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wooahaeproductions · 5 months

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You Drive Me Crazy (But It Feels Alright)

Lee Jihoon (Woozi) x Female Reader

Genre: angst, fluff, smut, fake dating au, 90s au, ex-best friends au, and heavily based off the movie You Drive Me Crazy

Word Count: 15.2k (IM SO SORRY🙃 )

Warnings: language, mentions of terminal illness and death, bullying, drinking, drunken bad ideas, mentions of medicine, cheating, breakups, general college debauchery, making fun of furs in the fashion industry (used only to go with the 90s vibes), lots of feelings and oppressing them, jokes and conversations about sex, making out and kissing, and mentions of vomiting.

Smut Warnings: a little dry humping, semi public sex in a backyard treehouse? and protected sex (honestly the smut in this is pretty vanilla)

Rating: 18+

A/N: After forever, I’m excited to present this fic to you. I have never written anything this long before so once again I am sorry. Thank you to @beomcoups and @mingsolo for hosting the Now That’s 90’s! collab, as a 90s kid myself it was my pleasure to participate. Please go check out all the other amazing writers who joined as well!

Special thanks to Indi @playmetheclassics and Sammie @slightlymore for beta reading this monster for me. You guys are the best and I love you 💕 ~Bee

Network tags: @kbookshelf

With one last glance at your appearance in the mirror, you grabbed your bookbag from the chair in the corner of your room. You headed down the long curved staircase before opening the front door of the sorority house.

You were almost going to be late, and to make matters worse, you came face-to-face with your enemy at the end of the driveway. Which wasn’t that unusual since he walked this way too, despite living further away, but you tried your best to avoid him anyway.

“Ew, what are you doing here?” Jihoon asks, walking past you at the driveway and lifting his lip in disgust.

“I live at the sorority, remember, asshole?” you spat, hating the fact that you had to walk in the same direction to get to campus. You two had been this way for a long time now, and it had become a habit to be prickly toward him.

It hadn’t always been like that, though. In fact, you guys used to be best friends, completely inseparable. At least until his mom got sick when you were in junior high, and he started hanging out with some different people and getting into trouble. You then got in with the popular kids, and you and Jihoon have become enemies ever since.

You two walked stiffly beside each other as you reached the edge of campus, and Jihoon’s friends appeared. Seokmin put him in a small headlock, and Seungkwan gave you a small smile while Wonwoo just shook his head. You actually knew his three best friends as well. You all used to hang out way back when. You smiled meekly back before arms wrapped around your shoulders, and your boyfriend, Johnny, had found you as well.

“Hey, babe,” Johnny said, smacking a kiss near your ear. You resisted the urge to cringe. He was in the popular crowd too, a football player. While he wasn’t that bad and was easy on the eyes, he was boring, only caring about football and whatever party was next to attend. You missed having someone with a level of intelligence, someone you could debate things with like you used to do with Jihoon. It didn’t matter, though. You were enemies now, and nothing would change that.

You made it through your first few classes, and you were having lunch in the courtyard with Johnny along with what you considered the entire popular crew, including your best friend, Jennie. You sat at a long table, eating a sandwich while everyone talked about the next football game and a party at Mingyu’s that was happening later.

Across the courtyard, you spotted Jihoon in your line of vision, his girlfriend pushing him against the concrete wall, practically sucking his face off. You swallowed a bite of your sandwich, trying not to gag. Just as you turned away from the sight, Seungkwan was walking past. Before you could stop him, Johnny pretended to accidentally put his foot out in front of him. Seungkwan tripped over it, dropping the food he was carrying all over the ground and falling forward. The entire table erupted in laughter as Johnny retracted his foot like it had never been there. “Having trouble walking, Kwannie?” Johnny’s best friend, Mark heckled.

Seungkwan looked at Mark and Johnny with loathing. You got up, giving Johnny and Mark a glare. “What? We were only having some fun,” Johnny said innocently. You threw what was left of your food in the trash and walked over to Seungkwan. You stuck your hand out, letting him grab it and helped him up from the ground.

“Thanks, Y/N. You know you didn’t have to,” he said.

“I know, Seungkwan, but it’s not like I hate you too,” you said softly.

“See you around,” he said, a sad smile on his face before he walked out of the courtyard.

Later that evening, you were getting ready for Mingyu’s party with Jennie because both she and Johnny insisted you had to appear. “So, our sorority ball is coming up…do you think Johnny is going to ask you soon?” Jennie asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure he’s going to. I mean, who else would I go with?” you said, brushing off her question. You were helping plan the entire thing, and he knew it was important, so there wasn’t any reason why he wouldn’t be asking you.

She nodded, but her face said she was skeptical. “What about you? Has anyone asked you yet?” You turned the question around on her.

“No, but I’m sure Mingyu or Taeyong will ask. It’s not like I don’t have options,” she bragged, and you struggled to hide your contempt. While you were part of the popular crowd, Jennie had always been the most popular. Others were more drawn to her than you.

You escaped the rest of the conversation with Jennie when it was interrupted by a honking sound, indicating Johnny was there to pick the two of you up to go to the party. You both walked outside and as you approached his truck, you heard music blasting out of the open windows. Mark was in the front passenger seat while you and Jennie slipped in the back with Mark’s girlfriend, Miyeon.

Miyeon waved at you and you barely got your seatbelt on before the truck lurched forward, making its way down the road towards Mingyu’s house. “Who’s ready to dominate at pong tonight?” Mark bragged.

“Yeahhhhh,” Johnny enthused, reaching over to bump Mark’s fist with his. You rolled your eyes and looked over at Jennie. She just shrugged at you like it wasn’t as big of an annoyance as you were making it out to be.

The truck swung into the driveway of Mingyu’s house, and as Johnny cut the engine, it was replaced by the louder sounds of the house party. More music blasted from the back of the house where the pool was, and you could hear the sounds of splashing along with the hum of many people conversing at once.

You followed behind Johnny as you weaved through the house, making your way to the kitchen for a drink. The large island was littered with many types of alcohol and random snacks. The signature punch bowl filled with some sort of pink liquid had also made its usual appearance, but you had made that mistake enough times and knew better enough to stay far away from it.

You grabbed a red solo cup from the stack on the counter, making a mixed drink out of some random soda and liquor that sounded decent. It looked like Johnny had done the same and was pulling you by the hand to go out in the backyard where Mingyu and the rest of their buddies were. Jennie was already cozying up and dancing with some guy you didn’t recognize, likely from another university.

Meanwhile, Jihoon was on a date with his girlfriend, Shayla at a weird little bar across ton. Well, it was supposed to be a date, but all Jihoon had done was down beers while Shayla listened to some guy on the stage in front drone on about how real furs were being used in the fashion industry.

Jihoon hated how Shayla was looking at this guy, like he was the one single-handedly stopping the usage of real furs. Never mind the fact that she was on a date with Jihoon, her boyfriend. Jihoon scowled as he chugged beer after beer.

He didn’t even notice how drunk he was until he got up and the room started spinning slightly. Stumbling over his chair, he looked over to find that Shayla had gone to the edge of the stage and was actively flirting with the fur guy. Jihoon needed to go to the bathroom and then he needed to get out of there.

As he was washing his hands in the bathroom, he stared at his reflection in the mirror and realized he had started to sober up rather quickly, but he had ridden here with Shayla. Jihoon found the pay phone near the door of the bar. The opening and closing of the door created cold rushes of air, sobering him even more. He called one of his best friends, who also happened to be a designated driver for when the popular kids had parties.

After feeding the pay phone the correct amount of coins and dialing the number, Wonwoo’s voice picked up after a few rings. “Jihoooonnnn, what’s up?” Wonwoo asked.

“Can you come get me from that stupid bar Shayla likes? I drank, and Shayla drove here,” Jihoon explained.

“And you aren’t coming back with her?” Wonwoo questioned. Jihoon looked back toward the table he had been at with Shayla, only to find her making out with the fur dude.

“No, we broke up,” he said, bitterly.

Wonwoo sighed. “Alright, I’ll come get you before we head to pick someone up at Mingyu’s party,” he said before hanging up.

Jihoon hung up the line on his end and made a beeline back to where Shayla was. He tapped on her shoulder, breaking her from the make-out session, and immediately her face turned into one of someone who had been caught.

“We’re done, Shayla,” Jihoon said, rather dryly. He turned on his heel, not waiting for a reaction from her and walked out of the bar to wait for Wonwoo outside in the parking lot.

When Jihoon was busy drowning in beers at the bar, you were also having an unfortunate turn of events. The party started out fine, you were having a good time dancing with Johnny and it progressed into being his partner for beer pong against Mark and Miyeon.

Unfortunately, you and Johnny were losing. It started out okay, Johnny was being a bit of a gentleman and was drinking for you, but that was leaving him pretty smashed. It was Mark’s turn and he had gotten the ball in another cup, making Johnny drink yet another cup of beer.

Johnny stumbled backward, spilling most of the contents of his cup on a girl who was walking behind him. It was like a scene from a movie, you watched as Johnny apologized to her and their eyes met each other’s. Anyone around could have seen the immediate connection.

You originally tried to brush it off but with Johnny being as drunk as he was, it was apparent that something was bound to happen. Later, when you had come inside to use the bathroom, you would find Johnny and that girl sucking face right next to the bathroom door.

A screamed breakup and way too many drinks later, Jennie had called a designated driver to take you home. You sat on Mingyu’s front porch, sulking and watching the world spin when Wonwoo’s car pulled up.

“Hey there, Y/N,” Wonwoo said, getting out of the driver's seat and approaching you on the porch. You gave him a nonchalant peace sign before noticing he had another passenger in the car.

“Oh, great. That’s just the thing to top off my night, being stuck in a car with Jihoon while I’m drunk,” you said sarcastically, letting Wonwoo lead you down the steps and toward the car.

“I know, Y/N, but he called me too, and he is my friend as well. Try to bear with it, and you’ll be home soon enough,” Wonwoo said, knowing full well the relationship, or rather hate-ship, between you and Jihoon.

You rolled your eyes but slid into the seat next to Jihoon as Wonwoo shut the door after you. “Seriously, Wonwoo? This is who you needed to pick up from Mingyu’s party?” Jihoon’s annoyance was evident. Already tired from your rant, Wonwoo just gave him a hard stare in the rearview mirror.

Leaving the party, the car was silent until Wonwoo brought up the reason for picking you up. “Y/N, you aren’t one to get that drunk at these parties. Jennie may have mentioned something happened..”

You pulled your sweater around you and grumbled. “Johnny got too drunk, and after some weird drama connection shit, I found him and a girl from another university making out. He claims they ‘fell in love’,” you explained, using air quotes at the end.

“So you broke up?” Jihoon’s question surprised you, but you were too tired and drunk to actively be rude to him

“Yeah, we broke up,” you confirmed.

“Seems to be the theme tonight,” Wonwoo mused from the front seat.

Confused, you looked over at Jihoon who was picking at his hands and looking at something particularly enthralling on the floor of the automobile. So, he and Shayla must have broken up as well. You felt that was interesting since they seemed attached at the hip, attached at the mouth too. Jihoon looked out the window now, and you saw a hurt in his eyes that he so seldom showed, but it was a familiar vulnerability that you remember from when you were kids.

“We’re here, Y/N,” Wonwoo announced, and you realized he had pulled up in front of your sorority house. You didn’t know if it was the alcohol or being in an enclosed space with Jihoon that messed with your perception of time, but you were home quicker than you expected.

“Oh. Um, thanks, Wonwoo,” you mumbled, pushing the passenger door of the car open.

“Are you good? Can you get to the door okay?” Wonwoo asked.

“Yeah,” you responded, swinging your heavy-feeling feet out of the car before shutting the door a little harder than you meant to.

Jihoon watched as you stumbled down the walkway and nearly smacked yourself in the knee when you opened the front door of the sorority, a chuckle escaping him. “Was that a laugh I heard?” Wonwoo asked, turning around in his seat to scrutinize Jihoon’s expression.

“No…” Jihoon mumbled and cleared his throat. Wonwoo just shook his head, turned back to the front and pulled away from the sorority house to drop off his friend.

“So, are you really that broken up about Shayla?” Wonwoo inquired, filling the five-minute drive with conversation.

“Honestly? Not really. I’m more upset about the way we broke up rather than the actual break up,” Jihoon explained, his hand running at his bangs in annoyance.

“Seriously. Out of everyone she could have kissed, it was some dumb activist guy at the bar. Now that you guys are over, I can say this, but Seok, Seungkwan, and I didn’t really think she fit with you. You deserve so much better,” Wonwoo ranted on Jihoon’s behalf.

The car had pulled up in Jihoon’s driveway while they were talking, and Jihoon slapped a hand on Wonwoo’s shoulder as he got up from the backseat. “Thanks, Woo. I know you guys didn’t care for her much, so now it’s ancient history,” Jihoon said, leaving Wonwoo alone in the car and making his way up his front porch steps.

He had barely gotten into the house and gone up the stairs to his room to flop onto his bed when the phone rang. “No, Seokmin. For the final time, we are not adding dancing suns to the music video edit,” Jihoon said into the phone automatically, not even bothering to say a greeting first.

“Uh, what?” you asked, confused.

Hearing your voice on the other line caused Jihoon to sit upright immediately. “Y/N? How did you get this number?” he questioned, surprised.

“I remembered it..” you said, softly. As much as you hated Jihoon, your memories of your childhood remained, and that included his phone number.

“Oh. So..why are you calling?” he asked, falling back onto his bed.

“I had an idea. What if...we dated each other?” You stated your idea, twirling the phone cord around your finger.

“What if we what? Y/N, you’re drunk,” Jihoon exclaimed.

“I'm not anymore, just hear me out. Not really dating but just pretending so that we could get what we wanted. I’d get to go to the sorority dance that I worked hard to plan and maintain my status while making Johnny jealous, and you’d get to show Shayla that she made a big mistake,” you blurted out your crazy idea.

“I don't know where you got this insane idea, but you should drink some water and take an ibuprofen for the nasty headache you’ll have in the morning,” he said, sighing.

“I’m serious, just think about it okay? Goodnight, Ji,” you said, his old nickname rolling off your tongue easily.

Jihoon sighed again, “Good night, Y/N,” and he hung up the phone before falling asleep.

Your sleep was invaded by the sunlight shining in through your window, and as you opened your eyes, the splitting headache that resulted from last night's events made itself known. You sat up in bed slowly, pressing the palm of your hand against your eyes as if that would help when you remembered your phone call last night with Jihoon. He told you to drink water and take an ibuprofen.

You got up sluggishly and made your way to the bathroom, grabbing the cup that you left on the counter for when you got thirsty in the middle of the night. You filled it with water from the sink and found the ibuprofen bottle that was kept in the cabinet, spilling two pills into your palm. You popped them in your mouth and knocked them back, taking a drink of the water to swallow them.

As you took a second drink of water for good measure, the rest of your conversation with Jihoon passed through your memories, and you spit water all over the mirror in front of you. You knew that you had been thinking how pretending to date each other would be an option, but you didn’t think you would actually ask him to do it. Apparently, drunken Y/N thought otherwise and had straight up called him and asked him to do it.

You smacked yourself in the forehead, making your head feel worse. “Well, it’s been said. And he didn’t agree to it yet, so let’s see what happens,” you murmured to yourself, resigned to the fact that it had indeed been said and maybe he wouldn’t go for it. No sense in being embarrassed about something you barely remember saying.

Which is why you didn’t expect to have Jihoon standing in front of you in the campus cafe on Monday morning saying, “I’ll do it,” causing you to spit your drink out for the second time in three days.

“You’ll what?” you asked, incredulous, as you wiped the coffee you sprayed all over the table in front of you.

Jihoon sighed, not wanting to repeat himself. “I said, I’ll do it. Let’s fake date,” he repeated anyway, slowly to make his words heard. You blinked and just stared at him, absorbing what he just said. He stared back, his eyes boring into yours, and you saw no sign of his usual pettiness or jokes.

“Okay,” you finally breathed out, “but we should have some rules.”

“Agreed,” he said, sitting down next to you now.

“Okay….” you said, mulling over what those rules would actually be. “Alright, you’ll need a makeover. No one would believe we are together looking like…this,” you continued, gesturing at his overall self.

“Like what, Y/N?” Jihoon asked, even though he knew full well what you meant.

“We need to make it seem like you are someone I’d go for,” you said, trying to make your case.

“Fine, but I will not like it,” he replied with a glare, and you let out a little triumphant smile. “So then the other rule is that we have an easy out clause,” he said, offering a rule of his own.

“An easy out clause?” you questioned.

“Yeah. So we can end the fake relationship at any time for any reason, and there won’t be any hard feelings. Other than the ones we already have for each other, of course,” Jihoon continued.

“Alright, an easy out clause,” you agreed. You let the awkward silence stew between the two of you for a bit before you spoke once more. “We both have classes until 4 pm today and then I have some work for the ball to do…are you free tomorrow night?”

“I think so, but why?” he asked, skeptically.

“So we can take care of the first rule, your makeover,” you replied.

Jihoon grimaced. “Okay, meet me in front of my house at 6 pm tomorrow,” he said, getting up and stuffing his hands in his pockets before leaving for his class. You attempted to finish what was left of your coffee and head off to your next class as well.

The next day at 6 pm, like promised, you were standing in front of a very familiar house from your childhood-Jihoon’s house. While you joined a sorority and lived on campus, Jihoon still lived here with his dad. Not only was it close to the university, but you figured some part of him didn’t want to leave his dad alone.

You took a deep breath and walked up the front steps, ringing the doorbell. The door swung open, revealing Jihoon’s dad. “Well hello, Y/N. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you,” he said, opening the door further to let you step inside.

“Hi Mr. Lee,” you said, standing in the foyer rather awkwardly. Honestly, the last time you stepped foot in this house was the day of Mrs. Lee’s funeral. It was also the last time you and Jihoon acted like friends.

“Ji should be down in a minute,” Mr Lee said, leaving you and going back into the kitchen. You looked down at your feet, rocking back and forth on your heels until you heard the creaking of the stairs. Jihoon looked like his usual self, wearing jeans and a band tee. You couldn’t help but smile. However, if the two of you dating were to seem real then he needed to fit in with the popular crowd. And that started with a look that aligned with that.

Jihoon cleared his throat, suddenly standing in front of you, and you realized you must have spaced out. “Ready?” he asked.

“Yeah, we should get going,” you said. He grabbed his car keys from the small table near the door before ushering you back through the front door and closing it behind him. He also opened the passenger door of the car for you, making you quirk an eyebrow at his actions. His only response was a shrug of the shoulders.

After you were both settled in the car he asked, “So where to?”

“The mall,” you responded with an excited smile.

Jihoon groaned, “Are you trying to kill my reputation as a geek?” You blinked, surprised at his joking tone before letting out a giggle.

“Precisely,” you answered, laughing once more. Jihoon started the car, driving toward the demise of his geekdom, or at least the image of it.

After about fifteen minutes had passed, he pulled into the parking lot of the city mall, also known as the place where all the popular kids shopped and hung out.

You walked into the large, store-filled building with Jihoon trailing behind you. Pausing at the entrance, you thought about what you needed to do first. “New outfits,” you pondered out loud. You looked over at Jihoon who was mashing his lips together and you grabbed the edge of his shirt, pulling him with you to the first clothing store.

You deposited him in the middle of the store, near the dressing rooms. Jihoon stood there almost in awe as you swirled around the store, picking up different combinations of pants and shirts to create outfits for him to try on. He was already exhausted, and he hadn’t even tried anything on yet.

After what felt like forever, you returned, holding up multiple outfits for him. He sighed, something he was doing a lot when he was with you. “The sooner you try them on, the sooner we can be done,” you said, trying to sound motivating. Lucky for you, he knew you were right and took the hangers of clothes from you. He trudged into the dressing room and shut the door behind him.

You made him come out after every outfit, much to his annoyance. You rather enjoyed it, clapping and smiling for most of the outfits. You were proud of yourself for picking things out that made him look the perfect mix of sophisticated and casual. You gathered all the outfits that worked and brought them up to the checkout counter, once again with Jihoon trailing behind you.

Coming to stand next to you, Jihoon went to take his wallet out of his pocket, but you grabbed his wrist to stop him. “Don’t worry about it. It was my idea for the makeover,” you said, handing money to the cashier as she placed his new clothes in a bag. She handed the bag to you.

“Are you sure?” Jihoon asked.

“I’m sure,” you confirmed, handing the bag of clothes over to him. As you pulled your hand away, your stomach let out a few grumbles.

He let out an amused snort and said, “This place has a food court, right?” You nodded, and your stomach grumbled some more. “Let’s get some food then.”

You led the way toward the center of the mall, where all the food smells were coming from and a few minutes later, the two of you sat across from each other at a table with pieces of pizza in front of you. Another memory with Jihoon crossed your mind as you chewed a piece of the cheesy slice. “You remember the time Seungkwan’s mom specially bought that only cheese pizza for him at your birthday party and when he fell asleep early, we ate it all?” you asked, a smirk gracing your face as you remembered your childhood antics.

“He was so mad. He didn’t talk to us for like a week and then hid his pizza the next time there was a party,” Jihoon laughed. It grew silent again after that, not exactly an awkward silence but not a comfortable one either. You were nearly done with your pizza when Jihoon asked another question. “This makeover doesn’t include other things, like cutting my hair or something?”

You looked up at him. You looked at his slightly shaggy black hair and his bangs that lightly brushed over his forehead. You didn’t know what possessed you, but you reached forward and grazed you fingered through the ends of his hair. Your eyes locked and instead of the growling it had done earlier, your stomach did flip flops. You panicked slightly and abruptly pulled your hand away. “No, I don’t think we need to change anything else..” you said, looking down at the table.

Before things could get weirder, you two finished eating and left the mall with your mission accomplished.

The car was quiet as it sat in the driveway of your sorority and Jihoon wondered why you hadn’t taken your seatbelt off to get out of the car yet. You were struggling, debating whether you wanted to tell him something that you had thought about telling him for ages. What better time than to say it now, a day when you spent the most time with him than you had in years?

“Listen, Jihoon…” you started in a bit of a solemn tone. He turned to look at you. “When your mom got sick, I just didn’t know what to do or how to feel. Then at her funeral, I wasn’t sure how to comfort you or even if I could. And then you started getting in trouble at school and hanging out with other people. I’m just…I’m sorry.”

Jihoon gave a wry smile after listening to your whole blurted speech. “It’s okay, I get it,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do or how to feel either, and then eventually we became…enemies sorta?”

You nodded. “How about we be, uh, frenemies now, I guess?”

He snorted at that. “Frenemies,” he agreed.

Eventually, you took off your seatbelt and opened the car door. Before you fully shut it, you peeked your head in to remind Jihoon of your next plans. “Remember, we should be seen together at the football game tomorrow and then at the diner with my friends after.”

He cringed but said, “Okay, see you tomorrow then,” and you shut the car door before watching him pull out of the driveway.

A few hours before the football game you mentioned to Jihoon that you were in the journalism room with Jennie, Miyeon, and a few other girls who were part of the ball planning committee. You were trying to finalize the theme so that you could get started on getting the decorations. The ball was held at the same place every year, so you didn’t have to worry about that, at least. Everyone was set on their own idea for the theme, and no one could come to a decision, making you massage your temples in frustration.

You were really regretting not grabbing that coffee before this meeting when the very thing you wanted appeared in front of you. A iced coffee was sat in front of you and you looked up to find Jihoon, looking nonchalant with his hands in his pockets like always. “Thanks. How did you know I was here?” you asked, surprised.

He shrugged. “I was here working in the editing room on something with Seungkwan and Wonwoo and saw you were still here. I thought you could probably use the caffeine.” You squinted at him before slowly taking a drink of the coffee, wondering if he had some sort of other motive. Then he leaned forward and whispered in your ear, “I’m just trying to make it look like we didn’t, you know, suddenly go from hating each other to dating. So, just go with it.”

Of course, there it was. He couldn’t have really just thought to bring it to you for no reason at all other than just because. You were supposed to be fake dating starting today, so he needed to make it look true.

Arguing between Jennie and Miyeon brought you back to reality, and you sighed. “Guys!” you snapped, making them both stop midargument. “Look, it’s almost time for the game and we should be there. Let’s try and come to an agreement by next week. If that’s not possible, then I’ll be making the final decision, by myself,” you said. Miyeon looked surprised at your unusual forcefulness while Jennie just looked, well annoyed.

You grabbed what was left of the coffee Jihoon brought you and him by the arm. “We should get over to the stadium,” you said and left the room with the others, wondering what was up with you, or more importantly you and him.

“Okay, chill,” Jihoon said, pulling his arm back from you once you were in the hall.

“Sorry,” you said, letting him pull his arm back. You looked up at him, finally noticing that he was also wearing one of the outfits you had picked out the day before. You smiled at him.

“What?” he asked, wondering why the heck you were smiling at him like a weirdo in the middle of the hallway.

“I didn’t think you would be wearing the clothes yet,” you responded.

“I thought that was the deal? Now come on, let’s watch some stupid game and start this dating thing in front of your friends.” Jihoon grabbed your hand, leading you down the hall and out the door to head to the football stadium. Why was your heart feeling funny?

An hour later, Jihoon was sitting next to you in the bleachers complaining in your ear about how “all a football game is, is an excuse for dudes to touch other dudes' butts.” You rolled your eyes but couldn’t help but laugh.

“Go, Fight, Win!” A chant had started in the stadium and was gaining more people with it. After about the third round of the chant, you joined, smirking at Jihoon. He looked at you chanting with your other friends that sat nearby and shook his head. You nudged him, smiling like a maniac.

Rolling his eyes, he finally joined with a monotone, “Go, Fight, Win!” and a half-hazard fist pump in the air. Then something happened. Watching the game, feeling the excitement of the crowd, and seeing you sitting next to him, enjoying yourself; he thought maybe this wasn’t so bad, fun even. Next thing he knew, as the chant ended he was taking turns shouting insults at the refs with Mark and high-fiving him.

You looked at him. It was peculiar. All that fuss and now he was fitting in like he had been a part of the group from the beginning. You couldn’t help but think that it could have been this way all along, as if you and Jihoon never had been enemies.

After the game, you and Jihoon made an official new couple appearance at the diner your friends often frequented after games. You had barely sat down in the group booth with your food when Jennie pounced. “So after seeing you two together twice today, I need to ask. Are you two like a thing now?” she asked, pointing between the two of you. You nodded. Jennie gave a look of distaste. “How on earth did that happen?”

“So, remember the night at Mingyu’s party when Johnny and I broke up and I got drunk, you called me a designated driver? Well, Jihoon had also called Wonwoo and was in the car too. It just sort of happened?” you explained. None of that was technically wrong at all, that was what happened. You just left out the part about the drunken phone call later and you know, the fact that it was fake.

Jennie looked over at Jihoon, who had his mouth full of fries. “Yeah, pretty much,” Jihoon confirmed with his mouth full and Jennie gave a slightly disgusted look. Seeming satisfied with that answer, Jennie left it alone and conversation flowed around the table. Mark, Mingyu, and Jihoon were debating things about a video game and you found yourself smiling once again at the fact that they seemed to be getting along well.

Yet, your smile fell when you looked at the other side of the table to see Johnny and his new girlfriend making out. You didn’t know why, but tears were gathering at the corners of your eyes. “I’ll be right back, bathroom,” you mumbled. Jihoon heard the tone in your voice and the sheen in your eyes and was pulled from his video game conversation. He immediately saw what likely upset you, and decided he needed to do something about it when you came back.

In the bathroom, you splashed water on your face and hoped that would help regain your composure. You took a few deep breaths and made sure there was no trace of your sudden tear-up before heading back out to the table. As you sat back down next to Jihoon, he asked “Everything okay, babe?” He wrapped an arm over your shoulders pulling you close to him and placed a peck on your forehead.

Babe? Your brain malfunctioned and you were frozen at Jihoon’s side. “Y/N….” he hissed in your ear and you broke from your stupor. “Oh, sorry. Yes, I’m good,” you answered. He must be doing this for show, to make it really look like you were dating and to make Johnny jealous, right? It had to be that, of course.

“So, you’re friends with DD Wonwoo, right?” Mark was asking Jihoon now.

“Yeah, we are friends. And it’s Wonwoo, not DD Wonwoo. Just Wonwoo,” he answered and you could hear irritation starting in his voice.

“Cool, you think he’d be down to be the designated driver for all our parties? We’ll pay.” Jihoon’s body tensed at the question.

“Okayyyyy,” you said the minute Mark finished his sentence, getting up and pulling Jihoon out of the booth with you. “It’s getting late and I’m tired. We’ll see you guys later,” you rushed out before dragging Jihoon out of the diner with you and leaving what was left of your food on the table.

“What the hell was that? Wonwoo has probably saved the lives of half those people in there and what? They just want to continue getting drunk off their rockers and think throwing money at him is compensation for that?” Jihoon was fuming. He was pacing back and forth in the parking lot, tugging his hand through his hair.

“Jihoon…” you started.

“Who do they think they are? Do they have no integrity? Did they trade their brains for being popular?” He continued to rant.

“Jihoon!” you said again, sharper this time.

“What?!” he shouted and you flinched slightly.

You didn’t know why, but you felt the urge to comfort him and calm him down. And to apologize even. You came up next to him, brushing his hand with yours, and said, “I’m sorry.” Jihoon’s breathing calmed down and his eyes met yours. “Endure it for me, please? I promise you and Wonwoo can do something mean to him the next time he’s drunk, okay?” you said.

Jihoon cracked a smile at that. “Fine…” he responded and stalked over to the car so he could get the two of you back home.

You and Jihoon had made appearances at a few other things during the week, but as Friday approached there was actually one you were looking forward to the most. It was starting to get warmer, which meant some days were spent soaking up the sun at the river.

The ball’s committee had also taken your previous threat about choosing the theme on your own seriously and had finally come to a consensus. The theme was Moments in Time and you were looking forward to downtime with your friends before having to plan more for the ball. Maybe you were looking forward to downtime with Jihoon too.

This time you were all riding with Mingyu in his jeep, floats and picnic supplies strapped to the utility bar on top of the vehicle. He had come to pick you up with everyone else in the car but Jihoon and he would be picked up last. Which meant that when Mingyu honked at Jihoon’s house, the only seat left in the car was in the backseat, squished in the middle next to you.

Squeezing in next to you, you became immediately aware of his bare legs pressing against your own. He was in the swim trunks you had picked out for him and a t-shirt, already prepared for the day's activities. “Ouch,” you said as he accidentally pinched your arm between him and the seat.

“I’m sorry, is this better?” Jihoon asked, moving his arm over your shoulders so that you could settle next to him.

You swallowed down the butterflies that were now becoming a common occurrence when you were with him. You were still doing everything you could to ignore them. It was just the proximity and situation making you feel that way. You didn’t actually like him. At least, that’s what you kept telling yourself.

You didn’t dare speak words out loud, afraid it would come out garbled or as a squeak. You just nodded in response, the warming of your cheeks still threatening to give you away. Throughout the entire drive to the river, you were painfully aware of how much his body was touching yours.

When Mingyu pulled into the parking lot of the River Park, you nearly flung yourself out of the car causing both Jihoon and Jennie to look at you like you were insane. As the others got out of the car, you moved your attention to retrieving your things from the back. You grabbed your bag, which held a swim towel, sunscreen, and a few snacks.

More bags were grabbed, leaving the trunk area empty while Mark and Mingyu worked on getting the other things down from the rack on the roof. You waited until everything had been taken before walking down the path that led to the larger bank of the river. The area was a little rocky but many of the rocks were big enough to lay blankets and towels on.

You spotted one big enough for multiple people to spread out on and it was also close enough to the river itself, which would make it easy to get in and out of the water. It was decided the girls would take the spot you found and the boys would hang out on the next one over. You spread your towel out, setting your bag near the front and slipping your sandals off on the other end to weigh it down before settling down on it in a cross-legged position.

Jennie and Miyeon put their things out next to you, while Jihoon was helping Mark and Mingyu set their chairs out on the other rock. You leaned backward on your hands, enjoying the sun on your face while chatting about things every once in a while with Jennie and Miyeon. You had tuned them out a little when Miyeon started talking about Mark’s sexual habits, comparing them with things Jennie’s many partners had done. Not only did you not want to know those things about Mark, but you didn’t really have anything to contribute since you and Jihoon obviously weren't on that level.

“Y/N? What about you and Jihoon?” Miyeon asked, bringing your attention back to the conversation.

“Well….it’s a secret,” you answered, trying to be as elusive as possible so you didn’t have to try and come up with more lies than needed.

“Oh, come on, Y/N,” Jennie goaded. “You cleaned Jihoon up so nicely, I'm sure you’ve had a piece of that.”

You looked at your best friend in annoyance. “Jihoon is a private person, I’d rather not discuss our sex life,” you responded. Miyeon seemed to understand but the look on Jennie’s face was like she took your response as a challenge.

The boys were having a similar conversation over at their rock, with Mingyu bragging about his latest endeavors. Jihoon didn’t really understand the need to boast about the subject as if it were a competition. “But what about Y/N, though?” Mingyu asked, looking over at Jihoon.

“What about her?” Jihoon questioned.

“She’s hot. You’d be stupid not to get a little ‘something, something’ while dating her,” Mingyu continued.

Jihoon narrowed his eyes, “Even if I have, Y/N has feelings too and I’m not going to divulge her sex life without her permission.”

“Okay, dude. I was just trying to make conversation,” Mingyu surrendered, putting his hands up as a white flag.

Mark took that as a sign for him and Mingyu to grab some floaties and go hang out in the river. Jihoon had brought his walkman and slipped on the headphones, going into his own little music world. Miyeon and Jennie had grown quiet now and were tanning behind you.

After scooting forward on your towel, you stuck your feet in the cool river water and let yourself relax a bit. You looked over to find Mark and Mingyu having a war on the floaties, both trying to push the other off and into the water. You shook your head at their antics and moved your feet back and forth in the water, creating a calming effect for yourself.

You weren’t sure how long you were all hanging out there but eventually Mingyu mentioned that you should all get home and you started packing things up. You looked over to find Jihoon gone from his previous spot.

Your eyes wandered around the river bank area and you finally spotted him, playing with two younger kids. “Oh noooo, you got me,” you heard him exclaim in mock upset. The two kids were squirting him with water from the super soakers they each had, both giggling the more exaggerated Jihoon sounded.

He moved, chasing them around and getting revenge with his own super soaker. You couldn’t help but smile at the pure joy you saw on his face as he played with them. He looked so at ease with them. You thought that maybe you really were starting to fall for him, but if you were then you couldn’t keep up this fake dating ruse. You promptly shook the thoughts from your head.

“Come on Captain Kangaroo, our ride is leaving,” you shouted across the bank. He looked up at your voice and shot you a devastatingly adorable smile that showed off his dimples. He gave the water gun back to the kids and he ruffled their hair, telling them he had fun.

He jogged to where you were, saying “Okay, let’s get going.” He picked up his things from the rock he and the boys were on earlier and the two of you headed back up the path to Mingyu’s jeep. All the items you had brought had been put back in the trunk and everyone was just waiting for you and Jihoon so you could head back home. You two were squished against each other again, in a similar position as on the way there. However, you weren’t paying attention to that part as much now that the scene of him playing with the kids earlier kept replaying in your head. Before you knew it, you all had been dropped off at your respective residences and it was time to settle down for the evening.

Jihoon had just walked in the door when his dad appeared holding the house phone. “Ah, good timing. Jihoon just came in, Seungkwan. Here,” he said, holding the phone out for Jihoon to take.

“Hey, Kwan. What’s up?” Jihoon said into the phone, bringing it up the stairs to his room with him.

“The Pixies are playing at the bar tomorrow night. Come with Seokmin, Wonwoo, and I,” Seungkwan said.

“I don’t know. I think one of Y/N’s friends is having a party that we are supposed to go to.”

Seungkwan sighed heavily. “I wasn’t going to bring this up, but you’ve changed. You used to hang out with us, you know, your best friends, all the time and now you're always with Y/N and her group of populars. Are we not good enough for you anymore, Jihoon?”

“Jesus, Seungkwan. No, I haven’t changed. I don’t like hanging out with them, I’m just there to make Y/N happy and somewhat get along with them.” Jihoon explained, annoyance tingeing his voice.

“Whatever you say,” Seungkwan gave a flippant response.

“Tell you what, I’ll talk to Y/N and see if we can come with you guys to the concert instead. Okay?” Jihoon compromised.

“Fine, let me know later,” Seungkwan conceded.

“Okay, bye.” Jihoon hung up the phone and rubbed his hands over his face. He didn’t think he was changing at all. He wasn’t fitting in with that crowd, was he? He was only pretending so that you two could fake date, right?

Jihoon picked the cordless phone back up from the bed where he flung it after saying goodbye to Seungwan and dialed your number.

“Hello?” your voice sounded from the other end.

“Hey,” Jihoon said.

“Jihoon? You usually don’t call me first,” you mentioned.

“I know, but I wanted to ask you something.”

“Okay…” you responded, a little confused.

“I know we are supposed to go to another party tomorrow but do you think we could do something with my friends instead? I feel like we only do things with your friends,” he complained.

You let out a rush of air. “Okay,” you agreed.

“Okay?” Jihoon asked, surprised you agreed that easily.

“Yeah, you’re right. And it seems weird for a couple to hang out with only one group of friends. Plus, they used to be my friends too…” you trailed off.

“Alright, then there’s a band we follow playing at a bar we go to. Seungkwan invited us and both Wonwoo and Seokmin will be there too. I can come get you at 5 pm tomorrow,” he told you.

“Sounds good. Hey, today was kind of nice wasn’t it?” you asked, a smile on your face as you remembered.

“Yeah, it was kind of nice,” Jihoon admitted and you both hung up the phone.

Even though it was a Saturday afternoon, Jihoon found himself on campus in the broadcasting room. Seungkwan and Wonwoo were there earlier too but Jihoon wanted to finish editing the music video they had been working on. They had gone to get lunch and would be back later.

It wasn’t that he was in a real hurry to finish it exactly, but he tended to immerse himself in his projects when he felt unsettled about something. He wasn’t even sure what he was specifically feeling weird about. Was it the fact that he really seemed to be getting along with your friends? Or was it that his heart seemed to speed up every time he caught your eyes yesterday?

All that could be heard in the room was the clicking of the mouse as he edited, thoughts swirling in his head. He was so distracted that he didn’t even realize that Wonwoo and Seungkwan had come back and that it was three hours later. He was brought back to reality as Seungkwan snapped his fingers in front of his face, literally snapping him out of whatever trance he was in. “Hellooooo, Jihoon,” Seungwan said, trying to get his attention.

“Oh, sorry, Kwan,” Jihoon responded and turned around in the computer chair he was sitting in.

“We should probably leave so we can all get ready for the concert tonight with Seok,” Wonwoo mentioned.

“Did you ask your girlfriend? Are you coming?” Seungkwan asked with a hint of bitterness.

“Actually, yeah. Y/N was kind of excited about it, so we’ll be there,” Jihoon said, ignoring Seungkwan’s tone.

Rather than getting into another heated discussion about whether Jihoon was acting like himself or not, Seungkwan and Wonwoo left and so did Jihoon after finishing the last bit of video editing. He went back home to get ready in another outfit you had chosen that day at the mall before going to pick you up. A few hours later, he was waiting in the car outside your dorm like he had multiple times before.

Jihoon drummed his fingers on the steering wheel along with the beat of the song that was on the radio as he waited for you. He was pretty into it and didn’t see when you had come out of the house. You grinned as you slowly approached the car. Jihoon had been into music when you were younger and it was nice to know he truly hadn’t changed much despite everything that happened. “Okay drummer boy, I’m here. We should leave,” you said, making him jump slightly at your voice before he unlocked the passenger side for you to get in.

“So what band are we going to see?” you asked when Jihoon had pulled out onto the road that would take you to the bar.

“The Pixies. Wonwoo found them one time when he was DD’ing and went to pick Seokmin up at the bar one time. They showed Seungkwan and me the next time they played and we liked them too, so we try to catch them every time they play there.” Jihoon explained and you could tell how much he liked the band.

“Hmm, okay. Well I’m excited to hang out with you guys, to see Seungkwan, and to get to know Wonwoo and Seokmin even more,” you said and you really were. You wanted to catch a glimpse of what Jihoon had been like for the period of time you didn’t know him. He hummed in acknowledgment. It was quiet for a few minutes before you spoke again. “Hey, do I..look okay? I’ve actually never been to this kind of thing before..” you asked, feeling a little nervous.

Jihoon looked a little surprised, but then again seeing a girl punk rock band at a hole-in-the-wall bar was not exactly your scene. Eventually, he scanned your outfit, taking in the dark jeans and nice shirt you were wearing. “Yeah, you look nice,” he responded. He was probably just being polite but you noticed he was also wearing something similar, making you wonder why you spent so much time trying to find the right outfit in the first place.

He pulled into the parking lot of the bar and parked next to a car that was familiar to you at this point, Wonwoo’s. You followed behind him as he walked into the bar and scanned the area for his friends. “Jihoon! Y/N!” you heard someone shout over the band that was already playing. You walked with Jihoon to where Seungkwan had shouted from, in the middle of a crowd standing somewhat near the stage. It got louder the closer you got to where Seungkwan, Seokmin, and Wonwoo were.

“Hey, boys!” you greeted them over the music.

“Hey, Y/N,” Seungkwan said when you got closer. Wonwoo gave a small wave and Seokmin flashed a smile.

“I’m going to grab some drinks from the bar. Want anything?” Jihoon asked you all.

“Martini for me, please,” Seungkwan said.

“Suprise me,” came Seokmin’s response.

“I’m driving, of course, so just club soda?” Wonwoo asked.

Jihoon looked over at you, waiting for your order. “Rum and coke?” you asked. Jihoon did not expect that from you. He figured you’d want something more fancy like Seungkwan wanted.

“Okay, be back soon then,” Jihoon said and he disappeared into the crowd.

You turned your attention to the stage in front of you that had since grown quiet, guessing that the band that was playing when you walked in was the opener for who you were really here to see. You were making small talk with the three boys while waiting for the main event and for Jihoon to come back. As you had noticed before, Wonwoo was quiet but funny and had quite a knack for video editing. Seokmin was bright, adding a lightness to their group. You talked with Seungkwan about your junior high days when you, Jihoon, and he made up a trio. You remembered those days fondly and definitely noticed how wary Seungkwan was when talking about that part of your shared past.

Before you could address that, the crowd started cheering and colored lights were starting to shine on the stage as a group of girls came on stage with their instruments. They looked amazing. The girl in front had her hair teased in a high pony and wore silver pants that matched the glittering tank top of the girl drummer behind her. She picked up a guitar and started playing a riff that must have been from one of their well-known songs, judging by the howling in the crowd. As the song continued to play, you realized you liked it. The punk aspect was not something you would not have normally picked, but it made you feel something.

Jihoon was still waiting for your drinks over at the bar and was turned around to watch the stage. His eyes were automatically drawn to where you were, finding you with your eyes glued to the stage and complete joy written on your face. He watched as you got closer to the stage, starting to jump up and down with the music. He honestly couldn’t take his eyes off of you. “Here you go,” the bartender said from behind him, setting the drinks on the bar top. Jihoon grabbed them all, balancing them in his hands and set off back into the crowd with an amused smile on his lips.

He wove back through all the people, stopping to give his friends their drinks before moving forward in the crowd to where you were standing. The song was finishing as he reached you and you screamed and clapped for the band, making Jihoon laugh at how much you were actually enjoying this. He tapped you on the shoulder and you turned, the look on your face probably the happiest he had seen recently.

“Your drink,” Jihoon said, passing the glass to you.

“Thank you,” you said, taking it from him and giving it a light sip before turning your attention to the next song. You began bouncing up and down to the beat of the new song, as much as you could without spilling your drink. Jihoon thought you were cute like this.

He stood there enjoying the music with you, his own drink in hand until you heard Wonwoo let out an “Ah, shit,” somewhere behind you.

“What’s wrong?” Jihoon questioned.

“She’s here,” Wonwoo responded.

“Who?” you asked, confused.

You followed Jihoon’s line of sight before you spotted who and he spoke her name. “Shayla.” She had a guy hanging off her, which you could only assume was the one she cheated on Jihoon with. You watched as they acted all lovey-dovey, making Jihoon look positively miserable. Her eyes crossed paths with Jihoon and you could only think of one thing to do, you kissed him.

You made out with him to be exact, tongue and all. You couldn’t bear how hurt he looked, couldn’t stand the fact that Shayla was looking at him like she still cared. Jihoon didn’t know how he should respond other than to let you continue kissing him. You kept sneaking peeks at Shayla out of the corner of your eye as you kept making out with him. Eventually, Shayla looked away with a bit of a sneer and pulled her boy toy to another area of the bar.

You pulled away from Jihoon and said, “Sorry, I was just returning the favor.” He had rescued you in a similar way, albeit a tamer way, that night at the dinner when your ex was there. You took it a little further than intended but you were just making it even, weren’t you?

“Uh, thanks?” Jihoon responded, a light blush warming his cheeks and he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. This was not a reaction you expected from him or even one you thought he could have. It was actually pretty adorable. You tried not to think about it. You didn’t see it because you were too focused on the boy you weren’t supposed to like, but Wonwoo and Seungwan shared a look.

“They are about to play the next song,” you said, trying to redirect attention back to the band and the stage. Jihoon only nodded, not knowing what else to say after that. You let the music take away thoughts of whatever feelings you might be starting to have for your fake boyfriend and by the time the concert was over, you had buried them deep in your mind once again.

In the parking lot of the bar, you said goodbye to Seungkwan, Wonwoo, and Seokmin before you got in the car with Jihoon to go home. It was a little awkward again before Jihoon turned the radio on. (You Drive Me) Crazy by Britney Spears came on and he groaned before he reached over to change the station. “Aw come on, Ji. Leave it there,” you whined before starting to sing along to the song. He grimaced at you but pulled his hand away from the dash, leaving the song on. “You drive me craaaazzzyyy, I just can’t sleep!” you sang loudly and badly on purpose. You poked your elbow into Jihoon’s side, trying to get him to sing with you as you continued with the lyrics.

After a few harder nudges Jihoon belted out, “Baby, thinking of you keeps me up all night”. You gasped, putting your hand over your mouth. You didn’t think you’d actually get him to sing it with you. He continued driving with the two of you singing the rest of the song and giggling like maniacs, Jihoon showing a smile genuine enough that the dimples you only saw one other time appeared. You found yourself having fun more often with Jihoon and spending time with him was beginning to feel more and more natural, like you never parted ways to begin with.

Once again, you found yourself in the journalism room working on things for the ball. More specifically, the decorations. This time you were by yourself, there was yet another party happening tonight and the others left you so they could get Jennie’s house ready since she was hosting this time. Honestly, you didn’t mind and felt like you could get more things done without Jennie’s constant nitpicking.

You were looking at a few different options for string lights when someone you didn’t expect to see walked in. Shayla. “Um, Mrs. Rathburn asked me to bring you the posters you had printed from the big office printer,” she said, showing the large posters she held in her arms.

“Oh, thanks for bringing them. You can set them over there,” you responded, gesturing toward the bigger table next to you. Shayla set them where you indicated and started toward the door but hesitated, turning back around. She looked like she wanted to say something to you. “Was there anything else?” you prompted.

She pondered for a moment before saying,” He seems happier with you.” You were sure what to say when she continued. “He never wanted to go places with me, never wanted to stop by the lab to see me, not the way he does with you.”

The way she said it struck a chord with you. You knew she was a medical science major and worked in the chem lab a lot but it didn’t occur to you before and obviously, she didn’t know either. “He didn’t tell you about his mother, did he?” you asked. The confused look on Shayla’s face confirmed your suspicions. “His mother died when we were younger…of cancer. So you can imagine why he wouldn’t want to be around medicine and labs.”

Now she had a shocked look on her face, mixed with something like pity. “I didn’t know. Well, I hope he continues to be happy with you,” she said as she turned back around and walked out of the room. For once, you felt a little sorry for Shayla but fake or not, Jihoon was with you now. You sighed and got up from the chair you were sitting in, pulling the posters closer to you so you could examine them to make sure they had been printed properly. They looked good and you were glad that nothing was wrong with them.

A few minutes later, Jihoon walked through the same classroom door that Shayla walked out of. “Hey, how's it going in here?” he asked casually.

You shrugged, “It’s going. But, what are you doing here? You didn’t bring me coffee this time.” You grinned, enjoying being able to give him a hard time now without it turning into a big deal.

“Wow, see if I ever bring you coffee again..” he teased back. “Anyway, I was working with Seungkwan on some AV stuff for the school news show and thought I’d stop by. It was strange though, I passed by Shayla in the hall and she was acting oddly nice to me.”

“Huh, weird,” you said. There was no way you were going to tell him that you told her about his mother. He must have had a reason for not telling her, although some part of you was relieved he hadn’t.

“So, how do you feel about having dinner at my house before we go to Jennie’s party? My dad invited you. I think he’s noticed how close we’ve gotten again,” he asked, looking a little sheepish.

“I’d like that,” you responded, the corners of your lips turning up at the thought of Mr. Lee making Jihoon ask you over. You gathered all the things you were working on, organizing them so they made sense when you went to work on them again and left the room to go home with Jihoon.

You had really only been just inside of the door of Jihoon’s house since you reconnected. It felt weird going past the dining room threshold as you followed him into the kitchen, even though as a child you had been in every room in the house. It was a reminder of how things truly had changed after his mom died.

Yet, the sight of Mr. Lee in the kitchen and the familiar smell of his famous Yangnyeom chicken transported you right back to those times when you and Jihoon would get called in for dinner when you had been playing outside or doing homework together. Mr. Lee turned around after plating the chicken. “Glad you could join us, Y/N! I had to practically beg Jihoon to ask you,” he beamed, walking into the dining room to set the large plate on the table.

“Thank you for inviting me Mr. Lee,” you said, politely as you took a seat in one of the chairs at the dining table.

“At least I didn’t have to drag you two inside from the treehouse,” he said with a laugh and you found it ironic that he remembered that as well.

Your eyes shifted to sliding doors on the other side of the dining room, looking out into the backyard to see if the treehouse still existed. “It’s still there..” you murmured as you made out the familiar wood walls poking out the only large tree still in the yard.

“Of course it is! Jihoon kept it up all these years and made sure no nail or board came out of place,” Mr. Lee exclaimed rather proudly. You looked over at Jihoon who was doing his best not to look at you. You thought it would have been destroyed by now. Jihoon’s actions lately were already confusing, but the fact that he had preserved the treehouse all this time confused you even more.

The rest of dinner went well, it was comforting that it felt almost the same as it did when you were young. Well, minus a major person, but you tried your best not to think about that. You and Jihoon were helping Mr. Lee clean up when he glanced at the clock on the wall. “We should think about heading to the party now,” he said.

“I got the rest of this. You crazy kids go have fun at the party,” Mr. Lee said, basically telling the two of you to skedaddle already.

“Don’t wait up,” Jihoon joked, following you out of the kitchen and back into the front room.

Since you were busy enough today, you chose an outfit when you got ready this morning that would translate well from everyday to party. It’s not like you were the host or like it was that special of an event, plus you were willing to bet something would be spilled on it by the end of the night anyway.

“Let me change into something more suitable and I’ll be right back,” Jihoon said to you. You nodded and sat on the bottom of the stairs to wait for him. Five minutes later, he came down the stairs looking effortless and amazing at the same time. Once again, making it hard for you to ignore the ever-annoying butterflies that filled your stomach.

“Let’s get going, we don’t want to be late,” you mumbled, turning your attention back to the front door.

The party was already in full swing when you arrived and you narrowly avoided being mowed over by Mingyu and Mark playing some sort of drunk game involving a soccer ball the minute you and Jihoon walked into Jennie’s house. You took Jihoon’s hand in yours as you wove through people, telling yourself it was so that you didn’t lose him in the crowd but you couldn’t help but feel like they fit together.

You made your way into the center of the house where more things seemed to be going on when you caught the sound of the familiar voices of your friends in the backyard. Jennie was already drunk, laughing loudly as she swayed her hips to the music blasting from speakers on either side of the yard. “There you guys areeeeeeee,” Jennie exclaimed, her words sounding slightly slurred which gave a bit of an indication of how much alcohol she’d had so far.

You stifled a laugh as Miyeon gave you a look that essentially said “help me” as she lightly sipped on the drink she had while keeping an eye on Jennie. Mark suddenly appeared, without Mingyu this time. “Yoooo, Jihoon. Come be my partner, Mingyu got too drunk and I need someone who actually has hand-eye coordination,” he said, trying to rope Jihoon into whatever hair-brained game they had been playing.

Mark dragged him off before he could protest, leaving you with just the girls. “You know, I wasn’t sure about Jihoon in the beginning, but the makeover he had really suits him well. If you weren’t dating him, I would be all over that,” Jennie babbled, the multiple drinks in her system acting like an unwanted truth serum. You felt a hint of animosity toward her, and you had to keep telling yourself that you shouldn’t be. You weren’t dating for real, but in principle, it was since nobody else knew that.

To make it easier to resist the urge to strangle Jennie, you excused yourself and went to get a drink from the bar on the other side of the patio that you assumed Jennie paid to be there. Walking up to the bartender, you ordered something that tasted good but wouldn’t get you blasted immediately. A few seconds wait and you thanked the bartender, taking your drink from him. You turned around, maybe to go find where Mark dragged Jihoon off to when you found yourself face to face with your ex.

“Oh, Y/N. I was actually looking for you,” Johnny said. He was just passing by but he was clearly looking for someone. You, apparently.

“Um, okay…didn’t you come with your new girlfriend?” you asked, confused as to why he was looking for you when he seemed so infatuated with the girl the last time you had seen him.

“Well, that’s kind of why I was looking for you. Let’s find a quieter place to talk,” he motioned to some chairs that sat out off the side of the patio where fewer people were milling around. You sat down in one and he sat in the one across from you.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” you questioned, not exactly interested but he did specifically seek you out.

“I know you are with Jihoon now, but I was wondering if I could take you to the dance?” Johnny asked, with what he thought might be a convincing smile on his face. You choked on your drink. He couldn’t be serious. The very thing you had wanted before everything got messy and he was asking you now?

“But what about your girlfriend?” you inquired.

“She broke up with me, said she found someone new,” he shrugged. You snorted. Ironic wasn’t it? She broke up with him for nearly the same reason he broke up with you.

“Once upon a time, all I ever wanted was for you to take me to the ball I planned. But you know what? I’m not the same person as I was all those months ago and I’m with Jihoon now. Go find some other poor sucker to go with you because I won’t,” you responded and you knew it was true. You weren’t the same person anymore. You could care less about being popular. All you cared about was being yourself. And being with Jihoon.

Johnny looked stunned, “Damn, Jihoon is a lucky guy.” You felt that was your cue to leave and you had to go to the bathroom anyway. So you left Johnny there and went inside to search for the restroom. You walked back into the house through the sliding door and were headed down the hall when you saw it, saw them.

Jennie was talking with Jihoon when suddenly you saw her lips meet his. You didn’t know what was happening and your face crumpled. Immediately, you knew that the feelings you were trying to suppress for Jihoon couldn’t be covered up anymore. Jennie broke free of the kiss with a smirk, turning Jihoon around by his shoulders so that his eyes would meet yours. “Bitch,” you murmured, a sob trying to break free from your chest.

Jihoon’s eyes widened as they met yours. “Y/N, wait!” he shouted, a pleading tone bleeding into it. You didn’t want to hear it. This whole thing was fake anyway. You ignored him and stormed out the front door, not caring where you were going. You just needed out of there. Jennie’s house wasn’t that close to the dorm, but it didn’t matter. You wanted to walk anyway.

You did eventually make it back to the dorm, you didn’t know how long it took you and you didn’t care. Everything was ruined and you felt the most pathetic that you had ever been. You retreated to your room and the warmth of your bed, wanting to never leave it. You should have never come up with this idea if you knew it would turn out this way. You weren’t supposed to fall for your ex-best friend, your enemy.

Jihoon was also miserable, perhaps on a different and newfound level. He thought he was in a bad way when he broke up with Shayla, but it was nothing like the way he felt after Jennie tricked him. Nothing like the way his heart cracked when he saw your face and the way your chin trembled when you saw the kiss and nothing like when he called out to you, only for you to ignore him and walk out the door.

He thought he might have loved Shayla when they were together, but he was so wrong. He loved you and it took losing you to finally realize it, to admit it to himself. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do now, but the most immediate solution was to numb the pain. He knew Wonwoo would come get him anyway, and so he drank. He drank a lot. Likely more than he ever had.

He drank so much that he didn’t even know how time moved forward and transported him to where he was now, outside, throwing his guts up in Jennie’s front garden. He must have called Wonwoo at some point, he most certainly didn’t remember doing it but Wonwoo was suddenly standing there in the yard, waiting to see if Jihoon’s stomach was done forcing out whatever contents were left.

Wonwoo didn’t have much sympathy for his friend at this point. “How does it feel Jihoon? Being part of the popular crowd?” he mocked.

“Shut up, Wonwoo,” Jihoon croaked, slowly getting up from his kneeling position in the grass to slowly tread toward Wonwoo’s car. Jihoon all but melted into the backseat once the two of them were both in the car, his head already starting to pound.

“You really screwed up, you know,” Wonwoo said, once the car was on the way to Jihoon’s house.

“How do you know what happened?” Jihoon mumbled the question

“You know how fast news travels around here,” he responded.

“Considering everyone was at the party, I’m not surprised.” Wonwoo slammed on the brakes, making Jihoon fall forward and smack his nose on the seat in front of him. “Ow, what the hell Wonwoo?!” he yelped, hands moving to his face to touch his now tender nose.

“Everybody was NOT there, Jihoon! Seungkwan and I weren’t there, Seokmin wasn’t there, so no, everybody was not at the party,” Wonwoo nearly growled.

“Okay, sheesh. Everybody was not there,” Jihoon conceded, given his growing headache and the fact that Wonwoo so rarely yelled.

“Get out,” Wonwoo said and Jihoon was about to protest when he looked out of the window to see that they had actually stopped outside his house. “Call me when you’ve decided to return back to being the friend I know.”

Jihoon couldn’t respond, he didn’t have a decent answer for that. He just got out of the car, went into the house, and flopped face-first onto his bed. He did know that Wonwoo was right though, he royally fucked up. The only thing he could think about was talking to you, to see if there was a way to convince you of what truly happened with Jennie.

He rolled back to his side, reaching his arm out to grab the phone from the nightstand. He didn’t know how late it was but prayed you’d still answer the phone. He punched in your number and waited as it rang and rang. He was just about to give up when a tired “hello?” answered.

“Please let me explain,” Jihoon said, immediately.

You sighed. “It doesn’t matter. It was crazy to think we could fake it this long, this is our easy out,” you responded, trying to keep your voice from breaking and giving you away.

“What about the dance? That was the main goal of this whole thing,” he said. Jihoon knew that wasn’t why he wanted to keep this ruse going but it was all he could think to try.

“I’ll figure something out. Or maybe I won’t go at all. Let’s just go back to how things were before.” Tears were starting to slip down your cheeks now and you hung up the phone before Jihoon could hear the sob that left your chest.

After the party, days and weeks continued on but you and Jihoon were not the same. Jihoon spaced out often, going about his days in a trance. He even ignored Shaya’s renewed and constant advances on him. He didn’t want anyone else but you. Wonwoo had seen how depressed Jihoon was and took pity on him, letting everything that happened between the two of them that night go. You threw yourself into ball planning which was ironic considering you likely wouldn’t even be attending anymore and Jihoon spent more time editing in the broadcasting room, only being pulled out by his friends.

You had all but stopped hanging out with all your “friends”, only working with them for the ball because you had to. Everything felt like a blur. You had confronted Jennie shortly after the night of the party, her only excuse being “I was doing you a favor.” Maybe in some way she really was, just not in the way she intended. Your relationship with Jihoon may have started out as a fake one but now your feelings were real and you needed to stop before they destroyed you both.

When the night of the ball came around, you found yourself in your dorm room with no date and crying once again. The dress you had picked out long ago to match the tux you had helped Jihoon pick out was hung on the back of your door, mocking you. Maybe you should go by yourself, it would be weird if the planner herself didn’t attend. You brushed the tears from your cheeks and shook your head. That was enough of that, crying and feeling sorry for yourself wouldn’t change anything.

Then your phone rang. “Hello?” you answered.

“Y/N? Hi,” spoke a voice that was vaguely familiar but not one you’d heard over the phone.

“Seungkwan?” you questioned.

“Yeah, it’s Seungkwan. Listen, I know you probably don’t have a date to the ball anymore and I think it would be a shame if you couldn’t go. You deserve to see your event finished so, how about I take you?” Seungkwan said.

For the first time since the night of the party, a genuine smile crossed your face. Seungkwan had always been the sweetest person you’d known, even after you all had parted ways as kids. “I’d like that,” you responded.

“Okay, cool. I can come pick you up in an hour. Will that be enough time to get ready?” he asked

“Sure, see you soon,” you said, hanging up the phone and scrambling to start getting ready. That gave you an answer to your earlier thoughts of just going to the ball by yourself. You were much happier going with Seungkwan, someone you knew you’d have some fun with. You pulled your dress from where you had been glaring at it earlier, glad that it was no longer going to waste. You grabbed shoes that went with it from your closet and got ready as efficiently as you could.

You were smoothing out the bottom of your dress and making sure the last strands of your hair were in place when one of your dorm mates called up the stairs to let you know Seungkwan was there. You picked up the light sweater and small purse you had set out on a chair and walked down the stairs to meet Seungkwan.

He smiled as he spotted you and said, “You look great.”

“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself,” you said back. His simple black tuxedo made him look handsome. You reached the bottom of the stairs and he pulled something out from behind his back, showing it to you.

“It was short notice, but this is for you,” Seungkwan said, holding out a pretty wrist corsage.

You let out a pleased laugh and held out your wrist so that he could slip it on, the white rose simple but pretty. “Thank you, that was sweet of you.”

“Of course, I can't let my best girl feel left out,” he said with a chuckle.

Immediately you were thankful for at least one good thing that came out of all of this. You had a good friend in Seungkwan once again. “Let’s go,” you said and you headed to the dance.

Walking in the doors of the venue you rented, you took in everything. Seungkwan was right, you shouldn’t miss how everything you planned had come together. From the centerpieces on the tables to the twinkle lights winding around the beams in the ceiling, everything you had imagined and planned out. It looked perfect. There was only one thing missing, but there was nothing you could do about that anymore.

You and Seungkwan sat down for a little while at one of the tables, talking about different things and people watching before he asked you to dance. He got up from his seat, holding out his hand for you to take. You took it and he led you to the dance floor. Stopping at an empty spot toward the edge, he placed his hands on your back and you wrapped your arms around his neck. You began swaying to the music the DJ was playing. It was nice and comfortable but of course, it was only platonic with Seungkwan.

“Jihoon really likes you, you know,” he said eventually. You sighed, knowing this topic would come up eventually. Seungkwan cared about both of you. “And I know you like him too.” He continued, recounting how bleak the two of you had been in the past weeks.

“I know Seungkwan, but everything is all messed up now,” you said.

“Well, now is your chance to fix it,” he suddenly said, looking up at something or rather someone.

“What?” you asked, confused.

“May I cut in?” A voice asked from behind you. You let out a small gasp. Jihoon?

Seungkwan’s hands left your back and he pressed a light kiss to your cheek, leaving you and Jihoon on the dance floor. You looked at Jihoon. He was wearing the tuxedo you picked out to match your dress and looked as handsome as ever. He approached you, gently placing his hands around your waist and you let your hands rest at the nape of his neck. Your fingers lightly brushed at the ends of his shaggy hair that you liked so much.

You danced a bit to the slow song that was on before you broke the tension between the two of you. “Why are you here, Jihoon?” you asked.

“Because I missed you. God, I missed you so much,” he blurted, pulling you closer to him. Your heart panged at his words. You missed him too and you knew that you didn’t want to pretend your feelings for him didn’t exist.

“I missed you too,” you murmured.

“I’m so sorry about what happened with Jennie. I swear she tricked me but that’s not what matters. I like you, Y/N. I think I’ve always liked you, before everything got so messed up.” He was on a roll now, telling you all that was on his mind and everything he should have told you from the beginning when you both agreed to that stupid fake dating plan.

Your face broke out into a grin. “I like you, too.” Jihoon must have been holding his breath, because he let out a rush of air in relief at your response. “I asked Jennie why she did what she did and she told me she was doing us a favor. I guess in some way, she really did.”

Then Jihoon reached out a hand to cup your cheek, his eyes looking into yours before he leaned forward to press his lips against yours. There were no fireworks, but something much better as you kissed him back. Warmth. A warmth that radiated through your entire body and you couldn’t have imagined anything better.

You broke away after a few minutes, becoming aware that several eyes were on the two of you. Specifically the eyes of Jennie, Johnny, Mark, Miyeon, and a few of the others. “Who are we making jealous now, Jihoon?” you laughed.

“Everyone,” was his response and he kissed you again, making everything around you disappear.

“Wanna get out of here?” you asked.

“I have just the place in mind,” he answered, cheekily and the two of you left hand in hand.

After the dance, you came bursting through the gate to Jihoon’s backyard, giggling like you were little kids again. The only difference was now Jihoon kept pausing to kiss you every few minutes as he led you to the treehouse. He pulled you with him up the ladder and into the familiar house. Except that instead of just the pillows and the small table that you remember being there before, there were blankets and lit candles set out in the corners.

“Did you plan this?” you asked, suspicious.

“I had hoped?” he responded, innocently.

You shook your head, “You’re lucky I like you.”

“I am very lucky.”

“If I knew you were going to be this cheesy-” He cut you off with another kiss and led you over to the blankets that were laid out in the middle of the wooden floor. He sat down, pulling you to sit with him. He initiated a make-out session that began innocently but was now starting to get heated. He leaned backward, laying back against the blankets and making you lay on top of him.

His kisses moved to your jaw and to your collarbone making you let out a gasp and thread your hands through his dark locks. All the pent-up feelings and chemistry that had built up between you was finally reaching a breaking point, in your childhood hangout no less. Your hands made work with his clothes, taking off his jacket and working on the buttons of his shirt. He pulled the straps of your dress down your shoulders when you finally managed to rid him of the annoying button-down.

To make it easier for him, you straightened your back so he could pull the entire thing up and over your head. You were left in just your underwear and Jihoon paused to look at you before taking off his dress pants. “You are gorgeous,” he whispered, pressing light kisses to your shoulders. You closed your eyes, reveling in the feeling of being loved on by him.

Soon you both had been rid of all remaining garments, leaving you completely naked and hands roaming each other's bodies. Jihoon’s length pressed against your thighs, making you moan at the skin contact and buck against him. He hissed in pleasure and bit his lip, the action increasing the arousal at your core. He moved to grind his head against your sensitive nub and you let out a whine.

After a few minutes of that, you couldn’t stand it anymore. You needed him inside you. “Jihoon…” you breathed out.

“Yes?” he asked.

“Please,” you whimpered.

He reached over to his discarded pants to get the little foil packet from the pocket. He opened it and slid the condom over his cock with a hiss. He steaded your hips and ran his length through your folds a few times before he slowly slid into you, letting you adjust to his size.

“Fuck,” he let out a groan as your heat engulfed him. He began moving slowly within you. Your sacred childhood treehouse was now filled with lewd slaps of skin against skin and moans filled with pleasure. You established a rhythm that had you both slowly chasing your highs together. Your moans had turned to mewls as the coil in the pit of your stomach was stretching to its limit.

“I’m close, Ji,” you whimpered. The use of Jihoon’s nickname drove him to the edge as well and he pumped into you that much harder. The coil snapped and you orgasmed, hard enough that your thighs shook. Your walls contracting around him made Jihoon hit his high as well. His hips stilled and he let out a groan, emptying his seed into the condom.

He slowly pulled out of you and you both collapsed next to each other on the blankets with heaving breaths. After a few minutes and your breathing had returned to normal, Jihoon turned to look at you, his head resting on his shoulder. “So, frienemies?” he asked with a chuckle.

You reached out and smacked him in the chest. “Jihoon!”

“Ouch, I’m kidding. I know we are more than that. So much more than that,” he said, tugging you closer to him and leaving a kiss on your forehead.

“Yes, absolutely more than that,” you agreed. Jihoon drove you crazy, but you came to the conclusion that you didn’t want it any other way.

©️wooahaeproductions

All works on this blog are protected under copyright. Do not repost, continue, or translate my works.

#kvanity #svthub #kbookshelf #ksmutsociety #caratwritersclub #that's so 90's collab #svt woozi #seventeen woozi #svt angst #svt fluff #svt smut #lee jihoon #svt jihoon #woozi fluff

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llamagoddessofficial · 1 year

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Idk if someone else has already asked this, but what about a Birdtale au? Like Sans, Red, and Skull are either wild birds or live in an aviary or something like that. They would probably try to preen Mc and sing her courting songs

I did a harpy au ages ago but the recent fanart by @iridescent-serpent has made my 'i love birds' brain go AWOOGA. We're doing it again, folks; zoo edition this time.

Big, clawed, dangerous and scary bird monsters living in a big aviary since they have a habit of hunting down people.

Sans: A beautiful owl harpy with steely grey, blue and black markings that help him blend into blue-toned darkness. Since he's mostly nocturnal, he has two modes: day mode, and night mode.

In day mode spends pretty much every hour napping in his aviary, enjoying whatever patches of sun he finds; he's very cat-like, and he's worked up a reputation of being lazy thanks to his constant napping. Staff can actually go in and out of his enclosure if they're quiet, which is a big deal for a species as aggressive as a harpy. It's important they keep their distance from him to avoid disturbing him, though... he's tired, but he can still lash out with deadly precision. At night, he really acts like a cat. He's hunting, he's active and terrifying, he attacks with the intent to kill. You hear nothing, you see nothing, not even his eyelights. He blends in so seamlessly with the night that nobody dares go near his enclosure, there's few things as dangerous as an owl harpy at night.

... However, Mc is the exception. Like always. When she's around in the day, he'll sleep through pretty much everything she does. She isn't food or a threat, so why get up? He'll sleep even if she goes right up to him and grabs his wings- which she sometimes has to do, when she's looking him over for injuries or signs of illness. She does all of his medical checkups, and he seems to like the touching, if his purring is anything to go by. And at night, he just uses his incredible silence and camouflage to get up close and steal her keys. He has an eye for shiny things, and a taste for her flustered attention when she looks for him to get her shiny things back.

Red: Red is a big, stunning bird of prey harpy. Something resembling a hawk or eagle; and he's got the hawk foul temper, with a habit of biting and slashing at anyone who encroaches on his territory (enclosure). But a running joke at the aviary, in the same vein as that guy who's 'married' to a crane, is that Red is Mc's husband.

Red is an aggressive harpy who likes to hunt and fight. But he's also a showoff, and apparently, a complete romantic- he's made it clear that he's decided Mc is his mate. He lets her into his enclosure, and he shows all the courtship behaviours under the sun... he displays and shakes his wings, brings her gifts, puffs his feathers up, preens her hair, nuzzles her face like they're knocking beaks. He even sings, and tries to initiate dances.

For Mc, it's a balancing act of what behaviours she does and doesn't reciprocate. She doesn't want to give him ideas, but he gets really cranky (and won't eat) if she totally ignores him. She's learned she can ignore his attempts at dances or nuzzles without him being too bothered- but she absolutely has to accept his gifts, and let him preen.

Harpies, especially hawk harpies, have one mate for life. As much as the other staff tease her for being Red's one true love, nobody can deny that his affections make everyone's lives at the aviary much easier.

Skull: A massive beast of a bird, with a wingspan tens of feet wide, he resembles one of those massive alpine vultures- thick snow-resistant plumage that's very soft to the touch. He once lived a solitary life high in the mountains, so he isn't great with people or other birds, but he has to stay at the aviary because the same incident that caused his head injury also gave him a large scar down the back of one wing that leaves him unable to fly for any longer than a few seconds.

Despite his penchant for gutting people with those giant claws of his, he's very soft and docile with Mc. He's also a highly curious beast- he follows her around his enclosure like a puppy, observing whatever she's doing... he also likes observing her, his face often only a few inches from hers as she works, always letting out a thrumming coo of delight at her presence. He's very soft, and since he used to live in a brutally cold environment he instinctively dislikes the sight of her being cold and is always trying to pull her into his arms to keep her warm.

His only issue is his 'sulking'. When he gets upset that she's leaving, or he thinks someone else is getting too close to the two of them, he likes to pick Mc up and fly/climb to the highest perch point in his enclosure. His wing might be injured but he can still flap, and his time in the mountains made him an adept climber. He'll sulk as high up as he can, squishing her close until he can be food-bribed into letting her go.

#llamagines #zoo harpy au #sans likes how his human wife cant see him in the dark #red likes how his human wife goes pink when he sings to her #and skull is DISTRAUGHT his human wife has no feathers to keep warm. what if winter comes?? how will she survive the snow?? this is terrib-

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lavenderlegends · 6 months

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you drew stars around my scars

ship: stiles/derek prompt: star gazing characters: lydia, isaac, pack mention cw: mentions of dead parents tags: FLUFFFFFFFF word count: 2.2k ao3

♞♚♞♚

It's been a long day. Make that a long week. Actually, a long month. Maaaybe even a long year. It's been back-to-back monsters that seem to keep popping up every week. And Stiles? He's tired.

The pack needs a vacation. Desperately. But Lydia spent all last weekend ignoring the fae issue and created a schedule. Bless her. And Stiles has the first shift off from monster hunting. Along with Derek. They're the only single people in the pack these days, so it makes sense they'd pair off together. It gives all the couples and partners time to make plans and afford to keep them.

But Stiles is restless.

Being off-duty is hard. He has no idea what the pack is dealing with this week. He's been completely shunned from any sort of knowledge, because everyone knows he'd try to help.

He climbs out his window, dragging a thin blanket with him, and sets it up on the roof of the porch. He doesn't know exactly what he's doing but maybe gazing at some stars will help.

There used to be a time in his life when he'd be able to do this and just wonder at all the possibilities in the world. But now, now he knows anything's possible and it feels a little heavy.

There's a snap of a branch and then suddenly, he's not alone.

"What are you doing?" Derek asks in lieu of a greeting.

"Star gazing. Have you ever heard of it?" Stiles asks, shifting over on his blanket. They don't have to discuss it. It's understood that Derek will join him.

"Hm," is all Derek says before he settles down on the blanket with Stiles. "Why are you doing it?"

"I used to do this all the time as a kid," Stiles whispers, as if he's suddenly afraid to spook the universe by talking about something normal. "It was my favourite thing to do with my mom."

"Oh." Derek shifts. "Should I--?"

"No, no," Stiles murmurs. He reaches out and pulls Derek back down. "Stay."

So, Derek does.

"What are you doing here? It's like one in the morning," Stiles says, turning his head to get a better view of Derek.

"Star gazing," Derek answers. He turns his head on the blanket to look at Stiles. "I don't know. Couldn't sleep. Figured you'd be up too."

"This whole shift thing is great in theory," Stiles mumbles.

"Yeah. I thought I'd be grateful for the break, but it's turning out to be a lot harder to slow down." Derek shifts and then adds, "This is nice though."

"Yeah." Stiles can't seem to tear his eyes away from Derek's. "Yeah, it is."

They don't talk for a while, but it's not as awkward as Stiles thought it would be with Derek. Maybe they've been at this whole monster-hunting thing for so long, the silence is a welcomed presence. He's not sure.

But it becomes a habit after that. On nights they can't sleep. Even when they're on-duty protecting Beacon Hills from the monster of the week.

Stiles starts to look forward to it, even. Humming when he suspects Derek will be coming over.

"What's got you in a good mood?" Lydia asks one day when he's doing just that.

"Huh?" Stiles looks up from the book where he's researching vampires. "Nothing."

"No, no," she says, shaking her finger at him. "I know you, Stilinski. Something... or perhaps, someone has you humming. Are you dating?"

He laughs, because the idea is so ridiculous. "Me? Dating? No. Despite being surrounded by relationships, I am not seeing anyone. Single as a pringle, Lyds. That's me."

"Mhm," she says. "If you say so."

"I do," he replies before closing the book. "Nothing in that one..."

"Right," she says. "Back to work."

And the next time he hums, he finds Isaac looking at him curiously. Stiles can't help it; they're on a stake-out together and it's boring. Nothing's happening.

"What?" Stiles asks after a moment. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Yeah. Happiness." Isaac pauses before adding, "It's a good look, man. I'm glad you're happy."

"I'm--" but Stiles can't bring himself to say the words.

Is he happy?

Hardly.

But he's going home tonight, setting out a blanket, and he even had time to swing by to pick up a pre-made charcuterie board. And he'll spend some time with Derek, talking about the most mundane things.

And that's exactly what they do when Derek climbs up the tree and swings onto the roof.

"Oh!" he says with a pleased smile. "You brought food. I'm sorry, I didn't--"

"No, no, it's fine," Stiles is quick to reassure. "We just followed the witches to the grocery store, so I thought I'd just... it's dumb, isn't it?"

"Nope. I'm starving." Derek settles down beside him, a soft smile on his face. "Tonight, Boyd, Erica, and I had to follow the warlock to the sewers."

"You're old home," Stiles jokes.

"Shut up." But there's nothing but amusement in Derek's expression. He picks up some cheese and asks, "How'd it go with you and Isaac?"

"Fine," Stiles says, shrugging. "The witch just did like, regular people thing. I'm starting to think she's not much of a threat."

"Mm, I wouldn't be too sure. Witches are powerful, and a huge threat to werewolves. They're always after our fur."

"What?!" Stiles bursts out laughing and only manages to calm himself when Derek shushes him. Stiles grins. "Don't worry, Dad's not home tonight. But really? Your fur?"

"Yeah. It has magical properties in some spells," Derek explains. "What? Is that so ridiculous?"

"A little," Stiles says, chuckling. "But enough about work. I want you to finish that story about your parents."

"Oh, yeah!" Derek settles in and launches into the longest, winding story Stiles has ever heard him tell. He laughs at all the right moments, gasps where appropriate, and shakes his head when Derek gets really into it. It's almost out of character for him, but Stiles has really seen him open up. He understands Derek more. And there's nothing in this world that Derek loves more than talking about his parents.

"Scott, Allison, and Isaac kind of remind me of my parents," Derek continues. "It's such a messy beginning to a beautiful relationship."

Stiles feels his face soften. "You are such a soft wolf."

"Hardly," Derek mutters. "Remember, you're human. I could eat you for breakfast and--"

"But you wouldn't," Stiles murmurs.

It seems to catch Derek off-guard, but he agrees even quieter. "But I wouldn't."

"I like this side of you, Hale." Stiles shifts on the blanket and picks up a piece of cheese. He chucks it at Derek, who catches it in his mouth using his werewolf reflexes. "Why don't we get to see this side of you all the time?"

Derek considers this for a long moment. Stiles is almost certain he's forgotten the question by the time he answers. "I think, because we haven't really had time to slow down. We're constantly in war, fighting with someone or something. And..."

"And?" Stiles prompts.

"There's something about star gazing with you," Derek admits. "That's all."

"That's all?" Stiles asks, reaching over to gently push Derek's shoulder. "I think there's more to it than that, but I won't hold it against you."

"You really wanna know?"

"I really, really do." Stiles flutters his eyelashes dramatically in the moonlight. Derek laughs. It's the prettiest sound he's ever heard. Stiles wonders if he could record it so he could listen to it all the time.

Derek shifts and pushes the charcuterie board out of the way. He settles down and stares up at the sky. Stiles follows suit, wondering if maybe it's easier to talk when they're not looking directly at each other.

"You remind me of my mom."

They're not the words Stiles expects, and they take his breath away. He reaches out and slips his fingers in between Derek's.

"She would've loved you. Cora and Laura are both more like my dad. They're strong, no nonsense, bold... but my mom..." Derek whispers. "She had ADHD like you. Was scatterbrained. Would do something - anything - just for the story. Fearless and stubborn."

Stiles stays silent and simply squeezes Derek's hand.

This is the best compliment he's ever received.

"She would go up against the scariest creature and tell them how it was. She didn't care." Derek pauses before adding, "She would've thought you were the bravest - and maybe stupidest - human out there. But she would've admired how much you love the pack, because no one loved as hard as her. But I think... I think you might."

Stiles stares up at the stars.

How does he put it into words how that makes him feel?

He turns his head to face Derek, who's already looking at him. Quietly, he says, "Thank you."

Derek's smiling softly, with tears building in the corner of his eyes. "Yeah. You're welcome."

"My mom would've loved you too," Stiles says after a while.

"You think?"

"Mhm. No one is as fiercely protective as she was - in the best way - but I think you come close." Stiles is surprised when Derek squeezes his hand. It feels so natural to be holding hands with him, Stiles almost forgot they were doing it. "She also would have loved your grumpiness. She would've told me that you put on a show, but you have the biggest heart of anyone she knows."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Stiles takes a breath and then lets it go. Talking about his mom meeting Derek is hard, but not so hard that it hurts. In fact, it brings him a little peace.

"Derek?"

"Mm?"

"I think our moms are best friends in another life," Stiles whispers.

"Me too." Derek squeezes his hand a little tighter. "Me too."

Stiles doesn't tell anyone about the conversation with Derek. Or how he's desperately, quickly, and passionately falling in love with him. He doesn't want to break the magic he's under, because he feels lovesick. Love drunk.

He doesn't know what Derek thinks. Maybe it's all platonic, but the next time they're star gazing together, Derek reaches for Stiles' hand. And the time after that, they lay a little closer.

And if Derek sometimes kisses Stiles' on the forehead before he says good night, it's no one's business but theirs.

That is until Lydia brings the pack together. She's standing in front of everyone and announces, "Alright, we're going to try a new rotation. Stiles, instead of breaking you off with Derek, we're going to put you with Erica and Boyd. And Derek, you'll get your break with Allison and I. This way--"

"No."

Lydia blinks. She looks at Stiles blankly, and he scrambles to catch up with the fact that he just said no. Out loud.

"Uh, I mean..."

"Why not? I thought this would work better, because it means there are less rotations and then we're on a four week schedule vs a five week schedule. And--"

"Lydia," Stiles says, not daring to look across the room at Derek. "I'm asking you to leave it as is."

"Oh." Lydia frowns. "Does, uh, does anyone else have any objections?"

The pack starts talking at once, but Stiles just silently glances at Derek while everyone's distracted. Derek's staring at him, his head tilted slightly, and his expression hopeful. Stiles doesn't know what to make of it.

"Alright, alright," Lydia says, commanding the room again. "We'll keep it as is for now, but we'll look at it during next month's meeting to see if it's still working."

The pack might not all agree, and Stiles knows it might be selfish to keep him and Derek on the same week off, but he doesn't care.

He's already planning his speech for tonight. He doesn't know entirely what he's going to say, but he has an idea. And that's enough.

When Derek hops onto the roof later that night, Stiles has the blanket already laid out. He sits instead of lying down, and he waits until Derek has silently settled in.

"So. That was an interesting pack meeting," Derek murmurs.

"Yeah." Stiles curses silently. He already sounds like a bumbling idiot. And instead of the speech he planned to say, he simply blurts, "I'm falling in love with you."

Derek doesn't dare show any change of expression on his face, but Stiles knows him better than that. There's a twitch in Derek's fingers, and that's all Stiles needs to see to know.

It's not a one-sided thing.

In fact, Stiles is starting to wonder just when did Derek fall for him?

Derek takes a moment. A long one. But he's very certain when he says, "I'm falling in love with you too."

A smile grows on Stiles' face and then he tackles Derek, pinning him down on the blanket. He hovers for a moment and quietly asks, "May I kiss you?"

"Yes," Derek breathes, and then they're kissing and it's everything and more that Stiles has dreamed of.

♞♚♞♚

"Alright," Lydia says at the next pack meeting. "I don't think we need to have Stiles and Derek on a week off together. I think - "

"We're together," Stiles announces.

The whole pack turns to look at him. Stiles snuggles up against Derek, slipping his fingers in between Derek's.

"So, please, do not change the duty schedule because we now have couple privilege."

Derek snorts, burying his face into Stiles' neck.

Everyone starts talking at once, but Stiles doesn't care. He turns to Derek and whispers, "Wanna get out of here?"

"The meeting just started," Derek whispers back.

"So?"

"Case made," Derek says, and then they're slipping out while everyone keeps discussing who knew what when.

♞♚♞♚

#sterek #sterek fic #derek hale #my writing #derek x stiles #stiles stilinski #teen wolf #teen wolf fic #teen wolf fanfic #teen wolf fanfiction #sterek ficlet #sterek fanfiction #sterek fic rec #30 days of teen wolf

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ladykailitha · 9 months

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All My Roads Lead Back to You Part 17

Welp. We are in the home stretch. I’m almost done writing the last chapter and then there will be a small epilogue. Thank you so much for sharing this ride with me on this one.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

Edie isn’t exactly sure when it started happening, but she began to notice little changes in her dad’s eating habits. Some times he would go for seconds if he liked it or he would keep some kind of fruit on hand to snack on.

But knowing her dad’s past also helped her notice when he would get that thousand yard stare or when he would jump at certain sounds. Knowing that he had walked through hell, not just once, but multiple times was like slotting in a piece of the puzzle you didn’t know was missing. And just watching all the other pieces that didn’t make sense before form a complete picture.

She knew that they had told her was only scratching the surface. Things they weren’t directly involved in but didn’t want to know. After she was told about their past Mr Munson gave her permission to dig into the incident surrounding the actual fucking lynch mob that was led by a psychotic basketball star.

What made her the angriest was that the asshole died in the earthquake and never had to deal with the consequences of his actions. That the town took that as liberty to just sweep it under the rug. The police chief quietly resigned two years later. No one that was involved in the witch hunt was actually punished for what they did to Mr Munson.

So she decided she was going to make a long distance phone call. A very long distance phone call.

“Miss Thing!” Lily Byers greeted cheerfully. “To what do I owe this totally awesome pleasure?”

“Cousin Itt!” Edie greeted back. “How’s it rocking, girlie?”

“You know,” Lily said, “as much as I love traveling the world, I got soo super jelly of your prom pictures. I’m trying to convince Mom to let spend the last year of high school with you.”

“Just say the word, Cousin Itt,” Edie said seriously, “I will deploy the puppy dog eyes.”

Lily laughed. “I’m not quite that desperate. Yet.”

“Duly noted,” Edie said. “Hey, I need a favor. But first how much do you know about your parents’ high school days?”

“You talking normal angst filled love triangles?” Lily ask slowly. “Or are we talking about nightmare fuel?”

“Nightmare fuel.”

Lily let out a slow breath. “I got ‘read in’ last year.” Edie could feel the air quotes from here. “I’m guessing you’re new to the ‘my parents are fucked up’ club?”

“About a month I guess,” Edie said with a sigh. “Me and Harri Munson. They tell you about what happened to his dad? Eddie Munson? Not the monster shit, but the normies fucking shit up stuff?”

Lily let out another long sigh. “Yeah. The witch hunt of the century.”

“Can you please explain why your mother and father didn’t expose the fucking town the way they did the Lab?” Edie asked pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“That is a really good question, Miss Thing,” Lily said. “And I think you just gave me new leverage against my parents over the whole high school senior year dealio. I’ll get back to you.”

“Love you lots!” Edie said.

“Love you more!” Lily replied and then hung up.

“You know,” a voice said from behind her, “that’s a pretty low blow, weaponizing your cousin that way.”

Edie whirled around to see her dad leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom. His arms were crossed over his chest, but he had an easy smile on his face.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to eavesdrop,” she said glaring at him.

“I just came to ask if you wanted pizza or kebabs tonight,” he said, his smile turning into a grin. “I did knock. A couple times in fact. But you were the one plotting world takeover with your bedroom door open.”

Edie flopped on her bed. “Is that one of the reasons we rarely get together, because we’d take over the world?”

Steve laughed. “One of many. One of many.”

Edie grinned. “I’m just correcting a miscarriage of justice is all.”

“Oh, is that all?” he asked grinning back at her. “Knowing Lily Byers like I do, I fully expect an expose by the end of the week and formal apology from the city of Hawkins and the state of Indiana to Eddie by the end of the month.”

Edie pretended to toss non-existent long hair over her shoulder. “Good.”

Steve pulled her in for a hug. “I think the reason she didn’t is because of me.”

Edie pulled away slightly. “What do you mean?”

“I think she didn’t want to stir up feelings for Eddie after he left.”

“But he left three months after,” Edie insisted. “Why didn’t she say something then?”

“Our town was nearly destroyed,” Steve reminded her. “And the government had found a scapegoat in Henry Creel, got Eddie off and all this while Eddie was still in a coma from being nearly ripped to bits. She had a lot on her mind those first three months. We all did. And then he got a record deal, he was going to be famous. She probably didn’t want to make waves for him and ruin his chances.”

“Damn it,” she sighed. “Those are all really good reason not blow up the biggest scandal since the ‘gas leak’.”

“So maybe tell Lily to ease up a bit on her mom?” Steve asked.

“Not a snowball’s chance in hell, Dad.”

Steve sighed. He figured that was the answer, but felt he had to try. At least a little.

School was ending and Edie and Harri both had summer school. Mandy and Kenny were free, but then they were good in school and mostly liked by the teachers.

Their rich school was a bit backwards. Probably because it had only been built in the last decade, but Mr Pearson wasn’t the only teacher that turned their noses up at old money students like Edie. She had the misfortune to be old money, too. Her family’s wealth went back as far a century at least.

She wasn’t third or even fourth generation wealthy. Her great-great grandparents were stinking rich. They were among the few families to come out of the stock market crash and Great Depression relatively unscathed. It’s why Dad’s trust fund was so sought after.

A trust fund that only grew because he may not have had a head for numbers, he had a head for business. He knew when to pull out if something was failing and when to pour more money in if they looked on the verge of discovery.

But it meant that all the teachers thought that her dad didn’t earn having his daughter at their school. So they always went a lot harder on Edie then they did her friends. All three of which had parents that came from nothing or very little to make their wealth. Mandy and Harri were both children of rock stars. Kenny’s mom invented some kitchen gadget that had taken the world by storm and now was in nearly every house in the country.

Harri was only joining her in summer school hell because two of the credits he needed to graduation next year didn’t transfer over and he had zero desire to sit with sophomores and juniors his last year of school.

“They should standardize the curriculum across the country,” Harri grumbled, kicking at a rock on their way into school.

Edie sighed. She agreed with him, but if they had she wouldn’t have a summer school buddy to be miserable with.

“I hear that,” was what she said instead. “And you should be allowed to skip a class if you don’t want to take it. As long as you get two years of math, who cares if it’s just basic math. It’s like judging a fish by its ability to climb or however that quote goes.”

“Right?” Harri agreed. “Like if what you want to go into takes heavy math that sure, you do the advanced math, but if you’re going into art and the only math you’re going to need is fractions they shouldn’t have to force you into bullshit like that.”

They both had to take a math class and a science class, so they took the same ones so that they could at least have a study buddy.

“I hate that I have to do this,” Edie groused as she flopped down in a desk somewhere near the back of the class. “It means I can’t go to the gala this year.”

“Gala?” Harri asked, sliding into the desk next to hers. “What gala?”

“The biggest event my dad does all year,” she explained, resting her head on her hands and staring off into the distance dreamily. “He’s involved in a shit ton of charities, but this is his biggest. It’s like the it party of the year and everyone foams at the mouth for an invite.”

“So why can’t you go?” Harri asked.

“Because for everyone else it’s a one night event,” Edie said, “but for my dad it’s a week long thing just prepping for it. And because I have summer school, I can’t help him. His rule has always been that I’ve been too young and that was supposed to change this year. I was going to help out and get to go. But because I have this stupid shit, I have to spend the week at Mandy’s.”

“You’re nearly eighteen,” Harri protested. “Can’t you be left home alone?”

Edie sighed. “If it was about Dad being gone all the time, sure. But it’s not. It’s held at the house. Or rather the backyard. There are people coming and going all hours of the day and night. Setting up lights, preparing food, setting up tables. It’s a whole thing. And if I want to actually pass these classes...”

Harri winced. “You can’t be around all that shit...Point well and truly taken. So what are you going to do instead?”

Edie shrugged. “Normally Mr Lawrence lets Mandy have a party that night and we stay up late watching movies, but I think the Lawrences are going this year, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Harri opened his mouth to ask another question, but the teacher chose that moment to walk in and they were forced to pay attention to the class.

***

Part 18 Epilogue

@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk @trashpocket @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @mightbeasleep @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @trashpocket @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @steddie-as-they-go @lillemilly @callas-shitshow @bisexualdisastersworld @renaissan-vvitch @immortal-iratze @bookbinderbitch @cardigangoth @lilacrobin @nightmareglitter @nerdsconquerall @stxrcrossed186

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #reconnecting years later AU #ladykailtiha writes

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sortagaysortahigh · 2 years

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Still Into You | Eddie Munson

A/N: Hi besties, here she is, my first Eddie Munson enemies to lovers(ish) fic, this is definitely way longer than expected and honestly it’s been a hot minute since I’ve sat down and finished a fic so thank you to the Stranger Things Gods for bringing me out of my writing hiatus. This fic also has a Black coded reader because she’s a Sinclair, however it can be ready by anyone regardless of race or ethnicity <3 ALSO THIS IS SPOILER FREE!

Summary: As enemies or as lovers, they were fine with either, after all fourth grade left a lasting impact on them both.

Warnings: Cussing, spelling and grammatical errors (sorry baes I don’t believe in editing), slight angst, mention of drugs + drug dealing, mentions of on going insecurity, slight mentions of violence, mentions of p*rn*gr*phy (i.e, the adult video section at movie rental places), and the reader being a bitch (as she should)

Word Count: 12.5k (she’s a long one, at least for me)

Eddie Munson x Sinclair!Fem!Reader

Every Thursday Y/n Sinclair had a routine, it was a simple routine, she would wake up at seven in the morning and be ready by eight-by ready that typically meant her hair would be done but she would throw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, sometimes pants depending on the weather outside. After that she drove her younger siblings to school, dropping Erica off first, then Lucas.

Some days Lucas stayed over at one of his friends' houses-so she’d just drop Erica off. Then she’d make her way back home, stopping by the local donut shop to pick up her favorite chocolate glazed donut with sprinkles-the sprinkles were a necessity.

After that she made her way to the local library, spending the day studying and completing any assignments or research she’d been procrastinating on. She’d always been a great student-however when things came down to it she couldn’t afford to go to college out of state alongside the fact that she didn’t want to go to college both played a key role in her decision to pursue an Associates of Arts degree at the local community college a town over.

Once she finished at the library 1pm was rolling around-meaning she would make her way across town to the Hawkins Middle School parking lot, where she’d read for around half an hour before Erica and her posse of obnoxious attitude ridden eighth graders would follow her-sometimes begging for a ride home from the eldest Sinclair while trying to win her over with flattery-to which she’d roll her eyes and tell the younger girls to get it.

By the time she finished dropping off Erica’s friends they’d looped back around to Hawkins to pick up Lucas. However her routine changed today when Lucas hadn’t come out on time-rather an hour passed before Y/n left the car with Erica in tow and walked throughout the school while peaking into the different club meetings trying to find him.

Of course most older sisters would simply assume he’d joined a club, and would’ve turned around and driven home-however after the past two years they had-she had to make sure he hadn’t decided to go on another supernatural ‘chasing monsters’ adventure with Dustin and Mike.

When she realized where he was-she regretted even stepping foot into the school-trying to usher Erica away from the slightly ajar classroom door full of teenage boys playing Dungeons and Dragons in a somewhat dark room lit by faux candles. Of course she wasn’t mad at Lucas, Mike, or Dustin, actually she was happy they found a place at the highschool after their first month of complaining about being losers in combination with Y/n having to go to the school and tell off a few of the junior and senior girls that decided they had the right to bully her younger brothers.

”Girl get off of me, you’re not my mother, stop trying to push me down the hallway! When did you get so strong anyways, what are you a damn linebacker?”

One thing about Erica Sinclair was that she could never keep her mouth shut-granted she’d picked the habit up from her eldest sister-and in times like this it really showed.

“You’re gonna embarrass us if you don’t stop trying to act like hot shit, you have literal bright pink bows in your hair, shut it up and start walking before I drag you by those uneven pigtails-you need to let mom do your hair instead of trying to do it yourself.” her younger sister gasped, eyes wide, jaw dropped, as she processed her sister’s words-however before Erica could formulate a response the door they were a foot away from swung open.

“Can you two take your little argument somewhere else-we’re in the middle of a campaign here-wait a second-Sinclair?” before she could respond to him-the sound of Lucas’s voice was heard “Yeah Eddie?” the tall brunette quickly looked behind him into the room “not you-your sister” with that he turned back to face Y/n who was now clenching her jaw in annoyance while pushing Erica away by placing a hand on her sister’s face and shoving her slightly.

“Now to what do I owe the honor? The retired Queen of Hawkins High herself-Y/n Sinclair in my presence” she scoffed, now crossing her arms across her chest while watching Eddie’s theatrics, he now placed one arm behind his back-the other in front of his chest while bowing before her, the smirk on his face evident as he stood back up-stepping closer then leaning against the door frame.

It was no secret that Y/n was deemed as the Queen of Hawkins High throughout the later years she attended the school, however it wasn’t something that she formed her personality around, nor was it something that she openly embraced. Truth be told the entire reason she was so ‘popular’ was simply because she was an athlete. The girl was a varsity cheerleader for four years, and she’d won homecoming princess her junior year when the cheerleaders practically forced her to run, which followed with homecoming queen her senior year and she ran for Prom Queen after Nancy and Steve were committed to making sure Carol wouldn’t win.

People liked Y/n, she was real, and she wasn’t a bully like most of the self proclaimed ‘royalty’ of Hawkins high. She was the only person that would put a stop to the endless bullying and teasing that everyone witnessed at the hands of Tommy, Carol, and their mindless minions-hell the girl was known for punching Tommy in the face their junior year after he tried to corner Nancy Wheeler.

However, Y/n didn’t like people-she wasn’t a people person by choice, she did what she had to, to make her high school experience more enjoyable. She wasn’t going to let anyone walk all over her-hence her efforts to ensure the same thing would not happen to her younger brother-and the other two that she basically co-parented with Steve Harrington.

People always called Y/n their friend although she did not reciprocate the same energy or friendship. She viewed friendship as something important and close to her heart-hence the reason her personal social circle was so small. Yeah the girl used to smile and wave at anyone who glanced her way, even continuing conversations that were randomly sparked on a whim to see if the ‘queen B was as nice as they say she is’, of course there were also the people who saw through the nice facade she’d built up.

People like Eddie Munson. She couldn’t stand him, he was always two steps ahead of her, cutting her off mid sentence, or making small slick comment such as ‘you don’t really like them as much as you say you do huh’ or ‘y’know I like you better when you’re being a stone cold bitch y/n’ and of course her favorite ‘Here yee, here yee, the Queen has arrived’.

The two of them had grown up in Hawkins, paths always crossing one way or another. They’d been neighbors for a short period of time before his Mom skipped town, then of course the fact that his Uncle and Y/n’s father fought in the Vietnam war together meant that every now and then her father would ask ‘how’s that Munson boy-Wayne gave me a real show at Poker night last week’ or something along the lines of that, but as the years went by her father asked less and less about Eddie.

That didn’t mean the boy wasn’t around her, being a pesky nuisance. He painted himself as a social reject, and when Tommy decided to label him as Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson he went along with it, and sure Y/n did jump in to defend Eddie when his name was brought up in conversation with the group but that didn’t mean she liked him, it was simply because she defended everyone who’s name was thrown around by the town douchebags.

“Oh fuck off Munson. I just needed to know where my brother was, and now that I do-what time do you nerds wrap this up? Figure I’ll take my two other children home too” He furrowed his brows for a second before nodding his head.

All the while Erica just looked between the two, her brows knit together while she tried to piece how her sister knew Eddie-and why he looked like he was in love with her older bitchier sister. Then again, Y/n looked like she wanted to bite his head off like the praying mantises Erica learned about in her science class last year.

“Oh come on, you shouldn’t talk to your ex boyfriend like that princess! We were practically in love y’know” Y/n scoffed, nostrils flaring as she furrowed her brows and frowned slightly, the evident look of disgust on her features only making Eddie smile more as he ignored the continuous protests from his fellow club members all complaining about continuing the campaign instead of watching Eddie flirt with Lucas’s sister.

“Munson, we “dated” for two weeks in the fourth grade. Once again, fuck off” He placed a hand over his heart, leaning forward slightly, letting out a dramatic sigh before standing back up, raising his left brow-the look almost challenging her.

“Y’know Sinclair-you can admit that you like having me around-probably even miss me sometimes” His confident tone set Y/n off, her fists clenched at her sides now as she let out a deep breath, closing her eyes for a few moments before opening them again-the few seconds that her eyes were closed Eddie wasted no time in taking in her entire appearance-the baggy ‘Hawkins Cheerleading’ t-shirt in combination with her daisy dukes that were just short enough but not too short had his lips slightly parted.

“Aw how sweet, you think I actually want you breathing my air? I’d rather get jumped by four large Russian men in an underground tunnel while being drugged” The memory had Erica’s brows knit together once again, glancing up at her older sister with a look of shock on her face. Of course Erica knew that anyone who hadn’t been there wouldn’t understand it-but she still remembered seeing her older sister getting dragged down that cold metal hallway as she crawled through the air vents above.

Eddie looked visibly confused, nodding his head a few times while puckering his lips. Something about Y/n had always made his heart race, after all she was his first crush ever-and his first girlfriend-not to mention his first kiss. Although it was chaste and didn’t last very long-he still remembered it and he knew she did as well.

“That’s oddly specific princess-but if you want to play hard to get then so be it-I love a good challenge” she scoffed, her jaw dropping slightly before she rolled her eyes and shoved past him, their shoulders bumping as she walked into the classroom, all of the Hellfire club members now looking at her while she let out a deep sigh, her eyes searching for Lucas-and when they made eye contact her younger brother looked mortified.

“Okay dorks, since your almighty lord and savior Edward won’t tell me when your campaign ends-when does it end” it seemed as if all of the guys in the room were afraid of her as she stood there, blinking a few times, brows raised, moving her hands together in a ‘wrap it up’ circular motion as she waited for someone to answer her.

“Y/n-haha about the time thing-it ends at 8” she looked taken aback for a moment as Dustin answered her, and that only made his eyes widen when he processed that today was Thursday. On Thursday nights at eight she went to the local diner to get a milkshake with Robin. She’d been doing it for months at this point-and everyone knew it was a part of her Thursday routine-something she valued.

“Oh shit it’s Thursday” Mike spoke next, glancing between Lucas and Dustin, the three of them now staring at each other looking frantic. Part of her was irritated by the abrupt interruption to her entire Thursday routine, but the other part was happy they were happy-granted she would prefer their happiness without Munson.

“Sorry uh-Y/n-not to ask a stupid question but uh is that everything you need? We’re kind of at a really important moment-not to like upset you or anything” she sighed, glancing at Gareth, taking a moment to roll her shoulders back while he spoke-trying to appear more relaxed and less irritated. She knew she was technically barging in on their club meeting and of course no one appreciates an abrupt pause-sure she wanted to wring Eddie’s neck for even assuming that he had a chance with her to have anything other than a ‘Hi Princess’ ‘Fuck off Munson’ relationship with her, but that was no excuse to be a bitch to any of the guys.

“Gareth-it’s cool, I’ll go, sorry for the barging in and shouting in the hallway-she’s just an overactive ass-” Erica scoffed from the doorway “and you’re a loud mouthed jester” Y/n took a moment to glance over her shoulder, ignoring the way Eddie’s eyes immediately snapped up from her ass to her face. “-shut it before I drop you off in the middle of the woods at night”

“Anyways, me and the mouse over there are leaving. Lukiepooh, Mikeybear, and Dustybun I’ll see you at eight-promptly or you’re next on my shit list. I gotta go reschedule my date with Rob now-bye nerds'' She spoke in a playful tone, all of the guys exchanged looks outside of Eddie, the way she said ‘nerds’ or ‘dork’ was never malicious, rather she smiled at them before turning around, flashing Eddie another dirty look on the way out.

She hadn’t expected him to follow behind her, but Erica cleared her throat, causing Y/n to turn back slightly, pausing her steps.

He stopped walking too, a few feet away from the Sinclair sisters, brows furrowed while he wrapped one arm around his waist, the other moving so that his hand could grab his hair, slightly pushing it towards his face-the motion made him look somewhat shy or even nervous and that confused Y/n.

“So you uh-have a date?” she shrugged “Is that a concern to you Munson?” something about him always bothered her, even now when he looked-well he looked like that. She could never describe it-even when she still attended Hawkins-anytime they crossed paths, made eye contact across a classroom or the cafeteria, or even when she’d stop Tommy from bothering him and his friends-there was always something else there-something that was undeniable yet unexplainable and that only bothered her more.

“I feel like it should be, after all I am after your heart” she scoffed, rolling her eyes then turned around, grabbing Erica’s arm and pulling her to walk while responding “whatever Munson”.

The car ride was mostly silent until Erica realized the two of them were at Family Video-not their neighborhood. Then she finally sat up in the Jaguar’s leather front seat, shifting her body to face her older sister.

“What the hell was that!” y/n glanced at Erica, letting out a small sigh as she shifted her thick voluminous blown out curls away from her face. “It was nothing okay.” the youngest Sinclair shook her head “You’re such a liar! He’s so into you!”

“Yeah sure he is Erica, he’s just an ass that likes to annoy me.” Erica shook her head, pursing her lips while raising a brow at her sister “Ain’t no way! The way he was staring at you! You’re lying! It doesn’t take some super genius to see that”

Y/n groaned, rolling her eyes and opening the car door, forcing Erica to follow suit as they walked into the video store.

Little did she know, across town in the same classroom she’d recently left, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas were all trying to piece things together as well-mostly because when Eddie walked back into the room, he was smiling from ear to ear and there was a slight red flush to his face.

After thirty minutes of whispering between roles, Lucas finally cleared his throat and declared a time out. “Eddie, are you and my sister a thing?” he stared at the older boy “c’mon-what was that? I’ve never seen her like that-like ever and she’s my sister! I’ve known her my entire life!” Lucas sat there, waiting for a response, the other guys at the table nodding their heads before joining the conversation.

Gareth spoke first “Honestly-no offense Lucas-but I expected her to be a bitch. Everyone kind of assumed that she was nice as an act-and I didn’t even know that she knew my name. But that’s probably the meanest I’ve ever seen her be-and she apologized to us?” Jeff nodded alongside one of the other club members.

“That’s true-Y/n’s always been intimidating-when she was here she basically ran the entire school-she decked Tommy H. in the face my freshman year-that shit was terrifying” It was clear that Jeff was thinking of the memory, seeing Y/n pull Tommy back by the right shoulder of his leather varsity jacket and the few seconds that followed were something out of a movie, the sound of Nancy’s ‘Y/n! It’s fine! Stop!’ followed by the sound of Y/n’s fist making contact with Tommy’s jaw almost echoed throughout the hallway.

Everyone who was there would never forget that moment, especially the way Tommy stumbled back a few steps, blinking while holding his face, slightly hunched over, his lip bleeding and a look of pure shock on his face. The moment followed by Y/n kneeing him in the abdomen to seal the deal before checking on Nancy, her entire demeanor shifted as she made sure her friend was alright.

“That was probably the most attractive thing I’ve ever seen-I wanted to drop down on one knee and propose to her” Eddie spoke, gaining everyone else’s attention as he stared off in the distance, his elbows leaning into the table as his chin rested in the palms of his hands.

“So you’re telling me this entire time…you and Y/n have known each other?” he nodded his head at Mike’s question. “Yeah, Hawkins isn’t a huge town boys, course I knew Sinclair’s hot mean sister” Before Lucas could respond Mike did, the look of horror on his face “Hey! That’s basically my sister!”

“Can you please answer the important question here?!” Lucas’s mortified expression didn’t go unnoticed by his fellow club members-sure Eddie and Y/n together would be kind of cool-Lucas looked up to Eddie in a way. He knew Eddie had his flaws, no one who repeated their senior year more than once was perfect-but Eddie had a good heart, and he was a metaphorical king among the ‘nerds’, he took kids under his wing and gave them a space to belong at Hawkins. He wasn’t mad, he was just confused.

“To answer your question, my dear Sundar the Bold, no the Queen and I are not dating, rather she can’t stand me and I’m after nothing but our fair ladies heart and somehow every time I get close-she slips through my fingers.”

That response was all Lucas needed, and based on the way Dustin looked at him, followed by Mike’s look-the three of them were already on board with one another.

That night on the drive home the boys all bombarded Y/n with questions about her relationship-or lack thereof-with their Dungeon Master. So much that she responded to all of them with “Shut the hell up! Yes I know Munson! We’re not friends! We’re not anything! Let the shit go!” then she commenced to ignoring all of them as she pulled into her driveway, all of them walking into the house with Chinese takeout in their hands.

The week that followed she did her best to dodge any questions brought to her, instead she focused more on her priorities and watched the few episodes of Designing Women that she would usually catch up on on Thursdays. She went to her classes, gave a presentation on the male gaze’s impact on historical portraiture that she’d been working on for weeks, and worked her usual shifts at Family Video with Steve and Robin.

She’d done a great job at avoiding the topic of Eddie Munson, especially because it was as if everywhere she turned, one of the boys or Erica was bringing him up, asking her questions about how they knew each other, what happened in Fourth grade, and how they went from being friends (according to Eddie) to Y/n completely avoiding him as a topic of conversation, and walking right past him during her time at Hawkins High.

That was until Eddie strolled into Family Video wearing his usual denim vest, leather jacket combo, alongside a pair of fitted black ripped jeans and his worn in docs. His hair was in it’s usual curly messy state and he sported a wide smile on his face the second he noticed Y/n behind the counter rewinding tapes while humming along to the Iron Maiden song playing in the background.

He knew she hadn’t noticed him-which gave him just enough time to trace his eyes along her figure, her voluminous hair framed her face perfectly, the look of concentration evident on her face-brows knit together in the same way that Lucas’s and Erica’s did, and she stuck her tongue out ever so slightly as her teeth lightly bit down on it, only seen when one really focused on her slightly parted lips.

He took in the slightly oversized Aerosmith shirt tucked into her black jeans alongside the dark green Family Video vest made him smile-she was so different than most of the girls she’d been grouped together with in school, and even now, he knew she was in school, and he knew that she wanted to pursue art-all things he’d overheard from Lucas’s conversations-things that he kept noted because Eddie Munson was head over heels.

She spun on her heel, grabbing the next bin of tapes that needed to be rewinded, lost in her own world until she dropped a tape, mumbling ‘shit’ while squatting down and picking it up, then when she finally stood up did she notice Eddie leaning against the counter, a dopey smile on his face while he looked at her.

Y/n let out a sigh, placing the tape on the counter next to the VCR and computer, before placing a hand on her hip.

“What do you want Munson” he raised a brow, the same smile on his face “Do you want my real answer, or do you want the Family Video related answer” she scoffed, rolling her eyes-already having an idea of what he was going to say based on her answer.

“You look beautiful today M’lady” she nodded her head, now shifting her weight to her left foot while crossing her arms over her chest “Flatter won’t get you far. If you don’t have any returns or rentals, you can go” he nodded his head a few times “what if I want a recommendation”

Before he could open his mouth to speak Y/n was quick to shout for Robin, yelling “Rob! C’mere” while glancing towards the Adult section of the store. Robin had lost their game of rock, paper, scissors which forced her to do the sorting and restocking of their very graphic Adult section-also known as their self proclaimed ‘section of doom’.

Eddie straightened up, fully expecting a man to walk through the beaded curtains, he would finally know who Rob was-and in his head who his competition was. Of course when it came to Y/n his competition was never ending, she had people throwing themselves at her for years-and yet he’d never actually seen her give anyone the time of day except for her ex from sophomore year.

However when the dirty blonde walked through the curtains, swatting at them in a spastic motion while adusting her short bob-cut hair he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Sure women were competition-but Eddie had seen Y/n with Robin before and he knew they were just friends-he just had no idea what her name was.

“Don’t look too happy, Munson. You want a recommendation, Rob can give you one. I have a job to do” with that she turned back around, doing her best to ignore the almost burning feeling of Eddie’s stare, her gaze focused on the vcr in front of her as she placed a copy of the animated version of Lord of The Rings into the machine, proceeding to rewind it.

Yet when she glanced over at him, he was quick to make eye contact with her while Robin talked about different horror flicks, going on and on about the different genres of horror and what the store had to offer. Y/n loved how much Robin talked, most people were bothered by the girl’s high energy-however she was the straw to Y/n’s berry. The two were like two peas in a pod the second they’d met in the girl’s bathroom Y/n’s junior year.

Robin had been crying about getting rejected, and Y/n was the only person who didn’t ignore the sounds of choked sobs and sniffles coming from the large stall. The two of them ended up sitting on the dingy bathroom floor for two hours together, talking and laughing, Y/n reassuring Robin that whoever rejected her was just an asshole who couldn’t see what was in front of them.

Eventually when she got a job at Scoops Ahoy with Robin, she’d introduced the girl to Steve after forcing Steve to put in a job application-knowing that the boy hadn’t done much since graduation and was living in a post-highschool rut.

Of course the whole Russians in Hawkins, Mindflare possessions, fighting in the upside down and regular world, plus everything else that had gone on at that god forsaken mall only brought the three closer together, which led them all to applying to the understaffed Family Video

“These are all amazing recommendations-really but I need to talk to her” he pointed at Y/n, who was back to rewinding tapes and doing her best to alphabetize the box of rewound tapes so it’d be easier for Steve to stock them back on the shelves. She was more focused on figuring out why a copy of Grease wouldn’t properly rewind than she was on Eddie and Robin-which is why the second Eddie lightly smacked the counter to her right she jumped, immediately meeting his stare.

“Jesus Munson, can you not take a hint?” he placed a hand on his chin for a moment, raising a brow and nodding his head, mimicking a thinking pose. “I don’t think so no-not when it comes to the girl of my dreams” she scoffed “yeah okay Munson.” She rolled her eyes, going back to looking at the tape in front of her, popping the front of the black plastic case off of it, groaning at the sight of the tangled tape.

Before she could try to fix it-something she was terrible at-Eddie reached across the counter-grabbing it from her hands and examining it before he started carefully unraveling the tape, then he started rolling it back around-it seemed so effortless to him-and for the first time in a long time-Y/n found herself staring at him without her usual bitchy expression.

Her eyes were focused on his hands, watching him fix the tape that would’ve taken her at least half an hour to figure out.

“You should try dropping the attitude every now and then-it’s a good look on you” she blinked a few times, her gaze now meeting his while he stared at her, a small smile on his lips when she didn’t roll her eyes at him.

“I don’t have an attitude.” He raised a single brow “mmm I don’t think so, it’s usually there, and you stand all tense with your shoulders raised and jaw clenched. You’ve kind of always stood like that too” she rolled her eyes “I do not stand like that Eddie” the name slipped past her lips before she thought about it, and for a second it felt like Eddie had finally slipped through a crack, that he was finally getting through her walls.

“Yes you do” he mimicked her, raising his shoulders slightly, clenching his jaw and furrowing his brows, then he tilted his head up slightly “This is literally how you walk around, you also cross your arms a lot and occasionally you slightly stand on your toes to seem taller than you are” she tilted her head slightly, somewhat taken aback by how much he actually paid attention to her.

The two were almost in their own world, both of them too distracted by one another to notice Robin whispering on the store phone a few feet away.

“Yes he’s here-they’re talking and like she seems super into it, she’s not even being mean-and y’know how she stands all stiff and stuff right now she looks totally relaxed” Robin whispered into the phone, glancing over at Eddie and Y/n, her hand cupping the bottom of the phone as she held it against her face, trying her best to keep whispering while she spoke to Dustin, Lucas, and Mike-well technically it was the Wheeler residence’s phone, however the other two were hovering over it as well.

“We’ve been trying to get her to open up to him! She keeps brushing us off!” Dustin’s voice was heard through the phone while Robin nodded her head, listening as Lucas spoke next “We didn’t think he would actually show up, he kept going on about how she’d kick him out or ignore him”

“Well I can see why, she’s been ignoring him for years at this point, I feel like we have to figure out why she hates him-because there’s no way she actually hates him-Oh my god-guys-she’s smiling and laughing-I repeat she’s smiling and laughing”

It took everything in Robin not to start smiling and squealing, she was easily recruited for ‘Operation Fourth Grade to Forever’, granted none of them knew what happened in fourth grade, or why the two went from being friends to Y/n wanting nothing to do with him, but that was the entire point of the operation. Besides they were all looking for something to do-they had more free time on their hands after the gate was closed-so what better way than to help young love blossom.

Y/n found herself laughing at Eddie’s jokes and his mimicking of her uptight posture, she rolled her eyes playfully while taking the fixed tape from his outstretched hand.

“Thank you, that would’ve taken me hours” he laughed, a small smile on his face “I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I’d let you suffer through that” she let out a small giggle at that, rolling her eyes at his flirty tone as she tried to stop the smile on her face-rather it was her smiling upside down-leading both Eddie and Robin to smile.

But their moment felt like it was stomped on when Steve rushed into the store, slipping on his vest, making the bell above the door ding back and forth a few times.

“Shit I’m late-sorry guys-got caught up with this girl-” he paused when he noticed Eddie across from Y/n, the both of them now glancing over at him, then his eyes moved to Robin who was still on the phone, but she quickly moved her hand away to make it seem like a casual phone call made to the store.

“Store’s pretty dead I guess.” his tone shift was evident, and he eyed Eddie, who simply put his hands up in a surrendering motion, then he glanced over at Y/n again “do you want to maybe, hang out, maybe go see Labyrinth sometime?-for uh old times sake” he rushed the last part, heat rushing through his neck, towards his ears, and the red flush slightly moving into his cheeks.

Before she could answer Steve did it for her “she can’t we’re already seeing that with Robin. Sorry Eddie, anything else you need? I can help you” Y/n blinked a few times, usually she’d be thankful that Steve stepped in to essentially cock block him, however, in the moment she felt something-something else. Some part of her was mad at Steve, especially when she noticed the way Eddie’s expression dropped.

“Oh uh, alright, well I’ll see you around Sinclair, cool meeting you Robin!” With that he tried to leave the store in a casual manner, internally he was a mixture of embarrassed, irritated, and oddly enough a sliver of happiness overtook him. That was the first time in years that she’d called him Eddie, not to mention seeing a genuine smile on her face-it was all the hope he needed.

When the door shut Y/n immediately grabbed a random movie from the Adult section returns bin and threw it at Steve. It hit him in the face while he struggled to dodge it, and Robin laughed before hanging up the phone.

“Are you serious? The hell was that for! You hate Munson!” she scoffed, rolling her eyes “I can answer questions myself Steve, I don’t need you to Mama bear me!” her attitude was back, and her shoulders were tense again, that in itself confused Steve-especially because the group made sure to keep Steve out of the operation, knowing that Steve considered Eddie a ‘bad influence’ and went on tangents about him to Dustin.

“You’re acting like you actually wanted to go see the movie with him! And really? Throwing ‘Katie Chow takes the big black kong’ at me was unnecessary!” he grimaced at the name of the tape, before tossing it on the counter and making his way behind it. However when he said that Y/n felt an unfamiliar feeling in her stomach, something she hadn’t experienced in a long time-and she had no idea what it was.

When she hadn’t answered for a few minutes Steve slowly turned to face her, he glanced at Robin who simply shrugged while grabbing another bin of returns and started placing them on the old vinyl countertops.

“Wait-you wanted to go didn’t you!” she scoffed, eyes focused on the rewind button in front of her “I never said that Steve” he nodded “but you also never said you didn’t want to go!” she craned her neck back slightly, rolling her eyes, then returned to her original posture, trying to look more relaxed-now hyper aware of how she stood when she was irritated.

“Holy shit! You did wanna go! You were gonna say yes!” Her scoffs started to sound the same, she did her best to look disgusted at the idea, but she knew she wasn’t fooling Steve or Robin in the moment. “Shut up! I never said that!” he nodded “oh but it’s what you didn’t say that mattered!” she shook her head “Leave me alone! He was just being nice okay! Shit”

Steve and Robin exchanged a knowing look.

“I don’t think he was the only one being nice” Y/n’s jaw dropped at Robin’s words, she turned to face her and shook her head “Who’s side are you on!” Robin shrugged “whichever side gets you to tell me what happened in fourth grade”

“It’s not important!” Robin shook her head “clearly it is because you’ve fake hated Eddie since then, like yea he’s kind of a weirdo-but he doesn’t seem like a bad guy-” before steve could interject Robin pointed a finger at him “and you shush it, you’re a shit judge of character” Y/n nodded her head, taking a second to agree with the blonde.

“Please, it’s not important Rob” Robin raised a brow before nodding, deciding to brush everything off, she also took the opportunity to sneak off into the backroom, using the phone to call the Wheeler household back, telling them to lay off ‘O.F.G.T.F’ for now.

However, that would only last until the following Friday.

Everytime Y/n and Eddie had crossed paths they kept their conversation to a minimum, she felt more comfortable just acting as if everything last Wednesday didn’t happen. Instead she went back to her usual facade, keeping everything short. Of course he tried to stop her in her tracks when she was picking up the boys from school, he easily spotted her Jaguar in the parking lot, so he jogged up to it, however she was quick to brush him off-and the entire time she avoided making eye contact with him.

Now it was Friday night, at 8:30, and the boys were all waiting for Y/n to get there, she was slightly late because Fridays were always busy nights. Eddie always stayed after their sessions ended to clean everything up, so when he walked out of the building to see the guys all waiting outside, sitting on the curb, he raised a brow.

“Usually your chauffeur is early, what happened today?” his voice caused the three freshmen to look back, Dustin shrugged while Lucas spoke up.

“Family Video’s busiest days are Fridays and Saturdays-she’s probably stumped at work, so we just gotta wait” Eddie nodded his head “I’ll take you there if you guys want, vans kind of a mess but hey-it’s probably better than sitting on the cold ass concrete all night while your sister cusses people out at her job” The three boys looked at one another before nodding and getting up off the floor, they’d been in his van before, hell he’d driven them home a few times, however they all knew that if they didn’t show up at her job, or if no one called her the second they got home-which she probably would’ve missed due to being at work or on the road-that she’d freak out.

During the first half of the ride they all spoke about their DND campaign, and even about future campaign ideas, or campaign expansions alongside introducing new characters into the mix. Then Dustin simply word vomited-something he always did.

“Okay I can’t keep it in, Y/n won’t tell us-so please tell us what happened in fourth grade. O.F.G.T.F cannot be successful until we find out why she hates you-or pretends to hate you because based on what Robin told us-she definitely doesn’t hate you. We know people she hates, and she usually does more than just cuss and act all stiff and mean. Usually she resorts to violence-which is probably not a good thing cause like-violence. But I don’t think I know anyone who can fight like she can”

Everyone was silent after Dustin’s rant, Eddie looking at them through the crooked rear view mirror, letting out a deep sigh.

“We dated for like two weeks in the fourth grade, Y’know Sinclair she was my first kiss-even back then she was probably the prettiest girl in our class-not probably-definitely. But uh yeah, it isn’t my place to tell you what happened” Mike scoffed at that.

“Are you shitting me? That’s all we get? We’re trying to get you two together and all you can tell us is she was your first kiss and she was pretty-we all know Y/n’s pretty, she’s always been smokin’ hot-no offense Lucas-but there’s clearly something else there!”

The three boys-and Robin-were all fed up trying to understand what happened in elementary school between the two of them. All of them knew that Y/n held a mean grudge, she always held grudges, to those who were close with Y/n-it was easy to tell when she didn’t like someone. There was a difference between the few grudges she held versus the people she outwardly hated-and as much as Y/n hated to admit it outloud-her fight or flight had a lot to do with it, and the fight usually took over.

“She has like this grudge against me okay-I tried to talk to her about it-I tried everything! I think I honestly only made it worse, I can’t tell you exactly where I fucked up, but I know a lot of it has to do with that” they all nodded, motioning for him to keep speaking, Dustin going as far as to clear his throat to get him to continue.

“I dunno, it was after our first kiss, it wasn’t like one of those gross first kisses you hear about either, it was really quick, like a peck I guess. Anyways-it happened in the old treehouse at you place Sinclair-I don’t even remember exactly what I said, but I knew it bothered her. Then I tried apologizing but I never did because she didn’t want to talk to me, so I kept on trying to apologize after that for like weeks and never could because she was ignoring me, or she’d tell her dad not to let me around the house. Then we got into this huge fight the first week of summer break, and admittedly I fucked up here-but I was also an immature kid-but I remember shoving her back and she cut up one of her legs on the concrete. I probably said other fucked up shit too, but I know that was back after my mom split-I was definitely the asshole”

He paused, parking the van in front of the Family Video in one of the few empty spots before he took a deep breath.

“She tried to be there for me a few weeks after that, showed up to my uncle's trailer and everything-she rode her bright pink princess bike there, and she brought a bag of gummy bears with her-I guess she figured I wasn’t the happiest after moving and wanted to be nice. I slammed the door in her face. After that she stopped talking to me overall, and as the years went by when I tried talking to her she just got bitchier and bitchier. Granted-it’s kinda hot-so when we were like fifteen I started doing shit to bother her-cause I knew I’d get a reaction. But that’s what happened in fourth grade-she can probably go more into detail”

Lucas furrowed his brows, he knew his older sister had a scar on the side of her left calf, over the years it’d gotten smaller as she’d gotten taller, however it was still there to this day, and anytime he asked about it growing up y/n would reply with “I fell, don’t worry it’s fine Lucas, besides scars make you look badass”

He knew she added in the last part to reassure him that all of the scars he had from falling and scraping his arms and legs up were fine and that he shouldn’t care about how they look. The more Lucas thought about it, the more he realized that sure his sister was definitely a bitch, but she was also the reason that Lucas had some self esteem-and she was the reason Erica had the self esteem of a God. Y/n worked hard to make sure her younger siblings were comfortable in their own skin-just as she did with everyone that was close to her.

By the time they all left the van and made their way into the video store, they could see Y/n arguing with an older man, he looked to be in his forties, and he was arguing with her over what seemed to be overdue copies of films that stopped him from being able to rent anything else.

“Listen, if you return the damn movies, I’ll rent you the new ones. You have four that have late fees on them because they were due two weeks ago, you don’t return the movies, you don’t get shit from here. It’s a simple fucking rule”

The older man scoffed at her, causing her to crane her neck back slightly, brows raised, and a smirk forming on her face.

“That’s never been the case before, I don’t need some teenage brat trying to tell me what I can and can’t do. I turned in the films, it’s not my fault your shitty staff can’t keep track of anything. Where the hell is your manager anyways-clearly you don’t need a job working in customer service when you can’t talk to people”.

She slammed her hand on the countertop in front of her, and it clearly startled the older man.

“Wow, if only the fucking manager was actually here to deal with your shit, so sorry sweetheart but he’s not here because he never is, and for the record you old asshole, I’m twenty, so if you’re gonna call me a brat at least get my age bracket correct. Now, you didn’t return shit because it’s not in our system that you returned anything, if you don’t like how we run our store-aka the only movie rental store in all of Hawkins, Indiana, then you can drive to the next town over and lose their rentals. Also since you’re here you can pay those late fees, that’ll be eight ninety five. You’re holding up my God damn line, so either pay up or get the hell out.”

He looked taken aback, tossing the movies he wanted onto the counter before scoffing and storming out, Y/n rolled her eyes at him-she was tired, and she ran out of patience two hours ago. Fridays were the worst days of the week, that’s when everyone decided to come in, and they always came in after 6.

Robin noticed the boys before Y/n did, so she let all of them behind the counter-including Eddie-who took the risk of standing next to Y/n as she continued checking peoples rentals out, while mumbling for them to have a great night.

“So why do you work the register on Fridays?” she almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of Eddie’s voice-she hadn’t even noticed him next to her. She sighed, glancing at him before scanning the barcode to the store’s last copy of Rambo for a group of teenage boys.

“Because I’m the only one that’s actually mean. Steve tries to talk people down when they’re angry and he only makes things worse because he’s overly confident and it annoys people even more, and Robin cracks under pressure and starts rambling-once someone made her cry. So we came to the conclusion that I’d be the only one working the register on busy nights. Also thank you for bringing them here-I haven’t had a break so I couldn’t call”

Y/n spoke without looking at him, instead focusing more on replacing the receipt paper in the cash register. However at the sound of the boys in front of her trying to rush her, she simply looked up and raised a brow “you either wait another two minutes, or you little shits can give me your IDs which clearly don’t say 18 considering you look like you haven’t hit puberty yet and I don’t let you rent the god damn movie. Now give me the damn money before I card both of you and call your mothers” the two boys stared at her with wide eyes, one extending a shaky hand holding cash.

“Thank you, now you have a wonderful night. Bring it back in a week or I’ll charge you all double on the late fees. Oh and don’t let me catch either of you going into the Adult section again. At least sharpie on a mustache or something first.” with that she slid them their receipt on top of the VHS tape and smiled while shewing them off.

“I dig the attitude, it’s hot” she rolled her eyes “y’know maybe the flirting wouldn’t be as bad if I wasn’t exhausted and pushed past my people limit for the day. I just wanna lay down and relax instead I have to deal with jackasses trying to rent shitty movies.”

With that the next person in line stepped up, holding six tapes and placing them on the counter, she hadn’t even looked up before speaking “limit is four per customer, you have fifteen seconds to pick the four you want or ill kick you out of my line. We close at nine thirty, odds are if you get kicked out of line you’re not getting any movies tonight.” with that the person quickly discarded the top two movies, sliding them to the other end of the counter and allowing y/n to ring her up.

“You need help?” she shook her head at Eddie’s question “no, what I need is a five day vacation to some fancy ass spa where they give you massages and shit, I could also use a very very hot bath in combination with a bag of gummy bears.” he laughed at that.

“They’re still your favorite huh?” she furrowed her brows, now finally looking up at Eddie. “What?” “Gummy bears-they’re still your favorite, you used to love them when we were kids, you almost always had a bag on you”

“You remember that?” he nodded his head, a small smile on her face as the two of them held eye contact, but the sound of another customer clearing their throat ruined the moment. Y/n rolled her eyes before looking at the customer, then eyeing the stacked movies, he didn’t look a day older than sixteen, so she grabbed the top movie-an easy to spot cover up-some random rom com-then she looked at the three films from the adult section.

“I’m gonna save you some embarrassment here and tell you to get the hell out of my line. You’re not a day older than sixteen, and if you try to lie to me and give me a shittily made fake ID from Ricardo Smith I will actually cut it up with scissors and make you pay me for my time” the kid was a blushing mess as he tossed the dvds into the large pile at the other end of the counter and speed walked out of the video store.

“Damn, that was ruthless, can’t let a kid live?” she shook her head at his comment “No Eddie I can’t cause when his mother sees him and his right hand going at it to Blondes Have More Fun Volume 69, then the stores gonna have to deal with her ass and by the store I mean me because once again Steve and Robin cannot handle confrontation.” She spoke as she checked another person out, she was at the point in the night that she was tired of reading off peoples totals, instead motioned to the register calculation and waited for their payment method.

Eddie took a small risk, he stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders-gently massaging into them and when Y/n let her head lean back for a second as she took a deep breath, he took that as a silent thank you. He expected her to smack his hands away, and yet she was practically melting under his touch. He slid his hands under the green vest-getting a better grip of her shoulders through the thin material of her t-shirt, and in the moment Y/n’s brain had gone into autopilot.

She’d done this job enough to do it perfectly by muscle memory, it just took her a few more seconds than usual to count the cash given to her.

Robin was working behind the counter to get all the returned VHS tapes into one pile and all of the grabbed but not rented tapes into a bin for Steve to stock on the shelves, she easily recruited the help of Mike and Lucas, while Dustin helped Steve. Robin called them her free labor-which was honestly necessary on days like these.

“Do you see those two? He’s giving her a freaking shoulder massage! And she’s letting him!” Robin spoke in harsh whispers to the boys next to her, the two of them glancing over to the front register, eyes widening, then they waved their hands in the air to get Dustin’s attention-who elbowed Steve and they all looked over at Eddie and Y/n. Everyone had a smile on their face outside of Steve who was shocked and had his usual confused expression, to which Dustin sighed and replied with “I’ll tell you later”.

“Your hairs not usually up y’know” she sighed “I get hot sometimes, especially when people are constantly getting on my last nerve” he nodded his head-knowing she couldn’t actually see him, but she slightly flinched and let out a small hiss when he moved one of his hands-accidentally placing the cold metal of his rings against the back of her neck. “Shit sorry”

“It’s okay-just kinda cold”

After they closed up the store Eddie hesitated to try asking her out again, he debated it, but he decided it wasn’t the right time. Instead he headed back home, a large smile on his face the entire drive home.

However that didn’t stop everyone else from questioning Y/n-who was working on cleaning off the countertops, a smile on her face as she did it, and for once she didn’t hate the feeling in her stomach, rather she welcomed it.

“What’s got you smiling like that-oh wait I think the question is who? Hmmm?” Robin smiled, lightly bumping her hip against Y/n’s while wiggling her brows, everyone now stood around the store, cleaning up and organizing, and it was quiet in the store as they’d turned off the sound system after the tapes kept getting stuck.

“Oh shut it Rob” the blonde nodded her head “it seems like someone has a little bit of a crush to me” y/n tried to hide her smile, she felt like a walking cliche-the ghost of Eddie’s touch still lingering against her skin-or maybe that was just her exhaustion setting in-but she couldn’t even deny Robin’s accusation-because part of her knew it was true.

“So does fourth grade still matter hmm?” The sentence reminded Y/n of the entire reason she stopped talking to Eddie, and now her smile dropped as she rolled her eyes. “Yes it still matters.”

The eldest Sinclair moved to a different counter, now aggressively spraying it down in cleaner, her jaw clenched while she wiped the vinyl in circular motions. They all left her alone for about ten minutes, then of course they all had to bring it up-that and the fact that Dustin was spilling everything to Steve-who scoffed at Dustin’s retelling of what Eddie had told him.

“Yeah he forgot two of the most important parts of the story.” Dustin raised a brow “and how would you know that?” Steve tilted his head, one of his classic ‘are you serious’ expressions on his face “I was there-I’ve been friends with Y/n since we were kids Dustin.”

Of course, Y/n overheard them, she was only a few feet away, and with little to no background noise it wasn’t difficult to hear one another talking at a normal volume.

“It was a bet. I was the butt of the joke. He’d admitted it to me after our shitastic first kiss, he said that he’d won the bet, and I was confused-but he already said it outloud on accident. So he went on a tangent about how he’d never actually liked me before his friends bet him like twenty bucks or some shit to ask me out-sure we were just kids but that shit hurt. Especially because I thought we were friends.” She paused for a second, letting out a deep breath to stop herself from tearing up.

“He started to word vomit-the way Robin does when she’s nervous-or the way Dustin does when he’s thinking. He told me all of his friends thought I was ugly, and that they wanted to see if he would actually go through with ‘dating me’-whatever the fuck that even equates to as a fourth grader. Then he admitted that kissing me got him another twenty bucks. Let’s also not forget the fact that I wanted to forgive him, hell I convinced myself to forgive him. I knew what happened with his Mom, she split and he moved to Forest Hills, so I rode my stupid little pink bike across fucking town to go see him and see if he was okay”

She looked up now, her eyes glossy as a singular tear slipped down her cheek, everyone saw it-no one said a single thing. “Y’know what he said. He said that the bet was over and he didn’t want to talk to my ugly ass anymore, then he went on to tell me to leave him the hell alone, called me a stalker, and felt the need to reiterate the fact that he thought I was ugly. So yeah, maybe I am childish for holding the grudge about fourth grade, but when your entire self esteem is tanked and it takes you until your sophomore year of highschool to actually love yourself because of some stupid boy in the fourth grade-you have the right to hold that grudge.”

She wiped the tears off of her face “and y’know what? He never even apologized to me, instead he got more fucking annoying and more obnoxious and he always-always did his very best to get under my skin. He’d cut me off, or he’d say these stupid slick comments, and he would just piss me off to no end. Sure I’ve started my fair share of arguments, and yeah I am a bitch to him, and I will continue to be a bitch to him. But he’s never even apologized, and now knowing that he doesn’t even fucking remember it? I’m supposed to want to jump into his stupid arms and just embrace him and his stupid curly hair and his stupid cologne and his stupid big brown fucking eyes.”

Everyone was silent and she nodded her head a few times, a sad smile on her face.

“That’s what happened in fourth grade. That’s the reason I hate Eddie Munson. Because he never even fucking apologized. We were friends y’know. We did our stupid third grade science fair volcano together-he was one of my best friends as a kid. Then he just wasn’t, because I wasn’t as pretty as the blonde haired blue eyed girls. Now please for the love of God let this stupid shit go. I don’t want anything to do with him.”

She went to the back storage room, taking off her vest, and grabbing her bag. She then left the room, still sniffling slightly.

“Lucas, are you coming home tonight or staying the night at Mikes?” he glanced over at his sister before looking back at Dustin and Mike. “I’m gonna uh-stay at Mikes if that’s cool with you” she nodded her head “yeah that’s fine. Rob, do you need a ride home? Steve take the boys home” She shook her head, and with that Y/n left the store, getting into her car and playing the mixtape that Robin had made her as she drove home.

Meanwhile everyone still remained at Family Video, deciding to give y/n space after that heavy confession-but now they knew two things. One Eddie needed to apologize to her, and two they needed to tell Eddie where he fucked up. Well they knew three things technically-Y/n definitely has a thing for Eddie-and maybe she always had-but it’s something that she will forever ignore and suppress because of how he made her feel.

So that’s what sparked Operation Apology Accepted-which also included Robin, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas showing up at Eddie’s trailer two days after to unpack everything that Y/n had shared with them, to the point that they’d all taken turns explaining parts of the story to him-and they all watched as Eddie’s eyes widened, all of the memories suddenly connecting and everything making sense.

The entire time he was trying to apologize she didn’t want to hear it-and he now realized that she was right to not want to hear anything-especially after knowing the lasting impact it’d left on her. Of course Eddie knew all about his peers impacting his self esteem, he was never popular, and for a while he’d been the butt of the joke, but as he got older he embraced the “the freak” title which led to him building up his own confident facade, but underneath all of that he was still the stupid kid projecting his own pain onto his best friend.

These realizations led Eddie to spending the next week and a half trying to talk to Y/n, and every single time he tried to catch her-whether it be at her job, or at the town library, or when she’d pick up her siblings, or when she went to Erica’s middle school dance competitions-she would simply ignore him and move away from him.

He knew he had to apologize to her, he knew he had to let her know that he never meant any of it, that he’d practically been in love with her since they were kids, that he thought she was the prettiest girl in their grade as kids, and that the only reason he accepted the bet was because he knew he would finally be able to admit his feelings to her-but as a kid he was stupid-in fact he was so stupid that he word vomited that things started as a bet over a measly forty dollars at the worst possible time, and when y/n got mad-what did he do? He just said whatever would make her want to leave him alone-because he knew she wouldn’t want anything to do with him after that.

Then his mom split, and he went from being an idiot to a hurt, angry, idiot. So he started to project that onto the people in his life, and y/n just happened to be one of them. He even remembered shoving her-something he should’ve never done-something he regretted doing.

Eddie Munson knew one thing, he was absolutely in love with Y/n Sinclair, and he always had been. But he needed to prove that to her, and he needed to start with an apology for his stupidity, he knew he couldn’t make up for the pain he caused her, but he knew the apology was a start.

Which is what led him to standing in her room awkwardly at six fifty-four on a Tuesday afternoon. Lucas told him that she got home from her classes and work at seven, so he let Eddie in, and now the man was pacing back and forth in a bedroom he hadn’t been in since he was nine. Granted it was a lot different, the once pink paint now replaced with white, but her walls were covered in posters, tickets, signs, and she had a large wall shelf near her closet which displayed her cheer trophies, starting from the sixth grade leading through the twelfth. She had her art work up on the walls, and all of her furniture was originally white, some objects covered in stickers, others were clearly worn-but the entire room fit her.

He placed the large stuffed cartoony octopus on her bed, alongside that he’d gotten her sunflowers, and that was solely there to lighten the blow of Eddie being in her room. Everything else was going to be said, and he sure as hell hoped she wouldn’t knee him in the groin and kick him out-but that was also something he tried to prepare himself for-knowing he’d just have to take the hit and walk it off.

Another few minutes passed before the door opened, followed by Y/n letting out a small yelp at the sight of Eddie-then she furrowed her brows, looking at her bed. She shushed him with a singular finger as she walked towards her bed, picking up the small card next to the sunflowers.

‘All I need is ten minutes, please’ she knew his messy handwriting anywhere, he hadn’t ever grown out of it. So she picked up the sunflowers, opened her closet and pulled out one of the vases she’d made in her pottery elective and placed them inside before grabbing the water bottle from her bag and pouring the water inside, following it with the water from the nearly full bottle on her desk.

He watched as she moved in silence, placing the vase on top of her dresser which sat adjacent to her window. Then she took off her shoes, followed by her socks and placed her shoes on the shoe rack in her closet and her socks in her dirty clothes hamper. Once she finished doing that she sat on her bed-holding the Octopus again while glancing at him.

“I know they’re your favorite-cause they uh-they have three hearts.” she nodded her head at him, her expression unreadable while she stared at him. It was something she’d gotten good at, yes she had a temper, and yes she wore her heart on her sleeve most of the time, however when it came to moments like these, she knew how to keep herself composed and almost looking numb to the world around her.

Internally Y/n was screaming, she wanted to start throwing things at Eddie the second she saw him, she wanted to trash the flowers, she wanted to burn the card and tell him to get the hell out, she wanted to do a lot of things, but after a week of crying herself to sleep in an almost heartbroken manner, she figured she’d listen to whatever the hell he had to say-especially if her younger brothers were in on it.

“Are you not gonna say anything-no-okay that’s totally fine-uh I just uh I came to apologize. Which I know is super late and super overdue and probably doesn’t mean shit to you anymore, especially because I kind of forgot why you hated me, then everyone kind of told me-why? I don’t even know because you hate me-and I deserve to be hated for what I did cause shit I was a dickhead-but I just I need you to know-that I-that I lo-no sorry that’s not it. Uh that I’m sorry.”

She furrowed her brows, blinking a few times, tilting her head in a confused manner.

“I’m not really good at this kind of thing y’know, I’m kind of a coward, I don’t really like confrontation-it's’ all an act-and I know that you know that it’s all an act because you see right through my shit which is why it’s always been so hard to get close to you because jesus you see through everyone's shit and yea I knew you weren’t as happy go lucky and positive as you wanted people to think you were, but you have these walls up and they're like a russian gulag’s walls-they’re like impenetrable and shit I’m the reason they’re even there in the first place because nine year old me was such a little prick”

Y/n stiffled a laugh at that, nodding her head slightly, he was rambling, it was clear he was nervous, and somehow she found it comforting. She found him comforting-even if he was the cause for her heartbreak-and for her anger. He was also the cure.

“I’m just so sorry I said that shit about you, I’ve never in my life thought you were ugly-jesus christ I was so in love with you as a kid but I could never even tell you because I was a coward, and then they made that stupid bet to me and I was like ‘sweet heres a way to get the girl and also get some money’ cause y’know when you’re a kid you’re stupid and concerned with forty dollars-but I mean I deal pot so I guess i’m still concerned with forty dollars.”

He took a pause, running his hands through his messy curly hair, while also fanning himself “jesus is it hot in here or is that just me? Do you mind if i just-” with that he took off his denim vest and leather jacket, leaving him in his hellfire shirt. “-I was wrong to call you ugly and to say all that mean ass shit because I was freaking out and I was already hurting and I was so afraid to tell you in that moment that I really liked you and I thought you’d reject the hell out of me-even though it makes no sense thinking back on that-so I just said whatever I thought would make you hate me, and clearly it worked because we’re both twenty and you still hate me” he placed his hands on his hips for a second, avoiding making eye contact while he looked up at the roof.

“Then you showed up to my uncle’s trailer, and you had those gummy bears, and I knew it took you a while to get there, and I was just doing so fucking shitty, I was so hurt over my mom and I had like no real friends left because you were probably the best friend I had as a kid, and I felt so fucking miserable so I just projected it all onto you and I should’ve never done that because it was mean and it was stupid and I’m so-so-so sorry that I made you feel less than, or that I made you question your beauty because listen to me Y/n-you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, inside and out”

He now looked down, holding eye contact with her, and he couldn’t stop the words from coming out “and jesus christ I did everything to get a reaction out of you after that because it was the only way you’d actually talk to me, and i knew I annoyed the shit out of you, but then you’d respond and you’d say the bitchiest shit and I’d be there feeling like I wanted to go home and think about you, and your attitude, and the way you knit your brows together and how pretty you look when you’re about to cuss someone out, and i felt like i was gonna kick my feet back and forth and twirl my fucking hair or something”

“I’m so sorry for making you feel the way I did, I’m so sorry that I never apologized to you and that I gave up on trying, because jesus christ y/n I’m so in love with you that it fucking hurts. I’ve been in love with you since we were kids and I was such a little asshole”

Her eyes widened at that, jaw dropping at his confession as everything processed, she didn’t even realize she was standing and walking towards him until she was a few inches from him.

“Say it again Eddie” he blinked a few times, his breath hitched at her closeness to him “please Eddie I need you to say it again” he swallowed hard, eyes wide, and as she stared at him all she could see were emotions running wild in his eyes.

“I’m in love with you” that’s all it took for Y/n to place her hands on the sides of his face and pull him in, their lips clashing together at first, then molding together like the perfect match, one of her hands moved to the back of his neck-holding him against her as his hands found their place on her jaw-thumb lightly caressing the skin of her face as his other hand sat against her waist.

She poured all of her emotions into the kiss, the anger, the annoyance, the hatred, and most importantly the love she’d always had for him.

It was difficult for Y/n to navigate her feelings towards Eddie Munson, she’d gone most of her life equating the heartbreak she’d experienced to hatred, and as they got older she did her best to keep the anger from fourth grade, but eventually that anger and hatred turned into love. An emotion she could never really identify or process, she loved Eddie Munson. Not because he broke her heart as a child-no she loved Eddie Munson because even if he did break her heart, he was always around, he never truly left her alone, he was always somehow wedging himself into her life even when she tried to push him out.

Over the past week any time she thought through her relationship with Eddie she realized two things.

One- she valued his opinion of her above everyone else's, it was the same reason that throughout middle school she found herself looking in the mirror wondering what he would think of her hair, or her clothes, or her music taste. It was also the reason that in high school she dumped her ex boyfriend because of Eddie’s sly comments about the fact that she could do better-and he was right. She wanted to be the pretty popular girl that everyone wanted, most importantly she wanted to prove her 9 year old self, and his 9 year old self wrong-she was pretty, and she would use that to her advantage. so she settled for someone who would help that happen-and in the end she broke up with him because he was a self absorbed douchebag.

Hell, it was the entire reason that she kept painting and sculpting, everyone told her that it was a waste of time, but Eddie always complimented her work, even when she wasn’t looking or around, he’d write little notes about the in progress pieces, and he’d tape them to the back of the canvases, or he’d tape them to the base of the sculptures. She knew it was him, she even told him to ‘fuck off with the fake compliments’ once, to which he responded with ‘alas the only thing fake is your hate for me’.

The second thing she realized was that he was one of the most constant factors in her life, it wasn’t because Eddie was from the same shitty town she was, or because he was her self proclaimed arch nemesis, or even because they ended up being polar opposites in high school. No, he was a constant factor in her life because behind all of those sly comments and petty arguments he was always there when she needed someone around.

He always knew when to show up, it was odd, but whenever she needed someone around-there he was, making a sly comment about her friend group as she sat alone in the library, or he’d lean against the locker next to hers, complimenting her ‘cute little cheerleader outfit’, to follow it up with ‘didn’t know you were into halloween that much’. He was never truly malicious, and yet she was, but he still stuck around because deep down the both of them knew that they’d always find their way back to one another.

As enemies or as lovers, they were fine with either, but now, now Y/n Sinclair knew she was in love with Eddie Munson, and she was tired of denying that.

Taglist: @dmonchld @anxietyandtacos @1nfinitely-yours

If you’d like to be tagged in any of my future stranger things fics or Eddie Munson fics please send me an ask :), I’m in the process of making a new ST masterlsit and taglist doc so yea

#Eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x sinclair!reader #eddie munson stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfic #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #stranger things x you

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a-local-idiots-shitpost · 9 months

Text

Cat Yuu-Staff

Crowley

he didn´t get a choice in keeping the Cat it just walked into his office one day and since then they only left if they got hungry or to bored

and after a while he just got so used to it that he didn´t even try to make it leave even more

after even more time he did the unbelievable… he actually tried to genuinely take care of it

I mean he pretty much did a bad job but it´s the thought that counts

but he also tried to force the Cat to do some workaround campus which spectacularly backfired for him

all the Cat did was make even bigger messes just to mess with him

Crewel

for being a Dog person Crewel wonders why he decided to take in the Cat who began following him around

but he had no other chance because it kept following him around and just refused to leave him alone

and the only reason he doesn´t have to hold himself back from just dumping them onto someone else is if he truly can´t put up with the Cat´s bullshit anymore they just stop

he doesn´t know if it makes them worse or not but probably worse considering it can just stop if they truly wanted to

the second saving grace it has that it also pretty much just acts like a Dog

and it might be a little bit more well behaved than the majority of Pups he has to deal with everyday

Trein

he saw the Cat playing with Lucius or more accurately the Cat was trying to play with Lucius and Lucius was just looking at them with a look of complete boredom

he just wanted to take Lucius with him when the Cat just started to follow him home

and then back to school and back home and it just kept this up until he let them into his home

and the Cat just decided to race around his house for a while until the just let themself plop on the ground and fall asleep

Trein was actually worried something happened to them but then he noticed the Cat just fell asleep

and now he has two completely different Cat that he loves equally

Vargas

you should not allow this man to have a pet, if it wasn´t for Trein scolding him and teaching him the proper ways to take care of a Cat

like this man thought it would be smart to just feed the Cat raw eggs and try to train them

now he knows they need Cat food or just Cat safe things to eat and if he wants he can do light jogs with them and slowly work his way up there

but all he did was create a monster that was incredibly fast and has a habit to steal food

especially if it´s even slightly unhealthy

and I´m not even joking there are only a couple of people who are fast enough to catch the Cat

Sam

the Cat just walked into his Shop one day and begged for food

Sam initially wanted to shoo it away but his Friends on the other side decided that they really like the Cat and asked him to keep them

which turned out great for him because the Cat is rather smart and he uses them for simple jobs like handing out Flyers, moving around small objects, stealing things from students and luring them into his Shop or just attracting customers because they are really cute and cuddly

and all he has to do is feed them as payment

#disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland headcanons #dire crowley #divus crewel #twst vargas #mozus trein #twst sam #twisted wonderland sam

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peachsayshi · 2 years

Note

Ex husband Geto has me by the throat 😭‼️‼️ I love the way you write him and I’m eager to read about his and readers backstory (why they got divorced in the first place) do you have any crumbs to spare 😞🤲🏼

Monster & Man - Ex-Husband!Suguru x F!Reader

A/N: (PART 2) - (MANGA SPOILERS - I try not to get into too much detail but it’s mentioned) [MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT] For you, anon, I can spare a whole loaf of bread ❤️ Here is the full backstory. Now, even though this is an au version where Geto didn’t turn evil, I genuinely can’t imagine him completely erasing that part of himself 😉 I hope you enjoy it! (the last part of the chapter will tie into the next one which focuses on the reader’s perspective). p.s. please keep in mind that while I take things from canon - I do not follow the timeline at all lol

For requests - please read the blurb on my navigation to see what I am accepting.

TAGS: mentions: pregnancy + kids; smoking; use of sex toy

Acrid, decaying, and rotten.

Those were the only words that Suguru used when describing the taste of the curses he swallowed. He remembered throwing up the first time he ingested the black orb, and that chilling sensation of it poisoning his gut never changed from when he was a boy. The only difference is that he grew tolerant of the effects as he adjusted to his technique. He had a habit of meticulously brushing his teeth and sloshing mouthwash in repeated cycles afterwards, but the flavor had a tendency of lingering on his tongue no matter how many times he would rinse it out.

Water droplets trickled down his face, catching onto the tips of his dark hair but his eyes remained fixated on the open tap running against the sink. Blinking away the seconds, he tried to focus on the success that was tonights mission but instead was busy holding himself from spiraling into a panicked frenzy.

This has been a struggle for him recently, and it’s been harder for him to ignore how bad swallowing curses made him feel, especially now that it constantly triggered the memory of a bullet that whizzed across his eyes…

Of Riko’s body in Satoru’s arms…

And the applause from those vicious, cruel monkeys who cheered on her death.

He could still hear it in the back of his mind, distinct but faint, all the while thinking…who am I doing this for?

“Suguru?”

The sorcerer straightened up immediately, pushing back his hair with his fingers as he glanced over his shoulder to find Satoru’s body leaning against the frame of the bathroom door.

“Satoru…” he greeted with a slight nod, turning off the tap as he cleared his throat, while trying his best to hide his shakes. “I thought you were still with the students.”

“We finished up a little while ago. Tonight was intense, I wanted to make sure they were okay…”

Suguru reached for the small hand towel, dabbing his face lightly to dry off. He then proceeded to remove the hair tie from around his wrist, and began sleeking back his locks into a neat bun.

“That includes you too, dear…” the white haired sorcerer cheekily added on after hearing no reply, noticing how naturally the rogue layers of Suguru’s bangs fell over his face.

Suguru’s eyes shifted to the mug in Satoru’s hand instead, “is that for me?”

“Who else?” his friend warmly replied.

Suguru took two long strides towards him to accept the beverage.

“It’s been a while since you’ve done an exorcism,” Satoru pointed out, placing his palm on Geto’s shoulder and squeezed him lightly.

Suguru looped his trembling index finger around the handle of the mug.

“You alright?”

“You don’t have to babysit me, you know?” Suguru responded, deliberately brushing off his best friend’s worries as he proceeded to take a sip of his drink. “Ugh, that’s horrible! Did you put sugar in my coffee?” he grumbled bitterly and scrunched up his nose, unable to hide the distasteful expression across his face.

“Two cubes actually,” Satoru replied, flashing both his middle and index finger to indicate the amount. “I know you have a hard time eating those nasty curses, so I thought hiding it with another flavor you can’t stand might help…”

The corner of Suguru’s lip lifted, “your heart is in the right place. However, your methods are questionable.”

“My good intention is what matters here,” Satoru playfully answered back, baring his pearly whites when he smiled.

Suguru leaned against the opposite frame of the door, resting his temple on the panel as he sighed while gazing out to the empty room.

“I should be with you more often,” he confessed. “You’re carrying too much weight with the students…”

“Our two most valued instructors have been busy…”

Suguru arched his brow, “It’s not fair on you. You’ve got enough on your plate as it is.”

Satoru raised his hand to stop his friend from saying anything else.

“Suguru, you guys are my family. This is a burden I’m willing to carry. You have other priorities that are more important. Your kids, for example. Besides, you’re doing your best, and I know that your wife won’t return to us full time until Emi is a little bit older…”

“Ex-wife,” Suguru curtly corrected. “We aren’t married anymore and haven’t been for some time actually...”

Satoru let out an awkward laugh, “Right, heh, I swear it doesn’t feel that way...”

Suguru didn’t take his comment lightly and he pinched his thin brows in frustration.

Satoru nervously rubbed the back of his neck, “sorry, I didn’t mean to say it...”

“Innocent mistake,” Suguru shrugged, before taking a second sip of his coffee and expressing another look of disgust. “I can’t drink this shit, it’s cloying...”

Satoru pouted, “Hey, you know that’s how I like my coffee…”

Suguru rolled his eyes before passing the cup back to him, “put me out of my misery and don’t let it go to waste then.”

Satoru clicked his teeth, “that’s the last time I do something nice for you.”

“You keep saying that...” Suguru rebutted, “but we know that’s not true.”

The dark haired sorcerer stepped passed his friend, feeling those blue eyes following him from behind as he approached the sofa to grab his hoodie that he flung over the arm rest. He put on the piece of clothing, fitting snugly underneath the fabric and reaching for the inside of his pocket.

Satoru watched him pull out a white cigarette box, twirling it between his thumb and index finger as he proceeded to make his way towards the hallway.

“Don’t light that in my house. I can’t stand the smell,” he lectured.

“I’m going for a walk, I need to clear my head,” Suguru replied back, as he proceeded to make his way over to the front door.

“Wait-” Satoru pleaded, “There’s something...something I need to let you know before you go.”

“What is it?”

“I got a phone call today from Nanami...”

Suguru’s eye twitched, his chest heaving for a moment as the tendons in his neck tensed up at the mere mention of their former co-worker.

“Why did he call?” he questioned, his words turning cold.

“He wants to return to the school. Apparently corporate life is much worse than he thought it would be…”

Suguru’s throat tightened and all he could utter was one word through his gritted teeth.

“Interesting.”

Satoru nodded his head, wetting his lips as he looked down on his feet. He didn’t expect Suguru to react any differently, which is why he had the decency to discuss this with him before making his decision.

“Is this going to be a problem with you?”

Frigid eyes held Satoru’s gaze with intensity, and Suguru allowed a few seconds to pass before calmly replying. “Not at all. I’ve always admired and respected his skills. Besides, you’re short staffed at the moment. Why wouldn’t you take him back?”

“I don’t need your feelings interfering...”

Suguru pressed his lips together, the agitation weighing heavy on his shoulders.

“Stop it,” he begged, “stop treating me like I’m about to snap at any given second. You’re only making this more difficult between us...”

“Can you blame me?” his best friend argued back.

“I’ve never blamed you, but I’m asking you to let it go for fuck’s sake. I can’t change the past. I can’t change the mistakes I’ve made. All I can do is forget and move on, and I need you to do the same...”

“I worry because I’m afraid for you. What if you-”

“I already lost the one person in my life who mattered,” Suguru bluntly replied, his hurt hanging over every word.“I can’t lose my kids too. Like you said, I have other priorities...”

Silence lingered between the pair. Not a day went by where they didn’t have this conversation, where the trauma of their past didn’t remind them how they were bound to a secret that they could never share with anyone else. The dynamics of their friendship changed as a result, and Suguru knew it would take a while before Satoru would ever let his guard down around him again.

“I’m just trying to protect you,” his white haired counterpart emphasized.

“From myself?” Suguru laughed.

“Yes,” Satoru bit back, “If I hadn’t shown up-”

“Then I would have had the blood of all those villagers on my hands.”

Satoru held his breath hearing how easily those malicious words left Suguru’s lips without hesitation.

“That’s the truth, Satoru, and you have to come to terms with it. I wanted to kill every last one of those people for putting their fingers on Mimiko and Nanako. I would made each of them suffer for asking me to murder those innocent girls…”

“Do you hear yourself?!” Satoru exclaimed, “You wonder why I’m always on edge and it’s because you say things that make me feel like you’re a complete stranger!”

“They locked those girls away like they were animals…beat them until they were black and blue…”

“I understand your pain but I’ve never been able to justify your reasons to kill, Suguru. If you had allowed your rage to control your actions, then...then we would have lost you for good.”

Suguru breathed, unaware that he had been tightly squeezing the cigarette box between his fingers. His heart ached from the way the strongest sorcerer’s voice cracked, and Satoru’s vulnerability made him appear like a scared little boy in Suguru’s eyes.

Suguru knew what it meant to earn the love of Satoru Gojo. Their valued friendship had an impenetrable bond that could stand the test of time. Even when they argued, they still held each other in such high regard that they could never truly feel any type of animosity towards the other person.

Suguru softened the muscles in his face.

“Whenever I spend time with Ryu, or hold Emi in my arms...all I can think about is how grateful I am that you stopped me. I truly thought nothing in the world would bring me happiness, and you made me realize how wrong I was...” he confessed, “but there is a constant battle that wages inside me. One that I am fighting every single day. All I’m asking for is the dignity to keep persisting without having your guilt shadowing me every single time you think I’m wavering…”

“I wasn’t...I wasn’t trying to make you feel worse-I guess I don’t realize when I’m overbearing…” Satoru admitted, snaking his bottom lip between his teeth as he stammered.

“You’re overbearing because you care, but we can’t keep dwelling on what happened.”

He approached the front door, turning the handle as he swung it open. He took one step over the threshold before looking back around to face the only other person he ever considered his equal.

“I’m not going anywhere, Satoru.” Suguru reassured, “You don’t have to worry about losing me again.”

***

Suguru took a drag of his cigarette, counting each second as he contemplated whether or not to knock on your door. He checked the time again, fidgeting nervously as he paced back and forth. You’ve been giving him the cold shoulder ever since he brought up your neighbor and closed his eyes with regret as he recalled the confrontation.

Suguru has been making his reparations ever since he strayed off the path. He knew that Satoru was the reason why he had limitations when it came to handling missions. Suguru didn’t mind, partially because of his family, but mostly because he wasn’t ready to dive back into sorcery at the rate he was going. He knew deep down that regaining his best friend’s trust would change the circumstances of his situation and instead used his free time to dedicate himself to his beautiful children and the girls he naturally claimed as his own.

Watching Mimiko and Nanako flourish as students made him immensely happy, especially when he considered the state that he initially found them in.

The only person that he has not been able to fully win over on his journey to redemption was you.

“We don’t trust each other.”

Those were the words that Suguru told Satoru Gojo the night he moved into his home.

Those were the same words that you confessed to him after you signed the divorce papers.

God knows you both tried to make it work when Ryu was born but nothing could fix what he broke.

You’ve had your fingers wrapped around Geto’s heart for the last ten years. When the young sorcerer first laid his eyes on you at seventeen years old, he knew that there was something different about you.

You were sixteen, a bewitching student with incredible cursed energy that left him breathless. Your beauty was merely the cherry on top of an already perfect being.

He had his eyes set on you, but you were cautious and knew better than to allow a pretty face to sway you so easily. The two of you only grew close later down the line, when you were both finding your ground as new instructors to the next group of sorcerers. You were constantly paired up for assignments, which meant that you were bound to one another. Maybe it was fate, but as time progressed your platonic relationship began to shift. Suguru’s unrequited attraction only blossomed and you were finding it difficult to resist your own desire for him. Naturally, the divide began closing in, with seducing touches and flirtatious conversations left in its wake. The minute you initiated that first kiss, you had effectively claimed what was already yours to begin with.

Your love for each other only grew over the next four years with the two of you weaving into one another in perfect sync. You both got married on a whim, disregarding the fuss over a big wedding and only caring for the vows which connected you to one another forever.

Six months of abundant happiness was abruptly cut the day of Riko’s murder.

Her death shattered Suguru Geto.

That was the beginning of the end, the trigger point that led to the demise of his marriage...among other things.

Outside of that dark cloud, Suguru could now see how easily he delved into his own madness.

He distanced himself from his own support system. He wasn’t speaking to his friends, and was always fighting with his wife. He exorcised and swallowed curses as if his life depended on it. He couldn’t sleep without recounting the thunderous cheers from those who celebrated a child’s death, and rejected the morals that he once prided himself in believing in.

The two of you were caught in a brutal current as a result, and in the midst of riding these turbulent waves, the both of you chose to drown each other to save yourselves.

Day after day there were fights with no resolutions. Any unresolved tension was discussed with Suguru pressing your back up against a wall or bent over the table counters as he ravished you without restraint. The tender moments only happened at night, when vulnerability would seep through the cracks in an act of seduction, just so either one of you could feel a sense of the old love you shared.

A malicious toxin began spreading throughout his body, poisoning everything he touched. Suguru couldn’t rationalize how quickly he lost himself with everything around him breaking: his trust with non-sorcerers, his beliefs in a flawed system that controlled him, his own values and the suffering that he witnessed.

He couldn’t even see how much he was hurting you.

Things hit a breaking point when Suguru started neglecting you. He was spending days and nights away from your home without so much as a phone call to let you know his whereabouts.

After the worry washed over, your paranoia got the best of you which is why he shouldn’t have been surprised when you sought out consolation in the arms of your friend.

He still remembered stumbling back home that morning, exhausted and overwhelmed from a night of feeding.

You were anxiously waiting him, with your eyes swollen and filled with regret.

He knew just from the way you looked, that this wasn’t going to end well.

At the time, he remembered being annoyed by your behavior.

You had a way you tugging at his humanity that had his conscious swinging back and forth manically. One minute he was willing to watch the world burn, but the next ready to put out the fire just for your sake.

He found himself sitting down next to you as you cried on his shoulder. The words poured out of you faster than he could register them, and to this day he wished that you never burdened him with your secret.

You drank too much and invited Nanami over.

You both got carried away.

You allowed him to kiss you...

to hold you...

to taste you between your legs and use his fingers to make you moan...

but that’s where it stopped.

You gasped in between your apologies before confronting your partner who had driven you to this point.

“Why are you never home? Where are you always going? What...what am I doing wrong? Why don’t you love me anymore?”

Suguru still hated himself for forcing those words out of you.

He wished he swallowed his pride in that moment, but the hurt of your betrayal outweighed everything else.

His selfish rage was the reason why he decided to retaliate and he was calculative with vengeance. Riddled with spite, Suguru merely smiled at you as you stood there with your mouth agape watching him fuck someone else on the bed you shared.

You kicked him out after that incident, leaving Suguru to his own devices and coming to the realization that neither of you loved each other enough to fix anything.

Shortly after is when he found the girls imprisoned in the village.

Suguru dropped his cigarette onto the floor and tapped it with the tip of his boot, contemplating what might have happened if Gojo hadn’t swooped in at the right moment to stop his rampage.

How would his life have turned out then?

***

Suguru arched his brow as he watched you open the front door.

For a moment you look relieved to see him, but your face hardened immediately after.

Meanwhile, he was busy glazing over your body clad in a black silk robe, and trimmed with lace around the hem and sleeves. He wet his lips at the sight of your exposed thighs, drawing his attention to your calves before wandering back up to meet your eyes.

“Do you always answer the door half naked?” he greeted with a hint of playful sarcasm.

“Purely to keep others entertained,” you snapped back, while folding your arms protectively over your chest.

Suguru clenched his fist but held back on his rebuttal.

“Okay…I deserved that.”

“What are you doing here?” you impatiently questioned.

Suguru shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, “I was walking around the neighborhood and thought I would stop by.”

“At 2:00 A.M?” you pressed.

Your ex-husband straightened his back, emphasizing his overbearing height as he raised one arm above his head and allowing it to rest against the frame of your front door.

“Is that a problem? You’re awake aren’t you?”

You pressed your lips together in a firm line, hating the indifference in his tone.

“If you came all this way to pick a fight with me then you should know that I’m not in the mood-”

“I needed to clear my head and I didn’t know where else to go,” he confessed, softening his tone in the hopes to ease your apprehensive demeanor.

“Satoru’s company isn’t good enough?”

“I wanted to see you.”

Your cheeks grew hot and you studied his face to look for any sign of deception.

He tapped his finger against the panel, “can I come in?”

“No.”

“Please?” he begged, his pleading expression nearly melting you on the spot.

“That’s not going to work,” you insisted, averting your eyes away from his own as you stared down at your feet.

Suguru exhaled before inching his way closer towards you.

The tips of his fingers brushed under your chin, tilting your face upward as his thumb softly grazed over your lips.

He arched forward and kissed you.

Your chest lifted with your breath growing heavier as you found yourself subconsciously leaning forward in the hopes that he would part his lips to explore yours more openly.

You blinked a couple of times before catching yourself succumbing to your temptations.

You flattened your palm against his chest and pushed him away.

“That’s...” you whispered, your tone wavering only slightly as you shook your head. “That’s not going to work either.”

Suguru wasn’t willing to give up yet.

As you took a step back, he looped his arm behind your waist and drew your body into his. He could feel you clutch onto his hoodie, gripping him tightly but relaxing into his strong arms with ease.

“I’m sorry,” he admitted, noting the way your eyes widened at his words. “I…I was wrong for confronting you. I know it’s been hard without me around. I’m grateful that you have somebody who has been looking out for you and I shouldn’t let other things get in the way of that.”

He waited patiently as you soaked in his apology. He hoped you would accept it, but knew it was unlikely considering that he had allowed his sharp tongue to dagger into you one too many times already.

“You really hurt me...”

Suguru swallowed the lump in his throat, his stomach tightening at how small your voice sounded. He understood that your statement carried meaning beyond the current situation at hand.

“I know...” he murmured, “it...it won’t happen again.”

Your eyes shifted to the side, and you tugged at your bottom lip with your teeth.

“I want to believe you.”

Your ex-husband slumped his shoulders in defeat, “but you can’t.”

“No,” you confirmed as you cleared your throat. “I can’t.”

Suguru loosened his grip from around your waist, the disappointment washing over him as he took a step back, but stumbled when he felt you pull him closer.

“But,” you interrupted, forcing him to stop in his tracks as you glanced back up to meet his curious stare. “I haven’t been sleeping well and I don’t mind the company…”

Suguru lifted his brows upward in surprise and his heart raced from your unexpected request

“That makes the two of us,” he stated, finding his confidence again as he stepped across the threshold.

His fingers slowly fiddled around the belt of your robe. He quietly shut the door behind him before leaning back against the frame and leisurely massaging the soft silk between his thumb and index finger.

“Where are the kids?”

“Fast asleep,” you informed.

“I can crash on the couch...” Suguru acknowledged, but the wicked glint in his eye implied that he was already thinking of other options.

“That should work,” you answered back, maintaining your hold on his stare as your own hands reached for the button of his jeans. “but if you prefer the bed...”

His lips collided onto yours for a heated kiss, a familiar dance of teeth and tongue exchanged as his fingers undid the knot around your waist. He pushed the silk back across your shoulders, his hot breath fanning your neck as he reached to hold the flesh of your bare waist.

The blood rushed between his legs and his curious mind began to wonder why you were awake this late at night while dressed so scantily.

The both of you tiptoed around the house until you were safely hidden away in the bedroom. Suguru watched as you hungrily dropped the silk robe onto the floor, revealing your naked frame that was only covered by a pair of cotton panties.

He threw off his jacket, piling his t-shirt on afterwards before rushing to undo his jeans. The second he was no longer restrained by his outfit, he charged forward to carry you up by your legs before pinning your back against the comfort of your mattress.

Your bodies rolled over the sheet with Suguru finding his position straddling on top of you. He wanted to resume kissing you, but got distracted when he noticed something pink flash out of the corner of his eye.

A few seconds passed before an amused glow highlighted his handsome face.

Suguru picked up the toy with his right hand. “Was I interrupting something?” he teased.

You choked back your words, your flustered self reaching for the sex toy begrudgingly but your ex-husband swiftly snapped his wrist back before you had a chance to grab it.

“If you even think of saying anything just remember that I’m still mad at you...” you grumbled.

Suguru chuckled, and used his left hand to grab onto your wrist, before catching your other one and placing them both above your head.

A low vibration took over the silence, with a smirk tugging at Suguru’s lips as he guided the toy between your legs.

“Is this why you didn’t want to be alone tonight?” he calmly asked, hearing a pretty moan escape you as he pressed it up against your clit. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll make it all up by taking such good care of you.”

***

@damn-geto @pensivespecter @velvetlight333 @smoothy-ve @bisexualwomanofcolour @gl00mcore ore @tojisqueen @apsara-sophea @artemisthestar @mrsmorgenstern @sabyss @nanamikentcs @alreadyblondenow @rosenkow @mikasackrmann @shuxjodie @ekaterinatepes @jelly-jellx @lollipopd @bloombb @sluttoru

#geto suguru x reader #geto x reader #geto smut #jujutsu kaisen x reader #geto angst #suguru x reader #suguru x you #geto x you #jujutsu kaisen fan fiction #jjk fan fic

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witchofthesouls · 1 year

Note

Hi! I would like to request some Team prime things with a tiny child, about 15 months to 24 months, thrown in the mix. I.E they place a bell on the child to make sure little baby doesn't go squish and stuff like that. Please?

Not bells. But a leash. The toddler will be leashed for their safety and everyone else's piece of mind.

The Autobots had severely underestimated how fast those little, chubby legs will speed away. One moment they're in their playpen, the moment there's no eyes on them, then they'll escape and make their way across the base without care to look in any direction.

The Annual Running of the Minis/Toddler Track becomes an inside joke in the Autobot base. As does child-wrangler. The saying Easier than Toddler fishing becomes a base staple.

Jack and Miko suffer from Single Child Syndrome and have really small families or are too distant to actually interact with, so they really don't know about tiny humans under the age of kindergarten. It's Raf to the rescue.

The base fridge has a stock of lemon juice now because the internet had failed them with breaking the toddler's pacifier habit. Now the baby asks/demands a little cup of sour to dip their binky and suck on it.

June Darby has soooo many stories about bitty Jack, especially his imaginary friends and how he was little robber at vending machines to feed the animals outside. Not a thief because requires sneakiness. Oh no, Jack literally waited at the base of the machine for snacks to drop and darted away.

Because there's a smaller and far more impressionable human, there's parental locks on the TV now. Much to the kids' displeasure. Miko is trying to sweet talk Bulkhead into allowing full access to anime because of the sheer variety. Ratchet stopped it because of the sheer variety.

The base gets a lot of reruns around the Winnie the Pooh series. Specfically The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the Book of Pooh. And the Muppets whenever the little one is around.

The moment Eeyore spoke on screen everyone now understand their excitement over Optimus. They think he's the donkey. Optimus and Eeyore do sound eerily alike...

Ratchet, despite his gruffness and initial upset at another human at the base, does have some ideas on DIY crafts for the baby when the kids are searching for activities to keep them occupied. As does Arcee from her old profession as a shopkeeper near a creche and an educational facility.

The Autobots made a little monster because of the invention of the Crane - a combination of a leash and a fishing rod. Now the baby would simply hide and sit just to have one of the 'bots activate the instrument to gently tug them across the floor by the designated overalls.

They also liked being dangled by the back of those overalls by a 'bot's pinched fingers. Practically wriggling and pretending to fly around like a superhero.

Because kids say the damnest of things and model the people around, it's hilarious to see a tiny rendition of Bulkhead, I needed that, complete with hand gestures. Ratchet absolutely denies looking like that and the baby mirrors that grouch. Including the scoff.

Instead of vroom vroom with toy cars, they mimic the beeps and chirps from Bumblebee.

They called Jack and Miko "old," so the bots are "dinos."

Likes pushing their books to Optimus because of his voice. He reads to them poems, nursery rhymes, and Dr. Suess. Much to their utter delight, he picked up Winny the Pooh for them.

#cmstars2 #ask #transformers #transformers prime #tfp #jack darby #miko nakadai #raf esquivel #june darby #ratchet #arcee #bumblebee #bulkhead #optimus prime #optimus #maccadam #hey yall Peter Cullen voiced Eeyore and Optimus Prime #What a fucking treat #my writing

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infinite-orangepeel · 1 year

Text

a whumpy af steve harrington excerpt from ch. 1 of my soft dom eddie fic

aka this boy has a lot of unresolved trauma & eddie munson is going to help him heal

(the rest of the chapter that contains the actual smut will be linked below, i’m scared of tumblr shadow banning me again for posting the full thing in here)

TW: panic attacks, discussions of mental illness, suicidal ideation, vomiting/nausea (as symptom of panic attacks), disordered eating habits, ptsd, heavy themes, lots of emotions

★○★○★○★○★○★○★○★○★○★○★

It comes down to this. Steve Harrington doesn’t trust himself. Not anymore. Not since everything went to shit in The Upside Down and Max ended up on life support.

Honestly, he didn’t feel all that abnormal about it for the first few months. It was easier to ignore the magnitude of his problems when his friends were clearly struggling right alongside him. There was something about strength in numbers or a sense of community–being convinced he wasn’t the only one totally fucked up in the aftermath of the final battle.

Regardless, it kept him afloat for a while.

Robin often called in the middle of the night to vent about her own flashbacks and the nightmares they prompted. The two grew accustomed to seeking comfort on opposite ends of the telephone line, twisting the cords around their fingers and whispering “ me too, I have that one too,” as to not wake the monsters underneath their beds. Sometimes, it got so bad that the sun would rise and they’d still be trying to snap each other out of it. Yawning through the agony of another sleepless night and fixing themselves cups of black coffee to alleviate the ensuing exhaustion.

Lucas had shown up on his doorstep enough times that Steve finally had another key made. He was tired of coming home from work and seeing the boy sulking there out in the cold–grief written plainly all over his face. Steve handed him the key on a carabiner clip–so Lucas could comfortably carry it around on his belt loop–and assured him he was welcome day or night. Steve’s parents had moved out of town after the infamous Hawkins’ “earthquake,” so Steve was solely in charge of approving any and all guests at the Harrington household. Lucas, of course, was at the top of his list–he was family, they all were. As long as the boy agreed to let himself in, warm-up on the couch, and grab a snack from the pantry–he could come over any hour he needed. No more rotting outside with tears forming icicles on his cheeks. Steve wouldn’t have that.

El refused to leave her bedroom–holed up beneath a fort of blankets and wouldn’t speak to anyone for days on end–until Hopper called up the gang and they elected ‘Babysitter Steve’ to go handle it. He was the most qualified in their eyes, what with his protective older brother attitude, gentle approach, and dorky jokes. Sure enough, El didn’t banish him right off the bat–not like she had with some of the others–namely, Mike Wheeler. She let him get close without protest and when he hugged her, she fell apart against his chest–guilt pouring out of her at the fact that she hadn’t been able to save Max from Vecna. He brushed the knots out of her hair with cautious fingers and listened. She just needed someone to listen. That was all it took. By the end of the night, she was sandwiched in between him and Hopper on the well worn couch, openly laughing at the plot of Pretty in Pink.

Nancy wore a poker face for the most part, but she wasn’t completely immune to the lasting effects of trauma. She held it together in public, like the first lady at a brutal press conference–politely smiling and waving for the crowd. She’d made it her personal goal to distract the kids from what was really going on–with Max–back at the hospital. This manifested itself in her implementation of weekly game nights, arcade afternoons, and community service outings. Naturally, Steve attended more than a handful of these events–lending a helping hand to rangle the younger teens. It was only once the kids had been dropped off at their respective addresses that Nancy would let her artificial smile fall and tell Steve what was really on her mind. The loss, the fear, the worry. He’d hold her hand– platonically of course, it wasn’t like that anymore –across the center console of his BMW and nod along to the tune of her suffering. It was one he knew well, played on repeat.

Thus, Steve managed his own anxiety by keeping that of the others at bay. His role became narrowly defined as the one who would help you regulate your breathing through the course of a vicious panic attack, the one who was considered reliable in a world that had become anything but. It gave him a sense of purpose and a reason to keep moving forward. He couldn’t simply hide away in his oversized bedroom when he knew his friends were busy laying catatonic in theirs. So, day after day, he pulled himself up by his bootstraps, usually forgot to eat, chugged excessive amounts of caffeine, and set out to mend all of the broken wings but his very own two.

Eventually, there was healing. The ball started rolling around the time Max woke up. After four months of breathing tubes, IV’s, heavy medications, and machines keeping her alive–she opened her eyes one day and slowly began to inhabit her body again. Within a few weeks of round-the-clock physical therapy, solid foods, and monitored pain management–she was discharged from the ICU and returned home. Cane in hand, coke bottle glasses on the bridge of her nose, and slight gaps in memory–she wasn’t the same, but she was as close to it as she could be and that was all that mattered. She was breathing on her own accord–beautiful, steady inhales and exhales–that alone was a miracle in and of itself.

After Max settled back into her normal life, everyone else seemed to follow suit. Once the high school was fixed up by the hands of a devoted construction crew and summer came to a close, the kids started in on their sophomore year. Fall semester provided a new routine that included basketball practices, D&D campaigns (Will Byers quickly ascended to President of Hellfire Club in Eddie’s place), and tests to study for. On top of all that, somehow Steve was going to have to teach each of the little twerps how to drive, which absolutely terrified him. However, there was no way he was going to let anyone else instruct his kids on how to be safe behind the wheel. Yeah, no fucking way.

The Party finally had the opportunity to just be kids–for the first time in almost four years–and Steve was happy for them. Really, he was. Now, they could ride their bikes around the neighborhood–just for the heck of it, not because they were pedaling away from otherworldly monsters. They could waste time down by the lake and not have to search the murky waters for the dead body of their missing friend. They could be innocent and stupid and naive and not have to worry so much about the life altering consequences.

And, as happy as he was for them, Steve just couldn’t help but selfishly miss the era in which Lucas spent most nights on his couch–talking about nothing until the wee hours of the morning. The era in which El asked him to drive her to Family Video each Saturday–ready to pick out the next chick flick that would make Hopper groan. His schedule and his house suddenly felt a lot emptier without a bunch of rugrats calling upon their favorite babysitter. The silence often felt like it could swallow him whole. He hated it.

As for Nance and Robin, they had their own paths to explore–ones that unfortunately, didn’t directly involve Steve. That was okay, but it also wasn’t.

Nancy was reapplying to Emerson–early decision–and like everything else she did, she was hellbent on her college essays being absolutely perfect. She made the local library her second home as she wrote and edited and then edited some more. Steve knew there was not a chance in the world that Nancy Wheeler wasn’t going to be accepted to the school of her dreams and become an incredible journalist. She was destined for greatness. Always had been.

Robin landed herself a girlfriend and was so lovesick it hurt. Vickie quickly became the center of her universe. She had this insane gravitational pull on Steve’s best friend and he’d never seen anything like it. Robin looked like a whole new person, shining from the inside out. They did their best to include him in their plans on a regular basis, but Steve really didn’t want to burden them with his presence. Not that the girls ever made him feel that way. He was just a bit too aware of the fact that no couple looks forward to having a constant third-wheel, so he backed off when he could and lied about being busier than he was–acting like there was a laundry list of activities for him to attend to.

Truthfully, he spent most weekends alone in front of the T.V. or picking up extra shifts at the video store. Unsure of how he suddenly became the only one stuck in the past, haunted by creatures that no longer walked the Earth. It didn’t make sense. Why couldn’t he move on like everyone else? Max had been kissed by death and yet, she made it to school every day and somehow, still found the energy to ask Lucas to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Steve, on the other hand, had exited The Upside Down with minor injuries–practically, unscathed–but for some reason, he dry heaved into the toilet every morning and questioned his entire existence. Spitting up bile and wondering how long it would take before his heart jumped ship, too. He imagined it would only be a matter of time, before the center of his own being decided it was unwilling to marinate in the sad toxic wasteland any longer. Abandoning him and begging to be flushed down, along with the rest.

It’s definitely less than ideal to have some idiot ring your doorbell, when you’re right in the middle of balling your eyes out–facedown on the living room floor–and wondering why God or the universe or whatever the fuck just had to plop you down on this cursed planet in the first place.

It’s actually super embarrassing and kind of the stuff of his nightmares, but that’s exactly the position Steve Harrington finds himself in on a random Tuesday evening.

There’s nothing special about it. Just another day trying not to break apart at the seams, wasting the hours by choking on his unforgiving past. Nothing left to do, but wallow in self-hatred and stare at the popcorn ceiling.

In theory, he could just play dead and ignore the irritating chime of the bell, but on the off chance that it’s one of his friends or the pizza delivery guy has arrived early–he begrudgingly gets up and makes his way to the front door. Dizzy from standing up too fast on an empty stomach, he reaches out for the wall to steady his gait. Unable to find the motivation to clean up his appearance before wrapping his trembling fingers around the cold doorknob. Whoever it is, is just going to have to deal with the mess–just like Steve does every single day.

There’s no nice way to say it. Steve looks like shit. There’s dark circles ringing his sunken eyes that make him look like the kin of the local raccoons. The same ones that devour his uneaten groceries from the garbage cans each week. It’s a charitable donation–philanthropic even. He goes on a depression fueled hunger strike and his furry nocturnal neighbors get a feast fit for a king.

Due to his inability to nourish himself anymore, his cheeks have hallowed out, his muscles have shrunken down, and his once tan skin appears jaundiced–sickly yellow. There’s acrid bile drying on his cracked lips from the most recent upheaval of his guts. This time it was spurred on by the grotesque image of Vecna’s corpse-like face. It keeps popping up in his mind without warning, like one of those jack in the box clown toys–raking the sharp nails of nausea across the lining of his stomach.

He doesn’t immediately register who the person on the other side of the door is, which is laughable, because it wasn’t all that long ago that Steve carried the guy’s limp body out of an alternate dimension and gave him mouth to mouth. They’re not exactly strangers.

Thirty seconds go by before his brain starts back up and processes the identity of the man standing before him. As if the secretary of his memory had disappeared from the front desk and took a while searching the filing cabinets to fill in the blanks:

Mr. Harrington? Sorry about the delay. We’ve located the files. That’s Eddie Munson you’re looking at. We’re sure of it.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were-” Steve starts, roughly wiping at his bloodshot eyes to make sure he’s not hallucinating. Anything is possible when you’ve lived through what he has.

“-in hiding?” Eddie says nonchalantly, leaning against the porch–he’s taller than Steve remembers, “I was. Spent a lot of time bored as shit in a rather crappy hotel room, but Hopper gave me the all clear yesterday and I just moved back into my Uncle’s place. Sorry if I stink, it’s because I’ve been carting boxes around all day–you’ll have to get over it.”

#this one is angsty #whump steve harrington #steddie fic writers #steddie ficlet #steddie fic excerpt #steddie ao3 fic #ao3 steddie #steddie recs #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #soft dom eddie munson #bottom steve harrington #steddie smut #steddie angst #steve x eddie #steve harrington needs a hug #the babygirlification of steve harrington #steve harrington x eddie munson

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theerurishipper · 7 months

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Isn't too much of a stretch to theorize that Felix could've been lying to Marinette about his abusive experience under Colt during the play in representation (at the very least exaggerating a few things) just to gain sympathy. Unlike Colt, we see Gabriel and Audrey abuse their children onscreen but for Colt, we only have Felix's play and speech in pretension as evidence. Also, the play reveals that Colt abused Felix since he was a toddler and we know his motive for abusing Felix is that he blamed Felix for his illness because Felix was a senti. So does that mean Colt got sick soon after Felix was born? Does that mean Emelie got sick when Adrien was very young. Could Felix be exaggerating about the abuse experience saying he was mistreated ever since he was very young or the actual truth was that he was abused when he got older when the effects of the damaged peacock miraculous got stronger? Or maybe I'm being stupid and that Felix being portrayed as a toddler was a metaphor for childhood innocence. Also, he said his father was 1000 times worse than Tomoe which I think was an exaggeration to earn sympathy from Kagami. I still think Colt was abusive but not as devil-like as Felix is making him out to be. I think Colt was slightly worse than Gabe . NOT trying to downplay his abuse ( Felix deserves a better father) but for it to be revealed that Felix was exaggerating and lying about a few things would make his character even more fascinating and will show that old habits die hard. These are just my opinions though. What do you think ?

I think Felix was being honest about his dad. I don't think he would willingly portray himself as a victim, since he seems to look down on Adrien for not being able to fight back. I don't think he's the type of person who wants to admit that he wasn't able to fight back against Colt (which is not his fault, to be very clear), so I don't think he'd say it if it wasn't true.

I think the reason Colt comes off as worse than Gabriel is because the show itself doesn't think Gabriel is abusive. So, they portray him in a more sympathetic light and give him more humanizing moments while the only thing we know about Colt is that he was an abusive jackass. I don't think that Colt is actually worse than Gabriel, because both of them do pretty much the same thing. It just feels to me like that point of Felix's play is to make Gabriel seem more sympathetic by making Colt out to be worse, and I don't want to buy into that narrative, especially since the show has shown us that Gabriel isn't much different. We know that he is perfectly capable of smacking his son into the Eiffel Tower and traumatizing him with the body of his dead mother to take advantage of him, so no, I don't agree that Colt is worse than Gabriel. I know that it's a really strange thing to fixate on, but I really dislike the way the show uses Colt Fathom to try to make us believe that Gabriel isn't a monster too.

As for the timeline, Colt supposedly got sick after using the Peacock Miraculous to create Felix, and Emelie got sick around the same time. Supposedly Emelie "vanished" first, and Colt died soon after. Gabriel managed to put Emelie in that pod thing before she passed away completely, but Colt died for real. Felix being portrayed as toddler is exactly what it says on the tin, that Colt used the Amok liberally to control his son's thoughts and actions, even when he was just a toddler (and I do dislike when the show pretends that this makes Colt worse than Gabriel, because Gabriel was doing the same thing. What's even worse is that Adrien has two Amoks, so Gabriel and Emelie were controlling Adrien's mind simultaneously. Shit is so fucked up and the show doesn't care if it means they get to push their "just a man who loves his family" agenda).

Anyway, Felix is definitely capable of lying and manipulating others, but I do think we're supposed to believe that Colt is exactly like he was portrayed as. It could have been interesting if he was lying, but I don't think that's the case.

Thank you for your ask!

#MLB #Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Chat Noir #Felix Fathom #Gabriel Agreste #Emilie Agreste #Colt Fathom #Meta #My meta #Asks #ML Salt #ML Writing Salt #ML Writers Salt

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lochblocknroll · 2 months

Text

"𝚃𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚖 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜." - 𝖣𝗈𝖼𝗍𝗈𝗋 𝖩𝗈𝖺𝗇𝗇 𝖥𝗈𝗅𝗌𝗐𝗂𝗌, 𝖫𝗈𝖼𝗁'𝗌 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗍𝗀𝗋𝖺𝖽𝗎𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝖺𝖽𝗏𝗂𝗌𝗈𝗋

Introductions were not what Loch would list as one of his strengths. Communication in general was perhaps not on that list at all. He certainly wasn't in the habit of throwing 'able to talk to sentient bags of meat' onto his resume, not when his ability to talk to the incomprehensible vastness of cyberspace was there instead.

Of course, putting off the introduction was not going to make it go away, much to Loch's chagrin. He let anyone go before him that seemed eager enough to get their name out and their foot into whatever doors they were trying to force open. It was like sitting in the middle of The Thing, waiting to see which test might drag the impossible creature forward. Though, if any of these people were a cryptid, Loch knew, it would make this entire horse and pony show mean something. He had had his hopes set on that particularly sour-faced man being some kind of Roswell Grey, but that hope was dashed the longer this took and the other remained exactly as stone-faced as he had when they had gotten there.

That woman, Loch thought with a glance, could be a Flatwoods Monster, though she certainly was lacking that impressive collar that so defined her kind. He'd have to see if it was misplaced or, as one of his friends had claimed, it was actually a biological defense mechanism, like the frills of Dilophosaurus. It didn't seem practical, but neither did a horse with bat-wings and that certainly seemed common enough... Gods he was bored. Perhaps—

The sudden tug of all eyes on him pulled Loch from his thoughts and he cleared his throat awkwardly, shuffling in his seat and crossing one leg before uncrossing them and crossing it the other way. Why, in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster did he decide to sit in what amounted to the center of the room? He hadn't felt the urge to stand and brood in a corner like some of the others, but now Loch swore every hair on his body was standing upright as an unpleasantly large number of eyeballs fixed themselves upon him.

"Well, going off of this very unpleasant attention," Loch starts, going to stand before aborting the motion halfway through and sitting back down, "it's probably my turn. My name's Loch, Doctor Loch if you want to be an ass. If you're my abuelita, I'm Doctor Matias Rojas, but I don't see her here so I'm just going to stick with Loch. I really wasn't listening to the format here, so fuck it! I'll freeball it."

He paused, taking a breath and holding it for a few seconds before letting it out. This was already a disaster, but the only way out was through and he wasn't about to end up a red shirt this early in his job. "Like I said, I'm Loch. I got hired by the Foundation and their Sincere Comrades and Partners probably... A month ago? Time's been weird lately, which I blame completely on those interdimensional Bigfoots that have to be around here somewhere. I work predominantly in tech, mainly computers and software, but given the state of this place, the details will probably go over your heads, so I'll stick to that."

He paused, thinking for a moment as his hands tapped out a one-two rhythm on his legs. "I've got a cannibalistic fish named Hannibal the muscle heads made me leave behind and a severe tech withdrawal. If anyone ends up needing me, I'll be handwriting the most pointless codes I can. But, I'm sure we're all going to get along great! Oh, also, cryptid stories. Please regale me with your best ones. I might end up writing a book or some shit about them one day when I run out of code ideas."

#loched.intro #loched.actone #loched.(dis)orientation

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scoops-aboy86 · 3 months

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Window pt 2

Eddie's POV on Steve getting stuck in a window.

Part 1

rated: T | words: 3410 | cw: none | tags: chubby steve, pre-relationship, weight gain, eddie has a crush on steve harrington, and he gets to touch the butt

Eddie is having a great night. Practice ran long, but they nailed down the new set list for their next performance at the Hideout and celebrated by way of Gareth sneaking some beers out of his parents’ fridge.

He’s considering inviting his new monster hunting friends to their next performance—not that it hasn’t been over a year since the spring break from hell, but it’s not really their scene and he wanted to make sure Corroded Coffin would be actually worth coming to see.

Which really just means worth inviting Steve to come see the show, and Eddie couldn’t exactly ask everyone but Steve. He’s made his peace with having a crush on a dude who listens to Wham!, but he wants Steve to like his music, too.

As a friend. Because they are genuine friends now, actually. Surprisingly. Eddie is still kind of shocked that Steve keeps turning up and wanting to spend time with him—sometimes with a movie and pizza, or the good brand of microwave popcorn, or both. They’ve shared a bed when Steve was still too out of it to drive home, and now Eddie knows what he looks like first thing in the morning. Fuel to the fire, all of it. And he shares weed with Steve free of charge, because where there’s fire you might as well light up with it.

Nothing at all to do with Steve’s propensity for getting the munchies, which tends to lead to hours of constant grazing. Eddie would never—It had started with Steve always asking him if there was anything to eat until it became a habit to preempt the question, and the goofy little look that Steve gives him every time, an over-exaggerated ‘aw shucks, for me?’ face that never fails to get some sort of reaction, is something that haunts Eddie’s nicest dreams these days. The fact that it sparks something in Eddie to see Steve so relaxed and happy while thoughtlessly working through anything put in front of him sparks something in Eddie is completely secondary. Watching as, week after week, Steve’s clean lines and chiseled jaw have begun to soften, because of him. Because Steve is sticking around, keeps coming back, still wants to be friends with the Freak.

It’s been a good night, and thinking about Steve always makes it an even better one. Eddie, lost in pleasant reverie, almost doesn’t notice Steve’s car parked near the trailer when he gets home.

Almost. He notices the BMW parked near the trailer, and that there’s no one in it. And when he turns a puzzled frown towards the trailer to see if Steve is waiting there, he sees… part of Steve waiting there. The ass and legs part, hanging out of his bedroom window. And the only thing covering said ass is a pair of cutoff jeans, rounded cheeks peeking out the bottom. As he stares, they bouncing tantalizingly above thick, hairy thighs when Steve gives the half-hearted wiggle of a man who knows he is not going anywhere any time soon but still has to try.

“What,” Eddie says to himself in the safety of his van. He pinches himself, and when that doesn’t wake him up from what has to be a dream, he says it again: “What.”

Everything about the sight before him is imminently biteable, and, just. He’s only human, alright? His pants feel a little constricting just from witnessing this, when he should be feeling bad for Steve because the dude is wedged snugly in his window at the hips. (They didn’t have plans tonight. That alone is enough to make Eddie’s fingertips tingle and his leg bounce with restrained giddiness and a burning fondness.)

So he gets out of the van, and he can tell that Steve recognizes the distinct squeak of the van’s driver side door because his legs seem to droop and his ass gives another desperate wiggle that gets him nowhere.

“Do mine eyes deceive me?” Eddie calls, practically skipping up to the trailer. He feels like his brain is trailing a beat behind his mouth and movements thanks to the vaguely tipsy haze of a couple beers. “Is it the King Steve, what through yonder window breaks?”

“Hi Eddie,” Steve replies, and he sounds so weary that Eddie wants to bundle him up in a blanket and feed him chocolates or something until he cheers up.

The urge has him just about bouncing on his toes as he reaches the porch. “Hiya, Stevie. Mind explaining what I’m coming home to here?”

It’s silly, but a big part of him is hoping for Steve to say that he just wanted to see him. Instead, Steve sighs heavily and responds with, “I’m a little stuck here, man. Help me out?”

And, okay, fair. Eddie has finally reached him and can’t help touching what his eyes have been glued to ever since he got close enough to notice Steve’s poor middle, caught in the unforgiving grip of the window frame. Whatever Steve has been up to since first getting stuck was well and truly wedged him in, a little lip of reddened belly rounding out from the opening. How did you do this, Eddie wants to ask, but he can sense from Steve’s tone that it wouldn’t come across right.

“Out, or in?” Eddie asks, snapping his hand back before Steve can notice enough to protest—they’re friends for fuck’s sake, he’s not Eddie’s to touch. He pulls hair in front of his face to hide a blush that Steve probably can’t see anyway, lamenting his poor impulse control that drinking never improves. Not that he even drank that much! He’s fine, this is just… Well, it sure is a situation.

“Whichever gets me unstuck faster, I guess?”

It occurs to Eddie that either way, he gets to touch more, and a delighted little laugh bubbles up his throat before he can stop it. “In it is, then. You must’ve been pretty determined to get in there and wait for me, you made some good progress here. I’m guessing you got to a point where you couldn’t get the angle right, huh sweetheart?”

… Damn Gareth and his beers. Eddie feels like his face is on fire.

Whatever Steve does inside the trailer to demonstrate how almost in he most certainly is not involves a lot of movement and Eddie swallows hard. Jesus H. Christ, the wonders that getting good sleep and three square meals a day without having to worry about monsters dropping out of the ceiling can do, on top of regular smoke-and-snack sessions.

“I think if you just lift me by the legs a bit I can, like… walk forward on my hands, kinda, and—”

There’s a thump from inside, prompting Eddie to blink out of his daze. “What was that?”

“… What was what?”

“Steve…”

“Okay okay, it was your acoustic, I’m sorry dude, I just… I’m pretty sure it’s fine.”

He rolls his eyes and rattles off a series of threats pending the safety of the guitar, though he doesn’t really mean them. That thing has been through worse while he was learning to play and still being shuffled around in the system before landing in the trailer park with Wayne.

At some point the words “document this posterior for posterity” come out his mouth and then he is touching Steve Harrington’s ass. Because it’s better leverage than grabbing his ankles, Eddie tells himself! But that’s half hearted at best when he’s eying the long line of Steve’s legs in those shorts, so close to skimming his fingers over that beautiful golden summer tan peeking out at the waist because of course Steve sunbathes shirtless (or in crop tops… or, god, shirts that ride up just enough), and thank fuck it’s late enough that no one’s around to notice just how hard he’s looking.

“Hey,” Steve calls sharply when the first push catches him by surprise.

“Sorry sweetheart, did you need a ‘one two three go’?” Eddie pats at his ass with both hands, tapping out a little rhythm, biting his lip to contain the threat of a whimper at the way Steve’s cheeks bounce. He needs to stop. He needs to bite something.

“This isn’t funny, Munson,” Steve insists, almost whining, and Eddie’s eyes close briefly at the thought of what else he might do to make Steve whine. Memories of his friend stoned and finally feeling the effects of eating too much providing a helpful soundtrack—Christ, he is definitely rolling disadvantage here.

“It’s a little bit funny,” Eddie tries to defend. That’s not even why he’d laughed. Whatever. “But, uh, point taken. I'm going to give you another push here. Ready?”

Like Steve has much of a choice in the matter, if he wants to get unstuck. Eddie feels bad for him, he really does. It probably feels really embarrassing. But it’s a little hard to remember that when he has to (gets to) grip (grope) that plush ass and push (grope, but harder) until his brain is dribbling out his ears.

He’s not some sex-crazed teenager anymore—he’s twenty-one as of not all that long ago, for fuck’s sake! But this is Steve, and way more than just tawdry teen lust brewing in Eddie’s chest.

“Where were you, anyway?” Steve asks after a few rounds of shoving, as though this is a time when Eddie is capable of holding a coherent conversation. He’s squirming and wiggling under Eddie’s hands and panting a little from the awkward exertion, with occasional little grunts that cut straight to Eddie’s core, and it’s all really very unfair. “You’re usually—oof—here when I finish a closing shift.”

“Practice ran long,” Eddie grunts back.“That, and Gareth’s been having some… shall we say, romantic troubles lately, and needed consolation and advice.” Which was true—there had been an ulterior motive to those beers, even though the band’s youngest member had kept any name, descriptors, and (Eddie had noticed) pronouns close to the vest.

“What kinda consolation? Been smoking without me, Munson?”

Eddie almost laughs again, because it sounds like Steve is… pouting? Jealous? He must be hearing that wrong. “No, just a couple beers. I do have other friends besides you and the monster hunters club, you know.”

And maybe he overcorrected there, because Steve goes quiet and a little stiff and starts really pulling himself forward hard. He’s making some progress, but it looks painful enough that Eddie shifts his hands from push on ass to hold those thighs without conscious thought, eyes wide and fixed on Steve’s caught love handles. (Which makes something deep inside him do a little dip of want. He wants to touch, to soothe, to kiss and maybe nip at a little—but he can’t, that would be crossing a line.)

“Woah there Stevie,” he blurts out, though honestly he should probably cool it with the pet names here. At least big boy hasn’t popped out of his mouth because that could very well be the ticket to Steve punching him and his freaky little crush right in the face. Or, given their current circumstances, kicking him in the nuts. And then Eddie would still have to get him out of the window. Wincing, he adds, “Don’t hurt yourself, man. We’ll get you out of here and get you caught up if you want, I have beer here too, alright? Just…”

“Just what?” Steve grumbles, grumpy and subdued enough that he’s hard to hear through the trailer wall.

“Just, uh…” Eddie bites his lip. As drool-worthy as he thinks Steve’s body is—always was, but even more so now that he’s laid down arms and started filling out more—he’s nervous about drawing attention to it. Not that he hasn’t had his hands all over it since he got here, but maybe Steve is too distracted by his predicament to realize that his ass and sides and thighs are being lovingly fondled. Still, for all of Steve’s efforts to pull himself free, there seems to be one thing he hasn’t thought of, and Eddie has to point it out if they ever want to be successful here. “...Try to suck in a bit?”

Steve tries to look over his shoulder at him, not quite managing it but making his ass jiggle again, then shifts to look down at himself. At his belly. Eddie feels his own face go hot as he imagines what it might look like from in there, wonders if it’s touching the surface of his dresser. Falls down a brief rabbit hole of imagining Steve stuck in the window all night and grumpily insisting on smoking anyway, hanging onto the joint while Eddie runs back and forth from the kitchen with food and beverages that do nothing but trap Steve more firmly in place, and yet he keeps asking for more—

When Steve sucks in as best he can, Eddie scrambles to get both hands on his ass again with a “One, two, three, push.” It doesn’t help how fast his heart is racing, but it does work; Steve wriggles through and slides gracelessly to Eddie’s bedroom floor.

He stays slumped there for a moment, recovering. Eddie takes the opportunity to readjust himself in his jeans so he’s a little less obvious—again, very grateful for the late hour and the lack of neighbors out and about tonight. Max would have a field day with this shit if she weren’t off at summer camp with Lucas.

That done, Eddie leans in the window to check on Steve. “You okay there, dude?”

Steve groans. “I’m fine. That fucking window looked bigger from the outside, that’s all.”

Eddie can’t help a disbelieving snort. Though that kind of answers his question, doesn’t it? Despite what he’d had to point out, Steve is still in denial. Somehow. It’s kind of ridiculous, given what had just happened, but maybe (and he feels a little guilty thinking about this, but not enough to not) that means that nothing needs to change. That Steve will keep coming over, getting high and hungry and keep asking Eddie to bring him more. And what is Eddie supposed to do in the face of that? Deny and disappoint the man of his dreams, who saved his life by carrying him out of hell and enlists their younger friends in elaborate plots to fake summer camp scholarships for underprivileged redheads?? Not a chance.

Coasting on guilty-pleasure-slash-hope, Eddie slips through the window himself, easily and with a little bit of jazz hands tacked on at the end because he’s nothing if not dramatic. He’s trying to keep things light, okay? From there, he moves fluidly from the showy gesture to reaching out to offer Steve a hand up.

Which Steve takes with one big, warm hand, a connection that zings up Eddie’s arm and all along his spine to every single nerve ending in his body.

“You okay?” he asks, completely on autopilot because his thoughts are now scattered in all new directions again. “You were really wedged in there, looked kinda—” head empty, no thoughts, his free hand drifting towards Steve because they’re so close, closer maybe than Steve really needed to step just to stand up “—painful…”

And then he’s touching Steve’s hip, thumb grazing over the bare skin just above his shorts where the skin is scraped and red, hot and soft to the touch. He would give anything to be able to soothe that hurt where the window was pinching for god knows how long.

“I’m fine,” Steve replies, but there’s a… a tone to his voice that Eddie can’t quite process, something hushed. Like not being sure if you’re allowed to speak in a library or a museum, or something? Shit, maybe Eddie is making him feel awkward, touching him like this, but he can’t seem to pry his hand away. Or let go of Steve’s in his other hand.

Can’t stop caressing the agitated skin where Steve has been able to soften up after three years of being haunted by monsters, can’t stop his own insides from aching with want for this beautiful boy.

“Yeah,” Eddie murmurs, and focuses all of his energy on reeling it in before he crosses the threshold of too much and Steve leaves, maybe for tonight or maybe for good—either would feel devastating. But if he can reel it in, just enough… He’s a touchy guy, Steve knows that. If he reels it in, maybe things can stay normal between them. “Yeah, you are… pretty fine…”

… Goddammit.

It’s too much. Eddie is too much, and his freak tendencies have added too much to Steve, and now that Steve’s noticed he’ll leave, and—

“You, uh. You think so?”

The words are hesitant, as though Steve somehow hasn’t made up his mind on how to react. (Even though Eddie is pretty sure the ‘right’ reaction is hammered into everyone besides him, because. That’s just the way it is, right? Guys like girls, skinny is hotter, and Munsons don’t get to have nice things.) Eddie risks a glance up at his face, just as unsure as Steve sounds, looking for anything that might confirm his assumptions so he can move away already, snatch his hand back before he gets burned. Anything. Is a clear sign too much to ask?

He wants to say, ‘Reject me already. Put me out of my misery. I know how this is supposed to go and the suspense is killing me, being nice about it will kill me.’ But what comes out instead is a soft, “Of course, Stevie.”

Because he does. Think Steve is fine. There are plenty of circumstances in which he would avoid admitting it, but lie? About that, in response to a direct question? To Steve’s face? Never.

His hand is still just under Steve’s shirt, light little touches that Steve’s eyelids seem to droop in time with—as though Eddie really is soothing the hurt there, and Steve’s actually enjoying it. Wildly, he thinks he might be hallucinating, but the possibility is enough to send a heartfelt “Always” slipping out too.

Eddie isn’t great at reading the signs, because he has woefully little experience in things like this, but for a second he could swear that Steve almost leans in. It’s a delicate, blink-and-you’d-miss-it moment, but his eyes are so wide open they’re starting to sting.

And then… Steve doesn’t exactly pull away, just shuffles his feet in a way that signals the moment is over. But he doesn’t go. “So, uh. Wanna smoke?”

“Y-yeah?” Eddie can feel a grin breaking across his face, because Steve wants to stay, and bam. Just like that, the giddiness from when he’d first arrived is back. “We can do that. I’ve got a few joints already rolled, I’ve got snacks—”

And Eddie’s not sure if Steve is aware of licking his lips as he passes by to get to his stash, but Eddie sure is. His eyes catch and follow the movement unintentionally until he wrenches them more firmly towards his black lunchbox. Heart in his throat, he wonders if… maybe this isn’t as totally one-sided as he’d thought.

“Oh, and prop my baby back up, will you?” Eddie adds. He flaps a hand in the general direction of his acoustic, feeling weirdly like he’s found some solid ground here. “Treat her right, Stevie, or I’ll be forced to rescind my offer of pretzels and bagel bite pizzas.”

Because he knows Steve’s favorites—that he likes to start with crunchy salty and soft chewy savory, and save the sweets for later.

And it’s an out. If Steve doesn’t want this, if drawing attention to the weight he’s gained has made him feel any different about their usual routine, this is his chance to back out. Freely offered, no strings attached, because they’re friends first and foremost but also because Eddie isn’t an asshole; aside from some stolen touches today, he’s only ever given Steve what he asked for.

Steve only hesitates for a second, then chuckles. “Wouldn’t want that,” he agrees, flashing a little smirk before turning to prop the guitar back up.

Eddie appreciates the view, of course, but tells himself that it’ll be best to cool it for now and roll an insight check once he’s regathered his wits. After all, this is Steve; he doesn’t want to risk acting too impulsively and screw this up.

For now they can just hang out like normal and have a good night.

#wg steddie #chubby steve harrington #feeder eddie munson #steve stuck in a window #scoops words #not sure if i will write more of this at some point but i am easily inspired #best way to get me to write more is to yell in the tags or comments or my ask box 😋

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