Lullaby

Phoenix

word count: 12,767  Fandom: MCYT Pairing: Emerald Duo x Female!Phoenix!Reader Pronouns: She/Her Occupation: Fighter Ability: Phoenix Hybrid

The character is that of a phoenix hybrid, allowing them to have traits of a phoenix. They are gifted with wings of flames that sprout of their back, giving them the ability to fly, though they are capable of having them disappear and reappear whenever they so wish. They are also able to manipulate fire however they want, but since they are a phoenix, they are also have the gift of healing.

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name

Warnings: vulgar language, violence, character death

“What in the actual hell are you doing?!” [F/N] shouts, stumbling backwards when Quackity, Fundy, Tubbo and some new kid abruptly barged into her house unannounced. She looked at their attire and saw that only that new kid was dressed in Netherite armor while the other three were wearing bloody aprons over their Netherite armor, each holding weapons that were just as bloody “Tubbo! What is the meaning of this?!” she shouts at the younger boy, before the boy could get a word out Quackity approached her.

“We’re looking for Technoblade.” this caused her to flinch a bit.

“What for?” she asked, she crossed her arms and tapped her finger against her arm and watched as Quackity circled her.

“We are looking for Technoblade because he is a threat to L’manburg.” she furrows her brows at the sound of that “We need to make an example of him.” now she narrows her eyes on Quackity before leaning back and looking out the window and her eyes widened at the sight of an odd contraption, there was a cage at the very bottom and above it was an anvil “We are going to execute him.”  

“Wha-- why?! That’s totally unreasonable!” she shouts “Techno is a different person to who he was in the past, he’s changed!” she reasons but it falls to deaf ears, she then notices Fundy swing his axe and actually shatter her window “What the?! The fuck do you think you’re doing?!” she goes to stop him but was grabbed by the arm by that kid, she goes to retaliate but noticed that he looked more nervous than she did, so she settled down despite how much of her anger was beginning to boil over. She then notices that Quackity and Tubbo start rummaging through her chests in search for something.

“You know where Technoblade is, don’t you?” she freezes at that, Quackity waves at Fundy to stop him from damaging anything else and to look through her chests and barrels in search for anything that could lead them to Technoblade, he then grabs a hold of her arm and tugs her forward.

“So what if I do?” he shrugs.

“All you have to do is tell us where he is, and we will stop this immediately.” she grits her teeth at that, watching as he leaned in close to her face, she growls at him and scowls when he snickers and leans away, opening his arms “It’s simply not that hard. We, the Butcher Army, are going to bring Technoblade to justice for all the wronging he’s done! Not only did he kill Tubbo during the festival, but he helped blow up L’manburg by spawning those Withers! We are only doing what’s right, and as a citizen of L’manburg, we order you to tell us where Technoblade is.” he now stood in front of her, his axe held tightly. She eyed it before narrowing her eyes on the short man, standing her ground and not the least bit intimidated.

“I’d rather die than tell you where he is.” there was a tense silence in the air as the two glare at each other, no movements were made as the two refused to drop their gaze but finally stopped when Tubbo let out a cheer.

“Hey Big Q,” they both turn and [F/N] gasped silently at the sight “look what I found.” in Tubbo’s hands was a compass that was labeled [Techno’s Compass], her heart started to beat rapidly in her heart when she started to remember when Technoblade gave both herself and Philza a compass that would lead them back to his house.

“Good work, Tubbo.” Quackity smirked at [F/N]’s silence, knowing that they hit the jackpot “It was really simple, [F/N], really simple, and since you disobeyed the orders given to you, we will be forced to--” he jumped when he heard a loud battle cry and turned to see that it was from [F/N], who started screaming before rushing over and snatching the compass out of Tubbo’s hands. They thought that she was simply going to put it away in her own inventory, but no, they were startled when they saw her raise her hand before throwing the compass on the ground and started to stomp on it. But that wasn’t enough, she summoned a Netherite Axe out of her inventory and started swinging it down on the compass, thoroughly destroying it, but she still went beyond by pulling out lava and pouring it onto the compass.

“...”

“...”

“Was that necessary?” she was panting a little as she stared at the smokey patch on the wooden floor and frowned, she let out a little cry as she scooped the lava back into the bucket and put it back into her inventory, she then turned and glared at the three, sparing the Enderman hybrid.

“You’re not going to get to him, you piece of shit.” she sneered “That compass was the second most valuable thing in my possession, and I don’t need that blasted compass to find my way to Techno, so it wasn’t a complete loss.” she took a step back when she noticed them take a step forward, baring their weapons at her.

“Then you’ll have to take us to him.” she scoffs.

“Over my dead body.” Quackity chuckles.

“That can be arranged.” she swallows thickly at that, her eyes move back to the Ender Chest behind her, she takes a breath and looks back at the trio, seeing them getting ready to fight her. The moment she saw Fundy take a step forward she punched him across the face before turning back and reaching towards her Ender Chest “Get her!” he orders, she quickly throws it open and grabs the [Friendship Emerald] Technoblade also gave her and Philza before letting out a grunt when Tubbo grabbed her arm, in response to that, she slams her forehead into his and he fell back. She stands to her feet and grins to herself, taunting the remaining two to come at her.

“Come on then, it’ll be just like manhunt! 4 vs 1, shouldn’t be that hard. Dream does it all the time!” the Enderman hybrid looks at [F/N] warily before charging forward, he swings the axe up and brings it down but she easily caught it before grabbing a hold of him and lifting him up “Sorry about this, kid!” she then threw him at Quackity and they both fell to the ground, she gave him an apologetic look before she made a beeline up the stairs “You seem like a really good guy, but I can’t take any chances!” she added before rummaging through the rest of her chests that were up the stairs hastily.

“Urgh, dammit!” Quackity cursed, pushing Ranboo off him before getting to his feet with Fundy and Tubbo behind him “Don’t let her get away!” they go to chase after her, but they managed to stop themselves before they ran into lava, to which she threw lava down the stairs to stop them from chasing after her before pulling out blocks of Obsidian and placing them down on the opening of the staircase then speeding over to her balcony. She kicks the door open and looks side to side, wincing slightly when the rain poured down on her, but she paid that no mind and turned her head to the right.

“Oh, please tell me you’re home.” she pleads, she wasted no time to pull out blocks of dirt to use as platforms to jump the gaps in between the houses that were besides her so she could get to the house that she was aiming for. When she finally reached the house she needed, she landed on the balcony of said house before kicking that door open “PHIL!!” she shouts, said man let out a startled shout as he looks up and was surprised when he saw [F/N] drenched from head to toe as she rushed down the stairs and approached him.

“[F/N]? What are you-- how are you in my house?” she shakes her head.

“It doesn’t matter! We have to go, old friend.” she hurriedly said, he gives her a confused look as he watched her rummage through his chests before opening his Ender Chest and pulling out his compass to Technoblade and the [Friendship Emerald], tossing them both to him and scurrying around to grab anything else necessary.

“Why? What’s happening?” she shakes her head in distress.

“It’s Tubbo. He’s gone insane thanks to Quackity.” when she grabbed everything, she goes over to Philza and steadily grabs his arms “They’re after Techno, Phil. They want to kill him for what he did to L’manburg.” his eyes widened at that, and he looked outside and saw that contraption they were planning on using to execute Technoblade “We have to go, if they can’t get me, then I sure as hell know they’ll be coming after you.” he looks at her one more time before nodding.

“You’re right, let’s get the hell out of here.” they nod, and they turn to leave but [F/N] froze when she saw the Butcher Army right outside Philza’s door.

“She’s here!” she heard Fundy shout, he swings the door open but let out a cry when she punched him in the face again then slamming the door shut “Ah, dammit! Again!”

“Sorry, nobody’s home!” she shouts, pulling out the Obsidian again and using that to block the door before grabbing a hold of Philza’s hand and running up the stairs, blocking the entrance to the stairs then rushing over to the balcony, Philza shivered when he felt the cold wind blow through his feathers as his skin tensed up when the rain poured down on him.

“How are we going to get out of here?” she grins, pulling out two potions.

“I didn’t have enough time to grab a lot, but this’ll make do.” she says before sculling down the two potions, Philza looked at her and saw the particles that were coming off her after having drunk the Potions of Speed and Leaping. She flexes her arms before kneeling and picking Philza up bridal style and turning in the direction where Technoblade was, she takes a few steps back before charging forward and stepping onto the railing then leaping into the air a good few blocks “Phil! Message Techno of our problem!”

“They’re getting away!” she heard Tubbo shout, they both turn back and notice and notice that the Butcher Army started chasing after them.

“Hurry!” looking down, she noticed the message board appear.

<Ph1lza whispers to you> they know where you are, get ready old friend

“Technically they don’t.” he shrugs his shoulders, still focused on messaging Technoblade.

“Well, at least it’ll grab his attention.”

“Hmm, true.”

<Ph1lza whispers to you> better kiss your retirement goodbye

<Technoblade whispers to you> please elaborate!

<Ph1lza whispers to you> they’re after the compass

<Technoblade whispers to you> who?!

“You’re torturing the poor guy, Phil. Just tell him who.” they both laugh, Philza letting out whoa when she kneels down before kneeling down and launching up into the air. She let out a grunt when she landed on the ground and cautiously glanced over at how much time she had left until the potions ran out and she sucked in a breath when she noticed that it was almost over.

“You won’t get away!” Quackity shouts.

“Oh yeah, fucking watch me!” she retaliates before looking around and gritting her teeth, she leads them on a wild goose chase but when both effects of the potion run out, she leads them away before skidding to a stop when she was on the top of a building and the Butcher Army was right behind them. She turns to face them, still holding Philza close to her, and briefly glanced down at the fall below them. She wasn’t wearing any armor to take the damage of the fall and she didn’t have a Potion of Slow Falling; she didn’t even have a water bucket nor any blocks to reduce the damage.

“This is it, [F/N]! You’ve got nowhere to go!” Tubbo shouts “Just give us the location to Technoblade and we’ll be out of your hair.” they both shake their heads at the demand.

“And let you kill our longtime friend? Go to hell!” Philza shouts, [F/N] takes a step back when they took a step forward, she looks at her back then at the Butcher Army before glancing down at Philza.

“Hey, do you trust me, Phil?” she asks, he looks up at her.

“Do I trust you?” he says, he chuckles and lightly hits her chest “To the ends of the world and back.” she smiles softly at that.

“Then forgive me for not telling you sooner.”

“What?” the Butcher Army were confused when she turned her back to them, she takes a deep breath before taking a few steps back then jumping off the rooftop. The four behind her look at each other before rushing forward, they go to look over the ledge but stumble backwards when a bright orange blur shot up into the air. Looking up, their eyes widened at the sight of the blazing bright wings on her back that sizzled into steam whenever the droplets of rain landed on her, even the underside of her hair was burning a bright orange.

“Catch you later, losers.” she snickers before turning away, tucking her legs in before flying off with Philza secured tightly in her arms.

“No! No, no, no!” Quackity shouts out desperately as she flies off.

“Dammit! We lost the only two people close to Technoblade!” Fundy shouts, caressing his snout after being punched twice by [F/N], Ranboo nodded his head as he hunched down to fit in the umbrella Tubbo had just pulled out and used to shield Ranboo from the rain. Sure, he was wearing armor, but it still hurt to be in the rain.

“Did any of you guys know that she could fly?” they all shook their heads.

“Not a clue.” Quackity growls, his fist turning white with how hard he was gripping his axe.

“To think she was actually a phoenix hybrid.”

[with [F/N]]

“You can fly?!” Philza shouts, watching as she weaves through the tree, flapping every so often to give herself some more leverage. She lets out a grunt when she felt Philza move around in her grip, trying to get a closer look at the blazing bright wings on her back “Why didn’t you tell us that you could fly, [F/N]?! We’ve known each other for years, and you didn’t bother to mention the fact that you had wings and that you were a rare type of hybrid!” she grits her teeth, wincing when the cold of the icy winds of the tundra biome blew in her face.

“I have personal reasons as to why I never mentioned it, and I wanted to keep it that way for as long as I could.” she reasoned.

“But Techno and I have been your friends for so long, don’t you think we’re an exception?!” she sighs at that, lighting up slightly at the sight of Technoblade’s house in the middle of, quite literally, nowhere.

“I understand that you’re upset, Phil, but I’ve been living in fear over the fact that I’m this type of hybrid for so long that I didn’t have the courage to speak up about it, let alone show it.” she could see Technoblade’s figure frantically rushing around in his home as he was gathering up materials and such “I’ll tell you properly when we meet up with Techno, I promise you.” he narrows his eyes on her before nodding.

“Well, alright, as long as you explain.”

“I have no choice, do I?”

“Not at all.” they chuckle at that, making light of the situation at hand. When she was close enough to Technoblade’s home, she pulled back slightly so that her feet were directed at the ground before slowly lowering herself to the ground, as she set Philza to the ground, the door to the house was kicked open and Technoblade revealed himself fully armored and equipped with his axe and several potions.

“I’m ready!” he shouts but stops himself when he saw that it was only Philza and [F/-- he did a double take at the sight of the bright orange wings that were attached to her back that settled and folded itself as they both approached Technoblade “I’m glad that you two are safe, but what the hell are those wings?! Since when could you fly, [F/N]?!” she purses her lips, she raises her hand before hugging herself when the cold wind blew past them and through her feathers, causing her to shiver.

“Can we talk inside? I’m quite sensitive to the cold, and I was just in the rain so that doesn’t make my situation any better.” they nod their heads; [F/N] was currently standing in front of the fireplace as she used her wings to warm herself up.

“Now then,” turning her head, she frowned softly when the two had their arms crossed with stern looks on their face “care to tell us as to why you never mentioned you were a hybrid and that you told us that you were just a human?” she frowned again, she hugs herself before turning and giving her full attention to the two.

“As you can clearly tell, I’m a phoenix hybrid. Unlike most humans and hybrids, we are born with a single canon life, but it’s infinite.” she lifts her hands and a ball of fire appeared in the palm of her head, she stared at it before closing her hand and letting her entire hand blaze into fire “Our species is rare as is, but back in the day, there were so many of us we had our own little country all to ourselves. We were mostly known for the fact that our flame/feathers could heal any wounds imaginable, whether it was minor or extremely severe, it didn’t matter; our flames could heal it to the point it wasn’t even injured in the beginning.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you hid the fact that you could fly.”

“I’m getting there.” she stares at the flame a little longer before waving her hand and putting the flame out, she then brought her hands up and hugged herself once more, now beginning to tremble profusely, not due to the cold, but rather out of fear “We were hunted down like animals, used for farming our feathers in order to sell on the black market. When we resisted, they slaughtered us without hesitation.” soon tears of lava were running down her cheeks “But we are phoenixes! Our gift is that we can be reborn when we die, rising from the ashes into a newer body! But those hunter bastards found a way to keep us from coming back!” she falls to her knees, her hands gripping onto her head “I was afraid! I didn’t want to die! I didn’t want to be hunted down like some fucking sport, out on display like a goddamn trophy! So I hid, I hid the fact that I was a phoenix no matter how much it pained me that I could no longer fly into the sky anymore!” she then raised her head to the look up at the two “But I couldn’t let them get to you, Techno, or you, Phil. You two are the people I trust the most, so I swallowed up my fear and revealed what I am to the world.” she then lowered her head once more “But I still can’t help but be so afraid... I don’t want to die, there’s still so much that I want to do.” she whimpered out.

“ [F/N]...”

“Now do you understand why I never spoke about it? Why I never brought it up?” she sniffled to herself and stood in silence before letting out a quiet gasp when Technoblade approached her and wrapped his broad arms around her, she looked up at him and noticed her was trembling himself, but rather, out of anger.

“You don’t have to fear anything anymore, because we won’t let those bastards hunt you down.” Philza nodded his head, approaching them both and placing his hand on her shoulder, she looks over at him and sees him giving her a reassuring look.

“He’s right, as long as we’re here, nothing will get to you.” he then leans closer and wraps his wings around them both “You no longer have to fear death now that you have us.” she sniffles again before breaking out into a sob, wrapping her arms around Technoblade’s shoulder as she buried her face into the crook of his neck.

“I’m sorry... I’m sorry I never told you guys.” she whimpers out as she tightens her grip on him.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. We understand.” she then gasps as she pushes herself away when she realized that her tears were actually burning Technoblade.

“O-Oh no! I’m so sorry, I-I can’t control my tears!” she exclaims, he shrugs.

“I’m telling you, it’s fine.” she sighs softly.

“But...”

“Like I said, it’s fine. Besides, I can use a Potion of Regeneration to heal this.” she perks up slightly at that before turning to look at Philza, who raised a brow at the expression on her face.

“What?”  

“I mentioned this before, we phoenixes were well known mostly for our flames/feathers that were capable of healing injuries to the point they weren’t even there in the first place.” she approaches him and gently grabs his injured wing and lifts it up “How about I heal your wing for you?” his eyes widened at the suggestion “I’ve been wanting to heal it for so long, but I never had the courage of mentioning it.” she giggles softly at the eagerness in his eyes.

“Y-Yes... yes please.” she nods.

“Alright, but it’s gonna hurt.” she opens her wings and gestures to them “It’s still fire, but it’s more effective than using it as an ingredient for a potion.” he groans slightly at the news.

“Please be gentle.” she grins.

“No promises.” he grumbles, right now, they cleared everything out of the room so that it wasn’t in the way and Philza was currently shirtless with his back to [F/N] and Technoblade kneeling in front of him with his arms wide open, just in case Philza needed to hold anything “I’m not going to lie to you Phil, I haven’t done this in a long time and I’m no healer, but I do remember how to do it and that it’s going to hurt like a bitch.” he groans again.

“Can I back out now?” she giggles, plucking one of her feathers out.

“Nope.” Technoblade chuckles.

“Don’t worry, Phil, I’ve got you.” he groans as he reaches forward and wraps his arms under Technoblade’s arms and shakily gripping his shoulders, Technoblade wrapping his arms around his waist and reassuringly patting his lower back “You’ve got this, just take deep breaths.” he did so, trembling slightly as his breathing was shaky.

“Alright,” Philza winced at that, flinching and screwing his eyes shut as he hears her clap her hands with her feather in between them before her hands to her elbows were engulfed in a bright orange flame “I’ll count to three.” his shakily nods his head again, opening his wings slightly.

“O-Okay.” she exhales deeply through her nose.

“One... two...” she waits, Philza licks his lips and takes a deep breath himself.

“T-Three...” the only thing Philza could feel after that was an excruciating pain of his wings on fire, he immediately lets out a blood curdling scream, crying out in pain as he dug his nails into Technoblade’s shoulders, [F/N]’s eyes widened when she noticed that he was moving too much.

“Christ, Techno!” he flinches, looking up at [F/N] and noticed that she had a bead of sweat bleeding down her cheek as she tried to steady herself “I need you to keep Phil still! I’m losing my concentration with how much he’s moving around!”

“But he’s in pain!”

“If I don’t use the flames to heal what’s been broken, I’ll end up burning him instead!” Technoblade gasped at and looked down at Philza, he sucked in a breath before tightening his grip around Philza and resting his chin on top of his head.

“I know, I know it hurts, Phil, but you got to keep it together! The more you move, she’ll do more damage!” Philza whimpers.

“It hurts...” he lets out another cry when he felt the bones in his wings snap into place and start growing into the proper length as flesh grows over it and slowly feathers start sprouting out.

“I know it hurts, Phil, but I’m almost done! I promise you! And you’ll feel all better once I’m done!” she shouts as her hands got closer and started putting his wings into shape, using her flames to bring back what was burnt away and destroyed after shielding Wilbur and himself from the explosion “With this... we... are... done!” she shouts, throwing her hands to the side and watches as the remaining flames on her forearms linger on his wings and heal the little patches that she missed. Philza was gasping for air before throwing his wings open, flapping them a little as [F/N] opens her hands then closes them into a fist to extinguish the flames.

“Well done, Phil, well done.” he was panting heavily, finally loosening his hold on Technoblade and collapsing in his arms completely, his wings dropping limp behind him in the process.

“Weee...” he moaned out, [F/N] laughed gently before going over to him, kneeling and patting his head.

“And with that, I’m done.” his wings twitched a little as she looks down at what used to be broken, she smirks to herself “I fucking love myself.” she gently caressed his wing with her knuckles “It looks like it was never broken to begin with.”

“Tha... Thank you...” she hummed, now reaching over and gently brushing his blonde locks out of his face.

“For you, the world.” and with that he slowly lost consciousness, Technoblade rises to his feet with Philza in his arms, he looks down at [F/N] and goes to say something but was caught off guard when [F/N] collapsed backwards with a hand to her head. Only then did he realize just how pale she looked and how she was trembling slightly, beads of sweat visible on her face and exposed arms, even the flames of her wings and the underside of her hair have dulled a bit.

“[F/N]! Are you alright?”  she weakly waved her hand to dismiss his concern.

“Don’t worry about it, Techno. Healing a wound as severe as his was takes a lot out of me, especially if I haven’t done it in a long time. Just throw me in some fire and I’ll be just fine.”  

“But...” she smiles up at him.

“Just take care of Phil for now, he needs you more than I do.” he swallows thickly before nodding his head, he quickly rushes to his room and sets Philza in his bed, making sure he was as comfortable as possible before rushing back down where he left [F/N], only to panic when he couldn’t see her anywhere. At the sound of the crackling of the fire, he turned his head and jumped slightly at the sight of [F/N] curled up into a ball while relaxing in the middle of his fireplace.

“Jesus!” he shouts in surprise; she twitched slightly and opened her eyes and smiled tiredly at the sight of Technoblade, he settles down and takes a seat in front of the fireplace, Steve making an appearance and huddled behind the piglin hybrid so he could enjoy the warmth of [F/N], who was much hotter than the fireplace “How did you manage to fit yourself in there?” she giggles softly.

“I managed...” he chuckles as that and leans back into Steve, letting himself get comfortable as [F/N] turns herself to look up at Technoblade.

“Um...” she hummed, indicating for him to continue and that she was listening “thank you for, healing Phil.” she raised a brow at that.

“I mean, of course. Like I said before, since I knew that I was able to heal him, I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time, but I never had the courage to bring it up. I also didn’t want to make a potion because it wouldn’t have been as effective as doing it by hand.” she then rolled her wrist “But I’m also not a healer, like I said, but I couldn’t stand not giving it a try.” Technoblade raises a brow.

“Not a healer? Then what were you?” she chuckles softly, feeling a little embarrassed bringing up the past.

“Well, uh... I was a Warrior training to protect my odyssey.” his eyes widened in shock “I was one of the best as well, but after those hunters found a way to kill us permanently, our only choice was to flee instead of fight back. We couldn’t afford all of us being hunted down, we couldn’t go extinct, so we went into hiding.” she then sighs “As far as I know, I’m the last there is... but I hope not and that the others are hiding as well.” he nods his head.

“... can you tell me more about your culture?” she stares at him before a bright smile spread across her face, finally, she’s been wanting to discuss about her culture with someone for so long and it makes her happy that Technoblade wants to learn. The two hybrids didn’t even notice how long they’ve been talking for, Technoblade asking various questions while [F/N] happily answered each one of them with detailed answers. He goes to ask some more questions but stops when he notices her wanting to get up, so he quickly backs up, Steve doing the same thing and they both watch as she stretches and flexes her wings back while stretching her arms above her head.

“Ah... that was something I really needed.” she then giggles softly “Sometimes when no one was around, I would go into the Nether and bathe in the lava or relax in the fire. The Nether is where I truly feel like I can be myself.” he lifts his head, nodding slightly while letting out an oh.

“So that’s where you go most of the time I can’t find you.” she rubs the back of her head, a sheepish grin on her face.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” she then let out a hum when she noticed something through his trapdoor window, peering outside she raised a brow at the sight “Hmm? Is that Ghostbur?” Technoblade perks up at the mention of the ghost and he looks out as well, squinting his eyes at the man.

“He’s just standing there...” he muttered “I don’t know what Ghostbur’s doing out there.” she nods before pushing the trapdoor open and cupping her mouth.

“Ghostbur! What are you doing out there?” she shouts, she notices him smile as he approaches the house.

“Hello?” he calls.

“Hello.” Technoblade greets back as [F/N] waves her hand.

“Tech-- hi, Techno and [F/N]! How’s it going?” they both back away, closing the trapdoor, and go over to the front door and open it for the ghost. Technoblade going outside while [F/N] stayed inside the house but leaned against the doorframe “Hi, I’m-- I’m, I’m here. I was-- I was coming through the area and... oh! [F/N], are those wings?” she hums at that, flapping them a little show him.

“Yeah, they are.” he claps his hands.

“Oh, how wonderful! Now you’re like Phil!” she hums again, nodding her head.

“That’s right.” they both couldn’t help but laugh gently at how happy Ghostbur looked, he then grabbed a hold of her hand and pointed with his other at a sheep with its wool dyed blue.

“Look, look! It’s a sign.” she chuckles “Blue!”

“Right, blue.” he starts to chatter before stopping a lighting up a bit.

“You know, when I was in the area, I saw a couple of people around.” this caused the two to freeze up.

“Hmm?” both she and Technoblade look at each other “Ghostbur, can you tell us who exactly you saw?” he hums at that, looking up in thought to remember just who exactly he saw.

“If I remember correctly... it was that Tubbo, Big Q, Fundy and the new guy Ranboo.” the two hybrids freeze up at that before going into a state of panic.

“Oh, shit!” she curses “They must’ve followed me without me even realizing it! I’m so sorry, Techno!” he shakes his head as he rushes inside, [F/N] following closely behind.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m fully prepared.” he then turns and places a hand on her shoulder “And now I have you by my side.” she stared up at him before they both nod, he prepares himself once more, armoring up and making a few more potions, [F/N] doing the same as they both rush around his house. Ghostbur places a finger on his lip as he watches the two scurry to prepare themselves for the battle that’s about to come, [F/N] was in the middle of putting on a Netherite Chest Plate, now being mindful of her wings, when Ghostbur approached her.

“Are you alright, [F/N]?” she raises a hand.

“Ghostbur, now it a terrible time.” he tilts his head when he notices the distress in her voice as she rushes past him and grabs a couple more potions.

“Please, please. Have some blue, come here.” she pauses at that as he approached her and offered her some blue dye, she stared at it for a good few seconds before sighing softly, she sheathes the sword at her hip and takes the blue.

“Thank you for the blue, Ghostbur.” he nods, a blue blush rushing to his cheeks as a bright smile appeared.

“Blue will make you happy! It’ll make you feel better!” he takes her hand in his “Are you feeling better, [F/N]?” she nods.

“Yes, thank you, Ghostbur.” his smile never faded away, Technoblade then appeared behind her and grabbed her shoulder tightly.

“Are you almost ready, [F/N]?” she nods, putting her Netherite Helmet on “Okay, Ghostbur, I need you to take that sheep and get as far away as possible.” she nods once more before peeking her head over Technoblade’s shoulder.

“Hide over a hill or something!” she suggests after throwing Ghostbur a lead.

“O-Okay!” they watch as he goes outside and towards the sheep, attaching the lead to the sheep and leading it away “Come here blue boy. Okay, bye, bye Techno and [F/N]! H-Have fun preparing for the-- for the event.”

“Alright.” Technoblade goes back into the house as [F/N] waves Ghostbur goodbye, she takes a breath before staring down at the blue in her hand, she sighs and pockets it before going over to where Technoblade was and saw him staring out the trapdoor windows. She started doing the same before a sudden realization washed over her and she gasped as she grabbed him by the forearm, looking up at Technoblade, who looked down at her in surprise at the sudden gasp.

“Techno, what are we going to do about Phil?” she asks, his eyes widened at that, and he looks up at where his room was “He’s practically a sitting duck, even if he does wake up, he’ll be ridiculously weak and fatigued. That took a lot out of him.”  

“... he’ll be fine. As long as we keep them out of the house, they won’t be able to find him.”

“But they know I brought him with me.”

“But what they don’t know is that he’s out cold. All they know is that he’s here, but he could purposely be out of sight so that we can get the upper hand on them.” [F/N] knew that he was just as nervous as she was, neither of them wanted to leave Philza on his own and that he was only saying that to reassure himself, so she nodded her head and placed her hands on his forearm.

“Alright... as long as we keep them out of the house.” he nods.

“Then no harm comes to Phil.” they both nod, they both then turn their heads at the sound of chatter, their eyes widened at the sight of Ghostbur talking to the Butcher Army “Oh god, that plan to have Ghostbur hide over the hills did not work!” she shakes her head.

“Not at all!” she slaps her hands over her face “Urgh, Ghostbur!” she groans out, [F/N] was over Technoblade’s shoulder as they look through the trapdoor and watch Ghostbur’s interaction with the Butcher Army, they both gasp when Ghostbur looks at them.

“No, no! Don’t make eye contact with me—no, don’t wave at me Ghostbur! No, no! Do not wave at me!” [F/N] slaps her hands over her face again as she shook her head.

“Oh no, they’re punching him. No, oh no... Ghostbur you’re on your own.”

“We can’t save you, Ghostbur.” Ghostbur then starts walking over to them “Oh this is not good—no, no! Don’t walk over to us! Don’t lead them over to us! Oh—I’m starting to hate this guy so bad. I hate this guy so bad.” [F/N] just groans as she presses her hand to her forehead once again when Ghostbur starts waving his hand, Tubbo, Fundy and Ranboo behind him while Quackity was beside him with an axe in hand.

“Hey, hey Technoblade! [F/N]! The—They say they’re going to kill you, Technoblade.” he presses a finger to his cheek as he looks back at them “I’m not so sure about [F/N], but--” Technoblade shook his head as he opened the door and looked at Ghostbur.

“Ghostbur-- Ghostbur, why are you—why are you leading them over to my house? Why are you doing this?” Ghostbur looks back at the Butcher Army then back at them.

“What do you want me to say back to them?” [F/N] was over Technoblade’s shoulder again as she points at them.

“Tell them that we’re not here and to fuck off!” Technoblade nods his head.

“Yeah, tell them that they’re at the wrong place.” Ghostbur tilts his head to the side.

“But that would be lying.”

“I-I—I need you to—they're going to kill me! Why are you not okay with lying?!” they both look over and sigh “And they’re all here, they’re all here. They’re all right outside my house.”

“Oh my god...” [F/N] grabs Ghostbur by his arm and pushes him behind her before grabbing him by the arms and pulling him close “Ghostbur, hiding from them is not an option anymore.” she swallows thickly as she looks up at the house then back at him “Ghostbur, I need you to do me huge favor, okay? It’s really important, so you can’t mess this up, okay?” he nods his head, watching as she kept looking back at Technoblade and the Butcher Army then back at him.

“Oh! Of course, of course! I can do anything!” she nods her head.

“I need you to look after Phil.” she whispers softly just so the conversation was between them “Phil is in the house and he’s very weak, Techno and I can’t look after him right this very moment because of the Butcher Army. I need you to go into the house and keep Phil safe no matter what, if someone comes knocking on the door that’s neither Techno or I, don’t open the door. Phil’s life is your top priority.” Ghostbur nods his head.

“Yes, yes! I can do that! I can most definitely do that, [F/N]!” she nods with a nervous smile before pushing himself slightly towards the door.

“Good, then please, keep an eye on Phil.” he nods before trotting into the house, closing the door behind him for extra measure. She takes a breath before looking back over at Technoblade and saw that he was trying to calm down the four that were ready to take his life, telling them that he’s changed, but they just weren’t listening. She exhales sharply before spreading her wings and flying up, Technoblade heard this, so he stretched his arm out and watched as [F/N] perched herself on his arm, kneeling and glaring at the Butcher Army while resting her hand on his head.

“[F/N]! Are you going to fight by his side?!” Tubbo shouts, her gaze hardened on the young boy.

“Technoblade is my greatest friend, there’s nothing you can do or say that will sway my mind.” Quackity sneers at her before raising his axe and pointing it at her.

“So, you are going to betray L’manburg? You are going to betray us? You aren’t going to defend the country that you helped build with Wilbur?!” she closes her eyes at the thought before shaking her head, that was nothing more than a distant memory now, she narrows her eyes on him.

“L’manburg died alongside Wilbur. The L’manburg Tubbo is governing is nothing more than a graveyard that should’ve been left untouched.” she spreads her wings open as she takes out her enchanted Netherite Sword “If you want Technoblade, you’re gonna have to go through me.” he grins.

“You’re gonna have to go through us!” she hops off his shoulders and hovers behind him as she readies her Netherite Sword, Technoblade smirks as he grabs two potions and lifts them over his head “I choose blood!” he shouts before throwing the two potions, a Potion of Strength and Swiftness, to the ground and it splashes on the both of them, this caused the Butchery Army to take a step back.

“No!”

“Oh no!” she and Technoblade look at each other and they nod, she hovers backwards before flying up high then diving down towards Fundy, blade pulled back and arm stretched out. Fundy notices her aiming towards him so he let out a startled yip and started running away but she didn’t let up as she pulled her arm back and swung it at him, he had enough time to turn around and parry her attack but she put enough strength into the swing that she sent him flying backwards and into a tree.

“Hoo wah!!” she shouts before encasing her sword in fire then bringing it up and above her head, she then swings it down and a wave of fire was sent flying towards Fundy. His eyes widened at the attack and immediately he scrambles to his feet and flees to dodge the intense attack, he felt his body start to tremble at the sight of the trees ingulfed in flames before turning his attention back towards [F/N] and saw she had a tight grip on her sword as she glared at him ”Next time, I won’t miss.” she then kneels down, pressing a hand to the snow covered ground and digging her feet into the ground before shooting towards him. Technoblade let out a whistle at the sight of [F/N] practically chasing after Fundy and swinging her sword at him, waves of fire following with every swing.

“Damn... [F/N]! We’ve totally got to spar in the future to determine who’s the stronger one between us two hybrids.” she laughs at that, grabbing Fundy by the back of his neck and slamming his head into Tubbo’s, who was brave enough to some charging over to help his fellow hybrid friend out, only to be a burden and have Fundy thrown into him.

“I believe it’ll end like how all our other spars have ended, Techno! With a draw!” she answers back, watching as he easily dodged Ranboo and Quackity’s attacks, flat side of his sword to block Quackity’s axe, throwing it to the side before punching him in the face then going for Ranboo. He shook on the spot when the eyes of a predator were trained on him and he tried to attack, only for Technoblade to grab the shaft of the axe and take it off him, using it himself to hit the younger boy with the blunt side of the axe and send him into the ground “Ah, we should fight battles together more often!” she cheers, grabbing the two she was fighting and throwing them towards Technoblade. He lets out a laugh at the suggestion as he ducked, letting the two get thrown into Ranboo and Quackity, who managed to pick themselves up, only to fall to the ground once more when Fundy and Tubbo were thrown at them.

“We really should, it’s like light exercise.” she hums with a nod.

“It really is.” she then looks at her back, flapping her wings “I need it the most, it’s been so long since I’ve fought with my wings out; I’m a bit rusty.”  

“Ah, that makes sense.” she nods once more, charging forward as he ducks down once more. She jumps over him, her hand on his back as she kicked Quackity across the face when he managed to get up and tried to strike Technoblade, only for [F/N] to intercept. She lets out a laugh as she does a roll before standing to her feet, jumping up and down a couple times before approaching Technoblade once more, he raises his hand and she doesn’t hesitate to slap her hand against his.

“It’s fun fighting by your side, Techno.” his gaze softens at that.

“It’s good to have someone fighting BY my side.” her eyes widened softly at that before she frowns, she then lightly smacks him on the shoulder.

“Remember this, Techno. Phil and I will always be by your side, no matter the consequences. Till the end of days, we will always stand by your side.” he smiles softly at that; however, the moment was rudely ruined when a blade pierced through her chest. Technoblade’s eyes slowly widened at the sight as blood slowly dribbling out of her mouth, she looked down at the blade through her chest as blood started seeping out of her body and bleeding into her shirt “Wow... would you look at that. That doesn’t look good.”  

“[F/N]!” he shouts, he looks behind her and saw that it was Tubbo that stabbed her. The sight of his friend being stabbed; the sight of her blood, it made him see red and the voices in his head were going absolutely crazy.

[F/N]

[F/N]

HE HURT OUR FRIEND

KILL THE CHILD

HE DOESN’T DESERVE MERCY

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD

BLOOD

BLOOD

“BLOOD!!” Technoblade shouts before pulling out his sword and charging towards him, Tubbo stumbled back as he pulled out his axe from his inventory, raising it up to block each and every one of Technoblade’s brutal swings, but he couldn’t stop himself from falling onto his back.

“Big Q do something!” he shouts, raising his axe one more time to block Technoblade’s sword from slicing his face “Big Q!” he growls and pulls his sword back one more time and goes to deliver the final blow but was blocked when a sword came into view and stopped him from striking Tubbo’s head, another growl rumbled in his throat as he whipped his head over to glare at the figure who dare stop him but froze at the sight.

“Stop! Stop, Technoblade!” it was [F/N], still with the sword lodged in her chest, as she used her sword to block his attack “You don’t need to go feral, Techno! I’m fine.” he looks her up and down, his eyes just trained on the sword still in her chest.

“How are you...?” she just grins, pulling away and reaching back. She let out a grunt as she struggled with the angle she was at before letting out a grunt, spitting out some more blood when she pulled the sword out of her chest. He lets out a sputter of words as he dropped the sword, raising his hands and reaching towards her in case something happens “[F-F/N]! What are you--” he cut himself off when her grin widens as she nonchalantly shrugs her shoulders as a flame burns over where she was stabbed as her blood sizzled away.

“I see you forgot what kind of hybrid I was, Technoblade.” she then pats her chest, raising her foot to slam it against Tubbo’s chest when he tried to get up “Wounds like these have no effect on me. See?” she grabs his wrist and gently places his hand on where she was just stabbed, he starts patting her chest before letting out a relieved sigh.

“A warning would’ve been appreciated, [F/N].” she shrugs.

“Well, I was going to tell you, but you went into a blood frenzy.” they both laugh.

“Technoblade! [F/N]!” they both turn their heads to the call and their eyes widened at the sight, Quackity was holding the lead to Technoblade’s most prized horse Carl with the blade of his sword at his neck, both Technoblade and herself lift their blades and point it in the direction of where Quackity was, though [F/N]’s foot was still pressed firmly on Tubbo’s chest to keep him pinned.

“You get away from that horse right now!” Technoblade shouts.

“This is how this is going to go, Technoblade. Because of how gracious I am, I only want you. I will let [F/N] go as long as you drop everything you have and come with us, if you don’t, I am going to kill this fucking horse.” [F/N] looked up at Technoblade and noticed his hesitance, her eyes then moved down to Tubbo and a smirk graces her lips.

“Or,” she starts, Tubbo gasps at the sight of a fire sparking in the palm of her hand before engulfing her entire arm, he flinches and his eyes widened when she points her hand directly at his face “you let Carl go and leave, or I kill Tubbo in cold blood.” Fundy and Ranboo take a step forward.

“You wouldn’t! He only has one canon life left!” Fundy shouts.

“Wasn’t he a brother to you?!” Ranboo adds, she glares over at them.

“Well, you’re threatening one of my greatest friends, so I can’t help but take drastic measures into my own hands.” she looked down at Tubbo and he flinched when he noticed that she wasn’t fucking around, he grips her ankle and gives her a desperate look.

“Y-You... you wouldn’t.” his face slowly drops when she sneers at him.

“For Technoblade? I would.” she then turns back to Quackity “Make your choice, Quackity! Give us the horse, or I kill Tubbo.” there was a tense silence between the six of them, the blazing and crackling of [F/N]’s fire was the only thing that could be heard as Quackity was lost in thought. Fundy and Ranboo were holding their breaths, not knowing whether they should approach [F/N] to get her to stop, but Technoblade was still standing beside her, and who knows what will happen if they try anything “Come on, Quackity, make your decision or else I’m melting his face off.” Technoblade looked down at [F/N] and noticed that she was indeed hesitating, telling by the bead of sweat bleeding down her cheek as she glared at the man threatening her friend.

‘I’m not actually going to burn his face off. I’m going to use a low temperature flame just to scare him enough to get them to back off, but Quackity is crazy enough to gamble with the lives of others just to benefit himself.’ her eyes narrowed on Quackity when she saw him lower his axe, his eyes looking side to side in thought ‘This will be enough to get you to reveal your true colors towards the other three following your lead and get them to question your ideals, Quackity. So, hurry up and make your choice.’

“Well, sorry Tubbo,” their eyes widened when they saw Quackity raise his axe over Carl’s neck “just know that your death was for the greater good of L’manburg.”

“Quackity!” they all shout, she grits her teeth before moving her arm away from Tubbo’s face and blasting a wave of fire at Quackity, this caused Technoblade to grab her arm and pull it down.

“Are you crazy?! You’ll hit Carl, too!” she shook her head as both Quackity and Carl were engulfed in flames.

“No, I was using a low temperature flame the whole time, so it should only warm them up.” she closes her hands into a fist when Quackity hadn’t let go of Carl’s lead, she was hoping it would startle him enough to get him to let go of the lead, but that hadn’t been the case as Quackity’s laughter rung throughout the entire area as he walked through the flames.

“I knew you didn’t have the balls to kill Tubbo, that’s why I gambled with his life.” she let out a grunt when Tubbo shoved her foot off his chest, stumbling into Technoblade’s arms, she watched as Tubbo scrambled to his feet and over to where Fundy and Ranboo were “And now you’ve lost your leverage against us. This is checkmate.” both she and Technoblade felt their shoulder gradually lower.

“Still think we can take them?” she asks, he shakes his head.

“Not without any harm coming to Carl.” she nods her head.

“Sorry for messing up, Techno.” he lets out a sigh as he shook his head once more.

“No, it’s not your fault, we just didn’t know how far Quackity would take things just to get his way.” she still lowers her head, she was getting ready to peel off her armor when Technoblade got in front of her “You only want me, right? Let [F/N] go and I’ll come willingly and unarmed.” this caused her eyes to widen, grabbing his arm and making him look down.

“No, Techno! You’ll die!”

“What are you saying, [F/N], Technoblade never dies.”

“Then what about Phil? What do I tell him that I let his greatest friend go and get executed?! I don’t have the heart to tell him that, Techno!” slowly, tears of lava starting to swell in her eyes once more before she let out a gasp when Technoblade pulled her into his arms and hugged her. She shook her head as she wrapped her arms around him, but she let out a grunt when Technoblade tightened his grip on her to the point that he rendered her unconscious and limp in his arms.

“It’s a shame you won’t be able to get a say in the matter, [F/N], so please don’t blame yourself for my choice.” he picks her up bridal style and looks towards Quackity “You want me, right? So just leave [F/N] alone, and I’ll come without a fight.” Quackity’s finger tapped the throat of his axe, looking up in thought before shrugging his shoulders.

“Oh, what the heck, fine. Ranboo, take [F/N] from him and put her inside.” Ranboo seemed to hesitate, he looked at Technoblade and flinched when he saw him growl at him, but he reluctantly approached the duo. He watched as Technoblade’s facial expressions morphed into one that was ready to bite his fingers off to one that looked so gentle and soft, when [F/N] was in his arms, he couldn’t help but let out a grunt with how heavy she was... maybe it was the amount of armor she was wearing or how heavy her wings are “Hurry it up, Ranboo, we don’t have all day!” Quackity shouts, he nods his head and quickly rushes inside to place [F/N] down in front of the fire, he made sure she was comfortable before rushing out and came back to see Technoblade stripped out of her armor while Fundy and Tubbo tying Technoblade up with ropes “You’re back, great.”

“She hadn’t made a fuss.” Quackity nods his head.

“Good, good.” he then waves his hand as he approached them “We got what we came for, so let's get outta here. We’ve got a long walk ahead of us.”

[with [F/N]]

“Techno!!” [F/N] woke up with a gasp, shooting us from where she was laying down and shouted out Technoblade’s name, she looked around in confusion and noticed that she was inside his house, and yet he was nowhere to be seen and the only source of light was her. She immediately stood to her feet and rushed out the door, her heart dropped at the sight of the aftermath of their battle and they were nowhere to be seen. She spreads her wings and flies up into the sky and looks around, trying to look for any sign of where Technoblade and the Butcher Army and how far they went while she was out for god knows how long “Come on… come on, come on, come on! Where are you? You couldn’t have gotten far…”

“[F/N]!” she looked down and noticed that it was Ghostbur that called her name, he had his bright smile on his face while that blue sheep was by his side, she purses her lips when she noticed that he was waving for her to come down so she let out a sigh before flying down, he smiles at her when she landed on the ground, bouncing on her feet as she looked at him “I kept Phil safe, like you asked! He’s still sleeping as we speak, but I believe he should be waking up any time soon.” he let out an oh when he realized that [F/N] was shaking on the spot, it couldn’t be due to the cold, her body was pumping on adrenaline and her body was made of fire. He takes a step forward and cups her cheeks when he noticed that tears were threatening to spill from her eyes as she shook in anger and despair, he caresses her cheeks with his thumbs, pursing his lips and humming softly when blue dyed smeared onto her cheeks.

“I lost him, Ghostbur. They’re going to kill him, and it’s all my fault...” she lets out a gasp “What am I going to tell Phil? Oh god, what am I going to tell him?” he continues to caress her cheeks as he watches her get ready to start crying, she lets out an oof when he squishes her face and pulls her forward, making her stumble forward because of the sudden jerk of movements.

“Phil will be upset, surely he will, but he will also be happy to know that you fought by Techno’s side to the very end in order to protect him.” he shakes his head lightly “It’s not entirely the end of the world, [F/N]. There should still be time to go get him.” she nods her head.

“Y-You’re right...” she sniffles, pulling away and wiping away her tears before they could burn the ghost, chuckling softly when she looked down at her arm and sleeve and saw the blue dye from his hands on her cheeks and now her sleeve “I can totally beat them there and get the surprise on them.”

“You better count me in, then.” they both raise their heads, Ghostbur smiles and claps his hands while [F/N] gasped as she approached him.

“Phil, what are you doing out of bed?” she calls out as she starts nearing him, he raises his hand to stop her before giving her a stern look.

“It doesn’t matter, what matters right now is Technoblade.”

“I know that, but what could you possibly do? You should still be worn out after the healing, Phil.” he chuckles softly, she watches as he pulls out a potion before sculling it, she takes a step forward and noticed the immediate change the potion had on him as he stood up straight. She then stumbled backwards when his wings spread and stood out to their full length, she couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of his gorgeous wings returned to their former glory before they were burnt and damaged.

“A little potion should be more than enough to help me back to my feet.” he said as he stretched his arms and back, flapping his wings a couple times before turning towards [F/N] “Shall we get going?” she stares at him before smirking, tossing him a couple things before spreading her own wings.

“Lets.”

[at l’manburg, with technoblade] 

Walking up the steps to the cage that was to hold him in his cell for his execution was slowly dawning on him, each step he took felt heavy, almost as if he was trudging through ocean waters. It was unsettling that this was where he was going to die, what was upsetting was that neither Philza or [F/N], hell, even Tommy, wasn’t there to see him take his last breath. He was going to die alone with no one but his enemies to watch him, Fundy was the one to lock him in the cage and he turned around to face them as Tubbo took his spot on the podium to make his speech.

“Technoblade has robbed this country of what made it special; everything that defined what it was. He stepped in when he shouldn’t have. He caused chaos, he ruined the government! He— Punz is throwing fucking—“ Technoblade wasn’t bothered listening to the blubbering bullshit Tubbo was goin on about because it just meant nothing to him, but at the mention if Punz, he raised his head and saw the mercenary throwing an Ender Pearl down from where he was and made his appearance in the middle of it all. The Butcher Army was confused as to why he suddenly showed up but were taken aback when he threw down multiple potions to boost his own stats while causing a smoke screen, what really threw them in a loop was when he placed down TNT.

“Punz! What are you doing?!”

“Punz, stop!”

“Fucking get his ass!”

“I’ll— I’ll just sit here.” Technoblade muttered to himself, watching the chaos unfold as they all chased after Punz to stop him from doing what he was doing, Technoblade sighed to himself as he leaned against the steel bars of the cage “This is nice.”

“Technoblade.” he flinched slightly at the sound of a echoing voice, turning his head, he hummed softly at the sight of Ghostbur and that goddamn blue sheep right behind him, obediently following after him while nibbling on the hem of his yellow sweater “Technoblade!” he cheered once more, to which the latter pursed his lips as he slowly nodded his head.

“Hello Ghostbur.” he greets, rather calmly despite the fact he was about to die.

“I’ve named him— I’ve named him Friend.” he nods.

“That’s fantastic Ghostbur, that’s fantastic. I’m about to die Ghostbur.”

“Okay, fuck it. Fuck it!” Technoblade turned his attention away from Ghostbur when he heard Quackity shouting while rushing back over to where the lever was while the others dealt with Punz.

“Big Q, pull the lever!”

“Heh?!”

“Pull the lever!” Technoblade takes a step back, looking up at the wooden blank that kept him and the anvil intending to kill him away. The thumping in his heart was beating so fast that it was all he could hear, slowly, everything started going slow motion in his point of view. He opened up his inventory and pulled out the one item that he kept hidden from the Butcher Army that would surely save his life, but he also knew that it was going to hurt like a motherfucker. So, holding onto it with a grip that made his knuckles turn white, he closed his eyes shut and waited for the impact of the anvil to kill him. However, it never came and the only thing that followed was the sound of shouting and a loud crash, slowly opening his eyes, he raised his head and a shallow breath escaped his mouth as he looked up at the individual.

“What took you so long, [F/N]?” she only snickered, sitting on the edge of the cage with her legs crossed and an amused look on her face. What had happened was that she was waiting on the sidelines for the anvil to fall before flying over and kicking it away so that it wouldn’t land on Technoblade and kill him, tapped her cheek and gave him a bit of a cheeky grin “I was almost expecting you not to show up.” she laughed, throwing her head back.

“That’s mighty cruel of you, Techno. I believe if I were to let you die, Phil would kill me being dragging your ass out of the depths of hell.” he laughs at that.

“Yeah, I do expect him to do that.” the two share a laugh despite the dire situation they were both in, Tubbo now stood next to Quackity and looked over at the older man, flinching slightly at the angered and irritated expression on his face followed by a hint of nervousness.

“Why do you keep on interfering, [F/N]?! Don’t you know that we’re doing this for the greater good?!” she clicked her tongue at the reasoning, turning her head to sneer at him.

“The greater good? Is acting like Schlatt going to bring L’Manburg back to its former glory? What a fucking joke.” she only snickered when she noticed both he and Tubbo flinched at what she said, both probably having differents reasons as to why they reacted the way they did, telling by the faces they were making.

’Dammit, why the HELL is she always getting in the way?! The two of them alone are a force to be reckoned with, but now they’re together again.’ Quackity thought, closing his hand into a tight fist before glowering when [F/N] turned her gaze upon the four of them, not a hint of fear in her eyes ‘We should’ve killed her when we had the chance.’

”We still have the upper hand, Quackity!” Fundy shouts, rushing over to him and standing behind him “We still have Techno’s horse!” his composure slowly returned at the mention of that.

“Y-You’re right! You might be here, but all we need is that fucking horse is to keep you in line!” he shouts but the color in his skin began to drain out of his body when he noticed that she never dropped her confident expression, only now, she was even more amused.

“Oh, really? Then where is Carl?” she questions, they look over and noticed that the horse was gone, she soon killed before pressing a finger at her temple while giving them a psychotic expression “Are you stupid?! Are you that mentally subservient that you cannot think properly?! Hah! Did you really think I would interfere without being absolutely sure that the win was in my hands?” she then leans to her right while pointing to her right with her thumb “Dream was a dear and gave me a hand.” she cooed, they all look over and saw Dream holding the end of the lead to Carl as he led him away.

“Dammit! After him!” he shouts, they go to chase after him but came to an abrupt stop when [F/N] blasted a wave of fire in their tracks, they slowly look over and saw her sneering down at them.

“With that, we’ll finally be able to fight you without holding anything back.” at the mention of that, Technoblade perked his head up and looked up at her.

“[F/N], where’s Phil? Don’t tell me you left him alone at the house? I know that because Ghostbur is here with Friend.” she raised a brow at the mention of Friend? She glanced over and saw that he meant the blue sheep that was beginning to follow the forgetful ghost around, ah, so that’s what he called it.

“Haha! Don’t worry about it, Techno. He’s absolutely fine.”

“Yeah mate, I feel great.” he turned his attention away from [F/N] and a look of disbelief makes its way to his face at the sight of Philza slowly gliding down to the execution stage, he lands on the ground before reaching his hands through the bars and taking Technoblade’s hands “I’ve never felt better.” he lets out a weak chuckle, his head hanging before him as he shook it side to side.

“You’ve no idea how grateful I am to see you flying.” he grins.

“And we both know who we have to thank.” they both look over at her and saw her grinning before saluting them.

“And you know I’d do it again, yeah?” she gives them a soft smile “You guys are worth it all.” she then raises her hand, waving it over the bars of the cage and they melted. Technoblade takes a step out of the cage before offering his bound hands to her, she grabs the chains and they too melted because of the high temperatures that the palms of her hands were producing.

“Thanks for the save.” they pat his back.

“Any time, old friend.” both her and Philza place down Ender Chests filled with various potions, weapons and armor that would help them take down the Butcher Army in this second round. The winged duo step to the side, Philza to Technoblade’s left with [F/N] to his right, and they flare out their wings as Technoblade lowered his head to place his crown on his head before standing tall and he three of them glare down at the Butcher Army that were doing their best to keep their composure.

“Ah haha, did you really think, Quackity, that you could kill me?” Philza and [F/N] hovering off the ground before flying forward and taking down the other three, leaving Quackity for Technoblade, and they were having little to no trouble handling them. Hell, even Punz was a dear and was making it a three v three, their teamwork was absolutely flawless that the young trio were having a tough time landing a single hit on the other three that were giving them so much trouble. Quackity felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek when he noticed that the tables had turned and now he was on the losing side, he growls and looks towards Technoblade before letting out a grunt when he jumped off the stage and kicked him back.

“You... you’ve done so much fucking damage!” he shouts, swinging his axe in an attempt to do some damage to the Blood God, only for it all to be in vain as Technoblade had no trouble dodging all his febble attempts. He glanced down at his sword before swapping it out for a diamond pickaxe, he waits for Quackity to swing it down on him, when the time came he raised his pickaxe to catch the underside of the axe then he jumped over the smaller man and threw the axe away before turning back around to face him with the pickaxe held tightly in his grip.

“I have a pickaxe Quackity, and I’ll put it through your teeth!” he shouts, keep to his word, he threw his arm up and the pointed side of the pickaxe came into contact with his face. [F/N] couldn’t help but wince at the sight of the pickaxe piercing through the entire left side of his face, from his bottom left side of his lip to the upper side of his eyebrow, she didn’t even need to wait to know that he wouldn’t be able to see through his left eye again.

[Quackity was slain by Technoblade]

“W-Wha-- Big Q was--” Fundy let out a grunt when he was kicked to the ground once more, he raised his head and his ears pressed against his head at the sight of the four glaring down at them with an indifferent expression on their faces. Punz didn’t stand by them but he was close as the winged duo flew over to Technoblade, [F/N] perching on his shoulder while Philza stood by his side with his wings folded by his back.

“I don’t think I need to say this, but you guys bringing me out of my retirement when I told you I had changed my ways... this only solidifies my reasoning's as to why the government needs to be destroyed.” he says in a monotone voice, throwing his blooded pickaxe over his free shoulder and the four of them glare down at the Butcher Army “I promise you this, the next time you dare come looking for me or even step foot onto my property again, I will make sure that there won’t BE a next time, got it?” they didn’t even wait for an answer when they walked past the frozen trio and left L’Manburg.

[outside of l’manburg]

“Oh, that was absolutely thrilling!” [F/N] cheered, hovering off the ground while clapping her hands, she then turned towards Punz and saluted him “Thanks for the help, mercenary boy.” he merely waves her off, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

“As long as the money is good, I could care less.” she rolled her eyes and threw down another Ender Chest, he opens it and his eyes let up at the sight of various diamond, gold and emerald blocks within it, he raises his head to question her but she raised her hand to stop him.

“The less you know, the better.” he gives her an OK gesture.

“Fine by me.” he puts the chest in his inventory and there Dream makes his appearance with Carl in toe, she and Philza hum at the sight of relief on Technoblade’s face as he rushes over, the two couldn’t hear the conversation between the two but she could just guess what he was saying to their friend, perhaps it was the same conversation the masked fellow had with her.

”I can already guess that the only reason as to why you’re helping Techno out of this pinch is because you want a favor?” she questioned after finding him and Punz watching the entire scenario of Technoblade’s execution from the rooftops of L’Manburg ”If you give me a hand, I’ll owe you a favor too.”

“Will you? I’m pretty sure you can handle this situation on your own.”

“What I want from you is for Punz to give me an extra hand, but for you to get Carl out of there.” she said, she leans forward to get a closer look at the situation, looking over to see Philza watching from a distance as well ”If a favor isn’t enough to pique your interest, I’ll double the amount you’re paying Punz.” now that definitely caught his interest.

”Really? Hell yeah, I’m in.” she then glances over at Dream, she could just tell that his eyes were on her wings, he lets out a hum before offering his hand towards her.

”Alright, you’ve got a deal. We’ll give you a hand, but you owe me a favor and you pay Punz double.” she nods her head, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake.

”Deal. My debt to you will go until it is paid.” when he was finished speaking with Technoblade, he turned to give her a look and gave her a satisfied nod when he saw her bow her head “Well, that went swimmingly, don’t you think? You didn’t even need to use that Totem of Undying, and you even managed to get a good nick out of Quackity! That was certainly satisfying.” Philza nodded his head as Technoblade jumped onto Carl’s back then rode off, going their separate ways from the two while [F/N] name and himself flew beside him.

“Certainly, and it feels fantastic to be able to fly again. Thanks again, [F/N]!” she winks at him. 

“No problem!” she then hums, bringing a hand to pinch her chin “But I do feel like we’ve forgotten something.”

...

...

“Oh shit, we forgot Ghostbur.”

Tyrant

word count: 11,246

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Eddie Munson x Male!Reader Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Romantic Occupation: Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[M/N]: Male Name  [L/N]: Last Name  [N/N]: Nickname  [H/C]: Hair Color  [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: vulgar language, violence, alcohol consumption

might make a part two, you never know, you never know.

that is all.

“Look, there he goes again.”

“You’d think the teachers would expel him by now.”

“Did you hear? Apparently he jumped Thompson on his way to school and robbed him of all his shit.”

“What an asshole.”

“Oh shit, here he comes.”

The once bustling cafeteria came to silence when Hawkins Highschool delinquent stepped foot inside, those intimidating [E/C] eyes glared at anyone within a five foot radius. Grabbing his own tray of food, he sat down at a random table that was still full of people, but the moment he looked at them they quickly departed from the table in hopes of not being his new punching bag. There wasn’t a single redeeming quality about [M/N] the people of Hawkins could think of, he was rude, dangerous and ruthless, regardless of gender. People remembered a time when some prissy girl tried getting in his business, the type of girl that had a the mindset of “I can change him” or what not, she ended up missing several weeks of school because he beat her black and blue, tearing out some of her hair and knocking some of her teeth out.

Unlike Steve Harrington and Billy Hargrove, both being dubbed as the King of Hawkins, he was called the Tyrant of Hawkins. Billy was scary and intimidating in his own way but he had charisma and a charm to him that made people like him. Steve was just a pretty face with just the charm and no intimidation, all [M/N] had was the intimidation and demanding aura around him that people couldn’t help but obey his every word in hopes on not getting on his bad side. Whether they were the losers, the jocks or the popular people, there wasn’t anyone within Hawkins High that didn’t know the full extend [M/N] will go to keep what he calls peace.

And then there’s Eddie Munson, the freak of Hawkins. Lover of metal and D&D, a man who failed his last year of high school and was repeating the year in hopes of graduating that year. Eddie Munson, the man who wasn’t afraid to express who he was, regardless of who was in attendance. Most people find him downright annoying, some find him surprisingly endearing, but most people just think he’s a lost cause. People just thought he was bound for failure, there was nothing good about interacting with Eddie. Dustin, who was busy eating his food, glanced up from his meal to spare Eddie a look and soon noticed he was staring across the cafeteria.

“Eddie?” at the call of his name, the others sitting at the table, stop what they were doing and look at Eddie “What are you looking at?” he asks and soon they’re all following his gaze, a few of them turning pale when they saw that he was staring at the back of [M/N]’s head.

“Dude, why are you staring at [L/N] for? If he catches you staring, you’re dead meat.” Gareth whispered to him “And I am not up to watching you get beaten to a bloody pulp.” Eddie just lets out a laugh, brushing some of his hair back while waving them off.

“You guys worry too much, I’m not gonna do anything.” they all sweat a little, it totally looked like he was gonna do something, but despite knowing how reckless he was, he wasn’t someone who would poke a sleeping lion. Eddie would describe [M/N] as a person with a button you shouldn’t push instead of having a short fuse, he had a short temper as is and chose to speak with his fists instead of his words, they seem to get the point across better than an explanation “… do you think he listens to Iron Maiden?” Jeff gave him a look.

“Eddie, don’t even think about it. You’ll be met with a fist before he even agrees that he likes listening to them.”

“So you’re saying there’s a possibility.” they all let out a groan, a few of them slapping a hand to their foreheads or squeezing the bridge of their nose. The sound of shouting and gasps caught their attention so they all look over and in horror saw one of the jocks from the basketball team dump their food on top of [M/N]’s head, he looked like a freshmen because he was laughing aloud while the rest of the basketball team watch in disbelief at what the new guy just did.

“AH HAHAHA!! Come on guys, that was funny!” he continued to laugh, missing the way everyone backed away as [M/N] slowly stood to his feet “I don’t see why you guys are so scared of just one gu—” he couldn’t finish his sentence when a fist connected with his jaw, causing him to tumble to the floor as blood sprayed out of his mouth. Each time the punk tried getting up his face was met with [M/N]’s fist, he laid no waste to him as he continued punching his face until he collapsed onto his back by Eddie’s table. The brunette watched as the [H/C] male grabbed him by the collar to lift him up and continue beating his face in with no remorse, by the time he was satisfied, he let out an exhausted sigh, sweat and chunks of food bleeding down his face as his fist was drenched in blood, regardless if it was his or not.

“Carver.” Jason flinched at the call of his name, [M/N] didn’t raise his voice to call him, his voice was scary enough that he could bend anyone to his will “What have I told you about controlling your dogs?” he swallowed thickly from where he stood, shrinking down when [M/N] stood up.

“T-That if they get out of line… you’ll put them down.”

“That’s right.” he starts, looking at the table beside him and grabbing Mike’s tray of food then proceeded to dump all its contents on top of the unconscious jock “I hope you remember this the next time you decide to act like a bitch.” He growled as he threw the tray down, his eyes then wandered over to Eddie, who was staring at him with wide eyes and jaw dropped “The fuck you looking at, freak?” he snarled at the brunette, who in turn swallowed thickly, raising his hands up defensively.

“N-Nothing! Nothing, I swear.” he got a scoff in response as [M/N] turned away, kicking the jock one last time then stormed out of the cafeteria, kicking the doors open and disappeared to probably clean the food off of him. The cafeteria sat in silence and watched as the basketball team hurriedly dragged the unconscious player to the sickbay, when they were out of sight, the students all bustled into chatter at the turn of events that just occurred.

“God, that no good [L/N] is so terrifying.”

“He’s even got the jocks listening to him.”

“I can’t believe that dumbass did that.”

“Nobody warned him?” Dustin and Lucas pat Mike on his shoulder, watching as he took deep breaths to calm his beating heart. He wasn’t going to lie, watching him beat his ass was so satisfying but once he turned those anger filled eyes in his direction, he couldn’t help but pray that he wasn’t next, that didn’t mean he wasn’t sad that his food was now on the floor.

“You good Mike? You look like you’re at the verge of fainting,” he raised a thumb whilst trembling slightly.

“And there he goes.” Dustin says, watching as he revved his engine and drove out of the schools parking lot “You’d think the teachers would have dealt with him at this point, but to think he’s even got them to listen to him.” Lucas lets out a sigh, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“I-I’m good.” now with Eddie, his heart was beating just as fast as Mike’s, but for a different reason. The way he watched [M/N]’s face scrunch up in rage, the way he watched his bicep bulge with each swing, the way he watched the sweat run down his neck as he beat his face in. He couldn’t deny the fact that he felt something when those [E/C] eyes glared in his direction as he sneered at him, called him a freak. It was just that tone in his voice and the way he presented himself that made his heart race. 

“That was so hot…” he whispered under his breath. At the end of the day, all Eddie could think of was [M/N] and no matter how hard he tried to think of anything else, his thoughts of the tyrant would just come rushing back. The moment he and his friends stepped out of school they heard the roar of an engine, and there was the man in all his glory starting up his motorcycle, a Kawasaki Vulcan 750. He treated that thing as if it were his child, people said that his bike was the only thing that ever made him smile, and the one time someone made the foolish mistake to mess with his baby, he paid them back by totally their car to the point of recognition.

“Yeah, unfortunately, he does not discriminate.” they each shake their head.

[family’s video store]

“Yes sir, yes I understand… have you ever tried checking to see if the VHS player is plugged in?” Robin Buckley, who was currently on the phone with a customer that recently purchased a movie from the store, had called up complaining that it wouldn’t play “So it wasn’t plugged in? Then that’s probably the reason why it wasn’t working, sir.” Steve walked behind the counter after putting the returned movies back on shelf and saw the look of mild frustration on her face.

“Old man again?” he mouthed to her, to which she nodded while making the finger gun gesture and pressing it against her temple, he snickers softly when she pulled the trigger but continued to speak in way that she’s sympathising with said man. Steve’s head perked up at the sound of a motorbike, leaning back on the counter to take a peak outside and there he saw the infamous [M/N] [L/N], the Tyrant of Hawkins, pulling up into their parking lot. He couldn’t help the bead of sweat that rolled down the side of his cheek as he reminisced the past when they attended high school together, he was the one person Steve knew not to mess with or look at the wrong way. He had a reputation that preceded him, they both did, so they had a neutral relationship between each other. He takes a deep breath when he saw [M/N] get off his bike and start approaching the store, jumping slightly when the doors opened and he came right up to the counter.

“Harrington.” he says, voice uncaring for the man in front of him as he stared at him with that same neutral and unbothered expression he always wore when he wasn’t angry.

“[L-L/N].” he cursed under his breath for stuttering, embarrassed that he was still afraid of the man in front of him “What brings you here? I don’t suppose you’re here to rent a movie?” he swallows his saliva when [M/N]’s gaze hardened on him before ignoring him and looking at Robin.

“Buckley, I need to talk to you.” finally looking at them, she acknowledge [M/N]’s presence but held up her finger, telling him to give her a second.

“I’m in the middle of something.”

“Can’t it wait?” she gives him a look then goes right back into what she was doing before she was interrupted, Steve took a glance at [M/N]’s face and saw he was slowly but surely losing his patience, the way his eyebrows scrunched up as he hand formed into a tight fist. Steve all but recognised this was what [M/N] would do before he completely lost all rationality and started throwing hands, he took a step forward when he saw [M/N] raised his hand but was surprised to see he only pressed the hook set to hang up the phone.

“Wha— hey! You can’t just hang up the phone when I’m talking to customers, [M/N]!” she shouts at him, he just shrugs.

“Yeah, well, that’s not as important as to what I have to tell you.” she raised a brow, they stare at each other in silence until she let out a groan, his face lighting up slightly when she caved.

“Alright, fine,” she gestured for him to follow her into the back room and he nods, jumping over the counter and going in before her “Steve, you can handle things alone up front, right?”

“Y-Yeah, but—” he was ignored, he lets out a sigh as his hands slapped against his hips when he dropped them “Alright, I’ll be here.” Robin Buckley, lover of women, would never call herself anything special. Still in high school, she was just like every other average joe that walked those halls, though she was in band, that was probably the only thing cool she’d say about herself. So, never in a millions years would she have found herself in a sort of friendship with the cold and ruthless [M/N], however, right now he was anything but what his reputation says about him.

“I actually managed to talk to him this time!” he squealed out, hands cupping his cheeks as a bright red blush flushed across his cheeks. There was no trace of the Tyrant of Hawkins, all she could find was your typical high school teenage boy thinking about the love of his life, and his so happened to be Eddie Munson, the freak of Hawkins. Ah, now she can remember why the two of them got along, they both had that sense that neither liked the opposite gender and they became friends from then on. Most of the time it was Robin ranting on and on about a girl that’s caught her eye, but never actually having the courage to speak about her feelings, all [M/N] ever had to talk about how his feelings for Eddie continued to grow since he first saw Eddie.

“Oh yeah, and what did you say to him?” he then slumps forward, a dejected look on his face.

“I asked what the fuck he was staring at, then called him a freak.” she let out a defeated sigh, slapping a hand onto her forehead “I couldn’t help it, I was still angry that that fucking prick dumped his food on me.” his face turned sour at the memory, hand clenching into a fist but softened when she placed her hand on top of his.

“You really need to work on your anger management issues, dude.”

“I’m trying, I swear I am.” he lets his head hang a little, hand clenching and unclenching, showing that he was trying to calm himself “But my therapist is a pain in my ass, telling me shit that I already know is the problem and ain’t really helping me. I’m ready to throw hands!” he shouts as he stands to his feet, to which she quickly grabbed him by his shoulders and pushed him back down.

“You can’t hit your therapist, you could get into serious trouble for something like that.” he grumbles at that, soon that lovesick expression found its way onto his face again, he was probably thinking about Eddie again.

“I really want to be about to talk to him, Buckley, but I’m scared that if I approach him, he’ll take it the wrong way. He might think that I’m trying to beat him up, but I don’t want him to be scared.” she rolled her eyes, planting her hand on her hip.

“Well then, I don’t know, give him love letters.” he looked up at her.

“Love letters?” she nods.

“Yeah, if you can’t find the right words to talk to him to his face, write that shit down and put it in his locker.” she then smacks his arm with the back of her hand “Isn’t English your best trait? I’ve read some of the stuff you’ve written, and let me tell you, that shit hits harder than you think.” he looks a little flustered at that, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You’re just saying that because you’re my friend.” she shrugs.

“Whatever floats your boat.” he seats there for a couple minutes before nodding his head.

“Okay, I’ll give your idea a try.” she nods when he stood up “I'll tell you how it goes.” she grins and gives him a thumbs up.

“Go get ‘em tiger.” they then fist bump and he walks out of the room, he glanced at Steve and mentally rolled his eyes when he saw him almost fall over. He was totally eavesdropping on their conversation, but he could give less of a shit, he was busy thinking of what to write down to give to Eddie. Robin walks in after he drives off on his motorbike, leaning down to rest on the counter as Steve gives her a look of disbelief.

“Since when were you friends with [L/N], Robin?” she shrugs.

“Since high school man, learn to keep up.”

“Wha— but he had no friends!”

[next day: hawkins high school]

In the early morning, [M/N] was at school with a letter in his hand. Taking Robin’s advice, he poured his heart and soul into what he wrote down that he wished he could say to Eddie. He had a faint blush on his face as he pressed the letter to his chest before finding Eddie’s locker and slipping it in, not before checking that there was no one there to catch him in the act. With his mission accomplished, he laid in waiting for Eddie to arrive, just to catch his reaction. He really hoped that he didn’t take it the wrong way, he didn’t think the letter was a joke and that someone was playing with his feelings.

“Hey, Eddie!” [M/N] quickly fell back behind the wall he was leaning on to hide, peeking out ever so slightly to see that it was Dustin calling Eddie’s name, who had just arrived with that cute little smile spread across his face.

“Hey Henderson! You ready for tonight’s campaign? It’s gonna be a real spectacle!” he cheered, to which Dustin’s face lit up immensely and nodded his head.

“Totally! Mike, Lucas and I can’t wait!” he chuckles softly.

“Well, it’ll be worth the wait, I promise.” Eddie soon opens his locker to get a few things but blinked when something fell and landed on his feet, kneeling down, he raised a brow in confusion to see a letter “Hmm? What’s this?” Dustin peeks over his shoulder then backs away as Eddie stands up straight, flipping the letter to get a look at the front and back.

“There’s no name.” [M/N] scoffed at that, of course he wasn’t going to write his name on it, it’d be even more unbelievable and he’d probably take it as a threat and not read the letter at all “Think it’s a love letter?” both himself and Dustin laugh at the possibility.

“Yeah, I highly doubt it. Don’t get my hopes high like that.” he jokes, he then tears the envelope open and pulls out the letter. Dustin tried to read it as well but couldn’t when Eddie would pull it closer to his face, [M/N] wished to see his face just to see if what he wrote was good or not. His wish was answered when Eddie lowered the letter and there he saw Eddie’s face turn bright red, all the way to the tips of his ears.

“Eddie…?” Dustin softly called out, reaching forward to grab his bicep and shake him “You good?” he stuttered out words, raising his hand to cover his mouth.

“I-It was a love letter…” 

“What?! Let me see.” he exclaimed and snatched the letter from his hands to read it himself, [M/N] wanted to punch the shit out of that little bastard for taking the letter that was meant for Eddie alone, but couldn’t help but feel a little grateful, because there he got to see his flustered and bashful reaction to reading the contents of his letter “Whoa! Whoever wrote this, they’re batshit in love with you.” Eddie bites his bottom lip, shaking his head in denial.

“No, whoever wrote it is probably fucking with me.” he replied, this answer was exactly what [M/N] feared.

“No, no Eddie, I don’t think so.” he then waves it around a bit and hands it back to him “If this was really a joke, I highly doubt it would be written with this much care. Whoever wrote it, they definitely had something they’ve been wanting to say to you for a long time. If this was a joke, I believe it wouldn’t have been written like it was a goddamn novel.” Eddie takes a breath, lifting the letter to read through it once more before pressing it against his lips.

“A-Alright.” he pulls it away and smiles softly at it, making sure to fold it up then tuck it nicely in his front pocket. [M/N] turned so his back was pressed against the wall and the look of joy quickly spread across his face. He internally squealed to himself, hands pressed into his face to hide the huge grin on his face that he couldn’t suppress. Robin’s advice worked and it wouldn’t have worked as greatly as it did if it weren’t for Dustin, he must thank him in some way for clearing up the misunderstanding. He nods to himself, taking one last glance at Eddie before leaving for his first class of the day.

“A mixtape?” he slowed his pace.

From that day on, [M/N] would continue to write letters and leave them in his locker, finding new things about Eddie that had him falling in love with him, it was his favourite thing to do, especially when he got to see the little reactions Eddie would have upon reading the letters. He would always turn a shade of read, sometimes he would twirl a few strands of his hair around his finger as he read through the letters, maybe fidget with a few of his rings, but just seeing him smile was all that made his day. At the end of his day he would always rush to Robin to tell her that it was working, telling her that her advice worked wonderfully and that it was slowly building his confidence to talk to Eddie face to face. Yeah, about that. There were a few times [M/N] managed to build up some of that confidence and was planning on talking to Eddie a few times but at the last minute chicken out a end of sulking about his failures. 

[M/N] was sitting in the cafeteria now, some bit of food hanging loosely on his lips as he stared at his notebook. He twirled his pencil around his fingers then tapped it against his forehead, rubbing the end of it into his temple as he tried to think of other things to put into his next love letter but his mind went blank. He groaned and fell forward with his head hitting the cafeteria table, he was running out of things to say, he needed to think of something quick. He sighs to himself and lifts himself up, closing the notebook and tucking it away then decided he was done in the cafeteria. He swings his legs out and starts walking out that he just so happens to overhear something from Eddie’s table.

“Yeah! I’d appreciate something like that, means they actually took the time of day to make something sentimental, you know?” Gareth scoffed.

“Just as long as they put in songs that actually mean something, if it’s just random songs, it won’t really matter.” Mike raises his hand.

“I second that.” Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. I’ll remember what you guys said when I get a mixtape.” [M/N]’s face lit up, now that’s something he could do. With a new goal set in mind, he was going to ditch his last class in favor of making this mixtape when somebody slammed into his chest.

“What the?!” he exclaims, growling when whoever bumped into him spilt their food onto him “Fucking— again?! Watch it punk!” he shouts, grabbing the next victim by the collar of their shirt and pulling them forward, raising his fist to punch them across the face but stopped when he saw that it was Dustin.

“W-Wait, man…! I’m sorry, I d-didn— didn’t see you.” his friend group immediately stood to their feet to defend him, but what could they do against the tyrant, he could easily beat them all after tearing Dustin a new one. [M/N] took a glance towards Eddie, something Dustin didn’t miss, and saw the way he glared at him if he were to even leave a mark on him “I’m sorry, I-I’m sorry…!” he apologises once more, [M/N] looks back at him then closed his eyes, letting out a sigh as he let Dustin go.

“Accidents happen.” he says, grimacing when he looked down at the spilt milk all over his jacket “Just watch where you’re going next time, Henderson.” the cafeteria was brought to silence, absolute silence when [M/N] walked out. Did the tyrant just spare someone? Everyone was sent into an uproar just as Dustin collapsed, Lucas and Mike were immediately by his side.

“Dustin!”

“Dustin! Are you alright?” he was shaking, trying to calm his breathing but he nodded nonetheless.

“Y-Yeah… god! I thought I saw my life flash before more eyes just now.” he runs a hand through his hair as his friends helped him to his feet, what he couldn’t get out of his mind was the way [M/N]’s face showed annoyance but the moment he took one glance over at Eddie his face softened. He seemed to have been the only one to notice because they were all asking if he was alright and how lucky he was to have survived against [M/N], his eyes narrowed at the possibility.

‘He couldn’t possibly be…’

[with [m/n]]

“Mum! Where’s the cassette recorder?!”

“In the garage!”

“Thank you!” he dumps an array of different cassettes onto his desk, sorting them out by genre and splitting them up then grabbed the cassette recorder and player, plugging them with headphones so the residents of the [L/N] household didn’t have to suffer through the array of different songs throughout the night. A cigarette hung loosely in between his fingers, flicking the ashes into an ashtray as he listened to each song, bobbing his head while swaying softly “I hope he likes these.” he muttered softly, by the time he was finished it was two in the morning, but it was totally worth it. He laid on his bed, headphones in and listened to his final product, smiling ever so lightly. The next day felt like any other day, arrive to school early with barely anyone around and slip in a letter for Eddie but this time a mixtape, everything was fi—

“So it is you!” he let out a gasp, throwing himself against the lockers at the unexpected voice. Looking behind him, his face paled when he saw that it was Dustin “I can’t believe you’re the secret admirer!” he quickly slapped his hand over Dustin’s mouth, bringing his other hand up to press a finger to his lips.

“Would you keep your voice down?!” he snarled at him, he takes a quick look around to see if anybody heard, when he saw nobody he dragged Dustin into a supply closet and slammed him against the wall “Henderson! Don’t you know when to mind your own business? I thought you’d think twice about bothering me after yesterday, but I see you’re just as stupid as the rest of this fucking scho—”

“You’re in love with Eddie, aren’t you?” [M/N] sputters over his words, his tough guy façade slowly beginning to crumble when his previous threats went to deaf ears as Dustin smirked up at him “I saw the way you looked at Eddie yesterday, and after all those love letters I thought of the possibility that it could be you. I was really taking a huge gamble on that small little detail, but I guess I was right. You, [M/N] “the Tyrant” [L/N], is in love with Eddie “the Freak” Munson. Just admit it, it’s written all over your face.” [M/N]’s face was twitching as he fought to keep that glare on his face, but in the end let out a defeated sigh as he crumbled to his knees, hands holding a fistful of Dustin’s vest.

“I-Is it that obvious…?” Dustin’s jaw dropped immediately as soon as [M/N]’s true feelings revealed itself, he pushed himself back and saw his bright red face as he pressed his hands to his face “Yeah, I’m really in love with him it’s crazy.” even his voice sounded soft and meek, not a trace of that psycho from the day prior.

“Since when?” he was taken aback when a lovesick grin spread across his face, a look of complete adoration in his eyes as he tried to recounter the first time he saw Eddie Munson.

“Where do I even begin? It was probably during my freshmen year! He’s a year older than me but the moment I set my eyes on him, watching him be himself… ah, I was over the moon.” he then cups his cheeks, leaning into the palm of his hand “I fell in love when I saw him performing one night at a shitty gig that were  willing to let him and his band, Corroded Coffins, play. It was so mesmerising watching him play, I loved every second of it.” Dustin pursed his lips, raising a brow when he heard [M/N] let out a sigh as he leaned his back against the wall.

“Well, if you like him so much, why don’t you just tell him? You’ve shown him just how much you like him, so I don’t see the harm in just saying it to his face,” this caused the older one to let out a groan, throwing his head back then hiding his face in his knees.

“That’s the thing. I’m afraid I might say the wrong thing, I’m scared that I might scare him off. Don’t you remember who I am, Henderson? I’m the tyrant, the school delinquent that isn’t afraid to throw hands with a fucking teacher.” he runs his hands through his hair “I’m afraid when he finds out that I’m his secret admirer… he’ll think I was playing with his feelings as a new way to torture people.” Dustin placed his hands on his hips.

“Eddie always looks forward to seeing those letters.” this caused [M/N]’s head to perk up and look up at him “It’s his favourite part of the day, seeing what new things you love about him.” this caused him to grin sheepishly, closing his hands together and kicking his legs a little.

“Really?” he giggles softly. If Dustin where to mention [M/N]’s true personality to his friends, they would probably laugh in his face and tell him he’s ridiculous. That there wasn’t a single person in this world that the tyrant had a soft spot for, but that was where they were wrong. He’s seen the way Eddie’s face lights up upon reading the letters and now that he knows that they are really truthful— he lets out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’d like to consider myself a good friend of Eddie’s, like, really close.” [M/N] lets out a hum at that, acknowledging that fact by the fact he’s always seeing the two of them together acting like idiots “So… how’s about I give you a hand?” he gave him a wary expression.

“… what do you mean by that?”

“I think Eddie’s starting to like you, erm, the secret admirer.” [M/N]’s face lit up immensely at that “Eddie also has an interest in you, the tyrant, but it slowly turned sour after yesterday. He probably would have hated your guts if you actually hit me.” he groans.

“I know, that’s why I didn’t.”

“And I still thank you for that, [L/N].” this earned him an eye roll “If I were to have Eddie see you in a better light, and potentially boost up your confidence in talking to him, maybe I can help you two hook up.”

“Really? You’d do that?” he stands up but then stops, looking down at Dustin cautiously “What’s the catch?” Dustin smirks a little.

“Just your protection.” this caused [M/N] to quirk a brow “My friends and I are still losers, meaning we’re still targets in the jocks eyes. We by no means can protect ourselves from those assholes, so, I was hoping you’d keep an eye out for us in return for my services.” he let out a groan at that, why did he have to play babysitter. He genuinely wanted to refuse, but having Dustin as his inside man to help him get with Eddie… dammit, it was an offer he just couldn’t refuse.

“Alright, Henderson, you’ve got yourself a deal.” this caused him to grin, reaching forward to grab [M/N]’s hand and shake it enthusiastically.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” he rolled his eyes. Now, outside the supply closet was Eddie. He arrived a little early to school in hopes that he could potentially catch his secret admirer but upon opening his locker and finding the letter and a mixtape, all was for naught and he woke up early for no— wait, a mixtape? He felt giddy, taking the tape into his hands and opening the case and there he saw a little note written in it.

’I happened to overhear that you’d love to receive a mixtape. Thought I’d give you one as a gift. I hope you enjoy it, Eddie.’

~ secret admirer.

“Oh, what a sap.” the sound of a door opening caught his attention, he leaned back from out of his locker and narrowed his eyes when he saw [M/N] and Dustin walk out of the supply closet. He thought maybe [M/N] was threatening the younger one but was surprised to see Dustin laughing when the other grabbed the end of his cap and shook it a bit before pushing his head back and walking away “What was all that about...?” Dustin raised his head upon feeling he was being stared at, he jumped upon seeing that it was Eddie.

“Hey, Eddie! W-When did you get here?” he asked while approaching him.

“A couple minutes ago.” he then eyed the back of [M/N]’s back before he disappeared “Why were you in the supply closet with [L/N]? Was he threatening you again?” Dustin’s eyes widened before he raised his hands while shaking his head.

“Oh, no, no, no! I just needed advice for... intimidation?” he mentally slapped his forehead, even Eddie looked at him as if he were an idiot.

“Seriously? I’m surprised he didn’t give you a black eye.” Dustin waved his hand to dismiss him.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. We just let bygones be bygones, alright? He’s actually a pretty chill dude.” Eddie rolled his eyes, tucking the mixtape and letter into his front pocket, intending to listen and read through them later.

“Sure, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

And see Dustin kept his end of the deal, Eddie would ramble about anything that came into mind and he would later report it to [M/N], because of this, it gave him more material for his letters. Sometimes he would think of new gifts to give to Eddie, a few times they got a little too big so [M/N] had to break into his locker just to get it in there. But also keeping his end of the deal, whenever [M/N] would catch Dustin and his group of losers getting ganged by anyone with ill intentions, he just stands behind them and give them that infamous death glare. Mike and Lucas have been starting to notice the lack of black eyes they’ve been receiving, and Dustin has been weirdly confident for some reason.

“Dustin, what did you do?” Lucas asked, eyeing him weirdly as he walked beside him.

“Lucas is right, you did something.” Mike agreed, Dustin just gave them a cheeky grin. 

“I’ve gained us, boys, immunity.” they both stare at him weirdly “At first I thought he wasn’t doing his job right, but in the end, it worked out just fine.” Mike and Lucas share a look with each other.

“Oh yeah, how?” they enter the cafeteria, Mike and Lucas intending to sit down with Eddie and the rest, but were confused when they saw that he was walking somewhere else “Dustin? Dustin! Where are you going?” their jaws literally dropped when he confidently walked over to where [M/N] was sitting, dropping his tray of food in front of him then taking a seat across from him, practically startling the poor soul who was reading.

“What the-- Henderson?” [M/N] questioned, looking over at him in confusion, he rolled his eyes when the brunette grinned at him “What the fuck are you doing over here?” he merely shrugged his shoulders, taking his bag off his shoulders and putting it under the table.

“Eating lunch with you.” he scoffed, making sure to bookmark his page before closing his book.

“Shouldn’t you be eating with your friends?” he asked while gesturing with his heads over to them, to which Dustin shrugged “I still have a reputation to up hold here, Henderson. I can’t just let these dorks see me going soft, all because of you--” he stuttered back his words when Dustin raised his finger, he was greatly offended that he was shushed.

“And they won’t, but I think it’ll help Eddie see that you’re not such a bad guy.” this caused him to calm slightly “Like I said before, Eddie was interested in you before and I think you’ll gain his interest again if he see’s you’re not that hard to talk to. And by doing that, you have me.” [M/N] rolled his fingers along the table as he eyed Dustin before letting out a sigh.

“Fucking, fine.” with that Dustin happily ate his food, [M/N] picked at his food “... does he like the mixtape?” the younger one let out a hum at that, he quickly swallows his food and nods.

“Mm hmm, he listens to it all the time.” this caused a rare smile to raise to his cheeks,

“I’m glad.” those who were staring that managed to see that smile were in complete shock, the only face he ever wore was a scowl or sneer, but this was the first time anyone has ever seen him smile like that at something that wasn’t his bike. Eddie, who was watching the entire interaction, felt his eyes widen at how charming that smile was. He couldn’t help but snort softly when he saw Dustin say something and in return [M/N] threw some of his food at him, but there was a smile nonetheless.

“Since when was Henderson friends with [L/N]?!” Gareth exclaimed, Eddie chuckled softly.

“Actually... I remember seeing the two of them together one morning, I thought it was nothing, but I guess not.” at the end of lunch he was hounded for answers by his friends, though they backed off a little when [M/N] walked by them but not without ruffling Dustin’s head.

“Later Henderson.” he happily waved his hand.

“Bye, [L/N]!” he then smirks at Lucas’ and Mike’s dumbfounded face.

“Since when did you gain [M/N]’s favor? I thought that was impossible to do!” Mike exclaimed, hands in his hair and ready to be torn off “Was this during the time you bumped into him?” Dustin just grinned cheekily at them, shrugging his shoulders.

“Maybe, maybe not. Hey, Eddie!” said man looked at him “He does like Iron Maiden.” Eddie’s face lit up.

“Well, if he likes Iron Maiden, then he can’t be all that bad.”

“No, Eddie, just no.”

[time skip: a few weeks later]

Dustin continued to sit at [M/N]’s table, must to the other’s displeasure, and just straight up harassed him because he had the power to do so. Dustin’s time with him actually got him a few ups rather than downs, mostly because he started to learn more and more about him. He learnt that [M/N] was actually really smart and the reason he never put in any of the effort to the schoolwork was because the teacher’s thought he’d end up as a lost cause, so he just gave up trying so hard. But the one thing he did put a lot of effort into was English, Dustin would often ask for his help for his English work and though he thought it was a hassle, the younger of the two could tell that [M/N] was having some fun with it. 

Sure Dustin promised [M/N] he would help him with telling him everything about Eddie, but Eddie wanted to know more about [M/N] as well. Eddie learnt that though the delinquent enjoyed listening to a variety of different heavy metal songs, he quite enjoyed listening to classical music as well via vinyl's. It was a shocker, but it did help calm him down when he was having trouble with his anger issues. The school also noticed the way [M/N] was starting to soften up and act less impulsive, they all had Dustin to thank for that, making the tyrant less tyrannical.

“Whatever you’re doing, Henderson, keep at it.” Eddie said, patting his shoulder and looking up in thought “You think he knows how to play D&D? I’d love to ask him to join Hellfire personally, but I’m afraid he’ll think it’s boring.” Dustin rolled his eyes, recalling the time [M/N] told him that he self taught himself how to play D&D so he could play alongside Eddie one day during one of his campaigns.

“I’ll ask him.” Eddie grinned.

“You’re the best.” he shrugs.

“So I’ve been told.” with [M/N], he was sitting just outside the parking lot reading the Lord of the Rings Book: The Return of the King. He was always a fan of J. R. R. Tolkien’s works, it was one of the many reasons he ended up loving English a lot, but he took up reading the books again when Dustin told him Eddie tended to make references from the books a lot. He closed the book and chuckled to himself at the amount of page tabs he had on them from the time he marked down the best parts of the book, he believed he believed he read enough and was planning on going home but stopped when he heard shouting.

“Hmm?” he glanced over and saw what he believed was Eddie’s Hellfire Club huddled around, he thought it was nothing until he saw a couple of jocks “Well shit, and here I thought I was going to have a quiet Friday evening.” he puts his book in his bag and leaves it by his bike before marching over to see what ruckus was all about, the students immediately parted upon seeing him and when he saw what was going on his blood ran cold. 

[a few minutes before [m/n] arrived]

“You think you and your lot of freaks are untouchable, huh, Munson?” Eddie laid on the ground, blood running down nose and black eye slowly forming on his left eye as he stared up at the bastard who punched him “You think just because Henderson is in good graces with the tyrant we can’t hurt you? Well guess again, bitch, there’s nothing he will do.” Dustin glared at them from where he stood.

“You’re wrong, you asshole!” he flinched back when another jock took a step forward.

“Oh, yeah? That asshole doesn’t care about anyone but himself! You’ve gotten arrogant because of the fact that you can talk to him, Henderson. But remember this, the moment he sees no more use in you, you’ll be the next punching bag on his list.” Eddie spits out the blood in his mouth and stands to his feet.

“What makes you think we need [L/N]’s protection, huh? I can handle myself pretty well!” he lets out a laugh when he was grabbed by his vest, yanked forward and standing eye to eye with the jock “You guys are just as scared of him as we are, you just hate that he’s close to him.” he winces when the jock reeled his arm back but paused when it didn’t come, he opened his eyes and noticed that the jock was looking down so he followed his gaze and his eyes widened when one of the newest love letters fell out of his pocket.

“What’s this?” Eddie sputtered out his words but let out a gasp when he was thrown back, Gareth and Jeff caught him before he could fall just as the jock bent down to pick up the letter.

“H-Hey man, give that back!” he shouts out desperately, heart dropping when the letter opened and the jock looked at the writing inside it, he soon laughed at what it said.

“Well would you look at that? The freak seems to have an admirer!” he shouts, reading through more of it then looked at Eddie with an amused expression “Do you really think anyone has any feelings for you, Munson? It’s probably nothing more than a joke. Nobody loves you, there’s nothing to love.” Eddie’s hands closed into a tight fist, those words really damaging his heart.

“Y-You’re wrong!” this response made him laugh.

“Wow! You really believe these feelings this person wrote for you are actually true!” he then drops the letter, raised his foot and stomped on it, making sure to twist his foot on top of it “You don’t deserve to be loved.” those tears that were threatening to fall finally fell, though Dustin couldn’t help but feel fear run through his veins. [M/N] always treated those letters with care, and seeing someone stomp on them means that they have a death wish. 

“You’re dead...” he whispered to himself, though the jocks seemed to have picked up on what he said and turned their attention on him.

“The fuck did you say, nerd...” they trailed off when someone stepped out from behind Dustin, he glanced up and there he saw that enraged look in [M/N]’s face that he hasn’t seen in a long time. Eddie also looked up when someone pushed passed him and saw that same expression that charmed him, [M/N] couldn’t see anything but red. He grabbed the piece of shit that had the balls to insult him; to insult his Eddie and stomp on his letter, and pulled them forward “H-Hey, now wait a minu-- minute!” [M/N] pulls his arm back, glaring at the poor unfortunate soul.

“Clench your teeth.” was all the the warning he got that was laced with venom, and for the next couple of minutes, [M/N] was laying waste into him. There was nothing that could stop him now, not the countless of students that were yelling at him to stop, not the people who were trying to pull him off as he beat his voice to the point he laid there unconscious and unable to defend himself. He ignored the way the jock clawed at his face and arms for him to stop but couldn’t, he made his Eddie cry... and he was going to make him pay with his blood.

“[M/N], stop!” Dustin shouted, grabbing at the arm that he was swinging with all he could and pulled it back “You’ve done enough... please, you’ve done enough.” [M/N] glanced back at Dustin and saw the sheer fear in his eyes, he then looked down at the poor unconscious sap and the blooded mess he was in. When Dustin saw his fist loosen up he finally let go of his arm, [M/N] took a deep breath then stood to his feet and looked over at Eddie. The two of them just stared at each other until [M/N] looked down at the dirty and crinkled letter, bending down to pick it up.

“H-Hey, wait--” Eddie was cut off when [M/N] slapped it against his chest as he walked past him.

“Next time, take good care of your valuables, Eddie.” nobody said a word as [M/N] walked away, hopped onto his bike and drove away. Eddie’s hands held onto that note like it was his lifeline as his friends surrounded him, asking him if he was okay, but he couldn’t help but shiver at the way his name rolled off of [M/N]’s tongue. 

’He said my name...’

[time skip: a few days later]

“... wanna talk about it?”

“Shut up, Buckley.” Robin snickered from beside [M/N], the two of them laying outside on the grass at school, though [M/N]  was drinking alcohol out of a flask. [M/N] told Dustin to stay away from him for a couple days because he was afraid he was going to have another outburst and take it out on him if he couldn’t control himself. He really went too far this time, that was on him, but he just couldn’t control himself when he saw Eddie crying; when he saw that motherfucker step on his fucking lett--

“You’re balling your fists again, [M/N].” he lets out a defeated sigh, hands relaxing.

“I think I’ve gone and done it this time, Robin. I think I officially scared him off.” Robin watched him sit up, face in his hands as he shook his head “I just couldn’t stop myself, Buckley. Just-- jesus, I lost all rationality and let out the anger I hadn’t realized I was bottling up all out on him.” Robin rolled her eyes and sat up.

“You’re overreacting, dude.”

“I don’t think I am.” he whispered to himself, she shakes her head and places a hand on his shoulder.

“If you’re so worried, just go talk to Dustin. He’s your inside man, remember?” he spares her a glance and saw she was giving him a look of reassurance “I can even talk to Dustin, that little twerp and I became friends sometime last year.” he makes a face.

“... nah, I think it’d be better if I talked to him.” she grins, punching his arm.

“There you go.” he scoffed with a laugh “Now hurry up, and sick and tired hearing that kid miss talking to you.” he scowls at her.

“Right, I was quite enjoying my peace and quiet.”

“No you weren’t.” he pouts. He was now at his locker, getting a few things out of it, ignoring the people moving around him and whispering bullshit about him again. He stopped caring about what others said about him, some rumors were true while others weren’t, they just put the blame on him because it was easier that wa--

“Hey.” he slammed his locker shut at the sudden voice, turning his head, he started screaming internally at who it was “You think we could talk for a bit?”

’Oh my god, Eddie! You’re talking to me! I can’t believe you’re talking to me! Is this a dream? If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up! What a dream come true! Eddie, the love of my life!’ he had a straight and neutral expression but his thoughts said otherwise.

“Sure.” he cried on the inside at his short answer, fuck sake.

“W-Well, um-- I’ve been meaning to say thank you.” this caused [M/N] to raise a brow.

“Huh, for what? I don’t remember doing anything for you.” this is where Eddie nervously twirled a strand of his hair then moving it so that it was hiding the lower half of his face, something that [M/N] found adorable whenever Eddie felt nervous.

“No. When those assholes took that letter from me...” he trailed off, a pained look on his face “I couldn’t do anything, and their words really stuck with me. But you, you stood up to them. You could have just looked the other way, but you didn’t, and for that I’m really grateful.” [M/N] swallowed thickly.

“Yeah, well-- don’t expect me...” [M/N] stopped himself before he could finish his sentence, shaking his head when he realized he was going to come off as an asshole “No, I-- fuck! I mean, it’s no big deal, Munson. You’re Dustin’s friend, so I couldn’t just turn a blind eye.” he internally fist bumped, nailed it.

“Well, thanks, tyrant.” [M/N] chuckled.

“No problem, freak.” they both laugh. Robin had confronted Dustin and told the young boy to talk to [M/N], he was already way ahead of her and was making his way to his locker but stopped in the middle of his tracks when he saw him talking to Eddie. Wow, what a turn of events. He froze up when [M/N] saw him and before he could say anything, Dustin backed away but gestured for him to keep talking.

“So, [L/N],” Eddie cleared his throat, his little DM persona surfacing up as he gave the taller male a confident grin “you know the Hellfire Club, right?” he nods his head.

“Yes?” Eddie then tugs on his battle vest, a smirk raising to his face.

“So then you know how we play D&D, right?” he was given another nod in response to that “Cool! I-I mean-- ahem. As the Dungeon Master, as a thank you for your services for protecting my friends and I, I would like to formally invite you to Hellfire. Now I hope you understand how valuable this invitation is, [L/N], because not just anyone can be invited into Hellfire. You should feel really grateful.” looking up at him, he was expecting to see an unimpressed expression and was going to be brushed off, but what he got was a look of excitement as [M/N]’s cold eyes sparkled while a red hue flushed to his cheeks.

“Really?” his voice reminded him of that of a child, he wished he could stare at that face a little longer but it quickly disappeared as it came when [M/N] shook his head to knock some sense into himself “I-I mean, uh, sure. I’ll take up your invitation, Munson. No take backs.” Eddie couldn’t help but laugh at that childish sentence.

“Haha, alright.” he then takes a step back, waving his hand goodbye “Tomorrow, at Hellfire after school. Be there early, okay? I need to show the ropes and recap on our last campaign.” [M/N] nods his head, giving Eddie a thumbs up as the metal head walked away.

“R-Right, totally!” Eddie flashes him a bright smile before finally disappearing, [M/N] stood in the hallway for what felt like hours at what just happened. Eddie came up to him. Eddie was the one that talked to him. Eddie thanked him. Eddie smiled at him. Eddie invited him to Hellfire. He couldn’t fight back that huge smile and when he saw there was no one around, he let out a biggest squeal, jumping in the air while pumping his fists then punching his locker “Fuck yeah! I did it! I did it!” he then crouches down, pressing his hands together as he continued to smile.

I did it.

[time skip: the next day]

Eddie wasn’t in the greatest of moods that day. Sure, he was happy when he woke up that morning. Why? Maybe it was because he was finally going to be able to interact with [M/N] [L/N] for the very first time instead of watching him from afar and hearing new things about him from Dustin, he could finally talk to him and look at him from up close. Maybe he was also excited to get a new letter from his secret admirer, things were looking great for his end of the week. He arrived at school with a big smile on his face, he approached his locker and opened it but... there was no letter. He looked through every nook and cranny for it but there was nothing, his heart dropped and he couldn’t help but feel heart broken. The words of those bullies coming back to haunt him. 

“Nobody loves you.”

“There’s nothing to love.” 

“You don’t deserve to be loved.” 

What made things worse was that he didn’t see [M/N] throughout that entire day, he tried asking Dustin but the kid didn’t give him any concrete answers to go off of. When everything was finally looking good for him, it all just went away as fast as it came. Was [M/N] even going to come to Hellfire? God, what was he even thinking? Of course he wasn’t. That guy probably has better things to do than come to some stupid roleplaying game with Eddie “the Freak” fucking Munson! He collapsed onto his chair within Hellfire, the end of the day came faster than he would he have wanted and now he was going to have to do this campaign in a shitty mood.

“Eddie?” a soft voice called out, his head shot up and there he saw the man he hadn’t realized he was aching to see. [M/N] looked nervous where he was standing, he stepped into the room and rubbed the back of his neck, there Eddie noticed [M/N] was holding something behind his back but didn’t question it and stood up in a slightly better mood.

“You actually came, [L/N]! I kind of thought you were going to pull a no show.” [M/N]’s eyes immediately widened, a look of shock evident.

“W-What? Why would I do that?” he then winced when he remember that he hadn’t shown his face to Eddie that entire day, going so far as to not tell Dustin what he was doing, what he was doing had to do with what he had behind his back “I-I was busy this entire day, there’s something I need to tell you.” Eddie fixed his posture at that.

“Yeah?” [M/N] could feel how fast his heart was beating, an eruption of butterflies bursting in his stomach as he thought of countless scenarios in his head. Eddie continued to look up at [M/N], seeing a new expression on his face, one of anxiousness. Before Eddie could say anything [M/N] finally pulled his arm out from behind his back and handed Eddie an envelope, an envelope with his name written on the front of it with a very familiar penmanship “W-Why do you... why do you have that?” he questioned as he snatched the letter out of his hand, did [M/N] steal this out from his locker? Was that the reason why this fucker didn’t show his face the entire da--

“I thought it would be better to give it to you now.” this caused Eddie to pause, what? “I know you might have been confused as to why you didn’t get one this morning, but I've been needing to tell you something face to face. I've always been better at writing down my feelings rather than verbally saying it, so...” he then gestured for him to read it, so Eddie did just that, tearing the envelope open and pulling the letter out.

‘to eddie,

this will probably be my last letter to you. I’ve constantly told you how much I’ve adored you, from the way your eyes sparkle whenever you’re happy, to the way you always have this passion in your voice every time you speak. there isn’t a thing about you that I don’t love. 

the moment you spoke to me, it felt like I was on cloud fucking nine. I nearly blew it and told you to fuck off, but I’m glad I was able to pull my head out of my ass. you have no idea what you do to me, you have no idea what I would do for you.

I love you, eddie munson, and there’s nothing in this god forsaken world that could ever change my mind about that. I just hope that you can feel the same about me now that you know who your secret admirer is. I was always so scared that you wouldn’t like me.

I promise you, I will give you all the love that you want and need. I will give you everything so long as I live, and I promise you that I will always be by your side loving you.

~ [m/n] [l/n].

Eddie looked up from the letter and there he saw [M/N] looking so small, averting his eyes from Eddie’s as he laced his fingers together, twiddling his thumbs while trembling. [M/N] thought Eddie wasn’t going to buy it, he thought Eddie was going to accuse him of stealing that letter from out of his locker and saying that it was from him. He was expecting Eddie to reject him, there wasn’t a single positive outcome to come out of this situation, and when he was going to accept that reality he suddenly felt a pair of arms around his shoulders and pulling him into a hug.

“Thank god it was you, [M/N].” his eyes widened slightly, taking in a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding in “I’m so glad that it’s you, [M/N].” he whispered, the latter swallowed thickly at that as he looked down at Eddie.

“W-What?” Eddie pulled away and [M/N] saw he had an expression that mirrored his “D-Do you mean you— you feel the same way?!” he exclaimed, Eddie laughed and nodded his head.

“I always felt a slight attraction towards you, [M/N], and I was quite torn whether or not I should fall in love with my secret admirer or the hot tyrant. I’m so glad you two are one in the same.” he then gently jabbed [M/N]’s side with his elbow “But who’d a thought you’re nothing more than a giant teddy bear. I’ve seen the way you act with Dustin when you think no one’s looking, you’re not very discrete.” this caused the taller of the two to let out a whine of sort, an embarrassed blush rising to his cheeks as he hid his face behind his hands.

“Stop it…” he mumbled.

“You’re really adorable.” Eddie sets the letter down on the table then reaches forward and grabs both of [M/N]’s hands, he rubs his thumbs along his knuckles. [M/N]’s was beating abnormally fast to the point he was surprised he hadn’t fainted from how happy he was, still not believing that Eddie felt the same way about him.

“C-Can I…” Eddie lets out a hum, smirking softly at the flustered man in front of him “… can I kiss you?”

“Hmm, can you, big boy?” he laughed when [M/N] pouted, wearing a face that resembled that of a kicked puppy “Alright, okay! I was kidding, you big dope.” Eddie watched [M/N] slip his hands free from his grip and raise his hands to his face, they gently cupped his cheeks and his thumbs caressed them. He probably would have purred at the affection but instead let out a hum when [M/N] finally pressed his lips against his own, it was a short and sweet kiss but it had Eddie craving for me. So when [M/N] was pulling away he let out a muffled gasp when Eddie wrapped his arms around his neck to pull him back into another kiss, next thing they knew [M/N] was laying on his back with Eddie on top of him pulling him into deeper kisses.

“Eddie… Eddie, please…!” each time [M/N] got a word out he would be silenced by another kiss, he later gave up and just pulled Eddie into a kiss that he poured his heart and soul into “I love you, Eddie…!” he smiled at that, briefly pulling away to rest his forehead on his.

“And I love you just as much.”

Headcanons:

the other members of hellfire came in to find [m/n] and eddie making out on the floor.

eddie sat on [m/n]’s lap with a triumphant smirk on his face while the other continued to lay on the ground, hands covering his face as he wallowed up in embarrassment.

dustin came up to them and held out his hand, [m/n] side eyed him but gave him a high five.

mission accomplished.

[m/n] immensely softened up after finally getting together with eddie, he didn’t mindlessly get into fights with people anymore and just eddie or even dustin’s mere presence is enough to get him to calm down.

robin was happy for [m/n], he literally came running up to her with the biggest smile on his face and hugged her; twirling her around and everything.

this scared the ever living shit out of steve.

[m/n] started sitting with eddie and his lot during lunch, this was enough to get the bullies to back off.

sometimes [m/n] would help eddie with any of his homework, that being eddie openly complaining how hard it was and that he needed help from his hunky and gorgeous boyfriend to assist him.

whenever eddie got an answer right he would be rewarded with a kiss.

most of the time they would get distracted and not even be able to finish the homework.

bike rides are a must.

eddie loved the feeling of the wind breezing through his curly brown locks, often cheering as [m/n] drove down the streets of hawkins.

the first time eddie tried getting on his bike without a helmet [m/n] would just give him a blank expression with his arms crossed and just gave him the most disapproving glare he could muster.

safety first.

when playing d&d, eddie would incorporate [m/n]’s tyrant persona into the campaign.

the others loved it. [m/n] was a barbarian goliah who was a tyrannical king in their latest campaign and they had to strategise how to overthrow him.

they lost epically before he swooned the dungeon master.

they called him a cheater.

he called them sore losers.

dustin believes he’s the greatest wingman because of the fact that eddie and [m/n] are together, the two of them definitely favor him a lot. this sometimes causes the others to get jealous, but all he does in return for their retaliation is hide behind [m/n].

they all though have access to [m/n]’s scary dog privilege.

however, they all know that [m/n] would absolutely do anything for his eddie.

they remember a time they absentmindedly told [m/n] when eddie was being harassed by a few of the jocks in the past. they didn’t see him for the rest of the day until they saw the same guy that harassed eddie run away blooded and crying.

[m/n] turned the corner with blood on his knuckles.

he didn’t see anything wrong with it.

eddie is always flattered, but his heart is always over the moon because [m/n] continued to write him love letters and make him more mixtapes.

they would end up in eddie’s van laying together, listening to the music through his stereo as [m/n] read a loud all the new things he loved about eddie.

he loved eddie.

eddie loved him.

the tyrant and the freak.

Soulmates

word count: 8339

Fandom: IRL!MCYT Pairing: Dream x Male!Reader              Sapnap x Male!Reader              GeorgeNotFound x Male!Reader Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Romantic Occupation: College Student                      Professional Skateboarder                      Traveler Ability: N/A

Keys:

[M/N]: Male Name [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color [S/C]: Skin Color

Warnings: n/a

“Soulmates” pt.2

Soulmate AU: When both soulmates look into a mirror at the same time, they see their soulmate’s reflection.

word count: 2659

DreamWasTaken:

It was one of those rare occasions where Dream was streaming on his twitch account and it wasn’t for MCC, it was just some casual talking with his friends and fellow twitch streamers as they played Minecraft. No lore or challenges, just simply playing around in either survival or creative mode, it was entertaining nonetheless because it was Dream after all. [M/N] was one of those in the audience that was very entertained, watching his stream on one of his monitors while another monitor displayed his work that had to be finished. [M/N]’s attention kept drifting away from what he was supposed to be doing before eventually giving up and putting his full attention on the stream, a smile worked its way to his face at the sound of Dream’s iconic wheeze laughter when Quackity cracked a joke.

“Hey~ while we’re on the topic of Dream’s nonexistent love life,” Quackity started, snickering when he heard Dream let out a shout ”Let’s talk about soulmates!” he cheered, this earned many people in each of their chats to agree, even the others in the Discord call agreed. Soulmate; a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner. It was quite a common occurrence in this world, each person had a different way to find their ideal partner that was meant to be theirs ever since they were born, but the thing that made each person different was that many people had different ways to find their soulmates. Some had the iconic “Red String of Fate”, some had more complicated ones like “having the first letter of their name” on your wrist, and the lucky few who had “timers” located on their wrist.

[M/N] was one of the unfortunate few who had no clue how he was supposed to find his soulmate, he could see colors perfectly, he had a perfectly normal physical appearance and he couldn’t hear any voices ringing in his head, not even marks. He was often teased by his peers and sometimes his family over the thought of him being alone forever; that he was destined to never find his soulmate or that he never had a soulmate, to begin with. He often detested conversations regarding the subject but spoke to not be rude, when asked how he was supposed to find his soulmate... he’d lie through his teeth. It always did hurt that he didn’t know how or who his possible other half was but as he grew older and older, he slowly began losing hope of ever finding a soulmate.

”Soulmates, huh? Has anyone found their soulmate yet?” George asked halfheartedly, grabbing his water bottle and taking a sip, he lets out a refreshed sigh as he places it down before looking into his camera ”Hey chat, how have you been able to find your soulmates? I wanna hear some stories.” Karl lets out a giggle, nodding his head as he looked over at his own chat.

”Same here! I’ve heard some really cute stories.” [M/N]’s interest immediately deteriorates and for some odd reason he was able to focus on his work once more, he pushed through hearing them read out some people’s experience on finding their soulmates, it irritated him as he typed away at his bored, he could only hope that the conversation would stir away from that topic sooner rather than later.

”Enough of the cliché bullshit! I wanna hear some uncommon ones.” Dream says this caught the attention of many 

”I’ve read that there are some rather unique ways to find your soulmate in comparison to some boring ones like their name is on your wrist. Jesus, I want someones where you have no fucking clue who they are.” the chat for all of them went quiet for a couple minutes, all viewers thinking if they’ve got a unique one or not.

dilfking_ donated $10

i think i have one thats odd. this isn’t mine, but rather my cousin’s. he said that the way he was able to find his now current wife was when he looked in a mirror and there he saw her reflection instead of his own

”Mirror?” Sapnap questioned, leaning forward because he was quite intrigued by the story ”Wow... that really is odd! Yo, dilfking_, jesus, you so far take the cake on this one.” Karl let out an ooo sound, clapping his hands.

”Hey, since it’s so uncommon, why don’t we all pull out some mirrors and look into them, hmm? Including the viewers, maybe they might find their soulmate.” [M/N]’s fingers paused from what they were doing, hovering over his keyboard as he listened to his favorite streamers agree, some getting up so they could pull out a mirror. His gaze dampened a little, he was getting desperate by the second and his mind was debating whether or not he should do it as well... ah, what the hell? He lets out a sigh as he pushed himself back a little and there he saw his full body mirror leaning against his wall, what are the chances he’ll actually find his soulmate? There are two outcomes that could occur.

1. he sees himself and he just wasted his time and got his hopes high for absolutely no reason.

2. he actually sees his soulmate and he freaks the absolute fuck out.

If he gets either he’ll cry.

”Why don’t we all do it at the same time, yeah? I think that would make things even more interesting for us as well.” Dream suggested, Quackity laughs at the idea as he claps his hands.

”Ooo, I like that idea very much! If Dream finds his soulmate, they’ll be the first person to see his face in his entire fanbase and they’ll know just how ugly you really are.” Dream rolls his eyes at that as he laughs.

”Oh, come on now. I assure you, I’m actually quite attractive.” this earned him a huff from Sapnap.

”As much as I want to disagree with you, I can’t help but confirm that he is a very sexy man.” now that got them all to laugh, even [M/N] couldn’t help but snicker at that, but just what are the chances someone would be lucky enough to be paired with him through this way? [M/N] would be lucky to get anyone.

“Way to lighten the mood.” he hummed softly, George pats his desk before waving his hands.

”I hope you all have gotten your mirrors ready because we’re about to see if we can find our other half in three... two... one!” at the final countdown, everyone that was participating looked into their mirrors. [M/N] was still very hesitant before he let out a deep breath and leaned back once more to look at his mirror, however, what he saw was different from the last time he glanced at it. He nearly fell out of his chair when he didn’t see his reflection, instead, he saw the reflection of someone completely different that looked just as equally surprised as he was. Gorgeous dirty blonde hair and a noticeable stubble with a unique shade of green eyes, he wasn’t wearing anything extravagant, only a hoodie and some sweats along with a headset, and yet despite the casual attire, this stranger was quite attractive.

For the person in the mirror, he was just as shocked as [M/N] was. He wasn’t really expecting to see anything other than his own reflection, but imagine his surprise when he saw someone elsewhere his reflection was supposed to be. This attractive man has short/long [H/C] hair with [E/C] eyes that just seemed to suit him quite well, he was wearing casual attire but instead, he wore a shirt and a pair of shorts. The two of them continued to stare at each other, not even realizing that they were even doing that until he noticed that [H/C] male started tearing up before letting his head drop a little but his hand came up to catch his head.

“So you’re real...” [M/N] muttered to himself, hand pressed to his forehead as his tears slowly started falling from his eyes “After all this time, you were actually real.” the stranger on the other side of the mirror couldn’t hear what he was saying, he could only see him, it felt like he was on mute and it irritated him that he wasn’t able to comfort his soulmate.”Hey Dream, why’d you go quiet all of a sudden?” Karl questioned, Quackity lets out a laugh as he leans back in his seat.

”What? Did you find your soulmate or something?” he jokes, he expected Dream to laugh with him but was only given silence as a response. He laid in his chair for a couple seconds before sitting up straight, leaning into his mic as he stared at his camera ”Dream? Why aren’t you answering me, you son of a bitch?” he heard the other stutter out noises before finally giving him a verbal response.

”I actually did...” he murmured softly, [M/N]’s eyes widened when he heard Dream speak, whipping his head around to look at the stream ”Huh? He’s looking at something now.” [M/N] was in utter disbelief as he looked back over at his soulmate, his heart thumping against his chest when he heard Dream through the stream say that his soulmate was looking at him again. [M/N] was having a mental crisis. Not only was he actually able to find his soulmate, but he was that lucky motherfucker that got the Dream, the famous YouTuber and Twitch streamer known for his crazy Minecraft plays, as his soulmate!

“Holy shit.” was all he could say, a soft blush rose to his cheeks when he heard Dream laugh.

”I think they just swore, aw~ do you find me that attractive?” he cooed, not really expecting to get a response, but was thoroughly surprised when he saw [M/N] nod his head ”Wait, can you hear me?” [M/N] nods his head once more, he then perks up as he looks around his desk for something, when he finds it he grabs it before scribbling on it and presenting it to Dream.

‘I’m actually watching your stream right now.’ it read, [M/N] chuckled softly when he noticed Dream squinted his eyes as he read the message, his eyes drifting off for a couple seconds before he jerks back in surprise.

”So wait-- fuck, Sapnap called it.” he hears Sapnap let out a cheer, Dream slaps a hand onto his face before dragging it down his face, even though he couldn’t hear him, he couldn’t help but flush a little at the sight of [M/N] bursting out into laughter “No fair, you can hear me, but I can’t hear you. Plus, you already know my name, can I have yours?” the others in the Discord lean forward, rather interested in the fact that Dream managed to find his soulmate, much to their dismay.

“How cute~” he cooed softly, he tears the page off, crushing it into a ball before throwing it into a bin. With a fresh new page, he thinks for a bit before writing down what he wanted then showing Dream his message. At first, he read the first part then paused a little, he sat there for a couple seconds before muting himself.

”Hey, Dream, where did you go? Dream?” they all let out groans when they realized that Dream wanted to see what it said, muting himself in case he accidentally reads it out loud.

’Hi Dream, I’m a really big fan and I’m quite shocked to know that you’re my soulmate. I always thought that I didn’t have one, but I’m so glad that I do. I was quite lonely because I was never sure if I was ever going to find my soulmate, so thank you for the reassurance. Also, thanks for the sneak peek, by the way, you really are a sexy man. From yours truly, [M/N].’ when he noticed Dream had finished reading it, he lowered it and waited anxiously for his reaction. Now that he couldn’t hear him anymore, he was even more worried, he twiddled with his fingers then perked up when he noticed Dream laugh. Dream rummaged through his own desk before pulling out a notebook, scribbling down his reply then showing it to him.

’Hi [M/N], I’m quite glad that you’re a fan of mine, if not we probably would’ve never been able to see each other, huh? Don’t go blabbering about what you know to others, okay? I’m still planning my big face reveal, so no spoilers. Plus, you’re quite attractive as well. I believe I scored big time.’ Dream smiles when he noticed [M/N] grow flustered, pressing a hand to his temple as he tried to suppress his grin but ultimately failed. Dream noticed [M/N] soon rise to his feet as he approached the mirror, so he did the same thing, there they both noticed small little details they couldn’t see from where they were sitting. The former pouted softly when he noticed that the latter was just a couple inches taller than him and was a bit more muscular while his [S/C] skin was a bit tanner, for [M/N], he noticed that Dream had freckles scattered across his face and though he was wearing a hoodie, he noticed some more dancing along his neck.

The two continued to stare at each other before [M/N] raised his hand and pressed it against the glass, Dream didn’t hesitate to follow suit and pressed his hand where his hand was, the both of them smiling softly when they could just feel a soft warmth beneath the palms of their hands. To them, it was quite comforting that they were finally able to find their other half.

Headcanons:

dream immediately ended the stream and left the discord call. [m/n] felt a tad bit guilty for killing everyone’s joy but he was a little touched that dream dropped everything so he could talk a little to him.

they exchanged numbers and discord usernames so they could privately chat amongst each other, it was genuinely quite fun.

sometimes [m/n] would hear sapnap in the background screaming at him to stop talking to him and hangout, to which he would be ignored in favor of talking to him even more.

dream wanted to visit him or for [m/n] to come visit him, but realized the exact distance between each other.

[m/n] resided in hawaii, explaining why most of the time dream always sounded so tired whenever they chatted (florida is five hours ahead of hawaii)

other than that, dream would mostly flaunt about how he was able to find his soulmate.

cue quackity saying it was his idea to talk about soulmates.

cue george saying it was his idea to ask the chat their stories.

he ignored them.

[m/n] was later invited to their discord, much to his excitement because he was still quite a fan to the dsmp.

[m/n] would often laugh when he would hear sapnap saying how dnf was now dead thanks to the fact that dream was now taken and all his love and attention was now directed a him.

at least dream shut up about george now.

when [m/n] decides to visit dream, he would keep it a secret and would surprise him. though, he would tell sapnap the plan and the guy would hands down drop everything to help him.

sapnap quite liked [m/n].

when [m/n] was in florida, sapnap would smuggle him into dream’s room and when the latter does appear in his room, he would tackle the poor man to the ground and embrace him. 

the both of them would feel a type of warmth swell in their chest and as they laid their on the floor, dream would push himself off the ground so he could finally kiss the lips of the man destined to be his.

Soulmate AU: A tattoo that represents their soulmate is on their body and it blooms/grows when they meet.

word count: 2448

Sapnap:

“Karl, what the fuck man?” [M/N] murmured to himself, glancing at his phone that was pressed to his ear in confusion. His younger cousin, Karl Jacobs, was currently on the phone with him as he sat in the skate park with a couple of his friends, he was currently sitting down with his feet hanging over the edge of the cradle, board beside him as he watched other skaters go by but his attention was fully on his cousin on the other line.

”Oh, come on! I’ve told him about you and he’s been dying to meet you, mostly because he wants to show off how good he is at skating.” [M/N] hummed at that, hmph, sure. [M/N] was a professional skateboarder who’s performed in many skateboarding competitions, winning his fair share and even being lucky enough to be sponsored by MrBeast, courtesy of Karl.

“I thought you two lived in different states?” he said, giving his friend a death glare when tried kicking his board down the cradle, only for him to react quick enough to move it away then flip them off.

”You clearly don’t look at social media, do you?” he only rolled his eyes in response to that ”He came from Florida to meet up with me, we’ve done a couple things and I mentioned visiting the skate park you always go to. He seemed to remember that in a passing conversation and asked if you would be there.”

“My fame is nothing in comparison to yours, Karl. Why does he want to meet me so bad?”

”... he’s a fan?” [M/N] purses his lips, face drawn a blank as he leans back in where he’s sitting, he hums in thought before shrugging his shoulders.

“Well, alright. I don’t understand why he’s a fan of mine, I’m not that popular.” he could tell that Karl waved his hand to dismiss him.

”On the contrary, cous, you are popular. Remember who’s sponsoring you?” he pulls a face at that, right ”Since I’ve been given the go too, I’ll see you in a couple hours, okay? Don’t bail on me now.” [M/N] rolled his eyes at the playful tone in Karl’s voice.

“I won’-- hey! Fucker, give my board back!” Karl winced, pulling the phone away from his ear when he heard [M/N] start cursing from his side of the line. He starts laughing when he could hear his cousin screaming at his friends for stealing his board and skating away from him, he hears [M/N] growl before bringing the phone back up ”I’ll see you when I see you, right now I need to beat some ass.” Karl snorts.

“Alright, don’t commit murder.”

”No promises.” with that he hung up, Karl jokingly rolled his eyes before glancing over at where Sapnap was, to which the latter had an excited grin on his face as he bounced up and down on the couch like a child on christmas day.

“So, what did he say?” he eagerly asked, standing up and approaching his taller friend.

“He agreed, but we might want to be quick because I think he might take a life.” this caused Sapnap to look up at Karl in a confused manner. Sapnap, the mighty Texan man and skater boy, was in disbelief when he learned that Karl Jacobs was related to the renowned skateboarder, his cousin to be exact and that they were really close. He bombarded Karl with questions because he wanted to know so much about him, being one of his biggest fans, he found watching him compete in competitions so thrilling and exciting he feels his heart skip a beat each time he sees him perform tricks for beginners to complex tricks for pros. His mind soon drifted off to a time when [M/N] won a competition and was doing an exclusive interview, the topic? Soulmates.

”Soulmates?” he questioned, everyone, watching whether in person or in the comforts of their homes, couldn’t help but be curious to his answer ”Well, finding my soulmate isn’t particularly my main priority. I think it’ll be great if we meet, but I’m not in any rush to find them.” the interviewer nods their head.

”I see. But, do you know the method to find your soulmate?” [M/N] nods his head, for context, he had stripped his shirt off because the blistering hot sun was shining down on them all but after performing all those tricks under it and the pressure, he took his shirt off to cool himself a little. Back to the topic at hand, there, he pointed at flame tattoos that started at his left shoulder that spread up to the bottom side of his neck, took up the left side of his collar bones, and traveled down his arm a bit but stopped at his bicep ”The moment I meet my soulmate, my tattoo will spread further along my body and my soulmate will have a tattoo similar to my own personality.” people in the crowd clapped their hands.

”Wow, such a unique way to find his soulmate.”

“I’m jealous.”

“The tattoo looks cool on him.”

“His soulmate makes him look even cooler.”

Watching that interview gave Sapnap hope that he was his, mostly because he had the same type of way of finding his soulmate as [M/N], but that could purely be a coincidence... he hoped not. The tattoo he had was on his back, it started from the right side of his back and it seemed to be a flower of sorts that was going to bloom but traveling down his back and nearly covering his entire back was vines coming out of the flower-filled with thorns. By the time Sapnap’s thoughts came back he realized that he was sitting in the passenger seat of Karl’s car as he drove to the skate park where [M/N] currently was committing first-degree murder.

“Should I watch what I say?” Karl rolled his eyes at that.

“No, he’s one of the most vulgar people I’ve ever met, even more, vulgar than Tommy.” that caught Sapnap by surprise “He acts polite when he needs to be, but behind closed doors, he’ll curse like a sailor. Though he’s attentive when the time comes.”

“Attentive?”

“You should see him with my cat, one time he came to my house just to take my cat. I swear.” he nods his head at that.

“Okay.” it didn’t take long for them to arrive at the skate park, Sapnap was a little nervous and it showed by the way he was huddled to himself with his board in his hand as he followed closely behind Karl, who smiled and greeted the local skaters who recognized him as [M/N]’s cousin.

“Yo, Karl’s here!”

“Hey, Karl!”

“Who’s your friend there?” a few people asked, said man grinned as he pats Sapnap’s back and pushes him forward slightly.

“A friend of mine, who’s also a fan of [M/N].” one of them laughed, kicking his board up before pointing behind him.

“If you’re looking for him, he’s back there. We had to stop him from sending the guys to the hospital after they stole his board, you know how he sees that fucking board as a child.” this caused Karl to roll his eyes once more.

“That’s because it was custom made... and was also a gift from me.” he muttered the last part to himself, feeling a little touched that his cousin treasured it, he remembered the first time he saw [M/N] use the board in one of his competitions and he was absolutely over the moon. They all go over to where [M/N] was and there they saw him, Sapnap watched in awe when [M/N] performed a kickflip onto some railings, effortlessly grinding on them before landing on the ground and casually skating around. Karl goes to call him out but they all pause, watching as he skated over to where another railing that kept the skate park gated from the water on the other side, there, when he got closer to the railings he jumped off his board and into the water “Wha the-- what the fuck?!” Sapnap was just as equally shocked but the other skaters merely laughed.

“The fuck did he do that for?” one of them shouts, the ones closest to where [M/N] was were laughing as they recorded what happened.

“We bet [M/N] wouldn’t do that, before saying that he ain’t no pussy and doing it.”

“That sounds like him.”

“Mm hmm.” a couple minutes past and [M/N] finally emerged from wherever he came from, he was laughing wholeheartedly as his friends gave him pats on the back, he then swiped away the money they bet on. They spoke amongst each other until they told him that his cousin and his friend were finally there and so [M/N] looked over at them, he offered them a smile followed by a wave before approaching them.

“Sapnap, calm down. I can feel your nervousness all the way from here.” Karl glanced down, letting out a soft sigh when he noticed that Sapnap was trembling from anxiousness as [M/N] got closer and closer.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t control it.” he had a gay panic when he saw Karl’s cousin reach down to grab the ends of his shirt before pulling it over his head, Karl rolled his eyes at how overdramatic that was while Sapnap was fighting everything just to keep his face from turning completely red. His eyes were looking down at his feet but he couldn’t help but steal glances at him, mostly at his tattoo that nearly covered his entire left side.

“Hey Karly, it’s been a while.” the taller of the two of them greeted, Karl huffed as he poked his chest.

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that.” he snickers.

“It’s cute, and I know you like it.” he smiles when he noticed Karl was trying to fight down the grin that was threatening to spread across his face as small giggles came out of his mouth, he then dropped his shirt to the ground before leaning down slightly to wrap his broad arms around him to pull him into a hug “It’s good to see you, it’s been a while since the last time I got to see your ugly mug.” they both share a laugh as [M/N] put him down, this allowed Karl to smack his arm.

“You are you calling ugly?” he shakes his head before turning then raised his arm to gesture to Sapnap “This is the friend I was telling you about, his name is Nicholas, but he usually goes by Sapnap.” Karl moved so that he was standing beside his taller cousin, [M/N] looked down at him and noticed that the expression he wore was a mixture of excitement and anxiousness “He’s a big fan, by the way.” Karl whispered in his ear, this didn’t go unnoticed as Sapnap glared at him.

“Quit it, Karl!” [M/N] only laughed.

“A fan, huh? Well, I can’t help but be a fan of yours as well, Nicholas. I’ve watched a couple of Karl’s streams and other videos on YouTube and I’ve grown quite fond of your appearances.” he chuckled when he noticed that spurred a bit of a reaction out of him.

“Tha-- Thank you.” this action earned [M/N] another smack to his arm.

“Stop torturing the poor guy.”

“I’m not.”

“Are too.” he shook his head, not even answering him because he knew this was going to be a back and forward argument between the both of them, so he offered his hand towards Sapnap.

“Though you already know, my name is [M/N]. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nicholas, or should I call you Sapnap?” teasing him felt so fun, watching his face flush an even deeper shade of red, he then watched as Sapnap shakily reached for his hand to return the handshake,

“You can call me whatever makes you feel comfortable.”

“Alright, Nicholas.” the moment the two of them grasped each other’s hands, [M/N] felt a burning pain that spread from the left side of his torso and arm and traveled over to his right and now there was a symmetrical flaming pattern on both sides of his body. For Sapnap, he felt the thorns and vines on his back begin to cover his back as the flower bud bloomed into a gorgeous flower and other flower buds on the vines bloomed as well, littering his back with flowers and flower petals. Everyone stood in shock at what had happened, [M/N] glanced down at his chest and saw how the flames on his body spread the moment he shook Sapnap’s hand so he glanced down at the other and saw his face was completely read.

...

...

“What a revelation.” he murmured.

Headcanon:

the moment sapnap saw how it was him that caused his tattoos to grow even more, he quite literally fainted.

by the time he came down to earth, he noticed that he was laying down on a bench with [m/n] sitting by his side, using his hand fan his face to keep it cool.

[m/n] felt him shift so he glanced down and noticed how he was covering his face, he found it absolutely adorable so he didn’t hesitate to lean down and press his lips to the back of his hands.

his friends called him gay.

karl told him to get a room.

the next following days was [m/n] visiting karl’s house unannounced just so he could spend some time with his cute soulmate, to which he would flirt and tease with relentlessly.

karl would sometimes have to throw [m/n] out of the house because he would find it annoying whenever he would find his cousin making out with sapnap on the middle of the couch.

speaking of which, [m/n] would feel absolutely honored to be sapnap’s first kiss, he would make sure that their kiss was filled with some much love that the other would be craving him.

sapnap would try to fluster [m/n] with everything he had, but the other was just a professional and whenever he did attempt to do something, it would just come back and bite him in the ass.

sometimes literally.

other than that, cuddling with this beautiful specimen of a man is absolute paradise.

despite being taller and more muscular, [m/n] can’t help but be the little spoon between the two of them.

sapnap ain’t complaining, he quite enjoys the feeling of his arms wrapped around this much larger man as the other held him close.

these were the small moments these two loved to bask in.

Soulmate AU: The location of where they meet their soulmate appear at a certain time in their life and when they meet their soulmate they appear in the picture.

word count: 3232

GeorgeNotFound:

To George, the way he had to find his soulmate was exactly like GeoGuessr. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he held the polaroid picture within his hands, the picture held the location of where he would meet his soulmate and he could just recognize it as Miami Beach in Florida... he was dreading the thought that he was actually Dream's soulmate. He shook his head as he glanced at the other photos and noticed that they were all popular places within America, from Texas to Washington, even places out of American like France and Italy.

"They sure like to travel a lot." he muttered to himself, placing down another photo when he recognized the famous monument in the background. He groaned to himself when he realized that Dream lived in Orlando, which was a two to three-hour drive from Miami Beach, why did it have to be that far? He lets out a sigh as he tosses the photo down onto the table he was sitting at, leaning his cheek against his closed fist but he couldn't help but stare at the photo. His curiosity would eventually get the best of him once he gets to Florida but until then, he pushed it into the back of his mind as he collected each of the photos and put them away in a box for safekeeping.

Eventually, the thought of his soulmate slowly drifted out of his mind and he focused more on posting videos onto his YouTube and Twitch accounts to satisfy his viewers. However, when the due date for him to travel to America to visit his friends in real life started to preoccupy his thoughts, the thought of coincidentally meeting his soulmate at the same time couldn't help but make his pale skin turn a shade of red. Whenever that kept happening, he would pull out the box of blank photos and stare at them for hours on end, feeling a tug on his heart each time and feelings of excitement taking over his heart. He was getting rather eager to leave for America with each passing day, then soon that day finally came, he packed his things, the box of photos too, and hopped onto the next early flight to Florida.

"George!" he was a little flustered upon meeting Dream, this 6″3ft of a man who opened his arms wide and enveloped him in a long hug, managing to lift him up and swing him side to side. The two of them laughed when Sapnap came from behind them and hugged George from behind him, squeezing them both with the strength he had in his arms "You're finally here, I'm so happy." Dream cheered, Sapnap wore a similar expression as he released them from his side of the hug.

"Yeah, we have the spare room prepared and everything, all you need is to put your stuff in and you're all set." Dream nodded his head as he grabbed a couple of his bags, Sapnap doing the same.

"We'll even give you a hand." George scoffed with a laugh, rolling his eyes as he elbowed Dream in his side.

"Gee, thanks." they all share a laugh, they threw his luggage into the boot of their car before Dream took the wheel, Sapnap fighting George for the passenger seat, before taking off for Dream's house. When arriving, George was greeted with the sight of cute little Patches curled up in a ball on the couch, the younger duo laughed when they saw George shuffle over to where Patches was and so they left him to pet the cat while they brought his stuff to the spare room. Petting Patches felt like paradise, he was quite scared Dream's cat wouldn't like him but seeing her melt within the palm of his hand made him think otherwise.

"Hey, George!" he let out a groan, whining a little when Patches got up and sauntered away at the sound of Sapnap's shouting from upstairs "Give us a hand at unpacking your shit." now this caused him to react.

"Wait, hey! Don't touch my stuff!" he then heard laughter coming from the two before rushing upstairs, throwing the door open, there he saw the two looking through his suitcases "Man! You nosey dicks." he shouts, rushing over and swiping his things from them.

"We're just giving you a hand." he rolled his eyes, he helped them organize his clothes and other belongings he brought the way he wanted, he was in the middle of refolding one of his clothes when he heard Dream let out a hum.

"Hmm? Hey George, what's this?" he glanced over his shoulder and there he saw Dream opening the box full of photos, he sighed, shaking his head as he put the folded pants into the draw as he approached them.

"Jesus, don't you know curiosity killed the cat?" Sapnap scoffed, peeking over Dream's shoulder as he took one of the photos.

"And yet, satisfaction brought it back." Dream raised a brow.

"Wait, isn't this Miami Beach?" he questioned, taking a closer look at it, recognizing the shorelines of the beach "Yeah, it is! How do you have a polaroid photo of Miami Beach? I thought you said you've never been to America." he just waves his hand to dismiss the thought, snatching the photos back from them both and putting it back in the boat.

"That's because I haven't been to America, they're just the location of where I'm going to meet my soulmate." he casually answers, getting ready to put the box away but Dream took it out of his hands once more, taking out the same one he was eyeing and holding it above his head and out of his reach.

"Wait, your soulmate?!" Sapnap snatched it from Dream and eyed it, letting the taller male to sulk, he then laughs.

"Hah! DNF is officially dead." George just rolled his eyes.

"So dramatic." he takes it back once more but this time he eyed it for a good couple of seconds, not noticing the way Dream and Sapnap loomed over his shoulder to look at the photo.

"We can go find them, you know?" this caused George's face to turn red, bringing the photo close to his chest as he shook his head.

"N-No... we don't really need to." they both lean back and eye each other before wrapping an arm around his shoulder, causing him to let out a yelp when he was pulled back, he felt the two press their cheeks onto his as they grin at him.

"Oh, but we really do. We need to see if this chump is worthy of you."

"Mm hmm. Maybe we can invite Karl and Quackity to help." George sighs, but in all honesty, he quite appreciates it.

"Haa, sure." the plan to find his soulmate soon turned into a trip between them and the other two, a little road trip from Orlando to Miami. Sometimes the main objective as to why they were traveling to Miami would be thrown out the window by Sapnap and Dream because it was a road trip between their little group and even if they couldn't find his soulmate, they were going to enjoy themselves and have fun. The day to set out was when Quackity and Karl rocked up to Dream's place, they exchanged their happy greetings before jumping into the car and starting their three-hour trip from Orlando to Miami.

Dream was the first to drive, George in the passenger seat while Sapnap, Quackity, and Karl sat in the back, in that order. Most of the ride was George sitting in silence as he thought of countless scenarios in his head, what is he supposed to say when he meets them? Are they going to like him? How was he supposed to act with a complete stranger? How was he going to explain that he was their soulmate? He groaned as he buried his face into the palms of his hands, he was having a mental breakdown but the sound of his friend's encouragement managed to lift his spirits.

Just a bit.

"Damn, that was a long drive." Sapnap groaned out, placing his hands on the lower side of his back and leaning backward, letting out a sigh when he heard a crack. The others made noises of agreement, stretching their aching bodies as they filed out of the car and looked around. Quackity lit out a cheer, inhaling deeply through his nose to inhale the scent of the salty ocean water, grinning to himself when he felt the blistering sun shining down on him.

"But it's all worth it, don't you think?" Karl giggles to himself while nodding his head.

"Mm hmm, even if we don't manage to find them, we can still enjoy ourselves, right?" they all turn to George and saw he wasn't really listening, his attention back on the photo. Dream was the first to approach him, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a light squeeze, this caused the brit to finally raise his head to look up at his friend.

"We'll do our best to find them, okay? We won't stop until you want to, okay?" he slowly nods his head.

"Okay. Thanks for the help." they each give him a grin.

"Without a doubt, George!" he mirrors the expression they gave him before they left the parking lot, finding the location where the picture was taken was a hassle. They were at Miami Beach, a popular beach and a tourist attraction within Florida and finding that one specific spot from that photo was most likely going to take forever. Though, keeping to their word, half of the time they spent that day looking for his soulmate while the other was spent relaxing under the sun, playing in the water, and greeting a couple fans that recognized them... to which Dream sped off and jumped into a bush to hide since he hadn't really face revealed just yet and only left his house for moral support for George, also to meet the fucker who was his sou--

"This is taker forever." George groaned out, slapping his hands onto his face and dragging them down. He and the other four sat on beach chairs, each with a beverage in their hands while laying down, though George was the only one sitting up straight "What if we don't find him them?" Quackity rolled his eyes, pushing his glasses up.

"You're being dramatic and impatient, Gogy. Plus, meeting your soulmate is all about fate. Finding them is all about luck... and it is a coincidence." with that, he flicked them back down before relaxing into his chair, Karl was the next to comment, raising his head and nonchalantly waving his hand.

"He's right. You can't rush the system." George rolls his eyes.

"You guys are enjoying this too much." he grumbles, he just sighs before standing to his feet and walking off, muttering that he needed some time to be alone. This time, he was walking around with no destination in mind, just simply letting his feet carry him to wherever they needed to go. The thought of never being able to find his soulmate was slowly beginning to plague his mind and negative thoughts were circulating within his thoughts, he pulled out the photo once more, his full attention on it as he continued to walk.

What if I can never find yo--

"Incoming!" he was startled at the shout, he raised his head, only to let out a shout when he was brought to the sandy ground when someone landed on top of him. If his day couldn't get any worse, it just did. His hand closed into a tight fist and so he goes to lash out at the person in front of him but paused when they were already on their feet, a look of guilt on their face as they extended their hand out to him "Ah, shit! I'm so sorry!"

"Nice going, dude!" a voice shouted from behind the stranger, to which an irritated took over his apologetic one as he turned his head around to shout and glare at the individual.

"Shut the fuck up! It's your fault for not being able to receive it properly! You didn't even score us a point!" the group behind him laughed as he just shook his head, he then looked back down at George once more and laughed nervously "I really am sorry about crashing into you, I just get pretty competitive when playing sports." George continued to stare at the hand extended out to him before hesitantly taking it.

"Don't worry about it." George was yanked to his feet, stumbling forward by the amount of force the other put into it, and that landed him in his chest. George grew flustered and pushed himself back, cursing himself with how easily his face flushed a shade of pink.

"Are you alright there?" he reached forward, noticing how his face turned pink that reached to the tips of his ears.

"I-I'm fine, I swear." though the other was still concerned, he nodded his head. He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the adrenaline that was bursting throughout his entire body slowly begin to fade away and that awkwardness between strangers start to rise up, he wanted to start a conversation between himself and the rather pretty man before him, but before he could start, a volleyball was spiked into the back of his head that made his head jerk forward, this also caused George to gasp "Holy-- are you okay?" he shouts, reaching forward before flinching backward when the other glared at his snickering friends.

"Oh for the love of-- you're fucking dead meat, you hear me!" he shouts, the blush returned to George's face when he saw the taller man pull his shirt over his head, and there he saw his muscular and toned body that was covered in sweat, sand and seawater "Sorry again." he apologies before rushing off to kick his friend's ass, George meekly waved goodbye before backing away. He slaps his face to regain his composure and let out a sigh, he then pulled out the photo to see if it was damaged during the fall but he froze when he saw that a person finally appeared in the picture.

There, he saw the image of the man who crashed on him, a bright smile on his face as he offered his hand to what he believed was him, and a soft blush tinted his cheeks. George felt his heart start racing, his breathing and the little words falling from his lips stuttering as he raised his head in search of the man that was walking away from him. Before he knew it, his legs were moving on their own once more to chase after the attractive and tall man.

"Wai... wait!" his voice spoke for him as his arm reached towards him, the latter was just about to reach his friends when he felt someone grab his wrist and yank him backward. He had a confused look on his face as he turned around, and there he saw that pale yet gorgeous brunette before him once more.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, leaning down to gently grab at the arm that was holding his wrist, George was panting slightly as his grip on his wrist tightened.

"I-I'm... you're my-- dammit, I..." he couldn't speak, when he managed to collect himself, he raised the photo with trembling hands, and the male within his hands stared at it closely. There was silence between them once more and George was regretting the fact that he was being so clingy to a stranger, but in all honesty, he was getting restless and just wanted to know if he was the one "I think you're my soulmate."

...

...

"Damn, we knew you were gay." George gasped silently when he heard voices, raising his head, he paused when he saw that the man in front of him had a flustered expression on his face, a blush on his cheeks while his friends stood behind him and stared at the photo "Can't say I'm not jealous though."

"Your soulmate is quite pretty."

"Talk about pretty privileges." he just growled at them, they snicker before running away, but one of them handed his phone to him. The stranger gently slipped his hand out of George's grip so he could remove his phone case, there, he pulled out his own polaroid photo and looked at his closely. He slowly nods his head before showing George, and there he saw that the picture revealed him with a flushed face, a soft and nervous smile on his face as he hands one hand to his chest while the other was slowly reaching forward.

"So you're my soulmate..." he mumbled softly, to which George slowly nodded his head "Um... my name is [M/N], quite an awkward way to meet your soulmate, don't you think?" George giggled softly.

"Yeah, I suppose. I'm George, by the way." [M/N] runs a hand through his [H/C] locks, messing with his hair before extending his hand out to him.

"Would you like to, I don't know, get to know each other?" he offered, George stared at his hand, [M/N] urging him to take it, the former took a breath before giving him a nervous smile and taking his hand.

"I'd like that very much."

Headcanons:

the two of them spent the rest of that day getting to know each other.

george learnt that [m/n] traveled a lot, explaining as to why there were so many photos of random locations.

he also learnt the reason as to why [m/n] was in florida in the first place, it was because that was where he was going to meet george.

wow, what a damn coincidence, it wasn’t just because [m/n] was planning a trip to miami beach but to damn find him.

[m/n] learnt from the other that he was from britian, this caused the bigger one of the two to clap his hands and saying that he’s been planning on visiting britian but now won’t because george was in america.

the two of them hadn’t even realized how long they had been talking for until george’s phone started ringing because his friends were wondering where the hell he was.

cue george bringing [m/n] back to his group of friends.

cue the look of shock on their faces as the 6″5ft shirtless man stood next to george.

quackity wanted to square up with this tall hunk of meat.

dream was totally not jealous that this guy was actually really attractive.

karl was clapping.

sapnap was laughing.

at the end of the day, [m/n] and his group of equally tall friends invited george and his friends back to their hotel room to hang about so that they wouldn’t have to drive elsewhere to find accommodations.

[m/n] and george were quite perfect together. 

they both had their own way with showing affections, and since neither of them were very forward or showy about PDA, holding hands was enough for them that very moment until they were ready. 

but george couldn’t help his heart from fluttering each time he saw [m/n] smile at him and press his lips to the back of his hands and knuckles.

this trip to america was totally worth it all in the end.

Obvious

word count: 7501

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Will Byers x Male!Reader Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Romantic Occupation: Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[M/N]: Male Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: bullying, vulgar language, blood

“Get him out! Get him out!”

“Strike him!”

“Shoot for a home run!”

“Get the win!”

Being the last batter for a really important baseball game puts a lot on your shoulders, especially when you’re the up and rising star of your team while representing your school. He takes a deep breath, tensing his muscles while tightening his grip on his baseball bat. Himself and the pitcher never broke eye contact, that pitcher was out for blood and he was going to make sure he didn’t give it to him. He licked his lips, taking a deep breath when he saw the pitcher finally get ready to throw the ball. He blocked out all the cheering as he focused on the ball hurdling towards him, when it was finally inches away from him he slammed his foot on the ground and let out a grunt, swinging the bat and upon contact with the ball, he managed to send it flying out of the field. He didn’t fight down the huge grin that stretched across his face when he sent that ball flying, letting out his own cheer as he threw down his bat and ran to each base.

“And there you have it folks, Lenora Hills High have won against their rivalling team for the first time in nearly a decade! And all thanks to their new rising star, [M/N] [L/N] who granted them their winning home run!” by the time he returned back to home base, he was greeted by his team and school huddling around him, grabbing a hold of him and lifting him up.

“That’s our [M/N]!”

“Way to go!”

“You did it, [M/N]!” he just laughed as they threw him up and down before finally letting him down, grabbing their jug of water and pouring it on him. He usually would have yelled at them for doing that but it felt refreshing on his hot and sweaty body, he took his helmet off and threw his head back, running a hand through his sweaty hair but grinned nonetheless and threw his fist into the air. After the game he was met with bustling students and parents congratulating him for getting the winning shot, he smiled and thanked them and was approaching his pick up truck but was stopped by a familiar face.

“H-Hey, [M/N]!” turning to see who it was, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of one of the Byers siblings “Congrats on the win.” his smile grew at his words, he readjusted the shoulder strap of his duffel bag and approached him.

“Thanks, Will. Did you see my swing? I’ve been putting a lot of effort into my swings as of lately.” the Indiana boy nodded his head, his face lighting up as he waved his hands around.

“Yeah, I was watching from the crowd! It was pretty tense, but I knew you’d get it.” [M/N] chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully “Um, now that you’re here, I was wondering if you wanted to come to the after party with my lot.” Will tensed up when he saw [M/N] point over to the boys who were jumping into his truck while hooting and hollering.

“Come on dude! Lets get going!” he laughed and waved at them to wait.

“Gimme a sec, alright.” they groan but do, [M/N] then glanced at Will again and give him a hopeful look “So? Will you come?” he inhaled sharply, raising his hand to rub his arm.

“I-I’d love too, but I—”

“Will! We gotta go man, come on!” they both glance over and saw the eldest Byers, Johnathan, waving his brother over while his sister Jane and their friend Argyle sat in the van “Mum wants us home, like, right now.” Will closed his eyes in disappointment as he turned back to look at [M/N], who looked just as disappointed but he chuckled softly.

“Ah, that’s a bit of a shame, but it can’t be helped.” he murmured softly “I guess I’ll see you at school next week?” he asked, Will nodded his head.

“Y-Yeah, totally.” [M/N] smiled and sent the brunette a wink, causing him to fluster. [M/N] found the reaction adorable but latter groaned when he heard his friends shouting at him to hurry up, he waved Will goodbye then finally went back to his truck, chucking his shit at his passenger “See you later, [M/N]!” he exclaimed, this caused the [H/C] boy to grin and wave him goodbye before he turned on his radio and drove off with his friends and himself screaming to the top of their lungs to the music.

“Will.” he jumped at the call of his name, turning around, he saw Johnathan giving him a look “You good?” he nervously nodded his head.

“Y-Yeah, I’m spectacular.” Johnathan nods his head slowly.

“Yeah…”

Will couldn’t explain when his attraction towards [M/N] [L/N] first arose. Maybe it was because he was different in comparison to the other students of Lenora Hills High School. He was apart of the popular crowd, and how could he not be? He was gorgeous, athletic, smart and did I mention nice? It happened when Angela was bullying Eleven, there wasn’t much he could do to stop it because he didn’t have that kind of presence to do anything about it, but that was when [M/N] appeared. He didn’t hesitate to put Angela in her place, giving her a clean smack across the back of her head and sternly telling her not to bully poor little Eleven. Without a doubt, despite the both of them being sophomores, they were already declared to be the next King and Queen of the school.

Anyways, [M/N] just had Will swooning. He always stuck up for him and Eleven, he was always so nice to them and the way he would always send a smile his direction, how could he not fall deeper? But the moment he asked if they could be friends, gosh, he was over the moon. He wished things could’ve worked out with Mike, he wished he had to courage to tell Mike his feelings, but he knew they wouldn’t be reciprocated, Mike already had El and he knew he had to move on. Now his eyes were on the boy that every girl had a crush on, god, he was fucking doomed. He was cursed for crushing on the wrong people, Mike was taken and [M/N] was wanted by everyone. Maybe he was making a mistake for falling in love with the most popular guy in school, maybe he was better off digging himself a hole and burying himself—

“Will!” he jumped, slamming his locker door closed then turning to see [M/N] waving his friends off then jog over to where he was “Hey man, how was your weekend?” Will waved his hand.

“Oh, you know, same old, same old. I wouldn’t say anything exciting happened, but, you know?” he laughed nervously, this caused [M/N] to chuckle softly while running a hand through his hair.

“I get it, it’s still a shame you couldn’t come to the after party, would have loved it if you were there.” ah, there he goes again saying stuff that makes his heart flutter “We couldn’t do anything too chaotic, but we had fun nonetheless. Maybe I should win our next game, then maybe you’ll be able to attend the after party with me.” Will snorts softly, punching his arm.

“Don’t go getting arrogant, [M/N], that’ll cost you the win.”

“Haa, you’re right.” he then leaned back a little so that he was standing on the heels of his feet, a slight flush rising to his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck once more “Actually, I was wondering if you were busy this weekend? I was hoping we could, um, hangout?” how badly Will wanted to say yes, this was a chance for him to get closer to [M/N] that wasn’t simply over help with schoolwork and actually hanging out with his crush, but he couldn’t.

“I’m sorry, [M/N], but I can’t.” this caused him to deflate.

“Well, why not?” he gave him a sheepish grin, now rubbing the back of his own neck.

“My friend, from Indiana, he’s coming here to visit my sister and I.” [M/N]’s shoulders relaxed a little, looking up in thought to remember the friend Will was referring to.

“Oh… right, Mike Wheeler, right? I remember you mentioning him in w passing conversation.” he then lets out a huff, kicking his feet like child “Then I guess it’s alright, wouldn’t want your friend feeling lonely while in a completely different state.”

“Right.” [M/N] then let out a grunt when someone elbowing him, he gave them a soft glare when he saw that it was his friends coming to collect him.

“Come on, dude. We’ve got math first, and that’s on the other side of the building. I don’t want to be late because you were too business talking to Byers, let’s go.” he scoffs and kicks them in the back of their leg, this caused them to stumble forward but they managed to catch themself and laugh as they scurried away, he shook his head.

“Well, duty calls. I’ll see you later?” Will nods.

“Yeah, see you later.” [M/N] nods with a grin then runs off to catch up with his friends, when he was finally alone, he let out a deep sigh as he collapsed onto his locker and probably would have slid down it if there weren’t people around him. He silently cursed in the back of his head, if only Mike was coming a week later then maybe he could have the chance to be with [M/N] “Dammit.” [M/N] himself curses under his breath, walking beside his friends to their class.

“Do you think I’m being pushy? Every time I’ve tried to ask him to hang out, he’s always got an excuse.” his friend let out a groan, slapping a hand onto their face and dragging it down.

“Dude, you’re overthinking it. You said his friend is visiting from Hawkins, right? That run down little town out in the middle of the sticks? A friend that he hasn’t seen for about a year?” he nods his head “Then let the guy see him, man. You’re acting like a boyfriend who’s upset that his girlfriend is meeting a childhood friend, who is a boy, after a long time and worried that he’s going to steal your girlfriend.” he immediately grows flustered, the tips of his ears turning red as he smacked his arm.

“I am not.” he sneers, this earned an eye roll.

“Are too, mister drama queen.” [M/N] sighed and continued to walk to math class, rubbing his face when the blush on his face continued to color his cheeks.

The moment [M/N] saw Will Byers, gosh, to him it was like love at first sight. He knew that it was wrong for a boy himself to fall in love with another boy, but his heart would not beat for another. It was during the beginning of their sophomore year and he saw Angela picking on the quiet but sweet girl of Hawkins who had recently moved to Lenora Hills, he quickly disciplined Angela and comforted the new girl, but then his gaze went to the brunette that was her brother. Will Byers, a soul just as sweet and had him melting. He was always on the back of his mind that he couldn’t just ignore anymore, so he asked if they could be friends, he was internally screaming when he said yes. He took every chance he could to be with him, whether that be lying that he needed help with his schoolwork that he had to come over to his house so they could study, he was basically a regular in the Byers household. He was odd and it certainly was creepy, but he just wanted to be as close to Will as he could.

Before he knew it it was already lunch and he was being dragged out of class by his friends, he laughed as they threw him onto his feet and he bounced a little before finding his footing. Being apart of the popular crowd, [M/N] was greeted by many students and he politely greeted them back, not being a fan of being rude to people. Because of this [M/N] was generally liked by both students and teachers, and so here he was sitting at a table with various people fighting to sit with him, but of course his friends always got dibs to sit at his table. He was in the midst of eating his food but his eyes continuously scanned the cafeteria, one of his friends noticed so they let out a sigh and smacked him in the back of the head, this caused him to spit out some of his food and let out a yelp from the pain.

“Dude, what the fuck?” another friend that sat across from him gave him a incredulous expression.

“Yeah dude, what the fuck? He spat his food on me!” he groaned, face scrunching up in disgust at the bits of food on his jacket, causing a few of them to snicker, the one that smacked him rolled his eyes.

“You’re so obvious.” [M/N] cleared his throat, looking at him in confusion.

“What are you talking about?” he scoffed softly, [M/N] raised a brow when he passed him a note, he eyed it before sitting up straight and taking it from his hand. His friend side eyed him and sighed softly when he saw that scared reaction, [M/N] was trembling as a look of panic could be seen in his eyes.

’I know you’ve got a thing for that Byers guy.’

”W-What…?” he could tell that [M/N] was trying not to break down and make a scene so he reached over and grabbed the note, crumbling it up and tucking it into his pocket, this made him look up at him with the same scared expression.

“You’re so obvious.” he repeats “If you thought I, your best friend since we were toddlers, wouldn’t notice, I’d have to kick your ass.” [M/N] glanced around at the others, who surprisingly didn’t notice what was happening between the two of them, and gave him a cautious look.

“You’re not… grossed out?” this caused him to roll his eyes.

“No. I’m more upset over the fact that you thought I wouldn’t accept you, you’re my bro, and I care more about being your best friend than your goddamn preference.” [M/N] would probably start crying if he wasn’t in the middle of the cafeteria, he wipes his eyes with his forearm whilst his friend gently rubbed his back.

“You’re a true bro.” he chuckled.

“I know, and don’t you forget it.” his eyes then lingered up and his lips curved into a smirk at who he saw, so he grabbed [M/N] by the back of his neck and pulled him up “And look who just came walking in~” he cooed, snickering softly when he saw that lovesick gaze [M/N] always had on his face when Will Byers came into view.

“Do you think he’ll sit with us?” he questioned.

“Doubt it.” [M/N] slumps on disappointment “You know he always sits with his sister, doesn’t want her being alone. And if you try and invite her over in hopes of getting him to join us, she’ll be uncomfortable because I’m pretty sure half of the people here have taken part in tormenting her.” he slumps even more.

“You’re right.”

“I know I’m right, I’m always right.”

“You are.” he grumbles under his breath, he then briefly glanced at Will again and lights up when their eyes meet. He happily waved his hand to greet him with a big smile, his smile only growing brighter when Will mirrored his expression and returned the gesture before turning to sit with his sister, [M/N] then sat back down in his seat with a look of content but it dropped when he could feel his friends gaze on him “Stop looking at me like that.”

“You’re gay.” he whispered quietly, he laughed sarcastically before throwing macaroni in his face, causing the others to laugh.

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious, genius.” he winked.

[time skip: roller shaking rink]

If Will wasn’t already having a pretty awful day, it just got worse. He thought he’d be happy to see Mike when he got to California, he thought they’d get to talk like they used to when they were kids still living in Hawkins, but he’s been too busy oogling Eleven to even hold a conversation with him. What makes matters worse is that she’s been lying to him ever since they’ve got there, saying things about being friends with the same people who has been bullying her and going to that roller skating rink to the point she forgot an important detail. It sucked being the third wheel, watching as Mike and El held hands as they skated around while he lingered in the back and watched in dismay as they looked happy while he was forgotten.

’Maybe I was better off taking up [M/N]’s offer to hang out then being stuck being the third wheel.’ he thought to himself, just the thought of the [H/C] boy made him smile but he frowned when he knew that it was already too late and since he was already here he was just going to have to suck it up until six when Jonathan and Argyle came back to pick them up ’At this point I don’t even know why I’m here.’ he grumbled, pinching the bridge of his noise as Mike and El blubbered on about something, not that he was listening, but he was completely unaware of that fact he was being stared at.

“No fucking way…” a voice muttered, he hears a slurp but didn’t pay it any mind as the owner of the obnoxious slurping came to a rolling stop beside him.

“What’s the matter?” ‘twas [M/N] holding two large cups of soda in his hands, he sniffled as he took another huge gulp from his drink while his friend tore his gaze away from the bored Byers to stare up at his friend “Did you see someone, dude?” he rolled his eyes, grabbing [M/N] by the jaw and turning his head in the direction he was staring in.

“Yeah, the guy that rejected you.” he furrowed his brows at that and tried searching to see who he could be talking about before freezing up when he saw Will, he probably would have crushed the drinks in his hands if his friend let him go “His sister is here too, along with some guy with god awful taste in fashion.” at this, they both cringed at what the guy was wearing.

“It must be that Mike Wheeler kid he talks about.” his friend glanced up at him once more, noticing the way he was fidgeting as he stared at Will.

“You gonna go over there and say hello, or are you gonna stay here gawking like a fish?” [M/N] swallowed thickly, his grip on both drinks growing tighter before he let out a sigh and relaxed.

“Nah, he’s with his friend. I think I’d be intruding if I just suddenly went over there. Let’s go, the others are waiting for us.” his friend nodded and was going to leave it at that, they both turned away and planned on skating away but he stopped when he saw that familiar looking blonde making her way over to where the Byers siblings and their friend were.

“Wait.” [M/N] does and looks over at him in confusion “We’ve got trouble.” he hums then glanced back over to see what he was talking about before visibly getting angry at the sight of Angela approaching the three with her goonies following closely behind her.

“Get the boys, I’ll deal with her.” he snarled out and proceeded to skate over to the table.

“[M/N], what are you— you better not hit her!” this caused him to laugh.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” [M/N] wouldn’t publicly punch Angela in the face, without any context he just looks like an asshole, but he’s got a plan to humiliate her without looking like a douchebag… well, he’ll look like a douchebag if it was an accidental regardless. He popped off the cup covers and sped up a little, this was going to hurt a bit, the moment he was close enough he purposefully tripped up, causing the drinks in his hands to spill all over the poor unexpecting soul.

“Oh my god!” she screamed out, feeling the soda drench her completely “What the hell is wrong with you?!” she exclaimed, everyone in attendance to witness what happened were in shock, [M/N] stifled a chuckle as he pulled himself onto his feet while Angela’s friends comforted her.

“Oh man, I am just so sorry, I’m still quite new when it comes to skating.” Jane felt a sense of comfort when she saw [M/N], smiling softly when she felt him place his hand on top of her head and ruffle it around while giving Angela a smug grin when she turned and glared at him “Accidents happen, you know?” his grin grew bigger when she grew agitated while a few of her friends took a step forward.

“Man, you’re such a clutz, [M/N]! Why can’t you be good at skating like you are with baseball!” he let out a soft grunt when his friend appeared behind him, slapping a hand on his back with a laugh, Angela and her friends backed down when [M/N]’s friend group appeared and gave him threatening smiles “Forgive him, he’s still learning.” Angela growled, hand closing into a tight fist before glaring at the both of them.

“This isn’t over.” with that she skated away, [M/N] let out a breath before smacking his friend in the arm.

“Still learning? Dude! Nice one, didn’t you face plant not too long ago?” this caused him to make a face.

“Now let’s not get arrogant here.” [M/N] rolled his eyes, he then looked at the residents of the table and grinned, waving his hand to greet them.

“Hey Jane, hi Will!” he said happily, the Byers siblings returned the greeting with a happy wave of their own, he then glanced over at the ravenette and gave him a confused expression “And hello… Mike, was it?” he gave an awkward wave of his own,  Jane stood to her feet and grabbed his hands while gesturing with her other to Mike.

“Yes, this is Mike! He is my boyfriend.” this caused a few of them to be surprised, a few of his friends whistled.

“Wow, little miss pretty has herself a boyfriend? Never would have guessed.” this earned him a smack behind the head.

“Stop it.” Jane giggled softly, always appreciating it when [M/N] reprimanded his friends from making offhanded comments “Will told me how he was coming down from Indiana, you two must be really happy that he’s here after not seeing him in a long time.” Jane nodded her head, [M/N] glanced at Will and noticed he didn’t look as enthusiastic as his sister.

“Yeah, totally.” [M/N] and his friends noticed Will’s less than thrilled response and glanced at each other, his friends spare each other a glance and nod in unison before one of them wrap an arm around [M/N]’s shoulder and pull him in, causing him to look at them in confusion.

“Well, why don’t we leave the lovebirds alone to catch up?” he suggested then glanced at Will, who flinched when all eyes were on him “Hey Byers, why don’t you join us? Don’t want you being stuck as the third wheel!” Will looked a little hesitant but he didn’t even get a choice when they grabbed him out of the booth and started pushing him away, he couldn’t even stop them even if he could because of the skates.

“Have fun you two!” they exclaimed, [M/N] was confused at to what they were doing and was going to question them but froze up when they pushed both him and Will together and into the skating ring. He glared back at them with a bright red face but it dropped when he saw all of them giving him encouraging looks followed with thumbs up, one of them grinned as they leaned against the barrier and continued to watch [M/N] panic as he held Will from evidently falling over.

“He’s gay, right?” one of them questioned, another nodded.

“Oh, totally! Without a doubt.” they each share a laugh and place bets to see if anything will happen before the day was over, now back to the two, [M/N] was apologising profusely for putting Will on the spot like they did while untangling himself off of the poor boy.

“I’m so sorry, Will! I don’t know what’s wrong with them.” a soft blush settled on his cheeks when Will looked up at him with that oh so cute smile on his face.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I get where they were coming from, and it did suck a little being the third wheel back there.” [M/N] gasped softly, bringing a hand up to hover over his mouth.

“No.” Will chuckled at the reaction, nodding his head.

“Yeah, while those two were glued together, I just hung in the background.” [M/N] hummed softly before lightly shoving him with his shoulder and skating ahead of them, Will let out a whoa and quickly caught himself before he fell over then glanced over at [M/N] and saw he had a big grin on his face.

“Well, now you have me! Lets have some fucking fun, Byers!” he cheered, holding his hand out for Will to take. He looked hesitant once more but the way [M/N] had an eager look on his face, his eyes practically begging him to take his hand, how could he possibly refuse. He lets out a laugh and took [M/N]’s hand, laughing even louder when he was pulled towards him and together the two of them spun around before skating a few rounds around the ring then leaving and going over to the arcade. Will watched as [M/N] went over to the game where you had to knock clowns over to rack up points, he grabbed the baseball and tossed it up a few times “I may not be as good as our pitcher, but I’d like to think I’m second best.” he comments, this caused Will to jokingly roll his eyes.

“Your arrogance is showing.” he flushed up when [M/N] winked at him.

“Only for you.” at the end of the game he won a lot of tickets, throwing his fist up with a victorious grin. [M/N] continued to win the games, a few times playing some with Will until they were holding too many tickets that it was ridiculous. They both glance at each other before bursting out into laughter and going over to the ticket stand and trading the tickets for prizes, though in the end they couldn’t think of what to get and gave their winnings to the kid behind them and went over to get some food “You know? I didn’t think I was going to see you today, but I’m glad that I did.” he said, grabbing a few fries and throwing them into his mouth.

“I agree, you made my day a little bit better.” [M/N] grinned at that, as the two of them continued to talk he glanced behind Will and his face scrunched up when he saw his friends from afar making those same encouraging looks along with kissy faces, he wanted to kick their asses. He panicked when Will noticed that [M/N] was staring at something so he turned around to see what it was but his friends luckily ducked down before they could notice, when Will turned to look back at [M/N] he just got an innocent smile on his face “Well, um, I’m really glad I got to spend some time with you.”

“Same! At least you weren’t stuck in between your sister and your friend.” Will had a bittersweet expression on his face.

“I know he just got here and that El— I mean, Jane, is his girlfriend… but I’m his best friend. I wish he talked to me just a little bit longer instead of ignoring me, it really hurt.” [M/N] gave him a sympathetic smile.

“I’m sure things will get better, like you said, he’s your best friend! I’m sure things will get better before you know it.” he reassured, this caused Will to smile.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.” he nods.

“Anytime.” they stare at each other for a little longer then jump when a hand suddenly slammed down on their table, they then glance up at the owner and [M/N] couldn’t help but grimace a little when he saw that it was none other than Mike Wheeler.

“There you are, Will! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” he then gestured with his hand for him to stand up “I need to talk to you about something, so can we go?” Will pulled a face and looked at [M/N], he looked just as saddened but gestured for him to go.

“Don’t leave the guy waiting! I’ll be right here if you come back.” Will smiled before leaving, the moment Will was out of sight he let out a breath he was holding in and slumped into the seat, not even moments later his friends arrived and took over the booth.

“Well that was a disaster.” one of them said, a few of the other eating the food that was forgotten “You should have seen the way that Indiana guy was staring at you, dude. We were watching for a long time and that guy was giving you a dirty look.” another then dramatically held a hand to his forehead and fell back, one having to catch him before falling onto the ground.

“He must’ve been jealous that he was replaced and couldn’t stand the thought of his friend talking to a much better looking, well dressed, and friendly guy that isn’t him.” [M/N] rolled his eyes, grabbing his drink and taking a long slurp from it “We’re being serious, [M/N]. That guy definitely didn’t like the fact that you were with Byers, man.”

“You should shoot your shot.” this caused [M/N] to glare at the one friend he knew that knew about his sexuality, before he could say anything, he raised his hands and gestured to the lot of them.

“Dude, like I said, you’re so obvious.” he glanced at the others and saw they were all nodding their heads “Why do you think we were encouraging you that whole time, dumbass?” they all laugh when his head fell and thumped against the table.

“We’re your ultimate wingmen, trust us.” their heads shoot up when they all hear shouting, they look over and saw a crowd forming so they scramble to their feet and rush over, and there they saw Angela’s face bleeding due to the fact that Jane had hit her with a skate “Holy shit!” 

“You go Byers!” [M/N] shakes his head.

“Now’s not the time.”  “Sorry.” he shakes his head, he then glanced over at the siblings and saw they both had a panicked look on their faces before rushing away “Well that was anticlimactic, I didn’t expect her to do that.”

“Well what can you do? After all that torment that bitch has put her through, I was wondering how long it was going to take until she finally snapped.” he then claps his hands “Good for her, the wrong way of standing up for herself, but good for her.”

“Stop it.”  [time skip: later at night]

Today was just a fucking disaster. Will collapsed onto his bed and let out an exhausted sigh, if he thought the day couldn’t get any worse, he should probably shut the fuck up at that point. All was going swell when he was with [M/N], he had fun and it felt nice to be included, even more so being so close to the guy that made his stomach do flips. Mike had to ruin the moment but let it slide when he realised that Angela came back for revenge and evidently humiliated El before running off, Mike only coming to find him to help him find El. What made matters worse was when El slammed the roller skate into Angela’s face and it started bleeding profusely, god, he needed a break. He pressed the soles of his hands into his eyes and twisted slightly, dragging his hands down his face then throwing his arms open.

“What a disaster.” he closed his eyes and let his body relax into the bed, growing slightly irritated when he heard a subtle tapping, he lifts himself and glared over at the window. It stopped when he looked over at it so he let his body fall back onto the bed but not even a second passes when the tapping returns so he jumps off his bed and marches over to his window, ready to punch it but froze up when he saw that it was [M/N], who lit up upon sight.

“Will!” his voice was muffled through the glass but he definitely heard it as the boy waved his hand “Hi.” he shook his head with a laugh and opened the window.

“What are you doing here? It’s late.” he holds his hand up in a gesture for him to wait so he does with a slight giggle, watching as he ducked down to get something before shooting up with something in his hand. Will looked at in confusion then let out a sputter of words when [M/N] pushed it into his hands, he chuckled when he saw the excited look on his face “What is this?”

“It’s a gift. It’s for you.” Will furrowed his brows in confusion, a gift? He was going to question him again but [M/N] gestured for him to open it “Go on, open it!” [M/N] reminded him of a child on Christmas Day, so he just shrugged his shoulders and opened the nicely wrapped gift. He raised his brow in confusion at the sight of a box that was close shut by two latches, he looked at [M/N] and saw the eagerness in his eyes as he nodded at him for him to open it, so he did with a shrug. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw was inside, he couldn’t believe it as he lowered the lid to look at [M/N].

“I-Is this…?” he smiled and sheepishly shrugged.

“An oil color box set? Yeah, it took awhile to find this specific one, and it was really expensive as well, but what’s a few weeks allowance can’t do?” Will was at a loss for words, stuttering out a few that he managed to say as tears threatened to spill from his eyes “I remembered you saying that you were looking for one so you could paint while you were out, so I thought I would get you one and save you the trouble.” Will sniffled, raising a hand to rub at his eyes.

“But why? Why did you get this for me?” [M/N] looked at him in confusion, scoffing softly but realised that Will was serious,.

“Dude, Will… it’s your birthday.” Will couldn’t help but gasp softly at that, he completely forgot that it was his birthday, but that also meant that everyone else forgot about his birthday. He got a little bitter at that but what made it better was the fact that [M/N] remembered. A guy that he met in California, a guy that he told the date of his birth once and he remembered, a guy that was so popular that he was sure would forget, but he didn’t. He remembered and he even got him a gift. He then remembered to the start of that week that he tried inviting Will out to hangout, was he inviting him out for his birthday? “I don’t know what’s going on in your life right now, Will, but I hope you know I’m here for you. Happy birthday, Will.” he couldn’t remember what happened, what was going on in his mind for him to react the way he did, but he pushed the gift to the side and grabbed [M/N] by the collar of his shirt and yank him up. [M/N] let out a whoa, hands planting down on the windowsill to stabilise himself then let out a muffled gasp when Will pulled him into a kiss. He stared down at their connected lips in shock then his gaze fell upon Will’s eyes when he pulled away, a look of disbelief as they stared at each other.

…

… “Oh my god, what have I done?” Will muttered, still holding [M/N] by the collar of his shirt as he looked away, not noticing the lovesick smile that grace his lips as he let him go, letting the boy slump against the windowsill. All sorts of thoughts were circulating through his mind, thinking that he possibly ruined the best friendship he had in California forever and that he was going to lose a friend that meant the world to him and also the love of his life. He hadn’t even noticed [M/N] pull himself up until he was yanked forward, [M/N] having reach forward to grab Will by his cheeks and pull him into another kiss, this time, he was making sure Will felt that the kiss he gave him wasn’t one sided. When they finally pulled away, they stared into each other’s eyes before laughing.

“Will?” said boy let out a gasp and shoved [M/N] back and slammed his window shut, grimacing when he heard a loud thud followed by an oof and grunt but he ignored it as his mother opened the door to his room “Are you okay in here? I heard you pacing.” he gave his mother a reassuring smile, waving his hands to dismiss her.

“Yeah, I’m fine! Don’t worry about it, mum.” she gave Will a soft smile, blowing him a kiss before closing the door when she left. He waited until he couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore before turning around and throwing his window open and peeking out, he giggled to himself when he saw [M/N] wearing the biggest grin on his face as he covered his eyes with his hands “Are you okay?” [M/N] pushed himself up by his hands and gave Will a dopey grin.

“Am I okay? I’m fan-fucking-tastic!” he covered his mouth when Will shushed him for being loud, he quickly stood to his feet and returned to where Will was resting his folding arms on the windowsill and smiled “I can finally tell you that I’m in love with you. Your response?” Will laughs, pressing a hand to his cheek.

“I love you too.” they’re both smiling to the point it hurts, Will throws his arms around [M/N]’s neck and pulls him up into a hug, to which the latter reaches up and wraps an arm around his head as his other arm held the windowsill. When they pull away, [M/N] and Will stare into each other’s eyes once more and share a short and tender kiss, [M/N] winks and Will giggles.  “I’ll see you at school next week?” Will bites his lip, glancing back towards his door then back at [M/N].

“Do you want to stop by tomorrow? I’d love to spend some time with you.” he whispered the last part to himself but it didn’t fall to deaf ears because this earned him another peck on the lips, he looked at [M/N] and saw him grinning as he nodded his head.

“Yeah, I’ll totally stop by tomorrow!” he cheered “I’ll see you tomorrow!” he takes a step back but accidentally trips and falls back, Will leaned forward to see if he was okay but giggled instead when [M/N] shot back up but had a few leaves and twigs in his hair, but he didn’t mind it and waved his hand goodbye,

“Goodnight, [M/N].”

“Goodnight, Will.” he blows him a kiss followed by a wink, to which Will blushed but didn’t hesitate to catch the kiss. The moment Will pulled himself back into his room and close the window [M/N] let out a cheer as he threw his fists in the air, running back to his truck with an extra skip in his step “He said he loved me!” he shouts, he then heard cheering from his truck and saw his friends cheering for his accomplishment.

“Nice one, [M/N]!”

“Another win for you!”

Headcanons:

[m/n] is so in love with will that his friends have to tape his mouth shut if they don’t want to hear him talking about will this, or will that. it gets annoying.

the guys love will, don’t get me wrong, they just hate [m/n] for making the conversation all about his boyfriend. he’s in a relationship, they get it. no need to shove it down their throats with every chance he gets.

[m/n] told will that his friends know that they’re dating.

he was a little on edge to know that will wasn’t, well, straight.

[m/n] reassured him that they were cool, I mean, it was because of them they basically got to have a date back at the roller skating ring.

it made will feel happy to be accepted by a large number a guys.

it makes him even more happy that they’re happy [m/n]’s happy with someone that makes him feel the way he does. they tell will they’ve got his back if he ever needs it.

[m/n] more than once has will wearing his lettermen jacket, regardless of what people say.

will refused to wear it the first few times [m/n] asked him to wear it but was forced to wear it when [m/n] threw it at his face and ran away before will could give it back.

now [m/n] doesn’t get it back unless there’s a game.

totally worth it.

will totally shows up to [m/n] and his teams practices and their games. they all appreciate his attendance and whenever he’s there, they’re all at that a-game.

when [m/n] sees will in the crowd, especially if he’s wearing his jacket, it’s already over for the rivalling team.

he’s all the motivation they need.

will is totally their number one supporter.

jane noticed will has been happier as well, and without asking she already knew it had something to do with [m/n].

she saw the way will would look at [m/n]. he had that look in his eyes that sparkled whenever the boy was in the same room they were in or if he was brought up in a conversation. 

she might have accidentally caught the a few times together when will would sneak him in through the window so they could relax together or will would be sneaking out or back in from wherever [m/n] took him.

they had a sibling agreement to never bring this up.

joyce and jonathan had also noticed that will had being going out more and more.

they’d question him where he was going but fall short when they saw that oh so familiar lettermen jacket along with the sound of a honk.

peering out the window, there they saw their will rushing over to [m/n]’s pickup truck so the two of them can go out on a date. of course they don’t know that, but they’re happy will’s going out more.

will totally has [m/n] model for him when painting.

[m/n] blushed when will called him his muse, muttering the word under his breath more than once.

will always shows him what he’s working on and though [m/n] doesn’t have the best knowledge when it comes to art, he always shares his thoughts with will about what he likes about it.

will appreciated it.

together, the two of them are just so in love.

[m/n] doesn’t waste a second to show how committed he is to this relationship, always showering will in all the love his soul could pour out until he knew that will knew the extent he was willing to go to just to get a point across.

will also wanted to show [m/n] that what he felt for him couldn’t easily be replaced, that the only thing on his mind whenever they were together were the endless thoughts of how deeply in love he was with [m/n].

the two of them made it obvious that they were meant to be.

Monster

word count: 6395

Fandom: Stranger Things  Pairing: Chrissy Cunningham x Male!Monster!Reader  Pronouns: He/Him  Relationship: Familial Occupation: Protector Ability: Cursed Spirit

The character is a monster that has attached itself to its victim, posing as a sort of imaginary friend that only the victim can see. In the eyes of the victim, they have the appearance of an average man with a gentle expression and looks overall normal. To everyone else that they willingly let themself be visible to, they are nothing more than a ghost like wraith. They have the ability to let out a shriek like that of the wailing spirit banshee, and morph themself into a monstrous state.

Keys:

[M/N]: Male Name  [L/N]: Last Name  [N/N]: Nickname  [H/C]: Hair Color  [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: vulgar language, violence, mention of drugs

got this idea after reading this story by @skinnywalker​ of their chrissy cunningham x male!reader, go check their story out cause I liked it.

there is going to be a part two.

that is all.

“Chrissy, what did I say about watching what you eat?”

“T-That it messes with my performances.”

“No, if you’re not careful you’ll end up fat and ugly. Nobody likes a fat girl, Chrissy.” she felt her lip tremble, hands fisting her sweat shirt around her stomach as her eyes start to water “I hope you remember that next time before helping yourself to seconds.

“Yes, mother.” glancing up at her mother, she noticed a jagged hand on her mother’s shoulder as a monstrous figured loomed above her. Its eyes were pitch black with a sort of liquid bleeding out from it, pale purple skin with its jaw snapped open and ready to bite her mothers head off. Chrissy lets out a sigh with a shake of her head, this motion caused the monster to momentarily freeze then retreat back to wherever it came from “May I go to my room, mother?”

“You may.” she turns on her heel and quickly rushes to her room, closing her door behind her and throwing herself onto her bed. She cries into her pillow at the endless cruel words that continue to fly out of her mothers mouth, berating her for not being skinny enough for her cheerleading career, not being beautiful enough in her eyes. What was the point of beauty if she had to go through all this pain to meet those shitty beauty standards?! She sniffles to herself, pushing herself up, hugging her knees close to her chest as her blanket was draped around her. She felt the room get darker and that same jagged hand from before came out from under her bed, reaching for her and grabbing her by the ankle.

“Chrissy…” the voice moaned out, hoarse and deep that would make the average person tremble in fear, but she didn’t. The mere presence of this monster under her bed made her feel safe, she smiled softly as she reached down to caress the hand.

“Hello, [M/N].” said man pulled himself out from under her bed to reveal not a monster, but a kind looking man with short/long [H/C] hair and soft [E/C] eyes, he smiled up at her from where he was sitting then opened his arms up for her. She didn’t hesitate to move from where she was situated, throwing the blanket off of her to embrace the monster posed as a man. He hummed softly, gently rubbing circles into her back as she cried into his shoulder, though that insatiable rage for his Chrissy’s mother started to take over his mind.

’How could that foul woman talk to her own daughter like that? Why can’t she see the way she’s talking to her hurts her? Why can’t she see the damage she’s done to her daughter? Why can’t I just kill her? My Chrissy would be better off if that bitch would just die.’ sometimes he would find it difficult to control his thoughts, sometimes he would act impulsively and not realise what he’s done until it’s too late.

[M/N]. He was a monster that attached itself to Chrissy at an early age of her life, when she was nothing more than a mere child. At first, she was food that he would feed off of but was startled when she started looking forward to seeing him. She was a weird one. He had the appearance of a revolting monster that would make even adults cry, but this child laughed and cheered whenever she saw him. The first time he did see her cry was not because of him, but because of those despicable words her mother would fill her head with. Saying she wasn’t good enough, pretty enough, skinny enough. That moment he wanted to kill that woman, kill the bitch that caused his favourite human to develop an eating disorder and resort to liking him, a monster that wanted to eat her. But Chrissy pleaded with him, begged him not to hurt her mother because of her? That girl was too kind for his liking, she was kind enough to give him a name.

[M/N], her imaginary monster.

”Chrissy…” he moaned out again, she pulled away with a sniffle, laughing weakly when he reached forward to wipe away the tears she missed. He pulled back again and she watched as he dropped numerous snacks in front of him, he then pointed at her mouth and did biting motions with his own mouth ”Eat.” he didn’t like the smile she forced onto her lips, it looked bitter and sad, not the one he used to see.

“Thank you, [M/N], you’re always so sweet to me.” he watches her silently, eating the food that he stole for her to fill her empty stomach. He was fully capable of swiping things here and there, sometimes even pulling small tricks and pranks that would make her laugh. One time, when she and her family were getting ready to eat, he pulled her mothers chair out so she fell to the ground. Another time was when he swapped the sugar for salt so her mother was in for a salty surprise when she drank her morning coffee, he did all that just to see his Chrissy smile.

”Performance tomorrow…?” her head perked up at the question, lighting up in remembrance about the pep rally tomorrow for Hawkins basketball team, she nods enthusiastically.

“Yes, yes! My girls and I have been practicing vigorously, I believe you’ll enjoy it very much.” he smiles, reaching forward to pat her head.

”Anything you do… I like.” she smiled.

“I know.” she looks at the time and takes his hand from a top of her head, pulling it down while caressing his knuckles with her thumbs “It’s gotten late, [M/N]. I think I should go to sleep.” he slowly nods his head, reaching to pat her head once more then pulling away, allowing her to lay her head onto her pillow whilst he grabbed the end of her blanket and pulled it up to tuck her in.

”Sweet dreams…” he waves her goodbye and retreated back under her bed but she knew he was still there, he was always around until she fell asleep. When she did fall asleep, his monstrous figure loomed over her body once more, his jagged fingers reaching forward to gently caress her face while removing a few loose strands of her hair off of her face. He then peeks over towards her door, his figure drops into the shadows and shoots out to where Chrissy’s mother was sitting in the living room watching T.V.  It was so easy. He could kill this woman and make Chrissy’s life a little easier. What stood in his way was the love Chrissy had for her mother, she would hate him if he were to take her mother from her. But he just couldn’t understand the young girl. This woman was no mother to treat her daughter the way she does, and what about the rest of her family? Have they done anything to stop her from doing it? No, they didn’t. All Chrissy had was him, he was the only one by her side that would do anything for her. He would die for her. He would kill for her. He would destroy the goddamn world if he needed to. All he wanted was for Chrissy to be happy, her happiness was his everything, and he was going to be damned if he’d let anyone take that from her.

[time skip: the next day]

”Wonderful…” [M/N] murmured softly with a tired smile on his face, standing at the very back of the gym as he watched Chrissy’s performance, clapping his hands while swaying side to side. His smile brightened when he saw her look through the crowd in search for him, her own smile growing bigger when she finally did find him, he then gives her a thumbs up ”You’re doing… great.” [M/N] always reminded Chrissy of one of those parents that always came to their child’s performances, being that person that cheered the loudest, and though no one else can hear or see it, she really appreciated it.

“How was it, [M/N]?” she asked him, taking a seat on the floor after they finished the routine. She glanced to her side when she felt his fingers roll onto her shoulders then pulled himself out from behind her, his head hovering a few inches away from her face “Did you like the performance?” he nods his head, leaning his head onto hers.

”Very flashy…” she only giggled at that, soon Hawkins’ basketball team came running into the gym and the crowd went wild once more.

“Good morning, Hawkins high!” Jason Carver, the captain of the basketball team and unfortunately Chrissy’s boyfriend, greets into the microphone with a big grin in his face “First off, I’d like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn’t be here. Give yourselves a big hand.” [M/N] had to admit, this guy had quite the charisma to get the crowd in an uproar like he does “And of course, of course I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad. Chrissy… Chrissy, I love you babe.” this caused the crowd to aw at the confession while she in turn blushed, blowing a kiss to Jason. She then had to keep a straight face when [M/N] glanced at her then turned away, making gagging noises while pointing into his mouth.

“Stop it…” she whispered, though it was funny. [M/N] could give less of a shit about the rest of his speech, spouting out some bullshit from what happened the year prior and how they haven’t won a game in the past twenty two years or something along the lines of that, he wasn’t listening. Whenever Chrissy is at school, [M/N] makes sure not to interfere and lets her go on with her day unless she calls for him. Those times are rare but they’ve been becoming more frequent ever since she’s been seeing that woman, um, Ms Kelly or some shit, he can’t remember. As of recently, he had been noticing how Chrissy was suffering through nightmares, one’s terrible then from before, causing her to have trouble sleeping and her headaches how been getting worse. He was always there to help her through it, cooing soft words of encouragement into her ear or being that shoulder she needed to lean on. 

This was one of those times she needed him, she was getting spewing her breakfast and most likely lunch into the toilet. He was holding her beautiful hair back while rubbing circles into her back in a comforting manner, he made sure the door was locked so no one would disturb her but the door to the bathroom opened and a small red haired girl entered. He briefly left Chrissy’s side to see what that girl was doing, phasing through the bathroom stall door to take a peek at what that girl was doing. His presence was unknown to her as she took her bag off to grab a small container of pills, he furrowed his brows when he recognised them as pills that Chrissy takes to help lessen the pain of her headaches, they both then glance back when Chrissy starts coughing.

“Hey, you alright?” she called.

“Yeah—yes, I’m… I’m fine.” the girl glanced back towards the bathroom door then at the stall Chrissy was in before approaching.

“Okay, um… you’re sure?”  “Please just go away.” this was enough to get the girl to leave, Chrissy lets out a groan when she heard [M/N] let out a sigh from outside the stall. She chose to ignore him for the time being and reached over to flush her vomit down, she then groans when she heard pounding on the door “Are you deaf? I said go away.” [M/N] raised a brow in confusion, looking over at the stall where he heard Chrissy speak, but who on earth was she talking to?

”Chrissy…?” he called out, reaching forward to phase through the door but his hand flinched back. He looked around in confusion when he felt a presence but he just couldn’t see it, his head then immediately whipped back towards the door when he heard Chrissy scream. He didn’t hesitate to phase through the door and there he found Chrissy pressing her back to the wall in the very corner of the stall, eyes squeezed shut as she covered her ears.

“No! Go away! Go away! Go away!” she shakes her head, repeating the phrase over and over, pleading for whatever was causing her these hallucinations to just disappear. She let out a scream when something grabbed her, shouting her name while shaking her back and forward.

”Chrissy! Chrissy! Chrissy!” she gasped, eyes snapping open when she recognised the voice. In front of her now was [M/N] looking distressed and concerned, she looked around and saw that the lights above her were no longer flickering and the pounding on the stall door had ceased.

“[M-M/N]…?” she whimpered out, he lets out a relieved sigh.

”You’re back… I’m glad.” his mouth opened slightly to speak but stopped when she quickly threw herself onto him, she held onto him so tightly she preyed that he didn’t disappear under her hold. He looked down at her in concern then raised his arms to wrap around her, pulling her closer into him then rested the side of his head against hers, rocking back and forward as she sobbed into his shoulder ”I’m here… I'm here, Chrissy.” he glanced around him before tightening his hold around her, a dark aura radiating out of him. Whoever or whatever did this to his Chrissy, it wasn’t anything he’s ever seen. He knew Hawkins was a fucked up place ever since that kid went missing a couple years back, he knew because he was one of those fucked up things, but this was something different.  This isn’t good. [M/N] now made sure not to leave Chrissy side, instead of lurking in the shadows or the depths below, he was now directly over her shoulder watching for anything else that could potentially harm his Chrissy. She felt more at ease knowing that he was there, reaching for her shoulder. The people around could only see her patting her shoulder and squeezing it but she was actually patting his hand and giving it a light squeeze, in return he would soothingly rub her shoulder and continue to tell her that he was right behind her and that he wasn’t going anywhere. [M/N] now found himself and Chrissy on the outskirts of the school, in the middle of the woods where a lone lunch table sat in the opening.  “Hello…?” she called out uneasily, looking around for someone but saw no one. [M/N] glanced at her and saw her look off, he followed her gaze and saw she was staring at a tree, he looked at her once more and saw that her unease grew as she approached the tree.  ”Chrissy…? What are you… looking at?” he questioned but didn’t get an answer as she got closer to the tree, he looked between the two and concluded that she was seeing something entirely differently to him so he quickly floated over to her, grabbing her shoulder and snapping his fingers in front of her face “Chrissy, there’s nothing there…” she snapped out of her daze as she looked up at him in shock.

“B-But, there was a clock…! I swear I saw it.” she starts shaking her head as she backed away, he called out to her to stop but couldn’t when she backed up into the chest of the man she was meeting.

“Whoa, hey, hey, hey.” [M/N] quickly returned to her side, floating behind her as they both stare at the newcomer “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. You okay?” she wordlessly stared up at him then back towards the tree, the man followed her gaze then glanced back at her, he then saw the way she raised her head to her shoulder and squeezed it. The two now sat on the abandoned bench, [M/N] had come to recognise this young man as the Hawkins freak, Eddie Munson. He never paid too much attention to this gentlemen, he never paid attention to anything that wasn’t Chrissy, but he knew that he wasn’t well liked “There’s, uh… there’s nothing to worry about, okay? No one ever comes out here, we’re safe. I promise.” Eddie reassures, taking off his jacket and vest then opening his lunchbox to reveal his stash of weed.

“So,” Chrissy starts, clearly nervous as she couldn’t meet Eddie’s gaze “how does this work exactly?”

“Oh, just like any other old sale, except, uh, cash only, and, uh, for obvious reasons,  or receipts.” she slowly nods her head “I’ll do you half an ounce, for uh, twenty. What do you say? Plenty of bang for your buck. Should last a while.” Chrissy lets out a gasp, whipping her head around when she heard a noise but only saw a squirrel run up a tree. Eddie watches her then soon lets out a sigh, putting the bag of weed back into his lunchbox then closed it “Hey, uh, we don’t need to do this. Just give me the word and I’ll walk away. Okay?” she quickly shakes her head.

“It’s not that. I don’t want you to go.” he raised a brow at that “Its just… do you ever feel like you’re losing your mind?”

“Um, you know, just… on a daily basis. I feel like I’m losing my mind right now doing a drug deal with Chrissy Cunningham, the Queen of Hawkins High.” [M/N]’s brow perked up slightly when he saw a subtle smile appear on Chrissy’s face but it went away just as quickly “You know, this isn’t the first time that we’ve, um… hung out. No? You don’t remember?” she shakes her head apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I—” she glanced at [M/N] to see if he remember but he shrugged his shoulders with a shake of his head, Eddie just chuckled.

“That’s okay.” Eddie had a blank look on his face, soon both himself and Chrissy let out a startled noise when Eddie fell back onto the ground while pretending to stand himself. Chrissy immediately stands to her feet to see if he was alright while [M/N] hovered above him, seeing that he was fine he let out a sigh.

”What an… oddball.” he murmured, hearing Eddie laugh as he pulled himself up and onto his feet, [M/N] was going to say another comment but was taken aback when he saw the bright smile on Chrissy’s face as she laughed herself. It was a genuine smile that he hadn’t seen in a long time as she watched Eddie he himself.

“I wouldn’t remember me neither, Chrissy. Honestly, do I have stuff in my hair?” she continued to laugh as he smiled at her, shaking his hair to pull the leaves from out of his hair “You don’t remember me?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Middle school, talent show. You were doing your cheer thing. You know, the… the thing you do.” he tried to explain, waving his hands around to mimic the way she does with her pom-poms “It was pretty cool, actually. And I— I was with my band.” her face then lights up in remembrance.

“Corroded Coffin!” she exclaims, his smile grows as he clapped his hands.

“Corro— you do remember.”

“Oh my god! Yes, of course. With a name like that, how could I forget?” 

“I dunno, you’re a freak.” she chuckled softly, giving [M/N] a sharp look when she heard him growl softly, how dare this frizzy haired bastard call his Chrissy a freak?

“No, you just… you look so—”

“Different? Yeah, well, uh, my hair was buzzed, and I didn’t have these sweet old tatties yet.” she nods softly.

“You played guitar, right?”

“Uh huh. Still do, still do. You should come see us. Uh, we play at the Hideout on Tuesdays. It’s pretty cool. We… we actually get a crowd of about five drunks.” she laughs again, shaking her head softly “It’s not exactly the Garden, but you gotta start somewhere, right? So…” he shuffles over to a tree and starts lightly punching it, [M/N] returns to Chrissy’s side and watched that big smile on her face grow.

“You know, you’re not what I thought you’d be like.” Eddie hums, grabbing a few of his locks and pulling them in front of his face.

“Mean and scary?” she nods.

“Yeah.” he smiles.

“Yeah, well, I actually kinda thought you’d be kinda mean and scary too.” she gasps softly.

“Me?”

“Terrifying. Um, so, in other good news, flattery works with me, so… twenty five percent discount for the half. Fifteen bucks. You’re robbing me blind here, you know.” [M/N] frowned when that beautiful smile that adorned her face dropped as she stared down at her lap, he reaches over to caress her cheek as she fidgeted with her fingers.

“Do you have anything, maybe… stronger?”

[time skip: late at night]

”What a dump…” 

”Stop it.” [M/N] and Chrissy soon found themselves at the trailer park with Eddie to find said something stronger for Chrissy to take, Chrissy steps out of his van and he was kind enough to hold the door open to his trailer for her to enter first before walking in after her. She stood nervously in the middle of his trailer, rubbing her arms with her hands as she looked around, [M/N] doing the same but soon floating around Eddie to watch his movements.

“Sorry for the mess. Uh, the maid took the week off.” he apologised, cleaning up some rubbish that was left lying around then shuffling over to the other side of the room.

“You, um… you live here alone?” he shakes his head.

“With my uncle. But, uh, he works nights at the plant. Bringing the big bucks.” she nods softly.

“How long does it take?”

“Sorry?”

“The Special K. How long to kick in?”

“Oh, uh, well, it depends if you snort it or not. Uh, if you do, then, uh, yeah. It’ll, uh, kick in pretty quick.” he explains with a jar in his hand, he opens it and takes a peek inside but then lets out a sigh “Oh, shit.”

“You’re sure you have it?”

“No, no, I got it. Um, somewhere.” he raises his finger, signalling for her to give him a minute before turning away and scurrying off to his room to find the drug she was needing to relieve herself of her hellish realities. She takes a deep breath, bringing her hands to hold her arms once more then smiled softly with closed eyes when she felt [M/N] behind her, she leaned her back into the warmth of his chest as his arms wrapped around her gently.

“I’m so glad I still have you by my side, [M/N].” she whispered softly “I probably would have lost my mind a long time ago if I didn’t have you.” she felt slightly uncomfortable when he didn’t say anything back, he always had something to say because he loved talking to her even though he couldn’t really say much. She tried to turn around to get a look at him but let out a choked noise when his grip around her tightened, she lets out a gasp as she looked down at his arms that were around her “[M/N], you’re h-hurting me…!”

”I always try so hard to please you. Chrissy.” [M/N] spoke, but it wasn’t in the way he usually spoke. [M/N] spoke with a slow and slurred speech, not being able to finish his sentence properly without pausing, she started to tremble when the presence behind her became more ominous than comforting ”I only want what’s best for you. Chrissy. You know I’ll do anything for you, so I just don’t understand why you don’t want me to get rid of that eyesore that is your mother. That fucking bitch that hurts you. Don’t you trust me? Don’t you love me? Why won’t you just let me do this for you, Chrissy?!” glancing down at the arms that were holding her, she lets out a scream when she saw that they were slimy looking.

“Ah! Le— Let go of me!” she quickly elbows whoever was holding her and they let go of her, this gave her the chance to see who it was and scream when she saw that it wasn’t her [M/N] but some disgusting monster. She shakes her head and runs towards Eddie’s room, she pushes the door opened to try and find him but was instead met with the sound of a sewing machine and her mothers back “Mum?”

“Just loosening this up for you, sweetheart. You’re going to look absolutely beautiful.” her face dropped when her mother turned around, her face was completely grey with only the whites of her eyes visible. She didn’t take any chances as she left the room, closing the door behind her but instead of being in Eddie’s trailer, she somehow found herself back in her house “Chrissy!” she gasped when the door behind her opened but she quickly grabbed the doorknob and pulled it shut.

“No!”

”Chrissy, open the door!” she screamed no as the door slipped from her grip and flew open, she immediately turned tail and ran as far as she could. She hurried downstairs and searched for a way out but then her attention went over to the figure watching T.V, a breath of relief leaving her lips at the familiar figure.

“Dad?” she mumbled out before rushing over “Dad! Dad!” turning around, she screamed at the sight of his mouth and eyes sealed shut with blood seeping out of the wounds. She shakes her head and backs away, she looks around as tears ran down her face, lips trembling in fear “[M/N], please! I need you! Please, [M/N]!”

[outside of chrissy’s mind]

[M/N] was staring at a discarded album of sorts abandoned on the floor when he realised Chrissy had gone a little too quiet for his liking, he pulls back from out of Eddie’s room and peeked over his shoulder to see if Chrissy was alright. He furrowed his brows when he realised that she hadn’t moved from the spot he left her in so he floated over to her, that was when he finally realised something was wrong with her. She was standing uncomfortably still and was twitching now and then, but what scared him was the fact that her eyes rolled into the back of her head and only the whites of her eyes were seen.

”Chrissy…?” he called softly, snapping his fingers in her face in an effort to get her attention but nothing happen so he clapped instead, and yet nothing happened ”Chrissy, what’s wrong…? Chrissy… Chrissy!” he now resorted to grabbing her by the shoulders and violently shaking her back and forward but even that didn’t work, his hands then hovered over her head and there he felt a trace of some sort of power coming from her. His lip trembled, he didn’t delve in mind type attacks on his victims, that took a lot of concentration and focus to pull off, but whoever the fuck was doing it was a powerful one. He needed to wake her up, and he needed to wake her up now. He heard Eddie shuffling around and his face briefly lit up in remembrance of that human man, maybe someone alive could wake her up. He quickly grabbed an empty glass bottle and threw it against the wall, it shattered upon impact but at least he got Eddie’s attention.

“Chrissy? Was that you?” Eddie lets out an awkward laugh, grabbing the drug that he was planning on selling to Chrissy and came walking out of his room “I know I took my time, but I found it. Beautiful bliss, just moments away.” [M/N] watched in anticipation to see if Eddie could do anything, to which the young man waved his hand in Chrissy’s face as he slowly approached the possessed girl “Chrissy…? Hello? Chrissy! Hey, Chrissy, wake up. Hey, hello! Chrissy, hello! Hey, Chrissy!” he then started waving his hand while snapping his fingers in her face to get her to wake up, soon the lights started flickering about, this caused [M/N] to exhale sharply.

”Oh, no…” he then looked back and saw Eddie clapping his hands in front of her before grabbing her shoulders, shaking her back and forward while tapping her shoulders.

“Time to wake up. Hello? Can you hear me? Wake up, Chrissy. Chrissy, wake up! I don’t like this, Chrissy! Wake up!” [M/N] takes a deep breath, slapping his hands against his cheeks and quickly goes back over to Chrissy. Eddie still couldn’t see [M/N] but he could definitely feel him, he felt a shiver run up his spine when something cold passed him but when he looked around to see what it was, there was nothing there, so he shook his head and returned his attention back to the girl in front of him, cupping her cheeks and gently slapping them “Chrissy! Chrissy! Chrissy! Chrissy, wake up now! Chrissy!” [M/N] grabbed her discarded bag and searched through it, finding a cassette tape inside. This was a song that she had been listening to for a bit, “Moi Je Joue” by Bridgette Bardot, an old French song from the 60s. He nods to himself and quickly rushes to Eddie’s room to throw it into his stereo, to which the young man was too preoccupied with Chrissy to notice but flinched when the disoriented music started playing. He glanced back at his room in confusion, hearing a song that he knew didn’t belong to him, but shook his head in favour of waking Chrissy up. [M/N] returned back to Chrissy and stood behind her, hands cupping her cheeks as he closed his eyes.

’I haven’t done this in the longest time, I had no need to when I had you. But now you need me, so I’ll come in there and rescue you from that nightmare whatever piece of shit pulled you in to.’ and so with a deep breath, he leaned down and pressed his forehead against the top of her head.

[within chrissy’s mind]

“Please…” she whimpered out, a tear running down her cheek as she pressed herself into the boards that sealed her way out of this hellish nightmare. This… thing in front of her, this fucking garbage was the thing that’s been giving her those hallucinations and pushed her beyond her limits. She knew [M/N] wasn’t the prettiest thing to look at it, even in his human form he still looked beyond human, but his presence was something she had long gotten used to. But whatever this monster was in front of her, god, she wanted to get as far away from it as possible.

”Don’t cry, Chrissy…” the voice spoke, she whimpered as she leaned away when it reached forward and wiped away her tears, god she really needed [M/N] right now ”It’s time for your suffering… to end.” she shook her head, pressing herself further into the boards when it raised its hand once more, it outstretched over her face.

“[M/N], please!” she cried out, tears rolling down her face “[M/N]!!” the monster jerked backwards when Chrissy was suddenly pulled backwards and instead he was met with a creature as monstrous as he was, it lets out a grunt when he roared at it as he held Chrissy close to his chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her.

”Don’t touch my Chrissy!!” he shouts at the top of his lungs, jaw splitting open as he roared at the bastard to get away from his human. She cried from within his chest, wailing into his chest as she wrapped her arms around the ghostly figure that’s been following her since she was a mere child.

“[M/N]!” she cried out, bringing her hands up to cup his cheeks to make sure he was real before burying her face into his shoulder “You came for me…! You actually came!” she sobbed out, he nodded his head but didn’t take his eyes off the thing in front of him but he did reach down to place his hand on her head, gently rubbing it to soothe her. She whimpered when he removed his hand from atop her head, instead, he glared at the monster in front of him and let out another roar.

”Get away from her!” he pushes Chrissy behind him then flies towards it, wrapping his arms around its torso and sent them both through the house. He had come to recognise this monster as the type of attacker than didn’t deal physical damage but had a strong control over the mind as he witnessed outside of Chrissy’s, so he knew he had to upper-hand. He was just throwing him around like he was some rag doll, holding him by the ankles and slamming his against the ground and walls before throwing him into the kitchen ”You thought you could target my Chrissy, my human that I’ve been haunting for nearly two decades?! I’ll make you fucking regret it!” he charged forward once more but was stuck in place when a force stopped him, he lets out a grunt as he tried to break free but was thrown back by said invisible force.

“[M/N]!” she cried out, she wanted to rush over but quickly backed up when that other monster started approaching her again.

”That guardian of yours won’t stop you from meeting your fate, Chrissy.” she shakes her head.

“No, I want to live.” it reached towards her once more but she kicked it back, just as [M/N] came flying over and tackling the monster in its side and into the wall “[M/N]!” he shakes his head, punching and clawing at the monster underneath him.

”Get out of here, Chrissy! Get out while I have him distracted!” she shakes her head.

“I-I… I don’t know how!”

”This is your mind, Chrissy! Think of your happiest memories to hide, and listen for the music! The music should help you find your way out of this nightmare!” he saw that she was still reluctant to go so he quickly threw the bastard away then rushed over to her, cupping her cheeks and giving her a reassuring smile ”Don’t worry about… a thing. I’ll take care… of this and be right back…” that slur in his speech calmed her down, she weakly nodded her head and that was enough for him to pat her head, kiss her forehead then gently push her along.

“You promise?” she whimpered, he nodded.

“I promise…” her lips trembled as she stared at him before finally turning on her heel and running away, with her finally gone, he took a deep breath and let his true emotions and form show. The monster before him let out an impressed hum, watching as his human disguise melted away and he was met with the abomination that was him ”I am going to enjoying tearing you apart, freak.”

“That’s quite rich coming from you.”

[outside of chrrisy’s mind]

Eddie had stumbled backwards when Chrissy started floating in the air, he didn’t know what the fuck he was watching as the Queen of Hawkins High was floating in the middle of his goddamn living room while some French song played in the background as the lights flickered about like he hadn’t been paying the power bill for months. If he thought talking to Chrissy that morning was crazy, this definitely took the fucking cake and he wished he was on something so this didn’t have to be fucking real. He didn’t know what to do, he wanted to turn tail and run but he just couldn’t leave Chrissy alone, before he could do anything, her eyes rolled back into place and she fell to the ground.

“Chrissy!” he shouts, quickly rushing over to see if she was alright but then jumped when she threw her arms around him, hugging him close and crying into his shoulder.

“Eddie! Oh god, I was so scared!” she cried out, burying herself deeper into his shoulder, fearing that he wasn’t real and that she was still trapped deep inside her mind. Eddie looked down at her before slowly reaching down and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into his chest and letting her bawl her eyes out. It took her some time to find her way out but she followed [M/N]’s advice and listened out for the music, faintly hearing “Moi Je Joue” when she was running for her life, but now she was out and away from that thing that was trying to kill her.

“… Chrissy, what the fuck was that?” Eddie muttered out, she let out a shuddered breath.

“Me losing my bloody mind.” now she was worried about [M/N], she left him alone with that thing and she was concerned something happened to him while she was gone but she felt a sudden cold weight on her shoulder, this was enough for her to relax into Eddie’s embrace.

Lullaby pt. 2

word count: 10,231

Fandom: Poppy Playtime Pairing: N/A Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Familial Occupation: Caretaker Ability: Ballerina Music Box

The character takes the appearance of a beautifully crafted music box ballerina figurine made of the toughest porcelain and glass, their clothes made from real fabric that is soft to touch and hair so smooth and silky you'd mistake it for real hair. Attached to their back is a wind up key that continuously spins when they're active and stops when they switch off. If the key is removed they cease to operate until key is returned and they are wound up again. Before CatNap, the character was the one to put the children to sleep with their built-in music box that would constantly be updated with new songs to play to help ease the children to sleep.

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name

Warnings: the hour of joy, blood, death, all that shit.

"Lullaby" pt. 1, pt.3

finally started using grammarly properly and started cleaning up my shit, i'm kind of happy about the outcome, though grammarly does tend to repeat a couple words.

I originally wanted to make this longer but I'll put in what I want in the next part.

that is all.

It was just like any other day.

Wake up.

Do a headcount during breakfast.

Guide the children to school.

Clean up around Home Sweet Home.

Entertain the Smiling Critters.

Play with the children after their lessons.

And so on and so forth. But a problem arose when she was in the middle of cleaning up Home Sweet Home. It was late at night, and the staff had missed a few things during their shift. Rather than wait for the morning crew, she decided to take care of it herself. Usually, a few lingering night guard employees would patrol Home Sweet Home while she "slept," taking over her job of monitoring the Playcare. But tonight, she was struggling to find them—or at least the one in charge.

"Where the hell is the night guard...?" she muttered to herself, standing on the second floor and looking over the railing to try and spot the man. A quiet breath left her lips when she still couldn't find him. She sighed, frustrated, her nails tapping against the oak beneath her fingers. Forget it—she'd find him later.

She moved on to the third level of Home Sweet Home, where the Smiling Critters resided. Peeking into their rooms, she nodded softly when she saw them all sound asleep. But when she opened CatNap's door—

"H-Help me..." Her eyes widened at the sight of one of the morning staff lying in a pool of their own blood, deep scratch marks gouged along their arms and face. Huh—no wonder she hadn’t seen them earlier that afternoon. Slowly, she lifted her eyes and found CatNap staring at her, shock clear in his gaze. He hadn’t expected her. Some of the red smoke escaped his mouth, though they both knew it didn’t work on her.

"P-Please save me..." the injured woman pleaded, grabbing Ballade's leg and trying to pull herself up. Ballade froze, her mind racing. Why did she have to walk in at this moment? Why now? This woman had been pestering CatNap all day to "open up," insisting she was "there for him." He’d ignored her until she cornered him in his room, and clearly, things had escalated.

What was Ballade going to do? Report this to the higher-ups? Send CatNap to the doctor to fix his violent outburst? Was she scared of him? There was nothing he could do to stop her. Despite being made before the Smiling Critters, Ballade’s model had been designed to handle toys the humans couldn’t control. He took a step back when he saw her glance down at the woman, her hand reaching out. He expected her to help her up—but instead, her hand crushed the woman’s head in one swift motion.

Ballade waited for the twitching to stop before she removed her hand, looking back up at CatNap. She smiled softly. Before she could speak, the sound of footsteps echoed outside the room. She pressed a finger to her lips and gestured for him to stay quiet. Lifting the woman’s body by the neck, she stepped out and shut the door just as the night guard appeared.

"Ah, there you are, Balla—" He stopped, eyes widening at the sight of the dead body. "Why on earth do you have a corpse?" She shrugged.

"I thought she was an intruder and dealt with her the way the Head Executives told me to." He stared for a moment, then shrugged.

"Whatever, as long as you don't do that to me."

"You have a reason to be here overnight. She did not. I didn’t expect anyone but the nightguards to be here—and I know you wouldn’t sneak around like a rodent." She smiled sweetly as the woman’s bones cracked under her grip.

"R-Right... So, uh, what are you going to do with her body?"

"Feed her to Boxy. If the children ask why she’s missing, I’ll just say she’s sick and needs time to recover. Mister Pierre prefers it when I kill the staff—saves him money on wages."

"Sounds like him." The guard nodded. "Need any help?"

"I’ll manage. I’ll be back once the body’s disposed of." With a polite bow of her head, she turned away. Noticing the guard linger near CatNap's door, she held her breath—but he simply shook his head and walked off in the opposite direction. "Perhaps I should thank CatNap. Now I get to see Boxy Boo~ It’s been a while." Tossing the corpse over her shoulder, she made her way down to the prison. The night shift employees didn’t blink an eye when she passed with a body in tow. They knew the drill.

The moment Boxy's cell opened, his eyes peeked through the crack—and then the lid burst open. His tongue lolled out at the sight of fresh meat. She caressed his head gently before tossing the body onto the floor. As he ate, she sat beside him, talking about anything that came to mind. Boxy couldn’t speak, but she knew he was listening—and understanding.

It was hard to leave him, especially when he whined softly for her to stay. But she had other matters to attend to.

"Oh, kitty cat~" she cooed softly as she entered CatNap's room, now dressed in fresh clothes. She had taken longer than expected—mopping up blood was a tedious task. But she was back, and she found him sitting nervously on his bed. "You must be curious about what just happened, hmm?" She didn’t sit beside him, mindful of his nerves. Instead, she knelt before him, waiting patiently.

"... You killed her," he said quietly.

"I did."

"The human guard was fine with it..."

"He was."

"... Have you killed before?"

"Many times." She looked down at her porcelain hands, imagining the blood that had stained them so often. "I am Playcare's security for a reason. So long as I don't step out of line, I can deal with these humans however I like—and they won’t bat an eye. Mister Pierre prefers it. Saves him money and resources." Her voice softened as her hands began to tremble. "But I hate the human employees. They know what we are, what was done to us—and still, they smile while they lead children to their deaths. So yes, when I kill them—when they beg and plead—I enjoy it."

The sadistic glint in her eyes startled CatNap. But then her expression crumbled.

"But then I remember those children. I smile with them, sing with them, play with them—and I lie to them. I give them hope that they’ll leave this hell, knowing they never will. And that makes me just like those adults. I let those kids slip through my fingers." She clenched her shaking hands. "I hate myself for it."

"I don’t think you’re like them," he whispered. "You try to keep us safe. You let me go when I tried to escape." She blinked, startled that he remembered.

"And I am grateful to 1006 for saving your life. But that still isn't enough. I just want them to be free, even if it means I have to stay down here to repent for what I have done." She looked up when CatNap's paws grabbed her hands.

"The Prototype will save us." She blinked in confusion.

"T-The Prototype? But how? Ever since you two tried to escape, he's been put in a high-security cell that only the Head Executives and the Doctor can access. I'm allowed to roam the prison however I like, but even I'm not allowed near it. I-It's impossible." She shivered slightly when he gave a low chuckle.

"He will give us salvation. With him, we will know true freedom." He noticed the way her face broke, even if it was just for a second; he saw the way his words were getting to her. "If we side with the Prototype, he will free us from this prison." Her gaze stayed on him before it drifted to the side.

"I don't care if I have to stay down here, I just want those kids to be free." She licked her lips as she looked at him. "If I help... will he promise to set them free?" He grinned.

"The Prototype will set us all free." She wavered, swallowing thickly as she took her hands back.

"I need to think about this, Theo. If something goes wrong--" He shook his head.

"Nothing will go wrong." She sighed.

"We don't know that. I haven't agreed nor have I declined the thought of siding with the Prototype, but I just need to think about this. If I do agree... I'll come find you, but it'll take me some time." He nodded his head.

"There's no need to rush, [F/N]."

"Thank you, Theo." She smiled, albeit weakly, and hugged him. "I really needed this."

"... If you ever need to talk, I'll be here." She hummed softly.

"You're probably the only one who would understand, but I don't want to burden you with my thoughts." He shook his head.

"It's the least I can do with all the stress you have to carry."

"Hah, then I appreciate it." She scratched under his chin and nuzzled her cheek against his. "I won't say a word about our conversation to anyone, but tell me if anyone else bothers you. I will personally take care of it. Or if you kill anyone, tell me and I'll clean it up. You're not technically allowed to kill anyone, so we'll both get in trouble if that occurs." He let out his own laugh.

"I'll keep that in mind." CatNap perked up when he felt her movements start to lag, so he looked at the wind-up key and saw that it was beginning to slow. Noticing this, he gently nudged her stomach. "You should go back to your stage; you're beginning to slow down."

"Oh, I didn't even notice." She started pushing herself up but struggled a little. She let out a noise when CatNap stood up and let her lean on his body. "Thank you."

"Allow me to help you down..." She hummed softly.

"I appreciate the help." The nightguards didn't question CatNap helping Ballade down the stairs and onto her stage, where he waited for her key to stop turning to finally leave her alone. They all knew that CatNap was her favorite out of all the Smiling Critters and figured if they couldn't find her in her usual spots, she'd be with that colossal cat.

And so the days went on as if nothing happened in the first place. A few of the children did notice that the woman was missing but eventually forgot about it when Ballade said she was at home resting after catching a cold. The Smiling Critters did notice that Ballade and CatNap seemed a lot closer than usual; they also knew that CatNap was her favorite, but whatever occurred that night seemed to have strengthened their bond. Speaking of which, they needed Ballade for something and found both her and CatNap on her stage with a couple of other children drawing.

"What a wonderful blend of colors, sweetheart. Crafty Corn has taught you well during her arts and crafts lessons." Ballade praised as she looked over their art piece, quite impressed by their skill. "You will make a fine artist someday, child." She teasingly pinched their nose and giggled softly when they squealed.

"Stop that!" She held her hands up in surrender before leaning back into CatNap once more, her hand absentmindedly patting his head while her music box played songs that helped him sleep. Her other hand was drawing circles in the air before she finally noticed DogDay, Bobby, and Bubba, where she perked up and waved her hand to greet them. "Good afternoon, children! Care to join us?" She cocked a brow when she saw the three of them look nervous.

"Um, you're not particularly busy, are you?" She looked at the children that were sprawled all over her stage while CatNap nestled close into her back before looking back up at them.

"...Not really, no. Why?" Their reason was so ridiculous it woke CatNap up; even the children were staring in confusion. That's where she found herself staring down at Kickin and Hoppy, who had somehow gotten themselves stuck in the children's playground. "And you did this because you wanted to prove you could fit through the hole?" At least Hoppy had the decency to look shameless; Kickin just huffed as he hung by his waist from out of the hole he was stuck in.

"...Yes." She shook her head.

"You do know that this is a playground built for tiny children, correct?" She chuckled softly when Hoppy covered her face with her ears. "Have anything to say for yourselves?"

"...Help us?"

"No!" She slapped a hand onto her forehead and let out a sigh while the crowd of children laughed when Hoppy and Kickin apologized, which was what she really wanted. The next hour was spent with Ballade trying to get them out without damaging the playground or hurting the two, but both were difficult. The two of them had wedged themselves pretty tight, and she couldn't pull them out without tearing their stitching. She practically had to tear the holes they were in wide enough for them to slip out, but due to this, it destroyed the part of the playground they got themselves stuck in. She then spent the next half hour explaining to a few of the employees what happened while Hoppy and Kickin were on their knees with their arms above their heads as a form of punishment.

"You guys did this to yourselves," Bubba said, Picky and Crafty nodding their heads from behind the elephant.

"We're sorry..." Hoppy and Kickin sighed, DogDay snickering softly.

"The children had a good laugh out of it," Bobby said, pursing her lips as she scratched her cheek.

"Sure, but now they have to close the playground so they can fix what Miss Ballade broke to get them out." They looked back over at her and saw how she pinched the bridge of her nose at what the employee told her, then apologized and consoled the children when they learned they couldn't play on the playground. "Way to go, you two."

"Let's hope Miss Ballade doesn't get in trouble. They don't like it when we break any of the property," Crafty said.

"Perhaps since it was her, she won't get into a lot of trouble."

"Still, I can't help but worry." Hoppy and Kickin felt even worse; because of their competitiveness, they were getting Ballade in trouble. True to her suspicion, Leith reprimanded Ballade for not keeping an eye on the two and for not thinking of any alternatives to prying them free. CatNap was the one to slink over to her side to comfort her but flinched upon noticing that behind her smile-painted face was the look of rage burning in her eyes. Her hand closed into a tight fist, her entire frame trembling with suppressed anger as she watched Leith with Stella and a few other employees walk away. Her eyes snapped over to CatNap when she felt him press himself against her side, his presence the only thing keeping her from lashing out. She took a slow breath, forcing her muscles to relax, but her voice, when she spoke, was tight and low.

"Thank you..." she spoke softly, his ears perked up at her words. "You're really the only person that can calm me down..." Her voice was barely above a whisper, soft enough that only he could hear. The way CatNap lit up had the children thinking that Ballade was going to reward him with something. A broken, rumbling purr rippled from his throat as he rubbed affectionately against her side. She responded by kneeling down, her painted smile still in place, and nuzzled her cheek gently against his fur. The warmth of the gesture seemed so natural, so familiar, that the children watching giggled at the display.

But then her eyes shifted, softening as they landed on Hoppy and Kickin. Their ears drooped, and their expressions were heavy with guilt. Without hesitation, she approached them. They jumped in surprise when her hands landed softly on their heads, then cupped the back of them to pull them into a warm embrace. She felt the way they trembled in her hold, their little bodies overcome with remorse.

"W-We're sorry for getting you in trouble, Miss Ballade..."

"We promise we won't d-do it again..." they whimpered softly, their voices shaking. She shook her head, her grip on them gentle but firm.

"It's fine, it's better if I get in trouble than you lot. They would be far harsher on you than they ever would be with me." The thought chilled her, though she kept her tone calm and comforting. We’re lucky all I got was a talking to and nothing else, she thought bitterly. Pulling back just enough to meet their eyes, she offered a soft, reassuring smile. "As long as you learn from this, all is fine." she sweat dropped when they started crying so she continued to hold them until they eventually calmed down.

The next day, determined to make things right, Hoppy and Kickin approached the playground supervisor and took full responsibility for the damage. They also worked together to organize an impromptu arts and crafts day with Crafty Corn’s help, keeping the children entertained while the playground was being repaired. They even helped with the cleanup and offered to assist in the minor repairs they could manage without making things worse. Ballade couldn't help but be impressed by their initiative to take responsibility—perhaps the two of them were finally learning—until she noticed them bickering again, each claiming the idea had been theirs. She cleared her throat pointedly, and with one sharp look, the two fell silent.

Despite their antics, the effort they put in didn’t go unnoticed. By the end of the week, the playground was on its way to being fixed, and the children had enjoyed a day filled with laughter and creativity. Even Stella, seeing their hard work, made a point to praise them for stepping up. Later, as the day came to an end, Ballade found herself once again sitting with CatNap on her stage, watching the children show off their colorful creations. She let out a soft sigh, her hand absentmindedly stroking behind his ears.

“Maybe they’ll grow out of it one day,” she mused. CatNap chuckled, his purring a gentle vibration against her side.

“Maybe. But where would the fun be in that?” Ballade smiled despite herself, the warmth of the moment washing away the week’s troubles. For now, at least, there was peace—and perhaps just a little bit of hope.

Until—

"We're a head short..." Ballade murmured to herself as she counted the children that exited the school, she grew nervous when she counted again and again but she still ended up short one child. "Even one of the Miss Delight teachers is missing. Where could they have gone?" One of the Miss Delight teachers approached Ballade after hearing her question.

"Miss Ballade, thank goodness I've found you." She raised a brow.

"What is it?" She looked down at the teacher and watched her pace.

"The employees came earlier today and pulled one of the children aside." Ballade's face turned cold at what she said. "We know we're not supposed to interfere when they take the children, but they weren't following the correct procedure, so one of my sisters is stalling them." Miss Delight flinched when she saw the dark look on Ballade's face, her voice dropping.

"Where are they?" she asked, her tone sharp and dangerous.

"If she's stopped them, they should be close to the back."

She nodded once and turned, her pace brisk and her mind already racing through every possible scenario. Her breath quickened as she navigated the halls, thoughts swirling in a dangerous storm. If they were taking a child now, in broad daylight, it was far outside protocol. They were only supposed to remove the children at lights out—when it was easier to explain away their absence by saying they had fallen ill overnight. If they were breaking that rule, it meant that the scientists were eager to experiment on a child instead of having the lucky "chosen child" that was lucky to be adopted.

"Please, don't take Sarah away!" Miss Delight's desperate plea echoed through the corridor, trembling with fear and determination. Ballade’s sharp eyes immediately locked onto the two employees holding the child—Sarah—between them, their grips too firm and their faces too tense. Sarah’s frightened whimpers tugged at something primal inside Ballade. When one of the employees pushed Miss Delight back, Ballade’s vision flashed with fury. Her smile, painted and eternal, hid the storm brewing just beneath the surface.

"Unhand that child." Ballade’s voice was calm—too calm—but the weight of it filled the air like a thunderclap. Every head turned toward her, and the employees visibly stiffened under her gaze.

"Miss Ballade, this is none of your concern—"

"It becomes my concern when my children are frightened," she cut in coldly. She advanced slowly, every step measured, her eyes never leaving theirs. "And it becomes my problem when protocols are ignored." She stopped mere feet from them, her towering presence suffocating in its intensity. "So I will only say this once more: unhand the child. Now." they were quick to heed her words and they let Sarah go, who cried weakly and fell into Miss Delight's embrace.

"I-I was so scared...!" she sobbed softly, Ballade waved her hand and gestured for Miss Delight to take the child and leave.

"I'll handle this, go join the rest of the children and your sisters." she bowed her head, thanking the figurine profusely as she rushed away with the child in hand. When they were both out of sight and she knew they were alone, her fist connected with the wall beside their head and they both jumped in fright when it made a hole. The sharp crack of breaking plaster echoed through the corridor, and dust rained down around them.

"What do you think you were doing, hmm?" she asked, her friendly persona disappearing as she glared down at the two humans, who trembled under her terrifying gaze. Her eyes, usually warm and expressive, had turned cold and razor-sharp, her smile a painted mockery of calm.

"W-We... We were just fo-- following orders." they answered, their voices shaking.

"Oh? Then why didn't you follow the proper procedure?" Ballade’s voice was low and dangerous, like a blade sliding from its sheath. She took a slow, deliberate step forward, and they instinctively backed away. "If you are to take a child, I am to be informed so I don't act the way I am acting right now." The venom in her tone made their knees buckle. "Even so, why aren't you following the correct protocol?"

She advanced again, her presence suffocating and overwhelming. "When you are to take a child in broad daylight, especially when there are other children to witness your actions, you must do it in a way that doesn't cause the child to stress and raise alarms. And yet here you are—manhandling her like some kind of thief." Her voice dropped to a whisper, which somehow made it even more terrifying. "Are you thieves? Are you looking to steal from me? Because I will not tolerate anyone who threatens my children." One of the employees tried to stammer out an excuse, but Ballade slammed her hand against the wall again, cutting them off. The impact left another crack in the plaster, and both humans flinched violently.

"Give me one good reason," she hissed, her eyes burning with fury, "why I shouldn't report you to the Head Executives myself. Or perhaps..." She tilted her head, her smile twisting into something darker. "Perhaps I should take this up with the Doctor. I'm sure he'd love to use you in a few of his experiments." They paled at the mention of the Doctor, their fear now nearly tangible.

"Please... it was a mistake! We—we won't do it again!" one of them whimpered.

"You’re right about that," Ballade snapped. "Because if you ever step out of line again, I promise you—there won’t be enough left of you for anyone to find. Now get out of my sight."

She closed her eyes, taking a slow breath to calm herself before ripping her hands free from the wall, flexing her fingers to shake off the debris. She was confused—why wasn't she informed that they were taking one of the children that day? Why did they show up at the school to remove little Sarah? The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. Something wasn’t right.

Did she do the right thing stepping in the way she did? The answer was clear in her heart—yes. But the weight of what she’d just done pressed heavily on her mind. She figured they were going to inform the higher-ups about her interference, and she knew there would be consequences. But was she really at fault? Was protecting the children wrong? Haa, she was going to get into so much trouble.

Her fingers twitched with leftover adrenaline as she turned to leave, but then she remembered the holes she had made. Her eyes darted around the corridor, scanning for any witnesses. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she grabbed the nearby lockers and, with little to no effort, shifted them just enough to conceal the damage.

Perfect.

She stepped back, brushing dust from her hands and examining her work with a critical eye. No one would know—at least for now.

"Miss Ballade!" her head perked up when she saw DogDay rushing up to her, his ears flopping with every hurried step. His face was a mix of worry and confusion "I heard what happened from Miss Delight! Are you alright?" She waved her hand to dismiss his concern, the painted smile on her face still intact, but her eyes betrayed her unease.

"I am fine, nothing to fret about," she answered calmly, her hand gently patting his shoulder in reassurance. "But I am concerned. Why would they break protocol? The scientists are usually very thorough on how they... take the children. They are never ones to send the employees—never in broad daylight, and never without informing me." Her voice softened, but the tension in it was unmistakable.

"Why would they do that?" she sighed.

"I haven't a clue." She jumped when she heard a cry, so she looked over DogDay and saw little Sarah clinging to Miss Delight's dress, the woman doing her best to comfort the child. Miss Delight's usual calm demeanor was visibly shaken, her hands smoothing over Sarah's hair in a desperate attempt to ease her fear.

"I-I was so scared, Miss Delight! I didn't do anything wrong!" The Smiling Critters, who had heard the commotion, huddled around the little girl, their soft voices trying to soothe her with gentle reassurances. Bobby reached out to pat her shoulder, and Crafty offered one of her handmade paper flowers, but nothing seemed to ease Sarah’s sobs. The moment Ballade approached, Sarah’s wide, tear-filled eyes locked onto her, and without hesitation, the little girl rushed over and threw her arms around Ballade's legs tightly. "I swear I didn't do anything wrong, Miss Ballade!" The heartbreak in Sarah's voice made Ballade’s chest tighten, her smile unable to mask the surge of emotion welling up inside her. She knelt down slowly, gently holding the trembling girl by her arms, brushing a stray lock of hair from Sarah's damp cheek.

"I'm sure you did nothing wrong, little one. But fear not—your friend Miss Ballade Ballerina thwarted their efforts! They won’t be coming to scare you, not anymore." Her voice softened with a warm, protective lilt, but inside, she felt a cold fury still simmering from the encounter. She gasped softly when Sarah threw her arms around her neck, her tiny frame shaking with sobs. Ballade sighed, the sound soft and heavy as her own arms wrapped securely around the child, one hand cradling the back of Sarah’s head as she whispered gentle reassurances. "I'll make sure of it," she promised, her voice low and fierce with quiet determination. She knew those words meant more than Sarah could ever understand.

"T-Thank you, Miss Ballade. I'm glad I can trust you." The girl’s words were muffled against her shoulder, but they struck Ballade harder than any blow. Her breath caught as she felt Sarah nuzzle closer into her embrace, seeking safety and comfort. The weight of guilt settled deeper into Ballade’s mind, cold and unshakable.

She really shouldn't place her trust in her.

CatNap noticed Ballade becoming more distant from herself after the incident with the child as bedtime approached. No one else seemed to pick up on the subtle changes — the way her painted smile looked just a bit more strained, how her eyes wavered every time she looked at the children. The mask she always wore, the one that kept her true emotions hidden, was slipping. She lingered longer when the children hugged her, held them a little tighter, as if trying to memorize the warmth of their small arms around her. Their laughter, their trust — it weighed heavily on her shoulders. They told her how much they loved spending time with her, and each word chipped away at her carefully constructed facade. It had always been easy to fake happiness for their sake, to protect their ignorant bliss… but with each passing day, it became so much harder to keep up the act.

It was during bedtime, after they put the children to sleep and she was walking CatNap back to his room, when he finally understood why.

"I'll do it." his head perked up when she spoke, her face void of any emotion.

"... do what?" her eyes hardened, whether it be at him or herself, he couldn't really tell.

"Whatever you and 1006 need, I'll do it." Ballade's shoulders slumped as her eyes fixated on a picture frame of the children laughing and smiling, not a single bad thought behind their innocent eyes. She stared at it, the image feeling so distant— like something she could never quite reach. She wondered what it would feel like to truly hold them, to feel their warmth, the softness of their little hands when they reached out for her. But she never would. The sensation of touch was something foreign, a mystery she'd never get to experience again in this body. Every embrace she gave them was empty for her, a performance of comfort she could never fully share.

"I can't do it anymore." Her voice broke, trembling with the weight of her words. "It pains me every time I watch those children cry and ask me what they did wrong to be taken away, how they trust me with every inch of their small bodies and I trample all over it just by simply existing." She wanted so badly to feel the way they held onto her, to know the security they believed she gave them. But all she ever felt was the aching hollowness where that connection should have been.

"I hate going to the prison and hearing their anguished cries to be let out, to go home, to be free." Her hands shook at her sides, the phantom feeling of their terrified clinging playing through her mind — sensations she could only imagine. "I hate lying to them, telling them everything will be okay when I know it won’t." she could imagine the sensation of tears welling up in her eyes, though they could never fall since she lacked the proper glands to produce them. "They look at me like I’m their protector, their safe place… and every time one of them disappears, I know I've failed them again." She clenched her fists so tightly her porcelain hands threatened to crack, but even the pain of it was absent. The frustration of that emptiness only made the ache inside her deepen.

Ballade's fingers traced the frame’s edges, her hands trembling as she fought to keep her composure. CatNap watched her quietly, his tail flicking with unease. It was rare to see Ballade like this— so vulnerable, so worn down by guilt and sorrow. He padded closer, pressing his head against her arm in an attempt to offer some comfort.

"They deserve better," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Better than me. Better than this place." CatNap let out a low, broken purr, his eyes flickering with a knowing look.

"Then let's change it," he murmured, his voice soft but resolute. Ballade turned to him, her eyes wide but weak.

"But what if we fail?" he shook his head.

"We won't. With your help, freedom will be in ours hands. The Prototype will make sure of that, I promise." her lip trembled and he'd think she'd start crying but she was unable to, she bit her lip and knelt down to press her forehead against his.

"I don't care what happens to me, CatNap, so long as those kids get to leave this hellish place." Her voice hardened. "I'll side with you and the Prototype if it means those kids get to be free, if it means they don't have to suffer anymore." She turned to face him, eyes burning with a mixture of sorrow and resolve. "Just tell me what you guys are going to do, and I'll be right on your side." she was fully on her knees as she wrapped her arms around CatNap's neck and nuzzled into his head, he returned the affection as a single thought went through his mind.

He had won.

Ever since their conversation to help the Prototype, CatNap observed Ballade closely. He saw how the weight of her decision pressed down on her more with each passing day. There was a newfound desperation in her every action, an urgency that hadn’t been there before—because now there was chance to finally make things right. Now there was a possibility that the children's suffering could finally end, and that chance both strengthened and broke her.

He noticed how she struggled to get by every day, caught between the promise of freedom for the children and the reality of her own helplessness. The knowledge that she could finally save them gnawed at her, but with it came the agony of waiting—waiting for the right time, waiting for the right plan. Every second felt like a betrayal, knowing the children she loved were still at risk.

Ballade’s guilt was killing her. She hated herself for every moment she stood by and did nothing while the children were taken—frightened, confused, and pleading for answers she couldn’t give. She hated the way they trusted her so completely, how they clung to her and sought comfort in her arms when she knew she couldn’t protect them. And worse, she hated how she longed for their touch even though she couldn’t feel it.

That emptiness haunted her. Every time a child’s small hand slipped into hers, every time they hugged her tight, she could only pretend to feel it. She could see their warmth, their affection, but it never reached her. And yet she held onto those moments as if they could somehow fill the void inside her. She clung to their love because it was the only thing keeping her from falling apart.

"... the Prototype has a plan, [F/N]. But we must wait before we can act on it."

"How long must I wait?"

"I'm sure you can be patient." a weak chuckle escaped her throat when he saw her pout, he nudged his head against her cheek "Our freedom will be guaranteed with you on our side." she nods.

"Just tell me when, and I'll do whatever you two need me to do."

Having Ballade side with the Prototype was the last hurdle in their final plan. She was already well aware that the Prototype was one of the most dangerous experiments to ever come out of the Bigger Bodies Initiative. And though she was no match for a force as powerful and unpredictable as the Prototype itself, Ballade was more than capable of handling CatNap and the other Bigger Bodies. That was her job — not only to care for the children and dispose of any unwanted guests but to apprehend any of the toys that stepped out of line. She’d done it before, and she can most definitely do it again. She remembered the incident with Mommy Longlegs vividly — the frantic way the creature lashed out when the children left the Game Station and moved into Playcare. The hysteria had escalated so quickly that Ballade had been forced to tie Mommy Longlegs' limbs together just to stop her from going on a rampage. It wasn’t the first time Ballade had been made to turn on one of her own, and wouldn’t be the last so long as the toys did their jobs.

The Prototype will be most pleased to learn Ballade has sided with him.

[august eighth 1995, 10.00 am]

Deep breath.

In, and out.

In, and out.

Quell your nerves.

"Ballade, are you alright?" her eyes move down to one of the human counselors and saw the way the woman looked up at her in concern, seemingly noticing she wasn't acting like herself, but Ballade easily masked her unease and smiled.

"Don't worry about me, Miss. Just trying to come up with more ways to entertain the children, the older ones are growing bored of the usual activities I usually plan out. I'm struggling to come up with new things to keep them entertained." the woman laughed as she pats Ballade on the back.

"I'm sure you can come up with something, you're quite creative when it comes to keeping those kids on their toes!" she gave a laugh in response to her words.

"I try my best." she waves her hand goodbye when the woman had to return to the Counselor's Office, missing the way Ballade's eyes turned cold as they observed all the human employees walking around. It was like any other ordinary day within the Playcare, the children were up and escorted to the dining hall for breakfast by the Smiling Critters then guided to the school to proceed with the day. It was only a matter of time before it all begins, and they won't even know what hit them.

".... don't tell me you're chickening out, [F/N]." a bitter laugh escapes her lips when CatNap appeared beside her, she looked down at him and could practically see the eagerness in his eyes "It's almost upon us." she huffed.

"Yes, the day they all reap what they sow. The other Critters are still unaware, right?" he nods.

"They are. They're not nearly as understanding as you, so I was afraid to outright tell them the details about what was going to happen today." he saw the way her shoulders slumped.

"I feel like that it's for the better, Theo. Better to stain our hands than than the others." she let out a breath "Then we're going for plan b?" he nods his head.

"I have already told them to meet us beneath the Playhouse." she closed her eyes and briefly looked back into Home Sweet Home to find the clock and it was only half past ten, he watched her and saw the way she rubbed her arms nervously "Remember, [F/N], we're doing this to secure our freedom. The Prototype is giving us our chance to do right by the children by not only saving them, but ourselves." despite her hesitation, she nodded.

"You're right." she inhaled deeply before they both made their way to the Playhouse, they went through the back to avoid running into any other staff members or children and found the Smiling Critters in the prison, Ballade made sure there was nobody else beneath the Playhouse before entering the room alone.

"Children... something drastic is going to happen in the next half hour, and though I don't want you to participate in what is going to happen, I can't leave you in the dark." Kickin let out a nervous chuckle, his feathered hand rubbing the back of his head.

"W-What do you mean? Does this have to do with what CatNap was yapping about months ago?" she nodded.

"What exactly has he told you?" They looked at each other rather anxiously, Bobby pressing her paws together.

"He mentioned... the Prototype? Saying stuff about how he'll save us." Hoppy nodded.

"He was really cryptic with his words. It kind of freaked me out."

"CatNap was talking about how there will come a time when we will get to take back our lives if we... join the Prototype," Bubba said, his hooves messing with his lightbulb-shaped zipper.

"CatNap wasn't s-serious about us joining the Prototype, right? The staff told us that he was very dangerous," Crafty murmured softly.

"He's been obsessed with that thing for ages. I thought he would have gotten over it years ago," Picky added. DogDay, in turn, gave a forced laugh as he looked up at Ballade. He felt uneasy with how they were all trapped in the cramped room with Ballade blocking their way out. The dimly lit room didn’t help calm his nerves as Ballade looked down at them all with an unreadable expression.

"He wasn't being serious though, right? He was probably just trying to scare us! He wouldn't really consider joining hands with that experiment." He took Ballade by the hand and looked up at her for some sort of reassurance. "If you're talking to us about this, then that means CatNap brought this up with you as well. He wasn't being serious about helping the Prototype, right? You talked him out of it, right?" They all looked up at her eagerly and saw the way she couldn't meet their eyes.

"M-Miss Ballade?" When she took a step forward, they felt a chill run down their spines when they saw the look in her eyes.

"The Prototype will set us free," she spoke with a rather eerie voice. She took DogDay's paw and squeezed it, a look of desperate and conflicted expression on her face. "He said that if we help him, we'll be saving the orphans from being killed."

DogDay yanked his paw back, stepping away as if burned. "You... you're siding with the Prototype?" His voice was trembling, his wide eyes filled with disbelief.

Ballade flexed her hands, her painted smile a stark contrast to the pain in her eyes. "I didn’t, initially," she whispered. "But I’ve grown tired of seeing so many children dying at the hands of the scientists — and I let it all happen because I couldn't do anything about it. If we help him, he promises that he'll set them free... He’ll set you free! Don't you understand? If siding with the Prototype means we get to end this madness, then so be it."

The room fell into a suffocating silence.

"No," Hoppy whispered, her ears flattened against her head. "No, this isn’t right… You—You can’t believe him!"

"The Prototype is a monster!" Bobby cried. "He’s dangerous — the humans told us so!"

"And the humans lie!" Ballade snapped, her voice cracking as emotion bled through. "They hurt us! They hurt the children! How many more have to suffer before we fight back?!"

"Not like this," DogDay said softly, shaking his head. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. "Not like this, Miss Ballade…" they stare up at her in terror as her shoulders deflated, she let out a defeated breath as she lowered her head.

“Then... you leave me no choice.” Ballade’s voice was heavy with regret as she stepped to the side, one hand reaching for the doorknob behind her. It was then that they noticed the red smoke seeping from beneath the doorframe. When she turned the knob and pulled the door open, the thick, eerie mist flooded into the room, swirling around their feet. CatNap stepped in silently, his eyes gleaming with purpose.

“I can’t have you stopping us,” Ballade continued, her voice quiet but resolute. “Nor telling the adults what you’ve learned.” As the door clicked shut behind CatNap, the red smoke spread, filling the room like a creeping tide.

“W-What are you doing?” Kickin’s voice wavered, panic rising.

“Why are you doing this, Ballade?!” Bubba cried out, fear evident in his eyes.

One by one, they succumbed. The red smoke took them swiftly, their bodies crumpling to the floor as the strange gas overtook them. Ballade stood still, taking a deep breath—unaffected—as the others collapsed around her. Only DogDay resisted, his knees buckling as he fought to stay conscious, his teeth clenched.

“Please... don’t...” he whispered, his vision blurring.

But it was futile. As his strength gave out and he began to fall, Ballade caught him, cradling him gently in her arms. For a moment, she held him there, her grip firm but careful. When she pulled away, her fingers brushed against his face, cupping his cheeks with a heartbreaking tenderness.

“I’m doing this for your own good,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “You’ll forgive me for this when it’s all over... when you see what we’ve done was to save you.”

DogDay’s hand gripped her shoulder weakly, his eyes pleading—but then his strength faded completely, and his body went limp. Ballade closed her eyes, forcing herself to swallow the guilt rising in her throat. With methodical care, she gathered the others, dragging their unconscious forms into their individual cells. The sound of the locks clicking into place echoed in the still air, and she stood in the silence that followed, her heart heavy.

For a long moment, she lingered at the door, her hand resting on the cold metal.

“You did what you could, [F/N],” CatNap said softly behind her. “I’m sure they’ll thank you when this is all over.”

Ballade clasped her hands together tightly, the motion more to steady herself than anything else. “I just hope... my judgment isn’t wrong.” She looked down at CatNap, her eyes sincere but filled with doubt. “The Prototype will uphold his promise... right? The orphans will be set free... right?”

She didn’t trust the Prototype—how could she?—but she trusted CatNap. And CatNap believed in him. That was the only reason she was still standing here.

The only reason she hadn’t turned back.

"The doctors say he's dangerous, but he wants what's best for us all." this was enough to reassure her, she reached down and ruffled his head.

"If you say so." she takes another breath to calm herself one last time "We should probably go, it's almost time." he nods.

"The Hour of Joy is almost upon us." she chuckled as she laced her fingers together and pushed them forward, hearing her joints crack under the pressure.

"Let's get to work."

There were many toys that the Prototype managed to recruit to his cause, each one with their own grudges and reasons for joining his orchestrated rebellion throughout the entirety of Playtime Co. From Huggy Wuggy, stationed menacingly within the main lobby with his sharp-toothed grin and cold, unblinking eyes, to Mommy Longlegs lurking within the Game Station alongside the ever-watchful Mini Huggies, waiting with predatory patience for their signal to strike. In Playcare, the heart of the children's refuge, CatNap and Ballade stood as the most dangerous of his allies—each powerful in their own right, each burdened with their own twisted sense of duty and guilt.

Even Miss Delight, the ever-cheerful face of comfort for the orphans, was drawn into this uprising, her tears of joy and sadness masking the deep-seated resentment she bore toward the human employees. And then there were the mini Smiling Critters—once innocent and carefree, now caught between loyalty and fear. They hadn’t yet chosen their sides, and that hesitation made them dangerous liabilities.

The Prototype extended a hand to all the toys who had suffered at the hands of the human employees, promising them more than just vengeance. He offered them freedom—freedom from the torment of their artificial existence, from the chains of servitude and the horror of seeing the children they loved and protected dragged away, never to return. It was a chance to end the cycle of pain and finally reclaim their lives from those who had treated them as nothing more than tools and experiments.

EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM EFFECTIVE 8/8/1995 11:00:00 EST

Playtime Company

Issue A

WORK FORCE DANGER ALERT

"The following message is for all Playtime Co. employees.

At 11:01AM, Eastern Standard Time, an unknown hostile force declared present within the Playtime Co. facility.

Personnel are to begin enacting emergency evacuation protocols immediately.

Leave all personal belongings.

Do not engage with any hostile individuals.

If no exit path is available, seek shelter in a hidden location.

Use blankets or pillows to cover your body, and remain silent.

Do not look through any windows.

Do not open doors for any individuals.

Do not make eye contact--

...

...

Open the doors now. The Hour of Joy has arrived."

It started with the alarms—shrill, blaring cries echoing through the factory like the wailing of lost souls. The lights flickered violently, plunging corridors into a maddening dance of shadow and flame. In the main lobby, Huggy Wuggy descended upon the unsuspecting staff with terrifying speed, his massive frame moving with unnatural grace as his gleaming teeth tore through the chaos. Screams filled the air, but no one escaped his relentless pursuit. Blood painted the walls, limbs lay scattered across the floor, and the air reeked of iron and fear.

At the Game Station, Mommy Longlegs played with her prey. Her elastic limbs snaked through vents and rafters, dragging terrified employees into the darkness. The Mini Huggies scurried in swarms, their tiny forms overwhelming anyone who crossed their path. The once lively station became a house of horrors, filled with echoes of laughter twisted into something monstrous. Flesh was torn from bone, and the floors were slick with blood as the station became a macabre playground.

In Playcare, it was no better than the rest of the factory.

Outside the Playhouse, the halls of Playcare ran red. CatNap drifted through the corridors like a phantom, his red smoke spilling into every crevice. The humans never stood a chance—one by one, they collapsed, some peacefully, others choking on the thick haze, their bodies hitting the ground with lifeless thuds. Ballade followed in his wake, her hands already stained with blood. She moved with cold purpose, securing the orphans first, locking them away where no harm could reach them.

But the carnage followed her.

The human employees were torn apart, their bodies left in grotesque displays of violence. One counselor she had shared a conversation earlier in the morning with lay sprawled against a wall, her throat crushed that her head lolled unnaturally to the side. Another staff member—someone who had once laughed and joked with the children—clawed at his own face, the red mist driving him into a frenzy of madness before his body finally gave out.

As the hour stretched on, the factory drowned in chaos. The Prototype’s plan unfolded perfectly, and the rebellion tore through Playtime Co. like wildfire. Yet amid the destruction, doubt gnawed at Ballade’s resolve. The line between savior and monster blurred, and she wondered if the price of freedom was too steep to bear.

...

...

"Haaa..." It was only hours after the Hour of Joy had commenced when Ballade sat on one of the benches within Playcare, her head thrown back over the backrest while she spread her legs out. "That took longer than I expected," she muttered, as blood slowly dripped down her unclenched fists. The metallic scent of it clung heavily to the air, a stark contrast to the usual warmth and joy that once filled this place. She didn’t get exhausted easily, but after hours of nonstop killing, her body finally felt the weight of it.

She sat up and let her body rest against her knees, more blood sliding down her face and legs, staining her once-pristine porcelain skin a deep, ghastly red. The sticky sensation of it had long since lost its shock — now it just felt like part of her.

CatNap emerged from the shadows, his colossal frame also splattered with crimson, though his breathing was steady and composed. "Most of the humans are gone," he reported, his voice light, almost pleased. "Playcare’s finally quiet. Peaceful."

But it wasn’t peaceful. It was too quiet. The children’s laughter, the chatter of the Smiling Critters — it was all gone. In its place was an eerie stillness, broken only by the distant, occasional drip of blood hitting the cold floor. Ballade’s eyes flickered toward the Playhouse where the Smiling Critters still lay unconscious, and her heart twisted. They hadn’t stirred once since she and CatNap had gassed them. She told herself it was for their own good — they wouldn’t have been able to handle the truth of what needed to be done. Still, the silence behind that door haunted her more than the screams of the humans ever could.

"They’ll thank us," CatNap said softly, as if reading her mind. "When the dust settles, when the children are free— they’ll understand." Ballade nodded slowly, but the doubt gnawed at her. She looked down at her blood-soaked hands, wondering if there would ever truly be an end to the nightmare they’d created in pursuit of salvation.

"Cleaning this all up is going to take so much time..." she said as she looked around and saw all the bodies "I don't suppose we can leave this to the other toys, hmm?" the look CatNap gave her said otherwise, she let out a defeated sigh.

"The Prototype wants us to drag all the bodies down below." CatNap's voice was low, the eerie silence of Playcare amplifying his words. Ballade rubbed her face in exhaustion, smearing more blood across her porcelain skin.

"I can only guess why." Now that all the humans were gone, their connection to the outside world was severed. Supplies would stop coming. They'd have to make do with what was left. "I'm sure there are still some humans roaming around, hiding."

"We got all the ones that weren’t fast or smart enough to hide," he replied. "We should probably head to the labs first before dragging all the bodies."

"Fine by me. I’m not up for more labor after what just happened. Besides, we can check on the others down below to see if they’re done. There were a lot more humans in the prison compared to Playcare." She chuckled, shaking her head as she noticed the eagerness in his eyes.

"Let’s go," he urged, nudging his head into her side. She gently pushed him off as they walked toward the Gas Production Zone.

"We’re going, we’re going," she muttered. Their heavy footsteps echoed against the cold floor with every step, the sound bouncing off walls now stripped of the laughter that once filled the air. They maneuvered over the countless bodies they’d eventually have to clean up, the stillness around them almost deafening.

Reaching the elevator, Ballade gestured for CatNap to step in first. She followed closely behind, waiting for the familiar lurch as it started to descend. But instead of standing still, she left the control panel and leapt down to join him, landing softly beside him. Thanks to her body, she could scale great heights and drop from any distance without pain or injury. No matter how far the humans ran, she would always find a way to get to them. No matter where they hid, there would be no escape.

On their way down to the labs, they came across several toys—some still in the throes of violence, others feasting on the remains of the security staff. The air was thick with the coppery scent of blood and the grotesque sounds of tearing flesh. Some toys played with their victims' remains, giggling in twisted delight as they dismembered what was left. Others stood over the bodies like sentinels, eyes wide with an unhinged kind of glee. Blood painted the walls in wild, sweeping strokes, turning once sterile corridors into grotesque art.

Most of the toys paid them no mind, too absorbed in their grisly work. A few glanced their way, tensing as if ready to strike, but the moment recognition flickered in their eyes, they stood down. Even the most frenzied among them knew better than to cross paths with Ballade and CatNap.

The two of them had a reputation. CatNap was the Prototype's most loyal follower, his name whispered with both respect and fear. And Ballade—Ballade was the Head Executive’s personal bodyguard, an enforcer who obeyed their every command without question. As they ventured deeper through the prison towards the labs, every so often, distant, inhuman screams echoed from below—a reminder of what waited for them at the bottom. The air felt heavier, saturated with the scent of blood and chemicals as they made it to the lower labs. The walls bore deep gouges, the aftermath of something strong and enraged. And in the far distance, they could hear it—metal scraping against metal, a slow, deliberate sound that set their teeth on edge.

"Hmm?" Ballade twisted her head to the side when she heard a sudden clatter, sighing to herself when she spotted a scientist trying to hide but freaked out when he realized he had been spotted "Go on without me, I'll catch him before he locks down the labs. Besides, the Prototype scares me." she gestures for him to go on before turning and chasing after the scientist, catching up to him was easy but due to the fact he ran away he had led her to more humans that were hiding out. Ballade moved through the dim corridors, the scent of blood and metal still thick in the air. She had just finished tracking down the stray scientists, their cries cut short in a single, efficient movement. Wiping her hands on her already bloodied dress, she started back toward the lower labs where the Prototype waited.

As she approached the entrance, the sound of voices reached her ears. She slowed her steps, curiosity and caution guiding her closer.

"…and once the remaining children are secured, we can begin the next phase," the Prototype’s voice was calm and calculating, every word measured as he used the stolen voices of those who have spoken to him. "Their resilience makes them perfect subjects. We’ll have ample opportunities to push beyond the limits of what this facility dared to achieve."

Ballade froze. Her heart—if it could beat—would have stopped. She stepped closer, unnoticed, her breath caught.

"Ballade..." CatNap’s voice was hesitant. "Is not going to let this go. She wants them to be free..."

"Freedom," the Prototype interrupted smoothly, "is a matter of perspective. You see, true freedom lies in purpose—fulfilling the potential we were created for. These children… they are the key to unlocking evolution. Their sacrifice will pave the way for something far greater than any of us."

Ballade’s stomach twisted violently. The world around her blurred at the edges, a rising wave of nausea and panic threatening to drown her. Her hands curled into trembling fists, slick with the blood of those she had already killed, and the weight of those lives now pressed down on her like lead.

"But—"

"Do not let sentiment cloud your judgment," the Prototype’s tone darkened. "You’ve seen how fragile they are, how easily they break. Would you rather they die in fear and ignorance? Or serve a higher calling? In this way, their suffering gains meaning."

She couldn’t listen anymore.

"You lied to me," Ballade spoke, albeit a whisper, but it let her presence be known as she stepped into the lab. Both figures turned toward her. CatNap’s eyes widened in guilt; the Prototype merely regarded her with cool detachment.

"[F/N]—" CatNap started, but she shook her head as she looked towards the monstrosity that was the Prototype.

"You told me we were doing this for them," she whispered, her voice shaking with panic. "To save them. Not… not this." She gestured wildly. "Not to turn them into experiments!"

"Their freedom," the Prototype said, unflinching, "comes through transcendence. Through transformation. It is the only true escape from the frailties of their existence. You of all creations should understand this."

"I understand," she spat, stepping forward, "that you used me." Her cold eyes locked onto CatNap. "And you let him."

"I… I thought—" CatNap stammered, ears flattened.

"No." She shook her head, the enormity of her mistake crashing over her. The faces of the children flashed behind her eyes—their laughter, their trust—and the image shattered under the knowledge of what she had condemned them to. "I made a mistake to trust you." she shakes her head before turning on her feels and leaving, ignoring the way CatNap called out to her as she hurried back to Playcare.

This was a mistake.

I made a mistake.

I shouldn't have trusted them.

I shouldn't have trusted him.

But it's too late.

From one hell to another, the Prototype's in control now.

Mechanical

word count: 4923

Fandom: FNAF Security Breach Pairing: N/A Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Platonic Occupation: Drummer/Mechanic Ability: Animatronic Octopus

The character was modeled after a blue ringed octopus, so they are a oceanic type animatronic with an oceanic themed area within the pizza plex. The appearance they adorn is that of a human like face while their hair is their eight tentacles that are also capable of extending out to three meters long and a special function that allows them to stick to walls but also pick things up. The rings of the blue ringed octopus are seen on their body and act as speakers for music to play but for their voice to be louder.

Keys: [M/N]: Male Name [B/C]: Base Color [S/C]: Secondary Color [F/C]: Favorite Color [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: spoilers to those who haven’t watched fnaf sb.

might make various drabbles to this involving this reader.

that is all.

[M/N] the Octopus; that is what they called him. Quite a boring name in comparison to the spectacular Glamrock Freddy or even Montgomery Gator, but it was the literal definition of his model. Unlike the other animatronics, he was a unique octopus type animatronic with eight tentacles for hair that were capable of doing any task. His model had dozens of mechanical software uploaded into his AI so that if anything were to be broken or malfunctioning, he would be the go to guy to fix anything back into prestige condition. He was well liked by the few human staff that were employed to the Freddy Fazbear Mega Pizza Plex and many children adored him, not as much as they loved Freddy of course, but at least he was well liked. 

He was also the main drummer of Freddy’s band, I mean, of course he was. There was Freddy, the main vocalist, Roxanne Wolf who played the Keytar, Chica who played as the main Guitarist and Montgomery Gator who played the Bass. A band was never complete without the Drummer who provided the beat to their songs, and [M/N] was the master when it came down to making any beat to whatever song Freddy sang. He was a fan favorite to the audience too, second to Freddy of course who was the main star and face to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, because of his unique model design. His body was a shade of [B/C] while the rings around his body were [F/C], the underside of his palms and tentacles were [S/C] as he his model was shirtless while he had painted on colorful 80′s track pants, green and pink nail polish along with peach to pink shield sunglasses that hid his [E/C] eyes.

Today was any other day at the Pizza Plex, fix anything that needed fixing before the Pizzeria opened, greet the staff that arrive, greet the young children and adults who decided to spend a day at his area of the Mega Pizza Plex, which was a oceanic themed area were the children were able to swim but also observe and learn about oceanic creatures through digital reality or holograms that swam about in the air above them. When the time came for him to return to his room to prepare for tonight’s show, he spoke through his built in mic and his voice transmitted through his built in speakers to signal the children and others that Freddy’s show was going to begin. 

“You ready, Freddy?” [M/N] spoke, spinning his drumsticks around his fingers as he looked Freddy up and down “Tonight’s the big show.” the main star for that night let out a chuckle as his hand came down to pat [M/N] on the back, giving his friend a soft smile.

“Of course friend, tonight will be like every other night. Perfect.” [M/N] deadpanned when Roxanne shoved past them, pressing her fingers into the keys of her keytar.

“Of course it will be perfect since I will be there.”

“Right, try not to mess up, Roxy.” Freddy let out a sigh as Roxanne glared up at [M/N], said machine let out his own snarl as his tentacles raise up slightly and curled up in a way they were ready to punch her.

“Please stop this, we can’t afford another quarrel before a show again.” [M/N] scoffs, crossing his arms as his robotic tentacles lowered to the ground.

“She starts it.”

“I do not!” Chica and Monty arrived behind stage and were as annoyed as Freddy when the two started bickering once more, [M/N] being more monotone and stern while Roxy was more vocal and aggressive. Freddy sighs before looking at Monty, he clears his throat to gain the alligators attention and when he succeeded, he nudged his head in the direct the two were, said machine let out a groan before going over to them. [M/N] lets out a grunt when he felt one of his tentacles be grabbed and yanked back, the same with Roxy but with her tail.

“Stop acting like idiots and get your acts together.” he growls at the both of them, [M/N] snatches his tentacle back as he straightens the top of his hair/tentacles out.

“I’m only stating the truth.” before Roxy could fire anything back, Chica grabbed her by the biceps and pulled her back.

“Whoa there girl, calm yourself.” 

“Freddy!” they all turn their heads and see one of the workers approaching them “You’re about to go on in five minutes.” he gives the worker a bright smile along with a thumbs up.

“Thank you for the heads up.” they nod their head before walking away, he claps his paws before looking at the other four “It’s party time.” to [M/N], everything was going as it should be. The performance was great, the children and even the adults were loving the show. A warm smile graced his mechanical lips as he watched Freddy perform to his utmost best, stealing the show with little to no effort and making the crowd roar for more. There shouldn’t have been any problems, everything was flawless, that was until he noticed Freddy’s movements sputter and twitch before freezing up. He was still drumming when his AI caught something, his eyes looked over at Freddy and a red outline covered his body and there he saw multiple issues erupting from his body. He couldn’t do anything as he watched sparks fly out of his body before he eventually collapsed to the ground, Chica was the first to approach him as the crowd gasped in shock.

“Freddy!” [M/N] shouts out in concern, standing up from where he was as he rushed over to him, he raised his head when he saw looks of confusion cross the faces of the people in the crowd before communicating with the main crew “Lower the stage and get us out of here.” he said through his communicator.

”We’re already on it.” the crowd was left in confusion as to why the show ended so strangely and early but the animatronic could careless, he was more concerned as to why Freddy had such a malfunction despite the condition he was in. [M/N] used his tentacles to pick Freddy up and brought him to Parts and Services while the other three returned to their rooms, his eyes were in the midst of doing a full body scan while his tentacles were doing other check ups on his body and fixing any damage that happened to him when he collapsed when the night guard entered the room.

“What happened out there?!” she shouts, he turned to face her with an equally confused look on his face.

“I don’t know, he was in tip top condition the last time I did an examination. I don’t know what caused his system to crash and for him to shut down the way he did.” he answers before returning his eyes down to continue examining his body.

“Well tonight was a disaster!” she lets out a groan, taking her cap off to tousle with her hair “I’ve been told that he needs to be put on reduced power, they said that it is a safety precaution so that something like what happened on stage won’t happen again.” he nods his head.

“If that is the correct action, then I will do so, Officer Vanessa.” she huffs as she watches him do his magic from outside the protective cylinder, watching as he pushed buttons, disconnecting and reconnecting wires before finishing and exiting out of the cylinder “I have finished, his power should deplete each time he is moving around for too long and he should shut down if he doesn’t power up in a recharge station.” she nods her head.

“Good, take him back to his room then go back to your own, got it?” 

“Got it.” she nods once more before leaving Parts and Services, he rubs his face as he stared down at the main face of the Fazebear Industry before shaking his head and picking him up once more to return him to his room. He places Freddy in the charging station within his room, staring at his resting face through the window of the station before turning and leaving for his own room. He used his tentacles to as a seat as Freddy’s diagnostics displayed themselves within [M/N]’s eyes, he was looking through all the data to see what was wrong with his friend and caused him to shut down in the middle of a show. He was perplexed as to how it happened because he was completely fine before the show, he showed no signs of a malfunction or anything of the sort, so he just didn’t understand as to why it happened. 

His eyes perked up slightly when something popped up in the corner of his eye, he waved his hand to dismiss the other things as he enhanced the anomaly. He was watching through the perspective of what Freddy saw through his eyes and there his face dawned a look of horror when he noticed that Freddy detected a threat within the crowd, but that wasn’t the threat that caused him to react the way he did, it was the fact that someone was trying to hack through Freddy’s AI, which was supposed to be impossible. He himself, along with the other three, were made so that it was not possible for anyone to hack through their system, but someone managed to get past their firewall.

“This is bad. This is very, very bad! I need to tell Vane--” he was cut off when he started to glitch out, his own AI was strong enough to resist the intruders hack but forced his system to shut down for it to be possible. His heavy body collapsed to the ground but as his vision started to fade, he saw the door from Parts and Services that led to his room opened up and someone come walking out, or more like hope out.

“Now, now. We can’t have our fun be spoiled before it even begins, now can we?” there, he saw a woman wearing a bunny outfit but the most disturbing part about it was the way the mask was made to look. A creepy smile stitched onto it as its eyes were a deep shade of red with dotted eyes, the woman beneath the mask giggled “Nighty night, octoman.”

WARNING!

ALERT!

DANGER DETECTED!

SYSTEMS SHUTTING DOWN...

[time skip: nearing 3:00AM]

[STARTING UP]

REBOOT...

LOADING OS...

SYSTEM INITIALIZATION... CHECKING EXOSKELETON... OK INITIALIZING SENSORS... OK INITIALIZING AI ENGINE... OK MEMORY STATUS... OK

ALL SYSTEMS... OK

ENTERING SAFE MODE

[M/N]’s systems started turning on, his eyes blinking before a light emitting from them to indicate that he was functional and operating once more. When his optical sensors were in working order, he looked side to side and was left in confusion when he saw that he was somewhere in Parts and Services, what confused him even more was the fact that it was nearly 3:00AM. He was sure that the last time he glanced at the time was when it was nearly midnight, his system had shut down for nearly three hours? Something like that would only happen when someone was trying to hack his mainframe, he was a very valuable animatronic due to the fact that he had the blueprints to the entire restaurant downloaded to his database along with the other animatronics, including ways to improve their AI’s and whatnots, so the fact that his system had forcibly shut down meant that someone was messing around with the animatronics mainframe.

“This isn’t good.” he whispered to himself, pushing himself to his feet as he scanned the area before speed walking down the hall “This is bad. This is really, really bad. I need to inform Officer Vanessa right away.” he was startled to see the amount of security bots roaming the halls, even more grossed out when he saw a couple endoskeletons were moving. Whatever happened in the past few hours must be due to the hacker who managed to bypass his firewalls and force him to shut down. He paused, however, when his eyes detected movement that wasn’t that of the security bots nor the endoskeletons, using his eyes to scan the entire hallway, he was surprised to see the information of a young child pop up.

What on earth was a child doing down in Parts and Service? Much less at three in the morning, why are they still at the pizzeria? He shook his head as he approached where the child was, he was being mindful of his steps because he didn’t want to frighten the already terrified young boy. He soon noticed that the boy was surrounded by multiple endoskeletons and a security bot was approaching him fast, he didn’t know what would happen if he were to get caught so he used his tentacles and moved them so they were attached to the ceiling above him, lifting his body off the ground and keeping him out of sight from the other bots. The young boy, Gregory, was taking deep breaths as he was trying to time each time the security bot would circle back to where he was hiding while also trying to keep an eye on the endoskeletons.

’This sucks. I just need to get back to where Freddy is and I can get the heck out of this spooky place.’ he shuddered when he had to briefly look away from the endoskeletons to see where the security bots were and when he glanced back, they moved a couple inches towards him ’Just one more time, then I can--’ his thoughts were cut off when he felt something grab him from above before yanking him up, he tries to let out a cry but was stopped when a hand was pressed to his mouth. Looking up, he was startled to see the face of [M/N] the Octopus holding him within his arms as his tentacle like hair held him above the ground and out of sight.

“What on earth is going on?” he muttered to himself, eyes locked onto the endoskeletons that were now frozen in place after loosing sight of the child. [M/N] let out a sigh before glancing down at the boy, he flinched when he noticed the terrified look on his face as he gripped onto [M/N]’s wrist tightly, tears threatening to fall down his face “Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. Please don’t cry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to frighten you.” he said, voice hushed yet a bit loud from the panic of making the child tear up, he immediately took his hand away from his mouth as he held the boy in both arms, on wrapped under him while his other hand was pressed against his back.

“P-Please... I don’t want to die.” he whimpered out, [M/N] gasped once more as the tentacles that weren’t holding him up came forward to gently wipe away his tears.

“No, no! I’m not going to kill you. We animatronics are not programmed to harm a guest, much less a young child.” he reassured, he frowned when that didn’t calm him down. He looked around and once he spotted a room his tentacles moved so that he was by the door, they lowered him to the ground so he could enter it. Gregory looked up at [M/N] and noticed that he sat on the ground and had a soft melody play from out of his speakers, it was quiet enough that it wouldn’t attract attention from any wandering bots and soothing enough to calm his nerves “Have you calmed down now?” Gregory couldn’t help but giggle softly when he noticed that [M/N]’s tentacles rose up and acted as snakes, looking at him and waiting for a response.

“Y-Yeah, yeah I have.” [M/N] nods and gently rubs his back.

“I’m glad, but kid, what are you doing here so late? Where are your parents?” he noticed the boy flinch before shaking his parents.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m locked in here till 6:00AM and everything here is out to get me.” [M/N] raised an arm and pressed it against his metal chest plate.

“I’m not, I’m here to help you.” [M/N] noticed that the boy was skeptical, but he wasn’t completely wary of [M/N], he did save him the hassle of getting past the endoskeletons and security bots and he hadn’t killed him yet, just like Freddy “You might already know who I am, but I’m [M/N] the Octopus. Can I know your name?” he was still a little nervous, he sniffles as he wipes his face.

“My name is... Gregory.” [M/N] smiles softly as he nods his head.

“Gregory, what a wonderful name.” [M/N] nods his head once more before standing to his feet, continuing on holding Gregory in his arms “I don’t understand what’s going on, but I’ll make sure to get you wherever you need to go and make sure no harm comes your way. I promise you.” Gregory hesitantly nods his head, raising his arms to wrap around his neck.

“Okay, I trust you.”

“Good, good! Okay then, let’s go.” [M/N] offers him one last smile before turning towards the door, he peeks his head outside and noticed a couple endoskeletons down the hall that led to the main part of the Parts and Service area where the animatronics would be repaired or upgraded, he glanced down and noticed that that was the way that he needed to go, so he proceeded. Gregory let out a whoa when [M/N]’s tentacles lifted him off the ground once more and so they both avoided the unwanted attention, sure [M/N]’s body was pretty large and broad, but he was able to swerve around the bots easily but also pull Gregory close to his chest and his tentacles would pull him up so that his back was pressed against the ceiling when bots got a little to close to them.

“You make travelling much easier.” Gregory muttered, watching as [M/N] easily cut down the distance in comparison to Freddy “It’s much better than walking, honestly.” this caused the aquatic animatronic to chuckle.

“Is that so?” Gregory nods.

“Yeah. Freddy usually has me hide in his chest cavity, it’s pretty convenient, but this is much better.” this caused [M/N] to briefly sputter in his movements, he then looked down at him in confusion.

“He has you what?” he narrows his eyes when Gregory falls silent, glancing away and looking at everything but [M/N]’s eyes “Freddy is the last thing I would expect would do something so irresponsible, that compartment is only meant for oversized birthday cakes and piñatas. I’m surprised a young child can fit in there.”

“Well, I’m small.” [M/N] shook his head, one of his tentacles reaching down and poking at the side of his stomach.

“A little TOO small, for my liking.” Gregory only let out a nervous chuckle before falling silent, they soon travelled in a comfortable silence, avoiding all the bots roaming the halls before finally making it to their destination, but [M/N] was shocked once more at the sight “Freddy? Freddy!” he shouts out, he gently tosses Gregory up and has one of his tentacles wrap around the boy and hold him up as he rushed towards the protective cylinder.

“[M/N]? Is that you?” [M/N] gasped, hands pressed against the glass and saw that Freddy’s head was disconnected from his neck and the only thing keeping him from being decommissioned were the wires “Oh, thank heavens. I was wondering what happened to you, friend.” [M/N] shook his head.

“What happened to me doesn’t matter, what happened to you while I was shut down? And why the heck is there a kid here so late at night?” Freddy managed to move his eyes and let out a breath of relief at the sight of Gregory being held safely in one of [M/N]’s tentacles.

“Gregory! I am so glad that you are here, and alive!” 

“You’re ignoring my question, Freddy.” the bear let out a chuckle.

“I will gladly answer you, but I would most appreciate it if you would reattach my head.” [M/N] sighs once more, setting Gregory down before going over to the console and pressing buttons.

“Right.” Gregory knew that [M/N] was designed to fix anything that’s been broken, but it was still very cool to watch him continue to talk with Freddy, not even glancing down at the console as his fingers danced across screen ”The only thing that I know is that someone was trying to hack my mainframe, which caused my system to shut down. We must Vanessa of the intruder immediately.” he let out a grunt when Gregory grabbed one of his tentacles and yanked him backwards.

“No! We can’t tell her anything!” he sputters as he looked down at her.

“Why not? I assure you, she most definitely will help us.” he shakes his head once more.

“No! I don’t trust her, she’s out to get me like everyone else.” [M/N] sputtered when Gregory looked up at him, puppy dog eyes glistening with tears as his lip trembled “Please, don’t tell her.” Freddy looked over and saw [M/N]’s body trembling before he let out a deep exhale, shoulders slumping forward.

“Well, alright. I’ll trust your intuition, child.” Gregory gave him a tearful smile before jumping forward and embracing his leg, this caused both animatronics to smile fondly at Gregory. Said boy continued to hug his leg, one of his tentacles pressed against his back and soothingly rubbing it as [M/N] continued to work on Freddy. His tentacles held Gregory close as [M/N] entered the protective cylinder, making mistakes was not in his programming, but now he really must not make a mistake with Gregory at his side and the young boy refusing to leave his side out of fear.

“I don’t quite feel like myself, [M/N].”

“You’re fine.” [M/N] starts, pressing at the flashing buttons in the correct sequence when they lit up, allow them to reconnect the wires to Freddy’s head, he then takes a step back for the testing console to approach him to run diagnostics “I’ll have you feeling better in no time.” 

“I’m glad.” once he was finished running diagnostics, he exited the protective cylinder and looked over the console that was outside of the cylinder.

“Okay, buddy. How’s about you finish it off?” [M/N] offered, holding Gregory up so he could see the console screen.

“Um, it looks a little complicated.” he shook his head.

“No, the last bit is easy, I promise.” Gregory looks at the screen and true to his word, the last part was easy, all he had to do was press >[Finish Upgrade], and it’ll be done. [M/N] gave him a sheepish look when he noticed the child glance up at him, Gregory just shook his head before pressing enter.

“There’s so much tech stuff in here.” Gregory started, looking around in slight awe when [M/N] put him down in favor of entering the protective cylinder once more to help Freddy out “Is there anything I could use to stop the other bots?” the two animatronics look up in thought.

“Bright lights in the eyes cause us to briefly malfunction. I suppose a Fazerblaster or a Faz Cam could work.” [M/N] suggested, examining Freddy once more, to which the other kept reassuring that he was fine.

“Where do I get one?” Freddy was the first to answer.

“You can win a Fazerblaster in Fazer Blast. Faz Cams are often confiscated in Monty Golf, but you will need a party pass to open one of those attractions. Chica normally gives them out for birthdays. Check her green room in Rockstar Row, you can find one there.” Freddy explained, [M/N] then perked up as he pointed towards the back of the room.

“Use one of the service elevators at the back of the room. They go up to Rockstar Row. It looks like they are all out of order except for Roxy’s.” the two follow the young boy over to the back and watch as he looked at the doors.

“Hey Freddy, [M/N]! Check this out. Chica has some sort of special voice box, Roxy has new eyes, and Monty was given better claws. We have to get you those, Freddy! We could upgrade you!” [M/N] was slightly intrigued by the idea, but it was a little disturbing because in order to get those parts... Freddy seemed to have been reading his mind, because the way he answer.

“Gregory, those parts belong to my friends. I would never hurt them.”

“I would.” [M/N] said rather nonchalantly, this earned him a smack from Freddy and a laugh from Gregory, who then pouted.

“All night long, all they’ve done is try to hurt me.” he then crosses his arms, mumbling under his breath “They get what they deserve.” [M/N] takes a step backwards, watching Gregory climb into Freddy’s chest cavity before they both entered the elevator.

“You are not joining us, [M/N]?” the octopus shook his head.

“No, I will remain here so I can figure out a way to stop whoever is messing with the AI’s and the system, but if you call for me on your Faz Watch, I will not hesitate to come running to your aid. I will be there when you need me.” Freddy nods his head.

“I will see you when I see you, friend.” [M/N] nods and turns to leave but stopped when Freddy’s chest cavity opened up, he saw Gregory peek his head out before extended his close fist in his direction, this caused the bot to chuckle before kneeling down and bumping his fist.

“Stay safe, little guy.”

“You too.” 

Headcanons:

as stated multiple times, [m/n] was designed to fix any malfunctions that happened to any of the attractions or to the other animatronics and bots, so his model had special eyes that allowed him to scan anything and immediately find errors along with all the information.

and since he was a oceanic type animatronics, he was also water proof because his area had a mini water park and allowed young children to swim. 

he acts as the life guard as well as a swimming instructor to help any of the children who were keen on learning how to swim. he was an excellent swimmer and was fast/strong enough to swim up the water slides.

anyways-

[m/n]’s role towards gregory would be similar to that of a kind older brother or responsible uncle; he’ll leave the father figure for freddy.

[m/n] stays in parts and services to look for any clues as to why what was happening was happening in the first place.

when gregory calls for him, he would drop everything he’s doing and unlike freddy, he’s inconspicuous when he comes to gregory’s aid because he clings to the walls before lowering down to pick him and bring him out of harms way.

sometimes he frightens the leaving daylights out of gregory because he’s so quite in his movements the young boy doesn’t even hear him.

[m/n] and freddy make it a competition to go help gregory when he calls for either of them.

now then, back to the story plot;

when gregory comes back to parts and services with intentions to upgrade freddy with the parts he took from chica, roxy and monty, [m/n] will feel that unease resurface when he has to be the one to put the pieces onto freddy.

sure he didn’t see eye to eye with the other animatronics, but it was kind of hard that his friends were in pieces were wandering the pizzeria in absolute despair.

so, [m/n] brings it upon himself to leave parts and services to round up chica, roxy and monty and bring them back in order to fix them up and get rid of the thing that was corrupting their system and return them back to normal.

now, if [m/n]’s system was corrupted, he would be a mostly roaming around his own area or parts and services were he would try to find ways to prevent gregory from progressing further by hacking the system himself and lock doors.

his boss fight would be gregory using various consoles to hack and control [m/n]’s tentacles to eventually either pin him to the walls and have something crash into him or have them crush him to decommission him.

the broken down version of him would be his head at the verge of snapping off his body as his tentacles were used for mobility, since from his neck down, nothing was working.

Siblings pt. 2

word count: 28,395

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Robin Buckley + Steve Harrington x Female!Harrington!Reader Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Romantic/Familial Occupation: University Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: flayed reader, angst, violence, blood, vulgar language, murder, character death

“Siblings” pt.1, pt.3

@eddiemunsonsmiddlefingers​ has a map of hawkins and I’m constantly using that to reference where shit is. it’s awfully helpful.

I wasn’t planning on making a part two to this story but I suddenly got an idea from a line I kept repeating in my head and thought “why the hell not” to the point I might make this a story.

so I was going to write the scene where el saw billy’s happiest memory but chose against it, since we all know what it is, I’m not going to bother and just write [f/n]’s.

might eventually make this a story on my wattpad account because I dove too deep into this.

I rushed the ending, it sucks but I needed to finish this to settle my mind.

that is all.

“You know? I’d probably find that downright hilarious if not for the fact that you’re dating my brother, Billy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Plus, that bitch is weird. There’s actually a word in the dictionary for what she’s doing.”

“And what might that be?”

“Grooming.”

[F/N] and Billy were having one of their late night hangouts at the Hideout, sitting at the bar drinking alcohol, not really shit faced yet but they were slowly getting there. Billy was in the midst of telling [F/N] the reoccurring times Karen Wheeler, mother of Nancy and Mike Wheeler, has been opening flirting with Billy. She remembered the first time Billy had told her about this, of course she was weirded out about it but she laughed that this grown ass married woman was flirting with a guy that was about two decades younger than her, basically the same age as her eldest daughter! She would’ve laughed again when he flirted back with her, just to get her off his ass, but now he and her brother were in a relationship. The four of them would never make their relationship public, never. They’ve simply stuck to being friends on the outside, but when they’re alone, they do all things a couple would do. Sometimes when they’re on a double date, people would always mistake Billy and [F/N] as a couple as well as Steve and Robin, mostly because each duo were always seen together. They took advantage of that, so whenever either Billy or Robin came over to the Harrington household, there was never bad air lingering around. So sometimes it would fuck [F/N] off when middle aged women would flirt with a minor, knowing that he was in a committed relationship with her! The people of Hawkins were so fucked in the head.

“Doesn’t she make you uncomfortable, Billy?” she asked out of concern, reaching forward to place a hand on his knee and squeezing it lightly “I won’t bring this up with Steve, but you know in this town, word travels fast. Besides, I don’t want him getting worried and getting the wrong idea.” Billy softly nods his head.

“I know. That pretty boy would probably lose his shit on me first, then go after that Wheeler.” they both look up in thought, trying to imagine the thought of Steve going apeshit on Nancy’s mother, they were almost tempted to tell him just to see it happen to the point that burst out into laughter “He is your brother, so if he’s anything like you, he’ll probably beat the shit out of her!” she throws her head back with a laugh.

“Hah! As much as I agree with that, he respects women now. He’d probably ask me to drag her out by her hair, to which I will gladly do it!” they laugh again before grabbing their drinks and raising it up “To Steve potentially losing his shit on Wheeler’s mum!” they clink drinks before proceeding to down it, when they finish their drinks Billy raised his empty bottle to the bartender.

“Two more, please!” since the two of them drove to the Hideout, and the fact they had things to do early in the morning, they couldn’t get totally hammered so after a few drinks they later stuck to drinking water to sober themselves up then continued chatting or peacefully listening to the music that the Hideout had or the few indie bands that performed that night. After a couple hours of having fun they finally decided to drag themselves out and back to their cars, however, they were both leaning on each other to help each other walk whilst laughing and giggling to themselves. Billy’s laughter echoed throughout the car park as he watched [F/N] collapse to the ground and nearly face plant into the side of her front bumper but managed to catch herself before she gave herself a bleeding nose and possibly a concussion “Will you be alright, Harrington?” she waves her hand to brush him off.

“Please, you’re just as shit faced as I am.” they start laughing again before settling in their cars, [F/N] rolls down her window to let the wind blow through her car after starting her car before briefly pausing when Billy flashed his lights at her, she raised a brow at him then narrowed her eyes when she saw him smirk at her “The fuck are you looking at me like that Hargrove?” his smirk only widens when he revved the engine of his Camaro.

“How’s about a little race? I wanna give my pretty boy a little smooch before going home.” she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“Gross, I don’t need to know that.” she hummed in thought before raising her finger “I’ll race yah after seeing Robin, alright? We’re passing her house, and I wanna see her if you’re gonna see my brother.” Billy shrugs his shoulder with a laugh, brushing his hair out of his face. 

“Alright, might wanna tell your girlie that you’re gonna lose after I smoke your ass back to your place.” she scoffed.

“Whatever.” they both laugh and finally pull out of the parking lot. Robin was currently laying on her back, head bobbing softly as she listened to the music coming from her headphones playing through her cassette player. [F/N] graciously made her a mixtape of songs that they both liked, she smiled as she remembered that memory fondly. Because of the wealth the Harrington name held, [F/N] would always buy her expensive gifts after hearing the type of lifestyle she had grown up in. As lovely as each gift was, Robin asked her for something sentimental instead of jewellery like necklaces and earrings and rings (though she does appreciate them and wears them on special occasions), Steve told her that [F/N] had been hauled up in her room ever since then and when she came to pick her up, [F/N] presented her the mixtape. She’s probably listened to the entire playlist on repeats so many times that she can remembered ever song in order, but she just can’t help it, she was so in love. 

*TAP*

*TAP*

“Hmm?” she hums out in confusion, just briefly hearing the sound of tapping when the song faded out. She pulled the headphones off her head and looked around in confusion, she got a little angry when she thought that it was her siblings fucking with her but stopped when the tapping was coming from her window. She pushed herself upright and a big smile appeared on her face when she saw [F/N], who was currently looking down and talking to someone before raising her head to look at Robin once more, wobbling back and forward “[F/N]?” she muttered softly in question before stumbling to her feet and rushing to the window, throwing it open to greet her girlfriend, only to wince at the stench of alcohol and cigarettes coming from her breath.

“Robin~” she cooed out with a shout, only to shush herself when Robin raised a finger to her lips while shaking her head so she in turn covered her mouth with her hands “Sorry, sorry, I just missed you.” Robin rolled her eyes.

“We saw each other a couple hours ago.” she giggled to herself when she saw a flash of confusion come across her face before she nodded her head.

“Oh, you’re right… but I wanted to see you again.” Robin shook her head once more with a soft smile, she then realised that there was quite a distance from the ground and her window so she leaned forward whilst looking down and had to slap a hand over her mouth to quiet herself when she saw that [F/N] perched herself on Billy’s shoulders, to which he was just as equally drunk and could barely stand straight “Oh yeah, and Billy is here as well.” he looks up and gives a grin, saluting Robin, to which she returns to gesture.

“Howdy.”  “Hi?” she chuckles and looks back at [F/N], to which she was grinning ear to ear as she leaned forward, closing the small gap between them and pressing a small peck on her lips “What’s with the kiss, [F/N]? Not that I don’t like it.” the slightly drunk girl smiled at her, winking softly.

“Thought I’d drop by and give you a goodnight kiss, why? Don’t want any?” Robin scoffed before reaching forward, grabbing [F/N] by her cheeks and pulling her into a kiss. Robin couldn’t help but let out a groan when she could taste the alcohol and cigarettes against her tongue, she briefly pulled away but was only brought into another kiss when [F/N] grabbed her by the back of her neck to keep her still. By the time they separate [F/N] was grinning ear to ear, Robin flustered up a little when she saw the left over lipstick from her lips smudge across [F/N]’s neck “I’ll see you in the morning, sweets?” Robin giggled, wrapping a strand of her hair around her finger and twirling it around.

“Mm hmm.” Robin and [F/N] were giggling at each other before [F/N] started falling backwards, she let out a startled yelp and looked down at Billy and saw he lost his footing and couldn’t hold her up anymore and was starting to fall backwards, to which she tried to grab Robin’s windowsill to save herself but it slipped right under her grasp and the two of them fell to the ground with a loud thud. Robin gasped and stuck her head out of the window to see if they were alright, shaking her head slightly with a tired smile on her face when she saw the two of them slightly dazed and groaning.

“Nice one, Billy…” she murmured under her breath, grunting softly when he slapped her leg.

“You’re fat.”

“You’re weak.” he scoffs at her before proceeding throw her legs off of him, they then pull themselves to their feet and start retreating back to their cars, [F/N] sparing Robin one last glance followed by a kiss then finally scurried into her car. Robin sighed dreamily when [F/N] waved her goodbye as she and Billy drove off, she closed her eyes then pushed herself back into her room where she collapsed into her bed, smiling like a dork when all she could think of was how lucky she was to finally have someone that loves her. Speaking of which, [F/N] and Billy were gunning it down the streets, they were going to have to deal with the police and Hopper later but they didn’t give a shit as they sped down the empty streets of Hawkins, laughing wildly. They took a slight detour just so their moment of fun could last a little longer, that’s where they found themselves side by side, the both of them trying their best to get ahead of the other.

“We should’ve made a bet, Harrington!” he shouts at her, she scoffs and looks back at him.

“Oh, yeah? Then how about the first one back to my house has to buy us both gas for our cars for three weeks!” he smirks at that.

“Then I hope your wallet can handle the expenses of gas because you’re on!” he lets out a laugh as he shifts gears while putting more pressure on the gas, she grimaced when she saw him get a head of her and was creating some distance. She knew his Camaro was significantly faster in comparison to her Mustang, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a few tricks up her sleeves to keep up with him. Billy looked into his rear view mirror and saw [F/N] hot on his tail, he licked his lips with a laugh as he turned his attention back to the road ahead of him, he had this in the ba— he lets out a shout when something flew into the windscreen. [F/N] let out a confused noise when she saw Billy swerving around but when she saw that she was still speeding towards him, evidently going to crash into him, she lets out a shout and slammed on the breaks and quickly swerved out of the way before she could hit Billy. She managed to get control of her car as it comes to a halt, she was breathing heavily at what happened before remembering about Billy.

“Oh my god, Billy!” she shouts, jumping out of her car and running over to see if he was alright “Billy! Shit!” she runs over to his car and winced at the state of it, she moves over to the drivers side and opened the door.

“Piece of shit…” she heard him groan out.

“Are you okay, Billy?” he sucked in a breath, pushing himself back into his seat then raised a hand to press against his forehead, wincing when his hand touched his bleeding forehead “Shit, you’re bleeding.” he scoffs at her.

“No shit.” she frowns at him, reaching forward to cup his face and make him look at her. 

“God, I hope you don’t have a concussion.” he smacks her hands off of him then gestures for her to move, she does so but ultimately helps him out of the car.

“Just great, this is just fucking great.” he mutters to himself as he looks at the state of his Camaro, she in turn approached the front of his car and saw the cracked windscreen, she furrowed her brows in confusion and mild disgust when she saw some sort of slime on the windscreen where it was cracked. She reached forward and gently touched it, only to regret it as she shudder at the feeling, she wiped it off against her pants “Fuck, this is going to cost a fucking fortune to repair.” Billy threads his fingers through his hair, at the verge of yanking them out of his scalp but calmed down slightly when [F/N] placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, Hargrove. I’ll help pay for it… with my parents money.” he scoffs, shoving her back softly to sit on the hood of his car.

“I don’t think they’ll appreciate the loss of money in their account.” she scoffs right back at him, sitting down beside him and offering him a cigarette, to which he graciously took and let her light it, enjoying the feeling of the nicotine filling his lungs then letting it all out.

“Please, I’ll be lucky if they notice a couple grand is missing.” the two of them start smoking away, she sniffles a little as she let the cigarette hang loosely by her lips “Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea on our part. We’re drunk, possibly high and extremely tired.” Billy rolls his eyes, taking the cigarette from his lips and held it in between his fingers.

“Yeah, but we’re both competitive and like to win.” she pursed her lips.

“True.” they fist bump each other “Anyways, what hit your car? A bird?” he shrugs his shoulders.

“Not sure, was going way too fast to get a glimpse of what it was.” she looked back at where they were previously then looked around at their surroundings, she suddenly felt a chill run down her back as the abandoned steel works factory loomed over them, she swallows thickly then turned back to Billy and gestured to her car.

“How’s about we get the fuck out of here? This place is giving me the heebie jeebies. I’ll be even more generous as to let you stay at our place while someone looks over your car, I personally know a good mechanic that can get your baby whipped back up into shape in no time.” he looked liked he was considering that option, he then winces when she cupped his face once more and looked at his bleeding forehead “But after we take care of this, I don’t want Stevie getting worried about this.” he nods his head.

“Agreed… we’re not telling him about this, right?”

“Are you crazy? Fuck no.” they both stand up but whipped their heads in the direction they heard something shuffle.

“Who’s there?!” Billy shouts, neither get a reply “I said who’s there?!” [F/N] shook her head, noticing that Billy was getting paranoid. Before she could say anything Billy’s feet were suddenly swept out from under him, he all but dropped to the ground before he was being dragged away. He desperately clawed at the ground to stop himself but there just wasn’t anything to cling onto, this continued as he was dragged through the factory and as he was going to be pulled down into the lower level of the factory he managed to grab a hold of the railing of the stairs. He clung onto it desperately, panic coursing throughout his body when he could feel his grip slowly slipping and when it did he expected to be dragged down the staircase but [F/N] caught him.

“I… got you!” she strains out, her grip on him deathly tight as she tried to pull him back but her feet where being dragged forward. She tries to dig the heels of her feet into the ground to keep herself from moving any further, their sweaty hands weren’t helping their predicament because she did lose her hold on his left hand but she quickly grabbed the railing. All this was for naught when something slithered around her ankle and yanked her, she fell to the ground with a thud with Billy on top of her before they were both dragged down the stairs into basement. The moment the two of them came face to face with this weird goopy looking thing they couldn’t help but scream at the top of their lungs as it roared at them, holding each other right as it loomed over them. The next few moments were silent, just the sound of chains swaying in the soft wind followed by quiet rumbling, this moment was interrupted when both Billy and [F/N] managed to pull themselves out of the basement. [F/N] starts pushing Billy and herself away but they both stumble to the ground, pushing themselves back as they spare a glance back at the entrance to the basement and shudder when they hear a roar come from that thing. Billy pulls himself onto his feet first and grabs [F/N] by the back of her jacket to yank her to her feet, she’s holding onto his arm as they’re scrambling out of the factory and rushing to their respective cars. They don’t waste a second to drive the fuck out of there, Billy driving ahead of [F/N] but he pulls to the side when he saw a phone booth, neither of them turn their cars off as they jump out but Billy makes it into the phone booth to make the call while [F/N] stood outside, breathing heavily as she kept looking back towards the direction they came from.

”911, what’s your emergency?” Billy goes to speak but the words got caught in his throat, I mean, how could it not? What the fuck was he supposed to say? Hey, my friend and I got in a car accident because we were drunk then we found this weird fucking monster, send help right away please! The two of them started to panic when the light in the phone booth started flickering as their surroundings changed ”Is someone there? Hello—” the voice cut off when the light completely turned off, Billy hangs up the phone as he walks out of the phone booth. He hears a noise and starts walking towards it, flinching slightly when he felt something so he glanced down and saw [F/N] just as equally terrified as he was holding onto his arm and hand. He places his free hand on her shoulder then the two of them walked towards the fog where they heard footsteps coming towards them.

“What do you want?” Billy manages to croak out, voice shaky and not sounding like his usual self “Hey, I said what do you want?!” he was desperate for an answer but the two of them started to panic again when they saw a group of people coming towards them. Red lightning struck as the group of people came to a halt, instead two people from the crowd came walking towards them and they both equally froze when their vision cleared up and they were staring right back at themselves.

[time skip: the next day]

Steve stood in front of his full body mirror as he does his hair up, something he always does in the morning though it was usually done for naught because of that stupid little hat he has to wear that was apart of the uniform that was just as stupid. He sets his hairspray on his desk, looking at his iconic hair and touching it up for the nth time of that morning before nodding his head when he was satisfied with how it looked. With everything ready he picked up his keys and tucked them into his pocket then walked out of his bedroom with an extra skip on his step in his step, things were finally looking up for him that he couldn’t not be happy. His sister was home for the summer break, he’s actually enjoying work (kind of), he’s made friends with the girl at said work, his sister is dating said girl while he himself has gotten himself into a relationship that first started off rocky but evidently he fell in love with him. He wasn’t expecting to see his sister as he walked past her room, she was always gone in the morning to go pick up Robin, but he halted at her door when he saw the state she was in.

“[F/N]…?” he muttered softly, pushing open her door that was left open just a bit and his eyes widened when he saw her. She was sitting hunched over at the edge of her bed, elbows planted on her knees as her head rested on her interlocked fingers. She was panting heavily while sweating profusely, she looked downright horrible “Oh my god, [F/N]! Are you okay?” he exclaims as he rushed over to her side, kneeling down to try and get a look at her face and saw her face was pale while her [E/C] eyes were dull from their usual shine.

“Steve…” she weakly breathed out, he moved his hands to gently place a hand on her forehead and quickly withdrew it when he felt a burning sensation under his fingertips.

“You’re burning up, [F/N]!” he shouts then proceeds to push her onto her back so that she was lying on her bed but she shook her head, weakly pushing him back so she could get up.

“No, no… I need to get Robin, I promised to get her.” she weakly hits at his chest, letting out a whine when he grabbed her by her wrists to stop her futile attempts to get him off and gently lays her down on the bed.

“I’ll get her, okay? I think she’ll understand why you couldn’t get her if I tell her that you’re sick, alright? You’ll only worry her if you show up as the mess you are right now, besides, I don’t think you can drive in the state you’re in.” she lets out a groan, slapping her hands onto her face and dragging them down “I’ll open the window so it can help you can cool down, if there isn’t anything in the cabinets I’ll grab some shit from the pharmacy on my way back from work. Don’t do anything that’ll make you feel any worse than you already are.” she chuckles weakly, placing a hand on her chest and looking over at Steve.

“Since when were you the one… to look after me?” he just shook his head, he walks into her bathroom then later came out with a wet cloth to wipe away the sweat on her forehead then placed another wet and cold cloth on her forehead to help cool her down.

“Since my sister was the one that got fucked up in my stead.” she scoffed then hummed when she felt Steve cup her cheek, she leaned into his touch but winced when it got too hot for her liking and jerked away, he sighed sadly and retracted his hand from her “I’ll try and get off early so I can take care of you, alright? Don’t do anything to drastic while I’m gone.” she waves her hand.

“No promises…” she pants out as her hand dropped back down onto her chest, he sighs softly then knelt down to press a kiss to her temple then retreated out of her room to leave for work. Hours go by but not a single thing changed, she only felt worse and worse as she tried to calm her breathing down, tried to stop herself from sweating so much, but the summer heat was just becoming to unbearable. She closed her eyes as she tried breathing through her nose, a horrible mistake on her part when the memory of the night before came flooding back. Her fingers dug into her shirt when the flashing images of those rats scattering along the floor reappeared, being held down by some fucking monster as it forced something into her body. Her eyes snapped opened as she let out a scream, shooting up straight as she continued to pant, she takes the cloth off her head and throws it to the ground as she weakly makes her way to her bathroom. She leans her weight into the sink, her hands gripping onto the sink as her head hung loosely in front of her. She managed to lift her head to stare at her reflection, her vision slowly clearing up so she can get a good look at her reflection but then another flashback from last night appeared before her.

”What do you want…?” she managed to whimper out, her usual personality nowhere to be seen as she leaned closer into Billy’s side, who held onto her tightly but neither one of them could tear their eyes away from their doppelgängers.

”To build.” both doppelgängers said in unison, they even sound like them but their voices were slightly disoriented with a deep, echoing feeling to it. Billy and [F/N] manage to tear their eyes away from them to look at each other, nothing but confusion were seen on their faces ”I want you to build.”

“To build what?” Billy asks.

”What you see.” [F/N] shakes her head.

“I-I… I don’t understand.” they both flinch backwards when that same lightning struck and they were suddenly back on the side of the road, [F/N] all but collapses to her knees as she threads her fingers through her hair, her shoulders trembling at the terror the two of them witnessed. Billy was still standing as he looked around for wherever they could have gone, shaking his head.

“I don’t understand!”

“Ah!” she screamed at her reflection before proceeding to punch it, not bothering to remove her fist when the shattered glass fell into the sink and cut her hand. When her breathing calmed down she pulled her fist and let her trembling hand hang by her side, she took deep breaths through her nose before turning her head to the side “I need to talk to Billy…” she muttered softly then quickly left the bathroom, putting on her shoes and grabbing a jacket that had her keys in her pockets. The drive to the Hawkins community pool felt like a nightmare, her windows were all the way down and her AC was blasting to cool down her overheating body, but what freaked her out was when she was stopped at a red light. She perched her arm on the open window as her finger nervously tapped against the stirring wheel, she hissed in pain when she felt like she was being burn so she glanced down at her hand and furrowed her brows when she saw a burn mark forming on the back of her hand, she immediately pulls her arm back into the car. She pulls up to the pool and quickly hops out of her car, not bothering to lock it up and just simply slams the door shut and rushes into the pool. She spots Billy just as disoriented as she is, she didn’t waste any time to whistle to catch his attention, when his head shot up and looked for her, he managed to spot her waving her hand.

“[F/N]…?” he mumbles in confusion, he pushes himself up when he saw her waving him over, mouthing that they needed to talk. He all but jumps out of his seat and rushes over to her as fast as he could, stumbling with his footing but he managed to reach her in the end, grabbing her by her wrist and dragging her into the changing rooms, the showers specifically “What are you doing here?” she takes a shaky breath, holding her arms and digging her fingers into her jacket.

“Are we not going to talk about last night?” she asked, she inhales sharply as she runs her hands over her face “Have you been seeing things? Hearing things? I feel like I’m losing my mind…” she croaks out, she lets out a yelp when he grabbed her wrist again to look at the burn on her hand.

“What happened here?” her eyes trailed down his arm and noticed a similar looking burn on his elbow, they both started feeling hot again, [F/N] tears her jacket off but that isn’t enough and so Billy shoves her into the shower and turns on the cold water. They both silently soak in the water but start to get distracted when the pain in their burns starts aching, they’re both reaching for their wounds and grimace when they could hear something moving beneath their skin, the moment their hands grazed against the wound a flash of a monster appeared in their heads followed by high pitched screeching. They both fall to the ground, clutching their heads in agonising pain, pressing their heads into the tiled walls to try and lessen the pain but nothing was working, they were yelling in pain but it soon came to a halt when they heard a voice.

“Billy…?” [F/N] couldn’t recognise it, the two of them managed to push themselves back to lean against the wall behind them as they watched the girl kneel down in front of them “Billy. Take me to him.” they both stare at her in confusion.

“What?” they mutter.

“I said are you hurt?” she then looked in between the both of them as they continued to stare at her “What’s going on? I heard screaming. Should I call an ambulance?” she asked out of genuine concern, she then slowly backed away when she noticed the look of pain and confusion disappear and was replaced with one of malice. She lets out a scream when [F/N] shoots towards her, her hand slamming against her mouth to muffle her screams of terror whilst her other hand held both her wrists in an iron grip.

“I’m so sorry about this.” she whispers, she then pulls her up then slammed the back of her head against the ground to knock her unconscious. Both herself and Billy stand up and stare down at the unconscious girl then looked at each other and nodded.

[time skip: starcourt mall, scoops ahoy]

Robin felt a little deflated that entire day, first she wasn’t able to see [F/N] and Steve was the one to pick her up in her stead. She was confused when the younger Harrington pulled up to her house and so she obviously asked where her girlfriend was, the answer she got was a worried looking Steve telling her how awful [F/N] was and that she was very sick to the point she could barely move. Sure, she was worried for her girlfriend and completely understood why she couldn’t come get her, but she just couldn’t understand how she got sick. Last night she looked completely fine, only being a little tipsy but other than that, she was fine. Robin now found herself serving free samples to some little girl that was slowly getting on her last nerve, ready to pop a nerve, but then the sight of [H/C] hair her eyes.

“[F/N]?” she mumbled under her breath, wasn’t she supposed to be lying down in her bed at home? She shook her head and turned towards the window into the back room, throwing it open to get Steve and his little friend Dustin’s attention “Hey, Harrington! Man the counter, will you? I need to go check something out!” she shouts, choosing to ignore his shouts of protest as she abandons the counter and rushes out of the store, pushing past people to check if who she saw was actually her girlfriend. Her face lights up when she heard her familiar laughter so she turned the corner and was going to greet her but froze up at what she saw, there she saw [F/N] talking with some guy as he openly flirted and joked with and she was laughing at it.

“That is the dumbest pick up line I’ve ever heard, you dork.” he scoffs, bumping his shoulder against hers.

“But it made you smile, didn’t it?” she then shoved him back, not being able to hide the big smile on her face.

“Barely.” her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw [F/N] grab the guy by the collar of his jacket and pull him back, the two of them stumbling out of view. Robin grits her teeth and rushes over to where the two disappeared, she rounded the corner but was left flabbergasted when she saw neither of them, they just simply vanished. Maybe she was just seeing things, maybe she was just desperate to see [F/N] that she conjured her up, but why the hell was she shamelessly flirting with some random fucker? The end of the night came sooner than later, from seeing her girlfriend with some guy to helping her brother and some random child with a Russian translation, she was currently sitting in Steve’s passenger seat as he drove them to his house.

“Is she really sick?” Steve let out a dramatic sigh, rolling his eyes.

“Yes! How many times do I have to tell you, Robin? What you saw was definitely not [F/N]. For one, she’d never flirt with a guy. Two, she’d never let a guy flirt with her, because she’d either fight them or throw up.” that option made her chuckle, that sounded like her “My sister isn’t the type of person to cheat, okay? She actually beat that into me, so I highly doubt she would ever do something so frivolous.” Robin sighed, the back of her head hitting the car seat.

“I know… I think I’m just getting paranoid.” she jolts in her seat when Steve placed his hand on her shoulder, she looked at him and saw him giving her a reassuring look.

“Robin, if my sister does anything and says anything hurtful to you, you’ll tell me right?” he inhales through his nose and looks back towards the road “She doesn’t do or say things without meaning it. When she said she was in love with you, she meant it. When she said she wanted to be with me, she meant it. So if she somehow says she doesn’t want to be with you anymore… she’ll say it to you straight and she won’t do it behind your back, she isn’t like that. She isn’t one for hiding her feelings and she isn’t afraid to voice her opinions, rarely have I ever seen her bottle up her emotions. I don’t see any reason why she would ever go behind your back, but if she does anything to you that just doesn’t seem right, tell me. I’ll make sure to talk to her, so don’t worry about anything, alright?” she couldn’t help but get a little teary eyed, Steve smiled softly when Robin tearfully nodded her head.

“Alright, thank you.”

“No problem.” Steve then lets out a laugh when he pulled up to their house, gesturing to the driveway “Look at that, Robin! Her car is here.” Robin shrugs, sure, but it doesn’t cross out the possibility that she still left the house. Entering the Harrington household, Steve flips on the hallway lights and shuffles out of his shoes, letting out a slight grunt when Robin shoved past him to rush up the stairs to get to [F/N]. Steve told her that her condition was horrible, that she was sweating profusely and couldn’t stop her body from trembling, going so far as she couldn’t control her breathing. She needed to see this for herself, she needed to see how sick her girlfriend was to calm her mind of the image of her perfectly healthy girlfriend that she saw at the mall with some gu—

“S-Stevie…? Is that you?” Robin jerked backwards a little shocked after throwing the door open, there in the dark room with the hallway light to illuminate the room, was her girlfriend laying on her back whilst clutching her chest, looking just as terrible as Steve described “Stevie…?” she called out once more, she nearly tripped over her feet when she finally managed to move.

“N-No, [F/N], it’s me.” she saw [F/N] perk up at the sound of her voice and so turned her head towards her, smiling weakly when her eyes set on girlfriend.

“Robin…” she cooed, Robin smiled softly and knelt down, placing a hand on her forehead and let her thumb caress her skin “You’re here… why?” they hear Steve clear his throat, he decides not to turn on the light as he took a spot on the other side of Robin, standing over his sick sister who smiled at him.

“She wanted to see you, asking me after our shift to bring her here to check up on you.” Steve decided it would be for the best to keep Robin’s actual intentions a secret from his sister, it was the better option because that reason made [F/N] smile at the both of them.

“Y’all are saps…” she mumbled out, she then reached for Robin and gently tapped her shoulder “I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up this morning, I feel so awful for leaving you hanging like that.” Robin shook her head, taking her hand into here and squeezing.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m just glad that your brother came and got me, would have sucked if I have to bike instead.” they both giggle at that, Steve smiled at his sister and her girlfriend, not understanding where Robin ever got the misunderstanding of [F/N] ever betraying her in the worst way. He then pulled a face when he realised why and swore in his head to never voice that stupid thought of his, he reached forward and placed his hand on [F/N]’s cheek and she leaned into his subtle touch.

“Your fever seems to have calmed down a little, did you take some tylenol?” she nods softly.

“Mm, I found some in my cabinet.”

“Alright, that’s good.” Steve has Robin help him with taking care of [F/N] to the best of their abilities, staying with her until she was drifting off to sleep, and when she finally did he pulled her out of the room and closed the door behind them “See? What did I tell you? She never left the house, Robin.” she nods her head, holding her arms.

“I know, I know. I just can’t help but feel insecure, you know? She’s totally out of my league, and yet she wants to be in a relationship with me! A nobody, a weirdo that’s apart of band and is employed in an ice cream shop.” Steve scoffs at that, placing his hands on his hips.

“That’s exactly what she likes about you, Robin. She finds it cool that you can play instruments.” she rolled her eyes bashfully, spinning one of her rings around with her thumb.

“Stop it.” Robin takes on last peek at [F/N] before finally leaving with Steve so he can take her home, it didn’t take long for the younger Harrington to return home nor did it take long for him to fall into a deep sleep. The moment silence fell upon the Harrington household [F/N] eyes shot open and she no longer looked sick anymore, she sat up and threw the covers off her body to reveal the clothes she was wearing were never changed. She shuffles out of her bed and walks over to her locked bathroom, pushing the door open to find the same boy Robin saw her with submerged in cold icy water. [F/N] did indeed see Robin in the corner of her eye when she was at the Starcourt Mall, that was the reason why she pulled that boy into empty hallway but she pulled him into an empty room before Robin could see them and proceeded to choke him out with little to no effort. 

She now found herself back at the abandoned steel works factory, exiting her car, she lifted her head to see Billy was there as well. Neither said a word to the other, just silently moving to the trunks of their cars and opening them up, finding their tied up victims unconscious, Billy lifts Heather into his arms while [F/N] throws the guy over her shoulder and the two of them walk side by side back down into the basement where it all started. Settling the two down, they hover over their unconscious bodies that slowly started regaining consciousness. Of course the two of them were unaware of the situation they were, blinking their eyes as they looked around in confusion, their eyes met and they were both confused when they saw their mouths were duck taped shut while their hands and feet were bound. Panic started to arise as they tried to free themselves, Heather letting out whimpers as she tried to shake free while the guy was screaming under the tape, they were both silenced when Billy grabbed Heather by her shoulders while [F/N] grabbed the other guy by his face and held his jaw in a tight hold.

“Don’t be afraid.” they said in an emotionless tone, both victims ceased their muffled cries and movements “It’ll all be over soon. Just stay very still.” they then remove the tape from their mouths before finally pulling away and stepping back, standing together as the same monster that did something to them crawled out of the shadows towards its latest victims, snarling at them as they screamed in terror. 

Billy and [F/N] could do nothing but watch.

[time skip: two days later]

The two of them continued to collect more and more victims for the monster to turn into mindless zombies, sometimes almost getting caught by their respective siblings, but they always managed to play it off. [F/N] remembered bringing a girl home she met in the middle of town, she recognised her as an old classmate friend and said how she wanted to reconnect. The girl was helpless against the mind controlled girl, struggling under her iron grip as she ties her hands up but was interrupted when the front door to the house was opened and in came walking Steve. He enters the kitchen and there he found his now healthy sister by the counter with an innocent smile on her face, waving her hand to greet him on his return home.  “Anything interesting happen today, [F/N]?” she only shrugged her shoulders.

“Same old, same old.” he was satisfied with the answer and ventures upstairs to his room, unaware of the whimpering girl under the counter wanting to cry out for him to save her from his crazy sister but could only whimper silently when [F/N]’s fingers dug into the meat of her face whenever she felt her struggle. She was now hauling her down into the basement of the factory, she hummed softly when she saw Billy and Heather already down there with two victims of their own “You’ve been busy, huh?” she mused, Billy glanced up at her and saw the girl over her shoulder.

“So have you.” 

[F/N] now found herself sane and sitting in her car, inhaling and exhaling softly as she watched the unknowing people walk by her, not knowing that she was picking out her latest few victims to bring to the monster. A pinch of her sanity was clinging to the back of her mind, she was already losing her mind because she could do nothing but watch her body go around kidnapping people and offering them up to this monster to do who knows what. She takes a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair before her eyes settled on a group of girls, she remembered one of them as a girl she hooked up with a few times while they were still in high school, this could be an easy catch because the other girl still had some lingering feelings for her. She rolls her neck, ready to do what she’s been doing for the past few days but her body suddenly fought against it. There were two fights going on in her mind right now, one was sweet talking this one time fling into bringing her and her friends back home to have some fun, possibly get them wasted out of their minds then bring them back to the factory, but the other was against it. This last piece of her sanity was fighting against that, she didn’t want to flirt with this girl, she didn’t want to tell her words that were rightfully reserved for her girlfriend. She lets out a groan, aching pain throbbing in her head as she tried taking control of her mind but ultimately lost when the pain became to unbearable.

“Don’t make this harder for you than it already is…” she muttered to herself, her voice not sounding like her own. Flicking down her sunglasses, she pulls at the collar of her jacket before finally opening the door to her car just as the girls were walking past her car. This obviously caught their attention, they were already checking out the ridiculously nice car but the moment [F/N] stepped out of the car the girl she hooked up with couldn’t help but freeze up when she saw her long time crush. [F/N] pretended to pay them no mind, throwing her car door shut and locked it, walking past the group of girls and as she walked further away, she stopped when the girl called out to her.

“H-Hey, [F/N]!” her friends snickered at how shaky her voice was as she stuttered over her words, she cursed at them but straightened up when [F/N] turned her head over her shoulder to look at the group.

“Yes?” she swallowed thickly, taking a step forward as she clutched onto the straps of her hand bag.

“D-Do you— do you remember me, by any chance?” her face flushed up when she tilted her head down, her sunglasses slipping down the bridge of her nose so she could see past the tinted lenses and at the girl in question “We were in the same chemistry class? We sat together and did a few projects together?” she was really hoping that [F/N] would remember, she took a step forward as she turned around fully, raising her hand to grab the frames of her glasses and pulled them down as she looked her up and down.

“Chemistry…?” she muttered to herself, looking up in thought then smirked down at her “Right, you’re— you’re Veronica, right? Veronica Gibbons?” her face lights up immensely because [F/N] Harrington remembered her, she actually remembered her! She enthusiastically nodded her head, reaching forward to grab her hand.

“Yes! I’m so happy you remember me.” her friends were giggling from behind her, knowing just how big of a crush she had on the female Harrington, also remembering how much she cried when she left Hawkins to study in a different state, but now she’s back as she has a chance to be with her. She then tilted her head when [F/N] pouted softly, taking off her glasses then biting the end of one of the frames.

“Actually, I’m still having a little trouble remembering, think you can help jog my memory up?” the group of girls giggled at the suggestion, Veronica turned back towards them and saw them gushing at her and giving her the thumbs up, gesturing for her to shoot her shot with [F/N].

“S-Sure.” 

Robin felt like she accomplished a mission. You could really do a lot with just twenty bucks, she exits the post office and stuffed the entire layout of the Starcourt Mall into her bag and jogs over to where she parked her bike, only slowing in pace when she heard soft giggling. Turning to see what the laughter was all about, she saw a group of girls gushing about how lucky their friend was, she thought nothing of it until the name “Harrington” left their lips. She then glanced over at the parked Mustang and immediately recognised it as [F/N]’s car, she then noticed that they kept glancing back towards the little alleyway and her insecurities started getting the best of her again. The name “Veronica Gibbons” left their loose lips and more thoughts started circulating in her head, she remembered that girl. She was definitely one of the best looking students during her year at Hawkins High School, she was that iconic popular girl that did cheerleading, was beautiful, smart and was wanted by the entirety of the male population. But there was a rumour that she was into girls, that she was into the particular Harrington that was untouchable, a heartbreaker who’s heart would never beat for anyone but her brother.

She didn’t hesitate to drop her bag on the ground and rush over to the alleyway, turning the corner and her heart stopped when she saw it. Veronica was pushing [F/N] back against the wall, her hands tightly gripping onto [F/N]’s biceps as she pressed her lips against her own. [F/N] didn’t bother reciprocating the loveless kiss, just let the shorter one of the two take the lead as she desperately kissed her. She tried not to think about it, she tried so hard not to think how awful she feels for playing with this girls feelings just because she couldn’t control her own body, she didn’t want to think about how much this was going to hurt Robin, but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Veronica pulled away and gave [F/N] a sheepish smile, flushing up when she noticed that her lipstick smeared onto her lips, she turns away to avoid her intense gaze but a gasp left her lips when she noticed a figure at the end of the alleyway.

“[F/N]…?” her heart dropped into her stomach, visible fear in her eyes that were hidden under the tinted lenses of her sunglasses. Robin gritted her teeth when she saw Veronica pushed herself off of [F/N], clearing her throat and fixing herself up, excusing herself from the heartbroken Robin as she tearfully gazed at [F/N], who had yet to acknowledge her existence “[F/N], please… tell me that what I saw didn’t really happen.” [F/N] just let out a sigh, crossing her arms and leaned against the brick wall behind her, finally sparing Robin a glance that just wasn’t kind.

“What’s there to talk about?” Robin’s hand clenched into a tight fist, whoever this person was, it wasn’t her [F/N]. Her loving and sweet [F/N] who’d give her the world, who would fight the world just to see her happy, whoever this imposter was, she hated their guts for what they’ve done with her girlfriend. She marches over to her and stood in front of her, glaring up at her with a tearful gaze and saw that [F/N] had an indifferent expression on her face, like she didn’t care that she just got caught “You seem upset, little birdie.” she cooed out, Robin nearly keened at the nickname, any other time she would turn red, but right now she was filled with anger and anguish.

“Is this just a joke, [F/N]? Are you not going to acknowledge the fact that I just caught you kissing another girl, or the fact that you let that girl kiss you despite already being in a relationship with me?! Is she another relative of yours you and Steve forgot to bring up? If that’s the case, that’s really fucking weird.” Robin turns away, running a hand through her hair than back at her “I thought you loved me, [F/N]. I thought you said you wanted to be with me, but as of lately, I feel like you’ve become an entirely different person. Ever since that night, I haven’t seen a trace of the girl that said she was in love with me. What the fuck has happened to you, [F/N]!” Robin continued to rant and rave at the betrayal and [F/N] just took it, because another war was raging on in her head.

Take her.

Not her.

Bring her.

Ignore her.

Kill her. 

Spare her.

[F/N]’s fingers clawed at the wall behind her, her nails digging into the bricks to the point they were being crushed under her hold. Her teeth were biting down so hard on her lips to the point they were bleeding, she was trying to distract herself from the grotesque thought of bringing one of the few people that she loves to that fucking thing. She was trying so hard the past two days to avoid Steve and Robin, she was trying so hard to limit her time with those two because if she was with them for more than a couple minutes then she would lose all control of her body and she would hurt them. That was the last thing that she wanted, she didn’t want to hurt them, she didn’t want them to die all because she made one stupid decision. She said nothing as Robin continued to question what their relationship has come to after two days of her acting off, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Robin and tell her everything, tell her that everything is going to be okay and that kiss with Veronica whatever meant nothing to her. But she knew the moment her arms were around her, there was no letting go of her, and not for a good reason either. She wanted to do something to keep Robin away, give her a reason to avoid her, to never see her again.

“You’re making me think that everything about our relationship was for nothing!” she shouts, tears now running down her face, oh how she wanted to wipe those tears away but she didn’t want to touch her with the hands that have been the cause of people losing their minds and possibly their lives “Was there absolutely nothing, nothing special about our relationship?” Robin stood their panting in front of [F/N], the girl silently looking down at her.

“… are you done?” she flinched back at the harsh words.

“Wha—”

“Was anything in our relationship special? Wow, you were really deep in that delusional fantasy of yours, huh? Well, let me tell you something, Buckley.” she harshly jabs her finger into Robin’s chest, causing her to stagger backwards as each jab got harsher and harsher at each step she took “Your love for me was nice, it was, but it’s gotten boring. There’s nothing about you that excites me anymore, so yeah, maybe our relationship was for nothing.”

“[F-F/N]…” she lets out a whimper when her back was no pressed against the opposite wall, [F/N] looming over her with a dark look on her face.

“There is no us, not anymore. I don’t need you.” [F/N] makes sure to grab her by the jaw, lifting her up off the ground as she glared down at her “You mean nothing to me.” Robin lets out a whimper when she felt her nails digging into her skin, she spares her a glance through her teary eyes and when she looked into [F/N]’s eyes, there was no warmth but dull and empty eyes staring right back at her. She let out a gasp when [F/N] dropped her, letting her collapse to the ground and grovel at her feet. She turned on her heel and started walking away, ignoring how much she wanted to stop and apologise to Robin, how this isn’t what she wanted but this was the hill she was going to die on if it meant that Robin was safe from her ”And Buckley, don’t even think about telling Stevie about this, not that he’ll even be on your side in the first place. I’m his sister, he loves me, and you? You’re nothing but a coworker he has to put up with.” she didn’t even bother looking back at Robin when she finally left the alleyway, leaving Robin to wallow up with a broken heart as she cried out in anguish.

“[F/N]?” she let out a hum, turning towards Veronica who now sat in her passenger seat while her friends were excitingly sitting in the back “Are you alright?”  “Why wouldn’t I be, sweetheart?” she flushed at the pet name, she points at her face.

“You’re crying…” her eyes widened softly at that, glancing down at her face to see a single tear running down her cheek, she chuckles softly at that and wipes it away with her thumb.

“Just a little dust that got in my eye, nothing to worry about.”

Hours go by and night has enveloped Hawkins, to which [F/N] was currently loading the drunk, unconscious and tied up girls into her car once more. Getting them completely intoxicated took no trouble whatsoever, they were more than happy to get wasted with the more popular Harrington. [F/N] herself was drinking away her sorrows after breaking up with Robin, wanting nothing more then to numb the pain and forget that look of pain and betrayal on Robin’s face, but it’ll forever be burned into the back of her mind. She lets out an exhausted sigh after loading the last of the girls into the backseat, rolling her shoulders after walking back and forward from the house and her car repeatedly. Steve had yet to return from Scoops Ahoy despite how late into the night it was becoming so she was taking his absence as an opportunity to get everything done. Driving to the factory wasn’t as eventful, driving legally to avoid unwanted attention so she doesn’t get pulled over, when she reached the basement she was quite surprised to see the state Billy was in.

“Fuck happened to you?” she questions, quietly offering up the girls to the monster then returned to his side with a rag and some water “You look like you got the shit beaten out of you.” he looked up at her, letting her clean up the blood and sweat “That girl, was it her?” he nods.

“Yeah. It was her.” she nods softly, taking his hand and wiping away the blood on his knuckles “She knows now. She knows about me. She could’ve killed me.” she nods again, she puts the rag down and gently pats his hand.

“Yes, but not us. Not us.” they then glance at the crowd of people they’ve either managed to kidnap altogether or were infected by the rats that were controlled by the monster “There’s no way she’ll know that there are more of us. She could barely handle you, so what makes her think she can handle all of us?”

“You’re right.”  “I know. Our time is nearly upon us, so we needn’t worry until then.”

[the next day, with the party]

The party along with Jonathan and Nancy were all hunkered down in the Wheeler household in the basement, each discussing what had happened the following night and their latest discoveries. The children told the two young adults how the Mind Flayer had returned and that Billy Hargrove was under its control, in return they told the party how an old woman, Mrs Driscoll, was found eating fertiliser and was acting crazy. Nancy then deducted how that since the attack last night along with their sauna test happened at the same time, the possibility of the Mind Flayer flaying more than just Billy.

“Billy was doing something to her, but there was someone else as well.” they all look at El when she spoke up, she looks at Max “There was another girl, but she looked more worried for him.” she closed her eyes to remember seeing Billy, she remembered seeing that girl who looked terrified as she called out for Billy.

“Another girl? What did she look like?” Max urged, maybe if they find this girl she could help them find Billy and maybe even the Mind Flayer.

“Um, she was tall, maybe about Billy’s height. She had [H/C] hair, [E/C] eyes and a few beauty marks on her neck and face.” she closed her eyes to remember any other features that stood out to her “Her eyes, though, her eyes reminded me a lot of Steve’s.” this subtle feature caught Nancy’s attention, her face lighting up in remembrance, this caused the others to look at her when she started snapping her fingers.

“W-Wait— Wait right there.” the others watch as Nancy rushed out of the basement, questioning what she was planning on grabbing, and when she returned she had a handful of polaroids and a few articles “El, is the girl you’re describing… her?” El leans forward to see Nancy was looking through the photos before pushing a certain article towards her, she ignores the headline as her eyes zone in on the picture. They she saw the girl she saw through her vision but this time she had a giant grin on her face, a bit of a crazed expression on her face as she stuck her tongue out while one of her hands was doing the rock on devil horns.

“Y-Yes, yes! That’s who I saw,” Nancy and Jonathan share a look of disbelief “W-Who is she?”  “That’s Steve’s sister! That’s [F/N] Harrington!” this caused the lot of them to lurch forward and look all the pictures of said Harrington “I remember her being back in town, but to think that she and Billy were actually friends.” she muttered under her breath, Max was looking at a picture had in his hands and her eyes widened when she too recognised her face.

“Holy shit.” Max says, now they look at her when they saw her pick up a different photo, this time it was of a polaroid of the girl at a party, sitting on a couch with her legs over the arm rest as she was chugging down an entire bottle of vodka “That’s Billy’s girlfriend.” now Nancy and Jonathan were in even more shock.

“Fucking, what?!” Max nods her head.

“I’ve seen her around the house a couple times, and whenever she’s around he’s a lot more happier. I remember hearing a girls laughter from his room and when I came in to see what it was…” she shudders at the memory, shaking her head “It wasn’t particularly a fun sight.” the certain memory she’s remembering back to was when she, Steve and Robin snuck into Billy’s room through his window with some weed and alcohol they were planning on sharing with each other. None of them had realised Max was home until they heard her calling Billy’s name followed by her footsteps, Robin and Steve were quick to hide away and when [F/N] attempted to jump out the window, she instead tripped over her own feet and landed on top to Billy, that was when Max walked into the room and misunderstood the entire situation. All the residents of the Hargrove/Mayfield household are one hundred percent convinced that the two are in a relationship, this fact was rather beneficial for the both of them.

“I heard rumours going around that Billy was dating [F/N], but I never believed them.” Jonathan admits “But it makes it all the more believable that the two of them were together.”  “Then do you think she’s flayed? Like Billy?” Nancy takes a breath.

“There’s only one way to find out.” they now find themselves driving to the Harrington household, all feeling concerned and anxious. Nancy was the most worried because she’s witnessed firsthand what the older Harrington was capable of, she was already crazy as is and would only tone it down when her younger brother was in the picture. She loved her brother to bits that the moment someone looked at him wrong she didn’t hesitate to beat their asses with a chair, she remembered how she got arrested for nearly beating a kid near death because they threatened to kill her brother. They reap what they sow, no? Pulling up to the house, Jonathan and Nancy recognise the car that’s in the driveway, it was [F/N]’s infamous Mustang that could rival Billy’s Camaro when it came down to public disturbance.

“Is there anything about her that we should be careful about?” Jonathan looks up in thought as they approach the front door.

“Um, if you thought Billy was bad… I’d say she’s worse.” they pale at that, she’s worse than Billy? “But if you get on her good side, she’s actually a pretty decent person, nice even.” Nancy nods her head, agreeing with what he’s saying. The two now stood in front of the two, both equally hesitating to knock because they share an equal fear of the female Harrington, Nancy was the one to take a deep breath and knock on the door. They waited for a while for the door to open, awkwardly looking around to pass the time, they hear stumbling footsteps and a few things getting knocked over before the door was open. Nancy and Jonathan reel backwards when the smell of alcohol hit their faces, there in front of them was the sight of a depressed and intoxicated [F/N] that was leaning against the doorframe to keep herself from falling to the ground while in one of her hands was a bottle of tequila. 

This is not what the party were expecting.

“Who the fff… phuck are you?” [F/N] slurred out, clearly not in the right state of mind and very much drunk.

“Is that you… [F/N]?” Nancy asked, very much unsure that the girl in front of her was the Harrington that she knew. [F/N] was one to get drunk at the oddest times of the day, but it looked like she had been crying, and she does not shed tears for anything or just about anyone. [F/N] giggled drunkenly, swaying softly before lifting the bottle of tequila and taking a long swig from it, letting out a satisfied breath as the alcohol burned her throat.

“Yeah? What’s it to you?” [F/N] was going to ignore the bothersome people who came knocking at her door while she was trying to wallow up in sadness, ready to just outright slam the door in their faces but paused when in her drunken eyes she could just make out who exactly the girl is “W-Who are you?” she stuttered out, Nancy swallows thickly, patting her dress to smooth it out.

“Um, it’s me, Nancy Wheeler?” [F/N]’s blood starts to run cold, sobering up just at the mention of the name “I dated your brother a while ago, and we’ve met a couple times when we weren’t dating?” the silence scared them, maybe it was because [F/N]’s drunken state disappeared as she stared Nancy dead in the eyes and wouldn’t break eye contact no matter how many times Nancy looked away or turned her head away, [F/N] just continued to stare at her. Soon, a soft smile appeared on her face as she chuckled softly, she then leaned down to put the bottle of tequila on the ground then reached forward to grab Nancy by the sides of her head. The others watch in confusion as [F/N] gently caressed her face but it changed when she leaned her head back then slammed her forehead right into the bridge of Nancy’s nose hard enough to break it. She let go of her head and let her fall back onto the ground, not really caring as the girl cried out in pain and clutched onto her nose, she then leans back down to pick up her tequila as the children and Jonathan surround Nancy.

“Oh my god, Nancy!” Mike shouts as he falls to his knees, comforting his sister as she tried to stop her bleeding nose “What is wrong with you?!” he shouts up at [F/N], who once again threw her head back as she downed another swig from her bottle, completely ignoring him.

“I don’t like you, Wheeler.” she sneers out, taking a step forward and glaring down at the girl “I know what my brother did to you and Byers over there back in 83′, as his older sister I apologise, but what you did to him last year? He told me everything, how the girl he wanted to be with said everything between them was bullshit, then went and ran straight into the arms of the guy she told him not to worry about. You should’ve thought twice before showing your face to me, Wheeler, because now you’re on my number one hit list.” she makes the “I’m watching you” gesture with her fingers then turned around to go back into her house, only stopping when Jonathan used his foot to keep the door from closing properly.

“Wait, [F/N]!” she glared at him “We really need to talk to you.” she scoffs, throwing her head back.

“About what?”

“About Billy.” she was in the middle of taking another long swig from her bottle but froze up at the mention of Billy, slowly lowering the bottle to look at the older Byers “We really need to talk about him, and we’d appreciate it if you could tell us everything you know about him that’s happened in the past couple of days.” she stared at the lot of them being letting out a sigh, that’s where they found themselves in [F/N]’s kitchen as her drunken rage turned into a sob fest.

“You know?! I feel like he’s been acting different as of lately, and— and that he’s been distancing himself! I feel like he’s become a completely different person!” she cried from where she was seated, the others all sat across from her as her body moved dramatically “Then he broke up with me, saying how it was for the best! What the fuck does that mean?! Why does breaking up with me the best for us?! I still wanted to be friends, but I couldn’t even have that either! So here I am, drinking myself into a stupor!” she shouts and goes to drink again but let out a whine when nothing came out, pulling it away from her lips and tipping the bottle only for a few droplets to come pouring out. The others all glance at each other and watch as she moved to a wine cabinet to grab a bottle of expensive looking wine.

“She’s totally not flayed, right?” Lucas questioned, Mike shook his head.

“Not a chance.” they all wince when she trips into the wine cabinet, no chance.

“Hey, where can I get some ice?” Jonathan asked, [F/N] looked back towards him before shakily pointing at the fridge.

“Should be some in the freezer, Byers. Help yourself out.” Jonathan nods and goes to get some but Mike was already on his feet to grab it himself, wanting to soothe his sister’s pain, at least Max and El stopped the bleeding. He’s in front of the fridge and about to open the freezer but stopped when he saw a picture hanging on the fridge, taking a closer look, his eyes widened at what he saw. There he saw [F/N], Steve, Billy and that cashier that works with Steve, Robin Buckley if he remembered correctly, standing together with wide smiles and looking happy “Mike, the ice!”

“Oh, right, sorry!” he opens the freezer and grabbed the ice tray, handing it to Jonathan, and closed the freezer door but continued to look at the picture just as [F/N] came over “When did you take this?” she let out a confused noise and leaned forward to see what he was looking at, they all watch as she froze up once again, her hand lifting up from her side to look at the photo. It was during the time when they were at the fair, Steve wanted to take a photo and there was no saying no to Steve. [F/N], Robin, Steve and Billy, in that order, stood together and took a round of different photos and each kept one, right below it with the caption “night of 85′ where it started”. She closed her eyes as a bitter look crossed her face, nothing will be the same ever again and that memory of the four of them happy together will be one of her fondest memories.

“It… doesn’t matter.” she lets out, grabbing the corner of the picture she yanks it off the fridge and tucks it into her pocket “A-Anyways, what’s this about Billy? What’s he done that’s caused you lot to come to me?” El was the one to speak, reaching forward to hold [F/N]’s hand.

“We would like to know if… if you’ve been with him in the past few days, if by chance you’ve been feeling strange.” she stares down at her hand in confusion, she doesn’t pull her hand back though and just simply squeezes it.

“Well, if drinking before five counts as weird, then not particularly, no.” they all sigh at that, she pulls her hand away and crossed her arms, humming to herself whilst looking up in thought “Um, he and that Heather Holloway have been acting weird together. He doesn’t usually hang out with that girl, but the way he talked about her was weird. He even dressed modestly when planning on having dinner with her parents, and that man usually dresses like a complete whore.” they look at her weirdly as she snaps her fingers, she lets out a grunt as she popped the cork off the wine bottle and proceeded to pour herself glass.

“Heather Holloway?” [F/N] nods her head, head falling backwards as she brings the glass to her lips and drinks the wine “Alright, anything else?” she begrudgingly looked off to the side, thinking of anything else that came to mind.

“Uh, he told me he had been planning on visiting this old lady in the hospital? Does that mean anything to you?” she noticed them all visibly flinch, sharing knowing looks with each other “Telling by the looks on your faces, I guess that was helpful?” she questioned, her face scrunched up when Nancy nodded her head in her direction.

“Very!” she bit her tongue and shrunk back when [F/N] glared at her, El grabbed [F/N]’s hand once more and shook it lightly.

“Billy is in trouble, and what you’ve told us has helped our chances on finding him and helping him.” El’s face lifted up when she noticed the way [F/N]’s face softened up at that, she pursed her lips as she averted her eyes from the girl.

“I hope he hasn’t gotten himself into anything too dangerous.” they all hated how that wasn’t the case, with everything they got out of the drunk yet slightly sobering up Harrington, they left just as quickly as they arrived. Will was the last out the door but he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, his hand immediately slaps onto his neck and he turned around to see [F/N] following them out so she can shut the door behind them. She felt his gaze so she looked down at him to see what he wanted, the chill went away when her drunken eyes looked him up and down “What?” he nervously shook his head.

“N-Nothing.” she narrowed her eyes on him but evidently shrugged her shoulders, the moment they were at their car she slammed the door shut, not waiting for them to pull out of the driveway.

“Will, are you alright?” Mike asked, his hand reaching over to gently grab his hand, Will looked up at Mike and gave him a nervous smile as he nodded his head.

“Y-Yeah, I’m good.” [F/N] stood in her empty kitchen, wine glass in her hand as she tapped her finger against the marble countertop. If she played her roll well enough, the group will probably go and investigate the Holloway household then make their way to the hospital to check on poor old Mrs Driscoll, she was now rolling her fingers against the counter.

“Well, why not give them a surprise for snooping in things they shouldn’t go poking their heads in?” she laughs to herself, downing the rest of wine in her glass before proceeding to round a few other flayed people to come help her.

[later at night]

The party arrive at the hospital when the sun was down and it was late into the night, they quickly rush out of the car and towards the hospitals entrance, completely unaware of the Ford Mustang that was parked not to far away from where they were. Per hospital visits, only two people were allowed to visit a patient at a time so Nancy and Jonathan went ahead while the others lingered around the waiting room. The two walk down the hallway to get to Dorris Driscoll’s room in silence, but to be honest, it was a little too quire despite it being a hospital. They hadn’t seen a single nurse or doctor since they arrived at the floor, it was rather unusual but they shrugged it off with that it wasn’t that busy of a night. Entering the room, they were met with the sight of Mrs Driscoll nowhere to be seen while the flowers Nancy brought and placed into a vase were knocked over.

“Where is she?” Jonathan asks as they scan the room, Nancy shakes her head.

“I don’t know.” she answers as she rushes towards the fallen vase, Jonathan following right behind her.

“Are you sure this is the right room?”

“Yeah.” they both then look up when the lights started flicking on and off, footsteps were heard from the hallway until a figure appeared at the door, the two turned around just as the figure spoke.

“She’s gone home.” there they see Tom Holloway, appearance looking disheveled as his hands and end of his button up were covered in blood “We were hoping you might come back.” the two start backing away when Tom enters the room and starts approaching them slowly, Jonathan raises his arm in front of Nancy to keep her behind him as they inched further and further away from Tom.

“Who’s blood is that?” Tom doesn’t answer him as he gets closer to them.

“Tom, whatever you’ve done, it’s not you. He’s making you do this.” now that they were practically within arms length from Tom, Jonathan didn’t take any chances and grabbed the vase, smashing it into the side of Tom’s head. The older man fell into the wall giving Jonathan and Nancy a chance to flee out of the room, they didn’t get far when another flayed appeared down the hall with a wound exactly where Jonathan hit Tom with the vase.

“Owie.” he feigns the pain as he caressed where his temple was bleeding but it healed, black veins bulging out from his temple as he started walking towards them.

“Go, go, go!” Jonathan shouts, pushing Nancy towards the staircase in an attempt to escape the two flayed men. The two of them are racing down the stairs, they aren’t really aware what floor they’re on but they don’t want to take any chances as they’re running down the hall, going further and further they see the dead bodies of the hospital workers, at least they now knew whose blood that was “This way, this way!” he shouts as he pulls Nancy down a part of the hospital that had construction being done, the two men that were chasing them weren’t even running and were just simply walking at a steady pace.

“You haven’t got them yet?” Bruce glanced over to see [F/N] on a chair, body hunched over with her elbows resting on her knees. Beneath her foot was a nurse whimpering, crying silently as [F/N] pressed the heel of her shoe into her head and slowly applied more pressure as the nurse squirmed to get free “How hard is it to grab those two idiots?” she questioned.

“Just playing a little game of cat and mouse, that’s all.” she chuckled cruelly, shaking her head.

“Get them before they cause us more trouble. That girl isn’t here to assist them, so one of you should be enough to handle them both, alright?” he nods his head and rushed off to go find Nancy and Jonathan, not like that would be hard. She finally turned her attention to the crying nurse who looked up at her, eyes pleading with her to let her go “It’s a shame that you weren’t able to see the world he was going to create, but I guess it’s better for you not to stay and find out.” [F/N] then reached over to the axe that was resting against the wall, both her hands and the blade drenched in blood of the various victims that were claimed that night. She now aimlessly walked the hospital halls, whistling a random tune as she felt the flayed Bruce find the two and so she made her way over to where they were, Bruce was chasing after Nancy as she screamed for help while Tom was making his way over to where Jonathan was.

Find them.

Kill them.

Erase them.

Annihilate them.

“They’re working on it.” she murmurs under her breath, getting closer and closer to where Tom was with Jonathan, he was playing with his food. She shook her head, maybe it was wrong to bring those two along with her and she probably should have brought two other peo— she suddenly let out a grunt, her head being thrown back as she stumbled into the wall. She brought a hand to her mouth and saw black blood bleeding from her mouth, she drops the axe when she felt another impact smash her across the face and she finally fell to the ground. She was growling under her breath, panting as she starts pushing herself up but fell back when another smash to the head was delivered to Bruce while Jonathan stabbed Tom in the neck. The shared pain they felt sucked and had [F/N] grovelling on the floor, both hands slapped around her neck as black bleed bled from her face and neck, her veins then started bumping black as they started turning visible “You worthless… imbeciles!” she roared out, the Mind Flayer gifted her and Billy more power since they were the first to turn into his mindless zombies, so their regenerative abilities were superb in comparison to the rest. While Bruce and Tom lay motionless on the floor she picked herself back up, rolling her neck and hearing it crack under the pressure, she leans down to pick the fallen axe up and dragged it behind her to find the two causing them so many problems. 

She was greatly irritated, gripping onto the axe with so much force that the wood started to crack under her hold. Those two had one simple job to do and they failed horrendously to the point that their bodies turned into goop, she heard the sound of panting so she looked over and saw a doctor she thought she had killed, dragging himself along the floor to get to safety. The moment he heard footsteps he thought he was saved so he turned to see his saviour but his face fell at the sight of an enraged [F/N], dragging her axe behind her and leaving a trail of blood behind her. The doctor let out a cry as he tried crawling away again but was stopped when she stomped on his back, she brings the axe above her head and swing it down, landing a clean hit into the back of his skull and killing him. Blood splattered onto her face as she didn’t bother wiping it off, just simply yanked the axe out of his head and continued on with her journey. She was walking down the hall when she saw the goop of what was Tom and Bruce form into the monster, a miniature version of the Mind Flayer.

“Now look what you’ve done with yourself.” she speaks, walking out from the hallway as her body was drenched in a mixture of black and red blood, she then turned her head and a wicked smile spread across her face at the sight of Jonathan “There you are~” she cooed, now standing beside the Mind Flayer as she stared Jonathan down while the monster stared at Nancy.

“[F-F/N]…?” they both stutter out, she giggled to herself, throwing the axe over her shoulder and bounced it lightly.

“The one and only.” she winks at Jonathan then turns towards the monster, lifting the axe up to point at it “You had one job, right? One! And you failed it, immensely. All you had to do was kill them, and you couldn’t even do something so simple to the point you’ve gone and turn yourself into that. Good job, really, good job.” she shook her head in disappointment as the monster lets out a whine, knowing that the original Mind Flayer favours her and Billy over the rest.

“[F/N], w-what have you done?” Nancy whispers out as she looked the older Harrington up and down seeing she was covered in blood that just wasn’t hers as her veins were pumping with black blood “You were flayed? For how long?!” she cries out, she just shrugs.

“Does it matter? You’ll be dead anyways.” she looks back up at the monster and whistles, pointing with her thumb towards Nancy “Get her, I’ll deal with the other one. You won’t have trouble with this, will you?” she chuckles when it lets out a roar and starts charging towards her, she in turn starts marching over to where Jonathan is.

“Shit.”

“Nancy! Run!” she immediately backs into the door to the staircase but let out a panicked cry when sandbags were keeping the door from opening fully, Jonathan starts to panic as well because the monster was quickly closing the distance between the two of them and [F/N] was also getting closer to him. When Nancy manages to break through the door and run away he felt a sense of relief but it didn’t last when [F/N] was on him, he grabs one of the IV poles to defend himself but lets out a grunt when she kicked him in the chest, he evidently falls to the ground because of this.

“I’m really going to enjoy this, I never really liked you anyway, creep.” she lets out a grunt as she tries slamming the axe down on him but he managed to roll away just in time. He’s pushing himself back to get away from [F/N] as she leisurely strides after him, dragging the bloodied axe behind her in an almost taunting way “I don’t even need to do much to influence this body into wanting to kill you, it’s already rather homicidal and her hatred for you and that other girl is pretty deep.” Jonathan manages to push himself onto his feet and starts running away from her but in a way that he was chasing after the monster and Nancy.

“Is this because I beat her brother up and Nancy broke up with him?!” she only shrugs, easily matching his pace as she chased after him.

“Probably, but she was already crazy even before that, I’ve just pushed aside her rationality.” she swings at him again but he ducks out of the way, wincing when the axe made contact with the wall and a crack formed under the impact “Her love for her brother is both her weakness and her strength. She’d do anything for him; anything.” she’s swinging at him left and right, him narrowly dodging out of the way when he’s finally at the hallway where he sees the miniature Mind Flayer at a door that he believes Nancy has locked herself in.

“No, Nancy!” this was his shortcoming when he froze up, watching as the monster lost its physical form to turn back into a state of goop so it could slip under the cracks of the door. He was kicked in the back and fell onto his stomach, he pushes himself onto his back but let out a grunt of pain when she hit him with the butt of the axe, causing him to fall limp onto his back and daze him.

“No more running, little Jonathan. You’re making my job harder than it needs to be, so just sit still,” she starts, raising the axe over her head and smiling crazily down at him “and let me kill you.” she laughs wickedly and finally swings the axe down, having a clean shot to kill Jonathan but the axe is stopped inches away from his face. He gasped, eyes widen in shock as he stared up at the blade while [F/N] in turn was confused, letting out a strained grunt as she tried pushing it down but it wasn’t budging.

“Jonathan!” the two of them whip their heads around and see the party down the hall, El’s hand stretched out a stopping the blade from meeting Jonathan’s face. They all flinch back at the vicious look in [F/N]’s eyes, god, she looked exactly like Billy during the sauna test. El didn’t waste any time as she raised her hand, this motion caused the axe in her hands to move away from Jonathan, and because she was still holding the axe in her hands, El used it to send [F/N] flying back and pin her to the wall with it pressed against her throat, just like Billy.

“Holy shit, she was flayed the whole time!” Lucas shouts as they all rush towards Jonathan to help him up, they all spare [F/N] a glance and saw she was growling at them, letting out a animalistic roar as she pushes against the axe that was keeping her at bay, El in turn was putting more power into keeping [F/N] still “Does that mean she lured us here?!”

“It doesn’t matter now!” Mike shouts, they all shudder when [F/N] starts giggling maniacally “Why the hell are you laughing?!”

“You dumbasses a-are… are exactly where I want you.” Mike shakes his head.

“Really? But aren’t you the one being pinned to the wall right now?” she continues to laugh, her head rolling backwards and resting against the wall behind her. The dark blood pumping through her veins become more visible as she lets out another roar, finally managing to push El’s hold off of her and throw the axe towards them, they all duck out as the way just as she lands on the ground with a heavy thud.

“Jeez, way to go dickwad.” Max sneers at him, [F/N] wipes away the blood dripping down her nose as she leaned down to pick up the fallen axe. She throws her head back, running a hand through her hair as she laughs again, El is panting as she ignores the blood running down her nose.

“What’s so funny?” blood is running down her face and she can’t tell whether it’s hers or not, but she doesn’t care as she looks down at the children, she throws her axe over her shoulders and motions with her eyes to the room behind them.

“Aren’t you forgetting about someone?” at the mention of that they heard a scream, they all turn their heads towards the door and [F/N] laughs once more “I know a fight I can’t win when I see one, so here’s how this is going to go. You lot have two options. Option one, I run away and you lot are given the chance to save Nancy from meeting her inevitable end because you choose to save her instead of chase after me. Or option two, you give up on little Miss Nancy to chase after little ol’ me, this gives you the chance to learn things about where the monster is and what he’s planning on doing, but this also means that Wheeler meets her end. So what’s it gonna be? Are you going to be the hero that saves the damsel in distress, or the hero that sacrifices her to save the world?” she doesn’t wait for them to answer as she’s already running in the opposite direction, El raises her arm to stop her but flinched when she heard Nancy’s cry for help.

“El, leave her! Please, you’ve got to save Nancy! You’ve got to save my sister!” Mike cries out, tears swelling in his eyes when Nancy’s screams got louder, he then desperately tugs on her arm “Please, El! Please!” El’s eyes were still on [F/N]’s retreating figure, growling softly under her breath when she saw the light smirk on her face before she turned the corner and disappeared. [F/N] was pouting softly as she exits the hospital, spinning the axe around her wrists, and was slightly disappointed she couldn’t kill Jonathan or that Nancy. Oh well, there was still plenty of time to get them next ti— she jumped up in surprise when the monster was thrown out of the room and landed right beside her, she looked up from where it fell and saw the lot peering outside the window, she then gives them a two fingered salute before rushing over to her car and driving away as the monster turns itself into goop once more to escape through the sewers.

“… so which one of us is telling Steve?” Lucas murmurs, they all pale at that. Back with [F/N], she finally reaches the factory, letting out a groan as she walks down the stairs to the basement, hand on her neck while rolling her neck as the axe rested on her shoulder.

“You look like hell.” she scoffs at Billy, wiping the blood on her face with the back of her hand.

“I feel like hell. I couldn’t get shit done because the two idiots I brought with me were of no help whatsoever.” the goop that escaped from the hospital the appears, slithering towards the original to merge with it, it grows in size as the two stare up at it.

“It’s time.”

[time skip: the next day]

El sat in front of the TV that was playing nothing but static, a blindfold over her eyes to help her focus on finding where the Mind Flayer could possibly be while the others sat back and watched her overexert herself. She was panting as she tried so hard to keep pushing herself but in the end she couldn’t anymore and ripped the blindfold off her eyes, she now found herself in the kitchen getting a glass of water, gulping it down until the glass was completely empty. The others were discussing what they should do, they could possibly go and find [F/N] but they didn’t want to take the chance on fighting the newly psychopath and she probably wasn’t going to be home, the other option was Billy who definitely was home but him being there was just a trap waiting for them. El set her empty glass on the kitchen counter and let her eyes wander under until they landed on a box of lucky charms, staring at the rainbow, she got bitter flashbacks of her mother but then an idea struck in her head that she went back to the ground.

“It’s too risky.”

“Yeah, and unnecessary. Killing the flayed won’t stop the Mind Flayer. We have to find out where it’s spreading from. We have to find the source.”

“Billy and [F/N] know it.” they all turn to El when she entered the room “They’ve both been there, to the source. She even said that if we went after her and caught her, we could’ve learned where the Mind Flayer was.” Mike shook his head.

“Yeah, but—”

“It’s a trap, I know. We can’t go to Billy or [F/N], but I think there’s another way. A way for me to see where they’ve been.” she’s sat in front of the TV once more with a blindfold over her eyes, concentrating on the static noise coming from the TV. She takes a deep breath and concentrates until she finds herself in the void and in the distance she can see something. As she gets closer she finds herself staring down at Billy and [F/N] sitting beside each other on what she assumes is Billy’s bed, [F/N] had her eyes closed as she rested her head on his shoulder and Billy himself was sitting up straight while staring into nothing. The one thing the two of them were doing was holding each other’s hand, occasionally squeezing, as her other arm was wrapped around her waist as his other hand rested on his knee. El now stood in front of the two, who weren’t completely unaware that she was there, but they both had a feeling that someone was there. El lets out a shaky breath as she reaches down, grabbing both of their free hands “Billy… [F/N]. I want to see. I want to see what happened.” Billy raises his head and [F/N] opens her eyes, El could see the tears in their eyes as they stared up at her, she lets out a gasp when the hands she was holding let go of hers and instead held a tight grip on her forearm. She tries to break free but neither one of them were letting go, their hold on her only tightened as she fought against them but when they did let go of her, she falls back but their memories of everything they’ve done flashed in her head. From [F/N] and Billy killing people, from them kidnapping people, from them hurting people, from the Mind Flayer infecting the two of them, from the very beginning when Billy crashed and [F/N] rushing to come to his aid.

El let out a grunt when she fell onto the concrete sidewalk, she groans as she rubs the back of her head and slowly pushed herself up so her hands were holding her up, she looked around and saw that she was on some random street that she couldn’t recognise but the sun was up and there weren’t many people around, it was practically empty. She finally pulls herself onto her feet and starts walking around, maybe trying to find someone or something she can recognise. She lets out a gasp when she heard laughter so she goes to turn around and see what it was but paused when a young child, a little girl, ran past her laughing to her hearts content. Looking her up and down, she wore a [F/C] sweater and shorts while her hair was tied up with a hair tie that had small little ladybugs on it, the girl laughed again before turning around and waving her hand in the direction El was standing in.

“Stevie, come on! You’re so slow.” El gasps softly and when she turns around she sees the child version of Steve Harrington, he looked to be about ten years of age, pushing a bike where the girl was standing “Didn’t you ask me to teach you how to ride a bike?” Steve pants as he walks past El and towards his older sister.

“You’re not the one pushing the bike [F/N].” he complains, she just rolls her eyes.

“Stop being such a big baby, dingus.” he pouts, El follows them and finds that they’re in some neighbourhood in Hawkins that has smooth terrain for Steve to ride his bike. El smiled softly seeing [F/N] tease Steve while he in turn was crying at her to stop, she did eventually stop when she saw his eyes start getting misty and started pushing his bike. It was quite sweet watching the older Harrington treated her brother rather delicately, he seemed like such a crybaby when he was a kid.

“I-I’m having second thoughts, [F/N].” Steve said to her, his voice barely above a whisper. He was currently on the bike, his hands clutching onto the handles as his feet rested on the pedals, [F/N] stood beside him while holding the back because she knew that he didn’t have the balance to hold himself. She exhaled through her nose, looking him up and down.

“Well, we can always do this another time, not everybody can get it on their first try.” she tries reassuring him but noticed that he still looked upset over the matter, her eyes looked down in thought before she reached over and placed her hand on top of his “Hey, Steve, I’ll be right beside you, alright? I’ll always be with you every step of the way, I promise you that.” Steve sniffles at that, looking down at his sister with teary eyes.

“R-Really?” she nods, a big smile on her face.

“Really, I’ll always be there for you.” seeing her smile made one just as big spread across his lips, he then nods as he looked ahead of them.

“Okay, I can do this.” and as [F/N] promised, she was right beside him to help keep him balanced as he pedalled down the sidewalk, but the moment she noticed that he was doing on his own was when she pulled her arms back and instead ran beside him.

“You’re doing it, Stevie! Look at you go!” she cheered, he took a quick glance at her and saw that he really was doing it on his own, a big smile broke onto his face as he went on. When [F/N] could no longer keep up with him, she stopped running at his pace and let out an exhausted breath as she hunched forward to catch her breath. El approached the young [F/N], looking at her face and there she saw the look of pure love as she watched her brother go, she saw that she completely adored her brother to no ends. El remembered Nancy mentioning how [F/N] would do about anything for her younger brother, it didn’t what it was, it’s just that she would go to great lengths for him. [F/N] gasped and this caused El to stop looking at her and instead back at Steve, who winced when she saw the wheel get caught in something, causing him to fly off the bike “Steve!” she shouts out and immediately rushes to his side, to which he was bawling his eyes out as his knees were bleeding and hands were scrapped.

“It hurts, [F/N]! It hurts so much!” he cries out, [F/N] drops to her knees as she looked him up and down, trying to figure out what to do as he continued sobbing. She then tries to calm him down but it just doesn’t seem to work, nothing she was doing was working and he only seemed to be getting worse, so she starts to cry with Steve. El found it a little funny that the two siblings were crying, Steve because he was hurt and [F/N] because Steve was crying. She never would have imagined that the drunk, depressed and psychotic [F/N] she met the day prior was the same caring little girl she watched before her. When [F/N] did manage to calm down, not enough to stop crying, she picked Steve up and carried him on his back and ran to the closets house, abandoning the bike in favor of someone helping her brother. The person she chose was quite startled to find two crying children at her door step, awkwardly question what was wrong but managed to understand what happened through all the snot and tears [F/N] blubbered out.

[you can skip past this, this is basically her past that I accidentally started to write and I couldn’t fucking stop]

[F/N]’s happiest memory was anything that involved Steve, she was the eldest Harrington child of the Harrington couple. The two of them never wanted a daughter and expected their first child to be a son, but when they got [F/N] instead they didn’t hesitate to have sex again just to conceive another child in hopes of getting a son, and their hopes came true when Steve was born. [F/N] noticed at a young age how her parents favoured Steve over her every time, it didn’t matter what it was, it was always him before her, but she never did care about that, because her parents were just assholes and her baby brother didn’t do anything to deserve the anger she had for their parents to be directed at him. There was just something different between the two of them when they started getting older, they were joined at the hip when they were children but the moment they were in middle school, it was a different story. [F/N] naturally entered middle school before him and she already earned herself a title, the up and rising star of Hawkins Middle School that would surely become the Queen of Hawkins High when she graduates middle school. She was beautiful, a Harrington genetic gift, naturally smart and athletic, very kind and charismatic that she was the person everyone wanted to be with.

So her achievements greatly overshadowed Steve’s to the point that their parents attention moved from him to her, at first she was happy that she got their validation, but noticing how her and Steve were drifting apart and his admiration towards her turned green with envy, she started second guessing all the popularity she gained. It got worse for Steve when he started middle school, he was known as the “other Harrington” that just couldn’t match up to his sister, he was just constantly in her shadow no matter where he went. Constantly being compared to her was like a nightmare to him, he was struggling to finish an English essay? [F/N] would have easily gotten it done in half the time it took him to write a single sentence. He managed to score a three pointer in basketball during P.E? How about winning against Hawkins Middle School’s rivalling team with the most points they’ve seen in years. He didn’t want to be known as the younger brother of [F/N] Harrington, he wanted people to know him as Steve Harrington, but that was never going to happen as long as people knew that he was her brother. [F/N] obviously noticed the treatment her sweet little brother was going through, she tried so hard to talk to him or get people to stop with their bullshit, but that made Steve angrier, he didn’t want her pity.

“Steve, why won’t you talk to me anymore? Please, I just want to make things between us better, like what it used to be when we were children!” she pleads out to him, she flinched back when he slammed his hands down on his desk, whipping his head around to glare at her.

“You want to make things right? Alright, maybe stop being better at everything! Maybe stop being the topic of every conversation people have when they come to talk to me! Maybe just stop being the reason my life is ruined!” he pushes his chair back with his legs as he approaches her “Stop being smart! Stop being pretty! Stop people the centre of attention!” she lets out a grunt when he shoved her back, her stumbling out his room as he reached for the door “Maybe just stop being my sister altogether!” he finished and slammed the door in her face, she continued to stand where he left her as she stared at his door, she let out choked up noises as tears glistened in her eyes before finally sniffling and walking away.  That was definitely the last time the two of them properly spoke with each other and no matter how many times she tried to work things out, how hard she tried to make things better, he just never gave her the time of day to hear her out. Her graduation from middle school to high school was probably her worst day because Steve didn’t even want to be there and only came because their parents would be more disappointed in him if he didn’t come to support his sister, and for him it was probably a great day because it meant that he didn’t have to see his sister the following year at all. If she didn’t do anything soon she was possibly going to lose Steve, so staring at her reflection she stared at herself and couldn’t help but hate she was looking at. She never felt like she was looking at herself, just looking at the person her parents made her out to be without her ever being able to properly find herself. She wanted to change, she wanted to be different from the person she saw in the reflection, and there was just one person that could possibly help her.

“Eddie Munson!” she screamed at the top of lungs at the trailer park, she knew the bastard was home, telling how the lights in his trailer were on. Eddie “the Freak” Munson was her polar opposite in middle school and a boy who was in the same year as she was. She remembered first seeing him during their middle school’s talent show with how him and his band “Corroded Coffin” performed heavy metal, it was very loud and a little disorganised, but it was pretty good in her opinion. She met Eddie on a few occasions but each time weren’t really pleasant, mostly because he spoke to her as if she didn’t know how the world worked since she was a privileged little girl that got everything she wanted. She didn’t know what hurt more, the fact that he isn’t entirely wrong or that it was him that woke her up. Eddie opened the door to the trailer and was surprised to see [F/N] standing there, so with his usual cocky attitude, he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

“Well what do we have here? What can this jester do for her majesty, [F/N] “the Queen” Harrington?” he cooed, [F/N] didn’t bother to say anything and just went straight to the point.

“I need your help.”

“And what can little ol’ me do for you?”

“I need you to make me look like you.” now he was a little thrown off at the request, the one and only girl that everybody loves and has everything at the palm of her hand, was asking for his help in making her… look like him? She noticed that he was confused so she raised her hand, she goes to speak but a chill ran up her spine when a burst of wind blew through her body “Can I come in? I’m fucking freezing.” her swearing was even more startling, [F/N] was prim and proper and wasn’t know for using such vulgar language, and yet here she was.

“O-Oh, yeah, of course.” and that’s where Eddie found himself holding a box of tissues for [F/N] as she told him everything that happened during her year in middle school, bawling her eyes out as she told him that her worst fear was possibly coming true “So, let me get this straight… you want me, to make you look like me so that your parents and possibly others start viewing in a different way and that people will start liking your brother?” she sniffles, nodding her head.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” he sucks in a breath, running a hand through his growing hair after growing through his buzz cut.

“I don’t know if I find that endearing that you came to me for help or insulting that you came to me for help.” she gave him an apologetic look “But I see where you’re coming from, female Harrington. You don’t want people to see you in a positive light and if they hate you enough they’ll draw their attention towards the better Harrington.” she nods her head.

“That’s exactly what I want.” he lets out a startled yelp when she grabbed his hand, holding it in between her own and gave him a desperate look “I’ll do anything to drift the attention away from me and give it to him, I won’t care how people view me as long as they stop making my brother feel even worse than he already feels. I want to be there beside him instead of on the sidelines.” he inhales sharply, this really wasn’t what he was expecting to happen on a Saturday night.

“Well… alright.” she lights up, a big smile on her face “But I want no complaining from you, alright? The moment you start doubting anything I do, I’m gonna give up on you,” she nods her head at the terns he set.

“Of course, totally!” she stands up, still holding his hand, and shakes it rather vigorously “If this works, I owe you big time, Munson.”

And being a man of his word, on the first day of her high school year, the soft and kind [F/N] was nowhere to be seen. Instead Hawkins High was met with the new and improved Harrington that wore leather or denim and had several piercings that were definitely not done by a professional, she even wore dark make up instead of the light or natural one. To say everyone was shocked would be an understatement, everyone was in disbelief when she pulled up to school in such attire but it was the fact that she was with Eddie Munson of all people! They were laughing about and talking as if they have been best friends since they were children, even his group of friends were in on the deal of making her less popular so she wasn’t seen without being with Eddie and his group of freaks. Her entire personality was a total flip as well, from the well spoken and polite young lady turned to a rude and vulgar woman who’s attitude was the worst that people couldn’t stand being with her. The teachers couldn’t believe what they were seeing either, she was once a straight A student but now she was barely passing with D+ and C-’s.

She learnt everything from Eddie, and she was always grateful for him because she actually felt free. Being with him and his group of friends was so relaxing because she didn’t have to worry about how she looked and how she acted anymore, she could actually properly be herself. Listening to heavy metal and screaming at the top of her lungs, smoking weed and laying on the floor of his trailer, letting him ramble on and on about some fantasy game called D&D, she didn’t care, it felt nice to actually have real friends instead of those people leeching off of her. But that didn’t matter, well it did, but what really mattered was the fact that it was working. People didn’t want to be associated with the former Queen who now hung around with the freaks and because she was barely pulling her weight in school and was constantly failing, her parents were absolutely livid with her.

“What has gotten into you, [F/N]? You were never like this leading up to this year! It’s all because you’ve been hanging around that Munson boy! He’s not a good influence on you!” she just rolled his eyes as her mother shouts all sorts of nonsense at her, both her mother and father have cornered her and sat her down to have a proper talk with her.

“Not only that, but you’re failing every single one of your classes! You’re barely getting marks above F’s, and at this rate, you’re not even going to pass at the end of your senior year! You’re sullying the Harrington name, [F/N]! I thought we raised you better than this.” she scoffs this time, leaning back into the sofa as she crossed her arms.

“Well I’m sorry for not being mummy and daddy’s perfect little princess anymore, but if you’re not going to accept the me I am today, then why the fuck should I pull my weight anymore? Besides, you still have your perfect little golden child Stevie to take my place if I ever go too far.” she snickers to herself when they continued to yell at her, telling her to that this rebellious act of hers better come to an end or she will face consequences, to which she just laughed in their faces before shoving past them and out the front door where Eddie was waiting for her with his shitty van.

“Dude, we could hear the shouting all the way from out here!” Gareth exclaims, throwing open the back doors for her to jump in, to which she laughed as she took Jeff’s hand as he helped her in “They sounded really angry, you alright?” she just shrugged.

“Honestly I could give less of a shit at what they’re saying, but it’s definitely working, I can just feel them ready to disown me and label me as the family disappointment, I’m just waiting for it now.” Eddie laughs from the drivers seat, glancing back at her.

“You’re crazy.” she winks with a click of her tongue.

“I have you to thank.” they all laugh as he drives to the Quarry.

Steve was completely baffled when people started treating him differently. For some reason he was now known as the better Harrington, the one that didn’t stray from the path of righteousness, or whatever the hell that meant, but it felt good that every topic wasn’t about his sister anymore. Well, when his sister was brought up, it was to tell him how awful it was to now be related to the psycho apart of Eddie Munson’s group of friends. When Steve first saw [F/N]’s transformation and change of behaviour, he didn’t believe it until he saw the way she now argued with everything their parents said. She never used to fight back against them, she would usually just nod and agree with anything they said, but not anymore. Now their parents were looking at him again, telling him they expected great things from him, how he was the new light of the Harrington family and that he was better than his good for nothing sister. As for [F/N], she was happy to see that her brother was finally getting that popularity he deserved and it didn’t matter that she had hell to pay for such a cost, all that mattered to her was that Steve wasn’t bitter having to go to school anymore.

She didn’t care that people insulted her.

She didn’t care that her parents hated her.

If Steve was happy, that’s all that mattered.

Sitting on the hood of her car, [F/N] had blood running down her nose and a bruise forming on the side of her cheek, knuckles torn and bloodied as her clothes were a little disheveled. The bruise on her cheek was given to her during an altercation with her father once again, this time he couldn’t stand her attitude and backhanded her clean across the face hard enough to give her a nose bleed. She didn’t see an ounce of regret on his face and not even her mother did anything to stop anything from escalating, she couldn’t take staying in that house any longer and just left without another word. Her knuckles bleeding were from her brutally punching a brick wall until she physically couldn’t close her knuckles anymore and just tired herself out until she sat on the hood of her car while smoking a cigarette to calm herself down.

“… fuck.” she muttered under her breath, she was totally going to Eddie’s trailer to get high and drunk to the point she couldn’t remember who the fuck she was. When she finally decided she was done, she hopped off the hood of her car and snuffed out her cigarette, getting to ready to jump into her car but paused when she heard her name.

“[F/N]!” she was confused when she saw Steve rushing over to her, she was confused as to why he was there.

“Steve?” she called out, she really didn’t want to deal with him right now be decided to stick it out to see what he had to say “What do you want? Don’t you have basketball practice going on right now?” he scoffed, shaking his head as he looked her up and down, wincing when he saw her bloodied knuckles.

“I don’t give a shit about that.” he reaches for her hand but flinched back when pulled her hand back.

“Why are you here? Don’t you have better things to do than deal with me?” he swallows the saliva in his throat, not liking the tired look in his sisters eyes.

“I-I’m here because I’m worried about you, I just— I don’t understand why you’re acting like this, [F/N]. You’re nothing like the way you were in middle school, what happened to her? Why did you suddenly change? Why are you so different now, [F/N]? I just don’t understand.” he shakes his head as he remembered back to the year prior when his sister first changed, the once quiet house was now filled with arguing and shouting matches between her and their parents to the point that Steve couldn’t handle it “Why are you like this, [F/N]! You had everything and then suddenly you threw it all away because of what? What?! Why did you do it?! What was it?!” Steve didn’t understand why he was yelling at his sister, he usually wouldn’t raise his voice like this and especially not when his sister was bleeding because of their father, but he just needed to quell his curiosity as to why his sister would do such a thi—

“I did it for you, Steve!” she shouts, he was taken aback, what? “I threw away everything for you! The popularity! The attention! Mum and dad’s respect, everything! I gave up everything because I saw how my popularity was affecting you! I couldn’t stand the thought that my brother was feeling the way he was in middle school all because people couldn’t see past me whenever they were with you. I hated the fact that we aren’t as close as we were when we were children, so I thought, if I act differently to what people are used to, then maybe people will start liking Steve Harrington instead of his older sister. And look at that, it worked! It actually worked, because people fucking hate me now and they adore you! You’re the Harrington that isn’t a fuck up!” [F/N] hadn’t realised she started crying until she felt the tears running down her face instead of blood, she pulls back and quickly wiped away the tears, grunting out in pain when she clenched her fists.

“B-But… why? Why would you do that?” Steve stuttered out, not believing she would do something like that, she just rolled her eyes before throwing her arms open at him.

“You said it yourself, Steve! I asked what I had to do to make things right, and you listed everything off! I had to stop being better at everything, I had to stop being the topic of every conversation, I had to stop being smart, I had to stop being pretty, I had to stop being the centre of attention! I did everything! I did everything you asked! Now all that’s left is to stop being your sister!” god, the fact that she remembered everything while he didn’t had Steve start tearing up, she had to tear her eyes away from him to stop her urges to comfort him, she takes a breath and jabs her finger into his chest “I gave you what you wanted, so I hope you’re satisfied with what you’re given. I’m only waiting for mum and dad to fulfil you’re last request and maybe then you’re ruined life will be magically fixed.”

“[F-F/N], I’m sorry— I didn’t—” she raised her hands, rubbing her sleeve under her nose.

“Save it.” she sniffles as she turns her back “Go home, Steve. I’ll stay out of your life as long as you want. Wouldn’t want to ruin the perfect life you’ve accumulated since I’ve fallen from my grace.” with that she leaves Steve standing all alone, feeling even more worse when she finally saw those tears run down his face.

That… that was her worst memory that she regrets.

She regrets shouting at him.

She regrets making him cry.

She regrets that she hurt him and left him alone.

[yeah, that’s all I’ll write for her backstory. I definitely had more to write, but it’s gotten too long and I want to get back to the main plot]

El tears off the blindfold, panting heavily after finally leaving the memories of Billy and [F/N] when she found the location of where the Mind Flayer was located. She looks around to see no one in sight, she was all alone in the cabin despite hearing their voices not to long ago.

“Mike?” she calls out but got no answer, she repeatedly called out his name again but was left unanswered until another voice spoke up.

“He can’t hear you.” turning her head, she gasps when she sees Billy emerge from out of one of the rooms “You shouldn’t have looked for me. Because now I see you. We can all see you. You… let us in. And now… you are going to have to let us stay.” as the Mind Flayer speaks through Billy, he’s slowly approaching El as she backs away from him in tears, she’s gasps when someone was right behind her.

“Don’t you see?” looking over her shoulder she saw that it was [F/N] with that same psychotic grin on her face, leaning over the couch El backed herself into but quickly pushed herself off to get away from her “We’ve been building it… for you. All this time, we’ve been building it. All that work, all that pain… all of it, for you.” the two of them now stood together, eyes misty as they held each other’s hand.

“And now it’s time. Time to end it. We are going to end you. And when you are gone, we are going to end your friends. And then we are going to end… everyone.” they speak in unison and before they could do anything, El screams at the top of her lungs as she throws her hand out towards them, sending them flying back to where they came from, and so the two of them woke up exactly where El found them in Billy’s room. [F/N] had a sad look on her face as she lifted herself off of Billy’s shoulder, neither one of them said a word as they sat in silence and squeezed each other’s hand.

“This sucks.”

[starcourt mall]

It all happened so fast. One moment they’re being attacked at Hopper’s cabin, next thing they know they’re hiding out at the Starcourt Mall because Billy had somehow managed to find them and was waiting out for them in his busted up Camaro. [F/N] was nowhere in sight and they didn’t know what terrified them the most, the fact that she was just lurking around waiting for them or that Billy was ready to run them over without a second thought. Hiding in the mall didn’t go as well as they thought, because the next thing they knew was that the Mind Flayer was right on top of them and broke through the skylight, landing right where they were and was now in search for El. The group consisting of Nancy, Johnathan, Lucas and Will somehow managed to escape and were hurriedly trying to replace their stolen ignition cable, their hearts beginning to race at the sound of Billy’s engine revving.

“Shit!”

“Get the car started, go!” Nancy cocks her gun as Jonathan jumps into the drivers seat to start the car, Nancy raises the gun and aims it towards Billy. She doesn’t back down when he starts driving towards her, she narrows her eyes as she starts firing at him, the others are panicking as she’s shooting at his already shattered windscreen that’s doing little to no damage as he continues to get closer and closer to her. The moment her gun ran out of ammunition was when she started to panic, she looks between the gun and Billy before ducking down and curling up against the car despite knowing that was going to do little to nothing to suppress the pain of getting smashed against the car but was surprised when Steve, in a different car, rammed right into the side of Billy’s Camaro. Both he and Robin grunt out in pain at the impact but were both pretty much okay, Robin looked up at Steve and saw that he had a panicked look on his face due to the fact that his boyfriend almost killed his ex and in order to stop him from doing that he crashed a car into him.

“Steve, are you alright?” she asks him, he’s panting as he continued to stare at Billy’s unconscious body laying limp in his car.

“Ask me tomorrow.” their gaze then goes upwards when they heard snarling, Robin gasps in shock to see the disgusting fleshy monster dubbed as the Mind Flayer on top of the Starcourt Mall, they whip their heads around when they heard the honk of the other car pull up beside them.

“Get in!” the Mind Flayer was quick to give chase but paused when a new pair of headlights flashed on, it decided she could take care of them. Johnathan thinks they’re in the clear, the Mind Flayer isn’t in sight as they’re driving away but he wasn’t taking any chances as he continued to high tail it away from the mall. He spares a glance back at Will and saw he was gently caressing the back of his neck, he was close, and he just wasn’t showing himself.  “What the hell was that thing back there?!” Robin shouts, pointing out the car in the direction they just fled.

“I’m guessing that was the Mind Flayer, and that was the body made of the flesh of various dead people?” Steve sums up as he looks at the other four, to which they all nod their heads to confirm what he said “Great, I can’t wait to get back home and explain to my sister why I was gone and why my face is beaten up. Hopefully she doesn’t go on a murder spree upon seeing my face.” the four of them wincing didn’t go unnoticed, even Robin flinched hearing the mention of his sister.

“Um… about that, actually…” Lucas starts, rubbing the back of his neck “Your sister, uh— she’s kind of um, like…” Lucas peeks back at Steve and felt a chill run down his spine, Steve was wearing an expression that he normally never wore. His expression was a mixture of concern and slight anger, concern for the safety and well-being on his older sister and anger that something has happened to his sister while he was trapped in an elevator then tortured by Russians.

“What’s wrong with my sister?” Nancy licks her lips, not really sure where to begin on the matter of his older sister.

“Steve, your sister…” she sighs, running a hand through her hair “Your sister, kind of…” Steve was getting more irritated over the fact that they weren’t telling him, he grits his teeth as he glared at them.

“What’s wrong with my sister?!” he shouts this time in hopes it’ll get them to spit it out, Will lets out a shuddered breath when he felt a tingle in his neck, he glances backwards and saw a flash of someone’s high beams hit them. They all turn around to see what it was and the roar of a car engine slowly gaining on them made their hearts drop into their stomachs when they recognised the car, Steve and Robin look out through the back window and their eyes widened when they saw the familiar license plate “[F/N]…?” he manages to mutter out then let out a grunt when the car rear ended them.

“Shit! Jonathan!” he curses under his breath as he changes gear to create some distance between them and her but their car was nothing in comparison to her mustang because she caught up to them easily, each time she made sure to rear end them. When she noticed nothing was happening she pulled back a little just so she was now driving beside them, they all turn to look at her but Steve and Robin were the most shocked because they haven’t seen her like this. Deranged looking, eyes bloodshot and teary as her body was sweating uncontrollably while her veins were pumping black ooze throughout her entire body.

“You wanna know what’s wrong with her?!” Lucas shouts, letting out a scream when [F/N] drives the side of her car into theirs “She’s been flayed by the Mind Flayer and this entire week she’s been kidnapping people and offering them to the Mind Flayer, and not too long ago she killed a bunch of people at the hospital and nearly killed Nancy and Jonathan! There, now you know!” Will smacks Lucas for the way he said it, gesturing to Steve and saw how the boy looked confused and scared. What confused them was that Robin shared the same expression, Lucas said that she was under that things control for about a week, so does that mean…

“Wait, you’re telling me that the whole reason she’s been acting different— that she’s acting like that, is because that monster we saw before brainwashed her?!” Will nods his head, she slumps back in the back as she recalls how [F/N] was acting when she broke up with her. She knew that there was something wrong with her but she just couldn’t pin just what was wrong, her eyes had lost their usual shine and she was avoiding eye contact with her, refusing to. It felt like she was talking to someone entirely different, and all that was true, that person from before was not her girlfriend but an imposter in her body. Robin looks at Steve and saw his eyes never left [F/N], she had a crazy smile on her face as she stared Jonathan down “Steve…” she mumbles.

“What did it do to you, [F/N]?” he’s only ever seen that look on her face maybe once or twice, and that was when she was getting some sick pleasure out of beating the shit out of a few high school kids that picked on him, she was crazy like that, but she made sure not to make that face again whenever he was present because it was a little unsettling “That’s… that’s not my sister, that’s not [F/N]. Is this— is this also happening to Billy?” they nod.

“They were together when it happened.” that just made things worse, it must have happened just after they left Robin’s. Was that why [F/N] was sick that morning? Oh my god, it was happening right under their noses and neither of them noticed. Jonathan steadies the car again when [F/N] rams hers into them again but let out a confused noise when she suddenly stopped, he glances over at her and saw she was looking ahead of them. He watched in confusion when she drove ahead of them then turned around but stopped in the middle of the road, Jonathan slams on the breaks to stop them from going any further and there the two of them are staring each other down.

“Jonathan…” Nancy mutters, not a single one of them breaking eye contact with [F/N], Jonathan takes a breath as he grips the stirring wheel, swallowing thickly every time he hears [F/N] rev her engines as her car jerks forward. [F/N] was no longer in control, no matter how hard she was trying to fight the Mind Flayer for control it was no use and she was locked inside her own body as she watched it move on its on accord. A dark grin was adorn on her face, watching closely to what Jonathan was going to do next. Was he going to back up and continue this game of cat and mouse? Was he going to play a game of chicken instead? Both options sounded fun to her, but she decided it was going to be her to choose for him because she pushes the handbrake down and slams on the gas and exhilarates forward “Jonathan!”

“I know!” he fumbles with the gear but switches it to drive and starts driving towards her as well, he had a plan in his head to swerve out of the way just at the nick of them, but he failed to inform the others as he kept getting closer and closer. Steve looked between Jonathan and sister and he couldn’t calm down, he could only think of how bad the collision will have on [F/N]. He was always like this, worrying for his sister than for his own well-being, just like her worrying for Steve rather than herself. Like brother like sister. Neither one of them were slowing down to the point [F/N] was laughing hysterically, changing gears to go fast enough to kill them and quite possibly herself. Well, if she hurt herself it didn’t matter, the Mind Flayer can heal her body no matter how severely injured her body gets.

“Jonathan, what are you doing?!” Will shouts at his brother.

“Relax, I know what I’m doi—” he was cut off when Steve pulls himself out from the back, reaching past Will and Lucas for the handbrake “Steve— what are you doing?!”

“I’m sorry, Jonathan! But you’d honestly do the same.” he pulls the brake up and the car instantly starts to drift, Jonathan tries to regain control while Nancy smacks Steve’s hands off the handbrake but they were too late when [F/N]’s mustang hit the side of their car, luckily. They spin off the road while [F/N] came to a stop in the middle of the road, she didn’t expect that outcome but she was happy that it was in her favor, she guesses Steve doesn’t want to hurt her either. Such a loving little brother.

“I didn’t think things were gonna be this easy, honestly. Even Billy’s having a hard time.” she snickers softly and looks in the rear view mirror, pouting softly when she noticed a small cut on her forehead that was bleeding a little. With a shrug, she swipes her thumb over it and grins when it healed up instantly. Kicking her door open, she steps out then leaned in to grab the axe sitting in her passenger seat and doesn’t bother turning her car off as she starts approaching the other car, throwing the axe over her shoulder and continuously bounced it while whistling a song. Jonathan lets out a groan, clutching his forehead after his head took the force of the airbags that deployed, he really was going to kill Steve later for this, but he couldn’t help but understand what Steve was going through. Not too long ago it was his brother that was under the Mind Flayer’s control and now it’s Steve’s sister that didn’t even know this shit was going on in the first place, oh the irony. He whips his head around when he heard Nancy let out a scream, they all look over to see that it was [F/N] “Yoohoo~ open the door.”

“Fuck no!” Nancy promptly locks the door to emphasise her point but [F/N] just rolled her eyes, pulling her fist back then punching through the door then proceeded the tear it off. Nancy doesn’t hesitate to push herself away from [F/N] just as she leans into the car, her eyes scanning through the many occupants inside but she let out a sigh when she didn’t see the one they were after.

“She’s not here.” she muttered under her breath, probably informing the Mind Flayer that El was still at the mall and not with the others that fled. She was going to leave it at that, the Mind Flayer was calling her back, but those feelings for what Nancy fucking Wheeler did to her brother started to resurface, and that’s where she found herself grabbing Wheeler by her hair and dragging her out of the car.

“Nancy!”

“Nancy, no!” Nancy cries out in pain from the roots of her hair being violently tugged on, the pain gets worse when [F/N] slams the side of her face onto the hood of the car and holds her there.

“[F/N], please… don’t do this. You don’t want to do this.” [F/N] lets out a hum, looking up in thought before nodding her head.

“No, no, that’s where you’re wrong. You have absolutely no idea how much I want to do this; how much I really want to kill you with my own hands.” Nancy starts to tremble, tears swelling up in her eyes when [F/N] raises her free hand that was holding the axe, seeing the dried blood splatter all over the blade and some on the shaft “I’ll pay your little brother a visit after I’m done with you, I’m sure he’ll be happy seeing your decapitated head mounted on a stick.” before she could bring the axe down she’s being pulled back by Jonathan and Steve, Nancy falls to the ground as Robin goes around and tries to pry the axe out of her hands.

“[F/N], please… stop this! This isn’t like you to go this far!” Steve pleads. Steve knew his sister was strong, but right now was just plain ridiculous, it was taking both himself and Jonathan putting their entire weight to keep her from moving but even that wasn’t enough. She lets out an animalistic growl as she lets go off the axe and letting Robin stumble backwards, she throws Steve off next and hunches forward to lift Jonathan off the ground as she grabs his arms that were wrapped around her neck and proceeds to throw him over her, this also causes him to tear her jacket off but she could care less about it. She sets her sights on Robin and doesn’t hesitate to punch her across the face, Steve goes to stand up to reprimand [F/N] again but let out a grunt when she kicked him down and grabbed the axe that she managed to catch. His breath gets caught in his throat as he watched [F/N] swing the axe over her shoulder and it comes down as quickly as it was raised, he wants to raise his arms to shield his face but what can that do? With tears in his eyes, he looks up at his sister with pleading eyes and there— there he saw a flash of color return to her eyes, a flash of regret and confusion when they met his. He saw a glimpse of his sister inside those eyes that were fighting back against the Mind Flayer, but he knew she couldn’t hold it for long but he was grateful for the time given because she redirected the blade aiming for his face into the side of the car. He flinches at the impact, watching as the car rocked back and forth before finally settling down. His sister is now panting above him, staring down at him with a slightly less hostile expression, but he knew she wasn’t herself yet, her eyes were still in a dazed state while her veins were still black “[F/N]…” he whimpers out, all he wants is his sister back.

“S-Stevie…?” she croaks out, he gasps at her voice whispering out to him but soon her face twists in pain. She pulls away, pressing the heels of her hands into her forehead to fight against the aching pain the Mind Flayer was inflicting on her, fighting for dominance within her head and it managed to win because now she was fleeing the scene and back to her car. She did hesitate to leave, her eyes glancing back at the others that were slowly picking themselves off the floor, but she shook her head before driving back to the Starcourt mall.  “Welp, that hurt,..” Robin groaned out, holding her cheek as some blood pulled up in her mouth “I can’t believe she hit me.”

“She… she didn’t mean it.” Steve muttered, hand over his chest. 

“But I don’t understand.” Robin says rather bitterly “Why didn’t she kill you? She was clearly going to do it, but she stopped at the last second.” Jonathan let out a groan as he pushed himself onto his feet, his hand clutching tightly onto the jacket he tore off her body before he was thrown off.

“Back at the hospital, the Mind Flayer said… it said that Steve was both her weakness and her strength. She got more violent with Nancy and I because of what happened in 83, but once she saw Steve it settled, even if it was for a brief moment.” Steve continued to lay on the ground, his hand instinctively reached up to caress his cheek as memory flashed in his mind. He was remembering back to a time where [F/N] punched him across the face because he was basically screaming at her to punch him, he didn’t expect her to actual do it because she swore that she’d never hurt him, but she did.

“W-Why— why’d you hit me?” he whimpered out, tears being to swell in his eyes as he cradled his swelling check, to which she just sighed while rolling her eyes and placing her hands on her hips.

“You told me to, and besides, you were acting like a shit so you definitely deserved it.” his lip trembled and a small sob escaped his lips, she rolls her eyes again and smacks him in the shoulder “I hope you know that this goes for show that I’ll practically do anything for you, Stevie. But this will be the first and only time I’ll hurt you like this, mmkay? You’ve been acting a little entitled these past few weeks and you needed a little wake up call. Your arrogance will be your undoing one of these days, so don’t let it go to your head. I won’t be around to wake you up next time.” he sniffles, raising his hands to wipe away the falling tears.

“I promise, as long as you promise not to hit me like that again.” she chuckles softly, wiping away his tears.

“I promise. From today, I’ll never hurt you like that ever again, not even if you deserve it.” she starts to laugh when she ruffled his hair and he cried out in horror, screaming at her that she ruined his hair, she just continued to laugh as she ran away from him whilst he screamed bloody murder.

“[F/N]…” he starts tearing up but held them back when a hand was offered to him, he saw that it was Robin wearing [F/N]’s discarded jacket.

“Get up, Harrington. We’re gonna save your sister, and when we do, I’m gonna give her a proper ass whoppin!” driving back to the Starcourt mall they sat in silence, Jonathan breaking all the road laws as he sped down road in the car that was hanging onto its life by a thread. Steve raised his eyes from where he sat and saw Robin digging her face into the fabric of [F/N]’s jacket, he noticed that she was thinking about something because she had a look on her face that was debating whether or not she should speak or not “… she broke up with me.” this caused his body to straighten up, even the others in the car peeked back to listen in on the conversation, rude.

“What do you mean she broke up with you? W-Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she let out a sigh, blinking back the tears that were slowly swelling up in her eyes.

“I guess it was because of that Mind Flayer, or whatever the fuck that thing is. I think she was in the middle of choosing that things latest meal, because I caught her in an alleyway letting a girl kiss her. It was when I went to go look for the blueprints.” Steve gasps softly at that, so that’s why she looked so dejected when she came back “I couldn’t recognise her, she stared at me with these cold, dead eyes and the way she spoke to me… I felt so scared being there. I wish I knew, I wish I knew she was going through that and then maybe I could’ve helped her. Maybe I wouldn’t have felt so angry at her that she broke up with me, left me in that alleyway all alone— and for what? To protect me? So she wouldn’t have to hurt me ever more than she did by breaking my heart? She even threatened me if I told you, saying you wouldn’t believe me because I’m nothing but your coworker while she’s your sister.” she sniffles to herself, wiping away the tears that fell from her eyes, she spared Steve a look but flinched a little. He now wore a very livid expression, Robin became a really close friend to Steve after he and his sister got together and they became closed after their encounter with the Russian soldiers under the mall, so hearing how his flayed sister threatened and broke up with her pissed him off.

“If you don’t kick her ass, I’ll kick it for you. But first, we’ve got to find her and Billy and free them from the control of the Mind Flayer. Whether you forgive her or not, that’s up to you, but she’s still my sister.”  “What about Billy?”  “I hope he can forgive me for totalling his camaro.” they stare at each other and laugh weakly, Robin now rested her forward on his shoulder and let her hands dip into the pockets but she hummed in confusion when she felt something. Pulling it out, her breath hitched when she pulled out the photo of the four of them at the fair. Steve felt her body tremble so he looked down and he himself flinched at the photo, seeing that photo almost felt like yesterday. Steve wished he could go back to the time where the other three were clueless about the Upside Down; clueless about the true horrors of Hawkins and that he was the only one who knew the truth. Where his sister was madly in love with his friend, where his boyfriend was in the safety of his arms, where none of this was happening on the first place and that the four of them were having their weekly sleepover at the Harrington household.

Man, what a distant memory.

[starcourt mall]

[F/N] arrives right on time, finding Billy pushing himself off of El just as the Mind Flayer descends from the skylight. El was regaining her consciousness as the blur of the monster slowly registered in her mind, [F/N] wordlessly stands beside Billy and reached over to take his hand into hers. He doesn’t spare her a glance and neither does she, and though they were still under the influence of the monster in front of them, the two of them squeezed each others hand to let each other know that they were still in there. The Mind Flayer is paying the two of them no mind, slowly approaching the small child to devour her, rid the last obstacle in its way, when something blew up in its face. Billy and [F/N] cry out in pain at the blow, sharing the pain with the Mind Flayer, blow after blow Billy and [F/N] grovel to their knees in pain as the Mind Flayer roared at the intruders. [F/N] peeked through his hands and saw the lot she nearly killed had followed quickly after her, how she never noticed them was beyond her, but she was going to finish what she started.

Deal with them.

Finish the job.

Make no mistakes.

“Shut up…” she growled out, managing to push herself onto her feet and towards the escalator to where their unwanted guests were, leaving Billy to watch over El. Of course none of them were expecting to see [F/N] on them, they were all to preoccupied laying waste to the Mind Flayer to notice that she was there. Lucas was the first to suffer at her mercy, the others heard his cry for help and immediately turned to see where he was, watching in shock when they saw [F/N] turn him around and strike him across the face that he fell to the ground after spitting out blood from his mouth,

“Lucas!” next was Will, who was unfortunate to be within arms length because she did not hesitate to raise the axe and hit him with the butt if the axe and knock him unconscious “Will!” Jonathan screams out and was ready to drop everything to help his brother but was stopped when Nancy grabbed his arm, pulling him back and shaking her head.

“No, no! Jonathan, I understand what you’re going through, but no! She will kill your the moment you’re within her grasp, she’s not letting us go this time.” he shakes his head.

“I don’t care! I need to get Will!” he cries out and rips his arm free from Nancy’s hold but stopped when he saw Steve and Robin already rushing over to stop [F/N] from going any further with the children, Nancy grabs his arm again and tugs at it to get his attention.

“Steve and Robin will deal with her, we’ll keep the Mind Flayer distracted, alright? Steve won’t let anything happen to your brother.” speaking of which, the Mind Flayer’s anger was beginning to mix in with her own, anger for the previous host that managed to slip through its grasp. Placing her foot on Will’s chest, she raises the axe up to slam it down but was once again stopped when it was smacked out of her hands, she growls at the perpetrator and saw that it was Robin, who had her hands out in front of her to keep some distance between her and [F/N].

“[F/N], baby, please… it’s me, it’s Robin.” she pleads, she flinches and takes a step back when [F/N] pushed herself off of Will but kicked his unconscious body away to approach Robin “Whatever this thing has done to you; has made you do, I want you to know that this isn’t your fault, none of it is. You’re just as innocent as the next person is, and I want you to know that I… I forgive you. Everything you said in the alleyway, I know you didn’t mean any of it. I want you to know that I still love you, through everything that’s happened, I love you.” Robin felt hopeful when she saw [F/N]’s hardened gaze soften, maybe she was caught up in her delusions of freeing her mind that she reached for her hand, that was her mistake because her hand quickly grabbed a hold of Robin to keep her from moving and with her other hand sucker punched her straight in the gut so hard that she spat out saliva. She didn’t let when Robin gasped out of breath, collapsing to her knees as she hunched over and clutched her stomach.

“I care not for your words, they mean nothing to me. Didn’t I already tell you that?” Robin lets out a sob at her cold words, wishing nothing more than to feel the warmth she once had only for her, but she could only cry out in pain when [F/N] twisted her arm “You’ve lost your chance of staying away, so I hope you’re prepared for the consequences.”

“Hey!” turning her head, she was taken aback when Steve came rushing over and slammed the bottom of a fire extinguisher into her face. She let out a gasp at the sudden blow, letting Robin go as her head was thrown back after the impact, she then raised her hand to cradle her throbbing nose as Steve’s arm dropped due to the weight of the extinguisher “You need to stop this madness, [F/N], I beg of you. I need you back, I need my big sister back!” he takes a step back when she growled at him but her face screwed up in pain once more, a mixture from getting hit with a fire extinguisher, the fireworks the Mind Flayer was getting hit with, but also [F/N] fighting for dominance over her mind once more.

He’s lying to you.

He doesn’t need you.

You don’t need him.

“Please, let’s just go home. With Robin and Billy, we’ll go home and watch movies like we used to. Talk about how much we hate our parents, how much we hate Hawkins and how we’ll leave as soon as Robin and Billy graduate. We’ll be together, like we always have. Just you, and me.” [F/N) groans out in pain, shaking her head as she slapped her hands against her forehead to quell all the madness that was going on “Just come back to me, my big sister.” Steve takes a step forward, reaching for her but gasped when she punched him in the face.

“Shut up!” she screamed at him, she struggled to stay standing whilst clutching her throbbing head.

Destroy him.

Annihilate him.

Murder him.

Kill him.

Steve couldn’t remember what happened next, first he was struggling to keep himself standing, the next thing he knew he was barely clinging to consciousness as he laid on his back while he suffered continuous blows to his face. [F/N] was currently on top of him, screaming at the top of her lungs as she punched him left and right, holding nothing back as she delivered blow after blow. At this right she was definitely going to kill him, but she just couldn’t stop herself, this time not pulling her punches and putting all her strength into each one. She saw him weakly reach out to her but she merely smacked his hand away then grab him by the collars of his shirt to pull him forward, reeling her head back to slam her forehead into the bridge of his nose. Blood gurgled in his throat and he was questioning why he was still conscious, wishing nothing more then for this continuous chain of pain to end, but he knew his sister was in a lot more pain. Weakly opening his eyes, he saw the pain in her eyes as she unwillingly hurt her sweet little brother that used to cry at the drop of a hat, so he reached for her once more when she held him up by his shirt as her other hand was pulled back.

“We… we were kids.” she furrowed her brows in confusion, what nonsense was he spouting out now? “We were k-kids and you were tea— teaching me to ride my bike. I wouldn’t stop crying, and you were making f-fun of me. You promised you’d be with me every… every step of the way. You never broke that promise, [F/N]; never. Even when you were gone, you made sure to write letters. Even when I s-said I hated you, you were still there.” his trembling hand managed to reach her face, gently cupping her cheek and caressing it with his thumb, her face softened and she leaned into the touch, a single tear running down her cheek “I love you, [F/N]…” his hand finally dropped to his side just as [F/N] took a deep breath, closing her eyes to reminiscent on every good memory she had of Steve, slowly but surely the black veins disappeared and the voice that screamed in her head grew silent. She blinked her eyes a few times in confusion, leaning backwards and looking around to see where exactly she was before finally looking down, and there her eyes widened in horror.

“Steve… Steve!” she screams at the top of her lungs, the tears swelling in her eyes falling freely down her cheeks. She hurriedly jumps off of him and lifts his weakened body into her lap, cradling his body into her arms while rocking back and forward “No, no, no, no, no! I didn’t mean to hurt you, I-I’m so sorry! I tried— I tried so hard to keep myself away from you, to stop myself from hurting you, but I’ve gone and broken my promise to you! I’m sorry, I’m sorry…!” she kept apologising over and over, but she just felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t look at herself anymore, she couldn’t even look at her hands knowing that she was beating her brother that she swore she’d never hurt anymore. It hurt even more knowing that she hurt the love of her life, breaking her heart to keep her safe but then she hurt her when she was trying to save her from the monster that plagued her mind.

“[F/N]…” she gasped, looking down at her brother and saw that he was reaching for her again, she doesn’t hesitate to take his hand into hers and caress it, nuzzling the side of her face into it “You’re back…?” she chuckles weakly, nodding her head as she smiled weakly at him.

“Yes… yes, it’s me. It’s your big sister, who loves you very much.” he smiles at her but it breaks her heart seeing him looking up at her, face beaten and bleeding as his eyes were barely able to open “Will you ever forgive me?” he chuckles, closing his eyes and feeling his body relax under hers.

“What a foolish question, I’ll always f-forgive you…” she hunches over his body, her own trembling as her tears fell onto his body. A sob leaves her lips but her attention was torn off his body when she heard a loud roar, recognising it, she turned her head towards it and it widened at the sight of the Mind Flayer, her gaze soon hardened in rage at the mere sight of it. This fucking piece of shit was the cause of it all, for her and Billy hurting people, kidnapping people, killing people… her breaking up with Robin, and her hurting both Robin and Steve. She’ll never forgive it, she’ll never forget what it’s done to her and Billy, all because they were foolish enough to not go home and stayed out longer. Steve let out a confused noise when his head was lifted off of her lap, he watched as she picked up the fallen axe and at first he was worried she was back under the control of the Mind Flayer, but her gaze was trained on the Mind Flayer instead of anyone else “[F-F/N]…?” she breaks out into a running start then proceeds to step onto the railing and over it, raising the axe over her head then swings it down on the Mind Flayer.

“[F/N]?!” Billy, who was also free from the Mind Flayer’s control, shouts in surprise. Billy was holding one of the tentacles back that was aiming to kill El, pushing it back with everything he head, when [F/N] jumped off from the upper levels screaming and swinging the axe into the Mind Flayer’s body.

“You fucking piece of shit!” she yells, ripping the blade out of its gooey flesh then swung it down again “You made me hurt my brother! You made me break up with my girlfriend! You made me hurt so many people, and all for what?! Because you couldn’t make your own body?! You rat sack son of a bitch!” [F/N] knew what she was doing was stupid, that what she was doing was going to get her killed, but she really couldn’t care at all. She wanted to pay for what she’s done, why should she get off scot free? She wanted punishment, retribution for her actions “The only ending you’ll get is with your death!” she knew her actions would lead to her downfall, that what she was doing was meaningless, because the Mind Flayer easily threw her off and she landed on the ground with a thud. The next thing she knew was that one of the many tentacles surrounding the monster pierced her body, she slowly looked down and coughed up blood seeing the many teeth sink into her chest.

“Billy!” she hears a scream, turning her head, she sees that Billy has been met with the same fate. Pain runs throughout her body when several more of that things tentacles pierce through her body until it finally let her go, her body collapsing for she had no more strength left to keep her up. This was it, she was going to die alone knowing that she hurt her brother and her girlfriend— her ex? She didn’t know, all she knew was that she was going to die without making it up to the two people she loved the most, especially now that she was leaving her little brother alone. She coughs up more blood as she turns her head, noticing that Billy was still kicking so with what little strength she still had, she pushed herself onto her stomach and started dragging herself over to where he was laying. Finally reaching him, she pushes herself up then collapsed onto him, he looked down at her and saw she was crying.

“I won’t let you… die alone.” she muttered weakly, reaching her hand to rest on his cheek “I won’t leave you alone.” in turn for this final act of gentle affection, he raises his own hand to take her hand into his and the two of them stare into each other’s eyes.

“Why didn’t you leave me…?” he asked her, questioning what sanity she had for going back and saving him. She wouldn’t have had to suffer everything if she just abandoned him, he was used to it anyways, but she just gave him the best smile she could muster.

“Because… I wanted to see yours and Stevie’s wedding.” he stared at her but it did manage to crack a smile onto his face, and that was enough for the both of them.

“You’re stupid.”

“Maybe I am.” Steve was being helped down to the lower levels by Nancy and Jonathan, Robin following closely behind as the immense pain in her stomach still hadn’t settled, and Steve couldn’t properly walk on his own after the continuous blows he took to the face and head. They finally made it to the ground level and Steve looks over to see where Max was, crying in El’s arms, he looks where she was collapsed and his heart immediately dropped into his stomach at what he saw.

“No… no, no, no!” he cries out, Robin follows his gaze and herself saw both Billy and [F/N]’s motionless bodies that continued to bleed out “[F/N]! Billy! Please, god, no!” Steve thrashed in Nancy and Jonathan’s hood until they finally let him go, he fell to his knees but he scrambled to his feet and rushed over to their bodies. His hands trembled over their bodies, the tears in his eyes falling onto them “Please, no. Not like this, please. You can’t leave me, you can’t leave me alone…! You promised to be by my side, you promised!” his trembling hands reached to cup their faces and his face fell when they felt cold under his touch, god, this was really happening. Robin fell to her knees by his side, shaking her head at the sight of [F/N]’s lifeless body, she couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. She doesn’t hesitate to throw her arms around Steve’s body, squeezing him tightly and the two of them cried together knowing that they both lost somebody they loved.

But at least the two that did die, died in each other’s arms smiling.

Rose

word count: 12,698

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Robin Buckley x Female!Harrington!Reader   Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Romantic Occupation: University Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: n/a

this was requested by my friend @unparalleled-slothy​ and her friend @puresass​, so you can go thank them for giving me enough inspiration to write something.

this is going to be if billy and [f/n] didn’t die or get possessed by the mind flayer, so an overall happy ending for those poor unfortunate souls.

I know this is way past valentine’s day but I don’t give a shit, I was just lazy.

that is all.

Ah, valentines the day.

The day where you celebrate love, whether it may be with your significant other or rather suffering in utter loneliness because you have no significant other. A holiday where the price of stuffed toys, a bundle of flowers and chocolate have doubled in price because they can do that. This was the first year [F/N] was going to spend Valentine’s Day with her actual lover, her beautiful girlfriend Robin Buckley, that wasn’t just some on and off fling but a girl she genuinely had a relationship with. Someone she almost loved just as much as her brother— almost, but she still had a place deep within her heart. Sure, [F/N] still had university to worry about but what’s a few missed days? Besides, she’s paid a few of her friends/classmates to take notes for her so when she returns she doesn’t flunk so hard.

Steve himself was just as excited for Valentine’s Day as [F/N] was, this time he was going to spend it with Billy. This was something new for the both of them, not so much Steve, but spending the holiday with another boy, yes. Steve’s heart was filled with so much love, he was ready to shower it all onto Billy, but he knew better than to overwhelm the blonde. Learning from him, he knew that Billy was starved of affection and was slowly getting used to Steve’s lingering touches, so he knew he had to hold back. Steve and [F/N] both had a plan for their lovers, they had all day to play and get their surprise ready for them, especially since neither one of them had school to attend and Steve was taking a day off from Family Video just to prepare.

“So what do you have in store for Hargrove, Stevie?” [F/N] asks, both herself and Steve lounging about outside by the pool despite the weather, a cold beer in her hand as they stared up at the dark sky above them “He’s told me he’s excited for what you have planned out, basically pleading with me to spare some details.” she hums to herself when she saw an excited grin stretch across his cheeks.

“Do you remember how lover’s lake has the best view after dark?” she nods her head, tilting her head back to take a swig of her drink “That’s exactly where I’m going to take him where the two of us are going to enjoy a night dinner under the stars.” her face lights up, snapping her fingers in his direction.

“Oh, I see. Are you planning it so that the stars reflect against the water?” he nods his head, snapping his fingers in her direction.

“Exactly that, sister dearest.” [F/N] applauds him for his creative idea, he sniffles softly and tilts his drink in her direction to gesture for her to speak her idea then took a drink “What about you? Robin has been begging me to spill what you’re gonna do with her.” [F/N] grinned, her couldn’t help but roll his eyes when he recognised that mischievous grin.

“You’re just gonna have to wait and see, my dear little brother.” Steve rolled his eyes.

“Whatever you’re planning, I bet it’s got something that could potentially get you in jail.” she laughs whilst throwing her head back.

“Please, I’ve been to jail too many times to count that it doesn’t even matter to me anymore!” he couldn’t help but stare at her, whether it be with disappointment or disbelief, it wouldn’t matter to her so he tilts his head back and takes a longer gulp of his alcoholic beverage.

And that’s where [F/N] found herself outside of Robin’s house on Valentine’s Day morning, she drove slowly down her street as to not alert the entire street that she was there, especially not Robin. Pulling up just a couple houses down to her house she eyes it closely then nods to herself, no one seemed to be awake in the Buckley Residence so now was her time. She drums her hands against the stirring wheel before leaning over to the passenger side to grab a rose from the bouquet, along with a small box of chocolates. Her plan was to deliver her a rose from the bouquet along with a treat to Robin throughout the entire day until Robin collects all the roses and completes the bouquet, then at the very end of school she would pull up and take her on a sweet date, then to finish it off they were going to watch one of Robin’s favorite movies then cuddle their way to sleep.

She nods to herself. Yes, such a splendid plan. Lacing her fingers together and cracking them, she hastily makes her way over to Robin’s window that she would always climb to secretly get into her room. What a Harrington trait, huh? Her window was a little high, but she always kept the window open no matter the weather. Well, snow days were an exception but they were their favorite cause they could get away with spending the entire day in bed snuggling. Tucking the box of chocolates into her pocket and putting the rose into her mouth, she takes a step back, then leapt up to grab onto the edge of her windowsill then proceeded to push herself up until she was able to reach into Robin’s room. With that, she spat the rose into her hand and gently placed it down on the windowsill followed by the box of chocolates. Glancing up, she smiled softly yet brightly at the sight of her sweet little birdie sleeping peacefully. She wished she could stay longer; she wished she had a bit of time to give her girlfriend and kiss on the forehead but the sound of her door handle jiggling caused [F/N] to panic and lose her balance, evidently falling backwards and onto the ground.

*THUD*

“Ah, hmm…?” Robin let out a tired groan when her door was open. Taking a peek from out of her pillow, she saw her mother standing over her with a kind smile on her face “Argh, mum…. let me sleep.” she giggles softly at Robin, watching her daughter turn her head back into her pillow to bury her face further into the plush cotton.

“Now, now, Robin. You can’t just sleep in today.” she laughs this time when Robin groaned louder “Today’s a special day.”

“Friday?”

“No, sweetheart, it’s valentine’s day. And this year, you don’t have to spend it alone.” this was enough to get Robin to push herself up, her mother was laughing cheerfully now at the state of her daughter. Her short hair was a mess and sticking out in all sorts of places with some drool dribbling out of the corner of her mouth “If you finish your school day quicker, you might get to spend some time with that girl you love so much.” Robin’s face quickly turned a shade of red.

“Mum!” she groans out “You know it isn’t like that.” this caused her to roll her eyes.

“Right, like I don’t see the way you look at her each time she comes to pick you up and drop you off.” she leans down and gently pats her head “No matter how hard you try to hide it, my sweet daughter, your father and I will love you, regardless. Just remember that, Robin.” she then presses a kiss to her forehead, proceeded to ruffle her hair with a soft chuckle, and finally left Robin to wake up and get ready for school. She tosses her head back to shake the loose strands out of her face and in the corner of her eyes she notices the deep shade of red sitting on her desk. Standing to her feet, she gasped softly at the sight of a rose next to a box of chocolates, she giggles lovingly at the sight and picks them up, only then to notice a small note attached to the chocolates.

’good morning birdie,

I hope you had a good sleep, thought you might like a little gift to start your morning. There is plenty to come throughout the day, so forgive me that I do not come to take you to school for I have much to prepare for the evening. But I want you to know that it will be worth the wait, so enjoy your day and wait, you shall be greatly rewarded for your patience.

from yours truly, [f/n] harrington~❤️’

Robin could feel her cheeks already starting to hurt from hood big of a smile she wore on her face, she quickly peeks out of the window to try to at least catch her while she was leaving but frowned softly when she couldn’t see her mustang nor did she hear it when it left. Well, this was enough to know that [F/N] didn’t forget, so she nods her head and gets ready for the day, very excited to learn what her girlfriend had in store for them. Little did she know, [F/N] was beneath her outside the whole time. She laid completely still when she saw Robin stick her head out in search for her, then relaxed when she disappeared.

“How long are you going to be lying there, Harrington?” not even looking up to the owner of the voice, she raised her hand in greeting.

“Good morning to you too, Mr Buckley.” he nods to himself when he looked up from where she potentially fell from then back down at her. He kneels down and gently knocks on her forehead.

“Don’t do anything too frivolous, young lady. She’s still in high school while you’re a university student.” [F/N] nods her head and salutes him.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, sir.” he hums at her, nodding his head.

“Glad you understand.” she was a little startled when he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, pulling her up slightly but enough so that they were face to face “But if I hear that you did something to her, to my daughter, you’ll have to answer to me. I don’t give a damn if you’re a woman or not, I’m still that girl’s father and I’m going to treat anyone she brings home the same way until they understand that my daughter is not to be messed with, got it?” [F/N] rapidly nods her head.

“Yes sir, I understands sir.”

“I’m happy we could have this conversation. Now run along. I don’t want her getting the wrong idea.” she nods her head and hurries off the moment he let her go, he stood outside the driveway sand watched her flee to her car, hand on his hip with a cup of coffee in his other hand “… that girl’s dead the moment she breaks my girls heart.” [F/N] now found herself trying to hide her car as she pulled up to Hawkins High School and how she was able to pull it off, she didn’t know, she was just that skilled. Sneaking into Hawkins High wasn’t too hard, trying not to get recognised as one of the most notorious student from a few of her old teachers was almost a little tricky, but blending in with a few students made it easier for her to slither past them. The hallways of Hawkins High were littered with hearts, banners saying “happy valentines day” and other shit like that, barf, this school was always quite the try hard when celebrating all sorts of holidays. Her next mission was to find Robin’s locker, and with the help of Billy and even Wheeler senior, she somewhat knows where it is.

“They said it should be around… here!” [F/N] made sure that no one was looking when she proceeded to break into her locker, cracking open a lock wasn’t hard for her, she’s opened up a bunch of lockers when she was still attending this shithole for a school. She grinned when the lock sprung open so with a smug grin and whistle she opened the locker and was greeted with the sight of Robin’s stuff, she did double check to see it was hers and pulled out of her duffel bag the next rose, a box of treats with a note and a trinket from Robin’s favorite book series. Hmm, she wonders what sort of face Robin will make when she sees thi—

“[F/N]?” she lets out a shriek at the sound of her name, slamming the locker door shut and whipping her head over in the direction of the voice, though, she was greatly surprised to see who it was “What are you doing here?”

“Eddie? What are you STILL doing here?” Eddie Munson, [F/N]’s longtime best friend since her last year of middle school and throughout high school up till her last year where she graduated and left Hawkins to study out of state. She was greatly surprised to see Eddie, who was her age, at Hawkins himself. Shouldn’t he be out and about making a name for himself outside of Hawkins, away from this shitty town that thought he was nothing more than a freak? She stared at him closer before making a face of disappointment, Eddie’s face scrunched up when he recognised it “You dumb bitch, were you held back again?” Eddie pulls a face before raising a hand.

“Don’t avoid the question.” she scoffs at him, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms “I don’t see a reason for you to be here, on Valentine’s Day of all days. I thought you’d be out and about getting into any girl’s pants to satisfy your loneliness.”

“Ah hahaha, very funny. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make jokes on my loneliness. Thank you very much.” she sighed when he made a gesture for her to continue, for her to explain what the hell she was doing there when she had absolutely no business being there in the first place, she sighed as she scratched her cheek “Well… I’m visiting someone.” he raised a brow.

“Visiting someone? Who?” before she could answer, Eddie let out a yelp when she grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him away and out of sight while also kicking her bag away. She held him close as she pressed herself into the wall behind her while he pressed his hands on either side of her head, their legs in between each other while they were face to face. Eddie was going to ask for her drastic reaction but paused when he saw her lean forward to peek past the lockers that were hiding them from the owner of the locker she broke in to. He leaned back and his eyes widened softly at who he saw. Robin Buckley? That band weirdo? No, it couldn’t be. He goes to make a joke when he turned back to look at [F/N] but paused when he saw that genuine look of love on her face that was only ever reserved for Steve and sometimes him and his group of friends, but this look? This look was new, she sighed lovingly as she draped her arms over his shoulders and rested her head on the side of his as she stared at Robin with a lovesick gaze. Her face brightened when she saw the rose she gave Robin that morning tucked into the breast pocket of her jacket, heh, the jacket she stole the year prior.

Robin was in a good mood that morning, seeing [F/N] definitely would have made it better, but she would have to settle for the surprise she had for her that afternoon. Steve was the one to pick her up that morning, but she sat in the backseat, leaving the front seat reserved for his boyfriend Billy. She drowned out their chatter for their afternoon date out and focussed solely on getting through the day as quickly as she could so she could see [F/N], oh, how she was graving to see her girlfriend right then and there. Pulling up to the school, she quickly gave her goodbye to Steve and Billy and rushed into the school, gagging out the few students who didn’t have enough decency to tongue fuck each other behind closed doors. She practically had to shove some random girl talking to her boyfriend because they were in front of her locker, she scoffed as she puts in the code to her lock then opens her locker, face brightening up to find another rose, chocolate and a gift inside.

’hi songbird,

Did you see the gift I left you? It’s a little trinket from one of your favorite book series you love talking about. I saw it in a shop and managed to buy it. It was the last in stock so I was quite lucky to snag it. Have a good day at school, Robin. Don’t slack off just because we’re doing something this afternoon. Love you~

From yours truly, your girlfriend~❤️’

Aw~ look at the face she was making. Her face was turning redder by the second! Ah hah, she’s hugging the note! Look, she’s grabbing the little trinket and putting it in her pocket. She likes it. She fully melts into the embrace she pulled Eddie into, her arms now wrapping around him as her head slouched into the crook of his neck, sighing dreamily as she watched Robin pick up the rose and add it to the first one inside her pocket. The moment Robin was out of sight [F/N] finally managed to collect herself and acknowledge Eddie, only to freeze up when he was staring at her with a suggestive expression.

“So… Buckley~” she scoffed at him, he laughed when he saw her face turn pink from embarrassment “I didn’t know you were into band nerds.” he burst out into laughter when she peeled herself off of him and pushed him away.

“Coming from a band nerd himself, loser.” they stare at each other this time before grinning at each other and grabbing each other by the hand, a loud clap echoing through the hallway the moment they grasped each other’s hands “So, you finally found the one that captured your heart. Do you love her just as much as you love your brother?” [F/N] pulls a face, tilting her head side to side before shrugging.

“She’s a close second place.” he scoffs.

“Dude, no.” she laughs with a shrug.

“She understood what she was getting herself into the moment she accepted to be my girlfriend, but I do tend to treat her with extra love.” with that she winked and blew him a kiss, he jokingly caught it then threw it in a nearby trashcan, she let out a gasp at his audacity “Anyways, think you know what class she has first? I wanna leave another rose.” Eddie lets out a breath as he looks down at his wrist to check the time.

“I don’t think you have enough time to do that, the bells about to—” the bell rung before he could finish, she let out a sigh at that “Welp, you better leave before you get in trouble. I, myself, have math class to attend.” [F/N] throws her head back with a laugh.

“Damn, math was never your strongest suit. Be well, soldier!” she salutes him and planned to leave but was stopped when a teacher appeared, it would’ve been bad if the teacher recognised her, it was awful because this teacher didn’t recognize her and thought she was a student.

“Oh, trying to ditch school, are you? With Mister Munson, no less.” [F/N] paused in her tracks, glancing back at Eddie then back at the teacher while pointing at herself, the teacher let out a sigh “Yes, you. Goodness, students these days. You think you can just avoid class to fool around because it’s Valentine’s Day, don’t you? Well, I’ve got news for you kiddos, you gotta suck it up and wait for the end of school so get to it!” [F/N] was then grabbed roughly by her arm, along with Eddie, and the two of them were dragged to math class. Eddie was giggling softly to himself as he and [F/N] sat at the back of the classroom, she herself had an incredulous look on her face that screamed she wanted to die. She glanced at him and gave him a glare, telling him to shut the fuck up, but he knew well and just ignored the way she was staring daggers into his eyes. A few other students attending that class were staring at the two in confusion, especially at [F/N] because they didn’t recognize who the fuck she was, the few juniors that were around when she reigned supreme in Hawkins as the fallen queen, were extra confused as to why she was there.

“Now students, I’d like for you to take out your textbooks and flip to the page that we were working on last week.” [F/N] scratched her eyebrow as she watched the lot of students do as they were told, she wanted to slap Eddie when she could feel him smirking at her as he pulled out his textbook that he would usually leave dormant in the bottom of his bag.

“Why am I here? I’m a goddamn university student, for crying out loud.” she let out a groan when her plans to leave gifts for Robin were stopped by this stupid teacher, dumb bitch. Whilst writing down a few problems on the blackboard, the teacher turned to observe the class but huffed when she saw that student she saw outside in the hallway, not paying attention. What irked her even more was that she had nothing on her desk and she looked quite bored, for heaven’s sake, even Eddie Munson has his book out and was at least writing something down “Is there a problem, young lady?” [F/N] glanced up when she spoke, looking around in confusion once more before pointing at herself.

“Me?” [F/N] asked, this caused the teacher to sigh.

“Yes, you. You have nothing out while the rest of the class is taking down notes. Is this class boring to you?” the young student had the audacity to yawn, she sniffled to herself as she proceeded to get comfortable.

“Boring? Oh no, it’s just calculus is quite easy.” she spares Eddie a glance “And I’m not sure why you’re attending this class when it’s quite difficult for the way your brain thinks.” Eddie shrugs.

“Have to pass it if I want to graduate.” he winces when she slapped his knee.

“Then fucking pay attention instead of sketching your D&D characters, numb nuts.” the two of them then proceeded to slap each other. The teacher has enough and slams her book shut.

“Well then, young lady. If this class is SO easy for you, you wouldn’t mind answering the few questions on the board, now would you?” [F/N] briefly looks away from Eddie to see the question. True or False, the graph of f(x) and that of f(x + 2) are the same, she rolled her eyes.

“False. The graph of f(x + 2) is that of f(x) shifted 2 units to the left.” the teacher was a little taken aback at the quick response, she quickly looks through the answers and exhales sharply when she was indeed, correct.

“Alright, what about the second one?” another true or false, the equation x = | y | , with x >= 0, represents y as a function of x.

“False again. Solve for y to find that y = | x | or y = -| x |; for one value of the independent variable x we have two values of the dependent variable y.” [F/N] chuckled with a smirk, now ignoring Eddie in favor of the teacher, leaning back in her seat and resting her face a top of her knuckles, her legs crossed over each other with her free hand tapping against the desk “Is that all you’ve got, ma’am?”

“Alright, fine.” pulling out a book of parametric equations, the teacher was quick to jot down the first question she saw. Eddie spared his friend a glance and saw she was eyeing down the question as the teacher went, in the parametric equation, x = 8 cos At, y = 8 sin At, 0 ⩽ t ⩽ 2π,​ how does A affect the circle as A changes? The teacher turns to face [F/N] the moment she finished, she didn’t spare her a look as she continued to look at the question, continuously muttering under her breath as she drew little equations in the air “Do you have an answer?” she didn’t like the smirk she wore on her face.

“I do.” lacing her fingers together she pushed them out and heard them crack under the soft pressure, she then rolled her fingers then opened her hand out “Eliminating t, x² + y² = cos², At + sin² At = 1, which is still a circle with radius 11 and center at the origin.” the teacher quickly looks through the book for the answer, in disbelief that she was able to solve that question without even needing to write it down, she was taken aback when she was correct.

“And your working out?”

“If we have A = 1/2 A = 2/1​, (x,y) = (cos⁡1/2 t, sin⁡1/2t), i.e. as t ranges from 0 to 2π, 2π, the equation starts at (1,0) (1,0) and stops at (−1,0) (−1,0). This means that it goes halfway through the circle. So A governs the rate at which the equation traces out a circle. Similarly, if A = 2, A = 2, the equation moves twice around the circle.” she winks upon finishing, holding her hand out towards Eddie, who promptly slapped his hand down for a loud high five. She wasn’t valedictorian for nothing, always at the top of her classes without properly needing to pay attention to anything, she really only graduated out of spite “Like I said, ma’am, calculus is quite easy.” [F/N] smirks when the teacher turned red, rather it be from anger or embarrassment, both outcomes were hilarious as she stormed out of the room. 

“Dang, you really made her angry.” Eddie murmured, she just shrugged as she dug her hand into her pocket, pulling out a flask.

“It’s her own fault for picking on me.” she unscrews the cap and takes a long swig, letting out a shudder as the sting of alcohol went down her throat, whining softly when he took the flask from her and chugged some alcohol down as well.

“You still haven’t lost your touch, have you?” she shakes her head.

“Nope.” [F/N] takes her flask back from Eddie to take another swig but paused when she saw a teacher she did recognise and they definitely recognised her, Eddie notices her gaze when she abruptly stands to her feet “I’ve got to go.” she grabs her duffle back and makes a break for it, she throws her bag through an open window before proceeding to throw herself out, letting out an oof when she landed on the ground with a thud. Everyone in the classroom watched as she sprung up, snickering amongst each other when they saw a bunch of leaves and twigs in her hair.

“You good, Harrington?” [F/N] blinked at him, then gave him a thumbs up.

“Spectacular.” she ducks down when the teacher she knew made an appearance, she briefly peeked through the window to mouth out “drama room” to him, he understood and gave her a thumbs up. She grinned softly and ducked away once more, scurrying out of view, then ran full speed to where the drama room was. She runs past a classroom but came to a stop when she saw someone, she briefly walks backwards, then ducks out of sight when she managed to find Robin’s class. A big grin appeared on her face when she saw her, peeking out from the bottom edge of the window to look at Robin. She hummed softly, giggling when she saw the look of absolute boredom on her face. She spares at glance at her duffle bag and smirks softly. Robin was at the verge of yawning during her time in history. The teacher was going on about something that was going through one ear and straight out the other. She was fiddling with the small trinket [F/N] got for her when she felt something hit her on the side of the head, she turned in the direction it came from but the sight of a deep shade of red caught her attention. She raised a brow in confusion when she saw that it was a rose, but where on earth did it come from? Sure Robin had no clue where it came from but [F/N] couldn’t help but smile blissfully, she nod to herself and ducked down once more than scrambled away to the drama room.

And that brings us to…

“Eddie said he wanted to discuss an upcoming campaign, said it was important.” Jeff murmurs softly as he, Gareth and Nathan walked to the drama room with the lingering first years following closely behind them. Glancing back at them over his shoulder, he couldn’t help but think back to the time where he and the other three used to follow behind Eddie and [F/N] during their first year, the two of them were full of so much confidence it was almost envious, though Eddie was the bark and [F/N] was the bite, a very dangerous duo “Don’t understand why he couldn’t talk about it during lunch in the cafeteria.” Gareth sighed.

“And where is he now?” Nathan crossed his arms with a scoffed.

“He got held back in English, he flunked on an assessment Mrs. O’Donnell assigned and she wanted to talk to him.” this caused all three of them to shake their head “At this rate he isn’t graduating, again.” Gareth raised his hand.

“Emphasis on the again.” now they’re all laughing, he then looked back at the first years again and waved his hand to get their attention “You guys are smart, right? Think you can give Eddie some pointers so he can pass SOME of his tests.” Dustin hums, looking up in thought.

“That’s a little tough. We’re all smart in different subjects, Gareth.” Lucas raises a finger.

“And Eddie has a different way of thinking, we all do.” Mike nods his head.

“And to adapt a way to teach Eddie where he can understand what we’re trying to explain to him is a challenge in itself.” he purses his lips “No offences to Eddie.” they all shake their head.

“None taken.” Nathan sighs as they approach the drama room.

“There really was only one person that was able to think down to Eddie’s level, even more so, get Eddie to study.” they think back to the time where on multiple occasions [F/N] was able to explain whatever she was doing and/or studying and explain it in such a detailed way that Eddie was able to follow what she was saying. Her proudest moment was when she managed to tutor him in physics and he got his very first C-, it wasn’t much, but he was better than a lousy F “Where have the days gone.” Nathan adds, a comical tear shedding from his eye.

“Really?” Mike questions, astonished that someone made Eddie STUDY “Who was it?”

“Not anyone you would know, but she’s a graduate and Eddie’s best friend.” Gareth pushes the door to the drama room open as he finishes his sentence, looking up from where he was he was shocked to see who was sitting in Eddie’s prized throne. Upon hearing the door open, [F/N], who was sitting on Eddie’s throne with her legs propped on the table whilst she read a D&D guidebook, looked up to see who it was and was immediately met with shocked looks. The shock quickly morphs into excitement and happiness as the boys cheer upon seeing her, the three first years stare in confusion at what was unfolding. What on earth was Steve’s older sister doing here at school, and why were their three seniors cheering at the sight of her? [F/N] quickly shuts the book and tosses it onto the table, standing onto her feet and throwing her arms into the air.

“Boys!” she cheers happily, she laughs when they copy her.

“[F/N]!” she rushes over to them and doesn’t hesitate to launch herself into Nathan’s arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and laughed aloud when he started spinning her around. When he put her down she cuddled into him as he squeezed her tight, she then moved on to Jeff and gave him the same bone-crushing hug then left Gareth for last. Since he was shorter compared to Jeff and Nathan, she wrapped her arms around his head while his were around her waist, she laughed as she pulled him close “Gare-bear!” she cooed softly, the two boys behind her laughed at the nickname that she and Eddie used exclusively for Gareth.

“Gare-bear?” Dustin whispered to Lucas, who shrugged his shoulders and continued to watch the exchange. Gareth lets out a grunt when she let go of him and instead held him in a headlock, digging her knuckles into his head.

“Dude, [F/N]! Stop that!” Gareth manages to push her off after a couple seconds of torture, she chuckles softly to herself and holds her hand up in front of her “My head hurts, thanks!” she winks at him.

“No problem, Gare-bear.” she hums softly when Nathan places a hand on her shoulder.

“What are you doing here [F/N]? You’re not exactly a high school student anymore.” she gasped, giving them a wounded look as she placed a hand on her chest.

“Am I not allowed to come visit my bestest friends in the whole wide world?” she deadpans when they stare blankly at her, she clicks her tongue and looks away while placing a hand on her hip “Alright, fine. I broke into the school to do some shit, you happy?” Jeff shakes his head.

“Of all the things you could do, especially on valentine’s day, you broke into the school. And here I thought you’d take this opportunity to ask out any unfortunate soul just so you can have your fun with them.” she scoffs at him, now glaring at him and pointing a finger in his face.

“Well unlike you three, y’all are hoeless! From my years of being your friend, I don’t ever remember seeing a girl in your arms!” now it was their turn to look offended, crossing her arms and looking away as they tried giving her every excuse in the book, her brow perked up when she saw Dustin raise his hand to get her attention “Yeah? What’s up little dude?” she questions, raising her own hand to keep Gareth out of her face.

“[F/N]? What are you doing here? And how do you know those three?” she laughs, throwing her head back.

“You seriously don’t know? Wow.” she doesn’t get to answer before Jeff appears from over her shoulder.

“She’s our best friend from back when she attended Hawkins.”

“That’s right! She’s an honorary member of Hellfire and Corroded Coffin.” she nods her head, grin so wide her cheeks started to hurt as she flexed her arm.

“That’s right, I’m one of the original members of Hellfire before I left!” she then let out a sigh, leaning back into Jeff’s chest “Oh, how I miss the good old days.” the four of them then start to talk about anything that came to mind, leaving Dustin, Lucas and Mike to look at each other in disbelief. [F/N], Steve’s older sister, was friends with the members of Hellfire? Does that mean she’s friends with Eddie? If they remembered correctly, [F/N] was at least a year older than Steve, that would make her and Eddie the same age.

“I understand you guys, but what is Eddie still doing in school? How could he flunk school for two years?” Gareth sighs.

“Without you to keep him from getting off track, that moron was pushing his assessments and exams to the side. He focused more on campaigns and his music, you were really the only person that could get Eddie to listen.” she lets out a long groan at the information.

“That damn idiot, I’m not his babysitter. I swear, he’s a dead man.” they all perk up at the sound of the door, [F/N] is cheering again when she saw Eddie enter the room “Eddie!”

“[F/N]!” the two are quick to approach each other, continuously slapping their hands together before grasping their hands together in a tight grip, they both then lean backwards before slamming their foreheads together. They let out dazed snickers, holding their heads after the harsh blow to the head.

“You two are so dumb.” Nathan comments, this caused them to giggle to themselves “Is this what you wanted to talk about, Eddie?” he nod his head, both himself and [F/N] holding each other by the shoulder.

“Yeah, I saw her this morning breaking into a locker and thought I’d keep her a secret for you guys. Did you like the surprise?” the three smile, yeah, they totally liked it.

“But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here in the first place, [F/N].” now [F/N]’s face drops when she felt Eddie smirk at her, before she could do anything to silence him, Eddie covers her mouth with his hand and keeps her locked under his arm as he leaned in close to the three so the three juniors couldn’t hear the private information.

“[F/N]’s got a girlfriend, so she broke into the school to leave her gifts.” Gareth, Jeff and Nathan’s face lit up, both in surprise and joy that [F/N] genuinely found somebody to love. [F/N] was bright pink when she ripped herself out of Eddie’s grip as she stared at them, she was now covering her face when they quickly surrounded her and spoke in hushed tones about who it could be.

“You’ve got a girlfriend? Wow, congratulations, [F/N]!”

“Who is it? Someone we know?”

“When did you meet her?” yeah, the boys knew that she was a lesbian, of course they did. They were the first to know when she realised that she didn’t really feel that sort of attraction towards the male population, she cried in joy when they fully supported her, but it did annoy her when they came to her about advice when it came to picking up ladies because she was still ridiculously good at it. They laugh softly when they saw her look away, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.

“I met her last year, at the starcourt mall when I came down to see Stevie.” this caused the four of them to look at each other.

“You were here last year? How come you didn’t come see us first?” she and the three children behind her froze up, but she managed to keep her composure as her mind wandered back to ‘84. They look at her in confusion when she just closed her eyes and smiled at them, not knowing the horrors she faced and how she practically died. She let out a shuddered breath but continued to smile at them, her hand subconsciously lifting up from her side to press against her chest, feeling the rough scar beneath the layers of her clothes.

“Oh, I was just really busy I didn’t have the time to pop in.” she knew they wouldn’t buy the lie but if she wasn’t telling them on purpose, they knew better than to pry, so they left it at that. She lets out a grunt when Jeff wraps his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close and giving her a grin.

“Well, we’re happy that we get to see you now. We’ve got to hang out again, just like old times.” they look at her in anticipation, she sighs at the puppy dog eyes staring at her.

“Alright, alright! I’ll make sure i’ve got time so we can hang out.” she laughs when they were all pulled into a group huddle, Eddie and Gareth shouting loudly.

“Woohoo!”

Team Hellfire were now in on the plan.

Gareth, Jeff and Nathan were just as surprised as Eddie to learn that she had fallen head over heels for Robin Buckley. They thought she would have gone for someone like Chrissy Cunningham, and though she was a catch herself, Robin was more of her type. She punched Gareth in the face when he started to tease [F/N] for liking someone like Robin, this caused the other three to hold their tongues if they wanted to keep them. Anyways- they acted like a barrier to hide her from others that could potentially recognise her, she was almost caught when she wasn’t paying attention and Robin appeared from around the corner, the four boys quickly got in front of her and she hid behind Nathan. Robin looked at them, a bead of sweat forming on her cheek when she saw they were acting weird; weirder than usual. She just shook her head and quickly walked by them, tucking her hands into her pockets, she flinched when she felt something. A big smile worked its way onto her face when she saw it was another gift and note, opening the small box, she gasped softly when she saw that it was chain ring. 

’hi robbie,

What do you think of this gift? I saw that you already had one, but what’s more to add to your collection? Besides, you’ll look good in just about anything I give, even more so, I think you’ll look good with not—

Robin quickly closed the note and pressed it to her chest, her face turning different shades of red. She looks around to see if anyone could have potentially have read the provocative note and let out a sigh of relief when no one was particularly close to see the contents, she takes another peek but decides to read it when she’s out of sight. Gareth raised a brow at the reaction Robin gave upon reading the note and looked back at his older friend, sighing softly when he saw that she was hanging off of Nathan’s back, a dopey little grin on her face as she stared dreamily at Robin’s retreating figure. Yup, they can definitely conclude that she had fallen deeply in love with Robin, she didn’t look at anyone like that for just about anybody, this girl was special.

Robin now found herself in band practice, her last hour before school was over and she got to spend her valentine’s day afternoon with [F/N]. Time and time again she got gift after gift, sometimes it was small things like a shiny rock, maybe even a pretty feather, then it ranged to things like rings and necklaces. So far her favourite was a spiked leather jacket, how she managed to sneak that onto her desk without her noticing, she’ll never know. Standing beside her was Vicki, the last person she had a crush on, after Tammy Thompson, and the ginger haired girl was rambling about her boyfriend and how he has plans for a date. She was listening but her words went through one ear and out the other, cause she just couldn’t contain her excitement about finally being in the arms of her gorgeous girlfriend.

“Hey, Robin.” she hummed, not really giving her attention to Vicki “Do you have a valentines?”

“Huh?” she giggled softly.

“I saw the roses and gifts you’ve gotten this entire day. You’ve either got a secret admirer, or you’ve got a boyfriend.” Robin couldn’t help but gag at the thought of being with a boy, people already thought that she was dating Steve while [F/N] was dating Billy. It was for the better that people thought that way, but she really wanted to flaunt about and declaring that [F/N] Harrington was her girlfriend.

“Boyfriend? Yuck. I’ll take the secret admirer, hoping they don’t reveal themselves so they can continue to give me chocolates.” Vicki laughs when she saw Robin pull out one of the many box of chocolates she got, taking out one and throwing it into her mouth “Better than being in such a troublesome relationship.”

“Well, you wouldn’t know how being in a relationship feels until you’ve got one. It feels so nice, when you’ve found the right one, that is.” Robin had to agree with Vicki on that one, it felt very nice to be in a relationship with [F/N]. Even though [F/N] made it clear that Steve was still her number one priority, she still made sure that Robin didn’t feel left out or that she didn’t feel loved. She always made sure that she was going to be with Robin through thick and thin, that they were going to be together until death has them. Robin was called away so she and the other brass players can discuss what parts they’re playing for Hawkins high basketball team, not knowing someone sneaking in through a window that was miraculously left open. By the time Robin returned back to her abandoned instrument she was surprised to see an assortment of flowers inside her trumpet, she looked at Vicki and saw her shrug.

“You didn’t see who put those there?” she shook her head, but there was a knowing look in her eyes.

“Not at all.” Vicki laughed when Robin playfully shoved her, Robin took the flowers out of her trumpet and inhaled the aroma the roses were giving, smiling softly down them “This secret admirer of yours seems to like you a lot.” Robin’s face turned a soft shade of pink, nodding her head blissfully. The tuba player blows softly into their mouthpiece as their eyes drift to the side, raising a brow at the sight of [F/N] hiding behind the large instrument as she watched Robin.

“Thanks again.” she murmured softly, they rolled their eyes as they raised their hand, a smirk grew on their face when she slapped down a fifty dollar bill “We never speak a word of this.”

“Never speak a word of what?” she clicks her tongue and snaps her finger at them, nodding her head.

“Exactly.” how Robin didn’t witness her shuffle out of the room, they’ll never know.

[time skip: end of the school day]

“Whoa! Is that a mustang?!”

“Who’s got money for a car like that?”

“Didn’t Hargrove own a camaro?”

“Yeah, that was until it got totalled.”

Eddie scoffed as he and his lot exited the school and saw the students huddled around [F/N]’s prized mustang, even when she was no longer a student she was still the centre of attention. He furrowed his brows when he saw that there was a bit of a dent on her front bumper and her lights were replaced, what the hell did she do to that caused her to damage her precious car? The other three behind him seemed to have noticed the difference but their thoughts came to a pause when the already loud chatter got louder, they looked up and scoffed when they saw that it was just [F/N] exiting her car. There was no denying it, the Harrington charm was very effective, because both the girls and boys couldn’t help but gush at the sight of [F/N] Harrington. Even though she fell from her grace long ago, they were no denying that she wasn’t the girl people would kill to be.

[F/N] scoffed at the people that started to surrounding, opting to put her sunglasses on and sit on the hood of her car as she waited for Robin. She had this excuse in her head that she was going to pick Robin up and bring her to Steve, confirming the rumour that she in fact was going out with her brother and that she won the approval of his overprotective older sister. Yes, that sounded like a full proof place indeed, now all she had to do was wait for her sweet little birdie and hopefully not lose her temper with the approaching high school boys horny on valentine’s day and wishing to get in her pants. She had a blank expression on her face when some jock slid in beside her, she didn’t pay him any mind and continued to wait patiently…. as patiently as her mind would allow it.

“So, what’s a pretty thing—”

“No.” he sputtered back at her abrupt answer.

“Well, I was thinking that—”

“No.” he felt irritated that she kept interrupting him, Eddie and his lot paled when they saw that jock continue to push [F/N]’s limits but their jaws dropped when he suddenly grabbed her wrist and pull her so that she would look at him.

“Listen, I’m trying to be nice here.” a few people whisper amongst themselves at the ordeal, watching closely as he leaned in closely to her face “How’s about you ditch your lousy date for me? I promise I can treat you… nicely?” he let out a surprised yelp when she grabbed him by his jaw with her free hand and slammed him down onto the hood, this time she leaned down towards his face but pulled down her sunglasses so he could get a good look at the disgust and anger in her eyes.

“What the fuck does no sound like to you? I am not here for a child like you who doesn’t understand basic english, maybe that’s why you’re still in school.” he let out a grunt, grabbing her by the wrist when he felt her tighten her grip on his jaw that was more than likely going to cause a bruise to form, a bead of sweat formed on his cheek when her glare hardened on him “Learn to treat a woman like a human before deciding to treat her like she’s a trophy to be won.” he shouts out in surprise when she lifted him up before proceeding to throw him onto the ground, the people watching all let out a roar of laughter at his shameless display “Don’t waste my time and get out of my sight.” she scoffed when he scurried off, probably off to the other jocks that put him up his poor attempt of getting laid. She shook her head and returned to her spot, flicking down her sunglasses until they perched themselves back onto the bridge of her nose and now waited in peace… despite the unneeded audience.

“What’s going on?” Eddie let out a startled yelp when he was shoved aside, looking to see who it was, he scoffed when he saw that it was merely Hargrove. Ever since 84′, that blonde has been causing nothing but trouble ever since he got here. Not only did he kick Harrington Jr. off his high horse and dethroned him, he apparently beat the guy black and blue at the Byers household. Why [F/N] hasn’t murdered that blue eyed bell yet, he’ll never kn— “[F/N]?” Eddie sputtered, Billy knows [F/N]? If he did, does that mean he survived an encountered with [F/N]?! She seemed to have sensed his presence because her head perked up and her face subconsciously brightened up at the sight of the blonde, going so far as to raising her hand to greet him.

“Billy!” she exclaimed, but then she realised her mistake. The rumour that she and Billy were a couple was still floating around and the fact that she was waiting at Hawkins High for someone, and now that she greeted him, can only confirm the rumour that these fuckers made up. Billy to realised what she had done because now everyone was looking between the two, a few of the female students were looking at [F/N] enviously that she managed to bag Billy Hargrove while the boys whispered their admirations and congratulations to Billy for hitching a date with the most gorgeous person within Hawkins.

“[F/N]…” he said again, muttering it this time. The two of them look at each other and they seemed to have been having a silent conversation between the two of them.

”Forgive me. I did it out of pure habit.”

“Yeah, and now people think you’re here for me.” she shrugged her shoulders, now looking away from him. Billy let out a grunt when he was grabbed by the shoulder and turned around, he raised a brow when he saw that it was Eddie Munson. If he remembered correctly, [F/N] mentioned in a passing conversation that Eddie was her greatest friend and she valued him very much, so he found it interesting that he was now face to face with the brunette.

“Hargrove, you know [F/N]?” Jeff looked him up and down.

“I for sure would have thought she would have beaten him up after what happened with her brother.” Billy flinched softly at the mention of that, thinking back to both events. 

“No, no, she did. We’re just on good terms now, she considers me one of her good friends now.” he raised a brow when a smug aura radiated out of the four of them, a bead of sweat forming on his cheek as they smirked at him.

“Oh, yeah? Well, we’re her best friends!” Billy rolled his eyes.

“Right.” [F/N] slaps a hand onto her forehead as she watched them interact, she drags it down her face and glanced anywhere that wasn’t Hellfire doing their usual tomfoolery and involving poor Billy.

“Hey, weren’t [F/N] and Munson a thing back when she attended?” her face paled at those words, looking over towards the person who said and she recognised it as a junior that attended while she was still around. That’s right, people thought that [F/N] turned baddie because she got together with Eddie, what made it worse was that both of them were always hanging off the other and Eddie was a naturally affectionate person and since she was deprived of any and all physical affection, she couldn’t help but lean into it every once in awhile.

‘No, please god no.’ she thought in her head.

“You don’t think…”

’Please, you stupid high school students!’

”Oh, my, god! Munson is picking a fight with Hargrove!”

“He must still have feelings for [F/N] after the two of them broke up when she went out of states! Ooo, what a juicy thing to see on valentine’s day.” she deadpans when everyone who heard started whispering their own conspiracies, Billy and Eddie were amused at the accusations.

“Really? You with [F/N]? Now that sounds like a fantasy.” Eddie scoffs, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

“Says you. You oughta be dead for what you did to her brother.” Billy nods to himself, the two of them then stare at each other “… you wanna mess with her?” Billy couldn’t help but grin mischievously.

“With pleasure.” [F/N] was ready to call it quits and just go and find Robin herself but paused when Eddie and Billy came over and approached her, she stared at them in confusion when they took either side of her but neither broke eye contact with each other. 

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, Munson, but [F/N] is my girlfriend.” she deadpans once more, what? Eddie laughed, taking [F/N] by her wrist and pulling her towards him.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Hargrove, I’ve known her much longer than you have, and we hadn’t officially broken up, so she’s technically still my girlfriend.” Billy shook his head as he grabbed her other wrist and pulled her towards him.

“Well, I wonder why she came to me when she came back to Hawkins instead of you, huh?” Eddie know couldn’t help but get a little irritated at that, because he too wondered why his friend didn’t come to see him when she was in town.

“You know, I tend to wonder as well.” the two of them then began to bicker about who was better, feeding into the lies that [F/N] was in fact dating one or the either and people were placing their bets on who it was. Did the former queen share her throne with her jester or perhaps with the new king who dethroned her brother? Billy and Eddie were abruptly interrupted when she ripped herself free from their hold then grabbed them both by their faces and pulled them down towards her face.

“What the fuck is wrong with you two? Is it fun that you’re taking great pleasure in my misfortune?” the two glance at each other then grin cheekily at her, she sighs at the silent response and squeezed harder on their faces. Her face then immediately brightens up when she saw the person she was waiting for, both boys let out a grunt when she threw them backwards and opened her arms “Robin~ there’s my favourite person.” she coos, Robin giggles to herself and reaches her hands out towards her girlfriend, to which she lowered her arms and took Robin’s hands into her own.

“You seriously waited for me?” she nods.

“Yeah, Steve asked me to come get you.” Robin’s shoulders slumped slightly, realisation dawning on her that she and [F/N] couldn’t even be open about their relationship, that [F/N] was hers “Lets get going, i don’t want to be here any longer than I need to.” she let out a grunt when she felt Eddie wrap an arm around her shoulder.

“Hows about you give me a lift as well? I missed being in your mustang?” she scoffed at him, smacking his arm off her shoulder.

“What happened to your van?” he waves his hand.

“It’s in the shop? Had to get a few things replaced.” she raised a brow.

“And you can afford that?” he places a hand on his chest.

“You wound me.” she was simply going to abandon him and only take Billy and Robin, which was the plan from the start, but a shout caught her attention. Turning to the source, her eyes widened at the sight of the same teacher that dragged her into her math lesson and she looked downright pissed. Eddie seemed to have noticed her distraction and turned to see what it was but was caught off guard when she started pushing him towards her car, she throws the door open and kicks him into the backseat. Robin and Billy seemed to have gotten the hint when they heard that math teacher screaming out for someone to stop the trespasser, that being [F/N], but no one did anything and just watched [F/N] jump into the drivers seat and quickly drive out of the parking lot.

“Well that was unnecessarily stressful.” she grumbled under her breath “Welp, it’s official, i ain’t ever going back as long as that teacher is still there. I think she’s gonna try and have me arrested.” Billy started to laugh, leaning forward from where he was seated in the backseat.

“I can’t believe you actually broke into the school.” she shrugged her shoulders.

“What can I say? I was aching to see my sweet birdie.” she cooed softly, reaching towards Robin’s face to twirl a strand of her hair around her finger before tucking it behind her hair. Robin immediately looked away to twirl a strand of her hair around her own finger, she then stopped when she realised what [F/N] had done and looked at Eddie in distress. He noticed Robin’s change in expression and raised his hands, giving her a look of reassurance.

“Don’t worry about it, Buckley. I already know [F/N] swings that way, I’m just more surprised she ended up with someone to begin with.” Robin looks at [F/N] and she nods her head.

“Yeah, he was one of the first people I came out to. I trust him with my life.” she then abruptly stops the car and turns back towards them, a look of irritation shining in her eyes “But fuck the both of you for what you did! Now people are going to spread rumours how I’m getting fucked by the both of y’all, and that thought alone is disgusting.” she sneers at them in disgust when they give her suggestive smirks “If you say anything I don’t like I’m gonna have you guys walk.” none of them could really risk going through with the risk so they just kept their mouths shut, she was kind enough to drop Eddie off first because Billy now lived in the trailer park after his father turned tail and bailed after the events that occurred during the 85′ and has been back since. Max’s mum, Susan, was kind enough to keep a roof over his head until he graduated but most of the time Billy was with Steve at their home. [F/N] greeted Wayne and he was more than welcoming when he saw her, opening his arms up and bringing her into a bone crushing hug, Robin laughed upon seeing her winded self nearly collapse to the ground when he let her go. She gifted the Munson’s a rose each and some chocolates, sparing them a kiss before leaving when Billy left the trailer and back into her car. [F/N] was instructed to pick Billy up and bring him around the house after the school while Steve himself hurried to pick the children up and drop them off home then race back to the house before her. He also told her to have Billy’s eyes closed before she made it home so when they was turning the corner to the Harrington residence she told Billy to do exactly that.

“Are we almost there?” she giggles softly. 

“Yeah, we’re nearly there.” she has to silence Robin when she nearly gasped at what was in the driveway, [F/N] instructs Billy to keep his eyes closed when she parks her car and gets out of the drivers seat.

“Oh goodie, you’re here!” Billy’s head perks up at the sound of Steve’s voice, Robin then scoffs softly from where she was.

“You didn’t just say “oh goodie” at the sight of your boyfriend.” Steve playfully glared at Robin.

“Oh, hahaha, very funny.”

“Steve, whatever this is, it better not be stupid.”

“I promise you, blue, that you’re gonna love this surprise. Both [F/N], Robin and I put this together. Just for you.” [F/N] smiled softly at her brother, she waited for him to give her the go to and when she did she gently tapped Billy on his arm.

“You can open your eyes now.” and so he does and his eyes immediately start tearing up at the sight of his new and repaired camaro sitting in the driveway, both girls gently caress his arms before stepping back to let Steve comfort his boyfriend. Yeah, it was Steve’s idea to tow Billy’s car out from the dump and get it repaired. [F/N] found him working on it in their garage and immediately asked if she could help in any way she could, this later led to Robin wanting in to help as well. They had only recently gotten everything repaired or replaced just before valentine’s day and Steve believed it would be the perfect gift for his sweet Billy “And I’ll leave you two here.” she blows Billy a kiss and bids them both goodbye then the two of them were off to enjoy the rest of their afternoon together.

“i can’t believe you actually broke into the school, [F/N]. I thought you put Billy up to it.” she shrugged her shoulders, letting out a laugh.

“It wouldn’t have meant as much as it did if he did it, sweetheart. He only helped me to find which locker was yours, other than that, it was Eddie who helped me get close enough to you to leave little gifts.” 

“Well, I really appreciated all those thoughtful little gifts.” Robin glances at her face and it brightens when she saw a big smile stretch across her lips followed by a soft flush of pink, seeing [F/N] react like this always made Robin feel giddy. She soon bites her lip, her hand slipping into her pocket and feeling for the small little gift box that had been sitting in there the whole day. Of course she had a gift for [F/N], she would have felt awful if she didn’t get anything for her, but it was nothing in comparison to everything [F/N] has given her so far and she wasn’t even finished with her surprise “[F/N].” she gently called, she got a hum in response followed by her turning the music down.

“Yes?”

“I love you.” the flush on [F/N]’s face turned brighter, this caused Robin to giggle once more.

“And I… love you too.” she brought Robin home first so she could freshen up and wear something more comfortable, she had yet another lecture from Robin’s father while her mother told him to lay off, telling [F/N] that she’ll be more than welcome to come by the Buckley residence whenever she was around. Robin now found herself in Billy’s situation, however, she had a blindfold over her eyes as she [F/N] drove her to an unknown location.

“Are you sure you’re not taking me out of town to kill me?” [F/N] laughs.

“Oh, please. If I wanted to kill you I would have done it without the need to leave town.” Robin shudders at the thought “Don’t even think about bringing up last years events.” Robin clears her throat.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” [F/N] takes a deep breath to calm herself down “Are we nearly there yet? I want to look at you.” she chuckles at the impatience coming from her, tapping against the stirring wheel when they were stopped at the red light.

“Don’t worry Robin, you’ll get plenty of me and more when we get there, so be patient.” that comment was more than enough to get Robin to quiet down for the rest of the car ride, when they finally arrived at their destination Robin was led out of the car and taken on a bit of a walk. She held onto [F/N]’s arm as she trusted her not to let go, she let out a soft gasp when [F/N] did let her go but she held onto her hands and kissed the back of her knuckles “Just stand here for a bit and I’ll tell you when to take the blindfold off, mmkay?”

“O-Okay, just don’t take too long.” this earned Robin a soft kiss to the cheek, [F/N] quickly jogs away and sets up when she needs to get done, only a couple minutes pass when she hears [F/N] shout for her.

“You can take the blindfold off!” she was still a bit of a distance away from where she left her, Robin sighs softly and takes the blindfold off and the moment she did the sound of music hit her ears. She gasped softly at the sight of where [F/N] brought her, she had brought her to a beautiful lush rose garden and at the very centre of it all was a beautifully let gazebo and of course her beautiful girlfriend “Happy valentine’s day, Robin.” the wind picked up and blew some of the rose petals into the air, making the scene in front of her more romantic as she began to approach [F/N].

“When did you…?” she began to question, [F/N] chuckled softly as she took a step forward.

“One of the few fortunate things of being a Harrington’s child, you know a few good places for dates.” she sighed softly as she looked up at the gazebo “My mother told me how my father brought her here for valentine’s day, and though I’m not particularly fond of following in his footsteps, this place was too good to pass up on. So, hows about a nicely lit dinner between lovers on this sweet valentine’s day settle for a date?” [F/N] then reaches forward, extending her hand out to Robin for her to take.

“Heh, how romantic.” Robin finally settles her hand down in [F/N]’s hand, letting out a laugh when [F/N] pulled her into her arms and spun the two of them around, the both of them laughing to their hearts content “Did you book this place out?” she asked, [F/N] hummed as the two of them now swayed to the music.

“Mm hmm, I booked it weeks in advance and paid a lot of money so someone else couldn’t buy the spot out of me. You deserve the perfect view as we dine and dance on this very romantic day.” she muses, pressing her cheek into Robin’s “Do you like it?” she briefly pulls away to get a look at Robin’s face but hers dropped a little when Robin looked a little conflicted, she soon holds her hands and rubs her thumbs over her knuckles “What’s wrong? Is it too much?” Robin lets out a sigh, pulling back a little as she looked anywhere that wasn’t [F/N]’s pretty doe eyes.

“No, it’s just… I feel guilty that I won’t be able to treat you to something as grand as this. My gift can’t even match up to everything you put together.” [F/N] gasps softly.

“You got me a gift?” Robin meekly nodded her head “Can I see it? If it makes you feel better, you’ll be the first person— girlfriend, really, that’s gotten me a gift?” Robin whipped her head to look back towards [F/N], who chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck bashfully.

“Really?” she nods.

“Yeah, I played the male role in the relationship and was the one that usually gave my dates gifts. Most of the times I could tell that each relationship I had was one sided, that my love and attention would never get reciprocated.” Robin pouts softly, reaching forward to cup [F/N]’s face.

“Well, they’re stupid to not think of spoiling you either.” this caused a laugh out of her, Robin pulls away to dig into her pocket. She nervously held the small box in her hand, rubbing her thumb into the wrapping before handing it to her. She waits nervously as [F/N] pulls at the ribbon to unravel it then she removes the lid to look at what was inside, Robin watches her grab it and pull it out, revealing the small little locket that she bought from an antique store. She opens it and her heart melts at the sight of the picture inside, it was taken by Steve when she was in the hospital after she and Billy miraculously survived the onslaught they suffered through, it was of her and Robin cuddled together look happier than ever as they shared a kissed. On the other part of that locket had words engraved on it, ”you’ll forever have my heart, as I’ll have yours. through thick and thin, I will always love you; never forget that”. [F/N] couldn’t help but grit her teeth as her hand enclosed on the locket, her eyes began to water as the tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. Robin quickly cups her cheeks when the tears finally did manage to fall, she understood why [F/N] was reacting this way.

When she and Billy did recover after the Starcourt burnt down, [F/N] wanted nothing to do with Robin and Steve. She wanted to leave the state and stay out, not because she didn’t love them anymore, no, it was because she thought it was safer for the both of them if she wasn’t around anymore. It broke her heart that she was alive after everything she had done, she would have felt better if she died after that because at least she wouldn’t have to feel the guilt of practically cheating on her girlfriend while emotionally abusing her then physically beating the shit out of her and her precious little brother. Robin made it clear that there wasn’t anything that [F/N] said that was going to drive her away, [F/N] needed her more than ever and she was going to stay by her side and give her the help that she needs to recover; both physically and mentally. It took a lot of time before [F/N] was able to look at her again or even touch her without recoiling away, Robin was in tears when [F/N] managed to actually hug her without immediately pulling away, her heart swelled up when they were able to cuddle in bed like they did before. Robin thought of that little gift when she saw that locket in that antique shop she passed while in Indy with Steve, she was grateful for her brother when he still had that photo saved on film and quickly got it developed, shaped and placed perfectly in the locket. She thought that [F/N] would appreciate a gift that marked a pretty intense part of there life along with words that helped ease her mind that Robin was going nowhere.

“W-What did I do to deserve someone like you?” she sobbed into her shoulder, her arms wrapped around her torso as she pulled her close and held her tight so she wouldn’t disappear “Why did you stick around when I’ve become this damaged?” she inhaled deeply, rubbing her hands up and down her back.

“Because I loved you, and I knew what I was getting myself into the moment I agreed to be yours.” she gasped softly at that as another sob left her lips, Robin gently pulls back but doesn’t resist when [F/N] moved her arms from her torso to around her waist. She lifts her face up to gently wipe away the tears before pulling her into a much needed kiss, [F/N] couldn’t help but cry softly into the kiss “You deserve to be loved, and you deserve to be taken care of. You deserve love.” this earned a soft hum, the older woman leaning into the palm that cupped her cheeks as her body relaxed.

“I deserve… to be loved.” Robin nods.

“You do, and I am more than willing to give you my love.” she then takes the locket from out of [F/N]’s hands, quickly clipping it on around her neck then gently patting her on the chest “Happy valentine’s day, [F/N].” she smiled tearfully, sniffling softly as she held the locket in her hand.

“Happy valentine’s day, Robin.” she then kneels down to wrap her arms around Robin’s waist to lift her up and spin the both of them around, laughing to her hearts contents when Robin let out a squeal of joy, her hands planted on her shoulders to keep herself balanced. When [F/N] finally brought her down she continued to hold her in her arms but this time Robin wrapped her arms around her neck, the two of them stared into each other’s eyes then finally shared a kiss that they poured so much love into.

They were in love, and that was their moment.

…

…

“Are you alright?” a voice asked, the person they asked slowly opened their eyes and they had a pained expression on their face as a single tear ran down their cheek. They stared up at the sky above them and their face turned bitter as they raised their hand, swiping the tear away in one swoop.

“Yeah, I just had a nice dream.”

Contract

word count: 27,331

Fandom: Gravity Falls Pairing: Stanley Pines x Alvah (OC) Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Platonic - Romantic Occupation: Guardian Ability: N/A

Keys:

n/a

Warnings:

spoilers to those who haven't seen the show, violence.

"Contract" pt. 2, pt. 3

had to split this into two parts because I wrote too much and hit the word limit, which is bullshit because a different post has over 60,000 words while this was about 30,000. so now I've just split them into seasons one and two, despite me wanting them to be together.

it was going to be broken up into two parts between season one and two but I reached the word limit again in the second part, and I didn't want it to be three parts because then the third part would be too short.

was gonna publish this when I finished the second part but literally screamed "fuck it", so now I hope I don't surpass the word limit again but I'm nearly done.

bound to be a lot of mistakes that I haven't fixed but fuck it. might fix it later.

season 1, episode 1. tourist trapped

Ah, summer break.

A time for leisure, recreation, for taking her easy.

Unless you're me.

We are now met with a scene with twin siblings fleeing for their lives in a golf cart while an unknown monster follows close behind them, knocking down trees in its pursuit for the siblings.

My name is Dipper, the girl who is about to puke is my sister Mabel. You may be wondering what we're doing in a golf cart fleeing from a creature of unimaginable horror, rest assured. There's a perfectly logical explanation for this situation.

Let's rewind. It all began when our parents decided we could use some fresh air. They shipped us up north to a sleep town called Gravity Falls Oregon to stay at our great uncle's place in the woods. My sister tended to look on the brighter side of things, but I was having a hard time getting used to our new surroundings. And then there was our great uncle Stan, that guy. Our uncle had transformed his house into a tourist trap called the "Mystery Shack", the real mystery was why anyone came. And guess who had to work there.

It looked like it was going to be the same boring routine all summer, until one fateful day.

"He's looking at it, he's looking at it!" Dipper, who was currently cleaning, looked at his sister oddly as she watched a boy open a letter she left out "I rigged it."

"Mabel? I know you're going through your whole boy crazy phase, but I think you're overdoing it with the crazy part." he comments as he sprays a jar and wipes away the dust.

"What? Psh, come on Dipper, this is our first summer away from home. It's my big chance to have an epic summer romance."

"Yeah, but do you have to flirt with every guy you meet?" they then recall each time she flirted with any passing guy, to the point she actually scared a boy guy whilst he was working.

"Mock all you want, brother, but I got a good feeling about this summer. I wouldn't be surprised if the man of my dreams walked through that door right now." and out walking through the door was none other Stan, looking disheveled and everything, holding his stomach as he burped "Argh, why?" Dipper laughed at her misfortune.

"Alright, alright. Look alive, people. I need someone to go hammer up these signs in the spooky part of the forest."

"Not it."

"Not it." the twins immediately protest, behind them, the handy man Soos, raises his hand.

"Not it."

"Nobody asked you, Soos."

"I know, and I'm comfortable with that." Stan turned his attention to the young lady working at the cashier, Wendy, ignoring Soos when he pulled out a bar of chocolate and started eating it.

"Wendy, I need you to put up this sign." Wendy, who was leaning back in a chair with her legs perched on the counter while reading through a magazine, raised her hand and lazily reached towards where they stood without taking her eyes off the page.

"I would but I, urgh, can't, urgh, reach it... urgh." he glares at them.

"I'd fire all of you if I could." he then looked back towards the twins "Alright, lets make it... ennie, meanie, minie... you." he stops and points at Dipper.

"Ah, what? Grunkle Stan, whenever I'm in those woods I feel like I'm being watched." the older man rolled his eyes.

"Urgh, this again." Dipper shook his head.

"I'm telling you, something weird is going on in this town. Just today my mosquito bites spelled out beware." he then showed his arm to Stan, to which he leaned down and squinted his eyes to take a look at the text.

"That says BEWARB." Dipper awkwardly scratches his arm "Look kid, the whole monsters in the forest is just local legend. Dumbed up by guys like me to sell merchandise to guys like that." he then gestures to a guy weirdly staring at a bobbly head figure that was of Stan, he then chucks the signs at Dipper "Now quit being so paranoid!" Dipper sighs in defeat.

A half hour later Dipper returns back to the shack after putting up all the signs but brought back something he managed to discover hidden out in the forest, a mysterious journal that was labeled three in the centre of it. Upon reading it, the author had logged down discoveries of creatures that plagued Gravity Falls from gnomes to flying eyeballs. He enthusiastically confesses everything to Mabel, who didn't quite share the same amount of interest as he did, but she did listen nonetheless as he babbled about everything that the journal had, that was until they heard the doorbell ring.

"Who's that?"

"Well, time to spill the beans." she then promptly spilt a can of conveniently placed beans, she then proceeds to point at herself with both her thumbs "This girl's got a date, woo woo!" she then falls back on the sofa, laughing to herself.

"Let me get this straight, in the half hour that I was gone, you already found a boyfriend?"

"What can I say? I'm just irresistible." the doorbell then rings again "Ooo! Coming!" she shouts and rushes to the door, Dipper than takes her spot of the sofa and opens the journal to start reading it, only for Stan to come walking in drinking a can of soda.

"Whatcha reading, slick?" caught off guard, he quickly shuts the book and hides it behind the sofa cushion and grabbing a magazine off the dino head beside the sofa.

"Oh, I was just catching up on uh..." he narrows his eyes on the page he opened to and saw it was of gold jewelry, he then closes the magazine to get a look at the cover to see what on earth he was reading "Gold chains for old men magazine?"

"That's a good issue."

"Hey, family." the sound of Mabel's voice caught their attention, causing them to stop what they were doing and look over to the girl who entered the living room with someone by her side "Say hello to my new boyfriend." turning around to face them, they were met with a boy(?) with ridiculously pale skin as he wore a hoodie with the hood over his head and his hair covering his left eye, he had a rather unsettling feel to him and what made them feel even more uncomfortable was the red stain on their cheek.

"Sup."

"Hey."

"How's it hanging?"

"We met at the cemetery, and he was really deep." she spoke as she caressed his arm "Oh, a little muscle there. That's... what a surprise."

"So... what's your name?"

"Uh, normal... man!"

"He means Norman." Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"Are you bleeding, Norman?"

"It's jam." Mabel gasps and shoves him.

"I love jam! Look at this!"

"So, you wanna, go hold hands or whatever?"

"Oh, oh my goodness." she giggles softly "Don't wait up." she then dashes away, Norman does the gun gesture to them before oddly walking away from them to follow Mabel, smacking into the doorframe in the process and crashing into something on the way out, causing Dipper's eye to twitch.

There was something about Norman that wasn't right. I decided to consult the journal. Known for their pale skin and bad attitudes, these creatures are often mistaken for... teenagers! Beware Gravity Falls' nefarious... zombies! At the revelation, he puts the journal down and looks out the window, eyes widened in shock when he saw Mabel sitting rather unbothered on a bench while Norman approached her, arms stretched out and groaning with each step he took.

"Oh no, Mabel!" he let out a scream when he saw Norman slam his hand down on her shoulders, when he backed away it was revealed that he had placed a necklace made of daisies around her neck "Is my sister really dating a zombie, or am I just going nuts?"

"It's a dilemma to be sure." Dipper gasps in fright at the unsuspecting voice, looking up, he saw that it was only Soos changing a lightbulb "I couldn't help but overhear you talking to yourself in this empty room."

"Soos, you've seen Mabel's boyfriend. He's gotta be a zombie, right?"

"Hmm, how many brains did you see the guy eat?"

"Zero."

"Look dude, I believe you. I'm always noticing weird stuff in this town, like the mailman? Pretty sure that dudes a werewolf, but you gotta have evidence. Otherwise, people are gonna think you're a majority coo coo clock.'' Dipper lets out a sigh, hands on his hips, as he nods to Soos' words.

"As always, Soos, you're right."

"My wisdom is both a blessing, and curse."

"Soos! The portable toilets are clogged again!"

"I am needed elsewhere." after readjusting his cap he backs away into the darkness, and by that, he backs away until he walks out of the room.

My sister could be in trouble. It was time to get some evidence. And after spending the entire day recording everything he could get on Norman he concluded he had gotten what he wanted, from the way he collapsed after getting hit by a frisbee, to punching through a glass window to open a door and struggling to walk straight, to even them frolicking through the cemetery and him falling into a grave and scarily bursting through the dirt... like a zombie.

I'd seen enough.

"Mabel, we've got to talk about Norman."

"Isn't he the best. Check out this giant smooch mark he gave me!" he screams in fright at the large red circle on her cheek, she then laughs "Haha, gullible. It was just an accident with the leaf blower. That was fun."

"No, Mabel, listen! I'm trying to tell you that Norman is not what he seems." he starts as he pulls the journal out from his vest, she gasped softly.

"You think he might be a vampire? That would be awesome!"

"Guess again, sister. Shabam!" he then proceeds to open the book to the page about zombies, she screams at the page, he looks at where he opened it too and saw it instead was on the page about gnomes "Oh, wait. I'm sorry, shabam!" she tilts her head to the side.

"A zombie? That is not funny Dipper."

"I'm not joking! It all adds up! The bleeding, the limp! He never blinks! Have you noticed that?"

"Maybe he's blinking when you're blinking."

"Mabel, remember what the book said about Gravity Falls? Trust no one!"

"But what about me, huh? Why can't you trust me?"

"Mabel! He's gonna eat your brains!" he shouts as he shakes her back and forward, this was when Mabel's face hardened as she pushed Dipper's hands off of her.

"Dipper, listen to me. Norman and I are going on a date at five o'clock, and I'm gonna be adorable and he's gonna be dreamy and I'm not gonna let you ruin it with your crazy conspiracies." she shouts as she jabs her finger into his chest until he backs out of their room and slams the door shut in his face. A few hours later, Dipper is in the living room when Mabel rushes down from the attic to answer the door where Norman was waiting for her and so the two were off for their date.

"Soos is right. I don't have any real evidence. I guess I can be kind of paranoid sometimes and-- wait, what?!" after going through the footage he found a clip of Norman and Mabel together, but what caught him off guard was Norman's hand falling off and him picking it up and reattaching it "Ah! I was right! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Stan! Grunkle--" he runs out of the living room in search for Stan, when he makes it outside he accidentally runs into someone and falls to the ground.

"Oh?" looking up he was met with the eyes of a kind woman, she chuckled softly at his disheveled self sprawled on the ground, so she kneels down slightly to offer him a hand to stand "Good evening Dipper, what seems to have you in a rush this fine afternoon?"

"Alvah!" to Dipper, she seemed to be the only sane person in the quiet town of Gravity Falls but he didn't seem to understand why she would ever associate herself with a man that was his uncle. Alvah was a middle-aged woman with long blondish grey hair that she had tied up in a braid with pale but sharp green eyes that held a warmth like an early morning day, despite coming out into the forest to visit the Mystery Shack daily she always wore rather elegant clothes wherever she went. Upon meeting the Pines twins she became somewhat of a maternal figure towards them, always being so calm, kind, and patient with the two of them and they would tend to run to her whenever she came to visit. He didn't know what sort of relationship she and Stan had but the only thing their uncle would tell them was that she was a long-lasting visitor of the Mystery Shack that just stuck around, she grew on him that he always expected to see her anytime throughout the week "You aren't-- Mabel is-- there's a-- I need--" she places her hand on his shoulder and gave him a comforting smile.

"Slow down, sweetheart, calm yourself." she takes a breath and he follows her, when she exhales her smile softens when he managed to calm his nerves "Now, tell me, what's gotten you so worked up?" she was still kneeling down when he stood up straight, hands waving around wildly as he spoke.

"Mabel's got this boyfriend and I believe he's a zombie! He's gonna eat her face!" she raised a brow.

"And what makes you believe that? Don't you think you're being a little overprotective of your sister to be throwing wild accusations like that?" she jerks back a little when he thrusts a video camera in her face, he then plays her the exact clip of Norman's hand falling off and him putting it back on "Well... that could just be a prosthetic, you know?"

"Alvah!" she chuckles softly, pulling her hands up in surrender.

"I'm pulling your leg, sweetpea." she then boops his nose "If you believe that this boy is a zombie, then you should go and prevent your sister from becoming his next meal." she then gently pushes him to where the golf cart was.

"So, wait, do you believe me?" she gives him a shrug.

"Whether I believe you or not, what matters is if you believe in yourself, first and foremost. If you think your sister is going to get hurt, trust your gut feeling before it becomes too late." she then nudges him once again, tossing him the keys that she managed to snag off of Soos "Now get going, I'll distract your uncle from questioning where you guys have wandered off to." he gives her a thankful smile.

"Thanks." she winks and waves him goodbye, by the time he drove off Stan had finished his spiel on a rock that looks like a face and dealing with the tourist and their stupid questions on it, they rushed into the Mystery Shack to look at the attractions while Stan approached and stood by her side.

"What's got him in a rush?"

"He said he needs to go save Mabel from her boyfriend that could possibly be a zombie." he laughs and slaps his knee.

"Woo, that kid is a riot!" she smiles.

"You aren't worried about them getting hurt, Stan?" she asks as they both turn to enter the Mystery Shack, her following behind as he led her through the gift shop to where the tourist were currently looking at a couple taxidermized creatures.

"They'll be fine. If I know anything about those little twerps, they wouldn't get themselves into any situations that would get them killed." this caused her to raise a brow at him.

"... tell me Dipper's real name." she stifled a laugh when she saw him pause, he folds his arm and looks up in thought before letting out a groan and hitting her shin with his eyeball cane.

"Irrelevant." she shakes her head while soothing her shin, for the rest of the afternoon she spent it observing Stan lying through his teeth to the unsuspecting tourists who awed at each other his words. Whenever he'd tell a joke he'd look to the back and see he'd get a laugh out of her, that prompted him to tell more jokes before he continued the tour, they were now back in the gift shop where Stan was showing them a new item, which was nothing more than a spiral on a stick that would spin and the gimmick was that it was a "very distracting object". The sound of screaming and something big approaching caused her to look out the open window, there she saw a giant... gnome amalgamation that was chasing after Dipper and Mabel? She turned away while closing the shutter doors to the window, yeah, no thank you "What's got you spooked?" her eyes move to Stan, who was staring at her questionably, she shook her head.

"You would be better off not knowing." he raised a brow at her.

"Well, alright." he then pushes her off the wall she was leaning "Anyways, man the cash register. Wendy isn't here and Soos is busy."

"I don't work here."

"Yeah, but you come here every day like you do. Enough chit chat, I don't pay you to stand there all pretty and talk." she deadpans when he walked away.

"... you don't pay me at all." she doesn't complain though, taking care of all the costumers who came up to pay for what they wanted to buy from the gift shop, no matter how absurdly overpriced everything was. She let out a sigh when the last of them finally finished looking around and left, stating that they were definitely coming back again. She was sitting on the counter, having a pleasant conversation with Stan while he was counting the cash they earned for the day when Dipper and Mabel walked through the door, both adults look at the children in amusement and concern.

"Yeesh, you two get hit by a bus or something?" she shakes her head at Stan when he laughs, smacking him on the shoulder before looking down at the twins, she smiles fondly and gives the boy a thumbs up. Dipper smiles at her as they both ignore Stan's comment and start making their way to their room so they could clean themselves up, the older man noticed their indifference to him and so he quickly changed up "Uh, hey! U-Uh, wouldn't you know it? Um, I accidentally overstocked some inventory so, uh, how's about each of you take one item from the gift shop? On the house, you know?"

"Really?"

"What's the catch?"

"The catch is do it before I change my mind. Now take something." Stan elbows the cash register so it would open but then felt like he was being stared at, looking up, he flinched under the softened gaze that was Alvah warmly smiling down at him.

"That was sweet of you, Stan." he just rolled his eyes, quickly averting his eyes away from her gaze.

"Didn't you hear me? I said I overstocked is all." she just hums.

"Sure." she was smacked in the leg this time, in retaliation, she kicked him in his side. Looking over she saw Mabel looking through boxes while Dipper was looking at hats, upon noticing, she only then just realized that he had lost his old raggedy hat and now replaced it with a blue one with a pine tree in the middle of it.

"That oughta do the trick."

"And I well have a," she pulls something out of a box and holds it to her chest, when she does a twirl she reveals it to them "grappling hook!" they all stare in bewilderment.

...

...

"Wouldn't you rather have like, a doll or something?" she then shoots the grapple and hoists herself off the ground, knocking over a couple boxes on her way up.

"Grappling hook!"

"Fair enough." she and Stan are left in the gift shop alone once more after the children picked out what they wanted, she hops of the counter and turns to speak again with Stan but stopped when Mabel ran up to her to give her a hug before finally leaving with Dipper.

"They're such sweet kids, don't you think?" he scoffed.

"They're unappreciative."

"Other than the fact you're giving them a roof over there heads, I don't think there's much you've given them to appreciate." she raises her hands when he narrows his eyes on her, she gives him a laugh "You should spend some quality time with them."

"I do." she deadpans.

"Forging bills is not family bonding, Stan. I was not pleased when I had to bail you out." he just laughs.

"Well, I'm way ahead of you, toots!" she raised a brow when he stashed the cash and walked over to where he had a calendar, his finger goes across the days until stopping on a specific date that was circled "It's fishing season on this day, so I plan on taking them fishing!" this made her smile and start clapping her hands.

"Ooo, how fun. I'm sure they'll love it." he nods.

"I know. Will I see you there? I'm sure the whole town will be out." she shrugs her shoulders.

"I'm not sure, I don't really know how to fish." his jaw dropped at the information.

"You're kidding?" she shook her head "Now you gotta come down! If I see you, I'll be sure to teach you a thing or two! I'll impress you with my killer fishing skills." she chuckles, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I'm sure you will."

"Is that a challenge?" they grin at each other before bursting into laughter.

This journal told me there was nobody in Gravity Falls I could trust, but when you battle a hundred gnomes side by side with someone, you realize they've probably always got your back. Our uncle told us that there was nothing strange about this town, but who knows what other secrets are waiting to be unlocked.

--

season 1, episode 2. the legend of the gobblewonker

"Stan!" Alvah shouts, bringing her fingers to her lips and blowing hard so a sharp and loud whistle would rip through the air, she smiles when she saw the old man perk up at the sound of her whistle and the call of his name. She smiles as she waves her hand to greet him from the docks, she saw how he smiled when he saw her and waved his hand while mirroring her expression, as he made his way over to where she was she noticed how neither Dipper or Mabel were with him.

"You made it, toots." she crouches down so she wouldn't need to look down at him and so he wouldn't need to crane his neck just to look up at her, she then looks around in search for the twins.

"Where are the kids?" he huffed at the question.

"They decided to spend their time with Soos, rather than their old man." she raised a brow.

"You jealous?"

"Hah! Me? Jealous? Of what?" he flinches under her gaze, arms folded and eyebrow raising even higher, telling by that he could tell that she didn't believe a word he said "Sure, I brought them out here so we could have a family bonding moment, and sure it hurt a little that they preferred to go on an adventure with Soos instead, but I'll show them I don't need them to have a good time myself!"

"Sure you don't." she laughs when he splashed her with some water.

"Are you going to ridicule me or something? I thought you were supposed to be nice."

"I'm just teasing." he watched her stand up and shrink in on himself when she walked off, he sighed to himself when he was left on his own once more but perked up when a shadow cast over him. He glances up and saw Alvah standing over him with a basket of what he could only guess was food and a case of Pitt Cola, she dangled them in front of him "Don't you gotta show me your "killer fishing skills", Stan?" he smiles up at her.

"I'll knock your socks off." he takes both the basket and case from her, sitting them down in the boat, before standing up so he could help her into his boat. He gently takes her hand and guides her into the boat, being careful so she wouldn't fall with how jankey his boat is, and smiles when she settles in across from him "You ain't afraid of getting your hair wet, are you?"

"Of course not." she answered while readjusting her sunhat "Now let's go, I wanna see a trout." he raises a brow as he starts the engine.

"You know fishes?" he watches as she pulls a book about fresh water fish, she grins at him and flips through a couple pages.

"Did you know that there are nine species of sturgeon that are listed as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act? They are considered one of the world's most endangered groups of species." he makes a face when she continued to ramble about different species of fish, listing down from the most common to the rarest "Did you also know that catfish are a diverse group of ray-finned fish? Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers--"

"Sweetheart, if I wanted to learn about fish I would have stayed in school." she pouts.

"It's good to know what you fish, because you could get fined for fishing endangered species. But that's only if you knowingly fish them out." she lowers the book and saw the way he was muttering about selling an endangered fish, he was promptly hit over the head by the book. She was currently eating a sandwich while watching Stan trying to tie a thread through a hook, laughing quietly to herself as he struggled to get it through the hole "I thought you said you could tie a knot with your eyes closed." she looked away when he glared at her.

"If you think it's so easy, why don't you give it a shot?" he shoves the thread and hook into her hands, knocking her sandwich out of her hands and into the lake.

"Hey!" she shouts, glaring at him for the loss, he just laughs as he takes a sandwich from out of her picnic basket and lounges in the boat.

"It's all you, toots." she narrows her eyes on him, she doesn't break eye contact as she sits back and holds both up in front of him. In the blink of an eye, she manages to loop the thread through the hole before tying a uni-knot "Wha-- how'd you--" his face hardens when she pulls out another book, this time it was about fishing; specifically how to tie knots.

"Boom." she giggles when he snatches the book from her and starts reading through it, she looks at him when he lowered the book then picked up another hook.

"Show me how to do the trilene knot." she grins. After patiently teaching Stan how to tie a trilene knot they finally threw out their lines into the water, Alvah quietly listening to Stan ramble on and on with stories from his youth, she'd ask a question here or there and laugh a little. They would both cheer when they'd catch a couple fish, Stan muttering about cooking them for dinner later, then they would settle into a comfortable silence as they basked under the sun's rays "Hey, Alvah."

"Yeah?"

"Wanna hear a joke?"

"Psh, sure." he clears his throat.

"Here goes. My ex-wife still misses me, but her aim is getting better!" she tears her eyes away from the water and stares at Stan, who was looking at her with the biggest grin on her face "... but her aim is getting better!" his grin slowly starts to drop the longer she stared at him.

"... today at the bank, an old lady asked me to check her balance." he stares at her "So I pushed her over." they now both stare at each other in silence before bursting out into laughter, Alvah has her hand hovering over her lips while Stan slapped his knee and laughed to his hearts contents.

"I didn't know you were a comedian! That was comedy gold! Here, here! I got another one! How much does a chimney cost?" he makes a face that begs her to ask, she chuckles and decides to play along.

"I don't know Stan, how much does a chimney cost?" he giggles to himself.

"Nothing! It's on the house!" they're both laughing hysterically once again, getting odd looks from others nearby but neither paid any notice "Woo, I gotta go out fishing with you more often! I haven't had this much fun in years!" she giggles.

"As flattered as I am, that sounds a little sad."

"You're a riot." she turns her gaze back to her line and frowns when she wasn't getting any bites as often as she did when they first started, she looked across the lake and saw the Corduroy family, her eyes specifically on Daniel Corduroy, aka, Manly Dan. She watched as he kept his eye on the water before grabbing a fish with his bare hands, yanking it out of the water then proceed to crush it in between his biceps.

"Hmm." she looks at Stan and saw he pulled another sandwich out from the picnic basket, she then proceeds to take it from his hands and turn back towards the water.

"Hey! What are you--"

"Shush." he huffs, crossing his arms and watching in amusement as she concentrated on the movement in the water. She wriggles her free hand as she hovered the sandwich closer to the water, her eyes dancing across the water to detect any sort of movement. Her head then snaps in a direction before reaching into the water, Stan raised a brow then his eyes widened in shock as he watched her drop the sandwich in favor of the king salmon she managed to pull out of the water.

"Wow! A king salmon! What a beaut!" he looks back at her and sweats a little at the bright look on her face, hair a little disheveled after staring at the water so closely for what seemed like ten minutes.

"Haha, did you know that they're called chinook salmon and that it is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon? Salmon is rich in vitamins B6, B12, D, phosphorus and omega-3 fatty acids and that they play an important role in the culture, diet, economy and religion of several Northwest Tribes."

"Didn't know, don't really care." her face drops at that "Dang, if only we had a camera. Would love to take a photo of this monstrosity."

"Maybe you should catch the next one, Stan."

"I'll make sure to catch a bigger one!"

"Didn't I just say that they're one of the largest?"

"Then I'll catch an even BIGGER king salmon!"

"Go right ahead." he laughs at her and stands to his feet, he's getting ready to toss his line out when something blows right by them at great speed, then something even bigger that forms a giant wave. The king salmon that was in her hands got caught in the wave and swam to freedom while Stan and Alvah got completely soaked, Alvah stared rather owlishly at nothing in particular while Stan had an angered expression, he tore his hat off and threw it on the ground before letting out a defeated sigh and sitting down "Well, that was certainly... something." she mutters to herself and attempts to flick the water off her arms then grabbing a fist full of her dress and squeezing some of the water out.

"Today has been a disaster." Stan admits, she tilts her head to the side.

"Really? I thought you were having fun." she says, taking her hat off and cringing when she felt more water drip down her face "Did I bore you, Stan?" he immediately shakes his head.

"Oh, no, no! You definitely made everything all the more fun, honestly! It's just that..." she then finally noticed his gaze on the few boats still out on the lake, which all consisted of one thing, they were families spending time with each other "I really, REALLY wanted to go fishing with those knuckleheads, instead they wanted to go hunt some sea monster while I got stuck with you." she huffs with a laugh, grabbing strands of her hair and twisting it to squeeze the water out as well, she then throws her hair over her shoulder.

"That better be a good thing." he only smirks.

"You wish. I want them to know that I genuinely want to spend time with them, like a family."

"I'll say it again, Stan, but that's really sweet of you." she picks up his hat he threw to the ground and squeezed the water out of it then placed it on his head "I'm sure they'll come around eventually, at the end of the day, you're their great uncle Stan. I'm sure they'll see the error of their ways and come back to spend the rest of what is left of today with you, just like that." she reassures as she snaps her fingers, she then leans down to grab two cans of pitt cola, handing one to him to take.

"... you really know what to say to mellow a fella out." he says and takes the drink from her, she just gives him a soft expression in return. They both crack their cans open, thrusting them together then taking long gulps from their fizzy beverages. The rest of the day is spent with them lazily drifting with the water in a comfortable silence, it was only when they started to get cold that Stan decided it was time to head back and wait for the kids to return. She looks at Stan and saw he had a blissful smile on his face, a smile of her own stretched across her face the longer she gazed at him before she looked behind him to gaze at the lowering sun.

"Hey, over here!" both are caught off guard at the sound of Dipper's voice, looking behind them, they were taken aback at the sight of what was left of Soos' boat, they were surprised that it was still floating.

"What the... kids?" a flash from Dipper's camera made Alvah jump, not expecting it to go off, though it was more or less aimed at Stan so her eyes were spared "I thought you two were off playing spin the bottle with Soos."

"Well, we spent all day trying to find a legendary dinosaur."

"But we realized the only dinosaur we want to hang out with is right here." Stan scoffs while Alvah chuckles.

"Save your sympathy! I've been having a great time without ya! Making friends, talking to my reflection," Alvah was caught of guard when Stan raised his leg and saw an ankle monitor that she didn't not notice the entire "I had a run in with the lake police! Guess I gotta wear this ankle bracelet now, so that'll be fun."

"When did you get that? How did I not notice that?" he ignores her.

"So I guess there isn't room in that boat for three more?" the older two share a look then look back at the three in the sinking boat, Stan's eyes narrowing in on them. His gaze faltered when he saw the two put on fishing hats with awkwardly sewn names of "MABEL" and "DIPPY" on them, she thought they were real cute.

"... you knuckleheads ever seen me thread a hook with my eyes closed?"

"Five bucks says you can't do it."

"You're on!"

"Five more bucks says you can't do it with your eyes closed plus me singing at the top of my lungs!"

"I like those odds!" they had to rearrange a few things on the boat for the three of them to fit but they made it work, Stan, Mabel and Dipper sat together while Soos and Alvah sat across from them.

"Soos, what on earth happened to your shirt?" she questions, only now just questioning it.

"Long story dude." Dipper than pulls out his camera again.

"Alright. Everybody get together and say fishing!" Soos, Stan and Mabel get close, he then looks up at Alvah "You too." she chuckles and takes the camera from him, gently pushing him towards his sister.

"Let me take the picture, sweetpea." though hesitant, he was reassured by the older woman that she did not mind and so he joined his sister's side. The rest of that day was spent with Alvah capturing sweet moments of them having a great time, Stan indeed trying to thread the hook with his eyes closed but Mabel was covering his eyes when he started to peek, Soos and Mabel laughing as Stan read through a book of jokes with Dipper looking less than amused, Dipper actually catching a fish with Mabel pointing at it, Soos took the camera from her and snapped a shot of Stan with only half his face then proceeding to try and get one of Alvah to include her but missed up the timing because she was taking her hat off and so he only got the side of her, the next two were of Stan helping Mabel steal fish from another family by cutting their net then them fleeing from the lake police.

"Ahem." if it weren't for the fact that they were sitting next to each other he probably wouldn't have been able to hear it over the engine, he looked to his side and saw Alvah with a brow raised as she snapped her fingers "Just like that." he huffed, laughing to himself as he shook his head.

"Don't go getting a big head."

--

season 1, episode 3. headhunters

she doesn't really play a significant roll in this episode, only really appearing when stan reveals his wax stan.

scolds stan about lying to the people who came that there will be no free pizza, that being the reason they actually came.

she was thoroughly impressed with mabel's wax carving skills, getting every detail of stan.

alvah helps stan set up a memorial for wax stan, encouraging the twins on their search for the killer.

she did find the wax figures unsettling during the funeral and left to "comfort" stan when he ran out of the room crying, followed by soos.

when they return to the destroyed room and the children say it was because they "came to life" and what not, the adults laughed and stan thanked them for finding his head.

season 1, episode 4. the hand that rocks the mabel

doesn't really appear in this episode.

she thinks gideon is a little creepy, from his song to the way he pressures mabel into going on more and more dates with him, taking advantage of her kindness.

she alongside wendy, albeit the latter unaware, help mabel realize that she should be honest about how he makes her feel.

mabel laughs when alvah threatens to strangle the little boy if he decides to do anything to retaliate against her.

she appreciated it.

was standing beside stan when soos became a human disco ball, staring questionably at the man as he spun in circles.

season 1, episode 5. the inconveniencing

not really present.

season 1, episode 6. dipper vs manliness

is at the diner when the pines family come to get food.

they join her at her booth where she is drinking a cup of coffee and eating a plate of scrambled eggs and toast.

when stan was being a cheapskate, she tells them that it'll be on her and to get whatever they want.

mabel is ecstatic to be getting pancakes that morning.

when dipper says "pancakes are on me" and is laughed at by stan and mabel, and a small laugh that leaves alvah, the former doubt him.

when stan brings up his little "disco girl" fiasco, alvah tells him it's alright to listen to pop music while being a boy.

he asks her if he's plenty manly, she could only look away and silently sip at her coffee.

when dipper does the whole "test your manliness" contraction and fails, alvah is the only one that comforts him while he was being teased by the other patrons for getting the weakest score.

though she couldn't help but be impressed when manly dan broke the machine and impressively the stack of pancakes landed on other patron's plates.

when dipper leaves and it's just the three of them left, stan embarrassingly admits that he has a small crush on lazy susan.

alvah teases him about it.

she's with mabel helping her "spruce" up her uncle who's a "cranky, cross, weird old man" with the power of mabel.

she laughs at that.

she's really enjoying mabel, wendy and soos do their best to help the poor old man.

at this point she's not even helping, she's just laughing at their failed attempts honestly.

trying to get him to smile?

failed.

give him a facial?

failed.

try and shave his outrageous chest hair?

don't even remind me.

etiquette?

doesn't exist.

by the end of all mabel's "training" he looked even worse than when they first started, which only frustrate mabel.

"Your niece is SO adorable, Stan. Never knew she would be quite the cupid." Alvah teases from where she was, he just huffed at her, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms "Come on, she's doing you quite the favor if you're asking me. You could learn a thing or two from your love obsessed niece." he waves his hand at her.

"You've been nothing but a bother ALL day, Alvah! Just tell me I don't gotta shot and be done with it." Mabel, who was in the middle of a rant, briefly looked up when Alvah left their side to approach Stan. Wendy and Soos were chattering about other stuff that could help so they didn't notice how Alvah approached Stan, hands on her hips as she stood a little too close to him.

"Not at all. I heard back in the day you were quite the charmer, I believe you've got a good shot with her." she says and leans in close, he scoffed and leaned in, not backing away despite the small distance between them "Shoot your shot, I'm sure you'll hit a home run if you just be yourself."

"You're only saying that because with how perfect and pretty you are, you can just do or say about anything and people will gobble it right up." she laughs as she leaned back, hand to her chest and face flushed with how much she's been laughing that day.

"You think I'm pretty~?" his hands are now on his hips, eyes averting her teasing gaze, his own face flushing a little.

"I would be a fool if I said no."

"Oh my gosh!" Mabel suddenly squealing caught them off guard, the four of them all looking down at her when she sprung off the sofa with her hands to her cheeks "Grunkle Stan and Alvah! Alvah and Grunkle Stan! You two, you're perfect!" they both share a look then burst out into laughter.

"That's really nice of you sweety, but I'm way out of her league." Alvah raised a brow, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.

"Really? And here I thought I was, and I quote, "perfect and pretty". Your words." he laughs.

"Yeah! But I'm irresistible and dreamy! No woman would deny me!" she jokingly rolled her eyes with crossed arms, she hummed softly when she felt Mabel tug on the skirt of her dress, when she spared her a glance she winced at how shiny her eyes were.

"What do you think of my grunkle, Alvah? Is he dating material?" she looked at Stan once more, eyes looking him up and down as she took in his character, and Mabel was graced with a soft and serene look on her face as she didn't break away from him.

"I think he's perfect for her." the sincerity in her tone was enough to satisfy Mabel, though the young girl did not miss the longing in her eyes the longer she stared at him.

"That's good enough!" she shouts then rushes out of the room, they all wait because not even a minute passes when she comes back "Grunkle Stan, come with me! And leave your pants at home."

"With pleasure." the two disappear and left Alvah, Wendy and Soos alone in the living room, to which Wendy and Soos look towards Alvah.

"You know, Mabel isn't wrong." Wendy quips.

"Hmm?" Soos nods his head.

"You and Stan, well, you two are like two peas in a pod! He doesn't get mad at you like he would at us."

"You laugh at his jokes."

"He enjoys being around you."

"You don't barf whenever he's next to you." as they continue to list more things about them, she just laughs at waves her hand.

"Me and Stan? As flattering as that is, I don't see him like that." she admits as she picks up the photo Mabel dropped, laughing at Stan's poor posture in the photo "He's just a really good friend, honestly." Wendy huffs with a smile, crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes on her.

"With how you two dance around each other? Yeah, right."

"Believe what you wanna believe."

season 1, episode 7. double dipper

alvah probably wouldn't have gone to stan's "party" if it weren't for mabel's insistence that she just had to be there to keep stan company, or whatever that means.

she argues that she didn't have anything to wear for the occasion, but that doesn't stop mabel from making an outfit out of nothing but left over fabric.

that kid never ceased to surprise her.

"How do I look, Stan?"

"Same old, same old, I promise you that." upon seeing her he felt his words get caught in his throat, staring owlishly as she tugged on the scarf wrapped securely around her neck "W-Where did you-- ahem! Where..." she sighs to herself.

"I don't know how I feel about sequin, but Mabel insisted that I wear them so I could shine." upon that they notice the way some of the lights that shun down on her reflected off the glittery-like pants and sparkled "I don't quite like the way it feels, but I'll put up with it if it makes her happy. So Stan, I ask again, how do I look?" she asks once again and opens her arms, going so far as doing a little twirl with a giggle.

"You look..." she slowly raises a brow, waiting for an answer "you look real pretty, doll face." she continues to giggle when he shoved his hands in his pockets, face turning red while her own cheeks turned pink.

"Thanks, you look quite dashing as well." he clears his throat as he tugs on his collars.

"D-Don't I? I'm glad you noticed." he then holds his hand out to her, the other rubbing the back of his neck nervously before gesturing towards the dance floor "Wanna dance?" she looks down at his hand and noticed that it was shaking, if she took his hand would it be sweaty?

"You are so adorable, Stan." she coos and takes his hand, and it was indeed, sweaty "What are you, Dipper?" he gasps, hand to his chest.

"I am offended. Alright, toots, I may not be as young as I was before but I'll show you I still got it."

and he most certainly did.

at first she wasn't so sure when he led her to the dance floor and shouted at soos to play specific songs, but as the night went on she noticed that he was a really good dancer.

he was light on his feet and definitely had rhythm.

he knew just how to guide her, how to hold her.

she's laughing to her hearts contents with every swing and every twirl, the both of them ignoring when they hear mabel squealing in the background when she found them.

with how smooth stan was she hadn't even realized that she was dipped until she opened her eyes and saw her vision was upside down.

stan is grinning down at her when she looks up at him, panting softly at how long they've been dancing for.

"Speechless?" he laughs some more, hands holding her by the waist while one of her hands goes to her chest while the back of her other hand is pressed to her forehead, head leaning to the side.

"You've swept me completely off my feet." he laughs when he hoists her back up and the two of them are spinning around together, her hands resting on his shoulders while his stayed on her waist "This is fun, thanks for tonight." he chuckles.

"We oughta thank Mabel for this, you wouldn't even have come if it weren't for her."

"You're right." he leads them over to where the food was when Soos announced it was time for the competition between Mabel and Pacifica Northwest to continue, she's drinking from a cup while Stan was unnecessarily taking a lot of marshmallows when a bill strung from what she guessed was a fishing line hung in front of him.

"Right, like I'm gonna fall for that." she doesn't say anything as she watched Stan ignore the money dangling in front of him... for about a second before jumping for it, taking out the table and knocking everything to the floor then cashing after it, leaving her alone "Gimme that money, sonny!" she sighs, deflating a little.

"And there the night goes."

season 1, episode 8. irrational treasure

shows up at the end only to make fun of stan.

season 1, episode 9. the time travelers pig

shows up at the end to make fun of stan... again.

season 1, episode 10. fight fighters

helps mabel with stan's fear of heights.

and by help she's just in the background, encouraging stan that he doesn't have anything to be afraid of.

is with stan and mabel on top of the water tower, nonchalantly leaning against the railing while stan's gripping onto it like his life depends on it.

"Take off your blindfold, now!" when he does he's met with the daunting sight of being meters off the ground.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I was expecting." Alvah snickers at Stan's frightened face, eyes widened in fear as he couldn't tear his eyes away. Stan briefly looks at Alvah and saw the way she was casually leaning against the handrail, arms crossed without a single care in the world "You're enjoying this too much." she nods.

"I am."

"You're doing better than I thought! Now let go of the handrail." Mabel instructs, Alvah stifles her laughter by how much he was trembling.

"No!" he answers back, voice all strained, that was enough to get Alvah to burst out into laughter.

"Hey, do you smell anger and hormones?" as soon as she said that they look behind Mabel and saw Robbie, who's supposed to be off fighting Dipper, climbing up onto the water tower.

"Finally, I'm safe!"

"Hey, Robbie, get your own water tower!"

"Shh! Keep it down! He'll find us!" she raises a brow at his sudden appearance and leans back to get a look at what he was fleeing from, she squinted her eyes when she saw a pixelated figure at the bottom of the water tower. Before she could do anything he kicked the supporting beams, causing the water tower to shake.

"What was that?!" Mabel shouts, Stan's grip on the handrail tightens as sweat bleeds down the side of his face.

"Oh boy!"

"We're safe, right?"

"Of course not! This thing is on stilts high, high up!" whoever the pixelated figure was managed to break the support beam, Robbie unfortunately fell off while Stan and Mabel were able to run to the opposite side from where it was falling, but Alvah was too also unfortunate and fell off but managed to catch herself.

"Alvah!" she looks down and breaks out into a cold sweat at the distance between herself and the ground, sighing nervously to herself.

"Well... this is an unexpected predicament." whatever was going on below them quickly moved elsewhere, she looks back up and quickly reaches her other hand to grab a hold of the railing to pull herself back up. She grows a little nervous when she felt the tower sway due to it now only being supported by three beams, she starts to pull herself up but cringes when she heard the handrail itself creak "Uh... a little help, please!" she shouts.

"Hang in there!" she sighs to herself.

"I already am." when she felt a hand she thought it would have been Mabel to come to her rescue, instead when she looked up she was met with Stan instead. He takes one of her hands first to pull her up and when she was above the handrail he grabs the back of her legs to swing them over and pull her back to safety, he was still a little weak to the knees so they collapsed to the ground with her laying on his chest, the both of them unmoving after the drastic turn of events "Thanks for helping me, Stan." his chest rumbles as he laughs weakly.

"Right back at cha, toots." she rolls her eyes and pats his chest, she finally manages to push herself up and stand to her feet, albeit with shaking legs, and helps Stan to his feet "I finally got over my fear of heights."

"So you actually WERE scared of heights."

"Don't push your luck."

season 1, episode 11. little dipper

makes a brief appearance to tell dipper that it's okay to be short and that he shouldn't need to be insecure about it.

soos points out that she and stan are about the same height when she wears heels.

they tell her to take off her heels.

she takes her leave.

season 1, episode 12. summerween

wears a simple angel costume and gives the children candy in stan's stead while he was scaring the children.

or attempting to scare them.

joins them at the end of the night for the horror movie marathon.

season 1, episode 13. boss mabel

finds it real cute how both mabel and dipper are similar to stan.

season 1, episode 14. bottomless pit

doesn't fall in like the other four do.

hears their screams fade out into existence and kind of just sits there and waits to see what happens.

not even a couple seconds later and the screaming returns and the four of them are thrown right back out.

she greets them like nothing even happened.

shakes her head when stan falls back in.

season 1, episode 15. the deep end

is just casually sunbathing.

season 1, episode 16. carpet diem

only appears to stare weirdly at soos, who's technically waddles, as he passes by.

season 1, episode 17. boyz crazy

not present in this episode, only at the end to comfort wendy after her break up with robbie.

season 1, episode 18. land before swine

joins them on their rescue mission to save waddles, and because stan called her so she could help comfort mabel.

she was always good at that.

after being told what happened by stan, she gave him a skeptical look and knew that he was lying to mabel about how waddles disappeared.

following the trial of yarn, it led them to what they believed was an abandoned church out deep into the woods.

"Okay, the red yarn leads to..." she trailed off when she saw at the end of the church was old man McGucket rocking back and forward in a rocking chair while playing a banjo... rather creepy that he was there in the first place "Old man McGucket?" he turns at the sound of Mabel's voice, smiling at them and waving his hand to greet them.

"Howdy, friends!"

"What are you doing out here?"

"You'll never believe me. So I was doing my hourly hootenanny..." Stan scoffs, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms.

"Ohh! This guy."

"When this enormous wingly critter stole my musical spoons and flew lickety split into the abandoned mine down yonder." they all lean over to take a peek down the hole in the floorboards where the red yarn was leading, Alvah reached forward to grab Dipper by his shoulder when she noticed that his hat was going to fall in.

"Looks kinda hairy down there."

"Come on, Grunkle Stan, you can handle it. You punched a pterodactyl in the face, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Haha! I did do that, didn't I?" Alvah side eyes him, she looks away when he glared at her.

"My! What a suspicious laughter!" he then looks at Alvah, who looks back at him with a kind smile, she leans back a bit when he points directly at her face "I remember you! I remember you from all the way back then!" he shouts, she tilts her head to the side.

"And I remember you from, like, last week?" he laughs wildly.

"I know what you are!" Stan and Soos got in front of her, making sure to make some distance between her and McGucket while the kids pulled her away "You can't fool me!"

"Knock it off, loon." Stan growls.

"That ain't cool, dawg." Soos says disappointedly, Dipper and Mabel look up at Alvah all worried.

"Are you alright?"

"Why's old man McGucket acting more crazy then usual?" Alvah just gave an innocent shrug.

"Perhaps I remind him of someone." that seemed like a logical answer, though when the others turned their attention back to the hole, they failed to notice the way both Alvah and McGucket stared at each other.

they go down with dipper first, then mabel, soos, alvah, stan and unfortunately mcgucket tell about how he kissed raccoon or something. none of them were really paying attention.

when the rope snapped and they all fell down into the chasm, they were lucky that they landed on a mushroom to break their fall, though alvah did land on top of soos.

following the trail of red yarn deeper into the mine shaft they found interesting plants, skeletons but what really caught them off guard were the dinosaurs trapped in tree sap.

from the famous tyrannosaurus rex to the stegosaurs, this cavern seemed to have them all.

but then they found where the pterodactyl was supposed to be, but due to the summer heat, the tree sap melted and it broke free.

they grew nervous when they found where a raptor was, its claw wiggling free.

they should probably hurry up.

alvah is with mabel when stan admits out loud that it was actually him that let waddles out and was the reason that he was snatched up in the first place.

mabel threatens stan that she'll never talk to him again if they don't find waddles, which causes an argument to break out between the two of them.

soos tries to mediate by reassuring mabel they could just continue to follow the yarn, but accidentally wound it back up into a ball.

mcgucket stands beside her when they all start arguing with each other, looking up at her when he saw that calm demeanour that she usually wore start to drop as they yelled at each other.

"Enough!" she shouts, shocking them all into silence. Not once have they heard Alvah raise her voice so angrily before that it echoed through the cavern, or with such an angered look on her face that if looks could kill they'd all be dead "I understand we're all under a certain amount of stress, but acting like children aren't going to get us anywhere!"

"Listen, we just--" Stan raises his hands, flinching back when she directed her fiery glare at him.

"Stan! It was wrong of you to lie to Mabel about what happened to Waddles. Mabel, you have a right to be angry but now isn't the time. Soos, I get that it was an accident but we're in a bit of a bind now that we've lost both the trail and the lantern. Dipper, he's doing his best so take a step back." she lets out a deep sigh, squeezing the bridge of her nose to calm her nerves "You guys are going to shut your mouths, we're going to go down that tunnel because that's where the yarn was leading to last, we're gonna find Waddles and do our best to avoid that pterodactyl because our lives damn well depend on it."

"Hey! Cheer up fellers!" her intense gaze turned to look behind her and it dropped immediately at what she saw "I fixed your lantern!"

...

...

"Oh, dear."

alvah was already running away with the kids in her arms, prioritizing their safety first while leaving the other three behind to catch up.

they're all hiding behind rocks when the tunnel they fled down led them to a cliff where a railway led to what seemed to be a nest.

the rocks they were hiding behind were shaped oddly like them.

she smacks stan when he suggested they use soos as a human sacrifice.

she glares at them all when they were going to start arguing again, that shut them right up.

the sound of oinking caught their attention and so they peek out of their hiding spot to find waddles in the nest along side a giant egg, that doesn't look good.

alvah was the first to chase after mabel when she left their hiding spot to go and retrieve waddles, carefully chasing after her as she crossed the rusting railway tracks.

she ushers the young girl to hurry but keeps close as she looked at the pile of skeletons that surrounded the nest, but kept a closer eye on the looming egg beside them.

the sudden appearance of the pterodactyl startled waddles, which caused the pig to run out of her arms in his harness and towards stan, who was still on the tracks.

they all watch in horror when the pterodactyl nose dives for them but missed and instead destroyed the tracks, causing the two of them to fall towards the wilderness below.

"Oh, no!"

"Stan!"

"Mister Pines!" Alvah slaps a hand onto her forehead when Stan disappeared into the jungle below them, she could only hope that he managed to survive that fall, but she has other things to worry about. She pushes the two children down then yanks Soos down to avoid being caught by the giant prehistoric lizard flying above them, now beginning to stress a little.

"This is just... wonderful." she says through gritted teeth, they all then gasp when Stan's hat fell into the nest "And I say it again, this is just wonderful."

"Guys, we've gotta save them!"

"McGucket, do you have an invention that can distract the pterodactyl?"

"Do I?" he pulls his hat off and starts rifling through it, when he didn't find anything he slumps down "Nope!" Alvah squeezes her temple again, the sound of crackling turned their direction towards the egg that was shaking and when it fell over they all pushed themselves as far away from it as possible.

"Aw..." Mabel cooed when a baby pterodactyl peeked out from the top of the egg, its beady little eyes staring right up at them, but Alvah got in front of Soos and the kids and kept them away.

"McGucket..." she spoke, reaching for him as well, but he just slipped through her fingers.

"Well, welcome to the world, little feller." she closes her eyes when the hatchling snapped its beak shut and proceeded to swallow him whole, she shook her head.

"He will... probably not be missed."

what stood between them and getting out of the nest was the baby pterodactyl, and with the looming threat of being eaten by either it or its mother, they were limited on options.

that was until soos suggested they get in a straight line, since a pterodactyl's vision is so far apart it won't be able to see them.

dipper doubts their theory, but with the apology and reassurance of soos, they eventually agree and get in a straight line.

alvah had to admit, she was very impressed when soos' theory was correct because the moment it laid its eyes on them, it was as if they were invisible.

"I gotta admit, that was real wise of you Soos." Alvah praised as they hid behind the rock formation once more, the young man smiles at her praise.

"Haha, thanks." a distant screech caused them to jump and peeking out of hiding spot to see what it was, they were met with the sight of... you can't be serious.

"Was that?"

"Stan?" right on the back of the pterodactyl with Waddles strapped to his chest was Stan, repeatedly punching it in the face "Waddles!"

"He's punching him in the face!" she couldn't help but whistle at the astonishing display of strength, not expecting Stan to pull of such a stunt.

"From heck's heart I stab at thee!" he shouts as he brings down both his fists to the top of the pterodactyl's head, the mighty creature lets out a screech before crashing into the cliffside and falling in its demise. Stan managed to jump off in time and pull himself up so he didn't fall with it, Alvah whistles again.

"Oh, yes! Haha!"

"You're alright, Stan?" he's panting tiredly, worn out after punching the living daylights of the flying lizard, he perks up when he hears clapping.

"I guess your story was true after all, Stan. I guess I've got to cross "watch Stan punch a dinosaur in the face" off my bingo card." he just laughs tiredly, rubbing the back of his head as she approached him.

"Ah, you're just saying that, but flattery won't get you anywhere." she knocks his shoulder, they then look down to see Mabel wearing Stan's hat, beady little eyes looking up at him "Here's your pig, kiddo." Alvah awes when Stan waves Waddle's hooves, how adorable.

"Ooo, Waddles! You saved him for me."

"Yeah, well, sometimes you just gotta... look out!"

stan takes alvah by the hand when the pterodactyl climbed back up from where it had fallen and started to chase after thme again.

they found themselves back where they had fallen in the first place and realized they had no way of getting out.

upon seeing the geysers shooting up debris, dipper points it out and says they can ride the water up.

however, when they got in the water was still.

they all scream out in terror when the pterodactyl was right before them, but soos screams "bros before dinos" and slams his fists down to get the geyser to activate and shook them straight through the room but out of the mineshaft.

mabel landed in the chandelier with waddles.

soos and dipper ended up in a piano.

stan with alvah on top of him landed in an open casket, with his hat somehow ending up on her head.

the destroyed ceiling collapsed and filled up the hole, hopefully sealing it up where the dinosaurs can't get out.

they all left that day, with alvah feeling satisfied that this experience brought stan and mabel closer, as well as soos and dipper.

she did, however, glance back towards the destroyed church before shrugging her shoulders.

she wasn't forgetting anything, right?

season 1, episode 19. dreamscaperers

"Hmm?" Alvah entered the shack and it was eerily quiet, usually, there would at least be some noise whenever she came by, especially at this hour. Entering the living room, she was met with the odd sight that was the Pines twins and Soos laying unconscious in front of Stan as he sat on the sofa, were they having a sleepover or something? She leaves the room and returns to drape blankets over their sleeping bodies and put pillows under their heads, when she reaches Stan, she throws the blanket over his lap and reaches to take his hat off when she felt something. When she removes his fez her fingers gently brush his hair out of his face, her hand recoils back when she hears a familiar laughter ring out through the room "Now that's a laughter I haven't heard in three decades." she mutters to herself, her hand reaches for his face again but this time she takes him by the chin to turn his face so she could get a good look at him.

"Ah... wha..." he muttered in his sleep, well, at least he still seemed sane. She pulls her hand back and laces her fingers together, pushing them forward to crack her knuckles then pushing her head up to crack her neck. Her fingers brush against his hair that fell over his forehead and she moves it to the side, her index finger presses against the center of his forehead as she whispers a few words under her breath and his face visibly relaxes.

"That should be enough... hopefully." she gently flicks his nose before turning on her heel to leave them be, she's done enough.

the dream demon summoned by gideon gleeful was running amok inside stan's mind in search for the code to stan's safe that secured the deed to the shack.

dipper, mabel and soos jumped into his mind to prevent that from happening but bill was just a force to be reckoned with.

unaware of how to defeat this demonic being, when dipper separated from them, bill was unleashing mabel and soos' worse nightmares.

soos' nightmare was a talking british dog man, odd.

mabel's nightmare was losing her cuteness and looking grotesque.

the two brightly colorful men, previously imagined by mabel, were erased from existence.

bill was having the time of his life bringing misfortune to these two humans.

"And now to finish you off, once and for all!" he points his finger at them, ready to blast them out of existence as well when he felt a presence he had long forgotten about. Dipper arrives after learning that they were in Stan's mind and that anything is possible, he flies up to confront Bill but instead, he was met with the demon slowly lowering his hand "Is that who I think it is?" they all look to where Bill was staring and saw in the distance an abnormal storm approaching them, the once star-filled sky was covered in dark black and red storm clouds where you could hear disoriented and agonizing screams.

"Cipher." the humans within Stan's mind tremble when the voices within the storm cloud came together and spoke, somewhat of a body formed that took the shape of a shadow and loomed over them "I didn't expect to see you here." Bill, whose body was red itself, turned back into its normal yellow color and his jolly personality returned.

"Well, well, well! Shouldn't I be saying that? You aren't one to enter a human mind, much less one so pathetic." the voice let out a deep chuckle.

"Well, my contractor states I must keep those they hold dear alive. Knowing you, you'd cripple this mind beyond saving." Bill let out a laugh as straightened his tie.

"Is that why you've been gone for thirty-odd years? Hah! I gotta thank this contractor of yours for keeping your butt out of the nightmare realm for this long!" he raised his hands in surrender when the figure raised its own hand, the outline of it glowing a bright red to charge up an attack "Hey, hey, now! Knowing that you're still around, I'm not dumb enough to mess with stuff you've claimed. I was on a job as well, and since these dummies thwarted my plans, I was dealing with them." he lowers his arm to take aim at them again but paused when the figure reached down, its own hand getting in front of them to protect them.

"Unfortunately, they're under my protection as well. So I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Dipper looks up at the figure, not expecting some supernatural being to come to their rescue. If he picked up anything from their conversation, this creature was in a contract with someone to protect Stan; to protect them. But who could it possibly be? "This form of mine may not be as powerful as my original, but I won't hesitate to erase you out of existence." they stare at each other in an unsettling silence until Bill starts to laugh so hard that a tear forms out of his singular eye.

"That's so hilarious! You and I both know that I can't be erased!" the red storm huffed.

"Yeah, but it's a threat nonetheless. So long as I am around, you will not be able to kill the humans under my protection." Bill huffed himself, he straightens his tie once more then his hat.

"Fine. Alright you kids, I'm gonna let you guys off the hook because of this old bat. Though, you might come in handy later. But know this. A darkness approaches, a day will come in the future when everything you care about will change." he tips his hat to bid them farewell "Until then, I'll be watching you. I'll be watching." and when he disappeared, a circle surrounded him that had various symbols that flashed until he was gone.

"Well he's annoying to deal with." the voice speaks, it then looks down at them, Dipper specifically "You better watch yourselves, Pines family. Now you've got a serious stalker on your hands." with that the storm started to disappear like, but Dipper reaches his hand out.

"Wait! Who are you?" the voice chuckles.

"That journal should know."

"Ah!" Dipper, Mabel and Soos wake up with a shout, shooting up from where they were lying down, they all then cheer when they realize they had awoken after such a confusion ordeal "We did it!" Mabel cheers, they then hear a groan coming from behind them and see that it was Stan waking up.

"What? Did what? What are you all doing here?" he asks confusingly, rubbing his head "And why was I dreaming of two brightly colored and radical young men?" the three of them stand up and approach him, though it was Dipper who rushed to his side first.

"Grunkle Stan, you're okay!" he exclaims, jumping up to hug him.

"What is this, a hug?"

"Nope. It's a chokehold." Dipper then maneuvers himself around him, wrapping his arm around his neck and proceed to lock him in a chokehold, causing the others to laugh as Stan struggled in his hold.

"Not bad, kid." he praises after being released from his hold, smiling at Dipper "Not bad."

"Oh?" they all perk up at the voice, looking towards the doorway, they were met with Alvah "You guys are finally awake? Were you having a sleepover, or something? I came in earlier and saw you guys sleeping, so I brought a couple blankets in so you'd be more comfortable." they all then finally noticed the blankets and pillows littered across the room.

"Alvah!" she watches in mild confusion when Mabel runs up to her, kneeling down so the young girl could leap into her arms "You won't believe how crazy our dreams were!"

"Really? I'm almost jealous I didn't join you." she lets Mabel go and watches as she lets out a breath of relief.

"I'm just glad Gideon didn't get into the safe. I really love this old shack." they all look up when the shack suddenly shock, a loud rumble being heard in the background.

"Hey, do you guys feel a..." they were all suddenly blown away when the wall exploded, Alvah was lucky she was behind Mabel so she wrapped her arms around the girl so she could shield her from the debris.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Pines family, did I wake you?" walking out of the hole in the wall was Gideon, with the safe destroyed and the deed to the shack in his hands.

"But we defeated Bill."

"Bill failed me! So I switched to plan b. Dynamite."

"What? Bill? Who... wha-- what are you guys talking about?"

"Spoilor alert, Stanford. I've got the deed! The Mystery Shack belongs to me! So, get off my property!"

season 1, episode 20. gideon rises

alvah apologizes to the pines family, not being able to house them because she lives in a small one bedroom apartment that charges her a ridiculous amount of rent.

her small apartment definitely didn't have room to house the twins and stan himself, so she was deeply sorry that she couldn't provide a roof over their heads.

she helps them however she can, whether it be giving them money or food, she'll do whatever she could for them.

she visits them when soos offers them a place at his abulita's home, and comforts stan when he was having a crisis about not being able to provide for the twins.

she isn't with them when they sneak into the "grand closing" of the mystery shack, she's watching behind the fences and cringes when they get caught and thrown out.

she was there when stan admits to the children that he couldn't take care of them, telling them that they had to go back home and that he bought them their tickets; it wasn't up for discussion.

they plead with him, even with alvah, but she couldn't do anything to help them and said it would be for the best.

"Bus fifty-two departing Gravity Falls. All aboard." the twins board the bus and take the seats at the very back where they looked out the window to see Stan, Alvah, Wendy, Grenda and Candy outside waving them goodbye.

"Sorry kids, it's for the best." he then turned around, not being able to face them after all that they've lost, Alvah placed her hand on his shoulder in a form of comfort as she looked up at the twins in the bus and gave them a sad wave goodbye. He does look back at them when the bus drives away but he quickly turns away, not being able to handle the look of sadness on their faces "What should I do now, Alvah? I've got no job, no house, I've got nothing." he looks up at her for a sign of hope but saw the conflicted look on her face.

"I... I really don't know." she muttered to herself "Everybody in this town is unwilling to see the truth that's in front of them because of the story Gideon wrote out unless we're able to help them open their eyes... there's nothing we can do about it. I am so sorry Stan, but I don't know if there's anything I can do to help you." his shoulders slump in defeat.

"I expected that." she finally looks down at him and gives him a weak smile.

"I may not be able to do anything to get you out of this, but I won't leave your side. Until you're able to get back on your feet, I'll be sure to see it through the whole way with you. I promise you, you've still got me by your side." she pats his shoulder and gives him the best smile she could muster, he looks into her eyes and despite the tears glistening in her eyes at the loss of the Pines twins, he could tell that her words were genuine "It'll take you dying to get rid of me." she let out a soft grunt when he pulled her into a hug, her eyes widened in surprise when she felt his fingers cling desperately to her blouse but she eventually relaxed as she wrapped her arms around him and leaned into him. 

"Thank you..." she gently rubs her hands up and down his back to comfort him.

"Don't mention it." when she finally managed to calm him down she bid Wendy, Grenda and Candy farewell and led Stan back to Soos' home. They were sitting on the couch with Alvah continuing to comfort him as he buried his face in his hands, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, Stan, this is it. Rock bottom. No family, stuck watching infomercials for that is." they both briefly look at the television to see an infomercial about an "owl trowel", or whatever that is, he then picks up the Gideon pin on the coffee table "How did you do it, kid? Why are you always one step ahead? Maybe he really is psychic after..." they both wince when a high pitch ringing went off, Alvah's eye twitched as she stuck a finger in her ear and twisted it around.

"Ah, what was that?" Stan jumped when the ringing went off due to his hearing aid.

"What keeps causing that?" she confusingly looked at him when he glanced down at the pin and a sudden realization dawned on him "Wait a minute. That's it! I know Gideon's weakness!" she still didn't understand what was going on when he sprung to his feet as he took her with him, she goes to question him but when he suddenly grabbed her by her biceps what happened next stunned her to silence. She let out a muffled gasp when Stan pulled her into a kiss that didn't last more than a couple seconds, when he pulls away he let out a cheer and quickly ran out of the room, leaving her standing there in shock. Abuela entered the room when they shared that intimate moment and looked up at Alvah, their brow raised when she saw her face slowly turn red.

"Are you alright, senorita Alvah?" her face finally crumbled, that gobsmacked expression crumbled and she was left looking flustered and embarrassed and shocked and-- she slowly raised her hands to her lips, still remembering the feeling of his chapped lips against hers and the brush of his stubble "Senorita?"

"I-I'm-- I'm alright." she let out a gasp when Stan ran back into the room, taking her hand and dragging her outside to where his car was.

"Come on, toots! We got a brat to expose!" will only music to make up any noise, the car ride was relatively quiet. Stan took a quick look at Alvah and saw she was just staring ahead of them, he would have guessed she was fine by the composed look she had on but telling how red her face was, it was giving her away. He glanced down at her lips and saw they were slightly smudged from where he had guessed her, well, guess he smudged it from when he kissed her rather out of nowhere "L-Look, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable or whatnot. But it was just a spur of the moment, and the sudden shot of adrenaline got me going and-- what I'm trying to say is, it doesn't have to mean anything. It doesn't..." he looked at her again and saw the way her face turned a shade of pink this time, her thumbs fiddling together.

"... I didn't, NOT, like it." she murmured, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear "You just... caught me off guard, is all. I wasn't expecting it." she narrowed her eyes on him when he stared rather smugly at her, wiggling his eyebrows a little.

"Oh? So are you saying if I were to kiss you again, you wouldn't protest?" he teased as his hands extended out to her, they were promptly smacked away.

"Don't push your luck, Stan. Just because I said I liked it, doesn't mean you'll get a taste anytime you want." they were both smirking at each other now, luckily they were at the red light or else Stan would have likely crashed the car, but Alvah noticed something in the distance behind Stan "Is that..." she started then grabbed Stan by his face and turned him around, they both squint their eyes at it.

"... Gideon?" they muttered, if either of them remembered back to the shack, Gideon was constructing a giant mechanical statue of himself and it looked like this thing could move. 

"Drive."

"Wha--"

"I said drive!" he was quick to ignore the law of the road and gun it down the road, he watched as she looked through his car and she surprisingly found a pair of binoculars... odd, she wasn't serious about finding binoculars, but Stan was a jack of all trades that just seemed to have anything and everything. He let out a shout when she threw herself over his lap so she could look out his window, he struggled to drive and went to shout at her but caught himself when she gasped "That little brat!" 

"What? What is it?!" she lowered the binoculars as a look of horror took over.

"He's got the kids!" she was thrown back into her seat when Stan took a sharp turn, she looked at him when she saw the serious look on his face.

"Buckle up, Alvah. We've got our kids to save." she was quick to buckle her belt and grab ahold of the handle above her head, gripping it rather tightly. By the time they arrive at the scene, after following it for some time and seeing it explode from a distance, Alvah's nails were digging into the handle but also the center console between herself and Stan. She was as pale as a sheet of paper when Stan came to a screeching halt, taking out the police cruiser in the process, he then throws his door open and steps out "Wait! Wait! Stop everything! I've got something to say!" he rushes ahead as Alvah shakily exits the car, using the side of it to steady her trembling legs.

"Gideon... is a liar!" she shouts weakly, now placing a hand on her chest to soothe her beating heart. She yelped when he grabbed her hand once more and dragged her over to the wreckage that was of Gideon's giant robot, she dusted herself off as they now looked at the crowd.

"You guys all think Gideon is so perfect and honest! "Oh, I could never tell a lie! I'm Gideon!" Pah!"

"He's more honest than you! And we expected more from you, Miss Alvah. To think you'd take his side." 

"Yeah! And he's psychic, too!" she chuckles softly, hand to her chest.

"That's where you're wrong, officer." both she and Stan look at each other and nod.

"How's this for psychic?" he kicks a loose panel while she hits it, and when it comes down it reveals a dozen monitors that have secretly recorded the lives of the many townsfolk of Gravity Falls "Bam! Take a good look!"

"Wait a minute! Is that me?"

"The secret ingredient to my coffee omelette is coffee!"

"And me!"

"I can verify that that birthmark is indeed disgusting."

"Hurray!" slowly everyone started pointing at monitors that had recorded them unknowingly.

"That's right!" Stan then pulls out the pin he had and pointed it at them, behind them, they got live footage of the crowd as it scanned them "These pins are hidden cameras! And my hearing aid was picking up the feedback! Who's the fraud now?" Alvah crushed the one in her hand and saw the camera lens, after the reveal, they all threw the pins to the ground and then turned their attention towards Gideon Gleeful.

"Gideon, we gave you our trust."

"You lied to us!" Gideon backed away from the crowd as they approached him with angered expressions, he then backed into the debris that was his robot and fell to the ground.

"Please, I... it's not what it looks like. What are you gonna do with me?" Deputy Durland raises his head and looks behind him.

"Tyler?" said man sniffled, wiping away the tears that started to shed.

"Get 'em... get 'em!" Alvah is giggling softly behind Stan, a hand placed on his back as she watched over his shoulder when Deputy Durland pulled out tiny handcuffs and slap them down on Gideon's wrists. She let Stan rush over to them when they started taking him over to a different police cruiser, she let out an oof when something ran into her, and when she looked down, she smiled happily when she saw that it was Dipper and Mabel.

"Are you two alright?" she asked as she knelt, opening her arms to them so they could fall into her embrace. She held onto them so tightly, her hands rubbing up and down their heads while nuzzling into their cheeks "I'm so sorry we didn't come to you in time. I'm sorry we gave up on you." they let out weak laughter, tears of relief slowly running down their cheeks.

"Don't worry, Alvah, Dipper had it all under control." Mabel says with a cheer, said boy sniffled as he pulled himself closer into Alvah's embrace "You should have seen him! He punched Gideon right in the face!" she pulled away so she could get a look at Dipper, astonished at what she just heard, and there she saw Dipper's face turn red from embarrassment.

"Oh, psh, it wasn't anything too crazy."

"Dude, you jumped off a cliff. I think that's pretty crazy." they both let out a startled cry when she ruffled their heads.

"Sounds to me you take after your uncle." she lightly punches him in the arm, winking at him "I'm proud that you stood your ground and protected your sister. I'm glad you followed your gut." Dipper's lip trembled at her words, eyes swelling up with tears again before throwing his arms around her neck.

"Thank you, Alvah." she chuckles and brings them back into a hug once more, gently carding her fingers through their hair.

"Don't mention it, kiddo." she briefly looked up and saw Stan standing in front of a camera, posing after he managed to retrieve the deed to the shack back from Gideon. She pulls away from the twins and gestures for them to be by their uncle's side, it was their moment. Stan meets her gaze as she stands in the back with the crowd, waving for her to join them, but she politely declines with a smile. As she watched them celebrate, the longer she stared the more she felt something eat up inside of her.

What was it called again?

Oh, right.

Guilt.

season 2, episode 1. scary-oke 

"Welcome to the grand re-opening of the Mystery Shack!" the crowd starts cheering, applauding at Stan's announcement that they could finally return "We're here to celebrate the defeat of that skunk Lil' Gideon." the mention of his name caused them to boo as Stan pulled out a makeshift doll that was of Gideon "Please, please... boo harder. But I didn't catch that pork chop all alone. These two scamps deserve some of the glory. Well, most of the glory." Toby, the local news reporter, raises what they believe to be a camera. 

"Smile for the camera." Stan deadpans at him. 

"Your camera's a cinderblock, Toby." the man immediately sulks. 

"I just want to be a part of things." Shandra Jimenez, the real news reporter, gets in front of them with an actual camera. 

"Smile for a real camera." 

"Everyone say "something stupid." 

"Something stupid." the flash of the camera goes off after they do funny poses "And don't forget to come to the after party tonight at eight." Mabel smiled as she knelt to grab a karaoke machine from below her. 

"We're doing a karaoke bonanza, people. Lights! Music! Enchantment! And an amazing karaoke performance by our family band, Love Patrol Alpha!" Dipper and Stan are immediately reluctant, not remembering about agreeing to do something like that. 

"Oh, I don't know about that." 

"I would never agree to that ever." 

"Too late, I wrote your names on the list." she then holds the sheet to her face, eyebrows wiggling up at Stan "I even got Alvah to agree." this caused him to flinch and look out into the crowd to try and find her, shoulders slumping a little when he wasn't able to spot her. Wendy bursts into the room with an airhorn and gets them to follow her outside so they could buy tickets to the party, when it was just them in the gift shop, Stan let out a sigh of relief with a smile on his face. 

"Ha! The town loves us. We finally got that Gideon smell out of the carpet. Everything is finally going my way." 

"Hey, Grunkle Stan," Stan let out a hum, looking down at Dipper "now that we have a moment, I've been meaning to ask for my journal back." Stan raised a brow. 

"What? Journal?" he pats himself for it then knelt down and lifted up the counter to pull the journal out from underneath it "Oh, you mean this old thing? It was so boring I couldn't even finish it." he then thinks back to how he photocopied the pages, he shakes his head as he hands it back to the young boy. 

"Wait, you're just gonna give it to me? Just like that?" 

"What else do you want? A kiss on the cheek?" Dipper was quick to flee with Mabel. 

"... I wouldn't mind a kiss on the--" 

"Not gonna happen." 

"What about me?" turning his head, he was met with Alvah, who was leaning against the counter with her chin resting on the back of her hands while she was kicking her feet back and forward. He felt his lips crease into a smile once his eyes landed on her, she winked at him "Think you can spare me a peck?" she giggled when he pulled at his tie to loosen it. 

"Thought you'd never ask." she tilted her head to the side and giggled again when she felt his lips press against her cheek, they were both laughing like high school students on their first date. Since the day where Stan kissed her they've become a lot more open about affection, there isn't a definite label for them, but they're more openly flirtatious than they were in the beginning "So, Mabel tells me you're doing a song for karaoke tonight." he laughed when her face dropped. 

"I am?" she then looks off, scratching her cheek in thought "I don't ever remember agreeing to something like that." she hums softly when he leans against the counter, their faces inches away from each other. 

"Well, I'm sure you've got the voice of an angel." 

"Mm? Then you better kill it, Love Patrol Alpha." she snickered softly when his face turned a shade of pink, she reached forward and pinched his cheek "Your adorable little niece told me about that one." she laughed when he smacked her hand away, pushing himself back and rubbing his cheek. 

"That ain't happening. Nope. Nah dah. Never." she walks out from behind the counter and drapes herself over his back. 

"Oh, come on. You don't wanna disappoint Mabel, do you? Do it for her." he lets her hang off of him but their attention goes over to Soos, who is currently looking out the window. 

"Hey, Mr. Pines, what's that code word I'm supposed to yell when I see a government vehicle?" the moment Stan heard "government", Alvah was thrown off him as he rushed over to the window. 

"Wait, what? Government vehicle?" the moment his eyes landed on said vehicle he quickly pulled himself back inside and quickly closed the windows, he then rushed over to the intercom and spoke into it "The Mystery Shack is now closed. Everybody out! I will not hesitate to use the hose on the elderly." Soos helps Alvah to her feet just as Dipper and Mabel run back into the room. 

"Grunkle Stan, what's happening?" 

"Yeah, you never shut down the gift shop." Alvah is ushering the kids to the side as Stan paces back and forth, Wendy and Soos watch in concern when the doorbell rings and Stan approaches the door. 

"Welcome to the Mystery Shack, gentlemen. What can I get you? Key chains? Snow globes? These rare photos of American presidents?" the two men at the door pull out government badges, each displaying their ID. 

"My name is Agent Powers. This is Agent Trigger. We're here to investigate reports of mysterious activity in this town." 

"Activity." 

"Mysterious activity in the Mystery Shack? You got to be joking." 

"I assure you I am not. I was born with a rare disorder that makes me physically incapable of experiencing humor." Stan lets out a nervous laugh "I don't understand that sound you're making with your mouth. Now if you'll excuse us, we're conducting an investigation." they then brush past Stan, who started to sweat nervously as they searched the gift shop. Alvah was holding both Dipper and Mabel by the shoulders as they watched the two men look around but she let out a gasp when Dipper slipped away from her. 

"Did you guys say you're investigating the mysteries of this town?" 

"That information is classified. But, yes. Look, between you and me, I believe there is a conspiracy of paranormal origin all connected to this town. We're just one small lead away from blowing the lid off this entire mystery." Dipper's face brightened. 

"Are you kidding me? I'm investigating the exact same thing. I found this journal in the woods which has almost all the answers. If we work together, we could crack the case." the agents share a look. 

"If you have evidence of these claims, we should talk." Agent Powers starts as he pulls out a business card. 

"We can talk right now. Please, please, come in. I have so much to show you!" it was at that moment when Stan and Alvah interfered, Dipper didn't expect Alvah to get in between him and the agents and push him backward while shaking her other hand in front of Agent Powers, a casual but warm smile on her face as Stan got behind her to usher Dipper away as she captured his attention. 

"Isn't his imagination just something? If you ask me, there isn't anything weird going on around here. Probably just the locals playing pranks and whatnot. You shouldn't believe the rumors that circulate around this quiet little town." both she and Agent Powers stand up straight, both their eyes locked on each other "There is no mysterious activity going on around here. Stuff like that just... doesn't exist. If I were you, I'd forget all about this town and get as far away as possible." the two of them just stare at each other, neither breaking eye contact until Stan got in front of her. 

"She's right, agents. Kid has an overactive imagination, and, like, a sweating problem." 

"Zing!" Mabel shouts from the background and Alvah giggles. 

"Paranormal town stuff, like Alvah here said, it's just part of the gift shop lore. Sells more tickets, you know." he snaps his fingers and Soos proceeds to put bumper stickers on their chests and headbands on their heads. 

"We have other spots to investigate. We'll be on our way." Agent Powers leaves while Agent Trigger grabs a couple of bobblehead dolls his arms can carry. 

"I'm confiscating this for evidence." 

"Smart move." she let out a breath of relief when they left, having them around was going to be a pain in the-- 

"Wait! No, wait! We have so much to talk about." they were already gone by the time Dipper reached the door, but Stan placed his hand on Dipper's shoulder and turned him around. 

"Hold it, kiddo. Trust me, the last thing you want around here at a party is cops." he then takes the business card from Dipper's hands "I'm confiscating that card. And how's about you go be a normal kid? Flirt with a girl, or steal a pie off a windowsill." 

"But Grunkle Stan, you don't understand." 

"And don't go talking to those agents." Dipper looks at Alvah for help, eyes pleading for her to talk to Stan and convince him, but she just gives him an apologetic look with a shrug and follows after him. She was the last person he expected to side with Stan, well, not really, but whenever it came to anything that Dipper was passionate about or set his mind to, she was always the first one to encourage him. But weirdly enough, she was openly against the idea of those government agents being around, going so far as to claim that there was nothing weird going around in Gravity Falls. It was hours later and Alvah was helping set up for the after-party, helping Mabel set up her karaoke machine. 

"You look cute, Mabel." the young girl giggled and did a little twirl. 

"Thanks, Alvah." she then gestures for her to step aside, pulling out some sort of glittery gun, she then witnessed her shoot confetti out of it at Stan "Boom! Well, the confetti cannon works. And the karaoke machine has all the best songs. "We built this township on rock and roll", "Danger lane to highway town", "T8king over midnight" by &NDRA." Alvah hummed softly, what old songs. 

"Listen, kid, you do not want to hear this voice singing. Trust me." 

"Grunkle Stan, karaoke isn't about sounding good. It's about sounding terrible, together." 

"Together." Alvah echoes before letting out a grunt when Mabel hugs her face, Mabel is standing on the stage so she had the elevation to do so. 

"And Alvah wants to see you sing as well, don't you?" they look at each other and she gives a cheeky smile. 

"Scared?" Stan scowls at them, he opens his mouth to say something but instead closed it and stomped off, the two laugh "Surely he won't back down from this fight." she hummed softly when Mabel kissed her cheek. 

"You're just the best, Alvah." she winks. 

"I know." she stands off to the side as guests start pulling up, she greets the few people who walked past her and quietly enjoys the party. Soos and Mabel were having fun at the party, Stan was outside at the admission stand, but she couldn't spot Wendy or Dipper anywhere. 

"Hey, toots!" she perks up and looked over to see Stan approaching her, she smiled and waved her hand "Have you seen Wendy and Dipper anywhere?" she shook her head with a shrug of her shoulders. 

"Nope, was just questioning that." she looked towards the crowd and spotted Mabel, she lifted her fingers to her lips and blew on them "Mabel!" the girl paused in her movements and looked to where she heard the sound of her name when she spotted Alvah she grinned until she noticed she was waving her over, so she quickly rushed over. 

"What's up?" 

"Have you seen your brother anywhere?" she snorts. 

"Yeah, he went inside with Wendy." she then wiggles her eyebrows at them "Hopefully they're not doing you know what." they both look at each other. 

"I hope they're not doing you know what." Stan rushes inside, Alvah snorts at the panicked look he had on his face and ushers Mabel back to enjoy the party. After a couple of minutes, she only sees Wendy, and still no sign of Dipper, perhaps he wasn't feeling up for a party after what happened that morning. She should probably apologise to him about not having his back, but it's for the best if government officials are left in the dark about what's going on in this quie-- she let out a whoa when she suddenly felt rumbling, she then glances over at the food bar and her eyes widened when she saw the bowl of punch splashing around as the earth shook. 

"I think it's an earthquake!" Wendy shouts as she blows an airhorn "Hey, everybody! We got to get out of here!" as soon as she announces that everyone starts fleeing back to their cars, Alvah tries pushing past the crowd to get to Mabel but is unfortunately carried off with the panicked citizens. It was only when the crowd dispersed that she was able to run back to the shack to check up on the kids when she saw... zombies? 

"What the...?" she muttered under her breath as she saw the zombies surround the shack, she panicked when she couldn't find Dipper or Mabel anywhere, what made it worse was she saw a zombified Soos, who was now looking at her. 

"Hey, dude. Would it be cool if me and my new buds eat your brains?" she gave him a scrutinizing stare, gaze hardening the longer she stared at him "I'm not hearing a no." 

"Soos!" she yelped when they started approaching her so she was quick to run away, she tried opening the doors but they were locked so she went to try and find an open window but they too were closed and latched shut. She didn't have any time to properly find a way inside because the zombies were beginning to surround her, she backed away from the window then rushed forward and jumped through the window, breaking through the glass while shielding her face from any broken glass. She let out a sigh when her clothes got caught in the broken shards and tore a little, but that was the least of her worries, what she needs is to find those ki-- she gasped when a zombie appeared out of nowhere, grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her into a door hard enough that it broke and they both fell in. She managed to kick the offender off of her but it was crawling back with the determination to eat her face, she looked around the closet for anything to defend herself and her face lit up at what she found "Oh, Stan, you shouldn't have." back to Dipper, Mabel, and Waddles, the two of them were cornered in the gift shop with nowhere else to go. 

"Dipper, isn't there something in the journal about defeating zombies?" 

"No! There's nothing in here about weaknesses. This can't be happening. I wanted answers so badly that I put everyone in danger. Now we're toast. It's all my fault and no one can save us." Dipper gasped when he was grabbed by the zombie and pulled off the ground "No, Mabel! I'm sorry!" 

"Dipper!" he screams as he's faced with a groaning zombie but is suddenly released when the zombie was hit in the head, he falls to the ground and Mabel was quick to rush to his side, looking up at their savior they are met with a disheveled looking Stan. He was missing his fez hat, his tie was loosely hanging from his neck, he had several tears in his suit and zombie blood splattered over him. 

"You two, attic. Now!" 

"Grunkle... Grunkle Stan?" 

"I said now!" they didn't need to be told twice, they quickly ran past him to get upstairs while he swung a bat down on the wave of zombies that surrounded him "Alright you undead jerks, ready to die twice?" he's panting as he's backed into the living room, taking down a few more zombies "The only wrinkly monster who harasses my family is me! Take that, and that!" it was only when the kids were safely upstairs he stops to take out a couple more zombies, shoving the bat into a zombie's mouth and went it snapped in two he punched it wearing his brass knuckles "Anyone else want a piece?!" he punches down a couple more just as the front door is busted down, he dodges a couple of swipes but was nicked in the stomach, he pulls his fist but stopped when he heard a shout. 

"Get down!" he quickly falls back into the staircase just as the zombie's brains are blown right out of its head, turning his head, he was met with Alvah just as disheveled as he was. Her dress was torn and was covered in dirt and zombie blood, and her hair was still tied in a loose braid but some strands of her hair were sticking out, what did it was the double-barreled shotgun she held followed by the shotgun shell strap wrapped around her body "I'm gonna get that kid, for sure." she pants, she let out a grunt when one of the zombies that was on the ground grabbed at the end of her dress so she pointed the barrel at its head and shot it dead. 

"Alvah, are you--" he sputtered out his words when she grabbed her dress and tore it down the side, spreading her legs a little wider for more leg room. 

"That's much better." she muttered as she flipped the latch to open the barrel of the shotgun, she flicked the empty casings out and slipped two new shells down the barrel before snapping it shut and pointing at a new group of zombies "Where are the kids?!" 

"Um, um-- uh, they're, uh--" 

"Stan!" she snaps, shooting a few zombies at once and quickly reloading "Now is not the time to gawk! Where are the kids?!" she asks again, he shakes his head to get a hold of himself. 

"Right, they're upstairs!" she nods. 

"Good! Let's go join them." they stand back to back as they punch and blast the zombies away, he pushes her up the staircase first then follows after her, they look at the father clock and proceed to push it down the first flight of stairs to create some distance before rushing up towards the attic. The door is closed when they reach it, she's standing behind Stan as he bangs on the door to open it, keeping an eye out for any zombies that could appear anywhere and when he finally got the door open she quickly pushed him inside and shut the door behind him. 

"Grunkle Stan, Alvah!" he gently pushes her to the side as he grabs a chair and lodges it beneath the door handle, Dipper lets out a nervous laugh as he approached the two tired adults "Well, at least, you can't deny magic exists anymore, right?" the two of them take a second before letting out sighs. 

"Kid, I've always known." 

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Alvah stands behind Stan as she turns around, a guilty look on her face. 

"I'm not an idiot, Dipper. Of course, this town is weird and the one thing I know about that weirdness is that it's dangerous." Alvah let out a scream when a hand broke through the door and grabbed her by her hair, Stan punches her free and grabs her when she fell forward, pushing her backward alongside the kids "I've been lying about it to try to keep you away from it, to try and protect you from it." when another zombie burst through the window she let out a growl and shot it right back out, she and Stan peek out and grimace when the shack was surrounded "It looks like I didn't lie well enough." Dipper then looked at Alvah, waiting for her explanation. 

"Ignorance is bliss, Dipper. Some people just don't need to know about all this supernatural stuff, and the less I know the better it does for my mental well-being." she fell to the floor and leaned against Mabel's bed, the young girl hurried to her side, and held her arm when she started rubbing her scalp where she was yanked back by the hair "I know it's not ideal to ignore it, but if I think about it, I find it hard to sleep at night. And if you tell the wrong people, welp, I guess tonight is a great example of that." Mabel was now applying rainbow band-aids to the open cuts on both Stan and Alvah as they try thinking of ways to get out of their current predicament. 

"What do we do? What do we do?" Waddles takes cover under Mabel's bed beside Alvah, who rests her hand on top of the pig's head to comfort him. 

"Normally, the journal would help us, but there's nothing in there about defeating zombies." Dipper says as he opens the book and flips through pages before showing them, and under the UV light, there they see words written on the blank page. 

"Wait, wait, wait, the text. It's glowing in the black light." 

"What?" he turned it around and under the light as he flipped through pages he saw words written in some sort of invisible ink "All this time I thought I knew all the journal secrets, but they're written in some kind of invisible ink." 

"Invisible ink." Dipper quickly goes back to the chapter about the zombies and sees instructions on how to defeat the zombies. 

"This is it! "Zombies have a weakness! Previously thought to be invincible, their skulls can be shattered by a perfect three-part harmony." Three-part harmony? How can we create that? I have a naturally high-pitched scream." 

"I can make noises with my body. Sometimes intentionally." 

"Whoop, whoop!" they looked towards Alvah, who was bumping her hands in the air "Love patrol alpha!" she cheered then giggled, trying to make light of the situation despite the possibility that their faces could get eaten, Mabel grinned and snaps her fingers. 

"Exactly." they all find themselves standing on the ledge of the second floor window, well, Alvah was casually sitting on the edge as she leaned against the karaoke machine while Stan and Dipper stood as stiff as a board holding microphones, Mabel was the one that looked like she was having the time of her life despite her life being in danger "Zombies and gentlemen, I'm Mabel, they're Dipper and Stan and together, we are Love Patrol Alpha!" 

"Whoop, whoop!" Alvah goes off in the background, she laughed when Stan glared at her to be silent. 

"I never agreed to that name." Dipper says quickly. 

"Hit it!" Alvah quite literally hits the top of the karaoke machine and "Taking over Midnight" by &NDRA starts playing, she giggles softly when Stan squints at the screen. 

"Uh, Mabel, our lives may not be worth this." Dipper pursed his lips and tried getting into the beat. 

"Friday night, and we're gonna party 'til dawn. Don't worry daddy, I've got my favorite dress on-- Mabel, this is stupid." she ignores him and sings the next part. 

"We roll into the party, the boys are looing our way. We just keep dancing, we don't care what they say. And all the boys are ganging up in my face--" Mabel let out a startled scream when a zombie climbed up, Stan pulled her back just as Alvah stepped forward and shot it off. 

"Come on you guys, you have to sing together or it won't work." she urged while reloading the shotgun, Dipper and Stan swallow their pride. 

"Boys are a bore, let's show 'em the door." 

"We're taking over the dance floor." Alvah couldn't help but smile when they all started singing together "Oo-oo, girls do what we like. Oo-oo, we're taking over tonight. Oo-oo, girls do what we like. Oo-oo, we're taking over tonight. We're queens of the disco!" Alvah laughs and claps her hands but notices that it's actually working, looking over at the horde of zombies, one by one their heads started exploding. 

"You're doing it! Keep it up!" as she watched them she saw that they were actually having a good time, perhaps it's because no ones around that Dipper and Stan aren't embarrassed. 

"Oo-oo, girls do what we like. Oo-oo, we're taking over tonight." 

"Taking over tonight!" she quickly pulled Dipper back when a zombie climbed up once more and punched it in the face, knocking its head right of its neck and it landing in a bowl of soda, she winced and shook her hand. 

"Ow." she let out a whoa when Stan pulled her close and that was when she noticed that all the zombies were dead. 

"Thank you! We'll be here all night!" 

"Deal with it, zombie idiots!" 

"Pines! Pines! Pines! Pines!" Alvah only laughed, they were back inside and she managed to find Stan's fez hat and placed it on top of his head, he thanked her and adjusted it himself just as Dipper started apologizing. 

"I'm sorry about this, guys. I totally ruined everything." 

"Dipper, are you kidding me? I got to sing karaoke with my two favorite people in the world. No party could ever top that." she stands back as Stan crouches down to Dipper and Mabel's level, hands on their shoulders. 

"Kids, listen, this town is crazy. So you need to be careful. I don't know what I'd do with myself if you got hurt on my watch. I'll let you hold onto that spooky journal as long as you promise me you'll only use it for self-defense and not go looking for trouble." 

"Okay, as long as you promise me that you don't have any other bombshell secrets about this town." 

"Promise." 

"Promise." Alvah pulled a face when she noticed both Dipper and Stan cross their fingers behind their backs, she sighed while shaking her head, Stan then let out a sigh. 

"Man, we have got a lot of zombie damage to clean up. Where's my handyman anyway?" they look up when they see Soos enter the room, still zombified, Alvah aimed the shotgun at him while Stan picked up a chair "Holy moses!" 

"Wait!" they both paused and looked down at Dipper to see him pull out the journal "There's a page in here about curing zombification. It'll take a lot of formaldehyde." 

"Ooo, and cinnamon." 

"Come on, Soos, let's fix you up." Mabel takes the chair from Stan and starts pushing Soos away, scolding him when he kept muttering about brains, with Dipper following behind and leaving Stan and Alvah alone in the living room. Stan looks at Alvah and saw she was rocking back and forth on her feet with her hands behind her back, he looked away when she spared him a glance and whistled. 

"So..." he cleared his throat, placing a hand on the back of his neck "you were pretty cool back there, with the shotgun and all." she gave a nervous laugh herself. 

"Hehe, yeah. I found it in one of your closets when a zombie fell into me, I got real lucky." she says as she tosses the gun on the sofa "You looked pretty cool as well, punching those zombies left and right. I think I hurt my hand a little." she admits as she waves her hand once more, her knuckles a shade of red after punching the head off the zombie. 

"Well, your hands are pretty delicate, toots." Stan says as he takes her hand into his, rubbing his thumb along her knuckles while blowing cool air onto them "Thanks for protecting the kids." she gave him a reassuring smile. 

"There isn't anything I wouldn't do for those kids." she then bumps her hip into his "Including you, Stan." he just laughs, his eyes then landed on the karaoke machine that Mabel left behind. 

"Well, sweetheart, you heard my magnificent singing voice, now it's time I heard yours. You even got a performance out of me." she scoffed jokingly, placing a hand on both her hip and chest. 

"And you think that's enough to convince me?" 

"... pretty please?" her resolve broke a little at the plea, he watched her raise her leg before kicking the karaoke machine and a song started to play, she raised a brow at the song but shrugged, nonetheless. He watches as she grabs a bundle of her dress, lifting a hand to her chest and lowering her head to curtsy. Stan couldn't help but chuckle and return the formal greeting with his own awkward little bow, she giggled softly before reaching a hand forward for him to take just as she started singing.

Mabel returns to the living room, leaving Soos in Dipper's care, upon realizing she left her karaoke machine and went to retrieve it, only to pause and hide in the hallway when she heard music followed by the most beautiful voice singing alongside laughter. Peeking into the room, she gasped softly when she saw Alvah and Stan dancing alone in the living room, he held one of her hands above her as he spun her around then pulled her into his arms, her back to his chest as he held her close. She looked up at him over her shoulder and continued to sing, turning around to throw her arms over his shoulders and pull herself closer. Mabel covered her mouth when she saw Stan kneel down a little to grab Alvah but her waist and hoist her up, she planted her hands down on his shoulders to stable herself and let out a squeal as Stan spun her around before gently tossing her up, catching her bridal style in his arms as he continued to spin, she giggled as she kicked her feet and threw her arms around his neck and hid her face in the crook of his neck. 

"Ooo, Dipper's going to flip when I tell him this." she whispered under her breath before running back to where she left Dipper, missing when Alvah pulled herself out of his shoulder and how both herself and Stan stared into each other's eyes. 

"Try once more, like you did before. Sing a new song, chiquitita~" they continued to stare at each other as the song slowed down before she let out a gasp when Stan laughed just as the music started picking up again, he placed her down and grabs her hands so they could spin around. Since the song had ended she was just laughing as they spun around like idiots until they collapsed on the ground, panting softly and staring at the ceiling "That... was really fun." Stan chuckled from beside her. 

"It was." he stared at her from where they lay, he looked at her and saw that one of her hands was resting on her chest while the other lay motionless between them. They were already so close when they were dancing together, he held her close to the point he could feel her breathing against his neck and the way her heart was beating like crazy, hell, he held her hand the entire duration they were dancing, so why the hell was he getting nervous now? Was it because the adrenaline was finally dying? He taps his fingers against his chest as he continues to stare up at the ceiling before going for it, Alvah flinched at the sudden contact and looked down to see Stan placed his hand on top of hers. Her eyes trailed up his body and they saw the way his eyes refused to move away from the ceiling but she could see the way his neck to the tips of his ears had tinged a shade of red, he gulped when he felt her hand move from under his but instead of taking it back, she simply twisted her hand around so she could intertwine their fingers together and give his hand a squeeze. 

"All you had to do was ask, Stan." she giggled quietly when she saw him turn his head away from her, throwing his other arm over his face to hide the embarrassment flush across his face. 

"Shut up." she hummed softly, but that feeling of guilt started to eat at her once again as she looked away. 

season 2, episode 2. into the bunker 

only appears at the beginning with stan, helping guide the construction workers where stuff goes. 

season 2, episode 3. the golf war 

joins them to play mini golf and is pretty good at it, that is until she hits the golf balls too hard and sends it flying. 

stan laughed at her when accidentally hit someone in the head. 

mabel gave her a sticker that said "be PAWsitive". 

she'll take what she can get. 

she comforts mabel when pacifica insults her once more but couldn't help but burst into laughter when mabel fires back and calls her a "walking one-dimensional bleached blonde valley girl stereotype". 

she was so proud. 

season 2, episode 4. sock opera 

mabel is begging on her hands and knees for alvah's help with her sock puppet show, knowing how good the older woman is when it comes to sewing. 

she has to pick mabel up to get the girl to cease, mostly because they were in public and it was making alvah look bad. 

she laughed at the sock puppet mabel made of her, she thought the likeliness was almost uncanny. 

as the days grew closer to mabel's puppet show, she noticed with each passing day dipper's desperation to unlock the laptop they found in that underground bunker was getting to him. 

she told the boy to take it easy, that the laptop was going anywhere and he could put his focus on it when he isn't so busy helping his sister. 

she found it sweet that he was helping her in the first place. 

"Oh, hi, Dipper. There you are." Alvah was with Wendy and Soos, planning on going to the theatre with them since Stan's car was full with the girls and the stuff for her puppet show, they walk out of the shack and find Dipper standing outside. 

"What up, dude?" Wendy greets, Alvah herself smiles at the boy as she waves. 

"You excited for your sister's play?" she felt a chill run up her spine when they approached him, she patted her chest and looked behind her but ignored the feeling when she didn't see anything "You're not catching a ride with Stan and the others? Guess they didn't wait for you." 

"We're headed to the theatre." 

"Need a ride, Dipper?" the boy let out a laugh. 

"Anything for you, Red." Alvah raised a brow at the odd nickname Dipper gave Wendy, she decided to ignore it and takes a seat in the backseat of Soos' truck, leaving Soos, Wendy and Dipper in the front. They arrived at the theatre and had taken their seats, Stan was to her left with Soos, Dipper and Wendy to her right, and the entire time she kept her eye on Dipper because he was just acting weird "Ah, nothing like the theatre, huh, toots? Hey, Soos, want to hear the exact time and date of your death?" Soos laughs. 

"Okay." she opens her mouth to say something but then Mabel appeared, looking happy upon seeing them. 

"Hey, guys, you all made it." 

"Are you kidding me? I would never miss, whatever this is." Alvah elbows him in his side. 

"By the by, Mabel, where'd you put my journal again?" 

"I used it as a prop for the big wedding scene. I still need a reverend though." 

"Hey, what if I play the reverend? I mean, someone's got to hold that journal, right?" 

"Great, let's go." that feeling of a chill running up her spine returned again the moment Mabel ran off with Dipper to get behind stage, she pulled a face but instead of doing anything she crossed her arms and leaned back into her seat. Stan looked down at her and saw the way her face twisted with concern, she let out a hum when he elbowed her. 

"You alright, toots?" she let out a sigh. 

"I don't know. Dipper's just been acting... off? He's become so desperate to find the author of that journal of his that he's losing himself, you know? I'm worried about him. Maybe you should talk to him that this summer is not just about uncovering the mysteries of this town but about having fun, it's like he's almost forgotten." Stan let out a huff. 

"Yeah, yeah, maybe I shouldn't have given him that journal back, but uncovering mysteries is how that kid has fun. He's just got to stop taking it so seriously." he then places his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him "Alright, I'll talk to him and try and get him to settle." she smiles. 

"Thanks, Stan." he chuckles. 

"If I didn't know it, you're acting more and more like the kid's guardian than me." she laughed and shoved him gently. 

"Oh, how could I replace you, Stan? You're their great uncle Stanford." they're both laughing but quiet down when the play begins. 

alvah, no matter how confusing the play was, was quite impressed with the story and found herself applauding throughout the night. 

she made a few comments here and there but other than that she was enjoying herself. 

it was during the wedding scene when everything seemed to fall apart. 

alvah let out a gasp when mabel and dipper fell from above and crashed onto the stage, she was confused as to why they were fighting over the journal. 

she side-eyed stan when he pulled out a camera and started recording them, saying how he could "sell this". 

she pushed him off his seat. 

the "fight" lasted a couple seconds with mabel slamming the journal on dipper's face before running around in circles and dipper eventually tiring himself out then collapsing. 

soon enough they were all ducking when a box of pyrotechnics went off and fired off into the crowd, one even landing in the box of sock puppets and exploding all over the stage. 

the stage was promptly destroyed. 

season 2, episode 5. soos and the real girl 

only really appears to tell soos that he's a really swell guy and that he'll find a girl perfect for him. 

smacks stan when he says he doesn't like soos' chances. 

is also really creeped out about "old goldie". 

season 2, episode 6. little gift shop of horrors 

doesn't really appear in this episode. 

season 2, episode 7. society of the blind eye 

only appears at the end of when the children, soos and wendy return with old man mcgucket after their fiasco with the society of the blind eye. 

after discovering that mcgucket was the owner of the laptop they suspected that he was the author of the journals. 

so they went on this whole adventure to the museum so they could recover his memories. 

that was when they stumbled upon the cult that was "the society of the blind eye", who were erasing people's memories of the paranormal activities that were going on. 

when they were finally able to defeat this club of freaks and get a hold of mcgucket's memories, that's when they discovered his past and his connection with alvah. 

"Alright, McGucket. Are you ready to see your memories? Find out who you really are?" Dipper asks as he switches the machine on that allows them to play back the memories that were unrightfully stolen, McGucket doesn't look all too thrilled, or nervous about what he is going to see. 

"I'm not so sure. What if I don't like what I see?" Mabel places her hand encouragingly on his arm. 

"We've come all this way. Go on." with his memory tube in hand, he approaches the machine and slots it into place. The television spurs to life and they wait a couple seconds before it reveals a younger less crazy version of McGucket. 

"My name is Fiddleford Hadron McGucket, and I wish to unsee what I have seen." they all gasp, finally seeing who exactly the old man-- or rather, Fiddleford McGucket really was "For the past year, I have been working as an assistant for a visiting researcher. He has been cataloguing his findings about Gravity Falls in a series of journals. I helped him build a machine which he believed had the potential to benefit all mankind, but something went wrong. I decided to quit the project. But I lie awake at night, haunted by the thoughts of what I've done. I believe I have invented a machine that can permanently erase these memories from my mind. Test subject one. Fiddleford." 

"It worked! I can't recall a thing." 

"I call it "The Society of the Blind Eye. We will help those who want to forget by erasing their bad memories." 

"Today, I came across a colony of little men. Very disturbing. I would like to forget seeing this." 

"I accidentally hit another car in town today. I feel terri-bibble. Terrible. I've been forgetting words lately. I wonder if there are any negative side effects..." 

"I saw something in the lake, something big!" 

"My hair's been a-fallin' out, so I got this hat from a scarecrow. Hey, are my pants on backwards?" 

As they watched the days go by with each clip, they saw how Fiddleford descended into madness and by the time the days reached ??? he had become the senile old man McGucket they all knew today who had laughed maniacally at the end while spouting out senseless words, the screen was filled with static. The room fell into silence as they looked at the once renowned inventor become a shell of his former self. 

"Oh, McGucket, I'm so sorry." 

"Aw, hush. You kids helped me get my memories back, just like you said." 

"But did you want those memories back?" 

"After all these years, I finally know who I am. Maybe I messed up in the past, but now that I seen what happened, I can begin to put myself together again." he reaches for his memory tube when the TV spurred to life again, causing them to jump back in surprise. It wasn't over yet? McGucket takes a step back and watches the TV once more and they heard the audio first before they saw any visual of what was going on, but from what they could tell, whoever McGucket was talking to he didn't seem all too pleased. 

"Get away from me! I don't want you anywhere near me!" they hear a clatter followed by glass shattering as Fiddleford tried getting as far away from whoever was with him "I know what you really are! I know you're just a wolf in sheep's clothing! You're a monster amongst us lesser beings!" they hear a sigh. 

"Fiddleford, you're being overdramatic." the voice was of a man that they could not recognize, it was hard to determine who it could possibly be "I'm not here to hurt you, I just wanna apologize for what happened back then." 

"So, you're acknowledging the fact that you did it on purpose!" 

"No, I didn't! You just appeared unannounced and caught me off guard! How on earth is that my fault?! It's not my fault you saw something you weren't supposed to see. Now look at you, you've started some... some, some cult!" 

"It ain't no cult! We're helping people, you see? We're erasing the bad things that people don't wanna remember." 

"And what if you're erasing too much? What if people start to forget who they are? And what about you? I know you've been using that thing one too many times on yourself to the point you're forgetting who you are. Do you even remember what you were doing in Gravity Falls in the first place?" 

"U-Uh, I was... I-I was--" the sound of a slam caused Fiddleford to shriek, they all then noticed how a picture started to form and at first all they saw was a still somewhat decent-looking Fiddleford looking absolutely terrified as he stared at the looming individual who was slowly approaching him. 

"What happens when you start to forget about your wife? And your son? Do you even remember their names? What if they come up from California and they see something they weren't supposed to see? Are you going to erase their minds as well? How selfish can you be?" the individual takes another step just as the picture is formed and their eyes widened when they saw a pair of uniquely colored red eyes that held nothing but disappointment "How do you think he'll feel if he saw the state you've fallen into?" he didn't flinch when he pointed the gun at him, his gaze only hardened. 

"Don't-- Don't come any closer or else I-I'll... I'll use this on you!" he rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah, you don't have the guts to shoot me with that thing." Fiddleford's shaking got worse with each step he took "Now put that thing down before you hur--" their eyes widened when he shot him with the memory gun, even he was surprised that he actually shot him, he stumbled back in surprise and fell into the table behind him while clutching his head. They saw a wave of confusion wash over his face as he looked around before looking back over at where Fiddleford was, when he saw the way, he was panting as he stared at him, his face hardened with anger. 

"I-I... I warned you." he let out a shout when he lunged at him to smack the gun out of his hand. He brought his arms up to shield his face from what he believed he was going to attack him, but instead he let out a frustrated huff. 

"Fine then, have it your way. I'm only checking up on you as a request from your old friend, but I have no obligation to actually care for you." turning around and despite the TV failing to capture a high-quality image they were able to distinguish a fairly young man dressed in rather odd clothes, it was someone that they didn’t recognize from anywhere. Not from the town, not a tourist who could have visited the Mystery Shack. It was a total stranger to them. Who were they? They mentioned a friend. Could that friend the author or someone else entirely? "Perhaps when you come to your senses, I'll be nice and fill in the few blanks of what you can't remember. But that'll be until then." the video cuts off and they're left in silence once more, they all look at McGucket and see him shaking. 

"I... I remember him. I still can't remember everything exactly, but... but he's one of the reasons I became like this. But he didn't do it intentionally, I think?" 

"Does that mean whoever the man was had his memory erased? Does that mean his memory is somewhere here as well? Maybe if we find it, we might get some more answers." 

"Oh, you kids can go do that without me. I've got some remembering to do." they were hesitant to let him go but he reassured them that he’d be fine, he took a pair of glasses he found on the TV and left them to search for the mystery man’s memory tube. 

Meanwhile... 

"Stan... Stan, s-stop it!" Stan laid on top of her, laughing alongside her as he kissed up her neck and all over her face, his hands holding her by her waist as she did her best to push him away by his face and shoulder "I'm ticklish! Hahaha, stop it!" he only continued his attack just so he could continue to hear the melody that was her laughter, his grip on her tightening as she squirmed underneath him. 

"Nah uh, sweetheart. I don't know how long those kids are gonna be, but I wanna spend the rest of my night with you." she smiled up at him, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck and pulling herself up so she could press her lips against his and he welcomed it warmly. His hand moved up to her lower back to lift her closer to him so she tightened her hold around his neck, they both pulled apart to take a breath and before they could dive in for more, they heard the front doorbell ring. They break apart and look to where the door is, waiting breathlessly for it to ring again, they think they're in the clear and go to continue until it rings again "Urgh, dammit! I'm gonna strangle whoever's at the door." she giggled softly when he lifted himself off of her, grumbling to himself as he went to answer the door. 

"Go easy on them." she teased, she hums to herself as she waits for Stan to tell whoever it was to get lost but jumped when he instead shouted for her. 

"Alvah, it's for you!" she raised a brow, oh? She shrugged her shoulders and pushed herself to her feet, cleaning herself up a bit before leaving the room. She had her calm and kind demeanor as she peeked over Stan's shoulder, greeting whoever it was with a smile but her face twitched a little when she saw who exactly it was "How old man McGucket knew you were here, I'll never know." she and McGucket stared at each other, similar to how they stared at each other back at the mineshaft, but she saw a different glint in his eyes the longer they held their stare. 

"I'd like a word with you, Miss Alvah." 

"Well now, wait just one moment bus--" 

"Of course, perhaps we'll settle the feud between us." Stan stared at her in shock, giving her puppy dog eyes to get her to come back inside, but she simply patted Stan on the head and pushed him gently inside "I promise we won't be too long, just go back inside and wait for me. I'll even stay over, if that's what you want." he stared at her before throwing his head back with a sigh. 

"Urgh, fine! But don't take too long! We were just getting to the fun part." she laughed and ushered him inside. 

"I won't!" she leaned her head inside and waited for him to be fully gone before closing the door behind her, her face completely changed as she leaned against the front door, arms crossed and attention back on the man in front of her "So, Fiddleford Hadron McGucket, what would you like to remember?" a smirk stretched across her face when she saw Fiddleford glare up at her. 

"Everything." she chuckled cruelly. 

"Oh, with pleasure." 

season 2, episode 8. blendin's game 

the children don't bring up knowing that alvah and mcgucket have history amongst each other. 

either that or they just don't want to believe that alvah did something bad that caused mcgucket to spiral the way he is. 

in the episode, alvah knows the history behind soos' tragic tale of his birthday and, despite the heartache it gives him, encourages the twins to make this birthday worth it. 

she was also there ten years ago when stan first hired soos, patting his head with a smile. 

season 2, episode 9. love god 

doesn't involve herself with stan when he tries to appeal to the "hippy weirdos" during the festival. 

she does laugh when she saw his failed attempt at making a hot air balloon. 

she quotes "I heart kids" for the rest of the day, irritating him. 

season 2, episode 10. northwest mansion mystery 

doesn't make an appearance in the episode. 

season 2, episode 11. not what he seems 

"What happened here?" Alvah arrived at the Mystery Shack when the Pines twins were putting out a fire with water balloons, she greets the twins when they came running up to her with hugs and looked over at Stan, who was casually sitting on the outside sofa while drinking a pitt cola. She waved her hand and perked up when he waved his hand to greet her back before gesturing for her to come over, she ruffles their heads before making her way over to him and taking a seat beside him "Good morning, Stan. You seem to be in a chipper mood." he lets out a laugh. 

"I'm in an even better mood now that you're here." she giggled softly. 

"Stop it." they're laughing together until they're both looking out at Dipper and Mabel, she snickers softly when Dipper throws a balloon rather weakly that it barely makes it a foot from him, he's immediately wiped out by a balloon to the face by Mabel "But seriously, what's gotten you smiling this morning?" he clears his throat as he rubs the back of his neck. 

"Well, do you remember how I told you I've been working on something for the past thirty years?" she raises a brow but nods her head "I think... I think it's coming together now. I'm so close to it now that I'm not gonna let anything get in my way from my greatest achievement." her gaze softened as she placed her hand on his knee. 

"Then I hope everything goes your way, Stan." he smiles at her and places his hand on top of hers, however, her eyes widened in surprise when a water balloon was thrown at her, soaking her. They look over and see that it was Dipper who had thrown it, whose face was frozen with horror. 

"O-Oh my gosh, Alvah! That was meant for Stan!" said man was howling with laughter, she stared at Stan and promptly shoved him off the sofa, which caused the kids to laugh, and then proceed to shower him with water balloons. 

"Alright, alright! Hahaha! I tell ya, it's unnatural for siblings to get along as well as you do." Mabel lets out a laugh. 

"Haha! Don't worry, we've still got plenty of summer left to drive each other crazy." she cheers as she grabs a hold of Dipper, he then pushes her back and splashes her with a water balloon. 

"Heh, yeah... plenty of summer left." she grabbed his hand from behind him after hearing the way his voice dampened a little, he squeezed it and smiled when she squeezed his hand "Kids, there's something I... something I should tell you. It's, um... w-well it's complicated. I..." she was startled when he abruptly took his hand back from her "I'm gonna go refresh my soda." she and the children watch him rush off in a hurry, they look up at her to see if she knew why he fled the way she did but even she looked confused. 

"Alvah?" her face saddened when he disappeared but she shook her head and smiled at the kids. 

"I'm sure whatever he has to tell you is just hard for him to expl--" she shot up to her feet when she heard shouting, immediately getting in front of the kids to protect them "Stan? Are you alri--" she lets out a gasp when a group of armed men came out from around the corner and pointed guns at her, the kids jumped back when she was tackled to the ground. 

"Alvah!" she lets out a grunt when the man above her grabbed her by the wrists and slapped handcuffs around them. 

"Target secure." she turned her head and her eyes widened when she saw the soldiers surround Dipper and Mabel. 

"Kids are secure." she was lifted to her feet as a squadron of government soldiers broke into the house through the windows, she glared at the man who was handling her. 

"Hey! I haven't done anything! I know my rights." she turned her head when she saw Stan was being escorted by another government soldier "Stan! What's going on? Why am I being arrested?!" 

"Alvah, I-- hey! Hands off, you stooge! I don't understand. What did I do that warrants this much arresting?" Stan shouts as he was held down on the boot of a car, she was treated nicer than him and was left standing, she scoffs when she saw Agent Powers and Agent Trigger appear. 

"The government guys? I thought you got eaten by zombies." 

"We survived... barely." 

"I used Trigger as a human shield. He cried like a baby." she deadpanned, she didn't need to know that "This is security footage of a government waste facility. At 0400 hours last night, someone robbed 300 gallons of dangerous waste." 

"What? You think that's me?" 

"Don't play dumb with us, Pines!" 

"But I actually am dumb! Last night I was restocking the gift shop... I swear!" he was then taken into the car, leaving Alvah with the kids still handcuffed. 

"Why am I being arrested? What did I do?" she leaned back as her face scrunched up with anger when he got close to her. 

"We've been keeping an eye on Mr Pines ever since that zombie incident and we've noticed that you have a close relationship with him." she let out a gasp when she was being led away to a different government vehicle, her eyes not leaving Agent Powers "We might not have any video evidence of you helping, but we can't write you off the list just yet." 

"I'm being arrested for mere association with him?! I swear, this isn't going to end well for you!" 

stan finds it slightly amusing seeing alvah get a mugshot but is silenced when she glares at him from across the room. 

she and stan are separated into different interrogation rooms but she could just hear him fumbling over his words, trying to say "he's innocent until proven guilty", but failing. 

they really had no need to take her in as well but from what they've observed, she and stan were nearly always seen together. 

what's to say she wasn't with him during that ordeal? 

they asked her questions to get her to talk, to get her to prove that it was indeed stan who stole the nuclear waste. 

but throughout the interrogation, she was eerily quiet. 

giving short or one-worded answers. 

what really disturbed them was how calm she looked, her eyes and voice devoid of any emotion. 

from what they got from the locals, alvah was a walking ray of sunshine. no matter who saw her she always had some way to make them smile. 

she was kind, nice, and polite and the type of person who you could talk to no matter the topic. 

but the woman sitting in the interrogation room, a singular light hanging above her head as she stared at them without blinking... it terrified them. 

"She's a lot creepier than I would have thought." 

"Let's get some air. Her answers are getting us nowhere." Alvah watched them leave the room before slumping back in her seat, she knew this day was coming but she didn't expect she'd be arrested like Stan, it was a little humiliating if she was being honest. She hoped the kids were alright, she knew Stan was fine telling how the agents left him alone in the room, but she was getting a little frustrated that they were holding her here all because she and Stan were close. She began to scowl but let out an oh when everything, including herself, started floating a few feet off the ground before dropping back down with a notable thud. 

"Huh, now ain't that interesting." unlike Stan, she was handcuffed to the table in front of her so she tugged it back when it dropped a few inches away from where it originally was. This was going to get a lot more fun, a few hours rolled by and the group of agents came back into the room with determined expressions. 

"Look here, lady. You may not be guilty of any crimes unlike Mr Pines in the next room over, but you could get into serious trouble for withholding information. If you tell us what you know, you can go home." she just raised a brow at him. 

"Uh huh." she answered boredly, leaning back against her seat while letting her head hang back, looking up at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing she's seen all day. She didn't flinch when the agent slammed his hand onto the table, she simply raised her head to look at the agent, expression indifferent "Struck a nerve?" she snickered when he grabbed her by the collar of her chest, yanking her out of her seat and scowling at that smug look on her face. 

"You're stepping on thin ice, lady." 

"Ooo, I'm so scared." she let out a laugh when he threw her back into the chair and she waved her hands from where they were chained "Now that ain't a way to treat a lady. Have you no manners?" she then started laughing rather manically, this was the first emotion they got out of her that entire time and it really freaked them out, with how far her smile stretched across her face and how her laughter echoed throughout the empty room. 

"God, you're creepy. I don't know why this town likes you so much." she winked. 

"Thanks. I take that as a real compliment." she grinned cheekily at him when he slumped against the table, she glanced over at a clock and saw that it was seconds away from nine o'clock "Hey, do any of you guys get motion sick?" they look at her with confused expressions. 

"What? No?" she chuckled. 

"Good, then you'll be just fine." the moment the clock struck nine everything in the room started floating just like before, but this time it lasted much longer and the agents in the room began freaking out. She continued to sit calmly in her seat while the other men tried their best to find anything stable, she glanced to the side when she heard in the room over a whole lot of shouting, she figured Stan had managed to free himself and was effortlessly getting himself out of the room. The moment the gravity came back everyone fell to the ground with a grunt, she just looked down at them amused, she perked up when she saw something run across the window of the door before coming back. 

"Alvah! Let me--" she raised her hand and shook her head, gesturing for him to leave. 

"You clearly have somewhere to be, Stan. I'll be fine. I'll catch up with you later." she winked at him and though he seemed reluctant he dashed out of the police station, now that Stan was finally gone, she inhaled deeply while rolling her shoulders "Finally, the day of his return has arrived." the agents were slowly peeling themselves off the floor when they finally noticed Alvah stand to her feet, the one that was being violent with her pulled himself up by using the table but noticed that when she stood up the handcuffs that kept her secured to the table snapped off. 

"Hey, lady..." he paused when he saw her lace her fingers together and push them forward so she could crack her knuckles, followed by rolling her neck before finally settling her eyes on him "y-you can't just--" he was cut off when she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, the same way he grabbed her, and pulled him until they were inches away from each other's faces. 

"What happened to that big boy attitude from before? Don't tell me that was all for show." that same grin that scared them stretched across her face again but this time her eyes held a sort of viciousness, or rather, insanity "You should have left us well alone, and maybe then you wouldn't have to suffer such a gruesome fate." the next couple of minutes the room was filled with cries and screams followed by maniacal laughter that slowly died out as time ticked by, the agents in the next toom quickly burst out of the room the moment they collected their bearings and ran out to chase after Stan but first checked up on their fellow agents interrogating Stan's part-- they all recoil back at the stench of death lingering out of the room, how blood was splattered across the floor and walls and even the ceiling, and at the center of it all was Alvah, holding the broken arm of the same man who was acting up on her. 

"Y-You..." her head snaps towards them like a doll, they flinch back at the sight of blood dripping down her face as she presses the heel of her boot into the agent's head to keep him still. 

"You should have heeded my warning, Agent Powers." she spoke, she took a step forward but raised the leg that was on the agent's head, they flinched back when she slammed her foot down and crushed his head "If I were you, I'd forget all about this town and get as far away as possible. But now... I can't let you leave. You know too much." Agent Powers takes a step back when she snaps her head again, her pupils moving erratically within her eye socket. 

"We should have kept our eyes on you, not Stanford." 

stan was running as fast as he could back to the mystery shack, hoping that soos did as he was asked and protected the vending machine. 

little did he know that dipper and mabel found his stash of fake id's, the newspaper article that proclaimed he was dead and the code that unlocks the vending machine to reveal the hidden door that leads to the basement. 

soos, dipper and mabel venture down into the basement and in horror found exactly what the government agents were searching for. 

the machine that could potentially destroy the world. 

with only a minute to go, the trio found a manual override that could possibly shut the machine down and stop it from tearing the universe apart. 

turning the three keys at the same time, it powers up a button directly in front of the machine that could shut down the machine. 

they quickly rush over to it, intending to shut it down for good when stan finally made it back. 

"Don't touch that button!" they all whip their heads towards the door and see a panicked look on Stan's face as he shouted at them to stop, he saw the way they stared at him with mixed feelings. Betrayal, anger, confusion, Dipper's hand was hovering over the button that could potentially ruin thirty years of his progress "Dipper, just back away. Please don't press that shutdown button. You gotta trust me." the boy's gaze hardened on him as he looked between him and the button. 

"And I should trust you, why? After you stole radioactive waste, after you lied to us all summer! I don't even know who you are!" 

"Look, I know this all seems nuts, but I need that machine to stay on. If you just let me explain--" his head snapped towards his watch and started beeping, indicating that another gravitational anomaly was going off "Oh! Oh, no! Brace yourselves!" the machine that Stan had been working on spurred to life, a gateway of sorts opened up as they were lifted off the ground, this anomaly was much more powerful than the previous ones because it started to lift the shack off the ground along with the other buildings within Gravity Falls. 

"T-Minus thirty-five seconds." they're all floating off in different directions, Mabel, however, got her foot caught in the wire attached to the shutdown button. 

"Mabel! Hurry! Shut it down!" Stan panics when he saw her pulling herself towards the button, he manages to plant his feet on the wall he was thrown into and push himself towards her. 

"No! Mabel, Mabel, wait! Stop!" he let out a grunt when Soos slammed into him to stop him "Soos, what are you doing? I gave you an order!" Soos tightened his hold on Stan. 

"Sorry, Mr Pines, if that really is your name, but I have a new mission now, protecting these kids!" 

"Soos, you idiot, let me go!" Dipper manages to throw himself at Stan, sending the three of them flying through the air. 

"Let me go!" 

"Mabel, press the red button! Shut it down!" 

"No, you can't! You gotta trust me!" 

"Grunkle Stan, I don't even know if you're my Grunkle! I wanna believe you, but..." 

"Then listen to me. Remember this morning, when I said I wanted to tell you guys something?" they briefly looked away when the timer went off, saying that they had twenty seconds, the gateway surged with energy and threw the boys back into the wall opposite to where Mabel was, she raises her fist to push the button but stopped when he started speaking again "I wanted to say that you're gonna hear some bad things about me, and some of 'em are true, but trust me, everything I've worked for, everything I care about, it's all for this family." 

"Mabel, what if he's lying?! This thing could destroy the world! Listen to your head!" 

"Look into my eyes, Mabel! You really think I'm a bad guy?" 

"He's lying! Shut it down, now!" 

"Mabel, please!" Mabel looked between Stan and Dipper, her head swirling with all kinds of thoughts. Mabel didn't know who to choose-- who to believe. On one hand, Stan was pleading with her to not push the button? But what did he gain from this machine being on and possibly destroying the universe. On the other, Dipper was telling her to push the button to prevent such a catastrophe from happening. The timer slowly counted down as her hand lowered towards the button, she looked back at Stan and saw how much he was begging her not to do it. 

"Grunkle Stan... I trust you." with that she raised her hands above her head and allowed herself to float away from the button. 

"Mabel, are you crazy?! We're all gonna--" the moment the timer struck one a blister of white light exploded out of the machine and enveloped the entire room, this lasted for a couple seconds before gravity returned and everything fell back to the ground. Looking towards the machine, it was completely destroyed at this point but the gateway was still powered on and Dipper saw through the smoke a figure walking through. The figure approached them but stopped right in front of one of the journals, Dipper watched as he placed his six-fingered hand on top of the cover before lifting it off the ground and putting it in his coat "W-What? Who is that?" Stan, who lifted himself off the ground and adjusted his hat, stared up at the figure with disbelief. 

"The author of the journals... my brother." 

... 

... 

"Is this the part where one of us faints?" 

"Oh, I am so on it, dude." with that Soos fainted, but as they all slowly took in what just happened in the span of a minute, the sound of someone slowly clapping echoed through the room along with their footsteps. Looking towards the entrance, through the dust, Stan recognized the figure as she slowly approached them. 

"Well, well, well. You did it, Stanley. I just knew you could." Stan's eyes widened at the sight of Alvah, he had completely forgotten about her at the police station, but now she was here... different. She had blood splattered across her face and dress, the ends of her hands dripping with it while the end of her dress looked soaked along with her boots. As she gets closer he reaches his hand out to her but she completely ignored him, her eyes fixated on the man he proclaimed as his brother "Welcome back, Stanford."