairs upon the back of my neck stood on end as a shiver sped down my long sleeve shirt. Distracted by the quick chill I found that I had almost stumbled over a pair of purple conversed feet. Following the feet up I found that they belonged to the lanky clown I was working with. Gamzee Makara.

“Woah, hey there sis,” he grins lazily, the quickest way that I identified the Makara was his wild curls, but I couldn’t dismiss the pain dancing across his features while he held onto his side tightly.

“What are you doing here?” I ask walking a bit closer, splatters of purple blood were visible around him and soaking through what I could only assume as a paper-thin shirt.

“Just chilling, that is until I have to all up and go in for work,” he informs me, and just for a split second as I step closer does a look of panic flash on his painted face.

“I’m headed to work right now actually; do you want to chill in the break room till your shift? It will give me a chance to wrap you up and you always keep a spare set of clothes at work to sit in,” I advocate reaching my dominant arm to his left, which isn’t strewn across his mid-section.

With a raised brow he hesitantly pulls his own lanky form off the frozen ground. “How would you all up and know all of that Zalara?”

“I’m the assistant manager. I need to know this stuff; besides I have some time before my shift. I can clean you up in enough time,” I answer grabbing his hand.

“Thanks sis,” he mumbles, his pride obviously shot since I noticed his wound so early on.

“Well depending on how long you’ve been sitting there, love, I would say that when your shift came around, I would have gotten a call from your roommate about you being in the hospital, not meaning ant insult to injury, but it would have been a lot more serious by the time she realized it,” I inquire muttering quietly by the end.

“Rezi sis isn’t my roommate no more,” he groans from what I can only assume is the strong pain on his left side.

Slowing down I assist him in slinging his left arm across my shoulders, so he is leaning on me as a sort of crutch. Silence envelopes between us, and I continue to lug him to the best of my ability to the deeper part of Beforus Square. Stumbling into the back door proved a task while somehow, we managed to get into the break room without any added injury. Now, sitting Gamzee down was the easy part he welcomed it, but getting him to expose the wound to me was indeed a task.

“Gamzee! Take off the damn shirt before I come back with the medical kit,” I shout glaring at the man before turning like a whip on my heel and walking out swiftly.

Opening the break room door, I slammed it shut as I walk to the closet. Rummaging through the disaster that is the cleaning supplies I finally find the large medical box that we keep. Picking it up I start the short walk back into the break room. Pushing things around in a closet had calmed me down a bit but my blood pusher was not prepared for the sight that I had walked into. Gamzee was lanky but by no means did that make him weak, there was small carvings of the visible definition in his form that was probably a result of chucking supplies in his other job at the post office. I walk closer and push the box onto the table, so I could open it and asses Gamzee’s predicament farther, but the closer I got I realized that there were scars big or small littering his tanned skin, and I chewed mindlessly on my lip clearing my throat to let him know I was back.

“It’s not too bad sis, see?” he gestures to the large gash embedded in his left side.

“To hell it’s not bad! Sit down on the table.” I order crossing my arms with a frown pressed firmly on my lips.

Pulling out a prepared cloth I stared immediately cleaning around his wound, being careful not to poke or probe the wound quite yet. His body went stiff as soon as the peroxide cloth touched his cool skin, and I was surprised by how calm he was during the while cleaning. His rich purple blood was still trickling out but slowly now, and with the wound mostly cleaned I look over the depth and location of the wound taking a large breath of relief that I didn’t know I needed.

“How?” I whisper placing one of a bandages across his stomach reaching around to begin the slow process of wrapping it around his body.

“What sis?” he asks playing dumb, he makes the slightest bit of eye contact with me while I manage to reach around his back to grab the opposing end of the bandage.

“Hold this,” I demand gesturing to the end of the bandage with a roll of my eye as his hand takes over from where my smaller one had been. “You know what I mean don’t joke.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he dismisses the subject without even a second glance in my direction.

“Whatever,” I mumble wrapping the bandage tightly around him and then finally taping it off.

“Thanks, assistant manager sis,” he chuckles as a smile spread on his face like jelly on toast.

“Just be ready to work when your shift comes around. I’ll get your living situation resolved by the end of our shifts,” I explain walking into the woman’s locker room.

I hold his bloodied white shirt in my hand and load it into the washer, changing into my uniform and adding my clothes into the load as well. Purple blood was everywhere, and my stomach turned slightly at the thought of how or when he could have gotten the wound, ideas, and such dancing in the back of my mind before I finally shook them out to walk toward the door again. Letting out a rather large sigh for my small form I walk into the break room to see Gamzee leaning back in the chair with his eyes closed and mouth slightly parted in his uniform clothes. His pants balled on the ground next to the door and his hands folded on his stomach, making a soft smile slip onto my lips before grabbing the article and striding back into the locker room. I send a quick look toward my phone as I quick l open it and send a message to the contact labeled Asst. Manager. When we first started working together, I think it was almost a year ago or more, I had never expected to have such a hard-working person around.

“Zalara it’s almost time for your shift,” our manager Violet calls from the door.

“Just a minute Vi,” I giggle shaking out the clothes quickly.

Before I can load the clothes, I notice jingling noises from his pockets, with a roll of my eyes I empty his pockets into my locker and put them in. After making sure everything is all done, I start the washer and walk out into the hall to start my shift quickly punching in my card officially starting my shift. As soon as I get to the floor, I send a grin to the door.

“Lazlo!” screeches a small voice and I quickly notice the head of black hair.

“James! That’s rude,” scolds the woman holding his hand.

“You must be the new nanny,” I inquire raising a brow at the erotically dressed woman.

“Yup,” A little pop with the p before sending me a narrow-eyed glare. “What’s it to you?”

With a roll of my eyes, I bend down toward the child with a smile. “So, where do you wanna sit today, Captain James?”

“The corner,” he grins with a look in his eye. “I’m meeting a friend today.”

“Oh really? What’s their name so I can send them your way when they get here?” I ask while leading them to the corner booth.

“Dammek, your friend Tavros is bringing them here,” he states with an excited grin on his face.

“Oh, cool. I’ll make sure to say hello when they get here,” I chuckle placing the menus in front of them.

Walking away back to the front of the shop waiting for the next customers, taking quick paces as I wait at least five minutes before making my way back to the table. Cas, Jones, and May are walking around as well, and Cas sends me a frustrated frown as I stop and turn to ask what is wrong. Before I can make it back to the corner booth, I feel a great pressure on my head throwing my body off balance. A deep humming noise fills my ears as I roll my eyes and shoo Cas away. Before I can pull away and face the tall young man, I’m pulled against him as his long arms snake around my waist.

“So Zalara sis, how are you holding up?” Gamzee’s lazy drawl makes me groan.

“Gamzee, could you please remove your head from my head it’s hard to keep my balance and speak to you like this,” I grumble shaking him off a little.

“Nah, you’re warm,” he mutters burying his face into my neck.

“Okay . . .” I mumble turning back to send a ‘get your little scrawny ass up here’ look.

He takes my spot and I grab my tablet and grab Gamzee’s hand walking away from the floor or at least away from the customers. “Gamzee!” I frown facing the tall man.

“What? It’s so boring back here, there’s nothing to do,” he whines making a small smile form on my lips.

“Wanna start your shift? It’ll end earlier,” I explain opening my tablet and typing into the menu of things that connect to the work computer.

“Sure, I don’t mind all up and working right now,” he nods excitedly.

“You’ll be taking my tables today then I guess while Cas and I take turns managing the front.” I explain before taking another glance in his direction.

Both of us walk out to the front and Cas rolls his eyes at me when two people walk in. I immediately recognize the awkward man with a Mohawk fidgeting with the bottom of his shirt, now the little boy standing next to him without even looking up is wearing shades, and not just any kind of shades super dark tinted shades that makes me wonder how in the fuck this kid walks around.

“Hi Tavros, and this must be Dammek,” I smile toward the pair, the young boy looks up at me and I noticed dusted at the bottom of his shades on his cheeks is white freckles.

“Oh, uh hi Zalara. We are supposed to uh be meeting someone who should already be here,” Tavros clarifies sending me a weak smile before I can say anything.

“I know, he made sure to tell me and make sure that you both got the best seat in the café. I’ll lead the way,” I smile grabbing a coloring pad and menu for Tavros.

Both males follow me, and James jumps up running over to the shockingly tall boy and hugging him like his life depended on it. I giggle as a light bronze blush dances on the cheeks of Dammek’s warm face.

“So, have you figured out what you would like to start off with or would you like a little longer?” I ask watching as both boys animatedly speak between one another.

“I’ll have a lemon water, and James said he would have a supreme chocolate. Does that cost a lot?” the nanny asks with an unsure brow raised.

“No, don’t worry. Mr. Strider comes in personally to pay off the tab for James here,” I shake my head crossing my arms.

“Uh, Zalara can I have a small coffee and Dammek said he wants some soda any kind is fine,” Tavros interjects.

“Alright, so a mix mash, supreme chocolate, a lemon water, and a coffee. I’ll be back with your drinks, Gamzee will be serving you for the rest of your stay here so, have a lovely afternoon,” I answer walking away from the table.

A few more customers come in, usually regulars a few new faces and as always James orders more, and more food making me giggle as I assist Gamzee with the food delivery.

“I have a hot pocket cake, some galaxy fries and two bowls of Mish mash potatoes. James what did I say about too much sugar,” I frown holding the tray containing all of those foods that I had named.

“I didn’t do it. Dammek did! He said he has never tried any of the stuff that I have.” James explains in a whine.

“Alright well, here is your food,” I sigh placing the plates on the table for both of the boys.

Gamzee was coming up behind me with more food and I attempted to move out of his way by moving to my left which blocked James’ nanny from seeing behind me.

“Could you move?” she replies before I can do anything.

I cannot deny that watching Gamzee work is fascinating, but this girl was already on my nerves with the way she dressed and how little attention she was giving James to begin with. Gamzee walks up next to me and happily places the plates on the table.

“Thanks for helping me Lil’ mama,” he grins.

I could see the ghost of a claw like scratch raking across his face that was only covered outside of work, I was told by his emergency contact that the makeup he wore was a religious symbol. So, I was quite in shock the first time that he worked with me, and he was completely makeup free, and how dazzling he looked in the uniform. The thing about our uniform is that we needed to look the part, of what? Butlers, but not the whole shebang or like Sebastian in Black butler. Boys donned long black slacks, with a white button up and a red or black vest, also wearing the appropriate shoes, while girls were to wear shorts and stockings of choice with a white button up, and suspenders with the appropriate shoes. Girls usually tied their hair back or used a clip to pull it back. Gamzee was one of the few men with long hair and always had it tied back, so no one argued at all, when he was on the floor women adored him.

“Hello, how many is it?” I greeted the older Nitram male.

“Just me today,” he answers.

“Follow me then,” I send a weak smile in his direction while walking him over to the seating area.

“Thanks doll,” he grins pushing his hair back into place as the bronze streak scatters a bit.

“So, can I get you anything to drink?” I ask holding my little note pad.

“Just some water and possibly your number,” he tries to be suave.

“Hun, that hasn’t worked once any time that you’ve actually come in here. I’ll be back with your water in a moment.” I roll my eyes walking away to the kitchen.

“That bad today huh?” Seth, the main cook, asks looking back at me.

“Rufioh is here. I really am not in the mood for this today. Seth, help me, please?” I whine looking up at the man.

“How about today you have a chocolate supreme with your lunch and you have the special,” he offers platting the food and ruffling my hair.

“Alright sounds nice, I think I’m going to need it,” I smiles weakly before grabbing the water and making my way out of the kitchen.

Placing the cup on the table I send a large smile to the difficult male and hold my tray beginning to walk away.

“Wait, doll. . .” before he can finish Vi comes out and looks at me.

“Hey Zalara, I’m going to take over your tables I got it synced to my tablet so why don’t you take a break,” she smiles patting my back.

“Thanks Vi, I really appreciate it,” I chuckle walking toward the back and when I get into the break room there is a hot plate of (fav food) and a chocolate supreme.

I smile at the gesture Seth always had a way of making me feel better through food. Sitting down to eat I stare at the menacing phone that I barely use, I only knew a few people who had room, but all of them wouldn’t even think about letting Gamzee stay after rumors about his father started circulating between our friends.

“Jupiter wouldn’t mind at all, but I’m not sure how to bring it up to her,” I sigh twirling the device in my hand before attempting to unlock it.

Taking a deep breath and one more sip of the chocolate supreme, I finally seal my fate and listen to the phone ring waiting for my sister to answer.

“Hey, what’s up little sis? You don’t usually call me during work,” she points out making me sit back in my chair.

“I was wondering if you were still willing to have third floor free tenants. A friend of mine got kicked out and was badly injured, and I wanted to know if it’s okay that he stays with us.” I explain quickly almost stumbling over my words.

“How do you know this boy?” she questions.

“I met him through work,” I answer looking toward the door.

“How long have you both been working together?”

“Year and a half,”

“Are you close to him?”

“Not particularly.”

“What happened to his previous living arrangements?”

“I guess he was kicked out by his roommate. She was blind so I dunno,”

“Oh, he was living with a girl before. What was his relationship with her?”

“As far as I know just friends and roommates.”

“Oh, so you haven’t asked, have you? Little sis, are you playing the innocent card by keeping out of his past relationships?”

“No . . . The questions never exactly came up while I was bandaging his wounds.”

“Do you like him?”

“What the hell!?”

“What? It’s a serious question.”

“I don’t . . . He’s a cool guy, I mean ugh. Why did you ask that? I dunno I find him cute, and sweet and hard working,” I ramble.

“Oh my god! I was joking at first, but you like him. You really like him, you wanna marry him. You wanna hold him, you wanna kiss him, you wanna love him.” She teases over the phone.

“You are not allowed to watch ‘Miss Congeniality’ anymore,” I frown blushing deep ivy.

“Alright, alright more serious now. Name?”

“Gamzee Makara.”

“Oh, a Makara. You know I went to school with his older brother,”

“You’ve only told me a million times,”

“Age?”

“20 years, sis,”

“Oh, so we like older boys now do we little sis?”

“It’s not like that! Besides it’s only a year difference.”

“Don’t worry the secret is safe with me, not like you can really get in trouble for dating him,”

“Will you shut up? Is it a yes, or no?”

“I have rules, no banging while I am home. Use protection unless you want to make me an aunt then have at it. If y’all breakup I am not cleaning up after you. Only buy food remember no rent please, we get enough of that from the system that mom set up,” Jupiter explains. “If y’all bang at night and I’m not home you stay in his room not yours please. No alcohol, no weed unless medical. There are still three more rooms available so if he has any hot older friends they can stay too, hopefully single too. So yeah, he can stay.”

“Fuck you,” I grumble.

“Hopefully not, I have standards sis, and I’ve already just come to terms that I’m not my type,” she asserts with a chuckle.

“Grrr, there will be no banging on Fuck You Avenue or on Bang Bang Court!” I shout back digging my free hand into my hair.

“Calm your tits sis. It was a joke,” she tries now breaking into a fit of laughter.

“My tits will not calm down they shall be . . . Oh fuck, Gamzee how much of that did you hear?” I mutter looking at the tall sleepy-eyed boy standing in the door frame.

“Uh, not much Lil mama,” he chuckles looking anywhere but me making a deep Ivy paint my cheeks.

“Is that him? I wanna talk to him, put him on the line sis,” Jupiter squeals.

“No, you have had entirely too much sugar and I will not be putting him on the line,” I frown about to hang up.

“Just for a little bit,” she pleads.

“I hate you,” I groan handing my cell phone over to Gamzee.

“Hello,” he questions confused.

Before I can argue against it, he walks into the male locker room preventing me from following, probably a demand of my sister. Waiting a little while he comes back out and hands me my phone not saying a word for a moment while he manages to sit down.

“Lil’ mama, what’s Bang-Bang court?” he asks looking at me.

“I’ll explain when we get to your new place of residence.” I mutter tapping my head against the granite countertop while my face becomes increasingly ivy colored.

“You didn’t all up and have to do that Lil’ mama,” he sighs crossing his arms with a complicated look of frustration and thankfulness on his features.

“I didn’t have to, but I wanted to. Otherwise, it just wouldn’t be right of me to leave you without a place of residence when you are harmed,” I convey while glancing at the time. “Did Rufioh leave?”

“The bro that was giving you a hard time that Vi sis took care of, he left a little while ago,” Gamzee nods starting to eat his food.

I force out the breath that I didn’t know I had been holding and lean back into my chair looking at the boy eating next to me.

“So, we are all up and here until the other assistant manager comes here, right?” he mutters glancing at me.

“Pretty much,” I shrug looking back at him.

“So how long exactly will that be?” he mutters glancing at the door.

“Not long. The girl who takes over after me texted me not too long ago,” I explain glancing at my phone.

He just nods and continues to eat his food; I nod and stand up grabbing my dishes walking out of the break room. Washing my dishes and the rest of the dishes that are there I feel a tap on my shoulder.

“What did I say about doing the dishes?” grumbles a voice of my friend.

“I’m almost done with my shift, besides it’s not like they need me on the floor.” I roll my eyes walking to dry off my hands and give the tall girl a quick hug.

“So, you owe me. What happened to Gamzee?” Kanaya asks looking at me skeptically.

“He was stabbed, luckily it wasn’t too deep. But he was bleeding all over and it was just bad,” I indicate with a frown wringing the towel tight in my hands.

“It’s alright, just take him home and I’ll see you in two days,” she orders holding my face in her hands.

“Thank you, Kanaya. You don’t know how much I really appreciate this.” I mutter walking out of the kitchen.

She just chuckles while I make my way to the break room and back into the locker room pulling on the warm clean clothes. I notice someone else already gave Gamzee his clothes, so I walk into the break room holding all of my things and his while waiting for him to come out.

“Ready to go Zalara sis,” he grins walking up to me while clutching his side a bit.

“Alright, how long do you think you can walk for?” I ask as my eyes travel to his side.

“I can walk as far as you want me to,” he chuckles looking at me.

“We can catch the bus the rest of the way to my house, you know where Nyx grove is right?” I clarify looking at him as we begin to leave the building.

“I think so?” he looks confused.

“Okay so, we are in Beforus square. We ride the 612 till we get to Girst falls then walk from there to Nyx Grove.” I explain as best I can while we walk back into Beforus square main roads.

“Oh, I think I know where you’re talking about now.” He nods still looking completely lost.

“It’s alright Gamzee I’ll drive us to work from now on,” I giggle reaching up and running my hand through his hair a little.

Walking was a completely different experience with Gamzee walking close to me. I didn’t want him walking too far from me in the case that he had not recovered enough to really be walking. Everyone, and I mean everyone, kept a two-meter distance around the both of us like this kid gave them the chills, and it didn’t make any sense to me. When we walk in front of the bus stop sign the bus just pulls up, I smile at the driver putting in money for Gamzee and I, forcing the tall male to sit down first.

“So, Lil mama. What exactly is Nyx Grove?” he asks crossing his arms as best he can, so it doesn’t rest on his side.

“It’s my home, was my Great Grandmother’s land. My grandpa’s brother decided to develop the land and all the money and land went to my grandpa, then my dad and then my big sister. I’ve only ever lived in Nyx Grove,” I shrug looking back at the boy.

“That’s all up and mother fucking cool, so it’s been in your family for a long time,” he chuckles when he notices the vibrating phone in his pocket.

He looks up at me and I just nod slightly as I turn to pay attention to the passing streets, so we get off at the right time.

“Hey. Karbro, would you all up and calm down?” he frowns while I hear the loud voice on the opposing end leak out a bit. “I have a place to stay it’s alright. No reason to get all up and frustrated, I’ll tell you where tomorrow.”

After conversing like this for a few more minutes he stops, and I pull the string to notify the driver of our upcoming stop. Gamzee holds me down tightly as the bus comes to a stop and somehow still almost pulls my whole body off the seat, I frown as we both exit the bus, and we begin the slow walk to my house.

“So, who is Karbro?” I ask confused.

“He’s my moirail. I all up and wrote him down for my emergency contact.” He grins happily.

“Oh, okay. He’s the one who told me about your makeup being religious, if that’s the case Hun then you can keep it on. Everyone knows that it’s a religious reason and will not bother you about it,” I pout looking up at him.

“Nah, it’s all good Lil mama. I don’t wanna all up and be treated any different than anyone else,” he smiles.

I sigh and shake my head while we get close to my house. The pale blue of our house is what reminded me that we still need to change the gog damn color of the windows. Like it’s this nice pale blue and the windows are this tacky green color who thought this would be a good idea, cause it sure wasn’t me. Gamzee looks strained so I let him rest on the porch while I unlock the door. I helped him inside to the house as best I can.

“I’ll take you up the stairs to your room and you can get relaxed there. You need to rest without your shirt on to let the wound breathe a little bit,” I explain as we make our way into the living room where I can already tell he’s been moving far too much.

“Alright Lil mama I don’t mind that,” he chuckles as I notice the obviously pained expression he is trying to hide.

“How about we chill on the couch, we can watch a movie while we wait for my sister to get back, because knowing her she tried to leave us alone for her own entertainment,” I state walking over to the couch and forcing the male to sit.

“Aw but we just all up and walked in, I don’t mind watching anything with a pretty Lil mama like you, but I don’t wanna be a bother to you,” he tries to smile.

“Gamzee. I don’t mean to be forward, but we have known one another for about a year and I will sit on you if you don’t rest for a little bit, am I understood?” I glare my face covered in a blanket of worry.

“Fine, I all up and see your point Lil mama,” he frowns a bit still sitting on the couch.

I nod and quickly put a movie on the TV before walking toward the stairs. “I’ll be right back Gamzee. I’m just gonna change clothes, then I’ll join you in whatever movie you wanna watch.” I clarify as I quickly trot up the stairs.

Peeling off the warm sweater that I wore to work, even if it had been washed once it still smelled faintly of smoke making my skin crawl. Once in my room I pull a tank top over my shoulders and slide the jeans I had been wearing off to wear some soccer shorts instead. Grabbing a spare throw blanket, I make my way down the stairs, seeing that Gamzee had chosen (Scary movie you can’t stand) and that made me more thankful for the blanket. I manage to not glance at the screen while sliding into the seat on Gamzee’s right side hiding my face from the screen slightly.

“You scared of something Lil mama?” he chuckles looking at the screen still.

“I’m not scared, just you know chilling on the couch,” I ramble looking up at him a bit.

“There’s no reason to all up and be scared of this,” he shrugs gesturing to the TV.

I roll my eyes and peek at the screen from around my blanket when I hear a noise somewhere in the house. As soon as a jump scare pops up on the screen my sister just had to walk in the door. A rolling laugh catches my attention making me look at her causing my face to heat up quickly.

“Oh, what did I interrupt? Jegus fuck, what are you watching?” she screeches running to the hall, so she can’t see the screen.

“Gamzee put the movie on,” I shrug glancing at him

“I thought that your sis might all up and like it,” he smirks.

“She’s terrified of that movie in particular,” Jupiter explains.

I shake my head and get up looking at Gamzee. He also stands up and waits for me.

“Where are you going? I said no banging when I’m here,” she asks confused.

“I’m just showing him around sis, I made him rest when we got back from work,” I sigh pushing my hair back.

“Oh, make sure you take him to go get checked out tomorrow,” she suggests walking to the kitchen.

Gamzee sends me a skeptical look as we walk up the stairs to the second level.

“So, there is three floors obviously, since you’re gonna be on the third floor you have roof access. On the second floor is my room and Sis’ room. There’s a bathroom on each level, not much else. Three rooms open on the third floor besides yours, and the computer and closet full of spare things all on second floor.” I explain walking around and down the hall. I pause and point to a (f/c) door. “This door is my room come down if you need anything.”

“I’ll make sure to all up and keep that in mind,” he nods with a slight chuckle.

“Anyway, third floor access is at the end of the second floor,” I explain as we finally happen upon the stairs. “Sis said we have three rooms free, so if you know anyone else in need of a place to crash. She said it was cool.”

Walking up the stairs slowly I make sure that the lights still work as we reach the top and flick the switch. After we both manage our way to the third floor, I lead Gamzee to his new place of residence.

“So, um the only room ready is the one directly above mine and the only perk that provides is the dumbwaiter.” I sigh remembering the state of the other rooms.

“That’s alright with me. Um I can ask Karbro to get me my stuff from Rezi sis’s place tomorrow. Is that all up and cool with you?” he asks.

“Yeah, it’s fine with me, do you need to call him and tell him where you are, or do you want me to leave you to rest?” I mutter staying by the door as he sits on the bed with a groan.

“Would you all up and be alright with looking over my wound?” he requests pulling his shirt off taking slow labored breaths.

“Uh, sure. We can check in with a doctor tomorrow, just to make sure,” I explain walking closer.

“No doctors!” he clarifies.

“What about a call-in physician? I know that my bandaging is alright, but I want a professional’s opinion just to be sure,” I cross my arms.

“Fine, but no doctors,” he huffs.

I nod and start looking over his wound, the bandaged have held up well, but he was still in visible discomfort, and it was making me sad to see him in pain. Making sure that he wasn’t bleeding at all, I gently push him down. Forcing his body into a comfortable resting position, and frown at him.

“Rest, you have my phone number. And frankly I don’t know how much bandages we have,” I frown and climb down and make my way out to my room.

Nothing for the whole walk down to my room, and as soon as I turn on the light and lay in my bed.

The next morning was fine too, I went up to check on him. But as I sat on my bed just after noon, I feel my phone vibrate next to me, my cat Avery starts hissing and clawing at it. I chuckle and grab the device and answer the call while petting my cat slowly to make him calm down.

“Hello?” I sigh.

“Lil’ mama, I just got a message from Karbro and asked if it was alright if you both meet up. He all up and insisted,” Gamzee explains.

“Sure, it’s only like six anyway. Where did he wanna meet?” I sigh while laying back on my bed.

Avery starts walking around circling my body before finally sitting on my stomach and kneading my breast. “At the mall, I guess. He was angry about something.” Gamzee groans.

“Hey, if you aren’t feeling good you need to rest,” I frown.

“No, I’m not all up and in any pain,” he chuckles.

“Avery, get off my chest honestly,” I groan pushing my cat just a bit with a pout.

“Your cat?” he inquires.

“Yeah, well if you’re feeling up to going with me get dressed and be downstairs in about twenty minutes, alright?” I smile sitting up slowly and walking to the closet and grabbing a sweater dress and some leggings.

“Alright,” he chuckles hanging up.

I quickly change into the other clothes and leave my hair as is to save time, slipping my phone into the side pocket of my leggings is the last thing I do before leaving my room. Once downstairs Gamzee is leaning against the railing and taking slow breaths, I walk up to him slowly looking over his lanky stature. When he noticed that I was standing behind him he sent me a weak smile.

“Come on, before we leave you need to take some pain killers, I don’t want you to pass out because you’re trying to sit through the pain for some reason.” I demand leading him to the kitchen.

He follows begrudgingly and takes the medicine that I hand to him. And not even five minutes later we were in my pickup driving to the mall. Gamzee is quiet the whole ride and finally perked up once we reached the mall, and after making sure the car was locked, I was dragged to the mall.

“I know where he would be, I can take you there,” he smiles dragging me behind him.

I stay quiet at his sudden excitement and giggle while trying my best to keep up with his giraffe legs. When he finally came to a stop, he waved enthusiastically to a relatively small male with snow white hair and piercing red eyes surrounded by deep bags. As soon as he noticed us, I was again dragged toward the table this boy was sitting at.

“Hey there, Karbro,” Gamzee smiles.

“Sit down you . . . Just sit down.” The boy mutters with a slight growl his voice was surprisingly high.

As Gamzee and I sat down I waved a bit. “Hello, you must be the ICE contact?”

“ICE?” he gave me a pointed look.

“Yes. Gamzee’s In Case of Emergency contact,” I chuckle pulling my phone out.

“Oh, I remember talking to you now. You’re that Thalos girl that called to make sure you had the right number.” The white-haired boy nods.

“Yeah, it’s kind of my job to check in with all emergency contacts and such. Anyway, I’m Zalara by the way. You should probably know that if your Moirail is going to be housing with my sister and I.” I smile holding out my hand to him.

“Why are you letting him stay with you?” he mutters.

I notice that Gamzee is distracted by his phone, and I heave a sigh before explaining myself. “Alright, so I’m guessing that you’ve known Gamzee for a long time and I’m sure you’re worried about him. I am the Assistant manager at our place of work and on my way to work yesterday evening I saw him bleeding out on the ground in an alley. I wasn’t about to just watch someone I know bleed to death. And from what I’m guessing he doesn’t like hospitals at all, or even the thought of doctors. Now all I had intended to do was give him medical attention to keep him walking for a bit until I could get him to the hospital. Until he told me that Terezi kicked him out, I actually don’t know all the details, but I assume that even if he was still living with her, he would have been long dead before she realized that he was hurt. All I really came here to do was to give you my address so if you needed to find Gamzee you knew where to go instead of looking all over the place.”

“Alright. Well, I can drop off his things from Terezi’s tomorrow afternoon. Thanks, I guess, for doing this,” Kar sighs.

“You know I don’t know your full name. Gamzee wrote Karbro for your emergency contact name,” I clarify writing the address down on a napkin.

“Gamzee, you fucking nooksucker,” Groans the boy. “My name isn’t Karbro, it’s Karkat Vantas.”

“Here you go. Thank you for understanding,” I smile handing him the napkin.

“Isn’t she somethin miraculous?” Gamzee sighs talking to Karkat.

I hear a scoff before I signal Gamzee to follow me out to the truck. We took our time walking back because I could see some form of pain etched deep in Gamzee’s purple eyes. Grabbing his hand, I keep walking to make sure he doesn’t get separated from me and notice his pace getting gradually slower as we walk out of the mall.

“I knew I should have forced you to stay home,” I sigh walking closer and force him to lean on me.

“No, I’m all up and fine Lil mama. No reason to worry,” he chuckles.

“Gamzee, fine if you say so,” I roll my eyes unlocking the truck and helping him inside. “It’s not too late in the day, so I guess I can call my friend to check on you.”

He stays silent as I walk around the truck to climb into the front seat, and I know usually it’s hard for girls that are shorter to drive a truck, but it was how I first learned. I quickly pull from the spot that I had chosen, driving as legally as I could back to my house.

“Lil mama, are you alright?” Gamzee’s low voice asks startling me.

“I’m fine just a little jittery, I get anxious when someone I know is in pain,” I explain quietly.

“You wanna listen to some music to calm you down a bit,” he offers turning on the radio.

I chuckle knowing that if I argue against it, he will do what he wants to anyway, and I continue driving a bit more normal now. Then surprisingly the smooth tones of swing music flood my speakers, I blush deep ivy while pulling to stop at a convenience store. I get out of the car and walk into the store taking a glance back at him before proceeding to buy some quick things. I grab the necessities and some Faygo before paying and making my way back to the car. Climbing back in I giggle seeing Gamzee still calmly listening to the same music. I never expected swing music to be his cup of tea. I put the car in drive and take one more glance at him before driving us the rest of the way home. Once parking in the garage I climb out and watch as the second car following me pulls in.

“Nice to see you, Horrus. You made great time,” I smirk walking to the other side and helping Gamzee out of the car.

“Hello, Makara I presume.” Horrus asks with a smile.

“I’m only being nice since, this Lil mama was nice enough to take such good care of me,” Gamzee snaps with a glare.

I roll my eyes and beckon Horrus into the house while dragging Gamzee with me, Jupiter laughs at a movie playing loudly in the background.

“Hey, sis can you turn it down,” I clamor helping Gamzee into the den.

“So, what happened exactly?” Horrus asks as he begins setting his small bag down.

“Well, I’m not sure what happened before I found him, but Gamzee was on the ground bleeding profusely from a stab wound in his left side,” I explain gesturing for Gamzee to remove his shirt.

“I’m all up and fine Lil mama,” Gamzee protest while lifting his shirt to show the large bandage that I had managed to get on him.

Forcing his shirt up I show the soaked bandage. Maybe laying down and resting should have been the first thing and the only thing he did.

“I need to check that immediately,” he panics.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was bleeding again?” I grumble.

“It didn’t hurt all that much… Sorry Lil mama,” Gamzee looks down.

Horrus was full work mode, maybe thirty minutes and he was finished. Gamzee had stiches holding together the skin and a new cleaner bandage.

“You know how to take care of those, Zalara,” Horrus nods.

I send a nod. “Thank you, make sure you tell me how much that was later.”

“It’s fine.”

“You know I hate when you try to give my sister handouts."

#homestuck x oc #I'm not fixing it #it was supposed to be x reader #gamzee makara #gamzee x oc #humanstuck #humanstuck gamzee #a's drafts

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