#10 years next month since I ran away from home

[rowanisawriter]

send me ⚡️and ill tell you what arctic monkeys song i associate with you based on vibes

[stellewriites]

very much inspired by a post i’ll link at the bottom to avoid spoilers

i love putting john price in situations

simon had known price for over a decade, had served under him as his lieutenant for a good portion of it, so he was pretty confident in answering yes when asked if he thought he knew the captain well.

he could acknowledge he wasn’t as close as say laswell may have been, but he knew that price’s wife was not common knowledge around the base either.

he’d pieced it together over the years on missions; catching the odd comment shared over coms; the glint of a ring around his neck; the odd teased mention of her when they sat in the rec room after barely scraping through a tough spot, when price needed the company as well as the silence ghost offered before returning to the real world.

it was how simon knew the sergeants were staying when price let slip about her one day. because he doesn’t let anything slip, wouldn’t, especially about her.

“got anyone at home waiting for you, sir?” gaz asked as he sighed impatiently over the coms, hour three of silently waiting and watching had finally gotten to him.

“i do,” price said simply, not offering any further information. ghost could imagine the amusement tugging at his daft facial hair as price refused to continue without prompting and simon smiled under his mask when he heard johnny scoff next to him before chiming in.

“c’mon sir, give us a wee bit more’n that,” he weedled. “when’d ya meet? is she nice?”

john hummed, the sound low and crackly over the radio in their ears. “met when i moved.”

“oh, a real meet-cute type thing, eh?” gaz teased.

john ignored him. “wouldn’t say she’s nice, soap. she’s more than that. ‘nice’ is your aunt’s new wallpaper; you have permission to shoot me point blank if i start calling her nice.”

“what is she then?” ghost piped up. this was the chattiest john had ever been on the subject and he was going to take advantage.

john went silent for long enough that the three men thought that was it, the end to their sharing session and knowing more about their captain outside of work. simon chewed the inside of his cheek.

“she’s devoted,” john whispered finally before his voice firmed. “heads up, team, movement 2 o’clock. anyone got eyes on the target?”

—

it was months later when she was brought up again, the team thinking. nothing of it until price’s phone pinged in his pocket enough times to pique johnny’s interest as they prepped to leave.

“that the wife, sir?” he asked.

john huffed, didn’t bother checking his phone as he turned and shook his head. “she’s clingy, but she doesn’t bother me when i’m at work.”

“how’d you know?” gaz asked. “could be an emergency.”

“‘n’ how’d you get her to agree tae tha’?” soap followed up quickly, having had issues with his own flings petering out when he was distant and slow to reply.

“been with her long enough now it’s routine,” john said simply. he checked his weapons before heading for the exit. “helo in 5, be air ready.”

—

the mission had gone to shit, and they were stuck hidden in a building that looked like it was 10 seconds away from collapsing under a brisk wind when ghost finally felt his patience snap.

it was no one’s fault, but being stuck in another country with no back up and a target on their backs for an extra three weeks wasn’t ideal and johnny’s insistence on playing cards at every opportunity to keep his idle hands and mind busy combined with gaz’s tinny whistling had made for the perfect scenario to grate on simon’s patience quicker than anything else ever had.

“tell us about her. ya wife,” simon asked, his gaze slipping across to john, watching him pick at his nails. his cuticles were red and raw from four days of agitated fidgeting since they’d ran out of cigars and cigarettes. every so often simon caught him pat his empty pocket before he’d remember and huff heavily through his nose like a bull.

john closed his eyes at the mention of his wife and sighed. he started his description without protest or hesitance. “shes soft spoken. christ, you’d hardly know she was there half the time, she’s so quiet. but she’s firm. stands her ground no matter what,” he chuckled. “don’t think i’ve ever won an argument against her.”

kyle laughed and ghost closed his own eyes, trying to picture what he thought the captain’s wife might look like. pretty certainly, but was she tall, plump, did she have an endearing gap between her front teeth, did she keep her hair short or long?

“she’s a bit of a homebody,” john admitted bashfully, unaware of simon’s drifting thoughts. “but i can’t say i mind it.”

“not wanting to leave the bedroom much when yer back?” johnny joked, hissing when ghost punched his thigh.

john just smiled placidly, eyes still closed. his eyebrows pulled down as he gushed, “god she’s gorgeous in red. wears it every time i come home.”

“lucky bastard,” gaz huffed.

“yeah.” john nodded and finally opened his eyes. “yeah, lucky.”

“you’ll be back with her soon, cap,” gaz reassured him when he saw price swallow thickly.

“thanks, gaz. now who’s taking first watch tonight? soap?”

—

john was quiet on the plane ride home, not unusually so, but ghost noticed the difference all the same.

he was pensive perhaps, worried what his wife would say when he finally got home a month later than scheduled, uncontactable the entire time. ghost could understand to a certain degree that john would have more important things on his mind than what his three subordinates were going to do as soon as they stepped foot on home soil, so he didn’t push when john ignored the few threads of conversation thrown his way by their younger sergeants. instead he nodded when john said a quick goodbye as they all parted ways in the airport.

simon could only assume john was the same all the way home in the cab that dropped him outside of his little three bed house.

he didn’t see however how john hesitated at the door to his home that evening. how he gripped the front door keys tightly in his fist, shook as he stared down at his feet instead of letting his eyes drift and catch on the windows, and felt as though he could crack a tooth from how hard he was clenching his teeth.

he finally opened the door when he thought the neighbours might begin to get worried and stepped inside, flicking on the lights as he went.

it wasn’t until he got to the kitchen that he found her.

stood bare foot, silent, eyes wide and pleading, blood seeping - always seeping. would it ever stop? would the blood ever end? - through her white pyjama top, his top that she’d borrowed for the night, and trickling down her bare legs.

her mouth opened and she visibly struggled for breath, but no sound escaped even as her tongue wagged on the floor of her mouth, lapping at the backs of her teeth as all words escaped her.

he swallowed back bile.

“hello, sweetheart,” he choked out. “sorry i’m late.”

the blood pooled at her feet, the panties she wore were seeped a dark purple from the viscus liquid dying the dark blue material and the shirt stuck to her front. john had remembered loving seeing her like this in a morning, had always thought she looked best in as little clothing as possible.

“i know you hate it when work keeps me busy, but it was unexpected. we were caught—“ a high screech, not dissimilar to that of a whistle that only a dog could hear, pierced through his ears and cut his words short. he curled in and covered his ears, but he knew it would do no good, he should’ve known better than to talk about work around her.

not after what had happened last time he got back late after overtime.

tears prickle at his eyes and the sound abruptly stopped. he’d never questioned why it seemed to be only him that could hear her protests, why his neighbours never mentioned a shrill cry every so often from his home. he had always said she was made for him and that had apparently translated literally into the afterlife.

he looked up at her again - it was best not to ignore her he found. it only made her angry.

“it won’t happen again,” he promised wetly. “i did my best to get back as soon as i could, i promise, sweetheart—“ he choked on his words, biting back a sob. she watched unblinkingly, silent except for the wet squelch of her feet on the laminate.

they both knew he wasn’t apologising for being late this time. he got like this sometimes, when her agonised face and mangled body was too much to bear after a long mission and the guilt bore down like a physical presence.

he couldn’t help but think if he’d gotten home even just an hour earlier he might’ve been able to save her, to have kept her company instead of leaving her on the floor alone and cold, maybe he could have caught the bastards that had hurt her while he was still travelling back from deployment after agreeing to hang back and finish his paperwork there and then instead of emailing it across.

he reached a shaking hand forward and blew out a ragged breath when his hand met nothing but frigid air. but when he brought his hand up to his face he could smell the copper tang of his dead wife’s blood on his skin. the stench unwashable, cloying, but if he concentrated hard enough it ever so faintly smelt like the vanilla perfume she used to wear.

“was telling the lads about you, love,” he forced an empty chuckle as he walked around her to the kettle and went through their usual routine. “think they might’ve fallen a little in love, not that i could blame them.”

he ran a hand over his face and gave himself a moment to let the tears fall as his palm hid his eyes. her silence was the worst part of it all, but he could see the glaring red of her in his peripheral when he dropped his hand to the counter.

it wasn’t pretending his wife was still alive if she was right there at his shoulder, was it?

“looks like i’ll need to grab you some more pg tips, sweetheart,” he said and poured the boiling water into two cups, sparing a glance over his shoulder at his wife. “we’re almost out.”

post link

[edensfixations]

hehe imagine if Deku had a twin sibling who was a big Hawks fan (but is more low-key about it) and coincidentally had a recessive quirk that gave them 2 pairs of retractable wings

AHH i LOVE these platonic au's!

we're going bullet point form!

• izuku has a twin sister? 🤨 her name? isaki!!

• isaki, just like her brother, doesn't hold much height! she's around 5 feet tall, very defensive about it! she's got the same green curly hair but longer! she has freakles and glasses (courtesy of her reading late at night in the dark and unlucky genetics.)

• anyway, contrary to her brother, she has a quirk. she got it when she was five and absolutely went batshit crazy when feathers sprouted out of her back a random saturday morning. she ran straight to izuku and he was no help whatsoever. he screamed louder than her!

• over the years her quirk has grown and developed! for a bit she ended up randomly floating causing a massive panic to her mother and amusement from her brother. her wings had grown into large black wings that resembles a crows.

• she's gained many nicknames from people. from her mother, dove. from her brother, saki and raven! katsuki however calls her shadow for an array of unfortunate reasons but at least she doesn't get the same treatment as her brother!!

• when the midoriya twins turned 12 a new hero made his way onto the scene! an 18 year old with his own company??!?!? suddenly in the top 10 in only 6 months???? WHAT?!?

• hawks having an amazing reputation like this immediately after debuting had him have eyes on him constantly! and isaki wasn't any different!

• while her brother was OBSESSED with all might since they were kids, she had only idolised him a bit. he was 100% her biggest inspiration and thought only the most highly of him but she never wanted to be a hero until she saw hawks! I mean she practically bounced off the walls when she saw someone with a similar quirk!

• over the next 2 years she had slowly built a merch a collection, a pathetic one really because she mostly used her pocket money for food and books while her brother never really used his money for anything but all might!

•her merch collection includes a few posters, 3 hoodies, an action figure and a bobble head as well as some limited edition sneakers that she'll NEVER admit she qued overnight for.

• similar to her twin brother, she also keeps a little notebooks. she however keeps about 4? 2 for hawks and 2 for everyone else. after deciding she'd like to follow her quirkless brother and his deranged frenemy to ua, she starts assessing some of her favourite heroes, namely hawks and his techniques and how to utilise them.

• so from ages 13-15 you'll just see an isaki midoriya flying around in her backyard practicing moves she learnt from hawks via the internet.

• when izuku had started his 10 month intense training with a mystery man izuku hadn't told her about, she decided to start her own 10 month training. hers however contained a gym and her doing combat training with whoever was training there too and up for it! there she met tenya iida! story for another time.

• however, about 5 months into her training, she had particularly drained herself that day. because of this she was barely paying attention to her surroundings. it was quite a shock to her when she had been suddenly grabbed from the ground and sped off about a block away when where she once was!

• who was it? pro hero hawks of course! naturally, isaki was completely star struck. she could not BELIEVE who was standing in front of her right now!!! she was barely listening to him warning her to watch where she's walking so she doesn't get run over by a car (she walked into traffic, whoops!) she snapped out of trance when she heard him say, "nice wings, kid" before he was gone.

•isaki flew home and screamed into her pillow!!! she couldn't believe that happened! HE COMPLIMENTED HER WINGS!!!!!! she was so close to him! practically hugging him! (delusion)

• upon her screaming her mother and brother enter her room, curious, afraid and wanting answers.

• she looks up from her pillow, pink faced and hyperventilating, "HE SAID I HAVE NICE WINGS!!" her wings start fluttering creating a small breeze. it's a small habit she picked up from when she was little. her little family chuckled at her words. "Who??" "That guy from the gym??" "NO HAWKS. I CAN DIE HAPPY."

• isaki is now laying on the ground while her brothers jaw is slack and her mother leaves, giggling to herself.

• "YOU MET NUMBER 3 HERO HAWKS??!!" "YEAH WHEN I ACCIDENTALLY ALMOST WALKED INTO TRAFFIC!!!!" "WHAT?!"

• needless to say, she wore her hoodie and limited edition sneakers to bed that night.

(pls send requests I loved doing this so muchhhh!!)

[cherrycherrylady2024]

Christmas with the Grimes'

Christmas with the Grimes'

(Dilf! Rick Grimes x reader) Word count: 1,945

Warnings: 18+, descriptions of dilfs? This one is pretty tame tbh

Chapter 1: Mr. Grimes

Packing your bags for winter break, you thanked your lucky stars you had somewhere to call home for the next month and a half. There was the option of staying in the dorms but you came to terms with the fact that that would simply be too sad. Plus you certainly couldn’t go back to your parent's house, you hadn’t spoken to those two since the day you graduated high school. You were finally well and truly on your own. College was everything you had dreamed it would be. Partially thanks to Judith, your roommate, for dragging you out of the dorm that first week of school. 

You purposely picked the earliest move-in date and had already been living in the dorm for two weeks before Judith even arrived. You tried your best to spruce it up with what little decor you had and sat wringing your hands all day for this girl to appear. With random roommate assignments who knew what you’d be getting? When the door began to open with a click! of the handle, your stomach dropped to your toes, but the second Judith walked in you knew everything would be okay. She immediately ran over to you and almost knocked you over with a bear hug. She was the sunshine that brought you out of your shell, and you two were BFFs since that very day. When she invited you to stay with her family over winter break, it was nearly impossible to say no. 

~~~

“C’mon y/n we’d have so much fun! I can show you around my town, I mean what little there is to see, but still! We can go ice skating, watch movies, have snowball fights with my brother- plus my dad makes some seriously fucking good eggnog.” Judith chatted into your ear as you were finishing up your last essay for finals. You sighed and pushed away from your desk, rubbing your eyes. This paper would be the death of you, especially with Judith's distractions. “That all sounds great, really, but wouldn’t it be an imposition on you guys? I mean Christmas is kinda special and I don’t want to be intruding on your-” Judith cuts you off. “Please intrude! We do the same stuff every year, it gets sooo boring. Anyways, I’ll miss you too much, so I’m not really asking at this point.” Judith plops on her bed and opens her laptop. “This is a kidnapping now?” you ask. Judith types furiously on her computer, “For the greater good. You can’t sit here and mope for the next month and a half, that’s too depressing.” She pauses for a second, staring at her laptop screen. “Is an 8 am train too early?” 

You sigh, and lean back, stretching, mulling it over for a moment.

 “Way, way, too early,” you say.

Judith looks up at you and smiles.

~~~

So here you were, bags packed and ready to go. You two took the bus to the Amtrak station and boarded easy-peasy. “Y’know, I always thought train travel would be like Murder on the Orient Express, but this is like… shanking on the shitty express,” you remarked as you examined the stained seat, shabby carpeting, and… let’s just say, unusual fellow passengers. You quickly corrected yourself, “I mean- not to sound ungrateful or anything.” Judith rolled her eyes in agreement, “Believe me this isn’t my first choice either. It’s only a four-hour drive, if my dad would let me bring my truck up we wouldn’t have to-” she was interrupted by the train starting up. It began to slowly peel away from the station. “Here we go!” you exclaimed, surprising yourself with how oddly excited you felt. Judith yawned, shifting in her seat. “I should’ve gone with the noon train, even 10 am feels like the crack of dawn.”

20 minutes later you were bored as hell and Judith was fast asleep, snoring every once in a while. Your phone had spotty service as it was, but now going through the countryside it was virtually impossible to do anything. You occupied yourself by looking out of the window. When that got boring you too tried to close your eyes, but Judith's snores were becoming increasingly loud. You looked at her and contemplated throwing goldfish into her half-opened mouth, but decided against it. 

Studying her for a little, you concluded that she looked a lot like her dad, from the one time you met him. 

It was the day Judith moved in.

~~~

Judith pulled away from the hug, “Y/n, right? I’m Judith. It’s so nice to meet you! I like your energy already,” she held your hands as she said this. “That's so sweet of you, you too!” you responded. “And this is my– dad come on!” Judith turned to the door, ushering in her father. The man was balancing two large moving boxes, labeled aptly as Judith’s shit, which obscured his face. “Jesus Judith, what’s in here? Boulders?” He shuffled over and plopped down the two boxes on the twin bed across from yours, breathing out in a huff. “Just my rock collection.” Judith teased. Her father wiped his face and turned to you, making a clack sound in his cowboy boots, “Nice to meet ya, m’Rick” he said, extending his hand to you. 

You froze.

Damn. 

He was handsome. 

You didn’t typically use that word to describe guys. They were always “cute” or “hot,” but this wasn’t a guy: this was a man, and he was fucking handsome. His skin was a little bit bronzed from the summer sun, and you immediately found your mind wandering to where those tan lines might end. Rick's hair was dark brown, thick, and pushed back, ending in perfect curls. You were instantly enraptured by his stunningly blue eyes. How do eyes that blue even exist? Rick had a strong and direct gaze, and you got the feeling that from one look, he could know all about you. Was it crazy to say he had a sexy nose too? You had never liked facial hair until this day. This was nothing like the scraggly high school mustaches you were accustomed to. Rick had a short, slightly salt-and-pepper, beard that perfectly accentuated his high cheekbones. His voice was deep and rough, with a sexy southern drawl that you clocked immediately. He wore a plain white t-shirt which, due to the August heat, stuck to him in just the right places. 

Damn. 

The dark blue jeans fit him perfectly, paired with a black belt cluttered by loops and pouches, what for? You weren't sure. The only thing you could identify on the belt was the gun holster, and the revolver snugly clasped in it. 

You took all this in in the few seconds he had turned to you. His hand was still outstretched when you came to.

“Oh- hi Mr. Grimes, I’m y/n.” You shook his hand gently in a daze. His hands were warm, a little rough, and covered yours completely when he brought the other one on top. “Nice to meetcha y/n. And just Rick is fine.”

Rick. Rick. Rick. Rick. Rick. Rick. Rick. Rick.

You nodded your head fervently and withdrew from the handshake. You did your best to act normal but your eyes drifted straight back down his body to the revolver. Judith had already made herself busy unpacking, and didn’t even need to turn around to know what you must be wondering, “Dad I told you to leave your gun in the truck, it freaks people out.” She turned back to the both of you, holding a teddy bear, “Don’t worry y/n he’s not in the mafia or something, that’d be way too cool for him.” Rick shook his head with a smile, his hand on his hip, “How do ya know I’m not?” Judith moved swiftly past him, grabbing something from his belt. “Hey!” Rick laughed. She tossed it to you and upon catching it, you turned it over in your hands. It was a shiny gold sheriff's deputy badge. 

Officer Rick Grimes.

Damn.

You chuckled lightly and handed it back to him, your fingers brushing his, as Judith entered the bathroom with a box labeled shower shit. “Don’t let your mob buddies see that badge,” you teased. Rick smiled (Damn.) and put it back in his belt pocket, “Thanks for the tip.” 

Judith emerged from the bathroom, “Dinner?”

The dinner was unfortunately quick, mostly Judith talked and you listened. Rick chimed in now and again but it was more for you two roommates to get to know each other. You couldn't help but sneak a few glances at Rick throughout the dinner. You watched as his muscles flexed in his forearms, studied when he’d crack a smile, and nearly swooned when he leaned back and swept a hand through his hair, his arm outstretched on the booth behind Judith.

It was like he was magnetic. Every time you looked away you felt a calling for more. You shook the feeling as best you could and focused on Judith. You found out she had a younger brother, Carl, who was a bit of a troublemaker. Through mouthfuls of pasta, Judith put it bluntly that their mom had passed away years ago. "I'm sorry to hear that," you responded. You glanced at Rick for a reaction, finding nothing. You told Judith about your family, sugar-coating some of the details as you swirled your pasta around, not making eye contact. She seemed to catch on fast and didn’t pry. You already liked that about her.

After paying for dinner, and you thanking him profusely, Rick escorted the two of you back to your dorm building. He gave Judith a bear hug goodbye, “I wish I could stay longer sweetheart but I gotta get up early in the mornin’.” He looked over to you and winked “Mafia stuff.” You smiled (oh my god) back as Judith pulled away. “It’s alright, I’ll see ya at parent's weekend pops!” She kissed him quickly on the cheek and headed towards the stairwell to the dorms. Rick chuckled, then shrugged his shoulders and looked to you, “She’s keepin' it all inside.” He said, patting his heart. You laughed, “I’m sure.” Judith yelled to you from the door, “C’mon y/n we gotta lot of catchin’ up to do!” You turned back to Rick, “Thank you so much again for dinner. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Grimes.” He clasped a hand down on your shoulder (fuck). “No problem, you girls be good now, ya hear?” He leaned down closer to you, whispering, “Don’t let her drive you crazy”. You titter nervously, a little overzealous, as he pulls away. Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god.

You could smell his cologne. Or maybe it was just him. A rich, woodsy, musk that you wanted to stuff your face into.

“I heard that Dad!” Rick spun on his heel and began walking away, his hands in his deputy jacket pockets. “Goodnight girls.” You watched him walk away for a moment, then followed after Judith.

~~~

That was nearly 5 months ago, and the last time you’d seen Rick Grimes. You didn’t have a crush per se, I mean, he was a grown man and you were….…well, technically of age, but it would be weird, right? Right??

I mean maybe it's not so bad if- NO. You need to snap out of it. You hadn’t even thought about him (much) the whole semester, but the notion of seeing him again gave you butterflies that you desperately tried to squash. He is your best friend's dad for god's sake. Not that anything would ever happen, but there was no reason to make things weird for yourself in your own mind. He’s Judith's dad, and he just so happens to be good-looking, nothing more nothing less.

Well- really good-looking. And funny too. Very charming. But nonetheless your best friend's dad! 

A dilf and your best friend's dad. 

This was going to be a long winter break.

***

notes: ahhhhhhh! ok so this is my first fic ever and I already have a few more chapters written and planned so lmk what you think! All comments, reposts, etc. are very much appreciated <3 stay tuned for more!

[prettyyoungandbored]

See You Again - Charlie Dalton

Pairing: Adult!Charlie Dalton x Fem!Pregnant!Reader

NOT MY GIF

“What do you want for dinner tonight?” Charlie asked, rubbing his wife’s back.

“Everything that is terrible for me,” she replied with a tired sigh, putting one hand on her belly. “Probably a bad idea bringing me into the grocery store.”

“We’re almost done with the list,” he told her. “Besides, we’ll be here for a week. We can always come back if you need other stuff.”

They decided to spend the week at his parent’s vacation home in Vermont. Y/N had been itching to get away from the city but considering she was four months pregnant, Charlie didn’t feel like going too far.

“How about we do some roast chicken thighs tonight?” she suggested. “It’s easy enough.“

“Perfect.” He kissed her cheek.

“Ok, so for that we’ll need some chicken thighs, rosemary-.”

“Charlie?”

Charlie looked away from Y/N, his smile falling. His blood ran cold at the figure standing in front of him.

Mr. Perry.

The last he saw Neil’s father was at Neil’s funeral. That was a little over 10 years ago, yet the man hadn’t aged all that much.

In all the times Charlie’s returned to Vermont since being kicked out of Welton, he managed to avoid seeing the Perry’s. There was the scare when his mother invited them to his and Y/N’s wedding, but they never responded nor showed up.

Y/N’s shifted from Charlie and the old man, wondering if she should stay behind Charlie and protect their baby.

“Mr. Perry,” Charlie spoke up, trying to swallow the lump in the throat.

Y/N’s eyes widened in realization and she wondered if she should step in for Charlie’s sake.

Meanwhile, Charlie saw Mr. Perry’s eyes fall to Y/N’s stomach. Charlie tightened his jaw, fists clenched.

“Congratulations…son,” the old man said with a nod.

Once the old man turned away, Y/N sighed in relief. “Let’s just pay and go, ok?”

Charlie wasn’t going to argue.

==================================

Following by a silent car ride home, Y/N spoke up the moment they walked inside the vacation home.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it, but we’re going to,” she said.

“Honey-.”

“Non-negotiable, Charlie.”

His jaw tightened. “Fine. Alright. He has no right to show his face to me. Not after what he did. And the way he looked at your stomach…like…who am I to be a father, right? Like he…he…”

“Charlie-.”

“Neil should be here, dammit! He should be here and the fact his asshole of father is still walking around after what he did! After what he caused!”

Tears streamed violently down his face. Y/N reached out to him, but he stepped back. He turned around and walked outside, slamming the door.

Y/N exhaled softly, guilty tears filling her eyes. She just wanted to talk with him about it, but she knew she should have known better.

As she sat down on the couch, she pretended to ignore the sound of the car driving off.

==============================

Charlie closed the car door and made his way up the hill, hands buried in his jacket pocket. He walked across the cemetery, glancing at the names until he saw the one he needed to see.

And then he spotted it, his heart dropping to his stomach.

NEIL ROBERT PERRY

NOVEMBER 10, 1943 - DECEMBER 15, 1959.

He’d avoided coming here long enough. He’d sworn after the funeral he wouldn’t go here, already traumatized by the fact his best friend was in a casket.

Hot tears strolled down his face, as he lowered his head.

“I’m sorry I haven’t come out here,” he spoke up. “I would say it’s not for a lack of trying, but…”

He shook his head. “You know, I never forgave myself for not stopping your dad. I thought if maybe I intervened or actually did something, I could’ve…you know. I promised myself that next time I’d see him, I’d give him a piece of mind. Tell him what I should’ve told him at the funeral. Yet the second I see the son of a bitch in the grocery store, I choke.”

He lowered his head, a tear rolling down his cheek and hitting the headstone.

“I’m gonna be a dad, Neil,” he continued. “How can I protect my kid when I couldn’t protect you?”

The silence that fell was a reminder that Neil could not respond. He couldn’t tell Charlie what he needed to hear. He couldn’t tell him that things would be ok.

And he never would.

Charlie wiped his tears and sniffled. “I miss you, Neil.”

===================================

When Charlie returned to the house, he hung his jacket and slid off his shoes. Figuring Y/N was probably asleep, he quietly made his way up the stairs into the master bedroom.

There, he found Y/N lying awake in bed, the soft glow from the television reflecting on her.

She propped herself up when she saw him walk in. “Charlie, I’m sorry I-.”

“No, no don’t apologize,” he said, crawling into bed beside her. “I’m sorry I screamed and ran off like that.”

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s ok. You were shaken up and I-.”

“No, Y/N, it’s not ok. There’s no justification for it.” He grabbed her hand, kissing her open palm. “I’m sorry and I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Y/N went to turn off the TV when Charlie asked, “Can we keep it on a bit longer?”

“Of course.”

She snuggled into him, as he threw an arm around her shoulders.

Not a moment passed by when Y/N broke the silence and returned to the subject. “Where did you go?”

Charlie sighed, wishing to avoid it but knowing he needed to face it one way or another.

“I went to Neil’s grave,” he answered.

She straightened up her posture, mouth hung open slightly. “You actually went?”

“I didn’t really know where else to go. Plus, I figured it was time.”

He wanted to end the conversation there, but she had that look he knew all too well. It was the kind of look that begged him to keep talking about it.

“It was strange,” he continued. “The idea of talking at a headstone, knowing that’s the only way I can talk to him.”

His eyes fell to her stomach. “You know what kills me the most? The way Mr. Perry looked at me after he saw your stomach, like I had the audacity to become a father.”

“He knows you’ll be better than he was and that’s what kills him,” she said.

He glanced back up at her. “You think so?”

“The fact you’re opening up about it means you care enough not to repeat the mistakes you’ve seen others make,” she said. “I know you’ll be a better father than Mr. Perry and your dad ever was.”

His hand met her stomach. She placed a hand over his.

“I promise I’m gonna do my best,” he said.

He used his other hand to take a strand of Y/N’s hair, tucking it behind her ears. “I’m sorry I yelled and walked out on you. You never deserved that.”

“I’m sorry I pushed you to talk about it. I should’ve let you had a moment to process it.”

“You were trying to help.”

“I could’ve gone about it better though.”

“How about we leave it at we’re both sorry and we focus on enjoying each other’s company during the trip?” he suggested gently.

She smiled in agreement. “Works for me.”

[drawingdroid]

Melting Point: Chapter IV

A Sculptor Din Djarin x Art PhD Reader Series

Read Prologue | Series Masterlist

Chapter IV: The Patient/Surface Roughness

Summary: In the last month. you've become an essential piece in Din's life. An unexpected event will make you grow even closer.

Words: 3594

Warnings: Blood! Hospitals and medical terminology, This is a slow burn, you've been warned!; a lot of talking about Art and PhD life; Reader is not Grogu's nanny but this is very Grogucentric if that makes sense; And Reader is Din's employee too; Very grumpy and antisocial Mando; Grogu is human but the only thing described are his eyes; Reader appearance is left blank; Age gap of 10-15 years; Fluff fluff fluff

A/N: It's been a while since I've updated this fic, but the other day in class I felt a sudden need to sink into this story again and handwrote 24 pages of this on my iPad. I hope you enjoy my little AU!

Din and you fell into a comfortable routine. You helped him with the admin parts of his business while he worked on his art. Green Karga dropped by a lot, and you learnt that he babysat Grogu while DIn was working. He was like the kid’s grandfather and it was a delight to see them together

But sometimes the toddler would come to the studio, even though you weren’t sure if that was the safest option. In defense of din, he wouldn't use heavy tools those days and the dangerous stuff was locked away.

The boy normally just wanted to do the same as his dad, so if Din was drawing, he’d sit next to him and scribble on a sheet.

”That’s looking good, pal,” you commented, crouching next to his spot on the floor. Grogu grinned at you and clapped his hands in excitement.

“Good afternoon everyone,” greeted Karga entering the studio with his usual bright smile. The toddler chirped and went straight to the old man’s arms, who was already prepared to lift him. “Today I’m not comin’ for you baby, I’m here for business.”

Din, who had been absorbed by a drawing on his workbench, lifted his gaze as if he had just noticed you had company.

“What brings you here today, Greef?” In the month you knew both of them, you still couldn’t discern if they were friends or hated each other's guts.

With the kid sitting on his hip, the older man hovered over Din’s shoulder.

“What are you working on?” Din rapidly pushed aside and hid the drawing he had been working on.

“Nothing of your business,” he snarled, and Greef let a loud guffaw out.

“I’m your rep, you���re literally my business.” Din rolled his eyes at this but you could pick up his smirk.

“Grogu, do you want to play outside while your dad and grandpa talk?” You asked the boy, noticing that the two men had some serious talk to do. You had been sitting for a while now and needed the stretch, too.

The boy escaped from Karga’s arms and ran towards the back garden.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” You smiled at the men and went after Grogu.

“Thank you,” your boss said, stopping you on your tracks, a softness in his eyes that you thought was only reserved to his son.

“I’ll make sure he has a snack too,” you winked cheekily and ran to the backyard, where you were sure the toddler was already elbow-deep in the pond.

“Is everything okay?” Grogu was chewing a homemade lemon cookie you baked at home. He was sitting on your lap and the crumbs were already covering your chest.

Greef Karga had just left and your boss was looking worried. He was leaning against his workbenches, messing with his scruff, gaze lost.  You noticed that cute spot where his beard didn’t grow. It was kind of endearing.

”Karga just told me the museum needs the pieces sooner than we had accorded,” his voice was serious, tinted in worry.

”How much?”

”A month.” Wow, that was a lot. Din was already working long hours to meet the deadline.

”I’ll speak with the providers so they put you on priority then,” the gears on your mind were already working, thinking about how you could be useful to Din. “I can start packing the pieces that are already completed too…”

”You don’t have to,” he deadpanned, looking stern. You were already at your desk, Grogu on your lap and phone in your hand, ready to negotiate with DIn’s providers.

”I’m here to help you, Din.” You frowned, not understanding his sudden attitude. “You don’t need me any longer?” You won’t recognise, even to yourself, the tight knot that formed in your stomach when you said that.

Grogu looked like he sensed your unease and emitted a quizzical sound.

”No, of course I need you.” Din closed his eyes and swept his hand across his salt and pepper hair. He was looking more tired than ever “This...will probably be more than you signed up for,” he admitted, looking at his son for a moment. 

Your eyebrows rose and Grogu mirrored your expression, looking super cute. 

”DIn I love helping you here, I’m not afraid of a bit of hard work.”

”What if it puts you behind with your other responsibilities?” Was he really worried about your PhD now? The man was just so nice for his own good.

”I’ll speak with Professor Armourer, I don’t think it’ll be a problem if I put some of my duties aside for some time.”

”Let me speak to her first.”

”Okay, thank you.” A tension you had been holding was released. For a moment you thought he was getting rid of you. It surprised yourself how your heart felt like sinking for a moment. You told yourself it was because of the prospect of losing your livelihood, nothing more.

”Din.”

He had already resumed working, so he turned at your call.

”Are you paying me the extra hours?”

To your surprise, he let out a low chuckle and then nodded.

”I’ll send you a new contract,” he stood up and walked towards you, a gentle expression softening his handsome face. “I’ll make sure it acknowledges you as part time babysitter too,” he joked, lifting Grogu from your lap.

You chuckled Bach, removing the cookie crumbs from your breast. 

“I do it gladly, you know,” you assured, giving him your warmest smile.

Din didn’t take long after that to start warming up to you. I’d softly answer your questions about his craft. Your curiosity was endless, and you were afraid he’d grow tired of your inquisitive nature, but it looked like he was a willing teacher.

It was becoming clear to you that you had a crush on your boss, and it only deepened with the passing of the weeks. Din was a silent companion, but his mere presence made you feel at ease. He was warm and caring and falling for him felt natural. He worked so hard to provide for his son and he tried to be the best dad he could.

Your life was in a good spot, you reflected. More hours working for DIn meant more money too, so you were feeling more serene on that aspect. And hanging out with the sculptor and his son was a big plus of the job. On the side, you weren’t neglecting your studies, trying to keep up with the readings and your weekly meeting with Professor Armourer.

There was only one thing you missed in your life, and it was sculpting. You hadn’t had the space or time to sculpt since leaving your hometown. Of course you could ask Din if he ‘d let you borrow a corner of his studio, but you couldn’t get yourself to ask for it. You didn’t expect him either to let you touch his sculptures, but when you signed up for this job, you thought at least you’d have a bit of contact with the craft. Now being so close to it, you carved terribly to put your hands on some metal.

”I’ve already finished my tasks for today, can I help you with something?” You asked today, shyly opening the possibility of helping him.

He was wearing his welding mask and leather apron. Stopping the cutting rod he was using, his visor fixated on you.

”It’s ok, you can go home early today.”

Your shoulders dropped in disappointment.

”Of course, thank you Din,” you said trying to hide your true emotions.

He only nodded in response and resumed working. You picked up your things slowly, putting them inside your tote bag.”

”I’ll see you tomorrow.” You closed the metal door behind you and started walking towards the bus stop. Your thoughts went, inevitably, to your boss and how lonely he looked. Did he hang out with anyone except from Karga? You remembered the woman from the other day, when you picked up Grogu in the middle of the storm. Maybe they were involved in some way. You didn’t have to linger too much on how that thought made you feel. Either way, it seemed like the man didn’t need human company that much. Although around Grogu, he opened up a bit and became more talkative, even though the toddler was still non-verbal.

When you arrived at the bus stop, you reached for the book you had been reading to pass the time, but you noticed it wasn’t there. You left it at Din’s most probably.

Looking at your watch, you calculated that you would still arrive home early if you returned for the book,  and you really wanted to advance your reading on Mandalorian History. You started undoing your path towards Din’s workshop.

”Din! It’s me, I left my book” you announced opening the door. By the, you already had the habit of just slipping inside because Din never heard the door when he was working.

Fumbling through the papers on your desk, you found the book in a short time. 

“I have it” Silence. Din was a quiet man, but he normally responded when you spoke, maybe only out of politeness. And after paying attention, you couldn’t hear any tool or even his radio. “Din?” you asked, starting to wander around the workshop.

It was then when you saw the disc grinder laying on the floor, carelessly tossed away. Din always was reverent towards his tools. You were starting to worry when you saw the blood.

All your alarms set ablaze when you noticed the large drops of blood painting the floor. It wasn’t difficult to follow the trail that led you towards the small bathroom.

“Din, it’s me, are you okay?” A long silence followed and you were starting to get fidgety when you heard his voice, calling your name. Without a doubt you stomped into the bathroom. The scene inside was one you were not prepared for.

Your boss was on the bathroom’s floor pressing a towel to his right arm. The fabric was soaked and his face was contorted in a grimace. You instantly dropped on your knees next to him, trying to remember everything you’d read about first aid. There was a lot of blood pooling around him.

“I’m gonna be late…” His warm chocolate eyes looked at you pleading. You untangled your flannel from your waist and tightened it around the dripping towel. He let you work “I…have to pick up Grogu…”

“Din, we need to take care of this first,” you urged him, trying to not sound panicked, even though your heart was broken seeing how he thought of his son in a moment like this.

“He’s gonna think I’ve forgotten…” he slurred, hissing of pain when you tied the knot to hold the improvised bandage.

“Can you stand?” Surrounding his ample chest with your arm, you tried to support his weight by yourself. “I’ll drive you to the hospital.”

WIth every ounce of strength you had, you stood up dragging your boss with you.

He was heavy as fuck.

“I can drive…” he frowned at you, his gaze looking a bit lost. Your worry only grew.

“Din, are you only hurt in your arm?” you asked, trying to drag him towards the pick-up.

“I think I hit my head…” he looked at his injured arm, slightly panicked. “I…can’t feel my hand.”

You felt alarmed but tried not to show it.

“It’s probably because I tightened the flannel too hard.”

He looked at you, a bit less concerned.

“I’m firing you if I lose my hand”, he threatened, sounding more lucid.

“Are you seriously threatening your saviour right now? Because I could dump you here right now.”

He lowered his head and chucked lowly. You were sure he had a concussion.

“I need to call Omera, Grogu’s at hers.” He said when you finally reached the truck and opened the passengers door to him. You jumped in the driver’s seat once you made sure he was strapped and helped reaching for his phone. It was slippery from the blood. He noticed then your clothes were stained too.

“Uh I’m sorry, I’ll buy you something new.” 

“Make up your mind, are you firing me or buying me clothes?” you joked, trying to distract yourself from how big and vulnerable his eyes were looking. Luckily, Omera picked up the phone.

“Omera! Hi, I’ve had an accident…Yes, it’s ok, but I won’t be able to pick up Grogu…Can he stay playing with Winta for  a bit, do you have more patients for today?...Thank you, I’ll send Pali or Karga…And pay you for the extra time…You’re so kind to us Omera.” He hung up, looking relieved.

For a moment, you thought about his words and how Din had called Grogu “Omera’s patient”. So maybe they weren’t involved after all? It wasn’t the time to think about that, and while smiling for yourself at the prospect of Din being single, you focused on starting up the truck.

Din lifted an eyebrow at your attempts.

“Are you sure you know how to drive?” He asked after the third time you’d failed to start the car.

“Of course! It’s only this ancient junk, it’s not cooperating!”

“Be careful with that mouth, the Razor is older than you.”

“I don't doubt it.” The pick-up finally starterted up and you manoeuvred it out of the workshop and into the road. To be honest, it had been a while since you had driven, but you won’t admit that to Din. “Are you doing ok?”

You looked at him with the corner of your eye while you adjusted the mirrors to your height. His eyes were closed and he looked like he was in pain.

“It’s ok, I’ve had worse,” he rescinded between closed teeth.

“In the army?” You shot your lucky guess. He opened one eye, his face looking serious.

“How did you know?” His tone was raspy, and you hoped you hadn’t trespassed any boundary.

“See you at 1200,” you impersonated how husky his voice was behind the welding mask.

“Smart girl,” he gave you a lopsided smile. Something in his tone gave you goosebumps.

“So is it true?” Your curious nature won’t let you keep your mouth shut. He sighed as if a ton of beskar was on his chest. “You don’t have to answer, I’m sorry.” You were starting to feel awful, your knuckles white gripping the steering wheel.

“I was there. The Night of the Thousand Tears,” he admitted, looking defeated. “That was what you wanted to know, wasn't it?”

You swallowed feeling hot in your cheeks. Were you that obvious?

“I’m glad you survived.” Your voice was small but your gaze didn’t divert from the road. He didn’t respond. His eyes were closed again. “Din.”

“Mmm…” Was he losing consciousness? Your adrenaline hiked up and you pushed the gas pedal.

“Stay with me, boss.” He hummed again in response. You checked the GPS, it wasn’t long until the hospital. “Tell me about Mandalore.”

You could hear your heart hammering in your eardrums waiting for his response.

“I wasn’t born there,” he finally answered, his eyes still closed. “My homewold…was destroyed. When I was a kid.”

You feld a hit of sorrow. How many losses had this man beard in his life?

“So you aren’t a Mandalorian?” You asked, trying to keep him awake,

“Mandalorians rescued me…I was a foundling and they raised me as their own in the covert.”

“Is there where you learnt how to sculpt?” You noticed he was drifting off.

“Yeah…the Armourer…She taught me.” His voice was so weak, but you felt incredibly relieved when he spoke.

So your mentor was Din’s too. How old was the Professor then? You had never seen her face, and her voice didn’t give her age away.

“Thank you for sharing this with me, Din” You felt really moved because of his  harsh past. It really made you want to know more about him. But it wasn’t the moment nor the place.

“We’re here.” You stopped the car at the ER door and rushed to his side. He almost crushed you stepping down from the truck, but you tried to stay strong. The paramedics saw you and were soon helping you inside. “You’re gonna be ok, DIn.”

It didn’t matter to you that the nurse said that you could go home because he was out of risk. When you overheard there wasn’t anyone in his contact list to call, you bought an Americano and got comfortable in the plastic chair.

You were nodding off when the nurse called for you.

“He’s awake. We had to get him through an emergency surgery.”

You felt your stomach drop.

“Was it that bad?”

“His tendon was severed and he had a concussion, but the surgeon will explain it to you in detail.”

You swallowed hard, feeling worried about Din. Will he be able to work again?

“Oh, welcome. I’m Mr. Djarin’s surgeon, are you his partner?”

You almost flinched, your eyes opened wide. It was a millisecond decision.

“Yes.” Your eyes travelled to his sleeping form in the hospital’s bed. It looked like he had a good insurance plan since he was alone in the room.

“I’ll explain it to you then, take a seat.”

The surgeon said a lot of technical words about tendons and arteries. They had to fix his tendons that were cut by the disc grinder. It even reached the bone, luckily only making a dent, but they had to remove the shards from the wound. He had also lost a lot of blood. You were suspecting where this was going.

“Will he be able to sculpt again?” You fidgeted with your fingers and looked at Din, concern in your eyes.

“Not for a while. And once the tendons are healed, he’ll need a lot of physical therapy to restore its normal function.”

You sighed, sulking deeper in the chair.

“He has a deadline close…”

“If the wound doesn’t heal properly he could lose mobility in his hands and fingers.”

You closed your eyes and pinched your nose bridge.

“Thank you, doctor. I’ll keep him out of the studio then.”

“It’s my job. I hope he can work again soon.” The surgeon looked really worried about DIn. “Call the nurse when he wakes up again.” And with that, the doctor left you both alone.

You sighed and looked at Din’s bandaged arm. Were you supposed to tell him the awful news? Observing him, you realise how pretty he looked this relaxed. In your day-to-day, you always saw him with a scowl or his mask on.

“I’m sorry boss, but I’m sure we’ll get over this.” Absentmindedly, you tucked his comforter while admiring his sharp profile.

“Boss? I thought I was your boyfriend now.”

Your stomach twisted when you heard his husky voice.

“Din!” You immediately pressed the button that called the nurse and started panicking. He started to open his eyes slowly. “Did you hear everything,” you asked while twisting your hair.

“Yeah…It was like I couldn’t open my eyes or move, but I felt completely awake.”

He spoke slowly, still under the effects of the anaesthesia.

“I’m so sorry…”

“Don't worry about that. I was careless.”

“What happened DIn?” You sat next to him in the bed, doubting if you were being inadequate although it felt like the right thing.

“I underestimated how well I welded two pieces. When I tried to separate them with the grinder, the disc went flying unruly towards my arms.” His tone sounded ashamed and you felt terrible for him.

“It was an accident.”

“I know, but it was my fault. I’ve been so focused on finishing the pieces for this exhibition I haven’t been taking good care of my tools.”

“I can check the tools for maintenance when we return to the studio.”

He sighed, looking incredibly tired. You noticed that his eyebags were deeper than ever.

“Would you do that for me?”

I’d do anything for you.

Your thoughts scared you. When had you grown so attached to your boss?

“Of course Din, I told you I know my way around machinery.”

He sat up in the bed and swept in left hand over his face.

“You’ve been so helpful around the studio.” His warm gaze was melting you in the spot.

“I’m your employee. It’s my job,” you responded trying to keep a neutral face, but you wouldn’t stop fumbling with your empty coffee cup. He tilted his head, his gaze inspecting you from head to toe.

You’re more than that and you know.

Those were the words you secretly wished to hear from his pouty lips.

“That wasn’t what you told the doctor?”

Your face got hit by a wave of heat and you instinctively covered up with your hands. Was he this cheeky and chatty because of the blood loss or the anaesthesia?

“Relax, I know why you did it.” If you said you weren’t a relative of his or his girlfriend, they would have kicked you out of the room. Ans you didn’t want that. 

Your shoulders slumped in mortification and he chuckled deep in his chest. A passing thought about how you loved that sound made an appearance. You could get used to this version of Din.

“Well, are you getting me a coffee or not?” Your smile widened and you nodded, grateful that Din was ok. You will reflect on your feelings about him later…or maybe not.

Next chapter

[siriuslyshouldislytherin]

Two Halves of a Whole

(Part 1)

Pairing: Sirius Black × Potter!reader

Summary : Y/N Euphemia Potter is the younger child to Euphemia and Fleamont Potter. James introduces Y/N to his gang on the very first day of her school. As years pass , Sirius Black , James' best mate starts falling hard for his best mate's sister. Will she feel the same or will it be a one-sided love story ? Read more to find out.

A/N: PS: I am gonna publish this in 10 or so parts spanning over the 7 years of their Hogwarts education. I will post the link to the next part in this part when I publish it. So do check it out.

Warning : mostly fluff , James being protective , and a little angst between James and Sirius , Remus being a brotherly figure to the reader.

Navigation / Part 1 / Part 2

The Potters'

The name was embedded in red and gold on the wooden plate which was hung on the front door of the house.

Inside , lived two children , James and Y/N with their parents , Fleamont and Euphemia.

Fleamont and Euphemia were proud parents to both their kids. James being the elder one of the two , Y/N being the younger one.

Fleamont and Euphemia were way more protective towards Y/N as she was a premature baby and fragile at birth. She had been in the New-born care unit in St. Mungo's for a total of two months before her mother and father had brought her home. Back then , Euphemia had cried onto Fleamont's shoulder everytime she saw her little one in a little glass box , her body inserted with tubes.

Once , James had seen this and since that very moment , he had made a mental note to himself , always protecting his sister and being her guardian angel.

"Mum ! Dad ! Jamie ! Where are you all ?" She asked around the house.

Upon no response , she entered the living room only to get startled by the sudden burst of confetti on her.

"Happy birthday Niff !" James ruffled her hair and brought her into a bear hug.

"Happiest birthday , Little one !" Her mother and father wished her at the same time.

She freed herself from James and thanked him as she went to her parents to give them their fair share of hugs.

"Thanks mum ! Thanks dad !" She exclaimed.

Fleamont and Euphemia started peppering kisses all over her face as she giggled.

~time skip~

"Niff , you have to walk straight through the barrier and you will find yourself on the platform. Look at me and James , how we do it , then you can follow us with your mother. Alright ?"

"Yes dad. " She looked at her mother who , in turn , gestured her to look at her brother and father.

Y/N walked through the barrier with her mother as she stood on the Platform 9¾ with her trunk in the trolley and her owl Ozwald hooting happily in the cage.

Her head snapped at the voice of the sound of a trunk getting loaded onto the train , when she saw James and Fleamont load James' trunk onto the train.

She picked her trunk and started walking towards the train , trying to not fall flat on her face. Her mother wasn't very happy with Y/N dragging her trunk on her own because apparently , according to Euphemia , 'The Trunk is too big for Y/N. '

"Let us help you , dear. " Fleamont requested her as James scuttled over the the other side , to help her.

"I can - help myself - dad !" She dropped her trunk onto the train and heaved a sigh of relief.

Y/N heard the train horn as other students gradually boarded the train.

"Now come and give your old mum-dad a hug !" James and Y/N ran towards their parents as she said ," you aren't old mum-dad. "

Fleamont and Euphemia both took Y/N to the side as they crouched down to her eye level.

"Mum ! Dad ! Don't cry now. Else I will cry and then Jamie will never let me live through it !"

"My baby is finally going to Hogwarts !" Euphemie wiped away her tears.

Y/N gave both of them a kiss on their cheeks and went off towards the train.

Euphemia and Fleamont turned to James.

"James , take care of your sister. Never leave her alone and most importantly write to us twice a week. "

"Don't you worry , mum and dad. I will always be there for her. " James smiled at them as both of them hugged the boy and he ran towards the train.

"Niff , stick to me. No loitering around. "

"Why ?" She whined.

"Because I say so. "

"But you are going to find your friends and have fun with them. So let me find kids of my age. "

"I am going to include you in all the fun I do. Besides my friends are gonna be just an year elder than you. So do as I say. "

James pulled his trunk down the corridor and entered the 2nd compartment.

Y/N followed him as she saw her brother and 3 other boys hugging each other.

"Come in , Niff ! These are my friends. Remus Lupin , Peter Pettigrew and -"

"Sirius Black. " A boy with jet black hair stretched his hand forward for Y/N to shake but James glared at him , causing him to pull his hand back.

"I am -"

"Y/N Euphemia Potter. " The three boys spoke together.

"You know about me ?"

"Ofcourse. We know everything about you. That - that how - dear -"

"How much of a pain you are - for me to handle !" James said just to tease her.

"Jamie !"

"Oh no ! Absolutely not ! He loves you so much that he can write a bloody Encyclopedia on you." Sirius said.

"Can you really turn a matchstick into a needle ?"

"Oh yes I can. " Remus said to her as her jaw dropped literally on the floor.

"Can you perhaps show me how to do it ?"

"Yeah sure !" Remus pulled out a matchstick out of his pocket as he did a fair bit of wand work and turned it into a needle.

"Jamie !! Did you see it ?"

"Calm Niff. It is about few months that you can do it too. "

She looked at the four of them with a very excited expression , her and Sirius's gaze lingering for a bit longer.

As she wanted to do it on her own , she insisted Remus to teach her.

"No ! It doesnt work for me !" She whined.

"You're doing it a bit more aggressively , Niff !" Remus said.

"What did you say , Lupin ?" James said turning at Remus.

"What ?" Remus deadpanned.

"Only I get to call her Niff !"

"Stop entering your overprotective brother mode , Jamie !"

They quarelled for a few more minutes as Sirius looked at her with a grin on his face. Peter noticed that and said ," Stop smiling Sirius. They're fighting. "

Sirius snapped out of his trance as he looked between both of them and said ,"I wasnt smiling , Peter. "

~time skip~

"James , I think it is about time you should change into school uniform. "

"There still is half an hour. " James said.

"James , mate she is right. Even I have changed. "

James thought about it for a moment before standing up ," if you say so. " He fetched his clothes and headed out of the door.

"This is not going to end well. Think about it again. "

"Remus , don't be a spoilsport. This is just a prank. " Sirius spoke.

The prank they were going to play was a silly little one - as per Sirius and Y/N. Sirius was going to have his arm around Y/N's shoulder and mutter something in her ear as she was supposed to giggle and look at him.

"Sorry mate , got late -" James stood shaken as he saw Sirius and Y/N sitting in such close proximity , his arm flung over Y/N's shoulder as she giggled looking at him.

James took two steps towards Sirius and grabbed him by the collar.

"I-told-you-not-to-go-near-her -"

"Stop it , James ! Leave him and first look at your sister. "

James turned around as soon as he heard Remus only to find Y/N standing between Remus and Petter and hyperventilating due to crying.

"Niff ! Don't cry. I am here and I am not angry on you ! " He stepped towards her as her figure grew smaller , holding onto Remus out of fear.

"James , sit down. Sirius , you too - Y/N sit and have this. " She looked up , at him and accepted the piece of chocolate he gave her.

Y/N looked at Sirius and mouthed him a 'I'm sorry' and he returned it with an assuring nod , mouthing her 'are you okay ?'. She in-turn mouthed him a Yes.

When the train came to a halt on the Hogmeade station , their trunks unloaded , James turned to her and said ," I'm sorry , Niff. I didn't mean to hurt you in any way. But you know how I am when it comes to you. I'm so so so sorry. "

"It's okay , Jamie. Talk to Sirius. Okay ?"

She gave him a smile and followed Hagrid as she was waiting for the Hogwarts doors to open for her , waiting for a whole new world which was filled with fun , excitement and ofcourse - studies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The banners and dividers aren't mine. The credits go to @cafekitsune. Thanks a lot for these banners. They helped me a lot.

Taglist :

@gaminggirlsstuff @turvi @dramaisthelifebloodofgoodstories

[allthingsfangirl101]

A Man of Mistakes – Gator Tillman

Masterlist

Everyone makes mistakes in their life. The biggest mistake I made was trusting Gator Tillman. We have been together since high school. At the beginning of this year, I found out I was pregnant. I don't think I've ever seen Gator more excited.

But that's when he started to change.

He didn't change toward me or the baby. He came home later and later. When he did finally come home, he was angry and jittery. I tried talking to him about it, several times. Each time, he'd brush me off and tell me he was fine.

Things escalated.

I was about six months pregnant when Gator came home drunk.

~•~

I jumped when the door was kicked open. I looked over my shoulder to see Gator struggling to take off his shoes.

"Son of a bitch!" He yelled.

"Gator?" I took off my blanket and slowly stood up. I couldn't help but place my hands over my belly.

"Sorry, baby," he whispered loudly. "Did I wake you?"

"Wake me? Gator, it's 5 o'clock."

"Oh," he chuckled. "My bad. Time got away from me."

"Where were you?"

"Hanging with my dad," he slurred.

Oh no.

"And he took you to a bar," I said instead of asking.

"Duh," Gator scoffed. I jumped when he threw his gun belt over onto the table.

"Gator," I hesitated.

"Don't start with me, Y/N," he snapped. He brushed past me, slightly bumping my shoulder. My heart sank when he went to the fridge and grabbed a beer.

"Are you sure you should. . ."

Gator cut me off by throwing the completely full beer at me. Luckily he was drunk so it hit the wall to my right instead of me. I looked at the broken beer bottle before turning my shocked eyes to my boyfriend.

"Get out."

"Y/N. . ."

"Get out!"

~•~

Gator came back the next day completely sober. He apologized and begged me to take him back. I was firm and clear about what he needed to do if he wanted to be a part of our child's life. He swore that he would do everything.

At first, it seemed like he really meant it. He started coming home right at 5:10. He'd bring home dinner and a gift for the baby. He was with me when I went into labor and he stayed by my side until we brought our daughter, Annabelle, home. Everything was going great. I actually started to believe that we could build a life, a family, together.

I woke up from that fantasy real quick.

It only took one shoot-out at the grocery store that Annabelle and I got in the middle of for me to kick him out for good.

~•~

"Y/N? What the hell are you doing here?"

"We needed more diapers," I said slowly, still shaken from the shoot-out.

Gator looked down at Annabelle in my arms. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw her still asleep.

"Damn," he chuckled. "This little babe can sleep through just about anything."

My anger took over when he reached for her. I used my arm that wasn't holding her and pushed him away.

"I'm done," I said through my teeth. "Stay the hell away from me and my daughter."

"Y/N. . ."

"This wasn't a normal police shoot-out," I cut him off. "You and your crew were wearing masks. What were you doing? Robbing the place?!"

"No," he said slowly.

"Then what. . ." I didn't need to finish my question. "You are just like your father," I said under my breath. "And I will not allow my baby girl to be around someone like him."

~•~

Ever since the store shoot-out, I've ignored Gator's many attempts to see me and our daughter. I also haven't slept. I kept having nightmares about that day. I looked over at the clock and sighed when I saw it was almost two in the morning.

I got out of bed and went to the kitchen. I made some tea to hopefully help me sleep. I had barely started my first cup when I heard sirens. I didn't get nervous until the lights started bouncing off my kitchen. I jumped when the front door was forced open.

"Y/N!" Gator yelled as he ran to me. "I'm so happy you're okay. I can explain. . ."

"Gator! There's a baby in this house!" I yelled, pushing him away from me. "You can't come barging in here with the lights going and the sirens blaring as our two-month-old daughter sleeps!"

"I'm sorry," he stuttered. "I was just. . . I can explain."

"I can't wait to hear this," I scoffed as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Please, explain."

"We need to get you and Annabelle out of here." He started to walk toward her nursery, but I pushed him again.

"That's not an explanation," I said through my teeth. "And I am not taking her anywhere until you tell me what's going on."

"Okay," he sighed. "Look, a while ago I arrested a guy connected to a pretty big drug smuggling ring. And now. . ."

"Now what?"

"They threatened you and Annabelle."

"Wait, what?" I asked, taking a step away from him.

"They left me a message that if I don't release their boss, they'll come after my family."

"So, what are you saying?" I asked my voice low.

"I need to put you in protective custody," he said. I opened my mouth to say something, but he cut me off. "I'm sorry, but I have to make sure you're safe. They threatened you, Y/N. They threatened our daughter. I know you and I are working through some things right now, but that doesn't mean I am going to sit back and let them take you from me."

"Gator," I sighed. "Why would you get involved with those kind of guys?"

"My dad. . ."

"Would you stop with that?!" I snapped. "Gator, you are not your father!"

"I want to be!"

"You shouldn't," I said, strangely calm. Gator's face fell as I took a small step closer to him. "You have the ability of being better than your father. He did his job horribly. You know that. You know how many people got hurt, how many criminals he let slide. When I told you I was pregnant, do you remember the promise you made me?"

"I promised to make the town safe for our daughter," he answered, his voice soft.

"So let me ask you something," I said, softening my own voice. "Do you think you've done that?"

Gator opened and closed his mouth. I could see the tears threatening to spill.

"I haven't," he admitted. He quickly added, "I can start though. If you and Annabelle come with me, I can keep you guys safe. And once the threat is gone. . ."

"There will be another one," I sighed. "You can't fix these types of things, Gator. Once you get started down that road, it's nearly impossible to go back. I can't keep my daughter close to trouble."

I started to walk away, but Gator grabbed my hand. "What are you saying?" He stuttered.

"I'm saying that my top priority is keeping my baby safe," I said, my voice breaking, "even if that means taking her away from here."

"Away from me," he said slowly.

"It's not like it's an easy decision," I scoffed. "You have to understand why I would make it, Gator."

"I do," he stuttered. "But that doesn't mean. . ."

"I've been having nightmares."

"You what?" Gator gasped, stepping toward me. "What are your nightmares about, baby?"

"That day," I said, my voice breaking. "At the grocery store. It's one of two dreams. Either I get shot or. . ."

"Or?" Gator gently pushed as he cupped my cheek.

"Or Annabelle."

"Shit," he mumbled. He took another step closer to me and gently grabbed my arms. "I'm so sorry, baby. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," I said softly. "I just. . . I don't want to have them anymore."

Gator pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around me. He leaned down and kissed the top of my head.

"You know," he whispered, "sleeping next to someone who would take a bullet for you helps get rid of nightmares."

"That's kind of hard when the person next to you is mixed up in what's causing your nightmares," I said softly as I pulled out of his embrace.

"What if I wasn't in a job that gave you nightmares?"

"What?" I stuttered. "Gator. . . You can't. . . Are you. . ."

"Sir?"

Gator sighed when we were interrupted. "What?" He snapped at the officer.

"We should really get your family out of here," the guy said slowly. Gator turned toward me with pleading eyes.

"Please," he whispered. "We will have this conversation, I promise, but can we do it at a safe house?"

"I'll go pack a bag for me," I said softly. "Will you pack some things for Annabelle?"

"Of course," he said letting out a sigh of relief.

He leaned in and quickly kissed me before jogging to the nursery. I messed with my hands as I went to my room. My mind was swarming with questions and what-ifs as I packed a bag. When I was done, I put it on the kitchen table and went to check on Gator.

I froze in the doorway when I saw him in the rocking chair, holding our daughter. My heart jumped into my throat as he softly sang her favorite lullaby.

"I see you haven't started packing her bag," I said my voice almost a whisper. Gator looked up at me and smiled.

"She woke up," he smiled. I walked over, leaned down, grabbed his face, and pressed my lips to his. I had tears streaming down my face as our lips moved in sync. I broke the kiss and pressed my forehead against his.

"I've missed you."

"Really?" He asked as I leaned back. "I've missed you too, baby. And our little girl. I promise I will do whatever it takes to protect both of you. Even if that means leaving my job and this town."

"This is everything you've ever worked for, Gator. You'd really walk away?"

"For you and Annabelle?" He whispered. He stood up, still holding our daughter, and pulled me into his side. "I'd do anything to protect my family."

[cozywriter]

After two coffees and several breakdowns, I finally have my BVZ OC!

And because I don’t want to torture you guys with my horrid handwriting, all her info is typed here!

FULL NAME: “Yume Fujiwara”

PREFERRED NAME: “Yume”

NICKNAMES: “Yu” and “Mei Mei”

TITLES AND ALIASES: “The Book Keeper” and “Ms. Dazai”

PRONOUNS: She/Her

CHRONOLOGICAL AGE: 10 Years Old

MENTAL AGE: 24 Years Old

GENDER: Female

SEXUALITY: Asexual

RACE: Poppet

Poppets are mechanical dolls that are designed and manufactured by Puppeteers — people who are licensed to design and create Poppets — who are commissioned by clients to create them for any purpose. Because of this, Poppets can pretty much look, act and sound like anything. However, a dead giveaway are their ball-joints located behind their elbows, wrists, fingers, where their pelvis meets their thighs, behind their knees, ankles and toes. As creations, a Poppet’s personality depends on their programming, however in extremely rare cases, Poppets have been known to break from their pre-programmed self and become sentient. In simpler terms, although extremely unlikely, it is possible for a Poppet to become their own person despite their former programming

ORIGIN: Victoria

BIRTHDAY: Unknown

OCCUPATION: Informant/Bounty Hunter

HEIGHT: 5’1”

WEIGHT: 153 lbs

PERSONALITY: Adventurous, Loyal, Optimistic, Kind, Empathetic, Stubborn at times, Childish, Forgetful and Clumsy

POWERS: Yume has the ability to eject solid steel strings from her fingertips, which she then uses like whips during combat, tools in traversing harsh terrain and sometimes uses them to pick locks when necessary. When she’s especially irritated, she uses her strings to control her opponent by wrapping them around their wrists, knees and feet and make them off themselves. However at the same time, she also uses them to assist in her everyday life, such as using them to grab objects from across the room. All in all, her ability is very versatile, but their maximum length is only 20 feet long.

BACKSTORY: Commissioned by the Mafia, Yume was designed to be one of the first Poppets the organization would utilize to dispatch their targets or anyone who dared cross one of their own. However, after a failed assassination attempt on a high ranking Government Member of Empirica, the Mafia had left her for dead and resorted to using a protocol that forcibly shut her systems down, resulting in her memory banks being wiped. Two months later, she wakes up in a junkyard of some kind due to a lightning strike kickstarting her once more. With no clue who or what she was, she wandered and wandered until she found Sensei’s Temple, in which she trained and studied under him. She continued living her life never knowing of her past and eventually breaks from her programming and developed as her own person with Sensei’s guidance. Later on, she even comes to think of him as a father of some sorts and develops his taste in literature. Fast forward to five years later and she now owns a quaint bookstore, aptly named “Doll House” and makes a living by selling books, information on anyone people pay her to tail and a few bounties here and there.

EXTRAS:

She often forgets the keys to her bookstore at home, so she resorts to lock picking most of the time

the official time line of events is supposed to go something like this: Mafia (2 Years) -> Training with Sensei (5 Years) -> Opens her bookstore -> (1 Year) -> Starts her Bounty Hunting Career (Onwards)

before she broke from her programming, she was aloof, insensitive and lacked empathy. However, after an incident involving a lone, stray pup and one lengthy talk about responsibility from Sensei, she cried for the first time, mumbling about how it was just missing its mama and wanting a home. So with great hesitancy, Sensei let her keep the pup… Until it ran away the next day and Yume was inconsolable for about a week.

since coming to Sensei’s Temple, he had given her a new name based off of a character in one of his novels. “Yume” meaning “Dream” and “Fujiwara” meaning “Wisteria Field”. Her true name from her time in the Mafia remains unknown.

She dislikes modding her own body despite knowing how to

She does best in melee combat even without her strings.

She has a soft spot for children and baby animals, to the point she almost cries in happiness at anything they do.

She likes anything sweet but dislikes anything sour

on the same note, she prefers cold drinks over hot ones, but dislikes cold meals and prefers when they’re piping hot.

She doesn’t know that Sensei had died

She dislikes the zombie outbreak since they drive away her usual customers, but it has given her the time and opportunity to continue reading her own books, so she’s thankful for it to an extent.

[livingalifeonfire]

Cherry Kisses

I had always known I was in love with my best friend Stiles since we were in grade 2. The day we met, he sat next to me at lunch, and we bonded over the fact we had both brought cherries in our lunches from home. After that, we had been inseparable. Wherever he went, I went with him and vice versa. We had the exact same schedule and always made sure to keep in touch. Scott would watch as I fell harder and harder for the boy with honey brown eyes, full lips and moles scattered across the left side of his perfect jaw. Those feelings would finally come to the surface on his 18th birthday. A few months ago, Stiles would meet and start dating the new girl at Beacon Hills High, Malia Tate. Malia was a nice girl, and I didn't have any problems with her personally. I just knew that she didn't know and love stiles like I did.

Every day I would see her run to him in the halls between classes and his arms wrap around her waist to pull her closer. My head would lean against my locker as I would watch them. On one of these occasions, Scott ran up to my locker and tried to get my attention. " Y/N, earth to Y/N, come in! It's like your head is in the clouds lately. What has gotten into," he trails off as he follows my line of sight to his best friend and his girlfriend making out in front of his locker. He sighs as he realizes exactly where my head has been. " Ok, Y/N you have had the biggest crush on one Stiles Stilinski since we were 7 years old. Why won't you just go and tell him already? You're going to have to at some point. His birthday is only a couple weeks away and his acceptance letters for UC Berkeley are due in any day now." Scott remarks as he lays a hand on my shoulder. I lift my head and shut my locker. " I know Scott, I just don't want to confuse him with all the crazy already in his life right now. Malia has only been living full time as human for a few months and he really seems to like her. It would destroy our friendship if I said anything" I lament as I turn to head to Econ. However, that statement would set in motion a plan in the Alpha's head to get the two pack members and also his two best friends together.

The final bell signaling the end of the day sounded and Scott made a beeline for his brother's locker to put his plan into action. Stiles was unloading his books and replacing with his lacrosse gear as his best buddy slams his locker shut. " Yō, I'm happy to see you too man but why do you got to take it out on my locker?" he laughs as he zips his backpack shut. " Stiles I have to ask you something and you need to be 100 percent honest with me. Do you have any feelings whatsoever towards Y/N?" The words come tumbling out of Scott's mouth and smack stiles right in the brain. He had never had to confront his own feelings towards his best friend of over 10 years. He hadn't even thought about how he could smell her cherry lip gloss every time their faces got close to each other or how soft her hair was as he ran his fingers through it when they hung out. He never stopped to realize that maybe just maybe he's in love with her as much as she was with him. Then the feeling hits him over the head like a solid metal baseball bat. He was in love with his best friend, and he had to tell her.

"Scott, I think that you just made me realize something. One, the best way to make me realize things is to phrase it in the form of a question. The other thing is that I'm in love with Y/N" he finally says, seeing Scott's eyes light up at his brother's revelation. " Then dude, you need to pull your head out of your butt and go tell her for god's sakes. You might want to explain everything to Malia first though" .

Third Person POV

A couple weeks go by before Stiles goes to find Malia and explain what is in his heart and on his mind. It was on his 18th birthday that he finally admitted he was in love with someone else. She understands that there is history between you and him and that he would be crazy to not try to make things happen. After his and Malia's talk, he makes a beeline for the jeep and heads straight to your house, making a quick pitstop for something important.

Y/N POV

I hear a knock at the door and pad down to answer it, already changed from my school clothes to a set of grey sweatpants and a Beatles t-shirt Stiles had left at my house. On the other side of the door stood my best friend, holding a bag of cherries. It was a sight to behold for sure. I cock my head and look at the boy I love. " Stiles, you know I am always happy to see your face but why are you standing on my front porch holding a bag of cherries?" I ask, the subtle note of confusion in my voice evident. " Well Y/N, do you remember the day we met? That day in the cafeteria, we bonded over the fact both of our moms' packed cherries in our lunches and we shared them that morning. Ever since that day, cherry has reminded me of you. You started wearing cherry lip gloss when we started high school, and I wanted to taste it on your lips. Y/N, I know you're scared to say you love me and I never thought about how I felt about you. Then Malia came along and I..." He trails off as I smile at his adorable rambling and kiss him, my hands in his hair and his gripping my waist pulling me into him. His eyes close and a smile spread across his face. " Well, happy 18th birthday to me. The only thing that could make this better would be for you to say yes to being my girlfriend?" He says, hands still holding me close. " Yes, I will be your girlfriend, Stiles Stilinski. Happy birthday my love" I whisper as he picks me up and carries me in the house. Cherry flavored kisses followed, because of my lip gloss and maybe something else.

[spine-buster]

So High School ft. Adam Cole | Chapter 7

A/N: Back from a little hiatus! Won't be posting every week as work has started up again and chapters need to be written, but this is something I'm determined to finish! Hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think :)

It had been almost a month since Violet saw Austin.  She’d had an amazing break – a Christmas where she got Starbucks gift cards, a new tennis racquet, a digital camera from her aunt in Toronto, and a white MacBook from her parents to replace her clunky desktop in her room; a New Year’s skiing in Whistler her family; and a flight back to Philadelphia with an email from St. Anne’s to her parents that she had aced all her midterms.  Despite all her good fortune, she couldn’t help but be constantly reminded of the last thing that happened between them before she ran off into her house.

The kiss.

Was it a mistake?  She wasn’t entirely sure.  Most of the time, she didn’t think it was.  It was what she wanted to do in that moment.  Plus, he had kissed her back.  He hadn’t pulled away before her.  That must have meant it was what he wanted in that moment too, right?  It occupied her mind more than she wanted to admit, and not exactly at the most opportune times, either: during her AP Government midterm when she was trying to remember the specifics of the Bill of Rights; during her AP French midterm when trying to compose a paragraph about the novella they’d read in class; at dinner with her parents at a restaurant in Whistler after a day of skiing. 

It wasn’t like they’d gone radio silent, though.  They had texted.  Violet started it.

[12/25/2006] 10:52am merry christmas 2 u and ur family austin! <3

 [12/25/2006] 10:55am

merry christmas 2 u too. hope ur midterms were good

[12/28/2006] 7:24am off 2 whistler 4 me & the fam!

[12/28/2006] 8:01am

have a safe flight

when r u back?

[12/28/2006] 8:05am jan 5

[1/1/2007] 12:05am dunno if u will get this but happy new year! i’m so happy we became friends this year :-)

[1/1/2007] 12:05am

happy new year, vi

dunno if u will get this cuz ur in canada

hope we can spend more time 2gether this year

[1/3/2007] 4:17pm

miss u vi

can’t wait 2 c u when ur back

[1/5/2006] 8:50pm just landed in philly! such a long travel day just got ur texts from the week i missed u 2 i’ll c u monday on the bus right?

[1/5/2007] 8:55pm

welcome back!

i just got ur text too

of course u will

can’t wait

***

Violet was basically vibrating in her seat for how excited she was to see Austin on the bus the first Monday morning back at school.  She didn’t even care to get back to St. Anne’s, and that was shocking for her to say, because she genuinely liked school – she only wanted to see him.  She wondered if he was as excited to see her as she was to see him.

When he finally climbed on the bus, a smile automatically spread across her face, large and wide and excited.  When he got sight of her, an identical smile spread across his face.  He rushed over to her, and without knowing what her body was going to do next, she got up from her seat.  They hugged each other forcefully, like people who hadn’t seen each other in months or years.  “I missed you,” were the first words out of Austin’s mouth.

“I missed you too,” she repeated, pulling away from the hug so they could settle into their usual seats.  She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.  God, he even smelled good.  She could smell his cologne even through his coat and layers of clothing.  “You have to tell me all about your break.  How was it?”

“My break?  My break was boring.  I stayed home and played video games all day.  What about your break?  I want to hear all about it.”

Violet couldn’t hold back as she spent the entire bus ride into Lancaster telling Austin all about her break.  The flight to Toronto then Vancouver, then the car to Whistler; skiing down Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains day after day; staying at the cutest ski chalet; having dinner at restaurants in the village.  Austin ate up every word, barely even blinking as she spoke on and on.  He missed the sound of her voice.  He missed how glossy her brown hair was.  He missed seeing her red nails.  He missed everything about her and he was so fucking happy to have her back in Manheim. 

Violet kept yapping even as they got off the bus and walked towards Lancaster West.  She was telling him some story about almost crashing into some woman while skiing before she stopped dead in her tracks.  “Oh my god, I almost forgot!  I got you something!” she exclaimed.

“You what?” Austin asked, watching her as she swung her backpack around.

“My mom and I went into this consignment store while we were shopping one day in Whistler, and I saw something that reminded me completely of you—”

“—Vi, what are you even—”

“—And so I just had to buy it!  Look!” she exclaimed.

Austin watched as she dug through the small pocket of her backpack, only to pull out action figures, still in their packaging.  Except it wasn’t just any old action figures, and it wasn’t just regular packaging – the action figures were of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, two of his favourite wrestlers, and the packaging made it known that they were exclusive Wrestlemania X-7 editions.  His favourite wrestlers for his favourite match – the one that really made him want to be a wrestler in the first place.  “You didn’t,” he deadpanned, thoroughly shocked.

“I don’t know if I can even call them vintage because they’re only, like, four years old,” she said.  “But, well—do you even like Stone Cold and The Rock?”

He couldn’t believe the coincidence.  The happenstance.  What were the chances?  “They’re my favourite.  They—Vi—this match at this Wrestlemania is the reason why I even want to become a wrestler.”

Violet’s eyes lit up.  “No way!”

“I can’t believe you found something like this!”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Austin hugged her.  Just wrapped his arms around her quickly, and tightly, and hugged her like she’d just brought him the Holy Grail or something.  Physical contact between the two of them in front of Lancaster West.  “You’re the best, you know that?” he asked.

“I’m really not.  It’s just something that made me think of you.  And like, I know how much wrestling means to you.”

Austin didn’t want to pull away from the hug.  He didn’t even want to go to school anymore.  All he wanted to do was ditch and spend the whole day with Violet.  They’d talk all day.  He’d talk to her more about pro wrestling and how he envisioned his future.  He’d tell her his entire plan.  Maybe he’d get to kiss her again.  “Thank you.  Thank you so much, Violet,” he settled on saying instead. 

“You’re welcome,” she smiled.  She didn’t pull away.

___

“And next on the announcement docket, Lancaster West will be hosting the regional basketball quarterfinals this Friday after classes as their team faces off against the visitors, Murray High School from Elizabethtown.  Students from Lancaster West will be in the cafeteria all this week selling tickets for $10.”

___

“Austin’s friends will be there too, right?” Harper asked.

“We don’t want to be your guys’ third and fourth wheel,” Abigail winked playfully.

“Shut up,” Violet smirked at them.  “Yes, his friends will be with us.  I think it’ll be really fun.  What about our ride after?”

“My cousin says she has no problem driving you back to Manheim if it’s dark cause we decide to do something after.  Your parents are allowing you to stay out, right?”

“Curfew’s at midnight.”

___

Violet applied her mascara in one of the girls’ washrooms at St. Anne’s with butterflies in her stomach.  Her, Harper, Abigail, and Abigail’s older cousin Serena were getting ready together before walking over to Lancaster West for the basketball game.  Austin was going to meet them with his friends before they watched the game.  “Does it look good?” she asked, looking at Harper for validation.

Harper stopped applying her lip gloss momentarily.  “Looks great, Violet.  Makes your eyes pop.”

In grade 9, Harper was the first person to compliment Violet on her heterochromia and how it looked so cool, making her much less self-conscious about it.  Since then, she hadn’t worried as much whether people got weirded out by it, and wasn’t as scared to apply makeup that highlighted her eyes.  “Thanks.  Can I borrow your lip gloss?”

“Trying to look good for Austin?”

“No,” Violet deadpanned, but couldn’t help the smirk that overtook her face.  She’d already told Abigail and Harper this past week about the kiss before Christmas Break.  They sounded like guinea pigs as they squealed about it, and were totally excited about something, anything happening with Austin since Violet spoke so highly of him.  It was a night and day difference compared to what she had to go through before midterms.  Thank God she had Abigail and Harper on her side during all of it.  “But…is my outfit okay?”

Jeans and a Hollister top – was there anything else teens were wearing?  “You look good, don’t worry.”

As Violet took out her digital camera and took a candid photo of everyone in the mirror getting ready, she felt her phone buzz from inside her Coach wristlet in-between her legs.  Once she took it out, she saw the text from Austin.  R u guys on ur way? gym is already filling up.  “Let’s finish up and then let’s go!  We’re going to be late!” she announced to everyone. 

Only a few minutes later, they had their coats on and were out the door, hurrying towards Lancaster West.  There were teachers taking their tickets once they got into the front entrance, and Violet could see Austin waiting with his friends in the foyer.  When he saw her, he smiled, and a shiver ran down her spine.  The first thing they did when they got close was hug.  They were the only two that knew each other, but it was becoming more of an automatic reflex now than an action that required any thought.  After Austin made quick introductions to his friends Trevor, Jack, and Connor, they made their way to the makeshift concession stands for some popcorn. 

“You look really nice by the way,” Austin said to her quietly as they stood in line with so many other students.  Abigail, Harper, and Serena were already in conversation with Trevor, Jack, and Connor since Serena was wearing a Fall Out Boy tee, so Austin felt it was a good opportunity to say it now.

“Thanks,” Violet couldn’t help but blush.  “You think it’ll be packed in there?”

“Oh God yeah.  Basically our whole school is here.”

A small part of her wondered if they’d see Beth.  She knew a lot of girls were at the game too, because St. Anne’s girls went to school events for any school where there were boys.  She almost wanted to ask, but she didn’t want to know the answer.  She stayed silent as Austin ordered popcorns for everyone, but she swept in and paid for them before he could reach for his wallet since he bought the St. Anne’s girls their tickets.  She made sure to take out her digital camera to take pictures and document the night – everybody hammed it up for the camera, which was amazing and made for some great photos.  When they made their way into the gym, Violet was shocked by how packed it was, and how loud it was.  They climbed the bleacher stairs and almost reached the top until Connor saw some of their other friends and made everybody scoot their way in.  There were so many people already that everything was tight.  And, well, Austin wanted to make sure Violet didn’t slip or trip or fall, so he placed his hands on her hips as they wiggled their way through, leading the way.  When he saw her trying to hide her smile, he knew he’d done the right thing.  Violet gave her camera to someone who took a few great group shots of them, and when she looked at them on her camera’s screen, all she could look at was Austin’s smile and his arm around her waist.

There was so much energy in the room when the basketball teams came out, but there was more energy between Austin and Violet that either thought possible.  They were loud and screaming during the first and second quarter, with every basket garnering cheers from the crowd.  But then Violet would brush up against him.  Or their hands would touch as they raised in the air after a three-pointer.  Or she’d lose her balance on the bleachers and he’d have to put his hands on her waist to keep her steady.  A smile would appear on her face, and then a smile would appear on his face, and it was like everything was meant to be; like they weren’t supposed to be anywhere else besides Lancaster West High on a Friday night cheering on a basketball team in the regional quarter finals.

During the half-time, the gym was still buzzing but everybody was moving around, rushing to the bathroom or going to get more popcorn.  Austin could see a lot of his teachers around, and some even brought their spouses or kids.  Harper and Jack had escaped to “go get some more popcorn”.  Abigail and Serena had seen some other girls from St. Anne’s and went to talk to them, and Trevor and Connor followed them like puppies.  Violet was talking to him about what they could do after the game.

And then Austin saw her.  Beth.

She was staring directly at him and it almost instantly made him feel unsettled.  But then he realized she wasn’t actually staring at him, more so that she was staring at Violet, which only made him more unsettled.

“—Anyway, all I know is we can’t go to Livvy Eaton’s party.”

“Why not?” he asked, focusing his attention back on her.

“I know Beth will be there,” Violet revealed.  “I really don’t want to see her.  I know she’s here tonight and I’m happy I haven’t caught her yet.”

“Don’t worry about her,” Austin said.  “She’s just jealous of you.”

“I’ve managed to avoid her at school all week,” she said.  “Has she—has she still been texting you?”

“I don’t know.  Jack showed me how to block her number.  But even if he hadn’t I’d just be ignoring her.”

“You mean you don’t want the ego boost of a constant barrage of texts to hook up with you?” Violet joked.

“No,” his tone was serious but he said it with a small smile, “I have everything I want right here.”

Violet stopped.  Her smile left her face once she heard the words, but upon her actual understanding of what he was saying, she smiled again.

He didn’t ask.  Maybe he should have but he didn’t.  But as they sat on the bleachers waiting for the second half of the game to start, he kissed her.  It was quick, just like last time, but it was the same as the kiss before Christmas: the other responded, which meant the other wanted it too.  Now they each had one kiss to their name.  When he pulled away, Violet was already smiling.  “Was that okay?” he asked.

Violet had been rendered speechless.  All she could do was nod.

With little warning, Abigail and Serena came back.  Harper and Jack came back and Harper asked to borrow Violet’s lip gloss.  The timer expired and both teams made their way back onto the court, with the crowd going wild when the Lancaster West boys came out.  The gym was just as loud as it was in the first half after every basket made.  Violet would still brush up against him.  Their hands would still touch as they raised them in the air after a three-pointer.  The giant crowd would stomp their feet to intimidate the Elizabethtown players during free throws and it was so forceful it would shake the bleachers.  Violet would get nervous and lose her balance but Austin was always there with his hands on her hips to steady her.  He’d leave them there a couple seconds too long.  Eventually, they stayed there.  A giant smile was on Violet’s face the entire time, and a giant smile was on his face the entire time, and when it was all said and done, Lancaster West High beat Elizabethtown Central 78-70.

***

The group didn’t end up going to any St. Anne’s party – Connor was able to wiggle his (and their) way in to the party with the basketball team, at the point guard’s house in Lititz.  It was a bit crazy considering the big win, but everybody was having fun and getting along.  Josephine Kominsky made it to the party, along with some other girls Violet got along with (who wouldn’t want to be partying with the winning team?), and Beth wasn’t in sight, so she was happy.  She appointed herself to be the official photographer and got so many good shots of everyone.  But the best ones she got were of her and Austin, who only left her side to get her drinks.  They were much more touchy-feely than before, than even the game.  Harper and Abigail got along great with Austin, which made Violet even happier.  They talked and joked for so much of the party, despite her and Austin not being able to stop being close and touching one another. 

Inevitably, part of the conversation shifted to college talk.  Now that they’d gotten their midterms, their guidance counselors had been setting up appointments all week to speak about colleges and programs in preparation for next year.  Violet explained how her guidance counselor called her in to confirm her UPenn, Georgetown, or Boston University for speech language therapy. 

“Does Lancaster West do that, too?” Abigail asked innocently.

Austin and Connor both chuckled.  “I don’t think I’ve seen my guidance counselor since the first few weeks of freshman year,” Austin revealed.

“And the only reason I see mine is because he’s also the baseball coach,” Connor added.  “He can brag that he’s trying to get me  a scholarship to Temple for it.”

“Ours have, like, lists of colleges, programs, residences, scholarships – oh my God, and we can’t forget alumni – everything in these binders and on their computers,” Abigail went on.

“So what would yours say?” Connor asked.

“Bryn Mawr for pre-med.”

“That’s it?”

“I’m a legacy there, so yeah,” she chuckled.  Life was so easy when you were a legacy.  “What would yours say?”

“Temple or Penn State.  Baseball scholarship.  Economics.  You?” he nodded towards Harper.

“UPenn, NYU, or Brown for pre-law,” Harper revealed.  “You?” she nodded towards Austin.

Violet held her breath slightly.  She knew he didn’t want a lot of people knowing about the pro-wrestling ambitions.  It was a very personal thing for him.  That’s why she was shocked as ever when all he responded with was, “Pro wrestling.”

She watched as Abigail and Harper furrowed their brows in confusion.  “You mean like Olympic wrestling?” Abigail asked.

Leave it to Abigail to have the exact same reaction that Violet did in Francesco’s when Austin first told her.  Violet couldn’t hold in her smile, especially after the quick eye contact Austin made with her.  St. Anne’s girls were so alike.  “No, not Olympic wrestling,” Austin clarified.  “Pro wrestling.  Like the kind on TV.”

He was displaying confidence on the outside, but on the inside, Austin was scared as hell.  He’d just revealed one of his biggest secrets – one that was very, very much out of the ordinary for so many of his friends who were thinking about college, let alone private school girls whose only option it was to go to college.  Not to mention that Harper and Abigail were Violet’s best friends.  He wanted to impress them, he really did, because he knew how girls worked.  If they didn’t like him or thought he was a dud, they’d let Violet know about it. 

When it clicked for the girls what he meant, both their jaws dropped.  “No.  Fucking.  Way,” Harper deadpanned.

“That is sooooo awesome!” Abigail followed up.

Austin let out the breath he was holding.  So did Violet.  She knew the girls would be like her, and have a similar reaction as when she was told, but it was still a big moment.  “You’re gonna be on TV?!” Harper asked.

“That’s the dream,” Austin smiled.  “There’s a lot of training involved first, but—”

“That is honestly the coolest thing I’ve ever heard,” Abigail interrupted innocently, looking to Violet.  “Seriously!  How many people can say they know a famous pro wrestler?  How many people can say they know someone on TV?!”

Harper went on and on about how much her younger brothers loved wrestling.  Abigail asked Austin all about the wrestling team at Lancaster West and if that was good training for what he would have to do on TV one day.  They were so incredibly genuine, Violet wanted to cry.  Instead, she smiled the entire time – smiled as Austin nodded along to all the pro wrestlers Harper could name thanks to her brothers, smiled as Austin answered all of Abigail’s questions, smiled as she could see the twinkle in his eye as he knew he was winning them over by just being himself.

***

Since Lititz was only a ten minute drive to Manheim, the group stayed extra late before Violet, Austin, Connor, and Serena piled into Serena’s car to get home for curfew.  Serena dropped Connor off first, then asked Austin where he lived. 

“Serena, can you actually go to The Berries first?” Violet asked.

“I thought you lived in The Berries,” Serena furrowed her brows from the driver’s seat.

“I do.  Can you just drop us both off at the corner?”

Violet could see Serena smirk.  “As long as you promise me you won’t get your tongues frozen on a pole.  I don’t want a lawsuit.”

Serena did as she was told.  Austin didn’t really know why Violet had requested it, but he had a hunch.  “I never thought I’d be able to get three St. Anne’s girls excited about pro-wrestling,” he joked as he watched Violet watch Serena drive down the street.

When Serena’s car was out of sight, Violet turned towards Austin.  She had a look in her eyes he could see right away.  It took maybe half a second for her to get close to him.  No words were said, because both knew what was going to happen.  Each had one kiss, so now both had to get another.  They were standing under a streetlight.

When they kissed each other, Austin knew he hadn’t felt anything like this before.  He’d kissed other girls, sure, but none of them could hold a candle to what he was currently feeling kissing Violet in the middle of winter under a streetlight in Manheim.  Violet, too, hadn’t felt anything like this before.  She’d kissed other boys, sure, but none of them could even compare to what she was currently feeling as she kissed Austin at the corner of her street under a streetlight in their small town.  A part of her thought she was in a movie; that this wasn’t her life and that maybe it was somebody else’s.  But when he kept kissing her, and she kept kissing him, she realized that yes, this was her life.  It wasn’t just a single kiss anymore, given before midterms or during the intermission of a high school basketball game.  There were many kisses now, big and small and everything in between, kiss after kiss after kiss as she felt Austin’s hands on her waist through her coat, pulling her closer to him. 

Neither of them knew how long they’d been kissing for, but when they finally pulled away, it was only so they could catch their breath.  Violet looked into Austin’s blue eyes, their breath visible in the crisp night air.  “That was okay, right?” she asked.

“God yeah,” he responded.  “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

She couldn’t help but smile at his admission.  “Don’t say a word.”

“Don’t worry.  I won’t.”

“Our secret?”

“Our secret.”

Austin was about to go in for another kiss when an alarm started going off on Violet’s BlackBerry Pearl.  Her eyes widened.  “Oh my God.  I gotta go.  That’s my two minute warning.”

“Violet—”

“—I’ve gotta go—”

“Vi—”

She had wiggled out from his grasp.  He was desperate for one more kiss, but she was already down the street.  “Safe run home!” she called back to him without stopping.

He stood under the streetlight, dumbstruck.

***

Austin was already in his hospital gown and gurney, trying not to pay attention to the work around him that the nurses and others were doing to prep the surgery.  Violet was still beside him, holding his hands.  “It’ll just be a few more moments, Mr. Jenkins,” one of them said. 

 “Take all the time you need,” he said.  He was scheduled for a 9:00am surgery and it was still only 8:45. 

He could feel Violet squeeze his hand.  “Don’t be nervous,” she whispered.  “It’s going to be fine and—”

Before she could finish her sentence, the door to the room opened and Dr. Bridges walked through.  “It’s time, Austin.”

Austin looked over to Violet.  “I’m gonna  be in the waiting room,” she whispered.

“I love you.”

She leaned down to kiss him.  “No matter how much I say I love you, I always love you more than that,” she said before standing up, making eye contact with Dr. Bridgers.   “Take good care of him.”

“Oh, I will.”

“You don’t want to have to answer to her.  Trust me,” Austin quipped as he was pushed out of the room.  “She’ll get ya.”

Violet made her way to a seat in the waiting room, one close to an outlet.  She opened her messages app and began composing a message about him being in surgery to the most important people:  his parents.  His brother.  Her parents.  Kyle.  Chris.  Kenny and Hazel.  The Massies.  Harper.  Abigail.

And now, she waited.

[petitelepus]

A Loner's Unexpected Journey, Part 13

Kimetsu Academy!Genya Shinazugawa X Fem!Reader

Summary: Winter is coming and no one is safe.

Warnings: None

A/N: Modern!AU, Kimetsu Academy, Female Reader, Genya Shinazugawa, Sanemi Shinazugawa

PART 1 II PART 2 II PART 3 II PART 4 II PART 5 II PART 6 II PART 7 II PART 8 II PART 9 II PART 10 II PART 11 II PART 12 II PART 13 II PART 14 II PART 15 II PART 16 II PART 17 II PART 18

Winter was coming and you didn't mean some famous TV show that others watched. No, Winter really was here as November neared its end and December was only days away.

As you had requested after your horrible nightmare a week ago, Genya had moved from the couch to your room where you slept together in the same bed like a real couple.

Only you had decided to wait until you were both adults aka 18 years old before you would give in to carnal pleasures and have sex. That meant that the two of you would have to wait until next year, January 7th when Genya had his 18th birthday.

Your birthday? Your birthday was just a couple of days after New Year. Your family used to laugh 'New Year, New Baby' when your mother was waiting for you since you were supposed to be born on New Year, but you decided to wait a little longer before you were ultimately evicted from your home of 9 months.

But yes, things were going well with you and Genya and you learned something new about each other almost every day. Like how despite being the smallest one of the two of you, you liked to be the big spoon in the bed while sleeping and that Genya actually liked being spooned.

Speaking of sleeping, the two of you were oversleeping, and if Lady hadn't started to meow just outside your bedroom door then you both would have no doubt been late from school. You weren't late, but you sure were running late!

"Oh God, why didn't the alarm ring!?" You cursed as you struggled to get your shoes on and Genya ran out of the bathroom, his hair barely combed, "Shit, I don't know, but we gotta go!"

"No time to buy lunch, we gotta go now!" You said as the two of you grabbed your bags and left in a hurry, running as fast as you could so you wouldn't be late for your first classes of the day… And you made it just in time!

As soon as you made it past the school's gates the two of you nearly collapsed on the ground.

"W- we made it…!" Genya said and you panted breathlessly as you tried to catch your breath, "B- barely…!"

The bells rang and you were still outside so you weren't safe quite yet.

"See ya at lunch!" You both shouted as you went on your own ways since you weren't in the same class.

Much to your horror, your first class that day was math with Sanemi Shinazugawa aka Genya's scary big brother. He was just checking the attendance when you rushed into the classroom.

"I'm sorry I'm late," You said hurriedly as you made your way to your seat and the scarred teacher glared at you but otherwise, he just counted you in. Huh, maybe teacher Shinazugawa was in a good mood?

As soon as you managed to sit down you felt your legs give in. You groaned, your legs aching and your throat hurt so badly because of how hard you had breathed the cool Winter air.

The class went on as it would and you tried your hardest to understand the formula you were learning that morning while staying with the rest of the class so you wouldn't fall behind.

Before you knew it, the class ended and you were all given homework for the next day. You groaned tiredly as you put your books and notes into your bag and you were about to head to your next class when suddenly-!

"Young miss, please stay. I have something I want to talk about with you." Teacher Shinazugawa called you and you could almost hear the girls in the background giggle at you as they left the classroom. You sighed as you waited for the last students to leave before you made your way to the teacher's desk.

"I'm sorry I was late, sir, it won't happen again," You apologized humbly, but the scarred man scoffed, "You made it barely so I'm letting you go with a warning this time."

"Thank you, sir." You nodded and turned to leave, but before you could go Sanemi called after you, "Hold it! I didn't say you could leave just yet!"

"Ah, I'm sorry, sir," You stopped and the man nodded, "What are you and Genya doing at Christmas?"

"Christmas?" You hummed. You hadn't thought about it. Until now, you always bought yourself new manga and something delicious to eat and gorge yourself full. But now it was different since Genya lived with you so you would have to probably prepare better.

"If you don't have any plans then would you and Genya like to come over to our place to celebrate?"

"Ex-!" You blinked in shock, "Excuse me?"

"Tch, you don't have to if the idea sounds so awful-!"

"It doesn't!" You exclaimed and nodded eagerly, "Yes, my answer is yes! I would love to come! I'll just have to ask Genya!"

"He will come because I tell him so!" The teacher exclaimed and you nodded, "Please don't worry, I'll talk to him when I see him at lunch."

"You do that." He nodded and you smiled a little, "Can I go now?"

"Yes, go, your next class starts soon anyway." The teacher waved you off and you left quietly with a small, "Have a nice day." to your teacher. You went to the next class and another until it was finally lunchtime.

Only you and Genya had left in such a hurry that neither of you had managed to make or buy any lunch from the convenience store. So when you met at your usual spot you were both pretty empty-handed so you tried to distract the two of you with news.

"Your big brother asked if we would spend Christmas at your place?" You asked as you made yourself comfortable and Genya's eyes widened, "Big brother asked that?"

"Yes?"

"That's… Huge!"

"Wh- wha- why?"

"Big brother never invites people outside the family to family gatherings." Genya frowned a little, "He must be serious about you and me..!"

"Ah, true." You nodded and he looked at you, "How do you feel about it? Do you want to go? Because we don't need to go if you don't want to!"

At any other time you would have declined an invite to any meeting, parties especially, but living with Genya built your tolerance. Also, this was your boyfriend's family, you had to go and earn their acceptance of your and Genya's relationship!

"I don't mind, it actually sounds pretty nice." You confessed, "But I haven't been to family parties in years so I might be rusty."

"Just be yourself and I'm sure the rest of my family will also love you just like I do." Genya said and you blinked, "Oh yeah, didn't you have younger siblings?"

You hadn't been around younger kids in ages, but you liked to think that despite your status as a loner, you were pretty okay with kids thanks to your vast collection of comics, games, and such.

"Yeah, I have 5 younger siblings." Genya said and you almost choked on your own spit, "F- FIVE!?"

"Yeah, there are my little brothers Shuya, Hiroshi, and Koto, and then there are my little sisters Teiko and Sumi."

"H- How-!" You wanted to ask, but you quickly shook your head and instead asked, "How do you feel about this?"

"I, uh…" Genya blushed, "Of course, I love you and I would love it if my family knew how I felt about you and liked you also…"

"T- then..!" You swallowed as you collected your courage.

"In that case, I would love to meet your family!" You yelped out loud as you felt your face burn with blush..!

…Or at least you thought it was blush, but suddenly you felt extremely fatigued.

"I'm just… gonna sit down… for a second…" You were saying when suddenly you lost all control as you went limp and if it wasn't for Genya's quick reflexes you would have collapsed on the ground.

"W- whoa!" He quickly caught you and noticed that you had fainted.

"O- Oi! Are you okay?" He called your name and that's when he noticed how red you were. He gently touched your forehead and you felt hot.

"Hold on, I'll take you to the infirmary at once!" He picked you up like you weighed nothing and ran like crazy.

An hour later, you were resting on the bed and Genya sat next to your bed, looking worried and guilty. Apparently, you had managed to catch a sudden nasty flu and fever that caused you to faint. Genya felt guilty for not noticing it earlier. He had honestly thought that you were blushing because you were talking about his family, but you were actually sick.

"Genya?"

The young man flinched as he looked up and saw the Health Teacher slash nurse Tamayo and his big brother Sanemi walk into the room. Genya quickly got up and looked at the woman, "Will she be okay?"

"She has a fever, but she should get better with some rest." Tamayo said and Genya sighed in relief, but then he noticed his brother and looked at him, "Brother…"

"Tch, you worried me there, you shithead…!" The older Shinazugawa growled and Genya bowed, "I'm sorry…"

"It wasn't your fault Genya," Miss Tamayo said, "I went through her contacts and she doesn't appear to have anyone in her emergency contacts that could take her home."

"I live with her so I'll take her!" Your boyfriend said as he bounced up from his seat, but he flinched the moment he saw his older brother Sanemi glaring at him, "B- brother, I'll take her home and return at once-!"

"Are you kidding me!?" Sanemi snapped and Tamayo hushed him, "Quiet in the infirmary, please."

"Sorry," The older Shinazugawa apologized before he turned to look at his younger brother again, "You're going to take her home and care for your girlfriend until she is better!"

"W- what about school?" Genya was stunned to see his big brother act the way he was acting. Sanemi scoffed as he looked at your resting form, "Don't get me wrong, school is important but so is your girlfriend's health!"

"You can take a couple of days off and look after her." Nurse Tamayo said calmly with a small smile, "I'll let your teachers know about the situation and send you the homework."

"Thank you, ma'am," The younger Shinazugawa thanked the woman and turned to address his big brother but the older man was already on his phone.

"Brother-"

"I'm ordering you a taxi. I'm not letting you carry her in the cold where she can get worse and you can catch what she has!" Sanemi said and Genya was stunned by his brother's kindness. He knew that his older brother favored tough love, but this was nice too.

"Thank you, big brother." Genya genuinely thanked his brother who grunted as he looked away from his younger brother, "Whatever, just make sure she gets better."

"I promise, I will!"

[specialagentlokitty]

Saul Silva/Farah x Teen!reader - never lost hope

Hello! I have a request for Silva/Dowling xTeen Reader story. They had a child once and it disappeared (like Bloom was taken in the first world) and now they found R and bring back to Alfea, telling R the truth. I dont know if you want to write it. - Anon💜

They never lost hope, even after 17 years of having nothing, Saul and Farah never lost hope when it came to trying to find their child.

Sometimes it felt hopeless, and sometimes they were sure they were close, but they still held out hope that somewhere in the otherworld or the first world you were out there and you were safe.

After confirming you were in fact not in the otherworld, they turned their attention to the first world, reaching out to anyone from the other world who lived there, any specialists or fairies that were there to help them.

All they had was a digitally created imagine of what you would roughly look like now, and that was it.

Until a few months ago when someone had sent them a picture.

It took a few days to compare and confirm, but they were sure it was you, and they reached out to the local police for help.

It was a slow process, but it was a huge lead, one they hadn’t had for years since you were a baby. 

But here you were, in a small town in Texas, growing up.

After emailing back and forth with your foster parents, they were finally invited to the home with police to monitor what was happening.

They weren’t sure if you knew or not, and as Farah and Saul were being escorted to your house in an unmarked car, the reality of the situation was starting to become clear.

“I’m sure it’s them.” Saul whispered.

“I know it is. It’s just if they’re willing to accept what’s really going on..” Farah whispered back.

Saul nodded his head because he knew she was right. If you refused to accept what was going on it would make everything a whole lot harder.

They pulled up into the driveway of a nice house where two men were waiting outside.

“James and Cody (L/N), (Y/N)s foster fathers.” The officer said.

The two nodded and climbed out of the car and walked over. The blonde male held out his hand.

“Saul and Farah I assume? I’m James.”

The black haired man held his hand out next.

“And I’m Cody, (Y/N) isn’t home right now so we can talk freely for a few hours.”

“Thank you so much for agreeing to this.” Farah sighed.

They were led inside and everyone sat down at the table and it was quiet for a moment.

“Oh we thought you might want to have this.” James said.

He got up and grabbed a binder and walked back over and handed it to them, showing them all the photos of you growing up in different places.

“(Y/N) was bounced about the system a little bit until they were 10, they’ve been with us since. We decided a few years later that we were going to wait until they were an adult to decide if they wanted to be adopted or try find well.. you two.”

They carried on talking and discussing your life, things that Saul and Farah had missed but were glad you could experience.

You saw the strange car in the driveway but you didn’t pay much attention to it as you barrelled through the front door, the Doberman behind you barking as he ran through too.

“Bodi dinner!” You yelled.

The dog barked and jumped up and down at the kitchen doorway.

You jogged through and grabbed his bowl to give him his dinner, and you held it up.

Bodi sat down and wagged his tail happily, waiting for you to place it down and walk away before he dived at it.

“(Y/N) can you come here please?” Kody called.

You mumbled out a reply around the apple you were eating and poked your head through the doorway, waving your hair.

Saul and Farah stared at you.

You were so grown up, just like the picture they had of you.

You walked in, leaning against the doorframe.

“And what have you been doing?” James chuckled.

He gestured for you to come over and he pulled a chair in front of him for you to sit down while you ate your apple and he picked things from your hair and shirt.

“Mr Riddon, needed help on the ranch, so I went to help, and I was climbing the haystack.” You beamed happily.

You looked at the officer standing in the back of the room.

“Hi officer Marks.”

“Hello (Y/N), been keeping out of trouble?” He smiled.

“I wanna say yes. But you’re here so yes?”

He laughed a little, shaking his head.

“Am not here for you kiddo don’t worry. Just here to talk to Kody and James.”

You turned to the new people in the room, and you smiled softly at them.

They couldn’t help but smile back at you.

“Hi I’m (Y/N).”

“Saul silva.”

“Farah Dowling.”

You nodded your head and stood up.

“It’s nice to meet ya!”

You headed back to the kitchen to bin your apple and wash your hands before making your way back over and you moved the chair to sit next to your foster dad.

Bodi came padding over, and he sat next to you, resting his head on your leg as he looked up at you.

“Who’s that?” Saul asked softly.

“This is Bodi. He’s two. I found him under the porch a year ago.”

You looked at your foster parents.

“What’s going on?”

They shared a look and sighed softly, reaching out to take your hands in theirs.

“(Y/N), these.. these are your biological parents. You were taken from the hospital a few days after you were born.”

You furrowed your brows a little bit as you looked at them.

“We understand you’re confused, but we have everything from police reports, posters, some photos. If you want to look through them before we carry on talking.” Farah asked.

You nodded and she handed them over and you sat on the floor to look over them all.

Bodi laid next to you, resting his head on your legs as you ran your fingers through his fur while you read over everything.

No one said anything, and you set the final paper down after an hour and looked up.

“So.. I was just.. taken..?” You asked quietly.

Saul got up and walked over, crouching down in front of you, but shuffled back when your dog got up and growled at him.

Placing a hand in Bodi’s back to make him stop, you looked at the man.

“We had gone home to get some rest, and the hospital never told us until we got there the next day. We’ve spent a little over 17 years looking for you.”

Farah nodded her head and placed her hand on Saul’s shoulder.

“We never gave up, every summer and every Christmas we’d come looking for you. We had friends looking for you as well, it’s how we found you, but we wanted to speak to your foster parents before coming out.”

“You knew I was here?”

“We only found out a few months ago. If James and Kody weren’t okay with us coming out we would have waited until you were an adult before getting in contact with you. We didn’t want to overstep our boundaries, and we don’t want to now. Everything is in your hands.” Saul explained.

You slowly nodded your head and stood up, patting your hand against your thigh.

“I.. I need to go..”

Before anyone could stop you, you and Bodi were gone out the front door and Saul sighed, hanging his head low and Farah took his hand in hers.

“Just give them some time, I’m sure they’ll come around. Do you two have a place to stay?” Kody asked.

“No, we weren’t sure if we were going to be staying or not.” Farah sighed.

“Y’all can stay here, we got a spare room.” James smiled.

They spoke about it for a few moments before agreeing.

It was summer, and they still had some time until they had to go back to the school, the Saul and Farah agreed to stay.

You didn’t stay inside for the next week, you were always out, and they were finding it hard to talk to them.

Sitting on the fence, you watched the horses in the background while Bodi laid in the shade of your shadow.

“You need to give them a chance, they ain’t bad people.” Kody sighed.

“I know Kody it’s just… my whole life I wondered what it would be like to meet them.. it made it a whole lot easier just thinking they gave me up..”

He nodded his head.

“I understand that kiddo, but they’re really trying. They wanna get to know you.”

You sighed.

“I know…”

Kody pat your back and walked away to leave you sitting there, and you carried on watching the horses.

You heard someone else approach.

“You know I have horses..” Saul said quietly.

“Can you ride?”

“I can.” He nodded.

You turned around on the fence, looking at him and Farah.

Bodi got up, stretching a little as he sat down to look up at you.

“Can you?”

“I can stay hanging on if that counts.” She smiled.

You shrugged a little and looked back at the horses.

“Y’all probably can’t ride properly. If it ain’t the country way it’s the wrong way.”

“The country way?” Farah asked.

“Get James or Kody to bring the truck to the gate, I’ll show you how it’s done.”

They smiled and walked back to the house and you pointed to the other side of the fence for Bodi to crawl under and sit there.

You let out a loud whistle and one of the horses snapped it’s head towards you before running over, slowly to a walk as it got closer.

Running your fingers over the head of the brown horse you touched your head against the animals.

“Good girl.” You whispered.

Climbing on her back, you gently wove your fingers through her mane and clicked your tongue and she started to walk.

Bodi happily followed along, and as you got closer to the gate, you tapped her side with your hand, leaning forward and she broke into a slow run as you lead her through the gate.

“Bodi car.”

The Doberman barked and jumped into the truck bed and you stood next to it.

“Ready?” James asked.

“You bet.” You grinned.

Kody jumped in the tuck bed with Farah and Saul.

“Let’s go!” Kody yelled.

The truck drove slowly away, and you waited before you clicked your tongue again, letting the horse walk on to the grass next to the road.

Once she was on it you leant forward and tapped her side again, and she started to run.

You quickly caught up to the truck, and you cheered as you threw your hands into the air.

“Yes!” You yelled.

Saul and Farah smiled and laughed as they looked at you, and Farah took a photo.

You looked at them both with a grin.

“Bet y’all can’t do this!”

“I bet I can!” Saul called back.

You hummed, nodding your head and you held the horses mane again as you reached over, holding your hand out to him.

“Feeling brave?” You snickered.

“Oh Jesus Saul don’t.” Farah warned.

Saul shuffled over, and he slowly crouched on the truck bed, and he reached out, taking your hand and he jumped over.

He was nearly thrown to the side, but you hauled him back up and he sat behind you.

“We do it all the time! She’s a rodeo horse! She’s used to it!” You yelled.

“What’s a rodeo?” Saul asked.

“There’s one this weekend I’ll take you both!”

And you did.

You took them both to the rodeo, explaining everything to them, showing them what it was and what people did.

“Have you ever done this before?” Farah asked you.

Leaning against the fence, you nodded your head.

“Yes ma’am. Last year in fact, lassoed my first calf here.”

“You.. what?” She asked confused.

You snickered a little, pulling out your phone to show them a photo.

It turned out a lot of stuff you did every summer they hadn’t ever done, so you took them to most of them, letting them experience then and as it grew to the end of the holidays you found yourself sat down at the table again.

“We won’t force you to come to Alfea if you don’t want to. But it is just a simple boarding school, you can come home on Christmas and during the summer.” Farah asked

“But again, it is completely up to you. We will have to give you a few tests to figure out who’s side of the school you would attend.” Saul nodded.

You nodded your head.

You looked towards James and Kody, and they held their hands up.

“This is your choice. But this will always be your home no matter what you choose.” Kody smiled.

You frowned a little as you thought about it.

Part of you wanted to stay, this was your home, you loved it here.

But the other part wanted to go, to get to know your parents and see how they lived and get to know them some more.

“What.. what about Bodi.. I can’t leave him..”

You looked at the dog laying at your feet.

“You can bring Bodi too. We wouldn’t let you come and not let him come.” Saul smiled.

“Okay.. I Uhm..”

You trailed off as you thought again.

“I.. I want to try it for a few months. But if I don’t like it I can come back here, right?”

“Of course. Of course you can.” Farah smiled softly.

You nodded and left the table and her and Saul stood up to hug on another.

It wasn’t you coming back to them permanently, but they couldn’t take you away from the life you loved so much.

But it was a step.

A step to them having their child back in their lives again

[roosterbox]

October Almost-Drabbles 10/22: Costume

Pairing: Cherik

Word Count: 621

Additional tags: trick or treating, family fluff, pietro is an absolute adhd terror but we love him

Side note: I cut out like 300+ words of mostly boring exposition, so this is much more streamlined than it was at first. Other than the descriptor calling Wanda a witch (because she’s dressed like one, obvs), everyone else’s outfits are un-described. Mostly. So feel free to use your own imaginations. And yes, everybody did dress up. Even Erik.

———

The little family made quite a picture, walking down the brightly lit sidewalk.

“Careful with that, Wanda.” Charles called out. The little witch was swinging her candy bucket enthusiastically, losing bits and pieces out of it. At his urging, she calmed her motions, though there was still a lot of swinging involved. As per usual, she was significantly calmer than her twin. Pietro was running loops around all of them. Up the street, down the street, into walkways, occasionally into yards (“Mind the grass!” Erik told him, multiple times). He couldn’t get far, thankfully - the metal bits subtly sewn into his costume made sure of that - but he tested the boundary at every chance he could.

“Alright back there?” Erik asked. He couldn’t see over the top of the dozing child on his back, but he knew Lorna was bringing up the rear of their little caravan.

“I'm good, Dad.” She was eating candy. He could practically hear the caramel as she answered. And more importantly, she was happy. All four of the children were. Even David, who smiled even in his tired state.

“So what do you think, guys? Trick-or-treating? Fun, huh?” Charles smiled, ruffling Pietro’s hair as he ran by. He didn’t really need to ask; he could feel their joy as bright as a beacon. But he always tried to encourage verbal communication. Especially in public, though they were mostly alone on that particular sidewalk.

There was a chorus of affirmations.

“Can Auntie Raven come with us next time?” Wanda asked. Charles made a show of considering this, though truth be told he‘d had a similar thought. It would be interesting, he reasoned, to bring along someone who didn’t need a preprepared outfit. Who could potentially change their appearance from house to house.

“Why don’t we ask her when we get home?” He gave Wanda a nod. She grinned and nodded back before slipping back behind them to walk with her sister. Aside from the red and white blur that was Pietro running around them, and their older boy being carried by Erik, the two parents were somewhat alone. Charles bumped their shoulders together gently.

So. We all survived.

That remains to be seen, Erik projected back, eyeing their running and giggling youngest son. The little terror. I’m only surprised he hasn’t run every single one of us ragged yet.

At that moment, the boy ran a little further out than either of them were comfortable with. Almost offhandedly, Erik reached out with his power, grabbed the metal threads in his costume, and pulled him back over. Pietro paused just long enough to say “sorry, dad,” before taking off again. He’d probably have long since spilled his candy everywhere had Charles not commandeered his bucket fairly early in the night.

And you’re already planning for next year. Erik shook his head, though he was also smiling. Doing his own planning, no doubt.

Maybe a little. But, Charles was quick to add, we’ve still got at least an hour or two of candy sorting ahead of us. “And it’s way past certain individuals’ bed time as it is.”

“Not tired!” Pietro said, zooming by.

David grumbled sleepily.

“I understand your point, however. Once the candy has been sorted, and the costumes put away, then we can do what all parents do after October 31st.”

“And that is?”

“To never think of Halloween again for the next eleven months or so.”

At that, Erik laughed. He shifted David a little, adjusting his position. “I’m gonna hold you to that, I hope you know. Also not looking forward to the mountains of candy to sift through.”

“Liar. You’ll be drowning in butterscotch for weeks. What a burden.”

“Quiet, you.”

[starstruckbyacomet]

There Is No Safe Word (Part 7 of 10)

(Source) (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Prewarning)

Neil Gaiman's house. Photo: The Neil Gaiman Visual Bibliography.

Editor’s note: This story contains content that readers may find disturbing, including graphic allegations of sexual assault & child abuse.

In 2014, the cracks in Gaiman and Palmer’s marriage began to show to those around them. While they were at Bard, they decided to buy a house upstate. Palmer would have preferred to live in New York City, but Gaiman liked the woods. Eventually, he picked a sprawling estate set on 80 acres in Woodstock. It was Gaiman’s money, a friend who accompanied them on the house hunt says, “and he was going to have the say.”

Later that year, Palmer got pregnant. She and Gaiman were spending more time at home together and talked about slowing down and devoting their attention to their marriage. She wanted to close the relationship, and he agreed. But when she was eight months pregnant, Gaiman came to her with a problem: He had slept with a fan in her early 20s, taking her virginity. Now, Gaiman told her, the girl was “going crazy.” He promised to change, and they met with a couples counselor. Gaiman was prone to panic attacks and had never been in treatment. “Amanda was shocked at how traumatized Neil was, given his public persona and the guy she thought she’d married,” a person close to them says.

Caroline Wallner in the kitchen of Hotel Tivoli where the handmade dishes and cups she custom designed and fabricated for the establishment are stored. Photo: The Daily Gazette.

One of the people in whom Palmer confided about her marital issues at the time was Caroline Wallner, a potter who, along with her builder husband, Phillip, had been living on the Woodstock property and working as a caretaker. Gaiman had made them an offer that seemed too good to be true. They would build an addition on one of the cabins on the land at Gaiman’s expense, and in exchange, Gaiman would sell them a five-acre parcel, allowing them to put up a barn-style home to share with their three daughters. They tended to the garden, ran errands for guests, and rehabilitated the buildings, which needed plumbing and electrical work.

At lunch one day, Palmer told Wallner she hated living in the woods and was disturbed by what she was learning about her husband. “‘You have no idea the twisted, dark things that go on in that man’s head,’” Wallner recalls Palmer saying. Palmer said she wished her marriage were more like Wallner and Phillip’s, but their marriage of 11 years was falling apart, too. In 2017, Phillip moved out of their house. Wallner, 54, spent her days in bed crying and drinking. She stopped eating and, for the most part, stopped working. It was then that Gaiman began paying attention to her. He would bring juices up to her cabin and fret that she was losing too much weight. The first time he touched her, in December 2018, she was sitting on his couch next to him, crying from exhaustion. Gaiman told her, “You need a hug.” She stood and he hugged her, then slid his hands down her pants and into her underwear and squeezed her butt. She does not recall saying or doing anything in response. “I was stunned,” she says.

Neil Gaiman in his office. Photo: Weston Wells for Variety.

Over the next two years, they had a series of sexual encounters, always when Palmer was away. When Gaiman wasn’t around, they occasionally engaged in phone sex. At first Wallner, who hadn’t been with anyone since Phillip left, went along willingly. But at the end of their second encounter, she remembers asking Gaiman what Palmer would think about their romance: “He said, ‘Caroline, there is no romance.’” After that, she tried to keep her distance from him, darting away when she saw him on the estate. He was difficult to avoid. He kept an egg incubator in Wallner’s cabin and would come down and check on it, entering without texting first. On one of these visits, he found her crying by the fireplace. He walked over to her, stuck his thumb in her mouth, and twisted her nipples. She told Gaiman the arrangement was making her “feel bad.” She recalls him replying, “I don’t want you to feel bad.” But nothing changed. Wallner had no income at the time and was borrowing money from her sister to get by. She worried that if she didn’t appease Gaiman, he’d kick her out of her house and then she and her three daughters would have nowhere to go. “‘I like our trade,’” she remembers him saying. “‘You take care of me, and I’ll take care of you.’”

Sometimes she would babysit. Once, Wallner and the boy, then 4, fell asleep reading stories in Gaiman and Palmer’s bed. Wallner woke up when Gaiman returned home. He got into bed with his son in the middle, then reached across the child to grab Wallner’s hand and put it on his penis. She says she jumped out of the bed. “He didn’t have boundaries,” Wallner says. “I remember thinking that there was something really wrong with him.”

Caroline Wallner. Photo: Basilica Hudson.

In April 2021, Gaiman informed Wallner that the land he’d promised her was no longer available. That summer, she stopped responding to his attempts to engage in phone sex and Gaiman increased the pressure on her to leave his property. One night in December 2021, Gaiman’s business manager, Terry Bird, called Wallner and offered her $5,000 to move immediately if she’d sign a 16-page NDA agreeing to never discuss anything about her experience with Gaiman or Palmer or to take legal action against Gaiman. Wallner recalls saying to Bird, “What am I going to do with $5,000? I need therapy. This is maybe $300,000.” Looking back, she says she didn’t know how she came up with that number, but Gaiman agreed to it, and she signed. (Gaiman’s representatives say Wallner initiated the sexual encounters and deny that he engaged in any sexual activity with her in the presence of his son.)

[andydrysdalerogers]

Sliding Into Home ~ Since When is Ice Cream Evil?

Pairing: MLB!Frank Adler x Abigail Hernandez (OFC)

Synopsis:

After a trade from Boston to Los Angeles, first baseman Frank Adler would seem to have it all. Money, women, an amazing niece, yes Frank should have it all. Except for one thing. One thing that left after a mistake five years ago. Los Angeles should be the chance to start over. Except she is supposed to be in Boston. Not his new medical director.

* A Frank Adler AU x Major League Baseball Story**

Warning: ANGST (i can't stress this enough), second chances, cheating, S~M~U~T!!, slow burn, drug use, abandonment issues, betrayal, domestic violence (i may have missed some), flashbacks

Dividers by me

I do NOT give permission for my work to be translated or reposted on here or any other site, even if you give me credit. DO NOT REPOST MY FICS. Reblogs, comments, likes, and feedback ALWAYS appreciated

Previous: Status: All Star

Sliding Into Home Master List Main Masterlist

“Mary?”

“MARY!”

Abby began to run up the stairs.  “MARY!”

Scott and Susie followed.  “Abby, what...”

“I let her out of my sight for one second.  Oh my god.  Mary!” Abby looked on the concourse.  “Mary! Scott find security, Susie please look in the restrooms.” The group broke apart and Abby ran down to see if she had just wandered to a gift shop. Her heartrate was spiking, sweat beading on her forehead. It was just one moment that she was distracted. How could she have looked away?  As she ran, her mind whirled. She ran back to see a security guard talking to Scott. “Did you find her?”

“No, we’re locking down the stadium now,” Officer Levinson said. He spoke into the walkie-talkie, calling for a code ADAM and locking down the stadium. 

“I need Frank,” Abby said, trying not to panic as Susie ran back. “Susie?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.” 

“Fuck! oh my god.” Scott hugged Abby as an MLB official came over. “Did you call for a missing child?” He asked. 

“Yes, it’s the niece of one of the players, Frank Adler.  I’m his wife, Abigail.  Our niece Mary went for an ice cream at the top of our aisle, and I turned to look at a play for 30 seconds and when I turned back, she was gone.” 

“Alright.” He picked up his phone.  “We need to pull Adler from the game now. It’s a family emergency.”  He hung up.  Boston police officers approached the group as announcement for everyone to remain seated is done. 

“Ma’am, what does the child look like?” One officer asked. 

“She’s about 4 feet tall, blonde hair, blue eyes.  She’s wearing a white Dodgers jersey with the name Adler on the back and shorts.  Pink sneakers.” 

The officer wrote it down.  “How old?”

“She’s nine.  She’ll be 10 next month. We’ve...” Abby closed her eyes. “We’ve been having issues with my ex-fiancé and her biological mother.” 

“What kind of issues?”

“She attacked me about a month ago.  We have a restraining order against both of them because we wanted to keep them away from Mary.  Oh god,” she covered her mouth to stop a sob from escaping. 

“Abby!” She looked up to see Frank jogging towards her. “What’s going on? They said it was an emergency and...”

“Frankie,” she took a breath to steady herself, but it wasn’t working.  “Frankie, Mary is missing.” 

“What?” He looked around. 

“I let her get up to get an ice cream and... it was just a moment Frankie, just one and... she was gone,” she hiccupped.  Frank drew her in closer as Abby cried. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, it was just a moment.”  He could hear Scott on the phone with Abby’s parents, who were in the stand with her brothers, wives and kids. He blinked back tears, needing to remain calm for his wife. 

“OK, umm, what do we do?” Frank asked the officers. 

“We’ve locked down the stadium,” one officer said.  “We have security looking through the surveillance cameras to see who took her. We’re going to move you to our security office.” 

“My in-laws.  They are in the stadium as well.” 

A league official came up to them after over hearing. “Name?” 

“William and Ana Hernandez.  My wife’s family should all be here.” 

“Ok, we’ll take them to a meeting room for now.”  The league office jumped on the phone with the commissioner’s office as Boston PD began asking questions. 

After 20 minutes, officials guide them to the offices away from the crowd as they hear the loudspeakers announce a missing child. Frank holds up Abby as she sobs.  “Do you have a recent picture?” An officer asked. 

“Yeah,” Frank replied, numb. He pulled out his phone and pulled the picture of Mary he took this morning. “Umm, I need to get to my management and Storm.  He’s a family friend.” 

“Mr. Storm is with Miss Storm and Mr. Evans with the rest of your family,” an official said. “Mr. Phelps has been informed of the situation.” 

“We are conducting a search through the ballpark, and we are holding all of the spectators in their seats,” a police officer said. “Did you notice anyone out of the ordinary, Mrs. Adler?”

“No,” she whispered. 

“Would Mary walk away with a stranger?”

“No,” Frank said.  “We’ve warned her about stranger-danger and all that. They would have either taken her or she knew whoever it was.” 

“Does she know a lot of people in Boston?”

“Just Abby’s family.” Frank rubbed his temples. “I mean she knew some of her old classmates, but she reached out to them when we found out that we were coming, and they are supposed to meet up tomorrow. None of them mentioned being here today.” 

“Ok. Do you have any recent photos of Mr. Weiss or Miss Adler?”

“Not one of Diane, but Mike,” Abby pulled her phone.  She found the picture from the gala she had taken. “I haven’t seen him in over a month.  Since my attack. Oh god, you don’t think...”

“We’re not assuming anything right now, but we are not discounting anything either, Mrs. Adler.” 

Abby nods but leans back into Frank, clutching his jersey as he grips her head gently to hold her to him. “We're gonna find her Cricket,” he whispers soothingly. “She’s going to be ok.” 

“She had to be so scared, Frankie.  This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have let her go on her own.” 

“Baby, it's not, ok? She should be able to get ice cream and come back. They’ll find her.” 

It took a couple of hours to clear the crowd from the field, but there was still no sign of Mary. Frank was leaning his head against the wall as Abby’s head was in his lap, asleep, exhausting herself from all of her tears.  “Frank?”

He jerked awake to see William, Ana and Scott looking at them.  “Did they find her?”

“No, not yet,” William said gently. “We’re gonna take you guys home.” 

“No,” Abby said, lifting her head off of Frank. “No, we have to be here so she can find us. Please,” she pleaded with her father, “please don’t make me leave. Mary is gonna find us or she’ll be mad we left her.  We promised we would never leave her. Papi please?” The tears streamed down her face. Frank pulls her back into him, his own tears prickling his eyes. 

“She’s not here Cricket. They’ll call us if they find her.  Let me get you somewhere safe, ok?” he whispers. 

Abby nods and they stand up.  “We’ll take you to ours for now,” Ana said. “Someone can stay up and wait and take turns.” 

“She’s gone?” Abby looks up at Frank. 

“We’ll find her.” Frank swallows. “We have to.” 

Twenty-Four Hours Later...

Frank watches his wife, seating at a chair by the window, Dodger in her lap.  Abby is lifeless, staring outside, searching for her niece, their daughter.  He had come to terms with it.  That Mary was more than his niece.  He brought some coffee to Abby, seating it by the table next to her. “Cricket?”

“Where is she, Frankie?” Abby looked up at him, her beautiful brown eyes red rimmed from unshed tears and constant rubbing. His heart broke at how lost she seemed without their girl. 

“I don’t know, Cricket. They’ll find her.” He wrapped his arms around her as she began to sob, his own tears falling down his face.  A phone rang in the background, but the couple ignored it, calls having been flooding in since the news broke that she had been taken. 

“Are you sure?” Frank heard William’s voice float by. “Ok, we are on the way. Thank you.” Frank looked up. “We need to go.” 

“What? Why?” 

“They found her.” 

William raced through the streets of Boston as Abby clung to Frank. What did they mean when they said  they found her?  Was she alive? Was she hurt?  All the thoughts ran ramped in Frank’s head, not wanting to vocalize and cause Abby more pain.  They pulled in front of the police station and Abby wouldn't move.  “Cricket, c’mon.” 

“No, I can’t. What if....”

“No, don’t think like that.” He kissed her head. “She’s fine and until otherwise, we are not going to think like that.”  He opened the door and helped her out.  They walked the steps with her parents behind her.  They went up to the clerk.  “Hi, I’m Frank Adler and we were called to...”

“Frank!”

Frank turned his head to see a wave of blonde hair headed towards him. 

“Mary,” he whispered.  He crouched down and caught her as she landed in his arms, toppling him to his ass.  Abby lowered herself to her knees, took the girl from his arms, crying as she clutched the girl to her chest.  He adjusted to his knees to wrap his girls in his arms, thanking God that she was there with them. It took a few minutes to get Abby to calm down enough to let Mary go to inspect her.  She was dirty and looked tired but otherwise unharmed. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Adler?”  The couple turned to an officer. “I’m Detective Carlson.  Can we speak with you?”

“Yes, ok.”  Frank stood up and helped Mary and Abby up. “Mary, can you stay with Abuelo and Abuela please?”  She nodded before hugging him one more time.  He walked Abby toward the conference room and sat her down before looking at the officers.  “What happened?” 

“An officer was on normal patrol and saw her wandering down the street.  When he stopped, she asked to be brought home to you.” 

“Where was she?”

“Cambridge.” 

“That’s four towns over,” Frank sputtered.  “Did she say where she was?”

The detective shook his head.  “We are not allowed to question a minor without a guardian present.  If you are ok to listen, we can ask her now.” 

“Abby?” Frank looked down at his wife. “Can you handle this?” Abby was still staring at Mary, who was curled into her abuelo’s lap as Ana continued to stroke her hair. “Cricket?”

“What?” Abby snapped her head back at Frank.  “I’m sorry. Yes, let’s get this over with.” 

Frank frowned at Abby, uncertain of where her emotions are at.  He went over to his family. “C’mon Nugget, the police have some questions.” 

“Why? I don’t want to talk to them.”  She clung onto William. “I want to go home and see Dodger and Scott.”

“I know, baby, but they need to know what happened. I promise, we’ll go home and see Dodger and Scott and Johnny and Susie.  They are all waiting for you.” Frank moved her hair out of her face. “They just want to make sure they know what happened.” Mary nodded and reached for Frank, who picked her up and carried her back into the conference room.  Mary moved into Abby’s lap as the Detective Carlson set up the camera. 

“Ok, so we are interviewing Mary Adler, her legal guardians are present.  So, Mary,” he smiled at the girl.  “Can you tell me what happened?”

Mary looked at Frank and he nodded. “I wanted an ice cream and I asked Abby if I go up to the ice cream man.  He was at the top of the stairs.  I was waiting and Uncle Mike was there.  I waved at him, and he said, I’ll buy you a sundae.  So, I went with him because Frank and Abby said don’t go with strangers, but Uncle Mike isn’t a stranger.”

“This would be Mike Weiss?” The detective looked at Frank. He nodded and the officer turned back to Mary.  “Did he say anything?”

Mary looked pensive.  “No, we just walked out of the stadium to the good ice cream shop and got in line for ice cream, and then he said he wanted to take me to the park across from the field.  I like that park.  We played there a lot. We walked over and we raced around the obstacle course.  I won.” 

“I bet you’re fast,” Carlson smiled at her. “What happened next?”

“He said that Frank and Abby wanted me to go to his house because of all the police that showed up. And when we got there, I asked to call them, and Uncle Mike said no. He wouldn’t let me outside to see his yard or anything.  It was really weird.  So, I waited until he was distracted, and I ran out.”  She frowned. “I didn’t know where I was, so I just kept walking and hiding until I found the police man.” 

“Did he hurt you?  Touch you in a way that you didn’t like?” Frank tensed at the questions.

She shook her head.  “No, he was just acting really weird.  Kinda twitchy and jumpy.”

“Ok Mary. Can you tell me what color house he was in?” 

“It was white and green.” Mary stopped.  “Can I go home now? Dodger is waiting for me.” 

“Yes, you can. Thank you for answering my questions.” 

“No problem.”  She jumped down as Frank and Abby rose to their feet. She stopped and turned back.  “Oh yeah, he said one more thing.”

“What was that?”

“He said that it was ok if I went with him since he was my real dad.” 

NEXT

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