#i called up the big music store and they said they did have one (1) theremin but they literally just sold it that day. and i wept
Note
What is the next hobby that you want to learn/do?
i was going to study bookbinding this year, but the course i signed onto got cancelled due to low enrolment :-( i'm hoping to find another one that i can do instead, maybe an evening class!
#there's also my ongoing theremin quest#which has halted because i can't find anywhere that fuckin sells them#i called up the big music store and they said they did have one (1) theremin but they literally just sold it that day. and i wept#i guess i COULD just buy one online. but it feels really decadent to splurge on an instrument i've never even seen before let alone played
34 notes
·
View notes
Text
Propaganda
Eva Dahlbeck (Smiles of a Summer Night, A Lesson in Love, Kastrullresan)— Beautiful, formidable, funny. Ingmar Bergman called her a "battleship of femininity" and cast her in several of his comedies. It's a joy to see her pulling all the strings in Smiles of a Summer Night while her two boyfriends make utter fools of themselves.
Maureen O’Hara (The Parent Trap, The Quiet Man)—They called her the Queen of Technicolor. That right there should help introduce people to the fiery, wonderful, stunning Maureen O’Hara. She was from Ireland, born in 1920, and started in theater at the age of ten. At 15, she was winning drama awards, including one for her performance as Portia in the Merchant of Venice. At 16, she was the youngest pupil to graduate from the Guildhall School of Music. By 18, she transitioned to film, starting off with a bang alongside Charles Laughton in Hitchcock’s Jamaica Inn, and proceeded to work steadily up through the early 1970s. She was in adventures and comedies and romances, spent a lot of time in westerns giving merry hell to John Wayne (and less merry hell to the indomitable John Ford — she held her own even when he was verbally abusive and demeaning to her). She was in The Quiet Man, which was the first American-made film entirely filmed in a foreign country. She helped make American Christmas what it is with Miracle on 34th Street. She played a lineup of headstrong, forthright women second only, perhaps, to Katharine Hepburn. She was married three times, lived for a while with a boyfriend in Mexico, sued for custody of her daughter in the 1950s, AND sued a magazine for libel in the same era. After mostly retiring from acting, she edited a magazine. She eventually sold the magazine to spend more time with her grandson, but even then ran a ladies fashion store. She was an outspoken, brilliant, passionate lady, with amazing red hair, a career to envy, and — well — that face!
This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.
[additional propaganda submitted under the cut]
Eva Dahlbeck:
Maureen O'Hara:
I thought she was one of the most beautiful women in the world when I was a kid and I have yet to really change my mind. Always loved her temper and her red hair. Plus she was kind of a MILF in The Parent Trap
Haughty, red hair, hot.
The hair. The accent. The figure. The acting chops. The perfection.
I would have to give up my passport if I didn't submit Maureen O'Hara but also have you seen her? Not only did she look like that (she was called the Queen of Technicolor, though she wasn't a big fan of that sobriquet), she was also very funny and tough as nails. She faced off against Walt Disney in a contract dispute and the legend goes that when someone mentioned her at his deathbed, he sat up and said 'That bitch!'. Her comment on that story is "At least he didn't think of me and say, 'That wimp'." She struggled to get serious roles for a time, saying ""Hollywood would never allow my talent to triumph over my face," so she plays the sexy princess/pirate/harem girl in a LOT of early movies that she referred to as "Tits and Sand" films, she being the tits in question. She also turned down so many leading men and studio bosses (Errol Flynn and Howard Hughes are among her rejects) that there were rumours spread that she was a lesbian. Many egos were battered it seems. I'm including the infamous Lady Godiva scene in the photo propaganda for the sheer Moment of it [link] . It was a bit of a flop critically, but it was one of Clint Eastwood's first film appearances and she said he told her later that he was very glad of the money at the time. She was a very proud Irish woman and when she went for her American citizenship they insisted on referring to her as British (the timeline of Irish independence is a bit wibbly wobbly, we won't get into it here). She refused to accept American citizenship under that condition and argued her way through every level of US immigration she could find, supposedly saying "I'm not responsible for your antiquated records here in Washington", until a judge finally gave up and said "Give her what she wants, just get her out of here". This made her the first ever person seeking US citizenship to be proclaimed Irish on the record! And while we don't embrace the leprechaun imagery quite so enthusiastically today, her dressing her dog up in a little shamrock hat is too cute for you all to miss so I'm including that in the photo propaganda.
*Marge Simpson voice*: I just think she's neat 🤷♀️
106 notes
·
View notes
Note
I have always wondered why JM Stans hates JK. I have seen posts about how JK is being the Company's favorite and that Scooter is trying to use JK to out sell JM. I don't believe it but I do want your opinions on this. I know you will probably say that's a very stupid thing to ask for but I see it a lot and I wonder why they keep saying that JK and V are the companies favorites. And also do you think the company didn't actively promote JM? This Fandom has finally twisted things around. I just need to know your thoughts on this matter. Thanks
Hey love.
Ok, where do we start?
Maybe from the end.
It being that it does feel at times that JM gets the raw deal from the company. If it's intentional or just because he's too nice and doesn't speak up enough I don't know. But this has been going on for years. The way the promotions for Face were handled, the way his name or photo somehow seem to disappear at times from official sites. For example the official BTS US store had all the members apart from JM in the index.
The issue has been since fixed, but it took angry JM stans posting and sending messages and emails to the company to notice it and make it happen.
Or, another example is JM's Like crazy Korean and English version streams being counted separately by Spotify.
Little things that make you ask "why him?" or more so "why is it always happening with him?"
Now, it's not that Jin has been forgotten at times as well (being cropped out of group photos at times). Somehow it's always those two, but with JM it's way more frequent and feels off.
Saying that, I do feel that some JM solos tend to make JM out as a constant victim (perhaps part of allowing them to be his saviors). While doing that they are constantly making comparisons with the others and while doing so also try to tear the others down.
I think this is part of the issue with solos. Forgetting that these 7 men are part of one band. A band they ALL want to be part of. Something they have said multiple times in the past and recently as well. 7 men that love each other (not to mention the elephant - cough couple cough - in the room).
It's more than ok to have a preference. A member you feel you like more or feel more connected to. It's a different matter to call yourself a fan of a single member elevating him by tearing down the others and constantly calling for said member to ditch the others and go solo. Spewing hate at the other members in that person's name, supposedly for him. Obviously you are not a fan of BTS when you do that, but more so you are not a true fan of said member who loves the others you constantly attack and wants to stay with them as a group, as he constantly and repeatedly tells us all.
Like the whole comparison made between JM's promotions and JK's (two totally different stories, different artists' objectives, different markets). And let me be clear here. I am not saying it felt like JM's success, which was, I feel, unexpected, was downplayed or not properly formally and publicly recognized. At the time it certainly felt that way. What we don't know is what JM's feelings were on the matter. Did he want it that way or was it a company decision? I know how it looks, but at times we need to understand that there are so many undercurrents and we don't get to see most of what's under the water. We only see what's shared or not shared with us, by the powers at be's decision. For example: Later on, in his documentary we saw that JM did get a cake for the #1 billboard achievement. So was it his choice not to post a pic? At the same time we saw his success, again, kind of being downplayed in articles, in BPD's interview, so this is one of those things I am leaving with a big question mark. Was he given the well deserved acknowledgement (even if not publicly)? Was it downplayed from the start, even towards him? And if so, why?
That being said, attacking JK, writing hateful posts about him, his looks, his artistry, his character not only would not make a damn difference as to how JM is being treated by the company but goes against everything that JM is and everything that JM feels towards JK.
Same issue, btw, with all solos. JK solos and the hate towards JM, the person JK loves the most in this world.
Do you see what I mean?
That was a little long winded, lol.
So, I do take issue with the need to cut down at another members success only to lift JM's up (he don't need no lifting, he's bloody amazing). I can assure you that is something he personally would not want, being the beautiful soul that he is, he wants the others to succeed and is not in competition with them.
I also hated this need to cut down JK even before his music came out, during JK's promotions, when he was choosing to mirror JM, a clear friggin calculated choice with a clear friggin purpose, by calling him lazy and a copy cat.
First of all you could see, if only you had eyes and kept them open, how throughout ALL of his promotions JK was mirroring JM. It was with similar outfits (even using the same exact black leather pants). It was with wearing the top part of an outfit to which JM wore the bottom part in his promotions. It was with his hair style and colour choices and references to JM's album. Anyway, point being once again that attacking another member does nothing to help lift JM up.
I always find it funny that JM solos hate JK so much.
The person that JM loves more than anyone else, and who loves JM more than they could ever.
The person who knows JM more than they could ever.
The person that JM chose to spend the 18 months of his army service with together, 24/7!! This was not forced on either of them. This was their choice.
Could it be jealousy perhaps? You know, JK gets to get JM and they don't.
Or perhaps this need to be the savior - poor JM needs them to save him from the big bad JK and the big bad company.
p.s. - maybe, just maybe, if indeed JM is being targeted by someone in the company, that's the issue that someone has with him. The fact that he will always come first for JK. The fact that because of him they can't control JK. Well, JK is not someone easy to control, but a. with JM in the picture some of his priorities are different (like wanting to spend time with him, like wanting to go public with their relationship) or perhaps the effect JM has had on JK, being his catalyst (JK's words) and all; and b. Outright homophobia. JK is the golden goose and he is in a long term relationship with a man, a bandmate. It makes life much harder for those that would rather milk the badboy hetero fuckboy image to the limit when said person wants to be accepted for his true self...
Well, that was definitely me digressing from your questions. Oopsy.
Bottom line:
Something kind of feels off with how things seem to go with JM and official content at times over the years (that includes photos, sites, spotify etc.) including his solo promotions.
That said, the comparison with other members, in my opinion, is unjustifiable. Because first and utmost they wouldn't want their fans to be comparing them. They all put themselves out there for their fans and all heartedly supported each other on that journey. Every single one of them had a different kind of solo debut. This is about different music genres, collabs or not, writing their own music or not, promoting out side of Korea or not, even down to the language of the songs. And with this also comes the different kind of promotions. Music shows or live/recorded performances for army, in bigger or smaller venues or even a tour, like Yoongi did.
The comparison with JK is just unfair to both of them. Especially given the very special relationship those two have. Both being the other's biggest fan and supporter.
That aside, the two went on two very different journeys. JM went on a personal journey releasing his first album taking part fully in it's creation, it being a very personal story he was telling us. JK, on the other hand, for whatever reasons (some of which he told us some of which he most likely didn't) decided to go with songs written by others, choosing to challenge himself with singing in English, and new genres and vocals. The choice for an album in English could very much have been pushed by the powers of be, and I do not want to go into the discussion of just how much influence SB has or not, other than say that Bang PD, a very smart and savvy man, knows his way around the music industry and business worlds and has much more influence on JK than anyone else, and that JK is a grown ass man and has told us on more than one occasion that he tends to make decisions for himself, even if at times they might not be the right ones, he goes with his gut. JK also told us he wants to be a huge superstar and singing in English, what can you do, opens up the US and other markets for him in a way that singing in Korean wouldn't.
But even putting that aside people seem to forget that from the get go JK was always the Golden maknae, the one that not only the company saw as their golden goose, but also all other members put on a pedestal. Not saying that's right. Not saying that's fair. But it is what it is. The company is a money making business. And now that BH are under Hybe, although they have autonomy (mostly) on the music, the costs and promotions, they don't have free reign over. And if it's about money making and profits, at times these will be the guidelines as to into what and where the money goes as far as promoting an artist. Let me be clear here. I'm talking here about costs and profits as in how much hard cash was put into a member's promotion over another's. This here isn't about other shit that's happened, such as no public acknowledgement or counting streams of different versions of the same song together or separately. That is another issue. What I'm trying to say here is that the starting point was and never will be the same also due to financial decision making.
Ok, so I think that maybe I've made more of a mess here than anything else, lol.
My bottom line is that even if I feel that JM is being wronged by the company in one way or another (and this goes for any member that might be wronged as well), I would never turn on another member and blame them for it nor would I compare between them. You can like or dislike the music each and every one of them released. That's fair enough and makes sense too. But belittling a member just to try and lift up the other one, that is just wrong in my books.
118 notes
·
View notes
Text
Royal Pain Part 12
Hello! I managed to get this finished before bed. So tada!
Steve and Eddie aren’t on the same page yet, and Eddie fucks up.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11
***
As he drove Robin and Erica back to her apartment, (Robin refused to be in the same room as them because of how absolutely gooey they were around each other) Steve’s anticipation for tonight was ramping up. He had stopped by the store to get all the ingredients for tonight.
He pulled out his best wok and washed the rice, getting it started cooking before he did anything else. He cleaned and chopped the vegetables, getting them in the wok first. Once they were about half way done, he pulled them out and set them to the side.
He then cut up the chicken and started cooking it up. Then he made the sauce in the wok with the chicken pushed to the one side and then he mixed them together. He added the vegetables last, warming them through so that they had a crisp but not hard bite to them. He was tossing the mixture in the sesame seeds when the doorbell rang.
He dashed over to the door and opened it.
Eddie stood on the other side, hands shoved into his pockets and big smile on his face. “Hey-ya, Stevie!”
Steve blushed. “Come on in,” he said, stepping out of the way. “You’re right on time. I just finished making dinner.”
Eddie slipped past Steve and into the apartment. “Smells great. I can’t wait. I’ve been telling the guys about it all weekend. They are insanely jealous by the way.”
Steve smiled. “What? Can none of them cook?” He led Eddie over to the table where he started to plate up the chicken.
Eddie grinned. “Sadly, their talents lie in music and not cooking.” He sat down. “Gethin, Gareth’s twin can bake, but that’s really not the same thing as cooking.”
Steve chuckled. “No. Cooking once you know the basic rules can be tweaked in all sorts of ways. Don’t eat pork, dark meat of fowl like chicken or turkey will work. Or tofu if you’re vegetarian or vegan. Baking though? Gluten intolerant? Fuck you then, because you have to replace more than just the one ingredient you have to find three things to replace it so it acts the same way.”
Eddie nodded. “I call baking alchemy and cooking art.”
Steve smiled. “That sounds about right. Chopsticks or forks?”
“Chopsticks if you have ‘em,” Eddie said.
Steve went to the drawer and pulled out four black chopsticks with a silver band on top. He handed two to Eddie and kept two for himself.
“These are nice,” Eddie said, immediately digging into his food. “Wow. Shit, dude. So good.”
Steve blushed and took a bite of his food. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Where did you learn to cook so good?” Eddie asked around a bit of food.
Steve flushed. “It was either learn how to cook or eat take out every night when my parents were gone.”
Eddie looked up through his lashes. “Yeah, how often were they gone?”
Steve rolled his eyes and scoffed. “I think a better question would be when weren’t they gone?”
Eddie frowned. “What do you mean?”
Steve set down his chopsticks and sighed. “Look, you went to high school with me, you know I was famous for the ragers I threw. Do you know why I could throw those parties?”
Eddie half shrugged. “I never really thought about it. I was never on the guest list.”
Steve snorted. “Like I had any control of the guest list. That was all Tommy and Carol. Seriously. After my second concussion in two years that had me benched in every sport I was in except swimming, I realized they didn’t care about me. They only cared that I had absent parents, a cleaner that came every other day, and a huge house with swimming pool in the back.”
Eddie winced. “Is that why the parties stopped that last part of your senior year?”
Steve nodded. “So yeah, I learned how to cook to prevent myself from getting into bad eating habits and I just kept it up. I enjoy it. Not like tattooing but it’s fun.”
“Sorry,” Eddie murmured. “I sometimes forget that high school was almost a decade ago. You look so much like you did back then that I forget that all that shit is just water under the bridge. But I’m trying.”
Steve smiled softly. “And I appreciate it. I really do. Actually, one of my apprentices actually went to high school with us, too.”
Eddie tilted his head to the side. “Yeah, would I know them?”
“Would you know head cheerleader,” Steve said with a smirk, “and then girlfriend of the captain of the basketball team you final senior year?”
Eddie leaned his head forward. “Chrissy? Chrissy Cunningham? Are you shitting me right now?”
Steve shook his head.
“Hell yeah,” Eddie said with a grin. “Of course I remember her. Great girl. Glad she broke it off with that Carver kid though. He was one of those Christians that forgot the main principle the dude taught was to love everyone.”
Steve nodded. “I hear he’s one of those wackos that go around to public streets and harass poor people about religion for YouTube views.”
“Fuck, really?” Eddie hissed. “I guess I can’t say I’m surprised. Lucky dodge for Chrissy then. You thinking of snapping up that girl?”
Steve felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped right over his head. He thought that this was a date. He had done it again. Presumed too much.
“No,” he said softly. “Robin has a better chance with her then I do. Apparently she is a lesbian.”
Eddie furrowed his brow a little, wondering about the sudden mood switch.
“Good for her,” is all he said.
The night got awkward and stayed that way until Eddie got up to go home.
“See you tomorrow?” Eddie asked trying to at least salvage some part of the evening.
Steve cocked his head to the side. “Tomorrow?”
“Yeah, you’re starting on the sword tomorrow, right?” Eddie asked, heart in his throat.
Steve confusion clears. “Of course! I can’t wait. I’m really excited to start working on it.” He gives Eddie’s wrist a squeeze. “I thought we made plans that I had forgotten about. No. Of course I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Eddie relaxed a little bit and nodded.
Steve closed the door gently behind him.
*
Jeff was brushing his teeth to get ready for bed when there was a pounding on his door. He looked over at Mandy and frowned.
“You expecting anyone, babe?” she asked, after spitting into the sink.
Jeff shook his head. He rinsed out his mouth and padded to the door. He opened it to reveal a jumpy Eddie.
Jeff rolled his head from side to side. “You do know Mandy’s got work in the morning, right?”
Eddie nodded. “I fucked up with Stevie and I don’t know what I did but I really need my best friend right now.”
“Come on in,” Mandy said from behind Jeff. “I’ll get you two a beer.”
Eddie sat on their ratty sofa, his knee jiggling with restless energy. Mandy handed them the beers and kissed Jeff’s cheek.
“Don’t stay up too late.”
Jeff watched as she walked back to their bedroom. Once the door was closed he turned to Eddie. “Right start at the top. What do you mean you fucked things up with Steve?”
“I don’t know, man!” Eddie said after downing half of the bottle in one go. “Things were going great, dinner was amazing. It got a little awkward when he said he learned how to cook because his parents were never home and then bam! The bottom opened up and I left earlier then I expected because the air was so thick with tension you could cut it with a knife.”
Jeff closed his eyes and then opened them again. “Tell me everything. Leave nothing out. Knowing you like I do, you probably said something you didn’t think was important, but really, really was.”
Eddie sighed and went through the whole conversation.
Jeff buried his head in his hands and groaned. “Dude, tell me you really didn’t ask Steve if he was going bang one of his apprentices, you know one of the people that work for him?”
Eddie scoffed, waving his hand. “I was joking.”
“Did Steve know that?” Jeff prodded.
Eddie opened his mouth and then closed it. He opened it again, but no sound would come out. He snapped it shut and frowned. “Maybe not?”
Jeff waved his hand at him. “Also seriously, dude. What kind of messed up fucker asks his crush if he wants to bang some chick?”
Eddie’s jaw dropped. “Oh shit.”
“Look I don’t know this guy,” Jeff said. “Not well enough anyway. If this was Gareth or Brian, I could tell exactly what he was thinking. But I don’t and you don’t either. Which means you didn’t just fuck up, Eddie. You fucked up bad. So you’re going to have to grovel. And I do mean grovel. Flowers, dinner, the works.”
“Yeah,” Eddie said breathing out a shuddering sigh. “Yeah, man. Fuck. What if I messed things up with for good?”
Jeff shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess endure the most awkward thirty hours of your life?”
“Shit.”
*
The first thing Eddie did that morning was call the shop.
“Royal Pain, this is Robin, how can I help you today?”
“Birdie,” Eddie greeted. “Is Steve around?”
Robin sighed heavily. “He’s working with Chrissy at the moment, I can take a message?”
Eddie sighed. “No, no. It’s fine. It’s actually you I wanted to speak to anyway.”
“Is this about last night?” she asked.
Eddie blinked away the tears that formed at the thought that Steve had told her about it. “I’m trying to grovel and need a list of his faves so that I make it up to him for being an absolute ass.”
Eddie could feel Robin’s grin through the phone. “Right. Where do you want me to start?”
They talked for a good twenty minutes before she said, “Look, I’ve got another call coming in. That should be enough to start with. Hop to it, doofus. I want to see it, capeesh?”
“I read you loud and clear,” Eddie said.
“Good.”
***
Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Epilogue
@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk @renaissan-vvitch @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @aizawa-emma @redfreckledwolf @thesuninyaface @bookbinderbitch @yikes-a-bee @littlewildflowerkitten @scheodingers-muppet @archermightbegay @hallucinatedjosten @ellietheasexylibrarian @anne-bennett-cosplayer @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @bestwifehaver @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx
195 notes
·
View notes
Text
part 1 - how you meet
summary: part one, harry and y/n meet for the first time. it isn’t smooth sailing, but shes intrigued.
warnings: none
pairing: harry styles x fem!reader
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
“Fuck, shit!”, you swore, hitting the espresso maker, once and then again, when the only thing it did was to spew more steam at you, fogging up your glasses.
“You alright?”, one of your coworkers asked and you nodded, though defeated.
“You think you can take over preparing the drinks for me, while I’ll handle the register? If I have to fight this machine one more time, something will be broken and it will either be my hand or the coffeemaker.” You looked at him desperately, your hands folded together in a silent plea.
“Alright, alright”, he laughed, “Don’t want to call an ambulance because you couldn’t control your anger. At least I won’t have to deal with asshole customers anymore.” He passed you and you blew him a bunch of exaggerated kisses before sliding right behind the cash register, slightly more motivated to finish the rest of your shift than before.
It was unusually quiet for Friday afternoon, normally all of the tables would’ve been taken- from desperate college students trying to finish their essays to single mothers, hoping to rekindle their failed love life. Although the job was a pain in your ass and barely covered all the bills and loans you had to pay off, it always had something to offer for your personal entertainment.
But now, as you waited for something to happen, other than the few fifteen years olds throwing straws at each other in the corner booth, you felt terribly bored. Your elbows quickly found their way to the counter and you put your chin in your waiting hands, blowing a strand of hair out of your face.
The nameless indie music idling out of the speakers above your head lulled you in a state of trance as you stared at the passer-by’s outside of the store, the big glass front not sparing you any detail. Even your coworker, who was the only employee inside the store besides you, had sat down on a few cases of soda stacked together, blasting TikTok and its annoying sounds throughout the whole store, but in this moment you couldn’t care less.
Then, suddenly, you were ripped out of your daydreaming by the bell ringing above the door and you stood up fast, startling not only the newcomers, but yourself as well.
“Hey, welcome in. Is there anything I can get started for you?”, you asked, peering at the three men, who just stared for a moment, as if assessing the situation. Weird.
The place you worked at was in a small side street, away from the bigger crowds, with quirky names for almost all of the things you had on your menu, so you gave your new customers a second to understand and choose something from your assortment.
Before you could turn away and pretend to be busy, one of them spoke up, though quietly, you could barely hear him.
“Hi. Sorry, we didn’t expect such an enthusiastic greeting. Is there anything you would recommend?” His voice was deep and gentle and you couldn’t help but admit that he looked exactly like the kind of man you would usually go for.
“I don’t know”, you reply, your voice now back to its usual octave and enthusiasm- or rather the lack thereof, “I usually just get the Iced Caramel Macchiato.”
To this day, you still refused to read any of the actual names of the drinks out loud.
“I’ll take that one then”, the man said, smiling at you. You nod as you type his order into your register.
“Anything else?”, you asked, smiling your “customer service smile” as your friends jokingly called it and the other two men nodded, replying with their orders.
“Alright, will that be to-go or are you staying in?” You waited for a second while they looked at each other and thought to yourself “That question couldn’t have been that hard”.
Finally, the guy with the long, brown hair mumbled “To go, please.”
“Okay then, swipe your card whenever you’re ready. And I need a name to call when your coffee is done.”
“Harry”, the guy who spoke to you first replied and stepped forward, pressing his card on the card reader. You nodded satisfied.
You turned around briefly, to check if you coworker, Charlie, got the order. Pleased that he was already on it, you directed your gaze back to the front of the store. Startled, you reeled back. Harry, who was the only one still standing in front of the counter, was starting at you intently. The other two had fallen back, standing near the door, as if they were waiting- no rather watching out for something- or someone.
“Is there anything else I can get for you?”, you inquired, observing how his shoulders rode up defensively. He was wearing a long, blue jacket, a hat and sunglasses and if you were honest, his outfit looked absolutely ridiculous. Paired with the black nike shorts, he looked a bit mismatched, like he was unsure whether it was warm out or not. You could’ve easily answered that question, seeing as you had been sweating profusely since you left your studio apartment this morning.
You were sure you looked disgusting, your uniform clinging uncomfortably to the body parts you most certainly didn’t want them to stick to, mascara probably smudged from the humidity from the steam that had been blowing in your face earlier.
How he managed to still look fresh, even with the thick jacket on was an absolute mystery to you.
“No, no, sorry. I like your button”, he answered, referring to the grumpy cat pin your mother had gifted you a while ago. It was ridiculous and cheesy, but it reminded you of home, so you wore it anytime you felt even slightly homesick. You debated telling him as much, but you weren’t up for much of a conversation, so you settled on a polite “Thank you.”
He smiled and nodded.
“Order for Harry?”, Charlie called and the man looked around, rather paranoid, as if he was scared someone was going to jump up from behind the counter any second.
“That’s me”, he said, still shyly smiling at you before turning towards the pick-up station.
“Have a nice day”, you called out sarcastically behind him and he waved, walking out the door, his company joining soon after.
You exhaled deeply and turned towards Charlie again, who suddenly squealed loudly. “Oh my God, what?”, you said, clutching your hand over your chest.
“Do you know who that was?”, he asked, excitedly, “Harry fucking Styles. And I think he liked you with all that staring he did.”
“No, it wasn’t. Was it?”, you asked disbelievingly. He nodded, “Oh, yeah. It was him. I’d recognize him anywhere. I think he’s actually having a show in town tonight.”
“But why would he come in here out of all places? I mean, we’re far away from anything slightly entertaining or fun.” You looked at Charlie quizzically.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged, “Maybe that’s exactly the point. What are the odds of getting recognized by hoards of fans in a small shop like this?”
“I guess so.”
You grabbed a wet cloth from the sink, starting to wipe down the counter, not able to shake the fact that superstar Harry Styles just walked into your workplace, however annoyed you might’ve been at that moment, it had felt oddly right and somehow meaningful. You touched the pin on your apron carefully, smiling at the chipped feeling of the plastic fading at the edges.
-
Two days later, the incident- which was how Charlie kept calling it, was nothing but a fun story you could tell your friends and something to be teased about by your coworkers. Yes, you had been kind of rude to him, maybe you could’ve been a bit nicer. Treat People with Kindness or whatever he always preached. But it was in the past now. It wasn’t like you would ever see him again.
At least that’s what you told the part of yourself that kept insisting that maybe he would return- the nagging voice that believed Charlie, who kept shooting you meaningful glances whenever one of Harry’s songs played on the radio.
You were in a middle of a lunch rush, the small room of the shop packed with people, when your wishful thinking suddenly became reality. Right in the middle, as if the crowd had split in two, he appeared. Or maybe he had just entered through the door like everyone else did and patiently waited in line. You couldn’t be sure.
“Harry, hi”, you greeted sincerely, when he approached the counter, “What brings you back?” You smiled ruefully, thinking about your last interaction.
“Hi. Slightly better mood today, huh?” So he had picked up on it last time. Your eyes travelled down his body quickly- you couldn’t help it, sue you. He was wearing a white button down this time, messily tucked in a light washed pair of denim shorts- although he managed to make it look stylish- and no sunglasses. His hair was hidden by a yellow crochet bucket hat. Cute.
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know who you were and I wasn’t having a good day. What can I do for you today?”, you apologized.
“I think everyone deserves kindness, even if they weren’t popular. But it’s alright, can’t always be nice, especially in customer service. I get it, worked in a bakery for some time back at home.” He took his own shtick quite seriously you noted, but smiled politely.
“I would love to talk to you some more, but the place is packed right now. Is there anything I can get for you?”, you tried again.
“Yeah, yeah”, he chuckled, “I’ll get the Iced Caramel Macchiato again, it was really good the last time and also-“, he paused for a second, looking at your display of pastries, “One of the vegan carrot cakes, please.”
“Sure, anything else?”
“No, that’s all, thank you.”
You finish the transaction and say goodbye before tending to the next customer, a middle aged woman raising her eyebrows impatiently at you.
The rest of your shift goes by smoothly, with only a few minor incidents disrupting your flow. It all felt to good to be true, your interaction with Harry still in the back of your mind. The conversation had left you unsatisfied, craving more.
You didn’t know much about him, besides that he was Harry Styles and apparently currently on tour. He shared something with you and you couldn’t help but wonder if there would’ve been more if you had just let him talk. That’s what you reprimanded yourself for as you took of your apron and the shirt you wore for work in the locker rooms, pulling on a black hoodie with a nonsensical print on the front.
“I’ll see you tomorrow”, you yelled in the general direction of the store as you leave through the back door, a cigarette already waiting to be lit in your right hand. It was a bad habit and you were desperate to stop smoking- but on days like this it was the only thing keeping you sane.
“Hey”, a voice suddenly called and you shot up surprised, the cig almost falling out of your mouth. You took a quick drag before lowering it. Turning around, you spotted Harry of all people leaning against the wall of the back of your shop.
“Jesus Christ, what are you doing here?”, you asked disbelievingly, clutching your chest dramatically.
“Sorry, one of your coworkers told me what time you get off. They also told me your name”, he explained, peering at you with his green eyes. Fuck, why did he have to be so handsome?
“Stalker-much?”, you couldn’t help but ask, only half joking. You brought your cigarette up to your lips again, inhaling deeply, before blowing out the smoke through your nose- welcoming the rush the nicotine gave you.
“I just wanted the chance to have a conversation with you, Y/N”, he said, rolling his eyes, but smiling at the same time. It was weird hearing your name out of his mouth.
“Why?” He shrugged helplessly, observing you smoke for a second before answering.
“Fuck if I know. Couldn’t stop thinking about you, even on stage, and my friends kept teasing me. I’m in town until tomorrow, then I’m off to Cardiff.”
“Yeah, I get it. My coworker Charlie kept wagging his eyebrows at me everytime he saw someone wearing your merch. He was the one preparing the drinks for you.” You hoisted up your tote bag, which kept slipping of your shoulder.
Harry chuckled. “He did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. The Macchiato was really good. Cashier had some perks too though.”
“He’ll pass out if I tell him what you just said. But tell me more about this cashier. Were they cute?”, you flirted back, a smirk on your face.
“Oh, very. I was hoping it’d get her number by chance”, he tried as you threw the butt of your cigarette on the pavement, stomping it out with your checkered Vans.
“Well, you’re in luck. It’s not everyday an international pop-star asks me for my cell. Can’t resist your charm”, you said quietly. His shoulders dropped slightly, as if remembering his position in the world, but he caught himself.
Harry hands you his phone and says, “Just type it in yourself. It’s always easier this way.”
You nodded, taking his phone with clammy hands. What a weird, surreal world you were suddenly thrown into. The fact that he trusted you enough to just pass you his phone. The fact that he was standing opposite you, watching you, being interested in you. You wondered if this was all a dream you’d suddenly be woken up from.
But no one did. This was reality, you realized as you pressed the cellphone back into his waiting hand, brushing it with the movement. You looked at each other for a moment.
“The cute girl from the coffee place? Really?”, he asked and you giggled. Honest to God giggled. What has your life become?
Harry pocketed his phone, letting his hands hang loosely at his sides. “Well”, he cleared his throat, “I have to go. Rehearsals and all that. I’m already too late. I’ll text you?” He looked at you hopefully.
“Sure”, you answered, smiling softly, “I’ll be waiting.” You step closer, standing on your tiptoes and pressed a light kiss to his cheek- a barely there brush of lips, but he still blushed.
“I’ll see you around, H.”
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
well, this marks the first part of my first ever series on this account. i’m actually so excited to see what people think. don’t forget to leave a like& follow for more<3 stay tuned!
#harry styles#harry styles blurb#harry styles concert#harry styles fluff#harry styles oneshot#harry styles x reader#harry styles x you#harry styles x fem reader#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles fanfiction rec#harry’s house#harry styles wembley#harry styles au#harry styles one shot#harry styles fanfictio#harry styles love on tour#harry styles x non famous!reader
174 notes
·
View notes
Note
Heyy , can you plz make a 'sam and colby x reader' , serial killer fic . Like the ghostface types from the movie scream . Sam and colby are the killers . Like they're yandere for her or something ? :) THANK YOU SO MUCH
did i make you scream?//sam and colby
A/N: @/golbrocklovely made a fic like this called we went mad just minus the yandere part but i will attempt this, also i LOVE scream!!
|| non-famous!sam and colby x reader
|| she/her pronouns
trigger warnings: mention of murder, curing, mentions of sex, mentions of Voyeurism, blood and slight gore,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here I was at a police station, in an interrogation room. I have been sitting here for the past hour doing nothing, they just put me in here and said they will be with me “shortly”. I put my head down on the cold sliver table, it was refreshing to feel something cold as it was hot in here or was it just me? I put my head up again and look at the chair in front of me, that's where the guy or whoever is supposed to sit. The silence was thick, as I have not said a word in like an hour.
Someone walks in, a girl and a guy. The guy was wearing a baseball cap with a Plano T-shirt, and a badge on his cargo pants, the girl was wearing a yellow blouse with regular old black skinny jeans. She had a clipboard in one hand, and a water bottle in the other.
They sit down, “listen you're not in trouble, we just wanna ask you some questions.” the lady in yellow said, she sat down the water bottle “This is you, I'm Detective Drew and this is Detective Mike we are going to just be asking you questions.” Drew reassured, “What's your name and date of birth?”
It took me a sec to take this in, this is really happening. “My name is Y/n y/m/n Y/l/n, and my Date of birth is January 1, 1997.” now after a couple of questions about me they started to ask the real questions, why I was here and what got me here.
“What happened on February 14?” Mike asked.
“In order for me to tell you, you have to understand what lead up to it.” I say.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 1st, 2020:
It was my birthday, and a new year too I guess...Anyway, I am known for having big parties but only on my birthday any otheroccasion I will be at someone else's party. For my 23rd birthday, I wanted to make it big so I told my friends to invite their friends even people I didn't know. Me and my friend Misty went shopping, we went to an alcohol store to a Walmart back to an alcohol store.
Now when the party started there were like 100 people than 200, I couldn't let more people in cause my house is not that big. 40 minutes into the party my friend Jake walks up to my with two of his friends following behind him, “yo, y/n what's up!” he yelled over the music “hey what's up, do you wanna shot?”
He takes the shot of alcohol out of my hand and downs it with no shame, I take quick notice of the two boys behind Jake, o ne had black hair and was wearing a loose tank top with black sweatpants and Converse. The other r one had a loose big purple T-shirt with white pants.
I look back at the one with dark hair is and lock eyes with him, I could tell his eyes are really blue. My eyes snapped back to Jake, “Oh, you said I could invite anyone so I invited Sam and Colby.” Jake said pointing to them.
I went in and hugged them both, Sam first then Colby last but Colby's hug lasted longer than expected it was like he was smelling me, Sam pulled him off me and pulled have im away into the crowd of people. I look at Jake “That was...weird.” Jake giggles.
A few days later I got a package. the package  came at midnight, a knock on the door happened and I didn't answer at first cause I thought it was a ding dong ditch so I didn't answer. Then it happened again so I answer, expecting it to be my boyfriend I empty the door swiftly with a smile but all I see is nothing.
I look down at my welcome home mat and see a box placed on top of it, I pick it up thinking maybe it's my ring light that's presumed to come in but the box is light. I bring it in and put it on the tabletop “What the fuck is this.” Misty said I shrug my shoulders and open it, it was a notebook with my name on it. The notebook was wrapped in plastic wrap, I rip it open to read and maybe my boyfriend did something sweet for me.
The first page was a link, a link to a video of course. So I move away from Misty and the kitchen to go to my office by myself, I open my computer and type in the link to the mystery video. Oh my, it was a 5-minute video of me and my boyfriend having sex.
This was confusing, it looked like someone was recording us from a window, the video went in and out of focus. You can even hear moans from the background, but our window was closed so who was that deep voice whimpering?  all of the sudden the video cam goes down to show a man jerking off to us having us. My heart dropped when I seen the tiny hand tattoo, it looked like that boy that I met from the party. colby.
I close the tap quickly and I take a deep breath I open the book to read the rest, but the rest was all pictures of me. Every single page, I got out of my seat in a rush to see Misty to show her this hell show of a book.
But the  lights turned off, or as some of you would say the power went out. I turn my phone flashlight on, and I yell out Misty's name. “Misty! Turn back on the power and look at this book!” but no answer, I went to the kitchen because that's where she last was but no sign of her. I looked up in her room even in the living room she was nowhere so I decided to turn the power on myself. I went down to the basement and as soon as I was close to the last step, I see Misty's head hangin g in front of my face, her chopped-off hat that had exes on each of her eyes, her blonde hair was messy, and God knows where the rest of her body went.
I screamed and ran upstairs, rushing to call 911 on my phone  but every time I would call it would send me an automatic voice message " Sorry the Kansas police station cannot reach you right now we are currently busy. Try another time." and I kept calling and kept calling and kept calling but no answer so I decided to ask my neighbor for help.
trying to leave my house was a big mistake because as soon as I open the front door I see Sam holding a knife I automatically – and head for the back door until I see Colby at the back door, holding a vase. "why are you doing this?” I asked.
“ Because I love you.”  he throws a vase at me, but I managed to dodge and try to dash upstairs to hide, but Sam catches up to me and cuts the knife into my back.  I scream and screech in pain.  As I fall to the floor, both men standing in front of me, watching me, bleed out, probably to my death, and they ask me one thing .”
“ did I make you scream?”
and now, next thing, I know, I'm walking up in the hospital and now I'm in a police investigation room. That night still haunts me to this day will haunt me, even more, is that they're currently out there and the police are looking for them but they're not trying their best. 

#fanfic#imagines#writing#colby brock#colby brock x reader#core 4#fiction#oneshots#sam and colby#scenarios
161 notes
·
View notes
Text
Reminder: Vote based on the song, not the artist or specific recording! The tracks referenced are the original artist, aside from a few rare cases where a cover is the most widely known.
Lyrics, videos, info, and notable covers under the cut. (Spotify playlist available in pinned post)
Your Song
Written By: Elton John & Bernie Taupin
Artist: Elton John
Released: 1970
Cover included: Ewan McGregor for Moulin Rouge!, 2001
The song was composed and performed by Elton John but the lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin. It originally appeared in his self titled and second album. Elton John hadn’t come out of the closet yet, but Bernie Taupin knew, which is part of the reason why the lyrics avoid using gendered pronouns. In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Elton John said: “What can I say, it’s a perfect song. It gets better every time I sing it. I remember writing it at my parents' apartment in North London, and Bernie giving me the lyrics, sitting down at the piano and looking at it and going, ‘Oh, my God, this is such a great lyric, I can’t fuck this one up.’ It came out in about 20 minutes, and when I was done, I called him in and we both knew. I was 22, and he was 19, and it gave us so much confidence. ‘Empty Sky’ was lovely, but it was very naive. We went on to do more esoteric stuff like ‘Take Me to the Pilot,’ of course, but musically, this was a big step forward. And the older I get, the more I sing these lyrics, and the more they resonate with me.”
[Verse 1]
It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money, but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live
[Verse 2]
If I was a sculptor, heh, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show
I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one's for you
[Chorus]
And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
[Verse 3]
I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well, a few of the verses, well, they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on
[Verse 4]
So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do
You see, I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue
Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen
[Chorus]
And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
[Outro]
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world
youtube
youtube
Demolition Lovers
Written By: Matt Pelissier, Mikey Way, Ray Toro & Gerard Way
Artist: My Chemical Romance
Released: 2002
The Demolition Lovers are the couple seen on the cover for MCR’s next album, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. This song, along with much of the album, is a prequel to the story of Three Cheers… in which a man makes a deal with the devil to get his dead lover back by killing 1,000 evil men and giving the devil their souls in exchange for her. This song is most likely where the lover dies. The two “Demolition Lovers” are featured on the cover of the album.
[Verse 1]
Hand in mine, into your icy blues
And then I'd say to you, "We could take to the highway
With this trunk of ammunition, too"
I'd end my days with you, in a hail of bullets
[Chorus]
I'm trying, I'm trying
To let you know just how much you mean to me
And after all the things
We put each other through and
[Verse 2]
I would drive on to the end with you
A liquor store or two keeps the gas tank full
And I feel like there's nothing left to do
But prove myself to you, and we'll keep it running
[Chorus]
But this time, I mean it
I'll let you know just how much you mean to me
As snow falls on desert sky
Until the end of everything
I'm trying, I'm trying
To let you know how much you mean
As days fade and nights grow
And we grow cold
[Post-Chorus]
Until the end, until this pool of blood
Until this, I mean this, I mean this, until the end of
[Chorus]
I'm trying, I'm trying
To let you know how much you mean
As days fade and nights grow
And we grow cold
But this time, we'll show them
We'll show them all how much we mean
As snow falls on desert sky
Until the end of every…
[Interlude]
All we are, all we are is bullets, I mean this
All we are, all we are is bullets, I mean this
All we are, all we are is bullets, I mean this
All we are, all we are is bullets, I mean this
[Guitar Solo]
[Bridge]
As lead rains will pass on through
Our phantoms forever, forever
Like scarecrows that fuel this flame
We're burning forever and ever
Know how much I want to show you
You're the only one
Like a bed of roses
There's a dozen reasons in this gun
[Outro]
And as we're falling down, and in this pool of blood
And as we're touching hands, and as we're falling down
And in this pool of blood, and as we're falling down
I'll see your eyes, and in this pool of blood
I'll meet your eyes, I mean this forever!
youtube
#polls#poll tournament#poll bracket#tournament#bracket#lovesongbracket#round4#elton john#your song#my chemical romance#demolition lovers
259 notes
·
View notes
Text
In Another's Eyes: Garth & Trisha, Part 1
When Garth Brooks met Trisha Yearwood in a Nashville studio in the late 1980s, both singers were unknown and still hoping for their big break in country music.
Though Garth would later admit he felt like he had met his wife when he and Trisha first crossed paths, the fact was he already had a wife, and Trisha had a husband. So they were friends, and Garth made Trisha a promise - if his career ever took off, he'd be sure to give her a boost in any way he could.
Just a few years later, Garth was riding a wave of major success and he needed an opener for his upcoming tour. He picked Trisha. As they both became two of the biggest names in country music, they remained friends, contributed to each other's albums, and released a Grammy-winning duet. All the time, Garth was married to his college sweetheart Sandy, producing three children.
When Garth and his wife filed for divorce, everyone predicted he and Trisha would end up together after years of tabloid rumors - and of course, they did. But did anything happen between them before he was finally single?
1986
May 1986
Garth marries Sandy Mahl on May 24, 1986, when he is 24 and she is 21.
Garth met his future wife in 1983 when he was working as a bouncer at the Tumbleweed Ballroom, a bar in Stillwater, Oklahoma. She was a fellow student at Oklahoma State University.
Two versions of their first meeting have been told. Sandy would say in Garth's 2019 documentary, "The Road I'm On," that they met when Garth asked her to dance.
The other story that Garth told in the early 90s was that they met after Garth went into the women’s bathroom to break up a fight and found Sandy with her fist stuck in the wall.
After Brooks extricated the fist and ejected the lovely lass from the club, he tried to pick her up.
“She said, ‘Drop dead!’ and called me a few other names and walked off.”
“I said, ‘Well, can I call ya?’” the undaunted suitor recalls.
Sandy gave him the courage to give his music a try. He’d come to Nashville once in 1985, but was terrified on his own in the country capital and fled homeward.
But with Sandy by his side, Brooks came to Music City to stay in 1987.
She calmed his fears and they took jobs at a boot store while he knocked on the doors of Music Row.
(The Tennessean)
1987
June 1987
Garth and Trisha will first meet while working as demo singers at a studio in Nashville. Garth has often said he had been married for 13 months when this occurred, so it was presumably in June 1987 that they met.
Trisha was also married, having wed music producer Christopher Latham earlier that same year.
"Kent Blazy introduced me and Ms. Yearwood, and he goes, 'I knew you were gonna like her,'" Brooks recalled during a 2013 interview with Ellen DeGeneres. "When she left, he goes, 'What do you think?'
"I said, 'Well, it's strange because I felt that feeling like when you just met your wife.'" (Source)
Garth and Trisha, how did you know the other person was the one?
Garth: When you meet someone, you know. The problem was [when I first met her] I had been married for over a year. And that couldn’t have been wrong because you’re married in front of your family and God. You think, there must be some feeling that isn’t right.
Trisha: It was probably the minute I met him, even though I didn’t know it at the time. (Source)
In Garth's 2019 documentary, "The Road I'm On," she reiterates that she had no intentions on anything ever happening.
“You feel the chemistry, it’s like there’s something here — but I’m gonna go home now… For me it was, I’m a good little southern girl, I was married, he was married. Not my world in that moment, it’s not an option. So when I left that day, I just thought he’s a nice guy, great voice, and I wish him well.”
A few years later, Trisha would recall this meeting and the promise that Garth made to her at the time:
He and Yearwood were among Music Row’s most in-demand singers of demonstration tapes; writer Kent Blazy knew them both and brought them together for a session.
“That day we were singing on the same mike and doing the same licks and it was like, ‘This is really strange,’ and we really hit it off,” Yearwood recalled.
“He said then, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen with my career, but if I’m lucky enough to have some success I want to help any way I can.’
"I didn’t think about it, I put it out of my head, and went on about my business and made a living doing demos."
(The Tennessean)
1989
April 1989
Garth releases his debut album "Garth Brooks" through Capitol Records Nashville in April 1989.
As he begins to achieve success, he also ends up cheating on Sandy while on the road.
When he married Sandy, he figured he’d settle down—only to give into temptation once given the chance.
“I don’t see [unfaithfulness] as a necessity,” he insisted. “Anybody starting out saying, ‘Man, this has to happen’ — bullshit. It doesn’t.”
During his first major tour in support of his debut album for Capitol Records, 1989’s "Garth Brooks," the entertainer was called out by friends for sleeping with other women while on the road. Sandy made an ultimatum: Stop fooling around or lose me.
(Source: Garth Brooks: The Life & Times of a Country Superstar)
November 1989
One night when Garth is in Missouri for a concert, Sandy calls him and tells him that she is leaving him if he doesn't change his ways.
Then, says Sandy, ''an informant'' on tour confirmed her worst suspicions.
''Garth has always been a very sexual person,'' she says. ''It was his ego: proving he could look out, point and conquer. What made it easier to cope with was that it wasn't someone special. It didn't mean anything.''
In those heady first months, Garth admits, ''I was a spoiled ass. Responsibility, commitment was not my game.''
Sandy, who never toured with Garth back then, recalls it was the night of Nov. 4, 1989, when she nailed him by phone before a show.
''I told him my bags were packed, my plane ticket's bought, and I'm gone,'' she says. '''You come home and we'll talk, on my turf, eye to eye.'''
(People Magazine)
He would tell Barbara Walters in a nationally-televised interview in 1993 about how he broke down on stage that night when trying to sing "If Tomorrow Never Comes:"
Garth: I guess you’d probably go back to playing Cape Girardeau, Missouri; this was when Sandy found about everything I’d been doing.
Barbara Walters: Found out that there were other women.
Garth: I got through the first three songs fine, and “If Tomorrow Never Comes” comes up, and … there wasn’t anything else. There was nothing left, I was inside out. The band kept playing, I didn’t know what to do, and I asked them to stop and they didn’t. I asked them to stop again and they did. This place was silent. I remember walking out and the applause was there, a different kind of applause, almost like a support applause.
Garth was able to win Sandy's forgiveness over time:
The mending took a while. ''I wanted Garth to feel my pain,'' says
Sandy. ''He had hurt me so bad. I had wasted two years of my life is how I felt. I'd been the perfect little wife who thought everything was hunky-dory. The hardest thing was to keep from beating the holy s--- outta Garth at the sight of him. He was ashamed, embarrassed, and it was written all over his face. He broke down like a baby. He was on his knees, more or less beggin' me, 'I'll change, anything. You name it, I'll do it.'''
And so he has. ''It took a helluva human being to forgive me,'' says
Brooks. ''I had to promise I'd make this marriage work. It ain't a bed of roses now, but we bust our asses, and it works unbelievably well. For the first time in my life, I feel good about being a husband and a partner.''
As for Sandy, ''I love her to death,'' he adds solemnly. ''When I've been down, Sandy has given me strength. That's definitely given me what I have.''
(People Magazine)
1990
Garth's star is on the rise while Trisha is still looking for her breakthrough. In the meantime, Trisha provides backup vocals for Garth’s second album “No Fences,” which is released in August 1990.
Garth also introduces her to his managers, Bob Doyle and Pam Lewis, and his producer Allen Reynolds introduces Trisha to her new producer, Garth Fundis. (“I’m probably the only person in town who works with both Garths,” she quips.)
"No Fences" will inevitably be a smash hit with singles including "Friends In Low Places," "Unanswered Prayers," and "The Thunder Rolls."
October 1990
Garth wins the Horizon Award at the CMA Awards on October 8, 1990, and he insists on bringing Sandy up to the stage with him. Before accepting his award, he says:
“I’m not much good at it, but when I don’t sing I try to be a husband."
1991
As Garth prepares for his headlining tour and Trisha prepares to release her first album, he makes good on his promise to her from a few years ago to give her a career boost when it's in his power to do so.
As her first single "She's In Love with the Boy" begins its climb to No. 1, Trisha becomes Garth's opening act on his "Ropin' the Wind" tour. Trisha will tell The Tennessean in August 1991:
“When I got my deal, he came through and offered me this tour. I’ve been really lucky to be out on the road with someone that I’d had a friendship with before – and who also happens to be the hottest thing in country music.”
In the midst of the tour, Trisha releases her debut album "Trisha Yearwood" in July. Garth sings supporting vocals on her second single "Like We Never Had A Broken Heart," which peaks at No. 4 on the country chart.
According to the 1993 book “Get Hot or Go Home” written about Trisha with her cooperation, her new success and time away on tour hastens the demise of her already “faltering” marriage.
Christopher Latham tried to get her to seek counseling with him. His wife’s response: “I just don’t see how I can get back feelings I never had.”
They divorce without much fanfare. Trisha would later say about the marriage:
“You are encouraged to get married when you are a small-town person, and that’s what I did even though I knew it wasn’t right. I had met this guy and I thought, ‘I am never going to meet anybody who cares about me this much,’ which is probably true, so I married him.
“There was just no real spark, which I think there is supposed to be. It wasn’t show business that broke us up. We wouldn’t still be married if I was back answering telephones.”
(The Los Angeles Times)
In addition to her divorce, Trisha faces taboid rumors that have popped up about her and Garth having an affair. About these rumors, she will later say:
“We knew back when we decided we were going to do the tour that there would be talk,” she said. “But the first time I read it in the tabloids, I got really upset. So did my mom. I thought, ‘I’ll have to call everybody and say it isn’t true.’
“Then I figured that if you believe what the tabloids said about me having an affair with Garth, then you’ll also believe what is on the next page, which is something preposterous.”
(The Los Angeles Times)
November 1991
In November, Trisha leaves Garth's management team to sign with Ken Kragen. After a whirlwind year, she is deemed Nashville's hottest new artist.
Garth doesn't want to take credit:
“A lot of people are making the mistake of saying I introduced Trisha Yearwood to country music,” he says. “Her talent is so very, very visible that that’s like saying you introduced Wayne Gretzky to hockey.”
(The Atlanta Constitution)
December 1991
STAR Magazine prints a story in its Dec. 10 issue about how Garth is "furious" about the cheating rumors surrounding him and Trisha.
Garth phoned his mother, Colleen, from Little Rock, Ark., to set the record straight.
“He likes his family to hear bad news from him direct. So even while he was on tour, he made sure to call his mom specifically to tell her about the rumors that he was having an affair with Trisha Yearwood,” says a source.
“He told her, ‘Mom, I just want you to know what people are saying and what they’re trying to make of an innocent situation. The rumors are false, Mom. You know I love Sandy and would never do anything to hurt her or jeopardize our marriage.’”
Another associate points out that wife Sandy would never put up with sharing Garth with another woman.
“Sandy is a strong, independent woman. If there were any truth to these rumors, Trish wouldn't have been his opening act as recently as last January. If Sandy had any suspicions whatsoever, Trish wouldn’t have been anywhere near Garth. What wife would allow a possible lover so close?"
1992
February 1992
Just in time for Valentine's Day, Garth and Sandy are featured on the cover of USA Weekend, talking about how they saved their marriage after his infidelity.
Sandy Brooks, a slim, intense woman with a rapid smile, sits at a Nashville restaurant in November, picking at a plate of fried steak. She has reason to be moody. Her husband is baring his soul, she has been on the road for three days and she thinks she might be pregnant. But she’s been so busy that she hasn’t had time to take a home pregnancy test.
Across from her, Garth Brooks – her husband, but more significantly, the hottest act in the hottest music in America today – is speaking quietly about the womanizing that almost ended their six-year marriage.
Sandy’s blue eyes fill with tears. “I asked myself, why do I stay here? I know I love him, but…”
“She’s got every right to leave me,” Brooks finishes.
“But I’m happy here,” she interrupts, the tears now spilling down.
“I think it has something to do with my physical build and good looks, too,” says Brooks, trying to lighten the moment and flirtatiously batting his eyes, deep-set in a moon face under a receding hairline. It works. Sandy bursts out laughing, affectionately elbows Garth. He squeezes her shoulder. The tears retreat, the moment ends.
Garth admits that the time his career takes him away from his wife leads to continuing struggles.
“For every day I give Sandy, I turn around and give one or two to the music,” Brooks says softly. “This six months I’m taking off? It started out as six months for Sandy and me, and I bet you we won’t have seven days in that six months.”
Sitting next to him Sandy, 27, nods in agreement.
“The marriage is still together because of her, not because of me,” Brooks says.
Until recently, “I had the mentality of, ‘OK, if you don’t want to put up with me, you can hit the road.’ She said, ‘OK!’ Then I finally straightened up. The wife I got back after my infidelity was 15 times the woman I had. Like, ‘I’m gonna show you that any time you leave this house, you’re losing something,’” says Garth, playfully imitating his wife.
And Sandy acknowledges that people don't understand why she is the one who gets to be married to country music's biggest star.
“A lot of people look at me and say, ‘Why you?’ I ask myself that also. My answer is, because I fell in love with a long-haired country boy long ago. I was there when it was like, how many ways can we figure out how to cook potatoes?”
...
While Sandy is happy about the unplanned baby, she continues to hope for peace, quiet and Garth.
“There will come a day in my life when it is just Garth and me. I might be 75 and toothless,” she says, laughing. “But that’s what keeps me going.”
March 1992
After wrapping up her opening act stint on Garth’s seven-month tour, Trisha reflects on what it has meant to her:
“Anybody would have killed to be on this tour,” she said between sips on a soft drink. “It was scary, intimidating and wonderful. I know a lot of people came to see Garth, but we had something to offer.”
Their careers were not merely linked by the 80-city tour. Yearwood sang harmony on his albums “No Fences” and “Ropin’ the Wind,” which together have sold 12 million copies.
In return, he sang harmony on her album and co-wrote two of the 10 songs, including her second hit, “Like We Never Had a Broken Heart.”
“He’s been like a big brother to me,” she said.
(Associated Press)
Around this same time, Trisha has begun dating Robert Reynolds, bass player for The Mavericks.
Yearwood met Reynolds at a party given by her label, MCA.
“It was really one of those corny across-the-room kind of things,” Yearwood says.
“I saw him and he kind of saw me and we rounded the ice sculpture and met in the middle.”
(The Atlanta Journal)
April 1992
In April, a pregnant Sandy accompanies Garth to the ACM Awards. She has had some health scares during the pregnancy, and on stage as he accepts just one of the awards he will win that night, he thanks everyone for their concerns for her and the baby.
July 1992
Sandy gives birth to their first child, Taylor.
August 1992
As Garth struggles with the seemingly impossible task of balancing career and family, he toys with the idea of retirement. He tells the Edmond Evening Sun:
With the birth of a daughter, Taylor Mayne Pearl Brooks, the former Oklahoma State student is considering cutting short his career in favor of fatherhood and a more traditional home life with wife Sandy.
“Fatherhood’s new for me and it’s kind of thrown me for a loop,” Brooks said. “One thing that I always recall that my parents gave me was time and attention.
“And I think children deserve that. My occupation doesn’t allow me to give time and attention. So I’ve got to find a way, good Lord willing, to do ’em both.
“If I can’t do ’em both, then I must not choose music over (my wife and daughter).”
Brooks has a cutback in his schedule planned after December, at which time he said he will make a decision on his future.
“I’m saying my prayers and hopefully I’ll make the right choice.”
1993
January 1993
Somewhat cynical reporting will claim this narrative of Garth wanting to retire is “partly a ploy during heated contract negotiations with his label, Liberty Records.”
Whatever the case, Garth ultimately does not retire and signs a new lucrative, 20-year contract with Liberty in January 1993.
February 1993
Trisha tells a reporter that she and Robert Reynolds are celebrating their first year together as a couple.
“It’s really nice to be with somebody who understands it (the country music business) because he does it, but who also understands that life is more important. When we’re together we have a five-minute business rule – we can talk about business for five minutes and that’s it.”
(The Commercial Appeal)
March 1993
Trisha and Robert get engaged.
But she’s not about to abandon her career. “I would like a family someday, but I’ve been pretty unconventional up until now, so I don’t think I have to stop and have three kids.”
(The Atlanta Journal)
June 1993
Trisha talks again about Garth's influence in getting her career started and the tabloid rumors that swirled around them.
Q: Were you surprised when Brooks picked you as his opening act?
A: I was actually, because only a handful of people believed in me then. He took a really big risk. But when we met, he said, “I love your voice, and if things go well, I want to help you out.” And he obviously meant it. He sticks by what he believes in; that’s why he is who he is.
Q: At the time, the tabloids wrote that you two were having an affair.
A: It wasn’t true, and when I first read it, I thought I’d better call everybody and tell them it wasn’t true. Now I’ve learned that it’s part of [being in show business] – if you’re successful, you’re going to be in the tabloids. But I never even got talked about in high school! I was always a good girl.
Q: Brooks must have taught you a lot.
A: He’s like a big brother to me. He taught me about the things you’re supposed to do, like visiting radio shows. I learned a lot watching him with the fans – I never saw him be anything but gracious. He always remembered why he was there.
(Simi Valley News)
1994
April 1994
Trisha says she and Garth have talked about possibly doing a duets album and going on tour together. She reiterates that he is like a "big brother" to her.
“I’ve made three albums now, and I want to do different things,” she said. One of those different things involves a “sort of side career” of duets with longtime friend Brooks.
They recently talked backstage at an awards show about doing a duet album and maybe touring together as a twosome.
They’ve talked about it for some time, Yearwood said, and finally decided to quit talking and do it.
“There really haven’t been any famous duet partners in a long time, for more than one song or album,” she said. “I do think there’s a place for that. We’ve always traded harmonies on each other’s albums.
“Garth’s always been like a big brother to me,” she continued. “We’re not just two voices singing at each other.”
(Fort Worth Star Telegram)
May 1994
May is a big month for both Garth and Trisha.
On May 3, 1994, Sandy gives birth to her and Garth's second daughter, August.
Garth is announced as the ACM Entertainer of the Year this same day, but is unable to even accept his award via remote feed because he has gone to the hospital to await the birth.
And after more than two years together, Trisha marries Robert Reynolds on May 21, 1994, at the Ryman in Nashville with a small invitation list. They honeymoon afterward in Ireland.
December 1994
Garth indicates that he and Trisha have already tried to put together a duets album that didn't work, but are not giving up on the idea:
He still plans an album of duets with old buddy Trisha Yearwood; their first attempt wasn’t up to snuff, he reports.
He also says he wants to put his family first.
“Now every minute I don’t spend with my family I spend with music, not the other way around.”
(Knight Ridder News Service)
1995
Spring-Summer 1995
Sandy is frequently at Garth's side during public events, including the People's Choice Awards in March, ACM Awards in May, and his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in June.
October 1995
Trisha tells the New York Daily News that she and her husband of 17 months are juggling busy schedules.
“We’re so busy, we practically have to make an appointment to see each other,” said the Georgia peach. “But it’s been a good year for us.”
With The Mavericks being white-hot, Yearwood and Reynolds have been crossing flight paths since their wedding a year ago.
1996
July 1996
Garth and Sandy welcome their third daughter, Allie, on July 28, 1996.
August 1996
Trisha and Robert are still in what sounds like a long-distance marriage.
Yearwood’s extensive touring schedule is keeping her away from husband Robert Reynolds even more than usual. Reynolds plays bass in The Mavericks, the popular Miami-rooted roots-rock/country band, which is also on tour this summer.
“I think, so far, the longest we’ve been apart this summer is right now which is two weeks,” Yearwood said last Friday. “And we’re going to see each other because I’m going to California and he’s going to be near there, so he’s going to get on a plane and come see me. We do that a lot.
“We really go that extra mile to really seek out those days we can spend together. Sometimes it means flying into Nashville, like if I’m home and he’s on the road and has a day off, he’ll fly in and take me to a movie. It’s an expensive movie. But that’s kind of how we make it work.”
“Things will eventually slow down for us – we won’t be touring this heavily the rest of our lives. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about what we used to do.”
(Lincoln Journal Star – Aug. 23, 1996)
September 1996
In a September 10, 1996, cover story for Country Weekly, Trisha's life is deemed a "fairy tale" and Trisha gushes about Robert.
“I’m amazed we’ve been together for four years and still feel this way about each other. It’s kind of moving into a deeper level, even.”
Life’s an adventure when the happy twosome finds time together, Trisha revealed.
“He’s a laugh a minute. The last time we were home we put up the tepee I gave him for Christmas, and he was like a 12-year-old.”
Asked how much time she and Robert get to spend together, Trisha said: “Believe it or not, we see each other quite a lot. He’s on the road and I’m on the road, but when one of us is off, we often fly to be with each other. We’ve got a lot of frequent flyer miles, let me tell you.”
October 1996
Garth and Sandy renew their marriage vows at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Madison, Tennessee, on October 26.
1997
May 1997
Garth films a concert special in Ireland that will air on TV the following year. Trisha flies there to provide harmonies and sing a duet with him for the Ireland concerts.
She talks about it to The Tennessean ahead of the filming and how she tries to balance real life with her demanding schedule:
Fitting normalcy into a jet-set schedule is difficult. Tomorrow morning, for example, she boards a plane for Ireland, where she’s slated to perform with Garth Brooks as the “backup chick singer” for a series of concerts.
“Yesterday I get home, I’ve been on the road for three weeks,” Yearwood recounts. “I’m like, ‘OK, the shrubs have not been trimmed in the three years I’ve lived here,’ and I just got out a pair of weed whackers – the big shears – and I did the whole house. Robert comes home and goes, ‘What happened?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know, I went nuts.’”
… Yearwood consciously fights that tendency toward isolation. Husband Reynolds, with whom she’ll celebrate their third anniversary during the Ireland trip, pushes her toward normalcy, despite his own bit of fame as the bass player for the Grammy-winning band The Mavericks.
“Robert is totally undaunted by success,” she notes. “He’ll go out on the road with me where everybody knows he’s out there, and he’ll go out in the audience with a laminate (backstage pass) on, and sign autographs for an hour. He’s so unafraid of just getting out there in the middle of it, and he encourages me, in turn, to be that way.”
Robert is along for the Ireland trip and they mark three years married:
Congrats to Trisha Yearwood and The Mavericks’ Robert Reynolds who are celebrating their third wedding anniversary today (May 21) with a trip to the tropical island where they first honeymooned. Trisha’s been in Ireland opening shows for Garth Brooks.
(The Tennessean)
August 1997
Trisha's new album, Songbook, is released in August 1997 featuring a duet with Garth, "In Another's Eyes." Though they have worked together in the past on each other's albums and had entertained the idea of doing a duets album together, this is their first true, major collaboration.
This duet will kick off a partnership between the two that is much more frequent and consistent than it has been since Trisha opened for Garth in 1991.
"In Another's Eyes" is also sent to country radio in August as the second single from Trisha's album. The song was written by Garth Brooks, Bobby Wood, and John Peppard.
In another's eyes
I'm someone who
Loves her enough to walk away from you
I'd never cheat, I'd never lie
In another's eyes
In another's eyes
I can do no wrong
He believes in me and his faith is strong
I'd never fall or even compromise
In another's eyes
For country star Trisha Yearwood, the current hit “In Another’s Eyes” marks a new chapter in a long-standing friendship. The song is a duet with superstar Garth Brooks, who Yearwood knows from demo-singing days of the 1980s in Nashville.
“We’ve been friends for 10 years, and we’ve always been on each other’s records,” said Yearwood during a recent telephone interview from her tour bus. “We talked about doing a duets album, which has never gotten done. But we got the one tune recorded, and it’s been really nice. I hope that it’s going to be the catalyst that gets us back into the studio, and gets us recording a whole album.”
(The Times)
September 1997
To promote the song in addition to some joint performances during live concerts in the fall, Garth and Trisha appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
youtube
They also appear and sing on Terry Bradshaw's show.
On September 25, 1997, Trisha wins Female Vocalist of the Year at the CMA Awards, and she thanks Robert who is in the audience. Garth wins Entertainer of the Year but is not in attendance because he is on the road.
1998
February 1998
Garth and Trisha win the Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for "In Another's Eyes."
Beginning in February, Trisha joins a number of Garth's world tour dates throughout the duration of 1998 to sing "In Another's Eyes" and "Walkaway Joe" during the concerts.
Garth also drops in on one of Trisha's concerts in late February:
Country music fans at a free promotional miniconcert by Trisha Yearwood got an unexpected bonus.
Superstar Garth Brooks dropped in on his friend and opening act at the Caravan of Dreams on Sunday afternoon.
Yearwood and Brooks sang a couple of tunes to the surprised crowd, including their duet “Walkaway Joe,” that has been highlighting his concerts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area the past two weeks.
When Brooks walked onstage fans were shocked, but Yearwood simply turned and asked, “Would you like a Tic-Tac?” (Odessa American)
April 1998
In early April, the soundtrack for the movie "Hope Floats" is released, featuring Garth and Trisha's separate versions of "To Make You Feel My Love" at the beginning and end of the track list.
At the ACM Awards on April 22, Trisha introduces the presentation of the Special Achievement award to Garth, as he and Sandy sit in the audience.
Trisha also wins Top Female Vocalist and mentions her husband in her acceptance speech:
"Thank you... to my sister, who’s my date tonight because my husband’s in London. I love you Robert, wherever you are."
In a Q&A with the Associated Press, Trisha praises the way Garth handles being so famous.
Q: Besides touring, including a trip and television special in Ireland, you and Garth Brooks recorded a duet. What has he taught you?
A: I’ve known him for 10 years and we’re good friends. He’s like a big brother to me. I think we both value each other’s opinion. I watch him and how he deals with fans. Let me tell you, he has class. He’s a good person. The biggest thing to learn from him is he really focuses on the music and lets the other stuff (gossip and critics knocking him) fall to the wayside. He doesn’t act famous. I like that.
July 1998
Trisha appears on Prime Time Country on The Nashville Network, and Garth drops in as a surprise during her interview.
Garth: “Usually we’re everywhere together… So she was here, I was off… I work for her now.”
September 1998
Garth and Trisha have another duet, "Where Your Road Leads," on her newest album of the same name. It is released as a single in September.
They perform "Where Your Road Leads" together live via satellite from their concert in Buffalo, which is broadcast on the CMA Awards on September 23.
They also accept awards they win that night - including Female Vocalist of the Year for Trisha and Entertainer of the Year for Garth - via the remote feed from Buffalo.
December 1998
The entire year has been full of Garth and Trisha performances, so of course it ends with a Christmas program appearance on NBC.
youtube
1999
I wasn't able to find a whole lot of information about Garth and Trisha interactions throughout most of 1999. This may be because Garth's latest world tour has finally ended, and he has some new areas of focus including the "Chris Gaines" experiment that takes him down a very different tangent, along with the decision to privately separate from Sandy in March.
It may also be that they have spent the last year being such a duo that it was naturally time for a break from that. Whatever the case, they continue on as they were before... until October when Trisha files for divorce, and everyone's eyes turn to Garth.
January 1999
On January 5, Trisha receives three Grammy nominations and The Mavericks receive one, which is highlighted in a widely-dispersed Associated Press report, including the subhead: “Yearwood does better than husband.”
Sandy is with Garth at the American Music Awards on January 11, where he and Trisha also perform "Powerful Thing" together.
Less than a week later, Robert is with Trisha on January 16 when she is officially invited to join the Grand Ole Opry.
February 1999
Nancy Jones, wife of George Jones, has recently released a book called "Nashville Wives" which features chapters on wives of big country stars. Sandy contributes to the book, reportedly against Garth's wishes. Nancy tells a reporter:
“I didn’t really have to dig. I think it was therapy for a lot of these women. I think that with Sandy Brooks, there were some things she wanted to tell. Garth told her he didn’t want her to do the book, because he thought it would come back and haunt her. She called me several times, changing her mind before she said, ‘I’m doin’ it!’”
A quote from Sandy in the book includes:
“I knew nothing of what he was up to on the road, and he knew nothing of what I was up to, and we came together and said, ‘This ain’t what we had planned for each other,’ and we refocused and realized that we are a team and that we loved each other very much, but we had gotten off track.”
In an interview with Good Morning America, Nancy Jones talks more about what Sandy needed to get off her chest in the book:
Interviewer: You even talk with some women who talk about their husband's infidelity. Even Sandy Brooks, Garth Brooks' wife. And he publicly admitted his own infidelity.
Nancy: Yes, he did, and in the book it also tells how Sandy dealt with it and how he dealt with it at first when he announced it. I mean, gosh, you get on TV and announce it, it's definitely embarrassing. She dealt with it and she tells how she still deals with a lot of things out there. Just imagine being married to Garth Brooks and all the women screaming and hollering for him.
Garth's "Chris Gaines" project, which is supposed to be a lead-in to a movie, is announced in February:
Garth Brooks’ new album, a pop release that will serve as a prequel soundtrack to the movie “The Lamb," will lead off with both a pop and a country single, according to Brooks.
The Don Was-produced album, which features Brooks singing as Chris Gaines, the lead character in the movie, will be called “Garth Brooks in the Life of Chris Gaines.”
The idea, says Brooks, is that by the time the movie comes out next year, people will recognize the songs as well as have a constant reminder that the movie is coming.
(National Post)
(Though the Gaines album is initially supposed to get released in May 1999, it is pushed back several months. It will become a joke to the general public despite the commercial success of the album. The movie "The Lamb" will never end up being filmed.)
March 1999
When Garth and Sandy's divorce is filed in 2000, the documents will state that they had been quietly separated since March 1999. It appears that in the ensuing months, the two were still closely co-parenting and weighing the future of their marriage.
In Garth's documentary "The Road I'm On," Sandy says they had grown apart due to his constant career endeavors taking him away:
"When you’re not there on a daily basis, even a weekly basis, to communicate feelings… those were some lonely times."
While publicly Garth is gearing up for the Chris Gaines project, Trisha also takes on a different career move with an acting appearance in the TV show "JAG." In an article profiling her time on the show, Trisha and Garth are quoted about each other:
"The artist I would want to work with - every day, every night - is Trisha Yearwood," Garth Brooks says flatly.
“We have always just clicked,” Yearwood said. “The first time we sang together, it was like we had always sung together.”
They’ve continued to do occasional duets. Yearwood opened for Brooks last year, singing to throngs. “In Minneapolis, we had 190,000 people over nine days,” she said.
(Lansing State Journal)
An article mentions that Trisha's husband and parents are there when she is inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on March 13. I cannot find anything showing whether Garth was there, but he does offer this quote:
“I’m so happy for Trisha because she gets what it means to be a member, and I’m so happy for the Opry because they’re getting the highest in class and quality in return. It’s going to be a good marriage.”
May 1999
Amid their private separation, Sandy accompanies Garth to the ACM Awards where he wins Entertainer of the Year and Artist of the Decade. While in January he was still wearing his wedding ring, in May his finger is now bare.
During his speech to accept the Artist of the Decade award, Garth says, “I’ve got to turn to my wife, Sandy, and say thank you for a wonderful decade.”
In response, Sandy mouths, “I love you.”
He then says, “As far as a partner in the 90s music-wise, Trisha, I can’t thank you any more for the friendship you’ve shown me.”
June 1999
Trisha and her husband's band The Mavericks play a fundraiser for makeup artist Joel Green, who is battling cancer.
September 1999
Robert sits with Trisha at the CMA Awards on September 22 where she is nominated for Female Vocalist (losing to Martina McBride).
October 1999
Just two weeks after the CMAs, Trisha files for divorce from Robert. It is announced on October 5:
Country star Trisha Yearwood and her husband Robert Reynolds are calling it quits. Her publicist issued a statement Tuesday saying that the couple “filed for divorce today citing irreconcilable difference.”
The statement also says, “The couple asks that their privacy be respected during this very personal and difficult time.” The two married in May 1994.
News of the divorce will set off a flurry of tabloid stories and rumors surrounding Garth and Trisha, even as he works out his separation from Sandy for another year.
For Part 2 click here.
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
A List of Gill's Favorite Sibling Moments Between Hotch and RR (Part 2)
A continuation of my favorite sibling moments between Hotch and RR! (Part 1)
---
Being Jack's Madrina (godmother)
Haley suggesting you to be Jack's godmother and Hotch is so happy about it:
When Hotch and Haley started thinking of god parents for Jack Hotch wanted to suggest you because you're like his family, you're the closest thing he has to a sister. But he wasn't sure because Haley has Jessica so when HALEY SUGGESTS YOU HOTCH ABSOLUTELY MELTS.
---
Rossi-Reid Gets Hurt (S1)
Hotch being unable to function because he's so worried about his unbiological little sister:
Hotch is trying to be in unit chief mode and usually he's very good at compartamentalizing but he isn't thinking clearly because you're not just Rossi-Reid... you're little Rossi-Reid; the younger sister he never asked for but he's forever grateful he has and the thought of losing you is overriding every other thought in his brain.
---
Spencer and Rossi-Reid on Valentine's Day
The year Rossi had to go on a case so Hotch was the best brother ever:
Of course the entire BAU knew that Rossi went above and beyond for his daughter on Valentine's day, and even though she's the one who told him to go, Hotch still saw that she was sad.
Before his dinner date with Haley, he ran out to the nearest drug store and got RR a box of chocolates and dropped it off on his way to pick Haley up.
He just left it on the porch, rang the doorbell, and left. He didn't even have time to write that it was from him because he was in such a rush.
But RR knew and texted him anyway
"Thanks, Hotch. And don't worry. She's gonna say yes."
"Stop calling me Hotch. Hopefully she says yes."
Haley said yes.
---
The Big Game and Revelations
Even Haley sees it:
“How are they treating you at the BAU, Emily?” You heard Haley say as you approached them.
“She means, am I being nice to you?” Hotch said.
“Actually, everyone has been incredibly nice.” Emily smiled.
“I think it’d be nice if the boss covered all our drinks tonight,” you said as you walked up beside Emily.
Haley laughed and Hotch cracked a smile. “For everyone but you, (Y/N),” he said.
You faked offense, bringing a hand to your chest before turning to the Hotchner. You knew she always got a kick out of your theatrics. “Haley, do you see how he treats me?”
Haley laughed again. “You be nice to her,” she scolded Hotch playfully. He pouted and she laughed again. “I swear you two bicker like siblings.”
RR talking about how "gross" they are, but also hoping that her and Reid continue to love one another like Hotch and Haley:
“That’s so sweet!” Emily sighed a bit.
“It gets a little gross after twelve years,” you told her. “Especially when I had to listen to him pin nonstop for the first two years they dated… "Oh I never thought she’d love me, why do I have to go on a case for twenty four hours away from my love, oh why, why, why’…” You tried your best to mock young Hotch in love.
“So you and Reid won’t be gross in another eight years?” Emily asked.
You watched Hotch spin Haley around on the dancefloor, both of them simply enjoying the presence of one another. The way they moved with one another had nothing to do with acts of lust (unlike Morgan who was… being Morgan), and everything to do with knowing a person inside and out. Hotch leaned in to whisper something to Haley and she threw her head back with laughter. Her laugh made him smile.
In all the years you had known Aaron Hotchner, no one could make him smile like Haley Brooks did.
“Maybe a little,” you said, just low enough that no one could hear you over the music.
#criminal minds fanfiction#criminal minds#david rossi#rossi x daughter!reader#david rossi x daughter!reader#spencer reid x reader#spencer reid x y/n#criminal minds x reader#criminal minds x y/n#criminal minds x platonic!reader#aaron hotchner x platonic!reader#the rossi reid#hotch and rossi reid
73 notes
·
View notes
Text
I Have Been Playing With A Superstar
Chapter 1
You huffed as your character died again ignoring the comments of how bad of a player you were from your team in the bottom left corner, Instead looking through the store and buying new items to upgrade your weapons. One comment did manage to catch your eye though, a guy you had been paying with for over a year now had tried telling the others to leave you alone as you were a much lower level than everyone else. ALYFT was his user.
You for the most part just called him A.. You had met in a game of TFT, and the two of you had ended up being the final two before he won. You ended up playing a few more rounds together before he sent you a friend request. And started to invite you to play more with him in all modes. It was after a few weeks that you sent a message saying hi that you finally started talking, then another few weeks before the two of you started messaging on discord and playing other games. You each got the other into new games and more than just on pc, after you mentioned you were playing mario kart with your family he wanted to exchange friend codes and ended up playing games there. Over a year of friendship and you still had yet to voice chat or even send photos of yourselves to the other, not that you hadn't asked but A had said he was a private person and maybe one day after you'll have known each other for longer and were both comfortable he would. One thing you two had in common was that both of your friends knew that you were friends and both groups agreed that you had no idea who could be on the other end of the screen, and that you could be crazy killers and or stalkers. Which you both laughed at and questioned if you had the same friends.
You told him it was fine and you weren't really listening to the useless comments. After some more deaths on your part your team finally won. A, sent you the friendly team bonus and you sent him the mvp one. You got up and went to grab a snack and some water and when you came back A had sent you a message on discord asking if you wanted to play something else. you knew he was upset because the other people we were playing with were treating you but that's what you get for playing on his level which is well above yours. You sent him back a reply asking him what game, while at the same time one of your friends just asked you if you wanted to go out. You were about to say not right now but A came back with an apology saying he just got called into work and had to go. Telling him to have fun you said yes to your friend and went to get ready to go out.
Closing the car door and giving a quick hi to Mini you buckle your seat belt. After giving you a hi back Mini turns the music up blaring Cheese by stray kids and you both start to sing and car dance to the song. Driving down the highway blaring kpop mostly stray kids as you head into the city. Mini turned down the music “so NCT just released a new album” she said
“And now we have to go to the store so you can buy all the versions of it?” you laugh. Instead of responding she just turns the music back up and you both go back to jamming out.
After going to the k-pop store and Mini Getting the new albums she wanted and you grabbed a stray kids album you were missing, the two of you went to the big city mall for food and window shopping. It was when you were in EB Games looking at the new Mario party that Mini brought up her thoughts on A “so any idea on when you're gonna like facetime the guy?”
“not yet no” you replied
“ you really should know more about this guy especially when you are getting as close as you are to a rando on the internet” she said a little annoyed
“i get it i do but you know i have my gut feelings and my gut tells me he’s trustworthy and good for his word”
“you and your gut feeling and empathic tendency thoughts are not always going to be right you know! One day it’s going to be wrong and I don't want you to get hurt when it does” Mini stated her concern.
You know how she was hesitant to believe in your gift. You had a hard time explaining them to yourself let alone to others but it’s something you trusted and so far it has yet to let you down. You just nod knowing now is not the time to try to argue your point of view. Continuing the day you guys had fun and walked around, by the time it was late and back home you let A know you were back if he wanted to talk before you went to bed. It was about an hour later that you got a message back from him, “hey Y/U/N im still at work but some news just dropped on us here we have to travel around for some business, and i think i'm coming to Y/C/N for a few days, and i was wondering if maybe we could meet up in person while i'm there?” he had sent. You reread the message about 10 times before replying back “omg thats sooo cool i can’t wait, i am sooo excited to meet you, i can’t believe your business trip is coming out here that’s sooo cool!”. Sending back and forth more texts of excitement to finally be meeting your best online friend in person in a few months, and wanting to see if you could make some kind of a plan for where and when to meet up and what you will do, A had to go back to work and you had to get some sleep for your shift tomorrow especially now that you had to book off a few days to meet up A. with a bright smile on your face and a good feeling in your gut that this was only going to lead to good things in your future, you hit play on your sleep playlist and closed you eye’s for sleep.
#stray kids#bang chan#lee know#changbin#hyunjin#han#felix#seungmin#i.n#bang chan x reader#lee know x reader#changbin x reader#hyunjin x reader#han jisung x reader#felix x reader#seungmin x reader#i.n x reader
23 notes
·
View notes
Text
Mama, I’m Coming Home - Part 2
Part 1
Description: Making it out of the upside down and reuniting with you was not the end of Eddie’s problems. New mysteries unfold as you and Eddie discover that he isn’t alive by pure luck.
Pairing: Eddie Munson x fem!reader
Warnings: Swearing.
Word count: 1.9k
A/N: I might be getting overambitious with this story now but I’ve got some fun things planned for later on.
“Do you know if Y/N’s ok? Have you seen her?” Eddie sat in his uncle’s car as the three of them drove to Dustin’s house. He was still clutching the ukulele in his hands.
“She’s been worried sick about you,” Wayne said, “we both have been, but Dustin only just told me everything today and I haven’t had a chance to tell her yet.”
“Is she safe?”
“As safe as anyone else in Hawkins is right now.”
“That… doesn’t sound good.”
“Eddie,” Dustin said carefully, “a lot has happened since we went into the upside down.”
A pit of anxiety started to form in Eddie’s stomach. “Like what?”
“There was- well they’re calling it an earthquake,” Dustin explained, “but it’s more than that.”
“More?” Eddie held the ukulele tightly, trying to stop his hands from trembling.
“You know how there were gates that opened between our world and the upside down? And they were relatively small? Well… they got bigger. Much bigger.”
“How big?”
“They- they swallowed houses… and people.”
“Oh. Fuck.”
“So far we know of 22 deaths but there are a lot of missing people.”
“You’re one of them,” said Wayne, “and we think it’s best if people continue to think you’re missing.”
~
Eddie jolted awake on the couch in Dustin’s basement. He had been dreaming about a hand with long, claw-like fingers, and a horrible voice that growled his name. He looked around wearily. Where were Dustin and Wayne?
The door that led to the main floor opened, causing Eddie to jump. He started scrambling to hide but froze when he heard a familiar voice. Turning towards the stairs, his heart skipped a beat as you came into view.
“What do you me-” you stopped midsentence, staring at Eddie.
“Y/N.”
“Eddie.” You took the last few steps into the basement slowly, as if you weren’t fully aware of what you were doing. Your eyes traveled to his shoulder, which was still exposed by the burnt clothing that he hadn’t changed out of. “What happened to you?” Your voice was barely a whisper. You weren’t quite sure if this was really happening.
“Oh, y’know,” Eddie said with a cheeky grin, “just a bit of lightning.” He twisted his arm around to give you a better view of the burns. “Kinda been through hell the past couple of days.” He looked down at his shoulder, examining the glowing red markings. “Quite liter-”
You rushed forward, pulling him into a tight embrace. Eddie shut his mouth and wrapped his arms around you, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.
~
The whole story took over an hour to explain, between Dustin and Eddie. Wayne already knew some of it from Dustin, but you were completely out of the loop. Each new piece of information was more outlandish than the last. You sat in silence, trying to comprehend what was being said to you.
“Oh!” Eddie held up the ukulele. “I got this for you. From the upside down.”
You accepted it, still looking bewildered. “What, you just decided to pop down to the music store on your way out of the underworld?”
Eddie shrugged. “It was right there.”
“Now that I think about it,” Dustin frowned, “it is kind of weird how calm you are about all of this.”
Wayne, who had been silent for the past several minutes, finally spoke up. “You said those demobats were carrying you above the woods when the lightning hit you. That’s a long way to fall without breaking anything.”
Eddie shrugged again. “It felt like I did have some broken bones when I first woke up, but-”
“Think fast,” Dustin blurted out, “when’s my birthday?”
“Uhhhh August 14?” Eddie guessed.
In a flash, Dustin was on him. “Run!” He shouted at you and Wayne. “He’s not the real Eddie!”
There was a moment of chaos as the two boys grappled with each other while you and Wayne tried to decide whether to run or pull them apart. In the end, Eddie got Dustin in a surprisingly skilled wrestling hold and looked up to find you and Wayne standing over him with improvised weapons in your hands.
“Is everything alright down there, Dusty?” Mrs. Henderson’s voice called from upstairs. The four of you froze, looking at each other frantically. “Dusty?” A set of footsteps started getting closer.
“Yes, everything’s fine!” Dustin shouted from his place on the floor. Everyone let out a collective sigh as the footsteps receded.
“Eddie,” you said, raising the baseball bat that was in your hands, “what did we do on our first date?”
“A picnic in the woods,” Eddie replied without hesitation.
You lowered the bat. “It’s him.”
~
With the entire town of Hawkins in shambles and its population after Eddie’s head, the only logical option now was to flee. Eddie had protested at first when you said you were going as well, not because he ever wanted to part with you, but because he knew how much you would miss your family.
“They’re dead.”
There was an edge to your voice that told him not to press the subject.
You, Eddie, and Wayne left Hawkins in the dead of night. No one said a word as you passed the city limits, leaving behind everything you had ever known. Despite the numerous times you had expressed your hatred for it, Hawkins had been your home. Maybe you would miss it after all.
Eddie rubbed his shoulder. It ached as if he had slept on it wrong. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he let out a deep breath. He coughed. Rubbed his shoulder again. Shifting in his seat, Eddie grimaced with discomfort.
You reached over the back of his seat to put a hand on his shoulder as he rubbed it. “Woah, you’re really warm.”
“Am I?” Eddie’s voice came out raspy and dry.
Wayne glanced over from the driver’s seat, frowning concernedly. “You alright? You don’t sound too good.”
Eddie opened his mouth to respond, but a sudden wave of pain washed over him, causing him to gasp and double over.
“Eddie?”
Eddie’s breathing had become ragged now, and his vision was starting to darken. “Stop,” he rasped, “please… stop the car.”
Wayne barely had time to hit the brakes when Eddie started to unbuckle himself. The car jerked to a halt in the middle of the road. Weakly, desperately, Eddie fumbled with the door and tumbled out of the car. You and Wayne were at his side in an instant.
“Breathe, Eddie, slow down.”
He took a shuddering breath, squeezing his eyes shut. His ribs were on fire. Something smelled like blood and burnt flesh.
“Shit,” he breathed.
“What is it, Eddie? What’s wrong?” Wayne knelt beside the gasping heap that was his nephew.
“My ribs are broken.”
“What? How-”
“They were broken when I fell,” Eddie groaned as he dragged himself into a sitting position, “but they healed.”
You and Wayne looked at each other. “If they healed,” you said carefully, “how can they be broken now?”
“I think it has something to do with the upside down.” Eddie knew it sounded crazy, but something in his gut told him this was the truth. “If I leave Hawkins, I’ll die.”
Driving back into Hawkins not only improved Eddie’s condition but completely turned it around. His ribs mended themselves and his shoulder stopped burning.
“I should’ve died in the upside down.”
“Don’t say that!”
“No, I mean my injuries should’ve killed me. I got struck by lightning and then dropped a hundred feet. By all rights, I should be dead.”
“You can heal,” you said, “but… only in Hawkins.”
“Something here is keeping me alive.”
~
It was decided that the three of you would stay in Hopper’s cabin. Jim and El wouldn’t be needing it, after all, as they and the Byers family had taken up residence in one of the many homes that had been abandoned after the earthquake.
“Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything,” Dustin said, “and do NOT go into town.”
“Trust me,” Eddie said with a wry smile, “I am very content to hide.”
According to Steve, who had taken up the noble hobby of eavesdropping while he worked in the disaster relief center that used to be the school gym, everyone believed that Wayne had given up on finding his nephew and left town. Jason’s father, however, was still convinced that Eddie had killed his son and was hiding somewhere in Hawkins.
“That’s two for two, Eddie,” you patted him on the shoulder, “give it another week and Mrs. Carver will be telling everyone you killed their dog.”
“Haha very funny.” Eddie rolled his eyes jokingly.
~
A giant, spiderlike figure loomed over the city of Hawkins, lit from above by blood-red lightning and lit from below by the flames that were slowly consuming the town. The streets were full of chaos and the air was full of death. The townsfolk were no match for the monsters that now hunted them with ease.
“Soon…” Said a deep, echoing voice. “Humanity… will… fall…”
El and Eddie jolted awake in their respective beds, covered in sweat. This was the third night in a row that they’d had that dream. Everyone agreed that this couldn’t be a coincidence. Something big was coming. Vecna wasn’t dead.
“Why warn us?” Said Robin. “Why give us any hint of what he’s planning?”
“He’s gloating,” said Nancy, “he likes scaring us like this.”
“Why Eddie too?” Said Mike.
“We think,” you said uncertainly, “whatever’s keeping Eddie alive is also connecting him to the upside down.”
“A power line of some sort.” Dustin quipped. “He’s plugged in.”
“Like a toaster.” Eddie high fived him.
~
While the rest of the gang was out dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake, you, Eddie, and Wayne had no obligations other than to stay hidden. You and Eddie wandered through the woods hand in hand, feeling at peace for the first time in weeks. The woods were thick with trees and silence.
Eddie thought he heard, or perhaps saw out of the corner of his eye, something moving in the distance. He stopped, bringing you to a halt as well. He looked around, searching for that thing that he knew was right there.
“Eddie?” You sounded concerned. “What is it?”
He didn’t respond. Something was there, just a few yards straight ahead. It was coming closer. Oddly enough, he wasn’t afraid. There was a tingling sensation behind his eyes and a sense that whatever was making its way towards them was not a threat.
“Ed-” Your words died in your throat when you saw it.
The demodog walked out from behind a bush at a leisurely pace. You stood frozen in fear, seeing for the first time one of the monsters you had only heard of from the others.
“It’s ok,” Eddie said calmly, “it won’t hurt us.”
Too afraid to speak or move, you could only watch with wide eyes as Eddie knelt and held his hand out to the approaching beast. To your amazement, it stopped in front of him and nuzzled his hand with the front of its faceless head.
“See? Nothing to be afraid of.” Eddie looked up at you with a little smile.
Slowly, you knelt beside him and held your hand out too. The demodog ignored you. Eddie gently nudged its head towards your hand, but it continued to ignore you.
“Rude,” you giggled, your fear now replaced with wonder.
“Hey,” Eddie lifted the creatures head to be level with his face, “be nice to my girlfriend.”
The demodog immediately turned to you and started nuzzling your hand. The two of you looked at each other. Eddie looked back down at the demodog.
“Sit.”
It sat.
#text#fic#fanfiction#stranger things fanfiction#eddie munson#eddie munson x reader#stranger things#stranger things 4#stranger things au
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
Look How We've Grown
Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Rating: Explicit (E)
Notes: There's no real excuse for this one - it's just some tooth writing fluff!
Word Count: ~11.3k
Warnings: There’s a tiny bit of smut in here, but it’s me writing, so when is that not the case? Other than that, it’s pretty tame!
Summary:
Eddie Munson never expected Steve Harrington to enter into his life, especially not because of some silly movie. Yet, it happened and the best next step was to find a way to make the best out of an off the wall situation. It's surprisingly better than Eddie expected, to be with someone who paid attention and loved him for all his worth. Except, Steve shows his love in a way that takes some getting used to.
Or - 5 times Steve said "I love you" to Eddie without really saying it, and the 1 time it came so beautifully out of his mouth.
Find it on AO3
one.
Never expecting himself to be in such a situation, Eddie had no real idea how to handle secretly dating Steve Harrington.
It still blew him away that the younger boy gave him the time at all, let alone stooped himself down enough to actually call Eddie his boyfriend. Contrary to that thought, Eddie didn’t have low self-esteem, he just understood reality and the way others would see it. While no one else knew, Eddie’s feelings about their time spent together were big enough to make up for the bond staying only between them. At least for a while, anyway.
Before that thought got away from him, Eddie shifted his attention towards how the whole thing started.
Despite what people thought, Eddie had a wide range of interests that went past metal music and DnD – in fact, Eddie prided himself on the knowledge that he never stopped learning to appreciate new things. Aside from his well-used library card, Eddie’s rental history at Family Video served as the only evidence of that truth. He learned early on that giving any movie at least one shot at watching meant Eddie found hidden gems amongst the many flops. Bringing back his most recent diamond in the rough was how Steve Harrington came into Eddie’s life.
Eddie pushed his way into the video store expecting to see Keith standing behind the counter, ready to give him shit – Steve Harrington was leaned on his elbow by the store’s computer, instead. His head turned towards the door where a surprisingly melodic voice followed – “Welcome to Family Video.” While Steve sounded a little bored, the greeting was seemingly genuine for a forced behavior. Keith had gotten rid of the formalities ages ago, so Eddie enjoyed the little extra effort. Flattery always worked on him (even if it was company mandated). Nodding his head in Steve’s direction, Eddie kept the return in his hand in favor of browsing through the all too familiar selection first.
Glad to see a copy of Terminator back on the shelf, Eddie snagged the video with haste. The fruit of Arnold’s labor never stuck around the store long and his newest DnD campaign called for the build and creation of a whole new world. Deciding to dabble in the post-apocalyptic meant getting to view one of his favorites. For research purposes, of course.
Bucking up the courage to walk up to the counter took longer than actually picking a movie. Eddie wandered aimlessly around the store until it became too weird to continue to do so. He picked up candy and flipped through magazines to prolong the inevitable, but the time finally came. With the decision to play it cool firmly made, Eddie threw caution to the wind and did his best to walk confidently to the front.
He shouldn’t have allowed himself to get so worked up, though. Steve’s smile at Eddie was easy, like the brunette was happy for the distraction or any kind of person-to-person interaction. Eddie was glad to see it, whatever the case – the loosening grip of anxiety made it much easier for words to come. “I wanna grab this one and return this one,” Eddie said, sliding each tape and his membership card up onto the counter.
Steve didn’t miss a beat, he snagged the return from Eddie first, glancing at the title. “Clue – like the board game?” Steve questioned as he went about completing the return. Eddie noticed that his hands worked on autopilot despite shockingly gorgeous hazel eyes never leaving Eddie.
“Yeah, actually. All of the characters are the same at least.” Eddie’s shoulders relaxed a little then, allowing him to lean a hip against the counter. “It’s one of those dark comedies that keeps you guessing until the end.” For some reason, his voice lightened, almost taking on a flirty quality to it. Dumbfounded with himself, Eddie tried to reel it back in.
A soft little chuckle fell from Steve’s lips. “I’ll have to check it out.” Steve scanned the video in, then reached for the other, his body moving smooth and methodically. Eddie was somewhat surprised Steve didn’t have some comment to make on the next movie choice, but most of their interaction so far made him feel that way, too. Shocked, overwhelmed, undone.
Instead of being snarky, Steve shifted easily through the motions of taking money and completing the purchase, pushing the video back Eddie’s direction in no time. There was a pause before Steve added Eddie’s membership card and receipt to the pile. “Have a good night, Eddie Munson.”
Dumbfounded, Eddie snagged everything off the counter manically, looking everywhere but at Steve who just acknowledged him, who now knew his name. He babbled out a hurried “thanks” before turning to hightail it out of the store. And while it made him look like a total idiot, Eddie was certain that any attempts to be smooth or sane or even normal would’ve fallen so very flat, anyway. The same odd feeling Eddie got when his tone turned sultry a few moments earlier settled in the pit of his belly. It dug in there and stuck around on the way home and into the evening where Eddie made it his movie time companion.
Trying not to think about his interaction with Steve made it harder for Eddie to forget. While his attention usually wasn’t on school, Eddie found himself unable to think about anything but Steve’s easy grin and how it radiated in Eddie’s direction like a homing beacon. Classes be damned twice over. The light of it was so bright that he struggled against the draw tugging at him. What good would it do to be sucked in by something that would only shock and zap him when contact was made?
Eddie wanted to believe in his grip on self-control, that he’d be able to keep to his resolve. In the past, moderating desires hadn’t gone that well, so the likelihood of success wasn’t very high before Eddie even walked into the Family Video store later that week. Upon seeing Steve again, the understanding that escaping with everything intact wasn’t an option started to settle in, sinking under the surface of his skin. There was no combatting something strong enough to bring Eddie to his knees without contest.
So, he gave into it. Eddie allowed himself to smile and flirt and give Steve movie recommendations after the former jock surprised him with a Tim Curry reference. “I watched Clue – it was exactly how you said it would be. Tim Curry’s part had me hooked.” Steve looked earnest in his admission, pulling Eddie further in without even knowing it.
“You know Tim Curry?” Eddie asked without taking the time to think. His words slipped out in excitement, drawing a flush to his cheeks, too. Eddie ducked his head to let a few pieces of hair slip in front of his face to hide behind. The thought of exposing himself in any way at all to Steve was terrifying. Steve himself was terrifying.
Which was funny because Steve’s eyes widened comically and the charming shape of his lips yanked up into a real, almost cheesy smile. “Yeah, man! My best friend Robin took me to see Rocky Horror Picture Show live this past Halloween – I’ve been a fan ever since.”
After a statement like that, Eddie had no choice but to lean into the simple camaraderie between them. It became too easy to walk into Family Video with the intention of renting one tape only to spend hours there, instead. Steve’s personality, hidden so well under the preppy clothes and big hair, was rich and filled with little things Eddie found himself liking more and more. Eddie was helpless against conversation that flowed uninhibited. Those warm fuzzy feelings of friendship were quickly bypassed by yearning and want for leaps and bounds beyond the guise of best buddies.
It was devastating to think that the cute boy with jokes and stories and ideas galore would never have a matching desire. Eddie did his best not to linger on the sting of that but sometimes it showed. Sometimes, Eddie walked into the store with his shoulders slumped before he remembered to chipper up and get all he could from Steve and his friendship while it lasted. Unrequited feelings happened all the time yet these felt bigger somehow, like Eddie might topple over under the heavy weight of them.
Eddie soon found out why the steady thump of his heart changed to something rampant whenever he thought of Steve not wanting him back. In the long run, Eddie should’ve known the idea of love would catch up to him. He escaped it long enough to be slightly cynical about it (though Steve made that fickle bull shit fade away, too). Now that it wrapped itself around Eddie’s ankle, he suddenly understood why so many songs were about love – it made a person deliriously happy and disastrously sad all at once. The thought gave Eddie whiplash, leaving him wishing he never came to understand the ache.
Except everything that Eddie ever assumed went flying out the window late one Friday night. Eddie was helping Steve finish up his closing duties when the younger boy turned to him suddenly. Steve’s face was unreadable, his eyebrows pinched in concentration while his lips tried to smile. Eddie worked hard not to hold his breath while Steve’s brain buffered around whatever he wanted to say.
“Would you ever want to watch some of these together?” Steve finally asked, managing to pipe up after a couple of tense minutes of silence. He looked nervous, fidgety even. Eddie didn’t understand it at all – then again, he wasn’t all that sure he truly processed the reality of Steve’s words, either. Not when he mindlessly nodded, agreeing to a torture that was slow yet lovely all the same. Of course, Eddie should’ve learned not to presume things because Steve’s forward intentions from the get-go during their first movie night combatted his initial expectations tenfold. Eddie walked into Steve’s house with the thought of narrowing down the space to one couch cushion between them by the end of the night. Steve, he sat right next to Eddie in order to slip an arm around his shoulders halfway through the first movie.
That trend continued with each not-date they shared. Steve got close and stayed there, practically holding Eddie to him every chance he got. Eddie struggled not to spontaneously combust or melt into a puddle out of Steve’s hold. Then Steve got a little gutsier – he started to lean in while the movie played to whisper in Eddie’s ear. None of what he said was of much importance, not that Eddie had the capacity to pay attention, anyway. He was usually too busy willing away the boner Steve’s voice manifested each and every time.
It stayed well and good until one night Eddie just snapped. Steve had the audacity to pull up to Eddie’s trailer in a tight blue and white striped polo that hugged his biceps and chest just right. Never mind the fact that stubble and hot breath and lowly spoken words had been progressively driving him crazy for weeks. Eddie had no control over himself when he eventually turned in Steve’s hold, grabbed his face, and kissed him hard.
Eddie’s brain caught up to what happened a couple of seconds after he attacked Steve’s lips. Everything in him shouted to pull back, to step away before hurting became both a physical and emotional thing. Steve’s hand jetting up to grab Eddie’s neck said otherwise and Eddie so desperately wanted to listen to that, instead. As Steve leaned into the touch, Eddie pressed even further forward, deepening their kiss until it was tongue and teeth and panted breath.
Steve broke away first to brush his nose against Eddie’s while his chest heaved. “Finally… I’ve been driving myself crazy waiting,” Steve muttered breathily. Warm air passed against Eddie’s face with every one of Steve’s exhales, reminding him of their close proximity – and what did Steve just say?
Pulling away completely, Eddie took in Steve’s blown out eyes and satisfied expression. Where Eddie was expecting to find disgust, he only saw want that equaled his own. Steve’s words continued to crawl into Eddie’s pores until they settled inside, coursing through his veins to finally make it up to his brain. Had Steve wanted him the entire time? Eddie didn’t know the answer but Steve’s lips were there and his rationality was foggy, so he thoughtlessly leaned in and kissed Steve again. All the rest could wait.
That life changing night was a few months ago, leading into a relationship that brought Eddie happiness and young teens to take care of. With Steve came Dustin, which meant getting used to the rest of the party, too. Thankfully, all of Dustin’s friends were cool enough to be into DnD, so bridging the gap with them was easy. Eddie went from small time dungeon master with no life to the creative leader of a whole club with a gorgeous boyfriend who shockingly adored him.
Of course, no one else knew that last fact. Eddie was still trying to figure out if it was done purposely, or simply because no one applied pressure or caught them out. And their pairing was more than unexpected – most people would never believe it, anyway. Steve wasn’t in school or around groups of outsiders that were. Since crowded halls and lunchrooms weren’t something they had to deal with, Eddie understood the lack of broadcasting to the world as a whole. What irked him ever so slightly was the kids not knowing. Dustin and his crew were used to Eddie and his presence around Steve. Hell, Steve spent more time at their DnD campaigns than some of the active members.
And while Eddie would never actively push to have Steve do something he wasn’t comfortable with, the passing days where he had to pretend around people he considered friends broke another little piece of his heart. Try as he might to stay strong, Eddie wanted so desperately to be Steve’s in every way that he kept on blindly hoping.
Dustin, the sneaky little shit, ended up being an unsuspecting catalyst to Eddie finally getting his wish. He was on top form that afternoon, joking around and giving others shit. His main target had been Steve lately – mostly because they were like brothers that never stopped picking on each other. Eddie tried not to pay any attention to it and was successful doing so until Dustin brought up Steve’s dating life. The heckles were good natured and fun but Eddie’s skin crawled a little. Unsure of what he would do if Steve tried to make something up, Eddie attempted to stealthily get up from his spot on the couch – if he ran away, Eddie could continue to live in ignorant bliss.
Steve beating him to the punch stopped him, however. Eddie’s eyes got wide as Steve got up from the recliner he was sitting in to take in the room. It was so silent that Eddie heard Lucas swallow his own spit in anticipation. The urge to pipe up and break apart the quiet was impeded by Steve moving again; this time, he headed in Eddie’s direction. Unable to decipher what was happening, Eddie made himself as small as possible on the couch cushion – only to be jostled and thrown off center by Steve sitting down right next to him. Before Eddie could catch his breath or shift into a better position, Steve’s arm was around him, hiking him in close.
Then, without a single word, Steve invaded Eddie’s space to press a soft kiss to the apple of his cheek. Steve’s lips lingered there, spreading the blush he caused so that Eddie’s face was beat red by the time Steve pulled away. It wasn’t a big reveal or dramatically done. Steve just sat there contently until Dustin picked his jaw up off the floor and continued the conversation like nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Maybe, when push came to shove, Steve said his truths best without saying anything at all.
two.
Later in the year, as all the Vecna stuff started to happen and the world turned on him, Eddie figured he wasn’t going to make it out on the other side. Thinking back to all the similar plotted movies he’d ever seen, the misunderstood outsider always died at the end. Just in time for everyone to realize their worth, or something cheesy like that. Too bad Eddie already found the best people to love and appreciate him. Instead of leaving nothing behind, Eddie had rich hobbies and crazy passion, and real friends that would miss him. The nothingness of his life faded when Steve came into his world and lit it on fire in the best of ways.
It took a while for Eddie to come to terms with the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t shake. While Steve, Robin, and Nancy took Ericka to hunt for supplies, Eddie tried to ignore Dustin’s heavy stare, to avoid conversation in any shape in hopes of swallowing such a large pill. There was so much tension that even the young chatterbox stayed reluctantly silent, wallowing in the dire situation they were in. Eddie embraced the silence and used it to process the hard stuff before Steve and the crew made it back to the RV.
With acceptance came the realization that Eddie needed to hold tight to the little things before time ran out. He shook his head of thoughts and worries to lean into his time with Dustin as they sorted out their weaponry and battle plan. Taking the boy’s face into his hands, Eddie spoke earnestly to project his hopes onto a person who had so much potential, who, in a few short months, made him feel empathetic and paternal, who made him care.
It was too much to think about lasts with Steve without wanting to back out and demand neither of them went anywhere. Since everyone surrounding them knew how close Eddie and Steve truly were, there wasn’t an eyelash batted at the clinging way Eddie kept a hand on Steve. The dwindling down of the minutes was a tangible thing, Eddie felt every single second passing him by. His heart slammed against his chest, making his sternum hurt from the contact. That ache was deeper seated, though – Eddie knew tearing himself away from Steve to do the task that needed to be done was going to be next to impossible.
Never mind the fact that Steve was looking at him so curiously that Eddie wanted to blurt out all of his weariness and fears. It wouldn’t change anything, doing something so selfish like that. There was a plan in place for a reason and Eddie knew Steve would stay with him if Eddie asked, torching the playbook to the ground without any hesitation. That was why Eddie hung onto his composure with the tips of his fingers as the group headed out of the Upside Down’s version of his trailer into the hostile environment of the hive mind. The weak part of him didn’t snap until the group started to part ways. Eddie panicked, shouting out Steve’s name. “Steve, wait – “
There wasn’t any uncertainty in the way Steve turned to him, quickly narrowing down the space between them with his long legs. They were embracing before either boy understood how or what it meant. All Eddie knew was that Steve’s arms were firm and warm around him, holding him close. If this was his last few moments with the boy he loved so much, Eddie figured he could die a pretty happy man. He tried not to think about that as he forced himself to pull away, to step back enough to cup Steve’s cheeks and kiss him softly. “Be safe,” Eddie whispered, kissing Steve again.
Steve nodded, an odd sort of determination settling over him. “I’ll see you soon.” The words sounded like a promise as he pecked at Eddie’s lips one last time. They shared a hard look that steadily softened – Steve kept his eyes on Eddie until walking backwards was no longer feasible, until plump lips smiled encouragingly and the real fun began.
With his guitar in hand a little while later, Eddie played with a reckless abandon, giving himself over to the mad rush of adrenaline that accompanied simply letting go. Having Dustin by his side felt fitting, somehow. Aside from Steve, no one understood him quite as much. The genuine smile and enjoyment Eddie got to see on Dustin’s face made the flock of demobats flying towards them a little less scary. When all was said and done, Eddie was leaving behind a legacy fit for a metal legend, one he knew Dustin would carry around and brag about for ages.
Throughout it all, he never experienced an ounce of regret. As he hit his knees, Eddie figured the lifeless pile of bats around him had to mean something good. If only he wasn’t blinking back darkness that was sucking him in little by little. It would’ve been nice to find out. He tried not to notice the way his heart broke as Dustin cried, or the way his body started to feel heavier by the second. It was a heady mix of pride and fear that followed the droop in his eyelids. For some reason, the creeping feeling of death was a lot more soothing than Eddie though it’d be.
Except – Eddie blinked awake again, gasping in a breath of air that made his chest burn. His muscles were weighty and sore, like lead that kept him pressed down into the stiff mattress. The room was dark but the glow coming from the hall gave Eddie’s eyes a chance to adjust to the room around him. The most notable thing was the signs of life beeping at his side attached to IVs sticking out of his hands and elbow. A nasal cannula was draped over his ears passing a low flow of air out of the prongs in his nose. His hair was feathered out on the pillow, almost like someone ran their hands through the greasy strands.
No matter how hard he thought, it was hard to connect all of those details to form a complete picture because of the weightlessness that was sitting at the edges of Eddie’s vision, trying hard to pull him under.
A shift against his thigh had Eddie blinking back the sluggishness, fighting in the moment to stay awake. Eddie willed his head to turn, huffing out a breath when he could finally see the other side of the room. It took a second to register the lump draped over the edge of the mattress – Steve’s head was pillowed on Eddie’s thigh as he slept uncomfortably. His face was turned towards him, so Eddie took advantage of the rare moment to gaze at Steve’s softened features and handsome qualities. A small clump of hair was hanging down over his forehead, playing up the boyish look even more. Without much conscious control, Eddie’s hand slowly reached out until his fingertips brushed those locks of hair.
The movement woke Steve almost instantly. His eyes were wide as he took in the situation before tears quickly welled up and started to spill. It was impossible to mistake the look in watery eyes staring up at him so adoringly as anything other than love and care and relief. Like always, it froze Eddie to the spot. The hammer of his heart drummed hard in his chest, bringing back that ache Eddie experienced in those moments he figured were his last. Except this time, Steve was there to touch him, to hold him hard, to keep him grounded in the fact that life was going to continue to move on around him. Was, after many attempts otherwise, going to include Eddie in the glorious passing of minutes and moments and time – more fucking time.
Steve stood up after a minute of trying to collect himself to get close enough to pull Eddie into a delicate hug. Pains Eddie didn’t know existed zinged and shouted at him, but he didn’t care. His boyfriend was quietly crying against the side of Eddie’s neck, holding on so tightly that Eddie was afraid that if he let go, floating away was a legitimate result. After a while, Eddie realized he was crying, too. Sobbing, in fact. For no reason at all, or maybe for so many reasons that his drugged out mind couldn’t really comprehend it. In a lot of ways, it didn’t matter all that much, either. Steve held him and shushed him and when the tears continued to fall, brushed them away with the softest touch. The intimacy felt like so much that Eddie was almost convinced that the haze of sleep and being in a coma and whatever good shit they had him on were playing tricks on him.
They seemed like the best sort of tricks, though – Steve’s lips pressed against Eddie’s cheeks and nose and chin where bites and cuts littered the skin. He bypassed Eddie’s lips in favor of weaseling his body into the spot between Eddie and the edge of the bed. It took a bit of maneuvering but they made it work. Eddie got to lie exhausted in Steve’s arms where he felt the most like home. After believing death was the only option, feeling comfort and contentment was transcending and foreign and just as scary as the thought of dying. Eddie closed his eyes to the thought and leaned into Steve’s embrace.
When the drag of fatigue yanked at him again, Eddie let sleep take him with the ghost of Steve’s quiet love pressed against the skin of his neck, his cheek, his forehead, even his hair. He welcomed the haze of nothingness knowing he was surrounded in Steve Harrington, the absolute love of his life.
three.
Unfortunately, the repercussions of being falsely accused of murder coexisted in tandem with several long weeks of recovery. On top of stitches all over the place, Eddie had to deal with legal counsel and cops trudging in and out of his room all day. There were enough not so supernatural things available for Eddie’s amazingly good and quite secretive lawyers to work with – while that was good for his innocence, Eddie found the waiting game to be worse than the pain simply sitting up in bed brought about. The number of deaths that Eddie wasn’t anywhere close to kept him from being cuffed to the bed, but someone from the sheriff’s department was camped out in front of his door. Until the verdict was read, Eddie had no freedom.
In the long run, being confined to his room was a good thing. Eddie didn’t have space to run into or the freewill to do so, anyway. Though it made him want to climb the walls, forced rest did wonders for his recovery. He slept a lot and clung to the times when the PT came into his room to do exercises and break up the mundane monotony being stuck in one place created. If it weren’t for Steve, Dustin, and Max, who were frequent visitors (almost every day for several hours during that day), Eddie would’ve gone insane. More so, anyway, than he already was.
Finally, after weeks and weeks of doing absolutely nothing, Eddie was deemed fit enough to sit in a court room and listen to hoax theories and the bare minimums of reality presented to a judge and jury tasked to decide his fate. It was only a small step above being confined to an uncomfortable bed, but just barely. He never understood how boring and catty the underbelly of the law was until then – those days were long and excruciating for everyone involved. Eddie hated hearing about the destruction of Hawkins and his supposed wrong doings. Luckily, the lawyers defending him were damn good at their jobs, securing Eddie’s innocence after weeks battling the town’s fear.
Following the dropping of all his charges, Eddie’s desire to be out amongst the living was so high he brought Corroded Coffin back together well before his body was ready. He played through aches and stiff, barely healed fingers in eager anticipation of getting back on the stage again. Between practicing and spending all of his free moments with Steve and the kids, Eddie ran himself ragged with every attempt to enjoy life for all that it was worth. After almost dying and laying around dormant, a little tiredness meant nothing. Not when Eddie was free and the world was before him.
By the time that graduation rolled around, Eddie was able to stand and jam and rock out to a satisfactory degree – after many, many weeks away Corroded Coffin was performing once again. Using it as both a graduation party and an excuse to play his music in front of Steve for the first time, Eddie went all out in preparation. He sold a few extra baggies of weed in order to afford good booze and responsible drinks for the littles of the party. A gig at The Hideout was a perfect way to celebrate.
And celebrate Eddie did. The show was wild and exciting – aside from their usual five drunks, the kids and some of Robin’s band friends were raging in the audience with Steve leading the pack. It was a riot to watch Steve dance between Nancy and Robin, then shift across the floor to bump into Dustin and twirl Max around. While Eddie knew his band wasn’t all that good, the rise in energy in the place made them sound better somehow. Or maybe it was just Eddie’s enjoyment of the atmosphere masking all the bad shit. Whatever it was, Eddie stepped off the stage feeling larger than life and more alive than ever before.
He reveled in that feeling as he drew Steve to him. Since their fight with Vecna, Eddie refused to shy away from having Steve near in public or touching him in front of others. Life was too short, that’s what that night and every night since getting out of the hospital was all about. They were off babysitting duty, so Eddie lined up shots and poured them heavy handedly. His were going down so fast that Eddie didn’t take the time to notice Steve staying a couple drinks behind him. In fact, Eddie stopped taking in a lot of things as alcohol and adrenaline and the few puffs of a joint before the show started to mix. If he were more together, he would’ve noticed how fucked up he’d gotten. It'd been such a long time since he plowed himself over with enough booze to drown in when it all came up later.
Unlike all of Eddie’s other crazy party nights, Steve was there to take care of him. Eddie usually stumbled around until Hank at the bar stuffed him into a taxi or let him sleep it off on the couch backstage. The bits and pieces of the night Eddie did remember were focused around Steve who plied him with water when Eddie allowed it, who helped him hobble over to the bathroom when the booze became too much, who held back his hair when Eddie couldn’t keep his shit together anymore, who, at the end of the night, got Eddie’s guitar and amp into the car before the bar closed. Steve was a knight in shining armor, despite Eddie being too drunk to truly appreciate it.
Through the haze of drunkenness, Eddie saw Steve’s truth so vividly. Double vision and all.
That glorious sight stayed with Eddie all the way into dream world where he ruminated in the best times with Steve by his side. Drunken sleep made it possible to get through the night without nightmares lingering in the back of his mind, keeping him awake or anticipating the abrupt jump to consciousness when sleep did come. It was nice to recall times where Steve held him close or they flanked the kids through the woods on the way to Cerebro for Dustin’s weekly Suzy call. Instead of darkness and decay, Eddie clung onto the particular sort of brightness Steve and the family they made brought to his life.
When Eddie woke up sometime later, his head was throbbing with the less than subtle reminder that tequila shots and whiskey sodas were not the best combination. As the world evened out and Eddie prepared his body for the swim of movement, the soft sheets under him registered. They were in Steve’s house, then. Grinning at the thought, Eddie found it in himself to roll over towards the bedside table. A small gasp left his mouth at the sight of two ibuprofen pills and a large glass of water. The pills were resting on a sticky note that said ‘take me’ in Steve’s sloppy handwriting. Later, when he was more put together, Eddie was going to snag the post it and add it to his growing collection of reminders from Steve.
Sitting up, Eddie did what the note prompted, swallowing them down with the entirety of the glass of water. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headboard for a couple of minutes, letting reality trickle in through the hangover that was clinging to every part of him. After the water settled and Eddie felt energized enough to get to his feet, he slowly got out of bed, slipping into the yellow sweater Steve had on a couple of nights earlier. It still smelt like cedar and hairspray and Old Spice deodorant – like the best parts of home. Eddie wrapped his arms around himself and made his way out of Steve’s room.
The smell of bacon hit Eddie’s nose halfway down the large staircase. His stomach grumbled at the thought of hot food. He was quiet enough in his entry not to disturb Steve right away. Eddie stood with his shoulder pressed against the doorframe, watching as Steve flipped bacon with one hand while the other stirred scrambled eggs in a pan. There was toast waiting to be buttered and jellied on the counter next to coffee that smelt amazing. Never mind the fact that Steve looked natural in such a domestic setting. Eddie wasn’t sure if it was too soon to be thinking so but he figured he wanted to wake up and see something like this for the rest of his life. Steve was the perfect person to share a life with, the easy, unprompted way he took care of Eddie said so loudly and with assertion.
Steve must’ve felt the weight of Eddie’s stare on him because he turned to shoot a smile over his shoulder. “I was going to bring it to you in bed,” Steve admitted, looking slightly sheepish. The blush on his neck and cheeks had Eddie stepping further into the kitchen to embrace Steve in a hug from behind that was so tight it made Eddie’s already light head start to spin. Leaning his forehead into the middle of Steve’s back, Eddie let a happy sigh fall from his lips.
“I’m glad I caught you. I could get used to this view.” Eddie’s words were slightly muffled by the fabric of Steve’s shirt as he talked into, but easy to hear, nonetheless. He waited for Steve’s shoulder blades to tense up under him, yet it never happened. Steve reached up and patted Eddie’s hands, instead, shifting slightly in his grip.
“Good, I’m not going anywhere.” He went about working on finishing their breakfast without knowing how much his words impacted Eddie. With one last squeeze around Steve’s middle, Eddie left his boyfriend to finish up. Taking a drowsy seat at the kitchen table, he relaxed back into the chair, allowing himself to take deep breaths and think on the fact that Steve might be planning on forever, too. After all the crazy shit they’d been through, Eddie wanted to live and do it the best way he knew how. He figured Steve could be the one from the start, their connection came that easily. Having solid evidence standing happily in front of the stove for him made it all so much more real.
Steve wasn’t the most forthcoming with his emotions; not when it came to talking about them, at least. Eddie tried not to be frustrated by the fact that he had to spend a lot of time guessing, but he was starting to realize that Steve spoke a lot through his actions. Thinking back to the big things that happened between them before, Eddie couldn’t deny that Steve drove his point home with touch and tangibility and well timed gestures. When he wasn’t paying attention, Eddie missed out on the sly smiles and cheek kisses that were nudges that said ‘you’re my favorite’ and ‘I appreciate you’ more than the spoken words ever could.
Eddie was broken out of his musing by the slide of a plate in front of him accompanied by the press of Steve’s lips against his forehead. Blinking, Eddie grinned up at Steve – “thanks, babe.” He took a look down at the spread to see all of his favorite breakfast foods. Steve had even globbed on the strawberry jelly just the way that Eddie liked. Tears welled up in Eddie’s eyes against his will – it shook him to the core, Steve’s ability to know him so obnoxiously well. He huffed out a laugh to cover up the whimper Eddie couldn’t hold back before looking in Steve’s direction.
He was met with a soft smile and the firm clasp of Steve’s hand over his own. He squeezed firmly once, twice, then let go to pick up his fork. As Eddie dug into his own portion of Steve’s labor of love, he reveled in the fact that just being by the boy he loved already made him feel better than before.
Funny how the little things could mean so much.
four.
Despite knowing the blurt was coming, Eddie was surprised when the big “L” word came tumbling out of his mouth. It was completely unprompted and seemingly out of nowhere. Eddie literally slapped a hand over his mouth in hopes that muffling the tail end of it would stop the words from entering the atmosphere. The look in Steve’s eyes told him it was much too late, though. Eddie held his breath, unable to decide how his boyfriend was going to react.
Silence wasn’t what Eddie expected from his admission but it was much better than distaste or anger. While Eddie was more than sure that those would never be Steve’s reactions, he also had no experience in relationships, let alone telling someone the way he felt. It was only slightly hurtful that Steve didn’t say the words back right away – not that Eddie expected him to. He understood love languages enough to know Steve’s wasn’t anything verbal. Still, Eddie’s stomach sank as the quiet grew.
Of course, Steve didn’t leave Eddie hanging for long. His lips were quirked in a huge grin and his hands were eager to gain access to Eddie’s face, his lips, his neck, the strands of his hair, even. By the time Steve leaned in to kiss him, Eddie was overwhelmed by the plethora of ways Steve was touching him. It was hard to keep up with teasing fingertips and plump lips that pressed against Eddie’s just right.
All logical thought fled from Eddie’s brain; Steve’s concentrated assault on his lips made it difficult to focus on anything that wasn’t tangling their tongues together. Both of his hands were settled on Eddie’s hips, gripping them tightly and using that clench to bring Eddie in close. It was an odd thing to be fond of, but Eddie enjoyed the hard thump of Steve’s heart against his chest. The more they kissed, the harder the beat got – exhilaration at causing such a reaction was just as arousing as the thick cock pressing against his thigh.
There was a blur of activity as they got up from Steve’s couch and fumbled into his bedroom. They spent the earlier part of the night at the diner, eating patty melts and greasy fries that Eddie could still taste in Steve’s mouth. Retreating into the comfort of Steve’s living room was the usual end to simple dates that Eddie liked the best. That’s probably why “I love you” came out so easy – everything about being with Steve was so goddamn easy.
Especially the delicate twist of their bodies together. Eddie could expertly disrobe Steve without having to pull his lips away from the soft skin of his boyfriend’s long neck. His hands were familiar with the scars on Steve’s sides and the way his breath hitched when Eddie wrapped his hand around the warm heat of Steve’s length. There was a heady tension in the air that Eddie hadn’t experienced between them before, making each touch and caress and shared groan into something so much more.
Steve’s hands and lips were tireless as he led Eddie to the bed. He spent a lot of time lowering him onto the mattress, holding the back of Eddie’s head until it hit the pillow like something precious. His fingers stayed tangled in the length of Eddie’s hair as their lips touched to kiss again and again and again. There were so many good things about being with Steve, but Eddie had to admit the way his boyfriend kissed was amongst the best of them.
Eddie slowly lost his mind as those amazing lips trailed down his jaw and neck, leading the way for nips and sucks at sensitive skin. At the same time Steve’s mouth worked, his hands were moving up Eddie’s sides and across ribs that were slowly starting to becoming less noticeable. Steve spent a few extra minutes tracing Eddie’s tummy while tangling his fingers in the long line of hair leading down to an aching cock straining for touch or friction or anything at all. It was a delicious torment to feel Steve barely brush against the tip before moving onto the inside of his thighs, instead.
The sweet torture of lips tracing his collar bones and Steve’s fingers running over the heavy sack of Eddie’s balls made any thought other than desperate need flop by the wayside. Screw conventional phrases when body talk was just as efficient and meaningful – not to mention pleasurable. Eddie’s skin was prickled with goosebumps and covered in the kind of cold sweat that meant Steve’s delicious tease was working to rile him up beyond belief. So, Eddie gave himself over to the visceral overwhelm. He threw his head back and moaned Steve’s name, he gripped the sheets with white knuckles and did his best not to thrust up against any part of Steve he could reach. Eddie went completely primal, leaning into his instinct to submit – if Steve wanted to worship him, Eddie would provide him with an altar in which to do so.
For long minutes that felt like years, Steve traced the still pink scars along Eddie’s chest and sides. He used his tongue to replicate the shape of each one, then kissed along the length of them. The skin there was so sensitive that Eddie’s throat was sore from the gasping and groaning each tender touch provoked. And when Steve was done there, he didn’t miss a torturous beat – his lips wrapped around the head of Eddie’s cock without any warning.
“Oh fuck, Steve – “ Eddie shouted. He sat up on his elbows to watch Steve’s cheeks hallow out as red lips slowly slid down his length. Steve picked up his eyes to stare at Eddie – with each move Steve made, the darker those hazel eyes got. The sexiness of that unbreakable glance was unprecedented. Despite going down on him so many times before, Steve’s fervor was different, Eddie felt it with each bobbing slip of Steve’s mouth. His boyfriend wanted him to come undone completely, each seam and stitch pulled apart.
Somewhere in the pleasurable rush of having his brain sucked out through his cock, Eddie heard the fumbling of Steve’s side table drawer, but couldn’t latch onto that information when so many other things were worth his focus. So Eddie was surprised to hear the snick of a lube cap and the cold press of wet fingers against his entrance. With a groan and the slightest buck of his hips into Steve’s mouth, Eddie spread his legs wider to give Steve more room to work.
It was a wild ride of not knowing where to actually focus as Steve sucked him off and fingered him open. Eddie’s entire body was trembling, already making it difficult to grab onto anything but Steve and warmth and want that completely consumed him. It didn’t help that Steve was clever in the timing of his mouth and fingers. Many brushes against his prostate were coupled with a hard suck to the tip of his cock, or better yet, a warm gulp around the entirety of Eddie’s length. The efficiency in which Steve was obliterating Eddie piece by piece was magnificent in both its newness and intensity.
After a few more minutes of the tandem assault against all of Eddie’s self-control, he reached his breaking point. “I’m gonna cum if you don’t stop, Steve,” Eddie groaned, managing to get the words out through clenched teeth. Steve’s expert ministrations had him so close to the edge that Eddie genuinely hurt from it. His ears were ringing, his heart pounding – it was so good, Eddie had no idea how he managed to hang on for so long.
Just as abruptly as it all began, every sensation stopped all at once. Steve picked up his head at the same time lube covered fingers drew out of Eddie’s hole. The shock of it drew another strangled moan of Steve’s name from Eddie’s lips – while it was impressive to see Steve do exactly what he said, Eddie hadn’t actually meant a complete cessation of all the great things happening.
Steve was quick to distract Eddie once again, however – Eddie so easily became invested in chasing the taste of himself from Steve’s mouth. As their tongues tangled and Eddie gripped the beautiful boy above him, Steve fumbled to align the head of his cock against a slippery opening he so diligently prepared. As he pushed inside, Eddie broke away from the kiss to moan his satisfaction. There was nothing like feeling complete once again. With Steve inside of him, Eddie felt full and whole, like their closeness and connection was the key to everything. Half the thrill of coming together was the heady feeling of not knowing where he stopped and Steve began.
It soon became all about the swivel of Steve’s hips and Eddie’s answering squeeze. Despite his attempts to keep the pace slow, Steve fell into the mindlessness of roaring arousal. Never mind the fact that Eddie played dirty to keep Steve close. Between running hands and thrusts that hit just right, Eddie’s measurement and sense of pleasure was obliterated. He’d long surpassed the recognizable intimacy they usually created together. Whatever level they were on was one Eddie never reached before. It wasn’t sex or carnality they were sharing, it was love. Making it, creating it, passing it back and forth between each other. When all was said and done, Steve was reciprocating Eddie’s words in the only way he knew how.
Eddie didn’t stand a chance after that thought registered. He dug his fingers into Steve’s back and tightened the hold of his legs around quickly thrusting hips. If he didn’t hold on, Eddie was certain the orgasm rushing up from his core was going to burst him apart into a million little pieces. All that Steve was giving him in that moment was too much for one feeble man to handle.
Especially when Steve tucked his head into Eddie’s neck, babbling his name like others did when they spoke to God. His tone was pleading, as if only Eddie could grant him the permission of experiencing such mindboggling pleasure. Eddie answered by way of shouting “fuck” and spilling his release between their sweat soaked bellies. Surging up, Eddie dug his teeth into Steve’s shoulder as wave after wave of the best orgasm he’d ever experienced pulsed from Eddie’s oversensitive cock.
The high stuck around for a while after Eddie’s body stopped shaking from the physical, emotional, mental, and soulful exertion. His chest was heaving with the need to draw in oxygen and ground himself to the fact that something so life changing had just happened. With only a few working braincells, Eddie was having a hard time processing everything his mind and body wanted him to pay attention to. Thankfully, Steve made the decision easy by slumping down against Eddie’s chest, successfully pining him to the bed. Instead of worrying or thinking or wondering, Eddie leaned into the soft kisses Steve peppered against his neck.
He must’ve fallen asleep in the post orgasm haze because Eddie was blinking himself awake a little while later. His stomach and chest weren’t covered in jizz, so Steve must’ve taken care of that for him. Smiling at the thought, Eddie moved to look for Steve but was stopped by a firm hand on his stomach. “Don’t move, you’ll smudge it,” Steve mumbled. His tongue was poking out of the side of his mouth when Eddie registered the whole situation. There was a Sharpie against his skin and Steve’s concentration face in place.
Trying to keep still, despite the cool press of the marker, Eddie did his best to relax drowsily against the mattress and revel in Steve’s attention. He watched Steve’s arm move and his eyes narrow as he worked. It was adorable to see Steve’s eyes pinch with concentration. A few minutes passed before Steve was looking up, grinning in Eddie’s direction. “Okay, done – “
Eddie sat up with Steve still sprawled across his legs, taking in the younger boy’s handiwork. A roughly drawn heart covered Eddie’s left pec. Inside the heart was an S+E in sloppy bubble letters. It was silly and terribly done but breathtaking all the same. Sometimes, Eddie got so caught up in stuff that didn’t matter, to the point where he missed small things, even. Like Steve’s smile as he watched Eddie take in his heartfelt gift. Like the shift of Steve’s eyes across Eddie’s cheeks to red lips that were stretched in a grin of their own. In the end, all that really mattered was the soft gaze they shared before kissing each other senseless.
When Eddie closed his eyes and let the truth of Steve surround him, all he heard was ‘I love you’ echoing loud and clear.
five.
Right around the year mark of their relationship, Steve decided to move out of his parent’s house. Eddie was over the moon when Steve told him his plan – and while Eddie wasn’t quite ready to do the same with Wayne, he understood what Steve having a place meant for his own freedom. They’d been together long enough that they were constantly staying over at each other’s places, already. Without the worry of parents walking in or someone banging on Eddie’s trailer door complaining about the noise, it was so much easier to feel and live like an adult.
Of course, moving Steve into his own place came with the same complications every young adult had to face – learning how to actually live on their own. It started pretty early with Steve – his dad only let him take the stuff that was his, so Steve spent his first couple weeks in the apartment eating off of take out paper plates. It was mystifying to stand in the aisle next to him while Steve picked out kitchenware. Eddie had never seen such a range of material and prices for forks and spoons in his entire life. It got easier to navigate as time went on but for a while, Eddie was unsure of whether Steve would learn to cope.
By the time the apartment was furnished and fully stocked with everything a person might need, Eddie was already so used to being there. In a lot of ways, the place felt like his home, too. Steve consulted with him on almost everything throughout the acquisition and decorating process. Some of the art pieces on the wall were a style that only Eddie would enjoy, even. The space was inviting and warm in a way that Eddie’s trailer had never been.
Maybe Steve’s presence had a lot to do with that, though. After letting the words slip, Eddie gave himself over to what being in love was actually like. His thoughts were consumed with Steve, only interrupted briefly with Dustin, Max, and the gang and the part time job he worked at the garage. Even then, elbows deep in a car changing the oil, Eddie’s mind drifted to Steve. Seeing him in so many different domestic scenarios didn’t curb the habit, either. The sight of Steve with a towel thrown over his shoulder was just as enticing as Steve with his hand around his cock. As funny as that sounded, Eddie enjoyed the ability to consume the entirety of Steve Harrington, and he wanted more.
Which brought him to his latest conundrum. Despite being so blissfully happy, Eddie couldn’t fight the feeling that something was missing. He tried so hard not to dwell on the fact that Steve hadn’t said those three little words back to him, Eddie truly did. It became something he constantly fought with himself over, even. What right did he have to demand something from Steve that the boy was obviously not ready to give? Knowing what the answer was, Eddie stopped himself from talking to Steve about it. Still, he thought about it constantly.
That wasn’t to say that Eddie didn’t know that Steve loved him. Out of all the things Eddie understood in the world, Steve’s love was the most important one. It was tangible, the way Steve felt. It existed in the way Steve held his hand, in the comfort of his embrace, hell, in the hot way he kissed Eddie when they were tangled up together in the sheets. Steve’s love embodied everything about the other boy. All of Eddie got that, felt it, had seen it so many times and in so many ways – yet, he still dwelled on the absence of those words all the same.
In a lot of ways, Eddie figured the desire to hear Steve say “I love you” back was the sense of permanence that came with a statement like that. In every way that he possibly could, Eddie gave himself to Steve and their relationship. He was in it for the long haul, attached and invested and ready to see where forever took them. Without the reciprocation of an age old gesture, Eddie struggled to be secure in the fact that Steve was there to stay. Despite the irrationality of it, the feeling just wouldn’t go away. It wasn’t fair to Steve, not when Eddie knew he worked so hard to be a good man and boyfriend. The worry existed within Eddie all the same, no matter how hard he tried to stop it.
That meant, of course, that the bubbling pot of anxiety had to boil over sooner or later.
When it happened, Steve never saw it coming. They were gathered around the small table that housed all of their meals. Steve worked a later shift at Family Video, so they were eating dinner later in the evening. Eddie’s day was hard at the shop, only to be grossly coupled by a scary call from Wayne’s boss. His uncle was battling with fainting spells that worried Eddie more and more each day. There was just so much piled up on top of him that it was easy to snap at Steve. It started small but eventually blew up in both of their faces.
Steve was quietly doing the dishes, muttering to himself, when Eddie decided to pick a fight. “How come you haven’t said it back?” Eddie asked from across the kitchen. If the night were a usual one, he would’ve been by Steve’s side, helping him dry the newly washed dishes. Instead, he was seething on the other side of the room. It was silly – the whole goddamn situation was dumb and completely doomed from the start.
An eerie sort of silence followed Eddie’s question. For a second, Eddie thought Steve might not have heard him, the boy continued to work through the dishes until the last one was drying on the rack. Only then did he turn to look at Eddie, a mixture of hurt and upset written across his face. “What are you talking about, Eddie?” Steve asked the question softly, as if he was giving Eddie one last chance to turn back before taking a tumble over the edge of the cliff.
Not completely together in that moment, Eddie didn’t back down. He crossed his arms over his chest, protecting his soft, vulnerable underbelly. “You never said it back. I said that I loved you and you never said it back.” His words sounded so petulant rolling off his tongue. They lingered in the air, making the space between them murky for the first time in the entirety of their relationship. Steve looked so fucking hurt that Eddie couldn’t keep his eyes on him.
“I thought you knew,” Steve said with so much defeat in his voice. He looked so strung out in that moment that Eddie wanted to take it all back. He so desperately wanted to take Steve into his arms and apologize for being such an emotional nitwit. But he didn’t – Eddie stayed closed off, instead. In fact, he snorted at Steve’s continuing inability to say those words back.
“I’m in this, Steve. I’ve put all of me into this thing between us. You’re it, man.” Eddie’s voice was shaky, the words a little rushed. “If you’re not feeling the same way, just say so. I can take it.” The tears welling in his eyes said something different but Steve wasn’t looking at him, anyway. His gaze was heavily trained on the ground getting gloomier and gloomier by the second.
Eddie was about to keep going when Steve glanced up, catching Eddie’s eye. His cheeks were covered in tears, the tip of his nose red. “I thought you understood.” Steve sounded so betrayed as the words settled in Eddie’s ears. The younger boy didn’t stick around to hear what Eddie had to say next, Steve’s steps were quick as he brushed past Eddie on his way out of the kitchen.
Standing there in the aftermath, Eddie hated himself for the toe he couldn’t take off of the gas. When all was said and done, Steve didn’t deserve any sort of pressure, especially from Eddie. What kind of boyfriend did that to someone that tried so hard to take care of Eddie the way Steve thought he deserved? It was hard to swallow the fact that he handled such a sensitive situation with gross immaturity. Did hearing Steve speak the words really mean more than Steve’s happiness?
His brain obsessively pondered that thought as the front door opened and Steve walked right through it. Eddie didn’t have to leave his spot in the kitchen to know that the call for space had been made. He certainly didn’t get to chase after someone he practically pushed out the door with his own carelessness. It was a perfect penance, being left in Steve’s apartment all by himself to think and think and think some more about the mistake he just made, about the negligence in which he treated the single most important person to him. While his own feelings were important, Eddie understood that Steve’s were, too. With one small little lapse in control, Eddie created a vast ocean of disconnect that meant absolutely nothing in the long run.
A few hours later, when Steve didn’t come back, Eddie stubbornly climbed into Steve’s bed to hanker down on ‘his’ side for one last time. He pulled the covers up to his chin and snuggled with the pillow that smelled like Steve’s shampoo and Farrah Fawcett hairspray. If he closed his eyes, Eddie could almost picture Steve clearly. They already spent so many nights together tangled up in the very sheets Eddie tossed and turned in that it was impossible to sleep without Steve next to him. His eyes burned and his body felt sore, but sleep did not come.
Eddie shot out of bed when he heard the door open a few hours later. He was on his feet so fast that his head spun from the surprise rush of gravity upon him. His socks slipped on the wood floor, making it difficult to meet Steve at the door, but Eddie overcame the friction point and got there.
His first thought upon seeing Steve was that he looked tired. There were large bags under his eyes that looked painfully dark. The usually perfectly done hair was in disarray, almost like Steve spent a lot of the night running his hands through the unruly locks. Usually bright eyes were dim as they looked at Eddie, sizing him up.
Instead of waiting around for whatever fallout was about to happen, Eddie took a step in. Steve’s direction, remorse, and apology clear on his face. “Steve, I’m so – “ Steve put up a hand then, stopping all of what Eddie had to say next.
Thrusting that same hand into his hoodie pocket, Steve pulled out a recognizable Metallica keychain, palming it tenderly. He looked between his hand and Eddie for a second before taking the remaining steps between them until Steve could reach out and grab Eddie’s hand. There was a second where Eddie didn’t know what to expect, though Steve quickly shut down any of his worries by pressing the keychain into Eddie’s hand, even going as far as to close Eddie’s fingers around it.
He looked heavily at Eddie, waiting for him to get with the program and react to whatever had just been placed in his hand. With a large breath, Eddie opened his hand to see the Metallica keychain he’d given Steve after their first concert together. On the circular end was a key that Eddie recognized immediately – Steve had a matching one that opened his apartment door every single day. Looking up, Eddie was taken aback to see Steve close to tears.
“This is your home, too,” Steve said with a sniff. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life, Eddie. You’re home to me.” He was in Eddie’s space then, shifting from foot to foot. “Of course I – “
Recognizing what Steve was about to say, Eddie reached up to muffle him. “I know you do and I’m sorry for every making it seem any other way.” Eddie moved his hand from Steve’s mouth to cup his cheek. “I know.”
(+ one).
That little bump in the road was exactly what Eddie needed to get over himself. He took a look at things with an entirely new perspective that made Steve’s silent declarations even more meaningful. It didn’t hurt, either, that they were slowly moving his things out of Wayne’s and into the apartment he was now officially sharing with Steve. As the days passed and Eddie’s things started to intermingle with Steve’s, it became easier to lean into the quiet where love and care and the promise of a great future existed in new but just as exciting ways. Love manifested itself in a bed that was theirs and a movie collection that featured both Steve and Eddie’s favorites. It was in the little things that Eddie learned to look for.
By the time Eddie was all the way moved in, their friends were chomping at the bit to have a housewarming party. Since they were the only two out of the house with a space of their own, Eddie was sure their apartment was going to be hangout central now that Steve was finally inviting the kids over. After a youth of having no place to feel safe, Eddie was happy to provide that kind of sanctuary to the tiny humans he felt were his own.
Dustin was the first to point out how domestic he and Steve had gotten in their old age of 21 and 22. He said it was in the lameness of their décor, but Eddie figured it was just to get back at Steve for keeping everybody from his apartment for so long. It was hard to truly call them old or domestic, anyway – there were video games hooked up to the TV and beers on offer in the fridge. Before the end of the night, Dustin had defrosted to the point where he was constantly thanking them for having him over (never mind the fact that the kid was already a couple of beers deep). Everyone looked to be having a good time when Eddie gave himself a second to look up and take it all in.
A few hours later, when all of the boys were tucked away in their spare room while the girls headed home with Robin and Nancy, Eddie took the opportunity to finally relax. He took a heavy seat on the couch, melting back into the cushion. Leaning his head against the back of it, Eddie closed his eyes, happy to be happy and revel in the feeling of home around him. It was nice to know that when he woke up tomorrow and the next day and the next day that this apartment, the space he shared with Steve, would still be his.
Steve sitting down next to him had Eddie blinking his eyes open with a soft smile slipping across his lips. “Hey you,” Eddie said softly as he leaned into Steve’s touch. A strong arm wrapped around Eddie’s shoulders, bringing him in close.
“Hey yourself,” Steve whispered back, dropping a kiss to Eddie’s forehead as he did. They sat in companionable silence for a while, both enjoying the quiet and serene reality surrounding them. Eddie was so comfortable that he was seconds away from sleep when the brush of lips against his ear tugged him back. “I’m so in love with you, Eddie Munson,” Steve admitted then, finally saying words that Eddie wanted to hear for so fucking long.
With a gasp, Eddie shifted away just enough to see Steve’s smiling face. There was no mistaking what had just been said, nor denying the fact that Steve Harrington was the one that said it. Eddie was perplexed and overwhelmed and so overcome that he didn’t register Steve’s – “aren’t you going to say it back?” until the other boy was laughing and tugging Eddie into him once more.
Eddie, still totally overcome, leaned into Steve’s embrace, dazedly mumbling “I love you, too” into the comfort of Steve’s long neck. As he buried his face there, Eddie couldn’t help but think that while actions were nice, sometimes words were pretty amazing, too.
#steddie#steve harrington x eddie munson#eddie munson x steve harrington#steve x eddie#eddie x steve#steve/eddie#eddie/steve#eddie munson#steve harrington#stranger things#bobbie writes#5 + 1 fic#5 + 1 things#look how we've grown#steddie fanfic#steddie fics#steddie 5 +1
56 notes
·
View notes
Text
‘One Fine Day’ - Songbird, part 1 of 6 (Seraphine x Jinx AU)
So, um... I have a new rarepair hyperfixation. Definitely didn’t write this when I should’ve been focusing on uni work due in less than 2 weeks, what’re you talking about?
Anyway, Seraphine is an aspiring popstar working full time in her father’s music store, Songbird. Life is good but kinda lonely, and then Jinx comes along...
Chapter title, ‘One Fine Day,’ is based on the song by The Carpenters.
Also, big shout out, love and kisses to my handsome wife Babs (@lesbian-batman)who beta’d for me <3 love youuuuu
TW: extreme cuteness and fluff. That is all.
(1,181 words)
AO3 link
Enjoy!
Dreamy vintage pop drifted through the music store’s speakers, bringing life to the rainy Zaun afternoon outside. The takings from the morning were low, especially for a Friday, and the bout of bad weather had driven away any hope of more sales. Might as well have closed up for the day, there and then.
Seraphine idled behind the counter, passing the time by singing along to each song, adding her own trills and high notes where she felt like it. While she belted out tune after tune, she doodled flowers and love hearts on the notepad allocated for ‘work purposes only.’
Her father would’ve flipped his lid if he found out how Seraphine spent her downtime at the store. Songbird was his pride and joy, in part because he’d named it in honour of his daughter, his only child. He’d called her Songbird ever since she was born; said even her crying sounded like an aria.
She took great care of the store for him, of course, but he wouldn’t have approved of her methods. There’s always something to do around here, he’d say. Make yourself useful instead of daydreaming. As a former rockstar and current sound technician for one of Runeterra’s most famous bands, he was hardly one to talk; he dreamed of success back then, just like she did now. Whilst he had the freedom to make his dreams come true, he’d also seen how the music industry corrupted people. He didn’t want the same for her, no matter how much she protested. Since he’d left to join K/DA on tour, she found herself shackled to the store with almost no time to pursue what she loved most.
Music...
Seraphine strived for the spotlight. Over the past couple of years, she had played dozens of open mic nights and gigs at small venues and clubs. Her reach and popularity grew every day. In the last month alone, she’d gained over five thousand new followers on social media and music streaming platforms. It was only a matter of time before a scout from a record company realised her potential and scooped her up.
Until then, life ticked by. Eight ‘til late at Songbird six days a week; studio recordings in the evenings, or at the weekend if she could find someone to mind the store; writing sessions crammed in wherever and whenever she found the time and inspiration. It was hard work, but anything regarding music barely felt like work at all. Music occupied all of her time, mind, and heart. It informed every aspect of her life, even her relationships.
To Seraphine, people were like songs. She’d never tried to explain it to anyone else – had met no one who would’ve understood – but everyone had a melody to them. Strangers gave off waves, impressions. At first, most people sounded like white noise or a continuous low-fi beat. She had to know someone on a deeper level to really hear them; for them to feel open enough to let her listen. It was a long time since she’d gotten close like that.
Between running the store and cultivating her fledgling pop career, she had no social life. Most of the people she’d met through music were acquaintances, transactional connections. In a crowd of fair-weather friends, voices blurred and distorted in the din. Everyone sounded the same.
Seraphine gazed out upon the shop floor filled with CDs, vinyls, and cassette tapes, with no one around to take them home and play them loud like they deserved. A cold loneliness seeped into her soul. She hated days like those, nothing to do but entertain herself and ignore the boredom itching beneath her skin. Music was a lovely companion, but sometimes she needed more than it could give.
With a wistful sigh, she tore off the decorated page of the notepad. Tacked it onto her father’s cork board of concert leaflets, old photographs, music lesson advertisements, and Janna knew what else. The cheerful rumblings of a new song played overhead, as she picked up her favourite bubble-gum pink gel pen, the same colour as her hair, and started on a new page. She drew a dainty love heart so cute she couldn’t help but beam with joy.
Admiring her creation, she didn’t look up when the bell chimed for a new customer. No one had come in for at least two hours; she was out of work mode, in her own little world. Chances were, they wouldn’t need her help, anyway. They were probably stepping out of the downpour, grabbing shelter where they could. It happened a lot around that time of year, heading into fall. So, she ignored the customer’s presence. Even kept singing, albeit under her breath.
‘Hey, do you have any other Bikini Kill records in store?’
Wow, that voice...
Seraphine met the customer’s eye immediately, desperate to find the owner of such an instrument. A petite young woman glared back at her with quizzical impatience, waving a copy of the band’s 1993 album, Pussy Whipped. A navy boiler suit dwarfed her frame, while ocean blue braids swung around her booted feet, frayed and scruffy like they’d been under a hat all day. She had the most distinctive eye colour Seraphine had ever seen. They weren’t quite purple or pink, but some inscrutable shade between the two. Under the store’s artificial light, the colours seemed to switch and swirl.
The music of Bikini Kill seemed to suit her aesthetic, raw and full of rage at the world in that feminist punk rock way, but there was more to her than that. Something unreadable lurked behind those ever-changing irises. Rather than the white noise of a typical stranger, she was a mess of pitch and frequency; a cluster of songs overlapping and battling each other.
What an enchanting cacophony of a person...
Seraphine yearned to hear more, to know everything about this captivating woman. What was her name, her story, her purpose? What were her fears and dreams and fondest memories? Did she have family in Zaun, or was she from out of town? What did she do for work and in her spare time? Did she have a lover? What was her type? Did she like girls...?
‘Well? Do you?’ She spoke again, raspy and sweet. A smoker’s rasp, no doubt.
The image of her posed with a cigarette between her plump, open lips, danced across Seraphine’s mind before she could stop it.
Blushing and hot all over, Seraphine shyly shook her head in reply and returned to the comfort of the notepad.
Janna, it was all so surreal. She had never felt so compelled by a person, and from such a tiny interaction, no less. She couldn’t follow this woman’s song at all, and she... well, she loved it.
‘Okay... I’ll be back.’
With that, the new object of Seraphine’s fascination turned heel and left.
She thumped her head onto the counter and groaned. All she could do was hope that she wouldn’t miss the next visit. And, if the woman bought something, maybe Seraphine might catch her name?
#hehehe#i love them so much#serajinx#seraphine x jinx#cherrybomb#serajinx au#seraphine#jinx#fluff#music#fanfic#lol fanfic#arcane fanfic#songbird#one fine day#songcannon
14 notes
·
View notes
Text
I Have Been Playing With A Superstar Chapter 1
a quick authors note i will not be posting the rest of this story to my main blog you can find this and new chapters on my writers blog BinChansBiceps thank you
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/binchansbiceps
You huffed as your character died again ignoring the comments of how bad of a player you were from your team in the bottom left corner, Instead looking through the store and buying new items to upgrade your weapons. One comment did manage to catch your eye though, a guy you had been paying with for over a year now had tried telling the others to leave you alone as you were a much lower level than everyone else. ALYFT was his user.
You for the most part just called him A.. You had met in a game of TFT, and the two of you had ended up being the final two before he won. You ended up playing a few more rounds together before he sent you a friend request. And started to invite you to play more with him in all modes. It was after a few weeks that you sent a message saying hi that you finally started talking, then another few weeks before started messaging on discord and playing other games. You each got the other into new games and more than just on the pc, after you mentioned you were playing mario kart with your family he wanted to exchange friend codes and ended up playing games there. Over a year of friendship and you still had yet to voice chat or even send photos of yourselves to the other, not that you hadn't asked but A had said he was a private person and maybe one day after you'll have known each other for longer and were both comfortable he would. One thing you two had in common was that both of your friends knew that you were friends and both groups agreed that you had no idea who could be on the other end of the screen, and that you could be crazy killers and or stalkers. Which you both laughed at and questioned if you had the same friends.
You told him it was fine and you weren't really listening to the useless comments. After some more deaths on your part your team finally won. A, sent you the friendly team bonus and you sent him the mvp one. You got up and went to grab a snack and some water and when you came back A had sent you a message on discord asking if you wanted to play something else. you knew he was upset because the other people we were playing with were treating you but that's what you get for playing on his level which is well above yours. You sent him back a reply asking him what game, while at the same time one of your friends just asked you if you wanted to go out. You were about to say not right now but A came back with an apology saying he just got called into work and had to go. Telling him to have fun you said yes to your friend and went to get ready to go out.
Closing the car door and giving a quick hi to Mini you buckle your seat belt. After giving you a hi back Mini turns the music up blaring Cheese by stray kids and you both start to sing and car dance to the song. Driving down the highway blaring kpop mostly stray kids as you head into the city. Mini turned down the music “so NCT just released a new album” she said
“And now we have to go to the store so you can buy all the versions of it?” you laugh. Instead of responding she just turns the music back up and you both go back to jamming out.
After going to the k-pop store and Mini Getting the new albums she wanted and you grabbed a stray kids album you were missing, the two of you went to the big city mall for food and window shopping. It was when you were in EB Games looking at the new Mario party that Mini brought up her thoughts on A “so any idea on when you're gonna like facetime the guy?”
“not yet no” you replied
“ you really should know more about this guy especially when you are getting as close as you are to a rando on the internet” she said a little annoyed
“i get it i do but you know i have my gut feelings and my gut tells me he’s trustworthy and good for his word”
“you and your gut feeling and empathic tendency thoughts are not always going to be right you know! One day it’s going to be wrong and I don't want you to get hurt when it does” Mini stated her concern.
You know how she was hesitant to believe in your gift. You had a hard time explaining them to yourself let alone to others but it’s something you trusted and so far it has yet to let you down. You just nod knowing now is not the time to try to argue your point of view. Continuing the day you guys had fun and walked around, by the time it was late and back home you let A know you were back if he wanted to talk before you went to bed. It was about an hour later that you got a message back from him, “hey Y/U/N im still at work but some news just dropped on us here we have to travel around for some business, and i think i'm coming to Y/C/N for a few days, and i was wondering if maybe we could meet up in person while i'm there?” he had sent. You reread the message about 10 times before replying back “omg thats sooo cool i can’t wait, i am sooo excited to meet you, i can’t believe your business trip is coming out here that’s sooo cool!”. Sending back and forth more texts of excitement to finally be meeting your best online friend in person in a few months, and wanting to see if you could make some kind of a plan for where and when to meet up and what you will do, A had to go back to work and you had to get some sleep for your shift tomorrow especially now that you had to book off a few days to meet up A. with a bright smile on your face and a good feeling in your gut that this was only going to lead to good things in your future, you hit play on your sleep playlist and closed you eye’s for sleep.
#stray kids#skz x reader#felix x reader#changbin x reader#bang chan#lee know#han jisung#hyunjin#seungmin#i.n stray kids#skz jeongin#skz#stray kids x reader
14 notes
·
View notes
Text
Blood and Roses (FAITH AU)
1
2
3
4
(TW: STABBING (with a mop, granted, but still))
The building that the address led him to wasn’t on the edge of the county. That was one point towards it, at least. However, said point was almost instantly taken away due to the building looking abandoned.
That and it was ridiculously big. ‘How am I supposed to clean all of this by myself?’
Mark stood awkwardly in front of something that used to be a store, but now was lost to the elements. An old “SALE” poster hung in the window, the corner of it flapping periodically due to what Mark assumed was a fan sitting behind it. One of the glass doors was smashed open, another was hanging off its hinges and the black rug beneath them had been removed to show the dirty underside. The inside of the building was even worse–it looked like a bomb had gone off in a Walmart. Shelves were knocked over, dust-covered items were strewn all over the floor and food rotted in the most unusual crevices.
This is not worth ten bucks an hour.
Whoever was behind the strange phone call had said they would leave cleaning supplies. True to their word, a beige bag full of sorted detergent bottles and rags was just inside the door, a large mop and bucket full of soapy water beside it. Still, even with all the cleaning supplies in the world, there was no way in Hell he was going to be able to clean this entire building all by himself in one day.
He picked up the bag and dragged the mop and bucket around while searching for a phone. While he did find one, it proved to be useless; seeing as when he picked up the receiver the whole thing fell off the wall.
“Oh, great.” Mark threw the plastic receiver down with it. “I could be here until next weekend and I can’t even call for help.”
He had half a mind to leave. He should have left, just told them this wasn’t humanly possible and that their money was better spent on a cleaning team–not some 17 year old high schooler. Yet his conscience and anxiety both nagged that walking out on a job just because it’s hard wasn’t going to fly with many people and this may be the only job he’d be able to get all summer.
With a frustrated sigh, Mark dragged his supplies over to the nearest shelf and righted it again. Might as well start doing what he can.
--
Two hours later, he’d found a rhythm. Clean two isles, sort out their items (some of which looked like an abstract artist’s fever dream), mop the floor between them, move on to the next two. The addition of music from a radio he found meant the time could go by even faster.
However he still wasn’t going to be done by the end of the day. It was past noon and there were only six isles that had been cleaned, cleared and set up again. All the cleaning supplies and music in the world still couldn’t make up for the fact that he was only one guy.
He was bobbing his head in time to ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ while mopping when the sound of knocking caught his ear. He turned down the music to listen.
Nothing. Was it his imagination? ‘Maybe I‘ve been alone for too long.’
He started to turn it up again when he heard it once more: a loud knocking echoing through the store. The noise made his skin crawl. Who the Hell would be demanding to enter a clearly abandoned store? Why would they knock instead of just let themselves in? It wasn’t like he had locked the doors. He couldn’t, they were busted.
‘Someone knows you’re in here.’
The thought made his skin crawl. He turned off the radio to not give away his position and went back to cleaning as quietly as he could, every muffled scrape of the cloth leaving him on edge.
The knocking continued. It was the same pattern, over and over. One two three. One two three. The knocker was trying really hard to get his attention.
His anxiety suddenly died and he smacked his forehead, feeling a little foolish. Of course the knocker wasn’t just wandering in and scaring the daylights out of him. Of course the knocker wanted him to know they were there. It was his employer coming by!
His nerves soothed, Mark ditched the rag and made his way over to greet them. The knocking persisted even as he was in sight range of them, which was a little odd–but maybe they were nearsighted. Not everyone has 20/20 vision.
The closer Mark got to them, the more nervous he felt. He stopped walking towards them when the nerves turned into outright fear. He took a step backwards, suddenly wanting nothing to do with the strange figure at the door. He didn’t know why, it was just some person in a very tattered suit knocking against the glass. But something about them set off every alarm bell possible. Something about them was wrong in a way that he couldn’t place.
The figure stopped knocking and took a step inside the building. Mark willed himself to move, to back away; and managed another small step. For every two steps the figure took, Mark managed one back until he finally got the nerve to turn his back on them and run.
The figure cursed as they started after him, only to apparently lose him after less than one turn. They cursed louder and went so far as to stomp their foot.
"Why do we even need this kid?" They asked no one in particular, their voice crackling like an old radio. "He's hardly in the usual range."
"He overheard me." This second voice was talking too fast, despite sounding like the speaker was out of breath. "He knows too much."
"That's not my problem. You deal with it."
"Our master said—"
"I know what Gabriel said, you insufferable wench."
"DO NOT SPEAK HIS NAME IN THE PRESENCE OF THE CHILD!"
Mark clamped his hands over his ears as loud ringing and aggressive static filled the air. It faded about as soon as it had started, leaving the radio talker panting.
"Fuck you," they seethed. “Don’t forget who’s in charge here.”
“It is certainly not you.”
The two went quiet, the argument evidently over. Mark waited until they were both out of hearing range, thanked his lucky stars and pushed himself off the shelf he was leaning against.
He walked into what looked like a massive shadow. Looking up, he saw a stretched-out screaming face staring back down at him.
A clawed black hand (paw?) swung at him and got stuck when he backpedalled. He caught himself on the falling shelf and pulled it towards him, ducking away as the shadowy figure screeched in pain and fury.
“What’re you screaming about?” The radio talker’s voice came from the shelves beyond.
“The child is getting away! Help me find him!!”
Mark didn’t stick around for their response. Unfortunately he didn’t look where he was going, either; leading to him tripping over the mop and bucket. ‘When the Hell did this get here?!’
“Stop running, boy. You’re only making this worse for yourself.”
Radiohead appeared from the shelves behind him, ones holding busted old TVs. Their hands were casually folded behind their back. Great, they can teleport now!
“I-I didn’t hear anything from the other one,” Mark stammered. “I swear to god, I didn’t hear anything.”
“Oh, well that makes everything better.” They stopped walking towards him. “We can go now.”
“Really?”
“No.”
They seemed to warp right in front of him, their form almost glitching with static. The wooden handle of the mop caught Mark’s eye and he acted almost without thinking.
He grabbed the mop and shoved the handle through the static-y creature’s chest. It gave way easily, as if he was stabbing a frail pillow.
Radiohead screeched and clawed at the mop now sticking halfway through them. Mark took the distraction and bolted for the back of the store.
“Forget about me, moron!” They said as he ran, their voice shaking. “After him! Get after him! Corner him if you need to! Take his head off, rip him in half, I don’t care what you do just don’t let him get through that door!”
A shadow fell over him as he ran. It appeared every few seconds, as if Radiohead’s companion was teleporting after him instead of running.
A black door was a strange white marking shuddered into existence the closer he got to it. It easily swung open when he slammed his shoulder into it, however he didn’t account for the stairs.
Whoever or whatever was chasing him skid to a stop as he fell. Her companion stumbled over next to her, watching their target tumble down into the darkness.
“Great,” he sighed, one hand pressed to his static-bleeding wound. “If we’re lucky, he broke his neck.”
“And if he didn’t?”
“Then maybe a cherub will get him.”
“And if not?”
Septem ran his fingers through his hair, already dreading that outcome. “Then we’re in for a lot of pain tonight.”
#FAITH AU#El writes#TMC#the mandela catalogue#Malice 2009#Mark Heathcliff#tmc preacher#tmc intruder#Septem (Seven)#The Nun#This wasn't supposed to come out until June 1st but I was afraid I'd kill the AU by making you wait for content#So now the main story is being made to wait instead :3#tw stabbing#tw stab wound#cw stabbing
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
daily notes - overview of oct 5, 2023
omfg, I'm so tired. Like, we got home before 4pm, and I've been resting these last few hours. It was cool but humid, and I was just a sweaty mess when I got home. Hopped in the shower, then laid on my bed in front of the fan, and caught up on my web comic reading.
This will be the text overview of everything we did. When I get other posts up with images, I will edit and link to those.
First, we stopped by the local bakery I had mentioned on Monday. They probably had less-than-half of their inventory left. I got the very last blueberry-almond "scone", a couple other cookies for me, and some bits for LL-K. (K couldn't make the trip today, because she's busy with work.)
Second, we visited Rooster Brother, a store for cooks and those who love them, as they say. Lots of fun kitchen items, though they were more pricey than I'd prefer. Fun things, but nothing that screamed "must buy!". I did browse some chopsticks, though I was torn between using them as hair sticks or as chopsticks. (One was more decorative, but the other was cute enough for either use.)
There was a whole display of mushroom-themed items, too. The opposite side of that display had other woodland creatures, including deer and owls. They had the very same glass xmas ornament that @vintage-tech once sent me, several years ago - a little fawn, curled up and sleeping.
Next, we visited Riverside Cafe in Ellsworth for lunch. Very tasty, but neither of us could finish everything. (I only had fries left, but LL-J had 1-4th of her sandwich and fries leftover.) The music playlist was very good, though slightly biased towards my high school years. I can only remember 5 of the songs
Jack Johnson - "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing"
Weezer - "Island in the Sun"
Counting Crows - "Long December"
Blues Traveler - "Runaround"
Counting Crows - "Round Here" (I think? It was another CC song, at least)
It was tough to hear the music, so I'm sure there were other songs playing, and I just didn't catch them.
We walked down the road, ducking in The Dream Catcher antique shop next. Lots of pretty visuals, though the aisles were crowded and some display cases didn't show prices well. (There was such cool jewelry!) Because it was a cold and humid day, and they left the doors open, we felt very uncomfortable in that stuffy place. Both of us were tired, so we decided to call it quits when we saw there were another 2 floors to the place.
I bought 3 small dolls and a snake-shaped pendant. They're all cheaply made items, with discoloring and no easy way to remove the clothes. One is an Irish (I assume) souveneir doll, who came with a stand - $12. Then I found a dandy, dapper Rococo man. A little more digging, and I found his lady. Both have sleep eyes and painted feet/legs. They didn't have tags, so the clerk said $10 for the pair. Fine by me!
The snake pendant was $1. It's shape to curl around a marble or gem stone, and even has prongs to help hold it in place. It was empty, found in a dish of tiny pewter figures glued to flattened marbles. So so soooo tiny!
When we left, we both felt awful and tired. We visited a kids' book-and-toy store very quickly, didn't buy anything, then browsed the store windows of some other shops. The two I liked both looked very elaborate and fun. We'll hit one of those first on our next trip, when I have more energy again.
From there, we went to LL Bean's outlet store. They had a big sale on women's pants, so I grabbed a couple pairs. One's like... lounge or athletic wear? The other seemed like casual drawstring pants. I can't describe the texture. Omg, the textures for most of the pants were so bad in that section. So 60% off, I only paid about $35 after taxes for 2 pairs, yay.
Hit up Dunkin's drive-thru on the way out of town. LL-J now knows the glory of the "frozen hot chocolate" - basically a chocolate milk slushy.
We stopped by LL-K's house once we got back in town, to drop off the cookies. She gave me 2 containers of chicken stock that she had made. A couple weeks ago, she had asked where she could find chicken feet, so I helped source some from Neighbor-J and -S's chickens. (They were the couple that ran a general store for a few years. S used to sew cloth diapers as a business, too.)
----------
I hopped in the shower once I got home. Very very tired. Laid in front of the fan for a couple hours, and now I've been typing for like 20 minutes. We left at 10:15am and got home before 4pm. If the weather wasn't so clammy, I think we would've done far better. BUT I still did very good, considering how cheerful and happy this day has been.
Will work on posting photos in multiple posts next. Some stuff at the antique store is worthy of shiftythrifting, but some is not. One item is even from the "we see this too often, so don't submit it anymore" list. My first time seeing one in the wild!
3 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
queen-a1
Queen A
boggystyle
NEVERBOARD
your-fav-is-aro-ace-spec
Where My Aro Aces At?
the-queen-of-naps
Untitled