#Even though Rom-Coms are really not my thing 😂

[airanke]

One of the dumbest things I've ever drawn 🤣🤣🤣

Please appreciate these two idiots if their story was a Rom-Com! It's a scene from a manga called "Do-Chokkyuu Kareshi x Do-Chokkyuu Kanojo (Super Straightforward Boyfriend x Super Straightforward Girlfriend)"!!! The panel is under the cut (also that's why you read it <<<<<<<<< that way)

Props to @celest-star-collection for sending me the panel!

[justoneofthoseghosts]

Back from the dead to scream into the void about Bridgerton because the Polin brain rot is real. I've watched the episodes twice now and have some thoughts nobody asked for:

Colin with all that new found swagger after his hot boy summer just makes me cringe. That whole montage with the ladies - er, no, thanks. Give me back my sensitive Colin please.

Nicola Coughlan is amazing, truly a superstar. She embodies the role so well, in all the bits - comedy, romance, intimate scenes. Ugh. I hope she gets more leading roles!!

Love that Colin drops all pretenses when he senses Penelope's distress at the first ball - sensitive Colin is still there folks!

Also, I think we moved on too quickly from his apology. "There is nothing more I want than to earn back the favor of the one person who has always truly made me feel appreciated." Luke said in an interview that the best version of Colin was the one when he was with Penelope (or something like that) and it does ring true in the first half of the season even if he comes up with this disastrous and misguided plan to help her find a husband. He's always himself when he's with her - there's no postering, no swagger.

I am a huge rom com nerd so I truly appreciated all the rom com elements in this. Nicola just ate that all up. She was amazing in all the awkward moments in the second and third episodes and Luke did a good job too. You could really see their chemistry and how they fed off each other!

They talk about how they first met. Please 🥺 it's the same meeting as in the book and the way they reminisce about it while walking in the market was so cute, straight out of a rom com!

Kinda cringed at Colin's journals because they were about girls 🤡 should have kept them as they were in the book where they were more about his travels.

"We shall gallop along" is this season's "I oiled my way right in" 😂

The first kiss scene was incredible. I think I prefer it to the book because there is much more emotional connection between them - they've been lifelong friends as opposed to acquittances in the book (even if Colin was starting to see Pen in a new light by then). The connection between them is undeniable but they each get something different from it. To Pen, it's the ending. The last thing she would ask from him before she let him go. To Colin, it's the awakening, the shift of his feelings, the beginning of its growth.

Pining, yearning Colin is not as unhinged and chaotic as in the book but I think he might get there in the second half. At least I hope because chaotic, unhinged Colin in the book was pretty great. I mean, interrupting a dance was kind of unhinged of him to do.

But I do like how down bad he becomes after that one kiss 😂 Luke really portrayed it well in the first few minutes of the third episode.

I quite like Francesca and John even though I know how that will end. Curious to see if they'll take front and center in season 4 or if the show is renewed, it'll be in season 5.

I know it is an ensemble show but there seems to be a lot more subplots this season?

lol at Portia trying to get her daughters pregnant when one of them hasn't even done it yet since getting married 💀

Penelope and Eloise ❤️‍🩹 they miss each other ☹️ also, I do not care for Cressida.

I've always liked Violet's talks with her children and how in tuned she is with each of them.

Can't lie, I loved the carriage scene - Colin's confession, the momentary disappointment that he was getting friend zoned, the intimacy but most especially towards the end where they could just laugh together because at the heart of it, they were very, very good friends first.

Also, that look Colin gets when he realizes he's going to marry Penelope? Chef's kiss, 10/10, no notes. Luke really delivered and I think it helps that a lot of the Bridgerton actors are theater actors because they have a distinct way of showcasing little nuisances in their facial expressions.

Needless to say, I enjoyed it. Even if there were some key departures from the book, I think it was a fairly good job. I can't fault them for bringing in an external force (another suitor) to help Colin realize his feelings even more. In the book, a lot of it happens in his head, which can be hard to translate to a show. At least we got rid of the suitor early and it didn't become a legitimate love triangle.

I do need a Lady Danbury and Penelope alliance though. I loved that in the book and I hope they don't drop it!

[chromotps]

Hello! Been in the OP fandom for more than a decade (i miss the days where ace/luffy were a normal ship) and finding fics have been difficult.

Do you have any luffy/ace fic recommendations? Wishing you a good night!

hello! I wish I had been around for early acelu days... I was reading OP fic back then, but it was mostly zo/san 😅. I get what you mean, it's tough to find stuff for them these days that's not just luffy-harem stuff (which is fine! just not what I'm looking for) or ooc

I prefer fics that are mostly sweet and not too angsty, so my list won't include some of the ones that are really bittersweet/dark/endgame-tragic, even though they're beautifully written. I'm sure if you ask another acelu fan, you'd get a completely different list... I'm just a big weenie! 😭😂

I'm also really disorganized, so I'm probably forgetting a bunch!!! I need to keep better bookmarks omg

SFW Fics:

spinning on that dizzy edge by to-a-merrier-world (wayward_wolves) fav fav fav (helps that this was sort of a gift? based on some art I drew;;? hhh i love it so much) A sweet!!! and playful, relaxed scene between Luffy and Ace—who's joined the Stawhats!

this short fic by 002yb a really lovely, atmospheric piece of writing about the boys just being cute and speaking through touch

forget me not by 002yb a touch more bittersweet, but I loved how insightful this little look at Ace's last night with Luffy in Goa was

to be deserving by 002yb (after acelu week I need to have a separate section for 002yb!! tbh consider this a blanket rec for all their fics) adorable!! very nuanced, quick look at some courtship (or lack thereof) (but hope for some in the future?) between ace and luffy in an omegaverse AU

Bridesmaid Blues by Anonymous so much fun!! a rom-com style take on Luffy and Ace eloping in canon. Hilarious, and just makes me adore all the characters even more

In Your Heart Shall Burn by kayura_sanada oh my god. so it's a fix-it fic that involves a mysterious mirror and wishes. the tone feels just like canon with maybe a hint more bittersweet hopefulness, and the heartfelt moments between ace and luffy in this MELTED ME INTO PIECES. this will be one of my forever favorites.

oxytocin by ruche Gen fic but the author has other great shippy acelu work; this one is, post-marineford-ace-lives scene with Ace being worried and grateful for Luffy... the characterization is amazing

Near Death Experiences by monch_monch (WIP) This is a reincarnation AU, and it's got one of my absolute favorite acelu scenes in one of its flashbacks... I love everything about this fic—the way the other characters are brought in, and how cute and heartfelt Ace and Luffy are... I can't compliment it enough

The Same As You by PeachyStud (WIP) (jksgfhd oops i put this is sfw when the latest chapters have some messing around in it, but... i'll just leave it here) This one's a very sweet and fun modern AU—I reread it when I just need some feel good acelu fluff.

Next Stop, Everywhere by NewWonder This fic is the 2nd part of an "Ace lives and sails with Luffy" series, but it's my favorite of the 3 parts because it focuses a lot on Ace getting to work through his heartache 😭

Together Again by Swinky Swanks (SpobSpucci) A sweet, short piece about when Ace visits Luffy in canon

I'll Always Want You by PeachyStud This is part 1 of another "Ace lives in canon" series—this fic focuses on Luffy asking Ace to join his crew during their 2 years training and is SO cute and lovely. Part 2 is also a treat (and rated M 👀)

Arrangements by Sully-van I feel a little crazy for including an FF.net story on here, but this little royalty/arranged marriage AU just made me smile.

Find the Hat by authenticaussie  funny, slightly bittersweet AU where luffy's a ghost in ace's university library. i know, unusual concept, but a quick, fun read

(Ir)Responsible by oumriel (WIP!!!!! probably permanently from the looks of things) okay I have to recommend this one—it's a modern AU with drama/slow burn, and some incredibly heart-warming moments and really interesting characterizations. it does end on a heart-breaking cliffhanger, but... acelu seems to be a little bit cursed with WIPs, in the end, haha

Sleeping Habits by RainyCatharsis surprisingly fluffy soulmate AU where a soulmate who's died stays in their partner's dreams until they're both ready to move on. short and sweet!

on brotherhood by LadyCrimsonAndBlack another gen fic; age-swap! older Luffy runs into Whitebeard and makes sure Ace is happy on his crew

Lock; Key by Anonymous (SFW.... for now. since there's only 1 chapter up) very interesting modern, omegaverse AU with cool worldbuilding

NSFW Fics:

Hatchling by Anonymous good old-fashioned "not too loud or dad will hear us" modern AU incest. haha. really, this one is a nice mix of cute and dirtyhot, with a looooot of teasing smug ace

and what do they say about dreams by ruche uhh. a smut fic that... focuses on Ace's narcolepsy? it's surprisingly cute and funny—mind the tags, but I really enjoyed it!

Tearjerker by necroesthe OKAY so I love a lot of Necro's acelu fics... They do tend to skew darker, so that's a good thing to remember if you go browsing. This fic, though, is an adorable and fun and hot modern AU, with Ace thinking Luffy looks cute when he cries.

for the asking by irrelevant  another modern AU, I love the relaxed dialogue and vibe of this one. There's something about Ace and Luffy acting like dumb brothers while also being devoted to each other that gets me every time.

You're Built from Motorcycle Exhaust, Cigarette Smoke, and Starlight by Novicecomics Modern AU, really atmospheric story about biker!Ace and Luffy going on a little adventure and being in love

born hungry by ruche hard to summarize... i guess, modern AU, drunk/troubled ace has surprisingly sweet sex with luffy. this author always captures such a like, darkly funny, wry attitude with ace, and their luffy is a treat. still good to check the tags!

the blood of my brother by fizzyren another maybe odd one. uh. short summary is, acelu period sex with trans luffy. i'm not usually into those kinds of fics but this one got me down, what can i say

Lake Pontchartrain by necroesthe definitely read the tags for some of these dead dove recs i'm sneaking in here. anyway uh. the first chapter in this is, modern au, preteen luffy catches ace watching porn aaaaand then there's fallout

Virtue by necroesthe ditto above w the tags. um. 15yo luffy wants to ride ace. i'll add, necro's darker fics are more psychological-hot to me than like, silly-yummy-smut hot? if that makes any sense haha

I'd also like to recommend my own Once Piece fics... I think they're all pretty sweet, and not too bad if I do say so myself. :3c

Anyway!! Hope this helps! And pls feel free to tell me your thoughts on any of em............. 👀

[markcampbells]

🖊📊🍰!

Thank you so much for asking, friend!! 💙

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

And it isn't just the little things. Meryl finds herself noticing the bigger ones, too. Milly doesn't laugh at her for straightening her desk blotter and pens after Jonathan, her least favorite coworker, leans over the desk to hit on her and inevitably messes up her meticulous organization. Milly doesn't joke about her height or ask prying questions about her personal life like just about everyone else does. Milly makes sure she's eaten lunch and walks her home on darker than usual nights so she'll feel safe. So she might be a little bit in love with Milly. But it's fine, because there is no way Milly is in love with her. Milly is just a good person; Milly would do these things for anyone. So it doesn't matter what Meryl feels, because she's not going to act on these feelings. It just makes sense not to. She's a professional, Milly is her coworker, and time heals all ill-advised romantic feelings. She can get over these ones, even if her heart feels like it's going to jackhammer its way out her chest when Milly smiles at her.

Small excerpt from a Meryl/Milly piece I have going! I don't really write rom-com much at all so this has been a fun one!

📊 Current number of WIPs

Hoo boy is that complicated 😂 So the thing is that my brain is kind of a hamster wheel and as such I don't keep count of my WIPs, because I often start things and then only work on them as the mood strikes me. I don't necessarily finish everything I start but I also don't really consider anything abandoned. I do, though, usually only have a small handful of active WIPs at a time. For Trigun currently, I want to say I have four:

the piece I shared a bit of above!

the upcoming chapters of cooking is love made visible, a Meryl & Milly fic I wrote for Ace Trigun Week I'm expanding into a multichapter fic!

my WIP for Day 3 (hurt/comfort) of Mashwood Week

my next Vashwood piece which I am hoping will be my 20th fic for the fandom, if it becomes the next piece I post (also holy Christ I will have written 20 pieces for this fandom in less than a year)

🍰 Name one of your fave comfort fics (doesn’t have to be your all time fave).

I started writing fic again in 2021 and a big reason why is the work of shoreleave, whose work got me reading McKirk back in the day. When I started reading their work it was back on FFN! I love all their stuff and don't want to name just one, but when I wanted comfort during the worst part of the pandemic and turned back to a comfort ship, they were the first place I went.

[acacia-may]

Hiya there Acacia~! Saw the Hallmark Movie AU post thing and like I said earlier, it looks like fun and seems like it'd be pretty funny. I don't really watch Hallmark but I hear that their movies are pretty goofy and I often get a chuckle listening to or reading commentary about them. Anyways...

So for the “If it was a Hallmark movie” game that you're doing, do you think you'd be willing to give it a try with Morgen x Josele? 👉👈 I'd love to see you interpret/play with my ship.

If you're not so sure about Morgsele though, how about a Hallmark Movie AU for Mitsuri x Obanai? 💖

Hi Erika! Thank you so much for the ask and for reblogging my game! I really appreciate it. 😊 I was really happy to see your tags that it looked fun and hilarious since that's definitely what was I was going for when I made it up. I hope you enjoy it! 🥰

I'm not a big fan of Hallmark Movies myself, honestly. I usually don't enjoy romance too much just as a general rule, and I especially find Hallmark-Style Rom Coms to be too soppy, goofy, and/or predictable. That said, I can appreciate that they are usually feel good and wholesome, but that's generally not enough to make it through the whole film without chuckling to myself at how unrealistic it is. My mom and sister, however, absolutely love Hallmark Movies and have whole marathons of them, but I have a reputation for being the cynical family member who watches 2 minutes of the movie and predicts the whole plot... (They don't really let me watch with them anymore unless I promise to be quiet 😅😂).

That said, there have been Hallmark Movies I have genuinely enjoyed but those generally break the mold of the usual tropes. My favorite Hallmark Movie, for instance, is called Christmas With Holly, and it's the story of three brothers who try their best to raise their niece (Holly) and put together a perfect holiday season (Thanksgiving & Christmas specifically) for her after the untimely death of their sister/Holly's mother. It's heartfelt and hilarious in a good/intentional way because these are three single guys who know absolutely nothing about cooking a thanksgiving feast or raising a 6-year-old little girl. 😂 I try to catch that one every year because it's so wholesome and I love the characters and the focus on family relationships rather than the usual romance (the romance really takes a backseat to the brothers sibling relationship with each other and their familial relationship with their niece), but the usual run-of-the-mill Hallmark Rom Coms generally aren't my cup of tea even if I've seen a lot of them thanks to my family...and that's kind of how the game came to be created. 😊

I would love to make up a Hallmark Movie for Morgen x Josele for you! It's very flattering that you'd trust me with your OC, and I hope I've done an okay job. (I know what I've come up with is a little goofy even for a Hallmark movie 😂). I really like Josele, and her and Morgen's relationship is really sweet and adorable--perfect for a Hallmark Movie, I think (A/N: though just between us, I think I prefer her dynamic with Nacht...🤫 That's just a personal preference though. Both ships are great, but I'll admit I imagine them as very separate things in my mind since I don't like love shapes--it's kind of similar to how I think of Finral x Finesse and Langris x Finesse as totally separate things even if they're (arguably?) all kind of connected in the canon, if that makes sense?) Anyway, without further ado, here is a Hallmark Movie AU for Morgen x Josele. I really hope you like it. I'm going to take you up on your offer to do an ObaMitsu one as well, but I'll make that it's own post (and tag you) since this one is kind of long. Also Morgen and Josele deserve their own post, in my opinion. They're great! (Hopefully I'm not totally off the mark with them here 😅). Thanks for the ask! 🥰

Morgsele If It Was A Hallmark Movie...

The Perfect Man: Josele is a somewhat cynical (for a Hallmark movie) journalist who works for the city newspaper, but she is still waiting for her big break as a reporter. She mostly reports on feel good stories and puff pieces like grannies who knit sweaters for cats, bakers who make dog treats for animal shelters, and schools that have toy drives for orphans. While this is all nice and good, Josele can't shake the somewhat cynical (for a Hallmark Movie) notion that most of the time things that seem too good to be true usually are, and she wants the opportunity to do some real journalism work.

She is assigned to write a story about a local doctor, Morgen, who saved an elderly man from getting run over by a vegetable cart during the harvest festival, and quickly learns that he is by all accounts "the perfect man." He helps pediatric burn victims, raises money for the local orphanage, offers to work pro bono for sick children in need, volunteers at a soup kitchen to provide food for the homeless, gives yarn to the grannies who knit the cat sweaters ect. ect. Josele finds it hard to believe that there isn't something wrong with him and mentions this at work where she is then tasked with discovering his dark side and/or deep dark secret and revealing it in an exposé piece for the newspaper. At first, she is sure that he's hiding something and couldn't possibly be that perfect, but as she gets to know him better and starts to fall in love with him in spite of her reservations, she begins to feel very guilty about this and realizes that he truly is a genuinely kind and good person.

Morgen, who was smitten with her from the start, falls in love with her quickly and eventually trusts her enough to reveal the dark secret of his past: that he couldn't save his brother from becoming a delinquent and leader of a local gang of hoodlums who commit as heinous of crimes as allowed in a Hallmark movie such as jaywalking, riding bicycles in the middle of the street, vandalizing flower arrangements, and occasionally stealing candy and purses from little old ladies. Josele must then make the difficult choice of deciding whether to reveal Morgen's secret, but how can she choose between her dream reporting job and her heart?

[laxibbeb]

Hi!

I’m working dutifully on your gift and man, is it angsty. I won’t tell you too much…because some things should remain a surprise.

It’s sad. I’m throwing a little bit of toxicity in as a treat(for you), but mostly it’s just sad.

It’s a few thousand words long so far! Is any of it readable? …No! (But we’ll get there 😂)

I’d genuinely be surprised if you guessed who I was before I reveal myself. And I don’t mean this in any sort of way, I think we’ve just existed in two separate corners of the fandom(but I’m so happy to get to know you now! You seem really cool!)

Ooh so for genres I do love books based in mythology(any kind!). I also sometimes like a slight mystery with a focus on drama (ask me for specifics and I’ll give them), and rom coms are cool too. Oh and high fantasy, if I’m in the right headspace to have a massive book hangover, which doesn’t happen that often.

And there’s nothing wrong with being pretentious. I am, too, about certain things.

I think in terms of superpowers I’d like shapeshifting. That seems pretty cool.

Questions!

Can I lean into morally dubious Rhys?

Who’s on your hear me out cake? (I can’t take credit for this one)

What’s your favorite piece of artwork you’ve made? (Brag about yourself!)

hello dear santa i am SO SORRY, i know you've been waiting in my ask box forever! i finally have the time to write out my reply :((( GOOD, the angst!! don't tell me too much, i can't wait to scream in pain in your comments i, as an angst connaisseur, adore sad but i love you for putting a little of toxic just for me <333

i'm sure it's a work of art ok

DO NOT WORRY, i'm not taking it in any kind of way if anything, i'm even more excited to find out who you are 😼 (i'm happy to get to know you too! i've really been enjoying our talks)

ooh, i really enjoy mythology as well! i'm not that into rom coms, though i've read a few; i like romance but i also like when other things happen around it so i don't tent to seek them out and i also agree with you on the high fantasy, my preferred ones read almost like a made-up history book but it does involve massive hangovers

i mean, it's been over a year since i've read the first baru book and despite the fact that i loved it i'm still not ready to get into the second one 😜

(please tell me the details of the drama/mystery genre)

okay, now i really want to know what you're pretentious about! we can be pretentious together

okay shapeshifting IS cool, a top tier choice, a classic one too —

QUESTIONS!

ABSOLUTELY you can lean into morally dubious rhys all you want, i love rhys at his shadiest motherfucker and i love him at his daddiest husband, so go whichever way feels right for you

OKAY, i have never thought about this before so here are my unfiltered thoughts on the matter: i am putting an acotar character on my hear me out cake and it's the weaver.

I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S A POPULAR TAKE LMAO i'm scared to answer this question because i know somebody will be like "well, actually this is the most common answer and totally ordinary." and then i would be crushed. so i'm going to be very cheeky and say jagna from "the peasants" is on my hear me out cake ✌️😗 and since i know for a fact that, save for me, only like 2 other people in this fandom even know who i'm talking about, the only people that would disagree AND be genuinely mad about this take are polish literature teachers and the peasants in question.

and my favourite piece oh gosh!! i love mucha elucien from elucien week. that one destroyed my wrist but i've done some really cool things i haven't gotten the chance to try before AND it came out looking so good 😌😌 i'll be riding that high for a while still

dear santa, i hope your halloween is stellar and full of spooky goodness! see you next time 🎃🎃

[emylilas]

Hi Em, I've read your prompts and now I have so many ideas! I can't wait to start working on your gift! ❤️✨

That being said, I'm here with my first question. Lunrah and holiday theme. Tell me more. Do you have any particular headcanons for them? Or the way the Other world celebrates holidays/Christmas? What are the things each of them likes and doesn't like about it? (The holiday itself, certain traditions, food/drinks etc.)

- until next (set of) question(s) your hex anon 🤍❄️

Hi!! I’m very happy to hear from you ☃️ 

And even happier to know my never ending list of prompts did not scare you off! I must admit I got a little carried away there… 😁 Sorry it took me a while to get back to you, this week was crazy busy but I usually am more reactive for HEX anons so don’t hesitate to send anything you want and/or need, I’ll reply (and I’ll be delighted to). 

I read your question when you sent it and spent SO long thinking about a proper answer! I ended up with the idea that I had to divide my answer into two parts; whether it’s a non-magical AU, or canon-compliant. 

Know that once Halloween is sadly over, and winter starts wintering (which usually happens quite early on here, like post-Halloween day 1…), the Christmas movies marathon is starting at home and even though good Christmas rom-coms are too rare, I still absolute love the clichés! So, if we’re talking non-magical AU, I can see Farah and Luna still having this tense dynamic they had in the show, before evolving from enemies to lovers because of a ✨Christmas miracle✨ I had to pull out my list of Christmas movie clichés to properly answer you.

One would absolutely be in the Christmas spirit while the other would be a grumpy leprechaun. There’s too often this cliché of “old love reconnecting”, but in this case, I’d think it would definitely be fitting! It is a tough question. It really is!

I’m not really sure how it would work, but I could see the two of them being forced to tolerate the other during the holidays, until they eventually realise, but are too proud to admit it, that they’re actually enjoying themselves. They’d somehow be forced to go ice skating (I don’t know how you can force someone into setting foot on ice but I'm pretty sure Luna would be talked into doing anything if you were to poke her ego just a little, she has a reputation to protect) and Luna would suck and keep falling while Farah would be suspiciously good at it. Or they’d find themselves sitting on the same sledge and Luna would hate the ride down while Farah would be having the time of her life.

There would most definitely be a holiday theme backing competition and they would have to team up to win and it’d be a disaster because they’re both too competitive. OH, or a yard/house decoration contest, this would absolutely work too! They’d definitely get competitive and would want to beat Andreas (I don’t know why, but I think Andreas would surprisingly enjoy Christmas festivities, probably because he’d be having a little too much eggnog during the season). I suggest we add a snowball fight between neighbours to the mix. Those are absolutely random thoughts, nothing is coherent here, but I think it’s the best I can come up with because my brain is temporarily fried 😂

To sum up, I love Christmas and its clichés! It’s tough living abroad and not being able to come home to celebrate with my family, but I’ved found in the past few years that going crazy with clichés for the holidays helped having a beautiful time without being too nostalgic of big family dinners that I wished were much shorter as a kid and now finding myself looking back to with a deep fondness. Emotional time over! Now to the second part of this already too long answer. As you may have noticed, I am awfully chatty!

So, now, if it is canon-compliant. I truly wonder what the weather is like in Solaria. In the cartoon, it has like three suns I believe, while in the show it’s UK weather… it doesn’t exactly make sense for a realm named Solaria to be experiencing snow storms in the winter I suppose, but honestly, snow makes it so much better I’m going to go with Solaria is like Canada: intense winter, intense summer (if you don’t believe summer in Canada can be that hot (and mostly humid to be honest), maybe you’ll believe my father who landed here after a month of heatwave around 40° celsius in the South of France and told me the heat was even less tolerable in Canada.)

Anyway. There seems to be links between the First World and the Other World, they have instagram and snapchat if I recall correctly, so they’re probably aware of different ways of celebrating the holidays. I could see some of our customs eventually also being celebrated in their world like it can happen between countries. Sure, it can be thanks to immigration, which isn’t really a possibility in Fate, but it also happens with access to media. Where I used to live in France, we never really celebrated Halloween as children, but if we did, it was highly influenced by American films about Halloween like Hocus Pocus, or Double Double Toil and Trouble. I could see something similar, people of the other world watching Holidays theme movies and trying to incorporate some of the traditions they see depicted in fictions in their real life. Maybe they even have Christmas markets with items you could find on your regular Christmas market in Germany.

As the world building’s been quite poor in the show, we don’t really know much about their culture, but I’d think it’d be fitting if they listen to our Christmas carols and also have their very own. The Other World definitely has their own Mariah Carey who reappears in November! 

I don’t think the Other World would celebrate Christmas for its religious meaning, considering their religions must be very different from ours, but I love to imagine they have important celebrations for equinoxes and solstices. There are probably royal celebrations, like a yule ball? A banquet? Where Arthur needs to be kept away from anything with alcohol in it. Also where officials and important figures of the realm are supposed to show up, and every year, Farah, Saul and Ben are forced to attend, Farah for being headmistress of Alfea, and the trio for being heroes of the last war Solaria has known. And every year they show up to those official events like it’s pure torture and they’d much rather face Rosalind again instead.

And to go back to your question about Lunrah during the holidays, it is my personal headcanon that they were still in good terms when Farah started to show to these events as the new headmistress (because now that we know the selection process for headmistress, we know Luna’s the one who put Farah at the head of the school after Aster Dell, and sure, it might have a lot to do with the fact she knew she would be able to use Aster Dell every single time she needs Farah to just obey, but I chose to believe it wasn't just that, because Farah could just as well use Aster Dell to hurt Luna, these two truly had a "I go down you go down with me" situation...), they were each other support system to go through the night.

We know appearances are everything to Luna, but from her one scene with Stella in S2, we also can imagine how much of a burden playing by the rules of a game that was decided for her can be, so I imagine that she’d hate to host these events. She’d love the occasion to show off her power, wealth and authority, but she’d also despise the occasion for being the tangible realisation of rules she had to follow, and she’d probably despises herself for playing that game so well. I love an ambiguous Luna who loves power too much for her own good and got stuck in her own games because it was too big for her. AND to go back to Lunrah, again because I keep digressing, when they started drifting away for some reason and started to have the dynamic we got to see in the show, they’d still have to see each other at those events, being polite enough, and suffering from the reminder that there was a time where they’d be supporting each other through the night, not making it even more unbearable for the other. Angsty adults Lunrah is a great type of Lunrah!

So! The winter solstice would be the traditional celebrations, and Christmas festivities would be just for the fun of it. It might also be more popular in the generations who had access to the internet growing up, because they’re more connected to the First World than older ones who had to actively want to find things about the First World (like go rent a movie, go buy books…) and I can definitely picture some of the older generations being annoyed at Christmas stuff because it’s not what they should be celebrating and they feel like their people are forgetting their own traditions (the subject of globalisation in-between worlds probably is a course you can take in university). And I think the winter solstice is a celebration that would be turned towards the outside and imposed community (your neighbours, your fellow citizens, for those with influential families, their duty towards them…), while their Christmas celebrations would be centred about the people they chose to celebrate for being in their life (their family, their chosen family, their friends…).

Those aren’t very specific answers, so I hope they’re still fine with you! To sum up, I mostly believe both the cosiness and excitement that can come with the holidays in our world are also experienced in the Other World. 

I’ll let you in on a little secret (said without Rosalind’s threatening tone), last year, I started to work on a Christmas movie AU with Fate, where the town needed a Christmas miracle, there’s always one, because the big villain of the story, Rosalind, was trying to privatise the school (I’m French, most of our schools are public so if someone were trying to privatise a public school we’d come at them with pitchforks). It’s absolutely a random piece of information and no one asked about this but I’ve made you wait for so long to answer I figured I should give you something silly unrelated to HEX but still in the theme. 

Your questions were great and truly gave me a lot to think about! I love world building, I actually have an entire file filled with past events I created for Solaria and some of the other realms, political institutions, myths… but I had never thought about their winter holidays before and it was a lot of fun, so thank you so much! I’m definitely looking forward to your next question(s) and I hope my long enthusiastic answer did not scare you off! I promise I can also be concise when needed 😆

[bisluthq]

I wouldn't call myself a "fan" of Joe, but I did like how Taylor painted him (she obvs wasn't going to release songs about him not knowing how to cook a decent Bolognese or put the toilet seat down though - until midnights lmao) but I've enjoyed the movies I've seen him in, I like that he signed the ceasefire thing, I like how he makes an effort to work with female directors - and that makes me more inclined to want to see what he's doing because I don't think he's a trash human. But I only know about what he's up to from you really. So I like him and tbh I feel fucked up saying this but I think he stole the show in boy erased even though it was a small bit and that whole film was great, I really noticed him then.

But all this reminds me of when I saw something with Matthew Goode in a small part and I was so totally mesmerised by him and he had few credits at the time and fewer of them were streaming lol. Fast forward a decade and I feel an odd sense of pride seeing him making really great stuff (imo) and seeming to enjoy himself. He did lead a few earlier rom coms, but I can see Joe having a career like MG where he's "that guy that was in that movie with Margot Robbie and one with Emma stone" and then being a lead who people google and go 'ooooh right, HIM!' of course there'll always be the TS shadow for lack of a better word, but idk. I think I just wanted to talk about how much I adore Matthew Goode even though he's mostly "is that that guy from that other thing?' at least he is with my family and friends when I pick what to watch because I'll just pick multiple things hes in in a row lmao.

Thoughts on Matthew Goode? 😂

I like Matthew Goode! He’s been very successful but I agree not in a way where if I bring up Matthew Goode to random people they’d know who he is/what he’s been in. They’d recognize him though as “that guy from that other movie” lol for sure. Fwiw, I like Leap Year with him and Amy Adams. It’s a silly movie but it was kind of cute. He’s been in a lot of better things since (but you’re right often as part of an ensemble or as a supporting character).

[coloursflyaway]

Hiii mate, 🦉

So good to hear from you! First of all. Do. You. Know. How. Happy. I. Am. to hear you say you've started writing again! So happy. On a side note though - I've lost you to another fandom and now there's even less chance of zowens 😩 But I'm still so glad you've picked it up again 😁 (also is it bad I'm kinda chuffed to be blamed for this good news? 😂)

Speaking of Lotr, did you ever try 'the rings of power'? If you have what did you think of it? Yea it never gets old, quite honestly I still find new things, things I didn't realise I'd missed earlier. The mind of that man, J.R.R. Tolkien, is just r.i.d.i.c.u.l.o.u.s.

Similar here, it was my grandpa and dad that got me onto the 'older' movies. Hence the inclination more towards the mysteries, action, thrillers and comedies 😁 I'll definitely be staying clear of 'Silence' then 😭

Ohh another one I've never heard of 'dead boy detectives' 🤔 haha yea from your posts I can tell you quite enjoy it! Was it a recent discovery? Their fandom must be thrilled about your fics 😁

Hii ♥

Me too, it felt sooo good 😭 took up basically my entire weekend, but it was so nice to actually be inspired and excited about writing instead of feeling like I had to force myself to do it. You definitely shook something lose there and I can't thank you enough! But yeah, this show kind of took over my life for the last couple of days 😅

I never tried Rings of Power, because my sister kind of hated it, but if you'd recommend it, I might give it a shot at some point. I do love LotR so much and getting more of it is very tempting 😁

That might be the same for me, although my parents both also love rom coms and they definitely didn't pass that onto me 😂 I really want to go to the cinema a bit more often in the next few months, since there is one that just re-opened kind of close to my house, so hopefully there will be some good new movies coming out!

Dead Boy Detectives is definitely new, it just came out on Netflix! It's based on a Neil Gaiman cominc and I love basically everything that man has ever done, so I knew I had to check it out and I ended up absolutely loving it😁 it's really cute and colourful and has enough supernatural stuff in it to get me really excited ❤️ And I hope the fandom is happy with my fics because it kind of feels like I'll continue writing them for a bit longer at least 😁

And if you don't mind, sure, come off anon! It's always nice to put a face to the conversations 🥰

[avocado-writing]

My headcanons for Astarion, Gale, Wyll, Halsin, Dammon, Rolan, and Zevlor react to his gn crush who is so oblivious that they told him with confidence that no one would be interested in them romantically request is so good! I'm flattered you like writing my requests since I love your writing ☺️ I love this especially Astarion only laughs because he thought they were joking, he realised when he noticed their body language that they really meant it 😭, he wants to act like his usual self but he is torn since he actually cares for them, he would hold their hand after a moment of silence & say it's mesmerising that there's so much to love about them 🥹, he couldn't make eye contact with them but his dead heart felt like skipping a beat when they squeezed his hand 😊, how puzzled Gale is XD, how he started to state with things about them practically...to things he likes about them 😳, it took him a while to realise what he said & see them smiling at him that made him a bit embarrassed, they're confident enough to kiss him in the cheek which made him happy for the whole day 😊, how appalled Wyll is XD, he would take them on a stroll alone with them while being lyrical of what they have going for them 🥹, he's such a romantic that he told them everything even though he tried to not make into a confession, his cheeks feel hot & his heart beats faster because of their smile 😊, he told them that they deserve someone who would be by side through everything & he's not afraid to be the someone even after everything they've been through 🥹, he would continue if they're not brave enough to pull him for a long kiss 💋, Halsin knows self-doubt won't go away so easily, he tries to court them since he admires them for a while, his little gifts for them 🥰, he always be with them when he can & tries to make them laugh, they realised that he proved them wrong, they immediately ran to find & hug him rom-com style 🤭, Dammon meant to reassure them but their expression shown how desperate they are 🥺, he accidentally confessed instead & was worried if he messed up, he blushes when they went to kiss him 😳, Rolan's choice of words 🤣, they're so surprised that they couldn't speak at first, they weren't amused because they were being vulnerable with him like me & he tried to explain that he didn't insult them 😂, he managed to be honest with them, they realised when he can't hide how much he's blushing & his emotions, he tried to backtrack but they asked him out, he squeaked out a yes 🤭 when he felt like combusting & he was worried about the same thing when they went to him to confide 🥺, Zevlor is kind even when he thinks they're being silly, he held their face to face him before telling them how lovely they are like a pledge 🥹, they can't help but think he's right, and they think maybe someone loves them when they gazes into his eyes 🥹 Thank you so much for doing my request because I love it so much :)

I’m so glad you liked it, my love, it was so fun to write 😊💕

[zepskies]

Lmaoo "The One With Ted" did not disappoint...

Seeing a glimpse of their growing friendship in the first flashback scene was somehow both sweet and bittersweet, but of course, there's also that hint of "more" on Beau's side that he's desperately trying to hide. 😅

“Y/N, you need to sleep. Just look at you, darlin’. This obsession isn’t healthy. I’m taking you home,” he declared sternly, ignoring your protests. You were pretty sure he had used his dad voice, too.

Loll not the dad voice! So sweet that he tried to "cut her off," even though he ultimately wasn't successful. Always more shit hitting the fan, isn't there? 😬

“Do you know what cartels do to bodies, Beau? To rivals? To law enforcement? ‘Cause I just came back from a job where we found forty-eight decapitated bodies, left to rot inside the walls of a house. Still haven’t found the heads yet. Probably never will,” you told him and stared him dead into his dark green eyes. “Ever seen that before, desperado?” Beau bit his lips, averting his gaze. “No.”

That's what makes their situation all the harder -- the fact that she's in law enforcement as well and understands this aspect of things all too well. 😰 It's truly amazing that she and Beau were able to get past this hurdle and actually fall in love. It shows how forgiving she is, I think.

“Well, I’m a hard one to quit,” Beau quipped almost proudly, like a peacock showing off his fan of feathers. “As are cigarettes and many other vices,” Ted shot back with the same stupidly proud grin. Translation: You’re an ass. And a failure. She deserves so much better. I’m ‘better.’ But maybe that didn't need a translation.

HELP. I'm deceased. 🤣🤣🤣 I was smirking/laughing throughout this entire exchange, but this in particular took me out! Ted has nothing but audacity. But at least the reader had Beau's back on this one. 😆

“It was a set-up, alright? I talked to my DEA contact. Cody said your intel was wrong. They knew you and Randy were closing in on them. They wanted to get rid of you,” you explained.

Ahh, nice that they had this heart to heart, and also this revelation. But while of course that really does nothing to soothe Beau's guilt, at least it allows her to forgive him.

“Says you,” Beau quipped and unzipped your jeans, eagerly pulling them off you as his mouth sucked your clavicle purple and blue. “That slimy coyote always had it out for me.”

LMAO Oh Beau. You're right, it is funny to imagine him saying "slimy coyote." 😂 Bet this is what he wishes would happen to Ted:

It accumulated like dark, violent storm clouds on the horizon, forecasting roaring thunder and heavy rainfall.

Lolll an excellent line.^

“Just between us, you’re the best lover I ever had,” you confessed with a wide grin. The corners of his mouth rose to match yours. “Well, between us, I’ve never loved anyone like I love you. You’re it, darlin’. You know that, right? You’re the love of my life,” Beau revealed, making you smile brighter than you ever had before.

Oooh what a declaration that is from her! The fact that Beau's the best she's ever had, even including Randy, I'm assuming. 😅

And Beau, sweet Beau, that was a beautiful rom-com worthy line right there. 💗

“Jenny said Diane just walked into the station and gave herself up. She is ready to confess but only wants to talk to us.”

Ooh shit, Diane is certainly up to something. 😬😬 I'm both excited and scared to see what's coming next!!

Polaris – Chapter 7

Series Summary: When Beau Arlen moved to Montana, he left behind a past he wasn’t proud of. But when a series of murders requires the FBI’s help, Sheriff Arlen‘s ghosts come back to haunt him one by one. With a wrong turn waiting at every crossroads, it’s hard to make the right choices and find his way back home – back to you.

Pairing: Beau Arlen x FBI Agent!Reader

Warnings: 18+, fluff, angst, serial killer, mentions of cartels, grief, smut

Word Count: 7.2k

A/N: The chapter where we find out why Ted is on Beau's punch list aka The One With Ted... 😂

Series Masterlist || Main Masterlist || Tag List

Chapter 7: Storm Coming

May 2021

“I sold the house,” you said, your voice ripping through the quiet of the car during another starry stake-out night.

“So you’re homeless now?” Beau joked and peeled his eyes away from the front window view and glanced at you from the driver’s seat, his hand resting on the steering wheel, the other one in his lap.

You chuckled. “Yup, but I got a hot plate now in my motel room and one of those Italian moka pots. So, you know, some would say I’m living the dream.”

Beau snorted in amusement before he pensively rubbed his mouth with two fingers. “You didn’t have to sell the house, you know?”

You heaved a sigh. “Yeah, I kinda did, though… I didn’t like staying in there anymore. It’s just… too many memories, I guess? ‘Sides, I’m always down here anyways. Actually considering moving here.”

Beau frowned at you, his nose scrunching. “What, to Mexico? Are you nuts? Over my dead body are you doin’ that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had a say in it,” you retorted rather playfully and put a shocked palm on your chest in mock.

“Damn right, I do,” Beau scoffed his reply with a teasing grin. “Who do you think is lookin’ out for ya, huh?”

“Wait, you think you are? That’s what you believe?” You snorted a laugh, entering banter territory with him.

It was usually how you passed your time during most of these stake-outs – laughing, teasing, and the occasional talking about your problems. You’d never known Beau like this before. He was your husband’s best friend, but he had been more of an acquaintance to you. Now, after months of spending close to every day together, it felt like he was your best friend. Since Randy’s death, he’d been there for you, even if it was mostly out of guilt.

“Yeah, what d’you think?” Beau countered challengingly.

“Oh sweetie, you’re not looking after me. I’m looking after you,” you stated confidently. The smile that twitched on his lips seemed to actually agree with you. “Out of the two of us, you’re the way bigger wreck. Some would even think it’s your husband who died, not mine.”

“Are you calling me a girl?”

You coolly shrugged your shoulders. “Either I’m calling you a girl, or I’m calling you gay. I’ll let you pick.”

Laughingly, Beau scoffed and muttered, “You wish I was gay.”

However, you still heard his mumbled reply and responded, “Actually, I wish you were a girl and that I was gay.”

Beau stared at you and leaned back against the door for a better view of you, his brow raised and the corners of his lips drawn slightly upwards in amusement. “What are we even talking about?”

“I don’t know,” you admitted with a shake of your head.

The two of you then burst into loud laughter that filled the entire SUV. For a moment, all your sorrows and hardships seemed to be forgotten, carried away to the desert with the nightly breeze. Then, the familiar and comfortable quiet took over the car again.

“I’m moving out of the house, too,” Beau said, his eyes focusing on the barren landscape and desolate road ahead. “I’m giving it to Carla. I mean, she didn’t ask me to. God knows she can take care of herself… But I want Emily to keep living in the home she grew up in, you know?”

“Yeah, I get that. That’s really nice,” you said quietly. Your soft smile then morphed to a grin. “So you’re homeless, too, huh?”

Beau laughed, throwing his head back into the seat. “Yeah, guess I am. Maybe we should live together?” he suggested half-jokingly.

“Like roommates? Ugh, God no!” You scoffed in abhorrence. “We’re way too old for that. You’re over forty, I’m barely in my thirties–”

“You do know I know exactly how old you really are, right?” Beau teased.

You decided to ignore that jab and continued, unbothered. “It would be seriously so sad. The Widow And The Divorcee – sounds like the worst sitcom on the planet. ‘Sides, it’d be super awkward if one of us starts dating again.”

“Fine, maybe you’re right,” Beau relented with a soft chuckle and then glanced at you sideways. His heart gained speed in his chest. “You ever think about it? Dating? Gettin’ out there again? Been nine months.”

You twitched your shoulders, choosing not to look at him. “I don’t know. Is nine months long enough after your husband died?”

Thoughtfully, Beau licked his lips and let out a small sigh. “I don’t think there’s a timeline, or a right and wrong. I just think it’s one of those things that when you’re ready, you’re ready.”
 “Well, consider me not ready then, I guess,” you replied honestly.

“Alright,” Beau accepted, bobbing his head. “But I still think you should try again at some point, you know? You shouldn’t be alone for the rest of your life. First of all, it’d be a total waste, ‘cause, I mean, look at you. And secondly, you’re barely in your thirties, after all,” he repeated your earlier joke with a soft grin.

You felt the heat creep to your cheeks in the moonlight. As you looked at him, you could see his smirk, making you laugh. “Noted,” you replied and were thankful for his pep talk. “I mean, there’ve been offers.”

Beau quirked one eyebrow, a hard lump forming in his throat as his chest tightened. “Offers? Like plural? Who?”

“Well, just some of the guys from our team. Cody, Jordan, Ted…” you named a few. “Also a few locals. Remember those guys we played pool with a few weeks ago? Two of ‘em asked for my number.”

“Huh. That is plural…” Beau pursed his lips and couldn’t keep his brow from wrinkling, his grip on the steering wheel stiffening. “Well, you know, when you’re not ready, you’re not ready. Shouldn’t force anything. No rush, darlin’.”

Smooth, Beau thought wryly with an internal sigh.

“Right, I know,” you agreed. “I do miss sex, though. Getting kinda bored of my vibrator.”

Beau choked on his spit. “Jesus…”

“What? Am I not allowed to talk about it? I thought we were friends. You’re supposed to care about my well-being and happiness,” you argued, frowning.

“I do care. Just… Can we please not talk about that?” he begged and exhaled a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his freckled nose.

“Fine. I miss having women around…” You shrugged and muttered, “Didn’t peg you for a prude.”

“Okay, let’s just get one thing straight – I’m not a prude,” he clarified in defense, his cheeks turning a deep shade of red.

“Alright, also noted,” you quipped, smirking to yourself. Sometimes you enjoyed making him a little uncomfortable. His blushed cheeks could be quite cute. “What about you? Have you still not talked to Carla? I’m sure you can win her back if you tried. You’re a lot better now.”

“Well, thank you for the, uh, vote of confidence, but it’s really over, I guess. We just talked about all the divorce proceedings last time. I actually think she started datin’ someone recently,” Beau told you.

Your eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really? Who?”

“I guess some rich tech guy. I don’t know…”

“And you’re good with that?” you questioned in disbelief.

Beau scoffed a humorless chuckle, shaking his head. “Ha, no… But what am I gonna do? Kinda shot myself in the leg with that one. I don’t blame her for moving on. It’s been over for months now.”

“That sucks. I’m sorry. I was kinda rooting for you two,” you admitted.

“Well, thanks, but we weren’t you and Randy,” Beau said. It made your brow knit.

“What d’you mean?”

“C’mon, you know what I mean,” Beau replied as if it were obvious, but you still shook your head. He sighed. “You and Randy would’ve never gotten divorced.”

“You don’t know that.” Honestly, you doubted it yourself, but you were too curious to find out what he meant by his statement.

“I do know that,” Beau insisted with certainty. “You guys had that once-in-a-lifetime kinda love. The kind that made other people jealous, you know? Your love made every other relationship pale in comparison. I always figured once the honeymoon phase was over, you’d settle and be less vomit-inducing, but that never happened. Me and Carla were never like that. Not even in the beginning,” he explained, a small, soft smile shaping his mouth. “You guys were special. True love. The stuff folk singers write cheesy songs about.”

“I guess we were,” you mused quietly, the memory of everything Randy was to you causing tears to well in your eyes.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” Beau apologized as soon as he noticed the sadness on your face. He reached his hand over to your side and squeezed your thigh gently, just above the knee.

“No, it’s alright,” you brushed him off, swallowing your heartache down. “But hey, if Carla wasn’t your once-in-a-lifetime, maybe she’s still out there. You just haven’t found her yet. I mean, that’s kinda a nice outlook, right?”

Licking his lips, he bobbed his head, his gaze focused on his hand on the steering wheel. “I doubt it.”

“Why? Never say never,” you said encouragingly.

“Well, maybe I already met her, and it’s too late now,” he replied. It sounded more like an actual fact than a hypothetical theory. You found yourself wondering.

“What, did you have like an old college flame? The one that got away?” you teased lightheartedly, but he only grew more serious.

“Somethin’ like that,” he replied vaguely, rubbing his mouth with his fingers.

“Look her up on Facebook. Maybe she’s divorced, too. You could reconnect or something,” you suggested. He nodded but didn’t seem too convinced. You then shot him a hesitant glance from your periphery. “So, now that Carla’s moving on, are you gonna start dating now, too? Jump back into the game?”

“I guess so… Why?” A part of him was curious to hear your response, while another part reminded him that his desired answer was only wishful thinking – and completely insane on top of that.

“That fiery brunette lady at the bar last night seemed really interested in you. Maybe you should hook up with her if she’s there again tomorrow night?” you proposed in earnest.

Wide-eyed, Beau blinked at you in incredulity – like you had lost your goddamn mind. “I’m sorry, what?! Hook up? Who are you right now? Are you tryin’ to set me up?”

“Yeah.” You shrugged simply, not seeing what the big problem was. “Don’t look at me like I’m trying to convince you to get a tramp stamp above your ass with a dirty needle. I’m just trying to be a good wingman… woman. Randy would’ve tried to set you up, right?”

Beau sighed frustratedly. “Yeah, he would’ve,” he admitted in a grumble and then barked, slightly more furious, “But you ain’t him. And I don’t want you to be, so stop it, alright?”

“Geez, I’m sorry. I was just trying to help,” you mumbled defensively and raised your hands in surrender, unsuccessfully hiding your upset over his reaction. He felt guilty when he saw the small pout on your face.

Beau rubbed his forehead before dragging his palm over the rest of his face. “I know. I’m sorry, too,” he said and let out a deep breath through his nose. “I just-… I guess I’m just waiting, okay?”

“Waiting for what?”

Beau squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. For you to be ready, he wanted to say. But he couldn’t very well do that now, could he?

“For Christ’s sake, Y/N…” he breathed exhaustively. That was all he managed to say. With his palm on his mouth, he rested his elbow against the car door, gazing out the window.

“Why are you so upset?” you asked, your brow woven with confusion.

“Switch subjects,” he requested.

It was a phrase the two of you used whenever you didn’t want to talk about something anymore. When someone pushed too much, or the topic got too emotional and you needed a break. The only rule was to always respect the request, so you had no choice but to let it go after that.

“The Texans game sucked last night, huh?”

That elicited a snort from him, and he looked at you with a warm smile. “Yeah, goddamn awful.”

“How many times are you gonna watch those?”

Beau’s question broke your concentration. Your gaze snapped from your laptop screen to his concerned face. You’d been rewatching the victims’ videos for four days straight now, trying to find more clues. Maybe even something that directly led to Diane.

“I keep thinking maybe I’ve missed something,” you mumbled and stared back into the computer, your teeth gnawing on the pen between your lips. “It’s 48 hours each. We have twenty-four victims. I keep watching them sped-up to get through them all, but maybe I should slow ‘em down. I mean, I’ve watched them full-length, normal speed a couple of times before, but maybe I should watch ‘em even slower and really focus, you know? There’s gotta be something there…”

Bobbing his head worriedly, Beau pursed his lips and took a scan of your desk. He counted eight empty cups of coffee and five cans of energy drinks. There were bags under your red eyes and your hands were jittering. He knew you hadn’t slept a lot. He tried to hold you in his arms, but as soon as he dozed off, you snuck out and went back to work.

Beau shut the laptop. “You’re cut off.”

“Hey!”

“Y/N, you need to sleep. Just look at you, darlin’. This obsession isn’t healthy. I’m taking you home,” he declared sternly, ignoring your protests. You were pretty sure he had used his dad voice, too.

“Y/N, you need to sleep. Just look at you, darlin’. This obsession isn’t healthy. I’m taking you home,” he declared sternly, ignoring your protests. You were pretty sure he had used his dad voice, too.

“I need that woman in prison, Beau.”

“You startin’ to sound like Jenny…” Beau quipped under his breath.

“We’re running out of time. There’s only one day left before the next victim drops,” you stated and tried your best to keep your voice steady as it broke off towards the end.

“I know.” Beau clasped your shoulder and squeezed gently. “And we’ll get her. I promise you. But you’re no good to any of us if you’re exhausted and losing it right now.” You nodded and rose from your chair. He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you flush against him, kissing the top of your head affectionately. “How about some dinner, huh?”

You grinned warmly. “What, like a second date?”

“Exactly like a second date,” Beau said and mirrored your grin. He was making up for lost time as best as he could, even if it meant taking you out every night for the rest of your life.

Your phone buzzed on the table, your brow quirking at the number. Eagerly, you picked up and wound yourself out of Beau’s embrace. “Special Agent Y/L/N… Uh-huh… Great, thank you.”

Beau pursed his lips. “We’re not going out, are we?”

“‘fraid not, Sheriff.” You shook your head and chuckled at his groan. “That was IT. They’re finally done and sending over the IP addresses.”

“Alright, guess I’m gettin’ take out,” Beau announced with a small sigh, knowing the two of you were in for a long night – and not the one he had planned.

You smiled and pecked his lips. “Thank you.”

August 2020

Beau’s heart thudded frantically in his chest as his knuckles tapped your front door in the early evening. The sky was a color spectacle full of azures, indigos, and apricots as the summer sun slowly set. His boots only stood on that same spot not even twenty-four hours ago. It still felt like a surreal nightmare he couldn’t escape, his hope to wake up soon a ceaseless prayer.

He’d stayed with you all night, held you as you cried yourself to sleep. Beau awoke on your couch with your head resting on his thigh and a strange feeling in his gut. He couldn’t help but think you were beautiful, even in a state of utter turmoil, shoving said thought swiftly down into the depths of his darkening soul.

But he’d spent all day thinking of you, plagued by guilt and torn by misplaced feelings. He’d sat through hours of interviews, going over and over the events of last night till his mind spun like a hamster wheel. He was forced to fill out forms, sign documents, and recount each unforgettable step. He’d listened to lectures, sermons, and admonitions. His captain gave him a tongue-lashing that sounded like mere white noise before he was sent home with a suspension – investigation pending.

Only he didn’t go home; he came here.

At home, his wife and daughter were waiting – for a husband, a father, an explanation. None of which he could provide. Beau wanted to wallow in his grief, his guilt, his loss in peace. He lacked the strength to be strong, play pretend, and act above it all. He wanted to be punished, sent to perdition, and held accountable for his lapse of judgment. A suspension wasn’t good enough. It barely patched the abysmal gaps in his heart.

The only suitable punishment was you. Witnessing your suffering was his personally crafted hell. You were the broken remnants of his destruction, the shattered pieces of his idiocy, the explosive fallout of his arrogance.

And you hadn’t answered a single call or text of his. His torturous worry was part of his penalty.

Consecutive rings of the doorbell and incessant knocks remained unanswered. For a moment, Beau rested his forehead on the door. He felt helpless and clueless all the same. You had friends and family to take care of you, probably better suited and closer to you than him, but somehow he felt burdened with the responsibility.

He took the spare key out of the left-side planter and barged inside. The ground floor was deserted. Last night’s uneaten dinner still sat untouched on the table. It felt like a whiplash against his bare back.

Bolting upstairs, he found the door to the main bedroom ajar. He pried it open slowly, the sight of you delivering his second lashing. This time, he felt the sting burning through to his heart.

He found you curled up in bed, on your husband’s side, in your husband’s t-shirt, with your wedding photo album clutched tightly in your arms. His breath halted for a moment; his heart did, too.

Did he do this? Was this all his fault?

“Y/N?” His deep voice was quiet and careful as he spoke. Slowly, he walked over to your side and knelt down in front of you. “Darlin’, hey… You need to get up. Eat somethin’.”

Beau was sure you hadn’t moved all day. He didn’t ask you if you were alright or how you were doing. The question seemed insulting. The answer was obvious. Your phone was lighting up on the nightstand with a million unanswered calls and messages, his own among them. Your beautiful eyes were vacant, red, and empty. You didn’t cry, however, not anymore. You were dehydrated and all out of tears at this point. You never looked at him, not even a glance.

“I want him back,” you whispered, your voice coarse from screaming, crying, cursing.

Beau nodded, licking his lips. Caringly, he caressed your head, brushing a few strands of messy hair out of your face. “I know. I hope you know I’d trade places with him in a heartbeat if I could.”

For the first time your eyes found his. Your gaze was scathing and piercing. “Tell me what happened.”

Beau let out a harrowing sigh. He had rehashed the story all day long. He wasn’t sure if he could do it again, but maybe this version was the most important one. Who deserved the truth more than you?

“Y/N, I don’t think this is such a good idea, darlin’,” Beau tried to reason, mostly for himself. He wanted to hold on a little longer, the idea of you hating him tearing him apart. He wanted to spare himself the additional guilt, the anger, the hurt.

“Tell me or leave.”

Beau closed his eyes and nodded hesitantly. “Okay, alright.” He took a deep breath and settled down on the floor, leaning his back against the wooden bedside table. “We were closing in on that biker gang. Few murders, arms trafficking, drug deals… You know the drill. I’m sure Ra-… he filled you in.”

Not that long ago, Randy had asked you for advise on the case. You gave him your contacts in the DEA and a number to a CI.

“Your DEA guy warned us. Said the gang was working closely with the cartel down in Juárez. But I had my own intel that only a few members were meeting at the Hatcher warehouse in MacGregor. It was supposed to be a small deal. But I figured it could lead to bigger things if we shook ‘em down, you know? But fuckin’ Harper told us no like usual. Refused to give us back-up. Said to pass the case on to the DEA. But Randy and I worked our asses off the last few months to get even this far. We were so close. I didn’t wanna let go… So, I suggested we go in anyways. It was supposed to be only three guys from the gang. I knew if we were smart about it, we could easily take ‘em down, you know?”

You rolled onto your back and propped yourself up on the bed. Shaking your head, you chuckled humorlessly and grabbed the half-empty whiskey bottle from the nightstand. “‘Course you did. It’s not the first time you broke a rule or shit on authority.”

“Yeah, and I was right every single time,” Beau bit. His anger wasn’t geared at you but at himself. He knew he was in the wrong. He flew too close to the sun and got burned. But he still felt the need to defend himself, even if it was unjustified.

His gaze drifted to the dresser and the patch of wall above it, decorated with photographic evidence of yours and his partner’s life together. The wedding, dates, vacations, holidays – it was all there. Beau had watched it all, start to finish. He wished he could rewind the tape and cut off the ending, all so you could have the love of your life back. He didn’t know yet your cassette had a B-side. One that featured him.

“You got fucking lucky, is all,” you scoffed.

“Randy backed me up on it!”

“Of course he did! You’re his fucking partner! He would’ve followed you anywhere if you asked him to,” you snapped, shaking your head. You gulped down some whiskey then and locked your jaw before you met his eyes again with a glare. “And? What happened then, Beau? Was it only three guys?”

“No.” The word was almost inaudible. He shook his head with a harsh swallow. “They were meetin’ with a few cartel members there. My intel never said anything about that. When we were inside and saw what was really going on, it was already too late to get out. They made us, bullets started flyin’… They got a hold of Randy and… shot him.” A tear escaped down his cheek, his throat closing as he tried to choke out the last bit of the story. “I had to leave him there. I barely got out myself. I’m sorry, Y/N. I know this is on me.”

Your lips twitched with a bitter smile. You didn’t look at him, just rubbed your tired eyes. “Damn right it is. Get out.”

“Y/N, please–”

The storm in your eyes made him stop as you met his gaze, his useless apologies becoming stuck in his throat. “I said, get out. I ain’t asking a third time. You’re the reason my husband is dead. You’re the reason I don’t even have a body to bury. So, get the fuck out.” Like a snakebite, your words were targeted, sharp, and venomous.

You finally got out of bed and prodded towards the en-suite bathroom. The truth had been what you needed to switch the fighter inside of you back on. You knew what you wanted to do then and were determined to get it.

“Y/N–”

“Do you know what cartels do to bodies, Beau? To rivals? To law enforcement? ‘Cause I just came back from a job where we found forty-eight decapitated bodies, left to rot inside the walls of a house. Still haven’t found the heads yet. Probably never will,” you told him and stared him dead into his dark green eyes. “Ever seen that before, desperado?”

Beau bit his lips, averting his gaze. “No.”

“Yeah, didn’t think so.” You scoffed and crossed your arms over your chest. “Now, leave. Please. Get the fuck outta my house. I don’t wanna see you anymore,” you spat and slammed the bathroom door shut behind you.

Beau then grabbed the whiskey bottle you’d left and walked out of your home. It was the first of many nights he started to drink himself to sleep, but at least it kept the nightmares temporarily at bay.

“Theodore.” Beau forced a bright smile onto his freckle-dusted face, although the stiff features could barely fool anyone. At least, they wouldn’t have fooled you.

“Beau, good to see you again.” Ted smiled and did a more convincing job of it as he waltzed into Lewis and Clark County’s Sheriff’s Department. It almost seemed like he meant it. “I was surprised when Y/N told me you got a gig as a sheriff here.”

Translation: I was surprised because you were such a fuck-up back in Texas.

Beau feigned a chuckle. “Yeah, I bet you were.”

“Hopefully, you’re givin’ the DAs here less headaches,” Ted jabbed under the disguise of friendly banter. He then turned to Jenny with that same shit-eating grin. “Your sheriff is a little troublemaker.”

Sweet Lord, Beau wanted to whack the bastard.

The blonde deputy coolly brushed the accusation off. She shrugged and playfully nudged Beau’s arm, sending the Texan attorney a smile. “I prefer him that way.”

“Hey, there she is!” Beau smiled with frazzled relief when you finally hurried into the station. A little while longer, and he definitely would’ve thrown a punch.

“Hey, Ted. Thanks for coming. How was your flight?” You greeted him with a warm smile and a quick hug.

“Good, good. Never been to Montana before,” Ted said and then let his eyes wander up and down your body. “Look at you. You look great!”

“Oh, uh, thanks.” You subtly cleared your throat. You could physically feel Beau stiffen next to you. In your periphery, you could spy a tightly clenched jaw and a few strained muscles in his neck.

“Mind if Y/N and I borrow your office, Sheriff Arlen?” Ted asked and emphasized his title. “Considering the nature of this case, I’d like to keep it as private as possible. Don’t want anything to reach Ms. Newton’s ears.”

Your hunch had been right. Several IP addresses pointed to Diane, some to public Wi-Fi’s. You and the team still needed to connect her to the other states and find out where she’d been staying there, but you could definitely trace some posts in recent weeks to her home in Montana. It was enough for an arrest warrant, but you still needed more evidence.

Additionally, it had all come together a little too easily. It seemed like a giant trap you were walking into. Diane wanted to be caught. But why?

“Why don’t I just join you? I’m sure Y/N here doesn’t mind,” Beau suggested with a tight smile and then snaked his arm around your middle, pulling you closer. “Ain’t that right, darlin’?”

Internally, you sighed a little at his obvious territorial pissing, but you were willing to throw him a bone. You stretched up and claimed his plump lips in a fervent kiss that Beau only all too happily reciprocated.

“Not at all, Sheriff. You know I always appreciate your input,” you replied with a dirty smirk at the double entendre.

As Beau looked down at you, he mouthed ‘God, I love you.’ You grinned in response.

“Happy to give it to you,” he said with another sweet peck of your lips. A triumphant and slightly cocky grin graced his lips as he looked back at Ted.

“Oh, so you two are back together?” Ted realized, his brow rising to his hairline. He’d never seen you two together but certainly had heard the whispers down in Mexico from your old task force. He’d been the DA for those cases as well. You’d never explicitly told him about you and Beau, though, even when he had tried to pry a little on those dates you went on.

“Well, I’m a hard one to quit,” Beau quipped almost proudly, like a peacock showing off his fan of feathers.

“As are cigarettes and many other vices,” Ted shot back with the same stupidly proud grin.

Translation: You’re an ass. And a failure. She deserves so much better. I’m ‘better.’ But maybe that didn't need a translation.

Beau should’ve known it was hard to out-argue a lawyer and ground his jaw. After all, he’d been married to one for many years.

You, on the other hand, shared a wide-eyed and baffled look with Jenny that bordered on amusement. You had almost gasped in shock. You hadn’t expected such a fiery reply, sure the men would stick to their Southern manners. But, oh well, everyone’s packing in fucking Texas…

“Why don’t you two go ahead? I’ll join you in a minute,” you ordered more than you earnestly proposed and shooed the two men down the hallway towards Beau’s office.

“Sure it’s such a good idea to lock those two in a room alone?” Jenny teased, her eyes lingering a little too long on Ted’s perfectly formed ass as he sauntered down the hall.

You couldn’t blame her. You had checked out Beau’s in the same breath.

“It’s only for a short time. They’re not gonna kill each other,” you laughed it off. Jenny arched a doubtful eyebrow at you. “That quickly,” you added a correction. “So, what did I miss here?” you asked and nodded towards the two men, closing the door to Beau’s office behind them. All you heard last was them talking about the recent Texans game.

Ugh, of course, they’d end up by football…

“Dick measuring contest,” Jenny supplied wryly.

“Ah, figured…”

“Well, better them than to lock Agent Y/L/N and the sheriff into the same room,” Poppernak joked with a soft chuckle as he appeared next to you and Jenny, chiming into the conversation.

You gaped at him in mock-shock. “Mo! I can’t believe you just said that,” you chided playfully.

His cheeks turned crimson red. “I’m sorry, Special Agent Y/L/N,” he apologized in a fluster.

“Mo, I told you to call me by my first name,” you reminded him with a smile. “Or I’m gonna have to start giving you silly names like Beau does.”

“Oh, I love Sheriff Arlen’s nicknames,” he quickly defended with a nervous laugh.

“Do you?” Jenny tilted her head with a questioning eyebrow.

He shrugged. “They’re clever.”

August 2020

“Old Fashioned,” you ordered with a look at the bartender, feeling Beau’s confused eyes and crinkled brow wander up to you. “Couldn’t have picked a nicer bar, huh? This place is a dump. You know that, right?”

Beau clicked his tongue and took a sip from his Ranch Water. “What are you doing here? Thought you never wanted to see me again.”

You let out a small sigh but didn’t meet his gaze. “Carla called me. Your family is worried about you.”

“I didn’t tell her where I was. How did you know I was here?”

“I didn’t. Carla said you haven’t been home in three days. Figured you’d gone on a bender. This is the fifth cop bar I checked out. Finally got lucky,” you said and thanked the bartender as he placed his drink in front of you. You settled down on a barstool next to Beau.

“Quite the effort. Sure I’m worth it?”

Your tongue swept over your lips. “Beau, look at me.” His forest-green eyes found yours upon your soft plea. “I’m sorry I put all that shit on you. It wasn’t fair. It’s not your fault, okay? His death isn’t on you. I know you loved him like a brother.”

“I did.” Beau took another sip of his drink. “But it is my fault. I was reckless and arrogant. We both know it.”

“It was a set-up, alright? I talked to my DEA contact. Cody said your intel was wrong. They knew you and Randy were closing in on them. They wanted to get rid of you,” you explained.

Beau smacked his lips. “I still shoulda known better. I should’ve seen it was a trap.”

“Maybe,” you admitted. You couldn’t say you would’ve done the same thing, but you knew Beau would’ve never purposely put Randy in danger if he had even the faintest idea. “But it could’ve happened to anybody. This was bigger than you knew.”

“It wouldn’t have happened to you,” he stated quietly. You couldn’t argue with that. You were more by-the-book than he was. You would’ve never gone against a superior’s order. You would’ve respected it.

“Look, just go home. Talk to your wife. Get some help,” you said. “You missed your suspension hearing, but I spoke on your behalf. Told them it wasn’t your fault. The DEA backed me. Harper’s gonna reinstate you. Just come back as soon as you’re ready.”

Beau nodded slowly. Even if he didn’t say it, you could tell he was thankful for your efforts. “I can’t go home.”

Your brow furrowed. “Why? I’m sure Carla will understand. You need to talk to someone about this. Go to therapy – and not the alcoholic kind. Losing a partner is not something you get over quickly. You need people in your corner, including your wife.”

“You mean the wife that lets criminals out on the street?” Beau’s gaze was focused on the glass in his hands. The wrinkles on your brow deepened. “The guy that shot him… Carla’s his defense attorney. Was, at least. He was supposed to do time, but two months ago, she got him paroled.” With a dark chuckle, he emptied his glass.

“Beau…” You knew he had always struggled with Carla’s job, making you sometimes wonder about their dinner conversations at home. “It ain’t her fault more than it is yours. She’s just doing her job. You know that. You’ve been together for so long, you’d think you’re used to it by now.”

Beau scoffed a chuckle and gestured to the bartender for a refill. “I was a young cop back then. Wasn’t on the job as long. I didn’t know it would bother me so much. Still lived in that hopeful bubble, I guess.”

You smiled knowingly. “You mean the ‘I didn’t think I’d see as much shit and injustice as I do now’ bubble?”

He snickered softly. “Yep, that one. Just didn’t think it’d be this hard, you know?”

“I get it. I mean, me and Carla butt heads all the time over this stuff. But we do it in a competitive fun way and then get drunk,” you said with a light chuckle. “Guess it’s different when you’re married, though, huh?”

“Yeah, it is…” he sighed.

“Still, go home. Talk to her,” you encouraged but could see your words of wisdom fell on deaf ears. “By the way, the funeral’s on Saturday.”

He turned his gaze away from his glass and found your eyes. “You need any help with that?”

“Maybe you can give a eulogy. You knew him best. I think he would’ve really liked that,” you said with a warm smile. No matter your own feelings, you knew deep down Randy would’ve wanted you to forgive his partner.

“Yeah, I can do that. Anything you need, okay?” Beau clasped your hand that laid on the bar counter and squeezed reassuringly before dropping it again.

You smiled appreciatively and teased, “Maybe show up sober. Or at least close-to.”

Beau chuckled a little. “I promise.”

You stood up from your seat then and put some cash for your drink on the counter. “Alright, I’m heading home. You need me to call you a cab?”

“Nah, I’m good. I’m just gonna finish this drink, then I’ll head out, too,” he said.

“You sure? Don’t make me come back here,” you threatened playfully.

Beau laughed softly. “I won’t. Thanks for everything, Y/N. I mean it.”

You sent him a smile and gave his shoulder a squeeze on your way out. “You’re welcome. Get home safe, okay?”

However, Beau couldn’t keep any of his promises. He made it home after three more drinks and woke up on the front lawn of his house. Carla wasn’t happy when she found him in the morning as she brought Emily to school. But Beau couldn’t stop. Every time he closed his eyes, the tragic events flashed before him like a horror movie, witnessing Randy’s death in a never-ending loop. He kept seeing his partner get dragged away, heard the shot over and over again like a rain of bullets without a ceasefire.

The guilt was eating him alive. The guilt of getting his partner into this mess in the first place. Of leaving him behind. Of surviving and coming out alive when he didn’t deserve to.

So, Beau kept drinking to forget, even though he knew it was a futile endeavor. The memory would never fade, but at least it was blurred.

Your heavy breaths echoed through the small trailer. His mouth moved down the column of your throat, leaving a wet path of ravenous love bites in its wake.

“Fuck, baby,” you moaned wantonly, his grip on your flesh punishing as he kept you pressed flush against him while he devoured you on the little dining table. Your ass sat on the wooden surface, your crossed ankles locked tightly behind his muscular back.

“God, you made me so happy today,” he growled against the shell of your ear, his rising length rubbing against your core through layers of denim.

“I can see that.” You giggled, your hands dangling in his hair. “There’s no need to hate him so much, you know?”

“Says you,” Beau quipped and unzipped your jeans, eagerly pulling them off you as his mouth sucked your clavicle purple and blue. “That slimy coyote always had it out for me.”

Beau removed your panties as well, tossing them behind his shoulder where they landed in the kitchen sink. “Whoops.” He grinned charmingly but was unstoppable, freeing his throbbing dick as he shoved his jeans and boxers barely over his ass. He didn’t bother to slip out of them all the way, too impatient to wait any longer to enter you.

“Still, I’m already yours. I’ve always been yours,” you said and braced yourself on his broad shoulders as one large hand on your back pulled you closer to the edge of the table. His other hand grabbed his cock, twisting his fist along the hard, long shaft a few times before he glided his cockhead through your slick folds.

“Not always.” With one harsh thrust, he pushed inside you, your tight walls fighting to make room for him and adjust to his stretch.

You gasped at the pleasurable burn that coursed through your body and ignited every sizzling nerve. He dropped his head to your shoulder, giving both of you some time to get used to each other. You could tell you were in for a wilder ride tonight. You always loved when he fucked you rough and hard. There was something raw and animalistic about the need in his hypnotizing green eyes.

Beau then claimed your lips with one fervent kiss, enough of a spark to cause a wildfire. He met your gaze, hands gingerly cupping your cheeks. “But I love that you’re mine now. And I’m sure as hell gonna make you mine tonight, darlin’.”

You crashed your lips against his, your kisses frenzied and untamed as his hips began to slam into you. His pounds into your pussy were relentless as you swallowed every inch of him. You gripped him tight, already feeling your first orgasm bloom. It accumulated like dark, violent storm clouds on the horizon, forecasting roaring thunder and heavy rainfall.

“Oh God! Fuck, baby!” You screamed as your climax tore through you like a hurricane, your cunt gushing on his cock and pulsing around him. Your nails dug into his shoulder blades and scratched down his back as you came undone.

Beau groaned into your ear, squeezing his eyes shut as he barely held on himself. But he didn’t let up and kept up his furious pace, not ready to stop yet. “Shit, keep doing that. You’re so fucking tight, Y/N,” he grunted against your skin, your sensitive flesh barely withstanding his ruthless pumps. “Want you to come again, darlin’.”

With his declaration, his hand slipped between your sweat-clad bodies. You came close to losing your mind as he thumbed furiously at your clit, the stars already starting to twinkle in front of your eyes. You could feel yourself get shoved to the edge once more, staring down the steep cliffs of white-hot ecstasy.

Your mind was consumed by need, his grip on your hips bruising as you exploded. You cried out raucously, your whole body quaking in his hold upon your eruption, the aftershocks so powerful they could cause cracks in your bones.

Beau spilled his seed deep inside of you, his body stuttering in rhythm with yours as your earthquake took him down with you. Hazy gazes met each other with lazy smiles as ragged breaths mingled.

“Fuck, that was good. I think that one might make it into our Top Ten.” Beau chuckled gravelly and placed a gentle kiss on your temple.

“Hmm, not sure. We have a few greatest hits.” You giggled and bit down on your lower lip with a mischievous twinkle in your eyes. “Can I tell you something?”

Beau cupped your cheeks, thumbs caressing the heated and rosy skin as he lifted your gaze. “Anything.”

“Just between us, you’re the best lover I ever had,” you confessed with a wide grin. The corners of his mouth rose to match yours.

“Well, between us, I’ve never loved anyone like I love you. You’re it, darlin’. You know that, right? You’re the love of my life,” Beau revealed, making you smile brighter than you ever had before.

“I’m not sure about the sex, but this moment, right here, is probably gonna make it into the Top Ten,” you said softly as a few tears stung your eyes.

“Good.” Beau smiled and pecked your forehead.

The buzzing of a phone shifted your attention. You recognized it as yours, and Beau was quick to retrieve it from your jeans pocket in the pile of clothes on the floor.

“It’s Jenny,” you told him before picking up. “Hello… What?! Uh-huh, we’ll be right there.”

Beau’s brow furrowed as he watched your features flicker through an array of emotions. “Bad news?”

“Uhm, honestly, I don’t know,” you said and swallowed some of your confusion down, gathering your thoughts. “Jenny said Diane just walked into the station and gave herself up. She is ready to confess but only wants to talk to us.”

“Us? As in us two?” Beau’s eyes narrowed. You nodded. “Well, that doesn’t sound fishy at all,” he commented wryly.

“Yup, I don’t like it.”

Chapter 8: Chemical Bonds – JUNE 26

A lot of revelations and foreboding in this one... 👀 Also, I just love having Beau say the word "coyotes" for some reason 😂

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Everything Beau Arlen: @snowayumi

Polaris Series: @corruptedcruiser @spnfamily-j2

[chloemarievaughan]

And we’re off! May 19, Ghent

The last time I left the country was following college graduation on 2015, went on a fantastic family trip to Europe, and then my family flew home and I did another three weeks solo, had the absolute best time, flew home and the next month moved to Nashville, started grad school and quickly realized… my grad school budget did not leave much room for international travel 😂 then in 2020 the funniest thing happened… and my passport expired!

Fast forward to 2023 and Mike Vaughan decides to hike the Appalachian trail (he’s thriving and having the best time! He’ll be done in November) and so Lori Holycross Vaughan was suddenly available to be my travel buddy! got my passport renewed, we picked a date and decided on a ten day trip to Belgium and the Netherlands! Fitting because I ended my last international trip in Brussels 🙂

Writing this on the plane to London… Mom and I made it to the airport, thanks to Grandma Jean for the ride! I’m supposed to be sleeping. I am sitting in the worst possible spot for sleeping because my two neighbors are fascinating strangers and have struck up a super interesting conversation and I am hooked. (Are they flirting? is this a rom com meet cute?) the man is from England and was former military and now does some sort of international sports job where he teaches people about cricket, the sport. Sounds fake to me (the sport and the job). He has traveled a lot and his favorite country so far was Uzbekistan. The girl is from New York City and used to have an 80 year old roommate who owned an Italian bakery and baked her cannolis every day while she was studying, and she just got back from a trip to the Galapagos where she was doing some sort of cruise and hopefully something turtle related. Now they are talking about every single sport they are both interested in, the man is hoping ice hockey will become more popular in the UK, the woman prefers college basketball to the NBA. I hope they fall in love after this but they NEED to stop talking I am never going to go to sleep if they continue to be this interesting 😂

Update: the three year old across the aisle to me has now started singing loudly, I’m not sure which is worse for my odds of falling asleep… 4 hours to go 😬

-Miracle of miracles I fell asleep! Before they stopped talking too!

Update #3: Kristen and Dan exchanged names and numbers before getting off the plane! Very cute. but annoying 😂

Mom and I saved a few hundred dollars by flying into London and taking the Eurostar to Belgium… added some complexity into our journey though. Landed in London at 6 am, (we were the first plane to land once the airport opened haha), and then had an hour ride on the tube (thought of Dad while we heard “mind the gap” over and over again). Then we had a Eurostar to Belgium, but we were Extremely early. We went for a stroll around St Pancras Station, watched some double decker buses passing by at Pret a Manger with some Americanos. it felt like 3 am to us at this point. Eventually meandered back to St Pancras to check in for the Eurostar. When I went to London in 2015, it was pre Brexit, and so we didn’t need to go through immigration at the Eurostar, but now we did. It was fine and really didn’t take long but it seems like the station was not really designed with immigration in mind and there were SO many people in the station waiting to board the Eurostar. Most off to Paris+ Disneyland Paris, but some were on our train to Brussels, which had its final destination in Amsterdam. Our train on a Friday afternoon could more accurately be described as the drunk stag party train… even with earplugs it was the absolute loudest train I had ever been on. And I thought the Kristen and Dan saga preventing me from sleeping earlier was the worst… didn’t realize how much worse it could be. Seemed like they were all having a blast on the way to Amsterdam but again I didn’t really get any sleep haha.

Once we arrived in Brussels, we immediately got on the next train to Gent. While it was a really nice train, it was the wrong one- we were supposed to go on a direct train to Ghent taking 30 minutes and instead we stopped at every station and took over an hour to get there. Then we got our City Card- 48 hours of Ghent museums, public transportation and travel opportunities. We could have (in retrospect should have!) taken a tram to the city center/ where our hotel was, but decided to stretch our legs due to being tired of sitting down on trains and planes for hours and hours. this was a mistake as moms phone was getting close to dying, there were really narrow sidewalks, and cobblestone streets made it unpleasant to wheel our suitcases around for 30 minutes haha. Also, Ghent is absolutely Jam Packed with People this weekend- aparently unbeknownst to us it was a holiday weekend in Belgium and also there was some sort of festival. Finally made it to the hotel, recovered a bit, freshened up, and went on a stroll of the surrounding areas (spoiler alert: weather is Fantastic and I’m already in love with Ghent just from our stroll) and the sat in the St Baafs church square near our hotel and had an absolutely fantastic meal + some large, much needed Belgian beers. Now back in the hotel, relearned some old card games from long ago while trying desperately to stay awake until 9 pm to help us adjust to the time change. 27 minutes left until 9pm local time as I finish up this post… not sure I’m gonna make it 😂 more to come!

[ghostmaggie]

hi!!! it’s your secret sleuth here 👋🏻✨

your gift is coming along! I just want to ask you a couple more questions to make it how you like it…

do you have any favourite rom coms? (books or movies!)

what are your favourite things about nace? any favourite moments?

excited to hear from you soon!

🎁✨❤️

Hi!!! I'm sorry this is delayed, i swear the mobile app eats asks unless you go looking 😂

I love most romcoms honestly! Some favorites off the top of my head/googling romcom lists are set it up, sweet home alabama, the holiday, she's the man, and while you were sleeping

I think some of my favorite things about nace really stem from the fact that they're FRIENDS, and so many ships just don't deliver on that. They trust each other, they communicate, they genuinely enjoy each other's company. Also the fact that they're always there for each other. They support each other and show up sometimes even without the other person asking, and are so defensive of each other even when they don't see eye to eye.

Favorite nace moments include the email scene in s1, the ace-can-communicate-with-nancy-across-realities scene and the post-liminal-space hug, the extraordinarily domestic game night planning phone call, and basically every dream sequence even though they kill me.

I'm also weirdly partial to the scene when they're cracking the safe together 😂

[oblivionsdream]

Do you have any book recommendations?

Oh I’ve always got rec’s 😆

I apologize for the length. I originally tried to keep it brief but then gave up. I have too many books I would love of gush about. 😂

-I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga: YA, thriller, son of a serial killer has to clear his name after similar murders to his father starts popping up. It’s dark but has a lot of snark and some rather lovable characters

-The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: adult, LGBTQ+, a retelling of the Iliad that tells the story of Patroclus and Achilles

-Circe by Madeline Miller: adult, a retelling of the story of the witch Circe from Greek Mythology.

-Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer: a dark twisted supernatural YA, this is definitely for people who like screwed up characters that are definitely not the good guys. Maybe check out the trigger warnings before reading though

-Vicious by V.E Schwab: adult, it’s a roommates to enemies story where things go horribly wrong for two college roommates who do an experiment to gain super powers. One of them ends up in prison for ten years and once he gets out he’s determined to get revenge on the other. Also another book with screwed up dark characters.

-Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson: YA, fantasy, magic library, magic books, amazing characters and had the best demon servant ever. I really can’t hype this book enough

-Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta: YA, I can’t even begin to describe how this book made me feel. It follows two generations as it goes between past and present as Taylor deals with her past and the mystery of her mother who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road

-In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan- YA, LGBTG+, fantasy, SO good and SO funny, kind of makes fun of a lot of fantasy tropes and the MC is such a snarky boy. Honestly just amazing

-Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon: adult, fantasy, LGBTQ+, epic fantasy with kick ass women and DRAGONS

-Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo: New Adult, Dark Academia with ghosts and some magic. Second book is coming out at the beginning of next year and I cannot wait!

-If We We’re Villians by M.L Rio: Adult, Dark Academia, Theatre students with a bit of murder, very good especially if you’re a fan of Shakespeare

-The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Reid Jenkins: adult, LGBTQ+, about the life of a golden age movie star

-Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Reid Jenkins: adult, about a 70’s rock band

-Malibu Rising by Taylor Reid Jenkins: adult, about the kids of a rock star who are all surfers. Honestly my favorite by this author. As an older sister who helped raise her younger siblings it hit very close to home

-Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas: YA, LGBTQ+, MC accidentally summons a ghost and they try to figure out the mystery of how he died and also what happened to the MC’s cousin.

-Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun: adult, rom com, LGBTQ+, involves a reality dating show but the main bachelor ends up falling for one of the guys working on the show. Super cute and wholesome

-One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London: adult, romance, another reality dating show but the MC is a plus sized woman. Super good book but warning for some fat phobia

-Tarot Sequence by K.D Edwards- adult, LGBTQ+, urban fantasy, great found family, lots of action and snark, MC is the last surviving member of the Sun Court and in the first book he gets hired to find the missing son of Lady Judgement (make sure to check the trigger warnings before reading)

-Literally anything by TJ. Klune but here are my favs

The Green Creek series: adult, LGBTQ+, werewolves, great found family,

How to be a Normal Person: adult, LGBTQ+, MC runs a movie rental store and falls for the new asexual hipster barista. Homestly just super cute and funny

House in the Cerulean Sea: all ages appropriate, fantasy, LGBTQ+, MC is a essentially a social worker for magic kids and he gets sent to evaluate an orphanage that houses the anti christ and falls for the childrens care giver. This may be the cutest book I have ever had the privilege of reading

-Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao: YA, Sci Fi, LGBTQ+, blood thirsty bad ass woman MC who is out to get revenge on her sisters killer and also fights aliens in a giant mechs suit

-Winters Orbit by Everina Maxwell: adult, Sci Fi, LGBTQ+, arranged marriage trope where the two MC’s are also trying to solve a murder to stop an interplanetary war

-Sadie by Courtney Summers: YA, thriller, a pod cast follows the story of Sadie, a missing girl who is out for revenge for the death of her sister. I could not put this one down

-To Be or Not to Be by Ryan North: this one is just a fun choose your own adventure Hamlet retelling. It’s so chaotic

-Legendborn by Tracy Deonn: YA, fantasy, it’s like the story of Arthur but reinvented and was just a fun time.

-Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green: I’m not usually a non fiction kind of person but this was lovely, very introspective and filled with life

-We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson: YA, LGBTQ+, MC has been abducted by aliens but no body believes him. The aliens give him a choice- if he presses this button humanity will be saved. If he doesn’t everyone will die. The MC has decide whether humanity is truly worth saving after all.

-Our Bloody Pearl by D.N Bryn: adult, fantasy, LGBTQ+, a blood thirsty siren gets captured by pirates and held prisoner for a year until they are essentially rescued when a different set of pirates attack and take over the ship. They slowly begin to trust and befriend the new pirate captain

-Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu: sports, LGBTQ+, graphic novel, hockey, baking and a great team of friends, super cute and funny

-Fence by C.S Pacat and Sarah Rees Brennan: sports, LGBTQ+, it’s both a mixture of graphic novels and regular novels, involves fencing and a cast of lovable characters, also very funny

-Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg: adult, LGBTQ+, this one is an older book but I love it, it’s the story of a small town in the South and the people who live there. The movie is also splendid and one of my favorites of all time.

[zepskies]

Hey, hun!! I hope you're doing better. ❤️

First off: 7,000 words??? 😲 Giiiirl, you're not messing around here. 😂

LOL no I am not! 😂 Really I just go where the story takes me, and I had to tell a lot of story in this chapter. I probably could've broken it up, but it would change the flow, and it would make you guys wait longer for more of the story!

The murder mystery is really getting interesting. The way you put that whole backstory into this AU world is so intruging. Will Azazel really be Azazel or is it a synonym for someone else? And are there people involved to help him that we would not think they could do such a thing? 🤔

Ooh all good questions which will be answered in time, but I love that you're speculating!

But I'm getting worried about John. He has been obsessed with the hunt for the murderer of Mary once, but now that there are so many similarities, I fear that he will fall back into his old habits. Luckily, he still told Dean what he really knew. Even though I feel like that that was Cass' doing. He's always looking out for his best friend.

So my interpretation of John is more lenient than most. I think considering the era he was raising his kids in (80s - 90s), the childhood he himself had, being a Marine veteran, plus the trauma he went through losing Mary, I think John did the best he could for the times. Was he a perfect parent? Of freakin' course not. He had many issues. But when he was faced with a choice: continuing his obsession and saving his family, he ultimately gave up his chance at revenge, and his life to save Dean.

That being said, I'm very much taking that attitude when writing this AU. 😉

Our two lovebirds having a hard time matching their schedule to see eachother was what I thought how it would be. But so glad that they still talk on the phone and get to know the other one more. And from what you described, it all looks reeeeaaaally good so far. 🤭

Haha they are, aren't they? The struggles of adulting lol. But they're finding ways to make it work!

Gordon, Gordon, Gordon... He made it so NOT obvious that he was trying to get into Y/N pants. 😒 I really don't like the guy. I hope that he got the message, but with knowing his character I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't back off that easy. 🙄

Lmfao yeah he was a bit aggressive, wasn't he? We haven't seen the last of Gordon, but he's going to heed Dean's unspoken warning. He didn't know they were together. And my characterization of him is that he wouldn't cross that line against a "fellow brother" at the firehouse.

And Jo... I knew she would not let it go. And I was really expecting her to do more damage. Jealousy is just not pretty. But the little things she sad where still enough to make Y/N insecure. Although Meg started it. 🙈

Yeah, I wasn't trying to villainize Jo. In fact, I was trying to stay as close to her character as possible: immature at times, headstrong, but ultimately good-hearted. (And Meg did start it lol.)

And then 😍 you gave us this romance movie type scene on the crosswalk while they took the next step in their relationship of becoming something serious. I could fully imagine it in my head. 🥰

Aww I love that, thank you!! Love that you called it a rom com moment essentially, because that's exactly what it was in hindsight. 😂

And he felt safe enough to open up about the news from his father to her. And Y/N just knowing that this was something that weighted heavy on Dean and her trying not to say some generic words and make him see that she feels for him, was so well thought of. 💞

I feel like Dean in this AU would be a bit more open with others than canon Dean, just because this Dean hasn't gone through as much trauma. He still had a stable home life after Mary's death, more or less. So he's gotten to a point with the reader that he feels comfortable enough to take that chance (and in that moment, he really needed the listening ear).

Oh man 🙈 my comments keep getting longer and longer. I'm really sorry about that but I'm just so investetd in this story. 😂 Well done! 😁

No worries, hun! I love it, don't apologize. I'm so glad that you're invested! 💕

Smoke Eater - Part 6

Pairing: Firefighter!Dean Winchester x F. Reader 

Summary: Dean Winchester is the cocky, but well-respected Lieutenant at Firehouse 25. He leads by example, but he’s also known to break a few hearts. He’s starting to crave something he’s never had, though. Something stable. Something real. 

That’s when he meets you, on a truly terrible day, trapped in a rickety old elevator.   

🔥Series Masterlist

Word Count: 7,000 Tags/Warnings: Fluff, jealousy, angst, hurt/comfort

Part 6: “Just Casual”

A few days after the house fire that claimed the life of Paul Richardson, father of two, Chief Bobby Singer was joined in his office by Detectives Winchester and Novak, along with his resident Squad Captain and Truck Lieutenant, Benny and Dean.

“The Richardson fire has officially been determined an arson,” Bobby revealed.

“They found a time-delay incendiary device hidden in the attic. No fingerprints. But that’s not even the odd thing,” he said. “The medical examiner found a brand mark on his wrist that was inconsistent with his other burns. Which is why you’re here, I reckon.”

Bobby directed his gaze at both John and Cas, who didn’t look surprised to hear this news.

Dean raised a brow. His gaze shifted to his father, but John only met his stare for a moment before he answered Bobby’s unspoken question.

“We’ve been investigating a series of murders in the area over the past six months,” John said. “Each victim died in their home, with the same brand somewhere on their body. Typically the wrist, or the back of the neck.”

“So we officially have a serial killer turned arsonist on our hands,” Bobby concluded. His attention shifted to Benny and Dean. “Keep this close to the vest, but keep your eyes open.”

“Arsonists are hard to catch,” Dean said, looking to the detectives. “What do you know about this guy?”

Cas glanced at John. The older man could feel his stare, but had to ignore it for now.

“Not much as of yet,” John said. “Right now he’s a coil of smoke, if you’ll pardon the phrase. Our psychologist says he’s most likely a white male, statistically speaking. College educated, or at the very least intelligent, efficient, and so far, he thinks every step through. Like he said, no prints. But the brand is a message.”

“To who, and why, is what we’ve been trying to figure out,” Cas added. “We think that’s the key to pinpointing a suspect.”

“Really,” Dean said. He raised a brow and crossed his arms. “Six months, and that’s all you’ve got?”

“Dean,” John started, but the Lieutenant shook his head.

“Come on, Dad. I know you. Who is this guy?”

“Dean, this is the best I can give you right now, but believe me, we’re working on it,” John said, that tone that boded no further argument.

Bullshit, Dean wanted to shoot back. But he held his tongue for now. He knew that John wouldn’t budge. Instinct still told Dean that his father was holding something back though.

As the men filtered out of Bobby’s office, Dean held Cas back for a moment.

“Watch the old man’s back, all right,” Dean said. “He’s got a penchant for being reckless.”

Cas gave him a wry, pointed look. “I’m doing my best. Winchesters are a stubborn lot.” 

Dean smirked and walked out with him. Meg was headed inside, having just come in from an ambulance call. She smiled when she saw her boyfriend.

“Hey, lover,” she greeted. And she smacked his ass in front of God and the entire Rescue Squad, who liked to sit outside the firehouse and play cards at their table.

Ramirez and the others smirked and called out their customary whoops and cat calls. Dean smirked at the actual blushing discomfort that tightened up Cas’s face and shoulders.

“Dinner tonight at Casablanca’s, right?” Meg asked, unfazed by the catcalling peanut gallery.

“Right,” Cas said stiffly. But he still brushed her cheek with his thumb in affection. “See you later.”

“Yep,” she nodded, though she shot Dean a wry brow. “What? I stole your boyfriend. Get over it.”

She continued on her path back inside the firehouse, leaving Dean and Cas to stare after her in annoyance and begrudging fondness, respectively.

Dean turned to his friend and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Good luck and Godspeed, my friend. That woman’s fuckin’ terrifying.” 

Cas gave him a lazy salute as he walked away. He found that John had already started up their police car. He was in the driver’s seat, as always, with a hand resting casually on the steering wheel.

Dean typically sat in much the same way. Cas thought both men were more comfortable in a car than anywhere else in life. Except, maybe, the precinct and the firehouse.

Cas slid into the passenger seat and gave his partner a knowing look.

“I still think you should tell Sam and Dean what’s really happening here,” he said.

John looked over at him with an almost unreadable expression. But they had been partners for a few years now; long enough for Cas to get a read on the older veteran.

“I understand why you want to keep them out of this, but now this guy is starting fires. Here, in Dean’s district,” Cas pointed out. “Wouldn’t it be safer for him if he had clearer eyes walking into the next one?”

If, God forbid, something should go wrong on the next call Dean responded to, John would never forgive himself. Both he and Cas knew this, but John never answered his partner’s question. He didn’t want his sons getting their noses in this just yet, even if it meant the worry he saw in Dean’s eyes.

So he put the car in “drive” and peeled away from the firehouse.

Trying to match your schedule with Dean’s was a challenge you two were trying to figure out. Though you’d fallen into a pattern of talking on the phone to fill the void when you two couldn’t meet.

Even after almost two more weeks and a third date, you were pleasantly surprised that you and Dean still had plenty to talk about. You told him more about your childhood with your grandparents, while he told you funny stories about him and Sam growing up with their dad, though he was often gone while working on cases.

It was family friend and Fire Chief, Bobby Singer who looked after them whenever John couldn’t, or his old partner Jody Mills, or even Ellen Harvelle, owner of the Roadhouse.

The more you learned about Dean, the more invested you became. And he listened to you when you went on tangents about new recipes you wanted to try out (as long as he got to be your official Taste Tester).

You two argued, playfully and fervently, about music. And you’d been creating a list of old shows the other hadn’t seen, but absolutely needed to.

Dean had suggested Dukes of Hazzard, for example, while you suggested Smallville. You each only agreed to put up with this list if you two watched it together. (Needless to say, there would be some marathon binge watching in your future.)

That was why you didn’t think much of it when Dean invited you to join him at the Roadhouse to meet Cas, one of his best friends, and his girlfriend Meg. You’d invited Andréa to come along, and even Dean’s friend Benny, who she’d also been seeing ever since that night at the Roadhouse.

Apparently, the couple had their own plans.

You tried not to feel some type of way about her brush-off, but your friend had been increasingly distant since she met Benny Lafitte. However, you supposed you couldn’t judge. You hadn’t been calling her as much either, ever since you met Dean.

You knew that if you kept dating him, some adjustments would have to come in your life. You also promised yourself that you’d never be someone who forgot your friends for a man…even for a man like Dean Winchester.

Tonight, however, you’d come directly from work to meet him at the bar. It made more sense than to make him come pick you up from your house, so you sat with a ginger ale while you waited. He’d promised you via text that he was on the way, just stuck in traffic.

Okay, drive safe. 😘 Don’t speed, please.

You knew how he liked floor the Impala with that damn lead foot of his.

No promises. 🏎️

You wanted to roll your eyes, but you were smiling unconsciously as you read his reply.

You were soon knocked out of your thoughts when a smooth voice said your name. You looked up and to your right, and there stood a familiar face. The man greeted you with an easy smile as he sat down next to you.

“I thought that was you,” he said. He reached out his hand and re-introduced himself. “Gordon Walker. Not sure if you remember me.”

“Oh, yes! Of course I do, Gordon,” you smiled and shook his hand.

“It’s good to see you again,” he said. His dark eyes subtly took you in from head to toe in your skirt, heels, and blouse. “Though I’ve gotta admit, I’ve never seen you here before.”

“Ah, right,” you said. “Well—”

Before you could explain, Gordon held up a finger as he noticed your drink of choice.

“Oh, wait a sec. Let me get you something stronger than soda,” he said. He started to flag down Jo, but you shook your head and made a cutting motion with your hand.

“Uh, no, that’s okay,” you said. “I’m waiting for someone.”

“What?” Gordon asked.

It was getting busy in the bar, making it loud enough that you could understand why he hadn’t heard you. You leaned over towards his ear.

“I’m good for now, thanks,” you said, raising your voice a bit. Gordon leaned in even closer and chanced resting a hand above your knee.

“You sure?” he asked. He gave you a smile that was all smooth sex appeal and confidence, without being arrogant.

It was undoubtedly attractive, but you were more shocked than charmed in your blush. You instinctively leaned back when you felt his hand on your thigh. Your hand clenched on the counter.

While your brain scrambled to figure out a response that would successfully remove it (without snapping rudely like you were itching to), a hand slipped along your lower back.

You jolted a bit in your seat with a flare of unease, until you turned your head and found Dean.

“Hey, baby,” he greeted, and dropped a kiss at your hairline. He also clapped a heavy hand on Gordon’s shoulder and squeezed. The other man graciously got the hint and leaned back, withdrawing his hand from your thigh.

“Hi,” you said, finally able to breathe a bit easier. You gave Dean a smile, and he returned it.

He looked over at his friend with a sharper smile. “Hey, Gord. How’s your night goin’?”

“Good.” Gordon nodded, now with a knowing gleam in his eye. “Though I’m sure your night’s gonna go better.”

You weren’t sure how to take that remark, considering the way Dean reacted with a tighter expression and pursed lips. Then, they flickered at a smile.

“Well, we’re meeting up with Meg and Cas in a minute. You should join us,” Dean said. Even though his tone wasn’t so very inviting. The two men seemed to have a wordless conversation between the lines that you couldn’t decipher.

Gordon shook his head, but raised his drink. “No worries, you guys hang. I’m leaving in a few.”

“All right. Let us know if you change your mind,” Dean said. He thumped Gordon once more on the back, more friendly this time.

Dean’s other hand slipped around your waist. He tapped you on the side.

“Come on, I’ve got us a table. It’s quieter,” he said.

You nodded and slid out of your seat. You offered Gordon a polite smile, even if you’d rather not.

“Have a good night,” you said.

The other man’s smile was less flirtatious and more polite this time as well.

“You too,” he said. 

Dean helped you onto your feet, like the gentleman he was, and he continued to lead you away from the bar with a hand on the small of your back. You instinctively pressed against his side to squeeze past the throng of patrons.

When you reached a high-top table in the corner, he pulled out your chair and held your hand as you climbed up in your skirt. You thanked him with a more genuine smile. Though once he was seated next to you, you leaned towards him and laid a hand on his arm, which rested on the table.

“I tried to tell him I was waiting for you. He took me by surprise,” you whispered.

Dean’s brows rose, but his face soon evened out with a smile. He tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Don’t worry about it. He didn’t know about us,” he said. “He was shootin’ his shot…a bit aggressively. Sorry about that.”

“Oh…it’s okay. Nothing I haven’t dealt with before,” you replied. Though butterflies ran through your belly when you considered what us meant.

You noted his frown at what you’d said though, and so you aimed to change the subject.

“But Cas and Meg know, right?” you asked.

Dean nodded. His frown started to lift. “Yeah. Cas is one of my best friends. Meg is…well. She’s the little sister I wish I didn’t have.”

You shook your head in amusement. Then you let out a squeal as Dean hooked a foot around the leg of your chair and brought you closer. He stopped you from becoming too unbalanced by wrapping an arm around your waist. You clenched your hands into the open panels of his plaid shirt, and his charming smile greeted you.

“Hi,” he said.

You laughed. “Yeah, you mentioned that earlier.”

“Well, I’m doing it right this time,” he said. And he dipped down for a lingering kiss.

Across the bar was Jo Harvelle, doing her job behind the counter. She poured five shots in succession and doled them out to a party of frat bros without even looking.

Her eyes were drawn to the back corner of the bar, where you and Dean sat closely together, exchanging whispers and the occasional steamy kiss.

“Mind your business,” came Ellen’s whisper in her ear.

Jo whipped her head to glare softly at her mother, but she saw Ellen’s point. It was both obvious and pathetic of her to stare.

Despite the unease making her feel a bit sick to her stomach, Jo went over to Gordon down at the end. His sympathetic smile bothered her; she knew then she hadn’t just been caught by her mother.

“Interesting, isn’t it?” he remarked.

“What?” Jo said. She began wiping down his area of the counter. “Would it kill you to keep it in the glass?”

Gordon gave her an amused look as he sat back in his seat. His tumbler of whiskey was drained.

“Look, I’m sorry, all right?” he said.

Both of them knew he wasn’t apologizing for the spill.

Jo’s brows knitted together, mostly in annoyance. “Again, for what?”

“I know it’s gotta be hard to see him actually moving on,” he replied.

Her lips pursed, and her eyes darted to the back of the room again. She stared for a moment at the side of your face.

“Knowing him, whatever it is won’t last,” she muttered.

Gordon hissed at the "burn," with a deep chuckle. She knew her words weren’t kind, but it was how she felt.

“That may be,” he allowed. “But he’s not just chasing tail anymore. That’s what scares you.” 

Gordon dropped a nice tip for her next to his glass. He grabbed his coat off the back of his chair and left Jo with the churning in her gut.

Cas and Meg finally arrived a few minutes later.

Dean knew you’d been to the Roadhouse before, but this was different. You were meeting some of his friends, and he realized how much he wanted you to. He felt…comfortable around you. And he wanted his friends to know you, and to like you.

“As you know, Meg’s our Paramedic in Charge over at 25,” he began, gesturing at the woman as she got settled in her seat.

You admired her long brown hair, tall boots, and black leather jacket. She seemed to ooze confidence and dark charisma as she tossed you a smirk.

“Guilty,” she said.

You smiled back. Dean gestured at her boyfriend next, clad in a beige trench coat, slacks, and blazer.

“And Cas, who bravely suffers being my dad’s partner on the job.”

Cas nodded wryly at the introduction. His dark hair and blue eyes were striking, you could admit. His tie was loose and slightly rumpled. Along with the stubble coating his face, he was handsome, if a bit scruffy. It was hard for you to believe he’d earned the top scores his year in the Police Academy, but you supposed that looks could be deceiving.

“What’s that like?” you asked with a smirk. “From what I’ve heard about John Winchester, he sounds like he’s a bit of a hard-ass.”

Dean barked with a dry laugh. “An understatement.”

“He has a crab-like shell,” Cas agreed. “But he has a soft center where it counts, not unlike his sons.”

You turned to Dean with a more teasing smile. “Aww…”

He rolled his eyes, even though his arm, which had been draped across the back your chair, now dropped to curl around your waist.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Columbo,” he remarked at his blue-eyed friend.

Always had to get the last dig in, it seemed, but you couldn’t help but laugh a little along with Meg at Cas’s expense.

“You guys all seem really close,” you said. It was nice for you to see.

Dean shrugged like it was no big deal. Or rather, like it was commonplace.

“Well, maybe family ain’t just about blood,” he said.

Meg rolled her eyes. “Ugh. What a friggin’ sap.”

“You love it,” Dean grinned. She smiled, begrudgingly.

Family ain’t just about blood.

You liked that sentiment as well. It seemed to be true here. 

Even Ellen Harvelle treated Dean like a son when she came over to greet your table. She kissed his cheek and gave Meg and Cas’s shoulders a squeeze. Even you got a warm hand on your shoulder when she introduced herself.

“Welcome, hun. I understand it’s not your first time here, but if you got any questions on the menu, you let me know,” she said.

Dean shot you a conspiratorial smile, and it got you wondering what he was about to do.

“I mean, I don’t know why you don’t put the order in for chili fries the second you see me come through the door,” he teased. “Come on, Ellen. How long’ve I been coming here? Since before I had a license?”

Ellen narrowed her eyes and flicked the side of Dean’s head, regardless of his flinching protest.

“Don’t you go sayin’ that so damn loud,” she reproached. “You never drank underage at my bar.”

His eyes averted with a smile, in a way that told you Ellen was a damn liar. You bit your lip to try and hide your smile.

“Anyway, I’ll get your damn fries—”

“And a beer,” Dean interjected. She rolled her eyes.

“And a beer. Four?” she pointed at the rest of you, and you, Cas, and Meg nodded in agreement.

“All right, four beers. Anything else, darlin’?” She looked at you with a mother’s charm.

You looked up from the menu and unconsciously smiled.

“Um, sure. Can I get the chicken sandwich?”

She patted your shoulder. “You sure can.”

Ellen then took the rest of their orders without writing a thing down. You were impressed by her memory. At the end though, Dean didn’t let her go without a hand on her arm.

“Thanks, Ellen,” he said with a more sincere smile.

“A-huh,” she replied, with all due sarcasm. But there was a fondness in her eyes that was hard to miss when she playfully grabbed the back of his neck. “Knucklehead.”

A giggle escaped you, and Ellen tossed you a wink before she went to put in the orders and get the drinks.

Conversation flowed easier when the alcohol came. One beer became two, and even three (four, for Meg). By then, you were sure it was one beer too many for yourself, but you didn’t want to be the odd one out. You were mostly listening to the three of them bounce back and forth between reminiscing with old stories and roasting one another mercilessly.

It was hilarious and entertaining, but you were trying not to get caught in the crosshairs of the volleying. Inevitably though, Meg’s attention turned to you with a certain sly smile.

“You must be real special,” she remarked, gesturing at Dean. “He usually doesn’t bring his girls around here, where he actually likes to hang out. Guess that’d mean he’d have to see ‘em again with the lights on.”

You blinked in surprise.

“Meg,” Dean’s voice cut like a warning.

Your eyes widened as you took in the change, his deeper voice, his more serious gaze, versus Meg’s nonchalance. Even Cas gave her a chiding look.

“Not sure I want to know what that means,” you tried to joke.

But you could guess. It was fairly obvious.

You glanced over at Dean, whose lips pursed. Before either of you could say anything more, Meg chimed in.

“Oooh, is this gonna be your first fight?” she teased.

Dean’s brows furrowed with a glare. “That’s enough.”

“And that’s our cue,” Cas nodded. He’d already slipped out his wallet as soon as his girlfriend started talking. He left a generous few bills to cover their half of the night, plus tip, and got up out of his seat. He claimed his coat and then encouraged Meg off her chair.

“What? I’m not done with my beer,” she protested.

“I think you are,” Cas said.

Meg scoffed, but she allowed his manhandling as he wrapped a supportive arm around her waist.

“You’re not the boss of me, Clarence,” she snipped.

“Certainly not,” he agreed. “But you’re a lightweight. Time to go home, before you insult the entire bar.”

“You’re no fucking fair,” she groused, hitting his chest over his jacket. Cas leveled you and Dean with a long-suffering look of apology.

Dean waved him off with a “no sweat it” look and a shake of his head. Meg annoyed the shit out of him sometimes, especially when she was drunk. He turned to you with a sigh.

“Again, sorry about that. I didn’t think I’d have to apologize for my friends more than once tonight,” he said.

You shook your head. “It’s...okay. Overall, they were really fun.”

Dean scoffed. “I don’t think Cas has been called fun even once in his life.”

You smiled in amusement, but Meg’s words still swirled around in your head like heady wine.

“Dean,” you began, but your attempt to broach the issue was cut off by his cell phone ringing. He gave you an apologetic look and fished in his pocket for his phone. His brows rose when he saw the caller ID.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I gotta take this,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, okay—” You’d barely nodded when Dean was up and out of his chair, heading out of the bar. You could still see him through one of the faded glass doors as he held the phone up to his ear.

It was late, and quieter now. A blonde server came to take your plates, and you actually remembered her.

“Oh, hi! Jo, right?” you asked. She hesitated when you spoke, but she bobbed her head.

“That’s me,” she said. “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, I’m good. Thanks,” you said with a smile. “I met your mom. She’s really nice.”

Jo uttered a wry laugh as she stacked the plates and silverware. You helped her collect the silverware and empty beer bottles.

“Yeah, when you get her good side,” she replied. 

You smirked at that, remembering how Ellen snapped back and forth with Dean. You had no doubt that woman could be a pistol if you pissed her off.

“Well, it's nice here,” you admitted, once again taking stock of the décor. The music, the warm lighting, the good food… “It’s cozy.”

Jo’s smile quirked to one side as she paused.

“Well, it’s been in my family for three generations of Harvelles,” she said. “This was my father’s favorite place in the world.”

You caught the note of melancholy in her words, in her eyes.

“Was?” you echoed. She met your gaze and nodded.

“He was a firefighter,” she said. “He died on the job.”

You dimmed considerably. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Jo only nodded.

“How did he…” Your curiosity got the best of you, but you soon shook your head and backtracked. “Never mind, you don’t have to explain.”

“It was a fire that wasn’t properly vented,” Jo answered your half-spoken question. Her blue eyes were heavier. “He got caught in an updraft…but he actually worked at Firehouse 25. He was their brother. That’s why this’ll always be their place.”

You processed that with a slow nod of wonder.

“It’s good that you and your mom will always have that support,” you said eventually. “Even though…it might be hard too, to always be reminded.”

Jo’s lips quirked again. “It’s more the first one, but…sometimes the second one. A lot of these guys have known me since I had braces. It’s hard to shake that perpetual little sister thing.”

You smiled at that. “Yeah, I’d imagine that gets old real quick. A bunch of over-protective older brothers.”

“Overbearing, more like,” she scoffed. You laughed.

Unconsciously, you glanced over to the front of the bar, where you saw Dean still on the phone. You remembered the second date you were meant to have, when he was late due to a five-car pileup his team responded to.

You remembered that night he called you for the first time, after a long day he didn’t want to tell you about. He’d let you distract him instead. All the while, it had you wondering what he’d seen. What he’d responded to that day.

Had it been another car accident? A fire? What made someone as upbeat and funny and smooth as Dean seem to lose all the life in his voice?

Though while you were lost in your thoughts, Jo was watching you.

Jealousy roiled inside her, unbidden. She didn’t want to hate you, because unlike the girls Dean usually messed around with, you had some self-respect. Jo heard Meg’s snide clips at you earlier, and no one could fake the surprise in your eyes. Unless you were just that good a damn actor…

But no, she didn’t get that vibe from you.

It didn’t mean she had to like you though. 

“You’re right to think twice,” Jo said, earning your attention back with a swivel of your head. “What Meg said…she wasn’t wrong. Dean’s broken a few hearts, if you catch my drift.”

Just a few well-placed words, Jo thought. She realized then that she had the power to twist the wrench here, widening the gap between you and Dean. Feed your doubts.

She didn’t have to feel bad about it if it was the truth.

And yet…she saw the way your gaze fell. The disappointment setting in, the anxious clench of your hands on the table. You glanced over at Dean again out of the corner of your eye.

Jo realized then just what she was doing, not just to Dean, but to herself.

You’re not some petty bitch, she dully reminded herself.

“But,” she found herself adding. You raised your gaze back to her. Jo let out a subtle breath.

“It’s not always his fault,” she admitted. And maybe she was speaking a bit too much from experience. “The job demands a lot from him.”

Slowly, you nodded. You looked pensive, but not like you’d made up your mind.

Fine, Jo thought, as she collected the dishes and left your table.

She didn’t know if she wanted to sway you one way or the other on taking a chance on Dean Winchester.   

While you were talking to Jo, Dean was taking his father’s unexpected call.

“Hey, Dad. What’s up?” he said.

“Hey, son. How are ya?” John’s voice was gruff and tired. Dean frowned to hear it.

“I’m good. I’m out right now, but did you need something?”

“Have you responded to any fires lately?”

“You mean like the Richardson fire?” Dean asked pointedly. “No, haven’t had one since. And no cattle prod brandings either.”

“All right, good. Just checking in.”

Good? Dean thought. John would be chomping at the bit for a new arson. If he was “just checking in,” then he was worried about something. Is he worried about me?

“What’s going on? Is there something I need to know?” Dean asked in suspicion. This was why he had taken the call. “Seriously, you can tell me. I’m not even gonna bitch at you like Sam does.”

John chuckled. But then he hesitated. Dean knew he’d hit on something.

“Dad?” he pressed.

John’s sigh was a heavy one. “Okay. What I’m about to tell you, you don’t fucking repeat. Not to anyone, you understand me? Not even your brother.”

Dean’s brows furrowed in trepidation. “Okay, fine. What the hell is it?”

“Richardson, the father of two?” John reminded. “He was a lawyer, linked to a money laundering scheme through a company called Stull Storage. It’s an old company, dates back to the seventies.”

“Okay…” 

As John continued to explain, the more confused Dean became… 

About 30 years ago, John Winchester had been a young, but promising officer in the Narcotics division. He’d married young, and by then was just barely clearing the five-year mark. Already he had the house he’d inherited from his wife’s parents, a four-year-old son, and a newborn.

Stull Storage’s units were used by a drug ring that John had been trying to infiltrate, undercover. Those units had stored cocaine, illegal weapons, and other flavors of contraband, mostly from South America (and back).

“We got close to breaking that case, once, but after the fire…I transferred out of Narcotics, as you know,” John said.

Dean knew the real story there. After his mom died, his father went into a spiral, trying to find whoever set that fire—even after the Fire Department found no evidence of arson. John had eventually been forced out of Narcotics. He requested Homicide.

As he’d told Dean once when he was extremely drunk: I seem to do better at my job when the bodies are already dead.

“Now I know that I was right about your mother’s death,” John said.

Dean released a shaky sigh. “Aw, man. Not this again, Dad. For Christ’s sake.”

“There was something wrong about that fire, Dean,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over Dean’s objections. “I just didn’t find the connection…until now.”

Dean muttered a curse under his breath. His gaze fell to the ground. Sam was usually the one who drew a hard line at hearing any more about their mom’s supposed murder, but now Dean had reached the end of his tether. It was too much.

He glanced back through the glass doors to make sure you were okay. He saw you talking to Jo, and he frowned at himself.

Here you were, waiting on him back in the bar, and his dad was calling him in the middle of the night, chasing ghosts again.

“Look…it’s been my whole damn life with this.” Dean held the phone to his ear with one hand, and rubbed at his forehead with the other. “I just can’t do this with you anymore.”    

“Dean, listen,” John urged. “You wanna know what I’m digging into, this is it. I got Mary’s file unsealed.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “What? Thought you couldn’t do that without new evidence and a court order.”

“Well, I’ve got the evidence…maybe I was a bit impatient with the court order.”

Dean rolled his eyes. His father liked to play a little fast and loose with the rules.

“At the time, the medical examiner dismissed it. She’d been burned…” John paused on a deeper breath. “But I saw it. Mary had a burn on her wrist. It was the same brand found on Richardson. On Jerry Stillwell, CPA. Amanda Waller, journalist. It’s all connected, Dean. How they’re connected to one another, I’m not sure yet. We’re still digging…but I do know this. Richardson was a message.”

Dean’s back hit the wall of the Roadhouse. His brows furrowed as he struggled to digest everything John was saying.

“A message?” he asked. “To who?”

“To me, I think. Those kids, and their mother…you got ‘em out alive, but they weren’t meant to,” John said, his voice sounding heavy. "The wife told me her husband was erratic when he got home, holding his wrist. He'd been burned before the fire. He wouldn't say what happened...then they smelled the goddamn smoke."

"Shit," Dean replied. He leaned heavily against the wall, pressing a hand to his forehead. There was an ache starting between his eyes.

“Yeah," John agreed. "The drug ring I was investigating, when I was in Narcotics. I was getting close. And I mean close. I was about to get the Big Kahuna. The kingpin of the whole operation…and then the house fire.”

Fuck. Dean wiped at his mouth anxiously as he realized what John was saying. Fuck.

“He burned me, Dean. He must have,” John said. Meaning, the drug lord he was trying to pin down somehow discovered his identity. “Your mom paid the price of that.”

“Who is this guy?” Dean asked. His hand holding the phone was starting to tremble.

“I still don’t know his real name. Workin’ on that one too,” John said. “But they called him Azazel.”

When Dean eventually hung up with his father and returned to you at the bar, he saw you brighten. But you soon dimmed with a tinge of worry. Something of his thoughts must’ve shown on his face.

Shit. He tried his best to school his features.

“Hey, sorry about that,” he said, grasping your shoulder. “I’ll take you home.”

“I met you here, remember?” you asked.

Dean paused, then shook his head. Get it together, asshole.

“Right," he said. "Well, I’ll walk you to your car. Let me just pay real quick.”

After he sorted out the bill (he didn’t know that you’d slipped in an extra $30 in Cas’s stack for your part), he led you out, saying goodbye to Ellen and Jo while you went.

You hesitated when the two of you got to the car. Something wasn’t right with him. And both Jo and Meg’s words still rolled back and forth through your head.

“Dean, are you okay? Who was it on the phone?” you asked.

“I’m fine. It was just my dad, called to have me take a look at his car. We were just arguing about our schedules…I’m sure you can relate,” he replied, trying at a smile.

You weren’t sure if you believed him. Though he was nearly convincing, he was also shifting on his feet, hands in his pockets. His gaze roamed away from yours, above your head and over your shoulder.

“Um, I might’ve had a beer too many,” you said with a half-chuckle. “Could you walk with me for a bit? Just until my head clears enough to drive.”

“I could take you home,” Dean offered.

“And leave my car here?” you asked. In a public parking lot behind a bar?

You shook your head and pointed down the road.

“Just there and back…but if you need to go, I guess I could just sit in my car for a while.”

Dean shook his head with a frown. He couldn’t tell you that a damn serial killer was on the loose.

“No, it’s okay,” he said. “It’s a relatively safe neighborhood, but not so much at night. Not by yourself.”

He laid a hand on your back to start walking with you, but his hand soon fell back to his side. You glanced at him, but he looked straight ahead, unusually quiet and reserved.

It felt like he was checking out of this night with you. Like he just wanted to usher you into the car and leave. Did he just not want to deal with what Meg said?

“You must be real special,” she remarked, gesturing at Dean. “He usually doesn’t bring his girls around here, where he actually likes to hang out. Guess that’d mean he’d have to see ‘em again with the lights on.”

Letting out a breath, you tried to see if you could broach the subject.

“It was nice to meet some more of your friends,” you said, and with a nervous laugh, “even if it did get awkward there at the end.”

Dean finally looked over at you.

“We never exactly talked about what each of us was looking for,” you said. “What we were really doing here.” 

You stood your ground, but you tried not to look censuring. Just open to whatever he might have to say. Even so, unease churned inside you.

Dean sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “Look, she wasn’t exactly wrong about me.”

You considered that with a nod, biting the inside of your lip.

“When was the last time you were in a relationship?” you asked. Dean gave a humorless huff of a laugh. This really was the last thing he wanted to get into tonight, but he had a feeling he had no choice.

“A few months ago, for about a minute,” he said. “But uh, before then…never.”

Together, you began to cross the street while the cars on either side waited at the red light. Pedestrians had the right of way for the next 30 seconds. You looked over at him and steeled yourself.

“Dean, is this is something casual for you?”

“Define casual,” he attempted to joke (or to deflect). Though the bravado fell the moment he saw that look on your face: tight and disappointed…and hurt.  

He reached for your hand, but you weren’t having it. You slipped away from him and continued walking at a more brusque clip, even in those platform heels.  

“Okay, hold on.” He quickly followed after you and tugged you back by the hand. It had you both stopping in the middle of the crosswalk.  

Dean squeezed your hand and peered into your eyes.

“Look, I’m sorry. Don’t close up on me,” he implored. “…Please.”

Despite your better judgment, and your pursed lips, you waited. Something told you this man didn’t often say please.

“The truth is, I’m trying to do something different here with you. I don’t think we would’ve made it to date #4 if we were just casual,” he said. “I’m not playing games either.”

You wanted to trust that he was serious. Once again, your mind and your heart were at odds; the former told you to be wary, while the latter told you to trust the earnestness in his eyes.

Your heart won. “Okay, Dean.”

“Yeah?” he asked, with hopeful brows raised.

“Yeah,” you nodded.

You finally smiled. And you leaned up, resting a hand against his chest, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. His stubble was coarse, but familiar against your lips.

Dean turned his head and leaned in for a proper kiss. His hands found the curve of your waist and brought you closer against his chest. You both sunk deeper into it, your lips gliding as your head tilted into the kiss…

Until a horn honked loudly, making you both jolt at the sound.

The streetlight was green, and several cars were waiting for you to cross. You snorted in amusement, leading Dean to grin down at you. He tugged you back into step with him across the street.

Again, you hesitated at your car. Dean was more himself as he’d held your hand all the way back.

He now held your car door open while you threw in your purse. But when you turned back to him, you still saw something brooding behind his eyes.

You drew near and grasped the open edges of his shirt. This man wore a lot of plaid when he was out of uniform, always with an undershirt. Tonight it was green plaid on gray, complete with some faded jeans and a pair of boots. This was the only “casual” way in which you wanted Dean.  

“Hey,” you started.

“Hmm?” he replied, holding you by your arms.

“I get that we haven’t known each other all that long. So you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” you said. “But did something happen when you stepped out? When you talked to your dad?”

Dean paused. His eyes, a pale green under the streetlamp, flicked to yours.

“I just want to know that you’re okay,” you said. “And if you’re not, that’s okay too.”

After a moment to blink in surprise, your earnestness got to him. His grip moved down your arms, and he took one of your hands. His dad’s warning echoed through his mind.

What I’m about to tell you, you don’t fucking repeat. Not to anyone, you understand me? Not even your brother.

Dean knew his dad didn’t make demands without a reason, even if he wasn’t typically so forthcoming with them. But Dean drew enough courage to be as honest as he could be. You deserved that much, after everything you'd put up with tonight.

“My mom died...when I was about four,” he said. “It was a house fire.”

Your eyes widened. All this time, you’d assumed his mother had passed away. You hadn’t expected that, though. You squeezed his hands.

“I’m so sorry,” you said, and you meant it. Dean just shook his head.

“It was ruled an accident. Really they just didn’t have much evidence either way,” he continued. “But uh, my dad’s been obsessed with the idea that it wasn’t. That someone started the fire on purpose… Well, today, he might’ve found his proof.”

He held your gaze for as long as he could, but in the end, he just couldn’t. His chest was tight. Saying those words out loud made them real, and he wasn’t sure of how to handle it.  

“Oh, Dean,” you said, starting and stopping, as you struggled to formulate a response that wasn’t just “I’m sorry,” or “Are you okay?” 

He clearly wasn’t. You also didn’t want to give him platitudes like, “That’s crazy,” or the ever-inspired: “Wow.” 

Or some other variation of what you’re supposed to say. You wanted to give him something honest. Something real. 

So you curled your hands around his arms, earning his gaze.

“You must be reeling right now,” you said. “Do you think he’s onto something this time?”  

“I don’t know what to think,” said Dean. “I’ve been pressing him for answers, but…honestly? I wish he hadn’t told me a damn thing.” 

You didn’t know what to say to that. You were surprised that he actually confided in you with this. But the only thing you could think to do was lean up on your toes and slip your arms around his neck. You hugged him, warm and tight. 

You couldn’t even imagine what he was feeling, but you just wanted him to know that someone was there for him. You were there for him. 

Dean eventually hugged you back. He held you, reassuring you as well as himself. He blew out a cathartic breath, and his hand came up to cup the back of your head. His lips tugged upwards.

“You’re a sweetheart, you know that?” he said. 

A smile spread across your face. Your fingers soothed through his hair gently. You pressed your lips into his neck.

“I aim to please,” you said against his skin.

Dean smiled more fully at that. The new warmth in his chest warred against the roiling in his stomach. Despite his best efforts, his smile faded.

His mom’s killer was still out there.

The thought was haunting his mind, and he knew it probably would for many nights to come.

So for now, he’d just hold you a bit tighter.

AN: 🥲 I honestly didn't mean it to end so angsty, but Dean finally got some much-needed hurt/comfort there! What did you think of how Jo handled her jealous side? And Gordon "shooting his shot" lol.

Coming soon in Part 7, we finally get to a huge milestone between these two lovebirds, with a side helping of baking shenanigans. 😏❤️‍🔥

Next Time:

“Ey, ey!” he raised a warning finger with his free hand. “You’re about to take this to a new level.”

You met his gaze through your lashes with a playful smile. “So?”

Dean raised a brow at you. He could admit, you had audacity. All he could do was call your bluff.

He took one of your battered fingers into his mouth. Your eyes widened at the feel of his soft tongue swirling around your finger, sucking it clean. All the while, his eyes never broke from yours.

Lord have mercy, you thought. Really, it was the only coherent one in your head.

Dean Winchester Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Series Tag List (Part 1):

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[ladymarycrawley]

Lazy Sunday - Mason Mount

So here's a little blurb inspired to the most weird day of the week aka Sunday 😂 Enjoy 💕

(I'm really enjoying the writing thing, can you tell?)

___________________________________________

You were both sitting on the sofa, a rom-com in the background but you weren’t paying much attention to it.

Mason was next to you, sprawled on the soft surface with his head against the backrest, his eyes watching the film on tv absentmindedly.

You were there with your knees bent against your chest, eyes glued on the tv until a sigh from your boyfriend caught your attention so you shifted your focus on him.

You took in all his beauty: his features were perfect to you, from his fluffy hair to his gorgeous smile, by way of his nose to finish with his now growing beard.

A smile appeared on your lips, as it’d happen anytime you laid your eyes on him. 

You moved your hand to his cheek, rubbing his cheekbone and letting his stubble scratch your skin.

His lips curved into a smile too.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yep, why?”

You let out a little sigh while shifting closer to his body and laying your head on his shoulder. His mouth planted a soft kiss on your left temple.

Your left arm wrapped around his waist.

“Just a bit tired”

You let out a loud yawn, making Mason giggle.

“I think someone here’s tired too” This wins you another kiss, on your forehead now.

“Yeah...I don’t feel like going back to work tomorrow”

Actually you spent a great day with Mason, even though you didn’t do anything special: you just stayed in bed longer than usual, resulting in you two cuddling and rolling carelessly between the sheets, you had a shower - of course you had it together, saving water is very important to you - cooking brunch together while doing silly dance moves to your pop playlist.

Then you went out for a walk, the warm setting sun lighting up your steps as you walked hand in hand.

While you were out you did Facetime with Mason’s family, in particular with little Summer that had his uncle wrapped around her finger.

You got a little emotional when his family asked you when you were going to see them in Portsmouth, because they were missing you: the moment you met his family you remember feeling terribly anxious because you feared they wouldn’t like you (your shy and introvert personality always made it a bit difficult for you to get to know new people) but they all have been extremely nice.

You fought the tears forming in your eyes but Mason saw that out of the corner of his eye and tried to comfort you by putting his hand on your thigh and squeezing it.

That perfect day was going towards its ending and you didn’t want it, spending quality time with Mason was something you couldn't do often due to his job so when days like this happened you wanted to live them up to the fullest.

While your head was busy reliving everything you did a few hours earlier, your body relaxed as Mason massaged your scalp with his fingers.

You groaned with your eyes shut, earning an amused laugh from your boyfriend.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night”

“Mhh...but that’s not enough”

“What happened to my lazy and antisocial girlfriend?” He messed with you, referring to your reserved personality that immediately changed when being around him.

You playfully hit his arm and he pretends to be in pain.

“Where’s my babygirl? Where is she?” He kept on asking that playful question when he started tickling you and you squirmed in his hands.

“Mason Tony Mount get off me!!!!” You screamed as you were trying to catch a breath.

Now he was all over you and he extended his torture by adding neck and face kisses to his hands that were tickling your hips.

The house was filled with your laughter that was soon replaced by the sound of Mason’s sloppy kisses on your lips.

You grabbed his face between your hands to deepen the kiss.

“I love you Mase” You whisper out of breath when he got away from your mouth.

“I love you too Y/N”

“I love spending days like this with you”

“Like what? Like me being all over you?”

You roll your eyes with a smile and hit him on the shoulder. “No silly, of you and me doing nothing together”

He smiled, laying his head on your chest, waiting for you to massage his scalp with shut eyes.

“But you being all over me sounds like a good plan too…”