#obxmermaidholiday
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day 21 christmas lights (decorating the new rental)
a/n: @obxmermaid welcome to day 21 where after the horrible trial we see that yn and draco have gone to visit the new place for a day before they head back to the school, but what happens when they decide to make some holiday cheer in the place they shall call home in a while...
pairing: draco malfoy x reader
prompt: christmas lights (decorating the new rental)
mentioning @sweetness47
draco: i cant wait to live here full time once we graduate
yn: i cant believe we only have one year left...
draco: i cant believe the luck we have had with everything so far.
yn: the new law, the trial, the way everything just kinda came out to the school the ministry and everything i am surprised we are still standing.
draco came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist as he is now watching you make dinner.
Draco: what if we did something fun to make this place more homey
You spin round to look at the love of your life.
Yn: what did you have in mind
Draco: how bout some decorations after all its the holidays and we are finally able to enjoy them in peace.
Yn: well remember we are hosting a friends dinner in a few days so ya decorations would be a good idea
You let your magic finish cooking as you and Draco now focused on spreading your magic to decorate your apartment
Draco just wraps his arms around your waist as the magic does its thing and you both stand in the center of the apartment watching the magic decorate the apartment in all its glory.
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finally free
ole miss rafe x reader
rafe is tired, you try and help, and eventually the two of you get to drink
two in one day baby (almost?)
(warnings: cursing, drinking, hardly edited)
Rafe had been exhausted lately, cancelling dates to do homework and pulling at least one all-nighter a week. He’d decided to TA his first semester in the program, and while you were happy he got the subject of his choice, you were worried he was running himself too ragged.
It’s not like you had much room to talk, Vet School had been brutal, and the amount of work was what you expected, but weren’t exactly prepared for. A lot of the time you’d spent together starting mid-semester was takeout and homework in one of your apartments.
Your semester came to an end before Rafe’s by two weeks, and you spent the first week catching up on sleep, working out, and making actual home cooked meals for Rafe. You’d been practically living at his apartment, but he didn’t seem to mind.
“Babe,” you called one morning, walking out of his room around 10:30.
He was sitting at the dining room table, and looked up at you, glasses perched on the edge of his nose, “What’s up?”
“About to head to the gym, want some breakfast before I go?”
“Had a bagel, thanks though.”
You nodded and kissed his forehead before heading toward the door, “Gonna get some groceries while I’m out and probably Strange Brew. Text me if you decide you want me to pick something up.”
He smiled at you tiredly, and you could see the bags under his eyes from across the room, “Thanks, sweetheart, I think I’m good though. Going to work for a few hours and then take a nap.”
“Please take a nap, you need it. How many days do you have left?”
“Three and then next week is finals. So I’ll have tests and papers to grade. Plus my schoolwork.”
“Are the tests multiple choice?”
“Yeah.”
“I can do those. So you can focus on your own shit and the papers.”
You couldn’t be sure, but it looked like his eyes filled up and the lines on his face softened, “That would be fantastic.”
“Alrighty then, sounds like a plan. I’ll see you in a few, you’d better be asleep when I get back.”
Rafe grinned and sent you a salute, “Yes ma’am.”
-
He had clearly just laid down by the time you got back, and when you walked in, arms full of grocery bags. Laid on the couch, he jolted, eyes snapping open. You winced, “Sorry, babe.”
Putting away the groceries, you went over the couch and knelt down before running your fingers through his hair. He hummed, leaning into your hand, “Not asleep like you told me to, sorry.”
You smiled softly, “S’okay, you almost were, I woke you up.”
“Groceries put away?” he asked suddenly.
“Mhmm.”
Without saying anything else, he lifted the edge of the blanket closest to you, a clear invitation for you to slide in next to him. Huffing out a laugh, you kicked your shoes off and laid down, half on top of Rafe.
Rafe wrapped a leg and both arms around you, adjusting the blanket until he was happy, and then promptly fell asleep. You smiled and rested your forehead on his collarbone, content to lay in silence with him for a little while.
It couldn’t have been more than two hours before an alarm on his phone under the throw pillow started going off, startling you out of the half asleep state you’d fallen into and waking him up completely.
“Fuck,” he slurred, “don’t wanna get up.”
“Sleep more,” you told him, voice just as quiet.
“Can’t. Got a paper on the Black Plague due in a few days, don’t have enough sources yet.”
“Baby,” you muttered, “you’re running yourself ragged. If you don’t sleep your paper won’t be good anyway.”
Rafe shut his eyes tightly, “I know. But I just can’t.”
“Is there something I can do for you.”
“I-” he paused, one hand coming up to rub his eyes, “you aren’t my mom, I hope you know I really don’t see you that way. I don’t want to treat you like that, you need to know that you’re my equal and that you don’t have to take care of me, that I’m capable of it.”
Your eyebrows furrowed, “I know. Where’s this coming from?”
“Can you,” Rafe sighed, clenching his eyes shut for a second, “would you mind taking care of my laundry? It’s been a few weeks and I’m almost out of underwear.”
“Yeah, of course. I need to do mine too.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I did offer.”
“Yeah, but I’ve seen my friends act like children, treat their girlfriend like a glorified mother. I don’t want to be like that.”
“You aren’t,” you reassured, “I promise.”
He smiled wryly, “Let me know if I am, yeah?”
“I will, don’t worry.”
-
A week later found you and Rafe sitting on the floor, side by side, backs leaning against the couch. He had a key spread out between the two of you, and you had a stack of exams handed in by two sections of the class. He had an even thicker stack of essays in one hand, and a blue pen in the other.
“Why blue?” you asked, twirling your own black pen in your fingers.
“Hmm?” he mumbled, looking over at you.
“Blue pen instead of black or red, why?” you asked again.
“Oh,” he smirked, “Ole Miss blue.”
“You,” your jaw dropped, “I hate you.”
“You so don’t. I’d even go as far to say you love me.”
“You know I do, please don’t act slick. You’re an MSU student now.”
“Uh huh, only two years compared to five at Ole Miss.”
“Grade your essays, I don’t want to talk to you,” you huffed, faking annoyance, and turned up the quiet music playing through the speaker.
He dropped his head back against the couch and whined, “These papers are so bad though. Like they barely even tried.”
“I’m sure they did, babe, but you’re used to graduate level writing now.”
“No,” he shoved one in your face, a strand of hair falling over his furrowed brow, “read this.”
Grabbing his wrist, you pulled it a few inches from your face to read. He stared at you as you scanned, and made a triumphant noise when you squinted,
“There are a few mistakes,” you mumbled.
“Generous,” he added, sounding smug.
“Don’t make fun of kids, they’re barely 18.”
“They’re assholes,” he corrected you, “like I knew it was a mostly freshman class, but goddamn. I hope I wasn’t this annoying back then.”
“You probably were. I mean, you were barely tolerable when you and I met.”
“No, I was relatively mature, I just didn’t know how to express emotion in a normal way.”
You put a hand on his shoulder and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, “You’ve come a long way.”
Rafe’s cheeks went a little red, and you cooed at him. He pushed your face away from his and muttered, “Grade the exams. You’re a menace.”
-
“Hey, sweetheart,” Rafe asked three nights before his last exam.
“Mhmm?” you answered, half asleep.
“Do we have Christmas plans this year?”
“Don’t think so, why?”
“I wasn’t sure if we were going to your parents’ house.”
“Haven’t talked to my mom in a while,” you frowned, “you think I should call her?”
“Up to you.”
“No, you’re part of this decision too. I know you’re exhausted, so if you don’t want to travel, we won’t.”
He frowned, “You can still go.”
“And leave you alone on Christmas?” He shrugged, not meeting your eye, and you pushed yourself up, staring down at him, “Rafe, you know I wouldn’t, right?”
“I mean, we’ve only been together for a year,” he mumbled.
“Not quite yet,” you corrected, absentmindedly, “but still, you’re important to me.”
“Well, in that case, call your mom, we’ll make the trip.”
“Are you sure? Why don’t you take a few days to think it over. I know you’ve never met them in person before. Doing it on a holiday would be a bit overwhelming.”
He laughed, “Yeah, I guess it would.”
“Sleep now, get back to me.”
“Fine.”
-
The afternoon of Rafe’s last final, you walked into his apartment to hear Christmas music blasting. Your boyfriend was sprawled out on the couch surrounded by beer bottles, and he gave you a lazy wave, “Sup, mamas.”
“Hey, Rafe. How’d the test go?”
“Excellent. Now I’m celebrating.”
“I see that.”
“It’s Christmas season now.”
“Now, huh?”
“Well the tree has been decorated for two weeks now, so I could argue that your logic is flawed.”
“No no,” he held his hand up, “it’s only Christmas now that I can focus on it.”
“You given any thought to Christmas plans?” you asked.
Rafe sat up suddenly, “Yes,” he pointed at you, “what if we FaceTime your parents instead of making the long ass drive.”
“Fine with me. I talked to my mom the other day and she told us that she’d put our presents in the mail anyway. They expected this.”
He frowned, “You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Great, sounds great.”
“Great,” you joked in response.
Rafe rolled his eyes and shoved your shoulder, “Drink with me.”
“I will. Picked some stuff up this afternoon for spiked eggnog, by the way.”
“Oh fuck yes. Homemade eggnog?”
“Of course.”
He followed you to the kitchen, so close he was almost tripping over your heels, and you huffed, coming to a stop. Rafe ran into your back before stepping back, a sheepish grin on his face, “Sorry.”
“Can I trust you to help me or are you too gone right now?”
“I can help,” he nodded, doing his best to look sober.
“Fine, you’ll stir, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He stood by the stove, wooden spoon in hand, feet spread further than shoulder width apart, dropping down to your height. You measured out the milk and cream and turned the heat up, giving him a weird look, “Why are you standing like that?”
“You were humming that song that’s like do you see what I see and I don’t, so I was curious.”
“It’s a song? You don’t have to take it literally.”
“Hmm, braincells gone. Everything is literal unless specified.”
You snorted, “Stir, dumbass,” before starting to separate the egg whites from the yolks. Keeping an eye on him, you started to whisk the egg yolks, pausing to help him add in the sugar, vanilla and nutmeg when the milk started bubbling.
“Smells good,” he told you, sniffing the mixture.
“It does. You ready to whisk it in?”
“Yes ma’am.”
Rafe very carefully poured and you whisked before pouring it back into the saucepan.
“You got a thermometer?” you asked him, flipping the heat back on.
He pulled open a drawer and brandished one eagerly, clearly proud of himself for being prepared, “Fuck yeah I do.”
“Put it in, tell me when it hits 160.”
Rafe stared, eyebrows furrowed, fully focused on the number. When he told you, you flipped the heat off again and poured in the rum and brandy. Making it a bit stronger than you normally would.
“Bro,” he said, taking a spoonful, “this is incredible.”
“Thanks, bro,” you answered, bumping your hip into his.
“Oh, hip check,” he bumped back, twice as hard, knocking you off balance.
“Rafe,” you glared, stepping away to pour two glasses, “don’t make me spill or you can make another batch on your own.”
“No,” he pouted, “I could never.”
“You couldn’t, no.”
You watched, appalled, as Rafe chugged his first glass, slamming it down and wiping his mouth with the back of his other hand.
“Shit’s good,” he told you earnestly.
“We’re not at a bar, Rafe. Take it easy.”
“Nope, blackout remember?”
“Jesus Christ,” you muttered, rubbing a hand over your forehead, “pour yourself another I guess.”
Rafe leaned in for a kiss, missing your mouth and landing on your chin, but it was like he didn’t even realize before he was moving around you back to the pitcher you’d poured it in.
It didn’t take many more cups for Rafe to be totally gone, curled up with you on the couch while the live action Grinch played in the background, eyes fluttering shut every few seconds.
“Tired?” you finally whispered, when you were pretty sure there was drool on your shirt.
“Huh?” he asked, blinking rapidly, “No.”
“Sure,” you responded, amused, “let’s go get ready for bed, huh?”
You put the empty cups in the dishwasher before guiding Rafe to the bathroom to make him brush his teeth and get undressed.
“Tryna get me naked?” he asked, swaying in place as he pushed his shirt over his head lazily.
“Yeah,” you answered, rubbing moisturizer in.
Rafe followed you to bed, falling in after you, mostly on top of you, knocking the breath out of your chest.
“Jesus, Cameron,” you wheezed.
“Rafe is fine,” he mumbled into your neck, and was out like a light a few seconds later.
You sighed, squirming under him to try and get comfortable before falling asleep yourself.
~
day 7 of @obxmermaid‘s holiday challenge: spiked eggnog or cider
#ole miss rafe#rafe cameron#rafe cameron x reader#rafe cameron x you#rafe cameron fic#rafe obx#rafe outer banks#outer banks#outer banks fic#obxmermaidholiday#college rafe
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drunk words, sober thoughts
when his girlfriend has too many cups of spiked cider at tina's annual post-christmas bash, steve's reminded of a different party and a different girl who broke his heart.
fandom: stranger things
ship: steve harrington x ice skater!reader, past stancy
word count: 1.3k+
featuring: spiked cider, swearing, a high school christmas party, underage drinking, and a drunk declaration.
a/n: day 7 of my holiday challenge! this is kind of a follow-up to shadow skating, my fic for day one that features a figure skating reader, and so there might be some references to that but i don't think you'll need to read it to understand this one. unbetaed, all mistakes are my b.
come join my holiday challenge!
December 1984
"Hey, sorry I'm late!" Y/N said as she slid into the passenger seat of Steve's car, quickly closing the door behind her to block the freezing wind blowing outside. "I thought I lost this skirt but it turns out it 'magically' appeared in my sister's closet last month and she had 'absolutely no idea' how it got there."
"How convenient for Casey," He reached over to brush some snow from the shoulder of her emerald green coat and she smiled, grabbing his warm hand and dropping a quick kiss on the back of it before lacing her cold fingers through his.
"It's okay, she still hasn't figured out these are the tights I borrowed from her last Christmas."
"Tell her she's never getting them back because you look beautiful.”
The girl ducked her head and tightened her grip on his hand. "Flatterer. Get going or we're gonna be even later than we already are."
"Okay, just let me do this first." And after pulling her in for a kiss that lingered, warm and safe like fire in a hearth, he put the car in drive and headed off into the cold night.
By the time they arrived at Tina's house and found a place to park on the crowded street, the party was in full swing, bass pumping loud through the front door, and Y/N turned to Steve with a frown as they stood on the porch, bathed in the soft glow of the lights strung on the roof.
"Is it, I don't know, tacky to show up this late? Oh my God, we're gonna look like idiots and it's all my fault-"
"Hey, we're fine, okay?" He said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear before leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead. "It's only an hour and all the cool kids show up late, anyway."
She cracked a small smile at his joke and laced her fingers with his once again. "Sorry, I don't really get to go to many parties so I'm kind of...nervous."
That was fair, the last time he'd seen her at one was the summer before freshman year, at the eighth grade graduation party the school hosted at the Hawkins community pool (not that he'd been keeping track, no).
"We don't have to go in if you don't want to," Steve said, bringing their entwined hands to his mouth so he could drop another kiss on her knuckles. "We could go see a movie, maybe grab some food at the diner? I think I'm ready to try skating backwards so we could always go to the rink-"
"That's sweet of you but I'm not driving your ass to the hospital tonight," Y/N giggled at the way he rolled his eyes and mumbled 'gee, thanks' under his breath before she continued, her voice quiet and soft and oh so honest. "But seriously, I know how much you wanted to come to this and I really, um, I really wanna be here with you. Together."
Together. That's what they were for almost two weeks now, the best damn twelve days of his life, and while they never bothered hiding their relationship, they hadn't outright said they were dating yet; Tina's party was to be their big debut before going back to school in the new year and he couldn't wait to show the entirety of Hawkins High that this beautiful girl holding his hand, looking up at him with a bright smile on her face and sparkling lights reflecting in her eyes, wanted him.
"Pretty sure I'm the luckiest bastard on the planet, being here with you."
Y/N raised up on her tiptoes to press her lips to his, hand holding tight to his for balance. "Well then I must be the luckiest bitch. Now come on! Let's go party."
Things were great at first, aside from the typical nasty jabs from Carol and Tommy H -having nothing better to do than harass anyone who had the audacity to be happy in their miserable presences- as they danced with their classmates, arms wound tight around each other, spinning gracelessly, smiling and laughing and wrapped up in their own perfect little world.
And then Y/N had one too many cups of spiked cider.
She was tipsy, swaying as she loudly sung along to Fleetwood Mac and when Steve caught her after she tripped over her heeled boots and sloshed booze on the hardwood floor, he couldn't help but think of a different party, a different time, a different girl. The night Nancy Wheeler broke his heart with one word, repeated over and over like a broken record: bullshit.
She was here, surprisingly, tucked in a corner across the room with Jonathan at her side, but the sight of them huddled close together, happy and in love, didn't hurt like it used to, like it did before he fell so hard for the girl wrapped in his arms, giggling as she twirled a strand of his hair around her finger and peppered little kisses all over his cheeks.
"Stevie, baby boy, have I ever told you how cute you are?" She laughed delightedly at the blush rapidly spreading across his face and pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth. "So cute, so handsome, so beautiful."
"You're the beautiful one, Y/N," He replaced the half-full cup of cider in her hand with his can of pop -which she finished without noticing the switch- then steered her back toward the living room, away from the punch bowl. "Come on, let's get you home."
"No, Grandpa'll kill me if I come home like...like this!" She pointed to herself before clutching his hand in between both of hers like it was a lifeline. "Can I stay with you?"
At his nod, she squealed happily and wrapped her arms around his waist, the top of her head accidentally banging against his chin as she hugged him tight. "You're the best, Stevie! Stevie, Stevie...oh, like Stevie Nicks! Like, I love her but not as much as I love you."
For the second time in this damn house, Steve was blindsided by the words of a drunk girl, feet frozen to the ground and brain just about short-circuiting as it tried to process what the hell she'd just said. "What?"
Y/N looked up, chin on his chest and a soft smile dancing on her lips and the blood rushing in his ears drowned out the pounding music, their classmates' chatter, everything and anything except her voice. "I think I love you."
"You're drunk, Y/N." He finally managed to croak after a long, long pause, in which the grin slowly slipped from her face with each passing second of silence; 'drunk words are sober thoughts' the saying always went, he knew it to be true firsthand, and yet something in him tried to warn him not to believe her (how could he, after all those terrible, shitty things he did to Nancy) as he somehow got his feet to move and started guiding her toward the front door.
"So?" Keeping one arm around his waist, she shuffled alongside him all the way to his car and let him unceremoniously drop her into the passenger seat. "I just...that's just...ugh, words are hard."
He smiled to himself as he buckled her in and then rounded the car to the driver's side, her hand grabbing his and pulling it onto her lap the second he started driving toward his house. "They are, aren't they?"
Head leaned back against the seat, she took a deep breath and turned to look at him in the dim light of the dashboard. "Listen, I don't really know what love is 'cause I've never felt it before but...I think I could. With you."
Stopped at a street light, Steve met her eyes and tightened his grip on her hand and everything clicked into place when he said the words he'd been thinking for a month, ever since that cold December day he managed to pluck up the courage to ask her for skating lessons. "I think I could feel it with you, too."
Y/N might've missed most of his mouth when she leaned over for a kiss but to him, it was everything he needed.
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cocoa
sick of hearing his parents fight day after day, reggie goes to the one person who knows exactly what he's going through: the pretty violinist who lives next door.
fandom: julie and the phantoms
ship: alive!reggie x reader
word count: 1.5k+
featuring: swearing (as always), fighting, allusion to an abusive relationship, general sadness, mention of a family member’s death
a/n: day 2 of my holiday challenge: hot chocolate! this is kind of depressing and i'm sorry, sad!reggie was stuck in my head and he wouldn't leave until i wrote this but it has kind of a hopeful ending tho so i guess that counts for something? this is also my first time writing for this fandom so forgive me if it sucks. as usual, unbetaed so all mistakes are my b.
come join my holiday challenge!
December 1994
They were fighting again. It was the same old story: his dad being an ass on purpose, his mom taking the bait, wash, rinse, repeat. Their shouts rang harshly throughout the house, gloomy and miserable despite the cheerful decorations strung up in every room and the massive Christmas tree downstairs, dressed in its festive best and looking like it came straight out of a seasonal catalog.
Reggie had gone to them at the beginning of the month, begging them not to fight, please; his everyday life was already ruined by their screaming matches and the only thing he wanted for Christmas was some peace, quiet and civility to celebrate his favorite holiday. His father had pretended not to hear his son's pleas, ignoring him completely like he always did while his mother offered a tight-lipped smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"We'll try, honey." She'd said and he knew it was a lie. His mother always lied, his father always threw a plate at her head, Reggie always wished he had the courage to run away for good, like Luke did. But he wasn't Luke, he never would be, and he just didn't have it in him to leave them, even though he was the one who came out worse for wear after each fight.
The distant shatter of ceramic drifting up the stairs was his cue to go until things cooled down again -he never stuck around after the first dish got thrown, not anymore, the scar on his arm the perfect reminder why- and so he jimmied open the window of his room and climbed down the trellis into the salty air, the crashing waves of the Pacific covering his escape like a blanket.
(He could've stormed down the stairs and slammed the door behind him and his parents still wouldn't have noticed he left but something about sneaking out and risking a broken bone made him feel alive, the same rush he felt when he was on stage, bass humming in his hands, performing alongside his bandmates and knowing they felt it, too.)
Even outside, the echoes of his parents' angry voices still rang in his ears, haunting him all the way to the house next door, its sparkling lights shining brightly and guiding him through the darkening night like a beacon. The driveway sat empty, sans for one lone bicycle haphazardly lying on its side in front of the garage and he carefully propped it up on its kickstand before climbing the stairs to the front porch.
The faint sound of a slow, somber violin came to a stop as he knocked on the door, followed by a quiet, familiar voice Reggie knew like the back of his hand.
"It's open."
He found Y/N alone on the couch, eyes downcast and fingers fiddling with the strings of the violin on her lap and she glanced up at the tap of his boots on the hardwood floor, face brightening the slightest bit at the sight of her friend rounding the corner into the living room.
The girl didn't speak as she gently placed the instrument aside and stood, meeting him halfway and throwing her arms around his neck to draw him into a crushing hug. His own arms wrapped around her waist and held her just as tightly, his head resting on her shoulder, and the warm vanilla scent of her soft hair tickling his nose helped calm the storm in his heart.
"I'm sorry, Reg." Her voice was low and soothing in his ear and he didn't know how he could possibly hold her any tighter than he already was but he managed as he replied, "I'm sorry, too."
While his parents fought like wildfire, explosive and loud and raging with the wrong type of passion, hers were like a deep freeze, icy and cold and desolate in the worst possible way. Too many times Y/N was left to her own devices, all alone in an empty house with her thoughts and a violin her only company (at least they had given her that, the gift of music and a beautiful, expensive instrument to prove their love was real, albeit superficial).
It was some time later before she pulled back just far enough to look him in the eye and brushed a wayward strand of his dark hair back from his forehead with one calloused finger. "Okay, pity party's over. It's almost Christmas and we're not spending it being sad about shitty parents. Deal?"
She held out her pinky with one eyebrow raised expectantly and grinned when he nodded and hooked his pinky around hers. Reggie loved really liked that about her, the way she could just make all the heartache and pain and disappointment vanish from his mind like magic and replace them with thoughts of her and her sunny smile, her big heart, her touch that made the very blood in his veins spark like lightning. Y/N was his bright spot, his safe haven, and while Luke, Alex, and Bobby knew what he was going through, they just didn't understand like she did (they had their own problems to deal with, anyway, so he couldn't blame them).
"Good, now come on," She wrapped the rest of her fingers around his hand and started tugging him down the hall to the kitchen. "You're helping me make hot chocolate."
"Peppermint?" He asked, smiling when she glanced up at him with an offended look on her face.
"Duh. Only a heathen would make it without peppermint, Reginald."
Another thing he liked about her: she never did anything halfway; half-assing things, taking the easy way out, cutting corners just wasn't her style. It even applied to hot chocolate apparently, as he watched her flutter around the kitchen with practiced ease -heating milk and cream on the stove, measuring sugar and chocolate, slowly adding drops of peppermint oil- and despite her saying he was going to help, the only thing he got to do was crush some candy canes. Not that he minded, though, because while his hands could play bass like no one's business, they were a total disaster when it came to cooking and he knew Y/N was well aware of that fact, considering it took a week for the burnt popcorn smell to fade from her microwave the last time he tried.
The violinist smiled and proudly handed him the finished drink, whipped cream piled high and candy cane bits almost overflowing from the edge of a red mug. "This is my grandma's recipe," She said, one hand holding a purple mug for herself and the other reaching to grab onto his wrist and pull him out the front door. "She'd always make it when she came to visit for the holidays and we'd sit out on the porch and watch the ocean, each and every year."
"She was the best," Reggie said as the two sat together on the porch swing, his right side flush against her left. "I still have dreams about her cookies and wake up drooling."
The cool ocean breeze ruffled Y/N's hair and carried her laugh off down the beach. "She loved you, you know that? She was always talking about 'that nice boy next door.' Pretty sure she wanted us to get married."
"I loved her, too." He took a sip of his drink in an attempt to hide the blush that was taking over his entire face. "And we still have time for the whole marriage thing."
"I'm still waiting for my ring." She laughed again before looking down at the mug in her hands, voice becoming quiet as she replied, "I really miss her. She was the only person in my family who actually cared about me 'cause my parents sure as hell don't."
He wanted to tell her she was wrong but he knew it'd be a lie and he never did that, refusing to become a pathological liar like his mother, so instead he just wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tucked her against his side. "Hey, no more talk about shitty parents, remember?"
"Sorry, I know," She took a long sip of her cocoa, then rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh. "I just feel alone sometimes when you're not around. I mean, you have your band and I always had my grandma to talk to but now she's gone and I'm kind of...lost."
"You have the band, too, Y/N! Alex and Luke love you and Bobby, well, he's Bobby. No one really knows what goes on in that guy's head but I know he thinks you're cool. We all do, especially me, and you should know you're never alone 'cause you'll always have us."
The girl abruptly sat up and grabbed the mug from Reggie's hand before he could blink and placed it alongside her own on the floor, then threw her arms around his neck in another one of her fierce hugs.
"Has anyone told you how fucking amazing you are?"
"You just did." He buried his blushing face in her shoulder as his arms wrapped around her waist once again. "I'm serious, Y/N. You'll always have me."
"And you'll always have me, Reg. No matter what."
And as they sat there on the porch swing, wrapped in each other's arms, Reggie knew as long as he had Y/N in his life, things were gonna be okay.
#obxmermaidholiday#julie and the phantoms imagine#jatp imagine#reggie jatp#reggie x reader#reggie x y/n#jatp fic
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can’t help falling in love with you
college isaac x reader
christmas movies and cuddles with a hint of falling in love along the way
okay so the timeline is like they met in the fall, got together the next spring, and this is the christmas after. so like they’ve been dating 9-10 months
it’s 5 a.m. hahaha fuck. it’s a 4+1 format though!
(warnings: cursing, drinking, zero editing)
You had two problems.
The first was something you noticed early on. It was Isaac’s tendency to make himself small. Maybe not physically, but it was like he hated being too needy. You weren’t sure if it was because he thought it would bother you or if it was just a habit of trying to not take up much space, but you wanted to get to the root of it.
It took you a few weeks to figure out how to bring it up, and you really only did because of his reaction to a goodbye hug. You squeezed him tight when he left, and he full body shivered. Pulling away quickly, you gave him a concerned look, “Everything okay, did I hurt you?”
He smiled wryly and shook his head, “I’m good. Just needed a hug more than I realized.”
You’d had suspicions that physical touch was pretty high up on his preferred love languages, but he’d never said anything about it, and he kept his personal space relatively well, so you’d pushed the thought away. Maybe you should’ve just pressed it anyway.
That afternoon you promised yourself that you were going to be better. If he was too scared to ask, you wouldn’t make him, you’d just look for it more. Luckily, it was pretty obvious when he needed it.
The second was Isaac’s lack of experience with holiday movies. One afternoon, the two of you met for lunch between your classes. It was almost finals week and you’d started listening to Christmas music for the serotonin boost.
“You know,” you started when he sat down across from you, “Carol of the Bells hits so nice when you’re speed walking across campus. Reminds me of Home Alone and I feel like I can do anything.”
He hummed thoughtfully, nodding along, “Yeah, I bet.”
“You know what I’m talking about right?”
Isaac shrugged, “No, but I believe you.”
Your jaw dropped, “You’ve never seen Home Alone?”
“I never really watched Christmas movies growing up. We didn’t really do much of anything for the holidays. My dad worked a lot and my mom wasn’t there either.”
He avoided your eyes, and your heart sank. Over the months of dating, he’d pointedly avoided talking about his family. You weren’t really upset, it was his business and you figured he’d tell you when he felt comfortable, but the little references made you sad when he made them.
“We should watch some this year. It’s like a family tradition at my house to watch a bunch leading up to Christmas.”
You couldn’t help but notice his face soften a bit at the word family, and you were determined to make this first Christmas together great.
One: Klaus
Isaac cooked dinner, spaghetti and meatballs, with little to no help from you. Your greatest contribution was easily keeping his wine glass topped off. He was beautiful, face flushed from the heat coming off the stove and from the alcohol, and you couldn’t help but poke his cheek, giggling at the disgruntled face gave you.
“Cute,” you told him, pinching his cheek gently.
“Stop distracting me and put the garlic bread in the oven.”
“Yes sir.”
Rolling his eyes at your reply, Isaac turned the eye under the pasta off and took the pot off to drain it over the sink. Before pouring, he took a clean mug out of the dish drainer and scooped out some of the water.
“What’s that for?”
“Always save pasta water for your sauce,” he answered, pouring the rest out.
Steam billowed up in his face and you laughed, “Nice facial I bet.”
“Felt great,” he deadpanned, turning back with the strainer full of spaghetti noodles.
Nodding enthusiastically, “I was gonna suggest face masks for tonight, but you might be fine without.”
“No,” he was quick to correct, “I still want a mask.”
Chuckling, you held your hands up, “Fine with me. We can put them on before the movie.”
“Thought we were going to eat while the movie is on.”
“No, I haven’t seen this one before so I want to give it my full focus.”
Isaac shrugged, used to your weird requests, and went back to focusing on the food. You hoped he would hurry, you were hungry and you didn’t want to drink anymore until you had some food in your system.
After what felt like forever, he flipped the stove off and pulled the garlic bread out of the oven. He handed you a plate, “Want to fix yours first?”
“No, you cooked, I’ll go second.”
Bending down, he pressed a kiss to your temple, and stepped away to start piling food onto his plate. You filled yours after and followed him over to the couch where he was sitting, waiting on you to start eating.
“You could’ve started.”
“Wanted to wait, it’s polite.”
You rolled your eyes, “Guess chivalry isn’t dead.”
“Damn straight.”
-
“Okay but you really do need moisturizer,” you told him after he dried his face post-mask.
“Skin feels fine,” he told you, stroking his cheek a few times.
You sighed, knocking his hand away, and rubbed moisturizer in, ignoring the face he made in response. When you finished, you grabbed the hand you’d knocked away and pulled him back to the couch to start the movie.
“Dishes?” Isaac asked, sounding a little worried.
“Later, I’m ready for the movie.”
“You’re going to fall asleep, wine makes you tired,” he warned.
“Never.”
You pushed him down first and tried to position him the way you wanted. After a few seconds, and some amused looks from Isaac, you sat down on the couch, leaning your back against his chest, both of you’s legs stretched out across the couch.
Isaac always ran warm, and you tilted your head, pressing the side of your face into his chest to see the TV. He huffed out a laugh, “Comfy?”
“Very. Can you hit play, pretty please?”
He did and the movie started. It wasn’t noticeable how tense he’d been when you first laid down, but as time ticked on and he got more into the movie, Isaac relaxed. One of his arms wrapped around your waist, fingers pushing your shirt up and stroking rhythmically over the exposed stripe of skin on your hip.
You couldn’t stop the shiver and his chest rumbled with a laugh. Grabbing the hem of his shirt, you tugged gently, wrinkling your nose at the image on screen, “Bet those fish smell bad.”
“Bet she smells bad.”
Pausing for a second to think, you said, “You know, that whole town gives onion vibes.”
“Onion vibes?”
“I feel like it reeks. Bad vibes equals onion smell.”
Isaac laughed, tilting his head down to brush a kiss across your hairline, “Can’t argue with that logic.”
“Furthermore,” you held a finger up to emphasize your point, and he snorted, “it feels musty right? Like I bet it feels damp.”
“Well it is covered in snow.”
“But like, humid almost. Dank, maybe?”
Humming, he answered, “I think I know what you mean.”
You watched as the main character convinced the kids to pay him to send their letters with a frown, “I’m not sure how...ethical that is.”
“The evils of a capitalist society,” he said, and you nodded, chin hitting his collarbone.
“Ouch,” you muttered, rubbing it. Isaac brushed over your chin gently as if to soothe the pain before he brought it back down to your hip.
His warmth combined with the blanket covering the two of you, the wine you’d drank, and the movie playing quietly in the background lulled you to sleep, just like Isaac predicted. The music startled you awake once, eyes fluttering as you watched the sleigh almost teeter off the edge of a cliff, but his rhythmic breathing knocked you back out.
It didn’t seem like much longer later when Isaac squeezed your hip playfully, waking you back up fully.
“Gotta do the dishes, sweetheart, let me up.”
Yawning, you reluctantly sat up, stretching, “I’ll help.”
“You can go to bed, I’ll be there in twenty.”
“No, you cooked, I’ll help.”
He chuckled as you stumbled, reaching for his hand in your half asleep state. The kitchen light woke you up fully when he flipped it on, and you blinked a few times, bumping your hip playfully into his when he took up all the space in front of the sink.
“I’ll wash, you dry,” he told you, handing over a dish towel.
“Fine.”
It took less than 20 minutes with both of you working, and he held his hands out for you to grab after turning the water off. You took them and let him pull you through the living room to your bedroom.
Pulling the covers back, both of you climbed into bed. He brushed some hair out of your face and kissed you gently, trailing his lips across your cheek to your forehead where he moved back to whisper, “Goodnight, lovely.”
Two: A Christmas Story
The weather was miserable and you felt so bad for dragging Isaac out in it. It wasn’t quite cold enough for snow, an unusual “warm” snap, but it was cold enough for the rain to leave a deep chill in your bones.
“Fuck,” he muttered, shivering, “we should get some coffee on the way home.”
“Yeah, something warm sounds fantastic right now.”
He drove to the nearest drive-thru near your apartment, and you cradled the latte to your chest as he drove the rest of the way home. The rain picked up as soon as he parked and you sighed, “Wanna run for it?”
Isaac nodded, “I guess. We can always change.”
Unfortunately, there were no close spots near your building, so both of you ran, splashing through puddles carelessly, just wanting to get out of the rain as fast as possible. He laughed at your disgruntled face, and you wrinkled your nose, “Gonna be miserable for the rest of the day.”
“You won’t. We’ll crank the heat up and watch a movie. Didn’t you have a list?”
“I do,” you brightened considerably, “we should watch A Christmas Story. It’s my dad’s favorite.”
“Deal.”
The inside of your apartment was dark and cold, and you flipped on a lamp, shivering. He walked to the thermostat, and you went to your room to dig through the drawers for clothes. Isaac walked in soon after you and you handed him a pair of his sweatpants and a sweater.
“Thanks,” he mumbled, starting to struggle with his wet jeans.
You snorted at his frustrated face, “Told you to just wear sweats.”
“Never,” he swore, “only in the comfort of my home.”
“Oh,” you teased, “you consider this home?”
“Of course,” he answered, eyes looking slightly watery, “you’re home.”
Your smile softened and you held your arms open for him to walk into. Squeezing you in a tight hug, Isaac buried his face into your hair. You mumbled, “Good, because you’re my home too.”
He pulled back and started shimmying out of his jeans again. You were finished changing way before he was and sat on the edge of your bed to wait. There was a furrow between his eyebrows as he finally kicked his jeans off, and you stood to grab the pile of wet clothes to wash.
“Start up my laptop and we can watch the movie,” you told him, pulling the door shut behind you in case your roommate was home.
You started the laundry and walked back to your room, sipping the latte you’d left in the kitchen on your way in. Isaac was scrolling through your movies when you walked back in the room, propped up against your pillows, blanket over his lap.
The rain had picked up again outside, beating against the window near your bed, and you sat down next to Isaac, his arm coming up to wrap around your shoulder.
“Ready?” he asked, hovering over the movie title.
“Born ready.”
Isaac hit play and you rested your head on his shoulder, legs crossed in front of you. You couldn’t drink your coffee at the angle your head was tilted against his shoulder, but you liked feeling him laugh too much to care if it was going cold.
His arm around your shoulder went limp as he fully relaxed into the movie. At the tire changing scene, Isaac snorted, “Well isn’t this relatable.”
Biting your lip, you winced, “Sorry.”
“All good, hon. Not upset, a little funny even.”
Taking a deep breath, you nodded, “If you say so.”
Isaac’s other hand dropped to hold yours that was closest to him, and you smiled as he brought it up to his face to kiss the back of it. You squeezed his hand and laced your fingers together.
“You know,” you interrupted, “hand holding is the most underrated way to show affection.”
He hummed, “I think I agree.”
“You like holding my hand?” you asked, cheeky smile on your face.
“I do.”
“Good. Now you’re obligated to keep holding my hand forever.”
“Forever, huh? You sure you want to keep me around that long?”
Untangling your hand from his, you held out your pinky, “Promise, bub.”
He linked his pinky with yours and shook it. Before you could say anything else, he tapped your nose, “Now hush, I’m trying to watch the movie.”
Scrunching your nose, you grabbed his hand again, “Don’t shush me.”
“I thought you wanted me to watch this.”
“I do.”
“You’re distracting me.”
You huffed, “Fine. Just rewind.”
Isaac snorted and did as you asked, leaning back against the pillows when he finished. Cuddling back into his side, you couldn’t help the little sigh of happiness that escaped.
Three: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Isaac had apparently been having trouble sleeping. It took you a few days to notice, but he came over for dinner one night and the bags under his eyes were incredibly pronounced.
“Hey, everything okay?”
He sighed, “Scott and Stiles went home so the apartment has been lonesome to say the least.”
“Bad dreams?” asking was a tossup, you were unsure whether he’d actually be forthcoming with the details he was usually so tight-lipped about.
You were unsure if it was because of the lack of sleep or he just decided to let you in, with a hum, he answered, “Yeah, this time of year isn’t the greatest. Everyone’s with their family and I’m just alone.”
Nodding, you held a hand out for him to take, “You know, one of my comfort movies is on the list of holiday movies, if you want to try it out.”
“I’d like that. I like learning about your comfort things, makes me feel closer to you.”
You smiled, “I’d like to learn more about yours someday.”
“You will,” he said so matter of factly that you believed him.
He let you pull him over to the couch and sat down normally, legs out in front of him. You put the movie in the DVD player and sat next to him, stretching your legs across his lap.
“You know,” you told him as the snowman started talking, “I kinda forgot what the fuck happens in this movie.”
“I thought it was your comfort movie.”
“It is. I watched it a lot as a kid with my sister.”
Looking thoughtful, he went quiet and started watching again.
“The island of misfit toys,” he said, chin resting on his hand, elbow propped on your shin, “kind of dark for a kids movie.”
You laughed, “Just wait.”
Not too much longer later, he flinched as Yukon fell over the cliff, “The fuck?!”
“It’s alright, Isaac,” you told him, reaching up to ruffle his hair.
Pouting, he slumped forward fully on your legs and pressed his head into your hand. You took the hint and started running your hand through it, scratching his scalp gently. His chin stayed resting on your shin as he finished the movie out.
“I can see why it’s your comfort movie. Happy ending, familiar tale, and a little bit of romance.”
“Yeah. My mom used to play it while we decorated the Christmas tree.”
“You’re a big traditions person, huh?”
“Definitely,” you confirmed, “something to look forward to.”
“My dad wasn’t around much,” Isaac confided, “and when he was, he was mean. I wish I had siblings, but my mom left before she could have another one.”
“Have you talked to your dad much since moving?”
His laugh was humorless, “Fortunately, no. I moved and I left for good. I have no interest in going back to Beacon Hills.”
“So that’s why you decided to stay, huh?”
“Rather stay here with you than go someplace to see people not worth my time.”
“Do you ever talk to your family members?”
“No. I don’t think I’ve ever really forgiven my mom for abandoning me, and my dad is a lost cause. I lived with a guy named Argent for a while after my dad kicked me out, but he’s been abroad since I left for school.”
“How’d you know him?”
“His daughter Allison was my good friend. She’s at school abroad.”
You paused your scratching and cradled his chin, turning his face to look at you, “So you’d go if they were still in Beacon Hills?”
Isaac frowned, “Maybe.”
“Family is important, no matter if it’s blood or not.”
“I guess that’s kind of a moral in Rudolph isn’t it.”
You laughed, “Yeah, I guess it is.”
He sat up and leaned forward to kiss you. When he pulled away, Isaac smiled, “Thanks for listening to me.”
“Thanks for opening up.”
Four: Elf
“Okay but how often do they have free drive-in,” you pleaded, “and it’s a Christmas movie, and they’re giving out eggnog.”
“Personally, not a huge fan of eggnog.”
“Hot chocolate too.”
He paused, “You might get me with the hot chocolate.”
You snorted, “Well, you don’t have much time to decide because it starts in two hours.”
Inhaling sharply, he stood, “Let’s go.”
“Yes!” you cheered, grabbing two blankets off the couch to bring for when he turned the car off.
“It’s going to be cold, sweetheart,” he warned, looking at your leggings and hoodie.
“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Mhmm,” he raised his eyebrows, “we’ll see if you say so in an hour.”
-
It was cold, and part of you didn’t want to admit how cold you were, but eventually the shivers won out and you smiled sheepishly at Isaac, “Can you turn the car on?”
“Nope,” he popped the p, “I did warn you.”
You pouted and he rolled his eyes, an amused look on his face. After a few seconds, he lifted the console up and slid across the seat, arm out for you to squeeze close.
“Thanks, bud,” you told him gratefully as the movie started.
“I think I have a sweater in the back seat,” he offered.
“Nah, it’ll be cold anyway.”
He nodded and wrapped the blanket around you, “Offer’s open.”
Isaac was a movie talker, not that you ever minded, you were too, but you could tell he really liked Elf because he barely spoke the whole time.
Leaning into his side warmed you up, and you watched silently, aimlessly playing with his hoodie strings.
“I know it’s not the most prominent theme in these holiday movies,” he said, “it seems that shit dads are pretty common. Like, Merry Christmas to you and all your daddy issues.”
“Oh my god,” you snorted, “I guess you’re not wrong. You elbowed him, “Merry Christmas to you and all your daddy issues.”
“Thanks, sweetheart,” he told you, kissing your cheek, “I’d rather be here with daddy issues than be in Beacon Hills with a dad.”
Clapping a hand over your mouth, you laughed loudly, “I’m not sure if that’s the truth, but I appreciate the sentiment.”
“It’s true. You do mean the most to me.”
Your eyes widened, “Wow, I love you too.”
Isaac’s cheeks turned red and he jumped in surprise at the sudden yelling on screen. You pinched his cheek, and the best way you could describe the look in his eyes was fond. He sighed, “I don’t-”
“Don’t worry,” you reassured, “I know.”
“You’re too good to me.”
“Too good? Nah. You deserve all the good things.”
“So,” he trailed off mischievously, “if I deserve good things, does that mean we can eat only from the four main food groups for the rest of the break?”
“What?” you were lost.
“Candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup.”
“Fuck no. I know that you’re joking because I think the lack of cooking would do you in, but I still can’t stand the thought.”
Isaac laughed, “No, I wouldn’t, but I do really like this one.”
“Good. More found family content.”
“It is a theme.”
“The best theme.”
“I know you aren’t the most fond of reading, but I have some books really heavy on found families that I think you’d really like.”
It wasn’t the first time Isaac had recommended you books before, and you hadn’t ever taken them, but you’d thought, with all the opening up he’d been doing, the least you could do was take a suggestion.
“Give me a list, I’ll check some out.”
He smiled softly at you and squeezed your hand, “I will.”
Plus One: Home Alone
Isaac stumbled out of the Uber, and waited for you to climb out, “Come on, babe,” he slurred when you took a few seconds.
“Coming, can’t find my phone,” you told him, patting around the backseat.
“I’ve got it in my pocket,” he told you.
“Oh, shit, okay.”
He threw an arm around you and the two of you walked toward his apartment, “Fucking hell, they spiked the fuck out of that cider.”
You giggled, “To be fair, we both had a lot.”
“We did.” Isaac fumbled with the keys and managed to get his door unlocked after a minute of missing the keyhole. He grinned proudly, “Let’s fucking go.”
“Wow, a genius,” you mocked and he rolled his eyes.
“Just go change so we can watch a movie.”
Luckily, you and Isaac were both floor people when drunk. You went into his bathroom to take off all your makeup and change, and by the time you finished, he was flipping through TV channels and laying on a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor.
“ABC Family probably has a movie on.”
And when he managed to find the channel, Home Alone was playing. Isaac squinted at it, “I think I’ve seen this one.”
“It’s my favorite,” you gushed.
“We’ll watch it then. Lemme go change.”
Isaac left and you slumped back on the blankets, eyes shutting a few times as a wave of tiredness hit you. On screen Kevin screamed, and you jumped, waking up fully as Isaac flopped down next to you.
He laughed, “Comfy?”
“Could be better,” you answered, pulling at him until you could lay your head on his chest. He laughed and you tossed a leg over his. When you finally stopped squirming, you poked his chest, “Now I’m good.”
“What if I’m not comfy?”
“Tough.”
Isaac snorted, “I guess I’ll just deal.”
“Thanks for your service, bro.”
He focused on the screen, “How are these assholes not dead?”
You blinked a few times, trying to focus, “I don’t know actually. Like I would’ve just wanted to die after a certain amount of pain, right?”
“Head on fire? I’m noping right out of that. Fuck the houses.”
“Absolutely, hit me on the head with an iron and I’m gone.”
Isaac laughed, “Weak pain tolerance for the win.”
He picked up his hand and held it up limply, you picked yours up to high five him. It was sloppy and you missed most of his hand, but he grabbed it and refused to let it go. Kissing it sloppily, you smiled at him.
“Sap,” you teased.
“Only for you, of course.”
“Of course, I’d hope so.”
He fell asleep pretty soon after, and you took a minute to reflect. For a while into your relationship, Isaac refused to sleep over. You weren’t sure why, and it kind of hurt your feelings at the start. Eventually he did, but he always waited until you fell asleep first.
Home Alone played in the background softly as he slept, eyelashes fluttering, and you smiled at him. You traced over his cheekbones and across his brow bone, pausing when he made a face before tapping his nose.
“Stop,” he mumbled.
“No.”
You pulled him closer and entwined your legs with his. He huffed, “What if I have to pee.”
“Hold it, I’m trapping you here.”
“You can’t trap me, I’m bigger than you.”
“You can carry me if you must.”
He hummed, “Fine. Hopefully I don’t drop you.”
“You won’t,” you told him, confidently.
“Oh yeah, you trust me that much?”
“Mhmm, obviously,” you tapped his lip.
Nipping at your fingers, he laughed, “Why?”
“Because you love me, you wouldn’t hurt me.”
He froze under your fingertips, and you stayed quiet to let him work through it. Tracing mindlessly, you smiled at him, his brows furrowed.
“I do,” he spoke eventually, “I do love you.”
Your eyes filled up and you bit your lip, “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Good, because I love you too.”
“Good.”
~
day five of @obxmermaid‘s holiday challenge: holiday movies
#isaac lahey#isaac lahey x reader#isaac lahey x you#isaac lahey fanfiction#college isaac#obxmermaidholiday
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under the mistletoe
ole miss rafe x reader
the beginning of your relationship with some misunderstandings along the way (ft. the first kiss)
yes i will continue to use the same gif of this man :)
(warnings: cursing, drinking, light editing)
Rafe texted you for the first time about a date the weekend after the Egg Bowl. You weren’t overly enthused at the prospect, he’d been a huge dick, but you couldn’t help but be intrigued by him.
Dinner and a movie.
It wasn’t even a question. It was a demand, like he knew you’d say yes so there was no point in actually asking. To be fair you did plan on saying yes, but he didn’t need to know that. So, after 30 minutes, you had to make him sweat it out, you responded.
First of all, you should ask. Demanding is not the way to get a date. Second of all, if you think I’m voluntarily stepping foot in Oxford for a boy, you’re sorely mistaken.
Rafe responded almost immediately which made you feel a bit vindicated.
You’re right. I’m sorry. Meet in Jackson?
Which you could absolutely do. The two of you made plans for the following weekend to meet at the Cultivation Food Hall, and then you wanted to check out a science museum they had there. It was the inner vet major in you. And shockingly, Rafe agreed without much of a fight.
Of course it was almost too much to ask. What more could you expect from an Oxford frat douche bag, really there was no one to blame but yourself. The science museum was maybe a little bit childish, but you thoroughly enjoyed it while Rafe made it very clear he was bored.
You weren’t entirely sure what his major was, but clearly it wasn’t very sciency. There were easy hikes which cheered him up a bit, so you were glad for that, but when the two of you got in your cars to go your separate ways, you expected that to be the end.
It wasn’t, and he texted you again.
Did you make it back okay?
And when you didn’t answer, ready to leave him on read despite the warm feeling in your chest, he texted again.
I hope you had fun, I did. Can I see you again?
You walked over to your roommate’s room and dropped onto her bed with a loud, dramatic groan. She looked up from her desk where she was reading for one of her classes with an amused look, “Something wrong?”
“Rafe texted me,” you told her. She’d heard all about the date, you called her on the drive home so she had Thai takeout waiting for you when you got there, so she understood for the most part.
“And? Leave him on read if he made you that miserable today that you had to eat your weight in Thai food.”
“But, part of me wants to text him back. Like a big part of me. I don’t- explain to me.”
She snorted, “You’ve always liked toxic men.”
Your jaw dropped, but you couldn’t really argue with her there. There was nothing but the truth in her words, “Um, you didn’t have to come for me like that.”
“You needed honesty. I know you’re going to text him back, so what do you plan on saying?”
“What should I say?”
“I don’t know. I barely met him. Have your texts been super flirty?”
“Not really.”
“Do you want them to be?”
And that you had to think about. Did you really want to pursue things with this guy when you were both about to graduate in a semester.
“Maybe, I don’t know. I mean it might not go anywhere or get, like, super serious.”
She made a face, “But is that the guy you really want to pass the time with? Like you could definitely meet a nice boy here.”
You scoffed, “I’ve been here for three and a half years and haven’t managed that. May as well go for a hotty toddy.”
She sighed and gave you an amused look, “I’m a little embarrassed for you. This should be against everything you stand for.”
“It is,” you told her, slightly ashamed, “but he’s also cute.”
“Like I said, toxic men as long as they come in a pretty package.”
So, after a few hours you texted him back.
Yeah I made it, thanks. I’d like that. Maybe we can catch that movie. But no way in hell I’m going to Oxford.
His response was a little delayed, which you didn’t expect one back that night anyway, you sent it late. But just as you were almost asleep, your phone buzzed.
Fair enough. But don’t expect me to show up in Starkville anyway
-
Some people in your major were throwing a Christmas party a week before Christmas, and you really were debating going. Most of them had significant others and you knew it would be pretty painful being one of the only singles drinking alone.
“So bring Rafe,” your roommate suggested when you were yet again laying on her bed to complain.
You sat up fast, head spinning a bit, “I can’t just ask him. We haven’t even been seeing each other that long. Like he hasn’t even kissed me or anything. No relationship definition at all.”
She joined you on the bed and wrapped an arm around your shoulder, “Okay, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but you actually really like this guy, right?”
“Yeah,” you sighed, “I’m such a hypocrite, but I really do.”
“Then ask him. You said the dates were getting better with each one. You’ve seen him every weekend for a month and some weeknights since you don’t have Friday classes.”
“What if he says no,” you whispered, “I think that’s why I’m most worried. It’ll really really hurt if he says no.”
She bit her lip, thinking, “Okay, if he asked you to be his date at some event in Oxford, would you go?”
You answered without hesitation, “I would.”
“Then ask. If he says no, I’ll go as your date and we’ll drink and have fun. But all you can assume is that he likes you as much as you like him, and he’ll say yes.”
“You’re right,” you admitted, standing from her bed, resolved, “I’m going to ask him.”
Hey Cameron, got a minute?
He answered quickly.
Sure, what’s up?
So you called him, and he answered on the second ring. Deep down you were very pleased about that.
“Hey,” he answered, “something wrong?”
“Not really, I just had a question for you.”
In hindsight, maybe you should’ve done it over text so if he did reject you, it wouldn’t be where he could actually hear your response. But the reasoning you called is so that if you got a no it wouldn’t be in a text where you could reread and over analyze that night.
“Fire away,” he cut off your spiral.
You sighed, “Okay so a few people in my major that I’ve done group projects with before are throwing a Christmas party. We all get plus ones, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me.”
He hummed, “What’s the date?”
“Um, I think December 18th. If you’re going home before then, that’s totally fine. I just wanted to ask.”
“You’re willing to bring a hotty toddy to a bulldog Christmas party,” he teased, “I’m honored.”
You snorted, “Unfortunately, I am. If you want to at least, please don’t feel pressured.”
“I don’t. And I’m not going home for Christmas. I haven’t since freshman year. The reason I asked was because some of the guys in my pledge class are having a get together of our own. We did Secret Santa and it’s on the 21st so I didn’t want to miss it.”
“Oh,” you paused, “so you’ll come with me?”
“Of course,” his voice was soft, “you sound surprised.”
Your cheeks heated up, “I mean, I was kind of expecting you to say no.”
Rafe went silent, you could almost hear the gears in his head spinning as he tried to come up with a response. You were about to ask if he was okay before he responded, “You know that I like spending time with you, right?”
You tried to play your anxiety off, “I mean, I’d hope so the amount of weekends we’ve spent together so far.”
“Good. So then why do you think I’d say no?”
“I don’t know,” you chewed on your lip, “I guess we just haven’t really talked about what this is and I wasn’t sure where you are or how you feel.”
He hummed, “Okay, I understand. I’m sorry for not communicating better.”
“It’s okay, I should’ve done better too.”
“Well, now that we’re on the same page. Tell me exactly when the party is and I’ll be there.”
You hesitated, “Do you want to come the night before and stay?”
His voice was warm, when he answered, “Absolutely.”
-
“Thank god,” your roommate had said when you told her, “now I can go home early.”
Her partner was from her hometown, and they didn’t get to see each other often. She’d come to visit a few times since you and your roommate had lived together, so you had at least met her before.
“Tell her I said hey. Do you need a ride to the airport?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“I need to pick up dessert for the party anyway, so I’ll drive you to Jackson and go to Target there.”
The two of you woke up at 3 a.m. to get her to the airport by 5:30. She talked a little about her Christmas plans and then the two of you rode mostly in silence. It was kind of calming, despite being super tired.
Before she got out of the car, your roommate pulled something out of her backpack and held it out to you. You took it, frown on your face, “Is this mistletoe?”
“It is. You said Rafe hadn’t kissed you yet, put this to use.”
You shook your head, huffing out a laugh, “I don’t know about that one.”
“He’ll be at the apartment all weekend, just hang it up in the kitchen or like in the hallway leading to your room.”
“It seems cheesy.”
“It is, but that’s what makes it fun,” she insisted.
Taking the mistletoe, you set it in the cupholder, “Fine. I’ll think about it.”
She nodded, pleased enough, “Thank you.”
-
You didn’t hang the mistletoe up, but to be fair you got totally distracted by stress cleaning and baking the desserts for the party you decided to make from scratch instead of buying store bought.
Rafe wasn’t supposed to show up until that night, but there was a knock at your apartment door at 2:30, startling you. He was smiling sheepishly on the other side, “I know I’m early, but I didn’t see any point in waiting longer.”
Grinning, you stepped aside to let him in. He looked around, taking in the decorations you and your roommate set up the day after Thanksgiving. You pointed toward the hallway your room was down, “If you want to set your stuff down, my room is at the end of that hall.”
“Thanks,” he answered, bending down to kiss you on the cheeks, something he’d been doing since date three.
Walking back to the kitchen you immediately picked the stress baking back up where you’d left it to answer the door. Rafe was gone for a while, using the bathroom you assumed, and when he came back, he was changed, and you couldn’t help but stare.
“What?” he asked, a weird look on his face.
“Nothing, I’ve just never seen you out of like jeans or slacks.”
He glanced down at himself, sweatshirt with his frat letters on them and grey sweatpants, before looking up at you, “I figured since we were staying in I could get comfy.”
“Yeah definitely,” you reassured, “I like it, just was surprised, that’s all.”
“You like it, huh?” he teased and stepped fully into the kitchen, wrapping one arm around your shoulders, “That’s noted.”
-
Rafe did dress back up for the party, which you were expecting. Jeans and a nice sweater. You smiled at him and tugged gently at the sweater, “This is cute.”
“Bought it just for the party. It’s even maroon, see?”
“I do see. Didn’t know if it was a coincidence or not.”
“Nope, fully intentional.”
It felt like a good time to kiss him, mistletoe or not, but before you got up the courage, he was stepping away to grab one of the desserts off the counter. You sighed internally and grabbed the other with the hand not holding your keys.
“Alright, I’m parked in the back lot, opposite direction of visitor parking.”
“Cool, after you.”
Sitting in the car, you plugged your phone into the aux. Rafe buckled up and got comfy in the passenger’s seat. You smiled at him, it felt natural for him to be invading your space the way he was. But he was giving you a bit of a complex with the whole not interested in kissing thing.
He glanced down at the cupholder and did a double take. You cursed yourself for forgetting to take the mistletoe out of your car when he asked, “Is that mistletoe.”
“Um, yep.”
“Why do you have it?”
“I meant to give it to my roommate when she flew out, but it was so early it totally slipped my mind,” you lied smoothly.
Rafe nodded, totally believing it, and you sighed. Maybe you should bring it in, hang it up when he’s in the shower or something. But deep down you knew you wouldn’t. You didn’t want Rafe to kiss you out of obligation for some stupid tradition. You wanted him to mean it.
The drive went by quickly, the boy hosting lived at an apartment complex just up the road, and you found parking easily, recognizing a few cars in the visitors' spaces meaning you weren’t the first ones to show up.
Rafe got out and took in all the MSU merch hanging from balconies and on cars with a grimace, “Y’all have almost too much spirit.”
“We aren’t snobby enough to think it’s tacky and above us,” you responded, taking a clear shot at Ole Miss.
“Fair enough. It’s just a lot of talk for a school who’s so bad at sports.”
Your jaw dropped, “I know an Ole Miss football fan isn’t speaking right now. Are you aboard the Lane Train?” you asked, mockingly.
Rafe rolled his eyes and shook his head, reaching down to ruffle your hair playfully, “With that record? Absolutely not.”
“And not because he’s a piece of shit?”
“Well, that too.”
He grabbed both containers in one hand and your hand in the other, lacing your fingers together as you led the two of you to the right building. His palms were sweating a little, and you squeezed gently, “All good?”
“A bit nervous, just don’t want to look stupid in front of your friends.”
“Why would you,” you were confused, unsure how he’d reached that conclusion.
“I mean, you’re all like STEM majors, right?”
“Yeah?”
“And I am not.”
There was so much to unpack there, so you tried to go for a joke, “I mean we aren’t going to just talk about like anatomy and biology all night, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He snorted, “Maybe a little. I just feel out of my depth.”
“I promise, it’s going to be okay. You’re really smart too, just in a different way. But we aren’t really here to show off our intelligence. It’s more to drink and eat and bitch about our professors.”
“See, that’s super specific,” he complained.
“Well, yeah, I guess. But most of us are dating out of our majors, just hop on the bandwagon like they do and you’ll win ‘em over in no time.”
By the time you’d finished reassuring him, the two of you had arrived at his door. You squeezed one last time and he smiled, seeming more at ease. Reaching up to knock, it swung open before you could, a guy named Justin grinning widely, “Welcome welcome to the annual Bitchmas Party.”
Rafe snorted and let you step in first. Justin set his drink down on the table by the door and held his hands out, I’ll take your coats and your keys please.”
Handing them over, he escorted you through the entranceway to the living room, stopping you right as the tile changed to carpet. You squinted at him, “What?”
Wordlessly, he pointed up and you saw mistletoe, your blood running cold. Rafe made a noise and bent down to kiss your cheek, close to the corner of your mouth but not quite.
“Boo,” Justin jeered, “but close enough, come on through.”
Your stomach sank. Again. And Rafe leaned down, “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. I mean, you could’ve kissed me.” Your words came out a lot sharper than you intended, but before Rafe could question you, Ashton was stepping in to ask the two of you about drinks. Rafe asked for a soda and you got spiked eggnog. May as well to sort through the mess of feelings in your stomach.
Someone spread out the food and everyone lined up to get plates before settling in the assortment of chairs all over the room. You sat on the couch and Rafe sat on the floor, leaned back next to your legs. Justin gave him a weird look and offered a chair, but Rafe declined, saying he was fine.
At some point, he wrapped an arm around your closest leg and leaned his head on your thigh, nodding along to the conversation. You brushed your hand through his hair that you’d convinced him to leave ungelled, and complained about your animal sciences professor who’d made the tests way harder than necessary and not offered bonus opportunities.
Rafe actually interrupted, “Okay wait, she put questions on information not taught in class and not readily available in your textbook?”
“Correct.”
“So how were you supposed to know you were going to be tested on it.”
“You weren’t,” Justin answered him, drily, “That was her whole point. Be prepared for anything.”
“She should’ve just given us papers on those topics.”
“Agreed,” a girl named Emily chipped in, “I would’ve so much preferred that than literally guessing on a test.”
Rafe made a face, “I mean, for my history courses we were expected to do the readings and then like additional research, but she told us the topics beforehand so we’d know what to research.”
Ashton’s girlfriend leaned forward at his words, “You’re a history major?”
“Yeah,” Rafe answered, his grip on your leg tightening.
“Me too,” she looked excited, “what do you want to do?”
He leaned forward eagerly, “I want to teach, European if possible. I haven’t decided if I want to do like Advanced Placement courses in high school or just go get a masters and be a professor. What do you want to do?”
“I want to do research so I’ll definitely be going after a PhD. But I figure at least that way, I’ll be doing something while Ash is in vet school.”
Rafe looked around, “Is everyone here going to vet school?”
Mostly everyone in your group was, so they all nodded, including you. Justin spoke up, “Buncha nerds in this bunch. We all grouped together pretty much since day one since we all had the same plans. We’ve lost a few along the way.”
“Rest in peace Jasmine and Brady,” you added, solemnly.
“Do you all want to stay here?” Rafe asked, clearly curious about everyone’s plans.
A few people around the group nodded, but some shook their heads. Rafe hummed, taking in the information before looking over his shoulder at you. You nodded, “Yeah, I like MSU’s vet school, I want to stay.”
He nodded thoughtfully, “Good to know.”
Justin gave you a weird look and you shrugged, just as confused.
-
Four cups of eggnog later, the party was winding down, and you were happily tipsy. Rafe, still sober, had an arm around your waist to keep you steady. He led you toward the door, passing under the mistletoe again without stopping and you sighed.
Glancing down at you, he made a face, “Clearly something is on your mind.”
“Clearly,” you muttered back sarcastically. He opened the passenger door for you to climb in and you asked, “You know how to get back?”
“It’s just up the road, I don’t think it’s that hard.”
You rolled your eyes, “Just a question, no need to get so offended.”
The ride back was in uncomfortable silence, so unlike the drive there that you were squirming in the passenger seat. Rafe glanced over at a red light, “Are you about to puke?”
Offended, you answered, “No, I can handle my fucking alcohol.”
“Okay,” he muttered, “no need to get defensive.”
You hated how weird it felt between the two of you, but you weren’t sure how to fix it. Unless he just magically decided you were kissable, but you didn’t foresee that happening in the near future, so instead, you pouted.
Rafe parked and turned the car off but stayed seated, so you did too, feeling uneasy. He looked over at you, “What’s up. Why have you been so weird tonight?”
“I haven’t.”
“You have. And I think it actually started yesterday when I got here. Is it just me being in your space? Like am I invading it or something? I can go home tonight if I need to.”
Maybe you weren’t in the ideal state to have this conversation, but you also figured this was probably the state you were most likely to let the honest truth slip.
“No. The problem is you aren’t taking up enough space.”
Which in hindsight didn’t make much sense, you couldn’t blame him for the confused, “What does that mean?”
“It means that you won’t kiss me and I’m not sure why.”
“I-” and for once, for once in your whole goddamn relationship (or whatever you were calling it) Rafe was speechless, “I thought you didn’t want me to.”
Then it was your turn to be shocked, “What? When did I say that?”
“On our first date, you talked about only kissing when it got serious.”
“Yes.”
“And when I brought up the Christmas party in Oxford, you didn’t ask about a plus one. Hell, you still won’t come to Oxford at all.”
“How was I supposed to know I’m supposed to invite myself to a Christmas party with the boys? And sure, I was opposed to Oxford at first, but I think we’ve been seeing each other long enough for me to actually make that trip,” you answered incredulously, startled at all the assumptions he’d jumped to.
He squinted, “You never said.”
“You never said,” you fired back, “I invited you to a party with my friends, I thought that would be hint enough that I think this is serious.”
“I need it outright said,” he mumbled.
“Clearly.”
“Hey,” he protested, “it’s not just me. In fact, you never brought it up either.”
“Okay, Cameron, to be fair, you never brought up anything about that party other than that it was Secret Santa for some guys in your pledge class. Not only do I not want to be the only girl there, I especially don’t want to be an MSU girl there with a bunch of drunk Ole Miss frat boys.”
Rafe snorted, “Fair, that’s totally fair. So, I guess I should ask, do you want to come? There will be girlfriends and boyfriends. Secret Santa is just a small part.”
“Sure, I need to come see your apartment anyway, I should know what I’m getting into.”
He laughed loudly, “I’m not sure if I’m okay with that.”
You poked him teasingly, “Hey, you can’t take it back now, buddy.”
“I’d never.”
And with that, he got out of the car. You felt significantly better as he jogged around to grab the door for you. His arm went around your shoulders immediately, and you weren’t sure if it was an attempt to keep you standing straight or not.
“I’m not that drunk,” you told him.
He raised his eyebrows, “Okay four cups. I could smell the booze in that eggnog, it was strong.”
“Well you hurt my feelings, what else was I supposed to do besides drink?”
Rafe snorted, “Talk to me.”
“In front of everyone? At a party?”
“Bathroom.”
“So Justin could think we were hooking up in his bathroom.”
He squinted at you a few seconds, “Okay so it wasn’t the most conducive situation for a serious talk.”
“Mhmm.”
The two of you climbed the stairs to your third floor apartment. Rafe behind you so you wouldn’t fall and hurt yourself. He was a little offended when you muttered that you’d just take him down with you, “I could definitely catch you.”
“Okay buddy,” you patted his shoulder.
He made you drink four glasses of water in the kitchen and by the time the two of you were walking to the bathroom to get ready for bed, you were significantly sobered up. You tried to get to the sink first and Rafe playfully hip checked you out of the way to get his toothbrush.
“Nooo,” you complained, “my skincare routine is so much longer than yours, you can wait.”
“Guests first,” he argued, successfully keeping you away from the sink.
You gave up pushing against him to pout, “At least pass me my makeup remover.”
“Fine,” he grabbed the bottle from the sink and passed it over, “I guess you can at least start.”
“Oh thanks for your permission,” you responded sarcastically.
The next five minutes of him washing his face and getting ready, you kept trying to nudge him out of the way, but he wasn’t budging. Finally, you dug your fingers into his side and he yelped, twisting away enough for you to get some space in front of the mirror.
Your eyes lit up, “Are you ticklish?”
“No,” he denied, just a little too fast.
“Liar.”
You reached out to him again and he grabbed your hand pulling you into his chest. So caught off guard, you didn’t register him tilting your chin up or lowering his head to kiss you. And then his lips were on yours for the first time, and you made a noise, leaning into it.
He smiled and you could feel his heart racing where your hand was pressed against his chest. In the proximity, you couldn’t help but dig your fingers into his side again. He jerked away, joking glare on his face, “Watch it, mamas. I’ll make you pay for it.”
“Promise?” you teased, finally catching him off guard enough to get mirror space.
Rafe stepped over to sit on the closed toilet lid to wait his turn again and laughed. You turned to look at him, mid-washing your face, and gave him a questioning look.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the squashed mistletoe, “Guess I don’t need this.”
“You were going to use the mistletoe to kiss me?”
“I figured if your roommate wasn’t going to use it, we could.”
“Oh I lied,” you admitted, turning back to rinse your face.
“What?” he asked while you were drying.
You nodded, “She gave it to me to get you to kiss me.”
“Oh,” he perked up, “well I guess it kinda worked. Make sure to thank her for me.”
“No, absolutely not,” you insisted, “she does not need that ego boost.”
He laughed, holding his hands up, “Fine, we’ll do it your way.”
“As we should always.”
He laughed again and hip checked you over toward the wall so he could get back closer to the sink. You couldn’t help but think to yourself that you could get used to this.
~
day 3 of @obxmermaid‘s holiday challenge: mistletoe
#college rafe#ole miss rafe#rafe cameron#rafe cameron fic#rafe cameron x reader#rafe cameron x you#outer banks fic#obxmermaidholiday
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phoradendron serotinum
your boyfriend's taken to following you around with some mistletoe and while you like the chase, nothing's better than getting caught.
fandom: outer banks
ship: jj maybank x reader
word count: 719 (this is the shortest thing i’ve ever written lol)
featuring: swearing, holiday fluff, a lil steaminess toward the end
a/n: day 3 of my holiday challenge: mistletoe! fun fact: the title of this fic is the scientific name for north american mistletoe. as usual, all mistakes are my b. enjoy!
come join my holiday challenge!
December 2020
You had a good idea how your boyfriend managed to get his hands on a sprig of mistletoe.
Kiara insisted he swiped it from the pile of decorations the pogues were helping her hang up around The Wreck and you were pretty sure she was right, especially after JJ hid his arm behind his back and offered up a shit-eating grin that did nothing to help prove his innocence.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Kie."
She just rolled her eyes and turned back to the strand of garland she was trying to pin above the bar. "If I catch you guys sucking face in the stock room again, you're both dead to me.”
"Hey!" You shot her an offended look from across the restaurant, sitting at your favorite booth as you tried to untangle a massive box of Christmas lights. "That was one time."
Sitting on the opposite side of the table with his own pile of lights, Pope did a terrible job of disguising his laugh as a cough while John B didn't even bother and just outright cackled from the top of the ladder Sarah held steady, straightening the wreath above the restroom's door.
"Like you have room to talk, dude!" You said, pointing an accusing finger in his direction, "Didn't you just get caught in there last week?"
Both he and Sarah had the decency to look embarrassed and you exchanged a satisfied smirk with Pope as you returned to the half-untangled strands in your hands, not noticing your boyfriend sneaking up and holding the mistletoe over your head until it was too late.
"Gotcha."
Startled, you turned toward JJ's voice and he ended up catching the corner of your mouth in a quick kiss before running back to the silver tinsel he was supposed to be hanging around the front door.
"Next time you won't get so lucky, Maybank!" You teased with a wink and he just grinned, dangling the mistletoe tauntingly from across the room.
"We'll see about that, babe."
When he tried again you were at the counter with Kiara, tucking glittering snowflakes into the garland strung along the edge of the bar top and at the sound of his approaching footsteps, you ducked out of the way just in time to leave him holding the plant over the other girl's head rather than yours.
"Don't even think about it." She said, shoving his face away when he leaned in for a kiss on the cheek and you laughed.
"Gotta be quicker than that, bub."
The next time you were outside on the deck, helping Pope finish weaving lights through the railing when JJ snuck up again and wrapped one arm around your waist, the other holding the plant aloft.
"Gotcha again.”
"You sure about that?" You smiled sweetly before twisting out of his grasp and leaning over to plant a kiss on Pope's cheek instead, leaving both boys flustered for different reasons as you headed back inside, pausing long enough to throw a coy wave over your shoulder.
Third time's the charm, the saying goes. You found yourself following the path you knew your boyfriend took earlier, when you watched him silently slip out of the dining room after a long look in your direction that had your heart beating fast in anticipation. The stock room door sat ajar when you approached but you didn't have the chance to finish pushing it open before a hand darted out to wrap around your wrist and pull you inside.
"Told you I'd get you." JJ's voice was low in your ear and you couldn't help the shiver that ran down your spine as he pushed you up against the wall, lips ghosting along your neck and hands settling low on your waist in the dark.
"No, I don't think so." You replied as your fingers tangled in his blond hair. "I let myself get caught, there's a difference!"
"Whatever, you win," He said, drawing one of your legs up over his hip and pressing you even harder against the bricks at your back. "Are we making out or what?"
You leaning forward and pressing your lips to his was the only answer he needed and the spring of mistletoe fell from his pocket to the floor, all but forgotten under your feet.
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to grandmother’s house we go
sigma chi jj x reader
you bring jj to your family’s christmas
ope. two days late again
(warnings: a little bit of cursing, minor editing)
The first Christmas JJ came home with you, you felt like you should warn him. The two of you had been together for just over two years, and he was used to your immediate family, but your extended family was a different story.
“Okay,” you started when he crossed over the state line into your home state, “I feel like I should say that we aren’t going to be at my house much.”
“What?” he asked, glancing over at you out of the corner of his eye.
“Yeah, um, my family normally goes to stay out of town with my Grandma. We do one half of the family on Christmas Eve and the other half on Christmas Day.”
JJ raised his eyebrows, “Your family knows I’m coming right? Like your extended family?”
“Yeah, definitely! My mom told them.”
“And they were okay with it?” he asked, sounding cautious.
“They’re eager to meet you,” you reassured him, “I think they’re just happy to see me finally dating someone.”
He snorted, “Yikes.”
“Yeah, well, my family lives to pressure my sister and I into marriage.”
“Wait,” he looked a little panicked, “they’re not expecting us to be engaged, right?”
“No, but they might bring it up. Just ignore it.”
“I-” he cut himself off, “okay, if you say so.”
You were just glad the conversation had gone as well as it did.
-
“Three hours?” JJ hissed at you when your dad took both of your duffle bags out of the car and stuck them in your parents’ trunk.
“It’s a long drive,” you offered innocently, “but at least you don’t have to drive.”
“Nope, just get to sit in the backseat.”
“J, at least you get a window seat, I’m sitting in the middle.”
He rolled his eyes, “Yeah and you’re going to fall asleep on me no more than 45 minutes in.”
“Slander,” you protested.
Your sister walked out in time to hear him and she laughed, “He’s right.”
“You can’t talk,” you argued, “you’re worse than me.”
“Twins,” she singsonged in a high pitched voice, and you rolled your eyes.
“Brought headphones for this ride thank god.”
“I can be louder than headphones,” she spoke confidently.
JJ let you climb in first before reaching across you to give your sister a fist bump, and you sighed, “I hate that you two know each other. Y’all are the worst together.”
He squeezed your thigh, “You love us.”
“Unfortunately,” you muttered.
-
You did fall asleep, but much to your satisfaction, so did JJ. Your sister woke you up first when you pulled into your grandma’s driveway, elbowing you straight in the ribs. Jolting, you woke up JJ immediately, and his head flew up from where it was resting on top of yours, looking around wildly.
“Christ,” you muttered, glaring at your sister, “that was rude as hell.”
“I got a cute picture of you two.”
You paused, “Okay, send it to me.”
JJ blinked adorably, trying to get a grasp on his surroundings, and mumbled, “Did we make it?”
“Yeah, bud,” you told him, grabbing his hand.
He smiled softly, maybe even a little thankfully, and took a deep breath, “Okay, let’s do this.”
“If it makes you feel better,” your sister leaned around you to talk to him, “you aren’t meeting the problematic side of our family until tomorrow.”
JJ paused for a second to process, then nodded, “That does actually, thank you.”
Before you could say anything else, JJ climbed out of the car, seemingly more awake, to help your dad carry in the bags and presents for his side of the family. Your dad nodded at him, a satisfied little smile on his face, “Thanks, son.”
“You’re welcome, sir.”
Together they carried them through the porch to where your grandma was waiting with the door open. Your sister muttered, “Kiss up,” under her breath, and you snorted.
“He’s trying to make a good impression on grandma and pawpaw, we both know that they’re super laid back and judge more based on conversational ability, but he doesn’t.”
She widened her eyes at you, “You didn’t tell him?”
“I didn’t tell him we were staying here until like five hours ago.”
“Oh my god,” she muttered, “you’re actually a disaster.”
-
Your grandma cooked dinner, traditional Christmas dinner with the turkey and ham, macaroni and cheese, dressing, sweet potato casserole, and green beans. JJ was staring at it in confusion, arms stiffly by his side even though you knew he’d normally have an arm around your shoulder.
Leaning into his side a little, you told him, “We eat steak on the actual holiday here, that’s why it’s traditional early. You don’t have to look so scared, bud. I promise they’re super chill.”
“What does everyone want to drink?” your grandma asked before JJ could react.
“Water,” you answered, and JJ nodded, signalling the same.
“Guests first,” your pawpaw urged, and JJ hesitantly grabbed one of the plates in the stack to start filling it up. He was careful to not spill anything, and his grip on the plate was like steel. You reached over to pat his hand in some sort of effort to soothe him, and he relaxed the slightest bit.
Until he finished and walked over to the table where there were five spots for 10 people. You almost ran into his back, “J, what’s wrong.”
“Where do I sit,” he hissed, clearly anxious about it.
“Find a place with a glass of water and sit there. It’s not like assigned,” you answered, secretly hoping you could steer him toward the seat you normally sat in.
You did, and he sat down, not starting to eat right off the bat until he saw you dig in. It was slow, as if he was trying to wait for everyone to sit down, but you elbowed him until he picked up the pace.
“I’m trying to be polite,” he whispered.
“Trust me, you wanna hit the dessert before my dad.”
JJ snorted, finally relaxing a bit. Your grandma, cousin and his girlfriend, and sister sat down next and immediately started asking JJ questions about his major, his frat, his favorite hobbies, and what he wanted to do in the future.
That he’d gone through before, with your immediate family, and he had the answers on deck. He spoke confidently, and you could tell your grandma was impressed. It helped him relax, and by the time everyone moved to the living room to watch a Christmas movie before bed, he sat on the couch next to you and was even comfortable enough to put an arm around your shoulder.
When he left to get ready for bed in the one bathroom, your pawpaw finally spoke up, “He’s a good kid.”
“He’s the best,” you agreed.
“We got him a gift,” your aunt added, “so that he has something to open on Christmas Day.”
You teared up, knowing it would mean the world to him. JJ didn’t talk about his childhood much, especially holidays. You knew he had no interest in going home to his dad, and from what you did know, there was never much of a Christmas celebration involving gifts.
“Thank you guys so much,” you finally managed.
-
Immediately JJ went straight back into discomfort mode as soon as your family walked into your aunt’s house. Everyone was already there, and the small house felt stuffed.
You leaned close, “Party vibes, huh? Should be pretty familiar.”
He snorted, “Not even close.”
“This is the problematic side,” your sister reminded him, “they’ll definitely get in your business and you’re going to hear a ton of small town gossip.”
“ The gossip is pretty interesting,” you admitted, “but the yearly questioning isn’t the best.”
“How often do you see your family?” JJ asked.
“Christmas. And sometimes a trip during the summer.”
He hummed, and followed you and your sister deeper into the house. Your sister took over, introducing him to whoever you ran into on the way. You could hear your mom in the kitchen catching up with her sister, and your dad took his normal spot on the couch with your uncle and cousins.
JJ shook hands with your favorite cousin, who immediately started asking him questions.
“How’d you two meet?”
Glancing over at you, JJ cleared his throat, “We were in the same orientation group and became friends through that.”
He hummed, looking at the two of you skeptically before turning back to JJ, “Major?”
“Marine biology.”
“You fish?”
JJ nodded eagerly, finally in his element, “Definitely.”
“Saltwater or fresh?”
“Either, but back home mostly salt.”
Your cousin looked impressed, “Where are you from?”
“Outer Banks of North Carolina.”
“Sometime when it warms back up, you’ll have to come visit again and we’ll go fishing.”
“Looking forward to it.”
JJ relaxed, stretching back into the couch a bit while the conversation picked back up around him. Your cousins’ kids were in another room napping, and you leaned over to him, “We’re getting the gossip early while the kids sleep. Board games after lunch.”
And as you explained, your grandmother dove into the rumors she’d heard about the new pastor in town. She leaned forward and you knew it was going to be a particularly interesting take.
“And then we saw the preacher’s wife smoking a cigarette outside the movie theatre.”
Your sister dramatically gasped, “How dare she?”
You snorted, but your grandmother, used to ignoring both of you, kept on talking until she finally came back around and landed on your sister.
“Your sister has a boyfriend, when will you be bringing one for us to meet?” she asked.
“Well, whenever I can get a boy to like me, I guess.”
She looked at JJ, “Are you planning on marrying my granddaughter.”
He froze, staring at your grandmother with wide eyes, “We haven’t really, uh, talked about marriage.”
“Mhmm, yet here you are, at family Christmas.”
“Okay, grandmother,” you cut in, “he’s family, and you know family doesn’t have to be by blood or marriage. It can be friendship.”
“You love her?” your grandmother ignored you to ask.
JJ reached over and took your hand, meeting your grandmother’s eyes, “Of course.”
She nodded and backed off, seemingly satisfied with his answer. Turning back to your sister, she added, “I expect a boy to be at Christmas with you soon, young lady.”
“What if it’s a girl?” your sister asked, clearly trying to egg her on.
“I’ll take either at this point.”
Clapping your hand over your mouth, you held in a loud laugh at your sister’s indignant face, and your dad didn’t even try. JJ squeezed your hand and you looked over to see his eyes squinted, biting his lip, to hold in his laughs.
“Just wait until I never get married,” your sister crossed her arms with a huff.
-
“I’m going to murder you,” your uncle glared at you, “you better stop looking at my sheet.”
You scoffed, “Don’t put it in my eyesight then. Hold it up.”
“Just don’t cheat!” he exclaimed.
“Not cheating, just using my resources.”
And when he didn’t respond, you started crossing out the weapons on the sheet your uncle had just accidentally let you see. Your sister cleared her throat, “Well since he threatened her, Colonel Mustard is the killer and I’d like to make an accusation.”
“We started five minutes ago,” your cousin told her, “hush.”
She lunged forward and almost elbowed JJ’s empty gumbo bowl off the table.
“Hey,” your dad yelled, “relax.”
“No. I simply will not relax until you let me accuse.”
“Dude, you haven’t even had a turn yet,” you rolled your eyes
“I’ve been looking at mom’s card,” she admitted.
Your mom gasped, scooting away from her, “Cheater!”
“How’s it feel to raise two cheaters,” your uncle taunted your mom.
“Only at board games,” you added, looking over at JJ.
He smiled at you, clearly amused at everything unfolding. The game went on for 30 minutes before JJ eventually won it. Your sister glared at him, “Should’ve left you at Grandma’s.”
Reaching over to ruffle her hair, he teased, “Sore loser.”
“I’m keeping your gift.”
“You won’t.”
“I will. Better show some respect.”
“Respect is earned.”
Her jaw dropped and your mom snorted, “Give up now.”
Your sister, always needing the last word, “Watch out, new kid, you’re the replaceable one here.”
JJ leaned forward, elbows on the table to look into her narrowed eyes, “Until I propose.”
Cheeks heating, you stared at him in shock, and he moved back, a satisfied smile on his face.
“Damn,” your dad coughed, “got her again.”
“Okay, any present marked JJ comes to me now,” she announced, “now that we’re family.”
Before anyone else could answer, one of the kids walked in holding a box, and your cousin stood, “Time for presents.”
JJ had a few, one from your parents, two from your grandmother, and a couple your cousins chipped in on. His eyes widened when he actually had a small pile, mostly gift cards, but he was still excited.
And at the end of the night, the five of you walked out to the car to drive back to your grandma’s house. Your dad looked at JJ over his shoulder, “You made it through. How’re you doing?”
“Pretty good.”
“Well, you got yourself a standing invitation.”
JJ’s smile was small but pleased as he stared at the window. You reached down to grab his hand and he squeezed in response. Right as you got to your grandma’s house, it hit midnight, and you leaned over to kiss his cheek, “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”
~
day 10 of @obxmermaid‘s holiday challenge: visiting relatives
#sigma chi!jj#jj maybank#jj maybank x reader#jj maybank x you#jj maybank fic#outer banks#outer banks fic#obxmermaidholiday#frat!jj
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shadow skating
y/n kicks off her holiday season in a way she never expected: teaching the king of hawkins high to skate in an endearing attempt to impress a girl. the good news? steve's a surprisingly good student, despite his infamous reputation and terrible balance. the bad news? y/n finds herself falling for him and his stupid hair, even when she knows he'll never be hers. after all, she couldn't possibly be the girl he wants, right?
fandom: stranger things
ship: steve harrington x ice skater!reader
word count: 3.6k+
featuring: swearing, holiday fluff, general cheesiness, steve being a clumsy himbo, gratuitous use of figure skating jargon
a/n: holiday challenge day 1: ice skating. this is my first time publishing anything i’ve written for this fandom so apologies in advance if it’s terrible. as always, unbetaed so all mistakes are my b.
come join my holiday challenge!
December 1984
"You okay?" Y/N's voice echoed through the empty rink as she skated over to the boy sprawled flat on his back, spread-eagled like a snow angel, and it took everything in her not to laugh at the withering glare Steve sent her way when she came to a stop at his side, her toe pick dragging faintly through the ice.
"Just peachy."
"Hey, at least you didn't fall on your face this time," she fired back with a cheeky grin, finally giving into her laughter when he rolled his eyes, muttering "yeah, yeah" under his breath as he took her outstretched hands and let her help him to his wobbly feet. He managed to stand on his own for only a second or two before his arms started flailing and she quickly reached out to steady him once again, her hands wrapped securely around his wrists.
"This is harder than it looks," he said with his own fingers gripping tight to her forearms and Y/N shrugged off that weird feeling she got in her stomach when she felt the warmth of his palms through the thick wool of her sweater.
"Well," she replied, casually starting to skate backwards and pulling Steve along with her, "Those weak ass ankles of yours don't really help, you know."
His laugh rang loud throughout the vacant arena and Y/N's smile grew as she patiently guided him around the ice for a few laps, watching his strides become more and more confident with each left turn.
If someone would've told her she'd be teaching Steve Harrington how to skate, she'd have laughed right in their face. Her, the weird girl who spent way too much time alone at the rink working on her axel, willingly helping him, the king of Hawkins High who had a reputation of only thinking about himself? Fat chance of that.
But there she was, gliding alongside him now as he slowly skated on his own, one hand hovering near his elbow just in case those weak ankles of his decided to give out again and send him into another face plant.
When she agreed to let her neighbor Dustin and his friends come in after closing for a private skate two weeks ago -the rink's owner always let Y/N do whatever she wanted, considering she was both her best employee and customer- she had no idea one of those friends was the infamous teenager himself. Seeing his car roll up that night, Dustin waving enthusiastically from the passenger seat and the others crammed in the back like sardines, instead of Mrs. Henderson's mini van had thrown her for a loop, one that took her an embarrassingly long time to recover from as she let them in through the back door and slipped behind the counter to pass out pairs of skates.
It wasn't until he was standing in front of her asking for a size ten did she look up to acknowledge his presence, instantly noticing the small, almost shy grin he offered her that she awkwardly returned. The two weren't quite friends -never had been, really, despite having at least one class together since the fourth grade (not that she was keeping track or anything, no)- but as Y/N laced up her own skates and led the group out onto the ice, she wondered if maybe, just maybe that could ever change. This Steve was so, so different from the one she knew from school: laughing as he and Dustin both instantly fell to the ground in a heap, a real, genuine smile on his face instead of his usual cocky smirk and she found her eyes following him and his clumsy self throughout the evening, her mind racing as she tried to figure out exactly which version of him was the real thing.
The next afternoon had only confused Y/N further when he showed up unannounced at the rink after school and the sound of his sudden enthusiastic cheering when she successfully landed a double Lutz startled her so badly that she lost an edge and fell on her ass right in front of where he stood by the bleachers.
"Holy shit, are you okay?" He was on the ice before she could protest, shuffling along the glass in his tennis shoes until he reached her and offered a hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you-"
"It's fine, I'm fine," Embarrassed beyond belief, she waved off both his apology and outstretched hand and hauled herself to her feet, first brushing snow from her leggings and then the blades of her skates, one at a time. "That happens a lot, don't worry."
"Oh," He said, letting his arm return to holding onto the boards in an effort to keep himself upright. "Still, I'm sorry-"
"Seriously, Harrington, it's fine. No worries," She smiled, ignoring the stinging pain in her butt and leaned against the glass next to him. "Why are you here, though?"
It was his turn to look embarrassed as that same semi-shy grin from the night before appeared on his face before he blurted out in a rush, "Can you teach me how to skate?"
Y/N blinked. Of all the things to come out of his mouth, that was definitely not what she expected; to be fair, though, anything he could've possibly said would've been pretty damn unexpected, considering the circumstances. "You want me...to teach you...no offense, Steve, but why?"
He shrugged at her question before glancing around the empty arena and leaning close like he was about to spill a secret. "Would you judge me if I said I was trying to impress a girl?"
That was more like the Steve she knew, she thought as she breathed a quick laugh with the shake of her head. "Only a little bit. This girl, she likes to skate?"
He grinned again, this time wide and pretty damn smitten, and nearly lost his balance when he tried to keep one of his feet from slipping out from underneath him. "She's the best skater I know. You should see her out there, gliding around like a freakin' angel or something."
That was...surprisingly sweet coming from the boy she once thought she had all figured out, sweet and sincere and downright adorable and Y/N found herself nodding without any idea why. "Okay."
"Okay what?"
"I'll teach you, alright? I don't mess around when it comes to skating though, so you better be ready to work your ass off."
The smile he sent her way was so bright it was almost blinding, like sunlight dancing off freshly fallen snow. "You're the best, Y/N. I owe you one."
"You got that right, Harrington." She said, wrapping her hand around his elbow and tugging him toward the door that led off the ice. "Let's go get you some skates, first lesson starts now."
Ten lessons in and despite a few nasty falls and a bad habit of tripping over his toe picks, he wasn't doing that badly; not only was he a surprisingly quick learner and good listener, he took her playful teasing like a champ -to be fair, she did tell him she dished out tough love when she taught so he knew that was part of the deal- and threw it right back without a second thought. Never before had she felt so...at ease around someone who wasn't her sister and it was both exhilarating and just a bit scary.
As they finished up their Friday night lesson and stepped out of the rink into the biting wind, Y/N found herself wishing for Monday because the idea of parting ways for the weekend rested heavy on her heart like the big, fat snowflakes that were falling from the dark sky. Becoming friends with Steve was something she never expected -making friends was never an easy thing for her to do- and yet slowly, surely it had happened, and she realized that she would stop the world from spinning if it meant she could spend just a little more time with him. When he lingered by his car, twirling his keys around his finger as white started to dot his stupid, wonderful hair, she hoped he was thinking the same thing.
"So..." She spoke first and broke the comfortable silence that had settled over the parking lot like the falling snow. "I was wondering if you could maybe give me a ride? My car's in the shop and I really don't feel like walking home in this."
"I do owe you," He grinned at the disdained wrinkle in her nose and unlocked the car, climbing inside without a word before reaching over to push open the passenger side door. "Get in, we're getting fries first."
She smiled widely, cheeks stinging from the cold and hope bursting in her chest like New Year's Eve fireworks. "You're buying."
That's how they ended up in a corner booth of the local diner, sharing a basket of fries and sipping on milkshakes despite the snow blowing outside the window.
"Honestly, you're doing pretty well for someone with such weak ankles," Y/N laughed as Steve rolled his eyes and dunked a fry in his shake with more force than necessary.
"You're never gonna let me forget that, are you?"
"Nope." She popped the 'p' of her breezy answer before plucking the cherry from the towering mound of whipped cream on the top of her drink. "Just like you won't let me forget that time I fell on my ass after you scared me and then had the audacity to ask for lessons!"
"Hey, you," He pointed a fry in her direction and laughed when she instantly ripped half of it out of his hand and lobbed it at his chest, "had the audacity to agree to them!"
Y/N pressed her lips together in an effort to keep a straight face as she joked, "You know what? I take back what I said, you haven't improved at all. You're a fucking skating disaster, Harrington."
The gleam in his eyes reminded her of the Christmas lights strung up above their heads, sparkling and bright and full of something that filled her whole body with a lovely warmth she never wanted to lose. "Well, Y/N, hate to break it to you but me sucking just proves you're not that good of a teacher."
"How dare you," She gasped in mock offense and lightly kicked him in the shin, the last of her composure dissolving completely when he fell back against the cracked vinyl seat like he'd been shot. "Good luck impressing your mystery girl without me."
If all her focus wasn't already on the boy sitting across from her, she would've missed the way his grin faltered for just a moment as he turned away to look out the window. Her brow furrowed at that, as well as the sudden bitter taste in her mouth at the mention of the girl he was trying to impress, the girl whose identity was still unknown to her and at this point, she wasn't quite sure if she even wanted to find out.
"Steve?" Her hand moved on its own to lightly touch his wrist, the warmth of his skin bleeding into her cold fingers. "You okay?"
"Why did you do it?"
"Huh?"
"Why did you agree to teach me how to skate? And for nothing, even." He gazed at her over the tall malt glass in front of him, brown eyes searching hers until she looked away, down at her hand still resting on his beside their shared fries as her cheeks started to flood with heat.
She'd been asking herself that question for two weeks now, since this whole thing started at the beginning of December. Two weeks later, with only eight days left before Christmas, she was starting to think she might have an idea why; too bad she was too scared to even admit to to herself, let alone say it out loud.
"I don't know." She answered after a too-long pause in which she pulled her hand back to her lap -with her eyes still cast down at her melting shake, she missed the disappointed look on his face at the loss of her touch- and shrugged her sweater-clad shoulders. "I love skating, okay? It's my favorite thing to do in the world but, honestly, it gets kind of lonely being out on the ice all by yourself. I...I guess I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to share it with someone else...and um, not be alone for once. You can't put a price on that."
When he didn't reply, she glanced up from watching a bead of condensation roll down the stem of her glass only to find him still looking at her, the corner of his mouth turned up in that same soft smile she'd fooled herself into thinking was just for her.
"Even if that someone is me, Y/N?"
She smiled back and bumped her boot against his sneaker under the table. "Even if that someone is you, Steve. You're not as bad as that reputation of yours makes you seem."
A comfortable silence fell over the two teens as they went back to their food, the diner around them becoming busier and busier the later the night went on. Someone switched the radio to a Christmas station and in between bites of fries Y/N softly sang along to Wham!'s Last Christmas, an ear worm of a song that'd been stuck in her head ever since it was released at the beginning of the month.
"This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special."
"Have you ever been afraid of not being good enough for someone?" Steve asked suddenly, causing the girl to look away from the snow still falling steadily outside the window.
"More times than I'd care to admit," She answered honestly, finishing her milkshake and pushing the empty glass to the side. "Why? Is this about your mystery girl?"
"I think I'm realizing that she's way, way out of my league. Like, she's a pro in the MLB and I'm...playing tee ball with five-year-olds." He said as he dragged a fry through the glob of ketchup on his plate, back and forth, over and over until Y/N once again reached across the table to put her hand on his.
"Listen to me and listen good 'cause I'm only gonna say this once," She said quietly, just loud enough for him to hear over the noise of the diner. "If this girl doesn't see how absolutely wonderful you are, she is -and I'm saying this from the very bottom of my heart so you know it's true- a total fucking dumbass. Got it?"
That whooshing feeling in her stomach came flooding back at the sight of the bright blush slowly spreading across his face at her words and as his pinky moved to link with hers, one crazy, impossible thought popped into her head: she'd do anything, absolutely anything to stay in that moment forever.
But that's the sad thing about fleeting, promising moments: eventually, no matter how hard you try, they still come to an end. With their fries gone and milkshake glasses empty, they had no reason to stay and so they ventured back out into the cold night, walking closer than they ever had before to Steve's car. It wasn't until he pulled into her driveway did he speak, turning to face her in the passenger seat and breaking the warm, comforting silence that had wrapped around them like a blanket on the short drive from the diner.
"Thank you."
Y/N quirked an eyebrow. "For what?”
"Everything. Teaching me, what you said back there...being my friend." He said simply and she felt her heart skip a beat when that smile of his appeared on his face and lit up the whole car.
"I should be thanking you," She replied, picking at a loose thread dangling from the sleeve of her coat. "I don't have many friends but I'm really, really happy you're one of them."
"Me, too."
She smiled softly and reluctantly reached down to grab her bag from the floor. "I'd better get inside before my grandpa sends out a search party. Thanks for tonight, I, um, I had a lot of fun."
"So did I, even after you ever so rudely threw that fry at me."
"You deserved it." She said in a sing-song voice as she opened the car door and placed one foot on the snowy ground outside. "I'll see you Mon-"
"Wait." It was his turn to touch her hand, his larger palm folding over hers and stopping her from leaving. "Would you want to do it again sometime? Maybe over Christmas break?"
She hoped all the effort she was putting into keeping her cool was paying off as the butterflies exploded in her stomach at his words. "I'd like that."
He squeezed her hand once before letting go and sending her off with a bright grin. "Goodnight, Y/N."
"Goodnight, Steve."
He waited until she disappeared into the house before driving off into the night and she watched him go through the living room window, falling back onto the couch with a giddy smile after his car turned the corner.
The next morning found Y/N alone at the quiet rink, the only sound coming from her blades smoothly cutting through the ice as she skated through her practice routine; triple toe loop, Biellmann spin, double Salchow. It was methodical and soothing, her body running through the maneuvers it knew by heart while her mind thought ahead to the one move that she'd never been able to successfully land: the double Axel. Today was her day, she could feel it and no matter how many tries it took -she'd already bit it twice- she was going to land that jump.
Approaching the move head on, she picked up speed until she was flying across the ice, cold wind whipping through her hair and stinging her cheeks; she bent her left knee, lifted her right foot, and leaped from her left outside edge before spinning two and a half times and landing, albeit a bit shakily, on the outside edge of her right.
"Yes! Holy shit!" The girl's shouts echoed throughout the arena as she spun to a stop, excitedly punching her fist in the air, and she was so caught up in celebrating that she didn't notice when the door opened and someone stepped out onto the ice with her.
"I have no idea what that was but it looked impressive and scary as all hell."
Y/N spun around to face the owner of the sudden, familiar voice and couldn't keep herself from smiling when she noticed no trace of unsteadiness in Steve's skating as he slowly came to a stop at her side. "It's called a double Axel. What are you doing here?"
"Well," He said, cheeks flushed not just from the cold, taking another step closer until his skates bumped against hers, "last night I realized I didn't do something I really wanted to, so I came to fix it."
"And what was it?" Her voice was breathless and full of unbridled hope as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "The thing you didn't do?"
"This."
And with that he cupped her face in both hands and leaned down to press his lips to hers. Y/N responded immediately, kissing him back with everything she had and then some, like she'd wanted to do ever since that first night. That first night when she started to see him for who he really was, not the reputation given to him by their classmates. Ever since that next day when he accidentally scared her and then asked for lessons so he could impress a girl -shit, mystery girl.
Her hands, having found their way to his chest, gently pushed him back at the thought that popped into her head and the loss of his warm touch made her shiver; opening her eyes, she found him looking stricken a foot away, an apology written on his face clear as day.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"No, no! It's not that," She said in a rush, skating forward and all but crashing into him in a desperate attempt to keep him near, to keep that euphoric, heavenly feeling being close to him brought her. "That...that was, shit, that was perfect, okay? But what about her?"
"Her?" His hands gripped her waist as hers settled on his chest once again, gloved fingers curling in the soft cotton of his green sweater. "Who's 'her'?"
"Your mystery girl, the skater!"
The look on Steve's face was the perfect mix of exasperation and affection and she felt her cheeks burn as he replied, "Y/N, it's you. It's always been you."
Oh. Oh. Holy hell, she must be the dumbest bitch on God's green earth. This whole time, it wasn't just wishful thinking: every lingering stare, every lasting touch, every time he smiled that soft smile, they were all real and she could finally say, with certainty, that they were just for her, like she'd always hoped they'd been.
All she could think about now was kissing him again so she tugged him down to her level, fully intent on picking up where they left off and she'd almost reached his lips before he slipped and sent them both tumbling to the ice in a tangle of limbs.
"Maybe I still need more lessons after all," He said, propping himself up on his elbow and smiling down at the laughing girl lying beneath him.
"Hey, I finally thought of something you can do to pay me back!"
The ice was cold through her leggings but she didn't even notice as she slid her fingers into his hair and pulled him down so they were barely an inch apart.
"Yeah?"
"Kiss me."
tagging some moots who might be interested ❤: @sinkbeneathwaves @cordeliascrown @alexa-playafricabytoto @perkeusjackson @chrlsgillespie
#obxmermaidholiday#stranger things imagine#steve harrington x reader#steve harrington imagine#stranger things fic
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i just wanna be with you
ole miss rafe x reader
freak snowstorm in your hometown keeps you trapped in the airport
future fic!!!
(warnings: cursing, no editing)
It hardly ever snowed in your hometown, like you couldn’t even remember the last time there was a white Christmas, you were that young. So of course, the year you and Rafe decided to fly there for Christmas, it snowed. Hard.
The flight was early on Christmas Day, you and Rafe left your apartment at 3 a.m. to get to the Jackson airport and through the busy airport for your flight at 6:30. He made the coffee and you loaded the car, both sleepy.
Rafe picked the music, playing his hype playlist softly to stay awake while you dozed in and out of sleep in the passenger seat. There was no one on the road until you got closer to the airport.
“Babe,” he called out softly, “almost there.”
You picked your head up and saw the parking garages coming up in the distance, so you sat up and started putting your shoes back on and gathering your stuff. When he parked and got a tag, you followed after him carrying your duffle bag in one hand, his hand clasped in your other.
He’d made good time, and the airport was still fairly quiet. Your gate was far from the entrance you’d parked near, so the two of you speedwalked, still sipping the to-go cups of coffee Rafe made at home.
You’d just made it to security when you drank the last bit, and both of you threw the cups away before walking through. They let you through pretty quickly, and you were back on your way, this time him carrying both duffle bags while you handled the booksacks.
“You know,” Rafe spoke for the first time since getting out of the car, “I haven’t been at an airport in years.”
You furrowed your eyebrows, “I thought your family was rich. Even with a private plane you need an airport right?”
“Ward has an airstrip.”
“Holy shit.”
He laughed humorlessly, “Yeah.”
“Well, my parents usually drive, but I kinda hate it. I’d much rather just fly.”
“How long is the drive?” he asked.
“Seven hours.”
“Jesus Christ,” he whistled lowly, “they drive it every time?”
“My father prefers it.”
Rafe snorted, “Not for me.”
“Me neither.”
By the time the two of you reached your gate, there were a few people sitting around, phones and laptops plugged into various outlets. Rafe glanced around before finding two chairs alone and nodded, “Wanna sit over there?”
“Sure.”
He led you over and you leaned onto his shoulder. You could hear the smile in his voice when he asked, “Gonna take a nap?”
“Maybe.”
“You have about 45 minutes until it’s time to go.”
“Wake me up in 30,” you mumbled, breathing evening out.
It couldn’t have been 30 minutes when he shook you awake. Blinking at him, confused, glanced at your watch. He was frowning, “Flight’s delayed.”
“Huh?”
“It’s snowing at the other airport pretty bad. And it’s supposed to be just as bad when we land.”
“Did they say when we could go?”
“It’s supposed to clear up after like an hour and a half or so.”
“So we’re delayed that long?”
He sighed and nodded, “I’m afraid so, sorry sweetheart.”
“It’s okay, nothing we can do. I’ll call my mom.”
Rafe frowned, “Want me to? Since it’s technically my fault.”
“What? You control the weather now? Kinda sick.”
“No,” he laughed softly, “we had to wait so long so that I could finish at work.”
“Rafe, there literally hasn’t been snow there in years. There was no way you could’ve predicted this, surely you don’t actually think you’re at fault.”
With an embarrassed shrug, you realized that he actually did. Before you could say anything, he told you, “You were ready to leave like a week ago. You should’ve just gone.”
“To leave you to fly alone when I know you don’t like it the most.”
“I’m a big boy.”
“I know,” you sassed, “but I want to be there for you.”
“Well,” he paused, “you are. And I’m sorry this isn’t working out.”
You shrugged, “Shit happens. Guess it isn’t meant to be.”
He suddenly looked determined, “It is. We’ll get there even if we have to change flights and rent a car and drive.”
“Babe, neither of us knows how to drive in snow,” you reminded him with a laugh.
“We’ll figure it out,” he told you, standing to go to the ticket counter. Before he could walk away, you grabbed his sleeve, pulling him back with a laugh.
“I promise it’s okay. Even if we spend most of Christmas at this stupid airport, at least I’m spending it with you.”
“That’s,” he sighed, “like I’m glad you aren’t mad at me, but that’s not fair to you.”
“To us,” you corrected, “you’re also missing Christmas with your family.”
Rafe’s eyes widened and his lips pressed together. You weren’t entirely sure what emotions were crossing his face, but they looked good. Complicated, but positive.
You let him work through it quietly, holding his hand, and eventually, he spoke up, “I guess you’re right.”
“No need to guess,” you told him cheerfully, dialing your mom’s number. She didn’t answer.
-
There was no progress an hour later, and you were starting to wake up finally. Rafe, on the other hand, was fading fast. His head kept drooping, falling onto your shoulder before jerking back up.
You reached up to run a hand through his hair and he pushed into it. With a smile, you scratched his scalp and he sighed quietly, eyes shutting fully. Finals week and grading had tired your poor boyfriend out completely, so you deep down hoped the flight would stay delayed so he could get some sleep.
He slept for an hour and a half, no progress made, though the gate across from you had emptied and filled twice in the time yours had stayed packed. There were people stretched out across the floor, and the flight attendants were even starting to look a little squirmy.
Rafe jolted up, forehead clipping your chin, and hissed, rubbing over his forehead with a confused look on his face. You laughed, holding your chin, “Good morning, handsome.”
“Hey,” he answered, smiling sleepily.
“How was your nap?”
With a hum, he answered, “Good. What time is it?”
“9:00.”
His eyebrows shot up, “And we’re still not on a plane, huh?”
“We are not. Are you hungry?”
“Hmm,” he tapped his chin, “a little bit, yeah.”
“There’s a sandwich place a little bit down. If you’ll save seats I’ll go grab us each one?”
Rafe nodded and reached for his back pocket to get his wallet. You waved it away and he frowned, “Why not?”
“I can pay.”
“But I want to pay,” he argued.
Rolling your eyes, you bent down and kissed his forehead, “Let it be part of your Christmas gift.” And before he could answer, you were gone. The stand had breakfast sandwiches and coffee, so you bought two of each.
Rafe had stretched out when you left, his legs taking up your seat so no one would sit down. You snorted and he grinned, “Saved your seat.”
“You couldn’t have just put my booksack on it?”
“Someone could move the booksack, moving my legs is a lot more difficult.”
You hummed, playing along, “They are pretty hairy, I wouldn’t touch them either.”
Rafe smirked, “You sure about that?”
Shoving the sandwich in his face, you nudged his legs away and sat back down. Rafe took it and one of the coffees. The two of you started eating in silence until he made a noise to get your attention, “Did your mom ever call you back?”
“Nope,” you popped the p.
“So she thinks we’re in the air right now?”
“Most likely.”
“Rough. Hopefully she hears my message before dad drives to the airport to pick us up.”
-
Another hour passed, and your mom answered finally. She sounded frustrated, and you felt bad, but there wasn’t much you could do. Rafe also felt bad, he’d gone kinda quiet, and you felt extra bad.
“It’s going to be fine,” you reassured, squeezing his hand.
“We still have a four hour flight, babe.”
“Yeah, but we’re going back, it’s only like 8 there, so it’ll be fine!”
Rafe unclenched his jaw, “I guess you’re right.”
You shook your head, “What’s up with all this guessing today?”
He snorted, and pushed your head away, “Yeah yeah, leave me alone.”
Right as you started to respond, a very relieved-sounding flight attendant announced that the plane was ready to board. Rafe hopped up and held his hand out to help you up. He grabbed both of your bags, “If you go throw the trash away, I’ll go get in line.”
Texting your mom that the plane was finally boarding, you threw the cups and wrappers away before joining Rafe in line. Even when the plane was full, they still didn’t have a takeoff time, so you settled in, looking out the window next to you.
Rafe sighed and you turned, “What’s up now?”
“This is all going wrong.”
“I mean it’s not that big of a deal.”
Shutting his eyes, he told you, “It is. I had plans.”
“Plans?”
“Yes.”
You waited a few seconds for him to elaborate, and when he didn’t, you nudged him with your elbow, “Plans?”
“I said yes.”
He was smirking, and you rolled your eyes with a huff, “Stop messing with me, Cameron.”
“Never.”
“Bro,” you groaned, “why can’t you just tell me.”
“Bro, I’m not ruining this for myself.”
“Ruining what?”
He shrugged, “Christmas.”
“Ah yes, Rafe Cameron who notoriously controls the weather, ruins Christmas for us all.”
Rolling his eyes, Rafe chose not to respond, and pulled a book out of his booksack.
“Oh are you ignoring me now?” you asked, poking him.
“Until the caffeine wears off, I’m ignoring you.”
“Rude.”
“You’re rude.”
The lady on the other side of Rafe sighed loudly, ending your giggling and Rafe elbowing you. Biting your lip to hold in your laughs, you grabbed his hand when he tried to poke your side where you were ticklish.
“Asshole,” you whispered, holding his hand as tightly as possible while he fought against you.
“Me? Never,” he answered, shaking his hand free and poking you in the side.
You arched away, whacking your head on the wall next to you. With a groan, you rubbed your forehead, “Fucking ouch.”
He laughed, reaching forward to grab your head, “Watch it, don’t want to give yourself a concussion. Then you’ll be ruining Christmas too.”
“Neither of us are ruining Christmas.”
“Ruining my Christmas,” he responded cryptically.
You tried, “All I want for Christmas is you?”
“No, Mariah. You want to see your family.” You opened your mouth, and he cut you off, “And don’t say you’re my family, I know that, but the rest of your family.”
“Well,” you answered weakly, “as long as you know.”
“Was trying to make it more official,” he muttered, but you heard him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Something,” you argued back.
He mimed zipping his lips, and you sighed, “Fine, be that way.”
“I will.”
And before you could say anything else, the flight attendant came over the speaker and started the pre-flight spiel. You sighed in relief, sending your mom a quick text that you were finally about to take off.
By the time the plane took off, you’d forgotten about Rafe’s weird behavior. Happy to finally be flying and not sitting in an airport.
~
day 19 of @obxmermaid‘s holiday challenge: delayed flight
#rafe cameron#college rafe#ole miss rafe#rafe cameron x reader#rafe cameron x you#rafe cameron fic#outer banks#outer banks fic#obxmermaidholiday
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let it snow
college isaac x reader
finals week hell capped off with the first snow of the season
(warnings: mentions of not taking care of yourself during finals - lack of sleep, over-caffeinating, etc; cursing; very little editing)
Finals week fall of your third year was ugly. It was a grueling combination of coffee and protein bars with absolutely no sleep. There was a table you’d managed to claim on the third floor of your campus’s library, and the only time you left was for an ill-advised gym trip to wake yourself up.
Isaac didn’t like the silence of the third floor like you did, so he’d been working with some of the kids in his major. You texted him a few times a day, but for the most part, you’d been reworking every single homework assignment you’d been given all semester.
Mid-way through the week, you made a trip to Taco Bell for actual food that wasn’t toast or a protein bar, much to Isaac’s displeasure. He watched you eating it with a weird look, so you finally asked, “What?”
“How much have you eaten this week?”
“Lots of protein bars and breakfast.”
“And instead of letting me cook something good for you tonight, you got fast food?”
“Yep. Braincells are overworked, so I didn’t think that far ahead.”
Stiles was sitting on the opposite end of the table, working on a research paper for his criminal justice course, and snorted, “Dude, she’d rather Taco Bell than your cooking.”
“That’s not true, I definitely said I forgot.” you muttered, trying to defend him.
He shrugged, “That’s not what I heard.”
Isaac rolled his eyes and shoved Stiles’s shoulder, “Fuck off, dude.”
“Who’s editing your Shakespeare paper? Me. Show some respect.”
“Stiles makes a point,” you responded, taking the last bite of your quesadilla before breaking off into a large yawn.
The furrow between Isaac’s brow was back when he looked at you, and you stood up, rolling your shoulders out, ready to go back to the library to work through another set of structures homework.
“Hey, when’s the last time you slept?” Stiles asked, shutting his computer gently.
“Like,” you paused, trying to think, “last night.”
Immediately, Isaac chipped in, “How long?”
“Three hours?”
“And the night before?” Stiles was walking over to you.
“Oh, no sleep that night. Got sucked into some geotech homework and the next thing I knew it was 6 a.m. So I went to the gym to get some endorphins going, had some breakfast, and got another coffee.”
“You should sleep,” Isaac told you.
“Only two more tests, and then I can rest.”
Stiles sighed, “At least take a shower.”
“Actually, that would be great.”
Isaac nodded, and you could tell he was already trying to figure out the best way to get you to stay the night. You were determined to power through for a bit.
Getting out of the shower, feeling significantly more alive, you put on the clothes Isaac had left for you, and started toweling your hair off. You checked the outside temperature, wincing when you saw how fucking cold it was, and started layering back up.
Isaac was sitting on the couch, scrolling through Netflix, when you walked out. He jumped up, “Where are you going?”
“Library for a few hours and then bed.”
“What time is your first test tomorrow?”
You sighed, trying to think, “Fuck, I need to check. I think 10:30 in the morning.”
“What class?”
With a grimace, you answered, “Structures.”
He looked like he didn’t really want to let you go, but he knew you’d be really upset if he tried to keep you back. Nodding, he smiled softly, “Text me after your test tomorrow.”
“I will.”
Putting a hand on his shoulder for balance, you rose up on your tiptoes to give him a goodbye kiss. When you pulled apart, Isaac reached over and grabbed a beanie from the hook next to the door, gently putting it on your head, tugging it down to cover your ears.
“Don’t want you to get sick,” he flicked your nose.
You clutched your chest dramatically, “My hero.”
He sighed, feigning exasperation, and nudged you out the door, “Go finish the semester.”
-
Structures and geotech, both on the same day, kicked your ass. After the geotech final at 2:00, you stumbled out of the classroom, eyes practically shutting. You weren’t sure that you could make the drive back to your apartment.
Taking one more sip of coffee to power through, and after a few minutes, pulled out your phone. Isaac’s apartment was fairly close to the civil engineering building, so you decided to call to see if you could crash there.
“Isaac,” you started when he answered.
“Hey, bub.”
“Can I stay at your place?”
“Yeah of course,” you heard ruffling in the background and suddenly his voice got louder, “are you close?”
“Walking that way. I don’t think I should drive back to my apartment.”
“Have you eaten today?”
“Fuck,” you muttered, “I was gonna pick something up on my way home, but I forgot.”
“No worries,” he was quick to reassure, “I have plenty of food here for you.”
“God, you’re the best.”
He stuttered a few times, and you could practically feel his blush through the phone, “Hurry up,” was his weak response, and you laughed, hanging up.
The walk was easier after that, though the sky was grey and the wind was picking up. You frowned, pulling your jacket tighter around you, and Isaac’s hat lower on your head. It took about three seconds for him to answer after you knocked, dressed exactly the same as the day before.
He had a plate ready for you, leftover fried rice and chicken, and pressed a kiss to your forehead. Before you could start eating, he asked, “How were your tests?”
“Geotech was easier, but structures melted my brain in the morning, so who actually knows. What about your Shakespeare essay?”
“Stiles read it over for me last night and I submitted it online and dropped it off this morning. Been watching Netflix since then.”
You yawned again, stretching out with the hand not holding your plate, and walked over to the couch to sit down. Isaac sat next to you and hit play on whatever movie he’d been watching. Curling up, you dug in.
-
The rest of the afternoon was a blur. You faintly remembered dozing off during the movie, plate still in your lap, before Isaac woke you up and made you go to bed. He woke you up once more when he climbed in next to you.
The third and final time you woke up, Isaac was gone. It was light outside, grey like snow was coming, and you had no clue what time it was, just that you were hungry again. You heard a burst of loud laughter before someone shushed them, equally loudly.
WIth a laugh, you climbed out of bed, heading to the bathroom connected to his room to brush your teeth and wash your face. Luckily, the clothes you’d left the night before were washed and sitting on his dresser, so you were able to change.
Scott and Stiles were on the couch, playing COD, when you finally walked out. Stiles hit pause and whistled, “Damn, look who managed to resurrect herself.”
“Looks pretty good for a dead bitch,” you joked back.
Isaac was in the kitchen, and you went over to see what he was cooking. He handed you a mug with a smile, “It’s hot chocolate. Figure you’ve had enough caffeine for a whole month this week. There is some coffee in the recipe, I saw it online.”
Taking a sip, you hummed, “This is fantastic.”
He beamed, “I’m glad you like it. I’m making taco soup for tonight, did you want a sandwich?”
“That would be great.”
Hopping up on the counter, you swung your legs back and forth and watched him make you a grilled cheese just the way you like it, tomatoes and everything. Isaac handed it over and ruffled your hair gently, “Eat up.”
“Very nutritious,” you commented before taking a bite.
He laughed, “I’ll make you eat veggies later. I want to go outside first, it snowed.”
“Oh my god, actually?” you gasped.
Leaning against the counter next to you, he nodded, “First of the year.”
“What time is it?” you finally remembered to ask between bites.
“3:00 in the afternoon. I texted your roommate while you were asleep to let her know you were alive.”
“Oh shit, thanks.”
Scott wandered into the kitchen, “So, we going outside soon?”
“We need to get out there before it gets all ugly,” Stiles added from where he was still on the couch.
“Let’s fucking go,” you hopped off the counter, eating your last bite.
The four of you traipsed outside after bundling up. There were a few other people outside walking around, a group of girls taking pictures under a really pretty snow-covered tree, and then your group making noise and kicking at the snow.
“I can’t take you guys anywhere,” you snorted when Stiles slipped and fell on his ass.
“God damn,” he muttered, “that hurt.”
Scott helped him up and immediately shoved a handful of snow down his shirt. Stiles squealed, twisting away from him, cursing loudly. You and Isaac laughed, his arm draped over your shoulder, until Scott turned your way with two more handfuls.
“If you put that down my shirt,” you warned, “I’m calling your mom.”
“You won’t.”
“Fuckin bet, bud.”
He dropped one hand slowly and turned to Isaac, “You’re on your own.”
While Scott chased Isaac across the parking lot, Stiles walked over toward the edge of the sidewalk, you following closely behind, interested to see what he was going to do with the mischievous look on his face.
With his foot, Stiles spelled out penis in the snow.
“Oh that’s mature.”
He glared at you, “Do better, I dare you.”
After a few seconds of thought, you spelled out send nudes and he had to concede defeat. Isaac came back a few seconds later, panting, cheeks red, and looked down, “Cute.”
“Thanks. Should I leave my Snap too?”
He rolled his eyes, “No.”
“You’re probably right. I have no interest in seeing an unsolicited dick pic this close to Christmas.”
“Just this close to Christmas?” Scott asked, “You’re okay with it the rest of the year?”
You paused, “Well no. Don’t make fun of me, my single braincell is still recovering.”
Stiles snorted, “Head empty snow day.”
“My mom will want a picture,” you told them, “set up the timer.”
It took five attempts, but you finally got one you were happy with. Isaac leaned over your shoulder, “Tell your mom I said hey.”
“Will do,” you muttered, looking at it again.
Scott stood on the right, eyes squinted with a wide smile, Isaac a bit behind him, one arm over Scott’s shoulder, one around you. Isaac’s smile was soft, looking straight at you. Stiles stood on your left, your arm wrapped around his shoulder, his hand reaching for yours, cheeky grin on his face while you glared playfully at him.
“Come on,” Stiles yelled, halfway up the stairs back to their apartment, “hot chocolate awaits!”
You hit send and followed after them, ready for another mug.
~
day eleven of @obxmermaid‘s holiday challenge: playing in the snow
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going nowhere
college isaac x reader
a snowstorm and a chill day
(warnings: cursing, google docs edited this)
You woke up before Isaac by a few minutes, shifting closer in his arms. The room was cold, and he was warm, hogging most of the blankets pinned between his arm and the bed. His eyebrows furrowed in his sleep, and you reached up to smooth them out gently before tapping his nose.
Scrunching it, Isaac’s eyelids started to flutter, and you waited patiently for his eyes to open and him to wake up. He blinked sleepily at you, “Morning,” he spoke, voice about two octaves deeper.
“Morning, hon,” you brushed a kiss across his cheekbone and he smiled sleepily.
Moving even closer, he shifted a little bit to give you room to get closer. He sighed in contentment, “What did you want to do today?”
“Hmm,” you mused, tapping a finger on his exposed collarbone, “we could go to the mall. Haven’t bought my roommate a Christmas present yet.”
“I need to get something else for Scott,” he broke off to yawn, “so that sounds good to me.”
You hummed, “Okay. We should get up before the mall gets too crowded.”
He groaned dramatically, but let you up, pouting as he did so. Smiling widely, you crossed your arms, staring him down until he got up and walked to the closet to get dressed.
“You’re driving right?” you asked ten minutes later after the two of you were bundled up enough to go outside.
He sighed, “You’re the one used to driving in the snow, but I suppose I can for your sake.”
You laughed, throwing the apartment door open and immediately froze, staring out the third floor window at the feet of snow that built up overnight. He ran into you from behind, not realizing you’d stopped, and snorted at the view.
“Guess we’re not going to the mall,” you murmured.
“Looks like we’re snowed in.”
A gust of air blew through the building and you shivered, turning to nudge him back inside, “Go go go, I’m freezing.”
The two of you took your coats off, and you nudged the heat up while Isaac made a pot of coffee. He handed you a warm mug a few minutes later and pulled you toward the couch. Before you joined him sitting, you pouted.
Isaac sighed, faux annoyed, “Can I help you?”
“I’m cold.”
“Get a blanket,” he suggested, reaching over to pull one out of the basket you kept next to the couch.
“It wouldn’t be enough,” you insisted, definitely bullshitting.
He raised his eyebrows, “What would you like?”
Grinning, you answered eagerly, “A sweater.”
His smile softened, and he stood up, “Now that I can do.”
Disappearing into his room, you waited for him to come back, and when he did, he had one of your favorite of his cardigans in his hand. You pulled it on, snuggling into its warmth, and settled down on the couch next to him.
“So, what should we do?”
He hummed, “Would you mind if I caught up on my book?”
“Not at all,” you answered, “I might try one of the ones you suggested if you have any.”
Raising his eyebrows, Isaac huffed, “Sweetheart, do you think I just know off the top of my head which books I’ve recommended?”
Rolling your eyes, you told him, “You don’t have to, I have them all in my notes in my phone.”
Isaac looked genuinely taken aback, and you smiled as he finally gathered his thoughts, “Um, okay. Show me.”
And he did have some of the books so he pulled them out and let you judge by their covers which one you wanted to read first. When you picked, he grabbed his book off the nightstand and followed you back to the couch.
You let him lay down first, following suit when he finally stilled, resting between his legs, leaned back against his chest. It was comfortable, you moving with his breaths, and Isaac reached down with one of his hands to hold yours, fingers linked together. It was harder to flip the pages, but you didn’t want to let go.
The book was good, Isaac was right in his assumption you’d like it. Immediately drawn in, you held it in your right hand, as did he, your left hands linked together, resting on your stomach. He stayed very still, neither of you moving much besides taking a sip of coffee.
The only exception being when he sat up, bringing you with him, to pull the blanket up over both of your legs. Both of you were facing a window with the blinds open, and every so often you’d look up to see it still snowing outside.
After what felt like minutes but was probably hours, Isaac’s stomach growled, breaking the two of you out of the peaceful silence. He smiled sheepishly, “We haven’t eaten yet.”
“Do you have leftovers?” you asked, closing your book.
“Yeah.”
“Lunch break.”
You both made plates, taking turns heating them up in the microwave, and he sat down at the table first, waiting for you to join him to eat. It was quiet until he broke it again, “Hey.”
Eyebrows raised, you echoed, “Hey.”
He cleared his throat nervously, “So I’ve been wondering what jobs you’ve been looking into?”
You hummed, “I really liked the hydro class I took. Kind of knew already that I wanted to work in either transportation or water systems, but my transportation class sucked so I’m definitely leaning more toward water systems.”
Isaac nodded, “What would that entail?”
“Designing dams and stuff like that.”
“So you want to live on a coast?”
With a laugh, you shrugged, “I’ll live wherever they give me a job.”
“Fair.”
“What about you?” you asked, leaning on your elbow, chin resting in your hand.
“I like the idea of being an English professor. I’d need to see if I need a master’s or not.”
“Are you interested in getting a master?”
He shrugged, cheeks turning a bit red, “I like the idea. My dad always used to tell me I’ll never amount to anything. I know he’s wrong, I mean a bachelor’s degree is huge because he didn’t have one. But the idea of rubbing a master’s in his face is nice.”
You nodded, taking it in, “I totally understand. I think if I can’t find a job relatively soon after graduating, I’m going to get a master’s myself. It’ll help me not only with a job, but I’ll be able to move up to a senior position one day if the opportunity arises.”
“And I’m sure you will, you’re very good at pretty much everything you try to do,” he praised.
You rolled your eyes, “Yeah, everything but English and anything writing related that’s not scientific.”
He shrugged, “And I’m great at those things, so we make a great team. A team that should never split.”
Jaw dropping a little, you stared at him, “Are you proposing to me right now?”
Stuttering for a few seconds, he eventually managed, “No, but yes.”
“That’s clear,” you responded sarcastically.
“I’m proposing we stay together after undergrad.We go somewhere together, I’m willing to move with you anywhere. We don’t have to get married immediately, but maybe one day, we could.”
You beamed, “I would absolutely love that.”
Isaac perked up, “Yeah?”
“Yeah. And for the record,” you added, “if you get into grad school before I find a job, I’d move with you too and find a job there.”
He was shaking his head before you even finished, “No, your career is more important than any degree.”
You raised your eyebrows, “I want this to be fair.”
“It will be. It absolutely will be. I don’t want you to compromise that for me.”
Touched, you managed, “That’s very sweet of you.”
“Yeah well, I want you to stick around. If that’s what it takes, I have no issue. There are schools everywhere, but there might only be a few places with your dream job. I want to support that.”
Smiling tearfully, you had to stand up and walk over to him, tiling his chin up to meet you in a kiss. He returned it eagerly, and you felt something fall into place. An uncertainty you didn’t even realize you’d been dealing with finally being resolved.
Pulling away, you kept your hand on his chin to look him in the eye and quietly spoke, “I can’t wait.”
“Me neither,” he answered back, just as quiet.
~
day 17 of @obxmermaid‘s holiday challenge: snowed in
#isaac lahey#isaac lahey x reader#isaac lahey x you#isaac lahey fic#teen wolf#teen wolf fanfiction#obxmermaidholiday#college isaac
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rockin around the christmas tree
pike jj x reader
you and jj decorate your first apartment together
this is in the future when you and jj are in nashville :)
(warnings: cursing, implied drinking, very very little editing)
At the words, “I’ve never really decorated a tree before,” you knew immediately that you were going to go all out for JJ. You knew his childhood wasn’t great and that he didn’t really experience it in college either with living in the dorm and then the frat house, but you didn’t consider that meant he’d never really done the tree and lights shebang.
Over the month of November you started gathering up random decorations, here and there, that you thought could fit in your apartment without being a nuisance. One afternoon you convinced your mom to drive over from your hometown with some of your favorite ornaments and decorations from childhood.
She loved JJ and was plenty happy to part with them for his sake. You made sure all the bags and boxes were put away in the second bedroom and made a promise with yourself to not tell him until after Thanksgiving.
Then you got slammed with paper after paper and quiz after quiz which led you to truly forget about everything until you went in there to make sure things were all clean for guests and tripped over a box full of lights.
“Ow, fuck!” you yelped, looking down to see what you’d hit, stomach dropping when you saw it all and heard JJ coming to see what was wrong. Before he could quite get to the door, you waved him away, “All good, just stubbed my toe.”
He backed away, hesitantly, toward the kitchen where he’d been cutting the turkey for dinner. Cody and Tyler were coming into town, and you were doubly excited that they were staying the night so that you could rope them into putting up the once forgotten decorations.
Just as you finished pushing everything out of the way and clearing off the bed, there was a knock at the door. JJ called from the kitchen, “Can you grab that, sweetheart, I’m almost done with the turkey?”
“Got it,” you yelled back, practically skipping to throw the door open for your friends you hadn’t seen outside of FaceTime in months. As soon as you threw the door open, Cody, who was closest, was pulling you into a tight hug, face pressed firmly into your hair. He sighed, “Damn, smell the same, kinda nice.”
You snorted, squeezing back, “That was soft.”
“Forgive me,” he answered sarcastically, “I just missed you is all.”
“Move,” Tyler interrupted before you could respond, elbowing Cody out of the way to hug you. You hugged back just as tight before grabbing both of them by the arms to pull them inside.
“JJ is finishing up the food, so I’ll give you guys a tour real quick and you can drop your stuff in the guest bedroom.”
“Sweet,” Cody nodded, “though I’m not sure how I feel about JJ being in control of the food.”
“Let him have it, I need to tell you guys something.”
They followed you around the whole place and ended in the second bedroom where you shut the door, Tyler smirked, “Getting us alone to pitch a foursome?”
You blinked, not prepared at all, “I-” after a few seconds gathered your thoughts, “no, I just wanted to know if you guys needed to be anywhere early tomorrow or if you could help us decorate for Christmas. JJ never has before, so I thought it could be a fun family activity.”
Before you even finished, Cody, who loved Christmas and decorating for it was nodding eagerly, “Oh fuck yeah. I’m so down. Is that why this room is so messy? Christmas decorations.”
You snorted, “Please, I haven’t forgotten how messy y’all are, I spent so much time in that disaster of a dorm room.”
Tyler waved you off, “We’re much better now.”
“I’m sure,” you answered sarcastically.
“I am, my girlfriend whipped me into shape,” Cody told you, “our apartment looks so dope.”
“Yeah, because your girlfriend has her shit together and a Pinterest board.”
Tyler snorted, “True, you have no eye for interior design.”
Cody rolled his eyes as JJ yelled for everyone to come eat. The four of you sat around the small table you and JJ found on sale with plates heaped full of food. Before anyone could take a bite, you cleared your throat, “Okay, everyone share their lists.”
A tradition the four of you started in college was to share at least three things each person was thankful for before eating whatever you’d managed to put together for dinner, usually takeout because no one was thankful for cafeteria food and the shitty dorm kitchen.
“I’ll go first,” Tyler started, “I’m thankful for the Sixers finally playing well, my girlfriend for getting me a new job, and for you guys having a nice enough apartment to play host.”
“Wait wait wait,” JJ held his hand up, “your girlfriend got you a job?”
Tyler shrugged, “I figure if I play my cards right and don’t fuck anything up, when she finishes law school and has a nice job, I can become a trophy husband. I’ll be supportive as fuck and the best arm candy on the planet.”
You snorted and said, “Okay, poor Emma first of all. It’s my turn though. I’m thankful for my therapist, she’s really done a lot of heavy lifting this fall, I’m thankful for JJ not burning the building down while cooking, and I’m thankful for you guys driving to see us because my separation anxiety was getting pretty bad and my poor therapist needs a break.”
Cody gave you a thumbs up, “Live to serve. My turn, I’m thankful for Liverpool sucking ass this season, I’m thankful that my girlfriend is good at everything I’m bad at because I’m pretty sure I’d have died by this point, and I’m thankful that you guys live somewhere interesting enough that I want to come visit.”
“Okay, me last,” JJ started, “I’m thankful for you guys being here even though it was kind of an inconvenient trip, I’m thankful for my boss for giving me a holiday bonus, and I’m thankful to finally get to spend a holiday in my own space. A safe space.”
Cody and Tyler, both great with emotion, held out fists for him to bump and then started eating.
-
“Okay,” you clapped your hands, startling JJ awake the next morning, “it’s noon, we’ve slept off most of the hangover, and now we have shit to do.”
“What?” he asked, voice cracking, as he rubbed his eyes.
“It’s Christmas season, we have to decorate.”
JJ groaned, “Shopping? While I feel like this? No.”
“No need to shop, I have it all. Now get up, get dressed, and let’s do this.”
Tyler was already up when you walked out of the bedroom, and he waved, “I ordered breakfast but couldn’t find your coffee pot. Cody is sorting through the decorations, did you have a tree?”
“Yeah, I have one in the closet, we always did a real tree at home, but I figured we should start small and see how it goes.”
“Good plan. I think Cody has a Christmas playlist ready. He’s so excited, could barely sleep.”
He followed you to the kitchen and leaned against the door frame while you made coffee. You chuckled, “Yeah, I know how much he loves Christmas. I’m honestly kind of surprised we never did a group decorating thing like this before.”
“Well,” Tyler crossed his arms, “we did the small trees in the dorm, but JJ didn’t want to buy one for himself so it didn’t really count. And then decorating the frat house was just not worth the effort.”
You passed him a mug and he took a sip while you answered, “JJ never really seemed super interested either. I mean I was going to keep it chill this year too but he brought it up.”
“Cody said you had a whole bunch of homemade stuff.”
“Yeah, my mom brought it to me. I was thinking of making JJ do some of the ornaments to make it even but I’m not sure he’d go for that.”
Tyler snorted, “Man’s a simp, he’d do it for you.”
“Who’s a simp?” Cody asked, walking into the kitchen to take the second mug.
“All three of you,” you told him, grabbing the creamer out of the fridge for him.
He took a sip and shrugged, “Yeah, true. But who are we discussing in particular now?”
“JJ. Whether he’d made homemade ornaments,” Tyler responded.
“He definitely would,” Cody nodded, “I would too. Is that on today’s agenda?”
“It is not. But I mean, if you guys want to make us some in the future and mail them, I’ll gladly hang them on the tree.”
“Deal.”
“What’s the deal?” JJ asked, finally joining the rest of you.
“Nothing, drink some coffee and we’ll decorate.”
-
After the food arrived and everyone ate, Cody did in fact have a Christmas playlist queued, and he hooked it up to the speaker to blast in the living room. Tyler strung lights around, and JJ told you, “We should just keep these up after Christmas.”
By the time the two of you had struggled to get the tree put together and in a good spot, you added, “Maybe we don’t take the tree down either. We can just decorate it for every holiday.”
Tyler laughed, “Don’t be those guys.”
“We will,” JJ vowed, “we will absolutely be those guys. I just broke a sweat.”
“I will come back for New Years and start a riot if the tree is still up. You laugh like I’m joking, but I will,” Tyler told the two of you.
Cody was barely paying attention, reaching up to put an ornament on the tree when you stopped him, “JJ has to put the first one up.”
JJ gave you a weird look, “What? Why?”
“Bro,” Tyler told you, “lowkey this is a foursome.”
“No, it’s so not.”
“But, it kinda is. We’re taking JJ’s Christmas tree decorating virginity.”
“That’s so-” JJ paused, “okay the logic works a little but I don’t like it.”
“I hate you all,” you groaned, handing JJ an ornament and gently shoving him toward the tree.
“You don’t,” Cody singsonged from his spot across the room.
When everything was done, Cody turned all the lights off in the room and JJ plugged the tree in. Tyler flipped all the lights he’d put out on and the four of you stood in the doorway to take it all in.
JJ sighed, “Kinda love it. It’s going to be such a pain to take down, but it feels good.”
“A good family decorating day,” Cody added, “next year we’ll make ornaments.”
You laughed, “Sure.”
Wrapping his arms around your waist from behind, JJ hummed, “Gonna miss our Christmas this year.”
Tyler looked a little teary eyed, “Yeah, we can FaceTime though.”
“Are you crying?” Cody asked incredulously.
“It’s the hangover,” Tyler denied, wiping his eyes.
Cody rolled his eyes, “Sure it is. I’m gonna miss you guys too.”
“Group hug,” you said, holding your arms out. For the first time in a while and the last time for an even longer while, you hugged your boys close. You sniffled, pulling back, “Bring your girlfriends next time. They’re always welcome too.”
They nodded and left after one more hug. JJ and you sat on the couch, soaking in the sudden silence. You leaned into his side and he wrapped an arm around your shoulder, “Movie, sweetheart?”
“Please,” you answered, “Home Alone.”
~
day four of @obxmermaid‘s holiday challenge: decorating the tree
#pike!jj#jj maybank#jj maybank x reader#jj maybank x you#jj maybank fic#outer banks#outer banks fic#obxmermaidholiday#frat!jj
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day 20: trial on pre christmas eve
a/n: @obxmermaid this is day 20, where we dive into the trial which has arrived, so far after the horrible meeting with both yours and dracos parents who crashed the dinner... what started out as a harmless dinner, turned very quickly into battle royale. today we finally learn the outcome of this dreadful event.
pairing: draco malfoy x reader
prompt: trial on pre christmas eve
mentioning @sweetness47
part 10 part 19
today, the day you and draco had been dreading for a while, the day of his parents trial. this is the day you and draco before the ministry, the court, the judges, and tell them what happened, what draco's parents did, what they tried to do.
what you and draco did, what you draco and your parents did, what they did to your dad, all of it. you and draco met with your parents within your quarters, to ensure no outside ears would be able to hear anything...
we go now to where your parents have just arrived.
yn: mom, dad
your parents hug you as they come through the door...
laura: it is good to see you both...
dillion: how are you both feeling
you and draco sit down opposite your parents, and prepare to calmly as possible tell your parents how you and draco were feeling.
yn: honestly, i feel uneasy, this seems a little too scattered. i mean sure you guys gave your statements, me and draco gave ours, they have spoken to the witches and wizards who witnessed the event but...
well thats when draco placed his hand on top of your shoulder, signalling for you to let him continue...
draco: if i may, we are frazzled, i mean my parents trial is today, yn and i filled out form 315-D last night, we plan to use us signing that in front of the court today as a statement that we are not going no where, that as a couple we are here to stay and will not be bullied by stupidity and dark magic. that we are gonna use our love to guide our power.
laura and dillon were shocked to learn of this... But continued to listen as You proceeded to speak
yn: In conclusion mother father Draco and I upon graduation from Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry request your blessing to marry upon our graduation.
Laura and Dillon were understanding of What you Draco had Just Explained... It was your mother who spoke first...
Laura: Sounds like you both have made some very big choices lately... we are very proud of all your efforts to stay strong during your very Strange Start to christmas Break. Sweetheart your happiness is all that matters to us. I speak for Both me and your father when I say you both have Our blessing, your father and I have to go talk to cornelius but when the trial Starts Please know that your father and I are rooting for you both... we will see you before the sentencing...
Dillon: Please be careful both of you...
They were out ofthe room before you and Draco could say anything... this left you both with your thoughts...
Not long after a screen appeared on the wall, voices could be heard but no one could be seen at least not Right away...
cornelius: attention everyone Please take your seats this court is now in session... before we bring out the accused I would like it if we could Say a very warm welcome to two very important People who dispite their differences are fighting for a more united wizard world, miss yn yln and Mr Draco malfoy... let's have then up on the monitor if you please.
Suddenly you and Draco were visible to the court, as they were to you...
Draco: esteemed guests members of the court, thank you all for being here. This whole mess is not what yn and I had in mind for a peaceful Christmas Break. we were on a mission to aquire both of our parents blessings to be together, but we were planning on telling them seperately. starting with YN's parents cause we knew that they would take the news of our relationship better than not...
yn: when we were seated in that little restaurant in london near the diagon alley, we do not take lightly what happened... but shortly after we had returned to hogwarts i recieved word from my mother that my father had been in a magic based vehicle accident and had slipped into coma. traces of magic to be found all over the scene... it had draco's parents written all over it. they were so hell bent on wanting to use the unforgivable curses to get draco to kill me...
draco: their blind rage is what has driven me and my love to bend the rules and make new ones, regarding our relationship and future ones between the houses. we didnt realize what we would go through when we started dating in secret almost 2 years ago... now we are out in the open like a normal couple... or at least as normal as normal can be for the wizarding world. but with people like my parents and the other death eaters out there no one is safe...
you held your breath, your eyes becoming fatigued, you took a huge risk... but you had to tell the court about what happened to you at the lake...
yn: there is something else... a few days ago, like several infact possibly a week, i was sitting in the quad at school waiting for Draco who was finishing helping professor snape replenish the potions classroom supply. when i recieved a fire message from my mother regarding the accident involving my father who was coming back home. i was devistated, i couldnt think, i couldnt speak, i saw red, i couldnt even breathe. i had my cloak on, i was ready to run... i was in front of the black lake on the dock before i knew it... but i was being stalked, i was being chased. something or someone moving at high speeds thrust me off the deck and through the frozen ice, into the lake. the sound actually cut out, all i could hear was the sound of my own blood pumping. i was not sure how long i had been under there, i was not sure how long i was under, it was a number of hours before i was rescued... draco, professor mcgonigal, hagrid found me at the lake... draco was the one who pulled me out of the water, he stayed with me through the time from the lake and then through the travel by minerva taking me her and draco to see snape who extracted the water from my lungs. When finished and Draco had gotten cleaned up we were transported to my shared room... and that's where I woke up a few hours later to see Draco sitting beside my bed...
cornielius: i see, and how did you come to the conclusion that it was young Mr Malfoy's parents who had done this to you?
draco clears his throat catching the attention of the entire court...
Draco: cause as soon as i got to the dock i sensed my parents handy work in all this, an old family magic was used to cloak them so YN wouldnt know they were responsible. but they didnt count on their son being so cleaver as to sense their magic...
cornielius and the rest of the court were now chattering about this new evidence.. thats when the guard now standing by the central cage, now speaks...
guard: and now bringing forth the accused to stand trial for their crimes, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy...
you and draco along with the entire court watched as they were brought into the cage... and they just stared straight at your parents and the monitor...
lucius: now there are certainly alot of gloomy faces around this court room and the faces of those who put us here... well why would we just make ourselves stupid enough to leave traces of us around at the sights of these supposed crimes...
cornielius bangs the gavel and the court room goes silent...
corneilius: speak only when spoken too Malfoy... now we shall have a listing of all their crimes and then we will hear from YN's parents a d then we will hear from our esteemed pannel of judges and a few professors from Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry, once we have heard from those mentioned we will bring YN and Draco back to deliver their judgements based on all the testemonies given.. though they will be able to hear us we wont be able to hear or see them... so Yn and Draco may go and relax... as for the rest of us the trial of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy now begins...
You and Draco with sound muted and camera off listened to the trial an hour passed...
Dumbledore, Minerva, your parents, and a few others have testimonies to the wicked doings of your loves parents.
Combined with what you and Draco had spoken to the court just moments before they were brought out... the judges went to decide their findings... but words now spoken would incriminate the findings presented...
Lucius: I know that you beasts can hear me so listen and listen good... I lucius place a vow, one that will allow me and my darling wife to one day escape and reclaim the dark lords purpose and kill you all... to use the cruciatus curse on my former son and force him to kill the love of his life... just like I used it on one of her ravenclaws to push her into the lake... it was me who ran her father off the road... if we are to be punished let's also punish the brats who lied to everyone about their dating for almost 2 years...
Cornielius: silence you old wind bag... the judges have made their decision... we find lucius abd narcissa malfoy guilty of all findings and their sentence is life in solitary in Azkaban prison... take a good look cause these will be the last faces you will ever see... send them back to Azkaban... court adjourned... for those who wish to speak with Yn and Draco about this ordeal may find them in the main entry by the fountain...
Cornelius Bangs the gavel and the people begin to shuffle out... you and draco take some breathes before heading to the fountain..
You and Draco are first approached by the order, then by Dumbledore and minerva, then by your parents... that's where we go to now...
Dillon: my daughter we had no idea that the lake had even happened to you before today... we are so sorry that this even happened... it is horrifying when you find out that your own child has experienced anything like this...
Laura: you both have earned some well deserved rest... and so it shall come easy to you both... use the penthouse before you go back to school... I'm sure it will be nice repreve...
You smile at your mother who just responds with a huge hug to you and Draco...
Laura: we will take things in moderation from now on and we will keep in touch. Now go rest up, and make sure that whatever happens to you both neither of you separate from the other.
At that moment your parents, the minister and your headmaster all saw you through the floo travel safely.
Arriving at the penthouse you both fall back onto the couch and breathe a small sigh of relief... the entire ordeal with Draco's parents was finally over. you turned onto your side to face the love of your life.
yn: one day in the future when we are finally old enough to marry, i want a big extravagent wedding.. colors obviously blue and green. our house colors. and we will invite the entire ministry as well as all the professors our houses our fellow students.
draco: love we have time now to plan everything, it doesnt need to happen right now. lets just stay here, right now in the moment. come on love close to me and close our eyes lets dream of the life we can now have together.
with that last word and magic pulling a blanket over you and Draco the day finished, the tiredness set in, and our heroes fall asleep, dreaming of what the future now may hold for their journey is not yet finished...
~to be continued~
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yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker
movie night at your place sparks the age old debate: is die hard really a christmas film?
fandom: outer banks
ship: slight jj maybank x reader, pogue friendship
word count: 967
featuring: too many movie references/mentions, the pogues being cute, swearing, overuse of italics for ✨emphasis✨
a/n: day 5 of my holiday challenge, a day late ‘cause work sucked ass. idk what this even is lmao (is it bad to say that i’ve never seen die hard the whole way through? oops). unbetaed, all mistakes are my b.
come join my holiday challenge!
December 2020
"Okay, which one are we watching first: Elf, Home Alone, or How the Grinch Stole Christmas?" You asked, holding all three DVDs in your hands and turning to face your friends piled together on the couch; everyone yelled out their choice at once and the sheer volume of their combined voices made you wince.
"Jesus, guys, take it down a notch! We're not debating which one is the best of all time, here.”
You laughed as Kiara lovingly flipped you off from her seat between Pope and John B before she leaned forward to grab a slice of pizza from the box on the table. "Too late, Y/N. The answer is Home Alone and anyone who says otherwise-" she turned to stare pointedly at John B as Pope nodded in agreement- "is wrong."
"No, it's gotta be Grinch, hands down." He fired back, nudging Sarah in the side with his elbow. "Back me up here."
The blonde girl just shrugged and took a casual sip of her beer. "You're both wrong because it's obviously Elf, no question."
"Correct!" You smiled in approval and spun on your heel to slip the DVD into the player, ignoring the rest of the group's protests, then grabbed the remote and squeezed into the spot between Pope and JJ. "No bitching! I'm the host, what I say goes."
"Hate to break it to you but everyone already knows what the greatest Christmas movie of all time is." JJ finally spoke up as he threw an arm over your shoulders and pulled you closer to his side. "It's Die Hard."
"For the last time, no, it is not. It's not even a holiday movie!" Pope stated while you and Kiara exchanged a flat look over the back of the couch. Every single year, ever since the first annual pogue Christmas movie night back in fifth grade, the two boys (and occasionally John B, whenever he felt like making trouble) would have the same argument, going over the same points like two annoying, infuriating broken records and never reaching a conclusion. It was practically as traditional as the movie night itself.
"It takes place during a holiday party, so yes, it is!"
"Dude, the setting doesn't change the fact that it's a typical action movie!"
To your right, you could hear low conversation as John B filled Sarah in on the Great Die Hard Debate, Kiara adding details every once in a while and you wished you'd picked to sit on the end of the couch instead, where you wouldn't be stuck in right in the middle of the action. That massive crush you had on JJ always seemed to get you into trouble without fail.
"Guys, can't we just agree to disagree?" Your hopeful question went ignored and you sighed, not surprised in the slightest as you relaxed against the blond boy's side with your arms crossed. Kiara caught your eye and mouthed, "you tried," before offering you a sympathetic smile.
"The fucking screenwriter himself said it was 'as much of a holiday film as White Christmas', and that's a direct quote, I can prove it!" JJ said, starting to reach for his phone as Pope laughed and shook his head.
"And Bruce Willis himself, the fucking star of it, said, and I quote, 'Die Hard is not a Christmas movie.'"
"Well, if Die Hard's a Christmas movie then so's Mean Girls, if you think about it." To everyone's shock it was Sarah who interrupted the loud -oh so loud- discussion around a mouthful of popcorn and upon seeing the sea of five blank faces staring back at her, she continued, “The Jingle Bell Rock scene? Technically, it should count.”
“But it’s only one scene, not the whole movie.” JJ leaned forward to argue with the girl at the other end of the couch and you, out of spite that you lost your comfy spot tucked against his warm shoulder, decided to take a page out of John B’s book and stir the pot.
“You know, Sarah’s got a good point. What about the ugly sweater party in Bridget Jones’ Diary?”
“Or Narnia?” Kiara quickly added before JJ or Pope, sitting up now, too and looking like he just swallowed a sour lemon, could counter. “They get presents from Santa!”
“Um, Edward Scissorhands? Winona Ryder dancing in the snow?” That was John B adding his two cents and it opened the floodgates for everyone to start listing off different movies in rapid fire succession.
“You’ve Got Mail!”
“Gremlins!”
“Rocky!”
“Like, every Harry Potter movie. Seriously.”
“I can’t believe I have to listen to this...this slander!” Pope said, shaking his head in disgust while JJ crossed his arms and leaned back against the couch in a huff.
“And I can’t believe I’m agreeing with you!”
Kiara raised an eyebrow and looked back and forth between the two boys. “Oh, now you can agree on something? Do you guys even realize how fucking stupid you sound?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Okay, executive order from the host! Die Hard is whatever you want it to be.” You said, grabbing the remote from the table before pushing Pope’s chest until he relaxed back against the couch. “Believe what you wanna believe but do it quietly, I just wanna watch Elf in peace. Capiche?”
When no one protested otherwise you pressed play, then tucked yourself under JJ’s arm once again; he squeezed your shoulder in response and you couldn’t stop the smile that made its way onto your face.
The blissful silence lasted only ten minutes before John B shot up straight and turned to the rest of you with wide eyes, his next words sending the whole room into chaos once again.
“How did we forget Iron Man 3?!”
You just put your head in your hands and groaned.
#obxmermaidholiday#obx imagine#outer banks imagine#obx fic#pogues x reader#outer banks fic#jj maybank x y/n#jj maybank x reader
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an evening i will not forget
jj maybank x unc soccer reader
a cold and rainy evening + peppermint hot chocolate
(warnings: cursing, light editing)
For the first time since you started college, you weren’t going home for Christmas. You missed your family, but you knew JJ was staying too, so it helped a little. One night, you were laying on the couch, pajamas and fuzzy socks on, watching a movie, when there was a knock at your apartment door.
It was late, you weren’t sure who it could be, so you stood, wrapping the blanket tightly around yourself, and moved slowly to the door. Peeking through the peep hole, you saw your boyfriend, grocery bag around his wrist and hands shoved into his pockets, rocking back and forth.
You threw the door open, wincing at the cold air that got in, “J, what are you doing here?”
He beamed at you, “Thought we could have a sleepover.”
His smile was contagious and you pulled him inside, wrapping your arms tightly around him as the door slammed shut. JJ was cold and you shivered, pulling back to wrap the blanket more tightly around yourself.
The grocery bag hit you in the thigh, and you grabbed his wrist, “What’s this?”
“Went to Trader Joe’s and picked up some of their holiday stuff. You eaten yet?”
“Was about to make some pasta, but I’m down to try some of what you brought.”
“Cool.”
A lot of his purchases turned out to be desserts, which you didn’t necessarily want to eat too much of. He frowned and you shrugged, “Workouts in the morning.”
“When do you have a day off?”
Sipping on the soup, you tried to remember the exact schedule before answering, “I think I have Sunday off.”
“Raincheck till Sunday?” JJ asked.
“Raincheck.”
-
Your dad wanted you to take advantage of UNC’s trainers in the offseason since you were only a season out from graduating. He’d said over the phone, “If you want a real shot at a slot on the national roster, you need to keep up the training immediately after the season.”
So, the team trainer agreed to work with you privately through break, helping build strength and stay in midseason shape to be prepared for camps in the spring. He thought you had a real chance at it, and was all too happy to help.
When the Tar Heels got knocked out of the playoffs, you took a week off for recovery and immediately picked training back up. He’d been scheduling three-a-days since the semester ended, and you were exhausted.
Your days went a little something like: weights first thing, then stretching and breakfast, skill work and some running, then lunch and a nap, finally speed drills and recovery. It had been brutal, but you could feel it paying off.
JJ met up with you for meals as often as possible, even coming along to the gym with you in the mornings. He did adamantly refuse to follow your workouts, claiming, “No way in hell I can lift that heavy and do that many reps.”
Saturday morning, JJ met you at the training facilities at 6, and you scanned him in to head to the workout room. The trainer was off for the weekend, your workout was written out on the board and a sheet of paper to mark your progress on the bench next to it.
JJ started stretching while you plugged your phone into the speaker to play some music, and after a few seconds you joined him.
-
JJ sat in your apartment while you went on a run after lunch, you told him it wouldn’t be long, so he settled in to watch a movie while you were gone. The temperature had cooled way down, and you immediately wished you’d changed out of shorts into leggings.
Halfway through, two miles from your apartment, you felt a drop on your head, and out of nowhere, the bottom fell out. You gasped, the chill immediately slamming into you, and all your muscles tightened.
Part of you wanted to call JJ to get him to pick you up, but decided in the end to just speed up and get home faster. Teeth gritted, you sprinted the rest of the way back, miserable the entire time.
JJ was waiting by the door, dressed down in sweats, fuzzy socks, and one of your hoodies when you knocked holding a towel with the heat blasting. You sighed pathetically and let him wrap you up, “Fuck, I didn’t even know it was supposed to rain today.”
“Me neither,” he answered, squeezing your shoulders, “I ran a bath with some epsom salt if you want.”
“God that sounds fantastic.”
Kicking your shoes off by the door, you slowly made your way to the heated bathroom. It felt great, and your muscles were screaming as you stripped your shorts and shirt off and sank into the hot water in your underwear. The last few weeks of work seemed to slam into you at once, and you wanted to cry.
JJ followed you into the bathroom a few minutes later, sitting on the floor next to the tub holding two steaming mugs. He smiled, “Figured we could start our food testing spree with the peppermint hot chocolate.”
“Smells good,” you reached out to grab the mug, careful to not spill, and took a sip, “tastes good too.”
“You think?”
“Yeah. You don’t like it?”
“It’s alright. I think I prefer normal hot chocolate though.”
You hummed, “More for me.”
After a few minutes of drinking in silence he asked, “Warming up?”
“Yeah, feeling better. Might sit in here longer just for soreness. I’m feeling today’s workout.”
A concerned look crossed his face, “We can stretch after this, before dinner.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, definitely. You have a foam roller here right?”
“I do.”
“Cool. We’ll do that in 30.”
You expected him to leave, but instead, he pulled out his phone and started a YouTube video for the two of you to watch. JJ leaned back against the tub, and you propped your elbow next to him to lean forward and watch. It felt nice to finally pause and just co-exist with him again.
JJ laughed, pulling you out of your thoughts, and you smiled fondly at him, taking another sip of cocoa. His nose scrunched when he laughed again, and you pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
He turned, cheeks reddened, to kiss you properly. It tasted like hot chocolate.
~
day two of @obxmermaid‘s holiday challenge: hot chocolate
#jj maybank#jj maybank x reader#college jj#jj maybank x you#jj maybank fic#outer banks fic#outer banks#obxmermaidholiday
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