#I'll probably do another once my family fucks off for a month or so on the 25th

[thefallennightmare]

The Coyotes Cry-Two

*gif made by me. feel free to use, simply give credit*

Pairings: MafiaBoss!TattooArtist! Noah Sebastian x OFC.

Warnings/Tropes: reverse harem/why chose in most parts of this story, violence, death, swearing, angst, fluff, forced proximity, forbidden love, dark romance, mafia themes, arranged marriage, tattoo artist, smut(very mature: P in V unprotected, masturbation, oral with male and female receiving, dry humping, knife play, blood play, period sex, Dom! Noah, mask play, choking, degradation, fingering, hand jobs, voyeurism, public sex, reverse harem which means one woman with multiple partners, sometimes together.)

Summary: Saoirse "Scar" McManus's life is turned upside down when her father and uncle marry her off to Noah Sebastian, the Ruler of The Concrete Jungle and Leader of OMNS, her old high school crush. A marriage based on secrets and lies comes back to destroy OMNS and The Concrete Jungle from within. When Scar has no choice but to step foot into the The Grey looking for help, she realizes the price of love comes in a nest full of darkness.

Authors Note: Well after four months, we FINALLY have an update! It is a very long one so buckle up. This series will have mature themes throughout as a warning! This one probably wont be updated nearly as quick as JP will be. Maybe once JP is finished, I'll have more time to update this one!

*I do not own the rights/names of Connor and Murphy McManus. Or anyone mentioned to the Boondock Saints.

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SCAR

Everything was so fucked. 

How was my life bartered for a way of peace without my consent? 

I understand it was something I had to do, for the family. But surely there had to be another way, right? 

Wrong, if there was you wouldn’t be standing next to Noah Sebastian in an elevator as he was about to show you your new home. Not to mention, sharing a bed with him. 

I nearly fell onto my ass when he told me that there was only one bedroom in his penthouse and we would be sharing a bed. I grumbled at my thoughts, crossing my arms over my chest; something Noah picked up on with a raised brow. 

“Everything alright?” 

“No,” I scoffed while facing him in the small elevator. “Everything is not alright. I have to get married to you without a choice, I have to share a bed with you, and not to mention, you just told me I have to work in your tattoo shop. In a matter of minutes, my entire life changed!” 

My screechy voice echoed in the small confines of the elevator and Noah leaned against the back wall with a smirk on his face. 

“You think this is funny?” I scoffed while crossing my arms over my chest. “My free will is gone and you’re laughing.” 

Suddenly, his face sobered as he stood tall, with dark eyes staring down at me through even darker tendrils of hair. 

“Let me make one thing clear, Scar. You have free will. You can come and go as you please but need to return. Just because we’re going to be married that doesn't mean you’re signing your life away.” 

I blinked, mouth agape. “Scar?” 

“I like it,” Noah shrugged as if he really didn’t see the problem with shortening my name. 

“And if I don’t like it?” I still had my arms crossed but now I had my left hip popped out, showcasing the attitude I’ve had since birth. 

Something flashed in his eyes just as the elevator doors behind me opened. 

“Too bad, it stays,” he muttered before grabbing my bags and walking past me. 

Turning slowly on my heels, I noticed that the elevator opened to a vast darkness, Noah’s footsteps echoing. I didn’t move, not even when he turned on the bright lights showcasing his large penthouse. 

Our large penthouse, I corrected myself. 

Slowly stepping off the elevator, I peered around my new surroundings. Currently, I was standing in the foyer, and to my left was a long hallway that I assumed led to the bedrooms. To my right was a wall that had two large bookcases built into it. I quickly made a mental note to browse Noah’s large collection and then took a few tentative steps into the open space before me. 

It was an open concept of a kitchen and living room combo. To the left was the kitchen and I sucked in a breath at the gorgeous design. Black cabinets with gold fixtures. A kitchen island in the middle big enough to fit two Thanksgiving dinner spreads. I noticed that he didn’t have a dining room table, only eight stools that lined the kitchen island. 

The living room was simple with a large forest green sectional couch, a fireplace, and a large television above it. Although it was still nicely decorated with fine things, there was still an empty feeling that crept over my bones. 

“I find it hard to believe that this huge place only has one bedroom,” I said with my hands on my hips. 

Noah, who was leaning his lower half onto the back of the couch with his arms over his chest, gave me a sly smirk. 

“I never said there was only one bedroom.” 

I stared at him with wide eyes. “So then why do I have to share a bed with you?” 

He pushed himself up so he could look down at me. “There are three rooms. Besides our bedroom, one is my office, and the other is locked up. No one goes in there.” 

“Are you hiding dead bodies in there?” I teased with a raised brow. 

“No, that's what the room underneath the shop is for,” Noah deadpanned. 

My lips parted, mimicking a fish, as the words died on my tongue. I knew given his line of work that Noah undoubtedly killed people. The rumors around town told me. I did my best to not be involved in my father's and uncle's nefarious dealings, but every so often my uncle would bring me in during one of their meetings, much to my father's dismay. My uncle thought I needed to know the inner workings of the Irish mob since I would take over one day. While my father didn’t want that for me. He wanted me to stay in the family home and continue to turn a blind eye to everything. 

In the meetings I was brought in on, many of the men who worked under the McManus twins would tell them everything they knew about OMNS; which wasn’t a lot. Noah had done a fantastic job of keeping his dealings quiet, that was until recently when his friend Vincent showed up on his doorstep dead. After that, Noah made it his mission to find out who killed him by kidnapping my family's level drug dealers for information. None gave anything up until recently when Barry somehow managed to get OMNS a meeting with my family. If it wasn’t for that kid, maybe I wouldn’t be in this situation right now. 

I never fucking liked that kid. 

Every time Noah’s name was brought up in those meetings, my stomach would flutter and my heart would hammer hard in my chest; exactly like in high school. From the moment my eyes landed on him freshman year, I knew that would sink his teeth in. We never ran in the same circles but when they did cross, I was rudely reminded by my mother of the reason why during graduation when she caught me staring at Noah from across the gym.

“Saorsie, stop ogling that boy. The Sebastian men are only trouble, he will hurt you the first chance he gets.” 

I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t ogling him, mom.” 

She grasped my chin, forcing me to look at her. “I’m serious, stay away from Noah Sebastian. You’re too good for him, he would only lower your stature.” 

I took those words my mom said to heart because I knew Noah didn’t feel the same. The only time he ever looked at me was with distaste because of our family's long-standing history. The McManus and Sebastian rivalry would be told in the history books one day but now it seemed as if the rivalry had ended with or upcoming unions. 

To keep the peace. 

“So the wedding.” 

My eyes snapped up from admiring Noah’s long legs. “I’m sorry, what?” 

“I figured you’d want to plan it since you didn’t get a say in the groom,” he jeered while stuffing his hands deep into his pockets. 

“Honestly, I’d be fine going to the courthouse and signing the needed paperwork. Get this over with,” I admitted. 

This made Noah’s usual stone face falter, his eyes softening. “If that’s what you want, Scar. I’ll make an appointment first thing tomorrow.”

Clearing my throat, I stood up straighter after grabbing my bags. “Can you show me to our room? I’d like to unpack and go to sleep. It’s been a long day.” 

“Yeah-,” Noah’s words were cut off by his phone ringing which he pulled out of his pants pocket. 

His brows furrowed at the caller's I.D and when I peaked down at it, my heart dropped into my stomach. 

“Who’s Lana?” I asked, my voice thick with jealousy. 

His eyes flicked up from underneath his long lashes, a foxy smile playing on his lips. 

Those lips that I’d been craving to taste ever since freshman year. 

“She’s my assistant,” Noah informed. 

“Does your assistant always text you this late?” 

He brushed a loose strand of my fiery red hair behind my ear and chuckled. “Nothing is going on between Lana and I. She’s dating one of the artists in my shop. She was letting me know that my morning meeting was canceled.” 

My mouth formed an ‘O’ shape and I suddenly threw a thumb over my shoulder. “I think I’m going to get my stuff unpacked and head to bed.” 

“Come on, I’ll show you-.” 

Suddenly the elevator to his penthouse made a loud ding before the doors opened, revealing a man I didn’t recognize.

Noah, who was still towering over me, snapped his head up and his shoulders fell. 

“Jesse? What’s going on?” 

The man, Jesse, brushed back the curls from his face and sighed. “We need you at Limits. There’s a problem.” 

My eyes bounced between the two men. “Limits?” 

Noah ran a hand over the few hairs that peppered his jawline. “My nightclub.” 

“I didn’t know you owned a nightclub,” I said. 

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Scar,” he shrugged with an indifferent look in his eyes before glancing back to Jesse. “Can you handle it? It’s why I made you the manager so you can deal with these kinds of things when I’m not there.” 

Jesse hesitated for a long beat, his gaze flicking to me before settling on Noah. “You know I usually do, Noah. But there’s someone that is refusing to leave unless they talk to you.” 

“Have Ash force them out,” Noah sighed while pinching his eyes shut. 

“It’s Vincent’s sister. She wants an update.” 

His body went rigid, hands dropping to his sides, and I felt my heart drop slightly at that name.

Vincent. 

Noah’s friend who was murdered. 

“You should go,” I spoke softly after a few long moments of silence.

Eventually, Noah nodded and he caught the jacket Jesse threw him mid-air, slipping it over his thick shoulders. 

“I won’t be long, I promise,” he assured me. 

Suddenly, all of the anger I felt about my situation faded, knowing that there was someone somewhere else dealing with something worse; a murdered brother with no answers. 

“I’ll be fine,” I gave him a small nod.

“Bedroom is the last door on the left. Make yourself at home.” 

Noah and Jesse were gone in a flash, leaving me alone in the quiet penthouse. It was an eerie silence, the one that made your ears ring, and I let out a long steady breath. Even though this was my home now, it didn’t feel like it. Everything here felt like Noah, which wasn’t a bad thing. His scent lingered in the air and it brought a faint smile on my lips. 

Snap out of it, Scarlett! Noah doesn't think of you that way. 

My brain practically screamed at me and with a shake of my head, I gathered up my bags to find the last door on the left. My eyes darted into the open door of Noah’s office and briefly could see a large black desk, a computer set up that seemed to fit a gamer, and red neon lights. 

I came to a halt in front of the closed door and curiosity peaked in my mind so I tried the door knob. 

Locked. 

“What the hell are you hiding, Noah,” I muttered to myself before finally reaching the last door on the left. 

Now there was resistance filling my veins, making me unable to cross the threshold into the bedroom. While I was interested in seeing how Noah had decorated the bedroom, I was nervous because it would mean that everything was about to become real. 

The second I stepped into that room and unpacked my things, this marriage was going to happen. 

Before I could make my final decision on whether to run or stay, my phone buzzed with an incoming message. 

Noah Sebastian: Hi, it’s Noah. I wanted to let you know that I cleared out some space in the closet and the bathroom for your things. I mean it when I said make yourself at home, Scar. What’s mine is yours.

I couldn’t stop the smile that pulled at my lips while I replied. 

Me: I know it’s you, Noah. I’ve had your number saved since high school.

Before I could pocket my phone, a new text came through. 

Noah Sebastian: You had it saved? I thought for sure my number would have been blocked. 

Me: Tell me what’s in the locked room and I won’t consider blocking your number. 

Noah Sebastian: Not a chance, Scar.

Rolling my eyes, I pocketed my phone and gathered up all my courage with a deep breath before walking into the large bedroom. 

“Holy shit,” I breathed. “Who needs this much space for one person?” 

The king size bed was directly in the middle of the room, up against a wall painted black. On either side of the bed were end tables, each with their own lamp. There were floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the Concrete Jungle and now, with the late evening,  it casted the room in a glow of moonlight. 

There was a fireplace and what I thought was a picture above turned out to be one of those televisions that you were able to use like a picture frame. It was of some abstract colors, nothing that seemed to make sense to the human eye. 

The hardwood floors creaked as I walked farther into the bedroom, noticing that there were clear walls where the fireplace was, showing the bathroom on the other side. I could see straight into the shower and bathtub from my spot in the bedroom. 

On the other end of the room was a little sitting corner, made up of a long leather couch and two chairs. 

The walk in closet was behind the couch and when I stepped inside, I let out a choked gasp. 

“This closet is bigger than my bedroom at home,” I shook my head in disbelief. 

Noah was true to his word. 

There was more than half of the closet space empty, his clothes and shoes only taking up a small section of the closet. 

With a sigh, I went about unpacking all of my things, spending a few hours arranging my clothes by types of shirts and pants. Shoes by heels or flats. Jewelry by necklaces, bracelets, and rings. 

Rings. 

Glancing down at my bare left hand, I tried to envision how it would look with a wedding ring and I couldn’t help but shudder. Everything was happening so fast and I didn’t even get the chance to let the news settle in yet that this whole arrangement was made without my consent. 

Carrying my bag full of toiletries over to the even larger bathroom, I made a mental note to take a very long soak in the deep jacuzzi bathtub as I went about putting everything in its place. There were two sinks and with Noah already taking over the one on the left, I chose the one on the right. 

As I was about to leave the bathroom, I caught sight of Noah’s cologne and pursed my lips. 

Sauvage by Dior. 

After spraying a quick spritz on my sweater, I went back into the closet to put away my suitcases. There was a small area in the far back that took a few finessing to make them fit but it caused something to fall off of a shelf next to me. 

Miracle High School. 2013-2014.

It was Noah’s highschool yearbook. 

“I haven’t seen one of these in so long,” I said while kneeling on the floor of the closet, opening the book in my lap. 

Familiar faces stared back at me as I slowly flipped through it but came to a stop at one picture. 

Me. 

I was with my old group of friends, most of whom I didn’t talk to anymore, and the smile on my face was so fake. I thought I was happy back then, the facade I put on tricked even me. But after I graduated, I realized how much of a liar I had been. I had to put on this show of the privileged rich girl to appease my mother when in fact, I hated who I was. I despised being in the popular group and desperately wanted to hang out with the artsy kids because that's where I felt my heart deserved to be. 

Just as I was about to flip the page, something else caught my eye; a written note next to my picture. 

One look at your eyes and I cave in. One taste of the life now I crave it. So give me something beautiful. So give me something else. I need another miracle. I really need some help, I need a miracle.

I frowned, feeling my heart sink to the depths of my stomach, and looked for the picture on the next page. 

Noah Sebastian. 

Back in highschool, his hair was longer, down to the middle of his back. He did have tattoos, not as many as he did now, but the snake and apple tattoo on his neck poked out from the collar of his shirt. It was customary that all seniors took professional pictures for their yearbook photos but that wasn’t who Noah was. 

His senior picture was one of him sitting in a computer chair with a gaming headset on and those adorable gold round glasses while throwing up the peace sign; showcasing those hand tattoos I spent countless hours staring at during our history class together. 

Slowly closing the book, I set it back in its place on the highest self before leaving the closet. With a quick glance at my phone, I noticed it was nearing nine in the evening and even though I was exhausted, my stomach growling reminded me that I skipped dinner earlier.

Once back in the large kitchen, I found the remote for the television and turned it on. I had to flip through the channels until finally landing on The Crow and then went about searching the cabinets and fridge for food. 

“Does this man not eat?” I groaned when I saw how bare everything was. 

Me: You have nothing to eat in this big ass penthouse. 

I expected Noah not to text back right away, figuring he was busy dealing with what was happening over at Limits, so when my phone buzzed a few seconds after I sent the message, my heart fluttered. 

Noah Sebastian: What are you in the mood for? Indian? Italian? Greek? 

You. 

Shaking the thought from my head, I typed out my reply. 

Me: I’ll just run out and pick something up. 

Before I could even lock my phone, Noah’s response appeared on screen. 

Noah Sebastian: The Concrete Jungle is not safe at night. Please stay inside. I’ll order whatever you want. My treat.

Pursing my lips, I glanced up to the window, seeing the tall buildings outside, and thought about it for a moment. The Concrete Jungle was Noah’s domain, he created it. But if he said it was dangerous in the dark, I had to believe him.

Me: Greek. One gyro. Hold the veggies. Extra feta cheese and tzatziki sauce. 

Me: Large fries and a Dr. Pepper. 

Me: We also can’t live off of fast food every day. How can I cook something with one cracked egg, baking soda, and stale ass bread?

While I waited for his reply, I decided to snoop around the penthouse. Off of the kitchen was his laundry room and for a moment, I thought about switching his loads but decided that I should leave it. A guy like him had someone come clean and do his laundry. Just as I was about to take a shower, my phone went off from its spot on the bathroom counter. 

Noah Sebastian: I’ve made more with less. But we can go shopping tomorrow, you can get whatever you like.

I thought about replying with a witty remark but knowing that he was probably dealing with something deep at Limits, I decided against it. 

Me: You’re going to regret saying that. 

Noah Sebastian: So far, when it comes to you I haven’t regretted anything. 

My heart jumped in my throat as I read those words a few times over and with a sigh, I locked my phone. I didn’t bother asking him when he would get back because I had a feeling whatever was happening, it wasn’t something that was considered a quick chat. 

By the time I was dressed in my pajamas, there was a loud buzzing coming  from the elevator of the penthouse. For some reason, there was a fear that filled me from being here alone and not knowing who was slowly rising up the elevator. 

Me: Were you expecting company? I think someone rang the buzzer for the elevator. 

My bare feet padded down the long hallway and once I stood in front of the elevator, my heart began to beat wildly. I wasn’t exactly dressed for company, wearing a pair of white cotton shorts and a loose tank top. 

Noah Sebastian: It’s your food, Scar. 

Oh. 

Me: Oh, right.

I wasn’t sure why I was so on edge about the possibility of someone coming into Noah’s penthouse without me knowing. Maybe it was because no one knew about our arrangement so it could have been a late night fuck buddy? Maybe it was because Noah was one of the most feared mafia bosses and ruled the Concrete Jungle so someone was coming to get their revenge. 

Noah Sebastian: No one can come upstairs without the code. The delivery driver left your food with Gary, the doorman. He’s been working at OMNS Legacy Villas for years and he’s the only one with the code. You can trust him. 

I snorted at that word; trust. There were only two people in my life I could trust and they sold me off for a peace treaty. 

Me: Trust isn’t a word that’s in my vocabulary. 

The elevator doors dinged open, revealing a paper bag in the middle of it. With a quick swipe, the scent of Greek food tickled my nostrils and my stomach grumbled to life. I spread everything out on the large kitchen island and went about eating in silence while watching the movie. It wasn’t until I noticed the time on the large clock on the far end of the wall that it was almost eleven in the evening and without a new text from Noah, I thought about texting him but figured I’d be bothering him. 

Once I cleaned up my mess from dinner, I stood in front of the large windows that overlooked the Concrete Jungle. Bright lights bathed over the dirty streets, littered with not only trash but crime as well. On the far end of the corner, I watched as a drug deal went down followed by an attempt at a carjacking. With the angle of how high up the penthouse was, I could see down to Under The Right Lights Tattoo; closed up for the night.

“How did I go from studying animal biology to working in a tattoo shop?” I grumbled to myself while pushing off of the windows. 

“Talking to yourself?” 

Whirling around, I saw Noah standing in the middle of the living room with his hair a disheveled mess and blood splatter over his shirt. I blinked rapidly, trying to assess the situation in front of me. 

“I-,” I pointed to the elevator. “I didn't hear you come up.”

Noah had his hands hiding in the pockets of his black dress slacks and I couldn’t help but picture how they were covered in blood. 

“I took the back staircase,” he shrugged before gliding over to the kitchen and popping a few of my leftover fries in his mouth. 

I shifted on my feet, watching how unbothered he was. 

“You have a back staircase?” 

Noah’s eyes flashed to me. “We have a back staircase for times like this. I can’t exactly walk through the lobby looking like this.” 

“Right,” I pursed my lips while nodding. 

A weird silence fell between us, I was unsure what to do or say, so instead I continued to stand there watching him as he watched me with his nostrils flaring. 

“Why do I smell my cologne?”

With a red hue covering my pale skin tone, I cleared my throat. “How did it go at Limits? Get everything sorted out?” 

Something flashed in the darkness of his eyes as they flicked over my body. “Are you unpacked?” 

“No, we’re not doing that,” I said while stepping closer to the kitchen island so I could stand across from him. 

It created a barrier between us. 

“Do what?” Noah asked while leaning his long arms over the edge of it. 

I did my best not to gawk at his muscles as they rippled and the way the tattoos just seemed to fit him. 

“If we’re going to be married, you’re not going to hide anything from me. I grew up in this life, Noah. You don’t need to keep me away from it.”

A sly smile spread to his lips. “We are getting married, Scar. There’s no if.” 

I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. I’m not asking to be a leader next to you but all I want is honesty.” 

Those almond eyes watched me for another long beat before he gave a curt nod. 

“Tonight went south; fast.” 

I pulled out a stool to take a seat, resting my elbows on the counter. “Were you able to give Vincent’s sister any answers?” 

“No,” Noah pinched his eyes shut with a sigh. “When I told her the only information I have is that someone in the Irish mafia killed him, she wouldn’t listen. She’s insistent that it’s the Italians.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” 

I leaned back into my seat and crossed my arms over my chest which made my breasts perk up over the top of my shirt; something Noah tracked intently with his eyes. 

“The Italians haven't stepped foot in your or my territory in almost a decade. They know it would start a war,” I explained. 

“You seem to know a lot,” he raised a brow, still standing across from me. 

“While my father did his best to keep me out of it, my uncle constantly brought me into meetings. He wanted me to take over when they’re gone,” I said. 

“Well, Vincent’s sister surprised all of us when she told us she had some Italian tied up in her trunk,” Noah grabbed water from the fridge, popping it open with an attractive ease. 

My eyes doubled. “How did she manage that?” 

“No fucking idea. This guy had no ties to the mob, nothing. So I had to pay him a lot of money to keep quiet,” Noah said with a grimace on his face. 

“Where did the blood come from?” I pointed to his shirt. 

That earned a slight chuckle from him. “Fucker had a nose bleed when I tried to scare him off. All over my good shirt.”

Noah’s words prompted him to slip into the laundry room off the kitchen and return with a basket full of his clothes. As he spread them out on the large counter, I watched in surprise when he began folding them. 

“Is it the housekeepers' day off tomorrow?” I joked. 

“No housekeeper. I do all the cleaning and cooking,” he informed me.

Well don’t I feel like a judgemental asshole.  

Drumming my fingers along the marble, I motioned to the bedroom. “I’m going to head to bed, since we’ve got a busy day tomorrow.” 

Noah paused the folding so he could gaze up at me through his long lashes. 

“Noon at the courthouse. Are you fine with going out to Limits for a small celebration? The guys were adamant on it.” 

I shrugged while hopping off the stool. “That’s fine, I guess. Gives me a reason to get all dolled up. 

“I’m going to finish up the laundry then go into the shower. I promise I’ll be quiet,” Noah smiled. 

My heart fluttered in my chest at the sight of it so all I did was nod before retreating down the long hallway towards the bedroom. 

Even though it was a comfortable bed, I found it hard to sink into the black sheets because of the new place. Any time I slept away from home, it was a restless night. My brain couldn’t calm down and tell myself that I was safe. So I lay there with the forest green blanket pulled to my chin and eyes screwed shut hoping it would help the sleep take me. 

Noah’s quiet footsteps echoed on the hardwood as he stalked inside of the bedroom. I watched as he disappeared into the closet and reemerged with a pair of pajama pants. The confidence that radiated off of him as he stepped inside the bathroom was one that made anyone envious. Due to the window that peered into the bathroom, I could see Noah beginning to strip out of his clothes, oh so slowly as if he knew I was watching him. He didn’t bother to turn on the bathroom light, the moonlight breaking through the windows casting him in an aura made for the Gods. 

I sucked in a breath when he stepped into the large shower, his large back and perk ass on display for my eyes to drink in. The large Jesus portrait tattoo that lined the entirety of his back glistened as the water droplets fell down to the swell of his ass. 

“A Thiarna cuidigh liom,” I groaned while dragging a hand down my face. 

I was supposed to be upset with this arrangement and I probably would have been if my future groom wasn’t built the way Noah Sebastian was. 

Maybe it’s the fact that you’ve had a huge crush on him since freshman year. 

Grumbling at the voice in my head, I forced myself to face the other way in bed in an attempt to get some sleep. While floating in and out of consciousness, I swore I heard the softest melody emanating from the walls of the bedroom. It wrapped around me like a blanket, cradling me with endless comfort, and I felt every worry slip through my fingertips. The weight shifted slightly to pull me in closer but did nothing to disturb the comfort.

NOAH

My knee bounced with so much agitation, I feared it shook the entire penthouse. I sat in my computer chair with my fingers steepeled underneath my chin, memories of earlier replaying in my mind on a constant fucking loop. 

The slight hesitation in the ballpoint of the pen before she signed her name on the marriage certificate. 

I knew Scarlett wasn’t too fond of this arrangement but there was a part of me that wasn’t expecting the hesitation, especially after last night. 

“Scar?” I asked, just above a whisper. 

Her sleeping form held the pillow close to her chest but I frowned, not getting into bed yet. She was asleep in my spot. I chewed on my bottom lip, debating whether or not to wake her because I slept in that spot every single night for the last eight years of living in this penthouse. 

But standing there at the end of my bed, watching the way her chest rose and fell with each deep breath and the soft snores emanating from her plump lips made everything I’d formally known change. 

I slipped into bed behind her with every intention of lying opposite of her but almost immediately, her hand found my bicep in a soft embrace and I vowed not to move at all that night. It was a simple touch but enough to make my heart race. 

It was foolish to think that it meant something. Scarlett didn’t feel the same, she’d made it clear that she was here against her will. The first chance she had, she would take it to run off with someone more qualified for her love. It didn’t matter for me to try because I’d never been worthy of Saiorse Scarlett McManus. 

Saiorse Scarlett McManus-Sebastian.

I glanced down to my left hand, the black band a sight I was still getting used to. I wore rings all the time, just never on that finger. While she had been getting ready for tonight, I had Matt run to the best jewelry store in the Concrete Jungle to pick up the sets of rings I had put a rush order on. My ring wasn’t anything special, and to be honest neither was Scar’s. Due to the short time frame, I had to make due with what I could. A simple gold band with a small marquise diamond.  I knew it wasn’t her style but for now, until I could get her something better later on, this would be fine. 

The small velvet box weighed heavy in the pocket of my pants and I knew if I didn’t give it to her soon, it would burn a hole. 

A soft knock at my office door pulled me from my thoughts and when I peered over the computer at who stood in the doorway, my heart felt heavy in my chest. Scar stood there with her hands behind her back, almost shy as I drank in her appearance. 

Her red hair was pulled back into a tight bun, showcasing the sharpness of her cheekbones. 

Her make up was minimal but dark enough to make her green iris shine bright. 

The dress she wore managed to hug her figure perfectly. It was a deep olive color that stood out against the paleness of her freckles skin and cut low enough at her breasts that it didn’t leave too much to the imagination but somehow covered her modestly. My gaze traveled up the slit on the dress where her toned legs poked through. 

“Noah?” 

I snapped my eyes up to her face, a low hum rumbling in my chest. “Yea?” 

“Is this alright?” 

“Why wouldn’t it be?” I frowned. 

Scar shrugged and in that moment, I could tell by the pain she held behind her smile that she was struggling with something internally. 

“It’s stupid,” she sighed, ready to leave the room until I grabbed her hand. 

“Hey,” my voice was soft. “Nothing you say is stupid, alright?” 

Those emerald eyes bounced between mine. “With Cory, he didn’t like me wearing things like this.”

The ex. 

“You can wear whatever you’re comfortable with,” I gave her hand a gentle squeeze, electricity shooting through my system before reluctantly dropping it. 

Scar cleared her throat before rubbing her palms on the side of her silk dress and motioning to me. “Ready to go?” 

I peered down to my black pants and plain black shirt, suddenly self conscious I wasn’t dressed up enough for her. 

“I can change if it’s not-.” 

“No!” She said quickly before catching herself. “You look good.” 

A sly smirk came to my lips and with this sudden surge of confidence I pulled out the velvet box from my pocket and heard Scar suck in a breath. The prior nerves were back and I couldn’t stop the way my hands shook as I opened it. 

“It’s not much,” I sighed. “Given I had less than twenty four hours to get you a ring, this was the best I could do.”

Scar didn’t say anything as her bright eyes watched me slip the ring on her left hand. 

It may have been small but it fit her like a glove. 

“It’s fine, Noah,” she reassured me with a quick smile. “I’m not into gaudy and unnecessarily huge rings.” 

We stood there in the ever growing silence of my office, the roaring flames from the fireplace the only thing that eased my worries. The orange hues of the fire casted Scar in a golden halo, the sight of the angel in front of me enough to still my heart. 

Angel. 

“An-.” 

“Noah!” 

Both mine and Scar’s head snapped over to the hallway right outside the door to my office, seeing Matt standing there. 

“Everything alright?” I asked, knowing the panicked look in his eyes. 

They shifted to Scar’s where they lingered for a moment too long. 

“Matt,” I called his name softly but with enough force; a warning. 

“Sorry,” he shifted on his feet. “There’s an issue downstairs in the shop. A client that won’t leave.”

My shoulders fell with an exaggerated groan. “Can’t you handle it? 

He rolled his eyes, almost insulted that I doubted his ability. “You know I have no problem with that but they’re not here for us.” 

My brow peaked. “Then who are they here for?” 

Matt’s eyes darted to Scar who pointed at herself, dumbfounded. “Me?” 

“It’s your dad and Uncle. They’re here with some asshat named Cory, who is the one refusing to leave.”

The all too familiar feeling of anger and jealousy festered low in my gut at hearing not only where her father and uncle downstairs in my shop, but so was the asshole ex. 

“What are they doing here?” I asked her, trying hard to keep my voice calm. 

She shrugged. “I have no idea! I talked to my dad earlier and told him that the papers were signed. He said congratulations and he’ll send a gift at some point.” 

Rubbing a hand on my jaw, I gave a curt nod urging Matt to lead the way. The heels of Sacr’s heels clicked against the marble floor as she followed behind me. The ride down the elevator was quiet, filled with my deep and even breathing. Through the corner of my eye, I noticed a few things. 

Matt’s eyes darted over to Scar, lingering on the side of her face. 

Scar played with the new ring on her finger while she muttered something to herself. Something plagued her mind, it was clear in the way her shoulders were slumped and something continued to twitch in her cheek. 

“Did you want me to handle him?” I asked once the elevator stopped at my shop. 

Her head tilted up to me, my question lingering in her mind. I found myself getting lost in the greens of her eyes, swimming in the pool of the gold specks in them. 

“No. It’s probably better I do,” she sighed. 

When the elevator doors opened revealing the closed tattoo shop, I extended an arm to let her walk ahead. We walked down the back hallway, passing my office, the gym, and bathrooms before the sight of all of the closed down booths appeared. On the other side of the front counter stood the McManus brothers and Cory, who was red in the face due to screaming about something. 

“She was mine!” 

“Calm down, son,” Conner McManus lit a cigarette, puffing out the smoke. 

“You can’t smoke in here,” I said with a stern tone. 

His dark eyes snapped over to me before tossing down the cigarette, crushing it beneath his boot.

“Cory, what are you doing here?” Scar asked after her father left a soft kiss to the side of her head in greeting. 

“Your dad told me you’re married?” 

I took a deep breath, trying to let Scar handle this on her own, but both Matt and I flanked behind her; just in case. 

The McManus brothers shared a look before Conner threw a thumb over his shoulder. “He showed up at our place drunk rambling about wanting to see Saorise so we brought him here. He’s your problem now.” 

“Congratulations on your nuptials. Let’s hope for a time of peace,” Murphy reminded, giving a small smile to his daughter. 

With a nod, I dismissed them from my shop and soon it was Cory alone with the three of us. 

“I told you I was to be married off,” Scar’s brows furrowed. “I called you earlier this week to tell you and your exact words were,"What do you want me to do about it?””

Cory chuckled darkly. “I thought you were fucking with me to get back at me for Tory.”

She flinched. “Tory? What does Tory have to do with anything?”

Cory held a bottle of vodka loosely between his fingers before bringing it to his lips, downing the rest of it in one go. 

“Because I fucked her,” he replied while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. 

I took a large step towards him, not being able to hold back my anger any longer, but Scar’s soft gasp halted me. 

“Yo-You what?” 

Cory snorted when he took in the look of hurt on her face. “I mean, it wasn’t anything serious. Just a good fuck, something to pass the time while you were in school.”

My hands shook at my sides, something Matt noticed because he rested a hand on my shoulder. 

“She wants to handle it,” he uttered in my ear, reminding me. 

I snapped my eyes over to him but it did nothing to deter the hand on my shoulder. The gun in the holster of my pants began to get heavy. I kept a hard gaze over Scar’s head, directly at Cory, who seemed unphased by the scene he was beginning to create. 

“You fucked Tory?” 

Scar’s voice and face were unreadable which caused me great panic. I wasn’t sure how she would react or if this news even bothered her. I knew they didn’t date long and according to my intel it didn’t seem to mean much. But even so, finding out you’ve been cheated on during your relationship hurts. 

Cory snickered at the distressed look on Scar’s face. “You have no right to act like this, Saorise. You married another man.” 

Her eyes flicked over to me but mine never left his face, watching him through the thin slits. 

“I didn’t have a choice! My father and Uncle made me. If I did have a choice, I would have moved far away from here years ago,” she sneered. 

My heart sank low and my shoulders fell slightly when I gazed down at her. Deep down, I knew she still wasn’t happy about our situation but to hear her continue repeating it cut deep. It was like I was in highschool all over again, fawning over the popular girl who didn’t bat an eye. 

“I was going to marry you, Saorise. I had a ring picked out,” the bottle slipped from Cory’s fingers and clattered to the ground at our feet; the leftover alcohol splashing on my shoes. 

I grumbled in displeasure. 

“Was that before or after you fucked Tory?” Scar took a step towards him. 

“Scar,” I warned.

“Scar? What the fuck kind of name is that? Her name is Saoirse,” Cory laid a hand on my shoulder, trying to push me. 

Ultimately failing as I barely moved. My veins were filled with hurt from her constant reminders that she didn’t want to be married to me but now, I was filled with sheer anger.

“We call her Scar,” I informed him through gritted teeth. 

Cory rolled his eyes. “You guys are all fucked up. I’ve heard the rumors about OMNS. You think you can keep Saoirse safe from that?”

Matt took a large step toward him but was halted with my hand to his chest, both of us sharing a look; one that we’ve shared many times before. 

“Take Scar upstairs,” my voice was low and even. 

Some would say it even scared them. 

Matt gave a curt nod and gently grabbed her elbow but she ripped it from his grasp, those green eyes shooting daggers into me. 

“Excuse me? What happened to me handling it?” 

I ignored her, letting my stubborn side win, and motioned towards Cory all while keeping my hands in my pockets. “You can leave through the same door you stepped through.” 

“Fuck you!” He spat, now pushing me in my chest with both hands, causing me to stumble slightly. “Saoirse is mine! You can’t just fucking take her because you signed some bullshit paper agreement with her father.” 

My left brow raised. “Last time I checked, a marriage certificate isn’t a bull shit paper agreement.”

“Noah!” Scar stepped in front of me, blocking my path to Cory. “I told you I can handle this myself.” 

“Then why is he still here? Did you invite him?” I asked, eyes flicking down to her and doing my best to keep my composure.

“Fuck off!” She stomped her foot, showing how angry she was getting. 

I had to admit, it was kind of cute seeing her bratty side come out.

“You said it yourself you won’t dictate what I do in this marriage. I am my own person.” 

The way she said marriage caused something to stir low in my gut and I knew it wasn’t anything good. That all too familiar feeling of my hands shaking in my pockets and my heart beat wildly in my chest usually ended in one way. 

Death. 

Matt knew this. He’d been by my side since the early days and he’d seen first hand what happened to the people that were on the receiving end of it. 

“Alright, time to go,” Matt said before picking up Scar, tossing her over his shoulder. 

“You mother fucker! Put me down!” She thrashed in his arm, her no match for his strength. 

As her screams faded down the hall towards the elevator, I looked over my shoulder to call back to them. 

“Keep it up, Scar. Matt has permission to smack that pretty little ass.” 

They stood in the middle of the elevator, her still thrashing about on his shoulder, so Matt gave a wicked smirk with a wink just before the doors shut. 

“It’s not even worth it, man. Her holes aren’t even that fuckable.” 

My eye snapped back to Cory, who was slightly swaying on his feet, and now one hand rested behind my back to graze over the handle of my gun. My voice wavered only slightly, going undetected by the drunk man in front of me. 

“What did you just say?” 

He hiccuped, the vodka now settling in his bloodstream. “Her cunt isn’t that great. She just lies there like a board. You’re better off fucking a pillow.” 

I swallowed thickly with a finger now on the trigger. All I could see was red. 

Blood. 

His blood staining the floor of the underground and hearing his pleas of sorrow as I dragged the knife across the flabby flesh of his throat. 

“You should have come to me to talk about marrying her!” He poked a weak finger to my chest. “She’s mine.” 

I blinked for a long moment, letting out an even longer deep breath in the exact exercises my therapist taught me. I couldn’t do anything up here due to the cameras I had littered throughout so instead, I cleared my throat while extending a hand behind me. 

“We’ll, why don’t we step into my office to work out a deal,” I suggested with a playful smirk. 

Cory smiled with triumph and straightened out his polo. “The only hole I want is her mouth. It’s all she’s good for.”

The knife hidden in my sock itched with the need to slice flesh.

SCAR

“You mother fucker!” I pounded on Matt’s broad back as we rode the elevator back up to the penthouse. 

“Try all you want, Saoirse. But did you forget Noah’s warning?” He teased me. 

My face was directly in sight with his round ass and with a playful smirk, I pinched it, causing him to yelp out and dropping me to my feet. 

“Did you just pinch my ass?” He asked dumbfounded while rubbing the spot I pinched. 

I shrugged. “It was right in front of my face. I can't help it if you've got a nice ass.” 

His face flinched, not expecting my boldness. “Noah definitely has his hands full with you.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I gave him my back to finish the ride up in silence. I could feel him behind me, eyes burning over my entire body, and my tough resolve began to slowly slip away. The day had gone straight to hell the second I woke up and found myself wrapped in Noah’s warm embrace. I spent an excruciating long moment tracing over the tattoos on his chest with my eyes, burning them into memory. 

Ever since I watched him in the shower last night, I felt this undeniable burn between my legs that needed to be touched, licked, bite, and fucked. Not even the moment in the shower this afternoon while Noah was running a few errands before our courthouse appointment extinguished this burn. 

When I cried out his name as my orgasm engulfed me, it made the flames burn higher. 

“You seem on edge,” Matt’s deep voice pulled me from thoughts of Noah naked. 

“I wonder why,” I grumbled under my breath. 

He chuckled, the sound bringing an ease to the tension around us. 

“Noah will be fine,” he assured me. 

“He’s not the one I’m worried about,” I admitted while stepping off the elevator when it opened to the penthouse. 

Turning on my heels, I noticed Matt still standing in the elevator, unmoving. 

“Are you not going to come inside and watch me?” I teased. 

His eyes raked over me from underneath his hat, a sly smirk playing on his lips. 

“Tempting. But I’ve got other things to do.”

I didn’t have time to think of what that other thing was before the doors shut, leaving me alone in the large penthouse. I continued to grumble obscenities under my breath as I stalked towards the bedroom, ready to change into a pair of sweats and spending the rest of this awful day on the couch reading a book. 

And not think of your husband’s ass in the shower. 

Groaning at the little voice in my head, I threw on a pair of sweats, not bothering to take my makeup off, and dragged my feet down the long hallway again to the large bookshelves that were right next to the elevator. Noah had a large collection, might as well help myself to one or two.

Black fingernails skimmed over the spines of the large collection, humming a soft tune to myself, until one caught my eye. 

A New World.

When I went to pull it out, excited to read my favorite book, it wouldn’t budge. Instead, the bookshelf began to creak and groan before slowly opening into the wall. 

“No fucking way,” I scoffed. “He would have a secret door that leads to a dark staircase.”

I thought about it for a moment; go down the stairs to see where it led or play dumb to the fact that I ever saw it. But suddenly, something from yesterday popped in my brain. 

“I took the back staircase.”

Noah made it a point to say that he takes this staircase when he’s unable to walk through the lobby of the penthouse. Meaning wherever his staircase led, it was meant to be hidden. 

“Fuck it,” I muttered with a shrug before taking the stairs, one step at a time. 

It was lit with a muted yellow glow so I had a hand on the wall to guide me in case I were to tumble down. With each tentative step, voices grew closer and closer until I heard what sounded like flesh on flesh and then pained cries. 

When my footsteps halted at the bottom of the staircase, I felt my heart jump into my throat and stomach fall out of my ass with the sight in front of me. 

“What the fuck!” 

NOAH

“Wait please!”

Ignoring the pathetic cries falling from Cory’s mouth, I sunk the knife deeper into the already gaping wound in his thigh, twisting and turning it in all different directions. The sound of blood squelching brought a sinister smile to my face as I watched the sheer pain on his face. Tendrils of my dark hair fell into my eyes but I didn’t dare brush them away. 

“You have a lot of nerve coming into my shop and talking about my wife that way,” I said. 

Cory did his best to thrash in the chair he was tied up in but ultimately failed. “Fuck you!” 

I cocked my head to the side, still having a tight grip on the knife in his thigh. I felt a presence behind me as I was crouched at the knees, knowing Matt was also watching with his own sinister smirk. I’d done a number on Cory already, his face barely recognizable from the blood that covered it and not only did he have a wound in his thigh, his arms and chest were littered with small yet painful slices from my blade. 

“I’m done with him,” I said while slowly rising to full height, aged knees popping in and out of place. 

Matt handed me a small handgun from one of my large collections and when I cocked it, Cory’s eyes went white as a ghost. 

“Wait!” He choked on his own blood. “I have information!” 

The grip on my gun never faltered but I did raise a brow at him. “What could you possibly know that would interest me?” 

Deep, uneven breaths fell from Cory’s lips and I knew that I only had a short window with him before he succumbed to the wounds; more importantly, the one on his side. Matt made a comment of how deep I went with the knife but all I saw was red, Cory’s comments from earlier urging the knife deeper. 

“The only hole I want is her mouth. It’s all she’s good for.”

“Its-,” he coughed up blood, spewing it all over himself and at the ground near my shoes. “About Saoirse’s mom. Her death.”

That made my gun falter a bit but I kept my tough resolve apparent. “Her mom died years ago. Why do you think I would spare your life when it was already a solved case?”

Underneath the blood that pooled from Corey’s mouth was a sinister smirk as he leaned his head back. 

“That’s what they want you to think.” 

Matt, who had slowly slipped behind Cory, and I shared a look before he asked the next question. 

“Who’s they?” Matt wondered. 

Cory did his best to shrug due to being tied up. “The ones who did it.”

I let out an agitated groan before dropping the gun onto the metal table next to me, the noise caused Cory to jump. It had been an extremely long day and the last thing I wanted to do was stand here while he ran us in circles with this so-called information. There were many things I would much rather be doing. 

My wife. 

Shaking the thought from my head, I stalked over towards the far end of the underground to where I held all of my variety of tools; immediately reaching for the pair of rusty pliers. 

Twirling the tool in my hands, I noticed a look of fear flash in Cory’s eyes just before I flicked my own towards Matt, giving him a silent order. He wrenched Cory’s head back by the roots of his hair, keeping him in place, gloved fingers smearing his own blood all throughout. 

It took me a lot longer than I’d like to admit to start wearing gloves during these kinds of meetings. Not only for the fear of leaving fingerprints behind but because blood was a bitch to wash off. 

“Cory,” I clicked my tongue against my teeth. “I’m getting really fucking tired of your voice.” 

He blinked, trying to fight against Matt’s grip on him. “Wh-what are you going to do?” 

I sinisterly looked at the old pliers in my hand and shivered with delight. “I’m going to rip out your tongue.”

Screams of pain echoed loudly in the underground, but never making past the concrete walls, as I yanked his tongue out of his mouth. Cory writhed in the chair as his words were muffled as I nearly clipped the pliers with his tongue. 

“One last question,” I said without an ounce of waver in my voice. “Does Vincent’s death have anything to do with Mrs. McManus’ death?”

The pupils of Cory’s eyes bled black and even with both mine and Matt’s grip on him, I felt the softest of nods. Something inside of me burned low with the revelation that my best friend was possibly killed by the same person that killed Scar’s mom. 

“This is for everything you said about my wife.” 

With the pliers clamped around Cory’s tongue, I ripped it with such force, blood spattered across my shirt, down to my shoes. His cries sounded like pure bliss to my ears as I let the limp muscle and pliers clatter to the dirty ground at my feet. 

Matt pushed himself away from Cory, wiping his hands on the back of his sweats, before tossing me a rag. 

“You got some blood on your face,” he pointed to his cheek. 

With a disgusted groan, I wiped the blood away and ripped away the destroyed shirt now. It would have to join the burn pile. As I discarded my gloves into the same pile, I continued to ignore the mess of a man in front of me. Blood pooled down Cory’s chin and over his bare chest. But the satisfaction I thought I would feel after causing him this much pain was non-existent. I wanted him to suffer for everything he said about Scar but mostly the fact he had the nerve to cheat on her. 

Matt immediately noticed the look in my eyes, having seen it one too many times before. 

“Noah, let’s end this. It’s not like he’s physically able to tell us anything else,” he suggested. 

I scratched at the tattoos on my chest absentmindedly, doing my best to calm the beast inside of me. I was alway calm with dealings like this, the more level headed one of our group. But Cory’s words about my wife continued to tease me and I couldn’t contain myself any longer. Rage consumed me as I laid fist after fist into Cory’s flesh; anywhere I could. 

His stomach. 

His chest. 

His face, over and over again. 

It was as if the rage had blinded my vision, making the only thing I could see was pure darkness. His muffled groans and the sound of flesh on flesh was muted by the pounding of my heart in my ears. 

“What the fuck!”

Chest heaving, I whirled around on my heels to see Scar standing on the far end of the room where the hidden staircase led. The soft features of her face were contorted with agony as she took in the sight in front of her.

Cory’s near lifeless body at my feet, still tied to the chair. 

Matt sat on the metal table, dangling his legs in the air, as he browsed something on his phone. 

And me, standing above the mess I created with blood on my hands; literally. Scar’s lips were parted, the softest off breaths falling from them, and her pupils were dilated with sheer fear. 

No. 

Not fear.

Arousal. 

“Cory!” Scar bellowed before taking a step towards him, causing me to block her path. 

“Now you care for him?” I sneered, wiping his blood over my chest. 

“N-no,” she stammered while shifting on her feet. “I just-. I didn’t expect to see this when I came down here!” 

Matt snorted from his spot on the table. “What did you expect to see, Scar? Us having a picnic?” 

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Fuck off, Matthew.” 

“It’s Matt,” I corrected. “You need to go back upstairs.” 

Now her fury was directed towards me and she poked a nail into my bare chest, doing her best not to gawk at the tattoos and blood. 

Ultimately failing. 

“You don’t tell me what to do, Noah!” She poked me again. “You brought me into this fucked up world, the least you can do is let me see it!”

I cocked my head to the side, slowly licking my lips, and took a tentative step towards her. The chill of the underground brought goosebumps to my skin but the reminder of how her finger felt poking my skin bathed me in warmth. 

“Does this turn you on, Scar?” I teased with a low voice. 

There was a slight hesitation before she scoffed, locking her hands on her hips. “No!”

Her voice was high pitched, almost scratchy, and it was something I remembered from highschool she would do this exact thing when she was lying. I raised a finger to her, twirling a piece of auburn hair around it. 

“Admit it, Scar. Even you’ve thought about it. Dragging your knife across someone’s flesh. Their screams of despair and pain bring a sense of comfort, maybe even arousal,” I breathed into the crook of her neck. 

She swallowed thickly and I tracked the way her bottom lip caught between her teeth, desperately wanting to know how they tasted. 

“You’re sick!” her eyes snapped up towards mine. 

I grinned, dark tendrils of hair falling into my even darker eyes. “If I’m so sick, then how come your hand is reaching for my belt?” 

Scar cursed when she realized her fingers were brushing against the buckle of my belt and hurriedly jumped away from me. Her eyes darted back to the scene behind me, lingering on the slowly dying body at my feet. 

“Did you rip out his tongue?!” She gasped, covering her mouth. 

I kicked the limp muscle on the other side of the room carelessly. “Bastard kept talking about you. I needed to teach him a lesson.”

Matt slipped off of the table and reached for one of the smaller pocket knives we had hanging on the wall behind him. Twirling it between his fingers, he nodded towards Scar. 

“Do you want to finish him off? A little payback for him cheating on you?” 

For the briefest of moments, she thought about it with the way her gaze lingered on the sharp blade before falling down to Cory, who had passed out from the pain. Scar was facing an internal battle inside of her between what was right and wrong. Well, what she thought was wrong. Nothing I did in the undergrounds of the Concrete Jungle was wrong. I did it to protect what I’ve created here and to protect the ones I love. 

“What do you say? Or are you too much of a pussy to get the job done?” I taunted, hands buried deep into the pockets of my dress slacks.

Scar’s lips recoiled as she violently shook her head. “If I would have known you were like this, I wouldn’t have agreed to this marriage!” 

My heart sank to the depths of my stomach but I continued to hold my demeanor, not allowing her to know how her words continued to affect me. 

“Fine,” I shrugged with a sigh. “You have two choices. Stay here and watch or go upstairs and wait for me.”

“Wait for you? For what?” She blinked. 

Not uttering a word, I turned on my heels back towards Cory and kicked his abdomen, waking him from his slumber. Words were muffled as he tried to fight against the binds, weakly due to the blood loss, so Matt bent at the knees next to him.

“We’ll make it quick,” he shook the knife in front of Cory’s face, whose eyes flared with fear. 

I didn’t have to see if Scar went upstairs, I could feel her presence behind me as she stalked closer. The ghost brush of a hand on my lower back made my spine stiffen and when I glanced over my shoulder, I raised a brow at her. 

“Curious cat, eh?” 

“Fuck off, Sebastain!” She pushed away from me and I could hear her footsteps amcking against the concrete as she ran up the hidden staircase. 

“Did you want the honors, boss?” Matt’s voice caused me to turn my head back towards him. 

“He’s all yours,” I said, the urge to hurt him not present. “Have Ash help you clean up. But once you’re finished, do me a favor and look into what he was rambling on about earlier.”

Matt gave a quick two finger salute. My heart was no longer in this game of torture and mutalation. It was vying for the woman upstairs and wanting to make things right with her. The usual sick thrill I got from watching a kill meant nothing as I followed Scar’s footsteps. 

SCAR

I lay in bed with my back turned towards the door, trying my darndest to erase the image of Cory on the flood from my brain. While I never loved him, it still struck something inside of me to see him so broken on death's door. Yet, the way Noah looked towered over him, shirtless and the blue lights of the underground emanating him in neon glows now made something burn inside. My pussy ached as I remembered how the blood looked smeared across Noah’s tattooed chest and for the quickest of moments, I wanted to lick it off of him. 

“You’re so fucked up!” I groaned while pressing my palms into my eyes, hoping to rub away the vision from my mind. 

“Talking to yourself?” 

Snapping my eyes open, I saw Noah leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom, thick arms crossed over his chest. He looked like a dream with the setting sun's rays blasting through the large windows and casting him in a peachy glow. His belt and button were undone, showcasing the hard V line of his hips as his pants hung low, and I found myself staring at the few dark hairs that peaked out from the waistband of his briefs. 

“If you want it, Scar. All you need to do is ask,” Noah teased while pushing himself off the door frame and stalked into the bedroom. 

Rolling my eyes, I sat up in bed and pulled my knees to my chest as I watched him walk towards the bathroom. 

“Did you kill him?” 

My words made Noah pause, the muscles in his back flexing, but he didn’t look towards me. “Will you cry if I tell you the truth?”

“I don’t love him. Never had. But that doesn't mean he deserved to die, Noah!” 

Now he whirled around on his feet, dark eyes staring daggers into me. 

“He cheated on you, Scar! Bragged about how the only good hole you had was your mouth. Claimed you would lie there stiff as a board,” Noah ran a hand through his hair. 

I pulled my lips in a tight light after I was about to say something but when he took a large step towards me, I realized he wasn't done yet.

“Did you really think I would let him get away with talking about you like that? My wife. In my shop?!” 

His eyes were wild as he loomed over me in the bed and my stomach flipped at his words. 

My wife. 

“I-,” my voice faltered, unsure what to say. 

Noah’s nostrils flared, his anger radiating off of him in droves, and he leaned farther over me causing my body to fall to the bed. Tattooed arms locked me in on both sides of my head and I felt his scorching breath fanning over my lips. We were so close that if I titled my head up just a tad, I would finally be able to figure out what he tasted like; a thought that had been plaguing my mind since highschool. 

“Let’s make one thing clear here. You’re mine, angel. Anyone who disrespects you will pay a price, regardless of who they are,” Noah pressed his hips against mine. 

I sucked in a breath when his cock brushed along my pussy, over the silk fabric of my pajama shorts. I’d change once I came back upstairs, ready for the day to be over, not caring it was just before six in the evening. My hands shook at my sides, unsure what to do with them, so Noah grabbed them and pinned both of them above my head; both wrists fitting in one of his hands. 

“Wh-what did you call me?” I choked out, suddenly realizing what he said. 

His nose brushed along my jawline, breathing me in. 

“Angel,” Noah almost purred. 

I swallowed thickly, doing my best to keep my strong hold against him even though it was faltering with every brush of his cock against me. He was slowly dry humping me and I was giving back to him with even strokes. There was still dried blood across the tattoos on his chest, painting them in crimson, and I could still smell the lingering copper scent. 

“What if I don’t like it?” I panted, nearly gone in bliss. 

He groaned while grazing his teeth along my jugular. “Too bad because it stays. Angel.”

With one of his hands still keeping mine locked about my head, his other slipped underneath my nightshirt to graze over my blazed skin. We were like a couple of horny teenagers that found their first moment alone with each other with how frenzied our movements were against each other. My orgasm was building slowly, the familiar tingling sensation in the base of my spine. It was so close, I could taste it on the tip of my tongue and I wanted nothing more than to scream out his name as I came undone underneath hNoah. 

“How wet are you, angel?” He flicked his tongue against my earlobe. “I bet you're soaked just from this.”

I nodded, too far gone now to try and fight against him. I needed this release more than oxygen and it was almost as if Noah understood because his hand slipped between us to tease my folds over my shorts. 

“I fucking knew it,” he chuckled darkly. “How bad do you want my cock, Scar?” 

I bit the inside of my cheek, not wanting to give away how bad I actually wanted or how I’ve wanted it since freshman year. Instead I raised my hips up towards his hands, a silent beg falling from my lips. 

“Use your words,” Noah demanded before smacking my pussy. 

“Shit!” I cried out. “Fuck you.”

He wrapped one of my legs around his back so he could press his clothed cock over my core at a different angle and it was everything I needed for the coil to snap. 

“Oh god,” my body convulsed underneath Noah as I let my orgasm overcome all of my senses. 

White hazy stars danced at the edges of my vision. 

I could taste the blood from Noah’s chest as I lapped at it, unknowingly. 

All the noises around me seemed to fade away. The only thing I could hear was Noah’s grunts as he continued to dry fuck me. 

At some point he let go of my hands and my nails scratched at the large Jesus portrait against Noah’s back, working myself through the aftershocks. 

The scent of his cologne hung along the edge of my nose as I breathed him in. 

“That’s such a good girl, Scar. You sound so pretty when you cum,” Noah praised while dragging his teeth along the side of my neck. 

My jaw fell slack when I finally came down from my high and Noah began rising the hem of my shirt up over my stomach. 

“You can lie all you want, Scar. But what you saw downstairs turned you on,” he flicked his eyes up at me from his new position over my belly. 

“You’re crazy,” I breathed, letting my eyes flutter shut. 

“For you-.”

“Am I interrupting something?” 

My head snapped over towards the doorway where I saw one of his men leaning against the same spot Noah had been minutes prior. I vaguely recognized him as one of the members of OMNS; his long hair down past his shoulders and the cross earring hanging from his ear. The accent immediately told me who it was. I tried to scurry away from Noah, only for him to hold onto my hips with a vice grip, him sitting up against the back of his calves. 

“Need something Joakim?” Noah made no effort to fix his pants or briefs as they were askew. I didn’t miss the agitation in his voice. 

Joakim's eyes lingered at us for a moment before he motioned towards me. “Her fathers estate has been calling the lobby of the apartments. Apparently, her uncle wants to have her over for dinner tonight to celebrate the nuptials.” 

Both Noah and I shared a look, knowing that it couldn’t be true because we saw my dad and uncle a few hours ago and neither of them made it known they wanted dinner tonight. Plus, if they did, they would call my cell phone, not the lobby. 

Smacking his leg, Noah reluctantly rolled off of me allowing me to sit up and fix my hair and hopefully cool down my heated cheeks. I wasn’t sure how long Joakim had been watching us but from the sly smirk on his lips, I had a feeling it was before my orgasm.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this, Scar,” Noah sat on the edge of the bed, hair a disheveled mess and pants still unbuttoned. 

While I expected to see his cock thick and hard, it nearly shocked me to see a faint wet spot staining the gray briefs; not from my arousal. 

“I’ll be fine. Maybe it was a last minute dinner he wanted to set up. I’m sure he’s curious about the Cory situation,” I said. 

Noah’s brows peaked. “What are you going to tell him?” 

I shrugged. “It was handled. They don’t need to know the details.” 

“Let me come with you. Since it is a dinner to celebrate us,” he spoke while rising from the bed, however Joakim shook his head. 

“You’re needed at the M.I.N.D Clinic. Something happened with one of our extended guests.” 

Noah sighed with even more agitation than before and pinched his eyes shut. “Fine. Let me clean up and I’ll meet you in the living room in ten minutes.”

“Wiat!” I grabbed his arm before he could retreat into the bathroom. “The M.I.N.D Clinic is real?”

“Yes,” his lips pulled down at my surprise. “It’s been a running establishment for the last three years. How have you not known about it?” 

I shrugged. “There were rumors in my neighborhood about what you do in the Concrete Jungle but none of us knew for sure. The M.I.N.D Clinic allows you to go through your memories, right? Relieve them?” 

Noah nodded but then his eyes widened when he realized what I was getting at and firmly shook his head. “Absolutely not, Scar. It can be a dangerous place there. We’ve had a resident with us for the last 118 days because he’s trying to remember his wife who is currently on her deathbed. The M.I.N.D program, while it is one I’ve programmed myself, still has its flaws. If you find yourself too deep, you won’t be able to pull yourself out.”

“But-!”

“No, Saoirse. Do not ask again,” Noah snapped, using my first name to let me know he meant what he said.

Holding up my hands, I nodded. “Fine. I’m going to change and head to my dad’s. I’ll be back later.” 

“Take Joakim with you,” Noah said as I walked away from him. “I’ll bring Nicholas with me.” 

Joakim nodded towards him but gave me a playful wink as I walked past him towards the walk in closet. “No offense, Joakim. But I can take care of myself. It’s just a dinner, no need for protection.”

Waving off Noah’s protests, I closed myself inside of the closet to get ready. 

Thirty minutes later, I was dressed in a pair of jeans and a hoodie, not bothering to get dressed up for this last minute dinner, and drove down the familiar but darkened roads back to my fathers estate. I tried calling him once I got in the car to confirm but got his voicemail after three rings. Even though I knew it was nothing, I couldn’t ignore the way my heart beat increased the closer I got, something not sitting well with me. I couldn’t even enjoy the earlier thought of me coming apart for Noah without the fear of what I was about to walk into looming. 

How could I allow myself to let Noah take that part of me? I had told myself over and over again before moving in that I would not fold that fast for him, yet there I was begging for his cock like a horny teeneager. 

I mean, you were horny. You did love what you saw in the underground. 

Grumbling at my thoughts, I took the familiar turn around the bend, my old neighborhood less than a mile away. Yet I was blinded when a pair of bright headlights came barreling towards me. 

“Shit!” I cursed before wrenching the steering wheel to the side, causing my car to skid close to the edge. 

Right in perfect sight of the car that t boned into me. All I could remember was the sound of metal on metal and glass breaking before being plunged into darkness.

JOAKIM

“Did she make it?” I asked Noah who had stepped inside of his office at the M.I.N.D Clinic. 

While he was busy tending to the resident and his wife, I’d been sitting at his desk, looking over the numbers in the books. We had made a decent increase in revenue the last six months, along with a lot of our other businesses. We no longer had to worry about where money was coming from to cover the expenses of the underground, yet it was still nice to be aware of where the money was going. 

Noah shook his head and stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his black jacket. His black turtle neck had been pulled up high, covering the snake tattoo on his neck. 

“She didn’t make it. He claims he kept having visions of her dying over and over again while he was under,” Noah fell into the chair across from the desk with a deep sigh. 

“What happens now?” I wondered while leaning farther back into my own chair. 

“He paid out for 150 days, he’s going to honor the rest of his contract. To be honest, I don’t think we’d be able to make him leave,” he ran a hand through his locks, brushing them away from his face. 

We sat in silence for a moment until his deep voice reverberated in the air. 

“How much of that did you see? Back at the penthouse?” 

I gazed away from the computer screen to see a faint redness creeping along Noah’s defined cheekbones and snickered. 

“Enough to know why Scar has been on your mind since highschool,” I clicked off the program before shutting down the computer. 

Noah ran a hand over his face. “I didn’t expect to fall into her so quickly, Jolly. She has this way of pulling me in and I’m so afraid that I’ll fall even harder than the last time when she realizes I’m not what she wants.” 

I kicked my feet up on the desk, ignoring the way Noah glared at the action. 

“She doesn't have a choice, Noah. As long as both sides want to keep the peace and stop a war from breaking out, she has to remain married to you.” 

I could tell my words did nothing to ease the anxiety in his mind so I continued. “Plus from what I saw and heard, she’s into you more than you think.”

Noah’s lips parted to speak but was interrupted by the constant shrill of his phone ringing and he dug it out of his pants pocket. 

“It’s Scar,” he muttered before answering. “Hey, did you make it-.”

It was silent for an eerily amount of time and with the way his face changed from neutral to fear to pure anger made me sit straight up in the chair now. 

“Where are you?” Noah made a simple motion with his hand, one I understood, and quickly I made my way over to the other end of the office, yanking one of the books off of the book shelf. 

The shelf next to me creaked open from the middle, showcasing a large array of different kinds of weapons. After I grabbed one of the handguns, making sure it was loaded, I grabbed one of Noah’s favorites and tossed it to him. He caught it without even looking, still on the phone with Scar. 

“It’s alright, angel. Joakim and I can be there in ten minutes. Have you called the cops?” 

Angel? 

Cops?

What the fuck was going on?

“Don’t. I’ll call the guys to meet you there. Folio can get there in five with his bike. Just stay out of sight, alright?” Noah said while grabbing another gun, giving me a sideways glance. 

You can never be too safe. 

Once he hung up, he worked out a text message, no doubt to our group chat, and then slipped on his leather gloves. 

“Is she alright?” I asked as we made our way through the hidden door of the office that led to the back alley. 

“I don’t know,” he spat out through gritted teeth. 

Neither of us said a word as we slipped inside of the sleek black car, Noah speeding off before I even buckled my seat belt.

SCAR

The sound of metal scraping along the concrete was loud in my ears as I stood frozen, gazing at the sight in front of me. In an instant, everything changed and I couldn't stop wondering what would have happened if I didn't make it out. 

If I was at the bottom of the ocean with what was left of the crumpled piece of metal. The face behind the mask was the last thing I saw before swerving my car out of the way and tumbling over the edge. 

I let out a choked sob as the tears finally fell from my eyes and I didn't bother to wipe them away. Fear etched its way deep into my bones and my body shook uncontrollably. Until a faint shadow in the darkness appeared through the fog and the fear stilled, only for a moment. 

"I-I-I'm sorry," I sobbed, cradling my arms to my chest, hoping to hide the injuries from him. "I didn't know who else to call."

Noah stepped out of the thick fog and immediately cradled my face, eyes scanning for every visible injury he could see. 

“Are you alright, angel?” 

The tenderness in his voice did nothing to ease away the pain weighing my body down. I shook my head, tears still falling. 

“I should have called someone else. I know you’re busy and you wanted me to be with a guard but I didn’t want to be a bother,” I rambled on. 

Noah’s thumb grazed over a deep wound on my cheek, gathering up the blood. “You always call me, Scar. Always.”

I blinked through the tears but eventually nodded. 

“The car came out of nowhere! The only thing I could see was a masked person driving before it crashed into me,” I sobbed but then pointed a shaking finger towards the cliff edge twenty feet from us. “My car hung on the ledge for a few minutes and I climbed my way out, barely making it out before it fell into the water.”

Noah’s grip on my face tightened before he pulled me into his chest, large hands leaving soothing circles against my back as I cried. 

“It’s alright, angel. I’ve got you. You’re alright,” he cooed. 

“Everything hurts. I think my arm is broken,” I continued to sob. “I should go to a hospital.” 

“No,” he pulled away from me slightly so he could glance down at me through the darkness, only illuminated by the lights from his car. “Hospitals will ask questions. I’ve got a doctor on call that will meet us back at the penthouse to look at that arm and stitch up your wounds.” 

Suddenly exhausted from the aftermath of the crash, I numbly nodded before collapsing into his arms. Noah cursed before picking me up bridal style to carry me over to Nicholas’ SUV. He arrived seconds after Noah did. 

“How is she?” Nicholas wondered while Noah laid me down in the back seat. 

“We need to get her back to the penthouse, now. Have the doctor meet you guys there. I’m going to see what I can find,” Noah ordered. 

I reached for his hand, keeping him from leaving. He stood in the open doorway of the car and peered down at me with concern in his almond eyes. 

“Please don’t leave,” my voice shook. 

While I did grow up in the mob life, I never was exposed to it in this kind of magnitude. There wasn’t a doubt in any of our minds that this whole night had been a hit on me or Noah. But we weren't sure who had set it up. 

His clenched jaw eased before letting out a tender breath. “I need to figure out what happened. I won’t be long.” 

“Folio is already looking,” I explained while slowly sitting up, grimacing at the pain that shot through me. 

Just then, Folio popped up behind Noah, a cigar hanging loosely from his lips. 

“What did you find out?” He whirled around, fanning out the smoke. 

“The driver,” Folio adjusted his leather cut off. “Put up a nasty fight at first, damn near scratched my eyes out.” 

At the mention of the scuffle, I did notice three red marks down the side of his face and over the Jesus tattoo on the side of his neck. 

“So is he dead or alive?” Noah asked, aggravated. 

I could tell in the way his shoulders tensed underneath his jacket that he was ready to take care of this by himself. 

Folio smirked before pulling the cigar from his mouth. “She is alive. Got her in the trunk of your car.”

Very quickly, Noah barked out orders to all of his men before they all piled into their respective cars. He motioned for me to lay down again, resting my head in his lap as Nicholas drove us away from the scene. I could hear the rumble of Folio’s bike next to us while Joakim and Matt rode in Noah’s car that had the culprit tied up in the trunk. I knew that there were other cars behind us but I couldn’t care at that moment because Noah’s fingers worked through the blood matted knots of my hair. 

“We’ll get you cleaned up and looked at. I’m going to have a conversation with this driver,” he muttered, keeping his eyes locked on the car in front of him. 

“I want to be the one to do it.” 

Noah’s eyes fell down to mine, heavy with exhaustion, but I forced them open. 

“Are you sure?” He asked. 

It nearly took me off guard that he didn’t argue with me but I recovered quickly. 

“She nearly killed me, Noah,” I squeezed his knee, adjusting myself so I could take a small nap. “I’m going to find out why.”

SCAR

I stood in front of the woman who lay slumped in front of me, her words replaying in my mind over and over again. None of it could be true. There was no way; not possible. 

We all arrived to the penthouse about an hour ago and while Noah brought me upstairs to get checked out and cleaned up, the rest of OMNS were busy dealing with her. I had a broken arm that was currently being held up by a sling and a wound on my forehead that needed to be stitched up, covered with a bandage. Besides those and a few bumps and bruises, I would live; much to the dismay of the woman at my feet. 

It wasn't easy for me to shower by myself but I made due, not wanting Noah’s help. Even with our moment earlier this evening in bed, I wasn’t ready for him to see me naked yet. 

The doctor prescribed me some meds for the pain but I declined, never liking the idea of pain meds after seeing my friends in high school abuse their parents. I’d gladly suffer for a few weeks rather than get addicted. As soon as I was dressed in a pair of leggings and a tank top, I had Noah help me back into the sling before both of us took the hidden staircase down to the underground where my prey sat waiting for me. 

Nicholas and Folio had already roughed her up a bit for me and I couldn’t ignore the way it brought a giddy smile to my face seeing the woman a bloody mess. When she saw both Noah and I descended the stairs, pure ice cold fear filled her pupils and began rambling off nonsense. 

Nonsense about my mother. 

Once we arrived, Noah dismissed Nicholas and Folio, leaving just us three alone. 

"Pl-please," she blabbered while spitting out blood. "You have to believe me! I saw it!" 

“That’s not possible. She’s been dead for years. You saw her doppelganger or some shit,” I sneered while kicking her in her face, watching her rear back against the chilled concrete floor. 

Thankfully I remembered to slip on my black boots before coming down here. 

“I know what I saw! She was seen with Vincent!” The woman continued to spew bullshit. 

According to Nicholas, he found out some details about this woman. She worked for the Italians and was set out to veer my car off of the road because they were upset that the deal for my hand in marriage was made with Noah and not one of their prospective sons. 

As if I would ever get in bed with the Italians. 

“You’re saying whatever you can think of to prolong you walking out of here alive,” I rolled my eyes before reaching for the knife that Noah had laid out prior to us coming down here. 

I told him that I wanted to be the one to integrate her, he could hang back and watch in case things got out of hand. But before we came down here, he showed me how to properly use a knife. 

“Keep a light grip on the handle but firm with the blade against their skin,” he breathed against the back of my neck as he stood behind me in our bedroom. 

He held the blade against the sensitive skin of my neck and I held my breath, not due to fear but arousal. The scene also had an effect on him because I could feel Noah’s cock against the swell of my ass. 

“It’s all true! Two weeks before Vincent showed up on OMNS doorstep, I saw him with your mother! At some sleazy German bar, they wanted to meet on neutral ground to discuss something.” 

I paused twirling the knife in my hand and watched as the woman rose to her knees, holding out her hands. 

“Discuss what?” I questioned, absitmindly playing with my wedding ring. 

I couldn’t believe that it was still the same day that Noah and I signed the marriage certificate. It felt like days ago. 

The woman hesitated before wiping the blood away from her broken nose with the back of her hand. “I don’t exactly know.” 

Sighing, I yanked her head back by her hair, exposing her neck to the neon lights adorning the ceiling. I had no plans on killing her, that wasn’t me. Yet again, this whole torturing of a victim wasn’t me either, but given the circumstances I allowed myself this. 

But realizing I could only hold her head back with my good arm, unable to hold the knife against her throat, I groaned before pushing her down the ground again. 

My eyes snapped over to Noah leaning against the concrete wall, the bottom half of his face covered in the black mask. Dark tendrils of hair fell into his face but his hands were covered in blood so he refused to push them away. 

“I’m suddenly bored. There’s no need to question you any longer. Have fun with her, Noah. I’m going to bed,” I grumbled, slamming the knife on the table as I walked past him, who still hadn’t uttered a word or moved a muscle. 

“Noah looked into your mothers death! He sent Matt to find out more information,” the woman called after me, halting my footsteps. “It’s all over the Concrete Jungle that your mother was seen with Vincent. In more ways than one, if you catch my drift. 

My head snapped over to Noah, ignoring the suddenly sinister laugh falling from the woman's mouth. 

"Is it true?" I asked him, venom in my voice. 

All he did was blink once but that was answer enough. 

Yes.

I scoffed. “Were you planning on telling me?” 

One blink. 

Yes. 

I pointed to the woman. “Does she have anything to do with my mother?”

This time, Noah didn’t blink which again told me his answer. 

He didn’t know.

The woman watched the interaction between Noah and I, shaking her head wildly. "You can't believe him! He's lying!" 

I cocked my head at her with narrowed eyes. There was a large and warm presence behind me. When I glanced over my shoulder, Noah was now standing behind me; physically and metaphorically. 

"Noah's my husband. He has no reason to,” I said. 

The woman's face was covered in blood, her right eye swollen shut but I wasn’t sure if it was from our beatings or from the car accident she caused. But I could see the briefest hint of fear in them when my fingers grazed over the handle of the gun Noah extended towards me. 

"No, you're not like him. Please!” She begged while wrapping her arms around my hips, holding onto me. 

The part of me that didn’t like the dark side of the mob life called to me, overpowering the thrill of seeing her weep at my feet and gently, I removed her grasp around me. 

“I’m done,” I spoke flatly, pushing her away from me. 

Mentally, I was exhausted from the everlasting day and was ready to call it a night when dark laughter pulled me back to the pathetic excuse of a woman. 

“Your mother was right. You never could hack it in this business. I’m shocked your father signed you over to Noah Sebastian. He needs someone that can get their hands dirty. Maybe he’d be better off with me-.” 

It all happened so quickly, barely having time to actually register what happened until it was too late. Me scurrying back over towards Noah, who still held the gun outstretched and my finger on the trigger, firing off two rounds directly into the woman's skull; right between the eyes.

The ringing in my ear due to the gunshot was deafening as I stood there motionless, unable to process any coherent thought or word. It wasn’t until I felt callused fingers around my wrist, pulling my attention away from the dead body at my feet and to the dark eyes of Matt, filled with concern. 

“Let’s get you upstairs, Scar,” he gingerly led me back towards the hidden staircase, too far gone in a state of shock to realize Noah had begun cleaning up my mess.

NOAH

“Scar?” I called out into the dark penthouse. 

After I finished cleaning up the mess in the underground thanks to help from Ash and Bryan, I made my way upstairs to check on Scar. Matt had taken her upstairs over an hour ago but I hadn’t heard how she was doing. It’s never easy, your first kill, so I knew the feeling of disgust and dread she had to have been feeling. 

As I walked down the long hallway towards our bedroom, ignoring the one room that always remained locked, I paused momentarily just past the doorway of the bedroom when I heard soft cries echoing from the shower. 

“Scar?” I called out again, this time with more fever as I ran into the bathroom, the sight stalling my heart. 

She was curled up in a ball, still in her clothes and sling, soaked to the bone as she cried out. There was a frigid chill in the air, indicating she’d run through all of the hot water, but that didn’t stop me from kicking off my boots and stepping into the shower with her; clothes and all. 

“Noah!” She cried, immediately pulling me into her, burying her face in my soaked black shirt. 

“Shh,” I brushed my lips across her forehead, the bandage covering her stitches barely hanging on. “I’ve got you.” 

“Am I?” Scar choked out, fisting at the fabric. “Am I a monster now?” 

My heart shattered, pieces falling into the depths of my abdomen but I shook my head. Cupping her cheek, I forced her to look up at me, water droplets hanging onto her long lashes. 

“No, angel. You’re a fighter. You did what needed to be done,” I held her closer to me, allowing her to cry out the guilt and anguish she felt. 

She might have felt like a monster right now but I knew that she would evolve into something greater, far exceeding the expectations her family set against her. They were right when they thought she couldn’t run the McManus empire. Because she was made to run OMNS with me by her side. 

First things first, however, we needed to have a talk with Matt and figure out what he found out about her mother's death.

[captainmalewriter]

The Long Game

I sat in the passenger seat of the car as I waited for my new boyfriend Steven to come back from the gas station. He came back after a couple of minutes and hopped into the driver's seat. I couldn't help but smile like a ninny as my handsome boyfriend jumped back behind the wheel. It was truly a happy moment for me, but I knew something that could make it even better!

"Hey babe?" I started. He turned to me with big puppy eyes, practically begging me to give him more of my attention. "It's kinda hot in here... Do you wanna take off your shirt? I bet you'll feel better!"

"You're right, my love, hold on a sec..."

I watched with a wide grin as he got out of the car and took off his shirt. He then got back in, now shirtless and body on full display.

"Hey babe? Have you been hitting the gym a lot lately? You're looking swole as fuck right now... do you wanna show off?"

Steven smirked, then proceeded to flex his muscular arms right in front of me. I had a clear view to the gun show and I was loving it!

It was crazy to think that it was only three short months ago Steven was dating my sister. We first met after she brought him to a family barbecue. I knew from the first time I laid eyes on him that I wanted him for myself.

And so, I got to work. Everytime I saw him, I made sure to leave subtle yet powerful subliminal messaging for him. I knew how to use my words and I knew how people worked on a psychological level. Put those things together, and I was a natural at hypnotizing others. I made sure to keep my hypnotic work on the downlow so nobody would notice what I was doing or that Steven was slowly but surely changing as he fell under my spell.

Hey Steven, wanna go work out with me?

Hey Steven, wanna go to the pool with me?

Hey bro, wanna spend more time with me?

Hey bro, wanna share a bed with me?

Hey, do you think you like boys too?

Hey, wanna go on a date?

Hey babe, wanna have some fun tonight?

I used phrases and questions like the ones above to lure him in. I had to make sure he kept his decision making power while I merely suggested things to him. That way, he wouldn't even notice he was falling under my hypnotic words! I also made sure to spread out my suggestions throughout a long period of time (about five months) before I started making real progress on my goal. What can I say, the power of suggestion was a waiting game, but it was a game I was a professional at!

It took a while but surely enough, I noticed the desired changes in Steven. As I went deeper with the hypnosis, Steven became much more comfortable with me. He became playful with how physically affectionate he was. Of course, because I was the one who became his object of desires, I was always showered by his shameless display of affection. Kinda like a puppy, but it was just the way I liked him.

At the final stage of hypnosis, he finally broke up with my sister and was incredibly ecstatic when I asked if he wanted to go out with me. His pupils had become incredibly dilated due to the hypnosis, but that'll go away with time. I'll also slowly stop suggesting things once he's fully settled in the role I gave him. It'll probably take another month or two. But in the meantime, we'll continue being the best, most-in-love boyfriends this world has ever seen!

"Hey babe, wanna make out in the back seats?"

"Of course, my love, I'd love that."

[deadrayg2mf]

The Gargoyle's Captive (A Deal with a Demon #3) by Katee Robert

Honestly, like, what do I even say at this point that ya'll haven't heard from me about how much I freakin' love Katee Robert and this series. I will keep this one brief for real because if I don't it'll just be like "Oh my god, Ray, shut the fuck up we get it - this book came out three months ago you're late to the party!"

Okay, so aside from it being Katee freakin' Robert, this book is full of enemies to lovers, femdom, grief-consumed protags, and - my favorite, of course - angst. Yeah, did I see the plot twist coming from a mile away? One thousand percent. Did I care? Frick no. Okay, so we're following the same story - deal with a demon, seven years basically married to leader of demon territory, maybe a baby... But this time, it's Grace the monster hunter and Bram the Gargoyle.

Grace is another enjoyable female lead who is a headstrong take-no-shit kinda gal, probably what you would expect from someone who makes a living out of hunting monsters. She's the last of her family and she's really only here for answers because Azazel happens to be the same demon her mother, who disappeared, made a bargain with, and by golly, she is going to get those answers even if it means selling seven years of her life. Bram is traumatized, grief-stricken, lonely, and at this point has the most sad-boy, giving up on life, fuck it energy I've ever seen in a protagonist - and I am so here for it. I eat that shit up. I love the tragics - stories and characters. He's also the last of his family after his entire family was murdered by an outsider his father brought in. He doesn't actually really want to be there but the opportunity and benefits it brings are too good to pass up, especially when you're in the leadership position he is...

I loved the story clearly, and really liked how handling grief was portrayed, no two people will be able to handle it the same even when they are in the same situation. Grace dug her heels in and became even more stalwart and determined while Bram gave in to the grief of loss and resigned himself to an empty life... and even potentially having it purposely ended at the hands of a scrappy little monster hunter in the bath... They are two people coming to terms with events of the past, the shadow of their parents, and suddenly dealing with someone new who they bought at an auction/got auctioned to for the next seven years that they don't necessarily get along with. That's right, they're totally toxic for each other. Don't worry, we're always promising happy endings here :) It's fast paced, there's a lot to get through in 186 pages, but I really think it was done to the best of its ability. Do I wish this was 500 pages? Uh, YEAH, but it is what it is and what it is, is really good. I will admit... it took me a hot minute to slug through obviously. I actually feel a little bad about this review because I was kind of forcing myself to read this. I wasn't in the right headspace and so while objectively I knew I was enjoying it I was also aware that I was, like, not locked in. I am very much intending to reread it when I'm not begrudgingly reading while rotting in bed just because nothing sounds enjoyable.

With that, I swear I am not just pulling shit out of my ass with everything I've told you. I really did enjoy the book, I love the way it's written, I liked the characters, the cover art is amazing, and it's just another great addition to the Deal with a Demon series. I think I'll give it a solid.... 7.9/10 with subject to change in the future :)

Would I read again? Yes, I plan to. Once the pesky ole depression and imminent demise anxiety wear off.

Would I recommend? Of cousre, I'm always recommending Katee Robert... I'm not sure what happens on the day I don't...? Does the world end?

[kissorkill16]

Breakdown: A Hello Neighbor Fanfic

By JJ

Summary: Nicky finally says what he's wanted to say his whole life.

Nicky sat down on the living room couch. The TV was off, but he didn't feel like watching anything anyway.

He's been really bummed out lately and he doesn't know why. Nothing bad has really happened to him for the past week. In fact, he's actually had a good week so far.

His friends apologized to him for pushing him to a frenzy, Finch apologized for the whole picture thing, he and Delroy were starting to get along, his therapy sessions with Mr. Murtaugh seem to be going okay, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd been to detention.

Then what was making him so upset?

Was he sick?

No. If he was sick, he would've felt something that said so.

Was he depressed?

He didn't think so. Maybe, because of Mr. Peterson, obviously.

Just then, the front door opened, and in walked his parents.

"Hey, Narf. We're home.", said his father, taking off his shoes. "Did you eat yet?"

Nicky nodded.

He didn't feel like talking to his parents. He hadn't seen them since last week, since they had another work trip. They were always out for work, always leaving him alone, barely ever home.

...Maybe that was it.

Luanne walked to the living room, taking off her jacket. Nicky looked at his mother, "So glad you guys are home.", he said.

"Yeah.", she said. "But sadly, it won't be for long."

Jay walked in, sitting next to Nicky. "We have to leave again two days from now. I'll make something for you before we leave, you can heat that up if you get hungry.", he said, then shrugged. "Or you could just order pizza. We'll leave some money for you."

Nicky's hands balled up into fists, and he squeezed his eyes tight. "That's how it always is.", he mumbled.

Luanne looked at him, "What?"

Nicky looked at his mother dead in the eye, "You guys always leave. That's how it's been for months now.", he said.

"Well, yeah. Narf, we have to leave so much because of work. You know that.", said Jay, putting a hand on his shoulder. Nicky shrugged it off.

"I do know that, but I just wish you guys didn't have to leave me alone so often. It's kind of ironic. You guys once said you'd be there for me when I need it, but you never fulfilled that promise.", he said. "Maybe then, I wouldn't be getting into trouble so much."

Luanne crossed her arms. "Don't blame your rebellious nature on us, young man! You get yourself into trouble. Remember the fart machine at Mrs. Tillman's store? That was all you and your little friends."

Nicky stood up, "Maybe! But it's not just that! It's been like this my whole life!"

Jay and Luanne stared at Nicky, both had displeased looks on their faces.

"You guys never had any time for me. From the moment I turned one, work was always more important to you than your own child. Always out somewhere for work, and always leaving me alone with Bubba.", said Nicky.

Luanne pointed an angry finger at his son, "Don't bring your grandmother into this!", she said. "She was the only one who was willing to watch you, but every time she did, we'd always come home to you gone and her sitting alone."

"Exactly.", said Jay. "Remember the grocery store? And the woods? It took us hours to find you. Sure, we weren't around a lot because of our jobs. But we also didn't like being around your grandmother because she was a fucking psychopath."

Nicky let out a dry laugh. "Probably, but she was the only one who didn't leave me when I needed her. Despite all the things she did to me, she told me herself that she really wants to protect me.", he said. "Maybe she'd believe me if I told her that Mr. Peterson was a murderer."

Luanne rubbed her temple. "Are we seriously back to this again?", she said. "Nicky, we've told you a million times before that Mr. Peterson is just a lonely old widow who lost his family."

"Your mother's right.", said Jay. "We'd take you to his house so he can tell you himself, but we hadn't seen him in weeks."

"Yeah. Because he's in jail.", Nicky flatly said.

Now Jay and Luanne were surprised.

"Jail?", asked Luanne. "For what?"

"For kidnapping me!", said Nicky. "I've been missing for a whole month, and when I escaped, I found out that no one had even bothered to look for me. There were 0 missing posters put up for me, and 0 search parties put together. When I got home, you guys were still gone."

Nicky paused for a moment when he felt tears falling down his face, "But I guess it's partly my fault. I decided to go missing while you guys were on another work trip. I was wearing a fucking bag over my head!"

Nicky felt his legs starting to give out, but he wasn't finished.

"And when you guys were here, you guys were pulling me out of my room because I was yelling at my friends! Those guys pushed me to a mental breakdown! Nevermind, the only thing you guys cared about was the fact that I was making a scene in front of the entire neighborhood! What's worse is that some bitch took a picture of it and printed it all around school! I hated my friends so much ever since that happened! I wanted to tell you guys so badly that I was being bullied by other kids at school, but you guys were always too busy!"

Nicky didn't even bother to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"But thank God you guys are paying for my therapy, but even that's not enough for you guys to spend more than 5 minutes with me.", he said. "You guys are my parents, you're supposed to be there when I need you, but you're never really there. And it's those times where I wish I was still with Mr. Peterson. At least he never let me out of his sight. He felt like the parent I never had, even if he wasn't in his right mind. Even if he locked me in his basement, he was more of a parent than you guys put together."

It was at that moment that Nicky finally wiped his eyes. When he did, he saw his mother's eyes fill with tears.

"Mom?"

Luanne didn't answer. Her lips quivered, and the tears started to flow down her face.

"Mom, are you crying?", he asked. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you -"

Luanne didn't even let her son finish before she started sobbing, her hands rubbing eyes. She sat down on the couch, still wiping the tears from her eyes. Jay sat down next to her, rubbing her back.

"Mom, I'm sorry. Please stop crying, I didn't mean to make you -"

"No, Nicky. You're right.", said Luanne. "You're right. We're terrible parents. We didn't even know you went missing."

Jay looked down at his knees, "We didn't even try to call you to check up on you.", he said. "Man, how was your grandmother a better parent than we were? She was a fucking lunatic.", then he sighed. "But I guess you'd rather be raised by a lunatic than be all alone."

Nicky rubbed his eyes, feeling them fill with tears again. "I miss her so much, even if she wasn't the best parent, she was still there for me. But I still love you guys so much."

Jay smiled at his son, "And we love you too."

Luanne stopped rubbing her eyes for a moment, then wrapped her arms around Nicky, pulling him in for a hug.

Nicky was taken by surprise for a moment, but then he hugged his mother back. Jay soon joined in the hug, wrapping his arms around both of them.

Nicky buried his face in his mother's shoulder, "Maybe this time, they'll fulfill their promise to be there for me.", he thought.

Meanwhile, Jay and Luanne would make sure that Nicky would never feel alone again.

[beaker1636]

I'll Be Home For Christmas - Ricky Angst

AN: I am really proud of how this one came out, I genuinely love it! Thank you for the request @tearfallpixie ! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

“What do you mean that you won’t be here in time for Christmas?! This is why I didn’t want you to book a flight home on fucking Christmas eve?” 

You want to yell, to scream out your frustration and grief towards your boyfriend, who is telling you yet again that he is missing something important to you but instead you find yourself getting quieter, almost in a whisper as you fight back your tears from his news.

“You-you promised me that you would be home for Christmas after having to miss our anniversary, my birthday, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. Rick, you fucking promised me,” you mumble, lip trembling as you try to keep your tears back.

“I know I did baby, we’re all currently trying to figure out how to get home.  It’s not our fault that the flight was canceled, it just happens unfortunately.  In fact Chris is currently fighting with someone trying to figure out what the fuck we can all do to get home. Ryan, Vin, Chris and I were all booked on this flight and are stuck here.  I know I promised you to be back for your favorite holiday, I’m so fucking sorry and wish I could do more right now,” you can hear the remorse and frustration in his voice, that he was just as upset as you are.

You let out a sigh before responding, “It’s part of being with you, I have to accept that, I am working on accepting that, but it’s hard Rick it is really hard.”

“I know baby, I know.  At least we are taking time off after the holidays for our next album so I will be home for a while,” he says, sounding sad as well which just makes you feel worse.

“Yeah, I hope you make it home soon.  Rick, I’ve got to go, mom is calling me,” you say softly. “I love you.”

“I love you too baby, I’ll keep you updated,” he answers before hanging up.

Your mother isn't really calling, you just need to end the call before you say something that you will regret during your emotions at the time.  You have to take some time to think about what is going on in your mind before you speak about it, not wanting to take your frustrations out on your boyfriend. 

You make your way to your bed, laying down on his side before you give in, letting your tears finally escape your eyes as a couple sobs escape as it all finally hits you.  Grief from missing him so much the last couple months Anger because he is missing another important thing. Anger because he promised you and broke it. Frustration from spending your favorite holiday alone. But most important, and probably the hardest thing is the loneliness that you feel.  

Your anger winds up winning as everything runs through your head, angry at yourself for trusting his words when he has failed you before.  And angry at yourself because he failed at keeping his promise.

You groan in annoyance, getting up and finding yourself in your living room.  Glaring at all the decorations that are mocking you, at the tree you had to decorate yourself this year.  You let out a growl before you begin ripping all of the ornaments off the tree, crying and frustrated.  Letting a couple break as you drop them while throwing them in a bag so you can be rid of the thing.  When that is done you tear the tree back down, taking it and the ornaments back down into the basement.  You wind up taking everything down in a fury, pissed off and annoyed and hurt.  So fucking hurt, you debated going home with your family but he fucking promised you.

You thought taking everything down would make you feel better, because then you wouldn’t have to sit and look at them when you know you won’t enjoy your Christmas now.. But instead it has made everything feel more real, breaking your heart even more as you sit on the floor where your tree once stood bawling, questioning if your love for Rick will always be enough to get you through the loneliness and heartbreak that you feel so deep.

Meanwhile

Chris walks back to the group, looking a little less pissed off than he was when he went up to the poor lady working the desk, but also frustrated.

“Okay, I got somewhere with her, we may still have a chance at getting home.  The airline has a flight to Philadelphia that leaves in 6 hours out of an airport that is a 4 hour drive away and she was able to get the four of us on it.  So if we can get a rental car, drive to the other airport in time, take the flight we would land in Philly at about 2 in the morning and would all get home around 430 if we can get someone to meet us at that airport to drive us home.  So let’s all start calling all the rental car places around here and see if we can find one last minute on a holiday and make this happen,” Chris says, giving a hopeful smile to his bandmates and friends.

Rick lets out a sigh, praying to a god he doesn’t believe in that they can somehow make this happen and get home for Christmas before pulling out his phone and starting to make calls.

They have no luck and now 15 minutes later Ryan is calling the last place, all feeling defeated and awful when he finally has a breakthrough.

“I’ve got one, it’s a car so we will be cramped with all of us and our luggage but it’s better than nothing.  They are holding it for me so let’s get a taxi and get there before its too late,” he exclaims, getting up from his seat.

Everyone cheers, thankful that they finally found something that will work, hoping everything goes as planned and despite the fact they’ll all be exhausted they will finally be on their way.  Eventually getting to the rental place and now on their way, Ryan drives.

Everyone’s moods have lifted at the prospect that they may have pulled this off and be home in time to be with their families.

While sitting in the car headed towards the new airport Rick’s mind wanders towards you, he tried calling you but you didn’t answer him.  He hopes that you are alright, able to hear you trembling when you speak and it really hurts him to know that you were hurting, especially when he feels like it is all his fault. But the part that killed him the most, that broke his own heart was when you said that it was part of being with him, that you have to accept that.  He honestly hates that he puts you through that, it is hard on him but he knows it is worse on you because you are stuck at home alone when he is off.  You had moved away from your family for him, so you are truly alone and he feels awful that he might not even be there for you at the holidays.  He would do anything if he knew he could erase all your pain and grief, but he knows he can’t.

He hopes that you aren’t taking it too badly, that you will be happy when he surprises you in the morning.  He also selfishly hopes that you are sleeping when he arrives home, that you will wake up and find him in your bed and get the gift he knows that you want the most this year, himself.

Back To You

You find yourself sitting on the couch, feeling a little numb as you continue to look around the room at the emptiness.  You and Rick should be getting home from the airport about now and instead you are sitting here, waiting for him to arrive but knowing he probably won’t tonight, which brings you back to your sorrow. 

You had things all planned for tomorrow, knowing he would be tired and sleep in, you planned to make a big breakfast for him in bed with all his favorites, but not until later in the day.  The two of you would have a lazy day, watching movies curled up together before enjoying a nice dinner.  You had already picked up both his and your favorite Christmas movie from the store, had bought everything, hell you even got some new lingerie for that night once the two of you were relaxed and ready to ahem spend time together.  You had everything figured out for a nice holiday and now you are alone. 

Your mother even begged you to come home for the holiday and you said no because you wanted a nice time with Rick, being his first day home from tour and now you wasted what could be a nice trip home. 

You get a call from him but you don’t answer it, given the time you figure it is bad and that you’ll be disappointed all over again, plus you just don’t want to for a moment, needing this time to figure out what you want.

You finally give up, deciding that you want to go to bed and forget about everything.  You can deal with this tomorrow, maybe if you are lucky he will be home tomorrow night and it won’t be a complete waste of the day.

The Next Morning 

Rick finally arrives home around 5 in the morning, thanks to Vinny's mom who spent her night picking them up from the airport and giving everyone a ride to their houses.  He makes sure to give her a smile and huge hug as thanks before grabbing his bag and making his way up the walkway.  He lets out a huff, before trying his hardest to unlock the door quietly so that he doesn’t wake you up.  He stops in his tracks when he notices that there is no tree up, no decorations anymore, and he knows how much time you spent putting everything up.  You facetimed him the entire time to try and make him still feel like he had a part in it with you. He sighs in disappointment before making his way into the bedroom to be with you.

His heart breaks when he sees you sleeping on his side of the bed, holding his pillow to your chest. He can tell that you were crying, your eyes slightly red and puffy in your sleep.  He shuffles out of his jeans and shirt, quietly sliding on a pair of sweatpants to sleep in before laying down behind you and wrapping his arm around you, smiling when you instinctively roll over and nuzzle your face in his neck but not waking up.  

When you wake up around 9 you are confused at first, you can tell someone is holding you before you even open your eyes.  You shoot up, concerned that someone has broken in, or who knows what but then you notice it is Rick and can’t help the excited squeal that escapes your mouth.

You can’t believe he made it on time, he told you he wouldn’t and you thought you would be alone.  You just watch him sleep for a while, not wanting to move and risk waking him up because you know he had to have arrived late.  But also because you can’t believe that he is currently home, in bed with you.

He stirs after a while, slowly stretching before opening his eyes and looking at you where you lay curled up in his side.  Rather than speaking he moves some of your hair, which is a mess from sleeping, out of your face before leaning in and giving you a soft kiss, both of you lingering in the kiss, not wanting to separate after finally seeing you for the first time in a long time before he finally sleepily pulls away with a smile.

“Merry Christmas Y/N,” he says quietly, neither of you moving nor having the desire to.  He just gave you your favorite Christmas gift, himself, and you couldn’t be happier to be laying here with him, having a lazy morning.  It may not have been the big breakfast and everything you had originally planned but this?  This is better.

[kirythestitchwitch]

Klaroline WIP Wed - Freaky Friday Time Travel AU - Klaus is a Master Baiter

It's been a while since put some of this out but i've been working on my plot issues and writing so here is some FFTT! as always @galvanizedfriend your tag!

Part One here Part Two here Part Three here Part Four here Part Five here

Pulling down a pink jacket, she wondered as she slipped it on if she’d be breaking any time laws if she brought it home with her. Shoes on, she went in search of Klaus.

The bedroom opened on a hallway lined with paintings with two closed doors and a staircase at the end, which curved around down to the landing. A living room was through one doorway, a kitchen and dining room through another. Klaus’ voice, sharp in tone, came from behind a door to the left that was cracked a smidge, and she padded quietly to the door to listen.

She needn’t have bothered, first off, he was speaking a language she wasn’t familiar with, and secondly, the moment she got within range of the door, he called out to her. “Caroline, do come in, love.”

Only slightly annoyed, she pushed the door open. The room was some kind of study or office, with a desk in the middle of the room and a couch over by the window and a corner fireplace, currently lit and casting patterns of light on the built-ins filled with books and small trinkets. A tumbler of some amber liquid in one hand, Klaus gave her a small smile, a phone held to one ear. It sounded like he was speaking maybe Icelandic or oh! probably Old Norse. She caught Kol's name flung out with irritation before he switched to English.

“I aim to enjoy time with my wife after that mess with the ifrit in Tehran that you elected not to join us for.” Klaus gestured to her to make herself comfortable, and trying not to think about how many times her future self had probably fucked Klaus on it, she sat down on the couch. Really tried not to think about it.

Looking at the firelight playing across Klaus' body, the jumble of necklaces tumbling over the neck of his shirt, Caroline very privately had to guess it was a lot of times for the couch. 'Stop that,' she told herself, 'You're with Tyler, and none of this has happened yet. You could make it all not happen.'

Kol's voice, heard by Caroline only once or twice before this, came through the phone clear to her hearing. "I knew you had it in hand, Nik. What's one teeny little fire spirit to the Original Hybrid?" His tone was mocking of Klaus' self-aggrandized title, and Caroline had to admit she was starting to see a future where maybe they could be friends, she and this nutjob brother of Klaus'.

"I don't suppose any of the Bennett witch's books happened to mention they're eight feet tall? Hmm?“ Klaus' voice was the epitome of murderous intent; he calmly took a drink, the corner of his mouth curling mischievously into a dimple that spoke volumes about how much he was enjoying leading his brother on.

”Uh. Eight feet? Really, they uh. Made them seem kind of... tiny.” Kol finished lamely. “We're at the Greek house for the month, don't have all the grimoires, you see.”

“So you've mentioned. I'll be sure to inform Caroline of your incompetence, little brother.”

“Caroline?” Kol's voice turned a little sharp. “She's okay, right? Nothing... happened?”

“Caroline's fine.” Klaus' voice was terrible and final, and for once Caroline thought he was speaking from the heart, like he was saying she would be fine because he willed it so.

“Nik, now just—”

“Like I said.” Klaus did a good impression of gathering himself. “I'd like to indulge in my wife without the family making a nuisance of themselves. Stay out of Brazil for the next month if you know what's good for you.” He hung up the phone.

“We're going to Brazil?” Caroline asked. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. The part of her that desperately wanted to see the world was thrilled. The other part of her that was already freaking out from being in Paris didn't know if going to a second location was a good idea.

Klaus smiled. “No, we're going to the library. Kol is going to Brazil.” Beckoning with one hand, he pulled her to her feet. Pinching the edge of the fabric between two fingers, he gave her jacket a small tug. “Excellent choice, will blend you in nicely, and you look lovely.”

Caroline beamed at him, and he licked his lips, sighed almost regretfully, and then turned away, draining his glass and setting it on the desk. Tapping a touchscreen in the corner of it, the fire went out, and Klaus waved at her to follow him. Feeling a little off-kilter, she did.

[onlyancunin]

Hey guys,

a little update on my situation with my ex if anyone's interested. Gonna be a doozy, but there's just so much in my head right now and I know there might be some worrying about me.

Or maybe I'll just spark a bit of confidence in someone else ✨

You know how you get a pizza, all excited, try it, and it's not good? Like it was fine at first and hey, you were hungry, but with each bite it progressively got worse. Do you stopped after a piece or two or three. And just tossed out the rest.

But it was enough to give you a severe food poisoning. So you spend a good portion of the next however many days throwing up and not being able to meet with friends and family because you're too sick. And you're so frustrated, because the pizza wasn't even that good, and you didn't eat that much, but you're still unable to function??

So yeah, I got severe emotional poisoning from relationship with my ex. But after we broke up I got nowhere to go, and he agreed to continue living together, so that I can move out once I secure money for deposit and whatnot.

Never go for that.

Last Sunday ex threw another jealous fit at me, making me unable to work for another 2 days - and then he was off to holiday with his friends (which couldn't come quick enough, I literally counted hours for him to leave). That left me and severely poisoned, but also gave me opportunity to collect myself and regroup a little away from him.

3 days later I had a new place and just today I got the keys.

Coincidentally my post about him about two months ago sparked a friendship with someone from here (Tumblr is a country okay). She kept me together through all that and let me tell you this was fucking tantalizing. It's surreal how things can change in such a short time. Having her as a friend truly opened my eyes as to what a relationship is NOT, seeing how someone who was just a stranger a few months ago, today cared for me more than he ever did.

I gave myself up for scraps of attention and believed when everyone around was telling me he is "one of the good guys". He came from nice, big family, with stable finances, nice group of friends. A noble job, a paramedic, which always impressed my sorry graphic design/IT developer ass. Like the only thing I'm saving is oceans from existing with the amount of shit that's being produced partly by my designs. So it felt good to be supportive of the good person and finally have a family, since I do not have one of my own.

Which is probably why I took the break-up so badly, even if I initiated it. I felt incredibly guilty for letting everyone around down. Everyone loved him. And I mean everyone. The only thing I ever aired I discussed with people outside of our common friends, and those were the people who told me something doesn't add up. And as I started following my gut feeling (and had a speedrun to breakup by hurting my knee and needing help where my ex completely dropped the ball), he started acting up. Suddenly setting boundaries with his family was me being jealous over him even having one, I just couldn't understand apparently how I'll never be the most important to him. Me asking him to be here for me when I'm having a hard time was met with "You're having a hard time EVERY DAY!".

Essentially I just ruined his family visits, his vacation with my knee injury, his days with my bad moods etc. But he ruined one too many Sundays for me.

So here I am, packing my sh#t and planning what goes where because I know I will be thoroughly exhausted after all things are moved, so I need to plan ahead.

And I still throw up emotionally, sobbing every 10 minutes, I don't even know why anymore. I just cry until I stop and then I continue prepping for move.

It's just a bad pizza.

[jazlynriddle]

Welcome to your life - Pt 2:

Acting On Your Best Behaviour Ch 12:

Summary:

They'd seen it in their fellow orphans often enough to recognise the pattern and were now forced to admit, despite their hopes to the contrary, that Isidora had likely suffered similar side effects.

No… they'd always known she had. The Keeper had just wanted the power that Ranrok had, enough to convince themselves that they would be able to handle it better than that naive woman.

With the start of the Keeper’s sixth-year in Hogwarts, comes a whole slew of headache-inducing challenges from the most unexpected of places. Between insignificant pests throwing wrenches into their plans and tedious teenage drama, that the Keeper is entirely unprepared for, they wonder if they'll make it to their NEWTs without losing their sanity.

Or worse, Ominis or Sebastian.

Warnings: Sebastian x MC x Ominis! Drug Addiction! Spoilers! Slow-burn corruption! Dark content! Fucked up 1800s orphanages! MC has no love for Anne or Solomon! Dubious happy ending (it's happy for MC, Seb and Ominis at least).

You can also read on AO3! (chapter specific warnings below)

Notes:

"I've been thinking." Sebastian hummed.

Warnings: More fluff!

Just some more sweetness before things get rocky again x3

I've been so busy the last few months, ah, tired. It's nice writing this though, I'm well aware that this isn't even 20% through the story I've got planned but it's nice to be writing regularly again, even if it's tiring x')

I hope that the few people still reading this are truly enjoying it, and I'm beyond grateful for the continued patience and support ♡

If even one person enjoys this long journey and finds it meaningful, then I'm happy to have worked hard on it all the way, and I look forward to seeing ya'll at the last chapter of the series when the day comes!

"Now, there's a surprise." Ominis quipped with a small smile.

"Well, he has been doing that more often these days." The Keeper chuckled as the three of them strolled across the castle battlements, enjoying the view from the top of the walls, and getting a feel for the layout.

"True." Ominis nodded concedingly, following the Keeper through the gatehouse door and sighing in relief at being out of the cold.

Sebastian rolled his eyes at the teasing as he closed the door behind them. "Dìon isn't as big as Hogwarts but it still takes ages to get around. I was thinking it'd probably be useful to have portraits scattered around the castle for quick communication."

The Keeper raised their eyebrows. "That's a good idea, since portrait subjects can move from one frame to another in seconds."

Ominis nodded as well, leaning against a wall, and folding his arms. "We could train the portrait subjects to carry messages and keep a lookout. Good thinking, Sebastian."

"Why thank you." Sebastian grinned, dipping into a deep bow, before straightening when the Keeper snorted. "I suppose we just need to think of who we'd want portraits of."

"I'd probably want a portrait of Professor Fig, if the two of you don't mind." The Keeper hummed thoughtfully. "I can ask Professor Sharp if Fig had one that I could request a duplicate of."

"Of course, we wouldn't mind at all." Ominis smiled. "I was thinking of my aunt Noctua actually. I believe my family had a portrait of her commissioned, I'll see if I can get a copy from my father when I graduate."

"Don't forget to unlink your copy from your parents'. Wouldn't want her to move off Dìon grounds." Sebastian bumped shoulders with him companionably. "I have some photos of my parents, I'd probably want to commission a portrait of them too."

"I know an artist who specialises in painting from photographs, Malfoy mentioned her once, I'll owl her and make some enquiries." Ominis offered.

"Thank you." Sebastian leaned over to place a light kiss on Ominis' cheek and the Keeper smiled at the sight of his fair skin turning rosy.

"I'll probably move the Elder Keepers' portraits here as well, though I doubt they'll be very pleased with what I've decided to do with the Repository." The Keeper chuckled sardonically after a moment's thought.

Sebastian shrugged. "It's not like they were doing a very good job of it. If you hadn't come along when you did, their defences would have been ripped down by Ranrok."

"And Hogwarts would have been destroyed, probably with all of us still in it." Ominis nodded.

The Keeper shook their head. "I wonder why people keep hiding dangerous things in a bloody school. The mountains of forbidden books in the Restricted Section, the Repository-"

"Salazar's Scriptorium." Ominis added.

"And who knows what else." Sebastian finished.

"Honestly, you'd think it was a secret Gringotts' branch." The Keeper rolled their eyes. "Then again, I suppose it could be because the Elder Keepers were professors and a headmaster, and Slytherin was a Founder."

"Wonder if it's just Hogwarts attracting oddballs then." Sebastian mused. "To be fair, we've benefited a lot from all that forbidden knowledge in Hogwarts."

"Even so, it's a bit negligent of all these adults to put dangerous things in a building full of children." The Keeper rolled their eyes, and Ominis nodded in agreement, a grimace of consternation on his features.

"Well, at least that's not a problem for our castle." Sebastian shrugged.

"What do you mean? There's a child in this castle too." The Keeper smirked at Sebastian.

"Oh, come on." Sebastian sighed exaggeratedly while Ominis laughed lightly behind him.

"Alright, I think this section should be ready." Sebastian called out over his shoulder, as he held his wand over the wall of frozen soil before him, carefully spreading a steady stream of heat over it and encouraging it to soften.

"Careful with the temperature, Sebastian. We don't want to burn the soil." Ominis cautioned as the Keeper entered the underground development site through the elves’ room, digging through their satchel as they walked.

"Why are you worrying about me? They're the one about to carve out half a Quidditch pitch worth of earth." Sebastian frowned as he lowered his wand.

"No need to exaggerate, Sebastian. We'll be lucky if I manage a quarter." The Keeper chuckled as they withdrew an all too familiar jar and unstopped it.

"Well, I never said I wasn't worried about them." Ominis shot back with a raised eyebrow, before frowning as he heard the Keeper's shaky inhale. "...I am actually worried, please don't overexert yourself. Especially with…"

Ominis trailed off and Sebastian’s eyes gravitated to the unspoken source of Ominis' anxiety, as the Keeper inhaled red swirls of energy from the jar. The Keeper's iris began to glow, as though that angry crimson essence were bleeding from their eyes.

Sebastian swallowed, yeap, that sight was definitely doing something to him, he just wasn't sure he wanted to acknowledge it. So not the right time, he mentally scolded himself.

"Don't worry about me." The Keeper gave a low chuckle and gestured for Sebastian to move out of the way.

Which he obeyed immediately, and that had absolutely nothing to do with how sensual their raspy chuckle had sounded to his stupid horny brain.

The moment he was clear, the Keeper drew their wand, drawing their magic to themselves and coaxing the now red-tainted ancient magic within them to swell into a raging hurricane. It was a struggle just to hold the precise mental blueprint in their head, to keep it from drowning in the eye of the storm.

Sweat beaded on their brow at the surges of ancient magic swirling and bubbling around them, begging to be released. To run freely and wildly across anything it touched, ripping everything around them to shreds.

But, the Keeper wouldn't let their magic master them. No, they were the master here.

Envisioning the exact shape and size they needed, the Keeper threw their magic into the earthen wall before them in two diverging streams of pure cleaving force, cracking the bedrock, digging through the packed dirt and its dense frozen moisture. Their initial cut made easier by Sebastian softening the soil at the entry point, bending the magic to their will, and surrounding the entire block of land.

Just a bit further… they could feel their magic straining, protesting the vast distance it had been stretched and spread across. A troll was one thing, an entire field was another, but they persisted, their wand arm trembling from the strain of holding it steady.

The more they carved out today, the faster construction would progress. Forcing their magic just a few more meters, the Keeper finally closed the loop, connecting the twin streams of magic at the other side of the block.

With their magic outlining the region they wanted to change, the Keeper turned that magic inwards with a grunt of effort, disintegrating the entire mass of earth with a loud rumble, and reducing it to a cloud of smoke.

The Keeper gasped as they felt their remaining magic return to them, falling forwards from the rush of adrenaline and exhaustion from their magical exertion. Their fall was halted however, by Sebastian's timely embrace.

"And that's what we were worried about." Sebastian sighed as the Keeper panted heavily in his arms. "Easy there, there we go."

Sebastian carefully maneuvered the Keeper to sit down on a bench that they'd placed by the elves' temporary residence, Ominis following immediately as well.

"...'m fine." The Keeper’s chest heaved as they rest their head back against the wall, closing their eyes as they gasped for breath. The previously enclosed underground was now exposed to the open air, and they eagerly pulled the fresh cold breeze into their lungs.

"You most certainly do not sound fine, not by any measure of the word!" Ominis scolded exasperatedly as he folded his arms beside them.

"I said, I am fine. Just needed to catch my breath." The Keeper repeated firmly, opening their eyes, and pinning Ominis with a narrowed gaze.

Ominis frowned at the Keeper’s tone and opened his mouth to retort, when-

"Hello Fine, I'm Sebastian."

The Keeper and Ominis stared at Sebastian incredulously. The unexpected and unrelated statement causing both their thoughts to grind to a bewildered halt.

Sebastian grinned and shrugged. "What? Sounded like the two of you were about to get into a row over something as silly as a word's definition. So, I thought I'd do something about that."

The Keeper snorted and shook their head, while Ominis sighed concedingly. "Fair enough, I suppose Sebastian wouldn't be able to joke around if you didn’t look well."

"And I appreciate the concern, but I do hope you'd have more faith in my respect for your feelings." The Keeper smiled, taking Ominis by the hand and placing a kiss on the back of it.

"Smooth." Sebastian chuckled as Ominis flushed at the gesture.

"Oh, hush you, it's the cold I say." Ominis cleared his throat, before blinking in surprise when something colder touched his cheek. "Oh."

"Well, what do you know?" Sebastian grinned as he looked up. "A lovely day for snow indeed. Must have started while we were working."

The Keeper hummed as they looked up at the falling snow as well, not particularly concerned with the weather. Winter was always hard, and cold. Impartial, the only time where the bodies of dead were treated equally, from homeless adults to starving children. All blanketed in a coat of beautiful, pure white snow.

But they were warm now, with Sebastian and Ominis by their side, they needed nothing els-

The fine hairs on the Keeper's neck raised and they automatically flicked their wand, conjuring a shield with Protego. Only for a small white snowball to shatter into powder against the magical barrier, the protective field flickering out almost immediately due to their low magic levels.

"Aw, I thought I'd manage it this time, you were so far away." Sebastian laughed as he scooped up another handful of snow to replenish his ammunition, only for a snowball to slam into his face, knocking him backwards and onto his arse. "Gah!"

"Never let an opportunity to catch your enemy off guard slip by." Ominis chuckled as he waved his wand fluidly, three snowballs rotating in the air before him.

The Keeper shook their head with a smile. "I will agree with you there."

"Enemies, are we? Very well then, prepare yourself!" Sebastian grinned as he flung a snowball at Ominis, the white powder scattering as it smashed into one of the rotating orbs floating before him.

The Keeper laughed as Ominis shot another snowball at Sebastian with his wand and began to arm themselves as well. Digging their hands into the freshly fallen snow that was piling up on the bedrock they'd just unearthed.

A perfect battlefield, free of insects and roots, the bedrock untouched by nature, an empty arena carved into the face of the hilltop. The Keeper considered their options on this level playing field and hastened to the other side of the arena, placing their back against the wall as their snowballs trailed after them through the air.

Hearing the Keeper's movements, Ominis spun around, flinging two snowballs at them with his wand. The Keeper dodged, reaching behind them for a snowball and chucking it at Ominis' leg, causing him to stumble as he chased them.

"Aha! Chance!" Sebastian cackled. As Ominis regained his balance, Sebastian took the opportunity to fire at the Keeper and they rolled quickly, before tossing one at him as well.

The Keeper found themselves laughing when Ominis' snowball hit Sebastian as he tried to dodge their own, the sound he made as he went down reminding them of their first duel.

"This can't be your first snow fight!" Sebastian let out a groan from under the thin layer of snow that was starting to pile on top of him.

"Let's just say I'm a quick learner." The Keeper smirked as they twisted to dodge a shot from Ominis.

“Well then, I suppose class is in session today.” Ominis grinned as he fired another two snowballs in rapid succession.

“Think you've got something to teach me?” The Keeper chuckled as they dug their ancient magic into the ground under their feet again, this time displacing a chunk of earth and pulling it upwards into a short makeshift barricade to duck behind.

Ominis took the opportunity to make several more snowballs, knowing that the Keeper was likely doing the same on the other side.

"Indeed, your first lesson, is to give your opponent no chance to recover their arms, for snow lays about aplenty!" Ominis braced a hand on the barricade, using the leverage to sling a barrage of snowballs over it and upon the Keeper.

To his surprise however, the Keeper was not behind the barrier, having slipped around the side, taking the chance to pin Ominis against the barricade from behind.

"I think you might have mistaken this teacher for a student." The Keeper purred in his ear, feeling him shiver from more than the cold.

Ominis huffed a shaky breath with a smile. "Oh, whatever shall I do?"

The Keeper made to reply, when suddenly the snow pile beside them erupted in a shower of white powder, and the Keeper, as well as Ominis, were tackled to the floor by Sebastian.

The three landed in a soft snowy cloud of flakes and Sebastian lifted his head with a wide grin, as his two partners lay under his arms, enjoying the rare, startled expression on the Keeper's face.

"Aha!" Sebastian laughed jubilantly, his cheeks flushed from the cold. "And that's lesson two, never underestimate the element of surprise!"

The Keeper chortled while Ominis shook his head, placing a hand on Sebastian's cheek. "Merlin’s beard, you're freezing, you nutter!"

Sebastian merely snuggled closer with an unrepentant grin, his hair damp from the melted snow and clinging to his freckled forehead as he winked. "Can't freeze with partners this hot."

Ominis promptly shovelled a handful of snow over Sebastian's head. "That's it. You need to cool your head off!"

"Aw come on, that was a good one!" Sebastian protested, rolling to the side to hide behind the Keeper.

The Keeper shook their head at the two's antics, allowing themselves to relax into the snow and catch their breath. They'd never felt quite so carefree before, and they savoured the new sensation.

Ominis huffed in mock annoyance before following their lead and lounging on his side, propping his head up with an arm, while Sebastian rested his head on the Keeper's shoulder.

Sebastian sighed contentedly, unbothered by the cold as he basked in that nearly forgotten joy of play fighting in snow with family.

Family…

Without much thought, Sebastian spoke the feelings that weighed on his heart. "We used to play in the snow, our parents, Anne and I."

Ominis wore a sad smile as Sebastian continued. "After our parents… Anne and I hadn't the heart to play for some years. Till we became friends with Ominis, then it was the three of us."

"I didn't know how to snow fight either." Ominis chuckled nostalgically.

Sebastian grinned fondly. "We had to find a way for Ominis to make snowballs with his wand so he could see while firing."

The Keeper nodded in understanding, running a hand through Sebastian's now frosty hair, combing the icy flakes from it. "That's quite a skill, Ominis."

"Why, thank you." Ominis hummed, trailing a finger thoughtfully through the snow.

"Things were simpler then." Sebastian murmured, his tone becoming melancholic. "Anne was simpler then…"

The Keeper craned their head downwards to place a kiss on the top of Sebastian's head, gripping his shoulder comfortingly in silent support. There was nothing they could say, nor did the Keeper feel like they had any place to.

Ominis remained silent too for a few moments, before hesitantly suggesting. "Would it help? To have that Anne back."

Sebastian lifted his head to look at Ominis, tipping it to the side in confusion. "That Anne?"

"Yes… the version of Anne before the curse." Ominis shifted uneasily. "I was thinking that, perhaps we could have a portrait made of her when she was younger. We could feed it our memories of Anne from before."

The Keeper's eyes widened. "Train it to imitate that youthful and innocent Anne."

Ominis nodded nervously, waiting anxiously for Sebastian to speak and grant him an idea of what effect his suggestion'd had.

Sebastian remained silent from shock for a few more seconds.

"I-" Sebastian's jaw flailed. "I never thought of doing something like that."

Ominis nodded mutely and the Keeper simply watched Sebastian's face, trying to read his reaction.

"I- I suppose, well, I'm not sure." Sebastian stammered for a moment before a hopeful smile began to spread across his face. "But… I think it’s worth a try."

With his agreement, Ominis relaxed with a quiet sigh and the Keeper nodded. "I think that's a fine idea."

Ominis' eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I thought you might disapprove."

The Keeper shrugged. "I have nought against Anne, I don't necessarily like her after what she's done, but anything that keeps either of you happy is agreeable to me."

"Then, we should look through our photos and pick some good ones for the artist." Sebastian’s face lit up with excitement. "Ominis, do you remember that one I took of her when we were making snow angels?"

"Snow angels?" The Keeper tipped their head to the side in confusion.

"Wait, you don't know what snow angels are!?" Sebastian exclaimed with a scandalised gasp.

"Oh my." Ominis giggled lightly as Sebastian dragged the Keeper to their feet. Using his wand to glance around, Ominis swished it, summoning a gust of wind to push the coat of snow that covered the ground, piling them together.

Sebastian grinned at his quick thinking and dragged the Keeper over to a pile of snow that looked sufficiently thick enough for a snow angel.

"This is absolutely unacceptable, we must postpone our snow fight lesson to enlighten you." Sebastian stood before the snow pile, cleared his throat, and sternly raised a finger. "Now, the most important step is the first, observe carefully. Tradition requires that we begin like so!"

Sebastian then spread his arms to the side and flopped down backwards into the snow. The Keeper watched in amusement as Sebastian's weight dropped him several inches into the layers of soft fluffy powder, where he lay grinning up at them like a loon and as though he'd accomplished some great feat.

"The next step is to move your arms to create wings for your snow angel, as well as your legs to illustrate their robes!" Sebastian continued, beginning to move as described, creating the silhouette of an angel in the snow.

"I see." The Keeper chuckled, finding his theatrics rather adorable and glanced over at Ominis who was still lounging on the soft snow comfortably. "I assume you also took this class?"

"Indeed, and I will have you know that I passed my finals with flying colours." Ominis raised his chin proudly and the Keeper laughed at how seriously their partners were taking this.

"That he did, and now!" Sebastian sprung up from the spot, waving at the immaculate snow angel on the ground. "It's your turn!"

The Keeper snorted, they couldn't believe they were doing this, but his enthusiasm was infectious, and they didn't want to spoil the moment. So, they cast their eyes over the ground, spotting a suitable mound just off to the left and stood with their back to it.

"Well, I suppose I can fall for you again." The Keeper smirked, relishing the delight on Sebastian's face at their terrible joke.

"Oh Merlin, not you too!" Ominis groaned.

The Keeper smiled, spread their arms, closed their eyes, and with the sound of air rushing past their ears, allowed this inexplicable force of nature, these terrifying yet exhilarating feelings to guide their path.

They really had fallen indeed.

"Master looks happy!" Tibsy squeaked cheerfully as she peeked, over the parchment of blueprints in her hands, at the three teenagers playing in the snow.

"Yes…" Tynx agreed absently, staring in disbelief at the large and perfectly cut, gaping hole that the Keeper had carved out of the earth in a split second.

That they still had the energy to sprint around and play fight, was absolutely ridiculous. Their master had done in one second, a job that would have taken the two elves at least a week to accomplish with such precision, and they were still a human child!

Sure, the elves could probably dig such a large crater in a day, but it wouldn't have been nearly so clean and square. It was almost smooth enough on the sides and corners to be walled up immediately.

Tynx swallowed nervously.

What sort of monster were he and Tibsy bound to!?

Notes:

The word 'square' means 'right-angled' in engineering speak, and a quarter of a Quidditch pitch is roughly around 513 square metres. Which is actually pretty darn big, I'm a bit worried that I made it too impressive but to be fair, Sebastian made an army of Inferi all by his lonesome with one tiny relic.

The Keeper's literally taking magic steroids xD Also, magical portraits apparently work more similarly to Artificial Intelligence like Character AI or ChatGPT, than having any actual connection to the painting's subject, unlike ghosts.

As such, Hogwarts Headmasters and Headmistress would basically have their portrait painted when they took up the post, and then spend their tenure in the position training their portrait to behave and think like them, so as to impart their wisdom to future Headmasters/mistresses.

I thought that this was fascinating. So, I'm going to play so hard with this concept in this fic. Our kids have pensives so they can reasonably train the portraits from Sebastian's memories.

Though, of course, memories are pretty subjective, so who knows if painting!Anne would end up being similar to the original at all...

We don't have much else in way of information on magical paintings, so I'll be making up stuff like I did with the Underage restriction and Gringotts, hopefully the ideas I have will feel cool xD

[livelovesimallways]

"Prayed Up....." 🎵

(Previous)

(Previous following Dana's story)

Moses and I finally arrived home a couple of days ago after an amazing honeymoon. We spent nearly three months traveling, relaxing and enjoying the best parts of what make us...us. After taking some time for ourselves, letting our friends and family know we were back became top priority. While I reached out on my end, Moses was reluctant to do the same. He says he wants to, "protect his peace", which leads me to believe something serious is going on. Although I fully understand where he is coming from, avoiding things never helps. I just hope that, "protecting his peace", doesn't make a situation worse or leave people in the dark.

Later on that day.....

"So hold on...Let me get this straight...Sean was messing around with that Julia chick outside of Dana's rules? Deanna found out and told her?"

"Basically..."

"Damn...I wonder why she didn't tell me? It seemed like everything was going well. She even sent me their finished wedding plan." *sounding confused*

"Maybe it is for her. She probably feels like what's done is done. Shit, my moms used to get like that whenever my father got caught."

"Humph...I remember having those days myself. You're probably right. Now I feel terrible. Dana isn't the type to come crying about her problems either. She'll tell you, but won't get emotional about it. She keeps a lot bottled up."

"Yeah she's a good ass person too. She don't deserve that shit." *looks down then shakes his head*

"So was this why you were avoiding calls?"

"I mean it's part of it. Sean's been like my brother since high school, but him still doing dumb shit just ain't sittin right with me. I thought he was makin progress but, that ain't the case. I don't know if I want to be around all that. Too much potential to have me in some shit."

"In some shit like?...."

"Being put on the spot to cover, or getting questioned over something he did."

"But that only happened once right?" *narrows her eyes*

"You really want me to answer that? Shit, we both know not to ask questions we really don't want the answers to. You're gonna feel obligated to tell her and neither one of us is trying to stir up past things. She knows what kind of dude she has. Obviously we want better for her, but she's sticking beside him. There's no need to dig."

*sighs* "Fine...I'll leave it alone. What's done in the dark always comes to light anyway, so..." *her phone starts ringing, cutting her off* "Oh look, it's Nica, another person you've been avoiding. I'll put it on speaker."

A Few Days Later.......

"I'm just not understanding why you won't tell your sister you're pregnant? Like, I know it's not ideal, but you're in a good place. You're starting your career at that tech giant and you can stay here as long as you want. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Trust me, I've seen worse. The train wreck that is my father is a great example, and he's a multi-millionaire. You have a village: your sister, me and my family. You just have to embrace it. "

"Look...Mimi I get you're trying to help, but please leave it alone. That's not why..." *get choked up*

"Then what is it? I'm here for you, seriously..."

*whispers* "Fuck...."

"Damn...Umm...I didn't mean to upset you. You don't have to..."

"No, I do. Just please don't judge until you hear everything. The reason why I'm scared to tell her is because it's Sean's baby..." *tells her their entire history*

"Whew...That's a lot." *pauses for a few seconds* "Sleeping with your sister's man is foul as fuck, Dee. I get the whole college and first love thing before they met, but she's the one with him now...Has been for the past what, six years? And now a baby? You have to tell her before she marries this man."

"I know...I will..."

"This is crazy but, as much as I want to rant, I feel bad for you. He's manipulated this entire situation since you were eighteen. He was twenty-four and he knew to take advantage of your naivety. Now he says he loves you? He's full of shit and is using that as a way to keep you quiet and around." *pauses in thought* "Shit!..."

"What's wrong?"

"Remember a few days ago you were throwing up a lot?"

"Yeah?..."

"Well, I got scared and called Nica for advice. She had a rough first trimester so I figured she could help. I told her it was for you."

"Do you think she told anyone?" *extra concerned*

"I mean, it's possible, but that was a few days ago. I feel like if your sister knew she would've been knocking on the door. I'm gonna call Nica and check. But regardless, Dana's gonna find out sooner or later. You can't hide a baby bump and Sean's family has some strong genes. When the baby comes out looking like him..."

"Girl!...I get it. Can you please just call your sister for me? I'll figure it out from there."

To Be Continued......

Next

[rockbottomwithashovel]

In Honour of Invasion Day <3 (/sarc)

I would like to be proud of my country. I want to celebrate the culture of mateship, siding with the underdog, telling the pollies to piss off and multicultural diversity... but how can I??

How can I be proud of my country when the day we celebrate the country is the very day that this nation got stolen from the 'traditional owners'. There's already a problem with that term, see, a lot of Aboriginal people (First Nation Aussies and Islanders) see it as they belong to the land, not vice versa. I would like to appreciate Kevin Rudd's apology speech back in 2008, but not much changed, so where's the apology in that??

The people who's land I am currently writing this on deserve better than being seen as "lesser". What people don't realize is that the racism in this country is far from gone. Did you know that the stolen generation legislation didn't stop being a thing until 1969? Sounds a long time ago, right? That was only 55 years ago. My mother is older than that. Let that sink in. There are 55 year old men and women out there who were stolen from their families and given to white people for some wankery of an excuse "so they can have a better life" more like so they can be "civilized" and assimilated to our culture which we deem correct and anyone who stands in the face gets murdered, thrown in jail or worse.

I would love to celebrate, crack open a tinny, play some cricket and sing waltzing fucking matilda but that's not right. I have no rights to celebrate when fellow Australians have little rights in general and are being put in jail left and right, beaten to a pulp and left to die in prisons. And of course their deaths get covered up. The police brutality in Australia is horrific because it's insidious (I'm about to write another post about this with statistics, so stay tuned). A lot of cops around here will let you off with a warning, chilled out... but that's my experience. As a white girl who can cry tears at her "mistakes". I remember once I talked myself out of a $200 on the spot fine for sneaking onto a train, said I lost my ticket and fake cried over it (shitty move, right? But to be fair, I couldn't afford the train ticket, let alone a fine). The officers were nice, gave me a warning. But how nice would they have been if I weren't white? I'd probably have been taken in to the station even if I genuinely had been crying, bought a ticket, and lost it.

There is so much fucking racism in this country. I remember being 10, disgusted as the class threw the new, Aboriginal kid under the bus for a missing toy in the class room. He didn't steal it. We found it months later. But the hell he got as the students and teachers blamed him for it? He moved schools (Darren, if you're reading this, I'm so fucking sorry for not doing more). This system is against them. And my country, my people, have the nerve to celebrate this culture on the day that marked genocide of people who were perfectly happy just living??

Sometimes I hate being white. It's an unfair advantage and I don't want anything to do with those colonizing aka land stealing genocidal bastards, but what the fuck is the point in having this privilege if I don't use it? If Indigenous people aren't getting heard then I'll stand with them, maybe this racist system will listen to a white girl.

(Final note, you're not punk if you don't fight the system, you're a poser, if you don't stand up for people who are dying you're an asshole, if you're part of a minority and let other minorities get squashes what the fuck is wrong with you, and last but not least, if you don't have an opinion on things like this, you might want to check your privilege.)

[minato-division01]

ARB Birthday Special: Meari Miracle

~~ August 3rd ~~

"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

Login Lines:

"Another day, another chance to rock the world. Damn, glad we didn't have practice today. I could sleep in for once. Anyway, let's see what's on the agenda for tod... what the fuck?! What the hell are all these notifications on my phone for? Shit, did I get fucking hacked or something?!"

"'Happy birthday, Bloody Mary.' ...Oh fuck, today is my birthday, isn't it? Shit, and I here I told myself I wouldn't forget again after last year. ...Oh well."

Voice Lines:

"Twenty-eight today. Damn, time sure has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it, or when you're living life at full throttle. But hey, I've been spending it doing what I love: screaming my fucking heart out on stage, and living life with no damn filter. And I wouldn't have it any other way."

"The band threw me a party at the studio… again. Same old surprise shindig as last year. I love these idiots, but they seriously need to mix it up next year. Still, I can't help but feel a warm buzz in my chest. ...Or that's probably the full bottle of Tequila I drank at the party. But in any case, I love these guys. They're my fucking crew, my chaos, and my fucking family. And despite all our bickering and the madness, I know they've got my back."

"Juvie's where it all started for me, really. I got sent here for putting away my no-good father. That's where I met Iris and Johnny. Fate threw us together in the most fucked-up way, but I'm not complaining. Where else would I find a drummer and a guitarist who can keep up with me? We've been through fucking hell and back, and I wouldn't have it any other way. They’re the rhythm to my lead, and the harmony to my melody. God, that was sappy as shit. The fuck is wrong with me?"

"Doc. Great, and here my day was going so damn well. ...Oh, so you're here to give me of all people a gift? You fucking shouldn't have. ...I don't know. Guess I get my fucking jollies off by pissing you off in the most-ass ways I can possibly think of. ...Ha, don't hold your fucking breathe, Doc. If anything, you'll be dead long before I will."

"Anyway, you said you got a gift for me? What is it? ...Perfume? Yeah, newsflash, Doc: but I'm allergic to this shit. It makes me sneeze like fucking cra... Hey! *coughs* ...You bitch! I'm going to fucking ki... wait. ...Why the hell does this shit smell like me? ...You... you fucking used my DNA to make some shit-ass perfume?! ...Yeah, okay, that right there: that's my limit for the fucking week, no, for the fucking month, reached with you, Doc. Now please, get the fuck away from me. I really don't feel like going to jail on my fucking birthday."

"Hey Aik... ugh! Damn girl! Did you drink an entire bar out of their fucking stock or something? You smell like liquor and cheap-ass cigarettes. ...You're still hungover from that party at Lola's? That shit was three days ago. And isn't your drug or liquor tolerance supposed to be fucking high or something? ...If you say so."

"So, what's up? You got something for me? ...What's this? A vinyl record player? Babe, you know how old these things are? I don't know anyone in the world, save maybe Ren, who even owns these things. Plus, everything is digital nowadays, babe. ...Fine, fine. I'll take it. Now, can you please do me a favor and go fucking bathe or something? You smell like shit."

Nadya Lines:

"Meari. ...Oh, don't worry. Once I do my duty of bequeathing you a gift, I shall vacate immediately. ...Why do you insist on antagonizing me every time we are together, you insufferable ruffian? ...I tell you this now, if I didn't already have plans for you, I'd have ended you long ago. ...Ha, we shall see, Meari. We shall see."

"But enough pleasantries. Here. ...It's not just perfume, you simpleton. ...You're allergic? Good to know. ...Calm yourself and smell the liquid, you ruffian. ...I took some of your DNA and used it to concoct this stimulating liquid for you. I figure it can't be any worse than how you usually smell. ...Fine with me. I'm quite done dealing with you, myself. Until next time, you ruffian."

Aika Lines:

"Hey Meari. ...What? No, I-I'm not drunk. Just... incredibly tired from that party Lola threw. ...I don't know. That woman... normally, I'd be enough to handle her. But with you, Shian, and Reika thrown into the mix... I'm surprised I can stand right now. I'd like to sleep, but I wanted to give you something first."

"Anyway, here. ...Yes, it's a vinyl record player. I saw it at a pawn shop one day, and decided to purchase it. It cost me close to $6000. ...Hey, old things are good. And besides, you may never know. Someday, you may need to use one of those things. ...Thank you, Lover. ...And yeah, I think I'll go take a shower and crash. As I stated, it's taking everything I can to stand up right now. Later."

[the-night-writer1]

When you're being followed by a human??

This is a fan au based off the eyeshot au by @dynamicsimp that I call the ricochet shot au. Where shanyao is also hit by the same shot as Macaque but he's in front of Red Boy when hit. I'm sorry this took so long)

Red Boy had dealt with denying plenty of lovestruck losers before. It came with his build and once upon a time his status. They usually lost interest in a month or one time the dropping of his glamour which was funny. Yet this was different, this guy was small but very hyperactive and persistent .

There was also the fact of why the guy was so... attached. Love magic was fragile but dangerous. That was taught to the red twins from the moment they could possibly get access to it by their mother. Thus, Red Boy had no idea what to do with the little guy.

He'd been hit in the arm by a stray Cupid bullet . Red boy being the first person he saw so instantly the little guy was smitten. Red Boy couldn't just break his heart as it could cause a dangerous spiral or worse death. He was really hoping that his once sworn uncle had a solution since Wukong was the idiot who had the Cupid gun. However it seems it was Wukong who started this whole problem as he was the idiot shot the six eared Macaque. That bullet bounced off Macaque's face and got this sweet potato man in the arm!

Fuck Red boy really needed to find out this guy's name. However right now whenever Red boy asked the lil fella his name it was met with whatever Red boy wanted it to be. Which was not helping. Currently Red boy was piggy backing the poor thing around trying to find anyone who knew them.

Maybe then he'd regroup with Wukong and figure out how to fix this. Even if it piss off the rest of the bull family, he knew it was best to work with Wukong than go it alone.

"Shanyao!" A voice yelled in a panic from behind Red Boy. The guy quickly turned to see a Pig demon running forward in concern," what happened to my boy?!"

"he..he uhh got shot by a magic bullet" Red boy started to explained softly as this Shanyao guy was purring and rubbing into his shoulder, " particularly known as a cupid bullet. The effects of which cause single victims to fall in love with the first person they see after being shot. In...Shanyao's case that was me. I promise I wasn't the one who shot him the bullet came out no where"

"Is there any way to undo it?" The Pig demon asked as he looked over the guy's arm. He attempted to touched the wound to which Red boy backed up.

"Don't touch the wound it's a magic wound " Red boy stated concerned for the clearly father's safety, " and I don't know. I've only heard of the bullets effects not it being cured. I have to talk to my sworn uncle since he's got the gun and probably knows who made it."

"Would a hospital work? Shan do ya need another hospital visit?" The pig said as he patted his son's back. Red boy felt bad, this poor pig's son was affected by love magic and he no way to assure the man they could fix it.

"I don't think a hospital can fix it but I promise I'll do my best to get your son back to normal " Red boy stated as he tried to sound confident. He balanced shanyao on one hand and pulled out his phone handing it to the pigsy," put your name and number in here so I can send updates. He might spiral dangerously I'm too far away from him. I'm so sorry. If he's got anything he needs, pack it and I'll collect it. I don't want him or you getting hurt."

"Alright I'll get his meds and some clothes together. At least ta start with ya make sure ya uncle makes this right. I'm Pigsy by the way" Pigsy said as he put in his contacts for the young demon's phone. This guy was clearly being truthful as he knew Shan wasn't a touchy feely person. Yet his son was clinging to this man like a teddy bear.

"I'll get him back to you as soon as I can " Red boy said as he wondered if humans were supposed to be able to purr?

[izzy-b-hands]

So. I'm allowing myself a vent post or two abt Stuff in the Brain today that won't fuck off, but it'll all be under a cut if I feel I'm at risk of being too wordy so folks don't gotta see this if they don't wanna. And on this one I did get wordy, multi-paragraphs so. fair warning if u decide to be brave and read thru it lol

I'm behind on getting Mum a bday gift. Like two weeks behind. Partially bc money, partially bc the thing I really wanted to get her involves bidding on ebay and attempting to win a listing (and I just haven't managed it yet lmao), and partially bc like:

For once I've been living my life for me, thinking abt me and Housemate first and foremost, and focusing on what I actually want/need from day to day, and that means I'm away from my phone a bit more than usual, which means I've missed some calls and texts from Mum and just haven't been as Available via phone/apps/etc as I've been in the past

(including one time in the last week or so where Housemate and I stepped aside to the kitchen to make ourselves mac n cheese, and Mum was late to calling me for a planned call, so I figured I was safe to leave the phone by the couch while we cooked. Nope! In that less than half hour, 25 mins at most that it took us to finish mac and get plated up, she figured we'd both A. fallen down the stairs and were now dying from brain bleeds while the cats sniffed us in panic and fear B. decided to cut her out of my life forever and so now I wasn't going to be answering her calls (tho this point I didn't know until a much more recent text where she admitted to it and did say she was ashamed of feeling that way.) )

So I really need to get something out to her, either the chocolates I was planning on sending for her and the family from a local shop, the Snoopy Build-A-Bear plushie with a lil 'I miss you' tshirt and a voice thingy inside it with me telling her to remember that I love her and am always grateful for her help and care and things like that, whatever will fit lol (this is the fucker that triggered this whole train crash of a set of thoughts today lmao), and/or something from one of the ebay listings I've been trying to get (I just need to accept it and pay the buy it now price considering what the thing is isn't like. Uber rare? But apparently Bon Jovi doesn't have their figurines made any more, so they're a bit harder to find and I'm gonna risk not getting one at all if I don't just. do the dang thing lmao)

I'm thinking the Snoopy would be best/easiest for rn, but I keep getting stuck on what I'll say for the recording and it's so dumb but like:

I know, for the sake of both of us and the deeply grown and intertwined sort of emotionally incest-flavoured codependency Mum and I have, we probably should eventually try going NC or LC for at least like. a month or two in the future? Probably even a bit longer? Not as like a 'this is forever' thing (unless something would happen that would point to that as the best option for both of us), but just until we can maybe both heal a bit and work closer towards something even vaguely approaching a more normal mother/son relationship.

And the particular fear is very silly but like. I'd hate to say the things I have planned, that I mean (I do love her, and I know she does her best, and so I'm grateful for every bit and every sort of help she's ever given or will ever give me), and then we someday go NC or LC, and she's hurt by having the plush and audio around as a reminder of how things were before. I could see her throwing it away in a fit, and then being so sad and begging for a new one by the next day. And I'd want to get her one. I don't know if that's right of me or not.

Like, the trauma has me Entirely overthinking this and I know it's ridiculous, you know? But still. Got the Build-A-Bear tab open on my phone bc the chocolate is at least partially to be shared, so that's Not Enough as a partial belated bday gift; and I'd like to hit another paycheck (or part of it, since the uni rarely puts the full fucking direct deposit in on scheduled payday lmao) before I try for the Bon Jovi figurine (and hope it isn't bought before that point.) So the plush is really the best choice, and I don't want to wait any longer to send anything out bc like. Her bday was at the beginning of March, this is fucking ridiculous of me and not how I like handling gifts at all, for anyone!!

Fingers crossed I just. Get the fucking recording done, get it ordered and have them send it out to her, and that'll be enough until I can get my hands on a figurine and/or order the chocolates and candies for her, her bf, and to share with the rest of the family.

[ethanbabayyyy]

May 2 Reflection

One of my favorite actives, Dylan Ngo, told me that the Tumblr posts are meant for us to rant and let go of our emotions without a filter. So here I am today, about to do just that.

Today was unique in that it was probably one of the worst days I have had in recent months. I kind of know where it stems from but I also don't. I think a sixth of it is from the stress of school, another sixth because of the lack of sleep I'm getting, another because I'm in over my own head, another because I am starting to feel like my life won't amount to anything, another because of a six letter word that begins with p and ends with something I'd like to jump off of, and lastly because I miss my family.

I've been eating really badly, haven't gone to the gym in who knows how long at this point, and I feel like each week I'm just getting more and more behind on life.

But as a wise man once said, "Fuck it, we ball." And I'll do exactly that.

[pepperf]

2022 has been, well, let's say a continuation of the pandemic years for me. I'm a little lacking in emotional resilience these days, and I'm dragging myself over the line with the hopes that next year will be kinder. But it hasn't all been bad. I've had some amazing times with friends and family, I paddled in the sea with my nephew, I finally saw @bethanyactually again after so fucking long, and I've learned a few things. So I thought I'd do the counting my blessings thing, and look back on the good things this year.

2022 was the year that I…

Wrote nearly 200k words. That's over 500 words a day. That is two full-length novels. And I finished and posted about 130k of it on AO3, which—look, I've not been tracking it this way before now so I don't have the stats, but it's DEFINITELY a higher rate of finishing than I've had before. And @wheresmytowel deserves all my thanks for, oh, so much of that. I'm gradually figuring out what works for me in terms of completing stories, and I'm really happy with my progress on that front.

Discovered that armpit hair is cute. I'm serious. Look, I've given up shaving before, but I don't think I've stuck to my guns for this long, well, ever. But this summer, after my last trip to the beach with the family, I decided, to hell with it. And now it's all grown past the spiky stubble stage, and the beard-on-someone-who-can't-really-grow-a-beard stage, and it's kind of luxuriant and…goddamn it, it's fluffy. It is cute. Why is it always seen as a Statement or an insult, something strident and unfeminine and unkempt, when long hair is otherwise seen as an ultra-feminine attribute? I love my fluffy little pits, and legs, and bits. It's possible I'll chicken out when summer comes around again—but until then, I'll get a fond little 'yay' moment, every time I see the kitten fluff under my arms.

Decided that I didn't want the career I've got. This is a difficult one, but it's been a long time coming. A large part of why I am where I am comes from me trying to live up to the (impossible) legacy of my mother, and…okay, yes, I am also a firm believer in the value of public sector work and everyone pitching in to make the country and the world a better place. But I've been doing something along those lines for nearly 20 years now, and I'm kind of burnt out, ngl. And I'm sad to say, I might be done with the NHS. I truly believe in it, and I am loyal through and through, but…it's an increasingly hard place to work, and I don't think I have the mental stamina for it any more. Maybe once I've stepped away, and regrouped for a few years, I will come back. But at the moment, it's a really bad place to be for my mental health, and as a result of that, I'm doing an increasingly poor job of things that I used to find easy. So, I just need to stop, really, for everyone's sake, and do something different.

Started painting again. Slowly and cautiously. I started to think about it in the summer, and took some reference photos of some stuff I might like to paint—then a few months after that I got my easel down from dad's attic and took stock of my paint and brushes—then I dragged out one of my old canvases that never got properly used—and a couple of months ago I ordered some new paint—and applied a base layer to wipe off a painting that was haunting me with bad memories—and then applied another base layer to start building it up into something new…and, yeah, that's where I'm at. But it's a start, and it's more painting than I've done in a very, very long time, and I'm…cautiously excited.

Put some other tentative stakes in the ground for things I might want to do—job stuff, writing stuff, house stuff…all too much to do all at once, and it probably won't all happen next year, because I don't think I could handle that, but at least it feels like I'm not stagnating. Even if I need to remind myself of that, sometimes.

Jesus, I sound fragile. I am fragile, honestly, my confidence is easily knocked, and I'm anxious about a lot of stuff, and I feel like I keep having to gently lead myself along like a 90yo with a broken hip, and I've got things in the new year that I'm dreading (particularly job hunting, god help us—but I'm on a temp contract at the moment, so I don't have a choice). But…I'm getting there.

Here's to 2023.

[walker-extended-universe]

Windy 1x10 Thoughts

How this show manages to keep me guessing with every episode I'll never know

Once again, not enough time or energy for a proper review so I'm just gonna put my thoughts here real quick and then get back to my regularly scheduled shitposting.

Calian and Augustus:

You know, when this plotline first came up, I knew this was going to either end with Nascha being dead or with her being assimilated and I wasn't sure which would be worse. Now I know.

Nascha being fed a false narrative about her life and eventually giving up her heritage to fit into the world she was forced into is just...awful. Probably historically accurate (I feel a research itch coming on) but awful

Calian is torn between being grateful that she's alive and grieving the loss of who she used to be. He'd kept that hope up all these years, that he would find her and his tribe would be whole again, and it was all for nothing

I also got the feeling that Calian had a lot of barely tempered rage below the surface during that conversation and it was only the knowledge that Nascha had no say in what happened that kept him in check

"I bet your wife is proud of you" "She used to be" Okay is Gus' wife dead or is she mad at him for his career choice? Being on the frontier would mean she either had to come out with him or that he left her behind for months- if not years- at a time.

Oh boy a new chief was chosen while Calian was gone and he wants war. I'm sure nothing bad will come of this :)

The Side Step:

HAGAN'S BACK!!!!!!

Of course Hoyt chooses a bar to stay in while there's a storm.

Francis having debts to pay off that are now his family's responsibility is a good way to bring Lucia back. Since, yaknow, Hoyt abandoned her -_-

Kate figuring out that Hagan acted to protect her in .5 seconds is both a good way to move the plot forward and another example of how good of a detective she is

Kate and Hoyt secret scheming together my beloved

Kate: Be drunk Hagan: Already am I love them your honor

Hoyt stripping is blatant fanservice but this was better than the watering hole so I'll let it pass.

Tbh part of me wishes Lucia hadn't been in on the plan but she did very well regardless. I guess she had a good poker face after all ;)

Anyway fuck Randall and long live cattle baroness Lucia

Lucia, sweetie, you know Hoyt. I do not think putting him in charge of a bar is a good idea and you really should know better.

Kate and Hagan's reunion was my favorite part of this episode. Kate missed him, even if she was mad, and I think this episode showed how much she looked up to him. He knew about her non-heterosexuality and trusted her to run a business, likely during a time when everyone else she knew didn't trust her much at all. He's a father just as much as she's a daughter. Her tears when asking him if she could run away with him just- *heart breaks*- I'm fine. But he's right; she needs to stay put and find her footing, keep the spirit of Hagan's alive. Perhaps she'll order a hat from him one day.

Hagan's:

Tom's nightmare about him hanging from the rafters of the barn is just *chef's kiss* we love a traumatized meow meow

"What will you do when you find your brother?" "He'll get what's coming to him" I love Abby's concerned face after this like sweetie not everyone is driven by a sense of justice sometimes you just need to shoot people in the face.

"Tom Davidson and Abigail Walker seek shelter in a hotel and get love advice from a strange woman who mistakes them as a couple" is a fanfiction prompt if I ever saw one and tbh I know a few writers who would've done it better. But I digress

I love how Tom just casually drops his family-related trauma onto Abby. That's so normal and hinged of him.

Is it because no one else in his life cares about him and he's become overly attached to her since he first saw her she saved his life?

I swear I thought that woman was Teresa Davidson for a second

Tom saying he knew there was something special about Abby from the moment they first met is either really romantic or really threatening depending on the context.

Very odd woman reliving her married days and sharing memories with two strangers. Not really sure what to make of her (or her comment to Hagan) but she seems nice. I hope she's not evil.

Okay so Abby isn't afraid of Tom anymore because she knows he didn't do it. All the while Tom is becoming more endearing to her because of how he cares about Independence and the way he seems willing to stand up to his family. Kate thinks she should be careful (and I agree) but there is Something here.

If they'd left it at the Almost Kiss, I would've been happy. I would've preferred that. Abby is gaining feelings, Tom has been having feelings for some time, the Pining is at it's peak.

Aaaaand then they ruin it by killing the "will they/won't they" question by having Tom and Abby sleep together right away -_-

Aaaaaand now Kate knows and she's being extra judgemental about it (although to be perfectly fair she was the one that barged into Tom's room without warning....)

Aaaand now Shane's run off. He probably died in the dust storm.

Tom/Abby happened and it is technically what I asked for but...did it have to be this way? Couldn't we have had a few more episodes of pining before we got a kiss?

Solid episode overall but I think we could've used more of Lucia being mad at Hoyt. He deserves it.