Biting Down - Bucky gets captured on a mission to a Hydra base, and you’ll do anything to get him back.
One Dance* - You and Bucky are keeping your relationship a secret, so it’s a little difficult when he attends your brother’s wedding. modern AU.
Pieces of History - Bucky’s hesitant about going on a date to the Smithsonian, but being with you makes it a lot easier.
Multiple Parts
Needle in the Dark Pt. I -- Pt. II- Bucky hasn’t seen her since their breakup two years ago, but somehow ends up on her doorstep after a mission gone wrong. She’s his best bet at fixing things, if only they can learn to be civil. But old feelings die hard.
Lost and Found - When your cat runs away, the handsome stranger upstairs from you finds him.
Lowkey In Love (Part 2 to Lost and Found)* - You go on another few dates with Bucky, your relationship taking a next step. You’re both cautious; but sometimes a risk is worth it.
Plus One (Part 3 to Lost and Found)- Bucky decides he’s finally ready to adopt a cat, so you venture out into the city to find his perfect match.
The Walking Dead
Daryl x Jesus 🧟
Series
No Grave Can Hold My Body Down* - A story about a haunted Georgia farmhouse and its optimistic owner, a brooding rugged maintenance man with a heart of gold, eternal ghost love, and a fat calico cat named Rosie.
The Question - set one year after No Grave Can Hold My Body Down. The Greene/Rhee wedding spectacular that finally gives Paul the confidence to ask Daryl a particular question that’s been on his mind.
One Shots
Near to You* - Daryl and Rick had everything, until they didn’t. But when Daryl meets Jesus, he learns that there are always second chances when it comes to love.
Stranger Things
Eddie Munson 🎸
One shots
Your Life and Mine* - She and Eddie were casual hookups, nothing more, not even friends with benefits. But in between every flavor of the week, she’d always come back to Eddie. He was just waiting for the day that she’d actually stay.
Summary: She and Eddie were casual hookups, nothing more, not even friends with benefits. But in between every flavor of the week, she’d always come back to Eddie. He was just waiting for the day that she’d actually stay.
Word count: 4.2k
Author’s note: Eddie is a yearner, and reader is a bit of an ice queen (but secretly a big old softy). Reader’s physical description is not mentioned, except for having hair. She/her pronouns for reader. Enjoy!
Warnings: smut 18+, not actually unrequited feelings, Eddie is a sweetheart and a romantic, mentions of cheating (not Eddie or reader), mentions of smoking and drinking, mentions of weed, mentions of reader wearing skirts, everyone in this is 18+, angst, happy ending.
He could barely remember a time before their little game first started. He’d had a crush on her for as long as he could remember, and finally, she was his. Well, sort of his.
They had a certain rapport; she would see a guy for about a week and a half, giving Eddie little extra glances, secret smirks and winks that were only saved for his eyes, and that was it.
When she was single again, she’d come to him for weed, they’d flirt, and they’d usually fuck.
They weren’t ever a couple; the first time they had spent time together they didn’t even talk. She usually went through guys like it was nothing, and she’d always stay faithful to them, but whenever she’d leave the newest guy in the dust, she’d go back to Eddie, where he waited with open arms.
It became somewhat of an obsession for Eddie. He was addicted; to the stolen kisses, hooking up in the woods behind the school or in his van, the feeling of her under him unlike anything else. When the two of them were alone, it was like everyone else on the planet may as well not exist.
This week she was with a burnout named Randy. He was known around Reefer Rick’s crowd for getting really high on coke and drinking a lot at parties. He worked at a coffee shop downtown, and Eddie always wondered how he even had a job at all. Not that he was exactly one to talk.
Eddie watched her across the Hawkins High parking lot, arms around Randy as she leaned against his car and he kissed her. She seemed content, but not happy, not for real.
As Randy got into the car, she opened her door and looked around as if she was searching for someone. Once her eyes landed on Eddie, she smiled at him and winked, getting in the car, leaving Eddie with an ever familiar heaviness in his chest.
“Can’t believe you hung out with that fuckin’ asshole,” Eddie said as she kissed down his neck, his back against a tree, hands gripped onto her waist.
“Can we not talk about him while I’m about to go down on you?” She said into his skin, trailing down to his collarbone, then dropping to her knees.
“Can’t argue with that,” he replied, reveling in the feeling of her mouth around him.
When he finished, he turned her around, sitting her on the picnic table and getting to his knees. She always wore skirts when she knew they were going to hook up, giving him easy access. He went down on her, savoring the minutes as he always did, and she came harder than she had in a while.
“Fuck,” she said as she came down, her cheeks flushed. “Always so good.”
He came back up and kissed her on the lips, her hand tangling in his hair.
“Anything for you,” he said honestly.
“She’s toying with you, man,” Gareth said, exhaustedly, as they sat in his garage after band practice.
“Look, it’s not—“
“Don’t say it’s not a big deal,” Gareth replied firmly. “You’re head over heels for a girl that will barely give you the time of day.”
“Who’re we talkin’ about?” Jeff asked, walking back into the garage after grabbing a beer.
“The ice queen herself,” Gareth said, crossing his arms across his chest.
“She’s not,” Eddie huffed.
“Look, man,” Jeff said, concerned. “We know how much you like her, and we just don’t want you to get hurt.”
Eddie didn’t know what to say. These were his best friends, understandbly voicing their concerns for him, but they didn’t get it.
Eddie realized a long time ago that he loved the chase with her. He loved that every time she left another poor sucker heartbroken, she came back to him. She didn’t buy drugs from anyone else, he had found that out from one of his buddies in Rick’s circle, and she had previously told him that she hadn’t slept with any of the guys she had been with, aside from her first serious relationship her sophomore year, long before Eddie came along.
“It’s not that serious,” Eddie tried to shrug it off. “Just, y’know. I happen to be around when she’s single.”
His friends just shook their heads and they changed the subject, not wanting to push too much.
Eddie knew there was a chance it wouldn’t last, and that they’d fizzle out, or she’d decide to move on to someone better, leaving him behind for good. But something told him it was different with him and her. He always kept hope that maybe there’d come a day when she would come back to him and finally stay.
After that band practice, he realized that maybe, just maybe, the guys had been right.
In a weird turn of events, she had started seeing Asher Grace, a soccer player from Hawkins High. Definitely different than her usual type; older guys who did too many drugs and couldn’t care less if she stayed or left, especially if she wasn’t putting out.
But Asher was different. A straight A student, a skilled athlete, and an all around gentleman. They’d been going strong for a week, but when Eddie expected the eventual breakup, it didn’t come.
She’d spent a second week with Asher, then a third. She hadn’t seen Eddie for weed since before her new boytoy came into the picture.
Three weeks without interacting with her was making Eddie lose his entire mind, and apparently it showed. Eddie ignored the pitied looks from his bandmates, and pretended like everything was fine.
Asher was nice. Really nice, and smart, and driven. Everything she never thought she wanted, but she still stuck with him.
“I don’t wanna sound like a total dick,” Asher started as they hung out in his car, smoking cigarettes. “But…I really like you, and I’m just…we’ve been hanging out for three weeks.”
“And?”
“Well, it’s just that…” he cleared his throat. “Everything people say about you, I don’t think I believe it.”
“And what do they say about me?” She played dumb, then stopped and chuckled when he looked like he was going to have a heart attack. “I’m kidding, I know what people say. But I swear, I’ve only slept with two people. I’m not that easy.”
Asher smiled. “And I wouldn’t care if you were. But…”
“What?”
He looked like he was debating if he should say what he wanted or not. “I just have to wonder if you’re going to get bored of me and go back to Munson,” he said cautiously.
Well, she certainly didn’t expect that.
“I’m sorry, what?” She furrowed her brow and laughed, surprised.
“Well, everyone knows that you always go back to him,” Asher explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “It’s not exactly a secret. He looks at you like he’s a lost puppy dog.”
Her face heated up; she couldn’t admit the game that she and Eddie were playing. She couldn’t admit that yes, she always found herself getting with different guys that she wanted to distract her for a week or so, just because she didn’t want to actually give up her heart to the one person she really wanted. She was not willing to give that much of herself to someone, not after how her last relationship ended.
They had one night together. It had been the best she’d ever had, and she hadn’t wanted to ruin that feeling by letting it happen again. But of course, it was hard to say no to Eddie, especially when he gave her the big eyes.
Even worse, she could see herself falling for him. Falling in love would be the absolute worst disaster, and Eddie would be the person to make that happen.
“Eddie and I have never dated, okay?” She assured him, not going into specifics. “We’re not even friends, I just kind of…know him.”
“Know him how?”
She sighed, trying to keep it as vague as possible. “I buy weed off of him. And we had a very casual thing once upon a time. But that’s over.”
Which isn’t a total lie, she thought to herself. She never found herself being this honest, this open about her and Eddie’s…arrangement.
Asher nodded. “And have you–uh...”
She felt her cheeks get hot. “I’ve never cheated on anyone, especially not with Eddie. I’ve had that shit happen to me, and I would never do that.”
Asher nodded then looked at her. “Okay.”
“Really?” She furrowed her brow, suspicious. “That’s all?”
He smiled. “Yeah, that’s all. I trust you; if you say he’s just some guy to you now, then he’s just some guy.”
She took that as it was, and stayed mostly quiet for the rest of the ride home.
Once he dropped her off, he kissed her and squeezed her hand gently.
“Have a good night,” he said.
“You too,” she replied, squeezing his hand back and going into her house.
She got to her room and laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
Did people really know she’d always go back to Eddie? As far as she was aware, no one knew that they were sleeping together. Not unless he told people, which she couldn’t really see him doing. But was it that obvious to the rest of society of the cat and mouse routine they’d had going on for months?
And, even despite her “reputation”—she dated a lot of guys, but there actually were only two she’d slept with. One was her ex-boyfriend, and the other was Eddie. People seemed to think otherwise, but it was none of her business what other people thought.
On top of that, it was nobody else’s business why she and Eddie knew each other other than just from school. She didn’t need anyone to know that after showing up at a party last year, she found her then boyfriend hooking up with a cheerleader and she ran out of the house, fuming. She waited until she had run down the street and away from the house and everyone that she knew before she started crying.
“Babe, I—“ Brad cleared his throat. “I thought you were staying home tonight.”
“And I thought I was the only one you were fucking, but apparently we were both wrong,” she said, voice as icy as she could make it without trembling.
“Baby, please, it wasn’t—“
“Just fuck off, Brad,” she pinched the bridge of her nose, hoping to come off more annoyed than sad. “Leave my shit on my front porch when you can and then never talk to me again.”
She left the party without another word. Her friends would know soon enough why she left, and she didn’t want to have to face any of them right now.
She made her way down the street, waiting until she was far enough from the house that no one could see—or hear—her cry.
“Hey,” a soft voice said to her left.
Of course she couldn’t have a moment alone.
She turned toward the voice to find Eddie Munson, leather jacket clad and hands covered in rings, looking at her with concern.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to—“ he shrugged. “Just wanted to see if you were okay. But that’s probably a stupid question.”
She found it in herself to chuckle and shrugged. “Yeah, I’m really not okay.”
“Want a ride home?” He asked. “I was about to head out, myself.”
She hesitated, as she didn’t know Eddie super well. He was a year ahead of her in school, and she figured an older guy had to have bad intentions with a vulnerable girl, but he had always seemed like a nice guy.
She looked around, then decided fuck it. She was done with this shit.
“Yeah,” she said and walked off with him, telling him her address. They drove through town with his music playing much lower than she assumed he usually played it, and she asked if he could turn it up. She didn’t want to talk, or think, and she felt like he had caught on to that.
When they pulled up to her house, she told him to park a few houses up the street.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said.
“No problem,” he replied. He sounded a little awkward, like he didn’t really know what to say.
She gave him a nod and opened the door, closing it behind her. She looked back before she shut the door to her house, and noticed he waited until she got in safe.
People also didn’t need to know about how a week later, she approached him at a party after not talking to him all week at school, and pulled him into the boathouse at Rick’s house alone.
“Hey,” she said, coming to stand next to him at the edge of the lake.
“Hey,” he said, surprised, but trying to be casual. “You lookin’ to buy?”
“No, uh,” she said, reaching into her leather jacket pocket. “I actually have something for you this time.”
She held out a pint of Jack Daniels, which he took and looked it over.
“It’s a thank you,” she said, shrugging awkwardly.
“You didn’t have to,” he said. “Anytime, y’know?”
She smiled and nodded. He opened the bottle and took a large swig. He held it out to her as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. She took it and took a generous sip, swallowing and relishing the burn in her throat.
She took a deep breath as she felt the liquid courage, and took his hand when she gave back the bottle. Wordlessly, she pulled him into the boathouse and shut the door. She pulled him into her and kissed him. He kissed back, and dropped the plastic bottle of whiskey. His hand went behind her neck and the other went to her waist as she held onto the front of his jacket and pushed her leg between his. He pushed her up against the wall and lifted her up with her legs around his waist.
They tried to be quick–her pulling a condom out of her pocket, and him unbuttoning his pants and lifting up her skirt. He didn’t know if this would ever happen again, but he couldn’t think about anything other than how good she felt.
Eddie wasn’t exactly a ladies man, so he felt a little self conscious about going all the way. She was intimidating and cunning and fucking gorgeous, and he got to be as close to her as possible. He didn’t want to fuck it up.
“So good,” she moaned, boosting his confidence. “So fuckin’ good.”
He could feel her getting close, so he sped up his thrusts until she came undone completely. He wasn’t far behind, finishing after getting her through her orgasm, kissing each other the whole time.
When they slowed down their breathing, he put her down and helped her stand on wobbly legs. They both laughed, getting rid of the condom, getting dressed and straightening themselves out.
“Wanna smoke?” He asked, feeling loose and confident and really fucking good.
“I do,” she smiled and he lit a joint for the two of them.
They lay on the grass on the edge of the lake, passing the joint back and forth. She took the sight of him in, the moon highlighting his face, and felt her heart get heavier. There was a fluttering feeling in her stomach, which was never a good sign.
She looked away before he could catch her, or so she thought.
“Whatcha lookin’ at?” He gave her a small smile.
“You’re just really pretty, Munson,” she brushed his bangs off his forehead.
“You are,” he replied. “The prettiest.”
The night of that party is the night Eddie knew he was a goner.
Here was a girl he had a crush on, who he caught crying because some piece of shit cheated on her, and Eddie was the unsuspecting knight in shining leather jacket. That night, he saw her vulnerable, more than he guessed anyone else had. Then, a week later, she had her legs wrapped around his waist as she clung onto him, his hips thrusting into her as she cried out his name.
They kept it up after that, her stating that it was to be strictly casual, Eddie agreed, taking whatever she would give, even though he yearned to touch her whenever he saw her with other guys, and it nearly killed him.
After a month of her seeing Asher, another party rolled around, and he ended up at Rick’s with a shitty beer in his hand, and thankfully, no customers. It wasn’t like Hawkins High parties where he was on business the whole night; here, he got to unwind and get fucked up if he wanted. Which was for sure what he wanted right now.
He didn’t want to think about her hands resting on Asher Grace’s chest, pulling him in to kiss her by his shirt and his hands going to her waist. He didn’t want to think about that, or how different her smile looked with him than the other nobodies she left in the dust.
But never as real as it had been after that night with Eddie in the boathouse, blissed out and smoking a joint.
Eddie stepped out on the back porch to walk down towards the lake where it was quiet.
There, he found none other than her, sitting alone, smoking a cigarette. Eddie almost hightailed it back towards the house, but she had already turned around when she heard him.
She gave him a playful grin. “Munson.”
“Hey,” he said, and took a seat on the dock next to her. “‘S been a while.”
She took a drag of her cigarette. “Yeah, well. You know.”
“I’ve never seen you make weed last this long,” he shrugged, finishing his beer. “Kudos.”
She rolled her eyes. “How do you know I don’t have other connections?”
It felt like she gripped his heart and squeezed.
“Or that Asher doesn’t have any?”
Eddie laughed bitterly, which she did not expect. “I didn’t know Mr. Field Goal even knew what drugs were.”
She smirked at how worked up he was getting. “Field goal is football, asshole. He plays soccer.”
“Well, excuse the shit out of me,” he said, starting to stand up again. “I hope pretty boy has the good stuff, then. Wouldn’t want you to have to stoop down to the likes of me.”
She stood up too, thankful for the coverage of the darkness from the trees and noise from the party keeping them hidden.
“And why is it so important that I come to you for weed, Eddie?” She asked, stalking towards him slowly. He felt like his feet were planted to the ground. She got up close to his ear. “Are you jealous or something?”
His breath caught, and when she went to walk away, he decided he was finally done with this game.
He put his hand on her waist and led her back until she was up against a tree, putting a hand on the back of her head to protect her from the bark. He lightly tugged on her hair, catching her eyes fluttering just slightly when he did. Her breathing picked up a bit.
He had her pinned against the tree, one hand resting lightly on her throat, his knee between her legs keeping her there, and she wasn’t trying to get away. The ball was in his court now, and she looked like she was expecting him to do what none of the others did. They were all scared; none of them could handle her, not really. But he could.
He should have been scared of her, but he wasn’t.
He leaned in close to her and licked his lips lightly. His lips were so close, a small squeak coming from her throat when he squeezed there just slightly, just the way she liked it. She was into it, and he just had to open his stupid fucking mouth.
“Your boyfriend’s the one who should be jealous,” he nearly growled.
Everything stopped.
They hadn’t spoken about the terms of their situationship since they started, or what happened those nights they shared together in between her dalliances, and they hadn’t planned to. Hell, he wasn’t even a side piece, so he really had no right bringing it up.
He stepped back as she pushed past him lightly.
“Goodnight, Eddie,” she said, coldly.
He watched as she walked away, knowing that he truly, honestly—finally—fucked this up.
The next day, Asher called to see if she wanted to hang out. He sounded different, like he was tired.
“Hey,” they met at the school; neutral ground, never a good sign. “What’s up?”
He leaned against the hood of his car while she stood in front of him.
“Heard you and Munson were getting cozy at a party last night,” he said, arms folded across his chest.
Her heart skipped a beat, thinking of being pinned against a tree, Eddie’s voice low and threatening, and the thrill that it gave her. She recovered herself before he caught on.
“I swear I haven’t seen him since you and I started talking. He asked why I hadn’t come around for weed. That’s all.”
“They said you were arguing, seems pretty intense for a guy you just kinda know.”
“Asher,” she said firmly. “I said that’s all.”
He laughed bitterly. “You don’t care enough to even try to lie. I can’t do this, I can’t always be paranoid that I’m just a placeholder.”
“Jesus christ, you’re not,” she said exhaustedly. She hated Eddie right now, she hated him so fucking much. “You’re different.”
“Yeah, sure I am,” he shook his head. “See you around.”
He got into his car and drove off, leaving her there feeling a little guilty, and more sad than she thought she’d be.
She hadn’t so much as looked at Eddie the next monday at school. She ignored him outright, and he noticed she wasn’t around Asher at all.
He couldn’t help but feel a little smug.
She came up to him after school in the parking lot, took his hand without a word, and dragged him into the woods.
When they were far enough in, she pushed him up against a tree, fire in her eyes.
“You,” she said, holding onto his jacket collar. “You ruined fucking everything.”
“I truly have no idea what you’re talking about, sweetheart,” he replied, unphased.
She backed away from him and threw her arms up in frustration.
“Asher broke up with me because of your little stunt at Rick’s on Saturday,” she said, maybe the most fiery he’d ever seen her, the icy exterior cracking down to a white hot center.
His eyebrows went up and he fucking laughed at her.
“My stunt? I don’t exactly remember you rejecting me right away,” he said. “You looked like you loved how I was making you feel, just like always.”
She looked like she was going to scream, or throw something at him.
Instead, she walked up to him, got in his face again.
“Everyone apparently knows we’d been fucking on the regular,” she said. “Did you tell anyone?”
“No,” he replied.
“Well, people have been talking. They say I never stay with anyone for longer than a week or two because I’ll always come back to you.”
He visibly swallowed. “And?”
She looked at his lips then back up to his eyes. She looked somewhat defeated, like she was tired of the game as well.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
She leaned in, his hand on the back of her neck.
When he switched their positions so now she was back up against the tree, he slowed it down a little bit.
“I thought you were just here to yell at me,” he said.
“Yeah,” she shrugged. “And then some.”
Eddie kissed her forehead, and she looked up at him, bewildered but soft. She cupped his face in her hand, and kissed him fiercely.
That was the moment he knew that this was exactly everything he imagined and more. It felt like he was on fire, like he’d never felt this much heat from a single person’s touch before.
He pulled back to rest his forehead against hers. She breathed against his lips and planted a small kiss there.
“This is all I ever wanted,” Eddie said. “I never wanted to ruin any of your relationships. I was just kind of hoping you’d keep coming back enough that eventually you’d stay.”
She didn’t know what to say to that; of course she wanted him, of course she wanted him to want her, and truly wanted him to be the only one she was with.
“I’m scared,” she said honestly.
“Me too,” he smiled. “But we’ll figure it out.”
She breathed out a laugh and rested her head on his chest and her arms around his waist. He kissed the top of her head, amazed at how quickly she had warmed back up to him.
He couldn’t wait to tell the guys how wrong they were, how in the end, it had all worked out.
Summary: The Greene/Rhee wedding spectacular that finally gives Paul the confidence to ask Daryl a particular question that’s been on his mind.
Pairing: Darly Dixon x Paul “Jesus” Rovia
Word Count: 1.6k
Notes: fluff, weddings, beth greene being the realest, references to a previous series i posted to ao3.
Author’s note: hello hello i am back from the dead! This is pretty much just a proposal fic that takes place one year after my Desus series “No Grave Can Hold My Body Down”, which can be read here on ao3! There are quite a few references to that story in this, so i suggest reading that first.
Paul looked at himself in the bathroom mirror as he finished pulling his hair back into a neat bun. He had also just finished trimming a good bit of his beard; he’d grown it out over the last year, but it was summer again, and he enjoyed the feeling of warm air on his face.
Daryl walked in the bathroom then with his tie in hand, and grinned. “Ain’t seen your beard that short in a while.”
Paul looked himself over, making sure he hadn’t missed any spots. “Do you like it?”
“Yeah, I do. You look cute.”
“Cute?” Paul smiled. “Really?”
Daryl just smirked and handed Paul his tie, just like he did every time they had a formal event. Paul had taught Daryl how to do it himself, but he still liked when Paul did it for him. Paul finished knotting it and straightening out Daryl’s shirt, then gave him a thumbs up.
They had started living together about six months into dating. They would have done it sooner, due to the whole unspoken “I would die for you if ever presented the need, and one time I almost did” thing they had going on, but Paul really wanted to take it a bit slow. He hadn’t been in an actual relationship in a while, and he wanted to do this right.
“Let me grab my vest and we’ll head out.” Paul said. “Grab the gift by the door?”
“Got it,” Daryl nodded. He went out to the car and Paul put his suit vest on. He headed out to the car and they drove to the church, where they sat next to Denise and Tara.
The ceremony was beautiful, and Maggie looked absolutely stunning. Glenn was misty eyed at the sight of her, and Paul nudged Daryl just slightly and grinned. Daryl held Paul’s hand until the ceremony ended.
Everyone headed to the hall downtown for the reception. They had thought of using the Greene farm at first, but decided that a wedding in June in the middle of Georgia was going to be far too hot.
The hall was a good size, and the food was delicious. Paul and Daryl got to hang out with Beth, who had decided to come home from college the whole summer instead of staying to do extra classes. At one point, Beth took Paul on to the dance floor to dance with her.
At a softer song, Beth leaned into him as they slow danced. “So? Are you gonna do it?”
“Do what?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “You know--are you gonna ask him? You said you were gonna talk to him about it.”
Paul sighed, knowing exactly what she was talking about. The two of them had become friends pretty quickly, and when she came home for the summer she came to visit the house with Maggie and Glenn. The couple and Daryl had left the room at one point to grill out back, and Beth had turned to Paul.
“Do you wanna marry him?”
Already two whiskeys in, he had foolishly admitted yes, even though he should have known she wouldn’t let it go. It had launched a whole conversation, and it did make him feel a little excited to think about. He brought himself back to the present and she waited for his answer.
“So?”
Paul sighed. “I haven’t yet, but I’m going to.”
She raised a suspicious eyebrow at him.
“I swear, I will,” he reassured. “Soon.”
“You’re killin’ me, Paul,” she feigned exhaustion and laughed as he dipped her.
“I’ll do it tonight,” he said, “Happy?”
She laughed and nodded, and started walking him over to Daryl. “You two dance, I’ve kept him long enough.”
Daryl gave in almost immediately, knowing that Paul was going to drag him onto the dancefloor at some point in the night anyway. They joined hands and danced with all their friends. Daryl genuinely looked like he was having fun, which just made Paul giddy, but also more nervous than before to talk to him. He loved this person enough to spend their lives together, and he had known that for a long time, but it was still fucking terrifying to think about.
When they got a cab home later that night, after several drinks and more dancing, they collapsed together on the couch, Paul’s head on Daryl’s lap. Daryl was stroking Paul’s hair, playing with it mindlessly.
“That was a lotta fun,” Daryl said.
“Yeah,” Paul replied. “I love weddings.”
“Yeah?”
Paul opened his eyes and smiled up at him. “Yeah.”
Daryl smiled back, then looked away shyly. Paul hadn’t seen him with that look since the first months of their relationship. The look he got when he was scared to ask or tell Paul something.
“How would you feel about that?” Daryl asked, his voice a little more put together. “For us?”
Paul’s heart nearly stopped with relief of not having to bring it up first. He laughed a little, then took Daryl’s face in his hands.
Paul kissed Daryl hard on the lips. “I was going to ask you the exact same thing tonight.”
Daryl kissed him again and put his hand on Paul’s cheek. “So I’m guessin’ you’d be okay with it?”
“Depends,” Paul shrugged. “I was hoping I’d have a chance to properly propose to you, but I guess I was gonna blow that anyway.”
“You can do that if you want,” Daryl grinned. “Could still do it properly.”
“Perfect.” Paul closed his eyes again and laid back.
Paul went to the jewelry store the next day. He took Beth and Maggie with him, since they knew Daryl so well. They looked through the glass cases, ring after golden ring, but none of them seemed to say “Daryl”.
“Oh, what about this one?” Beth pointed at one of the cases. “The black one?”
It was a beautiful ring; a black band with a stripe of silver around it. It was perfect.
“That’s the one,” Paul said happily. He walked to the counter to tell the clerk which one he was going to buy, and they headed out.
“When are you gonna do it?” Beth asked.
“Tonight,” Paul confirmed. “I don’t want to waste any more time.”
If there was anything he’d learned from Fiona and Mariah, it was that all you had was right now, and right now, he wanted to ask Daryl to marry him.
When Paul got home, Daryl was making an intricate looking salad and had onions and mushrooms cooking on the stove.
“Wow,” Paul nodded approvingly. “Smells delicious.”
“Gonna throw some steaks out on the grill too.” Daryl replied, kissing him.
“Going all out, huh?” Paul smiled. “Any reason?”
Daryl shook his head and shrugged. “Just wanted to make you somethin’ nice.”
When he went back outside to tend to the grill, Paul went upstairs to put on shorts that had bigger pockets so that he could hide the ring until after dinner. He found Rosie on the bed and scratched her head. She purred and rolled on her back, and Paul gave her a belly rub.
“Tonight’s the night, lady.” he said. “Wish me luck.”
The dinner was fantastic. Daryl grilled a mean steak, and there was even a checkered tablecloth on the kitchen table.
When they were done eating, Paul started to get butterflies. He knew they had just talked about it, he knew that Daryl was going to say yes unless he had changed his mind in the past day, but he was still so nervous. Daryl seemed nervous too now that he thought about it.
“Babe, that was amazing,” Paul said, finishing his beer.
“I’m glad you liked it,” Daryl replied, getting up and putting their dishes to the sink.
Now or never, Rovia.
While Daryl was still turned around, he got down on his knee right in the middle of the kitchen and held the ring. Daryl turned around and his eyes went wide.
“Daryl Dixon, I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” His voice only shook a little at first, but he composed himself. “You’re everything to me, and the only person I would ever want to be by my side when my house was haunted.”
Daryl chuckled under his breath at that, and he bit his lip to keep the smile from breaking out on his face.
“Will you marry me?” Paul asked finally.
“‘Course,” Daryl replied. “Obviously.”
Paul stood up and slipped the ring on Daryl’s finger and kissed him hard. Daryl’s hands snaked around Paul’s back, pulling him right up against him.
“I love you so goddamn much,” Daryl said in between kisses. “I got something for you, too. Guess you beat me to it.” he pulled out a ring as well, a plain silver one with something engraved in it.
“This is gorgeous,” Paul marveled at it. The engraving was a date; it was from May two years ago. “This date, is this when--?”
“The day we reunited Fiona and Mariah,” Daryl replied. “I felt like it was fitting.”
Paul smiled. “It is.”
Paul had never felt so happy in maybe his entire life. “Should we celebrate? Maybe beers down at the bar?” he shrugged. “Just the two of us, I can wait until tomorrow to tell people.”
“Can’t think of a better way I’d wanna celebrate.” Daryl smiled, took his hand, and led him toward the stairs. “Think we should go tell them at least?” Daryl nodded toward the portrait of Fiona and Mariah at the church fundraiser.
Paul thought about it. “I think they’d understand if we waited.”
Don’t mean to bother you but I’m curious about something when it comes to your writing and in how much love there is for Norman jr.Reedus character ships..
Scud/ Josh- Joshua from the Blade: 2- movie; Would you ever do something with this character with an Oc or one of two ships: Blade & Deacon Frost🤨
so sorry for the late response, it’s not a bother at all! (we finally finished planning a wedding so i’ve been away for a few months haha)
i’d probably stick to just desus stuff for now, but if i went back to watch the blade movies i might be able to write something!
If you don’t mind me asking some questions to understand what your comeback fully means ..
You’re coming back with writing right for all the characters(Daryl/ Paul, Daryl/ Rick w/ possible oc) after seen all of WD expansions..
Or ..
You are only gonna do post of pics with occasional commentary of what you think of things
🤨
hey thanks so much!
honestly i’ve been writing some Desus one shots recently that i’m probably gonna end up posting, I haven’t watched the daryl show yet but that’s next on my list before i watch the ones who live.
I’ll still be reblogging gifsets and adding commentary, but i can definitely see me posting some daryl/jesus or rick/daryl vey soon :’)
(I also started a sequel to No Grave years ago but we’ll see if that ever actually gets finished)
ppl used to get mad me when I said I would have rathered steve rogers die than the ending they gave us.......... but really. as a steve stan for over a decade it would have been much kinder to watch him die as a testament to his ethos (you always stand up) than watch the entirety of his character be ruined in five minutes
The best time I ever had on this app was 2018-2019 the peak of the Desus fandom. God, I fucking miss it all the time. I stopped watching The Walking Dead last year but I would give anything to feel like I did back then. I know like none of the OGs from back then are still around but, thanks for all the fun guys.
Summary: Bucky decides he’s finally ready to adopt a cat, so you venture out into the city to find his perfect match.
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x female!reader
Word count: 2,875
Author’s note: what kind of person would i be if i wrote a fic about two cat lovers and not bring in alpine? (i also tried to refrain from going into vet tech work mode while writing the scene in the vet’s office and tried to keep it short lol.)
Warnings: a whole bunch of fluff and also cats
There was a light knocking at your door as you finished getting ready for the day. You and Bucky had agreed to leave for the animal shelter at eleven AM, and it was only ten-forty. You thought it was adorable how he was itching to start looking for a cat, and today was finally the day. You tried to assure him that it wasn’t always as easy as it had been with you and Gomez, that sometimes it takes a few different tries before you find the one. He tried to act nonchalant, acting as if he wasn’t too worried. But even under that tough exterior you knew he was excited.
Gomez happily trotted over to the door and sat in front of it. He looked back at you as if to say ‘my second favorite person is here, are you going to let him in?’ You had no idea when he had learned the sound of Bucky’s footsteps specifically, but he always knew when it was your supersoldier neighbor on the other side of the door.
You gave your cat a small scratch behind the ear before opening the door. Bucky stood there with a brand new looking cat carrier. He leaned in and kissed you softly and your heart fluttered. You had been seeing each other for about four months at this point, and while neither of you had used labels yet, there was always a hello kiss waiting for you.
“Morning,” he smiled, and you stood aside for him to come in.
“Morning,” you grinned back at the way Gomez did figure eights between Bucky’s legs as he walked into the apartment. “You look prepared.”
“Yeah,” he blushed a little and tried to hide it while he paid most of his attention to Gomez. “I know you said I could use Gomez’s carrier, but I wanna make sure I have everything, y’know?”
“I get it,” you replied with a grin, because you did get it. “Ready to go?”
“I am,” he said and stood up.
While you walked over to the door, Gomez let out an indignant chirp of protest.
“Sorry, pal,” you said and kissed him on top of his head. “Maybe when we get back we’ll have a friend for you.”
You walked your way to the train station and caught the first one to the stop near the shelter.
“How does Gomez feel about other cats?” Bucky asked you.
“He doesn’t really pay attention to them for the most part, I’ve seen him get along with other cats, but he definitely prefers people,” you explained. “You really want them to get along, huh?”
“Well, I don’t want him to think I’m replacing him,” Bucky said, and you could tell he really wasn’t joking. That made you feel warm all over; you knew that Gomez had essentially claimed Bucky as his own territory, but the fact that Bucky was planning around your situation made you feel like he planned on sticking around.
When you walked up to the doors of the shelter, you were welcomed by a young woman who gave you a warm smile.
“Hi, welcome,” she said. “Looking to adopt a cat or a dog?”
“A cat,” Bucky replied. “Preferably good with other cats.”
She nodded and waved toward the door that led to the cat area of the shelter. “Come with me.”
You followed Bucky and walked by plenty of different cats. You pointed out a sweet old lady cat who rubbed her face against your hand between the bars of the kennel door. It said “I’ve been adopted!” on her information card. It made your heart happy; a lot of older animals often got left behind at shelters.
“She’s probably the sweetest one we have here,” the girl said. “She’s been passed up by a lot of people because she has a lot of health problems. A couple is taking her home in a few days, they have the means to pay her medical bills and they fell in love with her immediately when they met her.”
“That’s so sweet,” you smiled.
Bucky smiled at the cat as they passed by. They met a few candidates; a tuxedo kitten that liked chasing shoelaces, but was not a fan of other cats. A little orange cat who immediately flopped onto your shoes and showed his belly. He reminded you a bit of Gomez, except a little lazier and less mischievous.
Bucky seemed to like them all, but you could tell there was that lack of a spark with any of them. Still, it was sweet to watch him interact with them.
When the verdict was that none of them were ‘the one’, Bucky didn’t have to say it out loud. You could see the slight disappointment behind his eyes, maybe that other people wouldn’t notice, so you politely said you both had a lot to think about and that you’d be in touch with the shelter.
As you walked out, you tried to keep Bucky’s spirits up; it was only the first shelter, there were plenty more cats to see in New York, he’d find the one, etc.
As you walked out of shelter number three with still no luck, you could tell your words were becoming just that and nothing more. His shoulders seemed somewhat heavy, and he looked defeated.
“Hey,” you said, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze as you walked. “I’m sorry. I know it’s frustrating.”
He sighed heavily. “That’s okay, we can try again to–”
There was a loud crash off to the side in an alley near you. It was late afternoon, but there weren’t many people around, so of course you weren’t exactly jumping to investigate.
When you heard a loud ‘meow,’ Bucky felt differently. He turned to look in the alleyway and as he walked slowly down it, a little ball of fluff bolted out from behind a dumpster.
The cat looked at the both of you, Bucky now stopped in his tracks so as not to scare her. She gave you a little ‘mew?’ and walked towards Bucky slowly. You held your breath to see how the cat would react, and you weren’t the least bit surprised when she started rubbing on his legs and asking for pets.
Bucky slowly knelt down and scratched her behind the ears, like Gomez liked. You walked slowly closer to them, her purring loud and insistent. The cat saw you and meowed again, this time coming over to you and pushing her head against your hand that you had offered out.
“Well, son of a bitch,” you smiled.
Bucky seemed like he couldn’t believe it, like this was too good to be true.
“Think she’s got a home?” He asked. It was a fair question; you assumed that under all the dirt and filth on her long fur, she was white and probably matted. She was skinny, very much so, like she had only been living off scraps for a while.
“She seems to love people,” you replied. “I say we start walking and see what happens. Maybe she likes her little alleyway.”
Bucky stood up and gave a small huff. “We can’t leave her here.”
“Something tells me she’s not going to let us anyway,” you grinned, watching as the cat rubbed her face on your leg.
Sure enough, as you both started walking away, the little cat trotted beside you to keep up and you could tell it was taking everything Bucky had not to pick her up. When you got to the entrance to the subway, you stopped him.
“Put the carrier down and maybe see what she does?” You suggested.
When Bucky did so, the cat seemed a little unsure. She sniffed the open door, but didn’t go in. Instead, she rubbed up on Bucky’s legs again. You held back a giggle and watched as he marveled at this small animal. She let out a loud, demanding meow, and he scooped her up. The moment she was in his arms, she laid her head back against his arm and closed her eyes contentedly.
“I’m gonna call my vet,” you said, taking your phone out as Bucky looked down at this cat like it was his own kid. “We should get her scanned for a microchip and see if she has an owner.”
He grunted in agreement, even though you knew he had probably already decided this was his cat now.
After a visit to the vet, and all the nurses fawning over how loving and adorable this little ball of fluff was, it was determined that there was no microchip. The doctor said because of how thin she was, she probably hadn’t had any actual cat food in a long time. They were able to fit her in for a full appointment that day, Bucky insisting that he would pay for any testing and vaccines she needed.
When they brought the cat back out to you, she was clean and happy.
“I was wondering what you looked like under all that dirt,” you smiled and scratched under her chin, which she loved. “What’s the verdict?”
“She’s clean and healthy, no fleas, but we treated her for a skin infection, and we gave her a bath which she was surprisingly very good for,” the nurse smiled. “Is this going to be Gomez’s new friend?”
You smiled and looked at Bucky, who nodded happily. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”
The nurse gave Bucky a handout of everything about the visit. Which food to feed, how many calories she should be eating to get her to a healthy weight, and when she should come back for a recheck.
When you left the facility, the cat still didn’t want to get into the carrier, so Bucky put her in his jacket and zipped it up with her head sticking out. The cat looked perfectly content, and closed her eyes the whole train ride home.
“What are you thinking of for a name?” You asked.
“I dunno,” he said. “I’m gonna think about it tonight.”
When you got back, you hung out upstairs in his apartment with the two of them for a while.
“She’s really sweet,” you said as you watched the cat fall asleep in Bucky’s lap.
“She is,” he replied, scratching under her chin.
“I’m gonna let the two of you get acquainted,” you said, standing up and leaning down to kiss him on the forehead. “I’ll be back tomorrow to visit.” You said, this time to the cat.
“Hey,” he took your hand and pulled you down for a kiss on the lips. “Thanks for everything, sweetheart.”
“Anytime,” you smiled and headed back downstairs.
When you closed the door behind you, Gomez was immediately attached to you. He sniffed your jeans obsessively, as if to ask, “where have you been, and with who?”
“Hey, bud,” you scooped him up and he purred against you. “I think we found you a little friend. I hope you like each other.”
He chirped at you and you laughed.
“You’re right, what am I saying? Of course she’ll like you,” you set him down on the bed and he rolled onto his back and stretched, seeming content that his human was back in his graces where she belonged.
When you woke up the next day, you heard a bang from above you. You startled out of bed and looked around. Gomez was still sound asleep at the end of the bed, so you got up and put on your sweatpants.
Bucky’s apartment was right above you, so you figured you could start there. You jogged up the stairs, but stopped when a little plastic ball with a bell inside came jingling towards you. You stopped it with your foot and looked to find Bucky at the top of the stairs, brown paper shopping bags broken in his arms.
“I see someone is having an eventful morning,” you smiled and started picking up the various things he dropped. There were about a million cat toys, a box of cat treats, and a cute little light blue collar with fish skeletons on it. There was also a case of cans of wet cat food, which you assumed was the noise that had woken you up.
“I thought you bought everything already,” you raised an eyebrow, amused at the sight before you.
“I thought I did, but I wasn’t sure if she liked dry or wet food, so I went back for some more stuff,” he said honestly. “I was going to ask you to come with me, but I know you like to sleep in on your days off, and I was getting kind of antsy.”
“It’s okay,” you replied. “Let me help you with this stuff.”
You carried the cat’s things into his apartment, and she was at the door immediately, greeting you as if she’d known you her whole life. You pet her and tossed one of the toys onto the floor, which she immediately darted after. She wasn’t a kitten, but with her behavior she couldn’t be that old, either.
You started setting her things out, and picked up the collar, now noticing the little gold name tag on it.
“Alpine?” You asked.
He shrugged. “She didn’t really strike me as a ‘Snowflake’ or a ‘Snowball’.”
The little cat looked up at you and you admired her fluff and her sweet, blue eyes.
“Alpine,” you said finally and tested out picking her up, which she let you do happily. “I think it fits.”
You and the cat looked at each other and she slowly blinked contentedly at you. When you looked back up at Bucky, you caught him leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest, grinning at you warmly.
“What?” You arched an eyebrow and smiled back.
“Nothin,” he walked over and kissed you. “It’s nice to see my two girls hangin’ out, that’s all.”
Your heart skipped at that; You figured it was his old-fashioned nature. But now you were wondering if you truly were official, if you were allowed to call him your boyfriend or not.
“I like the sound of that,” you said, looking up into his eyes.
“Yeah?” He asked, placing another soft kiss on your lips. “Are you my girl?”
“I am,” you smiled. “Of course.”
You placed Alpine on the ground and put your arms around Bucky and kissed him. It was nice, knowing you were someone’s. You didn’t ever really care for labels, never cared so much for commitment. But with Bucky it was easy; you always felt safe, and you were never insecure about yourself or about what he was doing. You trusted him, and as much as that scared you, it also thrilled you.
“Think we should introduce them?” Bucky asked, nodding to Alpine.
You shrugged. “I feel like maybe we should give her a couple days. She just got here, I don’t wanna overwhelm her.”
“Good idea,” he agreed.
A few days later, you both decided it was time. You had given the cats each something that belonged to the other, so that the smell wasn’t foreign when they met. You were sure Gomez would be fine, but you knew next to nothing about Alpine. She was sweet with people, but you didn’t know what her life was like as a stray. You just stayed optimistic and kept your hopes up.
When Bucky came to the door, Gomez was there waiting. You opened it and found Bucky holding Alpine. Gomez tilted his head in curiosity, watching as Bucky closed the door behind him and put Alpine down in the living room. The two cats stared at each other for a long moment, and all you could think was here it comes, they’re going to hate each other, there’s no way–
And before you could finish that thought, Alpine meowed happily and started purring loudly. Gomez also softened and tried rubbing up on her. Before you knew it, they passed by each other, and Gomez followed her around as she investigated the apartment. The relief that flooded through you was almost euphoric.
You looked up at Bucky, who looked like a proud father, and smiled.
“Best case scenario, huh?” You said.
He put his arm around you as you watched Alpine roll over and show Gomez her belly, which caused Gomez to go over to her and lick her face. The two of them acted like they were old friends; it was very much a “where have you been all my life?” situation.
For the rest of the night, you sat on the couch watching TV, both cats snuggled on your laps, sleeping. Bucky’s arm was around you and your head was resting on his shoulder. It all felt very domestic, and you were surprised at how much that made your heart swell. You glanced up at him as he was enamored with the show on your television, and you couldn’t help but smile. You directed your focus back to the TV, and you didn’t catch the way he smiled softly down at you. He’d never been in love, but if it was anything like what he’d heard described so often, he was certain that this was it.
