Some people become so intertwined with your life that losing them feels like losing a part of yourself. For Sofía Carter, Joe Keery was never just her best friend's older brother. He was summers spent at the Keery house when her own home felt too quiet. Late-night drives, shared secrets, almost-kisses, and years of feelings buried beneath friendship and bad timing. The boy she loved without ever really admitting it. The one person who always felt a little too much like home. For years, Sofía convinced herself whatever existed between them had faded into history. Until Joe comes home. Suddenly, old feelings begin surfacing with terrifying ease, pulling them back into the kind of intimacy that once ruined them both. What begins as lingering looks and stolen touches quickly spirals into a secret neither of them can seem to stop choosing. But falling for Joe again means risking far more than heartbreak. Because their lives have always been deeply entangled, threaded through shared friends, family dinners, inside jokes, and years of history too complicated to untangle cleanly. And this time, losing each other might cost them everything that ever felt like home.

Maeve knows better than to cross the Tillmans' paths. She knows exactly what Gator is, and exactly what happens to people who get too close. But she's past the point of caring about consequences, or damage, or how this ends. But somewhere along the way, fear stopped working on her.

Steve Harrington, strangerthings, st, edit, fanfic, slowburn, angst, fluff, Joe keery

˖.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳? 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. ˖.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 You're supposed to be dead. The plan was for you to be dead. But some things actually do work out in your favor. You're alive but barely. Alive for now. After a brutal attack you're rushed to the hospital where you're told you have a week left to live. You're questioned about your own murder. The whole thing is surreal and weird but the weirdest thing about it isn't the whole you cheating death thing. It's the Gator Tillman trying to flirt with you thing. That's the strangest thing about this whole "not dead yet" situation. ⚠️ 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓⚠️ There's a lot of gore in this story. Mentions of violence, abuse, stalking, sexual content etc. minors DNI!! And everyone else interact with caution! ❗️𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑(S) This work is heavily inspired by "Not Quite Dead Yet" by Holly Jackson. If you enjoy this story I highly recommend you check out her work! She's absolutely amazing and my favorite author! I do not own "Not Quite Dead Yet" all rights to the original story belong to Holly Jackson I do not own Fargo all rights to the original story belong to its creators

When your father dies owing Roy Tillman more money than you could ever repay, the debt doesn't disappear. It transfers. Roy decides you'll be sold to one of his men. Before anyone else can claim you, Gator Tillman does. Now you belong to him. Forced to live at the ranch as his property, you believe you're trapped with a man just as cruel as the others... but the longer you stay, the more you begin to notice something doesn't add up. Because Gator watches you too closely. Stops things before they happen. And treats you worst when Roy is looking. Best when he isn't. He says you're his. But he never touches you like you are. And that might be the most dangerous thing of all.

✮⋆˙ 𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘺! 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩! ˖.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ Cassidy Halloway is the Mayor's daughter and Stark County's golden girl. But when she gets tangled up with Deputy Gator Tillman and the county's most gruesome serial killer to date Gator learns the Mayor's girl is anything but golden. ˖.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 ✮⋆˙ ⚠️ Proceed with caution. Story includes mentions of death, gore, drug use, mental illness, psychotic behavior, sex, alcohol, weed, age gap, and domestic violence. Reader discretion Is advised. Minors do not read. #1 in #fargo 3.30.26 #1 in #gatortillman 5.15.2026

Wynn Wilder was born barefoot and brazen, raised in the dust of Tillman Ranch with fight in her fists and a fire in her heart. For most of her life, she was just the annoying, tagalong kid sister - Luke Wilder's little spitfire and Gator Tillman's favourite source of trouble. But time has teeth. And it changes everything. Now Wynn's grown, all sharp tongue and sweet curves - a singer with a voice that could bring a man to his knees. And Gator, her brother's best friend, the boy who used to shove frogs in her boots, is suddenly seeing her in a whole new light. A light he has no business stepping into. He's trying to be good. A badge on his chest. A last name to live down. And, a loyalty to Luke that he risks breaking, one stolen glance at a time. Because Gator went and fell for the one girl who's always been off-limits. Author's note: If you ever wondered what Gator Tillman might've looked like if he'd been raised with a little more love, and what kind of woman it would take to teach him gentle - this is for you. This is Gator and Roy Tillman reimagined, rewritten, and redeemed.

Sophia Shepard has every reason to hate Gator Tillman. He's the reckless troublemaker who tore her family apart- at least, that's how she's always understood it. And Sophia has never forgiven him. While her brother left town, Sophia stayed behind to help her father keep the ranch running. She's built a life out of grit and routine, and she refuses to let Gator's smirks or lazy "Mornin', sweetheart" shake her. After all. Why would she fall for someone like him?

In the late summer of 1985, Hawkins is trying to feel normal again after the Starcourt Mall fire. But when a strange signal is picked up deep in the mountains of Indiana-Dustin knows it can't be ignored. With the rest of the group unable to leave town, the task falls to two people: Steve Harrington and Y/N. Along the road, something shifts between Steve and Y/N-shared glances, quiet laughter during lunch stops, and feelings that linger in the silence. An overnight stay at a roadside motel changes everything. Meanwhile, the signal keeps calling them forward. What will it lead them to-and will they be able to face it together? And when the journey ends, will they finally confront what's been growing between them, or let it fade into the static? Read to find out! New parts will be released as the story unfolds. (All places mentioned in this story are fictional) ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ 𝖲𝖳𝖤𝖵𝖤 𝖧𝖠𝖱𝖱𝖨𝖭𝖦𝖳𝖮𝖭 𝖷 𝖱𝖤𝖠𝖣𝖤𝖱

Maggie swore she'd never be like the girls who fell for Gator Tillman, the sheriff's rotten son. But hate burns close to desire, and when old wounds and buried truths resurface, Maggie finds herself caught in a web of betrayal, control, and the one man she grew up despising. **This story uses characters and references from Fargo S5, but the events don't explicitly follow the show.**