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happilykrispypirate · 8 months

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Bloodstained Petals

Pairings: Mattheo Riddle x fem!reader

Warnings: Swearing, unrequited love, mentions of blood and throwing up, violence, death, and my shitty writing.

Summary: The Hanahaki Disease is a rare disease that causes flowers to grow in the person's lungs. The only way to stop it from killing the person, is to get the one they're in love with, to fall in love with them.

Y/n sighed as she watched as Mattheo make an advance on the girl he's been keen on for the last 2 months.

Theo sighed as he saw the look on the girl's face. He had known about her love for the dickhead since the beginning.

Y/n, you're making things harder for yourself," He finally spoke up.

"What's wrong with me?" She asked the question she's been asking him for years now.

"There's nothing wrong with you, love," Theo said, "He's just a fucking idiot."

Y/n sighed again, looking down at her food, feeling too sick to even think about eating anything.

"I'm going to bed, I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast," She said before getting up and walking out.

"I need the room tonight," Mattheo said when he came back to the table, "Where's Y/n?"

"You're a fucking idiot," Theo said also getting up to try and catch up with her, but she was already gone.

Y/n woke up in the middle of the night, coughing up her lungs. She ran to the bathroom to get her something to drink so that she'd stop coughing.

After downing a glass or two of water, her stomach churned. She quickly bent over the toilet and threw up.

Her heart sank with fear as she saw the blood and the petals. She then started coughing again, more petals.

Next thing she knew she stormed to the Gryffindor common room, ignoring the fat lady's whining about waking her up, and she ran straight to Hermione's room.

"Thank Merlin, you're awake," Y/n said.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly as she looked at the panicked girl.

As if on cue another coughing fit started and petals landed in het hand.

"Are those?"

"Yeah."

"Oh my God," Hermione said, "You have the Hanahaki Disease."

"You say that like I'm supposed to know what it means," Y/n said as she threw the petals into the bin.

"Hanahaki Disease, is caused by unrequited love."

Y/n stayed silent. She brought this upon herself... falling in love with Mattheo.

"It's very rare. It causes a flower to grow in your lungs. The only way to stop it, is to..."

"Is to what?" Y/n asked, looking at Hermione.

"Is to get the person you're in love with, to fall in love with you. They can't just say I love you, and it'll be gone. They have to actually mean it," She said.

"I'm doomed," Y/n said as she sat down on Hermione's bed.

"Y/n," Hermione said. Her words were cut short when Y/n went into another coughing fit. She patted Y/n on the back, to help in whatever way she can.

Y/n then ran to the bathroom to throw up. Hermione ran after her to hold her hair back.

"We have to get you to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said.

"No, I don't want anyone else to know about this," Y/n said, "Especially not Mattheo or Theo."

"Y/n if you don't do something, you're going to die," She said.

Y/n didn't answer her...

Over the next few days everyone noticed that she looked a bit sick. Professor McGonagall had sent her to her dorm after she had ran out of the classroom for the third time that lesson.

So, Y/n, just laid there in her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Her room littered with petals.

Theo had tried to come by a few times every day, but she made sure he couldn't come in.

She had Hermione put a charm on her door after Pansy walked in and saw Y/n coughing up petals. Y/n tried to lie her way out of, but Pansy knew immediately what it was. So now, the only people who can enter her dorm, was Pansy and Hermione.

As Y/n laid on her bed, she heard a soft knock on her door. She thought it was Theo, but when the spoke she knew she thought wrong.

Matheo.

"Y/n, I'm just checking in on you. Are you alright?" He was silent for a few moments, "Theo says you won't even let him in."

"Please, I need to know if you're alright," He said, "You're my best friend, I care about you."

The word 'friend' echoed in her mind for the rest of the day. She was only pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Theo yelling at Hermione.

"Why can't I fucking see her?" He yelled.

"Theo, she's not feeling well," Hermione said, "She said she doesn't want to get you sick."

"You and Pansy are in there every day!" He yelled again.

"Hermione," Y/n spoke, her voice raspy. Her throat was raw because of the coughing. She was weak due to the amount of blood she lost and the lack of oxygen.

Hermione's head poked through the door, "Let him in," Y/n said. She knew she didn't have a lot of time left, so she knew she had to tell him.

Hermione nodded, glad that she was finally telling Theo.

Hermione closed the door and lifted her wand. A few moments later, she turned towards Theo and nodded her head towards the door.

Theo didn't hesitate to storm in. He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw how sick his best friend was.

He saw the petals, and immediately knew about what she had and why she had it.

"Holy fuck, love," Theo said as he knelt down next to her.

"Hey Theo," She smiled weakly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked. Tears were in her eyes; he feared for her life.

"I didn't want to worry you too much," She said.

"You still worried me, love," He said as he took her hand and kissed it.

"I'm sorry," Y/n said, her eyes starting to droop.

"Get some rest, love," Theo said, "I'll be here when you wake up."

Y/n took her hand out of his and placed it on his cheek. A tear fell from his cheek, she wiped it away with her thumb before she closed her eyes.

Theo stayed for a few minutes. He thought, how could someone do this to her.

The anger consumed him. He made sure Y/n was comfortable before he stomped off to find Mattheo.

He found Mattheo with that girl. He pulled him up by the collar and pinned him to the wall.

"You motherfucker, you did this to her. She's dying because of you're fucking selfishness," Theo spat in his face.

"What the fuck man?" Mattheo said, "Who's dying?"

Theo said nothing, he dropped Mattheo on the floor before dragging him to Y/n's dorm.

Theo opened up the door and saw Hermione standing over you. She had her wand out, she was examining you.

"Y/n?" Mattheo said. His heart sank. He saw the blood, the petals. He knew.

It was because of him?

"This is all your fault. She's been in love with you for a long time, but you didn't even bother thinking about her. You made it seem like you love her but then you go after other girls," Theo said.

"I've always loved her. I just thought she didn't love me," Mattheo said.

"It's always been you."

They both looked up and saw that Y/n was looking at them. Or, Mattheo.

Mattheo went over to her, and crouched beside her bed.

"I'm so sorry I did this to you," He said, "I love you, I really do love you."

"I love you too, Mattheo," She said, smiling weakly at him. He leaned forward and planted his lips on hers. Neither of them caring about the blood and tears.

They both pulled away when another coughing fit started. Mattheo placed his hand on her back and rubbed circles.

"Why isn't she better?" Theo asked, "Shouldn't she be cured now?"

"I'm afraid, it's too late," Hermione said as tears ran down her cheeks. Pansy stood to the side, trying not to get lost in the tears.

Both the boys' hearts sank. She looked at them both.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," She said.

"It's alright, love," Theo said as he too crouched down next to her bed, taking her other hand.

"I'll always be with you," She said, "I love you both."

"No, don't say that, you're not dying," Mattheo said, "I finally got to tell you I love you. You're not leaving me now."

She smiled at him, tears running down her cheeks.

She let go of her last breath.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," Mattheo begged sobbing. He lifted her up and held her to his chest as he rocked back and forth, sobbing into her hair.

Theo sobbed as he held her hands. His best friend since childhood gone.

Hermione held Pansy as they both cried.

"Don't leave me, please, don't leave me," Mattheo's voice cracked as he begged with every sob.

He blamed himself, he was too late.

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wileys-russo · 7 months

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Please could you write something with reader trying to teach alexia english😩

PSA: I don’t speak Spanish so I sincerely apologise for any mistakes

second languages II a.putellas

"hola! ale?" you called out as you let yourself into your girlfriends apartment, bending down to scoop up nala who came hurtling at you from the sofa. "hola!" you heard the blonde call out from her bedroom as you cooed at the small ball of fluff in your arms and kicked off your shoes, sliding them to sit neatly beside your girlfriends.

you couldn't help but chuckle as you entered the bedroom to see alexia's eyes trained on the large tv on her wall, watching barcelonas last match with real madrid. a notebook and pen sat nestled in her lap, the girl clearly taking notes before their upcoming rival game this weekend.

"nadie puede decir que no estás dedicada bonita." (no one can ever say you are not dedicated) you laughed, placing nala down and shaking your head. "para ser el mejor tienes que saber todo sobre tu oponente. hola hermosa." (to be the best you have to know everything about your opponent. hi beautiful) your girlfriend shrugged, moving her notebook away and opening her arms expectantly.

"y por eso eres la mejor?" (and that is why you are the best?) you laughed, placing your keys and phone down on her desk. "si es por eso que soy la mejor." (yes, that is why i am the best) the catalan grinned as you collapsed on top of her, your arms wrapping around one another in a tight hug.

"No es que me queje al verte. pero pensé que tenías trabajo esta tarde?" (not that i am complaining to see you. but i thought you had jobs this afternoon?) alexia questioned curiously as you moved a few loose strands of hair out of her face.

"a few clients cancelled so it freed up my afternoon." you explained with a happy smile, honestly not all that bothered if it meant you got to spend more time with her.

"veo. bueno, al juego todavía le queda la mitad." (i see. well the game still has one half to go) your girlfriend smiled as you sighed, knowing her well enough that there would be very little you could say to pry her away from her match studies.

"i'm gonna go make some food then." you chuckled, pecking her lips and moving to stand but her arms stayed locked around you. "o podrías quedarte y mirar conmigo mi vida." (or you could stay and watch with me) alexia grinned, wiggling her eyebrows making you laugh.

"haré algo de comida y luego volveré y miraré. okay?" (i will make some food then come back and watch) you bargained, the blonde humming and letting you up. "si, okay."

"and don't forget, we're practicing your english later." you reminded causing the older girl to groan loudly in contempt. "ale! you promised." you warned at her response, the blonde flopping backwards and sighing.

"de repente me siento muy mal bebe. podría perder mi voz." (suddenly i am feeling very sick baby. i might lose my voice) the taller girl faked a cough causing you to narrow your eyes at her in a glare.

"alexia you are the one who asked me to help you be more confident in your english. so that you can speak easier with my family!" you warned her sternly, the midfielder whining like a child throwing a tantrum as she kicked her feet and dragged her hands down her face.

bit by the travel bug you decided to spend a summer interning in barcelona around a year and a half ago, you already knew spanish from studying it in school and so when the opportunity came up from one of your old teachers for a photography internship abroad, you'd have been stupid to say no.

that was how you'd met alexia, a few months in you'd been sent to assist on a shoot for the new fc barcelona kit drop.

you'd caught the older girls eyes right away the moment you'd first spoke, alexia finding endless amusement in the way your thick northern accent came through in your spanish.

so with some light teasing throughout the shoot you were surprised when she'd asked if you wanted to grab dinner afterward, claiming that you'd not had a proper barcelona experience until you'd eaten at some of the best places it had to offer which alexia was glad to show you.

and the rest was a story you'd probably tell your grandkids one day.

"o podrías ayudar a tu familia a mejorar su español?" (or you could help your family work on their spanish) your girlfriend suggested with an innocent smile, which promptly dropped as you only continued to wordlessly glare at her.

"fine!" alexia huffed, throwing her hands up in defeat before crossing them over her chest, pouting up at you. "that's not going to work ale. go back to your game!" you nodded to the tv, turning around and heading toward the kitchen.

"cual es tu horario para mañana bonita?" (whats your schedule for tomorrow) your girlfriend asked with a stretch, joining you in the kitchen from her bedroom. "hermosa?" she called out again when you didn't answer.

"in english." you turned to her with a smile, leaning against the counter as you took a bite from your sandwich. "qué?" alexia frowned as you pulled yourself to sit on the counter. "english lessons ale. i will only respond when you speak in english!" you explained with a shrug, continuing to eat your sandwich.

"mierda. uh, what are your....jobs tomorrow?" the older girl managed to get out as you nodded encouragingly. "i have a shoot at two and another at five." you answered, your girlfriends understanding of english was fine as was yours of spanish, but it was her diction that she was often insecure about.

"what time is training tomorrow?" you asked, leaning over to place your empty plate in the sink. "training is at ten." alexia answered with a little more ease and you smiled.

"okay so now lets practice like you're talking with my family." you started, jumping down from the counter and moving to the living room, both you and alexia taking a seat on the sofa.

"how have you been?" "good." "okay, they're going to want to know more than that baby. what about football? speak about that." "okay. we have been training for the..." you watched as the blonde struggled to find the right words, huffing in frustration.

"champions league?" "si. sorry, yes. champions league. barcelona lost last time, we do not want that to happen again so we train hard, we try to win all our games." "good! see, you can do it ale." you nudged the older girl with your foot, sending her a soft smile of encouragement. "you will have to help me with your father." alexia chuckled as you agreed, your dads accent easily the thickest of your families with how fast he spoke alexia often struggled to understand what he was saying.

"your accent when you speak english is very cute baby." you grinned, watching on victoriously as a small blush coated the girls cheeks, a welcome change from her often sharp demeanor.

"ojalá pudiera decir lo mismo de tu nena española." (wish i could say the same about your spanish) the taller girl sent you a smile, hands tugging at your top to pull you closer to her. "hey!" you frowned in offence at the comment as you now sat practically in her lap, her long legs reclined down the sofa.

"should i say in english too?" alexia teased as you smacked her chest with a small pout.

"there are some things you like better when i say in spanish baby girl, no?" alexias tone shifted as her eyes roamed your features with a slightly darker gaze. your face heated up at what you knew she was insinuating, her hands gently sliding up and down your bare thighs.

"...maybe some things sound better in spanish."

#woso x reader #alexia putellas x reader #woso fanfics #woso #alexia putellas #woso imagine #woso blurbs #fc barcelona #espwnt

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pinkyqil · 26 days

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Good news Bad news | a.Putellas x j.Hermoso

Hidden secrets series part 2

Mention of : Angst, comfort, mention of acl and pregnancy

Alexia had never felt like this before in all her life.it felt like everything she worked for all fell apart. broken acl and on top of that finding out your having a baby after many failed procedures of her and jenni trying over and over again.

all she could do was lay on the couch rethinking her whole life purpose.Tears slowly streaming down her face.

She had recently been feeling unwell and decided to take a trip to the hospital. Thinking it had something to do with her acl. But no she was so wrong instead. after she got to the hospital explaining her symptoms to the doctor's.

they told her that she was 8 weeks pregnant.

the look of shock on her face was not missed by the nurses around her. Her and jenni had been trying for a really long time Their last try would be around the beginning of the year, we're they received a negative blood test. but here she was finding out that she's around 2 months pregnant.

The world really does surprise you at unexpected moments.and this was one of them for alexia. The only thing that was going through her mind at the moment,was how she supposed to tell jenni or anyone else. Stil deep in her thoughts she heard the nurses ask if she would like an ultrasound. all alexia could do was nod agreeing to do it.

After finishing her business at the hospital she decided to call her mami cause she's about to be a mami herself so why not call her own too let her know.

Alexia brought out her phone dialing the first number she saw since it belongs to her mom.it only needed to be rung twice for eli to pickup her phone."alexia what happened did you get hurt are you okay" her mother questioned ?. She couldn't replied as tears started slipping down on her already wet face. Eli could tell something was wrong, alexia never cried that much.

often keeping to herself and when she did it would be mostly happy tears, but eli couldn't bring herself to know what was happening has alexia sob became louder.

"bebe I'll need you to tell me what going if not I cannot help you". eli said delicately trying to clam her daughter with a soft tune.

"Are you hurt" eli asked.

"Not like that mami" alexia said still choking on tears.

"So what exactly happening xia" eli asked her again.

" i don't really know what to do mami,I felt sick and went to the hospital- alexia said before getting cut off by her mother

"Alexia Putellas Segura you just told me that you weren't hurt and now your telling me how you felt sick what honestly going on you have me really worried". She heard her mother say on the phone

"Just let me finish explaining", she said. eil could hear the crack in her voice and hummed letting alexia to continue.

"After going in the hospital and explained my symptom's to one of the nurses attending to me said that i was expecting i don't know what to do how I'm I suppose to let her know mami".

Eli was the only one who knew how the couple had been trying for the longest of time especially knowing how hard it was on her daughter and lover.

"oh ale it all going to be alright but you'll have to tell her at some point she also deserve to hear about it from you".eli told her daughter

A while later that she finished talking to her mom.

now home staring at jenni phone number deciding on how to break the news to her. but the panic in her body said otherwise.

Alexia had decided to send jenni a photo of the ultrasound pictures and the positive pregnancy test that she took.

Message sent

Once she had sent the pictures she turned off her phone and decided to go too bed she couldn't deal with the emotions she was feeling at the moment.

mi amor 💕 : typing...

A/n: what's jenni's message to alexia gonna be ? How would she react too it and what does she plan on doing ??

p2 coming soon enjoy this small cliffhanger,ideas and questions about the series are always welcome and feel free to let me know what you think about it 🫶

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papayatori · 2 months

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Lose it all

MV1 x fém!reader

Warnings: none, just severely sweet fluff

Intro: this is inspired by the song Lose It All by Sam Tompkins.. (wonderful song) Max and his girlfriend y/n have grown incredibly close in the last few years of your relationship, and Max is thinking about taking the next step.

A/n: This one is incredibly cheesy and relatively short, this is just something I was thinking about writing for a while now and just decided to go ahead with it. Enjoy mates!

You and Max had been friends for as long as you could remember; playing in the same streets as kids, having dinner at each other's houses, karting together, you did everything together. From the moment you could both walk, you were inseparable. Max's parents were family friends that lived right across the street from you. Both of them joked that you would grow up to marry one day, and to their expectations, you had both been dating for the last three years.

Recently, however, your mother had been pushing the topic a bit harder You weren't sure if you and Max were ready for marriage yet. Of course, you wanted to marry him eventually, but what if that wasn't mutual?

"You've been together for three years now," you recalled her saying. "don't you think it's time to take the next step? I'm not getting any younger, you know."

She insisted that you'd have children in the next few years, insisted that we needed to start planning a wedding.

While all of that was all well and good, you couldn't help but ask yourself if Max really wanted to marry you or not. Your mother was right, it had been three years, and he hadn't made a move to propose yet. In your mind, this equated to the conclusion that Max must not want you after all.

You sat on the bed that the two of you shared, a tear threatening to fall from your eye. You felt stupid for even thinking about this, you knew Max loved you, but you couldn't help but shake the doubt away.

You had started to reel through your memories with him, feeling heartbroken already. On your first date, Max had been trying to impress you with his athletic ability. What better way to do that than with Wii Bowling? You had been playing together for only twenty minutes before Max, who had insisted the strap on the remote was unnecessary and refused to put it on, launched the remote into your television.

After profusely apologizing, your first official date was spent shopping for another TV that Max insisted on buying you.

You felt the tears pouring now, reliving the memories of your first kiss.

Max's weekend at home had finally come after months of waiting. He had been talking for months about how he couldn't wait to celebrate with his grid mates and introduce me to them all after he had finally won his own grand prix; but instead, he had spent it playing nurse and watching over you.

"The only thing I could think about the entirety of that race was getting back to you to make sure you were okay.."

You had grown ill before the race weekend, causing your own discouragement. This was going to be your first race watching Max in person, and you couldn't have been more excited. Though, you had been bed-ridden by the doctors an forced to watch from your apartment once again.

Max sped back here as soon as he could, hoping not to be gone too long away from you. The thought alone made your cheeks redden, even though there was the biggest knot of guilt forming in your stomach.

"Go celebrate, Max. This is your first home win!" He smiled widely, cupping my cheek.

"I'd rather be sick with you." He pressed his lips to mine gently, not caring about the consequences that might come along with it.

The door to your bedroom swung open, revealing a clearly concerned Max behind it.

"Schatje, what's wrong? In a second you were in his arms, so tightly you were worried you might've suffocated. "Why are you crying?" He kissed your head tenderly.

You hadn't even realized you were crying as hard as you were until you were practically sobbing into Max's chest.

"I can't lose you Max." You could barely even get your words to form from your quivering lips. He laughed a little, sending you into a confused state. "I'm serious!" You gave him a hurt glance. "Why would I being going anywhere, y/n?" He cupped your cheek, forcing you to look up at him. His eyes were full of nothing but worry for you, that alone made you start crying again.

"It's been three years, Mum says she's starting to worry we won't make it. She says you would have proposed by now."

Max gave you a knowing glance, heaving a sigh.

"Your mother isn't the one to make that call, Schatje." He gave me a smile, standing from our position on the bed. "Come on, lets get you cleaned up."

He pulled you into the bathroom, sitting you on the sink counter. He opened the drawers, grabbed the makeup wipes and started wiping the remnants of your tears and mascara off of your face. Afterwards, he took a damp towel and wiped the residue away.

"Stay here, I'll be right back." He gave your hand a little squeeze before disappearing back into the bedroom. After a few long moments, he came back with one of your favorite, blue sundresses. You were a little confused at first, but took the dress nonetheless. You were sure Max was planning something, but you didn't know how this was going to aid the question at hand.

He couldn't be avoiding it, could he?

With that newfound doubt as you looked in the mirror, you refused to cry again, already seeing the sadness growing in your eyes as Max walked back into the bathroom to check on you. This time, he had a pair of your favorite heels that he handed you eagerly. You put them on, still eyeing him skeptically.

...

After a few hours of driving and every attempt at asking Max where the two of you were going, you eventually pulled into a beautiful grass field.

A beautiful grass field in the middle of nowhere.

You looked over at Max, praying that he wasn't some serial killer in disguise the entirety of your life. Though, if he was, props to him, he had played the part exceedingly well.

"Wait here, y/n." So you did.

You sat in the car for about ten minutes, hearing Max messing around in the boot before finally coming around to the passenger side door and opening it for you. He offered his hand to help you out of the car.

"M'lady." He grinned at you, the biggest grin you've ever seen. You couldn't help but give a small smile back regardless of the worry that had manifested itself inside of your heart. You let him pull out of the car, revealing a beautiful landscape all around you.

"Ahem." You heard Max clear his throat from behind you. You turned around, revealing a picnic basket and a blanket under one of the trees behind where you had parked. You smiled broadly at Max.

"You took me all the way out here just to make me feel better?" You felt your heart swell with joy. How had you ever doubted this man..

He took your hand tenderly, leading you over the blanket.

You both ate together, talking every so often, sipping on wine that made you feel so elegant you could hardly stand it. Though, after a while, you eventually both sat in a comfortable silence, holding each others' hand in peace. Then, Max's voice broke through the silence.

"You asked me earlier if I had only brought you out here to make you feel better.." He started, looking over at me as if to ask if he could continue. You hummed in agreement before he continued, pulse quickening as you had started to question how this would fix your worries once again. "I'd actually been planning this for a while now. I wanted to get you out somewhere nicer but, after what you had said earlier..." His voice trailed off, his eyes falling to the ground.

You felt that twinge of guilt swell back up in your gut.

"I figured being away from people and their opinions would be good for us." To my surprise, he looked at you with another one of his beautiful smiles. You could feel the ice melting from your heart. Max had started to look a little nervous.

"When I look into your eyes, the only thing that I can see is perfection. I'd thank whatever God was out there that you were mine this moment, and I'd beg the same God to allow you to stay mine for the next. You've been on my mind for the last three years, giving me nightmares every night that you'd walk away if I kept prolonging this. After hearing the reason you were upset this afternoon, I knew I couldn't wait any longer, because if I were to lose you, I'd lose it all." He wiped a tear from his eye, pulling a small box from his pocket. "Will you marry me. y/n"

You barely even gave him time to finish his question before you tackled him in a hug.

"Yes, a million times yes!" You were both emotional, giggling messes before Max pulled away for long enough to slip the ring on your finger, causing more tears to escape your eyes.

"Now you know why I never answered your question." He whispered, kissing you softly as you both watched the sun disappear behind the horizon. "I'm sorry that I worried you further, if I had. I just didn't want to give anything away."

"I'm just glad that I was only overthinking and it wasn't a reality." He chuckled.

"Like I said, Schatje, we're the ones that determine whether or not we are going to make it and how far we go. Let's not listen to anyone else about that, yeah?" You smiled up at him, a tear falling once more as you leaned in to kiss him.

"Yeah."

... I won't grow up missing a piece of my heart that you hold

... I won't have these nightmares because I let you know

... That if I ever lose you, I lose it all

~Sam Tompkins

#f1 fic #formula 1 #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #f1 x reader #max verstappen #mv1 x reader #max verstappen x you #max verstappen x reader #mv1 imagine #mv1 #mv1 fic #mv1 x you #mv1 x y/n #max verstappen x y/n #formula one #max verstappen one shot #max verstappen fic

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furubabasket · 22 days

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dunmeshi posting today (spoilers ahead for manga marcille stuff)

i feel like there is so much to say and analyze about the fact that marcille's biggest--realest--fear is outliving everyone around her... specifically within the world of dungeon meshi that kui has created.

marcille's fear will certainly happen. (maybe not with falin, if her lifespan has been dragonified, but there's no way for us or for falin or marcille to know this yet.) and marcille has already watched every single one of her close friends die--temporarily. sometimes the circumstances have been dicey (or in falin's case nearly impossible) in ways that caused mounting dread and very real fear (in a way that seems uniquely upsetting in a world which has gotten somewhat blase about dungeon deaths--to have casual hope and to lose it), not even mentioning the initial shock, but so far, loss has not been final for marcille in recent years. that makes it hit all the harder when she has to contend with the possibility of falin being Dead For Good (such as when they couldn't find her bones in the dragon's stomach).

the thing that makes me absolutely sick about this is how marcille ends up just... having to swallow that her fear will come to pass. she just has to accept that both the "fix" she hoped for (the possibility of equalizing racial lifespans) is unethical and the "fix" she ALREADY USED (dungeon revivification) is impossible to implement everywhere. she just has to accept that no matter what, even in a world where death and loss isn't always final, she is doomed to experience it anyway or else succumb to the abusive and addictive pull of the demons' "security" like thistle and mithrun. (sidenote: all of the dungeon lords being elves, iirc, is telling and tragic.) I love the ending of dunmeshi and find it so compelling, and yet this is something that sticks out to me as so, so importantly "unresolved" even if I can't fully articulate it. marcille is not over this, and she can't be--while everyone else looks to the future, by definition hers is darker. that's going to take a lot more time to come to terms with. the moral is that whole "eating is the special privilege of the living," right? the moral comes down to "life involves hurting and being hurt, and that is the way of things, no matter how we run from it... but that doesn't have to be soul-crushingly depressing." marcille's friends are aware of the burden she has. they talk with her about her fears and comfort her without minimizing them. they help her feel less alone in what is a completely alienating existence. it's so fucking sad. it's horrifically sad! she got to save falin--but for how long? she got to save falin--but what about the next one? she got to save falin--why is that okay, but she isn't allowed to "have" everyone else? saving falin was only possible because of the help of a demon and forbidden magic, and while it's presented creepily, as readers we're certainly meant to root for falin's return. it's a "good" thing. it's the entire point of the first act, and the entire point of the very last. it's the good ending. it's happy! it's hard-won! and yet marcille needs to learn to accept death.

this dissonance is intentional, of course, and that's what makes it so fucking interesting. of course marcille goes crazy for a second. of course she struggles and obsesses. everyone else, functionally, gets to have what she wants! everyone else gets to "have" the dead now, no strings attached, no abnormal amount of future grief to carry. (for the opposite, past loss, imagine being kabru: being raised from the dead--watching your friends get casually revived--paying for the privilege--and thinking of your long-dead mother, who didn't get this chance, and wondering how easy it could have been.) in the future, when marcille's losses come, the dungeon's rules won't be around to protect her anymore from that cold, dull finality. it'll be real when it wasn't before. and she just has to be cool with that. man. MAN.

#marcille donato #marcille dungeon meshi #dunmeshi spoilers #falin touden #i have extra feelings about this having lost a friend young in real life #dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon

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strangersteddierthings · 4 months

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No Regrets - Part Five

Part One🦇 Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five🦇Part Six

This beautiful fic cover you see below was made by the fantastic, wonderful and lovely @skepsiss <3 Thanks so much!!! I'm still crying about it.

He jolts backwards, the burning in his chest hurts, it fucking hurts but- but it doesn't? He pulls in a deep, shaking breath and feels no pain.

"Steve?" Nancy asks from off to his right, so he turns to look at her. She looks concerned, and scared in a way he hasn't seen her in years. (Except it's not years, is it? Not anymore, or not right now?) "Are you okay?"

He shakes his head before digging his palms into his eyes. He's dying, dying, dying- he's dead, he has to be. The Storms are so toxic and he-

"Steve," Robin's voice is accompanied by her hands around his wrists. She pulls his hands from his eyes and he lets her. He blinks at her worried face. "Steve, what just happened?"

"I-I was. I think... give me a moment" Steve says. Robin nods once, a confirmation, but she doesn't move away or release his wrists.

He pulls in another deep breath and closes his eyes to think. He's trying to remember. He thinks he promised to explain everything after... after Pennhurst? Yes, he remembers. Promised that after Robin and Nancy got back from their trip to Pennhurst, he'd tell them everything he knows. It's... it is after, now.

It was yesterday that Robin and Nancy went to Pennhurst and spoke to Creel. They learned about Creel, and the music. They still got found out as fakes; Steve didn't remember what caused them to be discovered last time to be able to warn them against it this time.

He still ended up being bullied into driving Max around. This time, though, he already had an hour-long loop of Running Up That Hill in his car. They'd let Max go to speak to Billy alone, like last time. The boys paced around the car and this time, when they realize that Max isn't responding, Steve's already loading the tape into the cassette player. He shoves it into Lukas's hands and tells him to put it on Max, press play, and to not stop begging her to come back until she is.

Steve saw he had questions, but Max was more important. She floated, and fell, and Lucas had caught her. Then...?

Oh, right. Then, he did explain, yesterday evening, after everyone had crowded into the Wheeler's basement. Went over Vecna winning, Hawkins becoming ground zero for the apocalypse. Talks about a future with a lot of loss, but won't say who, as well as the slow decay of the air and earth. That you could breathe the air for small moments of time, but long exposure would make you sick. That even though they'd finally killed Vecna in 1989, too much damage had been done, too many gates opened, kept opening with every new death by demo-creature. El alone would never be able to close off all the gates. They were working on trying to create a reverse of the machine below Starcourt, meant to close gates instead of open, but the world would probably be a complete wasteland before they could complete it.

No one had reacted well to the news, but the yelling was a minimum, which had been a pleasant surprise.

In the end, Steve had told them they needed more people, more help. That he was going to tell Wayne about the Upside Down.

He opens his eyes, now, and looks around. The place is small, familiar almost. Wood paneling and- The Munson's home. They're in Eddie's home. Because last night Steve had come over. He'd come over and told Wayne everything because he couldn't do this again. Not alone, not as the only responsible adult.

The Wayne in the future had been so willing to help, when Hawkins ripped open at its seams, and Wayne in the present was the same. He didn't- he didn't even call Steve crazy. He'd said he believed Steve, that some government lady told him they were going to pay for him to be in a hotel since his home was an active crime scene, but Wayne'd refused. Eddie wouldn't know where to call when he got out, and what if he just showed up and Wayne was gone- well, Wayne found that unacceptable.

Now, Wayne should be his way back from Indy in Eddie's recovered van with the Byers and Mike, and they're here waiting on a call from Eddie.

Steve's not dying, or, he's not anymore? Or maybe he is, and this is just. What the end is like? Getting to put an end to your regrets or something.

Whatever. It doesn't really matter what or why or even how. He knows what is in store for the future if they don't stop Vecna today.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm back," Steve says, opening his eyes to look at Robin.

She scrunches her brow. "Back?"

"Back from the future," Steve gives her a lopsided grin and in return she squints at him, leaning in real close to his face like the closer she is the more of his mind she'll be able to read.

"You're a different Steve. Again."

"What?" Nancy asks.

"Again?" Steve asks.

Robin scrutinizes his face some more before backing off, just a few inches. "Yeah. It was- Saturday, when you just walked out of our shift after Dustin and Max showed up, you were different then. Not. It was- you know how we were just talking about how if only we could combine, our love life problems would be fixed?"

Steve does, but only after having to think about it for a moment. It was so long ago, but it wasn't. Not for the Steve he's replaced, not for Robin in front of him. "Yeah. I remember."

"It's like I didn't realize how much we'd already combined until we weren't anymore. It was like... like you were a completely different person. I thought it was just, maybe, a reaction to learning the Upside Down was back. But you got different. More haunted."

"You noticed a difference?"

Robin scoffs, "of course I did. You're you but it was. This whole week it's been like... each day brings a new you. With different quirks. Except yesterday was still all the same old-new you so I thought- I thought maybe we'd succeeded. Fixed whatever it was that needed changed because you hadn't changed. But we haven't yet. 'Cause you're back."

Steve shakes his head. "No. No, we haven't. But this time- we'll have the manpower."

"No, I mean, I just-" Robin huffs, falling back onto her butt rather than staying in an uncomfortable crouch. "I just noticed, is all."

"Are we making it better," Nancy asks, "or worse?"

Steve looks from Robin to Nancy. "I-I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know. I don't- I don't know what we've changed. Or if it's been for the better. Because I don't remember."

"Oh," Nancy says with a nod, the look on her face morphing to one Steve knows means she's working out the puzzle of it all. He'll leave her to it.

His attention turns back to Robin, who has her head tipped back, looking at the unopened gate on the roof of the trailer. It definitely cannot be mistaken for water damage anymore. "What are you thinking about?"

Robin tips her head back down to look at Steve. "Exactly that."

"What?"

"Sorry," she says with a frown, "I was just thinking about how we can't- we don't really read each other's minds anymore. I know we should be worrying more about the end of the world but I'm just, just being selfish. Worrying about our friendship."

"You are the only constant in my life, Robin Buckley," Steve confesses, a fierceness to his tone he doesn't even recognize. "You have been, and always will be, the person I need in my life to bother even living it. I swear to God, Robbie, that if anything ever happens to you, I will walk into traffic."

Robin lets out a laugh. "That's a bit extreme."

Steve shoots Nancy a look; he can see she's in her own world. He stands then, offering a hand to Robin to pull her up. "Come on. I have something to tell you. A soulmate secret."

Robin's eyes light up with delight and he pulls her from the ground before leading her to the only place they can get privacy. Eddie's room.

It's two steps into the room that Steve realizes he's never seen Eddie's room before. Or, if he had, the memory of it is lost with the time line it happened in. In Steve's memory, the front half of Eddie's home gets obliterated, and when Eddie and Wayne went back to gather the things that survived the gate opening, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas had gone with the help pack it up. Steve had been helping fortify the high school.

It seems ridiculous, to be hit with the thought of never having seen Eddie's room, with the threat of the apocalypse still looming.

"Alright, secret time," Robin sounds delighted, and her voice pulls him from his thoughts. She shuts the door and turns, eyeing the bed skeptically. "Hmm, standing room only I think."

Steve huffs out a laugh as he takes in the mess of a room, a room that looks lived in and shows Eddie's personality and the things he cares about. Nothing at all like his own room at the Harrington house; perfectly clean and matching and devoid of anything distinctly Steve. "Like you ever make your bed."

The noise Robin makes is clearly offended, and she smacks his arm lightly with the back of her hand, "uncalled for! Unprovoked, even!"

"Yeah, well, you're judging a guy who's been in jail this past 48-ish hours. Not like he had time to tidy up," Steve says.

"I think the state of his bed -whole room, really- is not because he didn't come home to clean up. In fact, I think he just lives like this."

"At least his room looks lived in. I mean, look at all of this on the walls. You think he drew these?" Steve says, hand reach out to brush against a drawing tacked to the wall nearest him.

"Your room could look lived in, too, if you weren't afraid of a few tack holes," Robin replies, crossing the room. Steve watches her go, approaching the mirror and the guitar mounted in front of it. She examines the guitar before picking up the red yoyo atop the amp.

"And here you were worried about not being able to read my mind anymore."

She turns to him and gives him a quick, genuine smile before turning her attention back to the yoyo. "So, what's the soulmate secret? You really good with a yoyo?"

"What? No. I didn't even know that was in here," Steve says.

"I thought you knew the future," Robin teases as she gets the yoyo to successfully fling from her palm and back into her grasp. She makes a little pleased noise before she creeps around the room, gawking at all of Eddie's things.

"I know one, specific future that we are trying to change, if you'll remember. I didn't know you could yoyo."

"Neither did I- oh my God, there's an Alf costume in his closet!"

"A what- no, nevermind. You can snoop and-"

"I'm not a snoop."

"-and listen as the same time, so I just. I'm gonna say something and please know that I have had five years to figure this all out, and also know that the apocalypse has a way of putting things into perspective."

"Mhmm," Robin hums an acknowledgement as she moves back to where she picked up the yoyo. "Why does he have a pepper shaker in his room?"

Steve ignores her, choosing to believe that was just her thinking out loud and not actually asking him. "Actually, the apocalypse was full of surprises. And I mean, beyond the surprises one might expect. Like, so many of our old teachers are survival experts. Did you ever have Mr. Clark, that guy- wait, no. I had something I wanted to tell you."

The phone starts ringing in the living room. Nancy's out there, though, so neither of them move to the door.

"Anyway, this feels so... why am I so nervous about this? I mean, I've already told you once, but, uh, I. I'm a little worried, scared?"

"Hey, whoa," Robin has dropped her investigation and turned fully back to Steve. "What is it?"

"I like Eddie," Steve blurts, needing to get the words out. "I like Eddie, and I died so now I think this is my only shot, like last last shot but I don't even know if he'll still like me back and I'm, like, ridiculously nervous to see him because, and this is the soulmate secret part because-"

"Whoa, what, what!!? Did you just say died?"

"- you cannot tell anyone, but I'm the reason he's been in jail. I called Hawkins PD and told them where they could find Eddie, 'cause if he was in jail then he couldn't be blamed for Fred's murder, but I've never had to fess up to that because, like, Hawkins exploding and life becoming an actual nightmare for years made it not important. Like, what's a criminal record in the face of no surviving government?"

Robin is staring at him, eyes wide and face slightly pale and it's now that Steve thinks that, maybe, he's not doing as well with everything as he thought he might be.

"Am I... okay?" Steve asks himself out loud, and that has Robin throwing herself across the room to clutch at Steve, drag him into a crushing hug. He hugs back, trembling and finding it hard to breath.

"No, no I don't think you are," Robin whispers, squeezing tight.

"Hey, that was- oh!" Nancy says as she flings the bedroom door open. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt-"

"It's just a hug," Robin says.

"Right. Umm, the phone was Officer Callahan. We can go pick up Eddie."

"Right," Steve says, pulling away from the hug and pulling himself together. He can have his mental break down tomorrow. "Let's go get Eddie."

Provided if that, this time when he closes his eyes to rest, he'll wake up here and not. Well, either in the future or not at all.

@i-less-than-three-you @nburkhardt @afewproblems @a-little-unsteddie @sevenmerrymagpies @steviesummer @queenie-ofthe-void @mycatsstolemybiscuit @lololol-1234 @synonym-for-strange @tchackdaw

#steddie #my fic #time travel au #apocalypse au #butterfly effect au #i adore the scene of robin steve and nancy up in nancys room as they discuss going to pennhurst #because robins just in the background going through all of nancys things like thats a completely socially acceptable thing to do #so of course shes gonna do that to eddies room.#also *I* know Alf wasn't out yet but they put the costume in there anyway so in this universe Alf came out in '85 instead of '86 #*grumbling to self* thisll be short i said. only like 4 parts i said. well im a goddamn liar arent i???

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sammyboyimagines · 10 months

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Trust Me

Pairing: Robin Buckley x fem!Reader x Platonic!Steve

Summary: Robin is trying to hide her relationship with you from Steve. He is adamant about figuring out her secret. 2.5k words

Warnings: swearing, insecurities.

//first fic back on Tumblr! I'm excited but also nervous bc idk my workload so updates might be sparse.

Robin anxiously glanced at the small silver watch on her arm, her heart pounding out of her chest. The fluorescent lights gave Robin a headache as she stole looks at the clock at Family Video every 30 minutes for the last few hours. Uncharacteristically quiet, Robin, who was known for her boisterous personality, seemed lost in a sea of her own thoughts. Today was different. She was nervous about her upcoming date with you shortly after work.

After spending a year at Family Video after Starcourt Mall burned down, she assumed the role of a co-manager at the store. The promotion had caused a tinge of saltiness in Steve, who couldn't help but feel slighted by the decision. However, knowing Keith, he would have chosen Robin's competence over Steve's charisma any day.

Tapping her foot on the carpeted floor absentmindedly, Robin contemplated what she would say to you. Every time your eyes met hers, she found herself drowning in her emotions. Your contagious smile would leave her speechless, and any words she had planned to say evaporated into thin air.

“Hey, what’s up with you? Are you nervous or something?” Steve leaned casually against the counter, observing Robin as she stacked up some movies to be shelved. His voice carried a hint of worry, concern etched across his face.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Robin replied bluntly. She didn’t even look at him as she worked, seemingly annoyed by his presence. He furrowed his brow but decided to let it slide for now.

Steve didn’t know that Robin had a date tonight, or that she was even dating at all. He watched as Robin adjusted her collar and cast another glance at the clock yet again. He would have found her anxious state peculiar under normal circumstances, but Robin's anxious nature was something he had grown accustomed to. He decided not to mention it.

“By the way, do you want to catch a movie with me? Pretty in Pink just came out, and I remember you said you wanted to see it.” Steve suggested, with a tinge of hope in his voice, grunting quietly while he set up displays around the store. The two were within earshot thanks to the store’s both tiny and empty space.

Robin scoffed lightly at his proposal, amusement laced her tone. “I don’t think it’ll be very interesting for you, Stevie,” Robin responded, rolling her eyes as she observed Steve shrug carelessly from across the room.

“I’m seeing it for you, dumbass.” Steve retorted, taking an extra pause to admire the ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ cardboard cutout of Phoebe Cates. He breathed out a quiet longing sigh and strolled over to the main desk.

Robin shrugged. “Sorry dumbass, I’m busy tonight. Gotta get going right after my shift.” She spoke, reaching for the compact mirror in her pocket. She checked her mascara, her fingers delicately brushing over her lashes as she assessed her mascara, sighing softly as she realized she'd have to touch it up.

“Oh, yeah, that’s cool. Do you need a ride?” Steve inquired, humming a song that had been stuck in his head all day. Family Video’s music had lost its charm, it consistently played mostly the same 100 tracks just repeated over and over. They both grew sick of it after the first week of working there, but they learned to get accustomed to it.

“Nope! I have one.” Robin said, glancing at the clock. 10 minutes till 5 pm.

Steve never considered Robin’s anxiety to be concerning, but the fact that she already had a ride was mildly worrying. For over a year, he’d grown used to picking her up every morning and driving her home every evening. It was their routine, and now all of a sudden she didn’t need his assistance? She was brushing him off without any explanation like it wasn’t their daily routine.

It was Friday evening. They had a small tradition of either going to each other's house or going to a theater to watch a movie every Friday night. Every week without fail, they never canceled on each other. Steve felt his stomach drop at this realization. If Robin was willing to push aside their movie night tradition, would she push him away too?

Meanwhile, Robin had been thinking about you all day. She hadn’t seen you for a couple of weeks since you went traveling outside of Hawkins. Robin never went anyway, mostly because she didn’t have a car, but also because she had all she needed right here. She had Steve, and you. Now that you were back, the anticipation of spending a night alone with you had her buzzing with excitement.

In her mind, she reasoned that Steve was more than capable of watching the movie on his own. Robin couldn’t pinpoint exactly why she wanted to keep your relationship with her a secret, especially from Steve. Part of her felt that if she didn’t tell anyone, you two could carve out your own life outside of stupid high school drama and small-town problems.

Unbeknownst to Robin, Steve couldn’t stand being shut out by his best friend. After a difficult childhood, Steve clung tightly to the few people in his life that he could trust. Though he knew it was wrong to assume anything, his heart shattered at the thought of losing the person closest to him.

Rationally speaking, Steve knew he wouldn’t be losing her. Robin was his best friend, and he knew he couldn’t keep her to himself. It was a selfish thought, believing that Robin would stay forever. Nothing lasts forever.

He clenched his jaw and nodded in acknowledgment.

Steve observed Robin’s body language. She watched the clock, fixing small details of her appearance. Then, it clicked.

Robin was meeting up with someone. But who?

Robin met you at the high school. Initially, Robin would have never even considered glancing your way. After all, you were a cheerleader. She was under the assumption that all cheerleaders at Hawkins High would be egotistical freaks, but you changed her preconceptions.

“Shit, I’m so sorry. Robin, are you okay?” You frantically helped up the fallen girl currently sitting on the sidewalk outside of the school. Lost in a swirl of your own thoughts, you had practically tackled Robin while running to make the bus home.

“It-uh it’s fine. Wait-you know my name?” Robin dusted herself off gingerly, glancing at the uniformed cheerleader before her. She was surprised that you even recognized her name, she usually never associated with a cheerleader or any other sporty student.

“Of course I do! We were partners in History class last year, remember? I like your hair; it suits you.” You exclaimed, running your hands in your own. Though Robin suspected you might be saying those words to make her feel better, she couldn't hide the subtle blush that crept upon her face.

Now, seven months later, you two were practically inseparable.

The shrill ring of the phone jolted Robin into action, prompting her to swiftly pick it up. She held the receiver up to her ear, a ridiculously wide smile adorning her features. “Family Video, what can I do for you today? Oh, yeah I can arrange that.” Robin responded, her voice playful. A soft giggle escaped her lips.

Steve’s features read confusion as he watched the phone call unfold. Robin notoriously hated taking calls, always struggling to get the right words out. Out of the two of them, Steve was the best at talking to customers over the phone. Why was she suddenly responding without a single stutter or mumble?

“Who was that?” Steve attempted to grab the phone before Robin hung up but to no avail.

“A customer, who else would it be?” Robin shot a quick glare at Steve, a tinge of rudeness in her tone. Steve was taken aback by her comment. It hurt him to know that Robin felt like she needed to hide things from him.

“Robin, you know you can trust me, right? You can tell me anything.” Steve looked down at her, his face full of worry for his friend.

“For God’s sake! That’s enough, Steve! Can you please just accept that there are certain things that I don’t need to tell you?!” With that, Steve shut up in disbelief.

Robin scoffed at the silence from her best friend, and she packed up her things. “My shift is over, I’ll see you tomorrow.” she declared, snatching her purse, throwing it over her shoulder, and exiting the store before Steve could even muster an apology.

Steve hadn’t intended for things to unravel like this. He was curious, but now that she was out the door after he pushed her too far, he felt horrible. As he packed up his stuff and turned off the lights in the video store, the sound of a car pulling up made him whip his head around.

To his surprise, a mysterious girl gestured for Robin to join her in the car, and before Steve could rush outside to apologize, Robin was already gone.

He groaned in frustration, guilt racking up on him as he closed up the store and headed to his car.

“God, I feel so guilty, Y/n. I totally hurt his feelings when I snapped at him like that!” She sighed and watched the town flash by as you drove her. You put your hand on hers, calming her anxious ranting.

You eventually arrived at a restaurant situated well outside of Hawkins. Robin had insisted that the two of you couldn't be seen together in their hometown. It wasn't because she was ashamed of you—quite the contrary. Robin was protecting you from the close-minded individuals who populated the small town. You took a seat with her, observing her slump in her seat.

It was eating her up inside.

“He’s just worried about you, he’ll be fine! Speaking of Steve, I’d like to meet him one day.” You smile at her and she shrugs. You were genuinely interested in getting to know Robin’s best friend, especially since she mentions him every time you talked to her.

“I really want you to, Y/n. I just don’t know if it would be smart to tell anyone!” Robin had her fair share of bullies in school, and she wanted to save you from that if she could help it. You were a cheerleader, there’d be no saving her reputation with all the potential homophobes at Hawkins High.

“Robin, we’ve talked about this! I don’t care about my status, I want you. I know you think that you’re protecting me but you don’t have to. I can handle myself, especially around your friend Steve. You make it sound like he’s going to want to fight me or something!” The two of you laughed. Robin watched you laugh loudly, your hand tightly wrapped around her’s under the table.

She smiled to herself. You always had a way with words. You were truly an expert at calming her fears and giving her hope that one day, this town wouldn’t care about who she loved.

“I love you, you know that?” The words fell out of Robin’s mouth so smoothly, something she never thought she’d ever be able to say to anyone.

You smiled fondly at her and nodded. “Of course I do. I love you too.”

Unbeknownst to either of you, a certain pair of eyes was watching from in his car. Steve had followed you, his emotions getting the best of him. He knew it was stupid to follow, but he wanted to see what Robin gave up a movie night for.

Steve carefully observed the two of you. He watched you both laugh at a joke you said, bouncing happy smiles off each other. He watched Robin show off her new haircut to you, watching the two of you talk with the biggest smiles and enthusiastic conversations.

He felt himself tear up, jealously over-taking his mind as he put the car in reverse and peeled out of the parking lot. The drive home was one of the longest rides of his life. For the first time in a while, he felt angry with Robin. As he gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, he thought about what it all meant. Was he being replaced?

The next morning, Robin was late to work, scrambling in about 20 minutes late. Steve, however, had arrived early, wanting to busy his mind so he wouldn’t call Robin and confront her then.

“You’re late.” Steve retorted, raising an eyebrow when she scoffed.

“As if you haven’t been late, Harrington.” Robin snapped.

“Not as a manager though.” Steve shrugged, cringing a little when he saw Robin’s shocked face in response to his statement.

“What’s going on with y-”

“How was last night?” He leaned against the counter, a fake smile plastered across his face. “Have fun?”

“It was great, Steve. I caught up with-”

“You missed movie night.” Steve cleaned up the shelves, placing movies in their correct spot. He felt bad for being so rude to her, but if he didn’t get to the bottom of this he would never forget about it.

“Steve it was one night! I was busy!” Robin threw up her hands as she defended herself. She was right, Steve knew that. He wanted to confront her about her new friend, no matter what he had to say to her.

“No! You skipped movie night, you wouldn’t let me drive you home or to work, and you snapped at me when I was concerned about you! Tell me what’s going on!” Steve’s voice raised as he explained what Robin did. Perhaps he was blowing it all out of proportion. But if that’s what it took for Robin to confess that she was abandoning him, he’d do it.

“Steve you’re being fucking crazy right now.” She retorted, frustration in her voice. “I’m not dealing with this shit from you, can we just get back to work?” She shook her head and went to the back to avoid him to de-escalate the situation. However, Steve was not ready to give up on her.

“I’m crazy? Robin, you’ve been avoiding me!” Steve rolled his eyes when Robin scoffed.

“No! I’m-”

“You don’t have to keep fucking hiding it. You’re pulling away because you’ve found someone better. I don’t care, I really don’t. Just don’t pretend to be my fucking friend anymore, because I can’t take it.” Steve ranted, crossing his arms as he stood in front of her waiting for a bullshit response.

But it never came. Instead, she laughed at him.

Robin couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She assumed Steve was mad because she was skipping out on their daily activities. “You’re such a dumbass.” She laughed at Steve’s unamused expression. “You saw me last night, didn’t you?” Robin wasn’t mad that Steve had followed her to her date, but the whole situation made her laugh hysterically.

“Are you gonna keep laughing at me or are you gonna explain yourself?” Steve huffed, his face slightly red as he tried to lock away his anger.

“That was my girlfriend, dumbass. She came back from vacation and she wants to interview here.” Robin smirked when Steve’s jaw gaped.

“Ohhh! Why didn’t you tell me you were dating someone?!” He huffed in frustration. “Can I do the interview? I promise I won’t get personal.

#reader insert #stranger things #stranger things netflix #steve harrington #robin buckley #robin buckley stranger things #robin buckley fluff #robin buckley x reader #robin fluff #imagine

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xjulixred45x · 6 months

Text

SatoSugu x Reader with past and Personalilty like Subaru Sakamaki

Genre: VERY LARGE Headcanons

Reader: female

Warnings: issues related to SEXUAL ABUSE, PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE AND ISOLATION (all to Reader's mother), mental problems, bad parenting, Reader's father, thanks to this reader has ANGER PROBLEMS and goes to the PSYCHOLOGIST, hurt with Comfort, Angst, Fluff . LONG POST.

You being born was a Curse itself. Thats what you thoug, thats what EVERYONE in your family thoug...thats what your own mother thoug. The woman that was suppose to love you more than anything, that would have to protect you...she despiste you.

O well, it was not always like that, you remeber growing up and heard the stories, how your mother was in her young, the "White rose" of all the clans, because she was the fairest of them all...she was beautifull. Was.

I mean, she was still frankly beautiful, even if she had to stay away from everyone to avoid killing everyone who crossed her path (or herself...), she still had a delicate and beautiful bearing, but you understood why they said she had "withered" or rather, you knew the cause.

YOU.

For started, your mother had a VERY bad temper even BEFORE all this happened, so when it DID happen, she went into a Big Bad downfall in her mentalhealth.

The moment you were born, your mother's already deplorable mind declined incredibly, becoming bipolar and unstable, violent and erratic, all because of YOUR fault.

You still remember that during your first years of life, it didn't use to be so bad, because you two could spend time together, especially at parties, where she would always keep you in sight.

But there was odd, horrible moments as well, where your mother lose all the control she have over herself and start screaming, crying,and she would say very, very hurtful things.

"You are an abomination."

I am dirty...

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!-"

"YOU--MONSTER!!!"

It took you a while to realize what was causing these erratic episodes in your mother, but once you did, it was very obvious.

YOUR FATHER.

your father had raped your mother to have you. for no particular reason other than to experiment with their ritual techniques.

It made you sick.

You started to justify your mother, because of course, she was obviously mean to you because she was only taking out her anger on someone (which happened to be you), and you ended up doing the same, you took out your anger on whoever made you the least bit angry.

It was the only form of all these emotions that you knew and that you had been "taught" after all.

and in a way you saw it as a kind of "bonding" with your mother.

and you thought that your mother also had disgust for him, hatred. and that's why you could empathize with her, love her even, as you two have the same loating for the same man.

But the realilty hit you like a truck...

When a certain party happens, you were still a little young, but you remember it vividly. You tried to protect your mother when your father came to see her, putting yourself between them.

and she slapped you... and left with him...

It was the last time you saw your mother outside. The next times would be inside a CAGE "tower" inside your clan's residence. You couldn't see her often though.

Her before "sometimes unestable but torerable behavior" went to "total bipolar and psicotic, Sucidal" behavior

You lost the count of all the times she instulted and degrade you just to pass to be a sobbing mess, begging you to leave her alone, then remember she hate being alone and then pleaded that you kill her.

You still got the knife even...

You also grew up in your own personal cage, but of repressed anger. No matter how much you tried to fight with your father or beg him to give you your mother back, he would just walk away with a smile on his face.

so you took out your anger in the only way you knew how, aggression. but eventually you realized that it wouldn't help you much.

You realised when you entered Jujustu Tech.

Thanks to your "family situation" the professor Yaga offer you(much like more that he make you) to go to Therapy. So your cursed energy would't be SO conflicted. And at the beggin, it was kind of funny.

Even though you went to therapy, you maintained a certain reputation as a "bad student" in many ways. You arrived late, your personalized uniform was torn and looked like that of a criminal, you kept your distance from your classmates (who were only 3), etc.

but your attempts to draw attention away from you ended up doing just the opposite.

More when you proved to be so hot-headed.

There they saw an opportunity for "possible connection" TO MEET WITH YOU.

Gojo was the first to make a move. He asked you for your name (since you hadn't even introduced yourself)

You REALLY didn't want to talk to him, but you said your name under your breath (progress?) and turned away from him.

Gojo was a little surprised by your grumpy attitude but didn't think much of it and started asking you questions (ignoring the fact that you barely answered half of them).

It took Geto longer to get closer, but he did when they had to do some work together and he realized that you're actually pretty good at SEVERAL subjects.

and in several of those subjects you were doing horrible academically.

He's not one to meddle in other people's lives, but he didn't want you to get in trouble for something you could CLEARLY do better.

so he took advantage of a break that you had in the classroom (which is strange because normally you just disappear and reappear to continue the class) and asked you if you were having any problem why you were doing so poorly in class (along with your other problems )

You just yelled at him to leave you alone and left the room, muttering something about how it was a bad idea to have made that contribution.

He ended up generating the opposite reaction to what he wanted.

Gojo makes fun of him a little, but as soon as he realized it was you, he had an idea.

From then on, both of them would be constantly behind you.

not in a creppy way, but in a "do your best!" way.

They would be constantly trying to encourage you to socialize, contribute more to assignments, improve your attendance, things like that.

Sure, from time to time they made fun of your angry nature, but as soon as they touched on a sensitive topic they didn't do it again.

Gojo was the one who took advantage of your anger the most, he couldn't help it! It's so funny for him to see you all sulking over something so small.

Geto found it somewhat funny, yes, although more in the sense that he saw you like a kitten, all fluffy, all angry, so cute~

They were also able to see beyond the "delinquent" layer that you had, you turned out to be someone more sensitive and sweet than they expected.

When you finally relaxed and allowed yourself to laugh with them (or at them), Suguru and Satoru could SWEAR that you were glowing with uncharacteristic joy, and one they couldn't get enough of.

although of course, you could have perfectly put out an eye of either of them. They realized very quickly when they touched on sensitive topics.

Like one time you swore a lot during a practice fight with Satoru, and he said "do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" and...GOD, you almost knocked him out and he almost left you because he was so shocked.

Suguru understood faster than Satoru that something about that conversation made you very angry, which pointed to your mother. so for now they decided not to bring it up unless you did.

On another occasion, while in Second Year, a first-year boy wanted to give you a congratulations gift for moving up a grade. What was it? WHITE ROSES.

You practically ripped the bouquet out of his hands, twisted it in every possible way (even if you hurt your hands), you turned them aside and stepped on them, but not before yelling that you HATED ROSES.

The boy was scared more than anything, which made you react and realize that you had made a horrible mistake to someone who was just being nice.

You apologized quickly and went to do what you knew how (get out your anger), but you only broke things, over and over again while you replayed everything in your head.

She was right about you.

She was right.

You're disgusting

you are STAINED

YOU ARE A MONST---

Satoru and Suguru had no problem reaching you, thanks to Gojo's 6 eyes and Geto's curses. What they DID have problems with was calming you down. Were you in some kind of rage episode...or panic? They didn't know how to say, just that you weren't well.

Gojo knew that you were angry and that you were going to therapy for it, but he didn't think it was THAT serious, he tried to keep a certain distance so as not to upset you more and Geto talked to distract you and calm you down slowly.

Little by little you became tired, both because of having broken so many things about the place where you were and the mental fatigue, along with the words of the two of them, helped you to calm down faster.

they didn't say anything or ask anything, it wasn't their place, you appreciated that, aside, even if you said it at the time, it wasn't a justification for acting like a jerk.

Eventually that year ended and summer arrived, it was by far the summer that you were least at home, you were no longer clinging to the idea of your mother or your hatred for your father, now you could...be a normal teenager.

They did more normal teenage things.

you went riding a bike, you went to watch basketball games, you went to the movies together, you practiced your techniques, you did stupid things...

It was the most at peace you had felt in a long time, being able to spend time with someone without any double meaning felt new.

so you decided at the end of the summer to tell them about your family.

You left a private meeting point, making it clear what you wanted to do, so that they understood how serious it was for you. and they did not give up.

They were unusually punctual. and they listened to everything you had to say, confirmed several things they had in mind, and were surprised by others.

although they undoubtedly felt empathy for you. Now MANY THINGS made sense. your attitude, your family, everything.

They really appreciated that you were THAT vulnerable with them specifically. and they kept your secret very well.

(I don't think they interacted with your father, but if they did in the past, if they saw that you didn't like him, they acted in a similar way, now it's the same thing, but ten times worse (:<)

In third year you were better than you had been in years honestly, sure, you were still hot-headed and impulsive, but you had made great progress with therapy and the support of your friends.

Speaking of, if your relationship with them becomes something more intimate, I think they would both be HELLBENT of you went to live or in the school dormitories or even one of their houses, simply the idea of you sleeping in the same house that your father gives them chills now.

They want to know your mother although they are afraid to say it, they have very mixed opinions of her, on the one hand they see her as another victim of your father who must receive psychological treatment....but on the other hand they cannot forgive that she has generated a large part of your self-esteem problems with his horrible words.

Ironically it's Suguru who has the hardest time controlling himself around your mother, for a man whose family is EVERYTHING, the mere idea that your own mother has damaged your mind so much...yeah, it's definitely not something simple.

I mean, Satoru has little filter, but he sees your mother much more like you, so it's not that difficult for him to endure an outburst from her.

If your father dies (bless God) and your mother starts to recover mentally, I can even see Gojo getting along with her, it makes her laugh. even Geto can take it more and see genuine regret for her treatment of you. so he forgives her more easily.

Even when they graduate, things keep getting better! They celebrate with you when you are discharged from therapy by going to eat at your favorite place, also taking the children (Megumi, Tsumiki, Mimiko and Nanako) and generally having a good time together.

If by chance your father is still alive, they are definitely burning all the letters or emails that come from him :)

a lot of👏flattery👏in itself they are flattering with a normal s/o, but knowing how poorly you think of yourself? NO SIR, NOT ON THEIR WATCH.

Gojo further shows his support by giving you some expensive gifts that he knows you'll like (which shows that he's been listening and paying attention to you), apart from him being very clingy, but since you're not that used to that, it honestly breaks his heart, so He tries to fix it little by little.

First small things like holding hands, then holding onto his arm, his arm and your waist, etc.

He still likes to make you angry, but the ones like "awww you look so cute when you're irritated" are better than making you really angry.

Geto is chillier, and his love language is based more on acts of service and words of affirmation, he knows how bad a bad emotional experience can leave you (and in your case it persisted until your adolescence) so he tries to Overcome all those LIES bad ideas in your head and replace them with good things.

He helps you with the housework and is the one you go on missions with the most (Satoru is almost always busy) so he tries to protect you as much as he can, even if he knows you don't need it, he thinks it's good that you know that NOW if you have someone to take care of you.

surprise surprise, their main nickname for you is Kitty. according to them the perfect nickname.

"It's soft, fluffy, it looks like it's going to kill you (and it could) but it's a cutie!" -Gojo, probably.

I can see them being more emotionally vulnerable with you, especially if you have had your episodes of suicidal tendencies, they make sure to let you know that they love you through small gestures, more obvious gestures, establishing limits, everything so that the relationship is healthy and you can tell them what you happens.

(You can be sure that they themselves destroyed the knife that your mother gave you, the mere idea that you had it was terrifying)

both of them have definitely given you anti-stress dolls that 1-or have helped you a lot or 2- have ended up shattered by your first outburst of anger. but you always tried to sew it up so as not to ruin it.

Gojo offered a couple of times to train with you and take out your frustrations with it, but it really didn't feel very good to continue using violence as a source of comfort (more so against either of them). so they started looking for hobbies together.

You sleep a lot, too much, maybe it's a product of all the repeated mental fatigue, but at least thanks to this Geto always makes sure to have extra blankets within reach.

He's a little worried, yes, but at the same time he can't deny that it's relaxing in a way to take a nap with you and see you so calm and at peace.

When Gojo joins, it become's a Cuddle Puddle™

As long as it doesn't harm your health, they tolerate it, they themselves don't sleep much, so they are happy that you have better habits than them)

(Since Geto is not corrupted here, his parents are alive) Geto's parents practically adore you. and when you visited them for the first time and they treated you so familiarly and lovingly, you cried.

You like the Gojo Clan, they spoil you a lot, they aren't as affectionate, but they are definitely MUCH friendlier than your paternal family.

The higher-ups tolerate you, they know they shouldn't mess with you, although I definitely think they would take some action against your mother/father.

Honestly there's not much to do anymore.

There are times when you have to end up just like your mother, that one day you will lose yourself and end up like her... it terrifies you. On those types of days they both wrap you in a blanket (like sushi), make your favorite food and generally let you do whatever you want to do (watch movies, talk, play something, etc.).

It is worth knowing that they are there.

Although of course, if your concern arises more from someone (or more specifically, YOUR FATHER) doing something to you that leaves you in that state, they will do the same, only they will hold your face and tell you directly, looking into your eyes , that they would NEVER, EVER, let something like this happen to you as long as they live, EVER.

which is quite surprising, seeing them this serious and even somewhat...off guard, they never thought about that possibility until you brought it to the table.

but in any case it only validates his points about certain things.

(Is it still too late to annihilate your father?)

In general, they are more understanding of you because of your turbulent background but also more patient and willing to be vulnerable to show that they are serious about you. who love you

and above all, they will help you face demons both from the outside world and from the inside.

Thank you for reading ❤️

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 9 months

Note

AITA for breaking up with my boyfriend shortly after his mom died?

This was over 10 years ago, but it still weighs on me often. I feel like a terrible person for it.

Me (15-19F) and my boyfriend (15-19M) who we'll call Dave had been dating for a little over four years. He was my first and to this day only boyfriend, and he was great. The only thing was that he regularly ignored my boundaries and would touch me or make me do things I wasn't comfortable with. If I didn't immediately agree or pushed his hands away, he would keep trying or guilt trip me until I gave in. It was never anything too bad, mostly just intimate touching and kissing, but it was enough that it made me extremely nervous to be around him. He also thought my shyness and anxiety were cute and would often joke that he would embarrass me in public by making out with me in front of my parents or that he was going to propose to me. Again, nothing bad, but he did a lot of things that made me deeply anxious just to get a "cute" reaction out of me, and it caused me a lot of stress to the point that sometimes I would get a sick stomach before going on dates. I ignored it though, because I loved him and I knew he loved me.

Then there was Dave's sister and friends at school. One of the girls, we'll call her Mary, was in love with Dave. But since he was dating me, she hated me, despite that she never met me because I had left for another highschool. This also meant that her friends and Dave's sister hated me. They stole my number from his phone and constantly sent me texts calling me terrible things and trying to threaten me into breaking up with Dave. I tried to reason with them and apologize if I had done anything to make them so angry but that only made it worse. Eventually I told Dave and his reaction seemed to imply he already knew, but he said he would do something about it. It stopped for a little while but went on for about a year before I guess they got tired of harassing me. Dave never said anything beyond "I'll do something" and I always wondered why he never comforted me or never said anything else. We were around seventeen at the time, maybe we were just stupid teenagers who were bad at communicating. But the year of stress around his sister and friends didn't help my anxiety around dating him.

During these four years, dates or phonecalls with Dave, which I had to tiptoe around because my dad didn't like him and didn't want me to date at all, became so stressful that I now realize it triggered anxiety attacks. I realized during the last year that I wanted to break up with him, but it was around that time that his mom, who had been diagnosed with cancer for several years, worsened. I felt I couldn't break up with him then because he had too much on his plate and I needed to support him. So I did, and when he called me to tell me she had died, I talked with him on the phone for hours, and I went to her funeral.

I don't remember how much time passed after that before I decided I had to break up with him. That time is a blur. It was several months, at least, I think, and a decision I finally made because I couldn't take the stress anymore. We were mostly long distance at that point, just starting college, and I'm ashamed to say that I broke up with him over email saying that long distance was too hard and that we didn't have as much in common anymore. I apologized and told him I would still like to be friends. He was sad about it but seemed okay, except between normal chats, he would ask me over and over again why we couldn't get back together and what he did wrong. In hindsight, I should have told him. But I was stupid, scared, and not as good as communication as I am now, so I doubled down on my reasoning, which wasn't a lie, but it was only a half truth. This went on and off for about a year until a friend at school told me I should block his number. I did. I feel bad about that too.

I don't regret breaking up with him, but sometimes I think about this and I feel like a complete monster for it anyway. I should have told him "no" more firmly when he would cross boundaries, and been more up front with how he made me feel. Maybe he just didn't know?

If I'm the asshole here, please be nice, but be honest. This guilt eats me alive some nights and I wonder if I should call him to tell him the truth and that I'm so sorry. I haven't dated anyone since because I'm scared I'll hurt them, too.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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melloween-candie · 1 year

Text

Teen pregnancy [P.9]

A Carl Gallagher x Fem Reader fic

Summary

You only started dating Carl for about 2 months. That was right around the time when he and Dom broke up. Deep down, you knew you couldn't compete with her. He would always choose her before you. Yet you were only 16 years old when you discovered he got you pregnant. This news terrified you so much. You didn't want to lose him, and you knew he was already going through so much shit stuff with his family and his "business." Better yet, you were scared about how your family would react, let alone his. At least you have Debbie, your best friend, who's also pregnant with you.

Warning! Teen pregnancy, Mention of torment, Mention of favoritism, Small spoiler, Cussing

Note! If any of that makes you uncomfortable- DON'T READ THE STORY!

Word count: 732

[Angst/Fluff]

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, PART 9, Part 10 (Completed)

Shameless Masterlist

Fandom Masterlists

/"Talking"//Thinking//Muttering-Whispering/

***Narrators Pov***

It's been about two months since the confrontation occurred, and Y/n is now in her second trimester. Meanwhile, Dom is only about a month or so.

At some point between the two months, Carl managed to convince Y/n to give him one last chance. To his surprise, she said yes. Luckily for him, she still loved him.

Throughout the two months, Y/n’s baby bump has become more noticeable, and that made her school life even worst.

With Carl constantly having to baby Dom with practically everything, Y/n was left to fend for herself. She wasn't too happy with it, of course; this just fueled her belief that she would always be his second choice.

Carl tried to care for them both, but being an adulting teenager is hard. He was forced to work for his sister's dinner “Patsy’s Pie” as a dishwasher. He was so embarrassed by it that he didn’t want anyone to know. Fiona only told him, “Money’s money. No matter how you make it.” That made him question why she never wanted to use his drug money. He could have helped the family a whole lot faster…

Time skip!~

Carl was sitting on the couch cuddling with Y/n when all of a sudden, he got a call from Dom.

“CARL COME QUICK!”

Mind you, Y/n and Dom didn’t stop being enemies. However, by this point, Y/n was already sick of everything. She was over it. She didn’t really care what Carl would do as much as she didn’t before. So, she let him go.

“Sorry baby,” Carl kissed you on the cheek- “But you of all people know what Winslow would do to me if I don’t go…”

“Yeah, yeah-” You shoved him away from you. “Go already.”

“I love you.” He said, rushing out of the door.

You just sighed.

Time skip!~

At the Winslow’s household Carl knocked on the door only to find it already open. The house was quite messy. He walked in to hear something fall to the ground.

“Dom!” He rushed upstairs and slammed her door open- “What’s wrong?!”

“OH Good!” Dom turned around holding two dresses- “I need your help picking out a dress for homecoming!”

Carl looked at her as if she was insane… He looked around her room- it was in total chaos.

“Dom… What makes you think-” Carl was somewhat baffled. “Why do you want me to help you with this?”

“Well-” She looked at him as if he was dumb. “Homecoming isn’t every day. Besides I wanted to talk to you about which color scheme we should go with-” She raised the blue dress “Blue? Or-” She raised the red dress “Red?"

“Are you serious right now… I THOUGHT YOU GOT HURT?!”

Dom looked at him confused. “What makes you say that?”

“Oh, I don’t know! Maybe It’s cause your house is a complete mess! Not to mention your front door was OPEN!”

“Oh well… my dad must have forgotten to lock it or something- Look that doesn’t matter! Your here now-”

“No!” Carl interrupted her. “This whole thing doesn’t matter!”

“What are you talking about!? Of course, this matters!”

“NO, it doesn’t, Dom! I don’t care about homecoming! I might not even go! Besides, if I did, what makes you think I’d go with you?!”

Dom started to cry…

“This is my first homecoming! I’ve dreamed of this! YOU know how much I wanted this! Do you honestly think I WANTED TO GO PREGNANT?! Do you know how many plans I had to cancel because I’m pregnant? Don’t FORGET, CARL. I’m carrying YOUR BABY TOO!”

“Of course, I can’t forget! You WON’T LET ME!”

And with that, Dom stormed out of the room… Carl felt kind of bad, but he was just so over it. He was in love with Y/n- He wanted to be with her- but he can’t now. Not entirely, at least.

While Dom was probably crying in the bathroom, he decided to fix up her room. He did feel somewhat bad for saying all that, but he wouldn’t take any of it back. It was how he felt. He wasn’t the type to apologize if he knew he didn’t actually mean it.

As Carl was cleaning up, he found some papers, documents…

“The he*l…” Carl looked at the papers closer- “DNA tests? Wha…”

#shameless #carl gallagher #carl gallagher x reader #young love #teenage romance #teen pregnancy #drama #foul language #fanfiction #small spoilers #mention of favoritism #mention of torment #arguing

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mysafehaneul · 6 months

Text

Chapter 8 Part 7

Upon your return, you learned that their car was malfunctioning, and Rocky asked to borrow your vehicle to drop Mr. Bulavia home. You couldn't refuse a sick man, but something didn't sit right with you. As you walked him to your car, your suspicions grew. Mr. Bulavia was about to sit in the passenger seat when you gave him a skeptical look.

Why is a man like him sitting in the front, you questioned.

With a smirk, he replied, "Your husband is a good man. He cares."

You were left bewildered and asked, "How did you meet him, and when did you meet him?"

He simply smiled and said, "Live a long and healthy life, Y/n." As he settled into the car, you felt a strange unease. Just as the car pulled away from your vision, Baden rolled down the window, lit a cigar, and smoked a few puffs. Then, with a hint of a smile, he spoke, "You're going to follow me into hell as well?"

Rocky slowed down and turned into a quiet alley on Hoxten Street. Where a white truck, nameless and unregistered, came barreling toward them at full speed. He looked at Mr. Bulavia and said, "Frères pour la vie."

In a devastating, deafening crash, the truck collided with the car, causing it to flip in a heart-stopping, bone-chilling spectacle. As the car lay in ruins, the last thought that passed through Baden's mind was, "If I've done even one good deed in life, I hope I catch a glimpse of you from heaven, In hell, my hummingbird."

The Baden's grip on the cigar loosened as death claimed his soul.

.....

After seeing them off you spotted a park across the street. The park offered a brief escape from the weight of your thoughts. Elderly folks occupied benches, and people strolled around with their dogs, creating a peaceful atmosphere. It hadn't been more than 20 minutes when your phone rang, and the police were on the other end, seeking confirmation about the people involved in the car crash of the vehicle you'd rented. You confirmed that you knew them and rushed to the hospital.

As you arrived and were escorted to the morgue, you found someone else already present, staring intently into the face of a familiar man. He had platinum blonde hair, a family crest ring, and handcuffs on his wrist. A police officer stood beside him as he traced his father's cold face. It was Nikolia Bulavia.

He stood there, his gaze fixed on his father. "I should've known that you were up to something when you called me for dinner after two years of not seeing my face," he muttered sarcastically. "You always knew about everything, yet you never reached out to help me. You left me to fend for myself. Why did you treat me like that, huh? All I wanted was for you to like me, to be proud of me. I never saw you as my mother's killer like Noella did, so why? Every time I make progress, you have to go ahead and meddle."

You took a step forward. Sensing your presence, he continued, "You know that truck was supposed to kill you, right?" He straightened his back, covering his father's face. "Ever since you came into our lives, you've become the biggest roadblock in my path. I thought, why not remove it once and for all? But here you are."

"Here I am," you replied calmly. "Nikolia, this malice in your heart isn't for others, but for yourself. You want to eradicate the pieces of yourself that you see in others. Look at where it's led you—your hands are stained with the blood of your own family. I hope you wake up from this lucid dream and realize the trail of bloodshed and remorse you've left in your wake."

You stepped closer, standing just two feet away. "You'll have to pay for every single drop. How will you live with yourself now that you've killed your own father as well? What will your mother think when she sees what you've done to her innocent grandson?"

"Do you ever think about how you'll answer when Noel comes seeking answers to his questions?"

"Remember when I once told you that you'd bring about your own downfall? Be prepared. Your time is over now," you concluded. "I hope you have a good time in jail. It will finally give you the time to think." Nikolia gritted his teeth as a police officer dragged him away.

As the door closed behind you, you cast a last look at Mr. Bulavia's face and said, "Thank you, Mr. Bulavia. I owe my life to you. I promise to keep my end of the word. Rest well. I'll make sure you're laid to rest alongside your hummingbird." You walked out of the room and sat on a cold metal bench, your elbows on your thighs and your head resting on your interlaced fingers.

.......

Wonwoo's world came crashing down as he dropped to his knees. The sight before him was heart-wrenching. You sat there, your head in your hands, dressed in an elegant beige midi-length dress, its smooth fabric flowing like a river, with a deep V-neckline and delicate pleats at the bodice, adorned with decorative buttons. Your voluminous sleeves with puffed cuffs framed your figure perfectly.

A sob ripped through his heart, and he couldn't hold back the flood of emotions. The officers in front of him glanced at each other, perplexed by his reaction.

"Did he really think his wife died?" one officer whispered.

"Well, you did say your wife is in the morgue. What else is a person supposed to think?" the other replied before they both moved away.

Wonwoo couldn't bear it any longer. He needed to know that you were real, that you were not lost to him. He rushed to your side and knelt beside you in the corridor outside the hospital morgue. "Please tell me you're real. Please tell me you're not dead."

You cupped his tear-stained face, wiping the tears away from his eyes with your thumbs. "I am not dead, Wonwoo. I am alive, here with you."

He nodded, trying to calm his frantic heart, and pulled you into a tight embrace. "I really thought I lost you. I thought I lost you before I could even tell you how much you mean to me. I thought I'd never get to tell you how much I love you, Y/N."

Your eyes widened, and your heart raced. "I am in love with you, Y/N. I think I've been in love with you since the moment I saw you walking down the stairs of your parents' house. I was a fool, such a fool, to think that I stood a chance in front of your fiery eyes and compassionate heart."

He pulled away slightly but kept your hands in his. "I know you hate me, and nothing I do can change that. But hate me from where I can see you, where I face your wrath, where I can feel you."

You tried to speak, but he cut you off. "I want to be the bearer of your secrets. I want to be the first shoulder you lean on. I want you to be the first person my eyes land upon in a room full of people. Please, Y/N."

Tears rolled down both of your cheeks. "Did you know how many deaths I died with every single step I took to get here? I was blaming myself for being so consumed with my own selfish desires that I failed to see how much burden you were carrying alone. It made me want to punish myself."

A few moments of silence passed between the two of you. You peered into his glistening eyes and whispered, "I can be a little difficult to love."

He chuckled and said, "Choosing to love you has been as easy as breathing."

You shook your head. "I know I'm not perfect."

"You should see yourself from my eyes," he countered.

"I have a really bad temper."

"My grandfather opened a hospital before he died."

"I can—"

"Y/N, the more reasons you give me to change my mind, the more it'll make me love you harder. Let it go. Let your heart be loved. I'm not asking you to love me; I'm asking you to like me a little."

You pressed your eyes closed and swallowed the lump. "I don't think I can like you, Wonwoo."

A dejected look passed over his face, but you continued, "Because I'm already in love with you, even when I hate you, even when I'm angry with you." You sobbed. "I didn't want to leave you, even when I said I did."

"Then don't, baby girl. Let's start again, a new beginning for us, Noel, you and me—our family."

You nodded, tears streaming down your cheeks, as his soft lips pecked yours. You tasted the salt of your tears as you shared this kiss.

"Out of all the places on earth, a confession out of a morgue has to be the weirdest," you remarked as you both broke away, a sense of renewal filling the air.

"Darling, we should be the last people to expect that anything in our lives will be traditional," he added with a chuckle.

"I don't know why this all feels like a dream," you whispered against his lips.

Wonwoo's breath hitched as he gazed into your eyes, his voice a gentle murmur. "If this is a dream, then I don't want it to end."

And with that, you both leaned into kiss, savoring the sweet reality of the moment.

THE END.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I would like to thank everyone who showed their love and appreciation with this fic. Somewhere along the way I found myself so attached to them as if they were a part of my daily thoughts, for the past 2 months or so it has been a big part of my life. There were times when I would write and rewrite the same part, there were time the characters as if possessed my keyboard and wrote down the things themselves. Hope you all enjoy the epilogue, and let’s meet again with a new story, new perspective, Till then 🙇‍♀️.

Every ask, Every Comment and Like have meant the world to me! Special shout out to @lovelyhyuka14 (Anna) for becoming my Mutual I can't wait to read your story!

Love,

MSH

XXX

#Aquamarine chapter 8 #Spotify

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invisible-storyteller · 23 days

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Happy Birthday, Mieczyslaw

Stiles & Claudia (~850 words, gen) Written for @teenwolfrarepairevents April Character of the Month: Stiles Stilinski

“Hey, Mieczyslaw.”

Claudia's smile was worn out and nervous on the TV screen, her messy ponytail and sleep-thirsty eyes depicting a woman who had just returned from a strenuous battle. The excited tapping of her fingers was almost disharmonious with her weary complexion, but the slight accent with which she spoke revealed her exhaustion-mixed anticipation. She looked absolutely beautiful, and so tragically young.

She had been around Stiles’s age when this message was recorded. It was on the night his parents had taken him home from the hospital 30 years ago, but no one had remembered until they had found the tape among her old stuff while the sheriff was preparing to sell the house.

Stiles had forgotten how her voice had sounded without the burden of fear and sickness.

“You must be wondering: Damn, who the fuck is this woman? And okay, I might not have so many wrinkles now - although you did give me a few already -, but I'm not that old, young man, so don't get fresh with me!”

Stiles scoffed, almost not remembering how his mother used to be. Before.

“Anyway, Natalie gave me this sort of idea to create a time capsule, so here I am! Talking to you! Well, actually, talking to myself, 'cause there's no one else here.” Stiles couldn't help but laugh at that. “Hopefully, we’re watching this together.” His smile dimmed instantly. “I like to think that we’ll always have a good relationship, and that in twenty or thirty or whatever years, we’ll be laughing over how awkward and ugly I am on this video, and that I can scold you for calling me ‘ugly’ and say that you’re one to talk, you took after me.”

The image his mother had painted was bittersweet, and Stiles wasn’t sure he had been right in requesting he watched the video alone. But he wanted to cherish everything about her, just the way the camera had captured her, on the day she had become his mother.

“I guess I should talk about how I imagine you as a grown man, but I'll be honest, lisek, I don’t have a single clue.” Claudia laughed a bit self-consciously. “I’m just as young as you are, and I know that I can’t expect you to have it all figured out by the time you turn 20 or even 30. You can be so many things still, and the last thing I want for this message to be is some kind of a manual about what I want you to be. I want you to be nothing but what you already are, Mieczyslaw! Funny and stubborn - because you must have inherited those traits from me - and loyal and smart like your dad. I even bet you're braver than you think, and don’t argue with me, lisek, I’m your mother. I know better than you.”

A chuckle bubbled up from Stiles as he wiped at the salty traces of tears with his sleeve. He had missed out on his mother’s discipline as a teenager, and it was comforting if alien to experience it in 30 years' distance.

“I probably tell you this all the time, but I’m proud of you.” Here Stiles’s heart twisted painfully in his chest. “I hope that you’re happy. That there are people that you love with all your heart and that there are people who love you back just as much. I hope that you see the good in yourself, and I hope that you know that things can always change. And keep this in mind, lisek: no matter where you are in life, I'll be there with you. Always.”

Stiles gave a small nod that his mother could no longer see, and ached a little more for her to be here. To see him now. To know that Stiles was better than he used to be. That he wasn't that loud, unruly, annoying kid that drove his parents mad. That he wasn't that kid anymore who his mother ran from into certain death.

He wished she was here.

"Oh, somebody's up," He heard his mother sigh heavily on the screen as the raucous sound of crying pierced through the silence. "You're a lot to handle, you know, lisek?"

Stiles cast his eyes downwards.

“But I wouldn't change a thing about you. I love you, my little Mieczyslaw,” His mother said, and Stiles looked up in time to catch her blowing a kiss to the camera, “Kocham cię. Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

The video ended with a man's desperate shout for her wife in the distance and Claudia Stilinski rolled her eyes fondly as she went to turn the recording off. That was it.

Stiles sat there for a while, swallowing his sobs, before restarting the video. Halfway through the second watch, a hand landed gently on his shoulder and soft lips planted a kiss on the top of his head - a helpful reminder that he wasn't alone.

“Are you okay?”

Stiles silently sniffled for a bit, and then, with a tentative smile on his lips, nodded. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

And he meant it.

#stiles stilinski #twrp character of the month #original: teen wolf fanfic #stilinski family feels

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saiilorstars · 2 months

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Ch. 32: A Bad Case of Allergies

[Story Masterlist] // [Aitana’s Masterlist]

Fandom: Criminal Minds // Pairing: Spencer Reid x OFC

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @averyhotchner @foxesandmagic @kmc1989 @midmourn

If you’d like to be a part of Aitana’s taglist, please let me know!

Also available on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

Aitana sneezed twice before she walked into the conference room. She sneezed a third time as she placed her things down on the round table. By then, she had already claimed both Emily's and Penelope's attention. And when she sneezed for the fourth time, Morgan and Spencer paused too.

"Oh sprinkles, are you getting sick?" Penelope said with wide concerned eyes while Aitana grabbed her seat.

"Just allergies," Aitana waved it off while she sniffed.

"You have allergies?" Emily raised an eyebrow at her.

"I could."

"If you're not feeling well, maybe you should go home," Morgan suggested.

"I feel okay," Aitana said a bit fast. Her first mistake. "It's just allergies." She sneezed again, barely making it into her arm. "I got some new flowers for the house too. That probably didn't help."

"Actually, cut flowers are rarely a cause for allergies," Spencer said, "Pollen typically comes from grass, trees, and weeds."

Aitana sneezed again then drew in a deep breath. "Yes, thank you, Spencer," she said in a strained voice and another big sniff.

Spencer awkwardly scrunched his face. Clearly, she was trying to convince them that she wasn't getting sick. "People also tend to sneeze many times in a row because they're trying to clear their nasal passages," he said, and she eyed him suspiciously like she was waiting for him to also agree with the others that she was indeed getting sick. "Typically the third or fourth sneeze is just your body's way of making sure all irritants were expelled safely from your nose."

Aitana couldn't keep her narrow-eyed look on him for long, especially when it seemed like he was trying to help her. "Thank you. See?" She glanced at the others at the table. "Just getting rid of something in my nose, as Dr. Reid said."

The other agents rolled their eyes but kept their comments to themselves for the time being. Minutes later, Hotch, JJ and Rossi joined them. Penelope got straight to the point with a school shooting case that happened years ago.

"High school bombing in Boise, right?" Morgan asked. He vaguely remembered the headline on the news. "School shooter and school bomber."

Penelope nodded her head. "A kid named Randy Slade shot 3 students and then set off an I. E. D. in the cafeteria via cell phone, killing himself and 13 kids total, but not before posting all of his plans online."

"It was one of those 'Where were you?' events. My whole campus was glued to the tv," remarked JJ.

"Well, last night, Principal Givens—who was the principal during the shooting—was killed by a bomb modeled exactly like the old one," Penelope said.

"It feels like the unsub wants to attack the man who kept the school together after the bombing," Rossi said. "It's a pretty symbolic target."

"And this week is the 10th anniversary of the massacre," Penelope informed the group. "And today is the first day of a 4-day event to commemorate the bombing at the school."

"So this guy's going to—" Aitana sniffed, "—strike again. Commemorating it won't be enough for the unsub." They could only hope to get there quick.

~ 0 ~

On the plane ride, the group delve deeper into the original school shooting to better understand the unsub they were working with now.

"Randy Slade carried his bomb in his backpack," Morgan said as they went through the files, "This guy hid his in Givens' clock radio."

Aitana sneezed again. She mumbled a 'thanks' to JJ who'd passed her a tissue. She didn't want to admit to the pain she was feeling in her ears. Spencer had warned her that if she had a cold—which he was sure that she did—taking a plane ride wouldn't be the best idea. Aitana claimed it was allergies again.

"...they try to join various social groups, but they get shut out," JJ was saying by the time Aitana came out of her funk. Things were slightly off tune for Aitana as well.

"Randy Slade wasn't a loner at all. The family cooperated fully with us," Hotch said, Rossi nodding in agreement. "He was a high-functioning psychopath, straight-A student, varsity wrestler, lots of girlfriends. With an above-average intelligence that made him incredibly resourceful."

"His explosive of choice was Semtex," said Rossi, "It's found at demolition sites, but it's held under lock and key. Which made us consider the possibility of a partner."

"Never found one," Hotch said, "Slade was too much of a narcissist to share credit. But he was also an impulsive teen, which is what bothers me about this unsub."

"His sense of control?" asked Emily.

"And the end game that he's working toward," Hotch added.

"Slade's pathology revolved around the big kill," Spencer said as he went through the list of victims on their file. "This unsub could have done the same if he'd waited for the candlelight vigil."

"Which means there's no blaze of glory fantasy here," Hotch said, "This unsub has more bombs made, and he's savoring the anticipation of his next attack."

~ 0 ~

Upon arriving to the Boise police department, the team divided in two to visit the crime scene and set up at the department. While Hotch and Rossi spoke to the Chief, Aitana and Morgan started pinning up the old case file on their evidence boards. Aitana had to pause every now and then to sneeze. She wouldn't admit it, even though it wasn't necessary, her nose was beginning to get stuffy.

"Those are not allergies, spicy sprinkles," Morgan remarked with an amused smile.

Aitana shook her head. "They are," she insisted. "I don't get sick."

"Everybody gets sick."

"I don't!" Aitana was about to sneeze again when it turned into a cough instead. Morgan raised an eyebrow at her while she went through her fit. Once Aitana was finished and she could talk, she acted like nothing had happened. "That's part of allergies."

"Right," Morgan laughed. "It's no big deal if you're getting sick."

"Are you kidding? It's a huge deal! I just got back to the BAU permanently and I'm going to call out? No way. We have a job to do and no cold is going to get into my way!"

Morgan smirked suddenly. "I thought you said it was just allergies!"

Aitana was a second away from smacking him with a manila folder when Hotch opened the door. "You got saved by the bell," she muttered to Morgan.

"We're heading to the Slades' residence," Hotch told them, drawing Morgan's attention away from Aitana.

"They're still around here?"

Hotch nodded. "The younger brother goes to the same school. Let's go." He left the door open for the agents to follow through.

"So, sure they're allergies, then?" Morgan mumbled to Aitana before he started making his way out of the room.

"I hate you," Aitana spat, ignoring his chuckle. Before leaving the room, she decided to scarf down an allergy pill just to make sure. That'd been the wrong move because fifteen minutes later, she began feeling dizzy. The pills weren't drowsy-free. She must have grabbed Angel's pills instead of hers. He always used the non-drowy formula to get a good nap.

They arrived at the Slades' home to find it bombarded with the media.

"Well, it looks like we're not the only ones interested in Brandon," Morgan said just as they parked. "It's gonna make it a lot harder for us to talk our way in."

Aitana pulled her head off the window and took in a breath. "Unless we use it to our advantage," she said through a sniff.

"You're not thinking about going out there to give a media press?" Rossi asked her.

Aitana smiled. "Watch me."

Morgan exchanged looks with Hotch and Rossi in the front seats. Both men gave him the look that he needed to go help Aitana. "Seriously?" he mumbled under his breath as he got out of the car.

"Women are just inherently stubborn," Rossi said on his way out. "Don't tell her I said that."

Morgan gave a half shrug as they moved around the car. Aitana had already commanded the attention of the media, albeit with a strained voice.

"...does this have anything to do with Brandon Slade?" one reporter was asking when Morgan joined her.

Aitana blinked several times before giving an answer, though it was given a slight mumble. "Not...not as of...not really, no…"

Morgan had never heard her give such a disastrous answer. It was bemusing but up to a certain point.

"Well, this was the same principal during Brandon Slade's time," the same reporter continued. "Principal Givens helped evacuate many students the last time."

Aitana swayed lightly on her feet. Morgan had to grab hold of her arm to keep her still. "Was it?" Aitana asked them, taking in a deep breath.

"Okay," Morgan said, deciding to cut in for her sake and her reputation, "As of right now, there is nothing concrete to tell us there was a connection with Brandon Slade."

"Morgan!" They heard Hotch call from the front door. He was nodding for the two agents to join them inside the house.

Morgan held Aitana's arm even tighter. For some reason, she was going to start in the opposite direction. "Alright," he said to the press, "Feel free to call me if you have any other background questions. My phone number is 702-555-0103."

"And what's your name, sir?" A female reporter inquired.

"Uh, it's Dr. Spencer Reid. R-E-I-D." Morgan smirked proudly as he turned Aitana with him for the house.

Aitana sniffed. "Was it me...or did you just say you were Spencer?"

"Nah, that was all you, spicy sprinkles," Morgan rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Oh...okay…"

Morgan chuckled. She needed to get some rest pronto.

~ 0 ~

As it turned out, the younger Slade brother had kept in his possession the old list of his older brother's. From it, the team was able to gather the people on the list to talk and explain to them what the situation was. Emily took the lead on that task and very much requested that Aitana go back to their hotel to rest. Aitana did no such thing. The rest of them were compiling the profile to deliver it to the precinct.

She was on her way to the conference room when she heard Spencer calling her. He caught up with her in the bullpen and offered her a cup of, according to him, tea. "Chamomile," he said as she eyed it. "For allergies, of course."

Aitana couldn't help her laugh then. "I think you're the only one following my lie," she said as she took the cup from his hand. "I should say double thanks for that."

"With luck, it could turn into allergies," Spencer said with a little smile. "Chamomile will give your immune system a good boost. I didn't know if you liked it with honey so I didn't put any, sorry."

"Don't worry," Aitana languidly waved a hand then took a sip. It was nice and warm and felt great in her throat. "Putting honey can lower your blood pressure so...best to be careful with that. See, I know stuff too." She winked at him and started walking again.

Spencer smiled for a bit until he became conscious of the fact and shook his head fast. He hurried to catch up with her. "We could go get you some of the honey Halls, if you want."

"That's kind of you, but I'm not going to make anybody go to the store on my behalf," Aitana said. "Besides, I'll be fine. The tea's already working." She took another drink to make her point. "Seriously, thanks. You can keep some distance if you'd like. I'm probably radiating germs right now."

"I'm good," Spencer said almost automatically, which was honestly surprising after he realized it.

"Aren't you always the one on the lookout for incoming germs?" Aitana side-glanced him curiously. "This is your sign to run. Seriously. I don't mind. I won't get mad."

"I'm not going to run away from you, Aitana," he said, scrunching his face like she was crazy.

"Suit yourself, but you might get some...allergies..." Aitana wagged a finger at him.

"Well, you know, allergies aren't actually contagious so..." But Spencer trailed off as Aitana started to laugh. She was joking.

~ 0 ~

The tea did admittedly help Aitana get a better handle on her voice, but her head was progressively feeling heavier. While the team delivered the profile, she stood there trying to keep herself together and, most of all, focused.

"Partners of dominant psychopaths are usually submissive, but that doesn't mean that they can't be intelligent or that they're physically weak…"

She was pretty sure Hotch was speaking. She didn't have the nerve to keep checking.

"...this unsub laid low after the bombing and successfully evaded police and FBI. That took cunning and patience, which he's exhibiting now with his current murders."

"We think he fits the loner profile Slade debunked," Rossi said.

Or maybe it was Spencer?

"He grew up in an abusive home, which kept him from forming the normal social bonds in high school."

"We interviewed all the outcasts from back then," the Chief asked the team, "How did this guy slip through?"

"Even outcasts eventually form friendships," Aitana managed to answer. "Just inevitable but this unsub was the outcast the outcasts rejected."

"He won't stand out in any capacity, and as a matter of fact, most of his fellow students probably won't even remember graduating with him," Spencer took over soon. He was pretty sure Aitana was leaning on the desk to keep herself on her feet. "And that invisibility is what made him attractive to Slade."

"This partner wouldn't steal the spotlight," Morgan said, "Slade turned to the cafeteria because most of the names on his list ate there together during fifth period. So his hatred festered when the names on the list emerged from the cafeteria as media heroes."

"And now he wants to finish the job that Randy started," JJ said, lamenting the implications she was basically giving. "Emotionally, this weekend is more a high school reunion to him than a memorial."

"We go to reunions to show who we grew up to be. Often that means changing everything about who we were," said Hotch, "Consciously or not, Randy Slade revealed clues as to his partner's identity when he detonated his bomb. Agent Prentiss will be conducting cognitive interviews to see what the survivors might remember."

Sadly, their entire case pretty much rested on those interviews at the moment.

~0~

"I'm this close to asking Hotch to send Aitana to the hotel to rest," JJ said when she joined Morgan and Spencer in the conference room. "She's in the restroom right now blowing her nose over and over. I wouldn't be surprised if she passes out from dizziness."

Morgan laughed, imagining it. "Girl is stubborn. And I thought Garcia won that competition."

"Maybe you should go back to check on her," Spencer said, sounding slightly concerned over it. JJ assured him she was only kidding but it didn't lessen his concern. "There are actual consequences if someone blows their nose too much. Her head was already hurting so this will only amplify it, and that's not counting the ruptures she could—"

"Reid," Morgan cut in, trying his best not to laugh in that moment. "Relax, she'll be fine."

"I still think someone should go get her," Spencer said quietly. "I'd do it but she's in the women's restroom," he said with a pointed glance at JJ.

"Uuh, since when are you so keen on being close to someone sick?" JJ raised a brow at him. "Last time I remember, you wouldn't get within 10ft of me when I got sick."

"Ooh, JJ, c'mon now," Morgan said, throwing Spencer a teasing smile, "Isn't it obvious? Pretty boy wants to make up for lost time with Aitana. He did think she had a boyfriend for ages."

"Morgan," Spencer gritted his teeth together. He was waiting for that to get thrown in his face. While Morgan just outright laughed, JJ was a little more decent and hid her smile behind her hand. "Fine, I made a mistake, what's the big deal?" Spencer said with a groan.

"The big deal is that it's hilarious," Morgan was happy to answer with. "Genius like you and you missed it?"

"Maybe because unlike you people, I don't immediately chase after someone I just met," Spencer said, crossing his arms, "Maybe I value my friendships and that's why I'm worried about Aitana. Ever think of that?"

"Sure, of course." Morgan's smile was much too wide for Spencer's taste.

"I still can't believe you told him," he said to JJ who then immediately reminded him that she had not told Morgan. "Yeah, but you told Garcia and that's basically the same thing!"

That time, JJ chuckled. "Alright, fine, but it's not that big of a deal. Emily hasn't said anything."

"You told Emily!?" Spencer exclaimed. "Great, I guess I'll just wait for Rossi to start chiming in and then Hotch will start talking about the proper procedure for informing the FBI—"

"Spence, that wouldn't happen," JJ said, but Morgan had something else to add.

"Yeah, we all know Hotch wouldn't be caught dead explaining technicalities about relationships. That's not his style."

Spencer groaned. "You guys are horrible friends! And you'll be even more awful if you tell Aitana about any of this!"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Morgan came to sit on the edge of the table. "I'm not saying anything."

~ 0 ~

Once Penelope had time to go over the list they had found earlier, she called the team to get them organized and informed. They had written the names from the lists in two columns on a white board, according to Penelope's findings.

"Group one is like the popular kids— prom court, football team, Dean's list," she explained over the phone, making all eyes rake over the specific column. "The Heathers, if you will. Kids in Slade's social circle."

"What about number two?" asked Morgan.

"Uh, that would be the kids from the other side of the tracks, 180-degree difference. Kids this close to getting kicked out—stoners, burnouts, mental cases. Chelsea Grant, our latest victim, is on this list."

"Maybe Slade targeted them because they disgusted him?" JJ offered the theory.

"But they didn't threaten Slade's sense of superiority," Spencer said. "He wouldn't have even cared about them."

"So the partner did it," Aitana suggested. She had grabbed a seat to lean back. She was feeling a bit more tired. "You know, they both chose their specific victims."

Hotch agreed. "That would mean that group would be closer to his social status than Slade's."

"Why would the…" Spencer's cell phone buzzed on the table, about the fifth time intelsat two hours. He quickly grabbed it and denied the call. "I'm so sorry. Why would the unsub list kids that he fit in with?"

"Apparently that's how this clique worked," said Penelope, "The kids in it were meaner to each other than kids on the outside."

"Garcia, separate out all the kids who got into trouble regularly," Hotch started instructing, "Then eliminate the names that the partner put on the list. Now, who's left that came to the memorial?"

"Right!" Penelope got right on it.

"Whoever made the list wouldn't put their name on it," JJ barely said when Penelope announced she may have found the unsub.

"Lewis Ramsey."

With that streak of luck, the team set to work on finding their man. They eventually located him in the evening at a cruddy bar drinking his sorrows away. They detained him and brought him back to the precinct for questioning. Between Hotch and Morgan, they firmly concluded that while Ramsey was Slade's partner, he wasn't responsible for the latest kills.

Spencer brought their attention to a curious thing within Slade's last message before dying. Spencer had rewritten it on a white board exactly as it was on paper. "Ramsey was the partner, but look at how Slade added 'all the LoSeRs in this Godforsaken school.'" Spencer tapped a knuckle against the last word. "This capitalization isn't an accident. Look. L-S-R. Lewis Stuart Ramsey."

"So Slade did name his own partner," Aitana said with a sniff. "And I guess, ironically, Lewis' marijuana conviction saved his life." The man had gone sober and was now making amends for his past actions including being Slade's partner.

"Well, that puts us back to our original problem," Emily remarked. "If the unsub isn't the partner, how did he get his hands on a list that Slade and Lewis kept to themselves?" Aitana's phone went off so she moved to the side to answer JJ's call.

"The only answer is that part of the profile is wrong," Hotch said. "The unsub's vendetta has nothing to do with the list. Did you get anything from Jerry Holtz?"

Emily shook her head. "Only that he mixed up the cell phones that Slade used. It felt like he was making the story up, but I only had a hunch."

"We need to find him now. There's a connection to the victimology that we're missing. Whatever he's holding back might be the key."

"Umm," Aitana's raspy voice stopped the trio from leaving. She was putting her phone in her pocket when she rejoined them. "That won't be possible anymore. Jerry Holtz was murdered in the old high school. JJ's at the scene right now."

~0~

The rest of the night was dedicated to rearranging the profile as they examined the new crime scene and the leftover "potential victims" they had on their lists. The unsub was amongst the group of survivors.

"JJ and Emily are still going through the survivors' names," Aitana said to Hotch as they walked towards the conference room. Her voice had more of a rasp to it than it had the previous day.

"Thanks," Hotch said, "You know you are more than free to head back to the hotel," he said as they neared the doors. "You stayed up all night with us."

Aitana shook her head even though she did feel like she was one step away from falling asleep. "Just allergies," she insisted.

Hotch pulled the door open for her. "I don't think so," he said but Aitana didn't register it. She walked inside with a slight sway in her steps.

"...the unsub doesn't feel pain," Spencer was in the middle of his words when the pair joined them. Morgan and Rossi were listening attentively. "There's a medical condition called pain asymbolia, where patients register harmful stimuli without being bothered by it. They've been documented holding their hand over an open flame because their brain doesn't send pain signals to the central nervous system."

"Sounds pretty rare," Rossi said. He eyed Aitana who'd grabbed the nearest seat to them as soon as she found one. (Because yes, it took her a while to get there). She perched an arm over it and rested her cheek against her palm.

"You sure the unsub has it?" asked Hotch.

Spencer nodded firmly. "The crime scenes prove it. This unsub displayed an unusual level of savagery towards his victims. And consider this—he smashed through a glass display case, but there were no cuts on Jerry. That means he most likely punched through it as a show of force. Now, the only way the human body could withstand that level of pain is if he couldn't feel it at all. It must take a major toll on someone's emotional development." For what seemed like the millionth time that morning, Spencer felt his cell phone buzz in his back pocket. He pulled it out, already knowing it was another spam call, and rejected the call. "A significant contributor to our sense of empathy is the way we personally experience pain. And the unsub didn't develop his sense of empathy because it was cut off."

"Does every person with asymbolia have this?" Morgan inquired.

"Actually, most feel empathy just fine, which makes me think the rest of our profile is still accurate. Loner, invisible," —Spencer felt his phone ringing again, "Outcast, boiling rage—" It was still buzzing. "Son of a bitch!" He practically shouted. He had reached his damn level with the phone calls. He pulled his phone out again and this time answered the call. "Hi! This is Dr. Spencer Reid. I actually can come to the phone right now with a very special message that your mother is a—"

"Reid," Hotch cut him off sharply.

Abashed, Spencer yanked his phone from his ear, only then realizing how he must have sounded to the others. "Sorry. I'm really sorry. I don't know what got into me." He turned his phone off for reputation reasons and cleared his throat, feeling an insane flush on his face. "Uh, where were we?"

Thankfully, Hotch let his moment slide and went on with their next steps. It was then that Spencer noticed the strange smile Morgan had on his face. He was the only one who seemed to have a clue. Rossi and Hotch had moved on like nothing and Aitana...she had given up keeping her head up. She had flattened her arms on the table and rested her cheek against them, eyes blinking much more slowly now.

Yeah, it was Derek Morgan alright.

"I'm going to have Garcia check medical records," Hotch said, "What causes asymbolia?"

"S-s-severe trauma produces lesions in the insular cortex, usually after a stroke," Spencer explained slowly. His mind was working but not for the case. "But this unsub's so young, it's most likely caused by an external factor."

"Like a bomb going off next to him?" Rossi inquired.

"Yeah, a bomb going off next to him…" Spencer nodded.

"Let's go," Hotch said, prompting Rossi to follow him.

"Somebody oughta bring this one to the hotel," Rossi said with bemusement as they passed by Aitana. She was practically asleep on the table.

"We'll take care of it," Spencer said with a strained smile. He moved over to collect the papers they had left out and since Morgan was still watching him with his stupid smirk, he mumbled: "I will crush you."

"What?" Morgan raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" Spencer said quickly, shuffling the papers against the table. "I'll bring Aitana back to the hotel."

"You sure about that?" Morgan asked. "She's hellbent on staying here."

"I can handle it. Go, go," Spencer waved his hand. He would need some time to come up with a good retaliation.

~ 0 ~

Aitana vaguely remembered Spencer attempting to move her out of her chair. All she knew is that the team was gone for some reason and her throat was so dry. "I'm good," she insisted. "It's just allergies."

Spencer chuckled. He was right beside her, guiding her into the hotel they were staying at. "I think we're way past that, Aitana. It's not a big deal, lots of people get sick. About 49 million people get the flu each year."

"Did you...why are you talking so loud?"

"I'm not, but I'll be more quiet if that helps." Spence had brought her into the elevator and pressed the button of their floor. "You know, legally, you can't keep working this case anymore."

"Because it's not allergies?" Aitana sniffed.

Spencer chuckled. "Yeah, sorry. But you've already helped us so much, we'll be just fine."

The elevator dinged open and he brought her into the hallway. He asked her for her room key and opened the door of her room. "I think you should try resting now. Maybe a nap?"

"Oh, now you're sounding like JJ," Aitana said with another sniffle. When Spencer let her go, she was already right by her best and yet she still stumbled on it.

"Well, I do spend a lot of time with her. And I also know that when you get sick, one of the best forms to combat it is to take a nap."

"Why?" Aitana kicked her shoes off and scooted up the bed until she found her pillow. "Tell me a statistic, Dr. Reid."

A smile crossed Spencer's face and, eventually, a small chuckle. "When you're sleeping, your body releases cytokines. It's a type of protein and it helps communicate with the cells of your immunity system to kill a pathogen. So when you're sleeping, your body can focus a lot more on fighting pathogens, breaking fevers and all that good stuff you can't really do if you're investigating a murder case like you are right now."

"You missed" — Aitana sniffled again — "the numbers. Where are the numbers?"

"I was trying to make it easier for you right now."

"Save them for me when I get better, alright?"

"Of course," Spencer nodded at her. She seemed to be close to that much needed nap. "Um, Aitana, I gotta ask you something."

Aitana had closed her eyes already but she nodded that she was listening.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about Morgan playing a prank on me, would you?"

Aitana shrugged her shoulders. "Was it on t.v.?"

Spencer half smiled at her. She had no idea what she was saying. "No, it wasn't."

Aitana let out a small breath and opened her eyes. "I think I need some pills for my headache. I have some on the desk over there."

"Got it..." Spencer walked over to the desk where many things were left sprawled over. He found a small pill box and opened it up. He took out the Tylenol pills and grabbed one of the hotel water bottles. "So then, nothing on that prank?"

Aitana sat up and grabbed the bottle from him, opening it up. She then took the pills. "I mean...it was on t.v., right?" She popped the pills into her mouth and took a swig of water to swallow them.

"I don't think it was," Spencer said gently, not wanting to her irritate her.

"But it was," Aitana nodded to herself. "And-and Morgan...he..." She handed Spencer the water bottle who then placed it on her nightstand. By the time he looked back at her, she was already lying down again. "I'm not being very useful to you right now, am I?" she asked with a clear disappointment in her voice.

Spencer was much too kind to tell her the truth. "You're being extremely helpful." He was smart enough to deduce that through Aitana's rambles, there had to be some truth to it. Morgan had to have done something while she was around him. "Aitana, there's something you might be able to help me with right now...if you're up to it."

It was actually kind of adorable the way Aitana's face lit up. "Really? For the case?"

"Um...yeah…" Spencer thought there was no point in going over the mechanics of things if Aitana wasn't going to remember them anyways. Plus, she didn't need to be bothered with his tinkering ideas for a good prank.

"Okay, I'm all ears…" A moment later, Aitana was tapping her left ear. "Actually, I'm all ear," she said. "One's gotten a little plugged."

Spencer chuckled. Poor thing.

~0~

By night, the unsub had been located and after an extensive search, apprehended as well. The team was back on their way home late in the evening. Hotch, JJ and Emily sat together going over some paperwork. Rossi sat with Morgan on one side of a table while Spencer and Aitana sat opposite of them. Morgan had started up his music when Aitana's insistence about her "allergies" against Rossi became too loud. He learned to love her but bless her heart, when she was sick she was even more stubborn. Spencer was lucky as he had fallen asleep.

"No, no, Rossi, they're just allergies," Aitana said, taking in a deep sniff. She perched her elbows on the table and rested her cheeks against her palms.

Rossi watched in bemusement as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "Why don't you take a nap, huh? Like the kid?"

"Who?" Aitana sniffed again, her head turning to her left to see Spencer. "Oh, I didn't even notice. But I already took a nap earlier. I'm fine now."

Rossi didn't think so. "It wouldn't hurt to take another one—"

Morgan suddenly jumped in his seat, startling Rossi. He pulled his headphones off, shooting a glare at Spencer. "Ok, kid, that was cute. But that's all you got?" Spencer "snored" as he slept.

"Do I hear screaming?" Aitana squeezed one eye shut. Rossi nodded his head.

Morgan's cell phone went off. "It's Garcia."

"Hm, do you know...I called her earlier..." Aitana closed her eyes for a second, just for a second, "I think Spencer asked me to…"

Before Morgan could ask her about that, he heard fresh new screams in his ear. "Dammit!" He yanked his phone from his ear, snapping his phone shut.

Spencer "slept" but his growing smile was giving him up. Rossi stuck a hand between the two and waved a white napkin for peace.

"Nu-uh," Morgan shook his head. His eyes locked on Spencer. "All right, Reid, it's on. Just know that paybacks are a bitch." He glanced at Aitana, about to reprimand her for her participation but seeing her head fall on the table with a thud softened his annoyance. Participant or not, she probably didn't even remember a thing.

#ocapp #fd: criminal minds #allaboutocs #ochub #spencer reid fics #spencer reid imagines #criminal minds fics #spencer reid x oc #spencer reid #criminal minds #cm fics #cm imagines #oc: aitana serrano #fic: against all odds

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stranger-marauders · 2 years

Text

unbreakable

ten: the lights

chapter summary: Will Byers is confirmed dead, and Kate meets Jonathan's mother. Kate and her father finally begin to talk to one another.

chapter warnings: language, sibling loss, parental issues, grief

word count: 3.1k

series masterlist | masterlist

KATE HAD BEEN asked to go inside with her father once they'd gotten to the Byers' home.

Even though she had only known Jonathan for a couple of hours at best, or known him well at least, she hadn't minded coming for him. She knew how awful it was to find out about something like this, your younger sibling dying. She couldn't imagine how it was for Jonathan after knowing what her experience was like. Realistically, Kate had had time to prepare herself for Sara's death. She'd been sick for over a year, barely alive for the month leading up to her passing, but Will had been healthy, full of life, and had been just as quickly taken away from them.

The car ride to the Byers' house had been quiet between Kate and her father. She didn't quite know what to say to him, and he didn't know what to say to her, either. She'd shown up at the station just to see him: Hopper couldn't think of the last time his daughter had gone to him and not someone else for comfort. He didn't know if he was supposed to ask, if he was allowed to ask, but for now, he would let her sit in silence, let her gather her thoughts before they went inside of the house.

Officers Callahan and Powell had arrived at the Byers' house before Kate and Hopper, and they had already begun searching the home for any new or relevant evidence to the Will Byers case. Whenever Kate walked inside, she couldn't help but stare at all the Christmas lights that the house currently seemed to be drowning in, the smell of drying paint on a wall where the alphabet had been painted, a corresponding Christmas light hanging above each letter.

She felt so out of place in that house. Everything had started to click into place for her: she didn't know much about the Byers, but the town's assumption of them, especially at the moment, made a lot of sense for her. The Byers, more specifically Joyce, Jonathan's mother, had always been rumored to have a few screws loose. Kate couldn't judge them for it, not in the slightest: her family was far from perfect, too.

Hopper had started to explain the situation to Joyce once he'd gotten situated. "A trooper found something in the, uh… water that's at the quarry. Our working theory right now is that Will… crashed his bike, he… made his way over the quarry and, uh… accidentally fell in. The earth must have given way…"

As Hopper went on, Joyce Byers seemed as if she could have torn at the seams.

"Joyce?" He hesitated before calling her name again. "Joyce. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"No," Joyce finally answered, her voice breathy, brittle. She visibly trembled. "Whoever you found… is not my boy. It's not Will."

"Joyce."

"No, y–you don't understand. I talked to him… a–a half-hour ago!" She sniffled as she walked over to a cupboard in the living room with even more Christmas lights sitting inside of it, these ones a solid white instead of the colored ones. "He was… He was here. He was… He was talking with these." She picked up the set of Christmas lights, showing them to Hopper.

His heart ached for her, it really did. He knew the pain of losing a child, but his loss was to illness. He hadn't been in denial like this.

Jonathan and Kate stood behind her father, watching as Hopper tried to fix things. Jonathan took a heavy breath, trying to stop himself from crying. He couldn't believe his mother was taking the thing with the lights this far even now, even after they'd found Will's body.

"Talking?"

"Uh-huh. One blink for yes, two for no." She then put those down and moved to the Christmas lights that hung on the wall with a corresponding letter underneath each light. "And… And, uh… And then I made this so he could talk to me. 'Cause he was hiding… form that… that thing."

Kate's stomach twisted into knots as she watched the woman unravel before her: she'd seen the impact of grief with her own parents, mostly her father, with losing their youngest. At least they had had some type of closure as Sara slowly spiraled—this was just all so sudden. Even through all the second-hand pain she felt for the middle-aged woman in front of her, Kate had no idea what the hell she could have possibly been talking about.

"The thing that came out of the wall? The thing that chased you?" Hopper asked, attempting to get as much clarity on the situation as possible, if he could get any. He knew she sounded absolutely insane, but he didn't blame her. He couldn't blame her. She had just found out her youngest boy was dead.

"Yeah," Joyce said, her voice breaking. Even she knew she was dangling from the edge. "Yeah."

"Mom, come on, please," Jonathan said, walking over to her. He didn't even try to fight the tears pooling in his eyes. "Please, you've got to stop this."

"No, maybe he's… It's after him!" she shouted at her oldest son. She turned to Hopper. "He's in danger. We have to find him! We—"

"What exactly is this thing? It was some kind of animal, you said?" Hopper asked her.

"Uh, no, it was… I–It was almost… human, but it wasn't. It… It had these long arms and… it didn't have a face."

Jonathan finally walked away to his room, and Kate ran after him. She knew he needed someone, quite frankly, anyone. At least, that's all she had wanted when Sara died.

He closed the door behind him, but she caught the door before it could slam into the hinges. She wouldn't let him take this alone, not when she vaguely knew what he was feeling.

"Jonathan," Kate said softly, closing the door to his room quietly.

He couldn't fight his tears any longer. "She's in denial, even after they've found his…" Instead of finishing his sentence, he exhaled shakily.

"Hey, it's gonna take some time," she said, sitting next to him on his bed as he cried into her shoulder. After this, she thought that she and Jonathan Byers were trauma-bonded. "It's okay. You're okay. He… He's home now, and at least you have some closure."

He sniffled. "I should've never taken that extra shift. I wish I could just… just switch with him, or something."

Kate looked at her newfound friend with a tight-lipped frown. "No, don't say that. You can't do that to yourself. Trust me. When Sara died, I beat myself up over everything we didn't do together, or–or stuff we never did enough of, but I've realized that you can't control everything. It sucks, and I wish it wasn't this way, but some things were just… meant to happen. You can't blame yourself for something that's completely out of your control, Jonathan."

He finally let go of her, wiping his face and turning to look at her again. "I just… I wish he was still here."

Kate still held a tight-lipped frown. "Me too."

Suddenly, pulling them back to their new reality, there was a knock at the door. When it opened, her father was revealed, standing in the doorway. "Hey, kid, we gotta go."

She stood up from his bed, looking back to Jonathan. "Call me if you need anything. Really. Even if it's three in the morning, I promise I'll answer. But please try to sleep—you need it."

Jonathan nodded once in response. He supposed if anyone were to know how to deal with something like this, it would definitely be Kate Hopper. "Thank you."

Without another word, she closed the door behind her and followed her father outside to his SUV.

The following morning, Kate had asked her father to drive her to school.

She still didn't want to talk to Steve, not after yesterday. Quite frankly, she didn't have the energy to deal with him at the moment. She had hardly slept that night, just in case Jonathan had needed her again. Even if she thought he was a tad bit quirky, no one deserved to go through something like that alone. He didn't even have his own mother to lean on: she still thought Will was alive, even after his body had been brought back home.

For most of the car ride, it had been absolutely silent. No music, no talking—only the sound of the running engine.

Hopper didn't know how to ask what he wanted to ask. He didn't know how to start the conversation that he wanted to have with her in the slightest. He wanted to ask her why she'd gone to the station for him yesterday. He wanted to ask her why Steve wasn't taking her to school that morning. He wanted to ask why she was all of a sudden hanging out with Joyce's son. He needed to know.

He finally decided Jonathan Byers would be the easiest thing to tackle first. "So, you and Joyce's kid."

Kate didn't even turn to her father as she spoke, still looking out the passenger's side window. "It's a long story."

"Well, we've got time, kid," Hopper replied.

She sighed, somewhat annoyed. "I mean, do you really care?"

Hopper hesitated to respond. "Of course I do, you're my daughter."

That was something Kate hadn't heard him say in a long time: that he cared. Even if he hadn't said it directly, it was still enough. Without any more protest, she cleared her throat, turning to face him. "Uh, Steve broke Jonathan's camera, so I skipped his basketball game and took Jonathan out to dinner to make up for it, but he heard about Will and went home. I didn't want to walk home, so I went to the station to try to catch you. I had no idea he would be…"

She trailed off, but Hopper understood what she meant. "Wait, why'd he break his camera?"

Kate's blood went cold for a second. She didn't know whether it was better to tell the truth or to try and lie about it.

"Kate."

She took a sharp breath. "When I was over at Steve's a couple nights ago, Jonathan found his backyard and took pictures of us and the other people that were there from the woods." She paused, trying to collect her thoughts. "Please don't say anything to Joyce. Steve already… He did enough to him already, and his brother just died. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was so weird, but it wasn't worth breaking his camera over. Not right now."

Hopper hesitated to ask the question that popped up in his head. "And, uh, what'd your boyfriend think about that? You ditchin' and goin' with him?"

Kate laughed once hollowly, shaking her head slowly. "Steve isn't… He's not my boyfriend, Dad. Come on, you know that."

Hopper wanted to say something along the lines of, "Well, he sure doesn't act like it," but he decided against it—he really didn't want to start a fight with Kate this early in the morning when things were going so well, even if he knew he was right.

When Hopper said that Steve reminded him of himself in high school, that also meant that he could read Steve like a book: all the dickish behavior and girls he saw him with around town would never be enough to convince him that Steve didn't care about his daughter. From time to time, he thought that maybe, just maybe Steve had a thing for her, but he tried not to think about it, mostly for her sake (also because she was with him alone all the time). She didn't seem all that interested in him anyway, especially not right now.

"I don't think he understands that I can keep my own, to be honest with you. I skipped his game after the whole thing because he was being such an asshole," she said, looking out the window again.

"Hey, watch it," he replied, mostly referring to her language. She turned back to face him before he spoke again. "But, uh… after what? Breaking the kid's camera?"

"Yeah, it was so stupid," Kate said. Bringing it up again had almost made her blood boil. "I mean, it was like something out of one of those cheesy high school movies. You had to be there to see it, it was such bullsh—ridiculous. He was being ridiculous."

Hopper nodded, almost chuckling. If she said he was being an asshole, then he was being an asshole. As they pulled up to the front of the school, Hopper turned to his daughter. "Hey."

"Yeah?" she asked, turning back to him before she jumped out of the SUV.

He hesitated. "Be careful, okay? I love you, kid."

She smiled back at her father, and it was a genuine smile. She couldn't remember the last time they'd had such a pleasant conversation. "Love you, too, Dad."

As she jumped out of the car, melting away into the mess of students, Hopper smiled—he couldn't remember the last time that Kate had told him she loved him. He started to believe that maybe, finally, things would begin to fall into place for the two of them.

As Kate walked through the halls, she played her music loudly through her headphones, not focused on her surroundings. Even though the music was loud, it seemed so much quieter than it normally was for her in the mornings, and she knew exactly the reason why: her head wasn't currently being talked off by Steve. She didn't know how long the serene tranquility would last before he came and found her, if he came and found her, that was.

Whenever she finally arrived at her locker, she had been more than surprised to find Jamie waiting for her. While they were close friends, Jamie didn't normally talk to her at school. She figured a lot of it had to do with the fact that he was senior, that and the crowd she kept. She wouldn't want to talk to her at school either.

She pulled the headphones off her ears, the music still softly thumping from them now hanging around her neck. "Hey."

"Hey," he said, smiling slightly at her.

Her mouth parted slightly, almost as if she couldn't believe she was looking at him. It was a weird sight, Jamie Schroeder at her locker, standing in front of her at school. "What are you doing?"

"Haven't seen you since Monday night, so I thought I'd swing by."

Her eyebrows furrowed together, almost displeased with his answer as she dug through her locker to find her notated copy of The Great Gatsby. "That's all? Can't handle it without me a couple days?"

"Nah, it's not that. Last night was boring without you, though, if that makes you feel any better," he said. "Speaking of which, someone came in last night asking about Jane Austin books, and I was bummed the expert wasn't there."

When she turned around, book in hand, Kate avoided eye contact with him, trying not to smile as her face flushed pink. "Don't tell people my secrets."

He laughed in response, not scared of her in the slightest. "Why? Because you're too cool for romance, right?"

"Who said that?" she asked.

He only smiled in response. Jamie had always been infatuated with Kate Hopper, ever since the day he met her.

He could still remember that day like it was yesterday. It had been late June 1981, the week after her fourteenth birthday. While he'd been about a year older than her, he had thought she must've been an upperclassman that he just hadn't seen around before. By looks alone, Kate had seemed much older than any of the other girls he'd met his own age because of the slight bags under her eyes, the tiredness in her face. With that, those things didn't make her any less pretty. In fact, those things had, in his eyes, made her all the more beautiful. As he'd gotten to know her over the years, he'd come to find Kate more beautiful than any other girl he'd ever met—her laugh, her smile, her (slight, as she liked to call it) caffeine addiction… Jamie had come to admire many things about Kate Hopper over the years.

"So, what are you doing tonight? Hangin' out with Harrington or something of the sort?" he asked, trying to stay composed.

"You wouldn't believe it, but no," she started, immediately earning an odd look from him. "Yeah, crazy, I know. I haven't talked to him since yesterday."

"No, that's good," Jamie said. He immediately corrected himself whenever he saw her face twitch for half a second. "Not good, I mean." He paused. "How bad is it?"

"Bad enough where I made my dad drive me to school today."

Jamie winced, giving an uneasy look. "That bad, huh?"

Kate shrugged, pushing a piece of hair out of her face. "You'd be surprised, but I think this morning was the first time I've had a pleasant conversation with my dad since, like, Thanksgiving."

"Whaaat?" Jamie asked, raising the pitch of his voice. "You gotta tell me about that. That and what Harrington did to deserve this much shunning."

Kate laughed, but when she opened her mouth to speak again, the bell for first period rang. "Damn."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Jamie said as he began to walk to his first class of the day. "It'll give me something to think about before lunch."

She raised her eyebrows at him, raising her voice slightly as he walked away from her. "Hey, who said I was eating lunch with you?"

Instead of answering, he gave a dopey smile and a shrug, and Kate couldn't fight the smile that she now carried on her face as she made her way to her English class, pulling her headphones back over her ears, her copy of The Great Gatsby in her hand still.

Kate had no idea, however, that Steve had been standing across the hall, waiting to speak with her until she got finished. As she walked away without noticing him, which he hoped was an accident, he frowned.

Maybe Kate had finally grown tired of him, after all.

next chapter

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