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secretswiftymarvelfan · 2 years ago

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Burnin’ Up - Firefighter!Chris AU (Part 7: The Evans Family BBQ)

Summary: After overhearing a phone conversation, Chris invites you to the Evans family BBQ

Word Count: 9.1k

Warnings: Angst! Fluff! Alcohol Consumption! Language! Talk of active shooter situations! Mention of Character death!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Meet the Characters!

Series Masterlist / Masterlist

Part 7: The Evans Family BBQ

Chris was stood on the street observing his crew as they worked to get the garden fire under control. So far they had managed to contain it and prevent it from spreading into other gardens or out into the wooded area at the bottom of the backyard, but they were still working on getting it completely out.

“Jimmy how’s it looking?” Chris called out as he walked closer.

“getting there! We’re really battling the lighter fluid though” Jimmy called back over the noise of the hose.

Chris just nods glancing over at the fire before shaking his head, when will people learn. He turns his attention back over to the triage that had been set up to deal with the burn victims that had tried to play hero. Jamie and Emma were busy working away on the few injured.

“how you guys doing? Need any more assistance? Supplies?” Chris asked walking over to the tent.

“no we’re good, they were all lucky, the burns are quite minimal, just waiting on a couple more ambulances to arrive so we can transport the worst to hospital” Jamie explains as she checks over a burn on a man’s arm.

“Evans! Hawkings!” Captain Jeffords calls out grabbing Chris’ attention.

Chris jogs over to the Captain, Paul joining a few moments later “what’s up cap?” Paul asks brow raised.

“dispatch need a two man crew to help cut a man out of doggy door, I’m sending you two in” Captain Jeffords explains barely looking over at Chris and Paul, his attention still solely on the fire.

“of course Captain we’re on it” Chris nods looking over to Paul who nods his head in agreement.

“good, take the SUV all the equipment you’ll need is in there already” Captain Jeffords explains sparing Chris a quick glance as he chucked the keys over to him.

Chris nods easily catching the keys “c’mon Paulie lets go” Chris says patting him on the shoulder.

The two of the climb into the car, getting the address from dispatch and making their way through the city. The ride was fairly silent, the only noise being the sirens and the occasional beep of the horn to get the traffic to move. However as Chris drove he slowly became aware of the smirk on Paul’s face.

“are you gonna say what you’re thinking or continue to sit there like the Cheshire cat?” Chris huffs glancing over at Paul.

“its nothing, you just seem eager to get to the job that’s all” Paul comments.

Chris arches a brow as he glances over at Paul “it is part of our job to get there as quick as possible” Chris points out.

“yeah but this isn’t a major emergency… we don’t need to be honking at every car in the way” Paul says just as Chris hits the horn again, a low growl of frustration falling from his lips.

“I wouldn’t need to honk if people were paying attention to the siren and actually got out of the way” Chris grumbled honking the horn a couple more times.

“so this eagerness to get there has nothing to do with the potential chance that your girl might be there” Paul smirks.

“she’s not my girl” Chris states quickly making Paul’s smirk grow.

“so you’re not denying your eagerness to see her then” Paul points out.

“I’m not eager to see her, she probably isn’t even the one who called it in, I bet she has much bigger fish to fry now she’s a sergeant” Chris points out shaking his head slightly.

“oh c’mon Chris you know you’re hoping its her, we all see you smiling at your phone whenever you get a text from her, you’re always in a better mood after hanging out with her the evening before” Paul says nudging Chris’ shoulder.

“we’re just friends that’s all” Chris defends shaking his head slightly as he sighed, because he couldn’t really deny it, even if it was a slim chance he was hoping it was you calling it in, he did always seem in a better mood after hanging out.

“so you aren’t thinking of asking her out again?” Paul asks looking over at Chris.

“no” Chris says almost instantly, shaking his head “we’re better as friends, less complicated”

“what’s so complicated about it?” Paul asks with a huff of a laugh.

“well you know with everything that happened, both of us working in the emergency services” Chris says suddenly struggling to think of more reasons, despite his brain telling him there was definitely more.

“doesn’t sound complicated to me” Paul points out making Chris sigh.

“it doesn’t really matter, those feelings are gone” Chris says shaking his head.

“are they? Or have you just buried them because its easier?” Paul asks.

Chris doesn’t answer, keeping his eyes set on the road ahead. He wanted to tell Paul he was wrong, he didn’t have feelings for you anymore. He’d seen the other side of you and didn’t like it, didn’t like being the target for it. But he just couldn’t get the words out. It was complicated, even if life did seem simple when you were around.

Thankfully they turned onto the street where the man was stuck and pulled up outside of the house next to the police car. Climbing out Chris made his way up the drive towards the back gate. As he rounded the corner he couldn’t help but smile when he saw you stood there hands on your hips as you looked down at the guy stuck halfway through the doggy door.

Chris paused for a moment just taking in the scene, you were stood there in a white blouse, black leather jacket and jeans. Hands on your hips, eyebrow arched as you looked down at the perp, a look of exasperation on your face. You then looked up your eyes meeting his, a warm smile appearing on your face as you walked down the stairs of the deck towards him.

“I promise I don’t chase all my perps into situations like this” you state with a smirk.

Chris laughs recalling the time he freed your perp from underneath a fence. The atmosphere this time though was completely different, he was receiving a warm smile from you this time, not an icy glare.

“are you sure? Because if I had a nickel for every time I cut a perp free for you, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but its strange its happened twice” Chris smirks shrugging his shoulders.

You narrow your eyes as you look up at him “did you just quote Phineas and Ferb?” you question.

Chris chuckles shrugging his shoulders “I have young nieces and nephews” he explains.

“hey if you don’t cut this guy free I’ll do it myself” the detective near the perp calls out over to the two of you.

Chris raises a brow looking down at you in question “that’s Diaz the new transfer from the NYPD, Benny’s off sick, but don’t worry she’s scarier than she looks” you explain shaking your head gently “that being said you better go cut the guy free”

Chris chuckles nodding his head as he looked over at Paul who was stood to the side with a shit eating grin on his face. Chris just rolled his eyes at him “get the gear” he ordered.

“yes sir” Paul smirks giving Chris a quick salute before turning and heading back to the SUV.

“so what happened here then?” Chris asks nodding to the perp as you and Chris walk over to the door.

“guy got pretty wasted, came home, key wouldn’t work so tried to get in through the doggy door, which is a great plan except for the fact that his house is actually that one” You explain pointing to the house next door “and you’ll never guess what” you add with a smirk.

“he doesn’t own a dog?” Chris guesses.

“bingo, the owners of this house got home saw him halfway through their doggy door, passed out, so called the cops” you explain putting your hands on your hips.

“so not a burglar?” Chris confirms.

“nope, if he was a burglar he’s the worst ever, worse than the wet bandits” you comment making Chris bark out a laugh.

“home alone, good movie” he smiles nodding his head.

“er try best movies of all time?” you retorts shaking your head at him.

“nope, nothing beats Legends of the fall” Chris states shaking his head.

You just shrug your shoulders “never seen it”

Chris’ jaw dropped “what! How have you never seen it!” he exclaims hand instinctively reaching out to touch your arm “we need to change this right now, what are you doing tonight?” Chris asks.

“nothing” you chuckle as you looked up at him.

“good because we’re having a movie night, I’ll bring the movie you bring the snacks” Chris states leaving you no room to argue.

You laugh at him but nod your head “okay fine, my place?” you offer.

“sure I’ll text you when I get off shift” Chris smiles nodding his head.

He watches as you smile down at the floor before looking up at him, his own smile growing on his face. a warm sensation filling his chest as he looked at you.

The moment was then interrupted by Paul clearing his throat loudly “if you two have stopped flirting can we cut this guy free now?” he asks.

“we weren’t flirting” you say quickly, shaking your head “just friends”

Despite the fact Chris agreed with you, he felt his smile fall slightly. His throat growing tight forcing him to clear it with a loud cough. You glance up at him with a raised eyebrow and an unreadable expression on your face. Chris just gives you a quick awkward smile before turning to Paul and getting on with the job.

That evening Chris made his way round to your apartment, after briefly stopping at his house to change into a comfy pair of grey sweatpants and navy Henley. He quickly jogged up the stairs pizza boxes in hand before knocking on your apartment door.

A few moments later you opened the door also now in comfy clothes, wearing baggy sweatpants and an oversized Boston PD tee, your hair was pulled out of your face in a messy bun. Despite all that a smile broke out on Chris’ face because you still looked incredible.

“I thought I was dealing with the snacks” you point out nodding to the pizza boxes.

“these aren’t snack, they’re dinner” Chris corrects as he steps into your apartment, toeing off his shoes.

“dinner and a movie, wow am I a lucky girl” you smirk as you close the door behind him.

“what can I say I know how to treat a women” Chris playfully smirks before suddenly realising what he said “you know as a friend”

You nod your head clearing your throat “yeah- yeah of course” you say rubbing your hands together nervously “why don’t you set that up and I’ll grab up some drinks, beer?” you suggest.

“yeah sounds good” Chris nods moving over to your TV.

As he crouched down to put the DVD in he let out a quiet but deep sigh as he rubbed his forehead, his hand running down over his beard as he glanced over his shoulder. He couldn’t see you but he could hear you moving around the kitchen, the occasional sound of beer bottles clinking against each other. He could almost picture you walking around, using your hips to shut the drawer that you got the bottle opener from, nudging the fridge shut with your elbow. He found himself smiling at the scene he was picturing in his head before his brain suddenly shut it off reminding himself that you were only friends.

“got it all set up?” you ask walking back out to the living room.

“yeah, all good” Chris nods clearing his throat slightly as he stood back up, accepting the beer taking a long pull.

“good, now this movie better live up to the hype” you say turning to sit down on the couch crossed legged.

“it will I promise, movies are my thing” Chris promises as he sits down, reclining back on the couch, one arm outstretched across the back.

“is that why you have a superhero complex?” you smirk knowingly.

“I plead the fifth” Chris comments with his own smirk, reaching out to grab a slice of pizza.

You roll your eyes at him grabbing the remote and pressing play on the movie before grabbing a slice of pizza for yourself and happily munching away. For a second Chris completely forgot he was here to watch a movie, his favourite movie, because he couldn’t take his eyes off of you. Watching with a small smile on his face as you happily ate the pizza, small sighs of context escaping your lips.

You must have sensed him watching because you glanced over with a frown on your face “what have I got sauce of my face or something?” you ask your thumb quickly wiping the corners of your lips.

Chris chuckles shaking his head “no you’re good” he smiles.

You give him a slightly confused smile back, but don’t question him further about why he was staring, going back to eating and focussing on the movie. Chris bit his lip slightly as he gave you one last glance before turning his attention to the movie, yet he still couldn’t focus on it, his mind elsewhere, thinking about how much he liked how relaxed you were around him.

Every other girl he’d spent time with, whether it be a one night stand or one of his failed relationships years so, would always make sure they looked their best. They wouldn’t be caught dead wearing baggy and old clothes, they also wouldn’t dive into the pizza they would take tiny mice bites to avoid sauce getting everywhere. Yet you did none of that.

The hopeless romantic part of his brain was telling him that it was because there was some connection, and you were different to all the other girls, that maybe Scott was right all along. But then his realistic part of his brain kicked in, trampling the hopeless romantic side back into its grave. You weren’t putting in the effort because you didn’t see him more than a friend, you didn’t seem him as a romantic option. Whenever he hung out with the crew Jamie would dress similar to you because they were friends, this was the exact same.

You and Chris were friends. End of Story.

About half an hour into the movie your phone started ringing, you quietly cursed as you pulled out your mobile “sorry I have to take this” you apologise quickly.

“its fine don’t worry” Chris smiles grabbing the remote and pausing the movie.

You gave him a thankful smile before standing up and answering your phone “good evening sir, is everything okay?” you say into the phone.

There was silence as you listened to whoever it was, Chris guessing it was your captain, your head gently nodding, teeth nervously biting at your lower lip.

“yes of course let me just grab the file and I’ll get you up to date” you say scratching the back of your neck as you walk out of the living room down the hall to your bedroom.

Chris waited in silence for a moment, only hearing the muffled sound of you talking to your boss down the hall. As he waited his eyes began to wander around the room, taking in all the different knickknacks you had lying around, the books you had and the photos on the side. He saw one with you and Benny at Disneyworld, Chris could practically hear the laughter as the pair of you posed with Officer Judy Hopps. He then spotted one from your graduation from the police academy, he recognised the man stood next to you as your father.

However to anyone who didn’t know who your father was, and what he looked like, they would probably assume you were strangers. Because despite the proud smile on your face, the distance between the two of your spoke volumes, it looked far too formal to be a father and daughter. A fact that made Chris frown, recalling his own photo with his father when he passed his firefighter training. His photo was much more familiar, the smile on his father’s face wide and proud, not small and courteous like your father’s smile.

His train of thought was then interrupted by you walking back in and slumping down on the couch with a heavy sigh “sorry about that” you apologise looking over at him.

“its okay, does your captain normally call your this late off shift?” Chris asks glancing at his watch.

“it wasn’t my captain, it was my father” you explain shaking your head.

“oh” Chris frowns, finding that nugget of information confusing since from the way it sounded it didn’t seem like you were.

“he wanted to know how my current case was going” you explain sitting back, your head resting on Chris’ forearm, something that if you realised you didn’t say anything about.

“oh okay, It all sounded very formal just assumed it was your boss” Chris says clearing his throat trying to ignore the funny sensation in his chest that he started feeling as soon as your head rested against his arm.

“yeah my father has always been pretty strict about that, if its work related I must refer to him by rank” you explain with a casual shrug of your shoulder “I’m sure it must be the same for you with your father”

Chris frowns once more at this, he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that there was parents and families who had this sort of relationship with their children. It was all too formal and backwards.

“i-I mean I guess” Chris stumbles “but only around others, if its just me and him its more casual”

You just hum at this “anyway lets get back to the movie” you say grabbing the remote and pressing play before Chris had a chance to question it further.

For the rest of the movie Chris couldn’t focus on anything except what he’d just learnt about you and your father. He glanced back over at the photo of you and your father, deciding that the more he found out about Commissioner Y/L/N the less he liked him.

A couple of days later Chris was at his mom’s house out in the garden playing with all the kids.

“Uncle Chris focus!” Ethan shouted getting Chris’ attention “you’re gonna make us lose!”

Chris blinked a couple of times before returning his attention back to the small game of wiffleball he was playing with the kids and Scott.

“don’t worry pal, Scott is terrible at batting” Chris reassures him as he smirked over at Scott who was holding the bat.

“careful you don’t want a repeat of the softball incident” Scott smirks wriggling his eyebrows.

Chris rolls his eyes at his brother, the incident at the softball game had since become a big joke in his family “that’s a lot of talk for someone who rarely hits the ball” Chris retorts.

“bring it on Christopher” Scott goads getting into position to bat.

Chris got ready to throw the ball, deciding not to hold anything back to teach his brother a lesson. However before he even got a chance he got interrupted by his older sister.

“Kids come inside! Lunch is ready!” Carly called out from the back door.

The kids instantly dropped everything and made a beeline for the house, Chris smirk shrugging his shoulders as he looked over at Scott “save by the bell hey?” Chris smirks.

“yeah you got off lucky” Scott retorted, dropping the bat and turning back towards the house.

Chris took this opportunity to throw the ball at Scott hitting him on the back of the head “hey!” Scott complained turning back around to Chris.

“wasn’t me” Chris said pointing over to dodger.

Scott rolled his eyes “you’re a child, an actual child” Scott scoffed walking back towards the house.

“c’mon bubba” Chris chuckled before jogging to catch up with Scott, wrapping his arm around his shoulders and ruffling up his hair.

“urgh Chris!” Scott whined trying to push Chris away but ultimately failing.

“hey pack it in you two!” Lisa scolded lightly from across the room where she was helping the kids plate up their food.

“sorry ma!” Both Chris and Scott called out in unison.

“I hope you two won’t be this much trouble at the BBQ this weekend, I swear you two are worst than the kids” Carly says with a pointed look.

“don’t worry Carly, we’ll be on our best behaviour” Chris says holding his hands up as he walked over to grab himself some food.

Carly hums unconvinced before going back to help Stella cut up her sandwiches into triangles.

Chris smiles as he begins to plate up some food for himself, taking a little bit of everything since he could never decide which of his mom’s cooking was the best.

“you okay sweetie?” Lisa asks as she comes to stand next to him.

“hm? Oh yeah just hungry after all the running around” Chris nods as he scoops up some potato salad.

“you sure? You seemed a little distant earlier, what’s going on up there?” Lisa asks quietly pointing to his head.

Chris sighed glancing around at everyone, thankful that they were now a good distance away, sat down eating their food, not paying attention to this conversation. Since he stepped in the door today all he could think about was you, specifically whether you every experienced this sort of family vibe. Did you father ever take you aside when he saw something was bothering you? did you have cousins to play with on a warm summers day as a kid?

“nothing, I just-“ Chris starts before sighing as he tried to find the right words “at the theatre, are there kids or families there that aren’t as close as ours?” he asked.

Lisa frowns slightly as she put down her plate to give him her full attention “I mean I guess so, with me being a stay at home mom it meant I had more time to do stuff with you guys, not every parent has that luxury but I wouldn’t say they were any less loved” Lisa tells him “why do you ask?”

“well.. I was hanging out with Y/N a couple days ago and she got a call from her father but from the outside it sounded like a call with her boss, not her dad and she said it was normal but I just can’t seem to wrap my head around it” Chris sighed shaking his head.

Lisa hummed nodding her head slightly “well not every family is as lucky as we are, I know her family went through a lot after her mother died” Lisa sighed.

“you knew about that?” Chris asks surprised.

Lisa nods her head with a sad hum “yeah your father told me about it when it happened, he probably knows more about the situation so he could probably answer your questions better” Lisa explained.

“I just feel so bad for her, losing her mom and then her dad being as cold as he appears, what if she never got to experience something like this?” Chris says nodding over to the large table full of his family.

“sometimes life isn’t fair, but just because her childhood wasn’t as happy as yours, doesn’t mean she deserves this kind of life any less, the past doesn’t define our futures” Lisa tells him putting a hand on his back and rubbing it soothingly “why don’t you invite her to the BBQ this weekend?”

“do you think she’ll want to come?” Chris asks sceptically.

“I’m sure, everyone is welcome here” Lisa smiles warmly.

“thanks ma” Chris smiled leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.

You had been a nervous wreck all morning and you had no clue why. Well actually the fact that you had been invited to a big BBQ party by Chris was kinda freaking you out but you had no clue why it was freaking you out. you’d hung out with Chris plenty of times now, you’d even go as far as saying you were good friends. So why is being invited to a party so terrifying.

When Chris gave you the address you were surprised to find the house was actually in the suburbs of Boston, you’d expected him to have a bachelor pad or something. You were even more surprised when you pulled up outside a decently large house, coming to the conclusion that this couldn’t be his house.

Your theory gained more evidence when you knocked on the front door and were greeted by who you recognised as his mother.

“oh I’m so glad you could make it, come inside” Lisa smiled ushering you in.

“yeah I’m glad I had the day off” you chuckled nervously as you glanced around the house.

It was an impressive house, one that definitely felt like it was built for a large family, pictures of Chris and his siblings and the rest of his family hanging on the walls. It all felt very homey, it was the kind of house that you dreamt of.

“I’m sorry I didn’t bring anything, I found out a bit to late” you apologise.

“oh its fine dear there’s plenty of food to go around, can I get you a drink?” Lisa asks as she leads you through the house and towards the kitchen.

“oh um yeah just a beer please, but I can get it” you say rubbing your hands together nervously.

“oh no dear don’t you worry” Lisa smiles waving you off as she opens the fridge to pass you a beer “and please make yourself at home, any friend of Chris’ is a friend of the family”

“thank you, you have a lovely home by the way, it’s beautiful” you compliment gesturing around at the house.

“oh no dear, this isn’t my house, it’s Chris’” Lisa corrects you with a smile making you equally surprised and confused, she must have seen your confusion because she quickly explained “he brought this place a little while after his niece and nephews were born, he loves having them over to stay but wanted there to be plenty of space and a garden to run around in”

Your heart skipped a beat as you listened to Lisa, a smile growing on your face because of how sweet the reasoning was. The more you got to know Chris the further he appeared from the asshole who pushed your buttons for fun. It was almost unbelievable but it also made sense, even on that very first night you could tell how kind and caring he was.

“oh wow that’s really sweet” you smile.

“yeah he really is a big softie, even if he does wind everyone up time to time” Lisa smirks with a wink making you laugh.

“yeah he does have that talent” you chuckle taking a sip of your beer.

“who has what talent?” Chris asks as he walks in heading straight to the fridge to grab himself a beer.

“nothing dear” Lisa smiles innocently as Chris looked over his shoulder with an arched brow “are you not going to greet your guest?” she prompts him.

“well you were the one who beat me to the door” Chris points out with a smirk.

“its in my nature” Lisa defends making Chris chuckle.

“yes you are the neighbourhood mom, I swear my pals always went to her for advice over their own parents” Chris told you, sending a warm lopsided smile to his mom.

“and that offer is still open today, even for you” Lisa agreed nodding over to you.

“thank you Ms Evans” you thanked her.

“please call me Lisa dear, I’ll leave the two of you to it, just don’t burn the place down” she smirks before making her way out of the kitchen.

Chris chuckles watching his mom go before smiling over at you “thank you for coming by the way, I’m glad you could make it” Chris smiled.

“its nothing, thank you for the invite” you smile shaking your head gently.

Chris shrugs gently as he smiles at you “c’mon let me introduce you to everyone, and be warned we’re all a little mad here” he smirked as he walked over towards you and guided you to the back door.

You laugh looking at up him “what is it with you and Disney references recently?” you question.

“I told you, young niece and nephews” Chris chuckles but you narrow your eyes unconvinced.

“I don’t believe you” you hum before gasping excitedly “you’re a Disney adult aren’t you!”

“I plead the fifth” Chris mutters as he hides a grin opening the back door and gently pushing you outside with a hand to your lower back.

You laugh up at him, feeling warm all over from the sun and his proximity “if it makes you feel better, I am too” you tell him quietly.

“yeah the picture of you and Benny with Officer Hopps kinda gave that away” he smirked.

You gasp playfully “stalker” you smirk.

“just being observant” Chris fires back with a playful grin.

The sound of a dog barking grabs your attention and you look out and around Chris’ back yard. It was beautifully spacious with a good sized pool that people were lounging around, dangling their feet in the water. People who you recognised as Chris’ crew were stood around by the BBQ, a fact you found quite funny because of course the firefighters would be in charge of that. On the beautifully kept lawn you could see kids running around with a brown and white dog, running and dodging the large trees, one of the kids jumping on one of the tree swing before being told to be careful by Lisa.

“c’mon let me introduce you” Chris smiled leading you over to the BBQ.

“right you already know Paulie and Jamie” Chris starts “but this is Jimmy, Steve who is now dating my brother Scott, and this is Captain Jeffords and his wife Clara” Chris says introducing them to you one by one.

“hi nice to meet you guys officially” you smile, waving nervously.

“ah so you’re the girl who knocked Evans down a peg or two” Captain Jeffords smirked holding out his hand “can you tell me your secret?”

You laugh glancing up at Chris who was rolling his eyes “I could but then I’d have to kill you” you smirk making everyone laugh.

“whoa I better not be missing out of introductions!” someone exclaimed joining the group.

“and this is my brother Scott” Chris says introducing his brother who had wrapped his arm around Steve’s shoulder.

“I have to say you are one of my favourite people ever since you nailed Chris in the balls at that softball game” Scott grins making you laugh “actually even when you slapped him”

“alright lets introduce you to everyone else” Chris said guiding you away from his brother and friends who complained loudly.

Chris introduced you to the rest of his family, including his two sisters and his niece and nephews. He then called over the final person with a whistle, the brown and white dog you’d seen earlier racing over to the two of you.

“and this is dodger, my firefighter pup” Chris smiled scratching dodger behind the ear.

“I thought fire station dogs were dalmatians” you point out as you bend down to give dodger some fussing.

“yeah but after we found him we couldn’t really let him go” Chris admits with a shrug.

“you rescued him?” you asked surprised.

“kinda he just appeared one day sleeping outside the station, we took him to the vets but he had no owner, or at least none that wanted him which was just insane because from the get go he was always this sweet little boy, always wanting to say hello but trying his hardest to be good” Chris sighed shaking his head slightly.

“well it looks like he found the right owner in the end, but I’m surprised you called him Dodger, not very Bostonian of you” you comment with a raised brow.

“I called him that because he looks like the Artful Dodger from Oliver and Company” Chris admits scratching the back of his neck.

“definitely a Disney adult” you smirk playfully.

Chris laughs nodding his head making you instantly smile as you stand back up to your full height “well either way its very sweet how you adopted him” you tell him.

“you sound surprised” Chris comments with a small smirk.

“past me definitely would have been, but current me isn’t, well maybe a little bit, but it makes sense” you say as you look around at the large crowd of his family and friends.

Chris smiles bashfully looking down at his feet as he shoves his hands in his pockets, he glances back up at you his mouth opening as he went to say something but all that came out was “oofh” as his eldest nephew barrelled into him.

“Chris come play! You said you’d play” Ethan complained pulling on Chris’ arm.

“In a bit buddy, I’m just hanging out with my friend at the moment” Chris told Ethan gently.

“she can play too!” Ethan exclaimed looking over at you with hopeful eyes.

“I don’t think Y/N-” Chris starts before you interrupted him.

“yeah I can play” you smile nodding your head.

Chris looks over at you surprised before his face melted into a warm smile.

“yes! C’mon we’re playing cops and robbers! You can be a cop because you’re a real life one which is so cool!” Ethan exclaims dropping Chris’ hand to grab yours and dragging you towards the rest of the kids.

“I thought you said my job was cool” Chris said with a small pout as he followed after you.

“yeah but cops are cooler!” Ethan explains making Chris’ eyebrows raise slightly.

You laugh looking over your shoulder at Chris poking your tongue out bragging about your most recent victory in your on going playful feud.

It was starting to get late when Chris carried Stella out to Carly’s car, the little girl fast asleep in his arms, face smushed into the crook of his neck, small hand grasping the small medallion around his neck. He knew Stella was probably too old and too big to be carried like this but as long as he was able to pick them up, Chris would always let his niece and nephews climb all over him.

“thanks for carrying her out Chris” Carly smiled as she opened the car door.

“it’s alright I’ll always have time for my little stelly” Chris smiled as he bent down to put Stella in her car seat, detangling his chain from her hand carefully.

“they had fun tonight, they’ll definitely sleep well tonight” Carly chuckled quietly as she looked in at the car full of tired kids.

“I’m glad they enjoyed it” Chris smiled warmly.

He had a lot of fun spending time with all his friends and family today, put if he had to pick an exact moment it would be when you and him played with the kids together. Even when he was exhausted and tired of the kids climbing all over him, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw you interacting with the kids. It all seemed so natural, as if it had always been this way, like you had always been there. It made the hopeless romantic in him resurface despite knowing nothing would ever happen.

“yeah they love Y/N too, you should have her around more often” Carly tells him.

Chris sighs shaking his head as he scratched the back of his neck “I dunno-“ he started.

“Chris stop self-sabotaging” Carly interrupted making Chris’ eyebrows raise in surprise “I know it’s a bit scary for you, and you like to have things planned out, but just go with the flow with this one okay?” she tells him putting a hand on his arm.

Chris for a second didn’t know what to say, part of him wanted to nod his head and agreed with her but that little voice in his head was telling him no. That if he went with the flow it would only end badly, he needed to keep things how they were. So instead he settled for a joke to ease the tension.

“you’re not my mom, you can’t tell me what to do” he chuckles half-heartedly.

Carly rolls her eyes at him, shaking her head at him with a small smile on her face “no but I am your older sister so I have a little sway” she retorts making Chris laugh gently.

“just don’t do anything rash okay?” Carly sighs.

“I won’t I promise” Chris concedes wrapping his arms around his older sister giving her a tight hug, kissing the top of her head “drive safe” he tells her patting her on the shoulder as he steps back.

“will do, and I’ll text when we get home” Carly says stepping back towards the car “now get back in there and go with the flow” she adds pointing to the front door.

Chris laughs nodding head “going with the flow” he agrees.

He watches as she climbs in the car and pulls away down the drive way, waiting until the car was out of sight before looking away. letting out a long sigh as he looks up at the starry sky as if the answer to the question he didn’t know was up there. As he stepped back inside the house he ran straight into you, his hands grabbing your arms to keep you steady.

“whoa hey where are you going?” Chris asked looking down at you.

“um home? Its late” You say with a slightly confused look before glancing down at his hands on your arms, Chris only just realising he was still holding you and quickly letting go.

“you can’t go you’ve been drinking” Chris states shaking his head at you.

“don’t worry I’m not driving I was just going to call an uber or something” you reassure him holding up your phone.

“I’m still not letting you go” Chris says making you sigh in annoyance.

“why not!” you argue “I’m more than capable of getting an uber”

Chris could see you were getting irritated at him so held up his hands to placate you “I know, I’m not saying you’re not, I just don’t like the idea of you getting a uber this late at night on your own” he reasons.

You frown slightly in surprise as if that idea never crossed your mind, something that Chris didn’t like at all. Had no one ever looked out for you like this? He doubted your ex did, and really hoped your father did.

“oh um I’ll be fine I’ve done it plenty of times before” you tell him shaking your head gently.

“that doesn’t mean you will be this time, all it takes is one creep” Chris presses making you sigh deeply.

You rub your forehead tiredly before dropping your arms in defeat “what do you suggest then Chris?” you sigh.

Chris thinks for a moment, he hadn’t really thought this far ahead. All he knew was that he couldn’t let you go home alone. If he was sober he’d drive you himself but that wasn’t an option and you lived too far away for him to walk your back. He glanced around the room hoping there was someone he trusted that could drive you back but there wasn’t anyone. Leaving only one option, the one that the little voice was saying it was a bad idea.

“do you have work tomorrow?” Chris asks you.

“no I have the whole weekend off for once” you say shaking your head.

“great, you can stay here then and I’ll drive you back in the morning” Chris decides, your jaw falling slightly.

“Chris no I can’t” you say shaking your head, Chris ignoring the small feeling of hurt at your rejection.

“you can, c’mon its fine” Chris presses.

“no Chris, I don’t have anything that I need, nothing to sleep in, a toothbrush” you list off shaking your head.

“don’t worry about all that, I’ll sort that just please stay” Chris says a pleading tone to his voice.

He watches as you look up at him, your eyes searching his for a moment. He could see you were doubtful still so he put as much reassurance he could into one look, watching as your resolve broke.

“okay fine… I’ll stay” you concede.

“great! I’ll go get everything sorted go make yourself comfy” Chris says pushing your back towards the living room.

Chris instantly dashes off up the stairs, hearing your laughter as he went. He poked his head into one of the guest rooms he had making sure it all looked okay and was nice and tidy. He then made his way into his room and his ensuite, opening the cupboard under the sink he grabbed the spare unused toothbrush he kept there as well as a new tube of toothpaste. Once he sorted that he made his way into his closet, he quickly found a pair of old sweatpants that didn’t fit him anymore and one of his tops.

On his way back downstairs he grabbed a towel and flannel for you. In the time it had taken for Chris to get everything ready, the last couple of guests had left meaning when he got back downstairs it was just you.

“where’d everyone go?” Chris asks as he walks into the lounge.

“they took the opportunity and ran for the hills” you joked looking up at him from your spot on the couch, dodger curled up besides you.

“from me or you?” Chris smirks making your roll your eyes at him.

“right here you go, let me know if there’s anything else you need” Chris says passing you everything.

Your eyes widen in surprise at the pile of stuff he’d sorted for you “should I be concerned you have a toothbrush on stand by for overnight guests” you smirk arching a brow.

Chris laughs throwing his head back laughing “its new don’t worry” he promises you.

“I’m glad to hear it, thanks Chris for sorting all this out” you smile nodding down to the pile in your hands.

“its nothing anything to make you feel comfortable, your room is first of the left, I’m just gonna finish tidying up the kitchen so I’ll see you in the morning” he says nodding to the kitchen running his hands down his legs.

“do you want some help?” you offer making him smile.

“no I’m good, get some rest” Chris reassures you.

“okay well goodnight Chris” you smile.

“goodnight Y/N” Chris smiles watching as you head up the stairs to bed.

Chris wasn’t sure what time it was but he couldn’t sleep, the warm nice weather of the day had been replaced by a wet and stormy night. Climbing out of bed he quietly made his way down to the kitchen to grab himself a glass of water.

He leaned against the kitchen island sipping at his water as he stared out the window admiring the storm. Chris had always loved nature so it was no surprised he was fascinated by storms, the way the lighting danced across the sky, how the thunder rolled like waves and how the rain tapped against the windows desperate for attention.

Whenever there was a storm Chris would always find himself away watching the sky. If anyone asked he’d say he was just making sure a tree didn’t get struck and catch fire, that he was just on standby for something to go wrong. But really it was just because he loved them so much.

He was just putting his now empty glass back in the sink when a large clap of lightning ripped through the sky, lighting up the entire room as if it was daytime. But that wasn’t what caught his attention, it was the large crashing noise he heard right above him. For a moment he was confused as to why there would be a crashing up there but then his brain caught up and he remember your bedroom was right above the kitchen.

Chris cursed quickly running up the stairs his heart hammering and his head going a million miles an hour, going to all the worst-case scenarios. What if a branch had snapped and the wind had swept it through the window? What if you were seriously hurt? He’d never forgive himself if something happened to you.

He didn’t even knock when he burst into the room, hearing your startled scream at the intrusion. Chris blinked a couple of time his eyes scanning the room confirming that no there wasn’t a tree branch through the window. His eyes finally falling on you crouched down on the floor a smashed lamp on the floor around you.

“I’m so sorry- the- the storm it” you stuttered like you were struggling to breath.

Chris watched as your hands shook as you tried to clean up the mess, wincing slightly when you finger scratched across a broken shard on the floor. Seeing you in pain spurred Chris into action, instantly crouching down and reaching out to grab your shaking hands.

“whoa, whoa stop you’re gonna hurt yourself” he told you feeling your hands shake in his, making him grip onto you tighter to stop it.

“I’m fine Chris I- I- I just need to-“ you stutter, Chris hearing you quietly sniffle as you looked down to avoid his gaze.

“Y/N” Chris said trying to get you to stop “Y/N stop” he pressed squeezing your hand finally getting you to look over at him.

His heart broke when he saw the tears and fear in your eyes, Chris looked at you confused for a moment trying to work out why a broken lamp caused all this. Did you fear him or something? Were you scared of his reaction?

Suddenly another clap of lightning ripped through the sky, illuminating the fear on your face, Chris watched as you flinched so much your hand was ripped out of his. You let out a poorly concealed scream of terror, your hand clasped over your ears to block out the noise. Chris cursed as the pieces fell into place, you were terrified of storms.

“hey, hey its okay” Chris reassured you getting a close to you as he could over the broken shards on the floor, his arm reaching out around you to rub your back.

“I’m sorry- I’m sorry” you stuttered, your entire body shaking in fear.

“its okay, right just put your arms around my shoulders” Chris says guiding your hands to his shoulders.

Your hands shook as you wrapped your arms around his shoulder, once he felt you were secure he reached out and gently scooped your up into his arms. He stood up and carried you out of the room, he paused for a second trying to work out where exactly to take you. at first he thought about taking you downstairs but there were more windows and more open. So instead he opted to take you to his bedroom instead.

As he walked into his bedroom, Dodger raised his head from his bed watching Chris’ every move. Chris gently settled you down on the bed, quickly whistling for dodger to jump up knowing how relaxing it felt to have him around. Once you were settled down Chris quickly examined your hand relieved to see it wasn’t too bad and already stopped bleeding.

“I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to break-” you stutter shaking your head slightly.

“hey its okay stop apologising, accidents happen” Chris tells you gently, but you just shake your head looking down.

“hey c’mon now” Chris sighs gently, hopping into bed besides you, wrapping his arm around you pulling you into his embrace.

Chris continued to comfort you, holding you close so you practically sat in his lap and reassuring you that everything was fine and that the storm would pass. He’d feel you slowly begin to relax but every time there was another clap of thunder it would be straight back to the beginning. Chris felt completely helpless he didn’t know how to calm you down while the storm still raged.

“did I ever tell you about the time I made Scott piss his pants?” Chris said suddenly.

“what?” you sniffled, your head still buried in his chest.

“yeah we were kids, only about 10 or 11, and we were out playing in the backyard and I wanted to play a prank on him, so I said instead of going inside to have a pee why don’t we just pee, like not in a bush, but just pee our pants” Chris said recalling the story struggling to hold back his laughter “he didn’t seem convinced so I told him I was already going, so he went, but just as he was going, I told him it was a prank”

“that’s mean” you sniffle.

“that’s not the worst part” Chris chuckled readjusting his hold on you so you were even closer to him “our babysitter pulled up so I ran over and told her that Scott peed his pants”

Chris could feel you still shaking slightly but when he looked down he could see you were actually laughing, wiping away the tears on your cheeks “so you’ve always been an asshole then” you chuckled weakly.

“yeah I guess so, Scott took the fall for a lot of my shit” Chris smirked as he looked down at you.

“can you tell me more?” you asked him quietly, glancing up at him sheepishly.

“more?” Chris asks surprised.

“yeah like from your childhood” you clarified sniffling slightly.

“oh okay, yeah sure” Chris nods racking his brain “god where to start”

Chris spent the next hour or so recounting stories of him and his siblings, like how he whacked Scott around the head with a book, splitting his head open. The time he pushed Scott over and he hit his head on the coffee table, splitting it open again, Scott taking the fall and saying he fell. The time that Chris pulled a massive strip of wallpaper off the wall, how his mom went mental and Scott took the blame again even though there was no way Scott could have done it.

“Scott must really love you if he took the blame that many times” you commented wiping away the last of your tears.

“yeah he’s my oldest friend really, thick as thieves” Chris chuckled shaking his head slightly.

“that’s really sweet” you smile your head still resting against his chest.

Chris hummed slightly as he looked down at you before glancing out the window, it took him a moment but then he realised the storm had stopped. All that was left was the rain which was now much more calmer than before. Chris went to tell you that it was over but stopped himself because he didn’t want this moment to end. He didn’t want you to go back to your bedroom, so he asked you a question instead.

“have you always been afraid of storms?” Chris asked gently.

You let out a long shaky sigh making Chris worry that he’d overstepped “yeah” you finally said.

“when I was younger my mom would always come into my room and make sure I was okay, but after she was gone I had no one” you told him quietly.

“what about your father?” Chris questioned.

“he didn’t understand it, he would just tell me to go back to bed so I kinda learnt to deal with it” you admitted making Chris’ blood boil with anger.

“for a while I was fine, but then I joined the force and it got worse again” you sighed shaking your head.

“why?” Chris asked you.

“um- I uh” you stutter slightly.

“hey its fine you don’t need to tell me” Chris reassured you sensing your hesitation.

“no- i- I want to” you say shaking your head “it was my first month as an uniformed officer, there was a shooting at a shopping mall and me and my partner were one of the first on the scene, to this day the sound of bullets echoes in my mind, my uh my partner got killed in the line of duty”

“shit Y/N” Chris muttered “I’m so sorry”

“its- its okay, it was a long time ago now” you say shaking your head “ever since my fear of storms has been back and worse than ever”

Chris sighed wrapping his arms around you tighter, his chin resting on the top of your head, resisting the urge to place a kiss to the top of your head “have you ever seen someone about this?” he asks you gently.

“yeah I got sent to the occupational therapist but it didn’t really work so I stopped going” you tell him but Chris got the impression that it wasn’t the full story but decided not to press further.

“did you try to find a therapist that worked for you?” he asked getting a shake of the head in response “I think you should, they really help when you find the right one”

“I dunno… I don’t really want to think about it right now” you sigh shaking your head.

“okay, that’s fair, what do you want to do?” Chris asked.

You looked up at him hopefully “A Disney movie?” you ask hopefully making Chris chuckle.

“yes of course, Beauty and the Beast?” Chris suggests grabbing the TV remote from his bedside table.

“sounds perfect” you smile.

As Chris set the movie up he expected for you to move away from him, sitting down in the space besides him. But you didn’t, you remained in his embrace, even going as far as to snuggle down closer into him. The movie began to play and you stayed put, Chris feeling you relax completely in his embrace.

Barely half an hour into the movie Chris noticed you had fallen asleep in his arms, your head resting against his chest, your features completely relaxed. Chris smiled gently as he brushed some hair out of your face, the warm sensation in his chest returning as he was unable to stop himself from pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

Chris couldn’t deny it any longer, he still had feelings for you and those feelings were pretty damn strong. He was no longer okay with being just friends with you, he wanted that first night again but without all the mess. He wanted you in his arms every single night. He just hoped you felt the same way.

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phykios · 2 years ago

Text

If I Were A Blackbird, part 7 [co-written with @darkmagyk] [read on ao3]

He had barely even made it into the building before Paul called him. “Hello?”

“Hey kiddo,” he said.

“Hey, Paul. You’re up kinda late.” It was eleven PM here in Mexico, midnight in New York. Paul was an early riser, even by early riser standards, and he was usually asleep by eight or nine.

“Yes, well,” he hedged. “You know. Um, Percy, can I… can I ask you something?”

“Sure! What’s up?” The halls of the Village were bare and quiet, all the good little boys and girls of the Olympics already asleep in their beds.

Save, apparently, Hazel, who was waiting for him outside his door, who perked up when she saw him. “Percy!” she said, a frown on her face which usually meant something bad was up. “I’ve been waiting for you all night! You’re–”

“–eeing anybody lately?” Paul asked. Percy waved at Hazel, the universal symbol for “sorry, on a phone call,” even as he fumbled with his dorm key.

“Sorry, what was that? I missed the first part of your question.”

The lights were out in his room. From the light of the hallway, he could see Jason, curled up in his bed, sound asleep. Ah, right–the sprinting semi-finals were tomorrow. Turning back to Hazel, Percy put his fingers up to his lips, jerking his head at his roommate.

But Hazel wasn’t deterred. “Did you know?” she whisper-hissed.

“Know what?”

“What was that?”

Shit, his stepdad. “Sorry, sorry, Hazel is here, and she was asking me a question. Um, what are you saying?”

“Percy,” said Paul. “Did you know you’re trending on my part of Twitter?”

Percy set down his wallet and keys on the counter. “What for? My race isn’t until next week.”

And then he paused.

Paul was not an avid Twitter user. But when he did go on Twitter, it was for one of a few specific reasons: a birth, a marriage, a death, big life updates and gossip, that kind of thing.

But only for a very few specific families.

“Paul,” he said, calmly. “Why am I trending on your part of Twitter?”

“It’s not just my part,” he replied. “It’s all over.”

“You’re trending?” asked Hazel.

“Who’s trending?”

Percy turned. Frank Zhang, Canadian archer, was, for some reason, at his door. “Percy is,” Hazel said to him, her frown never wavering.

“Oh, cool. Nice one.” He paused. “Wait. You haven’t raced yet. Did you test positive or something?”

“Of course not!” It was Hazel, his sweet little Hazel, who sounded scandalized at the idea, like a good cousin and fellow sportsperson should be. “He’d never do that! He doesn’t need to.”

Paul was still talking in his ear, and Percy was still not absorbing a word about it. “I had a number of my mutuals messaging me–” while Hazel was still very vigorously coming to his defense.

He was thankful when Jason let out a particularly loud snore, because it caused everyone to pause. Even Paul. His snore was that fucking loud.

Taking advantage of the silence, Percy pounced. “Back up. Start over. What are we talking about?”

“I just wish you had told me first,” said his stepdad, sounding genuinely crushed. “Though I do understand why if you wanted to keep it quiet–”

“Told you what?” asked Percy, louder than he meant to. Jason just rolled over, blissfully unaware. “Keep what quiet?”

Hazel shoved her phone under his nose. He caught a flash of blonde hair before the full picture came into focus: Annabeth, her eyes wide in panic, Percy, looking like a dumbfounded oaf, the two of them surrounded by a sea of cameras. The picture’s caption blurred before his eyes, ADHD sending the letters floating all across the screen.

His phone beeped–he was getting a text message. Maybe it was…?

But no. When he pulled his phone away, he saw that the text was from Luke. Dude read the text bubble. You bagged a–

Paul’s voice was faint over the phone. “That your girlfriend was the–”

“Percy,” Hazel was saying, “did you know that girl was a–”

Jason snored again.

He almost said a small prayer of thanks, because the sound shut everyone up, giving him time to breathe. Time to think. To read the words on Hazel’s phone, and think about Paul’s side of Twitter.

And remember what had been called out to them as the cameras had blinded them both.

“A princess,” he said. Annabeth Chase. The architect from New York, with a pretty laugh and a killer smile. Who was gorgeous, funny, smart, and… flexible.

Annabeth Chase.

Hazel, bless her, had some sort of dyslexia app on her phone. And so with a couple more breaths he was able to concentrate on the words in the article just a little bit more.

Her Royal Highness Princess Annabeth, Duchess of S��dermanland.

That’s what the article Hazel shoved at him said.

He scanned through it. Not really able to process everything, but picking up on the major bits.

Swedish Princess. At the Olympics. Seen with a man in Mexico. Percy Jackson.

The Princess of Sweden was seen kissing Percy Jackson.

“Oh fuck,” Percy said.

“I’m going to guess that means you didn’t know,” Hazel said at the same time as Paul said, “Did you not see the paparazzi?”

Percy took another deep breath. And ignored Frank’s “Know what? What happened?”

Hazel removed her phone from his face, presumably to show Frank.

“I’m going to put you on speaker,” Percy said to Paul, “And then I’m going to puke.”

Frank let out a low whistle. Presumably because he’d read the article about Percy’s little misadventure.

Another snore from Jason.

If only Percy could be that resistant to the outside world.

“Who else is there?” Paul asked.

“Hi Paul.” Hazel chimed in.

“Oh, Hazel, hi.” Paul was really great about not being weird about Percy’s paternal family. Which showed a healthy constitution, if you asked Percy. “Did you see Twitter?”

“No, I have a google alert for Percy on my phone. TMZ already posted an article.”

“Wow,” Paul said, “That was fast.”

Percy groaned. It was really really fast. Why would TMZ care? He wasn’t sure he even knew there were princesses of Sweden until about ten minutes ago.

“Who are you talking to?” Frank whispered to Hazel, but it wasn’t that quiet.

“Who’s that?” Paul asked.

“Oh, um, that’s Frank, he’s an archer for team Canada,” Percy said. Then the man’s presence finally stuck in his brain. “Wait–what are you even doing here? No offense.”

“Oh, I was looking for…” And then he looked at Hazel, and quickly stopped talking.

Despite himself, Percy huffed a quiet laugh. Frank was like 6’5, with the kind of arm and back muscles you expected from an Olympic archer. Hazel would eat him alive. Or dead. As the case might be.

They always underestimated her. It was often fun to watch.

And he would much much much rather think about Hazel’s budding relationship with a Canadian than his own situation.

“Guys,” Percy said, sitting down on his bed, hard. “It’s late, and I… I don’t even know what to say about all of this.”

“I’m sorry.” Hazel said, and Frank looked appropriately abashed.

“Sorry, Perce,” came Paul’s voice over the speaker. “We’ll let you get to sleep. We need some, too.”

“Thanks,” was all he said.

“Of course,” Paul said. “I love you.”

“Thanks, Paul,” Percy said. And he meant it. Paul’s love hadn’t always been a given from Percy’s perspective. But Paul had never hesitated with it. “I love you too. All of you at home.”

“Hazel,” Paul then said. She perked up at the address. “Please give Percy the biggest hug possible before you leave him.”

“I will,” she promised.

And then he hung up with one more good night.

Hazel was true to her word, and gave him a hug that, according to the clock on the nightstand, lasted two and a half minutes. It probably wasn’t long enough.

When she was done, Frank looked like maybe he wanted to hug him too. But he held himself back. Which was a shame. They didn’t really know each other, but Frank looked like he gave great hugs.

They left after that, closing the door behind them. And Percy deliberately left his phone on the bed while he got ready.

Then he curled up into the sheets, and closed his eyes.

The camera flashed in his vision.

Princess.

Annabeth.

Princess. Annabeth.

Princess Annabeth.

Fuck.

He reached back to grab his phone. And pulled up Google.

Princess Annabeth pulled up several news reports that he was sure were about him, but the first link after that was her Wikipedia page. And so that was where he went, cheerfully avoiding any mention of himself.

Princess Annabeth of Sweden, Duchess of Södermanland (Annabeth Sophia Frederica Ingrid; born 12 June 1993) is the eldest daughter of Prince Frederick of Sweden and his first wife Sophia Pallas. She is currently second in line for the Swedish throne.

He swallowed. Second in line. That made her really close, right? He considered calling Paul back, just so he could understand, but held off, scrolling through the rest of the page.

Her picture was one of her dressed in a dark orange suit, in front of a microphone, caught in the middle of some speech. Her hair was pulled back and her mouth set in a placid smile. He recognized her, but she looked so unlike the woman he had known.

But then he didn’t know her, did he. Four dates?

He shook his head, and decided he’d learn more.

Born in Boston, like she said, while her father was getting his PhD at Harvard. Her mother had been a woman he’d met in Boston: Sophia Pallas. Which did sound as Greek as she had said before, though that wasn’t mentioned in the article. And Sophia Pallas’s name wasn’t a clickable link. Her parents had been married before her birth, it said, in a small, private ceremony after a hasty approval from the king and council, before her mother had died from complications. He frowned, a twinge of sadness running through his gut.

Poor Annabeth. But then, could you ever feel that way about a princess? She grew up in Sweden, then her father had remarried, and they’d spent a lot of time in the US while he pursued scholarship. Boston, Virginia, New York and San Francisco. She’d gone to Harvard like her father and uncle, and majored in Architecture and International Relations. Currently, she was working for a private company based in New York.

It was all so like she’d told him. Except for everything else. Tours around Europe and Asia. Speaking before the EU and UN. Charity appearance after charity appearance after charity appearance.

And then, under the subheading “Succession:” King Randolph’s wife and two daughters, Crown Princess Emma and Princess Aubrey, were all killed in a boating accident in 1992. Since then, His younger brother, Prince Frederick, has been his heir presumptive. If King Randolph were to marry again, and have children, those children would replace his brother in the order of succession. However, over the past twenty-five years, King Randolph has repeatedly stated that he had no interest in doing so, and has acknowledged Frederick as his heir.

Sweden became the first European country to adopt absolute primogeniture in 1980; therefore Princess Annabeth precedes her half-brothers Prince Robert and Prince Matthew in the line of succession. Should her father become King of Sweden, she will be the heir apparent and Crown Princess. If she ascends to the throne, she will be Sweden’s fifth Queen Regnant.

Well, that answered that question well enough. He’d fucked the future queen of Sweden. Not some minor princess, trading on a title for the old world glamor of it all, but a real life (almost) crown princess.

Shit. He’d been playing, in the back of his head, with the idea of going to Sweden after the games were over, swept up in her descriptions, and maybe a little bit in the thought of seeing her again. But he wasn’t doing that now. The last thing he needed was to get charged with treason or whatever.

Getting drawn and quartered didn’t sound like any fun.

Well damn, he recognized the feeling then. He felt guilty. Guilty for sleeping with a princess, guilty for sleeping with a future queen.

Which was stupid. She’d never once given any indication she hadn’t wanted it.

He’d slept with plenty of people before, and never felt bad about it.

So why did he feel this way?

Fuck. He couldn’t just sit here and stew. Paul was probably asleep, and he didn’t want to call Hazel back. She should be asleep, but maybe she was doing something else that he didn’t want to think about.

So he sent a text.

You awake?

I am so happy you finally texted me back

Can we talk?Please?I know its late, and shit is weird

His phone rang. Jason did not wake up, so he didn’t feel bad about answering.

“Hey.”

“Hey, kid.” Luke said, his smirk clearly and annoyingly evident in his voice. “Anything interesting happen to you lately?”

Percy groaned. “This is all your fault, you know.”

“Me? You were the one seen making out with a princess.”

“You’re the one who introduced us.”

“Yeah, I saw that her Wikipedia page says she lives in New York. She the girl from the club?”

Percy sighed. “Yep.”

“Nice.” Luke said, “I need to remember; next time I bring a girl back to my place, I get to tell her all about the time my baby cousin had Princess Annabeth over.”

“I’m so glad my shame is going to help you score chicks.” He said with all the scathing judgment he could muster, laying in a twin bed in the dark.

“What shame?” Luke sounded genuinely surprised. “Dude, you bagged a princess. That’s some classic shit. Very Perseus of you.”

“I don’t think Perseus had to deal with paps. And I think Andromeda probably mentioned the whole princess thing to him beforehand.”

“You didn’t know she was a princess?”

“Paul’s the royal watcher,” He reminded Luke. As though Luke would forget something he passively held against Paul, “Not me.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t tell you?”

“She did not.” Percy said, “She even gave me a last name and it wasn’t…” He scrolled up to the wikipedia page to see the house listed under her photo: Ynglingar. “It was in English, nothing to do with… how do you even pronounce this?”

“Ynglinar,” Luke said, like it was easy. Because the bastard was all good at languages, while Percy could barely read English.

“Well, that doesn’t sound anything like Chase,” Percy said, “which is the name she gave me.”

“I see.” Luke said. “I mean, is it that big of a deal?”

“That I fucked the future queen of Sweden? More than once?”

“Oh, nice, I didn’t know if they interrupted the second time.”

“They didn’t.”

“Nicely done.”

“Luke,” he said, “please. I’m genuinely freaking out here.”

“Okay, okay.” He could almost see it happening in real time, Luke shifting from his douchebag persona to the decently brotherly figure he was underneath. “I’m sorry. How can I help?”

“I feel bad.” Percy said. “I feel bad about this, and I don’t know why.” He hadn’t done anything wrong. What was there to feel bad about?

Luke said after a pause, “Well, if I had to guess, it’s probably because you really liked her. Didn’t you.”

“Of course.” Percy said, and then, he really thought about it.

He had liked her–a lot. Not just in a ‘I like you way’ but in the old, middle school, summer camp ‘I like you like you’ way. It wasn’t just her beautiful hair and captivating eyes, or her long legs and small, perfect breasts, but the way she rolled her eyes at him and insulted him in ancient Greek, the feel of her mouth as it smiled against his, the sense memory of her hand as she slipped it into his in some poorly lit Mexican club, sending his heart racing.

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

Shit. “I do like her. I mean, I did. Or… maybe I still do…”

Except there wasn’t really any maybe about it.

He could hear Luke laughing on the other end. “Well, how do you feel about becoming Lutheran?”

“Fuck you,” Percy said.

“I’m just saying, according to Wikipedia, the family is Lutheran, and the heirs have to be, too.”

“That’s not–are you trying to make me get over her, then?”

“Okay, okay,” Luke said, “How about this. The royal family traced lineage back through recorded history, to the semi-legendary and legendary kings of Sweden,” He offered. “Like… folklore says they’re descended from Norse gods and vikings and stuff.”

“That’s cool,” Percy said. Though most of what he knew about vikings had to do with the Varangian Guard. He might have studied classics, but he stuck to the languages and the written down bits of mythology. He certainly wasn’t an archaeologist, a medievalist, or an early Christianity expert by any standard.

Still, any ancient history was good history.

“I still feel bad though, Lutherans and Norse gods or whatever, or not. I just–I feel like shit, and I don’t know why. I didn’t even do anything!” He’d been the perfect gentleman. She’d been a great lay, and an even better girl. It’d been fun and easy, like champagne on a warm summer evening.

So why did his stomach still feel like it was about to drop out of his body entirely?

“I’m sorry, kid.” He said. And normally Percy chafed at the term of endearment. Had been since Luke started using it when Percy was in second grade. But today it was almost welcome, and made him unbearably homesick. “I wish I could help more. Maybe you just need to sleep the night off?”

“Yeah,” Percy said, “maybe.”

“It’s all going to work out, I promise. This isn’t the Regency era or whatever, when Lady Catherine comes and tells you you aren’t good enough for her niece.”

“It looks like Annabeth’s Aunt was named Nathalie, not Catherine. And she’s dead.” Percy said.

“There's the impertinent literalism I know and love! You’re getting better already.” Luke’s confidence was almost enough for Percy to buy it. “But seriously, Percy. Get some sleep. You’ve been going ninety miles an hour these past few days. You need rest. You know that.”

“Yeah,” Percy agreed.

“It will all be fine, Perce. I promise.”

“I sure as shit hope so.” He said, “Thanks.”

They signed off with their good nights, but Percy didn’t go to sleep. He kept on scrolling. Reading backwards and forwards through wikipedia, memorizing the lines of succession: Frederick, Annabeth, Robert, Matthew, Magnus. And her favorite causes: learning disabilities, artifact repatriation, historic preservations, girl’s education, domestic violence.

At some point, he fell asleep, phone in his hand.

But it wasn’t for long enough. In some horrible twist of fate, he was woken up by Jason’s alarm at 6 AM.

He wanted to scream. And throw a pillow. Or let an earthquake swallow up the room, and Jason’s phone with it.

But he only sat up, bleary eyed and not feeling any better.

He silenced his phone, because he knew when it hit 8 AM on the East Coast, he’d start hearing from people he really didn’t want to. And he watched Jason get ready, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, with a kind of unearned, inexplicable hatred.

“Want to come down to breakfast with me?” Jason asked, “I can wait for you.”

“Yeah,” Percy said, “Sure.”

He was much slower, and less bouncy getting ready. And he was, as a general rule, a morning person. But he’d had a bit of a stressful night.

He stumbled after Jason, down through the halls and through the village, ready to make a beeline for the coffee. As they stepped into the cafeteria, he could see the heads turning, and hear the slightly charged murmur.

He got his breakfast as usual, but it didn’t stop. And Jason had found a table in the middle of the room, so he couldn’t even hide in a corner, or around a beam.

Jason was already digging in. “Hey, man,” he said, as Percy was sitting down. “Why is everyone looking at you?”

Percy dropped his head on the table with a loud thunk.

***

Annabeth thought she had some idea of what the consequences would be for getting caught making out with a random guy. Helen would yell at her, her dad would be disappointed, Mary would leak a story about her to the press, the tabloids would rake her over the coals, and they would all have a great laugh at her expense for about a month or so before moving on to the next scandal, her ill-fated kiss relegated to an interesting anecdote on a BuzzFeed listicle about royal bad behavior. It probably wouldn’t even rate a mention on her Wikipedia page.

She was wrong. She was so wrong.

This was so much worse.

The Microsoft Teams call consisted of Helen, who was actually in Mexico with her but apparently couldn’t stand being in the same room with her right now, her father, looking politely concerned, King Randolph, not at all paying attention, and a handful of PR and Parliament representatives, all in various states of shock and disapproval, including one older minister who was clearly playing some kind of mobile game.

Oh, to be a career politician who had achieved the nirvana of not giving a single fuck.

Annabeth had already had Minecraft opened while Helen introduced everyone on the call–all thirty-five people. She had something to build.

Helen had started the meeting in an absolute rage, only held in check by sheer professionalism and passive aggression. And Annabeth couldn’t even blame her ADHD for distracting her. Hans was sitting across the table from her, invisible to the camera, but hearing every word. He could catch her up if she missed something important.

“Well, your highness,” Helen finally said, “Would you like to explain yourself?”

“I don’t know what’s to explain: I went out for a walk with a friend of mine. I didn’t know there were photographers waiting for me. They took a picture when we kissed.” She tried to sound nonchalant. “These things happen.”

“Well, they should not,” said Helen, and then directed someone else to speak.

“We don’t know anything about this man, other than the fact that he likes to cause a spectacle of himself.”

“Excuse me?”

“It's getting him a great deal of press, and notoriety. He might have called the photographers himself.”

“He wouldn’t have had a need,” Annabeth argued, “He didn’t know who I was.”

“A likely story.”

It wasn’t any such thing, he didn’t even understand why she was supporting Sweden in his race.

But luckily someone else cut in, a security guy. One of Hans’ bosses, but the ones who did the logistics stuff, not the actual work of having to deal with Annabeth. Normally she didn’t like him for just that reason, but today he spoke in her favor. “We’ve determined that the leak, as it were, traced back to the hotel. Someone staying there called a paparazzi friend, who followed her car. We have no evidence to think Mr. Jackson had anything to do with this.”

“Yes yes,” Said someone else, “But what do we even know about this man?”

Annabeth felt like she could answer that question: he loved his mom, and the ocean, and ancient Greece. He had a sweet smile and beautiful eyes and a tongue that would not quit. He’d gone to Yale, but nobody was perfect.

Luckily, that wasn’t a question for her.

“The man in question,” Cut in Christiana, a PR person that Annabeth had always liked. Mostly because she was born in the 90s, had a rocking pixie cut, and didn’t act like there was a stick up her ass. “Is Perseus Jackson.”

Annabeth hadn’t known Percy was a nickname. Perseus. Like the hero. Well, he did say he was Greek.

“According to Mr. Gunderson’s team’s report, he’s the son of Sally Jackson, though the father’s name on the birth certificate is listed as unknown. Birthdate, August 18th, 1993. He’ll be 25 in just a few weeks.” Annabeth hadn’t known that either. And for a second wondered what she should get him for his birthday, before mentally shaking herself. “He’s on the USA Olympic Sailing team, a spot he won after placing first in the US trials. He also won the Hempel World Cup Series at the Princess Sofia regatta last year. He primarily lives in New York City. And his permanent address is in an apartment on the Upper East Side. though the apartment is rented under the name Luke Castellan.” Annabeth had been to that apartment. Had eaten eggs there and been eaten out there. “Mr. Castellan is an investment banker whose family has a long association with Mr. Jackson’s. His mother worked as a home aide to Mr. Castellan’s for many years. It appears the families are still close.” It was interesting that nothing had come up about Percy and Luke being related patrilineally.

“And Mr. Jackson’s family?”

“As I said, father is listed as unknown, and so we are still trying to find something. Mrs. Jackson is an author. I do believe her second book, Danaë, was a bestseller in several countries around the world, including the US, UK, and Sweden, in translation. She is currently married to a Mr. Paul Blofis, who is a teacher in New York City. And they have a seven year old daughter, Estelle Jackson Blofis. Maya?”

“He has a very positive presence on social media and no history of scandals,” chimed in one of Christiana’s assistants on the call. “He’s got over eight hundred thousand,” she paused, glancing at something off screen, “um… make that almost a million followers on Instagram alone. And he frequently uses his platform to talk about poverty and mental health issues.”

“He’s an influencer?” The scorn in the man’s, who had been introduced, but who Annabeth had no memory of, voice held no question about his profession.

“He’s an athlete,” Annabeth cut in, “a sailor. That’s why he’s here. He just happens to be popular.” The fact that he made himself popular on purpose… that was irrelevant. “He is, after all, in Mexico for the games.”

“I do not understand,” And she could see a little of Helen’s mask slipping, “how you managed to meet him here.”

“I didn’t meet him at the Olympics.” Annabeth said. “I met him right before I left New York. I didn’t even know he would be here until I saw it on his Instagram later. And he didn’t know I would be here until we ran into each other at…” she paused, not wanting to recount that particular event to everyone present, “...at a dinner a week ago.”

Hans smirked at her behind her computer.

“That is a very long time to be running around without approval.”

Annabeth blanched at Helen’s words. “I was unaware every single one of my friends needed to be approved by you, Ms. Persson. I would like to know your requirements. And also why you get to be the one making those calls.”

She could tell by the flare of the other woman’s nostrils that she knew she had spoken out of turn. But over her computer, Hans gave her a look.

“We are all concerned, Your Highness,” Helen said, “about your safety.”

“Well, as per our predetermined agreements,” she said, “I am not accompanied by Hans everywhere in New York. Because it was agreed he would cause a distraction and impact security negatively.” She took a deep breath, “After we met again in Mexico, Hans… Mr. Gunderson did a full background check. Which I believe we heard some of just now.”

She scanned the faces. Most of them looked bored. A few were frowning at her. Helen looked like she had swallowed a lemon. But Christiana was smiling and her father was suppressing one of his own.

The security specialist cleared his throat. “I assure you, Your Majesty, and Ms. Persson, we have done a full background check on Mr. Jackson. Even before last night’s event. Unless new information comes to light, this is a matter of public relationships, not safety.”

Well, score two for Hans’s boss then. She liked anyone who bested Helen.

She wished she had been able to help with that hiring process. But unfortunately, it had been made for her. Mostly by Mary, Princess Frederick. She often wondered if Helen was under orders from her stepmother to poke at her until she snapped and resorted to violence.

It was a brilliant plan.

“So, getting back to Mr. Jackson,” Another PR person, who Annabeth knew on sight, but did not know by name, said, “He seems fairly careful with sponsored content on social media.”

“And does he have any kind of career beyond social media?”

“He’s a trained classicist,” Annabeth said quickly. Her eyes went to her father and uncle, both of whom perked up immediately. “He graduated from Yale two years ago, but decided to take a break from academia for a few years to pursue his sailing career.” There was a long history of European royalty engaged in Olympic sailing. No one could fault him for that. Except perhaps for her uncle, who seemed to be bored again.

“Well, that’s not so bad.” Said someone else. She was pretty sure she was a parliamentarian. Jonsson or Jansson. Annabeth could not remember. “Though, of course the expectation, before marriage, would be that he steps away from his social media career. And possibly his sailing also, though that might be discussed more in depth.”

That launched a round of several people speaking.

Annabeth only just barely managed to get her call out of, “I’ve only known him for a few weeks! I am not asking for permission to marry him right now!” It managed to silence most people, but not everyone.

Shame that the straggler had to be the worst one of them all.

“But what color would the children be?” Asked someone else who she didn’t know. Her jaw dropped open–as did her father’s, Helen’s, and several others–and everyone began speaking all at once, again.

“Please, ladies, gentlemen–please.” Maybe it was the tone of his voice, or the flickering border around his video which caught everyone’s attention, but her father managed to cut through the digital crowd, calling their attention so he could speak. “I think it’s a little… early for that kind of discussion, minister, as Annabeth said,” he managed to get out, frowning even more firmly, and glossing over the word “early” like it was most definitely not the word he wanted to use.

The man in question harrumphed, but muted himself.

“Now, then.” Prince Frederick was doing his best to look comfortable with the topic, but the shifting of his suit jacket sleeves implied he was playing with his hands beneath the screen, twisting his fingers together. Annabeth could relate. She was doing something similar right now. “I understand that this situation is… less than ideal, shall we say, but I would hope, as the princess’ father, that you would trust my opinion on this matter.” He pulled in a breath, eyes unfocused as he searched for the right words. “My daughter has always been both highly intelligent and perceptive, not only in her diplomatic endeavors, but in her interpersonal relationships as well.” Nice of him to say, but Annabeth privately thought he might have been overselling her a little bit on that last one. “Not only that, we can hardly blame her for the sudden appearance of the press.”

“Her highness has had to deal with the press all her life,” Helen said, evenly. “She’s gone through multiple trainings–”

“Ms. Persson,” he said, shutting her up quickly. Annabeth bit back a smirk. “My point is, clearly she’s already met with Mr. Jackson on several occasions, and has judged him to be a person worth her time, without our intervention. Shouldn’t that ultimately be what matters?”

“All due respect, your highness,” said one of the ministers, “but we simply do not have enough information at this time to determine what kind of person this Mr. Jackson is.”

“I think,” her dad gently rebutted, “that Annabeth is not only smart enough, but mature enough to decide for herself what kind of person he is. Now, Annabeth.” She sat at attention. “Tell us: this Perseus–”

“Percy,” she said, quietly. “He goes by Percy.”

He smiled a bit, ducking his head. “Percy, then. Is he a nice boy?”

She nodded. “He is.”

“Then I am fully in favor of Annabeth continuing to see the nice boy if she wishes. Randolph, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Hm?” Her uncle looked up from whatever book he was reading. Annabeth caught a glimpse of ancient Icelandic runes over the camera. “Yes, very good.”

“There we are.” Her father smiled. “Annabeth, dear, now you have the king’s permission.”

Not even Helen could argue with that.

Annabeth swallowed around the lump in her throat, looking directly into her webcam. “Thank you, your majesty,” she said to the one person on this call, maybe even in the world, who believed in her right now.

Through the fuzzy Teams call quality, her father smiled.

“I think that’s settled, then,” he said, with just the barest hint of satisfaction. “As long as Mr. Gunderson and his associates continue to keep us updated if they find any more information they feel is worth reporting, I have no objections to this relationship.”

If there was still a relationship on the table, anyway. Still, her heart felt very full. She wished he was here with her, just so she could give him a hug.

Verdict delivered, the meeting swiftly concluded. One by one, the virtual participants disappeared, until the only ones left were Annabeth and her father.

He smiled at her through the screen. “Well, dear,” he said, chuckling a bit. “You certainly like to keep things interesting.”

Looking away, her cheeks faintly flushed with embarrassment, she tried to laugh it off. “I guess. Sorry.”

“No, no, I don’t mean it like that.” When she looked back, he was still smiling gently at her. “You’re having fun in Mexico? Yes?”

Annabeth nodded, sensing the unspoken question. “I am. I promise.”

It was the oddest thing of all–he didn’t question her on it. He just accepted it at face value. “I’m glad. I meant what I said, you know. Just�� just be careful.” With her heart. With the nice boy. With anything else that might cross her path.

“I will.”

“I love you very much, dear.” He leaned in closer to the camera, as if he could pull her into a hug halfway around the world. “We’ll talk soon.”

Then he hung up, leaving Annabeth staring into her own video feed.

“Well,” Hans said, “that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“I think I’d rather go sack a small French villiage.” The old viking princesses really had it made, she thought. They didn’t have to deal with Microsoft Teams, at least. They could have just chopped Helen in half with an ax, and not worry about what HR would say.

“Or take on a horde of draugar?” Hans offered.

“Exactly.”

“Well, perhaps, instead of that, next time you’d like to meet with Mr. Jackson, I’ll go pick him up?”

“I don’t know if there is going to be one next time, Hans,” she said, letting all her defeated weariness leak into her voice.

“Annabeth.” And he so rarely used her first name. “I know you are brave enough to take on a French village, a draugr, or even Helen and the entire Riksdag. I think you can call the one man who you just defended to a room full of people, and offer an explanation.”

He got up then, and patted her shoulder on the way out of the room. “I’ll keep Helen at bay. If you want to call him.”

“If I don’t, will you sic her on me?”

“I think not,” he said, “Because right now I’m afraid I’d come back to find an ax in her chest, and that sounds like it would be a terrible mess to clean up. If you need some time, I’ll give you some time.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“But I still think you should call him.”

And then he walked out of the room, leaving Annabeth alone with her thoughts. And the empty Teams room.

#SURPRISE #my fic #pjo #percabeth #pjo fic #the rivalry ends here #princess sailor au #darkmagyk #perseannabeth #patatayo #if u wanna be tagged just lmk

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reyesstrand · 3 years ago

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some and now none of you

tarlos (sort of) - 2.3k - teen+

It isn’t his place—it hasn’t been since TK looked at him with wide, shiny eyes that mirrored his own, and stepped out their front door for the last time—but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still love TK down to his marrow: So he takes the leap, and follows his heart, and grabs his ex-boyfriend’s hand. “You can’t go yet, TK."

(a 3x02 spec fic)

Because he doesn't know if he can handle anything else, Carlos pays attention to the small things as they wait.

The old pipes creaking from the sudden cold. The little hole on the inside of his jacket pocket that widens as he toys with the loose threads. The squeak of wet shoes against the linoleum floors of the ICU hallway, people coming and going and coming and going. The gentle hum of the heaters that are pulled out of storage and fuelled by backup generators. He tries not to linger too long on the memories of beeping heart monitors and the whir of a ventilator, something he only got a glimpse of before he and Nancy and Tommy were ushered away as doctors and nurses rushed in when one of the machines keeping TK alive emitted a solid and long beep that you didn't need medical experience to decipher.

He's still quiet because of it. The doctors had informed them some minutes later that TK was stable again, and Tommy had gone back to chat with them as both TK's boss and the paramedic that revived him out in the field. She's been gone for twenty-odd minutes, and still hasn't returned, and it isn't doing anything for Carlos' anxiety.

There's a general unease in the air—something different about this trip to the hospital that has been accepted by himself and Nancy and Tommy—and while some of the crew are healing from their own minor, but nevertheless painful injuries in their own corners of the hospital, the others are still forced to be out there, facing this all head-on. He still has Paul's text on his mind, confirmation that he was bruised and cold but okay still offering the smallest amount of relief several minutes after he'd read the message, and Carlos thinks that he'd like to never experience a storm like this again, not when it seems so set on taking and taking from each and every one of them with no remorse.

He flexes his fingers in and out of fists, still instinctually chasing away the cold as he trains his eyes at a mess of blood drive flyers and informational posters tacked up to the bulletin board on the wall opposite them, and he jumps only a little bit when a hand drops gently onto his shoulder.

"It's just from the cafeteria, but..." Nancy shrugs as she trails off, passing him a styrofoam cup. Carlos meets her gaze, her eyes red-rimmed but momentarily clear, and he presses his lips into the semblance of a smile as he curls his fingers around the coffee.

"Thank you," he whispers, and she squeezes his shoulder once more before moving to her own seat.

(continue on ao3)

#tarlos #tarlos fic #911 lone star #911ls

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allthefilmsiveseenforfree · 3 years ago

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Dear Evan Hansen

You may have seen some ~online discourse~ about the film Dear Evan Hansen, an adaptation of the 2016 Broadway musical, and you might have wondered what all the hubbub is about. I mean, it’s a feel good story about a senior in high school, Evan Hansen (Ben Platt), who has some pretty severe anxiety and depression. While trying to fulfill an assignment from his therapist to write a letter to himself, his letter gets picked up by another student, Connor (Colton Ryan) - and later that day, Connor kills himself. Connor’s grieving parents and sister Zoe (Amy Adams, Danny Pino, and Kaitlyn Dever) are desperate to learn more from the boy they think was Connor’s best friend - after all, Connor’s suicide note was a letter addressed to “Dear Evan Hansen.” And, as you can imagine, Evan tells them about the unfortunate mistake and sits with them in their grief as they struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives.

Just kidding! He lies to them, repeatedly, elaborately, expansively for months, constructing an entire false friendship with Connor that never happened, and ingratiating himself into the wealthy nuclear family he never had, in large part because he wants to get into Zoe’s pants! THIS IS THE PROTAGONIST OF THE STORY. Oh, and it’s a musical so there is a lot of singing and crying and singing WHILE crying and sometimes crying and not singing at all. But the #inspiration, you guys.

Things I liked:

Pretty much everything but the story and Ben Platt’s performance. The supporting cast is stacked, and all of them do a great job at elevating material scraped directly out of a diaper worn by someone who just chewed their way through a copy of the DSM-5.

A couple of the songs are damn catchy - “Waving Through a Window” and “You Will Be Found” are standouts for a reason - and here’s the thing, Platt sings them well. But as you’ll discover, there’s a lot more to a movie musical than just singing your part.

Stephen Chbosky, the man behind every deep thought I and a lot of people in my generation had in 2006 after he wrote The Perks of Being a Wallflower, is a pretty good director. I particularly enjoyed the fanvid-type cuts in “Waving Through a Window” in conjunction with the lyrics, and his use of interstitial shots to flashbacks (and sometimes flashforwards!) is a neat little bit of shorthand that I thought was used sparingly enough to be effective.

Amy Fucking Adams. She’s holding on so hard, so desperately to the idea of who her son could have been, rather than the reality of who he was, and she is full of such deep pain that is masked by an almost endless supply of patience with Evan and relentless positivity. All this made me want was Enchanted 2 even worse than I already did.

Super into everything Zoe wears - the costuming department did a great job, and now all I want to do is live in mom jeans and baggy sweaters.

Did I Cry? I teared up a couple of times because I’m not a completely heartless bastard and when Amy Adams offered Evan Connor’s college money, my heart broke for the lie Evan had thrust upon her, and Julianne Moore’s song got me good, because she’s just a single mom to Evan who is doing her goddamn best.

Things I hated more than the time I dropped a frozen gallon container of fruit cocktail on my pinkie toe in my parents’ garage and it turned black and I thought it was gonna fall off:

Ben Platt is 28 years old. He originated the role of Evan Hansen on Broadway, so in many respects it makes sense that he plays the role in the movie, except for the one kinda sorta important thing where he looks like a wizened old crone standing amongst a sea of children doing his best twitching, cringing Hunchback of Notre Dame impression. If you want someone to convincingly play 20 years their junior, hire Paul Rudd. Otherwise, please don’t ask me to believe that this supposed 18-year-old has crow’s feet.

And that twitching nervous energy is a huge part of the black hole at the center of this film - he’s playing to the cheap seats and walking through the halls of his high school like a wet chihuahua. It’s an excruciating acting choice to watch - he doesn’t just have anxiety, he is on the verge of a nervous breakdown seemingly every second of every day. Like honestly, where is only-mentioned-never-seen Dr. Sherman, because this young man’s meds are NOT WORKING DR. SHERMAN.

There’s such a lack of self-awareness on behalf of the writing, directing, and performance by Platt. There’s one song, “Sincerely, Me,” that offers the only glimpse of commentary about what Evan is doing, by pointing out the malicious ridiculousness of him writing a series of fake emails as proof of his and Connor’s friendship.

Also what high schoolers email this much?? I know this was written in probably 2014 or so, but has a bitch never heard of a text? Even a DM? This whole plot is constructed around the premise that high schoolers are just constantly, constantly emailing each other.

Everything - and I mean EV-ER-Y-THING - about Evan’s relationship with Zoe is so creepy and disturbing that with a soundtrack change, this could easily be a horror movie. He attempts to get her to like him by describing to her all the things her brother noticed about her - oh wait, I’m sorry, all the things HE noticed about her while he was skulking in the shadows following her around for years, watching every move she made, and it ends with him singing repeatedly “I LOVE YOU” because following a girl around and never having a conversation with her or knowing her at all is love, right? This was clearly written by the same people who chose “Every Breath You Take” as their wedding song because Sting is hot and they never actually listened to the damn words.

And it gets about 10 billion times worse when Zoe goes to Evan’s house alone, takes him up to his room, and sings “I don’t need reasons to want you” and that was the moment I was that person I hate in a movie theater and I pulled out my phone to Google who wrote the music and lyrics to the musical (we were in the back row of the theater no one was behind me THIS WAS AN OUTRAGE EMERGENCY) and of motherfucking course it was written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, 2 men who heard about meeting an actual human woman from a friend one time but otherwise are unfamiliar with the concept.

Lastly, enormous serial killer vibes from Evan sending unlabeled flash drives anonymously through the mail with no note in an attempt to right his wrongs. That’s not catharsis, that’s how the next installment in the Saw franchise starts, with Evan in a Billy the clown doll mask showing up on the screen and asking if you want to play a fucking game.

Also, I know it’s not possible for the narrative to justify this in a way that could be satisfying based on Evan’s actions, but what is with this thing where single working-class mom Julianne Moore is turning down rich people’s money for Evan to go to college? Like, obviously we can’t have that happen in the movie but in real life, fuck your pride! Take those rich people’s money!

I also know how movies work but nothing annoys me more than a giant group of high schoolers all getting beeps and boops to indicate text notifications all at the same time because I don’t know a single person under the age of 55 who keeps their ringer on. That shit is on vibrate AT MOST, and I feel like that’s a millennial thing.

The emotional climax of the film is obviously Evan’s WAY TOO LATE confession, but the idea that it’s prompted by Connor’s family suddenly getting a lot of internet hate is, frankly, laughable. If Sandy Hook taught me one thing, it is that no tragedy is immune from trolls who live only to cause other people devastating emotional pain on the internet. That shit starts day 1. Apparently no one involved in this production has ever been on Twitter?

Also it feels like there should have been a dog somewhere in this movie and there was no dog, so points off for that too.

Perhaps Dear Evan Hansen isn’t nearly as deep as it aspires to be. Perhaps it’s a morality play, a simplistic message of “Don’t lie, kids, lying is bad!” Major studio movies wrap themselves up with a nice bow at the end so everyone can feel good about themselves and leave with a happy ending, but the moronic cruelty on display here makes that feat feel impossible. We’re left with Evan in an orchard, reading Connor’s favorite books and staring into the big blue sky with all the self-actualization he’s earned now as a lil treat. And if Evan Hansen looked like an actual 18-year-old, it would be a lot easier to extend more empathy to him and his not-fully-developed prefrontal cortex, but it’s a little harder with this fully-grown, weathered man who was old enough to remember seeing Liar Liar in theaters.

Dear Evan Hansen,

Get some actual help and a haircut and maybe you can grow up enough to have an actual healthy interaction with any other living person, ever.

Sincerely,

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gnawteamusings · 3 years ago

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Starter for @davidkarofskyindie; a fast-forwarded scene that occurs after this scene.

Hunter sat on dining room chair in Paul’s living room, easily in eyesight of the the open front door. He grinned and groaned as Paul continued to give him a very sexy lap dance in nothing but a red thong. By the final notes of Pony by Ginuwine, Hunter was diamond hard. His phone beeped displaying a text message on his lock screen. With a grin, he pulled Paul into a hungry kiss. “I want you to be sucking my dick when the pizza guy gets here. I want him to see your fantastic ass, maybe my precum on your face when you go to pay for dinner,”

He knew that his buddy Beau would be delivering this pizza. Hunter also knew that Beau’s shift was just about finished and that the other senior was just as hung and into daddy’s as him. He didn’t know for certain, of course, but he hoped that Paul would be into it. That this wouldn’t jeopardize what was quickly starting to feel like a genuine relationship and not a fling. Hunter threw his head back as those lips parted around the head of his cock.

#davidkarofskyindie #gnawteamusings

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it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream · 4 years ago

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Opposites Attract (Paul Lahote x Reader) Chapter 3

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Warnings: Swearing

Word Count” 2.1k

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-Your POV-

They were running at a speed that seemed impossible, their size alone, impossible. The shear beauty of the animal, breath taking. This wasn’t the first time you’d dreamt of giant wolves. They visited your dreams frequently, leaving you with all sorts of un answered questions, leaving you the next day, searching “What does seeing giant wolves in your dreams mean?” Yup, you were that kinda girl. You thought there was an answer for everything, and there probably was, but you weren’t going to find the answer on google search.

You don’t know how long you’d been in the car for. All you knew was you were in pain, then it seemed to ease and a sense of comfort washed over you. Your head felt as if it were floating, snuggled into something warm and soft. A pillow perhaps? You didn’t open your eyes to check, the pain in your abdomen and now across your whole body blinding, you’d woken a few times with a jolt, and then you passed out again.

The next time you woke up you weren’t moving at all, which you were grateful for, the pain mixed with the motion of a moving vehicle didn’t do anything for your stomach, travel sickness was the bane of your life. Instead you found yourself in a room, the blinds drawn closed, the door shut, your body, in different clothes. A mens t-shirt? When did you get changed? Where were you? You looked around in a daze, sitting up slightly from the comfort of the pale yellow duvet set. Wooden log walls, photo frames scattered on every surface, subtle lighting and a wall lined with books, the smell of home cooking wafting through from the kitchen. You were in Emily and Sam’s guest room, how did you know this? Well for one all of the frames had pictures of the happy couple in, two, you’d stayed over once before, back when you’d been caught in a freak storm with Leah while on the beach. You vaguely remembered the place. You didn’t come over often, what with Leah and Sams history, that and as much as you liked Paul, sometimes you’d be nervous to bump into him. Paul! Speaking of Paul, you groaned and flopped back into the fluffy bed sheets. Paul was at the hotel when the pain started… where was he now? Did he drive with you back home?

You were about to get up when Leah came bounding through the door. “Oh good I thought I could hear you awake in here.” She grinned at you. “You look like you’re feeling much better!” You pat the space beside you and Leah climbed in snuggling up to your side.

“So, on a scale of one to ten how bad was it.” The big ‘It’ being how bad was the show in front of your long term crush. Leah shrugged as she looked at you.

“Nothing was baddd… everyone was just worried about you, you seemed to be in some serious pain, hence why we thought it best to cut the trip short, it’s probably better that were home, it was early hours when we got here so Sam said we could just crash at his.” You raised your eye at you best friend. She was being awfully calm about the whole situation. She said Sams name in a sentence and didn’t get herself worked up. You looked down at yourself.

“And the clothes? Or lack there of….” That’s when Leah grinned. You didn’t like the way she was looking at you. You inhaled the scent that was on the shirt. Sandel wood and aftershave, a hint of sea salt probably from the misty air outside.

“That’s Pauls t-shirt Y/N” Your eyes went wide and you knew you were blushing.. did that mean he had undressed you. Leah noticed the panic in your eyes.

“Before you get worked up he just leant the t-shirt knowing you’d be uncomfortable in your dress, I changed you.” You audibly gave a sigh of relief, not knowing how you’d react if the guy you’d been in love with since second grade had finally seen you in your underwear. “He stayed in here with you last night you know, to make sure you were okay. He wouldn’t leave.” Leah was now proper up on one arm looking at you. You didn’t know what to make of it. You didn’t think Paul had even known you existed… You were taken from your train of thought when something started dinging. The mobile on the bedside table started beeping as texts came through one by one. Oh god, you hoped Leah hadn’t told your parents about your episode at the hotel, the last thing you needed was for them to worry. However, you realised when you picked it up, it wasn’t your phone.

The screensaver was a picture of the guys from the res, all goofing around, it looked like it had actually been taken in Emilys kitchen. It had to be one of the guys. You realised it was Paul’s after remembering what Leah had said about him staying for some of the night. He must have forgotten it when he left. You didn’t mean to see the message but it automatically came up on screen when you tilted the Iphone in your hand.

“Such a shame we had to cancel our date last night handsome, still on for tonight?” There were a bunch of emojis next to the text, the purple devil, aubergine, water droplets. You didn’t have to be a genius to figure out whoever this girl was motives were. At first you were embarrassed, to the point where your mouth was kinda slack and Leah was asking you what was wrong. Then you were pissed.

“He’s such a dick, honestly. I don’t know why this makes him a dick, i’m just so mad. I know I’m not the prettiest, or the funniest, or most talented or anything but jesus christ I wish he would just notice me for once instead of these girls who will put out at the drop of a freakin hat!” Leah had taken the phone from you to see what you were talking about. She groaned and then noticed your whole body was shaking, in a flash she was at the door calling for Sam and the others. All you could see was red. Your vision totally blank, the covers under your hands balled up in your fists tight, your body shaking, heating up. Somewhere in the background you could hear someone shouting at you to calm down, but this time you couldn’t. You heard the sound of ripping and then all of a sudden the world around you changed. For one, everything in the room seemed to get smaller, or maybe you got bigger? You were still angry and started lashing out, only to be tackled by something from the side, leading you to smash through the wall of the wooden house. You still didn’t understand what was happening, until you heard them in your head.

“Y/N CALM DOWN! We know this is scary but you need to calm down.” It was Sams voice. In your head. Or maybe, the voice was coming from the 8ft black wolf hovering over you. You didn’t scream, you didn’t even seem scared, and it’s because you realised, you were a wolf too.

-Paul’s POV-

Y/N was safe, sleeping soundly in the room next door, or so Paul thought. It wasn’t until he heard the shouting that he knew something was wrong. Leah called for help and before he knew what had happened there was a bang and Sam was tackling a wolf on the ground outside the house.

A white wolf. Small, slim, bright, with a single grey patch of fur around an eye. Paul shifted instantly, realising the unknown wolf in front of him was in fact his imprint. He let out a low growl to Sam, even though he was the Alpha, Paul didn’t like the fact he’d just tackled his girl. He looked her over, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth almost comically, all the while Y/N stood staring and the grey wolf now in front of her, he could hear through the bond that she’d just imprinted, feel it too. Now she knew.

-Your POV-

“Hold the fuck up.” You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Part of you couldn’t tell if you were in a dream or had just gone plain crazy. The other part of you knew that everything was real but you just couldn’t process the information quick enough. “So you’re telling me, that our ancestors were these shapeshifters and the gene was passed down to us to allow us to shift into giant wolves and hunt down vampires. You know, Vampires, ‘I want to suck you blood’, creepy pale strong immortal beings with no soul? And werewolves, I mean, Shifters..” It was insane.

“Anddd to top it off, the man i’ve had a crush on since 2nd grade is my imprint, the person I’m supposed to be with for the rest of my life?” You glared at Paul who had the audacity to wink in your direction. Looking around you noticed the other faces, all amused at your outburst. Okay, so this wasn’t a joke, it was some sick reality you were now a part of. You hadn’t looked in Leah’s direction yet, pissed that your best friend had kept such a massive secret from you. Obviously you knew it wasn’t her fault, she wasn’t aloud to tell you the tribes secret, they didn’t know that you would be another female shifter, apparently your kind were rare. It still stung a little.

“What really sucks thought Y/N, is that you’re gonna have to cut you beautiful hair short, our human hair mimics the length of our wolf hair, hence why each of us one by one cut it all off.” Quil sat back and shrugged and Paul growled lowly, not lowly enough for heightened hearing.

“Why now. Why. I-I have school and I have things I want to do with my life.. I can’t be a shifter..” Reality had started to sink in and you found it difficult to breath. It felt like everyone in the room was staring at you and it didn’t help that you could also hear what everyone was basically saying. Your chair was pushed back with a screech, falling over and hitting the wooden floor.

“I-I need to get out of here, I need a minute..” You were out the door in a flash, Leah and the boys running after you. Somewhere in the distance you could make out Sam telling Paul to calm down and then heard what sounded like wolves shifting but you’d already made it to the tree line, being able to run faster than you’d imagined still in your human form.

The air was colder the higher up you got. You didn’t know how long you’d been running for but it had been a couple of hours before you finally stopped. In the middle of nowhere, high up in the mountains you let out a scream, one that sent flocks of birds fleeing from trees, the notes of your anguish scattering in the breeze. Everything would be changing now, life as you once knew it was gone. Part of yourself would never be yours again, having to follow a pack system. Another part of you was giddy at the thought that the man you’d been in love with your whole life turned out to be the one destined for you all along, it only took shifting into a wolf for you both to realise just how compatible you were.

You’d been alone with your thoughts long enough when you heard a twig snap in the distance. The hairs on your arms stood up and your heart started beating rapidly, turning, you calmed when you noticed a familiar figure walk out into the open.

“Paul.” You could feel the bond running through your veins, seeing him helped you breath better and the physical need and urge to be in his arms was too strong. Like he sensed it too, he was over to you in a flash, taking you in his arms, your body pressed against his, his nose buried in your hair breathing in your scent, like he was saving it to memory.

“Y/N, it’s all going to be okay, I promise, nothing bad will ever happen to you while i’m around, I know it seems scary now, but it won’t be like this forever. You’re already so strong, and I’m lucky that fate paired me with you.”

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Yoooo. I hope you liked this chapter, I’ve had some writers block recently, just trying to keep going. I’m still not sure what direction I’m taking this fic, I do know however that this is set at the beginning of eclipse! So watch out for some vampire action!

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