#but I'm not anxiously waiting for it like i did with season 2
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I'll find you at the end of the road - Chap 8/8 - Complete
Chapter summary - As long as hope remains
Sometimes you just have to wait for the dots to connect...
On Ao3
Rating G - 3929 words
Chap 1 - Chap 2 - Chap 3 - Chap 4 - Chap 5 - Chap 6 - Chap 7 - Last chapter
Months and seasons passed.
Aziraphale moved out of the lake house and into his old apartment above the store. After the death of HH's CEO, Muriel was no longer interested in staying there, and Aziraphale offered them a sales position in his shop. He preferred restoring and tinkering with his old pieces, and Muriel was good at selling. Aziraphale wasn't a tyrannical boss, and thanks to Muriel, the shop now had regular opening hours without restricting the antiquarian's freedom.
Arthur had remained friends with Aziraphale and was now also Muriel's friend, and more than once they'd come to end the day with coffee at Nina's after picking up Maggie from her shop.
However, all of Aziraphale's friends could see that the antiquarian's gaze sometimes seemed lost. His face wore a melancholy expression. But he never said anything, just smiled, and they pretended they hadn't seen anything, just pampering him a little more than usual.
On New Year's Eve, they partied together, and when the fireworks went off to celebrate 2024, Aziraphale couldn't help but think with nostalgia of other fireworks, wondering what Crowley was doing, where, and with whom.
A.Z. Fell, M & Co - January 2024
It was already late and Aziraphale was hunched over his drawing table, looking concentrated, when Muriel poked their head through the door.
They said softly, "Aziraphale, I'm leaving now. I've locked everything, so all you have to do is close the front door and draw the blinds."
Aziraphale, concentrating on what he was doing, replied with a hum.
Muriel, seeing that he wasn't listening, approached and looked over Aziraphale's shoulder to see what he was working on.
"A new project?"
Aziraphale looked up and replied, a little embarrassed, "Oh. No. It's just... a personal thing. "
Muriel shifted to get a better look at Aziraphale's work, but the antiquarian tried to hide it.
His friend insisted and asked coaxingly, "Aziraphale, let me see."
"No, it's nothing."
"Come on. Please."
Aziraphale relented and removed his hands from his work surface. Muriel leaned over and gasped as their eyes widened.
It was the lake house, but reimagined.
There was a patio at the back and a staircase leading down to the water - the stairs Aziraphale had described to Crowley. There were trees planted along the path and lights shining in the trees. The house was just as extraordinary as before, but much less austere, much warmer, almost romantic, transcended by the changes.
Muriel said quietly, "I like it. "
Aziraphale asked, somewhat anxiously, "You really like it?"
Muriel nodded enthusiastically and replied, "Before, it looked like a place you'd go to be alone. Now I can imagine taking someone there, a family, friends. I can almost envision happiness there."
Aziraphale nodded, his eyes glistening slightly.
Muriel looked at him with piercing eyes and asked softly, "Who is it?"
Aziraphale replied without hesitation, "Crowley. His name was Crowley."
"When you lived there?"
Aziraphale nodded and Muriel continued, "I knew there was something or rather someone there. What happened? "
The antique dealer replied simply, "I lost him."
"How?"
Aziraphale replied in a hesitant voice, "It's hard to explain. It's mostly... it was... bad timing."
"Do you miss him?"
Aziraphale couldn't deny it and answered with emotion, "Every day."
"Make him come back. "
Aziraphale ran a hand over his face before answering, "It's too late. Or too soon...Impossible."
"What?"
Aziraphale shook his head and replied, "Nothing. It's all so complicated. I don't even know where he is. And even if I did, I couldn't go up to him and say, 'Hey, I'm here, let's pick up where we left off.'"
Muriel asked him challengingly, "What do you have to lose?"
Aziraphale didn't answer, then resumed his drawing. Muriel, knowing when not to insist, looked at him with concern, sighed, and left.
January 2026
Crowley was still living in the same place, and the tree had continued to grow in front of the building. He spent a lot of time with Eric, who had apparently decided to take him under his wing.
He was still single, but he had a friend, friends even, he could count on, and if sometimes one or the other tried to encourage him to date, they never insisted too much when he refused.
He devoted his life to his classes, the students liked him a lot, and Pepper who kept coming to see him after class had brought other members of the gang with her, and discussions around astronomy had turned into a science club. At least the Them were under supervision for their little experiments.
Crowley's apartment - Early February 2026
Crowley had decided to clean up, because in two years he had started to accumulate things, and it was time to sort them out.
He was organizing his clothes when he came across the outfit he hadn't worn since the missed date. His throat tightened as he was about to toss it into the discard pile, but he couldn't bring himself to do it and tucked it away in the back of the closet.
Later, while vacuuming, he noticed a squeaky floorboard. He bent down to examine it and found that it was easy to lift.
Crowley pulled back the plank and to his surprise, there was an empty space underneath. He bent down further to examine it. Seeing that there was something there, he reached in and pulled out a package wrapped in a dusty plastic bag.
He opened it and his heart leapt; it was his copy of Persuasion.
One page was marked with a rose, now dried and withered by time. He opened it to the marked page and saw that a sentence had been underlined.
“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever.”
He stared at the words, stunned.
Rainbow Academy - February 13, 2026
Eric and Crowley, their classes finished, were about to leave the school and walked down the hallways together.
When they reached the entrance hall, Crowley gasped and looked around in amazement and exclaimed, "Ohhh this is beautiful! All these old tools. So well kept."
On display in the hall were ancient telescopes, astrolabes, and sundials, all in perfect condition despite their obvious age.
Eric replied proudly, "Yes, this is my partner, Muriel, they run the antique shop, A. Z. Fell & Co. They had a lot of stuff like this and came up with the idea. It gives the shop some publicity and it looks cool, right?"
"A. Z. Fell & Co?"
"Yes! In fact, since they started working there, the name has become A. Z. Fell, M. & Co. M for Muriel. Great, right?"
Crowley squeezed Eric's arm and asked, "Can you take me there? I'd like to see the place."
Eric nodded and replied, "I have plans tonight, but how about tomorrow morning, before school, since we both start after 10?"
Crowley replied, "That works for me."
Maybe he still had a chance.
A.Z. Fell, M. and Co - February 14, 2024
Muriel and Aziraphale stepped out in their winter coats, but found the weather surprisingly warm.
Aziraphale growled, "Honestly, what the hell?"
Muriel shrugged as they replied, "Global warming.
Aziraphale asked, "Would you like to come to my place for dinner tonight? We can invite the others."
Muriel replied with a happy expression, "I can't. I have a date tonight, it's Valentine's Day and some of us have..."
She paused, realizing the cruelty of what she was about to say, when Aziraphale stopped abruptly.
He exclaimed, "What?"
"What, is it so weird that I have a date on Valentine's Day?"
Aziraphale looked around.
The day was really warm. People everywhere were enjoying the sun.
He turned to Muriel with a strange look on his face.
He asked, "What day is it?"
Muriel looked at him in confusion, "Valentine's Day, I told you, so it's February 14."
Aziraphale repeated, "February 14, 2024."
"Yeah. What's wrong with you? You're weird, you know?"
Aziraphale, his eyes pensive, replied, "He told me about today. I remember the date."
"Who? You mean that guy? That guy? Your..."
Aziraphale excitedly replied, "Yes! There's a letter saying where he'll be!"
Muriel, understanding less and less, asked, "Did he write to you?"
Aziraphale nodded quickly, "Yes. I can see him today. You told me the other day...what have I got to lose?"
Muriel pushed him forward and said, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go on, you idiot!"
"I just need to find the letter!"
Aziraphale ran back to his apartment above the shop and rummaged through his old boxes until he remembered that Crowley's letters were still in the lake house, in the attic. He grabbed the spare keys to the lake house and ran to the Beetle at top speed.
A.Z. Fell, M & Co. - February 14, 2026
"Hi Muriel!"
"Eric, you didn't tell me you were coming to see me at the boutique."
Eric said sheepishly, "I forgot to tell you that I had a friend and colleague Crowley who asked if he could see the shop."
He pushed himself forward and Muriel watched as Eric's friend entered the store.
"Hello Crowley, nice to meet you..."
But Muriel saw that the man looked frozen, staring at a point behind them.
They turned and their eyes fell on the sketch Aziraphale had made of the lake house with the changes. Framed and hanging on the wall.
Eric's friend murmured, "Who drew this?"
Muriel, looking surprised, replied, clearing their throat, tight as always when they thought of Aziraphale, "It's a friend, Az..... Aziraphale."
Crowley repeated, heart pounding, "Aziraphale... it's him."
Muriel replied in surprise, "Yes. Do you... do you know him? "
Crowley nodded, "Yes. He... where is he? Is he here? Is he working here today?"
Muriel suddenly looked very sad and said quietly, "I'm sorry. Don't you know?"
"What?"
Muriel replied emotionally, "He died. Two years ago."
She swallowed before continuing, "Two years ago today, to be exact. Around noon, there was a bus accident in the city..."
Crowley, shocked, asked urgently, "Where in the city?"
Seconds later, Crowley was getting into his car as the rain began to fall, Eric behind him, confused, calling out, "Crowley! Wait up! What's going on?"
When he started, Crowley told him, "It's an emergency! I don't have time!"
Eric simply asked, "Is it?"
Crowley, buckling his seat belt, replied, "Yes!"
Then, just as he was about to slam the car door, he heard his friend yell, "Go Crowley! Get him!"
Crowley drove out of town toward home, rain beating on his windshield. He weaved between lanes, passing cars, driving
Lake House - February 14, 2024
Aziraphale stopped in front of the lake house. It was locked and apparently empty. He ran across the path and unlocked the front door.
Lake House - February 14, 2026 at the same time
Crowley arrived home and slid to a stop in the rain in front of the mailbox. He pulled out a notepad and began writing frantically.
Lake House - February 14, 2024 at the same time
Aziraphale hurried to the attic.
Inside was the only box he'd left there when he moved out. He opened the box and searched feverishly. He found Crowley's bundle of letters. After a few moments, he found the one he was looking for and read it.
Last February, I remember it was Valentine's Day, but it was really hot for a February day.
I was sitting on a bench at noon in Saint James Park, near the intersection of Spur Road and Birdcage Walk.
He read aloud, “Saint James Park, just off the intersection of Spur Road and Birdcage Walk.”
Lake House - February 14, 2026 at the same time
Crowley finished writing the note and stepped out of the car, unaffected by the rain, and with shaking hands placed the note in the box before raising the flag.
He stayed there and fell to his knees in front of the box, drenched from the rain, staring anxiously at the flag.
Lake House - February 14, 2024 at the same time
Aziraphale jumped into his car and sped away from the house.
Saint James Park - February 14, 2024 - Noon
Aziraphale found a parking spot and parked the Beetle. He got out and ran up Birdcage Walk along Saint James Park.
In his hand he held a piece of paper, the words of which echoed in his head.
My dear Aziraphale.
I know now... it was you near the park that day.
It was you at the crossroads.
Please don't go there.
Something terrible will happen if you go there.
Aziraphale continued running toward the location indicated in the letter before stopping at the edge of the sidewalk, separated from the park by a busy street. He looked away, searching for Crowley beyond the noisy traffic, among the crowds in the park.
Please don't look for me.
Finally he saw him, a distant silhouette, eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of the sun. His unmistakable red hair caught the sunlight. Aziraphale smiled.
Don't try to meet me. Not right now.
They are now separated only by distance. No longer by time.
Don't run to me.
The traffic eased for a moment and Aziraphale could clearly see Crowley, straight ahead.
Do you understand? I beg you, please. You must wait.
Aziraphale stepped off the sidewalk to get closer to Crowley.
Forget everything I said before.
We both have to wait.
Not just you.
Both of us.
If you love me and if I love you.
Not if I love you, because I'm sure I do, I love you, it took me so long to say it, but I really do.
So if you love me too, wait for me.
Aziraphale saw Crowley straighten up and turn his head toward him, as if drawn in his direction. Even from a distance, Aziraphale could see his worried expression.
Wait for me.
Wait until time catches up with us and we can be together. Please wait. Just... wait.
Lake House - February 14, 2026
Crowley soaked, is in tears at the foot of the mailbox and whispers over and over, “Wait, wait. Don't go there. Please, please.”
The rain continued to fall.
Crowley, finally, having lost all hope of seeing the flag move, tried to pull himself together and began, very slowly, to stand.
He looked at the box and was startled, the flag had come down.
Hands trembling, he didn't dare open the flap.
He took several breaths, and when he finally had the courage, he opened the box and saw that his letter had disappeared.
Saint James Park - February 14, 2024 - Noon
Aziraphale stood in the street, trying to see a little more of Crowley, and at the last second he backed up to the sidewalk. He kept looking at Crowley, desperately wanting to run to him, but he didn't; he folded the letter, put it in his pocket, and reluctantly turned and walked away.
Safe and sound.
Lake House - February 14, 2026
Crowley stared at the empty mailbox, his face soaked with tears and rain.
Suddenly, a hand came gently up from behind him and slowly closed the mailbox.
Crowley gasped and turned slowly.
Aziraphale was standing silently in front of him, staring at him, holding in his hand the letter that Crowley had just put in the mailbox. Crumpled and worn, as if it had been read over and over again.
Crowley stared at him for a moment, trying to convince himself that this was all real. Then Aziraphale took a step toward him and smiled shyly before asking softly, "Have we waited long enough?"
Crowley, still in shock, his eyes filling with tears, murmured, "Yes...yes."
Aziraphale came even closer, smiling more openly this time, bringing his hand to Crowley's face and wiping away a tear with his thumb. Crowley leaned his cheek into his palm, closed his eyes, and murmured again, "Yes, we've waited long enough.
Then, finally, they wrapped their arms around each other, holding each other again and again, letting the embrace linger, pulling away to look at each other, making sure it was real, and embracing again.
Making sure they were both real, there and alive.
After a few moments, Crowley pulled away and, taking Aziraphale's face, now as drenched as his own, between his hands, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to the other man's.
For long minutes, they parted only to catch their breath before kissing again, over and over, indifferent to the rain that continued to pour down on them.
Much later, when they parted again to catch their breath, Aziraphale took Crowley's hand in his to lead him home.
Crowley gasped as he looked at the lake house.
The lake house had changed.
In the two years of Aziraphale's life, the life Crowley had saved, Aziraphale had transformed it.
He'd brought to life the project he'd shown Muriel two years ago, with the patio and the stairs to the water they'd talked about, and the trees planted along the path, lit and shimmering in the rain.
Crowley laughed in amazement and turned to Aziraphale, pulling him close and kissing him again.
Then they walked along the path together, stopping often to touch and kiss.
As they passed the door, Crowley grabbed Aziraphale's sleeve and said, "Wait."
Aziraphale turned and replied in a falsely pouty tone, "Haven't I waited long enough?"
Crowley grabbed his hand, intertwined his fingers with Aziraphale's, and said softly, "I don't want to wait to tell you for real this time. With my voice. My eyes in yours."
He paused and, with a trembling smile and shining eyes, said to him, "I love you."
Aziraphale, his voice hoarse, immediately replied, "I love you."
They held each other again, enjoying the bliss of hearing those words from the beloved voice for the first time.
Then they entered their home, ready to begin a new life where all was yet to be discovered.
Together.
The lake house - Summer 2027
"Arry! Arry!"
"Joel! Take it easy, sweetie, and wait for your little sister!"
Bill and Frank followed their children a little farther behind, hand in hand, then watched fondly as they gave gentle caresses to a Harry who seemed to enjoy it.
"Joel, Ellie, stop spoiling Harry, he's going to keep coming to us for petting."
The two children stood up and grabbed the legs of the man who had just spoken.
"Uncle Zira!"
He lifted them both up, carrying each of them in one arm.
"Harry gets petted and I don't get a hello kiss?"
Each of the two children placed a sound kiss on Aziraphale's cheeks at the same time.
"Should I be jealous?" came a voice from behind Aziraphale.
"Uncle Crowley!"
Ellie was already reaching for Crowley, who didn't hesitate to take her in his arms. The little girl gave him a big kiss on the cheek and squirmed for him to put her back down.
Crowley and Aziraphale, side by side, greeted Frank and Bill.
"Bill, Frank, welcome!"
They all hugged and then walked together to the patio overlooking the lake.
As Frank sat down in one of the garden chairs, he said with amazement, "I may have been here many times before, but I'll never get tired of this view."
Aziraphale motioned for Bill to sit next to Frank before sitting down himself.
Crowley was about to sit on the arm of Aziraphale's chair when he heard the unmistakable sound of a car pulling up to the house; Aziraphale started to get up, but Crowley motioned for him to remain seated. "Stay seated, angel, I'll go."
He walked down the path toward the oncoming cars.
Eric was the first to move toward him, "Crowley!" before embracing him. Crowley was now used to his friend's outpouring of affection and allowed himself to be patted on the back.
They were soon joined by Newt, Anathema, and Mrs. Tracy, and all followed Crowley into the house. When they reached the patio, everyone greeted each other and sat around the table chatting happily. Joel was in awe of Mrs. Tracy's red curls, and Ellie laughed out loud as Eric bounced her in his arms.
"Is this the way to the little party?"
Heads turned to the source of the voice as Aziraphale exclaimed, "Muriel! I thought they lost you on the way."
Muriel laughed slightly and replied, "Arthur, Maggie and Nina got lost, so I had to direct them by phone. Where do I put this?"
They pointed to the cake in their hands.
"I'll take it," Aziraphale replied.
He went with the cake to the kitchen, where he was suddenly overcome with emotion. He waited a moment to compose himself before returning to the patio.
"Hey, angel, what are you doing out here all alone?"
Aziraphale looked up and smiled, murmuring, "Crowley."
Crowley, who after more than a year had learned to decipher his husband's expressions, noticed his emotional state and gently asked, "Hey, what's wrong with you?"
Aziraphale wanted to speak, but the emotion was too strong, so Crowley wrapped his arms around him and held him close until his husband was ready to speak.
After a few moments, Aziraphale stepped aside, a trembling smile under the tears, "I'm sorry, I don't know, I'm not sad, not at all, on the contrary, but I suddenly had this irrepressible urge to cry."
Crowley nodded in understanding and brushed Aziraphale's hair back before saying softly, "Just too much emotion, perhaps? What were you thinking?"
"I... I was putting the cake on the table and I thought, if I hadn't read your letter, none of this would be real. I wouldn't be here. There wouldn't be all these people on our patio. And it freaked me out for a moment to realize that we could have almost lost everything."
Crowley, visibly moved as well, pressed a tender kiss to d'Aziraphale's mouth, and when he pulled away, Aziraphale continued, "But on the contrary, you, or rather we, gained everything. You saved me, you gave me a new life, and in doing so, you gave us all a different and better life."
Crowley nodded, planted a light kiss on his husband's lips, then stepped aside to take Aziraphale's hand and lead him out onto the patio, a tender smile on his lips.
"Come on, let's party!"
As Aziraphale was pulled along and they crossed the living room, his eyes fell on his mother's book. His first family. His mother and father. Then his eyes slid to Crowley beside him, and by extension, everyone else on the patio. His new family. Their new family. Not by blood, but by heart.
All because Crowley had sent a little letter one day.
Dear new tenant.
Hello and welcome to your new home and congratulations, blah blah blah. You've made an excellent choice, Ditchling is a wonderful place and this house is a gem, as you may have noticed.
I'm sure you're going to love living here as much as I have.
Crowley did not know that day that these words would be so prescient, even though they came from the future and were addressed to someone in the past.
Oh yes, Aziraphale loved living here, but not because of the house.
He loved living here because of the love that filled it.
Because of Crowley.
“There could have never been two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved."
Persuasion - Jane Austen.
_________
I hope you enjoyed the ride.
I will probably come back to them in this universe, as always in form of oneshots.
Thank you for having followed, liked and commented on this story! <3
Still not beta'd
Still not my native language
Still hoping you'll enjoy this story 🥰
Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝
Ineffable Husbands masterlist : here
#good omens#aziracrow#ineffable husbands#ineffable boyfriends#aziraphale#crowley#good omens fanfiction#aziraphale x crowley#crowley x aziraphale#human au#alternate universe
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I have no clue what the hell they're gonna do for the new season and I'm equal parts terrified and excited to see what it'll be
I'm assuming this is about Aib, and I'll be completely honest, I genuinely don't really care about it much at all anyway. Not that I suddenly dislike Aib or anything like that, but in my brain the story is over, there's just nothing more to add.
#will i watch it? probably#but I'm not anxiously waiting for it like i did with season 2#the excitement just isn't there anymore when you know this is just a cash grab#also if there's any new updates I'm sorry i am not keeping up with it at all lol#feel free to update me#alice in borderland#aib
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Yearning Allegations - Pt.3
Part 1 here / Part 2 here
Pairing: Paige Bueckers x reader
Genre: Friends to lovers slowburn
Summary: You've liked Paige for the longest time, is there any chance she likes you too?
It's been 2 weeks of awkward silence.
Ever since Paige came over the other day, she's either been ghosting your texts entirely or giving you short replies followed up with excuses about how she's really busy.
The biggest game of the season is coming up - Uconn vs Iowa. Everyone's been talking about it, and you know the team is training super hard for the game- KK and Nika won't stop blowing your phone up with Uconn shit. Despite all this, you just can't shake the feeling something is wrong between you two.
So that's why you're walking down to the school gyms at 9 pm, hoping to find Paige practicing late like she does when she's stressed out.
The halls seem so empty and lifeless without her constant chatter and her melodic laughter. You're fidgeting with your clothes, hoping the sinking feeling in your stomach will dissipate soon.
In the gym, you spot Paige on the farside of the court, shooting basket after basket. Her brows are furrowed with concentration, sweat beading on her forehead.
"Paige!" You shout as you lightly jog over.
Paige glances at you and then takes another shot, which just bounces off the backboard with a loud thud. She curses and grabs it on its way down before replying to you.
"Hey y/n, what are you doing here?"
You're anxious, eyes rovering over her face, but she won't meet your gaze.
"Is.. is everything okay between us?" You say, hesitantly stepping closer to her.
Paige has stopped throwing the ball, instead just holding it under one arm with her eyes trained on the floor.
She finally looks at you, a mix of emotions written all over her face.
"Everything's cool, yeah.. but be honest.. Did I.. make you uncomfortable the other day?"
"Of course not, why??" You're surprised by her words, confused by where she's going with this.
Paige's shoulders relax for a moment at your response, but her expression remains conflicted.
"I was just wondering if I took it too far the other day.." She trails off, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Too far?" You breathe out, hardly daring to consider what she means by that.
"Yeah.. I just.."
Paige seems to struggle to get the words out, shifting her weight from foot to foot.
"I know you don't want me like how I want you, and I was worried I had made you uncomfortable or something."
Paige wants you? The words ring in your mind.
"What? What do you mean?" You're in disbelief. What is she talking about?
Paige sighs, throwing her basketball into the lined baskets lined by the gym walls before she continues on.
"Y/n, I've liked you for years. I've tried to make that clear, hoping you might take the hint or say something, but you never did. I didn't want to ruin what we have- but the other day made me feel so.." She trails off, "It's just hard to be friends with you when I want more than that. And I'm really sorry for ghosting you, that wasn't cool."
Paige runs her hands through her hair anxiously while your heart strains in your chest.
"And wait- that's not to say I don't want to be friends with you - I love being friends with you, I love you-"
Your heart is pounding in your ears, heart registering her words, and you just can't hold back anymore. You close the distance between you two, lunging for her, kissing her like she's your lifeline.
Paige is shocked for a second, before responding immediately, her hands grabbing your waist, pulling you in further.
It's all you've imagined, yet somehow better. Your hands are tangled in her hair, tugging lightly as her lips desperately press against your own. Paige kisses you, soft and open mouthed, but like a woman starved. You're enveloped in nothing but the sweet scent of her perfume while your heart feels like it's exploding, butterflies flittering wildly around in your stomach.
When you break apart, you both wear matching relieved grins. You swear to yourself that Paige's eyes have never looked more soft than in this moment, the love within them so obvious to you now. Her cheeks are flushed, more pink than you've ever seen them, her eyes alight with an excitement you've only ever attributed to the look she gets when she wins games.
Your next words tumble out in a rush, eager to tell her how you feel.
"I love you, Paige.. I've loved you since high school. I've loved growing up with you, learning more about you over the years, and getting to watch you do what you love. I love the way you care so deeply about people - about your fans, your team, your family. I love how strong you are, persevering through everything just to pursue your dreams."
You laugh, the words freeing to finally say aloud.
"I love all the little things about you, like the way you're so stupidly competitive about everything, whether that's shooting hoops or playing video games, I love your silly cocky nature and all your stupid jokes, your dramatic ass- bro can't even take medicine without taking a solid 10 minutes to complain- and even all the ways you annoy me on purpose just because you know they make me laugh nonetheless. I always feel safe with you, understood in a way I've never felt with other people.. I.. just.. so many things, Paige."
Paige's response is barely above a whisper,
"Why... why didn't you say anything?"
She's running her hands through her hair again, continuing.
"I just thought you didn't like me, like I hoped you did but I was never really sure. That's why I didn't say nothing"
You smile at her,
"I didn't wanna lose you by saying I liked you in case you didn't feel that way, I don't know. Maybe we both did the same thing, haha." You start trailing off awkwardly, suddenly feeling shy with the way she's looking at you.
Paige just grins, pulling you back into her by the hips, bringing you two face to face. She tucks a piece of your hair behind your ear before she rests her hands on your waist.
"Good thing I do, cause now I get to ask you to be my girl." Paige is grinning so widely you just grin back, happiness manifesting as butterflies in the pit of your stomach.
"Pfftt.. I was always your girl. " You stick your tongue out at her, and she throws an arm over your shoulder in response.
"Damn y/n tryin rizz me up!?" Paige laughs at her own joke before continuing,
"Anyway, come on, let's go home."
She holds the gym doors open for you, and you're struck with a sense of deja vu, heart full.
"Well.. I mean, it worked."
You smirk at her with that.
Paige just bites her lip in response, waggling her brows and rubbing her hands together at you.
You groan as you both walk to her dorm,
"Not the rizz hands!"
All you hear is her resulting laugh.
"Always the rizz hands! Come on y/n you love it, clearlyyyy."
You find yourself unable to stop smiling at her, but you attempt an eye roll to keep up appearances anyway.
"You're all mine now," you say, shoving her slightly.
Paige smiles back, love in her gaze.
"I was always yours y/n."
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Authors Note: This is the final chapter, I love soft Paige. Hope y'all enjoyed it. Thanks for reading! <3
#paige bueckers#paige bueckers x reader#uconn#uconn huskies#slow burn#uconn women’s basketball#paige buckets#uconn wbb#fanfic#friends to lovers#wlw#Spotify
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It's only up from here now on, kid
Since this one won in the poll that I put out, here it is ✌🏼
Thank you so much @alotofpockets for the help with this post!
Let me know what you all think & I hope you like it.
Ps. It's almost 2 am and I'm tired so I apologise if the last bit of this doesn't make much sense at all... 🫠
“It’s going to be fine, remember?” Beth tries her best to reassure you as she takes a gentle hold of your hand on her own, “Just breathe, you’re okay” she adds.
“I’m scared” You admit, barely louder than a whisper.
Viv glances at you and smiles at you sympathetically from the seat opposite, “It’s normal to feel like you do, kleintje” she tells you.
“We’re going to be right here for you the whole time” Beth promises you as she moves her free arm to wrap it around your shoulder and tug you in a little bit closer, “We’re not leaving you” she states in reassurance.
It was unfortunate for you that the day of your planned surgery came around quicker than you initially would’ve liked and you couldn’t avoid it any longer now.
The way that your uninjured knee bounced up and down anxiously and your hands that were ridiculously clammy was a clear indication of actually how worried and scared you were about this.
Both Beth and Viv could tell straight away that you were beginning to freak out the moment that you had stepped into the waiting room; You’d always hated hospitals, there was just something about them that made you always try and avoid them when it was possible.
However, this surgery wasn’t something that you could just brush under the carpet, because it was important and it was needed if you wanted to continue with your career.
Initially you thought the hardest thing that you would have to face would be dealing with the aftermath of it all, listening to the media drone on about how this injury would rule you out the rest of the current season and any international breaks for the next 9 months, like you didn’t already need enough of a reminder about your dream of the olympics being over.
It was like a virtual kick in the teeth.
You hated the fact you were sidelined from the games and despite how much you had the support of Beth, Viv, Laura, Leah and hell even the rest of the girls, it still hurt to deal with it all.
Even Kyra’s mischievous ways couldn’t put a smile on your face most days, nor the adorable puppy cuddles from Myle, Beth & Vivs’ new pup that you’d completely fallen in love with.
“Is it too late to just turn around and go back home?” You can’t help but wonder, glancing around the hospital waiting room apprehensively.
Beth lets out a small laugh, “We can’t do that kiddo, we’re already here now” she replies to your question.
Pouting quietly, you fumble with your hands which has become a trait that you’d do when you're nervous, “I… I don’t want to be here. I’m scared” you confess.
“I know kiddo, but you have nothing to be worried about” The blonde tells you in reassurement, doing her best to ease your worries about your feelings of the upcoming surgery, “The surgeons are good, they know what they're doing here” she reminds you.
“They have done it enough times” Viv chips in quietly, earning a small chuckle from Beth.
“I hate hospitals” You complain a few seconds later.
“I know that you do, kiddo” Beth smiles at you sympathetically, all but wishing that she could take your pain and suffering away.
It had hurt Beth and Viv so much to see you go down on the pitch in the way that you did, they’d not openly had a conversation about it but it was definitely understood that they shared mutual feelings about the whole situation.
None of it was fair for you, you were on the path to succeed and just like that, this cruel injury has wiped that all away in just a blink of an eye.
Life really was cruel sometimes.
“Can you… Can you run me through it again, please? Just so I remember what’s going to happen” You mumble quietly, but still loud enough for the two women to hear you ask the question, “Please” You whisper, sounding unusually vulnerable compared to usual.
“Okay” Beth exhales a sigh, she’d already run over the whole procedure of what would happen at least twice, or maybe even three times previously, but if it eased your own worries than she’d do what she could to help you out, “You want me to run you through the procedure, or the whole of it in general?” she wonders.
“All of it” You whisper, fumbling with the strings of yours– Laura’s hoodie that you had somehow stolen from her but you liked the way that it buried you and made you feel small enough to try and escape the world.
The blonde nods in understanding before she starts to explain it once more, “So in the next hour or so from now, your names’ going to be called and you’ll be taken to the room that you’ll be in before your operation” she pauses for a minute to let you catch up to speed, “You’ll have a hospital gown to change into that they’ll give you when you go into the room along with a pair of them snazzy socks, huh? So you just be able to pull the look off” she jokes with you, trying to keep the conversation light and jokey to avoid you getting any further worried.
“Nobody can pull a look like that off, well other than Leah I suppose” You mumble as you giggle slightly at the comment.
“Well she can pull anything off” Viv chuckles, shaking her head amusedly as she tries to bury her own feelings down to not have you feel any more scared than you need to be.
“Even a bin bag” Beth jokes with you both, “Alright, so your surgery isn’t until 4 o’clock, remember? So you’re going to have to wait a bit, but we’ll be right in the room with you to keep you company, up until the minute you go down” she adds.
You follow along and nod, somehow Beth running through everything again does a little something to settle your bubbling nerves, “What happens after that?” you ask.
“Before you go down to the operating room, there will be an anaesthetist that will come and see you beforehand to discuss the options of anaesthetic before you go down” The blonde tells you, pausing for you to quickly catch up on the last bit of information, “Remember how we spoke about the anaesthetist inserting a cannula into your vein as well? They’ll do that, so they’ll be able to administer any medicine that’s needed during the operation” she tells you.
“Will the cannula hurt?” You start to panic once more, you were vaguely familiar with the fact that a cannula was a sharp needle that would be painful and you absolutely hated needles.
“It will be just like a sharp string, but it’ll be over soon enough” Viv is quick to tell you when she notes the panic in your eyes, they both definitely knew how much you hated anything medically, and they’d definitely experienced their fair share of dealing with your panic attacks when you’ve needed any type of injections in the past, “They’ll give you the anaesthetic that’ll put you to sleep” she adds.
“Will it be a n… needle?” You absolutely hate needles, you’re terrified of them and every single doctor's experience in the past had always been disastrous ever since you were little.
“You won’t feel it initially, kleintje” Viv tells you as she places a gentle hand on your uninjured knee to stop it bouncing anxiously, “You’ll have a cannula in your hand. When you're down in the operating room, the anaesthetist will ask you to count backwards from 10 while they administer it and before you even get to finish, you’ll be completely out of it so they can begin the operation” she explains to you.
You slump your shoulders as you feel slightly more at ease, “Oh, okay then. That… That doesn’t sound too bad then” You mumble, swallowing the lump that forms in your throat, “So the doctors will know what they’re doing?”
“They do, they have done it enough times” Beth says as she lightly chuckles.
“And when I wake up from surgery then Leah and Laura will be here as well, right?” You ask hopeful, after all they’d both told you that they would be and you hoped that they wouldn’t break their promise.
“Yes, they have both promised that they will be here” Beth replies in agreement.
Smiling slightly, you nod in agreement with the blonde, “They can’t break the promise then, can they?” You quietly ask, fumbling with the strings again.
“No they can't, otherwise they’ll face a very unhappy girl after surgery” The blonde jokes, ruffling your hair, which earns a small grumble of protest from you.
“Feel less nervous now?” Viv questions, hopeful that you did feel at ease a little bit.
“A little bit, but I really hate hospitals” You huff in annoyance, shaking your head, “And I really hate stupid knees’ as well” You mumble quietly.
Beth can’t help but snort amusedly, “Don’t we all, kiddo… Don’t we all, hey?” she jokes, still trying to keep the conversation light still.
“Okay, we’re going to take you down now, Y/N” The surgeon tells you once they’ve finished spieling all of the medical jargon, which you didn’t really listen to too much.
When they placed the cannula, you can’t deny that it didn’t hurt. There were a few tears in your eyes, but you consider yourself to be mostly brave in comparison to not freaking out about it.
“O… Okay” You swallow the nervous lump in your throat that had formed, the nerves settling in once again.
Beth takes a gentle hold of your own when she can sense your worries, “Don’t be scared, kiddo. You’re in great hands” she reassures you, or at least tries to do that.
“We’ll be right here waiting for you when you come back” Viv chips in, trying to contain her own fears and worries in favour of yours.
You glance between them wearily, “Y… You promise?” You question in fear, although you know that of course they’ll be sat waiting in the room for you and they wouldn’t let you go through this on your own.
“We promise” Beth replies in agreement.
“We promise, kleintje” Viv adds in.
“Love you both” You tell them, it’s barely louder than a whisper but both women are able to hear it and smile at you fondly.
“We love you too, kleintje” Viv tells you, placing a light kiss on the top of your head.
Beth smiles and swaps places with Viv to be closer to you, “We love you so much, our wonder kid” she tells you, kissing the top of your head again, “We’ll be right here when you come back. We’re not going anywhere” she adds.
The very single second that you left the hospital room with the surgeons, it was like Viv completely fell apart trying to hold it together any longer now you weren’t there, constantly pacing the floor in the hospital room up and down as Beth watched her girlfriend, worriedly.
“Viv, you’re pacing the floor so much. You might put a dent in it” Beth jokes lightly, furrowing her eyebrows as she watches in concern as her girlfriend get worked up
“I know, I can’t help it” Viv admits as she still continues to pace the floor, not pausing to take a breath or speak to her girlfriend,
“I think you might be more nervous than Y/N was before she went down” Beth jokes, trying to keep the mood in the room light.
“I am nervous for Y/N” Viv admits quietly, just loud enough for her girlfriend to be able to hear what she said.
Beths’ facial expression softens in realisation at just how worried Viv actually was about you and your impending surgery, “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks.
“BecauseI was trying to be strong for Y/N, she was scared enough without seeing me to fall to pieces” Viv explains to the blonde, shaking her head and still continuing to pace the floor, “You’re not worried for her?” she asks.
“Of course, I am nervous for her but I’m trying to be brave for her and put my feelings aside” Beth replies to the Dutch womans’ question, “I know it’s hard to keep it all in though. You know that she’s going to be okay though” she tells her.
Viv exhales a sigh and shakes her head, “I’m trying, but it’s so hard and she’s still so young. None of this is fair, Beth” she mumbles.
“I know, leifje” Beth mumbles in agreement before she exhales a sigh herself.
“This is her first major surgery. You saw how scared she looked before, I just can’t help but be worried right now” Viv states, still pacing the floor continuously.
Beth frowns and moves to step in front of her girlfriend to stop any further pacing, “Viv, leifje. I know you’re worried for her but you know that the surgeons here are good and you know that she’s in safe hands” she does her best to reassure her girlfriends’ own fears.
Viv halts from her continuous pacing and exhales a loud sigh, “I know, and I know that too as well but I still can’t be less worried about her until I see her” she confesses.
“That might still be a while yet though, so how about we just sit down?” The blonde suggests, gesturing to the empty chairs in the room, “This pacing isn’t healthy either” she notes.
“What if something goes wrong?” Viv questions in concern.
“Viv, Y/N/N is going to be fine” Beth still tries to reassure her girlfriend, gently pulling her towards the empty chairs, “She’s going to be so brave” she tells her.
“But what if–” Vivs’ question is cut off.
“Viv, leifje” Beth interjects with a soft smile, “Listen, I know you’re worried but there’s nothing that we can do to control this right now. Y/N is in safe hands with the medical professionals, remember?” she reminds her girlfriend.
“You’re right, I know you are but what if–” Viv starts to speak again.
“Vivianne, all that we can do right now is sit down and wait” Beth cuts in, holding her girlfriends’ hand in her own, “I’m just as worried about her as you are, but all of this pacing the floor isn’t going to help ease your worries nor mine, so please just come and sit down” she tells her girlfriend gently.
“Okay” The Dutch woman nods in agreement and moves to sit down beside her girlfriend.
Beth smiles at the woman and joins her to sit down, “Thank you. Y/N/N is going to be okay, she’s our strong girl” she states, trying to remain positive for the both of them.
“We’re here!” Laura announces, rushing into the hospital room as fast as she could without injuring herself again.
“We made it here, finally. Traffic was a nightmare on the way here” Leah follows the younger girl in, shaking her head, disgruntled by the typical London traffic that made her get stuck in the middle of rush-hour traffic.
“You both made it here, that’s the main thing” Beth breathes a sigh of relief that she’d been holding in for a while, glad that both of them had made it to the hospital before you came back from surgery.
“The room was a little hard to find. Hospitals always confuse me still” Laura mumbles, moving to sit down in an empty seat in your hospital room.
“Baby England still down in surgery?” Leah questions, settling into the seat Laura.
“Yes” Viv exhales a sigh.
“They took her down around 4 pm, so hopefully it won’t be much longer now” Beth hopes as she takes a quick glance at the time on her phone, apprehensive to mention anything about complications in case that would make Viv panic all over again.
“Gotcha” Leah nods in understanding, glancing between the couple, “How’re you both holding up?” she checks in with them.
Beth can’t help but chuckle slightly, “Well I think Viv’s been a lot more nervous about this than I was led to believe, so it seems like I’m just trying to hold it together for the two of us at this point now” she jokes with the blonde, mock-teasing her girlfriends’ need to worry so much.
“Hey, Y/N is like our own kid. You’re just as worried about her as I am!” Viv insists firmly, shaking her head at her blonde girlfriend.
“I am worried, leifje” Beth responds in agreement, taking a gentle hold of her girlfriends’ hand in her own.
Leah chuckles slightly and shakes her head, “The rest of the girls all send their love, they’d be here as well but they didn’t want to crowd her too much. Steph had to pull Kyra back from her trying to get in my car to join us” she adds in, amusedly.
“We can invite them around when Y/N/N is up for visitors” Viv suggests, trying to chat now to distract any more nervous thoughts about you. Beth was right, you were in safe hands and there was nothing that she could do to change what happens in the operating room.
Beth smiles and nods in agreement, “I’m sure she’d like that” she states.
It felt like several more hours had passed before you finally made an appearance in the room, fast asleep still from the general anaesthetic that you’d been given.
“Here she is” Leah cheers quietly as she spots you still asleep as they wheel your bed back into the hospital room.
“Surgery went well?” Viv checks in with the surgeon.
“Surgery went very well” The surgeons beams a wide smile in agreement with the woman.
Given the general post-op run down from the surgeons, they left the room and the ACL crew were now just waiting for you to wake up and come back around from the anaesthetic, which wasn’t too long afterwards thankfully.
“Ah, look whos’ finally woken up” Beth jokes when she sees your eyes prise open, “Hello sleepy head” she adds.
You groan as you come around from the slumper you were previously in, feeling slightly disoriented about things, “Ugh. Where am I?” You mumble, not completely aware of your surroundings yet.
“You’re in hospital, Y/N” Beth chuckles slightly and shakes her head, “Did you bang your head down there, huh? We’re all here for you, just like we said” she motions around the room the 4 familiar faces.
“Mhm, oh yeah. Had knee surgery-- Le, you're here, you came!” You mumble in realisation as you squint your eyes and look round the room, spotting Leah and Laura along with Beth and Viv, who had been strangely quiet still since you’d woken up.
"Ahem, I'm here too, you know?" Laura chips in, amusingly.
"Laur! You're here too!" You exclaim in realisation, excited to see the older girl, "Can I go home now?" You ask, eager to get out of the hospital as you thought you had already been here long enough.
“Whoa easy there, let’s just take it slow, huh? There’s no rush” Beth replies, laughing amusedly as she watches you try and climb out of the hospital bed, still very much under the anaesthetic so you couldn’t feel how much pain you were really in.
You can’t help but pout in disappointment, “My own beds’ more comfier than this one though” you note.
Leah can't help but chuckle amusedly, "Glad to see that you've not lost your sense of humour, baby England" she teases you lightly.
"Le!" You exclaim in glee, so high still from the anaesthetic that you forgot she was here again and you are just so happy to see her again, "You're here!" You add in joy.
"I am. I promised you that I would be here, didn't I?" The blonde defender laughs in amusement at your own expense, "It's nice to see that you're in the land of the living now, eh?" she still continues to tease you.
The second that you lie your eyes on Viv, it only takes a few seconds before the floodgate of tears is opened as you stare at her in shock, before you giggle slightly.
"Seriously, Vivi? You told me to not be worried yet here you are, balling your eyes out" You can't help but laugh hysterically, mostly from the anaesthetic making you feel so loopy, "This whole time you've been so worried yourself!" You add in.
Beth chuckles and shakes her head amusedly, "Oh kiddo, she's been beside herself with worry" she tells you as she gently squeezes you on the shoulder, "Remember now, it's only up from here now on, kid" she tells you.
"It's only up from here now on" You parrot the blonde in agreement, happy enough to be closer to leaving that dreaded hospital.
© scribblesofagoonerr
#woso x reader#arsenal x reader#woso#woso fanfics#woso imagine#woso one shot#arsenal women x reader#arsenal wfc x reader#beth mead x reader#vivianne miedema x reader#meadema x reader#leah williamson x reader#laura weinroither x reader#heavy angst
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One More Chance (At Love) (Pt.1/?)
Slowburn Mark Sloan x Reader x George O'Malley
TW/CW: Mentions of medical terms and just overall Grey's anatomy gore, social anxiety/ anxiousness, Christina being passive-aggressive to the reader of you squint, Love triangle, jump cuts
Disclaimer/Summary:
‼️ SEASON 2 SPOILERS!! ‼️
AJ's a new intern at Seattle Grace Hospital and the niece of Miranda Bailey. She has an average reputation and never heard of 'McSteamy' a.k.a Mark Sloan upon moving to Seattle and working at Seattle Grace. Not understanding the hype around him nor falling for his charm, he ends up falling first and hard because he thinks she's "hard to get". He tries his best to flirt with her but to no avail, because she never picks up on any of those social cues to realize that he has been flirting with her the entire time because of her being neurodivergent (specifically AuDHD). Besides Mark, there's also someone else who has been eyeing AJ since they met.
Ps: This is mostly a self-insert but you can still read and enjoy this!! It's been a while since I've made a fic and I think it's time for a fresh start :). This takes place in mid-season 2 (specifically episode 9, a month before the Thanksgiving part of the episode starts then jumpcuts to the events of the Thanksgiving episode) to around the end of season 3. There are a lot of jump cuts in this fic and rhe reader is black
Wc: 3.4k
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@spexialvixtimxunit @verytalented
Seattle Grace Hospital. A hospital filled with opportunities and so much drama that it could be a full-course meal. That is, of course, if you're interested in having surgeries and nonstop sleepless nights on the menu. If so, then sign me up. Having the opportunity to work in the same hospital as my Aunt was a blessing and a curse. She knew that I was studying to become a surgeon, but what she didn't know was that I would be working in the same hospital as her. The other interns around me called her 'The Nazi' but I simply called her Auntie Mandy.
No one knew that she was my aunt so they had no room to treat me differently because of my association with her. I deserved to be in that surgical program just as much as they did. I worked my ass off to become a well-respected doctor, not a punching bag for bottomless insults. So, my strategy to survive the internship came in 3 easy rules. A guide that I follow every day.
1. Befriend the Nurses.
This step was relatively easy. I'm always kind to everyone I meet unless they give me a reason to be mean. Plus, I would hate to get stuck on doing rectal exams or sutures for hours on end just because I pissed a nurse off. They're human beings just like me and deserve equal respect because it took them years of med school to get to where they are.
2. Keep to myself and only speak when spoken to (a.k.a practically become invisible to almost everyone unless I'm given instructions to complete a task.)
Now, this step is a relatively difficult one to follow. I have no clue who I will encounter upon being on Auntie Mandy's service and they would make my experience at SG unpredictable. I won't let them get to know me upon surface-level things about me. It's too risky for them to find out even the smallest incriminating detail about me. I'll just have to wait for the right moment to tell anyone that Bailey is my Aunt.
And lastly, my most hated rule.
3. NEVER unmask, unless necessary.
Masking in itself is extremely difficult. If I show any sign of my neurodivergence to neurotypicals who don't understand what it's like to hide parts of yourself every day 24/7, I'm looking at weeks of being a laughing stock and judged by everyone. Even though this is a possibility, the road to being a surgeon is never easy for anyone.
So, with that being said you would say that I have 3 impossible rules to follow. I would have to try my absolute hardest to not expose myself but also to be on top of my game in this program if I want to make it in the real surgical world.
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My alarm rings at the ripe time of 5 am. I had to be at the hospital by 7:00 am before 7:30 am rounds started and before I could officially be assigned to my resident. I knew before today that I was going to be assigned to Auntie Mandy because of the letter in the mail a few weeks ago declaring my official internship and transfer to Seattle Grace. As well as what day I would start working. Transferring hospitals is like transferring schools, you have to start all over again in a new place. New environment. With completely new people. People who are already used to each other and probably friends with each other. Whereas I'm the new kid, the outcast. The kid that sits alone during lunch while everyone has already created their cliques.
I took a few deep breaths before getting out of bed to stop myself from becoming anxious at the thought of all the wrong outcomes that could happen. I made sure to pack comfort snacks the night before and an emergency meltdown/overstimulation bag that consisted of earplugs, a few small but effective fidget toys, compactable noise-canceling headphones, and an mp3 player that has my comfort songs on speed dial. I made my bed, as I usually do to start my morning. Following up on that, I meditated and did yoga for an hour and a half. It's a way to calm and ground myself before I tackle whatever the day brings me.
I did my morning routine and skin care before heading back to my room, to change into my outfit.
By this time it was already 6:40 am. I had enough time to spare to moisturize my locs and bring a scrunchie with me so that I could put my hair up when needed at work. I made sure to grab my messenger bag and my snacks for the long shift and promptly left my apartment at 6:50 am. The drive to work was roughly 15 minutes but ended up being 20 minutes with traffic. I didn't live far away from the hospital, which was alright in my opinion. I arrived there at 7:05 am and began to park. After I parked and got out of the car, a motorcyclist drove up loud and parked 2 spots away from me.
Right in the middle of my car and the motorcycle came another car with 2 women and a guy who I'd assume knew the female motorcyclist because the group of 4 joined each other and I began walking into the building behind them. Mid-walk, another guy joins the group after what I'd assume was his morning jog. He was huffing and saying something I couldn't make out because of me keeping my distance from them so that they wouldn't assume that I was following them even though I was. I had no freaking clue on where anything in this ginormous hospital was. Sure I had a tour of the hospital but it's so easy to forget the layout when I've only been in it once.
While we waited for the elevator I quietly said, "Excuse me," as I tapped the shoulder of a brown-haired guy with cute doe eyes. He stopped talking with the blonde-haired woman and turned to face me. "I'm sorry, but could you help direct me to the surgical locker room? I'm not entirely sure where it is." As I was speaking the rest of the group turned to look at me, which was not intimidating in any way. (Yes it was.) "Yeah sure, We're actually on our way there." says the doe-eyed guy. "I'm George O'Malley by the way, that's Izzie Stevens, Alex Karev, Meredith Grey, and Christina Yang. We're all surgical interns." George introduced the names to the faces of everyone and I hoped for the best that I could remember their names.
"Oh, I'm AJ. AJ Brown. I'm also an intern here. It's my first day." I spoke. "What! That's cool, we could show you around sometime!" Izzie said as the elevator dinged. I nodded and followed their lead and got on the elevator with them, standing near the back of it. I listened as they talked about how their mornings went. The elevator stopped at the second floor. After making a few turns into the corridors, we finally made it to the locker room.
"What's your locker number?" Meredith asked as she began to walk to her locker. "Uh, it's G - 23," I responded as I looked around at my surroundings. Everyone was already getting changed. "Oh, nice you have a locker next to me!" Izzie smiled. The digital clock on the wall read 7:15 am, there was enough time to change into my scrubs and have my pager and stethoscope ready. As I was putting my shoes on Meredith spoke to me, "So, AJ, where are you from?" She asked as she closed her locker door. "Oh, I'm from a small town in Illinois," I answered. "What's a city girl like you doing all the way here in rainy ol' Seattle? Besides to work here?" Alex chimed in, "Family, stuff." I spoke shortly, in hopes of ending the conversation.
"That's nice that you can be near family here. Also, who's service are you on?" Izzie asked. "I have Dr. Bailey," I spoke as I stood up while closing my locker. "Awesome, she has the Nazi too." Christina deadpanned as they all began to finish up. "Christina, be nice!" Meredith nudged Christina's arm and tried her best to whisper that to her but failed. "We can show you where she is today." The group leaves the locker room and I trail behind them to find my Aunt.
We head to the elevator and we make it to the third floor, where we come to a spacious waiting area and a front desk that I'd assume contained charts and other important patient information. Among the crowd of people walking around stood Auntie Mandy, writing in a chart binder at the front desk. "Good morning Dr. Bailey." They all said one by one, before George spoke, "I think we have a new intern with us that's on your service." That sparked her to look up from the chart. "New intern? What new intern?" She said almost with an attitude. They all miraculously parted like the Red Sea to reveal my presence to her.
"Well, I'll be damned! If it isn't AJ!" Bailey replied with a smile before running up to hug me, which shocked the group as if they had never seen her act sweet towards anyone. She released me from her grasp and said, "I had no idea they were assigning you to my service! How's your mom? I know everyone must miss me back there in Illinois." Bailey chirped. I hesitated and replied shortly, "Everyone's fine and they do." I laughed awkwardly. "Wait? How do you know Dr. Bailey and how does she know you?" Christina asked, answering the burning question that was floating around in everyone's head.
"She's-" Before Dr. Bailey could finish her sentence our pagers went off. Talk about being saved by the bell. Or beep in this case. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding in as we all began to follow Bailey's orders on where to be assigned. George ended up being the one to be my guide for the day as I helped him with patients and got used to doing checkups and filling out charts for a few hours. After that, Bailey assigned George to teach me how to run labs and work on sutures in the pit, as well as prescribing actual medicine to the patients. Before I knew it, it was lunchtime.
"Hey, would you like to have lunch with me? I'm usually with everyone because we all eat together sometimes." George asked softly as we headed to the cafeteria I assumed. "Uh, sure." I agreed. I brought a simple lunch with me, a turkey sandwich, apple slices, and carrots. While George offered to buy me apple juice. As I began to sit down next to George, Christina let out a loud groan and said lowly to herself, "Why did George invite someone we barely know to lunch, it's like she's his pet or something." This time Merideth kicked Christina's leg under the table, which caused her to verbally say 'ow' in response.
Upon hearing that comment, before I could start eating I got up and excused myself by saying, "I think left my pager in my locker. I'm gonna go get it." I grabbed all of my things and left immediately, what did I expect from a bunch of strangers? I found an empty hallway with abandoned beds and I ate in silence.
George's POV
AJ grabbed her things and speed walked away. Christina scoffed and spoke, "Looks like she ran off to go find her mommy, Dr. Bailey," Everyone let out laughs at Christina's 'joke' if you even call it that. "Enough!" I yelled as I slammed my hands on the table, "She has been nothing but nice to you guys and this is how you treat her on her first day? People deserve chances and you guys never even gave her that option to one." I grabbed the rest of my lunch and stormed off in hopes of finding AJ, before hearing out what everyone was going to say to my brief speech.
AJ's POV
I was almost done eating my lunch when I heard a familiar voice say, "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" It was George. What a relief. "You have?" I said as I finished the last of my apple slices before I threw away the remaining trash. "Look, I'm sorry that they were mean to you, they don't like new people coming into their space." George apologized before he sat somewhat next to me. "You don't have to apologize for them George, it's not your place to apologize for them." I feigned a smile to try to reassure him.
"Sometimes they make fun of me too. And I wonder if they're my friends or if I'm convincing myself that they are," George confessed. "Well, can you be yourself when you're around them?" I questioned. George didn't answer. "If you have to think about it for a long time then maybe you should reconsider if they are your friends. Real friends don't make fun of you for being you. They appreciate your uniqueness and don't judge you." I declared. "It seems like you're a friend expert." I laughed a little at his comment. "I've had a lot of friends but never kept any of them so I know what it's like." I spoke truthfully, "Thanks for the lunch, George." I thanked him before I walked away once again.
-----
By that evening, my hands and feet were tired from walking and constantly talking to all the people. I desperately needed time to recharge my social battery because I could feel myself starting to get overstimulated. The lights were starting to get too bright and the bustling noise could make anyone go insane. I had a few minutes to myself in the on-call room so I spent it playing with my Tangle fidget toy and listening to a playlist of my favorite Michael Jackson songs in the dark while lying down on one of the beds on the bottom bunk. Needless to say, I ended up falling asleep for a good hour before I faintly heard the door open.
"AJ, wake up, Dr. Bailey needed me to find you," George said as he tapped my shoulder in an attempt to wake me. I groaned before sitting up on my elbows and glaring at him for waking me up, "I'm sorry to wake you but she needs more hands in the pit." He confessed which caused me to roll my eyes. I nodded before shoving my MP3 player and fidget toy down in my lab coat pocket. I put my shoes back on while George watched and we both headed out to the pit together.
Only a few more hours to go.
------
My first 12-hour shift was finally over. The aching in my feet was beyond compare even though I had comfortable shoes on made for walking. I went back to the locker room to change and I found myself left with a few people and George changing near me. "Are you autistic? I mean, if you are that's okay with me. I won't tell the others if you don't want to tell them so that they don't make fun of you. I'm not saying that they will but they can be mean sometimes. Well, not Izzie. Wait no, Izzie can be mean sometimes but not in-" I just stared at him until he finished rambling.
"Sorry, that was rude. I didn't mean to assume or anything. It's just that I-" George began again before I stopped him. This must have been on his mind all day. "Yes, I'm autistic and I have Adhd as well. And I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone because I don't want any attention on me about it. People will treat me differently." I shrugged it off to George as I grabbed my bag. "Can I ask why?" George said as he sat down on the bench. "Why what?" I replied, not looking at him. "Why don't you want to tell anyone?" I let out a huff and closed the locker before I faced him.
"This is breaking my rules," I mumbled, "Rules? What do you mean?" There was confusion in his voice but I could hear that he wanted to understand. "Ever since I was a kid, I always knew that I was different. I never had a lot of friends growing up and I never was invited to birthday parties because of how people treated me for being different. I don't normally spill my life to people I just met but I feel like I can trust you. I've been judged about my diagnosis of AuDHD. There's no point in trying to be myself when I can be what people expect me to be."
"But doesn't that get tiring? Having to mask all the time?" He asked and I nodded quickly. "It's hard to get a break and for people to not stare at me when I stim and fidget," I said disappointingly, "But what do I expect?" I shrugged it off and began to make my way to the door. "It's hard being myself in a room full of people who don't get you, but thanks anyway for trying to understand George, have a good night."
And with that, I once again walked away. It's becoming a habit now.
------
(A month later, at the start of episode 9)
------
Izzie had invited me over to help cook and decorate the house for Thanksgiving. I wore a simple outfit, a black long sleeve with denim jeans and black Converse. My favorite brand of shoes.
When I arrived I was greeted by Izzie rushing to get me inside. "I need you to get George for me, he's upstairs and he's supposed to be helping me cook but he hasn't left his room yet," Izzie said frantically. "Oh, okay. Um. Where exactly is his room? I've never been here before." I said while taking off my leather jacket and Izzie hanging it up for me.
"It's up the stairs, down the hall, and to the right." I listened to her directions and I reached George's room. I gently knocked on the door and waited for a reply. "Come in!" George said from the other side. I carefully opened it and saw him fully clothed on his bed with his eyes shut. "Why are you just lying on your bed?" I spoke as I closed his door behind me. He quickly opened his eyes, not knowing it was me.
"AJ! I- when did you get here?" He hurried and sat up to look at me. "I got here just now, not too long ago. You know Izzie wants you downstairs to help right?" I sat down on the end of his bed before he plopped back down with a huff. "I know but I'm afraid to go out there." I quirked a brow, "Afraid? Why would you be afraid?" As I said that he held his hands up and began counting down from 10. A thunderous noise arose from downstairs, and just when he reached zero, 3 men barged into his and screamed, "O'Malley!!"
Startled by the sudden noise, I looked at George for an answer. "Because of that." George huffed again. "Georgie, since when did you have a girlfriend? And she's hot too." I was taken aback at the man's comment. "C'mon, you know Georgie never gets laid," George rolled his eyes before getting up, trying to hide his embarrassment from me. "Please ignore my idiotic brothers," He began to go to his closet and grab camo wear. "Where are you going? Aren't you going to help Izzie?" There was desperation in those chocolate-brown eyes of his, and just when he was about to explain himself the older man chimed in and said, "Our Georgie is gonna kill his first turkey this year, I can feel it!"
"Dad you know Georgie isn't gonna kill a turkey, he never does." His eldest brother spoke, "No, he's gonna chicken out like how he usually does-" "Shut up!" George says while his brothers laugh, his face turning as red as a tomato now. "I'll be back as soon as I can to help. I promise I won't miss dinner." George tells me as he puts on his beanie and I thought he couldn't look any cuter. "Well, you better tell Izzie that," I scoffed as his family began to drag him out of the room chanting 'O'Malley' over and over again until they were down the stairs and out of the door.
"I don't think they're coming back any time soon." Izzie whined, "I hope he doesn't actually kill a bird."
---
#greys abc#greys anatomy imagine#greys anatomy#meredith grey#alex karev#george o’malley x reader#george o'malley imagine#george o'malley#izzie stevens#christina yang#slow burn#love triangle#angst to fluff#fluff to smut
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After my cry of rage comes my rant, several factors are at play today in this absurd and senseless defeat, losing at home after 10 years against Dortmund should be a reason for immediate dismissal, anyway it's not like we can aspire to anything this season, the way we are playing so horribly how can we not know that we will make a fool of ourselves in London?
The first goal was shocking but it was completely recoverable, it was in the first minutes and we could get back into the game, the problem was the approach that offered nothing, we had ONLY 2 shots on goal, and we can say that it is not the fault of the players but the approach, the players who were on the field today did very well during the international matches, how is it that arriving at the club they played so badly?
If you plan to say that it was Ulle's fault please don't say anything at all, the first goal was a mistake by everyone, but it was not the end of the world, Ulle really worked the best he could.
In defense, I don't want to be that person but Phonzy I don't know if it's really his desire to leave Bayern but that's what it looks like, he looked lost the whole game and the second goal was due to him leaving Ryerson completely free.
Really a weak game from all our midfield and forwards, I don't know what tactical plan TT thought of but the guys literally took no risks at all, they just crossed balls in.
And the changes although they tried really didn't change things much, a game to forget and hope I'm wrong, do the best we can in UCL because that's all that's left for this team and wait anxiously for TT's departure.
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New Beginnings - Bill Hader x f Reader
Part 1
Warnings: language! just some fluff, I'd also like to point out that Bill was never married in this dimension lmao. I'm hoping to make this a very detailed multi part fan fic. There isn't too much in this first part... i just wanted to lay out some background details for the remainder of the story! I am feeling really nervous to post this but hey! why not!
Word Count: 2.1 k
You are new to the SNL writing team and you quickly learn that it is impossible to not fall for Bill Hader at a rapid speed.
Part 2
MASTERLIST
. . .
The rain gently trickled against your window as you laid in bed, desperately trying to draw out your time soaking in the comfort of your pillows before you began your first lengthy day at SNL.
Wow. I'm really doing this.
You were nervous, and you had to admit to yourself the affect your feelings had on the motivation you so badly lacked for the day. You let out a groan, and half-heartedly threw yourself out of bed and proceeded to make your way to your washroom.
You should be excited for this.
The thoughts were rushing through your head at a pace you felt were uncontrollable, yet you continued with your morning routine. As the cold water washed over your face you felt a sense of transparency, and for the first time in the past week you felt as though this first day might not be as bad as you anticipated.
. . .
Growing up in a small town made the move to New York much more difficult. You always had an interest in writing and hoped one day you would be able to make a career out of it. Sure, you did stand up, but it wouldn't be able to pay your bills forever. You hopped between serving and bartending as it was a good way for you to make money through tips. Your family undermined your skills and that was just more of a reason for you to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and prove them wrong.
Thankfully you had spent a large chunk of time working in stand up comedy. You had travelled to many places throughout the country and wrote for not only yourself, but a handful of other amateur comedians. You lucked out while working a gig at a comedy club in New York City with a couple of your stand up buddies; John Mulaney just so happened to be at the show with the intentions of possibly scouting out a new writer for this season of SNL, as they were expecting one of the current writers to be leaving only a few months into the season.
As you finished your gig, you felt happiness wash over you. You knew that was your best gig yet. The audience had an energy unlike any other audience you had performed for.
You quickly headed to the bar afterwards, wanting to have a celebratory drink. As you stood waiting at the bar you heard your name being called from behind you, "Y/N Y/L/N?". You turned around, confused, because people didn't typically approach you after your gigs. You were still an amateur after all, and who would want to take photos with someone like yourself? But too much surprise you were face to face with one of your biggest inspirations; John Fucking Mulaney.
You felt your stomach turn while you were frozen with shock, "Y/N, right?" he spoke again with a cheeky smile, clearly recognizing your feelings of anxiousness. "Sorry, yes! That's my name! Don't wear it out!" you mentally face-palmed yourself after the words left your mouth with instant regret. But John just laughed, he was the last to judge someone with a quirky sense of humour as he was just the same.
After chatting for some time, John invited you to audition for a writing position at SNL. He enjoyed your sense of humour and thought you would be a great fit in the team, especially as he saw potential for the two of you to write together.
You could say your audition went well, as not only a week later you were contacted with the wonderful news that you were accepted on to the team. You felt so proud of yourself, knowing this is an accomplishment that many people don't get the pleasure of experiencing.
. . .
And that is how you ended up where you were on this dreary New York Monday morning.
Your apartment was small, but enough for you. As you finished getting yourself ready you quickly made a coffee, although the caffeine would most likely make you even more nervous than you already were to begin with.
I've got this. John Mulaney liked me. I wouldn't have passed the audition if they didn't like me. Snap out of this.
You were within walking distance to 30 Rock, so you began your walk embracing the cool colourless weather along the way. It's almost like nature was curing your anxious nerves. As you breathed in the cool air you felt your heart rate slow, and your mind wander to exciting thoughts, rather than nervous thoughts.
Will the members like me? I can't wait to meet some of my favourite comedians... Maybe my sketch will make it this week...
You approached 30 Rock and made your way up to the studio, not sure where to go or who to talk to. As the elevator doors opened you were met with chaos. The floor was filled with people. You assumed majority of these people were the ones working behind the scenes as you were only met with a few familiar faces. Suddenly, your eyes locked with a tall blue eyed man. Your heart rate quickly raised and goosebumps covered your body
Bill Hader. Holy Shit. He's beautiful.
He quickly rushed over to your surprise, and extended his arm to shake your hand, "My names Bill, I'm going to assume you are Y/N? John was telling me you'd be joining the team!". You quickly shook his hand, not wanting him to feel the sweat that had accumulated on your palms since you locked eyes with him. But my God, your knees nearly buckled the second you made contact almost as though you were melting to the ground.
Of course I know who he is. He's Bill Hader. Who doesn't know who he is? Holy shit we just touched.
He flashed you a nervous smile, "Here, follow me. I just saw John a few minutes ago. We'll hunt him down together" he said, followed by a cute little wink.
Just as you thought you had your nerves under control, the world around you felt as though it was spinning. You followed behind Bill through the chaos while he would glance behind him periodically to make sure you were still tagging along.
You arrived at a door that was briefly opened. Bill gently knocked and proceeded to open the door where you were met with John propped up at a desk twiddling a pen between his fingers with a concentrated look washed upon his face; "Y/N! Welcome to your first day!", he said with a big smile while wiggling his eyebrows playfully at you.
. . .
You spent your first day working alongside John, shadowing his work and learning the typical Monday schedule; everyone would settle down at a table, including the host, and sketch ideas would be thrown around. You felt quite nervous to speak up, but you and John had done some chatting beforehand and he assured you that everyone was eager to hear your ideas.
You threw some ideas out, but nothing really stuck, and that took a toll on your spirit for the week. Lorne wrapped up the jam session, and you met Bill's eyes as you looked up from your papers, you flashed him a small smile. It was almost as if he could notice the stress that had consumed you throughout the meeting. As you were grabbing your things and getting ready to meet with John in his office, you felt a hand gently placed on your shoulder; it was Bill.
"Y/N, is everything okay?", he said with great concern. What a sweet soul he has. You sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I just wish I would have been able to get a sketch into the lineup but it's okay, I guess." you said with a soft smile, "You wanna come to John's office with me?".
The two of you began walking towards John's office when Bill wrapped his arm around your shoulders and leaned in, "Seriously, don't let today get you down. You can help John and I write the Stefon sketch for this week. It'll be great". You felt like you were on a cloud. The feeling of his warm breath against your neck; the closeness shared between the two of you in that moment was never something you thought would occur.
Holy Shit. He just put his arm around me. What the fuck is going on right now... Is this really happening?
The two of you entered Johns room and from that moment on you felt a sense of relief. Being around John and Bill just felt right. You felt like a missing puzzle piece that was finally discovered; you felt like you finally found your place in the world.
The three of you chatted for awhile, getting to know each other on a deeper level. John had been working on SNL for three years at this point, and Bill had been there for six years; no wonder these two seemed so content with the regular schedule of SNL, the process was as easy as riding a bike to them. Whereas you felt the process was like a big cloud hanging over you, you were eager for Sunday to arrive already.
You told you life story to the two of them, leaving both of them to be surprised by the experiences you've had in the industry at the ripe age of 25. You felt so young and naive compared to them though. But their lack of judgement on you made you feel even more comfortable to open up to them.
. . .
The three of you finished your conversation and you said your goodbyes. As you walked down the hallway towards the elevators you felt relieved. Today went okay, maybe not exactly how you planned it would go, but it was okay. Not only did it end on a good note but you couldn't believe the instant connection you made with Bill. You tried to not be consumed in your thoughts; keeping a sense of clarity. You couldn't deny the way Bill made you feel, but it was only your first day and you needed to slow your eager thoughts down.
As you stood waiting for the elevator you heard quick paced steps behind you. You turned around and saw Bill nearly out of breath with his hands placed on his knees. "Woah there buddy, you okay?" you said followed by a few giggles, "I didn't want to miss you before you left, I was wondering if you'd maybe wanna grab a coffee and chat a bit more?" he said with almost a flustered look plastered on his face. "Yeah, sure." you managed to get out while feeling your heart rate rise.
He wants to spend one on one time with me?
Bill lead the way, flagging down a cab where he gave the address of a beloved coffee shop he would swing by before a long day at the studio. Little did you know Bill was excited to take you to one of his special places. He felt the same as you, eager to build your friendship and possibly one day be more than just friends.
The two of you conversed for a few hours. At first you felt tense, was this a date? No, no don't get ahead of yourself Y/N. Bill wanted to know everything about your upbringing. He seemed so interested in you and that made you fall for him even more.
"Do you live near by? I would love to walk you home if you don't mind", he said with a sweet, nervous smile. You felt so enamoured by the moment, "Absolutely, I would love that."
The two of you walked shoulder to shoulder through the busy streets of New York. Moments of silence would occur, but at no point did it feel awkward. It was comfortable silence. You kept catching Bill glancing down at you and you'd meet his face with a soft smile. The evening had been everything and more. And as the two of you approached your apartment complex you felt a sense of sadness. You didn't want the evening to end. You had grown so fond of him over the last few hours, your mind wondered where your relationship could possibly end up. He made you excited to be back in the office tomorrow.
"Well! Here's my stop!" you said followed with a giggle. You turned to face him and your eyes met. The both of you enjoyed it for a few moments before you smiled at Bill, "I'll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early Hader" followed by a cheeky wink. "You betcha, Y/N".
You walked into your complex, shortly arriving at your front door. You entered your living room, placed your book bag down, and plopped yourself on the couch. It was time for you to get some rest before the frantic week that laid before you.
A new beginning, I cannot wait.
#bill hader x reader#bill hader smut#bill hader imagine#bill hader#bill hader fanfic#bill snl#snl imagine#snl fan ficiton#snl fanfic#bill hader one shot
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ೃ༄HIT DICE (I)
EDDIE MUNSON X HARRINGTON!OC
MASTERLIST
✧chapter one: expectations of a buttercup
↳ word count: 6,8k
↳ spoiler warning: seasons 1-3
↳ other warnings: smoking weed, being high, mildly drastic wound description (regarding the Mind Flayer), mentions of death (minor characters)
↳ mentioned songs/artists: Tears for Fears, Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix, Diary of the Madman by Ozzy Osbourne
↳ a/n: hello lovies! I’ve been working on this piece since the ending of vol.2, trying to bring our boy Edds justice. hope you enjoy my little scribbles! if you want to be notified each time I post — comment or dm me!
Sometimes, expectations can appear exorbitant.
For instance, some may anticipate to pass a strenuous test with flying colors. Others may hope to conduct a trenchant analysis of the nagging emotions, seething inside of them. There are also those, who look forward to obtaining wealth; whether it's spiritual or plainly material.
Those things, however, are significantly more likely to be fulfilled while compared with...
"Steve! I swear, I'm going to fuckin' kill you!"
...the expectations regarding your own siblings.
"Geez! Calm down, booger," Steve Harrington sighed loudly, rolling his eyes at the sound of his younger sister re-entering their house.
A spoon he was eating his cereals with was still in his mouth when he heard a harsh noise of the car keys hitting the surface of their wooden kitchen table.
"I've been telling you for the past four days there's something wrong with my car!" The brunette girl bursted out with an expression of utter anger. The kind, people let themselves express only around the closest family members.
"So, uh, have you considered visiting a mechanic?" Steve answered nonchalantly, completely not bothered by the fit of rage his sister was displaying.
"You've promised me to do it!"
With that, Steve Harrington finally took the metal spoon out of his mouth and with the most blank and carefree expression asked, "Did I?"
It was the final nail in the coffin for the already furious girl. Plucking up unspeakable amounts of strength, she gritted her teeth in hopes of keeping her composure steady...
...or rather what had remained of it at that point.
"On Wednesday, to be precise. It's Friday today," she reminded him, inhaling audibly. Just as her mother always ordered her to do when she wanted to calm herself down.
"Well, that's great then, isn't it?" Steve smirked, getting up from his chair as he sloppily placed the bowl and the spoon in the sink. "Friday, weekend... Lot's of free time, 'ya know? Might as well visit the mechanic yourself," he added deliberately, simply to further annoy his younger sibling.
It wasn't surprising at all when his sister let out another frustrated growl. To be frank, it was exactly what Steve had expected and, as the matter of fact, something he would never get tired of.
"It's not about fixing the car now! It's about you not keeping the promises!" The girl was fuming as she walked up to him. "I'm telling you that there's a problem, you're assuring me you'll help me with it, and what? Each time I start the engine, my pretty baby is wheezing and grunting like goddamn Sloth!"
Steve watched in amusement as his sister throws her hands in the air, only to mumble, "I thought sloths are usually really quiet."
The brunette stopped herself to blink twice at her brother's remark.
"I meant the character in the Goonies. You know, the one with fractured skull... Geez! You work in Family Video! You should've gotten the reference," she explained with a sigh, now anxiously stomping her feet.
"What?" Steve chuckled at the sight of his sister suddenly regaining her usual persona.
"Well, I'm waiting for you to drive me to school, idiot. I need to get there somehow," she answered with an excessive amount of confidence in her voice.
"You can always use your bike," he shrugged casually, grabbing, however, the keys to his BMW as he made his way towards the door. With a victorious grin, his sister followed him, mechanically walking up to the front seat of the car. "Hey! We're picking up Robin as well. You gotta sit in the backseat for being a pain in the ass," he added, watching her once again grimacing in disbelief at his antics.
"We could've not have this conversation if you did what you've promised," she murmured, eventually taking her seat in Steve's car.
A Tears for Fears song resounded when the vehicle started. It was immediately followed by Steve's cheeky humming as he made a U-turn, putting his sunglasses on at the same time.
"That's child endangerment," his sister remarked, noting how the maneuver was done with only one of his hands.
"Yeah, why do you think I did that?" Steve grinned from ear to ear, turning up the volume of the radio.
Bickering was something that often occurred between the Harrington siblings, whether done by sheer malice or purely out of boredom.
It was a repetitive theme despite the indisputable status of their parents or, maybe, it was that exact spoken social expectation that made the sibling behave abruptly childish when left alone. Just as the two of them were frantically trying to hold onto the only relatively positive aspect of their lives — their carefree childhood.
It would have been an understatement to claim the Harringtons weren't living a comfortable life — quite the opposite actually. With their parents obtaining respectable positions that guaranteed a certain level of wealth, the siblings couldn't complain about lack of money, nor inability to pursue their hobbies. Neither of them were bullied because their upbringing or a particular item of clothing they decided to wear. Neither of them experienced the downsides of live other children at their age faced with everyday.
Due to all of the advantages the siblings had, it was almost impossible to complain about any inconvenience, no matter how grand. Moreover, that fact was making it excruciatingly hard for them to realize that, in fact, they both faced their own demons.
"Is dad coming home this weekend?" The tone in which the question was spoken utterly differed from the one used in conversation that had happened just a while ago.
"No clue. Besides, you're the one that should know. He likes you better," Steve muttered, glancing at his sister's reflection in the back mirror. His answer, however, didn't hold no envy nor jealousy. It was a mere stating of facts, which unfortunately still made his sister feeling a specific type of tingling in her chest.
Guilt.
Rivalry between the Harrington's appeared when they both were attending High School and ended as soon as Steve graduated. While telling his parents he wasn't looking forward to attend a university just yet, they abruptly cut off his allowance, claiming his two options now were to make up his mind, or simply find a job. Steve vividly remembered the agitation on his father's face when this conversation took place. Most importantly, he recalled him and his mother debating whether or not had him to move out. The only thing that made them change their minds was the calm voice of his younger sister, slowly talking them out of the idea. With the politeness of a grand duchess and the debate skills of an Oxford lawyer, the girl singlehandedly stopped a tragedy from happening...
...or that at least he had told Robin the first time she properly met his sister.
Properly, because the two of them were already acquainted with each other. After all, they were peers, attending quite a few classes together for the past three years, now going on four.
"Hi, Dingus... Oh, hi, Stacy!" The door of the car swung open as the voice of Robin Buckley greeted the Harrington siblings. Putting on a seatbelt, she squinted her eyes after ogling her classmate, "Why are you sitting in the backseat?" she asked, amused.
"Ask him, not me," Stacy Harrington shrugged, a sly smirk appearing on her face when she playfully grabbed the sides of her brother's face from behind. "Look at that shit-eating grin. So proud of bullying his little sister," she added with a false notion of hurt.
"Yeah, keep shaking my head. It's not like I'm driving or doing anything else that could potentially cause a car crash," Steve complained in a monotonous tone, causing Stacy to furrow her brow and pretend to choke him, her fingers never touching his neck.
"It's like watching a soap opera with the two of you," Robin exclaimed, her eyes wide open in pure diversion.
"Not my fault he's an airhead," Stacey scoffed.
"Not my fault she's mental," Steve replied in the exact same manner.
It was only a matter of another few minutes when the trio found themselves in the Hawkins High parking lot. With one more insult exchanged between the siblings before saying goodbye, Stacy got out of the car, holding onto her brown leather bag.
"So," Robin started after walking up to her. "Have a good day, Harrington."
The awkwardness with which the sentence was spoken equaled Stacy's response that contained of a quiet, "Yeah..." And even more inaudible, "You too."
Watching the dark-blonde girl disappear into the depth of a school corridor, Stacy tightened the grip on her bag. It had only been a few seconds before her timid expression vanished. The reason for the sudden change?
The silhouettes of her classmates appearing on the horizon.
With a polite yet insincere smile she was used to, Stacy waved them hello after fleeing to the bathroom. With a deep sigh, the dark-haired girl rested her palms on the sink that had definitely seen better times.
Another day of being a coward, she thought to herself before she heard the bell ring.
She regretted not chatting with Robin Buckley after they got out of the car.
She regretted not being able to drop the role she was still unwillingly pursuing.
After all, the two high school seniors were parts of cliques that drastically differed, given not only their social status, but also the general idea of their characters; Robin wasn't popular amongst other students. She was a band geek, who wasn't afraid to reply with a snarky comment. Despite her coyness, she was almost always able to be her most authentic self.
Stacy's role, on the other hand, had been assigned to her the day she enrolled high school. With her brother Steve — formerly known as the King — Harrington, she didn't need to worry about venturing into the extraneous place that contained of stereotypes, social stigmas and, simultaneously, sweaty basketball players, aggressively slamming the door of a locker in front of her face.
It came easy to her to find her way in high school after having it already paved by her older brother.
At first, it was like a dream come true — everyone smiling at her sight, not being targeted by the older kids. Herself, Stacy was quite an opinionated and bold teenager. Moreover, she had the audacity to speak her mind without being afraid to be raked over the coals. Therefore, she had gained a fair share of popularity — amongst classmates because of her charisma, and amongst teachers due to her academic skills. A picture perfect scenery, if you were to ask her just two years ago. An ideal high school experience, was what she would have said up until the last summer.
The last summer.
Stacy squinted her eyes in the middle of her math class.
Stacy thought being stuck in the other dimension with her brother and a bunch neighborhood kids last October was bad. She though learning about the existence of the Upside Down was just enough.
That, however, did not prepare her for what she was about to witness.
Every so often her memory was flooded by the horrid images of the Starcourt Mall massacre. The fire, the gunshots, the ginormous monster made out of the flesh of flayed Hawkins citizens.
And the little pink bow sticking out of its body.
The little pink bow that belonged to her classmate, Heather.
Moreover, much like her brother, Stacy Harrington grew up. How could she not? After all, after witnessing what her eyes had seen was enough to mature anyone, especially a preppy girl, whose only concern was what to wear to the pep-rally. Now, her problems oscillated not only in the area of Hawkins High, but also consisted of the emotional trauma she couldn't share with anyone.
She found peace and serenity in cutting herself off of the social life. At least, to the amount that could still held her in favors of the school elite. After all, she saw what happened to her brother when he stopped being friends with Tommy and Carol — he was dethroned. Bullied even. Although King Steve would never admit that.
Therefore, Stacy calculated what she needed to do in order to maintain both her peace of mind and the position. That being — occupying herself with school work and claiming she needed to focus on passing the finals flawlessly.
It wasn't a complete lie. Stacy consequently succeeded academically, learning bringing her genuine satisfaction. Now, however, it became an unstoppable coping mechanism. A last thread that was keeping her sane.
Today was no different than what she had gotten herself used to for the past year: get up, argue with Steve, attend classes. This is why she was now in cafeteria, sitting on the opposite side of the table Chrissy Cunningham was located at.
Cheerleaders and preppy girls.
Something that used to be Stacy's pride, now ended up being a burden.
Munching on a piece of stale toast, she mindlessly looked up, her eyes trailing down the windows with Halloween decorations still on. Of course no one bothered to take them down, it was just a week after the holiday.
Her stare landed on the theatre kids spot. Stacy always admired the bold accessories some of them used to put on. For instance, today a girl, whose name couldn't pop up in Stacy's mind, was wearing an obnoxiously large black hat with flowers of the same color.
Then, she turned her gaze towards the band geeks amongst which Robin was seated at. All absorbed in a conversation, they shared smiles with each other. Smiles, that were far from sarcastically amused expression of the cheerleaders when they were gossiping.
Finally, her eyes travelled towards the direction of Dustin, Lucas and Mike, who were just about to put their trays down at the Dungeons and Dragons table. Her stare must have been obvious, hence her brother's curly-haired friend waved at her. In response, she raised her hand up, watching the eyes of the infamous Eddie Munson widening. With a chuckle, he gesticulated vividly while starting up a conversation with Henderson.
Returning her attention to her plate, Stacy looked down. There was no possibility she was ever going to be like these kids.
Not bothered by anyone's opinion, not worrying about the social status, but most importantly — not being afraid to be themselves.
She, Stacy B. Harrington, was the biggest coward of them all. And the only thing she could do about it was live in never ending regret.
It took her another three classes to came to the conclusion that she couldn't keep her act anymore. Everything was leading to her downfall, and the only thing that could eventually stop her from reaching her breaking point was the notion of her completing the most idiotic plan she could currently came up with.
And Dustin Henderson was to blame for that. If it hadn't been for him waving at her, the idea would've never cluttered her mind.
With the sound of the last bell of the day, Stacy made her way towards her locker, waiting for a certain individual to show up. It took a few minutes for her to notice his silhouette approaching the lockers. To be complete frank, Stacy could've closed her eyes and still know it was him — the sound of a clinking chains attached to his belt was making it impossible to confuse Eddie Munson with any other person from Hawkins High.
There were numerous rumors surrounding his persona, as well as the club he was the leader of. Stacy recalled one of the cheerleaders claiming they sacrifice neighborhood babies for satanic rituals. Although this could be as well a poor joke told by someone of Jason Carver's sort.
Disregarding the mass-frightening stories, Stacy could clearly see why people were resentful when it came to Eddie. After all, he did, in fact, repeat senior year once again this year. And that already added to his mysterious and formidable persona.
Yet, being a Harrington concluded Stacy was acting incredibly confident in times of possible danger. It so happened to be awfully extensive to the point where she was plainly making an idiot out of herself.
"Hi," she said as soon as she noticed Eddie closing his locker.
Apparently hearing her voice was so unexpected to him, he blinked rapidly before opening his mouth.
"My, my! Stacy Harrington giving me a heart attack on a Friday afternoon..." he started, the fact she truly scared him covered by his smooth-talk. "Can't say that something I'd ever imagined to happen, though I'm not mad," he chuckled.
Although the words naturally flew from his mouth, Eddie Munson had to admit that conversations with popular people were making him beyond uncomfortable.
"Well, I do have something to ask you for," Stacy replied, entertained by the exaggerated expressions he was displaying as they spoke.
"A few words more and I'll be convinced you weren't staring at our table today because of Henderson, but because of me," he smirked, observing how the girl in pleated blazer opened her mouth to appear slightly offended.
"I wasn't staring at anyone!" she argued in a playful tone, letting out a single giggle at the end of her exclamation.
"Sure. How could I possibly cause Miss Harrington of such things?" Eddie asked, dropping his eyes down for a second. "Anyway... cut to the chase," he added, standing up straight.
" I have this little green problem," she said with a serious tone but furrowed her brow as Eddie did not elaborate. "Purple Haze problem?" she tried to make another reference.
"Oh, you're a Jimi Hendrix fan?" Eddie exclaimed, toying with the fact that both Hendrix's song and a specific type of plant shared the same name.
"Don't make fun of me," Stacy reprimanded him, however, failed in keeping a stone expression.
"I'm not," Eddie defended himself. "It just has to be the weirdest way of someone asking me for some weed."
The girl scoffed, looking away for a brief moment, "Apologies for the lack of professionalism."
Eddie shook his head, maybe to appear more intimidating, maybe to cover the smile that was highly inappropriate for a drug dealer. "Meet me in my car in twenty. Just so, you know, none of your prim girlfriends will see you," he meant the last sentence as a joke, although it hit a bit too close too home for Stacy.
Nodding her head, they parted their ways, so as Stacy found herself once again in the school bathroom today. Glancing at her reflection, she quickly fixed her hair — another thing the Harrington siblings had in common. A neat coiffure, held in place by Farrah Fawcet's hairspray.
The twenty minutes Stacy was supposed to wait were dragging on substantially, equal to what waiting for a parent in a grocery store was like. Finally, after what felt like eternity, Stacy left the school grounds, making her way towards the well-known van. Knocking on the back door, she was immediately greeted by the sound of loud music.
"And that's all from being discrete," she murmured more to herself that to Eddie, taking a look at the insides of the car.
"What do you think about my humble vehicle?" he started up a conversation, placing a black metal box on the table inside.
Stacy placed her hands on her hips, taking a quick look around the van. "Spacious," she murmured.
"Comparing to that 'lil red Chevy of yours? Without a doubt," he smirked, shaking the two plastic bags he had just took out. "Any particular wishes? Let me just warn you, I don't have your Purple Haze," he teased her.
"Anything that's not mostly Incica, really," Stacy answered, taking a few steps closer to her classmate.
"Oh, what a connoisseur," Eddie murmured.
Stacy couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "Is Pineapple Express fine by you, buttercup?" he asked, showing her one of the bags.
"Yeah," she let out a chuckle at the nickname she was called.
"I normally do twenty bucks for half of an ounce..." Eddie started, getting up from the small table.
"That will do," Stacy interrupted him, opening her bag to search for the bank note.
Eddie tilted his head as he glanced over her. "I was about to give you a discount," he replied bluntly.
"Then keep the change for the splendid customer service," she shrugged.
For a split second Eddie Munson thought the time froze. All he could see was Stacy Harrington, looking up at him with the most genuine smile he had ever seen a girl like her display. The rays of sun that got inside of the van through the patchy blinds illuminated the locks of her hazel hair, causing her to appear almost magical.
So magical, in fact, that he didn't hear her repeating his name over three times by now.
"Sorry. I spaced out," he admitted, shaking his head as a promise of now listening to her clearly.
"Well, I figured it out," Stacy laughed, placing the money before him. "I was asking if you have any rolling papers," she repeated, taking her share of weed.
"Oh, yeah, sure," Eddie blabbered, reaching out to the drawer on top of the seating. Without asking, Stacy sat down the moment the tissue-like paper was handed out to her. Silently exuberant by her staying a while longer, Eddie took a spot beside her, watching as she carefully began rolling the blunt. "So, tell me... since when does Little Miss Perfect smoke dope?" he asked nonchalantly.
An amused grin appeared on Stacy's face before she even got a chance to answer. It was above surprising how much she smiled during her conversation with Eddie. "Since everything took a turn for the worse," she answered evasively.
"Yeah... I expect being on top of the class is really the worst that could happened," Eddie wondered, causing Stacy to immediately look at him.
"You know shit, Munson," she whispered in a defensive tone, sending him a reprimanding stare.
"Fuck, no, I didn't mean it as an insult," he was quick to defend himself the moment he realized he worded his sentence badly. "What I wanted to say is I just can't... imagine that."
His abrupt answer made Stacy's cheeks burn. Of course she exaggerated his words. She often had a tendency to get awfully preserving when it came to people doubting her. Something, that possibly appeared in her life due to not being able to tell others about her problems.
After all, Stacy Harrington wasn't a person one could relate to. From the surface she seemed like a terribly shallow person, who didn't differ much from those, whose only intention was to achieve success, no matter the costs.
"Sorry," she muttered, apologizing. "I get really articulate when I'm focused," she added, showing Eddie her perfectly rolled blunt.
And just like the tension was never there, he chuckled, taking it from her to admire it in the better light, "Look at that! And I originally thought you're just a munchkin. You're full of surprises, Miss Harrington."
Getting up and bowing dramatically, Stacy giggled, "Comes in handy."
"Well," Eddie shook his head. "All I have to tell you now is to enjoy the product," he added in the same, over the top manner.
Smiling, Stacy grabbed her bag. However, before she decided to open the van doors, she turned back, facing Eddie, who now wore quite a confused expression.
"Everything's alright? Did you forget something?" he asked her quickly, concerned for the reason of her possible upset.
"Actually, I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to smoke together," Stacy answered, watching's Eddie's eyes opening ever wider than before.
Without a word, just with a mere disbelief painted all over his face, he pointed — firstly at himself, then — at her. Not a second later he smirked, his locks covering his face, "You know what they say... don't get high on your own supply," he quoted.
"Like I'll believe you don't use your own stuff," Stacy scoffed. "Besides, you're not Tony Montana... So?"
Eddie shook his head once again, smirking to himself, "How can I refuse a girl, who's just got a Scarface reference?"
"That, my dear, is called a deal breaker," she responded, following Eddie to the front of the van.
"A hit dice," he corrected her, starting his car. "We'll drive just beside that part of the forest. Smoking on the school's parking lot is far too crazy... Even for Eddie the Freak," he explained quickly, spitting out the last part with a notion of sarcasm.
"That's quite a lofty nickname, isn't it?" Stacy asked, causing Eddie to glance at her for a spare second. "Awfully uncreative... but lofty," she corrected herself, smiling at the sounds of a song that just played on the radio.
"Lofty," Eddie repeated in a scoff, only to notice Stacy's hand traveling towards the head unit of his van. "Hey! No changing music in my car. I have full monopoly on what's playing," he stated half threateningly, half jokingly.
"Who said I was going to change it?" Stacy asked, almost like her former intentions were the clearest thing in the world.
"You weren't?"
The brunette giggled in disbelief. "I wanted to turn it up. I like this song... Dairy of a Madman is a good album in general," she admitted, watching Eddie displaying visible shock. "What?"
"You're shitting me," Eddie let out the air he was holding for definitely longer than he should. "There's no way you're listening to Ozzy Osbourne."
"Why?" Stacy asked light-heartedly as they found themselves in a more secluded area.
"Because you're... you," Eddie gesticulated vividly after stopping his car.
With a flick of her hair, Stacy got out of the van, waiting for her companion to join her as she lit up the blunt.
"I am me," she repeated his words. "Munson, you're not even high yet and you're already talking nonsense."
"Anything for you, I guess," he shrugged, inhaling their shared blunt.
"You know what?" Stacy chuckled at the sudden memory flooding her mind. "I do remember you way before high school, actually," she added, watching him scrunching his nose.
"Wasn't expecting to have a stalker. Especially not one in a form of Hawkins' pride and joy," he confessed leaning on the hood of his van.
"Yeah, I'm not sure about that joy part," Stacy chuckled, feeling an unwitting smile entering her face.
"Just look at you, buttercup. All happy and dandy." Eddie pointed at her expression.
"That's just the weed kicking in," she answered, which simultaneously was the worst idea she could possibly have, hence she choked on a huge cloud of smoke.
"Oi, here you had me thinking you were a professional," he teased her, gaining a nudge on the arm.
"Shit happens even to the best, okay?" she responded in the same tone.
A few minutes after, Stacy and Eddie found themselves sitting on the mulching ground, casually exchanging any thoughtful remarks their stimulated minds were telling them to vocalize.
It was strangely calming to Stacy how the presence of a person she didn't exchange even a hello before had helped her become utterly tranquil. Of course, it was also the merit of the chemicals that now entered their bodies, however, despite being intoxicated Stacy could've concluded she wouldn't have been in such a positive state if it wasn't for the curly-haired metal head.
"So, you say you remember my little meek persona, huh?" Eddie asked, returning to the conversation they were having beforehand.
In response, Stacy's eyes wandered way above Eddie's head, landing somewhere in between of the branches.
"Yeah," she started in a dreamy tone. "Only your hair was a 'lil bit shorter," she spoke softly, catching with the corner of her eye how a smirk entered his face. "By 'lil bit I mean shittone. Like, way, way shorter. Non-existent even," she corrected herself, thinking his reaction was caused by her unclear response.
She had no idea, however, Eddie's expression was a reaction of a genuine surprise.
"You mean middle school?" He wanted to clarify and succeeded by watching her nod her head. "You're right. That buzz cut was ooglay," he agreed in an exaggerated tone.
"I never said it was ugly." Stacy crossed her arms. "Although I must say, you do look way better with your hair like that," she added, almost like she was complimenting an old friend, not a classmate she had never spoken a word with before.
"You think?" Eddie asked in a challenging tone, abruptly grabbing a handful of his locks as he covered his face with it.
She had forgotten how it felt to genuine laugh at someone's jokes. She had forgotten the feeling of excitement while discussing a certain topic. Moreover, she had forgotten how to relax.
"I like your blazer," Eddie spoke after a few minutes of silence.
"I stole it from my brother back in eight grade," Stacy disclosed, her voice lowered, almost like she was gossiping with her cheerleader friends.
"Oh, yeah, your brother..." he hummed in response, almost like he had completely forgotten about that instance. "How is he, by the way?"
"Just... you know... working," Stacy struggled to form a sentence as her glance was focused on the spot behind Eddie. "Look, I think that's a squirrel," she said confidently, pointing somewhere in front of her.
"Where?" He squinted his eyes in order to adjust his eyesight. "I don't see anything, buttercup. You're delusional," he added after a while.
"No, I'm not, Eddie! I swear that squirrel was there just a moment ago!" Stacy argued, however, not being able to stop laughing.
"Well, you surely scared it with your screaming by now... Where are you going?"
"Go through your things and look for some snacks," she replied innocently and jumped back in the vehicle.
"You won't find anything despite a few molded sandwiches!" Eddie called after her, adding to himself, "...and possibly some drugs."
Not a moment later he heard a noise of something metal hitting the ground.
"I didn't break anything!" Stacy reassured him. "Everything's under control!"
She had no idea that the last sentence would so hauntingly occupy her mind the day next.
It was a Saturday. One of the warmest one this November, actually. Her brown locks were sprawled across her back as she managed to finally unscrew the top part of the metal lid, covering the air filter.
It was just around four in the evening when she returned from the mechanic with a newly bought substitute — a stark white filtering compartment, covered by silver pieces made to secure the device.
It was excruciatingly bold of her to presume she would manage to change it without anyone's help. But, with her persistent will and stupendous motivation caused by neither her father nor Steve being currently at home, Stacy Harrington gritted her teeth, calming herself down with the, "Everything's under control." In reality, however, she was silently cursing out whoever, who tightened the screws so hard, her knuckles were becoming white from trying to loosen them.
Ever since she could remember, Stacy was drawn to manual work such as preparing a volcano model for her middle school's talent show or plainly helping to fix the kitchen sink. Maybe that sudden enjoyment was the culprit of her current interest in science.
This, however, wasn't the case of today, considering the fact Stacy was now aggressively wiping off the grease she managed to get herself dirty with just a moment ago.
Not being keen on smearing her Walkman with it, she rubbed the substance in her old jean shorts. Reaching just above her knees, the piece of clothing was completely out of style — something, her friends would immediately tease her about if she were to leave her house in them. To her benefit, today she could allow herself to look drastically different from usual; her hair were tied in a ponytail that already started to fell apart, the loose strands of hair making her appear like she had just rolled out of her bed. A flannel shirt she was wearing previously belonged to her father, therefore it was awfully big on her. In addition, its condition was far from satisfying. Holes in it were certainly contradicting her always-ironed shirts.
Stacy didn't expect to see anyone than her brother today. After all, their parents weren't going to be home this weekend. Therefore, she let out a loud gag of surprise the moment she heard a car pulling up. At first, she thought maybe it Steve, who ended his shift earlier. Yet she didn't even need to look up to know she was wrong — she could've flawlessly recognized the sound of his BMW engine. Then she came up with an idea someone had mistakenly driven near her house, stopping the car to ask for directions. Grabbing the hood of her car, simply to see the unexpected visitor, a grin appeared on her face the moment she noticed a van, parked just by the side of her driveway.
"Missed me already?" Stacy called teasingly.
"Sure I did, sweetheart," Eddie Munson answered. The confidence in Stacy's tone was so magnetizing, he couldn't help but smile with each step he took. "You forgot your blazer yesterday," he added, watching an expression of surprise paint all over her face.
"I did?" She asked in an over-dramatic tone, wiping her hands before taking her belongings from him. "Sorry for the trouble," she added, nodding towards the direction of his car.
"'S fine," he muttered, shoving his hands to his pockets. "It was a good excuse, though."
Stacy scrunched her nose, giggling silently, "Care to elaborate?"
"You know, just to see what Miss Hawkins does on her free time," he answered nonchalantly, glancing over her shoulder to take a look under the hood of her Chevrolet. "Again, that's the last thing I would've expected... Always thought girls like you..."
"Girls like me, huh?" Stacy smirked, interrupting him. "Is it somewhat a nice way of telling me I look like shit today?"
"Well, you look... different," Eddie responded with a shrug, yet immediately realized how his answer may have sounded. "I-It's a compliment, though," he corrected himself, vividly gesturing with one of his hands.
Stacy bursted into laughter the second she noticed how terrified his face look. Just as he was afraid to be faced with her being offended.
"No worries, I'm used to having and older brother, who insults me all of the time," she added while re-doing her ponytail.
Instead of thinking of an answer, Eddie carefully watched her every movement, captivated by the smoothness of it.
He didn't know if it was the shorts with grease stains on them or her easygoing persona that caused her to appear more... reachable.
Eddie Munson wasn't a person, who took enjoyment in talking with popular kids. Quite the opposite, actually — the only times he found himself conversing with them were the short moments in the school's canteen. They mostly consisted of mutual short comments on each other differences — a response to bullying he had received ever since he could remember.
It was exactly bullying that made his opinion on them unanimous, forming his approach towards them as hostile.
It was this exact fact that made him feel so off-track during those past two days. He expected Stacy Harrington to be just like the rest of her friends — mean and scary. After all he only recognized her from being a popular straight-A student, whose class he happened to find himself in when he failed his senior year. Again.
Yet, to his surprise, Stacy was standing right in front of him, laughing not at him, but because of him.
"Geez, this filter looks crusty," he commented, glancing over the already exchanged device, laying next to the red Chevrolet.
"And I was wondering why my car was making strange noises... Well, here's the culprit," Stacy chuckled, kicking the old air filter.
There was a moment of silence during which Eddie wondered if he should already leave. After all, he arrived here just to give back Stacy her blazer she left in his van while hazed by the weed they smoked yesterday. Yet, something —he couldn't exactly place what — made him want to stay just for a while longer. Purely to enjoy the presence of a girl, who caught his attention in such a peculiar way.
"How did I even manage to forget that?" Stacy laughed, pointing towards the direction of the blazer she messily threw behind the hood of the car.
"Actually, you did almost break the table inside," Eddie chuckled, watching an overly hurt expression paint on Stacy's face.
"I did not! I simply stumbled and..."
"Hey, Stace!" Both Stacy and Eddie turned towards the figure that just entered the Harrington's front yard.
"Oh, hi, Steve," the girl responded, wondering how she didn't notice her brother's car that was now parked just beside Eddie's van. "You got off duty early?" She added, suddenly feeling uneasy.
"Yeah..." Steve narrowed his eyes. "What's Munson doing here?" he asked the question that was on his mind the moment he left his car.
"I-uh, he came here to hand me my blazer," Stacy explained quickly, hoping the odd feeling of tension will leave her as soon as it appeared.
"Yup, the blazer," Eddie confirmed, sensing how strangely Stacy's persona changed as soon as she saw her brother.
"It's not drugs or anything, right?" Steve furrowed his brow even more, eyeing the curly-haired man. "Cause I swear to god, Stace, if you..."
"Jesus, why are you so weird about it?" His sister bursted out, just like she wasn't the one creating this specific atmosphere.
"Because how did he know it was yours?" Steve argued in a child-like tone, crossing his arms.
"It has your name written on the fucking tag!" Stacy replied, grabbing the clothing that previously belonged to her brother. The tag showed his name in a messy handwriting. The e's being the only letters written in lowercase.
"Yeah, of course," he snorted, shaking his head rapidly.
"Honestly, man, you need to cool down. It's not that big of a deal," Eddie inputed, however, his respond failed in resolving the strange exchange of words between the siblings. "She left it in..."
"School. In the English classroom," Stacy rapidly interrupted, not giving him a chance to finish.
"Yeah..." Eddie confirmed her lie, suddenly looking down to look at his boots that now were toying with the rocks on the driveway. "'S not like we're friends or anything. I mean, how could we? She's Miss Hawkins and I'm just your local drug dealer, right?"
It was his attempted joke that caused everything in Stacy body to stop function.
Eddie was right — the two of them had completely different backgrounds. Moreover, the idea of them hanging out was one of the most abstract things one could imagine.
Yet still — his sudden change of tone, the lack of eye contact and, most importantly, the fact Stacy truly took liking to him made his answer something she couldn't bare.
But then, it hit her like a speeding train.
She couldn't object.
Not because she shared reservation towards Eddie Munson, but because she couldn't bring herself to admit her whole persona was a lie.
Had it be a streak of confidence, a mere ray of bravery that could let her be herself. That could let her be, who she truly wanted to be without caring about what others said.
Without being afraid they'd exclude her.
Even if they meant her own brother right now.
Seemingly insignificant interaction put her in the most uncomfortable place she could possibly find herself in. Because agreeing on Eddie's explanation stopped being an excuse and started being the vocal factor of her inability to express her own self. A thing she couldn't come clear with from the moment she started giving doubts about her own social role.
With Steve's quiet whatever and him leaving the two alone, Stacy swallowed the gulp in her throat to prepare for apologizing to Eddie for the cumbersome instance. Yet, none of the things she wanted to say came out. Not even a single word.
Because of that, Eddie felt like he needed to be the one to break the silence that now became quite gruesome.
"Sorry... I'll stop bothering you, buttercup," he muttered, turning on his heel with an apologetic smile.
Stacy wanted to stop him.
She wanted to reassure him he was not being a burden.
But instead of that, she murmured a silent bye, watching as he got into his van and drove away.
Sometimes, expectation could appear quite exorbitant. Especially when being the one that cannot bear their own cowardliness.
#eddie munson x oc#eddie munson#stranger things#joseph quinn#eddie munson death#stranger things thoughts#eddie munson x reader#eddie munson x y/n#eddie munson x harrington!oc#eddie munson fanfiction#eddie munson fic#eddie munson fanfic
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The Viscount Who Loved Me {Two}
TVWLM Masterlist
An A Court of Thorns and Roses fanfiction, inspired by the first 2 seasons of Bridgerton.
Written alongside @snelbz
Ships:
Nesta x Cassian x Elain (I said what I said)
Feyre x Rhysand
Elain x Azriel x Gwyn
Summary:
As the season begins, a new Diamond is named. She catches the eye of a prince whose feelings remain unrequited. However, the man who catches the eye of the Diamond remains off the market, refusing to get married as a jab to his late father.
Meanwhile, the Diamond of the Season’s sisters have found themselves in a bit of a quandary. The elder is pushing the younger to get married to help her move on from the horrid disaster that happened last season, but in the process, the elder catches the eye of the younger’s match, even though she is considered to be an old maid and far past her time to be wed at the age of six and twenty. As they say, all is fair in love and war.
A/N: I don't think you all realize how excited I am to share this fic with you all. Like. I'm so excited. I'm even more excited now that Shelb has finished the series (all 2 current seasons, of course) and can now write it with me. Let us know what you think!
Tag list is at the end. If you’d like to be added, please comment below or submit an ask. :)
My lovely readers,
Join me as we all anxiously await the Queen's announcement of this season's Diamond. Is it just me, or after years past have we fallen in love with the tension of waiting for the Queen's announcement more and more? Whoever this season's Diamond may be, hopefully she brings us a season full of undeniable scandal.
I cannot wait to hear of whom will be in the spotlight this season. Hopefully Her Majesty has learned her lesson in picking fools.
Until next time,
The Suriel
“Has April always been so warm?”
Feyre pondered the unseasonable weather as their carriage meandered along the streets of Velaris. The fan in her hand was pointed at her face, but at her bosom as Nesta and Elain had drilled into her. Her chest didn’t feel like it was on fire, didn’t have what felt like an entire pound of cosmetics painted onto it.
“It’s just your bodice and skirts,” Elain said, resting a placating hand on her silk covered knee. “Last season, I nearly passed out on the ride over.”
Nesta said nothing, but nodded in confirmation. Their father was reading a newspaper across from them, not even acknowledging the conversation around him.
As she looked out at the fog filled morning, Feyre was conflicted. She’d spent the early hours getting prodded and pampered, much to her dismay. She wore a dress that she wasn’t fond of but, then again, she was not fond of most dresses. She preferred pants, although she only wore them when she painted. If she were to wear them at any other time, both her father and sisters would reprimand her.
“The key is to find an object just behind the queen and focus on it,” Elain was saying. Feyre was trying her best to listen. “When in doubt, just keep smiling.”
Feyre took a deep breath and met Nesta’s gaze. “Is that what you did?”
Nesta’s eyes narrowed and she quickly looked toward the passing streets as they hurried down the cobblestone path toward the palace.
Elain was participating in the season, as her coming out had only been a year before. Nesta, however, was no longer in the prime of her youth, and would be acting as both Elain and Feyre’s social sponsor, after this initial visit with their father. He would not be in attendance for the rest of the season. No, he would be working, amassing and growing their fortune.
“It doesn’t matter what either of us did,” Elain said, trying to quell the tension growing between her sisters in the tight quarters of the carriage. “What matters is that you be yourself, and let Her Majesty see the wonderful beauty that you are.”
Feyre wanted to roll her eyes but she didn’t, wouldn’t, never to Elain. While Feyre and Nesta had their fair share of squabbles, Elain had been through enough as of late and Feyre would not add to her own burdens by giving her a bad attitude.
As they turned the corner, they could see the palace looming in the distance. It was clear they were not the only family on their way to pay a visit to Her Majesty, which only increased Feyre’s nerves.
She had a lot riding on this.
Her entire family did.
They had already been through enough scandal. It was now Feyre’s job to clear the air, to find a good husband and restore their family’s name.
“Father,” Feyre began, although her eyes remained on the road ahead. “Do you have any advice?”
Isaac Archeron did not look up from his paper. “Listen to your sisters.”
She waited for him to say something more, but when he didn’t, the carriage fell into another tense silence.
For the last few minutes of the ride, Feyre closed her eyes. She imagined she was painting a calming picture of the ocean, but it quickly turned into the ocean in the midst of a storm and when she opened her eyes once more the carriage had come to a stop.
They had arrived.
Elain must’ve sensed the tension that had contorted Feyre’s body because a soft hand rested in hers as the footman came to the door and opened it up for them.
Once her feet were on the earth below, she had to close her eyes to keep her body from swaying. Then Nesta was tugging her forward, tight-lipped as always, dragging her up the stairs and into the palace beyond.
Feyre had been inside the palace twice now, when both of her sisters were presented for Her Majesty, but this time it felt different. The walls blurred as they swept through the foyer and down to the sitting room where the young women of Velaris were anxiously awaiting.
Feyre joined them but kept her distance.
“Elain, go wait with father,” Nesta said, looking warily at the girls in their frilly, white dresses.
Elain gave a quick kiss to Feyre’s cheek before scurrying out of the room, leaving Nesta alone with Feyre. As her eldest sister, the eldest woman in their family, she would be the one to escort Feyre before the Queen. Part of Feyre thought that she would reject the responsibility, but she didn’t even bat an eye.
Although Nesta had never found a husband of her own, it was almost as if she truly wished that Feyre would find a good man to walk with her through life.
No one would ever realize it from the way Nesta stared at the golden-painted walls ahead of her, lips pursed and chin raised high.
There were surely rumors spread of Nesta already that morning among the women they were surrounded by, a fact Feyre knew that Nesta was aware of. She would pretend it didn’t bother her, though, what other people said, the nasty hate they spew in her name.
Nesta Archeron. The woman who no man could love. The woman who scared all men away. The woman who brought shame to her family.
The Diamond that did not wed.
The Diamond who brought shame to the Queen.
Nesta never spoke of it, of her failed season as Diamond, of the year after when she was laughed out of every ball. Elain might have been embarrassed and heartbroken, but Nesta had been shamed.
Yet she stood next to her youngest sister, straight-backed and proud, just as she had done for Elain the season before.
The murmuring in the room was more hushed than that of what was out in the presentation hall. They were sharp laughs and unexpected spikes of voices that signaled Her Majesty was not yet present in the large room and Feyre was thankful for the sounds of normalcy. Last year, she was among those watching, waiting for the Queen to make her decision as to who the grandest prize or the season would be. This year, she was to be judged.
She suddenly felt like a prized animal being taken to the country fairs, to be scrutinized and nudged and gazed at by far too many people. Still she kept the pretty, bland smile Elain had helped her muster on her face. No matter that Elain made the smile look pretty and genuine. Nesta had informed Feyre that it made her look like she had.
The whispers and conversations outside the closed door halted and Feyre stilled, her head turning towards the abrupt silence.
She met Nesta’s eyes.
Nesta’s jaw locked, but she nodded.
It was time.
The doors opened and, one by one, the young women were led out of the room with their escorts and lined up before the doors of the throne room.
Nesta held out her hand.
Feyre took it and for a moment it felt foreign, but she quickly pretended as if it did not.
It was not that Feyre didn’t love Nesta. She did. But, after so many years of bickering and disagreeing and growing apart, Feyre accepted the fact that they would never be the closest of friends.
A muffled voice came from the other side of the doors and Feyre knew the Queen was being announced. It was followed by silence, in which everyone bowed.
Feyre couldn’t help but close her eyes.
She took a deep breath.
The doors opened and Feyre got a glimpse as the first girl entered before the doors closed once more.
Feyre and Nesta took a step forward, along with everyone else in line.
Two minutes passed.
They repeated the process.
Before she could gather her thoughts, Feyre and Nesta were standing behind the double doors, staring at the engraving, next in line.
“Don’t be nervous,” Nesta said, although her words were clipped. “She senses fear. Act like you don’t have a care in the world. Be respectful, of course, but hold your ground.”
Her words had just left her mouth when the doors opened, yet again, and they entered. Feyre’s feet moved without her telling them to, and she was convinced that it was Nesta dragging her along.
When she looked up, she met the eyes of the queen.
Queen Amarantha did not smile as they entered.
“Miss Feyre Archeron, escorted by her sister, Miss Nesta Archeron.”
The room fell nearly silent.
Feyre averted her gaze, as she knew Nesta was likely doing as well, as they crossed the long hall. She felt the eyes of the entire ton on her, felt the weight of their gazes, the judgement and snobbery. Elain and her father were mixed into the crowd, but she didn’t look for them. She kept her eyes forward, found a gorgeous painting of a countryside landscape, the first fingers of night reaching across the cloudless sky. It was serene and peaceful and Feyre found herself longing for the solitude of their country home. The quiet there was different from the quiet she currently endured.
When they reached the front of the hall, they curtsied, Feyre careful not to let her skirts sweep out too far or to let the angle of her head drop. Once they stood, she once again allowed herself to look at the queen. Her dark eyes were already on her, but they slid to her sister.
“Miss Archeron,” the Queen said, the smile on her face not friendly in the slightest. “A pleasure to see you again.”
Nesta bowed her head, reverently. “Your majesty.”
The queen hummed, something like approval in the sound, and she looked back to Feyre.
“Miss Feyre,” the Queen crooned, and Feyre could feel her eyes raking down her body. “I have heard many wonderful things about you.”
Perhaps it was a moment of weakness, or perhaps she was simply a fool, but Feyre met Queen Amarantha’s eye and lifted her chin. The moment their eyes met, Feyre regretted it, but she didn’t back away. The Queen's eyes were merciless, cold, but there was a hint of mischief in there that caught Feyre’s attention. She couldn’t look away. “It is an honor and a pleasure to see you again, your Majesty,” Feyre said, hoping her voice didn’t waiver. She curtsied and was sure to stay low for a moment before rising again.
Queen Amarantha’s lips turned upward. “I have high hopes for you, Miss Archeron. After what your sisters have endured, the ton has still spoken highly of you.”
“That’s wonderful news, Your Majesty,” Feyre said, even as Nesta’s body stiffened beside her. “I hope to be a wonderful example of what a man should expect of a wife. I see it as my duty to restore my family’s name.”
If what she felt radiating from Nesta was shock, than Amarantha looked positively delighted. It was clear that she wasn’t expecting someone to be willing to make a statement like that. Someone that would provide glorious entertainment and poise for the season.
“How old are you, girl?” The Queen asked.
“I’ll be twenty on the Winter Solstice, your Majesty.”
Queen Amarantha tutted softly, resting a pale hand over her chest. “So young, yet already so full of duty for your family.” She looked over Feyre once again and stood from the ornate chair she’d been seated in on the small dais.
The room collectively took a breath.
Nesta had become as still as a ghost.
As the Queen approached, Feyre tried to remind herself to keep her chin high, to stand tall. She’d ensnared the attentions of the Queen and now she must endure them. Each step rang out in the silent hall, echoing almost as steady as Feyre's hammering heartbeat.
As the Queen paused in front of her, she held a bejeweled hand out to Feyre.
Feyre only hesitated for a second before she took the Queen’s hand and kissed the backside of it, softly.
“I see promise in you,” Queen Amarantha said, watching Feyre intently. “You are different from the other young ladies, Miss Archeron. You speak honestly and outright, yet you hold your head high with poise and grace. Any man would be lucky to have you as a wife.” She snatched her hand away from Feyre’s, nearly making Feyre fall over where she stood. She didn’t, though, she stood tall next to her sister. It wasn’t until she was walking back up the dais that Her Majesty announced, “Perhaps that is why I will make you this season's Diamond.”
<.>
Cassian was bored.
He was so bored that he was nearly ready to call it a day, even though he, Azriel, and Rhysand had only been in the woods for an hour. The sunny morning sky was now covered in clouds. He wouldn’t be surprised if they were soon caught in a rainstorm. Hunting in a rainstorm wasn’t uncommon in a Velaris spring.
“Excited for the first event of the season?” He asked, at last, and when Azriel hushed him, Cassian rolled his eyes. “We’ve been here for ages and haven’t seen a thing. I doubt me talking will make it any worse.”
“No, but what a glorious hour of silence it’s been,” Rhysand quipped, shouldering his own gun, standing and stretching.
“Prick,” Cassian said. “You’re both attending the Beddor Ball, yes?”
“Of course,” Rhys responded. “It’s the first event of the season.”
Azriel nodded begrudgingly.
The first event would be the talk of the ton and would set the tone for the rest of the season. Everyone would present, those looking for marriage and those who were looking for…dalliances.
“Given anymore thought to settling down, Az?” Cassian asked as he pulled a flask out of his inner pocket and held it out for him.
Azriel stared at the flask for a moment before taking it and taking a long swig. “No.”
“But—”
“You don’t badger Rhysand nearly as much as you do me,” Azriel interrupted. “Why is that?”
“Easy,” Cassian said, taking the flask back and draining half the contents in a single drink. “Because he lets me have unimpeded access to his cabin in the mountains, and I’m not inclined to lose that privilege. You, my land wielding friend, only have the one home in the country, and share the same title as I do. His Viscountship,” he drawled, letting his eyes land on their smirking friend, “technically has the power to shut me up. You do not.”
Azriel stared at him for a long moment before letting his inner child take over and punching Cassian playfully - for the most part - on his shoulder.
Even though Cassian let out a sharp laugh, he winced. “Besides. Rhysand will marry whether he wants to or not… You, on the other hand, refuse to and won’t hear otherwise.”
Rhysand gave Cassian a warning look before sneaking a glance at Azriel. “Az does not have to marry if he does not wish.”
Cassian opened his mouth to reply but thought better of it. At first, it was playful, but now it was entering dangerous territory. They all knew why Azriel didn’t want to marry, didn’t want to have children. And, although Cassian mostly understood, there was still a part of him that did not.
“Besides,” Rhysand began, breaking the silent tension, “with neither of us looking for a wife, we get to spend our season helping you find yours.”
“Oh, I have no need to look,” Cassian replied, crossing his arms over his massive chest. “I’m going to marry whoever Her Majesty names this season’s Diamond.”
Azriel scoffed, while Rhysand didn’t even try to hide his bark of laughter. “You and every other eligible bachelor in the ton will have your eyes set on her as soon as the announcement is made.”
“The Suriel will have to confirm it,” Azriel added. “You know how she kept us on our toes last season.”
Cassian snorted. “The Suriel. Rubbish gossip is all. The ton cares too much what the Suriel has to say.”
“Including yourself,” Rhysand fought, grinning. “You’ve read every issue.”
“Only when bored,” he muttered, and even Azriel couldn’t help his spreading grin. “I never thought I’d see the day when the opinion of Queen Amarantha was outweighed by a petty, anonymous gossip.”
“You’re only angry because she called you a Rake in her last issue,” Azriel muttered. “As if it’s not true.”
Cassian didn’t deny it. He knew what he was called among the ton behind closed doors. “Doesn’t give me a solid foundation for this season, does it?”
“The only foundation you need includes your handsome face and your riches,” Rhysand said, looking up at the sky as a quiet thunder rolled in the distance. “Women will be lined up for a word with you, I assure you.”
“You think I’m handsome, then?” Cassian asked, batting his lashes at Rhysand who was setting his gun against a tree.
“And arrogant,” Rhysand added.
“But handsome, nonetheless?” Cassian pushed.
Rhysand just shook his head and scanned the horizon as Azriel unscrewed the cap of the flask, once more. “May the Mother bless the woman that ends up with you.”
Cassian had the audacity to look offended. “I will be a brilliant husband, thank you. I have money and, as Rhys says, I’m incredibly good looking. What more could a woman want?”
“Someone who doesn’t sneak off with a whore every night,” Azriel muttered.
Cassian wasn’t offended. “Ah, I did have to tell Tanwyn we won’t be getting on for much longer. It truly is the end of an era.”
“Ten more minutes of not seeing a thing and I’m leaving,” Rhysand muttered, crossing his arms, changing the subject.
“We won’t see a thing with all this talking going on,” Azriel mentioned, gulping from the flask. “And drinking.”
“Then let’s not wait the ten minutes and head to the gentlemen’s club instead,” Cassian crowed, tossing his hunting rifle into the air and catching it again. Any animals that may have been nearby would certainly be gone thanks to his obnoxious volume, precisely what he’d wanted.
Azriel stood with a sigh. “If we’re done, I’d like to—”
“To what?” Cassian interrupted, pausing where he’d begun to head for their horses. “Lock yourself up in your studio and draw?”
“Let him do what he wants, Cass,” Rhys drawled, wrapping his free arm around Azriel’s shoulders. “Though I’m sure it’d be much more quiet in your studio without Cassian’s laughably large mouth,” a protest from Cassian, “if Cassian is to begin courting a young lady soon, this could be our last chance at normalcy for a while.”
Azriel’s hazel eyes bounced between his two brothers before he nodded and wrapped an arm around Rhysand’s middle. “I guess I can come, for a round or two of cards at least.”
“And a drink,” Rhys added, meeting Cassian and clapping him on the back. “In celebration of our brother’s upcoming betrothal.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Chapter 9: The Final Performance
Summary: It all comes to head as you all face Vanya.
A/N: And we are officially out of season 1 and will be fully entering chapter 2. I'm still working out the kinks of what reader will be doing in Dallas but I do have one idea for them to keep their head above water 🥴🥴🥴
Warnings? Click Here!
Everyone was scrambling as the walls of the house as Pogo urged everyone to get out of the house. Luther had gone to get Allison to safety, something she couldn’t do on her own due to injury. When you, Klaus, and Diego had gotten to the main hall, you opted to split up and find your mother after she wasn’t seen in her normal spot.
“Mom!” You shouted through the rumbling halls.
Almost as if nothing was happening, Grace exited your father’s office like a Disney princess. She had her signature smile as she saw you.
“Y/N…are you hungry, I can fix you a snack?”
Her casual demeanor had caught you off guard. Did she not realize what was happening? “Mom, we have to go! The house is falling apart.”
“Falling apart?” She gazed around but didn’t move, you wasted no time in grabbing onto her arm and pulling her along through the destruction. “Oh, your father won’t be happy about this.”
“Dad’s not the one that has to worry about this, let’s go!”
“We should find your siblings.”
“Mom, they’re already on their way out. We have to go!”
You both managed to make through the main hall, only stopping when you spotted Pogo anxiously waiting by the living room.
“Pogo? What are you doing?” You asked him.
“You go on, I’ll hold off Vanya.”
You stared at him in disbelief. “Hold her off? With what?”
“Just get your mother to safety.”
You looked back between the both of them. Pogo, determined. Grace, spaced out. You let out a reluctant sigh before ushering Grace out of the house, telling Pogo to be careful as you had done so.
The two of you left the house and you looked back in anticipation for your siblings to make their exit but once the rumbling picked up, you figured it was time to move to further safety…across the street. From the alleyway, Diego and Klaus came stumbling.
“Klaus!”
Klaus over to you with a look of relief as he helped Diego over to you, sitting him down on the steps of someone’s apartment.
“Are you both ok? Anything broken?”
Klaus shook his head. “A little bump but all’s good. Diego took a bigger one.”
Grace quickly crouched down to his level as his vision started to focus.
“Mom…you’re ok.”
“Shh…it’ll be alright. Doesn’t look like there’s any bleeding.”
Not too long after, Allison came out and you waved her down. Not too long after, Luther came out and spotted you all, coming over and making a head count.
“Where’s Five?”
“He left a while ago.” You replied. “Where’s Pogo and Vanya?”
Luther gave you a solemn look but didn’t immediately answer.
“Luther?”
“He’s gone…Vanya she…she killed him.”
All of you looked at him in a mixture of shock and disbelief. Feelings only amplified as you all watched in shock as Vanya exited the building and it completely crumbled in her wake. None of you could move yourselves to call out to her, let alone stop her.
But there was no need to.
As far as you all were concerned, her destruction started and ended with the school. The place where all her issues and trauma stemmed from and while the collective thought was that this was all your dad’s fault, there was no denying that you all had some part in it. Whether it was through fear of disappointing you father or each other.
Vanya never counted in that “each other”.
And this was the culmination of it all.
——✨——
A few hours had gone by. Luther had been rummaging through the rubble in a sad attempt to try and retrieve Pogo’s body. The rest of you were wallowing around the rubble in your own thoughts. Ben couldn’t believe all of this happening. From him being able to drag Diego from harm to everything surrounding Vanya.
How could none of them had known?
Ben prided himself on being somewhat of a wallflower. Someone who says little but always sees but Vanya went under his radar. Something about that fact shamed him. Especially when he and Vanya were more alike than they were different.
As a ghost, he had nothing but time to recognize how he often fell victim to the trappings of peer pressure and it was one of his bigger regrets. He wonders if everyone else could see him, if he was still alive, could he stepped in for Vanya before it got to this point.
As a kid, no.
As an adult, maybe.
But for right now, there was nothing he could do but hover around his family wishing he could do more. His eyes landed on you, cradling yourself from everything that happened. He remembered…you saw him. Earlier. If someone else beside Klaus could see him...why wouldn’t it be you?
So he calmly approached you, seated just the right amount away from everyone else and called out to you.
“Y/N?”
You looked up and, whether you were aware of it or not, stared up at him with a doe-eyed expression that filled his heart with an unspeakable joy. Hell, any acknowledgement of him from you at this point would be welcomed.
Meanwhile, you looked at him in confusion. “Ben?” You asked softly.
He crouched down to your level with a smile. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“Holy shit, Klau-” Ben quickly raised his hand to your mouth, muffling your voice.
Your eyes widened and you looked down in shock as you felt his hand covering your mouth. He was touching you??? Somehow???
“Don’t say anything.” He urged. “I don’t--” He stopped himself for a bit. “I kind of…want this moment just for us.” He meekly let out, eyes darting from you to the others as if they could see him. “I just…” his hands trailed down and gently brushed against your arms before they reached your hands.
He then gently took your hands into his own before making eye contact with you once again.
It’s been so long since he’s just looked at you and had you looking at him. Warm memories of staring longingly into your beautiful eyes. Years felt like centuries now. He couldn’t remember the last time he just got to…lose himself in you. Pretend that the academy and Reginald didn’t exist. Memories of wondering what it would be like if you two had met in different circumstances. Maybe while one of you was traveling, you’d meet the other.
Meeting each other’s parents. Not Reginald or Grace but the ones that gave you away. In this other life, they had you on their own terms. You both were expected and being waited on with open arms.
“How can I even see you?” You asked.
Ben shrugged. “I don’t even know. Maybe it’s cause the world is…sort of ending. Maybe whatever limits were on are off or something. I don’t even care.” He shook his head. “I’m just so happy you can see me.” His smile made your heart flutter.
“We have to tell Klaus this.”
“No, we really don’t. At least…not right now. Klaus is only gonna think about this and we kind of need him to focus.”
You shrugged. “I guess. Oh Ben, this whole thing is fucked.”
“Yeah. I never would’ve guessed that Vanya would have powers….but I guess it makes sense. I mean, even after discovering she didn’t have any, why would dad keep her. Instead of letting her be normal?”
“You got a point.”
“He spent all these years making Vanya feel worthless and maybe he thought her powers were just dormant.”
“Then treating her like that? What was that supposed to do?”
“Did anything dad do make sense?”
“No, not really,” You let out an exhausted sigh. “This is my fault.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Y/N.”
“No, it is. If I just fought a little bit harder for Vanya, this wouldn’t have happened. I’m such an idiot.”
“Y/N, this would’ve probably happened even if you did everything you could’ve. Maybe not this way but some way. Some things are inevitable.”
You gave him a solemn once-over. Yeah…some things are truly inevitable.
That’s what Pogo told you after Ben had died but you didn’t believe it then. If the group hadn’t been separated then you would’ve been there to save Ben from his injuries. As much as you despise him, your dad was right about that.
“Look, I’m so happy to be able to finally talk to you and when all of this is said and done, I wanna…I want to actually say goodbye to you. I want to make sure you’ll be ok when I go over to the otherside, alright?”
You let out a soft laugh. “I just got you back and you tryna leave me?”
He smiled, knowing you were joking.
“No…I get it…I kind of feel bad now. You’ve been here this whole time because you wanted to make sure I was ok?”
He softly nodded. “Yeah. When you left after my funeral…I couldn’t even fathom leaving without making sure you were ok. I wanted to be optimistic about it but…a part of me was just worried that…something bad happened to you. I don’t even know what I would’ve done if I ever find out you died. But then I saw that poster of you. I know it was a drawing but something about it…reminded me of you and I needed Klaus to go in there but-”
“He showed up too late.” You finished his thought.
“No, just in time. Just in time for you to be one of the last people there. And it was you again and you were…” His face lit up. “Glowing. I’ve only seen you glow like that a few times when we were younger and it felt so good to see that you were in a better place.” There was a pause. “But you were still hurting. The way you kept trying with Klaus, I really wanted you to give up. I didn’t want you to run yourself in the ground.”
“Ben…you knew I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”
“I know. But…I didn’t know what else to think and I couldn’t talk to you.”
“You know, there were times where Klaus mentioned you and I thought he was just doing it to make me feel better….so it’s always been you?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh…well…sorry for taking so long to realize.”
“Don’t be. Only one of us can see spirits.”
“Ben, I just want you to know that I’m sorry I let you die back then.”
“Y/N, you didn’t let me die. Bad missions happen all the time. It wasn’t the first time a mission went sour. It was only a matter of time before he drove one of us to our deaths and…I’m happy that it wasn’t you or any of you. I had nightmares about it. The worst ones were all of you dying and I was the only one that survived. I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle it on my own.”
“No, I don’t care what you say. Your death was my fault. When we…you decided to verbally break it off I was so mad at you that when we split up, I wanted to go with Diego instead of you. I was being a brat but if I had just kept it together for the mission, I could’ve stayed mad at you but at least you would’ve been home. If I there when it happened, I could’ve saved and I let my emotions kill you.”
“Y/N is that what you think?”
“No, I know that. I grew to accept that it should’ve been me that died that day.”
“I wouldn’t have let you take a hit for me.”
There was a part of you that wanted to be snarky and say you wouldn’t have seen the hit coming, remember but that impulsive part was quickly shut down.
“Y/N, it is not your fault.”
“You’re right.”
He smiled but it was wiped away when you continued.
“It’s not just my fault. It’s dad’s fault. His fault for putting us in this situation to begin with and my fault for being a brat and letting you die.”
“Y/N-”
“GUYS!” Despite the distance, Five’s voice boomed among the sounds of the city.
You glanced back at Ben with a sorrowful look before walking away towards the others.
The teleporter stopped as he saw the wreckage before approaching the two of you, newspaper in hand.
“Guys!” He called out, catching everyone’s attention. “This is it. The apocalypse is still on. The world ends today.”
You all looked at him in confusion.
“I thought you said it was over.” Luther said.
“I was wrong, okay?” He held up the newspaper, emphasizing its importance as he gripped onto it as if worried a gust of wind would come to take it away. “This newspaper. I found it the day I got stuck in the future. The headline hasn’t changed.”
Diego shook his head. “No, that doesn’t mean anything. The time could’ve been altered since that newspaper came out this morning.”
“You’re not listening to me. When I found it, I assumed this place came down along with everything else. But here we are. The Moon’s still shining, the Earth is in one piece, but not the Academy.”
Klaus quickly snatched the paper. “I’m confused.”
“Then listen to me, you idiot! Vanya destroys the Academy before the apocalypse. I thought Harold Jenkins was the cause, but he was the fuse. Vanya is the bomb. Vanya causes the apocalypse”
It was that last bit that spoke to you. It all set in. What happened at the Academy was merely the opening act for the grandest performance of them all.
“Holy shit.” You let out under your breath. “Vanya, what’re you gonna do?”
“We gotta find her.” spoke Luther.
“Um…problem…” Klaus interjected.
You all turned to look at him before he dramatically motioned over to Grace, who seemed to be taking in the destruction as if it was just another mess as a result of a house filled with superpowered children.
“Should we really be taking mom with us?” He asked. “I mean, if we’re gonna go after Vanya…we can’t really put mom in any more danger.”
“W-Well, where can you take her?” Luther asked. “It has to be somewhere safe.”
There was silence and you slowly raised your hand. “I have a place?”
——✨——
The others all left for a bowling alley known as the bowling alley while you and Diego took your mother to your apartment. The streets, as always, had people littered about with a combination of stray party goers, homeless people, and the occasional tourist looking to indulge in one of the more “risque” parts of the city.
You and Grace weaved through it all with ease. No real sense of unease to be found within either of you. Meanwhile, Diego was having a hard time as the budget Batman in him looked at the area as if it was plagued with villains waiting for their opportunity.
“You sure mom will be safe here?” He leaned in and asked.
You rolled your eyes. “She’ll be fine. Besides, even if someone DID attack, mom’s pretty indestructible. So it’ll freak people out since they won’t know she’s a robot to begin with. I think that’s why Hazel and Cha-Cha destroyed her the way that they did. They probably knew.”
‘Right…Hazel and Cha-Cha did that to mom.’ Diego thought. He felt guilty. You all just assumed it was them and not him. Because why would you, right?
You entered the building. It was a warmly lit apartment building. There were still some signs of deterioration but the building was being actively maintained. Hera often went on tirades about dealing with slumlords and she wanted nothing to remind her of that past.
Your door opened with a low creak revealing a darkened room. You took your mother’s hand into yours and guided her into the apartment.
“Oh sweetie, this place is a mess.”
You felt a little embarrassed. “Yeah, I haven’t had the chance to clean it lately. Mom, you’re gonna stay here while we go…and look for Vanya and make sure she’s ok, alright?”
“Is Vanya in danger?”
You looked to Diego, needing some advice on what to say. Diego came up next to you, giving your mom a reassuring smile.
“She’s not in danger but…with the house gone we need to make sure she’s ok. Right now, you need to stay here.”
Grace smiled as she gently caressed Diego’s cheek. “Alright. You kids have fun, I’ll make snacks for when you get back.”
With not a single care of the world, Grace wandered off into the kitchen as if she’s been here before. You and Diego shared a glance before the both of you shrugged and left the apartment to reunite with the others.
——✨——
Compared to the warm lighting of your apartment, Superstar Bowling Lane was filled with fluorescent lights. You had instinctively groaned when you entered the place. The others had already got there, all seated before and in varied gloomy moods.
You and Diego didn’t have a choice but to sit there as everyone sulked and brewed on what to do. And while they would’ve rather it’d been in silence, the sounds of the bowling alley sat comfortably in the background.
It was only until Luther finally spoke up.
“Look, I hate to be the one to say this, but everyone needs to prepare.”
You all looked at him as if his words were unwanted.
Diego was already on edge enough as it is. “For what?”
Luther sighed before he spoke. “To do whatever it takes to stop Vanya.”
Allison quickly swatted at him with her notepad as you rolled your eyes.
“Yeah, cause treating her like a monster worked out so well the first time you did it, right?” You snided.
“We may not have a choice.”
“Bullshit.” Diego instantly replied. “There’s always options.”
Five gave an annoyed look over to Diego. “Yeah, like what?”
Diego was silent for a moment. “I don’t know.”
“Look, whatever we decide, we need to find Vanya and fast, okay? She could be anywhere.”
“Or…here.” You all turned to look at Klaus holding onto a newspaper. He began fixing himself to the center of the group as he showcased his finding. “Look at this.”
Everything else on the paper seemed to fade out against the big and dark ad in the paper that featured Vanya’s face holding her precious violin. You were suddenly reminded.
“Oh shit! I totally forgot. Vanya’s performance. It’s tonight.”
“Hello~”
All of you were shocked by the random interruption from one of the employees. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to intrude but the manager says that if you’re not gonna bowl, you gotta leave.”
You all turned to see an angry older man slam a pair of red bowling shoes onto the counter. In response, Luther groaned and haphazardly tossed a bowling ball onto the lanes, paying no attention to it as it flew several lanes over into a different lane.
Allison quickly pulled up her notepad with the words she’s our sister written in all caps.
“We’re the only ones capable of stopping this. We have a responsibility to Dad.”
“Ugh! Fuck that guy.” You groaned.
“To Dad? No, I’ve heard enough about-”
Luther had cut off Diego before he could continue. “He sacrificed everything to bring us back together.”
“Luther,” you called out to him. “He’s the reason we were broken apart to begin with.”
Then Five chimed in. “I’m with Luther on this one. We can’t give her a chance to fight back. There are billions of lives at stake. We’re past trying to save just one.”
“Hey, you know, guys, uh…maybe I could help.” Klaus came in.
Luther tried shutting him down. “Now is not the time.”
“No, let him finish.” Diego came to his defense. Luther gave him a confused look. “He saved my life today.”
Ben gave Klaus an annoyed look. “Really?”
“Is that true?”
“Yeah, yeah, I did…take credit for it. In fact, the real hero…was Ben.”
…….The silence was loud.
Klaus sighed, dreading the response he was going to get but there wasn’t really any other way to explain it. “Today…listen. Today, he punched me in the face. And earlier at the house, he was the one who saved Diego’s life, not me.”
Everyone gave him annoyed looks but you were curious for obvious reasons. “Did your powers grow?”
Klaus nodded in your direction. “Yeah…something like that.”
“Y/N, don’t listen to him.” Luther ordered. “You are unbelievable, Klaus.”
“I believe him.” Now everyone’s attention was now on you. “I…can…kinda see Ben now.”
Klaus looked shocked by your confession. “Glowbug…really?”
“What?” Diego asked. “What now you see dead people too?”
“Not…really but I saw him at the house. It’s only when I’m near Klaus, I think. But I see him and I talked to him. I’ve never been able to do something like that before.”
Five would be lying if he said he was intrigued by this revelation but now wasn’t the time for it. Alternatively, you could be lying to help Klaus’ credibility but he doesn’t know you to do that.
“You want proof, is that it?” Klaus picked up a bowling ball. “All right, it’s showtime, baby.”
You watched as Ben and Klaus prepped themselves before Klaus tossed the ball towards him only for the ball to phase right through him.
“It just went through him.” You said plainly.
Luther looked between the two of you. “The world is at stake and you guys are making a joke out of it. I don’t know how, Klaus, but you need to learn to silence that voice in your head that cries to be the center of attention.”
“You know, I liked you a lot better before you got laid.”
“Oop!”
Everyone looked at Luther with surprise, especially Allison.
“Luther…you whore.” You joked.
“It--it wasn’t his fault, ‘cause he was ridiculously high, right?” Klaus tried to change the subject. “And the girl, she thought he was a furry-”
“Stop!”
“Okay.”
You couldn’t help but giggle at the string of words that popped up in your head. ‘Luther’s out here fucking furries.’ you thought.
Luther slowly turned in Allison’s direction as she walked away, obviously pissed. As she did, a woman and her son approached the rest of you.
“Excuse me, it’s my son Kenny’s birthday today, and…uh…wouldn’t your son be happier playing with kids his own age? Assuming it’s ok with your two dads and your…aunt?” She motioned towards Diego and Klaus.
You tried holding in your laughter as Five menacingly leaned in. “I would rather chew off my own foot.”
The woman, now appalled, cradled her son and walked away. “Let’s go Kenny.”
Five then walked off towards one of the other lanes as Diego and Klaus got into a light argument.
“If I was going to date a man, you’d be the last man I would date.”
“You’d be lucky to get me.”
“And you get to be the aunt?” Diego asked you.
“It’s cause you two look old and rugged and I look young, beautiful, rich, and childfree.”
Diego chuckled. “Not with that apartment.”
“Shut up, Boxing Ring Basement.”
You looked over to where Five went off to only to see your old-little brother had vanished.
“Guys…”
Everyone looked over to you.
“Five is gone.”
Diego sighed. “Oh great.” He looked over to Allison and Luther only to find them gone as well. “So are Luther and Allison.”
You, Klaus, and Ben looked over to they were gone too. However, that quickly went away when Allison walked back through the doors looking as if she had been crying with Luther trailing behind her. You approached Allison as she held onto the notepad for dear life.
“Hey, is everything ok?”
She nodded.
“Did Luther break your heart?”
She shook her head before she started writing on the pad. I talked to Claire.
“You did? That’s great.” She still looked heartbroken. “That’s great, right?”
Had to use Luther.
It took a minute but you realized what she meant. She got to hear Claire’s voice but whatever she needed to say had to be said by Luther.
“Oh, sweetie.” You gently took her into your arms, rubbing her back. “Listen, when all of this is over. We’ll all go visit Claire, including Vanya, ok?”
She looked over to your brothers. They won’t help.
You nodded. “Yeah, I know.” You whispered. “I don’t know what Luther has planned but Vanya is not a monster. She’s a…superpowered person lashing out at…years of abuse. We can talk to her. She’s upset.”
Allison nodded, happy that someone else was in the same headspace.
“Alright, so what’s the plan?” Diego asked Luther.
“Well, I think that, uh…we go to the Icarus Theater.”
“That’s a location, not a plan.”
Luther was silent and fidgeting.
“What?” Diego inched towards him slowly to mock him. “Is that all you got?”
Luther didn’t respond.
“Look, you wanna be Number One, fine, but you’re gonna have to get us on the same page, because right now, we’re all over the place.”
There was a pause but Luther nodded. “You’re right. We need a plan.”
Something past him caught your attention as the color scheme fought strong against the bright and vibrant colors of the bowling alley. Black combat suits with gas masks and red colored eye sockets that you couldn’t tell if they were glowing or just reflecting. But the most obvious aspect of the get-up was the gun seated firmly in their hands.
“I got a plan…it’s called run from those guys that are about to shoot up the place?” You alerted the others.
Your siblings’ attention all turned towards the door and they all caught sight of the menacing men.
Klaus fumbled a bit. “What are the chances those guys are here for someone else? Like Kenny’s birthday?”
You kept your eyes trained on the soldiers. “Very…very…low.”
Eventually, everyone else in the place caught sight of the men and began panicking and scrambling. The soldiers took it as their sign to start unloading fire. Each of you ducking behind cover near Allison and Klaus.
“Who the hell are these guys?!” Diego shouted over the bullets.
“Whoever they are…they’re here for us!” Luther replied.
Diego leaned forever to lock eyes with you. “Y/N, kill the lights!”
You nodded. Feeling the tips of your fingers warm up as you began draining the lights. The lights flickering rapidly caught the attention of the soldiers, stopping the hail of bullets for a moment. This gave Diego his moment. He shot up from behind the counter and tossed one of his knives at the soldiers, sending him tumbling backwards into the nearby DJ booth, accidentally turning it on and allowing the song “Saturday Night” to play throughout the alley.
With one of their own downed, the soldiers began firing once more. Luther picked up one of the bowling balls before he stood and fiercely chucked it at another one of the soldiers, knocking him to the floor. Klaus, probably not to be left out, tossed a whole birthday cake at one of the mercs. Not doing as much damage but definitely blinding them.
“They’re blocking the exit!” Klaus shouted.
“So, what’s the plan now, Luther?” Diego asked.
Allison caught everyone’s attention as she pointed towards the lanes, specifically the pits.
You nodded. “Alright, I’ll blind them to give you guys a head start. That should work. So on three, RUN.”
Everyone agreed with the plan with rapid nods.
“One…”
The light enveloped both of your hands.
“Two…”
The light being followed by a burning sensation that has long since become more mild as the years went on.
“THREE!”
You shot up from the spot, sending a blinding wave of light towards the soldiers. The bullets stopped as all of them scrambled to see again and regain their composures.
With them blinded, every then hauled ass down individual lanes. Never in a million years did you think you’d be doing this but you potentially getting stuck in the pits were the least of your worries at the moment.
Once everyone was accounted for, you all ducked through the back and away as the soldiers began firing again in hopes that maybe they’d hit one of you. Unaware that you were all long gone.
——✨——
It took some time but you had finally arrived at the theater. All of you had trudged up the stairs and were about to enter before Allison stopped you all, specifically Luther. She raised the notepad, Need to go alone.
Luther shook his head. “Allison, I can’t you do that, all right?”
Without hesitation, Allison grabbed onto your arm and pulled you in close to her. Signaling that you’ll be her protector. Luther stared you down.
You shrugged. “I am better equipped to protect Allison if something happens. Force field remember?”
Allison nodded in agreement.
“You two aren’t understanding. She’s beyond reasoning.”
“How do you know? Because she killed one of the people that lied to her for her whole life? Because she destroyed the academy that’s the center for all the bullshit? Luther, you never even tried with her.”
“Do you honestly think she’ll listen…to either of you?”
Allison nodded.
Unexpectedly, Ben approached you. “Maybe you should think about this.”
“Ben, she’s our sister!” You reasoned.
“I know but…she’s not in a good headspace. Even without meaning it, she could hurt you. I mean…look what happened to Allison.”
“But she didn’t mean it. That’s all that matters.”
“I know you wanna help her, I do too. But getting ourselves hurt is not going to solve anything.”
“Ben…just trust me, ok?”
Diego was urging. “Great! She’s talking to herself now.”
Klaus casually shook his head. “No, she’s talking to Ben.” He was in awe about this revelation. “Wow…you can really see him.”
“Fine!” Luther relented. “Okay.”
Allison nodded, thanking him for trusting her before heading inside with you following behind.
——✨——
The giant room was darkened, only a few scattered warm dim light acting as a source aside from the spotlight placed onto the orchestra, specifically, Vanya. And she was playing beautifully.
In all the years you had known Vanya, you had only ever listened to her play several times but all of those times were her practicing, honing her craft. This…was the culmination of her work. In this moment, it was clear that none of her insecurities were holding her back.
And, for lack of a better word,....it was beautiful and you were mesmerized.
You felt Allison gently take your hand. You two looked at each other. It would appear that Allison felt the same way you did.
You smiled. “She’s great, isn’t she?”
Allison nodded.
Almost as if she heard you, Vanya’s eyes surveyed the crowd before they settled on the two of you as you offered supportive smiles and, in a moment that reassured you both, she smiled back. Happy to have been acknowledged by people she held in her heart deeply.
This soft and sweet moment was soon ripped apart as you and Allison watched as Diego and Luther charged for her.
“No!” you shouted.
Seeing the both of them in her peripheral vision, Vanya stood as a white light enveloped her and she swung her bow with force, sending a wave that not only knocked back Diego and Luther but also pushed through the crowd and pushed them against their seats. You had blocked the wave from attacking you or Allison.
Panic settled in as everyone began screaming and trying to escape, even the other musicians on stage but they were quickly sat back down by another white wave from Vanya. They immediately resumed the concert. Meanwhile, Vanya had slowly turned back around, sending off another wave into the crowd.
Allison panicked, pulling down into hiding in one of the rows before spotting Diego and Luther, you followed.
“What the fuck, guys?” You were pissed. “We had it handled.”
Allison threw her purse, hitting Luther in the face.
“We’re fine, thanks for asking.” Luther tried being snarky.
“Oh don’t give that bullshit! She was fine until you two tried tackling her.”
“Look, I lost Allison once, okay? I’m not trying to lose her again.”
“Will you stop acting like she didn’t receive the same training you did? She’s not glass!”
“Well, Allison can tell me that herself.” Luther seemed to have caught himself too late.
Both you and Allison shot him dirty looks for the remark.
“Well, Number One, now that you’ve fucked our plan, what’s yours?”
Allison banged her hand against the carpeted floor, catching everyone’s attention. She then made a motion imitating the violin.
Diego felt annoyed. “No shit, Allison. Tell us something we don’t already know.”
Luther corrected him. “She’s talking about the violin. It’s her lightning rod. If we can take it from her and stop her from playing, we might have a shot.”
As if everything couldn’t get worse, the sound of bullets came along and threatened to overcome the music. The orchestra took this as their opportunity to finally be able to flee but Vanya remained unphased. And just for kicks, the signature sound of Five’s power alerted you all to his presence.
“What’s with all the lollygagging?”
“It’s not by choice!” You shouted.
“Five get down!”
Spotting him, the soldiers aimed their weapons and fired as Five ducked behind a row.
“Five, I thought you bailed on us.”
“I had an errand to run.” He surveyed the mercs in the balconies. “This isn’t good.”
Diego looked back at him. “You know these guys?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“...And?”
“Well…we’re screwed.”
Diego threw two knives towards a pair blocking one of the exits and in their place Klaus came charging in.
“GUYS! IT’S CHA-CHA!”
“KLAUS GET DOWN!” Luther shouted.
Klaus ducked once he noticed the same mercs from the alley aiming at him. Five blinked over to land on one merc’s back, spinning and causing him to fire at two of his allies, killing them. Suddenly, a soft blue hue emanated from Klaus’ hiding spot as he summoned forth a spectral of Ben who then proceeded to use his own powers, specifically dealing with the gunners that were perched on the balconies.
The rest of you watched on in awe. Everyone else because they were seeing Ben. You because you had never seen Klaus demonstrate his power in this way before.
Once all of the soldiers were dispatched, everyone’s attention moved back to Vanya as her black suit gradually turned white right before everyone’s eyes. Diego was nowhere to be found however but now wasn’t the time to split up and look for him as the specks of dust and tiny rubble spilt during the concert with cracks forming in the columns.
“Fuck, she’s powering up.”
Out of nowhere, Diego casually approached the rest of you.
“Welcome back, where were you?”
“Honoring a memory.”
You all huddled in the circle, sneaking glances back at Vanya in the case that she moved.
“So, how do you wanna end this thing?” Diego asked Luther.
“We surround her. All right? We come at her from all angles.”
“So it’s a suicide mission.” You heard Klaus mutter.
You shook your head. “Luther, I don’t think that’s gonna work.”
“It has to Y/N. There’s no other way.”
As much as you wanted to argue. You and Allison’s initial plan went bust and now you were all LITERALLY left with no choice.
“If one of us could get through. It’s the only chance we’ve got.” Five added.
“We all in?”
All of your brothers nodded. Luther’s eyes met yours waiting for your answer. You felt like shit for it but you ended up nodding, gaining you a swat from Allison who looked at you with huge disapproval.
“I’m sorry. We don’t have any other choice anymore. We’re not gonna kill her, Allison.”
Her eyes locked onto Luther’s as he waited for an answer from her but when he didn’t get it, he continued on, directing all of you.
“Stage left. Stage right. You guys take the front.”
You all split up, you trailing after Diego.
Once you all were in position, Luther gave the signal and you all charged in; however, you were instantly stopped by Vanya and the bright tendrils that sprouted out of her. You felt yourself levitating and felt yourself getting weaker by the second. It was like she was draining the life force out of you. You tried to weakly reach out to Vanya, who stood firm and menacing.
In the hazy moment, you saw Allison…with a gun…pointed at the back of Vanya’s head.
If you had the energy to panic, you would’ve. You reassured Allison that death wasn’t on Vanya’s plate only for Allison to be the one holding a gun. You wanted to call out to her. Even now, you wanted to keep what semblance of your fucked up family you had left in tact. But maybe that was a naive dream.
But the look on Allison’s face was somewhat reassuring…because she was crying.
Time felt like it was slowing down as you closed your eyes waiting for the inevitable bang.
BANG!
The shot echoed throughout the amphitheater as you felt yourself falling and the draining feeling of the tendril faded away. You regained your composure just in time to see a white beam shoot out towards the sky.
You huffed, stumbling as you regained your footing. “Vanya? Allison?” You softly called out, climbing onto the stage with your brothers doing the same once they regained themselves.
You approached Allison as she cradled an unconscious Vanya. Luther came around to kneel next to Allison.
“Is she alive?”
Allison nodded, whispering a yeah.
“Oh thank god.” Klaus let out.
You let out a breath of relief.
“We did it.” Luther spoke. “We saved the world.”
There was a moment of reprieve until Klaus spoke up. “Uh…guys.”
You all looked at him before looking in the direction he was.
“You guys see the giant moon rock coming for us?”
You nodded. “Yeah…”
Klaus let out a defeated sigh. “Well, there goes the whole…saving the world.”
The defeat was quickly settling in.
“If only Sir Reginald could see us right now, huh? The Umbrella Academy…a total failure.”
You gave Diego a confused look. You have never heard him call your dad that. Wow… “We’re really fucked.”
“At least we’re together at the end. As a family.” Luther tried to comfort you all.
“This doesn’t have to be the end.” Five spoke up.
“What?” You were confused.
“I think I have a way outta here. But you gotta trust me on this.”
Diego, Luther, Klaus turned their faces up at the thought.
You shrugged. “Whatever…sure!”
“Really?” Diego asked. “Now’s not the time for trying new things.”
You motioned between the exploding moon and Five. “Blowing up, whatever he wants to do. What do we have to lose at this point?”
Diego turned to Five. “What’s your plan then?”
“We use my ability to time travel. But this time, I’ll take you with me.”
“You can do that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never tried it before.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?”
“You’re looking at it. 58-year-old man inside a child’s body, so there’s that.”
You raised a hand. “You already had my vote.”
Then the others chimed in.
“Oh, what the hell? I’m in.”
“Yeah, whatever. I’m in.”
“I’m in too.” Ben chimed in, knowing that the only ones that could hear him were you and Klaus.
“Me too. Allison?”
She gave a soft nod.
“Ok, great. Luther, grab Vanya.”
Luther gently picked up Vanya as the rest of you huddled around in a circle.
“Wait, should we be taking her with us?” Luther asked.
“Luther!” You scolded.
“I mean, if she’s the cause of the apocalypse. Isn’t that like taking the bomb with us?”
“The apocalypse will always happen and Vanya will always be the cause, unless we take her with us and fix her.” Five explained.
You all scooted in closer to each other and tightly gripped each other’s hands, terrified of what would happen if you had let go. An energy began surging around the eight of you as you watched a portal slowly form above you all but you couldn’t make out the image being shown to you and it was beginning to unsettle your nerves.
The air around you picked up and you felt bits of your clothes flap about in the harsh wind as a forcefield covered all of you. Everything went bright and then went white and it stayed like that for a moment before you all felt yourselves being pulled in and only one thought crossed your mind.
What the hell was about to happen now?
——✨——
Feeling like you’re being pulled at by aggressive children playing with a Barbie doll before the white light blinded you once more. A portal opened up, tossing you onto the ground on your back and sending pain through your body and a pathetic whimper out of your mouth.
Once you felt your nerves calm down, you sat up to look at your surroundings. You had landed on asphalt. You looked like you were in an alleyway. It was daytime. You didn’t recognize this part of the city. However, they weren’t the worst observations.
No, that space was reserved for the fact that you were alone.
“Klaus?....Ben?...................Luther?”
No reply.
“Ohhhhhh shit…” This…was probably not supposed to happen.
You scrambled yourself up and left the alleyway with a slight limp. Unaware of the flash that snapped behind you from a window.
As if the situation couldn’t get any worse. You began taking notice of the decor around you. Gone were the cars that your were used to and in their place were hoopties and jaloppies. The clothing adorning everyone was…retro…at least in your time. Because the only time people dressed up like that now was to mimic certain eras like the 80s, 30s, and 60s.
Then you had a revelation.
A woman pushing a stroller along caught your attention.
“Excuse me!”
You quickly flagged her down and she jumped at your sudden action. She took in your outfit, it was something she hadn’t seen before. Not that she was judgemental. Her mind instantly thought that maybe this was how they dressed in places like California or the East Coast. Certainly not here.
“I-I…I think….” In a situation like this. It was probably best to make this lady suspect you were potentially from the future. So you put on your best reassuring but ditzy smile. “I may have had a little concussion and I think I might have my years off and I need some remembering…what year is it?”
The woman needed a moment to process what you said. “It’s…1960.”
“1960? Oh…and where am I?”
The woman gave a nervous smile. “You’re in Dallas…”
Huh?
“Dallas? Like…Dallas…Texas?”
She giggled. “I don’t know any other Dallases.”
“Oh….my god.”
“A-are you ok, ma’am? Should I call someone for you?”
“I’m….fine. I just need a moment but thank you for your help. Your baby is adorable.”
“Thank you!”
With that, the woman walked off and went on about her day. Meanwhile, it was all settling in for you. You--ALONE--were in 1960s Dallas, Texas…..ALONE. You went to a nearby bench to commence your panic attack.
“Oh god…what am I gonna do? What to do? What to do? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Where…is everyone else?”
Unbeknownst to you, you wouldn’t see your siblings for a while BUT you basically had just missed out on catching up to Klaus and Ben who had arrived two weeks earlier.
What was the worst that could happen when Five teleported all of you? Well…you end up in Dallas, Texas in the 1960s….yay.
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THIS IS SOO GOOD OMFG I LOVED THIS SERIES! IT'S WELL-WRITTEN AND SUPER INTERESTING, I NEVER GOT BORED ONCE WHILE READING THIS WHOLE STORY SAUR GEWD... STANDING OVATION.
Thank you so much! This means the world to me! Okay so I’ve got a lot of asks that have spoilers in them (totally understandable given the ending lol) and I am going to respond to them beneath the cut here. If you have not read the final part of Smashing the Six, do NOT read the rest of this post! 😅
anonymous asked: SO FAWKING GOOODDDDDDDD WHAT WAS THAT LAST LINE WHAT DOES IT MEAN
It means the dragon aint dead, it’s just sleeping. 😈
@mangomotif asked: omg i knew it had something to do w the members of blackpink
I knew I wanted the admins to be at least 2 that you could suspect and then 1 that had never been encountered during the whole story because that just showed how well she had everyone fooled. And I’ve been listening to lots of Blackpink and aespa lately so lol
anonymous asked: i was on ur page an hr ago and was excited for the last chapter and came back not long after and yay it’s up!!!!! omg the ending!!!! What a wild ride, I looked forward to each chapter so much. thanks for writing such a captivating series!!!!
Thank you for joining me on this ride! 😊
anonymous asked: im the anon from the other day that guessed rosé was apart of neonet because of how she handed the reader yuta and… I KNEW IT! but that ending? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN WAS I RIGHT ABOUT DOYOUNG TOO? honestly I feel like it was too good to be true like was it really that easy? all that aside, this series has been a rollercoaster and i’m forever grateful you took the time to make it. like it will seriously always have a place in my heart. i was anxiously reading the whole time
You were right about Doyoung. He’s the real leader. It’s been such a fun rollercoaster!
anonymous asked: WHAT DOES THE END MEAN. DID HE SEND THAT TO MC??? WTF OMG IM SCREAMING
Did he send it to her? Or Jisoo? Or maybe even Ten? 🙃
anonymous asked: Please tell me there’s gonna be another part you can’t just leave it there!!! GIVE US A SEASON 2 !!!!!!!
There will not be a season 2 sadly lol neonet will go underground for a few years and come back maybe in a different form and with all knew admins for a whole new generation of students. Who knows? 😉
@specialagentchoso asked: Please, why does the last part of smashing the six have me tearing up!!! I swear I've never been so emotionally invested in a story before! You did the damn thing with this series, I can't wait to see what you do next!!
Thank you for being invested in it! It was so bittersweet finally finishing it I’ve had a blast with you guys. It’s the end of an era. Now on to Euphoria era 🤧
@cnvs-defs asked: Tha last chapter was so freaking good, it had me on the edge of my seat the entire time!!!! Wtf Thank you for writing such amazing story, you're an incredible writer!! I voted for Winter in the pole and I'm happy I was (partially) right lol. She gave me weird vibes throughout the whole series.
I love suspense lol I hope I made her redeemable as well. She was a complex character in this story. Thank you for reading! 😘
anonymous asked: just finished reading the final chapter of smashing the six i just. i cant even begin to explain how incredible of a series this was. you are so amazingly talented, i wish i could express it better but wow. you have left me speechless, thank you for this, i loved it so much. it was truly incredible, every singe one of them and the whole series/story itself. you're amazing wow
I want to cry thank you so much! I was really nervous yall wouldn’t be happy with the ending and I’m honestly so relieved 😭
anonymous asked: AHHHHH i just read the final part, now that i was stalking or anything 🤭 but the final (and the series in fact) was sooooo good!!! the final final reveal was soooo perfect! A+ writing mwah 😽
You can stalk my stories anytime 😁
anonymous asked: LUNA YOU HAVE DONE IT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!! I accidentally stayed up til 4am and realised final chapter must be posted by now so naturally I read it as slow as possible for the suspense and the REVEAL!!! I’m so pleased that I was kind of right on at least one person haha. That ending?? I reread it like five times just whispering wtf wtf wtf oh and that yuta scene was so heartwarming 🥺 alternate ending with yuta x mc WHEN? That was so good I’ve rlly loved being a part of this from first chap to now
I feel so bad about time zones! I was really happy with her final scene with Yuta. It was a good and happy moment. In an alternate universe they ride off into the sunset together lol
anonymous asked: HUHHH THE ENDING OH MY GOD
hehehehe my beta reader called me and didn’t even say hello she just said BITCH WHAT lol
anonymous asked: Ran out of space in my last ask but - it has been SUCH an experience reading this alongside everyone from the first chapter, seeing everyone’s theories and creating my own, changing them after every chapter, becoming a part of yuta hive (love you mark but lonely boy yuta 🥺💖), the suspense from the uploads and everything has been SO fun. I seriously pity the people who read it later bc whilst they get to read it in one go, they won’t have the same STRESS we went through lol
Seriously half the fun of this story was reading yalls theories because I think I already mentioned this I wrote the first chapter and the ending on the same day. It was so hard not to spoil everything along the way because I was so excited for the big reveal! 😂
anonymous asked: I tried to keep spoilers out of my last 2asks so that they’re publishable so I’ll put here. I LOVED the part where mc went to hand the boys back the photos, they were so close to danger and they didn’t even know, but that’s such a good thing of her. And the thing with HC ab doing better was so sweet bc she got so consumed it was nice to see her out of it. And when the pieces added up I was SHOCKED but it all fell into place, now to reread for clues! ALSO WTF DOYOUNG WDYM ITS BEEN FUN? JAWDROP
Her giving them back the photos was my favorite and also something I wrote at the very beginning. I love character development and when things fall into place 😭
anonymous asked: DOYOUNG????????????
Yall were right all along but nobody told me what it was that made yall so suspicious of him. What gave him away from the very beginning?? 🤣
anonymous asked: holy fuckballs. the end of smashing the six was elite. it’s great how you started a series and the series did SO GOOD. you bagged the title as my favorite writer on tumblr. the final chapter was a rollercoaster. my heart was beating out of my chest as yn and haechan connected all the dots. i felt victorious as yn was in the library with jisoo (yes! blackpink *is* the villain here). lastly, i felt sappy as yn approached the six, even more when it came mark’s turn. AND THEN. oh god i love open endings. I KNEW DOYOUNG WAS IN ON THIS. the school paper has no place for exposes and HE. HE TOLERATED THAT SHIT SO IT MADE SENSE THAT HE WAS CONMECTED. he was shaping yn into *perfect* shape for her future position in neonet. the series was wonderful and i’m so very proud of you. i simply cannot put into words how pleased i am with how well you wrote Smashing the Six. i wish you well in your future writing endeavors. — guia (an anon who posts every other day on your page but today i’ve given myself a name)
I’m cracking up at ‘holy fuckballs’ lol but also ‘you bagged the title as my favorite writer on tumblr’ like excuse me I need to do my happy dance real quick! It’s ironic Doyoung is one of the people most suspected of being neonet but there isn’t a shred of evidence against him. Thank you for interacting with me often it means a lot! ❤️
@yutiddies asked: I unconditionally support the 6 and Doyoung in smashing the six. I especially unconditionally support Yuta and want to be the one he makes happy some day 😭
You and me need to talk about our attraction to villains because the next series after Euphoria will be Beast Mode and I’ve decided it’s going to be a villain au with a domestic twist. (Like the boys are villains trying to live everyday lives. I’ve already started working on Jeno’s chapter and whew I may have to start handing out holy water) 🔥
anonymous asked: No. Honestly, I'm just soooo glad I came across your blog. You are an amazing writer, and it has been an immense pleasure reading your work. It's gotten me through tough days. What a treat to be able to escape to the worlds you create. I hope you continue to write for as long as it brings you joy. Thank you for taking the time to share with us! That last chapter of Smashing the Six was just great. Amazing series!!! Looking forward to your next work! Thank you again 💚
I’m so glad you found me too! My writing getting someone through a tough time is the only reason I keep posting tbh that is everything to me. Take care dear ❤️
anonymous asked: WHEN SHE WENT AND GAVE THE PICTURES TO THW BOYS?!?? I M SO HAPPY
One of my fave parts 😍
anonymous asked: THOSE LAST FEW LINES OF DOYOUNG TEXTING NEONET?? FUCK OFFFFFF WHAT DIRT DOES THAT MAN HAVEEEE
He’s neonet. He has all the dirt. 😈
anonymous asked: Literally in tears right now huhu I am so happy with how everything ended up for everyone in Smashing The Six 😭😭😭 YUTA PLS 😭😭😭 Also, THAT LAST LINE THO I STILL THINK DOYOUNG SUS hahaha jk. I would've commented on every part of the story that I like but then that would take me forever to finish because I ATE UP EVERY PIECE OF THAT STORY IT'S SO GOOD IT IS JUST WHAT I NEEDED TO GET MY WEEK STARTED. Thank you so much for this amazing series. Wonderful stories from you as always 🥺 I will always look forward to your works, you are my favorite writer here in Tumblr and probably the only reason I am not yet deleting this sht of an app 🤭 I am excited for your new Johnny and Doyoung one shots and the Euphoria and Dreamies series!! I hope you're sleeping well right now and when you wake up you'll be greeted with all the comments on how smashing your story is (see what I did there *wink wink*)- Dyochi Anon
And yall are the reason I haven’t deleted this obnoxious app either lol and with all their constant ads to buy their ugly ass t-shirts and chasing off gif makers with their stupid changes I keep coming REAL close. Hopping online after work and reading all these comments has made my entire month. I hope you know your kind and supportive words always go a long way. There have been times I’ve wanted to quit writing because I just don’t feel good enough but knowing there are sweet people like you reading and enjoying my stuff keeps me writing. Thank you 😊
anonymous asked: DOYOUNG???? HELLO!!?
Doyoung can’t come to the phone right now. He’s gotta find someone else to take over neonet. 😜
anonymous asked: Every time I read something you write I'm in awe!! What an amazing writer you are, truly!! I don't even realize how long some fics are because I'm so immersed in the story, you really know how to keep us hooked! Thank you so much for this series, the twists, the friendships, betrayals, and omg!! that ending! I knew it! fucking Doyoung dude, being the leader from the shadows and sending the girls to do the nasty job.... but who was he texting?.... once again, amazing work, thank you!
Thank you so much!! Yep. The three girls answered to him. They are busted (as they should be) but he gets away clean. At the end, it is open to interpretation who he was texting (which I did on purpose).
@natattack1997 asked: wait so if y/n had accepted the editor in chief position she would’ve been the ACTUAL head of neonet?!?! 🤯 that was absolutely wild.
Yes. In the very first chapter you get a tiny glimpse into Doyoung’s thoughts and he already decided to name her the next editor in chief, but he was really on the hunt for who would replace him as the head of neonet.
anoymous asked: wait... so Doyoung was sending mc the anonymous texts? what about Ten - who sent him? also,, do the girls know doyoung is the real leader?
The texts were from Jisoo (notice she kept texting during their meeting.) Ten has been hooking up with Lisa (confirmed in chapter 5) and Lisa is close with Jisoo and Rose for obvious reasons and that’s how Ten knew about them. Lisa said reader exposed her for hooking up with a teacher. Not neonet. That kinda gave away that they were lenient with her. Ten does their bidding because they have dirt on him.
Doyoung is the spider weaving the web. The girls are the admins and run the site. Doyoung is the boss (which is why Jisoo was panicking when reader didn’t fall in line because she knew she failed to recruit her and Doyoung will not be pleased.) The girls were in charge of blackmail and Doyoung was in charge of the girls and manipulating everyone from a distance.
They do NOT know that it’s Doyoung. He does everything anonymously that way no one can ever roll on him. The real alpha of neonet has to survive or the site dies. He will have to find a replacement, but he said NCTU deserves some peace so he’s not mad about the site going underground for a while. They’ll come back with a vengeance with a new ruler and admins, but reader and her boys will be long gone by then.
anonymous asked: rosè breaking major cybercrime laws by filming LMFAOOOOO why are you proud? anyways, i know how you introduced a new character instead of making you-know-who neonet (even if he is technically) you should have added jinyoung so it’s a jinjido reunion - guia
Blackmail is also very illegal. But they’ve got rich daddies. They’ll get a slap on the wrist because that’s how our criminal justice system works. The more money you have, the less punishment you get. But they will be effectively ostracized from NCTU. They will take the fall for now. 😅
anonymous asked: OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK THE LAST BIT WITH DOYOUNG ISTG I GOT GOOSEBUMPS LIKE HE REALLY IS NEONET RIGHT… OR DID I UNDERSTAND IT WRONG guess i have to confess to my crush now 🫠 wish me luckkk
Yes, he is the true head of neonet. OMG when I got your first message about confessing to your crush I was with my bff and read it to her because I was DYING! I was like oh no this anon is right and will have to confess to their crush!! 🤣
anonymous asked: THE ENDING PARRTTTT IDK WHY I WAS SHOCKED BC I LITERALLY VOTED DOYOUNG😭😭 this series was definitely a ride but i’m glad and definitely satisfied with the ending u did amazing
I’m so glad you’re satisfied with the ending. That was my main goal. 😘
anonymous asked: HAECHAN’S CHARACTER IN SMASHING THE SIX😭😭😭😭 so precious i want to smash my head into a wall
I love him so much! 😍
anonymous asked: WAIT I'M FREAKING OUT DID DOYOUNG DO THAT TO TEST EITHER SHE COULD BE THE EDITOR CHIEF OR NOT? MAN IS ONE OF THEM ALL THESE TIMES HUHH WHAT
Yep. In chapter one he had already picked her to be editor in chief (but didn’t tell her yet) so everything after that was a test to see if she could run neonet. Someone asked me if neonet was run by a person or a group and I said both. The 3 girls were the admins, but Doyoung was running it. Neonet survives because they will take all the heat but no one caught him.
anonymous asked: Hiiii I just wanted to say that I finished reading smashing the six and every step along the way was incredible!! The ending was so mind blowing and I had GOOSEBUMPS from your writing…. It’s been long since I felt that way from a great story & I’m so excited for your new fics to come! Thank you for blessing us with such a well thought out masterpiece 🥺
Thank you so much for this message! I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙏
anonymous asked: THE PLOT TWIST?! i was smiling the whole entire time (when she discovered neonet and making peace) that rly caught me off guard. oh my god now idk what to do😭😭 i rly have no words I NEED THIS TO BE A MOVIE better a series😩 omg now i cant wait for euphoria
Thank you! I need a movie too for science and for the Yuta shower scene lol jk 😂
anonymous asked: the layers to this story and how human reader was I am in awe I rly was skeptical how she would be able to beat neonet but you nailed it
Thank you! She won because neonet underestimated her. She was never hungry for power, she was trying to mend a broken heart. The boys inadvertently helped her do that and with her finally allowing herself to heal and move on, lust for power had no more sway over her. She was never ruthless enough to rule neonet. 😁
anonymous asked: how in the fuck did you pull this off? you gave me closure but also suspense with that ending? you cant do that its not possible!!
I worked very hard to do exactly that! 😂
@the-borahae-jj asked: OKOKOK SO FIRST OF ALL I LOVE YOU LAMO SECOND OF ALL THAT WAS SUCH A GREAT RIDE THANK YOU SO MUCH I was looking forward to every single chapter and I absolutly loved the plot and your writing and I could go on and on. I MUST SAY THO I HAD sooo many THEORIES AND I WORKED IT OUTTTTT EVEN Doyoung. Girl I knew, like I knew, and it made it so much more fun for me. Also give me Haechan; you were right about us loving him. I need him now. And YOU KNOW I FIGURED OUT WINTER YOUR RESPONSE GAVE IT AWAY LMAOOO, I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did and I’m ready to figure out anything else/more you create cuz let's be real. it's amazing. Loved interacting with you like this too. Seriously. You brought so much joy. As always have a great day/night <3 (2/2) NO BUT REALLY I FIGURED IT OUT HAHA <3 I really want to hug you now haha fr you did such amazing job and I'm so glad I could look forward to your writing ok imma dip now MWAH
Thank you so much! I love that some of you figured it out but I was still able to surprise you. I left hints for yall to find and I always smiled so hard when you found them! Bring it in for a long distance digital hug! 🤗
anonymous asked: i love that she walked away. i love that she won. i love that she protected the boys. i love who she ended up with. i love the ending. I LOVE YOU.
I love you too and I love this story. I just saw that the story masterpost got 3k+ notes holy shit! Thank you all for reading and enjoying this fic! ❤️
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8 Shows to Know You
I was tagged by @apersonwholikeslotus! Thank you <3
I'm assuming these are like comfort shows?? Or ones we like. Also, I won't put Hetalia up here because let's be real, if you're here you already know I'm down the rabbit hole so it's a given. These are in no particular order
Avatar: The Last Airbender, there's quite literally nothing I can say about this show that hasn't already been said. It's amazing, do go watch it.
2. I love Outlander. I fell off around the middle of season 4, but the first two seasons are my favorites. I should probably go back and catch up at some point.
3. The Borgias is a guilty pleasure for me. There's plenty of inaccuracies, but I don't really mind them too much because the character writing is off the charts. If you're into the Renaissance, intrigue, and/or fucked up family dynamics I'd definitely recommend.
4. As crazy as the costume inaccuracies drive me, I also love The Tudors and I'm forever mourning that they took it off of Netflix. It unironically has one of the best depictions of Mary I (at least in her youth) I've ever seen. It did slip up a bit with Katherine Howard, but that's unfortunately not uncommon in Tudor media so I just have to take the L on that one.
5. Like everyone else I love this family, and I am anxiously waiting for season two of Spy x Family. Big rec for the found family fans.
6. If I could go back and watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood again for the first time, I would. Like Avatar, very little I can say about it that hasn't already been praised to death.
7. This was one of my first anime, and it still holds a special place in my heart. I really do hope it gets the Fruits Basket treatment someday with a proper reboot that covers the whole manga.
8. Over the Garden Wall. This show shaped me, I love the narrative and characters so much. The aesthetic is also great. I also felt very seen by Wirt as a kid (and dressed up as him last Halloween haha)
I think I'll tag @the-phoenix-heart @moderngamebantam and @maelerie but obviously y'all aren't beholden to!
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[STORY ARC 2 "The Stranger."]
A quiet day in the office of Sugar Cane sanctuary, filled with less than excited murmurs as nothing seemed to be happening... No entity sightings, no calls for help, nothing. The wintry seasons brought a slow, snail like crawl to any missions, and one cookie was tired of it. With their hands behind their head, they leaned with with a tired yawn- only to freeze in place as the phone at their table rang, a hand moving quickly to answer as other employees gathered around.
"You have reached Sugarcane Sanctuary, what is being requested of our services?"
They spoke with a bright tone, almost like someone who was too eager for this moment. In turn, they waited for a response, hopeful to actually have something new to do.
A panicked tone from the caller.
"There's something outside my palace! And it wants to get me!"
The caller screamed, sobbing.
"I know there's something out there! I saw it!"
Whoever this caller was, they were distressed, possibly even in danger by one of the creatures.
"Please! This place is the only thing I know that has a chance of helping me!"
"Calm down, sir, can you hide somewhere away from this creature?" They questioned, concern littering their voice as the bright tone dropped to serious. The word 'palace' rang quite a bell, as not many used that term unless they were royalty..
Unless they were a prince. That was what rang in the employees head as they remained on the line, ready to issue the next suggestion to hide away from the beast.
"I-I'm trying to get away from any windows, what if it follows me in!? What if I'm doomed!?"
"Lock the door if you can. Are you able to identify what it was that was after you?" Another question, trying not to push the caller into more panic. They rubbed their temple slightly, eyes trained on a computer as they began to type down the scenario... call #4196 since the first call of the entities..
"It had many blue eyes! I only saw a flash of its body, it looked like a candy peacock but golden!"
The caller seemed to be able to identify the thing, which is concerning because they could be mindburnt.
"I haven't looked at it long enough, it just looked like a bird with many blue eyes!"
"A bird with many blue eyes.." They wrote down, looking back at other employees with worry as they asked for any reports of such a creature. Returning to the phone, they stared intently at the number once more, writing down the digits. "Is there anything els-"
"Yogurt? Where are you!?"
A voice, coming from the caller's side.. and it wasn't the caller's voice either.
"Are you alright, dear Prince!?"
The caller, now confirmed to be Yogurt Cream Cookie, looked over, still holding the phone
"Yes? What do you need?"
Yogurt Cream Cookie sounded fearful but calmed down at the voice.. he recognized it.
"I'm just on the phone with Sugarcane Sanctuary... I saw one of the creatures outside, I'll be there in a moment!"
Yogurt Cream tried to nervously laugh it off
"I guess they heard me, don't worry!"
"I saw that thing too! I snuck in another way to avoid grabbing its attention. Are you okay, my dear?" The voice asked, worried and concerned as it grew closer.. becoming like static on the line.
"Prince Yogurt, the line's going fuzzy, are you able to find somewhere clearer to communicate?" the employee requested, almost relieved to hear the other voice on the line. They continued to anxiously wait, hoping that the prince did not suffer any injuries due to seeing the entity from outside..
"No, sorry, I don't really have a cordless phone here, also I'm sorry dear that I left you outside.."
Yogurt Cream kept looking at the cookie who approached, having calmed down now.
"I am stuck in my room, the curtains on my window are closed to avoid looking at the creature."
They turned away for a moment before continuing to look at the cookie who approached, pulling the phone away so the Sugarcane employee couldn't hear.
"How the hell did you get in despite me closing the balcony, my windows, and without the guards noticing?"
"Don't you know of my absolutely amazing sneaking skills? You must not forget that I am able to sneak in and out of anywhere without an ounce of detection! Besides, I sneaked in to make sure you were okay, especially with that THING outside."
They spoke, appearing in the doorway with that same expression on their face. Their hair flowed down their back, shifting as they tilted their head and entered the room.
"I caught only a glimpse myself.. It.. I don't know, it looked like gold, but it was huge!"
"I saw that thing! It had many eyes and it kinda hurt to look at it.."
It had been confirmed, the prince stared at it too long, Yogurt Cream pulled the phone back up to his ear
"Ah, sorry about that! My precious snuck in and wanted to see if I was okay, I apologize if it concerned you!"
He seems to be calmer now which made the job easier to do, especially with an entity like this.
Yogurt Cream just waited for a response, unknowing of the static on the other side.
"I really hope someone is able to do something about this.. maybe I'm seeing things? I don't know I have a headache now.."
"You have a headache after looking at the entity?.. Oh dear. Don't panic about it, just find something to get rid of the headache for now." The employee knew the worst had occurred, writing it down with a heavy hand. Soon, another employee was waved over to put down this report of mind burn...
"Avoid any and all sightings of this entity, it may bring back that headache and make it much worse."
"What did they say, love?" They asked, curious of who was on the line.. which was no longer staticky.
"They told me to avoid any and all sights of the entity as it may bring the headache back or worse.. my love, can you get me some pain medicine for the headache, please?"
Yogurt Cream sighed, it was only a small one, he should be fine, but he didn't like pain in the slightest.
"Should I be concerned? What will happen after this? I don't want to witness my city in trouble because of some bird!"
"What's the earliest you can get a crew out here? Anyone to help solve this?!"
The cookie left the room, the employee on the line nodding.
"I can talk to our department manager, but I think it may be a few weeks.. I'm sorry that it may be a while, but we have so many reports and so little people."
"Dammit... well, I'll wait, goodbye."
And he finally hung up, sighing once again.
"Am I really going insane? What is happening?"
"I don't know, love.. but if you weren't the only one, it isn't you going insane."
#cookie run eldritch au#cookie run#cookie run au#eldritch!yogurt cream#cookie run ovenbreak#yogurt cream cookie#story arc#The Stranger arc
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[ AUG022023 ]
This is probably one of the most emotional moments I had with Ate Dane.
Ever since I knew she would be taking the Board Exams, I already planned in my head that I will go to her and make salubong. So I did.
I actually have been planning it since March this year when the review season got really tough for her. I promised and told myself that I will try my best to be her support system. I don’t know the feeling of being anxious and tired because of the review, self doubts, and other negative things that are basically the effects of the review season, but I know it is hard. I understand how much she pressured and pushed herself into reviewing almost 24/7. She doesn’t even sleep or rest. She wakes up feeling like she’s going to throw up, she’s dizzy, lost her appetite, like her body really manifested the anxiousness in her mind. I hope she knows that even during those days, I’m proud of her. Like so much. I’m so proud of my Ate Dane even by just choosing to wake up and prepare herself to go to the Review Center.
Fast forward to Day 1 of her Review, I didn’t really message her much. I just sent her my “Good luck” and tried to ask her about her day because I know it was tough. I honestly wanted to go and wait for her outside SanSeb for Day 1 and 2 but I realized that it’s not the right time for that, so I didn’t. I got really sad when she told me that she broke down that day hehe so I kinda regret not seeing her even for five minutes on the first day. Then during Day 2, I was excited to see her. I want her to know that I’m proud of her for finishing the exam strong. I want her to know that she’s doing great and that she’ll pass the exam. So there, after I got her coffee I went straight to see her. It was funny because I don’t know where SanSeb was so I had to ask and let my two Uni friends to accompany me tho I was the only one who got off the jeep.
Then there when I arrived, I called Ate. Lowkey regretting I didn’t film the first part of that meet up because she almost ran to me, and she hugged me so tight. We both needed that. And I know we both missed each other that much. Before that meet up, the last time we saw each other was last February 03. Fucking 6 months. She can’t believe it and it was so funny because her voice became soft like she was about to cry. I was too. She had no idea how much I missed her and how much I longed for that moment.
After that, we went to St. Judes. It was our first time going to church together. We talked there and it was also the time when I finally told her in person that I'm proud of her and I hugged her again there. It was funny because when we were walking on our way to the church, it was raining, and I asked her to open her umbrella, but she only said "Mababasa kasi" and we laughed at that. She's just like me for real. So, we walked there under the freaking rain that's why we were soaking wet.
After that we talked again and catched up though I think a day would never be enough to talk when it's the two of us because even if we make kwento over the phone, we never ran out of things we talk-- and that makes us, us. We're just really talkative and we're that comfortable with each other.
When we're on our way to the LRT station, I got really sad because I know the time was short (tho we only agreed to see each other for good 10-15mins lol scam). I still want to be with Ate and I know she still wanted to just as much as I do.
But here..,
Hello, My Ate Dane
I know you won't be able to see this but I just want you to know that I'm so proud of you. I'm beyond proud of you. Congrats on finishing the board exams strong. Thank you for not giving up. I'm already claiming the "RPm" after your name. I know you'll get that (balikan ko 'to after results for another entry!). I love you so much! I will always be here to support you, in all ways. You know I got you, right?
Palagi.
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vFainted Smiles
Jean x Reader // Fainted Smiles // Attack On Titan
cw ~ angst//foul language ~ sometime during season three.
plot - y/n confesses to Jean, a close friend, even though they know he cannot reciprocate their feelings.
Part 2
You twiddled with the pencil sat in the crevice between your index finger and thumb, anxiously waiting for him. Him, who would be knocking on your door in a few moments to tell you to hurry up as to not be late for cleaning duty. He'd throw a playful insult your way and nudge your shoulder per usual, snickering all the while.
Him, who'd stare at the quiet and protective girl that stay glued to Eren's side. To which she'd stare back, once and a while smiling, which would cause him to melt to pieces and turn towards you with a bashful look on his face, his smile having fallen into a lopsided grin.
Him, who'd never love you back.
"y/n, get your lazy ass out of your room and come help me mop the floor!" He shouted. You could hear his signature sly grin flow throughout each word as he teased you, causing ever so much more pain.
When you didn't reply, Jean opened the door in a fret of worry, only to see you jump at the sound of his entrance. "Oh." You quickly looked back to the pencil in your hands, the watery tears lay on the brims of your eyelashes.
"Sorry, Jean. Didn't mean to cause any worry. I'll be out in a moment," you mumbled quietly, blinking away any threat of tears. You flashed him a grin, hoping it'd cause him to leave. Jean seemed a little confused, but accepted the grin, the fool, and left with a thumbs up and his own grin.
It fell silent, and you knew today would be the day you'd fess up to your likings of him. The pencil began to slip from your hands, falling to the floor with a quiet thump.
Deep breaths. Stand up, leave. Mop, confess-
Then what after that? You shuddered at the thought, the thought of the bare emptiness that would fill you up until you couldn't take another breath.
"You know, y/n, I've always wondered how bald people wash their heads. Do they use shampoo or body wash? 'Cause, like, there's still hair thingies there-" Jean began, stuffing his mouth with bundles of fresh, warm bread. You rolled your eyes, patting him harshly on the back.
"Dumbass! Why would you even ask that?" You scoffed, narrowing your eyes at him. He coughed, swallowing the food he'd been chewing.
"It's just a question! You don't have to get all weird about it!" He exasperated playfully, sending a glare your way.
"Fine, I'll just ask my rude questions then. How does it feel having the biggest ego in the world just to hide the fact that you have a small dick?" You retorted loudly, hoping the whole mess hall would hear. Connie watched you two quietly, afraid of what would happen to him if he couldn't keep his laughter in. Jean's face grew red as he clasped a hand over your mouth.
"I- well- you wanna see? It's pretty fucking big, actually," Jean replied quietly, hoping you'd end up just as red as him.
And to his satisfaction, you did, raising your eyebrows in surprise. Best friends staring at each other, red as tomatoes due to their crude comments towards each other.
You felt a spark ignite somewhere inside of you, a spark that caused your heart to beat so loudly you couldn't hear anyone over it, a spark that warmed you whenever you were close to Jean.
You hoped that Jean might've felt it too.
Pulling yourself up hesitantly, you trudged over to the door and exited your room, meeting face to face with a cheerful Jean. With a nod, you started the walk to grab the cleaning supplies.
Halfway through the walk, Jean couldn't stand the silence anymore and so he spoke up.
"You've been awfully quiet and down. Tell me what's up." He demanded, his eyes travelling down to watch yours.
"Felt a little sick, that's all. Nothing to worry about," you lied, waving his worries away. Jean hummed suspiciously.
"Joke with me then! I'm your best friend, I'm here to make you feel better!" He exclaimed, throwing his arm around your shoulder. Although the warmth was very convincing, you pushed his arm off, shaking your head. The bubble inside in your chest felt as if it could explode at any moment, squeezing and squeezing itself, threatening to pop.
Your heart thrummed as Jean stopped in his tracks to stare at you, feeling a bit offended. You took a few more steps before stopping as well, adverting your eyes to the floor.
"Let's just finish the mopping, alright? It's nothing worth the while."
"What do you mean, 'nothing worth the while'? y/n, if anything, you're worth all the time-"
"Not worth enough time to love me." You interrupted him, lashing out at him with the sudden sentence.
"I do love you, what are you talking about?" He scoffed, taken aback by confusion and hurt.
"Not the way you think," you mumbled, furrowing your eyebrows in pain, as if it'd stop the urge to cry.
And then he understood. You couldn't hold it in anymore and he finally understood.
"Shit, y/n. You can't just bring this onto me- I don't have any feelings for you like that."
You brought a hand to your mouth, your lips trembling as you tried to speak.
"I know." Your voice wavered, cracking ever so slightly, but just enough for Jean to notice you were on the verge of tears.
"You- you did?" He asked curiously, watching as you balled your fists up and nodded forcefully.
"And I had to suck it all up. Fucking all of it, and I could never stop loving you no matter how much I tried," you cried, the tears bursting through your wall, slipping down your face without an end in sight.
He reached out, as if to touch you, but retracted his hand for the better.
"I'm sorry," he said, though he wasn't sure how to be sorry in this situation.
"It doesn't matter anymore. Just go on, I can mop the floors by myself," you responded quietly. Jean sucked in his ego and turned to walk away.
"Alright."
"Thank you," you whispered, wiping the tears away as they came.
"Friends?" He asked hopefully, turning slightly to catch one more glimpse at you.
"Of course," you hesitated, knowing fully well that it would never return to what it once was.
#jean#jean x reader#aot#attack on titan#xreader#x reader#reader#angst#jean attack on titan#foul language#deez nuts
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Sunday June 6th
2021 Spring Anime Season - Update 1/2
My Hero Academia
Episode 11
Oo boyyy - this episode was fun, I'm glad they continued on rather than making it a huge deal.
I loved that they showed the training between shinso and eraser head, him struggling with the ropes was excellent but also eraser head just looks so much better with his hair up.
I think you get a real feel for how close they are during the examination. - V cute
I'm also glad they had monoma say what I've felt for a lot of shows - for each masterpiece-there's a supporting character that outshines the protagonist.
Now I don't think that's the case for all shows but I think each and every supporting character is what makes up the best shows and what makes them even better.
Tokyo Revengers
Episode 9
Man this episode did not go the way I thought it would, and that's awesome.
This episode kind of reminds you that the story takes place around gangs and gang violence. I feel like you forget that when it's so focused on the specific members.
It's awesome that we got to see so much of the squad today, all the characters look so cool!! I'll be anxiously waiting for what the fuck they do after where they left off.
(Sorry if the image spoils anything - I tried to pick one that wouldn't reveal much but also this scene was just too cool not to use)
86 Eighty Six
Episode 9
Well fuck - lots of things have happened but we only halfway - I'm going to hold off on making any comments until the next episode when the cliffhanger of sorts is resolved and we see what the next step is.
Edens Zero
Sorry I've been behind on this one - I had initally been watching it on Japanese Netflix with a VPN but then recently it's been detecting the network change so couldn't watch it. Just realized it's on another streaming site so I'll be up to date on this (or 1 episode behind depending on the new site's release schedule) from now on!
Bonus screen cap from MHA
#spring anime season#2021 spring anime seasons#entertainment news#anime review#anime recommendation#86 eighty six#86#tokyo revengers#my hero academia#mha#boku no hero academia#bnha#edens zero#new anime#toman mikey#toman draken#toman v moebius#fowaci
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