I hope you are happier this new year. I hope you laugh more. I hope you do more of whatever gives you joy. I hope you love yourself more. I hope you live to the fullest.
Y/N Seavey is a professional photographer. Her twin brother, Daniel Seavey is 1/5 of popular boy band, Why Don't We. With both of their careers taking off, they have to adjust to the whirlwind of life in the spotlight, working together, and stepping out of their comfort zones. What happens when Y/N catches the eye of Jonah Marais, one of Daniel's band mates?
This is the story of their lives through the years, from the release of Why Don't We's debut studio album 8 Letters, Y/N being signed as the band's personal photographer, the beginning ofJonah and Y/N's relationship, and the importance of Found Family.
(I do not own Why Don't We or the rights to any of their songs. Pics belong to the original artists. This is a fic just for fun!)
Part One - And So It Begins
Part Two - Buggy & Guppy
Part Three - Surprise!.1 // Surprise!.2
Part Four - The Launch
Part Five - The Trip.1 // The Trip.2
Part Six - This Means War
Part Seven - We Break the Internet.1 // We Break the Internet.2
Part Eight - Coffee date x2
Part Nine - A Girl, Her Camera, and the World in Color
Part Ten - A World of Color For All to See
Part Eleven - Throwing Stones at the Innocent
Part Twelve - No One Knows Me Better Than This
Part Thirteen - Why Don’t We Just Roll With It
Part Fourteen - Jack’s Soul in a Tin Can Camera
Part Fifteen - Cornbread and Rice’s Day Out.1 // Cornbread and Rice’s Day Out.2
Part Sixteen - That’s Life, Pip, Sometimes It Hurts.1 // That’s Life, Pip, Sometimes It Hurts.2
Part Seventeen - BAND SHOOT (A Close Look at the Boys Through Y/N’s Eyes)
Part Eighteen - Y/N and Jo Watch A Movie (And Discuss It’s Influence on Society aka They Typecast The Squad)
Part Nineteen - Goodbyes Are Never Easy
Part Twenty - Words That Start With ‘G’
Part Twenty One - Favorite Work Of Art
Part Twenty Two - Forever and a Thousand Days
Part Twenty Three - Y/N and her Seavey Brothers Three
Part Twenty Four - Jonah's First Autumn/Halloween With the Seaveys
Part Twenty Five - Glen Coco, four for you!
Part Twenty Six - Cheech & Goose (Goodbye, Christian).1 // Cheech & Goose (Goodbye, Christian).2
Part Twenty Seven - A Seavey Siblings Thanksgiving
And the saturation of the blonde in this picture is balanced nicely with the brunette roots you can see underneath which therefore makes it more tolerable. The full bleach blonde he has now does not suit him or his skin tone and washes him out and makes him look ridiculous.
The blonde tolerance is a scale dependent on multiple factors. It’s quite a complex science so I understand if y’all can’t quite grasp the concept but I will gladly explain it the best I can if y’all are interested 🥰😌
Life & Death Brigade (OBX x WDW) - Chapter Six: The Heist
↳ A/N This is our longest chapter yet but there are always so many good details to include around such an important secret society 🥰
↳ Summary: Life on Figure Eight is ordinary for Daniel. He’s got everything he could ask for: a huge family estate on the water, friends that love to party as much as he does, and a year round membership to the country club. But just when his life is starting to get predictable, Daniel finds himself caught up in a secret society run by none other than JJ Maybank and his group of empty pocket misfits.
↳ Word Count: 7449
↳ Pairings: Daniel Seavey x OC, Best Friend JJ Maybank x OC
↳ Warnings: This story deals with illegal activity of secret societies (stealing, trespassing, vandalism, etc.), underage drinking and drugs, some violence, societal class divides, and other similar topics. Nothing too crazy but read at your own discretion.
↳ Life & Death Brigade Masterlist
Daniel closed his bedroom door and flicked on the light with a tired sigh. The sun had set by the time he had this moment to himself after dinner with his family and an evening of watching the thunderstorm roll in over the ocean. The Outer Banks didn’t receive rain too often but when it did, his family had a little tradition to watch how the storm settled over the island and their property.
It had been a few days since the Midsummer Soiree and, thus, a few days since Daniel had seen Morgan and the rest of their little group. He was honestly itching to see them again, to have a moment away from the constant repeated conversations of his friends and do something that actually felt thrilling and worthwhile. The only issue was, he had no clue how.
As if reading his mind, a streak of white against his window among the darkness of the stormy night pulled Daniel’s attention. He glanced out onto his small balcony for any sign of anyone on the property before he was unlocking the sliding door and pulled it open. The Ziploc bag was taped to the glass and it was blowing messily in the high winds and Daniel snatched it through the rain and pulled it inside. The door was shut behind him.
Daniel sat himself on the foot of his bed and opened the Ziplock bag to pull out the folded cardstock inside with a thudding heart. His name was scrawled on the front just like the first one had been when it was taped to his steering wheel and, just like he had with that one, he opened it up to read the contents.
D— How’s your electricity in this storm? Still running? Must be nice. If you really are one of us, you will understand that we should all be treated equally here on the Outer Banks. If you agree to this fact, you will meet us at the harbour tomorrow at 2pm. Tell no one. —LDB
Despite the storm that raged on throughout the night, the sunrise brought clear skies once more to the Outer Banks and Daniel hardly slept through the night in anticipation for the following day’s adventure. In all honesty, he was nearly bursting just to see Morgan again but he suppressed that feeling to the back of his mind. What they were was still unclear and there was always the possibility that what had happened between them at Midsummers was nothing more than a streak of pity and reckless intoxication.
Daniel was woken up by his mother at 9am.
With a swipe of the curtains, the bright morning sun poured into his room and Daniel, sprawled out on his stomach across his king size bed and down filled white sheets, groaned and threw his pillow over his head to block out the light.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” she called to her youngest son sweetly and reached over to pull the pillow out of his two handed grip. “Breakfast is almost ready. Would you like me to bring it to you?”
Daniel, twenty-years-old and sleeping in only his underwear, embarrassingly pulled his sheets over his half-naked body in the presence of his mother, mumbling sleepily as he blinked his eyes open, “No, I’ll come down.”
“That’ll be nice. Five minutes, okay?” she leaned down to kiss his head and then disappeared out of his room, leaving the curtains and the door open behind her.
Daniel rolled over his in mess of sheets and grabbed his phone from his bedside table to skim through his social media for a few minutes, catching up with the things he missed while asleep: from celebrities to sports to his group chat with his friends. They were planning to meet at the Country Club around 11:00 for a round of golf but the note resting on his nightstand had Daniel adjusting his priorities accordingly. He declined their offer, blaming his absence on his mother. It was always a believable lie for the young men of Figure Eight.
Daniel, his parents, and his younger sister had breakfast out on the back porch overlooking the water. His parents asked about his plans for the day and he lied effortlessly that he was going to the beach for a surf and would be gone until late with his friends. He was met with no issue or doubt.
When breakfast concluded, Daniel left the table to head back to his room to change into something better for the day. He had no clue what their plans were so versatility was key. An airy button up and light wash blue jeans were the choice and he finished it with his usual designer belt, a fresh shave, and a squirt of hairspray. After sliding his crisp white sneakers on, he kissed his mother’s cheek on his way out the door with a call of “don’t wait up” over his shoulder.
His beach bag was tossed into the backseat of his Tesla to be forgotten about for the rest of the day; only used as a prop to help him get out the door unfazed.
The Outer Banks Harbour was the hub for travel between the mainland and the island and there had never been a time where it wasn’t near chalked full of people. Daniel was familiar with the harbour as he and his family had been back and forth often on the ferry for various reasons over his lifetime of living in Figure Eight.
That being said, the harbour was just as much of a classic social divide as the rest of the Outer Banks. Those from Figure Eight traveled. Those from The Cut loaded their bags, sold their tickets, and washed the decks. It was normalcy.
After he parked, Daniel leaned himself against the white paneled building to scan the area for any sign of the group he was meeting. All the note said was ‘the harbour’ and the bustling area wasn’t the easiest place to meet with someone without explicit directions and locations. Daniel didn’t even have any of their phone numbers.
But then 2pm was coming and going and at five past, Daniel was starting to get antsy. There was no sign of the group.
He pushed himself off the side of the building and started to do a lap of the harbour to see if he could locate the odd team of misfits that he had somehow got wrapped up in. This was to be his first adventure apart from his initiation, and the uncertainty of what was to come was buzzing inside him. He couldn’t lose before the day even started and the longer it took him to find them, the surer he was that JJ would have some teasing remarks to spew in his direction.
The workers and travelers that filled the harbour bustled around Daniel like a whirlwind and after had made a lap around the paved clearing with no luck, he was sure he had been tricked. Until someone grabbed his arm.
Daniel startled greatly and flung around to be eye to eye with Morgan. She simply yanked him after her around the back of a near by shipping container that only left about a metre width of space between it and the edge of the paved port. The rest of the group was waiting there and their expressions were nothing but slight annoyance at Daniel’s tardiness.
“Took you long enough.” Kiara said first as Morgan shoved Daniel towards them.
“You just said ‘the harbour’ with no other clues. How was I supposed to know exactly where to find you?” Daniel argued lightly, his cheeks pink as he tried to ignore the warmth of where Morgan had grabbed his arm.
JJ scoffed, “You look for us, dumbass. We’re not going to go out there in the open and approach you with silver platters and blatant instructions.”
“That’s how you get caught.” Pope finished.
“Whatever.” Daniel grumbled.
Morgan shoved a yellow poncho at him, “Put this on.”
“For what?” Daniel took it from her with a grimace.
JJ huffed, “Please tell me your daddy’s money paid for your university acceptance because there’s no goddamn way you got in with how honestly stupid you are.”
“J.” Morgan said warningly to her best friend before turning back to Daniel to explain, “We’re sneaking onto the ferry so we need to look like employees. Hurry up. The boat leaves in less than two minutes.”
The yellow poncho that Daniel was given was stained in sea water and mud and he forced himself to not think of the spotless light outfit he had put on that morning as he tugged it over his head. He should have been a bit more forward thinking, especially after the honest mess that was his initiation. Morgan helped to pull the thick plastic poncho down over Daniel’s back and he thanked her quietly as JJ addressed their group.
“We’re gonna pair off in case we need to split up.” he instructed as he tossed his backpack over his shoulder, “Morgan-”
“I’ll stick with Daniel.” she answered.
JJ’s surprised expression had Daniel half nervous that he was about to be jumped, but JJ simply clenched his jaw and then looked away, “Fine. Pope, you’re with me then. Kie, John B, you take bow. The four of us will take stern. Let’s go.”
He took one last glance over at Morgan and Daniel before turning on his heel and leading the group out from behind the shipping container. They stayed low and Morgan took to the back of their line to make sure Daniel was actually sticking with their group and not getting lost again. The paved harbour moulded effortlessly into the wooden pier that was lined with commuters and workers loading onto the ferry and adjacent work boats. Boxes and crates were handled by men in similar ponchos that JJ had snagged so their group blended in easily – that or people were just so wrapped up in their own concerns that they weren’t spared a second glance.
“Grab a crate.” Morgan instructed Daniel, following JJ and Pope to pick up one of the filled wooden boxes as Kiara and John B continued farther down the length of the pier as to avoid suspicions in such a large group.
The four of them hopped off the edge of the dock onto the boat deck of the mainland ferry and took the narrow crew staircase down into the cramped bowels of the boat. Daniel was more than surprised that no one seemed to catch them as they just seemingly helped themselves to the decks but there was a sense of trust that braided in addictingly with the adrenaline of the stealth.
The moment they were below deck and dropped off their crates with the growing stack in the storage gallows, JJ was leading them farther into the bottom of the ferry. He moved as if he had done it a thousand times and Daniel honestly was sure if he had attempted this by himself, he would be downright lost and trapped. And it wasn’t easy to get lost on a ferry.
A thick metal door was already open a crack and JJ pulled at the large handle to open it wider, ushering the other three down another steep set of stairs. The heat that poured out from the darkened depths of the ferry had Daniel rising a sweat more than high noon in the peak of summer but he followed behind Pope down into the engine room without complaint. The drone of the engines was near deafening and even as they found their spots crouched in the corner against the far wall, Daniel felt as though his brain was ringing. With a shutter, the ferry was starting away from the pier.
Daniel reached out a hand to stabilize himself against the wall, eyes wide in realization of what they had just done, and the pure shock on his face had Morgan laughing lightly.
“Holy shit. We just snuck onto the ferry. We’re stowaways.” Daniel said loudly to top the rumble of the engines.
JJ slumped to the ground and adjusted his cap on his head, “We shouldn’t have to pay to go to the mainland. That’s bullshit.”
“But it’s only $10 a ticket.” Daniel replied innocently.
Pope laughed humourlessly, “Who has $10 to throw away for one way?”
Daniel kept his mouth shut.
Morgan rested against the wall beside him and pushed the hood of her poncho down around her shoulders, “Good thing you have us to open your eyes to the double standard shit that really goes down out here.”
“After today maybe you’ll start to understand.” JJ added.
“I’m trying.” Daniel mumbled, shifting on the ground to make sure he was sitting on the poncho so his jeans weren’t getting grimy.
“First things first,” JJ reached over and shoved his hands away, “stop caring about how you look. It makes you look obnoxious.”
Daniel frowned over at him, “These are my favourite pants.”
JJ rolled his eyes.
“JJ.” Morgan said sternly, “Relax.”
“He was literally dragged through the mud behind the van last time he came with us and he still shows up in an outfit that costs more than John B’s fucking house.” JJ snapped.
“You don’t have to be such a fucking dick to me.” Daniel grumbled, his voice just barely heard over the rumble of the engines.
JJ literally laughed, “Says you!”
“I’m trying to be better! I’m seriously trying and you’re making it super fucking hard with your eye rolling and rude fucking commentary.”
“Oh, come on, don’t be such a pussy.”
“Hey!” Morgan said loudly, putting her hands up between them. “Stop it. Both of you. Fuck’s sake.”
Pope, sitting opposite her, was staring at the hostile behaviour of the two other guys with wide eyes and a shut tight mouth. He knew better than to get involved. Daniel huffed and looked to the side with a shake of his head, eyebrows furrowed and cheeks pink from more than just the uncomfortable heat that filled the depths of the ferry. The engines muffled the tense silence that lingered among the four of them and the shuttering of the ferry reaching the mainland pier couldn’t come soon enough.
Out on the pier, the group was reconnected all together and John B and Kiara were instantly attuned to the slight miserableness that suffocated the air around the other four once they met up. Morgan just shook her head at them to have them not bring it up and the questions were dropped.
Daniel was standing at her side closely, not only because they were partnered for the day but also because she seemed to be the only person who somewhat more than tolerated him. Their elbows were touching with how close they stood, sticking together slightly with the heat that they had been sitting in under their thick plastic ponchos.
John B took to ask the question that would get their plans back on track, slapping a hand down on JJ’s shoulder, “What’s the plan, chief?”
“We need to blend in with the mainland people.” JJ said, barely giving Daniel a side eye, “Well, the rest of us do.”
“The usual place?” Kiara asked.
“Nah,” JJ shook his head, “Can’t go too many times to the same place, Kie, you know that.”
Daniel glanced between them as they discussed clothing options, silently confused as to how they were going to afford new clothing from the mainland for strictly one heist. But he followed along without speaking a word as they all removed their ponchos and hid them behind a few crates at the end of the pier and JJ led the way away from the harbour and into the heart of the quaint coastal town. It was familiar to Daniel from years of mainland vacationing and day-trips and the architecture and streets weren’t much different from those on Figure Eight.
His poorer counterparts seemed to stick out like sore thumbs as they navigated the gardens and footpaths of the town, dressed in grimy shorts and t-shirts with John B finished with a dirty bandana tied around his neck and JJ wearing his signature dilapidated red ball cap. They didn’t seem to mind their own obvious divide in clothing and Daniel tried not to think about it himself but after being installed with the importance of proper dress since he was old enough to pick out his own clothes, it was hard to just ignore it.
Along the quiet streets, the group approached a trimmed and posh clothing store called Ben Silver; a British clothing store that imported only the finest of clothing. Daniel had a few dressier pieces from that establishment to the point where he knew the owner through his family. He hesitated at the door as JJ led the group inside.
Morgan stopped beside him, “You okay?”
Daniel glanced over at her and swallowed thickly before nodding and stepping inside.
The store was empty of customers apart from an older couple in the fitting room area where the wife was helping her husband pick out a suit. The owner was stationed behind the cash and Daniel let his eyes linger on him silently as the group scattered around the store.
Observing how JJ and his friends interacted with the displays and the products was far too interesting to Daniel and he kept quiet as they muddled around various polished cherry tables and perfectly quaffed mannequins. Their sweaty hands poking at crisp white shirts and ruffling through ties and scarves had Daniel physically biting his tongue and he kept his head down as to almost not be associated with them or to be recognized by the store owner.
“Hey, trust fund baby.” Kiara whispered sharply from across the display table they were at.
Daniel glanced up at her.
She held up two blouses in front of her, “Blue or purple?”
Daniel blinked at her, dumbfounded, “Kie…”
“C’mon, Daniel.” she tisked.
“Purple.” Daniel answered flatly and turned back down to the folded dress shirts on the display table.
Morgan slid up beside him and elbowed him, “What’s up with you? You wanna leave or something?”
Daniel looked around the store carefully to make sure the rest of their group was well out of ear shot before he answered her, “I just…I don’t know how you guys are gonna afford this. Not being rude, I'm just…I’m wondering.”
Morgan chuckled and patted his arm as she answered him softly, “Cute that you think we’re going to pay.”
Daniel’s eyes widened, “What? Are you…you’re going to steal five full outfits?”
She shrugged, “Not like it matters to them. Y’all have enough money to do whatever the fuck you want around here. What’s five outfits in a world of economical inequality?”
“Morals, Morgan.” Daniel whispered sharply. “I know the store owner. How’s this gonna look on me?”
She pulled a set of sunglasses off the nearby mannequin and shoved them on his face, “There. Unrecognizable.”
Daniel couldn’t answer before she was grabbing his arm and pulling him around the table to join the rest of the group. He pulled a hat from one of the displays they passed and kept it low over his face to avoid being seen by the man eyeing them behind the counter. He now felt like the odd one out.
John B held open his backpack behind a rack and JJ tucked in three button up shirts for them on the way passed, expertly appearing completely casual to any onlookers as he reached for a shelf of something else. With them all gathered around one display table, Daniel pitched his offer.
“Guys, if you need these things, I can buy them for you. I mean it.”
They all stopped and looked at him at once. Morgan would have face palmed if she weren’t trying to appear so casual.
JJ snorted and directed over to Daniel, “We don’t need a sugar daddy.”
Daniel frowned lightly but out of his own nervousness and what he thought was the right thing, he was continuing, “I don’t mind. Honest. It would save so much trouble.”
Pope set his hand on Daniel’s shoulder, “Do you not understand the motto of the Life & Death Brigade, brother? Danger is Sweet, remember? What would we be if we purchased these things?”
Daniel chewed on his bottom lip and looked between Pope and Morgan on either side of him hesitantly, “I guess.”
John B slung his bag over his shoulder again, “Set.”
Daniel reached for his wallet but found his back pocket empty. He gasped softly and patted his pockets, only to find JJ chuckling as he walked backwards away from him, waving his missing wallet in his hand.
“You won’t be needing this.” JJ mouthed to him.
Daniel couldn’t even open his mouth in shock that he had just been pickpocketed by the guy before JJ was turning and bolting out the door. Morgan ran after him and then Daniel was taken over by the rest of the group rushing past him and out the door as the store owner hurried over and calling angrily after them.
He managed to grab Daniel’s arm before he could follow them and under the tight grip of the older man, Daniel froze up, his heart racing in his ears as he looked back at him.
The older man narrowed his eyes at him in disappointed disbelief, “Daniel Seavey?”
Wide eyed and struck with shock at being called out by name, Daniel tried to word a response directly to the face of the store owner, managing to hurriedly blurt out, “No, sorry.”
And then he booked it, leaving the silver bell above the door clinking loudly behind him as he burst out onto the street.
The rest of them were already disappearing around the corner into the nearby park in the distance and Daniel ran as fast as he could over the pavement to catch up to them, leaving the store and the angry owner in his dust. He could hardly feel his feet touching the ground at the speed he was reaching, almost as if he were floating, and the expensive hat that he had worn from the store ended up toppling from his head and into a sewer grate as he jumped up onto the curb and past the iron gates of the park.
Morgan was peeking out from around the corner of the next street they had turned down at the end of the block-wide park and she waved him on impatiently. Struck with adrenaline, Daniel reached out a hand to her and she grabbed his just as he rounded the next corner and with his speed, he yanked her right after him and down the sidewalk. She laughed excitedly, running with him quickly after near years of practice of bolting from various scenes – stores, vacant lots, homes.
The group had finally stopped a few blocks down in an alley between two quaint shops and Daniel and Morgan were the last to arrive; both with beaming smiles and still holding hands. Their breathlessness wasn’t unlike the rest of their group’s own heaving chests and yet JJ, leaned back against the brick wall with his cap clutched to his chest, still managed to narrow his eyes in the direction of the odd pair’s joint hands. Daniel honestly laughed with the high of adrenaline, finally letting go of Morgan’s grasp so he could hold his hands to his knees and heave oxygen into his burning lungs.
“Holy shit.” he panted.
Kiara nudged Morgan’s shoulder, “Thought you guys were caught.”
“Nah,” Morgan chuckled, “we just have to stay with our partner no matter what, right? I wouldn’t let this idiot go down alone.”
“Sometimes he’ll have go down just to learn his lesson if he keeps challenging us.” JJ mumbled but turned his back to them to get John B to open his backpack.
Daniel frowned, his blissful adrenaline plummeting to disappointment over JJ’s obvious edge towards him. But he stayed quiet, especially comforted by Morgan’s callused hand giving his bicep a friendly squeeze before she was stepping forward to retrieve her stolen goods.
As everyone dressed and stuffed their worn clothes back into backpacks, Daniel took the sunglasses off his face and turned them around in his hands. The price tag was still on one of the arms and a smoothly printed $150.00 was staring up at him. It was a no-brain purchase for Daniel or any of his friends if they had wanted them, but as he glanced up at the group of grimy misfits in front of him with nothing but hopeful and proud smiles taking up their faces, he felt a strange tug in his chest. He felt like he didn’t belong and he silently questioned why they were willing to take him in. Was it only because he caught them that night on his yacht?
He had always been told that folks from The Cut where brainless slackers who deserved the shit that life threw at them. Daniel didn’t know much different than that but he was starting to. He didn’t understand a lot of the things they did but he was trying to.
“Alright,” JJ clasped the last button on his collared shirt, “Let’s head out, shall we?”
“Yeah,” Pope checked his watch under the crisp new sleeve of his cashmere sweater, “It’s about an hour trek to the generator station and we need to time it perfectly.”
“The generator? To the Outer Banks?” Daniel questioned.
“Yeah,” JJ nodded them out of the alley as he explained their reasoning, “That storm last night…didn’t really bother you, did it?”
Daniel shrugged, “No.”
“Right. Because you’re up on Figure Eight where the electricity is boosted by the mainland generator.” JJ explained. “Meanwhile, the rest of us on The Cut got the shitty end of the stick and we’ve been without power since yesterday afternoon.”
“Shit.” Daniel sighed under his breath.
“Nothing against you, per se,” Pope assured him with a shrug, “It’s just facts that you don’t know what it’s like to live without power for more than a few minutes.”
“I guess.” Daniel agreed.
John B cut in for JJ, “So we’re going to show y’all what it’s like. No generator, no power.”
“Gonna start the fucking purge, everyone’s gonna go ape shit up there.” Kiara chuckled.
Daniel cracked a small smile, already knowing the drama that the few minutes it took for the generator to kick in caused in his house yet alone a full night of blackout. His mother panicked about the food in the fridge, his sister shouting about the wifi, his father unable to make adequate phone calls all for five measly minutes before peace was restored and their beach side mansion flickered back to life. Shamelessly, Daniel wanted to see the panic.
“We stay in our pairs.” JJ continued, “Kie and John B are going in. John B’s got the tools after all.”
“Yes, sir.” John B agreed with a little salute from his side.
“Me and Pope are going to cause the distraction.” JJ continued. “Scope out the fences and make sure the security guard has his hands full to avoid catching them.”
“Dammit, J.” Morgan huffed, “So Daniel and me gotta just stand guard?”
JJ stopped in his tracks, making the rest of the group stop with him, and he turned to face her directly, “You wanted to partner up with the new guy, MC, you deal with the new guy jobs.”
Without waiting for a reply, he hoisted his bag higher up on his shoulder and continued on his way. Everyone followed him again.
The generator station was just out of the mainland town right near the edge of the coast and framed with tall, barbed wire fences donning signs that warned about electrocution and fines for trespassing. The sun was setting towards the horizon by then and streak warm light across the rippling ocean below and the muddy streaked grass left damp from the previous night’s storm.
Standing just beyond the clearing in the thick of the bordering trees, their group analyzed the scene, down to the security guard standing post near the gate. They kept their distance away from the main path and the dirt road that led back towards the town, finding refuge in the thick of it.
JJ pulled off his hat and ruffled his hand through his hair to try and tame it a bit, leaving Morgan with his cap and he snatched the sunglasses out of Daniel’s shirt to slide them casually on the top of his head. Him and Pope both in buttoned shirts and pressed golf pants could almost pass as classy if you squinted and they turned to the rest of the ground before their night was to be started.
“We meet right back here in an hour tops. If we get split up, it’s the harbour by dark. If we’re all not accounted for by the last ferry, you’re stuck here. Don’t leave your partner. Got it?”
Everyone agreed quietly to JJ’s instruction.
He held his hand out between them and, in their circle, they all piled on top. With a silent countdown, they finished their little preparatory cheer with a ‘dulce periculum’ and then Pope and JJ were on their way back towards the road. The moment they would lure the guard away was the moment that Kiara and John B would make their move. There was no time for seconds wasted.
Playing off as casual members of the town, JJ and Pope lured the guard away to help them with their non-existent broken down car farther down the woods path and – with a wave of Daniel’s designer wallet that had at least a few hefty bills inside – the guard was agreeing. Daniel’s disbelieving mutter under his breath had Morgan chuckling quietly.
The moment they disappeared down the path, Kiara and John B hurried across the muddy grass at a crouch towards the gated generator. Morgan grabbed Daniel’s hand again and pulled him after them. Daniel habitually looked back towards the dirt road but there was no sign of the guard or the distractors.
Kiara and John B slipped past the gate with near ease and hurried towards the heart of the buzzing generator, leaving Morgan and Daniel to stand watch. Standing on the beaten path that led from the town right to the entrance to the electrical generator, Daniel looked down to his once shiny white sneakers, only to find them caked in mud from their trekking across the still rainy grass.
“Fuck.” he grumbled.
Morgan chuckled, “Just a little dirt. No harm.”
Daniel glanced over at her, “I am unfamiliar with that term.”
“I know.” she elbowed him teasingly and they shared soft laughter for a moment. “You gotta loosen up a little, trust fund baby.”
“I think stealing hundreds of dollars worth of clothing is enough loosening up for one day.” Daniel whispered back.
“Did it feel good?” she asked, looking over at him with a sly smile.
Daniel looked back to the ground to hide the little smirk that was coming to his own face, “Yeah, a little, I guess.”
“Just stickin’ it to the man, Seavey.” Morgan said proudly. “Proud of you for not pussying out.”
Daniel scuffed the toe of his shoe against the dirt path with a shrug, “The store owner literally had me by the arm and I think he recognized me.”
“Ah, close calls happen.” Morgan assured him, “Especially when you’re new.”
“And I know he could totally call my parents about it since we’re regulars to that store but…honestly…I feel like I don’t care.” he looked over at her with a faint smile.
Morgan gave his shoulder a shove, “That’s the spirit! You’re really turning into one of us now, huh?”
Daniel chuckled lightly, “Maybe. I’m really trying, y’know?”
“I know. And JJ will come around. He’s always had this stick up his ass about you guys up on Figure Eight and even though you’ve been initiated into our group, all he sees is that divide. It’s gonna take a while for that to fall away.”
“Did it with Kie?”
“Oh yeah.” Morgan chuckled. “But Kie’s a firecracker herself too and she really fought back to prove to JJ that she was on our side from the start. That’s where you and her differ: you’re still a little blind to the unfairness of it all.”
“But I’m trying.”
“I know. I see it. Pope sees it. Kie sees it. John B is JJ’s shadow so whatever JJ thinks, John B follows so they’re still gonna take a bit to see it. It’ll happen. Trust.”
Daniel almost forgot they were in the middle of a mission because just as he was about to reply, Morgan had seen the guard start to emerge from the wood framed road and she grabbed Daniel’s hand and yanked him around the side of the metal fence and farther away from the gate. Stepping through puddles of thick mud, Daniel’s shoes were to be unsalvageable and he was passed the point of grimacing over the horror of that fact.
Well away from the gate along the opposite end of the squared off generator, Morgan pulled Daniel to the ground without thought, forcing both their pants to be stained in mud and grass. He was too focused on her and the thudding of his heartbeat in his ears to care and he watched as Morgan held onto the mesh of the fence and tried to scope out John B and Kiara. She pursed her lips and mimicked a bird call of a species that was common for their area and thus could pass as generally undetected.
There was a quiet whistle back from between the darkened generator boxes and wires in acknowledgement.
Daniel peered through the mesh to try and see if he could spot the other pair but Morgan was already turning around and resting back against the fence. She still held his hand as if she didn’t even realize it and Daniel wasn’t going to be the one to pull away first. He shifted around to sit properly beside her and as she kept her eyes moving as the lookout, he let himself stare at her for a moment.
She looked out of place in the blouse and skirt that were stolen from the shop – as if Daniel was too familiar with seeing her in her grass stained shorts and thrifted tops. He hadn’t been around her too much but Morgan was always one to be so set in her tastes and ways. In a sense, it was admirable. Despite their differences, despite being strangers, she seemed to take him in so willingly and kindly.
“Morgan?” Daniel whispered through the fading sunlight.
She wasn’t looking at him but instead peering through the fence to try and keep an eye on the guard on the other side of the generator, “Yeah?”
“I just wanna say thanks again for the other night at Midsummers. I probably wasn’t your first choice of person to take care of so…I appreciate it.”
She turned to look back at him and shrugged modestly, “It’s nothing. It’s what we do out here for our friends.”
“I know it’s so different for us…especially with who we consider our friends.”
“Same little island yet completely different lives.”
Daniel smiled tightly, “Yeah.”
She gave his hand a squeeze.
“Have you ever been up to Figure Eight?” he asked.
“Nope. Apart from heists with the team here.”
“Y’know,” Daniel swallowed thickly and looked down to their intertwined hands, “It’s actually really nice…apart from the shitty people. Maybe one day you can come up and we can hang?”
Morgan didn’t answer at first, letting a little smile prick at the corner of her mouth.
Daniel continued nervously, trying to make light of the situation, “Just maybe lunch and a game of golf. Can show you that you don’t need to be covered in dirt to have fun.”
The shared light laughter as they sat on the wet, muddy grass together, undoubtably ruining their clothes but that seemed to be the last thought on Daniel’s mind. He felt silly, sitting there with this girl who was nearly a stranger to him still, and feeling so antsy about the question he was pitching. Would it go against everything she stood for with the Life & Death Brigade? Maybe he was pushing too hard.
“Having fun might be pushing it.” Morgan said, “But I’d like to hang…sure. Can scope out enemy territory, y’know?”
“Sure.” Daniel chuckled, almost in near relief.
“Want my number?” she held out her free hand for his phone.
Daniel tried not to grin too widely as he pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and passed it to her. The newest model was sleek and large in her hand and her eyes nearly went wide at the size of it.
“Geez, Seavey, this is almost the size of a fucking iPad.” Morgan gaped as she created a new contact and entered her information.
“What phone do you have?”
“I still have the iPhone 5 and that was second hand.” she answered with a laugh and passed back his phone. “Oh, and by the way, my phone plan sucks and I can only send 30 texts a month so don’t start thinking I ghosted you if I don’t answer.”
Her casual confession took Daniel by surprise but he agreed coolly and slid his phone back in his pocket.
“I also have never played golf and know nothing about that obnoxious sport - if you can even call it that – so don’t expect me to be good.”
Daniel shook his head, “No problem. I can teach you.”
“One of us, one of you.” Morgan tisked in near disbelief. “What is the world coming to?”
Right then, there was a sudden halt of the buzz of electricity through the wires and the generator whined down into a drawling, rumbling silence. The scuffle of footsteps from behind them had both of them turning quickly to see Kiara and John B hurrying towards the back fence where they sat and they stood up to ready for their quick getaway.
John B cut a hole through the fence with his metal cutters and Morgan and Daniel held open the sliced fence to help them through. Without a look back, the four of them took off across the grass and back towards the woods, their splashing footsteps through the mud muffling the call of the confused guard in the fading distance.
JJ and Pope were waiting for them just beyond the wooded edge and they joined right in as they continued running from the ruined generator and towards the direction of the mainland harbour.
“You couldn’t have held him off for longer, JJ?” Kiara asked through the rustle of the bush as they ran through the trees.
“The moment he saw we didn’t have a car that was truly broken down he got pissed at us for wasting his time!” Pope replied for them.
“Took our bribe and didn’t even make an effort to help.” JJ finished as they slowed to a stop at a safe distance from the location of their trespass. “Jackass.”
“Speaking of, can I have my wallet back please?” Daniel held out his hand.
JJ laughed and pulled it from his pocket, slapping it into his palm, “There you go.”
“Thanks.” Daniel snorted and held it in his hand to keep it from being stained in the mud that already ruined his light wash pants.
“Was the heist successful?” JJ asked the rest of their group, “It looked it.”
“Perfectly successful, chief.” John B nodded, “Few snips of wires here and there and Figure Eight will be without power for a few days at least.”
Daniel couldn’t hide the smile that rose to his face at the concept of that idea. It felt so foreign and yet part of him was excited to go home and see everyone’s reactions, see how they would be freaking out, all while he feigned his innocence and pretended to not have a clue how it happened. He almost felt powerful from the fact that he had this secret for just him to know – and this group of misfits to seemed to take him in. They were really showing him all new aspects of life.
It was easier to sneak onto the ferry after sundown, getting past the ticket booth and into the cargo hold without being seen in the dark. All together, they huddled in the engine room again and faced the brutal heat from below decks as they returned to the Outer Banks and their home of Kildare Island.
Daniel peered out the small window in the side of the ferry and past the surface of the water splashing against the glass, he could see the almost pitch black horizon of the approaching island. Figure Eight was blacked out to the late evening sky. It was surreal.
Back on their home turf at the midway point between their worlds, the six of them shared another chant of ‘dulce periculum’ before heading on their ways. Morgan lingered behind for a moment as her friends started to walk off to where they had parked the van and she and Daniel exchanged light smiles, both covered in mud and buzzing from adrenaline from the successful mission.
She took a step back, “Text me, okay?”
Daniel nodded, “For sure.”
For a moment he thought she might kiss him as she stood there dumbly as if she didn’t want to leave. Part of him contemplated making the first move himself. There was that racing of his heart again and the adrenaline high made for slip second decision that could be more harm than good.
JJ broke them from their moment before they could do anything about that lingering silence as he called after his best friend, “MC! Let’s fucking go, dude! Come on!”
With one more smile shared, Morgan hurried off after her friends and Daniel was left to find his way home.
The last thing he really wanted to do was sit in his spotless Tesla with muddy pants but thankfully he had the bag in the backseat that he had used to convince his mother he was going to beach and he set that down on the seat first to sit on top of it. But the whole drive back to his house, the streets were nearly pitch black and there was a strange sense of pride brewing inside him that he had played a hand in achieving this chaos.
It was only when he pulled into his driveway that he realized he had no way to charge his car but his excitement to see the reaction of his family outweighed the momentary setback of an uncharged car. Beach bag in hand, Daniel hopped up the front porch steps and helped himself into his darkened house.
A few candles were lit by the hand of his mother and the hired help and were set around the kitchen and living room to try and offer some light into the place. The maid was in the fridge and emptying out the items onto the kitchen island as his mother directed manically where everything should go, frazzled over what was going on. His father was nearby, talking on his cell phone to who Daniel assumed was the mayor, and he had his stern business tone to his voice as if he could buy his way into more electricity. His sister only added to the noise by constantly shouting over them that her data wasn’t working and she needed the internet back or she would drown herself in their pool.
Daniel paused in the archway into the main area of the house, watching it all unfold with an ever growing smile, and slunk off up the stairs to his bedroom to change out of his mud soaked clothes.
When he closed his door behind him and let the darkness of the night sky act as his only comfort, he pulled out his phone and sent Morgan a text.
-All hells broken loose. Mom is panic emptying the fridge. My sister is threatening to drown herself already. Mission successful, if you ask me.
Barely a minute later, he received his reply,
Such a shame to hear about your power. Thoughts and prayers with you and your family during these horribly awfully tough times. You’ll get through it! Then we can hit the greens. Is that what they say? You did good today, TFB -MC
CRYING SOBBING THROWING UP!! Now, let's get down to business.
Analysis No.6 ― Let's Talk About JJ
JJ Maybank is, in a word, ruthless. I mean that in the nicest and vilest way possible.
But JJ is also fiercely loyal and wildly protective.
As someone who group up in a situation much like canon!JJ, I know too well where his hesitancy to trust Daniel is coming from. I know too well where is feeling of betrayal at Morgan choosing Daniel over him is coming from. When you're from a life like theirs/ours, a life that doesn't care about who you are or what you want, the things you hold on to the tightest are your family―the family you choose.
Morgan and Daniel's blossoming whateverthefuck probably feels like utter betrayal, probably feels like he's losing control, probably feel like he's losing the person he knows the best who knows him the best. And that is a very hard thing to deal with. It's hard to let go and step aside and trust an outsider with your most precious thing (not in an object way, but in an "I grew up with this person and they know me in ways you can't, because you aren't from here" way). . . And he can't say anything, because if he does, it'll backfire.
JJ isn't ruthless because he wants to be an asshole, he's ruthless because that's what he had to become to survive. I know and recognize it, because JJ and I are the same person.
John B for JJ is my friend Jon (ha ha) for me. And in this story, Morgan for JJ is my friend Aaron for me. I don't know how this story is going to end for them, but I hope it has a happier ending than me and Aaron did. At least I still have my John B.
In closing, JJ will be just fine, because he knows how to survive. ♥️
I’m supposed to be working on fic and @chilling-seavey got me over here SIMPING HARD ON MAIN (if main were this sideblog where none of my irl friends can find me bc they’re assholes).
I’m supposed to be working on fic and @chilling-seavey got me over here SIMPING HARD ON MAIN (if main were this sideblog where none of my irl friends can find me bc they’re assholes).
You scrunched up your nose at the glance of the plastic container filled with thick green dip. You shook your head, “No way.”
“But it’s so good.” Daniel scooped a chip through the dip.
“It looks like puke.”
Daniel groaned distastefully as you said that the second he shoved a chip piled high with the guacamole into his mouth, “Ew. Don’t say that. No, it doesn’t.”
“Yes, it does. That’s so yucky.” you faked a shutter.
Daniel grabbed another chip from the bag and scooped a hefty amount of dip onto it. He held it out to you, “Try it. Please?”
Sitting at his side at the kitchen island, you leaned up from where your elbows were resting on the marble countertop and you scrunched your nose again as if trying to lean away from his snack he was so adamant on sharing. Just another slow night at barely 8pm spent in the kitchen of his house as night fell, entertained by nothing but each other’s company - and Daniel’s strange love for the strangest looking snacks.
“For me?” he pouted, his eyes staring at your mouth as he hovered the chip between you.
You pursed your lips in thought as you analyzed his expression, but he had a way of winning you over with just the gentleness of his voice. In defeat, you sighed, “Fine.”
You opened your mouth to let him feed you the tortilla chip, nose nearly permanently scrunched in borderline fear at what he was trying to poison you with. Daniel was ungraceful with his feeding and accidentally smudged green dip across your upper lip as he shoved the chip into your mouth. You groaned in teasing annoyance and raised your hand up to politely cover your mouth as you chewed.
Daniel watched you almost excitedly for your verdict but when you shook your head, he just frowned. With a tisk he scooped himself another chip and dip, “That makes me sad.”
“You can feed me more.” you offered.
He cocked his head cutely at your offer as he chewed the chip in his mouth, speaking through it when he could, “I thought you didn’t like it?”
“I don’t…but I like how cute and happy you look when you feed me things.” you giggled.
“Do I want to waste my chips and guac on someone who doesn’t even like it?” Daniel contemplated, pausing to lick his fingers casually.
Your eyes fell to his hand to watch how his tongue poked out to touch his index finger before his lips wrapped around it next to suck the remanence of the dip off without a second thought. He let out a soft hum in mock thought as switched his index finger for his middle and copied the same action and then once more around his thumb, pulling his hand back with a soft little suction before he was reaching into the chip bag again.
Hung up on him, you slumped one arm onto the counter at which you sat and stared at him shamelessly, waiting for his verdict as you licked your lips. Daniel swiped the next chip through the dip and then held it out to you.
“Want it?” he offered.
You opened your mouth for him and leaned closer just so he got the hint and he chuckled softly as he fed you the snack.
“Mm,” you cringed as you chewed, “Yum.”
Daniel laughed at your expression, “Enjoying that?”
You nodded through your slow mouthful, “Oh yeah-”
He barely gave you a second before he was shoving another full chip on your mouth, smudging the dip across your lips and almost up your cheek in the rushed process. You groaned at his move and he smiled almost proudly as he scooped his own chip, popping it into his mouth flawlessly.
“You suck.” you mumbled through your mouthful. “You better clean this up.”
Daniel giggled proudly, licking his fingers again as he finished his bite before he was leaning in towards you on the stool beside him, “Okay, c’mere.”
You went to meet him for a kiss but he went in with his tongue first, dragging it right across your mouth to lick off the dip he had left behind. The two of you shared little laughs as he cleaned you up with his tongue and you grabbed the front of his hoodie to hold him close as you finally pushed your tongue against his. His deep content moan had you smiling into his mouth as you licked over each other’s tongues and moulded that into strong passionate filthy kisses.
“Mm, fuck.” Daniel chuckled lowly, reaching his left hand up to grab you by the back of your neck and keep your lips on his. His right was still held haphazardly in the air between you, sticky from the dip and how he had been constantly licking it off.
Your tongues led your fiery kisses as if you were both trying to taste the snack out of each other’s mouths, sharing too much spit and eager little moans together. Lips locking and parting with wet kisses filled the otherwise silent house with the filthiest little noise and if it weren’t for the sight of him licking his fingers off after every bite, the sound and taste of his sloppy kisses alone were certainly doing the job to raise your heartrate.
“Okay,” you breathed, pushing him back from your lips for a moment by your hand against his chest, “gotta stop.”
“Why?” Daniel dipped his finger in the dip and smeared it across your lips again.
Before you could offer any sort of witty rebuttal, he was leaning in and licking it off again, suckling on your bottom lip and then your top one just enough to shoot shivers down your spine. Your bashful little giggle fell against his mouth as he tilted his head to the side and helped himself to your tongue, opening up wider to kiss you deeper.
“Daniel.” you breathed, his name muffled by his lips on yours.
His large hand slid from the back of your neck slightly around the front until the pad of his thumb was pressed just under your chin, holding you under his control. He drew the moans from your throat greedily, suckling them right out of your lips and tongue, and as much as you weren’t a fan of the taste of guacamole, you were much more of a fan of the taste of him.
“Fuck, Daniel.” you groaned, turning your head to the side slightly to break your kiss with a wet and ungraceful smack. You kept your hand gripping the front of his light blue hoodie with a breathless huff, “You sitting here sucking on your fingers turned me on enough - don’t think I need you to choke me with your tongue too.”
“You get horny so easily, baby.” Daniel chuckled lowly, stroking the thumb of his left hand over your jaw as he kept your face cradled in his hand.
You let yourself be drawn to his right hand still haphazardly hovering in the air between you and out of the way. Your jaw fell slack and your tongue dipped out to lick up the side of his index finger and swirled it around the top before leaning in to take his two main fingers in your mouth. Daniel’s bottom lip was captured by his teeth again as he watched you take his fingers in your mouth and you moaned around them sweetly as you reached down to his knuckles.
“Jesus.” Daniel exhaled.
You could still taste the hint of the dip on his fingers with the salt from the chips and you pulled back with a strong drag of your tongue and your eyes focused all on him. Your wet lips kissed the tips of his fingers and one to his thumb too before taking it also in your mouth to suck on. Daniel turned his hand gently to permit you to do as you pleased easier and he slowly thrusted his thumb back and forth in your mouth.
You moaned around him again, keeping your gazes locked as you pulled back from his hand and let yourself drool down his thumb and your chin when you sat back with a suctioned pop. Daniel’s eyes were wide and full of lust for you, his teeth only digging harder into his bottom lip at the sight of you and how clearly needy you were for him. He didn’t need clarification; he knew you too well.
Daniel stood from his stool and walked around the island to the kitchen sink, “Take your clothes off and get on the counter.”
You couldn’t hide your grin as you pulled your shirt over your head and tossed it in the general direction of the hallway before you slid off your stool and unbuttoned your jeans. Daniel washed his hands with soap and water to rid any hint of chips and dip that may cause irritation when used on you how you craved and when he was washed and dried, he turned to find you sitting up on the kitchen island. Your bare legs hung off the end and you were watching him with a sly little impatient smirk on your face, held up by your hands behind you against the marble countertop.
He walked over to you and positioned himself between your legs all with his eyes locked on yours. His hands rested on your thighs and he spread your legs a little wider so he could stand between them a little easier, trailing gentle touches up your warm skin that shivered in anticipation.
“Look at you shuttering already.” Daniel chuckled lowly, trailing his fingers up your stomach and over your chest and to your lips, “Are these what you want, baby?”
You opened your mouth for him again, sticking your tongue out, and you kept your eyes locked on his even as he pushed two clean fingers past your lips. With a sweet moan, you took them as he thrusted them slowly back and forth against your wet tongue, building up the saliva in your mouth and moistening his fingers all in the same. Daniel’s other hand grabbed your thigh snugly and kept your legs open for him as he held you right where he wanted you, gagging you on his fingers.
“Yeah, you want my fingers?” he taunted lowly to your face, “Can’t even have a quiet night without you thinking with your stupid little cunt, huh?”
You hummed in blushing agreement as his hand on your thigh pushed your legs wider and you gladly lifted your feet up to secure your heels on the edge of the counter to allow yourself to be at his disposal. Daniel kept his fingers in your mouth as he leaned down and spit onto your pussy, the move making your stomach clench with desire for him. You craved him more than anything right then and there.
He pulled his fingers from your mouth with a suctioned little pop, watching how it made you whine and a thin string of spit fell down your chin. But he didn’t waste a second before he was dropping his hand down to your pussy and glided his fingers through his spit and the natural wetness that was already building between your legs, slicking his spitty fingers up in the mess. You kept your hands secure on the countertop behind you, staring at his face with your lip between your teeth as he rubbed his two fingers over your pussy slowly at first and then gradually grew faster. You even sounded wet with how he touched you and as he rubbed between your folds, you only grew wetter and slicked up his fingers more and more.
“Good girl…you want these?” he taunted breathily, raising his eyebrows expectantly in time with how his two fingers curled inside you.
“Sh-Shit!” you squeaked, face scrunching up at the sudden stretch and you reached between your legs to grab his wrist and slow him down.
“You can take it.” he assured you passively, pulling your hand out of the way with his other to give him room to fit his two fingers inside you how he pleased.
Fitted at only halfway, he gave you a few testing thrusts as your muscles squeezed tightly around him. You were nearly holding your breath in anticipation, staring up at him sweetly with your bottom lip between your teeth as he eased you into the craving that you yearned to fix.
Daniel stood fully dressed in front of your completely naked body spread on the kitchen island for him, evening snack forgotten about a little ways away with the bag of chips and the container of guacamole still left open. You housed a new hunger he had which only proved him to be your perfect match. It was rare that one of your advances would be turned down by the other at any given point in time. There was no exception. You were addicted to each other.
Daniel was addicted to the wet squish of your pussy taking his fingers and he tore his eyes from yours just long enough to look down at your glistening cunt, his middle and index fingers disappeared only halfway inside your tight body. He licked his lips and then bit them habitually and you watched how concentrated he looked when he pushed them deeper and kept them thrusting into you at that gentle pace.
“Fuck, baby.” you breathed out, head falling back for a second as if you were basking in the feeling, “Your fingers are so good.”
“Yeah, you’ve been wanting them all night, hm?” Daniel taunted, slapping your inner thigh with his free hand as he started to fuck you a bit faster with his right.
You gasped sharply, dropping your head towards your chest to stare down at his hands between your legs, watching how two of his slender fingers were buried deep inside you only to pull out wet in quick motions. Your fingers tried to dig down into the smooth granite of the countertop, only making your knuckles turn white under the pressure as you whimpered for him and tried to grind up against his hand.
“Good girl.” Daniel praised, pulling his fingers out just enough to curl them up and stroke at your g-spot. He gave you a few gentle motions like that just so you could feel him, anticipate him, beg for him.
You didn’t even mean to but maybe it was the way he cocked his brow at you as if waiting for it because you breathed out an ever so gentle, “Please.”
Daniel smirked proudly down at you and then used your innocent simple beg as the catalyst to go faster, flicking his two fingers inside you with speed and precision that stemmed from nothing but being a skilled musician. The sharp trembling gasp that fell from your chest had him biting his lip snugly as the pad of his thumb pressed to your clit and his two fingers buried inside you were keeping their quick attack.
“Oh my God!” you cried out shakily, struggling to figure out where you wanted to put your hands as the overwhelm grew hot within you.
Daniel crouched down beside the counter and leaned in to flick his tongue at your clit while his fingers lured you closer. He matched their quick pace so perfectly that you were slumping onto your elbows behind you on the counter and your legs were trying to curl up towards your chest. Without hesitating, Daniel grabbed one of your ankles and held your foot down on the counter again to have you where he pleased as he stimulated you all over.
“Fuck, baby, don’t stop!” you cried out, reaching one hand down to knock his hat off so you could desperately grab a handful of his dyed blonde hair. You were moaning to the ceiling, toes curling, feeling that fiery warmth tighten within the pit of your stomach more and more.
Daniel’s tongue was heavenly and his fingers were perfection, keeping their quick pace going exactly how you needed it. You could feel his spit drooling down your folds but it just slicked up his fingers more and added to the squishy wet sound of his rapid curls inside your pussy. Your clit was aching against his warm tongue and your hand in his hair only tugged his face harder against you.
He moaned into your flushed skin, staring up your body at your face that was scrunched in pleasure with your lashes resting closed on flushed cheeks and your mouth falling open. Your nose scrunched up slightly, letting shaky blissful anticipatory moans tumble from your chest that reached the farthest distance of the single storey house.
“I’m cumming.” you squeaked, your body starting to shutter, “Please, baby-“
Daniel hummed against you, keeping his pace even as you fell silent and your pussy clenched down around his fingers, creaming sweet wetness down his hand that came with your strong orgasm. Your hips ground up against his face slightly and you gasped and whimpered to the ceiling with pleasure, tugging at his hair greedily as he pushed the pleasure through your body.
His fingers slowed as you shuttered in overwhelm and he dragged his tongue down to taste you a little, just enough to still leave you dripping wet and leaking over the kitchen island. Daniel stood up again and you let your hand from his hair rest your arm behind you against the counter with your other, staring up at him with a bitten lip and blushing cheeks. He kept his left hand resting snugly on your thigh to keep your legs spread as he raised his right hand to his mouth to lick off his fingers, all while keeping his eyes on yours. The thick glistening wetness that coated his two fingers stood out easily in the light of the kitchen and your teeth sunk into your bottom lip as he pushed them into his mouth against his tongue one by one, wrapping his plush lips around them each and pulling them out again. He moaned around them too as if for effect or with how he cherished the taste of your body more than any other passing snack.
“You’re so hot.” you mumbled blissfully, an honest smile blushing over your lips.
“You’re so hot.” Daniel countered as he pulled his fingers from his mouth and rubbed them between your legs again.
You flinched at his simple touch, yelping slightly with how sensitive you were, but he shushed you and nudged your hands away when you tried to grab at his wrists.
“You wanna cum for me again, sweetheart?” Daniel taunted down to you, rubbing three fingers over your wet pussy just to hear how filthy wet you were from your previous orgasm only seconds ago.
You choked over your answer, “Yeah-”
“Yeah?” Daniel spit on your pussy again before sliding three fingers inside you.
“Oh- shit-” you squeaked out, moving your arms out from under you so you were flat on the countertop, reaching above your head to grab onto the opposite edge of the granite and you stared down your body to watch as he fed his three fingers deeper into your leaking cunt. You let out a little sob at the stretch of his fingers and his initial gentleness had you easing into it.
But then he twisted his hand to be palm up and raised his gentle pumps into quick thrusts inside you, tearing his eyes from between your legs to glance up at how the change made your mouth fall open and your head to fall back against the island.
“Daniel-” you choked out. “F-Fuck!”
“That’s it.” he whispered lowly, setting his left hand down against your lower stomach to add a bit more squeeze, “Take it.”
He loved nothing more than pulling orgasms from your body; watching you fall into pleasure under his control however he wanted.
You kept your legs spread for him, hiked up with your feet on the edge of the cool counter, and your back was nearly arching up off the surface as he fucked your sensitive body in quick pumps of three stiff fingers. Your moans were tumbling louder from your lips with each second, paired only with the filthy wet squelch of your pussy taking his fingers greedily.
With the hand that was pressed to your stomach, Daniel dropped his thumb down to rub against your clit lazily, only spurring you on from the aggressive way he fucked you with his fingers. He was so concentrated on your pleasure that his jaw was clenched tightly and his bicep was flexing under the light blue fabric of his hoodie.
The overwhelm of pleasure made you laugh and you smacked a hand to your mouth as your toes curled behind the intense coiling of pleasure deep inside you. Your feet lifted from the countertop and pressed to his chest as they tried to close but Daniel held his ground expertly, fucking you harder and faster with his fingers until you were squealing and whining loudly through the house.
“Cum for me.” Daniel encouraged lustfully, not hesitating his motions for even a second as he stared down at your sopping wet pussy he was taking, “Cum on my fingers, baby, come on. Gimme it. Fucking gimme it.”
“Don’t stop.” you whined quickly, grabbing onto your own hair in both hands since it was the only thing within reach over the smooth countertop. “Fuck, baby! Don’t stop!”
“Come on.” Daniel said through his teeth, his bicep tensing with how hard he was fucking you with his fingers, “Come on. Cum for me.”
Your moans moulded into pitchy shrieks as he pushed you over that edge again and even as your body shuttered and your pussy clenched down on his fingers, he fucked you right through it, still rubbing your clit with his opposite thumb. You arched off the countertop, gasping and whimpering to the ceiling with your mouth hung open and eyes screwed shut as the blazing heat of pleasure overtook you.
“Daniel!” you cried out, “Oh God!”
“Good girl.” Daniel praised loudly so you could hear him over your own volume, licking his lips as he watched you cream around his fingers, “Fuck, that’s my good little slut, keep cumming.”
Your feet pressed harder against his clothed chest to try and get him away and it was only then that he finally slowed his fingers down and pulled them right out of you, letting excess trickles of thick liquid drip out of you and onto the white marble countertop below. The sudden emptiness made you wince and you pulled your legs towards your chest to try and rub them together to ease the ache left behind from your intense high. But Daniel wasn’t done with you.
He simply rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie just up over his elbows and then permitted your legs to curl to your chest as he rolled you over onto your right side. Your hand reached out to grab the edge of the counter not too far away from where you were positioned and your other greedily slid down between your legs to press your palm down over your throbbing cunt with a little groan.
“Does it feel good?” Daniel asked as he slapped his hand down against your bare ass.
“Yes, sir.” you breathed. “It fucking aches…feels so good.”
“You’re a little fucking whore, aren’t you, baby?” Daniel chuckled, setting one hand on your ass to pull your cheeks apart a little so he could see your dripping pussy and the way your flushed skin was smeared in glistening wetness. With his right, he went back to those gentle little rubs back and forth between your lips, pulling a dull moan from your chest in appreciation.
“Yeah.” you breathed out.
“You’re gonna take more, aren’t you?” Daniel asked, although he didn’t wait for an answer before he was sliding three fingers and his pinky inside your slicked up body.
“Shit!” you gasped as he stretched you out even more. But regardless, you still pulled your top leg up higher towards your chest to spread your body open for him to take, gripping onto the edge of the counter as he started to pump his fingers into you again.
“Good girl.” Daniel praised, holding your hip in place for him to have his way with you just how you wanted.
It stung in the most addicting way and tears pricked your eyes at the feeling, your cheek pressed flat to the cool granite as he increased his speed more and more. Daniel’s strained little grunt at the effort he was putting out to fuck you so aggressively with his fingers had your eyes rolling in bliss, mouth falling agape against the countertop in silent curses and breathy gasps.
“God, you take it like such a fucking slut.” Daniel said through his teeth, his jaw clenched tightly as he watched how his four fingers pounded into your soaking wet pussy until you were dripping down his hand.
He licked his lips in his own desire, addicted to how you whimpered and moaned and gripped onto the edge of the counter. But your other hand was still tucked flatly between your legs and Daniel spanked you once to get you attention.
“Rub your pussy for me, baby. Rub your clit.” he ordered, a hint of gentleness in his tone.
He just wanted to make you cum over and over again, loving how your body gave into him so easily. You were tingling with over sensitivity but you followed his instruction as you started to swirl your fingers over your aching clit as he finger fucked the words from your mouth and nearly the soul from your body.
You squealed as you felt yourself tensing again, gripping tightly around his fingers as they kept their feverish attack on your insides and you kept your own hand going through it, building that tightness more and more. Your eyes scrunched closed and you hid your face between your outstretched arm and the countertop as the feeling built itself up quickly in the depths of your body.
“Oh God, Daniel!” you sobbed out, “Fuck, I can’t! I can’t, Dani- Daniel- shit- I’m gonna-“
You couldn’t even finish your jagged warning before you were coming on his fingers with shrieks of pleasure that made you tremble. The first burst of liquid was fucked out of you by his fingers and as more followed, he only spanked your ass and fucked you harder with a possessive little moan of his own. You made a mess just like that as he forced more bursts out of you until his light blue hoodie was streaked in wet splashes up the front and along the rolled up sleeves.
“Oh, good girl, that’s it.” Daniel praised loudly, fucking you right through it with an honest smile on his face that he tried to lick away before his teeth were sinking into it, “That’s it, baby girl, good job. Let it all out for me.”
“Fuck!” you sobbed out, gasping for air as the kitchen nearly spun around you.
You pulled your hand from between your legs to push through your frazzled hair as your orgasm tapered off but Daniel wasn’t prepared to stop yet. He pulled his fingers out of you, his hand coated in your messy liquids, and he pushed down the front of his pants quickly to let his achingly hard cock out. The way you were splayed over the counter with your leg up and plenty fucked pussy on display had him instantly wanting to cum as he quickly started stroking his dick.
“No.” you reached down to grab the sleeve of his sweater. “Inside me.”
“Shit.” Daniel huffed at your request, always surprised that it was never enough for you, and he shuffled closer to slide his cock easily into your sopping and fucked out pussy. He groaned lowly at how wet and warm you were and held you where he needed you with your ass just at the edge of the island so he could fuck you properly. He didn’t hesitate his thrusts even as he rose his right hand to his mouth to lick off his fingers that had been knuckles deep inside you only seconds before, and with a hungry moan at your taste, he pulled them from his lips with a pop and then smacked your ass.
You shifted so your shoulders were facing upwards a bit more but your hips were still on their side for him and you reached above your head for the far edge of the counter, moaning softly as he thrusted into you messily. But it didn’t take very long since making you come three times was pleasure enough for him too and after only a few quick sloppy thrusts he was coming hard inside you.
The feeling made you gasp to the ceiling but you looked down your body to him, watching his handsome face fall into that indescribable pleasure with a bite of his lip and a tilt of his head and a scrunch of his nose. His warm hands gripped your body and greedily tugged you into his last few punctuating thrusts as he shot warm thick streaks into your pussy, only adding to the mess that you had already made due to his fingers.
When he pulled out for the last time, your pussy was gaping, and he reached in to tug at your flesh with his thumb and hold you open to watch how his thick creamy cum trickled back out of you and dripped onto the white marble countertop. He licked his lips at the sight and then helped you to adjust yourself into a comfortable position, taking your hands to pull you to sit up again on the edge of the island. You both moved in at the same time for kisses, sharing breathless pleasurable sloppy kisses between yourselves that tasted as filthy as they sounded. Daniel pulled back with a bite to your bottom lip as he pulled his pants back into place.
You smiled bashfully and slid your arms around his shoulders to bury your face in his neck, taking a moment to feel the warmth of his body and the familiar scent of his cologne and lustful sweat that only you were privy to. Daniel’s hands rubbed over your hips and he kissed your shoulder gently.
“Was that what you wanted?” he asked against your ear.
“Mhm.” you smiled as you sat back to look at him properly.
You shared a few single kisses and then he stepped back from you a little and helped you off the counter and onto your wobbly feet.
“I’m dizzy.” you admitted sheepishly, clinging onto the sleeves of his hoodie.
“You really took that so well.” he complimented with a little chuckle.
“I’m fucking addicted to you.” you answered easily, “Your fingers are fucking incredible.”
He leaned in to kiss you once more.
“I love you.”
You smiled back at him, “I love you.”
“This boring evening turned fun really fast.”
“It was so much fun that now I’m ready for bed at 8:30.” you said, carefully bending down to collect your discarded clothes.
Daniel chuckled lightly and kept a hand on your arm to keep you steady as you stood back up, “Are you okay to get head start into bed? I wanna hit the studio for a bit.”
“Yeah.” you set your loving hand against his chest, “Whatever you want, baby. After that stellar performance you deserve to do literally anything you want.”
Daniel smiled adoringly at you and wrapped you up in a tight but brief hug, “I’ll come cuddle you right after. Promise.”
“Okay.” you smiled, welcoming his kiss to your lips before you parted ways, “You better.”
“You’re my favourite snack and you inspire me!” Daniel called over his shoulder. “I’m in love with you!”
“At least that means I have the step up on chips and guac!”
Daniel paused at the back door, shooting you a teasing yet amused smirk, “It’s never been a competition, my love.”
Summary: A moment of vulnerability brings about a confession in the form of eight words.
Author's Note: I can't help myself when it comes to these two. (:
***
Eddie fell in love with Steve the way you fall asleep; slowly, then all at once.
He'd be kidding himself to say he didn't know or hadn't paid attention. He knew exactly when, where, and what. . . And he was enchanted from that moment on. But what Eddie didn't expect was how hard it would be to tell him.
For Eddie, love wasn't instant the way it was for Steve. He hadn't looked in the frightened brown eyes of this man and decided right there that he was the one, he hadn't felt a skip in the routine pattern of his heartbeat or desired to know everything there was about him. In fact, Eddie hated him, despised him. If it were between accepting Steve's help or selling himself out, he'd have chosen the latter on a good day. But it wasn't a good day, and he had no choice. He was on the run from a town that hated him for a murder he didn't commit; Steve was merely the means to an end, his only hope in an otherwise hopeless world.
Truthfully, it wasn't until the portal in Lovers Lake.
Sitting there in the boat with Steve preparing to jump into the water like it was just another Saturday night, leaving him with Nancy and Robin to wait and see if he'd find the portal. And then he had, and Eddie was proud. But then he was dragged back down, and he disappeared beneath the surface, and Eddie's heart was in his throat and he didn't know why.
Nancy and Robin certainly didn't hesitate to follow him down, and Eddie couldn't just sit there with Steve probably drowning. He was terrified of what he would discover through that portal, all of it just seemed so. . .unbelievable. But he was more terrified of Steve dying alone. He didn't even like the guy, not really, not yet. Well, he liked him enough to follow the girls through the unknown.
And then they found him. Steve. Those things had him, the Demobats, they'd called them. And Eddie couldn't just let him die. His heart was in his stomach then, his hands gripped tight around an oar from the boat, and all he could think about was how they were gonna get out of there alive. All of them. And Steve.
Then it was over, the bats were either dead or gone, but Steve looked rough. So rough. The Demobats “took a pound of flesh,” he said, and he was weak from blood loss and Eddie was simply weak in the presence of greatness.
“Earth to Munson,” Robin says, snapping her fingers near Eddie's face. It's not unusual for him to zone out like this lately.
He shakes his head, blinking back to life. “Huh? What the fuck, Buckley? Get your fingers out of my face,” he growls, it's non-threatening.
She laughs and hands him a beer. “Here. I won't ask.”
Eddie isn't sure if he's grateful or not. He and Robin are sort of friends now, thanks to Steve. He still finds her rambling annoying and the weird way she talks about movies and girls she's into and boobs at a thousand miles a minute a bit off-putting. But, for the most part, he likes her. She is Steve's best friend, and Eddie loves her for that. Someone has to take care of Harrington when he's busy.
“So,” she says, “how's he been lately? Better?”
“You spend more time with him during the day than I do, why are you asking me?” He doesn't mean to be a dick about it; he's tired and worried about Steve and they don't talk about what happened. Not as often as they probably should. He sighs, takes a sip of his beer, and stares out at the lake. “I don't know, man. We don't talk about it. He says he's fine but I touch him and he freaks out, you know? And then it's like he's back there again. . . Like he's almost dying again.”
Eddie kicks himself for how pathetic he must sound. He doesn't hold Steve's feelings against him, he understands better than anyone what he's going through. But Eddie talks when he's having a bad day, and Steve doesn't.
He shakes his head. “He say anything to you?”
“Not really, but you know Steve, he takes care of everyone else before he worries about himself.” Robin shrugs. “Have you guys tried talking about it together? I mean, you went through the same thing. Maybe it'll help to know he's not alone. In his feelings, you know? And if he's still holding onto that, then there's gotta be a reason why. Maybe he's waiting for you to say something.”
“Maybe,” he says.
The sound of tires on gravel approaching the front of the house pull their attention from the lake to the back door. Moments later, Steve makes his way through the house and Eddie hears the familiar clink of his keys on the kitchen counter before he joins them on the patio.
“How was work?” he asks and flinches at the roughness in his voice. This shouldn't feel as weird as it does, it's just Steve coming home from work. They do this every day.
Steve sighs and sits on the ground beside Eddie's deck chair. Robin passes him a beer and he takes a moment to open it, relish in the aroma, and let the contents pour down his throat in the longest sip Eddie's ever seen him take. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
“That bad?” Robin asks, intrigued. Amused.
“Buckley, every day I have to work with Keith by myself is a bad fucking day.”
Eddie grips onto the arms of his chair and his knuckles go white from the force. After everything that's happened, he hopes Steve will look into finding a new job. One that doesn't require working for a douchebag like Keith but despite the obvious downsides to the job, Steve thoroughly enjoys working at Family Video and Eddie supports him anyway. So on the bad days, he daydreams about punching Keith in his stupid face.
Steve's fingers find their way into the spaces between his and he relaxes into his chair. Damn it, Harrington. Let me be pissed off. Eddie thinks his anger is the only thing he has right now but it isn't, he has Steve. He flips his hand over so his palm is facing up and lets Steve take hold. Since that first night with his nightmares, this is as close as they come to touching these days and he figures Robin's right. . . Maybe they should talk.
And it's as if she's reading his mind when she stands from her seat, pours out the rest of her beer in the grass, and gives him a knowing look. Talk to him, she mouths. To Steve, she says, “See you tomorrow, dingus.”
“Robs, are you sure you don't want me to drop you off?” Steve asks, eyebrows furrowed as he watches her reach for the back door.
“Nah, it's 10 minutes.” She shakes her head gratefully. “Later, Munson.”
“Yeah, see you, Buckley.”
And with that, the Harrington-Munson backyard descends into silence.
***
It's a good three hours later before Eddie has any idea of what he wants to say.
He picks up the remote for the VHS player from the tiny makeshift end table beside him and presses PAUSE, effectively suspending John Bender in the middle of one of his many diatribes aimed at the four individuals he has the misfortune of being jailed in the library with on a Saturday morning. Eddie smiles sheepishly; The Breakfast Club has become one of his favourites, if not for the sole purpose of listening to Steve gush about his semi-likeness to the misguided misfit.
“Hey! What gives? We're at one of the best parts,” Steve protests, throwing his hands in the air.
Eddie breathes deep and it takes all he has not to chicken out of this conversation. He scratches his cheek nervously, watching Steve from the corner of his eyes. Now or never, Munson. It's a shitty pep talk, but it'll do.
He swallows. “I remember what it felt like,” he says timidly. “When its tail wrapped around my neck and suddenly I couldn't breathe. . . I was just there, on the ground, and there were dozens of teeth ripping into me. And I remember how dying felt.”
Their small living room is quiet except for the sounds of their breathing; Eddie's slow and uncertain, and Steve's shallow as if he were taken by surprise. Eddie tries to gauge his partner's reaction and finds himself at a loss. For all the ways he can usually read Steve like an open book, in this moment he senses the gap growing between them.
Steve recoils. He feels his heartbeat quicken, his breaths turn sharp and painful, and he feels reality around him fading into a distant dream.
Eddie knows this look; he's seen it before, too many times to count. He reaches for Steve's hand but he pulls away too quickly. Eddie is too invested in making this work to be offended. All that matters is Steve.
He hangs his head, hoping his next words come out right. . .
“I wasn't afraid, you know? Not until after. Not because I was going to die but because I didn't want to go without saying goodbye. Or without you knowing how I felt. That I knew what you went through and it was okay. . .you were okay.” He looks up to see Steve staring back at him with tears in his light brown eyes. He lifts his hand to his neck; he needs Steve to hear this, to understand it. “Sometimes it's like I can still feel it and if I think about it too long it feels like I'm right back at that night―” he pauses and reaches for Steve again.
This time he meets Eddie's hand halfway, his left one is around his neck mirroring his boyfriend's actions and Eddie knows he did it without thinking. He smiles softly. “Steve, if you can't― if you need more time to-to deal with all of this, then. . . I'll give it to you. I get it, I get you. But, man, you aren't alone. You don't have to carry this alone. Not anymore.”
Eddie isn't sure what he's expecting to happen, but he's certain it isn't what occurs in those next few moments as Steve launches himself across their small couch. He barely has time to brace for the impact or decide what to do with his hands before Steve's body settles against his.
“I wish I could forget. . .” Steve's voice is soft; if Eddie weren't paying attention he'd have missed it. “I want to forget how almost dying felt.”
Tears gather at the edges of the older man's eyes and he blinks them away. He presses a soft kiss against the crown of Steve's head and the light brown strands of his hair tickle Eddie's nose. No matter how hard it gets from tonight on, he knows they're in this. He is in this.
“Do you trust me, Stevie?”
“What kind of a dumb question is that?”
“Just answer it, do you trust me?”
He nods. “I trust you. Of course, I trust you, Eddie.”
As Steve looks up at him through his thick lashes, Eddie slides his right hand slowly up his arm and rests his palm lightly against his throat. Neither one moves or blinks, and Eddie hopes he isn't making a big mistake.
“Eddie?”
“Let me help you remember how living feels.”
The more he fought it, the harder he fell. Falling in love with Steve Harrington happened like falling asleep; slowly, then all at once. And Eddie Munson had never been happier to be wide awake.
