i have had the time of my LIFE discovering mcr rpf the past few months and have been reading it nonstop. there needs to be more fic rec posts in this fandom because there are some fics that truly deserve more love. i need to make multiple posts because ooooh boy do i have opinions. gonna try and mention the classics/the people that are really popular right now AS WELL AS the less popular fics. starting with the popular ones here.
(note: i am also a rikey warrior fighting in the trenches. bexless got me with unholyverse and i am stuck now.)
okay here is part one of my beauteous recs: THE OVERWHELMINGLY POPULAR
if you are already familiar with mcr fics, this may not be the deep dive for you, cuz all of these are crazy crazy popular. i will be posting part 2 at some point soon though so, trust!! i will be reccing more stuff soon!!
alright. obligatory big 3 discussion, and then i'm leaving them alone cuz everybody talks about them.
the anatomy of a fall by novembersmith. it's not only the most bookmarked frerard fic, but also the most bookmarked mcr fic. it's genuinely so fucking good. fucking read it. it's devastating and beautiful. the pining is INSANE. slow fucking burn. i love this fic so, so, much.
unholyverse (series) by bexless. aka the reason why there are endless priest au's in this goddamn fandom. it honestly took me a moment to get the gist of what was happening, because, like, I couldn't figure out what the "rules" of this universe were, but eventually i got it. best advice i can give you is just pretend you're in the supernatural universe, and then your suspension of reality will be a lot more calibrated to what these fics will throw at you. but here's the deal: once you get it, it really fucking is that good. bexless is crazy good at building tension, and oh-fucking-boy is there tension in this series. and the rikey? dear jesus. i literally was so confused at first and then IMMEDIATELY got on board because holy fucking shit.
both of these fics/fic series are from 2011. yes, they are that good.
and alright, there's someone missing from the trio: a splitting of the mind. i have not read it, and do not intend to read it, because i am a true first person POV hater. cannot fucking stand first person POV. i have also heard some people discuss that it doesn't have the best representation of schizophrenia, which i'm not super down with either. no hate if you adore asotm, but i can't in good faith rec it because i haven't read it.
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okay !! we are free from the big three !!!! let's look at some more popular guys!!!!!! what constitutes as popular? my dumb arbitrary opinion, mostly, but 1) if the fic is on the first 1-10 AO3 pages of bookmarks, that's probably pretty popular. 2) if i have seen at least like 3 separate posts reccing the author, OR if most of their fics fall into category 1), then I'm calling them popular.
this is in no particular order beyond that generated by my beautiful mind.
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bexless: there are more works by bexless than just unholyverse! look at them.
frank keeps injuring gerard. kind of on purpose: a natural reaction to rough-housing. so fucking good.
cinderella au. fucking HILARIOUS: an emergency of the heart.
very short and sweet silly oneshot. ray accidentally walks in on gerard and frank (they do not realize he is there. he does not want to be there.) so fucking deeply funny: yeah, baby
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liberxi: under the "popular" subheading for a reason (re: everyone recs them), but also literally all of their stuff is very, very, good!! look at their page beyond the recs here they're so crazy good. specific recs:
danger days/killjoys aus:
literally you don't understand. this fic makes me cry every time i read it. kind of an odd choice for a first liberxi rec because there are far more popular fics by them but you be my detonator is so dear and close to my heart. queer people loving each other in the desert,,, fun ghoul learning how to be loved,,,,,,, FUCK. literally cannot rec this enough.
don't need the system is in a different universe than you be my detonator but is equally So So Good, but in many different ways. the hurt/comfort of this fic goes sooooo hard. set aside some time and read it!
basement/bullets-era gerard stuff:
sorry wrong number: miscommunication but quickly resolved !!! loser-ish gerard + frank who thinks he's the hottest thing to walk this earth (after taking a moment to figure it out). a bit of sexuality exploration. kinda pwp but then the hurt/comfort comes in like a fucking TRUCK at the end and oauauoauaoaouagh. ouaoauaaouaoo. so good. soooo hot. kinky fun.
all throughout the night: meet cute!! mikey tries to set up frank w/ gee, frank is dubious about mikey's loser brother until he runs into said brother and oh fuck that guy is hot what the fuck michael. g + f flirt and it's soooo silly. so many sci-fi hypotheticals. essentially pwp too.
how i disappear : guys you'll never fucking guess it. loser-ish anxious gerard + frank who is Nuts About Him (and also kinda a loser) except gerard doesn't get that cuz he's insecure!! both of them like ough this beautiful confident man will never want me cuz i suck soooo baddddd... pwp.
pup stuff:
okay look pup play is very much Not My Thing tm, but it's kinda inescapable in the mcr ao3 universe on account of frank. being like that. so I'd be remiss to not mention some of liberxi's most popular work. which, btw, is so insanely good that it's worth reading anyways.
gerard way's kink service: i don't really have words to describe this one just fucking read it........... so much hurt/comfort. so much.
you belong to me i believe (WIP): frayrard. work in progress. actively updating. VERY much out of my normal interest zone but damn it, liberxi you've done it again. and now i am desperately waiting for another upload. just read the tags guys idk.
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metaleaterz: nobody understands me the way that metaleaterz does. truly the most niche aus that you could never think of, written SO beautifully that what are you going to do. what are you going to do. fellow rikey warrior. solidarity. look at all of their stuff 1000% but specific recs include:
staples au. i need you to understand. this is the #4 most bookmarked fic in the mcr tag, right after the big 3, which were first published in 2011 & 2007. this fic was published in 2020. do you get how good this fic must be to be published in 2020 and reach #4 in the mcr tag as a whole (not just frerard!!!)??? trust me. hold my hand. this fic is so fucking sweet. they're all losers and trying to figure things out. i was so dubious at first because of staples and then i read it and i understood. another one of my all-time favorites. i swear the angels are whispering into metaleaterz's ears: "that was easy."
house-flipping au, aka the art-wife fic!! gerard has red hair and wears overalls and is sooo gender in this one. idiots in love + established rikey who know all: another superstition.
rival chef/ghostwriter au. their latest addition!! tonally a bit different than the last two, but truly beautiful in its own way. kinda angsty and just like. think of the vibe of a line cook? yeah that's it that's the main vibe of this fic. still definitely worth a read: does it bite at your edges.
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pixie_revolver: genre-hopping wizard that never fucking misses. also under the popular tag for a reason. literally insane about the way they write hurt/comfort.
you want horror? the horror that i'm in. this is another one of my absolute top fics for the mcr fandom, and it truly needs more love. it is a gen-u-ine horror fic, though, so keep that in mind!!! but listen this was one of the fics that i fully had to take a day to recover from. i was changed. i had so many new ideas for horror stuff that i was working on. i love this fic with all my fucking heart. if you like horror and hurt/comfort, please read this fic.
you read unholyverse and want more priest gerard nonsense except more d/s? choosing my confessions (series). guess what... it's more hurt/comfort!!! ohhhh boy this series made me CRY. i'm soooo normal about it <- lying. there's a happy ending though guys !!!
you want light-hearted office romance? the best part of my day. fluffy. cute. love this.
you want danger days/killjoys hurt/comfort? the only hope for me. what it says on the tin. very sweet in the end.
you want pro-rev d/s stuff? life is but a dream (series). have y'all seen the pro-rev videos? cuz i have. and goddamn. thank you pixie_revolver for your service.
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jjtaylor: a oft-unmentioned author in these rec posts that truly deserves far more love. i (stupidly) almost did not put them into the author section until i realized that i had basically all of their work in the very popular fics section below.
baker/small artist au. you do not fucking understand how funny and heartfelt this shit is. dying. this series is also going to go in my like mcr fics of all time. it is so heartfelt and wonderful. it feels like a fucking hug. please, please read it: Buy Handmade (series).
insanely complex urban fantasy/supernatural au. worth your while if you don't mind that all of the people from the emo bandom scene are there. i pretend like they are new people i have never met before. rare petekey appearance in my recs: Gerard Way's (Vampire) Detective Agency (series).
a really intense and sweet danger days fic. frank sleeps in a washing machine and doesn't know what to do with himself: Born to Motorbabies.
STILL VERY POPULAR FICS BUT NOT SORTED BY AUTHOR. ORDER OF APPEARANCE IS STILL RANDOM:
strangers on a train. sweet. pining: On the Midtown Direct
GORGEOUS time-travel killjoys funpoison kobrastar au series. oh my god hard to put into words but GODDAMN. selfcest occurs, so, uh, keep that in mind? you want to start with James Cameron Got It Wrong and then you read the rest of the series.
another timey-wimey fucked up story with the killjoys!!! soooo satisfying plot wise, it's just so fucking good: the science of sleep
more time travel yayayayyayayayyay !!! the hurt/comfort in this one goes SO FUCKING HARD YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND: Crossed Out.
dude this au is so niche i can't even BEGIN to describe what is happening here. summary reads "in 1932, Gerard Way has been making a name for himself robbing banks up and down New Jersey. Frank Iero, analyst for J. Edgar Hoover's Division of Investigation, is determined to catch him." outlaw-ish, wild-west-y vibes???? idk. it's good. read it: Public Enemy
this rec will return once i make my supernatural-specific mcr fic rec post (that will either be #2 or #3!) but this fic fully is on the first page of bookmarks, so i'd be a bit remiss for not mentioning it. frank's watching gerard (a vampire) over the weekend. they're kind of idiots. frank wants gee to suck his blood, just a little bit: Black Market Blood
gamerz au. if danger days was a mmorpg: sing it for the n00bs.
they work at a record store together! and gerard and frank are kind of enemies. another rare petekey appearance: Spun.
this post is LONG LONG LONG so i shall make another. those will be sorted by theme/vibe of fic.
warnings: 18+, smut, fem!reader, continuation to this, fluff, first time together, p in v sex, oral (f receiving), loser!adrian, downbad!adrian, switch of povs, etc.
summary: after giving adrian his necklace, you didn't expect your relationship to reach the next level so soon.
wc: 2k
prev
things between you and adrian evolved pretty quickly after that
the necklaces remained; a staple in your newfound romance. chris still made fun of adrian for it, insisting it was a friendzone thing, always inadvertently forcing adrian to tongue you in front of all his friends to prove a point. you didn't complain, but it was a little mortifying at times.
your friends were happy for you, though a little annoyed at the extended honeymoon phase they'd been having to sit through.
economos thought a honeymoon phase made no sense when the two of you had already been close friends beforehand, chris found it cheesy, while leota and harcourt felt it was just a tiny bit adorable how sweet you were on each other (though the latter only admitted as much during a drunken outing).
and it had, unsurprisingly, turned into a lust-filled love affair soon after you settled that, yes, you were his girlfriend (a confirmation he pestered you with multiple times after chris' consistent teasing), and that, yes, he had your full-fledged consent to do with your body as he wished.
immediately after the fact, adrian had a hard time keeping his hands off of you.
as in many other areas of his life, he was entirely shameless about how into you he was. anyone willing (or unwilling) to listen became victim to his endless oversharing of his escapades with his smokeshow girlfriend, his sexy missus, his creampie, his slutty wife, his honeypot, etc, etc, etc. — the terms kept on growing and growing, always ridiculous, but never failing to make you snort to yourself. and despite the mortification you felt as you clamped his mouth shut during his graphic re-telling of your most recent time together, part of you still enjoyed his lack of shame.
you became even more attached to the hip.
emilia eventually looked the other way when you'd pair up for any missions. chris would tilt his head in curiosity when adrian would walk past him to get to you. you'd gone past his #1 bff to become something else, something that carried way more weight in adrian's peculiar method of ranking his loved ones. there was no question when it came to you; you were number one in every facet of his life.
he'd said i love you within the first two weeks. it had been a little fast, a little intense, very adrian. you couldn't help yourself in returning the sentiment. though you didn't say the words until the month mark, you expressed them in every other way, and adrian was truly just happy to be there.
he was over the moon to be yours, having never actually had a girlfriend despite being otherwise experienced. he'd found out much about himself within the short two months you'd been together so far. it took some trial and error, but he'd found himself enjoying your soft touch, something that was a brand new feeling for him. your skin on his didn't make him itch, it made him crave it tenfold any time it'd get taken away from him (because, apparently, you couldn't just stay with him in bed all day. whatever).
you matched his energy, encouraged his craziness, liked him just as he was, and it only made him want to crawl back for more.
⭒⭒⭒
the cool touch of the necklace had become familiar to you by now. three months in, and he still refused to take it off. it remained stagnant on his sternum most days, finding a home laid near his heart, hidden under his vigilante suit.
but every so often, you felt it dangling against your skin. sometimes it'd dip down the length of your spine, drawing goosebumps out of you as he took you from behind. other times, it'd dangle right over your face, occasionally dipping down to your breasts as he stared down at you, eyes focused on your own necklace, which remained settled between the slopes of your chest.
this was his favorite. the times in which the metallic half-heart found itself right above your eyes, chased by your lazy gaze as he rammed into you with abandon. you'd follow it's dangling path, mind completely numb by then and body made mush by his touch. you'd open your lips, tongue flicking out to catch it in between your teeth as you looked up at him.
it always killed him. his hips would stutter, breath catching and grip on your hips tightening.
"f-fuck- that's not fair," he whined, leaning down, making it easier for you to suck at the necklace, "that's so fucking hot, fuuuuck."
you pulled him closer, spitting out the necklace and catching his lips in a heated kiss instead. the slight metallic taste remained in your mouth, which he felt as soon as your tongues made contact.
by then, his hands left your hips, opting to cage you by settling on the mattress over each side of your body. his form pressed against yours, necklaces practically interlocking between your connected bodies. your legs remained wrapped around his lithe waist, holding him hostage against you as he continued to grind into you.
"feel so good- fuck- my bestie's got the most amazing pussy-"
despite how out of breath you were, you still chuckled, tightening around him as you spoke, "i'm your girlfriend, adrian."
"uh-huh," he groaned, "my girlfriend, my bff, my bestie, you're kinda everything if you think about- fffuuck! you also have the best- oh, oh fuck... the best pussy- have i told you that? i should get it engraved for you, shit- insane fucking pussy. 10/10, would recommend- but won't! cuz- cuz this is my pussy, fuck..."
it took you a little while to get used to his version of dirty talk, but, still, it worked for you. he'd say some weird shit about how your tits had changed his life, you'd get tighter, he'd respond by confessing his feelings for your pussy. it was a viscous cycle of dirty, nonsensical words and an endless exchange of fluids.
"i wanna- shit, fuck, shit- i wanna come inside. can i? i'll- i wanna eat it out of you," he stammered out. he was at that point where he usually lost control. that moment you'd gotten so familiar with, when he'd let himself go, let his hips slap against the back of your thighs with no remorse, "so fucking hot- fuck- can't handle it-"
nodding, you dragged your nails down his back. this caused the usual response; a loud grumble from deep within his chest, eyes rolling back and mouth agape with a small mumble of 'so fucking sexy- marking me up and shit... wait til peacemaker sees.'
it was nothing in comparison to the endless hickeys he'd continuously leave scattered down your chest. you could usually hide them, but often times they'd show regardless. he got really creative with the spots where he left them — thighs, chest, butt, neck, sometimes your upper arms.
"fuck- my dirty little creampie," he sighed when he finally came inside you, but his hips never stilled, "i think you might be dirtier than me! i mean, look at you! your pussy's still trying to pull me in even when i filled her up to the brim- oh, right, your orgasm!"
he interrupted himself halfway, realizing you hadn't come yet and scrambling down your body after a quick kiss to your lips before settling down between your legs. there wasn't much warning before he pried them open, face already shoved between them before you could even sit up to get a good look at him.
"fuck, i taste so good- we taste so fucking good, babe," he mumbled like he had his mouth full.
holding you open, he had a feast between your legs. it was messy, sometimes slightly painful as he mindlessly licked and sucked at you. he'd occasionally nibble at your lips, sticking his tongue in your hole and wiggling it in what you could only assume was the shape of his name, yours, a dorky mixture he'd made combining both.
pulling at his hair, gripping at his messy curls, it only proved to make him even more rabid as he ate you out. his fingers gripped at your thighs tight enough to leave marks, but he'd apologize for those later. shameless moans and groans of your name left his lips as he suffocated with your essence, nosing at you, unashamed in breathing you in, letting you take over his whole being.
"baby... i'm- fuck, you're gonna make me cum," you warned, though to him it was more of a happy announcement.
it only served to speed him up, to make him sigh in pleasure as you began to grind into his face, riding his tongue. he encouraged you, tracing his hands all the way up to your hips and pulling you up closer, following the rhythm of your hips. he let you take control without any complaint, simply following along with your movements and moaning any time his nose would hit your clit, causing you to tighten around his tongue.
a deep groan grumbled from deep within him as you finally came, licking at you greedily all throughout your orgasm. he could already feel himself twitching again, but he pushed it aside for something way more pressing — climbing his way back up your body!
he liked to keep things unpredictable. so while any other loser would kiss their way up the length of your body (which, no, they wouldn't, cause he'd kill any guy who even looked at you), he opted to lick a path up your body. you may have made a noise of annoyance at it, but adrian had learned by then to read your annoyance as your average reaction to him doing weird shit (which was kinda often).
after taking a detour on your tits, he eventually made his was to your lips, kissing you deep and wet before letting his body roll on its back, laying directly next to you, shoulder to shoulder.
your heavy breaths eventually coordinated, which made adrian chuckle to himself. you were totally meant to be. it was kinda stupid looking back to your lengthy friendship now with the hindsight that the two of you should've been together from day one.
"that was easily top five sexual experiences for me," he spoke up with a smile in his tone.
"yeah? what are the other four?"
"well, they've been with you, obviously. the best one's easily our first time, though — the way you rode my dick that day.. fuck! it's like you were possessed, babe! you should do that again. you'd kill me, but i'd die a happy man."
you laughed, slapping his chest lightly. you took advantage of this move, rolling to your side and leaving your hand on his chest, cuddling against him. there was still a sheer layer of sweat covering you, but you knew that adrian didn't mind your bodily fluids — none of them, he'd made sure to clarify a while back with no further explanation.
"the necklaces make it even hotter," he spoke up again, "that thing you did with the nibbling on the necklace? i was about to bust, man. you're dangerous, babe. if things ever go south on a mission, we should use you as our secret weapon. you could totally seduce any bad guy — but then i'd have to kill them, so it'd just be a roundabout way of making me the secret weapon, really-"
you let him ramble, nuzzling against his toned chest, pressing lazy kisses on it every so often. in the meantime, his hand had found your hair, petting at it the way one would a dog, sorta his special way of cuddling you. you felt your eyes threaten to close, far too comfortable (and exhausted) to keep yourself awake any longer.
"adrian," you interrupted.
"yeah?"
"if you go to sleep now, i promise i'll ride you just how you like as soon as we wake up."
he lit up, smile practically reaching his eyes, inadvertently squeezing you against him, "will you do the necklace thing again?"
"anything you want, baby."
you couldn't see it, but you felt him shuffle, aware he was fist bumping the air with a little 'fuck yeah,' whispered into the room.
swallowing back a snort of amusement, you kissed his skin one last time before falling asleep, lulled perfectly by his hand trailing up and down your back.
warnings: fluff, friends to lovers, fem!reader, awkward confession, adrian's a shitty liar, first kiss, implied that reader has hair, etc.
summary: you decide to buy adrian one of those silly bff matching necklaces, not realizing how much it'd actually end up meaning to him
wc: 3.6k
a/n: this concept has been stuck in my head for days so i might do a pt 2 with smut cuz why not <3
next
it was mostly a stupid gesture.
you didn't think too much of it, just wanted to do something nice for the guy. everyone else seemed to disregard him a little more often that you felt was acceptable, so you did your best to pick up the slack for them — not that being friends with adrian was anything other than an effortless task.
and so you decided to take on the task of being his best friend.
it wasn't much of a conscious decision. it was more like something that just happened.
you never once verbally named him your best friend out loud, but you felt it was pretty much implicit based on how much time you spent with him, how often you engaged with his senseless rambles. and you truly enjoyed yourself in doing so. adrian might've been a prolific killer, but he was also a funny guy with a heart of gold.
he continued to insist that peacemaker was his best friend, so you never once tried to take that spot. adrian was too much of a sweetheart to rank you in his leaderboard of best friends, so you left it all unspoken.
that was until that aforementioned stupid gesture.
one of those old, plastic and tacky bff necklaces. those meant for 4th graders.
a little pink and blue heart split in two, connected by small magnets found in between. one had a b and an f engraved while the other had the remaining f. together they spelled out one of adrian's favorite acronyms — because, yeah, he had a list of favorite acronyms.
you'd seen it in the midst of shopping for some new earrings and couldn't help but grin to yourself. it instantly made you wonder if adrian ever had some matching piece of apparel with a friend back when he was a kid.
pretty sure that that wasn't the case, the smile left your lips, replaced by a frown. fuck, not even peacemaker wanted him as a best friend. even when adrian did everything he could to make chris happy, he was still easily bumped down the list by eagly, then by adebayo and emilia, followed by john and then you. adrian was easily dead last.
and so you picked it up and took it to a cashier.
maybe he'd find it awkward and see himself forced to remind you that his number one bestie was already peacemaker. but you were sure it'd at least get a smile out of him knowing that you were thinking about him and ranked him first. it was just some dumb gag gift after all. it didn't serve any big purpose other than to get a smile out of your bestie.
(you didn't really buy into that whole idea — you loved all 11th street kids all the same, no ranks, no nothing. adrian just so happened to make your heart beat a little faster than the rest. he was the one you sought out the most).
dumbly enough, you felt a little nervous about giving it to him.
adrian was the least judgmental person you'd ever met, but still, the whole concept of best friends was important business to him. you didn't want to overstep.
still, when you arrived at your little makeshift headquarters, you approached him in what was meant to be his room, necklaces hidden in a fist.
"hey," you called out to him from the door, knocking on it despite it already being open.
he sat on the bed, vigilante suit still mostly on.
"oh, hey! did you wanna watch a movie again? i was thinking a documentary this time- i know they're kinda boring, but i found one on spiders that i thought looked really interesting. i probably already know everything there is to know about spiders, but, i mean, why not," he rambled from his seat on the bed, "we can watch, like, some boring superhero movie, though, if you wanna."
he'd been cleaning his visor when you walked in, sat at the edge of his bed. as he rambled he spoke more animatedly than you'd expect a person to do within a mere three seconds of conversation, making you hold back a smile in the process. he was the lead cause of the intense cuteness aggression you'd been feeling lately.
you nodded, walking off your spot at the door and taking a seat next to him on the bed.
"yeah, we can watch your doc about spiders later, if you want," you turned your body in his direction, "but, actually, i wanted to give you something first."
his head cocked to the side in the same fashion of a curious kitten, bottom lip protruding a little, "you got me something?"
his voice tilted higher, surprised.
nodding, you lifted up your fist, bringing it between you and opening your hand to reveal the necklaces hidden inside it.
"it's just- i saw it, and i thought it was cute. it reminded me of you," you shrugged, "see? it's two halves of a heart. when you put it together-"
"oh my god," he gasped, hand coming to grab at the connected necklaces. the chains were slightly tangled, which he undid delicately with his gloved hands, "this is- oh my god, you got this for me? like, you wanna match with me? or are you, like, just showing me? oh, fuck, wait, i shouldn't assume," he rambled once more, "cause last time peacemaker showed me tickets he had to a show, but he took harcourt instead, and, uh, yeah," he scratched the back of his neck, a little awkward.
his anecdote made you frown. god damnit, chris.
you couldn't really blame him. you doubted he did it on purpose, but still! adrian was more sensitive to these things than he let on. it made you sad to think chris couldn't at least humor him a little.
shaking your head, you took one of the necklaces from his hands, "no, it's for you, silly. who else would i wanna match with other than my best friend?"
adrian made some weird choking sound at that. it was half a gasp, half some word that got stuck in his throat before it could make it out.
"wait, really? like, really really? you wanna- with me?" he smiled widely at you before frowning to himself, "but, peacemaker's my best friend ..."
you shook your head, "adrian, it's fin-"
"no! no, wait. i want it! i'll- screw peacemaker," he scoffed awkwardly, "this shit fucking rocks! i've never had, like, a bff insignia or anything like that," his eyes were entirely focused on the necklace still in his hand, "i'm gonna wear this all the time. everyone's gonna know we're besties- like, number one besties! wait, we are, right? like, this isn't just second rate besties or something? you don't have, like, a fucking golden anklet matching with economos?"
that was a lot to take in, but it still made you giggle at him. it was way too serious to him, but, still, it was a very endearing thing about him.
"no, adrian. you're my one and only bff," you reassured him, "now help me put this on, okay?"
you stood up, urging him to do the same before turning your back to him. uncovering your neck, you turned your head to the side, smiling to your peripherical as you handed him the necklace still in your hand.
behind you, you could feel a stutter in his movements, but you couldn't really blame him. not when you yourself shuddered the moment his fingers graced yours to grab the necklace from your hand.
"oh, uh, yeah, okay! i'll- there!"
turning back around, you beamed at him, showing off the small chain resting on your sternum. the pink half heart shone in the ambient light of his room, making his eyes zero in on it as if in a daze.
"shit," he gasped, "you're like, my bff now, man, wow!"
you giggled at him, gesturing for him to turn around so you could return the favor. he did so happily, head turned to the side to look at you as your fingers graced his neck, clipping the chain on the back of his neck.
when he turned around, his hands went up to your sternum, grabbing the necklace before connecting it to his blue half. a smile took over his face yet again at the sight.
"oh my god, dude, this is the coolest thing ever!" he repeated again, literally bouncing in place, "wait, we can't tell the guys about this. they're gonna be sooo jealous, man."
shaking your head to yourself, you giggled, "let them."
⭒⭒⭒
you mostly forgot about the necklaces after that first exchange. although it became a staple in your every day life, never leaving your neck, you didn't pay much attention to it.
the chain was long enough for it to be hidden under your shirt most of the time, as was adrian's. but you couldn't help but notice its shape perpetually found under his shirt.
he never took it off, and in return, you didn't either.
occasionally, he'd pull out his half, gesturing at you so you could clink them together as if they were two glasses of whiskey. other times, he'd dig for yours and attach the magnets together. it sorta became your thing, and it just so happened to endear you every single time.
it took a while for anyone else to notice the necklaces. they weren't a huge declaration of friendship. they were pretty small, very unnoticeable unless you were actively looking for them.
the first to notice them was harcourt.
her reaction was pretty tame. it'd been just the three of you at the headquarters, with adrian down to a white tank top and his vigilante pants still on.
when she noticed his, she immediately turned to look at you, already connecting the dots. sporting the similarly shaped half heart hiding under your thin top wasn't too difficult. with a lighthearted scoff and a chuckle to herself, she shook her head as you shrugged at her with a smile. it was quietly understood that she found it kiddish, but amusing.
the next member of the crew to notice had been economos, who shared a similar reaction to harcourt.
it had actually been adrian who'd shown it to him, too giddy about it to not tell anyone. economos found it a little dumb, but he didn't really care as long as it wasn't him bearing the other half — those nightly calls were more than enough for him to demonstrate his friendship with adrian.
leota and chris noticed it at the same time, and they had the biggest reactions out of all.
hanging out at the headquarters after a mission, chris had the idea of getting a couple of six packs to celebrate your shared success. everyone relaxed as they were finally able to let their guards down and take in the aftermath.
when you took off your jacket, you'd forgotten how low-cut your shirt underneath was, but chris, being chris, took notice of it immediately.
"nice," he chuckled to himself as he looked to your cleavage.
"hmm, hey, what's that?" asked leota, looking your way. her finger pointed at your general direction, but it was specifically focused on that small piece of metal resting on your sternum.
"hmm?"
"is that one of those little bestie necklaces? those ones you wear in elementary?" there was no judgement in her voice, just amused wonder.
"oh, right. yeah," you nodded.
"wait, who's got the other half?" asked chris.
"it's-"
"me, obviously! i'm her best friend," adrian interrupted, "her number one best friend, by the way. i double checked."
economos sighed to himself, annoyed. emilia wasn't really paying attention.
"oh, adrian, i thought chris was your best friend," leota recalled.
"nope. he's been bumped down to second best friend — sorry, man," he walked over to you, hand perching on your shoulder like you were buds, "couldn't just leave my bff hanging when she got us these kickass bff necklaces."
his smile was wide as per usual. there was that usual liveliness in him, but he looked extra proud of himself. it was like he'd been vibrating with the need to let everyone know that you'd claimed him as your best friend, waiting for the moment the big reveal came to be and he could finally make it official.
to everyone else it was mostly a dumb label he seemed to fixate over as he did with any other thing that caught his interest, but to adrian it felt like cardinal law.
sadly, his pride didn't get to last for too long.
"dude, what? you got fucking friendzoned- no, you got bff-zoned, that's even worse," chris snickered at adrian.
leota slapped his arm with a quiet, "dude!" urging him to shut up.
adrian's smile started to leave his lips, eyes darting between you and chris with a sorta panicked look, "i, uh, i don't know what you're talking about! we're both friendzoned! cause we're both friends — besties!"
but chris didn't really take the hint. neither from leota nor from adrian.
"but i thought you said you couldn't rank her as one of your best friends-"
"i never said that!"
"-because you can't be friends with her-"
"stop! i didn't say any of that," he looked to you, panicked, hands gripping his hair.
"-cause you can't be friends and also date, which, i mean- i think you could, but i don't know if you could pull it off-"
"that's- that totally doesn't sound like something i'd ever say. i think peacemaker had a little too much to drink. over-drinking is prevalent in people our age. it's very sad, i think-"
"what the hell are you talking about?" chris interrupted, confused.
beside him was a defeated leota, who'd been trying to quietly shut him up for adrian's benefit, but had ultimately given up after about the third inference that adrian had a crush on you.
by now, adrian had his hands fisted up as he tried to hide his face behind them, quietly groaning to himself.
economos had spent the entire exchange wincing at the painful interaction from a distance. emilia almost face palmed at what a terrible wing man chris was, partially wondering if he was doing this shit on purpose.
you simply stood there and listened. you felt kind of sorry for adrian as chris aired out what seemed to be a private conversation between them. known to be an airhead, it didn't surprise you coming from chris.
"adrian?" you asked after a few moments of deeply uncomfortable silence.
his head snapped up, eyes a little crazy.
"me? i have to go- i totallyyy forgot i have to hang out with my other friends," he let out, "you guys don't know them. they're super cool. peacemaker was actually talking about one of them just now! yeah- not you! i don't know why he's saying all that stuff. anyway! i need to go, so i'm just gonna leave now. okay! bye!"
with his rambles, he made his exit, bumping into a chair on his way out.
the remaining four of you stood there awkwardly until chris broke the silence again.
"ohhhh! i thought he meant you! — that he was crushing on you! man, i wonder who he was talking about. i mean, crisis averted, right?" he scoffed lightly.
"are you fucking kidding me?" it was emilia this time around.
⭒⭒⭒
going after adrian was faster than you thought.
you didn't have to look far, as he hadn't really left at all. right around the corner of the building, you found him kicking rocks (literally), muttering curses under his breath.
"fuck! what do i even- shit! why did i say that! she's gonna look at me all weird now!" he muttered, all hushed as his eyes cast down to his feet, rocks becoming victims to his stomping, "'he was talking about a different friend' god, adrian, you- you idiot!"
you couldn't help a muted giggle leaving your lips. even when he was angry at himself he was adorable.
the big reveal to a crush didn't quite shock you as much as you would've imagined. maybe it was the incredibly anticlimactic way in which chris had revealed it to the entire room, or perhaps how close you and adrian had gotten since the exchange of those silly necklaces.
it did cross your mind at the time; how adamant adrian was about labels and rankings for his friends. what if he felt like you were boxing him in as a friend once you gave him that necklace?
well, it turned out you were worried about the wrong thing. the poor boy had been secretly agonizing about it, even going as far as airing out his frustrations on the worst recipient ever — which reminded you for the nth time to never trust chris with any private information about you.
"adrian?"
you approached him like a stray dog, afraid that too much would make him run and ruin your chances to put him (and, really, you too) out of his misery.
it was understandable why he'd be embarrassed. hell, you were embarrassed. chris hadn't had any ill will, but he'd put you both on the spot, inadvertent as he aired out yours and adrian's very badly hidden crushes on each other.
his head snapped up, eyes wide and shocked at your sudden appearance. not very vigilante of him. his guards were always down when he was with his friends.
"oh! uh, i was just- i was about to leave. i have to go see that girl- my friend, the girl," he stammered on, an awkward laugh leaving him, "it wasn't you that peacemaker was talking about, by the way," he shook his head to hammer on the point, "hah! i don't even know what he was talking about. anyways, she's, like, super pretty. you'd like her-"
you had to tune him out by then. there was more and more about some nonexistent girl he'd made up on the spot as some sort of scapegoat. a defense mechanism, you assumed. his tendency to lie when panicking wasn't news to you. it was usually a cute aspect of his personality, all the white lies he'd tell to make himself appear cool. but in other occasions it'd get in the way. such as now.
again, you interrupted by saying his name.
"uh, yeah?"
"was peacemaker talking about me?"
"what? i just said no! i don't know why you'd think that! we're besties, remember? besties can't- besties are friends! like, yeah, maybe sometimes i have threesomes with chris, but that's just as friends," he went on, "not that i'm saying we should have threesomes- but, like, unless you want to! anyways, i don't even know what we're talking about-"
you couldn't help rolling your eyes. he'd really be willing to go on and on unless stopped. the only option here was for you to bite the bullet.
two steps were enough to get his attention back on you, making him halt in his endless stammers.
"so you don't like me back?" you cocked your head to the side, lip curling a little.
and for the first time, he stopped, going from his usually expressive gesticulations to a stilled state that gave you whiplash.
"'back' what- what do you mean by 'back'?" he exhaled, "are you pranking me? is peacemaker in on this? he's always teasing me about you- like last week when he kept waving his hand in front of me to stop staring at you, cause 'i looked like a creep,' whatever that means-" he did the quotation marks with his hands, scoffing at the memory.
now a little frustrated that he just would not let you answer, you decided to go for the most overplayed move you could think of. it really seemed to be the only way to get him to stop and listen to you. or, well, acknowledge what you'd been trying to say.
for a seasoned killer, it was easy to catch him off guard, to move him to your liking and press your lips to his. and after the initial touch of lips, it was even easier to get him lost in the kiss. immediately, he melted around you, whimpering at the very first kiss, but sighing once he realized what was happening.
opening your lips, you caught his lower lip between yours, sucking it, kissing it, licking it. you felt the vibration of his pleased sounds against you, making a monster grow within you that itched to draw even more sounds out of him.
fingers entangling in his honey hair, you held him close to you, sighing into his lips and entangling your tongues. his hands had traveled to your waist by then, engulfing as much of you as he could and keeping you pressed against him.
he kissed you like he'd been waiting for the moment. his lips were greedy, taking up all of you in the same way his words usually did. adrian gave all of him in every situation, and this wasn't an exception.
pulling away was a losing battle, as his lips chased after yours until they caught them again. a tiny whine left him as he did so, which simply forced you to kiss him again and again, until you had trouble breathing.
"shit- was that- that really happened, right? fuck- was that a besties thing, or? please tell me it wasn't. unless you wanted it to be a casual thing, in which case, uh, yeah, i can be, you know, cash about it."
it was kind of comedic by now, but still, you shook your head, holding back a smile.
"is that how you kiss your friends?"
"uhhh, no. duh. i never kiss peacemaker when we have threesomes. it's like a rule. it'd be weird to kiss a friend. too intimate-"
and so you kissed him again. this time a little lighter.
"there's your answer, then."
"fuck, thank fucking god," he chuckled, breathless before his eyes widened in alarm once more.
"shit- does this mean i have to give back the necklace?"
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