#Alison is just head and shoulders above everyone else though | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

huxs-waifu · 4 years ago

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BBC Ghosts- Humphrey x OFC - A Real Stand Up Guy

Plot Summery :

**** written and posted pre series 3***

The witch with the hammer returns and the ghosts try to recover both halves of Humphreys body. There be some Shakespeare inspired shenanigans going on. library secrets and Julian causes some mischief. Aka Humphrey has a full on crush.

i had such a great response I started writing a sequel ! all the love for Humphrey, you can always read read saint-like before this as gives a bit more context!

A03 link - https://archiveofourown.org/works/27400879/chapters/66969139

After she had gone. That was it the teasing began. Was quite fun for a day even for Alison which found it amusing that ahead had a crush on a human. Having to explain to Mike when he came in.

"So you know Andy's daughter came today to fix the sofa."

"I take it there were some ghost goings-on. She doesn't want to come back?"

"Oh no the opposite actually which is strange, they all behaved."Mike takes a taste of his tea." and Humphrey has a crush on her." Alison couldn't contain herself and laughed.

Mike spurted his tea over out over the table. "Isn't he the headless one?" Mopping up the tea with his sleeve.

"Yeah, it was due to chair legs and really bad jokes of all things"

Meanwhile, in another part of the house.

"So when is the wedding then Humphrey." Julian jokingly says.

"Oh, a wedding how wonderful! I'll get to be a bridesmaid." Kitty exciting jumps up pushing Humphreys head to roll off.

"There will be no wedding Kathrine, Julian is joking " the captain cuts in to nip it in the bud. "Humphrey is a ghost."

"And only a head" Robin adds in smirking around the room.

"Yeah, she'd want someone whose head and shoulders above the rest." Julian rubs his hands.

"Thata what I'm saying. Not just a head."

Thomas picks Humphrey up again "At least I have someone else who knows the melancholy of unrequited love for eternity. I've started another poem due to reminder o-"

"Ok going to stop you right there. If it means listening to you prattling on I won't mention her ever again" Humphrey replies looking up to the hands around his head.

"Oh, how his heart aches with the anger" Thomas dropping him in frustration.

"Yeah if I had one. Oh, wait I do it's in my body that's gone missing."

"Then we come always reunite you with it. Next time she comes mate " Pat now strolling in.

"It would be nice to at least stand next to her while she works I guess."

"So operation recover body then to start!" The captain getting up and bustling about. "We shall find out what day and time the lady is returning and locate Humphrey body beforehand. One of us must be carrying him at all times."

"Oh yeah because you've all been so good at doing it so far," Humphrey says from the floor.

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"Ok, she gets here at 1300 hours. Which means we have two hours to locate Humphreys body. Pat, I think you should carry Humphreys head as your lest likely to forget him."The captain was strolling around in front of the ghosts.'' If he is not found Pat travels to the library and well get Alison to ferry her into there. There are two 18th century loungers. Should keep her busy.``

"I think Humphrey would prefer to be the one keeping her busy, heh" Julian replies nunghing Robin smirking, Robin giving a smirk back nodding in agreement.

"Animals the lot of you! A gentleman can be in the company of women without drawing attention to himself."Fanny disgustingly replies.

"She may be a witch though not a lady, does the rules still apply?" Mary asks, raising her hand.

"No Mary shes not a witch, she just listens to music like Alison." Pat replies, picking up Humphrey.

"Well if music be the food of love let it play on!" Thomas replies woefully.

" Quite fitting actually Thomas, Act one scene one of 12th night." Humphrey "let's just hope I don't have to do any sword fights."

"So if we can carry on people, time is now of the essence" captain snaps over the top of everyone's off-topic conversation."Robin you look over the garden. Julian, I'll leave you here I think you're not going to be much help."

"But I was going to follow pat and Humphrey! Was hoping to give the old finger a stretch. "

"You can't go messing with her, Julian. She won't come back!"

"He doesn't even know her name let alone if hell see her again."

"You do know her name right, mate?" Pat asks Humphrey off to the side.

"Funny thing is I don't know it, didn't really come up in conversation" Humpfrey rises an eyebrow

"ALISON!!" The captain shouts walking out of the room. "ALISON! This is of upmost importance."

"What's happened now? Alison comes rushing in.

"Humphrey wants to be stood behind watching the witch when she comes."

Alison bursts out in laughter at the double meaning of what Mary explained but brushed it off quick, as not to have to explain to Kitty."Ok, that's the strangest yet somehow sweetest thing I've heard."

"We have an operation to find his body before she comes today. Then they can get married right?" kitty says to stand by Alison swaying her skirts.

"Kitty we just said they can't get married he's a ghost. Plus it would be unlawful if he's still married technically. " Fanny trying to quell kittys excitement

"Off-topic again people! Alison, we realised a key feature in all of -" The captain using his hands and stick to punctuate.

"What's her name?" Humphrey pipes over the captain.

"I suppose no one ever asked. It's Lacey. Her name is Lacey, Humphrey."

Just then they hear some music playing.

“Is that meatloaf ?” pat exclaims.

The ghosts including Alison go to the window its indeed lacey’s car , with the windows down playing meatloaf; Anything For Love doing imaginary drums again. This time in a grey silk jumpsuit and long golden-brown hair tied up in a ponytail.

“Right everyone don't panic . all hands on deck were going to have to split up now to find humphreys body!” the captain frantically states while every one looks out the window still

“Sorry guys but your going to have to do this on your own, i was just on my way out i didn't think she would be here till 1pm like you lot did.” alison adds. “Ill go and let her in.”

“Alison we need her in the library and to stay there for this plan to work.”

Sighing “i can get her into the library but i can stop her from going anywhere else”

“What is she wearing!” fanny exclaims.

“She wears some sorta man's clothes but her face is wearing something like a lady of the night. It's Satan's work.”

“Well I think she looks pretty, it doesn't matter what she looks like to us any way, it's Humphrey that has a crush on her.” kitty smiles down at him, knowing that if he had blood he would blush.

Humphrey who was still being held by pat, is actually hanging below the window frame so just looking at the wall. “ At this rate you lot will have looked at her more than me.Are we doing the plan?”

“Action stations men! And women.” the captain blared walking off into a wall, disappearing. Fanny followed reluctantly.

“This will be a hideous display. I'm going to my room, do not bring her up to look at chair legs!”

“Don't worry Humphrey, I'll go and get her.”

“Ill check the back garden and the ceiler for you Humphrey” kitty saids swaying her skirts, following off after alison.

“Mary, you maybe wanna come into the woods and garden with me?” robin pointing at his chest with a thumb.

“I don't really want to be helping a witch.”

“Ok me look in the garden then.” robin walking out next. Mary despite saying no, seems to still follow him, fiddling with her apron front nervously.

“Ok then boys that leaves us, Thomas, are you going to go to the attic?” Pat questions turning from the window.” we will head to the library.”

“If i must but you must let me recite my poem to you later the one abo-”

“You simping after Alison, yeah we've all hear it mate between you and the headless horseman. I'm fed up with these paranormal romances.” Julian states using his hands to mimic puppets.

“Urm guys we may want to go to the library like now, Alison is coming.” Gulping “I'd forgotten how small she was, I'm going to tower over her.”

“God all you lot keep for getting she can't actually see him.”

Lacey and Alison enter , chatting and approaching them. Alison makes shifting eyes gesturing as if to move along. “So you're not scared of ghosts are you? If I leave you here while i go.”

The small woman chuckles “No its fine i do believe in ghosts, as long as they are friendly. Have I ever told you about the ghost of my rabbit? Quite strange, all the cats react to the same spot!”

“She believes in ghosts you may be in with a chance then if she could see you now shall we move along?”

“Julian there's no rush” alison replays hearing him

“Im sorry?” Lacey turns around looking over one shoulder.

“Oh notting i meant to say there's no rush to get to the library “

“But you said you need to go out ?”

“Yes you're right , just this way” letting her go first waiting for the boys to pass to, Thomas stopping to speak but Alison makes the movement of zipping up your mouth and pointing for him to go through the door frame.

“So here it is the library. I'm sure there's plenty for you to look at.”

“Oh there sure is look at the love seat, im a very happy girl! You dont mind if i look at the books to i see a copy of shakespeare.”

“Sure read as much as you like.”

“Alison, over here.”

“What Humphrey?” she says in a low tone , while Lacey is distracted, kneeling by the seat caressing the chair leg. Julian, having followed them in looks at her.

“Thats a tad weird isn't it, although good stroking technique gave you that!”

“Shh julian”

“Ask which Play is her favourite.” humphrey asks while pat is holding him up to Alison's height.

“Which is your favourite Shakespeare then?”

“Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit” she laughs “Twelfth Night if you must know. Its very underrated!”

“I'll leave you to it then!” Alison turns to go to the door, and whispers in a serious tone to Julian “Behave!”

“I will! “ Lacey says off to the side, as she gets up from her knees on to her hands.

“Uh, she's doing the downward dog. “ Julian says cocking his head to the side “ I remember a time in 1988 when-”

“Yeah stop right there mate.” pat replays, watching her go to the bookshelf. As she had mentioned earlier when straight to the volume of Shakespeare. Pulling out the volume the books next to it tumbled, falling sideways in the empty slot. Propping back up she looks at it taking it as well from the self.

“Pat mate you cant put me on the sofa can you?” Humphrey glances upwards to the scout leader.

“Sure thing.” placing him down just as Lacey sat playing with the smaller book.

“Diary of Miss Featherstone.” thumbing the pages.

“I knew Miss Featherstone, '' Humphrey listens excitedly. “I always wondered if she knew about my beheading she was gone before it happened pretty sad actually that's why I was beheaded they thought it was me that had made her go missing.”

“You've never told us your death story!” Pat exclaims.

“Oh yeah, it was quite a scandal. My wife went missing too. I was innocent but of course, the court blamed me as I was the last person to be seen with her.”

Julian was looking over Lacey's shoulder at the diary “Core what saucy details are we going to find.”

Lacey's fingers traced the paragraph.

“Today is the day. I feel sorry for throwing Sir Humphrey into this but its the only way I and Angelia can be together. He doesn't understand her as I do. We will be in France next month and I can't wait. Once she has got some of his clothing we'll leave.”

“Hang on, I have clothing that went missing when we travelled here.” If Humphrey's face could drain more colour it would. realising what had happened. “Angelia was the one they saw leave dressed as me with Miss Featherstone. So I made it look like they had both disappeared but I'd returned to the house. I could have kept my head!!! 500 years I could have kept my bloody head”

Lacey shut the volume on the back and it had VI in the leather, getting up from the sofa to browse the shelves for similar-looking copies. “There's one up there,” Pat points out. “Julian can knock it down here, even if she sees it she can’t reach it.”

“And what is in it for me hey?”

“You can have my choice slot,” Humphrey mentions off-hand.

“ Two tv slots.”

“What! it's only knocking a book over mate.”

“Ok, then one tv slot over every book I have to knock out.”

“Deal now get to it before she moves section.” Humphrey watching over her movements, quite lovingly. Unknowingly to her she just cracked something that had been on his mind for over 500 years.

Julian moves next to her, holding his wrist in one hand the other with a finger pushing between the books. Then like a domino effect one by one it toppled book after book started to fall onto the girl. Humphrey and pat could only watch as a good five-hit her in the face one after the other pushing her back and hitting the floor, banging her out cold.

“Oh No! what have you done Julian?”

“Well, I make that 20 books so 20 slots?”

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Meanwhile in the cellar.

“And then he looked at her with misty eyes; it was all very romantic.” Kitty finishes up her speech. Most of the faces gawking at her.

“That's great, Miss but why are you down here?” One of the plague ghosts piped up.

“Oh, that's right. The other half of his body isn't down here?” Collectively all the ghosts shake their heads, in one movement. “ Oh phooey”

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Kitty walked through the door of the cellar to see a flash of red waddle pass. “Captain! Captain, I think I've found him, Captain!” Kitty screams as the red disappears through the front door, Chasing after it.

“Don't panic Catherine!” the captain seemed to appear as well.

Mary was out on the gravel looking inside Lacey's car while Robin was attempting to run at it. “She left her witches tools in the back here, she was not prepared like last time. Bad omen for her”

“Mary watch this!” Robin launches himself at the car but runs straight through into Humphreys body knocking back through the door. Fanny watches from her window just rolling her eyes at the scene below before turning to descend down to give them an earful. Kitty yelps as the body crash in between her and The Captain landing on its knees robins head through the door.

“Balley hell robin good show!” The captain regains his stance, as Fanny and mary both arrive. “Quick to the library, everyone.” hooking one of the arms. “Robin you take the other one, ladies you flank behind in case we lose grip!”

And so the party travelled, the boys heaved the body heels dragging on the floor with the women coming up behind the rear to the library door. To find Thomas by the door. “There's been a great tragedy in the house!”

Pat sticks his head out “great you're here just in time! We've got a bit of a situation!” all the ghosts come in through the door to find the scene before them robin still having a grip on the body.

“What the balley hell happened here!”

“I only did what they told me to do! Push a book out.”

“Yeah that's the problem it was only meant to be one book, I'd like my body if you have it “ Humphrey retorts from the sofa. Robin and Thomas taking it over, fitting the headless Tudor back together as the others look over the body. The three of them joined in.

“Well she's still alive mate, we'll have to wait until Alison is back.”

“I'll stay with her like the plan was.” Humphrey kneeling beside her with one hand gripping the back of his neck.

“Well wait outside won't we Julian?” Pat says loudly to gain his attention as the bustle out of the room.

“What if his head falls off on her? Although come to think of it I don't think hed mind falling on her, if you know what i mean” Julian goes to follow, when a sudden sucking in sound fills the room, like someone's taken a sharp breath.

“Holy cow, who are you!” Lacey sits up to find a tall velvet dressed Tudor looking over her.

“Please don't be scared you can see me?” He winches

“Us you mean” Julian stopping just at the door

“Ok, there's a man in his pants in the library too!”

“Shh, shh is ok Alison can see us too your not mad.” Humphrey tries to reassure her “ I'm her friend that came up with the joke.”

“You're the one that came up with that, must be why she warned me about ghosts today, lucky I'm not afraid of ghosts,” She says pleasantly surprised. A beat of silence not knowing what to say next falls across the room. Lacey looked up at Humphrey studying him, grinning. His mouth opens and closes trying to process his crush smiling at him, he could now actually talk to her with nothing witty to say so just said;

"Tell me one thing you don't speak French do you?"

"Whoo, a terrible chat-up line!" Julian says causing Lacey to look around Humphrey.

"Well I haven't had practice in 500 years," Humphrey replies over his shoulder

"Pardon?" She says with an accent, His eyes go wide in horror. "I'm joking I was crap at French in school. The most I can remember is, Tu Mere." Puts two fingers up at Julian “your mum or as they say in Romeo and Juliet I bite they thumb at thy"

"I'd ring your neck for that, women!"Julian shook his wrist in a boxing motion.

"Yeah over my dead body that's happening," Humphrey replies quickly

She laughs loudly like she did with the chair joke "Touchy subject for you I take it you know with the" gesturing to her neck, Laughing again.

"He's just a witty fool." The left side of his lip and moustache quivering slightly.

Julian sighs and leaves behind the door with the others “Terrible jokes, the both of you!”

“Thank you.”

“For what ?”

“For laughing at me. You've put my mind at rest all these years that I'm actually funny, oh and you have a great taste in chair legs”

“Well it is an acquired taste, the splinters are a nightmare to pick out of your teeth though” That makes Humphrey laugh this time, his head sliding a little and his hand pausing it. “If you weren't a Tudor ghost, I'd ask you out for a drink. That would give you even more of a laugh watching me get drunk.”

“Yeah sorry about that,’ look for me tomorrow and you will find me a grave man’.”

“Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio act 3 scene 1.” Rubbing her head again and yawning. All Humphrey can do is smile at her again, not actually knowing what to do next. It was a stranger situation he expected to now be in.

“So apart from your love of chair legs and Shakespeare, anything else of interest I should know about the pretty person in front of me?” Qiuping as best he could. She now smiled back at him, showing a tooth

“Oh god don't start doing sonnets, you've already won me over with the Mercutio quote!” Blushing, looking down dusting herself off

He chokes “what? You liked me just from that!”

“You're clearly a man of great taste. If you can make a girl laugh, there's no need for flattery as well.” she reaches out to pat at his leg and swipes through. “Ah yeah forgot about that part, I can't touch you. Wouldn't be appropriate to touch your hoes the first date anyway” giggling after the quip. Humphrey getting it as well after a minute or to chuckling along.

“Where were you 500 years ago, I would have loved you laughing at my jokes. I love your quick wit to”

“I don't think they would have been ready for me 500 years ago even if I was alive. You are way ahead of your time for liking me” winking, then laughing again, hooting echoing around the library

“I would have courted you in a heartbeat if you laughed with me like that. Even if you do add in the odd head joke!” Sighing, clasping the hobbling head at the neck, putting his hand on her knee if it had not fallen through.” you've taught me today something I never knew, my wife was the reason I'm like this. If I knew she wanted to leave me I would still be a whole man.”

“Look at it this way though, if you hadn't had your head chopped off you wouldn't be talking to me right now would you? not to blow my own trumpet of course.”

“I think life or death in my case has a funny way of working like that.”

“Everything in the universe has a funny way of working.” smiling up at him one last time her eyes crinkling ”you know maybe those books did hit me harder than expected. I'm feeling very sleepy all of a sudden.”

Outside the door, the others are listening in amazed that there's another living human that can now see them. “Maybe they need things like music playing like that film Alison showed us.” Kitty perks up.

“What that fish lady one?” mary said disgruntled

“Oh you mean the Little mermaid,” Pat replies

“I don't know about fish woman but I've definitely seen some lady who was half animal. Hair all over” Robin adds.

“Quieten down you lot I can't hear what being said”

At that moment kitty comes into the room, after being tired of listening through the door with all the other ghosts following. “THIS is so exciting Humphrey, she can see you now like Alison, and likes you, Means you could get married and she can live here and-”

“Kitty, there will not be a wedding!” they all say in unison.

“Oh there's more of you? Well that's something to tell the grandkids. If I had any, I really am starting to feel sleepy now.” yawns, the concussion setting in again, she kinda faints back into the fallen books, her head hitting against hand on a copy of local history and her hand falling on the works of Shakespeare.

“Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms.” Everyone turns to look at Thomas. “Well, I thought it was fitting!”

“Lacey! Lacey?” Alison was patting her face “Are you ok Lacey?”

Lacey stirred looking around the room. To see Alison kneeled beside her, Humphrey was too but unbeknown to her. she couldn't see him now. Clutching at her head a noticeable bump was now showing.

“She is awake again? she could see me earlier she could see all of us.” Humphrey tries to explain to Alison.

“I had the strangest thing happened there were others in the Ghosts if you will.” sitting up. “Alison, when did you get back?”

“You've had some kind of knock, Lacey are you sure your ok?”

“Yeah, apart from the bump. there was another person here with me. I met your friend the one that told the joke ”

Alison gave her a sympathetic smile, whether to tell her the truth or not. “I think I've got a lot to tell you, your phone sent a voicemail I heard you speaking with someone. That's why I came back.”

“I don't know that's happening, that's Alison saying?” Kitty with her ear against the door.

“Nothing of note I guess, it not like that lacey is dobbin me in”

“Yeah but we can �� Pat adds

“Can I listen to the voicemail?” Lacey asks quizzically.

Alison fumbles with her phone, Humphrey still looking on at her “I told you she could actually see us, She cant now. Just my luck, the first person to notice me in 500 years and it had a time limit. That or you've got to slap her with a book every time.” Alison gives him a weak smirk over her shoulder.

“Here this is what it said,” Tapping it to start :

"Tell me one thing you don't speak French do you?" "Well, I haven't had practice in 500 years." "Pardon?"...

“That's it that the conversation I remember having with him the Tudor in red”

Humphrey pushes his head back on from slipping off again and his eyes go wide Alison turning to look at him her eyes also widening.”So you can hear his voice on the phone as well?”

“But she can't see me?” The cogs turning in Humphreys's face.

“Are you sure you can hear him?”

“Yes, I'm certain, I can't hear the other one with no pants though.”

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“Hi Mike!” As he entered the kitchen. Lacey had a bandage wrapped around her head after much pleading from Captain and Pat wanting to use their first aid training for the first time in years. She and Alison both stood lent on the counter sipping at tea.

“Lacey you're still here, what happened to your head?” picking up a bourbon from the table

“Funny story, Humphrey is here too by the way.” Mike Freezes, splays his arms out and starts lifting his feet really slowly like he's trying not to step on something or there's a mouse going to jump out at any point.

“Don't panic mike you're not going to hit him.” Humphrey was seated at the table holding on to his head.

“So lacey can see them to now?”

“I can't see them I can hear them though.” Giggling, fluttering her lashes in the direction of the chair. “Here we've got an experiment to do.” Setting down her phone on the table leaning over it. Alison tried not to laugh as Humphrey would clearly be blushing at the girl who was inches from him resting her arms on the table “Hello Humphrey.” pressing play on the recording equipment.

“Hello, Mike!” Humphrey replies out loud.

Stopping the device Lacey, presses playback “Hello Mike!” a male voice coming through the phone. Mike jumping out of his skin in shock.

“Well, that clears that up then! Humphrey here can be heard on recording” Laughing Alison turns from the three of them. Mike still in shock sits across the table from the ghost. “I'll make you a cuppa” Going to the kettle.

lacey whispering something, and pressing her phone again. Humphrey nodding along with her. Alison could hear Lacey laugh again behind her.

“Alison!”

“God kitty don't pop up like that, are you ok?”

“I was just wondering if this means I've got a new friend?”

“Yes I suppose you have Kitty, it's nice isn't it!”

“Even nicer for Humphrey, Do you think they'll fall in love?”

“Uh maybe.”

“So ill get to be a bridesmaid again!”

Alison looks over her shoulder, If Lacey could see Humphrey was holding his head near hers their foreheads would be touching, with both of them laughing. “I think you might be”.

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harryskalechips · 5 years ago

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The long way home

a/n This is going to be a lil story I don’t know how long yet tbh but I hope you enjoy.

Harry meets a girl named Alison on a train ride back home. Little did he know that Alison was going to be very well involved in his life

word count: 1627

The train to the city was right on schedule as I looked at my phone. I’ve been sitting here for a while as I patiently waited to catch my ride home. As the train blew its whistle as it appeared in front of me, I take my duffle bag and enter noticing a man sitting right beside my assigned seat.

“Hey.” I smile softly and put my bag on the shelves above us. He gave me a slight smile back and continued reading from his phone. He was cute though, severely. His eyes seemed to have a glimmer as he had his hair freshly cut. He was wearing a coat because of the weather and he seemed to love the trend of wearing Chelsea boots.

It was intimidating sitting beside a cute boy especially since I know I’m a three in most likely everyone’s eyes.

The train has been in motion for a while and we were almost halfway there to our destination. I was reading a memoir that caught my eye in the book store the other day. While the man beside me spoke up. “I read that. It’s really good.”

“Thanks for telling me, I was really about to stop reading it after this train ride.” he laughs and puts down his phone.

“I think when he starts talking about the loss of his father, the emotion starts rising and it makes readers more attracted to his life story but that’s just in my opinion.”

“It was pretty sad huh?”

“Yeah, I think many of us can relate to what he says even though we may have never experienced grief.”

“I’m Alison, by the way.” I smile and put down my book, giving him my hand to shake.

“Harry.”

“So do you live in the city or are you just visiting?”

“I actually live in the city, went to visit my old home in the suburbs to pack some things so I can sell it.”

“Really, wow. Guess the city life always drags you back in huh?”

“No,” He laughs and repositions himself in his seat. “My divorce was actually just finalized so I decided to move back closer to my office and just raise my son there.”

“Oh, I’m sorry about that.” In reality, I didn’t know what else to say. How do you respond to someone and their failed marriage?

“It’s alright. It’s been about 2 years already since my wife and I changed.”

“How old is your son?”

“He’s three actually.

“Aw, he must be adorable.” I face myself more towards him. I guess I wanted to know more about who this man was.

“Do you live in the city?” He smiles at me with interest growing in his eyes.

“I’m about to. I just got an apartment with my best friend and then I gotta look for a job.” I close my eyes for a second. “Do you think it’s hard to find work in the city?”

“No, not at all but what is your experience?” Little did I know he was interviewing me right on the spot.

“Well, I was a receptionist at my mother’s clinic and I have a degree in sociology.”

“Where are you planning on applying?” “Anywhere that can help me pay my rent, to be honest.” He nods his head and takes a card from his phone.

“Here,” The card had Styles. Inc. bolded at the top. It had Harry’s name along with what I assume is his last name.

“CEO?” My eyes widened.

“Why? You surprised?” He smirks and rests his hand on his chin. “Just call the office number and tell my secretary you want to make an appointment about the Job interview posted a couple of days ago.”

“Wow, thank you. It means a lot.”

“I can’t guarantee you a job but this is the most I can do to help you out.” I smile and put the card away. “So, tell me more about yourself.”

“This better not count as part of my interview.”

“No, it won’t” We laugh together.

The rest of the train ride was light and easy as I soaked up Harry’s presence. He was very charismatic and I can see why he’s successful in his career path. We talked more about his son who I found out was named Dylan and things we both like to do. By the time I knew it we were in the city.

“It was nice meeting you, Alison.” He smiles and gives me a side hug as we exited the station. I noticed he had a driver waiting for him. As I watched him get in the car, I moved my eyes quickly away hoping he would not catch me staring at him. As he drove off I knew it was time for me to catch a cab.

“So he’s single? Maybe you should try and get with him.” Penny teases as she unloads the glass cups. I was stuck removing stickers from the new glass plates we had just bought.

“As if.” I laughed. “He’s a dad. He’s probably into women who have children too or at least know how to take care of one.”

“You took care of Toby pretty well.” She shrugs her shoulders.

“Well, I only watched Toby for a couple of hours.” Toby was Penny’s nephew.

“Look at the time, you should get ready for that interview.” She glances at our new clock. I push myself off the floor and stretch.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Good luck.” Penny wishes me as I head to my room. When I called Sabrina Harry’s secretary, she told me the job interview was for a personal assistant. I’m not sure if it was for Harry but I had a strong gut it was. It’s been a couple of days since I’ve seen him and I couldn’t stop thinking about what a catch he was. As much as I needed this job, it scared me about how strong of attraction I had for him.

I dressed as appropriate as I could as I left in rush out of my apartment. The cab dropped me off 25 minutes later to this big building. I knew Styles inc. was a popular company that manufactured computer parts but I didn’t realize how important they were in the secondary sector. Apparently, they manufacture other things and are branching into the car business as well.

“Hi, I have an appointment with Harry Styles,” I ask the front desk. She smiles softly and directs me to the elevator that leads me to the 17th floor.

As I stepped out of the elevator. Two women were dressed perfectly sitting at a marble desk, answering phone calls. The room was beautiful with a modern sleek look.

“Hello, I’m Alison Kingsley. I have an interview with Mr. Styles.”

“Hello, I’m Sabrina. Mr. Styles has actually been waiting for you so I’ll let you in now.” I nod my head silently and continue to follow her to a set of doors. She knocks and waits for his cue so she can let me in.

“Ms. Kingsley.” Harry smiles as he nods for Sabrina to leave. He was dressed perfectly in a white pinned up long sleeve polo and fancy pants. He looked so hot.

“Hello, Mr. Styles.” I pinch my lips together, weird how I usually think of calling him Harry first.

“Please sit down.” He smirks and makes his way to his seat. He bites his pen as he reads through my resumé. “So, you’re 24.”

“Yes.” He looks up at me and places the folder on his desk. He folds his hands together and stretches his neck a bit.

“Are you planning on going back to school? What do you want to be?”

“No, I’m not. I was planning on being a social worker for children but I’m not sure at the moment if it’s the right career for me.”

“And this job, do you see it being something that will work for you in the long run?”

“As of now, I truly believe that it’s a perfect match. I’m looking for something to do as I make a decision where I want to go on my career path. Being a personal assistant may seem like an easy job but I believe skills I’ll gain while working for whoever it may be is essential to where I want to go in the future.”

“You’ll actually be working for me. As I just moved into my new penthouse. I need someone to help me keep track of what’s going on in my personal life and a bit here too.” “Alright.”

“You won’t need to take care of Dylan but I do expect you get to know him and grow familiar with him since you’ll likely be with me wherever I go.” He smiles softly, reassuring me.

“Okay.” It seemed weird that he was expecting a lot of things from me especially since I wasn’t hired yet for the job.

“You won’t need to dress formally all the time but don’t appear in the office in casual wear. I also want to inform you that your working hours are 10-6 from Monday to Friday.”

“Okay.” He bites his lip and smiles at me. I give him a confused look because I have no idea what is going on.

“Alison, you got the job.”

“What. I- You barely asked me any questions that reflect my experience.”

“Its a job as a personal assistant. I don’t think it matters too much. Plus, after our hour of talking on the train, I think I know you a bit better and I feel comfortable working with you the most.”

“Wow, thank you, Harry. I mean-”

“Call me Harry.” He laughs.

Part 2

#Harry Styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles angst #harry styles fluff #harrystyles oneshots #one direction #ceo!harry #the long way home

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imaginedisish · 6 years ago

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I Think We’re Alone Now (Five Hargreeves x Reader) (The Umbrella Academy)

A/N: BOY AM I MAD. SO this got deleted...presumably because @staff is trash and someone was like “EW SHE’S WRITING FOR A FIFTEEN YEAR OLD!” News flash AIDAN GALLAGHER IS A YEAR BELOW ME IN HIGH SCHOOL. I AM A JUNIOR. HE IS A SOPHOMORE. I JUST TURNED 17. HE IS TURNING 16 IN A FEW MONTHS....IM NOT SOME CREEPY CHILD PEDOPHILE. AND YA KNOW WHAT, THERE IS NOTHING SEXUAL ABOUT THIS IMAGINE! It is PURE FLUFF, and Five and the reader are BOTH 17 IN THIS AU!! I AM NOT SEXUALIZING HIM IN ANY WAY HOLY CRAP. Wow...I’m clearly mad...um...sorry?? I’m just honestly exhausted from my dance competition today. I WON FIRST OVERALL THOUGH...SO YAY! I might write a small headcanon for tonight...but I’m so tired...I might have to take a short break from writing until Sunday, since I’m competing at this competition all weekend. I’ll keep everyone updated. So, for now, here’s a repost of I Think We’re Alone Now...enjoy

Summary: You and Five are seventeen, and have just started dating, but you feel the need to hide your relationship from the rest of the Hargreeves. One night, you decide to sneak into Five’s room, and chaos somewhat ensues…

Warnings: MEGA FLUFFFFFFF AHHhhhh! Language, awkward reference to sex from Luther bc Luther is Luther…smh Luther.

Word Count: 2,883

Stars twinkle brightly above you, dancing whimsically in the dark night sky. The crisp autumn breeze passes through you, sending a chill down your spine. You shiver as you stare up at the brick building in front of you. Your heart begins to beat rapidly as you contemplate what is was you were about to do. You were going to sneak into Five’s room.

Five had told you, “It’s the second window from the left, south side of the Academy, third floor. Come around 9:30, okay?” No matter how nervous you were about the matter, you simply couldn’t say no.

You knew you’d have to be discrete, since the rest of the Hargreeves were unaware of your relationship with Five. They knew you were close friends with him; you were friends with the entire family, especially since they were helping you develop your power, levitation. However, because you had grown so close with the family, you and Five agreed that his siblings couldn’t find out about your relationship.

In truth, there was no ‘known’ force stopping you and Five from being together. You were both 17, you were both supers, and you were both extremely similar. You liked the same music: David Bowie, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, and The Strokes. You were both unbelievably witty, as you constantly bounced remarks and comebacks off of one another. Most importantly, you liked each other. In fact, you thought there was a chance you could love the boy.

But still, you had agreed with Five that no one could know. Maybe it was the fear of judgement that created the secret, or possibly the fear of disapproval. You knew that Five’s siblings had developed a liking to you, as you had essentially become a part of the family, but you weren’t sure if they would like you as Five’s girlfriend.

So, over the past month, as opposed to going on dates like normal couples do, you and Five had snuck around the city together, going on dates to Griddy’s, and having picnics in the park. Sometimes you two secretly hid away in his room, chatting and listening to music. You hated hiding things from Alison, Diego, Luther and Klaus, but as of right now it seemed as though it had to be done.

A cold breeze snaps you back to reality. The wind begins to pick up again, grabbing at your green, turtle neck sweater. You pull at your sweater, softly pressing it down against your body as your hair begins to take flight next. You groan in annoyance, wanting to be inside with Five instead of out in the cold.

You take a deep breath. I can do this, You think to yourself, yanking up the right sleeve of your sweatshirt, and then nervously scratching your forearm. While you were growing better at controlling your abilities, you weren’t always able to hold them for an extraneous period of time. Levitating yourself was also something that challenged you. More often than not, you would usually fall once you were around four feet in the air.

Obviously, that was nowhere near enough for a journey up the side of the Academy. The Academy was massive, and it’s size still amazed you, regardless of the fact that you had been here millions of times before.

You search the ground for a pebble, so you could let know Five you had arrived in a more romantic way, as opposed to sending him a text message. You quickly find a perfectly smooth, grey, round pebble next to your feet. You pick up the pebble and aim towards Five’s window. With a light throw and a tap, the pebble reaches Five’s window. The action was a bit “Romeo and Juliet,” (minus the double suicide at the end, of course), but it was fitting in the moment.

Seconds later, a pair of dark blue eyes meet your own. Five smirks at first, but his smile quickly widens, almost as if the longer he stared at you, the happier he became. Your heart flutters in your chest, and you smile back. He begins to crack open the window, his bangs falling in front of his eyes in the process.

“Come on up,” Five says loud enough for you to understand him, but low enough for no one else to hear him. You nod your head, swallowing harshly, nerves rushing through your body.

You close your eyes, imagining yourself floating in the air. Slowly, your feet lift up from the concrete. The wind swirls around you, helping you grow higher. You open your eyes, noticing that you were just one floor away from where Five’s room resided. You push the air down with the palms of your hands, and you levitate up to the next level.

I did it, I actually did it, You think to yourself, pride swelling in your gut as you finally reach Five’s window. After so much tiring training, and so much effort, you were finally able to fly.

There was Five, his smile growing wider now that you were face to face. His piercing blue eyes twinkle in the moonlight, just as the stars had been. No, in fact…his eyes were more brilliant than the stars. Stars held so much importance, serving as guides for the lost, wish granters for those who longed for something more…but that was what Five was for you. You didn’t need the metaphorical presence of a constellation. You already had that, wrapped up in the package of a 17 year old boy that you were growing to love.

He extends a hand out to you, inviting you inside. “Grab my hand, I’ve got you. You won’t fall, I promise.” He says. You fly closer to him in response, lifting your arm towards Five as he takes your hand in his.

However, just as you had been doing so well, a sensation of weakness overcomes you. You feel yourself beginning to lose control as you attempt to change your position, as to fly into the room horizontally.

“Shit,” You mutter, your eyes searching Five’s in fear. “I don’t think I can control this any longer,” Your voice is shaky, and your entire body begins to tremble. You had never flown for this long, and it was becoming too much to handle.

“Yes you can, (Y/N),” Five says, squeezing your hand tighter in his own. He tugs on your hand slightly, helping you get a bit farther inside the room. At this point, your shoulders are through the window, but that was it. Thoughts race around your mind as your powers weaken even further.

Suddenly, the pressure you normally feel between yourself and the air around you begins to fade away.

“Five!” You scream, as you feel yourself starting to fall. You grab onto the windowsill, attempting to hold yourself up. Five grabs onto your arms, pulling you quickly, yet carefully into his room. With one final pull from Five, you fall onto the floor of the room.

Five drops down to where you fell, reaching out his arms to help you stand up. “Are you okay?” He asks, concern prominently filling his voice as you stand to the ground with his help.

You take a second to catch your breath. “I’m fine, just a bit shaken up is all,” You say, smiling lightly. “And I’m much better now…” You pause, a bit nervous to finish your sentence. “You know, since I’m with you.”

Five smiles widely. “That was cheesy, but I like it, and only like it because I like you.” Your heart does a back flip in your chest at the sound of his words. Now that things have calmed down a bit, you recognize how close you are to Five. It feels as though you’re an inch away from Five’s face, since neither of you had moved from where he had helped you stand up.

“You can’t call me cliche or cheesy if you’re saying things like that,” You state sarcastically, crossing your arms in protest. Five steps a bit closer, uncrossing your arms as he takes your hands in his. He was never like this with anyone else. He was usually so cold, so distant, so sarcastic with his siblings. But with you, Five was kind, sweet, and overall an entirely different person. You two could sit on the edge of his bed, listening to music for hours, his fingers carefully combing through your hair. The only time either of you got up was to change the record that was spinning on the turntable in the left corner of Five’s room.

Five takes another step closer to you. He studies your face for a bit, his eyes often landing on your lips. This makes you a bit nervous, since you two hadn’t kissed yet. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to. God, did you want to. It was more or less that you were scared. You had never kissed anyone before, and quite honestly, this was your first ‘real’ relationship. You didn’t want the kiss to be bad, and you especially didn’t want to disappoint Five.

With one more step, Five becomes so close to your face that his breath tickles your nose a bit. He looks deeply into your eyes. “Can I just kiss you already?” Five asks, smirking a bit.

Your heart practically thumps out of your chest as you nod your head. Shit, this is it, You think to yourself.

Suddenly, Five’s lips come crashing down on your own. His lips are warm, and surprisingly sweet, moving slowly against yours. You hum a bit, beginning to feel more comfortable. Five smiles against your lips before pressing another soft kiss onto them.

Then, to your dismay, Five pulls away from you, leaving a slightly cold sensation where he had once been. You wanted more, but you knew you would just have to wait for the next time you had the opportunity to kiss Five.

Five grins a bit, his hands still holding yours. “You’re absolutely incredible, (Y/N).” Heat quickly rushes to your cheeks, and you can feel yourself becoming red. Five laughs at your new color, his dark, chocolate bangs bouncing against his forehead in the process.

“Don’t laugh!” You jokingly reprimand.

“Too bad, I already did. You’re just…” Five pauses a bit, anxiously scratching the back of his neck. “…well you’re cute when you get all frazzled like that,” Five mumbles, hoping you can’t hear him as he lets go of your hands and walking over to one of his many bookshelves. He pulls out a record from the shelf. He picked out one of your favorite records, ‘Bookends’ by Simon and Garfunkel.

“Is that new? I didn’t think you had Bookends,” You question.

Five can’t help but smirk. “I may have gotten it because of you,” He says softly, walking over to brown turntable in the corner. He takes the record out of it’s sleeve, and carefully places it on the turntable. He turns the machine on, and the record begins to spin. He slowly allows the needle to come down on the record, and “Bookends Theme,” begins to play.

There were no lyrics to the song, yet there was something so romantic about the incredibly short melody. Maybe it was the perfect plucking of the guitar strings, or maybe it was simply the chord progression itself. Regardless, the song made your heart flutter in your chest, more than it already was. Five walks over to his bed, and takes a seat on the edge. He pats the spot next to him, inviting you to sit with him. You smile, and walk over to the bed.

As you sit down, Five instantly raps an arm around your waist. Your head rests against Five’s shoulder, and you close your eyes. You never wanted this moment to end. Everything seemed so absolutely perfect.

Five began to lean back towards the bed, and you followed him, your back eventually crashing down onto the bed. You push yourself up farther so your feet are no longer hanging off the bed, and Five does the same. Five wraps his arms around you, pulling you into his chest. Your eyes now struggle to stay open, as you hear the sound of sleep calling your name. You allow yourself to give in, closing your eyes tightly.

You’re still awake as ‘Old Friends’ begins to play. The song is soft and calm. You listen closely to Five’s heart beat, which in contrast with the song is incredibly loud and fast. You open your eyes, looking up at Five.

“Are you okay? Your heart is practically beating out of your chest,” You say, concern heavy in your voice, picking up your head slightly to get a better look at Five’s face. Five’s piercing blue eyes find yours.

He swallows harshly. “I’m fine, it’s just,” He pauses for a second, contemplating his words as he looks up at the ceiling above. “Having you here with me, like this, I’m nervous…I guess…” Five trails off. “Having you here is exciting, it’s special.”

You smile resting your head back down on his chest. You close your eyes again, feeling at peace. “Hey Five?” You whisper.

“Yeah, (Y/N)?” Five responds.

“I like you, a lot,” You say, a smile spreading across your face.

“I-,”

Then, abruptly, Five is cut off by a loud knock at the door. You and Five practically jump up from where you had been laying down.

“Five! Turn your music off. It’s too late for this shit!” You hear Diego call out from the other side of the door. You and Five say nothing as Five rushes over to the record player to turn the music off. “Also, did you take my comb again?”

“No I didn’t take your fucking comb, Diego!” Five shouts back, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t believe you,” Diego says angrily. “I’m coming in to find it!”

“Shit!” Five mutters, his eyes widening with fear.

“What are we going to do?” You ask as the knob of the door twists, and the door creeks open. There’s nowhere to hide. You’re absolutely screwed.

Diego steps through the door, his eyes instantly landing on you. “Five, what’s (Y/N) doing in your room at 10 o’clock at night?” His eyes deeply cut through Five’s soul. Five takes a deep breath, preparing himself to explain the truth to Diego.

“Well, um, you see-,”

Klaus pops his head through the door. “Where did the Simon and Garfunkel go? I was having a good-,” Klaus stops talking as his eyes land on you. “Uh oh looks like we’ve go two troublesome teens on our hands, now don’t we?” Klaus cackles like a hyena.

Five scoffs. “Don’t you have some ouija board to be talking to right about now?” Five says, annoyed, taking a step towards Klaus.

Klaus crosses his arms against his chest. “You know what, just for that,” Klaus cups his hands, bringing them next to his mouth as if he was going to call a group of children to dinner. “Luther! Allison! Clean up on aisle ‘teenage love’! Immediate assistance required! Thank you!” He brings his hands back down, slapping them against the side of his thighs.

Five responds by showing Klaus his middle finger.

Seconds later, Luther and Allison are standing at the door. Luther’s jaw drops to the ground, and Alison begins to laugh lightly.

“Come on, you guys didn’t see this coming?” Allison asks, laughing still.

“Quite honestly, I suppose it was bound to happen eventually,” Klaus agrees. Luther and Diego nod along to Klaus’s point.

“I mean, do we let them have their privacy?” Diego asks, leaning over to Luther. Luther shrugs his shoulders.

“I guess so, but clothing stays on! Got it?” Luther commands. Five’s cheeks grow red with embarrassment.

“No shit Sherlock,” Five says, rolling his eyes.

“Alright, let’s leave them alone, boys,” Allison says, pushing her brothers out of the room.

“But I wanted to babysit!” Klaus exclaims, and you can’t help but let out a laugh. Allison is the last person out. She shuts the door behind her.

“I’m so sorry about that,” Five says, sitting back down on the edge of the bed.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” You say, a smile spreading across your face. Five lays back down, and you follow suit, reverting back to how you and Five had been laying down before. You rest your head on Five’s chest, his heart still beating just as quickly as it had been before.

“So before, you didn’t get to finish what you were saying,” You say to Five. Suddenly, his heart begins to beat faster.

He takes a deep breath. “Well,” He pauses, “I like you too, (Y/N).” Five responds. You can’t see his face, but you know he’s smiling. “I like you a lot. In fact, I think I might like you more than anything else on this planet.” His heart is thumping wildly against his chest now. He presses a kiss to the top of your head, his fingers combing gently through your hair.

“I like being here,” You whisper softly.

“I like having you here,” Five responds. You can’t help but smile. You close your eyes yet again, falling asleep in Five’s arms.

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shea-morgan · 4 years ago

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Discord Thread

WHO: Jace & Shea ( @jace-matthews )

WHEN: August 11th ish??

WHAT: Jace gets Shea a room to spend the night after bailing him out of jail

TRIGGER WARNINGS: mention of suicide/death & the knife incident

MENTIONS: @lorencourtier @warmvlbes @romanbeckett @aaronhart93 @beatrizgrey @alison-haynes @luca-regio @malakhai-ozera I think that’s everyone?

Shea. Being arrested was not even rock bottom. Being sentenced to a year in prison with bail posted at more money than he'd ever seen in his life was not rock bottom. It almost felt like it. But Shea honestly felt almost too relieved to be stuck here. It was a chance to just be disconnected from the world. Not have to go home to his mother. He honestly could have cried from relief if it weren't for the dream he had both nights spent in the cell. Waking him up in cold sweats and a loss for any humane hope for himself. Until anonymous payed his bail a few days later & he was released just like that. Of course with probation and some hefty papers about going to AA and looking to get therapy. And so the real rock bottom began.... After his shitty attempted at trying to catch a train out of here and running into Khai, he knew his own circumstances were so much worse. He refused to go home. It was now sundown and was still sitting on a park bench with his dead phone and envelope full of his belongings. There was a 5 dollar bill in his wallet, and even though his stomach was growling for food, he couldn't muster up the nerve to buy even a slice of pizza.

Jace Jace was waiting for a train himself and looked over when he noticed that Shea was out. He took a deep breath, realizing who it was and walked over, happy to see him but also, upset with everything that happened. He took a seat next to Shea, knowing they used to be best friends. His hands were in his pockets but eventually he mustered up the courage to actually reach out and touched his shoulder, looking over at him. "Hey."

Shea. He was really contemplating making this bench his bed for the night. He was starring at the opposite wall, his mind in the void at the moment before he felt someone sit down next to him. He still couldn’t tear his eyes away from starring at nothing now until he flinched when Jace touched his shoulder. He turned his head to look at him. “Hey,” he said quietly, looking him up and down like he couldn’t believe he was actually just sitting next to him like this.

Jace He could see the hurt in his eyes and it killed Jace. Maybe those feelings were not all gone like he thought. It was easy when they weren't talking but now, not so much. He swallowed hard as he looked at him, his eye bruised, and he just looked so down. Jace didn't know what else to do except to pull him in for a hug. "You're okay." He said to him lowly. "It's going to be okay."

Shea. Shea had never been vulnerable like this before. He really had absolutely nothing anymore. No job, no money, nothing. And then the second hug of the day came, and Shea tried so hard to hold himself together. What was it about these hugs? Maybe that’s why he never got close to people. And the optimism Jace seemed to have? Made it worse. Shea let him pull him in for a hug and he shook his head against Jace’s shoulder. He didn’t dare talk. Sobs were bursting at his seems any moment now. What made it worse? Shea knew he would reach this point in his life. It was either that, or he’d be dead. Honestly the later sounded like a better option. He chewed on his bottom lips and just pressed his closed lips to Jace’s shoulder and shut his eyes tightly.

Jace "Shhhh." Jace said as he held the boy to his shoulder. God...he knew the pain Shea was feeling. Embarrassment, disappointment, fear: he'd been there. What shea did was not okay but it was clear Shea knew that. Jace partially blamed himself because he knew this spiral started right after he started seeing Loren. To know how Shea felt now wasn't going to solve anything. But he damn sure could be there as his friend. So without another word, he held him super tight, running his hand over the back of his head.

Shea. Shea eyes watered a little, and he didn’t move from the comfort of Jace. Until finally he picked his chin up, just to keep saying, “I’m sorry, I really am sorry,” to Jace. His voice was just barely above a whisper before he pulled back and sat forward beside him. “I just really need somewhere to go for the night,” he muttered a little louder this time. God this really sucked. He hated to put Jace in that situation. If Shea had to guess how the majority felt about him in this moment... it wouldn’t be hard to know they hated him.

Jace "I would bring you back to my place but Loren and Emily are there and Emily isn't in the best shape." He responded and then stood up, offering Shea his hand. "I can get you a room. Do you want me to stay with you?" He asked him, truthfully. Because he would. Shea did some fucked up shit but Jace didn't want to leave him alone. Not like this. "Just say the word."

Shea. He sighed a little and leaned his head in his hand, pushing his hair back a little bit. He shook his head and sat back up, swallowing, "No... it's fine, no, don't pay for a room," He replied. "I'll figure it out." He turned to look around again, before looking back at Jace. "What's going on with Emily?"

Jace “No.” Jace said to him, turning around. “What were not going to do is this. You’re going to let me pay for a room. You’re going to let me do this shea. Stop telling me no.” He said sternly, still offering his hand to the boy. “Let me do this. Please.” He said. “I’m not taking no for an answer.” He sighed waiting for shea. “She...was attacked”

Shea. Looking up at Jace now standing in front of him, and pretty much throwing a fit about Shea’s rejection kind of had Shea stunned. He really didn’t expect it. Not after what he did. He starred at him for a moment or two and then at his hand. He didn’t say anything before he finally stood up. He started walking, expecting Jace to follow, glancing to his side. “What do you mean she was attacked? By who?” Of course he was concerned, but Shea still didn’t know if he was in the right mind for anything right now. And besides the fact that nobody probably wanted a visit from Shea at the moment anyway. He knew she worked for and was good friends with Roman. Just like before ... you could never escape Roman.

Jace “as in a guy literally jumped her in a park. She has a cracked rib, lacerated kidney and a busted head.” He laughed out of nerves. “Sounds way more awful than it actually was but shes doing better.” He shrugged, walking along side shea. “How many nights?” He said to him. “Because you’re not just gonna be homeless. I refuse it.”

Shea. Shea didn’t laugh, or really have much of a reaction. It was awful, it didn’t matter what Jace said. He felt terrible, but what do you say to that? Shea was never a man of words when it came to trauma and emotional things to begin with. He just simply nodded after Jace assured him she was doing better. He really missed a lot between getting loaded everyday and then losing his shit and nursing a 3 day hang over in a jail cell. “I’m not homeless... at least not yet anyway,” he told him. “One night is fine.”

Jace He laughed, shaking his head. “I’m not just doing this for one night Shea. While others may not be your biggest fan right now, you can’t just up and become homeless. Tell me you’ve got a place to go after check out and I’ll consider 1 night. But if not, we’re going for a week.”

Shea. Shea was reluctant to talk. But after another deep breath he said, “I still have my apartment,” he admitted. “I can go there.” At least he assumed it was true. His bandmate was still there ... even though his mom had kind of invited herself in on the couch.

Jace "Okay but if I fing out you're homeless on the side of the road somewhere, I won't be happy." He said sharply, walking him into the hilton he was very familiar with and starting to book a walk-in. After being handed the keys, he turned to shea and handed them over as he helped to walk him up to the room. "Is there anything I can get for you? Clothes? Food?"

Shea. Shea pressed his lips together, just nodding. Although Shea has survived on the streets before. He followed Jace into the Hilton, watched him book a room and feeling his stomach turn inside out. He hated this feeling of helplessness. He walked next to Jace up to the room, shaking his head. “No.... you’ve done enough,” he said.

Jace "Alright." Jace said taking a deep breath as he knocked back on his heels and smiled at shea, as he leaned against the door frame. "Well, if that's all, I guess uh...I can get going." He mused, pressing his lip in a hard line.

Shea. Shea chewed on his bottom lip, leaning on the opposite side of the door frame to face him. He was quiet, expecting Jace to just turn and leave. He wanted to ask him to stay so bad, he just didn’t know how. He had never done that before.

Jace He sighed, seeing as though Shea wasn't saying much more, he bit his lip. "Um....you sure there's nothing else you need? I'm scared to leave."

Shea. Shea was still quiet, chewing the inside of his cheek now. Then he shook his head, “me too,” he muttered quietly and then pushed his fingers through his hair. “I mean ... I don’t want you to leave,” he said even quieter.

Jace "So you do want me to stay..." He smiled at him half-heartedly and nodded, taking off his coat and sitting down at the foot of Shea's bed.

Shea. Shea watched Jace help himself into the room so easily after Shea told him to stay. He pressed his lips together to hide a tiny smile. Shea shut the door and turned to go and lay down on the bed. “Are you going to spend the night?” He asked, looking down at him sitting at the foot of the bed.

Jace Was it really a good idea for Jace to do that? Probably not but at the end of the day, this was his friend. It'd be hard to try and explain to loren that he was staying at someone else's spot though. Especially Shea's. "Um..." He said for a moment, chewing on his bottom lip. "I can probably stay as long as you need me to but I am not sure that spending the night would be the best idea." He sighed. "I just...don't want to get myself in trouble."

Shea. It was true, Shea hoped he would. He really didn’t want to be alone, he was so tired of it. But his response was expected, as much as it was disappointing. He sat up in the bed and leaned against the headboard, raking his teeth over his bottom lip. “Yeah... I get it,” he told him. Shea knew he didn’t have anyone to lean on. And he already asked enough of Jace. He couldn’t expect him to do that for him. “Um, .. it’s okay, you can go,” he said and sighed, rolling over and hugging a pillow.

Jace “I-“ Jace frowned looking at Shea. “Shea no. I’m not leaving just yet.” He frowned. “I told you I can’t stay maybe over night but that’s not to say that I don’t want to be here.” He assured him. “Please don’t shut me out...that hurt when you did it the first time.” he admitted softly.

Shea. Shea looked at him over the pillow. “I’m not trying to shut you out,” he said. “I’m the enemy now, and I don’t want you to get involved more than you already are... buying me a room and all. No one would be happy about that. They all want me in jail, including my own self but here I am..”

Jace “me nor Khai think you belong in prison. But yeah did you lose your mind? Probably so.” he shrugged. Sighing to himself and then looking over at Shea. “I’m not the type to hold grudges. What you did was really fucked up but I can’t just leave you and I’m not here to judge you”

Shea. Shea sat up again, leaning on his elbow to really look at Jace. “Oh my god... you paid my bail,” he said, mostly just now realizing it himself. He swallowed and starred at him for a good few moments. “Why did you do that?” This was probably a stupid question. And it really didn’t need to be answered, Shea was just in awe. But also .... unfortunately not happy with it. It would have been easier on everyone if he just stayed in jail.

Jace “wasn’t just me.” He said looking over at him. “And this isn’t for you to run and tell everyone either. I’m not trying to be the most hated individual in kingsboro for trying to have a heart for you.” He sighed shrugging. “Maybe because I care” he said to him looking over to him. “Because you’re someone I actually had feelings for.” He shook his head.

Shea. Shea’s eyes felt heavy. Not in a tired way. Probably because he could have cried hearing that. That someone actually cared and wanted to give him a chance after what he did. He blinked a few times, but it still didn’t get rid of that feeling. “I’m sorry...” he found himself saying it again. He said it to Khai too. He really was sorry for creating this mess. “You know I ... I really didn’t mean anything I said to Roman and ... I was out of control with the knife and everything ... and I’m sorry for what happened in the stairwell. I Lost it after that. I lost control. It’s not an excuse, and the drinking isn’t an excuse and Khai thinks I need to get help and I know he’s right I just can’t. I don’t know what to do..” he was rambling by the end until he finally shut up after choking up a little. He swallowed it back again and shook it head, closing his eyes with a quick sigh.

Jace “you know I appreciate you apologizing but you know who would appreciate it more? Roman, Aaron, Bea?” He asked, cutting his eyes to him. “I’m willing to forgive you but it’s them that really deserves the apology.” He took a deep breath listening to the advice Khai gave him. “And yeah help...that sounds about right.”

Shea. “yeah I’m aware. But I think they’d appreciate the space at the moment,” he said. He laid down again. “Why am I apologizing to Bea?”

Jace "I don't know. I spoke to her and she said she felt used." He shrugged. "I don't know your history with her much at all but that's just how she feels."

Shea. Shea chewed on the inside of his cheek again when Jace told him that. God he felt like such a mess. He sighed to himself again, moving his head to put his hand in his hair and then burring his face in his arm and the pillow. “I’m shit,” he said, his voice muffled by the pillow. “My life here is over, I need to move again.”

Jace "Shea, I've really had enough of the negative talk." He sighed. "I'm not going to sit here and play your sad fiddle. I get you fucked up but you can bounce back. You need to just apologize and let that be the end of it. Get yourself some help but running away from your problems will solve nothing. So shut up with the bullshit, or I'm gonna go. Because I'm really sick of people coming in to my life just to walk out on it."

Shea. Slowly, Shea sat up again. But this time he leaned forward and pulled his knees up. “How do you expect me to get help when I have no job and no money? Probably no one will hire me now. Especially when Aaron whispers in everyone’s ears. Besides that ... literally everyone here will drop to their knees and suck Roman’s dick. You think they wanna see my face in public? And you won’t ever understand ... this was what my life was bound to come too. Everyone knew I would end up a psycho in jail...”

Jace "I'm not someone who wants to suck Roman off so let's not say everyone and I'd be happy to help you get help. You just need to ask." He said to him truthfully. "You need to focus on the now though. I'll help when I can."

Shea. “it’s a .. figure of speech... sorry it’s so vulgar.” Shea sighed a little bit. “I’m not good at asking for help, and I don’t want to be a burden. I don’t want to owe anyone anything. Medical help is a lot of money. Not to mention the money you spent just bailing me out.”

Jace "Yeah well that last bit stays here and I already told you it wasn't just me who bailed you out." He sighed. "I'm offering to help you shea. Take it or leave it."

Shea. Shea pressed his lips together and hugged his knees a little tighter. “I just ... need a friend,” he admitted quietly looking down at the bed spread. “But I know it’s my fault I keep everyone at arms length.” He admitted. No one ever knew him like his ex did, he not only was in love with her but she was the closest he’d ever gotten to someone. Probably why he was so reluctant to let her go and easily let her string him along every time she came back. She definitely would not have put up with this though and he knew it. But for some reason that was comforting. It was just strange to hear the same kind of harsh love from Jace.

Jace "I'm here to be your friend." He said sighing. "I may not need to be here, nor should I be but i'm trying to be your friend." He looked around, then back at Shea. "Just let me."

Shea. Shea traced the lines in the comforter with his fingers for a moment. Until finally he leaned forward and crawled across the bed and laid his head in Jace’s lap. “Can we talk about you now?”

Jace "Me?" HE asked, watching as the boy crawled across the way and landed his head into Jace's lap. Oh god....this wasn't what he expected. He was even hesitant what to do with his hands so he just leaned back, using them to balance him out. "um...what do you want to know?"

Shea. “well.. if we’re going to be friends... I don’t know your middle name. I don’t exactly know what you even do, have you lived here forever? I don’t know. All I know is you work for Roman and you sing and you know how to fake a nut.” Shea turned his head to look up at him.

Jace Oh. This is was getting to know him. Well, yeah there wasn't any harm in that which made Jace chuckle. "Ive been here for about 3 years." He smiled. "And My middle name is Dante. I'm just an actor and singer. Not really anything special about me other than I'm adopted, which you already knew."

Shea. “Okay, what else do friends know about each other?” He asked. “I don’t have a middle name.... so my high school band mates used to call me Shea Fucking Morgan,” he admitted and then after a moment let out a soft laugh. “And you already know I’m a fucking psycho who knows how to ruin his life like it’s his job.”

Jace He chuckled. "You want to just hit me with 20 questions?" He smirked, looking down at him. "I can do that."

Shea. “I don’t even know what to ask..” he shrugged a little. “Actually ... what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

Jace "Bailing you out." He teased, playfully pushing Shea's head before placing his hand back. "How about....did you know i'm from Hawaii?"

Shea. Shea rolled his eyes. “Besides that. ... and Hawaii.. that’s at least a little bit unexpected.”

Jace Jace had to really think about this. He didn't have a clue what to say. " i really don't even know. Maybe i haven't done it yet?" He shrugged. "I pantsed a teacher once."

Shea. Shea rolled his head over and chuckled a little bit before he sat up. “A goodie goodie,” he muttered. “Did you get detention?”

Jace “Even worse...I Got ISS." He laughed. "I remember telling my parents, worried it wouldn't get me into an Ivy League school only to not even choose to go to school."

Shea. Shea chuckled again, his eyes closing for a brief moment before a small head shake and licking his lips. “Okay, finally... something we have in common. School was never in my cards, just shocked enough I graduated high school.”

Jace "But hey you did it!" He laughed, looking down at Shea. "And you may not doing the ideal things you hoped but everyone has a chance to turn around. Look at Luca." He smiled.

Shea. He raised an eyebrow at him, “um ... who’s Luca?”

Jace He laughed. He didn't expect Shea to know him but that's okay. "He's Alison's boyfriend." He smiled, clearing his throat. "Ex-convict."

Shea. “I ... am not even sure I know who Alison is.. but okay,” he said. “Ex-convict ... I’m listening.”

Jace "She's literally one of the most famous people in kingsboro, Shea. Aaron's baby mama and best friend." He explained and then cleared his throat. "He was in for drugs."

Shea. Shea sighed a little. He was never the person to care to pay attention that stuff. “Oh... thanks for filling me in,” he said. “Was he selling them?”

Jace "As far as I know, yeah. One of the biggest dealers in the bronx." He raised a brow. "Aaron can't stand him."

Shea. Shea nodded and pressed his lips together. “And so ... you’re telling me I need to date a pop star?”

Jace "I'm telling you that he got a second chance. Please pay attention." He scoffed, shaking his head as he fell back on the bed. "You'll get yours."

Shea. Shea kind of laughed a little, before picking his head up and then leaning on his own arms again. “I’ve already had ... second, third ... hell fourth chances already,” he admitted.

Jace "Im going to leave if you don't shut up and listen."

Shea. “I am listening! Do I not have a right to be honest with you? Isn’t that what you want?”

Jace "I'm over the negative nacy bullshit" he told him sternly. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to you degrade yourself."

Shea. “Jace, I’m just telling you how it is,” he laughed a little. “But I’m sorry I guess ... and I really do want to turn my life around. It’s just not that easy...”

Jace "It's not going to be." He told him honestly. "But i'm willing to help lead you there."

Shea. “it’s hard for me... to just accept help,” Shea sighed a little bit, plopping back down. His head falling back on Jace’s lap and looking at the ceiling.

Jace And again, there he was in his lap. He sighed, still wanting to figure out what to do with his hands. Finally biting the bullet, he ran his hands over his hair, smoothing it back a bit. "Well accept at least mine."

Shea. Shea blinked, looking up at Jace as he ran his fingers through his hair. It was soothing, but it made his stomach turn. His brain was telling him to sit back up. But Shea really needed to try hard at letting people in and letting people get close to him, so he stayed put and just focused on the ceiling again. “I mean... I’m in this hotel room and not in a jail cell right?”

Jace He kept stroking his hair and then eventually stopped to balance himself on his hands again. He took a deep breath nodding as he looked down to shea. "You are and that's where I like you. What you did was fucked up but that doesn't mean you just belong there." He told him and then smiled down at him.

Shea. Shea shifted his gaze to look at Jace hearing those words. “Some people think so,” he mentioned, before he blinked and looked down at the bed and the surroundings of the room. It was a nice hotel room, and Shea could honestly say he had never actually spent the night in one before. “Are you sure you can’t ... I don’t know.. get another room at least? Next to mine.”

Jace "I could definitely look into doing that." He smiled, looking down at the boy. "Do you like it or should I consider booking you elsewhere the next time something like this happens?" He asked him, raising a brow. "Which, that was a joke because this better not happen again." He laughed.

Shea. Shea looked up at him. “Yeah.. it won’t happen again, mom.” He mocked back. Then he half laughed a little because of the irony of that joke. He rolled over off of Jace now, sat up and pushed his hair back. “I’m starving,” he said. “Think there’s anything to eat close by?”

Jace he rolled his eyes, laughing as he heard shea and then took a deep breath. “Depends what you’re in the mood for babe. You want pizza? Asian? American?”

Shea. “I ... don’t know,” he started, then shrugged. “I guess pizza will be good.”

Jace “alright.” He picks up the phone, ordering some delivery before looking back at Shea, smiling and then thanking the person over the phone. “45 minutes.”

Shea. He blinked when Jace immediately picked up his phone to order the pizza. “I .. would have gone to get it,” he said to Jace. “But, thank you..”

Jace “you’re not leaving my sight.” Jace said, patting his lap again. “We’re you not comfy or what?”

Shea. “Well I have to leave your site when you leave me in the room alone to sleep,” he pointed out. Then he glanced to Jace’s lap and then met his gaze. “I mean... yeah it was comfy... but are you?”

Jace “I...didn’t think about that.” He snickered taking a deep breath. “Well right now, I want you to stay within my sight.” And then he looked down at his lap. “It was comfortable for me. I didn’t mind it at all.”

Shea. “So I’m being baby sat,” he pointed out, but he laughed a little. Then he turned on his back and laid his head back down in Jace’s lap.

Jace “I’m just trying to be a protective friend.” He smiled, laughing with shea as he stroked his hair again and looked down at him. “You seem like you could cuddle if you don’t think about it.”

Shea. Shea blinked up at Jace, eyebrows raising together. “If I don’t think about it?” He was a little confused what he meant.

Jace “yeah remember you’re not gay so you probably think about your actions before actually going through with them. When we cuddled the first time, you denied it. Now I’m telling you if I cuddle you, I hope you don’t deny it the way you did the first time. Even as your friend.”

Shea. Shea just starred at him through his eyelashes. A million excuses were racing through his head, until he remembered that he knew he had to change and not but such an asshole. “It’s just that it’s ... kind of like subconsciously being vulnerable with someone, and I’m not good at that.”

Jace “I think that’s understandable.” He said to him. “I know how hard it is to let someone in like that. It’s a part of you that you don’t want to share if you’ve been hurt over and over”

Shea. Shea was silent again. He licked his lips and pressed them together, shifting his to look at the ceiling again. “Have you been hurt over and over?”

Jace “of course I have.” Jace told him truthfully. “Not just by lovers but by family too.” He said to shea looking down, his hand still stroking his hair. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

Shea. “I’ve only had one girlfriend in my life,” he admitted. And he really thought he would always end up with her until just recently. It was probably stupid thinking, but to him it wasn’t crazy.

Jace “I’ve had both.” He said to him, raising a brow. “I like both genders and I’m okay with it. But neither one is the better one. We all fucking suck.” He laughed. “And I mean really suck.”

Shea. “no one sucks as much as me,” he said with a small laugh. “ and ... your sister. We could have been something, but I fucked that all up.” Was this venting? He wasn’t sure. But he never talked about it before.

Jace “yeah I don’t even like to think about that Shea.” He said to him honestly. “It hurts to think it was me or her.” He shrugged. “And...expected to just know how you felt.”

Shea. He picked his head up a little to look at Jace. “What do you mean you or her?” He was confused now. “Me and her ... happened before I met you. I mean.. we were seeing each other and she wanted to be my girlfriend but I told her we weren’t. I was an ass. It was dumb. I was afraid of the commitment.”

Jace “and then you admitted to having feelings for me.” He said looking down at him. “And you’d be a fool to think that I didn’t have feelings for you.”

Shea. “and her and I were over by then, we just recently started talking again, as friends.” He explained. “It’s not like I planned for that. Besides the fact that whatever I was feeling for you was scary for me.”

Jace “why though? Was I that dangerous to you?”

Shea. He snorted and dropped his head back down. “I don’t know... are you?”

Jace “I mean I don’t know. Are you scared of me now?” He laughed. “I would have never hurt you shea.”

Shea. “No, I’m not scared of you.” He told him. “It’s not about that anyway, I can handle being hurt .... well... disregarding the current situation.”

Jace "I-" He sighed, hanging his head, pinching the bridge in between his eyebrows. "Nothing. Look, i'm sorry."

Shea. “Sorry about what?” He asked.

Jace “I'm sorry I just....didn't wait for you." He shrugged. "Loren is just...he's amazing. I didn't expect to love him the way that I do but I do and i can't change that."

Shea. Shea shook his head. “Jace, it’s fine. I didn’t ... I’m not asking you to wait for me. He’s obviously better for you anyway. It was just a stupid crush, I’m fine. I wouldn’t have done anything about it anyway. So I’m fine.”

Jace Wow. That stung like a bitch. Jace shook his head... even though he wasn't interested in starting anything with shea anymore- reallly? Not done anything about it? He sighed, getting up. "Yeah. I'm gonna go see if I can't get another room. I'll see you later."

Shea. He rolled off of Jace when he moved to get up, and then sat up to face him, while he made an excuse to leave. Shea sighed heavily, closing his eyes and leaning his head in his hand for a moment. Then he looked back up at him, “Jace, come on. You literally just told me you’re in love with Loren. What did you want me to say or do?”

Jace “Maybe kept that information to yourself then." He scoffed, picking up his coat and walking out of the hotel room.

Shea. Shea flopped back on the bed and sighed to himself. Once again Shea’s brutal honesty was getting him into trouble. His brain was telling him to leave as well. Abandon the room and go home. But his gut was telling him it wasn’t right. He needed to start now and keep it up if he really wanted to change. He pushed himself off the bed and followed Jace out into the hall way. “Jace...” he trailed off.

Jace He was halfway down the hall when he heard shea's voice and turned around. "Yes?"

Shea. He stared down the hall at Jace, not even sure what he planned to say. It took him a long few moments. Then he started to approach him again, "I ... didn't say that to make you hurt or anything. I just wanted to be honest with you.. that if you waited for me.. it would have been useless. and again - please don't take that the wrong way either. I'm just saying... you made a better choice with Loren. Because I'm just..... this.." he ended and gestured around himself - meaning the whole ending up in jail situation with no where to go.

Jace "You would've been something to me and you are something to me. It's not my fault you don't have faith in me or what could have been." He shook his head and walked on to the desk.

Shea. Shea tilted his head and watched him. His lips parted like he could have kept arguing. But his brain was malfunctioning on weather to keep arguing or if it was even worth it when he knew Jace was with Loren regardless. So he just blinked and shook his head watching Jace walk to the desk. He turned around to go back into the room, but when he got to the door and pushed the handle, it was locked. .... the key inside. So he turned around and let his head fall back against the door.

Jace On his way back, he ended up getting the other room that was just across the hall, turning back to look at Shea. "You can just request a new one at the front desk." He said before handing him the one he stuffed in his pocket. "But here."

Shea. Shea bit down on his bottom lip. "Thanks," He said, taking the key from him. He turned to unlock the door but before he walked in he paused and said. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Jace “Of course you are." He said sighing. "but what's new? I'm used to people hurting me time and time again." He shrugged, letting himself into his room and shutting the door.

Shea. Shea turned and watched him just shut his door in Shea's face. "and ... I'm used to hurting people..." he muttered quietly to himself and then turned back into his own room.

Jace Upon entering his room, he peeled his shirt off and headed right into bed where he turned on cold case.

Shea. Soon after there was a knock on his door and Shea jumped before he pulled it opened. It was the pizza delivery. Shea scrambled to find some extra cash in his wallet for a tip and then sent him on his way. He placed it on the table in the room before he turned back, finding a way to prop his door open, cross the hall and knock on Jace's door.

Jace He heard the knock, frowning when he got up and went to answer, seeing Shea standing there. "Forget something?"

Shea. "Um.. do you want some pizza?" He asked. "You did order it after all..."

Jace Oh shit! The pizza. He completely forgot that he had ordered them some after all. The mention made his stomach growl and he cleared his throat. "um..yeah actually."

Shea. Shea nodded and turned to go back into his room. "You have to come and get it though." He called back to him.

Jace “of course.” He mumbled to himself, getting up and walking out towards Shea’s room again and knocking on the door. “2 slices and I’m out.”

Shea. Shea shut the door behind Jace, and casually stood in front of it while Jace went to get his pizza. “Please stay and ... let me explain,” he said.

Jace He was literally on the brink of leaving when he noticed that Shea was standing right in front of the door, blocking any way for Jace to push through. He sighed. Was he really in the mood to hear the excuses? "Shea, i think you said enough but if you insist...."

Shea. “Jace...,” he started. “I told you I’m afraid. And it’s not of you. That’s what I meant when I said I wouldn’t have done anything about my feelings.” He said. “I promise I didn’t say that to you to make you upset. I just wanted to tell you the truth. And the truth is.... I ... never had feelings for a guy before and that’s what I’m afraid of.” He pressed his lips together, looking away a moment. “And it was hard enough for me to just admit that.” He but his lip and then started again. “And I’m sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear either. And also the second truth is that you’re happily with Loren, and I won’t stand in the way of that either. I’m lucky enough to have you as a friend. One willing to literally bail me out of jail.”

Jace Oh this was more like it. Jace knew it couldn't have been just him in general. But this made more sense. He was once there too. Very scared to even attempt being wiht a boy. Spending his whole life, he was told this and that was wrong and it shouldn't happen. But this was a part of who he was. "What I didn't want to hear is you not wanting to do something about liking me. Liking me shouldn't be this crime." He shrugged. "But i appreciate you telling me the full truth."

Shea. “sometimes I say things and I guess I just expect people to understand,” he shrugged a little. “I am bad with words. It’s why I’m not good with communication. I also didn’t mean liking you was some chrime. Besides that, I’m flaky about my feelings regardless. It doesn’t matter who it is ... I mean, I am the reason Bea and I never were anything serious. I’m afraid of commitment.”

Jace “you-“ Jace shook his head. “You didn’t really have to be in a relationship with me though. Not if you didn’t want to. We could have just had a little fun. Look this is all new to you. I would have never just thrown you into anything without your consent first.” He sighed. “I just wish you would have told me sooner”

Shea. “I ... never thought you would... that’s not what this is about,” Shea tried to explain, because it was like Jace didn’t understand. “My feelings are what made me scared. I don’t talk about my feelings regardless... let alone feelings for a guy,” he tried to explain to him. “Please tell me you get what I’m saying..” Shea didn’t want to say those dumb words about ‘its not you, it’s me.’ The sad fact of it was, it was true.

Jace Jace raised a brow. He got what he was saying loud and clear. But it still didn't invalidate what he was saying either. "Yeah, that you struggle with feelings. I get that completely." He shrugged. "Just wish you would've said that versus hiding the fact...or better yet, having to be drunk so that I could know how you felt. But i mean it makes sense, i don't know. Just bothers me."

Shea. Shea sighed lightly, looking down at his feet for a moment. Then raised his head again, pushing the hair from his face. “Yeah... I didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” he said. “I’m going to work I’m getting sober again, I promise.”

Jace “that’s what I like to hear” he smiled, taking a bite. “I am rooting for you shea.”

Shea. He flashed a very small half smile before he moved from the door, getting himself a piece of pizza.

Jace “oh now you move!” He laughed, taking a seat and trying to enjoy his pizza. “But after this i really gotta get back to my room.”

Shea. He took a bite and sat in one of the chairs next to the table. “Yeah, I know,” he said. “As long as you don’t go back mad at me again.”

Jace “I won’t.” He smiled, enjoying his pizza.

#sm&*#jace

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soul-music-is-life · 5 years ago

Note

Can u please write a short fluffy happy prompt of Emily returning from the army and meeting Alison and her kids in the airport??

Little late on the Christmas deadline, but two people asked for a prompt for the holidays. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Maybe next year Santa/the Hanukkah Beagle shouldn’t use USPS, cuz those presents are ALWAYS late…

You can read it on Fanfic (or, as always...below the cut)

***

Grace had insisted on blue. Lily wanted pink. They’d settled on purple. They had managed to get most of the marker on the poster board. Their little fingers ended up covered in glitter and glue. The first ‘e’ in “Welcome” was backwards and the ‘o’ in “home” had gotten smudged. But when they looked at Alison and asked,

“How does it look, mommy?”

Alison said, “Perfect.”

Because it was. They had made it with love. They were so excited that their mama was coming home.

***

The flight had been nerve-wracking. It’s not like Emily hadn’t flown before. She was used to it. It wasn’t the actual plane ride itself. She was having trouble shaking off the residual anxiety she had from being in combat. She was also anxious to hold her babies and kiss her wife again. She spent the entire flight thinking about them. She couldn’t wait to see them again.

When the plane was approaching Rosewood Emily opened the window shade and looked at her town below. When the aircraft started its descent Emily could see the clouds, as soft as white mountain peaks covered in snow. The wings sliced through them as though they were nothing. She could see the bulbous shadows hovering above the ground.

She felt something brush against her arm on the armrest. When she looked over her shoulder she saw the little girl next to her sitting up high in her seat, trying to look out the window. She had been playing games on the screen in the seat in front of her the entire trip, but now that the window was open she was trying to get a better look at what was happening outside.

“Can I see?” she batted her big blue eyes at Emily. She had her little palms against Emily’s arm.

Her mother looked over and saw the little girl practically climbing over on to Emily.

“Amelia, honey, what did we talk about earlier? It’s not polite to touch people without asking first.” She faced Emily. “I’m sorry. She doesn’t understand boundaries yet.”

“It’s okay. I get it. I’ve got two girls around her age.” Emily smiled.

“Must be hard to be away from them.”

There was an unspoken understanding between the two mothers.

“Yeah. They grow up so fast.” Emily looked at Amelia, who was oblivious to the adults talking around her.

“Amy, you remember how we talked about how some mommies and daddies have to spend time away from their babies to be somewhere else to protect us?”

“Uh huh.”

“What do we say, do you remember?”

The little girl looked at Emily’s uniform and it registered. She smiled at Emily and leaned up on her knees.

“Thank you for your service.”

Emily had to bite back tears. It was such a sweet and simple gesture. And it was something that she’d obviously learned from caring parents. It made her realize how much of her daughters’ lives she was missing. She had been gone for nine months. What had she missed in that time?

“You’re very welcome.”

“I like your pins.” Amelia pointed to Emily’s medals.

There was one medal she hadn’t gotten in person yet. It was one that Alison didn’t know about. It was the reason she was coming home.

Her purple heart.

She’d been injured by a roadside bomb. Fortunately, no one had been killed, though they had been ambushed after the attack. She’d suffered three broken ribs, mild burns on her side, two fractures in her arm, and a laceration on her right hand. She’d managed to pull three of her squad members to safety even with her injuries.

She was healing up nicely. She’d mentioned the ambush to Alison, but she had downplayed her injuries and told her that she was okay, which was the truth.

She didn’t realize that her commanding officer was going to give her the option to be medically discharged due to the nature of the problems her injuries might cause in the future. She didn’t know that nearly being blown up was going to bring her closer to her family.

The little girl was squirming in her seat, trying harder and harder to look out the window.

“She’s welcome to sit on my lap if you’re okay with it.” Emily offered.

“It’s fine with me.”

Emily helped the little girl into her lap and they looked out the window. They watched as the buildings and streets turned from tiny blips into shapes and images they could actually recognize. She held her, pointing to the landmarks below, until the “fasten seatbelt” sign came on. Then she helped her get settled back into her seat.

Landing was always the hardest part. She knew from experience that take-offs and landings were generally the most dangerous parts of the flight. But when she looked outside at her town, her home, she couldn’t feel anything but excitement.

***

The airport was lined with people, a sea of faces all moving in waves to their next destination. Some were rushing. Some were sitting and sleeping in chairs. Others were waiting in the crowd for their loves ones.

Alison held the twins’ hands firmly as they moved through the crowds. One of her biggest fears was losing one or both of them in a busy place.

“I don’t see mama.” Grace whined, twisting the poster board with her fingers.

“She’s still coming home, right?” Lily looked at Alison, a sad look of fear in her eyes.

Sometimes the girls worried that they’d never see their mama again. They didn’t know the extent of what Emily did, but she and Emily had had the conversation with the girls that sometimes mama would be in situations where she had to help others, but that she would always do her best to come back safe and sound.

Alison looked up at the plasma screens that showed the arrival and departure times. Emily’s plane was at its gate. She would be coming towards them any minute. She felt a bubbling sensation in her stomach she hadn’t had since she was in high school. She hadn’t seen Emily in nine months. It felt like forever. She couldn’t wait to hold her again.

“She should be here soon.” Alison assured the girls.

“I wanna hold the sign.” Lily reached for the folded up poster board.

“No! I want to!”

They were both cranky, because they’d fought in the car on the way over. Alison told them to behave and that they could both hold it. They each stood on one side and held the sign up, but it kept flopping forward, so Alison ended up holding the damn thing while the twins pretended they were the ones holding it up.

A crowd of passengers rounded the corner and started walking towards them. They dispersed, finding their family members. Alison watched everyone hugging and it made her antsy. She wanted to be in Emily’s arms. She wanted to kiss her wife…to touch her cheek…to bathe in her aroma.

It was the twins who spotted her first. The uniform was a dead giveaway. Grace squealed and Lily shouted “mama!!”

Emily turned and saw them and she felt her heart melting. She saw the large childlike letters on the poster board covered in sparkles and glitter. They had drawn hearts around their simple message.

“Welcome Home Mama. We Love You.”

The twins were supposed to stand behind the roped off security line, but they forgot everything they’d been told to do when they saw Emily’s face. They dropped the poster and raced forward before Alison could grab them.

No one in security stopped them. In fact, one of the men in uniform walked over to where Alison was standing and unlatched the rope to let her through so she could be with her family.

Emily dropped her bag and fell to her knees as the twins ran into her arms, both of them crying ‘mama!’ so loudly that everyone in the airport turned to see the commotion. She didn’t even feel the tightness of her still healing injuries. All she felt was her children’s love.

Grace and Lily wrapped their arms around her neck. She reached up and gripped the backs of their heads with her palms and peppered them with kisses.

“Hi, babies.”

Emily was not someone who cried easily. She’d been through a lot in her life and some of it had hardened her. She had a tight lid on her emotions. But she was a sucker for her kids. And the second she had them in her arms she crumbled, burying her face in between their necks, letting her tears fall down her face.

“Oh, I missed you so much.”

“We missed you, mama.” Lily pulled back. “Why are you crying? Are you sad?”

“No.” Emily reached up to wipe away her tears. “No, I’m crying because I’m so happy to see you.”

They had gotten so big. She felt like she hadn’t seen them in years. Being overseas away from her family was hard. She didn’t know how much she was missing until she had them in her arms. It was like a piece of her she didn’t even know was gone had been returned to her.

She saw Alison approaching. She gripped Lily and Grace and picked them both up, putting one on each hip just like she’d done since they were babies. She instinctively moved forward towards Alison and their lips met. Alison put her palm against Emily’s face and thumbed away a stray tear.

“Hey.” Emily pecked her lips again.

Alison tasted as sweet as she remembered. She couldn’t believe she was here. She couldn’t believe she was with her family again. She had a new appreciation for what her mother and father must have felt like every time they reunited.

Alison wrapped her arms around her wife and children. Her body melded into Emily’s, as if they were a perfect fit, even with their children…especially with their children. They stayed in their embrace for several minutes.

They could hear the applause and the cheers of the other passengers in the airport, but they still felt like they were in their own little world.

Grace started wiggling and wanted down. She was suddenly on a tangent about how she wanted to show Emily their poster, which was sitting on top of a counter over by the security area.

Emily put Lily and Grace down, which gave their mothers a moment of intimacy without them. Emily reached up and cupped Alison’s cheeks. The blonde’s eyes were brimming with tears. She couldn’t contain her emotions any longer.

“I missed you so much,” Alison sobbed with a smile on her face. She was so happy to see her…alive…home in one piece.

Emily wiped away Alison’s tears with her fingers and pressed her lips against Alison’s once more. Their noses touched. Their foreheads met. They took a moment just to hold one another.

“Mama.” Lily tugged on Emily’s hand.

Emily forced herself to pry her eyes away from Alison’s and look down at her little girls.

“Can we go home now?” Lily asked.

Emily leaned down again, giving the twins another opportunity to hug her neck. She picked them up, balancing them on her hips. She snuggled Lily and then Grace. They both giggled.

“I want to hear all about what you two have been doing while I’ve been away.”

She carried them as far as the food court. The second they saw ice cream they were begging for sugar. Alison and Emily bought them each a cone and they walked out of the airport together. They’d both inhaled their treats by the time they got to the car. Their moms got them situated in their booster seats. Emily threw her bags in the back and then climbed up front with Alison.

She took a moment to appreciate where she was. It was something so simple…sitting in the car with her wife and her children. But it was something she knew a lot of people took for granted. She didn’t want to miss a single second.

“So.” Alison put her hand down against the center console. “How long are you staying?”

Emily hadn’t told her the good news. She’d wanted to see the look on Alison’s face when she told her she was coming home for good.

Emily reached down and took Alison’s hand, linking their fingers together. She smiled.

“How about forever?”

#Emison #PLL #Pretty Little Liars #Emison prompts #Emily Fields #Alison DiLaurentis

24 notes · View notes

certifiedmoth · 6 years ago

Text

Friends To Lovers (Part 1)

FWB - Jim Mason x Reader

Series Summary: Life in Palos Verdes is less than ideal. However, maybe you can find solace in a friendly figure...

Word Count: 11K

Warnings: Smut (fingering, male/female oral sex, unprotected sex), underage drinking, also please note everyone is 18+

Notes: This is a new series I’m working on about Jim and Y/N being friends with benefits! Part 1 is really long (sorry, yikes) and it’s a bit slow at first as we explore reader’s life in PV, but picks up in the end with some nice smut, enjoy! ♡ (Credit to @ferns-cody for the lovely gif)

There was a certain sadness you could feel in the air before the sun rose in Palos Verdes. The blues and purples of the night sky danced together then faded as the ocean stirred in the distance. The world around you that was once still, began to wake up. The soft chirping of birds nearby, the occasional car passing by, and the delicate touch of wind across your cheek reminded you to put on one of your many different faces and prepare for the new day.

You enjoyed the early mornings spent on your roof. This was the time when you could see Palos Verdes for what it was supposed to be. A serene paradise meant to be enjoyed, savored. Not the vile and all-consuming superficial mess you now knew it to be. Of course it was still beautiful, but the picture perfect houses with their flawless inhabitants unnerved you. You thought it wasn’t possible everyone here had it that good. You had been here 7 months and you still weren’t use to the mirage that this place was.

Perhaps it was jealousy that had you scowling as you sat on your clay tile roof. Or perhaps it was the shame you felt as you realized you were just like them. Always putting a show on for everyone around you, never truly revealing yourself to the world. What made you any different than every other resident in Palos Verdes? You tried to push those thoughts aside as you grew frustrated with yourself. You always managed to overanalyze things and sometimes you felt it was truly exhausting to be you. You wished you could live your life simply without overthinking everything and just be. But unfortunately, you weren’t that person. You were the type of person to have an identity crisis before 7 in the morning.

Now with the sun in the sky shining down on you from above, you took a deep breath and exhaled longingly, shaking your head in the process and silently cursing to yourself. You heard the familiar buzzing of your phone on the red tile beside you and watched it light up. Glancing at it, you saw the text from your friend that you were waiting for.

[Alison]: Leaving now!

You picked up the iPhone that lay to your side and quickly texted back an “okay!” before standing up and making your way to the open window. Since you moved here and became friends at school, you and Ali always tried to get together at least once during the weekend and the plan for this fine Saturday morning was to “hang and chill at the beach”. With her on the way, you put on your dark red bikini and threw on some high waisted shorts and your old tattered gray t-shirt. Some friendly company sounded nice, but if you were being honest, what you were really looking forward to was the feel of the sand between your toes and the coldness of the sea on your skin. Whenever you could feel yourself being spread too thin, the ocean was always there to pull you back. Nurturing and restorative, the water comforted you like nothing else.

You finished brushing your teeth and putting all the essentials into your backpack when you saw your phone light up on your bed. You shoved the sunscreen in, zipped up your bag and grabbed your phone before running downstairs. You knew what the text said before you read it, but checked anyways once you reached the kitchen.

[Alison]: Outsideee

Quickly, you put some food in your bag and were suddenly greeted by your mom, still in her robe. “Where are you off to?” she yawned, fixing herself some coffee, still half awake.

“I told you, I’m going to the beach with Ali and Chris,” you passed her the creamer she forgot to take out of the fridge.

“Okay, don’t forget I’m leaving today and coming back Monday,” she sternly said, walking over towards you and pulling you into her arms. She was a flight attendant and left often, usually only for a couple days at a time. She didn’t like leaving you alone, but loved traveling, and when you reassured her that you’d be fine and capable on your own, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity. It put a smile on your face to know she was happy and doing something she loved. If anyone in Palos Verdes deserved that, it was her.

You smiled, hugging her back, “Yes, I remember.” The eye roll that accompanied your words was probably unnecessary, but after being reminded 5 times by her, it was an automatic reaction. “Have fun, I’ll see you Monday,” you said, letting go of her, but her grip tightened, holding you in place. Laughing, you groaned, “Mom, I have to go, Ali’s outside!”

“Okay, okay, fine. I love you. Make good choices!” she yelled the last part, as you were headed out the door. A little joke between the two of you, you’d say it when she went on dates and she’d say it when you went just about anywhere.

“Never. Love you!” you waved her off as you opened Ali’s door. The trash that accompanied the floor of her Prius never ceased to amaze you. “I love what you’ve done with the place,” you smirked, closing the door and setting your bag on your lap.

“Shut up,” she snorted. “I really tried to keep it clean this week! Can’t you see the effort I made?” She jokingly asked as she gestured to the Taco Bell wrapper on her dashboard.

“I’m going to call the official Palos Verdes committee, which is absolutely a real thing, and they’re going to take your ass away.”

“Good, the sooner I get out of here, the better,” she joked, shooting you a big grin.

Chris’ house was about a minute from yours, which you always thought was nice. The idea of having somebody nearby, who you were fairly close with comforted you. Chris was considered a popular guy, even though he didn’t think that himself. He easily made friends wherever he went and was charming in just about every way possible. Attractive, too. He had blonde curls that sometimes fell in his bright green eyes. Tall and toned, you could understand why most girls gawked and whispered when he was around. But you saw past all of that, and instead saw the kind and caring person you knew him to be.

The two of you pulled into his long driveway, and Ali stopped the car only to pick up her phone to text him. You were thinking and laughing silently to yourself about the possibility of there actually being a PV committee, that would rain down hell on any who dare stray from the norm of tennis skirts, fake tans, and brunch, when the familiar blonde haired boy stumbled out of the front door. He adorned dark sunglasses and was holding his head, as though it hurt.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ali laughed loudly, barely getting her sentence out.

“Honestly, what did we expect?” you joined in on her laughter.

He opened the car door and crawled into the back seat, not bothering to say anything. “Is somebody hungover?” you asked, like a mother talking to their child.

He mumbled out a small “shut up” before looking up at you and flashing a small smile. You pretend to be hurt as Ali’s laughter fills the car.

“Is that just how we’re going to greet me from now on? First Ali and then you. I mean, honestly people…” you trail off, throwing your hands in the air.

“Stop being a smartass then,” Ali quips back, winking at you.

“Never,” you jokingly glare at her and then at Chris, who’s taken his sunglasses off and seems to be very amused and pleased with your reaction.

The drive to the beach was fairly short, but the three of you had still managed to talk about the latest scandal concerning the president, migration patterns of sea turtles (thanks to you) and the party you’d all be attending later that night. Chris was telling you how he was looking forward to getting drunk again when you noticed a slight sadness in his eyes. But, before you could push further, Ali had turned into the parking lot and parked the car, turning the engine off with a loud sigh.

“What a beautiful day!” Ali exclaimed in her best (but actually incredibly horrible) Australian accent as she welcomed the beach with open arms. Both you and Chris groaned in response, sharing looks of disapproval with one another as she ignored you both. Quickly, you all grabbed your belongings out of the car and dragged yourself through the sand looking for the best spot. Luckily, the beach wasn’t too crowded. You’d usually only find a couple of people there, something you were grateful for as you felt the beach was a sacred, special place meant for relaxation. And today wasn’t any different. You saw that some of the surfers were out today, their belongings in a pile on the south end of the beach. But besides that, the beach was deserted. You let a small smile form on your lips and Chris must have noticed because he bumped his shoulder against you with a smirk on his face.

The spot was easily decided upon between the three of you when you found a nice bit of soft sand near the water. You notice you’re just a little ways down from the surfer’s things as you delicately lay your blue towel down in between Ali and Chris, making sure not to get any sand on it, which Chris completely messes up when he slams his own towel down and flops on to it. You glare at his obliviousness as he lays there with closed eyes and his hands behind his head, soaking in the morning sun. You lean down and take a handful of sand, only to slowly raise it right above his toned stomach. You turn your head to Ali behind you and she silently nods, approving of your actions. And with that, you open your hand, painting his stomach with a fresh new coat of sand.

“Fucking hell, Y/N,” he gasps, brushing the sand off of him.

“It’s what you deserve,” you smirk, gesturing towards the sand covering your towel.

“Oh, is that so?” he carefully questions, a smirk playing out on his face. “Well, in that case,” he inches dangerously closer to you with a glint in his eye and hands outstretched. He quickly starts putting more sand on your towel and before you know it, you’re screaming and Chris is tickling you while trying to cover you in sand. You were pretty sure Ali’s laughter could be heard across the whole beach, which only caused you to think you all must have looked crazy to any bystanders. Luckily, they were all in the water, enjoying the waves the ocean brought that day. Or, so you thought. You heard a voice call out for Chris nearby and you all paused what you were doing, looking over at the dark haired boy in the wetsuit.

“Hey Gabriel, what’s up man?” Chris laughed, shaking off the sand as he stood up. You tried to fix your hair and clothes, while Ali drank from her water bottle.

“Psst hey, I’m thirsty for Gabe,” she whispered to you as she motioned to her bottle, snickering to herself. You shot her a glance before trying to hide your laughter in front of the two boys.

“We’re talking about tonight over there, what were you bringing again?” Gabriel’s voice trailed off as the two boys started to walk towards the familiar group of boys from school you occasionally saw Chris with.

“Bye, then!” Ali yelled, with fake annoyance.

“I’ll be back in a bit,” Chris shouted back, sporting a reassuring grin. You rolled your eyes and leaned back down as you closed your eyes and settled into relaxation.

“We should just throw his towel in the water,” Ali comments, laying down herself. You quietly chuckle, hitting her side to tell her to let it go.

Being around Ali and Chris was nice but took a tremendous amount on your part. It didn’t feel natural to be this outgoing or gregarious. You didn’t know who this person was. But it was who Ali and Chris knew you to be, so you played the part. The sweet bitterness of it all was that you had two amazing people in your life, and yet, you were still alone. You pondered the idea of Ali and Chris having to play a role, too. Was Ali this naturally loud and rambunctious, attracting attention and admiration everywhere she went? And was Chris naturally this charismatic, making everyone fall victim to his charm? Maybe it was natural for them. Perhaps, it was as easy as breathing for them and they lived their lives as authentically as they appeared to. You let out a long sigh, as you were reminded of the differences between you and your friends. But quickly, you were shaken from your intrusive thoughts as Ali rustled around beside you, sitting up.

“So, tonight!” Ali cheerfully said, causing you to open your eyes and squint up at her with the sun in your face.

“Yes!” You met her excitement as you put your sunglasses on, sat up, and started to take your shirt and jeans off.

“Brandon said it starts at like 8, but we shouldn’t get there right away… right?” she looked at you for agreement.

“Yeah, we definitely don’t want to be the first ones there. We’re lame, but I mean, we’re not that lame,” you joke as you squeeze some sunscreen in your hand and start to rub it into your warm skin. You hear a faint whistle from the other side of the beach, which causes you both to jerk your heads up. A slight blush creeps its way onto your cheeks as you weren’t expecting to hear that. You laugh it off, and Ali rolls her eyes, taking her own clothes off in the process and grabbing the sunscreen from you.

“Anyways!” she says, loud enough for the boys to hear. “They’re stupid,” she glances over at them, her voice back to a normal level. “But yeah, I was thinking we could go at like 9? Is that okay?”

“Yeah, totally,” you nod. And you realized, just like Chris, you were dying to have a drink in you, as well.

“Okay, cool. I’ll be at your place at 9, then,” she said while standing up. “But for now, I want to go in,” she nodded her head towards the water, smiling down at you.

“We literally just put sunscreen on. We have to let it soak in,” you laughed quietly, refusing to get up. And with that she leaned down and started to pull on your arms to try and lift you, but you were slightly stronger.

“Come onnnnnnn,” she groaned. “We can just stick our feet in until the sunscreen has done its thing.”

How could you resist? “Alright, fine,” you compromised, letting her pull you to your feet.

This is what you had been waiting for all morning. A shiver ran up your spine as you made contact with the cold water. The frigid ocean in January wasn’t ideal, but you would take whatever you could get. How deceiving Palos Verdes was with its external beauty and rotten core. Even its beaches could trick the smartest man. With the sun shining and the ocean calm and crystal clear, you would never expect to feel daggers once in the water. The secretive glance you stole at the dripping wet surfers in their wetsuits, told you that this was as far as you and Ali would go in today. You wanted nothing more than to be engulfed and surrounded by the water, but thought hypothermia didn’t sound particularly enjoyable.

You were interrupted from your thoughts when you felt the icy cold water splash all over your skin. The scream that came out of Ali was unhuman like as you searched for the cause of what had you two shivering. One of the boys had kicked a soccer ball in your direction, landing in the water right next to you. Rolling your eyes, you assumed the culprit was Travis since he always had that stupid thing with him.

“You think that’s funny huh?” Ali shouted, half joking, half angry, stalking towards them. You picked up the ball before it could drift away and held it far from your body as it basically felt like a soccer ball sized ice cube. You shuffled towards the group that Ali was standing in front of, scolding. The laughter coming from the boys told you that they didn’t take her too seriously. Travis walked towards you clutching his chest, gasping for breath as he laughed.

“That was so fucking funny, oh my god,” he managed to get out, taking the ball from your frozen hands.

“I’m glad our pain is your pleasure, asshole,” Ali criticized, shooting him a glare.

“Oh honey, you have no idea,” he said suggestively. “Also, nice top, Y/N,” he winked and you suddenly became aware of the thin, unpadded fabric that was no help with the cold water you experienced just moments before. You quickly tried to cover yourself as best you could from the stares of the lust-filled boys.

“Oh fuck off, Travis. Stop being creepy,” Chris chimed in, stepping forward and thankfully, trying to divert the attention away from you. “Why can’t you ever keep your mouth shut, huh? Why can’t you be more like me? Or like Jim?” he gestures to the brown haired boy to his side. You glance up to find a pair of piercing blue eyes already staring directly at you and he holds your gaze for half a second before looking away. Travis is still laughing as Chris walks over with his signature grin and takes him by the shoulders to give him a slight shake. “Be more like Jim and I. Don’t. Be. Creepy.” He enunciates every word as Travis laughs it off, saying “whatever, man”.

“Ali was right, you guys are stupid,” you smirk. Both Gabriel and Chris share the same look of offense and betrayal directed at Ali, who simply shrugs her shoulders.

“I meant what I said,” she smiles, squinting her eyes at the dumbstruck boys. “You guys have fun now. And keep your balls away from us,” she motions towards the soccer ball, which you scoff at. Their laughter can be heard as you both turn around and make your way back to your things, the water being slightly too cold to be in today, much to your annoyance. You sneak a quick glance back in search of the blue eyes, but instead see that the brunette’s eyes are shut as his deep laughter fills the air. You turn back around, sigh contentedly, and silently thank whatever god is responsible for cute boys.

“Gabe couldn’t keep his eyes off of you,” you smile over at Ali once you two sit down, getting comfortable on your towels.

“He’s so hot, oh my god,” she groans, covering her face but you can still see her cheery smile peak through. “I’m nervous about tonight, just a little bit,” she says quickly, lowering her hands slightly and glancing your way with an over-exaggerated frown. You aren’t used to seeing much vulnerability from Ali, but it’s welcoming.

“Why are you nervous?” you ask soberly, hoping she’ll open up to you and the two of you can have an authentic conversation, something you’ve been craving.

“I just- Well, Gabe and I have been friends for a while, right? And that’s great. But now we’ve been texting each other and kind of flirting at school and I just feel like something might happen tonight with us,” she says, fidgeting with her hands.

“That’s good though!” your eyes light up as you encourage her with a smile.

“I knoooow, but like… I haven’t been with a guy in forever, and god, I’ve been so horny lately, I would literally kill for some dick, but what if I’ve lost my touch?” she squints her eyes at the ocean, pondering her situation which has you stifling a giggle at her dramatic appearance.

“I highly doubt that, and plus, he totally wants you. He’s going to be jazzed just being in your company, because you are amazing,” you say the last part in a singsongy voice, which she shyly smiles at.

“What about you though! Have you had your eye on anyone? Tonight would be a lot easier if you got laid, too” she says with pleading eyes. You’re a little thrown off, but try your best not to show it.

“I don’t know… I haven’t really been interested in anybody lately. I’m not like the dating and relationship type, you know?” you scrunch up your face as you stumble over your words.

“You don’t have to marry them, but you should have some fun tonight, too,” she says reassuringly, wiggling her eyebrows at you. You can’t help the laugh that escapes as she tries to persuade you. “Plus, didn’t you hookup with that one guy a while ago? It’s been way too long. You shouldn’t neglect your body like that,” she pushes further, winking at you.

You cover your face and cringe at the memory, “Oh yeah, Henry,” you groan, rolling your eyes. “Way too much tongue… Actually, I wouldn’t have minded if he had just used his tongue elsewhere,” you raise an eyebrow at Ali, causing her to make a scene with her laughter.

“Fuck, that’s right! Henry, oh my god. How could I forget the guy with the lizard tongue,” she gasps for air between laughs. You laugh beside her but cringe a bit at the memory. “That’s what you get for hooking up with a guy from our rival school,” she pokes your side, rubbing it in as much as she can.

“How was I supposed to know! I was new and clearly made a bad call,” you shake your head in laughter, laying down and hiding your face with your bag. “Let us never speak about it again,” you say muffled behind your bag.

“Actually,” you say moving your bag to the side and raising yourself on your elbows. “You kind of have a point, it has been a while…” you mutter, while kicking some sand around with your foot.

“Yes! It has!” she leans forward excitedly, as she thinks she’s finally got you on her side. “You deserve to have some fun with a hot guy, and Palos Verdes has lots of those to spare,” she says very matter-of-factly. You smile at her words as you roll over the idea in your mind. You had been touch starved for months and the thought of having someone’s hands dance all over your skin thrilled you. Perhaps this would even be a good distraction from the overbearing thoughts you found yourself having lately.

“Alright, I’m open to the possibility, but I can’t promise anything will happen,” you try to sound nonchalant, but your smile betrays you.

You had spent a couple of hours at the beach, Chris soon joining you and Ali after he finished talking with the boys. You had a really nice time soaking up the sun and spending time with the two people you were closest with in this town, but you couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief as you got home. You always found yourself seeking solitude after being around people. You knew that some time alone before the party would do you some good. Especially, since you now had an objective for tonight and a lot to think about because of it.

You spent a good portion of the time leading up to the party reading in bed, cuddled up next to your cat, Luna. The soft purrs that emanated from her calmed your nerves as you stroked her silvery soft fur. You told yourself you had nothing to be nervous about, but you still shared the anxiety that Ali was feeling earlier. When you glanced at your phone and it showed that you’d be leaving in an hour and a half, you decided to close your book. You started to feel more excitement after you fed Luna her dinner and started getting ready. Some intimacy and connection was exactly what you wanted right now. It was actually what you needed. The feel of someone’s hands gripping your waist, their breath fanning over your exposed skin, nipping at you gently with soft lips. It sounded like heaven and you couldn’t help the smile that played out on your face as you decided on what to wear. Your closet held many great things, which usually resulted in a lot of indecision on your part when it came to getting dressed. However – tonight it would have to be your black, strappy dress. The way it hugged your curves had even you checking yourself out in the mirror. It showed just enough cleavage to leave others wanting more and was also backless, which you particularly liked. You thought, “why not show off my body?” Especially on a night like this. The fabric stopped halfway down your thighs and if somebody’s gaze followed all the way down your legs, they’d find some black stilettos to accompany your sleek, well-fitted dress.

You thought to yourself, “Damn, I look good.” And you did, there was no denying that. You fixed your hair just the way you liked it and put some makeup on, as well. Taking a step back from the mirror, you decided you were really pleased with the way you looked, which only made your excitement grow. You were ready to have a drink, spend some time with Ali and Chris, and (hopefully) have a little extra fun tonight with somebody new.

You heard the familiar buzz from your phone that told you Ali would soon be at your place, so you spritzed some perfume delicately on your neck and touched up your hair. Luna jumped up onto your bed and made herself comfortable in the middle of the lilac duvet and the sight of her curled up with closed eyes calmed whatever nerves you still had about tonight. You leaned down to softly pet her head which had her perk up and make a chirping noise from the disturbance you had caused her. Her annoyance with you had you laughing to yourself as you saw the headlights of Ali’s car turn into your driveway. Bending down, you placed a gentle kiss on her head, said your goodbyes, and were on your way.

As soon as you opened Ali’s car door and sat down, you were greeted with screams from the driver herself. “Bitch, you look SO good!” You couldn’t help the big grin that adorned your face as you welcomed her praise. “Forget Gabe, I’m just going to hook up with you tonight,” she said, pulling out of your driveway.

You looked over at her and winked while saying, “I’m down,” which caused a giggle to leave her lips. “You look really good, too! I love that shade of blue on you,” you turned towards her and looked at her navy dress.

“Sexy, right?” she wiggled her eyebrows at you. “I think Gabe will like it,” she added softly with her eyes glued to the road but a smile on her face. “I’m feeling a lot better about tonight, but I still need a drink,” she let out a breath as she continued,” How about you! How are you feeling about tonight?”

You nodded your head slowly, looking out the window at the passing street lights, “I feel good, too. Definitely want a drink, but I feel… good,” you confirmed to her and yourself. You don’t know why you were even nervous to begin with. After all, these were just people from school and you were all graduating in a couple of months, so if anything bad happened you wouldn’t have to see them for that much longer anyways.

You knew that you had arrived when you could see the many different cars parked along the street and people loitering the lawn, boisterously talking amongst themselves. With the car finally parked a little ways down from Brandon’s house, you stepped outside to be greeted by the brisk chill of the night. The moon gleamed in the night sky as you both made your way towards the sound of laughter and yelling, the sound of your heels clicking on the pavement adding a calm beat to the overbearing sounds you were hearing.

You passed those who had spilled outside of the house and onto the lawn and caught a few eyes staring at you. Or rather at your body. You smirked to yourself as you stepped through the door, with Ali right behind you. The house was dimly lit and thudded from whatever song by The Weeknd they were blasting over the speakers. From what you could tell, Brandon’s house was quite nice, albeit similar to yours, as was pretty much every house in Palos Verdes. Except now, it was filled to the brim with high school seniors, drunk, unruly, and looking to let loose. You actually felt bad about the mess Brandon’s parents were sure to come home to.

“Chris!” you heard Ali scream behind you as you turned around only to see her disappear into the crowd. You tried to follow, but were swallowed into the mob of dancing people. You recognized familiar faces from school and some new faces, as well, as they swayed around you in a drunken state. You suddenly felt a pair of hands around your waist and someone’s lips brush against your ear. “Well aren’t you a pretty thing,” they whispered, the smell of alcohol faint on their breath. You turned around only to find a complete stranger and scoffed at their overconfidence.

“Don’t touch me,” you tore their hands from your body and rolled your eyes as you made your way against the grain of the large crowd. You wanted to get with somebody tonight, but would never consider the creep who grabs random girls from behind. He’s lucky you didn’t give him a black eye. Surprisingly enough you could hear Ali’s laughter, even over the deafening music, which told you she was nearby. You pushed a little further and saw the navy dress with her in it, talking to some familiar faces.

“Hey! I lost you,” you laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of your neck. Everyone’s eyes turned to you, some even looking you up and down with a smirk on their lips.

“I was wondering where you went!” she shouted over the music, hugging your waist and bringing you into the circle of friends. You noticed Gabe was standing across from her, which explains why she practically ran over here the moment she noticed the familiar faces.

“Here you go,” you heard a familiar deep voice as someone bumped into you with their hand out, offering Ali a drink. “Oh shit, sorry,” you both turned towards each other only to see that it was Chris who had nearly knocked you over. His green eyes widened as he took in your appearance, “Oh wow, Y/N.” His breath hitched slightly, but he regained his composure quickly, “I didn’t mean to almost kill you, sorry.” He laughed lightly, holding onto the two cups in his hand. Ali grabbed one and patted him on the shoulder, turning back to her conversation. “Here, take this one. I’ll go grab another one,” he offered you the drink in his hand.

“Thanks!” you took the cup gladly from him. “I’ll come with you, though,” you said, looking up at him with a smile.

“Okay,” his eyes gleamed, taking your arm and leading you through the crowd of sweaty people, only letting go of you once you two reached the corner where the drinks were. You wanted to scope out the place and for anyone you thought would be interesting to play around with. Taking a sip of the strong liquid inside of your red cup, you winced as you felt the familiar burn make its way down your throat. You were spinning around back towards Chris when you stopped and noticed he was already staring at you. You gave him a quick smile as he averted his eyes and watched as he poured himself another drink.

“You havin’ fun?” you asked a bit concerned once you remembered the look of sadness he wore earlier at the beach. He shared that same look just as he made eye contact with you and you were curious what could be upsetting him.

“Oh yeah, what’s not to love about parties?” he winked at you, raising his cup and taking a big sip.

Walking over towards him, your mouth turned down slightly at the edges as you softly told him, “You know, you can always talk to me if something’s bothering you.”

He put his arm around you in a jovial way and wore a smile that only half convinced you as he stared at your face, searching for something you weren’t sure of. “I know. I’m okay, though,” he said softly, squeezing your shoulder.

You both made your way back to the group surprisingly easy for how rowdy and crowded the party was getting. Ali and Gabe only had eyes for each other as they stood dangerously close to one another, engulfed in a conversation. You noticed the placement of her arm on his bicep and you were happy that she was going after what she wanted. You looked around the group, observing everyone in their drunken states, which you had to admit, was quite amusing. You tried to hide your giggle by taking another sip from your cup when your eyes landed on a familiar brunette leaning against the wall. His icy blue eyes you had seen only earlier that day bore into you once more. Only this time they were two shades darker.

His eyes searched every part of you, drinking you in. The way your hair swayed as you looked at the partygoers. The way you bit your lip as you observed them, squinting your eyes, clearly in deep thought. And the way your bare legs teased and tantalized him. God, you looked absolutely divine, he thought to himself. You glanced at the beer in his hand and put two and two together, deciding the determination in his lust blown eyes was the product of his beverage. But, you took the bait anyways.

It didn’t take long for you to find your way over to him, his eyes never leaving you for a second even with the commotion of the party. You placed your body right beside his against the wall and could feel his eyes on you as he turned his head to really take you in. Your smile was apparent as you brought your cup to your lips again, drinking the harsh liquid.

“Hi there,” you said, finally looking over at the tall brunette standing next to you. You were met with half-lidded eyes and a slight smirk that tempted you to kiss him right then and there.

“Hey,” he simply replied, his voice raspy and eyes glancing you up and down.

“Are you ever going to stop assaulting me with your eyes?” you joked, a smile playing out on your face.

“It’s not my fault you look like that,” the corners of his mouth turned up. “You see – I just can’t help it,” he placed the hand not holding his beer over his chest, breathing in and taking in the sight of you completely.

The way you rolled your eyes at his words had him laughing, which you thought only made him more attractive. “It’s Jim, right?” you asked, turning on your side to look at him.

“Mhm,” he muttered, mimicking your gesture and leaning on his side to face you. “Y/N, right?”

You nodded your head and took another sip from your cup, finally starting to feel the effects on you. The blue in his eyes was mesmerizing, even as they grew darker with each passing minute; even as they got closer while he moved his body towards you. “You’re the new girl,” he commented.

You scoffed, “Well, I was new 7 months ago – Not sure if I’d still be classified as the new girl now.” He seemed particularly amused by the slight irritation in your voice, especially when you used air quotes around “new girl”. He folded his arms and leaned in closer to you, squinting his eyes as if to stare you down. But you didn’t budge; you liked a challenge occasionally.

He sensed you weren’t ready to back down as you raised an eyebrow at his stance. Sighing, he leaned back and smirked, “You’re cute when you’re mad.”

He caught you a bit off guard with his words, but you regained your composure quickly. “Oh please, I’m not mad,” you replied, the hint of a smile on your face. “You don’t have that much of an effect on me,” the satisfaction gleamed across your face for everyone to see, but Jim was too close now for anyone to notice. He seemed to make his way closer and closer to you until your bodies were mere inches from each other.

He leaned down and ghosted his lips over your ear, smirking at the way your breath hitched in your throat. “So, I do have some effect on you, then?” His voice was deep and sultry. His words dancing in your mind.

“Maybe,” you placed your hand gently on his chest, leaning into his body. You could feel his toned chest through the soft cotton of his shirt, and the smell of his cologne left you in a daze. All you could think about was getting as close to him as possible. “Is there anywhere a little more… private?” you ask, your fingertips dancing across his chest.

He takes your hand in his, stopping your movements altogether, which causes you to look up at him. He looks a little surprised by your forwardness, but pleased nonetheless. “I do – Follow me,” he grabs your hand tighter and leads you through the crowd. You both make your way upstairs and the first room you try already has three people in it. They are way too focused on each other’s unclothed bodies to notice you and Jim opening the door and then quickly shutting it. You’re both still laughing as you head towards the room down the hall, holding onto each other closely. You stumble in first, happy to find that the room is unoccupied, with Jim following right after you. You take your time walking to the middle of the room, slowly turning to take it all in as you hear Jim lock the door behind you. A very nice and spacious master bedroom. Your thoughts of Brandon’s parents sleeping on the california king sized mattress make you cringe a bit, but you shake those thoughts from your mind easily. You’re faced towards the vanity across the room when you hear the bed dip. Turning with a smile on your lips, you see Jim sitting against the headboard, clearly having made himself comfortable. He pats the spot next to him as he notices your eyes staring directly into his.

“Well, aren’t you a presumptuous little thing,” you squint as a soft laugh escapes your lips.

“You’re the one who wanted somewhere more private,” he says, mimicking the way you had said it downstairs, earning a smile from you. You shake your head at the boy, place your cup next to his abandoned beer bottle on the dresser and slowly make your way towards the edge of the bed. The way he’s looking at you has you wanting to rip his clothes off and straddle him, but you want to take things slow. Not for your own sake or because you wanted to take your time and savor this, but because you wanted to make him wait a little and put him on edge. The way you get onto the bed and crawl on all fours towards him has him practically salivating. You finally reach him and lean up to kiss him lightly on his cheek. Just a little something to tease him, before you find your place next to him on the bed, sitting beside him. He lets out a small breath at the feeling of your lips meeting and then leaving his skin quickly. You lean into his warm body, with your bare legs resting against his jean covered ones. Your eyes stare seductively into his blue ones, challenging him to make the next move. His arm finds its way across your shoulders pulling you into him even more as his other hand slides up your thigh and grips it slightly.

Your heart beats fast like a drum as you wait in anticipation, wanting nothing more than to find out what he tastes like. The moment you inch closer to his lips, he leans down, meeting you slowly. He nudges his nose gently against yours, silently asking for permission. The smile that adorns your face is genuine as you feel his warm breath ghost over your lips. You lean the slightest bit into him and suddenly feel his soft, tender lips against yours. The way your mouths dance against each other is nothing short of heavenly. Jim manages to elicit a small gasp from you as he moves his hand further up your leg. The grip you have on his shirt is strong as you pull his body closer to yours, needing to feel more of him.

You both lay there for several minutes, tasting each other and reveling in the feeling of your hands exploring the other. You hold his face close to yours as he bites your bottom lip gently. Slowly, he massages your tongue gently with his and you swallow the moans that leave his mouth. A delicate dance that you are both sharing in. This continues for a while, the both of you losing yourselves in the feeling of the other.

When you break the kiss to nip at his jawline, he closes his eyes in pleasure and sighs softly. The next sound heard in the room is your breath hitching in your throat as he bunches up your dress and moves his finger gently up and down your black, lace panties. He can feel how wet you are through the thin fabric and bites back a groan. Swiftly, he pushes the drenched lace to the side and runs his finger through your folds slowly before sinking it in. It was your turn to close your eyes in pleasure as he thrust his long digit in and out of you slowly, staring intently at you with lust-filled eyes. He could feel himself hardening as he watched the look of pleasure on your face while you held him closely with your arms around his neck. The way your body squirmed as he dipped down to kiss your neck encouraged him to add another finger. You moaned desperately, making him bite down on your skin, hiding a grunt from leaving his mouth. He moved his fingers in and out of you skillfully, relishing in the way your brows furrowed and breaths got more and more desperate. You started to get used to his rhythm, sighing contentedly at the tingle settling in your stomach. And then he stopped, removing his hand altogether.

Your eyes shot open, giving him an astounded look nearly begging him to continue, but stopped once you saw him removing his jean jacket. You watched hungrily as he lifted his white t-shirt over his head and threw it on the floor near where his jacket was discarded. Growing impatient, you started to fumble with your dress, trying to take it off.

“No – Don’t,” Jim spoke up. “Let me.” He was about to take his jeans off but stopped once he saw what you were doing. Grabbing your ankle that was closest, he pulled you towards him so that you were now laying down. He quickly pounced on you and you felt the heat of his body as he hovered over you. Leaning down he placed a heated kiss to your lips, melting in your taste. You almost didn’t even notice his hands pulling the straps of your dress down, but once you felt them linger over your breasts you instinctively moved your hips up to his, needing to feel more of him. He moved down to lightly suck at the sensitive part of your neck and pulled your dress down over your breasts.

“Damn,” he pulled back and muttered, mostly to himself. Having decided not to wear a bra that night, you thanked yourself silently as you were happy to speed up this process. He couldn’t believe how unbelievably sexy you looked laying underneath him, looking up at him with pleading eyes. He dipped down once again and placed open mouth kisses all the way from your neck to your chest. He took one of your nipples into his mouth, sucking lightly as he gripped the other in between his fingers. You could feel him smirk against your skin when you jumped after he pinched you slightly. Moving on to your other breast, he gave a small kiss as to say sorry. You held his head to you and raked his back with your nails as he moved his tongue back and forth over your nipple. The moans that left his mouth when you occasionally bucked your hips into his helped deepen the arousal pooling in your lower region.

You could see he was growing more impatient as he rubbed himself against you. If it wasn’t the way he kissed you, or the way he sucked on your skin, or the sounds of his deep moans that turned you on the most, it was definitely the prominent bulge he ground into you. The rough jean material rubbed against your thin lace and it left you breathless. You needed more of him and as if he read your mind in that moment, he pulled the rest of your dress down your body, throwing it somewhere out of sight. You lifted your hips up for him and he pulled the drenched lace down your legs, abandoning it on the floor as well. His eyes devoured every part of you as he lightly kneaded your thigh with his firm hand. The slight smirk and content sigh he gave right before leaning down in between your legs nearly had you blushing. But what really made a light shade of pink appear on your cheeks was the way his tongue slowly ran up your folds, gathering your wetness in his mouth. He lifted his head and licked his lips, looking up at you through half-lidded eyes. The crystal clear blue you had seen in his irises earlier that day was nearly nonexistent now. He looked at you hungrily, with his pupils as dilated as you’ve ever seen on a person.

Once he leaned back down, he mumbled out a small, “You taste really good.”

You were a little caught off guard and as a result you let out a slight giggle and an awkward “thanks”. He simply chuckled against your skin, kissing and sucking on the skin between your thighs. He moved his tongue up and down your folds a couple more times, and sucked lightly on your clit before removing his mouth and making his way back up your body to kiss you again.

He ground his hips into you once more, needing to feel some friction from your warmth. “Are you on birth control?” he muttered, not being able to control himself for much longer.

Right as you were about to reply, he started sucking at the skin under your jaw, so your “yeah, I am” came out a lot shakier than you had planned.

“Okay, great,” he placed one more kiss to your collarbone before getting off the bed, unbuttoning his jeans.

“Hey!” you said accusingly.

His eyes widened a bit as his hands stopped, “what?”

“Let me,” you threw his line back at him, which earned you a rolling of his eyes and a smirk he tried to cover up. You delicately got off the bed and leaned down on your knees in front of him. You looked up at him innocently as you grabbed his bulge, lightly squeezing it in your hand. His body jolted forward and he sucked in a harsh breath. You decided not to tease him too much, as you were growing impatient as well, so your fingers found their way to his zipper and undid his jeans the rest of the way. Pulling them down his legs you were greeted with a pair of blue boxers. But that’s not what you were focusing on. What filled your mind was the way his cock desperately begged to be let free from the confines of the fabric. You leaned into him and placed your lips right above the top of the cotton band, licking the sensitive skin as you felt him rest his hand gently in your hair. You snaked your fingers under the band and lightly pulled them down. The way his cock bounced freely as you lowered his boxers had you licking your lips in anticipation. You liked what you saw. Not too thin, not too thick, just enough veins. He was also the longest you had ever been with and that alone had you biting your lip.

His tip gleamed with precum and you found yourself leaning in to place a delicate lick at his slit. You smirked at the sudden breath he let out. You could tell he had been holding it in but couldn’t anymore once he felt your touch, sending a jolt of electricity through every nerve in his body. He desperately needed more of you. With his hand placed on the back of your head, he beckoned you closer and you happily obliged. You held him and placed your tongue flat against the base of his shaft, licking up the long vein that ran all the way to his tip. Slowly, you took him into your mouth. But, only the tip. You sucked and swirled your tongue around his most sensitive part, earning you a low, raspy groan from the man above. He pushed your head slightly further towards him and you couldn’t help but give in to his demands. You were enjoying this just a little too much as you sunk your mouth down on him as far as you could go, letting your hand work whatever couldn’t fit. Watching your head bobbing up and down on him nearly had him coming undone already and he couldn’t help but let out a hiss when you dipped down to suck gently at his balls before coming back up and taking his length into your warm mouth once again. He started to lose his composure as he placed both hands in your hair and started thrusting into your mouth, relishing in the feel of your muffled moans vibrating against his cock. But, as much as he loved your mouth on him, he had other plans for where he wanted his cum going.

He gently pulled you off of his cock, took your hand that was placed on his hip and helped you to stand up. Quickly, he kicked his shoes and jeans off of his body, closed whatever distance was between you two and found your needy lips against his. He grabbed your ass roughly and pushed his hips into you, swallowing the moan that left your mouth as you felt his cock rub against you. Slowly, he walked you backwards to the bed where he abruptly left your lips and pushed you onto the comforter.

You fall onto the plush fabric with your mouth slightly agape as he stares down at you, pumping himself a few times as he makes his way towards your body. The anticipation is torturous as all you want is to feel the sensation of him filling you. The bed moves slightly as he finds his way on top of you. Even though his warmth was addictive and nearly set every nerve in your body on fire, the way his length rested against your stomach as he kissed along your jawline sent a tingling shiver up your spine. His breath ghosted against your cheek, hot and heavy, with him rubbing his length against your lower abdomen, the glistening liquid leaking out of him smearing against your skin. The feeling of your nails digging into his back made him jerk his head up with a low grunt escaping his lips. The sight of his wavy hair, now unruly, in front of his lust-blown eyes only made you more desperate for his touch.

He placed one more kiss under your ear before whispering, “Still sure about this?”

“Yes,” you groan, practically begging for him to connect your bodies already.

“Alright,” he says, smirking at the slight eagerness in your voice. He raises himself from your body and the coldness that hits you from the lack of his warmth leaves you feeling dissatisfied; however, you aren’t able to think about it too long as he quickly grabs you by the hips and flips you over so that you’re now on all fours. He holds your hips tightly in his grasp as he bends down to kiss the back of your neck. “This okay?” he whispers, lightly grinding against your body.

You reply by pushing your body back into him. His length rubs against your skin and you feel your hair move as he lets out a harsh breath. And then suddenly you feel the absence of his warmth over your back as he leans up, gripping your hip with one hand and his shaft with the other, running it up and down your folds, spreading your wetness around.

In one swift motion, he sinks himself into you and both of your moans fill the room, as you tightly grab onto the comforter beneath you. You shut your eyes in pleasure at the feeling of him filling you completely and he rolls his head back, a groan leaving his lips, at the feeling of being encompassed in your warmth. He gives you both a moment to adjust to this new feeling before moving his hips. He’s slow at first, trying to pace himself, but the soft sounds leaving your mouth drive him absolutely crazy and you can feel him pick up the pace, needing that extra bit of friction. The sound of skin slapping against each other is the prominent noise in the room, along with your quiet moans, his occasional groans, and the faint music from the party downstairs.

He pushes further into you, seeking his own pleasure, as he goes at a relentless pace now. The tight grip on your hips (that you were sure to find bruises on tomorrow) left quickly and instead he leaned down and wrapped his arms around your torso, his hot breath fanning against your neck. You could smell his cologne and even the slight scent of the ocean hidden underneath. He sucked harshly at your soft skin, which you were sure was purple by now.

“Fuck… fuck… fuck,” he started saying to himself, voice shaky as his hips slammed into you over and over. The feeling of him buried deep inside of you nearly had you seeing stars. Both of you were grateful that you were holding on to each other, since you were sure it was impossible to stay up on your own now. He thrust into you a couple more times before you felt him bury himself completely in you. He started groaning loudly as his cock twitched inside of you and you could then feel his cum spill out of him, painting your walls. Slowing his thrusts, he held your body close to him, making sure you milked his cock for every drop he had. He let out one last content breath before releasing you from his grasp and pulling out of you.

You lay there catching your breath and could feel his cum seep out of you slowly, running down your thighs. Your arousal was starting to build up before he had finished in you and now, you felt slightly bitter towards the man getting off of the bed. Turning around, you found him running his hands through his disheveled hair, trying to catch his breath as well. Even though he looked ridiculously attractive like this, with a slight flush adorning his cheeks, you couldn’t help but glare at him for leaving you high and dry.

“Hold on, let me get something for you,” he said while looking at the mess his cum made. You watched him walk towards the bathroom against the farthest wall, his bare ass on display only deepening your arousal. Moments later, he came back with a hand towel, brushing it against his neck that softly glistened with sweat. “Here,” he handed it to you and you rolled your eyes.

As you were nearly done wiping your legs, you spoke with a hint of hostility in your voice, “You know, I didn’t cum.” You didn’t bother to look up at his reaction, but when you didn’t hear a reply your eyes found themselves glancing up anyways. His arms were folded and he was slightly shaking his head, a smirk played out across his features.

“Did I say I was done with you?” He let out a low laugh when you raised your eyebrows in surprise. “I know you didn’t finish. Did you think I was just going to leave?” he said, moving towards your body that still lay on the bed.

“Well… Yeah. Pretty much,” you said in an obvious voice. You squeezed your legs shut as you could feel your arousal dripping at the sight of him advancing towards you. He stopped when he reached your legs, softly caressing them up and down.

“No – Like I said, I’m not done with you yet. I only got a small taste of you and I’d like more,” he glanced at your heat, licking his lips. “If that’s okay with you, of course,” he mocked the attitude your voice held just moments before. You looked down, slightly embarrassed as you bit your bottom lip and nodded your head slightly. From your position, you lowered yourself completely onto the plush cotton beneath you, ready for him. He teasingly ran his fingers up your legs and then slowly, spread your thighs apart, taking in the sight of you completely.

His icy, blue eyes bore into yours as he leaned down to place open mouthed kisses all over the inside of your thighs. Your eyes fluttered at the feeling of the small nips he left against your sensitive skin. Suddenly, he licked a small, hard stripe over your clit, making your hips jut out. You could feel his smirk as he attached his lips, sucking hard and holding you down with one of his arms. Instinctively, your hand reached out and grasped onto his hair as your head rolled back into the mattress. The desperate moan that escaped you as he licked fast stripes over your clit sounded almost angelic to him. He stopped his movements and placed his tongue flat against your entrance and reveled in your whines as you tried to move your hips against him to try and get some friction. But his arm that was wrapped tightly around your hips prevented you from moving, much to your annoyance. You tried pushing his head closer to you, but he strongly denied your requests, simply keeping his tongue in place, taunting you with its warmness.

“Jim,” you panted, looking down at him with pleading eyes. He looks up at you with a glint in his eye, his lips still attached to you.

“Just wanted to hear you say ‘please’,” he mumbles against your heat, teasing you.

“Come on,” you groan and with that he licks up your entrance, his nose bumping against your clit in the process. He starts licking and sucking faster as he notices your breaths getting more and more desperate. He moves to your clit and sucks harshly, making you yelp. The tight grasp you have on his hair only pushes him to go further. He removes his arm from around your waist and instead places both hands at the back of your thighs raising them towards you to give him more room.

The feeling of his tongue against you was like nothing you had ever experienced. You hated to admit it, not wanting to give this near stranger any satisfaction, especially after teasing you, but he was definitely the most skilled you had ever had. His strong tongue flicked against your clit back and forth before coming back down. He pushed himself in between your folds and curved his tongue in and out of you, sucking on any part of skin he could find. You held his mouth to your entrance by the soft curls tightly grasped in your hand, as you could feel your arousal building quickly.

Your voice grew desperate and needy, something you didn’t recognize and you wondered who this person was. “Oh god… oh god… oh god,” you started to chant, body shaking as you felt the bundle of nerves in you begin to tighten. He went back and forth between sucking on your clit to licking fast lines up and down your folds, his hands holding onto your thighs intensely. You could see the veins in his toned arms bulge and part of his hair in his face as he continued his assault on you, working you towards your end.

You had thought to yourself, you never wanted this feeling to end, but you desperately needed to feel the band that was tightly wound in you snap, spreading your warmth all over his pretty, little tongue. He dipped his tongue into your folds again, nose bumping against your clit as he relentlessly moved in and out of you. The electricity in you building and building until you felt yourself ready to tip over. His tongue pushed into you once more and you finally toppled over that cliff that had been building in you. You let go, rolling your head back against the plush fabric and let out a lengthy and sensual moan. Your hips moved against his mouth, riding out every wave of pleasure he gave you.

He licked up every ounce of wetness that came out of you, savoring in the taste of you on his tongue, before you pulled his head back from the overstimulation. You looked properly fucked out, he thought, sitting up and smirking to himself while wiping the rest of your essence from his face with the back of his hand. You let out one last, deep breath before taking your time sitting up and stretching.

“Well, that was – fun,” you said, for lack of better word, your voice sounding exhausted.

“Yeah,” he agreed laughing and shyly scratching the back of his head as you got off the bed. There were clothes all over the floor but it wasn’t too difficult to differentiate yours from his. You found your still damp panties and begrudgingly put them on, while spotting your black dress and picking it up. Turning around, you found Jim back in his jeans, buttoning them while looking for this white t-shirt. You felt a little awkward not really knowing what to say to him, so you just focused on pulling your dress up your body and putting your arms through the straps, adjusting it to your liking. As you spotted your heels and made your way towards them, you glanced at your phone to check the time and instead found two texts from Ali.

[Alison]: Where are you???

[Alison]: Y/N, are you getting fucked?? Tell me!!!

It had been about thirty minutes since her last text and you winced a little at the urgency and excitement in her messages. After putting your black heels on and smoothing out your dress you glanced over at Jim to find him fully dressed, jean jacket and all, with his eyebrows furrowed, staring intently at his phone. You stood there awkwardly for a moment expecting him to look up, before grabbing your cup on the dresser and heading towards the door.

“So… Um…” you started, not really knowing exactly what to say, while you held the door open half way, the music from downstairs flooding in.

He still stared at his phone as he muttered, “Shit, I have to go.” He started to get up, taking his eyes off of the screen and running his hand through his hair. You assumed this was his way of getting out of having to spend any extra time with you, which you were happy to play along with. It could always be awkward after hooking up with someone; you never really could tell how somebody would react. And since you weren’t exactly the warm and cuddly type, you had found yourself in a couple of previous predicaments where you have had to literally sneak out of the room, needing to escape from your lovers’ soft eyes and warm arms. You found that you were okay with sexual experiences, but once it turned emotional or loving in any way, you couldn’t leave fast enough. And Jim seemed to be right on par with you as he created this “fake scenario”, you thought to yourself.

“Okay – Well, bye!” you gave him one last smile before opening the door fully. The last thing you saw before walking out into the hallway was Jim’s face contorted in confusion and, was that – sadness?

#jim mason x reader #jim mason #jim mason fic #jim mason imagine #cody fern #the tribes of palos verdes #my writing

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inevitable-anna · 5 years ago

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ETN S2 fanfic.

This is for @hessonite-angel-art and the awesome drawing they did for Rosanna in S2. I would like to say that I’m so so so so so so sorry that it took me so long to reply! I spent an 1 hour and a half writing a fic about this, and then when I went to post it, my stupid internet started messing about and I wasn’t able to save this! And then I had problems posting it.

I’m gonna try again with this fic, here we go. (Warning contains a mention of stab wounds, blood, and a slit throat)

[[MORE]]

Everyone felt like they were going to collapse once they got back into the Lounge. They had just ran away from The Sorceress... again. As they entered and blocked the door behind them, they all dramatically collapsed onto various pieces of furniture.

Although there was one question on everyone’s mind, which was asked by Joey.

“Why do you have a knife? And where the hell did you get a knife from, Ro?” He exclaimed in slight fear of The Baker, he was the reason Liza went into the challenge after all.

“Like I said, ‘Liza and I will not be dying tonight’ and I swiped it from the Gingerbread Woman’s kitchen, the first time we were there.” Ro answered.

“Did you steal anymore weapons from anywhere? And are you willing to share with me?” Gabbie asked in a comedic tone.

Ro didn’t answer this time, instead she started to fiddle with the skirt of her dress. After a minute, she began to remove several small knives, a few metal quill pens, 3 letter openers, and 2 syringes with a large needles on the ends?

“Damn! I didn’t actually expect you to have anything else in there!” Gabbie exclaimed in shock.

“Where did you even get this stuff?” Liza asked, while fiddling with a letter opener.

“I’ve been swiping anything remotely sharp, or anything that can be used as a weapon all night, in case, we get into more trouble.” She replied.

“Seriously? Are you sure you didn’t just bring this stuff from your house? Because I haven’t seen any of this stuff at all.” Questioned Alex, from his place laying diagonally across one of the sofas, with one leg dangling over the back and one arm splayed out across the floor.

“Yeah, I got the knives from the Gingerbread Woman’s Kitchen. The letter openers and some of the metal quills from the Study, where Jorogumo webbed you up after she kidnapped you. And I found the syringes in the Foyer, while we all thought that the ‘helm of obedience’ was going to make Joey shoot us. I think someone must of dropped them.” Ro listed.

“And I meant what I said Liza and I will not be dying tonight. In fact, none of us are going to die tonight.” Ro stated, whilst holding up one of the knives from the table.

Judging by some of the looks the guests gave her as she help up the blade, Ro guessed that she had just gained lots of allies, and cemented herself as a team player. As well as, scaring the hell out of everyone in the room, including Alison.

No one else died that night...

That is, nobody else died, from among the guests ranks... Some of The Sorceress’ lieutenants were not so lucky.

The Ice Guardian very quickly found itself on the wrong end of a blade after it attempted to corner Tana.

It turns out that The Promethian Men weren’t so strong, once they were littered with stab wounds. Cedric was very happy to give the guests his gem... after they promised to let him live.

The werewolves may have been a pack, but even they weren’t a match for 7 angry youtubers, armed to the teeth with make shift weapons, picked up on their way across the various rooms of the Mansion.

The Guardian Of The Dark Dimension did not expect to become the sacrifice that was required to open a portal back to the Mansion, but he could only watch as the guests ran through and his vision began to go black.

The Sorceress was outraged, all her meticulously crafted plans were turning to ash before her eyes, all because ‘The Baker’ had chosen to fight back against her lieutenants and save her friends.

‘Just wait until I get my hands on her!’ She thought, while slowly clawing her way up the stairs. ‘I’ll make her wish that she was never born!’

It wasn’t long before The Sorceress’ arms gave out from under her, having no energy left in them. Lying on the stairs was uncomfortable but she just couldn’t move yet. Though she could hear voices approaching, one of which she recognised as ‘the Savant’.

‘Well, if I have to go down, I’ll take one of them with me!’ She thought bitterly, waiting for her time to strike.

“There’s the crown! Damn it! it’s by The Sorceress.” The Vaudevillian yelled in frustration. “Who is gonna get it?”

There was a sudden rush of noise. Each guest was trying to decide who should risk themselves for her crown.

“I’ll do it.” Said a quiet voice, that The Sorceress recognised immediately. ‘The Savant, perfect’ she thought.

There was a chorus of voices saying ‘be careful, Joey’ and she heard his footsteps walking up the stairs and waited for him to get closer.

The noise of the crown being picked up was her signal. With a scream The Sorceress jumped up whilst pulling her knife out of its holster and got ready to stab anyone within arms reach.

Frantic shouts filled the air, overlapping each other, as the guests reacted to her sudden attack.

“Oh my go-“. “What the he-“. “She has a kn-“.

“Joey! Loo-“. “How is she still al-“. “I thought she was de-“

The good news for the guests was that Joey was able to manoeuvre himself out of the daggers path, which was heading towards his chest.

The bad news for the guests was that the dagger was now stuck in his arm instead.

The Sorceress tackled Joey to the floor and pulled her dagger from his arm, raised it above her head to bring it down in a fatal blow to Joey’s heart and...

She felt a hand wrestle the dagger from her clenched fist, while another hand anchored it’s fingers into her hair and sharply yanked her head backwards, before the feeling of cold metal dragged itself across her throat. She had just enough time to turn and see who had slit her throat, before the world went dark.

The Baker.

The guests were in shock.

In the span of about a minute or maybe even a minute and a half, Joey had been stabbed in the arm, The Sorceress had proceeded to tackle Joey, attempted to stab him, only for Rosanna to snatch the blade and use it to kill The Sorceress herself, and now Ro was standing with the bloody dagger in hand weeping that she “didn’t mean to kill her.”

Liza quickly walked to Ro to comfort her, while the rest of the group helped Joey sort out his wound.

“It’s okay. Ro, you saved everyone’s lives by doing that. I know that doesn’t make it any better but everyone in this room is alive because of what you just did. Who knows maybe if you hadn’t done it, The Sorceress would be back in a years time with 10 more people to chase around and use for her spell. You saved our lives.” She reassured while pulling the small woman in for a hug.

“Thanks Liza. At least she can’t hurt anyone anymore.” Ro mumbled into her shoulder.

By now the group had finished tying a piece of fabric, that Alex had ripped off of the bottom of The Sorceress’ skirts, around Joey’s stab wound to act as a bandage and stem the flow of blood.

Everyone walked over and joined in on the hug to comfort The Baker, whilst offering her words of thanks and reassurance. After a few minutes in the large group hug The Savant spoke “Shall we get out of here and back home?” There was a chorus of ‘yes’ from around the room.

Joey walked to the front doors that most of the guests had walked through only a few hours ago, when they believed that they were attending a ball and not a dangerous quest against an evil Sorceress, who was hell bent on invading the modern world and ruling over it.

The guests smiled as soon as they saw the sunlight beginning to creep up over the horizon. Ro looked around and walked to the spot where Alison was standing.

“Are you going to come with us?” She asked.

“I’m sorry but no, I’m going to stay and help Riley, Jetpack, and the people still here figure out what to do and where to go. As I said ‘there are other people who want to leave, I’m doing this for them.’ But maybe I’ll come visit you all in the future.” The vampire replied with a small smile.

“Well you’re always welcome to come and visit me any time you like.” Ro said returning the smile, before she walked back to Liza.

“Are we all ready to go?” Alex asked, wanting to leave before anymore tears could start to fall at the thought of leaving the Mansion without Lauren by his side. Everyone said their goodbyes to Alison and welcomed her to come visit them as well. Just like that they were ready to leave this house of nightmares and return to their homes for a well earned rest.

Ro said a quiet goodbye to Lauren, Jesse, and Destorm, promising to never forget them and telling them that she hopes that they are at peace. Linking arms with Liza, they walked to the front doors at the back of the group and sighed at the feeling of the sun on their faces.

Alex, Tyler, and Tana climbed into the first carriage, while Joey, Gabbie, Ro, and Liza sat together in the second. The carriages started to move, beginning the journey home and that’s when it hit Ro...

They had escaped the night.

This is my first time writing an ETN fanfic and it ended up so much longer than I expected it too. Again, I’m so so sorry that it took me so long to reply to you, but I hoped you liked this story. (I apologise for any incorrect grammar or an abuse of commas.)

Have a nice day :D

#escape the night season 4 #escape the night with joey graceffa #escape the night all stars #escape the night 4 #escape the night 2 #escape the night spoilers #escape the night #etn #etn all stars #etn season 4 #etn spoilers #etn2 #etnallstars #etn4

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kaz3313 · 6 years ago

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Hell is the Ink Machine

I swear the title will make sense eventually

This is part 1 (of I think 2 or 3 parts) of a fic enspired by @a-rae-of-sunshine ‘s idea’s. Idk why this idea resonated with me so much but it did!

Graphic depictions of violence ahead, proceed at your own risk

As Joey Drew hears the door handle click open his heart begins to race and he sucks in a long breath; what he assumes to be his last.

Everything in the studio had previously been going perfectly or as perfectly as a business can run. The animation department has been chugging out two episodes a monthly, one month three cartoons due to a Christmas and Hanukkah special, but quality still is priority.

Sammy Lawrence and Jack Fain recently won an award for the soundtrack for the cartoons; Sammy displays it in his office with pride and would make sure to polish it every week so both musician and lyricists names shone. Sometimes Jack, while passing by the music director’s office, would be caught staring at it. Besides Jack and himself no one was aloud to touch it; especially not Wally who would ‘break it’.

The toy factory is busy as ever;Joey had to hire twelve more people other than Shawn, who was the head of toy making, to help with all the demand for the toys. Bendy, surprising, did not sell the best, that place was held for the little angel, Alice. Due to such good sales the toy makers began to experiment with some side character right now the Butcher Gang.

Bendy Land is coming around nicely though its debut would take an estimated two years. That was fine with Joey, the park would be well worth the delay. It will have many extravagant rides.

Then there was the ink machine that will make extreme profits when-

Well it would’ve, if not for immediate threat present-Henry Stein.

Henry, oh dear Henry Joey thought to himself, what broke the poor fellow Joey has no clue. He was always a hard worker and overall good man. Joey asked him last night to look at some cells on his desk. Just a quick review nothing major.

“Are you sure that’s all you want Joey?” And Joey nodded and that had been the last thing that had been said between them.

Now Henry is off attacking anything and anyone he sees. Now the reaper who once was his friend is at his doorstep. He should grab something, Joey thought absentmindedly, to defend himself from Henry but...he doubts he could fight the man much less defeat him. It wasn’t due to his disability- Joey had fought many a man despite it-no it was a pesky feeling that refused to leave his heart. He squeezes his eyes shut, as the door opens and slams shut, and hopes with all his heart that however his death ensues it’s quick.

“Mister Drew! I’m glad it’s just you in here- Henry is in the music department and wrekin’ havoc!” Joey opens his eyes to see the exasperated janitor before him. Sweat pours down his uncharacteristically grim face.

“Well thank the gods it’s just you Wally; how badly were people hurt in the animation department? I hope no one ran down to the infirmary…” Joey says; Henry couldn’t be purposely going after people right? When Joey had seen him he could tell something was wrong, like he didn’t know what was going on.

“No one got to the infirmary- pretty sure I’m the only one that got outta there,” Wally’s voice was hollow even when he said his usual catchphrase. It suddenly dawned on Joey what he meant

“he’s killed everyone?” But even as Joey asks the question he knows the answer. He felt his body tremble as tears begin to streak his face. He shakingly grabbed the phone but the line was dead.

“Um, what should we do?” Wally asks but the only response is a pitiful sob.

Sammy Lawrence held the only thing he could find that had any resemblance to a weapon that wasn’t an instrument (despite the conditions his mind scolded him when he first picked up the banjo), a dust pan from the supply closet. Henry had gotten ahold of the only fire axe that were in the first two levels and swung it around widely like everything was a monster.

A shiver takes over Samuel's body as the memory of Henry killing all the musicians replays in his head. He stood in the projectors booth and all he could do was stare. Henry didn’t even blink an eye when the body's would spray blood on him or when people would beg for their lives. And the madman wouldn’t stop at just hitting them once, even if it killed them the first time, he’d strike them several times. Then there was Johnny who Sammy heard his screeches while Henry played the organ. Sammy doubts he’ll ever forget what’s happened but best not to dwell while the killer is still around.

Sammy is going to stop Henry himself and if that means sneaking up behind him in the infirmary then that’s what he was going to do. Unfortunately Henry isn’t in the infirmary when Sammy arrives which mean he traveled down farther...into the sewers where Jack was. Sammy feels ice run through his body as he continues to sneak through.

Sammy’s mind refuses to stop racing. He desperately tries to calm himself down with his quickly self made plan. Just hit him hard, in the back of the head, and then run. It’s not that hard- don’t start focusing on the fact that an axe is a much deadlier weapon then a dust pan and don’t focus that a dust pan isn’t a real weapon and don’t think about the fact that Henry could probably overpower you in a millisecond without since he’s big and bulky and- his thoughts cut off when he comprehends the scene in front of him.

Just like the band members being killed everything turns to slow motion with Sammy stuck in place like a statue. Henry has Jack cowering in the center of the room a box swaying above him.

“N-now, Henry, we can be civilized- just put down that axe and step away from the switch and we-” Jack’s voice is unnaturally raised two octaves as he tries to reason with the monster before him. but Henry does neither as he flicks the switch down a ten pound box dropping with it. A loud crunch echoes through the room and carnage is sprayed on the back wall. Henry approaches it; for what Sammy doesn’t know because he’s already running away. As he leaves he hears Henry’s once comforting now chilling voice.

“Sorry I had to do that, nice hat though” Sammy chokes back a whimper.

Sammy is a wreck even when Henry returns, walking into his office. Jack the lyricist-no- his best friend was just killed by someone he was once considered a friend. Jack who would always talk with in the morning even when he was the grouchiest. Jack who would find words to even the worst tunes. It became a game of theirs for Sammy to make a horrendous melody and for Jack to make just as horrendous lyrics to it. Somehow Jack failed at the game because even if the words were inherently dirty or dark they always went perfectly with the music

Sammy’s body refusing to stop shaking even when he reasons to himself that this could just attract Henry to him quicker. What he needs to do is gather his courage and just face him otherwise others could get hurt. Sammy always complained about everyone being annoying but seeing everyone get brutally murdered made him want to keep those around safe...who was around though? The band is gone as is most of the music department but Sammy never saw what became of Norman who often would be in his booth.Norman seems like the man to try and evacuate anyone he can, so Sammy silently believes the unproven truth he conjured for himself. He Doesn't know the fate of Wally either who’d often bother any poor sap who’d listen to his ramblings (Sammy couldn’t believe he’s thinking it but he hopes to hear the janitors stories soon). Thinking about it he didn’t see any of the voice actors and actresses not even-

Susie.

Susie could be hurt and at that realization Sammy’s fear is lost. Adrenaline pumps through him as he runs behind the torturous man swinging with all the force he can muster. Henry collapses onto the ground with a loud thud the only noise following is Sammy’s heavy breathing.

“We have to leave soon sir. If we stay here we’re just lambs waitin’ for slaughter,” Wally says, Joey looking at him with wide eyes. Wally guesses he’s not used to hearing all this serious stuff, especially from him, and he admits he’s not used to it either. He still can’t get the screams from the animation department out of his head nor the image of Henry staring right at him. The unstable animator’s shirt was stained with red that was impossible to ignore on his white shirt. His eyes were dead to the world as he had approached Wally in the back of the room.

“Oh god,” Wally thought he was regaining his conscious but that wasn’t the case “what did Joey do?” Then he grabbed Wally by the shirt. His voice died in the back of his through but his mouth still did the motions for spoke silent pleas. Henry tilted his head before taking the wrench out of his shirt pocket before walking away. That’s when Wally realized the man wasn’t seeing the world like everyone else; he was lost in his own mind.

The door creaks open again which not only brings Wally back to focus but he picks up the chair he had his hand on moments ago. He throws it at the approacher while glancing around the room for anything that could be a good weapon.

“Damn boy! What in hell has gotten into you!” Thomas curses out pushing the chair away making a path for him and Alison to walk through.

“Oh, Tom,” Wally says expecting to loosen but he feels his body tense and before he knows it he’s inconsolably crying on Thomas’ shoulder. In the background he hears Joey desperately trying to explain what has happened calmly but Wally can hear his own cracks in his voice. Not only that but he’s sure Tom and Alison have noticed his puffy tear stained face.

Sammy drags the unconscious tied up Henry through the music department not knowing where to dump him. He had to keep an eye on him,so he wouldn’t get away, so it couldn’t be the band room where corpses were currently rotting. It would be kind of fitting though, stuck in a place with all the people you’ve murdered ( were these the only people he’s murdered though? Sammy isn’t sure he wants an answer) and Sammy didn’t find it as cruel as he knew he should.

Why not just kill him? The thought kept creeping into his brain but Sammy dismisses it again. Not for the fact Henry deserves to live but rather for his own sanity he couldn’t see another person die and killing someone with his own hands definitely wouldn’t tip his mentality in any good way.

Then Henry begins to stir and Sammy drops him where he is, backing up.

Alison sits quietly trying not to stare at the mourning terrified men. She was recently hired to do voices of background characters, singing trees and that kind of nonsense, and though she wants to help she doesn’t know either of these people well enough to be of much comfort. She knew Wally was a chatty janitor and handyman that would spend a lot of time with Tom helping him check on the ink machine. She knew he had a partner, who she was unsure but she heard some whispers from other voice actresses that he was taken. Not that she was asking; she was with Tom after all. Joey, even if he was her boss, she knew even less about. He didn’t come out of his office too much she guessed due to the stairs everywhere (she wasn’t sure why they hadn’t just installed ramps inside the place instead). She doubted it was for the reason he liked to keep to himself becoming every time she did come to his office he was with someone chatting to someone. Actually, if memory serves her correct, he chatted most to Henry...her frown deepens.

At least Tom was there he seemed to be handling this better then herself.

“We need to leave quickly-“ Tom begins to say Wally already nodding to what was being said.

“I’m staying here,” Joey states using his sleeve to dry his tears.

“Mr. Drew I-“

“I’m the captain, I must stay aboard my ship even while it sinks. And anyhow I’d just slow you three down,” he whispers the last part looking at his wheelchair with disdain.

“We’re not leaving you!” Tom snarls slamming his hand on the desk but Joey doesn’t flinch.

“Your not leaving me. I simply am just refusing to come with,” She might know little but one thing Alison knew about Joey Drew that he was stubborn. More stubborn than Tom.

Sammy didn’t yell when Henry awoke nor when he started squirming in his rope. Sammy simply left him- what could a tied up man do- to find a phone of any kind. He has this feeling that Drew didn’t call anyone or maybe that was just dread that he could be dead.

Sammy gulps telling his mind to knock off with the overdramatic dark thinking;he’s getting sick of that mindset.

Then he hears footsteps behind him spinning around quickly Henry stands behind raising the bloody axe.

“No! Henry! I’m your friend! Henry, I’m your friend! Stay back-“ he feels the axe slice mercilessly through his side. Blood pours out of the fresh wound along with an agonized screech. Sammy raises a fist but it doesn’t reach Henry before another swing of his axe. This time he stifled a scream as his fist connects with Henry’s nose. A crack noise emerges but either the ex-animator didn’t notice or didn’t care for he continued the butchering. After the fourth strike Sammy’s body buckles down falling into a pool of his own blood it stains his blond cascading hair. A last strike in the chest breaks the axe in half. Henry, satisfied with his work,leaves the music director and yet Sammy’s heart still beats. His eyes are still open, even if his vision swims, and his breath comes out in strained heaves. But he still lived and he stays conscious.

So with the bit of energy he still has, Sammy hoists himself to his arms and begins to crawl leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

Wally doesn’t mean to get spooked nor does he mean to leave Thomas and Alison but when he heard the dropping of a board he spirits away. He hears Tom yelling after him but his own instincts kick in. After realizing that they didn’t follow him when he ran away from a nothing threat more tears peak at his eyes. Did he really just leave them? Were they killed like everyone else or spared like him?

Why was he spared in the first place? The unanswerable question lingered in his mind along with the thought that Tom and Alison were dead.

His thoughts are a horrible muddled mess so he doesn’t notice when he kicks a nearby can of the old stock of bacon soup (it didn’t sell well but Joey decided it took up to much space in the warehouses so he gave it to any employee that wanted some. Since cans of it were still abundant and it’d been more than a year since he passed them out Wally deduces that they didn’t sell well for a good reason) but he does notice the voice that slices the air like a knife through butter.

“Boris,” Henry Stein gives a wide grin.

#tw: graphic #tw: graphic depictions of violence #tw: death #tw: murder #bendy and the ink machine #batim #My writing #fanfiction #wally franks #henry stein #thomas connor #sammy lawrence #alison pendle #joey drew

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brylcighs · 5 years ago

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✧·ﾟ( demeter + maia mitchell + cis female ) 𝒎𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒂 !! have you seen ( bryleigh fox ) around ? ( she ) has been in kaos for ( two months ). the ( twenty-four year old ) is a ( baker ) from ( boulder, colorado ). people say they can be ( stoic ) but maybe that’s not too bad ‘cause they can also be ( ebullient ). whenever i think of them, i can’t help but think of ( warm blueberry muffins, black and white movies, and sunny, cloud-free mornings ). ·ﾟ✧ ( penned by shiloh, 21+, est, she/her ).

trigger warnings: mental illness, ptsd, anxiety, depression, a car accident, health problems related to fertility, scars/burns, low self-esteem, drinking. ( i think that’s it, but if you run across something else triggering, pls let me know and i’ll add it to the list. )

THE MUN.

‘lo ! i’m shiloh, but you can call me shy. i’m 28, i live in the est and my preferred pronouns are she/her.

i’m a school-based therapist and work in an elementary school. with it being summer, i don’t really have a lot going on ! so you’ll see me around quite a bit.

i have two small puppos, minerva and newt, who are my pride and joy. p.s.: if you couldn’t tell from their names, i’m a huge harry potter fan. i also love young adult literature, i’m a true crime buff and could eat pepperoni hot pockets every day for the rest of my life.

if you’d like to talk, you can im me on this account, on my rph @shilohrph or ask me for my discord and we can chat there !

and without further ado, allow me to introduce lil miss bryleigh.

BASIC INFORMATION.

name: bryleigh olivia fox.

age: twenty-four.

gender/pronouns: cis femae & she/her.

orientation: panromantic pansexual.

olympian: demeter.

occupation: head baker at physis taverna.

faceclaim: maia mitchell.

BACKGROUND.

bryleigh olivia fox was born may 8th, 1995 at 10:12am in kaos, greece to colonel william matthew fox and emma alison stewart-fox.

she has one older brother, lucas daniel fox, who is 28 and an architectural engineer. he’s married to sofia maite valdez-fox, twenty-four. they have a one-year-old daughter, luciana irene fox.

bryleigh also has one younger sister, peyton emelia fox, who is 20 and a college student studying communications. she’s engaged to micah cole butler, twenty-two. they two-year-old twins addison hayley butler and aiden bryant butter. peyton is also currently 10 weeks pregnant.

because of her father’s occupation, the family has lived in different cities all over the world. besides kaos, the fox’s lived in bangkok, thailand, comayagua, honduras, misawa, japan, burkina faso, west africa, vicenza, italy and pampanga, philippines. i made a handy dandy timeline which you can view here to better break it down.

bryleigh attended and graduated from the auguste escoffier school of culinary arts in boulder, colorado and lived there for about four years.

while living in boulder, her roommate and best friend, sofia, started dating and subsequently married her brother, lucas.

because her aesthetic is running when things get tough/complicated, bryleigh left boulder a few months after ber brother and best friend were married and moved back to kaos, greece.

she lived in kaos for a year, living above the tavarna where she was head baker. she loved it and kinda looks back on it as the best time of her life. but a rough patch in a relationship caused her to - again - flee, returning to boulder.

about a month after moving back to boulder, she was in a serious car accident. her vehicle slid on black ice and flipped. she almost died, but managed to pull through.

on top a concussion, many broken bones, several severe burns, some internal bleeding and innumerable cuts, scrapes, and bruises, bryleigh’s pelvis was fractured and her fallopian tubes were crushed. she also later developed asherman’s syndrome from the surgeries/scar tissue forming. this has basically rendered her infertile.

after the accident, bryleigh had to move in with her brother and sister-in-law/former best friend. not only did they smother bry trying to take care of her, but sofia was pregnant at the time. this served as a constant reminder of all she’d lost.

so, as soon as she was cleared to be on her own, she told lucas and sofia that she was going to visit kaos for her birthday.

except that she was actually moving back there and didn’t want to have to deal with their worry and concern and attempts to talk her out of it. queen of running from her problems.

bryleigh has been back in kaos for about two months, and it’s not the carefree, serene place she remembered.

actually, that’s not true. it’s still the place she remembered. she’s just not the same person she once was. no matter how much she tries to pretend she is.

you can read more about her here if you feel so inclined.

PERSONALITY.

bryleigh is a bit of a complicated lil nugget. she’s like an onion, ya know ? she has layers. one one hand, she’s this bubbly, happy-go-lucky, upbeat ball of sunshine. but on the other hand, she’s really struggling with ptsd from the crash, as well as a good heaping of anxiety and depression. so she has times where she’s really distant and reticent.

as the ‘mom friend’, she’s always been the person that people turn to. she’s the shoulder to lean on. she’s the one who gives amazing advice. she’s the one who seems wise beyond her years. she’s the one who tells you to stop leaning back in your chair because you’re going to fall over or sets water and tylenol beside your bed after a night of partying. she cares a whole lot. like, an insane about. which is a blessing and a curse.

what she’s struggling with post-accident is opening up about how she’s doing and how she’s really feeling, beyond the facade that she puts on for everyone. it’s like she’s physically incapable of letting people see that she’s struggling. bry doesn’t want to put that burden on anyone, ya know ? so, she’s kind of suffering in silence and bottling everything up. which is super healthy, i know.

sarcasm and dry humor are two of her favorite coping skills. she’s also really great at self-deprecating humor !

the accident left her with quite a lot of scars and several skin grafts from having third-degree burns treated, and she’s incredibly self-conscious about them. she covers her low self-esteem up with jokes and humor, but she really is quite sensitive about her appearance.

as i mentioned, she tends to run from her problems rather than addressing them. and if she can’t run, she makes a joke out of them and doesn’t take them seriously. or she bottles up all the emotions from the problem and pretends it’s not a big deal. i know. her coping skills are so healthy.

the only thing that bryleigh has ever wanted is to be a mom. she’s basically had baby fever since she was old enough to understand the birds and the bees. she always imagined being a stay-at-home mom, taking care of a shew of children and her husband/wife. but since the accident, she’s not sure if that’s what she still wants of her life. she no longer has no direction, and really feels like she’s floundering.

part of her is worried about having kids ( through adoption or surrogacy or on the off-chance that she can naturally conceive ) because the hate in her heart after the accident is so dark and consuming and terrifying. she feels like maybe the car accident did more than break her bones. maybe it broke her as a person. and maybe she’s not capable of loving someone now. or if she is, she’s worried that what she loves will get taken from her. and she doesn’t know if she can stand to lose anything else.

EXTRA.

she starts every morning with a cup of black coffee and a banana nut muffin and ends every evening with a cup of peppermint tea and two homemade jaffa cakes.

bryleigh has a chocolate labrador retriever named yolo. he’s ancient. she’s not really sure how old he is, but the shelter she adopted him from said that he’d been there for several years. so, she absolutely had to take him home with her. yolo’s very loving and sweet and a lil lazy and he loves pitless olives. she has huge birthday parties for him on his gotcha day, august 12th.

her walls are covered with abstract art from a bunch of different countries. they remind her of her childhood and everywhere she’s traveled.

favorite thing in the world to do is have a bunch of her friends over, make a slew of homemade pizzas and desserts, pop open several bottles of rosé wine, throw pillows and blankets all over the floor and watch movies of various genres until everyone falls asleep.

she loves 80′s music and prefers to listen to records rather than stream music or what have you. it sounds more authentic that way. at least, in her opinion.

her apartment looks like a forest. she has plants everywhere. e v e r y w h e r e. she’s also a really good plant mom and has named all of her children. she talks to them and knows their favorite songs. maybe she’s a tad bit psychotic. who isn’t, though ?

since the accident, she’s developed a huge fear of driving. she won’t drive. ever. she either walks, rides her bike or takes an uber. if she can get away with not having to ride in a car, though, she much prefers that option. i mean, can you blame her ?

she loves astrology and tarrot readings and ghost hunts and talking about aliens and going on hunts for cryptids. she’s always thought there has to be more to life than what we can see, so she’s open to at least considering most everything, ya know ?

her closest friends call her foxy. everyone else calls her bry. some people call her bryleigh ? but i can’t imagine why. it’s a mouthful.

send her memes and you’ll have her heart. she has a huge folder of them saved on her phone. there might or might not be more memes on her phone than actual pictures. hint: there totally is.

bryleigh can speak english, spanish, filipino, greek, italian, thai, japanese, swahili, hausa and a little bit of a berber dialect to varying degrees of success. she’s most comfortable with english, spanish and greek, and least comfortable with the african languages. she can also write in a variety of writing systems, though not nearly as well as she can speak the languages. she’s forgotten a lot of the rules and method that go along with many of them.

PLOT IDEAS.

you can read about all my connection ideas right here !

NOTE: i’m open to pretty much anything, so if you have an idea, run it by me ! more than likely, i’ll approve and start rambling off ideas and headcanons and half-formed thoughts until you politely tell me to shut the fuck up. sounds fun, right ?

THE END.

thanks so much for reading this monster post ! i don’t know how to be concise. i’ve tried. i tried here. obviously, i failed. but i love you all. i can’t wait to write and interact with you all and your lovely, wonderful characters ! hasta la vista, baby.

#kaos:intro #╰ . * chasing all your demons — ooc .#╰ . * so let's sleep on it tonight — other .

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lobsters-on-their-heads · 6 years ago

Text

Continuing Travels of Cophine, Ch. 8

Hey, look, I finally posted something. Entire work still lives here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13525500?view_full_work=true

And of course, I always love good feedback.

*1 week before Clone Fest*

Frigid wind blew trash against the window of Fung's Diner while Sarah and Art met for their weekly lunch. Art had started giving her little mental challenges, based on past cases of his, and sometimes she enjoyed it, but today she just shook her head.

“Okay,” he said, “you gotta tell me what's on your mind, then.”

She pushed her eyebrows up with her fingers and tried to avoid the quasi-command for a minute or so before giving in. “Mostly just the usual bullshit. And Alison wants me to help plan this Clone Fest thing she's got coming up.”

“Clone Fest?!”

“Yeah. It's like, to celebrate all of our birthdays, or whatever, sort of between all the actual birthdays. It's next week.”

“Oh, that'll be nice. Yeah, Beth's birthday is... was right around this time, now that I think about it.” He chuckled, but shook his head. “April Fools Day. We used to laugh about that.”

She put her hand on his forearm. “Hey. It's still her birthday, right? And we're gonna try to do something to celebrate her, something special just for her, plus the party for all the rest of us weirdos. The party's the bitch, though. It's just...” She put the heels of both hands to her forehead, a gesture she'd picked up from Cosima some time ago, and shook her head. “It's just I have no idea what do.”

“What do you mean?”

“For, like, activities and shit. Alison wants to me to come up with 'fun activities' for everyone, and all I can think of doing is going to a club and getting drunk and high and shitfaced in every possible way until you can't remember who you even are any more. That's been just about every birthday party I've ever been to. Well, birthday party for adults, that is. Been going to more kids' parties these days, haven't I?”

Art smiled. “I dunno, Gemma's indoor pool party a couple months ago sounded like a blast. Maybe that's just more my speed these days.”

She took a bite of her BLT and considered that. “Okay, so we can get shitfaced at an indoor pool instead.”

He got that serious look on his face again. “No. Please don't. Sarah...”

“Hey, glow sticks look pretty cool underwater, you gotta admit.”

“Who else is gonna be there, other than the sisters?”

“Fucking, like, everybody, I guess? Cos and Delphine are flying in from wherever the fuck they are, and Scott's taking time off work to be there. Alison and Donnie and Helena, of course. Fe, naturally. You, hopefully. Not the kids, though. Alison's found a sitter to watch them for the evening.”

“What about Colin?”

She rolled her eyes and ate more of her sandwich.

“Uh oh.”

“If you really wanna know, ask Fe. There's some drama, but he's not telling me about it.”

“Well, even if he does come, I don't think he's got a lot of lifeguarding experience, so it answers my real question either way – who's gonna save your ass when one of you falls into the deep end tripping balls so hard you think that you actually fell up?”

“Cosima said she was a lifeguard in college.”

“In college.” When Sarah gave him a So What look, he clarified, “That means more than 10 years ago, and I'm guessing she hasn't been keeping her license up-to-date.”

When she didn't respond right away, he ate quietly and watched people ducking their heads against the wind outside. She knew what he was thinking, and she wanted to slap him for it.

“Look, we can enjoy ourselves for one bloody night, okay?”

“I'm not saying you can't.”

“You're doing everything but.” She stole one of the olives from his salad and mentally dared his forehead furrows to deepen. “Cosima and Delphine have been off saving our sisters' lives in, like, the shittiest places on the planet, so the least we can do is have a decent party for them. And for me and Alison and Helena, too, of course, 'cause our lives haven't been total picnics, but mostly for them.”

“That's funny,” he said, “I got a postcard from them with a picture of a real fancy resort on it. Said they were having a blast.”

“Yeah, I got that one, too, about a week after one that showed the earth splitting open and spewing fire. They move around a lot, yeah? Point is, it's everyone's birthday celebration, including Cosima's, and hell, including mine! You're not supposed to be responsible at a birthday party, Art!”

He made his “okey-dokey-then” face and cleaned the salad dressing from his chin. “Just don't count on me being there if there's anything other than alcohol involved. And I mean anything.”

** The morning of Clone Fest **

Cosima and Delphine both woke early, their bodies still wired to Middle East time. The weather report showed unseasonably warm temperatures, with highs around 18C and clear skies. After checking the weather report, Cosima dropped the phone next to her pillow and contemplated the day ahead. They were having lunch at Sarah's, followed by relaxed family time and then “something super fun” that evening.

“We should go to the market,” Delphine said, rolling over so that her nose almost touched Cosima's cheek. “The one in the park, you know? With all the sellers with vegetables and fruits. I know they might not have much this time of year, but someone will have eggs, I think.”

The mental image of Delphine casually perusing market stalls, in, like, a straw hat and a peasant skirt and carrying a straw basket made Cosima grin. “You wanna go to the farmer's market to get eggs?”

“Yes.” She kissed Cosima's chin and angled her torso above hers. “And anything else that looks good.”

She played with Delphine's fingers, splayed out next to her face, and smiled. “Can I get you, then?”

“Mmmm.... maybe.” There was another kiss, and Delphine threw back the covers, making Cosima yelp. “We'll see.” And with a smile, she sauntered off to the bathroom while Cosima scrambled to cover herself back up.

It was still chilly when they left at 7:30 in hats and scarves, but the sunlight kissing the buildings and the edges of the still-bare branches hinted at the warmer temperatures ahead. Cosima would have sucked up the chill and walked, but a city bus lumbered up as they neared a stop, so they got on and rode the mile or so to the park, where the market atmosphere was in full swing. At the entrance, they got coffee and home-baked muffins from a stall supporting the local children's orchestra, while a bluegrass duo played guitar and fiddle.

“Hang on,” Cosima said as they passed. “Are they playing Wagon Wheel?”

“What?”

She listened more closely, picking through years of memories for the tune. Then the fiddle picked up again, sawing at the chords, and she nodded. “Yup. It's definitely Wagon Wheel. Haven't heard this song since... well, let's just say it's been a while. Only words I remember is where they sing about having a nice long toke.”

“Ah. That's why you remember it. Maybe you can play it for me sometime.”

“Maybe.” She rubbed her shoulder against Delphine's as they made their way through the already crowded pathways between stalls. The muffin was good, if a little light on the blueberries, and the coffee warmed her hands and insides. “If you come out to California with me, I'm sure one of my uncles or cousins will play it on the guitar and we'll all sing along while we're drunk or high. Or both.”

They ducked into a stall selling leafy greens and inspected the wares, and Delphine asked, “If? Is it in question whether I'll go to California with you some day?”

Cosima balanced her half-eaten muffin on her coffee lid and set them on the counter. “No. I hope not.”

“Then why if?”

“I dunno...” She bagged a few handfuls of mesclun greens, tied the bags, and did the same with some kale. “It just doesn't seem that, like, certain, I guess.” Way to be articulate, Niehaus, she thought. The funk she'd been in a few days prior had dissipated with the family meals and the vigorous fuckings, but now it lurked at the edge of her mind again.

“No?”

And then Delphine was rubbing her back, and it was almost okay, but a young woman nearby scolded her child in Arabic, and Cosima remembered they were going to Baghdad in three days.

“It's fine.” She tilted her head to kiss Delphine, and turned back to the counter to pay for the greens.

They took their time exploring the market, sampling mushrooms and honey and pickled everything, and also buying three dozen eggs, a log of goat cheese, a pack of crème fraiche, fresh dill from the same greenhouse the leafy greens came from, carrots, chopped walnuts, and various snacks to take along. By the time they reached the end of the line of stalls and sat down to snack, the sun had risen and they needed to remove their hats and scarves.

Looking out at the park stretched out in front of them, distant high-rises visible over the treetops, Cosima rested her head on Delphine's shoulder. “It's a nice place.”

“Mhm,” Delphine agreed around a mouthful of apricot.

“D'you remember that day we were gonna have a picnic out here...”

“The day it rained?”

“No, the other time.”

“The day you were pissed at me?”

“Was it... wait. Which day that I was pissed at you?” Cosima paused and thought back. She'd been thinking of the plans they'd made, to bring blankets and some hot spiced wine out here, to listen to the drummers and snuggle up together in public. And then they hadn't done that, because...

“You don't remember? The day you learned that that dental pulp came from Kira's tooth.”

“Was that the same day? Maybe. I remember them as two completely separate events.”

“It was the same day. I'd already set my schedule to leave early, but then you overheard me talking to Scott, and...”

“And the rest is history.”

People with dogs and baby strollers passed, less densely here than at other parts. A distant off-key trumpet player honked out “When the Saints Come Marching In,” and the combined smells of grilled meat, popcorn, and weed made the park smell like a fairground.

“We could get married here.”

Delphine had her coffee cup halfway to her mouth, but she set it down again at that. “As a replacement picnic, perhaps?”

“If you wanna think of it that way. We did tell everyone we'd get married in Toronto, didn't we?”

“Yes, we did. I don't think either of us will want to jaunt off anywhere for a destination wedding.”

Cosima's laugh slid into a groan, and she covered her eyes. “I am trying so hard not to think about jaunting off anywhere right now. Today was supposed to be my day off from jaunting.”

“Ooh, pauvre petit chiot...” Delphine rubbed her shoulder and nuzzled her hair. “I'm sorry that I brought it up.”

“Eh, it's whatever. What do you think, though? Of getting married here? We don't need to decide right now, obviously.”

“Obviously. I think it's nice, as long as it doesn't rain.”

“We can have a backup for rain.”

Delphine giggled. “Like one of those giant circus tents?”

“Exactly like one of those. Oh, and there could be streamers that are, like, DNA-shaped coming down from the top.”

“Mmm, maybe. What else would there be?”

“DNA symbols on the cake, obviously.”

“A DNA cake, maybe?”

“Oooh, that's a good idea.”

They finished off their snacks, and just as they were about to rise, a loud boBOOP emanated from Delphine's purse, making them both pause. While Delphine fished around for the clone business phone, it gave off two more boBOOPs in rapid succession, and Cosima's heart picked up its pace. Maybe it was Özlem, and Cosima's suspicions about the coughing were correct. Or maybe it was someone with some information about Malika, finally. Or maybe it was just some doctor, confirming an appointment in Baghdad or Tehran or wherever.

Delphine unlocked the screen and frowned, then smiled. “Look.”

Leaning over, Cosima saw a picture, likely taken by a webcam, of three children – Fatima, Nabil, and Mohammed Al Numery, the oldest of the Yemeni orphans they'd met in Djibouti. In the picture, only Fatima looked directly at the camera, large dark eyes serious under her headscarf while the boys poked each other from each side of her. With a swipe, Delphine revealed the second photo. The boys smiled here, but Fatima did not.

“They are such good kids,” Cosima said.

“They sent a message, too.”

hello dr delphine cormier it began. we are nabl Fatima and Mhmmd in DJIBOUTI CITY DJIBOUTI please you help aunt nooran sister we say hello ehllo

“Oh my god that is so cute.” Cosima wondered if they'd sent it from one of the internet cafés in the city, or if they'd made a friend with a laptop. She wondered if Nooran had told them how much she wanted Cosima and Delphine to take the children away with them.

“We should write back,” Delphine said. “But with what?”

Cosima took the phone from her and turned it to landscape position. “Easy. Smile.”

They strolled down a residential street on their way back from the market, Cosima's arm around Delphine's waist and Delphine's arm around Cosima's shoulders, each of them with bags of goodies slung over their shoulders.

Several blocks away from the park, in an upscale but cozy neighborhood, they saw a house with at least ten balloons dancing in the wind around a multicolored OPEN HOUSE sign. A woman in a burgundy pant suit waved as they approached. “Open house today, ladies! Wanna come take a look around?”

“Eh...” said Delphine, but Cosima stopped and looked up at it. She was fuzzy on architectural terms, but she put the facade around early 1900s, with dark stately brick and those bump-out windows that give the inhabitants a nice cross breeze in the summer. It was three stories, including an English basement, and there was a tiny garden out front with some brave little daffodils poking up.

“We're not in the market, actually,” Delphine said.

“Oh, that's fine!” the agent assured them. “You can still come in and take a look around, get some ideas for when you are in the market one day. Are you two from around here?”

They exchanged a glance. “Not exactly,” Cosima said.

“Well, I see you've done some shopping! We do have a really nice kitchen inside, I have to say. Newly renovated! Come on in! There's free coffee!”

It was such a tacky sales pitch, but another couple walked out of the house and gave them a view of a spacious entry way past a practical mudroom with rain boots set up as props. She looked up at Delphine. “What d'you think, babe? Take a look around real quick, grab some free coffee? It'll give us a chance to put these bags down for a minute.”

Delphine arched her eyebrows and looked down at her with those caramel brown eyes, and Cosima knew it wasn't practical, and that Delphine thought she was being silly, but she didn't care.

“Please?”

“Alright. If you really want to.”

The inside of the house was furnished by the real estate agency in a way that blended Rachel Duncan and Alison Hendrix, but the agent had been right about the kitchen – it was fantastic, although Cosima had to admit that her standards for kitchens had always been pretty low. There was an island with a granite countertop, plenty of cabinet space, and a gas stove. It was easy to imagine having the nieces and nephews over for a weekend and making pancakes for them in this kitchen, or cooking up a romantic dinner with Delphine on a Friday night. A window over the sink and a half-glass door beside the cabinets looked out on a spacious fenced-in backyard where two black-haired little girls ran around with balloons. Cosima thought of the pictures they'd just seen, and imagined Fatima finally being able to relax and run around with her siblings in a yard like this.

“You guys been upstairs yet?”

Cosima turned to see a paunchy man in khakis addressing her and Delphine. “Uh, no,” she said.

“You should check out the balcony. That about sold this place for me, honestly.”

Cosima wasn't sure what to say to that, but Delphine suggested that he put an offer on the house if he liked it so much, and the woman he was with groaned. That set off an argument between the two of them, and Cosima and Delphine scooted away up the stairs.

Upstairs, Delphine wandered into the smaller hall bathroom while Cosima explored the master bedroom. She could see what the guy downstairs had meant. French doors opened onto a balcony large enough to comfortably host ten people. She walked out, ran her fingers over the stained wooden railing, and then rested her forearms on it to look out on the backyard.

The realtor wasn't lying when she said “great backyard,” either. If anything, it was an understatement; the yard was easily three or four times the size of the Hendrix's backyard. The realtor's voice drifted up from below. “Oh, there's definitely room for a swing set! Swing set, sandbox, fire pit, you name it!”

There were maple trees out there, too, with tiny buds giving them a fuzzy appearance. They were just about large enough to string a hammock up between them, but if that didn't work, they could always put a bench beneath them, and sit out in the shade on warm days. They could have cook-outs with the family, or just sit out there together with drinks, just the two of them. She could come home and find Delphine on that sofa downstairs, or in the kitchen making fancy cuisine look effortless. Sometimes she would get home first, and Delphine would come home from work to find Cosima making Kraft dinner or doing a smelly pet science project out on this balcony.

“Hey.” Delphine came up and rubbed her shoulders. “What are you thinking about?”

She smiled over at her, loving the sight of Delphine on this balcony, in her comfy sweater and multi-pocket pants. “Just stupid shit.”

“Ah.” Delphine watched her for a moment. “We can't buy it. You know that.”

Fucking hell... Cosima laughed. “I know that!”

“Okay, just checking. You have that far away look on your face, though.”

“I do not.”

“You most definitely do.” Delphine scooted over to tuck herself beside Cosima, and nuzzled the top of her head. “One more year, if that, chérie, and then we can stay. Not in this house, of course! But we can stay here. Or wherever you want. Back in Minnesota, or California, wherever.”

“I know.”

“We really should be going, though. People are waiting for us, and we have perishables.”

Cosima giggled. “Yeah. Maybe I just like hearing you say perishables.”

On the way to Sarah's house, they passed hundred-year-old maples and oak trees in yards and parks, brown front lawns that would turn verdant in a few months, and all manner of people getting an early start on their weekend. At one corner house, while Cosima and Delphine waited for the light to let them cross, a man and woman looked up at the roof of their house.

“Earliest the contractors can come out is next week,” the woman told the man.

They didn't stay at the corner long enough to find out what the contractors would be coming out for, but all Cosima could think of was We're not even going to be on this continent next week.

She didn't even want a house. They were too much work, with the lawn upkeep and the plumbing and the pest control and making sure the roof didn't cave in. Her parents always said their boat was easier to maintain than any of their houses had been. She didn't want a house.

Once Sarah's house was in view, Cosima's steps slowed. Her sisters were there, and her niece, and she felt as comfortable there as anywhere else, but it wasn't home.

“You okay?” Delphine asked.

And Delphine was several feet in front of her, checking on her, making sure she was okay, knowing her moods before Cosima herself knew them.

“Yeah,” she said, jaunting across the short distance to kiss her lips. “I'm okay.”

#my fic #continuing travels of cophine

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friendofn · 4 years ago

Text

One-hundred-forty-two

142) I wasn’t supposed to have dinner with you. And I didn’t, not that night, though I was thinking of you the entire time I settled into my first dinner of the evening, at the bar of a vegan restaurant on Queen Street. I was meeting a woman with whom I had a confusing and consequential relationship. She was already perched on a stool by the time I walked in. But I wasn’t supposed to have dinner with her either. So I only ordered a small cup of carrot soup and an elderflower cocktail, which was a little stronger than was appropriate for the hour. The woman kept me longer than I meant to stay, regaling me with the history of all that had transpired since last we met, including her savage divorce and her subsequent torrid love affair with a much younger woman whose eyes had locked on hers last June across the throng of a parade. I thought of you as I left the vegan restaurant in a rush to make it to my second dinner across town, wanting to catch a cab, cursing myself for not taking any local currency out of the ATM, resigning myself to an Uber instead. The Uber driver asked me requisite questions about how my night was going. I said good, but I was missing one dinner for another. He mused that I must be rather popular for that to be the case. I laughed and said out loud I didn’t think it was true, and laughed again to myself at the thought that perhaps it was. He asked me if I was from around the city, and I said no, but I wished I was. I almost was, I wanted to say. But I didn’t. Neither did I tell him that it was very possible the woman with whom I was eating an early vegan dinner just minutes prior was the reason I wasn’t living in the city he was driving me across. But we’ll never know whether that theory is true or not.

I wanted to tell you about those floating thoughts, ones that were always moving and growing and dissipating in the background like clouds. Thoughts about cities that I wanted but were never mine to have, cities where I had pictured myself walking down the streets that were passing by me now like a film strip playing on the screen of the car window, a movie in which I was the star of my own life, finally, breathing in the cold autumn night air, confidently calling everything around me my own. A total fiction. I knew you would know exactly what I meant, because I knew you’d almost certainly had that exact feeling yourself. About a city that wasn’t yours. About a life that wasn’t yours.

I arrived at my second dinner, which consisted of a group of six sitting silently at a long table in a near-empty sushi restaurant. I apologized for being so late. They didn’t appear to care either way. It seemed to me that the conversation, if it had ever been moving, was now entirely out of steam. But I was wrong. In fact they were all in deep contemplation planning their karaoke songs for the next stop of the night. It was too late to order sushi for myself. Each of the six were variously pushing grains of rice around their plates with chopsticks, pouring the last of their Sapporo bottles into their glasses, and periodically shouting out names of songs. “Glory of Love.” “Alison.” “Maniac.” “Changes.” While everyone else got out their wallets I ordered a beer and, so that I could catch up while they settled their sushi checks, knocked it back quicker than I should have. The group of six, now seven, including me, shambled towards a karaoke location one of them had pinned on Google Maps. One or two of them asked me about my research and about my new-ish job. I tried to gauge their trustworthiness, these strangers with whom I was rehearsing a form of tipsy, forced intimacy. “It’s interesting,” I said. They laughed in unison. “I think I know what that means,” one of them shot back at me.

I can’t remember now how much I eventually trusted them, or what I said after that. I can only remember that once we found the karaoke establishment, we ended up climbing to the second floor, since there was a wedding reception on the first. It was the kind of place where you sang on a stage in front of a crowd. I knew I wasn’t singing that night. I knew I wanted to leave. I knew it because the six others kept glancing over at the stage and back at one another, flipping through the binder of laminated song lists, daring each other to sign up to sing next. I wasn’t thinking about what song to choose. All I could think of was how I wanted to talk to you. And it was making me feel unsettled. Because I wasn’t supposed to have dinner with you that night. And I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about you so much. I flagged down the waitress and ordered a Maker’s. I told myself that my next steps would be to drink the bourbon, reapply my lipstick, and make the polite, false claim that gosh, yawn, I really would have loved to sing but I was just too exhausted to do so. It had been a long day, after all. But that was a lie. I wasn’t tired. Maybe I was making it too obvious. One of the six, sitting across from me in the U-shaped booth, noticed me call over the waitress, asked me what I had ordered, requested the same from her, kept his eyes fixed on me while I drank, drank his own in tandem, watched me reapply my lipstick, suggested that I wasn’t really so tired, argued that I couldn’t leave until I sang, reconsidered and plead for me to stay until I heard at least one of the others sing. He only relented when I promised that I would get a coffee with him the next day. I gathered my things to leave and the group of six expressed dismay loudly. I wasn’t keeping up my end of the bargain. I wasn’t playing the game. I wasn’t taking one for the team. No, I wasn’t. I was running out of time. Tonight was almost over. I’m sorry, I’m so tired, I said. I wasn’t tired. But I was drunk.

I flew down the stairs only to stand out on the curb waiting for another Uber in the cold. A man in a wool coat and knotted scarf came out from the first-floor party and stood next to me. “Are you leaving already?” he asked. I turned to look at him, surprised at the familiarity with which he was addressing me. He was handsome, from what I could tell under the glow of the streetlight. Dark, slicked hair. Fine, strong jaw. “Oh, I wasn’t at the wedding,” I replied, shaking my head slowly. “But that doesn’t mean you have to leave just now,” he countered. And again, I took a second to look at him. He wasn’t just handsome. He was intriguing. He lit a cigarette. My Uber pulled up to the curb, as though it was choreographed. “That’s my Uber,” I announced, feeling foolish, wishing I had said something different. “That’s too bad,” he responded, and took a drag. “You’re right, it is.” I agreed entirely. And I smiled at him, a real one, the kind I don’t give often, the kind I feel tingling on my scalp and fluttering in my chest. “Have fun tonight without me,” were my parting words as I climbed into the car. And he waved, pulling the cigarette from his lips, meeting my gaze, like we would see each other again, like it was only a matter of time. I should have stayed. I didn’t. Instead, I slammed the door and thought of you. I was daring you, though you didn’t know it, to make this particular departure worth it.

My stomach rumbled in the car, and I realized I’d never eaten a full meal after all, despite attending two dinners before 10 p.m. I texted you from the backseat. You didn’t write back. I got to our hotel and stepped with unsure footing into the lobby, feeling my phone buzz in my palm. It was you. You weren’t hungry, you wrote. You already had dinner, you wrote. Sorry, you wrote. Of course you weren’t hungry. I wasn’t supposed to have dinner with you anyway. I felt jilted despite the fact you had never promised me a meeting that evening. I stomped out of the back entrance of the hotel, inexplicably defiant. There was no logical direction for my rising anger. I tore down the sidewalk looking for food I would regret. The kind of food a divorced dad would eat by himself in a furnished corporate apartment on a Friday night. My eyes darted down the street, which was bustling and vivacious at this late hour, steam billowing out of various fluorescently-lit doorways, people undulating in and out, leaning on each other’s arms, laughing, kissing, smoking, stumbling. What right did this city have to be so bright and full of life now? What right did it have to flaunt its unfettered nocturnal joy? Just to show me what I did not have as my own? The life I did not actually lead? I saw three people walking away from a truck holding cardboard trays full of churros. I saw a flashing sign further down the road telling me that pho and banh mi were inside. I hurried towards that sign and ordered a lemongrass chicken sandwich and a Coke from the woman at the counter, taking a seat in a plastic chair while I waited, eavesdropping on a couple of teenagers’ libidinal gossip, letting my unfocused eyes skim over the 112 options on the menu hovering above the register. Some of it was in Vietnamese and clearly not meant for me to order. The woman handed me my can of Coke and my sandwich in a plastic bag. I clutched them with both fists and made my way to the truck, where I ordered three churros covered in chocolate sauce.

I took this unwieldy haul and tried my best to balance it all in the crook and fore of my two arms. It occurred to me that I had to walk into a marbled hotel lobby carrying an alarming yield of junk food. It also occurred to me that I was almost certainly drunker than I was admitting to myself. But I cleared my throat, squared my shoulders, and stepped purposefully into the lobby, making sure my heels made noisy clacks to project authority. On the way in, I crossed paths with the president of the association whose conference badge I was still wearing around my neck. And in that instant, he reflected back at me all the mortification I was suddenly feeling about my present state. I became keenly aware of the plastic bag and cardboard tray of food I was holding--the kind of food and packaging that communicated desperation and failure. He issued an officious greeting and sped up his steps toward the street. As he walked away from me, his shoes made a sound much louder than mine. Presidentially loud. I pushed open the glass doors of the hotel. The lobby was now full of people spilling out from the bar, rehashing the events of the day and hatching plans for days to come. I attempted to hide my sad dinner choices under the lapel of my jacket and skulk to the elevators, but the effort was for naught.

Because you were there, yourself having spilled into the lobby, drink in hand. Like I had conjured you. You were there, seeing me before I saw you, already beginning to laugh, anticipating the stories you almost certainly guessed I was about to tell you. And I did tell you, just like you knew I would. I walked over, catching your eye, and with barely a greeting launched into tale of my night’s misadventures. I stood there, in my jacket, just beyond the boundary of the bar, while you sipped the last of your whisky and let the mirth dance on your face, allowing me to recount the events of my evening, one after the other. Events which, in truth, were not all that fascinating, and not at all extraordinary. The vegan bar, the karaoke, the desperate food hunt, the embarrassing presidential encounter. I had been storing them up to tell you for hours. For years, really. Because I knew, and you knew, that I wasn’t just telling you about that particular night. I was telling you about the movie in which I starred, set in the city I called my own, culminating in this conversation that was only ours to have. To keep. I didn’t tell you, though, about the coffee date I owed one of the six karaoke singers in the morning. Nor did I tell you about handsome smoker who almost kept me from returning to the hotel and chancing upon you in the lobby. Because I forgot all about him. Because I was thinking about you the whole night anyway. Because here you were, in front of me, egging me on, asking me to tell you more, taking my churros from me, grabbing the friend next to you, retelling the story of my night to him like it was actually entertaining, like it was the best story you’d ever heard, like you’d already been telling it for years. Like it was yours to tell. And I, in turn, was letting you. I was listening to you tell me my life, listening to you pretend, just for a minute, that it was your life. And I was pretending too. That all of this, all that had happened to me that night, every street I had walked on, every sharp breath of cold air in my lungs, every person who spoke to me, every car I climbed into, every doorway I passed through, every word you were saying to me right then, every feeling coursing through my body, everything that had brought me to that moment we were living together, was mine. That it was ours. To keep.

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