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radioactiveparker · 24 days

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The Breakfast Club - Eddie Munson X F!Cheerleader!Reader

Part One - These Children That You Spit On

Chapter Summary - We meet five unlikely teenagers who have to spend the next eight hours in detention together. (A retelling of The Breakfast Club, written and directed by John Hughes.)

Chapter Warnings - Characters are all 18+ / Strong Language / Illusions to Abuse/ Abusive Relationship / Dysfunctional Families / Kleptomania / References to Demonianism and Satanism / References to Religious Beliefs / Sexual References / Stereotyping / Angst

Word Count - 6.6k

(Series Masterlist) (Masterlist)

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Saturday.

October 25th, 1984.

Hargrove Residence.

6:30am.

~~~~~

"Billy, c'mon, I have to go."

You reluctantly pulled away from the warm embrace of the covers, or at least attempted to. Billy kept the dead weight of his arm slung heavily around your waist, trapping you to the mattress. He released a groan of annoyance as he curled it around you and pulled you into him. You spared a few minutes to stay in his warmth and shed the sleep from your brain. The grey hues of wintry light cascaded onto the room through the gap in the curtain. The room was otherwise obscured from light, making it effortless to close your eyes and fall back asleep. You refrained, deciding to focus your ears instead. The familiar chirping of birds and the quiet hum of unfortunate morning commuters on their way to work on a Saturday morning had you sinking back into your pillow. The smell of brewing coffee reminded you to stay awake. Your eyes blinked open again, and you shuffled from underneath Billy's grasp. He groaned again, this time burying himself into your neck. You giggled, planted a kiss to his cheek, and rolled him off you.

You quickly jumped in the shower, saying good morning to Billy's little sister Max, who was making her way into the kitchen, along the way. You dressed in the bathroom, checking your watch before heading back into Billy's bedroom to say goodbye.

He lay on his front, eyes still closed, but his breathing told you that he was awake. You placed a gentle hand on his arm, leaning in to kiss his cheek again.

"Billy, I'm going now, but I'll see you on Monday, yeah?"

He said nothing. You couldn't suppress the disappointment that swept through you. You turned to leave when he softly grabbed your wrist. You smiled, thinking he was going to ask you to stay, or to give you a goodbye kiss, but his gripped tightened. Your heart dropped.

"Billy, you're hurting me."

"Where do you think you're going?" He stared you dead in the eyes.

You tried to pull away. "I told you yesterday, Billy. Mrs O'Donnell gave me a Saturday detention."

"No, where do you think you're going dressed like that."

You looked at your outfit. You wore the signature green and white of the Hawkins High cheerleading squad. A sleeveless modest style vest, worn with a turtleneck layer underneath, and a green pleated skirt with yellow striping around the hem. It rested just above your mid thigh, so you pulled your socks all the way up to your knees to keep warm. "I told my parents I had cheerleading practice, so they didn't think I had detention. You know this, Billy."

"Do I? Or are you going to see your precious King Steve again?" His grip tightened even further.

He had that crazy look in his eyes that made your entire body freeze. You stopped struggling. Your chest went tight, and suddenly, it was like trying to breathe in a sauna room.

Billy Hargrove was not fond of Steve Harrington, and last Thursday night, you had snook out to go to a party as his house. You had cancelled your plans with Billy last minute after Carol begged you to go with her (not that it took much convincing). It turned out that Billy had been invited to the party by one of his other friends, unbeknownst to you. And you made the mistake of lying to Billy and told him that you were sick.

The biggest mistake of your life.

He saw you there and started an argument that had the entire rooms eyes on the two of you. He had the same wild look in his eyes as he had now. He ended up punching Steve when he had come over to ask if everything was alright.

"I only went to that party for Carol. I didn't even speak to Steve."

"No? Because he seemed real friendly with you."

"He wasn't! Billy, please, I don't want anything to do with Steve. Just please let me go."

He released you harshly, and you immediately brought your wrist to your chest, rubbing the sore skin.

"Get out of my sight."

You scurried out the door with tears in your eyes.

Your first steps outside felt as though you were walking into the worlds largest refrigerator, though you were thankful it wasn't raining. You could do without the frozen shrapnel soaking you to the bone this morning. It had already started bad enough.

The sun had only just begun to rise, not having a chance to warm up the earth yet. Not that it would do much good. The temperature had been dropping more and more as the days went on, this morning being the worst yet. It had turned tomb-like silent outside with the exception of the crunching salt under your feet that had been newly laid to stop people from slipping on the first of winter's ice. A storm had come and gone the previous night, but the sky still hung sadly as a woollen grey shawl, bringing threat of another. The cold, however, was enough to calm you down. It felt refreshing after feeling suffocated in Billy's room.

You checked your watch again. You had twenty minutes to sneak back home and pretend that you had just woken up and got dressed for cheerleading practice.

You started running.

~~~~~

Saturday.

October 25th, 1984.

Hawkins High.

7:55am.

~~~~~

You had made it home just in time before your parents woke up. You explained you were doing stretches in your room, which was why you were red-faced and slightly out of breath. They didn't seem to buy it, but the alternative presumption was far too embarrassing for them not to take your word for it.

Your father offered you a ride to school, but after that rather awkward first encounter with them this morning, you thought it best to walk. And you were glad you did because it didn't take long before they were arguing. Your mother red-faced and clutched onto the cross around her neck while your father rolled his eyes. To the outside world, it would seem that you had the perfect family, but that couldn't be father from the truth. A lot of the times when they argued, it would be over something petty, but all of a sudden, your name would be roped in, and the entire point of the argument seemed to vanish. You see, to them, you were leverage. As soon as you got a mention, they got the upper hand. They used you to get back at each other: a means to an end. Not intentionally, of course, but that didn't make it any less frustrating. It was nothing uncommon in your household, but that didn't mean you could stand to listen to it. You grabbed your coat and left as quickly as you could, neither of your parents noticing that you were gone as they continued to scream in each others faces.

By the time you made it to the schools entrance, you wished you had brought a change of clothes as ice shot through your veins and goose-pimpled your skin. You drew your coat closer to your chest, clenching and unclenching your gloveless fingers to keep the feeling in their tips.

As you bound up the schools steps like a heat-seeking rocket, the rubber tyres of a coffee brown BMW screeched to a stop. The sudden sound echoing across the empty school premises caused you to turn quickly. Through the windshield, you saw a man in a business suit at the wheel. Beside him was his eighteen-year-old son, Steve Harrington. Your heart raced when you saw him. You weren't expecting to see him here.

Billy isn't here. You told yourself in an attempt to calm your jangled nerves.

His hands gestured animatedly as he argued with his father. Their words were suppressed by the metal walls of the car, but you could surmise their level of volume by the thick vein protruding from Steve's neck. Then, their words exploded like a bullet from the barrel of a gun, piercing through the stillness of the morning as the door opened and Steve stomped out. Something along the lines of "No school's gonna give a scholarship to a discipline case!". And just like that, their poor version of a conversation seized to exist by the single slam of a car door. Almost immediately, the car sped off, swerving around the parking lot like a maniac before disappearing. You stood in shock as Steve held his two middle fingers up at the abandoning vehicle. It was not a home life you would have pictured for King Steve. It was a rather unexpected display you had witnessed, but to Steve, it seemed like any other day. He jogged up the stairs, hands in his jacket pockets and sporting a healing split lip, looking so unaffected by the argument that you almost convinced yourself that you had imagined it.

He paused on the step behind you, finally noticing that you were there, but only for a split second, barely sparing you a glance before moving straight past you and through the doors. You felt heaviness in your chest. No "hello." Even a simple smile would have done. But you supposed they were reserved for his real friends. Sure, you and Steve knew each other - you had friends from the same group, and you had been to a few of his parties, but you hadn't even held a proper conversation with the guy - just dribs and drabs of small talk here and there, but he was nice.

Thoughts of Billy flashed through your mind. It seems as though Billy's appearance at his party the other day had left him wanting nothing to do with you. You understood why, Billy had caused quite the scene over nothing. But there was no reason why you should be punished for his actions. You shook the thoughts out of your head. It was nothing that you should dwell on, so you continued on into the school.

The halls looked strange without their usual morning bustle. The squeak of your sneakers against the freshly waxed floor echoed as you made your way to the school library. You could hear Steve's fast pace ahead of you. His blue, straight-legged jeans and pristine Nike sneakers strode out of your sight until you were left in silence. The silence felt so loud that it rumbled from the high ceiling. You were so sure it was the cause of the last light flickering at the end of the hall. Continuing forward, you took the first left and proceeded straight until you reached the double doors at the end. A flimsy banner hung from the tiled ceiling, "HAWKINS TIGERS ALL THE WAY," with a decent enough illustration of the school mascot, threatened to fall. You treaded lightly as you moved beneath it, holding your breath in fear that any sudden movement would cause it to fall down on you. You released it when you made it safely to the other side.

Your fingers traced along the lockers as you walked, reading the bits and pieces of graffiti as you went; 'Fuck this shit, I'm out' in scrawled handwriting, 'I hate Mondays' with drips of black paint streaking down some of the letters, and a cartoonish depiction of a weed leaf smoking a blunt which made you chuckle. You walked past a trophy case, eyeing the splendid totems of athletic and academic prestige alike. A picture of the basketball team in all their glory on the top shelf, another of the cheerleading squad, yourself included, and a grainy image of the physics club haphazardly chucked on the bottom. Your white sneakers squeaked once more as you pivoted to the right before making a final left to the pine doors of the library.

Before you were six tables placed into two rows of three, with three chairs sitting snugly behind each one. You were surprised to see Nancy 'goodie two shoes' wheeler sat at the front table, with her perfectly permed hair and fur-lined jacket still on her shoulders. You didn't think it was possible for Nancy Wheeler to get detention, but then again, the same could've been said about you. Steve had strangely enough sat on the same table as her, despite every other seat being completely free, leaving an empty chair between them so as not to make it weird. Neither of them spoke to each other and instead opted to sit in silence, fiddling with their finger nails or a loose thread on their jumper. As you took your first foot in, a tall, lanky girl with short, dirty blonde hair sped past you, mumbling a quick sorry when she nearly knocked you off your feet. This unorthodox first impression of the girl, who you had only ever seen around the school halls, had commenced quite the distaste for her already. She was red-faced and sweaty, carrying her thick winter coat over her elbow, undeterred by the chilly weather. The whites of her eyes almost blended with her rosy cheeks, bloodshot like she was holding back tears. She had been in a rush to get here and away from whatever had made her upset. You imagined that's what you must have looked like this morning, and you almost started to feel a little sorry for her. She took the middle table on the left side, dumping her coat on one chair before hiding her face in her arms. If you hadn't known any better, it looked as though she was trying to fall asleep on the table.

You made your way to the table to the right of hers, taking the seat on the furthest side. You kept your coat on for now but dumped your bag on the chair beside you. With a huff, you rested your head in the palm of your hands, watching the back of Nancy and Steve's heads.

The heavy weight of the library door forced its hinges to fold and close impulsively, and Eddie slipped through the crack before it closed all the way, because god forbid he wasted his energy on something as measly as opening a door. The pride in his face when he reached the other side was as if beating the door was life or death. Like he was Indiana Jones rolling under a trap door to avoid being impaled by spikes. All he needed was a wide-brimmed fedora.

You tensed at the sight of him. You had heard rumours that he was a Satan worshiper and that he would do casual rituals on the weekends. You didn't believe it, of course, Eddie was all bark and no bite, but that didn't make you feel any easier around him. Eddie was not a good person. He had been caught one too many times trying to sell weed to freshman because they were 'naïve and easy to upsell' or trying to get them to join his little Hellfire Cult. He would spit and hiss at the teachers, setting up traps in unsuspecting students' lockers, or even straight up stealing their locks so their personal belongings were out for anyone to see. He was like a snake. Once he caught his prey, he was coiling around it, pulling himself into it. Constricting, suffocating, waiting to ascertain it was truly dead before taking a bite. His scales came in the form of clinking enamel badges, and his words were the venom dripping from his tongue. To put it lightly, he was one big bully - a miscreant.

His kleptomaniac fingers touched practically everything he walked by: picking up flyers and not even bothering to read them before dropping them to the floor, unhooking the phone from the receiver so it dangled limply from the checkout desk, and pocketing a few pencils that are no doubt going to end up missing because Eddie Munson has never brought a pencil to school a day in his life. He walked slowly, confidently, giving everyone in the room time to become aware of his presence. You could feel him eyeing you up when he walked by. You met his stare like an owl, following until you couldn't turn your head any further. You weren't going to let him intimidate you and you wanted him to know it. It was the first time you had seen him wearing something other than his usual hellfire shirt and leather jacket. He had the same dark, denim jeans with the holes in the knees and once white reeboks, only this time he wore a black t-shirt with a thick winter coat in a matching colour. Red, plaid fabric peaked out from the confines of his coat. Sensibly, he had worn a shirt over top as an extra layer to keep warm. His footsteps were wide and languid as he moved to his seat, dumping himself on the table behind you and untangling his scarf from around his neck.

Just as everyone settled in, Principal Richard Higgins strode in, stopping dead centre in the mouth of the passageway between the two rows of tables. You tried not to laugh. Principal Higgins was a sight to behold, swapping his usual grey suit and tie for flamboyantly bright pink t-shirt a size too small for his pot belly, a casual white blazer, a pair of jeans and bold coloured sneakers. You didn't notice until now that he had the figure of a lollipop, round on top, but stick thin on the bottom. You understood now why he always wore a suit; it evened him out a bit. Though he did confirm the rumour that teachers were definitely not normal.

He glanced at his fancy watch. "I would first like to congratulate you all for being on time." Though it sounded more sarcastic than sincere.

He seemed to be looking straight at Eddie as he said that. Eddie only responded by kicking his feet up on the desk.

"Now, it is 8:02am. You have exactly eight uneventful hours to spend in each others company." He began pacing up and down the aisle with his chest puffed out in intimidation (well, as intimidating as a lollipop shaped man could be), slapping Eddies feet down as he did.

"You many not talk, you may not move from your seats -" He stopped at the weird girl who had nearly knocked you over and slapped a hand on the desk. She shot up with a gasp. "And you may not sleep."

"Today," He continued, marching to the front, "we're going to try something different. I want all of you to - uh?"

Principal Higgins dropped a stack of notebook paper on the nearest table and then made his way for the pot of pencils on the checkout desk. He paused in confusion when he saw the pot was empty; every pencil hiding snuggly in Eddie's pocket. You rolled your eyes as Eddie snickered behind you. There was a long pause of awkward silence as Principal Higgins made his way around the desk in search of more pencils. There were a few quiet grunts of effort and then a "Ah ha" before he appeared back in front.

"Right, I want all of you to write me an essay of no less than one thousand words describing to me who you think you are." He began handing out paper and pencils to everyone. "And when I say essay, I mean essay. Not a single word repeated a thousand times. Do you understand, Mr. Munson?"

"Mr. Munson understands, Principal Higgins." Eddie said.

Higgins ignored him. "Maybe you'll learn something about why you're here, and perhaps you'll decide whether or not you care to return."

Silence.

"I'll be across the hall in my office. Any monkey business is ill-advised. Questions?"

You saw Steve shake his head and catch Nancy shaking hers like she couldn't believe this was happening to her.

Principal Higgins gave one solid nod to confirm that question and answer time was over before making his way towards the library doors.

"Yeah, I got a question."

He took a pause, hand clenched firmly on the door handle as he twisted around. He raised his brow at Eddie, already sick and tired of his antics.

"Does Don Johnson know that you raided his wardrobe?"

There were a few snickers, including you, trying to discreetly cover your mouth to hide your smile. Principal Higgins was undisturbed. There wasn't a thing Eddie could do or say that would insult him. At least, that's what he wanted him to think.

"You'll find out the answer to that next Saturday. Mr. Munson. Do you have anything else you'd like to say to impress these people?"

Eddie smirked, leaning across the table and clasping his hands. He accepted the challenge, staring the Principal dead in the eye. "You got any naked pictures of your wife?"

The Principal's face turned red, and he referred to him with a hateful look in his eyes. "You've just earned yourself another Saturday detention, Mister." He pointed.

His eyes scoured the room, looking for anybody else who would challenge him. "Does anybody else want to join him?

The laughing stopped.

"Didn't think so."

And with that, he left, leaving the door wide open to give him a straight view of the library through his office window. Eddie chuckled, resting his feet back on the table, clearly proud of the reaction he had gotten.

Then silence.

A lot of silence.

Eddie placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes like he was going to sleep. Nancy began fiddling with her pencil, thinking about how she was going to start her essay. Steve cracked his knuckles, and the other girl (who you had yet to learn the name of) just stared at her paper. You simply sighed, took off your coat, and began daydreaming about all the other ways you could've chosen to spend your Saturday.

The library was by no means modern, but the faculty seemed to have no appreciation for the sort of library they've been given and ungraciously added touches of their own. There was an ugly mix of deep mahogany and grey sheet-metal bookcases, a couple of fake plants collecting dust, and old academic trophies that probably haven't been touched since the sixties. There were posters, some painted, some printed, but most were horrifically Halloween themed, and a rather provocative David Hasselhoff calendar behind the front desk, which the librarian thought no one could see.

Those few times that you had actually stepped foot in the library, you noticed it was never truly quiet. There were always whisperings of students, the whirring of printers, and the clicking of keyboards and typewriters.

But today, a Saturday, with only five students bored out of their minds, it was truly silent.

The library was so quiet that you could practically hear the books ageing. The books consumed the noise, leaving you all in a suffocatingly awkward space of ineloquent glances. Broad daylight struggled to reach the room. Not that the sun was trying to, but the blinds sought out to fight against it anyway. Instead, it was the hanging lights above that lit the maze of a room. The soft lights were enough to put you to sleep. Your eyes were fluttering softly, your head drooping--

"Master of puppets, I'm pulling your strings

Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams

Blinded by me, you can't see a thing

Just call my name, 'cause I'll hear you scream

Master, master!"

Your peaceful almost-slumber was rudely interrupted when Eddie opened his big mouth to sing that god-awful song. You had never listened to it in your life, but would gladly never listen to it again if it meant that Eddie would shut the hell up. You turned around to give him a glare of annoyance, and when you turned back, you noticed that the others had done the same. He peeked out through one eye, smirking at the look on everyone's faces, before continuing, only this time he was humming instead. Thank god.

"Shit!" Eddie sprang up, feet down, sitting up straight and alert. He startled you, and you turned again. "What are we supposed to do if we gotta take a leak?"

He pretended to undo his zipper, the childish act making you roll your eyes. "If you gotta go, you gotta go."

"Oh my god." Nancy looked like she was going to throw up. She turned and shielded her eyes.

"Try it, and you're dead before the first drop hits the floor." Steve threatened.

Eddie laughed, accomplishing his mission of upsetting the others. "You know, you're pretty sexy when you're angry, big boy."

He turned his attention to the quiet girl sat adjacent to him. She shifted under his gaze.

"Hey Buckley," She turned with a look of boredom, like she was used to his antics, "why don't you go and close that door so I can get our little cheerleader here naked?"

You almost gave yourself whiplash with how quickly you turned to glare at him. "Don't even think about it asshole."

"Why you a virgin?"

"Fuck you."

"You're disgusting." Nancy added.

"Awe, I'm sorry, you feeling left out, Princess? There's plenty of me to go around. But I suppose if you don't want to wait your turn, I wouldn't say no to a three-way."

"Ugh, you're such a creep!"

"Listen, man, if you piss me off, you're totalled." Steve defended the two of you, though you felt it was more for Nancy's sake than yours.

"Totalled?"

"Totally."

"Just ignore him, Steve. Maybe he'll go away." Nancy suggested, placing a hand on his shoulder to turn him to face the front.

There was a pause. Their shoulders relaxed when they had thought Eddie had given up.

"Oh, so are you two like boyfriend/girlfriend?" Eddie teased.

No reply.

"Steady dates?"

Silence.

"Lovers?"

Nancy continued to ignore him, but Steve smouldered with anger.

"Tell me, Princess, have you two played hide the sausage yet?"

"GO TO HELL!"

"Hey, keep it down in there!" Higgins called from across the hall.

He rolled backwards on his office chair until the five of them came into view. They were all seated exactly how he left them. He rolled back out of sight.

Everybody visibly relaxed.

Eddie hid the shock of Nancy's outburst behind another annoying smirk.

"Just ignore him, guys." You advised. "He's only doing it to get a rise out of you."

"Sweetheart, you couldn't ignore me if you tried." He gave you a confident wink.

You hated that it made your cheeks flush with heat. You quickly turned before you gave him something else to tease you over.

"We gotta close them doors. How are we supposed to party with the old pinhead checking us out every two seconds?" Eddie stood from his seat and moved towards the doors.

"I don't think that's a good idea. The doors are supposed to stay open." This 'Buckley' opened her mouth for the first time since she's got here. Everybody looked at her bewildered.

It was only Eddie who didn't seem phased by this, but he still paused. "What do you mean 'supposed to'?"

"Vernon said, Dingus, and I really don't want to get on his bad side. I mean, Mrs. Clickety Clackety is already threatening me with suspension, and I can't afford that. How am I supposed to get accepted into any sort of college if I get suspended. They'll think I'm a horrible student, and I'll be one big massive reject and--"

"Whoa, Robin, slow down." Steve interrupted her breathless rambling. You were struggling to keep up with each word. She was talking so fast. Just total word vomit, like she'd been trying to keep it down since she got here and suddenly just projectiled everywhere. It didn't even occur to you then that Steve knew her name.

"So?" Was Eddie's only blunt reply.

"So, why don't you just shut up." Steve scowled. "There's four other people in here, you know? Stop thinking about yourself for once."

"Wow, you're a math wiz, Sporto. I bet you know your ABCs, too. See, I knew you were smart. You hide it well, Harrington." Steve grimaced at that. "I mean, let's face it, you gotta be smart to play basketball."

"Who are you to judge?" Steve challenged. "You don't even count. If you disappeared forever, it wouldn't make any difference. You may as well not even exist at this school."

There was a twitch in Eddie's eye. He hated how that got to him, but he recovered swiftly. "Oh? Well, maybe I'll join the basketball team or the wrestling team? Or better yet, the student council, I think you'd like some of the ideas I have in mind for this place."

He moved slowly, intimidatingly to Steve's table, stopping in front of it before leaning down so he towered over Steve. He reminded you of an adult reprimanding a little boy. But Steve wasn't a little boy. He could hold his own.

"You could try, but they'd never take you."

"Damn, I'm hurt. truly." Eddie was definitely not hurt.

"Will you just stop? If you keep this up, Higgins is gonna come storming in here. I've got a game next Saturday, and I'm not gonna miss it because of you."

"Wouldn't that be a bite? Missing a whole game." Eddie feigned sympathy.

"You wouldn't know anything about it, Freak. You've never competed in your life."

"I know, and I feel all empty inside because of it." Eddie puffed his chest as if his heart was swelling with pride. "I have such a deep admiration for guys who toss balls into laundry baskets."

"Whatever, man. You don't have any goals."

"See, that's where you're wrong, I do have goals." Eddie paused in suspense, and Steve perked up a little in his seat. "My goal is to be exactly like you."

Steve slumped back and rolled his eyes. "You're worthless."

"I compete." Robin added after a beat. All eyes turned to her. You could tell she didn't like that much, but she continued anyway. "I'm in band, and I'm on the debate team, and I'm in the Latin club and chess team. This one time, with the debate team, we had this big banquet at the Hilton and we had to get dressed up. And, uh, I didn't have any shoes so I had to wear my mom's shoes. It was kind of weird because my Nana doesn't like when I wear other people's shoes. But, yeah. It's not athletic, but I compete in a lot of stuff."

"That's not the same, Rob." Steve sighed.

"You have to be a jock to compete?" Eddie confronted.

"I was talking about athletic competition."

"What's the difference?" You questioned. Everyone turned to you this time, but you kept your attention on Steve. You could see the proud smile on Eddie's face out of the corner of your eye.

"What do you mean?"

"What I said."

Eddie's eyebrow raised in amusement, enjoying someone else putting Steve in his place for a change. If he was being totally honest, Eddie didn't really have anything against Steve. Steve's friends, on the other hand, were a different story. Eddie found himself being hounded by Steve's friends more often than not, but Steve didn't actually do anything. But he didn't stop it either. Of all of them, he was the easiest to rile up, and Eddie couldn't help but cease the moment whenever he could.

Steve scoffed but bowed out of the conversation. "You're all fucked."

"Hey man, watch your mouth. There's ladies here remember? They don't appreciate you using a word like FUCK! in front of them." Eddie gestured to you. "I don't know if you know this, big boy, but her mother is a nun!"

It was true that your mother was a religious person, but she was certainly not a nun. "No she isn't."

"Sorry," He turned back to Steve. "Her father is a nun!"

You rolled your eyes, but couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped your lips. The sound caused a mischievous glint in Eddie's eyes. You hated it.

"Higgins is leaving." Nancy proclaimed suddenly.

Eddie paused with wide eyes like a deer in headlights, not wanting to get caught out of his seat. Everyone looked down the hall in time to see Principle Higgins exit his office, not even sparing them a glance. Eddie proceeded to the doors, peeking his head out to watch Higgins drink from the water fountain at the other end of the hall.

Eddie came back in the room. "We gotta move fast, the scumbag's just filling his tank."

Steve sent Nancy an annoyed look that said 'why did you have to tell him that?', causing her to shy away. She was already thinking the same thing herself. Eddie pulled a chair to the door, stood on it and took a guitar pick out of his pocket. With the guitar pick, he removed a screw from the door spring assembly. He jumped off the chair and the door closed behind him.

"That's not funny, man. Fix it."

"Please fix it." Robin pleaded.

"Am I a genius?" Eddie asked, though it was more of a brag than a question, as he quickly pushed the chair back to its rightful spot.

"No, you're an asshole."

There was a muffled "Hey!" from behind the door and everyone rushed to act as casual as possible. Eddie quickly took his seat, only this time he sat next to you. You tensed uncomfortably, smelling the faint cigarette smoke on his coat. You wanted to smack him for being so stupid. You just prayed that Higgins wouldn't notice he swapped seats.

The door busted open.

"Why is this door closed?" There was fury in his eyes.

Everyone remained silent, avoiding meeting his eyes. Steve turned to look at Eddie as if deciding the best way to rat him out.

Eddie jumped in before he could say anything. "How should we know, we're not supposed to move, right?"

Higgins singled out Steve, obviously noticing how he had looked at Eddie. "Why is that door closed?"

Steve looked to Eddie once again. You were cringing at how obvious he made it. You could feel Eddie shaking his leg under the desk. A nervous habit? Perhaps Eddie was afraid to get caught. Or he was just furious at Steve for even thinking about being a snitch. He lowered his eyes at Steve, a glare that said, 'Go on, I dare you'. Steve backed down.

"We were just sitting here. Like we're supposed to." Nancy answered for Steve, who was taking a suspicious amount of time to reply.

"The wind must've blew it." Robin added.

"It just... closed, Sir." Steve reluctantly agreed.

Principal Higgins eyed Eddie anyway and pointed a thick sausage finger. "This looks like the mindless sort of crap you'd find amusing, Munson."

"I think a screw fell out of it. I heard something that sounded like a screw falling out." Eddie tried to persuade.

"Yeah, right. Give me the screw."

"I don't have it."

"Am I going to have to turn you upside down and shake you?"

"I don't have it, Sir. Screws fall out all the time. The world is an imperfect place."

"Give it to me, Munson."

He smiled suggestively. "Where do you want it?"

"With all due respect, Principal Higgins," you interrupted before he made things worse for himself. "Why would somebody steal a screw?"

Eddie looked at you in surprise, but you made it clear to him that you didn't do it because you liked him. Higgins walked back to the door.

"How do your parents put up with you, Munson?"

"They gave up on me a long time ago, Sir." He said it with such sincerity that your heart actually ached for him.

Higgins opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. He realised how pointless it was to go after him. Instead, he went to the door, trying his luck at opening it and hoping it stayed that way. It didn't. He tried again, this time grabbing a chair to hold it open.

"That won't work. The door is way too heavy."

Higgins ignored Eddie. He pushed the chair against the door and let go. It threw the chair across the room, and the door slammed with an echoing bang. There were a few gasps of surprise and snorts of laughter.

Higgins fumed, eyeing the room for a solution. "Harrington, get up."

Steve unwillingly got up from his seat as the Principal directed him to grab one end of a bookcase.

"How come he gets to get up? If he gets up, we'll all get up. It'll be anarchy!"

You elbowed Eddie's side to shut him up. He wasn't making this better for himself, which would no doubt end up with all of you getting punished. The two of them heaved together, and Steve actually ended up doing most of the work. The odd book fell to the floor, nearly tripping them up as they hefted it along slowly. They struggled for a few more minutes to slide the bookcase over to the door. Only when they finally got it in place did Eddie open his mouth again.

"That's very clever, Sir. But what if there's a fire?"

Higgins hadn't thought of that, but he didn't let it show.

"I think violating fire codes and endangering the lives of children is unwise at this juncture in your career, Sir." Robin chimed in and then sunk back in her seat under the Principal's stare.

Higgins turned back to Steve. "Alright, what are you doing with this? Get this outta here, for God's sake! What's the matter with you? Come on!"

Steve wanted to kill Eddie for opening his big mouth and then Robin for supporting him. The two of them struggled again to move it back to its original place. Once done, Steve sat back down with bated breaths.

Principal Higgins started towards Eddie, sweat dripping from his forehead, despite barely lifting a finger. "You're not fooling anybody, Munson. The next screw that falls out will be you."

Eddie muttered under his breath. "Eat my shorts."

"What was that?" Higgins barked.

"Eat. My. Shorts."

"You've just bought yourself another detention, Mister."

"Ugh, I'm crushed." Eddie faked a wince.

"You just bought yourself another."

"Well, I'm free the Saturday after that."

"Another."

"Hmm, beyond that, I'm gonna have to check my calendar."

"Another."

You looked at Eddie fearfully. He was getting absolutely slaughtered by Principal Higgins. Although, no matter how much you dislike him, you couldn't help but be moved by his defiance.

"Cut it out." You whispered to him.

He ignored your plea, keeping up his front. He wasn't going to let this scumbag of a Principal break him. Not in front of the others, and, for reasons Eddie didn't quite understand yet, certainly not in front of you. He dared Higgins to give him another.

"Okay, Munson, your ass is mine for the next two months."

"I'm thrilled."

"You sure would like everybody to think that, wouldn't you? Maybe if you spent more time trying to do something with yourself and less time trying to impress people, you might be better off." Higgins brought his attention back to everyone else. "I'm not gonna put up with any more crap from any of you. Next time I have to come in here, I'll be coming to crack skulls."

He set his threat with a hard, angry glare and finally left the room.

The silence set in once again.

~~~~~

<<<Masterlist // Next>>>

~~~~~

#eddie munson #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson smut #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson series #mini series #cheerleader!reader #eddie munson x cheerleader!reader #stranger things #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #the breakfast club #the breakfast club mini series #the breakfast club fanfic #stranger things x the breakfast club #enemies to lovers

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jimblejamblewritings · 3 months

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the fake date plot | part 6.

Summary: Gryffindors, seventh years, classmates, unrequited love. Just a few things Y/N and James Potter had in common. When a brilliantly dumb plan is hatched the two end up getting something a little different than what they wanted.

Warnings for the Series: oh, this is a slowburn now. Or at least that's the plan.

Pairing: James Potter x reader

Word Count: 1.2k

A/N: yeah I know I've been gone for a year... I have no words, my bad

Previous Part | (Series Chapter List)

James came down with the rest of the marauders to find you had already fixed a big plate of breakfast for him. He gave you a peck on the cheek as he took off his quidditch jumper before sitting down.

“Thanks, bug.”

“Why do you call me that?” you asked, taking a bite of your English muffin.

“Do you not like it? I can call you something else.”

“No, I like it. I was just wondering why.”

James shrugged. “Never thought about it… You’re cute and little, some bugs are cute and little. Yep, makes sense.”

“I’m not little.”

“You’re littler than me. It counts.”

“You’re freakishly tall.”

“Remus is freakishly tall.”

“So are you.” You popped a fried potato chunk in your mouth.

“Just accept it, bug.”

You went back to your breakfast, deciding his answer and little argument was satisfactory enough for you. James nudged you with his shoulder, beginning a mini battle between the two of you until he finally conceded. It was still a learning process for the two of you, trying to figure out how to play up your fake dating. Your friends were definitely suspicious and while Lily seemed to move a bit closer, Xeno didn’t even glance your way.

You were worried that maybe you and James were switching places in regards to the objects of your affection. You felt something squeeze your thigh ever so slightly and looked over to see James was seemingly in conversation with Peter. He must’ve caught you staring too long at the Ravenclaw table and a certain someone.

Shaking your head, you went back to eating. That’s right. You were with James and you two needed to be sickeningly in love. Besides, Lily was coming around so maybe Xeno was just distracted right now. You opened up your journal to jot down a few notes. A looming presence hung over your right shoulder.

“Yes, Jamie?” you asked without looking up.

“I’m just looking at your calendar.” He pointed to a blank Wednesday. “Quill in a study date, right when classes end.”

“Study? James Potter, when have you ever studied anything that wasn’t Charms and Defense?”

“Well, do you really need to study wand lore or broom craft? And does memorizing a whole script count as studying?”

“It does when you’re in a drama club. And if I can’t become an actress then I need to feed myself so I’m learning to make quidditch equipment. You idiots break at least two brooms every week each, not to mention the other stuff. I’ll never have to worry about money.”

“You’re learning about quidditch?”

You finally looked up, recognizing the shift in James’ tone from when you two were acting for your friends versus being genuine. Giving your fake boyfriend a smile, you stole some food off his plate.

“It’s not because you like it. It’s because you, especially, are rich and will buy my brooms and convince all your teammates to buy my brooms.”

He laughed so loud it made students at the other houses’ tables, including Xeno, look over. James squished your cheeks and gave you a peck.

“I should have known you were only with me for my money. Well, I hate to inform you, love, I’ve just squandered the family fortune on flying carpets.”

You rolled your eyes. “How do you have a cute comeback for everything?”

“You think it’s cute?”

You stood up from the table. “You are the cutest, Jamie. The most adorable scrumdiddlyumptious squishy-wishy super-duper boyfriend in the whole world.”

“I sense I’m being teased.”

“I would never tease you, Jamie bo-baimey taimey waimey rai—”

“Ha ha, very funny. Now you deserve the punishment jumper.”

“Punishment jumper? What am I, five years old?” Your words were muffled by a red jumper covering your face before your head popped out the other side. You looked down. “You just wanted me to wear your jumper.”

James blushed and you wanted to laugh. Natural blush wasn’t easy with fake dating but the two of you figured out a relatively uncomfortable trick if the two of you weren’t on the same page. You were allowed to picture Xeno whenever you wanted and James was allowed to picture Lily. He was totally imagining her in his jumper— it probably helped that you and Lily were the same height and body type so the jumper fit exactly like it would on her.

Your fake boyfriend scratched the back of his head. “Some of the team was talking about how they like seeing their partner in their jumpers and I wanted to know what that was like.”

“And?”

“Don’t know yet, it just looks like I dropped it on you.”

“That’s cause you did drop it on me. Wait, let me fix it.”

You pulled out the collar and untucked your shirt so the tails were sticking out. The sweater almost covered your skirt entirely since it was already oversized on James that you weren’t sure if you’d get a violation or not but you didn’t try to adjust it. You gave a little twirl.

“Tada.”

“You look great.”

Leaning over James, who covered your skirt with his hands to make sure nothing showed, you collected your stuff. “I’ll see you later, okay? Marls, are you coming with me to Herbology or still eating?”

Marlene tried to recover from getting caught staring, mouth open, at you and James. She shook her head no and you made your way out of the Great Hall to head to Herbology. James left only five minutes after you in order to give your friends space to gossip in peace.

The two of you were counting on Sirius and Mary to get louder by the minute until it garnered everyone’s attention. You were sure it worked when Alice came into the greenhouse practically squealing at you. You and James were the hottest topic in school. All you could do was roll your eyes and keep taking notes as Alice started planning your entire future together. You turned to look at your friend. James wouldn’t hate you for telling one person. You both had planned to tell your closest friends when the time was right and you couldn’t take keeping a secret anymore.

“Hey, Alice. Me and Jam—”

The door to the greenhouse swung open but it was Professor Sprout that came in. It was James standing in the threshold.

“Your birthday is this weekend,” he said, pointing an accusatory finger.

“Yes, James.”

“Bug, you didn’t say what you wanted for your birthday.”

“I’m okay.”

“What?” His eyebrows crinkled together. “You don’t want anything?”

“It’s not that big a deal.”

“Birthdays are a completely big deal.”

“Well… I just don’t want anybody spending too much on me this year. My parents and I are saving up for university… if there is a university.”

It was an unspoken thing that no student might make it to university when the war was ramping up. If Voldemort and the Death Eaters got bigger, a draft was likely to happen. And unlike muggles, men and women were drafted in the wizarding world since all the fighting was done with magic and didn’t require any strength outside of mental. James shook his head.

“That’s an even better reason to give you something. It won’t be large, I promise.”

“Small things can still be very expensive.”

“Honestly, I’ve never looked at a price tag in my life.”

You sighed. “You and Sirius live totally different lives from the rest of us, I wish I had rich parents… Okay, I concede. If it isn’t big then it can be whatever you want.”

“Good. I have to go now before Slughorn loses his mind that I’m not there or worse pairs me up with Snape as a punishment.”

(part 7...)

THIS TAGLIST:

@starsval @helloitsmeeeeeee @callsigndiamond @isabela30 @rachelccollier @ghostkingblake @b3t0xic @tendous-pretty-hair @caelum-the-part-time-nihilist @superduckmilkshake @sendnuwudes @prongsprincessworld @slightlynotslightlyobsessing @wildernessflora @siriuslycaptainofthedawntreader @mommymilkerfanclub @amandachrystinallc @lupinsbookshelf @harrysgoldenwatermelon @loving-and-dreaming @that-simp-sin @bubybubsters @peachesgaeass @jellyfishlioncrab @cenkisabibl

PERMANENT TAGLIST:

@venomsvl @peaches-n-sunscreen @summerellaz @supernaturallover2002 @sambucky8 @9daykrisr @thebitchinleo @23victoria @scarlets-widow @pagetpagetpagetpaget @lovexnatasha @awesomebooklover17 @1234-angelika @imatrisk @blackreaderatrisk @princess-jules47 @alexloveskili @a-marie-a @siriuslysirius1107 @i-have-no-life-charlie

#james potter x reader #james potter fluff #james potter fic #marauders fic #marauders imagines #marauders fluff #marauders era #harry potter fic

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readychilledwine · 6 months

Text

Azriel Masterlist

Azriel x Lyria Vanserra

After a mission leaves Az sore, Madja and Rhys suggest he sees Lyria, a healer who specializes in massage therapy

Bound By Fate Series Masterlist

When Kaylee Archeron meets Azriel, her world turns upside down. Between balancing her trauma, new powers, a mating bond, and war looming over her new home, Kaylee learns that everything is not as little as it once seemed.

Beauty in Pain - Request - A failed mission leads to our reader losing her wings (Azriel x Illyrian Reader)

Surprises ** - Azriel has wanted to touch his high lady for a long time (Azriel x Tamlin's Sister OC x Rhysand)

Devotion - Request - Based on the quote prompt "I can hold the world in my two hands" (Azriel x Reader)

Replacement - Based *loosely* on a Request - After Azriel's son calls his mate, "mommy", reader is out in a situation where all three of them are healing from trauma

Losing Forever - Request - After his mate heads home to care for her sick father and brother, Azriel is faced with the consequences.

Whispers in The Dark ** - Request - Azriel is ever the opportunist when it comes to using a recently discovered fetish against you.

Cat and Mouse

Request - After reports of Illyrian males torturing females and children hit Rhysand's desk, he, Cassian, and Azriel bring you to the camps for the first time in search of answers.

Lollipop ** After being silenced during the High Lord's meeting with her favorite candy. Seraphina finds herself the center of a certain shadowsingers attention

Part 2 **

For Science ** Request - Azriel and Eris finally agree on one thing, your bratty behavior can't continue to go unpunished

Small World Mini Series

20 years away from the Inner Circle was exactly what Azriel needed to heal. It was exactly what he needed to bring him to you, but the world has a funny way of bringing everything full circle.

The Breakfast Club - After missing breakfast unexpectedly, a hidden relationship is revealed to Azriel's family, who can't tell if they're more surprised by you or his cat.

Oath - Y/n was taken in by Feyre as a small child, and now lives with her in the Night Court, but her favorite person is and will always be Azriel

When I'm Gone - You always had the perfect answer, even when you weren't there to give it anymore

AZRIEL WEEK -2023

#acotar #acotar x reader #azriel acotar #azriel x reader #azriel #azriel shadowsinger #azriel x oc #azriel fanfic #azriel spymaster #azriel x y/n #azriel x you

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esmedelacroix · 2 months

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"I hate it when you make me laugh,"

husband!miguel x f!reader ♡

10 Things I Hate About You ← mini-series masterlist

"I hate it when you lie" ← previous part

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You could choose to be a nice mature partner and just communicate why you were angry with Miguel with him. But he decided to be a terrible lying cheating husband last night so you decided to be childish and be mad at him all day.

That started with breakfast. Usually whoever woke up first made breakfast. Unfortunately, that person was you. It was one of his sleep-in days where he didn't have to work until later in the day. You weren't going to starve him just because you were mad at him so you did the next best thing.

You made him something he hated. He didn't tell you he hated it when you made it but you knew he forced himself to eat it. So you had a banana-themed breakfast. Banana bread, banana pancakes, banana smoothies, you name it.

"Buen día, mi amor[Good morning, my love]," Miguel grumbled rubbing his eyes.

You hummed in response and plated the last of breakfast. "Since you ate them all the last time I made it, I thought I'd make banana pancakes again," you said, sliding him a plate.

"Oh, you really didn't have to," he said as he dug in with a neutral facial expression. Miguel ate anything he was giving. But that didn't mean he didn't have an opinion about the food he ate. He still ate it. It didn't seem to visibly bother him but you knew he was suffering on the inside.

You focused on keeping your facial expression on a permanent scowl as you ate. Miguek kept looking up at you whenever he wasn't eating his breakfast. He stared. You could already tell he was analyzing you. God, you hated it when he did that. He probably knew exactly what we were thinking.

"Since you're upset with me about yesterday night, I took the day off. We could go anywhere you want, let me make it up to you," he said.

Darn it, how did he already figure me out? You asked yourself. You hummed in response masking your shock.

"We can even go to the rodeo-themed male strip club you went to at your bachelorette party, but you lied to me about just having a spa night," he smirked. You couldn't wipe the smile off your face and soon you were laughing out loud.

"There's that smile I love," he hummed to himself.

"How do you know about that?" you breathed out after almost doubling over with laughter.

"Who do you think paid for it?" he responded as he sipped his coffee. That made you laugh again.

"Aw, this sucks. I was supposed to be mad all day," you sighed.

"I know but I don't like seeing you upset. Why are you upset?" he asked like he didn't know he fully lied to you about being with another woman late at night.

"Well, I don't know, ask Justine," you replied.

"Oh god," Miguel said, rubbing his eyes.

"Why didn't you just tell me you were with her instead of spending the night with your wife," you asked.

"Because I knew you were going to be upset about it so I planned to tell you today, the last thing I want you thinking is that anything is going on between me and Justine. Babe, I get that she's "young and pretty" or whatever but respectfully I would never cheat on you with someone who is literally in college," He explained.

"She's like a little sister, even a daughter to me," he continued.

"I know, I just can't help myself. I've never been so jealous before. Like in my whole life, I think," you said.

"That's not true," he interjected.

"Okay whatever but you get what I'm saying," you sighed, rolling your eyes.

"Is everything cleared up now?" he asked.

"Not exactly but we can talk more about it today," you answered.

"At the strip club?" he teased, giving you a nudge."Oh shut up," you snapped blushing. How the hell did he find out about that seriously? You asked yourself. Jess would definitely be getting an interrogating phone all later today.

. . .

next part → "Even worse when you make me cry"

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taglist: @lilscast @lazyjellyfish300 @safixiovi @saaaaaaaaaaaamiiiiiiiiiiira @aktenati @straw-berry-ghoul @vera4luv

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tropes-and-tales-archives · 5 months

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Sonny Carisi: Second Chances, Part Four

WC: 6725

TW: Idiots in love; smut (PiV, protected); 18+ only.

AN: This is part of a mini-series. The rest can be found here.

You didn’t sleep with Sonny that night. You definitely wanted to, but something made you slow down. Maybe it was his admission that he didn’t feel like he deserved to be happy. Maybe it was how he see-sawed between eagerness and hesitation. He seemed to want to be with you, and he seemed to expect you to hurt him. You wanted to make sure that when you finally slept together, he knew it was because you wanted him – not because he was some convenient rebound.

So instead of sleeping with him that night, you cuddled up against him on your couch and just talked. And you got to the bottom of some of Sonny’s hesitation – he had a lengthy history of terrible first dates.

Once he got started talking, it was hard to stop him. There was a date in the eighth grade at an arcade where the girl he came with left with another boy. There was a Yankee game in high school where the girl ghosted him after the fourth inning. There was the date in college when Sonny, trying to act like a grown-up, took a girl to a jazz club. The date was going well, he told you, until the woman let slip that she only was on a date with him to make her real boyfriend jealous.

“And then I screwed up our first date,” he said. He sounded so sad that you couldn’t help but press a kiss to his mouth before you pulled away.

“You didn’t screw it up,” you admonished him. “Besides, you ended up with a second date, so that doesn’t seem like a failure to me.”

He turned and gave you a look that reminded you of a dog in an animal shelter commercial, giant blue eyes and a pout. “But will I get a third date?”

You laughed at him. “Definitely.”

You sent him home shortly thereafter (with the leftover lasagna, after he tap-danced around asking for an extra piece to take home), and then you sat up for a while, thinking. Sonny was so selfless and sweet, and he seemed to never have much nice done for him in return. You decided to plan the third date that you promised him.

********

All you had told Sonny was to dress casually. “Not date-casual,” you told him. “I’m talking jeans, a t-shirt, sneakers.” He started to protest, but you cut him off. “If you aren’t dressed like a boy in middle school, I’m going to call your grandmother and tell her that you were seducing me with breakfast strudels instead of cannoli.”

On Friday night, Sonny found himself waiting in his apartment, dressed in the nicest jeans he had, the cleanest sneakers he had, and a plain t-shirt that he hoped made him look like an adult instead of like a boy. He had to do his hair twice – his usual gel-and-style did not match his attire at all, so he rinsed out all the product and left it more natural.

There was a knock on his door promptly at seven, and he opened the door to you. You were in jeans and canvas sneakers too, and a Backstreet Boys tour t-shirt. Your face was bare of makeup (that he could see), and your hair was pulled up into a high ponytail. You looked almost criminally young, especially when paired with the toothy grin you had plastered across your face.

“C’mon,” you said. You grabbed his hand and tugged him into the hallway towards the stairs. “Our ride is waiting.”

But instead of a taxi standing on the curb, there was a beat-to-hell minivan with a bemused looking older woman in the driver’s seat. You climbed into the middle seat, though, so Sonny followed suit, even though he was completely baffled.

You were silent for the ride, so Sonny held his tongue, and in short order you were dropped at a corner in the Lower East Side. The driver leaned across the passenger’s seat to call out to you, “I’ll pick you up here at eleven,” before she drove off.

“Doll, I have no idea what’s going on,” Sonny said.

You smiled and took his hand again. You tugged him down the street towards some unknown destination. “It’s a re-do,” you explained. “Your first date with a girl in the eighth grade at the arcade.”

Sonny faltered in his steps, and you stopped beside him. “What do you mean?” he asked.

You bit your lip and thought for a moment. “Well, you brought me breakfast every day and let me believe it was Nick,” you explained. “You were giving me happy memories. I thought maybe I could do the same thing. You had bad first dates, so I thought we could re-do them. I wanted to give you a happy memory.”

Sonny felt an unexpected sting of tears in his eyes that he covered up by looking down the street. He cleared his throat. “So eighth grade…”

“Eighth grade,” you agreed. You gestured down your front. “Hence the Backstreet Boys. And our driver was my neighbor. She has a mini-van, and I paid her fifty bucks to drop us off and pick us up.” You grinned at him. “Because we are thirteen and don’t have driver’s licenses.”

The tears threatened again, and Sonny didn’t bother to hide them. He thought back to his first date, and it felt both a million years ago and just yesterday. He remembered being so excited to go out with a girl – Leah – and he remembered feeling so adult to plan out an evening together.

He also remembered the humiliation when Leah left with another classmate, and the mortification when his mother picked him up later, alone.

“Doll, this is too much,” he protested weakly, but you shook your head at him.

“It’s exactly what you deserve.” You started walking, pulling on his hand, and he followed. “Cheap pizza and video games,” you added with a laugh.

Dinner was cheap pizza at a little pizzeria. You both used a ton of napkins to mop up the grease that pooled on the slices, and you skipped the special on a PBR pitcher and stuck with soft drinks (“because we’re underaged” you whispered to Sonny). Getting into the spirit of it, Sonny ordered a Mountain Dew, remembering how he was fueled by it back in middle school.

After that, you walked him across the street to a retro arcade where you paid for two all-access passes that got you unlimited plays. Sonny immediately made a beeline to Street Fighter II, and you watched him bemusedly until you found a console of Burger Time in the corner that you camped out at for a while.

Then the two of you played Gauntlet together, you shoving him lightly when he accidentally shot your with arrows. The night flew by, and before he knew it, you were glancing at your watch and telling him that “your mom” would be on her way. You both left the arcade and started walking towards the pickup point.

“Did you have fun?” you asked him, and Sonny could only throw an arm around your waist and try to tug you to him for a kiss. Which you dodged in mock-horror.

“Whoa,” you said, taking a dancing step away from him. “Were you that forward when you were thirteen, Sonny?”

He laughed at this. “Seriously?”

You batted your eyes at him. “I have a crush on Keanu Reeves, and I’m probably going to marry him when I’m older, but if you ask nice, I’ll let you kiss me.”

“Please may I kiss you?” Sonny said immediately, and you pretended to think about it before nodding.

He stepped up to you and put his hands on your shoulders, then dipped his head and captured your mouth with his. He could feel your lips curving into a smile against his mouth, so he pulled away.

“What?” he asked, but you shook your head sadly.

“Sonny, I was thirteen once, and I kissed a thirteen year old boy once. It did not go like that at all.”

Sonny pulled you back to him, dipped his head again, and as soon as his lips touched yours, he plunged his tongue straight into your mouth with zero finesse and skill. You pulled away, laughing so hard that Sonny couldn’t help but chuckle too.

“You taste like Mountain Dew,” you said between peals of laughter. “But that felt about right.”

Your neighbor picked you both up a minute later, and when the mini-van stopped at Sonny’s place, you stayed in the vehicle.

“I’d come up with you,” you said apologetically. “But I have an algebra test tomorrow.”

He could only wave goodbye as the automatic door slid shut, but when he went into his building, he took the steps to the second floor two at a time with a lightness in his steps.

-----

You planned the next date too, and Sonny found himself at Yankee Stadium on a Saturday afternoon as they faced off against the Orioles. You looked like the girl next door again, in short jean shorts and those canvas sneakers. Your t-shirt looked like a Yankees shirt, but when he looked closer, it just said “Local Sports Team” on it, making him smile.

You took the B train to the stadium and settled into a pair of nosebleed seats. You shrugged at Sonny and explained that you didn’t have a lot of money to spend from your baby-sitting job, but you had enough for a few hot dogs and sodas.

Sonny placed an arm over the back of your seat, and you obviously felt that was high-school appropriate because you didn’t fight him on it. It was hot and humid, but a nice breeze came through often enough to keep it from being miserable. And Sonny thought he’d go through any weather to spend time with you.

No woman had ever been so thoughtful with him, and it made him feel pleasantly pleased at the attention. It made him feel seen.

At the start of the fourth inning though, you stood up and left your seat, promising to come back, but you were gone the entire inning, and Sonny remembered the original date. Another humiliation, another moment where he felt like he wasn’t enough. He started to wallow, but you reappeared just then. You had a giant soft pretzel, almost as big as your head.

“Sorry I was gone so long. The line was insane,” you said. “Want to split this?”

After the game, you took the subway and then walked back to your place, and Sonny tried to think about what he would have done in high school. Raised Catholic, he probably wouldn’t have had sex even if the option had been there – he was still too guilty and felt like a disapproving god was watching him from above. Hell, he couldn’t even masturbate back then (or now, really), without feeling a flush of shame wash over him.

The two of you ended up on your couch, doing what his childhood priest would sternly call “heavy petting.” You were stretched out underneath him, one of your legs hanging off the edge of the couch, while you made out feverishly. Sonny’s hands roamed over your form, but he had to keep it over your clothes because you smacked him every time he tried to sneak his fingers under a hem. You kept your own hands on his biceps or shoulders, letting them drift between the two locations on his sweat-dampened t-shirt.

He felt like a teenager again, and he rolled his hips against you in a languid motion to relieve some of the tension below the belt. You seemed to enjoy it too, judging from the soft moans that you let slip every so often. Sonny chuckled against you. You pulled back a bit.

“What’s so funny?” you asked, and he laughed again.

“I just never thought that I’d be dry humping a girl at my age,” he replied.

You made a face. “I hate that term,” you informed him. “It sounds like something a dog would do to a couch cushion. Call it ‘outercourse,’ please.”

“I never thought I’d be outercoursing a girl at my age,” he amended, and then he leaned back down to kiss you more, sliding his tongue into your mouth.

You shifted underneath him just a bit, and when Sonny felt that nearly unbearable tension again and resumed rolling his hips against you, you moaned louder. You were perfectly placed under him, and if you were both naked, he’d be inside you – the thought alone made him feel dizzy. He knew that you were holding off sleeping with him for some reason or another. He didn’t press the issue, and you didn’t elaborate your reason to him. He worried that you were still hung up on Nick, but if that were the case, why were you going to such effort for him?

But he realized with a start that you were starting to press back against his gentle thrusts, and even with the layers of clothing between you, he might be able to make you come just from the pressure and friction alone. The thought made him even harder, which he didn’t think was possible, so he rolled his hips harder and plunged his tongue into your mouth in time with his thrusts.

You turned your head to the side, breaking the kiss. “Sonny,” you whined, and he wasn’t sure if you were telling him to stop or to keep going.

“Is this okay?” he asked against your neck. He pressed a kiss to the side of your neck, darting his tongue out to taste the salt of your sweat.

“Sonny,” you repeated. One of your hands drifted from his shoulder across to his back, fisting his damp t-shirt in your fist. “Would you have done this in high school?” you asked as you panted underneath him.

“With you? Absolutely,” he replied. He moved against you again, drawing another moan from you. “Though I definitely wouldn’t have understood a girl having an orgasm when I was sixteen.”

You huffed out a breathless sort of laugh. “We should stop then,” you said with a groan. “Keep it authentic.”

Sonny kissed your neck again, sucking against your soft skin. “We should keep going instead,” he murmured against you. “Authentic would have been you dumping me at the game.” He pulled back and looked down at you. Your face was flushed from a day in the sun and from desire, and your lips were swollen from kissing. You looked gorgeous, and Sonny felt that too-familiar twist of love in his chest.

You surged up and kissed him gently on his cheek, then laid a hand over the side of his face too. “I didn’t have an orgasm until college, Sonny,” you said with a smile. “I didn’t even know what ‘orgasm’ meant in high school.”

“I did,” he replied with a grin, and you laughed underneath him.

“And I thought you were the good Catholic boy,” you teased. You put your hands on his shoulders and pushed him gently off of you until you were both sitting side by side, Sonny surreptitiously trying to hide his obvious erection.

“Well, I felt guilty about it, doll. Nothing more Catholic than that.”

Sonny only stayed long enough to calm down, and then he ordered a car and left, but not before setting a date for your next get-together.

-----

Now that Sonny was onto the game you were playing with your dates, he just went ahead and told you the name of the jazz club that he went to in college in a vain attempt to impress his date. He picked you up at your apartment, and you looked like a vision in a dark blue wrap dress and heels. Your hair was down, but there was a silk flower tucked behind one ear.

The jazz club was pretty much the same, just a bit more dingy than he remembered. You each ordered old-timey cocktails and sat beside each other in a dim corner. Sonny laid his arm around your shoulders, and you cuddled up against him and placed a soft hand on his thigh.

The jazz was awful, or at least, Sonny didn’t understand it as a musical genre. There was no discernable melody that he could follow, and it sounded like when Bella was young and started piano lessons and would just bang the keys at random. You felt the same way because two drinks in, you leaned against him and whispered in his ear.

“Want to get out of here?”

“You sure, doll?” he asked.

You nodded and winced as the flautist hit a particularly piercing high note. “This music could qualify as torture under the Geneva Convention, I think.”

You both ended up at his place, making out in a way that felt familiar now. When Sonny tried to progress to another plane, however, you still smacked his hands away lightly. And when he whined, needy, against you mouth, you grinned at him.

“It’s college, Sonny. I didn’t have sex until after college.”

Sonny was incredulous. “Seriously?”

You nodded. “I was terrified of sex, honestly. I always wanted to, but I’d get cold feet at the last minute because I envisioned getting pregnant or some exotic STD.” You shook your head. “Our college’s health clinic usually assumed that whatever was ailing you was an STD. I remember having strep throat once and getting a pamphlet about gonorrhea.”

Sonny wanted to ask about your first time: when and where and, most importantly, which man convinced you that he was a safe bet when other men hadn’t been. He was already jealous of this unknown guy, and he worried that it had been Nick. It couldn’t have been, though. Or could it?

You didn’t sense his roiling emotions though, and instead you just curled up against him and nodded off after a while. You’d both had a few long weeks at SVU with mandatory overtime due to being understaffed, and Sonny felt his own eyes growing heavy.

“Doll, do you want to stay the night?” he asked softly, and you stirred against him. “We don’t have to do anything other than sleep.”

You sat up. Your face was creased from being pressed against his shirt, and Sonny couldn’t resist reaching out to run his finger down it.

“Would that be okay?” you asked. “Or would it be too tempting?”

He pulled you against him and kissed your temple, breathing in the smell of your shampoo. “You’re too tempting just walking around the bullpen in your work outfits,” he murmured. “But I’ll behave.”

********

You were in the bullpen early a few morning after your jazz club date. Fin and Rollins were off duty, and Liv was at 1PP for some bureaucratic meeting. Sonny arrived about ten minutes after you, and he placed a coffee and pastry on your desk in front of you with a wink.

Dating Nick, if you could have even called it that, had felt like work a lot of the time. The guys you dated before him were much the same: tons of effort to read and manage their moods, constantly waiting and then rushing depending on what they needed. Waiting around for them to need you, rushing to get there when they did. You realized sadly that you probably had never had a healthy relationship before.

Nothing about dating Sonny felt like a chore, not even planning those dates. And if they had felt like work, it would have been worth it to see his face light up. You wondered if Sonny had ever been in a healthy relationship before.

You hoped against hope that maybe you could be that for each other.

You sipped your coffee and tried not to wolf down the cherry strudel that was still so warm that the icing had been absorbed into the flaky pastry. After you were done (and after you licked your fingers on the sly), you made your way over to Sonny’s desk and sat on the edge.

“Detective Carisi,” you said formally. “Any plans this weekend?”

He leaned back in his chair and grinned at you, the corners of his blue eyes crinkling. “Maybe,” he said. “I’m kinda seeing this girl.”

“Ah.” You nodded knowingly. “Sonny mentioned that you were dating someone. How’s it going?”

He played along, but his eyes were soft. “It’s going really well,” he admitted, his voice a bit lower. “How’s it going with Sonny?”

“Also really well.”

“Look at the two of us, doing really well.”

You smiled at him for a moment, enjoying the playful conversation. “I was thinking. If you’re free on Friday, would you like to re-do our first date? Meet you at the same place, bring me another flower…”

Sonny knitted his eyebrows together. “Seriously?”

You nodded. “You’ve said at least twice that you screwed up that date, and even if I don’t agree with your definition of ‘screw up,’ I’m happy to do a do-over. You wear the same outfit, I’ll wear the same dress.” You turned and looked around the bullpen to make sure it was still empty except for the two of you. “But maybe I’ll wear something different underneath,” you murmured and raised what you hoped was a suggestive eyebrow.

Sonny groaned and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Doll, I can’t handle anymore cold showers,” he said. “You can’t say stuff like that to me at work.”

You stood up straight and shook a finger at him in pretend remonstration, but you loved how flushed he got at the merest hint of dirty talk. “Pull yourself together, detective. And meet me on Friday, same time and same place.”

-----

True to your word, you wore the same fit-and-flare dress, dressing it down with the same white Keds. And underneath, a set of lingerie that walked the slender line between sweet and sexy, in rosy pink. You’d never admit it to Sonny because it would only embarrass him, but it matched the color he turned when he blushed.

True to his word, he turned up in the same clothes, and you each ordered the same dishes and recreated to the best of your memories your conversation. After you ate, Sonny led you outside, placing the same gentle hand on the middle of your back to lead you out. And he asked if you wanted gelato.

Since you were fixing mistakes in Sonny’s dating past, you placed your gelato order and waited. When he started to order pistachio, you placed a silencing hand on his arm and tried to stop him.

“Pistachio?” you asked in a teasing lilt. “Who orders that flavor other than old people?”

“I like it,” he replied only a little defensive.

“Sonny, I love you, but pistachio?” you asked again. “Seriously? There’s so many better options…” You gestured at the menu board with its myriad of choices.

He made a strange face at you, and you worried that your teasing had hit a sore spot, but he turned after a beat and ordered mango instead. The two of you went to the same park and sat on the swings while you ate in companionable silence, and instead of asking about Nick, Sonny just ate his gelato thoughtfully and didn’t say a word.

When you were both finished, he gave you the same line about walking him home, and you threaded your arm through his and walked the few blocks to his place. When you saw the bakery, you simply said that their pastries were amazing and thanked him again for bringing them to you nearly every morning.

And instead of asking him to drive you home, you asked him to take you to his home. And he did.

Once you were inside his apartment, he suddenly seemed nervous, fidgeting with his keys before he sat them down on a small table in his entryway. Then he ran his hands through his hair, over and over in a motion that looked nearly obsessive.

You reached out and took his hands in yours, stilling them. “Hey,” you said softly. “We don’t have to do anything.”

He gazed at you with his bright blue eyes before responding. “Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

He coughed a bit and his ears turned pink, and you smirked a bit to see it. “What you said at the gelato shop,” he clarified. “Did you mean it?”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “Well, pistachio was my grandpa’s favorite flavor…”

He cut you off with an impatient grumble in his throat. “No, the other thing you said.”

You thought back, trying to remember what you’d said. Then it hit you. “I said I love you.” You looked at him, saw the hope and the dread written plainly across his face in equal measure. “Oh, Sonny…”

“It’s okay if you don’t mean it,” he rushed in. “I mean…”

You rocked up onto your sneakered toes and kissed him, cutting off his words. When you pulled away, you smiled up at him. “I think I’ll just have to be prepared to kiss you every time I think you’re about to say something you’ll regret.” Then the smile slipped off your face and you turned serious.

You reached up with both hands and placed them on either side of his face so that he couldn’t turn away from you. “Sonny, I do love you. You’re a very easy person to love, though.” He scoffed at you, so you kissed him again, relishing the feel of his soft lips against yours.

You could have listed out all the reasons you loved him. You could have added more, but Sonny kissed you back, more urgently. It was one of the most difficult things you’d ever done – delaying intimacy with Sonny – but you wanted to make sure he was absolutely certain that he wasn’t a rebound. You broke the kiss to tell him as much.

“I want you to know that I want you for you,” you said seriously. Your hands, still on his face, shifted to the back of his head until they were tangled in his hair. “You are not just a convenient hook-up.”

“I know, doll,” he whispered back, but you still saw a shadow of doubt in his blue eyes, and you sighed.

“You don’t believe me,” you said as a statement of fact, and Sonny shook his head but you knew you were right. “I’ll have to show you then.”

You took his hand and led him to the back of his apartment until you found his bedroom. You pulled him into the room and shut the door behind him. You took his hand, still clasped in yours, and raised it to your mouth. You pressed a chaste kiss to the back of his hand, and then told him, “I love your hands, Sonny. I love the way they feel when they’re touching me.”

He narrowed his eyes at you like he was trying to figure out if you were teasing him, so you continued. You helped him remove his blazer. You reached up with slightly shaking fingers and unbuttoned his checked shirt, then pushed it off of his shoulders too. Then you untucked the hem of his undershirt, glancing up in permission and noting his slight nod. He helped you pull it over his head, and it tousled his hair even more.

“I love your heart, Sonny.” You pressed your palm over where his heart was thudding, strong and steady. “I love how much care and concern you have for the victims you work with, and I love how kind and thoughtful you are.”

You looked up and saw him blushing deeply, but he looked oddly pleased at the praise. You always guessed he had a praise-kink, and it looked like you were right.

You drew you hand over his chest, brushing against his nipples. He drew a hitching breath as you did. “I’m only so-so on your nipples,” you joked. “Average, at best.”

He let out a surprised peal of laughter, and you giggled with him. You pushed him gently towards his bed until he sat down. You pulled off his shoes and socks and examined his feet. “Feet are nice,” you told him with a grin. “I could love these.”

“They’re pretty good on the dance floor,” he replied, and you crawled on top of him until you were straddling him. His hands hesitated, then came to rest lightly on your hips.

“You going to take me dancing, Sonny?” He nodded eagerly, and you shook your head. “Make sure it’s to music with a beat. No free-form jazz.”

He laughed again. You sat up on him, holding yourself up a bit so that you were lightly settled over the bulge growing underneath you. You reached down with a hand and ghosted it over his face, drifting from feature to feature.

“I love your eyes – how blue they are and how I can read your emotions in them.” He closed his eyes as you drifted a finger over his lids, gentle as a night breeze.

“I love your cheeks and ears, and how flushed you get when you’re embarrassed or happy.” He opened his eyes again as you touched his sharp cheekbones and then tugged on the lobe of one of his ears.

“I do not,” he said, defensive.

“No?” You leaned forward a bit, bringing your face closer to his so that you could stare into his eyes. “So if I told you that I want you to fuck me senseless, nothing would happen?”

Three things happened: you felt Sonny harden even further against you, and you heard him groan as his face turned bright red. You dipped your head and kissed him gently, working your lips against him and enjoying the groans you were drawing from him.

You broke away. “I love your mouth, by the way. I love how it gets you in trouble and how it gets you out of trouble.”

“Do you prefer any particular way it gets me out of trouble?” he said, and his accent was notably thicker. You ran a finger over his pink lower lip.

“I’d love for you to surprise me, Dominick,” and you noted how his blue eyes darkened at your use of his first name.

You ran your hands through his hair, mussing it even further. “I love your hair, too. But more than that, I love what’s underneath it. I love how smart you are, how funny.”

You ground yourself on him lightly the whole while, and he bucked his hips involuntarily against you. “Anything else?” he asked, his voice husky.

“Hmm,” you pretended to think. You hoisted yourself off of him, and you unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his jeans. He looked down at you through hooded lids, and you noted the hitched quality of his breathing. He raised his hips up enough for you to pull off his jeans, leaving him in only his tented boxer briefs.

“You need to catch up, doll,” he said in a strangled voice, so you kicked off your Keds and pulled your dress over your head, revealing the lingerie you’d bought for Sonny.

It had its intended effect. Sonny sat up and reached for you, placing his hands on your hips before sliding them around to cup your ass. He pulled you closer to him and buried his face against your bare stomach. You could feel his pillowy lips pressed to you, his hot breath…you drew your hand through the hair on the back of his head and tugged him away until his blue eyes were gazing up at you.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, and coming from his mouth, it was the first time you believed it. You let him pull you into his lap, straddling him again, and he moved his mouth to the mounds of your breasts, pushed up to obscene heights by the pink lace and wire of your bra.

You scratched his scalp and pulled his hair lightly as he kissed your breasts: pressing gentle kisses along the exposed skin at the top, then kissing harder through the lace until he was sucking against first one nipple, then the other. The wet lace and the pressure from his mouth made them grow hard, and he bit them lightly, pressing the edges of his teeth against them until you moaned at the faint sting of pain. Then he soothed them with his mouth again until you moaned louder.

“Sonny,” you said. “I had a whole thing worked out, and you’re distracting me…” You bit off the last sentence with a groan as he reached up with one hand to pull the cup of your bra down. He moved his head lightning fast, and his warm mouth was on you again. His tongue worked against your nipple, and your hips ground against him.

“I thought you liked my mouth,” he mumbled, and the vibration from his words sent another shard of desire straight to your core.

“I love your mouth,” you replied. “There’s just other parts of you I still haven’t met yet.” You rolled your hips against him so that he was crystal-clear on your meaning, and he responded by swiveling you around on the bed. You scooted up until your head rested on a pillow, and he stretched himself alongside you.

He kissed your urgently, and his lips worked against your mouth until your lips were parted. He slid his tongue into you, licking against your mouth, and you pressed your own tongue against him. His hands roamed your body without clear meaning, cupping your breasts and thumbing your nipples before they stuttered their way down to your panties. He cupped your mound there and groaned when he felt how wet you were through the fabric.

He rubbed you through the lace, his finger slipping along your slit. “What’s this, doll?” he whispered.

“It’s all for you, Dominick,” you panted against him. Hearing his name spurred him on, and he toyed with the hem of your panties before slipping a finger underneath to resume his stroking.

You’d waited so long for him, and you were afraid you weren’t going to last very long. You could already feel an orgasm approaching.

“Please, Sonny,” you begged him. You should hate how whiny you sounded, but you were beyond care at this point. All you could focus on was Sonny – his swollen pink lips, his mussed hair, his fingers dipping into you and teasing you.

He obliged by pulling his hand away altogether, and he sat up and removed his boxer briefs. He reached into his bedside table and found a condom. You unhooked your bra and slid out of your panties while he tore open the foil and rolled the condom on himself, and you felt your mouth go dry when he turned back to you.

His blue eyes were dark with desire, and he crawled over you and lowered his weight onto you, pressing you into his mattress. He leaned down and kissed you again, full of passion, his tongue plunging into your mouth as he swallowed your moans. His cock was a heavy weight pressed against your hip, and you opened your legs to him. He broke the kiss at this and gazed down at you.

“You sure, doll? You sure you want to do this?”

You reached up and stroked his flushed face. “I’m sure I want you, Sonny. I love you.”

He groaned at this and reached down to line himself up with your entrance. “Say it again,” he pleaded, so you told him, over and over as he slid himself into you slowly. Once he was buried to the hilt, he shuddered, but then he kissed you firmly and replied, “I love you too.”

He set a languid pace, unhurried as he pulled out partway and paused before sliding back into your slippery depths. He kissed you as he fucked you gently, and you whimpered at the sensation of being filled by him in both your core and your mouth. He only broke away to catch his breath and pause in his thrusts, and you knew he was trying to make it last for both of you.

You were less patient. You’d been running in a state of perpetual horniness from all of your dates with him, and the pleasant tension in your belly was almost unbearable. You drew one leg up and wrapped it around his waist, changing the angle just a bit. Sonny didn’t get the hint – or ignored it – and continued his unhurried thrusts.

“Sonny…” you whined against his mouth. “Please.”

He huffed against you. “I don’t want this to end,” he breathed.

You laughed, a bit breathless. “Sonny, when it ends, we can always go again.”

He pretended to think about it. “Sold,” he said. He picked up the pace a bit then, thrusting into you with more force. You could feel him dragging along your entrance, delivering a delicious bit of friction to your swollen nub.

“Just like that,” you exhaled into his ear. “You feel so good, Dominick.”

He groaned at the praise and went a bit faster and harder, and you spurred him on with your words and your moans, and before you knew it, the tension in your belly snapped in an explosion of white stars behind your eyelids, and you raised off the bed to arch against him.

“Fuck, Sonny,” you wailed, and his thrusts grew irregular and hard as he chased his own orgasm and fucked you through yours. Your legs trembled underneath him, and you felt your core clenching him as waves of pleasure crashed through you. He shouted your name and came too, shuddering against you before he collapsed on top of you. He buried his head against your neck, and you felt his panting breath start to steady after a time.

He raised his head to kiss you gently, then he gazed into your eyes. “I love you,” he said solemnly, so you repeated it back to him just as serious.

Sonny pulled out then, and he disappeared for a moment to clean up and dispose of the condom. When he returned, you had already turned down the bed and was tucked into his cool sheets. He slid in beside you, and you laid your head on his chest and listened to his solid heart beating underneath you.

“You ready to go again?” you asked playfully, and he chuckled underneath you.

“It might take me a minute. I’m not as young as I used to be.”

You propped yourself up on an arm and peered down at him. “You mean to tell me that the man who drank Mountain Dew and played Rampage on one of our dates is an old man?”

“I didn’t say I was old,” he scoffed. “I just said I wasn’t young.”

“Middle aged then.”

“No….”

“Due for a midlife crisis,” you cut off.

“No, I…”

“Gonna buy a pony car, find a secretary to seduce…”

He responded with a growl, flipping you onto your back and kissing you to silence you. He worked his mouth against you until you were breathless, and you felt him hardening against your hip. He broke away and you smirked up at him.

“That didn’t take long,” you noted.

“You have that effect on me,” he replied, but he smiled down at you with a strange expression on his face, and he pushed an errant strand of hair out of your face. “You do know I love you though, right? I’m not just in this for the, uh, physical stuff.”

“The sex?” You smiled to see him blush; he would probably always be an altar boy at heart. “I know that, Sonny.” You reached down and stroked him, savoring the feel of him stiffening in your hand. “And I love you too.”

You pushed him onto his back and then crawled on top of him until you were straddling him. “Let me show you how much I love you.” And you did, that night – and every night after. Not always physically, but you always made sure you told him – and showed him – how much you loved him. And he did the same for you.

#sonny carisi #sonny carisi x reader #sonny carisi imagine #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfiction #tropes and tales

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taccobelle · 1 year

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WELCOME TO MY BOOK CLUB 📚

First rule about The Book Club? talk about The Book Club!

Here in TaccoBelle's book club 📚 is where I will keep a collection of all my favorite recent reads and their authors, in no particular order!

I can't always help in more impactful ways, like commissions, but I can definitely share the content!

if you'd like to join my book club give send an ask! let's make a community of these awesome reads!!

Disclaimer: due to some suspicious and disgusting events happening on this site involving a minor, I feel the obligation to reinforce that most, if not all, of these stories are 18+. They contain content that is NOT suitable for minors, so please do not interact! Mature themes will/may be discussed in these stories that is definitely not appropriate for minors. I do not claim to be the author of any of these works, merely a fan

TaccoBelle's Book Club

The Breakfast Club - Eddie Munson X Cheerleader!Reader

Author: @radioactiveparker

Summery: Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently. And when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same. (A retelling of The Breakfast Club, written and directed by John Hughes.)

What to expect: Enemies to lovers / All Characters Are 18+ / Strong Language / Sex References / Mentions of Abuse (physical and emotional) / Cheating / Bad Relationships / Dysfunctional Families / Arguing / Materialism / Kleptomania / Stereotyping / Sexual Orientations / Drug Use / Mentions of Alcohol / Smoking / Pyromania and Fire / References to Demonianism and Satanism / References to Religious Beliefs / Social Alienation / Angst / Hurt-Comfort / Use of Y/N (like once or twice) / Eddie is a complete asshole

“A/N: This mini series is set in its own little world, so it does not follow the Stranger Things timeline, and I have taken some creative liberties with most characters. Yes, they are all still in high school (final year and 18+), and yes, some of the events don't match up - just forget everything you knew about Stranger Things, it's easier that way haha.”

My thoughts: I am in absolute love with this series and can’t wait for updates ! I am so obsessed with the Breaksfast Club narrative, the enemies to lovers, the popular girl x school freak. It’s so enticing and I am a sucker for it! But what the author does that I am loving is that they set themselves apart from the original movie, js the interaction of the reader with other characters, I won’t spoil it, but it’s a little heartbreaking 💔 from the little that I have read from the 3 chapters so far, it is great!

Not Very Noble

Author: @allthingsjoeq

Summery: Your kingdom is placed under threat of liquidation, the villagers crying out for help as each day they enter greater poverty. As their princess you have been chosen to amend the broken monarchy, creating a truce between the neighbouring royals, and fulfilling a marriage decided by the King. A low-ranking knight and Princess both from reverse backgrounds thrusted together against choice, they descend into a journey of Hate, Lust and Love all while caught in between a circle of lies.

What to expect: Knight Eddie x Princess Reader Disclaimer: Enemies to Lovers, Angst, eventual fluff, light smut to come. Royal and medieval references but they may not all be 100% accurate.

My thoughts: I have a huge fascination with Medieval things, and think there isn’t nearly enough Eddie Munson Medieval themed AU’s and I think that’s a problem! This in particular is so well written, so beautifully put, it made me weep, and cry like a big baby from reading this, and it’s not even complete yet!!!!!! Y’all KNOW how much I buss down for an Enemies to Lovers trope 😩 I really hope they update this soon because I am patiently waiting 🥹

Not Wholly Evil

Author: @uglypastels

Summary: as the daughter of the Governor, there is quite a heavy prize set on your safe return home, and the captain will not let anything come between him and his bounty.

What to expect: "semi dark fic" - READ the warnings:. (gun/sword)violence. blood. minor character death. allusions to suicide. kidnapping. imprisonment. alcohol. open and deep sea. pirates are pigs: frequent mentions of non-con and allusions to assault, but it does not actually occur. malnourishment. abuse. manhandling.

My thoughts: I LOVE me some pirate au, I think it is so incredibly fitting for Eddie to be set in this role. It is still on-going so it only has 2 chapters, but that was enough to make me sign up for the tag list!! It’s is beautifully written, the descriptions are so good it makes me feel like I am IN the Hellfire ship. Super excited to see where this is take me, and I hope they update it soon because it’s my new obsession!

Turtle dove and the crow

Author: @blue-mossbird

Summary: You’ve known Edward Munson since he moved into the farm next door with his uncle - eight years old, odd, and utterly intriguing to you. For ten years, you’ve known him, and over that time, he’s become your best friend. But now, in the dreamy haze of August heat, you begin to know him in a different way. And in this process of knowing and becoming known, lives will be irrevocably changed.

What to expect: 1940s Farm AU, featuring bsf!neighbor!eddie x fem!reader18+ (minors dni). smut; true love; unexpected pregnancy; angst, angst, angst; parental issues; corporal punishment; scheming, plotting, and betrayal; hurt/comfort; period-typical stigma regarding unwed pregnancy; angst with a happy ending. oral (f!receiving), p in v, unprotected sex, breeding kink.

My thoughts: holy shit my dudes, I think I found my new hyper fixation, to add to the list of stories I will check daily for updates! This is only the first episode and it already has me in a death grip 🫥 I am in love with 1940’s due to Bucky Barnes, and mixing Eddie in with that aesthetic threw me for a loop!! This is not the fic for you if you want cannon content, it is clearly set in another world, a different decade, and seems to me like it’s Eddie’s personality adapted for a 1940’s farm boy view, and I think I’m in love. Plus my fantasy of being a southern Belle (that’s my name if you didn’t know) is in an all time high with this. I can already picture all of the angst and all the crying in my bed at 2am this story will bring me, and I’m so excited 🤩

June Baby

Author: @luveline

Summary: you’re a single mom living three trailers down. eddie thinks you’re the prettiest girl he’s ever seen. queue smiley face oatmeal, grossly misused power tools, desserts on the living room floor, a haircut, and an abundance of nerd metaphors

What to expect: teen mom!reader, fem!reader, r is Junie’s birth mother, fluff, hurt/comfort, Eddie ends up being a total girl dad (<3), mutual pining, yearning, etc, tw for not having much money, general loneliness, mentions of a shitty/traumatic pregnancy, general mom struggles :(, slow-burn friends to lovers, you wash Eddie’s hair!!!! this was low-key requested by anon

My thoughts: Honest to god, this is one o the best writing I have ever read on this app. The way Jade uses her words to describe the scenes, ughhhhhhh I can't explain, but Jade writes like a scene of a movie. It does not feel like the supporting characters don't feel like they seize to exist as soon as the main characters move on to a different scene. I love how the supporting characters are all incredibly detailed, feel like real people, and have real people reactions to things; weird, I know, haha. I love how much I adore this story so much. it does not feel like a simple fic, like I would invest in a start-up for this to be published into an actual book. It is so good, so sweet. I absolutely adore this story. It makes my heart do three summersaults per second every time Jade posts a new chapter, the characters have my fucking heart 🥺

Meet The Munsons

Author: @mypoisonedvine

Summary: you were barely acquaintances in high school, but his reputation as a delinquent and freak didn't exactly endear you to him. now he's moving in. at the risk of being too literal: oh, brother.

What to expect: kind of incest, but not really? male masturbation, swearing, mentions/implications of a deceased parent, reader is a tad judgmental but that's what character development is for!

My thoughts: I have read and re-read this story about three times. If I'm not mistaken, this is the only complete one on this list. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! it made me so giddy. a grown woman giggling and kicking my feet like a little girl. I love the evolution of the characters and the way, slowly but surely, their feelings start to slip out, and by the end, you are totally like, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JUST HOLD HANDS, I BEG OF YOU. Not gonna lie, the "kind of incest" threw me off at first, but then you find out that they aren't actually related in no way possible; the reader's mom marries Uncle Wayne, and they are not raised together, so their not that weird situation of raised like siblings, which would make it really weird when they make out pretty heavily. Can't believe I'm defending incest.

The "Yes" Policy

Author: @pinkrelish

Summary: After a lifetime of questionable decisions, you moved from the big city to the sleepy town of Hawkins with your best friend and took the first job you saw: answering phones for the most boring auto shop in the dullest place on Earth. It wasn't exactly the adventure you wanted it to be.. but attempting to win over the jaded mechanic who insisted on ignoring your existence proved entertaining.

What to expect: slow burn, eventual smut, strangers to lovers, flirting, mutual pining, angst, drug/alcohol mention/use, depictions of poverty, sort of grumpy x sunshine, but Eddie's just tired, reader and Eddie are mid-late 20's

My thoughts: This fic singlehandedly made me fall in love with the sunshine x grumpy trope, the thought of Eddie being a girl dad makes my heart double in size. Him being a single dad, Wayne being grandpapi is too cute! them doing their best to provide the best for their little princess, and the relationship between Miss Mouse and Adrie has my heart.

To Have and To Scold

Author: @icallhimjoey

Summary: Your best friends are getting married, and who else can they ask to be their best man and maid of honour but you and Joe? It's just that... you don't really get along all that well, do you? At least, that's what you think.

What to expect: CW / disclaimer: sort of enemies to sort of lovers (very vague, im sorry, but you'll see), language, drinking, rpf, fem!reader

My thoughts: I don’t usually like reading real person fics, like when the character is actually a real life person, I much prefer a fictional character because otherwise sometimes I get weirded out. That being said, I decided to give this fic a try, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the story. I picked it up and couldn’t put the phone down till I finished! The characters are engaging, and story is so sweet 🫶🏼

Bad Idea

Author: @lunarzstarz

Summary: Not wanting to leave for college with your virginity still intact, you turn to your last resort that you know can only end terribly…

What to expect: NSFW 18+ minors dni, drugs, first Times, oral (F receiving), fingering, protected sex, nicknames (Princess/Sweetheart), Eddie being a goof but also an asshole (Slightly proofread) Fuckboy!EddieMunson x Virgin!Fem!Reader

My thoughts: smut, plain smut. And I love it. Eddie is kind of a dickhead, not gonna lie, but then he starts to show signs of falling for the reader, regular shmegular lowkey toxic trope, but I love it!!!!

Crayons and Cassettes

Author: @comfort-writing

Summary: You are a kindergarten teacher. Eddie’s daughter, Sage, is in your class. She bonds with you instantly, and Eddie is trying not to do the same.

What to expect: his fic will be 18+ in later chapters, so minors DNI! In this chapter, it is mentioned that rumors about Eddie still linger. no use of y/n. I can think of nothing else for this chapter because it’s just an introductory one, but please let me know if I missed anything!

My thoughts: I have not finished this fic yet, but s far it is amazing!! Eddie is so nervous and so sweet, but still nerdy, and charming.

Honey I'm Home

Author: @trashmouth-richie

Summary: you were desperate for a roommate after Nancy got married and moved out. An ad in the paper goes unanswered until someone comes knocking on the door.

What to expect: enemies to lovers trope, eventual smut, language, crude behavior, Eddie is a fucking menace.

My thoughts: I honestly fell in love with this story, it is so mysterious, and so touching, funny, endearing, and most of all, a big tease. I fell in love with these characters, and their personalities, how they are together, and how the interact with one another. The idea of an older protective Eddie, that is conflicted with the thoughts of seeing Tooty as a little girl, but now she is a grown woman is mesmerizing to read, and Richie does an amazing job at writing it all so well.

Disjointed

Author: @boomhauer

Summary: Nurse!Reader is reunited with her high school crush in the emergency room. Faced with a lifetime worth of debt, she helps Eddie in the only way she can.

What to expect: Fake marriage. Friends to lovers. Medical trauma. Lemon/Smut. Angst. Slow burn. No Vecna!!

My thoughts: This a new type of fic for me, I had never read anything in the nursing realm, an amazing first! I appreciate the reality of it all, from what I understand the author has personally experienced some of these scenarios, and im guessing has been/is a nurse practitioner, so makes for an extremely believable, and amusing plot!!

Twenty Four Hours

Author: @ghost-proofbaby

What to expect: modern!Eddie Munson x fem!reader, uses female pronouns on occasion. strong language, eventual smut, upside down does not exist, minors dni

Summary: in which Eddie Munson and you absolutely hate each other's guts. what happens when your friends make a bet that you can't spend more than twenty-four hours consecutively together? modern!college!eddie x college!fem!reader

My Thoughts: I love Enemies to Lovers trope!! This fic is full of stunning writing, amazing visual descriptions of feelings, and hot-ass characters! this made me cry on multiple occasions, in a good way! Though I am a crybaby. Eddie is such a sweetheart in this, and mean in some chapters, but it's all for the feels!!

Smoke Signals

Author: @eddies-house

What to expect: Grumpy!Eddie Munson x shy!reader, uses female pronouns on occasion, strong language, eventual smut, PTSD, trauma, talks about trauma, mentions of death, mentions of bullying, minors dni, set in a town other than Hawkings

Summary: Relocating to the small town of Knife’s Edge in hopes of leaving your old life behind and starting brand new solves all of your problems, right? Wrong. It only creates more and one of them may live right next door. Side effects may include blaring music at 3AM, a scowling neighbor, and one too many shots of tequila on several occasions. (That The Bourbon will not be comping.)

My Thoughts: I love Enemies to Lovers trope! That much isn't any news to you guys! This fic is so lovely written, I love how real the characters feel, and how immersed I was in reading this, I am so related to the character because I too am a crybaby. Eddie is such a sweetheart in this, I just want Bambi to hug and kiss him 🥹, and mean in some chapters, but it isn't in a toxic sort of way.

Begin Again

Author: @abibliophobiaa

What to expect: Eddie’s post-S4 trauma; panic attacks; nightmares; family member loss; grief; alcohol use; mild smut in later chapters, so 18+; additional warnings to be added. Eddie Munson x afab!reader, sunshine!reader x grumpy!eddie vibes

Summary: The year is 1988. After the loss of a beloved family member, you find yourself inheriting an old coffee shop. The quiet bartender at the Hideout across the street just so happens to catch your eye.

My Thoughts: you know that I love sunshine!reader x grumpy!eddie vibes! This fic is so nicely written, It has long chapters which I fiend for, I absolutely adore it when a fic has 20K words in one chapter, it only has 4 of them because it takes place as a chapter for each season, which is generous btw, wish I'd thought of this!

Beast of Burden

Author: @neonghostlights

What to expect: Fuckboy!Werewolf!Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader Eddie gets called a man-whore (not by reader), mates, cussing, mention of almost hitting an animal with your car (doesn't happen but almost does), parental and grandparent death (readers whole family is dead) 18+ only, minors dni

Summary: (doesn't really have a summary, but this post the author made pretty much sums up) "I’m thinking about fuckboy!werewolf Eddie. Let’s say he’s gotten around with every girl in Hawkins because he never thought he’d have a mate. That was until you, a human, showed up and proved him wrong. Now he has to find a way to prove himself to you."

My Thoughts: yeah! fucking sue me, I like werewolf fanfictions! I can't really blame it all on Twilight, except I absolutely will blame it all on Twilight. But I swear this is really cute, and I live for it!

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thesims3help · 5 months

Text

Masterlist - Gameplay enhancing mods pt 2. [100+ Sims 3 mods!]

Part 1 || This is everything that didn't fit in part 1.

Celebrity:

Testers Wanted: Harder Celebrity Difficulty & More (Late Night)

Food/Cooking/Eating/Drinking:

Cooking and Ingredients Overhaul + More Nectar Ingredients

Let them eat cake! - Non-Birthday Birthday Cakes

Toddler Food Bowl

Quicker Cooking & Eating OverRide

Breakfast At Twinsimming's (Update 7/8/23) - No Cooking Overhaul Version

Baby Food Default Replacement

Pasteurize Milk Mod (Update 7/18/23) - Tunable Hunger Motive Delta

Buy Takeout And Order Food At Restaurants

Nectar Combinatorics

No More Acrobatics! - bartending animations tweaks

Better Bartending!

Eat & Put Away Your Leftovers

Coffee Ingredients Made Choosable

Gain Cooking Skill Faster At Work!

Winter Holiday Cookies

Quicker Cooking & Eating OverRide

Pets:

Pets Don't Eat Plants

Bathe Animals Correctly

[Pets] Improved Beloved Pet, and other Animal-Related Traits - 1.63 - 1.67 by Nona Mena (simlogical.com)

[Pets] Improved Relationship Gain with Pets by Nona Mena (simlogical.com)

New Pet Genetics - No More Skinny Clones

Minor Pets Won't Run Away

Dogs collecting shinies fills Destruction motive

Cats stalking for crawlies fills Scratch motive

University:

Lost & Found: Honors Scholarship (Plus Other Aptitude Test Tweaks)

Write Scholarships for Money

New Scholarships (Update 10/26/23) - Talent Scholarships & No Store Version

Attend University Online (Update 10/26/23) - Wish Fix

University Life Visual Fixes (Send Insulting Text, Texting Idle, Heat of the Moment Kiss)

Studying Tweaks

Jobs/skills:

Check For Work In Rabbitholes

Observatory Assistant -- Part-Time Astronomy Job

Flower Arranging - Interaction and Skill

Knitting for TS3 - Interaction and Skill

Writing, Painting, Gardening, Tinkering More Fun

Study Skills Online V37

Yoga Mod (Update 3/1/23) - New Features!

Scribbling Pad + Buzzler's Scribbling Pad - Fixed

TS2 > TS3 Functional Sewing table [BETA V2.0.0]

Programming Skill

Investment Mod (Update 9/3/23) - MultiTab Compatible

Lost&Found: Stock Market

Sim State - The Sims 3 Open For Business Mini Expansion v1.4

Layoff Mod

Ultimate Careers (Version 4.3)

Objects:

Functional Washboard - Sims 4 Conversion

Harvestable Tree Default Replacement

Same Energy Gain For Every Bed

Super Hampers -- Automatic Laundry Pick Up (Plus Bigger Hampers) by Nona Mena (simlogical.com)

Spring Harvest And CookBook

Harvestable Flowers

Better Hoverboards

Canning Station Overhaul

Build/Buy:

One More Slot Please! (with vertical shifting)

[TS3] Catalog Search Mod | Patreon

Add Any Lot Size

TS3 HD Textures Series - Terrain Pack [UPDATE: Fixed road tiling]

No more ugly snowprints

Builder Stuff

Reworked & Improved EA Lights

More Light Coming Through Windows

Other:

Write Thank You Notes Fix

Futuristic Transportation Charge

Advice Social Interactions

Have Sim Arrested Mod

No (or fewer) automatic memories (with custom tool to make your own mod) Edited 01/16/2014

nraas - OnceRead

nraas - Woohooer

Retuned Attraction System

More Traits for All Ages

Lot Population Mod

No Social Groups

Random Sim Fixes 2.0

SetHour Cheat

Let Me Take a Selfie (Update 9/3/23) - Pets Fix

Sunscreen

Burglars Steal Simoleons Too

Tooth Fairy Mod

Dirty Laundry Mod (Update 8/8/23) - Maid & Butler Tweaks

Acne Mod (Update 7/22/23) - Version 2.2

Enhanced Hospitals(Updated 30/1/23)

More Senarios Upon Moving

The Journal Mod

[Public Beta] The Randomizer Mod - REWORKED!

Moar Interactions

DouglasVeiga's Dancer Service

Aging Manager

No Car Relationships

Lightning Enhanced Mod (Lightning in the Sky and Strikes)

Realistically Slower Cars, Taxis, and Bikes

Take Sims To Court - Sue Sims, Become a Lawyer, Have Court Weddings and More!

Social Clubs Mod (+ banking) - Grow Memberships, Push Activities, Make Bank Accounts and More!

Deep Conversations

Sleep on the couch, new interaction

o violet on Tumblr - Pure CAS lighting mod

Reduce/Remove Lag caused by Houseboats

#the sims 3 #sims 3 #sims 3 mods #ts3 mods #masterlist #mod masterlist

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radioactiveparker · 10 days

Text

The Breakfast Club - Eddie Munson X F!Cheerleader!Reader

Part Three - Hallway Vision

Chapter Summary - During an adventure through the maze of school hallways, we see the Criminal become the hero, and the King become the villain. (A retelling of The Breakfast Club, written and directed by John Hughes.)

Chapter Warnings - Characters are all 18+ / Strong Language / Illusions to Emotional Abuse/ Abusive Relationship / Vandalism / Strong Sexual References / Drug References / Angst

Word Count - 5k

(Series Masterlist) (Masterlist)

(Part One) (Part Two)

~~~~~

Saturday.

October 25th, 1986.

Hawkins High Library.

1:00pm

~~~~~

"Let's take off. Dick's gone cruising." Eddie poked his head back into the library.

"Is that a euphemism?"

"No, Buckley. It means Higgins has just left his office."

You looked at the others as if this was an easy yes; you wanted to leave this library. Steve and Nancy didn't look too fond of the idea. Robin was torn between not wanting to leave, and not wanting to be the only one left behind.

"How do you know where he went?" Nancy asked, as if his answer would determine hers.

"I don't. But he's gone. He wouldn't've come to check on us first if he wasn't going somewhere for a while. Jesus, I've never seen so much chicken shit in one place in my life."

She didn't find that answer very reassuring, but if Nancy was anything, it certainly wasn't chicken shit.

Robin looks at her, then back at Eddie. "I'll go out in the hall for a minute, but I don't wanna leave." As if that was proof enough that she wasn't chicken shit.

You really wanted to get out of that library. It had felt a lot bigger when you had first got there, but now, five hours later, it was starting to get suffocating. You didn't want to see another book for the rest of your life.

"Do you mean take off for good?" You asked hopefully.

Eddie shook his head. "For good? No, just down to my locker."

"Okay." You agreed simply, taking your place beside him.

He smiled at you. "Being bad feels pretty god, huh?"

You rolled your eyes at him and gave him a playful shove. The others looked like they were starting to consider it. Eddie's locker wasn't that far away. They would be gone for five minutes tops. If things went well, that was.

"What's the point of going to a locker?" Steve questioned.

"Why don't we just stand in the hall for a minute? That'd be fun, huh? If we get away with it." Robin attempted to persuade.

You and Eddie ignored them, taking the chance to slip out the door. The longer you all spent debating it, the less time you would have to get back.

Steve, Robin, and Nancy looked at each other.

"I'm not chicken." Nancy disclosed boldly, shifting on her feet and crossing her arms.

"I am." Robin gulped. At least she was honest.

"You two gonna stay?" Nancy flicked her eyes between the two of them.

"Not if you don't." Steve leaned against the door frame, like his answer showed her some sort of compassion, that he was thinking of her.

"What do I have to do with making up your mind?"

Steve gulped. Not the reaction he was hoping. He cleared his throat and accepted defeat. "I don't know. I guess if you're not scared, I shouldn't be... not that I am. I'm not scared. Not of Principal Higgins."

Nancy stared at him like she didn't believe him, then left before he could dig the hole any deeper for himself. Steve was crushed as he watched Nancy walk away. He felt like he had just blown a chance at impressing Nancy. His shoulders slumped, and Robin patted him on the back.

"Maybe you should think for yourself for once. It's healthy."

She hadn't said it in a bad way, but it had still injured his dignity. He brushed her hand off him and left without a word. Robin turned to the empty library. She debated sitting back down, but she had visions of Higgins storming through the doors and hounding her with questions. At least if she got caught in the halls, she'd have the others with her. She quickly followed after Steve.

Nancy and Steve caught up with you and Eddie, with Robin running behind, trying to catch up. You all hurried up the steps as quietly as possible. You made it to the teacher's lounge and paused, hearing noise coming from inside.

"For cryin' out loud!" Principal Higgins hit the vending machine. His soda can was stuck inside.

You and Eddie ran across the open doorway while he was distracted. You tried not to think about the way Eddie had grabbed your hand to pull you along. Higgins rattled the coin return and started banging on the buttons. Steve and Nancy went next, taking a big lunge across and landing on their feet silently. Higgins let out a defeated sigh and started rummaging his pockets for more change. Finally, Robin made it across, just in time before the Principal turned around after having no luck. Eddie turned to make sure that everyone had made it across. He hadn't realised that he was still holding your hand until you wiggled it out of his grip. Your face flushed, and you awkwardly wiped your hand on your skirt, suddenly feeling the perspiration on your palm. You took a step away from each other at the same time. Eddie cleared his throat, and the others eyed him, wondering why his demeanour had suddenly changed.

They all turned when they saw his eyes staring behind them, paralysed in panic. Principal Higgins had walked out of the teacher's lounge.

Everyone froze.

The Principal paused, looked down at his watch, turned the other way, and walked down the hall. Everyone released a breath when he was out of sight. Eddie led you down another hall until you reached his locker.

His locker was so ugly it hurt your eyes. The white paint on his locker was non-existent. It was a horrific amalgamation of stickers from bands you've never heard of, spray paint graffiti, and lettering scratched into the metal with handwriting so bad you couldn't even read it. When he opened it, the inside wasn't much better. The stickers and writing wrapped around the inside of the locker door. It was a stunning mess of clothes, bags, papers, books, cassette tapes, and auto parts. You'd hate to see what his bedroom looked like.

Not that you were thinking of being in his bedroom.

Eddie started fishing through his locker. Nancy was revolted by it.

"You're such a slob. Your maid take the week off or something?"

"This is on purpose, Princess. Don't worry." Nobody believed him. "It discourages nosey people from going in it. Like cops."

Eddie smiled when he located what he was looking for. He pulled out a greasy, stained shopping bag. Out of the shopping bag, he took a smaller brown paper bag, and out of that, an even smaller paper bag. Then, with great drama and a huge, proud smile, he reached his hand into the final bag.

"You ready for this action?"

He slowly took out a baggie bulging with marijuana. Your mouth hung open in shock. Nancy looked at it like it was infectious.

"No way, man. Put it back." Steve insisted, making a reach for it.

Eddie stuffed the baggie down the from of his pants with a smirk. Steve pulled a disgusted face; there was no way he was going to take it from him now.

"Let's go."

You all turned and quietly crept back down the hall. You were about to turn the corner when Eddie stopped you. Professor Higgins was standing outside of the teacher's lounge again, holding two cans of Coca Cola after finding some spare change in his office draw. He was only five yards away. You all scooted backwards to hide behind the corner. You bravely peeked a head around. Higgins turned and made his way down the hall. He was on his way back to the library. You told the others.

"We're screwed!" Robin cried

"You asshole!" Steve seethed. "I knew this was a lost idea!"

Nancy shook her head in disbelief. "We're finished. This is just great."

You had a bit more optimism than that. You turned to Eddie. He got himself out of shit all the time. What's one more? You had faith in him, and he had felt it in how you spoke your words. "What're we gonna do?"

Eddie thought hard. Higgins' leisurely footsteps echoed down the hall, each one diminishing your chances of getting back to the library undetected.

"We'll go around, cut through the lab, and double back. C'mon."

Eddie urged everyone to start running. You all swerved around corners and scrambled downstairs, sacrificing volume for speed. You narrowly escaped Higgins' sight when you turned and corner and seen he was walking head on towards you all. He was too busy sipping on his Cola to notice the group of students at the end of the hall. At least he had decided to take the scenic route back to the library. He was unintentionally buying you all some time. You all ran in the opposite direction again.

"Cut through the cafeteria." Eddie directed, starting to run down the hall to the right.

"The gym will be faster." Steve countered.

"What? No, you don't know what you're talking about."

"No, you don't know what you're talking about. I'm through listening to you. You'll just end up getting us into more trouble. We're going this way." Steve had managed to persuade the others into following him.

Eddie hardly spent time in school, and he certainly never used the gym. He couldn't remember if it was quicker or not. He didn't like not being in control. He felt like he was running off a cliff head first with a blindfold on. He watched as the others followed Steve down the hall to the left. It was just you and him left. You stared at him fearfully, listening to Principal Higgins' footsteps grow closer. You started backwards slowly, encouraging Eddie to follow. He did with a scoff of annoyance. The two of you quickly caught up with the others, falling behind while Steve led the way. After a couple of twists and turns and another almost run in with the Principal, you reached the gym doors. Steve pulled on the handles.

They were locked.

Sheer panic set in.

"Great idea, shitbag." Eddie spat at Steve.

"Fuck you." He tried the doors again to double check that they were locked.

They were. He kicked them bitterly.

"Fuck you, why didn't you listen to Eddie?" You defended.

You crashed back on some lockers and folded your arms in frustration.

"We're dead." Robin whimpered.

Eddie looked at you. You had probably given him more credit that what he was worth before when you had asked him for help, but now, as you stared back, he wanted to prove himself to you. You seeing the clogs working in his brain and the change in his eyes.

He didn't take his eyes off you. "No, just me." He said heroically.

"What do you mean?" Steve's voice finally drew his eyes away from you.

"I'm gonna take the rap." He pulls his baggie of marijuana out and shoves it down Steve's pants. "Keep your unit out of it."

The girls giggled. Steve was horrified that a group of girls were laughing about his genitals.

"I mean, what if the bag broke and the dope seeped into his thing and it got high?" Robin laughed.

"Can you imagine this airhead running around with his little weenie stoned?" You cracked up.

"Little?" Steve looked wounded. "It's not that funny."

The girls just cracked up more. Eddie smirked.

"I don't want this, Eddie!" Steve begged.

"C'mon King Steve, I'm gonna save your buns! It's your fault we're in this mess, the least you could do is hold on to that until Dick leaves."

The girls were still laughing. You meet Eddie's eye and he starts laughing too.

Steve turned back to the group of girls snickering behind him. "Excuse me, but I don't want to do this. Eddie's making me, so I'd appreciate it if you guys would stop with the jokes. Okay?"

Eddie turned and started running back down the hall. "Just get back to the library!"

There was a pause as the girls calmed down. No use in trying to be sneaky when you can't stop laughing.

"Eddie, wait." He paused, eyebrows raised in interest at your voice. "Be careful."

Eddie beamed and shot you a wink before sprinting down the hall.

"That stuff couldn't really happen, right?" Steve's voice quivered with concern for his unit.

With a roll of your eyes, you urged the group to start towards the library. You lead the way, taking Eddie's route through the cafeteria. As you ran through the halls, you could hear his loud singing, but he was too distant for you to understand any of the words. If you could hear him from all the way over here, Principal Higgins would most definitely already be on his way to catch him.

You managed to get them all back to the library safely. Everyone was huffing for breath, and Steve kept adjusting his pants. Everyone took their seats, except for Nancy, who was peering out of the doors to keep an eye out for Higgins or Eddie.

Nancy gasped. "Higgins' got him! He's gonna get reamed."

Steve recoiled at the name. "I do not want these drugs in my underwear anymore."

"Shhh!"

Nancy rushed from the door to her desk. No sooner was she seated than the door opened up, and Principal Higgins shoved Eddie in. He was red-faced from running around, and he had managed to tie his hair back into a low bun that you thought suited him. His red paid shirt was half hanging off, and he was carrying one shoe in his hand, but he still had a big shit-eating grin on his face. You wondered what on earth had happened. He made his way towards his seat next to you, hopping on one leg as he tried to walk and put his shoe back on at the same time.

Higgins crossed his arms impatiently. "Mr. Munson has taken it upon himself to visit the gymnasium. So, I'm sorry to inform you that you'll be losing his company for the remainder of the day."

Eddie chuckled to himself as he sat back in his seat next to you.

"Everything's a joke, huh, Munson? The false alarm you pulled on Friday? Are false fire alarms real funny? What if your home was on fire and the fire department was over here answering a false alarm?"

"I'm not that lucky, Sir."

Everyone suppressed the urge to laugh at Eddie's wisecrack.

"Fine, what if it was your dope on fire?"

"That's impossible, Sir. It's in Harrington's underwear."

Everyone cracks up again. Steve turned red, adjusting himself in his jeans not-so subtly.

The Principal turned his attention on everyone else. "You like this? You think Munson's funny? Do you think he's cute?"

He got no reaction from anyone. Eddie glared at Higgins as he made his little speech, trying to hide his embarrassment at the fact that the Principal had managed to one-up him.

"I bet Y/N thinks I'm cute." He mumbled under his breath. Eddie had spoken your actual name for the first time. It sounded like honey running off his lips. Your eyes widened, but you pretended not to hear.

Higgins continued. "Go visit Big Eddie Munson in five years and see how goddamn funny he is." He smiled and leaned in close to Eddie. "You look like you're gonna cry, Munson."

Eddie was struggling to keep himself from striking Principal Higgins across his smug fucking face. How dare he humiliate him in front of everyone. How dare he humiliate him in front of you.

"You're not tough, Munson. You're pathetic." He reached out and grabbed Eddie by the front. "Let's go."

Eddie smacked his hand away. "Get your fucking hands off me! I'd expect better manners from you, Dick."

Eddie shuffled around the table, planting a big kiss on your cheek as he left. You almost gasped in surprise. As he walked away, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. Why he was carrying sunglasses in October, you had no idea. You had learned it was probably better not to question him. He lay them on the desk in front of Steve.

"For better hallway vision." He sniped.

Principal Higgins walked out, holding the door open for Eddie as he shuffled languidly behind him. He turned his head and looked at the others.

He held up a peace sign in farewell. "It's been a slice, ladies."

The door closed behind them.

The room was silent once more.

You reached a hand to your cheek where Eddie had kissed you. The skin was tingling under your touch. You couldn't help but smile at the memory of his surprisingly soft lips. Billy flashed through your mind again. Your heart dropped into your gut. How could you have let Eddie have that effect on you when Billy was waiting for you at home? The thought had your body tingling again. But not the good kind.

Everyone awkwardly glanced at each other. You realised now that somehow Eddie had been the glue that was holding you all together. You had all bonded over your inadequacy to tolerate Eddie that, now he wasn't here, you had absolutely nothing in common. You were unable to prevent the disappointment swarming in your chest.

"Principal Higgins is a total meat head." You broke the silence and everyone turned to you.

They all had the same sort of sorrow in their eyes. The girls agreed with you, but Steve shook his head like he didn't have any regrets.

"The freak asked for it."

The insult upset you more than it probably would have upset Eddie. "Hey! It isn't fair that Eddie gets treated like that. We all left. He saved our asses."

"Oh, get a life, Y/N."

You thought Steve was starting to come around to you after your talk on the way to the teachers lounge. You guessed not. "He sacrificed himself so we could get back here. I didn't see you volunteering."

You had wounded Steve's dignity. "I didn't want to leave in the first place. He got us into it, it's only right that he take the shit for getting us out of it." He bit back.

"You weren't forced to go!"

"Munson is a troublemaker."

"Yeah? So what does that make you?"

"Meaning what?"

"Wimp."

CCRRAASSHH!!!

Everyone turned in the direction of one of the seclusion rooms. There is a gaping hole in the ceiling where the tiles had crashed through, and Eddie splayed, stunned, on his back on the table. After catching his breath, he sat up and shook the dry plaster out of his hair. He sauntered out into the main library like nothing had happened.

"Miss me?"

"How did you do that?" You bewildered.

"Smoke and mirrors." He winked, taking his rightful seat beside you.

"Goddammit!" Footsteps came hurtling towards the library doors.

"Shit!" Eddie ducked underneath the table.

His tall, lanky body hardly fit underneath. He shuffled upwards until his upper half was tucked between your legs. You cringed, trying so desperately to close your legs so Eddie didn't look straight up your skirt, but your legs were trapped on either side of his shoulders.

Principal Higgins stood at the door, red-faced and puffing. "What was that ruckus?"

"What ruckus?" You played dumb, jumping in before Steve could open his mouth and rat on Eddie.

Higgins eyed them all up. You all sat like little angles, up straight and arms folded innocently in front of you.

"Could you describe it, Sir?" Robin asked.

"Watch your tongue, Missy."

Eddie shifted in discomfort, adjusting himself so his back didn't ache as much. He eyed your white keds. Only a slight discolouration in the laces and few specs of mud from when you had crossed the school field, but otherwise clean. He moved back slightly so he didn't get any dirt on himself. He followed his eyes up your white socks, tracing the green trim at the top of your knee. He was glad to be under the table when he flushed at the sight of your bare skin. The soft flesh of your thighs enticing him to follow higher.

There was a sudden knock from under the table from Eddie accidentally banging his head. You jolted in surprise, hitting your hands on the table to disguise the sound. The others copied, tapping their own little beats.

"What was that noise?"

"What noise?"

Eddie hoped that the sight he saw would never leave his mind. It was enough to send anyone into a cardiac arrest. His mouth hung open as he ogled straight up your skirt. You hadn't worn your spandex briefs since you weren't actually doing any cheerleading, and instead had opted for a pair of baby blue cotton panties. Eddie's mouth was watering at the excruciatingly tender bulge. In his entire life, Eddie would not be able to duplicate the raw power of this moment. Eddie's eyes were locked in a stare, hand trembling and eager to touch.

"Really, Sir, there wasn't any noise, just ---"

You shot up straight with a gasp, hands reaching underneath the table and into Eddie's hair. You could feel it tickling the skin of your thigh as his head moved further between your legs. The others looked at you with alarm. You pulled gently on his hair to urge him to stop, but couldn't find yourself putting in any effort to resist him. Your hand stayed weaved into his curled as he continued to delve in deeper. Your legs had started trembling when you felt his lips graze your inner thighs before placing a soft kiss there. Your mouth hung open in shock before you came to your senses. You quickly covered your gasp with a cough.

The others joined in and you couldn't be more grateful. The four of you sat in a coughing fit with Higgins eyeing you all suspiciously.

"What that the noise? The noise I just made. Was that it?" You thought fast.

Eddie's nose prodded at your mound. You suppressed another gasp and slammed your thighs closed around his head to stop him from moving any further. Eddie snapped out of his trance at the sudden pain on either side of his head. He slapped your leg to tap out, and you relaxed your thighs. He moved away from you, rubbing his ringing ears. When you felt him leave, you gave him a deserved kick to the arm. He hissed in pain, but Higgins hadn't heard it.

The Principal scowled. "I didn't catch you this time, but you can bet I will." He pointed a finger at you. "You!"

You tensed.

"I will not be made a fool of."

And with those final words, he stormed from the library.

Everybody held their angelic expressions for a couple beats and then, assured that Higgins was out of earshot, Steve, Nancy, and Robin break into laughter. You shoved your seat back and kicked your legs at Eddie as he scrambled out from under the front of the table.

"You're such an asshole."

Eddie tried to keep as serious as he could, but struggled to contain his laughter at your anger. "What?" He asked innocently.

"You know what."

"It was dark under there, it was an accident."

The others seemed to take interest in your spat. They wondered what had Eddie laughing and felt inclined to join in.

"What?" Steve asked.

"None of your business." You slumped back into your chair and crossed your arms, angry and embarrassed.

Eddie saw your wet eyes and soft pouting lips. He started to feel bad. He hadn't meant to upset you.

"I couldn't help it, okay? I'm sorry."

You refused to look at him. He placed a gentle hand under your chin and guided your eyes to meet. His voice was much softer. "I'm sorry."

You hadn't said it out loud, but Eddie could see the forgiveness in your eyes. You relaxed under his touch, feeling the truth in his words. He smiled tenderly.

"What did you do?" Steve asked again, still hoping for a laugh.

Eddie had clearly embarrassed you somehow. Steve thought it was only fair to get a few jokes out on you after you and the other girls had made fun at him in the hallway.

"Shut up." Eddie snapped, and the moment was over.

He held out a hand to Steve who just looked at it in confusion. He reached like he was going to shake Eddie's hand but he slapped it away just before they clasped hands. Eddie looked at him like he was as thick as pig shit.

"You smoke all my reefer or something? The dope, waistoid. Give it to me."

Steve's eyes lit up at the disclosure, wondering how he had managed to forget. He reached into his pants and tossed the baggie to Eddie, murmuring a 'good riddance' to it under his breath. Eddie sat back next to you and opened the bag on the table. You stared at it in curiosity.

You had never smoked weed before. You had never smoked period. But Billy did. He always tried to force you to smoke it with him, but you refused. It wasn't that you hadn't wanted to do it, it was because Billy wanted you to. It was kind of like when your parents ask you to do something and it immediately puts you off wanting to do it. He'd call you a killjoy, or Miss Priss, which always got under your skin. But what made it worse was that Billy always got horny when he was high. He struggled to contain himself around you, even when you told him no. Luckily, he had never done anything, but you knew it was only a matter of time before he would.

You knew Eddie wouldn't be like that though. You had never seen him stoned, but there was something about him that told you smoking with Eddie would be okay. He wouldn't pressure you into trying it if you didn't want to, and if you did, that was okay too. Eddie sold weed to people all the time, heavy hitters and noobs alike. He had taught plenty of people how to smoke before. You could try it for yourself, without Billy's untoward provocation.

He patted his pockets then looks troubled. "Do you have any papers." He asked no one in particular.

Then with a shake of his head, he answered his own question. "Why would you dinks have papers?"

"You're not smoking in here." Nancy looked fearful.

"Yeah? Watch me."

"If you want to smoke, go back to where you were before. Before you fell through the fucking ceiling." Steve ordered on Nancy's behalf.

Eddie reached over and pretended to click a switch to turn Steve off.

"What can I use for papers?"

"A book?" You suggested.

"What about the smell?" Nancy quizzed.

Eddie regarded her off-handedly. "Take your shoes off, that'll mask the smell."

Nancy's mouth hung open in offence, She knew her feet didn't smell so the insult hadn't wounded her pride too much. But it was still embarrassing none the less. Especially in front of Steve.

Eddie ignored her and turned to you. "Book pages are too thick."

"How about dictionary pages? That paper's real thin."

Eddie looked at you impressed, eyebrows raised and a slight twitch in the corner of his mouth. The look of pride made your stomach flip. You took a great deal of pleasure at his silent praise. He walked over to the dictionary stand.

"You can't tear up a dictionary." Robin protested. "What if somebody needs a word and you smoked it?"

Eddie ignored her, opened a dictionary and ripped out a random page. He couldn't care less if he had caused someone a minor inconvenience. There was more than one dictionary in the world.

He pointed at Nancy. "Hey Princess, watch that door. This is a police matter if we get caught."

Nancy tensed. She didn't like that idea very much. She swallowed hard. Eddie walked to the back of the library where the comfy chairs were and plonked himself down on one of the bean bags, making himself right at home.

You got up to follow. Steve looked at you completely pissed off at you for encouraging Eddie's behaviour.

"Loosen up." You scoffed.

"I'm not getting my paper written." Nancy sighed to herself.

"You know," you continued, "he's not all that bad. I'm kind of getting used to him."

"You're just bored."

"Why are you acting like this towards me, Steve?" You'd had enough of the way he was talking to you. "I thought we were fine after I apologised."

It was like when you were alone together you were fine, but in front of the others he hated your guts. You thought he had some nerve calling Eddie out at lunch for trying to keep up with his image. He was being such a hypocrite right now.

He scoffed. "It was hardly an apology."

"It was hardly an apology because I had nothing to be sorry for. I told you already what Billy did wasn't my fault."

"I know!" His voice softened. "I know."

Nancy gave him a gentle look, as if urging him to apologise. He sighed in defeat, tracing a finger along the split in his lip. Suddenly it didn't hurt as much anymore. Like holding this grudge over you was a constant reminder of the pain Billy had given him. He knew apologising was the right thing to do. He opened his mouth, but his time was up.

You shook your head in disappointment. You didn't know what you were expecting from him. Perhaps Steve wasn't as nice as you once thought. It was crazy how things had turned out. In the beginning, you thought for sure that this experience would have given you a chance to make amends with Steve, maybe even become friends of some sort. Turned out that you grew apart from Steve and found yourself feeling closer to Eddie. A notion you had never entertained in all your years at Hawkins High.

You walked away before Steve could say another word to you.

~~~~~

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~~~~~

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madaboutmunson · 11 months

Text

Again - Part 24 - The End

Part 1 | Part 23 | Full list of Again series links inc AO3 Link

Steddie fic where Steve and Eddie are in their mid 30's and everyone has sort of drifted apart

Notes: We made it! All the way to the end. A big thank you to everyone that makes it this far. I know there are thousands of other fics you could be reading, and I am honored you take the time out to read mine. This is the longest fic I've ever written, and I'm gonna miss writing these versions of the characters. I hope youve enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it and reading your thoughts on it :)

Taglist: @adaed5 @grtwdsmwhr @swimmingbirdrunningrock @mightbeasleep, @jewellthebooknerd, @fentiibratzz @rvllybllply2014

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The next few weeks, they fall into a happy routine. Every day starts with a breakfast tray with two oat shakes and half of Steve’s meds. Eddie hated it at first, but the novelty of toppings made him grow to love them.

Depending on the day, Eddie either goes through the exercise routine with Steve or if he has to go to work, Wayne coaches him through it, occasionally taking part himself.

Then Steve checks in with the builders to see how Wayne’s mini ranch house is coming along further out on the land. Wayne never complains if anything is wrong or not to his original requests, but Steve has been busy deciphering the eyebrow and sigh slash grumble code with Eddie’s expert knowledge, and he’s almost got it down to a fine art.

The kids were to stay at Jenny and Val’s for a few more weeks, but Steve called them every day once they were home from school.

Their evenings always end the same way. Wayne bids them goodnight and goes back to the RV, then Eddie and Steve build their living room fort together, and Steve got the front seat tonight. So that means Eddie has TV control. He selects a music DVD and talks through the meanings behind the songs or some random factoids that Steve probably wouldn’t remember. Still, he could watch Eddie talk enthusiastically about mostly anything. The way his eyes widen and sparkle, they either stare intensely at the screen or Steve, his one hand always at Steve's chest, the other wildly gesticulating around. Maybe a cushion falls victim to it on occasion.

“You got any plans tomorrow, babe?” Eddie asks happily.

“Other than beating my exercise personal bests and kissing you….hmmm….nope,” Steve answers.

“Awww, Steve, do you have a lil’ crush on me?” Eddie jokes, fluttering his eyelashes and grabbing one of Steve’s hands in each of his own.

“I guess you could say that. I think you’re alright, you know? Kinda cute. Tolerable,” Steve teases and is immediately jostled from side to side by Eddie's knees.

“Kinda cute? Tolerable? Ooof, am I losing my charm? Do I need to revert to my nerdy ways and grow my hair out?” Eddie pretends to be devastated and flops forward on Steve’s shoulder in mock defeat.

“I love you, you stupid ass.” Steve laughs, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek and snuggling backwards into him more.

"You sure about that? Like one hundred per cent, sure? No take backsies? If destroyed still true forever?" Eddie mutters softly as he nuzzles against his cheek and ear. Steve turns slightly to look into his eyes.

"Yes." Steve answers with a gentle smile of adoration, "Of course. Without a shadow of a doubt. To the end of the universe and back. Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, twenty-four hours a day. I absolutely, one hundred per cent adore you. I love you." Steve kisses him softly to seal his declaration, and this is where Eddie normally bundles him up in his arms somehow, and they kiss and melt into one another for hours until it's time to sleep.

But not tonight.

Tonight Eddie gets up and changes the DVD he puts on The Breakfast Club. Steve admires his tattooed topless form as he moves. He looks stronger still these days. Steve wonders if that is to do with Eddie falling into his exercise and eating regime. His jeans still slouch a little around his tiny waist, which Steve has also noted has developed a slight squidginess of content. Eddie complains about it, but Steve loves it. It means he's happy here. Eddie returns and sits back behind Steve as the film starts.

"It's good, you know," Eddie says happily as he reaches for his hands again, leans forward and wraps both sets of their arms around Steve again.

"What is? the movie?" Steve asks, a little confused.

Eddie laughs, "Well, like, everything, but specifically that you love me so much."

"Eddie, did you eat some special brownies today? You're talking in riddles. I love you every day. You love me every day. Why is it any different tonight?"

"Because otherwise, this would be silly of me" Their joined hands that had been draped around him go to Eddie's jeans pocket, and Steve can feel something gripped in their joined fingers, and it's lifted in front of his eyes a black box. Eddie's thumb flicks open the lid, and inside are two silver rings.

At first glance, they look like two plain silver bands, which is beautiful enough, but as Eddie twists the box for him, he begins to see their hammered texture. Steve uses his hand to lift the box when he notices the same word engraved on the inside of each "Aeternum".

"Hey, calm down, love. I don't want heart-monitor-Max’s spidey sense setting off wherever she is, bursting in here and kicking my ass," Eddie says with a smile in his voice, tapping their joined hands against the centre of Steve's chest delicately. Steve is so surprised he hasn't realised his heart rate has picked up, but he feels the deep thuds now. He feels Eddie's chest rise and fall against his back, and he attempts to match it to calm himself. "Don't worry. This isn't my proposal. You know, I'd never do something like that as quietly as this. This is…uh…a just-the-facts ring" Eddie lets out a soft laugh next to Steve's ear.

Steve wishes it was just the surprise making his heart pound, but it wasn't. It was fear. He's afraid he doesn't deserve this, not after what he did. "You're awful quiet with your words there, sweetheart," Eddie says with a hint of worry, and Steve shuts his eyes for a moment. Trying to compose himself.

"After what I did?" Steve asks, afraid to use too many words in case he ruins everything with another tearful display.

"Steve, please, not tonight," Eddie pleads glumly."We're done with all that. We're doing all the things we need to."

Steve deflates in Eddie's arms momentarily, "I'm sorry, Eddie. I'm trying."

Eddie clears his throat. "Well, technically, I got these before any of that happened. So, uh, I wanted to give you this before and after." Steve can hear the smile in his voice, and it's causing a twisted pain in him. He knows Eddie means well and wants to play pretend like it hadn't happened. Steve remembers Eddie sitting opposite him in the kitchen, how he told him he didn't deserve Steve's love, and if this was what he felt like at the time, Steve regrets not being more patient, but Eddie had tried for Steve, and so he must do the same now.

"Why didn't you get ones like your other rings?" Steve asks, and he feels Eddie snuggle up to him a little more, happy for his effort.

"I wanted something special. I wanted them to be like us. A mixture of moments of perfection and imperfection, but it's glaringly obvious they belong together," Eddie says with a hint of excitement. Steve untangles their fingers on both hands, leaving Eddie holding the box in his eye line, and finds the one finger of Eddie's that has no ring adorning it.

Steve carefully takes a ring out of the box and slides the ring onto Eddie's finger, then kisses the back of his hand. As he reaches for the other ring, Eddie softly bumps his fingers out of the way, takes Steve's hand in his, and puts the ring on for him. He kisses the back of Steve's hand and then his temple, "I'll love you for all eternity," Eddie whispers as he casts aside the box, weaves their fingers back together, and moves their hands back where they were.

"And I, you," Steve replies softly, unable to take his eyes off him. He amazed him. How could something that made so much sense right now have at one time seemed entirely impossible? At one time, he thought there was no way Eddie could love him back, and yet here they are wrapped up together, shacked up together, making promises until the end of time together, "So much, honey." He pauses, taking a few breaths, "I'm sorry, Eddie."

"How many times, Steve! Stop saying sorry." Eddie kisses him as if to swallow up his unwanted apologies.

"Oh, I'm not apologising for that," Steve says, getting to his feet and hoisting Eddie up with him, who looks puzzled but smiles all the same, especially when he finds himself wrapped up in Steve's arms, being gently swayed to some non-existent music, as Steve's gentle eyes gaze sleepily into his.

"No? Then what are you apologising for?" Eddie inquires. Though his voice is soft, his words trail away, completely distracted by what is happening between them.

"Because I'm impatient, honey, and because if I love you any more, I'm certain my heart would explode," Steve's eyes swim with fondness as they trail over Eddie's features, as he tilts his head to the side in adorable confusion, "Eddie?" Steve says softly.

"Yeah?" Eddie mutters as he leans against his love, their bodies pressed together so no glimmer of light can get between them.

"Eddie Munson. That's a nice name. You like it?" Steve asks softly, his mouth barely an inch for Eddie's. Their eyes have yet to glance away from one another.

Eddie laughs softly, "I don't mind it, I guess. You like yours, Steve Harrington?"

"I guess," Steve replies dreamily, a smile creeping over his face, "Edward Munson?" Steve asks again, making Eddie's smile stretch into a grin and giggle.

"Yes, Steven Harrington," he says, looking a little confused but happy regardless. Steve readjusts his arms so one wraps around Eddie's back, pulling him in close, and the other reaches up to cradle the back of his neck.

"Will you marry me?" Steve asks in a whisper. Even with knowing how deeply Eddie adores him, it is still a genuine question. Eddie's eyes sparkle as they well up, but they crease at the corners as his smile widens and he nods his head a few times.

"Yeah." Eddie answers, his voice cracking, "Yeah, I think I will." He beams and kisses Steve tenderly. Eddie tucks some of Steve's hair behind his ear as they part, "I love this for us, baby, but you know I can't let this be it, though, right?"

"I know." Steve smiles with understanding.

Over the next few weeks, it was a competition of who could propose to who in the grandest way, and each time they'd pretend to be nervous, even though they already knew the answer.

Eddie calls up a national radio station and gets them to prank Steve with a competition win just so he can propose to him live on air.

Steve hires a skywriter to propose to Eddie when he brings him his lunch at work.

Eddie interrupts a parent-teacher meeting and proposes to Steve playing his BC Rich Warlock through a portable amp, singing "Will you marry me?" to the tune of We Will Rock You. He even gets everyone else in the room to do the stomps and claps.

Steve buys a page in Rolling Stone magazine to propose to Eddie.

Eddie proposes right at the end of an elaborate scavenger hunt they put on after a massive party that everyone is invited to at their house. Steve declares him the winner after that one. Eddie claims his super secret prize when everyone else has gone home later that night.

With same-sex marriage still not legal in the state, they decided there was little point organising anything, but as far as they, their loved ones and anyone bothered enough to ask knew, They were as good as married, and they never referred to one another in conversation as anything less than Husband. If either of them got a hint that it bothered anyone they were talking to, they just talked about their husband more.

***************************************************************

Their first Halloween together is a full-blown production. With a blank cheque at his disposal, Eddie goes hog wild with the kids, making the whole place into a house of horrors. Eddie told everyone to keep it on the cartoony side of things and expressly forbade any jump scares or smoke machines in the house. He said it was tacky, and everyone did that. He didn't want their house to be the same as the next. But Steve knew he'd done it for him so he could enjoy everything without fear of flashbacks. Eddie even hooked up his guitar to play the theme tunes of the trick-or-treater's costumes. Steve dressed as Dr Van Helsing, and Eddie as the infamous Count Dracula. Morgan and Mackenzie opt for Princess Fiona and Shrek (sporting his prize-winning pie rosette), and after much aggressive and whiny persuasion from Corey, Wayne agrees to Agent Smith from The Matrix to complement his Neo outfit.

That night Steve mainly watches. He converses with other parents from the neighbourhood about school topics, but his eyes fall back to the same thing. Eddie. But a specific Eddie. An Eddie with his heart full of unbridled joy. Whether he was running around chasing after kids Corey's age with his fake plastic fangs bared, regaling a group of teens around a small fire pit with a story so terrifying an occasional audible squeal would ring out, or handing out the gift bags of full-size treats and toys with the hugest toothy smile on his face. But what absolutely kills Steve is the little witch, crying her eyes out in the middle of the lawn.

She must be around two or three, Steve guesses, clinging onto a little bucket full of candy, but she's looking around like she's lost something. She tugs on the back of Eddie's cape, and as he turns, he kneels. She takes a step back in fright. He takes out his fangs and shows her he is nothing to fear. He even wipes a finger across his makeup, showing her it's all pretend. She mimics him swiping her on her own finger across his face, and Eddie smiles gently at her, listening and nodding intently as the little girl talks. He asks her something, she nods, and he hoists her up onto his hip, cradling her to his side, and pointing and turning around, constantly checking in with her, making her giggle as she twists the curled ends of his hair in her fingers until a flustered woman runs up and thanks Eddie profusely. He just shrugs, waves them goodbye and pops his teeth back in.

"Everythin' ok, Sunny?" Wayne's deep drawl breaks Steve's focus.

"Yeah, just I dunno." Steve looks at the ground. His voice is a little sad, "Doesn't seem fair." he sighs, looking back at Eddie. Wayne's eyes follow his line of sight, and his mouth parts slightly, maybe in surprise. Perhaps his own sadness presents itself silently this way because Wayne doesn't have the right words for a change, "I just think he would have been great at it."

There is a beat of silence, "You asked him?"

Steve shakes his head, "No. Wanted to a bunch of times. Just can never quite figure out how." Wayne hums in understanding and pats Steve on the back, leaving him to look longingly at his husband as he thumbs at the only ring on his fingers. Eddie senses him as always, turns and gives him a gigantic grin, gesturing at the festivities around him, before blowing Steve a kiss, which he catches out of the air and puts in his pocket, making Eddie roll his eyes and laugh, before heading back to the next lot of trick or treaters.

***************************************************************

A month later, the house's energy is at a fever pitch. Tonight Steve had taken Eddie out. First, to the local premiere of The Fellowship of the Ring so that Eddie could watch it with a room full of people, but then surprises him when he asks if he wants to stay behind and watch it one more time, just the two of them. Of course, Eddie nearly spontaneously combusted on the spot, having no idea Steve had arranged a second surprise viewing for him. Steve doesn't think he'll ever forget how happy Eddie looked in that moment or how many times he'd clench his fists with excitement and then turn and kiss Steve, babbling happily about something he didn't quite catch the first time around.

He was so easy to fall for. Steve could do that every day over and over. Like breathing. Like he was built to do this. To love Eddie. Forever.

Steve doesn't usually make it through a standard-length film, let alone one of this length. Twice. Not without yawning or nearly falling asleep. But the second time around, he only partially watches the screen. Most of the time, he's watching his own blockbuster, a cast of one, Eddie. He watched his eyes with wrinkles at the corners, full to the brim with childlike wonder. Tapping Steve's hand when something comes up that is slightly different in the book, whispering the secret information to him. Even after it's over, Eddie is still full of energy, gushing about how things on screen were like they fell out of his mind, and that's when he sees it. Amid the chill winter wind, a family is dressed up like some of the characters in the movie. A wizard, an elf and held by both of them in the middle, as someone snaps a picture is a baby in a waistcoat and trousers, curls falling around their face, and for the first time tonight, Eddie's smile falls for a second, as he looks over at them, but as soon as he turns to Steve the smile is back again. He twists his ring around his finger, feeling over its texture.

Tonight, Steve was going to ask him.

***************************************************************

Steve turns over and opens his eyes. His bed covers have long since been thrown off in the heat. He runs his hand over the empty bed beside him, sighs, rolls over to stare at the ceiling, and checks the time. It's just gone three in the morning. He swings his legs over the side of the bed, steps into his slippers, decides it's much too hot to put on his robe, and picks up his water. He quietly pads downstairs, walks into a kitchen strewn with bottles, adds his water bottle to the mix, and smiles. He tip-toes to the lounge. The lights are set to their lowest dim, and he can hear a faint voice. He moves closer towards it, staying as silent as he possibly can. Steve's eyes find their target in the low light, Eddie’s topless form pacing around the living room, still softly muttering. He is oblivious to his presence, focusing on something else entirely. Unfortunately, Steve is so entranced by the scene he accidentally bumps into an end table, sending a plush bat rattling to the floor.

Eddie turns to him, whispering, "Not a ninja, Sweetheart". With his cover blown, Steve freely approaches, sweetly scoops in behind him, arms around his waist as he gently nuzzles into the side of his hair, but Eddie's hands don't find his.

"You gonna be much longer? Need anything?" Steve quietly asks next to his ear.

"Nah, I'm good, babe. Just had to find the right song. Seems to have settled things down." Eddie yawns, and Steve looks at his tired but unmistakably happy face. For a second, his eyes look up into Steve's, "Didn't think I'd ever be here, babe. I know things are a little different these days, but I love you just as much," he chuckles and looks down, "Even more some days, you know that, right?"

"Of course," Steve says, leaning over Eddie's shoulder to look down too. In his arms, a beautiful baby girl, a short set of dark ringlet curls adorn her head, her sweet round cheeks rosy from the heat, her long eyelashes rest on her skin as she slumbers sweetly against Eddie's chest, "I'll just bide my time and make her life hell when she's old enough to want to sleep in." Steve jokes and presses a soft sleepy kiss to Eddie's cheek, "What song was it tonight?"

"Through the Never," Eddie beams at Eowyn, "Are you collecting these songs or something?"

"Right now, she's stealing your sleep and my time with you, which I don't blame her for, but that doesn't mean when she hits, I dunno, thirteen and sleep becomes precious to her that her old Dads aren't gonna wake her up blaring a mix CD of all the songs that stole their own." Steve smiles.

"Wow, what happened to sweet old dad Steve?" Eddie jokes.

"I'm still as sweet as ever," Steve kisses Eddie's shoulder, "I'm just trying to arm myself. Wayne's been telling me all about what a cakewalk you were when you hit puberty," he says sarcastically. "And also…" Steve plants a trail of kisses along Eddie's shoulder and up his neck to his ear, "It's pretty lonely up there for sweet old dad Steve, you know?" He whispers playfully, squeezing Eddie's hips gently. "What do you say l go wash up the bottles, prep the next one, and tidy up here? You can get this little one back in her own very expensive custom-made upcycled Fender guitar cot that her Daddy absolutely had to have, and then you can get your sweet self back in ours, huh?" Steve pecks a kiss on his cheek, "And then I'm gonna slide in next to you, and we're gonna pass out on one another with exhaustion until her Royal Highness calls for us again."

"My god, Steve. You say the sexiest, most accurate things." Eddie laughs and kisses him on the cheek, "I love you."

"Love you too, honey."

***************************************************************

The house is chaos.

"Well, WHERE THE HELL IS IT???" Eddie screeches, jogging from room to room before he's stopped abruptly by the sudden appearance of the twins in the doorway.

"Daddy, which one of us do you think is taller?" Ozzy asks, scrunching up his freckled nose.

"Neither of you. You're the same height!" He pauses to look, "Almost exactly, in fact, now, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I have a vital ancient artefact to find."

"Can we help? We're good at finding things!" Ronnie looks up at him with his wide hazel eyes. Eddie eyes them suspiciously, crouches down and ruffles their hair.

"No, what I really need you to do is get your hats and sunglasses and the things you want to play with in the RV. Then use the bathroom and line up next to the door. Maybe help Beans get her things together, too,' Kay?" He smiles, gets back to his feet, and runs to the foot of the stairs, almost going flying over a suitcase that slides into his path, but he hurdles it at the last moment.

"Almost, Damn it!" Is a whispered voice, "Sorry, Eddie!" Corey calls out much louder with a slight laugh.

"You gotta be quicker than that, buddy. Line up in ten Cor’,'" Eddie says, shaking his head and laughing, before reaching the foot of the stairs and yelling up them through cupped hands, "Wyn, Morgan and Zee, line up in…nine minutes, and if you see my old iPod bring that with you, please!" He drops his hands, "Nearly there." He whispers to himself.

The front door swings open and in bursts, a Bermuda-shorted, Hawaiian-shirted, wayfarer-sporting Steve. "RV check all done, full tank of gas, road snacks stocked, we're good to go!" He grins.

"And the map?" Eddie looks at him wide-eyed.

"What map?" Steve tilts his head, and just before Mount Eddie erupts, he pulls it from his back pocket and wiggles it at him, "All ready for your plotting, my love. Oh, Jenny, Val, and Mariella are gonna meet us at the first scheduled stop, so if you find something before that, drop them a message way in advance. Jen is already gonna be sweltering in his heat in the third trimester, so please, no last-minute changes because otherwise, she might lose it entirely."

Eddie's tense shoulders drop, and he takes a minute to rush over, fling his arms around him for a kiss, and mutters into his collar, "This place is hell, babe. Full chaotic evil!"

"Wanna switch for a bit?" Steve offers, rubbing his hands over Eddie's back.

"I wanna say yes, but too much has happened in the thirty minutes you were gone, and I'm not sure I have the energy or time to go over the new storylines, babe," Eddie pouts.

"How about this? You sit here." Steve pulls a chair to the front door and guides him to it, "You supervise. Ok? That way, you get to take a breath and make sure I don't miss anything at the same time?" Eddie nods sweetly.

Steve picks up his megaphone from the doorway, and Eddie covers his ears, ready for the inevitable feedback when Steve switches it on, "Kids, cases, journey items at the door in…" he releases the button and looks at Eddie who checks his watch and holds up four fingers. Steve presses the button again and bellows through it. "Four minutes! Don't forget chargers, and to use the bathroom, we won't be making a stop for…" he turns to Eddie, who holds up two fingers, "Two hours. And may I remind you all that Uncle Dustin and Aunt Erica will eat all the ice cream if they get there before us. Uncle Jonathan wants to take a big group photo this year, so please make sure you have something suitable for that. I mean it, Corey! One non-heavy metal or unoffensive t-shirt wouldn't kill you." He clicks off the megaphone again, turns to Eddie excitedly grinning from ear to ear, and starts singing and dancing to his rendition of Madonna's Holiday.

Eddie smiles and shakes his head with a chuckle, "Why do we do this to ourselves every year?"

"Ah, I know this one…Because we love our friends and family?" Steve says with a grin, which immediately drops from his face into panic, and Eddie is out of his chair.

"Oh, what, Steve?! What is it? Dear gods, just one year where we leave on time," Eddie says, hands in his hair.

Steve looks horrified, "I um…I think…I kinda…yeah…I forgot Wayne at the gas station."

Eddie's eyes widen, "How did you even do that, Steve?!" He gasps frantically, pulling his phone from his pocket.

"He's just so quiet sometimes! I didn't mean to leave him. I was thinking about all the other hundred things I needed to check, honey!" Steve complains.

"You lost a full-grown man, babe. This is a new low for you." Eddie says, pacing as he holds the phone up to his ear.

The All along the Watchtower ringtone is coming from somewhere nearby, and they both frantically look around for it before Wayne's head appears around the door frame, "Bumped into Ms Monterello, she gave me a ride back, Sunny." He chuckles deeply, and Steve practically throws his arms around him.

"Oh, you've saved my bacon there, Pops" Steve smiles with relief, patting Wayne on the back.

Morgan and Zee appear at the door first, as always, "Do we have to do this every year?" Morgan complains with his much deeper voice, Zee hanging off his arm.

"Yeah, yeah, we do, actually, Mister fancy college pants, we do. Steve here has already lost a whole human, and we watch Home Alone every Christmas as a warning. This is why we do the lineup."

The kids fall in line, the count is correct, the humongous RV gets packed with people and luggage, and Morgan and Zee get in her car with the excess and Beans.

Steve does the final lock checks around the house with Eddie, and finally, they get into the front seats. Eddie opens the map in front of him, his little packet of different colour stars and flag stickers resting gently on top.

"Ok, guys, who got first dibs?" Eddie shouts, not looking up from his map but raising a hand with one finger extended upwards to retrieve the incoming CD from Corey. Eddie looks at it, "Ohhh, a classic from Cyborg. Nice!" And places it into the stereo.

"Everyone buckled in?" Steve shouts back and receives a chorus of Yeses. He picks up the walkie-talkie and presses the button, "Caboose! You all buckled up, tunes at the ready? Over."

"Yes! Let's go already!" Zee's impatient voice crackles out of the speaker.

“You didn’t say over. Over.” Steve says, confused.

“Dad, I swear….” there is a little whispering which Steve smugly knows is Morgan encouraging her to get on board, “Yes, we’re ready to go. Over!”

"Alright then, let's do this!" Steve says way too enthusiastically for the slow, gradual speed this great hulking vehicle leaves the driveway at.

Despite how crazy it is to organise and how far they have to drive to find a midpoint in the country to meet up with all their old friends from Hawkins that were now spread all over. Steve's heart is packed to the brim. He reaches one hand out to Eddie, who gives him his pinky finger as the rest of his hand is busy with stickers, as the heavy metal screams throughout the RV. He sighs happily to himself.

So yeah, Steve still loved being a Dad, but he also loved being a husband, an easy-going ex-husband, a best friend, a son-in-law, a future father-in-law, and a godfather. But more than anything, he loved the people around him that made him all those things.

#steddie #steddie fan fiction #eddie munson x steve harrington #steddie fan fic #steddiefanfiction #steddiefanfic #madaboutmunson #madaboutmunsonagain #eddie munson #steve harrington

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irisposts · 2 years

Text

unrequited love

mini series - eddie munson fic

pairing: eddie munson x cheerleader fem. reader

you are dating basketball player patrick mckinney. the prince and princess of hawkins high. that all falls down when you find yourself rekindling a past relationship with eddie “the freak” munson. a relationship far beyond friendly lines….all while, the strange happenings of hawkins start to unravel again.

warnings: cheating, smut, smut, smut, rough sex, established relationship, bullying, heavy on the angst, physical and emotional abuse, trauma, vecna just being vecna

pls do not translate or copy my work. i beg of thee

🎸 “ i didn’t run away this time ” - e.m

ɴᴏᴛᴇ: I ʀᴇᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴅᴇᴅ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ғɪʀsᴛ ᴍᴀɪɴ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ғɪʀsᴛ ʙᴏɴᴜs ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ. Aɴᴅ ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴘᴀᴛᴛᴇʀɴ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ғᴏᴜʀᴛʜ ғᴏʀ ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜɪᴛʏ! Bᴜᴛ ʜᴏɴᴇsᴛʟʏ ɪᴛ ᴅᴏᴇsɴ’ᴛ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ ʟᴏʟ

💿index

main chapters

Eddie “The freak” Munson

hidden in plain sight

coming soon

—

📌BONUS CONTENT

breakfast club

coming soon.

—

It would mean so much for you guys to comment and reblog on this series :) thank u xoxo - iris.p

#masterlist #smut #eddie munson #eddie stranger things #x reader #eddie x reader #st4 #stranger things #stranger things season four #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x y/n #eddie the freak munson #stranger things 4 #fluff

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pandapetals · 2 years

Text

saturday morning detention - part one

1985 - Eddie Munson Fic

find all the parts here

eddie munson x fem!oc - no smut, fluff, original character name, cussing, mentions of anxiety, asshole principal.

a/n: hi! this is my first eddie fic. this is part one of a mini-series i have planned if yall like this one. i tried my best to capture eddie as i think he would be. anyway, this takes place before the events of season 4. so dustin, mike, max aren’t in high school yet. this was inspired by the breakfast club. this is my first time back writing in a while so sorry if it sucks. okay enjoy!

word count: 5.6k

Saturday Morning - 6:57 am

No one wanted to be at school on a Saturday, especially at 7 am but Blaire was. The humid morning dew burned her throat as she walked toward the worn brown double doors. She could hear the distant stern voice of Hawkins High Principal talking to someone. Blaire hoped whoever it was would walk away alive.

As she approached, Principal Higgins’s voice became clearer. She spotted the janitor, holding a trash can, as the two older men bickered at one another. She wasn’t sure if she should interrupt and face Higgins yelling at her or just head straight to the library. Blaire quickly decided to head to the library after Higgins slapped the clipboard he was holding against the tiled wall. He was pissed at whatever the janitor had done.

Blaire had just walked through the double doors and was in the middle of passing them when Higgins noticed her. “Where are you going?” He yelled causing Blaire to stop. She panicked, unsure what to do. “Hello? Can you hear? What are you doing?” Higgins asked again.

“I’m here for detention.” She mumbled which only made Higgins huff in anger.

“You have to check in.” He said looking down at the clipboard, “Name?”

“Blaire Reynolds.”

“Aww yes, there you are,” Higgins said in distaste. He wrote something down on his clipboard before saying, “Okay head to the library. No funny busy or you’ll be here again next Saturday, got it?” He glared at her and she nodded before rushing off to the library down the hall.

She sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead as she pushed open the door to the library. Inside she could hear voices, this time she knew they were students. One she recognized as Jason. She disliked him but everyone knew who he was. The generic popular kid who was the captain of the basketball team. He was being loud talking to whoever else had landed themselves in detention.

She hurried inside seeing Jason and his girlfriend sitting at the front right table. The table next to them sat some boy she had seen before but she didn’t remember his name. She knew he was unpopular and always sat with the nerds at lunch. Thankfully, no one else had arrived yet meaning she could sit in the back. She threw her bag down on the back left table as she sat down.

None of them seemed to notice Blaire’s presence. Good. She hated attention and she hated that she was here but she planned to sleep through the next few hours. She placed her head on the cool table using her backpack to hide her face. She relaxed, hoping she would wake up and detention would be over.

However, her plan wasn’t going to work.

Principal Higgins could be heard yelling down the hall while loud footsteps rushed toward the library. Blaire looked up just in time to see Eddie Munson running toward the library door laughing, Higgins chasing after him. “Damn it, boy!” Higgins screamed as Eddie sat down at the table in front of Blaire.

“What? You know who I am so there’s no need to check in.” Eddie laughed through a heavy breath. Higgins glared at him, “Listen here and listen good. If you act up again at all today, you’ll be spending the rest of the school year in detention.” Blaire could hear Jason laugh under his breath as Eddie smiled at Higgins.

“You hear me boy?” Eddie nodded, “Good because I don’t want any trouble.” He clapped his hands together, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Now that everyone is here we can begin. You all got yourselves here by being little shits. I don’t want a sound out of any of you.” He threatened, looking directly at Eddie as he said it. Eddie leaned back in his chair with a smirk.

“For the next several hours, you will each write an essay.” Higgins threw his hands up when Jason and Eddie groaned, “I don’t want to hear it. I expect a 10-page essay by the end of detention. I’m going to be in this office up here.” He said pointing, “So I can hear everything. Got it?”

Everyone except Eddie and Blaire nodded, the nerdy boy raised his hand causing Higgins to roll his eyes. “Yes?” He snapped.

“What’s the essay supposed to be about?” He asked as he grabbed some paper and a pen from his backpack.

“You’re smart, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well then be creative. Give me an essay on something useful then.” Higgins replied.

“Sir, but I need a prompt-.”

Higgins cursed under his breath, “10 pages. No noise.” He said before walking off to the office. The boy groaned, staring down at his paper. Blaire sighed, laying her head down again. This was hell. How was she going to pass time when she couldn’t sleep or write this paper?

She could hear Eddie whispering to the boy asking for paper which made her laugh. There was no way Eddie intended to write an essay, he had to be up to something. Jason hushed Eddie and Blaire looked up to see Eddie giving Jason the bird. She looked down again just as Eddie leaned his chair back, his long wavy hair brushing her backpack.

“Got any paper?” She heard in a whisper causing her to jump. “Shit, sorry.” Eddie quickly said.

“No.” She replied looking up to see Eddie was inches away from her face. His brown eyes stared at her in amusement. “I didn’t bring anything.”

He laughed, “But you have a backpack.”

“There’s nothing in it. It’s just for show.” She said lifting it to show him there was nothing inside. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“Oh. Damn, I needed some paper. Well, a pen too.” Eddie said, seeming disappointed.

“Sorry.” She paused, “I didn’t expect you to want to write this dumb essay. You could ask Jason for some paper.” Blaire instantly regretted it. Everyone knew that Jason hated Eddie because Jason hated anything different from him. She was sure he hated her even if he didn’t know who she was.

Eddie shook his head, “Hell no. I wanted it to draw,” He paused, “Plus I would never ask that asshole.”

“What about the girl next to him?”

“Chrissy?” He said, his voice seeming to fill with hope but then he shook his head. “No, Jason would kill me if I even looked at her.” Blaire sighed wishing she could help Eddie. He was nicer than most people thought. She had seen him in the hall or the cafeteria hanging out with the “freaks”. However, Eddie wasn’t a freak, he was just misunderstood. She had realized that in English class after watching him from afar. Blaire could relate because people thought she was a freak too. The main difference between her and Eddie was she didn’t have friends. No one knew who she was, she was able to fade into the background. It was kind of blowing her mind that Eddie was even talking to her right now.

“Don’t worry about it,” Eddie said, waving his hand. Blaire blinked, “Huh?” She asked a little too loud. She quickly looked around hoping Higgins wouldn’t pop out of his office to tell her to shut up.

“I said no worries. You looked really sad for a second.” Eddie said with a laugh.

“Oh. I was lost in thought.”

Eddie snorted, “I thought you were sad I couldn’t find some paper.” He gave his best sad face, his brown eyes dilating as Blaire stared at him. When she didn't say anything, Eddie smiled. “I like you. You’re different than I thought you would be.”

Now Blaire was confused, “Different how? I assume most people think I’m some loner weirdo or they don’t even know I exist.”

Eddie shook his head, “You exist. We have English together. I’ve seen you plenty of times.”

“That doesn't answer my question. How am I different from what you thought?”

“You’re nice.” Eddie paused when Blaire glared at him. “Not that I thought you were mean. I just…I mean.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, I mean. Ugh. I thought you were a Firbolg.”

Blaire snorted back a laugh. “Excuse me?”

“I know it’s silly. I kind of see you as that. Not like a real Firbolg but-”

“Eddie.” Blaire said, stopping him, “I don’t even know what a Fi-...Firbolg is. Is that some weird creature that exists in like Antarctica?”

“No, it’s a reclusive race of giant-kin in D&D. They prefer to avoid contact with others but they are the most intelligent and powerful of the giant-kin.” Eddie rambled causing Blaire to stare at him in amazement and confusion. Eddie thought she was smart? He had been paying attention to her more than she thought. “Since you seem reserved I kept thinking maybe that would be a good character for you but you can totally pick your own-.”

“I’ve never played D&D before.”

Eddie nodded, “Yeah I know but it’s not that hard. Once you meet everyone in the club-.”

“Eddie, what are you talking about? I’m not joining your club.”

Eddie’s smile faded, “Why not? I personally invite you to join so none of the guys can argue about that. We need more members and so far everyone I’ve asked said no.”

“I don’t want to be in a club, especially a D&D one.” Eddie slumped down in his chair, “I’m sorry but I don’t do clubs. In case you forgot, I’m a basket case. I can barely function without wanting to hide, joining a club would be the worst idea ever.”

“I get it,” Eddie said, turning away from Blaire. She felt her heart sink as Eddie moved back to his table ignoring her. She had ruined everything as always. Nothing she did was good enough. She would have loved to be normal, join clubs, and have friends but she couldn’t. She worried about everything. What if she said the wrong thing? What if she mentally fucked up and no one ever wanted to talk to her again? She sighed burying her head into her backpack. Maybe she would suffocate and all this would end?

♪♫♬

Blaire had dozed off finally getting the sleep she wanted but was jerked awake by a loud thud. She quickly looked up to see Principal Higgins standing up front of the tables with a glare. She wasn’t sure what had happened or how long she was out but Higgins looked more pissed than earlier this morning.

“Lunch time. I expect silence while you eat.” He snapped.

“What if we didn't bring lunch?” Eddie quizzed.

Higgins shrugged, “What am I? You’re mom? That’s not my problem.”

“You know we can report you for starving us,” Eddie remarked, causing a vein in Higgins’s forehead to pulse.

“I would like to see you try. I doubt they would believe a troubled asshole like you.”

Eddie was about to pop off with another sarcastic line when the smart kid said, “Sir, isn’t it against the law not to feed us.”

Higgins cursed, “Fine. Who didn’t bring lunch?” He asked annoyed.

Eddie and Blaire threw up their hands, Blaire’s stomach rumbling. “You can go down to the snack machine,” Higgins said, handing Eddie, who had already stood up, a crumpled-up bill.

“What’s this supposed to buy?” Eddie said, looking down at the bill.

“Less talking, more moving Munson.” Higgins snapped pointing toward Blaire, “Hurry up. You two better be back in five minutes. No funny business or you both won’t graduate this year.”

Eddie rolled his eyes as Blaire followed behind him. She wasn’t sure if she should even try to apologize for earlier. Eddie didn’t seem mad about it but Blaire knew she had upset him. “Hey.” She said instantly feeling stupid. Why did she say hey? Did she not know how to act like a normal person?

Eddie turned back to her with a smile. “You know what we should do?” Blaire shook her head. There was no way she was going to do whatever he suggested. “C’mon. You can’t say no when you don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“Whatever it is, I know it’s going to cause us to get more detention.”

“Or not to graduate,” Eddie said, mocking Higgins’s stern voice. “I suggest we skip. I doubt Higgins would notice.”

Blaire laughed, “He would notice if you were gone. He hates your guts. Besides, all the doors are locked except the front ones we came in.”

Eddie stopped dead in his tracks, “How would you know that?”

Blaire looked away, “Lucky guess.”

Eddie shook his head, pointing at her. “You’ve been to detention before, haven’t you?”

“Don’t look so shocked. You’ve been to detention hundreds of times. It’s not that big of a deal. Hell, even Jason is here. I think everyone has gotten detention at least once.”

“Yeah but Jason and Chrissy are here because they got caught trying to hook up in one of the bathrooms. I heard a rumor that John cussed at his math teacher for giving him a D on the test so that’s why he's here.” Eddie trailed off, “But I don’t know why you’re here.”

“I wouldn’t always believe rumors.” Blaire added before asking, “What about you?”

Eddie smirked, he flipped his hair out of his face focusing on her. Blaire wanted to look away, she always did when someone looked at her but she couldn’t. She liked the way Eddie gazed at her, his brown eyes filled with an amusement she admired. “Tell me.” Eddie pleaded, taking a step closer to her.

“Why does it matter?” Blaire took a step closer, smelling a musky amber with hints of lavender and pine. “I got detention, I’m here serving it and that’s that.”

“Did you cuss out a teacher? Maybe skip class?” Eddie replied, ignoring her previous sentence. Most people wouldn’t question Blaire but Eddie was. She knew she was going to fail and confess but she could have fun doing it. Her silence only made Eddie more curious. “What? Can’t tell me because you would have to kill me?”

Blaire nodded, “Something like that.” She paused, lingering closer to Eddie. “What if I tell you but you have to tell me why you got detention? Seems fair?”

Eddie shook his head, “Nope. I won’t tell you unless you join the Hellfire Club.”

Blaire backed up, “How is that fair? I have to join your club to know but you expect me to tell you?”

“Life isn’t fair, M’Lady.” Eddie replied grinning, “You could always bargain for something you have that I would want if you really don’t want to tell me why you landed yourself in Saturday detention.” He gestured toward Blaire as if to say, your move.

Blaire rolled her eyes, there was nothing she had that Eddie would want. She felt he had had this little game in mind since she rejected him earlier. Did she care enough to know why he had gotten detention? Blaire sighed to herself, she did. She had started to like Eddie. He was sweet and funny. She didn’t remember the last time she had this much fun.

“Well?” Eddie asked, “What’s your move?”

“I think we should take turns guessing. There’s no way I’m joining your club just to find out why you got detention.”

“That’s so boring.” Eddie whined, “Where’s the risk? The adventure?”

Blaire shrugged, “Your loss. Now hurry up. I’m starving.”

♪♫♬

Higgins had chewed them out for being gone for more than five minutes but didn’t end up giving them detention for it. Eddie sat next to Blaire as they each ate a small bag of chips from the vending machine in silence. Higgins had caught on that no one was doing his required essay so he passed out workout sheets instead.

Blaire was looking over one of them when Eddie said, “Okay, fine. I think you got detention for pushing a student.”

Blaire looked over at him with knitted eyebrows, “Oh, so my guessing game isn’t a bad idea then?” She said sarcastically, shoving Eddie’s shoulder lightly.

“I’m bored but if you want to do these dreadful worksheets, be my guest.”

“God no, and why would I push a student?”

Eddie shrugged, “They called you a name? I don’t know, I didn't say my guess was going to be good.” Blaire laughed, as Eddie said, “Do we take turns guessing or should I do a rapid round of my guesses?”

“We take turns.” Blaire replied, “It’s fair and I don’t have that many guesses.” She teased trying to think of something she thought Eddie would do to make him get detention. “Oh, you started a food fight.”

“No, but that sounds cool. Definitely going on my list of things to do. Let’s see, I think you…you destroyed school property like the bathroom or a classroom?”

Blaire huffed, “Do I seem like the violent type?” Eddie winced as Blaire said, “I didn’t commit a crime to get here.”

“Sorry. I don’t know why I kept saying violent stuff.” Eddie replied, causing both of them to laugh it off. Blaire usually would have panicked at this moment, she was laughing and Jason had turned around to shh them but Blaire felt at ease for once. She and Eddie both flipped off Jason before laughing again. If Higgins heard them he didn’t bother coming out of the office to tell them to shut up.

Blaire and Eddie spent the rest of the hour playing the guessing game. Each one getting weirder and weirder as they ran out of ideas. Eddie had guessed Blaire had started a secret society under the bleachers that ran successfully for months until one of the members snitched to Principal Higgins which caused Blaire to get detention.

“That makes no sense!” Blaire protested, “First I would never be a leader, and second, how are all my members and I having a meeting under the bleachers when half the school is down there making out?”

Eddie shrugged, “I don’t know, I don’t make up the rules of your secret society.”

They both paused, Blaire, catching a small glance at him. She admired his soft features, his wavy long hair, and his full lips, something she never noticed before until now. He was handsome. She looked away in embarrassment hiding her red cheeks behind her hair. “Anyway, I don’t think I could run a club.” She said awkwardly.

Eddie sighed leaning back in his chair, “It’s not that hard. Hellfire is my pride and joy, well one of them. I do love my guitar too.” Blaire looked over at him with a shy smile. His face was bright as he talked about his guitar and how Hellfire was everything to him.

“What about school?” She asked after Eddie had explained he also enjoyed playing in his band and how cool they were.

“What about it?” Eddie replied.

“Doesn’t school mean something to you?”

“Not really. It’s school. Everyone has to do it.”

Blaire sat up a little, “Yeah but school is important. You go through this hellhole, graduate, and you're free.”

Eddie shook his head, “No, no, no. You aren’t free after this. The real world comes to bite you in the ass. Being an adult sucks. School is the hell before all that. None of this shit matters when we become adults.” He vented and Blaire noticed he had a passion for what he said.

“Oh. I mean I don’t care about this shit either but you gotta at least try, I guess.”

“You’re different from me. I suck at every subject and fail every class. I saw you in English, you know what you're doing. I bet you are good at other subjects too.”

Blaire stared at him in disbelief. He had noticed her in English sitting by herself with her head buried in a book. She never raised her hand but if the teacher called on her, she knew every answer perfectly. Blaire was smart and Eddie knew it. She may have been a basket case but she would handle the real world just fine. He was sure of it.

“I noticed you.” Eddie whispered leaning closer to her, “I just never said anything until now. You aren’t as invisible as you think.”

Blaire swore her heart stopped for a second. Shit, fuck, damn. Did she have a crush on Eddie? No. No. She was crazy and all this was fake. She had imagined the whole thing but there Eddie was just inches away from her. Blaire composed herself trying to be cool. “Good to know.” She replied thinking she sounded cool but it confused Eddie.

“I’m just saying, people notice you.”

“Then why don’t they say anything?”

“I am.” Was it possible to be left breathless? Blaire was sure Eddie could see her red cheeks and sweat on her forehead but when she looked over at him he was staring back at her, that amusement glistening in his eyes. Maybe he thought it was funny to mess with her?

Thankfully, the subject came to an end when Principal Higgins clapped his hands together at the front of the tables. “Bathroom breaks? I’ll send one at a time.” He said pointing at Jason first. Jason shook his head so Higgins went to Chrissy next. She hesitantly stood up, “Can someone go with me?” She asked, causing Higgins to groan.

“You kids are testing my nerves today.”

“Please.” Chrissy begged, “I don’t want to go alone since no one else is in the building.”

“Fine.” Higgins said before pointing at Blaire, “You. Go with Chrissy.”

Blaire shook her head, “I don’t have to go to the bathroom.”

“I don’t care. Go with Chrissy.” Higgins demanded. Blaire rolled her eyes as she stood up looking down at Eddie.

“Don’t miss me while you're gone,” Eddie whispered.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Blaire replied before making her way to the library door where Chrissy stood. The two girls made their way down the hallway in silence, Blaire was not sure if she should talk to Chrissy or not. She had never talked to her before but she knew she was nice, unlike the typical popular cheerleader stereotype. Chrissy was the pretty girl next door who everyone loved or wanted to be except Blaire. While she admired Chrissy, she never wanted to be her.

Chrissy’s shiny ponytail bounced back and forth as she walked with the scent of vanilla filling the air. “I see you’re talking to Eddie.” She said when they were halfway to the bathroom. This made Blaire jump since she had been focusing on the noise of their footsteps.

“Umm. Yeah. It kinda just happened.” Blaire nervously replied. Was Chrissy mad that she was talking to Eddie? She looked at the girl next to her but Chrissy was looking straight ahead with pursed lips. She didn’t say anything for a while so Blaire looked away in confusion.

“Are you trying to warn me about him?” Blaire finally said as they came to the girl's bathroom door. “Is that why you wanted someone to come to the bathroom with you, to warn me?”

Chrissy shook her head, “I thought maybe Higgins would let Jason come with me.” She paused looking down at her nails, “And no, I’m not warning you about Eddie..”

“Then why bring him up?” Blaire snapped. The unexpected anger she felt was weird. Chrissy took a step back before heading into the bathroom. Blaire closed her eyes in relief and sank to the ground. Chrissy was being weird about this and it only confused Blaire. She let herself sit on the floor for a minute then stood up as Chrissy came out.

“Look, I’m sorry.” Blaire immediately said.

Chrissy shrugged it off, “No worries. I should have explained myself. I went to middle school with Eddie. He's cool.”

Blaire looked at her in disbelief but she could see Chrissy was being genuine. “I can’t believe Chrissy Cunningham just called Eddie Munson cool.”

Chrissy laughed, “I’m not some mean girl, you know. I know people probably think so especially with me being with Jason but I didn’t ask to be popular.”

“But you are popular.”

“Yeah but it’s not like I wanted that. I love to cheer and I guess doing it made me popular?”

Blaire laughed, “I think you being pretty helped too.”

“I guess,” Chrissy said with sadness in her voice. Blaire usually would have left the situation alone but she continued.

“Everyone I hear says you are pretty. I hear like five girls a day wishing they were you.” Blaire said, trying to cheer Chrissy up.

Chrissy weakly smiled, “Even if that’s true which I hope not, I don’t want people to admire me. I just want to fade into the background sometimes. My life isn’t perfect just because I’m popular”

Blaire was shocked to hear Chrissy wishing she could be like her. She should have thought that maybe the popular kids didn’t want to be popular but she didn’t sit around thinking about the social class of Hawkins high school. “I guess I never thought about it.” Blaire finally said.

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I used to have different friends but once I joined cheer I lost those friends. I got labeled as cool and popular. If I was seen with someone outside that group I got-I got teased about it.”

Blaire nodded as Chrissy continued, “It was easier to just stop talking to them so I didn’t get shit for it but I miss some of my old friends. The popular kids are boring sometimes.” Blaire laughed which caused Chrissy to laugh too. She couldn’t believe this was happening. As they returned to the library, Chrissy asked Blaire questions such as what was her favorite class or what did Blaire love to do on the weekends. It made Blaire feel like she mattered but she knew once they walked back through the library doors, Chrissy would go back to ignoring her.

It was the unspoken rule everyone followed.

As Blaire sat back down next to Eddie, she felt a sadness wash over her. Was Eddie going to go back to acting like she didn’t exist after detention was over? She could handle Chrissy doing that but Eddie, no. She had enjoyed today more than she thought she would and going back to having no one, especially Eddie would leave Blaire feeling lonely. She hated the idea of putting herself out there, it scared her but she didn’t want to lose this warm feeling she felt.

She and Eddie sat in silence the rest of detention, especially since Eddie had found a pencil and was doodling all over the worksheets Higgins had handed out. She laid her head on her arms watching him draw monsters and elves she assumed were from Dungeons and Dragons. Blaire noticed all the rings Eddie wore and how calloused his fingers were from playing guitar. Everything she knew about Eddie before today faded away as she saw a new side of him. She didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she liked him.

Detention was finally over before Blaire knew it, Principal Higgins collected the worksheets and wasn’t surprised only John had done it. He dismissed them at the front threatening them not to cause trouble or he would see them again next Saturday. No one listened, John headed to a car that was waiting for him as Chrissy and Jason headed to a truck that was parked. All that was left was Blaire and Eddie. No one was waiting for either of them.

Blaire sighed, turning to Eddie, “I guess this is it.” She tried to hide her sadness.

“Why does it have to end? I don’t see your parents here.” Eddie replied, gesturing around the now empty parking lot.

“My parents don’t care enough to come to get me. I walked here this morning.” Blaire confessed, “I better get walking if I want to make it home before sundown.”

Eddie frowned, “Your parents are deadbeats too?”

Blaire shrugged, “Yeah I guess so. They do the bare minimum to take care of me but they aren’t there for me.” She never talked about her parents yet she felt she could trust Eddie with her life. “What about yours?”

“Oh yeah, they suck. I live with my uncle. He does the best he can.” Eddie said, looking down at his worn boots as he talked. “I do my best to stay out of his way since it’s not his job to take care of me.”

Blaire stood there knowing how it felt but couldn't find any words to comfort Eddie. They stood there for a while before Eddie looked at her with a smile. “Can I confess something?” His voice was playful and Blaire nodded with a laugh. “I came to detention because I was bored,” Eddie confessed, clapping his hands together.

Blaire’s eyes widened in surprise, “Really?” She said through a laugh.

Eddie nodded, “Yeah. It’s so dumb but I was at home, bored, and thought why not cause some trouble.” The two laughed together and Blaire realized that was why Eddie had come running in so Higgins didn’t have to check his clipboard.

“But detention? There has to be a better way to spend your Saturday.” Blaire finally said after they stopped laughing.

“I would have thought so too but I think I enjoyed today.” Eddie paused looking at her with a warm grin, “I got to talk to you.”

Blaire blushed looking away, “Today wasn’t so bad.” It was a half-truth because today had been the best day of her boring life so far. “I skipped lunch to hide in one of the stalls of the girls' bathroom to read.” She confessed feeling it was only fair she told Eddie why she was in detention since he had told her his reason.

“It’s boring, I know but I hate lunch. I hate sitting by myself surrounded by people who are laughing and talking while I sit there awkwardly. So I skipped lunch and hid in the bathrooms only this time a teacher came in. I didn’t know she was still in there so when I came out she asked why I was in there for so long. I panicked and confessed I skipped lunch so she wrote me a detention slip.” Blaire rambled feeling silly she was telling this to Eddie.

“Hey,” Eddie said, lifting Blaire’s chin with his finger, “It’s okay. Everyone feels lonely sometimes and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” His brown eyes stared down at her making her feel better. “I think people who can be alone with their thoughts are the coolest people.”

“Really?” She whispered. Eddie nodded, letting his finger drop from her chin. She didn’t want to break this moment between them. “Eddie.” She said wishing her voice wouldn't so sound fragile.

“Yeah?”

“Can I still join your club or did you revoke your invite?” Blaire asked, giving him a small smile. Eddie’s face lit up with glee.

“Are you serious?” He asked, throwing his hands around in excitement. “Really?” He asked again when Blaire stared at him.

“Yes! I rethought my earlier decision and I want to join Hellfire.”

Eddie threw his arms around her knocking her into his chest. Before she could process the hug, Eddie had grabbed her hands twirling her around as he jumped up and down. She didn’t expect him to be this happy. Once he calmed down, Eddie told her the meeting details and the basic rules of D&D. The two could have spent the rest of the evening talking in the school parking lot but Eddie insisted he walk Blaire home. They lived in the same trailer park which Eddie was surprised by. He didn’t know she lived near him and it was comforting knowing she was similar to him in that way.

They talked about their dreams, goals, and the rules of D&D on the way and Blaire felt she was getting to know the real Eddie, not the one Hawkins knew. He was far from a freak but Blaire had already known that.

“Well, this is me,” Blaire said when her trailer home came into the distance. It was one of the first ones people saw when entering the area. The chipped paint and stained windows were nothing to look at. Blaire didn’t love it here, especially after her parents sold their home to move here but now maybe it would be better since Eddie was here.

“Oh that’s why I never knew you lived here, you're at the front. I’m back there.” Eddie said, pointing to a trailer home in the distance.

“Yeah, my parents and I just moved here a few weeks back. I stay inside most of the time.”

“Well, you can come over whenever you want.”

Blaire nodded, “Okay. I would like that.”

“Does that make us friends?”

Blaire smiled, “Do you want to be friends?” She hoped he did.

Eddie smiled back at her then scratched his chin acting as if he was deep in thought. “I think so. You seem pretty cool plus I know where you live so I think that makes us friends by default.”

“You can’t forget I joined your club too.”

“Aww yes! How could I forget?” Eddie replied with a goofy laugh. The sky was setting in the distance as they said their goodbyes. Blaire could hear the crickets as Eddie began to walk away, his long hair blending in with the darkness. She was excited for once to go to sleep and see what tomorrow would bring.

Eddie turned back before Blaire closed her front door, “Welcome to Hellfire!” He yelled, throwing his hands up to his head and sticking his tongue out. Blaire shook her head in amusement as she watched Eddie run to his trailer. For once, Blaire was happy.

#eddie munson #eddie my beloved #eddie x original character #breakfast club #stranger things #fluff #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x oc #jason is an asshole #stranger things 4 #st4 #eddie munson angst #hawkins #upside down #hellfire club #hellfirefreak #hellfire stranger things #welcome to hellfire #rip eddie

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edspeleerscock · 11 months

Text

GOLDROSE HCS BECAUSE I JUST THOUGHT OF SOME (will be added to when necessary or if i think of anything else)

❤︎︎ Rhys enjoys waking up early and making them breakfast while Jonathan prefers staying in bed a little longer.

❤︎︎ Jonathan loves reading with Rhys and discussing the fallacies and such behind the writings.

❤︎︎ Rhys spends some of his freetime at the gym and has brought Jonathan along with him a few times.

❤︎︎ Rhys often finds a way to encourage Jonathan to write his own book, similar to GMCW. Although recommends he keeps his little ‘activities’ to himself.

❤︎︎ The two embrace their newfound public obsession and do everything they can to cater to those who love them.

❤︎︎ Rhys is more caring and careful with Jonathan when they get intimate. Checking in on him during to make sure he’s comfortable etc.

❤︎︎ Joe and Rhys love the ‘Eat-The-Rich Killer’ nickname so much they have it framed in their little ‘obsession’ room. They both find a strange amount of joy in murdering together.

❤︎︎ The two take pride in their travels around Europe and the many interviews they get asked to do. They plaster their Instagram pages in the many travels they have the joys of going on together.

❤︎︎ Although Jonathan still has doubts about how this relationship could ‘blossom’ and possibly turn sour, Rhys assures him that what happened in the past won’t be repeated nor will it ever.

❤︎︎ Rhys adores cuddling Jonathan and tries to do it as much as possible. Enjoying the closeness and the warmth radiating from the other.

❤︎︎ While they both have a very different taste in movies and series, Rhys has somehow found a way to get Jonathan to enjoy The Great British Bake-off.

❤︎︎ While Jonathan is as expressive as a slate, Rhys always finds a way to get a laugh out of him even if it’s at his own expense.

❤︎︎ Whenever they have their bi-weekly date night, Jonathan and Rhys have a mini disagreement on where they’re going and always end up flipping a coin on it.

❤︎︎ Some date nights they end up going to a club together and Jonathan ends up drunkenly singing and dancing with Rhys once they get home. Sometimes he professes his love to him as though they weren’t already together.

❤︎︎ Some days Rhys gets so busy with doing his work and helping improve the country, he often comes home around 1-2am and is almost every time greeted with a passed out Jonathan laying on the sofa waiting for him.

❤︎︎ Rhys is so possessive of Jonathan that any time they went out he’d follow him everywhere. Holding his hand or keeping a hand somewhere on him and tossing sharp glances at those who even dared looking at him or in his direction.

❤︎︎ Regardless of the soft wholesome moments, Rhys sometimes can’t regulate his emotions and struggles trying to express it. Only ever finding it easy to go through it with a ridiculous amount of violence. Jonathan also has a similar problem, however, but not this extreme.

❤︎︎ Rhys often took time out of his busy schedule to give speeches to Jonathan’s class. Discussing how to properly vote, some politics as well as giving speeches about his future plans. Always being more than willing to answer any and all questions on his plans or personal life.

❤︎︎ Before leaving Jonathan and heading back to the office, he would always have a small make out session with him and promise to ‘pay him back’ for allowing him to drop by.

#rhys montrose #joe goldberg #joe x rhys #rhys x joe #you netflix #jonathan moore #ed speleers #goldrose #penn badgley #goldrose brainrot #gay #lgbtq #my favourite boys

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ticeel · 10 months

Text

IVE JUST BECAME OBSESSED WITH PERCY JACKSON BOOKS AGAIN SO HERES A MINI FIC

Pop culture~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They all sat around the tv, huddling with their preserved lovers and close friends. On the centre sofa sat Percy, his head on Annabeths thigh; legs dangling off the side of the armrest. Leo sat with an arm tucked underneath Calyspo’s bicep, practically holding on for dear life as he rested his head on his shoulder. Nico was sat cross legged next to Will fiddling with his hands.

They were watching Star Wars, of course they all semi assumed that everyone had seen the movie series since you know, it is one of the biggest series in the world.

But Nico didn’t exactly have time to watch the many classic movies due to the fact he was busy. Being the son of a god.

The movie started and everybody got settled in, all simultaneously shuffling at pretty much the exact same time.

******

The movie finished and everybody started to talk about the characters the sequels and asking around if everybody was okay to watch the next movie- everyone deeply enthralled in the storyline.

“You good?” Will asked, noticing Nico staring into space.

“Oh…uh yeah I’m just a bit confused.” He responded, rubbing his palms on his joggers.

“Huh.? What? Why?” He asked tilting his head slightly.

“Oh. It’s just.. I’ve never really watched this before and everybody seemed to kind of understand like the plot.?? I don’t know it’s stupid” Nico replied, looking into his eyes.

“Wait what.! What do you mean? You’ve never watched Star Wars?”

This grabbed everyone’s attention, all frantically asking questions about what movies he has seen. This situation has happened before with the breakfast club, mama mia, hairspray and many more.

“The last movie I watched was the wizard of oz when it first came out..” Now everyone was staring, that was what 80 years ago?

“Huh??” “WHATT??!” “So you’ve never watched Harry Potter?” “Jesus Christ how old are you?”

Questions flying everywhere now but the only one he seemed to fully hear was the last one

“Oh.. I don’t know but I was born in 1932.” Nico replied casually, cracking his nuckles.

“Nicolas de..Wait what’s your full name?”

“Nicodemo Enzo De Angelo?” He responded, assuming this was regular knowledge, I mean all friends are ment to know their friends names. Right?

“I could’ve sworn your name was Nicolas.. anyways. NICODEMO ENZO DE ANGELO YOUR LIKE 80 YEARS OLD?” Annabeth screeched almost dramatically at all this new information.

“Jesus Christ….” Percy spoke.. mainly to himself as everyone around them started to ask questions, about the old-young man.

LMAO SORRY IF THIS IS NOT ACCURATE I HAVE NOT READ PERCY JACKSON IN LIKE A THOUSAND YEARS😭😭

#solangelo #nicodemo is a real name I swear #nico di angelo #will solace #percy jackon and the olympians #annabeth albert #percy jackson #star wars

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gucciwins · 2 years

Text

breathe with me

the city of angeles bring love, troubles, and honesty. with a slight glimmer of hope of something more.

Word count: 12053

A/N: hi friends! the end is near, where we say goodbye to bel and harry but do no fear it is not forever. i want to focus on other writing. as much as i adore this story i got many ideas i'm looking forward to writing. this chapter is a bit of ride so i hope you enjoy it. i love you.

please remember to reblog! let me know what you thought!

warnings: fluff, smut, angst (in that order. only happy endings here)

love on tour series // previous part

Los Angeles, California

Thursday

You're still wondering how you got here.

You're dressed in leggings, a thermal white long sleeve, a Portland hat, and sneakers. You're pouting and getting no attention. You see, Harry brought you golfing. If only your ancestors could see you now.

You stand there watching Harry as he thanks the worker for providing a set of clubs. Clearly, they're for both of you. Not that you'd be any good, you think.

"Why are you upset?" Harry asks, walking up to you, white-gloved hands carrying his clubs in the provided bag. If you asked Harry, you're sure he'd give you a name for it, so you don't ask.

"You tricked me," you pout.

"No." He's biting back a grin.

"You asked if I wanted to go mini-golfing."

"Yeah, we'll golf for a mini amount of time.

"Ugh… you're the worst."

"Bel," he's laughing, "I've never seen you throw a tantrum."

You scoff, "this isn't a tantrum."

"Mhmm…tell you what."

You ignore him deciding to adjust your hat, blocking the sun from hitting your face.

"You can drive the golf cart."

You turn to look at him, eyes shining bright with hope, "really?"

He grins, nodding. "Yes."

Harry holds up the keys, which you happily accept. You lean in and press a kiss on his cheek.

"My hero."

You slide it, trying your best to contain your excitement. Already having forgotten why you were annoyed with Harry.

"It's that first hill, start there and make our way."

This would be fine. You'd get to see Harry stick his ass out for you and take swings of balls, giving you a nice view of his forearms. That's two wins.

Harry starts off strong, hitting the ball way off but clearly in the right direction as he guides you to where the hole must be. He jumps off and finishes the round. He tries his best to explain, but it's no use, especially when he's playing alone.

You've made it through two more holes when Harry persuades you out of the golf car something about lemon blueberry pancakes for breakfast. He knows your weakness and uses them well.

He hands you a golf club; it's shiny and looks like it's never been used.

"You know I heard it's better to start with a professional to teach you."

Harry frowns, "who told you that?"

"This Irish fellow I met in a bar when I was filming in Ireland a few years back told me."

"Blonde?"

You shake your head, getting a feel of the golf club he handed you.

"Brunette."

"I know an Irish brunette." He follows right behind.

You know he wants to ask more, but you don't let him. You're not what this club is called by feels comfortable. Moving your hands forward, having your trail hand rest under your lead hand falling on top of it. It feels comfortable.

Harry gets you in position, knees apart, shoulders back, and tells you to swing.

You do arms extending and legs popping back just like you had seen him do before.

"That was really good," he says, not hiding his shock.

You bite back a smile and get into position once more, this time prepared to send the golf ball in the air.

"Fore," he shouts, then you swing.

You laugh at how far the ball seems to travel, not shocked at all.

"Fuck." Harry mutters as he follows your ball and stays on the green bit farther behind his ball. "Thought you didn't like golf."

"I don't."

"Then why are you good?"

"Listen, when you live in a town where there isn't a lot to do as a young kid growing up until you get your driver's license. Mini golf and laser tag are something I excel in."

"You're competitive, sunshine," he states, not having seen it before.

You nod, "I checked out books in the library about golf to better my stance and swing."

"For mini-golf?"

It's odd, but you were a strange kid growing up.

Harry continues playing, and at one point, you abandon the golf cart, preferring to keep walking as the eight-hole course didn't seem so bad. You know Harry wanted company, and he could have easily asked Jeff, Luis, or literally anyone, but he picked you. It's nice knowing you're the first choice.

You're so lost in thought you don't realize Harry had been trying to catch your attention for a few minutes until he sets his hand on your waist.

"Yes, amor?"

He moves your hat up, wanting to look in your eyes, "baby, you're not really upset, are you? We can go home right now if you want."

You sigh, letting your shoulders drop, not noticing how tense you had become. He looks concerned. "You're fine. A little hungry is all."

His frown deepens, "I'm sorry I forgot about snacks. We can get something from the cart girl."

"No, I'll be fine for a while longer."

It looks like he doesn't believe you and instead reaches for your water, opening it for you. Without question, you take a long sip, letting it refresh you for a moment as you soak in the warmth of the sun.

"I'll cook you dinner when we get home." He promises.

"What do you have in mind?"

"You'll see, darling."

Harry walks back over, grabbing the golf clubs and stretching out his free hand to you, which you happily accept, intertwining your hands together, loving how easy it is. The weight of his hand in yours is something you never want to forget.

Arriving back home, Harry sent you up for a shower without letting you help him in the kitchen. You leave him be, taking advantage of the alone time he has granted you with. You love Harry and love spending every moment with him, but you're glad he's observant when it's okay to step back and give you that time to yourself because you both need it.

You spent a decent amount of time in the shower, belting song after song in a private concert. It was fun while it lasted. Getting dressed quickly in sweats and Harry's discarded shift from this morning, you slip it on before hurrying down the stairs, and the aroma in the room is divine.

"What smells so yummy?"

"That'll be the lasagna that is cooking in the oven."

Your eyes widen at the thought. You see the pan on the counter with leftover sauce. "Did you make it from scratch?"

"The sauce, yes. Those months in Italy sure are helpful in picking up skills. The pasta isn't. Promise we'll do that together another time."

"It's a date," you grin at him.

You wrap him in a hug, unable to contain your excitement at the prospect of a home-cooked meal that he made especially for you.

Harry lets you go, making you pout at him. He only shakes his head, pressing a kiss on your lips before helping to sit on the counter. It's your favorite spot you've come to learn. You get to rest against him, his head against your chest, your hands moving up and down his back as you hold each other tightly.

You'd be in the position had Harry not heard your stomach growl. He pulled back a deep frown on his face, and you flush in embarrassment but try to pull him back to you.

He goes to the fridge, pulls out a container, and grabs a small yellow bowl that looks like it was hand-painted. Turning around, he presents you with the plate that holds blackberries for you.

"Should hold you off for a bit."

As you take the plate, happily beginning to eat them humming at the juicy flavor, Harry can't help the laugh that escapes him. His happiness radiates off of him, and you know it's partly from you. He presses a kiss to the side of your head before leaning back on the counter, keeping a time on the timer that should be going off soon.

"Where's your mum?"

"Out with friends." He steals a blackberry, popping it in his mouth, "comes all the way here and doesn't even spend time with me."

You roll your eyes at his silliness, "relax, drama queen."

He pokes your side, making you jump and drop a berry. You pout at Harry, who just shakes his head, feeding you another.

"You probably invited her golfing."

"I did."

"'Course she said she had plans she didn't want to come golfing for hours," you tease. "No one does."

"That's a lie. Niall told me his girlfriend joins him," He defends.

"The Irish fellow?"

"The very one."

"He probably gives it to her so good she can't say no."

Harry's mouth falls open in disbelief, "oi, shut it." He throws a berry at your head but you duck. "Are you saying I don't give it to you good?"

"Didn't say that."

"Yes, you weren't saying that last night or this morning."

"Mi vida, you are the best lover, and I'm forever grateful."

He presses a kiss to your neck, then your cheek, and finally on your lips. "That's what I like to hear."

"I'd like to meet him. I enjoy his music."

The oven alarm rings loud, and he moves to shut it off. Grabbing the oven mitt and knife on the counter, checking on dinner that should be just about done.

"You do? How did I not know this?"

"Because I didn't have a Twitter account dedicated to you during this time."

"Why's that? Not cool enough for you."

"Oh definitely, but my career was growing just as yours was around the same time."

He shuts the oven off then places the oven mitts on the counter, letting the lasagna sit there for a few more minutes. "Right, right."

"What would you be doing now if I wasn't here?"

Harry tilts his head, "as in if you were working?"

You laugh, "no, silly, if I wasn't in your life. Do you think you'd still be golfing and cooking yourself lasagna?"

The look on his face is serious. He moves your legs wide to step in as you become the same height from your spot on his counter. "Don't say things like that."

"It's a hypothetical, H."

"Hypothetical or not. I don't want to think of my life without you. Lived too many years missing you, and now that I have you, I don't think I ever want to let go."

Oh.

You did not mean to go down the sentimental road, but you're glad you did. It's not easy for Harry to open up, but he has throughout your time together because he knows you need it, and you appreciate it. More than he'll ever know.

"I'm sorry, baby. No hypotheticals."

"Good. Go set the table time to eat."

"Yes, sir."

Harry groans, "Bel."

You smirk as you gather two plates and two forks, "oh, you like that, noted."

"You'll be the death of me, my love."

Los Angeles, California Night Two

You rushed in hair a mess, looking flushed in your black raining daisy high waisted straight leg jeans and a white top, your bag flying off your shoulder as you stopped spotting Harry in the chair in front of the mirror. Ayae stood right behind, scissors in hand.

“Didn’t miss it?” You breathe out.

Harry laughs, shifting to look at you. The smile on his face is contagious, “you made it, Bel.”

“Traffic sucks here. But I had to thank Alfonso for the few days he let me pester him.”

You set your bag down, pulling up a chair to sit right next to him.

“You didn’t pester, darling.”

“I know. Sorry I was late.”

Harry rolls his eyes, making grabby hands for you, and who are you to deny him. Ayae just watches on fondly, pretending to need something from her bag, giving you a moment of privacy. His hands settle on your face, and he brings his lips against yours. Something you missed in the few hours you were away having met up with two friends from an interview you did a month prior. Harry understood, but that didn’t mean he liked spending time apart from you.

“You’re here all that matters now.”

“Sorry, Ayae, go right ahead.”

You sit back, looking at Harry’s who’s staring straight ahead, as Ayae begins to wet his hair to make it easier. Stylists are to be admired, all the work they put in is sometimes underappreciated, but you know Harry always makes sure she knows how grateful she is.

As Ayae cuts, letting the pieces fall to the floor, Harry shuts his eyes, letting himself relax while you continue to admire him. He looks calm as if he’d been waiting for it to happen. You weren’t blessed to enjoy time with Harry’s long hair, but you do know he pulls off every look.

“What?” Harry asks after a while of silence.

You shrug, shaking your head. “Nothing, just admiring.”

“Like what you see?”

“Looks really good.”

“Think so?” He looks down timidly, but Ayae makes him look up again, the blush evident on his cheeks. “It’s been a while since I’ve cut it.”

“You’re always pretty,” you assure him.

Ayae saves him by turning on the blow dryer, beginning to style his hair, and he’s thankful for the save, or else he’d be redder than he already was.

As she finishes, fixing one stubborn hair that falls over. You giggle as Harry helps hold it in place, and the loose hair finally settles.

“All finished,” she pats his shoulder, letting him get up and get a closer look. You do the same.

Harry turns his head, careful not to run his fingers through it as he takes it in.

“Wonderful, thank you, Ayae.”

“Course, boss. I’ll be around if you need anything.”

After she cleans up, she leaves you and Harry alone. You step behind him, bringing your hand to rest at the back of his neck where his curls used to fall. Now it’s free. You rub your thumb affectionately as he sighs, relaxing to your touch.

“Like that.”

“H, we’ve got to go,” Luis said with a sincere smile on his face for interrupting.

Harry sighs, “be right there.”

You giggle as he rolls his eyes, but it’s the life of an artist who has to prepare for tonight.

“Want to–”

He’s interrupted as your phone begins to ring.

Viola.

She’s here.

“Sorry, amor. Gotta take that.”

“Okay, I’ll be back soon to meet her, alright?”

“She understands you’re busy.”

He shakes his head, “I’ll make time for you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, my love.”

“Now go. Before they drag you by your perfectly cut hair.”

Harry giggles at the image that popped in his head. He leans in, capturing your lips in a soft kiss enough to hold you over for the time you’re going to be apart.

“I’ve got a surprise for tonight.”

“Am I going to like it?”

“Love it,” he promises.

“Looking forward to it.”

He’s a step away from exiting when he turns around to look at you, “back here for my good luck kiss just in case Jeff doesn’t let me go?”

“Course, mi amor.”

And he was off.

Viola had been thrilled to meet Harry. They got along swimmingly, bouncing off each other's stories and laughing like old friends. It was funny; the last person Viola got on that well with was you. She had many clients, and you know you couldn't say you were her favorite (although you were), but it was nice knowing that your manager was your friend and was rooting for your success. Even nicer when she got to meet the new people in your life.

It was important that she met Harry because you didn't let yourself open up a lot in fear of being taken advantage of or the chance of being hurt. As many friends you had in this industry, you also had just as much privacy.

Now to be watching him on stage with Viola dancing along, laughing at everyone's dorky moves, her own included. Viola and Anne had spoken briefly, promising to talk more after the show. You're sure by the end of the night, they would have a tea time together planned for a date before both of them left Los Angeles.

Harry was really shining tonight. The outfit is one that just calls for your attention. He's wearing a black sequin shirt, matching trousers, black suspenders keeping the uniform going, and his leather boots. The perfectly styled hair tying the look together. You loved that he left the shirt unopened, giving a view of his chest enough to satisfy.

He was interacting with the crowd a lot more, his energy even higher than a couple nights ago. You loved seeing how happy he got on stage, you've said it many times, but you'd never get tired of it just like he would never do either.

Tonight Harry had many friends in sections where he could see them and sing directly to them. It was interesting knowing all the fans must be wondering who must be up there if they already didn't know. The biggest names, Lizzo, BTS, and SZA, hanging out laughing and singing with Harry as he strums his guards towards them. Even throwing a sunflower towards Lizzo, who blows him a kiss after she catches it.

The big surprise that Harry had up his sleeve was singing 'To Be So Lonely' you were not expecting it, but you were excited. You enjoyed the honesty of this song. The raw talent of Harry and Mitch is clear from the opening chords to the lyrics. The fans did not hold back as the fans shouted out loud Harry's six least favorite words. He encourages, though, and that's all that matters.

Jeff noticed you stepping back and getting a drink of water. He laughs as you narrow your eyes at him, not sure what he is laughing at.

"Are you jealous?"

Your eyes go wide. The question is absurd.

"What? No."

"You are."

He nudges you trying to get you to laugh.

You pout, shaking your head no. "'Course not. His attention isn't always on me. Thousands of people here, Jeff."

"But you expect it."

You scoff, "cut it out."

"Nope."

You roll your eyes, "Jeff, stop it." You chuckle, letting him know you aren't actually angry.

"Fun to tease."

You narrow your eyes as he throws his arm around your shoulder. "Love ya, Bel."

Shrugging him off, you flip him off, his laughter ringing in your ears as you go to stand with Anne. She's got the biggest smile on her face.

"Darling, you alright?"

"Jeff's just teasing me."

"Want to have a few words with him," she offers playfully.

"Nah, I can take him."

"He's wonderful. Looks so beautiful." She nods her head towards Harry, who is dancing around on the other side of the stage, shining as bright as the disco ball he displays towards the end of the night.

"Beautiful indeed."

"He was made for this." She whispers in awe, and you know she must be proud, but of course, she misses her little boy.

You feel an ache in your chest, so you hug her tight. "Sorry," you're quick to jump back, not sure if that was appropriate.

"Don't be daring," she pats your hands holding them tight. "Always grateful for hugs."

"Good, hope you don't mind if I shower more upon you then."

"Excited for it."

There, arm in arm with Anne, you watch Harry living his dreams, knowing you get to a part of it and more.

After the show, backstage is just as lively. Everyone gathered around and mingled, wanting to speak with the band and Harry. You shared a brief moment in his dressing room telling him how wonderful he was on stage and stealing kisses until you left, leaving him to get changed.

Now you're in a crowded room stealing glances at each other as you dance around each other, never getting close enough, both being pulled in different directions. You spent some time talking with friends you invited that you did an interview with when you were in Pittsburg pretending you were in New York. They were kind, and you honestly liked them, which is why you invited them tonight.

Viola had spent time chatting with Jeff over god knows what, but they departed amicably. She bounced over to you, telling you not to worry about it. You had a great time conversing with everyone, telling stories, and making jokes. Viola liked sharing funny stories about you. Always a crowd-pleaser.

You had just gotten a drink and were just watching when Viola came to join you. "You alright? What's wrong?"

You shrug, not sure, honestly. A sinking feeling is washing over you.

"Overwhelmed?"

"How'd you know?"

She grins, pointing at you, "there's this small scrunch between your eyebrows. I know you well."

"I guess. I wanted you to spend more time with him but forgot how popular he is."

"You're not used to sharing him," Viola states.

"What," you scoff. "Share him every night."

"Not this intimately."

It's crazy how well she can read you.

"I guess it's easy to forget he has all these other people in his life, and he just met me."

"It's not the same with you," she assures, rubbing your arm comfortingly.

You shrug and smile, "maybe."

"Y/N?"

You turn around and see Grace and Celia.

"Hi, ladies."

"Hey, thank you for inviting us. It was a great show." Celia tells you with a giant smile holding on tight to her bag.

"I'm glad you were able to make it. Were you heading out?"

Grace nods, "time goes by fast when you're having fun."

"Oh shit, I didn't introduce you to Harry. He's very popular, pointing over your shoulder to hear him laughing with a group of people." You tell them apologetically.

The two ladies wave you off. Celia smiled. "Don't worry. He came straight to us earlier before the show. Surprised us, really. He was very kind."

"He is." Grace agrees. "Shocked us, really. But he assured us that any friend of Bel was a friend of his. He really cares for you."

You stand there surprised but so relaxed after hearing that. It's precisely what you needed to hear.

"Thank you. I can't wait to read the article. Please send it over."

"To review?" Grace teases.

You laugh, "no. once it's posted. I'm sure it'll be a lovely read. Even pass it over to Mrs. Twist."

Celia places a hand over her heart, "an honor."

The ladies hug you goodbye and make their exit. You use this as an excuse to get a moment of privacy, excusing yourself from Viola. As you're walking away, you don't notice Harry's eyes on you following you.

You lean against a wall far away enough to keep you hidden, leaning your head back and just closing your eyes. It's only a few minutes when you hear footsteps coming your way.

"Hiding out, lovie?"

You open your eyes to see Harry swimming at you, arms open, and you're quick to shuffle in his hold.

"H," you sigh fondly and soften as his arms wrap around you.

"Miss ya, angel."

You giggle, "you are mister popular."

"As are you. Miss popular," he corrects, burying his face in your hair.

"Not even. You, on the other hand, have everyone around you."

Harry laughs, holding you closer, "I saw everyone come up to you. You and Sarah are the most popular people in that room."

"Not true," you mutter. "About me, not Sarah."

"Oh yeah, then why are Lizzo and V begging to meet you," he teases.

"Stop it."

"Nope, not lying. Big fans, they say."

"No one cares to meet the girlfriend."

"They want to meet you because you're Y/N Belmonte, the kindest and most beautiful movie star. Plus, they think you're crazy for wanting to date me."

"Because you're too amazing?"

Harry pulls back, holding your face in his hands, "no, because you're too good for me."

"But I love you."

He chuckles, grinning wide. "I know, sunshine, and I'm so lucky you do."

You let Harry hold you for a bit, enjoying the silence and having him back next to you. As much as you love that he's got amazing people by his side, you're also glad for these moments where he seeks you out because he loves you and needs you just as much.

His hand running down your back is comforting and not at all seductive, all though you know that is how the night will end once he gets you both home.

"You need to speak with Viola more. Want her to get to know you before we both leave."

Harry nods, playing with your fingers noting that your nails have chipped. You pull your hand back, but he holds tighter, intertwining your fingers together.

"Tall, long black hair, golden-brown skin, and pearly white teeth."

"That's her."

"Then we chatted lots." He grins, and you narrow your eyes at him. You meet his gaze and catch him looking bashful. "She showed up today while you were on set. Took her to lunch, and we chatted about you."

"Oh god, that's embarrassing. You let me introduce you earlier, acting like you've never met."

How did you not know? It's no wonder they seemed to get on so well. They had broken the ice earlier.

"I thought she'd mention it, and maybe she assumed I did. Our secret." He laughs as you feel your face flush at what they could have possibly talked about. "Also not embarrassing."

"It is."

"No, it's sweet. She cares for you a lot. Always wanted you to be happy, and she knows life is hard but glad you've given yourself and me a chance."

"The sweetest." You agree, knowing that Viola has been by your side for the best and the worst times.

You think back to your earlier conversation. She didn't say a word. No wonder she was so relaxed, mentioning how much he cared for you, something you knew but something she hadn't gotten the chance to see. Or so you thought.

"She may have also threatened me if I ever get you in bad waters, some things I don't want to mention." He shrugs, waving it off as nothing serious.

"Seems right," you laugh as he pouts, not at all getting you concerned.

"I love you."

"I love you, H."

You'll never get tired of saying it.

"Good, let's go meet friends."

"Can't go home?" You ask, suddenly feeling how socially exhausted you are.

"Nope." He keeps walking but stops when he doesn't feel you at his side.

"Want to show you how much I love you." He turns around slowly and sees you batting your eyes at him seductively.

"God woman, you will be the death of me," Harry groans.

You grin, knowing you're getting exactly what you want.

"Fifteen minutes top." He promises.

Los Angeles, California Night Three

The best way to wake up after a late-night is with kisses being pressed all over your naked skin as the fresh air hits you. The duvet pushed to the end of the bed while a beautiful man draped himself over you, coaxing you awake.

The man in question, your loving boyfriend. Who did not get sedated even after the three rounds you went together last night after leaving the venue.

"Harry," you groan, voice full of sleep.

Although, your body is reacting to his loving touches.

"Good morning, baby."

"Mhm." you shift, trying to bury your face in the pillow. "Sleep, please."

He chuckles, "it's late, darling."

You roll your eyes, lift your head to catch sight of the time on the small alarm clock on his bed that he never uses reads nine am.

"It's early. You lied."

Harry smiles, taking you in as you fight the warm feeling of sleep. If he hadn't stolen the blanket from you, then you'd already be in dreamland again.

"Want to love on you for a bit," he confesses.

Fuck. He never plays fair.

"Yeah?" You shift, your eyes staring at him. "Want to fuck me, baby?"

Harry groans, "fuck, how can your mood shift that quick."

You chuckle, "your kisses got me worked up." You pause. "Maybe it was the dream I was having, already so wet."

"Bel," he growls.

"Don't you want to check?" You tease.

"No teasing right now, love. Just need to be close to you."

You move your hands to your side, leaving you to spread open for him, "then by all means."

That's all he needs before he's diving forward, connecting your lips with his. The kiss is fast and all-consuming. You moan as he bites your bottom lip before pulling away. He knows better than to leave bruises where they can be seen, so he moves down and past your neck to your breasts. Harry places kiss after kiss until he takes your bud in his mouth, biting lightly as you push up against him.

"Harry," you plead.

He chuckles against your skin, "alright, my love. I'll take care of you."

Harry reaches over you, opening the drawer and grabbing a condom. You loved foreplay, Harry, and you could go on for hours appreciating each other, kissing every inch of each other's skin, but right now, you were craving him.

You needed him.

Harry quickly shifted right over you, pushing your legs further apart. His hand snaked down to feel you and checked just how ready you were, never wanting to hurt you. His touches were soft and focused. You felt pleasure ring through you, the smirk on his face as he rubbed your clit, making you buck up.

"H, amor." You whine. "I need you."

"Need my cock, angel."

You mewled. Your head was thrown back as he rubbed his tip back and forth over your lips.

"Answer me."

"Yes, yes," you breathe. "Need you to fuck me. Please."

"Give you the world if you asked, angel."

You throw your hands over his shoulder, needing him closer. "Only want you. Only you."

"You got me," he promises as he pushes inside of you.

The feeling of his inside of you was something you'd never get used to. He slipped in easily at how wet you had been. As he bottoms out, he holds still, waiting for you to catch your breath.

"Now, H."

Harry pulled out and pushed back in, keeping a steady rhythm. Your moans filled the room. The sex was soft compared to the words both of you shared earlier. He knew exactly what you wanted.

You ran your hand through his hair, tugging at his roots to get his attention back on you and not where your bodies connected. His eyes shined with lust and love. Harry leaned down, pressing your lips together, getting lost in the taste of each other.

"I love you," you told him against his lips.

Harry didn't need to answer for you to know how he felt.

His movements became harder as if he was fighting back his release wanting you to reach your release first.

"Come on, darling. Sing for me."

"Harry," you moaned louder as he picked up the speed, hitting you in all the right spots. You closed your eyes, seeing stars getting lost in his grunts.

You moved your hand down only to be stopped by Harry. You opened your eyes to see him staring at you shaking his head. Letting you know he'd do it, he'd take care of you.

His index finger circled over your clit, a harsh breath leaving you as the pleasure only increased.

"Good, angel?"

"Perfect, fuck, H."

Harry smirks, moving quicker, feeling how tight you got knowing you were going to come soon.

He pumps into you three more times while rubbing your clit, and that's when the feeling hits you spreading all over your body. The moan was loud, echoing through his room and through his entire house.

Harry follows right after you, the sight of you coming for him too angelic, and lets himself let go. He holds himself up, not wanting to lean his weight on top of you, but also not ready to be separated.

As you both work to catch your breath. Harry slips out, tying off the condom and throwing it in the small trash can by his bed. After that's done, he comes back to cuddle you, pressing kisses into your sweaty hair.

"Morning, H," your voice is cheerful as opposed to earlier.

"Morning, my love." Harry kisses your cheek then your neck, causing you to laugh. Shifting closer to him, not at all trying to escape his hold. This is exactly where you wanted to be.

Your eyes widen, you tense in his arms. "Please tell me your mum isn't home."

You feel the vibrations of his laugh as it rings loud from his chest. "Lovie, wouldn't have had you screaming that loud if she was home. She went out for a walk with Sarah and the bub."

"Thank god." You relax, as much as you love Anne. You fear you'd never move past the embarrassment.

"Reckon, we have time for another round in the shower," he tries.

You laugh, patting his chest. Harry takes that as a no. Standing up on shaky legs walking to his luxurious bathroom. Once you make it to the door, you turn around, catching him staring at your ass. Typical.

"Are you coming?"

Harry sits up cautious, "really?"

"Mhm…feeling a little hungry," you wink.

If Harry slips on his way into the bathroom, well, that's okay because you on your knees for him would take all the embarrassment away. Getting lost in the feeling of your mouth makes him forget everything around him except for you. And well, a gentleman always returns the favor.

The rest of the morning went perfectly as Anne came home and joined you for pancakes. Then Harry drove you over to the venue where he was instantly ushered around with Jeff, and you kept Anne company telling stories back and forth. It wasn't until close to lunchtime that Harry managed to get away bringing you with him.

Harry had brought you to sit with him on the steps of the stage. It was strange to see it empty when it had been packed to the brim of fans and friends watching him sing on stage the past two times. You had brought with you a clementine, and after peeling it, you gave half to Harry. Sharing a clementine has always been portrayed as an act of love, and it's intimate making sure to give half of what's yours to someone else.

You sit there eating silently, letting your head rest on his shoulder as you think a few weeks ago this might have been the last show, but it is not. No, you've three more to enjoy together and if all things go well, the end of the year as well.

"In the home stretch." Harry let out a deep sigh. "Only a week left." Time seemed to fly by with him, you think.

"You worried?" Harry asks.

"About?" You shift to look at him, hearing the shift in tone in his voice.

"Us."

"No," you answer confidently without missing a beat.

"Why not?"

You rest your head on your knees. "I love you." You shrug because it's that simple. "I'm going to do everything to make this work."

"Me too, angel," he promises, bending forward and pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

"Good."

"What's after New York?" Harry continues with his questioning.

You exhale, "can we enjoy today?"

Harry looks at you for a second too long and agrees, noting you didn't want to discuss it. He kisses your temple and begins to stand up, "going to speak with mum."

"H," you sigh instantly, seeing he's upset.

"No, Bel. It's fine." He breathes out.

"Clearly, it's not."

Harry can see he can't leave now and expresses his thoughts.

"I want to talk about our future."

"And we will."

"I want to talk about it now."

You shut your eyes for a second before standing up, needing this conversation to happen at the same level and not talk down on. "What's a few more days?" You ask calmly.

"Nothing is tying you here. Why don't you want to discuss it?"

"Nothing?" You spat out, eyebrows raised. Your mood goes from tense to sad in seconds. "I've got family here. You also know my plans about finding a home in London."

"What for? So it can remain empty," he spits as you.

You're not one to back down, not ever. "Just like yours will."

"What?"

"Stadium talk sound familiar?" You've got a busy summer and even more active months after that." Harry freezes because you're right. He's going to be gone a long time traveling from country to country until he begins the press tour with Flo before the film releases in September. "You may not have brought it up yet, but others talk to me. You don't think we'll make it." You breathe out your heart at your throat. "Is that it?"

Harry deflates, "Bel, no."

"Then why are you getting upset?"

"Why are you?" He shoots back.

"Because a simple conversation about your tour ending made you upset with me."

Harry scoffs, "I've had enough."

He turns, and you know he's going to walk away from you.

"You promised me." Your voice cracks, betraying you, displaying how upset you really are. He freezes but doesn't turn to look at you. "You promised we'd talk things out. Not fight, not like Connecticut." Even the mention of the place you fought makes you more upset.

"Well, maybe you should get used to me breaking promises." His voice echoes out, each word finding a place to sink into your heart, only deepening the hurt.

It seems he might not have been as all in as you were. Now you aren't sure what the last few days mean, all suddenly beginning to feel like a dream.

There's nothing left to say. How are you supposed to fight for Harry and your love if he gives up this easily?

You walk away from him just as he was about to do, glad he did not see the expression on your face.

Were you foolish to follow him on tour? To have fallen in love so quickly.

Did love make you weak?

The tears threatening to fall blur your eyes, so you take a moment to stop and wipe your eyes. You need to get away. Except there is nowhere to go. Fans have lingered outside since early this morning. There are crew members at every corner you turn. You just want to get away.

You shove your hands in your pocket and sigh at the cold metal hiding in your pocket.

Harry's car keys.

He let you drive the car in this morning. You had forgotten to slip them in his bag after shutting off the vehicle. Well, at least for now, you had a place to be alone.

You move to lay in the back seat of the Range Rover, thankful for the tinted windows. You have your phone just in case but know no one will come looking for you, why would they?

You doubt Harry would mention the argument.

Being alone in your thoughts will be good, allowing you to reflect and try to figure out what upset Harry. It was the topic of the end of the tour, of course. He was upset.

Why did he throw your filming schedules in your face as if he was home all the time?

As you tried to find an answer to justify Harry's anger, you ended up falling asleep, not realizing how tired that made you feel.

You wake up startled, sitting up, and feel your phone buzzing on the floor. It must have slipped. You pick it up, staring at the screen and the various missed calls that have accumulated.

Shit.

How long did you nap that a search time seemed to have been sent out?

As you're about to reply to Jeff, a call from Glenne comes in. You answer on the second ring.

"Hello."

"Bel, where the hell are you?"

"I was sleeping." You avoid telling her where you were.

"Why?"

"Bel," she sighs. It's obvious she knows. Meaning everyone must know. "H said you got in an argument and left."

"Like I could go far," you muttered bitterly.

"We've searched everywhere."

"Clearly not."

"Not funny," Glenne scolds.

"I'll meet you back at the dressing room." You pause. What if he's there? You don't think you're ready to speak with him yet. "Wait, where is he?"

Glenne knows precisely the 'he' in question is and answers that he's right there pacing around waiting for any news.

"Oh. Well, you can come to me."

"Where is that?"

"In his car. By the private entrance."

Glenne doesn't hold back her laugh, it rings through the phone, and it makes you smile. "I have to tell him you're okay."

"That's fine. As long as my location remains hidden."

"You have my word."

It's only a few minutes later when there's a knock on the door, and it swings open where you don't only just see Glenne but Anne too.

"I brought back up." Glenne points her thumb behind her, and you grin, scooting to the end for both of them to come in.

"You alright?" You shrug because, honestly, you're not sure. "Though it was a dream."

"Want to tell us what happened?" Glenne asks softly, but you can't help but look at Anne and fear judgment for a moment.

"He's my son, but darling, I'm not here to make you feel bad or judge you. Just want to make sure you're both alright."

You appreciate her words. It's what you needed to begin to share your story.

"We were talking about the final shows. Then he asked about after New York, and I'd told him we'd talk about it then, not now. And he flipped."

"Bel," Glenne sighs, squeezing your hand.

"Then said not to expect him to keep his promises for the future."

"Fuck, Harry," Glenne mutters under her breathe.

You don't mention everything because the fight was intimate. It's about you both and your relationship. You feel strange speaking about it, but if anyone was able to help, it was Glenne and Anne who know him better than anyone, having been by his side for so long.

"Yup, now we're here."

Glenne and Anne share a look, making you wonder if they might know what's going through his head.

"Do you know what's going on?" Anne frowns, shaking her head.

"All he said was that you got in a fight and that he messed up."

You let your head fall in your hands, just wanting to drown your sorrows in something. "I wish I knew how to fix it, but if we don't talk, then we won't be able to."

"What do you want to do?" Anne asks.

"Right now or with Harry?" Two different responses.

"Right now." They reply, waiting for your response.

You look down, looking sheepish. "I'm kind of hungry."

"Then we eat. The best thing you can do is talk, but that can wait. Alright, darling girl." Anne assures you. "He's my son, but I will admit when he's being an idiot as all men are sometimes."

"Amen, Anne," Gleene agrees, throwing her arm over your shoulder.

As you all get out of the car, you walk by a noticeably large sign overhead saying 'Harry Styles Love on tour' the o on tour was a heart. Anne had asked for a photo, and neither Anne nor you could say no to her. You asked a worker who was walking by, assuring them that they could say no if they were busy. Lucky for you, they said yes. You hurried back over, standing to Anne's right arm around her waist. Glenne posed effortlessly to display her gorgeous outfit she picked especially for tonight as she texted you this morning asking if it was too much or just enough. In the middle of you two, Anne could not contain her smile. This happiness. The people around you, and that's how you knew that you and Harry could fix whatever had happened earlier in the day.

You stand there all close, huddled together, smiling and laughing, looking at Glenne's phone as she posts on her story, something private from fans at least for a bit. Neither one of you ever would stop Anne from posting. She's just a mum who loves sharing photos and videos, not her fault her son is a world loved artist. You love that; as much as she keeps Harry's life private, she shares enough because she wants her family to see her children's accomplishments.

Sitting down, you eat. You're hungry, and thankfully, the food never fails. Sarah's kitchen produces nothing but the best for you all every night without fail.

Dinner was good, giving you the clear head you needed. You knew you needed to talk to Harry, but you were nervous about approaching him. After eating and assuring almost everyone that you were okay, you made your way to Harry's dressing room which Glenne and Jeff had made sure was clear for you. Anne had been the one to distract Harry long enough, making sure he'd have enough time to get ready.

After eating and assuring almost everyone that came up to you that you were okay, you made your way to the restroom and got ready. Glenne made sure Harry was out of the dressing room, allowing you to do your makeup and hair there. You suggested going back to Harry's house for the night, but Anne was quick to shut you down, saying running away wouldn't fix anything.

The outfit you were wearing for tonight was a shimmering blue fabric on a black base. It's a twist crop top and ultra-flattering pants that hug you in all the right places. There are sexy high slits on both sides. It makes you feel confident knowing you look so good. You didn't want to do too much makeup, settling on shimmery eyeshadow to match your outfit and mascara to make your eyes pop. Slipping on your black platform heels wanting the extra height tonight, knowing it only made you look more desirable.

Looking at yourself in the mirror, you were satisfied, meaning you had two choices: one, go find someone to hang out with for now and avoid Harry, or two, go find Harry and talk like you should have earlier.

"Look beautiful."

His voice startled you, not expecting him to have come back yet. You take a deep breath before turning around to look at him. You stay silent, not sure what to say.

"Hey."

"Hi," you whisper back, your voice escaping you. "I can leave if you need to change."

You look away from him, settling on looking at the floor. You miss the way the frown on his face deepens. Not knowing your words broke him a bit inside because just yesterday, you were helping him get ready, giving him a kiss every time you buttoned up his shirt.

Now you don't meet his gaze, standing tense a few feet away. He knows he did this. Now he's here to try and fix it and hopefully not mess up again.

"Don't want you to leave. You know how much I like having you here."

You shrug because you honestly aren't sure right now.

"Can we talk?"

"Okay."

You move over to the sofa and take a seat.

It's silent as you both avoid meeting each other's eyes, the gap on the couch different than what you're used to. You hold yourself back from crawling in his lap and just letting him hold you as he tells you that you would be alright.

"Bel, I'm sorry." You meet his eyes, and they are filled with sorrow. "I'm so sorry."

You let him continue knowing he's got to get this off his chest.

"There's this fear that we're going to burst the bubble. That all we have will come crashing down." He confesses.

"Does it feel like a fantasy to you?"

Harry exhales softly, "sometimes."

"I'm real. I'm here." You hope he can see the honesty in your face.

"I know."

"Your fears are valid, Harry. But fuck you attacked me. You threw your words at me like you wanted me to walk away like you wanted it to be my fault you lost me."

Harry's beautiful green eyes well up with tears, and it breaks your heart. "I know."

"You can't live with the fear that at any chance something will go wrong, and you'll lose me."

"But I can," he pleads for you to understand.

"That's not how relationships work, H." You shift closer, knowing he needs comfort. You place your hand on top of his thigh, his hand quickly follows, gripping yours tightly. Clinging to that small sign of hope that you're going to be okay. That he didn't mess this up. "I know you've struggled, but baby, so have I. I've given you everything and have bared my heart and soul to you."

Harry knows every part of you, parts you didn't even know that had been closed off until him. "I know, I know." He repeats. "You know everything. You hold my heart."

You're sitting right next to him, thighs touching.

"How will we make it work?" He asks, voice full of fear.

The fear of losing you while you're apart is what scares him. He can fight for you now, but what if when you're miles apart, he can't fix it? What then?

"Talking, lots of it. To the point, you'll get tired of my voice."

"Could never."

"Coordinate visits. Not saying it will be easy, but if you're all in then, we'll be alright."

He smiles, and it lightens the mood instantly. "Can't join me on a second tour."

"Not this time, mi vida."

"Disappointing."

"I know, can't be your groupie forever," you tease, calling back to the early days when he asked you to join him, and you thought it was the craziest idea then.

"Wouldn't want you to," you hear the sincerity in his voice.

"Now that's just rude, Styles."

Harry chuckles, shaking his head. "I mean that I want to see you in your element. Visit you on set, take your coffee and meet your team. Sit in your chair with your name on the back. But also go on dates and spend time together. Just me and you, baby." Harry expresses all his thoughts, deciding that sharing isn't so hard if you're the one at his side.

"Bel, let me promise you something."

“Harry," you frown.

"No, I apologize for earlier. I was an asshole, and I was scared, but you let me see that I didn't have to be."

"I forgive you. I do." You squeeze his hand. "You go asshole on me, and I swear I'll kick your ass," you falsely threaten.

"Won't give you a reason to."

You lean in and hug him. You hug him tight, needing to know that you're okay. That the argument is now in the past, and you'll move forward.

"I love you. I promise and cross my heart that I will bring my concerns to you. We will work through things together, whatever they may be."

"I love you, H. Promise to do the same."

You lift his hand and link his pinky with yours. Old school style, the best kind to be made.

Holding your pinkies together, you feel Harry begin to lean in, and you follow. Once your lips meet, all the worries fade away for the moment. It's two people reconciling after an argument. A foolish one, but you know each fight only makes you stronger.

Harry tilts his head, deepening the kiss. His lips are soft and warm. It's slow; neither of you picks it up simply, just wanting to get lost in each other. You break away to catch your breath, lips only a centimeter away, which Harry closes to peck your lips a few times until you pull away laughing.

"Couples fight. It's healthy or whatever. But you keep too much to yourself." You tell him, wanting him to be aware. You have your flaws, you know. You're sensitive, making it harder to have a conversation when the tension rises. Also, you walked away when maybe if you stayed, it could have cleared the way.

"Talked with mum. She made me see things clearer. Also, never hide, thought you really left."

"Yeah, I fell asleep in your car."

"Dork." He giggles. "I'd be the biggest idiot if I lost you."

"Not wrong," you tease.

"We'll pause then. On our conversation about what is after New York."

You laugh, "it seems best for now."

"Cause I have to get ready?"

"Hit the nail on the head."

"Alright, going to help?"

"You know it, rockstar."

You pull him in for one last kiss, both of you smiling against each other's lips, happy to be here in this moment. To be in each other's arms because there is no one else you want at the end of the day.

As soon as Harry stepped foot on stage, the smile on his face did not drop; well, it hadn't stopped since you helped him get ready. And maybe if Jeff hadn't walked in on you sitting on Harry's lap while wearing his sequined vest, then perhaps it'd be even bigger, but you doubted it was possible. After getting scolded by Jeff, neither of you, at the point to be the least bit embarrassed, you actually helped Harry get ready before you were kicked out.

Harry waved goodbye as his box was shut and was rolled under the stage. You were really looking forward to the behind-the-scenes footage the team had been compiling, maybe the fans would never see it, but you would.

Linked in hand with Glenne, you went out to your spot as the lights dimmed and Harry's final song on the playlist began as the countdown started for him to get on stage. Once he did, the screams were thunderous. You felt them echo out as if they'd never stop.

One stage, you didn't think it was possible to shine as much, but with his open vest covered in black sequined fringe paired with green embossed wide-leg trousers and cream leather boots, he was doing just that. It might also have to do with the glitter you put all over his chest, more specifically on his tattoos that were on display tonight. The ferns remained hidden. Those were for your enjoyment later tonight.

Much to your displeasure, the show had been flying by. Harry stood in front of you all, preparing to sing 'Cherry' when a sign caught his eye. "There's a sign that says 'I just got dumped' I'm really sorry. Maybe you can relate to this song. It's sad." And with that, he began to sing. The fans never failed singing along with him, not perfectly but with so much love.

After 'Lights Up,' a song that has become one of your favorites, hearing how special it is to hear life, to know that at one point, Harry wasn't sure of who he was but now proudly told his fans each night that he does. That he found himself and is proud of who he has become.

"Los Angeles! You having a good time so far?" The applause goes on for a few seconds before allowing Harry to continue. "Alright. Take a second to talk. Wanted to talk about the fact I've been coming to LA for ten years. After this show, only three shows left." You can hear the sadness in his voice at the thought of this ending for the time being. "I remember the first time I stepped in this room. I remember the last time I stepped in this room." He pauses for dramatic effect. "It was yesterday. But I also remember being here almost exactly two years ago. The day that my last album came out. And I cannot express to you how much you've changed my life over the last two years since I've been here."

He's holding on to the microphone stand for support; you hear that slight tremor in his voice to tell you he's overwhelmed but so happy. "And every time I get to play in LA is an absolute pleasure and a privilege, and some of the time when I'm here, I'm very lucky to have some friends in the audience. Over the years, people that I've met over the last, you know, twenty-seven years of my life."

The screams you feel are now booming, trying to find an escape only to bounce back, creating even more noise. "There are some people in this room tonight who have helped me more than I could ever express to them, and you all know who you are," his voice thick with emotion. "And each and every single one of you knows who you are, and I just want to say thank you because you've changed my life." Harry pauses to take a deep breath and lets the cheers die out. Harry plays with his in-ear, "and… I'm so happy." The smile on his face is breathtaking, one you hope Anthony was able to capture on camera.

"This is one hundred percent my favorite thing to do, and I appreciate you being here tonight so much. Thank you. Thank you. I knew this one was going to be fun. I could feel it. I could." He jokes, letting the seriousness fade away and go into the next ten minutes of dancing.

You've told Harry time and time again that 'Canyon Moon' live is fantastic. It's a fun song about going home to a person you love after a long time. He takes pride in writing your favorite songs. You're only a quarter way in when the camera's pan to Harry looking serious into the crowd.

"Stop, stop, stop. You good? You okay? Lights up for a second, please." He turns around, making his way to the middle of the stage where he keeps spare water. He bends down, and security gets it to the fan. "You okay? Good. Do you want me to keep going or wait?" Keep going, alright." He turns a skip in his step. "At least you're at the front now." Making the fan laugh and going forward with the show. You know Harry's going to keep an extra eye on them now that he's seen them. Harry wants people to have fun at his show, not get hurt. Meaning he tries to make this the safest environment for them with the bit of control he does have.

"Los Angeles, did you have a good time tonight?" Loud cheers ring around the room. "Thank you, you've been absolutely incredible. What's gonna happen next is we're going to do a song and disappear pretending it's the end of the show." There are loud 'awes' that ring out. "It's not." He giggles as the crowd begin to raise their voice again. He raises a finger to the air, wagging it around, "plenty more, you'll see."

Harry stands with his guitar strapped to his chest as he looks around as if he's trying to memorize every face in the crowd. "Before we do that, I want to say thank you to a couple of people if you're okay with that."

The audience would never disagree with him, so he moves forward with his speech.

"First of all, it is her last show with us tonight. Very sad to see her go. Please give a wonderful cheer to Miss Jenny Lewis, who opened the show. I've been a fan of hers for a long time. It's been a pleasure to watch her every night before coming on stage. She has loved you. Thank you so much for making her feel welcomed every night. Thank you very much."

Jenny has been incredible and so kind to you. You think back to the late-night run Harry offered to do for her when she ran out of dog food, an excuse to get you both out of the hotel you were staying at.

"Second, to my incredible band who is on this stage. Please make some noise." Harry laughs and claps along, knowing his band deserves the praise.

"Third, there is a large group of people in this room who get here a long time before any of us are in the room. They go home a long time after all of us have left. You don't see them. And quite simply, the show can't happen without them, so to the crew, all backstage make some noise." Everyone around you cheers as loud as they can, personally knowing each member of the crew and knowing how much Harry values everyone he has on his team. Without them, he wouldn't have an amazing show.

"Also, and potentially the most LA thing to ever come out of my mouth, my therapist is here, so thank you to her!" The cheers are loud, and the smile on his face is so wide you feel how much it brings you warmth to freely mention that. Both of you having gone to an appointment now that you were in Los Angeles. "Now, do you understand?' He giggles into the microphone as he takes in the crowd a final time before getting ready to sing. "So, thank you."

Harry has so many thanks to give, and you know it may not be directed to you, but you're just so grateful to see how loved he is. Everyone was hugging. Anne and Jeff hold each other tightly, and you move back to rest by a stage box taking in the family Harry had created during his time away from home.

You didn't even notice when Anne bounced over to you, tears still streaming down her face. You tried to wipe yours away, but it was too late, seeing as she noticed them only for more to continue falling down. Anne doesn't even say a word; instead wraps you up in a tight hug, allowing you to feel comforted.

"Alright, darling?"

"Yes," you wipe your tears, laughing a bit, when you see some glitter on your hands. "Nice to see he's so loved and has always had people supporting him and helping him.

"I'm thankful too. I'm his mother, so I'll always support him, but it's nice to know when I'm at home, and he's off doing what he loves that he's not alone and being taken care of."

You nod, squeezing her arm tight, holding them close to your chest. "He's so thankful for you. Always speaks highly of you." You assure her.

"And you darling."

Now that surprises you.

"Me? Oh, I've just entered his life. Hell, we fought today." You breathe out. "But I love him."

"Oh, darling." She brushes your hair back. "He loves you. Let his fear get in the way sometimes, but he loves you." Her words bring your tears forward again. "There is nothing more proud of than he is of you. He's so thankful to have you supporting him and loving him. You here every night is more than you can imagine."

Anne wipes your tears away. It reminds you of when your mother would do it when you were younger.

"I know it feels like you just entered his life, but you've changed him. He's happier and lighter. Oh, and so so in love. You take care of him so well."

Your tears are falling faster, and you pull Anne in for a hug tucking your head in her shoulder. "I love him. I promise to take care of him. He's truly the most amazing person I've ever met."

Anne kisses your cheek. "I know, darling."

You hold each other tight as you tune back onto the stage where Harry finishes his speech.

"Remember to find your sunshine. It might not feel like it's there all the time, but I promise you, once you find it, don't ever let it go." Harry pauses, turning around briefly. You know he can't see you, but knowing he's searching for you warms you with the best feeling. "I feel lucky enough to say that I have."

You know it's you. No one knows he calls you sunshine or sol as he prefers. But he constantly reminds you how much you've brightened his life. You vow to do the same.

You love Harry. You do.

These past two months have been insane, but you wouldn't change a single thing because it brought Harry into your life, and you're going to do everything in your power to have him stay and know he will do the same.

"And most importantly, most importantly to each and every single one of you, thank you so so much. I do not get to do this if you don't come. You've changed my life, and I'm so grateful. How important nights like tonight are to be with people you love. We'll be alright. This is 'Fine Line.'"

Harry and the band had just finished Medicine, and he was getting ready to introduce the band when you heard your phone ring. You knew it was a message, but something in your gut told you to check it.

Naomi

Mom is in the hospital. All good. Going home in the morning.

What?

Ruby wasn't okay.

You feel all the blood rush to your head and bump into Jeff. He's quick to take hold of your arm, holding you steady.

"Bel? You alright?"

You aren't okay. Your head was spinning.

"Uh...Naomi. Her mom's in the hospital."

Everyone around is suddenly moving faster, and you want them to stop.

Jeff is still holding your arm when you realize he's guiding you out. "Let's get you going."

"But H," you try to turn around, needing him to know. You also want to get out of there and call Naomi for a better update.

"We'll get him in the car with you as soon as he's off the stage. I'll talk to him through the in-ear."

You let him lead you after that. The black curtain moved as you walked by, a car already there waiting and running. Ready for you to get in. Jeff glances at you, debating to stay with you when he sees you put your phone to your ear, deciding you need privacy more.

It's close to two am in Minnesota, but clearly, she's up if she sent the message.

There is only one ring, and she picks up.

"Hey. You're up?" Naomi sounds exhausted and tense, not a good sign.

"You knew there was a show." You deadpan wanting her to get over the small talk.

"Yeah… Mom's fine, honestly."

"Did you just get there?"

She pauses. Too long. It must have been hours.

"A few hours."

"And you didn't call," your voice cracks.

"You were at a show," she defends.

"Unbelievable."

"It was her idea."

You scoff, laughing bitterly at Naomi pointing fingers at the person in the hospital, not wanting your anger directed at herself rather her mother, the patient. She knew it was pointless.

"Really?"

"It was, I swear. Didn't want to bother." She tells you as if sensing your anger. She continues, "her words not mine."

"Pass the phone."

"Uh…" you hear bickering in the background and let out a laugh. "She's sleeping."

"Seriously, I just heard her."

"Sleep talking," Naomi tries. Then there's the voice again asking for the phone to be given to them.

"Hi, sweetie."

You soften, thankful to hear her soothing voice. "Hi, Ruby. You alright?"

"I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."

"You sure?" Before she can answer you, ask another question, "what made you go?"

"Had a few dizzy spells. The last one had me falling."

"What caused them?"

"Lack of fluids."

You're shocked. Honestly, growing up, she was on Naomi about always being hydrated.

"Really?"

"You know it's hard to drink with the cold weather."

"Please be careful," you plead.

"Amir is all over it."

"As he should." You pause, glad to know her husband is going to keep an extra eye. Meaning buying those outrageous time water bottles. "Do you need me?"

"Oh, sweetie. As much as I love you and miss you, I'm okay. I'm good with three people to smother me for a bit."

"How did the others take it?"

"Better than you," she teases.

"Ruby, please. You're my family."

"I know, sweetie. The other trusts I'm in good hands."

"You better be," you sniffle, wiping away a tear that escaped.

"How was the show?"

"Lovely as always. He's incredible."

"I bet." You know she's grinning. "Going to have to take me eventually got to see the young man in action. Got to meet the potential son-in-law."

Those words move you to tears. You let them run free.

"You made me weepy."

She laughs. "Me too." Ruby pauses. "I miss you."

"Me too. Holidays soon," you remind her.

"Naomi says you have a surprise."

"I do," just thinking about it makes you excited.

"You spoil us."

"Not nearly enough." Naomi must have said something because she's laughing again. "Tell her I give her permission to tell you all about it tomorrow once you're home and settled. Then you can call me, and we'll make the arrangements."

"Alright, sweetie."

"You're—"you cut off as the door swung open, showing Harry's naked chest, vest in Luis' hand. "You're okay?" You check one last time."

"I am. Are you going to be alright? You in good hands?"

Harry is looking at your concern written all over his face. He scoots closer, resting a hand on your thought and the other on your cheek, taking note of your dried tears.

"The best," you assured her.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

You move your phone to your lap but keep your eyes locked on Harry's.

"Everything alright? Didn't explain much. Is Naomi okay?"

"It's her mom, Ruby. She's in the hospital. She was low on fluids and had her hooked to an IV now."

"She's okay?"

"Yes, keeping her overnight and going home in the afternoon."

He nods, "do you need a plane ticket?"

"What?"

"Do you want to leave in the morning or check if they have any leaving soon? LAX isn't too far from here."

You sit there shocked. Didn't think he'd be searching for flights for you.

"What?"

Harry doesn't sense your urgency and calms down. "It's your family, right?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll get you home," he promises.

"H, amor. Settle for a moment. Your adrenaline's still going."

"What?"

"Breathe with me."

He takes long, deep breaths and follows with long exhales. You repeat a few times until you see he's relaxed.

"Good?"

He nods his head.

"I'm not going. She doesn't want the fuss. She's got three people looking out for her."

"You sure? Not staying because of me."

"No amor," you peck his lips. "But I do appreciate it."

"It's family, lovie." He states simply. Like he understands if you have to leave because he knows how much you both value family.

"I know, but she's fine. Doctor's say she's good."

"You alright?"

That's when you notice the slight tremble in your hands still. "I will be, not something you expect."

"Yeah, I know."

Harry leans back against the middle seat, moving you to hold you close to his chest.

"We'll get home, and I'll make you tea and tuck you in."

"Sorry, you left in a rush," you apologize.

"No, lovie. There's no need. Go anywhere with you." He pressed a kiss to the top of your head, and you settled down, focusing on his heartbeat.

The drive home is silent, but his hold is strong.

You're okay.

You will be okay with Harry.

With Harry by your side, everything always would be.

thank you for reading <3 i adore you

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twenty-five houston

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