#I want to believe they've just got such a history that she couldn't imagine going on without him

[notscarsafe]

Apparently the Imp and Skizz podcast with Iskall85 has also gone down. I can't believe any of the Hermits would take this path without good reason. I am devastated. I personally have to have faith in the community I love or I'm going to lose my threads of sanity I have left.

Edit: reminder to please be kind and not interrogate or harass the Hermits for making choices about their livelihood that we have no context for.

[hjellacott]

Bit worried about Ashlyn Harris actually

Aside from all the drama that's been going on lately, I've got to confess that for the past few months (or years?) I've been wondering what the hell is up with this woman.

I was such a huge fan back when she was just this Satellite Beach goalkeeper with a humble head and the love for skate-boarding and surfing and you know, family & friends first and her work with To Write Love on Her Arms. And I get people change and that none of us ever really knew her, but I've seen I'm not the only one who can't believe what she's turned into. Like, can we recognise her any more? Or was the completely playing out to be an entirely different person ten years ago?

I think it started when she came out with Ali and suddenly she was like, this attention-seeking, uncomfortably loud (as in literally screaming) person with the weird, rather cringey fashion, only talking about gay things and nothing else, behaving like the complete soccer start that to be entirely fair she wasn't... Even on her wedding video I couldn't believe that Ashlyn was the same Ashlyn of 2011, 2012, 2013... It's not even that many years to change so much, let alone in your thirties. It's like there were no remnants of the surfer, the skate-boarder, the humble butch from a small town who valued the little things... Like she was adamant on transforming into this massively public, loud, "fashionable (?)" celebrity. Even when giving interviews she was expressing herself like she had no intellect any more, you know like male footballers speak, like it's all looks and no brain, no sign of the person who got a uni degree and who gave an amazing mental health talk with TWLOHA years back.

And then when they were celebrating the WC, I was thinking, since when is she this loud and arrogant? Since when is she so attention-seeking? When did she turn into this whole other person who makes such a huge effort to ignore her lack of National Team performances and pretend like she deserved her world cup as much as Ali or Pinoe? I get subs deserve the medal and all too, I mean, they made it so far and if they weren't there training with the rest, the rest wouldn't be as good. You're only as good as the worst of you, after all. But none of the others was bragging so loudly and calling themselves x2 champions so much without having played a minute of those games, were they? Even Alyssa Naeher doesn't have world cup champion in her profiles, nor does AD Franch, nor PINOE, but you know who does? Hope Solo. And you don't want to have THAT personality. I feel like when you're confident on your victories, you don't need to brag, everyone knows who you are, your work speaks for itself.

What worries me about AH (sit down here comes my Psychology Grad analysis) is that in the past few years she's been more and more behaving like someone with no self-esteem, who's desperately afraid of being forgotten and needing to shout left and right look at me! i'm a champion! I'm a soccer star! And then she stopped getting called up for the USWNT, got stuck in the Pride (and I love them but bunch of losers tbh), and all she had left was Ali. And then Ali's doing better than she is. And then Ashlyn gets these horrible injuries and that's story of her life (injuries effed her up from day 1 and seriously impacted her career) and she's forced into an abrupt retirement with no glory.

And then emerges this Ashlyn who only cares about rubbing elbows with celebs, who believes herself to be some fashion mogul (that's all she's got left) and who is deeply satisfied with how her life turned out to be and how she's ended up being nothing but a footnote in the history of American women's soccer, specially compared to her wife. We know they've had issues for a while, that has been hinted at before, and I can only imagine there must've been a growing resentment/bitterness towards Ali because she gets everything Ashlyn won't in terms of soccer. In fact it seems to me (and maybe it's just me), that she seems to be ferociously resentful to soccer in general, like, suddenly she wants nothing to do with it and wants to pretend like soccer is not a big deal. How many times as she stated quite firmly that she's now happiest she's ever been and acted almost as if soccer was actually holding her back? as if her soccer career is nothing compared with what she has now, when we know it isn't true, because she still feels the need to remind us she's a twice world cup champion all the time?

So from a psychology point of view I think she's very bitter, very hurt, very pissed off, very resentful, that she hasn't processed her forced retirement and her not so good soccer career in a healthy way, and so she has to pretend like she's super happy and better than she was before so as not to look like the failure she feels she is. She has to use social media all the time and brag about the celebrities she's meeting, the trips she's going in... She's got nothing else but to pretend she's still as successful as all her friends she has to constantly see in social media showing off with the accomplishments she wishes she had. It's the classic game of getting depressed comparing yourself to others so you take to social media to constantly pretend you're as good as them or better, we all do it. And she's gone, in my humble opinion, off the rails, she's unrecognaisable, and if she has really had an affair and hurt Ali this big, as rumours have it, then that only strengthens my opinion. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if she's abusing substances again, if she's in some spiral downhill as it looks like. And what's Ali going to do? She can't focus on looking after her, she's got work, she's got two small kids, at this age Ashlyn needs to see she needs help and seek it on her own, not expect Ali to mother her.

That's part of why I really don't like people going on and insulting her left and right, because we really don't know what's going on, but to me it seems like when someone's not well, when someone's spiralling, they start to really go off and the first people to get hurt are those closest to her. And we must remember she is a human being, even if she makes mistakes, even if she does bad things (IF she has), and she doesn't deserve billions of people judging her and making her life miserable. And none of us would like it in our consciences if she actually is struggling with her mental health and gets worse because of generalised mass bullying. She's still Sloane and Ocean's mother, and they probably love her very much, and Ali's probably struggling a lot, so we need to remember supporting one person does not have to mean stooping so low as to have to become horrible bullies. Let's stay human, y'all.

[someonelookingpraediti]

Illumicrate Unboxing

Live Like Legends March 2023

I was so excited when this theme was announced - a completely fandom neutral box based entirely around Greek Mythology?! I love the idea, and actually I'm pretty pleased with the box. However, it isn't what I was imagining, and I think Illumicrate could have done better with this one.

With a Greek Mythology theme, I was anticipating a really cohesive box, and I was sort of thinking it would be a gold and cream colour scheme - and that all the items would look like they'd been designed to fit together. That's just not what we got, we got the usual Illumicrate mishmash of colour and design.

Interestingly, FairyLoot have recently also announced a fandom-neutral Greek Mythology box, which will drop in May. So it's going to be very interesting to see if they improve on this idea!

The featured book is "Lies we Sing to the Sea" by Sarah Underwood. There's been a bit of discouraging talk around this book, which absolutely put me off from buying it, and makes me very dubious about reading it too. This is an Odyssey retelling - and the author openly admits she didn't read the Odyssey! I don't like to rely on second hand information, so I did go looking for the infamous interview, thinking perhaps that in fact she'd read abridgements and just hadn't read the full translation. Which would be understandable, even though I do believe research is an important part of writing. However, she genuinely said that the Odyssey was too long, and that she knew about Greek Mythology because it's in kids' books like Percy Jackson. She wrote this because, apparently, she saw a gap in the market for Greek retellings. Seriously. I really don't have any interest in an author who doesn't genuinely care about their subject matter - writing should be a passion. But, book choice aside - this is a brilliant special edition! This exclusive is a hundred times better than the original design - there's so much gold foiling! It's got beautiful sprayed edges, foiling on the hardcase, and incredible artwork endpapers, one of which also includes the author signature.

The first item is a teapot! What an incredible item, I was so excited when I unboxed this! My first thought on seeing the outer box was that it was a ceramic mug, then when I saw the word "teapot" on the outside, I couldn't get it out the box fast enough! This is a tiny cute little single-cup teapot - I think this is supposed to go with the collection of Greek mythology cup-and-saucers they've done, although unfortunately I only have one of those. But it's a beautiful item, featuring Mount Olympus on one side, and the Underworld on the other!

The next item is a book pot. I've only got one other pot from this collection, the art history one, and they go for a bomb on eBay. I don't know why I like these so much, because there's only so many of these you can use, but they're just so gorgeous, I'd gladly have a dozen of them! This one is orange, so both the colour and the theme go great with my decor - I'm thrilled!

Next is a sticker sheet. It's not exactly what I'd want from a Greek mythology sticker sheet - I'd have liked plain cream or ivory stickers, with gold foiling outlines and detailing - I think this would have been really striking. And I'd definitely want them to be less cartoonish. Stickers based on classic Grecian pottery designs would have been way better! Still, I enjoyed trying to match each sticker to the myth it was based on, and some of them are really cute, I'll definitely use them.

The last item is a lunch bag, inspired by the Underworld. This is the only item that lets the box down a bit. It's not particularly good quality, which is a shame. However, the design is really nice, and I do use a lunch bag at work during the summer, so it's a useful item to get!

This is a really good box, I like every item, and the book (despite not being one I wanted) has some great customisations. I just think they could have done more with the theme. I'll be really interested to see how FairyLoot do with the same theme in a couple of months!

[writer-citation-needed]

Matteo Longley was not an outdoorsy person. He didn't even like driving with the windows down in the summer, said he couldn't risk a bug flying in and distracting him (though the distracting part would be his screams of fear). He would never willingly choose to spend time outside if he could instead enjoy the AC and the marvels of the internet.

How his friends got him to agree to a week-long hiking trip is beyond him.

It did sound fun, he told himself each night in his sleeping bag. They would be able to explore the history of the mountain which was suspiciously overlooked by the town. He was excited about maybe finding a ghost (or several, if the rumors were true), excited about spending time with his friends before they all graduated and went on their separate paths.

Still, as much as he loved his friends and a good mystery, the trip was going horribly. He couldn't be the only one who thought so.

"Guys I hate to say this, but I don't think we took the right trail. I haven't seen an orange marker since we left this morning."

Ellie Roberts, planning extraordinaire and raging optimist, looked like she was about to throw up as she racked her eyes over the map again and again as if there was some kind of hint to get them back on track.

"I knew it," another one of their friends, Mack, grumbled. "This is why we shouldn't try to navigate before dawn. Who was in charge of that again?"

Ellie's lip trembled. "I'm sorry." She was definitely going to cry if nothing else. "We're already so behind! I didn't want to have to make you all stay longer. Since it was my idea, after all."

Matteo's legs started to ache, like he needed a reminder of how tired he already was after three days at a pace so grueling he couldn't imagine why anyone would enjoy hiking.

"It's okay Ellie," said Kara, the only one of them with any experience in backpacking. She wasn't as tired as the rest of them. "It's fine if we have to stay another night. We have plenty of food."

"Not really. Someone's been having a few too many snack breaks, and we're totally gonna run out soon. You should really cut back, Matty." Mack sneered at him, like he thought it was funny to point out how hungry Matteo was. Like he could help it.

"You say that as if you haven't taken breaks either." Matteo replies. He doesn't want to fight with Mack, or any of the others, but something about the fatigue and hunger and close proximity and the vastness of the forest they've been trekking through makes him feel like an animal, desperate to defend what's his.

Kara has to step in before things escalate. "Guys, come on. I know there's plenty. Ellie, how far back do you think the trail is?"

"I don't know. I don't know where we are at all."

"Great," Mack groans, voicing everyone's increasing frustration. "This sucks. I told you it was a bad idea, didn't I? Told you it was too dangerous for four high schoolers to do all alone. Why do you think no one in this town has tried to investigate what happened here? Huh? Because it's an insane mountain. You know what people on Google said? That they had never found a hike this difficult across the entire country. Those were pros. I know Kara loves the thrill of the trail or whatever, but this was a terrible choice for our last thing together. I know it. You all know it. So why don't we just give up now? We're nowhere near the summit anyways."

They fall into a silence, each of them wanting to make it work with each other but not knowing how.

A bird sings in the distance.

"We should at least try." Ellie settles on. "If not for each other than for Jax. He deserves to have someone who knows where he died."

"Do we even know the kid really even died on this stupid mountain?" Mack.

"No, but he can't have just up and disappeared!" Ellie.

"Maybe he was never even real. Did he have records?" Mack.

"It was the 1870s, who knows? I believe in his story. No one would make up the death of the mayor's son." Ellie.

"It could happen." Matteo. He shouldn't have said that.

"See! It could happen." Mack.

"How will we know if we don't look?" Ellie.

"Give it up Elle." Mack.

The final blow comes from Kara. "Why don't you give up then? If you hate being here so much."

It stings Mack, but only a little. "Fine. Yeah, sure. If you still believe in that fairy tale, than be my guest and keep going. I won't stop you any more. You don't want me telling you how stupid this idea was? Then find out on your own. I'm done."

"Mack, you can't be serious! I'm sorry about the directions, I promise it won't happen again." Ellie looks into his eyes, tries to plead with the part of him that decided to be friends with her as a kid in the first place. Maybe she knew that this would be their final goodbye, if she let him turn around.

"I just don't want to be here any more. That's all," Mack replies coolly.

In this moment, Matteo struggles to pick a side. He would love to be back home in his bed devoid of bugs and dirt, would love to stop sweating, would love to feel anything in his calves other than a deep ache. He also loves his friends, loves their spirit. He hates seeing them fight over what was supposed to be a bonding experience.

"I'll see you guys at graduation. Good luck." Mack turns away, adjusts his backpack straps. Matteo can't make himself follow him. He can't even open his mouth, to say anything back.

The woods felt a little bit quieter as he watched his friend slowly disappear down the path.

Writing Prompt #2734

He rubbed at his temples and turned away from his companions. "You know what? I'm not telling you when your ideas are stupid any more. You can figure it out on your own."

[callmemeelah]

[7:10 A.M]

Summary: After a fight with his crush, sans goes to his home, except, that's NOT his house.

⸙┆Format : One-shot

⸙┆Pairing(s) : SLIGHTLY HINTED sans x reader

⸙┆Warnings [tw/cw] : cussing, unrequited feelings,

⸙┆Creator note : HI! This is my first ever long fic, I hope you guys like it! Please tell me if you want me to continue it..

⸙┆Word count : 1,5K words (wow!)

The words were written in dark, black ink on a piece of white paper with the number 02 written beside them.

It wasn't anything special. It was just numbers, but for some reason that made it meaningful, like the words themselves had been engraved into his soul by those same digits. He traced them with his fingers as he looked down ,thinking about what happened next.

He sighed deeply and put down the piece of paper before standing up to go get his backpack from where it sat by his desk. As he walked out his door, he caught himself staring back at the piece of white paper on his desk once more, and thought maybe this time around there would be something different. After all, if anyone should understand what they've been feeling then it's him, no one else knows what it feels like to have their heart ripped away.

....

"I'm leaving," he said quietly before walking past her to leave. He tried not to let how he felt show in his face. She deserved better than someone like him. Maybe when she finds out that he's gone she'll move on. Maybe... Maybe she won't look for me. Maybe they will hate me forever after I left her here alone.

She reached out and grabbed his wrist before he could reach the door. "What do you mean you're leaving?"

He turned to stare into her eyes, which were slightly watery. It broke his heart that she still looked so sad despite being surrounded by people who cared about her, but he couldn't let himself care too much. She was only hurting herself. If he stayed, things would only get worse. He needed to do this. For both of them.

"I don't think we can keep doing this anymore. I'm not going to pretend that nothing has happened between us when I know that it did. It was stupid of me to even let myself believe that there was any possibility that you might want to be with me, especially given your history with Nombre."

She pulled her hand away. "Papyrus? You mean... Your brother?"

He scoffed. "You really don't remember. I can't imagine why you kissed him."

They blinked and furrowed their brows. Then, realization dawned on them. "Wait, are you serious? You didn't know?"

He clenched his jaw. Of course it would come out like that. "If you'd told me yesterday that you were dating my brother, I probably wouldn't have believed you. But I know you. So you must have known. What I don't know is why. Why would you take advantage of my feelings for you, when you knew Papyrus didn't reciprocate any way."

"What the hell do you mean by that? I never wanted you, i always thought of you as a friend, nothing more, i'm in love with your brother, not you."

A silence fell over them, broken only by his heavy breathing. This shouldn't hurt so bad. They were friends, or at least they had been. It should still hurt to lose that relationship.

"So, all the moments that we spend togheter, were for nothing else than bringing you closer to my brother?" His voice was cold, harsh even. There was no emotion behind it; not a single hint that he was feeling anything except pain.

Her lip trembled as tears started falling from her eyes. She wiped them away, refusing to let him see how much this affected her. "It was never my intention to use you for my own benefit, I just thought that we could be friends, yes I wanted to date your brother, but that doesn't mean I was using you." He avoided eye contact, quickly leaving her house.

.....

When he got home, he went straight up to his room and collapsed into bed. At least the pillow smelled better than the air coming from outside. The room was silent, which gave him plenty of time to collect his thoughts. How long had they dated? Two years. Two years, and they never said anything. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find an answer to that question.

He wondered what it would be like to tell them, but that was impossible. He'd already done enough damage, and he didn' t feel like taking another hit to his self esteem. He was tired. So tired. He closed his eyes, trying to block everything out except for the pounding of his own heart. A few minutes later his phone buzzed softly against the bedside table. Pulling it towards him with an annoyed huff, he looked at the text.

"Where are you??"

He read it three times, his mind trying to make sense of it.  Where was he? Home. Hadn't he texted that to him earlier? But if he was home then... Where was him? And what about him?

Another message came through, causing his heart rate to increase again. "Come home brother, is way to late." He suddenly stood up, his mind going to everyplace "did I broke into someone's house?! Oh fuck fuck fuck" he thought, suddenly, he noticed the window, but when he went to opened it, when he heard the front door , startling him and causing him to fall backward onto the floor.

"Fuck-" The sound of his skull hitting the tile sent shivers down his spine. He tried to stand up but his entire body felt like jelly, he touched his head and noticed a little bit of blood on it. "Ow" he mumbled and slowly lowered himself back down on to the floor. He groaned as he held his head.

As he finally managed to push himself off of the ground, he heard footsteps getting closer. He didn't dare turn around but instead continued to try to steady his breathing. Whoever it was probably knew that something was wrong, he decided to face whoever it was because he knew that if he didn' t get any help now, his head injury would only worsen. Slowly, he turned around, still holding his head in his hands.

The person who just entered the house looked at him in surprise and slight horror as their eyes roamed over his bruised face.

...

"Who are you." They asked, sounding very unsure of themselves. "Why are you here?" The words flowed out so fast, one could barely understand what they were saying. He slowly stood up, trying not to wince as every movement hurt him slightly more. "I'm sorry for intruding, i was in a hurry and i tought this was my home, i will be getting out no-" "how the hell did you even get in here? i don't think you have a key."

He took a deep breath before responding.

"Look, i got lost and i can't find my way to where i want to go, i promise i won't bother you again" They looked at him like he grew an extra head, which really isn' t surprising given the fact that the skeleton had a blood on the side of his skull. However, they seemed to come back to reality and let out a deep sigh before walking towards him.

"Come with me" He said as they held out their hand to him, looking almost scared of what he might do. It wasn' t everyday that someone broke into a random people house.

Sans hesitantly grabbed their hand and was pulled up by the stranger. He looked down, feeling ashamed that he broke into someone's home. The stranger lead him to the kitchen table and sat him down. They then rummaged through the cupboards before finding a few first aid materials. They also found some towels that smelled faintly like lavender. After cleaning up his head and helping him bandage his wound, the other person looked at him for some seconds, and them answered

"I'm [    ], you must be?"

"I thought I told you my name?" He tilted his skull in confusion. "You did... but you didn't tell me yours," they sighed.

"... well my names sans the skeleton, but everyone calls me sans." He smiled shyly at him. He didn't think anyone ever wanted to know his name, except maybe for Frisk. "It's nice to meet you sans the skeleton," they laughed slightly before placing the empty bowl onto the sink.

After another awkward silence, [    ] spoke up.

"Can i ask why you broke into my house?" They crossed their arms and frowned. Sans shifted uncomfortably on the seat, knowing full well that breaking into someone's home is pretty bad.  "Well..." he started, pausing for a moment to take a breath....."it was an accident, really, i didn't meant to break into your house."  They raised an eyebrow. "... and what happened to your head?" "i bumped my head against the floor when i fell down, it was pretty painful." He rubbed the back of his skull lightly. He watched their expression change from confused to surprised to guilty.

"...oh, i see...." "i will get going now, sorry for intruding." he was about to leave,  when he heard their voice again.  "Wait!" He paused, turning his skull back to face them.  "My phone number." "thanks," he replied, grabbing the paper and leaving the room

© Callmemeelah. Do not repost, steal, or translate the content that i make.

[theficplug]

Girls Trip {Erik fic}

Warnings: 18+, smut.

{reader goes on a cruise with her girls during winter break post-breakup & meets Erik when she needs him most. The intro to a series. I hope that y'all enjoy this long ass intro x}

“Told you you'd like it! We know what you need.” your friend Lynelle says as you and your other 2 best friends step into the lobby of the ship.

Your original plan was to stay home and catch up on much needed sleep and netflix binge watching during Winter Break but Khadijah, Tasha , and Lynelle (Lennie)  had other plans.

They could never get on the same page to go on a proper vacation but the one time you wanted to be left alone they've decided to get it together. 

2 plane rides and now you're here on a cruise on the way to 'paradise'.

The last few weeks went by in a blur while you were buying bikinis, trying to contain your emotions, and leaving behind your frozen over city for Bali.

You'd be lying if you said that you weren't a little excited to be leaving behind a terrible end to a 4 year relationship.

“Girl I just paid 12 dollars for Netflix this month. I planned on staying home and re-watching The Get Down. I need to at them and ask them when they're gonna add Crooklyn." You say as your phone begins to go off. 

"Uh-uh, just cause your man had community dick don't mean you gotta feel like you did something wrong. You are the sweetest and most caring person I know and gave everything you had for that man. You are a strong beautiful talented black woman. You run your own business and don't need his ass for nothing. And if I were into girls I would've been shot my shot back in the 7th grade. Now, we gon' get tipsy, dance the night away in 23$ dollar heels, and find a fine ass beard to rid-"

You quickly cut off your best friend by answering your mother's call. You held onto Khadi's hand to let her know that her support means everything to you.

"Hey Mama. Yes I made it safe and sound." You say into the phone as you shake your head and laugh at your girls. 

"HEY MA " Khadi says waving as she smiles at the woman on the other side of the phone she's known for over half her life. 

"Hello Khadijah, are you behaving yourself ?" She asks as Khadi shakes her head with her tongue sticking out.

"MY GIRL." Your mother says as they both laugh and point at each other through the screen. 

"I'll talk to you later, enjoy yourself baby. Sometimes a little fun and laughter is the cure for heartache. Love you, be safe." She says before ending the video call.

"Alright , we all meeting up for the foam pool party after the tour right? Cause I need to shower and stuff first." You say as everybody agrees

An hour or two later you were standing in front of the hotel mirror giving yourself a pep talk in your new bikini. You eyed your reflection as you tell yourself that somebody son is gonna love on your fupa, and the 3 years wasted with Derrick isn't going to matter anymore. 

"Knees. Knees. Come on knees." Khadijah yells as Lennie and Tasha  drop it low and make it clap as a chorus of 'ayyeeee' erupts in the elevator. 

You make your way down to the lobby with the girls after throwing back a few shots in Lennie's room. You past by a group of other girls in the elevator and they were blasting Cash Shit from their phone. 

"Link up with us later." Paris says from the other group before moving over to the party already happening. 

The drinks are flowing through your system and Tasha is filming you for the gram as you sing along to the music. You accidentally trip backwards onto a man behind you before immediately apologizing and giggling.

"You good mama." He says as he catches you with one hand and the other still holding his drink. Without missing a beat he twirls you to the beat so that you can play it off. 

"What's the nigga name?" He asks as he takes another sip of his drink and tries to act like he ain't see you watching the suds slide down his scarred and chiseled chest to his happy trail.  

"Excuse me?" You ask confused as he flashes his gold fanged grill and cock his head towards the phone in Tasha's hand as she gives you a quiet  'oooh shit okay'. 

"The one you tryna prove a point to. Only name that matters now though is Erik." He says as he grinds against you and move your braids to your other shoulder. 

"Alright Erik, lemme see if you can keep up then." You tease him as you begin to whine on him and ride the beat as he keeps up behind you. You realize you have an audience now with his boys glancing over at you and your girls watching him. 

His hand holds you in place before he asks if it's alright if he kissed you. You nod before you know it his soft ass lips are on yours. He pulls at your bottom lip slightly while you continue to whine on him. 

"Thank you for the dance." You say before you place one final kiss to his lips as the song ends.

You walk over to Tasha before grabbing her hand and leaving to find Lennie and Khadijah 

You knew he was still standing there watching you walk away you turned to give him a look over your shoulder with a raised brow.

"Stop watching my booty" you mouth at him jokingly 

"YOU CAN'T EVEN BLAME ME. ITS FAT AS FUCK." He yells back to you over the music.

After an hour of dancing and having a good time with friends you only checked your phone once to find 3 messages from Derrick begging you to call him then two talking about how disappointed he was with you.

You stepped out onto the upper deck to tell him to stop calling you and ruining your good time. 

"I can do what I want. I'm fucking grown. All you ever did was sit at home on your ass and criticize me for every damn thing I did. I made sure you were happy when I wasn't even okay… And fucking my cousin was your way of showing me you loved me huh? Don't call me no more and stop calling my mama asking her about me too. " You yell into the phone before hanging up.

You stand there staring out at the ocean for a moment. Trying to breathe deeply and ground yourself so that you don't cry.

"You good?" You hear a voice call from behind you.

"What, you following me now?" You ask Erik as he pulls up one of the lounge chairs to sit next to you and light his blunt. 

"Nah, not at all. I came out here to smoke and chill. All that going on in there really ain't my scene. My boys got me to come here. They got white boys in there doing backflips off the balcony and shit. I probably would've still been at work right now." He say as he exhales and leans back against the lounge chair. 

You laugh softly before shaking your head. 

"That's how I ended up here. I was planning on spending Christmas and The New Year at home with my family. But my friends had this surprise for me to ring in the new year in Bali. And now here I am. I'd still rather be watching Godfather of Harlem. I gotta catch up." You say sitting next to him in the lounge chair. He instinctively wraps his arm around you letting you lay your head on his shoulder.

Granted, it probably seemed weird as hell to be cuddling with somebody you just met and barely knew but to both of you it just felt right in the moment.

"Godfather of Harlem ? That show is my shit. It's slept on forreal… If you ever in Oakland you should stop by sometime. I run a museum based on preserving black art and culture." He scrolls on his phone until he finds some of the pieces and shows it to you. But the main thing that stood out was Stevens Black Art & History: for the culture. 

"Erik Stevens?" You gasp and sit up to get a good look at him

"Yeah , why you looking like that? What's up?" He questions

"Oh my fucking God. We was best friends back in the day. It's me, look, minus the bifocals, braces, and that James Brown bob my mama gave me damn near every day." You say and he stares at you in awe for a second. 

"Damn it's really you." You says quietly as he runs his thumb over your cheek imagining you the way you looked in 5th grade.

You loved Erik growing up and spent almost all of your time together but after his father died you didn't get to say goodbye. He was taken into the system and after that you heard that he was in the military doing who knows what. You tried to find him but after a while it was no use. You couldn't believe how different he looked now. He looked tired down by the woes of life but still as beautiful as the day you met him.

" 'Member this?" You ask as you fish your out of the pocket of your cover-up and start playing Best Friend by 50 Cent. 

You watched as he looked up at you standing up to dance. You pull him up too as he puts out the blunt while laughing and stepping with you. 

"If I was your best friend, I want you 'round all the time. Can I be your best friend, if you promise you'll be mine?" You sing to him as he twirls you around 

"First we get the talkin, then we get the touchin. If we get pass the phone games we'll be fuckin. I kiss like the french therefore my tongue in your ear. Do it like the dogs do it girl and pull on your hair. For me a different scenery just mean a different position. In the tub or on the sink I improvise now listen. In the chopper or on the jet join the mile high club. I'm no fool I know money can't buy me love. But I'm a different type of nigga that make sure that you know. Instead of a rose, there's a hundred dozen of those. See I see somethin special when I look in your eyes. With your legs way back I see this pussy is mine. If you ain't sure when I'm talkin I don't tell you no lies. But there's things that you say that have me wonderin why. When I don't say what I'm thinkin it don't mean that I'm shy. Got on that shit you picked out for me that's why I'm so fly." He raps effortlessly while kissing softly on your neck and all those memories start flashing back to you as you sway with him.

"Damn you still remember all the lyrics to our song." You say to him as you look over to see your girls and some of his friends.

"You out here ?  Bitch! I thought I was gonna have to do an interview on First 48 for yo ass. I was gon' drop a raft over to come find you. You know I can't swim and I don't got my floaties with me." Khadi says as she walks in with Tasha and Lennie . 

"I'm sorry I came out here for fresh air and then ended up literally finding my fuckin childhood best friend. Before the baddest bitches on the planet came to be. There was THEE duo. Everybody meet Erik."

After everyone got to know each other. Y'all brought the party to the secluded little upper deck with the perfect view of the ocean. You had drinks , music, and good company almost enough to forget about the whole situation back home. 

"Girl you know I love you but my feet hurt and Sebastian said he gon' rub em" referring to the man she currently had her arms around. 

"Alright , we'll meet up in the morning for breakfast" you tell them before giving them kisses goodbye and heading out with everybody. 

Tasha and Lynelle were currently singing to each other and sharing cute kisses off to the side. You couldn't help but to smile and think of how true love must feel. To love and be fully loved back like that.

You were standing in front of your opened room door when you realized that his room is across from yours but he had no plans of sleeping in it.

"Uh-uh. Who said you were invited in?" You ask Erik with your index finger on his chest. 

"I thought you said you wanted to watch Netflix? We can order room service and everything. Whatever you want" he says to you licking his lips and closing the gap between the two of you. 

"I want to forget. I want to have fun. I want to feel loved and appreciated for once. That would be nice." You say quietly as he takes his hand in yours. Pressing small kisses to each of your knuckles.

He hesitates for a moment before leaning in to kiss you slowly. He held your face in his hands as he continued to back you into the room kicking it closed with his foot. 

 "I'm glad that we found each other. After all of this time. " You say to him in between kisses

"Believe it or not I kept that picture of us. The one your mama took of us at the zoo next to the monkeys. I took it with me on tour everywhere. Right next to my mama's picture in my wallet. I never lost a battle. I made it home in one piece. Shits wild." He said zoning out for a moment like he was going somewhere else. 

"Heyyy." You call softly. You move his hands from your waist 

" I've got you." You whisper to him before leading him to your bed and laying him back. 

You wrap your arms around him almost cuddling him as you lay your head on his chest while listening to his heartbeat and sitting on his lap. 

You place a soft kiss to his lips before moving away from the bed to change, settling on a large shirt and nothing else. 

Erik followed suit and just stripped to his boxer briefs before you come back to the bed carrying soda , your laptop, and snacks. 

"And before you ask. Yes, I packed my laptop because work never stops, and yes I packed snacks because I can't find Takis out here." You say chuckling softly while he shakes his head laughing softly. 

You both settle into a comfortable position before loading up the movie. You settled on Nappily Ever After but it wasn't long before he was softly kissing on your neck with his hand under your shirt.

"Gonna eat it from the back. That's cool with you" he mumble into your ear.

If that's cool with me? BIH, I'm trying to let you give me twins. Triplets even. Play it cool. Play it cool . You thought to yourself before saying a silent apology to your girl Sanaa Lathan as you quickly moved the laptop to the bedside table.

"Damn she pretty." He says before kissing each cheek and gripping the back of your thighs. You knew what was coming next as your hands found the headboard and arched your back.

You can feel his tongue begin to explore the back of your thighs to your folds as he bends you forward. 

You hiss softly as his hand began to roam. You looked back at him as his fingers enter you. He begins to slowly and deeply work you open for him. You knew that you were dripping at this point and couldn't contain how loud you're being.

You can hear him let out a groan as he gets his first taste. Before you know it he's devouring you like you're his favourite meal and is completely in his element. His hands are massaging over your cheeks while he suckles your clit and then slides his tongue in. You begin to work your hips down onto it as he's on his knees behind you. His fingers massaging skillfully over your clit. 

"That's how you want it? It's all for you." You egg him on shakily as you reach back to grab at his dreads knowing that you're nearing your orgasm. You thought you were seeing stars but the audacity of this man bringing his hand down hard across your left then right cheek and then the pom-pom itself, did it.

Your toes curled and your head was tilted back as you continued to ride his face and the orgasmic wave crashed over you so hard it took your breath with it. 

You called out his name speaking in all types of broken Xhosa as he begin to lap you up and savour your taste. 

When you stopped shaking he sat back on the bed, proud of himself as he licked his lips. 

You turned to face him and he wasted no time continuing to massage you.

But what you hadn't realized during changing you accidentally dialed Derrick. Who's now on the other end, yelling into the phone 

{to be continued! I hope that it was alright!}

[draslihanxfahri-bailey]

Asli couldn't imagine her life without the cats. Sure, while Oliver and Eve were originally Eli's, it's becoming evident even before they officially started dating that they were just as much her cats as they are the man's. And the same applied with Kemet. Admittedly, the anthropologist had been dreaming of potentially getting some more pets with her boyfriend, especially some dogs. But she wasn't sure if that dream was a possibility right now due to everything. "Perfect, he's going to love her. The other two might be cautiously curious, though. I believe Alex is the biggest tiny human they've met and would be dumbfounded to realize humans can be tinier." The thought of the cats meeting the baby had been one of the happier thoughts she's had during this pregnancy. She truly wasn't sure who'd be the most over the moon and who'd be the one not having it the most (her money is on Eve for that last one, though). She chuckled slightly. While she didn't know the two that well, she could imagine Maggie being extremely happy. "Maybe someday, it could happen. Have you been checking out any homes or plots out there, just to get a feel and imagine it all better?" Aslihan waited quietly. She was hoping that Maggie would want to play with the toys, that she would feel comfortable and hopefully less shy. Fortunately, with Sage's encouragement, that seemed to be the case. Causing the brunette to smile as she whispered warmly, "You're welcome, sweetheart." Glancing back at the other blonde as she stood up, Asli straightened up. "I can get you a chair or a floor pouf, if you'd like to sit," she offered.

Alex was an ever curious child, wanting to learn as much as possible. However, she still acted on her child wonderment and pursuits, which made Asli happy. Growing up, she never really felt like a child and had been rather grown up, always mistaken for being older than she actually was. Then she started uni in Cairo and it became glaringly obvious just how young she was. While Alex was so much like her, Aslihan hoped that she got to be a child. Which, fortunately, seemed to be the case. "Yeah? What position were you? I mean... If you're ever up for it and would like to test that out, I'm sure Alex would love to play with you. Oh my gosh, I truly underestimated just how fast a toddler can be. Especially a very persistent toddler who does not want to take a bath." Chuckling, she shook her head at the memory. While Alex was better concerning bath time now, there were still days where her two year old antics came back out to play. Freezing at her words, she couldn't express just how true that was. Swallowing quietly, she nodded. "You got me there," she said gently. Though, she was right about the good times as well. Yet her question made her pause again. Over the years, she's noticed her accent becoming slightly fainter, yet still rather prominent from time to time. She nodded quietly. "I, um... I was born in Turkey. My parents adopted me from an orphanage in Istanbul, but I grew up all over the place with home bases in London, Rio de Janeiro, and Cairo." Why did she decide to stay? "Because of them," she said softly. "Alex and Atlas... My boyfriend, Eli... All of my friends, my students, my coworkers... Even you and Maggie. My family's here now as well, both my adoptive parents and brother and also a cousin on my biological side. I have my jobs at the university and the history museum, plus this institute I'm working on with my parents. I have so many people here that I still want to meet. I have so many things that I want to do and work on. I have many reasons why I've stayed, and they outweigh reasons to leave. Providence Peak's become my home and I have a life here. A lot's happened and it hasn't been easy... But it's nice to have roots somewhere, right?" She echoed her words, giving Sage a gentle smile. "What about you? Have you always wanted to stay in Providence Peak or had you thought of leaving and finding someplace else to be your home?"

Sage had adopted Springsteen shortly before the accident and subsequent split from her wife, never having a pet growing up (outside of the occasional carnival-won goldfish that always mysteriously disappeared a few weeks later) she'd struggled with caring for the retired search and rescue dog after the loss of her daughter, but after making it through to the other side of her grief, with the Bernese by her side, she truly couldn't imagine a life without him. Once her hiking partner, now a best friend for Maggie, and the last thing she cared about was whether her house was covered head to toe in pet hair — the happiness he brought the family was more than worth it and she assumed that the cats Aslihan spoke about were the same for the woman. "I bet she would like that, it's good to have exposure," Sage started before continuing with a slight quirk of her lips. "Sometimes I think about selling the house and buying some land in Bighorn with a few goats and maybe some pigs, probably never going to happen, but I'm sure Maggie would love it. She is obsessed with any animal you put in front of her." As the tote and the stuffed panda were set in front of the tiny blonde, Sage kneeled beside the toddler and pointed out the toys in the tote, prompting Maggie to say thank you to the woman who offered her the toys. The thank you came quietly, barely more than a mumble of the first word with a muffled toddler pronunciation to it as the little girl proceeded to take a seat and pick up the stuffed red panda, her tiny toddler fingers poking at the eyes of the toy.

The older blonde stood once Maggie was comfortable, brushing her hands on her thighs. She was impressed with the level of knowledge the other's daughter seemed to hold, between what she knew from what Atlas told her and what Aslihan mentioned, it was clear that Alex was talented. "I'm not sure about Greek or jiu-jitsu, but I do know a little about soccer. I used to play in high school... not so much anymore. These days I can barely keep up with a toddler." A soft laugh trickled from her lips, wondering how long it would be before she wouldn't even be able to keep up with a toddler. She liked to believe she kept herself in shape, but at some point in time, there was only so much a person could do before age took its toll. "Sometimes sticking around where the memories are isn't such a great thing," The blonde mentioned, not able to count how many memories she had of her mom and her daughter in those four walls, and knew that it would have been possible to climb her way out of her pit of grief after the accident if she hadn't been in the same place where there used to be little footsteps running down the hallway and tiny laughs filling the living room. "But it's nice to have roots somewhere and the good times always outweigh the bad." She took a breath before continuing with a question directed at the other. "So you haven't always been in Providence Peak," Sage started, knowing that much from the past situation with Atlas not knowing about his daughter. "Why did you decide to stay? I imagine it's difficult not having family in the area... I currently live with my little sister and I'll owe her for eternity for helping me out with Maggie."