Dec 24, 2025
I think calling him Big Daddy would have been a little too on the nose
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I think calling him Big Daddy would have been a little too on the nose
Boyfriend!Erik headcanons
Pairing: Erik x reader
Warnings: none?
Note: I miss 2000s phones
Writes you long handwritten letters when he’s on deployments.
Saves you things to scrapbook from countries he’s in
Has matching phones with you. (Either the blue Motorola Razr and the pink/purple one…orrrr the LG Chocolates! I miss those phones!)
Loves it if you’re considerably shorter than him because he can dip kiss you
He’ll scoop you up and spin you when you run into his arms after he gets back
Babies you when you’re unwell- He wants to look after you and care for you, and he’ll go out of his way to take any burden off you
Big on acts of service; loves tying your laces or buckling your shoes especially.
Similarly he loves physical touch in a hand holding, forehead kissing, hand on your back, touching your leg, cuddling way.
He likes to sleep with the window slightly open no matter what the weather
Always always sits nearest the door
Gives you his dog tags to wear
Loves a weighted blanket and loves it even more if you sleep on him
Likes playing with your hair. Especially when he’s opening up to you.
A gentleman and a gentle man. He’s so so so sweet, he’s always soft with you and never ever yells at you
The rest of the guys tease him a bit when they see their calm, collected and firm Officer In Charge being so sweet and soft
Super organised and therefore any household chores are efficient and quick
Would help you with anything work related and support you in everything you do.
He wanna live somewhere with a big garden and he’d probably be super good at DIY- He LOVES a project. Maybe he’d even want to build a cabin or house one day
All Planned Out
Pairing: Erik x Reader
Warnings: I know literally nothing about the military. And I’m not from the US so sorry for any inaccuracies, I’ve kinda used general terms.
Notes: I made a surname up for Erik because we didn’t get one.
Erik had been gone for you from the second he laid eyes on you. You’d came in, checking up on all the boys and when you’d reached his bedside he couldn’t resist but quip…
“Have I passed over?”
You’d rose an eyebrow and waited for his next line.
“Cause I think I’m looking at an angel”
The laugh you’d let out was bright, loud and unashamed. You weren’t laughing at him. You’d genuinely found it amusing.
“I think you’re concussed Officer Taylor.” You’d remarked and busied yourself with checking through his vitals.
****
The next time you’d checked up on him, he’d countered all your questions to him with questions of his own.
What’s your favourite colour? had been the first. You’d told him green. Like forest green and he’d told you his was light grey. A choice that had surprised you but not when you asked why and he told you it was calming.
You got it. It just…made sense
What music do you like? was another question he’d asked and you told him you were a Britney fan but you loved any pop music, always had since you were a little girl. It cheered you up. He told you he liked dance music and weirdly to you, it suited him.
The quiet understanding between the two of you was obvious. Even when you differed.
You liked summer. Warm and bright, you could wear sun dresses and lie on a patio. He liked autumn. He’d had enough of the heat to last a lifetime. You liked tea, sweet with milk and sugar and he liked coffee, practical and a splash of milk. You liked sour sweets; citrus flavours and he liked the berry ones.
When you were the same.
He liked horrors, so did you. Both preferring the supernatural ones to the gore. You both liked to read, both liked Coke over Pepsi and both wanted to see Japan one day.
After each time you’d leave either to go check on someone else or because your shift ended he’d turn to Sam and say exactly the same thing
“I’m going to marry her.”
****
“What do you think of him?”
You had only been half listening. In your defence, up until three minutes ago, Sam had been talking to the youngest of the group, Tommy.
“Huh?” You glanced up from where you were noting down his vitals.
Sam gave you a cheeky smile that you’d learnt meant something, you didn’t know what, was coming.
“Officer Erik.”
That smirk didn’t fade and you could feel your cheeks twitch as if you wanted to return it.
You instead slipped on a blood pressure cuff
“He’s…”
“Tall? Handsome? An Officer…”
You smiled conceding that he was right “Yes. But…” you stalled squeezing to pump up the cuff and focusing on the reading
“But…”
“I’m a medic. It’s inappropriate.” You said although you knew plenty of couples who had met like this. Hell, the young junior nurse, Francesca had a crush on Tommy and you had a feeling it was mutual. There was nothing against it.
Sam laughed loudly, so much so you became a little concerned someone else would over hear. It was like you were a teenager with a crush.
“You’re both adults. People meet. He’d be good to you know.” He said “He’s loyal and smart and funny and…organised and clearly in love with you.”
“Samuel.” You warned using his full name.
He shot you a wide grin. “Don’t Samuel me. I’m going to be best man at your wedding”
“If that happens, I promise you can mention this moment” you finished adjusting his bandages.
“I’ll keep that in mind…” he winked
****
It was late one evening when he’d asked you to stay. You’d sat on his bed, exchanging stories until the sun set
“I mean it you know,” Erik said “I’d be good to you.” His voice was quiet.
The softness in his voice made you pause. You didn’t doubt him. He would be. A handsome man, gentle to you, clever, and kind with big arms like you always dreamt of.
“I know you would” you conceded “You’re a good man Erik.”
“I’m going to take you back with me. After this.” He said “I could go with you but I wanna…I wanna look after you” his voice was calm, honest.
“And where would we live?” You asked, entertaining him although you felt this wasn’t a game to him “On base or…?”
“Nah…” Erik shook his head “When I’m home, I’m…” he thought about it, a move after discharge. Something different. It wasn’t what he knew but hell…after the past few days, weeks, months, years he’d had, different could be good “I’m going to try get a desk job, do something like contracting or consulting.”
“Oh?” You asked
“Yeah…I think…I need the change” he said and his expression said the rest. “Plus I’d wanna come home every night…back to you and our house…”
“Our house? And where do we live?” Your tone was soft. You had to admit you were curious, drawn in by the picture he was painting.
He let out a low exhale before regaining some of his composure “Not sure yet. I have family in a few states. I’d want to live somewhere semi rural. Big house, bigger garden, wrap around porch, wooden beams, shutters on the windows, nice coal fire in the bedroom for me to keep you warm by. Cold winters. Warm summers.”
You smiled. That sounded like it would suit you both. “Sounds like a dream. Can we have a swing and a nice garden?”
This was fun. Listening to him build a little life out loud.
He nodded “Anything you like, darling. I’ll plant you roses in every colour.”
Reaching down you took his hand, a gesture that although simple, sent his heart racing and he laced your fingers with his own.
“We could have a cat or a dog…” he hummed “Kids if you want them, if you don’t, we could be the fun aunt and uncle to my sisters kids, she’s got four. Pack them full of sugar and send them back to her.”
You laughed at the idea and Erik grinned in a way that you could tell he’d relish in watching his sister deal with the fallout of four hyper active kids.
“Four kids huh?” You asked
Erik brushed some of your hair back “I have two nieces and two nephews, they’d love a new aunt”
“You’ve got it all planned out don’t you” your tone was gentle.
“Trust me, I’ve been planning since the minute I saw you…and there’s not much to do in the medical wing. Only so many cards I can play with Ray or video games with Tommy” Erik rose an eyebrow and you smiled
“Why don’t we start with dinner?”
“Dinner?” He asked barely able to believe you’d agreed.
“Come on…” you teased “you’ve planned our whole life…I think you can plan a dinner,”
Idea:
Erik falling for a cute medic. Erik being completely smitten and calling her his future wife to the others. The rest of the boys teasing him but secretly talking him up when she treats them. Erik asking her to stay up and talk to him. Erik telling her he’s going to marry her. Erik telling her about how their life will be if she comes home with him. Erik asking her out and her agreeing liking the idea of what he’s told her
Something people would like
Yes, please
Not my vibe
Speeding Cars [Zawi x Erik]
Notes: It's a stand alone, but connects to Cereal Milk which is much lighter. An idea I have been kicking around for a while.
He just wanted to be home. In his underwear. With a little buzz.
The grind of a simple life did not come easy for Brian. He thrived on active duty, deployed somewhere foreign - anywhere. He considered that if he had a family of his own that he might have liked quiet Friday nights, but that wasn't how the dice in his personal game of Yahtzee shook out.
His tires screeched in reaction to his second thought turn into the gas station. He filled up his truck, wondering to himself if he should take himself fishing tomorrow, and strode inside.
Brian reached while barely looking into the freezer at the back wall and hooked three of his fingers into a suitcase of Coors Banquet. He could hear thumping and jingling to his left and dragged his stare over carefully. Brian found exactly what he figured he would. A visibly drunk person. Slouched against the wall, trying to remember what foot takes the first step, the guy didn't look quite legal yet with only a few whiskers coming in beneath an uneven smile.
“You good?” Unable to himself, Brian checked. He saw the kid try to open his eyes completely when he put up his thumb to answer, but it was apparently too frustrating.
Privately, Brian reminded himself that this was not his problem, but as he paid, he still told the woman behind the plastic protective wall that the kid by the bathrooms was plastered.
A wall of mosquitos greeted him under harsh lights as he left the shop, walking behind a brand new Lexus SUV. As he looked it over, he saw a small, worried face that he would recognize anywhere. Willa Lipton was nibbling the tip of her index finger while trying to blink away a bundle of nerves in her eyes. If he wasn't already positive it was Erik's daughter's reflection, the two small braids pinned back above her ears would have given it away. Willa always wore some sort of braid ever since she had learned how to do it.
“Well, if it isn't the coolest girl in the world? Hello, Miss Willa.” Brian placed both his arms down on the open window and leaned in. He loved his unofficial Goddaughter so much that just being near her had shifted the strange mood he was in. He felt more balanced as soon as they locked eyes.
She started unbuckling her seatbelt and raced to get out of the car, calling him by his favorite name ‘Uncle Zawi’ before putting her arms around her neck. It made him feel like the richest guy in the world. With one hand on her backside, Zawi hugged her back. For just a moment, he remembered her as his small buddy who thought he was so intelligent and barely came up to his thigh. Everyone always said she was going to be tall like her dad, but at 15, Willa was still waiting for her growth spurt.
She wasn't the little girl with her fingers in her mouth anymore, giggling infinitely at his ticklish mustache against her belly before peppering it with noisy raspberries. Willa was a teenager now and it tied Brian's tongue up in a figure-eight knot for a second. The bell from the gas station door unraveled and Brian followed Willa's eyes to see the guy from inside somehow walking in a somewhat straight line. He nodded at her and yanked his keys out of the pouch of his sweatshirt along with a tall boy. He started getting into the SUV and the rush of joy Brian felt from running into his Goddaughter vanished.
“Will, you coming?” The words bubbled low in the guy's throat as he sized her up, looking for a second too long at the way she fit her jeans. Brian clocked it and instantly imagined gripping the kid's shag by the roots to smash his face into the steering wheel over and over.
“Just one…” Willa started, lifting up the finger she had bit the nail down on, as her eyes rushed between Brian and the boy. She was trying to do the right thing without upsetting anyone, a side effect from having parents with an unstable marriage.
“Willa, no. You're not getting back in that car.” There was not a centimeter of wiggle room in his voice and, in case Willa couldn't detect that, his dark eyes locked into hers with a seriousness usually reserved for someone else - not her fun uncle. The fact that she didn’t immediately agree made Brian’s eyes threaten to exit their sockets due to how far they were bulging out of his face. A horn honked, Willa jolted in spot, and Brian’s hand curled into a fist so tight that it snapped the cardboard handle of his case of beer. The box met the cement with a loud thud.
Swallowing hard and cracking his neck to the side, Brian prepared himself. He could hear the kid urging Willa to hurry up, but it was background noise. He may as well have been a speck of dust floating through the wind. Brian picked up his beer and handed it to Willa who required both hands to balance it upright.
“Get in my truck.” It went without saying: he was driving her home.
“My bag is in Dalton’s car.” She sounded embarrassed and Brian was glad of it. It showed that she hadn’t lost all of the common sense that he knew her to possess.
Dalton shouted again, slurring to ask Willa if she knew “the old geezer or something”.
“Get in my truck. I’ll get your bag.” Brian pat her shoulder as he moved past her, legs moving at metronome as he came around to the driver’s side of the car that he was certain belonged to Dalton’s father. Loudly, he hit his palm down on the roof and looked off into the distance. Out of his peripheral, Brian had a perfect view of Dalton, but he was doing his best to avoid eye contact. “Look, you can not drive right now. I’m going to drive Willa home. Do you want a ride, too?” It was the last thing he wanted to do, but Brian knew it was the right move. He couldn’t exactly let this teenager wrap himself around a telephone pole a few clicks away from the Shell station.
“Isn’t she a little young for you?” Dalton snarled, cracking the beer between his knees.
“Is there someone I can call for you? Pick you up?”
“She doesn’t even give head, you know?”
Brian was losing control and he could feel it. In fact, he could hear his therapist two towns over cracking open a special bottle of wine because she felt it - the moment her year of work came undone.
“Give me her bag, you piece of shit.” Dalton barely moved a muscle and Brian snapped. He let his fantasy bloom, grabbing the crown of the boy’s hair with all his might and nailing it to the center of the leather steering wheel, setting off the horn again. Before he released Willa’s date from his grip, Zawi yanked the keys from the ignition. “I’m not going to ask again. Give me that bag.” He could see it on the passenger seat. A canvas tote that Willa had been carrying around for years. It had been given to her after her first summer volunteering with the Yolo Country Master Gardeners and she took care of it like it was vintage Chanel.
Brian caught it before it dropped to the ground from the way Dalton carelessly tossed it at him. He held out his hand for his keys, calling Brian a fucking douchebag while demanding them. While he would have liked to murder the guy himself, Brian still didn’t want him driving on the road so he swung his arm back and turned his body like he was pitching a baseball and launched them into the abyss, somewhere in the field of dead grass and weeds next to the gas station.
“Have a blessed night, Dalton.” The sentiment came out of the corner of his mouth like it was acid as he stalked away from the SUV with Willa’s bag rolled up in his hand. He could hear Dalton raging, sounding out of his mind like only a drunk with an undercooked brain could, but Brian returned to ignoring him and climbed into his own vehicle - too sober for his own liking.
He handed Willa her bag, but he couldn’t speak yet. He was pissed as he turned his truck on and started for the road. It was silent for a minute, but it felt like time was moving through thick molasses between them. They had always been thick as thieves from the time she was a baby, only getting closer during time spent together as a toddler when her dad took up residence on his couch. Willa was the closest thing, Brian felt, that he would ever have to a child of his own. The disappointment and fear coming together as a tar-like potion in his gut felt foreign to him. He knew he needed to get it out, but had no idea if there was a healthy way. All he really wanted to do was put that kid’s head into a steering wheel again.
“I’m really sorry. It wasn’t -” Willa began, meek underneath the chorus of a Rage Against the Machine song that Brian hadn’t even registered. “I wish you hadn’t-”
“What the fuck was that, Willa?” He had never spoken to her like this before. Brian tried to swallow the aggression, but it climbed back at lightspeed. “You’re spending time with that loser?”
“No. I-”
“You trying to get yourself killed? He was drunk! You are too smart to be in a car with some drunk guy!” All Willa could hear was how cross he was, but the only thing that Brian could feel was his dread. His arms felt weak as he clutched the wheel, like they might start shaking if he wasn’t holding on for life. “What were you thinking? I guess you weren’t. Willa, this is so not you!” Willa liked plants and nature. She usually had soil deep under her nail beds and facts about succulents rolling effortlessly off her tongue. The last place Brian imagined her was in this situation. He and her dad had joked that the crime Willa was most likely to commit was breaking into a greenhouse. “Does your Dad know where you are right now?”
“Do I get to answer any of these questions?” She jumped in, her voice breathless as she blinked down at her bag in her hands. He didn’t have to look at her to know she felt ashamed, but Brian did anyway and there was the toddler he used to laugh with again, waiting for her dad to get off the phone, pretending she didn’t know it was her mom on the other end that he was fighting with.
Brian groaned as he squinted at the road sign ahead, taking the first exit and pulling over to the side in a motion that jerked both of them forward. He ripped off his seatbelt as soon as the truck was off, metal music replaced by his frustrated breath.
“Willa, I know you don’t like yelling -” He had always made an effort to be sensitive to that. “You got to understand though…I will tattoo this on your face if you need that…” Reaching over he poked at the center of her forehead, willing her to look at him, but then he instantly wished he hadn’t because it hurt. It hurt him to think what could have happened if he hadn’t run into her. “I love you so much. Your mom and dad love you so much. You can not-” His throat was rough and he had to blink away from her, staring out at the night through his windshield for a moment “You can not be in a car with someone who has been drinking. I don’t care if he’s Dalton or whoever. He doesn’t care about you.” All his fingers folded together, meeting his thumb, as Brian stabbed himself in the chest. “I care about you. I am not losing you. You don’t get to be stupid and hurt my feelings. Do you get that?”
Diligently, Willa nodded, too nervous to speak. She had never been in this position before and certainly not with her Uncle Zawi. Willa was not the kid who did things without thinking or found herself in trouble. In fact, part of the reason she agreed to go out with Dalton is because everyone at school thought she was so boring. It felt good to be asked out, but it also felt like it might never happen again.
“I’m serious. Do you get that?” Again, she only nodded. “Willa, I need to hear you say you understand.”
“I understand.” She coughed out the response, knowing he needed the comfort of urgency. “I’m sorry.” It was muffled into his shoulders, Brian having lunged forward and devoured her in a bear hug. The console between them both felt like it was leaving a mark in their stomachs as Brian clung to her. “My phone died or I would have called somebody.” She hadn’t exactly wanted to call her dad because she assumed he would react akin to how Brian did - but somehow in an even less cool fashion.
“We’re going to get you a mobile charger.” Brian declared, leaning his whole body back in the chair and trying to calm down. This was the first time in his adult life that he was glad he did not and could not have children of his own. “Did your dad meet that guy? I can not imagine him passing the Erik Lipton test.” He could not imagine that guy having the decency to shake a hand which was the first part of the Erik Lipton test.
“No.” Willa shook her head, bringing her thumb to her teeth to nibble on. “I told both my parents that Dalton asked me out and they were really excited…” It might not have been the correct adjective to describe her dad’s reaction, but he was encouraging. “He’s a Senior, but he is on a football team even though he is just on bench and they want that for me, you know? Mom was a cheerleader. Dad was an athlete. They don’t get my interests. I think they think I’m weird…and thanks to you assaulting Dalton, my whole school will.”
“I actually suspect that you’ll get some pats on the back for that, but…” Wiping at the exhaustion around his mouth, Brian tried to think of the right thing to tell her now that he wasn’t terrified that she had lost her mind and had a death wish. “I can’t speak for your mom, but your dad just wants you to be happy and safe. I don’t think he cares about that stuff.”
“I brought up not doing cheer this year and he looked really disappointed. He tries with the gardening stuff and the hiking, it’s the least I can do, right?”
He wanted to roll his eyes. He wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to cheer if she didn’t want to and she definitely didn’t have to go out with bozos named Dalton, but Brian had to pulverize his own heart and tell himself that he was not her real Dad. There were some things that just weren’t his place unfortunately.
“Willa? You know that I got to tell your parents about tonight, right?”
At first, she just blinked at him and he could tell her brain was scrambling in order to come up with a brilliant way to convince him not to do that before he saw her shoulders fall and she gave up.
“My mom’s out of town. This is her annual sorority reunion getaway.” Kappa Kappa Gamma.
“I’m not looking forward to this either. You think I want to tell your dad about this?” She was biting down on her nails in a real way now, tearing off the white and it was Brian’s natural instinct to try and make her comfortable. He reached over and squeezed her knee before putting his seatbelt back on and turning on the truck. “It’s going to be okay.” It sounded like a promise, but not one that she believed.
They drove back without music, Brian having reached over and turned it off. He tried asking her what pollinators she was planning to plant next. Usually, it was a subject that she would be happy to talk about, but Willa answered him with an uncharacteristic shrug and simply said, “Lavender”. He wanted to press, ask about Zinnias as the two of them always considered those to be their flower, but Brian gave into the silence. Clearly, they both needed to calm down.
Pulling up in front of his good friend’s house, Brian parked right outside of the front yard where he saw a pile of soil right next to the small Crape Myrtle tree that had not been there the last time he visited. He had a feeling the nervous bag of bones beside him was responsible for the new addition.
“Do you want to tell him together?” Brian offered, feeling far kinder than he had earlier.
“He’s going to ground me.”
“I prefer you grounded over dead. The other option this evening was you flying through a windshield into a ditch.”
“Let’s just get this over with.” Willa said, mostly to herself, and pushed open the truck door.
The front door was unlocked and the house was as quiet as it always was when one of her two parents was not around. Other people found it eerie, but Willa knew it to be normal. She had not even begun to step out of her floral Keds when Brian’s voice boomed overhead, “Honey, I’m home!”
They could hear Erik before he became visible: ruffling, a door opening before closing, and then jogging feet down the stairs.
“Well, you’re kind of old for a high school senior, aren’t you?” Erik immediately sensed that something was off, but he still joked. His brows flexed downward with uncertainty, throwing an arm around his friend. “Can I get you a drink?”
“That’s not a bad idea actually.”
“I’m going to my room. I have homework.” Willa rushed the stairs. Suddenly, the Edgar Allan Poe assigned reading could not wait a moment more.
“Wait. I want to hear about your night.” Erik tried as he led Brian through the living room to the kitchen.
“Uncle Zawi will tell you all about it.” She was difficult to hear as she reached the top of the steps, so much so that Erik just shook his head as if it was full of sand.
“So, how exactly did you come to drive my kid home?” He reached into the fridge and grabbed the first beers he saw, one for him and one for Zawi. Erik did not know his friend to be snooty about beer. Erik leaned against his pristine kitchen island, cracking his beer slowly while Zawi was already on his first sip and spreading his legs out under the kitchen table.
“I ran into her and her date at a gas station. You could smell him before you could see him.” Erik’s eyebrows gave him away. He didn’t follow. “He was drunk. She doesn’t have her license. Her phone was dead.”
“Fuck.” The curse plummeted from Erik’s bottom lip along with a drop of foam that hadn’t made it into his mouth. He swore it exploded as it hit the tile between his socked feet. “She was in his car? Why didn’t she get out and…what a fucking dick…” His hands were on his face and Brian watched from behind the rim of his can as Erik took on the cycle of emotions that he had earlier run through.
“You should know just in case it comes up, I might have assaulted him.” Lifting up his right hand, Brian mimed grabbing someone’s head and bashing it downward. It really just looked as if he was a robot learning how to knock on a door. “She’s really embarrassed. I don’t know if she quite gets how bad it could have been, but…Willa’s a good kid. I think she was scared because he was pretty mouthy and aggressive…”
“We have so many shovels. I’m going to kill this guy” Erik grumbled into his palms that suddenly felt hot against his skin
“I just…I just want Willa to be okay and she was sweet, but she was upset. She thinks you and her mom think she’s a loser.”
“What?” Revealing his face again, Erik looked at Brian like he just said something insane. He supposed he had.
“I told her you don’t, but it might sound nicer coming from her dad.”
The message was received and the two servicemen tried to cool down over their single beer. Zawi wanted to crack another and finally start the night he had promised himself, but after ripping into Willa about drinking and driving, it was tone deaf. Erik was walking him out, thanking him for delivering his daughter home safe, when Brian stopped him, “Dude, I can see myself out. Just go talk to our girl.” Our. It was a slip-up too audible for Erik to not clock. Instead of making Brian feel strange about it, Erik just nodded in agreement.
“Thanks for looking after our girl. She’s lucky to have you.” Sincerely, Erik said and gave his friend a hug with one arm before heading upstairs. "I'm lucky to have you."
As he was putting on his shoes, Brian listened for signs of life upstairs. He felt okay to leave when he heard Erik say after pushing open a door, “I come in peace. I just want to talk about tonight.”
Brian took in a huge breath once he was back in his truck. He could see Erik in one of the upstairs windows, arms crossed firmly over his chest. He scolded himself mentally for imagining him in his friend's position, upstairs in his kid's room and making sure they were safe and okay. Brian told himself he had to let it go. It was not to be for him. Instead, he got to pull out his phone and bother his Goddaughter one last time for the evening:
You're right about being grounded. Guess you’re going to have to come fishing with me tomorrow. Love you.
He didn’t expect an answer to his message. He looked up and could clearly see she was busy being lectured for the first time since Erik broke her of her finger sucking habit at five years old.
Fête Champêtre [Erik x Reader]
Words: 2k. TW: Smut. This is smut. 18+ ONLY. Plot: His efforts into planning a nice date do not go unnoticed. Notes: Erik is kicking some ass in the polls, so I came up with this idea just for him!
“Do you know where we are?" Eagerly, Erik asked, nodding to his window where it had become a wall of brown and green trees, but you were already laughing.
"Yes, Medwin Park."
"Yeah! This is where we all partied in high school."
You had to correct him, "This is where you all partied in high school."
When you ran into Erik a few months back at the airport, and consequently shared a cab back into the city, he remarked that he hadn't seen you since high school and you had to bite your tongue in order to not say, ‘I barely saw you in high school.’ It wasn't as if you two ran with the same crowds. He was an athlete and you had a close-knit group of friends that kept the last four years of public education from being completely awful.
“No...” He swore you were there too.
"I had a curfew. I did not go to Medwin Park parties. Once, I dropped Mel J here at a party after our shift at Publix, but that's the closest I ever got to being a cool kid at a Medwin Park party."
"You weren't really missing out." On second thought, Erik shrugged. Whether or not it was the nostalgic spot he thought it was, Erik was still looking forward to taking you for a picnic in the park. He had not anticipated a relationship to blossom from an impromptu cab ride, but Erik had been grinning from ear to ear since then. Even his closest friends had become invested in this working out. They made fancy cheese suggestions and gave him unsolicited picnic advice.
“Girls love a blanket. It's important.” Mac stressed with both hands. “You got to have a good blanket.”
After parking, Erik carried his neatly organized basket on one side, Mac-approved blanket rolled under his arm, and held your hand to lead you down a dry dirt trail. You passed by three fire pits before he took a sharp left off the path and entered the infamous party spot.
"Wow.” The gasp was so large that Erik whipped his neck around, nervous you had hurt yourself. “This is where Hannah Guvatsos hooked up with Craig Towers, the catalyst for the cafeteria brawl on pizza day. Nothing was the same after that." It was funny how you suddenly remembered that Monday afternoon in eleventh grade so clearly after years of not giving any of it a second thought.
"It's also where Peter Hunt slipped on vomit and tore his Achilles tendon causing us to lose the season to the Oak Park Raiders." Erik rattled off, shaking out the thick blue blanket and placing it down carefully on a selected patch of grass.
"He never did make it to the MLB."
"Rumor is…” Erik looked up to you, kneeling down to adjust the corner furthest from him, and waited until he had your eye contact. “...that the vomit…” He could see you were hooked and whispered through a smirk, “...was Hannah Guvatsos."
"Noooo!” It sounded fake, the surprise as it slid out of your dropped jaw, but it was very real. “What a troublemaker. She owns, like, two Pretzelmaker franchises so I think it all ends well for our party anti-hero.” Laying out on the blanket, resting on your elbows, you quipped.
"Good for her." Erik was busy setting out the picnic, hands and eyes buried in the basket.
Peach salsa. Tortilla chips. Two types of cheeses from the Global Cheese Shoppe. Prosciutto. Ciabatta.
“Lemon bars from Lilac Bakery!” As if you were part-thief, you grabbed the pastel yellow rectangles that were wrapped tightly in plastic and marked with the purple sticker you would recognize anywhere, hugging it up to your face. “You must really like me.”
“I do.” He answered as if he was not being teased, barely looking up from pouring white wine into plastic cups.
"Did you get into any mischief at a Medwin Park party? Hmm?"
"No. I was a very good boy." He handed over the cup and offered you a small cheers.
"Do not believe."
"I swear.” He said from behind his cup, still swallowing the first sip. “Stood around the bonfire, sometimes a keg, nodding and laughing." Opening the bag of tortilla chips between your knees, you squinted mischievously at the military man as if to say his story didn’t add up. "If you had come around though, maybe then I'd try to get myself in some good trouble..." He threw in and made your face instantly relax with laughter.
"Oh yeah? What would you say to me if we met up at a party in the park?"
He opened up the salsa container and put it between you both, laying back and helping himself to the chip bag. It was not at all surprising that Erik was giving your silly question intense thought. He was meticulous and took almost everything seriously.
"Well, I would have been too freaked out to talk to a pretty girl…” It wasn't suave, but it was the truth. He would have required some liquid courage. “So I'd likely just stand near you for a while and then eventually offer you a lukewarm Smirnoff Ice..."
“You brought Smirnoff Ice?” It was not at all what you would have guessed as his go-to weekend drink.
“I had an in.” Erik bowed his head in an attempt to cover how full his mouth was.
There were stories in the hallways at school that he and Allison Willoughby were hooking up. Erik had just let the gossip feed itself. He knew the truth that she just didn't want her parents to find out that she was actually crushing on Erika Suarez. Sometimes, they showed up to bonfires at the park together to keep people wondering. She always brought orange Smirnoff Ices with her.
"Well obviously that would work on me." Sarcastically, you kept him going while polishing off your first cup of wine. “I'm writing our initials in my textbooks…”
"I never went into the woods with a girl or anything, but in this hypothetical, I definitely would have tried…”
Hand over your chest, you feigned surprise, “You dirty dog. These woods?” Pointing to your left, you asked with your eyes wider than when you saw the spread he packed.
“Yeah, I would have taken your hand…” He wiped his on the blanket before laying it over yours, a thumb stroking over your knuckles, “and asked if you wanted to go for a walk…”
“I'd have said yes immediately." You weren't thinking about the past anymore. Back then, you likely wouldn't have said ‘no’ or looked at him like he was being a weirdo. Right now, sneaking off into the woods together as adults sounded fun.
You set your cup to the side and rolled your bottom lip in, trying to communicate to Erik how much you wanted him.
“Show me the hot hook-up spot.”
Erik gave it a moment of thought first, but then he stood up and offered you his hand back, helping you onto your feet. He led you into the wooden area, eyes on the ground in a determined search for poison oak.
“You have to imagine, like, The All-American Rejects playing or something.” He laughed at the sudden memory.
“Very cool.”
“Okay, so…” Erik could still see the picnic set-up behind you, but he helped you over a row of tangled old branches and rested his back against a tree. “I'd pull you close…” He followed through, arms around your stomach as he leaned your backside against him.
"Redwood cedar?" You mused, arms over his, as he kissed right beneath your ear.
"Obviously, I'm trying to woo you." His words were lost in your skin. "and I'd kiss you here...and here…” He said as he moved lower down your neck. “And you seem to like that so I'd go back here..." He was right under your ear again, kissing until he nipped at the lobe and your arms became textured with shivers. Erik did it again and grinned, your body leaning into his with approval.
“I think you like that spot too.” The only way you could make your words audible was in a whisper. There was too much pleasure to speak.
Erik laughed and bent down his head, kissing what of your exposed clavicle he could reach. There was no hiding how turned on he was right now. It was pushing itself right against your back, impossible to deny.
He didn't want to let you go, but he felt you pulling away from his grip and slowly obliged, opening up his arms and watching you spin around. A goddess in the woods with bedroom eyes pinning him to the tree, his flight response left him and he was not acknowledging any fight. He was yours for the taking and both of you were aware.
“I should have brought the blanket.” Stupidly, he mumbled while watching you lower yourself in front of him.
“It's a fantastic blanket.” He noted how sincere you sounded and while you unbuttoned his shorts and reached greedily for the waistband of his boxer-briefs, he made a mental note to thank Mac and then banished all thoughts of anyone who wasn't you.
You wasted no time putting the candy pink tip in your mouth, moaning as you sucked tightly at it. He had discovered a secret place on you that turned you into a putty and you were dedicated to the same. Soft and small, Erik sighed as his head leaned against the tree. The sound of two White-crowned sparrows cheering you on from above as background noise as you swallowed more of his length. This wasn't your first time enveloping Erik's cock, but the peacefulness of the outdoors allowed you a moment as you hummed over it sloppily to realize how surprisingly thick it was. If your mouth had not been full, you might have thought to ask if it was exhausting carrying all that around everywhere.
“Fuck…that…right there…that…” Erik encouraged, interrupting your thoughts as he accidentally bucked his hips forward. You had removed him from your mouth, a cool breeze kissing his wet skin instead for a second before you used one hand to hold his member upward and lick it from ball to tip and then did it again…and again…before returning to deep throat him as best as you could, saliva hitting the leaves between his feet.
His fingertips brushed softly at the apex of your head, eyes closed as he kept repeating your name with praise. Erik liked following the rules. He liked behaving. There was no doubt in his mind that this would be worth a large fine and lifetime ban from the park.
Watching you, Erik tried to hold back, but you were hollowing out your cheeks and taking all of him vigorously, like he actually tasted good and you weren't just saying that the other times. He felt his knees weaken and as you went back to just sucking on his tip, he knew this was a losing fight. His fingers left your hair as he gasped, putting them in his own, and he came one, two, three ropes of warm cum into your mouth.
When his eyes finally fluttered open, you had already swallowed and were dabbing at the corner of your lips with a thumb. He helped you up with both hands as he shook his head with utter disbelief.
“And you didn't even give me a Smirnoff Ice.” You winked.
He kissed your forehead before doing his shorts back up, trying to redress himself in a way that would not let any other park-goers in on what just happened. Erik diligently followed you, a puppy to its new owner, to the waiting blanket and remaining picnic, staring at you with heart-shaped pupils while you unwrapped a lemon bar.
“You are so pleased with yourself.” Pouring you both more wine, he remarked. He could feel that his cheeks were still red with blush.
“Aren't you?”
“I am very pleased. Yes.” He confirmed, knocking your drinks together again and sealing the cheers with a kiss. This was already a hundred times better than any other time he had hung around the park.
Something Blue [Erik x Reader]
Words: 2.4k TW: Alcohol. Swearing. Plot: It's been 2 years since you have seen each other.
Erik hated weddings.
Not in a bitter ‘love isn't real’ way. His hate for weddings was as simple as blue cheese being an acquired taste. He could think of plenty of more boring events he would rather attend than a marriage ceremony.
It didn't matter that he was happy for Laerrus, it was an open bar, and that a lot of his good friends whom he hadn't seen in ages were in the banquet hall of the golf course. Erik wanted to go home before he even took a seat on one of the many wooden fold out chairs. He was determined to manifest a skull-splitting headache for himself when he saw you walk down the aisle, buttery skin shimmering solely to taunt him under aqua chiffon.
He was disappointed in himself for attempting to find out if you still smelled like coconut body oil when you walked by, earning himself a confused side eye from Zawi at his side. Had anyone mentioned to him, even in passing, that the love of his life who broke up with him over the phone, on his birthday, while he was stationed in Iraq was going to be at the wedding? He hadn't forgotten that it was Laerrus's soon-to-be (in about twelve minutes) wife who had introduced him to you, but Erik was convinced you cut off everyone when you moved across the country. Now he understood, two years later, you kept in touch with those you cared about - just not him.
Fuck you for looking good in that color.
Erik thought to himself as you walked by him again, this time behind the blissful couple and arm-in-arm with a groomsman who looked like a dollar store Buddy Holly.
And fuck you for not looking at me.
Fuck you for leaving me.
Erik hated weddings before, but now he vowed to never attend another. Pushing between Zawi, Zawi's perpetually on-again/off-again girlfriend and two elderly women, he made a mad dash for the open bar. He was about to become fast friends with the two employees pouring bourbon into plastic cups all night.
He was pretending to enjoy salmon and trying to engage with people at his table. Erik didn't really know the details that went into planning the wedding, but clearly Laerrus and Alicia had made an effort to put the military boys all together. It barely mattered though. He kept looking over everyone's head and around floral decor to suss out when an appropriate time to leave was. It did not help that his eyes kept accidentally finding you.
The DJ booth being set up in the far right corner of the hall? You were there with another bridesmaid, reminding the guy not to play Jason Mraz's ‘I'm Yours’ regardless if someone requests it. Excusing himself from the table to go to the washroom? The first time you were getting yourself a refill of gin and juice. The second time you were helping the flower girl find the washroom.
It was the first exchange between you both in two years and you didn't even know it was him:
“Oh, sorry. Excuse us.”
“No problem.”
A circus of emotions began to perform in Erik's body and he tried to tighten it up by going for another round. He was sad that seeing you still hurt, but yet he was happy to see you. He was angry that there hadn't been any opportunity to talk things over. It was just done. He was also thisclose to being undeniably drunk.
Erik had taken up space on the dancefloor, a head taller than most, and flailed his limbs around like an inflatable man in a used car lot while other people actually used rhythm around him. He sort of recognized the Black Eyed Peas song coming on that seemed to delight other people. It was as good a time as any to top himself off. Zawi pulled him back and Erik anticipated him urging him to take a break, but instead he asked him to grab him something to drink too.
The line didn't go by quickly, but Erik was staring off with glazed eyes and feeling no pain. He had no concept of time and nearly missed the bartender asking if he wanted another bourbon. Erik corrected that and wanted two, shoving a bill into the cup substituting as a tip jar while he waited.
Both cups of maple-colored liquid dripped over his fingers when he moved, but they nearly coated you like varnish when he headed back into the hall at the same time as you were returning. Goosebumps peppers your bare arms and, even though he was nearly wasted, Erik could tell you had come from outside.
“Sorry.” He said out of good manners that his parents had scared into him, but he shook his head as soon as you held the door for him - refusing to walk through. “You should be sorry. You left me.”
“Jesus. Don't do this.”
“Yeah, you'd probably dump him while he is in a war zone on his birthday, too.”
“Pardon me?”
“Jesus.”
This was definitely in the top three of drunkest he had ever been in his life. Causing a scene was a nightmare to Erik. He always took the high road. It had made talking to him about anything remotely difficult impossible because he never wanted to get into it. He would have been mortified by himself if he could flee his body and watch.
Dance-walking with his arms bent at either side and fingers snapping over his ears, Zawi came for his drink with his girlfriend giggling at his side. They planned to go out to share a smoke, but you put out your arm to effectively hold them back.
“Your boy needs water.” You informed Zawi and watched as he sized Erik up, wiggling his mustache around methodically as he did.
“Erik's fine. Aren't you, buddy?” He squeezed at his friend’s shoulder and then slapped his back before dancing away, whispering loudly to his girlfriend: ‘That’s his ex. The ex. Did you know…’
Your brain reminded you that Erik was a grown man and not your problem right now. Tonight, you already had enough jobs as a bridesmaid, but he was not able to stand without swaying. It felt wrong to leave him there.
“Let’s go.” By the wrist, you dragged him back to the bar and went right to front, asking for water.
“Hey! That's mine!” Erik objected as you stole the bourbon from his hand and replaced it with a glass of water. “Give it back.”
Tilting your head back, making the glitter on your face twinkle under the bright lights, you downed his alcohol like a shot.
“Give what back?” He was not the only one who could be annoying.
He blinked over and over at you, completely turned on, and then finally the self-created prophecy was fulfilled: a skull-splitting headache.
“I'm going to be sick.” He sputtered before forcing his lips together and rushing to the patio doors. Cigarette smoke from Zawi made his head pound, but a blast of cold October night air relieved him of his nausea.
“Are you okay? I've never seen you like this.”
“Well, it's been two years so you've missed a lot.” He griped like a moody teen before collapsing into a plastic green patio chair and hanging his head between his knees, slowly beginning to seek aid in the water.
“Oh yeah? I missed a lot of benders?” The Erik you had dated and lived with was Mr. Responsible. It was one of the main reasons you were so drawn to him. Laerrus said that he trusted Erik with his life when he was talking him up to you. It was not a comment made lightly. You knew you had hurt Erik, but you didn't think you ruined him.
“No.” His eyes were closed in an effort to keep the ground from spinning. It made it easier to focus on your voice when his stomach and brain were combining their mutual efforts to make him empty his guts on the golf course.
“I'm going to get you more water, okay?” The skirt of your dress ruffled loudly as you started to stand, but Erik held up two fingers for your attention.
“Stay with me, please.” He possessed the ability to be gentle. Erik had the safest touch that you personally knew, so much so you described him to a therapist after the break up as being: “noticeably careful whenever he'd hold me - even just on the couch, watching a show together.”. He sounded like he was in the neighborhood of begging though and that was something you never imagined seeing him do. He was too proud for that. You obliged simply so you wouldn't have to find out if it was something he was capable of.
“How's Chicago?” He tried again, needing a distraction.
“Very cold this time of year.” Why were you two so miserable at small talk? It couldn't just be that he was inebriated. “That's not why I moved back, but I won't miss winter there.”
“You moved back?” He perked up, eyes straining, but doing their best to focus on you.
“A month ago. I thought Laerrus would have told you.” Or Alicia. Hell, even Ray knew you were back because you were living in the same building as his sister.
“I can't believe you're back.” His knee knocked into yours and, suddenly, you were both aware of how close you two were sitting to one another. The distance between you had been the defining factor in the erosion of your relationship for so long that neither of you had noticed that you were close enough to touch now. There were no toll booths to pay or flights to take. You were both in the same time zone.
A smidgen of mindfulness, he moved his leather clad foot closer to your dress, leaning it right to where the toe of your silver heel was poking out.
“Drink some more water, Erik.” Leaning forward, you reached for the plastic cup he was ignoring, but he folded his hand over yours so you were both holding it now. He put his head against yours and, underneath the powerful scent of liquor, you could feel his warmth was the same and his desire to hold you like you the most delicate treasure he had ever come across, like you were his heirloom to preserve and protect. His thumb stroked the back of your hand with obvious love and care. For a split second, you remembered that it wasn't all suffocating and painful. It was safe. It was cozy.
“You look so beautiful…” Erik whispered, rubbing his nose to yours before putting his other hand up and clumsily pushing a section of hair away from your face. He sighed out your name and the goosebumps on your skin from the cold suddenly felt comfortable. He dragged his hand down your arm, an excuse to further touch you disguised as a feeble attempt to warm you up.
“Erik…” It could have been a warning or a sigh. You didn't know.
His lips lightly grazed yours, a friendly threat to take a shot of bourbon from his plush mouth. His long lashes met yours, already fluttering. “Stay with me…”The two of you were inhaling and exhaling together, knees shaking, and bodies trying to keep warm when you pulled away from him and made the cup of water fall to the wood floor.
“I didn't come back for you, Erik!” Rushing to your feet, you croaked at him with some of your voice struggling to flee your throat. When Alicia told you that Erik was going to be invited to the wedding, you hadn't cared in the slightest. It had been two years. You hadn't even creeped him online in eight months. This was the last situation you imagined yourself in, half-babysitting him and half-moaning on the patio where men came with clients for long leisurely Cobb salad lunches.
Your declaration crushed him. Erik’s body slumped and he closed his eyes again. There was shame this time as he realized he would rather be puking than having his heart re-broken.
Picking up the layers of material of your dress, you tried to leave without stepping all over it. It made a quick exit nearly impossible.
“You never even told me why you left. You just called and said you were taking the job in Chicago,” Erik spoke out to the dark course, not able to make out the slope that led to home nine right ahead. He was not sure if you were listening, “A job that you turned down -”
“Because you asked me to. You asked me to wait for you again. I wanted my own life and you kept asking me to wait so you could live yours.” It occurred to you now for the first time as you were nearly shouting at your ex that Erik was a masochist. He hadn't moved on. He was drowning in the worst parts of his own agony. It felt like he wanted to be hurt right now when it was the last thing you wanted for him. When you left, you hoped he would have a future with someone who loved the life he chose and wanted to keep his house a home while he was away. You didn't want him to be in pain.
“Thanks for telling me this now.” He scoffed.
“If I had stayed, I would still be waiting.”
“That's not true”
“It is.” Therapy and time made you so sure. “I love you,” You swore to the back of his head, appreciating how good his hair looked now that there was more of it. “But I didn't come back for you.”
Through the window, you locked eyes with two of the other bridesmaids. Enthusiastically, they waved you and practically rushed you at the door. Over your shoulder, you could see Erik sitting still with head hung low and shoulders slumped. You passed Ray and a guy you sort of recognized at the door and interrupted them, asking Ray to go check on Erik outside and bring him water or a slice of the late night pizza that you could smell wafting through the air. He would be in good hands with Ray, that much you were sure of.
Okaaaayyyy— I think I’m going to take a FEW requests for the movie warfare. Only a few though, so send me some requests if you want. 🫶🏻 (I’m bored and have been wanting to write for something)
Also, if you want, you can send me some dialogue prompts that you want included in your reader. (Just type in dialogue prompts into the tumblr search bar) but please send me the name of the page you got it from, so I can give credit. 🫶🏻🫶🏻✨