#Steve is helplessly charmed by the two
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I Found Myself a Cheerleader 20
Chapter 20 out of 28
Bumped to the lowest step on the social ladder after his fight with Billy, Steve gets roped in with the cheer team. What starts as a favor to help them out when one member breaks her leg in turn for protection from the brunt of the bullying, sets the universe on a different path.
In this chapter, seeing Chrissy attacked has them all on edge, which isn’t helped when they return to the cabin and find it completely ransacked. Eddie missing from the scene. The search for him only sets them on the path to more danger.
On AO3.
Ships: steddie & buckingham
Warnings: general season 4 shenanigans, child abuse mention, hate-crime, homophobia, f-slur, bullying mention
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Chapter 20: The Escape
Steve screams Chrissy’s name loudly and shakes her, despite the fact he knows it won’t do anything to save her.
Behind him, the others get there and see what has happened. Max is rushing forward, already pulling off her own headphones to give to Chrissy, but she is stopped by Lucas, who yells: “Are you insane? Vecna is looking for a target right now.”
“Do you expect me to let her die for me?” Max screams back, an again going unspoken. “She needs music.”
A part of Steve wishes Lucas hadn’t stopped Max, but he knows that wouldn’t have solved anything. Right now Chrissy needs music and Steve knows how to get it. He quickly scoops Chrissy up, hating how light she feels as he yells: “Get out of the fucking way!”
The party scrambles to let him pass as he carries Chrissy down the stairs, relieved she isn’t floating yet. Robin is at his side, Nancy at his back. Nancy asks: “Where are you going?”
“She needs music, I’m bringing her to music,” Steve replies.
“You’ll never make it to the car,” Nancy argues. “It’s too far.”
“We don’t have to make it to the car,” Steve tells her.
“The piano,” Robin exclaims, picking up on what Steve is saying as they hustle down the stairs to the now abandoned piano where once a happy family sang.
Right as he crosses the threshold, Chrissy floats out of his arms, hanging there in that horrid, ominous way. She always loved flying, but not like this. Steve wants to pull her back to earth, but knows music is more important to get right now.
So he lets Robin tug helplessly on Chrissy’s shoe as he takes place at the piano. Steve is the only one who gets to make Chrissy fly, not this Venca creep, and he is the one that knows how to get her down safely. Always there to catch her.
It’s been almost half a year since Hopper’s funeral, when they broke into his house to steal a suit to wear. However, the song still comes to him, having been burned into his memory. He thanks god for the strict French nurse, who had taught him.
Everything around him disappears as he starts to play. Hands gliding over the keys as the notes of We’ll Meet Again float through the air. The piano is a little out of tune, but it adds to the charm, well, Steve hopes so at least.
He doesn’t know all the words, but he knows the chorus, so he sings: “We’ll meet again. Don’t know where. Don’t know when. But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.”
After that Robin takes over. She’s a decent singer and Steve wonders when she learned this song or if she has always known it. However, as long as she keeps singing Steve doesn’t care. The two of them keep on creating the music, hoping that Chrissy will come back to them, instead of leaving them behind.
The room is filled with the haunting piano and Robin’s surprisingly nice voice.
It seems to take a life time.
It only takes a minute.
Steve thinks it will never end.
The moment never really begins.
Then Chrissy is collapsing down to the ground, limp for a second, but seemingly still breathing. Of course Steve gets up immediately to check on her, right behind Robin. However, he is pushed back to the piano by Max, who demands: “Keep playing! He’s still here.”
Naturally, Steve plops back down on the bench without question as he starts up the notes again. It is harder this time, because he keeps trying to look back to where Chrissy is gasping, trying to come down from her encounter with Vecna.
He hears Robin ramble in that concerned comforting way of her and when he glances back Max is next to Chrissy too. The only one, who can know what she might have gone through.
Dustin, however, has disappeared outside with Lucas, but soon returns with a recording device, so they can tape Steve’s playing. It has proven effective, so it’s their best shot for Chrissy. Especially since the other tape is broken. Robin singing again just in case that’s important.
Once they get the tape, they put it in the backup walkman Steve brought and by god is he relieved as they hand it to Chrissy, meaning Steve can leave his bench.
Steve doesn’t waste a second, sliding out of the piano bench and running to where Chrissy is clinging to Robin. Though she lets go in favor of falling into Steve’s arms when he drops to the floor next to her.
“Oh god, Stevie, she- she was there,” Chrissy sobs and Steve holds her closer, knowing she is talking about her mother.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” he assures her, as he strokes her hair, not wanting to give too much of her private details away to the party around them. “She’s not there. You’re not with her. You here with me and Robs and the others. You’re safe. You’re alive. I got you. I always got you.” He kisses the top of her head.
Chrissy cries a little more, hiding into Steve’s chest as Robin rubs her back, obviously unsure about what else to do.
When they have all come down from the crazy experience, they go to the Wheeler house. All of them collapse on the couches, not having been spotted by Karen or Ted. The exhaustion after the adrenaline drops makes that all of them forget about anything but sleep.
The next morning, they go by the grocery store. They’re all stuffed into Nancy’s car, probably looking a little insane as they pick a six-pack and some snacks and stuff to make dinner. If they need to hide Eddie for a little longer, Steve can cook for him. A good home cooked meal can do wonders for the soul.
But as they get to the cabin, Nancy gasps and hits the break in a way that tosses them all around in the car.
Steve is about to make a comment to her about safe driving, when he notices what made her react like that. The door to the cabin is open, the glass broken and on the walls is smeared in red spray paint the word FAG next to it is MURDERER.
His blood runs cold as he stumbles out of the car, aware of the kids behind him, who now see what has been done to his cabin. There has always been the sense that the cabin still belongs to Hopper in a way, his presence felt in location, security measures and room. However, looking at it now, Steve has never felt more like he owns it.
His cabin is his home. His safe space. He loves living there, finally having a place of his own that he can exist in without judgment or prying eyes, only letting in those that he wants there. And now that has been violated.
In his horror, he hasn’t even realized what that could mean for Eddie, who had been hidden there, until Dustin is running past him, calling out: “Eddie? Eddie!”
Without thinking, he snaps his arm up and grabs the back of Dustin’s sweater. Dustin looks back, frowning and looking offended as he exclaims: “What the hell, dude! Eddie might be in there. We need to find him.”
“I know,” Steve replies. “But maybe there is someone else in there too.”
That gets everyone’s attention as they look from Steve to the cabin, its open door now looking like a gaping maw instead of a welcoming entrance beckoning.
So far no one has commented on what is painted on the cabin, but Steve feels the words’ judgment as he takes the lead. When there is danger, Steve knows what to do. When they might get hurt, Steve is in the front.
Inside, the whole cabin is overturned. His couches are shoved to the side and blankets are strewn around. In the kitchen all the cabinets are open. Looking into the bathroom, he sees the shower curtains have been pulled down.
The doors to his own room and Hopper’s room are cracked open. His own room is better for hiding, so he pushes the one open first. His heart beats in his chest and he hates that he does not have a weapon as he waits for someone to jump him. The door creaking slightly.
Empty.
His closet is open, clothes tossed around. His bed is a mess and the window is open. But the room is abandoned, no one is there.
Hopper’s room has met the same fate and Steve curses whoever has done this. How dare they invade Hopper’s place. El’s last memory of her dad. Her one wish for this cabin in which she found kindness and love. He vows to clean up everything to how it had been when all this is behind them, so El can still come home properly.
“It’s abandoned,” he calls out. The words a relief as well as a mystery, a terrible mystery. The cabin might not have a threat, but Eddie has disappeared to and none of them know where he might be and what might have happened to him.
“Where is Eddie?” Dustin asks, sounding scared. Steve immediately hates how he sounds. Hates how he doesn’t have an answer. Hates how he is focusing on keeping himself from panicking so he can’t focus on finding an answer.
“I can’t see his clothes anywhere,” Nancy says. “Maybe he took them and ran.”
“Why would they even come here?” Robin asks.
“Who came here?”
“The basketball team,” Lucas speak up and they all look at him. He explains: “It must have been them. They’re on a war path. They think Eddie killed one of their own. They want his blood.”
“But Eddie didn’t do it,” Dustin points out.
“Well they don’t know that, do they?” Lucas snaps. “All they know Patrick died in his trailer with only him there. They hate his guts, Dustin. Just like they hate yours and now mine and Steve’s and everyone who has ever dared to not be cool and popular.”
It’s quiet, Dustin looks as if he’s been slapped in the face, staring at Lucas as they both breathe heavily.
Lucas then looks away and says: “And I wanted to be part of them, just so I wouldn’t be hated by them. They’re hunting us right now. I’m- I’m sorry, I should have listen to you and Mike. I was just so tired of the bullying.”
Steve readies himself to step in if Dustin makes a wrong move. He knows how Lucas has been struggling and he doesn’t want Dustin to ruin this. But he is pleasantly surprised when Dustin replies: “Hey, I get it. If I had more hand eye coordination I might try your method too.”
That gets a huffed laugh out of Lucas and he holds out his hand that Dustin shakes, before pulling Lucas into a hug.
Right when they let go, the radio that has been left by the party so Eddie could contact them, which has now been abandoned on the table, crackles to life. Eddie’s voice says: “Dustin, can you hear me? Stevie? Wheeler?”
Dustin fumbles for the radio, clicking it on with a breathless: “Eddie! Holy shit. Are you okay? Over.”
“Nah, man. Pretty- Pretty goddamn far from okay,” Eddie replies. He sounds rough, shaken up, but not hurt. Steve hates that he is relieved by the emotional devoid tone, because it at least means that Eddie is safe.
“Where is he?” Nancy asks.
“Where are you? Over,” Dustin repeats.
“Skull Rock,” Eddie answers. “Do you know it?”
They do know where that is, so they tell Eddie they’re coming. Steve slips on a comforting sweater, needing something soothing right now. He also grabs his nail bat from under his bed. Something made Eddie flee, it cannot be good and he wants his bat with him.
The walk is silent at the start. Steve keeps thinking back of his cabin, on how they knew to look there, knew to target him. That the kids saw what had been spray painted on the front.
Robin must feel his gloomy mood, because she slides up next to him and takes his hand. She squeezes it and he squeezes back. A gesture of silent support. She knows what is going through his head, she gets his fear and she is here for him every step of the way.
Chrissy also catches up with them, bumping her shoulder against his as she takes off one of the headphones. She quietly asks: “Are you okay?”
He looks at her, concerned eyes looking back. Chrissy has always been too kind for her own good honestly. So caring. He smiles at her and says: “I will be. This isn’t the worst that happened this week.”
“I know, but you can still be upset,” Chrissy tells him.
Steve hadn’t fully considered that. Sure, he is upset, but they have to move on. The town is getting worse and Vecna is still on the loose. They have to stop him and clear Eddie’s name without anyone getting hurt, so they don’t have time for Steve to mope. Chrissy makes it sound easy though, like of course he is allowed to be upset.
“Thanks,” he nods. Then is quiet for a beat, before he says: “I just don’t get why they always have to come back when I think I’ve gotten rid of them. I haven’t even done anything.”
“Well, you did house Eddie, you know. I think they don’t care about anything else you might have done,” Robin pipes up, then winces. “Bad comment.”
“It’s okay, Robs,” Steve laughs. He doesn’t mind her off the cuff comments. They can be quite funny and are a quirk of her. He doesn’t get annoyed, he only snaps if he feels under stress or hurt and she often knows when not to push.
“I also don’t think it would have mattered,” Chrissy adds. “I know those guys, if they’re convinced of something, they won’t stop chasing it. You’re just collateral.”
And Steve has been part of that crowd for years, witnessed them from Chrissy’s perspective for half a year and has been their target for a while now. He knows how they can be. How they don’t need evidence that it’s true, just the knowledge that it hurts. He sighs: “I know.”
“It’s gonna be okay, dingus,” Robin assures him with a soft grin.
“Yeah, I’m sure they won’t do anything with that weapon on you,” Chrissy says, nodding the nail bat he has been swinging absentmindedly.
He looks down at it and laughs, a bit surprised, he had forgotten he is carrying it and that is registers as scary. The nail bat for him is protection, not something to be afraid of. He smiles: “Yeah, I can take them.”
“Like that Russian guard,” Robin pipes up and Chrissy raises her brow at them when Steve nods in agreement.
“But I don’t want to kill anyone,” Steve amends. The bat is for non-human monsters, the kind that don’t stay down after a hit. Steve doesn’t think if he can stomach it if he’s responsible for someone seriously getting hurt, or worse.
“Yeah, yeah,” Robin waves him away. “At some point you gotta stop pulling punches, dingus. I am not capable of saving you if you throw yourself in danger like a dumbass. Look at these arms,” she shakes her arm in his face, “noodles! Incapable of fighting a grown man.”
Steve starts to laugh at Robin. Then Chrissy comments: “I think you could fight someone. You’re pretty strong, Robs.”
The look on Robin’s face is incredible. She turns entirely red and splutters a bit. Steve is now fully laughing at her and she shoves him away with a loud: “Shut up, dingus.”
“Okay, okay,” Steve laughs, putting his hands up as backs away. He wants to laugh a little bit at Robin’s expense, not out her.
He realizes that with them there, he has forgotten a little about why he was in a mood and now he can pay more attention to where they are. He calls out to Dustin: “Hey, we’re going in the wrong way.”
“No we’re not,” Dustin stubbornly replied.
“Dude, I’m telling you, you’re taking us the wrong way,” Steve says, walking a bit faster to catch up with Dustin.
“It’s North. I’m positive. I checked the map,” Dustin tells him in that way that tells Steve Dustin thinks he knows best.
A little annoyed, Steve points out: “You do realize Skull Rock is a super popular make out spot?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t popular, until I made it popular, alright? I practically invented it,” Steve informs him. “We’re heading in the wrong direction.”
He starts walking in the right direction, Dustin might be smart, but Steve knows he’s right here, so he doesn’t listen as Dustin complains: “Steve. Where are you going? Steve!”
“Stop whining,” he just tells Dustin as he waves everyone to come with him. “Let’s go. Trust me.”
Reluctantly Dustin follows as do the others as Steve leads them through a familiar forest. He turned Skull Rock into a make out spot when he was still King Steve, before Nancy he kissed many girls there, wondering why it never really felt like the movies.
Dustin is now walking next to him, looking a little sulkily down at his compass. Steve knows he’ll get over it if he gives him a moment, so he lets him stew as they walk side by side.
Sporadically he turns back to check on everyone. Lucas and Max are seemingly having a good conversation, Chrissy and Robin are joking around as well and Nancy is diligently watching the rear. He makes eye contact with her and she sends him a smile, he smiles back before looking ahead again, wondering why that made him uneasy.
Before he can think too much about it, Dustin suddenly says: “Was Lucas right? You know, when he said the basketball team hates you for not being cool and popular? That doesn’t make sense. You are cool.”
Steve’s heart constricts at that. He knows that Dustin has always looked up to him and he loves the blind faith the boy puts in him. It’s one of the few things he has never wanted to take from any of the kids; their trust in him.
“I’m glad you think so, dude,” Steve says as he scrambles for what else to say.
Dustin shoots him an annoyed look and complains: “Steveee,” obviously realizing how Steve is deflecting.
“Henderson,” Steve counters snappily, before taking a breath. He doesn’t want to fight with Dustin right now, he is too worried about Eddie and being a target himself, so he amends: “It wasn’t the worst, I just lost a fight against Billy and the results were very publicly visible. There isn’t really a social recovery from that.”
“But you’re Steve,” Dustin says, like that means anything. And to Dustin, it probably does.
“I am,” Steve smiles, unable to help the sadness that clings to his voice.
“You are like the coolest guy, I remember Mike yammering on about it when you and Nancy got together,” Dustin replies. “And Billy should have left you alone after Max’s threat.”
“He did, he did,” Steve lies. “Rumors just fly and I was loosing popularity long before that. It just happens sometimes, no big deal. Didn’t you say yourself that popularity is just a construct for high schoolers.”
“I mean, yeah,” Dustin agrees and Steve is glad he is seemingly letting it go, though never entirely of course. “But the basketball team are high schoolers. We need to get into their heads.”
“Dustin, you’re also a high schooler,” Steve points out, faintly amused by the turn this conversation has taken, but feeling the fear creep into his chest as well. He doesn’t want Dustin to press about the basketball team, doesn’t want to lie to him, doesn’t want to think about telling him the truth either.
“It’s different,” Dustin protests.
“Sure it is, buddy,” Steve tells him, going for condescending in the hope Dustin will get offended and defend himself instead of asking further.
“It is,” Dustin insists, taking the bait. “Because I am a mature person, who is above popularity contests, while basketball players by the virtue of being a basketball player, obviously do care, therefore are susceptible to those sort of things. In order to get into their minds, we have to understand that.”
“Lucas plays basketball,” Steve points out the flaws in Dustin’s logic. It’s hilarious that the kid is calling himself mature when he is so clearly kid-like on some fronts.
“He doesn’t count.”
“How so?”
“Well, he came to his senses and saw he was wrong.”
“And what about me?”
“You are on thin ice, but you also distanced yourself – I’m proud of you for that by the way.”
“Oi, don’t get cocky with me now, you little shit!”
“I’m not!” Dustin squawks, then immediately amends: “Well, maybe a little bit. But I’m almost always right.”
“Really?” Steve raises a brow.
“Yeah, like right now,” Dustin replies. “I checked the map and compass a thousand times, Steve. We need to head North and right now we’re not going North. We’re never going to find Eddie like this, I mean it.”
In a twist of beautiful irony, they come up on Skull Rock. Steve doesn’t answer Dustin directly, just exclaims: “Oh boom. Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock. In your face, man, in your stupid, cocky little face.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Dustin frowns, because he is a know it all, who can never be wrong.
“Yeah, yeah,” Steve waves him away as he scans the place for Eddie. “Even with it staring you right in the face, you can’t admit it. Can’t admit you’re wrong, you butthead.”
“I concur,” a voice says behind them and they whip around, only to be filled with relief when it is Eddie, unharmed and well. He grins: “You, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead.”
Steve shouldn’t find his little breath and the way he hoist up his jeans hot, but he does, so he just stares dumbly at Eddie for a second, as Dustin says: “Jesus, we thought you were a goner.” He pulls Eddie into a hug while Steve pulls himself together.
He watches as Eddie hugs back and hears the exhausted tone in Eddie’s voice as he replies: “Yeah, me too, man. Me too.”
His heart aches for Eddie, who is obviously going through hell. He just had to flee from Steve’s cabin, a place they thought he would be safe. A place Steve thought, he would be safe. And now that is gone.
It is gone and all the emotions that he had managed to forget while bickering with Dustin come bubbling right back up. He doesn’t know what has happened, but he will never forget arriving at the cabin and seeing it like that, just like his car at graduation. The image is something that will stick with him forever and he can’t imagine what it was like for Eddie to be present as they did it.
Needing to remind himself that Eddie made it out okay, that Steve isn’t alone in what happened and that they’re both shaken up, but have each other, he lets his bat fall and reaches out and pulls Eddie into a hug.
The action is a little clumsy with Eddie stumbling as Steve pulls him in, needing to steady himself before he is able to hug back. But when he does, it’s soothing. Steve can feel parts of his shoulders unclench as he feels Eddie’s warmth under his hands, his breaths against his skin, the way Eddie holds on to his sweater.
“I am so glad you’re okay,” he whispers fiercely. “I- I got so scared when I saw the cabin. They- they graffiti-ed it, broke my front door. Fuck- Eds, they got in.”
Eddie rubs a soothing hand down Steve’s spine. Steve feels kind of guilty, because he should be comforting Eddie right now and instead Eddie is comforting him, but it’s too nice to step away from. Especially when Eddie whispers back: “I’m okay now, sweetheart. We’re okay. I’m sorry about your cabin.”
Steve lets out a laugh, it’s a little hysteric and a little too close to a sob, but it’s a laugh. He steps back before he can get emotional in front of everyone and tries to play it off. “I do not care about my cabin right now, dude.”
He catches Eddie’s eye, heart fluttering when Eddie grins at him the moment their eyes meet. Eddie pats his pockets with a twinkle in his eyes as he says: “I’m glad about that, don’t think I can pay you back right now.”
“You’re a fucking idiot,” Steve informs him.
Before Eddie can reply to that or defend himself, they are interrupted by an indignant Dustin, who demands to know: “How long has this been going on?”
“What?” Eddie asks, like he honestly has no fucking clue what Dustin is talking about, something Steve knows is a lie, because the edge of a dimple is showing.
“This- this canoodling!” Dustin exclaims and Steve has to bite the inside in his cheek to not laugh at the kid.
“Don’t be dramatic, Henderson,” he tells him, aloofness always coming easy to him. “My house has just been broken into, I’m allowed to be worried about the fugitive I was housing there. Maybe instead of being weird catch Eddie up on that Vector creep.”
“You-” Dustin starts, pointing at Steve in an accusing manner, before dropping it in favor of recounting all their discoveries and the absolute mess that has been the last 24 hours.
As Dustin talks the others chime in with additions to what they experienced to create a full picture for Eddie, who isn’t looking like he has much faith in the operation. Steve can understand that, especially when they move onto how to kill Vecna, for which they would have to go into the Upside Down. Something that isn’t really possible right now.
Their options look pretty bleak.
However, something in the conversation must have triggered Dustin, because he starts to pace up and down as he mutters to himself. Both Steve and Eddie track his movement with curiosity until Eddie leans in and asks: “Hey, uh, Henderson’s not, uh, cursed, is he?”
“Cursed?” Steve repeats. “No, no, he’s fine. Mental? Absolutely.”
That gets a smile out of Eddie again, though Steve can’t feel satisfaction at that, because they both startle when Dustin suddenly yells: “Boom! Bada. Bada. Boom. I was right! Skull Rock was North.”
“Seriously? You’re serious?” Steve asks. He knows Dustin is a cocky little bastard, but this is a little extreme. But Dustin hums as he nods. Steve gestures around them: “This is Skull Rock, okay?” Again that stupid little hum and nod. “You’re totally, absolutely, 100% wrong! Right now.”
“Yes,” Dustin agrees. “And no.”
“Oh my god,” Steve mutters to the sky. He can’t with this kid sometimes. Next to him Eddie snorts at his misery, the traitor.
“This worked correctly when we left the Wheeler’s house. Correct when we got in the car on Curly, but it started to slip the further East we went. Now it’s way off,” Dustin explains. “When I was leading us here, I wasn’t wrong. The compass was.”
“So you’re using faulty equipment. You’re still wrong,” Steve argues, feeling a little silly, but also annoyed. He is right, goddammit. He found Skull Rock. He won’t let Dustin take that from him. He needs the win.
But then the conversation quickly devolves into something Steve can’t follow and he is reminded of just how smart Lucas is as well when the kid easily catches Dustin’s drift. Steve can barely follow the first part, but he does get that there might be another gate.
“Snack sized gate,” Robin nods, also understanding and Steve loves her and her wonderful, dorky mind. Chrissy obviously does too with the way she snorts at that.
“How? Why?” he asks instead, because those are valid questions. Portals are never good news. The only times Steve has seen portals is when monsters crawl out them.
“No idea,” Dustin answers honestly. “All I know is that something is causing this disturbance and the last time we’ve seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is, because then we’d have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Chrissy and Max from this curse.”
With those words, he starts to walk away and fear grips Steve immediately. He calls out: Where are you going? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.” Dustin stops and looks back at him. “Eddie’s still a wanted man, who got attacked, I might add. We can’t just go hike in the woods.”
“This little steel capsule,” Dustin holds up the compass like the dramatic nerd that he is, “might be the key to saving Chrissy, Max and Eddie.” He focuses his attention to Eddie, who has been disappearing a little into the background, which is unlike him. “What say you, Eddie the Banished?” Dustin asks him.
“I say, you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor, which – if I’m totally straight with you – I think is a really bad idea,” Eddie tells Dustin and Steve nods, glad the other isn’t letting the kid run towards danger. “But, uh, the Shire- the Shire is burning.”
Steve feels his insides plummet at that, he vaguely recalls this from one of Eddie’s rambles and it sounds like he is going to agree with Dustin. Something that is confirmed to Steve when Dustin starts to jump excitedly like an idiot. Eddie gets up and it feels like the beginning of the end as he says: “So Mordor it is.”
Everyone takes that as a sign to start moving and Steve picks up his bat as he mutters: “What’s Mordor?” to himself, watching Eddie forget his stuff and run back. A little bitchily he says: “Get your stuff, dude. Let’s go.”
He feels like he’s allowed to be annoyed with Eddie for agreeing to Dustin’s bullshit.
During their walk through the forest, Dustin drags Eddie along with him, excited about the prospect of adventure. Eddie doesn’t look wholly convinced, but Steve isn’t saving him either. Eddie dug his own grave, let him lie in it.
Steve, meanwhile, is watching the rear of the group. The bat swings casually, the weight comforting in his hand. If anyone tries anything, he at least won’t be unarmed.
Eddie never really said what happened at the cabin, but that only makes Steve worry more. Eddie is never quiet. Whatever happened, Steve won’t mind making Jason loose a few teeth.
It’s dark by the time Dustin has lead them to the edge of the lake, right to where Fred must have died. Nancy looks a little green and clings to Steve’s arm, who supports her. After Barb this can’t be easy on her.
“There’s a gate in Lover’s Lake?” Max asks, voicing their confusion out loud.
“Whenever the demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening,” Nancy says, having pulled herself together into her mask of professionalism. “Maybe Vecna’s the same way.”
“Yeah, only one way to find out,” Steve says, not liking where his night is going, because if there is a gate on the bottom of that Lake, Steve knows who is going to check it out. And that is him. He’s not letting anyone else do it, even if he hates the idea of doing it himself.
They go look for a boat unearthing one near the docks. Eddie and Steve carry it to the water, it’s not a big boat, can fit maybe five people, max. Not all of them can go.
It’s clear the others have noticed too, but no one comments on it as Robin steps in, before helping Chrissy aboard as well, then Nancy. Steve wants to protest that, but is distracted by Eddie climbing past him, who is followed by Dustin.
Well, Dustin attempts to follow him. Eddie, however, stops him in his tracks with: “Hey, hey, hey, are you trying to sink us? This thing holds four people, tops. Okay?”
“It’s better this way. You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble,” Nancy explains and Steve realizes they mean to leave him behind there. Just the babysitter again.
“You keep an eye out,” Dustin snarks back, not wanting to be left behind. “It’s my theory.”
“They’re right, Dustin. Leave it,” he speaks up, already thinking about he is going to get aboard as he stealthily puts his nail bat in the boat.
“Since when are you on their side,” Dustin exclaims.
“Since they’re talking sense,” Steve rolls his eyes at Dustin.
“Yeah, listen to Nance,” Robin tells Dustin from where she is making Chrissy more comfortable on the boat.
“Who put her in charge?” Dustin asks, indignantly.
“I did,” Robin replies cheerily and Steve has to work not to laugh at that bitchy comment.
With that Dustin gives in and hands over the compass to Nancy, though he obviously does not want to and will make that clear to everyone. Steve doesn’t care if he complains about it for the rest of his life, as long as he stays away from the danger.
Steve pushes off the boat and quick steps aboard. Eddie has left a space open for him, obviously anticipating this while Nancy frowns, which Steve ignores in favor of apologizing to Dustin, whom he is leaving behind, much to Dustin’s dismay.
Nancy is less annoyed with his presence on the boat when he and Eddie start paddling so the three girls can investigate the waters to look if they see anything.
After a little bit, the compass starts going wild. They have found the gate. Well, probably. They still don’t know for sure. Robin is checking in with Dustin in the most Robin-like manner, informing Dustin that: “Your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ‘ahh!’”
She hasn’t realized what that means yet, but Steve has, so he is already taking off his shoes and socks, wanting to get ahead of protests before anyone can notice. Nancy, of course, notices: “Steve, what are you doing?”
“Somebody’s gotta go down there and check this out,” he informs them, hoping he sounds authoritative enough for them to let him go. “Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and certified lifeguard for three years, then it’s gotta be me. No complaints, alright?”
“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Eddie backs him up, though Steve thinks that is more out of fear, which he can’t blame the guy for, especially as he watches him fumble with his pocket, probably looking for a smoke.
“I do not want to go down there,” Chrissy agrees, looking anxiously at the blackness pooling all around them.
Steve takes of his sweater, hearing crinkles behind him. When he turns around, Eddie is the source of the noise. He is holding some cigarettes like Steve suspected, but he has also tied a plastic bag around a flashlight so Steve will be able to see down there. Eddie offers it to him with a soft: “Hey. Good luck.”
And it hits Steve that what he is about to do is dangerous. He might not come back, he might not see any of them again.
With lead in his heart, he takes the flashlight from Eddie, letting their fingers touch. Then he looks at Robin, imprinting what she looks like in his mind, before doing the same to Chrissy. He turns back to Eddie then, decides to be a little bold, since it might be the last time.
So, he gives Eddie a one over, getting stuck on his lips between which now is a cigarette, before looking in those deep, dark, beautiful eyes. He winks and says: “Thanks,” before diving into the cold water.
Steve swims down, muscle memory taking over as he searches for the gate. He finds it looking gross and glowing. Sickly in the lake bed. He reaches out to touch it, feeling oddly compelled to do so, startling back when it seems something is trying to reach back.
He needs to get away from it, he thinks wildly, as he kicks off from the bottom and breaks back out on top. He holds on to the side of the boat and reports: “I found it.”
The four, who he must have startled by his sudden appearance, lean back towards him and ask: “You found it?”
“I found it. Yeah, I found it,” Steve confirms, still panting slightly from his time without air, his heart beating fast after the scare. He wants to get out of this water. And soon.
He is about to ask for a hand back onto the boat, needing to tell them to get out of there, because the gate looks out of place. Dangerous. When he feels something wrap around his leg. His eyes grow wide and he catches Robin looking back.
Her excited exclamation to Dustin dies on her lips and she reaches back out to him, the question about whether he is okay never reaching his ears as the something yanks him down.
Steve struggles and fights, but it’s no use. The water around him turns into a slimy feeling as Steve is dragged through the gate. Into the Upside Down.
~~
A/N:
I love conversations between people too much, which gets in the way of plot, but we are getting there, no matter how slow!!!
#rr writing#stranger things#steve harrington#steddie#eddie munson#robin buckley#platonic stobin#stobin#buckingham#chrissy cunningham#cheerleader steve harrington au#the party stranger things#dustin henderson#lucas sinclair#max mayfield#nancy wheeler#st season 4#chrissy lives au#tw: child abuse mention#tw: hate crime#tw: homophobia#tw: f slur#tw: bullying mention
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If I could give this book 10 stars I would! I have not loved a book this much (unless it was written by Daniel Silva or Steve Berry) in a very, very long time. It was heartwarming and charming and utterly, utterly wonderful.
There was not one character I didn't like (accept for Edward, but you weren't supposed to like him anyway). Ian was wonderfully outlandish and helplessly romantic, Ken was solid and stable and so loving, Lucie was the perfect caretaker, Circe had such personality, and Rosetta, Terracotta and Altamira were the most wonderfully, lively incredible children.
Mika and Jamie though were my two favorites. I really identified with Mika, and a lot of what she was feeling. Jamie had a heart of gold, you could see it right away, he loved his family fiercely and once he got over his fears, he loved Mika just as fiercely, if not more so. We should all be so lucky to find a Jamie.
The magical elements were just enchanting, especially Mika's potions and teas, they were so creative. I love how skilled she was, and how, even though it took a lot of bravery, willing she was to fight for what she knew was right.
An absolutely warm, wonderful book full of love, magic and laughter. I hope to find another like it very soon.
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If I could give this book 10 stars I would! I have not loved a book this much (unless it was written by Daniel Silva or Steve Berry) in a very, very long time. It was heartwarming and charming and utterly, utterly wonderful.
There was not one character I didn't like (accept for Edward, but you weren't supposed to like him anyway). Ian was wonderfully outlandish and helplessly romantic, Ken was solid and stable and so loving, Lucie was the perfect caretaker, Circe had such personality, and Rosetta, Terracotta and Altamira were the most wonderfully, lively incredible children.
Mika and Jamie though were my two favorites. I really identified with Mika, and a lot of what she was feeling. Jamie had a heart of gold, you could see it right away, he loved his family fiercely and once he got over his fears, he loved Mika just as fiercely, if not more so. We should all be so lucky to find a Jamie.
The magical elements were just enchanting, especially Mika's potions and teas, they were so creative. I love how skilled she was, and how, even though it took a lot of bravery, willing she was to fight for what she knew was right.
An absolutely warm, wonderful book full of love, magic and laughter. I hope to find another like it very soon.
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love
a/n: hi hi !! here is another fic inspired by one of my fave bts songs <33 hope u all enjoy lmk what u think !! pls excuse any typos
bucky was cold and sad before you, now he is warm and happy, most of all, he’s in love
word count: 3k
masterlist
Bucky woke up from another nightmare, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. He let out a shaky breath, looking around his empty apartment. He got up and washed his face, looking at himself in the mirror before tearing his gaze away.
Bucky didn’t sleep for the rest of the night, busying himself until sunrise, when he left his apartment and walked to park nearby.
That’s where he met you.
You were playing fetch with your dog, nearly tumbling over every time he jumped on you to get the ball from your hand, laughing as he would sprint away from you, tongue sticking out.
Bucky smiled at the sight, wishing he had a let of his own. You caught him staring at your dog and smiled, saying a quick ‘hello!’ and calling for you dog to come back.
Bucky returned a smile, the path he was on leading him towards where you stood. Your dog bounded over to you, ball in mouth and dropping it at your feet.
“do you wanna pet him?” You smiled at bucky, your dog staring at him wearily as he stopped near you.
“uh- he doesn’t seem like a fan” Bucky chuckled and you shook your head, scratching behind your dogs ear.
“he’s just protective, his name is ace” you smiled, walking towards Bucky slowly, ace following suit and sniffing at Bucky’s boots.
Ace warmed up to bucky quickly, sitting at his feet and waiting for his payment of pats. Bucky smiled, crouching down to pet him, the dogs soft fur against his hand made him smile.
You smiled at the interaction, thinking of what to say next, you knew this was the Bucky Barnes and you didn’t want to embarrass yourself.
“I’m y/n” you spoke as Bucky got back up, putting his gloves back on quickly. He turned to face you, a charming smile on his face.
“I’m Bucky” he replied, blushing as he finally saw your face, and wow were you breathtaking.
Your eyes met and you both blushed, you struggled to find words to keep the conversation going, not wanting him to leave so soon.
Is this love?
“why are you up so early” you asked, throwing the ball so ace could chase after it, still full of energy.
He paused for a moment before answering, “just an early bird” he smiled, you nodded. “what about you?” he asked, standing next to you as ace came back, dropping the ball at his feet this time.
“i have to tire him out before i go to work, so i gotta wake up early” you smiled, yawning not long after. You blushed and mumbled a quick ‘sorry’ and Bucky smiled at you.
Ace pranced back, no longer wanting to run around and play, only wanted to get back to his cozy bed and lounge for the rest of the day.
“we should get going, this guy makes me carry him to the car and up the stairs if he’s too tired” you laughed, bucky smiled and said goodbye, giving ace a few final pats before saying goodbye to him too.
Sometimes i know, sometimes i don’t
Bucky thought about you and your four legged friend for the rest of the day, wondering if you had always been there when he went for walks, was he too caught up in his own mind to even realize?
Bucky felt the day go by fast, feeling lighter than he had been the day before, talking to his neighbors a bit more and feeling tired by the time the clock hit 12 am rather than the usual 3 am.
He woke up early the next day, another nightmare shaking him awake, checking the clock it read 5:54 am, the sun barely about to rise.
He got up, changing and washing his face, brushing his teeth and heading out the door in 30 minutes.
The sun was up as he walked to the park, keeping an eye out for you, and sure enough there you were, this time throwing a frisbee to entertain ace. You looked exhausted and bucky felt a pang in his chest, how long did you sleep?
Your gaze me Buckys and you smiled brightly, perking up a bit as he walked closer.
“good morning bucky!” You smiled, ace running towards him, his frisbee in his mouth as he jumped to greet the super soldier.
“good morning y/n, and good morning ace!” He smiled, putting on a higher pitched voice for the dog who wagged his tail happily, hitting the mans leg with the frisbee.
Bucky took the frisbee, throwing it so ace could chase after it, you both smiled at your dog, running as fast as he could to catch the disk.
“how’d you sleep?” You asked, noticing the bags under his eyes, he shrugged.
“as well as i usually do. You?” He asked, trying to mask his concern.
“it was okay, wish i could’ve gotten more though” you smiled rubbing your burning eyes before throwing the frisbee once more.
Bucky nodded in agreement, the two of you making small talk until you and ace left once again.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” You asked, putting a leash on ace and walking with Bucky towards your car. Bucky smiled brightly, nodding his head.
“yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow” he replied, already looking forward to it.
You are the one who will give meaning to my memories
For two weeks you and bucky met up and played with ace at the park during early mornings, sometimes walking around the park and talking about your days and what you had to do. Neither one of you prying too much, just enjoying each other’s company.
Bucky reminisced on the memories with a fond smile as he told Steve about you.
“no yeah she’s great, her dog is really cute too” bucky spoke, giddy to see you on Monday.
“why don’t you ask her out then?” Steve questioned and bucky shook his head, not knowing how he would even approach the situation.
The following Monday you greeted bucky with a smile, ace bounding over to him in excitement.
As the two of you fell into routine, Steve’s words rung in his ears, deciding to take a leap of faith.
“would you- do you maybe wanna get dinner someday? together?” Bucky asked, a charming smile on his face as ace wagged his tail, looking up at you, almost as if saying ‘do it! say yes!’
“uh- yeah I’d love that” you smiled at bucky, both of you relieved that the you weren’t alone in wanting more time together.
Before i knew you my heart was filled with straight lines
Bucky was excited for your first date, putting on his best clothes and getting some flowers for you on the way, knocking on your door and heading aces familiar bark.
You opened the door, wearing a nice and casual outfit, letting Bucky in and thanking him for the flowers.
“I’m gonna just put these in water, feel free to sit down” you smiled, hurrying around to finish as quick as possible.
Bucky nodded, taking a seat on your couch and looking around, your home was so, homey. Ace smiling proudly as Bucky pet him.
“okay shall we?” You laughed and bucky smiled, saying goodbye to ace as you closed the door and headed out. Bucky offered you his arm and you gladly took it, walking down the stairs with your arms linked.
“ace makes you carry him all the way up these?” He asked in shock and you nodded, letting out a small chuckle.
“don’t let him fool you he is very evil” you teased, Bucky widened his eyes and nodded his head.
“note to self, never get on aces bad side” he smiled as you laughed, continuing to make easy conversation for the rest of the night.
Bucky found himself being nicer to Sam and the rest of the team, hanging out with them more and even cracking jokes.
“you don’t stare anymore” sam spoke, a smile on his face as steve turned to look at bucky.
“Hm, he doesn’t” steve smirked and bucky rolled his eyes.
“got tired of looking at your face is all” he snickered, making the two other men laugh, bucky took a sip from his beer.
“he’s seeing a girl y’know” steve whispered and bucky groaned as Sam cheered. Bucky couldn’t help but smile as he thought of you. It had only been a week since your first date and he already wanted to take you out again, despite having seen you this morning.
I’d like to be in your novel as a lover
Time passed and you and bucky got closer, going on more dates and texting each other during the day, even calling each other when one of you couldn’t sleep.
Bucky told you about his nightmares, telling you how he would always wake up, too afraid to go back to sleep so he would wait until sunrise and go for a walk.
You told him how you had trouble sleeping, sometimes your mind would just never stop, other times you just had too much work.
Within two months bucky has asked you out, a bouquet of roses for you and treats for ace, he has set up a picnic for you during the sunset, getting your favorite foods and talking the entire evening, finally asking you out when the moon had risen.
I’m just a human, you erode all my edges and turn me into love
You made bucky a better person, teaching him his self worth and to be proud of who he was.
“Bucky wake up, angel it’s just a nightmare” you shook him gently, ace watching from the foot of the bed.
Bucky shot up quickly, breathing heavily as you placed a hand on his back, pulling him into you after he has calmed down.
“you’re here, you’re with me you’re okay” you assured him, wrapping him in your arms and holding him tightly.
“it was bad, i was bad” he mumbled, tears falling down his face.
“you aren’t him. you are good, you are human baby, you’re my love” he squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on your steady heartbeat as you ran your fingers through his hair, his arm draping over your stomach as he slowly fell back to sleep.
Buckys nightmares became more scarce, he became happier and less cold, embracing who he was.
He was also helplessly in love with you, constantly buying you flowers, taking you out on dates, taking care of you when he could, writing you letters, and so much more.
You make live to a love
After coming into his life you made bucky a better person, you made him into the person he always wanted to be.
Bucky no longer walked with his head down, rather he walked with a set gaze, giving a kind smile to strangers on the street and helping those in need, helping the others his friends when they needed him and even volunteering at the local animal shelter when he could.
Because of you i know why a person should live by love
Before you bucky would punch his way out of all his fights, he would be hot headed and angry if he got into an argument with someone on the team.
Now he was understanding and patient, listening to what the other had to say and looking to reason with them, taking time to communicate. Bucky was sympathetic, not wanting to fight every villain they came across, instead trying to reason with them. Between him and Sam, usually they didn’t even have to fight.
I live so i love
“angel? I’m home!” You called out, ace greeting you at the door, smiling at the freshly cooked dinner on the dining table, it was your favorite.
“Happy one year doll” Bucky smiled as you turned around, hugging him tightly and kissing him all over his face.
“buck i don’t know what to say” you smiled, still in awe of all he had done.
“don’t say anything, just go get changed and let’s enjoy our night yeah?” He replied, kissing you once more before letting you go.
You were thankful he opted for a night in, exhausted from work and wanting only to be in your lovers arms. And you did exactly that, spending the night dancing in your living room, laughing at his bad jokes and sharing stories.
“okay best pick up line go” you smiled, excited to see what he would say.
“not really a pick up line but” Bucky paused, looking you in the eyes. “It’s a long way from I to U, fuck JKLMNOPQRST, i crossed all the letters and i reached you” he smirked, loving the way your heart raced at his words.
“now i know why you were such a ladies man in the 40s” you whispered, crashing his lips onto yours.
If i go would you be sad?
“God james cant you just shut up and listen to me for one second!” You stated, voice raising out of frustration.
“well maybe if you could get it through your stubborn head that it wasn’t my fault maybe I’d stop having to explain” Bucky spoke angry, his voice steady as he clenched his jaw.
You were upset he had kept you in the dark about an ongoing mission, he was upset you didn’t realize he had done it to keep you safe.
“you keep saying you did it to keep me safe, James i was almost killed because i didn’t know! How is that keeping me safe?” You spoke, anger boiling over as you sat on the couch, wanting to just sleep.
“if i had told you, you would have never let me be as protective as i have been! You wouldn’t have taken your vacation days because you’re too stubborn” Bucky spoke, still standing across from you.
“I just need some time to think” you spoke softly, Bucky’s heart fell. We’re you gonna leave him?
“I’ll go” Bucky mumbled, already moving to pack a bag.
“bucky stop” you spoke, making him stop in his tracks. “sit down i don’t want you to leave, let’s talk about it angel” you sighed, wanting to just work it out and be in his arms once more.
You’re my love
Bucky was excited, everything had been planned perfectly. He had woken up at 4 am, getting everything ready for the following morning.
He had driven to the park with Sam and Steve who helped him set up the picnic, a blanket laid out with fruits and drinks along with dog toys to play with ace.
It had been nearly 4 years since the two of you had met, he knew you were the one for him.
As the sun rose you woke up, getting ready to take ace out with Bucky, only to find the two of them gone.
Just as you finished getting ready bucky walked in, a smile on his face.
“goodmorning doll, let’s get going yeah? already got ace in the car” he smiled and you thanked him, heading out the door and to the park.
when you arrived you immediately saw the picnic.
“buck what-” you began and he cut you off.
“just because” he smiled and you smiled, sure he always took you on dates but this was different, it felt more intimate.
As the two of you sat on the blanket and munched on food ace ate some treats bucky had gotten him, excited to play in a couple of minutes.
“I taught him a new trick” Bucky smiled and you raised your eyebrows, sitting up straighter to see ace perform said trick.
“let’s see what you got Barnes” you smirked and he smiled.
“ace go fetch!” Bucky spoke, ace ran from the blanket in a straight line.
“haha bucky, we both know he already knew that, plus you didn’t even throw-” you cut yourself off as you saw ace pick something up, running back towards the two of you. Bucky stood up, offering you a hand so you could get up.
“y/n, i love you, you taught me what love is, you made me into a better person, from the moment we met i always felt like we were meant to be.” Bucky spoke, glancing over to see ace closer to the two of you, a little over halfway back.
“you’re my person, my desire, my pride, my one and only love” Bucky spoke, crouching down and taking the small box from aces mouth, letting him and giving him more treats.
Bucky got on one knee, opening the box and looking at you with bright eyes. Your vision was blurry, but unlike four years ago, it wasn’t from sleep, but from tears.
“y/n, doll, will you marry me?”
You nodded your head quickly, wiping away your tears and smiling brightly.
“yes, of course yes angel” you replied, wrapping your arms around him as he picking you up and spun you around, setting you down and kiss you, making your knees weak.
He slipped the ring on your finger with a smile, ace barking as the two of you kissed once more, pulling away with a smile.
“that has to be his best trick” you joked, petting ace and kissing the top of his head.
“now i gotta train him to be the ring bearer for the wedding” Bucky laughed and you nodded, squinting your eyes as you saw Sam and Steve running in the distance.
“is that-?” You questioned and bucky laughed, the two men cheering as they saw you and bucky cuddled up.
“she said yes!” Bucky called out and the two men cheered, arriving out of breath.
“thank god, he woke us up at like 3 am to get everything ready” sam spoke and Steve nodded, giving the two of you a hug, Sam quickly following suit.
“I’m happy for you guys” Sam spoke, Steve nodding along side him, squeezing Buckys arm before they left the two of you alone.
You smiled as you looked up at the sky, pinks and reds painting the clouds. You turned to tell bucky, but decided against it when you saw him on the floor playing with ace, voice high pitched as he baby talked him.
Your heart melted, you couldn’t wait to spend the rest of you life with your two favorite boys.
#bucky barnes#bucky barnes fluff#bucky barnes imagine#bucky barnes x reader#bucky barnes blurb#bucky barnes x y/n#bucky barnes x you#bucky barnes drabble#bucky barnes one shot#Bucky Barnes angst#soft bucky barnes#fluffy bucky barnes
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First of all, Happy Birthday Month!!! Many happy returns!! I have been reading fanfiction for e very long time, but this is the 1st time I have ever submitted a prompt. I kinda think Stuckony would be great but I am down with Winteriron or Stony, wherever the prompt takes you. You're amazing so I know it's gonna be fantastic! Thanks in advance!💜💜💜 “Is that your robot?” “That’s a rude way to talk about my husband.”
This was such a fun prompt to write, thanks for sending it in! And thank you for the birthday wishes!
As always, everything I write is also on ao3
~
Something taps against Bucky’s foot. At first, he ignores it, figuring someone just bumped into him, but then it happens again and then for a third time. He looks down, fully expecting to see a small child, only to see a small gold and blue robot run into his shoe, back up, and then run right into it again. It looks a little like an atom with a central core and three rings spinning around it in multiple directions. He smiles at the oddly charming behavior and bends down to pick the robot up, wondering if it came from one of the many glittering exhibits he and Steve have walked past today or if it belongs to someone.
“Hey, Stevie,” he begins, thinking to share it with his husband, but when he looks around, Steve isn’t anywhere near him. Bucky sighs and turns in a circle, hoping to spot him somewhere in the packed crowd. Who knew the Stark Expo would draw so many people on a Tuesday in the middle of March? “Stevie, you’re too small to wander off like this.”
He feels a tug on the hem of his coat and then a small voice primly says, “Excuse me, Mister Sir, that’s mine.”
“Huh?” He looks down again, this time to see a young girl of about six or seven years holding onto his jacket. “Oh! Is this your robot?” he asks, crouching down to her level.
“That’s a rude way to talk about my husband,” she informs him, holding her hand out for the robot.
Bucky blinks at her. He’s heard about kids playing pretend with their toys but that’s usually things like Legos or dolls, right? Not a whirring, circular robot that doesn’t even have a face.
“Can I please have Jarvis back?” the girl asks, insistently tugging on his coat again.
“Oh, sure, sorry about that.” He passes it back to her and then looks around, hoping to spot the girl’s parents before she realizes she’s left them. He’s dealt with plenty of upset kids at the school he and Steve work at, so he’s more than capable of handling any meltdown she might have, but he’d like to stave it off if he can. Unfortunately, he doesn’t spot anyone frantically looking for a lost kid, so he’s just getting ready to resign himself to dealing with a crying kid when Steve appears from out of nowhere.
“Hey, Buck, sorry about that, got sidetracked by one of the exhibits. The person works with sand and sound to make art, it was really—” He stops short at the sight of the girl hugging her robot. “Bucky. You didn’t pick up another stray, did you?”
“Excuse me?” Bucky asks, affronted. “I never—”
“No? So what’s Alpine then? Or Dodger? Or, for that matter, me?” Steve crouches down next to the girl and holds out his boney hand for her to shake. “Hey, kid, my name’s Steve. This is Bucky. What’s your name?”
She gives him a suspicious look, but must decide that he’s safe because she says after a moment, “Morgan.”
“Well, Miss Morgan, why don’t we see about finding your parents?” Steve offers. “It looks like they’ve gotten lost.”
Morgan turns one way and then the other, noticing for the first time that she’s alone. Her lower lip trembles, eyes welling up with big, fat tears. “I—”
Bucky, sensing an impending meltdown, quickly says, “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll find them. We grown-ups are pretty good at getting lost. It’s up to brave kids like you to help us get found again.”
Morgan sniffs, but nods. “I’m here with Uncle Happy,” she says, sliding her small hand into Bucky’s.
“Then let’s find Uncle Happy,” Steve says decisively. “Would you like me to hold your robot?”
She shakes her head, clutching the robot tighter to her. “You can’t take JARVIS,” she says. “He’s mine.”
“Okay,” Bucky says soothingly. “We won’t take him away.” He shares a quick glance with Steve. “Should we start at Lost and Found?”
“If I may, Sirs,” the robot suddenly says in a cool British voice. Steve yelps, jumping away from it. Bucky startles, dropping Morgan’s hand.
Morgan giggles. “Don’t worry, that’s just Jarvis. He’s an artificial intelligence.” She pronounces the words carefully, like it’s something she’s been taught to say. She holds the robot up, who lights up with every word he says.
“The tracker in this device has been activated. There will be no need to move from this location. Sir will be here momentarily,” Jarvis tells them.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Steve mutters, taking a closer look at the robot. “It talks.”
“I am Just A Rather Very Intelligent System or—”
“JARVIS,” Bucky realizes. “It’s an acronym, not a name.”
“Quite so, though I was named for Edwin Jarvis, an old friend of Sir’s.”
“And Sir is…?”
JARVIS lights up like it’s going to talk again but before it says anything, they hear someone say loudly, “Morgan H. Stark!”
Morgan’s face brightens and she turns, running right into the arms of a slender man in a suit, closely followed by another larger man. “Daddy!” she exclaims, throwing her arms around the man, who catches her up in a tight hug.
“What have we said about running off?” the man asks, sounding worried. He has a familiar voice, Bucky thinks. He wonders where he’s heard it before.
“I didn’t run off,” Morgan protests. “JARVIS did and I had to get him.”
“You didn’t think to tell Happy where you were going?” The man gently brushes her hair out of her eyes before straightening up, setting Morgan on his hip.
“I didn’t have time! JARVIS was moving too fast.”
The man makes a dissenting noise. “Flaw in your logic.”
She shakes her head. “No flaw.”
“Yes flaw. JARVIS has a tracker. You, O’ Great and Powerful Maguna, do not.”
It’s adorable watching the two of them together, seeing the way the man softens the longer he holds Morgan and the way Morgan leans into him. And it doesn’t hurt that the man is wildly attractive too: all big brown eyes and curly hair that Bucky wants to feel between his fingers (he bets they’re as soft as they look). Bucky feels something stir in his heart that he hasn’t felt since the day he met Steve. He quickly glances at Steve, wondering if Steve feels the same way. Steve’s eyes could practically be cartoon hearts, he’s melting so obviously, and Bucky smiles to himself. Maybe, if they play their cards right…
“But I didn’t get lost,” Morgan protests and points at Bucky and Steve. “I had Mister Bucky and Mister Steve.”
Abruptly, all the warmth drains out of the man’s expression. He looks at Bucky and Steve coldly, mouth a thin, tight line. “Oh you did, did you?” He turns to the second man behind him. “Happy, could you take Morgan for a moment?”
“Daddy—” But Happy—who looks more like an Angry than a Happy—has already nodded and taken her from the man’s arms.
“You got it, boss.”
The man now stalks closer to Bucky and Steve. “Alright,” he says abruptly. “How much do I owe you?”
Steve’s expression goes blank. “I’m sorry?” he repeats, voice tense with hidden anger.
“What do you want for this?” the man says. “Finder’s fee, something to keep you quiet, what do you want?”
“Look, I don’t know who you think you are—” Steve begins heatedly, right as Bucky realizes where he’s seen this man before.
“Stevie, stop,” he mutters, catching Steve’s arm before he can get too angry and take a swing at the guy. “That’s Tony Stark.”
“Huh?” Steve looks again and then his face clears. “Oh. This must happen a lot, huh?”
Stark glances between the two of them, looking confused now, rather than angry. That’s good; that’s something Bucky can work with.
“Look, we’re sorry about all this,” Bucky says apologetically. “But we’re really not trying to cause trouble. Morgan’s robot ran into my foot, that’s how we met. We didn’t even know who she was until you got here. You don’t need to pay us off or anything.”
“Really,” Stark states suspiciously. “So I’m not going to wake up tomorrow and all the headlines are saying that I can’t take care of my kid?”
“We’re both teachers,” Steve says, gesturing at him and Bucky. “We know kids wander off all the time. They’re more slippery than a bar of soap in the shower. You’re not going to hear anything from us.”
Stark slumps and runs a hand through his hair. He looks tired all of a sudden, not that Bucky can blame him now that he knows this entire Expo is being run by him. “Sorry,” he says quietly. “You just can’t be too careful in this line of business.”
“I can imagine,” Bucky says soothingly. “If it would help, we’d be happy to sign an NDA.”
“Pepper would probably kill me if I didn’t ask you to,” Stark admits. He sighs. “Great, first time I contact her since the divorce and it’s about my fuckup.”
“You’re not a fuckup,” Steve insists. “Seriously, this happens all the time. Just last week, I had a kid decide he wanted to keep looking at the snails in the Botanical Gardens we took the kids to while the rest of us went to lunch. Took me an hour to find him.”
Tony gives him a hopeful look. “Really?”
“Really. It’s okay. You’re not a bad parent.”
“I’ve just—I’m supposed to be presenting in—” He checks his watch.
Happy shouts, “Five minutes ago, boss.”
“It’s my presentation, I think they can wait for me if I’m running late. Morgan didn’t want to wait while I was prepping so I asked Happy to take her to see some of the exhibits. I didn’t think she’d wander away.”
“Well, hey, we’d hate to make you any later,” Bucky says. “So we’ll let you—”
Morgan pipes up, “Daddy, can’t Mister Bucky and Mister Steve come too?”
“Well—”
“They were so nice,” she says, making her eyes big and wide. “And I think we should be nice and let them watch.”
Stark smiles helplessly at her. “You know what that is? That’s extortion.” He turns to Bucky and Steve again and shrugs. “Do you want to come? It’ll be backstage, so you won’t get to see as much as you would if you were watching from the front. But it’ll be fun, I’m presenting the new arc reactor. Oh—and please, call me Tony. We’re all friends here, no need to stand on formalities.”
Steve and Bucky have one of their silent conversations that always bothers their friends. “Are you sure?” Steve asks. “We wouldn’t want to be a bother.”
Tony gives Bucky a very obvious onceover, followed by a look at Steve, just as obvious and just as hungry. “Oh yes,” he murmurs. “I’m sure.”
“Then we’d love to,” Bucky says, giving Tony a onceover of his own. He and Steve don’t often invite a third partner to their bed, but there’s just something about Tony.
“Great!” Tony chirps. His eyes go dark and heated as he adds, “And maybe afterwards, we can talk about a way to pay you back for helping Morgan out.”
“Tony, really, we don’t need anything,” Steve begins.
“Please,” Tony purrs. “I insist.”
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I’ll Make This Feel Like Home
I’ve been sitting on this WIP for a while, so I finally decided to finish and post it! It’s just pure self-induglent Sambucky domestic fluff, but my heart really needed it after watching those scenes of them together in Louisiana. 😍😍😍
~*~
Sam x Bucky (4.8K of pure fluff, rated T.) No applicable warnings other than TFATWS spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the series yet.
"That," Bucky says as he pushes back from the table and pats his stomach, "was the best goddamn meal I've ever had. Seriously, like ever. You really outdid yourself," he tells Sarah, who gives him a shy smile in return.
"Thank you, Bucky," Sarah beams, her smile growing even wider as she reaches out to pat his shoulder. "I like this one," she tells Sam. "He's a keeper."
"Yeah, he sure is," Sam grins. "I thought about returning him a couple of times, but he kinda grew on me," he winks while slipping his hand under the table and squeezing Bucky's knee.
That causes a very attractive blush to spread across Bucky's face, and Sam can't help thinking about all of the ways he could make that happen again.
Bucky gives Sam a private smile and says, "I guess you're stuck with me."
"I can live with that," Sam happily agrees.
"Will you be staying long?" Sarah asks Bucky as she stands up and starts collecting their empty plates. "Not that I'm kicking you out, I promise. We have plenty of room, and you're more than welcome to stay as long as you like."
Or forever, Sam thinks, but he keeps that to himself.
This thing with Bucky, these fond looks and lingering touches, that's not exactly new territory for them.
It's just been a while, and Sam's a little unsure of the protocol here when they've only spent a handful of days together after nearly a month of radio silence.
That wasn't Sam's choice, but Bucky was furious when Sam mentioned that he was going to turn in the shield. Sam hadn't even done it yet, but it still led to an ugly argument which ended with Bucky refusing to answer Sam's texts or phone calls after that. Things only got worse from there when the government gave the shield to Walker, but Sam didn't feel like he had much of a choice in the matter.
Sam's no fool, he knew the government wouldn't allow him to become the next Captain America. It had been a sweet gesture on Steve's part, but it left Sam with more questions than he had answers for.
After they returned from the blip, Sam ended up living in Wakanda with Bucky for a while since his previous apartment in D.C. was long gone. It was a hard truth to accept, but a lot had changed in five years. Sam knew he could go back to Delacroix and live with Sarah and the boys, but he wasn't quite ready for that yet.
Not that he didn't miss them dearly, but he wanted to take some time to adjust to this new normal before moving back home. It was a lot to process at the time, and Sam definitely didn't want to give Sarah any more reasons to worry about him.
Naturally, Shuri and T'Challa happily opened their hearts and home to him when Bucky explained Sam's situation. They were extremely gracious about it and assured Sam that he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted.
That only ended up being a few months, but it allowed Sarah to prepare for Sam's return, and for Sam to be in a much better mental state.
Truth be told, Sam's not quite sure he could have recovered as quickly as he did if it weren't for Bucky.
Bucky, who hadn't even hesitated to ask Shuri and T'Challa if Sam could stay in Wakanda with them.
Bucky, who had been nothing but sweet and charming to him the entire time Sam was there.
Bucky, who always held and comforted Sam when he needed it.
Bucky, who never judged or pitied Sam when he cried.
Bucky, who always dried Sam's tears with a gentle touch.
Bucky, who understood that anger was a perfectly valid emotion, given everything they'd been through.
Bucky, who was typically a man of few words, but happily talked Sam's ear off whenever Sam needed a distraction from his thoughts.
Bucky, who has been through his own share of personal horrors, but always put Sam's comfort and well-being before his own.
Bucky, who quickly became one of Sam's very best friends and completely stole his heart.
Their nights together in Wakanda were Sam's favorite because they would often lie on a blanket under the stars, just the two of them. They told each other things they never shared with anyone else, not even Steve, and Sam really enjoyed getting to know the real Bucky.
Their interactions always remained platonic, but Sam would be lying if he said he didn't want more. He often wondered if Bucky did too, but Sam ended up leaving before he had a chance to find out.
Back in the present, Bucky shakes his head in response to Sarah's question as he gives Sam a wistful smile.
"Nah, I wish. I've got some things to take care of back in Brooklyn, so I'm leaving tomorrow, actually. But," he adds hopefully, "I would love to come back for another visit sometime. If that's okay."
"Absolutely," Sarah nods. "You're always welcome here anytime, so don't be a stranger," she says as she leans down and kisses Bucky's cheek.
"Watch yourself, baby sister," Sam glares as he swats at her with a dish towel.
"Do that again Samuel, and I'm throwing out the rest of the beignets," Sarah threatens.
"Okay, truce," Sam relents as he holds up his hands in mock surrender. Sarah's beignets are his favorite, and he doesn't doubt that she would throw them away just to spite him.
"I better have another one, just in case he decides to stick his foot in his mouth again," Bucky tells Sarah as he reaches for the plate of leftovers.
"Oh, you think you're cute, huh?" Sam smirks as he snaps the dish towel in Bucky's direction this time.
"Not as cute as you, Samuel," Bucky drawls just before taking a bite of the fluffy pastry.
Sam's entire face flushes hotly as he looks up and meets Bucky's eyes.
Is he…flirting?
It's been a while since anyone has flirted with him, so Sam is a bit out of practice. Still, there's a mischievous twinkle in Bucky's eyes that Sam hasn't seen in months. The warmth suddenly spreads from his cheeks straight down to places that he doesn't want to think about with his little sister in the room.
"Well, at least we agree on something," Sam jokes as he plucks the half-eaten beignet out of Bucky's hand and pops it into his mouth. It's a weak reply, but it's all his brain could come up with after being caught off guard like that.
Bucky isn't even fazed, he just reaches for another beignet and eats it in two bites. "God, these are amazing," he moans.
It's pure torture for Sam, watching helplessly as Bucky licks the powdered sugar from his lips.
"Thank you," Sarah says as she places a sealed paper bag in front of Bucky. "These are for you to take home with you. They won't be quite as good as they are when they're fresh, but just heat them up in the oven for about five minutes and they'll be pretty close."
"Marry me," Bucky says dramatically as he reaches for both of Sarah's hands. "Make an honest man out of me, Sarah Wilson."
"You're sweet," Sarah giggles as she pulls her hands back and dusts them off, "but I don't feel like being turned into fish food."
"Empty threats," Bucky waves dismissively in Sam's direction. "He'll eventually learn to accept our love."
Sam almost chokes on his beer at Bucky's words. He knows it's all a joke and he's pretty sure (okay, somewhat sure) that Bucky isn't actually interested in his sister, but it still leaves a very unsettling feeling in his stomach.
Especially because Bucky can really lay on the charm when he wants to.
"I'm going to miss you," Sarah tells Bucky as she holds out her arms and wraps him up in a hug.
No, Sam is absolutely not jealous about that. He's just going to drink the rest of his beer and pretend like he doesn't want to pry them apart. (He is secretly thrilled that they get along so well, but he can obviously never let them know that. It would give them too much power.)
"I'll miss you too, sweetheart," Bucky says as he lifts Sarah right off of her feet and swings her around. "I promise I'll be back, though."
"I'm holding you to that," Sarah tells him while poking Bucky's chest.
"Please do," Bucky laughs as he sets her back down.
"Okay gentlemen," Sarah says as she continues stacking plates next to the sink, "any chance you guys might take care of the dishes so I can pry the boys away from their video game and tuck them in?"
"Of course," Bucky nods while reaching out and offering Sam a hand. "You wash, I'll dry?"
"Deal," Sam grins as he lets Bucky help him to his feet. Not that Sam needs it, but he loves that Bucky is so delightfully chivalrous.
"Don't let him trick you into doing all the work," Sarah warns Bucky as she pulls him into another hug. "And you better come down and say goodbye before you leave tomorrow."
"Yes ma'am," Bucky says as he gives Sarah one last squeeze. "Thanks again for dinner, and just for everything, really."
"Thanks for always keeping my brother safe," Sarah smiles at them both as she exits the kitchen.
"Your family is amazing," Bucky tells Sam once they're alone. "Cass and AJ are the sweetest kids, and I'm really going to miss this place."
"Don't miss it for too long then," Sam says as he claps a hand on Bucky's shoulder. "I know you have stuff to sort out in Brooklyn, but you can always come back here afterward. Maybe stay a while and make a proper vacation of it," he suggests.
"I thought we were going to take separate vacations?" Bucky teases.
"I've got Carlos and his fillet knife on speed dial, just so you know," Sam jokes as he grabs two more beers from the fridge and hands one to Bucky.
"I'm kidding," Bucky says as he accepts the bottle. Their fingers connect briefly, and Sam wishes they could live in this moment forever. No threats on their lives, no drama, just each other.
"Well I'm serious about you coming back. You up for it?" Sam asks.
"Definitely," Bucky nods before taking a sip from his beer. "Just let me tie up some loose ends in Brooklyn, then I'm all yours," he winks.
It's a common phrase, Sam realizes, but it still causes a sudden warmth to bloom in his chest.
I'm all yours.
Yeah, he could get used to that.
"Works for me," Sam says as he sets his beer down and turns his attention to the sink.
Bucky's words keep replaying in his head like a broken record: I'm all yours…I'm all yours...I'm all yours… so Sam has to occupy his hands before he does something reckless.
"Here, let me help," Bucky offers as he grabs a clean dish towel and joins Sam by the sink.
Bucky's 'help' turns out to be nothing but a distraction since he's pressed up against Sam's side, warm and solid. Sam's not really sure when Bucky started wearing cologne, but the one he's got on right now smells familiar. It's probably one of his own, Sam distantly realizes, since they both showered just before dinner.
Bucky hadn't brought much with him besides a single change of clothing, so he likely hadn't packed many toiletries.
"Are you wearing my cologne?" Sam asks out of curiosity, not that he minds in the least. Bucky usually just smells like fabric softener, which always makes Sam want to hold him close and breathe him in.
"Yeah," Bucky admits, "I hope you don't mind. I didn't bring any, so I just wanted to smell nice."
"You do," Sam says as he nudges Bucky's shoulder. What he doesn't dare mention is the fact that Bucky smells exactly like he probably would if he woke up in Sam's arms, with their combined scents mingling together. "You look nice, too," he adds in what he hopes is an appreciative tone.
Since Bucky neglected to pack anything to sleep in, he's wearing one of Sam's favorite T-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants. The shirt is a bit snug, but it clings to him in all the right places.
"Thanks," Bucky blushes as Sam hands him some plates to dry.
"You're welcome," Sam says while trying his best not to think about how much better that shirt would look on his bedroom floor.
"Do you think Sarah would share her beignet recipe with me?" Bucky asks a moment later.
"Doubtful," Sam snickers. "She's definitely taking that one to the grave with her. Hell, I don't even know it," he confesses.
"Oh," Bucky frowns. "Well, maybe she can still teach me how to make 'em even if we use a different recipe," he muses. "They're so goddamn addictive."
Shaking his head, Sam says, "they'll never be the same. You need water from the bayou to make them just right."
"Bullshit," Bucky scoffs as he gives Sam a playful shove.
"Hey, don't mock the process," Sam laughs, "but I can teach you if you really want to learn."
"Cool," Bucky grins. "I did a lot of cooking when I was in the Army. I wasn't half bad at it, actually."
"I can see that about you," Sam nods. "Especially living in Brooklyn. I bet you'll turn into one of those foodie snobs in no time."
"Nah," Bucky shakes his head, "I've never been too picky when it comes to food. My ma always taught me to eat whatever was put in front of me, so I doubt I'll ever become a snob about it."
"Sounds like she raised you right, then," Sam smiles.
"Guess so," Bucky agrees as he ducks his head shyly.
They work in companionable silence for the next few minutes, with Sam washing the dishes and then handing them over for Bucky to dry. The kitchen has a nice, wide sink, but no luxuries such as a dishwasher. That's fine with Sam, though. He's glad Sarah chose to preserve the original architecture, rather than overload the house with too many modern fixtures.
"Are there any more dishes left?" Sam asks a little while later as he's rinsing off some forks.
"Nope," Bucky says as he reaches around Sam and shuts off the tap. "All done," he adds in a low voice as he anchors his hands on Sam's hips and presses himself close.
It's so unexpected that it shocks Sam into dropping the forks back into the sink.
"Shit," he curses as soapy water splashes the front of his T-shirt.
"Sorry," Bucky laughs, clearly aware of the effect he's having on Sam.
"No you're not," Sam fires back because Bucky knows exactly what he's doing.
"No, I'm really not," Bucky purrs as he tucks his face into the curve of Sam's neck.
Sam had forgotten how sexy the scrape of stubble could feel. Sweet Jesus.
"Are you nuzzling me?" Sam tries to play it cool, but his voice betrays him by cracking slightly.
"Mmmhmm," Bucky confirms as he rests his chin on Sam's shoulder. "Just let me know if this makes you uncomfortable, and I promise I'll stop."
"Okay," Sam says a bit shakily, "did you accidentally eat some catnip?" Friendly touches are pretty common between them now, but there's absolutely nothing platonic about the way Bucky's got him pressed up against the counter.
Bucky chuckles at that while slipping his hands under Sam's shirt and trailing them over the smooth skin just above Sam's waistband. "I'm fine, Sam."
"Well something's up," Sam insists, but he doesn't pull away.
"Not yet," Bucky leers as he gives Sam's hips a squeeze. "But maybe if you play your cards right."
"Buck," Sam freezes, because that is entirely possible to misinterpret, "are you flirting with me?"
"Well, if you have to ask, then I'm obviously doing it wrong," Bucky laughs again. "I was a lot smoother back in the forties, I swear."
"You're doing fine," Sam praises as he melts into Bucky's touch. "You just caught me off guard, that's all."
"I'm full of surprises, sweetheart," Bucky whispers as he grazes his lips against Sam's neck.
Sam can't help shivering at the touch, because Bucky's lips are a warm contrast to the crisp evening breeze filtering through the open windows. The sweet scent of gardenias fills the air as Sam tries to calm his racing heart.
It's just Bucky, he thinks, which would have completely unnerved him once upon a time. Now it's a familiar comfort, like his favorite sweater, or the melodic sound of his nephews' laughter. Still, he can't seem to contain the flutter in his chest because he knows they're crossing a line that they've been cautiously avoiding for years.
"I like surprises," Sam says as he turns around and grips Bucky by the front of the T-shirt. The fabric is soft, and he can feel the heat from Bucky's skin seeping through it.
"I like you," Bucky counters as he cradles Sam's jaw with one hand. With the other, he hooks his fingers into Sam's belt loops and hauls him closer.
"I like you too," Sam admits as he drops his hands down and settles them on Bucky's waist.
"Glad we're on the same page," Bucky grins as he sweeps his thumb over Sam's cheek. "Would it be terribly old-fashioned of me to ask for permission to kiss you?"
"Yes," Sam says, eyes sparkling with delight, "but I sure hope that's not gonna stop you."
"Consider this my formal request, then," Bucky winks as he tilts Sam's face up.
"Permission granted, Sergeant," Sam murmurs just before Bucky kisses him. It's a slow, sweet drag of their lips at first, then Bucky carefully changes the angle as he cups the back of Sam's neck and deepens the kiss.
Sam lets out a whimper as he reaches up to run his fingers through Bucky's hair. It's the shortest it's ever been since Sam has known him, but he loves it like this. Bucky barely looks older than he did in the forties, and he's still every bit as handsome.
"Finally," Bucky pants shakily against Sam's mouth. "God, I've been wanting to do that for so long."
"Me too, baby," Sam replies as he wraps his arms around Bucky's neck.
"Well then, I guess we'll just have to make up for lost time," Bucky suggests as he leans in for another kiss. It's every bit as sweet as the first one but slightly less gentle as he pins Sam to the counter and rocks their hips together.
"Fuck," Sam groans as he pulls back suddenly and rubs Bucky's cheek. He can hear the TV upstairs so he knows that someone is still awake. Probably Sarah, but it could easily be the boys since it's not even that late. "As much as I really want to take this further, we can't right now. Not until we're sure that everyone's asleep."
"Sweetheart," Bucky says as he slides forward and nudges their noses together. "You don't owe me any explanations. This is your house and I would never want to make anything weird for you and your family. Especially for you, Sam."
"I know," Sam nods, "and I really appreciate that. I just wish we had some privacy, that's all."
"We will," Bucky smiles while adding, "they've gotta fall asleep sometime, right?"
"Right," Sam laughs as he kisses Bucky softly. "You're amazing, you know that? Just in case I don't tell you enough."
"Wait, does that mean I'm not as annoying as you like to pretend I am?" Bucky teases.
"No," Sam grins brightly, "you're definitely still annoying."
Bucky rolls his eyes fondly as he reaches for Sam's hand and steers him into the living room. "Well you're no picnic either, baby doll," he says finally as he drops down onto the couch and pulls Sam into his arms.
"Must be why we're perfect for each other, huh?" Sam winks as he settles onto Bucky's lap and kisses him again.
"Must be," Bucky agrees as he wraps his arms around Sam's neck and kisses him back.
*
"So, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," Bucky tells Sam a while later when they're curled up on the couch watching TV.
"What is it?" Sam asks as he sits up and turns to face Bucky. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's fine," Bucky replies. "But I kinda broke the lease on my apartment, so that's why I'm heading back to Brooklyn. There's not much left in it, honestly, but I have to pick up the rest of my stuff and then just turn in my keys. I could use some company though if you wanna come with me?"
"Of course, baby," Sam says as he reaches out and squeezes Bucky's knee. "Oh shit, I should probably check for a last-minute flight, though."
"No need," Bucky tells him. "I, uh, kinda hoped you'd say yes, so I already got you a ticket."
"And what if I said no?" Sam challenges.
"Oh," Bucky frowns, "then guess I'd just go alone and miss you the whole time."
"Who knew you were such a drama queen?" Sam smirks while leaning in to kiss Bucky's pout away. "I'm kidding, baby; I'd love to go with you. But wait, where are you moving to then?"
"Well," Bucky blushes, "that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I used to love living in New York, but it's changed a lot since I was a kid. It's too damn loud, for one," he laughs. "That, or maybe I'm just not cut out for big city life anymore."
"So, you're leaving the city," Sam says, but it's not a question. He tried to talk Bucky out of moving there in the first place, but he figured it must have been a comfort thing. It's the only place Bucky has ever lived, so it made sense that he'd end up there, at least for a little while.
"Yeah," Bucky nods. "It's just not home to me anymore. I mean, I guess it hasn't been for the last eighty years, so I think it's time to move on."
"So where did you have in mind?" Sam asks. He doesn't want to assume anything, but he suddenly feels pretty hopeful about what Bucky may be getting at.
"Here," Bucky says while brushing his lips against Sam's. "You're home to me, so I just wanna be wherever you are, baby. I already looked up some apartment listings earlier and I found a few that looked promising. I mean, if you're cool with all of this. I don't want to make you feel pressured, or make things weird, or - "
Sam cuts him off with a kiss so intense that it leaves them both completely breathless.
"Bucky," Sam pants a moment later. "Are you kidding me? You know I hated the idea of you living all alone in Brooklyn, and I hope you know that I always want you around me."
"Always?" Bucky blushes as he shifts closer and rubs his nose against Sam's.
"Always," Sam repeats as he tilts his head and kisses Bucky again. "You're not gonna need that apartment, though."
"I won't?" Bucky says while giving Sam a teasing grin. "How come?"
"Well," Sam explains as he hauls Bucky off of the couch and leads him over to the window. From there, they have a perfect view of the backyard which is bathed in the soft glow of moonlight. "I was actually thinking about building a place for us. We own this land and there's plenty of extra room," he adds while gesturing out the window. "So I was thinking we could build an extension for ourselves, sort of like a guest house. That way, we'll have our privacy, but we can still be near Sarah and the boys. What do you think?"
"I think that sounds like a goddamn amazing plan to me," Bucky says as he turns to wrap his arms around Sam and pull him close. "I haven't known your family for even a whole day yet but I already love them almost as much as I love you," he smiles before leaning in for another kiss.
"Whoa," Sam gasps. "You love me?"
"So much," Bucky nods. "I know it's probably way too soon to say it, but - "
"No, it isn't," Sam disagrees as he gently trails his fingertips over the scruff on Bucky's jaw, "not if you really mean it."
"I've honestly never meant anything more," Bucky murmurs as he steals another kiss. This one is just a quick peck, but Sam still feels it all the way down to his toes.
"Bucky, I - "
"I don't expect you to say it back," Bucky quickly interjects before Sam can even get a word in. "I just wanted you to know how much you mean to me, sweetheart. I know I'm not good with words, and okay, most of the time I'm just not good at expressing myself in general, but - "
"Bucky," Sam tries a little more firmly this time as he rubs the back of Bucky's neck. "I love you too. I've known it since Wakanda for sure, but probably even before that, honestly. You may be a pain in my ass sometimes, but you're the only one I trust with my heart," he finishes as he tugs Bucky forward and kisses him deeply.
"Holy shit," Bucky says as he pulls back and gives Sam a hopeful look. "You love me? Like really?"
"Really," Sam nods as he reaches for Bucky's hand and drags him back over to the couch. "I know it's been a while since we've talked about it," he continues once they get settled, "but I honestly don't know where I'd even be right now if it weren't for you. I was really struggling to accept how much life had changed after the blip, but you," Sam pauses as he turns toward Bucky and scoots closer, "you were my knight in shining armor. Literally," he emphasizes as he reaches for Bucky's vibranium hand and squeezes it. "Thank you, baby. That really meant a lot to me, just in case I don't say it enough."
"Sweetheart, you of all people have nothing to thank me for," Bucky says. "You deserve the world, Sam Wilson, he whispers as he takes hold of Sam's jaw and kisses him again.
"Thank you," Sam pants between kisses. "It's not a competition, but you know you deserve nice things too, right?"
Bucky smiles softly as he leans back and grips Sam by the shoulders. "Baby, I've already got everything I could ever possibly need or want right here."
The with you part goes unspoken, but Sam hears it anyway.
"I love you," Bucky continues as he gives Sam's shoulders a reassuring squeeze. "When I escaped from HYDRA, I never dreamed that I could be happy again, or that I'd fall in love and have a shot at a normal life. Not that anything about our lives is exactly normal," he laughs.
"No, definitely not," Sam agrees, "but we make it work."
"We sure do, sugar," Bucky says as he drops a kiss on Sam's shoulder.
"So how about it?" Sam asks as he reaches for Bucky's hand and laces their fingers together. "Do you think you could be happy here in Delacroix?"
"I don't care where we live," Bucky says as he slides onto Sam's lap. "Here, New York, Wakanda, fucking Mars, even. Delacroix is amazing, but honestly, I'll be happy wherever we are as long as you're there with me," he finishes as he tilts Sam's face up for a kiss.
"You know we don't have any of those fancy sushi joints here, right? Or those hipster coffee shops that you love so much," Sam teases.
"That's okay," Bucky grins as he presses a trail of kisses up Sam's neck. "I make damn good coffee actually, and I happen to know of a fantastic place to get seafood. The owners are a little grumpy, but you learn to love 'em."
"Is that so?" Sam pretends to glare as he pokes Bucky in the ribs.
"Yes it is," Bucky huffs while trying to squirm out of Sam's grasp. "And I think the one with the hot ass might have a crush on me."
"You better be talking about me," Sam smirks as he shoves Bucky backward and crawls on top of him.
"Only you, my love," Bucky says seriously as he wraps his arms around Sam's neck.
"Good answer," Sam winks as he bends down and kisses Bucky slowly. "I love you," he adds when he pulls back and rests their foreheads together.
Bucky smiles at that, sweet and soft and so ridiculously fond as he leans in and nuzzles Sam's cheek.
"I love you more."
~*~
#Sambucky#Winterfalcon#my writing#they make me so happy#especially Bucky taking care of Sam#my baby deserves the world#😍😍😍😍😍#please ignore any glaring mistakes#I think I edited this so much that my eyes were starting to cross#yes I absolutely used a 1D lyric for the title#because that's my other main fandom#and their lyrics make amazing fic titles
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Congratulations on 500 followers babes!! Can u do 1, 8, 17 from the fluff prompt list w javier peña please xx
Thank you so much my darling! I just want to say I took one look at this request and was like oh we're being soft soft lol. I loved writing this and I hope you enjoy!
In Moments Of Peace
Pairing: Javier Peña x F!Reader
Prompts: 1."Can I kiss you?" 8."I love you." "Say it again." 17."From the moment I met you I swore I'd marry you someday."
Word Count: 2.7K
Warnings: So much fluff.
When you took the job in Colombia you're not sure what you expected. You were dropped in the middle of a war where the body count climbed higher every day and fresh blood was spilled on the streets before old blood had even dried.
So in a job so helplessly entwined with horror and violence you really didn't expect to find your beacon of light. Nor did you expect for that beacon to come in the form of the grumpiest man you've ever met.
To many, Javier Peña was a bit of a mystery and if you're completely honest, an asshole. Hell you'd even thought so yourself when you first met. He'd been rude when you'd arrived, his eyes trailing over you too far slowly to be considered decent before snapping his gaze to yours when you'd cleared your throat.
He'd muttered something about how being sent another clueless newbie was the last thing they'd needed and your temper had immediately got the better of you. With hands planted firmly on his desk you'd leaned down, eyes blazing into his and a snarl on your lips.
"You guys have managed to fuck up every single chance you've had at getting Escobar. Even now you've got jack shit on the guy, so yeah, it looks like you do need this clueless newbie."
He'd leaned back in his chair, gaze darkening as he watched you before a small smirk had tugged at his plump lips.
"Great, another hothead. You and Murphy will get on great."
**
Much to Javi's chagrin, you and Steve had in fact immediately got along.
The blonde agent included you in everything. Briefings, missions, stakeouts and even nights out. He pretty much forced the three of you to become a team and in doing so, gradually respect built up between you and Javi.
Soon enough there was barely a day that went by that Javi wasn't in your apartment or you weren't in his. As soon as you'd get home from work you'd shower and change into comfortable clothes, get your ingredients out to start dinner for both of you and pour two glasses of whiskey as you'd wait for the inevitable knock on the door.
Respect turned into friendship as you began joining him for drinks after work on numerous occasions, Steve going home to Connie so it was always just the two of you.
You got to know each other, sharing random things about yourselves as the drinks flowed and on days where work had been particularly rough you'd leave the bar to continue your drinking and talking in the comfort of one of your appartments.
Javi always did the same for you too, smiling gently to himself when he'd hear you knock a random tune before letting yourself in. You always sat on the kitchen counter to keep him company whilst he cooked, humming softly to the radio and looking incredibly soft in your old shorts and baggy t-shirt.
You always smelt good too and Javi constantly found it difficult to concentrate on the food instead of your warm, silky skin being so close, he ached to touch you but was too afraid of losing the bond you were carefully creating.
During the nights you spent on each other's couches, food on your laps and your legs spread out alongside each others as you watch tv, you learnt alot about Javi. He has a ridiculous sense of humour, he comes out with some of the wildest things you've ever heard just to make you laugh. He's also incredibly charming and not in the forced way you've seen a thousand times when he wants something from someone but the real and honest kind.
He's considerate, he worries that he's imposing when you look exhausted and even when you tell him he's not, he'll take over from cooking, ushering you to get comfy on the sofa whilst he finishes up and brings you food and after you're done he'll prop your feet up on his lap and massage your aching muscles until you're boneless and more relaxed than you've been in years. Neither of you ever mention it but if you fall asleep on the sofa? Javi gently picks you up and carries you to bed, tucking you in and pressing a soft kiss to your forehead before letting himself out.
And the final most, glaringly obvious fact? Javi is good . He's truly a good man and your heart aches for the toll this war has took on him. You know he's made questionable decisions and sacrificed his own integrity to try and save lives and you hate that he sees himself as someone not worth caring about because of it. Because you do care about Javi, you care more than you can ever admit.
Today has been rough, chasing your tails as the leads you have turn up empty and flicking through endless amounts of files in a desperate attempt to come up with anything of use. The mood in the office is low, you, Javi and Steve are all getting snippy with each other, frustration getting to you all and you're thankful when you realise it's time to go home before you start going for each other's throats.
You shower the stress of the day away and slip into some well worn pjs. You're just about to raid your fridge for something quick and easy, far too tired to actually cook when a knock at the door makes you jump.
Padding over to the door and swinging it open, you're surprised to find Javi waiting, a nervous expression on his face. You would of thought after today he'd want a little break from you and Steve but when he lifts a bag full of takeout from your favourite place you can't help the beaming smile that sweeps across your lips.
"You are literally my favourite person in the entire world. Has anyone ever told you you're fucking amazing?" You tell him seriously, the delicious smell from the bag wafting up to your nose and making your mouth water.
Javi's dark eyes gleam wickedly as he smirks at you and as soon as he opens his mouth you realise your choice of words and why he looks so smug and quickly hold your hand up.
"Don't say a word Peña! You'll ruin the moment and I'd like to have dinner without my mind being violated."
"I was only going to tell you you're welcome hermosa."
He chuckles as you mutter "liar" and snatch the bag, heading towards the coffee table you get to work setting all the containers out as Javi goes in the kitchen to grab plates and forks. He does a second trip to grab drinks and you smile at him greatfully as he passes you your glass.
You sit in comfortable silence as you both eat, glancing at each other out of the corners of your eyes when you think the other won't notice and a small, wistful sigh escapes your lips as you imagine what your life would be like if Javi returned your feelings.
How these nights together would be warmer, cosier as the two of you would lie entwined instead of opposite each other. His strong, calloused hands sliding up your arms or down your back as you rest against his chest instead of the way they politely curve over your ankle when he puts your feet on his lap.
Javi senses your mind is elsewhere and he looks at you in concern when the sad little sigh leaves your lips. There's a strange look in your eyes, almost like longing he thinks before dismissing the thought with a shake of his head.
He's probably just projecting his own feelings in the moment as his hands itch to pull you closer, to draw you on to his lap and tuck your head into his neck. To soothe the stress, not only from today but from weeks of disappointment, that he sees you carrying in the tension of your muscles.
He waves a hand slowly infront of your face when you zone out hard, flashing you an easy grin when you startle and look at him sheepishly.
"Come back to me hermosa." He murmurs and you feel the heat crawl up the back of your neck from the warmth in his voice and your own comes out shaky as you grasp desperately at a conversation to divert Javi's all consuming attention away from you.
Thanks to the awkwardness on top of the stressful day you've had, you both drink more than you probably should but you couldn't care less. The whiskey running through your veins leaves you totally relaxed, sinking further and further into the cushions whilst your legs are carelessly slung overJavi's. He's tracing random patterns on your skin, motions that have you biting down moans of contentment from how good his fingers feel on your skin.
The two of you are chatting freely, the alcohol making your tongues loose and you both laugh wildly whilst swapping your most ridiculous stories from work. You've just finished telling one that has left you gasping for breath with tears in your eyes, Javi's face is flushed from laughing, his eyes crinkled adorably and you snort loudly when he turns to you and says.
"I thought me and Steve were the bad luck in the team but apparently trouble just follows you everywhere cariño." He winks at you and you roll your eyes, shoving him jokingly with your foot as you mumble.
"Yeah yeah, tell me something I don't know."
He doesn't know why he doesn't stop himself from saying it, has no idea why it's the first think that comes to mind but he's blurting it out before he can even think of biting his tongue.
"From the moment I met you I swore I'd marry you someday."
The room goes deadly silent and he winces as you throw yourself into a sitting position so you can stare at him in disbelief. Seconds that feel like years tick by and he's desperately wishing he can come up with something, anything to get you to stop staring at him like that when suddenly you erupt into a fit of giggles.
'Liar! You called me a clueless newbie you asshole!"
The breath that he's holding leaves his chest in a mixture of relief and bitter disappointment. For a moment he'd been afraid he'd blown everything but now it stings that you think he's joking, he covers it with a teasing smirk as he leans back against the cushions.
"Alright maybe not straight away, but definitely after you tried to put me in my place, watching you get all riled up was pretty hot." He teases and you shove him with your foot again, squealing when he grabs it and begins tickling you.
"It's not polite to kick someone when they give you a compliment cariño." Javi taunts, grabbing you tighter as you gasp with laughter and try desperately to get away.
"Shit I'm sorry! Javi please! Have mercy!" You cackle, tears streaming down your face whilst he continues the vicious torture.
He backs off, grinning at you smugly whilst you curse him under your breath and his soft laugh makes your already racing heart skip a beat. When you glance at him he's already looking at you, eyes swirling with something you can't quite put your finger on. The air grows heavy between you as you watch each other, you're almost afraid to breathe, terrified any noise will shatter whatever moment is happening between you.
His hand inches towards you slowly like it's wading through water and ever so carefully his fingers graze down your cheek, inhaling sharply when you lean into the warm touch. He licks his lips nervously, slowly leaning in when your gaze drops to his mouth and he waits until he's close enough for you to almost taste the whiskey, cigarettes and something else purely Javi, waits until his lips are millimetres from your own and you can feel them brush over yours with every word.
"Can I kiss you?" He whispers huskily.
"Please Javi. "
Your pleading whine is cut off as his lips touch yours, gentle at first, careful as he makes sure this is what you want. He holds you like he's terrified he'll open his eyes and you'll disapear and you want, no, need him to realise this is exactly where you want to be. You're not going anywhere.
You try and shuffle your body closer and he groans lowly as he realises, hands reaching for your waist to pull you on his lap before moving to cradle your jaw as he deepens the kiss. His lips move rougher against yours, coaxing satisfied moans from your throat and you melt into his chest when his tongue sweeps the seam of your lips before delving past and tangling with your tongue in a heated burst of passion.
You pull away panting when your lungs begin screaming for air and Javi follows, his lips chasing yours and you grin widely as he peppers soft kisses to your mouth and along your jaw. His warm chocolate eyes are glowing when you look at him, his cheeks flushed and lips swollen with your kisses.
His curls are sticking up where they've been threaded around your fingers and you always knew this man was beautiful, you would of swooned the first time you met him if he hadn't of been such an ass, but right now he's stunning.
You open your mouth without really thinking, half expecting yourself to blurt out how pretty he is and for you to have to deal with his smug grin days. But no, something entirely different comes out instead.
"I love you."
The words are a breathy sigh, so quiet that had you not spoken them whilst nose to nose he propbably wouldn't of heard them at all. But he does hear and you feel the way he stiffens beneath you. You freeze in horror and reel back, your heart sinking when you see the way he's staring at you with stunned eyes.
You go to scramble off his lap, apologies springing to the tip of your tongue ready to fall but your words evaporate in your mouth as his hands grip your hips to stop you from moving.
"Say it again." He whispers, eyes cautious and guarded.
"Javi, don't." You shake your head, looking anywhere but at him as you try not to cry, convinced you've screwed everything up before it could even begin. Soft fingers grip your chin and turn you back to meet his warm gaze, he pulls your face closer to his and presses a tender kiss on your lips.
"Say it again." He implores and you're helpless to deny him any longer.
"I love you Javi."
His answering smile is radiant, making your heart soar as he dives forward and kisses you fiercely. He wraps both arms around you, fusing you tightly against him and you sag against his chest whilst he leaves you breathless. He's still grinning wildly when his mouth parts from yours and this time it's you that chases his lips whilst he murmurs against your mouth.
"I love you too cariño. Loved you from the moment you called me out on my bullshit, I just didn't want to say anything incase it ruined what we have."
"Me too." You laugh tearfully. "I know you're not one for relationships and I was terrified of scaring you away. I mean't what I said before, you're my favourite person in the world."
He presses his forehead to yours and brushes the stray tears from your cheeks, gazing into your eyes.
"I can't promise I won't fuck up sometimes, it's been a really long time since I've loved anyone." He mumbles. "But I want this with you… if you'll have me."
You pour your heart into the kiss you give him, happiness bursting in your chest as he responds in kind and cradles you close.
Tomorrow will probably bring about more stress and pain, violence and bloodshed always being a posibility you have to face every single day. But right now you have no worries, in each other's arms you find a truly blissful moment of peace.
Taglist: @autumnleaves1991-blog @ecuadorlady @readsalot73 @gingerbreadandpaper
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Blood, Sweat, and Tears (Javier Peña x f!Reader)- Chapter Four
Summary: You feel like shit and decide to work out the bug. Javier is not going to let that happen.
W/C: 2.5k
Warnings: language, mentions of illness (just a common cold), cavity-inducing fluff
A/N: Hi this is like, toothache-inducing fluff. Super cute idea from @softly-sad inspired this whole chapter! And BIG shoutout to @remmysbounty for being my sounding board/Colombian culture expert/brainstorming buddy!
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You’re a nurse; your immune system is hardy. The first year or so of working in hospitals led you to constantly feel ill, plagued by some bug or virus, but you powered through with help from your fellow nurses. It was to be expected, working in an environment surrounded by people, specifically ill ones.
That being said, you had caught a bug of some kind. It wasn’t too bad, not enough to disqualify you from work. It was simply a scratch in your throat, a throbbing temple that came and went, a few other mild symptoms and an inability to sleep.
This brief insomnia was what found you awake at 1:28 in the morning, joints aching. You’re hydrated, well-fed, and had even snuck a nap in during your break at work today. Everything should be fine, but your body aches, and you roll over in your bed with a groan. Sleep isn’t coming, isn’t anywhere near possible. You crack your neck as you sit up and decide the best course of action is to work out the aches.
You sigh and get out of bed, changing out of your pajamas and into your workout clothes. Your mind wanders a little, wondering if you’ll catch Peña at this hour. It seems unlikely, but then again, the probability of anyone being at the gym at this hour is always low.
It’s a bit chilly in the air of the night, and you sigh as you walk out into the fresh air. You make your way to the gym, secretly hoping that you don’t run into Javier tonight. You’ll be the first to admit you look like shit, and you’re not going to be working out as hard as normal.
Luck isn’t on your side tonight, you sigh, as you enter the fitness center and find Javier running on the treadmill. He’s already quite into it, sweating and panting from the running. He turns as the door creaks open and stops the machine, smiling a little. It falls when he notices the dark rings around your eyes. “Hey.”
“Hi,” you say shyly, turning away from him to put your things in a locker. The twinge returns to your temple and you try your best not to groan at the annoying headache.
Javier turns off the treadmill and turns to look at your back. “I’ll just say it. You look like shit. Is something wrong?” he asks, crossing his arms, genuinely concerned.
“I feel like shit too,” you chuckle, running a hand over your ponytail.
His brow furrows as he looks at you. “Rough shift? I thought you said-”
You nod and cut him off. “I only work days for the next two weeks, yeah,” you say, turning to face him. “I’ve got some kind of bug or something. I feel like shit and I can’t sleep. I figured I’d come to the gym and try to work out if I was going to be awake, but…” you shrug and take a swig from your water bottle.
Javier shakes his head. “If you’re feeling like shit, working out isn’t going to be the answer.” He steps off the treadmill and wipes his face with the hem of his t-shirt, exposing unexpectedly strong abs that make you raise your eyebrows before quickly looking away. He walks over to the area by you, grabbing his bag. “If neither of us can sleep, why don’t we go get breakfast?” he offers, positioning himself so that you don’t have to move to see him. “There’s a little 24-hour place around here. I’ll buy, we’ll get you some hot coffee and food.”
You bite your lip, thinking you probably shouldn’t. “I came here to work out,” you say, a weak protest.
“That’s pointless if you’re feeling like shit,” Javier points out, and you nod.
“I guess that’s true.” You say and cross your arms.
Javier gives you a soft, gentle smile. “You’re a nurse. You know it’s true. Come on,” he tells you, and you finally crack a small smile too. Javier’s widens at that. “Alright hermosa, come on,” he tells you as he grabs his bag. “I drove here tonight. We’ll take my car?” he asks.
The thought of seeing the kind of car the man drives makes you smile a little wider. You hold back a giggle at the nickname, your heart fluttering helplessly in your chest. “As long as you’ll drive me home too,” you nod, and Javier nods back.
You walk out to his car alongside him, where you discover he drives a beat-up wagon. You chuckle a little and get into the passenger side. It smells of cigarette smoke, which you find no surprise. There’s some kind of air freshener, at least, that masks the distinct smell but doesn’t hide it completely. Javier tosses his bag in the back and sits in the drivers’ seat.
The drive to the restaurant is filled with a comfortable silence, the radio playing quietly. You relax in the seat of his car, his presence soothing. It’s a bit chilly, and you unintentionally shiver. Javier’s obviously still warm from working out and he notices the fact that you’re cold. “The heater’s busted,” he admits with an apologetic smile. “Here.” He reaches into the back and grabs a leather jacket, placing it on your lap. “Use my jacket.”
The gesture makes you melt a little, and you nod, sliding it over your shoulders. It’s big on you, but it’s warm and comfortable and has a distinctive smell that you’re sure is Javier’s. There’s cologne and cigarette smoke and exhaust from the shitty car, and you smile as you snuggle into it. “Thank you,” you tell him as you look over at him, your heart completely in your eyes and unable to hide it.
He looks back at you and his stony face cracks into a smile. “No problem.”
A few minutes later, the car parks outside a small restaurant, dimly lit but clearly open. As you get out of the car and open the door to the restaurant, the smell of coffee wafts your way and soothes you as you breathe it in. Javier walks in behind you and a short and plump waitress calls his name excitedly. “Javi! How are you, mijo?” She asks, already bringing two mugs of coffee as she notices the two of you. “And who is this?” She asks again, handing you a mug.
Javier leads you to the small booth nearby and the two of you sit. He introduces you and you give a little wave, sipping your coffee and sighing at the warm liquid. The waitress chats with him, and you smile to yourself as you watch the two of them interact. He’s just as charming with her as he is with you, and it makes you chuckle. He orders something for the two of you (you don’t catch exactly what), and you lean against the cool leather of the booth, smiling at him as the waitress leaves to put in the order. “What?” he asks, cracking a small smile at the way you look at him.
You snuggle into his jacket and shrug. “You’re quite the charmer,” you tease, bringing the coffee to your lips to hide the growing smile. “What did you order us?”
“Sweet arepas,” he tells you, and you nod happily as you set it down.
“Sounds wonderful,” you nod and set it down. “How was your day?” you ask, the quiet atmosphere of the small restaurant making your voice quieter and gentler. You’ve never asked him something like that, but he’s been tense all night. Well, what you assumed was tense- you didn’t know him extremely well.
“Shitty,” he shakes his head as he admits it, sipping his own coffee before finishing his response. “We can’t find shit on Escobar or any of his men. It’s like they’re fucking ghosts or something: we can always see them and never catch them.”
You nod and listen, his quiet voice and the coffee soothing you. His voice is beautiful, you notice, and it’s just what you needed on a night like tonight. “That sounds hard,” you nod in agreement, your eyes showing your compassion.
Javier has come to love looking into your eyes. They always give away your thoughts and emotions. The way you look at him melts his heart. He has Steve and Connie and whatever prostitute he’s with, but they always already know the story or don’t care. You do. “It’s tough, yeah,” he says before he looks down at his coffee, the image of you bundled in his leather jacket threatening to make him smile.
The arepas come not long after, and you sigh as you bite into the cinnamon-sugar dusted cornmeal cakes. Javier chuckles and smiles as he hears the noise. You notice the way his smile looks like it doesn’t come often, but it comes in full force when it does. It crinkles the edges of his eyes, leaves lines around his mouth, and makes him look like everything you want and more. He bites into one and it leaves the fine powder on his mustache. You snort and nearly spit out your coffee as you notice it.
“What?”
“Nothing,” you say quickly, hiding your face behind your mug. “Just got a little… something,” you say, gesturing to your face, to where his mustache would be. He brushes it and frowns as he notices the sugar falling out, and you giggle harder.
“Don’t laugh at me,” Javier says, amusement and teasing in his tone.
“Don’t make yourself so easy to laugh at,” you say with a quirked eyebrow, taking another bite of your arepa.
Javier shakes his head, that familiar small smile on his face: the one he always cracks around you no matter how hard he tries to hold back. He really does like you, he realizes in that moment, as he looks at you: happily chewing your food and wrapped in his leather jacket and probably getting powdered sugar and cinnamon on it but he can’t even bring himself to care because your big eyes are on his face and it makes him warm inside even if he’ll never admit it because goddamn would Steve tease him for the rest of eternity but he thinks he might be falling, and it makes that smile grow into a real one he can’t hold back.
He takes a sip of his coffee and forces himself to be the regular Javier, the flirty one who doesn’t let things mean something to him because he knows it’ll be gone soon anyway. “Sometimes I can’t believe you’re a nurse. Are you so mean and sarcastic to your patients?”
“Come by sometime and find out,” you tease. “Actually, don’t. That would mean you’d need a reason to be in the hospital.”
-
The rest of the night passes easily. You and Javier spend hours in that diner booth, drinking coffee and mindlessly munching on the arepas, which the kind waitress brings out several plates of throughout the night. She tells you that Javier doesn’t eat enough, and you believe it, and you watch as the plate slowly becomes empty every time, most of them going into Javier’s mouth and leaving more sugar on that mustache. You converse and tease and flirt and bare your life stories to each other, neither of you ever taking your eyes from the other’s face except for when the woman- Valeria, she tells you- brings more coffee and more food.
Javier looks at his watch for the first time that night, finding that it’s now 5:30 in the morning. “Shit. We’d better get you home, you need to work, don’t you?”
“Don’t you too?” you ask in return, tilting your head and pulling the coat closer around yourself.
“Yeah, but that’s less important.” He leaves a Colombian bill on the table for payment and tip for Valeria, then stands, adjusting his clothing. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
You nod and stand, following Javier out to his car, parked on the street in front of the diner. Valeria calls out a goodbye to the both of and you wave, a soft smile on your face. There were kind people everywhere you went, you found, even in a place with so much trouble and violence.
The sky is beginning to change colors as the sunrise approaches. The dark blue of the sky lightens near the horizon, and a bit of pastel orange tinges just where the outline of the city meets it. It’s beautiful, really. You watch the sky as Javier drives you home, as it slowly changes and a bit of the sun is starting to show.
Javier parks in front of your apartment, which you directed him to, and kills the engine. You look at him, confused. “I’ll walk you inside,” he says as if it’s obvious.
As you get out of the car, Javier follows and you shake your head. “No, it’s fine Javi,” you protest, but he walks to you and puts a hand on your arm.
“I want you to be safe, and you know I carry a gun.”
“It’s 5:30 A.M. on a Tuesday, and you’re wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt,” you laugh, raising your eyebrow. He hasn’t touched you since you first shook hands when you met. His hand is large and strong and you can practically feel the warmth through the thick leather of his coat. “Oh, shit, sorry,” you say and start to shrug out of the coat, but he stops you, one hand on each arm.
He shakes his head. “Keep it with you,” he says.
It’s a soft moment, the sun coming up in the eastern sky, Javier’s hands holding you through his coat, the one he gifted you when you were cold. You’re both silent for a moment, and Javier can’t help himself. He presses a soft kiss to your head, where your hairline and your forehead meet, murmuring your name into your skin. He’s so close to you, and you can smell his cologne and his sweat and his deodorant and cigarettes and coffee and it’s all so uniquely Javi that your breath stops for a moment before you throw your arms around his torso, hugging him. “Thank you,” you breathe into his chest, and you can feel him hum a soft noise that conveys ‘it’s no problem’, his arms wrapping back around you.
You both break away a moment later and you look up at him, a soft smile gracing your face and an equal one on his. “My hero,” you chuckle softly and press a brief kiss to his cheek. Javi chuckles softly at that, the warmth radiating from him tempting you to do more, but you stop yourself. You don’t want to give him your bug. “Thank you for tonight. It was much needed,” you tell him, pulling his leather jacket tight around yourself.
“I needed it too,” he nods. “Go inside. I’ll see you,” he says, his hands resting where his belt loops would be on his jeans. You can tell that’s a pose he strikes often.
“See you,” you nod and turn, heading into your apartment building. As you open the door, you turn, and Javier gives a little two fingered salute to you before getting back into his car.
taglist:
@wonderlandgabby @diogodxlot
#javier peña x reader#javi peña#javier peña#javi peña x reader#pedro pascal#pedro pascal x reader#jose pedro balmaceda pascal#pedro pascal fanfiction#narcos#narcos fanfic#blood sweat and tears#pascalpanic
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Distance
You finally join the team on a mission, but Bucky gets injured. Maybe you're letting yourself get a little too close to him. Also, the team discovers Naked and Afraid. Part of the Breathe Mercy verse.
Warnings: bullet wounds, angsty angst, cursing, Tony is left out, very found family vibes
Word count: 1980ish
A/N: I love Naked and Afraid so naturally it makes an appearance. This probably should have been two chapters but here we are. As always, 18+, minors DNI. Don't steal or copy or whatever. Feedback always appreciated.
When Natasha's voice calls out "Barnes is hit!" your whole heart drops past your stomach, right out of your body, and plummets into space. Hearing his pained groans through your earpiece only makes it worse. You can't see him on any of the screens, but you can hear him panting, trying to catch his breath, my gods he's drowning. Steve quickly grabs your hand, trying to reassure you.
"He's gonna be okay, sweetheart."
"I'm going to get him." You grab the microphone away from Steve, "James, stay there! Apply pressure! Can you breathe?"
"Doll?" His voice is a weak gurgle almost lost in the chaos. "S'that m'girl? M'okay sweets."
"I'm bringing him back. Stay cool, sweetheart." Sam's voice, strong and powerful, makes you realize just how faint Bucky's voice is.
You collapse into the chair beside Steve and hide your face behind your hands, trying to swallow down all your emotions. You're combat trained, you've experienced much worse than hearing someone get shot, but "Nobody was supposed to even be shot at today. What the hell, Steve?"
"Bucky has a way with people." Steve's charming smile calms your nerves a little more. Every cell of your body is thrumming with adrenaline and you see a faint blue spark between your fingers. Not now. Keep hold. Steve must see it too. "You want to go wait with the doc?"
"No. I'm here to do a job. What's next?"
"Hey, doll." Bucky grins helplessly from the medical cot. Your focus bounces between him and the doctor, finally landing on him. Despite the torrent of emotions, one reigns supreme: relief. He jerks away the oxygen mask, earning a frown from Dr. Cho, who is bandaging his arm. I could gladly wring his neck. "Don't you hey doll me. What in the actual fuck, James?"
"I'm fine, sweets. Gonna be just fine."
"You got shot."
"And in a few days, I'll be completely healed. You know this." He grits his teeth while Dr. Cho prods at his bandage, making sure it's secure.
She gives you a knowing smile as she leaves. "He's going to live, but he could use a good yelling."
You lean back against the wall, glaring at the ceiling. This is one of the first missions you've been allowed to join, exclusively to observe Steve run surveillance and the comms. The mission was a simple one, just basic information retrieval and yet he still managed to get shot.
"James Buchanan Barnes, the ability to heal super fast does not negate the fact that you were shot. Twice."
Bucky gives you his best puppy eyes, "C'mon, baby doll. Are you really gonna yell at me when I have bullet wounds?"
"You're lucky I don't shoot you a third time." You glare heavily at him before turning away. In truth, you're trying to keep your composure and being angry at him is so much easier than showing him how upset you are. Now seeing Bucky's cocky smile makes you understand why they shot him.
"Doll, look at me." You refuse, fighting back the tears that are threatening to start. It doesn't matter if he heals really fast. He's not immortal. You feel his vibranium hand caress your arm lightly and sigh, "Y/N, please. Don't shut me out."
"I've lost enough people." If not for his enhanced hearing, he would've missed your words. The admission hurts, but you don't shy away from it. After you were captured, HYDRA wiped out every person you loved, making you watch and rewatch the footage. Forgotten about by your soldiers, erased from your family, you're still waiting for the other shoe to drop, for everything to vanish again. And despite your best efforts, these people have wormed their way into your heart, and that includes the surly brunette reaching out for you. He lost everyone, too. Even Steve for a while.
"Hey, you're not gonna lose me. You think I'm gonna die and leave you with Sam? Or worse, Steve?"
You hang your head and after a deep breath, regain your full composure. "Your sense of self-preservation sucks. Stop getting into stupid fights, Sergeant Barnes."
"Sergeant Barnes?" You can hear the affronted tone in his voice. "You really are mad at me, sweets." He nudges your arm and you finally meet his eyes.
"Furious, Bucky."
After that incident, you decide to put a little space between the two of you. With your hungover realization of feelings and post-gunshot confirmation, I'm getting in way too deep here. Just need to get my footing again. We're practically coworkers, this isn't going anywhere, it isn't like that. You can no longer deny how your heart flips over in your chest and you can't breathe when Bucky smiles at you, especially after noticing his scowl toward everyone else. Can't I just have this one good thing? I'll keep it to myself. But no, because if you let it, it'll blossom into full fledged feelings and then you'll have a real problem when he tells you you're just a friend or worse. Better to step back. He won't even notice and he'll probably be relieved.
You sit beside Tony in meetings, spar with Natasha, and spend your free time with Bruce in his lab. The first night that you go to bed without Bucky, he's too tired to think much of it, but by the fourth night, he's irritated. When you come out of your bathroom, Bucky is sitting on your bed, idly flexing his vibranium fingers. And of course, your traitorous heart does its signature back flip. Bitch.
"Bucky? You okay?"
"No." His voice is quiet and unreadable. He doesn't look up at you, focusing on his hand. "Are you mad at me?"
"I was never…" Your brain rifles through your interactions, thinking of if you'd been angry with him. Surely he doesn't mean the mission?
"Then why are you avoiding me?" Now he gazes up at you, hurt in his cobalt gaze. Now not only is your heart going for a gold medal in acrobatics, but your voice is gone, too. "Don't say you aren't because I know better. You barely talk to me or look at me. You call me Barnes or Bucky. I… I can't sleep, my ribs hurt, and my best girl won't talk to me." He closes his eyes, rubbing his hands back through his hair. "Look, you're clearly avoiding me, I just want to know what I did, doll."
In that moment, your resolve doesn't just crack, it disintegrates. Sitting beside him, you pull him into a hug. "I'm sorry, James. I've been having a hard time these past few days, but I never meant to hurt you. Forgive me, please."
"Forgiven. Always forgiven, doll." When his arms wrap around you, your body relaxes for the first time in days. "I understand, but don't freeze me out. If you're going through stuff, let me know. I'll help however I can."
"I'm sorry." Your voice cracks and you internally kick yourself for turning into such a baby. One hug, one touch, one kind word, and you fall apart. Pathetic. "I just… I'm sorry."
"Don't be, pretty girl. You have nothing to be sorry for." His embrace tightens and you gladly lean into it, resting against his shoulder. "Do you need me to give you space?"
"Stay."
And just like that, you're back to where you started, completely screwed.
"Do you think you would do that?"
"Like volunteering for the show?" You feel Bucky nod.
He's laying back against your stomach with your legs on each side of him, letting you play with his hair while you marathon Naked and Afraid in the lounge. You convinced him that being shot called for a day of rest, if not for him then at least for you since he nearly caused you a heart attack. "Oh, hell no, James."
He chuckles, "You sure? Eating snakes and building your own shelter is not your idea of a fun holiday? Getting leeches in all your holes and spikes in your feet not relaxing enough?"
"I mean, I've definitely done worse. But going through all of that for funsies? No thanks."
Steve steps into the room and eyes you both, "what are you punks up to?"
"We're taking the day off to watch Naked and Afraid."
"Excuse me?"
"It's a survival show. Come watch it with us." Bucky moves his feet just enough for Steve to sit at the end of the sofa before laying them across his lap. "You sit, you join self care Sunday."
"Skipping training to eat junk food and have a Sunday slumber party? And watching reality shows? Do I even know you anymore?" Steve fakes a frown before stealing a handful of chips from Bucky's bowl.
"Don't give me shit. Sweets is the one who started it. I didn't even know it was a thing until an hour ago. Apparently getting shot causes everyone stress." Bucky affectionately mimics you, reaching his free hand up to link with yours. "Isn't that right, sweets?"
You shrug a winning smile at Steve, your fingers idly drawing patterns against Bucky's scalp. "There's nothing wrong with a lazy day, Steve. I don't think I can handle any more excitement this week."
"How are the bullet holes anyway?"
Bucky places the bowl on the table, lifting his shirt to reveal a clean bandage around his torso, "Practically healed but somebody who shall remain nameless won't let me go without wrapping up my ribs."
"The doctor said three weeks, James. So in two more weeks, you can take them off but until then, your pretty little torso is staying wrapped up. Deal with it."
"You make a good point, sweetheart." Steve chuckles, earning a glare from Bucky. He adjusts Bucky's foot so the heel isn't digging into his femur. "What is this show even about?"
Before long, most of the team has joined, sprawling across the lounge to watch the show. "How dumb can you be? You've got to build off the ground!" Natasha exhales in a frustrated growl, tossing her hands up. "Now they'll bitch all night long."
"I'm still in shock that he can't use a firestarter. After all that talk about being a survivalist." Scott shakes his head. "I'm gonna get a snack. Anybody want anything?"
Tony ducks into the gym, finding it oddly empty. It's almost nightfall and he hasn't seen anyone from the team. Pepper jokingly suggests they're all avoiding him and he shrugs it off at first, but is beginning to consider it. "Friday, where the hell is everybody? Where is Steve?"
Her pleasant voice rings out, "89th floor lounge, sir."
"Are you serious? Jesus Christ." Tony stomps toward the elevator, sighing.
Someone is humming in the kitchen and Tony sees Scott walking toward the lounge, sandwich in hand. "What are you doing? Why are you eating my food? You don't even live here!"
Scott shrugs, going back to his seat near Clint and closely followed by a shocked Tony. Incredulous, he can only stare. "Did you all just forget about training today?"
"We're viewing a program about being nude and fearful in the wilderness. It is quite good. Join us, Stark!" Thor is sitting on the floor near you with his hair recently braided. Natasha, Peter, Sam, Clint, Steve, Bucky, and you are avidly focused on the television as though you're a bunch of teenagers.
Tony blinks at Thor, still trying to get his bearings on the moment, "How did you even get in here?"
"Y/N invited me." Thor tips his head back against your arm.
Tony glares at you wordlessly.
"What? I missed him." Your laughter slightly bounces Bucky's head against your stomach.
"See? She missed me."
Tony opens his mouth to reply when movement behind him causes him to spin. Bruce is sneaking in with a cooler and 24 pack of beer, an embarrassed grin on his face.
"Et tu, Bruce?"
#avengers fanfiction#bucky barnes x reader#bucky barnes fic#bucky barnes × reader#breathe mercy verse
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Best Daughter Ever: Chapter 1 “I am Iron Man” pt 1
A/N: this story is kind of going to be an AU. There are specific things that will happen in this story that aren’t canon and there are things that won’t happen that are canon. For example, in the future Steve is going to be closer to Tony and Y/N than in the canon MCU. I hope all of this makes sense. Also, let me know if you would like to be included in my taglist.
Word count: 3,652
General Masterlist
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2008
Y/N sat in the living room of the Malibu house. Her dad was supposed to be on a plane to Afghanistan for a weapons presentation. But, being Tony Stark, he was in his lab working on his hot rod.
Taking over Stark Industries had definitely been hard on Tony back when he was 21. But getting married at 30 and having a kid at 30 was stressful as well. Not to mention that his wife died and he was a single parent. Tony had lost himself in grief and stress. He gambled, he drank, and he spent a lot of his time in his garage. But he did make sure to spend time with his daughter.
Pepper just walked in with the clothes of some woman that spent the night. Y/N figured it was a friend of her dad’s, but she wasn’t so sure about the ‘friend’ part because she was wearing her dad’s shirt from last night with nothing under it but her undergarments. As to not get in trouble for eavesdropping, she placed some wireless headphones on and played ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ on her StarkTablet.
“I’ve got your clothes here. They’ve been dry-cleaned and pressed, and there’s a car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you’d like to go,” Pepper spoke professionally. Anyone looking at her, whether they knew her or not, could tell that she was uncomfortable.
The lady walked forward.
“You must be the famous Pepper Potts,” she spoke. Pepper smiled and clasped her hands together.
“Indeed I am.”
“After all these years, Tony still has you picking up his laundry?” The woman jabbed. Pepper looked shocked but quickly recovered.
“I do anything and everything Mr. Stark requires, including, occasionally, taking out the trash. Will that be all?” she asked sweetly. The woman looked taken aback but cleared her throat, turned around, and walked away.
Y/N looked up from her tablet and met Pepper’s smirk.
“How’d I do?” Pepper asked. Y/N looked back down and shrugged.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Auntie Pep,” The little girl said, looking back up and flashing her a charming Stark smile and batted her eyelashes. Pepper chuckled and held a hand out to the little Stark.
“You are your father’s daughter. Come on. Let’s go get your dad,” she laughed. Y/N took off her headphones and set them down along with the tablet. She got off the couch and took Pepper’s hand.
As the two were walking down the stairs, Pepper got a phone call. Y/N chuckled as she heard Tony’s music blasting throughout the garage.
Pepper punched in her access code and walked in, making J.A.R.V.I.S pause the music that was blasting.
“Please don’t turn down my music,” Tony said, not looking up from what he was working on.
“Come, on Daddy. That song wasn’t even good,” Y/N said, letting go of Pepper’s hand and walking over to her dad. Tony turned around and smiled at his daughter, hoisting her up to sit in his lap with an exaggerated grunt.
“When did you get so big, missy?” He teased. Y/N giggled and playfully hit her dad on her shoulder, causing him to gasp and feign hurt.
“You’re supposed to be halfway around the world right now,” Pepper said, after putting her phone away.
“How’d she take it?”
“Like a champ,” responded Pepper. Tony lifted up a cover of some sort that went on his car. Y/N watched in admiration as her dad fixed the old car.
“Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?”
“Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago,” Pepper said exasperatedly. Tony put the cover he was looking at down beside him and looked back at the car motor. He pointed out quietly what was what to Y/N who nodded and listened with intrigued eyes.
“That’s funny, I thought that with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there,” Tony remarked Y/N giggled, which caused Tony to look at her and smile again. He kissed her cheek, making her squirm away because his goatee was scratchy.
“Don’t encourage him!” Pepper playfully snapped. This caused Y/N to giggle again, but she nodded nonetheless. “Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple of things before I get you out of the door.”
“I mean, doesn’t it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?” Tony continued, setting Y/N down and standing up from his stool.
The two adults continued to talk about business stuff while Y/N walked around her dad’s shop. She knew her way around it, but it still amazed her each time. Her father truly was a genius.
As she walked to a metal table, she sat down on a stool.
“Hello, Miss Stark,” J.A.R.V. I.S spoke.
“Hello, JARVIS,” the little girl replied softly.
She listened in on her dad’s conversation, something about buying something unnecessary.
“I’m allowed to have plans on my birthday,” Pepper said.
“Oh! Daddy it’s Pepper’s birthday!” Y/N called out cheekily. Tony rolled his eyes at his daughter but smiled.
“I caught that,” he said. “I knew it was. Already?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that strange? It’s the same day as last year,” Pepper said teasingly. Tony looked at her adoringly.
“Get yourself something nice from me,” he said softly. Pepper smirked.
“I already did.”
“And?”
“Oh, it was very nice. Very tasteful. Thank you, mister Stark,” Pepper said, smiling. Tony smiled bacl.
“You’re welcom, Miss Potts,” Tony replied. Y/N coughed.
“Daddy, don’t you have a plan to catch for halfway around the world?” Y/N teased, breaking the silence.
Tony turned to his daughter and stalked toward her playfully.
“Are you trying to get rid of my, princess?” He asked, getting closer. Y/N squealed and got off the stool, running away from him.
Tony let out a playful roar and caught up to her, picking her up from behind and blowing raspberries on her neck. Y/N squealed as he did so, squirming.
“Daddy, stop!”
“Never!”
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As the two Starks drove down the highway towards the airport, metal music blasted. Tony never liked going anywhere without his daughter, considering that’s how his wife ended up dead. But, there was no possible way that he was taking his daughter to Afghanistan.
Speeding into the airport with Happy behind them, Tony came to a screeching halt. Y/N looked up at the plan and saw Rhodey standing at the top of the stairs.
“Hey, Uncle Rhodey!” Y/N screamed from the passenger side of the car. Rhoday chuckled and waved back.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said.
Tony got out, laughing.
“You’re good. Oh, I thought I lost you back there,” he called out to Happy as he got out of the car. Happy opened the trunk to the black car and got Tony’s lugage out.
“You did, sir. I had to cut across Mullahound,” Happy said dryly. Tony nodded and walked around to where Y/N stood in front of the Audi. He crouched down and took his daughter’s hands.
“Alright, baby. I’ve got to go,” He said, looking into her e/c eyes. Y/N pouted.
“Do you have to?” she whined. Tony raised his hand and brushed her curly, brown hair out of the way from where the wind had blown it in her face.
“Yeah I do. How else am i going to buy you everything?” He aske dsmiling. The girl pouted but nodded. “ I love you, so much.” He said, kissing her forehead, then pulling her into a hug.
“I love you too, daddy,” she said into his shoulder.
After a few minutes, Tony pulled back.
“I’ve got to go now. Aunt Pepper will be there when you go to bed and Happy will stay at the house until she gets there. Be good for them,” Tony instructed. Y/N nodded. Tony placed one last kiss on her forhead and stood up. She watched as he walked to the stairs leading up to the plane.
“What is wrong with you?’ Rhodey asked. Tony looked up there and shrugged.
“What?”
“Three hours,” Rhodey deadpaned.
“I got caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair,” Tony said as he climbed up the stairs, Happy trailing behind him.
“For three hours For three hours you got me standing here,” Rhodey said. Tony walked past him and into the plane.
“Waiting on you now.”
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Y/N sat in her bed, waiting on Pepper. She was watching TV when pepper walked in, tears running down her face.
“Auntie Pep? What’s wrong?” The little girl asked. Pepper walked over and sat down beside the young Stark.
“Sweetie. Um, your father. He, uh, he went miss..missing in Afghanistan. There was a bombing and he was kidnapped, they suspect,” Pepper choked out. Tears sprung in Y/N’s eyes.
“Daddy’s missing?” she asked in a small voice. Pepper nodded, wiping her tears off and sniffling. Tears began to make their way down Y/N’s face.
“Yes, sweetheart. He is. You’re going to stay with Uncle Rhodey until they find him. It shouldn’t be long.’
But it was long. It was three months. Three, long months without her father. She cried herself to sleep everynight for the first month. Then, for the next too, she barely slept.
All Rhodey could do was watch helplessly as his goddaughter lost sleep and missed her dad. He did everything he could to make her feel better. They even started staying at the Malibu house just so she could sleep in his bed. While she waited on her father, Y/N was no longer the happy little girl that she used to be.
As news reports told about the accident, they let it slip that the famous Tony Stark had a daughter. This caused for Rhodey to basically place her under a lockdown, barely leaving the house.
When they got news that Tony was found, Y/N burst out into tears. Rhodey cradled the girl in his arms as he thanked whoever was out there that Tony was alive.
Y/N went to the airport and waited with Pepper and Happy, since Rhodey was the one to go get him. When the gate let down on the back of the plane, Rhodey was helping Tony up from a wheelchair. His arm was in a sling and he was holding Rhodey’s hand as they walked down the ramp. Y/N began crying as she let go of Pepper’s hand.
“DADDY!” The little girl screamed. She waited until the two best friends were off the ramp to run to him. Tony’s face broke out into a smile at the sight of his beautiful little girl.
Tony, with the help of Rhodey, kneeled on the ground and Y/N launched herself at her dad. She was mindful of his hurt arm. She cried in his suit jacket as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Tony got chocked up as he wrapped his good arm around her. She smelt like home. Oh, how he missed her.
“Hey, princess. It’s alright. I’m right here,” he whispered into her hair. Pulling back, he admired her. While stuck in the cave, he didn’t know if he was going to see her ever again.
“What happened?” Y/N asked, sniffling. She then felt a hard thing under his shirt, right in the middle of his chest. She tilted her head to the side and placed a hand on the hard piece of metal. Tony smiled and shook his head.
“I got caught by some bad guys. But I’m Tony Stark, so I found a way out of there. And about this thing, some scrap pieces of metal got stuck in my chest and thus was the only way to keep me alive. Its a tinier version of the arc reactor at lab,” he explained. The little girl just hugged him again. Tony stood up, bringing her with him. He settled her on his hip and walked towards Pepper.
“Hmm. Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long lost boss?” Tony asked the woman. Pepper smiled.
“Tears of joy. I hate job hunting,” she replied. Tony’s lip quirked up at the corners and walked past her and to his car.
“Yeah, vacation’s over.”
Sitting in the car, Tony set Y/N beside him, allowing her to curl up into his left side. Tony wrapped his arm around her and kissed her hair.
“Where to, sir?” Happy asked from the driver’s seat.
“Take us to the hospital, please, Happy.”
“No.” Tony said.
“No? Tony you have to go-”
“No is a complete answer.’
“-to the hospital. A doctor has to-”
“I don’t have to do anything.”
“- look at you.” Pepper finished.
“I’ve been in captivity for three months. There are three things I want to do; I want an American cheeseburger. I want to hold my daughter, and the other…”
“That’s enough of that.”
“...is not what you think. I want you to call for a press conference now.” Tony finished. Pepper looked at him.
“Call for a press conference?” she asked.
“Yeah. Hogan, drive.”
“What on earth for?”
“Cheeseburger first.”
After stopping at Burger King for three cheeseburgers, they made it to Stark Industries. Reporters and workers were lined up outside the door. Obie was waiting on them opening the door for Tony as they pulled up.
“There he is. Ah. Tony,” he said, pulling Tony into a hug when he stepped out of the car. Tony wiped his mouth and hugged him back, Y/N getting out behind him. “We were gonna meet you at the hospital.”
“No, I’m fine,” Tony replied, throwing his napkin in the car. Happy walked around the car and held the Burger King bag out for Tony, who reached in and pulled out his second cheeseburger.
Pepper walked over and motioned for her to follow her dad, who was talking to Obie about having to get a cheeseburger.
Once they arrived in the press conference room, applause immediately sounded as Tony walked into the room. He had just finished his burger, meaning he was still chewing.
Tony stopped for a moment, turning around and looking for his daughter. She was watching him from beside Pepper. With a jerk of his head, the little girl walked to her dad with a huge smile on her face. Tony grabbed her hand, smiling down at her.
The two walked in between reporters who were desperate for news. Arriving at the platform, Obie stepped behind the microphone and quieted the reporters down. Tony just sat down on the steps in front of the stand, allowing Y/N to sit beside him. He wrapped his arm around her, tucking her into his side.
“Hey, would it be alright if everyone just sat down?” He asked,pulling out a cheeseburger from his suit pocket. “Why don’t you just sit down? That way you can see me and I can… a little less formal and..”
Everyone sat down, including Obie who sat beside Tony. Tony looked over to Obie and muttered a ‘good to see you.’
“I never got to say goodbye to my father.” Tony started. Y/N made a shocked face and looked up at him. Tony just glanced down at her and smiled. “There were questions I would’ve asked him. I would’ve asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had any doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels.”
Flashes were going off as he spoke. Y/N wondered why she was talking about her grandfather, he never talked about him. Especially to the public.
“I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend and protect them. And I saw that I.. had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.” Tony explained. A young reporter raised his hand on the front row.
“Mr. Stark.” He said. Tony looked at him and nodded.
“Hey, Ben”
“What happened over there?”
There was a beat of silence before Tony got up, Y/N scrambling up with him and taking his hand.
“I-I had my eyes opened. I cam to realize that I have more to offer thus world than just things that blow up,” he said, a hint of anger in his voice. He walked around to platform and stood behind the microphone. “And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International-”
This caused an uproar of noise. The reporters were talking over each other to get his attention. Y/N shrunk into her father’s side, not liking the loud noises.
“-until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be,” He finished. Obie grabbed him by the shoulders and talked over Tony through the microphone.
Tony picked his daughter up and placed her on his hip, stepping back in front of the microphone.
“I don’t want my daughter to grow up in a world with violence. I understand that violence is inevitable, but I will do the best i can to keep her away from it all. Manufacturing weapons is not doing that,” Tony explained, effectively quieting the reporters. He walked down the steps, ignoring the reporters clamoring. He kissed Y/N’s head, allowing her to tuck her head into the crook of his neck.
“What we can take away from this is that, Tony is back. And healthier than ever.”
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Tony wanted to go to the lab at Stark Industries. So, Happy drove him there and Y/N waited in the car, watching as Obie drove up on a Segway. He looked unhappy and walked in, leaving Happy to deal with the Segway.
Y/N took out her Starktablet from her bag she takes with her everywhere, and pulled up a movie. She had recently been exposed to the Harry Potter series, obviously she read the books first. Taking out her earphones, she pulled up the 3rd movie, Prisoner of Azkaban.
Arriving home, Tony immediately went downstairs. Y/N sighed and went to her room, wishing her would watch a movie with her and cuddle.
A few hours later, J.A.R.V.I.S announced that her father requested her in the lab. She paused her movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and got up. Dumbledore had just walked into the room, screaming at Harry for ‘putting his name in the Goblet of Fire.”
When she got there, she saw that Dum-E and the other robots had cleared some room and placed a metal table-like thing in the room, along with some monitors that looked suspiciously like an EKG monitor.
“Alright, princess. I need you to help me with something,” he said, turning her attention to him. She gasped as she walked over to her father, looking at the reactor in her dads chest. Reaching out, she brushed her fingers against the cool metal. She grinned up at her dad.
“This is so cool,” she whispered excitedly. Tony grinned down at her and laughed. Dum-E brought over what looked like a better version of the reactor.
“You really are my daughter. Ok. I need your help. I need to swap this old one out for the new one,” he explained, holding up the new arc reactor. Y/N nodded and shook her hands out. “Ah, no. You have to be careful. There is an exposed wire under this device that is touching is making contact with the socket wall and causing a short,” he explained, taking out the old reactor. Y/N watched closley as he pulled it out, exposing a wire attached to it that went deep into his chest cavity.
“Ok. I’m assuming you want me to get the wire, pull it out, and then reconnect the new reactor?’
Tony grinned at her proudly and nodded.
“Exactly. But be careful, if you touch the sides with the wire or pull out the magnet, I could go into cardiac arrest,” he said nonchalantly. Y/N gawked at him.
“Ok.. Grey’s Anatomy don’t fail me now,” she whispered. Tony chuckled.
Y/N reached into the hole and searched around for the wire.
“Wh-what is this in here? Is that discharge?” she exclaimed.
“Yes it is. Just get the wire.”
Y/N searched for the wire until she found it. She carefully pulled it out, being sure not to touch the sides.
“Ok. Ok. Good now just don’t-”
She pulled out the magnet.
“-pull out the magnet. Ok. It’s ok.”
The EKG started flat-lining, making her panic, She really wanted to page Dr. Yang, and charge to 200. Maybe even page Dr. Shepard just to be safe. But, her dad seemed fine.
“Daddy you’re going into cardiac arrest though!”
“I know. Just put the new reactor in, attaching the wires to the base plate,” he said, handing her the new reactor. She reached in, and attached the wires to the base plate like her said. He exclaimed when she did, making the heart monitors come back and set them at a steady rhythm.
Y/N breathed a sigh of relief and she dropped her head onto her dad’s chest. She then playfully swatted it.
“You can’t give me a heart attack at 8, daddy,” Y/n scolded. Tony laughed and ran his hand over her hair. She lifted her head and look at her dad. Tony sat up and kissed her forehead.
“I love you, princess.”
“I love you too, Daddy.” she says, then glances at the old reactor. “What are you going to do with the old reactor?”
Tony glanced her her, then turned back to whatever he was doing with Dum-E.
“Throw it away. Incinerate it,” he said without any care. Y/N frowned and furrowed her eyebrows.
“You don’t want to keep it?”
“Nope,” came his response. Y/N grabbed it and looked at it.
“Well, I’m keeping it. Now, can you come watch some movies with me? You literally just got back from a foreign country where you were kept as a hostage,” she deadpanned. Tony chuckled, but tossed a shirt on and grabbed her hand.
“Yes, let’s go. What are we watching?”
Taglist:
@bxtchboy69
#tony stark x daughter!reader#tony stark x daughter#tony stark#iron man#pepper potts#rhodey#james rhodes#happy hogan#obadiah stane
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Blood in the water Part 2
Pairing: merman!Steve Rogers x Reader
Warnings: yandere, obsession, kidnapping, non-consensual drug use, brief mention of breeding, minor depiction of violence.
Words: 3496.
Part 1
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He started singing again, and you turned on Slipknot to the full volume, carefully slipping on your noise-canceling headphones you ordered not so long ago. They were really a blessing, but even with them and all the noise surrounding you Steve’s voice still rang inside your head.
He had a beautiful voice, the one people would call heavenly, but his intentions were far from angelic: the first night you heard Steve singing to you, you had almost went to the beach where he was waiting his prey, charmed by his divine voice. Forgetting about the danger, you floated like a cloud to him, only half-awake and clearly unaware of your actions. The only thing that saved you that night was a sharp rock you stepped on, cutting your foot, blood coloring the cold ground as you broke free from Steve’s charms. When you ran home, covering your ears and singing loudly to yourself to silence his voice, the merman let out an unnatural, frightening growl behind your back.
Then Steve started doing it every night, serenading you by moonlight. It could be romantic if only the merman didn’t try drowning you in the sea, determined to make you “his mate”. Worse, with each passing day the mark he left on your neck was becoming more and more painful and itchy, and sometimes you were waking up with deep scratches left by your own nails.
The villagers couldn’t do much about it, despite being deeply ashamed of their inability to tell you about the merfolk - you realized they had been under some curse as every time they tried talking to you about Steve they were simply losing their voices. Of course, it all made sense now.
They helped you taking care of the wound, but from all the words they couldn’t say you understood you wouldn’t get rid of the mark easily. Thankfully, it stopped bleeding, but the nasty scar left by Steve’s sharp teeth had still been there. Well, you could live with it, you supposed, if only you leave this forsaken place.
When you got on the first bus, you had fainted in the middle of the trip for no damn reason. You looked so bad with you eyes rolling back into your skull, your body shaking uncontrollably, the driver decided not to risk it and returned to the town immediately, leaving you in a hospital again. Strangely, you woke up with no pain whatsoever, fresh as a daisy. It was the curse the merman gifted you - you couldn’t be too far from him now, dragged back by the mark on your neck, and your only chance to stay alive was either staying with him or taking him with you.
Maybe you could get rid of the curse if you killed him, you weren’t sure. As far as you knew from locals, they didn’t manage to kill even one in the last several decades. You didn’t know whether you could, too. Even if you would get a chance to stab Steve, you hardly imagined murdering him. You just weren’t the type.
So, he kept singing in his attempt to draw you to the beach again, and you kept hiding in that little cottage you rented. Oh yes, you were also worried about the rent since the month you paid for was coming to an end, but locals just smiled at you sadly, shaking their heads. This was how merfolk was attracting new people to the town.
“But my friends and family will be searching for me.” You mumbled, covering your face with your hands. “I have a job, a life out there.”
“I’m sorry, sunny, but no one will be searching for you,” the doctor said, giving you a salve for your mark - it was easing the itchiness. “You don’t know the merfolk. They'd stop at nothing to keep their mates close.”
“But why, for God’s sake?” You growled helplessly, unable to face the man and staring at your shoes instead.
“Reproduction, sunny. Mermaids aren’t as fertile anymore, and they are facing extinction.” He shrugged.
“And how is it supposed to work? Human with a merman?”
The doctor patted your shoulder apologetically, shaking his head. ‘I can’t tell you, dear. I... I physically can’t.”
You knew what he was talking about and couldn’t be angry at him. These people couldn’t do much, forced to protect their loved ones and living in constant fear of being abducted by the vile creatures living deep in the sea. Most of the time merfolk didn’t come to the town openly, and that’s why those women were so upset you lived far away, completely defenseless. But they couldn’t open up to you, revealing merfolk’s secret, and now Steve kept you on the hook.
Groaning when the sunlight crept in through the curtains, you rubbed your eyes and slowly got up, taking the headphones away and touching your ears. God, it hurt so much, but it was the only way for you to sleep at least for a few hours while Steve kept singing outside.
Oddly, you couldn’t hear the sound of the music as if someone turned it off, and you immediately went to your laptop to check. Shit, you forgot to plug it in. Thank goodness Steve stopped singing before your laptop turned off.
Sighing, you went to the bathroom, opening the tap and splashing some water into your face to wake up. It was barely six, but the sun was shining brightly, giving you no chance to go to sleep - you had always been up with the sun regardless of your circumstances. Now it was one more of your curses, considering you barely slept.
Watching your reflection in the mirror, you chuckled sarcastically, touching your bottom eyelid - you looked like you just came back from the dead. Would Steve be willing to let you go once he realized you’re no more the sweet beautiful lady he met? What a fucking bastard.
Feeling nauseated, you rubbed your face and went to the kitchen, reheating yesterday’s coffee. You had no strength to make yourself breakfast, even the simplest one.
Next minute you were wrapping the blanket around yourself and heading out of the house with a mug in your hand, eager to watch the sunrise. You weren’t afraid of Steve since you had never even once spotted him on the beach in the daylight. Besides, you kept a little knife in a pocket of your pants in case you needed to cut yourself and become free from his charms.
You still questioned yourself what were going to do next. Even if your parents and friends would forget you because of the curse affecting them somehow, you still remembered them. You wanted your life back. You wanted to sleep at night, unafraid of being snatched away by someone hiding in the dark. You wanted to wake up, knowing you are safe, and go to work, have one more simple day, then returning back home. You didn’t ask for much.
Well, you would have to figure out how to live in this small town all by yourself, find a new source of income and pretend like no scary mythical creature lingered behind your back. Maybe you would have to ask doctor to make you deaf. It should help with the singing.
Suddenly, you saw a huge figure rising from behind a rock not very far from you. You froze on the spot, looking at Steve walking carefully on the beach. Despite wearing something reminding you of a torn human sweater, he was naked below the waistline, and you blinked, looking at his soft cock dangling in between his legs.
Legs. Steve had a pair of strong, muscled human legs.
For a second you forgot how to breathe, watching him coming closer to you, his movements a bit unsteady and slow. You became rooted to the ground where you stood, unable to turn away and run from the monster too human to your liking. Was it his magic again? Was it you who couldn’t keep running anymore?
Biting your lips painfully, you felt tears gathering in the corners of your eyes. Steve was wearing your sweater, albeit badly stretched out and torn in a few places - he was so much bigger than you it was a miracle he had somehow managed to put it on. You suddenly remembered how you were searching for this sweater a week or two ago, thinking you had forgot it somewhere in the cottage. How and where did Steve find it? Was he always able to walk? If so, why didn’t he take you away?
Well, maybe that’s what he was going to do now.
Finally finding some strength, you turned back to your cottage, eager to get away as far as possible from him, but then heard Steve’s angry, raspy voice, “Stay where you are!”
And you stood, moving back to face him and unable to do anything at all but watch.
Steve looked as tired as you are: you saw the bags under his eyes, his full lips cracked, his expression exhausted as if your resistance was straining him. Wasn’t he supposed to be an invincible immortal being wandering the sea? He looked so much more human now you weren’t even sure anymore.
“You want my throat to bleed, don’t you?” He grunted in a hoarse voice, wincing when he spoke, and you realized he lost his voice after signing night after night to you. “I am doing my best for you, and you just turn on that horrible, distasteful music every night!”
You smirked - how dare was he to call Slipknot’s best songs “distasteful music”?
“This shouldn’t happen this way. You’re ruining it.” Steve continued to grumble as he kept coming closer and closer, and, oddly, you found out you weren’t as scared of him anymore as you were in that faithful night.
“Ruining what?” You asked, sipping your still warm coffee when he approached you, wet and angry.
“The courtship!” The man exclaimed, breathing heavily - it seemed walking on his human legs was talking a toll on him. “You had to come to me, you stubborn woman! And what are you making me do? Come to you instead?”
He coughed, squeezing his eyes shut and touching his neck. It had to be really painful for him to talk.
Despite how wicked he was and how badly you wanted him to have a taste of his own medicine, you almost felt pity for your merman, handing him your mug when he stopped close to you.
“What is this? Coffee?”
“With milk. Good for your throat.” You replied, acknowledging he knew of human drinks.
Gazing at you skeptically, Steve sniffed your mug and then took it in his arms, glancing at the liquid inside. “It’s hot.”
“It’s warm. You won’t burn your tongue.” You said, taking the blanket off your shoulder and wrapping it around his hips - seriously, you felt too awkward to stand near a man dressed in just a little stretched-out sweater.
“You and you fear of nudity, humans.” Steve grunted, but sipped the coffee, nonetheless, quickly getting used to it and finishing your mug. “Oh, this one isn’t bad. I tried espresso, but it was so bitter I couldn’t have the whole cup.”
You chuckled, wrapping your arms around your own body and looking at the merman. What was he going to do now? He didn’t look vile, probably not as angry and upset as before, but who knew what he had in mind.
“So what? Are we going to stay here in the cold or you will bring me to your house?” Steve asked snappish while you snorted at him.
“Really? I thought your plan was to drown me in the sea, not bask in the warmth of my bed.”
He grinned, pressing your mug to his impressive chest.
“Why would I drown you, silly woman? Come on, it’s cold out here in the morning. I want to stay at your place.”
He took your hand in his, and you finally moved from your spot as if Steve allowed you. Making sure the blanket was wrapped tightly around him, you went to your house, thinking of the knife in a pocket of your pants. If he was planning to attack you, you could definitely stab him through your thin sweater or cut his throat. It would require some skill, though.
Entering the little hallway, Steve looked at the ceiling and winced from the mirror hanging on the wall, looking at his reflection. Shaking his head disapprovingly, he reached out to touch his swollen bottom eyelid.
“I thought merfolk aren’t afraid of cold.” You said, entering the kitchen and emptying the coffee pot.
“Not in this pathetic human body.” Steve entered after you, rubbing his arm in your completely wet sweater.
“Then you have to take this off and-”
“What? NO!”
He jumped away from you and stayed in the corner like a kid hiding something from his mother. You rolled your eyes.
“Although this is MY sweater, I’m not going to take it from you. I just want to dry it, alright?” You ensured, coming closer. “You’re not going to get warm if you keep it on.”
“This is my sweater.” Steve grumbled, but took it off, regardless, and handed a miserable, partly discolored piece of fabric to you to let you hang it close to the heater, watching you intently - did he really think you’d ran away with your sweater?
When you turned to face him, your blanket wasn’t secured on his hips anymore, and you stared at his naked member again, your face growing terribly hot from the sight. What was that merman thinking? Was he flaunting his.. physique in front of you? You knew of some animals doing that to attract their mates.
“For goodness sake, cover yourself.” You huffed, taking a pack of milk from the fridge. “You don’t want this thing to freeze in the open, do you?”
“Wait, it can freeze if I don’t cover it?” His eyes shot open. “You mean I won’t be able to have children anymore?”
“Yes, this is exactly what I mean.” Oh damn, it was terribly hard not to laugh as you watched Steve looking at you in horror and hurriedly wrapping the blanket around himself as much as he could. It was hilarious.
Putting two cups of milk into the microwave, you hit the button and pulled out some butter from the fridge to put into the cup once milk would be ready. You certainly didn’t need this hissing little mermaid who lost his voice because he sang too many serenades to you.
“So, what about the courtship?” You asked, stirring melted butter in Steve’s cup as he waited for you, sitting on a chair near the table. “How do you even imagine making babies with me?”
“You don’t know?” He looked at you innocently. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m a pro at that. I’m sure you will enjoy the process.”
“For God’s sake, Steve.” You groaned, placing a cup in front of him and taking yours. “Don’t play stupid here. I can’t live underwater. I can’t even fucking swim!”
“I’m not asking you to.” He shrugged and took his milk, ensuring it wasn’t burning hot before making a sip. “Though you won’t die underwater now. Believe it or not, you can actually breathe there because of my mark.”
You touched the scar, rubbing it with your fingers furiously and narrowing your eyes at the merman who, apparently, seemed very happy to see his mark on your skin. Once he reminded you of this thing, you were ready to snap at him.
“Do you even know how much this thing hurt?” You asked, furrowing your brows.
“This is because you refused to come to me,” he cocked his head to the side, watching you growing angry. “I only need to kiss it to make you feel better. Don’t look at me like that! It’s true, let me show you.”
You stepped backwards immediately as he advanced upon you, caging you with his large body, pressing you to the kitchen counter, his skin cold. Pushing your hands against Steve, you tried to keep him away, but he was so much stronger than you that you almost ended up with your face buried in his chest.
“What the-”
He quickly lowered his head down and sniffed you, bringing his face to your neck. The next moment Steve was touching your scar with his lips, and you whimpered involuntarily, expecting it to hurt like hell. But it didn’t. He simply brushed his dry, chapped lips against your mark, and you felt nothing especially painful.
You were growing tired of all this magical things you didn’t understand.
“See? There’s nothing scary.” He smiled brightly, and you saw he had human teeth now, too.
“Yeah, yeah, now please go sit over there,” you grunted, but he didn’t move, laughing at you and ruffling your hair with his large hand. “What are you doing? Go away!”
“Don’t be so cold. You are going to share your life with me, silly woman, so don’t fuss over such little thing.”
You decided it was time for more effective measures and reached out to your pocket to grab the knife, but Steve grabbed your arm before you could do it, sending you a serious look.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’m not here to hurt you, I promise.”
“Really? I have some doubts.” You slapped his hand away, but didn’t try to take the knife again. “Because you have just ruined my life with that bite. How the hell this is going to work, anyway? How do you expect me to live with you? You’re a damn mermaid!”
“I’m a merman,” he said, looking resentful, and returned to his seat, sipping his hot milk with butter - apparently, it was working, and his voice sounded less raspy now.
You exhaled loudly, enjoying the distance and rubbing your mark that wasn’t as itchy as before, but you scratched it, anyway.
“Listen, I’m not saying I’m totally harmless, but I’m not dangerous for you.” He said as he finished his cup. “You can remain living here, on the ground, I won’t pull you into the water... often.”
“Do you understand I can’t just go and be intimate with you, someone I see for the second time in my life?”
“I’d be surprised if you did. Look, I’m not asking for it either. The courtship doesn’t last for a month. You’ll get used to me, I know.”
His dazzling smile was making you feel nauseated, and you grabbed you cup, having a bit of warm milk, too. Steve was being impossible, but you were thankful he wasn’t forcing himself on you now. Maybe there was a chance to trick him into removing this hex, and you would have to figure it out.
“If you want to know whether we can have children together, I can tell you we definitely can. It doesn’t really matter whether I take my true or human form while making love to you, so it’s up to you how you wanna do it.” Steve grinned, and you clenched your teeth, unable to believe he was talking about it so openly, caring little for your consent. There was something barbaric in this charmingly handsome half-naked man sitting in your kitchen.
Suddenly, you felt like the nausea got much stronger, and merman’s smile wasn’t at fault. What was happening? The world was spinning, and you let go of your almost emptied cup, slipping to the floor. Shit, shit, shit. It wasn’t good.
Oh God. It was him, wasn't it? He had done something to you. He smiled and talked and laughed to make you relax, think of your situation like a simple comedy when, in fact, you were still in grave danger. Were you so stupid to believe him or was it his charms again? You hoped for the latter, curshing yourself for being too carefree and letting him into your house.
“Sorry, sweetheart, it seems I put too much medicine in your milk.” He clicked his tongue as you looked at him in horror, barely able to move now. “I thought we had more time to talk. But, well, we can always do it later.”
Steve was near you the next second, carefully lifting you up in the air in his hands, watching you with a bit of concern on his face.
He proceeded to walk in the direction of the door, but before he snatched your torn sweater and put it on his shoulder, carrying you outside of the cottage that had become your little fortress over these few weeks. However, it could keep the monster off your back, and now all you could do was watching the green door becoming further and further from you with each Steve’s step to the shore.
Your body was completely frozen when his feet reached the water, and the merman left a kiss on your cheek, stroking it tenderly despite that wicked smile on his face.
“I told you, you can’t break the tradition. It is time for you to come to me now."
THE END
___________________
Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki @helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin @void-hoechlin @abyssaint @heeeyitskay @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @navegandoaciegas @rosalynshields @brattycherubwrites @sllooney @angrythingstarlight @lovelydarkdaydream @soleil-dor @lookiamtrying @buckysbunny @sourpatchspinster
#steve rogers x reader#dark steve rogers x reader#steve rogers#dark steve rogers#captain america#yandere#requests#mcu#mcu fanfiction
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Strawberry Seeds and Love Potions. (T, 2.4K words)
@harringroveweekoflove day 2: LOVE POTION && MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURES. Also including: witch Robin, post season 3 recovering Billy, flustered but giving it his best Steve, and cat boys. Or cat men? No, cat boys.
***
The coffee mug clicked onto the table with an otherworldly menace. Steve’s brown eyes darted to it, then back up to Robin. He furrowed his brows in a question. But before he could open his mouth, she held up her hand.
“It’s not poison,” she explained.
“Could have fooled me, Robs,” Steve hissed.
“It’s called a potion, dingus. It’s going to help!” She pushed the cup farther down the bar. The diner around them was mostly closed, and Robin was the only waitress in the place. Her peach colored apron brought out the green of her wide, devious eyes.
“Potion... poison... that’s like one letter different,” Steve leaned back in his stool away from the mug.
“Wow, so you know how to spell. What other skills will you showcase, The Amazing Harrington?” Robin’s lips curled up in an evil grin, leaning her body over the bar to dig the insult farther.
Steve just scoffed. Putting his elbow up on the bar and shielding himself as he tried to get back to the open College text book he was supposed to be reading. All the words were rushing together in swirls of black and white. He pushed his thumb into his curved bottom lip to try and force himself to focus, chewed on the pad of it, but he could swear the mug was mocking him.
Could swear he could smell that strawberry pink liquid Robin had poured for him when he ordered a simple black coffee.
“Drink it,” Robin snapped.
“No,” Steve growled.
“Are you going to grow a backbone and actually confess then?” She quirked one brow up.
Her face was so condescending. So smug. Steve hated how much he knew that look, how it made him sort of fond for her.
“I mean,” he sighed. His walls crumbling in defeat. His fingers coming up to join in worrying his bottom lip. “I mean I might?”
“It’s been a year Steve. A year of following him around like a little stray kitten! A year of ‘Oh Billy, I’ll give you a ride!’ ‘Oh Billy, how was physical therapy?’ ‘Oh Billy, pay attention to me!’—“
“I get it, I get it!” Steve turned towards her again to motion with his hand to keep it down. Waving his wide palm around until Robin’s pursed face cracked into a giggle. “Just keep it down, would you?”
And he turns over his shoulder to survey the empty diner before he’s got enough courage to look at her again.
“Yeah, okay. I’ve got a fat, stupid crush on Billy. And I know that I’m the most embarrassing and dumb guy you know. But...,” he trails off. Eyes wandering back down to the coffee cup. “It’s not the same as Nancy Wheeler or even Tammy Thompson. So much can— no, so much has gone wrong. If I... confessed right now, It would just make everything too much for him.”
His fingers nervously tick across the mint green bar. Wishing like hell he could cross them in front of his chest and make a barrier.
Robin takes a step forward. Her own fingers an inch away from his. She twitches like she can’t make up her mind if she wants to grab them. Like someone worrying their bottom lip if they are going to pick the last slice of pie in the diner’s glass container. But she does, reaching out to lay her skinny fingers and their chipping black nail polish over his own.
“Dingus,” she starts lovingly, “you don’t know any of that.”
Steve scoffs, rolls his eyes like he’s going to turn away, but Robin holds his hand tightly.
“You don’t know if it’s too much for him, or what he wants. And you don’t,” Robin took a second before continuing, her breath hitching, “you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
Hawkins, Indiana is the poster town for unknown tomorrow’s. Steve knows way too well about that. The tunnels crawling with slime and vines that play host to the monsters of the world.
But Billy, he surely knows better than anyone. It’s been a whole year but noone’s going to ever forget what he did. What happened to him under the control of a creature called The Mind Flayer. How Billy used himself like a human shield and died to try to make up for it. Just to come back with an electric jolt to his tattered heart.
They had to stitch new lungs inside his chest. He called himself Zombie Boy now. Called the patchwork scars heavy metal.
Steve just smiled. Nodded his head as he watched Billy climb out the crumbled wreckage of his shell. Climb out a new man, a man Steve caught himself falling head over heels for.
“You’re right, Robs,” Steve exhales.
“Oh, what was that?” Robin giggled, leaning in to hear better.
Steve pushed her away by their joint hands. Wiggling his fingers afterwards as if cursed.
His breath quipped and held tight in his chest as he turned back to the coffee mug. It sat waiting for him. The light red liquid swimming with foam and black seeds at the top. As if no matter how long it sat, it was always freshly prepared.
Steve gripped the handle of the white mug hard. Thought about how quick Billy’s body hit the ground when he died. How quick it all felt to Steve who had to helplessly stand back and watch it all.
He lifted the mug to his lips and drank in desperate, greedy gulps.
And as he finished it and slammed the ceramic back down on the bar, he didn’t immediately feel different. His mouth felt strange, the red juice had a powdery after-taste and much more seeds than his gag reflex was expecting. But as he screwed up his face from the flavor, he didn’t feel changed. Or empowered. Or whatever Robin was trying out with this magic spell.
“I don’t—,” Steve started, but his voice stopped just as it started. His head pounded like a drum was beating right next to his ears.
Doubling over in his stool, he gripped at the sides of his head in a panic. His whole skull felt like it was vibrating. Shifting around even, his scalp moving at the top of his head as if something were to burst out.
Steve grabbed two fist fulls of his hair and groaned through the wave of pain. Burying his chin in his chest to try and stop the noises before they came. It was so painful, but somehow only lasted a second.
As sudden as it came, he felt fine again.
Steve jerked his head up to scream at Robin , when he noticed her eyes wandering to the top of his head.
He followed them with hesitant fingers, slowly running up his now messy head of quaffed brown locks under his fingertips brushed something new.
Giving an undignified yelp, he drew his hand backwards as if burnt. His eyes were wide and pleading with Robin. But she watched him right back with the same face. As if she didn’t make this, as if it wasn’t her poison potion that created this.
Steve timidly touched the new addition to his head again. This time he didn’t finch as his fingertips sank into hair that felt soft as fur. Following it up to a point, and then feeling as it curved inwards to softer peach fuzz.
He could feel something, as his fingers moved, he could feel them as easily as if he were touching the lobes of his ears.
Because he was touching his ears.
A quick glance to a dingy mirror hanging at the back of the bar confirmed it for him. There was a pretty pair of brown cat ears sprung from the top of his head.
“Robin,” he breathed. Unable to fully grasp how he felt. “What was that drink exactly?”
She blinked at him, gathering her thoughts before she cleared her throat. “It’s um, it’s supposed to be a charm. An aid, like-like an enhancer. It said it would bring out the traits that the person you craft the potion for desires the most.”
Then she stopped to laugh, her red lips caught between gaping open or turning up on the corners in a mocking laugh. “I didn’t— wow! I thought worst case scenario would be you’ll turn into an asshole like you were in high school. B-But this?”
Steve looked from her back to the mirror. Wrapping one hand around the pointed triangle of his ear. Pushing it down just to watch it perk back up again.
“I’m... I’m a cat boy?” Steve stutters out a gasping breath.
“Well, more like a cat man, really,” Robin tries to help. “Come on, you’re almost old enough to buy beer.”
“Really helpful, Robs, thanks so much for the curse and now the insults!” He shouts.
Holding up her hands in defense, her smile doesn’t drop. Even in her shoulders Steve can see she’s quivering with laugher.
He feels along the base of his new ears. How the fur is the same color and melts almost perfectly into his own silky hair. How it feels good, actually, to scratch his blunt nails there just like how a house cat would enjoy it.
“This isn’t some trait. Or some, something that Billy would find attractive in me.” Steve groans. “This is some freaky kink!”
Robin finally clasps her hand over her mouth to dam up the waterfall of laugher. It hits against her palm in a muffled, annoying, cruel noise. She shakes her head as if she wanted to argue but couldn’t get past how funny she found it.
“You must have mixed up the wrong stuff, Robin! Put the wrong magical thing in the mixture!” Steve tried to shake his head out to unstick his thoughts.
He runs his hands through his hair as he does when he gets flustered, and now his cat ears bend with the motion so they don’t get tugged on. Folding neatly onto his head before bouncing back up to attention.
It felt so weird, but somehow it didn’t feel very different at all. They acted as if they’ve always been there.
“Yeah, okay, that’s it,” Steve nodded to himself. “You gave me the wrong potion. It’s okay, it happens! Just whip up a new one that’s for reversing cat ears. That’s in your witch book right?”
Robin kept her hand over her mouth and kept shaking her head. She wasn’t replying to anything Steve said. And it was honestly making him more mad than the new ears on top of his head.
“Hey, is it really funny enough for all that?” he mused.
Then Steve looked back up at the mirror. He turned his head side to side to admire the way his ears moved with him. How they were his hair color on the outside then a flushed pink in the very middle. How there were strands of lighter brown between that and those reminded him of how highlighted his hair gets in the summer sun.
“I don’t know. I think they... I think they sort of suit me?” He shrugged.
Robin dropped her hands and her laugher was louder without it, but she managed to catch her breath to finally reply. “Oh, they suit you alright. You’re a natural at this stuff, Garfield.”
Steve furrowed his eye brows. Cat ears folding down on his head in defense. “I’m not orange,” he hissed back.
Robin opened her mouth with likely more insults and no actual help from the aspiring witch who caused all this mess, when she was interrupted. The bell above the entrance letting out a loud ding.
The front door, painted in matching mint green like the bar, swung open. And like he was summoned, like his ears were simply ringing so much from being talked about he hunted down the source, in walked Billy.
He was wearing a grey hoodie. One of many that he collected once he got discharged out of his hospital. This one Steve was familiar with, because it was his. Handed down with a coat and a couple other winter items as Steve feigned indifference over concern about Billy’s California blood staying warm. An old Hawkins High baseball league logo sitting right in the middle. It’s fading green and orange design still bright enough to make Steve’s breath catch in his throat.
“Hey, Harrington,” Billy greeted. He lifted his big, scarred hand to wipe the hood down from his head. Letting loose the wild mess of short curls that are regrowing on his head.
“Hey, Billy,” Steve croaked out. His voice was awkward. His face, he knew, must be blushing bright red.
He turned to seek help from Robin, but the swinging door that lead into the kitchen was rocking back and forth on its hinges. She must have run away as soon as Billy came in. And Steve was too busy watching his entrance to even notice.
Cursing under his breath, Steve racked his brain with an excuse. Some logical way to explain why he had sprouted two new fluffy ears off his head.
He felt like he was playing a pinball machine in his head. Flashing lights and jingling noises were going off. But nothing was coming to him. He couldn’t find any words to offer at all to Billy.
So he whipped his head to the side, watched as Billy stopped glancing around the empty diner to finally settle on Steve.
And he watches as Billy’s gorgeous, totally unfair pretty blue eyes lift to see the cat ears on his head.
“Woah, Harrington,” Billy exhales like he’s blowing a mouth full of cigarette smoke. “That’s really—,”
“I know, Billy, okay! It’s um, um?” Steve waves his hands around as if that can turn the wheels of his thinking some more. But he can’t think. Not well anyway, when Billy’s standing here looking so handsome, so warm, and so alive right in front of him.
“Yeah, okay, I can totally explain this—,”
Billy cuts him off with a soft chuckle. Just under his breath. Steve closes his mouth quick enough to make his teeth click.
“I don’t know, Steve. Ya don’t have to explain it. It’s kinda cute, actually,” Billy drawls out his words low and soft. And then smiles at him.
A second ticks by. Billy’s boots skid on the tile as he steps even closer. All the way until he’s right next to Steve. Grabbing the back of a stool right next to him.
And Billy hasn’t taken his eyes off Steve’s ears once. And he’s got a little sparkle in them like the first time Billy got a point over him during basket ball practice back in high school. And oh, oh.
“Cute?” Steve parrots back.
“Yeah, super cute,” Billy confesses.
#harringrove#billy hargrove#steve harrington#harringrove fic#my fic#harringrove fanfic#steve/billy#harringrove moodboard#harringroveweekoflove#harringrove week of love#cat boy Steve#cat boys in my Harringrove week of love? it’s more likely than you think#my moodboards
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Love’s Strange (Billy Hargrove/Reader)
Title: Love’s Strange
Pairing: Billy Hargrove/f!Reader; background Steve/Nancy/Jonathan
Summary: Written for the ‘The Breakfast Club’ prompt for The 80s Challenge by @nellblazer . “You were starting to get your hopes up that it would only be the four of you, but then the library door opened once again and your hopes were quickly dashed by the sight of Billy Hargrove being escorted inside by Principal Himbry. Himbry had a hand on Billy's elbow, as if he thought Billy was about to make a run for it if he didn't personally usher him inside the room. “
Word Count: 9.4k
Warnings: Underage drinking
Author’s Note: Set after season two of Stranger Things. Title taken from Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds. Principal Himbry is very much so based on the principal from Scream. I couldn't resist. Masterlist / Read on AO3
You thought the whole concept of Saturday detention was bullshit. You didn't understand what the point was of coming into school to waste half of your weekend. You would have preferred staying after school every day for a week than giving up your Saturday.
It wasn't as if you had anything planned, though. You would sit in your room, listening to music, and ignoring that the rest of the world existed. You would probably catch up on homework or finish the assigned novel for your English class. You didn't lead the most exciting life, but you really didn't want to spend your free time stuck in detention.
You knew what people thought of you at Hawkins High. They thought you were quiet. They thought you were a nerd who only focused on your grades and had no fun whatsoever. You usually didn't care what anyone thought about you, though. You were there to get your diploma and then get the hell out of Hawkins.
So what if you didn’t spend your weekends at parties or had a full social life? You didn’t know why you would bother to waste your attention on the other kids at Hawkins High anyways. They had never given you any consideration and you weren’t really jumping at the opportunity to try to change their minds about you.
At the end of the day, they had already made up their minds about you. Did it bother you sometimes? Sure. Were you tempted to try to change their opinion of you? Not really.
You sighed as you pulled open the front door to the school. You had been forced to walk to school, since your parents were out of town and you didn't have your own car. You didn't mind the walk, but since it was almost Thanksgiving, the air had a chill to it that took your breath away.
Once you got inside, you started pulling off your gloves.
"I see you've finally showed up," you heard from in front of you.
You glanced up to see Principal Himbry standing there, an unimpressed look on his face.
"I had to walk," you offered helplessly.
"That's no excuse," he said. "All of you little delinquents are late." He sighed before he glanced down at his wristwatch, shaking his head when he noticed the time. "You'll be in the library. I suggest you get there now," he snapped before he brushed past you to step outside.
You resisted the urge to roll your eyes as you made your way to the library. You weren't sure who you would be sharing detention with, but you hoped it wasn't any of the idiots you had come to dislike during your time at Hawkins High.
When you got to the library, you noticed it was eerily silent. You considered the row of three tables taking up space in the middle of the room. Each table only had three seats, so there weren't a lot of seating choices. You were glad you were the first one in the room, since that meant you got to choose where you wanted to sit.
You made a beeline for the table at the back. You chose the middle seat, hoping it would dissuade anyone from sitting at your table.
You sat in the silent library for long enough that you started to wonder if you should try to find something to read to pass the time. Just as you had convinced yourself to get up, the door to the library opened and three people walked inside.
You quirked an eyebrow at the sight of Steve Harrington striding into the room followed closely by Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers. Nancy shot you a quick look before she moved to take the middle seat of the first table, Jonathan and Steve flanking her.
You were more than a bit surprised to see Nancy and Jonathan. They were a grade below you, but even you knew they were generally regarded as good students. Seeing Steve wasn't as much of a shock. You had a few classes with Steve and while he seemed like a level-headed guy, he also had a habit of bickering with Tommy Hagan or Billy Hargrove and disrupting class.
You really hoped neither of them showed up for detention, because you were sure it would lead to more bickering and fighting between the boys. You only wanted to do your time and get home to enjoy what was left of your weekend. You really didn’t want to get pulled into any drama.
You were starting to get your hopes up that it would only be the four of you, but then the library door opened once again and your hopes were quickly dashed by the sight of Billy Hargrove being escorted inside by Principal Himbry. Himbry had a hand on Billy's elbow, as if he thought Billy was about to make a run for it if he didn't personally usher him inside the room.
Billy jerked his arm out of Himbry's grasp. "I told you I know where the library is," he insisted. "I didn't need your help."
"Your grades would suggest otherwise, Mr. Hargrove. Take a seat."
Billy rolled his eyes, but didn't bother to say anything as he moved forward. You noticed Steve's shoulders tense as Billy brushed past him, but you were quick to drop your gaze to the table in front of you when you noticed Billy's attention focus on you for a moment.
You were aware of Billy dropping into the middle seat at the table in front of yours and felt relieved that he didn't choose to sit at your table. If there was anyone who didn't mind pushing boundaries just to get a rise out of people, it was Billy Hargrove.
You didn't bother looking up again until Mr. Himbry spoke. "I know you five think you've been given a free pass to just sit around and do nothing all day, but that's not how Saturday detention in my school is run."
Billy snorted as he tipped his head back, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. "Please, enlighten us," he remarked.
Mr. Himbry shot Billy an exasperated glare. "I want you to write me an essay," Mr. Himbry started as he moved over towards the librarian's desk. He grabbed a small stack of loose-leaf notebook paper and a handful of pencils before he started distributing them among the five of you. You frowned down at the blank paper in front of you before you glanced up to see Himbry standing back in front of the door, his hand on the doorknob as if he was about to leave the room.
You hastily raised your hand, hating that you were going to call attention to yourself.
"What?" Himbry asked when he noticed you.
"What are we supposed to write about?"
You heard Billy groan as a smirk appeared on Himbry's face.
"I'm glad you asked. I want you to write me an essay about your character. Explain to me why what you did was wrong and how you're going to improve so it doesn't happen again."
Billy raised his hand. "But, sir, what if we're not sorry? What if we like our choices?" His voice had a mocking tone to it and by the annoyed expression on Himbry's face, you were sure he caught it.
"Mr. Hargrove, I hope out of anyone in this room, you will take this day to reflect on your bad decisions. You’ve certainly made a lot of them since you decided to grace us with your presence."
Billy leaned back in his chair as he kicked his feet up on the desk in front of him. "That'll be the day," he commented.
"I am sick of your attitude, Mr. Hargrove," Himbry snapped. "You just earned yourself another Saturday detention."
Billy chuckled as he moved to pull a stick of gum from the outer pocket of his jacket. Mr. Himbry crossed over to him and held his hand out.
"And no chewing gum in the library. It's bad enough you kids stick it under the cafeteria tables. We don't need that in here either."
"Sure thing, Mr. Himbry," Billy replied as he handed over the stick of gum.
He waited until Mr. Himbry's back was turned before he pulled out another piece, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. When he realized he had your attention, he shot you a wink.
You rolled your eyes, not wanting to admit even to yourself that you found Billy Hargrove dangerously charming, even when he was being a bit of a dick.
Mr. Himbry turned to survey the five of you. "I want those essays finished by the time you're allowed to leave here today," he said. "You will stay right here in this room. No going off into one of the private study rooms. If I think you've left your seat when I get back, I'll add another Saturday to your sentence. Do I make myself clear?"
"Aren't you going to stay here?" Steve asked.
"I have better things to do with my time than watch you all day, Harrington. I'll be locking you all in so I can be sure you won't leave."
"But, sir, isn't that a fire hazard?" Billy’s tone suggested he didn’t really care, but he just wanted to piss off Mr. Himbry by bringing it up.
"Shut it, Hargrove. You’re lucky I gave you detention and not suspension for smoking on school grounds,” Mr. Himbry responded, a displeased look on his face.
Billy held up his hands in surrender before he reached into the inner pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. He rocked back in his seat, not caring that his head was dangerously close to the edge of your table.
Mr. Himbry sighed and shook his head. "At least you're graduating this year," he grumbled before he turned and left the library.
You had no intention of actually writing the essay. There was no way Himbry could grade you on it, so there was no point in actually wasting your time on it. Instead, you grabbed the pencil he had left for you on the desk and started doodling in the margins of the paper. You were mindlessly drawing stars and scribbling snatches of lyrics from some of your favorite songs when you were torn out of your thoughts by Billy's voice.
"I should have known you would live for that extra homework bullshit," he said. When you glanced up, it was to see Billy sitting back up in his chair, his feet planted on the floor once again as he considered you over the top rim of his sunglasses. "Did you get turned on by the thought of writing another boring-as-shit essay, Miss Honor Roll?"
You shot him a glare before you bent back over your paper. You made sure to print the letters large enough on the page to be able to read them at a distance. You held the paper up so Billy could read your message to him.
His lips stretched in a smirk as he read the words. "Fuck off, huh? Such language from such a pretty girl."
"Just leave her alone, Billy," Nancy cut in, shooting a glare at Billy over her shoulder.
Billy turned back around in his seat, facing the table in front of him. "I'm surprised to see you here, princess," Billy said as he leaned forward in his seat, his gaze set on Nancy and Steve in front of him.
Steve turned around, a scowl on his face. "Hey, don't call her that."
Billy smirked. "I was talking to you, Harrington."
"You're a real asshole. Do you know that?" Steve snapped, turning fully in his seat so he could consider Billy.
"So I've been told," Billy drawled, seemingly unaffected by Steve's words.
"Why the hell are you even here, Hargrove? I would have thought you were above showing up for a Saturday detention."
"Oh, but then I would have missed seeing your face, Harrington. I couldn't possibly go a day without it."
"Just do what Y/N said and fuck off, Billy," Steve spat.
Billy chuckled before he pressed his hands to the surface of the table, pushing himself up to stand. "With pleasure," he hissed.
You watched him move over towards the library doors. When he reached out to try to open them, they didn't budge.
"That dick actually locked us in," you couldn't help saying. You really didn't think Mr. Himbry would go so far as to lock you all in the library. What if something happened? What if you needed to leave?
Jonathan glanced at you over his shoulder, a surprised look on his face.
Steve snorted as he leaned back in his seat. "Of course he did," he muttered. "Because that's just what today needed."
Billy turned around, his focus immediately going to you. "There you go with that smart mouth again," he said as he leaned back against the locked library doors. "How did you even end up in detention in the first place? Aren't you the perfect little teacher's pet?"
You rolled your eyes and moved to grab the paper and pencil from the desk. You pushed yourself out of your chair and then made for one of the private study rooms dotting the perimeter of the room. You didn't care if Mr. Himbry had forbidden it or if you ended up being punished for it. You would do just about anything in that moment to get away from Billy Hargrove and his insufferable attitude.
"Oh, we've got ourselves a rebel!" Billy called after you.
You didn't bother to look back at him or the others as you pushed the door closed behind yourself. You let out a sigh of relief when you dropped into one of the chairs found at the table in the middle of the room. You were sure you would be even more bored all by yourself in the study room, but you didn't care. If it gave you just a few moments to yourself, then you would happily take it.
You spent a couple of hours by yourself, absently drawing your own constellations on the paper and trying to find ways to entertain yourself.
You were thankful that it was warm enough in the room that you could slip off your jacket. You weren’t sure if the others were talking or even bothering with each other, because you couldn’t hear a thing from the main room. Sitting all alone in the study room without music or anything else to occupy your time was mind-numbingly boring, but you couldn’t help but think it was better than potentially listening to Steve and Billy fight all day.
You were starting to get sleepy and seriously considering balling up your jacket to use as a pillow when the door to the study room abruptly opened. You were startled enough that you almost tipped out of your chair.
"Get out of there," you heard Mr. Himbry snap behind you.
You sighed before you made yourself get up. You grabbed your things before finally turning and looking at Mr. Himbry. He sighed and shook his head, disappointment clear in his expression as you brushed past him.
"I'll see you here next Saturday," he told you.
Billy was sitting in the seat you had originally claimed, his sunglasses still on his face. When he saw you, he smirked at you. "Looks like I won't be lonely next Saturday after all."
You rolled your eyes, choosing to sit in the middle seat of the second table.
Mr. Himbry sighed as he passed your table. "Now, if you didn't bring lunch, which I don't think any of you thought to do, then there are pre-packaged sandwiches and chips that can be found in the cafeteria." He moved to stand near the librarian's desk, his gaze fixed on the five of you as he considered you. "You," he said as he pointed at you. "And Harrington," he added after a few moments. "Go to the cafeteria and get lunch for everyone."
Steve glanced at you before he pushed himself to his feet. You were quick to follow, glad that you would be able to leave the library for just a few moments.
"And don't take more than ten minutes," Himbry called out. "Or it's another Saturday for the both of you," he warned.
You really didn't want to spend your weekends leading up to Christmas in detention, so you simply nodded your head and followed Steve out of the library.
You didn't really know Steve Harrington all that well, even if you had been in classes together for years. However, everyone at Hawkins High knew who 'King Steve' was, even if he had recently fallen from the ridiculous heights of popularity he once seemed to enjoy.
"So," Steve started, shooting you a glance as he swung his arms idly at his sides. "Y/N, right?"
You quirked an eyebrow at him, amused by the question. "Yeah. Steve, right?" You jokingly asked.
Steve rolled his eyes before carding his fingers through his hair, pushing it off of his forehead.
"I'm just trying to make small talk. I don't really know anything about you except that you're one of the smartest kids in our class. How the hell did you even end up in Saturday detention?"
You shrugged your shoulders. "I'm more than just a nerd, King Steve."
"Alright, alright. Point taken."
"How did you end up with Saturday detention?"
Steve bit his lip before he shot you a grin. "I told Tommy H. to go fuck himself. Himbry overheard."
"Huh," you breathed. "Knowing Tommy, I'm sure it was deserved."
"Yeah," Steve agreed with a laugh. "Now will you tell me how you got detention?"
"Nope," you answered.
Steve laughed again, shooting you an amused grin, before he shook his head. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You seem to like your secrets."
"Oh, I'm full of surprises, Harrington."
"Yeah? I guess you are."
A companionable silence fell over the two of you once you reached the cafeteria. You helped Steve grab the food helpfully waiting for you on the lunch table closest to the door leading to the lunch line. You caught a glimpse of one of the women who regularly worked in the cafeteria through the open door. She raised her hand in a wave when she saw you and you offered her a smile in return.
When you got back to the library, Mr. Himbry was pointedly looking at his wristwatch. "Another minute and you would have added another Saturday to both of your sentences." He considered the both of you, a scowl forming on his face. "And where are the drinks?"
"Uh," Steve started, shooting you an uncertain look. "You didn't mention anything about drinks, Mr. Himbry," he pointed out.
"It was implied, Mr. Harrington." Himbry sighed before he glanced away. "Wheeler and Byers," he called, snapping his fingers at the pair. "Go get drinks for everyone."
Nancy frowned, but didn't say anything as she got out of her seat. Steve watched Nancy as she passed by him, a look of longing on his face. You had heard about his brutal breakup with Nancy at Tina’s Halloween party and you couldn't help but feel a bit bad for him. By the look on his face, you figured it was safe to assume he wasn't over her.
You moved to take your seat again, dropping a sandwich and bag of chips in front of Billy.
"Thanks, baby," he purred, sitting up in his chair.
"Don't call me that," you snapped, shooting him a glare. You faced forward in your seat, noticing Himbry stepping out of the library and closing the door behind him, leaving you alone with Steve and Billy.
"Sure thing, sweetheart," Billy quipped, earning an eyeroll from you. "So, hey," you heard Billy say. "I heard an interesting rumor about Harrington."
You saw Steve's shoulders tense, but he didn't bother to acknowledge that he had actually heard Billy.
"I don't care," you answered, reaching out to slowly unwrap your sandwich.
"I heard he's fucking both of them. Nancy and Byers." You heard Billy chuckle, as if amused by his own words. "The princess gets the freak and the jock. How's that for a fairytale ending?"
You noticed Steve's hands clench into fists. You only shared one class with both Billy and Steve, but that was enough to know that they had a complicated relationship. Billy constantly riled Steve up and thought it was hilarious when Steve finally snapped back. Hell, Billy liked to pick at everyone. You weren't sure if it was his own way of making sure he stayed at the top of the high school food chain or if he had another reason for bullying people, but you were sick of it.
"You know what?" You said as you turned in your seat to look at Billy. You noticed his eyebrows rise in surprise, as if he didn't think you would actually be bold enough to stand up to him. "It's none of your business if they are in a relationship. You know whose business it is? Theirs. No one else's." You considered Billy for a moment, noticing the way he seemed to be studying you. "You know what I think, Billy?"
"Enlighten me," he retorted.
"I think you're lonely," you told him. "You spend so much of your time antagonizing other people so you don't have to take a good, hard look at yourself. Because once everything is said and done, all you have is yourself. And maybe you don’t like you all that much."
"You don't know a damn thing about me, sweetheart," Billy muttered, his tone close to a snarl.
"Maybe that's because you don't want anyone to really look past those aviator glasses and that leather jacket," you pointed out. "Maybe if you let someone in, then you wouldn't feel the need to drag everyone else down with you. Maybe you should let someone lift you up."
Billy scoffed and shook his head. "That's the biggest piece of shit I've ever heard in my life."
You shrugged your shoulders, not bothering to respond as you turned back around in your seat.
Steve was watching you, an unreadable expression on his face for a moment, before he grinned. You rolled your eyes, feeling yourself flush at his silent approval, before you began to pick at the sandwich in front of you.
When Nancy and Jonathan got back, Himbry locked you in again.
You thanked Jonathan when he handed you a can of soda. You noticed the way Steve reached out to clap a hand to Jonathan's shoulder and the soft smile Jonathan shot Steve in return. You couldn't help but wonder if there was any truth to Billy's words, but then immediately felt guilty for even thinking about it. If they really all were in a relationship, then you told yourself it wasn't any of your business. Although, a small part of you couldn't help but feel curious.
You picked at your lunch, not really in the mood to eat. You really just wanted to go home and fall into bed.
An hour managed to crawl past. The silence in the library was almost unnerving. You had long run out of space on your paper, so you had taken to using your pencil to try to color in the full page.
Every so often, you heard Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan all softly whispering to each other, but you were never able to catch what they were talking about. You didn't really want to eavesdrop, but you were so bored out of your skull that you were just about ready to try anything to stop yourself from banging your head against the desk as a form of entertainment.
"I'm bored," Billy groaned, finally breaking the silence in the room.
"No shit, Hargrove," Steve snapped. "We're all bored."
"Well, I have something that'll help," you heard Billy say.
You turned in your seat to see he was reaching into his coat. When he pulled out a flask, you couldn't help but roll your eyes.
"Of course," you muttered to yourself, turning back around to face the front.
"What?" Billy asked defensively. "You have something against making things interesting?"
"How is drinking going to make things interesting?" You wondered why Billy even thought to bring a flask to Saturday detention in the first place.
"Because we're going to play a game," Billy said, reaching forward to poke at your shoulder.
Steve turned in his seat, his eyebrow quirked at Billy. "You have to be kidding."
"Nope," you heard Billy say, a smile in his voice.
You heard Nancy sigh before she turned to consider Billy as well. "What game?" She sounded like she didn’t really want to ask, but she was so bored she couldn’t help but grasp at any distraction.
Billy was silent for a moment, as if thinking over his choices. You heard him snap his fingers before he spoke again. "Never Have I Ever," he offered.
Jonathan snorted before he blushed when you all glanced at him, having obviously been caught off-guard by Billy's suggestion.
"What? You've got something to offer, Byers?"
Jonathan sighed before he glanced at Billy over his shoulder. "Just thought you'd think something like that was lame."
"I'm bored, Byers," Billy drawled as he pulled his sunglasses off before putting them back in his jacket. "There's a hell of a lot I'd do to avoid that."
You heard Steve groan before he pushed his seat away from the table. "You know what? Fuck it," he conceded. "Sounds a lot better than sitting here in silence."
"I never thought you'd agree with me on something, Harrington."
"I still hate you," Steve told Billy, glaring at him.
"Feeling's mutual," Billy sneered.
You shook your head, still working on shading in your piece of paper. You were going to have to get up soon and sharpen your pencil if you had any hope of completing your self-assigned project.
"I'm out," you muttered. "You guys have fun."
"Oh, come on," Billy coaxed. "Live a little. Have some fun yourself for once."
"I don't want to play," you told him, not even bothering to look back at him.
"Why not? You scared I'm going to get to know you like you seem to think you know me?"
You finally turned and met his gaze, momentarily getting drawn in by the smug look on his face.
Playing this game with the others was probably a terrible idea. Steve had been right to guess you liked your secrets, and it was mostly because you were sick of other people judging you. You knew that Billy likely picked at people for the same reason you also didn’t let them in. You didn’t want others to see you and then decide you weren’t worth it.
It was probably a terrible idea, but you really had nothing better to do. Besides, you didn’t like the challenging look on Billy’s face.
"Fine," you finally bit out. "Let's play."
"Great," he said, a smirk pulling at his lips. "What about you, Byers? Wheeler? You in?"
Nancy rolled her eyes when Steve turned a pleading look on her.
"Oh, come on, Nance. Don't make me play by myself." His lower lip poked out in a pout and you saw the moment Nancy began to cave.
Nancy glanced to Jonathan, catching his hesitant nod, before a reluctant smile flashed across her face.
"Alright," she agreed. "We're in."
"But how is it going to work with one flask between the five of us?" You couldn't help but ask. "Don't we all need our own drink?"
"We'll improvise," Billy answered with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Wait," Nancy called, hastily getting to her feet. "Maybe we don't have to."
You frowned when she went behind the front desk and disappeared into the librarian's office. She came back after a few moments with a small stack of mini paper cups. "There's a water cooler in there," she explained. "These will make things easier at any rate."
"Alright, let's do this," Billy said, getting out of his chair.
He moved to drop down into the seat next to yours while Nancy set the cups down in front of you. Steve and Jonathan had already turned their chairs to face your table and you felt weirdly flustered at the feeling of everyone focusing on you.
"Look alive, nerd," Billy said, nudging you in the side with his elbow. "Make yourself useful and help me out here," he added, nodding at the cups in front of you.
You rolled your eyes before you reached out to grab the cups. You separated them, holding one out to Billy at a time as he poured a little of whatever was in his flask into each cup. You handed them out to the others as you went, wondering if this was such a good idea.
"Don't make me regret wasting the good stuff on you assholes," Billy said as he finished. He twisted the cap back onto his flask, shaking it for a moment as if checking to make sure he still had some left. "Plenty left to go around," he added. "So, who's going first?"
"I've got an idea," you said, reaching behind you to grab one of Billy's blank pieces of paper. You ripped the paper into pieces and wrote a number on each one. You made quick work of folding each piece and then mixing them up. "Okay, we'll just go in order of the numbers we choose."
"Smart," Steve commented, shooting you a quick smile, before he reached out to grab a number.
Jonathan ended up going first. He looked like he wasn't really sure what to say at first.
"Come on, Byers," Billy groaned. "Do you not know how to play?"
"I do," Jonathan assured, shooting Billy a glare. "Never have I ever," he started, trailing off for a moment. "Used a fake ID," he finally finished.
Billy snorted before he downed his shot. You noticed Steve did as well.
Steve scrunched up his face and shook his head, turning his head to cough into his sleeve. "What the fuck is that?"
"The good shit, Harrington," Billy said. "So shut up and drink up."
"My turn," Steve said, holding his cup out to Billy to refill. He seemed to think about what he wanted to say for a moment before he finally spoke. "Never have I ever played hooky."
You quirked an eyebrow at Steve. "Really?" You would have thought King Steve would have skipped school at least once before.
"Really, really," he confirmed with a nod of his head before he smirked over at Nancy and Jonathan.
"Not fair," Nancy grumbled before she laughed and downed her shot, Jonathan not far behind her. You noticed Billy tip his head back as he had his second shot of the game.
He glanced over at you when he noticed you watching him.
"You're zero for two, sweetheart. You should join in on the fun."
"You're two for two," you reminded him. "Maybe you should start having a little less fun."
"Never," he said, smirking at you.
You rolled your eyes, glancing away from him.
"Your turn, Y/N," Nancy reminded you when you were silent for a few moments.
"Right," you agreed, staring down at the '3' you had scribbled down on the slip of paper in front of you. You weren't really sure what to say. When you agreed to play the game, you seemed to have momentarily forgotten that you really hadn't done all that much. It made it easy to do your part now, sure, but you were about to make it clear how much of a social life you didn’t have. Maybe you really were as straitlaced and boring as everyone made you out to be.
"Tick tock, babe," Billy drawled, knocking his shoulder lightly into yours.
"Don't call me that," you automatically said, barely even thinking about your response. "Alright, never have I ever been in a fist fight."
You noticed Steve, Jonathan, and Billy take a shot. You glanced to Jonathan, surprised that seemingly sweet and gentle Jonathan Byers had enough fire in him to have been in a fight.
Nancy went next, admitting that she had never been arrested.
Billy and Jonathan downed a shot for that one.
"You know, maybe I was wrong about you, Byers," Billy said. "You're quite the miscreant, aren't you?"
You noticed Jonathan's face flush, so you looked to Billy, figuring turnabout was fair play.
"Get on with it, Hargrove," you said, reaching out to tap your fingers against his slip of paper with the '5' written on it.
"Patience, baby," Billy said. "I know how to make a good thing last."
You heard Steve groan and shake his head. "Stop flirting with the poor girl and just get on with it, Billy. This was your idea," he pointed out.
"Stop ruining my fun, Harrington," Billy snapped. He considered Steve for a moment before a wicked grin appeared on his face.
You instinctively knew what he was about to say would likely be a dig at Steve.
"Never have I ever," Billy started, pausing as if for dramatic effect. "Had a three-way," he finished after a few seconds.
You reached out to smack him on the shoulder. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" You hissed at him, shooting a quick, worried look at the three in front of you.
To your surprise, all three of them were taking a shot. You felt your eyes widen in surprise before you looked to Billy, noticing the satisfied smirk on his face.
He leaned over until he was in your space. "Called it," he whispered, winking at you, before he pulled away.
You hated to admit that you felt a tiny thrill at having Billy Hargrove so close to you that you could smell his cologne and feel his hair brush against your shoulder. You also would never admit that when he leaned away, it left you feeling just the tiniest bit bereft. You didn't understand why you seemed to have a bit of a crush on him. He did nothing but poke at people and call you pet names. He thought you were a stick in the mud and would probably never seriously glance your way when every other girl in the school was attracted to him and looking to get into his pants.
"Uh, earth to Y/N," Steve called. "You still playing?"
"What? Yeah," you answered, blinking at Steve. "What did I miss?"
"Byers here has never done drugs," Billy told you, watching you expectantly. When you didn't touch your cup, he snorted and shook his head. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Shut up," you muttered, feeling your cheeks flush.
"My turn," Steve said. "Never have I ever flirted with a married person."
Billy was the only one to take a shot for that turn.
"Why am I not surprised?" You echoed, fixing Billy with an unimpressed look.
"I can't help it if everyone knows I'm hot shit," Billy told you, seemingly unconcerned.
"You're one of those things," you muttered, ignoring Billy's scowl. "Alright, never have I ever had a friends-with-benefits relationship."
Billy smirked at you before he downed his shot. "We can fix that, you know."
"You're the last person I'd want to fix that for me," you told him, even though it was mostly a lie. Would you and Billy actually have any semblance of a functioning, healthy relationship? Unlikely. Would it be hot as hell while it lasted? Most likely.
You were able to take your first shot when Nancy admitted she never got stitches. You noticed Jonathan quirking an eyebrow at you in surprise, but you shrugged your shoulders, not wanting to get into the story.
You hated to admit it, but as the game progressed and you got to know the others a bit more, you started actually having fun. You had managed to down a couple of more shots, admitting to being drunk at a family event and then later confessing to going skinny dipping.
"Never thought you would have had it in you," Billy said. He swayed in his seat, bumping companionably into you. "You've surprised me, angel."
You shrugged your shoulders, not wanting to fess up that the only reason you had gone skinny dipping was because you had been completely alone and didn't want to get your clothes wet. Still, when Billy shot you a pleased smile, you couldn't help but gift him with one of your own.
You noticed that, to your ultimate surprise, you all seemed to be bonding. You were all so different, but it seemed one dumb party game was enough to bring you together, if only for a small amount of time. If only because all of you had nothing better to do in that moment.
When Nancy admitted that she hadn't lied in the game, shooting a pointed look at Steve, you couldn't help but laugh when he begrudgingly drained his cup.
"Okay, so I have played hooky before," he offered with a shrug of his shoulders.
"I knew it!" You pointed at him accusingly, catching the amused grin on his face.
It wasn't all fun, though. When you admitted that you never lost someone, Billy and Nancy both somberly took a shot.
"I'm so sorry," you told them both. You knew Nancy must have been thinking about Barb. The aftermath of the discovery about Hawkins Lab and their involvement in Barb's death just a few weeks before had rocked the town. You knew that Barb’s absence had to be eating away at Nancy and couldn't imagine what it was like to lose your best friend.
You noticed Steve's arm come up to wrap around Nancy's shoulders as Jonathan reached out to grab her hand. You glanced away from them, giving them a moment of privacy, as you considered Billy. You couldn't help but feel curious about his loss, but you knew it wasn't your place to ask. Instead, you reached out to cautiously squeeze his shoulder, before you drew your hand back. He gave you a lingering look, his eyes dipping down and then back up, as if checking you out.
He cleared his throat, glancing over towards Nancy. "Alright, your turn Wheeler. What do you got?"
By the time the contents of Billy's flask were dangerously low, everyone was at least a little bit tipsy.
"Somehow, I doubt this was what we were supposed to do in detention," Jonathan said, glancing around at the group.
"Yeah, this has almost been nice," you reluctantly admitted.
"Enough for one more round left," Billy said, shaking the flask in his hand. He moved to stuff it back into the inner pocket of his jacket before he glanced at you. "Your turn, babe. Make it a good one."
You didn’t even bother to tell him not to call you that, since from the shit-eating grin on his face, he knew.
It was then you noticed everyone's attention on you. You bit your lip, struggling to think of something interesting, but not embarrassing, to confess.
"Never have I ever had sex in a car," you finally offered, shrugging your shoulders at Billy's incredulous look.
Only Steve, Nancy, and Billy ended up drinking to that. You glanced down to the shot in front of you before you looked to Jonathan.
"We can be losers together," you told him, holding out your cup towards him. "Cheers?"
You saw a brief smile flit across his face before he reached forward with his cup to tap it against yours.
"Cheers," he said before he drained his cup.
Once you downed your shot, you noticed Billy staring at you.
"What?" You felt suddenly defensive, not knowing why he was watching you so closely.
Billy startled, as if he hadn't realized he was still looking at you. "Nothing," he immediately denied, shrugging his shoulders. "Just don't get how you can be so boring."
"What?" It felt like your stomach dropped at his words, a cold wash of dread crashing down on you.
"You took the least shots out of all of us. You've done nothing," he added. "You just spend your days making all your little class notes and probably having wet dreams about acing your calculus exam."
You felt the good mood you had just moments before suddenly dissipate.
"Leave her alone, Billy," Nancy snapped. "What has she ever done to you?"
"Y/N, are you okay?" Steve asked, leaning forward and watching you in concern.
"Fine," you said. "Just regretting thinking that maybe Billy Hargrove wasn't such a dick for a moment."
"Oh," Billy breathed on a helpless laugh. "So, you do have some teeth. There's the fight I was looking for."
"I would think you've had enough of fights," Jonathan told Billy, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I love fights," Billy argued. "Especially when I always win. Just ask Harrington here," Billy continued, gesturing towards Steve. "Or did you forget I just beat the shit out of your boyfriend a few weeks ago?"
It wasn't long before an argument broke out. It seemed that Billy just couldn't help riling up the others. You sat at the desk, picking at the side of your paper cup, and wished that detention was over. All you could think about was Billy calling you boring and thinking that you lived and breathed for nothing except school. You weren’t sure why his words stung, but they did.
You jumped at the sound of the library door slamming open, Himbry standing in the doorway with a scowl on his face.
"I can hear you kids yelling from just down the hallway. What the hell is going on in here?"
"Nothing, sir," Billy said, reaching into his jacket and pulling his sunglasses back out. He put them on, smirking at Himbry as he leaned back in his seat. "Just having a little friendly conversation."
Himbry snorted as he walked farther into the room. You noticed Nancy hastily reach out to grab the other paper cups and stack them again before hiding them beneath her chair.
"I know better than to think there's anything friendly about you, Hargrove. I've had to suffer through having all of you in my school for some time now. You think I don't notice things? I notice things!" Himbry's face was starting to flush red in anger as his voice steadily rose. "You kids think you run this school, but you'll be out of here soon enough! And who's stuck here taking care of the next generation? Me," he hissed, pointing a finger at Billy.
"Uh, Mr. Himbry?" Nancy hesitantly spoke up. "Are you okay?"
"No," he snapped. "I've had enough of this and I obviously can't trust the five of you to follow rules. So, you're each going to a study room and you're going to stay there, by yourself, until Saturday detention is over."
"Fine by me," you muttered, already moving to grab your stuff.
A couple of minutes later, you were back in the study room you had retreated to for solace earlier that day. You went back to trying to shade in your paper, hating that Billy Hargrove of all people had managed to get under your skin.
You weren't sure how long you had been sitting there, glaring down at the progressively-darkening paper in front of you, before the door to your study room opened.
You glanced over your shoulder, hoping it was Himbry telling you it was time to go home, but to your surprise it was Billy standing just inside the room.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Billy shrugged his shoulders before he pulled his sunglasses off. "I was thinking," he said, moving to sit down in the chair beside yours.
"I didn't say you were welcome here," you reminded him.
"Come on, Y/N," Billy said, grinning at you. "You can't tell me you weren't a little excited to see me here."
"I'm not excited to see you here. Get out," you told him, already turning away from him.
"Hey," he called, his tone softer than before. He reached out to wrap his fingers around your wrist, tugging until you faced him again. "I wanted to apologize."
"What?" You blurted, thrown for a loop by his words. "You can't be serious. Are you just making fun of me again?"
"No," he insisted. "God, this is why I don't tell people I'm sorry. They always give me shit for it."
"You have to admit it's a little unexpected given your track record," you couldn't help but point out to him.
Billy brought his hand up to scratch the back of his neck, a nervous smile on his face that looked remarkably out of place. You were used to Billy practically oozing an obvious charm that he bestowed on anyone he thought he could get into bed. Otherwise, he was almost hostile, picking fights and mostly winning them. A nervous and awkward Billy Hargrove wasn’t something you thought you would ever witness.
"You know, I've seen you around school before. You get this smile on your face when you think no one's looking. Like, you're away in your head and anywhere else other than this shithole. It's nice," he said.
"You've noticed me? I thought you were too busy being too cool for someone as boring as I am."
"Oh, I've noticed you," he confirmed with a nod of his head. "And I shouldn't have called you boring. But I just always thought you were too good for me. You’re going to graduate top of the class and go to some fancy university in a big city. You’re better than Hawkins and you’re better than me."
"Maybe I am and maybe I’m not," you said, rolling your eyes. "But maybe if you stopped being such a dick to me, then you'd find that out for yourself. Maybe if you actually got to know me, then you would know that I have more to offer than my good grades."
Billy narrowed his eyes at you before a self-satisfied grin broke out on his face. "Alright, then," he said, leaning back in his seat. "We've still got at least an hour locked in here. What do you say to getting to know each other a little better?"
You raised an eyebrow at him. "Just talking?"
Billy held his hands up, palms facing towards you. "Just talking," he promised, even though the smirk on his face did nothing to convince you he wasn't lying.
You thought that maybe Billy Hargrove wasn't capable of being alone in a room with a girl without making a dozen innuendos. You thought Billy Hargrove would have hit on you relentlessly or tried to goad you into doing something more than having a conversation. You thought Billy Hargrove would rather eat his own shoe than spend over an hour with you alone, simply talking and getting to know each other better.
Billy Hargrove managed to surprise you.
During your time together, you learned that the loss he admitted to earlier during the game was his mom.
"She didn't die or anything," he told you, shrugging his shoulders as if unbothered by what he was saying. From the pained look in his eyes, you knew that he still obviously cared a lot. "But she ran out on me and I haven't seen or heard from her since. Left me in a pretty shitty situation," he confessed, carefully not looking at you. “She’s as good as dead to me now.”
"I'm sorry," you said, at a loss for anything else to say.
"Whatever," Billy breathed, his expression smoothing out. "So, what did someone like you do to end up in here?"
You normally wouldn't have wanted to fess up, but after Billy had practically bared his soul for you just moments before, or as close to it as he ever got, you couldn't help but want to trust him with something of yours.
"I threw a book through Mr. Himbry's office window. Smashed it."
"What? That was you?" Billy looked almost impressed as he finally looked at you again. "Why the hell did you do that?"
You shrugged your shoulders. "I was going to fail gym. I told him it was a bullshit requirement, but he wouldn't listen to me. I guess I got angry. He said the only reason I wasn't expelled was because I was top of the class."
"A hothead, huh?" Billy chuckled, an expression that looked a lot like fond amusement appearing on his face. "I can respect that."
As more time passed and Billy revealed more and more of himself to you, you couldn't help but wonder if he was ever this open and candid with anyone else.
You talked about favorite movies and teachers you both hated. He told you about his car and you bemoaned your lack of one. You told him about some of your favorite books and he shared some memories about his favorite places in California.
By the time the end of your detention was approaching, you felt like you had gotten to see a side of Billy Hargrove that no one else was allowed to.
"So, hey," Billy started, tapping his fingers on the surface of the table. "I was thinking I could help you out."
"With what?" You asked, wondering what he could possibly be talking about.
"With some of your answers to that game. Or, I mean, lack of answers," he amended. "You barely got to participate. It's a little sad."
You rolled your eyes. "I'm not having sex with you in your car just because I've never done that before." Even if it is a nice car, you couldn’t help but think to yourself.
He laughed, sounding genuinely amused by your words. "That's not what I had in mind," he muttered before he leaned forward in his chair. He reached out, tipping your chin up towards him, before he brushed his lips against yours. "This okay?" He quietly asked, pulling back only enough to meet your gaze.
You nodded your head, pulling him back towards you. It was strange to think that you started the day dreading the sight of Billy Hargrove and now you felt almost breathless with anticipation while he was pressed so close to you.
One little Saturday detention had somehow managed to change your opinion of him. You couldn’t help but admit to yourself that you really didn’t hate the turn of events that ended up with his lips pressed to yours and his fingers carding through your hair.
The next time the door to your study room opened, it really was Himbry.
"Enough!" He snapped when he caught you and Billy making out. "It's bad enough that you two ended up in Saturday detention in the first place, but it’s even worse that you just couldn't respect my rules for even one day." He sighed, sounding oddly defeated. "Detention is over. Get out of here. I'll see you two here next Saturday." As he turned, you heard him mutter under his breath. "Honestly, between these two and the other three, I'm starting to wonder why we even bother with Saturday detention anymore."
When you turned back towards the table, you caught Billy looking at you.
"What?" You couldn't quite read the look on his face, but it had you shivering in your seat.
"Nothing," he answered as he reached forward. He pressed his thumb just under your jaw, a smirk on his face. "Looks like I helped you out with something after all."
You remembered his biting kisses to the skin he was considering with an intent in his eyes that you couldn't help but melt at seeing. You also remembered admitting earlier that you had never before gotten a hickey.
"You're something else," you muttered, moving to gather your stuff. You briefly wondered if you would be able to hide the love bites Billy had gifted you with, but a part of you really didn’t want to.
You left the study room, aware of Billy trailing right behind you.
When you looked up, you noticed Nancy righting her blouse just outside the study room she had been confined to earlier. Steve and Jonathan were just right behind her, talking softly to each other.
It was then you suddenly understood Himbry's words from just moments before. You quirked an eyebrow at Nancy when she realized she had your attention and she blushed in response, shrugging her shoulders. You grinned at her before you mimed zipping your lips shut. She shot you a grateful look before turning towards Steve and Jonathan.
"Told you," Billy whispered in your ear.
You glanced at him over your shoulder before you shook your head. “You better not go spreading that around school,” you warned him. “It’s not yours to tell.”
Billy didn’t bother to answer, but from the expression on his face, you hoped he agreed to keep his mouth shut.
You walked out of the library, already dreading the walk home. You pulled your jacket back on, knowing that it would likely be freezing outside.
When you opened the front doors to the school, you shivered at the blast of cold air that greeted you.
You hastily tugged your gloves back on and pulled your jacket tighter around you. You only made it a few steps away from the front doors before you felt someone tug on the sleeve of your jacket.
"Hey, nerd," Billy called, an almost affectionate tone to his voice. "Let me give you a ride home. You'll catch pneumonia walking in this cold."
"And you care?"
"Just get in the car, Y/N," he groaned before nodding over towards his blue Camaro.
You watched him step towards his car before sending you a questioning glance over his shoulder. You moved to follow after him, feeling a little exhilarated as you ducked into the passenger seat.
The car ride to your house was filled with an almost awkward silence. You weren't really sure where you stood with Billy now that you weren't sentenced to spending time together. Were you friends? Something more? Surely friends didn't make out with each other, right? You had certainly never given any of your friends a hickey. But were you dating? Were you anything other than a Saturday detention fling to Billy?
By the time Billy pulled into your driveway, you had managed to almost convince yourself that the connection you thought you had forged with Billy was tenuous at best. He would probably never speak to you again past today and the thought hurt, even though you knew you didn't really have any claim to him or his time.
You moved to get out of the car. You hated that he wasn't saying anything as you pushed yourself out of the car and closed the passenger side door shut behind you.
"So, Y/N," Billy called, looking at you through the open passenger window.
"Yeah?" You pulled your jacket tighter around you, shivering at the chill in the air.
"Can I call you some time?"
You felt your breath hitch, your knees going a little weak at the expectant look on his face. He looked as if he was looking forward to the idea of speaking to you again.
"Sure," you answered, trying to keep your tone even. If you let him know just how eager you felt for more of his time, then he wouldn't let you live it down.
"Great," he said, reaching into the front pocket of his jacket and pulling out a carton of cigarettes. He shook one out before he placed it between his lips, his gaze going to you as he lit the end of the cigarette with a lighter he pulled from the glove compartment.
You weren't really sure if you were supposed to leave now, but you couldn't help but say one more thing before stepping away from the car.
"So, I guess I'll see you at the next Saturday detention," you reminded him. A part of you really hoped that it was only going to be you and Billy there. You relished the idea of having Billy all to yourself.
He smiled at you, pulling the cigarette away from his mouth to breathe out a cloud of smoke.
"It's a date," he agreed.
#nellblazers80schallenge#stranger things#billy hargrove x reader#billy hargrove#billy hargrove imagine#stranger things imagine#reader insert#reader imagine#billy hargrove x you#billy hargrove/reader#stranger things x reader#reader#stranger things fanfiction#love's strange fic#my edit
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A Chance Meeting
Pairing: Bucky Barnes X Reader
Summary: All he wanted was a night alone but fate had other plans
Warnings: Fluff. Major fluff.
Word count: 1.9k
Author's notes: I have finally finished something! This has been a very long time coming, so I am super nervous and excited, even a little afraid as no one else has read a thing I've written in 7 years. Maybe longer. Hopefully this isn't too bad! Also, apologies for any improper punctuation. And also for not knowing how to do an undercut as this is kind of long. I'm still new with posting/using the app on my phone.
Bucky Barnes slid on his coat, placed a hat on his head and as quietly as possible, slipped out the front door into the frigid December night air.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy: he had his best friend, close friends who saw him for who he was and not what he was or what he had done, a nice warm place to stay, food in his stomach. Hell, he was an Avenger for Pete's sake. He had come so far from his time in the war, the time where he was brainwashed to be an evil assassin – he knew he should be grateful, and he was – there was just still something missing. How can one man have so much and it be like nothing at all?
The thoughts ran through his mind as he walked through the dark streets; the snow that had started light only minutes ago was now coming down heavier and faster. He had no idea of what time it was, nor did he care. He just had to get out. Clear his head. Maybe force his body to get some sleep after some much-needed fresh air.
Even though he hadn’t been a Russian assassin since Steve Rogers had found him and helped him get back his memory, he still had awful nightmares. Terrors that lasted long through the night and well into the next day. Some so bad they shook him for days on end resulting in him not being able to sleep.
Which was why it was in the middle of the night on December 24th and he was in the middle of the town square staring at the giant Christmas tree in an effort to shake the bad thoughts that crept through his mind.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” a quiet voice came from beside him. Bucky had no will or want to talk to anyone. Especially at whatever ridiculous hour it had been.
Bucky gave the person a slight nod wanting nothing more to be left alone.
That was a downfall of being an Avenger. People always knew who you were, wherever you went, always knew where you’d be, and had always wanted something of you. He loved attention back when he was a kid, even thrived off it, but now that he was older, colder he loved to be left alone.
“I’m so sorry, but – “
“Here it comes.” Bucky thought and turned to the person, ready to put on his act.
“– do you know where this is?” the woman pointed to a map she had out in front of her. “This street, that is.” She shook her head while looking at the map, heavy snowflakes resting in her hair.
“Oh.” He blinked and gave her a curious look. He waited a few more seconds for her to ask him if he was the Winter Soldier, if she could get a date with the Captain America, or have drinks with the Iron Man. When none of those questions came, he was stunned.
The woman was so focused on her map that she had temporarily forgotten about the man standing next to her. Bucky coughed to get her attention. “I am really sorry. I know it is late, it is super cold, and you’re a stranger who probably doesn’t want to be bothered. It’s just I was supposed to be at my parents’ house hours ago. My cab left me stranded on the side of the road when he couldn’t find my house, it started to snow, the streets have been completely empty, and you are the first person I found to ask for directions.”
God she was beautiful Bucky thought to himself while trying to concentrate on her words. His eyes wandered over the women. Long dark hair framed her face perfectly, her cheeks and nose rosy from the cold, her eyes warm and inviting. His stomach tied in knots as she looked at him helplessly.
“This is turning into a really awful Christmas.” She sighed heavily packing the map back into her bag. “I am so, so sorry to have bothered you, sir. Merry Christmas.” She smiled at him within a troubled glance then began to walk away.
“Do, uh, d-do you like hot chocolate?” Bucky stammered calling out to her back. He kicked himself for being so awkward, so troubled that he doubted himself in his ability to communicate with people.
“Sorry?” the woman turned around unsure if she heard him correctly.
“Hot chocolate. It is freezing out here and from the sound of it, you’ve been walking around out here for a pretty long time. Would you…want to go get a hot chocolate? Warm up a little?”
“It’s 12:45 in the morning.”
“I know a great little diner that’s open 24 hours. Best hot cocoa in the surrounding area.”
She smiled thankfully unsure as to why she couldn’t get enough of the quiet dark-haired man. “I would absolutely love a hot chocolate. Possibly some pancakes, too.”
“I don’t know about pancakes, but they have the best French toast I have ever had.” Bucky smiled as he made his way over to her, needing more time with her.
“Even better.”
-----
“Oh my God you weren’t kidding!” she moaned as she let the melted cinnamony, buttery, eggy goodness slide down her throat. Bucky laughed as she took another bit, moaning louder as she chewed. “These are to DIE for.”
Bucky smiled as he watched her eat, a calmness coming over him that he hadn’t felt in an exceedingly long time. Like he was supposed to be here. With her. Like tonight wasn’t just a chance meeting between two strangers. He thanked his lucky stars that she didn’t take him for a dangerous person, even though deep down he knew differently.
“Thank you.” She looked at him her eyes locking onto his. “For all of this. My parents and siblings only just moved here a few months ago and this is my first time to visit. Mom thought she gave good directions but….” She pointed around in reference to her being lost in a diner with a random stranger at some crazy time in the morning. “Anyway, I really appreciate it.”
“Glad to be of service.” He laughed, his eyes crinkling on the sides. Bucky couldn’t remember a time when he felt this relaxed, this calm, this happy. He and mystery woman spent over two hours in the diner talking; about anything, everything, and nothing at all. He was happy to be in her presence, to make her laugh, to make her forget her worries for a little. It was only then that Bucky realized she did the same for him, too.
Since he laid eyes on this woman, he felt lighter; forgetting his troubles, forgetting the reason why he was awake at 2:45 A.M. on Christmas morning instead of asleep in his bed. She made him laugh. Laugh like he hadn’t laughed since the 40's, before the war, before the training, before the brainwashing, before the fighting, before the blood.
And he felt free.
He didn’t have to be Steve Rogers’s best friend, he didn’t have to be the Winter Soldier, he didn’t have to be an Avenger, he didn’t have to put up a wall he did when people got too close.
He was just James Barnes. It was a feeling he never wanted to forget.
-----
“Do you want me to call a taxi for you?” Bucky looked around. The snow was coming even faster now, a good four or five inches already on the ground with no looks of stopping any time soon.
“No…I’ll have to think of something.” She shrugged. “Can’t be too far off, right?”
“I know this is going to sound really crazy but hear me out: I live right around the corner. You could stay a little, warm up and dry off in front of the fire, maybe have some more hot cocoa, hot tea if you’d prefer. And if you’d like, once you’re ready, I can drive you to your parents’ house. Or call you a cab.”
“I don’t even know your name.” she laughed blushing slightly. Or maybe it was the cold. What Bucky knew was that it made her even more adorable than she already was.
“I go by Bucky…. but my first name is James.”
“James…” she smiled taking his hand in hers. “[name].”
“Now that we officially know each other, what do ya say?” God he would do anything to spend more time with her, to know her inside and out. To spend the rest of his life making her happy, knowing he was the reason behind her bright smile.
“Fine. But only because I am still frozen solid and would love another cup of something hot.” She smiled that bright smile again. The smile that Bucky couldn’t get enough of. The bright smile that was now aimed at him. He was the reason for that smile. The thought made Bucky’s stomach turn and his chest tighten; the need of wanting and not knowing of what could be lingered in the air.
“Bucky, I want to thank you.” He froze at the mention of his name, the sound going straight to his heart.
“If you hadn’t stop to help….” She trailed off with a distant look in her eye. Bucky pulled her in for a hug feeling her sigh into his embrace. He moved the hair from her face, him finding himself lost yet again in her eyes.
Without thinking, Bucky gently placed his lips on hers smiling into the kiss when she instantly kissed him back.
“Don’t think either of us thought this is how our Christmas would start.” She laughed making Bucky laugh as well.
“No. But I know I am definitely not complaining.” His eyes crinkled when he laughed, something [name] found adorable and charming; she knew she was teetering on dangerous territory, yet she couldn’t get enough. Didn’t ever want to get enough.
He pulled her in closer, his lips hovering above hers. “This might be way too soon, but I think I’m falling really hard for you.”
“Funny you should say that – I was just thinking the same thing.”
Bucky’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest.
Having gone from being utterly miserable to meeting the woman of his dreams in one night was a story that no one would believe. He wouldn’t even believe it if someone had said it to him. Yet, as he and [name] stood together in the falling snow, [name] happily in his arms, kissing him like he had never been kissed before, Bucky couldn’t get enough. For the first time in his life, he didn’t want to fight off the pure happiness he felt.
“Let’s get out of here before we freeze to death.” He gave her a crooked smile and held her tightly as they walked the short distance to his house.
---
“Still cold?”
[Name] nodded her head, scooting over into Bucky’s embrace when he motioned for her to come closer. She sighed at the warmth of his body really relaxing for the first time since her trip began. She knew she was crazy being in a stranger’s home, cuddled up in front of a fire with a man she barely knew. Her mom would surely go crazy if she ever found out. Yet, she didn’t care.
All that mattered was her and him.
Together.
And that’s the way she hoped it would be.
Forever.
#Bucky Barnes x Reader#Bucky Barnes#James Buchanan Barnes#WinterFluffs#Christmas prompt#A Chance Meeting#Please don't let this suck#Bucky Barnes drabble
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i don’t want to be afraid | steve harrington
REQUEST: i’ve been having rlly bad nightmares for weeks now, and every time i wake up i wish steve was there to comfort me....i’ve seen a lot of fics that are the other way around, but if you ever have the time or interest, it would mean a lot to see steve comforting the reader back to sleep after a nightmare
summary: Steve comforts you after another nightmare.
warnings: mentions of blood and death, anxiety, PTSD
word count: 1.3K
a/n: my first fic in SO long!! i hope you all enjoy!
You’re stuck in place, frozen by fear and pinned against a wall in the tunnel by the rotting, overgrown vines, unable to move a single inch of your body as you watch in horror. The monster is moving closer, but it’s not coming to get you, you know that. It doesn’t really have a face but you just know it’s mocking you, dragging your torture out for as long it possibly can. It’s taunting you with its clicks and growls, like it’s laughing at your struggle.
You can only flicker your eyes to the side as it approaches, looking to an unconscious Steve tied up within the vines next to you. He’s bruised and bloody from trying to save you, you can see cuts along his cheeks and neck—assuming there’s plenty more on the rest of his body from struggling against the vines. The image of Steve being slammed into the wall and knocked out cold replays in your mind as silent tears stream down your face, feeling helpless in watching the monster inching closer to the two of you against the wall.
You try to scream and get the demogorgon’s attention, to try to get it to attack you instead, but nothing comes out. You’re powerless and terrified, an immense feeling of guilt coiling in your gut as you stare at it with a fearful gaze. Steve’s head lolls to one side as it lets out a loud screech, finally waking after being out for far too long.
Fear fills his eyes when he’s conscious enough to realize what’s happening, seeing the demogorgon’s head mere inches from his own. Steve starts to speak, stammering and stumbling over his words as he talks to you. It hisses at Steve soon after, opening its face as he flinches and buries his head as deep into the wall as he can. You can’t help but flinch too, squeezing your eyes shut when you see the teeth it’s baring.
There’s nothing you can do but watch now, silently sobbing as the demogorgon begins to lunge at Steve, face open and ready for attack.
“Hey, baby.” a voice interjects, words laced with concern as they speak. “C’mon, wake up for me.”
You realize someone is gripping your shoulders gently as you thrash around now, trying to hold you down for long enough to get your attention and wake you from the horrid nightmare. Your eyes are still squeezed shut, convinced that if you open them again you’ll see Steve dying in front of you. It isn’t until you feel a soft hand on your cheek that you’re brought back to reality, eyes finally flying open to see Steve sitting up in the bed next to you. He’s looking at you with fear and confusion in his tired eyes, and you immediately feel guilty for waking him up again.
A sob slips past your lips when you look up to him, sitting up as you reach for his face, unsure of if he’s real or all part of another elaborate nightmare. Your fingers touch his cheek shakily and your lip quivers at the feeling of his skin against your fingertips, a sense of relief washing over you when you realize he really is there with you.
“You’re okay, it’s okay” he says softly, letting his arms wrap around you tightly when you reach out for him with a helpless whimper. “I’m—I’m right here, I’m here, baby.”
He knows better than to ask about your nightmares now, knows that you both have the same kinds of nightmares and that it’s not fun to relive them right when you wake up. So, he only rubs his hand along your back, whispering comforting words in your ear as he assures you that he’s really there with you.
“I’m sorry.” you cry helplessly, burying your head in the crook of his neck when he pulls you into his lap. “I’m so—so sorry.”
“Sorry?” Steve asks, pulling away to look at you with a furrowed brow. “Why are you sorry? There’s no reason to be sorry for this. Hell, I—I should be sorry for not waking up sooner—”
“I—I couldn’t save you.” you interrupt while shaking your head with tearful eyes. “The demogorgon got you. I couldn’t save you. I—I’m sorry—”
“Hey, hey, look at me.” Steve says, cupping your cheeks in his hands so you look up at him. “I’m okay, I’m here, I’m alive and well. I’m not going anywhere, I’m safe and so are you.”
You begin to relax under his touch as he speaks, a sense of security slowly but surely replacing the fear that’s filling your gut. Steve gives you a weak smile when he feels your tenseness diminish, wiping some tears from your cheek with his thumb as he leans down to kiss your forehead softly. He looks over to the clock on his bedside table once he pulls away, noticing that it’s only 2 A.M., meaning he still has time to get you comfortable again.
“Let’s try to lie down and get some sleep, okay?” he says, but you shake your head at him quickly.
“I can’t—I can’t sleep, Steve.” you blurt out, fear filling your stomach once again as you think about being pulled into one of the nightmares again.
“You have to sleep, baby. You have to try for me at least, I can’t just let you sit up all night thinking about it.” he explains gently, trying to pull you towards the pillows once again. “I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere, I’ll keep you safe.”
You look up to him as tears threaten to spill from your eyes, hesitant about even closing your eyes at this point. The look he gives you is reassuring and warm and inviting, and so is his hand when he intertwines it with yours, giving it a tight squeeze as he tries to coax you under the blankets again.
“I’ll keep you safe, I promise.” he assures you, finally laying you down and pulling you into his arms as he lays on his side next to you.
You can feel your heart pounding against your chest still, not fully recovered from the nightmare as you try to let your hesitancies fade. You’re tense at first when you curl up against his warm chest, but Steve’s hand rubbing your back gently soothes you slowly. He gives you a small smile when he notices you relax slightly against him again, leaning down to pepper light kisses on your cheeks and forehead. In his arms seems to be the only place you feel at home, the only place you can comfortably fall asleep without fear of the nightmares overtaking your mind.
“You’re so strong, and so goddamn brave.” he murmurs against your skin, letting one of his hands move to your hair to massage your scalp. “So brave, I’m so lucky to have you.”
You don’t say anything as he speaks, but listen to his words closely as he praises you to calm you down. Your heart swells as he practically gushes about you, feeling lucky to be by his side.
“I love you, Steve.” you say softly, nearly melting under his embrace as he speaks. “You’re too good to me.”
“And I love you very much, too. I don’t know about being too good to you, though.” he chuckles, shaking his head. “You deserve the world and I’m just trying to give it to you, no matter what tries to get in my way.”
“You’re so cheesy.” you tease, peering up at him with a tired smile on your lips.
“But you love it.” he says with a laugh, leaning down to kiss your cheek again as he notices you fighting off sleep already. “You’re stuck with me and my cheesiness, so you better get used to it.”
“Gladly.” you say quietly, resting your head against his chest again as you begin to doze off.
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would you do: Behind Closed Doors - (character) has a solid public face, but in private they let themselves be taken care of when they’re not well, for stevetony? thanks!
Ahh, anon, I love this prompt. It definitely gives me all the Tony-feels, so that’s what I went with. Hope you enjoy this little ficlet of sick!Tony and a very sweet Steve taking care of him. (2.1k words)
———
Had Steve not woken up to Tony’s stuffy, little snores, and had he not noticed the quiet sniffles and subtle nose rubs throughout breakfast, Steve would’ve never thought Tony was any less than a-okay. He would’ve kissed his boyfriend good morning with a gentle brush of their lips instead of pressing a peck to his temple, and he would’ve filled Tony’s mug with dark roasted coffee instead of lemon tea with honey. But Steve was… well, he was Steve, and though Tony was thought to be the genius of the two, Steve was an expert when it came to Tony Stark. It had not taken long, even in a sleep-induced haze, for Steve to conclude that Tony had caught a cold and that he was in for a very interesting morning. It went something like this:
Tony awoke to an empty bed that was still warm from where Steve had lain, which meant it could’ve only been about fifteen minutes since he’d left. Wincing at the sudden soreness he felt in his throat, he swallowed and coughed a few times as he scrubbed his hands over his face. He could hear pans clattering from the kitchen and figured Steve was making breakfast, but he wasn’t sure as he couldn’t smell anything through his blocked nose.
He was right, though, because when he emerged from the bedroom and entered the kitchen, Steve was stood at the stove —clad in his apron that said I am tortellini in love with you, which Tony had gifted him because it was the corniest thing he’d ever seen and therefore very Steve— and something that looked a lot like blueberry pancakes were sizzling on the pan in front of him.
“‘Morning,” Tony rasped, slumped onto the chair at the breakfast bar and smiled sleepily and murmured a quiet thanks when Steve handed over his mug, then went on to frowning at it when he realized it wasn’t coffee. Steve couldn’t help but chuckle and said “It’ll feel good on your throat” as a way of explaining, then continued to ask, “How’re you feeling, sweetheart?”
Tony shrugged and sniffled into the cuff of his long-sleeved t-shirt, and Steve gave a sympathetic hum in reply.
“How did you know something’s up? I literally just woke up,” the brunette said and grimaced when he sipped at the tea, muttering something along the lines of disgusting flower-water.
“It’s not flower-water, Tony, it’s lemon,” Steve said with a roll of his eyes. “You were snoring,” he clarified, unable to keep the fondness from his tone.
“I don’t snore,” Tony defended grumpily.
“You do,” Steve retorted with a laugh. Tony huffed. “Especially when you’re sick. Thus, tea and pancakes.”
“You’re a heathen and a saint, and I don’t know how to feel about that.” Tony narrowed his eyes, forging a thoughtful expression.
“I think you love it,” Steve said charmingly and reached over the counter to place a stack of blueberry pancakes drowned in maple syrup in front of Tony, sweet and warm and perfect.
They chatted as they ate, Steve talking about the new recruits he was training at the compound, Tony grumbling about the press conference he had to attend later that day. When Tony’s nose visibly twitched and his eyes began to flutter shut, Steve reached to grab a few tissues from a box on the kitchen counter and handed them to Tony, who gratefully accepted them just as he drew in a desperate breath.
“h’uhh- hetCHISHhew! snff… hehSCHss!” Tony muffled the sneezes into the tissues and sighed stuffily.
“God bless you, baby… If you’re sick you should cancel. Tony,” Steve said earnestly, frowning concernedly when Tony rolled his eyes.
“It’s just a small cold,” Tony shrugged, “I’ve worked through worse things.”
Taking Tony’s hands in his, Steve rubbed Tony’s knuckles with his thumbs, then brought their combined hands to his lips as he plastered a myriad of soft pecks on the back of Tony’s hand.
“I know you have,” Steve said in between the kisses, “but the things is… you really shouldn’t have to. I want to take care of you.”
“It won’t take long,” Tony offered, his voice low and warm despite the slight rasp. “And then, later, I’ll let you fuss about me all you want, Doctor Rogers,” he added with a playful wink and a blinding smile, and how was Steve ever going to argue with Tony when looked like that; soft and sweet and drop-dead gorgeous.
“You play dirty, Mr Stark,” Steve sighed and shook his head, unable to keep the creeping smile from tugging at his lips.
——————————————
Steve was sat in front of the television in the common room, reading through various forms and applications, when he caught sight of Tony’s face in the large frame of moving pictures. He looked amazing, he always did, clad in a casual suit that fitted him faultlessly. It accentuated his body in all the right places, his shoulders, his waist, his butt… Steve caught his bottom lip between his teeth, and placed the piece of paper he was holding on the coffee table. Now that he was already distracted, he might as well watch his boyfriend outwit all the reporters.
Tony maneuvered his way through all question he was asked with ease; a trademark quip and an equally characteristic charming wink.
“Mr Stark! Rumor has it you and Captain America have separated. What’s your respond to this?”
Steve had seen the reporter before, multiple times, actually. Short, blonde, eyes so wide and piercing it made Steve a little uncomfortable looking at them. She worked for one of the tabloids, the one with all the celebrity gossip and that published an article about Iron Man and Captain America breaking up about every three months. The rumors were never true, of course, but Steve still felt a prickly feeling in his chest whenever he’d read what they’d written. Even just the headlines made his blood boil.
Tony Stark cheating on boyfriend Steve Rogers!
Trouble in Avengers Tower: Power-couple SPLITTING UP!
Iron Man leaving Captain America for personal assistant!
Tony had advised Steve not to read them — it never left him in a good mood and it was all a bunch of bullshit anyways. Steve couldn’t help it though and, as expected, he was furious at the fact that anyone dared calling his boyfriend a bedswerver. Tony just shrugged it off, I’ve gotten used to it, he’d say and laugh at Steve’s grumpy mutterings and adorable pout. The rumors didn’t matter, though, they both knew where they stood in terms of their relationship, both feet planted solidly, their names invisibly engraved deeply into each other’s chest. Which is why Steve barely even flinched when the reporter asked the question.
“Ugh, I wish. He’s such a distraction sometimes and never lets me work overtime. He’s all kinds of stubborn, though, so I doubt I can get rid of him that easily. And, he makes sure I’m alive, so I might just hang on to him until I get bored,” Tony said nonchalantly, but eyes twinkled and his tone was fond and left no doubt that they were still very much together.
Steve felt warmth rise to his cheeks and went back to reading the recruitment forms.
Every once in a while, he’d look up to catch a glimpse of Tony. If Steve hadn’t already known Tony was nursing a cold, he never would’ve guessed it. Tony was so good at switching between his public figure and the man underneath the armor, wether it was a three piece suit or his actual Iron Man amour. It made Steve sad, in a way, knowing Tony had so much experience pretending that it didn’t even bother him anymore. He loved Tony in every way, but he never hid the fact that his favorite Tony was the one who dressed in worn-out band t-shirts or Steve’s sweatshirts that were way too big on him. The one who sang and danced along to the overly loud music playing in the workshop and who didn’t care that he looked ridiculous doing so. The one who clung onto Steve like a koala bear when they were tangled up in bed, refusing to let go of him in his sleep-warm haze.
God, Steve really wanted that press conference to finish.
————————
It did finish, and not too long after, Steve heard the doors to the elevator open, revealing a tired and soft looking Tony.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Steve said as he got off the couch and walked to where Tony was taking off his jacket and kicking off his shoes. He started helplessly fumbling with his tie, but Steve quickly intervened. “Here, let me do that.”
Tony sighed thankfully, closing his eyes when Steve’s strong hands removed the fabric around his neck and sighed once more when Steve stroked his jaw with his thumb.
“You alright?” Steve asked softly and moved his hand closer to Tony’s face, tracing his index finger down the bridge of his nose. The gentle touch seemed to have an immediate effect as Tony’s nose twitched, and he drew back a couple of inches before turning away from Steve, crushing a fit of sneezes into his fist.
“hetCHISHhew! hetCHshh’oo!” Steve chuckled as Tony’s body shuddered slightly with each sneeze, and with a fond voice commented, “So sensitive when you’re sick.”
Tony managed to give him a disapproving glare before letting out a final sneeze.“huh’uhh… huhESChhh! snff! Ugh, sorry, excuse me.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Steve murmured, “you’ve probably been been holding those off all day, hm?”
Tony sniffled into his wrist and smiled wryly. “I guess so, yeah… didn’t really think of it, to be honest.”
“I truly don’t know how you do it.”
“Do what?”
“How you handle all those reporters, all those stupid questions. Especially when you’re this sick, babe.” Steve voice was a mixture of pure awe and deep concern.
Tony shrugged. “I guess I’ve gotten used to it. Stark men are made of iron and all that jazz. They’re just stupid reporters, anyways.”
Steve bit his lip, drawing Tony in close until he felt Tony’s stubble rub against his neck. “Yeah I- I know. It’s just… those articles, what they’re saying about you, it makes me so… so angry, and I-“
“Hey, no, none of that,” Tony interrupted. “I couldn’t care less about what those reporters say, hell, what anyone says about me. The only opinion I care about is yours.”
Steve sighed with a watery smile Tony couldn’t see. “I love you,” he said and leaned in to press a kiss to Tony’s forehead, which was warm, too warm, and frowned. “God, Tony, you’re burning up. You must be feeling awful.”
The cough Tony let out into Steve’s sweater confirmed that statement, but for good measure Tony said, “yeah, I think I need to lie down soon. I’m kinda tired and, uh, I-ihh, heh- huhETsch’oo! ehH’eschoo!”
“Bless you! How about you get ready for bed, and I’ll bring you soup and then some tea afterwa-“
“No! No tea,” Tony disrupted and winced just at the thought of it, “None of that yucky flower-water.”
Rolling his eyes, Steve let out a laugh and tried once again to explain that lemon tea wasn’t flower-water, and Tony just muttered tastes like flowers to me, but neither could bring themselves to discuss the matter any further.
“Okay, so no tea then. Soup, maybe some medicine, tissues, definitely, and— Tony, no.”
Steve’s expression went flat and stern when he looked down at Tony, who in return was looking up at the blonde with big, brown doe-eyes, pouting. “But Steeeve-“
“No, Tony, absolutely not!” Steve repeated. “No coffee, you’re sick and need to rest.”
Tony groaned dramatically. “Such a spoilsport. I guess you’ll have to compensate the lack of coffee with cuddles instead, then.”
“Cuddles instead of coffee?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise when Tony nodded into his shoulder. “Now that is probably the best negotiation I could’ve hoped for.”
About thirty minutes later, the two of them were snuggled up in bed, an empty bowl on the nightstand, tissues scattered randomly across the bed, and some movie neither of them knew the name of was playing on the tv. Steve had him arm around Tony’s shoulder, feeling the heat from Tony’s cheek on his chest through his thin t-shirt. It wasn’t hard to tell the moment Tony drifted off to sleep, the way he cuddled even closer to Steve and his quiet, small snores were enough to tell Steve that he was finally resting.
#my fic#anonymous#stevetony#sickfic#sick Tony#and a very sweet caretaker-Steve#my babies#steve rogers#tony stark
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