#I wanna say they’d never wear this unless they were obligated

[shining-scion]

This was. Going to be a lot brighter and happier! But then I remembered the catacombs grind.

[antebunny]

family dinner

Modern AU Jin siblings vs. Jin Guangshan (crossposted on Ao3):

Jin Zixuan leans against the side of his yellow Audi and checks his Rolex Daytona watch. Behind his car are the massive white gates of the Jin mansion, a massive complex with no less than four houses, two gardens, one lotus pond, a garage for the rest of his car collection, and a private movie theater in the basement. Normally, he would open the gates and let himself through, but tonight, Jin Zixuan has no intention of going down the lonely, two-lane road to the main house alone.  

The time is 7:18. He has only twelve minutes left, and no one is here. Jin Zixuan shifts nervously in his Stuart Hughes suit (Diamond Edition) and represses the urge to check his watch again. Instead of checking it, he worries until his heart is thump-thumping in his chest and all he can feel is the bitter cold air on his bare fingers. 

He’s twenty-seven years old, with a two year old son, and he’s still nervous about the coming dinner. He would be less nervous if his mother was coming, but she hasn’t been back to the Jin family home since she divorced his father almost a decade ago–long enough to see Jin Zixuan through high school–and he was not about to ask. Instead, he’d asked the rest of his family.

He’s musing on the meaning of family and obligation when the first car pulls up. It’s a white Rolls-Royce, and it carries a single passenger: Jin Zixuan’s younger brother, Jin Guangyao. His half-brother wears a crisp dark cream-colored Brioni suit, and he adjusts the small osmanthus flower tucked into the pocket when he straightens. 

“No one else is here yet?” Jin Guangyao questions, like he can’t see it with his own eyes.

“Not yet,” Jin Zixuan says shortly.

His brother continues smiling despite his terse tone. Jin Guangyao has never been anything but friendly to Jin Zixuan since he came into his life several years ago, which is why Jin Zixuan is half-terrified of him. The other half of him wants to intervene everytime his father so much as looks in Jin Guangyao’s direction, and half of the time he does, so needless to say, they have a rather complicated relationship. 

“I’m sure they’ll be here,” Jin Guangyao offers, still smiling sweetly.

Jin Zixuan isn’t so sure. Realistically, there’s no reason for all of them to come just to support him. The only reason Jin Zixuan is going, beyond the convention of his father’s annual dinners, is because Jin Zixuan is in fact aware of his skills in life. As of the moment, Jin Zixuan is the sole inheritor of his father’s fortune. Despite the number of half-siblings that Jin Zixuan apparently has, or perhaps because of it, he is confident that he will always be the sole inheritor. That is, unless Jin Guangshan decides to withhold the inheritance to remind Jin Zixuan that he is the only way Jin Zixuan can provide for his family. So Jin Zixuan needs the inheritance, no matter what A-Li says.

Which is why he’s standing here, on his twenty-seventh birthday, trying not to look too nervous as his brother calmly locks his car door. 

“Thank you for coming, A-Yao,” Jin Zixuan finally says, forced but sincere. 

Realistically Jin Guangyao knows that he can expect better treatment from his half-brother than he can with Jin Guangshan as the CEO of Jin Industries, but naively Jin Zixuan still hopes that Jin Guangyao has some room for frivolous things like brotherly affection and genuine kindness. 

Jin Guangyao puts his keys in his pocket and walks around his car to the gate. He’s not a moment too soon: a silver car rolls in after Jin Guangyao’s Rolls-Royce, and parks just a little too close for comfort. 

The first out of the silver car is Qin Su, from the driver’s seat. The gold trim and white hem of her floor-length evening gown trails over the edge of the car as she exits, and as she stands up Jin Zixuan realizes that she really went all-out. She’s dressed in white and gold, complete with a pink peony flower, and her hair and face indicates that she spent at least two hours getting ready. From the way she walks up to him in her white high-heels, Jin Zixuan knows that she knows that she’s stunning. If she wasn’t his daughter, Jin Guangshan would probably make a comment about it. He might anyway. 

“The new style suits you, A-Su,” Jin Guangyao says politely.

“Thank you,” Qin Su says, her pretty eyes flashing. “It’s what my mother wore.”

She doesn’t specify when, but Jin Zixuan winces anyway. “I didn’t think you would come,” he says helplessly. 

“And miss a chance to ruin your father’s evening?” Qin Su retorts, and smiles beatifically. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

The last sibling emerges from the copilot seat. “It’s your birthday celebration, isn’t it?” Mo Xuanyu points out. 

He’s wearing ripped jeans, a tank top, and heavy black eyeliner and eyeshadow. Jin Zixuan wisely does not comment. Mo Xuanyu pulls on a black puffer jacket as he speaks, which makes him the only one with adequate protection from the chilly February temperature. He’s also the youngest here; Qin Su picked him up from his university on the way here. 

“Technically,” Jin Zixuan says instead. 

Mo Xuanyu shrugs and jams his hands into his pockets. “Then what are we waiting for?”

Jin Zixuan checks his Rolex again, and the golden watch hands proclaim the time to be 7:24. “We’re still waiting on a few more people who said they’d show up.”

 “Who?” Mo Xuanyu asks curiously, and it’s at that moment that a flaming red and black sports car comes roaring down the road, and Mo Xuanyu’s face lights up. 

The door is kicked open, and Jin Zixuan’s brother-in-law flings himself out. Wei Wuxian emerges in a black Armani suit, now the tallest person in their smallest gathering, and grins. 

“I didn’t know you were coming,” Mo Xuanyu squeaks, and Jin Zixuan holds back a wince. His youngest brother has the most embarrassing idol crush on Wei Wuxian, which is only embarrassing because–

“Mn.” Out of nowhere, Jin Zixuan’s brother-in-law (-in-law?) places himself in front of Wei Wuxian, straightening his white suit coat like it’s even a millimeter out of place. He glares Mo Xuanyu down, and Jin Zixuan goes from feeling embarrassed for his brother to feeling sorry for him. 

“You brought him?” Jin Zixuan complains to Wei Wuxian before he can stop himself.

“Where I go, Lan Zhan goes,” Wei Wuxian retorts. They’re already holding hands. Jin Zixuan hates this. 

Wei Wuxian’s husband levels his icy glare on Jin Zixuan, and suddenly Jin Zixuan is imagining that glare leveled at his father when Jin Guangshan inevitably tries to get world-renown bioengineer Wei Wuxian to work for Jin Industries again. Perhaps bringing him along isn’t such a bad idea after all. 

“It’s lovely to see you,” Qin Su offers, and the glare is gone, just like that. 

“But not as lovely as you are tonight,” Wei Wuxian says smoothly, and the glare is back.

Jin Zixuan pinches the bridge of his nose with two fingers and sighs. He’s so busy sighing that he almost misses the arrival of the last car, a violently purple Jaguar that for once is not racing around at nearly illegal speeds. 

“You’re late,” Jin Zixuan snaps, when the driver’s door opens. 

“I was helping my sister get ready, asshole,” Jiang Cheng snaps right back, slamming his door closed. He straightens the cuffs of his dark purple suit before opening the copilot door for said sister. 

Jiang Yanli ducks gracefully out of the car, and Jin Zixuan’s heart immediately goes gooey in his chest. He’s afraid that his face does, as well, because Wei Wuxian makes a disgusted face at him. 

She wears a layered dress of lavender and rose pink, and the skirts skim over the ground as she steps out of the car. In her arms, she carries a precious little bundle that Jin Zixuan loves with all his heart, and now he knows that his face has gone all gooey with emotions because his wife smiles at him, which really doesn’t help with the emotions. 

Jin Zixuan holds out his arms, and Jiang Yanli places their tiny baby bun in his arms. 

“I’ve finally got him sleeping,” Jiang Yanli says in a hushed voice, and for a moment there’s silence as everyone welcomes the newest, sleepiest, cutest little dumpling to their growing party. 

Jin Ling’s little face is puckered up even in his sleep like he’s thinking hard. Jin Zixuan’s small, sweet bao of a son is dressed in a matching pair of a white jacket and snowpants, complete with a white yarn hat that’s the size of his entire head. 

“It’s good to see you, A-Li,” Qin Su says finally, once the moment of silence has passed.

Jiang Yanli smiles. “You too, A-Su,” she says. “We should get the group back together one of these days.”

Jin Zixuan isn’t sure whether he’s terrified or pleased. Jiang Yanli’s friends from college are a force of nature, and given that they’ve gone on to become a rising neurosurgeon, an environmental scientist, an urban planner, and in Jiang Yanli’s case, a child psychiatrist, they’d be even more a force of nature now. 

“I wanna hold him,” Wei Wuxian says in a stage whisper.

Jin Zixuan directs his best glare at him, holds his sweet little dumpling closer, and prays that his wife won’t cave to Wei Wuxian’s puppy dog eyes. 

“I believe it’s time,” Jin Guangyao intervenes smoothly, swooping in before a fight can break out. 

Jin Zixuan shoots him a grateful look, even though he’s mostly sure that Jin Guangyao didn’t intervene just so that he wouldn’t have to turn his darling baby son over to his brother-in-law. 

“It is 7:30,” Qin Su agrees.

Mo Xuanyu cracks his fingers, grins wickedly, and then puts on a pair of black shades, just to match his black puffer jacket. “Let’s go ruin Dad’s night.”

“Can we not get him to call the cops on us?” Jin Zixuan asks, one step short of begging. 

“My dad is on speed dial in case anyone needs a ride,” Qin Su says, tucking her phone into her purse. 

Of course. The CEO of Qin Industries on speed dial. Though Jin Zixuan supposes that that move is fair, considering that Qin Cangye knows his daughter is going to Jin Guangshan’s house. 

“I think we have enough cars,” Jin Guangyao says.

“But let’s not burn the house down?” Jin Zixuan pleads. It’s true that he asked all of them to come, but please come, I don’t want to be alone with A-Li is not the same as please, I want to pay for damages. 

“No promises.” Wei Wuxian smirks. 

“Nothing that can be proven,” Jiang Cheng adds. Jin Zixuan belatedly remembers that he’d invited them because he knew they would defend A-Li if his father even looked at her funny. Which he might. God, Jin Zixuan hated his family.

“What else is family for?” Wei Wuxian retorts. 

Oh no. Jin Zixuan’s heart is going all gooey again, and this time it isn’t from the adorable sleepy bun in his arms. He furiously tries to force down a blush that heats his cheeks in the cold winter air. 

Jiang Yanli notices, because of course she does, and she steps closer to pat his arm. “He won’t burn the house down,” she says reassuringly. 

Jin Zixuan is privately still dubious, but he doesn’t argue. He turns to the grand white gates. Jin Guangyao stands on his left and half a head shorter, and Jiang Yanli stands to his right. His two other siblings and three in-laws gather behind him. 

Then, with his family dressed to the nines and ready for war, Jin Zixuan unlocks the white gates and sets forth to ruin his dad’s night. 

[maybeimamuppet]

guess who?

hello friends, happy Wednesday!! this work is a birthday present to myself, so before we get into it: spoiler for the title, its a baby.

trigger warnings for:

pregnancy/childbirth (literally as non-graphic as I could possibly make it)

mentioned infertility

mentioned miscarriage

pregnancy complcations

otherwise, please enjoy!

-

Janis sighs heavily as she toes off her shoes. It’s her birthday, but she still had to go to work and had an exceptionally long day teaching angsty middle schoolers. All she really wants is a lot of food and a good cuddle session with her wife, Cady.

Their pets come up to greet her as she takes off her jacket, demanding their daily scratches. Janis obliges, rubbing Elvira’s head and scritching behind Daffodil’s ears. Daffy shakes her head once Janis stands back to flip the light on. Her collar shifts, and Janis suddenly notices the note tied to it.

“Aww, Daffy, a message for me?” Janis coos, bending down again to untie it and petting them both one more time. She’s not sure if her wife is home, since all the lights are off except the one in the kitchen. Maybe this will explain things. She unrolls it and reads,

Happy birthday, my love. First present for you in the bedroom ;) Love, C

“Hmm. Caddy?” Janis calls as she heads that way. She quiets when she opens the door. It turns out Cady is home, she’s just asleep. She’s on top of the covers and wearing one of Janis’ jackets, which is their usual formula for a special night. The jacket is buttoned, which is a bit odd. Cady usually leaves them undone to show off whatever cute lingerie she’s picked. But she’s covered their bed in rose petals, that’s a nice touch.

Janis doesn’t want to wake her up yet, so she changes out of her work clothes in the dark. She hears a sleepy groan come from behind her as she tugs a comfy shirt over her head, turning around to find Cady mid-stretch.

“Hi, lovey,” Cady yawns as she reaches for her. “Happy birthday.”

“Hi, baby,” Janis chuckles affectionately, coming to cuddle her and flipping a light on. “Thanks. How was your day?”

“Good! I got a lot done, and Daffy and I had a nice walk,” Cady replies. “How about you, how was your day?”

“It was fine,” Janis says with a small yawn. “Long.”

“Aww. Would your present make you feel better?” Cady asks, stroking through her hair. Janis perks up a little at the reminder.

“Oh, yeah, what do I get?” She asks excitedly.

“You’ll just have to unwrap it and find out,” Cady purrs, gesturing to herself.

“You just woke up, are you sure-whoa, okay,” Janis replies as Cady starts kissing her hungrily. Janis kisses back for a long moment before she starts working her way down, kissing and nipping at her neck.

She undoes the buttons one by one as she works her way down Cady’s chest, until eventually she feels something other than her soft skin against her lips and pulls back in confusion. It’s another message, painted across Cady’s tummy. The top of whatever it says is just barely peeking out.

Frowning confusedly, Janis undoes the rest of the buttons in one go and pulls the flaps of the jacket apart, revealing the words,

Guess who?

Janis gasps and claps her hands over her mouth, letting out a happy sob. “Are you for real?! We-we’re gonna be mamas?”

Cady gives a watery chuckle, already crying too. “Yeah, Jay, we are. I’m for real. Are you excited?”

“Oh my god!” Janis sobs, pulling her wife upright to hug her tightly. “Of course I’m excited, there’s a baby in you! When did you find out?”

“I’ve known for about two weeks, kind of, but I found out for sure yesterday,” Cady says. “I took a bunch of tests after you went to bed, and they’re all positive.”

“Is that why you were crying? You never told me what was wrong,” Janis says, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Because nothing was wrong,” Cady giggles. “But yeah. I didn’t want to tell you yet, or it would’ve ruined my whole plan.”

“And when you said you got food poisoning last week, that was...” Janis suddenly puts several pieces together.

“Morning sickness,” Cady grins. She leans over to her bedside table and opens the drawer, pulling out a little stick. Janis takes it with shaky hands, staring intently at the Pregnant+ on the small screen. “I’m already showing a little, look.”

Cady turns to the side and pulls the jacket away. She’s right, the slight swell of her belly at the bottom is already a tiny bit bigger.

“Isn’t it early for you to be showing?” Janis asks, looking back and forth between the test and her wife.

“A little, but I’m small,” Cady replies with a shrug. “I’m about five weeks, that’s pretty normal for someone my size, I think.”

Janis reaches tentatively to feel her tummy, but pulls back just before she touches. Cady takes her hand gently and rests it on her lower abdomen.

“There’s a baby there,” Janis mumbles.

“Yeah, there is,” Cady chuckles, drying the leftover tears from Janis’ cheeks. “Our baby. Breathe, sweetheart, you look like you’re gonna pass out.”

“I’m not!” Janis insists. “I’m just... happy. And scared. We... we’re having a kid.”

“Don’t be scared yet, we have time to prepare. Everything’s fine,” Cady comforts. “You’re gonna be such a good mom.”

“So are you,” Janis replies. “When do we get to see them?”

“A couple weeks. There’s not really much to see right now, they probably don’t even have a heartbeat yet,” Cady says. “But soon. Unless... unless something goes wrong again, then we’ll need to go in sooner. But I feel good about this one.”

“I do too. They say third time’s the charm,” Janis replies, rubbing her thumb gently over her belly. She feels as if the weight of the world is resting beneath her hand.

This was their third time trying for a child. The first time, none of their embryos had implanted successfully. The second, Cady miscarried in the third week. They’d spent months mourning their losses each time before they were even willing to try again.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Cady replies, leaning in for a kiss.

“Do you still wanna...” Janis asks, gesturing to the emerald green lingerie Cady still has on.

“Oh yeah,” Cady purrs, pulling Janis back on top of her.

“Cool,” Janis breathes.

————-

Halloween rolls around exactly two weeks later. It’s Janis’ favorite holiday, and this one is made extra special by the fact that she gets to see her child for the first time. She’s distracted through her whole day at work, wanting to be done so she can go home and then to the doctor with her wife.

“Christ, lovey,” Cady jumps as Janis throws the door open. “Hi.”

“Hi, sorry, are you okay?” Janis apologizes frantically, coming to hug her and protectively resting a hand on her tummy.

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Cady giggles. “I take it you’re excited?”

“Of course I’m excited, Peanut,” Janis says happily. “We get to see our little peanut, I wanna go!”

“Okay, okay,” Cady laughs. “Our appointment isn’t for two hours, Jellybean, we have time.”

“And the place is forty-five minutes away, it’s late and a holiday so there’s gonna be traffic,” Janis says rapidly. She pauses with a sigh to calm herself.  “I just want to make sure they’re okay.”

“I’m sure they’re fine, Jay. I feel fine,” Cady says soothingly. “I feel good, actually.”

“Good,” Janis breathes. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, I’m glad you’re excited,” Cady chuckles. “Let’s go.”

-

Two hours later, Cady is checked in at the doctor and they’re sitting eagerly in the waiting room. Cady is fiddling with Janis’ fingers to distract herself.

“Sarkisian-Heron?” A nurse suddenly calls from the doorway nearby. Janis leaps up happily and holds out a hand for Cady. They follow her back and get Cady prepped, lying her on the uncomfortable table as Janis stands behind her.

The doctor comes in a few minutes after the nurse leaves, knocking on the doorframe as she enters. “Hello, ladies, congratulations!”

“Thank you,” Cady chuckles anxiously. Janis squeezes her hand gently.

“Let’s get right into it, shall we? How have you been feeling, anything you’re concerned about?” The doctor asks, making conversation to distract Cady as she begins the scan. Janis winces slightly at the process.

“I don’t think so,” Cady hums. “I’m exhausted and I’ve been… really sick, but I’m not worried about anything.”

“Sounds typical so far,” the doctor says pensively. “When did you have them implanted?”

“Sometime in September, I’d have to check to know when exactly,” Cady replies. The doctor’s eyebrows suddenly lift high on her forehead, then furrow. “Is something wrong?”

“How many embryos did you have done?” The doctor asks, shifting again slightly and seeming to ignore the question.

“Just the one, this time, that’s all we could do,” Cady sounds more frightened with every word. “Are they okay?”

“They are absolutely fine. You’re having identical twins,” the doctor says.

“What?!” Janis and Cady yelp at the same time. Cady hears Janis fall to her knees behind her, but is in too much shock to even check if she’s okay.

“Twins?” She breathes anxiously.

“Identical?” Janis chokes in about the same tone.

“Mmhmm,” the doctor replies, turning the monitor to face them. There’s two black forms in a sea of grey static. “You’re actually rather lucky, usually the process for determining what type of twins are present is more involved. But since you only had one embryo done, identical twins are the only type feasible for you to have. Your first baby, baby A, is here. And this is baby B up here.”

“Twins,” Cady sobs happily. “Oh my god. And they’re both okay?”

“They’re perfectly fine. Their heartbeats both look strong and their development is on track. You have two healthy babies growing here, congratulations,” the doctor says.

“Janis, look,” Cady sobs again. “Are you okay?”

Janis perks up from the ground, having previously buried her face against Cady’s side where she’s attempting to process everything. She looks up at the monitor to see what Cady’s pointing to.

“We’re having twins,” Janis says as her own tears start pouring down her face. “I’m-I’m fine, Butterfly. Those... those are our babies. No wonder you’re already showing.”

“What does this mean? For us?” Cady asks the doctor, holding Janis’ hand so tightly.

“Well, for you specifically it means you’ll have to be a bit more careful. More frequent scans, take a few extra vitamins, eat more calories daily. Your babies seem to be sharing a placenta, so we’ll need to monitor them for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, but I have no reason to believe that anything should happen.”

“Okay,” Cady breathes anxiously.

“And it does also mean your chances of delivering prematurely are higher, but again, that’s not anything to be concerned about at the moment. Your babies are healthy, and we’ll do everything we can to deliver them when the time is right for them.”

“Okay,” Cady says again, trying not to worry. Janis leans in to kiss her cheek and her fears fade for the time being.

“Can we hear them?” Janis asks shyly. “The heartbeats?”

“Of course,” the doctor says, flicking a switch to turn sound on. A rapid pulsing sound fills the room. “Here’s baby A.”

Cady turns to look at Janis happily, and Janis leans in for a kiss on the lips this time. “That’s our baby, Janis.”

“Baby A,” Janis murmurs back. The doctor shifts and suddenly a second pulsing sound overlaps the first. “And… and baby B.”

“They both sound perfectly healthy,” the doctor says as she presses some buttons to take photos. She prints out copies of a few and hands them to Cady, along with several informational pamphlets. “Congratulations again, ladies.”

She leaves then, leaving Cady and Janis alone to process everything and then leave.

-

Cady drives home when she sees how hard Janis is shaking. Janis doesn’t speak the whole ride home, she just clutches Cady’s hand and stares at the ultrasound photos.

Janis turns to her once they’re home again. “I know this is terrible timing and I don’t want to worry you, but can I please have some alone time?”

“Of course, my love,” Cady replies, popping up on her toes for a quick kiss. “I’m gonna walk Daffy and make sure we have everything for Karen’s party on Friday, I’ll check on you in an hour?”

Janis nods. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Jayjay.”

-

Exactly an hour later, Cady knocks on their bedroom door carrying two mugs of hot chocolate. With a touch of pumpkin spice, since it is Halloween. Janis pokes her head out from under the duvet. She’s spent the entire time staring at the photos.

“Do you want to talk about it now?” Cady asks gently, handing one mug to Janis.

Janis takes it with a sigh. “I’m-I’m terrified, Caddy. We’re having twins, two babies. What if something happens to you, or to them? Or... or what if I can’t take care of them? Or tell them apart? Two kids is gonna be way more work than one, and I don’t know... any of what I need to. I want to be what you need, what they need. I just... I don’t know how.”

Cady takes their mugs gently and pulls her into a hug. “Oh, mpendwa. I’m scared too, you know. I’m small, this pregnancy is risky. You’re right, there is always a chance something could happen. But I’m so, so excited too. Because I’m doing this with you, my love. I’m carrying your babies. We’re doing this together. I have you to help keep me safe and help me raise these babies into great humans.”

Janis doesn’t say anything, just cuddles in closer and rests a gentle hand on Cady’s belly.

“And yeah, two is gonna be more work than one. But we can do it. We’ll learn what we need to and deal with stuff as it happens. Take it one day at a time,” Cady says, nuzzling her nose into Janis’ hair. “For today, we have two healthy little peanuts inside me.”

Janis grins at that. “I love you so much. And them. I’m excited too, I don’t want it to seem like I don’t want them. I get two mini-yous to love on. I’m just… really scared.”

“I love you too, darling,” Cady chuckles. “But you realize they’re more likely to be mini-yous, right? You have more dominant features.”

“Man,” Janis grumbles jokingly. “Oh well. We’ll just have to wait and find out, I guess.”

Cady reaches to hand her back her drink, taking a sip of her own. “Speaking of finding out, do you want to find out the sexes?”

“If you do,” Janis replies. “It doesn’t really matter to me. And it’s not a guarantee of who we’ll be raising, anyway.”

“I want to wait, I want it to be a surprise,” Cady says. “And you’re right. It always felt kind of creepy to me that people make such a big deal over the genitals of an infant.”

Janis laughs. “It is a little weird. Surprise babies it is.” She takes another drink. “Can I do something?”

“Sure,” Cady says confusedly. Janis suddenly dashes away and comes back with some black washable paint and a brush. She gently tugs up Cady’s shirt and writes,

Guess who? (Times two!)

Cady laughs when she sees it, and goes to stand by a blank wall so Janis can take a picture.

“Smile,” Janis says, pulling a goofy face to make her laugh.

“You’re such a dork, I love you,” Cady giggles. Janis snaps a few photos.

“There,” she says happily, letting Cady come see them. “I love you too.”

Cady smiles contently when she sees the pictures, then clicks the phone off and sets it on the nightstand. “Now comes the fun part of all this, you know?”

“Mm?” Janis hums confusedly, finishing off her delicious beverage.

“Now we have to tell everyone,” Cady says casually, finishing hers too.

“Oh, shit.”

—————

They tell their families on Thanksgiving. Every year both of their families have Thanksgiving dinner in their apartment. Usually Damian and his mom join them, but his mother couldn’t make it this year so he went back to Illinois to be with her.

Cady is very clearly pregnant now, and has to wear one of Janis’ oversized sweaters to hide her belly before they want it to be noticed. Paired with some dark leggings, nobody would ever notice anything about the outfit.

Janis and Cady both make anxious small talk with everyone as they help prepare the meal, and grin excitedly at each other as they go to set the table. They made special name cards for everyone this year. In between Janis and Cady’s spots are two mini plates, with ‘Baby A’ on one place setting, and ‘Baby B’ on the other.

Their dining table isn’t big enough for everyone to sit and have all the food on it at the same time, so they leave everything in the kitchen and call everyone to come grab their plates to load up buffet style.

Their moms seem to notice something’s amiss first, and Janis’ mom gasps when she sees the little plates. She makes a beeline for that side of the table to see what the name tags say, and shrieks excitedly when she reads them. Everyone else rushes to see what she’s looking at.

“Oh my god!” Their moms both nearly-yell excitedly at the same time, running to hug them. Juliana follows quickly, shaking a concerning amount in her excitement.

“I’m gonna be an auntie!” She squeals. “And there’s two!”

Cady smiles widely as Julie hugs her gently and feels her tummy. “You’ll be the best auntie, Jules. I can’t wait to see you with them.”

“Do you know if they’re identical?” Janis’ mom asks. She’s an identical twin herself,  Janis’ aunt Alice is her sister. Janis and her cousin, Veronica, both take after them and look nearly identical themselves.

“They are, I’m hoping you can give me some tips,” Cady chuckles. “Daddy, what’s wrong?”

They both look up to see Cady’s dad visibly holding back tears, but they break through as Cady reaches for him.

“Nothing’s wrong, I’m just so happy for you,” he chokes, hugging his daughter tightly. “Twins, holy cow, binti.”

“I know,” Cady chuckles. “I love you. You’ll be a great grandad.”

Everyone crowds around both Cady and Janis in a group hug, sharing their love too.

“Okay, let’s eat. I’m eating for three now, I’m starving,” Cady jokes, taking her plate first and heading into the kitchen.

—————-

On Christmas Eve, Cady is finishing wrapping some final presents on their bed, cuddling Elvira on her lap as she works.

“Caddy?” Janis asks, entering from their living room. Cady checks to make sure anything that’s for Janis is hidden before she says she can come in.

“Yes, my love?” She asks, putting a last ribbon on a present and setting it aside.

“Can I paint on your tummy? I got this app on my phone that says what size the babies are,” Janis asks shyly. “Like, fruits and stuff. I thought it would be a cute way to track until they’re here.”

“Aww, Bluejay, of course,” Cady says as Janis rushes to grab her paints before coming back. “How big are they now?”

“It says they’re the size of peaches,” Janis responds, mixing some pink and a touch of orange together and brushing it over her wife’s belly.

“Aww, how cute,” Cady coos. “Precious little peaches.”

Janis just smiles happily at her, leaning down for a kiss before she adds some green leaves.

Cady just relaxes and enjoys the soothing texture of the paint. “This is nice. Oh, do you have any name ideas, by the way?”

“Not really, yet,” Janis replies. “But I have some rules.”

“Rules? Okay, shoot,” Cady says, looking up at her confusedly.

“The names can’t rhyme. That’s just gonna be annoying as they get older,” Janis says, adding some little details. “And they have to be spelled in a way that makes sense. I’m very tired of explaining that it’s Janis with an S, and I’m sure you’re tired of people calling you Caddy when they first read your name.”

“Yeah. You’re the only one I like calling me Caddy,” Cady grins fondly. “Okay, those are good rules. What if... are you okay with them starting with the same letter?”

“I can live with that,” Janis hums. “What letter?”

“I... no, never mind,” Cady says.

“No, what? I wanna know,” Janis pouts, adding two little happy faces on each peach.

“It’s stupid. But my favorite letter when I was little was L,” Cady mumbles. “I like the way it bends.”

“That’s not stupid, baby, it’s cute. L works for me,” Janis says.

“And I think we should each name one twin,” Cady says. “And then switch for middle names?”

“Sure. Do you have any names picked?” Janis asks, resting everything down on the palette and cuddling her wife while they wait for it to dry.

“Not first names,” Cady says. “But I want one of their middle names to be Rhys. Or Reese with the E’s, if they’re girls.”

“Of course, I love it,” Janis says, leaning down to kiss her.

“What about you, do you have anything?” Cady asks as she kisses her back sweetly.

“Um... since we’re doing L, could we name a boy Luca? After my dad?” Janis asks.

“That’s perfect,” Cady says, sounding choked up. “Luca Rhys. I love it.”

“Why are you crying?” Janis asks worriedly, cuddling her closer.

“I don’t know,” Cady sobs. “We just... we just named one of our babies, maybe. And-and you, I just love you so much!”

Ah. Hormones. “Oh, baby, I love you too. I love all three of you, come here,” Janis says, kissing her temple. “This probably isn’t a great time, but I have middle names picked already too.”

“What did you pick?” Cady sniffles, luckily calming down pretty quickly.

“Damian, if it’s a boy,” Janis says. “I have to. I couldn’t do it as a first name, I can’t handle two of them. But... I owe him so much.”

“I like it,” Cady grins through her tears. “What about for a girl?”

“Juliette. After my mom,” Janis says, wiping her tears away. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from,” Cady sniffles again. “So, Luca Rhys and something Damian, or something Reese and something Juliette. I like it.”

“Good,” Janis chuckles. “The paint should be dry now, do you still want to take your picture?”

“Yeah, might as well,” Cady chuckles. “I want to remember this. Crying because we chose a name and I’m in love with my wife.”

Janis laughs. “Go stand over there, Sunshine.”

Cady does, finally looking down and seeing Janis’ work. “Oh, Jayjay, they’re so cute! The little faces!”

Janis takes a picture then, finding Cady’s candid moments somehow even cuter than her posing. “There, got it.”

“But I didn’t do anything,” Cady says confusedly.

“You didn’t have to,” Janis says lovingly. “Come see.”

Cady starts to, but freezes suddenly as her eyes go wide.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Janis asks frantically.

“Come here, come here,” Cady says excitedly. Janis does, and Cady grabs her hand and rests it against the side of her tummy. Janis is confused until she feels a little pop beneath her.

“Is-is that...” She asks, already starting to cry as well.

“One of them is kicking,” Cady laughs through her tears. “That’s one of our babies.”

“Does it hurt?” Janis asks in wonder, resting her other hand on the other side. At her touch, the other twin sets off and starts kicking too.

“It feels like a tiny little kick, yeah,” Cady chuckles. “Little jolt. But that’s so exciting, Jay. This one must really love you, they only kicked when you came over.”

Janis bends down and peppers kisses all over the top of her belly. “Hello babies. I love you both so, so much. But it’s not nice to kick your mother, she’s doing a lot to get you here. And don’t kick each other, either.”

“You’re such a dork, you’re so cute,” Cady chuckles, threading her fingers through Janis’ short hair.

“I love you so much,” Janis says, leaning up again to kiss Cady’s lips this time.

“I love you too. Merry Christmas, love,” Cady whispers against her.

“Merry Christmas, Peanut.”

—————

They tell all their friends on New Year’s Eve. Every year they have a party to celebrate, and do their holiday gift exchange then as well, since they’re all with their families for the actual holidays.

Cady and Janis stayed in New York this year, so their friends already sort of know something is up. It’s still safe for Cady to travel, but she was uncomfortable doing anything that might strain their babies. Their families did Christmas and Thanksgiving all in one, instead.

The party is at Damian and Aaron’s apartment this year. Damian opens the door to find them both holding large stacks of presents. They got everyone little things individually, and then the baby announcements from both of them.

“Hey, gu-whoa,” Damian greets as he opens the door. “That’s a lot of presents, here.”

He takes about half of each of their stacks and carries them into the living room. Janis takes what’s left of her wife’s and follows after him. There’s a lovely tree and menorah set up, and he helps her arrange everything among all the other presents.

“Oh no wait, keep those separate,” Janis says. He looks at her confusedly but does so, resting all of the most important gifts to the side. “It’s a group thing, they’re all the same, I don’t want them to get mixed up.”

“Ah, okay. How was your lonely Christmas here?” Damian asks, finally able to hug his friends now that all the gifts are in their proper places.

“It was kind of nice, actually, we just watched Christmas movies and cuddled the pets all day,” Janis responds. She hopes he won’t ask her why they had to stay behind. She can’t lie to save her life.

“Living the dream,” Damian says instead, making Janis breathe a sigh of relief. “Caddy, why are you all the way over there?”

Cady’s been watching them and trying to figure out how to hug people without revealing their secret too soon. “Oh, just admiring the view,” she teases, approaching from the side and leaning in very gently. Damian hasn’t noticed anything amiss, somehow. “Are we the first ones here?”

“No, you’re the last, actually,” Damian chuckles. “The Plastics all went to help Aaron in the kitchen.”

As if on cue, Gretchen and Karen follow Aaron out of the kitchen then. The girls both squeal when they see Cady and come to hug her before moving to Janis. Aaron follows suit too.

Regina didn’t come with them, so Cady heads into the kitchen alone to greet her while Janis helps with everything in the living room. Cady finds Regina alone and sipping a glass of champagne.

“Hey, Gina,” she says quietly, pouring herself a flute of the non-alcoholic variety. Regina whirls around with a quiet yelp.

“Oh, Cady. Hi, sorry, I didn’t hear you guys get here or I would’ve gone out with everyone,” she says once she sees it’s just her friend.

“It’s fine,” Cady chuckles as she takes a sip. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just wanted a minute to thank. Reflect on the year, you know?” Regina says quietly.

“I get that,” Cady says meaningfully. She can suddenly see the gears turning in Regina’s brain as she looks her up and down oddly. “What?”

“Nothing! It’s nothing, sorry,” Regina says hastily, taking another drink.

“It’s fine, but really, what is it?” Cady says.

“Are you pregnant?” Regina asks quietly.

Cady chokes on her drink and looks around to make sure nobody else can hear them. “Um, yeah. How could you tell?”

Regina squeals excitedly. “You’re wearing a loose dress and flats when heels would clearly go better with it, you’re not drinking real alcohol even though New Year’s is the only time you drink, you didn’t go home for Christmas, and you keep touching your stomach.”

“Do I?” Cady asks. Upon looking down she notices her hand is, in fact, resting gently on her tummy. “Oh. Oops.”

“Congratulations!” Regina squeals. “Can I do your maternity pictures?”

“God, yes please,” Cady says in relief.

“Yay! Come on, you have to tell everyone else, I need time to fight with Damian about who gets to throw your baby shower,” Regina insists happily, putting her drink back in her hand and pushing her gently towards the living room. Cady pauses to grab one more glass of actual champagne for her wife before she goes.

Janis looks at her as she comes back, checking that she’s okay. Cady nods and comes over to her. “Here, love. Regina knows, but she won’t tell anyone.”

“How did she find out?” Janis asks, furrowing her eyebrows.

“She’s a therapist? She read me like an open book in thirty seconds flat and asked me point blank, I couldn’t lie,” Cady chuckles. “Get D to do the presents now, I can’t wait anymore.”

“Okay,” Janis replies. “Damie!”

“What?” Damian groans from the couch, where he’s cuddling his boyfriend and finally eating his snacks.

“Can we do presents now pleeeeeeeeease?” Janis begs, trying her hardest to make it seem like she wants to receive her presents and not give them.

“Fine. Who wants to go first?” Damian asks, hauling himself back upright and heading to the pile of presents. Cady and Janis both keep quiet, deciding they should probably go last.

Karen eventually volunteers Gretchen, who looks at her aghast. It turns out she took up crocheting over the past year and made everyone blankets in their favorite colors. They all get different baked goods from Regina, who explains that Gretchen has been teaching her how to cook and bake. Karen gives everyone very expensive face masks that are somehow perfectly catered to their skin types.

Damian and Aaron go next. Damian gives everyone fun socks with different animals on them. Cady’s have lions, Janis’ have turtles, Gretchen’s have cats, Karen’s have mice, and Regina’s have bunnies. From anyone else it would be a lame gift, but Damian is a professional. Aaron handmade each household a wreath for their doors. It’s a little late to use them now, but they promise to next year.

There’s a noticeable energy shift when it comes to Cady and Janis’ gifts. They try their hardest to act natural as they give their individual presents. Cady made little dishes in a pottery class she had done as a special date with Janis, and Janis painted mini portraits of all of them based on photos she had.

Janis then corrals everyone to sit together on the couch, somehow without arousing suspicion. Regina is on one arm and Aaron is on the other, with Gretchen, Karen, and Damian all squished together in the middle.

“This is from both of us but don’t open them yet,” she says as she hands out the packages. Cady is sneakily filming behind her, and turns to grin at her as Janis comes to hug her from behind. “Okay, read the cards first.”

She and Cady had made the cards by hand, decorating them with different cute designs. They all say the same thing, however: ‘Happy Holidays from Janis, Cady, L. & L. Sarkisian-Heron’.

Damian makes it to the end of the message first, and his brows furrow in confusion as he tears into his package. They shoot back up his forehead when he pulls out a t-shirt that says ‘Best gay uncle ever’ and everyone else follows his lead, pulling out matching ones with their respective sexualities and auntie or uncle titles. They watch them all process everything until it finally clicks in their heads.

Janis tries to count how many times Damian shrieks “Oh my god!” in ten seconds, but she loses count after twenty.

“How is this happening?” He demands, wrapping both of them in a tight hug. “Are you adopting or is one of you pregnant?”

“I’m pregnant,” Cady laughs as he takes a step back, adjusting her dress so her bump is revealed. Damian squeals and hugs her again, and everyone else joins in to make it a big group hug.

Regina, as always, breaks away first and heads back after just a couple of minutes. Gretchen follows to make sure she’s okay, holding her girlfriend’s hand as Regina reads through the cards again. Suddenly, she clocks the second initial.

“Guys, wait,” she says, patting Gretchen’s shoulder excitedly a few times. “There’s two initials here. Are you having twins?”

“Yes,” Cady says. Everyone screams and rushes to hug her again. She peeks up at her wife around everyone and grins happily. “They’re identical, the embryo split.”

“Oh my god!” Damian sobs. “I’m gonna be an uncle! To twins! And you guys are gonna be moms! To twins!”

“Aww, Dame, don’t cry,” Cady chuckles. “Your nieces or nephews should be here in May.”

“Oh my god,” he says quietly again. “Shit, guys, happy fucking holidays.”

Everyone laughs at that and scatters slightly, finally letting Janis and Cady breathe. Damian excuses himself to the kitchen to recover. Janis follows as Cady lets everyone feel her bump and answers their questions.

“God, Jan, congratulations,” he sniffs, wiping his nose on a tissue.

“Thanks, Damdam,” Janis chuckles. “You seem more excited than us.”

“I am! I’m so excited, I’m gonna be an uncle,” he says happily.

“Oh, yeah, um. About that,” Janis says. “Caddy and I were hoping you’d be more than their uncle.”

“What do you mean?” He asks confusedly.

“We want you to be their godfather,” Janis says.

“Really?” Damian asks, his eyes brimming with tears again.

“Yeah, of course,” Janis says, handing him another tissue. “Stop crying, you’re gonna make me cry.”

“I’m sorry,” he sniffs. “Of course I’ll be the godfather. God, I can’t wait to meet them. These are gonna be the cutest little dorky babies ever.”

“Hey!” Janis says as she comes to hug him tightly.

“Jan, we called ourselves the art freaks for ten years and Caddy is the biggest math nerd to ever live, you’re gonna be raising dorks in some form or another,” Damian says.

Janis purses her lips, realizing he’s absolutely correct. “I guess you’re right. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m so excited,” he says happily.

“Good,” Janis says, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “I’m gonna go find the mother of my children, I love you.”

“I love you too! All four of you!” He calls after her.

-

The excitement wears off just a touch by the time the countdown begins. Cady and Janis share a sweet kiss as it reaches zero and the fireworks go off around the city.

“Happy New Year, my love,” Cady whispers when they break apart. “It’s the year of babies.”

“The year of babies indeed,” Janis murmurs back.

—————-

They go shopping for baby things the next week. Technically, they’re supposed to be shopping for things they’ll need in their new house, since they’ve decided to move out of their tiny apartment and into a house that has enough room for them to raise two small humans. But, Cady passes by the baby clothes section on the way out and just can’t resist.

Janis follows and is instantly reeling at the sizes of everything. She nearly plows down a mannequin because she’s too busy staring at a little tiny bathing suit.

“Aww, Jayjay, look,” Cady says, weaseling her way around the racks to something she’s spotted. Janis leaves their cart where it is and runs after her. Cady heads to a rack with onesies that say ‘Thing One’ and ‘Thing Two’, patterned like the characters in the book. They have numbers that go all the way up to eight. Janis is suddenly very appreciative of the fact they’re only having twins.

“They’re cute,” Janis says. Cady grabs them in the newborn size. “Will they actually be this little?”

“Probably smaller, actually, we should be looking at preemie stuff too,” Cady says thoughtfully. Smaller? Janis tries to imagine something smaller than the onesies in her hand. It doesn’t quite compute.

“I have more rules,” she says suddenly, leading them back to the cart.

“Okay,” Cady chuckles. “What?”

“If they’re girls, we’re not putting them in those stupid bows that are the size of their faces,” Janis says.

“Agreed,” Cady says. She’s always found those tacky. “But can we do little ones?” She asks as she brushes a hand over a pack of more reasonably sized headbands.

“If you want, Butterfly,” Janis says, grabbing it and plopping it into their cart. “Have you thought any more about names, by the way?”

“Actually, yeah,” Cady says, resting a hand on her belly. “I want to name mine Leo. Boy or girl, I think it works for both.”

Janis grins happily. “I love it, that’s so cute. Leo Damian or Leo Juliette, it’s perfect.”

Cady comes over for a cuddle. “What about you, have you picked a girl name?”

“No,” Janis whines. “I can’t pick one.”

“You will. You’ll pick something perfect,” Cady comforts. “Let’s go home, I’m sleepy.”

“Okay, Peanut. Let’s go nap,” Janis chuckles.

—————

By Cady’s birthday in February, they’re officially in their new house farther upstate. Damian and Aaron helped with most things, since Cady couldn’t really do much. She packed most of their things and moved the lightest stuff, but she spent most of the move napping.

Damian also helped Janis do their nursery. He had begged to help, and Janis was all too happy for the extra hands. He put together all the white wood furniture Cady had picked while Janis painted the walls.

Cady had only gotten to pick their furniture and textiles, the rest is a birthday surprise Janis has been putting together. She painted the walls Cady’s favorite color, a pale yellow, and designed an accent wall for the one opposite the door to the room. She’d spent weeks doing paintings of different safari animals, and found a company who sized them up into big stickers. By the time everything’s pasted up, it looks like a scene straight out of Kenya.

Damian helps her push the cribs against that wall, with a nightstand in between and a lamp on top. The two-in-one dresser and changing table goes against the opposite wall, and Janis puts the bookshelf and the massive rocking chair in the corner next to it. The other corner has all the baskets full of soft toys and teethers they’ve acquired over the last few months.

Damian hangs the grey curtains patterned with little clouds from the curtain rod, while Janis unrolls a big matching rug. Cady had fallen in love with the little cloud pattern, so all the fabric in the room has it. The rug, sheets, changing table, lampshades, everything.

Janis had also come up with a cute way to make homemade mobiles. She and Cady had stitched little clouds and stuffed them, then hung them with fishing line from dowels that Janis had hot glued together. It’s a perfect touch.

She nearly breaks her neck hanging them over the cribs while Damian adds the soft grey baby blankets to the crib railings, and then the room is complete. Janis looks around as she and Damian catch their breaths, and comes to hug him for comfort.

“Damian, my babies are gonna be in those,” she mumbles anxiously, pointing to the cribs. “I’m not ready to be a mom.”

“Well, you’re not, yet, so that’s good,” Damian teases. “You’re gonna be a great mom, Janjan. You half raised Julie, and you’ve got the right instincts. You’ve taken great care of everything and everyone so far; I would bet all the money I’ve ever seen that you’re gonna be the greatest mom in the world. Well, Caddy is first, but you’re, like, a super duper close second.”

Janis whacks him on the arm affectionately. “Thanks, D. How do you always know what to say?”

“I still watch a lot of Drag Race, Rupaul is very wise,” Damian jokes. “And I just know you. Go get your wife, she should see this.”

Janis squeezes him one more time before leaving to go Cady-hunting. She finds her in their bedroom packing their hospital bag.

“Hey, baby,” she says quietly as she comes in. “Why are you packing the bag now?”

“Because we have no way of knowing when our babies are going to be here and I’d rather not have you do it in a panic while I’m in labor or something,” Cady shrugs. “I just wanted to get it out of the way.”

“Ah. That’s a very good idea,” Janis says. “Can you take a break for a second, though? I have another present for you.”

Cady nods eagerly and reaches for Janis to help her up. “Lemme go pee first.”

Janis grins affectionately as she does her cute little waddle towards the bathroom. Her belly is rapidly approaching the size it would be if she was full term with one baby, and their little ones are constantly pressing on her bladder. Cady’s already tired of it.

She covers Cady’s eyes when she comes back and leads her down the hallway towards the nursery. Janis steers them carefully around Daffodil, who’s trotting along beside them to see what they’re up to.

“Okay, ready?” She asks once they’re in the best place to view the whole room. Cady nods happily, so Janis takes her hands away.

Cady immediately starts crying, spinning around to look at everything. “Oh, Janis, this is perfect!” She heads to the far wall to look at the animals. “Did you paint these?”

“Yeah,” Janis says, coming behind her and lifting her tummy to hold the weight for her for a second. Cady gives a relieved sigh and leans back against her. “But they’re stickers, so once they get too old to want animals on their wall we won’t have to paint over the zebras.”

Cady brushes a hand over an elephant tenderly. “They’re so cute, you did such a good job.” She notices Damian in the chair nearby and reaches for him too. “Thank you guys, I love it.”

“You’re welcome, Cads,” Damian says, hugging her gently. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” Cady chuckles, wiping the tears from under her eyes.

“I did one more thing, go look in the closet,” Janis murmurs, kissing Cady’s neck and sending her on her way. Cady coos at what she finds and is suddenly crying again.

Several teeny tiny denim jackets, hand painted by Janis with different designs. Teddy bears, little moons and stars, all sorts of things. “God, Jay, these are so cute. They can match you!”

“That was the idea,” Janis chuckles, instinctively going to comfort her wife. Cady puts the jacket she’s holding back on its hanger and hooks it back into the closet. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Cady sniffles. She tries to hug Janis, but her belly blocks her most of the way. She manages anyway. “Oh, they’re awake now.”

“Can I feel?” Damian asks shyly. The babies haven’t kicked at all any time he’s been around.

“Of course, here,” Cady says, taking his hand and resting it where she’s feeling the most. “That’s your uncle, babies. We’re all so excited to meet you.”

“Oh my god that’s so weird,” he says in awe as the babies kick against his hand. “Cool, but... whoa.”

“It is a little weird,” Cady giggles. “Little aliens. Man, they’re excited.”

“What are they gonna call you guys? Is Janis mother dearest?” Damian asks jokingly, yelping again as another round of little kicks starts.

Cady and Janis look at each other. “I forgot about that, we can’t both be Mom.”

“I forgot too,” Janis says. “I think you should be Mama.”

“That makes you Mommy,” Cady smiles at her. Janis’ eyes well up when she realizes she’ll have two little beings calling her that soon. Mommy.

“I like it,” she sniffs.

“Aww, lovey,” Cady coos. Damian has returned to his very comfortable seat and is genuinely reading through Goodnight Moon for fun by this point. “God, can you two give it a rest for two seconds? I’m trying to hug your mommy.”

Janis laughs at that, brushing a hand over her tummy and kissing her wife. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Jay.”

—————-

They decide to do Cady’s maternity photos in late March. It’s getting to be Cady’s favorite time of year, it’s just starting to warm up and all the flowers are starting to bloom.

Janis comes home from work the day before to find Cady in tears on the couch. She rushes over, afraid something is wrong or she’s in pain. “Butterfly, what happened?”

“I’ve gained so much weight!” Cady wails, sitting up and crawling into Janis’ lap. Janis is confused, Cady has never been particularly insecure about her body, but the hormones have really been getting to her lately.

“Oh, baby,” Janis hushes. “That’s normal. Does your dress for tomorrow still fit?”

“Yeah,” Cady sobs. “But it’s so much, Janis.”

“Angel, it’s normal for you to have gained weight, I promise,” Janis says desperately. “A good eight of those pounds you’ve gained are just our babies, and they also need nutrients and fluids to grow and be healthy. And the rest of those pounds make up my beautiful, lovely, amazing, strong, adorable, kick-ass wife, who I love very much. I won’t hear any complaints about her body.”

Cady cuddles into her closer with a sniffle before she starts sobbing again. “I love you so much. You’re so good to me, I don’t deserve you!”

“Butterfly, shh, please, I hate when you cry,” Janis says, holding her wife as close as she possibly can. “I love you so, so much. I don’t deserve you. Come here.”

“I’m sorry, these hormones,” Cady sniffles. “Daffy lost her favorite ball under the couch yesterday and I cried for two hours.”

Janis chuckles and kisses her cheek. “I think that’s perfectly reasonable. Did she get it back?”

Daffodil comes trotting down the hallway with her favorite toy in her mouth, seeming to know she’s being discussed. Janis takes it from her and throws it back down the hallway, and she scrambles to run after it.

“Crazy dog,” Janis mumbles affectionately. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Cady sniffles. Elvira comes hopping up on them then, bonking her soft head against their intertwined hands for pets. “Hi, Ellie.”

Elvira purrs happily as they scratch behind her ears, her eyes shutting contently. Once they stop, she opens them again and meows indignantly. She looks to see where their hands have gone, and notices Cady’s resting on her belly.

Ellie inches closer, sniffing at her tummy curiously. She brings a gentle paw up and bats at it a few times, so Cady takes her hands away so she can sniff more. Elvira changes her angle and bats gently at it again.

“Can you smell your siblings in there?” Cady giggles. Elvira suddenly looks up at her with wide eyes and a questioning meow, seeming to realize what’s happening. “Yeah, there’s babies in there! I’m surprised you didn’t notice earlier.”

Janis laughs at their kitty’s reaction. “I wonder if Daffy knows.”

“She doesn’t seem to, I’m not sure,” Cady hums. “Daffodil! Come here, puppies!”

Daffy comes trotting back down the hallway, still occupied with her ball. She approaches them on the couch and drops it on Cady’s lap, wagging her tail hopefully.

“Oh, you still want to play?” Cady chuckles. “Come here first, what’s in here?”

She taps carefully on her belly, getting Daffy’s attention. Thinking there’s a treat, the dog sniffs at her belly curiously. She seems suspicious when she realizes there’s no treat, but keeps sniffing. Her tail starts wagging harder when she realizes, and she licks Cady’s tummy excitedly.

“Yeah, there we go, you guys finally put it together,” Cady laughs. “Okay, here you go, go play.”

“Silly things,” Janis tuts affectionately as Ellie heads off to join Daffodil on her adventures.

“I always wonder what they get up to,” Cady says. “Anyway. Have you picked your girl name yet?”

“No,” Janis whines. “Help me, what names were you thinking about before you picked Leo?”

“Lydia,” Cady says. Janis pulls a face.

“That’s pretty, but I hooked up with a Lydia at a party my sophomore year of high school,” she explains.

“Really?” Cady laughs. “Okay, not that then. Um... Leah, but if we’re doing Leo that would be too close. What about Lucy?”

“Lucy is cute, but...”

“It doesn’t feel right, I thought the same thing,” Cady says. “How about Luna?”

Janis thinks about it. “I like Luna a lot, but it still just… I don’t know.”

“I understand, love. Laura and Lily are the only other ones I came up with,” Cady says.

Janis buries her face in her shoulder. “I’ll think about it, I’m running out of time.”

“It’s only March, love, you still have plenty of time,” Cady says. “Don’t stress about it, whatever you pick will be perfect.”

“I’ll think of something before your baby shower,” Janis says confidently. That gives her a little less than a month. “I should get started on dinner, what are you craving today, babe?”

“Noodles,” Cady says instantly. “And cuddles.”

“Noodles it is,” Janis chuckles. “I’ll cuddle you while we eat.”

“Okay,” Cady says happily. “Oh, can you add grapes to mine, please?”

Janis looks at her in confusion. “What?”

“Grapes.”

“No, I heard you,” Janis says. “Why?”

“I dunno, ask them,” Cady shrugs, pointing to her belly.

“Little weirdos,” Janis chuckles lovingly, leaning down to kiss either side of Cady’s tummy.

“I love you,” Cady says quietly.

Janis comes back up to kiss her before she goes. “I love you too, baby.”

————-

Cady wakes up the next day feeling much better. She’s not quite back to herself, but nowhere near as upset as she was yesterday. She checks the clock and finds that it’s only about ten, so she has a few hours before she even has to start getting ready. They’re not even meeting Regina until four.

Janis is still deep asleep, and so are the pets who are resting at their feet. Daffodil is supposed to be part of the shoot, so Janis tried to give her a bath the night before. It just about worked, but they were both totally exhausted by the end of it. Elvira is just always asleep.

Cady heads to the bathroom and also grabs a book from her shelf to read while she waits for her little family to wake up. Janis makes a sort of snuffling sound in her sleep and scoots closer so she’s pressed against Cady’s leg. Cady just strokes through her hair and keeps reading.

About half an hour later, Janis finally wakes up. “G’morning, Butterfly.”

“Good morning, Bluejay,” Cady chuckles back. “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” Janis yawns. “Your leg is comfy.”

“Thanks,” Cady giggles. “What should we have for breakfast?”

“Whatever you want, we have pretty much everything,” Janis responds. “Eggs, pancakes, fruit.”

“Something with fruit sounds nice,” Cady says. “I’ve been craving a lot of sweet stuff.”

“Don’t people say that your cravings say what you’re meant to be having?” Janis asks.

“Yeah, but everything is kind of contradictory,” Cady says. “I’ve heard that if you crave meat and stuff it’s supposed to be a boy, and sweet stuff means it’s a girl. But I’ve also heard the opposite.”

“Huh,” Janis says. “Okay, come on, I’m hungry.”

-

Several hours later, after both breakfast and lunch, it’s time for them to get ready. They’d decided on periwinkle as the color scheme for their photos. Cady has a soft white dress with periwinkle flowers, and Janis has a coverall jumpsuit the same shade. Daffodil looks very dapper in her matching bandana.

“So what do you think they are?” Cady asks as she brushes out Janis’ hair to style it. Janis had done Cady’s hair and makeup, and now it’s her turn to be pampered. Cady’s hair is just in her natural curls down her back, and she has a flower crown to match her dress. Cady applies a few products to bring back Janis’ natural wave and pins small chunks from the front to the back of her head.

“Think what are what?” Janis asks confusedly.

“The babies. Do you think they’re boys or girls? Biologically, anyway.” Cady clarifies.

“Oh,” Janis says. “I don’t know. I think they might be girls.”

“Really? I’ve been feeling like they’re boys lately,” Cady says. “They kick so much.”

“You’re probably right, then, they are inside you,” Janis chuckles. “We don’t have too much longer until we’ll find out.”

“True,” Cady says. “One more full month.”

“Do you think we’re ready?” Janis asks quietly.

“Oh, absolutely not,” Cady answers. “I don’t think we could ever be ready. But I think we can do it anyway.”

Janis tips her head back once Cady finishes her hair, looking up at her face upside-down. “These babies are making you rather poetic.”

Cady laughs and bends down carefully for a kiss. “I’ve just been spending too much time around you. You read poetry for fun.”

“And you do calculus for fun,” Janis retorts. “God, Damian’s right, our kids are gonna be dorks.”

“And we’ll love them anyway,” Cady says. “Come on, we should go soon.”

————-

They meet Regina at the scheduled time in a massive field of tulips. For whatever reason, Gretchen has connections to a tulip farmer, who agreed to let them take their photos in his fields so long as they didn’t trample any.

Regina is taking practice shots of her dog, Nutmeg, when they arrive. Nutmeg is sitting very patiently and even smiling for the camera.

Daffodil gets very excited when she sees her best friend and auntie, and makes a beeline over to them. Nutmeg breaks away too, and they both head trotting back to Regina after a quick meeting.

“Hi, Daffy, how’s my favorite little retriever?” Regina asks, flopping the dog’s ears around.

“Hey, Gina,” Janis calls as they head up after her.

“Hi! Oh, look at you!” Regina says excitedly, coming to hug them and feel Cady’s tummy. “Okay, I was thinking we should get the shots with Daffodil first so she and Nutmeg can go play, if that works for you?”

“Yeah, we should probably get them while she’s still nearly clean,” Janis says. “Daffy, come here!”

Daffodil comes running over to them for her photos, but looks longingly at her friend the whole time. Luckily, she’s quickly released again to go play, having been on her best behavior the whole time and getting her part out of the way quickly. They got several adorable photos of her sniffing and licking Cady’s tummy.

Regina is an excellent photographer. She lets Cady and Janis just do what comes naturally to them and then moves herself to get a good shot, and makes small talk while she works. They almost forget they’re even having photos taken in the first place.

“Cute! Janis, can you go find the dogs? We should get some of Cady solo and then bring you back when golden hour hits,” Regina says, resting her heavy camera against her shoulder.

“Yep,” Janis says as she tugs her shoes back on. “Come find me if you need anything.”

She heads into the small forest nearby to hunt for their puppies, since they’d gone that way a while ago.

Cady is a little less natural at posing when she’s alone, so Regina guides her through some of the basic ones.

“Do this,” Regina says, demonstrating how Cady should hold her belly. “And then think about how cute your little muffins are going to be.”

Cady does what she’s told, the prompt getting a genuine smile out of her. Who will they look more like? What will their personalities be like? What will they sound like?

“Perfect!” Regina says, letting Cady come see a few snapshots. Cady grins happily when she sees the few she’s allowed to.

“These are great,” she says. “Have you three ever thought about kids?”

“We’ve talked about it,” Regina says quietly. “We all agreed that we’re not ready and probably never will be. We’re just excited to be aunties.”

“You guys can babysit these two anytime,” Cady chuckles. “But I understand. I’m not sure I’m ready either.”

“Cady Sarkisian-Heron, you were designed to be a mother,” Regina insists. “You’ve been taking care of all of us since we were in high school. You’re gonna pop out two cute-ass babies and raise them into great humans.”

“You can’t just say stuff like that, I’m so emotional lately,” Cady sniffles.

Janis makes a reappearance then, emerging from the woods followed by two wet dogs shaking themselves off.

“So, it turns out there’s a river in there,” she pants once she reaches them. “They decided to go fishing.”

“Nutmeg! What are your other moms gonna say?” Regina tuts. “I have towels in my car, hang on.”

She passes the camera to Janis and heads towards where they parked. It’s a very expensive, fancy camera, and Janis holds it like she’s been casually handed the Ark of the Covenant. She hasn’t done much in the way of photography since her classes in college, but she decides she can take a few little snaps of her wife. For practice.

“Hey,” she calls to her wife. Cady turns to look at her over her shoulder. Click. “Guess what?”

Cady turns to look at her fully, tilting her head in confusion. “What?”

“I love you,” Janis says. Cady’s face splits into a wide smile. Click.

“I love you too, Jay,” Cady giggles. “Look at you go, little miss photography.” She comes to lean on her wife’s shoulder.

Regina comes back then with the towels, bending down to dry off the dogs. Cady and Janis kiss sweetly above her. “No being cute while I don’t have my camera, stop it immediately.”

The two of them break apart sheepishly, giggling as Nutmeg shakes the rest of the water off her once she’s been toweled dry. Regina dries Daffy as well, and then stands up and takes her camera back.

“Okay, just a few more of you two now that the sun is starting to go down, and then Gretch and K and I want to take you to dinner?” She says, stretching her spine out.

“Ooh, yay,” Cady says happily. She needs to sit, so Janis leads them to a bench she found while she was hunting for their dogs. It has several hills behind it that are absolutely covered in natural wildflowers, which Cady loves.

They get several with Cady and Janis leaning their heads together, grinning happily at the camera. Then Cady rests her head in Janis’ lap, and Regina gets a few candid shots of the two of them talking while Janis plays with her hair.

“I think we’re done here,” Regina says, looking through a few of the shots she’s gotten. “I’ll edit them a bit and get them to you in a couple weeks or so.”

“Thanks Reggie,” Janis says as they both hug her. She tenses slightly at the affections and huffs indignantly at the name, but does return the hug. “Do not call me that. But you’re so welcome.”

————-

Cady and Janis both spend a majority of the month of April in tears. Cady cries because she’s in a great deal of pain. Her body is shifting in ways it wasn’t really designed to, and she can’t take any painkillers that actually work because they might hurt the twins. Janis cries because she can’t stand seeing her wife in so much pain.

“Butterfly, can I do anything to help you?” Janis asks desperately as her wife lies weeping in her lap, where she’s been for most of the day.

“The heating pad? And rub my back?” Cady sniffles. “I just want to be held, mostly.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Janis says, tucking Cady in carefully with their favorite blankets and running off to the kitchen. Cady can hear the microwave whirring as she heats up the pad.

Janis comes back carrying their heating pad and a mug of Cady’s favorite tea, with the perfect amount of milk and sugar. She hands it to Cady as she sits up, then wraps the heating pad around her shoulders and pulls her close.

“I’m sorry you’re hurting so much, baby,” Janis says softly, rubbing her lower back gently.

“It’ll be worth it,” Cady sniffles. Janis thinks she might be feeling better, but her lower lip starts trembling and she bursts into sobs anew. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“Oh, Peanut, it’s okay,” Janis comforts. Cady’s been nesting, stressed about making sure everything is clean and soft for their babies to come home to. Janis forgot to unload the dishwasher and Cady snapped a little. “I get it. There’s a lot happening to you right now, I know you didn’t mean it.”

“I’m still sorry. I didn’t mean it and I shouldn’t have done it,” Cady sniffles. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Kitkat. I love you so much,” Janis says. “Baby, be honest with me, can you handle having your baby shower tomorrow? I can call D and have them move it to another day.”

“I’ll be okay,” Cady sniffs again. “We don’t know how much longer we have until the babies come, and I miss everyone. I’m excited.”

“I’m excited too, Sunshine. We get a whole day just to celebrate you,” Janis says, working her way up to massage her shoulders.

“And you,” Cady insists. “You’ve done so much for us the entire time I’ve been pregnant. I couldn’t have done this without you. I can’t wait to see you be a mommy.”

“I can wait a little longer,” Janis jokes. “I’m still terrified. But I’m so excited to meet them.”

“I am too. I love you so much, Jay.”

“I love you too, Sunshine.”

-

They spend the rest of the evening cuddling, and Janis eventually falls asleep halfway through a movie. Cady cuddles her as close as she can around her very large tummy and plays with her hair.

She almost jumps out of her skin when Janis suddenly sits bolt upright. “Layla.” Is the first thing out of her mouth.

“What?” Cady chuckles affectionately.

“Layla,” Janis repeats. “I wanna call mine Layla if they’re girls.”

“That’s beautiful, my love. Layla Reese,” Cady says. “I told you you’d pick something perfect.”

“Luca and Leo or Layla and Leo,” Janis says. She leans down to kiss each side of Cady’s belly. “That’s you two. You have your names now. Mama and I can’t wait to meet you.”

Cady smiles contently down at her. They’d decided earlier that baby A would be either Luca or Layla, and baby B would be Leo. “Leo’s up here,” she says, guiding Janis’ hand to where they were in their last ultrasound. “And Luca or Layla is over here.” Janis kisses each spot several times.

“I love you so much, little ones,” Janis whispers. “I can’t wait to finally hold you.” Luca or Layla suddenly kicks against her cheek. “Hey, don’t kick me!”

“They know your voice,” Cady giggles. “They only kick when you talk to them, whenever I try they won’t do anything.”

“You’re their mama, you’re gonna be their favorite parent for, like, a minimum of five years,” Janis says. Leo kicks in agreement. “See?”

“I love you, loser,” Cady giggles.

“I love you too, dork,” Janis retaliates.

————-

Janis is awoken the next morning by Damian entering their house in a flurry, with far too much energy for ten in the morning. She pads down the stairs in her pajamas to shut him up.

“Damian, shush, Caddy’s still asleep,” Janis says.

“Oh, oops,” Damian whispers. “How is she?”

“She’s fine. She’s having a rough go of it lately, she’s in a lot of pain, but she’s managing really well,” Janis responds as she’s wrapped in a hug.

“Poor thing. Those babies need to come out soon and give her a break,” Damian says, adjusting his ‘best gay uncle ever’ shirt.

Janis chuckles. “We need them to stay in a little longer, it’s still way too early.”

“When is she due again?” Damian asks as he picks his box of decorations back up.

“June, technically, but it’s dangerous if they get too big, so she’ll be induced sometime in May if they don’t come on their own by then,” Janis says.

“Wow, only a month? Shit,” Damian says. “I’m so ready to cuddle these babies.”

“I am too,” Janis chuckles. “I’m terrified, but I just want to meet them. Where’s your boy toy, by the way?”

“He’s coming later, and Reggie said she’d be here in about ten minutes,” Damian says. “We wanted to make sure we have enough time to set up.”

“Nice,” Janis says. “Can I do anything?”

“Absolutely not, this is your day,” Damian says, batting her hands away from his precious box of treasures. “Go get your wife.”

Janis heads back to her bedroom obediently to wake up her wife. Cady looks so much more peaceful when she’s asleep, Janis really doesn’t want to disturb her. She lets her stay asleep for a while longer before she decides to kiss her awake.

“Wake up, Butterfly. It’s your day,” Janis purrs softly.

Cady yawns and rubs at her eyes like a cat. “Jayjay? Timessit?”

“About ten thirty,” Janis responds, looking at the clock. Apparently she’d let her wife sleep in a little longer than she’d thought. Even asleep, Cady is easy to lose track of time with.

“Ten thirty? Why didn’t you wake me up earlier, it’s so late!” Cady says with much more energy, trying to roll herself out of bed.

“Because there’s two humans growing inside you and you need to rest,” Janis responds, grabbing her hands to help her up. “Everything’s fine. Damian’s downstairs getting everything ready and Reggie will be here to help him in a few minutes. There’s nothing you need to worry about today.”

“Okay,” Cady breathes, calming herself down. “Do we have snuggle time?”

“I made sure of it,” Janis says. “But you should eat first. Babies need calories.”

“Okay,” Cady says, sounding much less frazzled. She follows her wife down to the kitchen, but stops to greet Damian in the living room. “Hi, Dame.”

Damian turns around from where he’s hanging a banner up. “Hey, Cads! How are you?”

“Exhausted,” Cady responds with a yawn. “But this looks great!”

“Thanks,” Damian says. “Go get your wife, I got this.”

Janis makes them some quick eggs and toast with fruit on the side. Cady gets a lot of extra fruit. Regina shows up in the middle of their breakfast, also having several boxes of activities and decorations.

“Hey, Gina,” Cady greets from her spot on the couch.

“Hey, Cady,” Regina responds, trying to catch her breath as she rests down a heavy box. “Christ.”

“You guys got a lot of stuff,” Janis comments around a mouthful of egg. “We didn’t invite that many people.”

“Damian went absolutely ape shit at Party City last week,” Regina says. “Wants to give you guys a rager before you have too many babies to party anymore.”

“Hell yeah,” Damian cheers as he comes down from his stepladder to check that his banner is even.

“Oh, Christ,” Janis groans. She’d let the two of them run wild, she just hopes they didn’t blow too much of her money.

“Sounds fun,” Cady cheers. “Let’s go get dressed.”

Janis kisses her cheek and takes their empty plates into the kitchen before following her wife back upstairs. The color scheme for the party overall is yellow and green, since Janis and Cady didn’t want to buy too much into the whole blue and pink thing. However, the invitations did say to wear pink or blue depending on what you think the babies are, which they both think is cute.

Cady wears the same dress she wore for her maternity photos, since it’s soft and light, and the flowers are close enough to blue. Janis still doesn’t have much in the way of pink clothing, but she borrowed a pink button down from Damian to go over her black ensemble.

Once their hair and teeth are brushed and some makeup is applied, they head downstairs. Regina and Damian made a lot of progress while they were getting ready. Streamers are hanging from the walls, the tables are decorated, and Regina is even stuffing a piñata.

“Reggie?” Janis asks. “Why the fresh hell did you buy a baby shaped piñata?”

“It was the only baby-related one they had!” Regina insists. “I know it’s bad.”

Cady laughs so hard at the idea of whacking a cardboard baby with sticks that she nearly falls over, Janis has to grab her.

“That’s great, I love it,” Cady giggles, wiping tears of laughter from under her eyes. “This all looks so good!”

Damian comes in from their backyard, where he’s been decorating and setting up the outdoor activities. “Why, thank you!”

They finish a few minutes later and take the two of them on a short tour before the guests come. Cady starts giggling at the games they’ve come up with. They’ve changed ‘pin the tail on the donkey’ to something along the lines of ‘get the spoon in the baby’s mouth’, with velcro spoons to attach to a large cartoon baby.

Janis gets a chuckle out of a water balloon toss, called ‘don’t break the water’. There’s also a few calmer things, like decorating play-doh babies or leaving a message on a poster with one of the maternity photos in the center.

“Also, if you’re okay with it, I thought it would be fun to try some old wives’ tales since you’re not doing a gender reveal,” Regina says once they’ve seen everything. “Just the normal ones like the ring test and stuff, not the ones with, like, your pee or anything.”

Cady laughs. “Yeah, that sounds fun. This is amazing, thank you guys.”

-

Janis and Cady greet all their guests, which is mostly just their old friends from high school and college who could make it to New York, and any family who could make the trip.

Cady is surprised when her cousin Emma comes in, Janis decided to surprise her. Emma brought her wife Alyssa, and their son James.

“Oh my god, hi!” Cady says happily, hugging both of them as tight as she can. They still live in Indiana and haven’t been able to visit for a few years. “Hi James!”

James is a little over a year old, and just waves as he cuddles shyly into Alyssa’s shoulder. Janis looks at him for a moment. Soon she’ll have her own babies to cuddle like that.

It turns out Cady had a similar surprise, since Janis’ cousin Veronica enters soon after, flanked by all three of her girlfriends. Janis remembers that one is technically her wife, but she can’t remember which Heather married who.

“Vera!” She calls happily, running to hug her cousin. “You didn’t tell me you were coming!”

“I told Cady,” Veronica says. “And obviously I’m coming, my favorite cousin is having a baby!”

“Two, actually,” Janis says.

“Shit, dude,” Veronica responds. “I forgot about that. Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” Janis chuckles. Veronica hugs her back for a second and then leads her girlfriends to check out the party. “This is bad.”

“What’s bad?” Cady asks worriedly.

“I can’t tell the Heathers apart,” Janis says anxiously, chewing a thumbnail. “I memorized the colors they wear, but now two are in pink and the other is in blue.”

“Oh,” Cady chuckles. “Well, you’re in luck, I memorized the hair in case of something like this. Chandler is the one Veronica married, she’s got red hair, and she’s the other one in blue. McNamara is blonde and she’s one of the ones in pink, and then Duke has dark hair and she’s the other pink one.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Butterfly,” Janis chuckles. “I think that’s everyone.”

Cady closes the door and pokes out a hand, which Janis takes with a squeeze and a kiss to her knuckles. They head into the party hand in hand.

—————

Several hours later, the party is over and Cady is sound asleep against her wife, surrounded by all sorts of adorable gifts. Janis wishes she had the strength to carry her up to bed, but carrying three people is too much even for her.

Regina and Damian are both spending the night in the guest rooms, so Cady and Janis don’t have to worry about taking down any of the decorations. Janis hugs both goodnight and then wakes her wife, leading her up the stairs to bed.

They had a good day.

—————-

The next day is very bad.

Cady wakes Janis up around nine in tears. “Baby, what’s the matter?” Janis asks in concern.

“Something’s not right, Jay,” Cady sobs. “I can tell. They haven’t kicked since last night. They-they always kick in the mornings, something’s wrong.”

“Hey, I’m sure everything’s fine,” Janis soothes, trying to hide her own panic. “I’ll call the doctor and see if we can get you in for a scan.”

“Okay,” Cady sniffles.

-

The doctor tells them to come in right away for an emergency ultrasound, which doesn’t make them feel any better. Cady is desperately holding back tears and clinging to Janis’ hand like a lifeline.

The doctor’s brow quickly furrows as the babies come into view, and Janis almost collapses in worry. Something isactually wrong.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” the doctor says in that tone of voice. “You’ve developed twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, from what I can see here it seems to be about a stage three.”

“How-how bad is that? What does that mean?” Janis asks shakily, trying to comfort her wife and herself at the same time.

“Before I explain, I don’t want you to panic too much. There are steps we can take, you have a good chance of having two healthy babies,” the doctor prefaces. That’s never good.

“But?” Janis chokes.

“But, stage three means that one or both of your babies’ hearts are affected,” the doctor says apologetically. She flips the monitor at an angle so they can all see. It’s obvious just looking that something isn’t right. “Here. TTTS just means that the twins aren’t sharing blood vessels evenly. Baby A has too much blood and fluids, things like that, going to them, and B isn’t getting enough.”

“But are they okay?” Cady cries desperately. “Are my babies alive?”

“Yes,” the doctor responds calmingly. Cady gives a sob of hope and clings somehow tighter to Janis. “But I am worried. Baby B’s heart is very weak. If we don’t take action soon you run the risk of losing them both. I’m going to send you for a corrective procedure right away.”

“Procedure? Like… surgery?” Janis asks, her face blanching. How did everything turn around like this?

“Nothing terribly invasive. Just a laser to sever some of the shared vessels, she won’t even have to be opened up,” the doctor says, taking a few pictures and ending the scan. “It’s not without its risks, but it really is your best bet here.”

“What are the risks?” Janis demands.

“Jay,” Cady says gently. Janis looks at her and takes a deep breath.

“Sorry.” Janis apologizes.

“It’s perfectly understandable. Giving news like this is the worst part of my job, I get all sorts of reactions,” the doctor says calmly. “To your wife, there is almost no risk. However, there is a chance that it will be too traumatic for the babies and you’ll lose them both.”

“No,” Cady sobs desperately. “They have to- I need them to be okay.”

“The chances of that are very low,” the doctor comforts. “With the surgery, your chances of both being born healthy is about seventy-five percent. If we do nothing, their chances of survival drop to about ten percent.”

Cady dissolves into broken sobs behind Janis, who is hollowly trying to process all the information she’s been bombarded with over the last few minutes.

“I don’t care about the risks to me, just save them,” Cady weeps. Janis pulls her up and cradles her so tightly, letting her own tears drip onto Cady’s hair as her wife cries into her shoulder. The doctor leaves with a quiet apology to send off the referral, leaving them alone to process. “Janis, I-I-I can’t lose them. They have to be okay, I can’t-I need them to be okay.”

“They will be,” Janis says with false confidence. “We-we’ll get you the surgery, everything’s gonna be fine.”

They both know there’s always a chance something will go wrong, but for now they need to believe that everything will be okay.

—————

The next day, Cady is prepped and readied for the surgery. Janis can only be there in the beginning, as she’s put under anesthesia. Cady is crying and clinging to her desperately. Janis knows she can’t do anything. She’s never felt more tortured.

“I love you so much, it’s gonna be okay,” she murmurs, kissing Cady’s forehead as she’s wheeled away.  She’s absolutely terrified herself. Janis spent the night before frantically researching TTTS and was horrified to discover they were only two stages away from their worst nightmare. The fifth and final stage is the death of one or both babies.

Janis heads back to the waiting room, past where all their friends and family are waiting for news, and out the door into the parking lot. Everyone looks at each other in concern, but Damian is the one to get up and follow her.

He doesn’t say anything, just follows after her while still maintaining a bit of distance. Eventually she reaches a sort of garden area and turns around to him with tears streaming down her face.

Damian reaches for her, but Janis just starts pacing, letting out choked sobs every time she pivots. Damian finds a bench and lets her get it out.

“It’s not supposed to be like this!” Janis screams eventually, startling some exhausted looking medical student walking by, along with a few birds. “Everything was supposed to be okay this time! Why-why is it not okay?”

She hunches over with the force of her cries, and Damian rushes to wrap her in a hug. Janis clings to him desperately and sobs into his shoulder.

“It’s not-it’s not fair,” she weeps quietly. “It’s not fair.”

“You’re right, it’s not fair,” Damian says gently. “You’ve both been through too much already, this isn’t fair. But it’s gonna be okay. One way or another. We’re all here for you.”

Janis doesn’t respond, she just bursts into another round of sobs. She continues weeping desperately until she tires herself out after a while, so Damian hands over some tissues.

“You ready to go back in?” He asks quietly as she blows her nose. She nods hollowly.

“I should. I need to be there for news,” she whispers.

“If you’re not ready that’s okay,” Damian says. “Someone would text us if they heard anything, and we have time before she wakes up. We can wait here if you need more time.”

“No, I-I need to be there for her,” Janis mumbles. “I’m fine.”

They both know damn well that nothing is fine here, but Damian nods and leads her back to the waiting room.

-

After what feels like an eternity, the surgeon comes out with an intern that Janis doesn’t recognize. The intern calls for the ‘father’ of the Sarkisian-Heron babies, and Janis dashes over.

“Is she okay? Did they make it? Where is she?” She asks desperately.

“Father only,” the intern snaps.

“She’s my wife! My wife just had surgery because our babies might be dying, I don’t have time to deal with your petty, homophobic bitch ass. Where the hell is my wife?” Janis calls.

The surgeon steps up with a weak grin then, gesturing for Janis to follow her. “Everything went exactly as planned, there were no complications. Your wife and children are completely fine.”

Janis gives a heavy, shaky sigh of relief, feeling like the drama of the last day or so is escaping her chest. She’s led back to where Cady is resting, going to sit by her wife’s sleeping form and taking her hand gently.

“She should wake shortly,” the surgeon says quietly. “And my apologies for Sarah’s behavior. I would also like to thank you, I’ve been waiting for someone to call her out so I can report her ass to HR.”

Janis gives a weak grin, the closest to a smile she’s come in more than twenty-four hours. She looks back down to her wife and kisses her knuckles gently. “Happily. Thank you, for-for saving them. And her.”

“Just doing my job,” the surgeon replies. “We’ll be back to check on everything in a few minutes.”

Janis nods and the doctor leaves. Cady stirs a few moments later, her eyelids fluttering before she finally opens them with a good bit of effort.

“Are they okay?” She whispers, squeezing Janis’ hand lightly.

Janis nods and brushes tears from her own face. “Yeah, baby, they’re okay. The doctor said everything went perfectly, there were no complications. Our babies are both fine.”

“Thank goodness,” Cady says with tears brimming in her eyes. “I couldn’t handle losing either of them now.”

“I couldn’t either, Peanut,” Janis says quietly. “But they’re okay, we don’t even have to think about that now.”

“I love you,” Cady whispers.

“I love you too, Sunshine.”

——————

Cady is officially cleared to go home six days later, and is to be on strict bed rest until the babies are born. She’s taken an emergency medical leave from work which will stretch into her maternity leave.

But, in typical Cady fashion, she didn’t want to leave her work, even temporarily, without a goodbye. She wrote notes during her very long stay in the hospital, to all of her students as well as the substitute professor who would be taking over for her in her absence. Janis and Damian delivered them and cleaned her office out for her while Cady relaxed at home.

Janis, on the other hand, still has to go to work until her ‘paternity’ leave kicks in.

“Jayjay, it’s gonna be okay,” Cady comforts a nearby panicking Janis. “Everything is good now, I’m gonna be fine. And Damian offered to come keep me company, I’m not going to be alone.”

“But what if you go into labor and I’m not there? Or something else happens?” Janis asks worriedly.

“Jellybean, I’m not even having braxton-hicks contractions yet, these babies aren’t coming for a while,” Cady chuckles. “But you won’t be far, I’ll call you right away if something happens.”

“Okay,” Janis mutters, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Go teach those kids,” Cady replies, shooing her out the door from bed after a quick kiss.

Cady has a lovely day watching musicals with Damian and cuddling their pets. Janis texts periodically to make sure everything is okay.

And it is.

-

They keep this system all throughout May. Their families have long since left back to Illinois, but at least one of their friends spends the day at their house with Cady so she doesn’t get lonely, and to keep her safe if anything happens.

Until, in a beautiful fit of irony, Cady goes into labor on Mother’s day.

She and Janis had a lazy Sunday, celebrating their last Mother’s day with just the two of them with a long snuggle session and waffles for dinner.

Cady started feeling off at around six in the evening, but played it off as being uncomfortable due to the fact that she’s a small, heavily pregnant woman. Janis pampers her with lots of loving kisses and nice back rubs. Cady tries to focus on them instead of the bursts of pain popping up periodically.

She’s concerned when they don’t stop. Janis heads to bed around eleven, but Cady stays behind an extra few minutes to grab a snack. She’s Googled the difference between phantom and real contractions, and learned that phantom ones tend to go away after eating something.

So, Cady has some veggies and lets Daffodil out for a late-night frolic through the backyard. She’s finished her carrots by the time the puppy comes back to paw at the door. The contractions don’t seem to have stopped. Uh oh.

Daffodil leads her up the stairs to bed, so Cady follows and lies down next to her wife. Maybe sleep will help. Elvira is already there, and nuzzles in between both of them while Daffy takes her usual place on the ground beside them.

-

Cady is woken up no more than a half-hour later by a much more severe pain. On instinct, she reaches for Janis’ hand to squeeze.

“Ow,” Janis groans tiredly. “Whassamatter?”

“I’m in labor,” Cady says quietly, the realization finally hitting. Janis nearly clonks their heads together as she sits bolt upright.

“Are you serious?” She asks, rubbing her eyes.

“Yeah,” Cady says, trying to hold back anxious tears.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Does it hurt?” Janis asks in concern, stroking a hand over Cady’s cheek.

“No,” Cady whimpers. “Well, yeah. But… I’m scared, Jay.”

“Of what? Everything’s gonna be fine, we’ll take care of you,” Janis says gently.

“They’re not ready, Janis,” Cady sobs. “I’m only thirty-four weeks, it’s too early. They’re gonna be too small, they’re not… they’re not gonna be healthy.”

“Oh, Peanut,” Janis frowns. “They’re gonna be fine, I promise. They might be a little small, yeah, and they might need some stuff to help them out for a while. But it’ll be better for them to be out, they’ll be easier to monitor and help, and it’ll be easier to make sure all of you are healthy.”

“But what if they don’t look like you?” Cady wails suddenly.

“Then they’ll look like you, and they’ll be perfect,” Janis comforts. “Shh, angel, please. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

Cady sniffles and leans into her shoulder. She winces and scrambles for Janis’ hand again when another contraction hits.

“How long have you been having contractions, baby?” Janis asks, wincing but not complaining at the series of pops her knuckles give.

Cady looks at the clock, it’s just a few minutes past midnight. “Six hours,” she says sheepishly.

“You what? Butterfly,” Janis demands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know at first, they weren’t that bad,” Cady replies as Janis goes to put clothes on. It’s just leggings and a sweatshirt, but is slightly more presentable than her pajamas.

“Okay, tell me when your next one starts,” Janis says, holding her hand gently and bringing up a timer on her phone. Cady does, and they time the next few. They’re long and getting closer together. “I think it’s baby day, Cads, we should go to the hospital.”

“Okay,” Cady sniffs again. “God, I can’t wait to not be pregnant anymore.”

Janis laughs as she hands Cady some clothes to change into and grabs their bag. “I don’t blame you, Peanut. You’re almost in the clear.”

Cady changes clothes carefully and takes Janis’ hand to be pulled up. “Baby time.”

“I can’t wait,” Janis says, kissing her sweetly before they head to the car.

Cady texts their families on the way so they can plan out their travels, and then texts her friends to let them know as well.

spacecadet: Hey, turns out it’s labor day! We’ll keep you guys updated :D

damecupboard: AAAAAH NO WAY

ilikemouses: but it’s mother’s day???

georgewashington: She means the babies are coming, honey.

ilikemouses: oh

ilikemouses: oh!! yay! 📷📷📷📷📷📷

fetchen: yay!! we’ll go get daffy in the morning!!

a-aron: and dame and i will get ellie. good luck guys!!

“Okay, everyone knows. Our parents found a flight for tomorrow morning, somehow, and Julie’s already in town for work,” Cady says.

“Oh, is she? She didn’t tell me,” Janis says, turning into the hospital parking lot. “God, she’s gonna lose her shit when she meets them.”

“Just make sure she’s sitting before you let her hold them,” Cady chuckles affectionately.

“That’s a good plan,” Janis says. “Let’s go get you some drugs.”

“Yay,” Cady says weakly, following her to the doors.

-

Since they’re not an ambulance and it’s after hours, the doors are locked. Janis pushes a buzzer she finds, and jumps a little when a voice buzzes out from the speakers, asking what they need.

“Um… we’d like to come have our babies, please,” Janis says, not knowing how else to respond. Cady bursts out laughing behind her as the doors click and then swing open.

“You’re so cute, oh my god,” she giggles. “Oh, I shouldn’t laugh, ow.”

A small team lead them to where they need to be and help get Cady hooked up to all the monitors and finally pumped full of painkillers. She pulls a face when she has to don a hospital gown, and it only deepens when she finds out she can’t take it off until the babies are born to keep everything sanitary.

She and Janis are left alone once everything is sorted and instructed to try and get some sleep. Cady settles in and looks over to the monitors, watching her babies’ heartbeats pinging steadily.

Janis lies on her uncomfortable cot in the corner, and they both try to sleep.

-

By three in the morning, it’s clear sleep is not coming easily for either of them.

“Jayjay? Are you awake?” Cady pipes up.

“Yeah,” Janis yawns. “What’s the matter?”

“I can’t sleep,” Cady grumbles. “Will you stay with me?”

Janis rolls out of her spot and comes over to her. She knows she’s really not supposed to, but neither of them are used to trying to sleep apart. She shifts all the wires and tubes carefully and lies on her side, while Cady inches herself over to the other side of her bed.

“They’ll probably be here in the morning,” Cady whispers, resting a hand on her belly for what could very well be the last time.

Janis nods against her shoulder and links their fingers together on top of her wife’s stomach. “I can’t wait to meet them. And hold them.”

Cady leans her head against her wife’s. “And I can’t wait to see you hold them. I love you.”

“I love you so much,” Janis responds. “You’re doing such a good job. I can’t believe you’re my wife.”

“Thanks,” Cady chuckles. “I’m so lucky to have you. Goodnight, Jay.”

“Goodnight, Butterfly.”

————-

They manage to sleep until about nine the next morning, when Cady wakes up with a pained gasp.

“What is it?” Janis asks frantically. The monitor shows that the babies’ vitals are still fine, but the one that tracks Cady’s contractions has suddenly gotten a massive spike. “Oh. Breathe, baby, you can do it. I’m here, you got this.”

“Shuck,” Cady breathes when it comes to a blessed end. “They’re gonna be here soon. Like, really soon. Ow.”

Sure enough, the doctor comes in to check Cady out, having been alerted by the large spike. A nurse gives her another smaller round of pain medication in the meantime. “I’d say we have about an hour,” the doctor says.

“Only one?” Janis squeaks in fright. “I’m not ready.”

“Oh, you’re not ready?” Cady teases. “Come here.”

Janis comes to lean into her wife, ironically needing comfort herself now. “What if they don’t like me?”

Cady laughs. “Janis, you’re their mommy. They’re gonna love you. They already do, they know your voice. They’ll learn your touch and your smell and what you look like. They’re gonna love you.”

“I should be comforting you,” Janis whines.

“It’s okay, my love. I get it,” Cady says softly. “But yeah, I could use you right now.”

Janis takes a deep breath and calms herself. She’s had seven months to prepare. She gets to meet her kids today. Cady needs her.

“Okay,” she breathes, her voice still a couple octaves higher than normal. “I’m okay, we got this.”

“Yes, we do,” Cady chuckles. “Panic later, I need you.”

“Oh, I definitely will,” Janis whispers to herself, coming to give Cady hands to squeeze and lots of moral support.

Cady’s water breaks after another fifteen minutes, and it’s officially go time.

————-

At exactly ten in the morning on May 14, 2029, their first baby enters the world. The second twin follows three minutes later, and Cady collapses back against the bed with a final pained cry.

“Are they okay?” She asks weakly as two loud cries split the air. Janis brushes a hand over her cheek and leans down to kiss her forehead.

“They’re perfect, baby, you did it. Look,” she sobs happily. Cady tips her head up to see the doctors holding two tiny, squirming babies. “Those are our daughters.”

“Girls?” Cady whispers with a sob of her own. She reaches out for them and brushes a gentle hand over each small head.

“Mmhmm. Two beautiful baby girls,” Janis replies happily. She gets to cut the cords, and her hands are shaking so hard she can barely manage it. Cady reaches out again, wanting to hold her babies, but they’re whisked away before she can make contact.

“No,” she cries desperately, trying to sit up to get them back.

“Baby, hey, it’s okay,” Janis hushes gently, resting her back down. “They just need to be checked out and then you’ll get them back, I promise. They’re right over there.”

“Go get them,” Cady pleads as the doctors get to work patching her up. “Please, Jay, go make sure they’re okay. I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Janis says, kissing her forehead one last time before she heads to see her children. The older one, Layla, is being weighed and measured while Leo is cleaned up. Janis looks on in wonder as her babies cry. She can’t totally see their features, but they clearly got her dark hair, and a lot of it.

Leo’s lungs are slightly weak when they evaluate her, so she’s quickly fitted for breathing tubes. They both get hooked up to monitors to make sure they’re absolutely safe, then are put into their first diapers and tiny little hats, and are finally tucked back into Cady’s hospital gown for skin-to-skin contact.

“Oh, hi,” Cady breathes happily when she has her babies back. She kisses each of their foreheads gently. “I’m your mama. Welcome to the world, little ones.”

Janis smiles through her tears and leans down to kiss Cady’s temple. The twins quiet once they’re back with Cady and can hear her heartbeat again.

“God, Jay, they’re so tiny,” Cady whispers.

“They’re perfect, baby,” Janis replies. “You did such a good job.”

Cady doesn’t say anything, just leans her head against Janis’ and looks down at the babies resting on her chest. She can’t really tell whose features they have from this angle, but she smiles when she sees the tufts of dark hair peeking out from under the soft beanies.

Suddenly, she feels tears soak into her shoulder again and hears Janis sniffle quietly.

“What’s the matter?” Cady asks quietly, concerned for her wife.

“I love them so much,” Janis sobs quietly. “They’re here now, and I can… touch them, and hold them, and-and see them. They’re so beautiful.”

“Aww, Jay,” Cady coos. “You girls haven’t even been here for fifteen minutes and you’re already making Mommy cry.”

Janis gives a watery chuckle and reaches to brush a tender finger over each baby’s soft cheek. “Their skin is so soft.”

“They’re… fresh babies,” Cady surmises as an explanation. Janis laughs again. “Don’t laugh at me, I still have baby brain.”

“Sorry,” Janis chuckles. “I love you so much. I’m so proud of you.”

Cady turns her head for a kiss and smiles happily as Janis presses their foreheads together afterwards. “I love you, Jay. I’m so lucky I get to have these little squishies with you.”

Janis tries to hold back more tears and kisses her wife again. They continue sharing ‘I love you’s and cooing over their daughters as Janis tenderly cleans the sweat from Cady’s face and brushes out her hair, then re-ties her ponytail and helps get her out of her hellacious hospital gown and into the comfy pajamas she’d packed.

“Much better,” Cady sighs happily when she’s back in familiar fabric and not covered in sweat. “We should let everyone know they’re here, where’s your phone?”

Janis grabs it from its forgotten place on her bed and comes to take a picture of her wife and daughters. Cady smiles happily and holds the babies up slightly so they’re visible.

Janis makes sure nothing important can be seen and sends it along to their families, and then a different message to their friends.

gaylien: Sent a picture: y’all have some mcfucking NIECES

reginald: Janis, really? Your wife just gave birth and that’s how you let us know? Congratulations, though, guys. They’re adorable.

gaylien: nobody here has gotten any decent sleep in a solid 24 hours can you blame me

damecupboard: Oh my god they’re so precious!!! Good job Caddy!

fetchen: aaaaahhhhhh yay!!!!!!! congratulations!!!

ilikemouses: yay babies!!! congrats guys! 📷📷

a-aron: congratulations! they’re so cute!!

damecupboard: Jan what are their names

reginald: Oh, yeah, we want deets!

gaylien: layla is the bigger one on caddy’s left and leo is the little one with the breathing tubes

gaylien: i’ll give you guys more pics and info later, i’m gonna go back to my family

damecupboard: Wow Janis used a comma

Janis laughs and comes back to Cady’s side to show her the text thread. Cady smiles at everyone’s reactions and laughs when she reads the last message.

“You girls already have so many people who love you,” she says softly, carefully adjusting Leo’s nose tubes.

“So many,” Janis agrees quietly, still in awe at the beings they’ve brought into the world.

“Do you wanna hold them now? It’s been long enough,” Cady asks. Janis nods and goes to grab the soft baby blankets on a counter nearby to swaddle them with. Cady hands Layla over first, and Janis wraps her up expertly. She practiced on Elvira, so she’s a total pro by now. Cady takes her little burrito back and hands over Leo for her turn.

Janis hands her back once she’s been carefully swaddled, still a little anxious about holding them. Cady cradles both in her left arm and looks down at their faces. Janis leans in next to her and looks as well, trying to puzzle out their features.

“They look just like you,” Cady says happily. “Your hair, your face shape, your lips.”

“But your nose,” Janis replies as Cady runs a tender finger down the bridge of Leo’s. “And your ears.”

Cady is about to repeat the brushing motion on Layla’s tiny nose when the baby suddenly gives an adorable sneeze and both sets of eyes fly open in surprise.

“Oh my goodness, bless you,” Cady giggles. “Oh, Jay, look.”

Janis does, looking down to see two pairs of wide crystal blue eyes blinking up at them curiously. She grins excitedly and gives an involuntary squeal.

“Your eyes,” she says happily. Cady leans up for a kiss before gesturing for Janis to hold her arms out. Janis does, and Cady rests Layla carefully in her right and Leo in her left. Janis feels tears start pouring down her face again as she holds her babies for the first time. “Hi, sweethearts. I’m your mommy. God, look at you. I love you so much.”

Layla yawns suddenly, showing off her tiny pink tongue. Janis giggles and carefully brings her up for a forehead kiss.

“Am I that boring already?” She asks as the baby drifts off in her hold. “Looks like it.”

“That one’s still looking at you,” Cady chuckles, pointing to Leo. Sure enough, when Janis looks, her smaller daughter is still awake and looking around the room curiously. Janis brings her up for a kiss too.

“My little bumblebee,” Janis says happily.

“Bumblebee?” Cady chuckles affectionately.

“She was baby B. So now she’s baby bee. Baby bumblebee,” Janis explains. Cady grins widely and gives a coo when she hears it.

“You’re so cute,” she says. “What about Layla?”

Janis looks back to her other daughter to see what name suits her. “Ladybug.”

“Perfect,” Cady murmurs happily, watching her little family. Janis notices her stifle a yawn and watches her eyes start fluttering slowly.

“You should rest, Butterfly,” Janis says quietly. “You’ve already done a lot today.”

“I don’t wanna miss anything,” Cady says. “You’re so good with them already.”

“They’ll still be here when you wake up,” Janis replies. “We get plenty of time with them, now.”

Cady nods with a smile and shuts her eyes, drifting off quickly after her morning of hard work. Janis is left with the babies in her arms. Carefully, she stands up and hooks her fingers around all the monitors and devices the twins are hooked up to, and wheels everything over to the chair in the corner.

Layla wakes again at all the commotion, so by the time Janis is settled she has both twins awake and blinking heavily at her. She shifts Leo over so they’re both in the same arm again to see both at the same time.

“Hello, sweet girls,” she murmurs softly so she doesn’t wake Cady up. “I love you so much. You’re so incredible already. I’m so excited to see who you turn out to be.”

She takes the moment of them being awake and relatively calm to see if there’s any differences in their features. Janis can tell they’re almost perfectly identical, but there do seem to be a few key things.

For one, to Janis’ delight, they got Cady’s freckles. Just a few, speckled over their cheeks and noses. And, their freckles are in different places. Leo has one just on the tip of her nose, and Layla has one almost perfectly beneath her left pupil.

Leo also seems to have longer hair, and Janis grins when she spies the slightest hint of a curl to it. It’s too early to tell, yet, but she hopes they have curly hair like Cady’s.

And then there’s the eyes. Janis still smiles involuntarily whenever she sees them. They’re almost exactly the shade of Cady’s eyes, a perfect reflection of their mother’s. Layla’s are a tiny bit wider and closer together than Leo’s, but Janis can tell that’s not going to be particularly noticeable to anyone who isn’t staring intently at their faces the way she is.

Layla suddenly starts fussing slightly, trying to move in her swaddle and giving a quiet cry.

“What’s the matter, Ladybug? Oh, shh, you’re okay,” Janis says quietly, bouncing both babies slightly. Leo seems fine and content to be along for the ride. “I know, it’s different out here, huh? We all have a lot to get used to.”

Layla appears to realize that this is one of the voices she’s been hearing all this time and goes quiet after a few minutes.

“There we go,” Janis says contently when she stops fussing. “Maybe I can do this after all.”

She brushes down each of their noses gently the way Cady did, and watches their eyes gradually flutter shut as she continues. Eventually, she has two sleeping babies in her arms, and stares at them contently as they rest.

-

Without totally realizing it, Janis winds up cradling her daughters for four and a half hours straight. Every once in a while one baby wakes up and fusses at her, but she hushes and rocks and cuddles them until they drift off again.

Until they both kick off at once. Janis rocks and bounces them both, but they won’t go quiet again.

Trying not to wake Cady unless she absolutely has to, Janis stands and heads to the window, continuing her efforts.

“Shh, angels,” she hushes, bouncing both gently. “Mommy’s got you. Look out here, this is called rain. A lot of people don’t like it, but I do. It reminds me of your mama.” The babies quiet a little as she speaks, so she decides to keep going. “Your mama taught me how nice rain can be. She taught me how to dance in it, and showed me how peaceful it can be. You two and Mama are the only sunshine I need.”

Janis whirls around when she hears a sob come from behind her, finding Cady awake and crying gently.

“I love you so much,” Cady weeps, reaching for her family. Janis comes back to her side and hands over Leo, making it easier for her to bend down for a kiss.

“I love you too, Sunshine,” Janis murmurs against her lips. “So much. Did you have a nice rest?”

“I did, thank you,” Cady says with a sniffle. “Did you sleep at all?”

“No,” Janis says sheepishly. “I couldn’t stop looking at them, I just held them the whole time.”

Cady smiles at her contently. “That’s adorable. But you need to sleep too, we’re not going to get much for a long time.”

“I know,” Janis says. “But they’re so cute, I just… I don’t want to let them go.”

Cady reaches for her again, so Janis bends down for more kisses. Cady eventually scoots herself over again, inviting Janis to crawl in next to her.

“They already sound different,” Janis murmurs happily as she looks down at the babies resting in each of their arms.

“Do they?” Cady chuckles, leaning against her.

“Mmhmm. Leo’s cry is higher and more squeaky,” Janis says. “Layla’s is lower pitched.”

“How cute,” Cady hums. “Our little family.”

—————

They stay that way for a long while, through the first feeding, during which they learn that neither baby will eat properly. Janis and Cady just roll with the hits as they come. This is nothing compared to what they’ve already been through.

An hour or so after that, a voice rings out through a speaker on the wall. Janis perks up when she hears Damian’s name, and he enters with Aaron just a couple minutes after Cady lets them know they can come in.

Janis looks up from Leo’s tiny face when he enters and, for the first time, rests her down in her cot. Damian catches her when Janis flies into his embrace.

“Damian, I have babies. I have daughters,” she mumbles into his chest. “And they’re-they’re so perfect.”

“Congratulations, Jan,” he says back.

Janis steps back after clinging to him for a moment and heads to pick her baby back up. Cady reaches an arm for a hug from her friends, leaving the other resting over Layla, who’s sleeping on her chest.

“Gorgeous, how are you?” Damian asks, bending to hug her gently.

“Physically, woof,” Cady chuckles before she looks down at the baby resting on her. “But I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy.”

“Aww,” Damian coos. “And who’s this little angel?”

“This is Layla,” Cady says contently. “She’s the older one, and the bigger one. Layla Reese Sarkisian-Heron. And Janis has Leo. Leo Juliette Sarkisian-Heron.”

Damian coos over the little one excitedly. “She’s so cute.”

“Do you wanna hold her?” Cady asks.

“Can I?” Damian asks anxiously.

“Of course,” Cady laughs. “I need to do skin-to-skin with Leo anyway. Just wash your hands. Jayjay, can you swaddle her for them?”

Janis gives Leo to Cady and gently takes Layla, kissing her little cheek and wrapping her in her blanket again. Damian and Aaron both wash their hands thoroughly and sit on the bench under the window. Damian reaches out, so Janis rests Layla gently in his arms. His eyes suddenly go very wide.

“What’s wrong?” Janis asks with a slight chuckle. The monitors stay stable, so she knows the baby is fine.

“Nothing, sorry,” Damian breathes. “I just realized that this is, like, a person. That you made. You guys made this person.”

“That we did,” Janis laughs. Layla’s eyes flutter open slowly at all the new voices. “That’s your Uncle Damian holding you, Ladybug. What do you think of that?”

Layla pokes her little tongue out at him, making everyone laugh. “That’s about right. They look so much like you, Janjan.”

“They really do,” Aaron agrees. “I think it’s the hair.”

Janis heads back to her wife and other baby a few feet away, curling protectively around them. “They’re healthy and they got Caddy’s eyes, that’s all I care about.”

Leo wakes too, blinking at her against Cady’s chest. Janis rests her head next to her, so her nose is almost touching the baby’s. Cady giggles and brushes her hands over both of their heads.

“You are one of the most precious things in my life,” Janis informs the baby seriously. “You’re so small, but you run my whole life now.”

“Five pounds of raw power,” Cady chuckles. “And cute chubby cheeks.”

Janis kisses one of said chubby cheeks and then pulls back to rest against Cady’s shoulder, but Leo lets starts to cry when she does. Janis rests her face back down and she goes quiet again.

“I told you they’d like you,” Cady whispers. “She wants to see her mommy.”

Janis just grins slightly. “Maybe one will be a mommy’s girl.”

“I think so,” Cady says. “But they both love you. We all do.”

“I love you too,” Janis says, tipping her head up to see Cady.

Leo drifts off again after a few minutes, so Janis gives Cady a quick kiss and heads back to Damian and Aaron.

“Oh, are we the first ones to visit, by the way?” Aaron asks suddenly, sitting up from where he’s been leaning against Damian’s shoulder.

“Yep,” Cady confirms with a kiss to Leo’s forehead. “The Plastics had work and our families aren’t in town yet.”

“Yes!” Damian cheers quietly. Janis looks at him in confusion. “We’re the first to meet them. And we got them presents, so we get to give them their first ever presents. After they’ve been born, anyway.”

“You got them gifts?” Janis asks quietly. “Aww.”

Damian carefully hands Layla to Aaron and grabs a bag that Janis had somehow missed. He pulls out a stuffed giraffe and a stuffed elephant from himself, and pacifiers with matching miniature stuffed animals on the end from Aaron.

“Aww,” Cady coos from the bed. “How sweet. They’ll match their room, too. Their first stuffed animals.”

Janis takes the giraffe over to Leo and Cady, deciding that should be hers since she was technically a quarter-inch taller than Layla. Layla is more than a pound heavier, so she gets the elephants.

“So cute,” Cady says happily, resting the giraffe next to her on the bed. Another voice suddenly rings out through the speaker on the wall, letting them know the Plastics have arrived. Cady calls them in, and they come parading through the door with even more presents.

Regina pouts when she sees Damian and Aaron, realizing they beat them there. She hands Janis a gift card and ties a balloon to Cady’s bed rail, explaining that she didn’t know what to get in terms of an actual present, so they have a thousand dollars to spend on whatever they might need for the twins. Janis chases her around the room to try and give it back, making everyone else laugh, but Regina refuses to take it.

Gretchen gives them even more handmade blankets, this time teeny tiny and pastel rainbow patterned. Karen brought a whole cheesecake.

“Oh my god, thank you,” Cady laughs at both gifts. “Oh, these blankets are so soft! Look what Auntie Gretchen made you, Bumblebee!”

Janis takes Leo and wraps her loosely in the new, impossibly soft blanket. She smiles as the baby brings her hands up and squishes her own cheeks in her sleep. Cady takes the cheesecake and a fork and just goes to town. Nobody judges.

“Can I hold one?” Karen asks shyly. “They’re so cute! Baby emoji, confetti emoji.”

“Thank you,” Cady chuckles around a mouthful of her delicious dessert. “And of course you can hold them, just wash your hands.”

Karen does, and Gretchen and Regina follow rather more apprehensively. Karen sits by Damian on the bench, and he hands over Layla. Janis gives him Leo to meet instead, and Gretchen and Regina sit on either side of their girlfriend to peek at the babies.

Karen proves to be a natural with babies, cradling Layla perfectly and being careful of all her monitors. Gretchen and Regina are a bit less natural. Gretchen tenses quickly when Damian passes Leo over carefully, but relaxes once she has a solid grip on her and is positive the baby is okay.

After a while, she hands her to Regina, who also immediately tenses. But Regina doesn’t relax.

“Damn, Reg, you were less tense in the spinal halo,” Janis jokes from where she’s cuddling her wife. “She’s only five pounds, she can’t hurt you.”

“But I can hurt her,” Regina mumbles anxiously. “And I really don’t want to.”

Karen helps adjust Leo so she’s resting more comfortably, and rubs a spot on Regina’s back that always helps her calm down. Very gradually, Regina loosens up and holds the baby like a normal human would.

“What are you looking at, you little punk?” She coos when Leo wakes up and stares at her.

“She wants to see her Aunt Reggie,” Janis says. Regina snaps her head up.

“They are not calling me Aunt Reggie,” she insists. Janis pouts at Cady, who chuckles quietly and nods at her. Janis grins victoriously. “God, you look like Janis.”

“Everyone keeps saying that,” Janis says. “But it’s not all me, they got Cady’s eyes, and nose, and ears. And size.”

“Hey!” Cady says, flicking her gently. “I’m not that small. And the doctors said they’re a good size for preemies.”

“I was kidding, Butterfly,” Janis says, leaning in for a kiss. “All three of you are perfect.”

————-

Cady and Janis continue watching as their friends coo over their daughters. Janis takes a long moment to watch Regina and Aaron in particular. She never thought she would have kids, and certainly never would’ve thought that Regina George would be one of the first people to meet them. And, in another universe, she and Aaron might be in each other’s places. Janis is very glad she lives in this one.

Everyone stays as long as they can, but eventually do have to leave to get back to their own responsibilities. They’re left alone until their own families arrive. Janis stands by the door and waits, catching her sister as she comes barreling in, being trailed by their parents. “Hands washed and sit down, then you can have one.”

Juliana listens immediately, quickly but carefully cleaning her hands and running to sit on the bench. Janis gives her Layla, since Leo is a little more delicate. She trusts her sister, but still wants to be careful.

“So precious,” Julie says quietly, calming down quickly for her own standards. “I’m gonna buy you guys so much candy.”

“No,” Janis says immediately.

“Legos?” Julie compromises.

“Sure,” Janis agrees.

“And puppies, and then I’m just gonna leave them,” Julie chuckles. Their mom sits down by her and peeks at the baby’s face.

Janis hands Leo to Cady’s dad, who instinctively starts rocking her gently. He tears up quickly as he looks at his granddaughter.

“What are their names?” Cady’s mom asks quietly, running a tender hand over Leo’s head.

“Julie has Layla Reese,” Cady says, watching her parents both start crying quietly as they hear the middle name. “And you guys have Leo Juliette.”

Janis’ mom also tears up when she hears Leo’s middle name. Julie hands her Layla, and she takes her with a sniffle.

“Nice job, binti,” Cady’s dad says quietly. “Proud of you.”

“Thanks, Daddy,” Cady chuckles thickly, wiping her own tears away. She’s still quite hormonal, and watching everyone cry was too much for her.

“I can’t decide who they look more like,” Janis’ mom says. “So much of my Janny, but then those eyes. All Cady when they’re open.”

“Ha,” Janis says. “They’re not all me. My mom says so.”

“You’re such a child,” Cady laughs, kissing her tenderly. “I love you.”

“I love you so much,” Janis murmurs back against her lips. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Cady asks in confusion.

“For them,” Janis says thickly. “For doing this. Giving us a family. I love them so much it hurts.”

“We were a family before,” Cady says. “Now it’s just… bigger. More love.”

“More love indeed,” Janis agrees.

I didn’t think I could love you more.

-

LOL PRANKED ITS TWO BABIES

anyway. I hope you enjoyed! I know babies aren't everybody's thing, but if y'all would like to see more of Leo and Layla please let me know and I will absolutely do more.

request status is still paused, but I am hoping to reopen them in a couple weeks.

thanks for reading!

lots of love,

ezzy

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch3: Chicken wings and Confessions.

Chapter Summary: Fliss heads to Frank and Mary’s for a cookout, and they both learn a little bit more about the other’s troubled past.

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. Talks of domestic violence and suicide.

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: Again, as you will all know I’m a Brit so apologies if too much British horsey lingo slips into this…ASK away if you don’t understand. Tagging all my SSB/CSI readers…if you want in or off the list PLEASE just tell me.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 2

“Frank goes out most Fridays, but Saturday we hang out.” Mary explained about her weekends to Fliss as she sat on the chair with her juice box. Mary had finished her riding lesson roughly fifteen minutes ago and they were now sat in Fliss’ office waiting for Frank to finish working on the tractor. Fliss had noticed instantly that Mary’s demeanour around the two other girls on her lesson had changed, she had become a lot more introvert. Almost like the children bored her so to speak.

It had surprised Fliss a little, as normally it was the other way round, kids happy to be outgoing with people their own age and more reserved with grown-ups. But she had ignored it and introduced the three girls to one another, simply carrying on as normal. Mary had completely focussed on her riding, not really speaking to the other kids and Fliss was starting to understand now why Frank thought she needed to socially interact a little more with children.

“That’s cool.” Fliss smiled. “So what are you doing tonight then?”

“He said he was gonna do a BBQ.” Mary looked at her. “Roberta’s coming over. She’s our neighbour. She turns up uninvited all the time so Frank said we might as well ask her if she wanted to come as she’d just rock up anyway.”

Fliss grinned “Is Frank any good with BBQs?”

“He BBQs better than he cooks.” Mary answered and Fliss chuckled. “But that’s because it’s not really cooking is it? It’s just heating meat to a temperature so that all the bacteria is killed.”

“Talking about me again?” Frank leaned in the doorway of the office, wiping his hands on an old rag and Fliss looked up, smiling at him.

“Mary was just telling me about your cooking.”

Frank snorted “Yeah it’s not much to write home about.”

“It’s bad.” Mary grimaced. “Unless you get it out of a jar.”

At that Fliss tipped her head back in a loud laugh. “Oh God!”

Frank shook his head smiling to himself before he changed the subject. “Tractor’s all done.”

“You, Sailor, are a God send.” she smiled “What do I owe you?”

“Nothing” Frank shook his head “I had the parts lying around so…”

Fliss frowned, before she smirked at him, “Okay then, today’s lesson is on me again.”

Frank looked away shaking his head before he turned back, smiling “That’s how it is?”

“That’s how it is.” she nodded.

“Alright, quid-pro-quo.” he shrugged, tucking the rag he had been using into his back pocket.

“What are you doing tonight?” Mary asked and Fliss smiled.

“Well my Mum and Dad are away so I have the house to myself. I’ll probably grab a beer, lay by the pool for a bit and then…”

“You have a pool?” Mary’s eyes widened, cutting her off.

“My mum and dad do.”

“That’s so cool.” Mary looked at Frank “Why can’t we have a pool?”

“We do.”

“A communal one.” Mary rolled her eyes. “A private one is way better.”

“Yeah, well, sorry life is such a disappointment to you.” Frank looked at her, Mary pouted a little at him and Fliss smiled at the easy to-and-froing that was going on between the two. “And here’s another disappointment, time to go.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve taken up enough of Miss Gallagher’s…”

“Fliss, please.”

“Fliss’ time, and I need to get to the store if you wanna eat anything tonight.”

Mary grumbled but stood up and trudged slowly towards the door.

“Before you go do you wanna book in for next week?” Fliss asked.

“You gonna let me pay for that one?” Frank looked at her.

“Depends if I find anything else for you to fix.” she shot back, Frank snorted and shook his head. “Same time?”

He nodded “That’s great, thanks.”

“No problem.”

She bid them both goodbye and Frank and Mary made their way to the truck, Frank’s hand dropping to the back of Mary’s head as they walked, keeping her from diverting her attention as she spotted Joanne bringing in one of the horses from the pasture.

“Do you not think Miss Gallagher might be lonely?” Mary asked Frank suddenly.

“Lonely?”  Frank looked at her, “Why do you think she might be lonely?”

“Because she’s on her own, at home.” Mary shrugged

“She lives near her parents.” Frank replied.

“Yeah but her parents have been away since Tuesday. And she told me that she doesn’t have a lot of friends round here.”

“Neither do you.” Frank looked at Mary.

Mary scoffed “I have you and Roberta, and Fred.”

“Well then Fliss has her family, her horses.”

“But why not us?”

“I’m not following?” Frank shook his head. “I mean why can’t we be her friends?”

“Well, we are.” he said, “Sorta, anyway.”

“So why doesn’t she come round tonight as well?”

“Well, I…” Frank paused and looked up. He’d only know the woman a week but he couldn’t deny he liked her company. They’d chatted over text most nights since, and in person it was just as easy to talk to her as it was behind a phone screen, but he didn’t know her in any detail… well, not yet anyway. He was hoping he would in time, because he found her a breath of fresh air to be around. She was someone who didn’t know anything about him, his life. She took him for who he was and he liked that.

Taking a breath he looked back down at Mary. “You think she’d wanna come?”

Mary shrugged before she hopped round to the other side of the truck.  Frank patted the roof and leaned through the open window of the driver’s side. “Wait her a minute.” he instructed, before he turned and walked back onto the yard.

“Fliss?” he called and she turned to face him.

“Forget something?” she asked, smiling.

“No, well kinda, look. If you want, and that’s only if, there’s no obligation at all but you’re welcome to join us tonight.”

“When I said I was alone, I wasn’t angling for an invite.” she explained and Frank shook his head.

“No, I know…” he assured her “But the offer’s there if you fancy it. Although my limits are burgers, sausages and steak.”

“No chicken wings?” she frowned “What kind of sorry ass BBQ is that?”

“You want chicken wings, you can bring them.” he laughed.

She looked at him for a second before she smiled “Alright, deal.”

“Say about half five? Will you be done here or…”

“I can get one of the girls to close up.” she smiled. “Half five is fine.”

“Ok, well I’ll text you the address.” he said with a nod “It’s not hard to find, we live near the dock not far from St Pete’s beach. It’s the little trailer-slash-prefab park.”

He paused, waiting for the usual judgmental look that came whenever he explained where he lived but it never arrived. Instead, Fliss smiled and nodded.

“Near the dock huh?” she grinned “That’s pretty cool.”

“Well it means the commute to work is acceptable” he shrugged and Fliss laughed.

“I bet the views are amazing.”

“Well, sadly we only have a single storey apartment so can’t see much.”

“Shame.” Fliss nodded. “I could quite happily lose a day watching sailors.”

There was a pause as Frank arched an eyebrow, as she held his gaze, smirking a little and he found his neck and cheeks going warm.

Was she flirting with him?

“Unfortunately you’ll have to make do with me.” He replied, testing the water.

“Yeah, that is a bummer.” She sighed. “Not sure how I’ll cope.”

There was a twinkle in her eye and Frank shook his head, giving a little chuckle.

Yup, definitely flirting.

“Okay, so I guess I’ll see you later.” He asked and she nodded, smiling.

“Yeah, you will.”

***** “Hi guys!” Fliss waved at the screen as her mom and dad squeezed in to say hello.

“Hey Titch!” her Dad grinned back “How’s it going? Burnt the house down yet?” “Yeah, fire brigade are dealing with it now” she rolled her eyes. “How’s Seattle?”

“Hot, like muggy hot, and full of people.” her dad grimaced and she heard her mum tssk in the background before she too appeared on the screen.

“Ignore him!”  Verity appeared on the screen, smiling “It’s wonderful!”

“Hmmmm” Bill rolled his eyes “I tell you what won’t be wonderful, my bank statement when I get it. You’ve hit every shop going.”

Fliss laughed as her parents began to bicker affectionately.

“So what are you up to tonight?” Verity turned to her daughter “Making the most of the peace and quiet?”

“Actually I’m going out.” she said, ignoring but not missing, the surprised look her parents exchanged. “Well, to a BBQ”

“A BBQ?” Bill asked.

“Yeah, Frank and Mary invited me so,” she shrugged, “I thought it beat sitting at home alone.”

Another significant look was exchanged between the parents.

“Oh and he fixed the tractor” Fliss said, in a hope that would divert her Dad’s attention. Luckily for her, Bill was a tactful man and could recognise when she was trying to change the subject so, to avoid her mother digging further, he took the initiative and began to ask her a few questions about it, which she answered as best she could. The call lasted for another ten minutes or so before the oven sounded, telling her the marinated chicken wings she had cooked to take with her were ready so she bid them both goodbye, promising to be at the airport to pick them up the following evening, and headed into the kitchen.

Once the wings were out cooling, she took a shower then set about trying to decide what to wear. Her stomach was churning a little, she was nervous for a number of reasons, the main one being she actually kinda liked Frank. He was easy to talk with, funny, flirty and even better to look at. Fliss had never imagined post her husband she’d ever feel as comfortable with a man so easily as she had with Frank, which could only be a good sign, right?

In the end she settled on a pair of cut-off jeans which grazed her ankles, a pair of brown, strappy flat sandals and a light green checked sleeveless button down. She kept her make up light, and pulled her long hair back into a loose bun. Once she had made sure the dogs were okay she grabbed the chicken wings and the beer she had also bought to take with her, double checked the directions and set off.

It wasn’t a long drive to the park Frank and Mary lived on. Fliss slowed down carefully, looking for the number she had been given and soon spotted Frank’s truck parked up in a space just off the little road. She stopped her Jeep behind it and clambered out, only to be almost bowled over by a flurry of blonde hair.

“Hi!” Mary said, giving her a hug. Fliss chuckled and bent down to hug her back.

“Mary you saw me like a few hours ago.” she laughed.

“I know but, I’m glad you came.” she beamed, letting go. Mary then reached down to pick up a ginger one-eyed cat which was following her. “This is Fred.” “Nice to meet you Fred.” Fliss grinned, giving the cat a scratch behind his ear.

“Mary for God’s sake give it a moment before you start bugging her half to death.” Frank’s voice sounded and Fliss looked up, smiling at him as he appeared from the side of the house. Fliss gave him the once over from behind her sunglasses. He was dressed in a pair of light blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and a pair of grubby white sneakers. As he crossed the lawn area towards them, he gave Fliss a smile which made her stomach twist and to distract herself she turned and opened the passenger side of the car, reaching in for the ceramic dish covered in foil

“You told me to bring chicken wings.” she smiled as she handed him the dish “I also brought beer.”

Frank laughed and shook his head “I wasn’t being serious…”

“Well, I did them anyway. And they’re already cooked so you just need to char them. No chance of food poisoning.”

“Good to know.” Frank nodded, before he gestured with his head “You err, wanna come in?”

Fliss looked over to their apartment and nodded. “Sure.”

Together they walked round to the back of the house and up a set of steps into a small kitchen.

“I’ll show you round!” Mary said, grabbing her hand. Fliss let the girl lead her into the main room of the house.

She looked around smiling softly, taking it all in. It was small, cluttered and packed with personal touches which gave it a homely feel. A small desk in the corner by another door, which she assumed led to a bedroom, which was loaded with books and school supplies. Underneath a window sat a small leather couch, and the walls were adorned a slightly shabby light coloured wooden panelling which gave the place the feel of a beach hut. It might not have been fancy, but it was nice, the vibe was good and Fliss could tell this was a home that saw a lot of love. And she instantly felt at ease.  

“Probably not what you’re used to huh?” Frank watched her as she looked around, suddenly a little conscious that she was more than likely coming from a fairly opulent background with the job she did and her family and sporting heritage.

“No, but,” she smiled at him,“I love it, feels like a home.”

“It’s not much but it does us.” Frank smiled at her comment as he moved back to the fridge. “Beer or…”

“Yeah, beer’s good.” she followed him back to the kitchen, standing in the doorway and nodding to the carrier bag of bottles she had put on the table.

“You know you didn’t need to bring any more.” he said, as he glanced inside it “I got plenty”

“I’m sure you do but my Mum always told me it was polite to take something with me when I go to someone’s for dinner.”

Frank smiled and began to place the bottles in the fridge before he pulled out two already chilled Bud Light and flipped the tops off before passing her one.

“Thanks” she smiled.

Mary walked past the pair of them, Fred shooting ahead of her as she tossed a ping pong ball into the grass of the yard and, with the hand that had just grabbed his aviators off the table, Frank gestured after her, questioningly. Fliss nodded and they stepped back outside onto the lawn area, where a BBQ and a small table and a few chairs sat were set up.

Fliss took a seat as Mary flopped onto a beanbag to their left on the grass.

“Frank bought the special burgers” she stated “Said if we had company that wasn’t just Roberta we should wheel out the good stuff.”

Frank groaned at his niece as he slid on his sunglasses. “Mary.”

“What?” she asked, and Fliss laughed.

“I’m glad you think I’m worthy of good burgers” she teased, and Frank noticed the corners of her eyes that weren’t hidden by her Oakley’s crinkling up as she smiled.

“And I’m offended to know I’m not.” A voice said, and Frank jumped slightly. Fliss turned to see a kindly faced black woman with chin lengthy curly dark hair rounding the side of the house. Mary jumped up to give her a hug and the woman greeted her before she smiled at Fliss who had stood up.

“You must be Fliss.”

“Roberta, yeah?” Fliss asked nodding as she shook the ladies hand “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Same here.” The woman nodded before she turned to Frank. “You going to get me a beer?”

“Get one yourself.” Frank shot back “Make yourself at home. You usually do.”

Fliss grinned as Roberta aimed a slap to his head and he dodged the hit as if he knew it was coming. Which he probably did, Fliss realised. There was a comfortable familiarity between the two of them, a mother-son kind of vibe, even if Frank was trying to be all gruff about it.

Roberta came back and dropped into a chair and they all settled into a comfortable chat. Roberta asked Fliss questions about her Yard, Mary interjecting comments here and there as Frank stood by the grill observing their food. Any tension that Fliss had been feeling quickly evaporated as she became even more comfortable in her surroundings, and she happily chatted away, instantly warming to Roberta as well. She told them about her brother, Steve and his twin boys Charlie and Joel who were both Mary’s age, where she was from in England, and her parents, revealing to Frank’s surprise that Bill wasn’t actually her biological father.

“I didn’t know that.” Frank looked at her.

“Why would you?” Fliss shrugged “It’s not important really. My actual dad left my mum before she had me and then he died when I was four months old. I never met him. Bill brought me up from the age of 2 and adopted me when he married mum, so he is my dad, in everything but blood.”

“You said they were out of town?” Roberta asked. “Anywhere nice?”

“Seattle.” Fliss smiled “Mum’s always wanted to go and, well last year they didn’t get much chance to travel what with everything that was going on so they’re just starting to get round to it. Kinda strange them not being here, it’s the first time since I’ve been in Florida that they haven’t.”

She pondered that for a moment, her nails lightly tapping on her beer bottle before she gave a grin and looked up at Frank. “I face timed them before. Their reaction when I told them I wasn’t simply sitting at home tonight like a total loser was priceless. I thought Mum was going to tell me to give her a ring when I got back home safely.”

Frank gave a little laugh and was about to reply when Mary cut in.

“Why’s that? You’re a grown up.”

Frank rolled his eyes at Mary’s nosey demeanour but Fliss didn’t seem to mind.

"Well like I told you, hun, I don't really have many friends here so I don’t go out a lot” Fliss shrugged "I only really know the guys from the yard and a few people through my parents. My friends are all in the UK, even the people I knew in Boston were more…” she trailed off before she took a breath and smiled “Well, I left them all behind when I moved."

"Well now you got us, right Frank?" Mary said simply as she sat on the large bean bag as she tossed a ping pong ball for Fred who obligingly chased it across the lawn.

"Sure does." Frank smiled, apologetically. “And we’re kinda hard to shake off. "

"Like a dose of the clap." Roberta dropped her voice so only Fliss and Frank could hear. Fliss choked on her beer, sputtering a laugh as Frank flipped the woman off.

"Fuck you" 

Fliss wiped the beer she had slopped onto the front of her blouse, taking a little longer than she needed as her eyes had watered up at the sudden sentiment of the moment. She had only known Frank and Mary a week, yet here she was in their home as if she’d known them forever. Friendship was something she had been aching to feel again for months and now she found herself suddenly surrounded by it and she was a little overwhelmed, but in a good way.

When she finally looked up, Frank was surprised to see there was a shine in her eyes as they had watered over. He shot her a wink, tactful enough not to mention it and then asked her if she would mind grabbing him a beer from the fridge whilst he kept an eye on the steaks, giving her chance to escape and compose herself. She shot him a grateful nod and headed inside, taking a deep breath.

“She alright?” Robert asked, standing up and moving to the grill “She looked a little upset.”

Frank shrugged, focussing on the grill before he looked at Roberta “Think I should go after her?”

Roberta shot him a look as if he had just asked the most stupid question in the world. “Dur.”

“Watch that.” he instructed, handing Roberta the tongs before he headed inside and Fliss turned to look at him, gesturing to the beer on the side.

“Was just about to try and find the bottle opener.” She spoke quietly and, reaching into his pocket Frank handed it to her and smiled.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, before she took a deep breath. “It’s just, well, I’ve not done anything like this in a while, other than with my family so…” “Overwhelming?” he smiled softly and she gave a little shrug.

“A little, maybe. But it’s nice.”

“You might not be saying that when you taste my cooking.” Frank deadpanned and Fliss laughed, following him back outside.

******

To Frank’s delight the food was actually pretty damned good. Roberta had brought a potato salad with her and everything got eaten, there wasn’t a scrap left which was why he and Fliss were now sat on the chairs in the garden, Fliss groaning about being in a food coma. Roberta had left half an hour ago and Mary was now flat out on the bean bag, covered by a fleece blanket. Frank had moved the grill away and lit the small portable fire pit before he had retrieved another blanket for Fliss and himself from the stash down the side of the sofa.

Their conversation had turned to Frank’s work and he was telling Fliss about some of the people he had met, the pair of them giggling as he spoke about a real stuck up couple he had fixed a boat for, who had then only gone and crashed it into the side of another boat on the first day of them taking it back out.

“What a waste.” Fliss laughed, “All your hard work gone up in smoke.”

“Well I got paid.” Frank shrugged “And it was a nice boat to drive”

“Sail.” Fliss corrected him and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm as much of a sailor as you are a cowgirl."

Fliss grinned as she took another swig from her beer bottle before she turned to him, the reflection of the fire pit flashing in her eyes. “Well, if the boots fit" Frank laughed "Do you actually have a pair of cowboy boots?"

"I used to." She took a deep breath. "I spent a week in Texas one summer on a ranch, just to try my hand at Western riding. They gave me a pair of boots and a hat when I left. And then my husband burned them one night after I was late home, also breaking three of my Pandora bracelets that I spent years collecting charms for because I also brought back the wrong brand of coffee.”

Frank bowed his head.

"Sorry." Fliss sighed. "That kinda killed the conversation didn't it?"

Frank shook his head softly "In all honesty I was just thinking about what a prick he is. Something I'll never understand, a man laying hands on a woman."

"I tried to understand it for years." Fliss bit her lip. “Even after he was sent down I still wonder sometimes what I did to make him behave like that but I know it’s him with the problem not me." she paused and shook her head again “I have no idea why I’m telling you all this, sorry.”

“Don’t apologise.” Frank looked at her. “Like I said the other night, I’m a good listener.”

“Yeah, you are. You don’t talk much though.” she looked at him.

“What do you think I’m doing now?”

“That’s not what I mean.” she looked at him. “Just a pity I can’t google you like you did to me.” Frank took a deep breath and grimaced as he looked at her “My dad told me” she smiled.

“Yeah, sorry about that, Mary was curious”

“Its fine.” she sighed. “How much did you read?”

“Not much.” He replied honestly. “It isn’t really any of our business.”

“I wish most people thought like that.” She picked at the label on her bottle. “It attracted a lot of interest amongst the circuit. The main reason I left Boston was to get away from all of it but it seems it just follows me all over.”

“Well, no matter how much you try and leave the past behind it always has a habit of catching up on you.” Frank spoke, glancing at Mary. He hesitated before he turned to Fliss.

“Give me your phone.”

“My phone?” she frowned, reaching into her pocket. “I’m not…”

“Well, you might not be able to google me, specifically, but you can google my story.” He said as she unlocked it. “I’d do it but my phone isn’t geared for that type of thing, not really.”

She swiped at a screen then handed it to him where he hesitated for a second. Was he really sure he wanted to do this?

He supposed it was only fair so he typed in what he wanted before holding it out to her.

“The first day we met you asked me what I was running from.” He took a deep breath as Fliss took the phone from him with a questioning look before she glanced down at the article on display.

It was from the Boston Herald.com and her eyes were immediately drawn to the black and white picture of a pretty woman with short, light hair. She was the double of Mary. Across the top the headline read “A Mind for math: Is Diane Adler the missing female variable that finally solves the Navier-Stokes Equation?”

“That’s my sister.” Frank supplied “Mary’s mom. She was basically a genius. The Navier–Stokes equation they’re talking about, well, it’s of huge interest in a purely mathematical sense. It hasn’t yet been proven whether solutions always exist in three dimensions and, if they do exist, whether they are smooth or…”

“You’ve lost me.” Fliss shrugged “I was an English major, numbers and maths really not my strong point.”

Frank chuckled “Sorry, force of habit.” he smiled as Fliss handed him the phone back.

“So, what happened to her?” Fliss asked softly. “I mean, I figure something must have for you to end up with Mary but…”

“She killed herself.”

“Shit.” Fliss sighed, “I’m sorry Frank.”

He took a deep breath. “She was only 27. I was running late for a date of all things. She just showed up, on my doorstep. And she never did that unannounced, and more to the point she never simply showed up with Mary either.” Frank swallowed and Fliss waited patiently for him to continue. “She said she needed to talk. I told her I would talk to her when I got back and I left. I mean, couldn’t be late for a date could I? God forbid it damage my chances of getting’ laid.” Fliss noticed the bitter edge in his voice as he continued “Came home that night. Mary was on the couch…and I found Diane on the bathroom floor.”

Fliss gently touched his arm “Frank, there’s no way you could have known.”

“But I should have.” Frank shook his head, his voice soft. “She was my little sister, you know, I was two years older than her and when my Dad died but I promised then I’d always look after her but…”He shook his head. “Anyway, when she died as soon as I could we moved here. Fast forward 6 and a half years and, well, we’re still here.”

“I take it Mary’s father isn’t about?”

Frank snorted “No.”

“And your mom?”

“She turned her back on Diane when she got pregnant. Didn’t fit with her plan. That’s part of the reason I moved Mary and me here. She’s a very exacting woman, uncompromising, very British.”

At that Fliss raised an eyebrow and Frank looked at her, suddenly realising what he had said. 

“She’s from England.” he added, and Fliss smiled. “She hated the fact I gave up my job and, well we don’t speak.”

“What did you do before becoming a Sailor?” Fliss smiled and Frank chuckled slightly.

“I was an assistant professor at Boston University” he said. “Philosophy.”

“Wow.” Fliss smiled “That’s pretty smart.”

“You sound surprised?” he looked at her

“No, not at all.” Fliss protested.

He smiled again, “You know, sometimes I see so much of Diane in Mary, and she’s just a child. She comes out with stuff that’s way beyond her years. I mean earlier this week she asked me what I thought Executive Order 13769 was going to mean for all those refugees being refused entry…what seven year old talks about stuff like that?”

“A very smart one.” Fliss replied

“Exactly.” Frank nodded “I don’t want that life for her, the pressure associated with being a childhood genius like Diane was. Which is why she’s going to a normal school in September, where she’ll hopefully learn how to be a kid.”

Fliss looked at him.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice it before when she was with the other kids on the lesson.” Frank eyed her and Fliss looked down a little “See, she doesn’t know how to a normal seven year old, well, very rarely anyway. In fact the only time I’ve seen it recently is when she’s at the yard with you.

“She’s just a little socially awkward, that’s nothing to worry about.” Fliss looked at him.

“But I do worry.” Frank sighed

“Yeah, because you care.” Fliss said gently, her hand falling to his arm. “I think you’re being a little hard on yourself and her. She’s a good kid.”

“Yeah, considering I brought her up.” Frank chuckled.

“I think you’ve done a good job so far.” Fliss shrugged “It can’t have been easy.”

“Still isn’t” Frank sighed. “It’s not how I envisaged my life panning out that’s for sure.”

“Tell me about it.” Fliss snorted “If you’d have told me ten years ago that by the time I was thirty-three I’d have had my dreams cut short at the age of twenty-eight, then divorced after being hospitalised by the very man I moved thousands of miles to be with by the age of thirty-two, I’d probably have laughed but here we are.”

“He hospitalised you?” Frank frowned, suddenly feeling an inexplicable surge of anger towards this fucker, one which he really shouldn't feel so strongly considering he had known Fliss for all of a week.

“Did you not read that bit?”

Frank shook his head “No I stopped reading after it mentioned domestic abuse. Like I said, none of our business.”

“He wanted us to have a baby and frankly the thought of bringing a kid up, with him, in that environment…so when I found out I was pregnant I got rid of it. He found out and he beat me so hard he broke three of my ribs, ruptured my spleen and fractured my eye socket. I was in hospital for over a week.” 

“Shit, Fliss, I had no idea…”

She waved his apology away “In a sick, twisted way I’m almost glad it happened. It was the final push I needed to leave him for good. Wasn’t easy mind, I was low. Very low for a while and when the trial was going on…” she stopped again and shook her head “You know he plea bargained? Pleaded guilty to a lesser level of assault and got four years last summer. He’ll be out next June I expect if he applies for parole, which he will because, well, that’s John all over.”

“Fucker.” Frank bit out between gritted teeth.

“Yeah, well it’s behind me now.” she shrugged “I’m in a good place. I’m happy, my business is taking off and it’s a job I love. I have my family and, well, some friends.”

Frank smiled and nodded “What Roberta said before is true you know. We’re harder to get rid of than an STD.”

Fliss laughed loudly and drained her beer bottle “Well I’m glad to hear it, because I kinda like you Sailor.”

“Back at you Cowgirl.”

They changed the subject then, Fliss talking about her horses, in particular her chestnut mare that was her pride and joy, and then when Mary stirred Frank glanced at his watch and realised it was past midnight. He didn’t want to kick Fliss out but when he stood saying he should get the little girl in bed, Fliss nodded and agreed she should be going as it was late.

Frank told her to wait whilst he swept Mary up and carried her into the house before he came back out to walk her down to her car.

“We should do this again.” Fliss offered, “Only this time you can come to me. Although I’m a better cook than BBQ chef.”

“You’re on.” Frank said, “Although don’t mention it to Mary. It’s all I’ll hear about.�� Fliss grinned and then leaned up on her toes to press a soft kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you, Frank. I had a lovely evening.”

He smiled as she climbed into her car and as she set off he tossed a hand at the tailgate as she rounded the corner. Once she was out of view, he turned and headed back inside, contemplating the evening. The chat had been hard going in some places, he hadn’t told anyone about Diane in a long time. Hell, Mary didn’t know a lot about her mother, he tried to keep her sheltered but he knew that as she grew older that was going to get harder to do and justify. With that in mind, he knew exactly how much it must have taken Fliss to open up the way she did.

It left him with a puzzlingly warm feeling in his chest, one he couldn’t really explain. And he had a feeling it was to do with the fact that he actually wanted to spend time with the woman and get to know her, instead of simply fucking her into his mattress.

Yup, for the first time in his life, Frank realised he’d extended an offer of no strings attached friendship to a woman.

And he couldn’t deny, it was nice.

**** Chapter 4

[outerbonks]

complicated [2] - jj maybank

here’s part two! please enjoy and tell me if i should keep it going!

summary: you’re a kook and JJ doesn’t like you at all. That’s what he wants everybody to believe anyway.

word count:+2k

warning(s): sad shit, mentions of abuse, swearing

taglist (open):  @danicarosaline​, @yeehaw87​, @sspidermanss​

PART ONE

It'd been a few days since the party at the boneyard and you were meeting up with the pogues soon as per JJ's request.

You’d hung out with them before but something felt off about this time, Kie had been texting you all morning making extra sure that you were coming.

She was never usually this concerned about if you'd be coming or not, it was usually just one message about a half hour before you were supposed to meet but today your phone was buzzing non-stop.

Kie 🌺✨: So ur coming today right?

You: ofc 💞 meeting at John B's place right?

Kie 🌺✨: Yes but wear something cute 👀

You: okayyyyy

You: why tho? 👀

Kie 🌺✨: For the group pics obviously 👀

You: sounds fake but ok bby 😌✨ I'll dress cute... only for you tho 😉

Kie 🌺✨: that's why you're my girl 😘 

Kie 🌺✨: okay I've gtg do some stuff but I love you

You: love you too 💞

Kie 🌺✨: John B's at 1pm

You: I've got it, see you then

She was definitely up to something, you could tell, she never cared how you dressed especially not when all you were doing was meeting up with her friends.

Deciding not to worry about it, you threw your phone onto your bed and started to get ready.

Settling on your favourite white crop top, the one with a daisy embroidered in the middle you pulled it on along with a pair of denim shorts and your white converse, that had become dirty from the amount of wear and tear they'd been through since you got them.

The posing you were doing in front of your mirror was interrupted by your phone chiming yet again.

JJ Maybank: Hi. 

JJ Maybank: Kie gave me ur number

JJ Maybank: She told me to ask u to bring snacks

You: Sure I'll stop by the store on my way

You: Any preference?

JJ Maybank: Whatever is fine with me princess

You: Alright I'll see what I can do

JJ Maybank: Wait get chips

You: What's the magic word? 🥺

JJ Maybank: Are u really gonna make me do this princess?

You: I mean if you want ur chips 👀

JJ Maybank: Remember when I told you I didn't hate you? I take it back

You: Then starve 😌🥰

JJ Maybank: Fine. Pretty please will you pick up some chips

You: Why of course I will since you asked ever so nicely!! 🧚🌺✨💫💞

JJ Maybank: You suck

Laughing at his response you grabbed your purse and left your house, making your way to the store.

You couldn't lie, you enjoyed messing with JJ. Now that you had his number you had a feeling that the two of you were going to be annoying each other on a whole other level now.

When you arrived at the store you made sure to stock up on snacks, buying extra chips as an attempt to ensure today stays peaceful between you and JJ.

Soon enough you found yourself at John B's front door, knocking on the frame gently.

Kie answered the door with a bright smile, giving you a hug before pulling you inside.

"Did you bring snacks?" Was the first thing you heard as Kie ushered you into the chateau. You let out an airy laugh and held up the plastic bag in your hand for JJ to see, "As promised."

"Great! Both of you go sit down." Kie instructed and you obliged, sitting down on John B's couch and placing the bag of snacks in-between yourself and JJ who immediately started rummaging through the bag, you watched intently as he pulled out a bag of chips with a big smile on his face, "These are my favorite!"

Nodding your head at the boy you looked at him with a mockingly parental look, trying your best to hide the smirk forming on your lips, "That's what happens when you say please, sweetheart."

 JJ scoffed before looking around the room in confusion, "Where'd the others go?"

Neither of you had noticed Kie and John B sneak out the front door and realization washed over the both of you as you heard the engine of John B's van running.

The pair of you scurried out to the porch, watching as the van moved away and Kie stuck her head out the window, "We're going to get beer, we'll probably be a while! You two should talk while we're gone! Bye!" She shouted before John B hit the gas and the van sped off.

Sighing you looked at JJ with an unimpressed expression, "Guess we're talking then."

"Seems like it." The boy muttered crankily, following you into the house.

Spending time with you meant getting to know you and getting to know you would eventually lead to falling for you. JJ couldn't let that happen. But he had no choice, he'd rather talk to you than spend hours in silence waiting for his friends to return.

"Do you wanna play 20 questions?" You asked, breaking the awkward silence that has settled over the both of your once you returned to your seats on the couch.

JJ let out a huff, looking at you with his eyebrow raised, "What are we? Twelve?"

Letting out a scoff you couldn't help but roll your eyes, "You sure do act like it."

"Fine. You ask first." He sighed, sinking into the couch and digging into the chips you'd brought.

"Alright, start off easy… What's your favorite hobby?" The blond boy beside you shook his head and leaned his elbows on his knees, turning his head to look at you, "Surfing. My turn. What did you mean the other night when you asked me what age you were when it all started going wrong?" He fired, the question had been locked and loaded in his mind since the night at the boneyard. 

"It's kind of a bummer, you sure you wanna get into it?" You questioned, catching your lip between your teeth.

The boy only nodded, staring at you expectantly, "Well, when I was thirteen my mom got really sick, she's been in and out of hospitals on the mainland for the past three years, my dads never left her side so I don't see much of either of them anymore. She's in some private hospital on the mainland right now, we're pretty sure she won't be getting out again." You explained numb to the situation, it'd been three years of you pretty much raising yourself, your dad kept up with the bills and put money into your credit card but he hadn't actually been home with you unless your mom was healthy enough to be there too, but she hadn't been home in the last year which meant neither had he.

"Shit…" JJ murmured, looking at you sympathetically to which you shook your head at him and gave him a tight smile. You really didn't want anyone's sympathy.

"It's fine. But I guess to give you an answer to the question, everything started going wrong when I was thirteen." You added on casually as if you hadn't just opened up about your dying mother seconds earlier.

"My turn." You stated, keeping eye contact and asking, "Why don't you want to get close to me?"

His little speech the other night had left an impact on you, you wanted to know what was so bad about you that made befriending you so awful. 

JJ sighed heavily, shrugging his shoulders, "It's complicated, I've got a reputation here on the cut y'know? And you've got yours on figure eight. We just shouldn't mix." 

You didn't bother trying to hide your confused expression, you both knew that that was bullshit.

"Maybe we shouldn't. But since when have you ever gone by the rules of society?" You piqued up.

"Hey it's not your turn anymore, you already asked your question." He butted in, throwing a chip at you.

"Fine, you go but we're getting back to that one." You warned him, making him chuckle in response.

"After you asked me when things started going wrong, you said something else…" JJ threaded carefully, having a sinking feeling that he knew what you meant by the question in the first place but the curiosity was killing him.

You nodded patiently waiting for him to continue, you knew what he was about to ask and you mentally prepared yourself to give him an answer.

"So… why can't you wear dresses to parties?" He finished, his voice gentle but his eyebrow raised.

Swallowing thickly you fidgeted with the hem of your crop top, "Last year at a kook party-" You started, shifting your eyes away from JJ's, focusing on your legs instead, "-One of Rafe Cameron's friend's, he was a senior and I had just finished freshman year, well anyway I was wearing this cute little dress and he told me he really liked it so we started hanging out and the next thing you know he was kissing me and that was all good and fine, it was really great actually." You retold to JJ, pausing for a second to glance at his eyes that were looking at you intently, his bottom lip between his teeth.

Heaving out a heavy sigh you ran a hand through your hair before finishing the story, "But then his hands were all over me and I didn't really know how to feel, yanno? I was a virgin and I'd never had a guy be into me like that so I let him go on. Until he literally tore my dress right off me and I knew then that I definitely wasn't ready for what he wanted. So I told him to stop and he flipped out on me, called me a tease and a slut and told me that if I didn't want to be fucked then I shouldn't have dressed like it. And that is why I can no longer wear dresses to parties." 

You couldn't figure out the look on the boys face, it was an expression that was a mixture between anger and sadness and something else that you couldn’t quite place.

"Who was the guy?" He inquired, his voice dangerously calm.

The story made him angry, he hated when guys thought they could just take advantage of people, he couldn't lie and say that it didn't especially bother him that it had happened to you.

You just shrugged again, "Doesn't matter. Pretty sure he moved to the mainland for college." You explained seemingly unbothered, the same way you had been after answering the last question and JJ wasn't having any of it.

"It does matter though, why do you do that?" He wondered out loud, scooting closer to you on the couch while you avoided eye contact.

"Because JJ, if I start acting like it's a big deal it's going to become a big deal and I don't want a fuss over something that happened to me in the past while other people have bigger things to worry about." The blond beside you nodded in understanding at your statement, he got that, he felt the exact same way and he realized that the pair of you were a lot more alike than he thought.

"Just don't tell Kie or John B okay? I'm only telling you because I let it slip at the boneyard, you're the only one that knows." You whispered, finally meeting his blue eyes.

He nodded with furrowed brows, "Secrets safe with me, princess."

Giving him a tight smile you spoke up again trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere, "If you weren't so stubborn I think you and I would be really great friends."

JJ laughed, taking off his red cap and running his hand through his hair before placing the cap back on his head, "You know what you're probably right-" The boy let out and exaggerated sigh before going on, "Screw it. We're friends now, princess." He stated with so much authority that you had to laugh.

"Wow and all it took was my tragic origin story? If only I’d known sooner." You said sarcastically, shoving his shoulder with your own.

JJ laughed and so did you, it was so strange, if someone had told you a week ago that you'd be playing a way too personal game of 20 questions with JJ Maybank you would've laughed in their face and asked if they were stoned. But it felt oddly comfortable in the moment.

The giggling was hushed by your phone buzzing with a message from Kie.

Kie 🌺✨: We're on our way back 

"They're coming back." You turned your head to face JJ who was smirking mischievously, "Should we fuck with them?" He asked you while scooting closer to you and looking at your phone screen.

"Oh absolutely, here." You agreed handing him your phone watching as he began to text Kie.

You: Take ur time  😉

Kie 🌺✨: What's with the winky face?

You: No reason 👀

Kie 🌺✨: omg Y/n what happened? 😳

"What should we tell her?" JJ snickered and you gasped excitedly, "Oh my God, tell her that we "bonded" but put a bunch of sex emojis after it."

"Brilliant." He commented under his breath as he began typing again.

You: Oh nothing, me and JJ just did some bonding 😌🥵👅🍆💦

Kie 🌺✨: Oh god please tell me you didn't…

Laughing at her response, you snatched the phone back from JJ, leaning close to him so he could still watch the screen and started typing, unable to contain your laughter.

You: Oh yeah, we bonded reeeeeaaaallll good. Right here on John B's couch 😜

"They're gonna be real smug about this working." JJ chimed in and you nodded in agreement.

"True. But I'm kinda glad it did." You confessed almost shyly, not trying to inflate his ego.

To your surprise JJ nodded in agreement, "Yeah you're not so bad after all. But we gotta keep this low-key, I don't want the other guys on The Cut thinking I'm a kook sympathizer." He muttered dramatically with a grin.

"Oh of course not, stays between us and the pogues." You stated with a grin to match his.

The boy reached a closed fist towards you, "Truce?" He offered up hopefully.

"Truce." You told him, bumping your fist to his gently with a smile.

Things had always been complicated between yourself and JJ but you had a feeling that it was only going to get messier from here.

part 3

[themagicalreads]

Journey Home (Mature/Prompt)

Rapunzel was hot despite the biting cold wind of the sea rushing outside, and it was all the captain's doing. Jack sucked at the nape of her neck as he moved against her, drawing a long moan from her lips. She ran her fingers up his back, pulling him as close to her body as she could, before moving on to his hair.

"Mmm," his mumbling was deep, husky. She tugged at his white locks to bring more out of him, and he obliged wonderfully.

"Oh, captain," she whined in pure bliss.

He pulled away from her, suddenly, eyes sinking deep inside her soul.

"Jack," she corrected herself with a small smile. He rewarded her with a smirk and his tongue slipping in smoothly beside her own. Her entire body buzzed with energy, with light and tingles and love. Pure love, and shared ecstasy.

Rapunzel tightened her bare legs around Jack's hips as they continued their rocking. Then, she gripped his pale shoulders and flipped him onto his back so she now sat atop him, in control. His chest shivered as she ran her hands across it, feeling drunk by his very presence.

This was the most ruthlessly handsome man she'd ever laid eyes upon. The youngest captain to sail the Seven Seas on a fully crewed ship. And yet he had the biggest heart she'd ever had the pleasure of knowing. One he liked to trap inside of a birdcage called his ship. The Zella. A nameless ship named after her, of every human in existence.

The way he looked at her now with heavy-lidded eyes made her question how it had taken her so long to let him in, even after he'd saved her from a life no one wished to have. It had taken him a while to break apart his cold-hearted persona to her as well, but he'd shown her vulnerability long before she could even muster to reveal hers.

He gripped her hips gently, running his hands over her thighs and back again. To places that made her insides flip completely in the most wonderful of ways.

When they were finished, Jacks head dropped against the pillow as he tried to catch his breath. After a few seconds of relishing in his sweet scent, Rapunzel sat up on his hips and brought his suddenly-distanced mind back on board with a soft finger to his chin.

"Your heads off somewhere in the moon again," she said as his ice blue eyes, warm as the sun, met her own. They were full of sadness, and love, and pain.

"Is it?"

Rapunzel nodded.

"You're beautiful."

Tingles rushed over her spine, but she ignored them, to her body's dismay. She plucked his crumpled, white, linen shirt off the bedsheets beside them and pulled it over her chest. It was much more flowy on her than it ever was on him, which was one of the reasons why she loved wearing it to bed so much. Immediately, she felt fingers playing at its hem, tugging up and down. "And you're ignoring my questions again," she told him.

Jack sighed, pulling his wandering hands away from her to palm at his eyes. "Because it's a decision I've already made. We're going for the Black Treasure."

Rapunzel shook her head in disbelief. "Everyone's gone for the Black Treasure, you and I both know it's a death trap." She lowered her palms to his stomach. "No one's caught word of the Golden Flower yet, save from us, the Sea De Vil, and the Jolly Roger. And we're the ones closest to the island, as far as word carries. It'd be stupid not to go."

Jack shifted, gently pushing at her hips until she swung off of him. While he pulled his breeches on, Rapunzel sat patiently on her legs until he grumbled: "I'm not going back to Corona. I made that clear with you before you joined the crew."

"And I haven't said a word about it in six years. It would've been longer if Nicholas hadn't told us about the sighting."

Jack shook his head again, then glanced over his shoulder at her. "It's a magic golden flower. There's no such thing."

Rapunzel smiled softly, crawling over to sit just behind his shoulder. She slid her chin down over it, wrapping her arms around his own in an embrace that set her soul of fire. "I don't believe in magic," she mocked, in a horrible imitation of his voice. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard you say, Ice Man."

"I was cursed. There's a difference."

"You've never viewed your magic as a curse before. And even if it was technically a curse, the fact that it exists is proof that this flowers' powers can very much be real, too. We can't miss the chance of someone else finding it. Imagine the gold people would pay for it—more than all the treasures we've kept and sold combined. We can treasure it, too. Keep it to ourselves."

Jack was quiet for a long moment. She knew he'd grown up on the island, same as she, but he'd never confessed why he refused so strongly to go back, and she'd never felt the right to push. She hadn't told him everything about her long years in Gothelitch either. He had a right to his own privacy as everyone else did with things that didn't involve her.

He opened his mouth to speak, finally, when a loud bang! suddenly sounded from the door. "When you two lovebirds are done rubbin' up all over each other," Merida, the Zella's master gunner, yelled from the other side, "we got somethin' out here ya might wanna see."

"Aye!" Jack answered. The both of them hurried into their own garments and out of the captain's quarters. Out on the main deck, most of the crew stood gazing at something far off to sea.

"Ya see 'im watching us too?" Hook Hand's eyes glared under the hand pressed over his brows, shielding the sun.

"I can feel 'im," Big Nose added.

"Aye, captain! First lady," Merida sauntered over, nodding to the both of them. "Sailin' master's caught somethin' on the horizon. Gettin' easier to see by the second. Aye, Haddie," she yelled out to the sky, suddenly, where Hiccup Haddock stood on the main mast. "How's it lookin' up there?"

"Definitely him!" Hiccup yelled back. "I recommend we set sail East soon, unless we want a repetition of the blood moon!"

Rapunzel glanced at Jack, whose face was still as a frozen lake. The battle on the blood moon had been a nightmare, worse than any they'd been in. The Zella usually did its best to avoid physical conflict between other ships and coastal villages—it was how other pirates got their ships sunk to the ocean's bottom so quickly in their early days of sailing, or how they lost their treasure faster than they earned it, what with all the repairs it cost 'em. The Zella was more so of a silent threat, he'd say. We were a legend, never seen, yet wielding a deadly strike.

Their run-in with the Sea De Vil hadn't been planned. Jack was usually good at tricking others and tracking their thoughts long before they even made them, but he'd made a slight miss guess on Captain Crell's plans. He hadn't expected the renovations he'd given his ship months back for faster sailing. Guess someone else caught on to Jack's tricks—when you scream your plans out for the world to hear, surprise is an impossible thing to achieve. But if you put them to motion under the cover of sealed lips and well placed coins, diverting expectations most often turns victorious.

Now, that very ship was sailing straight for them, only but a small blip on the horizon. It would take a day for them for meet up if they continued on their current route.

"He's sailing for Corona," Rapunzel told him. "Heading South. We're a bonus treasure on his path."

"We're sinking him next time we meet." Jack's voice was stiff, and incredibly determined. There was no doubt in her that his words were true—the Zella's was easily the toughest ship on the Seas. "The Jolly Roger, too."

"You really think words not going to make it to the others if we take those two down? It's a useless endeavor. They'll just cost us more gold in repair, and for what? Temporarily stopping pirates from sailing for the Golden Flower?"

Jack's lips were pressed in a neat line. She knew she was getting onto his nerves about the topic, but she was itching to head home, despite what she told him. The one thing that had kept her from dangerous thoughts after she'd been forced into white slavery was the thought of seeing her parents again. She hoped her disappearance hadn't affected their protectiveness of her sister to a point of extreme. Slavery was a common thing, but her family had cared about one another far too much to let it become an unspoken topic, she knew.

"Please," Rapunzel whispered. She knew she was being cruel, torturing him this way, but she needed to see them at least one last time. She needed to know they were okay, and that she was too.

Jack refused to look at her. The pain he was trying so hard to hide in his eyes tore her heart to pieces. What was she doing to him? She knew she was right in her talk about the flower's worth, but Corona had always been the one thing he'd refused to hear talk about.

He scowled, finally, starring deep into the horizon. "Turn the sails south," he ordered.

***

They arrived at sunrise three days later. The Coronian seas were calm as they anchored down around a mountainous bend, covering them from prying eyes.

"Everyone, ready yourselves for a quick leave," Jack announced as he marched down the main deck. "I won't be long."

The crew groaned in disagreement.

"Ya mean none of us are comin' with, save for Zel?" Merida complained. "No offence, Cap, but that's idiocy at its best."

Jack shot her a dangerous look.

"You'll need Haddie for his navigation skills. And you'll need me, for added protection, yeah? Ain't that what we usually do?"

"This isn't a usual case," Jack informed her. But Merida had never been one to give up. It was a wonder Jack bothered keeping any of this crew around, considering how much they talked back at him. Rapunzel suspected he liked it, deep down. It made their days on the ship that much more entertaining and pleasant, considering the business they were in.

"We do make a good team," Hiccup had just climbed down from his mast, ready for departure. "Zella's four heads of ship."

"Fine." Jack gave in. "Shorty! Lower two boats. We leave immediately." And immediately they did. Rapunzel found herself sitting in front of an emotionless Jack in a matter of no time. His gaze was glassy, fixed on nothing as he rowed their boat off to shore. His grip on the paddles was tight; it worried Rapunzel.

"Talk to me," she said, finally, over the sound of waves tugging them along. "What are you thinking, Jack? It's no good keeping things bottled up inside. You're not a treasure map, or a letter lost at sea."

That brought out a brief chuckle from Jack. "It's nothing."

Rapunzel frowned. "You're worse than a lady. It's not nothing."

"Doesn't matter anyway," he shrugged.

The boat scratched to a stop against the sand, but Rapunzel made no move to get out. Instead, she hopped onto Jack's lap, legs on either side of his hips, and gently pried his fingers away from each paddle. They moved to rest on her waist, only to lower back to his side. The subtle action hurt Rapunzel more than she cared to admit. She leaned forward, oh so slowly, and slipped her tongue between his lips, soothed when she felt his hands return to caress her.

"I love you," she told him.

Jack closed his eyes, gripping at her hips with each rock of the boat. "Don't say that."

"Why not? It's true."

She felt one of his hands reaching up to rub against her hair. "It'll hurt more when you leave."

Realization dawned on her suddenly—he thought she would leave the Zella as soon as they docked in Corona. His sudden failed attempts at distancing himself from her made much more sense now. From the past three days, he'd been trying to rip away his attachment to her. Rapunzel gripped Jack's neck, brushing her fingers against the hair at his nape. "I just want to visit them," she clarified. "I want us all to know we're okay—that I am, now. The Zella's my new home, captain."

Relief flooded over Jack's face, something he was brief to show. A smirk suddenly found its way back to his lips. "Bad girl."

Rapunzel smiled against his lips, warmth swelling inside of her. "Forgive me, sweet, sweet, Jack."

"Aye!" Merida yelled from somewhere off to their left. She and Hiccup had just arrived. "Got a magic flower to find, eh?"

Hiccup chimed in, "Nicholas mentioned it was somewhere by—"

"I know where it is," Rapunzel interrupted, joining up with the others. She looked at them almost guiltily. "I might have done some of my own research after Nick clued us in. If I read the riddles right, it's on top of a hill just out of town. Oh no!" Rapunzel patted at her dress. "I drew a map of how I remembered the island! I was so excited, I must've forgot it on the ship, but that's alright," she was quick to add, grinning at Jack. "We can grab one in town—it'll be much more accurate, and we can visit my family on the way!"

"Sounds like a plan, Zel," Merida agreed, happily.

"If they're as sweet as you, we should invite them on the crew," Hiccup added, only to earn an elbow to the gut from Merida.

They all laughed, save from Jack. "I'm not going," he told them.

"Oh, but they'd love you!" Rapunzel insisted. She was quick to give up her attempts at convincing, however. She knew could do it, he'd crack in a few minutes time, but the trick in gaining a silver tongue was to know when not to push. Jack never wanted to go back home in the first place. Something must have happened in town—something he didn't want to remember. He could meet her family another time, then. "We'll meet back here in half an hour," she told Jack once they'd reached the main bridge.

"Make it an hour," Jack said, but Rapunzel shook her head, keeping it at half. If she spent too much time with the family, she might forget how strongly she loved being at sea.

She might want to stay.

Rapunzel pressed a kiss onto Jack's cheek in goodbye. Then, she followed an ecstatic Merida and Hiccup down the bridge.

Corona was just as beautiful as she remembered, with his big, brick building, and sunny flag. She'd been caught after wandering too far on the outskirts when she was but a seven year old girl. She'd spent another seven in the grips of white slavery, where dirty men used her in ways no child or adult should ever be used. When Jack had stopped by Gothelitch in search for the islands solid gold tooth box, he'd had a run-in with the head of operation, Sir Black. Merida had been the one to spot her first, and she'd convinced Jack to unleash the crew of the Nameless to free our group of imprisoned girls. They'd succeeded, to her surprise, despite them only having been in the pirate business for barely over a year—he'd started when he was but fourteen, Rapunzel's age at the time.

If she hadn't been so curious, she never would have left Corona. She never would of met Jack, or Merida, or Hiccup, or even the rest of the crew. She was grateful for everything that had happened to her, in a way, but she still had nightmares of her time in Gothelitch. The town itself was lovely, but it had been tainted by her reason for being there.

Hiccup located a map easily. Finding Rapunzel's parents had been harder but, with a lot of asking around, they finally found themselves before an old brick home. Her parents looked the same as she pictured, but little Poppilia was almost her height. She was seventeen now, almost a grown woman, just like Rapunzel. It hurt her to know she'd missed out on watching her grow up, on creating memories only a big sister could give her. Still, her sadness gave way to relief at knowing they were still safe and okay.

"Where have you been?" Her mother asked after many hellos.

Rapunzel briefly explained what had happened to her, sparing them of the awful detail. Only she would bare that burden. "I've been sailing on the Zella since," she concluded. But instead of pure joy at her safety, her family looked fearsome.

"Doesn't Captain Jack own that ship?" Poppy asked, worry etched on her brow.

"Yes," Rapunzel smiled. "He's the most wonderful man."

Her father turned to her mother. "He was an Overland, wasn't he? Left at thirteen. I remember him."

"Oh, Punzel!" Her mother sighed, taking her shoulders. "Stay with us! Please, it's so good to have you back. We'll protect you from that man." Her green eyes flicked to Merida and Hiccup, standing a few paces behind Rapunzel. "Your friends too, they're absolutely free to stay."

Rapunzel's brows formed a neat V as she pushed one of her mother's hands free of her shoulder. "I can't stay," she told them, expecting sadness, instead of the worry they all suddenly wore in their eyes. "But I'll visit. I promise."

She made to move away when her father suddenly reached for her wrist. "Sweetheart, please! Don't go back to that devil! He'll flay you, just like he did his family!"

Rapunzel stilled. She saw her friends do the same as well—except they weren't watching her father.

They were watching her.

"What?" Rapunzel asked her father.

"The boy murdered his entire family, an older sister and two younger brothers. Then the coward had the sense to run away and get himself into that pirate business. No one's dared chase after him, not after everything he's done."

Rapunzel's head spun wildly, a headache blooming at her temple. When she turned to Merida and Hiccup, she found them completely unsurprised by the news she just been given. It was true, then. Jack had killed his own family. That explained why he ran away—why he didn't want to come back.

Rapunzel ripped her wrist out of her father's grip. There was an explanation, there had to be! Jack wasn't a monster. But why hadn't he told her what he did? Why hadn't he...?

She stormed out of Corona, ignoring her family's pleading calls. Merida and Hiccup said nothing, but she was pleased to hear they were struggling to follow her quick pace.

"Explain!" She yelled at Jack when she found him hanging by the bridge. Tears already stained her cheeks, but she didn't attempt to wipe them away. She could see it on his face, then, the horrified realization that she knows. Rapunzel knew what he'd been trying so hard to hide from her.

"I..." he started, but failed to continue.

"Your own family!" Her yells were drawing attention from the townsfolk, but she couldn't stop, couldn't stop it with the utter pain radiating through her.

"Not to interrupt," Hiccup hesitantly started, "But can we talk about this while—"

"It's there!" Rapunzel jammed her finger over a spot his open map. "Go find your damn flower!"

Red tainted Hiccup's cheeks, sending a rush of guilt swishing through her stomach. He and Merida rushed off without another word. She'd apologize to them after—they'd done nothing wrong. This had been Jack's secret to share, and he'd failed to do so. "Why?"

His blue eyes flashed. He glanced around them quickly. Then, he took her elbow and led her behind a nearby stand. She should have felt afraid, but he was so familiar. She'd trusted him far too much, and now her body couldn't even be afraid of him.

"It was... It wasn't me," he explained. "I mean, it was, but it wasn't. Not really."

Rapunzel lip quivered. "You're not making much sense."

Jack let go of her elbow and turned away from her. He rubbed a hand through his hair, pulling. Finally, they dropped tiredly to his sides. "It happened after the curse," he whispered. "I stole from the wrong lady. She was talking gibberish to me, saying how she was gonna curse me and all that. Thought she was just rattling out stuff that she knew would scare a normal kid." He shook his head, deep in memory. "I ran back home. Went to sleep thinking my brothers would have the laughs of their lives after I told them about what happened tomorrow." His shoulders shook, but Rapunzel couldn't hear him crying. "I woke up in the middle of the night. All I remember is sitting in the backyard, looking at—at their bodies, all—"

Rapunzel's hand betrayed her. She placed it over his shoulder in comfort, and he turned his face toward her in reflex. They were tear-filled; he had been crying after all. "You don't have to—"

"I flayed them alive. Probably did more, too, seeing how frostbitten they looked. I don't remember anything other than sitting in the yard looking at them. And then running for the fastest boat off land. I knew even then that nothing I could do would bring em' back."

Rapunzel could feel her heart wrenching, twisting harshly at the memory. How horrible must it have been to live with such a sight engrained in your mind? And she'd thought she'd experienced scarring things.

Frostbitten. It explained why he'd refused to use his powers during her first years on board. It took three entire years for them to become close friends, for Rapunzel to develop a crush she hadn't known he returned until that evening in the ship's stores when they'd gotten closer than usual. "Can I kiss you?" He'd asked, face only inches from hers. He had her pressed against the wall as soon as she'd whispered, "Yes." But the flashes of her past still haunted her, then. More than they did now that she knew she was safe. It had taken her long to let him share more than simple kisses in the shadows with her.

It had taken him just as long to give in to Rapunzel's constant encouragement for him to make use of his powers.

"Did you ever try pursuing the witch?" She asked him. "Maybe she would have known how to reverse it."

Jack bobbed his head up and down. "She was Black's mistress in Gothelitch."

Betrayal bloomed inside Rapunzel like a poisoned flower. "That's why you came to the island. To the house. To get your revenge on the Great Dame. You weren't planning on saving us at all, were you?"

Jack looked away, and Rapunzel slid her hand off of him. "Please," he begged, suddenly, looking back at her with widened eyes. His hand had quickly found its way to the crook of her elbow. "The crew really did want to get you girls out of there after we made it. I did. You know I would never lie to anyone on board, especially not you."

Rapunzel closed her eyes as his palm reached her jaw. He pet a thumb against her cheek, sending sparks running through her skin with every stroke. "I wouldn't of hated you if you'd told me," she whispered. "I could never hate you."

"You should," he whispered back. "You really should."

"Jack," Rapunzel opened her eyes. "It wasn't your fault. What you did. Your heart's as good as the Gods above, it was the curse that—"

"There he is!"

Rapunzel twisted fast toward the street, where Poppy stood pointing with a guard at her side. Fear shot through her heart—Jack was not welcome on this island, that much was clear to her now. "Run!" He pulled him away with her, just as a gunshot sounded. Its smell soured the air around them as they ran to shore, fast as their legs could take them. More gunshots came as they found their way to their boat and started rowing. Rapunzel watched as they pulled Merida and Hiccup's boat off shore—they'd have to come find them later.

Then, one last gunshot fired, and it had its eye on Jack's back. He lurched forward as Rapunzel cried out. "Hold it!" She told him, taking charge of the rowing. Her arms were already starting to burn from the pull, but she was glad to see Jack finally do what he was told. "Rip my skirts," she added.

Despite his situation, Jack still managed to smirk. "I don't think now's the time for that, princess."

"Rip my skirts," she said again. "Use it to cover the wound until we get on deck"

"Princess," Jack struggled to hum again in her lap. He was silent for a moment as he tried and failed to move himself upward. "I can't feel my right hand, and my thigh's going numb."

Rapunzel was breathing hard, sweat beading at her brow. She rowed faster. "What?" She said, looking down at him. "You—no. No, you'll be alright." She stopped rowing, suddenly, and helped him into a sitting position at the bottom of the boat, despite his protests. She wasn't strong enough to tear the fabric of her skirts, so she made sure he kept his left sleeve against the open would while she took Jack's previous place and worked all of her energy into rowing. "You'll be alright," she kept telling him.

But the both of them knew he wouldn't be.

"The Golden Flower has healing magic, doesn't it?" Rapunzel asked.

"It'll be too late," Jack answered.

"No," she insisted. "I'll hop on a boat with Vladimir as soon as we get back. We'll tie a second one with us and carry it along for Merida and—"

"No, Zella." Jack's voice was stern, decisive. It left no room for argument. "We're going back for them, just not now. They're smart enough to hold out on their own."

"Jack," Rapunzel's voice was weak, broken. The bullet had hit his spinal cord. He was being forced to succumb to paralysis, something she couldn't imagine would ever be easy for Jack to bare, considering how active he always was. He'd realized it, too, she knew. How horrible must he be feeling, knowing his fate? And after everything he'd gone through.

It wasn't fair.

Nothing was fair.

Rapunzel cried out for the crew as soon as they were close enough to the Zella. Nothing was fair, that was true, but from now on, she vowed, she would make sure to make that very saying as untrue as she could.

[1-800-seo]

domestic dad!kook

hi everyone I thought I’d post my crap here so here is my domestic dad!kook Drabble list thing?

involves: pregnancy, established relationship/marriage, kissing, hickies?, general tomfoolery, nothing major, dad!jungkook,

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* those damned blue lines

* you thought you wouldn’t see them so soon

* after all you had only been married eighteen months

* old relatives have been asking since day 1 when they’re gonna he seeing some lil jeons running around smh aunty karen

* you wondered how he would react

* he’d never shown any adverse reaction to children before but he was practically still a child himself

* the spiderman onesie you washed yesterday attests to that

* you decided to tell him at dinner

* he’d just had his first bite of tagliatelle when you accidentally blurted it out

* “IM PREGNANT”

* “what?” he replied snapping his head up with wide doe eyes

* “I-I found out this morning...I’m definitely pregnant. I know it’s soon, but we can make this work.”

* “What’re you on about? This is amazing baby, I finally get to be a dad!”

* “So you want this?”

* “Definitely, I’ve always imagined a family with you, it was just a matter of time. I’m so happy though baby, over the moon.”

* The smile on his face was beaming and the twinkle in his eye sparkled, he looked the epitome of happiness

* “I’m glad you want this then, it’ll be a wild ride but I’m glad it’s with you.”

* you reach out and squeeze his hand, as a fat tear of joy rolls down your cheek

* “I’m glad too, I know we’re young but it feels so right, so right with you.”

* he looks down, a tear dripping onto the table

* he wipes a few more and giggles

* “Tbh im surprised this didn’t happen earlier considering we go at it like rabbits”

* “KOOK” you cant help but laugh

* He is right lol

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One month 🍼

* “Where is my wife and my spawn~~~~~~”

* Jeongguk loudly sang as he burst thru the front door, arriving home from work

* “Wym spawn???“ You say as he pulls you into a bear hug and flops both of you on the couch

* “You know,, spawn, this baby, it’s my spawn hence why I’m calling it spawn like the superhero,, duh”

* he drops his hands down to your stomach and rest them their, flat palmed

* bowing his head so he is closer he says

* “I can’t wait to meet you Spawnie”

* Immediately you burst into a fit of laughter at the outrageous name

* “we CANNOT nickname our baby SPAWN, JEONGGUK”

* “Why not I think it’s well cool”

* he calmly replies proud smirk on his face

* “Is Spawn even a good guy?”

* “ummm”

* “wym ummm??”

* “well he’s kind of ambiguous in the comics”

* “OH GREAT WE HAVE A BABY NAMED SPAWN THAT IS OF AMBIGUOUS MORALITY”

* at that comment you both fell about laughing, your sides beginning to hurt at it all

* and that was how your unborn baby was nicknamed Spawn

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Three Months 🍼

* “I can’t push the trolley, I’m pregnant”

* you said matter of factly

* “oh you’re just being lazy,, I mean I’m not saying I won’t push the trolley, but you’re really pushing the boat out, baby”

* “hehehe my plan worked, you fool, you may have suspected me, however you still fell right into my trap muhahahaha”

* you dramatically laugh and put your hands on your hips like a comical villain

* so anyways you skrt skrt around the shop

* and right next to the book section is you know what

* the BABY SECTION

* so far you actually haven’t looked their yet because you don’t know the gender

* but curiosity brings you snooping in the aisles

* Jeongguk returns from the bakery section, carrying croissants and hair swept into a messy top knot

* you stare at the many many many racks of children’s clothes

* tiny baby booties

* hats that kook could only fit on his fist

* so so smol baby-grows

* “ngl I’m kinda overwhelmed”

* “how come?”

* he puts his hands round your waist and rests his head on your shoulders

* big soft comfy back hug

* “idk it’s a lot of responsibility, right? I can’t even begin to think about names never mind washing, clothing, feeding this tiny human being when it arrives”

* “baby, you have nothing to worry about, and I am positive you’re going to be the best most caring mother ever, and I have full trust in that.”

* He places a soft chaste kiss on the top of your head

* “thank you for always supporting me ggukie”

* “It’s my pleasure; we’re going to have the best baby ever, aren’t we Spawnie”

* You roll your eyes and kiss his cheek

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Four Months 🍼

* you were sat on the couch in your small apartment, small but sufficient

* Jungkook was painting the spare room and deconstructing old furniture you were selling on eBay

* You’re job was to arrange the business dealings and to look for new kid-appropriate furniture to reoccupy the spaces now blank

* It was fine by you

* saves you from getting up off the couch and getting all sweaty

* after a good few hours JK came out from the room, sweat on his brow and hungry

* hungry for something else tho 👀

* he stalks over to where you are sitting and kneels on the floor in front of your knees

* he rests his head on your lap, arms folded underneath it

* his eyes were dark, full of want

* “How’s it going baby? You tired?”

* “hmmm”

* he just stares back

* brows slightly furrowed

* soon enough he was peppering your face in warm kisses

* he flipped you over and sat you on his lap, hands resting on your waist

* his lips latched onto your neck and he sucked a flourish of purple and blue flowers under your jaw

* his lips were warm and supple on your skin

* it sent a shiver down your spine and goosebumps to your skin

* you found the hem of his black T-shirt and slid your hands under the fray

* you’re hands met the toned muscle of his stomach and the soft honey skin

* “looks like I can’t knock you up since someone already has, oh well, more fun for me”

* his hands fiddled with the fabric of your top

* you obliged and pulled it over your head

* you were met with his mouth hungrily crashing into yours as he searched for more and soon enough you were underneath him

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Six Months 🍼

* your belly was fairly noticeable by now and you couldn’t avoid the fact that you were pregnant

* people were starting to let you sit instead of them in public places

* you were getting more and more randos asking to touch your belly as well which wasn’t the greatest

* JK is always in protective dad mode™️ when this happens

* he’s ready to protect his babies

* one time when a sketchy looking old man asked to touch your belly JK immediately stood in between you and the guy

* he puffed out his chest and was hella macho

* Alpha Jungkook arises hehe

* ever since then he was more aware that people would be looking at you and more interested in you in general

* anyways

* he’s hella excited to be a dad

* his excitement is so pure and genuine it’s so sweet

* it’s like every day he gets more excited and you think by the full 9 months he’ll just be so excited he’ll be vibrating like a washing machine lol

* every night he kisses you and your baby good night

* “Night night baby jeon spawnie”

* without fail it makes you giggle

* his lil nose always brushes against your skin when he says it and it’s ticklish and comforting

* you can’t wait to meet your baby to see which of you they look like and in what ways

* will they have your double lidded eyes or his unique nose

* will they have his bunny teeth or your short stature

* either way they’ll be the most loved being in this world

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Seven Months 🍼

* it was time for the long awaited gender reveal

* you and him had decided that you would go alone to the appointment since he had work and then you would surprise Ggukie when he gets back

* you decided the way you would tell him was by dressing in either blue or pink

* you know you know,, not really breaking gender stereotypes, but it gets the idea over

* so that’s what you do

* you wear you’re best maternity day dress and do your makeup all güd

* it’s 5:30pm and he’s so excited to know

* he barges thru the door and basically and sprints to you

* he’s met with a baby blue clad wife, her hair adorned with a periwinkle ribbon

* immediately he knows and swoops you up into a bear hug

* “Jungkook? We’re going to have a little baby boy!”

* “I’m so happy! I feel like I’ve drank five red bulls,, we’re going to have a boy”

* When you pull away from the hug his cheeks have tears dripping down them and his eyes are wet

* “aww baby why’re you crying?”

* “because I’m just so happy, I can’t wait to see him, he’s going to be perfect, we’ll all be perfect”

* “you’re right kook, we’ll be perfect”

* “You don’t know how much I love you, you know?”

* that was when you started crying tears of happiness too

* youd remember this moment forever

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Eight Months 🍼

* “I think it’s time to think of some actual names”

* “yeahhh people at work keep thinking I’m actually calling the baby Spawnie and then I keep having to explain why it’s called Spawn and i don’t particularly like explaining that Spawn is a play on sperm and that’s my sperm”

* “What goes ON at your work”

* “you don’t even wanna know babygirl”

* “ummm so I was thinking, something familial, i don’t want a western name tho so that rules out my side,, unless you want to call him Barry”

* “uhh no thanks babes”

* “yeahh they’d sound like the flash lol”

* “I don’t want none of that DC propaganda in my household thanks”

* “tru tru”

* “so what about your side of family? Can you think of any family who have named you like?”

* “What about Junseok? My great uncle is called Junseok and I think that’s cool, also it kinda looks like a combination of Namjoon-hyung and Jin-hyung’s names.”

* “Wow they’d love that, that’s a good idea actually.”

* “Jeon Junseok, has a good ring to it”

* “I agree”

* “It’s settled then until further notice”

* “It seems it is Mr Jeon”

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First Week Home 🍼

* The moment Junseok was in his little sunset coloured crib you burst into tears of relief

* you’d obviously been stressing post birth about the intricacies and once you’d got him home and settled it was like a weight of your shoulders

* he was home

* he was safe

* and you were both over the moon

* he had the smallest nose and the biggest doe eyes

* his dark hair swept across his delicate skin on his forehead

* you just knew he’d be the spitting image of his dad

* each following day with Junseok was amazing

* he was good for you

* slept so well

* settled into routine easily

* it’s as if you never had to worry

* and Jungkook was a life saver

* he was such an attentive father and husband

* always caring for you and Junseok

* every morning he’d bring you up a cup of herbal tea and bowl of granola

* and go check on the baby and if he’s awake change and feed him

* his paternity leave was a blessing

* it meant you actually got a lie in instead of Junseok waking you up

* “I can do the baby this morning, it’s ok”

* you say sitting up in bed

* “no no I’ll do it I’m used to getting up at this time for work anyway”

* “but you’ve been doing it all this week I feel bad”

* “Baby, rest, I want to do this, you deserve a rest after carrying the baby for nine months, I’m sure I can take care of him for a few mornings”

* then he gave u a sweet kiss and left to see his baby boy

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Eighteen Months 🍼

* you pulled on Junseok’s tiny yellow wellies as Jungkook put on his coat

* “where are we going seokie?”

* “P-p-p” Junseok tried his best to get out the letters

* “Yayyy we’re going to the park”

* “Me and your mum are going to meet uncle Jimin too, and you know what that means? You’re going to get spoileddd”

* “V tru, but why does he always spoil him? I mean it’s not a problem he gets free things and stuff, but do you reckon he’s compensating for something?”

* “Yeah as nice as it is I think he might be compensating for not being around as often as he’d like to, solo career going strong as all, you know how he loves kids, in his head he probably thinks he’s an absent uncle but in reality he’s ever present just away for an odd weekend, which is normal”

* “yeah I get that”

* “But it’ll be nice to see him anyway, we can ask him about his new single”

* “Oh I’ve heard that it’s pretty good”

* Junseok pulled at the hem of your coat, indicating he wants to leave

* So off you went

* the day was filled with jumping in muddy puddles and Jimin nearly falling in said puddles

* Junseok got all dirty so you had to go find a bathroom to clean him up at

* hence why you ended up at an ice cream parlour in winter

* despite the cold weather you enjoyed the ice cream nonetheless

* JK teases Jimin a few times because apparently Jimin’s white blond hair was vanilla ice cream and his was chocolate

* Jimin insisted his was bingsu however JK refused

* Junseok had a great time fluffing up uncle Jimin’s hair after that

* and so the day drew to an end

* you headed home

* Seokie sleeping in the car all the way there

* you gently took him into the house and the pair of you collapsed on the couch and immediately fell asleep

* it was the cutest thing

* and when you woke up you saw your two boys asleep so soundly

* and you thought to yourself how content with your life you were

* how lucky you were

* how much you love those boys

* and you’d do anything for them

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The End hehehe :)

[sparrellow]

Break A Leg, But Not Literally

Len was happy working from the shadows. Rin was a natural performer. Kaito loved being in the spotlight.

Another year, another school musical—and yet, just when all seemed to be going as usual, the universe had other plans.

rating: T genre: romance/friendship/humour/fluff ships: rin/len, miku/kaito if you squint words:  10,164

Len had always been a shy kid, avoiding anything that would draw unnecessary attention to him.

Every semester, his high school’s theatre club would hold a musical. It wasn’t his idea to join the theatre club (honestly, he’d rather be part of the go-home club), but he had no choice after being dragged by his bold best friend, Kaito, to the sign-up booth during first year.

Kaito was the polar opposite of Len. He loved the spotlight. He’d been acting ever since he was five. He was always first to volunteer in middle school for plays and the like. The guy was just, well, overwhelmingly eager to have hundreds of eyes staring him down.

Of course, Len never dared set foot on the stage—grudgingly obliging to work on props and lighting, and act as a stagehand. That was fine. He liked working from the shadows.

However, it was soon their last semester in which they could participate in a musical before graduation, and naturally, Kaito was trying to nag him into actually doing something. 

“C’mon, you could be like, a tree, or a swan, or something,” he hissed to him.

They were sitting at the back of the auditorium, watching the auditions for the female lead roles. The male lead role auditions were scheduled next, and hence, Kaito was waiting for his time to shine.

This semester’s musical was Swan Lake , interestingly enough. (Although, by the sounds of it, they were opting for a less tragic ending, much to Len's disappointment.)

Len rolled his eyes, although his friend couldn’t see his expression in the dark. “I’d rather be stung by a thousand wasps,” he said. “Really, Kai. I’m just happy to watch from the sidelines like always.”

“You’ll regret it,” Kaito said. “And I mean, like, you did a pretty good Odette impression when we were practicing yesterday.”

Len snorted. “Hilarious.”

“It’s true! And when you—”

He shushed his friend as the next auditioner walked onto the stage. Small, feeble, yet very cute; there stood a nervous-looking Rin Kagamine.

Kaito wolf-whistled and waved at her, earning a slap on the leg from Len. Rin glanced up at them and smiled sheepishly, before beginning her audition.

Rin was… well, she was one of the best performers in the theatre group. She’d been doing ballet since she could walk, and taking singing lessons since she could talk. She was humble and sweet and eager to please, always wearing a smile, always being soft-spoken.

There was just a lot to be said about her, but Len could never find all the right words.

One could say it was a crush, and maybe it was—he just really, really admired her. 

Kaito and Rin were good friends, having played major roles in past musicals together many times. Len could barely get out a sentence around her, though. Nevertheless, she was Rin— painfully polite and always treating others kindly.

Len watched as she acted out the scene where Odette sees Siegfried and Odile dancing together in the castle. The emotion she poured into her acting and singing—even though it was just an audition—made it seem as if the pain she was feeling was real. The performance pulled at his heartstrings.

When Rin finished her audition and toddled off the stage looking like she’d walked straight into a storm, Kaito turned to Len and said, “Oh, she’s definitely getting the lead role.”

“Yeah?”

“Too bad you won’t be her Siegfried,” he teased with a wink.

Len sighed. “What, you want to audition for Rothbart instead?”

Kaito stroked his chin in thought. “Well, auditioning as a villain is definitely a first, but I’m not opposed…”

They watched the rest of the auditions in silence. Perhaps Len was just biased, but it really did seem likely Rin would get the female lead. Of course, the other students were good, but Rin… she just stood out something special on stage.

Next were the male leads, and Kaito jumped up, ready to go wait in line to be called down by the front.

“Good luck,” he hissed to his friend.

Kaito blew him a kiss and ran off.

Unsurprisingly, he blew his audition out of the water. Of course, Len already knew that—having been his Odette while he practiced for the audition of Siegfried for the past week or so. He was definitely talented.

A few weeks after the auditions, all roles for the musical were announced. As expected, both Kaito and Rin got the leads. Rin seemed genuinely surprised, being too humble for her own good, but Kaito just looked smug.

“It’s a pity you can’t be my Odette,” he joked, as Len checked the lists for what job he’d be appointed. Ew, yet again painting and moving the props.

“I’m quite happy for Rin to be up there instead of me,” Len said, frowning at the paper as he read the names of other students who were helping out. Ugh, and that bossy girl Meiko is in charge of it? What a nightmare.

“Really? Doesn’t seem like that to me,” Kaito observed. Then he leaned over to read the list Len was looking at, snickering at something. “Oh, look! Your best friend Meiko is going to be working with you.”

The last time Meiko and Len were on the same team for the musical, she made him repaint an entire set because she didn’t like the shade of green he used. God, were art students such a pain in the butt.

Len shrugged his shoulders, considering asking to be moved to lighting or audio. “Hopefully I’ll get the paint colour right this time.”

Rin came skipping over to the boys with a smile that lit up the whole room, drawing their attention away from the list. She congratulated Kaito on landing his role. “I look forward to working with you!” she exclaimed, bowing politely.

Kaito nudged Len, winked, then gave her a thumbs up. “Right back at you, Rinnie,” he said.

She glanced over at Len questioningly, who was standing off to the side looking like a cardboard cut-out. “Are you working on props again, Len?”

Len looked down, his ears burning. “Oh. Yeah.”

“Len, here—if only he would audition too,” Kaito said, throwing a thumb in his direction. “He didn’t make a bad Odette when I was practicing.”

Rin raised her eyebrows, surprised. “Really? I wouldn’t think of Len as one to do acting.”

“I don’t,” Len mumbled.

Kaito chortled, slapping a hand down on Len's shoulder, who grunted at the impact. “Oh yeah, but he’s always been a great practice partner! He’s pretty much half the reason I remember my lines.”

“That’s nice of him!” Rin said, beaming. “Maybe I need to practice with him too. I always take forever to learn mine…”

“Well, next time him and I are practicing, I’ll call you over,” Kaito said with a grin. Len wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not, but he was praying that he wasn’t.

A group of some theatre girls walked past, calling Rin over, and she cast an apologetic look at the boys. “Sorry, gotta go,” she said, before waving goodbye and running off.

Kaito turned to Len, the grin still on his face. “So, what do you think? Wanna help Rin remember her lines?”

Len scowled at him. “Kai, I can barely get a sentence out around her. Do you think I’d be much help?”

His friend slung an arm around his shoulders. “Oh Len, we just have to get that talkative side to come out first.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

Fat chance , Len mused with a pout.

.

The weeks rolled by, with work on the musical starting off slow. Len spent most of his afternoons painting props and avoiding Meiko’s wrath, and listening to the other theatre kids gossip.

One day, one of his classmates—and fellow theatre club members—approached him. 

“Hey Len,” she said. 

She was playing the role of Odile, and helping with other things on the side—Miku, he recalled her name. They’d barely talked in all their years together, so this was a first. 

She crouched on the ground beside him as he was finishing off the flowers on a bush, and looked at him with a serious expression while twisting a pigtail in one hand. “Are, you know, Kaito and Rin, like, dating? ”

Len paused mid-stroke, going, “Uhh.”

“Because, like, they seem to be really close, right, and they’re always getting the main roles,” she babbled, and he sat there in silence, wondering for a moment. “And like, I’m just curious, ‘cus they haven’t really said anything, but like, it just wouldn’t surprise me, you know?”

Eventually, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “I dunno. None of my business.” He didn’t think they were dating, but, hell, who knew. Maybe that had changed within the past day or so.

Miku looked at him weirdly. “Aren’t you, like, his best friend?”

“Yeah, and I dunno,” Len answered, returning the same expression. “What’s it to you?”

She flushed. “W-well, you know, I just thought…”

“Why not ask Kaito or something?” he said, looking back down at the prop he was working on. “The guy doesn’t keep any secrets.”

Miku huffed, frustrated with his answers. “Well, I—um, it’s just—that would be sort of rude, okay?”

Len raised an eyebrow. “Really.”

Then she threw her head back, groaning. “Wow, you are so weird. Never mind.”

Miku got up and ran off, not bothering him again. But that got Len thinking… 

What if they were dating? Sure, they were friendly with each other, but that was just—he assumed—because they’d worked together on so many musicals before. Besides, Kaito was always sort of gently nudging Len to make a move on Rin, so it didn’t make much sense if they did happen to be dating. (Unless they were like, polyamorous or something.)

Even so, Len couldn’t blame people for assuming it. They were a good-looking couple when together. And the few practices he’d sat through, he couldn’t help but be mesmerised by their acting with one another. Their voices harmonised well, their height difference was sort of amusing, and even their personalities seemed to contrast nicely.

He frowned down at the ugly flower he was painting. It was impossible to see himself with Rin, when she was just so bright and cheery, and him akin to the dark side of the moon.

“Len!” Meiko snapped, disturbing him from his thoughts. She was standing over him, her hands on her hips and her face pulled into a snarl. “Can you pick up the pace? We still have thirteen more of these bush sets to paint!”

Len grumbled an apology, and got back to work, thoughts of Rin and Kaito reeling through his mind.

.

“Huh, so something weird happened today,” Kaito said, while peeling open an ice-cream he got from the cafeteria vending machine. They were on lunch break, and it was a pleasant, mid-autumn afternoon, so they were sitting out in the courtyard, enjoying the sun.

“What happened?” Len asked, picking at the hard-boiled egg in his lunchbox.

“You know that girl Miku,” he continued, “she’s Odile, right? Anyway, she came up to me all flustered or something and was like, ‘Oh my God, are you and Rin dating?’” He mocked her voice and everything.

Len popped his egg into his mouth and chewed slowly. “She actually asked?” he said.

Kaito then looked at him, surprised. “What, did you know about this?”

“She came up to me the other day, asking if you two were dating,” Len said, before taking a sip of his banana-flavoured milk.

“She asked you? What did you say?”

“I said, ‘I dunno.’”

Kaito raised an eyebrow. “You just told her, ‘I dunno’?”

Len shrugged. “Yeah. She wasn’t happy with that answer, though, so I said if she wanted to know, to just ask you. I didn’t actually think she would, though.”

Kaito scoffed. “She did, and she looked like she was in pain.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Seemed happy to know we weren’t— ” Kaito then narrowed his eyes at Len, “—dating, though.”

“Look, it’s not my business to know if you two have something going on,” Len defended himself, pretty pathetically at that. “And, well, you’re spending a lot of time together now so maybe something could change. I don’t know.”

Kaito sighed, throwing an arm over his friend's shoulders and roughing up his hair. “God, you’re a loser. But Len, you know, Rin isn’t my type. Not saying she isn’t cute, but…” He released him and gave him a serious look. “Anyway, I’m not that much of a self-centred dick to date her behind your back, am I?”

Len shook his head, reaching up to fix his fringe. “No, but, like, I don’t own her or anything. I can’t even look her in the eye.”

“Hmm,” Kaito said. “Len, you’re too complacent and nice for your own good. You should be more fighty if you want to catch Rin’s attention.”

“I don’t like conflict.”

“Man, you’re strange.” Kaito gave him a grin, taking a bite of his ice-cream. “But I guess that’s what makes you Len.”

Len gave a dry laugh, which died down pretty soon thereafter, because he spotted the tell-tale wobble of a certain girl’s white ribbon. Rin was approaching them from the other side of the courtyard, a sense of urgency in her step.

“Hey Kaito,” she called, waving. She nodded at Len as a greeting. “We’re having a quick emergency measure-up to double check our measurements for costumes before they get finalised. Can I borrow you for a sec?”

“Aw man,” Kaito groaned. “It’s lunch time! Can’t they let a guy rest?”

Her lips twitched. “Sorry, Kai.” As Kaito gathered his things, she turned to Len. “Hi Len. How are all the props going?”

“I’ve painted seven bushes,” Len said to his knees. “And my hand really hurts.”

“Len’s an art prodigy, you see,” Kaito commented, slapping him on the back, earning a disgruntled oof . “Meiko loves his work.”

Rin raised an eyebrow. This time, she couldn’t contain her smirk. “Really?” she said, sounding skeptical. “To be honest, that girl terrifies me. Well, good luck, Len!”

Then she and Kaito were off, leaving Len to sit in the courtyard by himself and sigh down at his half-eaten lunch.

Well, at least he said more than three words to her, this time.

.

Winter vacation came and went, and soon began the countdown. Of course, the musical was still at least two months away, but theatre kids liked to feel the pressure of impending doom for some odd reason. 

Len’s team had finished with painting the bushes and were tasked to work on the castle shell with another team. Apart from a few students who were picky about design and colour, most days spent painting were uneventful.

The good thing was that the theatre club shared the auditorium for both prop preparation and rehearsal, so he got to see Kaito and Rin’s progress, too. Of course, on the odd occasion, Len was forced into helping Kaito practice his role on the weekends, but he preferred seeing it from the perspective of the audience.

One afternoon, while painting and listening to everyone’s rehearsal, there seemed to be some drama up on the stage. The theatre club’s president—Luka—was in a bad mood that day, and after Rin had stuffed up her lines for the fifth time in a row, she snapped .

Len had stopped whatever he was doing to watch as Luka pulled Rin aside to talk to her off-stage. A few minutes later, Rin went running out of the auditorium in tears.

No one else seemed to notice; rehearsal had moved on to another scene without her, and the art, audio and lighting kids were too busy focusing on their work to pay attention. Len looked around, hoping someone would follow after her, but no one did.

His stomach twisted, and he felt guilty having witnessed it, but not doing anything about it. 

Len sat for a moment, waiting for her to come back, or something , before taking a deep breath and deciding to be the one to take the initiative. He excused himself for the bathroom and went out the same door Rin ran through minutes earlier, wandering down the hall in search of the girl.

Eventually he found her tucked underneath the staircase after following the sound of her sniffling. She looked surprised on seeing him, and hurried to wipe away her tears.

He stood there, staring at her forehead, before eventually clearing his throat and going, “Uh… um… are you… okay?”

It was the most ridiculous question to ask, given Rin was literally crying right in front of him, and he punched himself in the mouth mentally for not being at least an ounce more socially adept.

She didn’t seem to mind the foolish question, though. She sniffled, wiping at her nose with her sleeve. “Ah… Len. I’m sorry. I’m okay, just… a little stressed is all.” She gave him a watery smile in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Len glanced off to the side, fiddling with his sleeve. “I saw Luka getting mad up on stage.”

Rin winced, screwing up her face. “Yeah… she’s stressed, too.” She sighed. “I mean, it’s my fault for not remembering my lines, so…” Her voice wobbled a bit at that, and she sniffled again, tears gathering.

Oh boy. He didn’t want to make her cry more. “It’s okay,” he blurted out, as if those words alone would make the situation any better. “It’s not your fault. It can’t be helped. We’re only human.”

She smiled a bit. “Yeah. You’re right,” she said. “It’s just… a lot of pressure, you know? Being the main character. I can’t help but feel I’m not right for the role. Like Miku… well, she’s so much better at this than I am.”

“That’s not true,” Len blurted. Rin looked surprised, and so did he. He scratched at his neck. “Well, um, I dunno, when I watched your audition, I couldn’t stop thinking about how well you suited Odette. Like, Miku’s was good, but there was something yours had that… hers didn’t.”

Rin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking down. Although she still seemed upset, she had calmed down a bit.

He continued, trying to fill in the awkward silence, “I think you can do it.”

She sniffled again, letting out a shaky laugh. “Thank you, Len,” she said. She hesitated a bit, before looking up at him. “And thank you for coming out to check on me. That’s… really kind of you.”

Len managed a smile, but couldn’t quite meet her eyes.

Rin wiped at her face again and fixed her hair, taking a breath. “Okay. Let’s go back.”

They walked back to the auditorium together in silence. Before they split off their separate ways, Len stopped her, fingers barely grazing the sleeve of her shirt.

“Um,” he fumbled, when she turned to look at him. “Good luck up there.”

The corners of her lips turned, and she held up her fists. “I’ll do my best.”

For the rest of the afternoon, Rin shone brilliantly on the stage, and Meiko threw a newspaper at Len’s head for getting distracted by her.

.

“Oh Len. You sly, sly dog,” Kaito said, having heard from Rin what happened the following day.

Len gave him a look. “Well, none of you were running out to check on her.”

His friend grinned, leaning against his desk and folding his arms over his chest. “That’s true, but honestly, she and I were both equally surprised you were the one to go after her. Rin was all, Oh, that Len! He’s nice once he gets over his shyness, isn’t he? ” Kaito tried his best Rin-voice impression.

Len groaned, leaning back in his chair. “Please never do that again.”

“What?” Kaito said, grinning. “ Talking like Rin? ”

“Stop!” Len threw a hand in his direction, and he caught it, using it as a weapon to whack Len in the face.

“Anyway, so, Rin wants to practice her lines with you and me so she can get Luka off her case. I think she likes you, hey.” Kaito winked.

Len snatched his hand back. “How am I supposed to help? I’m not even acting a part.”

“Yeah, but you always do a great job playing the other roles when we’re practicing. And you always drop good hints about my next lines when I forget, ‘cus you always have the lines to read off.”

Len propped his elbow on his desk and leaned his head against his hand, disinterested. “You could, uh, also do that with each other, though.”

“C’mon Len! If you refuse to practice, she’ll think you don’t like her and get sad. She’ll be all, Oh, how disappointing, Len doesn’t want to practice with me …” Kaito faked wiping a tear.

Len rolled his eyes. “If I agree to it, will you stop doing bad impressions of Rin?”

Kaito grinned. “Maybe.”

Len narrowed his eyes.

“Okay, yes. I will stop doing bad impressions of Rin to harass you.”

He sighed, his shoulders sagging in defeat. “Fine. I’ll practice with you two. Just this once, though.”

Kaito high-fived himself. “Hell yeah! I’m gonna go tell Rin.” Then he disappeared.

Len dropped his head on his desk with a loud thunk . He didn’t know how on earth he was going to do any sort of ‘effective’ practice with Rin around.

.

“Len, you’re supposed to be the evil Rothbart, not a mute teenager,” Kaito said.

They were at a park somewhat central to all their houses on a chilly Sunday morning. Kaito was stretched out on a bench, drinking juice, and Rin stood in front of Len, waiting for him to start taking his role as the villain somewhat seriously.

But… Len couldn’t. Not with Rin dressed in cute casual clothes like this. He’d never seen her without a uniform on, in all these years of attending the same high school… and, well, it was a lot to process.

“Let’s try again,” she said, a smile tugging at her lips. “You don’t have to be convincing. Just… enough is alright, Len.”

He scanned the lines on the page in front of him again and took a breath, giving a nod. He dropped the sheet to his side and cleared his throat. Then, in the best voice he could muster, he began—

“Oh dear Odette! That prince of yours will never love you back—for he has sworn his love to my daughter Odile!”

Kaito burst into laughter from the side, but Rin ignored him and went on to deliver her line. “No! That can’t be true!” she wailed, bringing her hands up to her face in shock.

Len quickly glanced at his lines, before raising his arms like he was, uh, conjuring some magical image, or something like that. “No, Odette… it is …”

Rin stared at the empty space between his arms, her eyebrows furrowing. “It can’t be…” she said, her hands dropping to her sides. “He doesn’t love me…”

It was at this moment, Len was supposed to laugh maniacally and say something else, but he became distracted by how convincing Rin’s acting was. He didn’t realise he was gawking at her until she waved her hand in front of his face.

He snapped back to reality. “S-sorry!” he blurted, scrambling for the next line. God, this was going to kill him. “Um—uh… n-now, you shall be my pretty swan forever…”

Rin then stifled a laugh, breaking character. “Kaito, I think Len has had enough of being Rothbart for now.”

Kaito snickered into his juice bottle, waving his hand. “Oh, he’s fine. I think you were pulling on his heartstrings a little, that’s all.”

Len’s face burned. He tossed his photocopy of the musical’s script at Kaito and took a seat next to him. “Whatever, can I take a break? You two have plenty of scenes to practice with each other.”

His friend rolled his eyes, getting up from the bench with a groan. “Yeah, yeah. Alright, Rin. Let’s start from Act 4 line 46, then. Len, can you help us with our lines?”

Len begrudgingly took the papers back from Kaito and shuffled through to find Act 4.

Oh.

Oh .

It was the act with the kissing scene.

Well.

Fuck you, Kaito.

They began with Rin dying by the lake, and Kaito running in after killing Rothbart. (Len was pretty sure in the original they were both supposed to die, but the school council was all, Noooo, we want a happy ending! )

He frowned as he watched Kaito embrace her and act dramatic, confessing his love to her—what he was guessing—dead body. Rin then rose from the dead and reached out to cup his face.

“Oh, my prince!” she said. “You came back for me… and the curse has been broken!”

Kaito then turned and looked at Len, mouthing the word line .

Len sighed, muttering his next lines. “Odette, I thought I lost you.”

Kaito repeated down to Rin, “Odette, I thought I lost you.”

Silence. 

Len continued, “It was all my fault, mistaking you for that vile Odile.”

Kaito acted out the lines, then looked at him again.

Was he just doing this on purpose? He was doing it on purpose. This guy knew those lines, because Len had run over them with him at least a hundred times before. He wasn’t even looking at the script for reference anymore, because even he knew them.

“I could never love anyone else but you, Odette.”

The hint of a smirk tugged on Kaito’s lips as he repeated those lines down to Rin.

She stared up at him, as if he were a delicious slice of chocolate cake. “My prince…” she gasped.

Then it was the kiss scene.

Len averted his gaze as they leaned in for the kiss, signalling the end of the musical. He wanted to kick Kaito for this later. 

A moment passed, and the pair stood up as if nothing ever happened, brushing the grass off their clothes.

“So, what do you think, Len?” Kaito asked with a shit-eating grin.

“You need to learn your lines,” Len deadpanned.

“You wanna practice with me? Kissy-kissy.” Kaito pursed his lips and leaned in. Len swatted him away, disgusted.

“It’s not a real kiss, of course,” Rin said, smiling. “Just a theatrical one.”

Len raised an eyebrow. “A theatrical one?”

She ushered Kaito over to demonstrate. “You know, this hand faces the audience. It hides our mouths. And this hand… well, I use my fingers as a blockade for our mouths.” She placed one hand flat on the side of his face, then the other on the opposite side, and pressed one thumb over Kaito’s mouth.

“Romantic, huh?” Kaito said through her thumb.

“Ew.” Rin dropped her hands to wipe them on her shorts. “I mean, as if they’d let people kiss on stage at school.”

“Huh,” was all Len said.

Kaito wiggled his eyebrows at him. “You wanna try?”

“With you? No thanks.”

“I mean, Rin might want to—”

“Also no thanks.”

“Ouch.”

Rin just laughed. “It’s alright,” she said. She tucked her hair back behind her ears. “Can we run over another scene? There’s this one in Act 2 I really need to work on… and Len, can you help out too?” She turned to Len and gave him a pleading look.

And, well, he really couldn’t say no.

“Okay…”

“Great! Well, I need you to pretend to be the other swan maidens in the lake…”

Len thought to himself, Oh boy.

.

The weeks continued to fly by. Soon, the musical was barely a month away.

Both Rin and Kaito seemed drained from countless practices. Len was going just fine, on the other hand; props were almost finished, and now they were finessing details (as Meiko liked to call it). A few times, they did some ‘unofficial’ full run-throughs as stagehands, but there was still a bit of work that had to be done.

When Len sat down next to Kaito for lunch, his friend turned to him and said with a straight face, “Miku and I made out yesterday.”

Len almost dumped his lunchbox’s contents on his lap. “You what? ”

“Yeah,” Kaito said, looking a tad dead inside. “It was weird.”

“Why?” Len asked, although that was a strange question to ask about kissing someone .

Kaito shrugged. “We were alone, and she was stressed, and we just started making out.”

Len found such a statement hard to imagine. We just started making out . Like, how the hell do you just start making out with someone? “So…?”

“I don’t even like Miku,” his friend moaned, dropping his head. “She’s too… I dunno, noisy? Not my type at all.”

Len couldn’t help but ask, “What is your type?”

Kaito tapped his chin in thought. “Hmm. Bossy. Cold. Could crush my head with her thighs.”

“So, like Meiko?”

Kaito tilted his head, squinting at the wall beside Len. “Eh, yeah. I guess so.”\

Len didn’t know what to do with this newfound information. He shovelled a dim sum into his mouth and chewed. “What are you going to do about Miku?” he asked.

Kaito groaned. “I don’t know. I don’t like turning people down and… I mean, I totally made out with her yesterday, so.”

Len went for the salad, saying, “I don’t make out with random girls on the regular, so I don’t have any advice to give you, sorry.”

“That’s alright,” Kaito said, putting his head in his hands. “I’ll figure it out.”

Len frowned at his friend, couldn’t help but feel concerned for him. The musical-induced exhaustion definitely was clouding his judgement (or he had some sort of attraction to Miku he was in denial about, but who knew).

He saw Rin in the hallway later that day, and she almost completely snubbed him, until realising at the last minute he’d walked past. She swung around and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him over by the wall.

It caught him off-guard, and he stuttered something of a hello.

She sighed, folding her arms over her chest. “Rehearsals have been taking it out of me. How are you doing, though?”

Len fidgeted with the collar of his shirt. “Prop work is far from as bad as your case is.”

“That’s good to hear.” Rin smiled. “How’s Kaito? He was a bit of a zombie yesterday.”

“Oh.” He recalled the conversation earlier, and the crisis Kaito seemed to be having. “Not so great,” he decided as the best answer.

She frowned, folding her arms over her chest. “He needs to take it easy. I was going to ask if you wanted to practice this weekend, but maybe we should let him rest…”

Len didn’t mind not practicing, because he’d been humiliated at least a million times during the past four practices they’d done. Of course it meant more time with Rin, but at what cost?

“Yeah, might be a good idea,” he agreed. Kaito would probably spend the weekend having a crisis about girls, anyway.

Rin dropped her arms to her sides. “Well, we’re almost there. Only four weeks to go!” She then waved goodbye and disappeared off down the hallway, into the mass of migrating students.

Len exhaled. Only four weeks to go .

.

Two weeks to go—that was when the accident happened.

Rehearsals had been slotted into lunchtimes to add extra practice, but Len usually didn’t have to go, so he spent a lot of his lunches by himself. He was enjoying his peace and quiet in the classroom, reading a manga and eating a sandwich, when the door clattered open and both Rin and Miku came running in looking like they’d run a marathon.

Rin stumbled over to his desk, breathless, and blurted, “Kaito’s going to hospital.”

Len dog-eared his book and looked up at her, not sure if he’d heard her right. “He’s going where?”

Miku appeared from behind, repeating, “The hospital. He’s going to the hospital.”

“He fell off the stage during rehearsal,” Rin continued, her eyes wide. 

“His leg, like, snapped like uncooked spaghetti,” Miku added, the detail a little unnecessary.

Len finished his sandwich. “Is he alright?”

The girls exchanged looks with each other. “We don’t know, but the paramedics said he might’ve broken his leg. He just… landed on it in the wrong way, and it was awful,” Rin said. “Luka’s freaking out.”

What he wanted to know was, how the hell did Kaito fall off the stage? The guy wasn’t even clumsy, and yet, here he was, probably breaking his leg two weeks before the musical. What a clown.

“Oh,” Len said, unsure how to take the news. “Well, thanks for telling me.”

Miku was already distracted, telling another student about the incident, which signalled that whatever went down during practice would spread around the school like wildfire by the end of the day. 

“No problem.” Rin’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m just really worried. We’ll probably have an emergency meeting for it tomorrow, and for now this afternoon’s rehearsal has been called off, but…” She trailed off, chewing her lip with uncertainty.

“How did he fall off the stage?” Len asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

She shrugged her shoulders, the corners of her lips turning down. “I don’t really know. I guess he was really tired and just lost his balance… I wasn’t on stage at the time. I just heard him fall. It wasn’t good.”

“I wonder if he’ll be alright to do the musical,” he mused aloud.

Rin hung her head. “I hope he will,” she said. “But I have a feeling he won’t.”

That feeling was right. Kaito messaged Len that night to tell him, rather joyfully, that he had broken his ankle.

I’ll be at school nice and drugged up tomorrow! he added.

The next day, the emergency meeting for the theatre club was called after school. Although Len didn’t really have to attend it, being simply a stagehand, Kaito had dragged him along, asking for ‘moral support’.

“Do you really need moral support?” Len said, watching as his friend hobbled beside him on crutches.

“ Yes. It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to this role, you know. I’m going to need you to wipe away my tears.”

“Can’t you ask Miku to do that for you?”

“Len. Die ,” was Kaito’s harsh response.

They were the last ones to arrive at the auditorium, where most of the cast had gathered in a circle. Rin was chewing on her nails—something she tended to do when she was stressed—and Luka was pacing back and forth across the room, a frown etched into her lips.

Upon seeing that Kaito had arrived, Luka stopped and clapped her hands, drawing everyone’s attention to her.

“So, as you may know, Kaito has broken his ankle and has had to step down from his role from Siegfried,” she began. A shocked chatter rumbled through the group, and she cleared her throat, signalling for silence. “We had an understudy—Yuuma—but conveniently, he got the flu and won’t be able to take on the position.”

“Oh boy,” Kaito said, apparently having only just heard wind of this. 

Luka pushed back her hair, exhaling. “So, now we don’t have anyone to play the role of Siegfried—and I’m trying to decide what to do next,” she said. “First, any questions, ideas, or concerns about this?”

Miku put up her hand. “Is the musical going to be cancelled?”

“No,” Luka answered. “But we may have to change things, if we can’t find someone to fill Kaito’s spot.”

People began to murmur, sharing their doubt for such a possibility.

“We only have two weeks,” someone said. “I don’t think we can find anyone else to play the role of Siegfried.”

Luka frowned. “Well, first, does anyone know someone who might be able to do Siegfried? Or does anyone think they can step up to the position?”

The room went silent. Everyone looked around at each other.

Then Kaito cleared his throat. “I know someone.”

Luka turned to him. “Who?”

He gestured to Len standing beside him. “This guy has essentially all my lines memorised.”

Len’s face went red as everyone’s eyes fell on him. Oh no. Oh no no no no no . “Kaito,” he hissed, panicking.

Luka seemed unconvinced, folding her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow. 

Kaito kept talking. “Len’s been practicing with Rin and me, helping us with our lines. I think he could pull it off. I forced him to make a band with me once in middle school, so I know he can sing.”

It was then Len wished for a hole to appear in the ground and swallow him up. What the hell was Kaito thinking? He did not want this at all.

Rin spoke up, much to his displeasure. “I think Len can do it too,” she said. “Like Kaito said, he already knows most—if not all—of Siegfried’s lines. So if anything, he would just have to learn the songs and his actions.”

Luka was slowly coming around, tapping her chin. “Hmm. Well. Anyone have another suggestion?” She scanned the group, waiting for another name to be called, but crickets chirped in response. “Okay. Let’s have a show of hands then. Who’s okay with Len taking the role of Siegfried?”

Kaito and Rin’s hands shot up. Then, slowly, one-by-one, other students began raising their hands, too. It was a good 80% of students voting in favour of him.

“It looks like Len’s our best bet, then,” Luka decided, after counting the number. She looked at Len, who was beside himself. “Well, Len. Is it alright if you take the role of Siegfried in place of Kaito?”

Len swallowed, a nervous sweat breaking out across his body. His eyes darted from Kaito, who was giving him a serious look, to Rin, who was basically pleading him with her eyes.

Oh God. Oh God. He hated disappointing people.

He found himself muttering, “Sure. Okay. Yes.”

Just like that, a sigh of relief seemed to wash across the theatre club. 

Just like that, Len was going to be Siegfried.

Ah. Fuck.

.

Kaito tried his very best to convince Len he was capable of getting on stage and performing. Rin had even joined in, much to his surprise.

Len stared at the space above their heads, feeling as if he might puke.

“You’ll be fine, Len,” Kaito reassured. “Just think everyone in the audience is a potato.”

Rin nodded in agreement, her white bow bobbing up and down. “If you can get up and take on a role in front of me without even knowing the lines, you can get up in front of everyone else and be Siegfried.”

“But what happens if I forget my lines, or go off-key?” Len protested, looking pale.

“You just improvise, man,” Kaito said, as if it was the easiest answer ever. “You just keep going.”

“And Len,” Rin added, reaching out to grab his hands. She looked him in the eyes and his stomach did a somersault. “I’ll be up there with you, so don’t worry. If something happens, I’ll help you out if I can.”

His chest went warm and fuzzy. God, why did she have so much influence over him?

Len’s eyebrows furrowed. “I just… I don’t know if I can do it.”

Both Rin and Kaito yelled in his face, “You can!”

“You just have to believe in yourself,” Kaito said, hitting his own chest with a fist.

Rin nodded. “We’re all nervous going up there. But think of it as a fun challenge! You’re not being Len on stage. You’re being Siegfried.”

“Anyway, we should get on with practicing,” Kaito said, holding up his script. “We only have a week and a bit to go. Luka’s going to lose her mind if you show up next week with no clue what to do.”

Len whined as a complaint, but nevertheless, obliged.

Of course, Rin and Kaito were nice enough to spend essentially their entire weekend at the park helping him catch up, even going as far to teach him the dance moves and lyrics, and explain stage cues. Len was just absolutely terrified of getting up in front of hundreds of people to sing a solo song. Even doing such a thing in front of Rin now seemed like child’s play.

While Kaito hobbled off to the bathroom later in the day, they took a drink break. 

Rin turned to Len and admitted, “You know what? I’m really glad you were chosen to fill in for Kaito.”

Len’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? Why?”

She smiled down at her bottle of green tea she bought from the vending machine. “Well, Yuuma’s cool and all, but I feel more at ease when acting with you and Kaito. I’m glad it wasn’t someone else. You know, since it’s such an intimate role.”

Ah. Right. “Oh,” Len said. He was happy to hear that, and a smile inched its way onto his lips. Hearing that she felt comfortable around him was… somewhat relieving to his anxiety over what she thought of him. “Thank you.”

Rin looked up at him, beaming. Her face glowed under the afternoon light, and her blue eyes glittered like stars. He couldn’t help but stare.

Kaito returned, appearing from behind them. “Oh, you two look nice and comfortable. Guess we’re ready for Act 4, huh?” he joked.

Len grabbed one of his crutches, threatening to take it from his grasp. “Don’t test me, disabled man.”

Kaito pulled a face.

“We still need to do Act 3, first,” Rin said, not quite catching the joke—or perhaps just ignoring it. “It’s the longest one, so Len needs lots of practice.”

“Alright, alright.” Kaito waved his hand. “Let’s keep going, then.”

.

The following week went by in the blink of an eye. Len was exhausted and busy every day, rehearsing and doing costume try-ons and so on and so forth. By the end of the week, he almost didn’t care anymore, he was so tired.

Most of Len’s costumes consisted of safety pins, considering Kaito was both taller and larger than him in size. It was always a struggle getting in and out of the costumes, which made costume changes much more dire in between scenes.

Luka seemed somewhat satisfied with what he could do, though, which was a relief to both him and Kaito. (Although, his dancing left much to be desired.) “It’s not perfect,” she said in regards to his performance, “but it’s better than nothing at all.”

He tried to take it as a compliment.

Soon, they were doing their last dress rehearsal, two days before the show.

Kaito came up to him after the rehearsal, having sat and watched part of it. “How do you feel, Siegfried?” he asked, swinging an arm over his shoulders.

“Like I might have explosive diarrhea on the day,” Len answered.

“Oh yeah,” Kaito said with a nod. “It be like that sometimes.” He gave him a rough pat on the back. “You’ll be fine though. Do it for the theatrical kiss with Rin.”

Len could only roll his eyes.

Finally, the day of the performance came. According to Rin, who was chewing on her nails backstage, the auditorium was packed full. Len’s knees turned weak, and he sunk down on the ground beside her.

Rin put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll do great, my prince,” she said, giving a wink, before getting dragged off by one of the stagehands.

His insides melted like butter. A part of him still couldn’t get it around his head that this was happening.

Kaito appeared with his crutches, hopping over to give him a last minute pep talk. Mostly, he just rattled off with bullshit.

“Just don’t look at the audience’s faces. That’s what always throws me off,” he told him.

“Will try not to,” Len said through grit teeth.

“ Or you can try finding my face, in which I’ll blow you kisses.”

“That’s great to hear, Kai.”

Kaito grinned, checking the time on his watch. “Well, I should go now. But hey. Break a leg, alright?” He gave him a thumbs up. “Just not literally, otherwise you’ll end up like me.”

Len frowned at him. “You better not have jinxed me.”

Kaito ignored him and left, leaving Len to try his best not to throw up.

Soon, the music for the opening began to play.

 .

  three…

two…

one

It’s showtime!

 .

 The adrenaline rush kept Len going, somehow, through the entire musical. He made mistakes, sure, but the show went on. The lights were bright and blinding, and at times he was just lost up on the wide, empty stage. Yet, he did it all. He managed to make it to the end.

He realised this as he was leaning over Rin, her chest rising and falling, her eyelids fluttering.

“Odette…” he whispered, a cue for Rin to ‘awaken’.

She stirred, sitting up, meeting his eyes. She looked different with makeup on, under the heavy stage lights. It wasn’t bad; it made her look older, sharper, more adult than a girl. She smiled at him, and he wasn’t sure if it was her acting, or actually genuine.

Rin reached out to cup his face, hands warm and clammy. He didn’t mind. “Oh, my prince!” she said. “You came back for me… and the curse has been broken.”

Len’s heart was beating so hard against his rib cage, like it might leap out of his chest. He wondered if she could hear it. “I thought I lost you,” he breathed. “It was all my fault, mistaking you for that vile Odile.”

She shook her head, the feathers in her hair dancing in the air around her head.

He took a breath. “I could never love anyone else but you…” Her name danced on the tip of his tongue, and he swallowed it back. “…Odette.”

Rin gazed up at him. Her eyes were dark underneath all the makeup. He didn’t know what was going through her mind at that moment. “My prince…” she whispered.

She leaned in for the ‘kiss’ and he followed, expecting for it to go as it did in their practice. But for some reason, she didn’t place her thumb over his lips. She just went straight in , and their lips mashed together, and his eyes almost flew open in shock at the contact.

Of course, Len managed to keep his composure—just barely—reminding himself to push through until the curtains dropped in front of them, and the audience burst into applause.

Once they were no longer in view, Rin jumped away from him like he was on fire, her skin bright red down to her neck. “Oh my god,” she whispered, covering her face with her hands. “I’m so sorry. I totally forgot to move my thumb.”

Len’s mouth was still warm from hers. The stage around them was spinning a little. “It’s… fine,” he managed to get out. 

The stagehands began ushering them off-stage before they could talk more, preparing them for the curtain call. 

He didn’t have any time after that to speak with Rin about the kiss. Once they were finished with the curtain call, she was whisked away by a crowd of underclassmen congratulating her and giving her flowers for her last show. It was only now that he realised how popular she was.

Kaito found him amongst the crowd, holding his hand up for a high-five. “You did it!” he said. “My little Lenny has grown up.”

“Please never call me that again,” Len said with a groan.

Kaito ignored him. “What’s that on your mouth?”

“Huh?” Len wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. It was red lipstick. From Rin’s lips. “Oh.”

Kaito raised his eyebrows. “Speaking of which, that kiss with Rin on stage seemed awfully… realistic. ”

Len laughed nervously at that. “Yeah… well…”

His friend leaned in, his eyes going wide. “Wait, it was real?”

“It was an accident,” Len said. His face was hot.

Kaito’s jaw went slack. “Oh my god. You…”

Len shushed him. “It’s not that big of a deal. It was an accident . Rin forgot to put her thumb in the way so we just… you know…”

“She forgot to put her thumb in the way, huh,” Kaito said, narrowing his eyes and stroking his chin. “She never forgot with me.”

Len shrugged. “Maybe she was nervous, or something, I don’t know. I didn’t get to talk to her about it much.”

Kaito hummed in thought. There was a mischievous glint in his eye. “Well, I’m sure you’ll get a chance to talk to her about it at dinner tonight.”

“There's dinner?” Len echoed.

“Uh, yeah, we always do dinner. Didn’t anyone tell you?”

“No…”

“Oh, well. We’re having dinner at a yakiniku restaurant. Wanna come?”

“I guess?”

Kaito winked. “More time with Rin, too.”

Len blushed, then elbowed his friend in the stomach. “I wish you’d shut up sometimes,” he muttered, before walking off to get out of costume.

.

As they were taking the train to the yakiniku restaurant Luka had booked, Miku wriggled her way in between Len and Kaito. 

“Len actually did pretty well up there!” she said. “I was surprised.”

“That’s a bit rude,” Kaito said down to her with a frown.

“What?” Miku batted her eyelashes innocently. “It’s his first time performing! I was sort of expecting something to go terribly wrong.”

Kaito rolled his eyes. “Well, of course Len did great. He’s like a closet superstar.”

Len snorted. “I’m anything but that, Kai.”

Miku pouted. “I’m not trying to be mean! You don’t think I’m being rude, do you, Len?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“See? He agrees with me!”

“He didn’t even give you a verbal answer, Miku,” Kaito said.

She folded her arms over her chest, puffing out her cheeks. 

Rin turned, having overheard their conversation. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“We were just discussing Len’s total owning of the stage,” Kaito answered. “And Miku’s being a bitch.”

“I’m not!” Miku cried, indignant.

Rin giggled. “Len did really well, despite the circumstances,” she said. She kept her eyes on Miku and Kaito, avoiding meeting Len’s gaze “Who knew the quiet boy could brew such a storm?”

“He was just saving it up. Huh, Len?” Kaito looked at him.

Len mustered a smile. “I hope I never have to do that again,” was all he could respond with.

Everyone aww-ed in disappointment, and Kaito poked him with one of his crutches. “Nah. You loved it. It was the best experience you’ve ever had.”

“It was the most distressing experience I’ve had,” Len corrected.

Their train pulled up at their stop, and they filed out of the carriage, following Luka’s lead. The walk to the restaurant was around ten minutes, and everyone had moved on to another conversation with each other. Kaito was bickering with Miku, who seemed awfully touchy-feely with him.

Hmm , Len thought.

He didn’t mind the moment of quiet, though, as he tagged behind the group. It was weighing down on him—now that the adrenalin rush had finished—how goddamn exhausted he was. He couldn’t wait to have a bath and crawl into bed.

At the restaurant, Len took a seat between Kaito and another girl—Gumi—who played as one of the swan princesses. He hadn’t talked to her much before, but she seemed friendly. Across from him was Gakupo—who played Rothbart, Miki—who played another swan princess, and Piko—who was Seigfried’s best friend. He’d managed to get to know Gakupo and Piko through his role a little bit—they were okay. 

Alas, Rin was at a separate table, along with Luka, Meiko and Miku (which was, perhaps, not entirely a bad thing). 

So much for having the chance to talk to her about what happened on stage, though.

Although it was hard to organise a group of like, thirteen rowdy teenagers, eventually they sorted their orders for drinks and food. Everyone was busy chatting, and Len was just sitting there, staring at the empty table in front of him. Sometimes Kaito would try to drag him into his conversation with Miku, mainly asking for him to give his two cents in their argument, but eventually he would just… fade out of existence again.

When their drinks came, they made a toast.

Luka did the honours, being the club president. “Well, despite one of our leads breaking an ankle two weeks before our show, I guess we did pretty well,” she said, narrowing her eyes at Kaito, who wore a proud expression. “Thanks to Len being able to pull through and play the role in Kaito’s place. Thanks to everyone else, too, for all your hard work and cooperation for the past semester. It’s been an honour being your club president.” It was now she looked a bit teary.

(Len didn’t realise the theatre club was such a big thing to her… but, well.)

“So, a toast to our theatre club! Well done everyone, and good luck with finals next semester!”

Everyone held up their glasses.

“Cheers!”

After that was done, came the wait for food. Len took that as a chance to escape and get a breath of fresh air (he was getting a little claustrophobic, sandwiched between Kaito and Gumi). He excused himself to the bathroom, then slipped outside, unnoticed.

Len glanced at the time, making sure he didn’t spend too long outside that people came looking. He crouched down on the curb, breathing in the freezing, late-winter air.

There were footsteps behind him not long after he’d been outside, and he turned, expecting Kaito to have followed him out. But much to his surprise (and pleasure), it was Rin.

She tucked her hair behind her ears. “Mind if I join?” she asked.

Len nodded, the words getting caught in his throat.

Rin sat down beside him with a sigh. Her shoulder bumped against his, and his heart fluttered. “Are you feeling alright?” she asked, glancing at him. She’d wiped most of her makeup off, returning that familiar softness to her features.

“Yeah,” he croaked, before clearing his throat. “Just needed some air. It was a bit crowded, is all.”

“Yeah,” she agreed in an exhale. “The exhaustion sort of hits you around now.”

Len hummed in response. “I don’t know if I can get up off the ground, to be honest. My legs are killing me.”

Rin chuckled. “It’s all that dancing.”

“I didn’t know I had to use so many muscles for that.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Comes easy to me, having done ballet and all.”

Rin then leaned against him, her head lowering to his shoulder. He stiffened at first, then relaxed—although, all the skin she was touching was on fire.

“Still exhausted, though,” she mumbled. 

“You did amazing,” he said.

Rin’s hand fluttered down to his thigh. It was hot through the fabric of his jeans. His heartbeat picked up, hammering against his chest as his mind went reeling. He didn’t know what was going on.

“You did amazing, too,” she said back, a smile in her voice.

Len wanted to disagree with that statement, but instead, decided to shut up for once. He settled for a quiet, “Thank you.”

He wondered if she could hear his heart, beating so loud. God, she could definitely hear his heart.

She then said, “I’m sorry about the kiss at the end, though.”

“Oh, um,” he fumbled. “It’s fine, I… it took me by surprise, but…” It was good. I wanted you to kiss me more.

“It took me by surprise, too,” Rin said with a laugh. “I almost broke character there on stage.”

Len laughed with her. “I was confused for a moment, thought your thumb was oddly soft,” he admitted.

“Oh, you’re telling me my thumb doesn’t feel like a kiss?” she jested. “Rude.”

They chuckled together, before a beat of silence passed. Then Rin said, “You caught me off-guard up there, Len.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I did?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Your acting was… really good.”

Len stared straight ahead at the vending machine across the road, illuminating the darkness. He knew Rin could hear his heart. Her hand was still on his thigh, and her head still resting on his shoulder. The gentle smiles and the fact that she was sitting here, out in the cold with him, and not inside with the others.

He didn’t want to get ahead of himself, and yet…

Something inside just told him to go for it. Maybe he was reaching a state of over-exhaustion and his brain wasn’t functioning properly, but to heck with it.

“It wasn’t acting,” he whispered, the words difficult to get out.

Rin lifted her head to look at him, going, “Hmm?”

Len swallowed, mustering up the courage to try again. “It wasn’t acting,” he repeated. Once they were out, it was like a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

She gazed at him, confusion first crossing her face, then consideration, then realisation. Her eyes went wide, her lips parting.

For a split second, he wondered, with terror, if he’d gotten it wrong. If he’d mistaken all her gestures for something they weren’t. If she was about to break his heart, then and there, in the most awkward situation ever.

But then Rin’s lips curled up into a smile. She leaned in close, her forehead touching his.

“Do you want to… try again?” she whispered. “But this time, not just an accident.”

Len didn’t answer. Instead, he leaned in, lips brushing against hers. She reciprocated, pressing back hard against his mouth. A hand reached up to grab the collar of his shirt, curling into a fist. The other still rested on his thigh, fingers pressing down into his skin.

He reached for her shoulders, then up to her neck, the sides of her face. He tangled his fingers in her hair, pulling her closer, drawing on her warmth.

Someone coughed from behind. Startled, they both jumped away from each other and turned to see Meiko.

She folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said, in a tone that wasn’t very apologetic, “but everyone’s wondering where you two went, so unless you want to have to explain to them in detail what you were just doing, you should probably come inside.”

Rin cleared her throat, flustered. “S-sorry Meiko,” she stuttered.

Meiko just shook her head at them, before walking back into the restaurant.

Rin looked at Len. She exhaled and shrugged her shoulders. “We should probably go back.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, breathless.

She leaned in again to peck him on the lips once more before standing up, dusting off her clothes. She held out a hand for him, and he grabbed it, pulling him up.

Together, with faces red like stop signs, they walked back into the restaurant and took their seats, acting as if nothing ever happened.

.

When they were saying goodbye later that evening and going their separate ways, Rin kissed him again, right in front of Kaito.

Kaito gasped. “Excuse me,” he said, holding up a hand. They pulled away to look at him. “When did this happen?”

Rin looked at Len, smiling, and Len shrugged. “Like, two hours ago,” he said.

Kaito put a hand to his chest. “And you didn’t tell me, your best friend? I’m offended.”

“Well, you know now,” Len said.

Kaito sniffled, pretending to wipe away a tear, before he dropped his hand and grinned. “It’s about time!”

Len rolled his eyes, but Rin laughed, leaning into his shoulder. “Can you let us kiss in peace, please?”

“What, you didn’t get enough time on stage?”

“Kai! Away!” Len shooed him, and the boy left, cackling to himself.

Rin shook her head. “I think those painkillers are ramping him up a little, or maybe it’s just because I’m tired.”

“Definitely the painkillers,” Len said.

She reached down for his hand and squeezed it. Her fingers were cold, like ice. Her expression turned serious as she looked up at him from under her lashes. “So… does this mean we’re dating?”

He gazed at her face a moment, surprised she'd even bothered asking the question. “Well, I hope so,” he said.

A grin started to fight its way onto her lips, her shoulders sagging with relief. “Me too.”

Len reached up to brush some hair out of her eyes. “You wanna do something fun during spring vacation? Like see a movie, or go bowling or something.”

“Yeah,” Rin said, beaming. “I’d like to do something.”

“It’s a date, then,” he said.

Then they leaned in for another kiss.

[goliath-de-senfina-sango]

Things get darker right before they get brighter in the end, something three plucky teens are about to learn. Sometimes you just want that darkness to have never had a reason to come for you in the first place. One has to be careful what they wish for, of course.

Welcome to the end, friends

Danny was on the ground, unmoving.

The ghost left with a cheerful wave, saying, “Tata!”  Like he hadn’t just ruined their lives worse than the first time Tucker had heard Danny’s screams at their loudest.  Like it was simply a wonderful day and they had engaged in the most wonderful of conversations, not a fight that ended with one of them-

Danny was in Tucker’s arms, unmoving and pale.

Tucker was trying everything he could think of, removing most of Tucker’s tops and trying to perform every life-saving action he knew off, pressing against his chest, trying to breathe more breath into his lungs, keeping pressure on the bleeding and burnt wound when he saw it.

Danny was in Tucker’s arms, unmoving, pale, and bleeding.

Tucker knew everything was blurry because tears were clouding his vision.  He knew he was crying. He knew he was shaking with the force of his sobs and for once in his life, he couldn’t bring himself to give half a damn about that because Danny-

Danny was in Tucker’s arms, unmoving, pale, bleeding, and his heart wasn’t beating no matter how long Tucker listened for it.

Sam was doing something, pulling out Danny’s weapons, and Tucker wanted to scream at her that she’d done enough with Fenton weapons already.  He wanted to scream and rage at her for what she had done so far with Fenton Tech. He wanted to go to the Fentons and rip them all a new one for making what they made.

Because Danny was dead in Tucker’s arms, and screaming and crying were the only things he could do about it.

But he didn’t scream at Sam, he just watched as she pulled out one of Danny’s paintbrushes and dipped it in the ectoplasm of the cartridge in one of his guns.  She started drawing on Danny’s face, his arms, his chest, and then pulled out another cartridge of charged ectoplasm in another gun and poured it in Danny’s mouth, tilted his head so that he would swallow.  “Chant with me. Chant with me Tucker, we have to fix this!”

Tucker didn’t know any Hebrew, decided he’d learn both because Sam was his friend and because apparently, she could do things that could save their lives with it.  Tucker didn’t need to know what he was saying to say it, and he did say it, over and over again for the next 10 minutes, until the drawings on Danny’s body lit up like fire and every ray of light rushed toward him and everything went dark.  Tucker could hear the song of the universe dimming in his ears and knew nearly for a fact that Danny was sucking the ectoplasmic energy into him along with every other flavor of power within blocks of him. Tucker would let the sun itself go black just to hear Danny’s laugh again.

The darkness faded, Danny’s body was outlined in light, the markings were gone, and Danny groaned.  His chest rose and dropped, his heart was beating, color was coming back to his skin, he was as warm as he’d been since the accident.  Danny was alive in Tucker’s arms, and Tucker wanted to cry even harder than he already had. Instead, the put Danny’s binder back on him, Sam grabbed his shirt and jacket, and Tucker carried Danny out to their hoverboards.  They flew to Sam’s house, Tucker staying as high and close to the sun as he could to let Danny soak in all the light he needed. When they got to Sam’s house, Tucker didn’t let Danny go until he was being set on a love seat on Sam’s balcony.

There were, of course, jokes to be made about the way Danny curled up in the fleeting October sunlight and how his fluffball curls and height combined with this to make him much like a kitten.  Jokes about him being a cross between Superman and the Martian Manhunter could’ve also been made. Danny was a white-haired anime boy, that could be remarked upon with laughs aplenty. Tucker made no such jokes.

Tucker put to use the information he’d gathered at his last LARPing session at furrycon after a shank attempt by a guy who’d wandered into the park where he’d been LARPing at that took their cosplay a bit too seriously.  That being that leather was wonderful armor, silk blocked stabs fantastically when a blade slid through said leather, and that one should always wear cotton under silk anything because sweating to death after a fight near to death wasn’t fun.  He’d smacked a crazy guy upside the head and gotten a useful lesson out of that. Tucker’s older cousin could supply the leather, Sam could order fine silk jackets and pants for all of them, Danny had cotton shirts already, and Sidney offered to use intangibility to fuse the two together.  Tucker commented that the leather would look fitting on Sam since she was more of a punk anyway. She called him a furry, he called her a weeb, and they both explained the concepts to Sydney.

That was all fine and dandy against most blunt force, stabbing and slashing that even a ghost could probably do, but against ghosts and their intangibility, there were few places to go.  Sam had her magick book but Tucker didn’t want to touch on anything supernatural for a while and unless she could prove that her wards were working, he wouldn’t exactly trust Danny’s life with them.  Convincing Jack Fenton that he needed some easily worn and hidden accessory to prevent possession was almost sadly easy, the only condition being that Tucker had to wear one of those horrible looking hazmat suits.  Tucker let it hang in his closet, as he had no intention of matching Jack Fenton’s fashion sense.

One might feel that Tucerk and his friends were being a bit excessive in their measures to keep Danny padded up against the world, but such an individual hadn’t seen their best friend since age 1 die in front of them by the same person’s hand twice so that particular person could kindly go shove their opinion where the sun don’t shine in Tucker’s very polite opinion.

Danny himself was groggy for most of his recovery time and had clearly caught on that they were being extra protective of him.  While Sam was introducing Sidney to anime and videogames and Tucker was showing him the best comics and music, Danny always had whoever wasn’t with the others within arm’s reach.  He was jumpy when it came to his ghost sense telling him that Sidney was there, had his hood up whenever they were outside, and even though they’d been near forcing Agatha’s cooking down his throat at every meal they could, Danny had yet to Go Ghost.  Sam brought up the idea of taking down the shapeshifter and Danny balked at the topic, bringing up the frogs, the latest anime that she had shown Sidney or really anything else when she did this. Tucker was more than fine with this since no ghost mode meant no seeking out danger which meant that the only fights they were dealing with included Dash, Kwan and Dale making fun of them for being a furry, a weeb and a Fenton.  Seeing Sam put her martial arts to use when Dash tried to stuff Danny in a locker was worth the detention he got for tripping Dale as he rushed in to help. He spent it with Sam anyway so that was fine. If wanting Danny safer than Amity was selfish then Tucker was as far from selfless as possible.

“Hey, Danny,” Tucker said while he worked on finishing up the Spector Deflector that Dr. Fenton had started for him in Danny’s workshop.  “There’s a swap meet coming up in Harrison Park this Saturday. Wanna come with? I’m gonna get a set of dice if I can and see if I can show Sidney DnD.  Maybe we all can play even.” He grinned. “We can get you a new bowling ball so you can destroy Sam in bowling.”

“Bro, you’ll be wrecked with her,’ Danny challenged from where he drew in his art book instead of doing his homework.  Tucker was procrastinating by making ghost hunting tech, he couldn’t blame Danny. “That sounds cool.”

“Awesome.”  Tucker set down his tools and pulled up his safety goggles.  “Can you come over and poke this? Very lightly and just a little in case I’m as done as I think I am.”  Danny obliged and there was a loud SNAP accompanied by a yelp and Tucker patted Danny’s shoulder.  “Looks like I’m done with the internals. Now all I gotta do is adjust it so that it can ignore your ectosignature, and Sidney’s and Agatha’s, and it’ll really be done.”

“Done for your armor idea, right?”  Danny scoffed, slugging Tucker in the shoulder while he looked for the blueprint he’d downloaded of the part that’d track ectosignatures in the Fenton Finder.  “Sidney told me about it while we were watching Star Wars. Or should I call it his guard duty shift? Cause I know what you guys are doing and while I appreciate your concern over my safety, I’m the one with powers here.”

“20 hours straight of unconsciousness and tears say that superpowers don’t mean you don’t need protection against people with the same superpowers.”  Tucker huffed. “If we’d been wearing some armor like we’re making then that fish thing probably wouldn’t have been able to bite through me like it did.  Silk and piercing ya know.” He bumped shoulders with Danny when he went quiet and forced his lips up into a smile. “And besides, your parents have literally no fashion sense.  A leather jacket lined with silk? Leather pants, probably with studs in it since Sam is involved? Dude, that’s cool as fuck looking. You’ll be the best-dressed ghost out there.”  Danny laughed and shook his head. Tucker got to work setting up the design for the Fenton Fabricator™ to make for the Spector Deflector. He also considered asking for a cut of the royalties when the belt inevitably became a Fenton Brand item, since he’d finished it.  “You think putting on clothes in ghost form will invert their colors like your suit?”

“Fuck you, Tuck, now I have to find out.”  Danny huffed and Tucker snickered. For a moment everything was quiet, and then arms were wrapping around his middle.  “Thanks, Tuck. For everything.” Tucker looped an arm around Danny and smushed him against his side.

“That’s what bros are for, man.”  The room was a comfortable quiet after that.  The Fabricator and the generator were humming softly at the edge of Tucker’s once again human limited hearing, the only other sound was their breathing and - Tucker could swear - their heartbeats.  The air was charged with something more than ectoplasm and electricity and Tucker wasn’t sure if Danny knew that as well, but he knew that he could hardly know anything else right then. So naturally, Tucker lowered his hand at Danny’s side and started tickling him.  Danny squeaked, squealed out some giggles, and phased out of his grip when wriggling didn’t work.

“You dick!  Get over here!”

Danny appreciated the effort Sam, Tucker and Sidney were putting in for him, he really honestly did.  Sidney still went to his therapy session with Jazz which Danny could tell were helping him by how bright his aura had gotten, and between him and Jazz at school there were at least a few bright auras to go around, but with how things were going, Danny felt at least a bit suffocated.

Half the auras at school - both student and teacher - were dim enough that Danny almost couldn’t see them.  Dash and company had been especially vicious as of late, calling them every name under the sun and getting into actual fights with him, Tucker and Sam.  Between the three of them they managed well enough - being dragged to martial arts lessons with Sam and fighting eldritch abominations from the afterlife did things for your confidence in facing up to bullies - but it hadn’t ever been this bad before.  And while Tucker and Sam both were clearly brighter than everyone else emotionally, they were skirting around things in the most unsubtle way imaginable and Danny wondered how they kept anything hidden. Sam tried to get him into ghost form to see how fast he could fly, Tucker changed the topic from anything ghostly to something nerdy and Sidney seemed to stare at him as much as he did the movies they were watching.  Sure, Sidney was keeping his eyes on the screen but Danny knew ghosts could see more than just with their eyes and the feeling of being constantly watched was getting more than unnerving.

Saturday was a breath of fresh air.  Sam was maybe coming down with something and Sidney was off exploring the city on his own, so it was just Danny and Tucker buying the stuff they’d come for and laughing their heads off at their dumb jokes.  It was sunny, the crowd was bright with positivity abound, and he was having fun with his best friend in the world. It was nice.

Of course, a ghost attack ruined it.

Cotton candy erupted and flooded the place, and Danny slid under a table while the crowds stampeded away, yanking Tucker under as well.  He reached inside, past the void of darkness into the soft and splintered light at his center. It exploded out to the surface and in a flash of silver glass, shimmering shadows wove his hazmat suit around him and unraveled gravity’s hold on his body.  He shuddered, glitching out of reality - or what he was so very hopeful and sure was reality anyway - and gave Tucker a smile. “Wish me luck.” He slid down into the ground and forward, rising out of a mound of cotton candy as big as himself. There was a woman with long black hair, dark green skin, and blue scarce clothing floating over the sweets and stretching her arms.  “I understand a sweet tooth and all that, but this is a bit dangerously Much.” Danny held out a hand with a smile when a sneer was turned his way. “I’m Danny Phantom, hopefully nice to meet you.”

“ I am Desiree,” she said in some accented blend of every language that Danny knew.  It was headache-inducing and he definitely didn’t like it. “ This confection explosion was hardly my intention boy, I am cursed to use my power to grant the wishes of all those who make them. ”

“What, like a jinni?  If I find and rub your lamp and say ‘I wish I had a dick’ do you complete my tra-”

“ So you have wished it, so shall it be. ”  Her hands went up, green smoke curled around him, through him, within him, caressed that inner light and warmth that was his human body, and Danny shuddered in the wake of power well beyond his ability to fully process.  Before the smoke even cleared, Danny could hear Desiree speaking through gritted teeth. “ Yes, boy I am a Jinni.  One of your kind cursed me, both to be trapped in that infernal bottle, but also to use my power for all who catch my ear. ”

Danny was reeling when the smoke cleared, giving himself a mental review of what he could feel on himself and gawked when he realized what had happened.  “Um. Wow.” Desiree was clearly unimpressed. “Uh, well, I know a way I can he-” a ball of ectoplasma, charged up with energy, raced into Desiree’s gut and knocked her back and Danny really wished that people would stop interrupting him.

“Stay away from him, damn it!  Can’t we have one nice day?” Tucker readied another shot and Danny waved his arms to tell him not to.  “I wish I had stopped you from going into that stupid fucking portal! Then we wouldn’t be in this mess!”  crud.

“ So you have wished it, so shall it be. ”  FUCK .  Green mist filled Danny’s vision, and everything went dark.

[mythicalsecretsanta]

Christmas In Paris (T)

This gift is for: Wren (AKA @cerealbath​) Wishing you a very festive holiday season and good vibes for the coming year. Hope you enjoy your gift! From your Secret Santa, Ellie (AKA @elliefcutie)

Link to AO3, or read below:

“Link, hello earth to Link,” someone shouted. “S-s-sorry,” he stuttered in reply. They’d been waiting so long at the check in counter he’d slipped into a daydream. One where he was at home watching his favourite paint drying show instead of here in a crowded airport. “Man what are we gonna do, they’re saying my bag weighs too much?” “Why don’t you just take some stuff out? I’m pretty sure you packed your entire bedroom. Do you really need all of it?” Link asked. “Yes I need all of it,” Rhett said placing extra emphasis on the word need. “I’m used to a certain level of comfort, you know that.” Listen, all I’m saying is do you really need silk bed sheets, a fur coat and the entire contents of your bathroom for a one week vacation in Paris?“ “ You’re totally missing the point Link those aren’t just any old things those sheets are made of rare golden orb spider silk that were painstakingly pulled out individually by blind monks from Madagascar and the-” “Ok,” Link interrupted him. “I get it. I have some extra room in my bags you can use that but anything that doesn’t fit you leave behind alright? “Really?” Rhett said “You’re a lifesaver buddyroll.” So half an hour later they boarded their flight with Rhett who was now wearing his fur coat and Link’s nearly empty carry on was now stuffed full of silk bed linens, various lotions creams serums and hair styling products. Being on the plane brought Link’s anxiety up to near panic attack levels. “Why’s it gotta be so gosh dang small in here?” He’d begun sweating profusely the moisture accumulating uncomfortably in all his crevices. “You think this is small be glad you’re not me brother I got legs for days and nowhere to put em,” Link just gave a weak smile in response his arms moving to wrap around his midsection. A pathetic attempt at self comforting. Why had he agreed to come on this stupid trip in the first place? Neither of them had anything great to go home to for the holidays. Rhett’s mom had re married and now had a replacement family as Rhett called it. Link’s mom had died when he was in college. His parents had divorced when he was two and Link had never really been close with his dad. So it made sense that they’d spend the holidays together right? Better than being alone. Not that Link really minded being alone. Last year they’d stayed home and just ordered in watching Christmas movies on Netflix. For whatever reason Rhett had gotten the idea that they should go somewhere this year. Link had flat out refused at first but Rhett was very insistent. Also he was very good at getting Link to try new things. So eventually he had caved. And here they were. Link remained quiet all throughout the safety talk which increased his anxiety level even more, and takeoff. “Link you ok?” Rhett asked once they were safely in the air. “Your being awfully quiet.” “Yeah I’m fine a little tired.” Which wasn’t a total lie he was tired. Stress had a strange way of making him sleepy. “Why don’t you try to sleep we got a long flight ahead of us anyway. You can use my coat as a pillow if you want. I’m sweating to death in it anyway.” Before Link could even answer Rhett was twisting himself around to get the cumbersome thing off. It was a struggle that lasted several minutes and by the time Rhett handed him the coat he was smiling. He couldn’t really refuse it after that could he? “Thanks” he said. Propping himself up against the window he fell asleep almost immediately.

“Link, hey Link,” Rhett half whispered while nudging his shoulder. Link just groaned and pushed him away. “Lemme sleep Rhett .” “You gotta wake up buddy we’re about to land.” Link sat up his hands moving automatically to try and rub the sleep out of his eyes. “I slept through the whole flight?” he said in disbelief. “You sure did sleepyhead,” Rhett replied laughing one of his grumbling laughs. Just then the pilot came on over the intercom. “Hello this is your captain speaking we’re just beginning our descent into Paris and we should be landing in approximately twenty minutes. The weather is a chilly 50 degrees Fahrenheit with clear skies. The local time is 5:05pm. Please put you seat belts on and thanks for a great flight.” Then she said the same thing in french. At least that’s what Link assumed because he understood nothing beyond bonjour despite having taken three years of french in high school. Link immediately fastened his seat belt and looked out the window. The sun was setting and it cast a beautiful rose gold glow over the city that Link had to admit looked stunning. Link started when he felt Rhett’s beard tickling his neck. “Looks pretty great right? Don’t be shy you can say that I made a good choice. That this is gonna be a million time better than just being at home.” Link rolled his eyes. “Maybe just maybe this won’t be a total disaster.” “It’s gonna be awesome just wait until you see what I got planned,” Rhett said. His eyes and smile wide with excitement more than Link had ever seen them before. Rhett had insisted on being the sole planner of their trip. Link hadn’t protested since he didn’t really care. He fully expected to have a terrible time but his first look at the city had him feeling unexpectedly optimistic about it. He smiled back at Rhett. “So what are we doing tonight?” “There’s this really old cinema that shows old Christmas movies during December. Tonight there playing It’s a Wonderful Life. But we could do something else if you want. If you’re too tired we can just stay at the hotel.” Rhett said rather rapidly. His cheeks turning red. Link squirmed in his seat suddenly feeling very antsy. It was probably the cramped seating he just needed to stretch his legs. “That sounds really good actually.” Rhett grinned and was it Link’s imagination or did his the redness of his face deepen even more? He turned to look out the window again at the city growing ever closer.

Link swallowed the last bite of the cracker sandwich he’d been working on for the past hour and a half. He chased it with a big gulp of sparkling water. Rhett had chosen an upscale restaurant for dinner where nothing sounded familiar (mostly because of the french) or appetizing. The waiter had given him the stink eye when he’d asked for plain bread and cracker sandwich like the ones he always had at home. Rhett however had ordered a plethora of items and in french too. Link’s sandwich had come rather quickly a whole loaf of french bread and some sort of multigrain crackers that was something of a disappointment to Link. So he’d been taking halfhearted bites of it every so often while Rhett inhaled dish after dish of rich looking foods covered in cream sauces. “You sure you don’t wanna try any of my food?” Rhett asked. “No I’m good” “Come on at least have a bite of the escargot. The butter herb caviar sauce on top is absolutely divine.” “Isn’t that snails? No thanks.” Link said in disgust. “How about dessert I ordered the wildflower honey lavender gelato. That’s sorta like ice cream. You like ice cream right?” Link did in fact like ice cream one of the few things that had stuck from his brief foray into the world of tasting. The way Rhett was acting was making Link nervous. He seemed so eager for Link to be pleased that Link felt obliged to be pleased. “Sure buddy that sounds good” Rhett smiled brightly and there was that blush again. They’re dessert soon arrived in a single dish with two spoons. Link frowned his personal ice cream sharing rule was don’t unless you’re willing to make out with said person. “Sorry Link I’ll ask them for a separate bowl,” Rhett said. Link glanced around the crowded restaurant in search of wait staff to flag down and found no one. What the hell he thought. He’d flown halfway across the world today surely he could share ice cream. They had separate spoons after all. “Don’t bother,” Link took the tiny spoon on his side of the bowl and brought it up to his mouth. The gelato was amazing it had an icy smooth consistency less creamy than ice cream but sweetened perfectly with honey and just a touch of lavender to brighten it up. Link went in for a second bite and realized Rhett was just staring at him mouth agape. Which Link found odd because Rhett was never one to hesitate while eating. “Is that not ok with you? It’s because of my herpes isn’t it? I’m sorry we can order you a separate one.” “No just a little surprised it’s like your a whole different Link in Paris.” “Is that a bad thing?” “It’s interesting that’s for sure,” Rhett replied picking up his spoon.

The cool night air nipped at Link’s arms making giving him goosebumps. He was beginning to regret their decision to walk back to the hotel after the movie. Which despite Rhett’s disbelief he had never seen before. “You cold Link?” Rhett asked. “Yeah a little figures when we could actually use that ridiculous fur coat of yours we don’t have it.” “I’ll have you know that coat is made of very rare Siberian Brown Lemming fur. Which is said to be so soft it’s like wearing a cloud.” Link just rolled his eyes. “So you wanna know what on the itinerary for tomorrow?” Rhett asked. “Nah I’m sorta enjoying this whole going with the flow thing. It feels very freeing not worrying about every little thing for once.” “I get that. Let’s pick up the pace so we don’t freeze our balls off shall we.” Link let loose a high pitched giggle and began to run down the street.

Link stifled a yawn as he watched people go by on the quiet Parisian street. Rhett had dragged him outta bed at an ungodly hour and to this quaint little cafe nearby. He was currently sipping his second cup of espresso in hopes it would chase away the jet lag. “Did you not sleep well Link” Rhett asked seemingly unaffected by jet lag and entirely to chipper. “I slept fine it must be jet lag. I’ve never felt so tired in my life. You seriously don’t feel it?” “I slowly adjusted myself to Paris time over the last two weeks, remember? I asked if you wanted to join me and you declined. I’d bet you’re regretting that now.” Yes Link did seem to recall Rhett going on about that how it would eliminate jet lag and help optimize their enjoyment of the trip. But he’d said it right before bed and staying up later had seemed too difficult to an already sleepy Link. “I have just the thing to cheer you up,” Rhett said. “You wanna know what we’re doing today?” Leaving absolutely no time for Link to reply he answered his own question. “There’s this really cool winery called Le Clos Montmatre right here in the city and they give tours. Guess who’s gonna be on one of those tours?” “Us?” Link said flatly. “Bingo” “I can’t wait.”

“I think we’re lost,” Link said “We are not lost,” Rhett insisted. “Really so we were supposed to get on several different trains and then get off to stare at this map in the station? Then I guess we’re not lost after all.” “Ok, so we may be a little turned around,” Rhett said. “But we are definitely not lost. We just need to get on this train… or maybe this one.” He trailed off. “Alright we may be lost,” He finally admitted. “So why don’t we just go above ground and catch a cab or we’ll miss our tour. Besides it creeps me out down here. It’s like being buried alive.” “Because that would be admitting defeat. This is how people get around here. If we take a cab we’re missing out on the authentic Paris experience. “I don’t think part of the authentic experience is aimlessly getting on and off trains with no idea where you’re going. I’m getting a cab you can stay down here and keep having the authentic experience if you like.” Link took off toward the exit and Rhett followed.

Due to the narrow climbing roads the cab dropped them off a quarter mile from the actual winery itself. They walked in silence for a few minutes until Rhett broke it abruptly. “Sorry about this Link. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.” Rhett said eyes on the ground as they walked along.” “What do you mean?” Link asked. He felt somewhat confused everything seemed fine to him. “It’s just I have this picture in my head of how I want things to go, you know. Reality never seems to live up to that picture. This is only the first day and already I screwed things up.” “Wait…what? You think you screwed things up?” “Well yeah you’re all jet lagged, we got lost and now we might miss our tour.” He finally looked up at Link. His amber eyes pitiful. “Rhett, you did not screw things up I will get over the jet lag, everybody gets lost in strange cities and I’m pretty sure we found the vineyard.” He pointed up to the vine covered mansion before them. It was beautiful Link was beginning to think everything in Paris was. “You really don’t think I’m screwing things up?” Rhett asked breaking eye contact with Link and looking straight ahead. “Not at all.”

“Mercie,” Rhett thanked the man who had poured their wine. The tour had been interesting. Emile,their tour guide’s enthusiasm had been contagious. They were now sitting in the cellar sampling some wine. “ “A votre sante,” Rhett said “Huh?” Link said. “Since when do you speak french?” “I learned online. I figured one of us should.” He shrugged nonchalant. “A votre sante means cheers.” They clinked glasses. Link swallowed his all in one gulp, hissing at the unpleasant burning sensation in his throat. It did taste vaguely fruity which was ok but he really couldn’t see what all the hype was about. He would choose grape juice over this any day. He glanced up at Rhett to find him staring wide eyed at him. “What? Did I spill some on my shirt or something?” he looked in panic at his white and blue striped polo. It looked alright to him. Rhett just laughed that big loud rumbling one he did when something caught him by surprise. When he caught his breath he said. “No it’s just that not how you’re supposed to do that man. It’s not like taking jello shots at a frat party.” Link blushed. “Give me a break Rhett I’ve never done this before.” “How have you never done this before?” “I just haven’t. You don’t need to laugh at me.” “Sorry Link. I guess I’ll just have to show you how it’s done. Here I’ll share mine with you.” He reached over and poured half of his glass into Link’s. “You gotta take your time with it really get to know it. Swish it around in the glass, like this.” Rhett slowly moved the stem of his glass in a circle. Link copied. “Excellent. Now go ahead and take a whiff of it. Really take in that aroma with your nose hole.” “Is this really necessary seems a little over the top to me.” “Yes it’s necessary drinking wine is all about the experience Link. It’s the only way to really detect all the nuances of flavor.” “Fine I’ll sniff the damn wine just let it be known that I think it’s ridiculous.” “I’m ok with that,” Rhett said. So Link smelled the wine. It smelled fruity and maybe a little acidic. “Mmm,” Rhett said “ A very nice smelling wine it smells full bodied with a hint of lemon verbena.” “Can we actually drink it now?” Link asked. He was beginning to lose patience with Rhett’s process. “Sure buddy but you should take small sips and aerate it by running it through your teeth.” He kindly demonstrated this and it make the most horrendous noise. “There’s no way I’m doing that. You’ll have to settle for me taking small sips.” “Your loss. I’ll be over here experiencing the full flavor of wine as intended.” Link rolled his eyey as he brought the glass to his lips. He did keep it in his mouth a little and to his surprise he noticed the hint of citrus Rhett had mentioned. Also the burning sensation was much milder and pleasant this time around. “This is pretty good actually,” “See I told you,” Rhett said practically beaming. “You have to do it the right way for optimal enjoyment.” Link smiled with a shake of his head. They continued their tasting mostly in silence with only an occasional interjection from Rhett about the flavours of the different wines. Once the wine had all been tasted Emile cleared her throat to get their attention. “So that concludes the wine tasting portion of the tour. We’re going to finish off the tour by going to see our fields. They have a very unique graded set up that offers up some wonderful views of the city. So feel free to stick around afterwards to take some pictures. Link pushed his seat back as he got up he felt dizzy and had to brace himself on the table. “Whoa, you alright there Link? The wine gettin’ to ya?” “I’m alright,” Link replied. “Just felt a little unsteady there.” Truthfully Link felt very strange maybe he shouldn’t have had so much wine. He figured he would be fine the tour was almost over anyway. It was a struggle to keep himself steady as the walked but he managed it. They emerged into the sunshine at the bottom of a steep incline. Now he knew what Emile had meant by graded set up. It looked like they had carved the vineyard right out of the hillside. It was possibly one of the most unique things Link had ever seen. Unfortunately he wasn’t really in a state to enjoy it. The feeling of unease that he’d felt in the cellar seemed to be growing by the minute. Everything after that was pretty fuzzy until Rhett elbowed him in the ribs. Hey Link mind if we go to the top I really wanna get some pictures.” “Yeah sure sounds great,” Link said. He did not in fact think it was great. He had no idea how he was going to make it up there. Rhett chattered away at him as they climbed. “That was pretty awesome right Link? Wait till you see what I have planned for tomorrow. It’s even better I think gotta make Christmas Eve special right? Link just nodded. As they neared the top Link’s head was spinning so bad he had to sit down. “Hey Rhett,” he said his words coming out slurred. “I’m not feeling so well.” He then proceeded to vomit in the bushes beside him. Rhett rushed to his side putting his hand softly in the small of Link’s back as he wretched the meager contents of his stomach onto the foliage. “Oh Link I’m so sorry. You’re kind of a lightweight hey? Don’t worry we’ll get you back to the hotel and you’ll be better in no time.” Link finished vomiting and sat back up wiping the mix of throw up and spit on his jacket sleeve. “You get it all out?” “I think so.” “Good, good you just stay right there I’m gonna order us an Uber ok?” He pulled out his phone typing away at it furiously. A few minutes later he pocketed it. “It’ll be here in 20 but we’re gonna have to walk a little to get there. Think you can do that?” Link nodded. “Alright let me help you there.” Rhett said. He crouched down slinging Link’s arm over his shoulder. “We’re gonna try standing on three. One..two…three.” They struggled up together Rhett doing most of the heavy lifting Link only managing to fall into Rhett’s arms. Link’s only thought was that he smelled good some sort of deep musky scent. “Ok we made it up good job. Now let’s get you straightened out.” Link reached out weakly trying to pull him back in but Rhett didn’t even seem to notice. “You think you’re ok to walk?” “Yeah I think so.” Slowly they made their way back down where a concerned looking Emile met them. “Mon dieu. Is your husband okay Rhett?” “He’s not really much of a drinker. I shouldn’t have let hi drink so much. We’re just going to leave now. Thanks for the lovely tour and sorry about the bushes.” Link grimaced at that bit. “Yeah I’m very sorry about that,’ he added. Wait had she just called him Rhett’s husband why would she think that? Before Link could think about it too much Rhett was walking again taking Link with him. Somehow they made it to the Uber without incident. Rhett helped Link and spoke with the driver while Link just sat there willing himself not to vomit again. “Link?” “Yeah,” Link answered feeling very sleepy all of a sudden. “Driver says it’s gonna be half an hour to the hotel. You just tell me if we need to pull over again okay?” “Sure. Rhett?’ “Yes Link?’ “I’m sleepy.” “That’s just fine you just put you’re head on my shoulder and close your eyes,” “Thanks Rhett,” Link said as he did exactly that. He gave a contented sigh happy to be smelling that Rhett smell again.

The next thing Link really remembers is walking up with a dry mouth, splitting headache and a bladder that’s about to burst. He groans as he sits up in bed. Yes he’s in a bed in his and Rhett’s hotel room. They’re sharing a room because according to Rhett this is the only hotel to stay in, in Paris. It’s also very expensive so they can only afford one room. Two beds at least though. “Hey Link welcome back to the world of the sober. How you feeling?” “Like I’ve been hit by a tuck… twice.” “Sounds about right. Hangovers are a delight. You probably need to pee real bad right about now so why don’t you go do that.’ “I’ll probably pee the bed if I don’t. I’m not even sure that would be the most embarrassing thing I’ve done today.” Link sighs and heaves himself out of bed stumbling to the bathroom. Emptying his bladder helps a little and splashing some cold water on his face helps some too. He walks back to his bed. Rhett has placed a bottle of water and some ibuprofen on his bedside table. “You should take those and drink the water that will help,” Rhett said. “We should also get some food in you. You haven’t eaten all day have you?” Besides a few halfhearted bites of the pancakes at breakfast Link realized he hadn’t had anything but caffeine and alcohol all day. No wonder he’d gotten drunk so fast. “Thanks. What time is it anyway?” “It’s half past five,” “Really? Rhett I’m sorry look like I’m the one who ruined our day not you.” “Don’t worry about it. I think I need to learn to go with the flow more too. I thought we could stay in order room service maybe watch some lame Christmas movie?” “Sounds good to me.”

Link was awakened by the sound of someone knocking at their door. “Don’t worry about that Link I’ll get it,” Rhett said. His blurry figure rushing past Link. “Mmm kay,” he mumbled. He sat up in bed yawning and stretching out his arms. His hands fumbled around the unfamiliar space to find his glasses. He put them on to see Rhett wheeling a cart in between the beds. “Good morning. I took the liberty of ordering breakfast in bed for us. I hope you don’t mind.” “No that sounds good.” “There’s fresh scones with clotted cream and a variety of jams, some fresh fruit ham and cheese quiche and of of course coffee. I got some fresh squeezed OJ for you to since you don’t usually drink coffee.” “Wow Rhett that’s quite the spread. Are you sure we can afford that?” Link asked this hotel was very high end this must have cost a fortune. “Don’t sweat it mon aime consider this an early Christmas present.” Damn Link thinks were they supposed to get each other gifts? Link just thought with the trip they would just forget about it. He’d have to find a way to buy something today without Rhett noticing. “You wanna hear what we’re doing today,” Rhett asked. As he handed a plate to Link and took one himself and began to give himself generous portions of everything on the tray. “Yeah sure.” “ First up is making and decorating gingerbread houses. Then we have to walk through the Christmas market. “What’s a Christmas market?” “So every year these Christmas markets pop up around the city. They have all kinds of vendors selling all kinds of decorations gifts baked goods and street food everything you can think of man they got it.” “Sounds interesting.” What a stroke of good luck. Surely he would be able to find an opportunity to buy something for Rhett there. “Yeah and this one is right close to the Eiffel Tower they have an outdoor skating rink there too.” “I’ve never been skating before,” Link said. “Me neither being a California boy and all. I thought it would be fun.”

It had been a fun day, a perfect day really until it wasn’t. Rhett had lead them to this cooking school not to far from the hotel. Even though neither of them had much experience in the kitchen they worked pretty well together. Even when the bickered over the decoration of their house it was all good natured and if Link got startled every time Rhett invaded his space so what? The afternoon they spent wandering through the crowded Christmas market taking in all the sights and sounds. Who’s too say if the walked a little closer than necessary hands and shoulders brushing against each other sending little shocks of electricity through Link’s body. They had some mouthwatering meat pies,tourtiere, at a street vendor eating them as they walked. As the sun set them came to the outdoor skating rink and saw the Eiffel Tower all lit up in the distance behind it. Skating was decidedly an absolute disaster. Link couldn’t keep his balance at all. He ending up grabbing for Rhett, who was somewhat steadier, and just ended up dragging them both down. And if Link reveled in the feel of their bodies tangling together what was so wrong about that? Also it was cold neither of them was dressed for that. Link teased Rhett for not bringing his fur coat. They laughed. It was like an inside joke with them now. It even began to snow big fat flakes drifting down from the sky. Once both of them had enough of fumbling around on the ice Link left Rhett sitting on a bench. He was supposed to be getting hot chocolate for them. What he was really doing was trying to find a gift for Rhett. He ended up buying him a scarf earmuffs and mittens to go with his coat and some fancy coffee with 24 carat gold flakes in it. Rhett would love that. Things started to go downhill at the hot chocolate stand. The woman serving him spoke to him in english which was far better than Link’s pitiful attempts at french. “You and your husband … you are having good time in Paris yes? It is the city of amour they say.” “Oh he’s not… we’re not married. We’re just friends,” Link answered shaking his head emphatically to try and get his point across. “Sorry my mistake. Here’s your chocolate.” Link thanked her and left. A funny feeling coming over him. Why did someone calling Rhett his husband have this effect on him? He was silent as he sat down next to Rhett and handed him his hot chocolate. When he finished he just sat there holding his empty cup not wanting to look at Rhett. Feeling overwhelmed but not sure why. “Something wrong Link?” Rhett asked. “Why are we here Rhett?” “Are you tired? We can go back now if you want.” “No like why are we here in Paris?” “I’m not sure what this is about,” Rhett said clearly confused. “Are you in love with me Rhett?” “What? Why would you say that?” “Oh I don’t know we’re here in one of the most romantic cities in the world. At Christmas. Or maybe it cause you didn’t correct Emile yesterday when she thought we were husbands.” “I didn’t think you would remember that.” “Well I do,” “Look I just didn’t think it was that important. It’s not like we were ever gonna see her again.” “Forget I asked let’s just go back to the hotel.” Link doesn’t know why he even asked those things. He hadn’t even known he was thinking them. Rhettt tip toed around him for the rest of the evening. Link pretended to be tired just so he could have some space to process everything. Rhett stayed up for awhile quietly watching TV. Eventually he switched if off and went to bed. “Link? Link you awake?” Link didn’t feel like talking so he stayed silent. “I know I avoided answering the question before. But I do Link. Love you that is. That’s why we’re here. I was going to tell you tomorrow but maybe I won’t now.” So that’s why Link was here at 3a.m on Christmas morning wandering the streets of Paris alone. Because he’d freaked out after Rhett’s confession and slipped away when Rhett fell asleep. What the crap was he supposed to think about that. He’d never dated anyone besides Vanessa. If going on two dates and getting dumped for a robot even counted as dating. And even that had been Rhett’s idea. He was always the one pushing Link to try things he never would have on his own. He wasn’t even sure he was capable of falling in love. It seemed like such an intangible concept to Link. How would you even know? Emotions were just so confusing. A sudden wave of weariness washed over Link. If he had to walk one more step he’d collapse for sure. He glanced around the deserted street there was nowhere to sit except the ground. So he slumped against the cold brick wall putting his head between his knees. He was shivering now uncontrollably but not from the cold. Then a heavy weight was draped over his shoulders. He looked up to find Rhett crouched beside him. “I guess you weren’t asleep,” Rhett said. A slight smile on his lips. The weight on his shoulders was that stupid fur coat. “Wait… what?… how did you even find me?” Link stuttered. Rhett waved his phone around. “Got your location on my phone remember?” Damn it Link had forgotten all about that. “Look I didn’t come here to push myself on you or anything. I just got worried when I woke up and you were gone. Looks like I was right to worry cause here you are crying alone and cold on the ground.” He was crying? Link’s hand wiped at his eyes confirming he was indeed crying. “I’m just…so…I’m so confused Rhett. How long?” Link was finding it difficult to speak. His voice was hoarse and his throat felt like it was closing up. Rhett sat down next to him though Link noted not close enough to be touching. “I’m not sure Link. I think I knew from the moment we met that you would be special to me. When it became something more than friendship I can’t say exactly. You sorta sneaked up on me.” There was that timid smile again. Rhett was afraid Link realized. Being vulnerable wasn’t easy for him either. “So what happens now?” he asked. “That’s up to you Link. We can pretend this never happened or we can explore this…us if you want to.” He gestured to himself and Link. “Or you can leave. I’ll understand if this is all too much for you,” He said. He tried to keep his voice even but Link heard the break in it when he said that last option. “I don’t think I can go back to how we were before Rhett. Not with you so close. I’ll always be thinking of the way you smell or the feel of your hand on my back. And how could I forget your body underneath mine solid and yet soft at the same time?” Rhett just stared at him wide eyed mouth open. Link laughed. “You’ve been giving me that look ever since we got here.” “Well you keep surprising me.” “Here’s another one then.” Link leaned over and kissed Rhett. It was a short closed mouth kiss over before it really began. Rhett was blushing when it was over though. “Really Link your sure?” Link kissed him again in reply. Rhett was ready this time putting his hand to Link’s face gently keeping him there. Only to break the kiss seconds later. “Merry Christmas Link.” “Merry Christmas Rhett.”

[crashdevlin]

Plus One

Author’s Note: Written for @spnfanficpond Galentine’s Day for @coffee-obsessed-writer It’s a day early, girl, so treat yo self

Also written for @spnkinkbingo, filling my Meet Cute square

Summary: When y/n is forced to learn to dance for her ex’s wedding, she meets a certain green-eyed man whose brother thinks he doesn’t have any rhythm.

Pairing(s): Dean X bisexual!Reader, Past OFC x Reader

Word Count: 4772

Warnings: ballroom dancing, fluffiness, bad flirting, little bit of dirty talk, 18+ HERE BE SEX DON’T READ IF YOU’RE A YOUNG’UN!!!  protected sex, oral sex (fem rec), fingering,

Wanna enhance your fanfic experience? Get Dean’s hydrosol from @scentsfromthebunker

You grimaced as you walked into the large open room with the mirrored walls. You were the only one in the room below the age of sixty. You didn’t want to be there. You wanted to walk out, entry fee be damned, but you had to learn or you were going to make a fool of yourself. Probably do that, anyway.

You sat on a bench in the far corner and waited for the instructor to show up. You were picking at your cuticles when the door opened and the most handsome man you’d ever seen walked in. You thought he might be the instructor for a moment, as he was about your age which put him a good twenty years younger than anyone else taking the class, but he surveyed the room and then moved to lean against the non-mirrored wall near the door. He crossed his arms over his chest and you couldn’t help but notice the way his biceps bulged under his plain black tee. Your eyes flicked to his left hand and you were happy to see there wasn’t a ring there, but you didn’t let your hopes up. He could be here to learn for his wedding.

The instructor was a woman who must’ve been in her seventies and she looked like she’d smell like the inside of a craft store. When she told everyone to pair up, the handsome man made a beeline for you, which made you smile. “You already got a dance partner, sweetheart?” His voice was deep, his eyes a brilliant green and you found yourself frozen for a moment as you wondered how this man was a real human being.

“Uh, no. I’m a solo.”

“Not anymore, you’re not. I’m Dean.” He offered you his hand, which seemed huge.

“Y/n,” you said, standing and taking the hand. Yeah, it was huge and you could feel calluses on his fingertips when they brushed your wrist.

“Go ahead and take a few minutes to get to know your partners. We’ll start on basics of stance in five minutes,” Mrs. Philips said.

You smiled, nervously, up at Dean. “So, we, uh, appear to be on the younger end of the spectrum in this classroom.”

“Well, thanks for sayin’ I look young.” He flashed a brilliant smile full of perfect teeth. “So, y/n, what brings you to an intro ballroom dance class?”

You really liked the sound of your name on his lips. “You first, Dean.”

He chuckled, hands going into his pants pockets. “My brother’s taking an introductory painting class with our… with this kid we take care of. He saw they were offering the dance course and signed me up without asking me, because he says that I have no rhythm.” He shook his head like he disagreed. “Your turn, y/n.”

You stalled for a minute, wondering if you should be completely honest with the stranger or alter it to avoid issue. The earnest look on his face made you decide on honesty. “My ex-girlfriend is getting married next month.”

You could swear his face fell a little at that. “Oh?”

“Yeah, and I was the complete idiot who made good on the whole ‘We can still be friends’ part of the breakup, so I'm now Bridesmaid Number Three and she's made it clear that I'm expected to participate in all aspects of the wedding, including this ridiculous and awkward choreographed ballroom dance between the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Guess she forgot that I can't dance.”

Dean scoffed. “Wow. Sounds like a high-maintenance bitch.”

You laughed. “Yeah, well, the guy she cheated on me with is a major league asshole, so they're a match made in Hell.”

Questions filled Dean's green eyes. “Oh, so she's not a-”

You cut him off before he could say the ‘L’ word. “Nah. Unapologetic bisexuals, the both of us. Just, one of us thought they needed to have a girlfriend and a boyfriend and the other knew what ‘exclusive’ means.”

“Wow. If you don't mind me asking, why are you still friends with this bitch? I'd’ve cut her off a long time ago.”

You shrugged, looking past Dean to Mrs. Phillips, who was doing the rounds meeting the new students. “Started out that I genuinely didn't want to lose her and now it's more obligation. The LGBT community here in Kansas is a little exclusionary. They tend to ignore anything beyond the first two letters.”

“Didn’t know there was so much gatekeeping around that shit. Learn something new every day,” he said, smirking. “And you'd think they'd know about the Kinsey Scale.”

You laughed. “Not what I was expecting you to say.”

“Good evening! I'm Mrs. Phillips, what are your names, dears?”

“Dean Winchester.”

“Y/n Y/l/n.”

“Well, welcome, welcome, we'll be starting momentarily.”

Dean watched as the woman walked away before turning back to you. “She smell like cinnamon sticks and moth balls, to you?”

You snickered under your breath. “It's weird because that's exactly what she looks like she smells like!”

You enjoyed easy conversation with the man… until it came time to embrace and work on your positioning. He took your right hand in his left and set his right hand on your back, just under your shoulder blade. You felt like you couldn’t breathe. You tried to look away from him, but his green eyes kept calling to you. There was no conversation after that. You were little better than mute for the entirety of the time his hands were on you.

When the class ended, he smiled as he stepped back from you. “Will you be here on Thursday?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool. I’ll try to be here, too. Wouldn’t wanna leave you without a partner.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The next few weeks, every Monday and Thursday was spent in deep anticipation of the night class. Dean had only missed one class, the third Thursday, and he’d showed up on Monday with a face full of healing bruises and an apology on those full lips.

“You don’t need to apologize, Dean. I mean, you obviously had some sort of accident… or maybe you got in a bar fight?” you asked, gesturing at his face.

He laughed. “Uh, yeah, something like that. I still wanted to be here, though.”

You smiled as you took up a waltz with him. “Your brother’s wrong, by the way. You’ve got all kinds of rhythm.”

“Ah, I’m glad he was wrong in this instance. Never woulda met you if he hadn’t signed me up.”

“This might be…” You looked down, blushing. You couldn’t ask this question if you were looking in those damn eyes. “This might be a big ask, but did you maybe want to be my Plus One for Debbie’s wedding?”

“When is it?”

You ventured a look at his face. He was smiling and it made you bite your lip. “Valentine’s Day. How cliche, right?”

“Sure, I’d love to be your Valentine,” he said with a cocky smirk.

“You got a suit to wear? ‘Cause as much as I love the plaid look, I think Deb would probably throw a fit if someone showed up in something less than her rigorous dress code.”

“Have I mentioned that your ex sounds like a high-maintenance bitch?” he asked with a chuckle. “Yeah, I got a few suits. Don’t worry ‘bout it. I’ll have to give you my number after class, so we can coordinate. Where’s the wedding?”

“Kansas City. Not too far.”

“That’s good. ‘Cause I don’t fly and if it were a destination thing, we’d have to plan some extra travel time.”

You smiled. “You’re afraid of airplanes?”

“They’re flying deathtraps. I don’t know why everybody is so shocked when I say I’m scared of ‘em.”

You looked up into his bruised and battered face. “Because you aren’t afraid of whatever did that to your face? You’re big and strong and don’t seem like the type to piss his pants over being stuck in a metal tube 30,000 feet… you know what, that does sound scary.”

He smirked. “See? S’why I drive every damn place.” He adjusted his grip on your hand. “You think I’m big and strong?”

“And funny and handsome and oh, my god, I’m totally not flirting with you, I promise,” you said, your cheeks heating up as you looked down.

“Well, if you were, you’d be doing okay at it.”

You bit your lip and looked up again. He really was unnaturally handsome, even covered in bruises. “Is that face gonna be healed before Valentine’s Day?”

“Yeah. I got a friend who used to be a faith healer. He can get rid of these like magic.”

You laughed. “He used to be a faith healer?”

“Yeah. Other stuff became more important, but he still pulls out the mojo for me and my brother and Jack. The family, ya know?” He laughed. “You look so skeptical!”

“Look, this might be the Bible Belt, Dean, but not everyone believes so deeply.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the difference here. I know what Cas does works. Anyway… you don’t have to worry about it, y/n. I’ll be handsome again by Valentine’s,” he said with a wink that made you shiver.

“It’s completely unfair, Dean Winchester, that you’re so handsome while black and blue.”

“Oh, am I?” He smirked at you as you lost your footing and he had to shuffle not to step on you.

“Yes, you are. Distractingly so.”

“Well, you’ll have to work on that unless you wanna make an ass of yourself at Debbie’s wedding.”

You laughed. “Well, either way I win, Dean, because my date to her wedding is gonna be a lot hotter than hers.”

He laughed again and everything seemed a little bit brighter in the wake of that sound.

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

You and Dean met at the cheap motel you’d agreed to stay in. Rooms 14 and 15 to make things easy on the both of you. You spent two hours on your hair, another ninety minutes on your makeup. You could hear Dean watching what sounded like Scooby Doo in his room, yelling at Fred for being a ‘cheating douchebag’.

When you stepped out of the room in your lavender bridesmaid dress, you felt awkward and anxious. For some reason, it felt like you were going to your first school dance or something. Taking Dean to this wedding seemed to regress you back a couple decades. You knocked on his door, heard the television turn off as he got up to greet you. You gasped when the door opened to reveal him.

He was wearing a dark grey suit with a shiny patterned grey tie. He had a long black coat over it and he had his hair gelled up. He looked amazing. “Wow,” you both said, simultaneously, then both smiled a bit nervously.

“Purple is definitely a good color on you, sweetheart,” he continued, letting his eyes run down your body.

You chuckled, smoothing your hand down the front of the dress. “It’s technically ‘lavender’. She was very specific on the color of purple. But… thank you. You look breathtaking, as always.”

“I take your breath away?”

“Why do you always make me question what comes out of my mouth?” you asked, shaking your head as he stepped out of the room and secured the door behind him. “I’m certain that I’m not saying anything bad but then you smirk and you make it seem like I’m flirting poorly and you think that’s hilarious.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s hilarious. I think it’s adorable,” he said, opening the passenger side door of his Chevy and helping you in.

He drove you to the wedding venue, a hotel with a beautiful outdoor area specifically designed for weddings. You were certain it was extremely expensive. Debbie was screaming in the bridal suite. You could hear it as you approached. You sighed, turning to Dean. “You should go get a seat. Hope your phone is fully charged. We’re probably gonna be a while.”

He nodded, pulling his headphones and cell phone out of his coat pocket. “Good luck with Bridezilla.”

Debbie was screaming about bobby pins. Apparently, whoever brought the pins had brought blond ones, not brown ones. It was a huge deal. As was the fact that there was only Diet Coke, not regular, and that there weren’t any electrical outlets next to the plush chair she wanted to sit in while she got her hair done. You found yourself wondering what you saw in that woman as you retrieved an extension cord and plugged a power strip into it.

“So, who’s your date? Did you bring a date? Because you’re paying for the steak plate if you RSVP’d for someone who doesn’t exist,” she bitched as the stylist pulled at her hair.

“He exists. He’s outside right now. And he wants some damn steak.”

“Who is he?”

“His name is Dean. I met him at the Rec Center in Lebanon.”

“And? What do you know about him?”

“About as much as you knew about Spencer when you started dating him. I know his name, I know his brother’s name, I know the name of the orphan they adopted when the kid's mother died, I know his best friend's name is Cas. I know he thinks he's funny but his brother thinks he's an idiot.” You shrugged. “I can learn more as the time goes.”

“You barely even know him and you brought him to my wedding?!”

“You barely even knew Spence when you left me for him, so…”

“Oh, don't even start this on my wedding day!”

“You started it,” you argued. “Look, I'm not trying to start a fight with you. Just don't judge Dean when you haven't even met him.”

“He better be amazing.”

That you managed to make it through Debbie getting ready to walk down the aisle without you or one of the other bridesmaids bashing her over the head with that vase of long-stemmed roses she kept bragging about, was a miracle. You were beyond relieved when it came time to grab your small bouquet of tiny purple daisies and walk the aisle. You smiled at Dean as you passed him, and he pulled his headphones and gave a small wave.

“Whoa. That's your date?” the Maid of Honor, Brittany, whispered. “I gotta hang out at the Rec Center more often. Wow!”

“You said he has a brother?” the other bridesmaid, Amber, asked.

“Yeah, but I haven't met him, yet. He might be a troll. I don't know. I'll let you know.”

The groomsmen looked all right in their black tuxes, but your eyes kept gravitating toward Dean in his suit. Even as the crowd turned to watch Debbie walk down the aisle in her dress with the mile-long train, her breasts on display with her sweetheart bodice, your eyes were stuck on him… and he was looking at you. “Well, damn, looks like we might be at another wedding this time next year. Someone’s givin’ you the moon eyes,” Amber said.

“Shut up,” you whispered, fiercely. Debbie was halfway down the aisle, if she heard anyone talking about anything other than her on her big day, she’d flip out. You zoned out when Debbie got to the altar. Spencer’s vows were ripped off from Cory from Boy Meets World and you seemed to be the only one who noticed. Debbie’s vows boiled down to ‘you made my life better with all the stuff you’ve given me’ and you had to literally fight back a yawn. When they kissed, you gave a little golf clap. “Can we eat now?” you whispered as the newlyweds ran down the aisle toward the reception hall together, laughing happily.

“Pictures,” Brittany said, rolling her eyes. “Then food. I gotta go help.”

Dean approached as you followed Brittany toward the reception hall. “Well, that was…”

“You don’t have to say it, Dean.”

“You know the groom stole his vows from a TGI Friday show, right?”

You snorted. “I thought I was the only one who noticed!”

“As soon as he said, ‘Ever since I was young, I never understood anything about the world’ I knew it. I used to watch the hell outta some Boy Meets World. Topanga was hot as fuck.”

“She still is! Did you see the sequel series they did? About the Matthews kids? She’s still super hot. Lawyer-milf in a skirt suit, yes please.” Dean put his arm around your shoulders as you followed a line toward the reception. You liked the warmth and leaned into him. “So, she’s gonna do her sunset pictures with Cory Matthews and then they’re going to do their first dance. Then there’s the first round of toasts, gonna be from Debbie and from Spencer’s dad. Then we get to eat. I’m starving.”

“You should’ve said. I’ve got a bag of M&M’s in my pocket.”

“Thanks, but we’ve got steak waiting for us.”

“And when do you gotta dance? And which one of those douchebags do you have to dance with?”

“After dinner and after Brittany and Mark do their toasts. Instead of the usual Daddy/Daughter dance, Debbie decided that the bridal party need to dance, instead. So, I get to dance with Jeff. Jeff’s the one that looks like Shaggy.”

“Oh, the goateed one.” You nodded. “Okay. Well, when they open the dance floor up, you and me can show ‘em what Mrs. Phillips has taught us.”

You laughed as he pulled away to pull out your seat at the round table closest to the long high-set table that Debbie, Spencer, Mark, Brittany and Spencer’s parents were going to be sitting. “If they play anymore waltzes after we get done with the Maids and Men dance, I’ll definitely show off with you, Dean,” you said as he pushed your chair in for you.

“I’m gonna request it,” he teased, sitting in the chair next to you.

“Oh, hush.” You leaned your head on his shoulder as the rest of the wedding guests poured into the hall and took their places at their designated tables. About fifteen minutes later, Debbie and Spencer entered. They immediately went into their first dance, two minutes of ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri. “A song from Twilight. Really?” you whispered to Dean who chuckled.

“Why do you know that song is from Twilight?”

“Because Debbie’s Team Jacob and it was impossible to avoid when we were dating. I know things about that series I never wanted to know,” you answered, watching Debbie try to dance with that train behind her. Spencer tripped on it twice in the two minute song.

The welcome toasts were mostly just Debbie patting herself on the back for being so beautiful and getting a man who could pay for the wedding she always wanted and Spencer patting himself on the back for marrying a chick as ‘freaky’ as Debbie. The steak was well-done, because obviously no one knows how to cook a damn steak, and the baked potato was wrinkly and dry.

But Dean made things better. He joked through the dinner, kept his arm across the back of your chair so that you knew he was there, and gave quiet commentary as Mark and Brittany gave their toasts. He gave rapt attention as the bridesmaids and groomsmen all stood and walked to the middle of the dance floor. You matched up with Jeff, took your stance and waited for the music. You were nervous but as soon as ‘Once Upon a December’ came on, you let your mind go back to Dean holding you as the crazy old lady taught you how to dance.

Jeff was supposed to lead, but you ended up leading him around the dance floor and two and a half minutes later, all three bridesmaids were folded on the floor in an artful dance pose. You hated it, but you smiled at Debbie’s guests and let Jeff help you up. “That was…” Dean started as you sat down. He looked around before leaning closer to you. “Pretentious bullshit. Debbie choreograph that?”

You nodded, chuckling. “She’s a big Disnerd. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that Anastasia isn’t Disney,” you whispered as Debbie and Spencer got up to cut the cake. They smashed the pastry into each other’s mouths, then Debbie demanded all the single women to line up behind her for the bouquet toss. You rolled your eyes and went to the back of the crowd. After the pushing and shoving was done and one of Debbie’s twice-divorced aunts had the bouquet in her hands, they opened the dance floor and the DJ turned on some pop music.

You were bouncing happily to some P!NK song when Dean approached with a drink from the bar and handed it to you. “You look like you need a little social lubrication.” You sniffed at the plastic cup and raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s a screwdriver. Who doesn’t like vodka and orange juice?” You laughed and took a drink. “And when the DJ plays my request, we’ll need you a little loose.”

“What request?”

“You’ll see.”

Another four songs of pop and old R&B and an old rock song came on. Dean smiled brightly. “What is this?” you asked as he pulled you from the edge of the dance floor to the middle of it.

“Kashmir. It’s got three-four time,” he explained, wrapping his arm around you and taking your hand in his.

“The drums are in four-four, though.”

“Just listen to the guitar, then.” As Led Zeppelin played, you didn’t listen much. You focused on letting your body be led by his, the way he held you to him and spun you around the dance floor. You focused on his eyes and the way they crinkled at the corners when he smiled as brightly as he was smiling. You focused on those perfect teeth in that smile and the freckles across his cheekbones and, as the song came to the instrumental outro, you focused on those full pink lips crashing into yours.

You dropped his hand, slipping your hands up around his neck to pull him down further into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around you to pull your body harder against his. “Dean,” you whispered when you had to pull away to breathe. “My room or yours?”

“What, Debbie doesn’t have some grand exit planned that you’ve gotta be here for?”

You laughed. “She can run to the limo with one less sparkler lighting her way. She’s a high-maintenance bitch. Get me out of here.”

“Gladly,” he said, grabbing your hand and running for the exit. You were laughing as you swiped your purse off the table on your way out, ignoring the looks from Debbie, Brittany and several of the other guests. You were sure you’d never see most of them again.

Your phone was going off with texts before you even made it to the interstate, Debbie admonishing you for leaving, Brittany cheering you on and Amber just letting you know that Debbie was livid. You left your phone in your purple clutch purse on the seat of his car as he guided you toward his room. “I've got condoms in my bag,” he said, pushing his door open and pulling you in with him.

He made a beeline for his duffel bag and you admired the swell of his ass as he bent over. He pulled out a box of Trojans and set it on the side table as he sat on the edge of the bed and smiled at you. “As good as you look in that dress, y/n, why don't you go ahead and take it off.”

“You first, Dean,” you responded with a smile.

He smirked and stood, pulling his suit jacket off and tossing it at the chair in the corner. His hands went to his tie next, loosening it and pulling it off. As he started unbuttoning his shirt, you got impatient, moving forward and grabbing his belt. He kept removing his shirt, throwing it at the chair and missing as you pulled the button on his slacks. He grabbed your wrists to stop you as you went to unzip his zipper. “Your turn, y/n,” he said as he toed his shoes off. You reached to your right side and pulled your zipper down, letting the dress drop to your feet. “Damn. I’ve been waiting for this since I walked into Mrs. Phillips’ class. Worth the wait.” He dropped his slacks and boxers to the floor at his feet.

You pulled your bra off, tossing it across the room and eagerly slipping your panties down your legs. You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him into a fierce kiss, your tongue slipping into his mouth and sliding against his. He grasped your hips and pulled you against him as he fell to the bed. The give-and-take, the taking turns, ended there as Dean took complete control of the situation. His hands groped their way down your body, learning where you were most sensitive and following his hands with his mouth to seek those places out.

To call Dean an enthusiastic lover would be an understatement. You had never had someone so attentive, giving off happy moans as he licked at your folds, praising the taste of you and making sure every move he made was well-received. Your orgasm was a slow build of two of his fingers fucking in and out of you, his tongue lapping at your clit lazily. He was taking his time, not racing to your finish line like every other lover you'd had. When you came, it wasn't an explosion or a tsunami, it was a succession of small waves of pleasure crashing into your nerves one after another until your breath was forced from your lungs.

“Dean,” you called, breathlessly beckoning him up from between your thighs. He crawled up your body, licking his lips. “Fuck me. I want to feel you inside me.”

He smirked as he reached over and grabbed a condom, tearing the foil open and quickly rolling the latex down his length. He pressed his lips to yours as he slotted himself between your legs again. He notched the head of his cock at your entrance and let out a deep groan as he slid in to the base of him. “Jesus, woman. You're fucking tight.”

You wrapped your legs around his waist, heels digging into the small of his back. “Please move,” you whined.

He chuckled as he started to kiss along your jaw. “No patience, y/n?” he whispered in your ear.

“No. No time for patience. Fuck me, Dean. We've waited long enough.”

He slid his hips backward and eased in again, lazily, slowly, taking his time just as he had when he was eating you. “We got all the time in the world, sweetheart. I'm gonna make you cum ‘til you can't fucking move. Then I'm gonna get you back to Lebanon and I'm gonna fuck you some more.”

He started a slow rhythm, swiveling his hips and nibbling and licking at your neck. You met each movement of his hips, your heels in his back working as leverage. That is, until he pulled your legs free of his waist and pressed your knees up into your chest. When he picked up his speed, you squealed and squeezed your eyes closed. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” you rambled, almost chanting as he fucked you harder. “Dean, oh my god!”

“You almost there, baby?”

“Uh-huh. Y-you?” You opened your eyes and caught his lust-blown green ones.

“Yeah. Wanna get you there first, though.” He brought his right hand down to your hip and swept his thumb across your clit.

Your second orgasm hit you like a ton of bricks, a guttural moan pulling from your throat as your vaginal walls clenched and fluttered around his cock. He managed another three thrusts before his hips stuttered and he slammed forward to the hilt, spilling into the condom. He captured your lips again, both of you panting in the afterglow. You both moaned as he pulled his softening cock out of you.

He tied the condom off and threw it in the waste bin before dropping to the bed next to you. You chuckled as you snuggled into his chest. “Your brother really is wrong about you.” You looked up at him with a smile. “You've got amazing rhythm.”

He chuckled and held you close. “Gimme some recovery time and we'll dance again, y/n.”

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[pyropsychiccollector]

Navia Week, Day 2: Rain

            Juvia frowned as she looked out the window into the “drowning” city of Magnolia. All things considered, today was actually a very good day. She’d finally come to accept that her former “Gray-sama” was never going to return her feelings, and he’d even agreed to remain a good friend despite her past obsession with him. But that didn’t mean Juvia remained single this day; the reason things ended amicably at all had been due to the “interference” from Gray’s rival, who pointed out the Ice Make Wizard hadn’t exactly been any less rude to her, even if he wasn’t obligated to return her feelings.

            And the whole reason Natsu-san intervened was because he… cared about Juvia. Not “just” as a friend – the Dragon Slayer claimed she was precious to him, and hated seeing her miserable. As she reflected on it, this didn’t come as a huge surprise. In the past several months, he’d been hanging out with her more, doing his best to learn about her and her feelings about everyone in Fairy Tail, her feelings about the jobs and the clients. Natsu-san was… highly curious about her, for reasons that eluded Juvia for a long time. Before long, he’d wormed his way into her heart, and she was touched at his support when she settled things with Gray.

            Which is why Juvia wanted to give a relationship with him a chance. It’s not like Natsu-san was a secret romantic… rather, he was the opposite of that. Juvia had to break the concept of dating down for him, though the firebreather seemed to have a rough grasp of it, hesitantly pointing out some of his own actions that he’d done with her, like supporting her. She suspected Natsu-san would be the type to learn by doing, so they’d be trying out a date that evening…

            … That is, if the rain ever cleared up.

            “Man, it’s still raining cats and dogs out there?” Cana obstreperously marveled.  She lazily waved about a bottle of booze in the air. “Oi, Juvia! You sure you’re not depressed about Gray?!”

            Juvia huffed at the drunk’s blunt question. Like she hadn’t heard that all day. “Juvia, are you alright?” “Juvia, do you need someone to lend you an ear?” No, Juvia was not wallowing in sadness, thank you very much. Sometimes, it is not her fault that the outside is unbearable! Sometimes, the rain just happens. It’s something called weather.

            The Water mage blinked owlishly as those grumpy thoughts flitted through her head. Huh. She was usually the calm one that didn’t get annoyed easily (at least in most things that didn’t involve Gray, in the past). Natsu-san must have been affecting her more than she had thought in the time their friendship had been blossoming…

            And so, the Water mage ignored the drunk, who apparently had downed enough alcohol throughout the day to make even her tipsy. And easily distracted by the likes of Max and Warren. Returning her gaze out the window, Juvia resumed watching the torrential downpour. The water trickling down the window, massive puddles accumulating in the streets, the buildings and street fixtures standing firm despite the amount of water coming down. It might not have been her fault, but she did feel bad about anyone who had plans to go outside today. Water might’ve been her element, but that didn’t mean she was naïve to the negative effects it could have on people, often killing the mood, in her experience.

            All those thoughts were put on hold as the Guildhall doors burst open and Natsu entered with greater enthusiasm than usual. He looked soaked to the bone, and his clothes were sticking to his skin, yet the Dragon Slayer had this massive toothy grin on his face.

            “What are y’all lazing around in here for?! Haven’t ya seen what’s going on outside!”

            Predictably, it was Gray who put a damper on the Pyro’s energy. … Or tried to, at any rate.

            “Uh… yeah. ‘Course we noticed the watery hell that is outside, flames-for-brains. It’s why we’re all inside today. Only a crazy person like you would get excited over this freaky weather.” The Ice mage deadpanned. As he stated this, Juvia deflated in her seat over by the window, even as Erza smacked Gray upside the head.

            “Gray, be nice. Not everyone gets depressed by this kind of weather.” The redhead berated him. She gave a small smile as she brought a forkful of cake up to her mouth. “I happen to think the pitter-patter of rain is soothing~. The best kind of weather to enjoy my cheesecake.”

            Gray rolled his eyes as a loud thunderclap went off overhead.

            “Soothing… yeah, right... A light rain is okay, but this stuff is just nuts.”

            Erza shrugged her shoulders calmly and chewed her cake happily. Natsu had been on the verge of walking over and slugging the Ice mage for making Juvia look sad, when he thought better of it and simply made his way over to her.

            “Whatcha doin’ in here, Juvia? There’s so much water out there, you could have so much fun! I know I would go nuts if it were rainin’ fire~.” The Dragon Slayer gleefully remarked, unknowing or uncaring that if it ever rained fire, people would be much more worked up about it.

            Still, Juvia wearily smiled at what she perceived to be an attempt to cheer her up.

            “Thank you for the offer, Natsu-san, but Juvia would rather stay in here for now…” Juvia mumbled as she rested her chin on the table and sighed.

            “But what about our date?” Natsu cocked his head at the bluenette. The Water mage sweatdropped at the innocent question.

            “Of course Juvia still plans to go out with Natsu-san regardless of weather, but it’s still a bit early from when we planned to go out…” Juvia mused. “If it doesn’t clear up in a couple hours, we can have our date here.”

            Natsu frowned at the resignation in the Rain Woman’s voice, and slowly took ahold of her wrist. Juvia’s eyes widened briefly, suspecting she knew what was coming, and wasn’t disappointed when Natsu ran out of the Guild, full tilt.

            “Seeyaguyslater!” Natsu bade his Guildmates farewell, while his new girlfriend protested quite loudly.

            “W-WAAAIIITTT! NATSU-SAAAN!”

            … Too little, too late. They were out the doors before she could finish that protest, and only came to a stop a few blocks away from the Guild, when Juvia had had enough and extricated herself from the Pyro’s grip, thanks to the downpour loosening his grip on her. Despite the waspish glare Juvia was giving him, Natsu turned to face her with a gigantic grin plastered on his face. The Rain Woman huffed at his seeming disrespect for her wishes.

            “Natsu-saaan! Juvia said she didn’t want to come outside!” Juvia sobbed and tugged both sides of her drenched hair in frustration. “It’s going to take Juvia hours to prepare for the date again… Juvia needs to dry off.”

            To her annoyance, Natsu placed hands on his hips and waved off her concerns dismissively.

            “Drying off never takes long!”

            “That may be the case for you, Natsu-san, but Juvia is not a Fire Wizard!” Juvia growled as a tick mark pulsated on her forehead. Natsu just gave a carefree laugh.

            “Erza has me dry her off whenever we take baths together~! She says it even makes her skin look a million times better!” Natsu admitted without a hint of shame. Juvia stared blankly at him in disbelief. She honestly thought that was just something the Pyro did with Erza and Gray when they were kids…

            Shaking her head with a furious blush and steam coming out of her ears, Juvia sharply turned away with a haughty sniff.

            “W-Well… even so! Juvia still needs time to make herself look beautiful for Natsu-san!” She truly cared about his opinion of her.

            “Honestly? I think you look great any day, Ju-chan~.” Natsu beamed while she had her back to him; he was apparently oblivious to the effect his words were having on her. “You can wear all the nice clothes and perfumes you want, but I think if you’re too busy puttin’ that stuff on, ya lose time havin’ fun~. You don’t need to worry about keeping me interested or anything. I wanna spend more time with you than just ‘waiting for you to get ready’~.”

            Juvia shivered in pleasure as waves of happiness washed over her. Unless you intimidated or scared him, Natsu-san very rarely lied to your face. When he spoke, it was from the heart, and she felt warm and gooey all over from his words alone! She shakily turned back around to face the Dragon Slayer, and then lunged straight at him with the biggest smile on her face.

            “Natsu-san…!” Juvia gushed as she looped her arms around Natsu’s neck and nuzzled their faces together. Both of them were numb to their drenched state at this point, and Juvia wanted nothing more than to just cuddle with the pink-head, regardless of setting. The hug felt a million times better, as Natsu wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight. He pressed their foreheads together rand gave a smile that melted Juvia’s heart even more.

            Ironically, not long after that, the rain began to taper off, and the clouds parted overhead. Juvia was a little too mesmerized by the Dragon Slayer’s touch and body heat to notice, but a nudge from Natsu did get her to look up, and she gasped in amazement at the sight of a massive rainbow over Magnolia.

            “Natsu-san! It’s beautiful…!” Juvia murmured without thinking twice about it. Natsu chuckled even as they stayed in their embrace.

            “See? Rain ain’t so bad~.” The Dragon Slayer then rested his head on her shoulder, smiling that infectious smile that Juvia was really growing to love with all her heart. “Feelin’ better now?”

            As Juvia’s gaze was still fixed on the multi-colored spectacle, she could only nod and smile widely.

            “Yes… Yes, Juvia is very happy, Natsu-san~.” Juvia squeezed Natsu with all her strength, garnering a slight wheeze from her new boyfriend.

            “Juvia…! Can’t breathe…!”

            Yet Juvia could only giggle at his discomfort.

            “Oh, Natsu-san~. Juvia is never letting go~.”

            Well, it wasn’t quite meant in a literal sense, but if the paling of Natsu’s skin was any indication, or his face slowly going purple from lack of oxygen, he seemed to think it was…

[smolsofa]

tagged by: @starksnstripes thanks love 💛

1. Are you named after someone? No 2. When was the last time you cried? Eh, I don’t really remember? Tho I think it was last month when I rewatched ca:cw 3. Do you like your handwriting? It’s not the best handwriting, but I like it 4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Turkey. 5. Do you have kids? no. 6. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? This is a weird question, because what if the other person were exactly the opposite from me? Then they’d probably not get along with me at all. Or does the ‘another person’ have the same preferences for people that I do? Even then, I might find myself annoying, but mostly because I know myself so well? Idk man, maybe no??  7. Do you use sarcasm? nope, never in my life have i ever 8. Do you still have your tonsils? had to get surgery bc i was suffocating in my sleep, so no 9. Would you bungee jump? you bet! 10. What is your favorite kind of cereal? Life or Cheerios 11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? depends on the shoe, but usually yes 12. Do you think you’re a strong person? not particularly? unless a person can have strength in patience 13. What is your favorite ice cream? chocolate/vanilla swirl 14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Their bearing, i think 15. What is the least favorite physical thing you like about yourself? hahahaha my dude this Not a Great Question for me bc it’s literally my whole face/head, probably 16. What color pants and shoes are you wearing now? I’m only wearing dark blue shorts, no feet coverings 17. What are you listening to right now? Culture Vulture by Morning Parade, at this moment 18. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Cornflower Blue (tho I always really liked cyan) 19. Favorite smell? Old books, coffee, and honeysuckle 20. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? my mom 21. Favorite sport to watch? don’t really watch sports, tho I’ve always liked figure skating during the olympics 22. Hair color? brown 23. Eye color? blue, mostly. 24. Do you wear contacts? wear glasses my bud. I can’t put those things near my eyes. 25. Favorite food to eat? my dad’s gumbo 26. Scary movies or comedy? I’m not super into either of them, tbh 27. Last movie you watched? Anastasia 28. What color of shirt are you wearing? Gray 29. Summer or winter? like... in preference? Summer. 30. Hugs or kisses? Hugs, tho kisses can be nice too 31. What book are you currently reading? I’m rereading Dracula 32. Who do you miss right now? My friends from high school ❤❤❤ 33. What is on your mouse pad? N/A 34. What is the last TV program you watched? t e c h n i c a l l y, it was House of Anubis, but not by choice. Last one I watched bc I wanted to was House M.D. 35. What is the best sound? The ocean, I think 36. Rolling Stones or The Beatles? hm. Rolling Stones 37. What is the furthest you have ever traveled? Across the Atlantic ocean, so ~3,800 miles (~6,100 km) 38. Do you have a special talent? I think I’m pretty good at art. Not uniquely talented, ofc, but enough to be deemed ““special”” 39. Where were you born? In a hospital in the same city I live in now, which is funny bc I’ve lived in 3 other cities between then and now. As for location, the most I’m willing to say is in the EST zone of the US

I wanna tag: @uchihana @bullbasaurusrex @lukefox @misschxvez (don’t feel obligated tho lol)