Reader Imagines

Once he’d your hand for the first time, it was only normal to assume he’d kiss you on your doorstep, right? In the front of his car? It hadn’t happened though, not that day, not like that, and despite your nerves — as hideous as they were — you were disappointed 

You’d walked, possibly stomped, away from him, trying your very best to not let any sort of emotion show — especially disappointment. Boys weren’t worth being disappointed over… even Steve Harrington. 

But then he’d invited you over one Sunday, a lazy one, where the sky outside was bleak and grey, a blue cloud kinda day. There was drizzle on his bedroom window and Steve had put his stereo on a low volume, if only to get you to make fun of his music taste. You’d been stiff and tense and a little wide eyed when he brought you into his bedroom, more so than usual anyway, and Steve wasn’t sure how this was going to go. 

It took an hour, maybe two, but you seemed to relax a little, wandering around his room with fingers outstretched and exploring, dragging over his books, his old sports trophies, the edges of his mixtapes. And then you caught sight of a baseball bat in the corner, leaning against the wall with an assortment of nails sticking out the top. 

You tapped the wood and stared at him, your face hiding any indication of a reaction. He swallowed, wondering how he could explain. And then, a tiny twitch of your lip, a lift in the right corner that he almost missed. 

“I like this.”

Of course you did. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent on Steve’s bed and Steve couldn’t keep his eyes off of you, entranced, transfixed. The prettiest little patch of black in his blue, blue room. 

Black dress, black tights, black boots, black eyes, black cherry lips. You were smudged and smokey around the edges, an ink stain on a drawing. Steve marvelled over it all. 

“You look pretty,” he said, knees bumping as you say face to face, legs crossed and a small pile of cards between you both. 

(‘Cause you’d taken a peek at his selection of movies and said: “absolutely not, Steven.”)

You looked up at him and blinked once, lips pressing together in a way that Steve now knew meant he’d caught you off guard. He was getting used to you, your mannerisms, the bluntness that normally kept people away. 

You let out a breath and held his gaze, nodding once, curtly. 

“Thank you,” you replied and your tongue felt heavy with it, still trying to learn that it was okay to accept such a sweet compliment. “I like your sweater,” you offered back. 

Steve smirked and it was dizzying. “No you don’t,” he laughed. He was right, it was a deep, rich yellow and you always tried to stop yourself from wrinkling your nose when he wore it. 

Another twitch of your lip and Steve grinned, he was getting good at pulling these micro smiles from you. 

And then, those words. 

“Can I kiss you?” 

You didn’t speak for a minute, maybe, hopefully not longer than that. Your hands were curled around your knee and you were mostly unmoving, until Steve reached out and took one, holding it in his own and your heart screamed at how his touch brought you some comfort. 

He was always so warm. And patient, ‘cause he was sitting waiting, watching you quietly, earnestly, never pushing. 

“I— I haven’t…” you grimaced, eyes shutting briefly before staring back at the boy a little harder than before. You needed to get a grip. “I haven’t kissed anyone before.”

Steve nodded slowly, as if he knew this, his expression unchanging. He lifted one shoulder, a half shrug, casual and unaffected. 

“That’s okay,” Steve told you and his hand was still on yours, fingers twisted together. His thumb rubbed a circle on the inside of your palm and you ached with how nice it felt. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

You straightened your back and tried not to glare, because he was being so sweet and so patient and you were trying not to panic. If you panicked, you’d run.

And Steve seemed to know that, ‘cause he gave your hand a soft squeeze and he smiled, that slow, gentle smile that made you want to punch a damn wall because it was so nice. 

“I probably won’t be good at it,” you said, deadpan and without any apology. You sucked in a breath, quick and sharp, wondering if the boy would give up. 

You didn’t want him to. 

“That’s okay too,” Steve said softly and then you were leaning in.

You heard his breath hitch, watched his eyes darken and god, you liked that. His gaze dropped to your lips, staring, a little wide eyed. 

“Show me,” you demanded and Steve smiled because he knew you know, knew that you were nervous, not rude. 

“Yeah?” He whispered. He waited for you to nod and then he grinned, wide and bright and he looked so happy. “Okay, c’mere.” 

His hands cupped your face and were suddenly too warm, warmer than you’d ever been and it only worsened when Steve splayed his long fingers over your jaw, his thumb rubbing softly at the corner of your mouth. You gasped, sharp and sudden. 

“You can tell me to stop anytime, yeah?” Steve told you, “pull out that little blade if I do anything you don’t like,” he joked. 

“Sylvia isn’t little,” you tutted, referring to the knife that was always folded and tucked in a boot. 

What you meant was, ‘you won’t do anything to me that I won’t like.’

Steve seemed to understand because he let out a small huff of laughter and smiled, nodding. He looked pleased, his cheeks a little pink. “Okay, close your eyes.”

Surprisingly, you did without argument. And Steve blew out a shaky breath when your hands got impatient and curled around his wrists, holding him as he held you. Your thumb pressed to his pulse point, a soft, quiet tickticktick of his heartbeat under your touch. 

And then, the slant of his nose bumped yours, gentle and a little surprising because your lips parted ever so slightly. Steve leaned in a little more, his top lip brushing against yours and you marvelled at how he made the air taste like mint, like the forest, like the cherry soda he’d been drinking. 

He waited, eyes closed and forehead against yours, his thumb stroking over cheek until he felt you nudge forward and then your lips were touching his. It was chaste, at first, a soft press of his mouth on yours and you pulled back until you didn’t. 

You took merely a second before pushing back into the boy, hands curling tighter around his wrists, making sure he didn’t pull away. You felt greedy, wanting more from him straight away but Steve didn’t seem to mind. He pressed his lips back to yours and let you get a feel for him until he took a little charge and tilted your face with his hand, nose pushing into your cheek more until your lips parted under his. 

He kissed you slowly, unbearably soft and sweet until you made a little noise for him and he licked over your bottom lip once before pulling back, pupils blown wide and chest heaving. 

He cleared his throat, ran a hand through his hair and eyed you carefully. 

“Was that okay?” 

You were still holding onto his wrists. 

You nodded, staring at him in that way that you did, wide eyed and unblinking. But he saw the shine there, the way you tucked your bottom lip onto your mouth, like you were trying to chase the taste of him. 

“Mhmm,” you said, “that was okay.” You were quieter than normal, your voice taking a less sharp edge. 

“We can do it again, if you want,” Steve offered. He didn’t want to push. 

You didn’t know how long you’d been staring at the letter when Lee finally pulled it from your hands. You almost didn’t react at first—you’d been sat in the same place, staring at the same thing for so long that it took a moment to register that the letter was even gone—but when you looked up, there he was.

“Lee!” you exclaimed, reaching up a hand to grab it back. He pulled it out of your reach and you huffed at him. “What are you doing? Give it back!”

Now that your concentration had been broken, you could finally start to take in the details around you. It had gotten dark at some point in the past few hours, enough so that Lee had lit the lanterns, and the clouds were rolling gently through the moonlight, some ten-odd meters below the basket of the balloon. You didn’t know how you hadn’t noticed the chill of the wind as the sun sank below the cloud level, but almost as soon as the thought crossed your mind a shiver rolled down your spine.

“Normally I’m not one to poke about in another person’s business,” Lee said, and ignored the flat look you gave him at the blatant lie. “But given the fact that I’m pretty sure a one-page letter doesn’t take hours to read, I’m going to say this isn’t exactly good news.”

He glanced between the letter in his hand and your face and for the first time since you’d sat down to read that afternoon, you really took in his face. He hadn’t had the opportunity to shave with water for a couple of days now, leaving him a bit more stubbly than he would have liked. The bags under his eyes were more pronounced from sleeping on the bench or the bedroll instead of on a real mattress, and his clothes were creased from wearing them for as long as he hadn’t been shaving.

It was absolutely ridiculous how handsome you found him, even sleep deprived and a little sloppy, but you clung to the thought as a welcome distraction from the letter Lee still had clutched in his hand.

“It’s nothing, honest,” you told him, holding your hand up for him to hand the letter back. When he didn’t you wiggled your fingers. “Come on, isn’t it illegal in Texas to read someone else’s mail?”

He didn’t respond to the joke or lower the letter, instead just raising one of his eyebrows at you. Hester hopped up on the bench beside you and despite being completely different species, their expressions were exactly the same.

“You’re normally not this quiet. What’s wrong?” she asked, and the clear concern in her tone told you well enough how they were both feeling at the moment. You glanced back up at Lee and knew from the set of his jaw that he wasn’t going to budge

You had to bite back a sigh as you shared a glance with your own daemon, and finally dropped your hand. “It’s just...you know, stuff from back home. Things that I forgot about.”

When you’d left home to travel with Lee, you’d had a whole life you’d left behind. Though you visited (infrequently) and sent money back (when you had it to spare) and exchanged letters with people back home (if you remembered), it was actually pretty rare that your old life intruded on your new one. You had too many things to do and places to go and people to see when you were traveling with Lee, and sometimes those distractions included such thrills as running for your life or trying to talk down a bounty hunter from taking the only person who knows how to fly your method of transportation.

The letter had been expected—it had been a while since you’d visited the post office box you’d rented for this very purpose—but the contents were not, and there was little you could do about the problem they presented. You’d so looked forward to opening this letter and getting some word from home, and now...

“D’you want to talk about it?”

Lee’s voice broke you out of your thoughts and you looked up once again to see that he hadn’t moved. He was still staring down at you, worry shining out of those pretty eyes of his, his mouth and mustache tilted down in a thoughtful frown, and your heart melted a little bit at the look.

“No, not really,” you found yourself saying. You really didn’t. You just wanted to put the issue out of your mind for now and focus on something else. Anything else. You sighed and rubbed a hand over your eyes. “I could really use a distraction, though. Do you still have that copy of Lupin?”

Lee hummed. “I think I’ve got it somewhere around here. Why don’t you stretch a bit while I look for it? You haven’t moved in hours, sweetheart.”

At his behest you got to your feet, and immediately you groaned as several bones clicked at once; both of your knees and at least two in your back. You could hear Lee snorting to himself and decided it wasn’t worth the huff he’d work himself into to point out that he was even more creaky when he stood up than you, instead choosing to walk around to the other side of the basket and stretch out your legs. When you lifted your arms above your head, you felt another bone in your back pop.

“You’re so old,” said your daemon with a quiet little chuckle, and you swiftly proved that maturity does not come with age when you stuck your tongue out at them in response.

There was a bit more rustling going on behind you than you would think it would take to look for a book, but by the time you had turned around to see what was going on, Lee had already finished what he was doing. He saw you looking and his face lit up in a bright smile and he waved you over.

“C’mon,” he said, and once you got within touching distance he had an arm wrapped around your shoulders to lead you over to the little nest of blankets he’d made on the bench.

“Lee...” you said, voice soft and a little wondering. “You didn’t have to do this.”

He didn’t seem to hear you. Instead he busied himself with wrapping a blanket around your shoulders, checking to make sure it was positioned just so, and then he took a seat on the bench and patted the space between his legs, gesturing for you to come and sit with him.

On any ordinary day, you would have been flustered beyond belief at such an idea, but it was a testament to how much that issue at home was weighing on your mind that you only hesitated a moment before you followed his direction. You sat with your back to his front, wrapped in the Texan quilt, and felt his arms coming up around you to get you settled properly, encouraging you to lean back against his chest and settle your head into the curve of his shoulder. The combination of the quilt and his arms made you feel plenty warm, and you were sure your heart was beating a mile a minute.

This was definitely a distraction from the letter, that was for sure.

Once he was satisfied that you were comfortable, you felt Lee shifting behind you. His leg was stretched out on the seat in front of you, boot twitching as he moved around, and when his hand appeared in front of you again, he was holding the book you’d been asking for.

“Found it!” he exclaimed, and the cheek in his voice had a ghost of a smile beginning on your face. Instead of handing it to you, he opened it himself and started flicking pages. “Where did you leave off?”

It took a moment for what he meant to sink in, and this time you did get flustered. You started to shift, trying to sit up, but the way was blocked by the arms he had wrapped around you, connected by the book he’d flipped open to the table of contents.

“Lee, you don’t have to—” you started again, but he shushed you softly and cut you off, letting go of the book with one hand to encourage you to lay down your head once more.

“Where did you leave off, darlin?” he asked again. Out of the corner of your eye you could see that Hester had also blocked in your daemon, settling down right up against them with her paws curled underneath her and her eyes closed, like she was settling down for a nap.

Your daemon looked up at you with a helpless expression in their eyes, and you could only give them the same look back from your position. The two of you were powerless to fight back.

“Um, I was on the fourth story,” you said quietly, and Lee hummed as he turned to the correct page.

With your ear pressed up against his chest, you could hear him humming like it was in your own head and you closed your eyes for a moment as the sound washed over you. He didn’t have the deepest voice but it was melodic and lilting, and hearing the echo of it in his chest as he spoke was soothing. Though you’d only intended to shut your eyes for a moment, you were finding it increasingly difficult to open them again.

“Okay, this one is The Mysterious Traveler,” Lee murmured above your head, and then he started to read.

Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar was probably not your best choice for a distraction, as it was a book you’d read a few times before, but with Lee reading it to you it was a new experience entirely. He kept his voice low and soft, his pace was steady but not too slow, and after a few minutes he got tired of holding the book up with both arms and moved it to one hand, leaving the other one free for Lee to wrap it around your waist and hold you to him more securely.

Between the familiar story unfolding and the warmth of the blanket and Lee’s arm around your waist it was only a matter of time before you started to fall asleep. You fought it as long as you could, wanting to enjoy the feeling of being held, of being read to, of being cared for, but the pull was just too strong.

When he could feel that your breathing had finally settled and you were asleep, Lee gratefully dropped the arm holding his book to his side and let out a deep, relieved breath. Hester’s ears flicked, amused at his predicament, and Lee watched as she settled herself even deeper against your daemon, this time truly getting ready to go to sleep. He looked down at the top of your head again, a fond smile on his face, and he gently pressed a kiss to your hair.

“Hi,” his voice is just as quiet though a little more frail than yours. He leans against the wall near the entryway of the room, body sagging with the weight of the day. You get up from the couch, joints a little creaky. His eyes track you all the way from where you were sitting to where you stand directly in front of him. 

“Long day?” you ask, though you already know the answer. He’d picked up a few courses at the community college this semester on top of work. You’d hardly seen him today aside from a quick good morning kiss goodbye on his way out the door to get to class. He’d worked a late shift at the video store after, the day weighing on him. 

Steve instinctively reaches his hand out to brush across your cheeks, tucking a rogue piece of hair behind your ear. It slides down your neck and shoulder, resting down by your wrist. He leaves a trail of fire in his wake. 

“Just a bit,” he tries to joke but the smile he sports doesn’t quite reach his eyes. You tsk softly, maneuvering your hand so it can grab his. Your fingers fold together like they were designed to. 

Steve lets you drag him down the hall to your shared bedroom and into the adjoining bathroom. You sit him down on the closed toilet seat and move towards the tub. 

“Bath or shower?” you ask over your shoulder. Steve blinks at you with a world of fondness in his eyes, heart expanding in his ribcage because you’re taking care of him. He mumbles about a shower being fine and you twist the handle, water spraying out of the shower head.

You walk back over to him, bending slightly to grab the hem of his shirt. You look at him and wait for his nod before helping tug it over his head. It drops near your feet. Steve wraps a hand around your wrist and tugs you down to him. 

“Thank you,” he whispers, chest feeling fuzzy. You smile at him, tender and sweet and press a kiss to his forehead and then his lips when he pouts. You leave him to finish undressing and shower, heading back out into the living room to turn off the lamp. 

Steve steps out of the bathroom almost twenty minutes later in the pajama pants you’d set out for him and towel drying his hair. His chest is bare, a rogue drop of water falling from the ends of his hair and rolling down his chest. 

You’re sitting up in bed, looking a little eager as you wait for him to join you. When he finishes drying his hair the best he can, wet strands falling onto his forehead, you shuffle into the center of the bed and pat the spot in front of you. Steve raises his eyebrows. 

“Sit,” you say and he does. He’s a little confused and doesn’t see you shift up onto your knees behind him. Your hands are a little cold against his shoulders but Steve relaxes almost immediately at your touch. His eyes fall shut, head lulling back slightly as your hands work at the tension in his shoulders.

He melts like butter in your hands, delicate, pleased hums escaping him. You smile a little, happy to be able to help him on long days like he helps you. Steve thinks his heart might burst with how much he loves you, with how loved he feels in this moment. 

You massage his shoulders until his breathing starts to even out and his head droops to the sides. You press a slow trail of kisses against his shoulder and up his neck to his jaw. Steve can’t help the way his lips curl into a smile. 

Granted, some plans weren’t as major as others if you had to cancel them. Some were easy to shrug off, like going out to the movies with friends. Even if it was something you had looked forward to seeing, it wasn’t that big of a deal overall if you had to spend the evening in bed with Sadie and Alice instead.

But that really wasn’t the case tonight.

Tonight, you were supposed to have dinner with Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson.

And it wasn’t just dinner. It was actually a date.

While you had only been on three dates with them so far, things had been going really. Those dates were actually the best dates you had ever been on. Steve had tried so hard to keep them orderly, but he could only keep things orderly for so long with Eddie around. For one reason or another, all three dates ended up with the three of you sitting at an all-night diner all the way over on the other side of town until well into the morning, talking and laughing together until you were all red in the face.

But, as of right now, it had been a few weeks since your last date with them.

Tonight marked the fourth time you’ve had to reschedule your next date with them. While Steve and Eddie had been understanding about your reasons so far, you knew that wasn’t going to last for much longer. That was just how things usually went with people you were interested in. Even though you were always open about what the weather changes were going to do to you well in advance, it never seemed to do any good. A handful of rescheduled dates later and people took it as you simply not being interested and moved on.

Ever since the end of spring when that earthquake tore apart Hawkins, the weather had been incredibly odd. Summer wasn’t as hot as normal, with highs only reaching in the mid 60’s at its peak. Then the colder weather started even earlier, feeling like the beginning of winter already in September when the seasons were only just transitioning into autumn. As a result, your normal everyday pain levels had been all over the place for most of the year and was now flaring well beyond tolerable levels. It was all you could do to get through your typical day at work, much less have the energy to do anything else.

After you got off the phone with Steve, you thought back over the disappointment you could hear in his voice. He sounded the same way your suitors always did when they were reaching their limit. You had one more canceled date left, if that, before they gave up on you, too.

While you couldn’t really blame them for not wanting to be with someone already so broken, that didn’t stop it from hurting any less. If anything, this one hurt more since there wasn’t just one suitor involved but two. And you really liked both of them.

The three of you met a few weeks after the big earthquake, right around the time when Eddie’s name was cleared. The spark between you had been undeniable. You all clicked together as if you’d known each other your whole lives. But since Steve and Eddie had just recently began dating, you passed it off as a meeting of kindred spirits.

As time went on, and you spent more time together, their interactions with you became more playful and affectionate than just friendly. You began to notice that they had both started flirting with you. Figuring it was just in good fun and not anything that was going to go anywhere, you returned their affections. It was exciting, not to mention an ego boost, having two incredibly attractive men showering you with their attention and praise. It made you feel special, even if the flattery was only temporarily.

Imagine your surprise, not to mention delight, when they both asked you out.

And now your body was fucking it all up for you, like usual.

With a sigh, you turned over in bed, attempting to make yourself more comfortable. Sadly, it didn’t work. This was one of those flair ups where no matter what position you laid in, every single one hurt just as much as the last. All your movement did in this instance was rouse the dogs, then they had to get up and turn around a few times in order to get themselves comfortable again.

Luckily, it didn’t take too much longer for your medication to start working and begin easing your discomfort. Your thoughts started to feel fuzzy and watery, then your pain finally lifted some as your limbs grew heavy and relaxed. It never took long for the sedative like side effects to knock you out, but you still had enough time to lay there and wonder how the boys would end up breaking things off.

Would they call you and tell you the truth, that you were too broken for their tastes? Give you some excuse about no chemistry and then a half assed apology? Or would they simply fall off the face of the earth, resulting in you being ghosted again?

Only time would tell. The only thing you really knew for sure when it came to other people was, always expect the unexpected. When you think someone will do something, that’s when they’ll do the exact opposite.

Eventually, you drifted off into a dreamless, medication induced sleep.

Sometime later on, you were jarred awake by Sadie and Alice clamoring to get off the bed. Considering they were large breeds of dogs, both over fifty pounds each, there was no way to sleep through that. Nor was there any way to sleep through the excited clamor that began in the living room just a moment later.

While you loved your two girls dearly and spoiled them rotten, they were very easily excitable dogs. They could hear a plastic bag blowing down the street at 2am and would have this exact same reaction.

You knew this from experience.

“Girls! Shush!” you called out from your bed.

While you tried to use your sternest sounding mom voice, you just ended up sounding more like a tired mom rather than a stern one.

After they carried on for a bit longer, they finally quieted down.

Turning from your side onto your back, you carefully stretched then rubbed your eyes. While the pain wasn’t as bad now as it had been prior to your nap, you were feeling quite groggy. You glanced over at your alarm clock and saw it was just a little past 7pm. That explained the groggy feeling. You’d only been asleep for a couple of hours, not long enough to sleep off the more unpleasant effects of your medications. While they worked amazingly well, they tended to knock you out cold, and you always had to give yourself enough time to sleep off all the effects.

Sighing, you rolled over onto your other side, deciding to go back to sleep. You knew you would probably be out for the rest of the night, but that was fine. Sleeping was better than laying there miserable.

But, as you laid there with your eyes closed, trying to go back to sleep, you discovered your brain was awake enough to drift back around to the topic that made you sad before your nap. Your missed date.

Steve and Eddie were originally supposed to pick you up around 7. They had planned to take you out bowling, where they were finally going to settle their argument over who was the better bowler. While you couldn’t bowl yourself anymore due to some of your more recent limitations, you still enjoyed keeping score and watching others. That made this the perfect three-way date activity since you would be an impartial judge to their contest.

After bowling, it had been unanimously decided to skip any attempt at doing something fancy since it never seemed to work out. The diner had become your spot, so that’s where the three of you planned to head for dinner.

While that was the extent of what Steve and Eddie had planned for the evening, once they brought you home, you had planned on inviting them in to continue the evening. And then, with any luck, they would get to see the new lingerie set you would have been wearing underneath your clothes. While they had completely different tastes style wise, you were pretty sure you had picked something out that would easily appease them both.

As you were starting to imagine what their reactions to it would have been, you were jarred out of your thoughts by a heavy weight flumping down on the bed behind you and cuddling up against your back. You assumed this was Sadie coming back to bed since she preferred sleeping on that side in that particular spot.

However, you got very confused all of a sudden when something that felt like an arm wrapped itself around your waist.

Curiously, you turned your head a little to look over your shoulder and found yourself gazing into a pair of chocolate brown eyes that did not belong to either of your dogs.

“Hey there, Princess,” Eddie said, his eyes sparkling at you as he spoke in a soft tone.

You blinked a few times, staring at him in surprise.

“Eddie?” you asked, a dumbfounded tone in your voice. “How in the heck did you get in?”

It was the first thing that popped into your head to say. Things hadn’t progressed far enough with Eddie and Steve yet for either of them to have a key to your house, and you were far too paranoid of a person to keep a spare somewhere outside for just anyone to find. They only keys to your place were held by you and your dad, who had your emergency spare.

Eddie grinned at you.

“Let’s just say hot wiring isn’t the only illicit activity I know how to do,” he said with a wink, then burrowed in closer to you.

You blinked a few more times.

“You can hot wire a car?” you asked, surprise in your voice.

Eddie laughed.

“Yeah, I can, but that’s a story for another day,” he said with a smile, placing a soft kiss to your temple.

The fog in your brain was heavy enough it still took a few moments for it to fully sink in that Eddie really was here, but once it did, a big smile came to your lips, and you turned over in his arms so you could face him.

“Did Steve forget to tell you?” you asked, slipping an arm around him as he pulled you closer to his chest. “I had to reschedule our date again.”

“No, Stevie told me,” Eddie said, trailing his fingertips up and down your back. “We had a chat about it after you two got off the phone. We figure if we’re really going to be serious about this, serious about being with you, I mean, then we better start getting used to having date nights in.”

Now that was the last thing you ever expected to hear.

“What?” you said after a moment, blinking at him in shock.

Eddie chuckled.

“Well, this happens whenever it’s cold, right?” he asked, waiting until you nodded before continuing. “We don’t mind staying in with you. We really want to, actually. So, we thought tonight was a good night to get started.”

Once again, it took a few moments to fully process his words, but you still didn’t have an intelligent reply once you did.

“Steve’s here, too?” you asked dumbly as you lifted your head to look towards the door. “Where is he?”

“Letting the girls out to go potty,” Eddie said, starting to stroke your cheek. “We weren’t sure if you’d been up recently or not and thought they might need to go.”

Now you really didn’t know what to say. On the rare occasion that people came by to check on you during your more painful flair ups like this one, you’d have to ask them to let the dogs out or do it yourself. No one ever thought about them to take the initiative and do it themselves.

It was just one more reason why you found yourself falling for this pair. Not only did they think of you, but also thought of your babies in one fell swoop.

Before this heartwarming moment could turn any more romantic though, it was interrupted by the sound of eight paws running excitedly up the hall towards the bedroom. The girls came flying in soon afterwards, jumping onto the bed and into the cuddle pile with their human and their Best Friend Eddie.

There were lots of grunts and giggles as the both of you were trampled. Eddie did his best to shield your body from the chaos with his own, but there was only so much he could do. After a bit of excitement, Alice finally settled down next to you, while Sadie, easily the heaviest of the two, decided she needed to lay ON Eddie rather than net to him.

The sound of laughter floated over to the bed from the direction of the door.

“Of all the things I could’ve walked in on,” you heard Steve say, and looked over to see him leaning against the door frame, watching the chaotic scene on the bed with a soft smile. “A cuddle pile definitely makes me the most jealous.”

Eddie lifted his head and looked around at your queen-sized bed. Between the two humans and two large dogs, there wasn’t much empty space left.

“I hate to say this, sweetheart,” he said, looking over at Steve. “But I don’t think there’s any room for you.”

“I know,” Steve said, chuckling as he started to come around to your side of the bed. “And that’s why I’m jealous.”

Alice started to get wiggly as Steve stopped next to the bed. Resting one hand on the headboard, he leaned halfway down towards you, gazing into your eyes.

“Have you eaten today?” he asked.

You raised one hand in a so-so gesture.

“I had a peanut butter sandwich earlier when I took my pills,” you said. “But nothing since then.”

Steve nodded, a knowing look on his face.

“Good thing we brought dinner then,” he said. “We’ll give you a few minutes to finish waking up and get everything set up in the living room, okay?”

You nodded, unable to stop a large smile from coming to your face at how sweet they were being. Steve returned the smile, then started to lean down further towards you, moving in to kiss you.

Instead of you getting the kiss, Alice decided it was actually for her instead. She jumped up to intercept Steve’s kiss with one of her own.

Steve immediately stood upright, sputtering as he wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

“Bah, that was a tongue in my mouth,” he said, as he wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at the disgruntled look on his face. He scowled down playfully at Alice then ruffled her ears affectionately. She happily wagged her tail up at Steve, completely unaware of her faux pas.

Eddie hadn’t seen exactly what happened as Sadie had kicked him in the ribs. So, when he heard Steve’s words, he lifted his head and raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend.

“Now now, Stevie, that ain’t nice,” he said, then brought one hand up to your chin and gently turned your head so you were looking at him again. “But, on the other hand, if he doesn’t want your tongue in his mouth, that just means more for me.”

As Steve protested Eddie’s choice of words, Eddie ignored him in favor of lowering his lips to yours in a slow, deep kiss.

This was the type of kiss that people write poems about. It was the kind of kiss that made the back of your head tingle and your toes clench. It was the type of kiss that made you forget how to breathe judging from the way you gasped for air when your lips finally parted.

Steve finally had to physically drag Eddie from your bed in order for you to get up, despite Eddie’s protests of being comfy in there with you. You giggled, watching the preppy boy wrestle the pouting metalhead out of the room, your dog’s excitedly accompanying them.

It took a bit to get out of bed, your limbs still sore and achy. They loosened up a bit as you moved around to get to the bathroom, but not by much. While a shower definitely would help, and you would have preferred to take one, with your low energy levels and slightly woozy head, that wasn’t the best idea. It was easy to fall while in a state like this and falling in the shower was not an experience you were keen on repeating.

Though, thinking about that did make an interesting idea pop into your head.

You could always ask the boys for their help with a shower.

At this point, you were pretty sure neither of them would mind, judging by how affectionate they had been getting towards you. While Eddie would start undressing before you even finished the question, Steve wasn’t quite as forward with you yet as his boyfriend was. He would definitely be the more shocked of the two. You might even get a blush out of him, but you certainly didn’t see him objecting either.

But, as thrilling as that idea was, tonight really wasn’t a suitable time for that. You wanted to feel much better first before getting naked with them for the first time. You settled for freshening up by brushing your teeth, putting on deodorant and changing out of the pajamas you’d been in for two days. Not feeling up to regular clothes, you just swapped them for a clean pair, but you did at least make sure these didn’t have stains or holes in them.

By the time you emerged from the bedroom, you felt a little more awake and a little more human. The smell of pizza hit you as you made your way through your small house, causing your stomach to remember you’d only eaten once today.

In the living room, Eddie and Steve had cleared off your coffee table, swapping the items on top with boxes of pizza and breadsticks. While Eddie was already relaxing at one end of the couch, Steve was bent over in front of your TV sorting through a few Family Video rental boxes. Your dogs were sitting next to the coffee table on the side directly opposite of the couch, staring intently at the pizza boxes as if they might try to escape.

The entire scene made your heart flutter. You paused in the doorway, a soft smile on your face.

It had been quite a while since someone went to this much effort for you. Years, even. Way back in the early days of your illness when the pain was just starting to reach levels that impacted your daily life. But when it didn’t get better, gradually worsening instead, it felt like everyone began seeing you as more of an inconvenience than anything else. Very quickly, your large circle of friends dwindled to just a mere handful of people you could count on.

Your smile then faltered for a moment, as your eyes flickered between Eddie and Steve. It seemed almost inevitable that they would start to think of you as an inconvenience too.

Fortunately, you didn’t have the chance to get stuck in that negative thought pattern. Steve stood up just then and turned towards the couch, holding a movie in each hand.

“Which one do you thi-“ Steve started to ask Eddie, then he looked up and saw you standing in the doorway. “Good timing, Y/N! We didn’t know what you would be in the mood to watch, so we rented an assortment.”

Steve started reading the titles off of the selections they brought as you made your way over to the couch. Eddie sat up quickly, moving his legs together so he wasn’t man spreading quite so much, and patted the cushion next to him with a bright smile on his face.

You sat down in the offered spot, thinking over the choices.

“Let’s go with Evil Dead 2,” you said, then chuckled. “Horror always cheers me up when I’m in pain, and I love that one.”

At that, Eddie threw a smug look at Steve, and Steve wrinkled nose at Eddie in response.

You couldn’t help but chuckle at them. They made a cute couple.

Once the movie started, the three of you settled in on the couch and started in on the pizza, with Steve clearing away the leftovers once everyone was done. The dogs supervised all of these activities very closely.

After Steve and the girls disappeared into the kitchen to put everything away, Eddie draped his arm around your shoulders and gently pulled you closer, so you were leaning into his side. You pulled your legs up under you, cuddling up close to him, and then reached up to pull a blanket down over you from the back of the couch. Eddie helped you spread it out the way you wanted it, then you settled in with your head on his chest and an arm around his waist. Both of Eddie’s arms were around you in a loose embrace, and he kissed the top of your head before resting his cheek against it.

Even though you always kept your house at a comfortable temperature, if the conditions outside were cold and wet, then that’s what your body responded to. But right now, laying against Eddie’s, you began to warm up even more. With the blanket trapping both his body heat and yours underneath it, and Eddie being a heat generator, you were soon comfortable and more at ease than you had been.

It didn’t take long for Steve to get everything put away. The girls came back to the living room first, each one carrying one of the large dog biscuits you usually gave them every night around dinner time.

The fact he even remembered you mentioning their dinner treats once in a conversation made your heart swell.

When Steve returned, he sat next to you on the couch, leaving only a little bit of space between him and you. Not wanting him to feel left out of the cuddles, you scooted your body down just a bit, closing the small gap between you, then stretched your legs out over his lap. He looked over at you and smiled, resting one hand on your knee and the other on your calf.

There was a small intermission between movies for bathroom and smoke breaks, then Steve and Eddie swapped places on the couch.

“You know,” Steve said, slipping his arms around you as you cuddled up to him now. “I could get used to date nights in if they all end up like this.”

“Really?” you asked, looking up at him nervously. “Won’t you guys get sick of just sitting around, doing nothing at my house?”

“I don’t think I could ever get sick of you,” Steve said, then looked over at his boyfriend. “What about you, Eddie?”

“Hell no,” Eddie said, standing up and coming back to the couch once he had finished putting in the next movie. “There’s no place I’d would rather be. If you’re stuck at home, Princess, well, then we want to be stuck at home with you.”

You couldn’t help but melt into Steve’s arms at their words, your heart fluttering once again.

Burrowing closer to Steve’s, you stretched your legs out across Eddie’s lap, enjoying this unexpected moment of intimacy.

You couldn't quite remember when was the first time you dreamt that nightmare but ever since it has been stuck to you like a thistle to a sweater. At least once a week you'd find yourself back at your secondary school, after hours with a creature of darkness looming in the corner of your eyes. You always run even though each time you looked around the corner or over your shoulder, there was completely nothing. Despite that, you could feel those disgusting tentacles of eldritch malice reaching out to grab you. What happens when the entity catches you - you never knew as you always wake up before it can happen. Not that you would want to find out. The nightmare was always so severe and realistic that you grew to fear the darkness and shadows of the Waking World even if your reason assured you that the shapeless terror was but a figment of your imagination.

There's that strange man in the nightmare - he always tells you to wake up or stand up and fight against the malice that haunts you. He always wears light-coloured clothes and carries a straw Panama hat with him. Despite your utmost terror at the creature reaching out to grab you and pull you into the endless pit of sorrow and fear, the strange man is always relaxed, amused even. You often run into him as he sits in the empty canteen or in one of the deserted classrooms, sipping on a colourful drink with an umbrella. There's a strange feeling of safety and reassurance whenever he's around as if some part of you knew that the formless malice couldn't hurt you while the stranger was there. Sometimes he'd remind you that it was only a dream and you had nothing to fear, while other times he'd have a small chat with you before pulling out something from his jacket and giving it to you: a knife, a gun (even a water gun once), a flare and many others. No matter what manner of weaponry he gifts you, it always works like a charm - the terrible beast of old retreats into its den in the land of misery and you wake up to sunlight crawling into your bedroom.

That night wasn't like any other: you were running through the dull, twisted and deserted corridors of the school. You could hear the slapping and slurping of tentacles slithering across the linoleum floor. Every now and then one of the famished maws would bite loudly at the air, their crooked fangs clicking against one another as if Hell could have its own doorbell. And yet, each time you dared to look over your shoulder, the corridors remained empty. The only sound that echoed throughout the building was your own rushed footsteps.

It was hard to breathe. No matter how deep of a breath you took, your lungs could only inhale a little air like something was constricting your airways. Your chest burned as you panted, never slowing down your maniacal escape even if your legs burned. Tired and with hopelessness gnawing at your heart, you stumbled over your own feet.

But before you could hit the ground, too tired and slow to resume your run from the shapeless demon hunting you, someone caught you. To your own surprise, your eyes were met with a suit jacket in the familiar creamy-beige colour. You looked up only to see the stranger you've grown somehow attached to. He was chewing spearmint gum and smiling at you in a fond yet nonchalant manner.

"It's you," you said quietly as if you couldn't quite believe your own eyes. But truthfully, how could you be surprised? After all, he's always been there - every time you were running from that beast you knew nothing about.

In a joking manner, the man looked down inspecting his body and clothes before looking back at you. "I should hope so," he answered with amusement seeping from his voice.

Gratefully using the support he kindly offered, you stood once again on your own feet. The wet, disgusting slush resounded far away, deep inside the building and surely far away from you. That man... in his presence, the sounds of the nightmare's slithering across the floor didn't strike fear in your heart. There was a strange sensation of illusive safety around him as if the security he provided was merely the product of other creatures' fear of him. As somebody once had elegantly put it: "There's always a bigger fish".

"Who are you, really?" you asked. It was a question you could never quite let go, something that bothered you anytime you were running through those deserted halls. Yes, who could he be? Even more importantly: why was he?

"Take a guess."

"Casper the Friendly Ghost?" Perhaps it was strange to stop by and tell jokes while the shapeless, eldritch terror was still after you but you knew this segment of your nightmare a little too well - the man's presence always happened at the very end of the night terror. The dawn was close and so was the relief it brings you.

The man let out a breathy chuckle. Maybe he didn't find it funny but it surely was entertaining to him in some way. "Quite the contrary, actually. I'm more of a... nightmare if you will."

You couldn't help but laugh at his words. Maybe if he said them with a little more seriousness, you would have been inclined to believe him. There was nothing horrible about the stranger but perhaps that was the most severe weapon of them all: the beautiful colours of a Heliamphora. And yet, staring into the gaping mouth of a lion, you never once felt threatened by its teeth.

"Of course you are a nightmare. You’re a little too alluring to be something good."

The corner of his mouth pulled up in an amused smirk. "Are you flirting with me?"

"Is it working?"

"I don't know, I think you need to indulge me a little more."

"So, what do you propose we do about it?" you diverted the conversation while vaguely pointing at the corridor behind you.

The Corinthian looked over your shoulder for a mere moment, the furrow of his eyebrows disappearing as swiftly as it had appeared. "Shub-Niggurath?" he asked. His voice was slightly raised in confusion as if he never thought of taking any action against the mass of teeth and tentacles. "Nah, I wouldn't mind him. We're not on good terms and he knows exactly how well it went for him the last time he got under my skin."

"Wait, you guys are like colleagues or something? Friends?"

"More like brothers from another mother. The same father though."

There was, however, something else still on your mind. By his slightly raised eyebrows, you could tell he knew but decided to wait instead of coaxing the curiosity out of you.

"Can I ask you something else?"

"Shoot."

"Why do we keep meeting here?"

"Truthfully, I find you fascinating." The Corinthian was also painfully bored but confessing that part of his non-existent heart could make you a little too reluctant towards him for his liking: there were many things you and he were yet to do. "I've seen Shub-Niggurath's work and most of the dreamers are too scared to fall asleep ever again. And yet you come back regularly, fighting or running but always refusing to give up. I'm not sure if you're brave or reckless."

"Recklessness requires bravery, doesn't it?"

He stared at you for a moment with a smile dancing across his face. The silence felt enigmatic for you weren't sure what to expect from a man like him but it never once was awkward or tense. "Well, I suppose we'll have to reschedule our little chat," the stranger spoke up finally. "It's time for you to go. Rise and shine, sweetheart."

As all things dreamy and ethereal, the vividness of the school corridors and the man with a Panama hat disappeared when you opened your eyes. Until you dream of them again, they were to remain but a grain of sand on the beach of forgetting - a memory once remembered. Remnants of the terror you've experienced were still leaving your body and mind as you sat up on your bed, panting heavily. Each time you closed your eyes to blink you'd see a passing mirage of the bleak corridors and a shapeless mass of teeth and jointless limbs extending towards you. The small lamp on your bedside table was still on like you left it in the evening. Behind the curtains, the sky was still a beautiful shade of deep blue but stars were no longer brightening the dark firmament - dawn was approaching in hasty strides.

Knowing that the night couldn't offer you any more rest, you got dressed and decided to walk through the sleeping city. There was a certain tranquil melancholy, if not a sense of loneliness, to observing life yet to wake up. For a moment, all those people were as one, no grievances or anger remained in their hearts. Their minds weren't stained with the vapid burden of existence that weighs them down during their waking hours.

"Can't sleep?" you heard someone ask behind you.

You turned around only to see a man you felt you should recognize. He was dressed in a light-coloured suit and wore blackout sunglasses despite the Sun not having risen yet - the sky was becoming lighter over the Eastern horizon. During such early morning hours, the weather is rather vicious, cold and windy, and the man looked to be dressed a little too lightly for such time and circumstances. Despite that, he didn't appear to be cold.

The strange feeling wouldn't leave your thoughts. It was hard to put it into words really - it felt as if you had once known him, in some another time and another place; like you once remembered that you used to remember him as if the memory of him was woven into the dust of your bones. Perhaps it was that strange, subliminal familiarity that rid you of hesitation or reluctance in approaching him.

"I'm afraid of what I might see there," you answered him. It was an eccentricity you had grown used to: you knew there was something terrifying in your dreams but you could never quite recall what it was exactly.

"Oh, I'm sure you're being missed there, sweetheart." It wasn't a complete lie, not really. The Corinthian did miss having you in his own dominion, in the world where he held the most power over you. "I know I would."

"Are you flirting with me?"

"Is it working?"

"I don't know, I think you need to indulge me a little more."

--  

You paid him for his time—you insisted on it. Your parents had no idea that you were taking guitar lessons from Eddie Munson. Even after his name was cleared, the town still had some misconceptions about him. You’d never believed them—you’d had a fair few classes with Eddie while you’d been in high school. He’d always offered insightful comments—ones that your teachers and fellow students often dismissed. 

Every Monday and Wednesday, you took the guitar that you bought at the pawn shop and went over to Eddie’s trailer. You'd been practicing for a few months, and had come along from scales to learn a few songs. Now, you sat on his bed, and did your best not to scowl or grumble or curse when you didn’t hold the strings down hard enough, or when your fingers wasn’t just right. 

“You’re doing that pinchy-face thing again.” 

“...What pinchy-face thing,” You muttered, gaze set on your fingers, and the guitar’s frets. It was only a second before one of Eddie’s ringed fingers waggled in your face before poking the tip of your nose. 

“That one.” 

It caught you so off-guard that you burst into giggles, your head jerking back. 

“I was focusing!” You insisted, meeting Eddie’s gaze. He was smiling sweetly at you, eyes sweeping your face. Your stomach fluttered with it, and your hurriedly lowered your gaze to your hands again. 

“I was focusing,” You repeated in a grumble. 

“...Can I ask you something?” Eddie asked. 

“Sure.” 

“Why’d you wanna learn to play?” 

You bit your lip. “I, um…I needed something to do with my hands when I couldn’t sleep.” 

“The weed not doin’ it?” 

"Not every time.” 

Your fingers slipped, sliding further down the fretboard. “Oh—Son of a bitch.” 

Eddie chuckled, clambering onto the bed behind you. 

“Eddie! You still have your shoes on!” You screeched. 

“S’okay, don’t worry about that—here.” 

Your breath caught in your throat as Eddie pressed up against your back. He slid his hands down your forearms, smoothing his fingers down to curl around yours. You felt his chin hook around your shoulder as he peered down at your hands. 

“You’re getting all annoyed and making that pinchy face, so your fingers are sliiiiidin’ around. You’ve just gotta relax.” 

With Eddie’s easy guidance, you played O, Christmas Tree. You bit your lip as Eddie guided you through it again.

“See?” He murmured, “You’ll get the hang of this in no time.” 

You glanced back toward him, your nose brushing the apple of his cheek. The two of you went still and quiet for a moment. 

“Thank you,” You mumbled. 

“...Sure.” 

It was another moment before Eddie leaned away from you, gently removing his hands from yours. He scooched around in bed to flop down beside you. 

“So,” You cleared your throat and began to work at the song again. “What are you doing for Christmas?” 

“Uh…” 

Your gaze flitted to Eddie, and you found him looking a little uncomfortable. “Probably just gonna be me and my baby here,” He said, nodding toward his guitar. 

“What about your uncle?” 

“He’s got a shift at the plant.” 

“On Christmas?”

“Yeah. A double. He’s covering for someone.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“S’okay. I’m used to it.” Eddie gave you a small, tight smile. You bit your lip, looking down at the fretboard. 

Your mom might not approve. Your dad might hate it. But—

“You should come to my house for Christmas.” 

--  

Your mom hadn't loved the idea, but when you'd explained a little bit—when you'd told her that Eddie had no one to spend Christmas with, and would probably be eating canned soup—she relented.

"Just, no devil-worshipping talk at the table, please," Was her only request.

You weren't sure who was more nervous on the day—Eddie or you. You were surprised when Eddie turned up in a warm-looking sweater and a pair of khaki pants, his hair pulled back into a ponytail. He’d brought flowers for your mom, and a bottle of wine for your dad. You could never have imagined seeing Eddie like this. 

“Where did you get the sweater?” You asked when the two of you had a moment alone. 

“I borrowed it from Steve. The pants, too. Are they—You know, is it good?” Eddie asked, looking down at himself.

“You look great, Eddie, but,” You glanced over your shoulder to see if your parents were coming in, “I’m a little surprised.”

“Well, you wanna dine with the normies, you gotta dress like a normie, right?” 

“You could’ve just worn your own clothes.” 

“Good to know if they ever invite me back.” 

“Nice touch with the wine and the flowers, by the way.” 

“That was Nancy’s idea.” 

“Who did your hair?” 

“...Robin.”

You smiled, reaching up and gently brushing a wisp of his bangs that had escaped. 

“I’m kinda digging the group project vibes, Munson.” 

His smile widened, his forehead gently butting against your fingers. You reached out, taking his hand and leading him into the living room. 

“C’mon, I’ve got something for you.” 

“What? No, you didn’t have to do that.” 

“I wanted to. Besides, we always make a stocking for someone that comes over for Christmas.” 

“A stocking?” 

“Uh-huh. And I actually um—Well. You’ll see.” You let go of Eddie’s hand, half-jogging over to the mantel and sliding the stocking off of the hook. You looked down at it nervously. It was too late to back out now. You’d dyed the red fabric of a stocking black, and ironed on a Metallica patch. You turned toward Eddie, holding it out to him. He took it, eyeing the stocking, his eyes sweeping the patch. A smile pulled at his lips, his fingers clutching it tightly. 

“...Thank you,” He managed, “Where’d you even get this?” 

“Oh, you know, I just—I dyed it and added the—thing,” You admitted, tucking your hands into your pockets. Eddie’s eyes flitted to you, eyes bright. 

“You made this?” 

“Kinda? I mean, I altered it, you know.” 

“This is the coolest—Oh, man, I love it.” Eddie grinned. “Thank you.” 

You relaxed a little, giddy butterflies still swirling in your stomach. “You’re welcome.”

“Kids! Dinner!” Your mom called in from the kitchen. “Don’t eat all of the candy from those stockings, you’ll spoil your dinner!” 

“Wait, there’s candy in here?” Eddie asked, opening his stocking and peering inside. 

“You can eat it later,” You chuckled. 

--  

“Your parents are kinda cool.” 

You glanced over at Eddie, leaning back against the wall of his van. You’d told your parents that you’d see Eddie home (and had been warned that you shouldn’t be out past midnight). He’d parked up in a field, and the two of you had climbed into the back and lit up one of his prerolls. 

“I think they liked you,” You admitted. “I mean…They were kinda nervous about you coming over, ‘cause of some of the stuff last year, but I think they realize that you’re a good guy.” 

“You tell them I was?” 

“Of course I did. ‘Cause you are.” You glanced at Eddie as you took the joint back from him. He was leaning against the opposite side of the van, watching you in the van’s low light, swirled with smoke. You took a pull from the joint before you pushed yourself up to sit beside Eddie. You passed him the joint back before you reached up. Your hands hesitated at his head. 

“Can I…?” 

Eddie nodded before he tipped his head forward a little bit. 

“Ugh, please. It’s starting to give me a headache.” 

You smiled, gently loosing the hair tie from his head. 

“Promise me the next time you come over, you won’t dress like Steve and give yourself a headache for my parents’ sake.” 

“I promise,” He chuckled. You hesitated before you slid your hand up to massage the crown of his head, where the ponytail had been pulled all evening. Eddie groaned softly, head tipping forward. You smiled as he leaned into you a bit. 

“Thanks,” He mumbled. “I really appreciate you inviting me for Christmas—and making me the stocking and stuff. Think it’s probably one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me. Like…Top five.” 

“Happy to be in the top five.” You lowered your hand from Eddie’s head to your lap. He scooched closer, resting his head on your shoulder. You smiled, reaching out and snagging the Metallica stocking from beside you. 

“Want a twix?” 

“Oh, hell yeah,” Eddie nodded. You opened the wrapper, drawing one out and holding it out to him. 

“Thanks.” 

“Sure.” 

“...You’re really cool, you know,” He mumbled around his mouthful. 

“You are, too, Munson.” 

You turned your head, nuzzling his head gently. 

“Merry Christmas, Eddie.” 

You had to break the kiss to laugh into his shoulder, the spoon falling onto the counter with a clatter.

“That was cheesy, even for you,” you teased him, turning your head to press a kiss to his jaw, “But…I’m glad you caught me too.”

“Yeah?” he asked, grinning as he turned his head to nuzzle your nose with his, “Good.”

His tongue was sweet with sugar and vanilla as it met yours, his kisses slow as syrup seeping from the tin. Your hands found his shoulders as his slid round your back to pull you closer and up onto your tiptoes, the tilt of your chin giving him the chance to deepen the kiss. He took the chance.

He always took the chance.

You could never have stopped the whine you let out as his mouth slanted against yours, your hands gripping the soft material of his sweater. His thighs squeezed your sides and made your head spin.

The insistent bleeping of the oven timer going off made you pull away, Steve chasing your lips with his. You turned your head and his lips landed on your cheek, pressing kiss after kiss there even as you tried to reach for the timer.

“Steve,” you chastised him with a giggle, planting your hands on his chest to stop him, “I need to get the cake in the oven or we’re gonna be late to Robin’s.”