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mzjmesa · 3 years

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Out Loud | Chloe Decker

She was a good detective. Is. The pride of the office, the officer praised here and there. Your partner. Your bestfriend. Detective Chloe Decker. It wasn't because of her smart, genius mind that attracted you to her, no. Well, sometimes, anyway. But it could've been alot of reasons, loving Chloe Decker. And you would've loved any other reasons— to make this easier, to make the feelings disappear sooner. Because whatever the attraction was, it was unprofessional— Chloe never did unprofessional. And you fear if you couldn't hold it any longer, she'd run away from you.

You can't bear that.

But you loved Chloe either way. You loved her eyes, her kindness, that bright and knowing smile that goes with her eyes, you loved the way her lips part when she's about to say something defensive— you loved her. You loved her the most when she knocks at your door and asks how you're doing. You loved the late night talks and laughs about freshmen days which was rare, because she never spent so much time in highschool, she got unending stories about it anyway. You loved the way she listens. You loved her. You loved Chloe Decker. And as she passes by your desk, to the man she likes, you reminded yourself that it was wrong. Wrong because you were supposed to be happy for her.

A knock on your desk drifted your thoughts away, Dan. “How are we doing?” he asked, if he'd caught you staring enviously at Chloe and Lucifer, he hadn't mind.

“How are we doing?” You repeated stupidly, still hungover from yesterday. Which by the way was Chloe's fault, you just wouldn't admit it to yourself.

Dan shrugs, “Yeah? I sent you files to look at, remember?”

Oh.

You shake your head as though it would help you focus on the present and tried to remember where you had placed the papers. You checked your drawers, trying hard to block out Chloe and Lucifer's voices. You busied your hand flipping through dozens of papers, vividly remembering the file's name.

Jonathan Flinn's. Ahh. Case closed for 2 months, there wasn't much evidence of the murder, but the majority linked to him, and eventually the court pronounced him guilty. There had been questions left unsolved, and if Espinoza wasn't up to anything, it would've been left at that.

You sighed, “Have you talked to Chloe about this?”

“Yeah,” He looked past your shoulder to where Chloe was, then back to you. “she thinks it's a bad idea.”

Of course she did. You did, too. That was a thing between you two, something about your guts always telling you the same what's what. That's why you were partnered with her, and you would've loved to continue being one (although truth be told, you still were in papers anyway) but she'd found a consultant, a batshit crazy one at that. Lucifer Morningstar. Always telling himself he's the devil, going on and about his everyday life like anyone gives a damn, and always making everything about himself. If he wasn't charming, and a ‘friend’ of Chloe's, you would've hated him. Most times you did. But times when Chloe was down, he was always the first to cheer her up. You used to be the one doing that, until he came.

“You should listen to her, Dan.”

“Oh c'mon! I would've agreed with Chloe and wouldn't have come to you if it weren't so important. His mother is my god—”

“—mother. Yes, yes, I know that, Dan. I know you think this is a good idea to pay her back, too. But it's not, trust me. Trust Chloe.” You exhaled, feeling the weight of her stare on your back. “It could go worst anyway, what when we can't find any evidence or if we do, worst case scenario is it'll only lead to him. Again. We'll just worsen his situation.”

Dan sighed, massaging his jaw with exasperation because he knew you were right. And also because as much as he pretends not to care too much, he does. You loved that about him.

As you heard footsteps behind, you handed back the files to Dan who hid it behind his back, masking his irritation with a smile to Chloe.

You ignored her, lingering your eyes on the missing button of Dan's shirt.

“Ella found some prints, we haven't identified it yet but it's likely our lead.” Chloe started just behind you, and you knew Lucifer was beside her as much as you hated it. “In the meantime, Dan? I'd like to discuss to you about the Flinn case, Lucifer and I went back to the crime scene yesterday. We found nothing.”

Dan frowned. “I thought you said it was a bad idea.”

“I know, I know. I... ugh... well I went over it again, anyway.”

A small smile creeped on his face, and you were almost sure his eyes were watering when Lucifer jumped on the conversation about his father, bla bla bla. You couldn't care less. Chloe did, and that should be enough for Lucifer. She'd always been enough for you. You bit your lips, wishing you could busy your hands with something. Anything. But your desk was on your back, and oh, Chloe, too.

It felt immature and all, but you were hurting just knowing they were together, seeing them would break you.

“I'll check in on with Ella.” Chloe announced, “(Y/N)?”

“Are you having a stroke Miss (L/N)? Staying still like a trained robot, you're scarying me— and believe when I say I rarely get scared.” Lucifer added.

Oh you believe alright. And robots are trained?! Trying to hide your feelings with a forced smile, you turned around, making sure you weren't going to make an eye contact with a certain detective, and immediately grabbed a random paper and pen you can hold— scribbling anything. Anything at all.

“I'm alright.” You answered after a beat or two, still unbothered to look. Who would want to, honestly.

Chloe cleared her throat, whispered something to Lucifer, and then bid goodbye. It was then when you looked at them walking away. Lucifer's hand on her back, Chloe looking small beside him— your chest aching the same, if not, more.

You're definitely not gonna look again.

You had a week off work, and you'd almost fell to your knees thanking God when the lieutenant told you. You needed it more than you needed Chloe, which proves just how important it was— Chloe had been. Still is, by the way.

It was 8 am, by now Chloe would be at her desk, examining or making reports, or on a crime scene with Ella and, Lucifer. You snapped out of your mind, reminding yourself you'd needed the vacation because work and particularly Chloe had been stressing you out and very much so hurting you.

You'd hit the beach, go to the mountains for the view,— you didn't wanna hike though, you needed rest not making sweats— visit your sister and niece, and then finally bake while blasting Taylor Swift because admit it or not, you're much broken than your grandmother's vase.

When the water was hot enough, you took a bath and dressed. A peach-colored tank top that comes along with a brown mini skirt and a coat was your outfit for the day. Only, the coat reminded you too much of Chloe's. She liked coats. And that coat, back then warning you that she'd steal it eventually. So you changed with other coats, just didn't fit well with the shirt and skirt, so you gave in and left your hair untouched and untied. Grabbing your pouch and your gun— a licensed one, just in case. And opened your door. You would've preferred the bright sky and fresh air of the morning in LA. But Chloe Decker was standing there, fist on air as if she'd been ready to knock.

You froze.

Were you having a stroke? Most likely.

“(Y/N).”

“Chloe.”

Wasn't she supposed to be at work? You didn't mind either way, but it surprised you still, she hadn't been visiting much since... Lucifer. Everything's just been different since he arrived, not in a good way for you.

You stepped aside, not saying anything since you figured out a human wouldn't understand any word that comes out of your mouth. She went in, instead of sitting on your couch like the old days, she lingered on the living room, standing and looking at you.

Most times you hadn't mind.

She started, “How are you?”

“I'm good.”

“No, (Y/N). How are you?”

You didn't know what to say. Or why she'd ask a question as that. “I'm not—”

“Do you like me?”

What.

Your face must've given the shock, because she answered your unasked question. “Dan said some things. I'm-I'm not— you're not transferring, are you?”

Oh you're definitely gonna choke the life out of Dan. But knowing him, he wouldn't have spit it out too easily. He was probably drunk and didn't mean it. Still, you wished you said it to Chloe yourself. About the liking and transferring.

You remained silent, reading the expression on Chloe's face. Was she sad? Upset? After years of knowing her, you would've known right away. But now you couldn't. And you fear you might've forgotten the every detail of her face, too.

“(Y/N)...” Her voice gave out, carrying every sadness within. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“About what?” You answered stupidly in a whisper, fearing that if you came into your senses everything would feel too real.

“About everything! About— about your feelings for me. About Seatte. About why you've been so far from me!”

“You have been far from me, Chloe.”

She frowns, and you knew millions and billions and gazillions of questions where popping in her mind.

Tears in your eyes were forming, and you hated it, all of this. She wasn't supposed to know at all. She wasn't supposed to know you had immature feelings for her. Wasn't supposed to know you were transferring atleast 'till next month. But Chloe wasn't dumb, and you should've known that.

Chloe swallowed the lump in her throat, her breathing heavy. “We could've talked about it.”

“We haven't talked much at all these days because of—” you cut yourself off, rolling your eyes at how sick it feels. You hated yourself for it, but you continued anyway. “Because of Lucifer.”

She exhaled. “Lucifer and I are complicated.”

“I know that, Chloe.” You said firmly, meeting her gaze pitying you. Of course she pities you. “I also know you like him so much. I know you've been crying when he fake married that Candy. I know you've been sick worrying when he can't answer your texts or calls. I know you've gone lengths trying to understand him. I know. I know so much so that I didn't wanna be so selfish and tell you things you didn't wanna hear because it'll make your complicated relationship with Lucifer even more complicated. I fucking know. And I loved you too much.”

Chloe's tears were beginning to fall, one by one, slowly. And it hurts you to see her like this. Especially because you know you caused it.

“It was never my intention to push you away. You're my friend— can't we just stay like this?” She asked in a soft, breaking voice. And if it wasn't Chloe you would've said yes because people are easy to move on from. But it was indeed Chloe and she was... not like anyone you know. She was a missing piece of your puzzle. Only, you have never been a piece of hers.

“I love you, Chloe.”

It was weird, saying it out loud, to her. You never thought you could, knowing you were a coward than every cowards combined.

You did though, and that must've pulled something. Because Chloe approached you, side hugged, and then left.

So much for a vacation.

You spent the night crying.

Chloe Decker spent hers with the man she loved. And you were never that man.

#chloe decker x reader #chloe decker #lucifer morningstar #lucifer #netflix #lucifer morningstar x reader #lucifer x reader #wlw #angst #angsty #fluff #hurt/comfort #hurt no comfurt #hurt comfort

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judysupremus · 4 years

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C'mon Man, Roller Derby Is Not a Crime, Chapter 6

* Thank you for reading ❤️*

Marinette sits back down at the table and lays her down. She stretches out her hand and holds onto Chloe's.

"I missed you." Chloe admits quietly.

"I missed you too."

"Why do you let him call you LB?"

Marinette huffs and smiles. "Jason insisted on finding his own nickname for me and called me everything under the sun. When he tried LB and I cringed he stuck to it." She sat up and let go of Chloe's hand. "At this point it would raise suspicion if I argue too much."

She cleans up the mugs and plates from breakfast and they move to sit on her couch.

"How's Adrien?"

Chloe scoffs. "He's good. He and Gabriel are happy...I know why you did it but sometimes I wish you had turned him in."

"Sometimes I wish that too. But this way Adrien gets to be happy and maybe Gabriel will do some good for the world."

"You're still so disgustingly optimistic!"

Marinette laughs a little. "I suppose I am. But someone has to be and it might as well be me."

---

Before too long Chloe insists on taking Marinette out for fresh air - which is just shopping. She examines the red leather jacket with the warm padded lining the designer made. She insists on having one in black with a yellow lining, of course.

The girls spend most of the day wandering around as Chloe shows her the best places to shop. When they stop to eat lunch at a quiet little bistro Chloe begins her next interrogation.

"How in the world did you get Damain Wayne wrapped around your finger?"

"Uh, I don't have him wrapped around my finger Chloe - we're just friends."

"Surely you of all people hear how ridiculously that sounds. Next you're going to tell me that Jason doesn't dote on you like a sister."

"He doesn't." Marinette tries to say seriously but Chloe knows she's joking as she rolls her eyes.

"Fine, he does. But the rest of them do too." She shrugs and only realizes her mistake a second later. Chloe narrows her eyes and points her fork at her.

"The rest of them? What am I saying of course they do. You try to stay as anonymous as possible only to fall into one of the most notorious families in the states. I swear to god."

Marinette has the decency to look abashed and she tries to apologize for whatever she did.

"Tell me how you wooed them. And don't you dare leave anything out!"

---

Marinette did not realize how much she missed this. Being able to talk to someone without hiding things.

Her relationships with the various Waynes is wonderful but still so new. She knows how easily it could end but tries not to think about it. After spending several months in Gotham on her own it's a sweet relief to have friends again.

But Chloe knows almost everything. When Ladybug was closing in on Hawkmoth she needed help and Chloe had proven to be vital in many ways.

With her as Queen Bee they recovered the peacock miraculous and the grimoire. They would have had the butterfly too, had it not been Gabriel under the mask. Chat Noir had been strong when they started the fight but he quickly lost any will after seeing his mother in the stasis chamber.

As Queen Bee recharged and Ladybug tended to a grieving and newly revealed Adrien, Gabriel managed to renounce his miraculous and send it elsewhere. With the help of the grimoire he also managed to alter his memories.

Without his memories there was little he could give them. Marinette's heart broke when Gabriel actually got emotional over Adrien's distress. Whatever had happened when he had the miraculous had changed him. He was suddenly compassionate and concerned about his family.

As the Guardian Marinette had Adrien surrender and renounce the black cat miraculous, with his consent. He could not take the mental strain of having his father being Hawkmoth and abruptly returning to the man who cared about him so much. He asked her to use the same spell Gabriel used to alter his memories, too.

For the next eight months Chloe and Marinette monitored them both. Everything seemed good, or as good as it could be for the Agrestes.

Without an active black cat and the evidence pointing to the new owner of the butterfly being underground, Marinette had to return Tikki to the miracle box. Chloe had returned the bee miraculous but made Marinette promise to contact her if anything happened and promised she would continue to keep an eye on Gabriel.

Marinette also had to make plans for her future. She applied to universities outside of Paris and accepted the scholarship to Gotham University.

Eventually the day is ending and Chloe has to return to New York City.

"You said you have a match in New York, when is it?"

"The semester ends this week and the match will be three Fridays after that."

"Good. That's more than enough time to finish my jacket! Also, your eye still looks awful."

Damian is waiting outside her building the next morning, just like he said.

The whole week is absolute blur. Test, practice, sleep, in Marinette's case. Test, patrol, sleep in Damian's.

They finish their art final Friday afternoon and even though they haven't talked about it Damain takes Marinette home to the manor.

It's been two weeks since she was last here at it shows. Jason and Damain are the only ones who have seen her at all in that time. Dick and Cass steal her to make cookies and watch cartoons.

They spend the next several hours before dinner cuddling and snacking. Dick laments the fact that Marinette chooses to spend half that time spoiling Titus with scratches and belly rubs.

It's not until Alfred calls them all to dinner that Marinette realizes she hasn't seen Tim.

"Hey Dick, where is Tim? Is he alright?"

"Tim is...busy. He's had a lot of work to do. I'm not sure you'll see him today, sunshine. We can hardly pry him away from his computer."

Marinette pouts a little at this. "If he's working as much as you say he needs to take a break! You make it sound like he hasn't been sleeping!"

Tim has not, in fact, been sleeping much. When Jason gave him the name Chloe Bourgeois to look into he didn't know what he had done. Sure, Tim had found an article about her being a hero named Queen Bee but it didn't really lead anywhere. It's like there wasn't a place for it to lead to. It happened and then nobody cared to say anything more about it.

Most of them were hoping Tim would not find out Marinette was at the manor. He was in no state of mind to try and get her to talk without scaring her away.

"He'll be fine Marinette." Damian tells her as he pulls out her chair at the table. "Tim does this all the time and I promise you'll see him soon." He just hopes it's after Tim has slept for several days.

Bruce enters the dinning room and gives her a warm smile when he sees her. "It's so good to see you again! I was worriedy boys had driven you away with their lack of manners."

Jason wants to say something about Cass but knows better.

"I love it here with your family! I just had so much to do for the end of the semester." She hopes they won't bring up Paris again. She really does love it here.

"Well, now you have about three months off. What do you plan on doing?"

"I'll still have roller derby practice and matches. And I opened my website to commissions so those will keep me busy too. Then Damain said he'd take me to the botanical gardens and some of the parks!"

Dinner continues uneventfully and Marinette believes the subject of heroes won't come up for a long time.

But life keeps moving faster for Marinette.

Alfred is still the one to drive her home most nights for some reason. She's thinking about this as she walks up the stairs in her building.

Marinette is also worried about Tim. In the short time she's known him it's obvious he gets fixated on figuring things out. If he ever tried to look up Ladybug he will drive himself mad.

She's been standing at the door to her apartment for a few minutes, deep in thought. When she suraces enough to reach for her keys she realizes she can hear harsh whispers and shuffling from inside her apartment.

Marinette backs up to the stairwell and transforms into Multimouse. Her head swims a bit at the sudden influx of power but then she shrinks and multiplies.

Some of her slip under the gap in the door and look around. She can't believe what she's seeing with her six eyes. Red Robin, Robin, and Black Bat are standing in her apartment having an argument.

"This is gross invasion of her privacy and you know it!"

"There has to be something!"

"You would not be doing this if you were in your right mind and you're going to regret it!"

Multimouse has grown impatient. She calls her multiples back and when she's whole goes out to the roof of the building. She is surprised to see the three vigilantes leave before she can catch them in her apartment.

Robin and Red Robin are still bickering as they vacate the area but as Black Bat passes her hiding place she pauses. Multimouse thinks she turns and looks at her but it's hard to tell.

A few hours later Marinette is still sitting quietly at her laptop. She had come in and found everything exactly as she had left it.

Why would Gotham's heroes be in her apartment looking for something? And what would they be looking for? She has only transformed twice since she left Paris. Tonight and then once when she first moved. That time was with Wayzz to simply do a quick sweep of the immediate area to get to see it from above.

Just...why?

----

"Please, Jason!"

"No."

"Please. Please. Plea-"

"Saying it more won't make me say yes, LB."

Marinette does her very best kitten eyes. "S'il vous plait!" And now put the bottom lip out, just a bit and...

"No!"

Damn. And then she feels stupid for asking the wrong Wayne. So she goes to find them.

Cass already knows what Marinette wants. When she grins Marinette grins back. It's damn great to have a sister.

When Damain and Jason hear the engine revving from the garage they realize Cass will do almost anything for Marinette. Then when they look out one of the windows that view the manor gate they see Marinette driving away on Jason's motorcycle, Cass waving to them from behind her.

---

Dick is surprised when Damian asks to be paired with him for patrol. It's not that they don't get along but, well, Damian prefers to patrol alone.

Nightwing and Robin sweep their quarter of the city with mild entanglements - pickpockets and stalkers. Nightwing waits as long as he can stand it, wanting Robin to bring up whatever is bothering him. He's about to say something when Robin removes his comm and waits for him to do the same.

"I don't... I don't know what to do." He pauses there and goes to sit on the ledge of the building their on.

"I have experienced what Jon calls crushes before." Robin starts again as Nightwing sits next to him. So he wants to talk about Marinette. This is good as Jason said he would never act on his feelings until too late. Nightwing is hopeful this will prove Jason wrong.

"You have a crush on Sunshine. I think it's a great thing, baby bird. I also think she has a crush on you too."

"I think she does too. But...I think it's more than just a crush for me." Nightwing notices he's fiddling with a strawberry hair tie, it must be Marinette's as she's losing them constantly. "I don't think any of us can have normal relationships."

"No?"

"Tt. No one would overlook the constant disappearances for patrol, or understand the commitment to physical 'fitness'. And what would she do if she ever found all the weapons we hide around the manor." He looks up at the city. "She's too smart to ignore all that."

Nightwing has to admit that he has a point. But.. "I don't think that means that you shouldn't try. Sunshine is constantly surprising all of us. If anyone can cope I believe she can."

Robin turns to him and he's angry now. "I don't want her to cope! I want her to be happy."

He puts his comm back in and takes off for home. Robin will always be dark and brooding but he's been better lately.

"I want you to be happy, too." He says to no one.

#supremuswrites #daminette #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne #maribat #roller derby fic

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hermionemonica · 4 years

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The Road to Us, and Everything in Between: Chapter 5

(This is a no magic AU. There is no existence of the Miraculous or the superheroes in this universe.)

AO3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 6

As the days passed, Marinette began to find it harder and harder to function properly in front of Adrien. She would get all blushy and stumble over her words. When Adrien looked at her, she lost the ability to think. And it was frustrating her. Why couldn't she just act like a normal human being? Adrien was her friend after all!

Adrien was incredibly understanding though. He did not get annoyed at all when Marinette took time to form coherent sentences around him. He didn't laugh at her when she bumped into stuff because she was staring at him. He only smiled softly and looked at her like she was some precious thing, and that was only making it worse!

One day, Marinette passed by some girls of the Business department gossiping in the cafeteria. Usually, she kept her distance from such crowds, but this time she stopped.

Because she heard Adrien's name.

“Hadn't you noticed? Adrien is head over heels for her!”

“Of course!”

“I want to say I'm jealous, but I'm low-key shipping them. Have you seen how cute they look together?”

“We should have guessed given how much time they spend together.”

Adrien... and a girl? Was it... was it her? After all, she hadn't seen Adrien hang out with any other girl in the university.

Should she talk to those girls? She wasn't very close with them, but it was okay to swoop in because she heard them talking about someone she knew? Someone who apparently was “head over heels for her"

In a rush of adrenaline, Marinette decided to take the risk.

“Hi,” she began nervously, as she approached the girls. “I thought I heard you talking about Adrien?”

“Oh, Marinette is here! You’d know everything about it, right?”

That was nowhere close to “We were only talking about you!”, which was the kind of reaction Marinette was expecting.

“Hmm? What are you talking about?”

“Adrien's girlfriend Chloe, of course!”

Wait, Chloe? That's not what her name was! Who were they talking about then? What was going on?

“I'm sorry, what was that?”

“C'mon Marinette, don't be a spoilsport! You are like the person who is closest to Adrien in the entire university! Who would know the inner details better? And you can trust us, we won't tell anyone...”

Marinette had stopped listening. She stood frozen in her place. Adrien... he was dating someone else?

She felt something tighten painfully in her chest, and breathing was suddenly not as easy as it used to be. She quickly excused herself and ran to the bathroom. The noises of the cafeteria were making her nauseous. She had barely managed to shut the door behind herself when her knees buckled underneath her, and she dropped to her floor. The walls were spinning around her. The buzzing in her head began to grow louder and louder, and she clutched her head in agony.

Marinette did not know how long she stayed there. Maybe an hour, maybe more. When the heaviness in her limbs subsided, she got up and dragged herself outside the building, into the university compound. She needed the quiet and fresh air to clear her head. She sat on one of the benches for a while, trying to control her breathing. She was actively trying to block out the thoughts that had brought about the attack, and she had grown used to doing that for a while. That helped. It had been a while since her last anxiety attack, and she had been doing pretty alright recently. That's why she had neglected to keep her meds in her bag.

After a while, she went home. She couldn't take the risk of staying in class that day, and she could afford to take the day off.

When Marinette opened the door to the bakery, her parents looked up from what they were doing, but with a glance at her face, they understood what was wrong. Her mother put the tray of macaroons that she was carrying on the counter, and rushed to support her daughter. She helped Marinette walk up the stairs to her room. Marinette took the medicines, and then her mother tucked her in bed. The exhaustion and the action of the medicine took effect quickly, and soon she drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

She woke up a few hours later, but she still felt tired and dizzy. She tried to sit up, but the movement made her head spin. So she lay down and stared at the ceiling, trying to remember what had happened.

Adrien...

It all came to her in a rush, squeezing her heart painfully. For a moment, Marinette wondered if she had imagined the whole of it; the meds sometimes addled her brain in strange ways. But as her head cleared, she could recollect everything more vividly. Her heart might not want to accept it, but her mind knew it was true. Marinette tried to keep her breathing even, as she took the risk to think about it. Because she needed to organise it all in her head, else she might have another attack anytime.

There was no reason why Adrien could not date a girl. He was kind, smart, handsome and rich, of course he had plenty of admirers. And he was at liberty to be with anyone he liked. Marinette would be a fool if she thought that just because she was the only girl Adrien would hang out at university, meant he didn't have any other female friends. He did have a life outside the university after all!

It took her some time to accept it though. When did her little crush how into such a big thing as this? It felt petty of her, to be unhappy with her friend's happiness. But could she blame herself? She loved Adrien! She was in love with him! Was it really wrong of her to hope that she would be the one for him? After all the attention he had been showering on her over the last few months? Huh, Adrien probably saw her as just a friend. And that thought hurt her in ways she could not explain.

For the next few days, Marinette did her best to keep her distance from Adrien at the university. She would pretend she didn't see him when he waved at her. She would turn around and walk away if she saw him approaching. She had no idea why she was doing this, only that the thought of being around him or talking to him made her feel like she couldn't breathe. She noticed how Adrien's face fell when she walked away from him, but she really couldn't do anything about it.

Despite Marinette's best efforts, one day, Adrien finally managed to corner Marinette. She was walking along the corridor when Adrien took her by surprise and pulled her into an empty classroom.

“Okay, what's going on?” Adrien asked, crossing his arms at his chest.

Marinette could feel her heartbeat getting faster. How was she going to get herself out of this? She kept her eyes fixed to the floor, doing her best not to look at the boy standing in front of her. What was she supposed to reply? But even then, she could feel his gaze directed at her, and it was making her nervous and uncomfortable.

“Please Marinette,” Adrien went on in a softer voice, “tell me what happened? Why are you not talking to me? Did I do something to hurt you? Are you mad at me?” He took both of Marinette's hands in his, which made her look up at him with widened eyes. “Please talk to me, Marinette,” he almost begged.

Marinette took a deep breath. Adrien would probably not let her go until she told him. But the problem was from where should she begin so that it made sense?

“Y-you never told me that you had a girlfriend.”

Adrien looked a bit taken aback at that. “Huh? I don't have a girlfriend. Not to my knowledge, that is.”

Seriously, he was trying to hide it even now?

“I heard the other girls talking about her. Ch-Clai-"

“Chloe?” Adrien offered.

When Marinette nodded, Adrien burst into laughter, much to her confusion.

“Oh no, Marinette, you've got it all wrong! Chloe is not my girlfriend.”

She wasn't? Marinette felt something in her heart begin to set in motion after a long time.

“Chloe is just a family friend. She's like a sister to me! She returned from New York only a few weeks ago. We have gone out for lunch a couple of times, and some stupid reporter decided that it would make an interesting headline.”

Marinette was not completely convinced, and that must have shown on her face. Adrien leaned in towards her, and went on, “I'll tell you a secret. Chloe isn't even interested in men. So if you ask me, you have more chance of dating her than I do,” he ended with a wink.

Marinette let out a little giggle at that.

“Oh how I have missed that sweet sound,” Adrien remarked, making Marinette blush furiously.

Just then, something clicked in Adrien's mind as his expression turned serious again. “So,” he began, “that's why you have been avoiding me all these days? I don't understand, why was it so upsetting to you?”

Oh no.

Marinette hesitated. But Adrien was not going to let it go. “Do you know Chloe? Do you not like her?”

“That's not what it is.”

“Then what is it?”

She was so not prepared for this conversation right now. This was such a mess. How was she going to get out of it now?

But maybe it would work out? Adrien was not dating anyone. He might actually reciprocate her feelings then! After all, he did care enough to have cornered her to solve problems between them...

Marinette closed her eyes and tried to steady her mind. It was now or never. This would be the moment when Marinette Dupain-Cheng declared her feelings for Adrien Agreste. This empty classroom would be the witness of the glorious or the heart-breaking moment that followed.

“It's because I love you.”

“What?”

Marinette could not figure out what Adrien was feeling, because he was giving her too less to work with right now. That one word carried almost no emotion, and his face displayed nothing but surprise.

“I am in love with you, Adrien Agreste.”

She felt silly repeating it.

After a few moments, Adrien finally spoke.

“I am sorry.”

That did not sound so good.

Marinette waited for him to continue, because that didn't feel like a conclusive statement at all.

“Marinette, I- I cannot return your feelings,” Adrien whispered, unable to meet her eyes.

Marinette kept staring blankly at Adrien. Her brain had stopped working.

A minute or two of painful silence passed between them. Adrien decided to speak first.

“You are an amazing girl, Marinette. I really like you, just not in that way. You are my best friend, and one of the closest people in my life. It's just that I don't feel the same-"

“So I am in love with you and you don't reciprocate?” Marinette suddenly snapped into speech interrupting him in the middle of his sentence.

Adrien was shocked into silence for a moment. But Marinette’s voice didn't sound accusatory at all. That was okay, right?

“Y-yes. That's right,” he managed to say.

“Oh, okay. I can deal with that.”

This did not feel quite right. Marinette didn't sound like she was alright.

“Are-are you okay Marinette?”

“Yes, I'm okay. I have been through this before,” she said in a voice louder than usual, with a weird grin on her lips.

Something about this was extremely unsettling. Marinette was behaving strangely and Adrien was beginning to get worried.

“Marinette, are you going to have an anxiety attack?”

“Pfft-no!” she lied.

“Can I-can I offer you a hug?”

At those words, something happened to Marinette. The smile faded from her face, and her eyebrows slanted downwards. Now the pain was visible in her eyes, as she whispered, “I'd like that.”

Adrien enfolded her in his arms and held her tightly. At first, Marinette stood limp, but slowly, she wrapped her arms around him and clutched on to him as though her life depended on it. And then she cried.

Adrien could feel her shaking in his arms, and the sobs and the wetness on the chest of his shirt didn't leave much to the imagination. It broke his heart to see her so weak, so broken. Tears broke through his eyes as he realised this was all because of him. But what could he do? He couldn’t just lead her on, only to break her heart later! This might be painful now, but this was for the best. Marinette deserved someone better than him, someone who could actually give her the love that she deserved.

Neither counted how long they stood like that. Wrapped up in each other’s arms, desperately seeking comfort. When at length they loosened their hold on each other, they took time to completely let go. And then Adrien took her hands in his and asked in a small voice “We're still going to be friends, right?”

“Y-yeah,” Marinette whispered, uncertainty looming over that word.

Friends. As if it were that easy.

Every time they crossed paths after that incident, it was painfully awkward. Forced smiles, monosyllable greetings, the over-formality was a constant reminder of the mess that had taken place in that empty room.

Marinette couldn’t stop blaming herself. It was her fault that she lost Adrien's friendship overnight. If she had managed to hold back her feelings, none of this would have happened. But what use thinking about it now, the damage was already done.

Adrien, on the other hand, held himself responsible for whatever happened. He seriously considered if it would have been worse than this if he had decided to give it a chance. At least that way he wouldn't have lost her company.

Within a few days, the forced friendship faded away as both of them began to actively avoid each other. Neither could bear to look at the pain on the other's face. The warm friendship had long decayed into an uncomfortable co-existence. And they found it too difficult to go on like that. So they both, separately, decided that it was for the best that they stayed away from each other. At least for a while, till they got their emotions sorted out.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic #the road to us and everything in between #chapter 5 #no magic au #alternate universe - no powers #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #adrienette #chloe bourgeois #slow burn #my fic

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priestessamy · 4 years

Note

2, Chasemarsh!

"Kate? The ball's about to drop. Do you wanna come back out and celebrate with everyone?"

This all felt rather uncomfortable and stupid. Of course Kate wanted to spend time with all of her friends, and her visiting baby sister (and her beau). But she was in kind of a silly mood, and the fact that Victoria was the one coming to get her didn't help matters one bit.

"Um, I... Jeez, this is dumb. I guess I just kinda feel like being by myself right now. Sorry, not much of a host, am I?"

What an absolutely ridiculous idea. Hold a New Years party, invite a bunch of people including the one girl she liked the most, and then utterly fail to make any sort of actual attempt to get closer to her. She had truly done a bang-up job tonight.

"Ugh..." Victoria scoffed and popped her hands on her hips. "Okay, well that's lame. How about you come out here right now or I drag you out?"

Kate didn't even have the energy to get scared or frustrated by Victoria's usual posturing. She just felt kind of tired and angry with herself. "I won't have anyone to share a kiss with at midnight." It was the closest she could possibly get to the truth, but sadly it just made her sound more pathetic.

Without missing a beat, the other woman swayed her way over to plop down next to her on the bed. She was definitely tipsy if not outright drunk. Kate was a bit buzzed herself. That was sort of the point of a party, right? "Jesus, okay, you can kiss me at midnight then."

"Oh, a pity kiss from Victoria Chase. Be still my beating heart." She knew she was being childish and unreasonable. Kate should have been spending the evening meeting Lynn's boyfriend and catching up with Chloe and Max. Instead she was hiding away here acting petulant even as Victoria offered to give her exactly what she wanted. She wondered if this was what it was like for everyone who received charity. All those years doing God's work, had she been rubbing salt in peoples' wounds?

All she got at first was a dutiful tongue-clicking in response. "Wow, rude. C'mon, you know me. I never do anything I don't wanna do, Kate." That sentiment hung in the air for a few seconds as Kate tried to process it. Her brain refused to do the legwork. "Kate? Do you want to actually respond to that wide open door I've just presented you or are you gonna ignore it?"

"Door? What?"

"I'm not offering to kiss you because I pity you, idiot. I'm offering because I want my lips up against your lips."

Be still my beating heart. Kate took in a deep, shaking breath. From the other room, she could hear the sound of everyone chanting..

"Ten! Nine! Eight!"

She swallowed, pushing herself in closer against Victoria, like she was still an awkward little teenager. This was, apparently, not good enough for the other woman who quickly hauled her up from the bed and began actually dragging her into the living room as promised.

"Seven! Six!"

Kate stumbled as she tried to keep up. "W-Wait, are we-?"

"Five! Four!"

"Yup!" Victoria was grinning wide as she tugged her the rest of the way into the room just in time to see the ball finish its descent on television.

"Three! Two! One!"

Chloe kissed Max. Lynn kissed her boyfriend. Victoria kissed Kate. It felt for all the world like time stood still, if just for a few brief moments. She was still lip-locked while everyone else had apparently finished their own kisses, which led to a second round of cheering. "About goddamn time, you two!"

Lynn slapped Chloe on the shoulder and shushed her. "Language. And be nice to my sister. She's very sensitive."

The deed was done, and she'd got what she wanted, and everyone got to see. So Kate felt as though her evening was pretty much wrapping up. With an iron vice for a hand, she tugged Victoria once more into her room, shutting the door firmly behind them. "Goodness, what a little production we just put on."

"Stay here tonight." The words were out of her mouth before she'd even thought about them.

Her eyebrows shot up so high they practically brushed against her hairline. "Kate! This has been quite a night of unexpected gifts."

"N-No! I mean because... because New Years Eve is a dangerous night to go driving, a-and you've been drinking, you know?" Kate knew full well she was floundering and searching for any and all excuses she could dig up. It was all lies, of course.

And Victoria wasn't going to let her get away with lying. "Ah, but you are okay with your baby sister and your best friends going out into that chaos? Really interesting double-standard there."

It was difficult to remember in moments like this why Kate had such strong feelings for her. Sometimes Victoria could be insufferable. And while they were more grown-up now, she could still be quite the tease. But as upsetting as it was, it was also aggravatingly attractive. "Fine then. Stay the night because... I want you to."

"Now see, that I can get behind," she muttered with a mischievous grin, smoothly wrapping her arms around Kate and kissing her again.

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mylifeeinfandoms · 4 years

Text

parting shot

One last game of Tag? Agents of Shield #PartingShot

With this tag game, I want to know the answers to these five (5) questions and then tag 5 or more mutuals. Wasn’t tagged but want to join? Join in ! Everyone is an essential part of this fandom! Name from @ agent.of.shield_ on Instagram ( @agents-of-fangirling ) who had a great idea to post a picture of yourself with a drink (or just a drink) and tag it #partingshot as a finale goodbye to the show (which I also am going to post tomorrow on IG).

tagged by @untying :)

Where were you in life when you first started to watching AoS?

it was the summer before my sophomore year of college.

[side story: s1 of agent carter pemiered during my freshman year and i absolutely loved -still do- that show. when hayley and james got into the dubsmash war with clark and chloe during sdcc, i was hooked. then aos did a dubsmash with the song we are the champions and the entire cast was involved. my very first thought after watching it was "ok, i have to find out who all these amazing people are." so i did.]

the timing couldn't have been more perfect because i caught up on the first two seasons just in time for the s3 premiere and i watched those episodes as they aired. they were a huge comfort for me since sophomore year was honestly my toughest year mentally and emotionally.

Where are you now?

i'm a little over 2 years into my first job. construction management kinda thing.

[side story again: ngl, after s3, i stopped watching aos it was huntingbird's departure that did it. i had always planned to watch the later seasons eventually so when i heard the show was ending, i caught up on s4-6 all at once. that was this past january.]

oh goodness, i've definitely changed.

What character development arc (or storyline in general) did you love the most?

i was a mechanical engineering major in college so fitz has a special place in my heart. but, being a woman in a stem field also allowed me to connect very closely with jemma. that said, the fitzsimmons storyline is why i continued watching. i stayed for them.

but if i had to choose, jemma's arc means the world to me. i reasonate with her awkwardness, kindness, gentleness, compassion, sense of justice, and much more.

What will you miss the most?

mmm probably being spoiled! i was completely out of the loop when seasons 4-6 were airing but i still followed people on tumblr who posted about aos. that meant i saw all the gifsets and all the fitzsimmons scenes without any context.

it's actually very amusing to think about now because when i watched those seasons this past january, i realized i was never really spoiled. none of the gifsets i saw gave me any solid info about what was going on (and i didn't recognize half the characters). so yeah, i was being spoiled without actually being spoiled loool. kinda my superpower?

Favorite quote?

sorry not sorry, i'm bending the rules and writing my favorite quote per character. oh c'mon! not just one. can't do it. so here we go this actually didn't take as long as i thought it would:

jemma: "i prefer him in cardigans." she would.

hunter: "lance amadeus ravenclaw hunter" love it.

daisy: "i already have a sister to save. her name is jemma simmons." that's right, she does!

coulson: "big fan." he is.

fitz [about the communications academy]: "that's where you'd be, skye." LOL i miss the bus kids dynamic.

mack: "fbi cyber investigative task force, how may i help you?" pure gold.

may: "you always listen to the whole menu. always!" you should.

bobbi: "my name is bobbi. as in the name usually short for ‘robert’, but in my case, ‘barbara’, which, to me, is worse.” is not!... is kinda?

OR now that s7 has completely aired and daniel sousa has made a reappearance (talk about best of both worlds- agent carter and agents of shield?!)

sousa: basically anything he's said. but actually. "some of my favorite people are people like you." !!!

hmm, don't know many people who watch aos but if @sammax883bb8, @ink-blot-angel, @aurora-australis-tumbles, @oh-wow-i-have-nice-cheekbones or @animallover81 want to give this a go, i'd love to hear from you! and anyone else wanting to is welcome!!

#parting shot #partingshot #agents of shield #me #mine #dang this is long sry

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everlastingartist · 4 years

Text

Alright then this is the third chapter, and it going to be a tear jerker. But I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

It was nearly a month since Chloe's even seen Spike but staying in the house and dealing with cleaning and washing dishes while their mother was gone away, for testing and then for surgery was hard on all of them, especially Chloe.

Joyce had asked Chloe to go buy some milk for tomorrow or they would be out completely.

Chloe simply nodded without saying anything other than. "I love you, Mom. I'll be back in a jiffy." " I love you too, Chloe. You're such a good girl." Joyce smiled as Chloe grabbed her mother's car keys and left to go up the road to the supermarket across from town.

Chloe would be twenty minutes tops, unaware that Joyce had clutched her head with her hand and passed out on the couch.

Twenty minutes later, Chloe had opened the front door, with other items then just milk for the house.

" Mom?" Chloe's voice echoed into the living room but when she went towards the kitchen, Chloe stopped as her eyes morphed into shock, fear then grief.

There Joyce laid on the couch, eyes staring out into the room with no life in them at all. Chloe's hands had dropped the bags, the items in the bags popped out and scattered all over the living carpet. Her knees buckled and dropped to the floor below her.

Their mother was gone and Chloe didn't..need a fucking Doctor to figure it out. Chloe curled herself up with her knees up against her and her face rested on her knees as seeing her mother dead shook her to her core.

Buffy opened the door and called out as she saw flowers by Brian.

After calling and Joyce not answering, Buffy tries to wake up they're mother by shaking and slapping her, nothing. Buffy tries to use her strength, Chloe stands up in a flash and grabs her sister. " No! You'll break her rib cage!" Chloe's eyes covered with tear stains on her cheeks as Buffy was surprised Chloe was here. Chloe arms wrapped around Buffy as they both start crying again. Buffy pushes Chloe's arms from and calls 911.

As they arrive and take Joyce away, Chloe and Buffy sat on opposite sides of the room. It was dark out, the scoobies gang would be here.

Chloe had to get out of the house, and with Buffy's little trio. Being around anyone was bad with this much grief and anger running through her, taking a walk might help.

Chloe stands from the couch, grabs her coat after looking over her shoulder towards Buffy and Dawn.

Dawn is in shock and overwhelmed with tears. There was nothing Chloe could do for them. Joyce is gone, the doctors assured Chloe that the tumor was gone.

Hands turning into fists on the way out the door. " I'm going out, I can't be here…" Buffy holds Dawn as Buffy fights the urge for Chloe to stay.

Remembering Thanksgiving was drifting through Chloe's vision as Chloe made it to the cemetery. Passing the gate, Chloe runs, passing all the tombstones as Chloe starts yelling and screaming, slamming her fist down on each old tombstones as she runs by. All the birthday's, Christmas, all gone.

"Nooooo! It's not fair, none of this is fair!!!" Chloe's voice cracked as she screamed out like a cry out into the cemetery, trying so hard to make sense of it all. Why they're mother? Why her?

Spike heard screaming as Buffy was running beside Spike. Both find Tombstones scattered, broken in pieces everywhere.

Chloe's knuckles were bloody, had bits of stone digging in more into the bone of her hand. Her eyes were now yellow, as a fresh vampire sprung up and ran towards Chloe. Watching this, Spike and Buffy were running towards The vampire attacking Chloe. Chloe growled as the vampire jumped, Chloe countered the surprise attack with fang drives into the Vampire's throat. Chloe's eyes glared at Buffy then looked up and towards Spike.

Drank and Drank until The vampire turned to dust.

Fresh blood staining her face and lips as Spike slowly approaches Chloe, a dangerous growl was projected at Spike as he tried to get closer.

"C'mon Love, I know you're in there. I was at the house when I heard about you're mum. I know you're hurting-" Chloe screams out, Spike stops to covers his ears.

"Where were you when I needed you? A month goes by without you. Buffy. You. Go. Home. And take care of Dawn. Something else is inside me. I don't want to hurt you or Dawn." Chloe's voice was hoarse and filled with pain and grief.

" I know you're hurting, Chloe. But what would mom say?-" Buffy asked as Chloe's eyes darkened with that one sentence. Chloe rushed at Buffy, pinning her down as Chloe grabbed her by the throat.

Spike charges over and tries to get Chloe off Buffy but Chloe's new found strength throws him off her.

Buffy scratched at Chloe's hand as Chloe tightened her grip around her sister's throat while Buffy gasped to breathe.

"Mom's dead!! Because of a doctor who knew this would happen and mom knew and didn't want us to know! She gone, now everything falls on me. Had you been home and not chasing after a fucking boy then she'd still be here! You left me to do everything, left me to go play house!" Chloe screams in Buffy's face as she finally let's go.

Chloe's eyes could say a thousand words but all they say is Betrayal by her sister and by Spike.

Spike was gone for a month after the last encounter from Chloe, he felt his undead heart was about to burst if he saw Chloe's despair look in her eyes again. No longer the blue eyes Spike remembers her having. Vampiric yellow eyes covered over her blue ones.

Chloe loved Joyce so much that this was the transformation point that the council had foreseen, Blood had been dripping down Chloe's chin. Blood stains on her shirt as her black leather jacket torn sleeve from the vampire attack.

The love in her eyes were in the darkest part of her mind. Chloe had saved every single cent and bill she had from being in L.A. Chloe threw her bank card at Buffy, it landed at Buffy's feet.

"Three million dollars, are enough to cover mom's funeral and payment for the house plus food. But there's more than that in my account. Living with dad had it's perks I guess. I made a lot of money from the night club, body guarding." Buffy was crying again but not because of their mother but that Chloe had solved everything . Dawn could still go to school and Buffy to school. But then Chloe would be stuck raising Dawn by herself. Not that Chloe minds but Chloe had been right about everything .

Buffy had been selfish, that it took their mother's death to see it, if both of them had been there then Joyce would still be alive. Neither of them were. Spike was partly to blame for Chloe's despair and pain, what if seeing him just once within that month got her through the week would have been so hard? Chloe is in love with him, just as much as he's just figuring it out for himself now . Chloe's eyes change back to the blue that Spike remembers seeing.

But Chloe's thirst for blood as changed everything now.

" I won't be home, tell Dawny that I love her and until I get whatever this is under control I can't stay there." Chloe stares at Buffy as Buffy continues to cry silently.

" I'll be at Mom's funeral, but I have to stay in the cemetery for now. I love you, Buffy. " Chloe had pulled Buffy into a hug. Buffy said nothing but only nodded and clutched her sister's shoulder, crying into it.

"Chloe can stay at my crypt for the time being as all this vampire thirst business is done with." Spike said as Buffy just nodded as Chloe let her go. Buffy picked up Chloe's bank card and shoved it into her pocket.

Spike watched as Buffy walked out of the cemetery as Chloe stood silent. Spike moved in beside her, Chloe's hand found his.

" I had to be hard on her, to wake her up from the bullshit that's happening. I can feel something big coming."

Spike stood there as if time stopped as Chloe's features was grace with a small smile. That same smile from the first night that they had encountered each other.

Spike could see part of himself in her shoes but Drusilla's not here to kill the human heart, the part that made him weak.

A light squeeze from Chloe's hand woke him up from his trip down memory lane, but Chloe is now in front of him. Nose to nose, her right hand on his left cheek, her thumb tenderly skimming over his cheek.

"Life back then for you must have been horrible for you, for you to think that you were weak.." Suddenly Spike's eyes widened with shock. 'Did she just read my bloody, fucking mind?!' Spike's mind was now full of the most annoying questions his mind could think of.

Chloe dipped her head in between Spike's neck and shoulder. Warmth soon started to spread itself throughout his neck.

Chloe hummed a sigh of relief as she placed her hands on Spike's middle part of his back. " I have a soft spot for you, and no one else has that spot but you." Chloe had her lip up to his ear as if Spike could be blushing right now.

Spike grew a smile before he knew what would happen, it did.

Chloe kissed his collar bone that laid open in the collar of his black shirt.

Loving the feeling of this warmth, Spike slowly draped his arms around Chloe's waist.

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reversingxtime-blog · 7 years

Note

“I’m not doing this.”

Four Word . Prompts

“ Oh, c’mon, Chloe! ” Max did her best to give her most irresistible puppy-dog eyes and pout, camera in hand. “ I just need a few more shots for my portfolio and what better model to use than you? ” She bats her eyelashes for good measure, and just in case, she adds, “ Don’t you wanna be on the Max Caulfield Photo Memorial Wall? ” // @punkdoes

#{ c'mon chloe. help a sister out }#punkdoes #📷 ❛ ask prompt.#📷 ❛ ic.#📷 ❛ answered.

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choking-on-tae · 7 years

Text

Dog cafe

Pairing: Jimin x reader

Word count: 2.5k

Summary: “You come here so often that you know all the people who work there, however, you've never seen this boy before. He can't be that much older than you. Plus he's rather cute. Really cute even. You've never seen him here before, which means he must be new.”

Genre: FLUFF

Author’s note: I’ve posted this story on wattpad before but with Hoseok instead of Jimin. So if it seems familiar that’s why. Thought it fit better with Jiminie. x

It's Saturday again, which means dog cafe day! You and your friend made it your weekly trip. You're both doing totally different things in life so you don't see each other very often. Your friend's life is a lot more hectic than yours is but she still decided to meet you every Saturday afternoon at the cafe. You really thank her a lot for that, that even though she has a super busy schedule she still makes time for you. You've been best friends since you were 4, and still are really close. Of course both of you met different people and made some other friends too but your friendship never really changed. You're still like her younger sister, and that will never change.

You're not a very social person, so you really value your friendship a lot. She's like a sister to you too, so you always make time for her when she asks. You're in college, so you're pretty busy with that too but you're currently just done with your exams and you don't have any until next semester. So you can chill out a bit, which is exactly what you need. Some relaxation. You arrive at the cafe and walk through the doors, the bell announcing a new costumer. As soon as you're in you're instantly greeted by some of the cute dogs. You put your bag on the floor as you pet a cute golden retriever, who was trying to get you to sit down so it could lay on your lap.

"Hello cutie."

It barks at you before running off again. You chuckle as you quickly pick your bag up again and make your way to a table where a French bulldog pug waiting for you. You've always wanted a dog, but your mother would never let you have one. She always told you how you'd eventually stop taking care of it and that she'd have to do everything for it in the end. When you were a little girl this made you really upset, because you really, really wanted a dog when you were 10. As you got older, you realized that having a dog is a lot of work and effort. You really have to be able to take care of it, feed it, give it attention, walk it. But since you're in college you don't have that time.

So you come here every week, to give all the puppies that are here a lot of love. Your friend isn't here yet, so you take a seat at your regular table. You've been coming here for the past year. It was your friend who mentioned the cafe and you've been coming here ever since. You come here so often that you know all the people who work there, however, you've never seen this boy before. He can't be that much older than you. Plus he's rather cute. Really cute even. You've never seen him here before, which means he must be new.

His dark hair makes his caramel skin really pop. He's truly beautiful, handsome and exactly your type. He's behind the showcase with delicious tarts and pies. They almost look as delicious as he does. Wait what? Okay focus, don't droll over him now. You don't even know his name. For all you know he could be a total jerk. Right that moment the manager starts talking to him, which causes him to smile brightly. Oh my goodness. If smiles could melt hearts, that just happened.

"Y/N-ah! How long have you been here?" Your friend's voice snaps you out of your thoughts. You look up and see her taking a seat in front of you, giving you a sweet smile.

"I haven't been here for so long. So don't worry."

You tell her as you turn your attention back to the boy behind the counter. He really is adorable.

"Have you ordered yet?" She asks as she grabs her wallet.

"No."

You say, too busy staring at the cute boy. Your friend notices and smirks wickedly.

"Ah too busy staring at the new guy over there?" You snap out of your thoughts and feel a blush creep up on your cheeks.

"He's so cute Y/F/N."

She chuckles at your words before making her way to the counter and ordering your regular things. The boy starts placing your order with that beaming smile of his. You've never felt like this before. He seems so wonderful, so nice to just be around. C'mon you haven't even talked to the guy yet. Jeez get yourself together! You shake the thoughts out of your head as your friend comes back to the table, with a smug smirk on her face.

"Oh no what did you do?" You ask, absolutely terrified of the answer.

"I talked to him, his name is Park Jimin and he works here since Wednesday. That's why you haven't seen him around yet. He's not much older than you are and he loves puppies. That's why he works here. Seems like he's perfect for you." She tells you as she takes a quick photo for her Instagram.

"Ya, Y/F/N! I don't even know him! He could be a total jerk for all I know!" She sighs deeply as she rests her face on her palm.

"Y/N, you've been so busy with school lately, live a little too!"

You let her words sink in for a moment before the guy, who's name is Jimin, apparently, brings you your order.

"Here you go. Enjoy." He says with a beaming smile.

Your friend is right. You've been so busy with college and work that you haven't done anything fun withing the past months. You don't even remember the last time you went out or went to a party. When did it get this bad? You ask yourself as you take a sip of your cappuccino. Your friend is right, you should live a little instead of always being busy with school and such. Your eyes go back to the cute boy behind the counter, who's helping a costumer. He's so cute! It wouldn't hurt to talk to him, right? As if your friend can read your mind, she gives you a nod of approval.

"Go ahead." She whispers.

As soon as you've finished your cappuccino you get up and check to see where Jimin is. Okay he's still behind the counter. Plus there's no costumers so he technically should have time to talk. What's there to lose anyways? It's just your favorite cafe where you come every week and fuck that would suck if this goes wrong. Damn it. But you gotta live from time to time too, and your friend is right so it's worth the risk. As you slowly make your way to the counter you feel your heart starting to race. Jeez you just met the guy, calm down heart. You think as you feel your whole body starting to shake. Okay you can't talk to him like this, calm down a little first. You take a deep breath as you mentally prepare yourself. It's just talking, nothing scary. You say as you try to calm yourself down.

Once you think you're doing okay you step in front of the counter, Jimin's eyes immediately finding yours.

"Can I help you?" He asks, his voice coming out a bit shakier than he intended to.

"Yes, I was wondering when your shift is over, and if you maybe wanted to grab a coffee together?" An amused grin spreads on his face as he turns off the coffee machine.

"Are you asking me out, Y/N?" Your eyes grow wide as he mentions your name.

"How do you know my name?"

You're pretty sure your eyes are ready to pop out at this point. He bites on his bottom lip before he answers you. "You've never noticed me before?"

You shake your head 'no' as you try to remember where you could've possibly ever seen him. "We take the same classes. At least almost all of them. When I first walked in I instantly noticed you, and this is gonna sound crazy but I really like you. So one time I was talking to your friend Chloe and she told me that you come here every Saturday. She told me that they were looking for employees so I applied and got the job. I suddenly realize how creepy this must sound. Damn I'm sorry. You must probably think I'm some kind of psychopath-"

"-Jimin."

You interrupt his ranting. Your cheeks are now a bright shade of pink. You've never met anyone who put this much effort into getting your attention.

"Yes?" He asks, seeming absolutely terrified for what you're about to say.

"You really wanted to get to know me that badly?" You ask him, full of amazement and confusion at the same time. Truth is you've never had this before so you don't really know how to deal with it. He gives you a soft nod, as all his confidence seems to have disappeared all of a sudden. He glances at the clock and starts to take of his apron.

"My shift is over now.. I'm sorry." He says as he folds his apron and grabs his coat, getting ready to leave.

"Wait! Don't you want to get to know me?" You ask, completely confused as to why he wants to leave so badly.

"Y/N, you don't have to be nice to me. I know you don't like me so you don't have to pretend to-

"Jimin, I do like you, otherwise I wouldn't ask you to drink coffee with me."

"Are you sure?" He asks as he starts taking of his coat again.

"Yes! Now c'mon!" You say as you grab his arm, dragging him to the table you and your friend are sitting. She gives you two an amused look as she puts her phone away. "Ah look at you two. Shall I give you two some alone time?"

"You really don't have to-" Jimin starts, but Y/F/N interrupts him.

"No I insist!" She grabs her purse and gets up, giving you space to sit down.

"Have fun you two! Y/N, I'll text you." She waves as she walks out of the cafe.

"Was she in the plot too?" You ask Jimin as he sits down. "Euhmm.. yeah.. she was."

"How much effort did you put into getting to know me?" You ask as you relax in your seat.

"A lot, and I know it sounds crazy and I'm sorry."

"Jimin wait, I actually think it's really sweet that you put so much effort into trying to get to know me. If you must know, I actually couldn't keep my eyes off of you." You confess, your cheeks turning a dark shade of pink.

"Really?" He asks as his cheeks turn the same shade of pink as yours.

"Yes, you can ask Y/F/N, she totally noticed and teased me for it." You tell him as you glance at the time on the clock. It's a little past 4, maybe he has somewhere to go?

"Jimin,I'd like to get to know you better. So maybe we can like go out on a real date?" You ask nervously, absolutely terrified for the answer. However, he gives you the brightest smile you've ever seen in your life and nods excitedly.

"Yes! That sounds amazing! Can you like meet up Tuesday after class? We've the same classes anyways so maybe we can do something fun after school?"

"That sounds lovely." You tell him, as he places his hand over your own. Finally gaining his confidence back he leans over the table to press a kiss against your cheek.

"Great, I can't wait." He says as he gets up.

"Euhm Jimin! Can I have your number?" You ask him as you nervously play with your fingers.

"Of course you can babe." Your eyes grow wide at his words as the blush creeps back again.

"Aish you're so cute jagiya." You hand him your phone as he quickly types his number in your contacts list. He hands you your phone back and gives you a wink.

"Call me."

Before he walks out of the cafe. You smile brightly to yourself as you save his number to your contacts.

"Babe? Dozed of again?"

You snap out of your thoughts as you move your eyes from the ring on your finger to Jimin, who's been staring at you this entire time.

"Yeah, sorry I just thought of how we met 4 years ago." He gently takes his hand in yours as he moves his thumb over the engagement ring he got you.

"You remember?" His eyes twinkle at the memory of how he first met you. How embarrassed he was when he confessed to you because we was sure you didn't like him, and how his heart fluttered when you told him you wanted to go on a date with him.

"Of course I remember, silly."

You say as you both take a seat on the couch. Jimin proposed to you yesterday, and it was the most amazing moment of your life. He's taken you to Paris, how classic. But he knows you and knows that you love romantic gestures, so he thought Paris would be the perfect place to propose. He took you out for dinner that day, to the fanciest and most beautiful restaurant you had ever been to in your entire life. Jimin never fails to amaze you, and he did that too this time. After dinner, you two went for a romantic walk through the streets of Paris. Instead of proposing in front of the Eiffel tower, he decided to settle for something else. You went to this park, that had the most beautiful tries and lanterns. It almost looked as if you were in a fairy tale.

There weren't that many people around, which made both of you feel a lot more comfortable. You were just walking around, hand in hand, talking about the most random things when he suddenly popped the big question. Well actually, he stopped both of you and knelt down on his knees. You were too shocked to form proper words but still managed to bring out a 'yes'. You thought you had seen the brightest smile when you asked him to go on a date, but you were wrong. This was the brightest smile you had ever seen on his handsome face. And here you are now, engaged to the most amazing person you've ever met in your entire life, and you can't wait to marry him.

#jimin #bts jimin #fluff #jimin fluff #bts fluff #jimin scenarios #bts scenarios #bts fluff scenarios #one shot #bts one shot #bts one shots #jimin one shot #jimin one shots #park jimin #jiminie fluff

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esquimaltnanaimo · 7 years

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A blue and black GP9, with 124 emblazoned on her number boards, pulled to a stop on the mainline. She reversed into a siding, pushing a short line of open-top gondola cars loaded with scrap metal, and three other Geeps. All were painted for Canadian Pacific, and they looked quite old compared to the blue Geep in front, even though they were the same class and age. One of the three even still had a Multimark on their faded paint.

124 was quiet as she uncoupled from the train. The three near-identical red engines behind her had black patches over their numbers, and a number of small parts were missing from them. Their air brakes clamped on as the blue Geep pulled forward a few feet, disconnecting the air hoses between them, which caused them to worry - they had been told they were destined for "repurposing", which they assumed meant a rebuild.

"Chloe...?" asked the first, quietly. She sounded afraid as she took in the surroundings, and all the scary broken machinery.

"Why'd you bring us to the scrapyard...?" asked the second.

124 revved up her engine gently and began to roll back towards the mainline, wordless.

"Where are you going?" asked the third, in her childish voice.

"Chloe, wait... are you..."

"Don't leave us!!"

"Chloe!!"

The scrapyard gate closed behind 124 as she switched back onto the main track. She silently rolled back into New Westminster Yard, trying not to listen.

"Chloe! Come back... please!"

"sister....."

"CHLOE!!"

Chloe jolted awake, emitting a blast of air in surprise. "AAH! I'm sorry!! I was following orders, I had to--"

She opened her eyes, finding herself face to face with a very unhappy Jordan.

"...oh."

The bigger diesel was not pleased that Chloe had been sleeping in the shop while he was out working in the rain. He seemed even bigger than usual, but that was probably Chloe's mind after... well, either way, the rainbow SD obviously had no interest in what was causing her expression of guilt.

"C'mon and get your lazy hood out here. I need help getting a train together."

"...Coming," said Chloe, starting her engine.

#story post #chloe the gp9 #the gleeful geep #chloe's nightmares #engine backstory

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iwritestuffsometimes · 7 years

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Chihuahuas Vs. Pit Bulls (Written By Anon Ace)

The second most memorable thing about the day James met Hunter was that it was also the first time he had ever been punched in the face. He was nine years old, and while walking to school, James spotted a bigger kid pushing around two smaller kids. His little brother and sister stopped to watch. James tried to get them going. He was going to be late- why his mother allowed them to walk on the first day, he didn’t know, but it was proving to be a mistake. His sister, wide-eyed and staring, pointed at where a boy, who was hardly bigger than she was, struggled with a kid almost twice his size while a girl from James’ class watched, crying. “Why?” His sister asked. James didn’t know. “Bigger kids do that sometimes,” He offered, and tugged on her hand. “C'mon, before it’s us.” “Can’t you help him?” This from his brother, who thought that because James could monkey his way to steal chocolate from the top shelf in the kitchen, he could do anything. The bigger kid now sat on the smaller boy’s chest, and started pushing his head into the concrete. The kid’s face was bleeding and his eyes were glazed, but he wasn’t crying. His little arms were still swinging up at the bigger kid, hands curled into small fists that pounded at the bully’s chest. The last thing James wanted was to get involved. He’d fallen down on the sidewalk before, jumping out of his apartment’s window because he thought he could fly. He’d cracked a tooth and broke his wrist. It hurt. The last thing he wanted was to get beat up on purpose. But he looked at his brother and sister, at their total faith in their big brother’s abilities, and found himself thinking about what he would do if it was one of them. Before he knew it, he was across the street and diving on top of the big bully with his eyes closed so he didn’t have to see his own beatdown coming. He lashed out blindly in the bully’s general direction. He felt his own small knuckles come away bloody. The bigger kid socked him right in the eye, threw him on the ground and gave him one good kick before he ran away, deciding- James thought- that five kids was more trouble than two. The breath came back into James’s body before the smaller kid recovered his, so he helped him up- squirming in discomfort when the kid leaned on him, red-faced and gasping. “What were you doing?” James asked him, when the kid finally let go of him to brace himself on the nearest wall. “He was trying to take Liz’s lunch,” the kid gasped, clutching his skinny chest like his heart would burst if he let go. “I gave him mine, but he still wouldn’t leave her alone.” James looked at the kid, and couldn’t believe that someone would ever give away food without a beating first, let alone fight so hard for someone else’s that he takes the beating anyway. He cast a look at the girl named Liz, who was holding her lunch like a bomb that might go off at any second. “Your brother?” he asked. She shook her head. “I never talked to him before.” James looked back at the kid. “Serious?” He nodded. His breathing was starting to calm, but his face was starting to go from red to bruised, and there was blood dripping from a cut on his head. James wiped at it with his sleeve. “I’m James,” he said. “Hunter,” the kid answered. When they got to school, James found out that Hunter was actually his own age, and they would be in the same class. He found that out when he got assigned to look after him when Hunter insisted he didn’t need to go home. James guessed he got the job because-bruised and bloody and holding onto to each other so Hunter doesn’t fall over- they look like friends. James gave him half of his own lunch. II. James poked his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he positioned the container of ice over the plastic bag, concentrating hard so he didn’t miss the opening. He missed the opening twice, and he had to chase the cubes around the kitchen floor before managing to scoop them up in a towel. He held the mass to Hunter’s fat, bleeding lip. “What happened this time?” he asked. He didn’t know why he bothered. The answer was nearly always the same: Chuck Gardner picking on some girl. That’d been the answer since they were nine. James didn’t know if it was girls or Chuck that made Hunter forget every time that he was barely the size of an eleven-year-old even at fourteen. Or that the whole four times he’d won a fight with Chuck were all when James was there to step in and finish it. Predictably, Hunter said, “Chuck grabbed Chloe Miller’s–” He couldn’t seem to find a word he was comfortable saying, so he mimed a breast instead, his face flushing with heat all the way to his neck. James pressed the inside of his wrist against his forehead with a sigh. “And it never makes a difference to you that he’s bigger than you?” He asked. “You know he’s bigger than you, right? He doesn’t, say, look smaller than he is with your glasses off?” Hunter’s glasses were broken by Chuck in the first week of school that year, and another pair hadn’t managed to materialize. “No, I know he’s bigger,” Hunter says. “That doesn’t make it okay to walk on by.” And that’s Hunter all over, James thinks, with exasperated fondness. “Do you think you could maybe get me first before you jump in next time?” James asked. Hunter did his best to smile at him around the towel. Smiling must’ve hurt, though, because he winced. “You were too far away,” Hunter said. James shook his head. “So I’m just going to have to watch you all the time. I see how it is.” “I don’t have to be watched all the time,” Hunter said, frowning. Somewhere up there with Hunter’s notions of chivalry was his sense of pride, irked by the idea of his best friend being his babysitter. Sometimes, James would prod him on this, tease Hunter until he actually got mad. He learned that all that accomplished was making Hunter avoid him for a few days, resulting in more fights without any help. He made a joke of it instead. “No, just any time Chuck’s on the same block as a girl.” Hunter smiled again, paying no mind to how much it hurt. “Maybe someone should be watching him.” James laughed. “Maybe.” (Chuck got cancer and moved to a bigger town a year later. James’s mother slapped him for saying he’s thankful, and then God got his licks in, too: new big blockheads sprung up jockeying for position of Bully-In-Chief.) III. James hit Hunter once, and only once, in the entire course of their friendship. On a day so hot, it felt like you could bake cookies on the pavement, Hunter got into another brawl for the honor of a girl he barely knew, a girl he only barely talked to afterwards because for reasons beyond James’s understanding. Hunter didn’t seem to actually be in it for the girls. He didn’t want their admiration of his bravery and honor, despite his obvious disadvantages. He wanted the bravery and honor itself. To be the kind of person who would do things to try and turn the tide in an unfair fight, just because somebody should. Maybe it was his way of dealing with the fact that he was small and non-athletic, of trying to find something in himself that was bold and strong. Maybe it was because he was particularly sensitive to the agonies of the persecuted. James never asked. What he did know was that, after he’d managed to punch out three guys that Hunter stupidly took on at once, years of frustration get the better of him. He let fly his fist and gave Hunter a good one, knocking him down to the ground in one hit. Hunter stared up at him, just as shocked to have received the blow as James was to have given it. James felt sick. In a burst of pain and guilt and nausea and old anger all swelling to the surface, James let go of words he’d held back for years: “You’re not some noble knight on a mission to defend fair Breaux Bridge from her enemies, Hunter. You’re five feet six. You’re a Chihuahua, man. You’re frickin’ small, but you think you’re a Pit. It’s gotta stop ‘cause I can’t keep beating up everyone for you.” “I know,” Hunter said. “I know.” James stood still, seething. What more could he say? You’re not a hero. I know. Case closed. Conversation over. James reached down and helped Hunter to his feet for the millionth time in sixteen years. This time, he received a punch to the shoulder for his trouble. He was so surprised by it that he stumbled into the street. A car blared its horn at him as it swerved to avoid him. James leapt back onto the sidewalk, startled and shaken. Hunter smirked. “You know you deserved that, right?” The combined impact of the last twenty minutes hit James all at once, so that all he could do was go limp and laugh. “Yeah,” He said. “I know.” Hunter draped his arm around his shoulders and walked him down the street. James wondered what he was going to do with him.

#that first sentence though>>>>>#submission #hunter hayes #hunter hayes fanfiction #hunter hayes imagines #oneshot #fluff #friendship fic

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esquimaltnanaimo · 7 years

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Royal Rescue Ch.1: Island Morning

It was a spectacular February morning in Nanaimo. The engines of the E&N were all warmed up and ready to roll for the day's work, just poking their fronts out of their shop bays. Abigail's engine burbled, Chloe's air compressor thumped and Jordan's turbocharger whined as the trio awaited the morning work meeting with their yardmaster.

A set of footsteps signaled her approach. "'Morning, engines!" she sang cheerfully, stopping in front of the shop doors. "All set for today?" In turn, the three engines sounded their whistles as an enthusiastic "yes", all smiles. "Alrighty," began the yardmaster. "Abbie, you're on the refinery road-switcher job today. Jordan, you're on the barge run, and Chloe, you're on Comox supplies. Big shipment today, they've got a new log truck on one of the flatcars out there. Plus the usual stuff for the logging camp, of course." "I can handle it!" chimed the blue Geep cheerfully, revving her engine. "I know you can," said the yardmaster with a smile. "That's all, off you go!"

One after the other, the three diesels set about their work. Within five minutes, Abigail was gone south to the refinery, whistling for the crossings through town, and Jordan and Chloe were fetching their respective trains from the yard. Chloe's was twelve cars of mixed freight, destined for the logging camp in Comox. Her load was was quite substantial compared to Jordan's train, which was nothing but eight empty boxcars for the rail ferry. The big SD40 rolled away with them without a care in the world, just as Chloe coupled up to her train.

Suddenly, a portal appeared to the Geep's right, and out rolled a bright blue EMD switcher. Chloe was just about to get her train rolling, and faltered out of surprise with a yelp, her wheels slipping on the rails before she could calm her engine down. She recovered and looked to her right, and smiled with surprise. ”Oh, hey, Ellie!" she said, happy to see her cousin. "What brings you here?" The little switcher responded with a cheerful "Hello!" and a cute smile. "Just wanted to stop by and see if you need any help!" "Well, you have perfect timing," giggled Chloe. "I was just about to get rolling," she went on, looking back along her train. "Ooh! Can I help?" "'Course! C'mon and couple on, you can lead us to Courtenay!" said Chloe, shoving her train back a good twenty feet so Ellie could clear the switches. The little switcher trundled forward, changing to the proper track, then backed down in front of her cousin and coupled on. Her engineer, Duncan, climbed down and coupled the two engines' air hoses together, exchanging greetings with Chloe as he did so. Afterwards, he climbed back up into Ellie's cab and pulled out his guitar, leaning back in his seat. "I'm excited!" giggled Ellie. "I've never led a train on this line before!" "Hey, me too!" said Chloe. "I almost never get to run the supply train, and here I've got my cousin helping me out. Best day ever, you ask me!" "Any day's the best day if I get to help my friends out!" sang Ellie, giggling. "Well, if you're ready, I'm ready. Let's get a move on!" said Chloe, giving her big five-chime whistle a toot. Ellie replied with a honk of her own British-style two-tone horns, and the two cousins revved their engines and got the heavy supply train rolling northwards.

The train passed through town, the two cousins gently pulling it out of the yard. Their Electro-Motive engines sang together as they throttled up, accelerating the train onto the mainline. "So, anything new around here?" asked Ellie, once they passed the first level crossing. "Not really!" replied Chloe, a smile in her voice. "Just business as usual! But Felicia's been saying she's trying to get us more work, and the regular stuff's picking up again, which is great." "That's awesome, yeah!" agreed Ellie, smiling as she led the way. She honked her horns twice and revved her engine, wanting to pick up speed a bit more, and Chloe responded with two honks of her own before opening her throttle. Ellie backed off shortly after, eliciting a giggle from her bigger cousin. "It's forty-five mile-an-hour track here, Ellie! You can open us up more, if you want!" "I know, but this is good for now!" "Well, you're the boss!" "Not really—well, OK, maybe I am this time." Chloe laughed.

The train rocked and rolled along the E&N mainline, scampering north out of Nanaimo along the gorgeous eastern shore of Vancouver Island. Ellie led the train into a loose right-hand curve, and a sign reading "PARKSVILLE" played across her vision. Chloe saw it, too. "Parksville coming up!" she sang. Sure enough, up ahead a small station came into view, and the trees thinned on each side of the tracks as the train rolled into town. The ocean was over to the right, sparkling blue, with the mainland's mountains visible across the Strait of Georgia. Ellie blew her horns for a level crossing up ahead, smiling at the passengers on the Parksville station's platform. Chloe smiled too, whistling a cheerful hello to the ones waving as they passed.

After clearing the station, the train rolled through a large, open area covered in track ballast. A single passing track headed left off the mainline, with a pair of switches leading into a small two-track engine shed, and another single track making a sweeping curve to the west – but just at the edge of the ballasted area, the tracks were fenced over, barbed wire and all. Ellie was curious, looking over as they rolled by. "What's over that way?" "That's the old line to Port Alberni," said Chloe. "We're not allowed to go that way anymore… it's abandoned." "Oh…" replied Ellie. "It'd be cool to check it out sometime with portals! Hey, Duncan?" Duncan leaned forward in her cab. "It's all fenced off, Ellie… jail wouldn't be worth it." Chloe laughed. "It's not illegal! The tracks are just really old, they can't support engines." Ellie perked up. "Then we could go in as humans!" "Oh, good idea! We could!" Duncan's magic had given the two cousins the ability to change form temporarily – both of them had taken a liking to a human-like form, though Chloe had not had the chance to experiment with it aside from first learning how to assume it. Ellie, on the other hand, was quite experienced with it.

The train rolled out of Parksville, still heading northwards. "Chloe, how far are we going?" asked Ellie. "End of the line!" chimed her cousin, smiling. "We're taking this train to the Crown engines up in Courtenay, that's as far north as the tracks go."

The rest of the run, through Qualicum Beach and past Denman and Hornby Island, was uneventful, but beautiful. The train entered the Courtenay yard limit, and the two cousins braked gently, slowing the train. They broke through the treeline, rolling through the sleepy town of Courtenay and into the yard proper, which barely even qualified as a yard. There were only five tracks, and two of them had short cuts of empty freight cars in them. As Ellie lead the train in, she saw a familiar shape through an open boxcar's door, coloured bright orange and white, much like Abigail back in Nanaimo. Chloe saw, too. "Oh, the Crown engine's here already! Awesome, they're probably waiting to take the supplies."

Bringing the train to a perfect passenger-train stop at the far end of the yard, Ellie uncoupled herself from Chloe, pulling ahead to loosen her air hose from her cousin's. "Did I do OK?" she asked, worried. Chloe smiled. "You did perfect! Nice work, cous." Ellie smiled as Chloe went on. "You can go turn on the wye and get ready to head back… I'll shunt the empty cars for us to take with us," said the Geep, uncoupling herself from the train. Ellie trundled off to the end of the yard, finding a wye track. She made her turn, and rolled back through the yard facing south. Chloe was already busy shunting the empty train together, so she pulled to a stop out of the way at the other end of the yard.

A familiar engine sound approached her from the side, accompanied by a ringing bell. It was the orange and white shape from before, rolling backwards along the track beside where Ellie sat. They were an engine almost identical to Ellie, in size and shape. "Hey," they said simply, "I'm sorry to just appear and start talking to you, but your voice sounds really familiar—" they began, coming to a stop in front of Ellie on the next track over, completely losing their train of thought as they saw her. They were an SW7, just like Ellie – complete with freckles. The blue switcher blinked. "…I'm… familiar? I don't know, I can't remember a lot… But my name is Ellie." The orange switcher did a double-take. "Ell… Ellie??" they said, their face lighting up. "Like, ELLIE Ellie? Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in years!!" Ellie looked overwhelmed for a moment. "Oh my gosh, please tell me you remember me! Kelly, from Atlantic Coast! Your sister!!" Ellie blinked. "I… I have a sister?" Kelly's expression fell. "…You don't remember?" She was too excited to hear Ellie the first time. "I'm sorry that I don't. I really wish I did…" Duncan exited Ellie's cab, going onto her side walkway to talk to Kelly. "Don't be too upset," he said. "From what I heard, Ellie was still a baby when she was Atlantic Coast." "Oh, well…" said Kelly, "that's OK. It's been years, anyway." Ellie grinned from headlight to pilot. "I have a sister!" Kelly smiled. "You have lots of sisters, El'!" "I mean… I know there's, like, more SW7s," said Ellie, "but I mean ones who knew me back then. Did I really say 'honk' instead of honking?" "Yeah! And it was the most adorable thing. You never grew out of it, even after me and the others did," Kelly said, smiling in memory. "I'm just gonna stop you for a sec before you go on though, and say I'm really happy you're OK." Ellie looked confused. "Well… when you got sold off to that rail services place, we kinda freaked out. We didn't know if you were gonna get resold, or… worse." Ellie laughed a bit. "Oh, well… They didn't want me after a while, so I got adopted by a preservation railway." "Preservation railway? Wow, lucky you. Which one?" "The Forest Valley. I'm Number 2 on the roster there." "That's so cool… You're better off than me, I'm stuck logging!" said Kelly with a laugh. "These people at Crown are gonna run me into the ground, I swear." Ellie looked worried. "Oh, no… I'm sorry to hear that." "Hey, though, it's all good," said Kelly with a smile. "They keep us in working order, at least." "That's good," said Duncan, leaning on Ellie's handrail. "It's good to be running hard all day, anyway," continued Kelly. "Keeps the oil flowing, after all," she said, with a wink. Ellie smiled. "Duncan checks me over every morning… then he kisses all my freckles," she said, giggling. Duncan smiled. Kelly looked back and forth between her sister and the human for a moment. "So… wait, you're in a relationship with your engineer?" "Yes, since last August." said Duncan, still smiling. "Oh, that's so cool! Congrats!" said Kelly, smiling in return. "Thanks!" sang Ellie.

After a short silence watching Chloe switch the train together, Kelly looked at Ellie. "So, sis, how's the preservation life, anyway?" "Oh, it's great! And I know someone really, really, really important! I mean… besides Duncan." replied Ellie. Kelly looked interested. "Well, she's known around here as the Queen Anne, but I know her as Tillie Senpai. She's so pretty and smart, and nice… and without her I probably, well… I wouldn't be here." "Well… wow. I don't actually know who that is, but that's awesome," said Kelly. "Oh! Duncan, show Kelly a picture of Tillie!" said Ellie excitedly. Duncan did so, pulling out his smartphone and walking over to Kelly, climbing up on her pilot to show her. "Oh, she's a… steam engine. Neat."

Before Ellie could tell her long-lost sister more about her Senpai, another engine sound approached. "Oh my god, is that Baby Ellie?!" said an unfamiliar, deep voice. "Oh, hey Bob! When'd you get here?" said Kelly. "Just did," said the other engine, rolling to a stop in front of Ellie on her track. He was an older model of switcher, an NW-2, painted in the same colours as Kelly. He looked a lot worse for wear, but he was just fine with that. Ellie looked confused. "Baby Ellie…?" Bob gave her a look, then his expression softened. "…You don't remember, do you?" Kelly cut in. "Hey, don't sweat it, B. She doesn't remember me either, and I'm her sister!" Bob laughed. "It's alright. Maybe she can make it up to us by honking." he said, looking at Ellie hopefully. Kelly's expression brightened. "Ooh, yeah, like on ACL! C'mon, say 'honk'. For old times' sake!" "…Alright. You wouldn't want to hear my actual horn, anyway…" said Ellie, trailing off. "Hey, why not? Could be fun to compare horns, see who's got what all this time later!" "It's not right to pester, Kell—" "HONK!" yelled Ellie, interrupting, startling her sister and cousin. Bob recovered, laughing. "There's our Ellie!" "Yes, oh my gosh!" said Kelly, laughing as well. "You even sound almost the same still, that's awesome…" "Ding ding ding!" Ellie sang loudly, giggling with her family's laughter.

Chloe rolled by on one of the other tracks at that moment, tugging a cut of boxcars behind her. "Ellie, what in LaGrange are you doing?" she asked, laughing a bit. Kelly looked over. "Chloe! Oh my gosh, stop for a sec!" she said enthusiastically. Chloe braked, looking over. "She's doing what she did when she was still a brand-new diesel," said Bob. "Heck, she's barely aged." Chloe uncoupled from the boxcars. "Brand-new diesel?" she asked, approaching. "What do you mean, brand-new diesel?" Kelly was all but jumping off the rails with excitement. "Chloe, you won't believe this. Ellie's my sister!!" "Wait, seriously?" asked Chloe, surprised. "Mm hmm!" giggled Ellie, smiling cutely. "Yeah!" said Kelly, excited. "We were part of the same EMD order, like… YEARS ago!" "That's right," added Bob. "She's Atlantic Coast, same as us. Well, former." Chloe looked at Ellie, then Kelly and Bob. "You're kidding… that's awesome!" Kelly started to laugh in agreement, but stopped almost immediately. "Wait. It just occurred to me." "Huh?" said Chloe. Kelly looked to the older switcher to her left. "Bob, you were built at LaGrange, right? Back before GM bought Electro-Motive?" "Guess I was, yeah." "And I know Chloe was, and I was, and Ellie was, too… So this is, like, a family reunion!" Ellie honked her horns cheerfully, smiling wide. "…Wow, that's new," said Bob, surprised. "Oh my gosh, that's so cute! Where'd you get that horn?" asked Kelly. "That's, like… British, isn't it?" "Mm hmm!" chimed Ellie. "At our railway you have to be really kid-friendly and non-threatening… This was a hand-me-down from an engine in Britain. Another shunter, a Class 04." "Huh… no way," said Kelly. "I'd ring my bell, too, but…" "But what? …It's not broken, is it?" asked Kelly, worried. "…Duncan accessed my records," said Ellie. "Apparently I liked to ring it too much, so they cut the power to it…" Chloe went wide-eyed. "…Rails above, and you were leading on the way here. We broke CROR." Duncan was shocked. "Wait, your bell is actually broken? We didn't get it fixed??" "Yeah… why else wouldn't I ring it?" "Excuse me," said Duncan, casting a portal open next to him and pulling an electrician's tool kit from it. Kelly and Bob watched, incredulous. The tall Scot quickly climbed onto Ellie's hood, approaching her bell and opening the metal panel close to it. "…Wait, shit," he said suddenly. "…What is it?" asked Ellie, looking up. "Your bell is air powered… It's not electrical," he said, looking around at the other three engines. "Does anyone here know how to fix a cut air line?" Chloe moved forward a bit. "The shop guys in Nanaimo can fix it!" Duncan was serious. "I need to help my girlfriend. Like, now." Kelly chimed in, choosing to not ask questions about the portal. "Oh, the machine shop in Comox! I can take you there with the supply train, they can fix your bell!" "Wait," said Chloe, "aren't the rails on your branch line super light? I thought only switchers can… wait. Ellie is a switcher." Kelly and Bob shared a laugh.

Meanwhile, Ellie was panicking. "Oh no… Oh no, I broke the law! I broke the rules… I'm gonna go to train jail!" Bob looked at her. "…Ellie, there's no such thing as train jail." "Yeah, it's no biggie! We just gotta get you fixed up, sis," said Kelly, laughing a bit. "But your boyfriend up there might end up paying a fine." said Bob. "Fuck," said Duncan simply. Chloe cut in. "Hey now, that's only if we got caught! And I don't think there's any RAC inspectors on Vancouver Island this week," she said, with a cheeky smile. "We're gonna be fine, so long as it's working by day's end." "…Okay," said Ellie, calming down. "Thanks, guys…" said Duncan. "No worries, friend!" chimed Kelly, smiling. "Nobody's going to jail, yay!" said Ellie cutely, drawing a giggle from her sister.

Bob lead the way to the front of the supply train. "Right then, little Ellie, let's go get your bell fixed," he said. "Then you won't have to say 'ding ding' like the old days." Ellie smiled, following her older cousin. Chloe honked her horn behind her. "Hang on a sec, Ellie!" Ellie stopped, looking back as Chloe rolled to a stop beside her. "Oh, yeah, Chloe?" "I'm gonna get the empties back to Nanaimo, since they have to go on the ferry soon… You gonna be OK to run back on your own later?" "Yeah," said Ellie, "I'll be OK!" "OK, awesome. See you in Nanaimo!"

After a short run down the branchline and what seemed like no time at all in the shop, Ellie's bell was repaired. The shop crew at the Comox logging camp had installed a brand new air line and cleaned out the motor, and now the little switcher's old steel bell rang with a bright, steady rhythm, good as new. After a cheerful send-off from her Atlantic Coast family, she departed south, heading back down the eastern shore of Vancouver Island as light engine.

When she arrived in Nanaimo, she couldn't see Chloe anywhere, but Jordan the big SD40 and Abigail the RS3 were idling on the shop leads. Jordan looked like he'd seen a ghost, and Abigail wore an expression of pure worry. "Oh no… something's wrong." thought Ellie, hurrying over to the shop tracks. "Jordan! Jordan, what's wrong?" she called, concerned as she rolled to a stop before the other two engines. They looked up, the older ALCo surprised to see her. "Ellie…? When did you get here…?" she asked. "Earlier, before Chloe left," replied Ellie. "I re-met Bob and Kelly!" "Oh… the logging switchers, yes… you know them?" asked Abigail, gaining a bit of a smile. "They knew me when I was a baby," said Ellie happily. "Oh, and they fixed my bell!" she went on, giving her bell a few rings. Abigail smiled. "Oh, that's wonderful—" she began, before the bigger diesel to her left cut her off. "Abigail, we have more pressing matters than Ellie's little trip down the Memory Subdivision here," he barked. "Oh… goodness, right, I'm sorry…" apologized Abigail. "Sorry… Okay, what's wrong?" asked Ellie, looking at Jordan. Now that she was closer, she could see the unfolded letter on his pilot. Jordan looked grim. "It's… Fuck. It's Gloria. Over on the mainland,” he said, looking down at the paper. Ellie looked worried. "…What's going on?" she asked. "The steam engine I worked with at Expo, the last working Royal Hudson, they're…" "They're gonna scrap her??" assumed Ellie, looking shocked. "Ellie, don't assume," said Duncan quietly. Abigail sensed that Jordan had just trailed off. "Well… you're half-right, Ellie…" she said, expression falling. "They're going to decommission her.”

#long post #esquimalt and nanaimo #ellie the sw7 #chloe the gp9 #abigail the rs3u #jordan the sd40 #royal rescue story arc #ttte oc

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