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magnoliasinbloom · 4 years ago

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Lie To Me - 15

AO3 :: Previously

It’s been five days since Jamie was discharged from the hospital. Two days of antibiotics, some painkillers, and a stubborn Scot who very much dislikes being waited on hand and foot.

Claire sighs, watching Jamie sleep. He lays on his back, one arm crossed over his flat stomach, breathing deeply; the other rests in the support to avoid jarring it. She cannot forget Geillis’s call, telling her that Jamie was in the hospital for an injured hand; she can’t put from her mind the fear, the apprehension while she packed a bag and Ubered to a flat in the Bridgeton area. Geillis met her there, gave her keys, and told her to wait for Jamie.

G is really going above and beyond. Claire turns in the bed, taking in the sparse furnishings. Jamie had told her who the flat had belonged to, and the first thing she had done was change the sheets on the bed.

G had kept her away from the hospital, taking on extra shifts to cover for her; she must be exhausted. Jamie didn’t want Geillis here, said it couldn’t be risked. But still, she had gotten some of Jamie’s clothes from his flat, shopped for groceries, then finally delivered Jamie himself from the hospital.

“He’ll need help showering—not that ye’d mind, I ken.” Geillis waggles her eyebrows mischievously, trying to bring some levity into the situation.

And so, Claire shuttles between her own flat, the hospital, and spends her nights with Jamie. He tells her briefly haltingly what had truly happened to his hand. Claire weeps in horror and despair; Jamie says the best thing is to lay low for now, and he prays fervently that Grey and Murtagh will come through soon.

Claire agrees, hoping for the best, but afraid in her heart—not only for Jamie and the situation they find themselves in, but for them. Jamie, as a fit, healthy young man is understandably frustrated that he cannot do certain simple tasks with an injured hand, and truly puts the word ‘patient’ to the test. He accepts only the bare minimum of care from her, and sends her off to work every morning with a mere kiss on the cheek. Nothing else.

Jamie hasn’t touched her except when absolutely necessary, utilitarian touches to help him step out of the tub, get dressed, being handed a plate. It doesn’t help that Jamie is left-handed, and his dominant hand is the one out of commission.

Claire understands he is in pain, physical and spiritual. He wakes up in a nightmare, lets himself be comforted a bit before pushing her gently away to her side of the bed. He let her glimpse it once only, when he said, “I can bear pain myself, but I canna stand yers.”

And Claire understands.

The rockheaded man doesn’t want to touch her, accept more of her comfort, fearing his uncles would know and come for her, hurt her like they had him.

Jamie spends his days reading, catching up on emails, working from home. The last one he’d read was from Dougal himself, telling him he was expected back at the end of the week, business as usual, injury or no. Murtagh had called only once, to tell him they were uncovering a wealth of information thanks to Randall, and to be patient, sit tight.

He supposes returning to the office would be better than moping around uselessly in the flat. It would help take his mind off lying each night next to Claire, anxious to touch her, but afraid. So afraid.

How could she still want him after all this? Perhaps she remains in the flat, caring for him merely out of a misplaced sense of duty, a physician’s oath to help and do no harm. He can’t imagine she wants to touch him either, with all these new scars he has to bear.

Jamie broods on the sofa, tapping away at his laptop one-handed until he hears the key in the lock. Claire is back, holding a Tesco grocery bag; she immediately proceeds to make dinner. He can see some sort of chicken dish with a side of veg on the counter. What disturbs him most is Claire banging pots and utensils around, her lips pursed and the occasional huff, but she does not address him. In fact, he recalls, she did not even say hello when she walked in. It is not like her to not tell him things, so he finds his voice and asks her.

“Sassenach, what is it? Something at the hospital?”

“No.” Her tone, so icy, gives him a sinking feeling in his wame.

“Is it me?”

“Of course it’s you. It’s always you.” Claire finally turns to him, tears of frustration lining her eyes. How could he be so bloody blind? “Have I not been here for you, helping you? Or at least, trying to help you!” She throws her hands up in exasperation, tossing a tea towel onto the counter. “And you keep shutting me out.”

Jamie swallows hard. “A nighean, I havena… I mean, ye dinna ken—”

“Oh, I ken alright. Haven’t I proved beyond a doubt that I love you, that I’m not going anywhere? I’m in this as deep as it gets, and for you, James Fraser, I am willing to give myself and everything I know because I love you, you idiot!”

The words come out before she can stop them, days of not being able to express how much she is hurting for him, how much she wants to make it better for him, and can’t. Claire takes up the tea towel again and turns her back on Jamie, lips pressed tightly so he won’t hear her cry, but shoulders shaking weakly.

James is speechless, mouth agape. Finally, he says gruffly, “I’m meant to take care of ye, mo nighean donn. It is who I am, how I was raised. I want to take care of ye, cherish ye, protect ye… but how can I do that when I couldna even protect myself?” He raises his injured hand helplessly, a familiar burst of anger in his chest that slowly dissolves as Claire turns her tear-stained face back to look at him.

“Because we can take care of each other, cherish each other. As for protection… I can protect myself too, you bloody fool. It doesn’t make you any less of a man for needing my help.” She takes a deep breath, and Jamie goes to her, his hand on her cheek as he wipes away the traces of tears.

“Mo chridhe, how can you have me like this?”

“I will have you any way I can. Always.”

“Claire, after everything ye’ve done for me—I’ve lied, I’ve cheated, I’ve stolen time wi’ ye I wasn’t meant to have.” He turns to face her, and he finds nothing but trust and love in her gaze. “I have betrayed and broken trust. But there is the one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I shall stand before God, I shall have one thing to say, to weigh against the rest. Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well.”

Jamie takes her hands in his, splint and all, and Claire kisses the tips of his fingers. Twining hands together, she leads him to their shared bed. She proceeds to divest him of his clothes, and she quickly undresses herself. Jamie frowns at the black, Velcroed contraption on his hand, but Claire turns his thoughts away from it as she touches him where he wants her most.

They make love; Jamie crying out his pleasure over and over again, and only one of those times was because of pain in his hand.

x-X-x

Claire feels Jamie rise from the bed, and she burrows further under the covers as a cold puff of air takes his place. She watches drowsily as he goes to dresser where she stashed the clothes Geillis had brought him.

Jamie rummages inside the drawer, and finds one more thing he had asked Geillis to get from his flat, a small, black velvet bag. Naked, the spotty heating in the flat almost useless, he nestles closely against Claire, before pulling her up against his chest.

Sitting behind her, Jamie clumsily pours the contents of the bag into his hand with a soft, clinking noise. Claire feels something cool and hard settle against her collarbones, as Jamie places a pearl necklace over her head.

“These were my mother’s,” Jamie breathes into her ear, his voice a whisper in the dark. “They are verra precious to me, as are you, Claire.” She feels tears line her eyes again, but for a different reason. “I give them to ye, because I canna give ye a ring yet, but take them as my promise to ye, that we will get through this until I can swear before God that I will be yours and ye can be mine forever.”

“I already am,” she says huskily, fingering the smooth white pearls in wonder.

Jamie leans forward, and kisses the freckles on her shoulder, one by one. Claire tries to turn in his arms to thank him properly, but he won’t let her, trapping her arms against her body as he continues to press his lips against her skin.

“What are you doing?” Claire asks, laughing softly.

“There are constellations here. Let me take my time, Sassenach, that I may name them all. This will take all night.”

- - -

A/N: Thank you everyone for your support! A bit of bad news: this story will go on hiatus for a couple of weeks. I’ve been having flaring wrist pains and been diagnosed with tendinitis. Although most of the story is written out (and please know that I know how this will end) the next 3 chapters are not complete. Unfortunately, because of my wrist, this means I cannot take time to type out the stuff I need, until the doctor gives me the all-clear. So let’s take 2 weeks and hopefully my wrist will be better and I can write again. Thank you for understanding! <3

#outlander #outlander fanfic #jamie and claire #ltm15 #thank you for reading and commenting and liking #i appreciate every single one of you

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isitgintimeyet · 4 years ago

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Just A Friend

AO3

Another Sunday, another chapter. Hope it’s a good weekend for you all, despite these uncertain times. I always intended this story to be a bit of fluffy light relief from the real world. Thanks for all the support for it.

There will probably be another 3 chapters after this, depending on how the characters behave. I cant seem to make them do what I want sometimes!

Thanks to @wickedgoodbooks for the beta

Chapter 11: From Marriage to Mackenzie

It’s 1pm and I’m in a hotel room, still in a bathrobe, sipping Buck’s Fizz whilst a hairdresser wrestles with my wayward curls, finally managing to corral them into some sort of recognisable hair style.

Geillis is sitting on the edge of the bed incongruously dressed in tiara and bathrobe, her hair arranged in an elaborate updo. I catch her eye through the dressing table mirror and smile before my vision is obscured by a miasma of hairspray.

A few final tweaks of my curls and it’s done. I am just amazed that my hair can be cajoled into such glossy, bouncy curls, held behind one ear by an ornately decorated comb. With suitable compliments and thanks, Geillis and I bid goodbye to the hairdresser.

The bride stands up and adjusts the belt of her robe. She seems the epitome of calm.

“Are you not nervous, Geillis? You’ll be walking down the aisle in about an hour’s time.”

“Weel, I am a wee bit worried about a couple of things,” she admits. “I dinna ken how ma cousin Janie will behave. She may try tae proposition every man under the age of seventy five. And as fer Dougal’s Uncle Eric—he has been known tae get steamin’ drunk and puke in the rose beds. But about the marrying? Nah, I dinna have any nerves about that. I want tae spend ma life wi’ Dougal and that’s what today is all about. I have nae worries about making that commitment. He’s the one fer me. When ye ken, ye ken. Trust me, Claire.”

The pocket of her bathrobe begins to buzz. She quickly pulls out her phone and reads the message.

“I’d best go. That was Mam, fretting about something or other. Are ye ok getting dressed on yer own?”

“I’ve managed for the past twenty nine years or so. I dare say I can manage another day.” I sigh theatrically.

“I ken. Ye can manage on yer own. Ye always do. But thanks fer being here with me today. It means a lot tae have the people who mean the most tae me around,” she leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “But remember what I said, Claire, when ye ken, ye ken. Dinna ignore it.”

Pausing at the interconnecting doorway, she does a quick body shimmy and grins. “Woo hoo! I’m getting married. Canna believe it’s here now,”

From the adjoining room, I can hear a shouted response. “Geillis Duncan, ye get here now. Yer mam reckons that makeup lassie has done her eyeliner wonky. It looks fine tae me. Can ye come and talk some sense in tae the daft cow?”

“Alright, Da, I’m coming.” Geillis yells back before leaving to deal with her parents.

I sit down and study my bridesmaid’s dress, now hanging on the wardrobe door. I’m getting excited about the day ahead. Probably not as much as Geillis, obviously, but a host of butterflies appears to have taken residence in the pit of my stomach.

I’m truly thrilled for Geillis to be marrying Dougal—they love each other so much. But, also, it’s scary to me. She is willing, eager even, to commit to one person, to base her future life, her future happiness on one man. If they should ever leave…well, I’m not sure I’d be able to cope with that. If you love too hard, you can hurt too much. Trust me on that, I know. People leave you. Don’t give your heart to anyone, keep it hidden away, protected…intact.

The ping from my phone diverts me from this somber train of thought.

I’m downstairs at the hotel. Can you come and say hello?

I quickly type:

Come up to the 2nd floor. I’ll meet you by the lift.

Making sure the keycard is in my pocket, I slip my feet into the hotel’s complimentary slippers and shuffle out to meet Jamie.

I’m already waiting as the lift door opens and he emerges. My first thought is oh wow, as is my second...and third. He has made an effort for this wedding, and it’s certainly paid off. Eschewing the more formal Prince Charlie style, he’s wearing a charcoal grey jacket and waistcoat, perfectly matching the grey in his kilt. A crisp white shirt and burgundy tie complement the secondary colours in the tartan. His sporran is black leather, heavily etched or embossed. I can’t quite make out the detail. Then I feel myself blush as I realise I have been clearly staring at his...er, lower body. I look up quickly.

Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to have noticed. He looks me up and down and smiles. “Nice outfit,” he comments drily. “Is the bride wearing white towelling too? What’s the theme? Salon chic?”And is that part of the design?” He points to an orange stain on the front of my robe. I pull a face and tie the belt tighter, trying to tuck the offending piece of material out of sight.

“Must have spilled a drop of my Buck’s Fizz.”

“Drinking already? Dinna be staggering down the aisle.”

He reaches out towards my hair and pauses for a second before making a random circular motion with his hand. “And this…I like yer hair. It’s verra…verra…” he searches for the word. “... asymmetric.”

“Thank you,” I hold the ‘skirt’ of my robe and bob a little curtsy. “That’s totally what we were going for—asymmetric.”

He laughs. “Nah, seriously. Yer hair and yer makeup look grand. I’m sure ye’ll look lovely in yer dress.”

I gesture to my room. “I’d best finish getting ready.”

“Aye, I’ll see ye downstairs.” He presses the button for the lift.

“By the way, you look grand too.” I try to say it in an understated way. It’s true, but I don’t want him to read anything into the statement.

The lift arrives and he steps inside. As the doors close, he fires a parting shot. “Especially the sporran, eh?”

*********

Now in my bridesmaid’s dress, I practice a couple of pirouettes in front of the mirror before hearing a quick knock on the door to the adjoining room.

“Ye ready, Claire? Mam’s jes’ gone down. Only us three left.”

I walk through to the other room to be met by a riot of open suitcases, bags and boxes. A variety of towels, dressing gowns and footwear seem to be carpeting the floor.

“‘S ok,” Geillis’ voice comes from behind me. “It’s no’ ma problem. I’m no’ sleeping here tonight. I’ll be in the bridal suite. This’ll be Mam and Dad’s room.”

I turn to see my best friend now fully dressed and ready. Her father is hovering next to her, clad in kilt and full formal regalia. I always knew she would win that battle.

As beautiful as she looks, the thing that really strikes me is the way her father is watching her, with such love and pride. She returns his gaze and brings her forehead to rest against his cheek.

I swallow hard, fighting the desire to shed a tear. It’s such a precious image, so intimate, but also, I realise that, since Lamb died, I have nobody, no father figure, to share something like this. I feel a momentary pang of, not jealousy, but a feeling of regret over an emotion that I will never get to experience.

And then, just like that, the moment passes.

It always does.

Geillis passes me a creamy white posy tied with a simple ribbon and gathers up her bouquet of peonies, roses and fragrant eucalyptus.

“OK,” she takes a deep breath and breaks into a huge grin. “I think I’m late enough tae get Dougal jes’ a wee bit nervous. Time tae roll.”

*******

The hotel’s orangery provides a perfect setting for the wedding ceremony. Softly diffused sunlight filters through the white muslin drapes at the large windows. A slight breeze wafts the fabric gently, giving tantalising glimpses of the formal gardens outside.

At the end of the room, Dougal and Angus stand beside a large arch of succulent green foliage, staring straight ahead as Geillis and her father begin the procession down the aisle with me following.

Even before he turns to look, I can spot Jamie — his auburn curls are head and shoulders above those around him. He stays still at first, but as we draw near he turns around and grins before doing his funny blink, screwing up his face and closing both eyes, which I have learnt, is Jamie’s attempt at a wink. I return his smile before focussing on the arch getting ever closer.

Dougal appears rooted to the spot, but Angus turns around and watches for a moment before giving me a perfectly executed wink. I smile politely even as I shudder inwardly. The sheer self confidence of that man is beyond belief. Then he disappears from my thoughts as Geillis reaches the arch and passes me her bouquet to hold. The joy on her and Dougal’s faces as they prepare to make their vows is wonderful and I’m so happy to be a part of it all.

***************

They say the sun shines on the righteous. Well, Geillis and Dougal must be exceptionally good, as it’s a perfect summer afternoon. It’s beautifully warm, but not too hot, as all the guests mingle in the gardens, admiring the beautiful surroundings whilst drinking chilled champagne.

The photographer has finished with the formal photographs, so I’m allowed to relax and enjoy a glass or two. I can still spot him wandering around, ready to take more natural, candid shots of the proceedings but nobody seems to mind.

I was initially worried about inviting Jamie to the wedding for a couple of reasons. The first was my friends. Of course, my friends are great, but Anna and Mary can sometimes have an issue with boundaries and I had visions of the ‘conversations’ they might try to have with Jamie — ‘nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition’ unless Anna and Mary are around.

The second reason was that Jamie would literally know only one person at this wedding —me. And that, when I was off doing official ‘wedding stuff’, he would be on his own, billy-no-mates. But, as I look around, I realise I had absolutely nothing to worry about on that score. He has the knack, it seems, to get on with everyone.

At the moment he’s talking to Geillis’s father, laughing and joking like they’re old friends. He notices me looking at him, lifts his empty glass up and points to me. I hold my glass up and nod. He excuses himself and strolls towards the bar.

There’s a slight touch on my elbow. “Hello, dear.”

I draw my attention to the old lady standing next to me—Geillis’ great aunt Frances. I’ve met her on a couple of occasions before and have always enjoyed her company. She’s a straight talker and makes no bones about it. “When ye get tae my age,” I remember her commenting to me “ye dinna have time tae beat about the bush, ye need tae say what ye think.” I like that in a person.

“Hello, how nice to see you.”

“Ye too,dear. I must say ye’re looking awfa bonnie in that dress. It’s a fine colour on ye.”

“Thank you. And you’re looking lovely yourself.”

Frances makes a self deprecating ‘hmph’ sound, dismissing my compliment with a wave of her hand. “Away wi’ ye. Ye do yer best wi’ what ye’ve still got. Which isna much in ma case.”

I shake my head. “Not at—“

But she decides to change the subject and moves on with her next question. “Is that yer young man over there?” She points at Jamie, heading towards us with two glasses of champagne. “He’s a handsome chap, is he no’? Mind ye, that’s no more than ye deserve. Sae, mebbe ye’ll be next?”

“No, we—“

I have no chance to say anything more, before Jamie is by my side and handing me one of the glasses. I take a sip as he notices that Frances has no drink and, without hesitation, he passes the second glass to her.

“Aren’t ye kind… er?” She accepts gratefully.

“Jamie.”

“Weel, Jamie, let me tell ye. It’s been a long while since a good looking young man has brought me a drink. I should make the most of it. Anyway, I was jes’ saying tae our Claire here, how bonnie she looks today. Does she no’?”

She fixes her gaze on Jamie, demanding an answer.

“Aye, she looks lovely.” His eyes meet mine for a second, before I look away and try to change the subject.

“Don’t you think Geillis looks beautiful, Frances?”

But, it seems that Frances has one line of conversation that she is keen to pursue. “Oh aye, she does. But, Jamie, I was jes’ saying tae Claire that mebbe she’ll be next. What d’ye think?”

Fortunately, I’m spared any response as a gong sounds and the maître d’ announces that dinner is served and that everyone should make their way inside to the dining room.

****************

Having narrowly avoided any embarrassment, I am somewhat apprehensive to see Frances at our table. Fortunately, Geillis’ cousin and baby are enough to divert her attention away from any matrimonial prospects that may or may not be on my horizon.

With Jamie sitting by my side, I catch him up on all the behind the scenes activity of my day and we fall into our pattern of easy conversation and gentle banter. From time to time, I can see Frances, opposite, watching us with a look of approval on her face, but she says nothing.

Once the speeches and toasts are over, there’s a palpable change in the guests. Jackets are draped over chair backs, sleeves rolled up and waistcoat buttons undone. I can spot more than one woman moving awkwardly in her chair, struggling to locate the shoes that were eased off out of sight under the table. Cheeks become flushed with an abundance of rich food and tongues become looser with a surfeit of fine wine.

I sip my whisky, savouring its peaty smokiness. Jamie is in a serious rugby related conversation with his neighbour. A rustle of fabric behind me announces the arrival of the bride, a look of frustration on her face.

She greets the table politely before whispering “Can I borrow ye, Claire?”

I make my excuses and follow her into a quieter room.

“What’s up, Geillis? Is everything alright?” I’m concerned that there’s something genuinely wrong.

“It’s his bloody family,” she hisses. “The Mackenzies, if ye give them an inch, they’ll take a fuckin’ mile.”

She takes a deep breath and continues. “Dougal invited his second cousin Gary and his wife tae our evening do. Jes’ the two of them mind. Sae they turn up an hour and a half early and try tae cadge dessert and brandies from the waiters.”

“Where are they now?”

“Och, they’re sitting outside wi’ a couple of spare bottles of wine.” She gestures angrily to the gardens visible through the window. “And they’ll be first in the queue fer the buffet this evening, nae doubt. And what's more, they took it upon themselves tae bring their three bairns too. Weel, I say bairns, but they’re all in their twenties so it’s no’ as if they dinna have a babysitter.”

She finally sits down and lets her shoulders relax.

I take her hand and try to look serious. If this is the worst thing that happens today, that’s not so bad. Although clearly, in Geillis’ eyes, this is a catastrophe. “It’s not going to spoil anything really is it? They didn’t gatecrash the meal or the speeches,” I speak in a soothing tone. “Are you ok now?”

She nods. “Happen ye’re right. I jes’ wanted tae get it off ma chest. And I kent what I was getting in tae wi’ his family. But tae drag Gregory, Alicia and Laoghaire uninvited wi’ them jes’ pisses me off.”

I stare at her. “Laoghaire? Laoghaire Mackenzie?”

“Aye, that’s right. Unusual name, is it no’? Ye dinna find many of them around—thank god.”

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imagineclaireandjamie · 4 years ago

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Fast Forward. Chapter 15.

Happy Sunday all - enjoy the latest FF chapter. Just a little filler <3 MBD

“Is that what he would have done to me? I mean, not in the same way…”

“Hush, lass, it was just a nightmare.”

Having held her since she’d fallen asleep, Jamie had noticed the subtle adaption of her body language as she’d scrunched closer to him just as the clock signalled 2am. When the cadence of her breathing changed from soft puffs through her nose to choked wheezing, he turned to his high school Gaelic. Whispering against her flushed skin, he let her dig her fingers into his back as she curled herself closer to him.

Having little working knowledge of the experiences she’d had before arriving in the present, he was struggling to completely remove her panic. As they’d grown closer he had done some research and had Raymond fill him in on the gaps his reading had left but it was nothing compared to being there first hand.

She hadn’t wanted to taint the near-perfect experience of the night before with nightmares from the past, but her dreams had dredged up some awful memories that she just couldn’t seem to shake.

“I havena ever had the knowledge of being touched wi’out my consent, but I remember when Jenny was first training as a nurse. She came home with some awful stories, so I canna imagine what ye were going through, Claire. Just ken that whatever happens under our roof, it’ll be because ye’re comfortable enough to want it, aye?”

“Things are still a bit...distant. I wasn’t in much of a state to be very coherent but I dreamed that he was there, his words echoing in my ears as I came in and out of consciousness. I’d only remembered the slash of his whip on my back and the more that fades, the more the other elements surface.”

The soft call of the birds started outside the window as an unsettled silence fell over them once more. As the world began to wake, Jamie and Claire dozed again, in and out of sleep. It allowed her to recalibrate, her mind worrying less over what had woken her before and concentrating instead on taking stock of the lovely warmth that had filled her since she’d finally lain with Jamie.

As the first signs of daylight started to pierce the darkness, their mouths found one another, soft kisses leading them into dawn as they moved closer and closer.

“Will we tell anyone?” Claire whispered against his mouth as his hand skimmed her back softly.

After he’d mentioned Jenny it was a thought that had been bothering her quietly. Would he be ashamed or worried about sharing their new relationship with them? Would she think Claire a whore for taking Jamie to her bed without being married first? A myriad of other questions rushed through her mind despite her knowing the present wasn’t as brutal as her past.

“Ye said ye loved me, lass, do ye think I’m going to ignore you and pretend we didna…?”

He left the sentence hanging in the air, his gentlemanly ways stopping him before he vocalised how far they’d gone. Blushing at his stunted sentence, she moaned a little as his hips connected with hers - he was clearly aroused and this made her lock her arms under his and around his back, anchoring them chest to chest.

In the haze she had trouble recalling what she had and hadn’t said but the words seemed achingly familiar to her. Had he said it back, she wondered, but with their bodies entwined as they were she had great difficulty in worrying too much.

During the night his touch had been so tentative. She marvelled now as he skimmed his palms up and down the deep-set ridges of her back. Each sweep seemed more gentle than the last, for a large man, he was incredibly caring. His caress lulled her deeper into some untamed unconscious. He spoke to her with each subtle move of his body, the tickle of his chest hair against her breasts making her giggle and press forward at the same time. In her other life this would’ve made her extremely uncomfortable; the mere notion of being bare and thrust against a man was certainly unthinkable.

This, though, didn’t feel wrong.

Breathless and needy, Claire touched her tongue tentatively against Jamie’s bottom lip, an audible gasp escaping her mouth as he pushed himself closer still. There was a brief moment when each ceased all movement. Soft pants filled the cool morning air. Permission was being asked and granted from both parties as they closed the remaining infinitesimal gap between them.

Lay as they were, face to face, Jamie could watch. He hadn’t planned it this way, but even in this muted light he could see the worry drain from her face as they moved calmly together. It was enchanting, almost ethereal, the golden flecks of dawn catching in her deep brown hair as beads of sweat dripped along her neck and down until they became lost between the both of them.

“This is how it’s supposed to be, a ghraidh, and how it always will be. Have no fear.”

She could see the strength contained in his arms as she lay her head flat against his chest and watched what she could. Pure muscle ran from shoulder to fingertip as he held her gently and she couldn’t help but marvel at his power. He hadn’t needed to say the words and she knew them to be true, no matter what their interaction, from the moment she fell into his and Jenny’s lives he had gone above and beyond in his attempt to treat her with care and dignity. Her body knew, so did her heart, it was only the bad memories that littered her subconscious that kept her from succumbing fully.

“Is it always like this,” she gasped, her words coming out as a stunted whisper against his lips as they broke their kiss for just a moment, “between a man and a woman?”

Answering truthfully, he pulled her tight against him. “I dinna ken, but I don’t think so. This feels,” pausing for just a second, he allowed himself an opportunity to take stock of their situation, to feel the warmth of her settling deep into his bones as the heat of the morning sun penetrated the curtains, spreading a different type of heat over the both of them, “different. Unique.”

“I meant it last night. I love you Jamie.” Reiterating her words, she held her breath (a hard feat considering how fast her heart was racing in her chest, her ribs vibrating painfully) and waited for his response.

He felt the words as keenly as he had the night before, the goosebumps rising on his arms as he brushed his nose against hers. Although he knew how she’d finally managed to fall through time, the story vividly replaying itself in his mind as if it had just happened, sometimes he felt as though he’d magicked her there himself. Calling out, he remembered the reason he’d escaped up to the fairy hill in the first place and it felt stronger than fate that she had appeared at that exact moment, “Oh, Claire…I love ye too, More now than ever.

-- --- --

“Ye ken we’re close, Jenny and I, but I was lonely. When she met Ian I kent that eventually she was going to marry him and start a family of her own. I walked up to Craigh na Dun at least once a week, but usually at a more reasonable hour, and when ye fell through the stones I was enamoured from the second I had ye in my arms.”

Peeking up at him drowsily, Claire smiled. Her whole body felt heavy and her eyes struggled to stay open, but she could just about make out the slight pinking of his cheeks as he spoke. “I’m quite glad you were less of a knight in shining armor and more a hero in your car.”

“Don’t tell anyone,” he whispered lowly, the hint of humour in his voice, “but I occasionally do ride the ponies up there wi’ my cape on, ye were just lucky you didna see me else you’d never recovered from the fairytale magic of it all.”

“Maybe that’s something to save for later…” she joked as she curled her leg over his hip and pulled the blankets up to cover her shoulders.

“I have an idea of a time when it’ll be useful.”

Although it was late in the morning and they could both hear people moving around downstairs, they let sleep claim them again. Content in the arms of the other with the sun covering any inch of bare skin, they slept well into the afternoon, neither feeling guilty for taking the day to recuperate from their intense night.

“Can you really ride a horse?”

“Aye, of course. I’ll show you, if you like...tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow sounds good.”

#ask #;mod mbd #fast forward #jamie and claire

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betweensceneswriter · 4 years ago

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Island Hopper-Chapter 27: So Long, Farewell

Claire & Jamie head home, but unexpected surprises await them.

Previously on Island Hopper:

Chapter 26: Forgive me, Father… Jamie’s got a lot of built up bitterness toward his father.

ISLAND HOPPER (Jimjeran Book 2) Table of Contents

ISLAND FEVER (Jimjeran Book 1) Table of Contents

Jamie reached down to give my mom a hug. With her arms around his neck she kissed him on the cheek.

“I really do love you, Mister Jamie,” she said. “Your mama would be so proud of you.”

The look on his face was precious—an affectionate smile and a flush of pride.

“Thanks for opening up your home to us,” he beamed, with an extra squeeze and a slight lift that made Mom laugh outright when he put her down, her face flushing as well.

“You’re welcome to visit anytime, son,” my dad said, reaching his hand out to shake Jamie’s. He was more reserved than my mom but I could see his eyes twinkle as he put his arm around Jamie’s shoulders before we continued to make our farewells.

“I’m not sure I’m ready to let you go, man,” Seth said, putting out his hand to shake Jamie’s and then pulling him into a hug. “Who is going to pace me on my morning jogs?”

“Ye just need to find a reason to do your final film project out on Arno,” Jamie told him after pounding him on the back affectionately. “Then it willna be as long before we get to jog together again.”

“You look out for my sister,” Shelly ordered Jamie as she hugged me. “After what we’ve been studying in my global climate class, I’m worried about this upcoming storm season.”

We were waiting in the TSA line when John and Joe came rushing down the hall. I did a double take when I realized John didn’t have a bit of luggage with him.

At Jamie’s curious shrug and the question in his eyes, John blushed.

“I changed my flight,” he explained. “I was going to be flying back today, but I… we…” He glanced over at Joe.

“What the…?” I blurted out, looking from John to Joe and then back again. I’m sure my confusion was written all over my face, but so were my matchmaking suspicions.

Joe put his hand affectionately on John’s shoulder and raised an eyebrow at me. “You can stop grinning, Claire,” he ordered me. “I know you’re jumping around on the inside.”

“Are you kidding me?” I exclaimed, grabbing Joe by the waist and squeezing him, looking up into his face to see his dark eyes twinkling down at me. He hugged me back, and as I looked over at John's shy smile I whispered to Joe, “This is one of the good ones, Joegie.”

“Do the two of you want to stay with us?” my mom piped up. “It would save you the cost of a hotel, and with Jamie and Claire leaving, there’s a room free in our house.”

“Thanks, Robin,” Joe responded. “But this—” he said, meeting John’s eyes, “is so new, that might be awkward.”

“Well, at least come for dinner tonight,” she insisted. “I’m going to be going through kid withdrawals by then.”

My eyes were pricking with tears and I found myself hugging my mom gratefully. I knew that many of their Christian friends and colleagues were not as open minded, but my dad’s background in counseling had convicted them several years back that bigotry and judgment had no place in a loving life.

When I let go of my mom, I met Jamie’s eyes. We were almost at the front of the line, our family members having traveled with us through the weaving queue leading up to the security check-in.

“I've made a decision,” Jamie declared, as we pulled the cart carrying our backpacks forward a few more steps. I looked up at him curiously. “I think I’ll just stay here,” he said brightly. “I’ve bonded with your family, Claire, and I dinna want to travel on the Island Hopper again. It makes me queasy just to think of it.”

“Jamie, honey,” my mom said reassuringly, patting his arm. “You’ve got those copper pressure point bracelets I got for you, and you’ve taken your motion sickness medicine. When you get on the plane, take the antihistamine Claire has for you and you’ll fall asleep. You’ll be boring company for Claire, but you won’t feel nearly as sick.”

Jamie grinned down at my mom and put his arm around her. “Thanks, Robin,” he said. “I canna thank ye enough for looking out for me.”

“I’m a momma,” she said. “And you’re one of my kids now, too.”

There was a lump in my throat as Jamie and I put our backpacks on the conveyor belt and stopped at the bench to take off our shoes. I turned back one last time as we left the security area to go to our gate, and saw six familiar faces gazing at us, six arms waving furiously until we couldn’t see them anymore.

Jamie stopped me as we rounded the corner. I had let out a little sob, and he dropped his backpack and took me in his arms.

“It hurts to say goodbye,” he whispered, his head bending close to mine. “But how blessed we are to have your family so close.”

I nodded and took his hand as we headed toward home.

The text on my phone was as abrupt as the man himself. When does your plane arrive?

I shook my head in confusion, typing “7:17 pm” and hitting send.

Next to me, Jamie gave a soft snort, shifted in his seat, and then returned to the even breathing of sleep.

I will meet you then, came the reply.

Thanks, I responded.

You should stay with us tonight.

That would be nice. Thanks.

The Iroij and I have a request. Let’s talk when you get here.

Dougal’s final response left me disquieted.

Dougal and the Iroij? What could they want, and why the need to prepare us for it?

I had been fretting about Dougal's announcement for nearly an hour when a deep breath and expansive stretch from Jamie next to me announced that the antihistamine effects might be wearing off. He nuzzled my neck and then took my hand in his, drawing it into his lap.

“Jamie!” I whispered, “We are in an airplane, you goober. There are people around!”

“Ifrinn, that is a shame,” came his slow good-humored reply. With one final motion that brought me in lingering contact with his wake up show-and-tell, he released my hand and kissed me on the shoulder.

“Perhaps later,” he murmured.

“At Dougal's house?” I asked dubiously, handing him my phone.

He read over the messages, his forehead furrowing as he blinked the sleep from his eyes.

“What could they possibly want from us?” Jamie mused, yawning as he handed the phone back to me.

What indeed? I wondered, looking out the window at the never-ending landscape of blue ocean and the occasional cloud. I had to satisfy myself with the reassurance that we would find out soon enough.

“How were your travels?” Dougal asked once he had helped us load our things into the trunk of his car and he had turned down Lagoon Drive leaving the airport. The sun had set and all we could see was faint pink in the west over the lights of Delap.

“Remarkably good,” Jamie responded with a deep sigh, stretching his legs out and sinking into the front seat. “Even spending today on the Island Hopper, I dinna feel horrible, though I do feel stiff and sore. Dinna think I got off the plane once.” He glanced over his shoulder at me in the back seat. “As for Guam, the whole trip was brilliant. Claire’s family was so welcoming I already love them.” Before turning back to face Dougal, he winked at me.

“Any other news?” Dougal asked, unaware of the shade thrown his way.

“Well, my da called me,” Jamie mentioned off-handedly.

“He did, then,” Dougal responded gravely. “He had called to get your information and I gave him Claire’s phone number. How are ye, lad?”

“Not sure… Still in a state of shock, I guess, though I should probably call him before we leave Majuro,” Jamie replied.

Dougal didn’t ask any more questions, and Jamie didn’t offer any more information the few remaining minutes until we reached the MacKenzie home.

“The Iroij and I would like the two of you to take Perkaj home,” was Dougal’s request. He had restrained himself until supper, once we were sitting in chairs around the dining table with him and Revka and Moneo.

I shared a confused glance with Jamie. How was that a request that needed much consideration? “Well, of course we can take him back to Arno,” I responded.

“I dinna believe you grasp my meaning,” Dougal said, leaning forward. “We need you to take him back to Arno and keep him in your home for a time.”

“What about Maria?” I asked, confused.

“Aye, what about his auntie?” Jamie chimed in.

“She stayed for a week but then left,” Dougal explained, “convinced that the task was beyond her. She isn’t prepared to monitor his blood sugars and take charge of his diabetic care.”

“And his parents?” I asked. I glanced over at Jamie, whose brow was furrowed in thought.

“With several younger children in the home, I don't think his parents can be expected to take it on either,” Dougal reasoned. “But the Iroij and I feel like it would be cruel to put him in medical foster care here on Majuro, so far from his home.”

“No, that wouldna be right,” said Jamie, shaking his head. He reached over and put his hand on my knee.

“I agree,” said Dougal. “So we would like the two of you to consider accepting this responsibility. To have him come live with you for a time.” He paused to let the concept sink in. “We honestly can't imagine a better environment. You with your medical background, Claire. And you, Jamie, a teacher—close to him all day so you can monitor his blood sugars during school and coach him on eating and giving himself insulin. The both of you will be there to help him through the night and in the morning.”

“But willna he miss his family?” Jamie asked. “It may confuse him for them to just be down the lane.”

Dougal nodded briefly. “Mr. Timisen and I were thinking his life should be as normal as possible. We would like him to eat a meal with his family each day and play with friends in the afternoon. But until they are confident he is in a situation with the support to keep his blood sugar level, the hospital won’t even release him to let him return home.”

“Aye.” Jamie answered with conviction when Dougal finally paused in his reasons. “Of course we will help the wee laddie.”

I was still taking it in, thinking about the challenges of bringing a seven-year-old into our home.

I glanced over at Jamie to see if I could catch his eye—to see if I could signal to him that perhaps we should talk first.

Instead I saw him lean back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, on his face a wry smile.

“Am I to understand, Uncle,” he mused, “that as a married couple, Claire and I are actually better suited to be of benefit to the islanders on Arno than we were unmarried?”

Dougal’s generally gruff countenance softened at his nephew’s teasing comment.

“Aye, son, you’ve proven your point,” he said, shaking his head with a grin. “And I said as much to Claire on our field ship voyage—that I was wrong to judge her effectiveness based on the actions of one night, and that I truly see now what an impact she is having.”

“As I said, of course we will be happy to take Perkaj home wi’ us,” Jamie repeated, smiling over at me proudly.

By that point both men were looking at me in expectation. What other choice was there? We were there for the sake of the islanders, not our own selfish impulses.

“So,” I said brightly. “What do we need to do to get ready for a temporary son?”

Perkaj looked so small in the hospital bed. He'd always been a cheerful student and joker, his chubby face often in a smile. Now he looked shrunken and serious as the endocrinologist showed us the tester, the insulin pen, and the syringe for long-acting insulin.

I had done an endocrinology rotation in nursing school. Despite this, the prospect of learning to be a human pancreas was daunting. I held back, but Jamie instantly sat down by the boy, taking his hand in his and talking to him in Marshallese. Perkaj answered his questions in a small voice, and Jamie kept up a constant stream of conversation until the doctor was ready to continue.

“Go ahead and speak to him in Majel,” Jamie directed the doctor. “I’ll translate for Claire.”

I appreciated how Dr Langenbelik also sat down at Perkaj’s level to show him the insulin pen as he told us they’d already administered his long-acting insulin for the day, the dose given each morning to provide a baseline level of insulin in the bloodstream for the day. As we were talking, a breakfast tray arrived from the cafeteria. On it was a range of island menu staples—a small bowl of rice, a piece of grilled fish, some baked breadfruit, sliced papaya, and two white flour pancakes.

“Knowing how much insulin to take with each meal is very important,” the doctor was telling Perkaj. “You need to get good at counting your carbs.”

The doctor cupped his hand and held it up in front of Perkaj.

“That’s about a half cup,” Jamie translated in a whispered aside, “That is the size of a serving of food.” He stopped and listened as the doctor explained while pointing to the items on the tray, then turned back to interpret for me. “A half cup of anything sweet or starchy—rice or pancakes, fruit or breadfruit—takes one unit of insulin to enter the cells of the body. With each meal Perkaj eats, he needs to figure out how many servings he is eating, and then he will give himself the short-acting insulin.”

“Or we can help him until he is ready to do it,” I suggested.

“Before eating anything, ledrik,” the doctor said to Perkaj, who was eyeing the food hungrily, “You need to test your blood sugar. If you are high, you need to add an extra ____ units for each ____ points too high. If you are too low, you need to adjust the insulin down slightly.”

Perkaj leaned back, deflated.

“Dinna worry, Perkaj,” Jamie encouraged. “It shouldn’t take long.”

“It’s time,” the doctor said to us. “I’m going to step back and observe as you help Perkaj with this meal.”

Jamie and I exchanged wide-eyed glances, then nodded at each other to fortify our confidence.

“Ready?” Jamie asked the young boy. Perkaj nodded his head, sitting back up and looking eagerly at the food. “First we should have you test your blood sugar. Can you do that?”

With one false start and wincing as he did it, Perkaj was able to poke his fingertip with the lancet to get his blood sugar reading. It was right on target, so as the boy looked over his plate, Jamie coached him to count the carbohydrate servings, which Perkaj adorably did by counting on his fingers.

“Enana keine” he said, making a face after a tiny taste of pancake. “I eat the kappokpok, the keinabbu, the feesh, and the rice. That is tree carbs. No carb for feesh.” He looked around the tray curiously, questioning, “Is there salt? Or soy sauce?”

Once Perkaj had decided what he was hungry for, it was time to administer the short-acting insulin. Jamie tried to hand the pen off to me, but I forced it back into his palm. “You need to do it,” I insisted at his surprise. “I know how to give injections. You’re the one who needs practice!” He conceded with wide eyes and a reluctant sigh.

I coached Jamie with the insulin pen, watching as he turned the end of the cylinder until it clicked three times, one for each carb serving—the rice, the breadfruit, and the papaya.

“But I don’t want to hurt him,” Jamie objected when I pulled up Perkaj’s sleeve and exposed the back of his arm where Jamie was to give him the injection.

“Is okay, Meester Shamie,” Perkaj said reassuringly, bravely squaring his jaw as Jamie did the same, looking away as Jamie firmly jabbed the needle into the boy’s arm and pressed the plunger to dispense the insulin units into his bloodstream.

Jamie shuddered when it was done, murmuring “Jolok bod,” to Perkaj.

“Echelok bod, Meester Shamie,” Perkaj said cheerily. “You did bery good. Emetak only jiddik.”

Dr. Langenbelik approached, a smile on his face. “Excellent,” he said. “Now eat your breakfast, Perkaj—we want to make sure there are carbohydrates in your body when the insulin is in your bloodstream.”

Perkaj seemed hungry and grateful to get food in his system again. As he ate, the doctor turned and talked to the two of us quietly.

“Our goal is to get Perkaj trained to take on his diabetic care himself. Until he does, though, I am grateful that the two of you are willing to take on the responsibility. Not every young person diagnosed with type 1 has family members who feel ready to help them get through the learning process.”

“I don’t feel ready,” Jamie said to the doctor. “But I dinna think we have much choice.”

We took shifts staying with Perkaj during the twenty-four hours before the Jolok boat was to take us home. I stayed with him while Jamie went to the hardware store to buy the last of the things he needed for the solar still and storm-proofing our house. I had taken one of Revka’s books with me and spent several hours reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to Perkaj.

Jamie arrived, giving me a quick hug before going right to Perkaj’s bedside. He picked up where I left off with the book while I went to do our grocery shopping for fresh produce and dry goods for the next few weeks.

“Our blood sugar is right on target!” Jamie announced when I returned to the hospital in the late afternoon after dropping off the food boxes at Dougal’s house. He showed me the little notebook where they had marked down Perkaj’s pre-meal blood sugar level, the amount of insulin, the number of servings he had eaten, and then the mid-afternoon blood sugar level.

Perkaj seemed to be tired by then, but Jamie continued to sit by his bed holding his hand as the boy’s eyes repeatedly blinked and then closed.

I stood behind Jamie, massaging his shoulders as I watched the little boy sleeping.

“Not exactly what you pictured as your first child, is he?” Jamie whispered, rolling his head back and forth and groaning as I hit tight muscles.

“A little bigger than I expected,” I joked, smiling as Jamie grabbed my hand and kissed it.

“Are you okay with this?” Jamie asked, turning to look up at me. “I'm the one who deals with kids most of the time. You want a baby, but our baby. This is different, to be sure.”

“I’m terrified, honestly,” I responded, leaning forward and putting my arms around Jamie’s shoulders, my cheek against his as we both stared at Perkaj. “I know we’re capable, but this is such a responsibility.”

I could feel a lump growing in my throat and I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. “And I was so looking forward to being alone again.”

Jamie chuckled and brought his hands up to rest on my arms. “That day will come.” He pressed his cheek against mine as he looked at the little dark-haired form in front of us. “This will just be a season, like your da said.” He took a breath and then began hesitantly. “Now, I was thinking Perkaj will do better if he doesna wake up all alone. Can I stay here wi’ him tonight?”

“Of course,” I responded.

“So do you want to stay here wi’ us, or go to Dougal’s house?”

“Dougal will need their car in the morning,” I said with a sigh, looking at the narrow guest couch edging the window. “And all our groceries are there at their house. I’ll need to pack them up before we come to pick Perkaj up for the ride on the Jolok boat.”

“I’ll see you in the morning, then?” he asked. As he stood and took me in his arms I closed my eyes, breathing in his familiar scent, listening to the reassuring thump of his heart.

“Yes,” I sighed. Then I reached up, pulled his face down to mine and kissed him thoroughly.

He chuckled. “Trying to make me regret my choice?”

“No,” I answered. “I just love you.”

When I left the room I looked back—pausing just to watch Jamie sitting in the chair next to the bed, leaning his arms on the railing and looking down at the dark-haired form covered by a thin blue blanket.

On to Chapter 28: Just Add Water

Certain things are instant. Not usually sons.

#Jimjeran #BetweenScenes #Outlander fanfic #Claire x Jamie #Carlie x Campbell #Island Hopper #Book Two #Meet Perkaj (Fergus)

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three-drink-amy · 5 years ago

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Sweet Creature

Bonus chapter for the week! I’m finished writing the story, so I MAY change posting to twice a week if people were interested. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

master list - AO3

Chapter Thirteen

No one ever said that being in a long distance relationship was easy. It made it even less easy when said relationship is less than a month old. Jamie realized that it helped that they’d known each other for ten years. If they were a new couple, and completely new to each other, they’d be a mess trying to attempt long distance for an undetermined amount of time. But having their friendship to fall back on certainly had its perks.

They’d been doing well so far. It was only a couple of weeks in and they’d talked nearly every night. Claire had a lot to tell about the progress on the new store and Jamie was always eager to hear it. He may not be an official investor anymore, but he’d always been emotionally invested. There had been plenty of nights in the last two weeks that he’d skipped out on plans with other people because he thought there was a chance Claire would call him. And most nights, that’s what happened.

But even getting to talk to her that often, he couldn’t deny that he still missed her. It had only been a bit over a month that they’d been talking again. Even though they’d talked things out and now were onto a different phase of life together, he couldn’t help but worry that one day she’d just stop calling. Because of that, he probably always sounded too eager for her calls. He’d text her each evening when he was back from the office to let her know when he was free to talk. Maybe he was making himself too available, but he didn’t care. He needed Claire in his life. And that was just the way it had to work at the moment.

He was sitting in his office, counting down the minutes until he could leave and call Claire. It had been a rough day and he just needed to hear her voice. He texted her before he even left, trying to get a feel for how busy she was that day.

I’ll be working late. Sorry! I’ll call you when I’m walking back to my hotel. Chin up!

Jamie sighed, leaning back in his chair. He should be trying to look like he was busy, but he didn’t care enough to do so. John walked in and threw himself down in one of his chairs. “So I think everyone’s planning to go get drinks after this. You in?”

He looked down at his phone and reread the text from Claire. “Yeah,” he said with a grimace. “A stiff drink sounds good after today.”

John shook his head with a dark look. “I was thinking we could all get drunk and plan on how to properly assassinate St. Germain. Thoughts?”

Jamie grinned. “I canna see how that could go wrong.” John laughed, standing up to go back to his desk. “I’ll see ye in a few.”

There was a rather large group of his coworkers that ended up going out for drinks that evening. The raucous group sat at a small bar downing whisky like it was water. They were commiserating their shared terrible day before they went around each picking a different aspect of their boss to drag through the mud. It was just one of those days. But each drink somehow made Jamie miss Claire more. John sat next to him and caught on to how many times Jamie had been checking his phone.

“Waiting to hear from Claire?” John asked. He’d not so secretly been excited for Jamie’s new relationship. Jamie nodded, taking another drink. “I’m sure she’ll call. You said she always does.”

“She does. I just miss her,” Jamie groaned as he ran a hand down his face.

“That’s so cute,” John said. He flashed his friend a teasing look. “You’re just head over heels for her, aren’t you?” Jamie rolled his eyes. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” John leaned in closer. “And between you and me, I have to say that she’s the best one you’ve ever dated.”

Jamie smiled, nodding in agreement. “Ye dinna have to tell me that.”

They carried on drinking and eventually, it was John’s turn to get the next round. He vacated his spot next to Jamie. It was quickly filled by the last person Jamie wanted to talk to. He glanced over to see Annalise sitting next to him. Angling himself away, he turned to talk to the person on the other side of him. He hoped John would come and reclaim his seat. How the woman had never gotten the hint was beyond him. She tapped him on the shoulder and he rolled his eyes as he looked over at her.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, batting her eyelashes. He wondered how on earth he ever found her alluring. That had evaporated so fast.

“Just felt like chatting wi’ Marcus,” Jamie said with a gesture to the man on his left. He turned back but she tapped his shoulder again.

“You seem more down than everyone else here,” she pointed out.

“Aye, perhaps so,” he agreed. “I was just wishing my girlfriend could be here.”

Anger flashed in her eyes before she covered it up with a smile. “Well that’s her loss,” she said, her hand resting on his shoulder.

He scowled at her, shrugging off her hand before he walked over to the bar where John was standing. John grinned as he watched him approach. “I canna stand her,” Jamie said with a sigh.

“Sure, none of us can,” John agreed. “But to be fair, you did make that mess yourself.” Jamie glared at him. “I wanted to tell you she’d be nothing but trouble.”

“I wish ye had.”

“Are you telling me that no one tried to tell you that you were going down the wrong path?” John asked, one eyebrow raised.

“No, one person did,” Jamie admitted.

“Claire?”

“Yep.”

John burst out laughing. “Leave it to her to tell it to you straight only to have you make a pretty terrible mistake and have it ruin your work life.” He glanced back at Annalise. “I could have told you she’d be nothing but boring once you took the chase away.”

“I should ha’ known it on my own. She was just distracting in a way I hadna been in a while, so I thought that was something bigger,” Jamie confessed. “Twas wrong of me.”

“We all make mistakes, mate.”

Jamie sighed. “Ye dinna have to tell me that. Somehow I still feel like I’m paying for my last and biggest mistake.”

“What, the thing with Claire?” John asked. “Why do you think that? The two of you are literally dating now.”

“I dinna ken. I canna explain it,” Jamie replied, his face a bit crumpled.

“Have you talked to her about it?”

“Of course no’. We’re living in different cities presently. Tis hard to talk about those types of things over the phone. It’s probably just all in my head anyway. I think I’m just scared to lose her again. It was hard to be wi’out her before I confessed how I was feeling. Now...well I dinna think I could handle that,” Jamie said in a small voice.

John stared at him for a moment. “That kind of sounds like something you should talk about with your girlfriend. Don’t you think?”

“Maybe. I was thinking of going to Edinburgh and surprising her soon. I just dinna ken how busy she’d be on a weekend.”

“Well it’s not like you’re completely unhelpful,” John replied with a grin. “I’m sure you could help out if she had things to do.”

Jamie nodded thoughtfully. “That’s a fair point. I could.”

“Yeah, and then you could talk to your girlfriend about how much you love her and need her in your life.” Jamie shot him a look. “Communication is healthy, James.”

“Ye sound like my sister.”

“Can I ask you something?” Jamie raised a brow, encouraging him to continue. “When did you realize you loved her that way? Was it when you two weren’t speaking?”

Jamie took a drink of his whisky. He’d never even really told Claire about that. “I suppose I realized what it all meant when she wouldna talk to me. I always felt this odd possessiveness of her and was verra critical of anyone interested in her. She was always the standard that I judged the lasses I dated by, but I never took the time to think about why that might be. I dinna ken, but I’m sure if I sat down and really thought about it, I’d find that it has been a lot longer than just the last couple of months. I wish I’d slowed down and tried to think through what I was really feeling. Maybe then we wouldna be mere weeks into a relationship when she had to go to Edinburgh.” Jamie sighed, staring down at his glass. “I just truly had no idea that she felt that way for me.”

“You didn’t?”

Jamie glanced over at his friend. “Did ye think she did?”

John shook his head. “No, but I met her after years of you two being friends. I always just thought you were really close.”

“I guess I just never thought she’d want me,” Jamie admitted. “And so I never allowed myself to think about it. Just looked to other women instead of the one right next to me the whole time. I suppose I should have known by the fact that I was willing to bankroll her business.”

“That’s not really something you do for just a friend,” John agreed. “But you’re together now, right?”

Jamie nodded, still feeling a bit on edge. “Aye. We are.”

He felt his pocket vibrate and his face lit up as he pulled his phone out. Claire’s picture smiled up at him and he fumbled to answer. “Sassenach!”

“Hi, there! Not too late is it?”

“No’ at all!” He looked over at John, pointing to his phone. “I’ll see ye later, mate.”

“Bye,” John whispered.

“It sounds like you’re somewhere loud,” Claire said. “Where are you?”

Jamie paid his tab quickly. “Rough day at the office today, so a large group of us took over a pub nearby to drink our sorrows away,” Jamie explained as he finished paying.

“Well, I can just talk to you tomorrow,” Claire offered.

“No!” Jamie replied. “No, I’d much rather talk to ye. I just paid my tab and everything.” He walked out onto the quieter street, hoping he could hear her better. “So, how is the bakery going?”

On the other end, Claire was smiling at his quick dismissal of her offer to hang up. “It’s going well. Things are all coming together in a pretty way. It’s been a while since I did this part, you know.”

“Aye. But this is yer third time. Ye’re basically a pro by now,” Jamie insisted.

Claire laughed. “Well I don’t know about that.” She took a drink of water as she laid on the couch in her hotel room. “So, what was so bad about work today?”

Jamie groaned. “St. Germain was on one. He...hold on,” he cut himself off. Claire could hear something in the background. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to listen in closer.

Jamie heard his name being called and turned around on the sidewalk to see Annalise tearing after him. “You forgot your jacket!” she said as she caught up to him.

He grabbed it from her quickly. “Thanks.” Turning back to the way he was walking, he started talking to Claire again. A hand on his arm made him turn around again. Annalise was looking at him expectantly. “Can I help ye?”

“You just left so quickly. You didn’t even say goodbye,” she said, a flirtatious look on her face.

He pointed at his phone. “I’m on a call.”

“What’s going on?” Claire asked in one ear.

“You could always hang up and call back later,” Annalise suggested, trying to pull him back to the bar.

“Claire, hold on,” Jamie said into the phone. He held it to his shoulder as he turned to Annalise. “Just go on back to the bar. Or go home. But leave me alone, woman. I thought I’d made it perfectly clear that I’m no’ interested.”

Despite Jamie’s attempts to muffle his side of the call, Claire could still hear it.

“Twas one date, months ago. I think ye should realize that I’ve moved on. Perhaps ye should as well. Find someone else to play yer games because it willna be me anymore. Aye?”

He walked away before Annalise could reply. Putting the phone back to his ear, he sighed. “Sorry about that, what were we talking about?”

“Your work,” Claire reminded him.

“Ah, that’s right. St. Germain spent most of the afternoon tearing all of us to bits. So, some drinking was required after the evening,” Jamie explained. “I only agreed to go since ye said ye were working late.”

He continued on but Claire had spaced out a bit. She chimed in here and there when necessary, but wasn’t entirely present for the conversation. Long distance was hard for her, especially when all she wanted was the reassurance of Jamie’s arms around her. But right now, he was closer to the woman who was still trying to sink her claws into him. They talked for a while before Claire begged off, saying she had to get up early in the morning. Jamie understood and bid her goodnight, saying he hoped they’d have a chance to talk tomorrow. She muttered an agreement before hanging up the call. It wasn’t a total lie; she did have to get up in the morning. But sleep didn’t come easily to her. She couldn’t help but continuously picture her worst nightmare over and over.

The next day when Jamie texted to see if she was free, she lied.

* * *

Nine days and a lot of missed opportunities to talk to Claire later, Jamie was sitting at a bar with Joe. “I’m glad ye could meet me,” Jamie said, raising his glass slightly. “Been a bit lonely,” he added with a laugh. “So, how’s wedding planning going?”

Joe shook his head with a sigh. “You mean when Gayle actually asks me what I want for my wedding?”

Jamie laughed. “Have ye fought her on anything?”

“Not a damn thing,” Joe confessed. “Honestly, I haven’t cared. I just want her to want to include me. But things are slowing down significantly now.”

Jamie’s brow furrowed. “Why’s that?”

“Well we set a date,” Joe told him. Jamie looked excited for them. “It’s in nineteen months.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Joe nodded, his lips forming a tight line. “Gayle found this castle and absolutely had to have the wedding there. I want her to have the wedding she wants, so I said sure. But the earliest they had, which was already a cancellation, was nineteen months from now.”

“That’s almost two years,” Jamie pointed out.

“Yeah, I know. I wish I had a better “Castle Guy.” But I didn’t look into one of those when I moved here,” Joe joked.

“Are ye okay wi’ that long an engagement?” Jamie asked hesitantly.

“Sure. I mean, in a lot of different ways, it already feels like we’re married. We’ve lived together since I moved to Scotland for medical school. We just decided a while back that we wouldn’t look at getting married until we were both established in our careers,” Joe said with a shrug. “So I feel pretty good about it. And if Gayle gets her dream venue, then that’s all the better. I know she can’t wait to invite people from the States to her wedding in a damn castle.”

Jamie laughed, taking a drink of his beer. “Canna beat that.”

“I guess I can tell Claire that she can slow down on her plans for my Stag Party,” Joe mused with an amused shake of his head. “Girl was saying just last night how she had such great ideas for it, no matter how many times I told her she doesn’t have to plan it.”

Joe was laughing but Jamie was fixated on what Joe had said. He cleared his throat. “Ye talked to Claire last night?”

The other man froze as he was about to put a pretzel in his mouth. “Yes.”

“Gotcha,” Jamie replied shortly. He picked up his beer and took a long drink. “If she talked to ye, I wonder why she texted me and said she was going to bed early and wouldna have any time to talk.”

Joe closed his eyes in a grimace. “So, how are you guys doing?”

Jamie shook his head. “I thought we were doing fine. Claire’s been plenty busy, but apparently, no’ as busy as she’s let on.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I just miss her and long distance is terrible. And there’s no definitive time that it’ll be over. But I thought we were good. I guess no’ if she’s dodging my calls.”

Joe sighed. “I’m sorry I said anything. I didn’t realize.”

“Dinna worry about it. I was thinking about going to Edinburgh to surprise her,” Jamie mentioned.

An odd look came over Joe’s face. “You might want to do that. I think that would be a good idea.”

Jamie picked up on his tone and narrowed his eyes at the other man. “What do ye ken that I dinna?”

“Nothing!” Joe exclaimed with an unconvincing shrug. Jamie stared at him until he caved. “Look, she just said something to me yesterday.”

“What did she say?” Jamie asked, leaning across the table.

“Just that she...had some doubts,” Joe explained, clearly feeling uncomfortable.

“Doubts?” Jamie cried. “What doubts? About our relationship?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t explain. It was said one time and when I tried to press her on it, she clammed up and said that she shouldn’t have mentioned it,” Joe told him. “But whatever it is, that might be why she’s been weird about taking your calls.”

Jamie sighed, his head hanging in his hands. “I’m racking my brain right now trying to figure out what I’ve done wrong.”

“There’s no guarantee it’s you,” Joe reminded him. “She didn’t say what it was.”

“But it was about our relationship?”

Joe’s face scrunched as he nodded. “I guess. Maybe.”

Jamie shook his head, feeling helpless. “If I go to Edinburgh, am I going to be broken up with?”

“No!” Joe said emphatically. “No, that would be silly.” He looked at Jamie with a pointed expression. “I think you should go and spend some time together. I think it would be good for the both of you.”

Jamie released a large sigh. “Maybe so.”

* * *

Friday night came and Claire was relieved to have the weekend to relax. She walked into her hotel room and threw her bag down on the floor before laying down on the couch. It felt good to just stop moving for a bit. Feeling her phone in her back pocket, Claire dug it out and looked at it. Her lockscreen was a picture of her and Jamie. She stared at his face for a long time, pressing the button again each time it went dark. Finally, she felt the urge to return all his missed calls from the last week or so. Even though she felt guilty, she didn’t know how to call him when she was as nervous about their relationship as she was. Given how well he knew her, she knew he’d pick up on her hesitance. So, instead, she just didn’t call him. She’d texted him a few times throughout the days, though they were mostly replies to his messages.

But this time, her need to hear his voice drowned out her fears. She called him, getting antsy as the line started ringing.

“Hello?”

“Jamie!” she cried. “God, it’s good to hear your voice.”

“Sassenach, how are ye?” he asked. Something seemed off about his voice, but she thought maybe he’d just had a long day.

“Doing alright. I just got home from the bakery. Well, not home home. I got back to my hotel,” she said. A horn honked on his end of the call. “Where are you?”

“Walking home from work,” he said. “How’s the bakery coming?”

“It’s good. I miss you, though.” She wished she could see his face.

“Aye, I do too,” he agreed, a sad tone to his voice. “Out of curiosity, if I were to send ye something, what is yer room number?”

Claire smiled to herself. “What are you sending me?”

“Room number, woman!” he repeated, his voice a bit lighter.

She laughed. “It’s 743.”

“Aye, thank ye. Tell me more about how everything’s coming,” he pressed.

“Going well. We’ve hired a staff though they won’t officially start for a bit yet. We’re still in the construction stage. But I’m trying to work ahead and have everything that we need ready for when I need to start with the staff training.” She continued on, only stopping when there was a knock at her door. “Hold on. Someone’s at the door.”

Claire jumped up, surprised beyond belief when it was Jamie on the other side of the door. “Oh my god, you’re here?” He grinned as he nodded in reply. She threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around him. Drawing him in over the threshold, she hugged him tightly. A thump against the floor drew her back as he tossed his bag just inside the door. “God, I’ve missed you,” she said, cupping his cheeks. “It’s so bloody good to see you.”

Jamie nodded, quieter than usual. “Aye, and ye.”

“What made you decide to come?”

An odd look crossed his face. “Well, I’d been thinking of it for a bit. I missed ye. But I ken ye’ve been verra busy, so I wasna sure when the right time would be.” He walked further into the room. “I had drinks wi’ Joe the other night and he seemed to think it was a good idea. Especially after something you’d said to him the night before.” He turned and looked at her, a strained expression coloring his face. “Which I believe was one of the nights ye told me ye couldna talk because ye were going to bed so early. Which was actually just one time in a string of instances where ye couldna call. But apparently, ye can talk to Joe.”

Claire closed her eyes, grimacing. “Jamie,” she started.

He kept going. “Joe seemed to think ye were having doubts,” he added, staring her down, daring her to agree. She opened and closed her mouth, no sound coming out. “I thought it was odd to hear it from him. Ye see, I figured when ye and I got together, it would be perfect because we already tell each other everything. But I suppose that’s no’ true.”

Her arms came around her torso, trying to hold in her emotions. “Jamie, it’s nothing, really.”

“Joe didna seem to think so.” He took a small step closer to her. “What is it? Is it me?”

Claire had really hoped she’d get over her doubts on her own before she ever had to talk to Jamie about them. And as she stared at the pain plain on his face, she wished she’d never said anything to Joe. “No, it’s just…I don’t know how to explain it.” In reality, she didn’t know how to articulate it to him.

“I’d think ye’d be able to talk to me. We’ve been friends for ten years, Claire,” Jamie reminded her.

“Yeah, that’s the problem!” she cried.

Jamie recoiled, looking stunned. “What?”

She shook her head, wishing she’d gone about this differently. “Yes, we have been friends for ten years which means that I have watched a number of your relationships from the sidelines. And all I could think about was how each of them ended so quickly. Then, I just...I couldn’t help but wonder when our expiration date would be.”

“Wow,” Jamie breathed. He seemed a bit deflated. “What, ye seriously thought I’d just ditch ye? Call it quits? And then what, just walk away from ye?”

“I don’t know,” she answered timidly. “I just couldn’t see how I was any different from any of them.”

Jamie gaped at her. “Of course ye’re different!”

“How?”

“Because I love ye!” he yelled. He took a step back, running a hand down his face. Claire stared at him, shocked by his admission. He seemed almost as surprised. “Do ye really think I’d just leave? It’s you, Claire. Ye’re my best friend.”

“Jamie, I -”

“I spent the last couple of days trying to imagine what it was that was giving ye doubts. I didn’t realize I’d be answering for my past,” he said, looking anywhere but at her. “I mean, is that what ye really think of me?”

She could feel tears stinging her eyes as she shook her head.

“But it is though, isn’t it? I mean, ye believed me to be the type of man who would bring ye to a party solely to make another woman jealous. Ye thought I only wanted to bring ye breakfast the morning after our first date to — how did ye put it — rack up enough dates to reach a proper number to get in yer pants. And now this. Ye really think I’m just going to give up and leave after a certain amount of time?” Jamie stared at her, his hurt showing. “If that’s the man ye truly think I am, how have we even been friends all this time?” He ran a hand through his hair. “Those relationships were short because I could tell soon enough into them that they werena right for me. Would it no’ have been worse to string them along and lead them on?”

Claire stood there silently, tears starting to fall.

Jamie shook his head and took a step toward the door. “I should go.”

She jumped in front of the door before he could make it there. “No!” she said, standing her ground. “Look, Jamie, I’m sorry. I handled this the wrong way. I should have talked to you. But I just —” she took a deep breath “— I just got scared. Okay? After ten years we’re at this new phase of our relationship and it’s exciting. But I didn’t know how you really felt. And I’ve been sitting with these feelings a lot longer than you have.”

Jamie let out a breath. “That’s no’ fair. Ye canna put that on me. Ye never told me how ye felt.”

Claire scoffed. “Yeah, like it would have made any difference.”

He shook his head, throwing his arms out. “Of course it would have! It would have made all the difference in the world!” He gaped at her. “Do ye really think I would have been wi’ any of them if I knew I could have been wi’ ye?” he asked, his voice dramatically lower.

She had no response. They were on opposite sides of the room, with more than just space standing between them. Tears were falling down her face in earnest. They were glistening in his eyes as well. She hated the way she’d hurt him with her own avoidance.

Eventually, it was as if he lost all energy. He collapsed on the couch, a sigh escaping him. “What can I do?”

“What?”

He looked up at her. “What can I do to prove to ye that I’m no’ going anywhere?”

Her heart broke at the vulnerable look on his face. He was terrified and she could see it. She shook her head vehemently. “Jamie, there’s nothing.”

“So, ye’re telling me that ye’re having doubts about me but there’s no’ a thing I can do to fix it?”

Claire bridged the gap between them, sitting down next to him on the couch. “Jamie, I mean there’s nothing you have to do. This is my issue.”

“Tis no’ just yers, Claire,” he reminded her. “Ye stopped talking to me because of this. That’s no’ just yers anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, reaching up to wipe away her tears. “Believe me, I am.”

He wasn’t looking at her. “Aye, I ken ye are.” They sat in a heavy silence for a long moment. His head turned slightly toward her, still not meeting her gaze. “I meant it though, what can I do?”

“There’s nothing you have to do,” she repeated. He looked over, an almost angry expression on his face. “Being here — coming to see me because you missed me — that’s enough. I promise.”

He nodded, looking down at his clasped hands. “How long have ye felt this way?” He finally glanced over at her, making eye contact. “It was before ye came here, wasn’t it?”

Claire cleared her throat. “Just a bit. It got worse with separation.”

“It was that night in my flat, wasn’t it?” he asked.

She shook her head in disbelief. “How did you -”

“Ye panicked. Ye froze,” he recalled. “And then ye asked to take things slower. And trust me, I was more than fine wi’ that. I could tell something bothered ye, but ye wouldna say what it was. I was terrified that I did something to upset ye.”

Claire bridged the final gap between them, reaching out and putting her hand on his arm. “Jamie, you did nothing. I got up in my head at the exact wrong time. I just knew that if...if we crossed that final line, and then you left, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

His hand moved to cover hers as he nodded. A long silence filled the room. Claire gripped his arm before she started to speak again. “I love you,” she whispered. He turned to her, a soft and vulnerable look on his face. “That’s why I got so scared. Because I love you. And I’ve felt this way for a long time, but this is only the first time I’ve actually said it out loud.” She laughed to herself. “Well, technically second, but you were unconscious the first time after your accident.”

Claire took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for hurting you so much. It kills me. I guess I got used to talking about my feelings with Joe and keeping it all a secret from you.” Jamie chuckled before she reached out and laid her hand on his cheek. “But I promise you that I won’t do that again. I mean, I may talk to Joe, but no more secret feelings. I promise you that if I start to get nervous again, you’ll be the person I go to.”

Jamie leaned his forehead against hers. “I would appreciate that. But just know, I’m no’ going anywhere.” His fingers tapped against her hand that still rested on his arm. “I love ye, too,” he whispered. He pulled back a bit to look her in the eye. “I’m sorry for yelling it at ye the first time I ever said it.”

Claire laughed, despite all that had happened. She leaned closer, letting him close the distance between them. Much to her relief, he did so quickly, pressing his lips to hers. Her hands moved to wrap around his neck as she scooted closer to him. His hand held her cheek, keeping her there. Weeks of long distance woes and the fight they’d had weighed into the kiss, making both of them a bit desperate. He parted his lips, granting her access which she happily accepted. Her fingers wove through his hair. They moved closer and closer together til her legs were draped over his.

She broke away from him with a look as she reached for the hem of her shirt. To her surprise, Jamie reached out to stop her. “Claire, no.” Before she could feel embarrassed, he continued. “No’ like this,” he whispered. “No’ because ye feel guilty.”

“What if that’s not why?” she asked. “What if I’m just ready?”

“I’m no’ ready right now,” he told her, flashing her pleading eyes. “I feel I’d always second guess it. Whether ye were actually ready or whether ye felt it was the best way to apologize for what happened. And that’s no’ how I want it to be for us.”

She let go of her shirt, leaning back into him and giving him a quick kiss. “I suppose that makes a lot of sense. Damn you.” He grinned, kissing her again quickly. “So, what do you propose we do instead? Dinner?”

He nodded thoughtfully. “That sounds good. Or perhaps — if ye wanted to, of course — ye could show me the bakery.”

One of her hands came to rest on his cheek. “You really want to see it?”

His hand held hers. “Of course I do.”

She smiled broadly, giving him one last kiss. “Well then, let’s go.”

Her hand held his the entire journey to the bakery site. He didn’t mind at all. It had been too long since he’d been afforded such a luxury. She chattered away about what to expect and what stage of development the store was in. Their pace slowed as they got closer to the store. Claire dug out her keys and let them into the dark building.

She walked around and turned on the construction lamps that were scattered throughout the store. As more and more lights turned on, Jamie stood in awe of the store before him. Familiar colors greeted him as he turned to look around. “How does this look so much like the original shop?”

Claire smiled, walking back over and tucking herself back into his side. “You caught that, did you?”

“Would be hard not to.”

She nodded thoughtfully, looking around. “Well, I found the original plans for the store and gave them to the people in charge here. They seemed to think it was doable. So, here we are. It’s still got a long way to go, but -”

“It looks great,” Jamie said on a breath. “Truly.”

Claire looked up at him. “You think so?”

Jamie kissed her temple. “I really do. It’s like I’m standing back in Glasgow.” He laughed to himself. “Actually, it feels like it’s six years ago. Like ye’re showing me the shop for the first time.”

She smiled to herself. “You were the only one I’d let see it.”

“Well, that was surely just because of the money.”

Claire shook her head, leaving a kiss at his jaw. “No, it wasn’t.”

Jamie curled her in closer, kissing her head. “It looks great. All yer hard work has really been paying off.”

“Thank you,” she sighed. “I mean the hardest part is really the training, so we’ll see.”

“It’ll work. Ye’re too brilliant for it no’ to,” Jamie assured her.

“You’re biased.”

He laughed, turning to face her. Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her hard on the mouth. “I’m no such thing.”

She showed him around the bakery as much as they could with minimal lighting. Soon, they shut off all the lights and went to find a place to eat. Neither of them felt very picky so they found a place quickly. A couple of hours were spent enjoying drinks, dinner, and the other’s company. Jamie’s hand rarely left Claire’s. They sat as close to each other as their table allowed, both just glad to be together.

It was a beautiful evening as they walked back to Claire’s hotel, his arm around her shoulders, her arm around his waist. As they entered the lobby of the hotel, they immediately walked toward the elevator. Jamie stopped, turning back toward the desk. Claire gave him a confused look. “I need to check into my room.”

Her brow furrowed. “You got a room?”

Jamie took a step closer to her. “Well, I didna want to be presumptuous.”

She smiled, leaning up to kiss him quickly. “It wouldn’t be that presumptuous. You were coming to visit your girlfriend.”

“Still.”

Claire rolled her eyes with a grin. “You don’t need that room. Wait here.” She ignored him as he asked her what she was going to do. Claire walked up to the front desk and plastered on her best smile. “Hi,” she said, grabbing the woman’s attention. “I had a friend that was coming to visit me, but at the last minute it fell through. He asked if I could cancel his room for him.”

“Of course, ma’am. What was the name?”

“James Fraser.”

The woman typed away at the computer before looking up to Claire with a smile. “All taken care of. Anything else I can help ye wi’?”

“Not a thing. Thank you!” Claire replied, matching the woman’s smile. As Claire walked back to Jamie, her smile became more smug. “All taken care of,” she parroted. Jamie rolled his eyes at her as he draped his arm back around her. “Got a second room,” she muttered to herself, elbowing him in the side. “We’ve shared a room before.”

“That was verra different, Sassenach,” Jamie defended.

Claire curled into Jamie’s side, scoffing. “We’re two mature adults. I think we can share a bed.”

Next chapter

#outlander #outlander fanfiction #outlander fanfic #my writing #sweet creature

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mymelodyheart · 4 years ago

Text

Starting Over Chapter 3 ~The Escape~

" Sassenach!?!"

Jamie blinked twice and shook his head to eliminate the mental cobwebs. His brain had trouble kicking into gear, but his eyes scanned faster than he can compute, every part of him going on a standstill while his thoughts caught up. He had been thinking a lot about the lass in his arms, and if the repercussion was some kind of a hallucination, it was becoming progressively less amusing. Was she trying to get herself killed? He didn't even want to contemplate the state she would have been in if he hadn't made it on time. Or for that matter, the nick of his sanity.

He looked down at her face, wiped blank with confusion like her brain cogs couldn't turn fast enough to appraise the current situation. But, she quickly recovered, her huge golden orbs framed in black eyeliner and dark eyeshadow turning dark as she glared at him.

"You, you ..." she sputtered, pushing herself away and attempting to wriggle out of his arms. "Wot are you doing here?" She was looking at him as though he'd sprouted horns.

Considering she just scared the bejesus out of his wits, he ought to have given her a good shake until her ears rang. Or maybe yelled at her for being so reckless. Or perhaps asked her to explain the kiss from a few days ago that had cost him sleepless nights. But he presumed like he was, she was still in a state of shock, so he kept his emotions in check and his grip firm. "I just saved yer arse. Are ye alright?" he asked, surprised at how calm he sounded.

Her jaws unclenched, and her delicate features softened. "I'm fine. I ...I got stuck in the window, and then I lost my footing," she sniffed. "Please, put me down. Now."

Hesitantly, Jamie lowered her gently to the ground but kept one hand under her elbow when he glimpsed the ridiculously high stilettos. Regaining her balance, she smoothed off the white dress as if jumping out of church windows were a normal daily occurrence. It was quite apparent that the seriousness of their circumstances hadn't quite registered in her muddled brain. Aware of the reporters just around the corner, he knew he had to act fast. "First things first, Sassenach. Are ye trying to run away or were ye just checking out the fire exit?"

"Wot?" Her eyes widened, and the ballsy attitude vanished. That's right, my lovely, now I have your attention. To Jamie's surprise, she twisted her elbow from his grip and took a step back. "I have to go," she whispered, picking up the skirt of her dress and toddling away.

Already anticipating her next move, his hand shot out to grab her wrist. "Ye won't get far with those shoes on."

She turned around, a furrow forming on her brows. "I'm in huge trouble, aren't I? Oh, God, what have I done? Maybe I should go back," she said, starting to make a move in the opposite direction.

Jamie stopped her. Briefly closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths. Any moment now, pandemonium and mayhem at the church would ensue when they find out the bride had gone missing. And if the English lass did decide to go back, there would be plenty of questions about why she wasn't in the clergy room. Decisions had to be made quickly. This was not the place nor time for any sorts of discussion. Explanations would have to wait, and he needed answers fast. And with the added problem of the reporters' presence, the last thing the lass needed was a picture of them together splashed across the tabloid papers on Monday morning. He knew he couldn't just walk away. But he could give her a way out of her predicament, and if she didn't take his offer of help, at least he would be able to sleep at night knowing he'd done his best. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he forced her to look at him in the eyes. "Listen to me, Sassenach. And listen to me good. This is very important. I need ye to dig deep into yer guts where it really counts and ask yersel' this...do ye love the groom?"

"Ah ...I-I care for him b-but..." A mixture of shame and fear fanned out on her face as she searched for words. Damn it!

"Sassenach, I asked ye a simple question. Do ye love him? Aye or no will do," he pushed firmly this time.

Although on the exterior, Jamie's appearance resonated calm, the tone of his voice must have struck a chord. She visibly withered before his eyes as if a sudden realisation had left her empty and exhausted. And then just like that, her face transformed into self-disgust before switching into anger. Anger that was evidently directed at him. "No! Alright!? I don't love him," she yelled, twisting from his hold and yanking the choker pearl necklace and flinging it to the ground. "I thought I did. Are you happy now? I bet your smug arse thinks it had something to do with the kiss. Go on, make fun of me. That's what you do best, you cocky bastard!" She doesn't love her fiance! Stunned, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and felt the tension ease from his body. More bewildered by his reaction than by her ranting, he hoped she hadn't noticed the relief on his face, because she looked like seconds away from beating him to a pulp with his own unattached arms.

Cautiously, he took a step forward and touched her shoulder. He could feel a different type of pressure in his chest, waiting to take over, but he ignored and refocused. "It wasn't my plan to make fun of ye, Sassenach. And I'm sae sorry I had to ask ye something too personal because I cannae have ye having regrets later. Do ye understand where I'm coming from?" he asked, gently this time. When she didn't reply, he waited until she had calmed down before asking the next question. After a moment passed, he just went straight out with it. "Now, are we ditching yer groom or no'?" He offered her his hand and waited.

Her gaze locked with his, and for an instant, he saw uncertainty and suspicion cloud her features. And something else. Something akin to panic. "We? You want to help me? Why?"

Because the past few days had done nothing to dull the memory of your kiss. And that's the top and bottom truth of it. Jamie had been desperate to see her again. And now that she was here, he was desperate enough to risk getting caught by the press with a runaway bride, no less. If they were found together, he knew the reporters would have a field day at the office. He couldn't allow that to happen, at least not at her expense. "Aye, we. There's nae time, Sassenach. I want to help ye because I know what those reporters are like. They are wolves. They'll tear ye apart and even more so because yer fiance, judging from the cameramen out there, seems like an important man. I ken my words dinna mean much to ye, but if ye truly do love yer fiance, ye wouldn't be out here having this conversation with me," he reasoned. He had wanted to mention their kiss but thought better of it.

She cast a reluctant glance behind her like she was taking stock of what she would be leaving behind. Her smoky amber eyes had turned thoughtful, if still slightly wary. Maybe she's deciding between the lesser of two evils, and I'm one of those evils. Something terrible must have happened to make her run off on her wedding day and in as much as he would like to think otherwise, he doubted it had something to do with their kiss. Whatever it took to make it right for her, he vowed he would do it.

After a few heartbeats, she nodded in resignation as she placed her small hand in his, sealing her fate with a decision that could alter her life. Jamie knew, he too was now in the same boat as her and that his life was forever changed. Especially after that simple gesture of hands touching that sent a jolt coursing through his body and into his pants. If a mere touch could make him so hard despite the quandary they were in, he was in bigger trouble than he thought. For what it's worth, whatever happened next, there was no turning back.

With not much time to lose, he tugged her hand and manoeuvred them down the uneven paths, between bushes and over the flower beds. But after a few steps, Jamie realised they were moving too slow. The car wasn't too far, but neither were the cameramen.

"Lose the shoes, Sassenach. I cannae have ye breaking yer neck under my watch. We need to get moving," he demanded.

"But they cost a fortune," she wailed. "And they're..."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Left with no choice and anxious to leave, he heaved her up into his arms and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring the muffled expletives she launched at him. "Dinna fash. The car is just over there." More curses and death threats came out of her mouth, but he was beyond caring. In fact, he prefered her anger to uncertainty. Only because it made him forget, even for a little while, the consequences of what they're about to do.

Sensing the chaos that was beginning to develop just outside the church, he began to jog, hoping no stray reporter would have enough sense to check the back of the church.

When they finally made it to his car, he quickly opened the door and pushed her inside along with billows of satin and lace that made up her dress. There was no time for finesse nor gentlemanly acts, as he thrust her in like she was a sack of potatoes, making her squeak and snort in an unladylike manner. But he'd rather deal with her wrath any day than with those paparazzi vultures.

By the time he got into his seat, she had gone quiet. He had wanted a fight or to hear her rant and rave, but it seemed she had withdrawn into her thoughts. He guessed it was to be expected after what she had been through. Pushing aside his concerns, he hit the accelerator and sped away from the church like the devil was after them, tires screeching and burning marks on the road.

Once they were in the motorway, he checked the rearview mirror to see if they were being followed. Satisfied they were safe, he allowed his mind to contemplate their next move. They needed to be away from prying eyes, and there were phone calls to be made. The lass needed clothes but going back to Edinburgh to retrieve her things was not an option. Her friends would be looking for her there, not to mention she would be tonight's hot topic on the local evening news. Lallybroch was out of the question. Although he could trust his family with a secret and they've had years of practice keeping the media at bay, he couldn't say the same for the village folks of Broch Mordha. They were well-meaning people, but they can't help putting their noses into everyone else's business. Think! Think! Think! The lass needed his head in the game, and he would have to come up with some plan.

Under the guise of watching passing scenery, Jamie stole a glance at her face. Christ Almighty, she's beautiful. Her delicate profile reminded him of the statue of the Madonna of Brugges, serene but at the same time carved in stone. She stared out of the window as if she was watching her old life scatter to the four winds as they sped to some unknown destination. Sensing his gaze, she turned to face him and smiled. It was a weak smile like she had just come out from fighting a long drawn out fever.

"By the way, my name is Claire," she disclosed, extending an arm for a handshake. "Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp."

He looked at her hand and then her face. Too stunned and at a loss for words, Jamie burst out laughing.

"Wot?"

"Nothing," he said finally, after regaining his composure. "I think I like ye, Sassenach. I like ye verra much indeed."

And then he took Claire's offered hand in his and squeezed it tight. For the first time since Jamie retired from his rugby career, he felt alive.

#melodyheart #startingover #Claire Beauchamp/Jamie Fraser #outlanderfanfic

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jack-andthestalk · 6 years ago

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Our Son, Arc II, Unreachable Chapter 13.

With thanks to @balfeheughlywed she has the patience of a saint. @notevenjokingfic for allowing me to test her patience and @ladyviolethummingbird for explaining her confusion. These gals rock. I want to thank @missclairebelle because she helped me plot some of what is about to unfold here at the very beginning of this Arc. Thank you to you all for continuing to read, love the anons, still haven't got through them all. The reaction this story creates blows me away.

Jamie's monosyllabic voice recording answered. "Hi, this is Jamie, leave a message after the beep.”

Plummeting my heart into my shoes. Again.

Where are you?

____

Willie wriggled impatiently within my grasp bringing my attention back to him.

“dinna hold my hand mama! We’re past the gate.” He rolled his eyes dramatically, cheeks burning the same crimson Jamie’s did when he was embarrassed.

With one final tug, he broke free and ran up the school path. "What about my kiss?" I shouted after him, prodding myself in the cheek and pouting my lips slightly. Willie rolled his eyes for a second time but dutifully ran back and kissed me quickly.

“See ye later mama” he bellowed as he pushed the school door open and let it bang noisily behind him. I tutted in my mind as I saw him drag his bag haphazardly behind him down the glass corridor.

Glancing back down at my phone I willed it to ring. It had been three days since the book arrived and after foolishly waiting until the next day to contact Jamie for fear I would draw attention to him. I tried his number with all attempts to reach him falling flat. My chest felt bruised from the hard thrum of my heart against it, persistent and unusually fast. It was so unlike him.

Since our return to Boston, Jamie had phoned religiously. I had only taken his call on the first occasion and passed the phone to Willie for all the others.

I walked quickly back to the house, I still had a few hours before my shift at the hospital.

My mind raced with possibilities of why he had turned his phone off, what had caused him to stop ringing Willie? No matter what had happened since our return to Scotland Jamie had rung consistently. A guilty feeling tugged at my insides. Maybe if I had taken his calls, instead of fobbing the phone on to Willie, I might have some idea where he was, what was happening. I should have trusted him. The other part of my brain tried to comfort me, you couldn’t have known, he didn’t tell you.

I hadn't planned on ignoring him as I had; the first call once we returned had thrown me. I expected something totally different from him, needed it. Instead, he had turned everything on its head and left me reeling.

The idea of Jamie with Geneva was hurtful; beyond hurtful given what she had conspired to do to our family but even after Dougal confirmed it. Something inside of me kept a glimmer of hope, or maybe something more akin to trust that Jamie wouldn't do that. He was honorable, not just with me, with his family, his friends. Apart from getting with me at Jenny’s wedding, he had never appeared to be a man that would cheat and to cheat so blatantly.

Even then he had ended things with Laoghaire before we slept together. It was no excuse, but there was a pull between us, a pull so strong I would have done the same in his shoes had our roles been reversed, no man would keep me from Jamie, and a voice inside my head was telling me that no woman would keep me from him.

So when he phoned on our first evening back in Boston, I had imagined for him to have a reason, an excuse. I hadn’t predicted the vagueness on the other end of the phone. There was no doubt about his nerves, his voice was clearly shaking, but he lacked any words to tell me what the hell was happening there, never mind what was happening with Geneva Dunsany.

The tremor in his voice should have told me he wanted to say more than he did, but I was so angry, so much had happened in forty-eight hours. I didn’t hear what I should have.

“Ye went back early”, he had said cautiously.

It hadn’t been what I was expecting. My mouth incapable of speech had hung agape as I stood in my kitchen, clenching the hem of my sweater with such vigour I thought it might rip.

He took my silence for what it was and began to speak again.

“Jenny told me.”

I presumed he meant Jenny had told him I had gone back to Boston early.

He cleared his throat and hesitantly, all most painfully said “Claire –”

I had waited, holding out for something, words of comfort anything that would ease the ache in my chest at what I had been led to believe about him and Geneva.

Jenny had told him, he knew what I believed or was led to, he knew the pain and humiliation I had felt since she had answered his phone and laughed seductively, before telling me that Jamie couldn’t come to the phone.

If she could have conjured up an image and hurled it down the line to me that night it would have been her curled around his hips, holding his phone in the air while she threw her head back and laughed at my stupidity.

I had gone to bed that night in a mixture of alcohol, rage and broken-hearted tears. In the morning I had stilled my mind and my heart and told myself that Geneva Dunsany was capable of these types of games and so much more, promising myself that Jamie would have an explanation.

Jenny had arrived with coffee and pancakes from Ellen, and reassured me as only she could that Geneva was a desperate slapper and “Jamie wouldna risk the clap to lie with her.”

I snorted into my coffee, my heart slowly unwinding to its normal rhythm when she took my hand and said: "honestly Claire, Jamie is too in love with ye to want another woman, its nay true and he will tell ye."

Later on, showered and ready for the day I was wrestling with Willie to dress him when Dougal Mc Kenzie had knocked on my door. “A word lass?” was all he had said before barging past me.

Shooting me his most sympathetic smile and telling me clearly and without preamble that Geneva had phoned him to tell him of my late night call.

“How truly sorry she was that ye should find out in such a way. She and Jamie would never want to hurt ye.”

Shoulders straight and head held high. I had merely asked him to leave before emptying the contents of my stomach down the toilet.

Twenty-four hours later and back in the safety of my galley kitchen in Boston, Jamie’s name flashing on my screen with the same urgency that would draw me to answer it without hesitation, without a conscious thought but the need to hear him tell me it wasn’t true. I wanted to curl into the shelter of his shoulder and have him tell me there was no one but me, that Geneva Dunsany had robbed his phone and Dougal Mc Kenzie had not spoken an honest word in all his life. It hadn’t gone down like that.

“Claire I – “

Please make it better.

“Remember what I asked ye?”

Was he serious? That just on a whim, on a promise I had made before I heard directly he was sleeping with someone else. He wanted me to honour my promises?

When he had asked that, I thought he meant trust him not to get arrested, trust him to come back, trust him to love me. God, I didn't think he was asking me to fucking trust him to insanity.

“Can – you – explain? I had hissed out between gritted teeth.

A pause that went on too long, because if he could explain this nightmare, he shouldn't need time.

I heard him take a large intake of breath, and something like a sniff, maybe a sob. I didn't move didn't flinch. Waited with bated breath to hear what he had to say.

His words were choked with emotion; I didn’t need to see his face to know it was buried into his palm.

“I – love – you.” He had all but whispered, slow and precise, for a minute I had taken it as a balm before I realised that wasn’t what I asked.

I had asked him to explain, and he couldn’t. Wouldn’t.

Loving me wasn’t the issue, had he fucked her? Could he tell me what the hell was happening?

“I need more than that Jamie.” My tone did not broker argument; he knew he had one chance before I was gone from this conversation.

"Right now - I canna say anything other than that Claire." Each word punctuated angrily, and his breath was brimming with frustration.

I had said nothing other than “I will put Willie on; I have nothing more to say.”

____

That had been seven weeks ago, I refused each and every one of his calls, handing the phone to our son. Willie blurting out the highlights of his day, ranging from “and then Johnny said let’s put a straw in the milk – " to "I dinna like Julie sitting beside me Da, she smells like flowers it makes me sneeze." I had no idea what Jamie advised on his end, and I tried to walk into another room. This way it would be easier. Each evening Willie returned the phone with the same message. "Da says he loves ye.”

Up until the book arriving I would grind my teeth or clench my fingernails into my palm to stop myself retorting "tell your father I said to fuck right off." I never would but the fear of it blurting out of my hot-tempered mouth was a risk I had to prepare for.

Now I would give anything to have him ring, wanting to know he was ok, that I believed him, that I loved him too.

After dropping Willie to school and safely ensconced inside my living room I was desperate for any information I could find on Hellwater, anything that might fill in the gaps of what Jamie was doing. Sitting bow legged on my living room floor, laptop cradled precariously between my legs, I typed in Hellwater and almost held my breath as I waited on the page to populate with search results.

Nothing glaringly criminal jumped out at me, Hellwater’s official webpage, media articles discussing the estate and its history, and various Olympic games news reports that mentioned Hellwater for training and breeding of horses. I knew from Jenny that some of these high bred horses had originated from Jamie and was the main reason why William Dunsany had been so taken with Jamie.

Below all these articles was one solely focused on Lord William Dunsany himself, again nothing stood out as new information, he had inherited his title, the Dunsany family had held Hellwater estate for generations, and in the past ten years, they had won numerous awards for being the most accomplished equestrian centre in Europe.

Under personal history it listed William Dunsany as married with three children. I knew of only two daughters. Gordon. One son? I hadn’t heard of him. I opened a second tab and typed in the name. The first link that popped up on my screen was an article detailing the death of Gordon Dunsany almost six years ago. The only son of Lord and Lady Ellesmere, died tragically while abroad in Panama. Very little else apart from listing his previous employment as financial controller of Hellwater estates. So Geneva had taken over from her brother?

Typing Geneva's name into the browser was much less satisfying, and certainly no mention of her untimely demise. Instead, it showed a few images of her pictured at some D list royal events, a few polo matches and more recently at a charity gala in aid of injured jockeys.

I noted the date was the same night Dougal Mc Kenzie had come for dinner and subsequently the night I went on to hear her high pitched giggle on Jamie's phone. I searched up all images of the charity gala, but Jamie was either not photographed or didn't attend. He certainly had no word of attending a fundraiser, but he had said so little about what he was doing in Hellwater, him not mentioning it wasn't significant.

The second article in a financial publication mentioned Geneva taking on the position of financial controller at Hellwater; it was dated one year after her brother died. Listing her educational background which all seemed to be science-based. If the article was accurate, she had very little accounting or financial training.

A weird sense of sadness passed over me at the tragedy which had befallen the Dunsany's, leading to Geneva having to leave everything she had pursued to fill her dead brother's shoes. My mind stretched to wonder how a family who had been through such heartache could be so underhanded in their dealings with Jamie, knowing it separated him from his family.

I was just about to close the article down when I noticed a third link detailing the recent upsurgence in Hellwater business ranking. It also consisted of a paragraph with information on the new state of the art, equestrian centre that would commence construction this year with a budget of over 10 million sterling at its disposal.

A sprig of jealousy tightened over my heart as it occurred to me that I had wholly underestimated Geneva Dunsany in terms of her ability within her job and also in her want of Jamie.

My phone vibrated on the floor beside me, and I almost keeled over in my haste to answer it. My heart sank when I saw Jenny’s name flash up on my screen.

"Hi, Jen," I said feigning brightness. I knew how worried the Frasers had been about Jamie, I couldn’t even attempt or want to tell them what I had discovered in the past three days. Brian would be back in ICU and Jamie would never forgive himself.

“Claire – “

She sounded like she had been running. “Are you alright Jenny, what’s wrong?”

“Oh my god” – she said more urgently than I had ever heard her speak – “ have ye seen any UK news?"

I scrunched my nose up in confusion before she all but shouted.

“Turn on yer UK news!" I hastily scrambled across the floor to my TV, fingers slipping as I tried to think of a channel that had good coverage of British news reports, settling on BBC news and waiting for the screen to adjust.

My eyes blinked, once and then again as I made sure it was Hellwater grounds I was staring at. Two uniformed officers standing guard outside the main gates, one talking casually into their radio transceiver.

A red banner at the bottom of the screen read. Lord William Dunsany and his daughter Geneva Dunsany have been arrested in an early dawn raid at their Hellwater estate, this morning.

A bead of sweat ran down my neck as I waited for the news banner to update.

Lord Dunsany and his daughter have been charged under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and were under investigation by HM Revenue and Customs Police and Criminal Evidence team.

Suddenly the picture above the banner changed, and Geneva Dunsany appeared on the screen handcuffed and been led from her home by several plain closed policemen.Her father following closely behind her.

Her head bowed to hide her face as she was guided through a maze of photographers and television crews.

A report stood in front of the Hellwater estate, holding a finger to her ear in anticipation of a question from the news-desk. Her British accent was bright and chirpy as she detailed the little information that could be released at this time.

The arrest is said to be in connection with one of the largest tax fraud cases the HMRC has investigated in recent years. Both intrusive surveillance and property surveillance had been practiced under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and it is believed the Dunsany’s have been under investigation by the HMRC for some time. The Dunsany family have declined to comment at this stage.

My legs gave way, and I fell back awkwardly against the couch. I could still hear Jenny's voice asking if I was there from the phone on the floor.

#outlander fanfic #our son #HMRC

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dopescotlandwarrior · 5 years ago

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Someone like you-Chapter 34

On AO3

Ch-28 Ch-29 Ch-30 Ch-31 Ch-32 Ch-33

Chapter 34

The chilly air was invigorating as we made our way to the bridal shop. I prayed that Jenny would not want further details about sex between Jamie and me because he was her brother and that was just weird.

The owner asked us to sit and chat for a few minutes while her assistants were pulling the dresses she wanted to show us. She asked me tons of questions about Jamie, what we both did for a living, and for fun. I didn’t think the questions were intended for anything because they seemed so random. When the assistants came in with dresses she sent half of them back pulled three to the dressing room and the rest on racks nearby.

“Alright," she looked at me smiling. "You can look all you want but I believe the three I’ve chosen will be your favorites. Call when you need assistance.”

“Out of the thousand or so dresses in this place how could she know yer three favorites?”

I shrugged my shoulders at Jenny’s whispered question. I believed it was a sales technique of some sort. My taste was off the beaten path, always had been, no way she could target my style. I looked at the vast number of dresses that hung near the huge dressing room and thought I better get started.

I looked at the three bridal gowns and my first thought was the absurdity that I would choose one of these and actually marry the man who stole my heart when I was ten years old. I felt tears pricking my eyes and resisted the urge to pinch myself. The gowns were stunning and I was very careful touching them. I pulled my clothes off and tried to find a zipper or buttons to put the first one on. After five minutes I was getting cold so I called Jenny to come in.

“Christ Claire, put my jacket on before ye freeze to death. I think I got it, no that’s not it. Edith, we need ye help with this.”

It was the owner who came in, still smiling, and offered to help. “Arms up lass.”

The fabric of the dress slid down my body and legs feeling like a cool slippery second skin. I have a theory about the perfect dress and it has proven right every time. When the dress feels like it was made for you, sums up your personality and goals you have for the event you buy it. This was the dress I would be married in, I knew it as it slipped onto my body, and I was delighted with it.

“Lass, I dinna ken what to say. It’s breathtakin, you’re beautiful in it, Jamie will have a heart attack when he sees ye in it.”

Heavy lace sleeves from my wrist to five inches below my shoulder attached to the heart-shaped bodice that was close fitted and decorated with thousands of hand-sewn pearls. The skirt was two layers with a modest flair. The owner went to get a stiff slip and the fabric fell onto it like a whisper. Jenny had a strange look on her face and pulled my arm so I would turn around to look in the mirror. I have never felt so elegant or had such a beautiful dress in my life. The tears would not be held back and I looked at the owner like she was magic.

“How could you possibly know?”

“It’s my job to see the person inside, and I’ve been dressing brides for thirty years.”

The owner explained the heavy lace sleeves would add some warmth for my winter wedding. I turned around to see the sharp dip to my waist, exposing my back. Keep me warm indeed, I thought. Next, we lost ourselves in gorgeous silk stockings, garter belts, tiny panties, and stunning shoes. I chose the highest heel she had because I wanted to look in Jamie’s eyes whenever I turned in his direction.

I watched Edith and Jenny with a keen eye and noticed what they drooled over. I let the owner know I would pick up those items tomorrow as Christmas presents and to please set them aside for me. I could not help seeing Edith’s eyes land on a beautiful beaded clutch. She did not touch it but her gaze landed on it several times. I indicated to the shop owner I would take that as well.

After three hours we piled out of the shop completely exhausted. Jenny went her separate way to do Christmas shopping and I drove Edith home. The sky was hosting large swollen black clouds and I saw the lights on Edith’s house from a block away. It made me happy inside that I had a friend like Edith who taught me how to cook, got me to therapy, loved my dog and my husband to be, and embraced my whole family. I helped her inside and hugged her.

“I love you, Edith, thank you for spending such an amazing day with me.”

“We will see you on Christmas dear and I will bring some things.”

I laughed at that. Some things meant an entire meal that would be remembered throughout the year. I turned my pockets inside out to show the Butter-lovers he was not sequestered against his will and they lost all interest in me walking to his bed with their tiny hearts broken.

“Maybe it’s time to have Butter for a play day,” she said looking at her depressed pugs.

A last hug and I was homeward bound with a deep sigh of relief. I was getting married on Hogmanay and it would be a day to remember. I needed my groom in a big way.

When I turned onto the road to Lallybroch I saw a man and a dog in a far-field. The dog was running to him after retrieving a stick when he suddenly dropped it in the snow and looked at the man. It was Butter, my favorite dog who never found the value in an old stick. I looked beyond the confused K-9 and saw Jamie waving his arms at me. I parked and walked across the field, first to be assaulted by Butter, and then Jamie. His blue eyes sparkled against the snow-covered field and his smile was brilliant.

We walked home to a warm fire and a few hours to binge Netflix before dinner. Since we were alone in the house we stretched out on the couch and spent a relaxing minute and a half and then gave in to the naughty arousal of making love in the living room where we could be caught by Jenny or Ian returning home. I decided risky sex was delicious and put a star next to it on my types of sex mental list. No sooner did we dress than I heard the kitchen door slam and Jenny’s voice say something about dinner. I smiled at Jamie and he acknowledged the close call as he pulled me on his lap and tickled me.

“Oh Christ, ye two are making me sick. I am goin to lay down before dinner, I’m sure ye can get by an hour without me.”

Jamie sat at the kitchen table working on the renovation drawings while I got a pork roast ready for the oven. I made rice pilaf and a broccoli casserole and looked over Jamie’s shoulder asking questions. I was so excited about this renovation. We would have the entire upstairs, including the huge bathroom and tub, a room for the nursery that could later be divided for a second child and Jenny’s old room to create whatever we wanted. It was a glorious amount of space and freedom to raise our family. Jenny and Ian would enjoy the same luxury a level below us.

“Why didn’t we think of this before! I am so happy and excited and you are brilliant, can’t wait and I love you and…”

I had dropped into Jamie’s lap halfway through my happiness tirade and he seized the only way I had to communicate my joy. He moaned against my mouth and pulled me closer to him.

“I decided on a pork roast because I learned in nursing school that pork has special … rejuvenation …um …enzymes that target…” I inclined my head toward Jamie’s crotch. His eyes got wide and he looked down at his lap and then smiled like the devil himself.

“Sassenach, you are such a delight and yer learning such important things. I am a lucky man.” His smile was so big he could hardly kiss me.

Crap. It was supposed to be a joke but he didn’t laugh. Hm, I vowed to tell him someday so it wasn’t really lying and now I had pork in my bag of seduction tricks. Sorry, Jamie but you are just too adorable right now and I sense another hour of percolation and you will cripple me tonight. Oh, Christ, we may cripple each other. I turned the oven temperature up fifty degrees.

Dinner was perfect thanks to Edith’s secrets. I thought about tuition for the private Culinary Institute and how many students learned from her each semester. It was a staggering amount of money because they recruited the best chefs to teach. That made me giggle because I have her all to myself every Saturday. Jamie leaned into my ear as I popped a piece of pork in my mouth. I blushed at his whispered suggestion and smiled despite myself.

Jenny pointed her fork at me, then Jamie, “I’m gonna kill one of ya in yer sleep and I love ya both the same so it’ll be a coin toss. I canna get any peace wonderin what’s goin on in there so it’s been nice knowin one of ye.”

“Jenny, my back is sore from all the standing today. Do you mind if I use your tub tonight?”

“Yer a terrible liar and ye know yer welcome to all that I have if ye do my share of dishes tonight. I don’t feel that great.”

Jamie was doing his magic table-clearing act where all the dishes suddenly vanish from the table and appear in the sink, stacked for quick washing. Ian jumped to aid Jenny so it was just me and the adorable one. He kissed my neck as I powered through the washing.

“Sassenach, I must advise ye of the danger yer in. It feels like fifty horses are draggin me to bent ye over right where ye stand. Have mercy and show ye love by gettin in the tub if ye must. I’ll no wait much longer.”

He pulled my hand to his crotch and I squeaked quite involuntarily. So, the Blue Whale is not extinct after all and I must upgrade the potential danger to crippled for life. I decided I didn’t need the use of my legs anyway. I tried to kiss him and struggled for his mouth as he spun me and gently pushed me out of the kitchen.

“If yer not in bed naked when I get upstairs I’ll have ye where I find ye mo chridhe. I ate entirely too much pork I think.”

I was stuck looking at him being so sexy and saw his eyes get dark saying time is up, here I come. I vanished from the kitchen and my hands shook as I dropped into the hot water. I lit the fire after stacking three logs that erupted in flame casting a romantic glow in the room. I never tired of how the fire threw dancing light on Jamie’s skin as he moved causing a thrill when parts of his body were revealed. I pulled the bedding down so it would not hinder our movement.

Jamie gave me a total girl gift when the weather got cold. A floor-length transparent robe made from exquisite soft fabric, huge sleeves, and yards of material that was belted. When I touched the fur that ran around the collar and down the front I recoiled believing it was real until Jamie showed me the tag that said simulated mink. It was my guilty pleasure and his ignition switch.

Jamie came in and looked at me like a starving man. Without a word, he disappeared to the shower and cut his impressive time by a full minute. He wrapped his naked body around me and my fingers raked through his wet hair.

“Would you like a glass of whisky love?”

“Nah, I want yer forgiveness. This will no end soon, mo gradhag, and I’ll be lucky to get a full minute of tenderness in before I take what I want from ye. Give me yer mouth Sassenach.”

My two orgasms were award winners but I stayed quiet by holding my hand tightly against my mouth. I’m not sure it worked because on the orgasm planet I visit I have no ears. Just vibrating nerve endings that sing a song of pulsing delight. When I leave and come back to earth my ears are always attached to my head again so I can hear Jamie growl and pant as he rides his wave of euphoria.

This amazing day had ripped the energy and strength from me. I was descending into the void so fast I grabbed Jamie’s arm as if to stop myself. His hand was splayed on my still flat stomach and he was asking me why there was no bump. I looked from his hand to his eyes and felt my heart explode. I told him quickly how much I loved him and tried a second time to form the actual words that still didn’t sound right. Jamie laughed and pulled me to him as he reached for the light.

I ascended into consciousness slowly seeing the light of day behind my closed eyelids. This was one of my favorite times of the day as I became aware of the world again. I yawned deeply and twisted to the other side running right into Jamie. My eyes flew open at this unexpected obstacle in my morning bed. He moved slightly but otherwise continued to sleep. I wanted to jump up and down and clap my hands at this rare surprise to enjoy a Sunday morning lounging with my favorite person. I snuggled into him and went back to whatever plane I woke from.

Sometime later, I took a deep breath and let his scent fill my nose and lungs, feeling it energize me. He kissed my face over and over again until I was fully conscious.

“Ye have the prettiest eyes God ever gave a lass. Tell me what great things ye did in heaven to win them mo chridhe.”

I pushed myself up knowing my hair was acting out a riot and smiled at him. “Jamie?”

“lass?”

“You need to tell me something important, to get it off your chest, so to speak.”

Jamie said nothing but stared at my eyes and shook his side to side.

I brought my face within an inch of his and looked in his eyes. “You have the eyes of someone who adop0ted a kitten on impulse, so tell me where it is so Butter doesn’t eat it accidentally.”

Jamie was blushing crimson and laughing. He finally stood up and went into the hall then pushed a large box into our room. I realized it was a sixty-inch smart tv and called out every ounce of inner strength not to jump on the bed and demand he set it up and turn it on. We were a bit frugal, all of us sharing a single television that his parents owned.

“I was gonna give it to ye for Christmas but that would be a mistake, I think.”

“I don’t know about that, I can get your present ready …I just have to catch it and hold it still while I wrap it.”

“Yer givin me one of yer chickens for Christmas Sassenach?”

“No fair guessing, you have to wait and be surprised.”

“Lucky for the chicken, I dinna give ye the tv for Christmas.” He looked at me and the energy changed abruptly as stared back at him.

“I got ye, us, a honeymoon to remember, love.” He pulled an envelope from the top of the TV box and handed it to me.”

I turned it upside down and let the contents land on the bed as my eyes saw brochure pictures that made my heart pound. “We’re going to the Bahamas!”

I jumped on Jamie screaming with delight. He didn’t grab me fast enough so I escaped to jump on the bed, butt naked, still screaming with delight. “Tell me more!”

When he was silent I looked down at him watching my breasts bounce with my efforts. I dropped to the bed and pulled him on top of me. I felt him hard and large through his sweat pants and pushed them down over his magnificent butt. I was naked and squirming under him as I kissed him hard.

“It’s gentleman’s choice until noon and I am a slave to your pleasure Jamie.” I opened my mouth suggestively. Jamie whispered his instructions for an erotic experience that charged my batteries and made them explode. He told me where to put my tongue, how to slide it around his sensitive head, how to lay my tongue flat against him and let him pump my mouth. He stopped to say something and I saw his eyes lose focus. I shoved him in my mouth, to my throat and heard him groan loudly for what seemed like a full minute. While I was still swallowing I heard skin slapped.

“Fuckin Jamie!” Ian sounded like he would barge in our room and choke him to death.

As we struggled to stop laughing I remembered Jenny`s wicked sense of fair play, payback, and revenge. She was a master at tit-for-tat. I wondered what she will expose me to when I`m nine months pregnant. I scowled at Jamie and suggested he stop laughing.

#outlander fanfiction outlander fanfic jamie and claire

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renee-writer · 5 years ago

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The Contract Chapter 6 What Have Ye Done?

"What have ye done, Claire?" After Willy had left, she quickly dressed. He had stopped her right before she ran out the door. He kissed her hard.

"It wasna just a shag." She nodded and hurried off to find Geilles. She feels her knickers get wet with their combined fluids. She felt like she has, I just had sex in an office' written across her forehead. Maybe she did.

"Whatever do you mean?" She has turned away, busying herself with gathering up the charts and supplies from the clinic.

"Come on lass. Turning all proper English on me, is one of yer tells. Yer lips are swollen, yer hair is a mess, and ye smell like sex. What have ye done?"

A defeated Claire falls into one of the folding chairs they used for the clinic. She looks around but, her and Geilles are the only ones left. "I didn't know, not at first."

"What are ye talking about?"

"I slept with James Fraser."

××××××

"Sae?" Murtagh stands at the door and watches his business partner and Godson as he states into space. "Jamie."

"What? Oh sorry Murtagh."

"Where were ye lad?" Jamie shrugs. "I ask if ye offered Lambert Medical Group the contract?"

"Oh aye. She, Claire signed it. Said she needed three exam rooms and a waiting and reception area. The space used for the clinic today would serve nicely."

"Verra good. I will see construction started tomorrow." Jamie noda. Murtagh walks farther into the office. "What has ye sae...wait! Have ye had sex in here?"

"What?"

"It smells like sex." He stares him down.

"Aye. I did."

"Christ lad, with who?"

"Claire."

××××××××

"James Fraser as in, the owner of this place, the man who we will be working for.? That James Fraser?"

"Yes. But, I thought he was Alex Mackenzie when we first kissed."

"You are going to have to start at the beginning."

"You recall Alex. He came in for a check-up."

"Right. The tall ginger lad?"

"Yes, there was something from the start...So I went with him..the kiss so everthing....When Mary came up he followed...imagine my shock when Alex responded...he explained why. It was an undercover boss type thing...he showed me the contract. It was dated last week. Today was just a final test...don't you see, it had naught to do with the kiss."

"How about the shagging?"

"That was after I signed."

×××××××

"Claire, as in the head of Lambert Medical Group?"

"Aye."

"Have ye lost ye heid man! Ye canna be shagging someone who works for ye!"

"She is an independent contractor."

"Ye will be signing her checks ye clod-heid! If ye needed a lass that badly, we could have found ye one."

"It wasn't about needing a lass. It was about needed her. Murtagh, I dinna ken what it is, but, it is the most powerful thing I have ever felt. It is way beyond shagging."

"It canna be. Ye just meet her."

"I ken. But, tis like I have ken'd her all my life."

"Christ! At least tell me ye used a rubber?" He drops his eyes and Murtagh curses in colorful Ghaildhig. "Damage control. I will get a hold of Ned Gowan. I will have Fergus do a media and internet search on her. We need to be prepared for a paternity suite.

"Ye willna be doing nae such thing. There is a trust and honesty between us. I believe her words and her heart."

"Ye are a fool."

×××××××

"After. Oh, that makes it all better." She rolls her eyes at her mate.

"I know it is out of character."

"Out of character! Tis like ye are possessed. Ye are the lass that has had zero one night stands in the ten years I have ken'd ye. Ye choose to have yer first with the bloke who will be signing our pay checks."

"It isn't a one night stand. Isn't just a shagging. There is something powerful between us." Geilles just stares.

"It canna be. Ye barely ken him."

"But, it feels like it is."

"Heaven help ye both."

#my writing #jamie and claire #outlander fanfic #cannon divergence #outlander promt exchange #out of context quotes #the contract #what have ye done?

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astralfighter · 5 years ago

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HC MEME ✹ romance

name: Suvida

nickname: Vida / Vivi

gender: Female

romantic orientation: Pansexual

preferred pet names: ‘Nerd’ and whatever else people come up with, depending on the verse.

relationship status: Single

favorite canon / fandom ship: Uh... Any and all of the ships I have with her are favorites ;v; I cannae choose one over the others.

favorite crossover ship: None at the moment

opinion on true love: She could only imagine that it’s a wonderful thing- to love, be loved, and to have nothing held or taken back. But, she believes it’s too good for a person like her.

opinion on love at first sight: A load of garbage- there’s infatuation, but not something as deep and complicated as love.

how ‘romantic’ are they?: For casual dates, she’s more than happy to spend the day and hang about with them, but not divulge in anything serious conversation if she can help it. She would sooner try to turn prospective lovers to better alternatives for anything serious. But- in serious relationships, she would spoil her partner, amp up the flirting/playing, but wouldn’t go into cutesy territory.

ideal physical traits: Taller than her and strong enough to pick her up- other than that, she’s not too choosy.

ideal personality traits: Someone considerate, adventurous- in both their imagination and body- someone creative, open to try new things, and willing to work through difficult things, as painful or difficult as it may be at times.

unattractive physical traits: Wash ya ass. 𝑷𝑳𝑬𝑨𝑺𝑬. Just be hygienic.

unattractive personality traits: Undue selfishness, stubbornness to the point of refusing to listen, loudness.

ideal date: Going out of doors for a majority of the day to explore and do sight-seeing around the world- or different worlds, if given the opportunity- and top it off with getting cozy back home or in a quiet place, just the two of them.

do they have a type?: It ranges from Nerds with hearts of gold to Himbos/Bimbos/Thembos.

average relationship length: For her long term relationships, about a year and a half on average. For casual flings, they usually don’t last more than a few months at a time.

preferred non-sexual intimacy: Hand holding, or even, just physical contact in general- a hip bump here, hugging. Doing little things for her partner- baking stuff for them, indulging in the other’s hobbies, and comfortable silences- just being with them or doing things for/with them.

commitment level: Typically doesn’t really care too much beyond being friends with a flirt n fuck. If they move onto other people, alright- understandable- have a nice day. For anything serious- she’ll fight to make the relationship work, as long as the other reciprocates that willingness to work through whatever comes their way.

opinion of public affection: As long as they’re not being loud about it, she likes PDA- hand-holding, a little discrete pinching, an occasional smooch- etc.

past relationships?: Aside from superficial relationships, she’s had three long-term relationships. One hadn’t been too bad, broken off on decent terms as friends. The second had tumbled into an abusive relationship that eventually carried onto her third major relationship- one that she ended up breaking off upon figuring she was still facing issues related to the previous one that was interfering with her current relationship. Since then, she’s been doing easier, simple flings and rebounds.

tagged by: Stolen from @fyu-ture tagging: You, if you haven’t done this yet and you’re reading this. B)

#dash games #headcanons #romance #Out of Body

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zrtranscripts · 5 years ago

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Season 8, Mission 28: Captain of a Shipwreck

Skincoats and Turncoats

SAM YAO: Janine, I know what you're going to say.

JANINE DE LUCA: Do you?

SAM YAO: I mean, well, yeah. You're going to say we shouldn't be on this boat going to get the cure Frances and the people on Dearg Island have made for you because you're unimportant and sacrifices must be made. Which quite literally they are being, because not only is... not only is Tom dead, but also Amelia told me this morning that a good dozen of her soldiers have now joined the flipping red god and have made some sacrifice of a lamb to it.

Which I mean, I'm not sure what they think a fungus would want with a lamb, but... [sighs] I'm just telling you I'm not going to take it from you, all right? Not one more speech about how you're unimportant and we should be doing something other than trying to help you!

JANINE DE LUCA: I'm not going to say that. Runner Five, Mr. Yao, Chief Macallan, we have very few friends on this island. Most of the people have succumbed to the red fungus. We have long wondered who our enemy was and now we know.

Shona wormed her way into our group and cleverly gained our trust. She set us against those who might have helped us. Chief Macallan, only you and Miss Brown have remained apparently free of the skincoats' malign influence.

DUNCAN MACALLAN: They're a force of darkness, Colonel. I will do whatever I can to fight with you.

JANINE DE LUCA: Thank you. Five, you must observe my condition. My left eye is useless. My shaking has worsened. In these circumstances, Mr. Yao, I cannot doubt that my duty is to become well and to fight. If Miss Reid is able to enact her plan, the country - indeed, the world - will be overtaken by her red fungus.

DUNCAN MACALLAN: Doesnae bear thought. I'm here to help however I can. Have you heard from Laird Reid? I've not seen him since we took you to safety, Five.

SAM YAO: Nobody has. He couldn't shoot at Shona, of course. Oh, poor man. Probably just wants to be alone. Imagine knowing your daughter did all this.

[thunder rolls]

DUNCAN MACALLAN: Storm's brewing.

SAM YAO: Look over there, Five. It's those beached ships we ran over to reach Dearg's dropoff point the first time. Hang on. Are those people on the ships? What on earth are they doing out in this weather?

JANINE DE LUCA: They're afraid. Look. They're salvaging weapons, anything they could find to defend themselves. Miss Spens has made it clear that she is willing to kill everyone on the island to stop the king of the rocks ceremony. She has found a sense of duty at last.

If the ceremony goes ahead and the red god takes the island, the Undaunted will deploy nuclear missiles to destroy the entire archipelago. Miss Spens and I have discussed which of the tribal leaders in the UK might be best placed to take over from her if she dies here. If we cannot save ourselves, we may as well save the world.

SAM YAO: Rousing words, Janine, as ever.

DUNCAN MACALLAN: Will that work? Nuclear explosion... might it spread the fungus further?

JANINE DE LUCA: No one knows. This is as far as our boat can take us. We can reach the dropoff by heading across the capsized tanker. Everyone, with me. Run!

JANINE DE LUCA: The automated boat is coming ashore. Ah. The Dearg researchers have repaired the control box. It can command the nanites in my body to reverse the harm they've done.

SAM YAO: What's in the little vial? It says break seal to open.

JANINE DE LUCA: According to this note, the cure is in two parts. My body has already sustained terminal damage. The existing nanites will work too slowly to save me. The vial contains the rare silver metal they're made from. With it, the nanites can replicate. In greater number, they may turn the tide. This must be administered into my system in sterile conditions. Dr. Cohen will treat me. Let us return at once to the village.

[radio static]

LAIRD REID: Hello. Can anyone hear me? Blasted walkie-talkie.

SAM YAO: Five, are you getting that? It's the laird!

LAIRD REID: I don't have long. I'm on a shipwrecked yacht. I went back to the caves, tried to find Shona. I know there's good in her heart. I know it! It's the skincoats. They've twisted her, polluted her mind! I followed them from the caves. We can stop them now. Please, you have to come to -

DUNCAN MACALLAN: Look, skincoats running across that yacht, chasing the laird!

JANINE DE LUCA: We can intercept by cutting across the shoals to our left. Go!

DUNCAN MACALLAN: Laird Reid, over here. Are you safe, lad? They've not hurt you?

LAIRD REID: Colonel, Chief Macallan, thank God. I was afraid they'd catch me.

JANINE DE LUCA: They may yet. The skincoats are swarming over the sand banks behind us. We must keep moving.

SAM YAO: Yeah, there must be... sorry, hard to count while running backwards. Must be at least nine of them, right? All of them are here.

LAIRD REID: They summoned the others when they spotted me. They can do that. Talk without speaking over a distance.

SAM YAO: Yeah, Five said. Some spooky property of the red fungus. The same thing that's giving us all the same dreams. Although did you hear Amelia said she'd been having dreams about arguing with the red god over and over again? [laughs]

JANINE DE LUCA: I dream of fighting it. And it overwhelms me again and again. Laird Reid, have you heard anything from the skincoats that might help us?

LAIRD REID: All they talk about is the king of the rocks. They must have learned something important about it from the Edda. But of course, much of their talk is among them in their minds. I think we need to stop the ceremony somehow. I think that is the only thing that will bring back Shona, if I can discover which part of the king of the rocks ceremony is important to the red god and stop it.

DUNCAN MACALLAN: The skincoats are getting closer. Come on, through that ruined freighter to the rocky outcrop beyond!

SAM YAO: We need to avoid the islanders on the wrecks. We don't want them caught in the crossfire.

DUNCAN MACALLAN: I know a secret way. Run.

SAM YAO: We made it! Oh, that was a twisty route through the freighter, Chief. I think we've lost them.

SHONA REID: [slow claps, laughs] You cannae lose us on these islands, mainlanders. The red god sees everything.

SAM YAO: Oh crap. They must have known exactly where we were going. Oh look, it's Mrs. Webster, who took Rory in. Skincoat! And Mr. Hendrickson, who runs the pub. Oh, this is horrible! Skincoats all around us. Eight, plus Shona.

DUNCAN MACALLAN: Nine, counting me. Laird Reid, you are needed.

SAM YAO: Oh no, Chief, don't tell me you're with them.

DUNCAN MACALLAN: It doesnae make me happy, Sam, but my Phyllis knew the red god. It couldn't cure her, but it gave her her last years, and I still see her in my dreams through the red god. I owe it more than I owe you.

SHONA REID: Come on, da. The red god wants you. It wants all of you.

JANINE DE LUCA: We are armed. Don't think we'll come easily.

LAIRD REID: Shona. Please, lass. Listen to me. This cult has brainwashed you!

SHONA REID: Grab him.

JANINE DE LUCA: No! We cannot allow this, Shona!

LAIRD REID: Colonel, please. I must be with my daughter. Do not fight this. If the only way I can know her is through the red god, so be it. Do you understand me? To know her.

JANINE DE LUCA: Oh. Yes. I understand. You want to be with your daughter. I understand. You are a brave man. Five, Mr. Yao, with me. Back to the village.

SHONA REID: Do you think I'm just going to let you go?

JANINE DE LUCA: I think you want your father more than us, and you won't risk the casualties of a firefight.

SHONA REID: [laughs] Aye, I won't shoot you now. It's true. The red god will take your bodies whole for his vessels when the time is right.

SAM YAO: Janine, what are you doing? We can't leave the laird with them!

JANINE DE LUCA: We are outnumbered. It's what he wants. Run!

SAM YAO: Janine, I thought we never left anyone behind. Look at him, there on the promontory above the wrecked ships, surrounded by skincoats. He's just... He's just - he's just an old man.

JANINE DE LUCA: It's what he wanted. I think he knows what he's doing. His walkie-talkie is still operating. Listen.

[radio static]

LAIRD REID: Shona, think what your mother would say about this, please!

SHONA REID: Mum was in touch with the island. She wanted to know it! I'm doing what she would have. You've never seen me, Dad, not for who I truly am. You are the sacrifice the red god demands. But before that, we have something we must do. Look at those people in the wrecked ships, searching for weapons. Not trusting the red one to protect them. What are they?

SKINCOAT: They are unbelievers.

SHONA REID: We will make them believe.

SAM YAO: What are they doing? The Chief's got – what's that? A crop sprayer? He's got something he's misting over the people on the wrecked ships.

LAIRD REID: Shona, please. They are innocent. You told me I am the one the red god wants because I am your kin.

SHONA REID: All shall belong to the red one.

SAM YAO: Oh no. That scent on the breeze. Celery. Fungal accelerant. Crap. I just realized Shona found out about the accelerant because she went to Dearg with us. There they go. All the people on the wreckage are turning V-type, red fungus blooming out of their mouths, their eyes.

SHONA REID: I can feel them now. Janine, Five, Sam, I know you're listening. These are servants of the red one now. They feel me in their minds. I can tell them what to do.

SAM YAO: Oh God. They've turned to face us, and now they're – yeah, obviously.

JANINE DE LUCA: The V-types are [coughs] after us. [coughs] Run!

SAM YAO: Oh God, the V-types are coming out of the water in front of us! They must have cut across the seabed. They're blocking off the boat.

JANINE DE LUCA: Intelligent in numbers.

SAM YAO: [sighs] Janine, what do we do? Oh God, don't! That's your cure, what are you - ?! You smashed the vial! Silver's gone everywhere... the silver stuff that V-types hate. They're backing off, leaving a path to the skiff.

JANINE DE LUCA: Full speed, Five! We must get back to Mor Island. Miss Reid is controlling the V-types. They will find a way around. Quickly!

[boat engine turns over]

SAM YAO: Come on, come on, turn on! The V-types are almost on us. Come on!

[engine rumbles]

JANINE DE LUCA: That's it. Five, steer a course away from this sand back as quickly as you can.

SHONA REID: You will come to me in the end. The chase will make our victory all the sweeter. And we have our prize. Father, your friends can listen as you ascend.

LAIRD REID: Shona, we can go home together now. All that you've done, it's these skincoats that have made you. I know you're in each others' minds.

SAM YAO: He still believes it. Incredible. He still thinks he can save her.

JANINE DE LUCA: I think perhaps he does not believe it anymore.

SHONA REID: Hold his head.

LAIRD REID: No! No, I am your laird - ! [chokes]

JANINE DE LUCA: She's tipping a goblet of liquid down his throat.

SHONA REID: I tried to give him the red blessing at the naming festival. I knew this way, he wouldn't disappoint me.

SAM YAO: There's red fungus starting to bloom across his face.

LAIRD REID: I can see it. I can see what the red sees. All of it. Janine, I can see it. The red god fears the king of the rocks. The ceremony stops the red god. It must be done properly. Janine, the skincoats don't want to perform king of the rocks. They want to stop it! It is the king of the rocks they fear. King of... [growls]

JANINE DE LUCA: That brave man.

SAM YAO: He did it on purpose. Let them take him on purpose.

JANINE DE LUCA: I believe he did, so he could see what the red god sees. And the information he has given us is vital. We must ensure the king of the rocks ceremony is performed successfully. It is the only thing that may save us.

SAM YAO: But Janine, you destroyed your cure.

JANINE DE LUCA: It was the best way to keep you safe. I have the control box. I can ease my symptoms enough that I will be of some use these last few days. But I cannot save myself.

We know what the skincoats want, Five. Something in the king of the rocks has kept the red god subdued for millennia, something lost to history but recorded in the Edda. They wanted the Edda so they could learn how to stop that element of the king of the rocks ceremony. We must discover what it is. For some reason, the fungus seedpods could not conquer the mainland, but the V-types can. Miss Reid now has an army. If we do not stop her, I fear nothing will.

SAM YAO: I wish Tom were here. He'd say something military like threat level omega or last action protocol and I'd be so confused, it'd take my mind off the danger.

JANINE DE LUCA: I would know the terminology, and it would remind me we were kin. I miss him very much. I think I've not even begun to feel how much I will miss him. But you and Five are my family, too. We will make sure the laird did not sacrifice himself in vain, and I will protect you.

#zombies run #zrs8 #s8m28 #captain of a shipwreck #zr transcript #zrs8 spoilers

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tinkeringwithcannabis · 5 years ago

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Tinkering with Cannabis

September 2019 Cannabis Company of the Month

Company: Humbled Healing Co.

Location: Mohnton, PA

Website: www.humbledhealing.com

Hello again to all my cannabis loving and canna-curious friends! Today I am proud to announce Humbled Healing Co. as the Tinkering with Cannabis September 2019 Cannabis Company of the Month! Now the backstory of Humbled Healing Co. is one of my favorites thus far. This amazing CBD Company was founded by Andrew Guilarte and Brooke Kerber. At the age of 19, Andrew was diagnosed with Lyme disease, which led to severe chronic joint pain, which continued to become progressively worse as time went on. Frustrated by the lack of relief found via traditional pharmaceuticals, Andrew turned to cannabis to help ease his pain. Impressed with the level of relief he found from integrating cannabis into his daily regimen, Andrew decided he wanted to expand his understanding of how this miracle plant worked.

In 2013, he enrolled in classes at Oaksterdam University to gain this knowledge and to learn how to use cannabis to heal. During his time at Oaksterdam, Andrew attended a lecture on CBD. This was at a time when CBD was very new to the medical world. As an avid THC patient, Andrew remained skeptical that anything could have comparable results to that which he had found with THC products. As he sat and listened to the lecture, attempting to keep an open mind, the professor passed around a sample of CBD topical Salve. She instructed her students to each take a little salve and apply it to any area where they are experiencing pain. Having been plagued by severe right knee pain all that morning, Andrew decided to apply the salve there. To his amazement, his pain had almost completely subsided in just one minute. From this moment on, Andrew was hooked. He just had to know all he could about this miracle cannabinoid, CBD.

Continuing with his studies at Oaksterdam University, Andrew learned CBD extraction methods and how to make pain-relieving salves and lotions. It was out of this knowledge that Humbled Healing was born. Upon returning home to Pennsylvania, Andrew began working on obtaining hemp flower and extracting CBD, while his partner Brooke turned her sites on educating herself on the past 1,000 years of pain relieving through the use of natural herbs. This led to their first prototype, which was a huge success with a 99% approval rating from 40 reviewers who tested this product for pain.

As Humbled Healing Co. began their salve line in 2013, they ultimately connected with a successful hemp farmer in Colorado named Robert where they obtained their hemp flower. From this connection, Humbled Healing Co. had taken it product line far beyond just salves. Today, they offer four types of salves: Peppermint for minor burns and headaches, Lavendar/Anica for pulled muscles and nerve pain, Clove/Cayenne for joint pain and muscle pain, and fragrance-free for joint, muscle, and nerve pain. These salves are also available in roll-ons. Additionally, Humbled Healing offers 500 mg Full Spectrum and THC-Free hemp tinctures in vanilla bean, chocolate mint, and natural. They also offer a 1500 mg strength in the natural Full Spectrum hemp tinctures. For those looking for a quick, easy to swallow, pre-measured option, Humbled Healing Co. offers both Full Spectrum and THC-Free CBD softgels. Last but not least, they also have a little something for your furry little family members, with their 500 mg hemp drops available in Full Spectrum and THC-Free options for pets!

Humbled Healing Co. “is dedicated to making the highest quality products in the industry for the people in chronic pain daily at a price that is affordable.” When taking one look at their product line, it is not difficult to see this level of dedication, as they truly do offer a CBD option which can fit the needs of anyone. As the Humbled Healing team continues spring forward in their journey to take the cannabis industry by storm, they realize that excellent and affordable products and amazing customer service are only part of their success. They know without education and awareness, those suffering from an array of health issues may not understand the benefits of CBD as a treatment option, and may bypass considering this all together. In order to minimize this, Humbled Healing Co. takes pride in participating in speaking events, community gathering nights, and local community events to help spread this awareness to those within the community around them. So if you are looking for a reputable and high quality CBD company to purchase your products from, check out Humbled Healing Co. They don’t just sell you these products, they live by them! Congrats Humbled Healing Co., keep up the amazing work!

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isitgintimeyet · 5 years ago

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Road To The Aisles

AO3

So, another weekend, another chapter. Thank you all for reading,reblogging, liking and commenting. It means a lot to me.

Thanks to @mo-nighean-rouge, @happytoobserve, @wickedgoodbooks for their help and support.

Chapter 6: A Celebratory Repast

Phil: [upon receiving Claire's gift] I am so excited. [Opens envelope] Coupons for...five free hugs.

Claire: You don't like it?

Phil: Are you kidding me? I love it. It's so creative--coupons for hugs, which are usually free, but this makes it official, which is so great.

Modern Family

Claire paused as the waiter poured their wine, then took a large sip and continued her conversation with Geillis.

“So, G, what do you think? It’s our first anniversary coming up and I still haven’t got a clue what to get Jamie. I want to do something, but what?”

Geillis pursed her lips and closed her eyes momentarily as if deep in thought. “Weel, personally I dinna think ye need to get anything. The fact ye’ve stuck with him through the past year is gift enough in ma opinion. And, if it were me, I’d be wanting something special wrapped up on ma plate from him too.”

“I know, I know.” Claire laughed. “But just stick with me. Give me some ideas, please. I tried to book the restaurant where we had our first date, but I couldn’t get a table. So... any thoughts? What do you give Dougal?”

“Generally I give him a voucher…”

“I was hoping for something a bit more original, but ok. Where from? John Lewis? Marks and Spencer’s? Sports shop?”

“Och no, I make him a voucher meself. It entitles him tae one night of, er, living his fantasies, shall we say? I mean, last year it started with-”

Claire held her hands up. Having sat through some of her friend’s more ‘intimate’ stories, she guessed where the story would lead and she was keen to get back to the matter at hand -- her and Jamie’s one year anniversary.

“Stop right there, G. Can we get back to discussing a present for Jamie… not a voucher? Besides, why does Dougal need a voucher anyway? I thought it’d be a regular thing.”

Geillis affected a look of mild disgust. “Claire, ye dinna ken what his many and varied fantasies involve. It’s just too fuckin’ expensive. I mean last year I ended up buying a whole new set of cushions… ruined beyond repair they were...”

The conversation paused as the waiter brought the steaming bowls of pasta to their table. Having offered Parmesan and black pepper, he departed, leaving them to pick up where they left off.

“So, G, vouchers are a no-no.”

Geillis shrugged at Claire’s dismissal of her idea. “I dinna ken then. What sort of things did ye get fer Frank?”

“The last birthday present that I bought him was a dehumidifier, to help with his sinuses, you know. And he bought me a water filter. He… we… he didn’t believe in non-practical gifts. And we didn’t bother with anniversaries or Valentine’s, anything like that. Frank was, self-confessed, unromantic.”

Claire twirled several strands of spaghetti around her fork and neatly popped the mass into her mouth. After an accompanying swig of wine, she continued.

“But, you know, that wasn’t all Frank. I never thought I had a romantic bone in my body either. I was perfectly happy not having to remember anniversaries, or pay a fiver for a card that would be thrown away a week later. But now… now, G, it’s different. It feels different. I want to do those things, I want to celebrate anniversaries with Jamie. Just need to find something that’s not too cheesy.”

Geillis smiled. “Then go fer it, girl. Ye’ll think of something, I’m sure.

**************

Over the next few days, Claire was not sure if Jamie really was nonplussed about their forthcoming anniversary, or if he was sensing her very real frustration at not finding a suitable gift for him and was deliberately downplaying the date.

“Och,” he said to her on numerous occasions. “‘Tis no big deal, this anniversary. I ken we’ll have far more tae celebrate over the years. We’ll jes’ head out fer a meal somewhere. Mebbe a curry? Or do ye fancy Chinese?”

“A meal will be great. You decide. I don’t mind.” was her standard response as she scoured the internet looking for inspiration.

But it wasn’t just the gift that was bothering Claire. All her life she had been reluctant to truly and openly express her emotions. As a small child, after the death of her parents, when asked how she was, she would always shrug, smile and answer with a standard “ok”, ignoring the rage and fury swirling around inside. Only with Uncle Lamb had she been willing to drop the façade and give her emotions free rein.

Similarly, with Frank, when faced with another cancelled date or his general displeasure, she would shrug and tuck it quietly away in her mind, along with all the other broken promises and disappointments.

But, with Jamie, she felt her barriers coming down. For the first time, she was beginning to feel comfortable with her emotions and wanted him to know exactly what he meant to her. Finding the right card and message mattered, and was proving tricky.

Eventually, she found what she was looking for and could relax.

************

Jamie’s car was already parked in the drive when Claire arrived home, prompted by a ‘hurry home, Sassenach’ text .

Other than a ‘happy anniversary’ greeting that morning, a blatant disregard for morning breath and a mutually satisfying, albeit speedy, union, there had been no mention of celebratory plans.

Claire found Jamie in the kitchen, already dressed in navy trousers and denim blue shirt, selecting two champagne flutes from the array of glassware in the cupboard.

“Do ye fancy a glass of champagne while ye get ready?” he greeted her as he swiftly deposited the glasses on the kitchen counter and put his hands on her waist, pulling her close against him.

“I’ve booked us a table, and a taxi. So champagne yes or no?”

“Mmm, yes, thanks. Are you trying to get me drunk?”

“Och no. But ye are a bit of a vixen when ye’ve had a drink or two. I canna say I mind. And, after all, ‘tis the weekend tomorrow. So go on upstairs and I’ll bring ye a glass.”

It didn’t take Claire long to get ready. A quick shower, a half hearted attempt to tame her curls, two glasses of champagne, and she was dressed and made up just in time for the taxi.

***************

The restaurant was exactly the same as that night the year before. Jamie took Claire’s hand and led her to the bar.

“What would ye like tae drink, Sassenach?”

Claire smiled at Jamie as the memories from their first evening came flooding back. “Glenmorangie, please.”

“Ice?” He asked, grinning.

“Er… well…” Claire hesitated before continuing. “Just joking. No ice, thank you.

I’m surprised you carried on with our date when you saw me putting ice in my single malt.”

“Aye, weel, it was a close thing, ye ken. It was only the thought of yer arse next tae me that kept me on ma seat.” His hand snaked down her back to briefly cup a buttock to prove the point.

Laughing, Claire batted his hand away before she perched on a tall bar stool and sipped her whisky contentedly. “I tried to book a table here for tonight... tried a couple of weeks ago. How did you manage it, was there a cancellation?”

“No, I booked it last month.”

“So all that crap you were spouting about getting a Chinese or Indian was…”

“Was just tae throw ye off the scent. I didna want ye tae feel ye had to do anything special fer today… no pressure.”

Jamie placed his whisky on the bar next to Claire’s glass, her hand still wrapped around it. A slight movement of his finger was all it took to touch her, to lightly stroke the back of her hand.

“When we touch…” she began to speak quietly, not wanting the barman to overhear. “It’s always different. It’s like… like electricity sparks between us.”

Jamie leaned closer to Claire, so close she could feel his breath warm on her neck, sending goosebumps down her spine. “Aye, it’s no’ usual between a man and a woman what we feel --“

The ringtone of his mobile broke the moment. Sighing, he reached in his pocket, pulled out his phone and declined the call.

“Geneva,” he explained apologetically.

“Hadn’t you better take it? What if it’s important… William?”

Jamie typed a short message and pressed send. A ping swiftly followed. After another short message, Jamie’s phone went back into his pocket.

“She wants tae discuss nurseries fer William. I said I’d call her tomorrow. Ah, here comes the Maître d’. Looks like our table’s ready.”

It was, Claire noted, the same intimate semi-circular booth that they had occupied before. She knew that Jamie would have asked for this spot again

A year ago, there had been a hesitancy before they dared to touch, each unsure of the other. Now, there was no need for thought. They slid along the curved seat to meet in the middle -- thighs, hips and shoulders in contact, Claire’s hand resting on Jamie’s thigh, his hand rubbing circles on the back of her neck.

With one free hand each, they shared the menu, quickly scanning the choices. The menu was unchanged and so with unspoken agreement, Jamie ordered for both of them.

“I wonder what sort of nurseries Geneva will be wanting to look at.” Claire began as the waiter poured two glasses of red wine.

“Nah, no talk about Geneva tonight, or her mother, or even William. This is about us tonight.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Claire took a sip of her wine as Jamie began to fumble around in his jacket. “Have you lost something?”

“No… ah here it is…”

He pulled a cracked leather pouch from an inner pocket and placed it on the table in front of Claire. He opened it before taking her hand and tipping the contents out.

Claire gasped as the creamy white pearls cascaded over her outstretched palm. She looked up at Jamie, who was watching her expectantly, and stroked his cheek, the pearls rubbing smoothly between their skin.

“Jamie, I don’t know what to say. They’re beautiful. Thank you… thank you.”

He smiled. “They were ma mother’s… and ma grandmother’s. My grandda gave them tae her on their wedding, and then Da gave them tae Mam when they got married. And now they belong tae ye. And one day our son will give them tae his wife. I hoped ye’d like them.”

Claire turned away as Jamie carefully fastened the necklace around her neck.

“They look sae bonny on ye. I was thinking ye could wear them on our wedding day… that’s the something old.”

Her fingers lightly traced a path over the necklace. “Jamie, I love them. And the story behind them. It means so much.”

“Aye, they’re verra precious tae me… as are ye, Claire.” Jamie’s finger followed the same path.

“And I ken we’ve had sae much going on, we’ve no’ spoken about wedding plans yet. But I want us tae start planning. I dinna want a long engagement… unless ye do, of course. Let’s get married this year, Sassenach… if ye want tae?”

“Yes, Jamie. That’s what I want too.”

***************

Full of good food and slightly merry from the champagne, whisky and wine, Claire and Jamie made their way home. The short taxi ride from the restaurant felt, to Claire, like an eternity. She longed to get home and give her gift to Jamie. And then she longed to go to bed and lie next to him, touching skin to skin the length of their bodies, and run her fingers through his chest hairs before wrapping her legs around his hips and urging him into her…

She squirmed involuntarily in her seat. Jamie, somehow sensing her thoughts, laced his fingers with hers. His thumb drew rhythmic circles on her palm, only increasing her longing.

***********

Once back in their house, Claire rushed upstairs to retrieve Jamie’s gift -- hidden in her wardrobe -- before joining him in the living room.

Spotting the large present in her hands, he grinned. “Ye didna have tae get me anything, ye ken.”

“I know. But I wanted to. I wanted to tell you exactly what you mean to me. I don’t always find it easy to say the words to you…”

“But ye show me in everything ye do fer me... and now fer William.”

“Well, go on and open it, then.”

Jamie ripped the paper off and studied the gift, a framed photograph, closely.

“See,” Claire explained nervously. “It’s a print of the night sky. That’s the stars and constellations in the Glasgow sky a year ago tonight. When we were on our first date. Do you like it?”

“Like it? I love it sae much… that was above us when I was falling in love with ye. I knew then ye were the only one fer me.”

“And there’s a card. I couldn’t find one in the shops, so I had to make it.”

Jamie opened the envelope to find a photo of the glen near Lallybroch where they first exchanged ‘I love you’s’. He turned it over and read out loud.

Whenever I am away from you,

The distance between us

A burdensome thing,

I always think of you in colors,

The smell of coffee as you so

proudly make it for me,

the perfect sunlight spilling

In through the window.

I miss you even when you

are beside me.

I dream of your body

even when you are sleeping in my arms.

The words I love you

could never be enough.

I suppose we’ll have to invent

new ones.

Jamie pulled Claire into his chest, her cheeks wet against his skin.

His voice was choked with emotion. “Oh, Claire, ma Sassenach. How much do I love ye?”

****

The poem is by Christopher Poindexter. Generally I am an unromantic soul and do not read poetry, but this poem I found so beautiful and moving, it gives me shivers.

#outlander fan fiction #outlander fanfic #Road To The Aisles #Jamie Fraser #claire beauchamp #modern au #Chapter 6 #Anniversary Fluff

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