Stand By Me One Shots/Imagines + Preferences (The Cobras x reader)

Cold (Ace's sister)

When Ace pulled into the driveway he immediately knew something was wrong. The lights were off, even though yours should have been on at the very least.

He exchanged a worried glance with Eyeball, who sat in the passenger seat.

Ace had been to the bookstore with you this morning and gotten you a new book, and that meant you were going to stay up reading until he forced you to go to sleep.

...Or should you have already finished reading it?

No. That wasn't possible.

The thing had like eight-hundred pages after all.

Then they saw you.
Your brightly colored nightgown stood out against the snow like neon in the shine of the headlights.

Ace quickly turned off the car and stepped towards you.

When you came closer he saw that your lips were blue from the cold, and snowflakes covered your hair.

You crashed into his arms, relying on him to keep you upright. Running over to the boys had cost you a lot of energy, and your legs were so weak it felt as if they might give out any second.

"What the hell are you doing out here?! Do you wanna freeze?!", Ace said.

You shook your head.

"Dad locked me out," you muttered. It was hard to speak with how numb your face was from the cold.

"Fuck. Okay, let's get you inside. Come on."

He led you to the door, and Eyeball held you close to him while Ace dug through his pockets for the key. When he finally found it and got the door unlocked, your brother unceremoniously picked you up and carried you to the bathroom.

"Take off the wet clothes and dry off, I'll bring you a fresh PJ," he instructed you.

You opened your mouth to object that your clothes weren't wet at all, but when you looked down you saw that the snow had completely soaked your socks and the lower legs of your pants, and even your nightgown was wet in some places.

Once you had changed into the warmest pajamas Ace had been able to find in your closet, you padded to his room and got comfortable in his bed, the blanket pulled up to your chin.
The boys weren't there, but it was only a few minutes until they came back with a steaming cup of tea for you.

Ace got into bed with you, pulling you close and making sure you were all tugged in, while his friend sat down on the edge of the bed.

You had stopped shivering, but your skin was still cold to the touch, and Ace took your hands in his own to warm them up.

"How are you feeling, Princess?"

"Fine. Just hurts."

"What hurts?", Ace asked, alarmed.

"Just... getting warm. You know, that feel when you come in from the cold and like... defrost. You know what I mean!"

"Yeah. Okay. But you're not in any actual pain, right? Not feeling bad other than that?"

"No, Ace, 'm fine. Just tired and defrosting."

He smiled at that. "Okay, Sweetie. Good. And now tell me what you were even doing out in the cold."

"Dad was angry. I dunno why. He sent me outside and locked the door. 'n then later, when he left, he didn't let me back in either."

"You know where he went?"

You shrugged. "To get drunk with Eyeball's Dad and the rest, I guess."

Ace sighed. Of course he had.

"How long were you sitting out there?"

"Dunno. Not that long. Half an hour, I guess? Or maybe a whole hour, I'm not sure."

That didn't surprise your brother. You'd never been good at telling how much time had passed without a watch.

You squirmed around, turning until you were able to stick your icy hands under your brother's shirt.
He cursed, but made no move to remove your hands. Warming you up was the most important thing right now, and though uncomfortable for him, this was a good method to do so.

"Richie? Can you get my book for me? It's on my bed."

The boys grinned. It seemed you really were okay if the book you'd been reading was the most important thing on your mind again already.

"Coming right up, Princess."

"You're gonna have to remove those ice cubes you call hands from my body so you can hold your book," Ace reminded you when Eyeball returned with it, but the way you looked up at with him with big puppy eyes told him you had no intention to do that.

"Can't you read to me? Please Johnny, 'm still cold."

Ace sighed. You knew exactly how to get whatever you wanted from him. "Alright. But just a chapter or two."

"Mh-hm."

"And don't forget to drink your tea."

Needless to say the one or two chapters became six chapters, and before long Eyeball was just as invested in the story as you.

It was close to two in the morning when Ace finally put his foot down and denied both of your demands of "one more chapter, Ace, please! This will be the last one for real!"

"Nh-uh. You need sleep, Princess. You can read the rest tomorrow."

"And what about me?! I wanna know what happens too!", Eyeball protested.

"Then read the rest to her tomorrow. Or read it together, I don't care. Y/N has to sleep now."

He gave you a pointed look, and you groaned.

"Fiiiine. But I'm sleeping in here." With these words you rolled off of Ace's lap, where you'd been curled up the whole time, and laid down next to him, stealing his pillow.

Ace rolled his eyes, but ignored your actions for now. "Didn't you forget something?", he asked.

You knew exactly what he meant, but decided to play innocent. Maybe he'd let you get away with it. "Uh... No?"

"Yes, you did. Go brush your teeth."

"No." You pulled his blanket tighter around yourself and pretended to bite his fingers when he tried to take it away from you. "It's too cold to get up!"

Ace sighed. "Fine. But I'm only letting you sleep here if you give me my pillow back."

"Fine. Your arm is a much better pillow anyway."