Tumgik
#AND KNOWING THAT WHEN WILL MOVED ALL MIKE DID FOR A FULL MONTH WAS LOCK HIMSELF IN HIS BASEMENT AND PLAY VIDEO GAMES
whynotimtired · 2 years
Text
The best part of Will saying he wants forever with Mike so blatantly is that he isn't the one who brought it up, Mike was. In an act of projection he asks "What did you think? That we'd actually get to be together forever? When we're both boys?" and will says yes. He says yes, and Mike immediately regrets it.
3K notes · View notes
catierambles · 2 months
Text
Blood Moon Ch.14
Tumblr media
Pairing: Syverson x Annalisa Caulfield (OFC)
Annalisa limited herself to one burger, claiming that she was full. His mother did end up “convincing” her to try some desert, though, a homemade peach cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, of which she ate an entire bowl.
Sy walked into the kitchen, his mom at the sink getting the dishes squared away and into the dishwasher.
“Ya need help?” He asked and she looked over her shoulder at him.
“I'm fine, sweety, almost done anyway.” She said but he joined her at the sink anyway, taking the plates from her hands and loading them into the dishwasher trays. “I like her.”
“Annie?”
“I like her.” Denise said, “She's good with the dogs, great with the kids, and...she makes you happy, I can see that clear as day. After what that woman put you through...you deserve to be happy.”
“Thanks, ma.” Sy said, “And yeah, she does. Hey, ma, ask you somethin'?”
“What, sweety?”
“You still got grandma's engagement ring? I know Pete, Brian, and Jake went with their own when they proposed, but I didn't know...”
“Bit soon, ain't it?” She asked, “You only been together for what? Less than three months?”
“You and dad were together for only six when he popped the question.”
“I know, but it was a different time and we were sure.”
“And I'm sure about her.”
“Are you?” She asked, looking at him. “Kyle, Tiffany rung you out, hurt you bad. I just don't want you to get hurt again.”
“What happened to Annie makes me happy?”
“Just because you're happy now, don't mean you'll be happy a year from now. I just don't want you to rush into anythin' and regret it later.”
“I'm not. I love her, ma.”
“Kyle...” She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You can't possibly, not this soon. Your relationship with her is still new, still fresh, you ain't thinkin' clearly. What if she don't love you back?”
“She does.”
“She tell you that?”
“Yeah.” Sy said and his father walked into the kitchen, heading for the fridge.
“Everythin' all right?” He asked, pulling a bottle from it.
“Kyle's thinkin' about proposin' to Annalisa.” Denise said, “Asked me for mamas’ ring.”
“Bit soon, ain't it?” Jack asked, “You ain't been together that long.”
“Oh for fucks—”
“Language.” Denise said and he sighed. All three looked over as Mike came running into the kitchen.
“What, Mikey?” Sy asked.
“Something's wrong with Annie.” He said, “She was fine and then she got pale and green and asked where the bathroom is. I think she's throwing up.”
“Is that why you wanna ask her to marry you?” Denise asked, “Because she's pregnant?”
“She ain't pregnant, ma. She can't have kids.” Sy said.
“She tell you that, too? How do you know she ain't tryin' to baby trap you?”
“Yeah, because a woman who I'm pretty sure has more money than god is definitely gonna baby trap an Army vet with credit card debt and drives a ten year old truck. That's somethin' that happens.” Sy said and left the kitchen, moving around Mike.
“Downstairs bathroom!” He called after him and Sy headed for it. The door was locked when he tried to open it so he knocked gently, gently moving Aika aside who was scratching at the door and whining.
“Annie, it's Sy.” He said and winced when he heard the retching and gagging sounds. “Baby, you okay?”
“I'm—” It was cut off by coughing, “I'm fine!”
“No, you ain't. Open up or I'll force the lock.” It clicked back and he eased the door open, seeing her sitting against the tub with her eyes closed. She was pale, gaunt, dark circles like bruises under her eyes and sweat shining on her skin. “The food?” She nodded and he walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him and keeping Aika out. “This what happens?” Another nod.
“Thought—” She shuddered with a small sound, “Thought we'd be gone before it hit me.”
“Food poisonin'?”
“Close enough.” She said, “It's like if you tried my diet. It'd make you sick as your body rejected it.” Another shudder and she twisted, coughing violently into the toilet bowl before reaching up to flush it, sitting back against the tub. He went over to her, kneeling next to her and brushing her hair out of her face. Her skin was clammy and cool and she leaned against him, breathing through the rolling nausea. “I think—I think it's over.”
“You need anythin'? Water?”
“Water will kick it off again.” She said, shaking her head. “I need—fuck.”
“What?”
“I need blood. I basically have internal injuries and need to heal them. I need blood.”
“Where you wanna take it?”
“Sy—”
“Annie, you look like the walkin' dead and will worry everyone if you go out there like this. Be more questions than I think you wanna deal with right now. Where do you wanna take it from?”
“I love you.” She breathed.
“I love you, too.”
“Wrist. You have an artery in the wrist that's close to the surface.” She said and moved slowly at his urging so he could sit behind her, positioning himself so she was sitting between his legs against his chest. Her hands were cold and trembled slightly as she took his wrist, bringing it to her lips. “It's going to hurt. I'm sorry.”
“Don't be sorry, just take what I'm givin' you.” He hissed as her fangs broke though the skin and she was right, it hurt. There was none of the warmth from all the times she had fed from him previously, pain radiating up his arm, growing with every beat of his heart. “Fuck.” Her skin grew warm and soft against his, her lips full and plush against his wrist.
“Hey, is she—” They looked up as Mike came into the bathroom without knocking, his eyes going wide at the sight of Annalisa's blood stained elongated fangs, her lips crimson as she pulled away from Sy's wrist. “Holy shit.”
23 notes · View notes
fizzing-imagines · 10 months
Text
Hawkins | Billy Hargrove x Army! Reader | Neighbourly Love Series
Notes: Some people have been screaming at me to write more of this couple so here u go!! I hope you enjoy it as much as the OG. And I subtly added one of my OCs in this lol
Warnings: None, I think.
Words: 931
Tumblr media
"Well, well, well, if that isn't Harrington." You rolled your eyes at Billy's words as he stepped out of your car. After months, you were finally in Hawkins, Indiana to attemd his sisters wedding. "Hargrove.", Steve said in a slightly unpleased tone while you stepped out of the car. "It's (L/N), Steve.", Billy corrected him. "Jesus Billy, you're acting like a damn dog.", you said while opening your backdoor and letting Missy jump out. "You seriously found a wife?", Steve continued. "Yes, Steve, he did. I'm not invisible, you can ask me.", you said while locking your car. He looked at you with an embarrassed facial expression. "I'm (Y/N), by the way, and yes, I married him two months ago." Billy took your hand in his and started walking towards Lucas and Max's house, leaving Steve confused in the driveway. Their front door was wide open as people were going in-and-out while making last preparations for the wedding in two days. "Max?", Billy yelled while looking for his little sister. She popped her head out of one of the doors once she hard his voice. "Hey Billy.", she said with a smile. The two exchanged a quick hug.
You stayed in Hawkins for a week so Billy and Max could catch up and properly introduce you. Honestly, the two of you had a shotgun wedding and didn't even tell anyone until the day after. You made it quickly so you could have him move with you two your new base and home in Pearl Harbour. So when Max, Lucas and their friends El, Mike, Dustin, Will, Robin and Billy's 'arch nemesis' Steve with his wife Olivia were sat at their dinner table something that has been on your mind spurted out: "Billy told me you could explain to me why he has so many scars.". Everyone went silent all of a sudden and starred at you, then at Billy. "I told her she wouldn't believe me if I didn't have you here.", he said in his defense. The group shared a look, silently deciding if they should tell you or not. You, on the other hand, could tell that they were highly uncomfortable with your question. "Oh, uhm, sorry...", you mumbled while getting back to your drink. "No, it's...fine.", Max said. "You didn't know...uhm..." She was struggling to find the right words. "You can easily get access to the files at base here.", Olivia chimed in. "I didn't know that there's a base in Hawkins.", you said to her. "How did you get to them?" Olivia grinned at you. "76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Sergeant Olivia Harrington.", she said like it was nothing. You, however, gave her an excited grin. "EOD Mobile Unit One, officer (Y/N) (L/N)." The two of you shared a laugh. "Why didn't you tell me?", you continued. Luckily, this changed the mood around the table. "Well, someone" Olivia gave her husband a stinky eye. "didn't want me to talk to a Hargrove." You rolled your eyes in a joking manner, and Olivias words made everyone at the table giggle, some even laughed. "Sucks for him.", you said with a shrug.
Olivia took you to the Hawkins base the following day, the two of you in full uniform. While walking through the halls with her, Missy right by your side, she greeted some soldiers like old friends. It seemed like she was stationed here before. "There we are.", she said while opening a door. While there were many computers in here, there was also a wall with a lot of shelves, filled with documents. It didn't take her long to find one labeled 'Starcourt Mall, Hawkins, 1984.' She quietly handed it to you before showing where to sit down. It took you a while to read through it, but you understood the big picture of what happened. "So it was claimed as...a supernatural happening?", you asked after a while. "I was there.", Olivia said. "It was...I don't even know what it was. But it was huge, and I think I shit my pants when I saw it. Well, then it got Billy.", she continued. Missy noticed how much the story concerned you and gave your hand a boop. You pet her head in response. "I was able to stabilise him until the medics arrived." That part wasn't mentioned in the file, so your eyes went wide. "You saved Billy?", you asked. "Well, to the best I could at least." As she finished her sentence, you arms wrapped around her neck and pulled her into a hug. "Jesus christ, thank you.", you choked out while trying to hold back your tears. At this point in life, you don't know what you'd do without Billy. Naturally, you appreciated her even more now. "Don't start crying on me now, officer.", she said while patting your back. "I just did what I had to do."
Later that night, when Billy and you got into bed in your motel room, you cuddled up even closer to him and planted kisses all over his face. "What's up with you today?", he asked you with a light chuckle in his voice. "Happy you're still here.", you mumbled while burying your face in his neck. Billy knew what you meant by that. How could he not? Eight years later and he remembered that day at Starcourt like it was yesterday. He didn't reply to your last words, but he did wrap his arms around your waist and pull you closer to his chest.
Billy, too, was happy that he was still here.
44 notes · View notes
four-white-trees · 5 months
Text
Sunday six! Let's see if i can do this on mobile without the formatting going nuts
tagging @overdevelopedglasses @passthroughtime @mike----wazowski @skysquid22 @ohayouasagohan @fragilitease @woundedheartwithin
This week is the opening scene of a longfic i have planned that I'll write in December. It's gonna involve a serial killer haunting Ijincho. I don't know if we'll ever get Judgment 3 so this will be my take on it.
Yagami made a mistake. 
He’d come to Genda’s office on a whim that day, having been passing through the area, and he thought he’d check in with Saori to see if there was any work. The Yagami Detective Agency was going through another dry period…again. 
And when he’d walked through the glass doors of the office, he was surprised, but pleasantly so, to see Mafuyu there. Then he locked eyes with Izumida. And the pair were holding hands. 
“Yagami-san!” Mafuyu said, surprise plain in her voice. Yagami nodded to her and Izumida, his eyes landing on the massive diamond on her ring finger. “We were, ah…” her voice trailed off, but Izumida took up where she couldn’t. 
“We’re engaged,” he said proudly, beaming. 
Genda and Saori were seated on the couch across from them, Hoshino standing beside them. Saori met Yagami’s eyes, a world of meaning in her expression which Yagami did not want to acknowledge. 
“Congratulations,” Yagami said, and it was genuine even if the note of flatness in his tone had Mufuyu’s mouth twisting. “You guys pick a date?” 
“We’re thinking spring,” Mafuyu said. “Maybe April.” 
“Probably have the wedding up in Kyoto, when all the cherry blossoms are blooming,” Izumida added. 
“Sounds delightful,” Genda said warmly. “You let us know when the date is firmed up. We’ll all be there.” 
“Of course,” Mafuyu said. She met her fiance’s eyes, and they both stood. “We should get going. We’re meeting my father for dinner tonight.” 
“Thanks for stopping by,” Saori said, walking them out. Yagami moved out of the way, leaning against the doorway to the kitchenette. Mafuyu met Yagami’s eyes on the way out, a look of tenderness in them, and Yagami could only offer a tight smile. 
When the happy couple was gone, Yagami let out a long sigh. Saori brushed past him with a little extra force than necessary on her way back to her desk. “Really?” he asked her flatly. 
“Well, you really did let that one get away,” Genda pointed out, getting to his feet. 
“Mafuyu and I haven’t been a thing for years,” Yagami reminded them. 
“Which is entirely your fault,” Saori said, her words clipped. “She was so into you, and you just ignored her for months until you needed something from her.” 
Yagami walked over to one of the windows, peering out onto the street. He didn’t often get angry at Saori, so he needed a moment to get a handle on it. Not that she was saying anything untrue, either. Perhaps that’s why it stung so much. 
He looked at his phone, checking his texts. Nothing. Once upon a time, he’d had an inbox full of messages from the girls he dated, casual relationships which were never meant to go anywhere, and they didn’t. The girls found more suitable partners, and Yagami…
Yagami was still there, doing his thing. 
11 notes · View notes
his-breath-catches · 2 years
Text
new byler headcanon!!!! it's been living in my mind like a jane prentiss maggot and is now spilling all over the floor. seal off the archive martin you're moving in ok ok
Mike found himself, for the first time, with like-minded people. His dorm was filled with nerds like himself that actually thought he was cool. His impressive Dungeons and Dragons skills, huge comic collection, and at-home pierced ear [you can't fight me on this also he pierced the gay ear] made him king of the nerds, reminding him painfully of Eddie. Nevertheless, he had the confidence of a young man who had a kill count and a steady boyfriend who was quite hot. Obviously all of the boys on his floor did not know about the kill count but they also happened to not know about the boyfriend part. This quickly got awkward.
"Dinner in my room? The place down the street just started doing takeout, I could give you my key and we eat in," Will proposed in the hallway outside of Mike's room. Mike was facing Will, back against the wall. Taking careful note of the emptiness of the hallway, Will leaned forward and put a hand against the wall right above Mike's left shoulder. This was a little inside joke of theirs, because Will was just short enough that this move did not work at all. They both giggled and Will leaned in slowly for a kiss.
"What the fuck! Gross!" someone yelled, and Will quickly pulled away from Mike, his hand still on the wall.
Mike turned to see who it was, and it was the boy that lived two doors down, his key halfway in the door. Mike had known him for a few months now, and he had taught this guy how to play Dungeons and Dragons. It was his first time because his parents thought it promoted Satanism. Go figure.
Mike slowly, very slowly, snaked an arm around Will's waist. Pulled him closer.
"I didn't know you were a fucking fa-"
Keeping strong eye contact with the guy, Mike couldn't think of his name, he pressed his lips to Will's. Kissed him. And then again. And again. They were full-on making out in the hallway and Mike had not broken eye contact once. It was the most embarrassing thing Mike had ever done in, like, his entire life, but it seemed infinitely worse for Kevin, that was his name. His face was bright red and he was frozen in place, the key in the lock of his door forgotten as he gaped at two people having the audacity to exist while homosexual. When he finally babbled a string of slurs and curse words before retreating into his room, Mike grabbed Will's hand.
"Yeah, I think we should definitely eat in your dorm tonight," he said to a red-faced Will.
55 notes · View notes
yikesharringrove · 3 years
Text
We’re Us
A little commishy for my bxtch @thinger-strang.
Read on Ao3
This shit is SOFT
-
“Dustin, we all saw that fireball hit you,” Will said accusatorily, gesturing to the red bean bag on the ground at Dustin’s feet.
“Okay, first of all, you’re supposed to call a pause of play before using my real name,” Dustin said, all in one breath. “And second of all, the fireball only hit my lute, therefore I sustained no physical damage.” Dustin gestured to the cereal box that was taped to a jump rope, slung over his shoulder like it was a prized instrument.
“No, it didn’t. We all saw it hit your shoulder. You’d lose that arm at least, and take probably, like, fifty damage points.” Lucas pretended to aim a bow and arrow at Dustin while he spoke.
Dustin was getting dangerously close to huffy territory.
“Fine. Whatever. I’ll take the stupid damage points. Can we resume play yet?”
Everyone nodded, and they fell right back into battle.
It wasn’t often they took the game off the DnD board, but the weather was perfect, summer beginning to make itself known a little earlier than usual, giving them April days that were clear and perfect and made for the best LARP sessions known to Indiana.
Will aimed a fireball at Max, and launched it right as she darted out of the way. It sailed past her, missing her left hand by less than an inch, and she laughed wildly, raising her pool noodle sword and aiming blow after blow at him.
The bean bag hit the fence and went spiraling awkwardly into the small alley between the house and the old wooden fence
It was Will’s last fireball, and he hurried to retrieve any he could reach, dodging as best as he could around Max’s wild sword-wielding.
She tended to wallop them as hard as she could, somehow knocking the wind out of them with her soft excuse for a sword.
Will scrambled to pick up his bean bag from the overgrown grass and curling weeds, catching his breath quickly in the alley where he couldn’t be seen.
And then a sound drew his attention away from the battle.
It was a soft sound. He wouldn’t have heard it if the rest of the party had been so quietly focused on battling one another less than twenty feet away.
But he did hear it, and his head whipped around to find the source of it.
Steve and Billy.
Against the house.
Kissing.
It was like time stood still.
Like Will had been hit by one of Mage El’s freezing bombs.
Steve had Billy pushed up against the side of the house, their bodies pressed flush together.
Steve was clearly propping up Billy with his body, Billy’s mobility cane, the one he had let them cover in stickers, was laying forgotten on the ground.
Billy’s arms were wrapped around Steve’s shoulders, his hands curled in the fabric of Steve’s t-shirt. Steve had his arms wrapped around Billy’s waist, half holding him close, half not letting him fall without his cane.
They were kissing like they were trying to devour one another, and Will realized that the sound he had heard was a moan.
It wasn’t like seeing Lucas and Max kiss, or Mike or El, or even Nancy and Jonathan.
Seeing Billy and Steve,
Will knew he shouldn’t be seeing them.
He knew this was wrong, and people said two boys kissing was foul and bad.
But this didn’t look anything but, well, loving.
The way Steve was making sure Billy didn’t fall while they kissed, the way sometimes they would pull back and smile, their faces never moving more than a few inches away from one another.
One of Billy’s rough hands left its place clawed in Steve’s t-shirt, reaching forward to brush one thumb clumsily down his cheek.
They pulled back from one another, smiling stupidly, still staring into each other’s eyes.
Billy brushed his thumb down Steve’s cheek again, and Steve moved like he was nuzzling into the touch, turning his head to the right, pressing a kiss to Billy’s rough, scarred palm.
It made Will feel like he was floating in space with nothing keeping him down.
Steve pressed a kiss to Billy’s cheek, then his nose, then his other cheek, and Billy’s cheeks flushed and he giggled, a sound that was so foreign to Billy Hargrove it almost made Will rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing the right person.
And Billy smiled, so calmly and easily.
It made his whole face change. He looked like a completely different person.
And Will realized, he’s never actually seen Billy smile like this.
The only times he’d come close, we tight tiny things that never reached his eyes and were dropped within a second or two.
This was a genuine smile, full of genuine happiness, and god -
They’re in love.
They’re two boys, and they’re standing right in front of Will and they’re in love.
They went back to kissing, moving their heads slowly side to side, their mouths opening and closing and Will was so aware of having never kissed anyone before.
“Will, seriously! I’ve been yelling for you-”
Mike stopped talking the second he rounded the house.
He was stalk still, his mouth hanging open like a dead fish at what he saw.
Will’s heart was thundering against his ribcage, and he tried to push Mike back towards the game, pleading quietly at him to move.
And then the rest of the group was joining them. Faces mirroring Mike’s dead fish expression as they stared, open-mouthed, at Steve and Billy.
Will had his back to them, but in the quiet, he could hear. He could hear the soft sounds and the moans, and even the giggles that made his face go hot and his stomach do a whole gymnastics routine inside of him.
Will was staring at each of his friends in turn, pleading with them to just turn right around, and continue on with play as nothing had ever interrupted their battle.
Like they haven’t just stumbled on a huge and dangerous secret.
He went as far as to push Lucas, gently shoving him backward saying go! Go! Under his breath.
The last thing he needed was for Steve and Billy to notice them here. To realize what they had seen. What they know.
And then-
“What the fuck?”
Billy and Steve broke apart, looking towards the entrance of the alley, and seeing all six of the party, staring at them.
Max had been the one to speak, and she was looking at Billy oddly, almost like she didn’t know who he was.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked, her voice quavering slightly.
Billy looked like he wanted to ground to swallow him right up.
Steve scrambled for the forgotten cane, keeping one hand on Billy’s elbow as he crouched down.
The movement made Will’s stomach flop over.
It was practiced.
Once Billy was standing on his own with the cane, Steve approached the kids calmly, his hands raised up like they were all wild animals that might attack at any moment.
“Look, I know how this looks, and you guys can’t-”
“It looks like, you guys were making out .” Dustin’s tone was hollow, and he looked as struck dumb as the rest of them.
“I know, and I mean, yeah. We were, but you need to listen -”
“Steve.”
Steve whipped right around when he heard the murmur.
Billy was standing slumped over against the house, one scarred, shaking hand covering his face, the other clutched so tightly to his cane his knuckles were white.
“Bill, I’m here, okay? I’m not going anywhere. You’re okay.” Steve rushed to Billy’s side, holding onto his elbow again, brushing his fingers softly through Billy’s short hair, winding his fingers through the wild curls that were just long enough to form. “I’ll deal with this. It’s okay. They’re not going to tell.” Steve glared at the kids when he said that, as if daring them to argue.
Billy kinda, fell forward, leaning against Steve once again, his face going into Steve’s neck.
Steve didn’t react, still brushing his fingers through sandy blond curls.
“You all know what could happen to us if people found out?”
Nobody answered him.
Truth is, they did know.
They knew the stories about young men being beaten nearly to death. Being run out of town or put in the hospital over nothing but a rumor.
Being gay wasn’t something that was tolerated in Hawkins.
Hell, Will himself has been pushed around and called queer as long as he could remember.
Even by his own father.
“We won’t tell anyone.” Will felt like how Billy looked. Like he was shaking apart right in front of them. “I promise. We won’t. Not anyone.” He could barely get the words out. It was like his jaw had locked up with the rest of his bones.
He thinks it would kill him if anything happened to Billy and Steve over this. They needed to keep them safe.
He needed to keep them safe.
“Yeah. I promise,” El parroted. Steve beamed at them.
Will knew El had been very confused the first time she heard about Ryan Anderson, the high school sophomore that had been humiliated and beaten so badly his family had to leave town six years ago.
She didn’t understand how a boy that liked to kiss other boys was something that merited violence.
Hopper had surprised them all by saying that it didn’t, but some people felt like it did.
Who you kiss doesn’t matter as much as who you are. If you’re a good person, it’s all just extra fodder. But some people like to they’re better than anyone that’s different than they are.
El had called those people bad and that was the end of it.
“Billy, I won’t tell.” Max didn’t take her eyes off Billy while she spoke. “I swear. I’ll never tell anyone. Not even mom.”
Billy’s hand flexed on the handle of the cane, and his knees gave a wobble. Steve kept him upright, leaning over to murmur into his ear.
Will could just barely make out the words I’ve got you.
“I promise, too.” Dustin’s cereal box/lute was forgotten on the grass at his feet. “The party protects each other. It’s one of our laws.”
“Yeah, we stick together. This isn’t different.” Max gave Lucas a watery smile when he spoke up in turn.
Mike was quiet.
It was well-known how much he disliked both Steve and Billy.
All of the kids had some trouble trusting Billy after everything that had happened last summer. Billy didn’t seem to blame them. He kept to himself, even when he moved from his cold room in the military hospital into the Byers’ spare bedroom seven months ago, he was like a ghost moving through the house.
Only Steve could make him come out of his shell in those early days. Only Steve could make Billy join them for dinner and movie nights, take slow walks around the yard with his walker, and later with his cane. Only Steve could make Billy’s shoulders relax from their defensive position up around his ears, and now, it was finally dawning on everyone why.
The kids mostly left him alone, only Max and El bridging the gap and actually speaking to him. Max had been determined to see Billy through his recovery, glaring at him and watching like a ginger hawk while he did his physical therapy, practicing his grip and moving buttons from one bowl to another.
El would sometimes talk to Billy in a hushed voice. She would get him on his own and hush words like Papa and Mama and bad and Billy would have to retreat to his bedroom for slowly decreasing amounts of time.
Nobody but Joyce and Hopper knew what she saw in Billy’s head. They were just informed that he wouldn't be returning home after his two-month stint in the military hospital. Max hard clenched her jaw and nodded jerkily and nobody dared ask any further questions.
He and Will traded a lot of good mornings and tended to generally avoid eye contact when they came across one another in the house.
But none of them hated him, they were just a little weary.
Mike, on the other hand, had some unexplained vendetta against both Billy and Steve and Will found himself willing Mike to be kind in this moment. To not see this as some power over them, or something.
“Okay,” he said slowly. “Dustin’s right. We protect each other.”
Steve gave them a smile that was so dazzling and bright, it almost gave off its own light.
His eyes were shining and he gave a watery laugh.
“They really meant it when they said children are the future.”
“Who said?” El asked him.
“I don’t know, actually. Just people, I guess.” Steve shrugged, jostling Billy who was still nestled in his shoulder. “Look, seriously guys, thank you. I can’t even imagine how I would’ve felt if-nevermind.” He cut himself off quickly, shaking his head. “It just means a lot. To both of us.” Steve smiled at them one last time, this time much softer and thoughtful. “You’re good kids.”
Nobody said anything else. They didn’t know what to say to Steve.
“I came back here to get my fireballs. I, uh, I got ‘em.”
Everyone looked back at Will, and, almost like they were coming out of a trance, began picking their makeshift weapons back off the grass, and chattering idly as they went back to the yard in order to continue their battle.
Will lingered for a second, looking over his shoulder at Steve and Billy, who were still wound together.
They were talking softly, and Will was pleased to see Billy lift his head back up, still looking pale and nervous, but smiling at Steve.
He leaned back down and planted a kiss on Steve’s neck, right above the edge of his t-shirt.
Will felt his face go hot, and tugged himself away, going back to the game.
It wasn’t until well after dinner, when everyone else had gone home, that they spoke about it again.
Will. Will! Do you copy? Over.
The static rasping of Mike’s voice through the walkie-talkie was coming from under Will’s bed where he had stashed it.
He quickly turned down the volume dial on the side before answering.
“Yeah, Mike. I copy. Over.”
“We need to talk about today,” Mike said through the walkie. “I mean, did you have any idea? Over.”
“No. I didn’t,” Will said, truthfully. Finding out had made a lot of things clunk into place, but that doesn’t mean Will knew. “Over.”
“It’s just, neither of them seem the type. You know? Over.”
Something about that statement didn’t sit too right with Will.
Before he could respond another voice crackled through the channel.
“This is gold leader joining the conversation to let Mike know he’s being a dick. Over.”
Will laughed. Trust Dustin to listen in on the conversation and come forward to defend Steve.
“Lucas, do you copy, too? Over.” Will waited a moment after he asked.
“Yeah, I copy. I wanted to hear what you all were saying first. I don’t really know what to think about all this. Over.”
“I don’t think there’s much to think about. Steve seems happy. Billy too, I guess. Over,” said Dustin.
Will’s heart swelled with a pride he didn’t quite understand at Dustin’s words.
Outside in the hall, the phone rang.
Will heard his mom scramble to pick it up, calling softly down the hall for Billy, and the unmistakable thumping of Billy and his cane coming to take the call.
He heard his mom scrape a chair over for him and retreat to her room, giving him some privacy.
“It’s just scary, you know? Like, something really bad could happen to them if anyone else found out.” Will thought for a second. “You think anyone else knows? Over.”
“Robin. She was making comments to Steve a few days ago about his secret relationship and I kept asking him about it until he punched me in the arm. She knows. Over.”
“I’m just confused,” Mike sighed down the line. “Steve dated my sister for like, a year. And Billy is always disgusting and flirting with my mom. Or at least, he would do that. You know, before. Over.”
“Yeah, that’s just Billy being Billy,” Max chimed in.
“You have to say over when you’re finished. Over.”
“ Fine, dickheads. Over.”
“That makes sense, but Steve and Nancy doesn’t. Over.”
“Lucas, it doesn’t have to make sense. David Bowie says he likes guys and girls. Billy has, like, three different magazines where he says that. Over.”
“Max is right. We don’t have to understand any of this. They seem happy, and good together, and that doesn’t really concern us. Over.” Will was hoping he could speed through the rest of this conversation. He could hear Billy in the hall, shifting and murmuring something Will couldn’t make out but was dying to overhear.
He had a feeling he knew who was calling.
“But, now it does concern us. We know. And as we’ve previously established, the more people that know, the more danger they could be in. Over .” Dustin almost sounded as though he might cry.
“Then, we can’t talk about it. Not unless we know for a fact that we aren’t going to be overheard. And maybe we should give them codenames. Only call them something like Han and Leia when there’s a chance of someone listening in. Over.”
“I like Lucas’s codename idea, but I’d rather die than call them Han and Leia. Over.”
“Okay, Mike, it was the first thing that came into my head! What, you think you have a better idea? Over.”
“I don’t know. Harold and Maude? Over.”
“That’s stupid, Mike. Clearly, they’re Bert and Ernie. Over.”
Will snorted at Max’s suggestion. He heard Billy coughing wildly in the hall. He listened carefully to him until it died down and he knew it wasn’t a bad one.
“I think we’ve come to an agreement. If we need further discussion, codenames: Bert and Ernie. Okay, my mom wants me to spend time with her tonight. So this is gold leader, signing off. Over and out.”
“I’m going too. Over and out,” Mike said.
“Over and out,” said El, not surprising any of them that she was listening in. She did that a lot. Simply listen to her own walkie, and when asked why she didn’t say anything would shrug and go nothing to add. They only asked that she sign off so that they knew she got whatever information they had discussed.
Everyone followed with their own sign-offs, and Will twisted the top knob on his walkie, shutting it off.
There was a moment of silence out in the hall, and then three beats on Will’s door.
He found Billy on the other side, slumped in the chair under the phone, his cheeks going red.
“Can’t get up,” he grunted. “Can’t reach the hook.”
Will didn’t say anything, nodding quickly and avoiding eye contact as he took the phone, placing it carefully back on the hook.
Billy got stuck in chairs fairly often.
His core muscles had been slashed up worse than anything else, and sometimes he just needed a good pull up.
Will took hold of his wrist, leaning his body weight backward to yank Billy to standing.
Billy kept his weight heavily on his cane, patting Will once on the upper arm in thanks.
“You guys know Steve has one of your little walkie-talkies, right?”
“ What ?”
Will genuinely didn’t know that.
“Dustin gave him one. I don’t know when, but he’s got it.”
“So, uh, so he heard. Everything.”
“And relayed it all to me through an embarrassing amount of tears, by the sounds of it.”
But Will could see that Billy’s eyes were brighter than usual in the dark, and suddenly Will remembered that there had been a wet spot on Billy’s sleeve.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I mean, well, you’re good kids. All of you.” Billy patted him on the shoulder again. “I was shitting myself out there when you found us. Thought for sure one a’ yous would go squealing.”
“Maybe we would’ve. Before.”
“Never thought I’d be grateful for nearly being turned inside-out.”
“And I never thought I’d be grateful for being found dead in the water, but here we are.”
“Yeah, shit’s pretty weird if you stop and think about it for a few minutes. Near-death experiences really put your sexuality in perspective.”
“Is that why you two started dating? Perspective?”
Billy huffed a breath, looking up towards the ceiling. He coughed twice, and Will could pretty much hear his lungs rattle and crackle.
“Yeah. ‘S why we started dating. Both of us kinda realized there’s no sense in feeling like shit about the things that can actually make you feel not like shit.”
“So, you’re in love? Both of you?”
Billy’s cheeks were flooded with color, the deep red spreading all the way back to the tips of his ears.
“I think so. We’re both a little too fucked in the head to say it, but,” he shrugged lamely, not bothering to finish his thought, and looking anywhere but at Will.
He gets it, though.
Fucked up parents make for fucked up kids.
Will considered himself the luckiest person on Earth, and any kinda parallel universe, that he had his mom to stop, and later heal, all the damage his dad had caused.
“Well, I’m glad that you have it. Both of you. I mean, we saw you guys. And after everything, it's good that you’re happy.” And Will meant it.
Even before last summer, he had never seen Billy look the way he did when he was kissing Steve. Look that calm, and relaxed, and that goddamn happy. It really meant something.
Especially to Will.
Because he had never thought of someone looking that happy when they kissed someone else.
He had never thought of a boy looking that happy when he kissed another boy.
Billy surveyed Will for a moment, still leaning heavily on his cane in the hallway.
Will had the suspicion that Billy could see right through him.
“He came to visit me a lot when I was in the hospital. Steve, I mean. I don’t know why he did. It’s not like we were friends or anything. But one of those days, when I was barely awake he started talking about everything that happened those couple days.” Billy shifted closer to the wall, bracing himself with one hand as he lowered himself back into the chair. “The Russians. I don’t know what he’s told you kids, but it wasn’t pretty.”
“He hasn’t said anything. I mean, we all saw how he looked after, so we figured maybe he got in a fight.”
Billy chewed on his bottom lip.
“Look, you gotta swear not to tell any of the others this, but, uh, it was a bit more than a fight.”
Billy was giving him a meaningful look and something churned around in Will’s stomach.
“Torture?”
Billy gave a tiny, shaky nod.
“He started talking about it. Said after that, he started thinkin’ about shit different. Said he thought he was gonna die down there and that nothing would change without him. It was heavy, and I was mostly feeling the same way, and I think that’s why he told me. Knew that I could get it. After that he kept visiting, and I noticed that I didn’t hurt as much when he was there. Or maybe I did, but having him there, squinting at the t.v. ‘cause he can’t see worth a’ shit, or making some stupid comment about a nurse on the floor just made it easier. He makes a lotta shit easier.”
“I think that’s what it should be like. I don’t think love should make things harder.” Will thought of his mom and dad, and how different she acted with Hopper.
Like she didn’t hurt as much when he was there.
“It was hard in the beginning. I mean, before we got together. I thought that he didn’t feel the same way, you know? That I was just being an idiot, feeling like that for my best friend. But then he told me. He’s always been a lot braver than people give him credit for. Anyway, he told me, and it should’ve been fucking terrifying. And I was scared of people finding out. Still am, but it’s like, even if we get run outta town, and everyone we care about turns against us, it’ll be fine because we’re not just me an’ him, we’re us .”
Billy blinked quickly, almost as if he was surprised by his own words.
They clanged around in Will’s head.
We’re not just me an’ him, we’re us.
“You don’t have to be scared, though. I mean, of people finding out. Of turning against you both. We won’t let that happen. Not about something like this.”
Billy gave him a weak smile.
“I guess it makes sense. I mean, you all took me in after killing half the town. Tracks that you wouldn’t throw me out for. Being gay.”
“There are worse things to be than gay.”
“Psycho killer not one of them?”
Will gave Billy as unimpressed of a stare as he could muster.
“That wasn’t you. You forget, I know what it was like to have him controlling me. I know what it’s like to not do anything to stop him, even when you are fighting with everything you’ve got. I nearly killed my mom. I even might have, if I’d been stronger. You fought against him, and in the end, you won. I never could’ve done that.”
Billy just stared at the wall slightly above Will’s left shoulder.
“I killed people, too. When he had me. Led a whole group of people right into a trap. And it still scares me what he did. But I know that it wasn’t me that did it. It wasn’t you that did any of that, Billy.”
“I tell myself that. Hell, Steve tells me that about every five minutes. Just hard to watch yourself doing that awful shit and not be able to tell your body to knock it off.”
Will didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t.
Billy was right. It was a nightmare watching yourself hurt people around you, feeling like you were in the backseat, screaming at yourself to stop.
But Billy had done what Will couldn’t’ve.
Right at that last moment, he stood up to the thing controlling his every move.
Stood up to that horrific flesh monster, adn died rather than let it kill El.
El, who he didn’t even know.
And then Billy’s bedroom door down the hall opened slowly, and Steve poked his head into the hall, swearing under his breath when he saw someone in the hall with Billy and trying to duck out of sight, knocking the back of his head into the doorframe and swearing again.
Billy laughed, a low wheezy laugh that ended in a short coughing fit.
“Real fuckin’ subtle, Harrington,” he choked out.
The door opened once more and Steve stepped out into the hallway, trying to look casual.
“I didn’t realize it was you there, Will. How’s it goin’?”
Billy laughed again, and gestured for Steve to come and help him stand up.
Steve did so quickly, smiling warmly at Billy when he had righted him on his feet, and keeping hold of Billy’s arm.
“Why are you sneakin’ in my window like some kinda perv?”
“Because I wanted to talk. I have a lot of emotions today.” Steve turned to address Will. “You kids are gonna be the death of me. And I mean that in the nicest way I possibly can.”
“Yeah, well. You guys are family.” Will shrugged, feeling very awkward when both Steve and Billy. Looked as though their eyes were overbright. Will panicked, trying to think of an exit strategy before he saw either of them cry.
He had seen them both in too many intimate moments today.
“Um, I’m pretty tired, so I think I’m gonna go to bed. Let me know if you need, uh, help tomorrow. You know, heading of my mom or anything.”
Will turned on his heel and slipped back into his own bedroom.
“Alright, Bert. It’s been a long day and I’m gonna need some help getting into bed. My legs have gone totally stiff.”
“Oh, in no way am I Bert! I’m totally Ernie. You’re Bert. Think about it: you’re surly, and rude, and-”
“Gonna dump you if you don’t shut up and help me go to bed.”
“Spoken like a true Bert.”
140 notes · View notes
moxfirefly · 3 years
Note
Can i get a breeding kink prompt With mikey please? 👉👈
👁👄👁 I am-
Listen, do not get me started on this...
Okay here we gooooo
Rated Explicit (18+ only)
Tumblr media
Michelangelo had everything down to a science, which he always found hilarious since he wasn’t the science guy here. But ironic joke aside, he truly did have it all thought out to the point of near perfection.
Because Spring sucks.
Spring is annoying.
Everyone’s in a mood, everyone is in a state of perpetual chest pumping and nothing gets done. Mikey had long since learned that skating the excessive energy out of his system worked fabolously, combine that with some much needed alone time with a skin magazine or video and he could call it a night.
Spring is so annoying.
With you though, he had glossed over in a vague matter that maybe it would be best for you to hang back for a few days. Naturally that was odd, Mikey sometimes wanted to glue you to his shell if he could. A quick look of the calendar filled in the blanks, mutterings about approaching Spring Fever as they had named it were ongoing on the nights you’d been there. Mikey was being courteous, nay he was being shy at the very least.
Curiosity on your end though, would be your undoing.
So you packed your overnight bag with the essentials . He was probably overselling this whole Heat issue, it wasn’t like Mikey’s libido was at a soft two even on a bad day. That man could watch you shaver your legs with a full on mud mask on your face and still pop a boner. Naturally though you maybe should’ve listened
but your feet were already taking to the nearest Lair entrance.
Mikey felt antsy , even after spending three hours on his board. He even took out his old normal board to practice basic tricks on it, he’d played video games for an hour, thought about you for another hour and still his skin felt electric. The air in the Lair tonight was about the same, everyone was locked away to avoid unnecessary fighting. He figured he’d shower, think about you once again and retreat back to his room.
He felt a little better after the hot shower, he’d even found that you had left one of those sweet smelling body gels. That had significantly distracted him and now he couldn’t stop smelling himself, for he smelled like you. In his trance he neglected to perhaps notice that your scent had picked up a little more but he figured it was himself.
He nudged the curtain aside that led to his room (Raph had moved out a few months back) and tossed his towel somewhere in the chaos.
Then he saw you there, on his bed, flipping away on some random magazine he had lying around looking like a dream. Mikey froze on the spot, you looked up and smiled.
“So what’s the big deal? Aside from how funeral like quiet everything is around, has anybody sprouted a third arm?” You joked whilst setting the magazine aside, you sat up and assessed him. He was freshly showered, smelling of your favorite shower gel and wearing nothing but his boxer briefs.
For Mikey though, his literal reptile brain was only making him notice how gorgeous you looked in nothing but some stay at home shorts and a flimsy oversized crop top. Naturally you had settled into your relaxed attire once here, most of the time it consisted of things Mikey either outgrew or didn’t use anymore. He approached, tentatively.
“No third arms dude, just you know; tension in the air” He chuckled and so did you, you couldn’t help but notice how fixated his gaze was. He looked at every little detail of yours more intently, enjoying it even more. Mikey reached out and ran his knuckles across your chin. You kept your smile, sneaking down to press a soft kiss on his wrist. “What’ya been up to then?” You not so innocently asked as he started playing with your hair.
Mikey’s mind was too clouded, it had been clouded all day with scandalous thoughts of you. Even now as you sat in front him, the picture of sweetness and loveliness all he wanted was to consume himself in you. “Thinking of you” He answered distracted by ideas of pulling your hair, watching your mouth open in a gasp, body shaking with pleasure.
Maybe spring didn’t have to be so annoying...
“Well I’m here now, you should’ve just said so” You liked how concentrated he seemed, fascinated with your hair or with caressing your cheek. You also didn’t mind that he was barely dressed, all strong legs and thin waist for display. You wondered just how badly he was fighting to not make his arousal so evident.
Then his hand retreated and he got down on both knees. His hands rested on your knees and you swore his pupils were blown out already, you pressed your legs tightly together.
“I can smell it, don’t hide it”
That sentence shook you. Your face flushed at his words but it only served for another shot of heat to pool beneath you. Mikey seemed so different, that cheery flirtatious nature of his wasn’t all quite there and you couldn’t help but wonder what lay in store for you.
He hooked his fingers in your shorts and pulled them down slowly, his excited energy was there but more zeroed in on the task at hand. You let him take them off for you, soon your underwear as well, his firm but gentle hand nudged you backwards. You laid down, breathing anticipation and exhaling desire when you felt those strong hands of his spread you.
“You smell so fucking good” Any and all rational thought had exited. All he wanted was to taste you, fuck you and claim you as his. He bit the inside of your thigh, enjoying the muscle tremble. When you felt a string of spit on your core and that wet warm tongue flick up your slit, you bit down on your lip. Mikey was never controlled, especially in this activity, he went at it like it was his last meal. But this honed in method left you shakey and needy.
He wanted you shakey and needy.
Thus he did the same, licking and sucking slowly, calculatedly. You looked down, his meticulous attacks making you squeeze your legs against his head. That brought a lengthy groan out of him, his hands gripped your thighs more and his movements picked up a little more in forcefulness. Soon enough he had you teetering on the precipice, close and closer and each second you swore he’d give it he took it back. You whined frustratedly, hand smacking down on the bed. Your heated gaze found Mikey’s, mouth wet with your essence, pupils still so blown you could barely make out his baby blues. He sucked a finger into his mouth and found your opening, your eyes rolled back into your head.
“You’re so damn wet, like you always get this wet whenever I eat you out” He was knuckle deep, making you crossed eyed as he found your spot and thrusted. “I wish you could feel what I feel when I slide into this pussy” He angled his finger, loving how you bit down hard to muffle a moan. His thumb found your clit and you nearly sobbed. “Fuck you’re so good, you’re all mine aren’t you? This...” He made a come hither motion with said digit. “This all mine?” He asked, rubbing slow circles on your clit.
You nodded vigorously, anything for him to just apply a little more pleasure to hit that spot with just a little more force.
Then Mikey was pulling out his finger and sucking the digit clean.
Yet another frustrated sound left you and you swore he smirked. When he got up, you bit your lip. He was fully hard, leaking and staining the front of his underwear. Good, served him right for the torturing. You made do of your shirt, not missing the hungry look when he saw you were bare beneath the shirt. Opting for some retaliation you fondled them, pinching and kneading. Mikey’s eyes followed them as he kicked off his underwear.
When he gripped your waist you figured he was going to climb on you.
You didn’t expect him to quite literally turn you around and manuveour you onto all fours.
This wasn’t an usual pose for Mikey, it’s not to say he didn’t indulge in it but he preferred to watch you ride him or to be so sweetly spooned against you. This felt, primal. He still seemed unsatisfied that he couldn’t watch you, so he improvised.
Once again wrapping an strong forearm around your waist he took you towards a small dresser that had a mirror. Your wide eyes were comical at this point, this was so unlike him and yet you found yourself so insanely turned on by it. He nudged your legs apart with his foot, hand on your lower back he guided himself in with his other.
That initial burn would never stop being your favorite and Mikey had full view of your eyes leaving their sockets. That gravely churr startled you, his usually didnt run that deep more along the lines of a pleasant purr. You clenched around him and his mouth hung open. That very sensation was something he could dream about awake. He had that feeling committed to memory, often times trying to replicate it with his hand whenever he missed you.
“Jesus fucking hell, Mike please move” You rested on your forearms, trying to move back against him but he held a firm hand on your lower back denying it. He remained quiet, you whined. “Please babe, please I want it so bad” Your eyes drifted to the mirror catchi. Mikey’s heated gaze and grin, he was definitely eating this display up.
He leaned over you, mouth close to your ear. “If... if I start I’m gonna keep going until you’re filled up with my cum” He tested his words by starting to move, hands gripping your waist tightly. The relief that washed over you was immediate, this angle was always a weak point for you so you knew lasting would be difficult.
Then Mikey slammed into you with enough force to rattle the dresser and it’s contents. Your mouth opened in a silent gasp, you watched how consumed he was feeling you. “Oh fuck Mikey, that’s so good” You felt him pulse inside of you, always one for praises this one.
“You’re gonna take it for me? Mhm?” He thrusted hard, demanding. You threw your head back, a blissed out grin breaking out on your face. “God yes, all of it baby, fill me up” You moaned, more so when he wrapped his arm across you chest and held you against his hard plastron. “Yes you are, you’re gonna take it all, every last drop” He shoved his finger into your mouth, pace quickening, churring nonestop.
He continued his words, each one making you hotter, the two of you were going to be a blushing mess after this. “Gonna fill you up, knock you up” He grunted against your ear, the angle was slightly uncomfortable but you were too lost in the lust to bother. You nodded trying to say ‘yes yes yes’ with his thick digit in your mouth.
Mikey felt you tighten so suffocatingly hard that you bit down pretty hard on his finger. He took it out just as you started to scream with your pent up release. “That’s my giiiirl” He groaned against you, slamming two more times before spilling himself in you. It felt never ending, each spurt deep within, Mikey’s short hard thrust making you slump forward in his arms. “Fu-uck Mike” Your voice shook, legs trembled as he emptied himself inside of you. He remained there, buried so far in, loving the mixture of his mess and yours.
Mikey bit down on your shoulder, hips starting to move again, his member twitching back to life. Your eyes shot open, watching him through the mirror. He kept you against him, this time by gripping both your breast.
His previous statement swam inside your foggy brain.
‘If I start, I’m not gonna stop...’
Spring was officially your favorite season.
680 notes · View notes
kcarreras · 3 years
Text
I Wanna Be Yours
Fandom: Outer Banks Pairing: JJ Maybank & Kiara Carrera Summary: It’s been a week since the Pogues arrived back in Kildare, after almost a month stranded on the island. Separated from her friends and under house arrest from her parents, JJ and Kie are finally reunited and forced to confront the consequences their time on the island has had on their relationship... Notes: This one is for @soldatstylesmaybank for hyping me up in her tags - I hope you like it! ❤️
The Pogues had been back in Kildare County for a week now. 
Seven whole days since she’d last seen her friends - last seen him - on the dock after their ferry arrived back from the mainland.
Her parents had been waiting, and were on top of her almost instantly - hugging and smothering her as they led her to the back of her mom’s SUV without so much as a chance to say goodbye.
Since then, her parents had been monitoring her every move to the point she felt like she was under house arrest, and maybe she was.
She’d wake up in the mornings to her mom pulling open her curtains, sunlight flooding the room and rousing her from her sleep, pretending she was there to collect laundry... at 6am.
Her dad would check in with her at night before going to bed, pretending he was only stopping in to say goodnight, but really his motive was the same as her mom’s - he wanted to make sure she was still there.
Her homework was being dropped off at the house by her school guidance counsellor at the request of her parents, after they claimed she needed time to ‘adjust’ to being back. Really, they just didn’t want her having the opportunity to sneak off somewhere - or with someone - she shouldn’t be.
After five days of constant supervision and being on her best behaviour, she convinced them that she should at least be allowed to leave the house for work. Her dad finally agreed that she could cover some shifts at the Wreck, as long as he was there.
It wasn’t ideal, but she’d take what she could get at this point.
The next day was a quiet Sunday in late October, and with little tourists left in the area and the locals at home out of the way of the wind and rain that was rolling in from the coast, the Wreck was empty. 
It was a little after 7pm when her dad made the decision to close early and send the other staff home. Once the last of the servers had left, he flipped the “OPEN” sign that hung in the door to “CLOSED”, and they began to clear up. 
About 20 minutes later his cell rang, and it was Anna. Her tyre had blown out and she was stranded at the side of the road, a few miles out of town. Due to the weather, the roadside recovery company hadn’t been able to give her an estimated arrival time beyond “a few hours”, and so Mike said he’d go and pick her up. 
At first he wanted Kiara to come with him, but she made a strong case for the fact that there was no use in both of them sitting in the car doing nothing for the whole journey there and back, when she could be here cleaning and boarding up the restaurant in case the weather worsened. Her father’s resolve was a lot weaker than her mother’s, who would have dragged her along anyway, and so he agreed.
He gave her the same lecture he always did when she worked a closing shift - make sure all the stoves are off, double-check the storm shutters are latched properly and don’t forget to turn all the lights off. She even jangled her keys in front of him, promising to remember to lock the door on her way out, and that she’d head straight home when she was done. 
Her dad eventually left, and she locked the door behind him before heading into the cleaning closet to grab the mop and bucket.
Her dad had only been gone a few minutes when she heard the rap of knuckles against the door. Assuming he’d forgotten his keys or wallet, she huffed, dropping the mop back into the bucket - now full of hot water and citrus-scented floor cleaner - and headed to the door.
“I swear, Dad, you’d forget your own head if it wasn’t-“ she began, but as she rounded the corner, the air was knocked out of her lungs.
It was JJ. 
He was standing in front of the glass door, hands buried deep in his pockets, shoulders shrugged up to his ears and his hood pulled over his head as the rain hammered down on top of him, dripping from the ends of his blonde hair that stuck out from under his hood and clung to his forehead.
“Shit,” Kie breathed out under her breath, subconsciously running her hands across her apron, smoothing it out across her thighs.
When she didn’t move immediately, JJ raised an eyebrow at her.
“Is there a secret password or some shit I don’t know about?”
His voice was muffled through the door, but she could still hear the humour in it.
When she still didn’t move, he spoke again, a little more serious this time.
“Seriously, Kie? Let me in, I’m freezing my ass off out here.”
She wanted to roll her eyes at the exaggeration, but he was only wearing a pair of long, dark boardshorts that hung to his knees and a washed-out, grey t-shirt with a flimsy navy jacket lying open over top - all of which was clinging to him like a second skin from the rain.
Normally she’d give him stick for being so inappropriately dressed for the weather, but she herself was wearing a pair of light-wash denim shorts and a lemon-coloured vest top with thin spaghetti straps, so she really had no room to judge.
She took another breath, bracing herself as she made her way across the wooden floor, boards creaking beneath her sneakers with every step. She knew the noise would be echoing around the empty restaurant, loud and obnoxious, but she couldn’t hear it over the sound of blood rushing in her ears.
She turned the key that was still in the lock and the door all but blew open into her as JJ tumbled in out of the elements.
“Finally, what took so long?” He asked, pulling his hood down and shaking his head like a wet dog, rain spraying from his dishevelled blonde head.
“Wow, JJ. Really?” Kie complained, stepping back out of his vicinity and wiping splashes off the bare skin of her arms.
When he finally lifted his head to look at her, he smiled, and something inside of her chest cracked open, and she felt some of her previous apprehension leave her body.
“Long time, no see,” he drawled sarcastically.
“Yeah. I almost forgot what you looked like,” she replied back in a similar tone, throwing the clean rag she was holding at him with a grin, before turning away from him.
“Please,” he scoffed jokingly, dragging the cloth across his face as he dried himself off.
“As if you could ever forget this face.”
Yeah, as if, Kiara thought to herself, all too seriously. Outwardly, though, she responded by giving him the middle finger over her shoulder as she continued to make her way back to her cleaning supplies.
“I know you struggle with the cursive,” she called to him, disappearing from view into the cleaning closet, “but you can read the sign that says we’re closed, right?”
“Yeah, I managed that one, thanks. I appreciate the concern, though,” he replied, pulling a stool out from the counter and perching himself upon it as she rummaged around in the closet.
“Luckily for me, I’m not here for the shrimp and grits. Unless…” he chanced his luck, but she stuck her head out of the closet for a second to scowl at him as she replied.
“Not a chance. Everything’s already been cleaned, I’m not firing it all up again to make you free food.”
“Worth a try,” he said with a shrug.
“So if it’s not the free food you’re here for, what is it?” Kiara asked him, her voice sounding distant from inside the closet.
“You,” he said, and she froze, her arm extended above her head as she reached up for another clean cloth and some spray.
After a moment she emerged from the closet empty handed, standing a few feet from him.
“Jay, we talked about this-” she began delicately, but he interrupted.
“No, actually, Kie, you talked. I just had to sit there and listen.”
Kie’s mind jolted her back to the last conversation they had before the ferry docked on the day they came home.
***
They were sitting together on a bench out on the deck, her head resting on his shoulder and their hands clasped together as they stared out to the approaching shore, the announcement signalling their arrival playing out overhead.
“So what happens now?” JJ had asked, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
“What do you mean?” Kie had questioned back, lifting her head to look at him.
“Between you and me. I mean, these last few weeks... I don’t know. I guess I just thought things might be different.”
Kie thought back to the last three weeks - the lingering stares, the subtle but deliberate touches, their desire to be around each other all the time becoming more and more obvious as the days had gone by.
She didn’t remember exactly when things changed between them, but she did remember that last night they spent on the beach once everyone else was asleep.
She remembered the sound of his hushed laugh as it faded from his lips, his eyes shifting from piercing and glittering, to dark and wanting, as they fell from hers down to her lips, and back again.
She remembered the heavy breath he took when she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, nervous but excited for what might happen next.
She remembered her breath catching in her throat when he turned at the waist to face her, his hand reaching up to brush a stray curl back from her eyes, before trailing it down her jaw to rest on the side of her neck, fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of her neck as he leaned in.
Her eyes had fluttered closed, and she’d stopped breathing altogether when she felt his breath against her lips.
One of her hands had tugged on his t-shirt, the other pulling down on the back of his neck as she tried to close the minimal space left between them...
But then Pope had stumbled out from the shelter just a few meters along beach, cursing as he tripped over a piece of rogue driftwood in the dark, and they had sprung apart as though they were suddenly allergic to each other.
JJ had cleared his throat as Kiara combed her fingers through her hair, and they jumped to their feet as Pope asked them what they were still doing up.
They made their usual excuse about not being able to sleep, and Pope shrugged, still half asleep as he wandered off behind the tree line, informing them he was going to take a piss.
With the moment gone, they retreated in silence back under the cover of the shelter, unaware that the next time they’d be alone to discuss it, they would be getting ready to dock back in Kildare.
“JJ, I - I don’t really know what to say.”
“Well that’s easy, Kie. You just say how you feel.”
With the dock coming in to view, the sight of her mom and dad standing at the edge, she began to feel overwhelmed, as though she couldn’t distinguish one thought from another.
She knew things had changed between them, and she knew that her parents were going to be unsufferable - that she was probably going to get shipped straight back off the island to boarding school the first chance they got.
She panicked, at what that would mean for her and JJ, and she didn’t have enough time in the next 30 seconds to think it through.
“Kie, what’s wrong?” JJ asked as she abruptly pulled away from him and got to her feet.
“Nothing, I’m fine, it’s just...” she trailed off, and the look on his face as he stared up at her broke her heart in two.
“I think it’s best that we just keep things how they are between us.”
The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and if she thought the look he had before was heartbreaking, it was nothing compared to this.
“Okay, but-” he began as his brow furrowed and his cheeks flushed, but she cut him off.
“Look, Jay, we’ve been friends for a long time, right? And these last few months have been crazy... and, y’know, being stranded on an island for three weeks? That shit can kinda fuck with your head. And so I just don’t know if we should let any of that change what we are to each other.”
She was rambling, and he was trying desperately to keep up, but the next minute the ferry shuddered as it made contact with the dock.
“Um, my parents are here. I should go,” Kie said, turning on her heels and practically running for the ramp.
“Kie! Wait a second,” he called, chasing after her, but other passengers on the ferry had begun to make their way in the same direction and a crowd formed between them. By the time JJ had pushed his way through, Kie was already disembarked and down on the dock.
“Kie!” he called after her, hands gripping the railing of the boat as she turned back to look at him. The rest of his friends, now also down on the dock, shouted for him to hurry his ass up, unaware of everything that had just unfolded.
Kie held his eyes for a second, before mouthing a silent, “I’m sorry,” and letting her parents lead her to the car.
***
He stood from the stool, and it screeched against the wooden floor as it slid back towards the counter, putting her nerves even more on edge.
“Look, I know your parents don’t want you to see me, or any of us for that matter. But, Kie, you can’t just ghost us, alright? No one’s heard from you since we got back.”
“That’s not true. You have.” Kiara argued weakly.
JJ scoffed, throwing his hands up.
“A text saying ‘Sorry, gotta dip for a bit,’ doesn’t count, Kie, and you know it.”
“That’s not all it said,” she replied, her voice even smaller now, her eyes dropping from his.
“No, you’re right,” he admitted with a humourless laugh, and it was the most annoyed she had ever heard JJ sound, at least towards her.
“It also said ‘I miss you’. What the fuck was that supposed to mean?” he asked, his blue eyes darkening and his cheeks flushing.
“Exactly what it said! I miss you, JJ. So much. I don’t wanna be apart from you. From any of you, but-” Kiara responded, her voice a little stronger now, almost a shout as her heart hammered in her chest.
“I don’t care about anyone else, Kiara,” he replied, and it was somewhere between a shout and a laugh. Kie flinched at the use of her full name, something he didn’t do very often and it made her uneasy.
It made her feel like they were fighting, which they were.
It made her feel like he was mad at her, which he had every right to be.
It made her feel as though they weren’t JJ and Kie anymore. 
Like they weren’t even friends.
And that made her want to cry. Which was ironic, because the whole reason they were in this situation in the first place was because during the three weeks they had spent stranded together - although probably some time before then, if she was being honest with herself - she realised that she didn’t want to be friends with JJ Maybank.
She wanted more.
“Jay,” she tried again, more softly, stepping toward him, but he pulled back.
“I can’t do this,” he said, and it was so quiet that she wasn’t sure he had actually said it.
“What do you mean? Can’t do what?” Kie pleaded, stepping forward again, taking hold of one of his hands in hers.
She tried to meet his gaze, but his blue eyes were darting around the room, desperately trying to look anywhere but at her.
“Jay, look at me, please,” she whispered, and a few seconds later he did.
“I can’t have this conversation with you if you’re not gonna be honest.”
“I’m trying, JJ. I am. But it’s complicated, okay? My parents said-”
“I don’t give a shit about what they have to say, Kie. This isn’t about them, or anyone else. How we feel about each other, that’s up to us. No one else is allowed to tell us shit about it.”
She dropped her eyes, which were clouded with tears that had yet to fall, and her gaze landed on their hands that were still intertwined.
As JJ slipped his hands from hers, her eyes darted up to his, scared he was pulling away from her. But then she felt his cool palms on her hot, flushed cheeks and her eyes fluttered shut for a second before looking back up at him.
“If you tell me right now that you wanna forget everything that’s happened over the last month…”
JJ took a deep breath, as if he was bracing himself for impact, before continuing.
“If you tell me that you wanna pretend that it never happened,” his voice trailed off, and her hands came up to grasp at his wrists as he continued to cradle her face.
“I’ll do that for you. If that’s what you want. But please don’t ask me to do it for anyone else.”
His head fell forward, eyes closed as his forehead came to rest against hers. Kie squeezed her eyes shut, and the tears finally fell.
JJ felt them trickle against his palms that were still pressed to her cheeks, and he opened his eyes, brushing them away with the gentle pads of his thumbs.
“Tell me what you want, Kie,” 
It was all but a whisper against her lips, which were inches from his as their foreheads remained pressed together, noses brushing.
Kiara’s eyes opened and met his, holding his gaze for a second before speaking.
“I wanna be with you,” she said, and before JJ could register what was happening, she pushed herself up onto her toes until her lips met his.
He was still against her for a second until the surprise wore off, and then his mouth was moving against hers. 
Her hands slid from their position around his wrists down his forearms, pulling gently until he dropped one hand to her waist and pulled her body flush to his.
Her mouth fell open when the front of his body collided against hers, and JJ’s tongue which had been running along her bottom lip made its way into her mouth with a groan. One of Kiara’s hands knotted itself in the damp material of his shirt in an attempt to pull him even closer, the other snaking its way through his hair and tugging gently.
JJ grinned against her mouth, and when she felt it, she pulled back slightly to do the same. JJ took advantage of the brief pause to not only catch his breath, but to reach round behind her and untie the apron that was still around her waist. As it came undone in his hand, he tossed it on the floor behind him. His lips came back to meet hers as his hands slid down her body appreciatively, coming to a stop just under her ass. His warm fingers and the cool metal of his rings pressed into the exposed skin beneath her shorts as he lifted her until her legs were wrapped around his waist.
He walked them forward a few steps, and Kie whined at the momentary loss of contact between their mouths as he set her down on the counter.
She tugged again at his t-shirt to bring him closer, and he gladly obliged, settling himself between her legs. He hooked his hands behind her knees and pulled until they were flush against each other again, and her thighs tightened their grip around him in response.
“Fuck, Kie,” JJ breathed against her neck as his mouth dropped from hers into the crook of her neck, desperate for air.
The words and the sensation of his breath against her skin sent a shiver down her spine, and he felt her arch her back in response as her chest pressed against his. A moment later, her head fell forward to rest on his shoulder, breathless.
JJ’s hands began to wander from where they had been running up and down the smooth, bare expanse of her thighs up to her waist, fingers tracing under the hem of her top that clung sinfully to her curves.
When she felt him hesitate, she lifted her head from where it was resting on his shoulder, her lips brushing his skin as she dragged them upwards across his jaw until they hovered over his again. She nodded, eyes burning into his before they fluttered closed again and her lips collided with his.
His hands pushed under her top, roaming the expanse of bare skin on her back. Kiara’s hands moved to push his jacket off his shoulders, pulling it down his arms until she heard it hit the floor with a soft thud.
The rain continued to hammer against the roof above them, and pelt off the glass windows surrounding them as the last of the sun disappeared below the horizon, casting pink and orange and purple shadows across them and the empty restaurant.
Kiara could feel the strong planes of his chest and stomach beneath the damp t-shirt that clung to him, and she wanted nothing more than to peel it from his skin and have it join his jacket on the floor.
Her hips rocked forward instinctively at the thought of it, and JJ groaned against her mouth as his fingers dug into the soft skin of her hips. 
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and a few seconds later a snap of lightning lit up the sky and they flinched, pulling apart slightly.
They were as close as they’d ever been, noses brushing, eyelashes tickling the others cheeks, lips brushing but not quite touching as they caught their breath.
“JJ,” Kie breathed, shifting so her mouth was now against the shell of his ear, and his skin prickled as he hummed in response. 
“I really don’t want this to end, but…” she trailed off with a sigh as her arms came up to drape across his strong shoulders, pulling him close as he straightened up.
“I know,” he whispered against the column of her throat, where her pulse was still hammering, before wrapping his arms around her waist in response.
They stayed like that for a minute or two, just holding each other close and taking in the moment - God knows when they’d be able to have another.
“I’m sorry,” Kie whispered into the silence, and she felt him smile against her neck before he spoke.
“Don’t be. That was further than I ever thought I’d get with you.”
“That’s not what I meant, dumbass,” she laughed against his ear before pulling back to slap him playfully on the shoulder. She let her arms slide down from where they had been wrapped around him until her palms rested flat on his chest.
JJ relaxed his hold on her too, hands coming to rest lazily against her waist as his thumbs traced circles into the bare skin between the waistband of her shorts and the hem of her top.
“I’m sorry that everything is so complicated.” She clarified, her soft, brown eyes gazing into his.
“Don’t worry about it, alright? We’ll figure it out,” he comforted with a gentle smile, pressing a kiss to her temple.
“So,” he said a few seconds later, followed by a cough to break the tension, “We’ve got some floors to mop, huh?”
Kiara tilted her head, a smile breaking out across her face and lighting up her features at the sight of him grinning back at her. 
JJ lifted her down from the counter, setting her on her feet before turning them around so he was nearest the counter and she was facing away from him.
“Better get to it, Cinderella,” he said, smacking her gently on the ass over her shorts, and she turned to shoot him a look of mock offense over her shoulder.
“Aren’t you gonna help?” she asked, nodding her head towards the cleaning closet that was still lying open.
“Sure. In a minute though,” he replied, still leaning back against the counter.
“What’s wrong with right now? I’m working under a time crunch now, thanks to you.” Kiara asked, turning to face him again with a drop of her hip as she crossed her arms over her chest, eyebrow raised at him.
“If you must know, thanks to you,” he began, repeating her own words back to her with emphasis, “I need a minute to… regroup, if you will, before I can move from this position.”
When Kiara continued to stare at him blankly, he dropped his gaze from hers down to the front of his shorts and back again, and Kiara threw a hand over her mouth to stifle her laugh.
“Right. Got it.” she replied, holding her hands up apologetically but still looking wildly amused. “Sorry about that.”
“Sure you are,” he drawled with a laugh as she moved over to where her apron and JJ’s jacket had landed on the floor, bending over to pick them.
“Not helping, Kie,” JJ groaned from over by the counter and she stood back up, turning to toss the item at him.
“My bad,” she said with a grin, re-tying her apron around her waist and picking up the mop.
A while later, when they had finished mopping the floors and had moved on to polishing glasses whilst Otis Redding played in the background on an old record player in the back office, Kie’s phone buzzed with a text from her mom letting her know they were on their way back.
***
Kiara cried as she said goodbye to JJ on the boardwalk outside of the restaurant, clinging to him as though she might never see him again because, with the way her parents had been acting, it was a real possibility.
JJ whispered comforting promises against her ear and pressed soft kisses into the now all too-familiar crook of her neck. He wiped away her tears and told her he’d see her soon, one way or another, before climbing onto his bike.
She looked on as he reached the end of the road, where he would turn left to go South and she would turn right to go North, and she had never realised it was possible to feel so close to someone and yet so far apart at the same time.
135 notes · View notes
withcolebrock · 3 years
Text
Lover of Mine~ Chapter 11
Lover of Mine~5 seconds of summer
Masterlist
Warnings: angst, swearing, I think that’s it
Word Count: 2,171
Author’s Note: ha ha ha long time no see ay? anyways... School is ending so now I finally have time to write and motivation to do it. No promises on consistent uploads but slowly starting to write again yay lol. Anyways. I want to strictly write for this series to get it finished lol
Tumblr media
She sat down onto the barstool, laying out a napkin and placing the tray of Oreos in front of her. She sighed as she slowly ripped open the package. She took a few out of the tray and set them down on top of the napkin. She slowly began eating them. It was late, around noon. Yet the house was almost spotless, which was shocking due to the amount of people at the party.
Her appearance probably wasn’t the best. She never wiped off her makeup from last night, or what was left of it. Her hair was tied up away from her face and her merch hoodie and small shorts were covering her body. She didn’t care, all she wanted was to just simply eat her Oreos and return to her room.
But her plan was ruined when Jake walked past her. He glanced towards her, simply just to say hi. But he had to do a double take, seeing her appearance. “You look like shit,” he said walking towards the fridge. She didn’t respond; instead she reached for another set of Oreos from the package. Jake took a long sip of his orange juice as he started walking towards Y/N. “What happened to you?” he asked, leaning his body over the countertop.
“Mike and I broke up,” she mumbled with a mouth full of Oreos. Jake's eyes widened as he leaned his body back.
“Oh god, I’m sorry,” he responded, Y/N shrugged. “Do you want to talk about it?” he continued. She shook her head as she reached for a sip of Jake’s orange juice. He handed her the glass without hesitation. Ever since moving into the house, she had gotten close with Jake. He was definitely like her little brother. He was easily her favorite roommate. “Well if you decide you want to, I’m here,” he smiled a tight lip smile as he leaned his body against the counter again.
“Thanks Jake,” she met his eye briefly, he nodded his head as he took another sip of his drink. Not long after a giggling girl's voice was heard in the other room. It slowly got closer. Jake furrowed his eyebrows as he straightened his body. He shifted his gaze between Colby and the red haired girl standing beside him. He clenched his jaw while looking down towards Y/N. He was trying to warn Colby, that this wasn’t a great time.
“We were just grabbing some water,” Colby muttered while he left Olivia standing beside Y/N. He quickly walked towards the fridge. Olivia stared down towards Y/N with disgust written all over her features. Olivia didn’t understand how someone could look like that. Y/N looked towards Jake, she let out a long sigh before shifting her gaze towards Olivia.
“I’m sorry about last night, I need to learn to knock,” her apology fell flat with Olivia. She simply just nodded, keeping to herself. Colby shook his head as he handed a bottle to Olivia and he opened his own.
“No, it was my fault, I forgot to lock the door,” he forced a smile as he looked into Y/N’s eyes. He noticed her rough looking appearance and all he wanted to do was pull her into a hug. But he didn’t know if he should with Olivia standing beside him. Y/N simply forced a smile as she shifted her gaze back to her cookies. “Are you okay?” Colby asked, leaning his body back.
Jake’s eyes widened as he looked towards Colby, shaking his head slightly. She lifted her head slightly, meeting Jake’s gaze. He relaxed his features, pretending he wasn’t doing anything. After a few moments of silence, Jake and Y/N communicated with just their eyes. He nodded his head slightly, while he looked towards Colby. “Her and Mike broke up last night.” Colby widened his eyes, looking down towards her. He was happy to see that she was finally out of that relationship. “Oh, I’m sorry, If I had known-”
“It’s fine,” she interrupted as she stood up from the stool, she avoided his gaze as she took a few steps away from the small group, “I’m going to shower,” she whispered quickly heading towards the staircase. Once she was out of their sight, she felt tears begin to form in her eyes. She was completely overwhelmed, everything in her just wanted to collapse.
She entered her bathroom and shut the door quickly. She leaned against the countertop letting out a small sob. She hit her hand against the counter a few times before she looked back up towards her reflection. Her phone began to buzz beside her, she looked down to see Mike’s name. A heart still after his name. She sighed, as she quickly wiped under her eyes.
She answered the call, “Hi,” she pressed her quivering lips together. He didn’t say anything at first on his end of the phone. He heard the shakiness in her voice, he sighed.
“Hey,” he mumbled, “I just wanted to call because I have your stuff here, and I wanted to give it back to you,” he spoke quickly, he didn’t want to hear the sadness in her voice. She didn’t respond. “Do you want to come over later to pick it up and you can give me my stuff?” She rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, I can do that, I’ll see you later,” she said, ending the call almost instantly. She placed her phone down onto the counter harshly. Another sob left her lips as she started getting ready for her shower.
~~~
“I’ll call you,” he muttered as he shut the door. He sighed, quickly walking back towards the kitchen towards Jake. He walked in on Jake pouring himself another glass of orange juice. “Did Y/N say anything? Like why?” he questioned quickly. Jake shook his head as he took a sip.
“All she said was they broke up and she didn’t want to talk about it,” he shrugged. Colby clenched his jaw as he dropped his head slightly. He ran his hand across the back of his neck. Colby sighed as he walked away from Jake and the kitchen. Jake stared at Colby as he walked away from him. “Okay, bye then,” he muttered as he pulled his phone out of his hoodie pocket.
Colby jogged towards the stairs and began to run up them quickly. He walked towards Sam’s room. He needed to vent to someone who had known the events of the last night. He walked towards the door and raised his hand to the door and knocked repeatedly. “Alright, alright, come in,” Sam groaned from inside the door.
Colby walked into the room, glancing towards Katrina sitting on the bed. He looked back towards Sam who was standing in the middle of the room. “Dude, what?” he was annoyed, while apologetically looking towards Katrina.
“I need to talk to you about last night,” Colby ran his fingers through his hair as he looked desperately towards Sam. Sam's eyes slowly widened as he glanced towards Katrina before he followed Colby out of the room. Sam shut the door behind him before they walked towards Colby’s room just across from them. Colby shut the door behind them as he locked it.
“Did you tell her?” Sam asked excitedly. He had been waiting for this moment ever since high school. Colby shook his head as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Then what happened?” Sam sighed, not afraid to hide his disappointment.
“They were fighting and he said something that ticked me off, so I left. I never got to tell her and then I found out this morning that they broke up,”
“Well that’s perfect then? You can tell her!” he jumped slightly as he got more excited with the idea.
“I can’t,” he whispered while rubbing his hands together, “She-it’s not that-I” he took in a long breath, “I heard her say she wasn’t in love with me,” as the words left his lips he felt his heart ache. Sam’s mouth dropped slightly, he didn’t believe it. Colby and Y/N may be oblivious but he wasn’t, he can see right through that.
“Her and Mike broke up for a reason, I think you should still tell her,” Sam explained.
“It’s not that simple, dude,” Colby interrupted.
“Why not, I know she feels the same, she just doesn-”
“She walked in on me with Olivia last night,” Colby blurted out. Sam stared at him dumbfounded. He shook his head as he licked his lips.
“That is probably the dumbest thing you've ever done, you know that?” Sam sighed while he rubbed his eyes with his hands. He let out a long sigh as he pulled his hands from his face, “You can’t just sleep around when you are in love with someone else, Colby,”
“I know,”
“Then why did you?”
“I was drunk and mad,” Colby responded. He clenched his jaw repeatedly while he kept his gaze to the floor. “I should’ve gone to her after she saw us. I just-”
“Wanted to get laid? Yeah, I know,” Sam let out a puff of air as he turned around and walked back into his bedroom. Colby glanced towards the bed Katrina was laying on before the door was shut in front of him.
~~~
It had been a few hours since she called Mike, she spent those hours making herself look presentable and collecting all of Mike’s things. There were endless thoughts running through her head. She recounted every word that Mike said last night and every response she had. The more the argument went through her head the more she realized Mike was right.
Y/N began to recount every last moment with Colby since moving here. Their Friday movie nights, the words they shared, the hugs that probably lasted too long but what she always cherished. “Well, who’s your favorite guy?” he questioned, his voice was hopeful as his eyes flickered around her features. She half smiled.
“You,” she spoke softly, “Is that even a question?” she laughed as she lightly hit his arm. He beamed as he let out a sudden laugh. “You’ve been there, you’ve been there for everything. Am I suddenly supposed to forget all that because I’ve been dating some guy for like eight months?” she explained, Colby’s mouth fell open as he tilted his head to the side. “Damn, I’m a horrible girlfriend,” she covered her face with her hands again, a groan leaving her lips.
“You are not a horrible girlfriend, Tink. He’s just worried he might lose you,” she slowly moved her hands away from her face as she kept her gaze towards the ceiling. Colby’s eyes looked over her. He’d admired the way her eyelashes curled upward and the color of her eyes, the way her cheeks were slightly flushed. “You wanna watch a movie, get your mind off of things,” he whispered. She nodded slightly as she slowly tilted her head towards Colby.
Her mind went blank as she looked into his eyes. They were soft, familiar, for a second she felt as if in that moment time stopped. Her heart started to beat out of her chest, as her gaze shifted towards his lips. She felt herself leaning towards him subtly. Colby doing the same. Yet the move was so small that neither of them noticed each other leaning in.
She shook her head slightly at the memory. Her cheeks flushed at the thought, he wasn’t just her best friend. She covered her face with her hands as she felt herself become embarrassed and guilty. She lifted her head as the door beside her was pushed open, “Hey, wanted to see how you were doing,” he smiled. She looked up towards him, suddenly seeing him in a new light. Her heart began to beat quickly as she looked over his features.
“I’m alright,” she mumbled, shifting her gaze back towards her mirror. She ran her fingers through her recently dried hair. Picking up her mascara, she opened it avoiding Colby’s gaze.
“What are you doing?” he asked again, walking into the room fully. She ignored him while she applied the makeup to her eyelashes.
“Going to Mike’s to grab my stuff,” she said, closing the mascara bottle. Colby nodded, looking at the small collection of items that looked like they belonged to Mike. Colby sighed as he sat down next to the items. He ran his fingers through his hair looking towards her through the mirror.
“Do you want me to come with you?” he said leaning backwards on his hands.
“No, it’s fine, I want to go alone,” she whispered. She mostly thought it would be a better situation if Colby wasn’t there. He sighed while he kept her gaze through the mirror. “Thank you though,” He nodded slightly while he admired her features. He wanted to say it, more than anything, but he knew he couldn’t.
‘Cause I’ve already made that mistake
116 notes · View notes
mediocre-writerr · 3 years
Text
betty [quinn fabray]
quinn fabray x fem reader
summary: the last part of my quinn fabray mini series! this takes place in the pov of quinn and her side of the story! enjoy : )
Tumblr media
*not my gif*
“Quinny?” my mom poked her head through the door, “You got to get ready for school.” she says softly. 
I groaned as I shoved my head into a pillow. I didn’t want to go to school today or well ever for that matter. 
And you’re probably thinking: Quinn what teenager actually wants to go to school? 
i did...once. When I didn’t fuck up the best thing that ever happened to me. Meeting her at her locker, holding her hand down the hall, singing songs to her in glee club. All of it. But that’s all faded away like a moment in time. 
“Not today.” I mumble. 
“Quinn, honey, I let you miss so much school these past couple months. I need you to go just this once.” she whispers before closing the door. 
I let out another groan as I pulled the covers off my body. Stumbling my way into the bathroom. As I look in the mirror the pit that was in my stomach continued growing. 
I hated how I looked. I hated how I felt. I fucked up. It was all on me.
And it all started at junior prom.
“Love, dance with me!” Y/N yelled over the loud music that was playing, trying to pull me out of my seat at the table I was sitting at. 
I smiled widely at her enthusiasm before raising my eyebrows at her. She knows I hate the crowds. Sure, I was popular and wanted the attention.
But there’s a difference between walking down the hall like a bad ass than being trapped in a crowd of thousands, feeling like you’re suffocating and sweating.
“This is my favorite song.” she pouted when I gave her the look. 
I pulled the hand that she had in her hand closer to me. Giving it a sweet kiss, “Next dance, I promise.”
She pouts a little before running back off to the dance floor. I sat there drinking the spiked punch, letting the alcohol burn all the way down my throat and into my stomach. Leaving a warm sensation behind. 
I watched Y/N’s every move. She wasn’t very far away from where I was planted. Jumping up and down, doing crazy dance moves, with Sam. 
I love Sam with every bone in my body, but I was always jealous of the blonde boy. He was a nice guy, funny, good looking and super close to Y/N. 
“Looks like your girlfriend is having more fun with Sam, than she is with you.” Santana says, leaning against the chair I was sitting on.
“I don’t like the crowds. She knows that. She’s just trying to enjoy her prom.” I mumble, trying to ignore her snide remarks. 
Santana hums in response before taking a sip of her own punch, “Sure, let’s keep telling yourself that. And I’ll be the one saying ‘I told you so’ when she leaves you for him.” 
That was it. That’s what started my insecurities. 
Was I good enough for Y/N? Or will she find her own non-complicated love with Sam or Finn? Was Santana right?
After procrastinating for God knows how long, I finally made it to school. 
“Quinn!” Mercedes yelled getting my attention away from locker. 
I tried forcing on my best smile, “Hey what’s up?” 
“You’re coming to Y/N’s party tonight right? Everyone’s gonna be there! I don’t want you to miss it.” Mercedes said.
I shook my head looking down at my shoes, “No. I wasn’t planning on going. I don’t think she would want me there anyway.” I mumble.
Mercedes looked at me sympathetically, “Well I want you to come. Dig yourself out of the depressing hole you’re in and come hang out with people who care about you. Think about it, okay?” 
I nod before she goes running off to talk to Kurt. I open my locker and stare at the cardigan hanging off of one of the hooks. My eyes dart around my locker to see the pictures of the two of us hanging on the walls. 
I miss her.
The bell rings and I weave my way through the somewhat crowded walls and into my anatomy class for homeroom. I take my seat next to Jacob Ben Israel and sigh softly. 
“Alright class take your seats!” Mr. Barnson yells as he walks in the door, taking his bag off.
I look at the empty stool next to me. Y/N wasn’t in here today. She must’ve stayed home. I wish I could’ve, especially after what happened yesterday. 
“Jacob, you’re going to be Ms. Fabray’s new lab partner.” he says and I watch as Jacob’s eyes lighten up.
The afro-hair kid coming to sit next to me, “Can I smell your hair?” he asks, disturbingly. 
I shutter in disgust and raise my hand, “Yes Ms. Fabray?” 
“What happened to Y/N?” I ask.
“Ah, Ms. Y/L/N switched homerooms this morning.” he says nonchalantly while looking back at his list for attendance. 
Oh. 
The day went on and on, dragging like a bad movie that wouldn’t end. Until finally it did. 
I walked to school today. I’ve been walking to school the past couple months. It was a nice break to just clear my head and think about everything. Sometimes it hurt to do, but it was much needed. 
I didn’t want to go straight home today. I didn’t want to go home and just lock myself in my room, curling up into a ball of nothingness. So I walked around more. 
“Quinn? Do you need a ride?” I hear a voice ask.
I turn towards the voice to see Mike and Tina in his car, “No thanks. I think I’m just gonna walk.” 
“Okay. Well we’ll see you tonight, right? We all miss hanging out with you.” he suggests.
“I don’t know.” I say looking anywhere, but them.
“You should.” Tina says before the light turns green and they drive off with a wave. 
I continued walking until I found myself at the mall need Breadstix. I hate the mall. 
I used to love going there with Santana and Brittany back during sophomore year of high school. When I was dating Finn and head Cheerio, but now it just reminds me of everything that went wrong. 
When my insecurity was at its greatest peak. 
“Hello beautiful!” I say as I answer Y/N’s phone call, walking through the mall. 
“Hi love! I miss you so much.” she whispers and I smile softly.
I hear rustling coming from her side of the phone, another girl’s voice, “I miss you more.” I say softly, “Who are you with?”
“Oh I’m with my friend Lizzie. She’s also a intern here and we’re just having dinner! She’s really cool!” Y/N said excitedly.
The rest of the conversation was about her internship and the amazing stuff she was learning and the new people she was meeting. How much she was having.
I should have been happy for her, but all I could think about what was, how much her life is better without me? What a fun life she could have without me? 
I left the mall that I was once walking in and nothing seemed good enough to buy. I was getting closer to my house as I was walking on the broken cobblestone. Just thinking about her.
How much I just want her to come back home and into my arms. How much I want her to let me know that I’m the only one she wants and that I am good enough for her.
Someone’s car came by slowing down next to me as they rolled their window down, pulling me out of my thoughts. Santana was sitting in the driver’s seat with her sunglasses on. Her usual high pony was down which revealed her curly brunette hair. 
She looked like a figment of my worst intentions. Her lips stained with a dark red lipstick and the way she was eyeing me. It just sent shivers down my spine. 
“Quinn, get in, let’s drive.” 
And those four words was all it took. Well four words and a human full of loneliness. 
A car honks shaking me from that terrible terrible memory. Leaving me with a mind and head full of thoughts. 
Should I go to the party tonight? Will she want me there? Will I regret not going? 
There’s two ways me going would play out.
1.) I would get there and she would open the door and slam it on my face. Then she would open it again just to tell me to go fuck myself. 
I shutter at the thought of the most likely scenario. The sun was setting turning the sky into a cotton candy looking sky. What a beautiful sky for a stressful decision. 
Santana laid next to me on the grassy field of my backyard. It was a cotton candy color as the orange hue blended with the dreamy blue. 
I spent the week driving around with Santana. We would go exploring the small town in Lima or just drive around singing to random songs. 
We laid there in silence just staring up at the sky. She took my hand in hers intertwining them together. And in that moment I didn’t care. I wanted to feel something, anything. 
Anything besides this pit of loneliness. 
She turned her head towards mine. And in a beat her lips were on mine. It was soft at first yet passionate. Then the next thing I knew, clothes were flying off, and hands were roaming. 
2.) Y/N opens the door and sees me standing there. I apologize for everything, she leads me to our spot in the backyard. And kiss me in front of everyone. 
Yeah like that would ever fucking happen. 
I didn’t know what I was expecting when Y/N came back from Pennsylvania. After the many nights spent with Santana, I dropped her. Or well ghosted her I should say.
I didn’t answer her calls or her texts. I knew what I did was wrong and I decided to just end it before things could get any worse. 
Was it fucked up? 
Yes, but I did what I had to try and salvage what I had left in our relationship.
I thought I could get away with it too. Until the guilt started eating me alive. The pit in my stomach wasn’t loneliness, it was guilt. 
And then Santana told Brittany. Brittany told Artie. Artie told Tina. Tina told Mike. Mike told Puck. Puck told Mercedes. Mercedes told Kurt. Kurt told Blaine. Blaine told Rachel. Rachel told Finn. Finn told Sam. Then finally, Rachel told Y/N since no one else had the heart to. 
Y/N slammed my locker shut causing me to flinch back, “Tell me she’s lying.” she whispers, her voice breaking. 
“Who’s lying love? What happened?” I say attempting to take her in my arms, but she took a step back.
“Tell me that you didn’t hook up with Santana while I was gone. And that it’s some weird vendetta against you.” she whispers staring at me. 
I couldn’t lie to her anymore. It was killing me. I didn’t want to lie anymore. I just needed to tell her. 
I just stared at her desperately trying to find an explanation. Desperately trying to apologize and explain everything to her, but no words came out.
“Y/N-”
“You did didn’t you?” Y/N asked barely in a whisper.
I nodded sadly and a sob escaped her lips. 
“Y/N please let me-” I try to say and she shakes her head.
“No. We’re done Quinn!” she yells in between sobs running off. 
I looked up and found myself in front of Y/N’s house. 
I wasn’t trying to go here. I guess my feet just carried me here. The party was in full swing and through her window I could see her just sitting there, nursing a cup. 
Her favorite song was playing and she wasn’t dancing. She was just sitting there, trying to smile, but was struggling too. 
It hurt me, knowing that I’m the reason for her pain. 
I hesitantly knocked on the door and the door flung open. Y/N was standing there and she was shocked, but her eyes softened. But it didn’t matter anymore because she covered it up with a harder shell. 
She came out and stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind her.
“Happy birthday.” I whisper.
She mumbles, “Thanks.” 
“Can we talk please?” I ask.
She was thinking about it. I could tell. Her eyes were furrowed and she was biting her lip. She looked in deep thought before nodding and leading me to the backyard garden.
There was a bench swing hanging from the trees. And we took a seat on there together. 
This is the spot. Our spot. 
We had our first kiss here. I asked her to be my girlfriend here. Everything happened right here. 
“Y/N I’m sorry. And before you say anything I know. I know sorry means nothing and it has no excuse for what I did. But I am so deeply sorry. I don’t know much and I don’t have much to say because I wasn’t expecting to come tonight But I do know that I miss you and you were the best thing that has ever happened to me.” I whisper letting all of the tears spill. 
She lets out a shaky sigh, “I know. I forgive you.” 
I smile softly and I try to lean in to kiss her, but she immediately pulls back. Leaving me embarrassed and heartbroken.
“Just because I forgive you doesn’t mean that I want to get back together. I know you know that what you did was wrong. And I trust you when you say that it wasn’t anything special. But it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. I love you Quinn Fabray, but I just can’t do this right now.” she whispers back.
She begins to wipe away the tears from my cheeks. I took in a deep breath before embracing the feeling of her touch. Y/N closes her eyes and rests her forehead on top of mine. 
I cup her cheeks into my hands. My thumb trying to memorize all of the crevasse, cheek bones, every little feature. 
“I will always love you and maybe we’ll be together one day. Just not today.” she whispers pulling away and kissing my cheek softly, “Goodbye Quinn.” 
252 notes · View notes
headinthestaticsky · 3 years
Text
Sanctuary with the Enthralling Moon: Jasper Hale x Fleur Swan, Chapter 4
Tumblr media
Authors notes: I think this is my least favorite chapter I have wrote... but, I hope you guys like it anyway.
All rights go to Stephanie Meyer, none of the characters in Twilight are mine.
“Stay afloat When it feels like it's all going nowhere And you wanna know But the tide keeps trying to pull you under Let it go You can't fight the waves, boy, it's no wonder If you wanna grow Don't fight what's natural.”
Rush by, Kali Uchis
POV: Back to Fleurs.
Today I had woken up on my own and according to my alarm clock, it was already the afternoon. I stumbled down the stairs, almost running into a wall before making my way to the kitchen. I put my head on the table, trying wake myself up. It was crazy how fast the months had gone by. November and December came by in a flash and Leah and I had been hanging out more. I had almost dosed off in the kitchen when I heard my dad speak.
 “Hey Petal, Sam called... he wanted to see you today.”
“Sam? I didn’t except him to want to see me.”
“He was asking for you.”
“Okay, I’ll head down there now.”
I felt nervous on my way down there, I wondered why Sam was wanting to see me, why Bella was all of the sudden going down there. I stopped the car and sat there for a moment, collecting my nerves and unanswered questions and putting them in the back of my mind. When I got out I saw Sam, he looked pretty different from last year. His hair was cut short, he was way more buff, and he had a tattoo.
“Hey Fleur.”
“Sam.”
I sighed and then started walking toward the beach, Sam was trailing behind me.
“So... Jacob and Bella huh?” Sam started.
“What do you mean?”
“You haven’t heard anything about it?”
“No, Bella hasn’t had a civil conversation with me for a solid 5 months.”
“Oh... they’re apparently building dirt bikes down at Billy’s.”
“... She’s trying to kill herself... she won’t make it 5 inches without getting into some kind of accident.”
“Yeah...”
“Look... why did you call me? We haven’t talked for an entire year.”
“ I know you saw Leah yesterday, what did she say to you?.”
“We caught up, and then she told me what happened between you two. Why would you do that to her?”
“Do what?”
“Uh, break up with her after 3 years to then date and get engaged to her cousin? Someone who she was extremely close to mind you.”
“I wish I could tell you Fleur, but it’s complicated.”
“It seems to be all you do lately... You never explained to me why you didn’t want me to date Jasper so bad.”
“Because he’s a...”
“A what? Besides, I’m still dating him... I lived.”
“Of course you’re still with him. Your brain must’ve gotten fried back in Arizona.”
“Hey, don’t you dare insult my intelligence! What is with you? Why are you such a DICK all the time! Besides this isn’t about my relationship, this is about yours!”
“Don’t call me that Fleur.”
“Don’t insult me.”
“Hey, what’s going on down here?”
“Paul, stay out of this!”
“I’ll tell you whats going on, your friend here is being a complete dick!”
“Aww, did he hurt your feelings?” Paul said mockingly.
“Calling someone stupid tends to piss them off.”
“Well you don’t exactly look the intelligent type.”
I whipped my hand back and smacked him, He turned his head back around and started panting heavily. His face was red with anger and rage.
“Fleur... get back. Paul calm down.” Sam said
I slowly took a few steps back. All of the sudden Paul morphed into a wolf, I was frozen in my spot. Paul then took off, away from the beach.
“Sam... saying you turn into a wolf is not complicated... it’s pretty freaking clear. “hey Fleur... I turn into a giant ass werewolf.
“Come on, let’s head back to the house.”
“I would go with you... but I can’t move.”
Sam sighed before picking me up, he started running back down to the house.
“So... I’m going to assume being a werewolf has something to do with what happened Leah huh?”
“Yeah, it does...you see us werewolves have the ability to imprint on someone. This person could be a lover or just have a brother/sister relationship. We’re a protector to that person we imprint on.”
“So you imprinted on Emily...”
“Yeah, the second I locked eyes with her... I couldn’t stop myself from imprinting, it was as if someone else had over taken my body.”
“I get it now, you don’t really have a choice as to who it is, it chooses you.”
“Exactly.”
“Now that I got that part of the context clues it makes you seem way less of a dick...I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“So... if your tribes legend is right, you know that the Cullens are vampires.”
“Yeah we do.”
“Listen, the Cullens are not bad people, they don’t even go after humans.”
“They’re still a bunch of leeches.”
“You need to have some faith in me here Sam. Jasper’s amazing, he would do anything for me. I would do anything for him... we protect each other. Even though, he does a lot more of the protecting than me.”
He sighed
“Okay, okay... I’ll trust him...  but that’s about as far as I will go on that.���
“It’s progress...”
Timeskip: A week later
It seems I was always going down to the reservation anymore after meeting Emily and having the whole imprinting thing cleaned up I was hanging around Sam a lot more. Today I was going to visit Billy and Jacob. I wanted to see if those rumors on the dirt bikes were true. Bella still wasn’t talking to me so... I would have to figure it out myself. When I got there I started walking toward an old red shed, I knocked on it, waiting for someone to answer.
“Come in!”
“Hey Jake, it’s been a while!”
“Fleur!” He ran toward me and spun me around in a hug.
“So are the rumors true? Where are the dirt bikes?”
“Yeah...what are you doing here Fleur.” Bellas voice had jumped in, venom leaked out of it.
“You haven’t talked to me in 3 months Bella. When I hear that you’re somewhere I have to investigate it... Me seeing you is a rare phenomena, it’s like it happens every 100 years.”
“Well you saw me, you can leave now.”
“Make me leave.”
“Okay you two, cool it. You can come with us if you want  We plan on riding the bikes down by the beach.”
“Oh...”
“No... she will not come with us.” Bella interrupted
“No don’t worry about it... I was going down to Sam’s I thought I would stop by on the way.”
Bella scoffed.
“Of course you’d hang out with Sam, Jake has told me about him, I heard he tries to influence people too.”
“Are you trying to insinuate that I made the Cullens leave, again?”
“Glad to know your brain still works.”
“I’m not starting this with you Bella, you’re not worth it I need to go, Emily is excepting me soon. It was nice to see you again Jake.” 
“Yeah, I’ll see you around.” Jake looked between us... he looked trapped, caught in the middle of our childish fight.
POV Change: Bella’s
“Can you believe her Jake? I know she’s just trying to get me in trouble with those bikes... she’s probably on her way home telling Dad right now.”
“What’s up with you and Fleur? I really don’t think she came here to find proof of you doing this just to tell your dad.”
“You don’t know her like I do, she’s a manipulator...”
“I’ve just never known Fleur to be like that...”
“You haven’t been around her long enough to know her like I do... Can we talk about something else please?”
“Sure... we need to go anyway.”
Timeskip: To Sam and Emily’s AND a POV Change: Back to Fleur
Emily was making food in the kitchen, she was excepting the rest of the pack to come over today so she had her hands full. I was peeling potatoes and carrots while talking to Emily. It was nice, it was like talking to an older sister.
“So you Bella aren’t doing so well?”
“No... it was so weird, we had been getting along a lot last year... Then all of sudden we got into a fight in Arizona and we haven’t been the same ever since...”
“I understand how you feel, It’s the same way with Leah and I. Ever since Sam and I got together... it just hasn’t been the same.”
“I might be able to help you out with this one... Let’s say that the situation with Sam was flipped. He was with you, vanished for a week, and then imprinted on Leah when he came back. It would be a lot to take in for someone... I don’t mean to make you sound like the bad guy but... if you put yourself in her shoes, you might understand her a bit better.”
“Yeah, you’re right... I couldn’t imagine how that must feel. But, what do I do?”
“Just give her sometime. I’m positive she’ll come around, the way she talks about you to me seems full of love. She just needs some time apart right now.”
‘Okay, that’s fair... I’ll give her some space... thanks Fleur.”
“No probl...”
“Fleur come quick! Bella hit her head she’s bleeding.” Jacob said, he was panting as he if he ran down here. His shirt was missing too.
“Damn it... I knew she shouldn’t of gotten on those bikes... She trips walking on a flat service with nothing in front of her.” 
I ran out of the house, Jake was running quickly behind me, I could see Bella leaning against her truck, holding Jake’s shirt on her head. 
“Do you need me to drive you to the hospital?” I asked.
Bella didn’t even look at me, her head was turned to the side.
“Look, you can still hold a grudge against me... we don’t have to talk the entire way. But you literally bleeding out of your head... you need patched up.”
Bella groaned in annoyance, before throwing me her keys. She opened the truck door and then slammed it shut.
“Thanks for tell me Jake, I better go,”
“No problem.”
We didn’t say one word to each other the entire trip to the hospital, nor did we talk the entire ride home. I of course, had to explain to dad why she had a patch on her head.
“She and Jake were walking on the beach, the sand was a bit too slippery and she fell and hit her head on a rock.”
A week had gone by, Bella was even more tense than usual. Jacob had stopped talking to her after an incident at the movie theater with her and Mike. At least, that’s what dad had told me. My dreams with Jasper were getting more real and intense. The last phone call I had with him seemed like the dreams were starting to get to them. 
Flashback to phone call.
“I saw you again, you were following me where ever I went, but you disappear before I can talk to you.”
“That’s so strange...”
“One day I’m going to call out for you, and you’re actually going to be there.”
“I hope so, I miss you so much.”
“I miss you too.”
Flashback over
“Petal, Harry and I are going on a fishing trip. Watch out for Bella, if she goes anywhere, follow her. I don’t know how she’s doing right now since Jake is talking to her... We don’t need another woods incident.”
“Sure, no problem.”
It seemed as soon as dad had left, Bella planned on leaving, I caught her before she could reach the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Does it matter?”
“No, I was just planning on going for a walk...I thought I would invite you to go with me.”
“Really? Where did you plan on walking then?”
“To the woods.” I lied on the spot
“Fine... I’ll go with you.”
We walked in the woods for a bit, the only sound I could hear was crunching underneath my feet.
“Do you know why Jake hasn’t talked to me?”
“No.” I half lied, I thought I knew what was happening...Billy had said Jacob had mono and he couldn’t even go outside. But, I thought he was changing, that he would become a werewolf soon. 
“Oh come on Fleur, I saw you two talking outside before you went to drive me to the hospital... You want me to be completely isolated from everyone.”
“Are... are you insane? Did that hit you took from the bike accident damage your brain somehow? All I did was thank him for bringing you back.”
“Whatever... this is all your fault!” Bella said, she then sprinted out in the woods, trying to lose me.”
“BELLA!” I yelled and began to chase after her. I found her quickly though, and I saw her hunched on the ground, picking at dead bits of grass. I heard rustling on the other side of the field. Bella heard it too and looked up, she then gasped.
“Laurent?” 
34 notes · View notes
thedistantdusk · 3 years
Text
Arcadia, Chapter 2
Here we gooooo :) Thanks again to @secretkeeper13, @accio-broom, @ginisbetterthanfirewhiskey, @remedialpotions, @not-steve42, @jamezbot, @gryffindorhealer, and the majority of the HG server for their help <3
If you’ve just arriving, here is Chapter 1. :)
_____________________
D A Y  +  T W O 
He’s driving her mad. Absolutely fucking mad.
Ginny grips the hose in an attempt to water the rose bush outside their window, but her eyes are unfocused, unseeing.
This entire thing was such a terrible idea.
She should’ve insisted on another Auror as backup on her first solo mission. Someone less attractive. Someone she hadn’t shagged up one side of the Burrow and down the next.
But the request was difficult to grant in the first place. It took Ginny a full year of documentation to prove this was a necessary use of resources. Attica (and Unspeakables in general) don’t tend to be well-liked by the older Aurors, which made Harry the best fit. The only fit. Everyone— from Kingsley to Attica to even Hermione— agreed. And even aside from the sheer convenience of it all, Ginny’s years of experience with the Thought Chamber and Harry’s ability to sniff out trouble like a niffler after gold made them a brilliant combination to tackle… this.
It’s just a pity, then, that she still finds him so bloody attractive. Even though he’s become a bit of a brooding, sarcastic mess.
Ginny blinks down at the bright pink petals, their leathery flesh beaded with water droplets. Maybe the problem’s that she hasn’t spent much time around him since then. He still comes around for Sunday roast, of course, when his work schedule permits. In spite of what Mum went through, she’d never allow Harry to feel unwelcome. It’s his house as much as theirs— and yes, Ginny still lives at home. It’s the least she can do to maintain a degree of normalcy, even though everything irrevocably changed when It happened.
Ginny’s hands begin to shake around the hose; her brain starts to spiral. The Burrow is less welcoming now. Their hugs are more forced. Their family more distant. And although everyone functions on a basic human level, Ginny knows in her gut that the remaining Weasley siblings — Harry most certainly included — are still going through the motions to cope.
And maybe it’s because she really hadn’t had a libido in nearly five years, but fuck, it hasn’t taken much to come rushing back. Her thighs press together as her head fills with another series of intrusive thoughts instead. But she can’t suppress the memory of Harry emerging from the shower this morning, his top-half dripping, his bottom-half toweled. Not that it matters much, not when she knows every fucking inch of—
“I think that bush is good now!”
Ginny jumps, a string of swears springing to her lips. “I— fuck.” She turns to the unexpected voice. “Sorry! Let me—”
But Oliver from last night merely leans over to turn off the hose. “You’ll quickly learn that sort of language isn’t great for Arcadia, Jen,” he intones, finger wagging.
Years of training allow Ginny to blush in chagrin. To shove aside the telling-off she’d have provided a long, long time ago. “Sorry.” She winces. “It’s just a habit, leftover from—”
“—London, right,” he finishes, his eyes never leaving hers. “Anyway. Listen. Sharon and I would be honored if you joined us for dinner tonight.”
“Did I hear something about dinner?” Harry strolls out of the house, the door shutting behind him with a satisfying thump. “Goodie! As my wife knows, dinner is my favorite word.” He rests his chin on her head, sliding his thumbs through the belt loops of her jeans. Ginny’s heart clenches in familiarity even as her face remains placid. They agreed to all of these terms beforehand… to feign public affection. To seem utterly smitten. It’s just funny how they’ve both relied on old habits.
Ginny reckons that makes sense, though. After all, it worked for them once.
She turns towards Harry with a pout. “But Pookie Pie, I thought your favorite word was snuggles! We certainly did enough of that last night.”
Harry’s chuckle rings out with false bravado as he tucks her hair behind her ears. “We did something, all right. Not sure if snuggling is the right word for it. What do you think, Oliver?” Harry whips around to face him. “What’s your favorite word for… marital relations?” His eyebrows waggle suggestively above his glasses; Ginny stomps on his foot to keep herself from laughing.
Oliver, however, does not find them delightful. “I think this is for you. From Mike.” He points to a box that he apparently rested on the ground while Ginny was drowning the roses.
Harry bends over to pick it up. This does nothing to distract her.
“Couldn’t Mike erm…” Ginny shakes her head to clear it. “Sorry. Couldn’t he bring it over himself? He lives just—”
“Out of town on business, I’m afraid.” Oliver’s voice turns cold as he peers at Ginny again. “He won’t be back for weeks. Months, maybe.”
Ginny makes a noise of concern and rests a fist on her hip. “Huh! That’s funny. What out-of-town business could a primary school teacher possibly have?”
Oliver’s eyes narrow, but his grin remains. “Teacher business, I guess.”
“When can we speak to someone about the trampoline?” Harry blurts, slicing the tension. “I’m missing my exercise, Ollie. It’s how I stay fit. You won’t like me when I’m not exercising!”
With that, Oliver’s grin finally fades. “Well, you can ask Mr. Gogolak, but I don’t think anything will come of it. He’s available tonight from 5 o’clock to 6:13, on the dot. He lives just up there, on the corner. Anyway, I’ll be off.” He gives a parting wave and turns to walk up the drive, but Harry isn’t done.
“Not sure how we’ll manage to make that and dinner, though,” he calls. “Don’t we have to be indoors by six?”
But it seems Oliver is absolutely intent on being elsewhere, because he opts to walk backwards and yell from the street. “Of course not!” he shouts. “Six is only the move-in deadline.” Then he barks out a cruel laugh, throwing his hands in the air. “Any idiot knows that dinner starts at 7!” With that, he sends them a final glare before lumbering away, his brown loafers crunching on the pavement.
Harry and Ginny snort in unison; if Oliver hears them, he doesn’t engage.
“See you later!” Ginny confirms, ensuring it’s loud enough for him to hear. Then she drops her voice to a stage-whisper and cups her hand into a regal wave. “Hope Sharon removes that stick from your arse before dinner tonight, you miserable sack of shit. Suck my dick!”
Harry laughs. “As much as I appreciate the support, Muffin Cakes, that’s one insult that just doesn’t work when you say it.”
And Ginny doesn’t know what comes over her next… she really, really doesn’t.
Because in the blink of an eye, she’s pushed Harry against the front door with a petulant pout. The pulsing between her legs returns with humiliating swiftness; it’s a blessing, really, that Harry’s dreadful at flirting and picking up on cues. They’re in public, but this is the furthest thing from acting.
Nonetheless, Harry’s Adam’s apple bobs as her arms drape around his neck. She watches, rapt, as his eyes darken. Apart from that one slip-up last night, he’s excelled at his job… and as she leans into his hard chest, she realizes how she really feels: she's jealous. Dreadfully jealous.
How dare he be better at this? What in hell gave him the right to soak her knickers with a single look? She’s had years of professional training and a lifetime of practice, but it comes naturally to him— this pretending shit.
And for fuck’s sake… he’s a lot better at it.
“But it’s been ages since you’ve been in my knickers, Baby Bear,” she croons, batting her eyelashes. “How would you know?”
She intends it playfully. A gentle way to put him in his place. But to her surprise, something stinging and sober crosses Harry’s face.
The moment’s over… absolutely over.
In a flash, he pushes her away and gestures at the door. After you. She nods, still turned on but now confused. The whole thing reminds her of ancient history, where she waited for him after each quidditch practice and thought, wished, prayed that he’d touch her… all while hoping to God he wouldn’t.
It takes until they’re inside for her to figure out why he’s upset.
He locks the door behind them with a wave of his wand— and when he whips around, his face is twisted into such a brooding scowl that it pins her on the spot. Shit.
“It goes without saying,” Harry mutters, voice dangerously low, “that there are some things a bloke just doesn’t forget.” He lets out a deep breath, his eyelashes fluttering. “Ok?”
Oh.
Ginny’s cheeks flush as it all comes rushing back. She’s honestly forgotten how… attached he was to that ability. How much he prided himself on being able to please her. How he worshipped her body with such respectful, hushed reverence that it still features in her fantasies.
It seems there’s a limit to his acting skills, after all. A line that he just won’t cross. She should be chuffed that she got what she wanted. Instead, her stomach throbs with guilt.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, biting her lip. “I didn’t mean—”
“Forget it.” He waves his hand over his shoulder and trudges upstairs, leaving her in hollow silence.
Right.
_________________________________
Mr. Gogolak crosses his left leg over his right and swirls his brandy tumbler. Between the ruddy patches on his cheeks and the way his words slip over each other, it’s not his first of the evening. Harry’s reminded of Slughorn. In the worst possible way.
“Anyway.” Gogolak waves at the massive tabbed binder to his left. “As the rules clearly stipulate, a trampoline would lead to other things. Unsavory things.” He raises his eyebrows and takes a sip.
Harry’s eyes flit around the room, trying to take it all in. The decor is… nice, he supposes, if you want every guest to be aware — beyond a shadow of a doubt— that You’ve Been Abroad, thanks. Multi-colored felt flower vases dot the floating shelves above Gogolak’s head, each a pop of color in a room that’s otherwise painfully beige. Scrolls hand-painted with renditions of Buddha and Lokta hang on the far wall. And above them… Harry cocks his head, puzzled, and tries to place where he’s seen that particular mask before.
“Of course,” Ginny agrees with a fervent nod. “We understand the need for decorum and cooperation, don’t we, Hen?”
“Where‘s that mask from?” Harry blurts, nudging his chin up.
Ginny rubs her temples in frustration, but if anything, Gogolak seems flattered.
“Oh! That.” His face flushes with pride as he takes another drink. “That’s a wrathful Mahakala mask. From Tibet! I bought it cheap off a street orphan during my last trip. Can’t say he had much need for it, what with being starving and living in the street.” His laugh booms over the sitting room.
Harry tries to focus. He’s there for Ginny. He’s there for Ginny. He’s only backup. But ah, bugger, after the other shit today it’s too much, and—
“Ha!” Harry returns his humorless laugh. “Isn’t poverty hilarious, Jen?”
There’s an anxious pause.
Ginny ends it with a fake giggle of her own. “As you can see, Mr. Gogolak, my husband is growing a bit testy without his exercise!” She nudges Harry in the ribs— hard enough to make her point, but not hard enough to hurt. “So if we could only have the trampoline, then—”
“‘Fraid not,” Gogolak slurs, peering down at his brandy again. “See, there’s a reason Arcadia has been named Best Village for so long: People simply love to live here!”
“Oh?” Ginny returns her teacup to the table. “Everyone loves to live here?” She rests her elbows on her knees, her voice dropping to a discreet whisper. “What about the people who’ve gone missing, then?”
At first, Gogolak is unperturbed. Then his smile deepens, his eyes traveling from Ginny’s face down to her chest. For fuck’s sake. This arsehole can’t be serious! Harry’s gut swirls with something visceral and protective. He wraps his arm around her shoulders as his hand inches for the wand in his back pocket. Ginny catches his hand on the way and interlaces their fingers with an almost imperceptible, “Shh.”
“Well, well, well,” Gogolak drawls, leaning back to full-on leer at her. “You’re a feisty one, aren’t you? Should’ve known. You’re a ginger, after all.”
Wrong answer.
“Not sure what the color of her hair has to do with her question,” Harry says stiffly. It’s the politest thing he can manage. Ginny squeezes his thigh.
Gogolak faces Harry instead, his face a mask of delighted malice. “Your wife is very beautiful, Mr. Petri,” he drawls. “You must forgive an old man for noticing.”
“Pee-tri,” Harry grouses.
Is it possible to accidentally Avada Kedavra someone with your eyes? Surely he’d be forgiven for that, yeah? He counts five deep breaths, his face burning, as he waits for Ginny to take the lead.
He’s still a bit taken aback at how quickly things changed. He thought he was irritated with her earlier, but now he realizes that frustrated is a better word. They haven’t been together in ages, but she has to know what she still does to him. It wasn’t like she’d grown less beautiful. And while he’s not proud of how things ended, he’s spent the last five years taking pride in knowing her. In being her first, as primitive and knuckle-dragging as that sounds. Because no matter how bad things were, he was always able to make her…
Yeah.
He bites the inside of his cheek. Had he deluded himself into thinking it was as good for her as it was for him?
Ginny clears her throat again. “But what of the people?” she prompts. “The missing people? Like Eric Highland, who lived in our house until last August, when—”
“Oh, him!” Gogolak booms out another uncomfortable laugh and drains the rest of his tumbler. “Well, don’t tell anyone I told you this, but—” He makes a slitting motion across his throat and pours himself another drink. “Committed suicide. Quite a mess.”
Then Gogolak stills, his eyes widening; for the first time this evening, he looks vaguely embarrassed. “Oh, but not in your home, of course!” He waves his hand dismissively. “We’d never, you know, let someone move in after that. Would affect property values, you see.”
Harry’s heart pounds in his ears as Ginny clenches his hand, for once. He wonders if he’s ever given less of a shit about property values.
Another span of uncomfortable silence stretches between them… but this one grows more furious and heated with every second. The version of her he knew before would have Bat Bogeyed this wanker before she took a breath. But everything’s different now.
“That’s… not the preferred term,” Ginny finally manages, her voice strained. Harry grips her hand more tightly; that odd rush of pride returns. He knew she’d say something. There’s not a single version of her that would let that go.
Gogolak’s brow furrows. “What do you—”
“—Took his life,” Ginny interjects, her voice ringing with the righteousness Harry only dimly recognizes from the woman he knew before. “Or died by suicide. Or had terminal depression.”
He holds her hand even tighter as she draws a deep breath, shifting in her seat. Get him, Gin. Get the bastard. Whatever you need, I’m there.
“Committed is a word that… implies a crime,” Ginny finishes. But her words sound careful now. “It just adds to the stigma that people with mental illness are problematic. Words mean things. So.”
Gogolak presses his lips into a thin line. “Forget I brought it up.”
“I will,” Ginny says coolly.
Ginny hadn’t thought much could be worse than the meeting with Mr. Gogolak. Unfortunately, dinner with Sharon and Oliver is proving her wrong.
“This is free-range chicken, of course,” Oliver drawls, gesturing towards their plates. “Got them at the organic market. Anything for health!”
They’d already been treated to iceberg lettuce salads and glasses of generic Merlot. Perhaps she should have anticipated chicken breast and rice as the thrilling main course.
Harry cuts his chicken breast with a sigh. “That’s a pity, Oliver. We all know that caged chickens are tastier!”
Ginny muffles a snort with a cough and reaches for her glass of wine.
Sharon pauses, fork mid-way to her mouth, to peer at Harry, bleary-eyed and confused. Oh, for fuck’s sake; what was it about suburbia that removed one’s ability to recognize a joke?
Oliver changes the subject before Ginny gets the chance. “Where did you two meet, anyway?” he grunts. “And how long have you been married?”
Ginny smiles, preparing the canned response they practiced for months. They met in uni through mutual friends. They both work in computers, and last year, they finally realized it was time to leave the big city.
Harry shatters all of that with three words.
“Magic camp, actually!” he announces, throwing an arm around Ginny’s shoulders.
Fuck. She analyzes her chicken with newfound intensity and tries to imagine something sad.
“Huh,” Oliver says flatly. “Wouldn’t have taken either of you for magicians.”
Sharon has the grace to act embarrassed. “Now now, love,” she chides, reaching for the breadbasket, “I’m sure people have loads of hobbies that aren’t always obvious to everyone!”
“Exactly!” Harry grins and reaches for a piece of baguette. “Besides, it’s mostly Jenny who’s mad for it. Card tricks, pulling bunnies from hats, sawing women in half. Even—” he pauses for a dramatic gasp— “magic wands! You name it, she loves it.”
“Well!” Sharon raises her eyebrows; it’s clear she’s feigning being impressed. “If I’m ever in need of disappearing something, I’ll know who to call!”
Aha! The perfect opening!
“Speaking of disappearing,” Ginny starts, as casually as possible, “we checked with Saint Julian’s Primary. It’s not true Mike left on business.”
Sharon’s smile freezes and melts with such speed that Ginny feels a pang of sympathy. Poor Sharon. She’s really just doing her best to be a pleasant hostess. It’s Oliver who has the clear ulterior motive.
The man in question takes another sip of wine, unfazed. “And why did you have interest in contacting a primary school in the first place? Bit weird for a grown adult, that.”
Harry releases another fake chuckle. “Oh, Oliver, you’re such a prankster!” He bites off some bread. “Surely you’re not turning the tables on my wife and accusing her of being the weird one. After all, all she did was ask about the whereabouts of a lovely member of our community. Right?”
He gives Oliver such an exaggerated wink that even Ginny almost believes him. “And besides…” Harry’s hand wraps around her shoulder again. “Do you reckon we should tell them?” he murmurs, voice laden with his expectation.
Ginny rolls her eyes, fully intent on a thin-lipped, silent warning about making shit up… but Harry’s earnest expression stops her. His green eyes blink behind his glasses, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned. Before she knows what’s happening, one of his warm hands cups her chin while the other comes to rest on her stomach.
Oh. She sucks in a breath, her heart pounding— because for a moment, she forgets where she is. She forgets they’re faking. She forgets they split up and chose separate paths, that they weren’t looking through a portal of what could have been, should have been, before their lives turned to shit.
“Not yet, of course,” Harry murmurs, appearing for all the world like he’s drinking her in as his fingers tap at her stomach. “But soon. We hope.”
And with that, he abruptly clears his throat and turns back to the Skinners. “Anyway, that’s why we called Saint Julian’s,” Harry adds, nonchalantly as you please. “Always good to be prepared, eh?”
“Oh, how exciting!” Sharon cries, clasping her hands together. “And yes, I agree— preparedness is key.”
“Knew you’d be happy for us,” Harry says with another wink. “Quite an exciting time, I’m sure you understand.”
It’s then that Ginny finds her voice. “So. Erm,” she starts, trying to focus. “They hadn’t heard from him. Mike. The school, I mean.” She takes another sip of wine to get her bearings back. “Any idea where he could’ve gone? You understand why we’re a bit worried, especially if we’re planning to—”
“No,” Oliver snaps, nostrils flaring. Sharon’s fork clatters to her plate; if swearing were allowed in this house, Ginny’s confident she would’ve let one slip. “I don’t understand, and you’ll find that snooping isn’t a past-time I appreciate,” Oliver finishes, drawing himself up taller to puff out his chest.
Ginny lets out an incredulous chuckle. “But Oliver… this is a matter of safety. We’re worried about our neighbor.”
“Yeah, Ollie-O!” Harry clucks his tongue, relaxing further into his chair. “Perhaps Arcadia isn’t as perfect as we were led to believe.”
Oliver just fixes them both with a stern glare. “Nope,” he says flatly. The p pops. “You’re wrong. Per usual.”
For six seconds, the four of them sit in painful, frigid silence. Ginny feels Harry’s hand reach behind him… inching closer to his wand...
“Jenny!” Sharon finally chirps, her voice a falsetto. Oh, thank fuck. “I need to walk the dog. Would you join me?”
___________________________
Captain Bone’s toenails tick on the pavement as Sharon holds his lead. Ginny peers at him with unexpected affection as he prances beneath the street lights. Dogs are too high-maintenance for her to even consider, but something about this one is undeniably appealing. As if he hears her, Captain Bone turns to Ginny with a slobbery grin.
Sharon laughs. “He likes you. He’s a sucker for a pretty girl.”
Ginny scratches beneath the thick leather collar with Captain Bone emblazoned on a bronze plate. He throws his head back for more access. Poor Captain Bone. The whole collar looked horribly uncomfortable. “I like him too,” Ginny agrees as he flounces away. “I’m afraid work keeps me too busy for a dog, though.”
Sharon waves this away. “Nah. I’ve seen the way Henry stares at you.” She flashes a knowing smile as they continue strolling, side-by-side. “I reckon if you really wanted a dog, he’d oblige.”
Captain Bone halts, mid-step, and picks up his leg. Sharon removes a waste bag from her pocket.
“You’re probably right,” Ginny mutters. She’s not sure why that feels like admitting to a scandal.
Sharon sighs. “The way he looks at you. The way he touches you. Like he’s holding the whole world in his hands.” Her voice grows wistful, distant; Ginny has a feeling she’s not actually talking about Harry at all.
“Well, we are newlyweds.” Ginny mashes her kitten heel — a clothing acquisition specific to this assignment — into the pavement. “I’m erm. Sure that’ll change.”
But Sharon just stares at Captain Bone as he does his business. “Maybe,” she says softly. “But I don’t reckon Oliver ever looked at me quite like that.”
Ginny blinks at Sharon beneath the streetlight, the fluorescent throwing her features into sharp relief. Wrinkles fold the corners of her eyes. Bits of gray sprout at her scalp beneath the warm chestnut color. Her smile may have been natural once, but now it’s forced. Uneasy. Ginny grimaces. This poor woman… imagine thinking you couldn’t do better than a wanker like Oliver.
“Shit!” Sharon swears, ripping Ginny from her reverie— and soon, she sees why. Captain Bone charges down the street, his lead scraping the ground like a limp noodle. “I wasn’t holding him tightly enough,” she whispers, horrified. “I’ll have to—”
“No,” Ginny says, taking off her heels and thrusting them into Sharon’s arms. “Let me!” And with that, she’s off, bare feet slapping the pavement.
“Don’t blame you for trying to get away,” Ginny mutters, rounding a corner. “The place is bloody creepy. But next time, Captain Bone, could you do this in broad daylight? Nighttime ‘round here is—”
Wait.
Ginny stops, dead in her tracks. A weird sensation creeps over her, crawling against her skin. All the street noise vanishes. Crickets stop chirping; wind stops whistling. She looks around, panic rising in her throat, but nothing looks amiss. She can’t shake it, though… their eerie, numb ringing that fills her head, and—
Like a thunderclap, it all comes back. The faint wind returns. Bugs resume their buzzing. The electric lamppost makes a dull crackling just above her.
Weird. Very fucking weird.
Luckily, Ginny specializes in weird; in the aftermath of whatever the hell that was, she’s more confused than frightened. She takes a few more shaky steps, making every observation she can (temperature, cloud pattern, weather conditions, insect movement)... and that’s when she spies something glinting to her left. Something golden and stuffed in a storm drain.
No. Ginny’s heart pounds as she rushes over, sinking to her knees. It can’t be…
But the closer she gets, the clearer it is: Mike’s chain necklace… the medallion of Saint Julian. Right beside Captain Bone’s pretentious leather collar. For the first time, fear floods her stomach. She surreptitiously reaches for the wand tucked into her waistband. “Accio necklace.” It soars through the gate and into her hand just as Sharon’s footsteps round the corner.
Ginny shoves the necklace into her bra— and it’s only then she realizes that there must’ve been something strange and slimy hanging from it, because whatever the fuck that was is now pressed to her right nipple.
Blech. It takes every bit of her willpower not to shudder and gag. She manages to school her features into innocent concern as Sharon finally catches up.
“Well,” pants Sharon, hands on her thighs, “did you find him?”
“No,” Ginny laments, genuinely upset. She gestures towards the storm drain. “But for some reason, his collar’s down there.”
Even beneath the streetlamps, Sharon’s face turns white.
______________________________
Harry’s back muscles contract in agony as he hunches over the laptop. This whole assignment is a painful reminder that he’s not as young as he used to be. How many hours did he spend snoozing on the lawn at Hogwarts without so much as an ache? But a single bloody night on these shit couches, and he’s popping Paracetamol like sweets. He shifts in place; must be time for another dose.
“Hear anything?” Ginny emerges from the walk-in closet in a towel turban and fluffy white dressing gown, two evidence bags in her hands.
Harry glares at the laptop screen and tries very hard not to remember that one of those bags contains a lacy black bra— one he definitely hasn’t seen before. For the past hour, he’s been in an envious haze of wondering if she bought it for the mission or bought it to wear for someone else.
Either way, it consoles him that deep down, she’s still Ginny; she took this necklace and shoved it into her bra without letting on that something vile and gross was pressed to her ti—
He shakes his head to clear it, but that hurts his neck. For once, though, he embraces the pain. Anything to shift his focus.
“From the props department? No.” Harry sighs and retrieves the medicine bottle from his luggage. “I swear, I have no idea who they got to make the moving boxes and pick the couches, but I’m fairly sure Victoire could do better.”
Ginny scoffs at this. “Well, of course Vic could do better. She’s the most perfect, adorable human alive,” she says fondly, tossing the evidence bags in the transporter box.
It’s plain cardboard, easily disguised as a standard moving box. But with three taps of her wand, the bags evaporate, presumably materializing in a Ministry lab somewhere. Not that Harry cares about the specifics. This is a key example of the sort of detail that’s less and less intriguing the longer he holds this job.
“But I was actually asking if you’d heard anything about Mike and — hey, what are you doing?”
“Paracetamol,” Harry mutters, popping open the bottle. “I’m getting old, Ginny,” he warns, rising to his feet with an exaggerated grimace. “Dunno why you thought it would be a good idea to go on a mission with an old man.”
She rolls her eyes and walks into the bathroom. “You don’t need to be so bloody noble. Please join me on the bed. We could make it longer, even, if you—”
He clears his throat to cut her off. That would be a terrible idea on all counts. Silence on the other side of the door tells him that Ginny either realizes this or chooses not to press the issue. Good...
“Erm. There’s no hits on Mike,” Harry calls into the bathroom. “I reckon he’s dead, Ginny. Credit cards and car haven’t been touched.”
The tap turned on behind the door. “Can’t say I’m shocked,” Ginny admits, voice muffled, “but— holy hell, who taught you how to squeeze toothpaste?”
Harry smirks and returns to the computer. “Myself, probably.”
Ginny lets out another irritated groan. “And the toilet seat’s up!” She strides out of the bathroom. “Strike two!”
Harry hears the distinctive sound of clothing hitting the floor beside her bed but wills himself not to turn around, not to turn around, not to—
“Well.” Ginny sucks her teeth as the bedding rustles. “I suppose I should take all of that as a good sign, really. You clearly don’t have girls in and out of your flat.”
Oh?
Harry’s heart thunders in his ears, his stomach flipping in hope. She takes that as a good sign? Really? He glimpses over his shoulder before remembering he’s not supposed to look.
And just as quickly, he regrets it.
Because Ginny’s sprawled back against the bed, her face so white that she nearly blends into the linens, but his eyes aren’t too focused on her face. They’re drawn down, down, down… down to her creamy chest, dotted with chocolate freckles. Down to her breasts, which he definitely still knows every inch of, even as they rest beneath a black lace vest he hasn’t seen before. Down to the shorts that hug her hips and graze the tips of her thighs… the same thighs he spread open and dipped his head between as she tugged on his hair, her cries breathy and panting in the garden’s evening mist.
Ah, fuck. That one does it. Harry adjusts his basketball shorts as discreetly as possible, but another glimpse at her face tells him he didn’t need to worry.
“I can’t believe I said that,” she whispers, eyes filled with horror.
Harry clears his throat. He honestly forgot she said anything. Now he just feels guilty for eyeing her up while she spiraled.
“I’m so… fuck. This is so unprofessional.” She sinks her head into her hands. “Please, Harry, forget that I said anything. I’m so sorry. That was—”
“It’s forgotten,” he rumbles, his voice deeper than he realized. “Legitimately. I’ve already forgotten it.”
She shoots him a weak smile through the slits of her hands. “I know you haven’t. But thanks for saying it.”
Harry offers his best expression of bafflement as he picks up a pillow from the end of her bed. “Haven’t a clue what you mean, Unspeakable GW. See you at 0-700 hours.” He stops halfway out the door and gives her a military salute. “Unless, of course, you decide to start a bit later,” he adds seriously, “in which case I’ll see you… erm. 0-whenever-the-hell-you-wake-up-hours.”
Ginny giggles, settling against the pillows again.
“Thanks,” she says after a moment, peering at her cuticles. “For… everything. And especially for forgetting—” She makes a vague hand gesture as her cheeks flush the most fascinating shade of pink.
Harry stills, one hand on the doorknob.
He wants to make her feel better… but really, it’s more than that. He wants to tell her that his heart still jumps into his throat when he hears about an Unspeakable being injured on the job. He wants to admit that he avoids Sundays at the Burrow not because he stopped caring, but because he cares too much. He wants to confess, in a rush of passion, that she wasn’t just his first: she’s his only. That he reckons she’ll always be his only. That exchanging work for Them was the stupidest thing he ever agreed to, regardless of the circumstances.
Oh, and of course, that he still fucking loves her. Harry rubs his forehead, frustration gnawing at his stomach. Why in hell did he admit that to himself? You never admit that to yourself. What an idiot.
Still, they have a mission… a moronic, suburban mission filled with every literal and metaphorical breed of Karen imaginable. But as worthless as Harry considers this whole assignment, her neck is on the line if they come up empty-handed. And she values her assignment— and her neck, he reckons— quite a bit.
So he makes the choice to both reassure her. And to be foolishly honest.
“Erm… for what it’s worth?” Harry croaks, staring down the dark corridor to avoid meeting her eyes. “You’re the only girl I’ve ever wanted in my bedroom, anyway.”
Before she can reply, he closes the door and walks away. His cheeks burn as he pads downstairs, but Harry knows it’s best to leave it, really. To save them both the awkwardness.
Even if it means sleeping on this shit couch forever.
44 notes · View notes
Text
COSMIC - S3:E4; Chapter Four, The Sauna Test - [Pt. 2]
A Will Byers x Reader Series
𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘌𝘭, 𝘔𝘢𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘠/𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯, 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘺𝘯𝘹.
Tumblr media
📝: lmaooooooo this just gets gayer and gayer 💀💀
||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||
"Do you copy? This is a code red."
The rising sun makes its way through the blinds in Max's bedroom, its gentle yellow rays split into several thin beams and casting out over the three sleeping bodies splayed over one another on the floor. El's body still curled into Y/n's arm, her hair a mess. Y/n was splayed out on her stomach, crooked, as her head had edged its way onto Max's pillow and her legs fell over El's. All the while, a sleeping Max had resorted to using the back of Y/n's shoulder as a pillow.
And they were snug as can be, tucked away in sleep, drool threatening to drip from their parted mouths as Lucas's desperate voice rings out from Max's super com.
"I repeat, this is a code red."
The device seems to grow louder with every word, slowly but surely pulling the girls from sleep.
"Max. Do you copy?" Max lifts her head from Y/n's shoulder, scooching back onto her pillow, and begins palming the ground under her bed. "This is a code red."
Her hand finally finds the comms and she senses El lazily rise up onto her elbow. She presses the button and seethes into the microphone.
"Shut. Up."
She slams the antenna down and shuts off the device, throwing it back under the bed. Y/n hums into the pillow, eyes still closed.
"Mm... what's red?" She asks through clenched teeth, still much too tired to even move her jaw.
"Nothing," Max yawns.
She turns over in bed, nestling back into the rainbow sheets and finding herself nearly nose to nose with Y/n as El rubs the sleep from her eyes, finally joined them. El just settles her head back into her pillow, her tangled hair still falling over her face and blocking out the sun. She let out a soft yawn, letting sleep return to her as she snuggled back into Y/n's arm happy and warm.
⊹ ⊹ ⊹
Lucas stares at his super com in light shock as he looked between his friends perched on either side of him on the basement couch.
"She turned it off."
Simultaneously, Will, Lucas, and Mike's eyes all jump to the phone hanging on the wall.
⊹ ⊹ ⊹
The blaring ring of Max's telephone is the next thing to wake them, and Y/n groans. Max shoots up in anger, her long red hair falling over her glaring face.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." She seethes, pulling herself up to her feet.
"Tell him we're not home," Y/n mumbles, still fighting a losing battle with sleep and a foggy mind.
Max stomps across the floor, strategically maneuvering around her friends, and rips the phone off its receiver.
"I'm sleeping. Go away,"
"Max, this is Will—" her hand caught mid-air, the boy's words barely registering to her in time. Reluctantly, she brings the phone back up to her ear. "I need you to stay on the line, and please just listen."
When Will doesn't hear the click of the dial tone, he breathes a sigh of relief. His eyes dart over his shoulder at his waiting friends trying to feed him the words but he ignores them, turning away.
Max frowns into the phone at what he says next, his voice going pleading.
"Is Y/n there?" There's a pause, and Max frowns down at the phone when she thinks she hears light shushing. "And El? Are you guys all together?"
Okay, now she was bugging out a little.
"Why?" She asks, an edge gradually returning to her voice out of concern.
She glances over her shoulder at her two best friends; Y/n had finally opened her eyes and was trying to make sense of her surroundings as she squinted through the sunlight and El was flowing up at her, worried.
"Just, stay together, okay? Something bad happened, is happening, whatever. We don't really know, but we can't take any chances."
"Okay, what are you talking about? What's going on?" She presses.
"Just meet us at Mike's house, and I'll explain. We all will. Just get over here, quickly."
"What?"
"Hurry!"
And then the line went dead.
Max held the phone in her hand, her stare drifting off as Will's words echoed in her mind.
"What'd he say?" El asked.
"Yeah," Y/n yawned, finally pulling herself into a sitting position, her face puffy from sleep. "is everything okay?"
⊹ ⊹ ⊹
"Try Dustin again," Mike says, turning to Lucas.
"He's not answering," Lucas says.
"So, try him again,"
Lucas bites back a sigh and returns to his comms with a sigh. Will picks the phone back up, shooting Mike a knowing look.
"I'll try their house,"
Lucas shoots him a thankful look before returning to his mindless search.
"Dustin, do you copy? I repeat... this. is. a. code red."
⊹ ⊹ ⊹
Dustin watches from the very same ledge as Lynx Transportation hauls a cart full of shipments from Kauffman Shoes and Imperial Panda. But his mind was still spinning, trying to formulate possible answers as to just what he was dealing with as he scouts for their routine.
His eyes had caught on the third armed officer who approached the keypad holding a small plastic card, and Dustin made a mental note.
"That keycard opens the door, but unfortunately the Russian with this keycard has a massive gun,"
Sure enough, the metal doors swung open and the cart is pushed inside. Apart from his cautious glare on the armed guard standing watch, his eyes try to catch whatever lays beyond the threshold.
It looked to Dustin to be a storage room no bigger than his living room, stacked with similar boxes.
"Whatever's in this room, whatever's in those boxes, they really don't want anybody finding it," Dustin concludes as he paces the back room of Scoops Ahoy.
Robin and Steve sit opposite one another in thought.
"But there's gotta be a way in," Robin mutters.
"Well, you know..." Steve stops twirling his hat, quickly reshaping the top with a quick puff of air before dropping it on the table and leaning in with a serious tone. "I could just take him out,"
"Take. Who. Out?" Robin blinked.
"The Russian guard," he answers obviously.
Robin leans back in her seat, nodding sarcastically at him through wide eyes and Steve scoffs.
"What? I sneak up behind him, I knock him out, and I take his keycard. It's easy,"
"Did you not... hear the part about the massive gun?" Dustin asks with crossed arms.
"Yes," Steve snarks, surprised. "Dustin, I did. And that's why I would be... sneaking."
"Ahh," Dustin nods. "Well, please, tell me this, and be honest, have you ever actually..." Dustin gives an all too casual shrug, knowing exactly what button he was pushing. "won a fight?"
"OH-kay, that was one time—"
"—Twice. Jonathan. Year prior?"
"Uh, listen. That doesn't count,"
"Why wouldn't it? Because it looks like he beat the shit out of you."
Robin finds herself laughing, lazily rolling her eyes across the shop as the two continue to bicker.
"It was—"
Her grin slowly falls when her eyes catch something in the corner.
"—You got a fat lip, crooked nose, swollen eye, a lot of blood,"
"...things all added up, yeah they sound bad but..."
As the thought grew into an idea, the grin returned to Robin. "That just might work,"
She was out of the backroom, hand diving into the tip jar faster than they could blink. They scrambled to the window in a baffled frenzy.
"Robin,"
She didn't answer, and when she made a break for the exit, Steve and Dustin tumbled out from the back room.
"Hey, Robin! Hey, what— what are you doing?"
"I need cash," she explains, backing out of the store.
"Well, half of that's mine," he pouts. "Where're you going?"
"To find a way into that room, a safe way. And, in the meantime, sling ice cream, behave, and don't get beat up," she says with an excited smirk. "I'll be back in a jiff!"
With a quick two-finger salute, she had disappeared into the crowd leaving her privately self-proclaimed Dingus Duo at home base.
Steve sighs, looking to Dustin only to find him licking the scooper.
"Oh, dude," he scolds, yanking it out of his hands and returning it to his sling with a twirl. "Come on, man, not my scooper,"
⊹ ⊹ ⊹
The trip to Mike's house had indeed been a quick one. When Max had relayed the message, a grave face became all of them. El and Y/n looked at each other and knew; their fears were being realized. And Max knew there was no more denying it, no matter how much she wanted to. No matter how much she needed to.
"I didn't think it was anything at first," Will says.
He was before his friends - most of them anyway - all of them seated around the coffee table in Mike's basement. He hadn't realized how much he had missed Y/n until he had seen her, nor her him. And neither had left each other's side since they gathered. She was sat beside him on a low footstool, El to her right on the upholstered chair, and him on her left; perched on the arm of the couch to the far right of Mike and Lucas.
Concern was etched on her features, as it was on all of them as they listened intently.
"I mean, I think I just didn't want to believe it." He sighs, locking eyes with Y/n knowingly. "The day I first felt it was at Day of the Dead,"
《•••》
And not unlike only months short of a year prior, when he felt himself ensnared in the terror and icy grip of the monster that lurked in shadows only he could see, Will Byers could feel his skin tightening painfully as goosebumps gripped his neck. It was a chill he hoped he'd never feel again, a chill that had nearly destroyed him and his family and friends. And Y/n. The passionate, fiery, hatred for the girl was the only thing about this icy monster that burned brighter than the horrifying memories it left with him.
"Will?"
Startled, his head is ripped to her direction, arm already slipping away from his neck as she stares at him in worry. She recognized the look in his eyes all too well, and immediately she knew something was amiss.
"Will, what is it?"
《•••》
"The power went out that night, too," Mike says in realization, and Will nods.
"And then I felt it again at the field near the Nelson farm the next day."
《•••》
Will stopped suddenly when the world plunged away from underneath his feet and the dark feeling returned. All the while, Y/n's voice faded into the distance as he gripped his goosebump-covered neck, looking fearfully out onto the horizon.
"Think they'll carry me if I fake a leg injury?" She chuckles, her voice far away and fleeting from him.
Despite the steady burst of hot air carried through the breeze and the sun beating down on his skin, he felt a total absence of warmth. And like almost like a phantom limb, all he can feel is panic and something dark, and desperate... Something angry.
"Will?"
《•••》
"Then again, yesterday outside Castle Byers,"
《•••》
As Will mingled with the dirt beneath him, the storm pounding against his back soaking him to the bone, he feels it again.
The same feeling he had felt the night before Dustin's return, the day of, and now...
Well, there was no denying it. No more running. This was real, and it wasn't something so easily shaken.
A great change was upon him and his friends, a change none of them were prepared for.
Shakily, he pulls himself to his feet, not entirely sure if the voice calling his name was real.
"Will?"
With a faraway look in his eyes, Will turns to his awaiting friends as his stomach plummets beneath the earth.
《•••》
"What does it feel like?" Max asks from her spot across the coffee table.
"It's almost like..." everyone watches patiently as Will draws on a thoughtful face, for once it seems, struggling for the right words. "You know when you drop on a rollercoaster?"
Y/n, Max, and Mike all nod.
"Mm-hmm,"
"Yeah,"
"Sure,"
"No," El says, still listening intently.
"It's like... everything inside your body is just sinking all at once, but this is worse," Will says, a faraway look in his eyes that Y/n knows all too well. "Your body... it goes cold. And you can't... breath."
Will's eyes jump down his wringing hands when he feels Y/n entwining her left with his right, interlacing their fingers and giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. He feels his shoulders slack at her warm touch and he sends her a thankful look before continuing, feeling just a little braver.
"I've left it before," he says through a wavering voice. "whenever he was close."
《•••》
He fearfully crept towards the front door. He came to a stop when he heard the dreadful sound of wood creaking and he watched in horror as the front door slowly swung open to reveal a reddish-purple sky, and the violent winds were carrying leaves and other debris with it. Something strange was growing around the outside of the house and he felt the familiar sensation returning.
He felt his blood run cold and his skin shriveled up, goosebumps breaking out all over. His breathing picked up and he could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he watched frozen in terror.
《•••》
"Whenever who was close?" Mas asked, fearing the answer she already knew.
Will tried to remind himself he was in the presence of his love and his friends but fear still gripped his lungs and threatened to steal his voice. Finally, with a trembling breath, he spoke the truth none of them wanted to hear, changing the rest of their summer - and possibly the rest of their lives - forever.
"The Mind Flayer."
《•••》
"Go away!"
It got closer. It was swooping in like a vulture but Will didn't give in.
"Go away! Go away!" Tears were streaming down his face, and the monster got closer.
《•••》
Y/n's eyelids fall closed at the mention of the monster that brought so much harm and grief to her and the lives of her loved ones as the truth hits her completely. Just the sight of his convulsing body and his weeping mother that day out on the field when the Mind Flayer got him was traumatic enough. Her eyes flicker back open, back onto the equally horrified looks of her friends and her grip on her boyfriend's hand tightens.
"I closed the gate," El reasons.
"I know, but," for a moment, WI loses his voice again and he clings to Y/n's touch like a lifeline bringing him back. He fears the words he is about to speak, not only for his sake but for everyones. For Y/n's. But the fear was too great to keep quiet. If it was even a real possibility, it had to be stopped. As soon as possible. "What if he never left?"
Shakily, he looks around the room with horror hidden within his hazel irises until they land on Y/n, full of grief. His voice was soaked with apology, unable to contain his worry.
"What if we locked him out here with us?"
Y/n's head turns to meet El's eyes, the two share an equally concerned and knowing gaze from beside one another. Her stomach was twisting into knots, the horrible, sickly feeling of dread that had been building for the past two nights was finally realized.
||𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||
"This is him," I say, throwing a spare piece of paper on the D&D table before us all. The six of us all stood together, finally surrounding the D&D table for all the wrong reasons but there's no time to think about that now. I grab the charcoal in hand and began frantically scribbling an all too familiar shape in charcoal. "All of him,"
"But that day on the field," I explain. "part of him attached itself to me,"
I fight the intrusive memory trying to overwhelm me, bringing back the phantom chill that has always lingered since that day.
《•••》
He stood frozen, now trapped in the swirling fog. Several black tendrils spawned from the mass and invaded Will and he could feel the evil presence as it possessed his body and settled in his very soul.
《•••》
I yank my hand across the page, pulling up my dirtied palm to show my friends before nodding to my left.
"Y/n got him out of me,"
《•••》
"I think it's an earthquake!" Mike cries.
A light breeze picks up in the tunnel from where they're headed, carrying with it a warm toasty wave of heat that answered their question.
"No, not an earthquake!" Dustin's eyes went wide from behind his goggles as he looked to the others excitedly. "It's Y/n!"
•••
The Henderson child had managed to pull herself from unconsciousness, and she now stood across the bed. Her arms were stretched out before her and a blazing fire resided in her eyes, a grunt pulled from deep within her throat. Three bloody lines where his nails had caught her ran diagonally down her vein-covered face. Each vein protruded from her skin as blood poured from her nose and ears.
Like a broken dam, all that raw power trapped inside her burst free. Y/n was a supernova, a sight to behold as everything inside her exploded all around her.
•••
Will's mouth opens in another scream and a billowing cloud of inky black smoke escapes. It twists and unravels out from between his lips like a pitch-black tornado.
《•••》
"and El closes the gate,"
I flip the page back over and my eyes trail across my friends' faces thoughtfully, the last of the pieces falling into place as I explain.
"The part that was still in me, what if it's still in our world?"
《•••》
It grows larger and larger, circling over the boy and looms over the entire room as it had the last few days. Will's body goes limp, falling back onto the mattress as the dark mass zips across the room and through the front door breaking it open.
Nancy quickly recovers her footing and chases it out of the door to assure it's leaving for good. Sure enough, when she reaches the porch she spots the black dust circle the trees before disappearing into the sky.
《•••》
I plant my charcoal-dusted hand on the paper, leaving behind a faint trace of black.
"In Hawkins," I conclude.
"I don't understand," Max began. "The Demodogs died when El closed the gate. If the brain dies, the body dies,"
Y/n shook her head gravely from beside me, standing up a little straighter after leaning against the table.
"But the brain didn't die," she sighed heavily in realization. "Not all of it. So the part that was in control, lost. And so did the army, but, enough must have survived... And now after all this time..." She trailed off.
Mike nodded from beside me.
"Exactly," he said. "We can't take any chances. We need to assume the worst... The Mind Flayer is back."
I feel Y/n shift uncomfortably from beside me, her eyes drilling holes into the paper as she chews on her lip and I feel a tug in my chest. But the others were still looking towards me, waiting, and so was she so I continued.
"And if he is," I begin, hesitant to tear my eyes away from her. "He'll want to attach himself to someone again. A new me,"
Once again my eyes meet with all my friends as the very air around grows thicker, and Lucas finally concludes what we all fear.
"A new host,"
I nod and the room falls quiet again at the challenge laid before us.
It was difficult enough facing an enemy as powerful and ruthless as the Mind Flayer, but I think it helped our chances considerably he attached himself to me; someone who already had some insight on his territory, the Upside Down. Not only that, but I was indescribably lucky enough to have the people I have in my life who fought for me. The chief, Bob, my friends. Jonathan and my mom, and of course Y/n.
But his next victim could be anybody, and that's what makes him even more dangerous.
Finally, Y/n broke the silence - the second time she had spoke since the news had been broken. If I thought she was terrified before, I was dead wrong. I saw pure dread growing in her eyes as they trailed from El's and up to mine, widened and shining. It was with a plunging stomach I knew she had our first clue.
"Oh, no,"
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Shop Palestine: Support artisans and craftworkers in Palestine
Hadeel: A UK alternative to the resource above!
Trans Housing Coalition Fund
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Tag List:
@dickkwad @iblesstherainsdown-in-africa @miscellaneoustoasts @happyandlonely-blog   @peeperparkour @ba-responds ​ @bibliophilesquared @blogforhoes @witch-of-all-things-soft @shawkneecaps @whothefuckstolemykeds @daughter-of-the-stars11 ​ @stranger-things4 @kpopanimegirl ​ @nightbu-g @lozzybowe @gizmofishersupremacy @spiderbitch69420
❥ Let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from the taglist! ❥
44 notes · View notes
babytortie · 3 years
Text
baby birds
baby birds. ❘ stanley uris x reader.
summary: in which stanley finally breaks and distances himself from the loser’s group. the reader finds him alone and helps him cope to feel better.
warning: lots of fluff. <3
contains: slight mentioning of insecurities.
* all characters ( including reader ) of the loser's club are 15 years old in this one-shot.
~ 2.4k words.
it's been a couple of days since stanley showed up at the loser's clubhouse and the group was getting anxious. the curly haired teen always showed up after school when the group wanted to hang out. recently, he's made excuses for the past three times they've all hung out though.
"where's stan the man at?" mike broke the silence, uncrossing his legs and getting up from the couch to sit by bill instead. previously, he had been sitting with y/n and beverly. somehow but not before banging it around a few times and ben having to fix the walls, they managed to get the couch inside one weekend.
it was a hand-me down from the denbrough's garage. only deemed safe and clean after eddie tore it apart. the cushions and pillows were shampooed, as well as, a finishing touch of spray downs with two cans of lysol.
"maybe ed's mom is cheating on me and he's with her right now?" richie snickered, glancing up at the others from the hammock to see all of them unamused and letting out groans.
in his hand was the newest comic and for the past couple of minutes he'd been browsing through it. although, the tozier teen was not completely paying attention since he was mesmerized with eddie's face. the sunlight peeked through the wooden cracks and all of the asthmatic boy's freckles dusted perfectly along his skin.
the shorter boy was talking with bill who sat a few feet away from them and overheard the lanky boy's comment through mid-conversation. in return, he leaned over from the other side of the hammock and smacked richie's arm. "don't call me eds! how many times do i have to tell you that? also, i already have a nick name and it's eddie."
he swatted eddie's arm away and of course dramatically rubbed his arm a few times. with another occasional adjustment made to his coke-bottle glasses, richie pouted and put his arms up in exaggeration. "oh right sorry about that eddie spaghetti. but i don't know then. y/n?" he asked, automatically assuming you had answers about the curly haired teenager’s whereabouts.
beverly was in the middle of braiding y/n's hair and rolled her eyes. she let go of your strands and quickly smoothed them out. this was making you able to turn face-forward instead of the current side-ways position on the couch that you now only shared with her.
before reacting to the richie's remark, you gave beverly a sympathetic smile. an awfully long minute went by before you finally acknowledged tozier. he was still cackling though and everyone, including you, could tell it was full of nervousness.
"seriously, richie? i've talked to stanley just as much as the rest of you the last couple of days." you stated with a glare then shrugged before leaning back against the couch cushions.
"y-yeah, just bec-cause y/n and stan a-are love b-birds doesn't m-mean they keep tab-bs on each other all t-the time. ri-ight guys?" bill smirked.
beverly immediately put a hand over her mouth to contain the giggles threatening to spill out. she risked her luck and turned to gaze in your direction but you were already taking note of this with an eyebrow raised.
"are you alright there, beverly?" ben asked out of concern. because of her skin complexion, her face was easily able to turn bright red. he hasn't been paying much attention to the conversation with being zoned out into another good story. hanscom's face had been happily stuffed into an interesting book from the library.
"i'm sorry! sorry, it's just stanley and birds. good one bill!" she stumbled over her words from laughter. after a moment of hearing beverly and richie snickering together, like they were high, the others couldn't help but start hollering and whistling too.
"yep, laugh it up. glad to be of service for the jokes of today." shouting playfully which only caused a channeling of an inner-richie. you grabbed the couch arm for balance and stood up. they watched as you bowed twice then sat back down like the tozier teen would have been doing if he were the one in this situation.
the group would always tease you and stan. this causing the both of you to always blush in result and look anywhere in the room but each other while full of embarrassment.
the crazy thing was that what they said was true. neither of you wanted to admit first though and it was just another daily topic for the group. the other six members wished one of you would just open up and discuss the feelings you two bottled inside. no use still and after months of teasing, you nor stanley backed down yet.
"does anybody know where he'd be at right now?" mike paused to take a glimpse at his watch then added, "at four-thirty? he wouldn't go home so soon yet with his dad being off today."
the group was silent, none knew and the fact you and stan had a secret spot was not common shared information either. you contemplated for a moment before thinking what the hell? and just spoke up with a reply before you could take it back. "yeah, in fact i do. i'll see you guys later."
to avoid their stares, you didn't dare catching their reactions. instead taking that time to lean over the side of the couch and grab your backpack from school, lazily putting the straps around your shoulders.
"see, what'd i tell you?" richie smirked, leaning over in the hammock towards bill for a high five who did not return it but had a grin of his own. ben placed a bookmark into the open pages to mark the spot he left off on. after this, he gave beverly a look. this expression was one similar eddie was giving to mike.
"see you later guys!" you bid farewell once more and climbed the clubhouse stairs to venture off. you stifled a chuckle as you started to walk away, hearing them all burst out mixed comments of confusion and excitement.
about thirty minutes of walking later, you reached the woods surrounding the quarry. there was a ridge in the rocks off to the side which lead to a path. one wouldn't notice it from afar without really inspecting the vicinity.
it was about half a mile and stan was usually there with a towel laid out and his back against one of the trees. a perfect crease-free bird book splayed out on top of his lap and a pair of binoculars in the teen's hands.
recently if stanley were home he'd be in his room. with a lock on his door, he laid while reading books front to back and cover to cover. which was probably what he did last night except, the perfectionist took his sweet ol' time. this was to memorize every picture of the birds and the facts about them that was printed across the crisp pages.
before doing anything, you adjusted the long sleeves of the black and white flannel tied around your waist. your chucks nervously toed in the dirt gravel and you let out a deep breath you hadn't realized you were holding. curiously studying stan after that and noticing your prediction wasn’t far off. it was actually almost spot on except the book was nowhere to be found.
"this seat taken?" you asked, pointing towards the empty spot on the towel next to him. the uris teen jumped a bit, probably zoned out on a bird that was perched on the branch a few trees away from where you and stan were.
he looked over to you, a smile gracing his face. "it is now." uris was never bothered by the fact you often crashed the private bird-watching hobby of his. you knew he enjoyed quiet time in complete silence besides the occasional birds chirping. this was how it was found out that you had taken a liking to often just sitting and relaxing with your favorite person.
you started to move quickly by placing your backpack down before either of you could change his mind. with your hands placed on the back of your tied flannel, you crouched down before finding a comfortable position to sit in. then reaching into the bag, you retrieved the water bottle to take a sip.
after putting it back away, you sneaked a peek at him and saw that he was already watching you. your face flushed and you quickly faced away. not wanting to make a big deal of it, you started a conversation instead.
"you ready to talk yet?" you questioned, not wanting to push him but had already gave him a few minutes to gather his thoughts. he was an over-thinker. you knew him so well that almost all of the time, you could practically see the wheels turning in his head.
he watched the bird in the binoculars once more. admiring the red and orange colorful feathers before setting it down on the other side of him. letting out a loud sigh, he pondered. "i don't know y/n. am i a disappointment to you?"
stan? stanley uris? you opened your mouth and closed it again quite speechless with disbelief. disappointment? why would the person who you think is the definition of perfect think that he is a disappointment?"
“no way bubs! never." you stated in the most serious tone you've ever used to reassure him. looking into his brown eyes you noticed a few golden flecks that always caught in the sunlight. stan was a beautiful person inside and out but y/n hoped that he knew that.
"are you sure?" he asked, sheepishly and glanced down at his hands. if stanley couldn’t look you directly into the eyes, there was definitely something wrong. you took this as a chance to open up some feelings of your own and grabbed his left hand with your right, interlocking the fingers.
his breath hitched at the sight and he observed your hands together. a pair that fit perfectly and he felt his heart skip a beat at the thought. being as you were still confused, he took this as an appropriate moment to peer up at your face but he caught your eye again instead.
stan felt tears forming in the back of his eyes. figuring he should just tell you sooner or later, he let you know. "uh, so ever since the bar mitzvah, my dad and i have been distant. i just feel like i’m his disgraced son and a failure all the time."
he half-whispered the whole thing. inside he was feeling so ashamed that he told you this with such a sad tone full of dejection. this was shocking, making you completely quiet for a few moments to process the explanation. the tears had won, prickling and slowly starting to glaze over his eyes. your heart was breaking into pieces at the sight.
"it's been like almost two years though? maybe he doesn't know how to go about the situation. you should just get to the bottom of it and confront him tomorrow stanny." suggesting with a soft smile on your lips.
“i don’t know about that y/n, but thanks.” he chuckled, subtly glancing at your lips before clearing his throat and looking away again. while he watched the area, you rested into the crook of his neck. on the towel between the two of you was your right hand still intertwined with his. your eyes flickered up to scan the tree trunks. you gasped loudly at the sight above and patted stanley’s arm to grab his attention.
the two of you watched the branches above closely, your fingers squeezing his tightly while watching in awe. a bird’s nest was leaned up against the trunk of tree. you and stanley sat in silence to witness it. being as it was so quiet now, the only sounds that could be heard were little chirps coming from it.
“is that baby birds?” you whispered excitedly. rubbing over his thumb with yours. he watched how your face softened in awe. truly appreciating that you enjoyed when he shared this specific hobby with you.
his eyes widened when he finally realized the feeling in his stomach. butterflies. probably a whole zoo full of them. that was how much he liked, no, loved you. he shook his head and snickered at the fact you had the decency to talk quietly. “no need to whisper, y/n/n. we’ve been talking out loud this whole time. so, they won’t leave.”
you giggled; a sound that made him feel all mushy inside. stan loved your laugh and knew that if you asked him to do anything right now that he would in fact do it. smoothly letting go of your hand, he moved it rub your shoulder in comfort.
this was until you felt him slowly replacing the position of his fingers and they were repositioned underneath your chin. tilting your head upwards gently, he whispered softly now. it was almost as if he was scared that if he raised his voice to much, it would ruin the moment. “is this okay?”
the curly haired boy looked into your eyes for reassurance and you stumbled over a response by his sudden rush of confidence. lost in shock by his brown and golden flecked eyes, all you could get out was chopped, raspy response. “of course, bubs.”
stanley leaned in slowly, still a bit afraid you would change your mind. proving him wrong you quickly followed to meet him halfway. his lips finally brushed against yours and you felt his hand rub along your cheek with such delicacy. you scooted closer so you could easily put your hand in stan’s hair and massage his curls. he let out a small moan and smiled into the kiss.
before he pulled away slightly to let the two of you breathe, he rubbed your cheek once more. you kissed both corners of his lips and then his nose. a sweet laugh falling from his lips at the gestures.
you grabbed his hand again, playfully sizing them together and he watched. casually asking, “so do you want to be my girlfriend?”
“of course, i’d love to stanny!” grinning you leaned in to peck his lips once more but it turned into a small passionate kiss instead. after you both pulled away again, he questioned with a smirk. “should we tell the others, babylove?”
you let out a small hum, as if you were thinking of an answer. though, you broke the act with a smirk. one that he caught and snickered already knowing how this was going to go.
it wasn’t a hard decision, seeing as you felt like returning a little pay back of your own from all of the teasing. so, your response was simple. “nope. let’s see how long it takes for them to figure it out.”
© babytortie on tumblr + wattpad.
147 notes · View notes