#IT’S GOTTA BE EITHER DAVID OR MARK I JUST DON’T KNOW WHICH

[iceripperthethird]

Screaming in the tags

[fific7]

Fake or Fortune

For @omgrachwrites 1K Follower Celebration - congratulations!

AU: Fake Relationship

Billy Russo x Reader

A/N: This does not follow canon, it takes place in my Alternative S1 Punisher Universe, with Arrogant!Billy in attendance.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to sexual content, slightly questionable consent, some dom/sub interaction, oral and unprotected* sex between consenting adults. Swearing and drinking.

*Irl, please don’t go wild in the country without protection.

(My Photo Edit)

Karen put a large G&T down in front of you, accompanied by a sympathetic look. You picked it up and took a large sip, sighing as you put it back down again.

“I give up, Karen. No matter what I do, without fail I either pick the wrong guy or else think everything’s fine, and then boom - it isn’t.”

This was a commiseration drinking session, which Karen had suggested after she’d noticed you moping around the office. You both worked at the same big newspaper but in different departments, and became good friends after spending numerous lunchtimes together in the staff restaurant.

“What happened this time?” she asked, then winced as she realised maybe that wasn’t the most tactful way of putting things. “I mean, I thought you and David were getting on really well?” You took a larger gulp of your drink, “Well, that’s the thing - so did I. Until I got the “it’s not you, it’s me” talk on Saturday.” You’d been seeing this guy from your Digital News Content section for a few months, and you’d really thought everything had been on track.

Karen sighed, “Oh lord, not that old pile of bullshit.” You nodded, “Yeah, right. I tried to pin him down to exactly what the problem was, but I guess it was just me, when it all came down to it. In fact, I saw him chatting up a girl from Accounts yesterday so he’s already moved on to pastures new. That didn’t take long, did it? Or maybe he’d already moved on but didn’t have the balls to tell me.”

“Look, I’m meeting up with Frank on Friday night for a drink...” her cheeks pinked up, and you smiled at her obvious pleasure in that thought, “....so why don’t you come along? He mentioned one of his friends might tag along.” You held up a hand, “Oh no! No! I’m not being set up.” She shook her head, “It’s not a set-up, I swear. They’ve got a little....issue.... with Homeland and we’re going to talk about it.”

You knew she’d recently met this ex-Marine called Frank when - in her role as investigative reporter - she’d been digging into some big CIA scandal. When was there not a scandal about the CIA, you thought. You knew she’d met him several times over the past couple of weeks and had detected a more-than-just-business interest in him. “Oh, so.... strictly business, then?” you teased. She shifted in her seat, “Well, mainly.... we’ve also been talking about more personal stuff.” “Uh-huh,” you nodded, smirking, “Karen fancies Frank, Karen fancies Frank!” you sang, while she batted your arm and gave an embarrassed laugh.

“Oh shut up, you,” she said, “...are you coming along or not?”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

And that’s why you found yourself sitting in a neighbourhood bar with Karen on Friday night, feeling quite nervous for some reason. Probably because Karen was fidgeting like hell next to you, and you were picking up on her nervous energy. You smiled over at her, “So you really like this guy, huh?” “No!”she denied, then as you raised an eyebrow at her, “Well... okay, yes I do like him. He’s so sweet.” Her eyes widened as she spoke, catching sight of two approaching figures, “Oh! Here he comes.” A big bear of a man came up to your table, smiling broadly at Karen and then including you in the smile as he stopped beside you. “Hey, Karen,” he greeted her, and she beamed back at him. “Hey, Frank,” and then she introduced you to him. His friend, who’d been partially blocked from your sight by Frank’s bulk, moved out from behind him and said ‘Hi - I’m Billy Russo,’ and shook your hand as he did so. “Nice ta meet ya,” said Frank, also shaking your hand and sitting down in the booth next to Karen.

The man who’d just introduced himself as Billy slid in next to you, and you tried not to stare. He was hot. Like, really hot. Dressed in a smart suit and overcoat, he really didn’t look like an ex-Marine, but Karen had told you that both Frank and his friend were ex-service, and that the friend had opened up a security firm called Anvil when he left the Marines. His handsome face turned towards you, and two very dark eyes looked into yours, “So.... you’re a friend of Karen’s?” You nodded, “Yeah, we just worked together to start with but now we’re besties.” “You a reporter too?” “Nah, I’m a lowly sub-editor on the news desk.” A sudden thought occurred to you, “Oh... and just to reassure you, this isn’t a set-up... you and me, I mean.” He smirked, and you found yourself staring at his lush brushed-back hair and sculpted jaw with its light beard. “Would it have been a big problem if it had been?” he was saying to you, and you shook yourself out of your little trance.

“No, I guess not...” you replied, laughing nervously, “...but I just wanted to get it out there.” He looked you over appraisingly, “Well, I wouldn’t have been disappointed at all,” the smirk got bigger, “....so if you change your mind, just let me know.” This left you speechless but he was still looking at you, asking, “Whaddya want to drink? First round’s on me,” before turning his gaze to the others.

Several beers later, you were sitting listening to the other three talking about a lot of indecipherable nonsense (from your point of view), and you were beginning to get antsy. “Karen, I’m going to head off,” you said in a break in the conversation and she looked slightly guilty, “Oh sorry... we’ve been going on about this for ages.” You shrugged, “It’s fine, Karen, honestly. I’ll see you Monday, okay? Have a great weekend.” You turned to the guys, “You too, and thanks for the drinks,” and made to move out of the booth. But Billy didn’t move. “See you home?” he questioned you, and you saw small smiles on both Karen and Frank’s faces. “Yeah, okay,” you nodded, and then he moved, standing aside as you slid out of the booth. As you headed to the door through the crowd of people, you felt his arm snaking around your lower back. Oooh, very confident, you thought. You’d marked him out as a player as soon as you’d set eyes on him.

“Sorry about the boring shop talk,” he said as you both hit the street, “....me and Frankie’ve got some problems with Homeland right now.” “That doesn’t sound good,” you said as you found yourself being guided around the corner from the bar. “Oh, I was going to take the subway,” you protested, but he shook his head, “This time on a Friday night? Nah.” He pointed towards a rather flashy-looking car parked in the street, “Got the car with me so I’ll take you home. I only had one beer, case you didn’t notice.” “I didn’t,” you admitted, “I thought you were sinking beers like the rest of us.” He gave a low laugh, “I was a sniper in the service, so I like to be aware of my surroundings at all times.” A little frisson ran through you, this guy was quite dangerous, you could tell. As you reached the car, he held the passenger door open for you and you climbed in, trying to be as elegant as possible although you weren’t sure you quite achieved that.

As he started the engine and moved the car out into the flow of traffic, he asked, “So what made you come along tonight if it wasn’t a set-up?” “I was bored. I just split up with my boyfriend of a few months so...” you shrugged. You heard a chuckle, “His loss.” “I don’t think that’s what he thought,” you replied, with a self-deprecating laugh. “Well, it’s true,” said Billy, “...believe me. He must be mad to give you up.” “You silver-tongued charmer,” you said back to him, and again you heard his deep chuckle.

“Seriously, it’s my gain. Look, this might seem a bit of an odd request seein’ as how we’ve only just met...” he began, looking across at you as he pulled up outside your apartment block, “....but you’d be doin’ me a big favour. How ‘bout you come along to this charity event I gotta go to next week? As my ‘plus one’?” You hesitated, and he carried on, “No strings, I promise. Just come along as my girlfriend and be on my arm all night. Help me ward off the attentions of someone I’d rather avoid.” You scoffed, “Fake dating? Really?!”

Much to your surprise, you found yourself walking into your building a few minutes later having just agreed to go to this event with Billy. He’d looked pleased, thanking you for saying yes. And you’d also been on the receiving end of a surprise kiss from him. He’d suddenly leant in, slid his big hand around the back of your neck and pulled you in, his mouth finding yours as he did. The kiss had been short but very sexy and you were still tingling from the after-effects.

He’d laughed at your look of total surprise, and wished you sweet dreams. You’d better be careful, warned your internal guardian angel, he said ‘No Strings’.... remember? So don’t go getting all invested in this guy. He’s a player.... for sure.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy and you had swapped numbers, and the following morning you were pleasantly surprised to get a text asking if you could meet him later that day. Intrigued, you texted back saying you didn’t have any other plans but why did he need to meet up? He came back saying he’d had an idea to help out with the event next week, and said he could pick you up. Feeling like you could be making a big mistake, you agreed so he said he’d be at your place around two.

You made sure you dressed casually. Not having any idea where you were going, but sure it wouldn’t be a date as such, you just chose a shirt and jeans with some suede ankle boots. When Billy texted you to say he was parked outside, you left your apartment and locked up, feeling a spark of excitement run through you as you did. “This is not a date, this is not a date, this is not a date!” you chanted in your head as you went downstairs. Billy, you saw with relief, was also dressed casually in jeans, t-shirt, leather jacket and combat boots. He gave you a big grin as you got in the car, the luxurious leather aroma of the interior filling your nostrils. “What make of car is this?” you asked, being an “it’s a black one” kind of girl. He gave you what could only be described as a smug smile, “Rolls Royce Wraith, sweetheart,” he answered. “Oh, okay,” you said, “....expensive, I take it?” “Very.” “Surprised you park it on the street the way you do then,” you shrugged, and he burst out laughing. “Is it one of those so-called penis extensions?” you asked next, and Billy nearly choked he was laughing so hard.

“Firstly, I take it that means you aren’t particularly impressed,” he gasped, getting his breath back after his laughing fit, “...and secondly, no darlin’, it definitely isn’t one of those ‘penis extensions‘ as you put it. Got no need for one-a those.” You returned his smirk, “Really? Well, I don’t care what car a guy drives,” you said firmly, “...that’s got nothing to do with what he’s like.” He glanced across at you as he swung the car into one of the downtown underground car parks. “And what do you think I’m like?” You looked at his profile as he concentrated on parking the big car in a corner space, “Mmmm... I think you’ve had a hard upbringing and now you’re making up for it. Big time.”

Billy switched the engine off and turned to stare at you, the dark eyes drilling into yours with an intensity you hadn’t been expecting. “Wow,” said Billy, “....you sure you’re not one-a these psychoanalysts or somethin’?” “Definitely,” you replied. “Well, you sure sound like you’ve been analysing me, sweetheart,” he said. You didn’t know him well enough to gauge his mood, and he carried on, “I mean, you got all that from meetin’ me last night and just now?” You nodded, saying neutrally, “I’m just speculating of course... but the expensive suits, the car, and I bet a big flashy apartment too, it just says ‘I can afford this now and I’m gonna enjoy it’ to me.” You were relieved to hear a chuckle as you’d been worried you’d really offended him. “Spot on,” he said, “...yeah, you’re spot on. I think you’re maybe in the wrong business.” You decided to change the subject, “So... where are we going, Billy?” “You’ll see in a minute,” he grinned, “....c’mon, let’s go sweetheart.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Minutes later, you were standing outside one of the expensive and trendy boutiques in the area. Billy’s hand went under your elbow and he steered you inside. “Billy... what’s going on?” He nodded to one of the staff who started making her way over to the two of you. “Look, it was my bright idea to drag you along to this thing, so the least I can do is treat you to a new outfit.” You were shaking your head before he’d stopped speaking, “Oh no, no... I can’t let you do that!” He was nodding back at you - it must’ve looked quite comical to the store assistant, “Oh yes, you will - I insist.” He turned to the woman, “Please can you help my girlfriend pick out an outfit for a formal event?” And before you could say anything else, he’d wandered over to a seating area near the changing rooms and seated himself in a comfortable armchair. “I’ll be right here, sweets,” he said, beaming at you. Girlfriend indeed, you thought.

The store assistant looked expectantly at you and you nodded hesitantly at her, so she led you over to some rails filled with lots of beautiful dresses. “How nice of your boyfriend to buy you a whole new outfit,” she commented, beginning to slide the dresses back and forth along the rail looking for a selection for you, “He’s very charming,” she continued, admiringly. “Yes, isn’t he,” you said between gritted teeth. Truthfully, you were feeling as if you were out shopping with your sugar daddy. But you had to admit that your bank account would’ve been protesting loudly if you’d had to make the purchase yourself, and you definitely would’ve had to buy something new as nothing in your wardrobe was even remotely suitable for a formal event. And he was right, this was all his bright idea. So you’d just suck it up, you thought, however reluctantly.

Eventually the assistant had several dresses folded over her arm for you to try on, and you sailed past Billy to the changing rooms without as much as a glance at him. But you just knew he was staring at you as disappeared behind the curtain.

After twenty minutes of struggling in and out of the various dresses, you had to admit that the assistant had made some good choices. There were three that you really liked, and you finally chose a midnight blue silky sheath of mid-thigh length, an asymmetric one-shoulder-strap neckline and a swirl of sequins diagonally across it from neck to hem. It was tight-fitting but didn’t show off an excessive amount of skin - you didn’t want to have it all out there on show after all.

The assistant had also brought several pairs of shoes to you once you’d chosen your dress, and you picked out a pair of matching delicate strappy sandals. Pleased with your choices, you put your own clothes back on and went out to find Billy. He looked up from his phone as you exited the changing room, a disappointed look on his face, “What.... no catwalk show for your boyfriend?” You leant down and whispered, “Okay, you’re laying it on a bit thick, Russo,” to which he grinned, gently took hold of your chin and softly kissed you. “You’re welcome, sweetheart,” he smirked. Then a horrible thought occurred to you, “Billy!” you whispered forcefully. He looked a bit nervously at you, “What?” “There was no price tag on that dress or the shoes either!” He waved a hand at you, “Yeah? That’s okay, just leave it to me.” “No! That’s not on. I’m going to ask her what the price is.” He jumped up out of the armchair, “Nah, nah! Told ya, it was my idea you come along so just let me do this, okay?”

He set off without further delay to the cash desk, while you reluctantly waited in the seating area. Not particularly comfortable with the idea of him buying you an outfit, you decided that you’d offer to buy him dinner to kind of offset his no doubt hefty bill for the dress purchase. He came back over to you a few moments later carrying a large box in one of the boutique’s carrier bags which he handed to you with a grin. “She’d already boxed it before I could see it so it’s still gonna be a surprise when I see it on the night.” You smirked back, you were quite pleased about that. “Billy, let me buy you dinner as a thank you for the dress.” “Okay, I won’t say no to a free dinner,” he grinned, “...where d’ya wanna go?” You mentally reviewed your bank balance and named a mid-priced restaurant close by.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

After a pleasant couple of hours chatting over dinner, Billy drove you home. Debating how to end the night, you came up with what you felt was a decent plan. Not that you were trying to extend the evening of course. That would be just plain stupid as the ‘relationship’ was all a big fake. Remember? your brain asked you. “You know Billy, we haven’t prepared a back story yet, have we?” you said as he drew up outside your place. “A back story?” “Yeah. I mean, if this person you’re trying to avoid happens to ask us - together or separately - about our relationship, we need to be singing from the same songsheet, don’t we?” He looked thoughtful, “Uh yeah, you’ve got a point there.” “OK, well how about you come in for a glass of wine or a coffee and we can get that sorted now?” A devilish smirk appeared, “Plannin’ to ravish me, sweetheart?”

You felt your face heat up with a sudden blush, “No!! Purely to agree on the back story. But hey - we can just text about it if you’d prefer!” Embarrassed, you grabbed your bags, opened the car door and began to get out, but Billy grabbed your arm, “Hey, hey, sweetheart - I’m just kiddin’. Hold on an’ I’ll park up. We can walk up together.” You huffed slightly and closed the car door again, while Billy looked around for a parking space. Once parked, the two of you went up to your apartment and you unlocked the door, waving him inside and over to the sofa while you stashed the bags and headed to the kitchen area. “What would you like? Wine, beer or coffee?” “I’d better just have a coffee,” he said, “...don’t wanna get drunk and pass out in your apartment. Not a good look.” “I don’t see you as a ‘getting drunk’ kinda guy, Billy. You already told me you like to be aware of your surroundings.” He laughed, “You’re right, I don’t make a habit of gettin’ wasted.”

So you switched on your coffee machine and asked what kind of coffee he’d like, holding up a handful of different capsules. He strolled over to you, draping his leather jacket over the back of one of the high stools at your breakfast bar as he reached you. He leaned down slightly and looked at the selection you had in your hand, and you were suddenly very aware of the scent of his aftershave. “Whattya got there, then?” You took his hand and dumped them all in it, saying, “I’m just gonna fill up the water jug while you decide,” and moving swiftly away from him. You were finding it very difficult indeed to ignore the magnetic attraction he was exerting over you, but you really had to try harder as you were only going to end up getting hurt otherwise. He held out a capsule toward you, “Americano’s fine,” he said.

The two cups of coffee made a few moments later, you led him back over to the sofa and you both sat down at opposite ends. “Okayyyy,” said Billy, “....back story then?” You nodded, “Yeah. Nothing too fancy as the less details we have to remember the better.” “Good idea. We should probably add in some truth too. So.... we met through Karen & Frank?” “Yes, that’s a good start. Where did we meet and how long have we been seeing each other?” “Neighbourhood bar, and a coupla months?” “Okay, yeah. Actually is that about it? That was easier than I thought! Or...what else might they ask? Who is this person you’re avoiding - are they gonna be really nosy?” Billy snorted, “Oh yeah! Her name’s Caroline, a spoilt rich bitch. Her father owns a tech company and he supplies some of our equipment. She came along to one of the meetings recently and now she’s stalking me.” You grinned, “And that’s a problem for you? I would’ve thought you’d quite enjoy that, Billy.”

He grinned back, “Are you sayin’ I’m a player or somethin’?” “Well, aren’t you? I’m kinda getting that vibe.” Now he laughed out loud, “Maybe. But I like doin’ the chasing, sweetheart, not the other way round. If she ever got hold-a me, I’d never get outta her clutches.” “What - you wouldn’t? Not much of an ex-Marine then, are you?” He rolled his eyes, “Seriously, this woman’s so clingy she’d attach herself to me like a limpet mine. And I don’t like violence against women so I’d be in a difficult situation. Plus the main thing’s the business link with her daddy. His stuff’s good, I wouldn’t wanna have to replace him as a supplier. So you see, you’re doing me a solid here.” “When you say stalking you, do you mean literally?” “Well, like turning up at Anvil all the time to ‘check on the equipment’ and shit like that.” “So not outside the office then? I’m just thinking along the lines of her not seeing us around together before the event if she’s around you outside business hours. She might not buy it.” “As far as I know, only in office hours.”

“As far as you know? That’s not exactly reassuring if she’s as much of a stalker as you say she is.” He laughed, “No, I’m sure she’s not around apart from that.” “Okay, well is there anything else you can think of that she might ask?” He gave you a sly grin, “If we’ve slept together.” You got up and took your empty cup over to the kitchen sink, “Uh-huh.... well she can ask! We’ll just have to lie, won’t we?” You turned round only to find Billy invading your personal space again, and you moved back slightly in surprise. He followed, crowding you against the counter, dark eyes gazing into yours, “Uh... we don’t have to lie.” You leaned further back, your brain yelling ‘don’t give in to him!’ at you. “Billy... you suggested this whole thing and you also said ‘no strings’, remember? Well, if we did that... that would be strings, don’t you agree?” He reached round you and put his cup in the sink too, “Yeah, I guess so. Just thought we could make things look a little more.... authentic, y’know?” He turned and grabbed his jacket off the back of the stool, but then took you by surprise again by swooping in for a long kiss, pulling you against his body and his big hand sliding around the back of your neck. You pulled away, trying to catch your breath.

Those espresso-coloured eyes were gazing into yours, a lazy grin on his face. “Hey, you’ll need to get less jumpy when I do that else she’s definitely not gonna buy it.” He stood back from you, shrugging into his jacket, “Might need a bit more practice, sweetheart,” he smirked, “....so how about we meet up again tomorrow? We can learn a bit more about each other, as well as you getting more comfortable when I get physical with you,” and wiggled his eyebrows at you. Against your better judgement, you agreed and so he said he’d pick you up at four the next day.

Once he’d gone, you poured yourself a stiff brandy. You couldn’t deny you wanted to spend more time with him, much as you knew you were setting yourself up for a fall. Really... just what the hell did you think you were doing?

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy was thinking the very same thing to himself as he drove away. He was enjoying those kisses way too much. But he was the one who’d suggested this whole fake relationship thing, and definitely with ‘no strings’. Because that was the Russo Way.

He’d better get his head back on straight, and stop thinking about the gorgeous woman in the apartment back there as anything other than a way to ditch the very irritating Caroline.

He also got the distinct feeling she’d marked him out as a player and wouldn’t want to get involved with him anyhow. Well, he was a player and he couldn’t deny that. Wasn’t sure he could ever see himself as a one-woman man. Caroline was attractive enough and in the normal way of things, he’d’ve taken her out maybe a couple of times, fucked and then forgotten her. But her father and Billy’s business relationship complicated things somewhat.

So yeah, he’d make sure she saw him with a lovely woman on his arm at the gala, kiss (and maybe fuck if he got lucky) the lovely woman at the end of the night and move right along. Apart from anything else, the fact that she was Karen’s friend complicated things way beyond what he wanted to get involved in, because he couldn’t afford to upset either her or her friend, Frankie’d kill him if he did.

Definitely better stick with the Russo Way. It had never failed him before, had it?

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The next day, Billy glided the car to a stop outside her apartment block at 4 o’clock as promised, dropping her a quick text to announce his arrival. Soon, he saw her figure walking out of the main door and making her way towards him.

Damn! Mmm, she was looking good. Little pink sundress, short denim jacket, bare legs and low wedge pink sandals. Yeah, really cute. Smart and funny too. And sexy, of course. Very sexy. Totally fuckable. Completely and utterly fuckable. Woah - stop that Russo! Right now!

All these thoughts ran through his head in the 10 seconds it took her to reach the car.

He leant over and pushed open the passenger door for her, “Hi sweetheart.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You’d noticed Billy’s eyes running over you as you went up to the car, and then spotted his tongue making a swift trip over his bottom lip as he greeted you. You got the feeling he was looking at you like you were a snack to be consumed. Determined to resist how attracted you felt to him, you hopped into the car and said Hi back. Billy’s big hand landed on your thigh as you fastened your seat belt, his long fingers sliding upwards. Batting them away, you continued clipping yourself in and he laughed, leaning across and pulling you to him, kissing you long and slow. Breaking apart, he said, “Remember we gotta practice, sweetheart,” grinning at you. “Mmmhuh,” you nodded, “I remember you saying that.” “Just relax! Get comfortable with me touchin’ and kissin’ you. We’re boyfriend and girlfriend after all.” “Mmmhuh,” you said again, and once more his hand found its way onto your thigh and began stroking, eventually inching upwards again.

This time, you decided to stay still, thinking that yes, you had better get comfortable with this if this whole stupid fake relationship thing was going to work. But when his hand parted your legs and one long slim finger swiftly made its way inside your panties and - without further warning - actually inside you, you jumped like a startled deer and squirmed away from him. “Billy!” you protested loudly, but he merely smirked victoriously at you and pushed a second finger inside you to join its cousin. You shoved at his resistant arm, “Stop it!” His mouth found yours and he began kissing you as his fingers moved steadily in and out of you then his thumb was on your clit, and he began massaging firmly. “Sssshhh, sweetheart, we’re just messin’ around,” you heard his low voice in your ear, “...this is high school stuff.” “But I didn’t say you could do this to me!” you snarled, trying to ignore how good he was making you feel, and you felt his fingers leave you. He sat back in his car seat, taking a tissue out of his jacket pocket and slowly wiping his fingers, looking across at you all the while with a contemplative look on his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said, but not sounding regretful at all, “I didn’t think you’d mind. Thought it’d loosen you up a bit like we said.” He smirked at you, “You can’t deny I got you wet, and I know you’re attracted to me. Thought you’d enjoy it.” Your mouth dropped open, “You arrogant fucker!” you exclaimed, “You know what, you can take your fake dating shit and shove it where the sun doesn’t fucking shine!” You jumped out of the car, slamming the door with an almighty bang behind you. Stomping back up to your apartment, you opened your front door and slammed it behind you too, angrily throwing your bag onto the sofa as you passed on your way to the kitchen. You took off your jacket and threw it onto a high stool, furious enough to take a bottle of gin out of the cupboard and grab a clean glass from the dishwasher. You were just taking a bottle of tonic water out of the fridge when there was a knock at your door.

Okay, well that was either your annoying across-the-hall neighbour... who complained about anything and everything... here to moan about the door-slamming, or else it was Billy. Whoever was on the other side of the door was going to be greeted by your frowning face, and you really didn’t give a shit which one it was. You dramatically swung open the door, and it was in fact Billy Russo who was confronted by your unhappy visage. He immediately held up his hands in a placatory gesture. “Look, I am really, truly, sorry. I ... can I come in and explain?” You turned on your heel and walked back to the kitchen, leaving him to close the door behind him and follow in your footsteps. “Want a drink?” He nodded, “I’d love a beer if you’ve got one, please.” You took a bottle of beer out of the fridge and handed it to him, then got a bottle top remover for him out of one of your drawers.

He popped off the cap then took a long swig, as he watched you prepare a G&T for yourself. You also took a big sip then leant back against the counter and regarded him with a steely gaze. “You said you wanted to explain.” He took another gulp of beer and began, “I.... look, I’m so sorry okay? I totally misread the situation.” Sipping your gin, you said, “I’ll say you did, Billy! I get the distinct impression you mistook me for one of the easy lays you no doubt pick up in bars. Is that how you treat your one-and-done’s, huh? Well, don’t try that shit with me, okay?” He looked over at you shamefaced and shrugged, “Uhhh...I ..uhh.. yeah, I guess I did.... look, I really am sorry, sweetheart. I can’t apologise enough, and I really didn’t mean to upset you.” You took another big hit of your gin, slightly - but only very slightly - mollified. “And as for your comment that I’m attracted to you...!!!” Momentarily you were speechless, unsure what you wanted to say or how to put it. Mainly because it was the truth, you acknowledged to yourself.

Before you could say anything, Billy held up his hands again, “I’m incredibly embarrassed about saying that. Really crass. And arrogant, as you said.” You noticed that his face had pinked up somewhat. “In fact just forget I said it,” he carried on. “Bit late for that now isn’t it! Did you say it because you’re used to women falling at your feet, Billy?”

He looked down at the beer bottle in his hand, waggling it back and forward before saying, “Yeah. If I’m honest, I don’t usually haveta try too hard.” His eyes met yours, “And if I’m bein’ even more honest, gotta admit I’m attracted to you. Like, really attracted. So, yeah - I was hoping for something more than just going to the charity event with you.”

You drew in a big breath. What? What did he just say to you? No. You mentally shook your head, and then realised you were actually shaking it. “Billy.... you’re a player, that much is blatantly obvious. Would you know what a relationship is if it came up and bit you on the ass? Something tells me you wouldn’t.” He had the grace to look guilty. You continued, “So here’s what we’ll do. If you still need me to come along to the gala, then I’ll do that. And then we’ll go back to being strangers. Okay?”

He twirled his beer bottle between his long fingers, and shrugged, “Okay, sweetheart. M’happy you’re still gonna help me out. But can’t we at least be friends afterwards? Reckon Karen ‘n Frank’re gonna be seeing a lot of each other so we’ll probably keep bumping into each other.” Your face softened into a smile, “Yeah, they like each other don’t they? You’re right, we probably will be spending some time together because of those two. Okay... friends, then.”

He smiled at you, approaching warily and sliding his hand round to the back of your head and up into your hair, pulling you closer. “M’gonna kiss you, s’that okay?” but being Billy, didn’t wait for your reply. His lips met yours in a gentler kiss than earlier, his fingers stroking the back of your neck. He moved his hips against yours, and you knew he’d done this so you’d feel his erection against your body. You moved sideways and pulled away from him, why did he have to make you breathless when you just wanted to be cool, calm and collected around him? He looked a bit crestfallen, but recovered swiftly and asked, “How about we order in some food and just spend some quality time together?” You sighed, “Okay, Billy, let’s do that. But no more groping or anything, okay?” He nodded, looking serious and miming a cross over his heart, “Promise.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You pushed the pizza box away from you, “God, I’m stuffed.” Billy picked up his beer bottle and drank, giving a small delicate burp as he did so, “Me too.” Reaching over, he picked up the remote and began flicking through Netflix, “Whaddya wanna watch next?” he asked. “Mmmm, you pick a movie. But not one about war.” He laughed, “Oh don’t worry, I never watch war films, had enough-a that in real life.” Lying back and letting out a deep breath, you said apologetically, “I bet you did. Sorry.” Shrugging, he also lay back, his head turning towards you, “S’okay. We can talk about it sometime if you like. And about my less-than-perfect childhood. And some of my more recent fuck-ups.” He gave a bitter laugh, “I’m a fuckin’ train wreck, sweetheart - you’ve made the right decision, best you don’t get involved with me.” His eyes looked big and a bit glossy, and before you could help yourself you’d laid your hand on his shoulder, “I’m sure you’re not that bad, Billy.” He turned away from you, looking at the TV before selecting a sci-fi fantasy movie, “Oh believe me, I am,” he said in a low voice.

You shifted a bit closer to him on the sofa, “Don’t be so down on yourself, Billy. You’ve achieved a lot of things... got your own company, fancy car, fine suits, lots of money, prestige.” He grinned at you, “But all that doesn’t matter to you, does it?” You shook your head, “No, but they’re still achievements to be proud of.” His head dropped and some locks of hair fell over his forehead. “Thank you,” he mumbled, and you watched as your hand went of its own accord to his face and stroked the errant hair back off his forehead. His head swivelled towards you, dark eyes gazing into yours; he took hold of your arms and drew you against his chest. “Can we snuggle?” he asked you, then wrapped his arms right around you, before lying down and swinging his long legs up onto the sofa, pulling you with him. You snorted out a laugh, “Snuggle? That doesn’t exactly fit with your ex-soldier or current playboy personas!” “Aw, c’mon sweetheart, gimme a break - I’m tryin’ to be a well-behaved boy here!” You snuggled into his chest a bit, “Okay, but remember - no wandering hands!” He held up both hands, “Not wandering - look!” before placing them chastely on your arm and shoulder.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Your eyes opened, and you groggily looked around you, disorientated. Hearing soft little snores from beneath you, you raised your head to look at Billy’s sleeping face. Oh. You’d both obviously dozed off in front of the TV, the Netflix menu now on the screen. Moving slowly, you started to try and stand up but two hands went round your arms in a vice-like grip. “Where you off to?” said Billy’s deep voice. “Just...ummm... just...” you stuttered, but suddenly you were underneath him, his weight pressing you down as his mouth found yours in a hungry kiss. You knew you should resist but damn, he was a good kisser! Feeling yourself dissolve into the kiss, one of your hands moved up to his bristly jawline.

His kisses became more passionate and he pushed himself against you even more, his arousal very evident. You tried to ignore them but your feelings of desire for him were becoming overwhelming, and your arms went round his neck almost unbidden. He was smiling against your lips, and you heard, “Wanna sleep with me? D’you wanna?” Your treacherous mouth said “Yes!” in a breathy whisper, and that was all Billy needed to hear.

He picked you up in his arms, whispering “Where’s your bedroom?” You nodded towards its general direction and he carried you across the apartment and into your room. Setting you down, his fingers were immediately at the zip of your dress, pulling it down, pushing the fabric down then further down until your dress was round your ankles, before whipping it fully off and dropping it onto the floor. You watched him as his eyes roamed all over your body, taking in your lacy lingerie and moving the straps of your bra off your shoulders. “Mmmmm, sweetheart - wow - even better than I imagined,” he said hoarsely, his hands going round your back and unclipping your bra. He stripped it off you and dropped it, both hands immediately cupping your breasts and massaging firmly, thumbs running over your nipples as they peaked. Moving you backwards until your head hit the pillows, you felt his fingers pulling the fabric of your panties aside and suddenly the head of his cock was at your core and pushing inside you. “No time for foreplay, sorry,” you heard and you gave a deep groan when he kept going, feeling his balls brushing your pussy as he fully sheathed himself. His head went back and he gasped, “Fuck!” before he began to thrust. He lifted your legs and draped them over his hips, encouraging you to cross your ankles on his back to pull him even closer.

His mouth was everywhere on you, kissing you deeply one minute before his mouth went to one of your nipples, teasing it with his tongue while his thumb and fingers toyed with the other, then his mouth and teeth were on your neck and shoulders while he set a ferocious pace. A constant stream of low groans were leaving your lips as he moved on you, and you could hear him gasping and muttering words above you, not all of which you could catch, but you did hear “Uhhh, been wantin’ to do this to ya since the minute we met” between thrusts. You ran your hands over his chest and up around his neck, threading your fingers through his lush hair, and you felt him shiver as you pulled on it gently. His thumb was on your clit now, rubbing at you relentlessly and your orgasm washed over you like a wave. His teeth were fastened onto your shoulder and he bit down as you felt his body tense as he came. He lowered himself gently onto you before rolling off, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling as he got his breath back. “Wow,” he said quietly, before moving onto his side and gazing at you, running a finger gently along your jaw. “Yes, wow,” you replied, putting your hand on his bristly cheek.

“Well, if Caroline does ask if we’ve slept together, now we don’t have to lie,” smirked Billy. This instantly ruined the mood and you sat up, prior to wrapping one of the covers round you and getting out of bed. He looked a bit surprised, but you began moving away from the bed towards the bathroom. Returning a few moments later, you hesitated for a moment before climbing back into bed beside Billy, who was still lying there in all his naked glory. He immediately moved next you, his hands on your arm, “Did I say something wrong earlier? You were up and off like a ballistic missile.” You looked over at him, “A girl doesn’t exactly like to hear another one’s name getting mentioned just seconds after lovemaking.” A guilty look passed over his face, “Awww, shit!... I didn’t think, I’m really sorry... I was just so happy you slept with me, sweetheart.” He stroked your hair away from your face, “Forgive me? And my big clumsy mouth?” You huffed a bit but eventually nodded, not least due to the soft kisses he was peppering over your face and neck.

He breathed a sigh of relief, “I seem to spend all my time apologising to you,” he chuckled, “I’m really making a mess of this fake dating.” “Can’t argue with you there, Billy,” you agreed. “Look, I’m gonna try a lot harder, okay?” he said, running a finger along your arm. You sighed, “Okay... well here’s hoping it’ll be alright on the night.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The rest of the week, you and Billy had traded phone calls and text messages but (to your secret disappointment) the two of you didn’t meet up. To your mind that could only mean that Billy, who’d admitted to you that he liked the thrill of the chase, had now already caught you so that was it as far as he was concerned. He’d said that his work had been crazy busy but you didn’t feel at all convinced by that.

Friday eventually rolled around, and you were glad you’d decided to take a half day off work to get ready. Karen had strolled up to your desk as you were packing up your stuff before leaving, and you recognised her ‘Serious Talk’ look on her face. She walked along to the elevator with you and followed you inside. “Y’know I hope you really enjoy your evening with Billy tonight, but....” she bit her lip before continuing, “...you know he’s a player, right?” She quickly put her hand on your arm as the elevator reached the ground floor, “I’m not trying to spoil your fun, honestly I’m not, but some of the things Frank’s let slip recently would make your toes curl. Billy’s totally ruthless when it comes to cutting women loose.” The elevator doors opened and you both walked out, with you saying, “Don’t worry Karen, I sussed that out the minute I saw him,” over your shoulder as you continued out into the main lobby. You stopped and turned to her, lowering your voice and continuing, “But I slept with him last weekend and just as expected, he’s avoided meeting up with me all during this week.” Her mouth tightened, and you knew you were in for a Page Lecture. “Gahhh! What were you thinking?! You’ve just reinforced his impression that he can pull any woman he wants and then disappear on her! I can’t believe you didn’t even wait for this gala thing tonight! You could at least have held off till then.”

“Yes, mom,” you sighed, then smiled at her. “But you know what Karen, he’s so hot I just couldn’t resist! And I knew exactly what his reaction would be, and he hasn’t disappointed. He’s been in touch obviously because we’ve got this thing tonight, but he’s been ‘too busy at work’ to meet up. I’m sure that in Russo-speak, that really means ‘too busy chasing tail’ but I’m cool with that. Like I said, it’s what I expected,” shrugging as you said this. “Hmmmm,” replied Karen, staring at you intensely as if trying to read your mind, “...well as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into.” “I do,” you reassured her, hugging her before walking away with a nonchalant wave.

Out on the street you exhaled a big breath. If only you truly believed that.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy pulled up outside her apartment block and, as before, texted her to say he was there.

He was disappointed that he hadn’t been able to meet up with her during the week, and was also aware she probably thought he was avoiding her now they’d slept together. But he’d truly been up to his ears in it at work, and he wasn’t yet established enough in the security market to turn down job offers. So he’d taken on probably a few more than he should have done, and both he and Frank had had to weigh in on a couple of them to make sure they were handled correctly.

So apart from calls and texts, he’d had to miss out on seeing her. In fact, all he’d been thinking of the entire week was the prolonged session they’d indulged in last weekend. Once he’d apologised for mentioning Caroline’s name after they’d first made love, (really smart move Russo, he thought to himself) there had been a whole night of energetic and very enjoyable sex. Then a shared shower late the next morning after she’d woken him up with a surprise and very welcome blow job. God, the things she could do with her mouth! He squirmed in his seat, starting to get hard just thinking about it. He couldn’t wait for another one of those, that was for sure. Tonight after the gala if he was lucky!

He saw the main door to her apartment block open and she started walking towards the car. Wish I could get a better idea of how she looked in her dress, he thought. Oh well, I’ll just need to wait till we actually get to the place.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You slid into Billy’s flashy car, tucking your feet in last in an effort to be elegant. He leaned over, grabbing the back of your neck and kissing you long and hard. You eventually shoved him away, exclaiming “Billy! My lipstick!” You peered at his face, “And you’re covered in it!”

He burst out laughing, “Well, hello sweetheart!”

You handed him a tissue whilst you began trying to repair the smudges around your lips. He dampened it on his tongue and then quickly rubbed the burgundy colour off his mouth. Once you’d fixed your face, you leant over towards him and his mouth headed to yours again but you pulled back. “I’m checking your shirt collar to make sure there’s none on there!” Chuckling, he started up the car, “I did wonder why you waited till you’d put your lipstick back on before kissin’ me again.” “You kissed me!” you protested. He just laughed and manoeuvred the car into the traffic stream.

His head then swung towards you, “If you say so, sweetheart! Hey, I’d say you look beautiful but I can’t get a proper look at you in the car. So wait a little while till we get there and then I can compliment you properly, okay?” You nodded, “Yeah, same. I can’t get a look at you either.” Another chuckle, “You can see as much of me as you want later tonight, sweetheart.” “You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?!” Billy’s hand stole onto your thigh and travelled higher. “Wearin’ panties?” You tolerated his wandering fingers, “Yes I am, Marine. Sorry to disappoint.” He shrugged, smirk firmly in place, “Fine by me. They’re not gonna stop me gettin’ to where I wanna be anyhow.” Somewhat surprisingly to you, his hand went back onto the steering wheel. “But I’m gonna wait till we’re alone later. See, sweetheart - I’ve learned my lesson!” “Glad to hear it!” you shot back at him, before looking out of the window at the passing streets.

After arriving and parking at the venue, one of the big downtown hotels, you and Billy made your way upstairs to the function room. Leaving your coats at the cloakroom, Billy twirled you round in front of him, looking you over slowly from top to toe. “You look gorgeous,” he said admiringly, “really beautiful.” “Thank you. Not so bad yourself, Russo.” He was in one of his bespoke suits and was looking edible. He mock-bowed then leant down and kissed you on the lips, and you reminded yourself to act naturally when he did that. You both began walking towards the sound of music and chatter, his hand straying down onto the top of your ass as you went. Karen’s voice rang in your ears about how much of a player he was, and once again you fought the instinct to swat his hand away. If you could just do your duty and get through tonight, then you could put yourself deep into protective mode over this handsome devil.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Several gin & tonics later, you were returning from the ladies’ room and heading back to where you’d left your ‘boyfriend’ at the bar, wondering how much more of this tedious event you could stand, when you heard a high-pitched voice trilling, “Oh Billy! There you are, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Hahah! you thought, this must be the infamous Caroline! Well, at least this next part is going to inject some much-needed fun into the evening.

You could see a small brunette standing in front of Billy with her hands grasping his biceps and beginning to pull him towards her. He spotted you approaching over her shoulder and extricated himself from her clutches saying, “Caroline.... how nice to see you! Just in time for me to introduce you to my girlfriend...” “Girlfriend?!” She whirled round and met your eyes, her own narrowing as she looked you up and down in a flash. You continued walking towards the two of them, noting that she was pretty but was heavily made up; she really didn’t need to plaster it on like she had but - whatever, you thought. Billy moved past her to swiftly put his arm around your waist and draw you to him, introducing you at the same time. She nodded her head briefly at you, “Hi, I’m Caroline. A friend of Billy’s.” She emphasised the word ‘friend’. You beamed back a big smile at her, “Lovely to meet another of his friends,” you said, also emphasising the word. You felt Billy tense up a bit, but you thought that playing the jealous girlfriend might be a good way to go, especially when you noticed the little smirk on her face. You tugged on his arm, “C’mon Billy, you promised me a dance,” you said in a ‘little girl’ voice, which nearly made you heave quite frankly but you felt struck the right note.

Billy raised a hand vaguely towards Caroline as he said to you, “Yes I did, sweetheart. Let’s go. Bye, Caroline - good to see you,” and then gave you a long kiss as the two of you headed to the dance floor. Once Billy had you in his arms, you felt his lips next to your ear and he whispered, “So.... jealous girlfriend, huh?” You nodded, smiling up at him, “She’ll like the fact that I think she’s a threat. But as long as you keep up the PDA’s, I think she’ll buy it.” He immediately kissed you, the hand which had been on your waist surreptitiously sliding downwards at the same time. As you broke apart from the kiss, you caught sight of Caroline glaring at the two of you from a table near the edge of the dance floor. You ran your hand up onto Billy’s jaw before continuing to the back of his neck. You’d discovered during your night together that this was one of Billy’s weak spots, so you trailed your fingers over his skin and had him wrapped round your finger within seconds, just as had happened that other night. He pressed his body close against you, ensuring you felt how aroused he was. “When can we skip out of here?” he breathed to you, making you laugh. “I don’t know! It’s your event - when do you want to stay until?”

Before he could reply, you were aware of a figure next to you and a hand went onto Billy’s arm. “Mind if I cut in?” asked Caroline, giving you a nasty smirk. However it dropped off her face when Billy said hurriedly, “Sorry, Caroline - we’re just leaving,” and began leading you off the dance floor. “Oh, that’s such a shame,” you heard, and realised she was trailing after you and Billy as you left the dance floor. “I was so looking forward to hearing all about how you & Billy met.” You stole a quick glance at Billy before saying over your shoulder, “Through mutual friends.” Still following you both as you headed over to pick up your coats, she rattled out, “it’s just that I’m a bit surprised - it seems quite strange that Billy never mentioned a girlfriend before tonight.” Billy looked irritated but his face became blank as he turned slightly back towards her and replied, “Uh, I am right here y’know!.... well Caroline, we never spoke about our personal lives so it’s not that strange at all to be honest.” You’d reached the small counter by now and had handed over the tickets to the attendant, and while you’d hoped that Billy’s answer would have silenced her, Caroline continued, “So how long have you been dating?” You turned and stared at her, and found her already staring back at you, “Mmm, it’s about two months now, isn’t it Billy?” and moved your eyes to his. He glanced quickly behind him at her, “ Yes, sweetheart - a little over two months actually,” he turned back to you, smiling fondly, “and I gotta say, they’ve been two of the sweetest months of my life.” He leant down and kissed you full on the lips.

Caroline’s lip curled up at this and was still curling as you met her annoyed gaze once Billy’s lips left yours. “Well,” she began, but was then interrupted by a tall older man who came up to the three of you and placed a hand on Caroline’s shoulder. “Hello, Russo,” he said, shaking hands with Billy who greeted him with a “Hi, Mike,” as the older guy’s eyes wandered quizzically over to you. “And who’s this lovely young lady, then?” he asked but before either you or Billy could say anything, Caroline spat out, “His girlfriend, Daddy - imagine that!” However her father merely gave you a friendly grin while Billy introduced you. After a quick handshake, he commented that it was a real shame that you were both leaving before he could buy you a drink. But Billy said firmly, with a mischievous look at you, “Sorry, Mike.... we’re... uhhh... quite anxious to get home.” Mike laughed knowingly while you heard a loud ‘tut’ from his daughter. You smiled brightly at both of them, “Well.... lovely to meet you and hope you enjoy the rest of the evening. Bye!” Taking your coat from the attendant, Billy helped you into it before putting on his own and the two of you said final goodbyes to Mike and Caroline before making your escape.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

“Thank god that’s over!” you breathed out a sigh of relief as you settled back into your seat, while Billy switched on the car’s powerful engine and it purred into life. “You didn’t enjoy it?” he grinned, “...even with such a charming boyfriend attending to your every need all evening?!” You laughed, “Sorry Billy, no I didn’t. I hated every second of it! But I think we accomplished the mission, don’t you?” Turning your head and watching his profile as he reversed the car out of the parking space, you asked, “D’you want me to get the dress dry-cleaned and you can take it back to the store? I mean I’ve only had it on for a few hours and I managed not to spill anything down it.” He glanced over at you, a strange look in his eyes. “No, I don’t want you to clean it and return it. It’s yours to keep. And yes, we did achieve our goal.” He started driving away from the hotel, and you realised it was the wrong direction for your place. You’d never been to his apartment but had a feeling that’s where you were heading.

“Where are you going, Billy? I just want dropped off at home so I can get out of all of this and relax.” He laughed, and for some reason you thought he sounded a bit pissed off. “Ahh no, that’s not happenin’, sweetheart,” he said, looking across at you, eyes gleaming with something but you weren’t sure exactly what. Determination? Desire? “We’re headin’ to mine. And yeah, you’re gonna be gettin’ out of those clothes, don’t worry.” “Look, Billy,” you said, feeling a bit uneasy for some reason, “...we’re done here, okay? We’ve already slept together, you got what you wanted so now you move on, correct? That’s your usual M.O. isn’t it? You made that obvious this week. Don’t worry, I got the message loud and clear. I’m not some clingy desperate woman that’s gonna keep chasing after you. I knew what the deal was with you the minute I set eyes on you. So.... just turn around and take me home.” You’d been staring at the road ahead but were aware of him shaking his head, “No.” You looked across at him, “No? What, you’re kidnapping me now?” “You can think of it that way if you like, sweetheart. I knew you’d think I was avoidin’ you this week, but I wasn’t. I’m not ready to let you get away just yet. We’re gonna go to mine, and you’re gonna spend the night on your back - and in various other positions - cos I need another night of sex with you.”

“And what if that’s not what I want? What if I don’t want to be used like a fuck toy before you disappear over the horizon? Doesn’t it matter to you what I want?” He chuckled, and you felt a little shiver of fear run through you, “Not right now, no. Because this is all I’ve been thinkin’ about the whole week. And because you’re sayin’ one thing, but you mean another.” “Really?! That’s what you think?” you scoffed, shaking your head, “You’re unbelievable, you know that? The level of arrogance....!” He pulled the car over into the inside lane and then turned into an underground car park. He killed the engine, and in the sudden silence you heard him say in a low voice, “Call it arrogance if you like. I call it knowing what I want and makin’ sure I get it.” He released his seat belt and got out of the car, coming round and opening your door before taking hold of your arm and pulling you out of it. He locked the car with a bleep of the remote on his keychain, then dragged you - firmly but not roughly - over to an elevator which he unlocked with a key before calling it down. Once it arrived, he hustled you inside and once the doors closed, his mouth was instantly on yours. He kissed you roughly, open-mouthed with teeth and lips and tongue all involved. His hands were undoing the buttons on your coat and then were inside it, immediately going to your breasts.

You struggled with him, trying to push him off but he continued kissing you, and you heard his voice telling you to just admit you wanted it. The awful thing was, you did want him and it annoyed the hell out of you. However his current attitude was also annoying the hell out of you so you continued to push at his muscled, toned body to get him off you. But you were no match for the ex-Marine and you heard a ‘ting’ and the elevator doors opening as Billy continued to kiss and grope you. He pushed you firmly out of the lift, keeping hold of your arm and propelling you towards a door - the only door, you noticed - and then into the apartment after he unlocked the door. He slammed it behind him then was on you in a flash, grabbing your bag and throwing it onto the sofa before stripping off your coat and dropping it on the floor. You were aware of being in a large open-plan space with floor-to-ceiling windows and trendy furniture, before you were scooped up as easily as if you were a throw cushion and carried into an equally large bedroom. He kicked the door shut behind him and dumped you rather unceremoniously on the bed, stripping his clothes off in a matter of seconds and letting them fall where they may. Then he was back on you, flipping you over and unzipping your dress in one quick motion. He stripped it down off your shoulders, turned you back over and pulled it off you. You looked up at him, finally finding your voice, “Billy! Stop it.” He shook his head, “Nah, not happenin’ sweetheart. We’re gonna have sex now.” You opened your mouth but nothing would come out. Why couldn’t you say anything else?

Because you do want it, said a sly voice in your head. And whilst the caveman routine might not be the most appealing of Billy’s wooing techniques, he’d excited you beyond belief and you could feel how damp your panties were. You’d told yourself before the evening started that you weren’t going to have sex with him that night, but at the same time had perversely hoped that it would in fact happen. You were absolutely furious with yourself but at the same time, totally conflicted and unable to ignore the desire you felt for him.

You felt his fingers fumbling a bit at your back and then your bra was dramatically whipped off and thrown across the room. His mouth and hands were immediately on your breasts, fingers massaging and toying with one nipple while he licked the other, his tongue roughly raking over its peak and surrounding skin before he started to suck and bite at it, enough to make you squeal but not hard enough to cause you real pain. Then he swapped and your other breast came in for the same treatment. You felt his fingers sliding down your body and pulling at your panties, after a few seconds he then sat up and stripped them off you. They also joined your bra across the other side of the room. He lowered himself onto you, hands parting your legs and you knew he was guiding himself inside you. His hard length pushed into you and you felt the stretch much more than you had the first time you’d had sex with him. Of course he was in a more of a rush this time, seemingly desperate to have sex with you, judging by the way he’d thrown you down, ripped your clothes off and immediately got between your legs.

He slid his hands under your knees and lifted your legs up until your ankles were on his shoulders, deeply thrusting into you as he did so, and you heard yourself give a loud groan. He gave a long, low groan himself as he picked up his pace, and you heard his whispered words next to your ear, “You like that, sweetheart? Feel good?” “Yes!!!!!” you gasped, hating yourself for admitting it but it was the absolute truth. He kissed you passionately, hands running up and down your legs and onto your body as he thrust hard into you, mouth moving to your neck and collarbone, nipping at your skin then licking where he’d lightly bitten you. You climaxed first, Billy’s thumb having found its favourite place on your clit, and you’d dug your nails into his shoulders before running your hands up into his hair and pulling it. Hearing his answering chuckle, his hips cannoned into yours a final few times before you felt him release into you, and he sank down heavily on top of you, panting and trying to get his breath back. He moved off you and laid on his back, seemingly exhausted by his over-eager exertions. His head tilted towards you, “I’m not finished with you yet, sweetheart. Need more.”

You propped yourself up on an elbow, “Just what the fuck is all this neanderthal stuff about, Billy?” He sighed and looked back up at the ceiling. “Remember you said I wouldn’t know what a relationship was if it bit me on the ass?” “Yeah?” “You’re right. I’ve never experienced a loving relationship in my life. I dunno what love is, really.” Then out it all spilled.... his abandonment as a very young kid, the group homes, the abuse, the stigma. How he’d signed up for the Marines as soon as he was old enough, got a business degree before shipping out, how Frank had his back almost from day one. The dark eyes eventually looked into yours, “So just confirmin’ - I’m officially shit at relationships.” You nodded thoughtfully, “Well... now I understand things a little bit better, Billy. You discard women after a very short time as a self-defence measure, because you have a fear of being abandoned again. Ditch them before they can ditch you, right? Because you still have self-esteem issues, deep down underneath that confident exterior. It’s hard to overcome years of being looked down upon and sidelined.” You reached out and ran your fingers through his small patch of chest hair. He flinched slightly so you withdrew your hand, but his own hand went out and he laid it on top of yours for a brief moment.

Then he sat up a bit and stretched, laughing as he did so, “Told you, you’re in the wrong job, sweetheart.” He leaned back onto the pillows, carefully looking away from you, “Guess I didn’t do a very good job of lettin’ you know I want you to stay around and be with me?” You sat up, pulling one of the sheets over you, “What?” you asked. He looked over at you again, “All of this,” his hand waved vaguely between you and him, “This is me tryna let you know I really like you. I honestly missed bein’ with you during the week. An’ I was really busy, me and Frank, all week - I wasn’t tryna avoid you, okay? All I could think about was the night we spent together, how I want that to be a regular thing. Spend time with you.”

You started chuckling to yourself before it bubbled up into real laughter. He’d been looking down and fidgeting with the covers but now his head swung up and his eyebrows pulled into a frown. You calmed down a little and reached out to him, softly stroking his shoulder, “Billy... I’m not really laughing at you. Well, I suppose I am but only because I’m really surprised. That’s not how guys usually let girls know they’re interested! - kidnapping them and telling them that they will have sex with them.” Billy grunted, “Yeah, I realise that. It’s what I’m tryna tell you, sweetheart. I’m shit at this kinda stuff.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Sunday lunchtime, you met up with Karen who was gagging to know what had happened on Friday night. You dutifully recounted everything, even Billy’s metamorphosis into caveman as you left the hotel. Karen’s expression got more and more incredulous and as you drew to a close with his admission of being completely crap at all things relationship-related, she finally said, “Fuck! That’s unbelievable. So how did you leave things? You kick him to the curb?”

You took a sip of your G&T, and smiled back at her, “He wants me to teach him what a real relationship is all about.”

“And you’re prepared to take a chance on him and show him, are you?” You nodded, “Yeah I guess I am, Karen. I know it sounds crazy, but he wants to try. And I’d like to try. So we went from fake to genuine as of Friday night.”

She chuckled, shaking her head and sipping her drink before saying, “Well, you’re a glutton for punishment, I’ll say that for you. And I wish you the best of luck trying to tame that bad boy.” She lifted her glass and you clinked yours against hers, “Thanks, Karen. I’m just gonna take it one day at a time. If it doesn’t work out...” you shrugged, “...at least I gave it a shot.” She put her hand over yours, “Do you think he’ll keep it in his pants? He’s used to putting it about all over town,” squeezing your hand, “...sorry to have to say that honey, but it’s true.” You nodded, “Yeah I know, and all I can say is he’s promised he won’t be doing that from now on. But if I get even a whiff of another woman’s perfume off him, I will be kicking him to the curb faster than he can say ‘it’s not what you think, sweetheart’, believe me! And I’ve told him that too, in no uncertain terms.” She nodded, “Well, you’ve given him fair warning so if he fucks up, that’s definitely on him.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Frank threw his head back, giving a great belly laugh which went on for a lot longer than Billy Russo thought it should do. After a few moments, Frank’s face had gone beet red and tears were squeezing out of the corners of his eyes. Billy folded his arms across his chest, sitting back in the diner booth and scowling at Frank, “Okay, okay, Frankie - enough already,” he grumbled as Frank continued to laugh. Eventually Frank calmed down enough to speak, “Russo! I don’t believe it, I really don’t. Does that girl know what she’s letting herself in for?! She must be missing a few rounds out of her ammo clip.” Billy pulled a face, “Look... I like her, okay? She’s gonna teach me what a proper relationship’s like. She’s willin’ to give me a chance, so cut me some slack over here, will ya?” Frank took a big pull at his beer, “Oh Russo, how the fuck ya gonna keep it in your pants?” (unknowingly parroting Karen’s very same comment to her friend). Billy shrugged, “Look...I will, I tell ya. I mean it, I only want her. The sex is....” he made a chef’s kiss hand gesture, “....and she doesn’t take any of my shit, either. I really like her, Frankie. I think I’m ready to...” “Settle down? Really, Bill - are you? Cos if you fuck this up, you’ve got Karen to deal with as well as your girl.”

Billy took a hit of his beer, “You think I don’t know that? And I’d get a ton of crap from you too, cos Karen’d be upset. You like her, dontcha?” Frank’s cheeks went a slight shade of pink, “Well, yeah. I guess I do.” Now it was Billy’s turn to laugh, “You guess you do? Frankie, you’re like a teenager with a major crush every time your phone rings! ‘Ooh, it’s Karen!’” he said, the last bit in a high-pitched voice. “I do not talk like that!” Frank growled at him, “And you better spend your energy learning how to treat a woman properly, rather than ripping the shit outta me, Russo!”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Your phone dinged and you picked it up, seeing a text notification from Billy on the screen. Turning your phone briefly towards Karen to show her this, you clicked on it and then smiled as you read it. Showing the message to her, she also smiled, “Wow, seems like he’s definitely trying!” You agreed, “I do believe he is!” Maybe this crazy relationship thing you and Billy had agreed to embark on did have a chance of working out after all. You definitely still had your misgivings - does a leopard (or panther) really change its spots? - but you were willing to give it a try as long as Billy stuck to his end of the bargain. No other women, no lying, spending a lot of quality time together... let’s just see how all that goes, you thought. Re-reading the text, it made you smile once more.

Billy’s text said simply, “I’m missing you, sweetheart. Come over to mine, I’ll cook you dinner.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

(My photo edit)

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Tags: @blackbirddaredevil23 @galaxyjane @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @ourloveisforthelovely @swthxrry

(Using D&D’s taglist, if you’d prefer to be removed, just let me know!)

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

[datsrightbby]

Poly!Lost Boys x s/o!Reader

All is Fair in Love and War

Warnings: NSFW/Smut, jealous!Boys, honestly this is just filth, pure filth, you’ve been warned. Oh, also the reader is gender neutral. Oral, penetration, e.g e.g (:

Hey guys, sorry I haven’t posted much these past few days I’ve been a little ummm ✨depressed✨ but hopefully I’m back on track now, thankyou for your patience w me, I send kisses mwah ❤️

It didn't matter what you told them, they were never going to be okay with it. Recently someone new had moved next door to you, which was fine, or at least would have been if he wasn't a flirty blonde surfer with tattoos and abs. You had your boys, you didn't even notice him, but they did. They noticed every little stare he sent your way, how he had the nerve to greet you on the boardwalk as you were making out with one of them, how he found excuses to come over to yours when the boys were conveniently not there. And to be quite frank, they hated his guts. For many reasons, but the fact that he was extremely fond of you (to say the least) was probably top of the list. Sure, they trusted you it was the muscled, sunkissed surfer who had wondering eyes and a cocky attitude that they didn't trust, it was only a matter of time before they lost their shit.

  Which happened to be tonight...when they pulled up he was exiting your house, a toolbox in hand and you on the other. Though your attention was brought to them the minute their roaring bikes subsided and, to their amusement, you abandoned the man beside you in hopes of greeting your boys with kisses and hugs, which they happily accepted with smirks and passionate touches. Maybe they could let that go, he was obviously helping you fix the leaky sink in your kitchen, maybe, just maybe they could have let that go. But, the minute they walked in your place it reeked of his scent, he was everywhere, and he was on you.

Vampire instincts took over, you were their mate, the love of their lives, and another mans scent enveloped you like a blanket, all they could see was red and all they could feel was jealousy, and a deep rooted possessiveness over you that had been toyed with. 

***

"He's just a friend!"

"Friends don't look at you like that (y/n)!"

"Well, what do you want me to do David? He's my neighbor."

"Maybe we've just gotta remind you of your place." 

He sent you a dark look and you peered over to the other guys who had opted to stay out of the argument but deemed that they were on Davids's side regardless. David's hands went to grab you, pulling you against him, a gloved hand coming up to rest on your cheek -

"If he's not gonna get the message, then maybe we've gotta give him a little extra reminder that you're ours only."

The minute the words left his lips your body tensed, immediate dirty thoughts contaminating your mind and body - 

"I've got an idea."

Marko looked at you expectantly, a thumb in his mouth and a smirk quirking at the corner of his lips, mischievousness was written in his eyes and you took a deep breath as you waited on his next words - 

"I say we mark you up."

Admittedly you'd thought he meant hickies, though the look he shared with David told you otherwise, they shared a knowing, sinister stare, eyes clouded with wickedness as they turned their attention back on you. At once it seemed the boys surrounded you, Dwayne was behind you caressing your sides, while Marko and Paul made it a team effort to undress you, and David watched with a smirk, taking a seat on the end of the bed. Once the boys had their fun pinching and teasing you David made his way over, standing in front of you, eyes raking over your bare form, unconsciously you attempted to cover yourself just the slightest, the gazes of four men on you having an effect over you that you didn't want to admit out loud. Hands came around your body to stop the actions though, Dwayne's lips on your shoulder and neck as he attempted to stop any insecurity seep in -

"You're beautiful, don't worry."

His sweet praises were met with a hard look from David, who had other plans in mind apparently. Gesturing to the bed, both Dwayne and yourself headed over, laying comfortable with your back to his chest, while David leaned over you, a thumb and finger holding your jaw in place as your eyes met his -

"Yeah don't worry about it sweetheart, You'll soon know your place is with us and us only...hmm?"

There were many ways you could have defended yourself, though words appeared to leave your vernacular entirely as you processed the situation, Marko walking over to you and sinking to his knees with ease. You leaned back against Dwayne's chest, his lips whispering praises and sins as Marko's tongue worked along you, using his spit as lube and digging his nails into your thighs, enough to hurt, but not break the skin. Paul was impatient, hands shifting from his lap to your body in seconds, pinching and teasing your nipples and any exposed skin he could get to. His leg moves up and down excitedly, the state of you displayed out on Dwayne as Marko was between your legs having him yearning for his own pleasure. David watched, dark eyes luring over your vulnerable state. Your peak was approaching quickly, having the four of them desire you so badly, Marko's mouth working against you in every which way he knew you loved, Paul's hands all over you, and Dwayne's deep, sultry voice low in your ear - 

"I'm gonna cum, please don't stop I'm gonna -"

"You can only cum if you're loud for us."

You whined and moved your hips against Marko's mouth, adding that bit more of extra friction that had your head falling back onto Dwayne's shoulder and your legs twitching with anticipation - 

"He'll pull away if you're not loud for us (y/n). Let us hear, let...him hear you. "

You did as told, letting out a string of moans, whines, and whimpers as Marko helped you through it, holding your hips and legs still as you convulsed and shook underneath him. Dwayne kissed your neck, teeth grazing the area, and Paul went about letting himself free and stroking himself as he watched you come undone, Marko eating up every little bit of you he could get until you had to physically pry him away with your hands. As you came back to your senses you looked over to David, who yanked Marko from in between you harshly, lips in a dirty smirk as he leaned down to whisper in your ear -

"I'm gonna fuck you. And when I fuck you I want you to be so loud the neighbors hear you, I'm gonna have you feeling so full you'll feel me inside you for weeks after, can you do that for me? Can you be loud for me?"

The nod you gave him came eagerly, more so than you'd care to admit, and your heart hammered in your chest as he freed his cock from its restraints and stroked himself a few times, the action having you moaning out loud purely because of how hot he looked doing it, he teased your entrance, dipping in slightly only to pull away, teasing you and loving your reactions as he did so, you could hear Marko and Paul's snicker from beside you, how needy and desperate you were amusing them  -

"What do you want (Y/n)?" 

His tone mocked you, your needs painfully obvious and the smell of sex heavy in the air -

"I need you -"

"Need me to what?"

You threw your head against Dwayne's shoulder, once again, in frustration, his lips moving to kiss the side of your head and murmur to you how you weren't gonna get anything until you said it out loud - 

"I need you to fuck me David...please."

Your eyes pleaded with him and he took pity on you, your body slick in sweat and aching for him, he could never resist you. Without breaking eye contact he situated himself deep inside you, the stretch eliciting a moan, and your hands reaching to hold Dwayne's in support. David set a rough pace, hips meeting yours in a bruising hold, his hands went to your thighs, holding them over his shoulders and the angle had your back arching and eyes rolling to the back of your head if it weren't for Dwayne holding you still you're sure you'd be thoroughly fucked into the mattress of your bed.

“Do I feel good kitten? Can anyone else fuck you like this?”

Humming, you used your feet to bring David deeper into you, the thickness of his cock inside you must be what ecstasy feels like. He didn’t need, or even want an answer from you, the pure look of rapture on your face told him everything.

You were conscious enough to move your hand behind you to play with Dwayne who grunted in your ear and moved his hips up enough to give you access to the bulge in his jeans, Paul and Marko were either side of you, touching themselves to a similar pace David was fucking you at, it was hard to concentrate, your eyes switched from Dwayne's side profile to David above you, to Paul and Marko stroking themselves, their pre-cum dripping onto your stomach.

  Paul was the first to finish himself off, having been worked up enough from watching you get pleasured, his cum dripping out deliciously from his cock, painting your stomach, he used a finger to scoop some up and bring it to your lips, an action that would seem disgusting and unappealing otherwise, but at the moment was erotic and sexy. Marko was soon after, his cum coming out in spurts and once again falling onto your stomach with Pauls, decorating it with his own seed and scent. David's hips sped up, his high approaching and using you to get him there, his hands let go of your thighs, letting them fall to the side of him as he leaned above you with a hand supporting his weight and set a brutal pace, you couldn't focus your attention on Dwayne anymore, his cock now set free by himself and him taking over your previous actions of jerking him off. Your second orgasm hit you suddenly, the coil in your stomach had been so tightly wound for ages you forgot about the snap of it, and once it did you shook uncontrollably, lips screaming out a mantra and curses and moans and a mix of all the boys names, you couldn't think straight or feel anything over than the warm shock waves of pleasure raking through your body.

David pulled out of your spent body, finishing himself off on your skin and staining it with his cum, in a moment Dwayne had you underneath him, his cock inches above your face and you salivated, opening your mouth unconsciously, but he didn’t give you the pleasure of sucking him off, instead he came all over your face and neck, the final touch to their marking of you. 

Their scent was embedded in you, their touches still lingered on your skin, and their cum lay thickly on your body, the most possessive part of all of this was having you smothered in them, not only that, but you’re sure, with how loud you were, that your neighbour and the rest of Santa Carla was all too aware of what exactly went down, though it wasn’t in you at the moment to care. Your legs were numb in spent stimulation, your eyes drooped with exhaustion, your mind couldn’t focus on anything, David had fucked you out - 

“we love you babe, you know that right?”

All you could manage was a soft smile and a nod, Paul went to hold you and cuddle into your side, actively avoiding the mess all over you, Marko went to the other side of you, while Dwayne went into the bathroom and started you a bath, David just peered down at you, lighting a cigarette -

“Good. And I hope he knows it too.”

“Did Dwayne give you hickies?”

Paul’s finger poked around at your neck and you watched his face break out in a grin -

“He didn’t I -”

You felt the spot Paul was touching suddenly hurt as he put a little pressure to it, a gasp escaping your lips -

“DWAYNE!”

[idratherdreamofjune]

@sunheart wrote in her tags on another post:

Genuinely hate being alive ... I completely understand on so many levels why you would hate being a woman. Its horrible. And then as a Christian there's this whole really ugly dynamic- that i know is probably a lie i just haven't worked out how yet- that we're the 2nd best. The afterthought. The mediocre option. Almost everything in life men are better at and it's hard to believe it's just cultural-  math logic leadership writing cooking writing physical activities on and on, and women are good at being Nice :)   Which ok i like being nice   but it's like that's my only option   I feel like any other impact i might wish to have upon the world   will be paltry in comparison to what i could do   if only i was a man.   I feel incompetent. Irrational. Emotional. Obnoxious.   I feel like I'm supposed to be a plaything for the beings that were *actually* created to be in harmony with God   like I'm not supposed to have a connection with God-  only through my husband   which what does that make me as a single childless bitch?   I can't even fulfill the main point of my existence. Jesus interacted with women but did he care about them like he did the men? David and John were named his favorites not Deborah or Hannah. And like i said i'm sure none of that's true but i don't know how and it feels awful. hate it.

   Hopefully others have shared encouragement on this already, but just in case I wanted to give some thoughts. Please know that if I sound riled at all (and I’m going to try to avoid that) I’m not upset at anyone who feels this way but am deeply upset by the enemy’s lies that so many are hurt by. As a younger believer I did struggle with some of these questions myself, and for a long time it was difficult to reconcile these concerns with the promises that God loves me.

   Your instincts are right - it is a lie that women are second best. And before I go any further let me also agree that yes, we are physically weaker than men and have other weaknesses too. But since when has weakness meant that someone is any way “less than” others? Men have weaknesses too, just different ones. That’s the nature of humanity: every person is a mixed bag of strengths and weaknesses. I’ve never heard before that men are better at cooking?? My dad literally struggles to cook a hotdog in the microwave and has never touched a grill in his life. And okay men may (possibly, not sure on this one either) be inherently better at math, but which gender is drastically underrepresented in the nursing field? I suspect there are fewer male teachers, too, though not as huge a disparity. Men are more prone to recklessness and violence - part of the reason married men live longer (gotta get that stable influence). Again yes men are physically stronger but have you watched ballet dancers (oooh i mean ballerinas, sorry there’re so few ballerinos that I forgot to differentiate) or female gymnasts? Nothing “less than” there! The famous Proverbs 31 woman is a good insight into Biblical support of female abilities and value: “strength and dignity are her clothing”, “she opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” “Let her works praise her in the gates.” (The gates were essentially the city hall or forum of ancient Israel.)

   Going back to the beginning - women were created second, true. But did God not know His own plan? He was always going to create women. And the really amazing thing that I learned in the last couple of years is that, when God says He’s going to make Adam “a helper” (Hebrew ”ezer”), that’s the same word that is used to describe God’s actions for His people throughout the Old Testament: - Exodus 18:4 “The God of my father was my help.” - 1 Samuel 7:12 “Ebenezer” means “rock of help” and is a memorial of Yaweh’s help. - Psalm 30:10 “Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!” - Psalm 115:11 “You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord, He is their help and their shield” - Psalm 121:2 “My help comes from the Lord” - Hosea 13:9 “‘You are against Me, against your helper.’“

It is a common word for “help” used in other settings, yes, but the fact that it’s used of God illustrates that this is no poor or second-rate role. Helping - aiding - supporting - incredibly important! In fact this article I just found puts it this way:

In two cases it refers to the first woman, Eve, in Genesis 2. Three times it refers to powerful nations Israel called on for help when besieged. In the sixteen remaining cases the word refers to God as our help. He is the one who comes alongside us in our helplessness. That's the meaning of ezer. Because God is not subordinate to his creatures, any idea that an ezer-helper is inferior is untenable. In his book Man and Woman: One in Christ, Philip Payne puts it this way: "The noun used here [ezer] throughout the Old Testament does not suggest 'helper' as in 'servant,' but help, savior, rescuer, protector.'

   Moving on to the New Testament, and the topic of John, who is known as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. John is the one who wrote the book which tells us that (under the direction of the Holy Spirit, yes) and he only uses that wording as a title, in place of his name. Nowhere does it say he was the favorite disciple, or even most loved, just that he was loved. To me it seems more as if John is saying “Jesus loved me! Can you believe it?!” It has a feeling of awe and thankfulness as opposed to superiority.

  Getting into marriage specifically, I do believe that a wife should be under the headship of her husband ...mainly in the sense of letting him have the last word on decisions and plans. This is in part due to differing areas of strength, and in part because in some situations it’s better to have a family leader - most groups of humans need a leader, and following an assigned (or picked) leader does not make one inferior. All that being said, a wife should be able to provide input, advice, and feedback to her husband, who should take into strong consideration his wife’s needs, insights, and concerns (Ephesians 5:25-29).

   The lie that women cannot be connected to God outside of their husband is refuted not only by all the vibrantly faithful single or windowed Christian ladies of history (Amy Carmichael, Gladys Aylward, Mary Slessor, and Elisabeth Elliot are some of my favorites) but also Scripture itself. When Christ spoke with the divorced Samaritan woman the disciples were shocked not because she was a Samaritan but because she was a woman (John 4:27; she was shocked on both counts - John 4:9) - I hope they got used to it because Jesus spoke with women a lot. Despite the culture of the time, Jesus clearly had very warm and caring direct relationships with Martha and Mary, Mary Magdalene, and other women. Anna the Prophetess in the temple had been widowed for decades and was serving God alone “night and day” (Luke 2:37). Incredibly, in a culture where women were looked down upon, the Lord chose women to be the first to discover the empty tomb, and Mary Magdalene to be the first to see the risen Christ! I love that passage so much (John 20:11-18).

   Another example is when Jesus stopped on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter (i.e. He put aside a powerful man’s urgent request) to lovingly interact with the woman who’d suffered bleeding for years - a terribly personal and female problem (Mark 5:21-35).

   To try to wrap up, I’ll return to David in the OT, who was a “man after God’s own heart”. But again, it doesn’t say that he was actually a favorite - it does say David was chosen by God though, to lead Israel and establish the family from which Jesus would ultimately come. You know who else was chosen? Esther - “for such a time as this”. Once she realizes the task she must complete, she tells Mordecai how it’s going to go, and “Mordecai then went away and did everything Esther had ordered him.” Esther gets a book named after her and is remembered in the holiday of Purim to this day. Also note that Esther was married to an unbeliever. Likewise Ruth was chosen, as a young foreign widow, to be part of the Messiah’s kingly line. As an aside, my favorite thing about Ruth’s story (besides all the faith and beauty of it) is the simultaneous deep respect and protectiveness Boaz shows towards her (okay enough mush). Anyhow what it comes down to is that God chooses and loves both men and women, and both have a place (singly and married) in His plans and kingdom. See also Galatians 3:28 “ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

   This post has all over the place, and I probably forgot a bunch of things I wanted to add (if anything else comes to mind I’ll add it later), but I hope it’s been encouraging. Yes I’ve struggled with some aspects of how women are portrayed in the Bible, but what I shared above, plus the love and blessings I’ve known as a single woman are more than enough evidence that we are known and loved. If anything is unclear or anyone has any questions please speak out/send an ask! Anon asks are on too. Also if anyone wants to add or amend anything do so without hesitation!!

[apocalypseornaw]

Ending/Beginning

For the enemies to lovers square on @girl-next-door-writes make me feel bingo

Inspired by the show revolution (sort of) y'all I'm nervous AF to post this cause it's reader x OC but i hope y'all like it

Word count: 10,247 it long

Warnings: Cursing, violence

The apocalypse, the end of the world. Everything as it was known coming to an end. No matter how you wanted to describe it that time was now. You never would’ve dreamed that the end of the world wouldn’t have been fire or ice. No the world ended a lot quieter than that. No dead rose, no monsters crawled out of hell. Electricity simply went away, all the power sources that ran everything went off grid. You watched as the world slowly plummeted into turmoil. You had your group, all of you would fight to the death for each other, you believed that somehow humanity could survive the problem was not every group believed as yours did.Good and evil, things that at one time had clearly been black and white were now washed in shades of grey.

You were on guard duty, walking the length of the walls that surrounded the compound you called home. A team had left a few days before and had yet to return. You were getting more anxious as the days drug on. You finally spotted movement towards the east and ran quietly along the wall so as to not bring any alert to anyone walking below. When you spotted the group missing some of its main members breach the treeline you felt the knot in the pit of your stomach double in size.  “OPEN THE GATES” you screamed quickly climbing down the ladder running the moment your boots hit the dirt to meet the horses as they came inside. “Where are they?” you asked Sam before he ever got the chance to dismount. Your eyes flicked across the group that were with him clocking the injuries on each person, Sam included. You’d grown up with the Winchesters brothers, all three of you practically being raised by Bobby They were the closest thing to family you had and Dean’s absence along with Charlie’s and Garth’s was glaringly obvious to anyone. 

“We were ambushed. They took them and left a message for Bobby” he explained coming to stand next to you before handing his horse off to someone else so they could see to it that the animals all of you had come to rely on was taken care of. “Which is?” you pushed but he glanced around at the growing crowd “Not here, come with me” you followed him through the compound not falling behind despite his height advantage on you. You had a feeling what fate had befallen your friends and the rage gnawing at you was growing larger every second that passed. 

When Sam grabbed your arm and pulled you into Bobby’s quarters he glanced up from cleaning a gun and smiled when he saw the two of you but his face quickly fell when he realized Dean was not in tow and that Sam had visible injuries. “What happened?” he asked and you cut your eyes at Sam silently echoing the same question. “Kaper’s men. They found out about the power core” “SON OF A BITCH” you growled kicking a chair across the floor. 

Josiah Kaper was about the furthest you could get from Bobby as a leader went. Where Bobby was trying to push for a way for humanity to somehow dig itself out from under the shit show that had developed in the world Josiah wanted nothing more than to find a way to benefit from it. 

He had three sons David the oldest who from your run-ins with him honestly didn’t want to be associated with his father’s name he’d even helped you out of a tight spot years back when everything started falling apart in the world. Then was the middle son Jonah who was ruthless and heartless. You had a scar running the length of your left arm from the only run-in you’d ever had with him. Had Dean not been so quick on the trigger you wouldn’t have walked away, a few members of your group hadn’t. Dante the youngest son who was closest to your age you’d never had any run-ins with but this attack was personal. Bobby wanted the power core to develop a better hospital system. You’d lost a few people simply for the fact that without any power source the doctors you had didn’t have the equipment they needed to perform some surgeries. Not to mention having to stay off the radar of the militia, didn’t want any of them getting it in their heads that your group had anything they may want.

Dean had figured out a few alternatives but even the best mind couldn’t solve everything on it’s own. Josiah on the other hand, you could only imagine what he wanted with the core. 

“Give me a team, we’ll get them back without having to deal with Josiah” You spoke without a second thought. Either of the three they’d taken would come for you so you owed it to them. “What’s your plan?” Bobby asked so you shrugged “They know I’m one of yours, same as Sam and Dean. Makes a bullseye on me so I play decoy while my team locates and releases Dean, Charlie and Garth” “And if they manage to get their hands on you too?” Sam questioned so you shot him a wink “Oh ye of little faith. Don’t worry Sammy they’ll never get close enough to lay a finger on me” Bobby stared you down for what felt like an eternity before nodding “Ok but sweetheart do me a favor?” “Yes sir?” you asked so he half smiled “Make it back in one piece”

"I'm coming with you" Sam spoke and you shook your head motioning to the visible marks on him "No you're gonna go to medical and get checked over. I'm going to go poke around and see if the ones I have in mind for this are up to it, I have no doubt they will be but I still give them the courtesy of asking" 

------

You knew Alicia and Max would be at the front of the line to volunteer to go as soon as word spread. They had long since been your best friends and considering Charlie was Alicia’s girlfriend there would have been no leaving the twins behind even if they hadn’t been on your top pick to go. 

Kevin and Claire were easy picks as well. Kevin, that damn kid you swore could blow up a mountain with some baking soda and vinegar. As fair as for Claire there hadn’t been a lock you met she couldn’t get through fast and easy.  Rounding out your band of misfits as Bobby so lovingly called you all was Benny. He was a big dude, a damn good fighter and not scared of a lot. 

“So what’s the plan?” Sam asked looking at the map you’d spread out across the table in his and Eileen’s quarters. “I know Kaper and I know Dean. If they’re managing to actually hold him, Garth and Charlie, it's gotta be here” you pointed to a building near the northern wall of Josiah’s compound. “The problem is where as we as a group try to steer clear of the militia, he supplies them with pretty much anything they want to look the other way on him pilfering anything he can from the old power sources that’s been uncovered where the rest of us are barely scraping” “So you’re looking at the possibility of heavy firepower” Eileen guessed and you nodded glancing up to make sure you were facing her as you spoke “That’s where I come in. I draw their fire so to speak here” you pointed to the end of the compound furthest from the building you suspected your people were being held in. “By yourself?” she questioned and you knew she didn’t like your plan anymore than Sam or Bobby had. “I’ll be fine Eileen. I promise. By the time they realize I’m there everyone else will be in position. Once they have our people I’ll draw them out further and chunk a few of Kevin’s presents out amongst their ranks just to stir some fun up”

“And if something happens to block your path back around to meet up with everyone else?” Sam asked so you shrugged nonchalantly “Well I can honestly say I will make em earn it and I fully expect the lot of you to give em hell in return” “You’re insane” Eileen reasoned and you smiled at her “That, my dear is part of my charm!”

-------

Kaper’s compound wasn’t set up much differently than the one all of you lived in, the only difference being where when your compound was first established you went for the comfort of the many while it was clear Josiah went for the comfort of himself. His people had well enough living quarters but the building in the center was twice as plush as everyone else’s and while there were guards on their walls the same as yours he also had guards in front of his quarters.

The cement building against the northern corner of the wall was where they kept prisoners. There had been more than one scouting mission around Kaper’s compound to have a basic understanding of what was where. Luckily for your group there was a series of caves not far from the compound that could offer you shelter off the main road while you strategized one final time before actually putting your plan into action.  

------

You tied your horse Helios at the head of the cave then walked deeper in where Benny had built a low fire. He was crouched down looking at the map you’d gotten Alex to sketch out. “Tell me this plan one more time” You could feel the twins and Claire watching you when Benny spoke. Kevin was doing some final touches to his part of the plan so he was preoccupied. You squatted next to Benny and pointed towards the prisoner quarters. 

“That’s where they’ll have Dean, Charlie and Garth” he nodded so you then pointed towards the eastern gate that was closest to Josiah’s quarters “I’m going to get their attention here, draw the main guards out. I’ll use a few of Kev’s low grade toys so as to cause more chaos than actual loss of life, just enough to make everyone look at me. In the meantime all of you will head in over here” you pointed towards where the western and northern wall met “There’s a weak spot unless they’ve fixed it in the last month which I seriously doubt. Even if they did, Kev has a corrosive to make a hole big enough for all of you to slip in, find our people and get the hell out” “Promise me one thing though darling?” he asked so you tilted your head to look at him “Name it Lafitte”

“If something goes south where you’re concerned wait for me at the gate because the moment Dean finds out I agreed to let you do this I won’t be far behind”  You offered him a small smile “Oh come on now he won’t kill ya” he raised an eyebrow that was clearly a nonverbal way of disagreeing but Kevin walked over about that time and handed you a canvas bag “The pipe bombs won’t cause a lot of damage but if you get in a tight spot grab a few of the round ones and chunk em. They’ll take out anything within a ten foot blast zone” You thanked him then stood up and glanced around. Claire held your gaze for a moment while both twins gave you a sharp nod “I’m not one for rousing speeches so I’ll just say wish me luck and remember if all else fails give em hell and make em earn it” 

Claire rolled her eyes “Christ Y/N, Dean gives better pre-fight speeches than that!” you shrugged “And that is why I’m going to get him back” 

------

You stopped at the perimeter of the treeline that was your last bit of cover before the guards would spot you. You and Benny had agreed on a five minute mark to make sure they were in place. You pulled the old wind up pocket watch out of your jeans and glanced to see it had been exactly five minutes. Well now or never.

You clicked your tongue and Helios trotted forward. The guards spotted you the moment you left the cover of the trees and hollered “STOP THERE. WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS?” you stopped but slid your hand into the canvas bag “I CAME TO DELIVER A MESSAGE” you lit the first pipe bomb and chunked it over the wall. It landed at the first guard’s feet causing him to topple backwards down to the dirt.

The guards and inhabitants of the compound went into a flurry of motion so you rode down the wall throwing just enough pipe bombs over to ensure every guard was paying attention to the “threat” at the eastern wall and not the rescue party at the northwestern wall. 

Once the gates opened and guards started pouring out, some on foot but most on horseback you lit one more pipe bomb and threw it in their general direction before hollering “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN ASSHOLES” then clicked your tongue again gently kicking Helios' sides as she took off at a gallop for the trees hearing the shouts of the guards following you. ‘Good keep all your eyes on me’ you thought to yourself as you leaned down closer to Helios to avoid limbs that were threatening to whip across your face as you rode deeper into the woods.

------

Benny and Claire had told you they didn’t need longer than eight minutes to get in, find your people and get out. Of course playing a game of solo mouse versus about twenty guards who were the cats was easier said than done.

Helios went around a tree and muscle memory alone was the only thing keeping you on her back. You fumbled for the watch again and saw six minutes had passed. Christ you still had two more minutes to keep them close enough that they would stay in pursuit but far enough that they couldn’t catch you. 

You were getting close to the lake that was nearby so you headed in that direction. You had two pipe bombs left in the bag and two of those round ones for a tight spot as Kevin had put it. When you got close to the water’s edge you slowed her enough to let the guards catch up slightly and muttered a prayer under your breath before throwing one of the round ones into the water’s edge then kicked her sides again. She tore out in a gallop and you could feel the water from the blast hit your back followed by a lot of cursing. From the sounds of it you hadn’t killed anyone but you’d discouraged their chase and hopefully disoriented them enough that by the time they got back to the compound the smoke would have cleared. 

------

Dark was falling and they’d never attempt to go after all of you once it fell completely. You had the advantage, your people were more used to the dark than Kaper’s because you only used the power sources you had sparingly. Your plan was to double back around to the caves where everyone was waiting for you. Benny was under strict orders that if you weren’t there within ten minutes of them arriving to knock Dean out if need be to make him leave you behind.

You didn’t expect to see a lone rider waiting not far from the lake. You thought your eyes were playing tricks on you when the large black horse first moved, thinking it was a trick of the light and a shadow. A horse that size shouldn’t move that quietly.

You clicked your tongue and tugged the reins in the opposite direction but when Helios pitched the other way the black horse simply gave chase. Shit who the hell was that? You could hear your heart beating in your ears. You had no choice but to lead whoever it was away from your people. There was no telling the shape everyone was in considering if they managed to keep those three contained they may have even gone to the extent of drugging them.  

You had to slow when you got into the thicket of the woods because in the lowering light you could barely see where you were going. You felt something hit your left shoulder hard a half second before you were falling from Helios trying to brace yourself against the shock of the fall. You grunted when you hit the dirt then rolled to be in more of a defensive posture. You could hear the other horse slow before the sound of boots hitting the dirt hard met your ears.

You clicked your tongue trying to get Helios to circle around but before you could get back onto her you heard someone say “I’ll be damned, a woman did all that?” you spun to face the voice and cursed when you saw the gun pointed loosely in your direction. He was a couple inches taller than you, nice athletic built and clearly a fighter. There was still enough light you could make out the bit of stubble gracing his jaw line and the way his eyes held you made you fight the urge to look away. There was something vaguely familiar about him.Hell had he not been pointing a gun at you and from Kaper’s group you would’ve called him attractive but at the moment he simply had a target on him for you to figure out how to get out of this spot with both of you still breathing. 

“And to think we’re called the weaker sex?” you replied with a defiant tilt of your head despite the fact that his gun was out and pointed and yours was still resting at your lower back. He chuckled slightly “You’re one of Singer’s. Y/N isn't it?” you smiled and held your arms out “How can you say that for certain that I'm not just simply a thief that happened along at an opportune time?” “Because I know for a fact that Dean Winchester along with two more of Singer’s group was in our grasp”

It suddenly hit you why the man across from you looked vaguely familiar “You’re Kaper's other son” he nodded slowly “Dante Kaper at your service sweetheart” You narrowed your eyes at him “Stow the sweetheart bullshit. I’ve got a scar from your brother and I was one of the lucky ones that day. I know the type of man you are” He nodded then motioned to his horse with the gun in his hand “Well in that case why don’t you hop on up there?”

“Kill me first, that’s the only way” He reached out to grab your arm and you let him because you knew getting close enough was your only chance of getting free. He pulled you back against his chest “I don’t want to hurt you but the same way that your people hate mine, you just blew up half our wall and knocked most of my guards on their ass” “Oh well” you muttered before throwing your elbow back as hard as you could at his midsection and was rewarded with the sound of his gun being dropped to the dirt as a grunt left him “Should’ve known it’d be a hand to hand thing”

You  spun around to face him and narrowly avoided his return blow. You swung on him but he caught your arm then swept your legs out from under you when you went down you managed to kick your leg out as soon as your back hit the dirt and it connected with his leg. “Son of a bitch” you groaned, pushing yourself to your feet. You started to make a run for it but Dante recovered faster than you would’ve hoped. He was on his feet and grabbing you before you could make it two steps. 

The moment he spun you around to face him you swung and connected a solid punch to his jaw. He staggered just a moment then kicked out and managed to connect with your stomach. You went with the blow letting your own momentum take you down. You were counting on his arrogance being his downfall and that proved to ring true when he came to stand over you “Guess you can’t hang with the men huh sweetheart?” “Don’t you wish” you replied, kicking out hard to catch him dead center in the crotch.  The moment he went down to his knees you took off running and whistled for Helios. She came running up so you hoisted yourself onto her back “Let’s go” she galloped away and you could barely hear the hollered curses from Dante as he faded from your sight.

------

When you got closer to the caves you checked the time that had passed and cursed under your breath. God if they had to knock Dean out to get him to leave you behind it was going to get really messy when he came to. 

You slowed Helios down to a trot and whistled the tune you and Benny always used when you were on the same team. After a few seconds you heard the whistle repeated so you urged her forward.

You hopped down at the head of the cave and saw the other horses tied up. You tied her next to Claire’s horse then walked into the cave entrance. The moment you came into view you were snatched into a hug from Charlie. “Y/N!” you couldn’t help but smile at seeing her mostly unscathed. There were clear signs of the fight when they’d been taken but beyond that it appeared as though Kaper hadn’t attempted to torture them. You’d gotten there before that point. 

Once she released you Garth was there slapping your hand in a high five “Now that’s what I call a rescue mission ma’am!” you winked at him but your smile quickly fell when Dean stepped away from the corner where he’d been talking with Benny. Your eyes skimmed across him clocking the cut over his eye, the bruising on the side of his face and just how bloodied his knuckles were “I call that insanity. What the hell were you thinking?” you grimaced slightly at his tone bracing yourself before saying “I call that pulling your ass out the fire, same as you’ve done for pretty much all of us” 

He studied you for a second before a grin split his face and he pulled you into a hug “Kid you are completely insane but damn I would’ve loved to see Kaper’s face when those pipe bombs started going off” you touched your stomach where you caught a boot from Dante and Dean tracked your movements with his eyes “What happened?” Benny who had been silent stepped up behind you and when he touched your left shoulder it was only then that you realized the branch that had knocked you off Helios had torn through your jacket and shirt. “I officially met Dante Kaper”

“Did you kick his ass?” Max asked and you shrugged “I’d have to say that meeting was fifty, fifty. I got away from him because he underestimated me and got kicked in the family jewels as a reward for it” Alicia covered her mouth as she laughed “In that case I’d say you won it” You glanced around eyeing the lot of them. Out the rescue team from the looks of it none of them had even been in a fight. Benny’s knuckles weren’t even bloodied. Kevin was a little windblown but that was because he’d been at the forefront of any explosions they’d set off. “All of us are in one piece and can make it home. I call that a win” 

Ninety percent of the time you tried your best to abide by what few rules were in place. You as one of Bobby’s surrogate kids had to be on your best behaviour to show everyone else in your compound that all was treated equal but when a meeting was being held to arrange an escort to Denver for a supply run to the encampment there and you weren’t invited it more than pissed you off.

You stood in front of the meeting room door for several minutes trying to talk yourself out of what you were about to do. It didn’t work of course. You started to walk away then said screw it and shoved the door open. Bobby,Sam, Dean,Benny and Jody were sitting around a table marking the route off. “Took her longer than I thought it would” Benny admitted with a nod to Dean.

Jody raised an eyebrow at you “Y/N? Bobby said you weren’t feeling too well” you cut your eyes at Bobby who shook his head “Don’t even start kid. You know you can’t go on this run” “Why not? When have I suddenly become persona non grata?” “When you went a few rounds with a Kaper” Dean answered for Bobby.

You barked out a harsh laugh then drew the chair from next to Sam and sat down “Then I guess you nor Charlie nor Garth is going on this run either then? Because while they didn’t see the crew that busted you out they know you got out” 

Sam sighed and turned slightly in his chair to face you “Still turns back around to you Y/N. Since they in fact didn’t see the crew they probably assumed you set some sort of timer to bust the whole in the back wall before getting their attention on the front. Them taking the three of them goes against the agreement set forth by the militia so they can’t exactly report it but they more than likely have a grudge against the person who blew half their wall up and knocked most of their guards and one of Kaper’s sons flat on his ass”  You leaned forward on your elbows and glanced around the table.

Dean and Benny immediately shared a look from the expression on your face and Bobby closed his eyes with an exasperated sigh before you ever spoke “So you’re telling me that lil ol me gets the credit for pulling off a rescue mission, destroying their over the top wall that wasn’t even very functional to begin with and kicking Dante’s ass all on my own. Hmm sounds to me like I need to go along Kaper’s men may think twice about messing with the crew if they spot me with them”

“If we don’t let her go we all know either she’ll saddle Helios and follow us anyways or get into something worse” Dean finally said and Jody winked at you “Well you boys may need some backup” “Don’t encourage her!” Bobby groaned then waved a hand at you “Go grab your gear. Dean will round up everyone else” you stood up and winked at Jody before walking out.

------

You were riding behind Benny towards the back of the wagon. It would be left with the encampment so the trip back would be cut by a day. Everyone was talking to whoever was closest to them or just keeping an eye on the surrounding area. Once the supplies were handed off and inside walls the militia weren’t as prone to mess with them but out here in the open it was a more free game.

There was a reason why you, Alicia and Max had spent weeks mapping out the natural caves along any routes all of you took. If you couldn’t find an old building with a garage area for the cart you would park it inside of the cave then make camp outside of it where anyone looking to steal would have to go past whoever was on guard at the moment and everyone sleeping.

“Benny you got this for a minute?” you asked and he cut his eyes at you and nodded “Yeah I got this darling. Guess you’re gonna poke at Dean a lil bit?” you grinned and clicked your tongue so Helios headed in the direction you pointed her which was the head of your group where Dean was looking as stoic as ever while keeping an eye on his surroundings.

He barely acknowledged your presence but you knew that he knew you were there. “Are you really mad at me for getting you out?” you asked and he shook his head. 

You knew he wasn’t but you were going to make him say the words out loud. “I’m pissed off at you for putting yourself at risk like that. What if those guards would’ve caught up with you? Or what if Dante would’ve actually won that fight?”

“Then you would’ve come and got me. It would’ve gone a lot bloodier than my method but I have faith that worse case scenario you would’ve made Kaper regret the day he was born” Dean was quiet for a moment before finally looking at you “Y/N..dammit you’re in the same category as Sam. I can survive losing a lot. I don’t know if I can survive losing either of you. Before you say it I know you’re plenty capable. I’d rather have you at my back then most men I know but that doesn’t change the fact that if you would’ve gotten killed saving my ass..I would’ve slaughtered every man in that place” “What about the women on his guard?” you asked and he narrowed his eyes “Don’t be a smartass just say you see my point” 

“I see your point but that’s the same reason why I couldn’t leave you there. Dean you almost killed Jonah. If I hadn’t been bleeding that bad you would’ve. You’re a high value target for Josiah so I’m not gonna attempt to lie to you I’d do it all over again but I do honestly see why you got pissed at me so can we call truce now?” he nodded and held a hand out so you shook it with a laugh “Glad we got that settled now let me get back to my post before Benny starts talking to his horse again”

------

Your group was about two days away from the Denver encampment. You’d stopped to make camp for the night. There was an old housing development that got abandoned when the end happened so it was a bunch of half built houses that had been mainly reclaimed by nature. There was one at the end that only had a few finishing touches to the place so that was where you picked for the night. The cart was parked in the garage so everyone made beds around it. All of you had slept in worse places.

“Y/N you and Sam take first shift then wake me and Benny up for second shift” Dean announced so you nodded in agreement as you pulled your jacket onto your shoulders “Aye aye Cap” then nodded at Sam “C’mon Samuel” he shook his head with a laugh but followed you out the side door of the garage that led back outside.

------

The full moon was nearly bright enough you could read by it. You were on your third trip around the house keeping an eye on the perimeter. Every time you’d pass Sam one of you would tell the other some stupid joke or random fact to pass the time. There was only another hour left of your guard shift then you could take over Dean’s bed to catch a little sleep before finishing the last leg of this trip.

Once the cart was dropped off your group didn’t have to take the main road home and weren’t as high value of a target for the militia or the road bandits. Even in this day and age you had people that would rather steal then even attempt to provide for themselves in a halfway honest way.

It was a bit disappointing that the one thing you could still count on was that mankind could still be major douches regardless of the time. You were thinking of another weird fact to tell Sam considering your fact of what raccoons could fit inside of made him swear to sleep on his back from here on out every time he slept outside would make you laugh for a week.

A movement towards the woods a few houses down caught your eye. You weren’t quite sure what it was but actually hoped for bandits versus Militia or any of Kaper’s men. You knew Sam would be coming around the corner of the house in a minute and if you mentioned it to him he’d want to check it out with you but you couldn’t leave the house completely unguarded.

You whistled one sharp note and Sam whistled back before coming around the corner quickly “What’s wrong Y/N?” you nodded towards the treeline “I think I saw something. I’m gonna go check it out. Don’t leave guard post unless you hear me scream then feel free to tell on me to Dean and bring everyone running deal?” He followed your line of sight then looked back at you “You’ve got exactly two minutes” you grinned at him “I only need one Samuel” then headed towards the treeline being careful to make your footsteps as quiet as possible.

You reached for the knife at your side. You had your gun tucked at your lower back but if it turned more into a close quarters deal the knife would be a better option. The moment you stepped into the shadows of the trees you felt a hand grab you and you were slammed backwards into a tree. Before you even focus to try to see the assailant you had your knife at their throat.

You realized you were looking up into none other than Dante Kaper’s dark brown eyes “You know you’re something else Y/N” he grunted flinching slightly from the pressure you had on the blade. “Been called worse by better Dante” you replied putting as much venom as you could in your voice and he smiled despite the fact that you were nearly drawing blood “You need to move your people. The militia is headed this way. They’ll be through before daylight”

“How do I know this isn’t a trap to make us move so your people can attack us down the road?” you asked and his grip on your arms tightened slightly “If I wanted your people dead I could’ve shot you and Dean's brother then burned the garage to the ground besides I kind of like having someone around to give me a run for my money. Makes life a lot more interesting”

“And why do I tell Dean we need to move? Can’t exactly say a Kaper said so” you replied easing the pressure slightly on his throat. He glanced down at the blade then slowly released your arms “You’re a resourceful woman. I’m sure you’ll think of something” you stared at him for a few breaths before putting your knife back at your side “If this is a trap you better hope they kill me fast because I’ll make sure you regret it” he had the audacity to wink at you before saying “See? Now comments like that make me want to keep you alive just because that much fire deserves to be fed”

He disappeared into the woods and a few seconds later you heard his horse moving away and cursed yourself for not clocking that big of a beast. “You bastard” you whispered to the night then realized the two minutes had more than likely passed so you quickly breached the tree line again to be back in Sam’s line of sight before he could wake Dean up.

He ran to meet you halfway “What was it?” you shook your head “I don’t know but we need to move. We’re close to a few caverns we can make it to one and still rest a bit before hitting the road again” he stepped in front of you before you got your hand on the door leading into the garage “Woah Y/N if it was nothing why are you hell bent on moving?” you met his eyes and took a deep breath “You trust me right?” “Of course” he answered a quick reply built on years of both of you trusting the other’s instinct. You hated lying to him but something told you Dante was being honest and you didn’t want to chance the supplies that were desperately needed in the Denver encampment being confiscated. 

“Let’s get them up then” you finally added so he stepped to the side and simply followed you into the garage.

------

Surprisingly enough when you woke Dean to say you felt like your team needed to move he didn’t even attempt to question you. He simply gave out orders and the lot of you moved silently through the woods to the caverns you’d pointed out on the map.

Once everyone was settled back down at the cavern though you noticed that Dean and Benny both had pulled Sam to the side of the group and the three of them kept throwing glances in your direction. What were you supposed to tell them if they questioned you further? That you were taking an enemy at his word because why exactly? You weren’t even sure yourself why you’d believed Dante besides the fact that he was indeed telling the truth that had he wanted any of you dead it would’ve been simple enough to do.

You pushed the thought out of your head and curled up next to Helios for the night. By the time the sun was peeking out onto the ground your team was already on the road once again. 

------

“So successful drop off done now for the trip home” you said riding between Sam and Dean. Dean glanced over your head at Sam and nodded once. You watched as Sam fell off and matched his pace with Benny instead no doubt giving you and Dean room to talk or rather Dean room to question you.

You remained silent for a few moments before saying “Well get on with it” he cut his eyes at you then looked back ahead of him “Get on with what exactly Y/N?” you sighed running your fingers through Helios’ mane “Asking me why I moved us in the middle of the night” “And why exactly was that?” he questioned and you felt a knot in your stomach start to form. On one hand you didn’t want to lie to Dean about anything but on the other hand you’d done the one thing all of you had sworn to never do..you trusted a Kaper. Even as far as David Dean simply avoided.

You shrugged “I just had a bad feeling. Best case scenario we ride back through and nothing is touched meaning I overreacted to a bad feeling” “But if we ride back through and proof that the militia has been through is there I’ve got to explain why you’ve either suddenly grown psychic powers or why the little birdies flying around have decided to start conversing with you” 

You were stunned into silence simply because you’d never actually had Dean accuse you of anything. It was a strange feeling but you also became acutely defensive “What exactly are you accusing me of?” you asked and he turned fully to look at you trusting his horse to remain on the path he’d been pointed “Someone was in those woods last night when you went to check it out. You can lie to Sammy but you can’t lie to me. Who was it?” At your silence he cleared his throat then looked back at Sam who came up to join the two of you yet again “Sam you and Benny take lead. Me and Y/N are gonna fall to watch the rear and have a little chat since she’s apparently now being shy of groups”

You cut your eyes at Benny when he came up to take your spot at the head of the group “You good darling?” you nodded once then clicked your tongue to get Helios to follow Dean. 

Once the two of you were at the rear of your group with no possibility of anyone over hearing a conversation Dean got his horse close enough to Helios that had the two not been around each other for so many years they never would’ve willingly rode that close “Now talk to me.You know I’ve always backed you up but I need to know who told you we should move?” you sighed and refused to meet his eyes but answered “Dante” you barely looked in his direction but saw his jaw clenching and unclenching “Please don’t be mad at me Dean. I had my knife to his throat but he had a point. He could’ve fucking sniped me and Sam then barbequed the rest of you if he had wanted to!” 

“So? What are you trusting him now?” Dean’s voice was sharper than you’d ever heard it pointed at you. He reached across the space between the two of you and snatched your jacket off your left arm to show the thick jagged scar that started at your wrist and disappeared underneath the short sleeve of your shirt “His brother did this! I found you nearly dead. Sam held you in his arms the entire ride back to our doctors and you know what? I heard him pray Y/N! Who the hell he was praying to in all of this I don’t know but we thought we would lose you. We lost Jo, Ash and Rufus that day! A Kaper did that! Out of every possible enemy in this world the god damn Kapers have been a thorn in our side for longer than anything! You really think you can trust him? Even David is only passable because he got away from Josiah and we haven’t heard anything from him since. Dante went back to his daddy’s compound and probably reported that Bobby’s girl was stupid enough to trust him!”

You felt hot tears spring to your eyes at his words. You turned your head stubbornly so he wouldn’t see them and took a few deep breaths before replying “I don’t trust him Dean but I had to weigh the options and protecting all of you was the most important thing” your voice broke slightly as you shrugged your jacket back up on your arm. Dean reached as if to touch your shoulder but you flinched away from him “Not right now Dean. I know you just want to protect me but I just can’t right now”

“Chief, are we checking it out?” Benny called from the front nodding towards the path that would take you back out to where the housing complex was. Dean looked at you then announced “Everyone wait here for a few. C’mon Benny” you watched them ride off then locked eyes with Sam. The look on his face alone was enough to ask if you were ok. You gave a sharp nod.

Within a few moments Dean and Benny were rejoining your group. You didn’t look in Dean’s direction when he came back to ride at your side but he still offered “For what it counts the militia destroyed it and left their mark” “Why did he warn me?” you asked honestly shocked that Dante’s warning had rang true. “That’s the question isn’t it?”

The moment Bobby heard that Dante had reached out to you and in fact actually told the truth about the militia coming through you knew that would be the end of you being allowed out on any day to day tasks. You had no idea why he’d even been in that area that night or how he’d located your group let alone why he’d want to actually protect your group. Hell you’d fought him the first time you met him then that knife had drawn a line of blood from his throat while he gave his warning. It was a predicament to say the least and and left you feeling like a fucking leper considering only Sam, Dean and Bobby knew so to everyone else they simply say you sticking close to the compound with no good reason as to why.

You were helping Donna and Jody in the armory trying to simply keep your head down until Bobby and the boys forgot about it and let you out again. “What exactly did you do?” Jody asked sliding more shells across to you since the three of you were currently making more bullets. You shrugged knowing that you very well couldn’t tell another soul that a Kaper had saved your necks. You absentmindedly scratched at the scar on your arm and Donna covered your hand with her own “You know that’s a bad nervous habit sweetie” you shot her a small smile “I think I’m just going a little stir crazy. Even just to take Helios out to stretch her legs I’ve got to take Benny or Max and Alicia with me” “Whatever happened those three will get over it soon enough kid. Just keep pushing they love ya” Jody added with a wink.

------

It went on for a while until you were on guard duty one day walking the length of the wall when Xavier, a rider for a nearby compound which happened to be where your hospital set up was, came riding up to the gate. “LET HIM IN!” you hollered climbing down the ladder to meet him.

When he saw you his eyes flicked around nervously “Y/N.. Dean or Sam around?” you shook your head “No but what’s going on Xavier?” he swallowed hard “They’re on the way to do a walk through of our compound. We don’t have the power core completely buried yet” “Shit.Dean,Benny  and Sam aren’t due back till dark” his eyes looked like they very well may pop out of his head “We have an hour tops” you knew that if you came out on the other side you’d never hear the end of it and that was the best case scenario. 

You nodded to his horse “How fast can it move with two riders?” “Fast enough” he replied. As you were swinging your leg up behind him you heard Max holler your name. Xavier glanced back at you but you simply shook your head “Ignore him. Let’s go” you rode out of the gate motioning for it to be closed behind you already planning in your head a dangerous route but if it came down to it you would do what was necessary to save the most amount of people.

------

Dean was seething with anger and underneath that was the fear. The fear of being too late this time. The fear he’d find you dead. Dammit why did you have to be so fucking selfless? When him and Sam had met up with Max on the trail back he knew something was wrong then when Max told him the last he’d seen of you was you riding off on the back of Xavier’s horse he knew the worst was yet to come.

He rode up to the gate of the compound that housed the hospital set up “OPEN THE FUCKING GATE!” He didn't slow down and rode directly up to the door before climbing off his horse and nearly took the door off the hinges as he stormed inside with Sam and Benny close behind. 

He spotted Micheal the doctor that was over the place “Where is she? What the fuck happened here?” The place was a mess but most of the equipment appeared to be whole. There was evidence a fight had happened and your presence or the lack thereof was a sore thumb along with the puddle of blood in the center of the room.  “Dean you got to know I tried to stop her! I told her to stand down but she refused. She was determined to draw their attention from the power core” the shorter man was clearly scared and for good reason. Benny knowing Dean how he did managed to catch him before he broke the good doctor’s nose “Dean brother we need to hear what happened before we kill him” 

Micheal looked at Sam who shrugged “They’re not gonna kill you” When Micheal almost looked relieved Sam quickly added “But we may make you wish you were dead cause you’re probably gonna have to put yourself back together if we find out you hid while they took Y/N” 

Benny let go of Dean and had a hand around Micheal’s throat in the blink of an eye “Now doc me and you ain’t never had an issue but that girl is like a sister to all three of you. What the hell happened here?” “Jonah was with them” Micheal breathed out and Dean felt his blood run cold.

They never planned this to be an inspection. Josiah and Jonah both knew the one way to get at Bobby, Dean and Sam was to go after Y/N. “Son of a bitch. They were probably watching when we left. He planned the walk through to draw her out knowing she’d never stand by”

Benny dropped Micheal unceremoniously to the floor. “Go over what happened and don’t leave a word out” 

Everything hurt.You knew the moment you’d spotted that chestnut horse amongst the inspection crew that it had all been a lie. You’d been lured out and played directly into their hands. “I’LL KILL YOU” you growled diving at Xavier. You’d trusted him and he’d betrayed all of you. “Sorry Y/N they gave me a better offer than being an errand boy”

You had your hands around his throat when the door was kicked in and you heard a gun cock “Y/N let him go or I’ll kill them” you looked up to see a gun pointed towards Micheal the top doctor and Erika the top field medic. You slowly stood off of Xavier eyes never leaving Jonah’s masked face. “Good girl” he cooed then the moment Xavier was on his feet he put a bullet between his eyes. At your look he shrugged “He’s a rat. Don’t need any rats now do we?”

“Gonna take that mask off and let me see Dean’s handy work?” you taunted eyes flicking towards Micheal and Erika. “Are you going to be nice and come quietly or do my men need to beat you in compliance?” he replied so you squared your shoulders and planted your feet “If you plan on taking me you might as well throw your hat into the ring too darling cause this is gonna be one hell of a fight” 

You ended up coming back to consciousness in the newly reinforced cells of Kaper’s compound. You were certain you had a few broken ribs and the entire side of your face was slick with your own blood. You’d held true to your word. You’d given as much damage as you’d gotten and that was at an extreme disadvantage. The last thing you remembered was Jonah’s boot connecting with the side of your head hard. If you survived this you would make sure you were the last thing he ever saw and you had the comfort of knowing if you didn’t survive that Dean would be the last thing Jonah ever saw.

You had managed to push yourself into a seated position with your back against the wall when you heard boots coming in your direction. You were in pain and it would likely be a task to stand on your own but regardless you braced yourself for what would more than likely be another fight. 

When the footsteps stopped you looked up to see Jonah was standing at the door leading into the cell. He had his mask in his hand and the light from the torch on the wall flickered across the burns the corrosive had left behind on his face. “Damn you’re even uglier than you were before. At least the exterior completely matches the interior now” you grunted holding an arm around your hurting ribs as you forced yourself to stand up despite the pain radiating through you that moving caused.  “Keep talking you little bitch. Even now our group is already at your compound. Singer will be given seventy two hours to either deliver the power core or be delivered your corpse” “Bobby knows you’ll never keep your word. You’ll take the power core and kill me all for daddy dearest to make a play to be over the shambles that’s left of this country”

“But the thing about Bobby and the Winchester boys they don’t think with their heads a lot. They let their hearts do the thinking and you’re family. That whole group is insane enough to risk it all by coming after you. How many more will die this time for you to walk away?” “That wasn’t my fault. It was yours” you threw back and he smiled “And yet here you still stand having survived what? Seven years after them?” “You’re gonna kill me why not just finish me off now?” you asked and his smile turned sinister “Oh but why kill you quickly when I can make you beg for death?”

He pulled a key out of his pocket and slid it into the door when he stepped into the cell you took a deep breath before falling into a defensive posture. Whatever he had planned it wouldn’t go over easy on him.

“There’s not even an option. We hand over the fucking power core” Dean spoke from where he stood at the edge of the room. “How do we know they won’t kill her anyway?” Benny asked and a silence fell over the room because everyone was thinking what Benny had just given voice to “Well what the hell do you suggest Benny? Let them kill her with no qualms?” Max’s voice was laced with anger. Anger at himself for not being able to stop you from leaving and anger at the situation in general.

“We’re already at the eighteen hour mark since they took her. We need to do something and do it now!” Alicia cut in but before another word could be spoken Claire came running into the room “DEAN, SAM” both brothers turned to look at the blonde who was out of breath “The front gate! We need you!”

------

Most of the residents of the compound had been temporarily relocated rather to other areas or the caverns to get the non combatants out of harm’s reach which made it easier for moving around. Erika had bought her supplies and came back to help as well.

When Dean and Sam made it to the front gate they saw that Erika, Alex and Eileen were all three crouched around but couldn’t make out what until they got close enough to see you cradled in Dante Kaper’s arms while the three women worked to triage your wounds.  

“What the hell?” Dean demanded and at his voice you opened your eyes weakly “Don’t hurt him Dean” then your head rolled over to the side. “She’s ok. She just passed out. Dante get her up and let’s get her inside”

------

Erika had kicked everyone out of the room besides Eileen and Alex to work so that left Dean and Sam alone with Dante in the hall outside the room you were in. “Is that her blood?” Dean asked, pointing to Dante’s shirt. The other man glanced down almost robotically “Not all. Some of it is Jonah’s” 

“Excuse me?” Sam asked to ensure he’d heard right. Dante raised his eyes and Dean saw a fire there that almost made him want to like him “I killed him to save her life. I wasn’t there when they took her but the moment I got back to the compound my father called me into his quarters to brag. I found Jonah in her cell he planned to do worse than torture her…” his eyes had found their way back to the door that held you on the other side “I killed him without a second thought. I took her out the back and bought her here where I know she’s safe then I’m gonna go back and kill my father and everyone loyal to him”

“Is she worth that to you?” Dean asked, needing the answer before he allowed himself to give a Kaper even a sliver of trust “Why wouldn’t she be?” Dante replied and Dean gave him a sharp nod “Ok then. Want some help?”

------

You came to again when Eileen was washing the blood off of your face. “Eileen?” you whispered but she saw your lips move and looked up to your eyes and smiled “Thank god. What do you remember?” “Jonah..a blade slicing through him...a horse ride..Dante’s coat being around me and telling Dean not to hurt him”

She nodded “Good no concussion then” you looked around slowly “Where is everyone” you signed a bit sloppy but she got the point. “Waiting for you to wake up” “How long have I been out?” you asked and she grimaced which told you it’d been a while “A week” 

Before you could have a complete freakout the door cracked open and Alicia poked her head in “You’re awake!” “It appears” you groaned trying to sit up before her and Eileen moved to help you. They shared a look then Eileen signed “I’m gonna go find the boys”

Once she walked out you looked over at Alicia who’d sat next to you “What happened while I was napping?” she laughed “Oh a revolution?” “Huh?” you questioned and she shrugged “Bobby can explain it better but just know our lives are going to be a lot more peaceful” “Where’s Dante?” you asked worry for him suddenly hitting you like a blow to the gut. “He’s fine honey. That’s one of the boys Eileen went to find”

------

You were sitting up with your feet curled under you nursing the glass of water Alicia had gotten you when the door opened again and Eileen walked in, trailed by Dean,Bobby,Sam,Benny and an unsure looking Dante.

Your crew all hugged you then you locked eyes with Dante and shared a small smile “You killed your brother for me” “He was an asshole anyways” he replied which caused a light laugh to spread across the room. “What happened while I was out?” you asked looking at Bobby who smiled “Long story short? Josiah is dead. David is back and over the civilians proven to not be under Josiah’s rule. The militia is being cleared out of dirty members as we speak and we have doubled the side of our hospital set up in the last three days”

You cut your eyes at Dante “What are you gonna do now?” Dean slung an arm around his shoulder and winked at you “Well Y/N not to put words in his mouth but I believe he was hoping to stick around and get to know you a bit better now that you’re not sworn enemies anymore” “If that’s good with you. If not I can always head home now that David is over it?” he offered and you smiled “I think I’d like you sticking around a bit”  His smile told you that was the answer he’d been hoping for.

@girl-next-door-writes

@littlemessyjessi

[bxthharmon]

Never Go Home Again, Pt. III || JJ Maybanks x Reader

Words: 2336

Series Warnings: violence / talking about abuse / toxic relationships / talking about nudes sex tapes and sex / drugs / underage drinking

Pt. Warnings: Underage drinking / fighting / gun

Series Summary: A new girl, a shoebox of old memories, a past she’s trying to forget coincide with a hotheaded, but selfless, boy.  teenagers getting in way over their heads

Pt. Summary: Y/N is introduced to keggers and high speed boat chases in John B’s quest for treasure.

A/N: Okay so i’ve got like half of this series drafted, so updates shouldn’t be toooooooo slow. let me know if u wanna be tagged!!

Chapters linked in my masterlist.

“masterlist”

A kegger was both exactly what you thought it would be. It was full of booze, bad dancing and bad flirting, which was just about the only thing all teenagers had in common. You were laughing at something Pope was saying (some joke about dead bodies farting?) when Kiara interrupted you.

“What the hell is she doing here?” she nodded towards Sarah, who was sat on a tower, while Topper dried to persuade her to get down.

“Sarah?” you asked, thinking of how the two of you had been hanging out everyday until you met the pogues. “What’s wrong with Sarah?”

Before Kiara could respond, JJ shushed her, explaining that something had gone on between the two, and therefore never to ask in front of Kiara, earning him a middle finger.

You looked between the two girls, frustrated that your only two girl friends on the island hated each other. Kie wandered off, muttering about ‘pretentious kooks’, leaving JJ to ask you what was wrong.

“Sarah was my first friend here, we were hanging out like, every day until I met you guys. Just my luck that Kie hates her, right?” You sighed, leaning backwards onto him, and he wrapped an arm around your waist. “I get that y’all hate the kooks, I mean I don’t get on with rich people either, but Sarah was really nice to me, and she was fun. Why can’t her and Kie get on?”

JJ sighed, kissing your temple, “C’mon, let’s just go get wasted.”

You followed through with that plan. You and JJ must have had three blunts between you, and way too much alcohol. 

At some point, you left JJ’s side and ended up sitting down with Kie, talking about him.

“What the hell is going on with you and JJ?”

“Nothing.” 

“C’mon Y/N, you know that’s bullshit.”

“Look, Jay stays at my house every few days, and we’re close, that’s it.”

“Jay? He never lets anyone call him Jay. Y/N, the only reason he stays at John B’s is because they’ve been friends since 3rd Grade. He doesn’t sleep around people’s houses or invite them out with us unless he’s fully invested in the relationship, and that takes a lot with him. You can’t pretend there’s nothing there!”

“Okay…” you sighed, “yeah like, he keeps on pulling shit, and, like, making me think he likes me, but he hasn’t kissed me or anything! I mean, how do I take that?”

“He’s scared of fucking up. Look, he’s been through shit, him and his dad don’t get on, and he’s seen so many broken relationships, he wants to get it right with you.”

“Ya think?” you smiled to yourself.

“Hell yeah!” she laughed, “He’s batshit crazy over you!”

You grinned. “I don’t know man, and my dad’s like super anti-boys right now, and I’m scared this is all gonna go to shit, you know? Like, I got shit goin’ on at home,” she nodded, “like, my dad’s job is barely paying the bills and we gotta pay moving fees and shit as well, I’m gonna have to find a job so we don’t go under.”

“Hey, my dad’s always short on waiters at the Wreck, I’ll ask him to add you to the rotor.”

“Kie, you’re a lifesaver!”

You hadn’t been paying attention to your surroundings, and it was only when a crowd started gathering that you got up to investigate, pulling Kie with you.

You fought your way to JJ’s side, watching as Topper dunked John B under the waves. You went to intervene, but JJ pulled you back, muttering something like “I got this.”

Next thing you knew, there was a gun to Topper’s head.

People were screaming, JJ was saying something to Topper, but all you could focus on was how much of an impulsive idiot that boy was. You felt numb, only reacting properly when he fired shots into the air. One, two. 

You pulled the gun off him, not caring where it landed, and pounded into his chest, screaming at him for being an idiot, for being impulsive, for not thinking. He started to argue, but seeing the tears streaming down your face and how worked up you were, he pulled you in, cradling your head and shushing you, murmuring apology after apology. You stood there, consumed in his scent, as he held you.

At some point, when the beach was near empty, he pulled away, and you walked slowly, hand in hand, until you reached your house. “Wanna stay over?” you offered. He nodded, quiet, almost in shock, about what he’d done. You unlocked the door, pulled off your shoes, and crept up the stairs.

--

“Does anybody know how to dive?” Kiara asked, looking around. “Anybody?”

“It’s kind of a kook sport.” JJ pointed out.

“I read about it.” offered Pope, and you shook your head, exasperated.

“Great,” you mocked, “Pope read about it, so someone’s gonna die.”

“Look you put the thing in your mouth and breathe,” JJ motioned, “how hard could it be?”

“Well if you come up too fast nitrogen gets in your blood and you get the bends.” Pope said. 

“I watched some David Attenborough documentary in 5th Grade about fishers in, like, Malaysia getting the bends.” You added, “It was weird.”

“Bends,” JJ said, “Like bend over and-” he was giving you a full view of his ass.

“The bends kill you.” you clarified.

“Right.”

“I’ll dive.” you offered.

“Since when can you dive?” Kie asked.

“I don’t know, since I watched a documentary in 5th Grade?” you sighed.

“Y/N,” JJ shook his head, “You’re not diving.”

You glared at him, but didn’t fight.

“I’ll dive.” John B offered.

“I’m cool with that.” JJ shrugged.

Pope explained to John B where and when he needed to stop, so you pulled your top off and dived into the water to mark the spot.

Upon your entry, Kie asked “What was that about?”

“I don’t know,” JJ raised his eyebrows, “But I liked it. A lot.” 

Kie smacked his leg, and he laughed, watching your entry spot.

“When you’re down there, you look for the cargo hold,” JJ held up the little stick, “You stick this thing inside and you twist and pull.”

“Stick in, twist, pull.” John B affirmed.

You surfaced, swimming back to the boat, the boys looking over as JJ helped you out of  the water. “I tied my t-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down so you know where to stop.”

John B nodded, pulling the gear on and getting ready to dive. You watched as Kie kissed John B’s cheek before he went down, and you nudged her as she walked back. You gave her a questioning look and she shrugged, a bashful look adorning her.

“If you don’t ask, I won’t ask about you and JJ.” she bargained, and you watched as JJ’s head popped up at the sound of his name.

“There’s nothing to ask about.” you smirked. “Hey.” you nodded to the approaching boat, “Isn’t that the police? Let me do the talking.” 

You walked to JJ and Pope, JJ wrapping his arm around your shoulders in an attempt to be chill. Pope tied the boats together.

“Evening, Officer.” You greeted, Time for a light flirt, just enough to make him like you.

“Do I know you?” Shoupe asked you.

“Nah,” you shook your head, crossing your arms so your boobs pushed together slightly. “Just moved from LA, two weeks ago.”

“Well how are you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?” 

“It is?” you asked, feigning innocence. Small bash of the eyelashes. “Why?”

“Conducting a search, a boat went down. See anything?”

“Nope,” you popped the ‘p’, “We’ll let ya know if we do.”

“Where’s your friend that you always hang with? Is he here?”

“Working.” you explained, smiling happily up at him.

“I’m gonna check your little boat out.” he stood up.

“Sure,” you cleared the way, ignoring the way JJ was watching you interact with the officer.

He picked up a life jacket, “Y’all got another one of these?”

“‘Course,” you shrugged, “in the hold, Show ‘im.” you beckoned to JJ, who obliged, opening up the hold.

“A’ight.” Shoupe nodded, standing on the edge of the boat, looking down to where John B was due to appear. You all shared a glance. “A’ight.” 

“We’ll let ya know if we see anythin’, Officer.” you smiled again. “And we’ll be on our way out soon, Sir.”

“Yes, you will.” the boat pulled away.

As soon as the boat was gone, you all leaned over the side.

“He’s definitely out of air.” Pope reminded you all.

As if summoned, he broke the surface, and the four of you made a collective sigh of relief.

“How’d it go down there?” JJ asked. “Find anything?”

“Did I find anything?” John B laughed, pulling out a duffel bag as he hoisted himself out.

“There we go!” JJ grinned, taking the bag, “that’s my boy!”

“You okay?” Kie asked.

“I ran out of air.” John B said. Pulling himself into the boat.

“Yeah the cops were up here but, uh, turns out Y/N knows how to lie pretty fuckin’ well.” Pope explained.

“Yeah, you kinda missed the show, brother.” JJ agreed, winking at you. 

“Jeez, chill,” you rolled your eyes, “It’s just practice.” JJ raised an eyebrow.

“Hey guys,” Kie called, “Guys, bogey, two o’clock.”

You looked up, “Y’all recognise that boat?”

“Never seen it.” Kie looked back at you. “What are they doing back here? The marsh is closed.”

“I don’t know, but let’s not stick around to find out.” JJ reasoned.

“Should we wait on them?”

“No, we’re not gonna wait on them!”

JJ pulled in the anchor, yelling not to wait for him, and John B began to steer away, everyone talking at once.

“Are they coming for us?

“Maybe they’re fishing.”

“Go, go, go, go!”

“Into the marsh!”

“Let’s go!”

“I’m going, act natural.”

You watched as the boat followed you into the marsh.

“They’re following.” You pointed out. “JB, hurry the fuck up.” 

“I am!” came the response.

The boat sped up. “Dude is that a fucking gun?” you shouted, and suddenly JJ was on top of you, pulling you down as a gunshot fired.

“Shit! John B, get down!”

“Oh my God we’re gonna die!”

You rolled out from under JJ, ignoring his efforts to grab you, taking a rope and net off Kie. You stood up, ignoring the shouts from your friends as you worked your way past John B to the sturn and threw the rope and net out, behind the boat, stopping the boat behind you. Breathing out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, feeling JJ grab you, checking for blood before crushing you in a hug.

He didn’t break contact until you were on solid ground, standing around the bag, waiting for John B to open the bag. 

“Can you please just open the bag?” Pope yelled.

“Jeez, Pope, that was a rare outburst of emotion.” JJ mocked.

“Okay, you guys are literally killing me with anticipation.” he groaned. “Just open the bag. We almost died over this.”

You all watched intently as John B pulled a bag from the bag, and then a waterproof container from that bag, and finally a compass from that. Disappointed, you stepped back.

“Oh wow,” You snarked, “Yup, that’s about right. Good job, everybody, we found a compass.” You noticed how John B kept staring at the compass, and sighed. “Dude, what? It’s not worth anything.”

“This was my father’s.” he murmured. 

Now, perhaps it was the fact that you hadn’t spent the last nine months dealing with the fact that John B’s father was missing, but you felt out of place amongst your friends’ reactions.

--

You settled into the sand, arm touching JJ’s, and feet thrown out below you. 

“Something about hanging out with you and your friends seems to be getting me in trouble.” you sighed, not noticing the way he gazed at you, adoration painted onto his features.

“Blame JB.” he reasoned.

“You say that like you’re not the biggest trouble-maker in that group.” you giggle, and he smirked.

“Nah, I don’t know what you’re on about, man.” he smirked.

“Jay, did you just call me ‘man’?” you laughed.

“Maybe.” he looks at you again, watching you laugh. You roll your head to look at him, your nose millimetres away from his. In the dark, the only details he can make out are your out line and the glitter in your eyes, shining with glee. 

You take each other in, basking in the moment, John B’s drama and your thoughts and fears dissipating, however momentarily. He reached up, slowly, and took a strand of hair, tucking it loosely behind your ear. He watches how your silhouette moves, and he can picture your blush. You blink, the shine of your eyes disappearing for a split second. He watches you turn your face back to the sky, pointing up. 

“That’s Cassiopeia.” you point out the ‘W’ shape in the sky.

“I’ve heard of that.” JJ murmurs, feeling your body shake with laughter beside him.

“The vain queen.” you sighed. “She boasted of her beauty, and in his anger, the God Poseidon condemned her kingdom to attacks by, like, water nymphs or something? To end the attacks, she sacrificed her daughter, Andromeda, who was saved by the God Perseus. They married, and at their wedding, one of Andromeda’s suitors tried to claim her back, but was turned to stone by the head of Medusa, which Perseus used to kill the suitor. Cassiopeia and King Cepheus didn’t close their eyes, so in light of their death, they were made to hang in the sky.” 

“How the hell do you know that?” JJ chuckled, and you laughed.

“I don’t even know.” you smiled. “And that’s the Big Dipper, or Ursa Major. And that one there is Orion.” You looked back at JJ, “What?”

“You’re beautiful.”

Tags: @tangledinsparkles​ @jellyfishbeansontoast​ @lolitstiana​ @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch​ @teamnick​

[vsquadgoals]

Best friends (J.W) Part 3

Y/n woke up to Nerf nudging into her hair whimpering, she smiled remembering what happened last night between her and Jeff. She rubbed behind Nerf’s ears slowly sitting up, “Come on baby.” She whispers trying not to wake Jeff, it was still very early, and they had a late night. Y/n picked Nerf up from the bed and carried him out of the bedroom and closed the door quietly behind her after she put on one of Jeff’s t-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants. Nerf looks up at her wiggling his butt happily waiting for her to take him outside, “We’re going baby hold on.” She giggles putting him on the leash and slipping on a pair of slides Jeff had next to the door. 

Once Nerf finished doing his business outside, she brought him back inside removing his leash, she found his food and filled his bowl scratching the top of his head smiling. Y/n washed her hands and removed the slides and his sweatpants, it was hot in the apartment and she couldn’t figure out how to turn on the a/c. Y/n started making breakfast for her and Jeff, two egg white omelets, turkey bacon, and some home fries.  

The smell of bacon and potatoes wakes up Jeff, at first, he’s confused and then he remembers the night before and now he can’t wipe the smile off his face. He stretches and gets out of bed putting on a pair of boxers before walking out of his bedroom, he wraps his arms around Y/n’s waist as she plates the beautiful breakfast that she made for the two of them, he kisses her shoulder and hums happily. “Good morning Doll.” Jeff mumbles against her warm skin, “You look incredible in just my t-shirt” she looks over her shoulder at him smiling. “Good morning sleeping beauty.” She teases as she hands him his breakfast. “I’m gonna take out Nerf before I eat.” He says putting his plate on the kitchen island, “I already took him outside and he’s fed.” She says guiding him to a seat. “Sit and enjoy your breakfast.” Jeff grabs her wrist pulling her back over to him and kisses her softly on her lips. “You’re incredible, thank you.”  

After breakfast y/n starts doing the dishes while Jeff goes into the bathroom and turns on the shower, he strips his boxers before stepping under the hot water letting it wash away the sweat from the night before. “Jeff...” Y/n calls walking into the bathroom, “David wants everyone at his place at noon, can you bring me to my apartment to change before we go?” She asks leaning against the door frame. “Sorry doll I can’t hear you, you gotta come over here.” Y/n shakes her head smiling and walking over to the shower opening the glass door. “I said-” Jeff smirks and grabs her waist pulling her under the water. “I know what you said.” He laughs kissing her lips hard pressing her against the shower wall.  

Jeff pulled the soaking wet t-shirt over y/n’s head throwing it on the bathroom floor, she wraps her arms around his neck pulling on the hair at the nape of his neck attaching her lips to his again. Jeff’s hand wandered down her waist and gripped her ass tightly lifting her off the floor, she wrapped her arms around his waist. Y/n nibbled on Jeff’s earlobe “I want you to fuck me Jeff, please.” She whimpered into his ear, Jeff groaned and kissed lips hard and rough, “If you insist.” Jeff slowly lowered her onto his length and started thrusting into her hard and fast, his nails dug into her ass which would leave marks on her later.  

Y/n buried her fact into the crook of his neck moaning uncontrollably.  “God Jeff, don’t stop, please!!” Jeff pinned her against the wall thrusting into her harder, Jeff put his arms under her knees holding her up with her legs around his biceps. “You like how I fuck you doll?” Jeff grunts biting his lip looking into her eyes, he could tell she was close, her legs were shaking, and she was throbbing around his cock. “Yesss” was all she could say her entire body shaking.  

“Come on y/n, cum for me, I’m right with you.” Jeff moaned loudly his thrusts becoming sloppy, Y/n threw her head back against the shower wall as she came undone around him and he followed right after her. Jeff leaned his forehead against hers as they caught their breath, the shower water slowly turning cold. Y/n kissed Jeff’s lips softly as he slowly pulled out of her and placed her on her feet gently, “I’m getting wrinkly.” She whispered smiling against his lips.  

Once they dried off Jeff gave her another t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, “So David’s?” he asked smirking. “Yes, but my apartment first so I can get my own clothes.” she giggled grabbing her outfit and bag from the night before off the bedroom floor. Y/n kissed Nerf’s head and scratched behind his ear, “bye baby boy.” She cooed as he wiggled his butt happily, Jeff smiled wide at the interaction, “Wow I wish you scratched behind me ears like that.” He teased grabbing her hand and interlacing their fingers leaving the apartment locking and closing the door behind them.  

Y/n ran into her apartment leaving Jeff in the car waiting for her, since they were going to David’s and they never knew what he was going to get them into she always dressed casually. She changed out of Jeff’s clothes and into a mustard t-shirt, ripped, high waisted mom jeans and a pair of vans. Y/n left Jeff’s clothes on her bed; he wasn’t getting them back just yet.  

Jeff watched all his friends ig stories from the night before chuckling to himself while he waited for Y/n to come out from her apartment. Y/n got into the passenger seat of Jeff’s car and smiled at him. “Ready?” y/n nodded kissing his check. “So... are we telling everyone yet or no?” She asked chewing on her lip as they made the short drive to David’s. Jeff cleared his throat not expecting the question, “I don’t want to hide it, why should we? I mean unless you’re not ready.” Now Jeff was the nervous one, “Thank god, I don’t want to hide it either. I couldn’t imagine hiding what makes me the happiest.” She laced their fingers together and his kissed the top of her hand. “Good.” Jeff whispers against her hand kissing it a few more times.  

They parked in front of David’s and David, Natalie, and Todd were the only ones there so far. Y/n was happy about this it made it less awkward, she didn’t want to have the entire groups eyes on them all at once. Y/n kissed him softly on the lips before getting out of the car and they started heading into David’s house. Jeff’s hand stayed pressed against her lower back as they made their way into the living room. “Hey guys!” Y/n called smiling at their friends. “FINALLY!!!!” They called happily seeing the two together, Jeff chuckled and smiled at his friends kissing the top of y/n’s head before Natalie pulled her into the kitchen away from the guys while they talked quietly, or so they thought, about the new relationship.  

“Where the hell did you guys go last night?” Natalie whispered to Y/n smirking. “We went to his apartment; I spent the night.” Y/n says nonchalantly, Natalie glared at her, her eyes begging for more information, but y/n’s lips were sealed. She winked at Natalie before heading into the living room and laid on the lovesac, “So, what did we miss last night?” Y/n asked looking at her friends, David rolled his eyes pointing to the lights about the pool table. “Zane and Heath fucked up my lights again.” everyone chuckled and shook their heads.  

The next people that showed up were Carly and Erin, they walked in vlogging and they came with gifts, Starbucks, Y/n was thrilled. “Ugh have I told you guys lately that I’m madly inlove with you?” She eagerly grabs her favorite drink from Carly’s hands, Carly smirks and flips her hair, “I mean you can tell us again we might have forgotten.” Y/n giggles and sips her drink happily before melting back into the lovesac careful not to spill or David would kill her. “So, what did I miss last night?” Erin asks as she sits on the couch turning off their vlog camera after filming giving everyone their drinks. David’s eyes widen looking between Y/n and Jeff, they both roll their eyes and nod giving him the permission to tell the girls about the newfound relationship, they know how much he loves people’s reactions. “JEFF AND Y/N ARE DATING” David shouts almost startling everyone, he wished he could film the reactions, but he wouldn’t take it that far, not yet at least.  

Erin and Carly’s eyes widen, and they squeal “Finally!!!” Jeff and y/n chuckle, “That seems to be everyone's reaction.” She giggles shaking her head. “Can you blame us?! We’ve all be watching you two flirt and deny your feelings for each other for what, A YEAR?” Jeff smirks and waves his hand. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Y/n smirks at Jeff and winks at him, Todd changes the subject telling Erin about the fight at the frat house and they all fill her in on the festivities that took place at David’s after everyone came back.  

David takes out his laptop and starts editing the footage from the party which is the last almost finished. By now everyone has pretty much left and it’s just her, Jeff, David and Natalie. Jeff is now cuddled on the lovesac with Y/n his head on her chest as she runs her fingers through his hair. Natalie was sitting next to David helping him put the finishing touches on the vlog and reviewing it for him like she always did. “Looks great.” Natalie mumbles rewatching it again. Y/n was on her phone watching the stories from the night before chuckling to herself then she sees it, on Zane’s story, Zane is filming the party and the camera pans over the room and he zooms in on Todd and Natalie and you can see Jeff and y/n dancing VERY closely and his arm wrapped tightly around her waist the other hand is brushing her hair to the side so he can kiss and bite her neck. “Fuck.” She curses under the breath but loud enough for Jeff and her friends to hear her.  

“What’s wrong Doll?” Jeff asks sitting up off her and leaning on his elbow. Y/n hands him her phone replaying the story, Jeff must have missed this when he was watching them earlier or accidentally skipped over it. Jeff showed it to Natalie and David next, Y/n got up and paced the living room chewing on her nails destroying her manicure. Of course, she’s not the type to hide her relationship but they literally just got together last night, she would’ve liked to wait at least a little longer to tell their fans.  

“Y/n... It’s gonna be fine, no one has even posted anything online about it. I think you guys are gonna be okay.” She hummed nodding at Natalie’s statement. “You’re right...” She mumbled under her breath before looking at Jeff who was watching her chewing on his lip, Y/n sighed and made her way back to Jeff and sat on his lap wrapping her arms around his neck, she pecks his lips. “I want everyone to know but I don’t want our fans involved SO soon, it always makes things so complicated.” She reassured him, Jeff nodded and smiles at her. “I know Doll, I completely agree. I think we just ignore it, if we have him take it down it looks way worse than just leaving it up.” Y/n nods looking over at her friends who nod in agreement as well.  

Jeff yawns and rubs his eyes, “Ready to leave?” he asks y/n who is now cuddled on the couch with Natalie and their watching tik toks together picking some that they want to film. She looks at Natalie and then at her boyfriend who’s now standing stretching his tired limbs. “I’m gonna stay here tonight with Nat. We’re gonna film some stuff, I need to post tomorrow.” She says standing slowly and wrapping her arms around him. Jeff frowns but nods kissing her forehead. “Okay, good idea. Walk me out?” He asks picking up his keys from the coffee table. Y/n looks at Natalie telling her she’ll be back before slipping on her shoes and following Jeff out to his car.

Jeff leans against his car door, he grabs her waist pulling her body against his roughly. “You sure you don’t wanna stay over again?” He asks sucking on her earlobe, Y/n sucks in a breath and bites her lip. “Jeff...” She whines feeling his member get hard against her. “God you know I want to.” She whispers before kissing his neck sucking and nibbling on it leaving small marks. Jeff grabs her ass squeezing tightly, Y/n rubs him through his shorts moving her lips to kiss him running her tongue over his bottom lip. Jeff groans against her lips “Fuck Y/n.” She puts her hands on his chest pushing away from him putting distance between them. “I have to go back inside.” She says biting her lip, Jeff groans and reaches out for her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She says before pecking his lips once more and turning to go back inside. Jeff watches her walk back inside biting his lip and watching how incredible her ass looks in those jeans.  

“Fuck.” Jeff mumbles running his hands through his hair trying to catch his breath. She was gonna get it tomorrow or teasing him like that.  

[american-satanxx]

Animal in Me//Chapter 22

Tag list:  @SCARECROWMAX @KINGNIAZX @LEATHERANDHEELS @IJUSTWANTTOKISS70SROGERTAYLOR @TAMRARAE

MASTERPOST

The Way He Moved, It Was A Sin, So Sweet And True

“Why are you so nervous?” Lena asks me a couple weeks later. “We’re just meeting Doc and his new assistant. What has you freaked out?” “Because I know his new assistant already.” I reply, earning the attention of the boys. “He’s my brother. We had brunch and he started asking about you guys and then he told me he’ll be working on your next tour with Doc.” “And you didn’t tell us because?” Nikki questions. “I’d love to get some insider of the newbie working with us.” “He doesn’t know about us, if that’s what is concerning you Nikki.” I roll my eyes. “He just wanted to know how you guys acted while on tour. And I told him you guys were a blast and he’ll have fun. That was the most we talked about when it comes to you guys. I certainly wasn’t going to tell him about the activities me and Nikki participate in behind closed doors.” “Sometimes not even closed doors.” Nikki smirks as a hand goes up my thigh and under my short skirt. I narrow my eyes at him and he instantly pulls away. “My brother is overprotective of me when it comes to boyfriends.” I warn him. “He bet the living shit out of Axl for fun. So yea, that’s why he will never find out about Nikki.” “What, you don’t think I can take him?” Nikki sounds almost hurt. You can hear the bruised ego in the tone of his voice. “You’re scrappy but will never win a fight against my brother.” I inform him. “We grew up with roadies and drunk uncles teaching us how to fight. You wouldn’t stand a chance against either of us in a true fight.”

“I do love a challenge though.” Nikki leans close to me, a smirk is on his lips before he licks the tip of my nose. I just roll my eyes before pushing me away. “So is your brother anything like you? Is he a true professional?” “No, he’ll do lines of cocaine off a farmer’s daughter’s tits with you guys.” I reply. “Only one of us is a true professional.” “I’m starting to like this guy.” Vince smirks just as Doc and my brother David join us at the dinner table. “Ria?” David raises an eyebrow. “Didn’t think you’d be here? You never hung out with bands after you wrote the article about them.” “These guys have grown on me.” I chuckle, earning smirks from the boys. “You’re gonna be stuck with me when it comes to these guys. I’m extremely close with them.” Just as I say the last sentence, I feel Nikki’s hand return to my thigh and it finds itself slowly making up under my skirt. I shoot Nikki a warning glare. His hand stops moving north but he doesn’t remove the hand. And his smirk only grows. “Tonight I can’t stay long. I’ve got a concert to get to.” “Guns N Roses again?” Nikki questions, rolling his eyes. “Don’t you get sick of hanging out with them? It can’t be healthy hanging out with an ex.” “Ex?” David questions as he sits down. “Which ex?” “Axl.” Nikki smirks. “Your little sister is hanging out with that asshole again.” “Really, Ria?” David huffs. “That guy treated you like fucking shit.” “We aren’t dating.” I inform him before turning my attention to the bassist who has a hand on my thigh. I grab his hand and dig my nails into it. He’s trying so hard not to react. “Jealousy isn’t a good look on you Sixx.” “Who said anything about me being jealous?” He shoots back, eyes narrowing into a glare. It’s my turn to smirk. “Seriously Summers, who said anything about me being jealous?” “Your actions for one.” I shrug. “But whatever, let’s get a few drinks and you boys can talk business, yes?” With that, I flag down our waiter to start the drink order. I’m going to need several drinks if I’m going to survive this dinner. ** “Ok, I’m going to head to the bathroom to freshen up before heading out.” I announce before getting up out of my seat and heading to the bathroom. Once inside, I begin freshening up my lipstick when I hear the door swing open wildly. In the mirror’s reflection I see Nikki standing there; eyes wild and lust blown. “You’re not fucking going to that concert?” I turn around and glare at him. “Who fucking said? Because last time I checked, you don’t control me. I’m allowed to hang out with whoever I fucking want. I’m not your property. You need to get that throu…” Before I can finish myself Nikki closes the distance between us and crashes his lips onto mine. He puts a hand on the base of my neck and deepens the already bruising kiss. His free hand finds its way to my ass and squeezes it, earning a moan to escape my lips. This moan allows Nikki the opening he needs to shove his tongue into my mouth. His kisses go from my lips, to my jaw and down to my neck. He licks my pulse point before biting down on it, sucking it just enough to assure there will be a hickey forming in its wake. “Marking your territory?” I chuckle as he resumes the kiss. “Gotta make sure those punks know who you belong to.” He murmurs against my skin. “Can’t be thinking they can claim you and take you away from me.” “So I’m yours huh?” I ask him. “Since when did this become official?” He pushes away and looks deep into my eyes. This is a side I very rarely see of Nikki. I think the only time I’ve seen the look of love in his eyes was after Razzle’s death. “Do you want to make this official?” “It depends.” A smirk dances on my lips. “On what?” “On if you’re going to ask me or not.”

[brideofcthulhu10]

YASSSSSSS! Romeo and Juliet is my all-time favorite!

Okay this took all day, so all you guys better love this! This is actually the first part, I will submit the other half in about an hour or two. It really was so massive it needed to be broken into more than one segment. So, after FIVE HOURS of writing, I present for your viewing pleasure

THE TRAGEDY OF MARKO [1/2]

Marko×Fem!Reader

Content Warning! Violence, Gore, Sexual Themes, Offensive Language! Reader's Discretion is Advised!

The idea of being with a human never really sat well with Marko. He wasn't exactly popular with the ladies when he was alive, and now they all just seemed intrigued by his night time allure. Fake the lot of it. Half of them were just going to be a snack anyways, there was no point in getting attached. 

At least until Star made a friend.

Cruising around on the boardwalk was second nature, to the point that he knew the place like the back of his hand. With his hands stuffed in his pockets he trotted behind his friend Paul who was determined to get a good spot. These Santa Carla concerts were okay, but finally the big guns rolled in. For one night only the baddest bastards in Hollywood were coming down to tear it up with the citizens of this manky beach town- Mötley motherfuckin' Crüe! Anyone in their way quickly moved, he was not about to miss it.

 Honestly the notion was pretty cool, Marko understood Paul's over exuberant glee. Of course it started off with the greatest bang he's ever seen. Fireworks, pyrotechnics, his buddy was just geeking out to the extreme. Halfway through Girls, Girls, Girls he spotted a mass of h/c just swinging through the crowd. Every step was so nonchalantly elegant, which was a rare description when it came to a rock concert. But his eyes just zeroed in on them. No, her. She was giggling with Star of all people, he hadn't even realized the little half-er was there with them. He bit at his thumb, pushing away the tumbles of blonde that fell into his face. A solid THUMP to his shoulder alerted him to reality as Paul cheered as loud as he could. 

"THANK YOU SANTA CARLA! AND GOOD NIGHT!"

Had it already been two hours? Marko rapidly shook his head, still floating with each step when Star approached them. Both girls were giggling, panting messes. Y/N. That's what you introduced yourself as.

Paul was praising you for your most excellent head banging skills. When you turned to him he thought his heart might kick up again. 

"Awesome to meet you, gorgeous," he teased with a curling grin. 

Now it was your turn to be flustered. If this was what all California boys were like you could definitely get used to this. Looking for any excuse to talk to him further you blurted out a suggestion to grab something to eat. Star passed, all that heavy grease was too much for her but she wouldn't mind just following along. Marko on the other hand chimed in that it wasn't too much for them. 

Paul watched you two banter back and forth the whole way across the beach and up the steps onto the boardwalk itself. With a casual grin he slumped his arm over Star's shoulder, whispering something low in her ear. 

"Ah, shit you know what? I totally forget we promised Laddie we'd take him on the ferris wheel," he exclaimed, Marko cocking an eyebrow. Since when? Paul wasn't for all those slow rides. He knew his best friend. The guy was an adrenaline junkie, usually that boring stuff was Dwayne or Star's liking. 

"Oh, um we could come with if you want," you suggested, only to have Star wave you off. 

"No, no don't worry about it, Y/N. You two have fun. We'll catch up later."

Before you could get another word in they bolted, leaving you alone with Marko. 

"Still hungry," he asked, raising a brow. "Or do you gotta go too?"

"Oh! No, I could still eat." Boy, sheepish wasn't a word you'd use to describe yourself. But something about the way he watched you, it make you feel so nervous. "So uh, Marko right? Have you always lived in Santa Carla?"

"Well, I've been here a while," he casually responded. Talking about his past before turningwas usually a touchy subject. That stuff was best left behind. He wasn't Mark anymore, that guy died long ago. "I guess you could say I've been all over. I used to live in England for a while before I came to America."

"No way, you're so lucky!" You looked down to see you had grabbed his jacket in your excitement, quickly letting go. Whew. Was it getting hot out here or what? "S-sorry, I didn't mean to, um, ya know..."

His snicker was so cute, lightly bumping your arm with his own. "Don't even trip. We all get excited, yeah?" Neon lights made his hair shift colors as you walked through the crowds, stopping at a snack shop that stood out like a sore thumb. It was impossible to miss the big, flashing red sign reading: 

"CHARLIE'S BOARDWALK EMPORIUM"

Photos decorated the base of the blue walls with images of cotton candy, caramel apples, nachos and snow cones over an explosion of popcorn. So many options. On your tip toes you waited in line with him reading each of the prices. Deep fried cola? Chocolate dipped bacon sticks? You scrunched up your nose, settling for a basket of chili cheese curly fries and a soda. 

"Hey put your money away, babes," Marko interjected. "Charlie doesn't charge for cute ones, right bud?" 

He must've been referring to the heavyset Armenian man in a 'kiss the cook' apron, who by the way had no hair net covering the mop top smushed beneath a red baseball cap. All he did was slowly nod, stiffly scooting your order onto the counter. You only ordered a medium, this was massive. "Yes, of course. It's on the house lil' lady," he insisted in a thick accent. It must've been hot in there, he sounded bizarrely out of it. 

"You sure have a way with people," you commented, now wedged on the boardwalk steps leading off onto the sand, splitting the gooey mess with your newfound friend. 

"Nah, you heard him. Cute girls don't pay," he teased. That rosy tiny hadn't left your cheeks since he'd been with you. Hours passed, sharing stories and finding you two had so many common interests. Marko hadn't genuinely laughed like this in a while, and when it became late in the night he offered you a second chance to hang out. Since then you came visiting every night. 

The moment you showed up he felt a breath of air. It didn't take Marko long to introduce you to the boys. The big one with a lack of shirt was Dwayne, you still remembered Paul and Star from that night on the beach. Then there was David. You weren't so sure he liked you. The most he gave you was a disinterested wave, but Marko insisted he was always like that. Eventually he'd have to leave around 10 pm, apologizing profusely. 

"Wish I could stay baby, but we got some ridin' to do. Same time tomorrow," he asked, holding your hands in his. 

"Y-yeah of course. Oh! Wait wait hold on," you insisted, quickly digging through your pockets. Where was it? Ah! "Here, I got you this." 

Nestled in the palm of your hand was a silver scorpion etched on a black coin dangling off a chain. "I remember you said you wanted to get a new earring a few days ago"

"Babe thats awesome!" His gloved fingers plucked the piece, swapping his little skull out for it before modeling it in front of you. "Think you can hold onto mine for a while? I bet it'd look cute on you."

It wasn't hard to sense David growing impatient with you delaying their leave. Maybe because he told you two to hurry up. Right. "Gotta ride, baby." Before he left Marko stole a fast kiss from your cheek, riding away in a flash leaving you frozen. Slowly you opened your palm. The little black carved skull rolled over, looking right at you. Steeling your resolve you took it right by the silver hook and pushed it against your earlobe. The skin resisted, a sharp burn pressing harder until it popped into place. A little blood was fine, you'd be healed by morning. But now there was a whole lot of nothin' to do. Star was at their little hideout, you'd only really seen it once before and didn't have the stones to go there without the boys' permission. Tonight you saw that brown haired guy with them again. Some new guy who just came to Santa Carla named… Oh god what was it? Mitchell? Manny? Milo? Something "Mi"... mmm...mmm-M-Michael! Yes, that's who it was! He was so much more intense and jumpy that the others, but you always got the impression he was a bit... er, lost. He always either had this confused or angry look on his face.

With nothing better to do, you spent the night aimlessly wandering through the coastal shorelines, your feet sweeping over cold, damp sand as you followed hills. You couldn't stop thinking about the jumpy newbie who seemed particularly aggressive. He always gave David dirty looks, but Marko wouldn't tell her who he was. 

"Just a guy Star met, babes. Don't worry too much about him, he's just gotta mellow out before he joins us."

You'd walked so far you hadn't even realized there were people up ahead blasting Aerosmith on their boombox, jumping around a crude bonfire like a pack of wild men. 

Ugh, Surf Nazis. Pain in the ass California boneheads who practically dominated the waves and the boardwalk. You were ready to turn the other way when a stream of light flew by, one after the other. Five each. Hey, you knew those motorcycles! Ducking down by the dunes you watched Marko swing his leg over the seat, dashing up to a looming tree overlooking the bonfire mosh pit with Paul, Dwayne and David. Michael was there too? You wiggled lower, cautiously staying out of sight just close enough to hear them over the music. 

"Initiations over, Michael," David hissed with glee. "Time to join the club!" 

Club? Like a biker club or something? Squinting at the tree you nearly feel backward when the image cleared beneath the harsh orange glow. Their ey-e-eyes! They-they were blood red- white even! The way they snickered and laughed sent a blood curdling chill down your back. Marko… that sweet, alluring smile was now twisted into a hideous smirk boasting sharp, pointed teeth mocking the brunette beneath him who shared a similar look of horror. In a flash they fle- THEY FLEW! 

Rapidly you ducked down, clutching at your heart. It was beating so fast you thought your ribs were going to break. And then the screams.. those awful, sickening screams! You had to cover your mouth not to cry out in horror as David lodged his teeth into a man's skull. Dwayne howled with delight, tearing another guy in half. They were painted red. Every where, every thing, red. 

You almost missed Marko as he snapped their neck, peeling back scalp with ease to devour the wrinkled flesh beneath their skull. Then you couldn't see anymore, it was all tears. They showed no regret, no mercy. Instead they reveled in their kills, throwing the last of the limbs into a flaming inferno like some sort of hellish bonfire. 

Bile flooded your esophagus, tearing your hand away to empty your stomach onto the sands beneath you. You nearly cried out, startled when David spoke again to Michael. 

"Now you know what we are… and now you know what you are."

What they were? 

"You'll never grow old. And you'll never die. But you must feed."

David's voice cut the air like a knife. Your whole body was frigid. For a moment it almost felt like he was speaking to you. Then you remembered the earring still wedged in place, your fingers clawing it out in a frenzy. Dammit! It ripped again a thin stream of blood dripping onto your neck as you threw it on the sand. 

Meanwhile Marko watched that coward Michael bolt off screaming. What a wuss. So a few people had to die, not a bad price for eternal youth, dude. He could only laugh at this point, smearing the blood off his mouth. That was a good meal…

"Hey did we miss one," he asked, sniffing the air. There was always a distinct taste and scent between fresh, and old blood. By now whatever was left was either staining them, the ground, or being burnt.  He gnawed on a finger bone, looking Paul's way. Might as well hang for a while, they had to make sure the pieces were nice and burnt to a crisp. 

"Nah man, they're all barbecue. I getcha though." Yeah he smelled it too. Those assholes were dead shit, fresh blood shouldn't still be in the air. It was undeniable, and soon all of them could smell it

 "Its still nearby."

Oh god, they smelled you! Stumbling over sand, you tripped over your own feet and spiraled down to the base of the dunes. Marko was the first to step out. He almost missed the bloody scent, most of it was moving away. The sands still shuddered to adjust to the missing weight, a few foot prints pushed away by sand and wind. But then a tiny… something tapped his boot. Kneeling down, still caked with a familiar scent of fresh blood...it was his earring? Now he could smell it more clearly. Your scent was all over these sands. His heart dropped, realizing why this was on the ground. "Ah shit," he groaned, clasping it tightly in his hand.

×××××

The front door of your home swung as you tore it open. Locks fumbled shut and you immediately made a mad dash for your room. Your mom and dad had gone to the next town over, so it was just you and your dog D/N tonight. Absolutely the worst possible scenario to be in when you discover your boyfriend of the past few months was a murderous psychopath who ate people! 

Your heart beat echoed throughout the whole room, you thought you might even faint. Pacing back and forth you tried wiping your hands on your skirt like a madman. It just wouldn't come off! All you could see was red. Just red everywhere. Bloody splattered stained your eyes in shades of crimson. On your hands, your clothes, on the walls, in the air, on… Marko...

Covering your mouth did little to stifle the whimpering, sharp sobs that made your lungs spasm. Marko. Oh Marko.

You'd never seen such cruel delight plastered over his sweet face. Beautiful blonde locks were caked in fresh blood, he was even laughing the whole time. He enjoyed it. Revelled even, in the carnage. 

Stumbling over discarded clothes you shut off your lamp, rapidly kicking them away. Naked, trembling you ran into your bathroom. You had to wash it off! It felt like an hour had gone by in the blink of an eye. All you could do was sob under the streams of hot water. Knees to your chest, clutching them close. Maybe if you just stayed there you wouldn't have to face the reality of what you saw.

You were afraid to blink. Every time you did, there his eyes were. Those cold, unyielding white eyes that glowed perfectly in the dark. You stayed planted until the water finally ran frigid. Once your fingers started trembling and your lips went blue you had no other choice but to get out. 

Without another word you threw on the nearest clean shirt, a pair of pajama shorts and collapsed onto your bed. Everything you thought he was, was now up in the air. Now you questioned every motive, every kind gesture. That kiss tonight.. He could have been luring you. Maybe he was planning on killing you too. It was enough to bring all the tears back, sobbing into your pillow in the dark until sleep cradled your miserable form.

The next time you opened your eyes, D/N was in a frenzy. Barking over and over. Still groggy you lazily snatched your alarm clock. 2:15 am?? Seriously, D/N? Ugh, bad dog. Probably saw a squirrel or something.

"Y/N!"

Immediately you were snapped wide awake. The fog of slumber was blown away in an instant. For a solid minute you remained utterly still. You didn't even dare to breathe. 

It was clear, firm, just outside. Every tick on your clock echoed softly, you almost thought you misheard. 

"Y/N please, I can hear your heart. I know you're up there!"

Oh god. Holy hell he found you. Running to your window you felt your heart in your ears. It was so loud, you slowly inched your fingers towards the closed curtains. This was almost out of body. You could feel every step you made. Marko's presence grew stronger as you near the window. Clenching the dusty fabric, you tempted yourself to peek every so slightly. Then you screamed bloody murder. Face to face, a pair of bright blue eyes cut through the night looking right at you. 

HE. WAS ON. THE ROOF!

Immediately you shut the curtains! Wait! The lock! Pushing them open you immediately twisted it shut just before he could pry it up. 

"Babe please, I can explain!"

"Explain nothing, I am not listening to anything you have to say," you screamed. When he began to move you ran to the other window and locked it as well. He banged his forehead against the glass, still trying to wrench it up. Damn these old houses! The frame had a silver lining! Immediately he tore his fingers away, pressing against the glass. "Y/N, baby girl, come on please let me in!" 

It was so hard to look away. "No! I'm not even gonna look at you," you insisted, shutting the blinds. Cute girls eat free? Ha! He probably hypnotized the cashier! Oh god. When he spoke this time you plugged your ears. "I'm not listening! MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB, LITTLE LAMB!"

A sharp huff of air pushed out of Marko's nostrils. This was ridiculous! "You are being such a brat! Just let me in, dammit!"

Nope. More stupid singing. Fine. If you were gonna be stubborn, so was he. 

Flying downward he searched for any easy way in. The front door was locked, the upstairs bathroom, the master bedroom, the back yard do- not this one. Slowly the golden knob twisted, rattled, then squeaked open.

Oh boy, now there was a dog! 

"Fuck me," Marko groaned, hands in the air with utter exasperation. Of course you had a dog! Why not! Got any holy water too? The big ball of fluff continued to snarl at him. Rolling his eyes, Marko flared his fangs which promptly silenced the snarling muty. "I don't have time for you!" 

THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD. 

Rapid steps dashed down the stairs where Y/N then skidded to a halt. 

You had heard D/N wildly barking, your only plan was to drag him upstairs with you where it was safe. However, once you stepped in the room you could see him standing there in the dark, a silhouette circled by a thin layer of moonlight. His eyes were glowing bright red. 

You felt like a deer in headlights. You couldn't budge an inch. A complete Mexican standoff. Both of you were staring at each other. 

Marko watched you for any movement, any at all. Then you flinched. "Y/N," he said as he slowly reached out- and you ran.  "Wait!" 

You scrambled back up the stairs towards your room, almost looking back. Shit he was fast! You screamed the whole way while he begged, nay, pleaded with you to just hear him out. 

"You killed them! I saw you," you shouted, lunging for your door. It was just a second too slow as you spun between the frame and into your room. A solid hit from the other side nearly knocked you back as Marko crashed into it, trying to force it open. You were barely keeping in place- except you were. Every time he rammed the door your feet were being pushed back.

"I know! I didn't mean for you to find out this way! Babygirl, you gotta believe me I would never hurt you," he insisted. With one firm push he swung the door wide open, sending to flying onto the floor. Already you were jumping over your bed to reach the bathroom, trying to get behind the door where you could lock him out. "Stop!"

With everything he had he bolted forward and finally got a grip on your waist just before you could get through the threshold. He completely lifted you off the floor! You flailing and kicking did nothing except frustrate him, his grip tightening to where you were struggling to breath. "Let me go! Stop it, Marko, you put me down right now! Put me down, put me down!"

"Enough!" Slamming you down on your bed, Marko quickly grabbed you by your wrists and held them above your head, a knee over your legs to keep you from thrashing any further. "Y/N stop it! I'm not gonna hurt you, you know this! You know me!"

"I know you lied to me," you cried, still trying to look away, writhing and twisting beneath him. You weren't gonna be so easily tricked this time. "How can I trust you?! Everything you told me-"

"I never said I was human," he insisted. "Baby look at me. Look at me!" When you wouldn't he kept your wrists tightly gripped beneath his hand and forced you head to turn his way. "Y/n… please, just look."

This time he wasn't angry. Just hurt. The way he tenderly whispered your name made you want to cry, and just ever slightly you peeked open your eyes. His eyes were… watery. You looked into them, the tints of red faded back into the shimmering sky you treasured just hours prior. "Did… did even like me? W-was I just another me-meal to you," you choked out between hiccups.

"No. No, no, baby," he spoke softly, calloused fingertips pushing away your years. "Babygirl. Please, listen to me. I.. would never, ever, hurt you." 

This time it stuck, you could see the sincerity in his eyes.  There was a slow diffuse, and now Marko just sat atop you until he was absolutely sure you wouldn't run. 

Slowly you sat up, looking at him. It got awkward by this point. But you had to know. 

"Marko… what are you," you asked softly. It sounded harsh, but it was impossible to avoid. 

"I guess the easiest thing to call it would be vampire," he sighed, looking down at his hands. 

"So, I guess you're not 17?"

"Well I mean, not anymore. I was, but I haven't been for… a while."

Your brow furrowed, looking over at him. He wasn't upset anymore. Just calm. "How long is a while?" 

Marko seemed physically uncomfortable discussing this. Whatever he had left behind when he turned was something he wanted gone. Slowly you reached over, taking his hand into your own. 

"Y/N, listen. I-"

"You swear you aren't going to hurt me," you asked, looking at him. Marko only gave you a soft smile and leaned forward. You didn't have time to react. Only feeling the tender press of his lips on yours. 

"I'd rather die."

You cupped his cheek, searching his expression for any signs of lying. Not a word. Not a single piece was a lie. You tasted him again. Salt, iron, soft. There were still little traces of blood that tainted his lips. Kisses deepened into dizzying passion. Your shirt was pulled away.

His jacket fell to the floor with a solid thump. You could feel his fingers prying away the shorts wrapped on your waist. He really was dead. You expected him to be warm, but instead it was cold; almost icy. It sent chills over your flesh. 

"You don't have to..," Marko whispered. This was a vulnerable moment. He'd revealed something completely new and frightening.

"I want to," you whimpered. It certainly hurt. All those movies made it look so simple. It pushed in, your whole body tightening until your toes curled. Marko was so tender. To him you were made of glass, he couldn't lose control even for a moment. Wrapping you in his arms he took you away, passing hours away with the most luscious touches he could spare. 

Laying amongst disheveled sheets and bedding he held you tightly to him, glancing over at the clock. 4:57am.

 Sunrise was in an hour. There's no way he could stay. A closet wasn't exactly light-proof, and the boys might come looking for him. "I have to go.." 

The words sunk in your heart. "I know.."

Gently he tilted up your chin, stealing away one last kiss. "Come to the hotel this afternoon. I promise as soon as I wake up I'll tell you everything, okay?"

It was a hard bargain. There was not much else you could do. With one last deep kiss you watched him dive out your window, vanishing into the night. You looked down at your dresser, the earring you discarded now cleanly placed atop it. You'd be sure to wear it this afternoon

[darkjanet2]

Drusilla's Soul Ch. 13

Palm Springs Route 66 at 6:20 AM

The next morning, investigators swarmed the scene of the incident on Route 66. The paramedics carried the two corpses in the body bags and took them to the ambulance while the police officers identified their ID cards.

Kristy Mae Calkin, age 23, and Anthony Bryan Harrison, age 23 were killed by some vicious animals. No one knew what had happened, but due to the large presence of investigators and personal on scene it was something very big. The news reporters and the camera crews talked about the incident. These young couples were murdered by something or someone and had fatally bite marks on their necks like they were some kind of vicious animals.

There was African-American male who was 40 something years old, he was a veteran detective from the 17th precinct of L.A.P.D. He entered the crime scene tape and asked the investigator.

“What do we have here?” asked Daniel Bollis, it was his name.

“Well, we have bodies here on the road. The young couple appeared to have been attacked by a vicious animal due to the puntures of the neck marks on the victim’s necks.” said John.

“Pfft, don’t tell me there are wolves or mountain lions appear on the goddamn road. Are there any fingerprints here?” asked Daniel.

“I have found these fingerprints. We’ll need to analyze at the laboratory.” said John. Daniel nodded.

The reporters and camera crews rushed in, “Did you say wolves and lions could have been the cause of these bodies?” A reporter asked another question; “Do you know where these animals could be now?”

“I’m not obligated to answer these questions. There are no species in this road nor do I believe supernatural creatures. We have this murder case here. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to work things to do.” said Daniel, pushing them out of the way.

Daniel spoke to the investigators and police officers cleared off the road.

San Francisco, CA 7:30 AM

Drusilla’s house-

Drusilla warmed up pig blood in the mug from the microwave. She turned on the TV to watch the news. She heard the microwave beep when the mug was done. She took out the mug from the microwave and she went to the living room to watch the news.

Two hours later, Drusilla began working on her computer doing some project research. She was always working at home. She was a vampire with psychic abilities, she had a soul and now she became a Psychic Detective. She hunted spirits, ghosts, and demons from their homes.

A notification came across, “In breaking news, creatures have been spotted all over Japan running rampant. The creatures are either coming out blurred or not showing on camera.”

Drusilla looked curious at this article. ‘Hmm, I wonder what happened in Japan? I think I’ll have to take a trip next week.’

The sound of chime ringtone from her Smartphone. She picked up and masked her caller ID, it was Leon, Drusilla’s boyfriend. She answered.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Drusilla, how are you doing?” Leon greeted his girlfriend on the phone.

“Hi, Leon. I’m doing fine. I’m just working on my project. So, how are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m going great, Dru. Just working on my music, as well.” said Leon.

“That’s great!” Dru beamed a smile.

“Hey, uh, I was wondering… If you want to come to the nightclub. Is it alright I can pick you up at 8:00?” Leon asked.

“Oh, yeah. I want to have fun again. I’m sure Britney and David will be here, too.” said Drusilla.

“Really? Are they your friends?” he asked.

“Yeah, I met them at the bar that night. I’m sure you’ll meet them.” said Drusilla.

“Okay. I’ll see you at the Temple Nightclub at 8:00.” said Leon.

“Okay, I love you. Bye.” said Drusilla.

“Love you, too, Dru.” said Leon.

They hung up.

Drusilla sighed, she went to a website called Princess Cruises and she ordered a ticket to visit Japan and she would go on a mission next week. She wouldn’t be delayed. She glanced at the clock which was 9:45 AM. She headed back to her home office.

4:45 PM at JCPenney

Drusilla was shopping at the JCPenney that she bought a beautiful black sheath dress and a black T-strap pump, and a pair of silver bangles. She went to the checkout and bought these clothes.

5:01 PM at Drusilla’s house

Drusilla got home and hung her coat in the clothes rack. She set her shopping bag in her bedroom. Drusilla called her cat Jade and gave her a cat food for dinner. She petted her. She went to the living room to watch her favorite movie.

6:36 PM

After she finished watching the movie, she headed to take a shower. She washed her hair and body with the smell of violet and jasmine. She brushed her teeth and put on makeup. She put on the black dress and pump. She sprayed herself with White Diamond by Elizabeth Taylor. Drusilla looked fantastic.

7:15 PM

When the sky fell to dusk, Leon’s car pulled up Dru’s house and honked as he had arrived. Dru got out, set up a security alarm, and locked the door. She entered Leon as they greeted each other and went to their destination at the nightclub.

7:55 PM

They arrived at the Temple Nightclub and were ready to have fun. They entered the nightclub and there were LED light and strobe lights everywhere and they could hear the music sound of trance. And those people were dancing. Drusilla smiled at it.

A short blond girl spotted Drusilla and her boyfriend at the entrance. She waved at them.

“Drusilla! Is that you?” the blond shouted.

“Britney?” surprised Drusilla, she hasn’t seen her in 3 months.

“Yeah! How have you been? Haven’t seen you in 3 months.” she said.

“I’m doing great. It’s been a while since I met you at the nightclub. So, how are you and David?” she asked.

“Oh, we’re fine. The doctor fixed David’s arm and he was fully healed in the last 3 months. And I wanted to thank you for saving our lives back.” said Britney.

“Oh, it’s no big deal.” said Drusilla.

“Hey, who’s this guy?” asked David.

“Oh, Britney, David, I’d like to meet my lover. This is Leon,” Drusilla said. “Leon and I even matched on Tinder.”

“No way!” exclaimed Britney.

“Yes way.” said Drusilla.

“Hi, Britney. Nice to meet you.” said Leon, shaking her hand.

“Hi, I’m David.” said David, shaking his hand.

“So, uh, how about we get a drink, yeah?” asked Leon.

“Yeah, let’s order some.” agreed David.

They drank their booze and the couple asked Leon what was his hobby and occupation. He told them he was a music producer and he was always making music. Britney and David were astonished.

When the next song played Be My Lover by La Bouche. It was Drusilla’s favorite song. She told Leon to come dance with her, Leon agreed. David and Britney joined them.

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da

La da da da dee da

La da dee da da da da da

They began to dance rhythmically on the dance floor.

Be my lover, wanna be me lover (lover)

Looking back on all the time we spent together

You oughta know by now if you wanna be my lover

Wanna be my lover

Go ahead and take your time, boy you gotta feel secure

Before I make you mine, baby, you have to be sure

You wanna be my lover, wanna be my lover, wanna be my lover

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da

La da da da dee da

La da dee da da da da da

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da

La da da da dee da

La da dee da da da da da

A ha ye heyee, wanna be my lover

A ha ye heyee, wanna be my lover

A ha ye heyee, wanna be my lover

A ha ye heyee, wanna be my lover

Drusilla’s arms wrapped around Leon’s neck and Leon’s hands wrapped around Drusilla’s waist as they closed each other.

must confess

Girl, yes, I wanna be your lover

Take a chance, my love is like no other

On the dance floor getting down

Hold tight, I'll never let you down

My love is definitely the key

Like Boyz II Men I'm on bended knee

Loving you, not like your brother, aw yeah

I want to be your lover

I hear what you say, I see what you do

I know everything I need to know about you

And I want you to know that it's telling me

You wanna be my lover

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da

La da da da dee da

La da dee da da da da da

A ha ye heyee, wanna be my lover

A ha ye heyee, wanna be my lover

A ha ye heyee, wanna be my lover

A ha ye heyee, wanna be my lover

David’s hands were on her waist, Britney’s arms wrapped David’s neck as they looked in their eyes while they were dancing.

Oh be my lover, yeah

Oh be my lover

I know you wanna be my lover

I know you wanna be mine

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da

La da da da dee da

La da dee da da da da da

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da da da da

La da da dee da

La da da da dee da

La da dee da da da da da

A ha ye heyee, wanna be my lover

A ha ye heyee, wanna be my lover

A ha ye heyee, wanna be my lover

A ha ye heyee

Oh be my lover, yeah

The song ended and they appulased.

Midnight

Leon and Drusilla were riding home after the nightclub, he dropped Drusilla off as she gave him a goodbye kiss. She unlocked and locked the door. She was having so much fun at the nightclub. She was ready to go to bed

[turqrambles]

I watched all 26 episodes of an obscure Australian cartoon in one week and I’m not okay - My journey with Wicked! (2001) PART 1

Here it is, the reason I started this blog in the first place. I need to talk about this cartoon I ran into completely by chance. 

It all started, like you would, with Tubitv.

Good ol’ Tubi, the free streaming service that makes you either an expert at being able to find diamonds in piles of garbage or a connoisseur of said garbage. It’s thanks to Tubi that I put down that I watched Alpha and Omega: Family Vacation on Letterboxd for all to see and judge, but it’s also thanks to Tubi that I finally ended up watching Killer Klowns from Outer Space.

Anyhoo, one day I was browsing their family film selection when I ran into this selection. And that was the day my life changed forever.

What you see before you, posted to a streaming service accessible in the United States, is the movie adaptation of an Australian TV show that never made it to the United States, which is based off a series of Australian children’s books from the 90′s that also never made it to the United States. It made it to other territories like Germany and the United Kingdom (and it apparently did super well in France but don’t quote me on this) but the TV show ran for one year and then disappeared without a trace after one 26 episode season.

How obscure is this franchise? Well, for starters, at the time I’m writing this in 2020, the books, the TV show, and the movie all don’t have a single Wikipedia page to call their own, and the easiest way to get info about this thing is to find the (rather tiny) TvTropes page. 

Let’s just get right into this shall we.

What is Wicked!?

Before you try to be all cute and make any references to the hit musical, there’s a reason I’m putting that exclamation mark there.

Wicked! started out as a series of six children’s books written by Paul Jennings and Morris Gleitzman. I actually grabbed a kindle copy of all six books (because I’m in this thing too deep and I wanted to see how the cartoon compared with the source material) and I gotta say, they’re very charming.

The best way I can describe them is that they’re in the kid horror genre, but they’re less Goosebumps and more The Weenies book series by David Lubar in terms of gore and child endangerment. Wicked! has some artful depictions of blood and gore, but in a way that can be digested by the grade school crowd.

Being a former child, I can proudly proclaim that I would’ve adored this series when I was younger. Just look at these covers!

The plot of the books is that there’s a widower with a daughter and a divorced wife with a son who get married, and the two new step-siblings Rory and Dawn absolutely hate each other. They can’t stand the fact that their parents are getting married! Gross!

But then, on the day of their wedding, creepy things begin to happen after Rory receives an appleman doll in the mail, and then, over the course of six books, a deadly single-minded virus that feeds on hate and is targeting Rory’s bloodline begins to spread across wildlife, creating crazed mutant animals that try to kill everyone in the household. It’s up to Rory, Dawn, and Dawn’s grandfather Gramps to stop this virus before it kills Rory and his mother, and to do so, they have to seek out Rory’s father, who seems to be the mysterious cause and/or the solution to the virus.

I’m not sure how well these books did, on account of the whole “not Australian” affliction I seem to suffer from, but they seemed to do well enough to get a TV show adaptation.

And surprisingly, the TV show is a very close adaptation of the books, only they changed the plot in two big ways so that it fits an animated series with a “monster of the week” setup.

The first big change was that, of course, they toned down the blood and gore and removed the deadliness of the virus, choosing to go with a more cartoony mutagenic approach. Rory gets infected by the virus several times in the show, just like how he does in the books, but unlike the books, he never thinks that he’s going to die from it and it’s definitely treated as a more temporary thing. There’s no race against time either. Everyone is trying to live their lives except every so often, the virus shows up. A wacky cartoon virus with cartoony stakes.

That brings me to the other main change that they make in the show. Unlike the books, where the main villain is a mindless virus that feeds off of hate, an invisible foe that can only be defeated at the end of the last book with the help of Rory’s father, the TV show decides that that’s no fun and instead makes a main villain out of one of the main plot points in the books. Say hello to The Appleman. (Apple-Man? Apple Man? Fuck it, I’m going with the first one from now on)

Instead of having the virus mutate mysteriously and having the main characters constantly hypothesize what’s going to happen next, the TV show made a main villain who constantly reinvents new strains of virus in a laboratory that he set up in an abandoned refinery.

What then happens is a basic plot set-up that the show follows pretty consistently in every episode. The family is trying to do something, we get the theme for the episode, and The Appleman, who is a spiteful bastard who is trying to ruin this one family in particular (and I’ll get to that), decides to make a virus that will infect the theme of that episode.

Pretty standard cartoon stuff, right? Ah, but then you don’t realize the beauty of this show. But first, I gotta introduce the main stars of this show.

The Characters

(quick note: this bus is incredibly important to the plot, but only in the books)

First we have Rory (the boy holding up the tin) and Dawn (the mad red head).

Dawn is the step-sister who lost her mom, a bus driver, in a gruesome bus accident, Rory is the step-brother whose parents got a divorce and then his dad went missing, believed to have run away from his whole family. Both of them are meant to be the dual protagonists, but I feel that there’s just a tiny bit more focus on Rory. There’s a reason for this that I will mention later.

What is interesting to note is that they make Rory the smart, non-athletic little nerd that gets picked on a lot at school for being a dork while Dawn loves sports, is failing science, gets made fun of for not being as girly as the other girls in her class, and likes violent computer games. I wouldn’t exactly call them “fleshed out” but they did enough to make these kids feel like actual kids.

Also, they fight. Constantly. This is the main complaint of anyone who actually looks into this show judging by my brief skimming of Internet comments because these two constantly bicker and insult each other and that makes up like 40% of the dialogue in any given episode. While this is one of the main story conflicts and they’re like this in the books too, it just feels super exhausting to see these two constantly at each other’s throats in every single episode.

They get mean too. Which, surprisingly, makes them both more realistic (I babysat multiple times and kids can be pretty verbally awful to each other) while also making them just a tiny bit unbearable at times. Here’s some actual dialogue.

"My dad sent it to me!" "Gee, he must think a lot of you to send you a doll full of worms." "Your mum thought so much of you she drove this bus over a cliff and into the river to get away from you."

GEEZ, guys...

Eileen, Rory’s mom.

It feels out of the three adults in the family, she gets the least amount of character development, but she does get a fair amount of screentime, so you can’t really say they’re intentionally ignoring her. She divorced her previous husband and works as a mail courier. Instead of owning a car, she drives a motorcycle, and, in the first episode, even drives it to her own wedding while dressed in a bridal gown. Rory’s mom rules.

She tries to bond with Dawn because she always wanted to raise a daughter, but Dawn clearly doesn’t like her new stepmom very much. Dawn is also afraid of the motorcycle and it comes up a couple times in the show.

Eileen is the adult that gets targeted the least by The Appleman’s schemes. There’s a very pointed reason for this, and I swear, I’m getting to it soon.

(quick note: yes, the show uses real photos to put in picture frames in the backgrounds and it’s real weird and never addressed)

Jack, Dawn’s dad.

Jack is a sheep shearer, just like in the books, and he’s a big easy-going dope that is hard not to love. Look at him hammer in this carpet. A true champ.

Out of the three adults in the family, he seems to be the one that nearly dies the most, with The Appleman going out of his way to specifically target Jack in some episodes. If you know Appleman’s backstory, this reads as absolutely petty spite and I love every minute of it.

Gramps, Dawn’s grandfather and Jack’s dad.

He’s an aging WWII veteran (one that has killed people in combat no less) who radiates constant Boomer vibes and, unlike Eileen and Jack, he actually sees some of the crazy shit that happens and will sometimes sense when something is infected with virus when the other two adults can’t.

In the books, he’s suffering pretty badly from dementia, but thankfully the cartoons drop that completely. I’m glad too, because I don’t have the confidence that they would’ve written it with enough sophistication to make it not seem ableist. Instead, he’s just your typical kooky cartoon grandfather.

He’s probably the adult that gets the most screentime because he will actually help Dawn and Rory out. Again, this ties into the books, where he was the main adult ally for the kids.

He says a lot of army-themed catchphrases. It’s a tad overplayed but it never really gets to a point where I would call it “annoying”. Also, instead of living in the house, he lives in a tiny granny flat on the property. Sometimes Rory spends the night there.

Last but not least, we have the star of the show, and the reason why the easiest way to find information of this show is to google “Wicked The Appleman”.

The Appleman, as explained, is the main villain of the story. Dressed in a very fancy suit complete with dress shoes and a nice blue tie, he lives in an old refinery full of rats, bats, and giant worms (called Slobberers), and he’s rocking a voice that can be best described as “Australian Mark Hamil” with an absolutely heavenly evil laugh. He has gross clawed hands, a rotten apple for a head, and likes making people miserable, because he’s basically the living puppet for a virus that feeds off of negative emotions. The main goal of each episode is to either defeat him or to stop the mess he’s made. Usually both.

Since all of his minions are non-sentient animals, a lot of his dialogue is him lurking behind something while he monologues to himself, sometimes turning it into a creepy little rhyme. He’s a pretty lonely guy, so him hanging out with this family can be seen as a very non-subtle cry for help.

The best episodes are the ones where he tries to lurk about in public with a very poor attempt at disguising his hideous features. Somehow it always works, you know, despite the fact that he has yellow eyes, the skin like a moldy apple, and no ears.

What Makes Wicked! Unique

(no, The Appleman doesn’t actually use that axe)

The first thing this show does that most of the formulaic shows don’t do is that it does, in fact, have a beginning, a middle, and an end. That’s why this show was packaged into a full-length movie - you can glue scenes together and actually make a pretty decent narrative, even if the resulting movie definitely had a “glued together TV show episodes” feel ala some of the bad Disney sequels like Cinderella II and Atlantis II. 

This show even has some plot-heavy episodes that dive into just why this whole Appleman situation is going on and why he seems to have it out for this one family in order to flesh out the characters more.

Because that’s a thing that this show does. The Appleman is a cartoon-y villain who cackles in his lab and constantly invents new strains of viruses that can mutate things like animals and household appliances, but he doesn’t do it to take over the city or to “destroy the world”. He does it purely to inconvenience this one Australian family, who he stalks pretty regularly. This is a thing that comes from the books and honestly, it’s a thing that elevates Appleman from “ugly-looking cartoon villain” to “pretty damn creepy, if also still cartoony in execution”.

Sure, a lot of cartoon villains target the main protagonist in their evil schemes, but this one is definitely more personal.

He regularly follows Rory and Dawn to school and, when the family goes on a camping trip, he comes too. If Rory decides he’s going to hang out in the wrecker’s yard, The Appleman will be cackling and hiding behind totaled vehicles. If Gramps takes the kids out to the bay to go fishing, The Appleman will pull an ice cream truck out of his garage and follow them there. That’s how the main conflict is really set up.

I think if a scarier cartoon tried, they’d make him out to be this grotesque stalker, but instead, since this show is kinda goofy in execution, he’s like the shittiest cryptid in the world, constantly crouching behind trash cans and on top of rooftops while constantly cackling about how clever he is and how, miraculously, no one notices anything’s amiss.

This alone would make this villain interesting, but then they set up something about this show at the beginning if you watch the intro and the first episode and put two and two together.

Right from the start, the opening shows that The Appleman was once human by depicting his transformation by the virus. They don’t even try and pretend that he’s some demon or some sort of supernatural monster - he’s specifically a blue collar worker who had a nasty run-in with fate and mutated into this hideous apple-headed creature that now has to hide out in an abandoned refinery. You see why he’s dressed like that - he’s still wearing his work uniform.

Right after you watch that intro, the first episode of the show has Rory receiving a mysterious package from his father on the day of his mother’s wedding. It’s the first time that Rory and his mom Eileen have heard from their dad after he mysteriously vanished years ago. 

What’s inside? An apple-headed doll, which contains the first virus-infected monsters, The Slobberers.

When The Appleman makes his first dramatic appearance, he never says Dawn’s name, but he does know Rory’s name.

And, in case you didn’t pick up the hints from the first episode, the fourth episode really drives it home without spelling it out. Then the last episode of the series decides to say it out loud.

That’s right. Rory’s father, the man who mysteriously vanished from Eileen and Rory’s lives, is still an important part of the cartoon’s storyline, but instead of being the man who appears in the last book that knows how to cure the virus while also being the first victim of the virus, he’s the main antagonist.

The Appleman is Rory’s father.

And honestly, because of this little plot point, this show becomes a much richer experience once you look at the unhinged appleman who keeps unleashing horror on these kids and realize that he’s a divorced dad who constantly keeps tabs on his ex-wife's unstable dysfunctional family in order to make them more pissed at each other because that feeds the virus that mutated him.

This is a very cool concept. This is where Wicked! shines when, for all intents and purposes, it is otherwise a pretty average turn-of-the-century Australian cartoon that can be best described as “it’s okay, I guess” in terms of quality.

Because that’s really the rating I can give this show. It’s Okay.

It’s a very solid Okay, but I think any adjective more powerful than “Okay” is really pushing it. It’s not Great, it’s not Amazing. It’s Okay. Alright. Kinda Good.

But man, is it a wild ride.

Next time, I’m going to start discussing the actual episodes as well as this show’s pros and cons. Dividing this up into multiple parts partly because I feel like these things are more easily digested in smaller chunks and partly because I’m pretty sure tumblr now has a size limit on posts soooo...yeah.

Follow this handy link for Part 2 - The Actual Review!

[ablogcalledrevenge]

Never Really Over

(a Gabriel O’Malley x Reader Insert Multichapter Fic, Rated M)

Chapter 3

The phone by your bed rings at 2:47 in the morning and you jolt awake out of a pleasant, if bizarre dream with your heart hammering inside your chest. Rolling over, you grab the receiver and focus on breathing.

“Hello, what?” You mumble, your cat’s eyes glowing yellow in the darkness from the foot of your bed. Getting a call this late at night, or perhaps this early in the morning, was never a good thing.

“Hey, I need your car. Can I borrow it?” The other voice says and there’s a pause where you try to figure out what the fuck is going on. 

“My car? Why do you need my- who is this? Gabe? No, you can not have my fucking car! It is 3 in the morning and I have work tomorrow. Go away!” You yell into the receiver. But before you can hang up the phone, he sighs.

“C’mon baby please. I’m doing this job and I gotta get this body outta the way. Please (Y/N), I’ll pay for the gas and everything.” He pleads into the phone. You rub at your temple and frown. 

“You are not putting a fucking body in my brand new Cadillac! Go ask Tony or David or somebody. This is your job, not mine. Zayde wouldn’t want me to get involved anyway.” You shoot back, wondering why you haven’t hung up on him.

“Tony’s busy and David’s car is in the shop. Besides, don’t you think I know that! I tried a bunch of other people before I called you. I promise I won’t get your car dirty, I won’t ask you to do anything but drive. C’mon baby I need your help please.” His voice has taken on a peculiar quality and your face floods with heat when you finally place it. He’s using his sex voice! He’s using his fucking sex voice to make you leave your house at 3 in the morning to drive him somewhere with a dead body. It was an underhanded move, he knew what that deep whisper did to you, and you clench your thighs together.

“Fine, fine! I’ll help you. But you can’t tell anyone and if you get so much as a scuff mark on my Cadillac, you’ll be joining that body.” You decide and Gabe cheers into the phone. He gives you the address and you figure you’ll be there in 15 minutes, although if you hit traffic you wouldn’t be surprised. But before you finally say goodbye, you lower your pitch as well to mimic his.

“Oh and Gabe? I’m not your baby.” The half groan, half laugh he responds with is worth the trouble.

The ride to the house where Gabe had prepared the body is pretty short, so you don’t feel too guilty about spending a good few minutes changing into a cute nightgown and brushing your hair. Gabe knows what you look like, but a little mascara never hurt anyone. Plus if you got arrested at least you’d look pretty for your mugshot.

You quietly pull up in your ‘76 Coupe DeVille, the street lamps bouncing off the red paint. Gabriel is waiting outside with a duffel, hiding in a shadow before hauling the large garbage bag over to your trunk. You join him at the rear of your car, helping him lift up the body and place it on the tarp inside. He slams the trunk closed and turns to you, long and lean.

“If that bag leaks, I’ll kill you.” You repeat, pointing your finger at him. He leans forward and playfully bites it. Scowling, you pull away and get back in the driver’s seat, glancing around the quiet neighborhood. 

“So where are we going? The river again?” You ask, adjusting your mirrors before getting on the road. Gabriel’s eyes travel up your bare leg to the hem of your nightgown but you ignore the leer.

“Santa Monica.” He finally says when you hit a red light. You’re glad the car has stopped, because you turn to gape at him.

“Santa Monica? Santa Monica! Are you out of your mind? That’s like a 45 minute drive from here! I’m not taking you to fucking Santa Monica. What’s wrong with the river?” You ask incredulously, getting on the highway regardless. He smirks but wisely doesn’t comment.

“The tide’s going out tonight, it’s perfect to dump the body. It’ll be out in the middle of the Pacific by the time anyone knows he’s gone. Besides, last time I used the river, I got sick.” He points out, turning on the radio. Dolly Parton sings about someone smiling that smile and there go all her defenses. You give the radio a glare because that’s a low blow.

“Yeah, I remember.” You murmur absently, merging into another lane. You remember everything and at least Gabriel has the kindness to look abashed. You ride in silence for the rest of the journey.

You make good time to the pier, everything dark and quiet above you as you walk under the wooden beams. The Ferris Wheel sits unmoving, all the bright lights are off and the only sounds around you are the waves lapping against the dirty sand. You take a deep breath in, always having loved the scent of the beach. Gabriel grabs the body from the trunk and you take some plastic bags out as well.

“Here, put these around your shoes so they don’t get wet. You’re not getting back into my car smelling all briney.” You explain, watching him drag the garbage bag down under the pier. 

“It’s fine, I brought a change of clothes. I’m gonna have to go in deep to make sure it doesn’t get stuck on the sand when the tide goes out. But hold this for me, will you?” He replies, whipping off his t-shirt and throwing it to you. Catching it with a smile, you sit on the hood of your car and watch Gabe disappear into the darkness.

You know that the body has been drained and chopped up to make it smaller, that there are weights in the bag to keep it underwater. By midmorning, that body will be in the middle of the ocean, halfway down among the fish. You didn’t know who the stiff was, but if Gabe had to deal with him, he probably deserved it.

Gabriel returns 10 minutes later, soaking wet and beautiful. The moonlight shines on his pale skin and the small ridges of muscle and bone are mesmerizing. He’s never been a wide sort of guy but there’s something so attractive about his body, in the subtleness of strength and the delicacy of his gait. He looks fucking good and you cross your arms for something to do. 

Grabbing his duffel from the backseat, he takes out a towel and wipes himself down. His gold cross shimmers in the early morning light and the car jostles as he joins you on the hood. The yellow light of dawn usually turns people’s faces sallow but Gabriel glows in his success. You turn your head and watch the waves instead. You should probably leave now before the surfers and dog walkers head over. You have to be at the bank in the morning but you’re tempted to call out. You haven’t done that in a long time and considering your uncle was the bank manager, it would probably be okay.

“All done. Give me a second and I’ll change my pants. Then we can go.” He says quietly, shaking out any remaining sand from the towel. He scratches at the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Thanks for helping me with this. You didn’t have to and I appreciate it. Thanks (Y/N).” Gabe adds, letting his hand rest next to yours, pinky fingers touching. You flush at the thanks and nod, content to watch the sunrise with someone you know.

Ten minutes later you’re fucking in the back seat of your Cadillac and you’d be pissed if you weren’t so satisfied. You almost kick a hole through the car roof, you forgot how good it could be. 

Once your breathing regulates and Gabe lights up a cigarette for each of you, do you actually say something other than expletives and his name.

“What was Claire like?” You ask, immediately hating yourself for bringing it up. Gabe was probably still mourning her and you didn’t want to know. Except you really did.

Taking a long drag of his cigarette, he looks over at you with a sad smile before turning his eyes back to the middle distance. You focus on the condensation left on the windows.

“She was great, she really was. She was tough; you know she was married to that guy for fucking years letting him hit her and curse her out. Never complained, never said a word against him. She stuck it out, she was resilient.” Gabe says and you can’t help but feel a little bad. No one deserved to be in an abusive marriage. In that way, you did feel for her.

“She was nice too, if you had a problem, she’d help you; no questions asked. She was one of those people that helped; a doer. That’s the resilience. She did what she had to do to stay alive. She was probably too nice for the shit she got mixed up in, but she wanted to be able to take care of herself. I could respect that.” He’s lost to his memories now and you bite your lip to keep from crying at your folly. You shouldn’t have asked.

“You know I showed her how to handle the bodies? She didn’t seem squeamish about any of that stuff, she wanted to learn everything about the business. It wasn’t darkness, not like you have, but it was a pragmatism. If she was going to be in charge, she didn’t want to be taken advantage of again.” The mention of you causes an intake of breath that he either doesn’t hear or pretends he doesn’t. You’re not sure if it’s a compliment or not. You’re also aware of the similarities between you and Claire and it makes you uncomfortable. At least if she had been your total opposite you could make peace with the fact that you would never be like her. But you two were so alike, which made your failure to measure up even more obvious.

“The sex wasn’t bad either”, he adds like one more nail in the coffin, “Yeah, she was really great.��� And you’re underground with her, your bodies rotting with the worms. Gabriel O’Malley has killed you both. It’s amazing how he does it so effortlessly. Your thoughts drift to the body sinking down beneath the floam; how peaceful it must be to just lie back and let the sea take you.

You don’t cry, you just smoke your cigarette down to the filter and toss it out the window. He does the same. The sun rises higher in the sky and paints his skin golden.

“I’m sorry Gabe, I really am. I know you loved her, loved her a lot.” You finally choke out. You’re ready to go home now.

“I’m not finished (Y/N).” Gabe says, turning in the backseat to face you. He takes your hands and the tears start falling.

“Please I don’t want to hear anymore, I’m sorry I asked, I’m sorry I brought it up. You love her and you never loved me and it’s obvious now and I feel like an idiot and I just want to go home. I want you to leave me alone. Please leave me alone.” You cry, pulling your hands away but he keeps grabbing them and pulling them back. What the fuck does he want with you?

“I will if you let me explain something, something important!” He demands, his hands resting on your upper arms and shaking you once. You stop outright crying and nod.

“Claire was all those things. She was tough and hardworking and smart and so kind. But she was also a person with good and bad parts. Stuff that I needed to discover and accept about her. The thing is, I wasn’t treating her like a person, I was treating her like an ideal. I was comparing her, the real her, against the image I had created in my head. An image no real person could ever compete with. To be perfectly fucking frank, Claire was really boring.” Gabe confesses, looking tired. Your brain short circuits and you blink several times.

“Listen, I could’ve dated her and married her and had kids with her and I probably would’ve had a nice life. She would’ve been a great mom and a great wife and we would’ve been happy in the grand scheme of things. But she was just… outside of the business, we had nothing in common! We didn’t like the same music or movies, we didn’t like doing the same thing, we had nothing to talk about. The sex was good because that’s all we were doing, it passed the time. Although let me tell you, I forgot how repressed these Catholic girls are sometimes. It was a trial and a half to get her to let me fuck her from behind. It gutted me when she died, partially because it was my fault. Cathy wanted me to spare this kid, but he wasn’t a kid. He came back with a buddy and Claire got one but she didn’t know enough about this world to be prepared for the second guy. I should’ve told her, I should’ve protected her, but I didn’t. Turns out I was wrong about her, wrong about a lot of things. I realized while I was out there that the Claire I thought I wanted didn’t exist, she never existed, and it was wrong of me to compare her to the Claire I had, and to you. So yeah, I cared about her. I cared so much about her, I wanted her to be happy. But I didn’t love her, I couldn’t love her. Not the way she deserved, not in any real way.” 

There is silence in the car again, the sound of gulls starting to rise with the sun. Your tears have stopped and your breathing has too. You look at him, really look at him, and it’s like a bad picture trying to come through. His edges have gone blurry and the sound of your accelerating heartbeat is becoming the only thing you can hear. Your hands are shaking but you don’t know whether it’s from the comedown or your anger or something else entirely.

“Do you mean to tell me that this whole time I have been comparing myself to a person who does not exist? That I have been letting you compare me to a woman who is so perfect, she couldn’t even measure up to herself? You left me for something that was never going to work out? Is that what you’re telling me?” You confirm, your voice tight and deliberately slow. Gabe nods and swallows.

“Let’s get into the front seat and go home, huh?” You say after you watch him squirm for a moment. You pull your underwear back on and climb over the front seat while Gabe gets out and walks around to the passenger side door. You think very briefly about killing him, there’s a gun in your purse, but you decide against it. He was working for the Godfather now and you didn’t want to take away one of his guys.

Gabe pulls on the handle of the passenger side door but it doesn’t budge. You try and tame your hair in the rearview mirror, ignoring the sound of the door handle being pulled. 

“Unlock the door, let me in.” He says, the sun almost completely out on the beach. You give him a once over and start the car.

“Find your own way home asshole.” You say, before pulling out of the spot with a squeal and driving off. The last thing you do as you leave him in Santa Monica is snake your hand out through the open window, middle finger tall and straight.

Chapter Four Coming Soon....

Tagging: @babbushka​, @theold-ultraviolence​, @stylelovechild​, @niniita-ah

Please let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future chapters!

[teljesmagyarulfilm21]

Nézd !720p~ Online! Ördög a részletekben teljes film magyarul HD.Videa

Ördög a részletekben Teljes Film Magyarul — 2020 [ VIDEA]「HU」 [MOZI]2020~“Ördög a részletekben” TELJES FILM VIDEA HD (INDAVIDEO) MAGYARUL Ördög a részletekben (INDAVIDEO) Teljes Film Magrayul Filmek Online |Videa

Nézd online >> https://tinyurl.com/yyycdj7f

Teljes FIlm Hd : https://cutt.ly/mjYLY4P

Runtime: 0 percek Műfaj: Thriller, Bűnügyi Csillag: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Sofia Vassilieva, Natalie Morales Rendező: Thomas Newman, John Schwartzman, Mark Johnson, Michael Corenblith, Daniel Orlandi Deke, a burnt-out Kern County, CA deputy sheriff teams with Baxter, a crack LASD detective, to nab a serial killer. Deke’s nose for the “little things” proves eerily accurate, but his willingness to circumvent the rules embroils Baxter in a soul-shattering dilemma. Meanwhile, Deke must wrestle with a dark secret from his past.

Ördög a részletekben teljes film Ördög a részletekben teljes film közepes Ördög a részletekben teljes film streaming Ördög a részletekben teljes film angolul Ördög a részletekben teljes film amazon premier Ördög a részletekben teljes film arab Ördög a részletekben teljes film kettős audio 480p Ördög a részletekben teljes film hindi nyelven letölthető 480p Ördög a részletekben teljes film ingyenes letöltés Ördög a részletekben teljes film online Ördög a részletekben teljes filmnézés online Ördög a részletekben teljes film bluray Ördög a részletekben teljes film bluray letöltés Ördög a részletekben teljes film letöltés a filmyzilla-tól Ördög a részletekben teljes film angol feliratok letöltése Ördög a részletekben teljes film eng sub letöltés Ördög a részletekben teljes film angol letöltés Ördög a részletekben teljes film angolul nézni online Ördög a részletekben teljes film élő közvetítés

Its somewhat ironic that a movie about time travel can’t be reviewed properly until your future self rewatches the movie. It’s bold of Nolan to make such a thoroughly dense blockbuster. He assumes people will actually want to see ~Ördög a részletekben more than once so they can understand it properly, which some may not. This movie makes the chronology of Inception look as simplistic as tic-tac-toe. Ergo, it’s hard for me to give an accurate rating, without having seen it twice, as I’m still trying to figure out whether everything does indeed make sense. If it does, this movie is easily a 9 or 10. If it doesn’t, it’s a 6. It’s further not helped by the fact that the dialogue in the first 15 minutes of the movie is painfully hard to understand / hear. Either they were behind masks; they were practically mumbling; the sound effects were too loud; or all of the above. The exposition scenes are also waayyy too brief for something this complex — a problem also shared with Interstellar actually. (Interstellar had this minimalist exposition problem explaining Blight, where if you weren’t careful, you’d miss this one sentence / scene in the entire movie explaining that Blight was a viral bacteria: “Earth’s atmosphere is 80% nitrogen, we don’t even breathe nitrogen. Blight does, and as it thrives, our air gets less and less oxygen”). I guess it’s a Nolan quirk. Hopefully, a revision of the film audio sorts the sound mixing out. I do like the soundtrack, but it’s too loud initially. I liked all the actors. You think John Washington can’t act at first, but he can, and he grows on you as the film progresses. And Pattinson is his usual charming self. Elizabeth is a surprise treat. And so on. Its worth a watch either way. See it with subtitles if you can. And definitely don’t expect to fully understand whats going on the first time around. Its one hell of a complicated film. It will be very hard for an average viewer to gather all the information provided by this movie at the first watch. But the more you watch it, more hidden elements will come to light. And when you are able to put these hidden elements together. You will realize that this movie is just a “masterpiece” which takes the legacy of Christopher Nolan Forward If I talk about acting, Then I have to say that Robert Pattinson has really proved himself as a very good actor in these recent years. And I am sure his acting skills will increase with time. His performance is charming and very smooth. Whenever he is on the camera, he steals the focus John David Washington is also fantastic in this movie. His performance is electrifying, I hope to see more from him in the future. Other characters such as Kenneth Branagh, Elizabeth, Himesh Patel, Dimple Kapadia, Clémence Poésy have also done quite well. And I dont think there is a need to talk about Michael Caine Talking about Music, its awesome. I dont think you will miss Hans Zimmer’s score. Ludwig has done a sufficient job. There is no lack of good score in the movie Gotta love the editing and post production which has been put into this movie. I think its fair to say this Nolan film has focused more in its post production. The main problem in the movie is the sound mixing. Plot is already complex and some dialogues are very soft due to the high music score. It makes it harder to realize what is going on in the movie. Other Nolan movies had loud BGM too. But Audio and dialogues weren’t a problem My humble request to everyone is to please let the movie sink in your thoughts. Let your mind grasp all the elements of this movie. I am sure more people will find it better. Even those who think they got the plot. I can bet they are wrong. ~Ördög a részletekben is the long awaited new movie from Christopher Nolan. The movie that’s set to reboot the multiplexes post-Covid. It’s a manic, extremely loud, extremely baffling sci-fi cum spy rollercoaster that will please a lot of Nolan fan-boys but which left me with very mixed views. John David Washington (Denzel’s lad) plays “The Protagonist” — a crack-CIA field operative who is an unstoppable one-man army in the style of Hobbs or Shaw. Recruited into an even more shadowy organisation, he’s on the trail of an international arms dealer, Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh in full villain mode). Sator is bullying his estranged wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) over custody of their son (and the film unusually has a BBFC warning about “Domestic Abuse”). Our hero jets the world to try to prevent a very particular kind of Armageddon while also keeping the vulnerable and attractive Kat alive. This is cinema at its biggest and boldest. Nolan has taken a cinema ‘splurge’ gun, filled it with money, set it on rapid fire, removed the safety and let rip at the screen. Given that Nolan is famous for doing all of his ‘effects’ for real and ‘in camera’, some of what you see performed is almost unbelievable. You thought crashing a train through rush-hour traffic in “Inception” was crazy? You ain’t seen nothing yet with the airport scene! And for lovers of Chinooks (I must admit I am one and rush out of the house to see one if I hear it coming!) there is positively Chinook-p*rn on offer in the film’s ridiculously huge finale. The ‘inversion’ aspects of the story also lends itself to some fight scenes — one in particular in an airport ‘freeport’ — which are both bizarre to watch and, I imagine, technically extremely challenging to pull off. In this regard John David Washington is an acrobatic and talented stunt performer in his own right, and must have trained for months for this role. Nolan’s crew also certainly racked up their air miles pre-lockdown, since the locations range far and wide across the world. The locations encompassed Denmark, Estonia, India, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and United States. Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography is lush in introducing these, especially the beautiful Italian coast scenes. Although I did miss the David Arnold strings that would typically introduce these in a Bond movie: it felt like that was missing. The ‘timey-wimey’ aspects of the plot are also intriguing and very cleverly done. There are numerous points at which you think “Oh, that’s a sloppy continuity error” or “Shame the production design team missed that cracked wing mirror”. Then later in the movie, you get at least a dozen “Aha!” moments. Some of them (no spoilers) are jaw-droppingly spectacular. Perhaps the best twist is hidden in the final line of the movie. I only processed it on the way home. And so to the first of my significant gripes with ~Ördög a részletekben. The sound mix in the movie is all over the place. I’d go stronger than that… it’s truly awful (expletive deleted)! Nolan often implements Shakespeare’s trick of having characters in the play provide exposition of the plot to aid comprehension. But unfortunately, all of this exposition dialogue was largely incomprehensible. This was due to: the ear-splitting volume of the sound: 2020 movie audiences are going to be suffering from ‘~Ördög a részletekbenis’! (LOL); the dialogue is poorly mixed with the thumping music by Ludwig Göransson (Wot? No Hans Zimmer?); a large proportion of the dialogue was through masks of varying description (#covid-appropriate). Aaron Taylor-Johnson was particularly unintelligible to my ears. Overall, watching this with subtitles at a special showing might be advisable! OK, so I only have a PhD in Physics… but at times I was completely lost as to the intricacies of the plot. It made “Inception” look like “The Tiger Who Came to Tea”. There was an obvious ‘McGuffin’ in “Inception” — — (“These ‘dream levels’… how exactly are they architected??”…. “Don’t worry… they’ll never notice”. And we didn’t!) In “~Ördög a részletekben” there are McGuffins nested in McGuffins. So much of this is casually waved away as “future stuff… you’re not qualified” that it feels vaguely condescending to the audience. At one point Sator says to Kat “You don’t know what’s going on, do you?” and she shakes her head blankly. We’re right with you there luv! There are also gaps in the storyline that jar. The word “~Ördög a részletekben”? What does it mean. Is it just a password? I’m none the wiser. The manic pace of ~Ördög a részletekben and the constant din means that the movie gallops along like a series of disconnected (albeit brilliant) action set pieces. For me, it has none of the emotional heart of the Cobb’s marriage problems from “Inception” or the father/daughter separation of “Interstellar”. In fact, you barely care for anyone in the movie, perhaps with the exception of Kat. It’s a talented cast. As mentioned above, John David Washington is muscular and athletic in the role. It’s a big load for the actor to carry in such a tent-pole movie, given his only significant starring role before was in the excellent BlacKkKlansman. But he carries it off well. A worthy successor to Gerard Butler and Jason Statham for action roles in the next 10 years. This is also a great performance by Robert Pattinson, in his most high-profile film in a long time, playing the vaguely alcoholic and Carré-esque support guy. Pattinson’s Potter co-star Clemence Poésy also pops up — rather more un-glam that usual — as the scientist plot-expositor early in the movie. Nolan’s regular Michael Caine also pops up. although the 87-year old legend is starting to show his age: His speech was obviously affected at the time of filming (though nice try Mr Nolan in trying to disguise that with a mouth full of food!). But in my book, any amount of Caine in a movie is a plus. He also gets to deliver the best killer line in the film about snobbery! However, it’s Kenneth Branagh and Elizabeth Debicki that really stand out. They were both fabulous, especially when they were bouncing off each other in their marital battle royale. So, given this was my most anticipated movie of the year, it’s a bit of a curate’s egg for me. A mixture of being awe-struck at times and slightly disappointed at others. It’s a movie which needs a second watch, so I’m heading back today to give my ear drums another bashing! And this is one where I reserve the right to revisit my rating after that second watch… it’s not likely to go down… but it might go up. (For the full graphical review, check out One Mann’s Movies on t’interweb and Facebook. Thanks.) As this will be non-spoiler, I can’t say too much about the story. However, what I can is this: ~Ördög a részletekben’s story is quite dynamic in the sense that you won’t understand it till it wants you to. So, for the first half, your brain is fighting for hints and pieces to puzzle together the story. It isn’t until halfway through the movie that ~Ördög a részletekben invites you to the fantastic storytelling by Christopher Nolan. Acting is beyond phenomenal, and I’d be genuinely surprised if neither Robert Pattinson nor John David Washington doesn’t receive an Oscar nomination for best actor. It’s also hard not to mention how good Elizabeth Debicki and Aaron Johnson both are. All around, great acting, and the dialogue amps up the quality of the movie. The idea of this movie is damn fascinating, and while there are films that explore time-travelling, there’s never been anything quite like this. It has such a beautiful charm and for the most part, explains everything thoroughly. It feels so much more complex than any form of time-travelling we’ve seen, and no less could’ve been expected from Nolan. Oh my lord, the score for this film fits so perfectly. Every scene that’s meant to feel intense was amped by a hundred because of how good the score was. Let me just say though, none of them will be found iconic, but they fit the story and scenes so well. In the end, I walked out, feeling very satisfied. Nevertheless, I do have issues with the film that I cannot really express without spoiling bits of the story. There are definitely little inconsistencies that I found myself uncovering as the story progressed. However, I only had one issue that I found impacted my enjoyment. That issue was understanding some of the dialogue. No, not in the sense that the movie is too complicated, but more that it was hard to make out was being said at times. It felt like the movie required subtitles, but that probably was because, at a time in the film, there was far too much exposition. Nevertheless, I loved this film, I’ll be watching it at least two more times, and I think most of you in this group will enjoy it. I definitely suggest watching it in theatres if possible, just so you can get that excitement. (4/5) & (8.5/10) for those that care about number scores. At first, I want to ask Christopher Nolan one question, HOW THE HELL YOU DID THIS? Seriously I want to have an answer, How did he write such as this masterpiece! How did he get this complicated, fabulous and creative idea? What is going on in his mind? The story is written and directed perfectly, the narration style was absolutely unique. I have no idea how can anyone direct such as this story, that was a huge challenge, and as usual Nolan gave us a masterpiece that we’ll put beside (Memento), (Inception) and (Interstellar) The movie is so fast-paced in a good way, there was no boring moment. The chemistry between John David Washington and Robert Pattinson was great and funny and both of their performance was really good. Elizabeth Debicki performance was the best in the movie because she had the chance to show her acting abilities and she cached up that chance and showed us an A level acting. The music wasn’t unique and distinct as the music of Interstellar for example and I think this movie needed the touch of Hans Zimmer, I’m not saying that Ludwig Göransson failed but Hans Zimmer in another level. If there was something I’d say that I didn’t like it in the movie would it be that Nolan discarded any set up or characters backgrounds except Elizabeth Debicki dramatic story but it wasn’t that bad for me, I didn’t care about that, the exciting story didn’t give me the chance to focus on it. But the actual problem was the third act, it was really complicated and I got lost and I convinced myself to discard the questions that were in my head and enjoy the well-made action sequences and Elizabeth Debicki performance. I think this kind of movie that gets better with a second and third watch. I honestly don’t quite know where to begin with ~Ördög a részletekben. I love Christopher Nolan’s work but I have never seen a more complicated film (and I understood Memento). ~After nearly three hours, I came away from ~Ördög a részletekben not knowing myself, my mind reduced to nothing more than piles of ash. Was there time travel involved? Hmm, there was definitely something about time inversion. I mean, does Nolan even understand what he wrote? Look, I give credit to the director because he’s one of the few directors left who knows how to create a compelling and intelligent blockbuster. ~Ördög a részletekben is full of Nolan trademarks — the gratuitous Michael Caine cameo, a loud, really loud score, complete with stunning cinematography and slickly inventive action set-pieces. This time around however, Nolan has finally managed to ‘out-Nolan’ himself: the palindromic plot, whilst creatively ambitious, is simply far too complicated for its own good. ~Ördög a részletekben is overlong, overstuffed, pretentious and too exhausting to comprehend in its entirety — it makes Inception and Interstellar look like Peppa Pig by comparison. I’m aware of the technical wizardry and creative mastery in this film and lord knows I’ll have to watch this again. For those who want a puzzle, ~Ördög a részletekben at least provides a unique cinematic experience. But to actually enjoy solving it Nolan wants you to work very very hard

[itsblosseybitch]

Dunne Roaming (Griffin Dunne article from March 1988 issue of FILM REVIEW magazine) by David Aldridge

Film Review talks to Griffin Dunne, star of Who’s That Girl, After Hours, and Almost You, all available on video.

Griffin Dunne, the super-talented star of comedies After Hours and Madonna’s Who’s That Girl, has a new movie out on video. It’s called Almost You, and it’s on the CBS/Fox label. 

Actually, it isn’t all that new. Dunne made the movie, in which he plays a seven-year-itch spouse wavering between wife and mistress, way back in 1984.

However, video’s product-voraciousness mean that all actors’ pasts have a nasty way of coming back to haunt them. 

In fact, Dunne has fond, if vague, memories of the film. For starters, it was the start of friendships with cast and crew that would carry through into the subsequent After Hours, a dazzling Martin Scorsese comedy about the worst-imaginable night that’s also available on video, from Warner. 

And, for seconds, Dunne amusedly [sic] remembers the way in which contemporary critics willfully confused character and actor.

“They never used the character’s name,” he tells me down the phone from a snowbound and freezing cold New York. “They would talk about Griffin Dunne being this spineless womanizer who does the dirty on his wife.

“They acted as if I was the one leading this immoral life. However, it was a fun film to make. I was really attracted by my character’s weakness.”

Almost You has been dubbed by CBS/Fox the first ‘yuppie’ comedy. Your reaction to that, Mr. Dunne? “None, really. I don’t know what it means. I hate the word ‘yuppie’.” Me, too!

But enough of Almost You. What all of you out there really want to know (isn’t it?) is what it was like working with Madonna on the much-pilloried Who’s That Girl, also now a Warner video.

“As far as I was concerned,” says Dunne, “she was first and foremost an actress. However, the fact that she was also a pop superstar did make working with her a rather different experience. It was the first and only time that I’ve worked on a set besieged by ‘paparazzi’ photographers. 

“After about a week, I simply reduced my peripheral vision so that I simply didn’t notice them.”

It isn’t easy to draw Dunne on his view of the film - much vilified both Stateside and here. However, he does say both Who’s That Girl may not have been the best possible combination of constituents, and that often the movie business and the concept of fairness don’t meet.

“It’s impossible to tell why some movies lift off and others don’t,” he says. “Curiously, Who’s That Girl has become quite a cult film here since it came out on cassette.” The video isn’t doing too badly in the UK either, I tell him.

So far, Dunne, the son of movie-man turned writer Dominick Dunne, author of The Two Mrs Grenvilles, a society-murder story, recently filmed and now a CBS/Fox video too, is known almost exclusively for his comedic rules. [OP NOTE: Holy run-on sentence, Batman]  His ambitions, though, lie somewhat broader.

“To begin with,” he says, “Almost You, After Hours and Who’s That Girl are very different sorts of comedies. You do them a disservice by using the same, single word to describe them.”

“Almost You is a bittersweet comedy whose central character is hardly likable in the conventional sense. After Hours is a romantic comedy. It’s the sort of comedy that Franz Kafka might have been written had he written comedy.

“And Who’s That Girl is the sort of screwball comedy that they made so well back in the Thirties. How people could call After Hours and Who’s That Girl similar films escape me. But they did. 

“However, though comedy is where I seem to have made my mark so far, it’s not an area that I intend to confine myself to. I want to be a rounded, all-round actor, capable of turning my hand to anything.

“I’ve a few different projects in mind, but I’m loathe to talk about them yet. They’re still at an early development stage.”

It’s comedy, though, that will occupy the Dunne’s audience attention for the immediately foreseeable future. He’s just finished shooting the wacky Me and Him, in which an ambitious New York businessman suddenly starts getting vocal advice from a certain ‘cleverdick’ part of his anatomy. 

Rumor had it at one time that Jack Nicholson would vocalize the one-eyed trouser snake. Not so, says Dunne. Stephen Marcus is the mooted voice furnisher. 

Dunne wears two hats. One is an actor’s. The other is a producer’s. The latter is a legacy of cash-strapped early days when acting jobs were thin on the ground, and production seemed a somewhat more lucrative proposition. 

Now, Dunne juggles the two, deriving equal but different pleasure from both. “Producing has always appealed to me,” he says. “More than acting at times. In fact, it was the first thing that I really got involved with when I gave up my early notions of being a writer or a journalist.”

[Final OP Note: Okay, what the hell happened behind-the-scenes of Me and Him? There’s gotta to be more to that production than I initially believed. First, you have a major cast of actors who were mostly established by the time this movie got off the ground. In the 1988 Interview magazine article, Dunne talks about animation sequences that aren’t in the final cut of the film. In that same interview, Dunne also talks about how he and the director, Doris Dorrie, disagreed on gender politics. Dorrie, in a Projection Booth podcast interview, talked about how Dunne was terrified this movie would ruin his career. Dunne, and I imagine the rest of its big-named cast, are reluctant to talk about the film to this day. He declined to do the Projection Booth podcast, and barely talked about it on Gilbert Gottfried’s podcast.  Mark Linn-Baker from Perfect Strangers ended up voicing Griffin’s D, but the fact that Jack Friggin’ Nicholson was even rumored to be attached to this film? Based on circumstantial evidence, there must have been at least one script re-write, if not, several.]

[peterstanslizzie]

Re-watching Lizzie Mcguire: Episode 1.31 (Gordo’s Bar Mitzvah)

Here we have Gordo with his never-before-seen therapist parents

- Walking along the school hallway are Lizzie and Gordo who are talking about a movie they’ve just seen (Planet of the Apes I’m guessing?). Miranda interrupts them and informs Lizzie that Ethan is getting a dirtbike for his birthday.

- And of course, Gordo still doesn’t care. Will he ever stop complaining about his friends talking about Ethan in the way they do or at least stop pretending to be so oblivious towards understanding their attraction towards him? I get it; They tend to act a little over the top but sometimes it’s okay for them to have their fan-girl moments.  

They do love a man in a uniform, huh? 

- Larry then shows up and asks what all the fuss is about to which Miranda excitingly replies to him saying that Ethan is all grown up. It is revealed that Larry has already started to shave. Hence why he has little bits of would tape all over his face to cover his cuts from the razor blade I suppose. Yikes!

To me, he looks like he has zits that he had covered up

- So, it looks like both Ethan and Larry are starting to go through the stages of maturity or puberty, which Lizzie notices as well. And she even compares them to Gordo and concludes that they are maturing faster than him, which is true but she doesn’t need to say it because that kinda low-key offended Gordo.

If You Didn’t Know, Gordo is Jewish

- At the school courtyard during lunch soon after, Gordo starts acting weirder than usual as he calls Lizzie, Elizabeth and Miranda as Miss Sanchez. He definitely feels like he is falling behind the other boys in his grade and is trying to overcompensate.

- He is also facing the added pressure from his parents on deciding when his Bar Mitzvah ceremony should be since he is Jewish. If I’m not wrong, isn’t this the first time that Gordo has revealed to us that he is Jewish? And clearly, his friends probably haven’t asked him much questions about his religion because they are finding out about all of this at the same time as we are.

Lizzie wants that money honey 

- Gordo goes on to explain what goes on during the ceremony, which sounds really exciting, especially the getting money part for Lizzie and Miranda lol. He also notes that his parents are leaving it up to Gordo on when he wants to have his Bar Mitzvah because for them, growing up, they didn’t have much of a choice. How progressive of his parents!

-  But Gordo feels like he missed his chance since he already turned 13. Plus, they just don’t see the value of being considered an adult at that age just because it’s technically not an adult age. 

When Does a Boy Become a Man?

- The next day, Gordo tells his friends that he had actually interviewed a few men about their journey in becoming full-fledged men, which actually includes both Lizzie and Miranda’s dads. How did he manage to do all of that in one night? Impressive.

Hold up! Weren’t these two guys in the episode, Rated Arghh? Like wasn’t the guy on the right choking on a sourball and Lizzie had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on him? And also, why are they always seen together? Hmm....

- Edit: Their names are actually David Rosen and Jeremy Bargiel both on-screen and in real-life. They were actually writers on the show. How neat! And I also discovered that the writers on Lizzie Mcguire considered them to be a couple on-screen but they weren’t given the opportunity by Disney to make their relationship explicit.

- The interview features all of these men explaining the moments in their lives where they felt like they have become men and it’s usually with their own dads. For instance, for Sam, it was when he first started to learn how to drive and for Eduardo, Miranda’s dad, it was when he first met his wife, Daniella. 

- Their stories have inspired Gordo to do the same things as them in hopes of  becoming a man himself. And we get a compilation of him doing just that from driving a car to attempting to get a tattoo. I thought you must be at least 18 to be allowed to get a tattoo? I need to stop seeing things from our own reality lol.

Whose car is that anyways?

- Unsurprisingly, things don’t go as planned and Gordo is feeling disappointed. He really wants to know the exact moment where he crosses over into manhood. I mean, as an adult myself, you really don’t know when exactly the moment is. For me, it was when I started paying taxes lol and that was at the age of 22. So yea...

- I appreciate Lizzie and Miranda for trying to relate to Gordo and sympathize with him. In some way, boys and girls share similar experiences when it comes to puberty but I guess it’s much easier for Gordo to have an actual guy friend to talk to about all of this stuff. I mean, I’ve been saying this all along; Gordo needs a guy friend his age!

Another emotionally-charged moment between Lizzie and her dad

- At home, Lizzie tells her dad about the issues Gordo’s facing and Sam reminisces to her about his time as a kid and honestly, it was beautiful to hear what it was like for him. It warms my heart because the things he did as a kid that he remembers after all these years were so innocent. He also touches on the responsibilities of being an adult and a dad and how it’s rewarding being able to go to bed at night knowing that he has provided for his family.

We Finally Meet Gordo’s Parents! 

This is not a drill everyone! Here are Gordo’s therapist parents in the flesh!

- Gordo is discussing with his parents about the Bar Mitzvah he was supposed to have almost a year ago and he expresses how he doesn’t feel like they should have let him decide on when his ceremony should be since it’s already too late. 

- His parents, whose names are Howard and Roberta Gordon tell him that it isn’t too late and they think he is ready because they can see that their son has put a lot of effort into researching about the ceremony. Oh and it’s so cute that they watch every single film he has made to date. Gordo now feels like he’s ready. Finally lol.

- Towards the end of the episode, we are taken to Gordo’s highly-anticipated Bar Mitzvah ceremony! 

Lizzie and Miranda always makes great fashion choices

Miranda’s parents are also there as well. Love these two!

- We then see Gordo on-stage giving a speech about his transition in becoming  a man. To summarize, he says that the moment that marked his transition should be something that’s right for him. He also mentions about the different stories from the various men he interviewed and how he is able to realize who he is and the kind of person he isn’t. Lastly, he just sees his Bar Mitzvah as the mark of this transition instead of a tattoo, a dirtbike or any other sort of thing. 

It’s amazing how Gordo invited all of the interviewees to his special day. Also, Larry and Ethan were invited too! So does this mean that he’s friends with them? Or did he just invite his entire class?

- He then reads a portion from the Torah, all in Hebrew. Despite myself not understanding a single thing, it sounded beautiful. 

What a way to end an episode!

B-Plot: Sam Is In-Charge

- What’s an episode of Lizzie Mcguire without having to watch Matt’s crazy (or annoying) antics? This time, he was caught stealing oranges from a tree that belongs to their neighbor, Mrs Robinson...for the 4th time that week. 

- When Sam tells Mrs Robinson, “Boys Will Be Boys”, I rolled my eyes because that’s one of the weakest excuses for poor behaviour. I gotta be honest. Even Jo was looking at her husband in disbelief.

- Matt is much more precarious that the average 10/11 year old. He even sold her oranges to his classmates at school to make a profit. I mean, that’s pretty smart of him to do but it all gets crossed out because they weren’t his oranges in the first place. 

Look at Sam trying to discipline Matt. You sure showed him...

- Jo, who I actually thought would severely punish Matt pulls the classic move that usually works on Matt, which is basically to not do anything. It’s just like in episode 1.2 (Picture Day), where she went along with Matt pretending to be sick to the point where he actually suffers in the end. This time, she is leaving her husband in-charge of the disciplining. This definitely isn’t going to end well. Poor Sam!

- Later on, we see Sam trying to be the disciplinary of the family and let’s just say he isn’t doing a good job. And it doesn’t help that Matt is being completely uncooperative and coming up with excuses for his actions. I wish Matt would try acting this way in an Asian or African household. He would be running for the hills lol. 

- Jo witnesses all of this and decides to stay quiet and let her husband handle it as planned. That’s pretty much what she does for every complaint that they’re getting from their neighbors as one after the other pays a visit to their house with Matt by their side to tell them what pesky little thing Matt had done to them this time. Let’s see how long that will last.

This one takes the cake for me. But hey, at least Coco looks pretty cute with that look

- Sam seems to be a his wits end about all of this but he isn’t doing a good job coming up with Matt’s punishments. The most he can dish out is sending Matt to his room. But Jo isn’t the one to talk; her punishments are that much worse either. 

- As this plot progresses, we can see that Sam is surprisingly starting to go a little overboard with the punishments and doesn’t know what the right balance is because for something as small as oversleeping, he punishes Matt by making him clean the house, mow the lawn and wash his car. Wow, that is intense. Sam needs to use a little bit of common sense here. 

We can see here that Matt misses getting punishments from his mom and that Jo misses giving him punishments. Umm, okay. Anyways, this whole plot ends with Jo going back to be the main disciplinary for the kids. 

Overall Thoughts

- And there we have it! The last episode review for Season 1! This season definitely ended on a high note. This is probably my favorite Gordo-centric episode thus far because I was able relate to Gordo’s personal struggles. And I’m sure a lot of other boys and even girls were able to relate to this as well.

- It’s wonderful to see Jewish culture being portrayed on a Disney Channel show just like how Andi Mack did it years later with the character, Cyrus Goodman and they did a great job introducing the different elements of a Bar Mitzvah and letting the audience know the purpose or importance of having the ceremony. I’ve never seen so much comradery between different people from different walks of life coming together to support someone, which is Gordo in this case. It’s really something special to watch.

- Another thing I love about this episode was how they are able to tie in the B-plot with the A-plot and I’m mostly referring to that sentimental scene between Sam and Lizzie. But I must say that Matt was pretty tolerable in this episode too and I found the way he expressed to Jo that he misses his mom’s punishments to be really sweet. 

[smolbeandrabbles]

Last Habit - Andrew ‘Pope’ Cody x Reader (Animal Kingdom)

* This is probably in no way a Show!Andrew situation, but I’m not stopping you!

Gif Credit: X

Author’s Note: Amanda, thank you so much for watching this movie with me again 💜 I think I really needed to do it; I know Shawn!Andrew so well that it’s good to re familiarise myself with Ben!Andrew… Anyways; this one comes directly from the movie itself 😊 Amanda, I will cherish all your notes on Andrew because honestly without you I wouldn’t have thought of half these scenarios 🙏🙏

This was meant to be a tiny part of another fic and kinda grew into its own thing...! So you get one more Andrew fic out of me! Introducing a newbie to the music scene - Matt Stell ~ Last Habit Need To Know Pre-Read Information: This features a cameo from foster brother police officer David - as introduced in Flaws.

Disclaimer: Not really my idea / lyrics not mine / characters not mine

Premise: You’re tired of Andrew’s habits. He’s trying to kick them - but there’s just one he can’t...

Words: 5199

Warnings: Hard Drug Use / Needles from the off / Swearing

_______ Any night, I was up and down to take it too far 'Til the highs got low and I had to learn to let 'em all go I said goodbye to some things in my life that don't make sense There's a million reasons about you, girl, I just can't quit Now when the night falls I'm jonesing for your call, and that's all It's needing you with me and saying you miss me, it gets me Yeah, the stars are just made for me wishing That the dark was just made for your kissin' And all I wanna do is keep on holding you You're my last habit, I gotta have it Keep doing what you're doing 'cause it feels so good Automatic, just like magic, wouldn't wanna quit it even if I could 100-proof of hooked on you Can't get enough when it comes to you, yeah Call me an addict Girl I gotta have it, you're my last habit, my last habit You're mine, you're mine, you're mine, My last habit I gotta have it, babe 'Cause you're my last habit

---

You left your bedroom, shouldering your work satchel with a soft sigh. You knew Andrew had work to do, and you knew that laying low was considered bad and all… But you missed him terribly when he wasn’t here doing just that. You stepped away from the door, what was another day..? Maybe he’d call, or you’d get a little message telling you he was okay. At least he seemed pretty consistent with those. You turned from the door and jumped a foot in the air; “OH MY GOD!” That simultaneously caused him to jump from his seat on your sofa – high alert – and he never did that. Speak of the devil and he shall appear “F**K! ANDREW!!” Your hand was over your heart “WHAT THE HELL-!?!” “How long have you been---!!!” He pointed at you “I knocked! And you didn’t answer, I let myself in-! I-I didn’t even think it was that late--!” “I was asleep! Not not here!” You pointed at him instead, eyes wide and horrified, mostly because of what was lying in front of him. Your heart began racing, for different reasons “ANDREW! ARE YOU USING!?!” “Y/N, I-!” He looked from the needles to your face and he knew that horror was going to quickly turn to the angriest you ever got with him; “IS THAT HEROIN!!! IN MY HOUSE!!??!” “Shh-!” “I WILL NOT F**KING SHUSH!” You stormed across the living room, hardly caring about the fact that this might make you late, but you noticed the way he shielded his body over the needles – that didn’t help you feel any less pissed off; “GET THAT STUFF OUT OF MY F**KING HOUSE!!!” “No.” “DON’T NO ME!” “Where else am I supposed to go!?” “HOME!!” He shook his head “Can’t.” “WHAT DO YOU MEAN-!” You took a deep breath and three paces back, hands to your head. That meant he was in trouble again. Not that at the moment you’d care, you’d kick him out and turn him over to the police yourself. Andrew thought he was safe to shoot up because he thought you weren’t around. What else did he do when you weren’t around? You placed your hands on your hips and glared at him, but those blue eyes only searched yours for a sign that you weren’t about to do just that. “Do you realise how mad I am at you-!?!” “…Yeah… But I…” “But nothing. Andrew!” you indicated to the table “Please, get these out of my house.” “What, now?” You figured that was impossible. “By the time I’m back from work – and that does not mean you can shoot them all.” That was stupid to say, that would result in an overdose. Either way though. “I don’t even want to know where you got it from, or why you have it. Or why you feel the need to do it…” you indicated to the used needle sitting to one side. “…Well this conversation is f**king useless isn’t it.” “Why?” “If you remember half of what I just screamed at you in a few hours, it’ll be miracles.” “Are you leaving?” “I have work, so yes.” He bit his lips together and something crossed his face that resembled fear, if he was capable of that; “You can’t leave.” “I can do what I f**king like…” You sat next to him for a minute, still glaring hard at him. He sat in silence watching you; it was clear that silence was making him uncomfortable. Which you thought was laughable considering the way he was about 85% of the time. “…What are you going to do?” You remained quiet, maybe he recognised that trait in himself, the unpredictability of what was come after the silence. He was much more used to yelling – that’d never get through. But Andrew liked to keep his threats level. You’d seen it before, and it came off much more effective. What happened if you did the same thing? You leant forward, so your body touched his and reached out; you placed your hand over his mouth, making sure to dig your nails into his cheeks - and none too softly. He didn’t have it in him in this state to fight back, and both of you were aware of this, as his lips parted and eyes widened.

“Andrew... this is the last time I’m going to say it.” He knew that voice; you were mimicking his own. “...Drugs like this... babe, they gotta stop. And when I say stop I don’t mean next week, I don’t mean tomorrow. I mean right... now.” You leant in closer and closer with each passing second, but your grip on his face meant that he wasn’t able to back away. “Do you understand?”

“Y-Yeah.” It was soft, barely an answer but enough of one. One you would have to accept in both your current states, save you screaming bloody murder at him again today. But you were still pissed off at him for even thinking about doing this in your apartment. It was a safe space for a reason. And you weren’t about to allow him to take advantage of your good nature. You had to lay down the law, and in a way he would understand. You let him go, noticing you’d left marks, Good. Right now he f**king deserves it., and pushed him away from you in disgust.

You stood up, to be honest right now you didn’t want to look at him, let alone talk to him or be in his vicinity. And Andrew didn’t get you het up like this often - but he’d betrayed your trust with this one, and that was nearly unforgivable.

You’d get over it. But you’d need to cool down and be ready to talk about this. And he was in no condition to do that - and wouldn’t be until he levelled off. And that could be hours. “..Wait… Are you… are you… still coming tomorrow?” You turned back to him, you didn’t really want to hurt him, but if that was what it took. “…Well now I don’t know do I? I want you, and those needles gone when I get back.” “Y/N…” “Later, Andrew.” With that you slammed the door to your apartment and set off down the corridor. You felt your chest tighten in guilt, but held firm. Well, Y/N, he has to learn some time… As the door slammed Andrew rubbed his cheeks and let out a soft moan. Whilst he was trying to get rid of that dull pain your fairly sharp nails had left, there was something about that whole interaction that, playing it back, gave Andrew a shiver of near enough delight. Did he find you more attractive because you were threatening or simply because you were holding your own and not taking any of his shit? Or both...? He shuddered again; glad it was visible and known to only him. And it felt good.

He frowned momentarily - not of course that he should want you getting up in his face like that again. But maybe he could persuade those nails out of you some more...

He glanced back at the needles again with a soft sigh - one thing was for sure, he’d have to find somewhere to offload these... there was a gentle tug at his heart... and make himself scarce... *** When you returned home there was a note on your countertop and no man in sight. You breathed out gently; at least that meant everything was gone. Walking over you picked up the apology note and instantly that guilt came flooding back. He’d been radio silence today, which meant he’d taken your threat pretty seriously. Sometimes he made you wish he was the kind of man to blow up your phone asking for forgiveness – but not Andrew. Eloquent enough was he with his words however, he’d hand written that very apology. You put the card down and gave in – picking up your phone. It rang twice, and in his hesitation, and need to know your temperament first he didn’t speak; “Andrew?” “…Y/N…” “Where are you.” He kept up that hesitation, his response short; “Home.” “…No you’re not. Come back here.” “You sure you want me there.” That was an instant response to this morning, and in that distinct monotone, he was none too happy about it and you should feel as guilty as you did. You picked up his note again “…Yes… I want you here – baby, come home…” “-Even when I-” Your sigh was a little impatient; “You wrote me a note, and you did what I asked… But this place gets pretty lonely without you.” There was another long silence “…Andrew?” “…Let me get my car keys… I’ll be with you soon.” You laughed gently; “You better be, babe.” *** You noticed the tone down though. Usually you’d catch him with something hard. Maybe not as hard as heroin - but by now you knew Craig was on something nearly constantly, and it didn’t surprise you it would extend into the family. But enough for you to lay into him about it – maybe not as sharp as you perhaps should have, which is why the last time had become more of a shock. Not that you thought anything would ever have the factor to ‘shock’ Andrew Cody with what you knew he did. Since then, and you were thinking it was hopefully more than your good fortune (or his!) not to catch him at it, there was little-to-no drug finding or use; at least in your presence. Sometimes he’d turn up and you knew he’d been on something and was currently winding down off his high. Which, for the first few minutes was fine – but then he hit a very grumpy slump, and sometimes that could go either way. But apparently that wasn’t supposed to last very long either – because this morning he was back on your couch – needle in front of him, studying a sheet of paper very carefully. “Are you f**king kidding?” This time you folded your arms and leant against your counter top – face reading all kinds of unimpressed. Still, he continued to roll his sleeve up; uncapping the needle – and looking to the paper once more before taking a deep breath. “ANDREW.” His eyes glanced to yours; but instead of stopping Andrew slid the paper from the table and held it out to you. “What is that?” “It’s a prescription SRRI. Technically I have to shoot up… Only… this is kinda difficult…” He looked between his arms again. “Curse of being left handed I guess…” You took the paper from him and read; anti-depressants… anti psychotics… administered sometimes for antisocial personality disorders. Usually they gave him pills; apparently now they were giving him it intravenously. You couldn’t help your ironic smirk as you sat next to him; “They, uh, think that’s a good idea do they? Giving needles to someone who takes drugs – and has drug charges-!?” “…Reforming.” You shot him a look; “Oh yeah?” “I can kick the habit.” “Sure…” You held your hand out for the needle “Come here.” He handed it over “Careful, you’ll be as much at fault for the overdose!” “…Andrew!” “I measured it, you’re fine.” You checked the paper again and then the syringe; “Don’t trust me, huh?” “…Very good measuring, Mr.Cody.” You held you hand out for his left arm and he presented you with it “You ever shot anything before?” “Does it look like it…” You studied the veins “…Are you really supposed to do this yourself?” “That’s what the prescription says.” “Geez – they trust you way too much.” “Well apparently this might help better than pills, so I would be inclined to try.” It was the way that he was looking at your face that gave you reason to pause “…What?” You blinked, twice, “Yeah. There’s a fair point, how do your pills work with all the drugs you take.” “Recreationally.” Your smile was meant to tell him you’d caught him, but he scowled “Reforming!” then indicated to the needle “Will you please administer my medication, now!?” “Seen as you asked nicely…” You studied the crook of his elbow in the light; intent on finding the right vein in which to administer the drug. Instead your face pulled into a frown. Sporadically littered across his skin were tiny pinprick scars running the length of the most visible vein. You bit your lips together in sadness as you ran your finger delicately over them; “Why?” He placed his head gently against your shoulder; “Why do you assume there’s a reason?” “…I’m sorry…” “Why? These were my decisions Y/N, not yours…” You steadied the needle in your hand for a moment; keeping your fingers in place over the scars, you could feel his pulse… and before he knew it tears dripped onto his skin; “Hey…” He breathed “Hey…” He kissed your shoulder and then the back of your neck; “C’mon… it’s okay…” But it wasn’t, not really. How you’d fallen for this man in the first place may well have been unfathomable but Andrew was a blessing… but it was his family, how could you be anything but upset and angry? Everything about him was so intrinsically linked to his family – and it was futile to even try to change it now; you never would. But it hurt you so much that the man you loved would do this to himself – and try to explain to you that he didn’t have or need a reason to do so… You shook your head and placed your forehead to his – asking him to stop was pointless, you’d had that argument and he was slowing down and you could see that – but how was the needle you were about to pierce him with any different. He pushed a little harder against you, and as if he’d read your thoughts, he answered you; “Maybe that’s why… Maybe if I’m shooting this at least I’m shooting something…” was that supposed to make you feel better? Even if maybe that reasoning seemed acceptable right now. You turned back to his arm and took a deep breath – finding another scarred needle groove in his skin you let the marks guide you and found a position where there weren’t any. You weren’t sure how you felt about this. “Relax. You got this.” He breathed again, lips back on your neck as he ran his right hand through your stray hairs, tucking them away. “…Isn’t that what I’m supposed to ask you to do?” Although his arm had looked relaxed for the past few minutes. “Go… Do it…” The needle broke his skin clean, and he winced (well, at least you knew how to make him do that now) – you were careful with giving the dosage, and then withdrew the needle. You set it down and grabbed what he’d already set out to stem the blood, before sticking a tiny plaster on him. “Done.” “Done.” He agreed, this time kissing your cheek. *** Andrew had been staying around a lot lately. So it was almost unsurprising now when you opened your apartment door and he was somewhere in it.  A few days here a few days there and back again. “Back so soon?” You were amused, placing your things down and glancing to him, lying lengthways on your couch, arms folded. “Yeah, well, it’s like Rehab here ain’t it... you barely even have prescription drugs! Headache tablets - and I wasn’t gonna try those...” “Right so... that doesn’t mean you can go home shoot up come back here and use it as a rehab centre! And you better not be doing that or it kinda defeats the purpose of your prescription!” “Mmm.” Andrew made a sound of neither agree nor disagreement, pulling his knees up. “So why are you back so soon?”

He tipped his head back to watch you in your little kitchen for a while, and you knew exactly what he was doing by the silence that hung in the air; it was comfortable though, Andrew did this staring thing a lot. You waited patiently for your coffee machine, sidling into your bedroom to get changed. He waited for you to come back, to answer; “Well. At home I can play a dangerous game of pretending I’m doing something a little less safe than prescription drugs...” he gave a nonchalant shrug “...I’m not partial to the idea of them catching on... and... I kinda like it when you do it.” You laughed “Do you now?” “It feels different - there’s something about it that’s...” he trailed off again, those eyes back to watching you. “...I just like it.” “You had your dosage today?” “No.” “Where is it?” “With my stuff...” You nodded, “coffee?” “Please...” You set your machine again and retraced your steps to go through his bag; sure enough down the side was a box of prescription needles and the bottle of medication.

You took those and the coffee to where he was sitting and he sat up. “Thanks...” he took a sip of coffee - and waited a minute to judge it before swallowing “...Andrew, I know how you like your coffee by now...” you unscrewed the cap of the medicine, checked the needle and filled the syringe to the correct ml mark. “Yeah, well, best to check!” “You trust me with this but not your coffee?” There was silence for a moment until he took your hand “Yes, I trust you.” He watched the way you smiled at his words as you kept hold of his hand, pulling his arm straight. He relaxed for you, still watching that look on your face as you concentrated on him.

Andrew was being truthful, he actually quite liked you holding him and administering his medication. This was a far cry from any hard drugs he could be doing at his brother’s house, but although it was helping his disorder – there was a certain buzz about how close you had to sit and the way you were always so precise about it. Mostly because you knew a lot could happen if you made a misstep... and this was your boyfriend you were talking about... Andrew also couldn’t help but noticed that sometimes if he moved, or wiggled his arm even a fraction before you were about to sink a needle into his arm, you would dig your nails into his skin to try to keep him still. And he would smirk, he got exactly the same feeling when sometimes you would scratch down his vein gently with a nail to find a point to inject him. And that was just a little bit of a turn on… Just enough of one… So he got a kick twice. And he wasn’t sure drugs could give him that kind of thrill. Well, maybe, but you’d be much more likely to scream at him for doing them - so he’d rather play it safe and have you here. So he did it again today, and your grip was bound to leave marks; “Hold still!” “I am!” “You moved!” “Like a millimetre...” “That’s enough for me to screw up!” “A millimetre? You have little faith, don’t ya?” You shook your head, and took a deep breath in concentration before sinking it into his skin again. “Does it work?” “I think so. They keep giving it to me like this now... but you’re the one who would know what they’re doing for me...” “Well, what about your less legal needles?” “Guess it’s working there...” “Too.” You withdrew it, “I think you’re really trying this time.” “Feels like an easier thing to take than pills. And it must be hit enough because I’m not getting junkie withdrawal symptoms.” “What’s really the hit though?” “Mmm... well that would be telling...” he breathed, though the slight smile on his face might be giving it away. He wasn’t lying when he said he liked you doing this. “Oh. I bet.” His eyes flicked between yours; “I never promised this was going to be easy.” You pressed a finger to his lips “I told you before, you don’t have to promise me anything...” then replaced them with your own. He pulled back, gently; “Can I make a tiny suggestion.” Your sigh was clearly exasperated, “What-!?” After that...!? “I’d quite like to not bleed onto your carpet...” You turned back to his arm with a gasp, having neglected to finish your job; “oh shit!” *** This had been the back and forth for a few months. And Andrew knew, in the back of his head, that slowing down was getting to him. Around you there was a lot more for him to focus on – for you as much as anything. Around his family, temptation was everywhere. A lot of the time he could hold off by simply doing something else… if he could get any excuse out of his head he would; “I dunno… messes with my meds…” “Pfft-! Like when have you cared so much about those-!?” Baz even thought it odd for Andrew to not go one round, but would at least try to figure it out; “For Y/N… come on…” “Aw- come on man! Don’t let a girl ruin all the fun!!!” “She doesn’t.” Tonight however, Baz wasn’t here (Andrew might be misremembering but he thought maybe it was ‘date night’), and Andrew knew you were entertaining – so he couldn’t go to you. Craig wasn’t fazed either way; and across the glass table were an array of narcotics. Pills, powder, needles – and Andrew could name every single one of them. He’d done many more. He took a breath that moved his whole body as he sat back, digging his nails into the armchair; You don’t need it… you don’t need it… you don’t need it… Craig couldn’t care less, obviously, and moved through several lines of cocaine like they were nothing. Andrew closed his eyes with a sigh and leant forward, elbows on his knees he placed his hands to his forehead; Come on… come on… come on… Why was this so much harder now-!? He’d made it all the way to here…! He wasn’t just gonna give up, but GOD did he want a fix right now. He tapped his foot impatiently, and a soft groan escaped his lips. That made Craig look up; “Hey! Pope! C’mon-! You’re always doing this – except when you’re fawning over some f**king girl… take some.” “No.” Andrew rebuked ‘fawning’ being the right word, too. “What-!? C’mon!” “No.” He took his hands away from his face and stood very suddenly, “I’m going.” “WHERE!?” “Out. Anywhere.” “Well are you coming back-!?” “I don’t know yet…” He trailed back through the house to find his keys. “For the road…?” “Nah, thanks… mate…” “F**king come on..!” “I said.” He turned, and Craig almost shrank back at the look on his face, at the shake over his brother’s body. Andrew was desperate to control himself, and if he stayed he wouldn’t; “No.” Andrew drove, he didn’t know where, he wasn’t sure he even cared. He just had to be out of that house. Window down he let the cold night air wash over him. It felt like hours, but he didn’t know whether it was. He ached, he felt awful, he felt exhausted. And he only wanted one thing. And he knew that there was only one way to get that fix. So he knew exactly where he was going to end up… *** You were more than just a little surprised when you opened the door, because you knew he was supposed to be home for now. You opened your mouth but he had his answer ready. “I couldn’t stay. They’ve got all the class A’s going – if I stayed I woulda – and I promised-!” You shut the door quickly behind you and placed your hand over his mouth, shaking your head, hush! Not here! Not now! But your face softened, Andrew needed you right now – that was obvious from the way he looked. “Sweetie, it’s okay… come in…” When you opened the door again he realised why you’d wanted him to stay quiet. The guest room door was shut. “Who…?!” “David.” “Oh.” Yes, that made perfect sense. No good talking about narcotics with a cop in the house. You looked him over, and got a good idea about what he really needed. You’d been to his doctor with him about this – so he had this prescription wherever he went. You had him wait for you whilst you ventured into your bathroom to bring back the box you’d been given. Andrew was already sitting on the sofa when you came back, and there was a small smile on his face. You noticed he was doing something similar to stimming with the way he rubbed his hands together; with the way he was leaning into the TV he’d switched on, and was concentrating very hard – anything that was going to take his mind off a hit. You wondered how much opportunity he got to take these when he wasn’t here. How many times he just forgot. You were conscious of how much he needed this in this moment – you weren’t sure his family really cared unless he got too much for them to handle. You sat next to him and took his left hand in yours; Andrew let you pull him whichever way you wanted – keeping his eyes on whatever show just so happened to flick on. If your brother wasn’t already awake, he would be soon. But Andrew noticed how close you were sitting - your leg brushing his – how much of your body was against him; in his current state he was as hyperaware of your presence all over his skin as you were his need for this drug. And his arm didn’t relax; instead he kept his fingers around yours. “Andrew… I can’t do this if you don’t relax…” You weren’t all that sure he heard you, because he was trying to focus on anything else. So you nudged him; “Babe…” He turned back to you, and very quickly switched that intense attention to you. “Honey, please relax...” Andrew realised just how hard he was holding your hand - and let you go. “Sorry!” “No... sweetie it’s okay... I just don’t wanna hurt you...” The sudden sound of the door opening and closing made you jump, and you were glad you hadn’t been about to administer this; “Andrew! It’s been a while mate! How’s things?!” David grinned, deciding this would be the perfect time to pull up a seat, with a wave. Andrew gave him a measured stare for a moment, all too aware of his current state; “Ah… No complaints…” David tipped his head as he watched you prep; “What is that?” You shot him a look to tell him he shouldn’t ask such things; “Medicine!” He threw his hands up “Alright! As an officer you know I gotta get suspicious of anything done intravenously!” “Well, you can stop being an officer in my house out of your own jurisdiction can’t ya?”  He looked between Andrew and you again, as your boyfriend turned his attention back to you and his arm. And when Andrew wasn’t looking at your face, David raised his eyebrows with significance. The look you’d been shooting him only got harder; It’s none of your f**king business, especially not right now. But you knew he had a good idea, as a trained cop he would know exactly what a recovering “junkie” would look like. And he’d be on you about it first thing in the morning. But you also knew David could be persuaded to be lenient on a man he both liked, and, was clearly making an effort to recover. Although he’d probably have something to say about medicated needle usage.

Andrew connected his body back to yours, hunched over your shoulder to watch you do this... again, and again, and again... and he didn’t move this time. You knew why his focus was like this - it would be any way to have his mind anywhere but craving a fix - but with your brother here if Andrew displayed the slightest signs of anything like withdrawal symptoms he and you knew David would pick up on that instantly. You placed your hand on his knee for a minute, and he placed his over yours - which caused you to look back to him. Those eyes of his were nothing less than emotional right then. Usually he could control that; usually even around you Andrew didn’t make himself easy to figure out. You could know him and still not really know him...

 David kept quiet to witness this silent conversation. He was still right, and your family was still right; Andrew was better for you than anyone else you’d ever taken back home. It was more than obvious right there. You always cared with your whole heart, it was just the way you were - you gave all your love, especially to those that needed it. (And David recognised that Andrew did.) But he had rarely seen it given back to you in such a way. There was something that ran deeper in Andrew - it wasn’t surface level, it wasn’t done to brag or show off, or to placate some kind of facade ‘look I do love her honest!’... Andrew’s love meant you were bonded in a different way. And as far as David was concerned it was better for everyone involved.

You pushed your forehead to his gently, and made your kiss even gentler. Before concentrating back on his arm; “Okay...” Once again you sunk that needle in precisely, and this time Andrew took a deep breath, including the slight hiss as the needle broke his skin. If his senses were heightened right now because of that craving then you would understand... He eyed the liquid slowly draining from the syringe with great interest. Andrew wasn’t sure if he really did - or it was just his brain telling him he should - but he felt better already. And the fingertips of his right hand brushed against yours as he pressed a kiss into your shoulder that automatically made you smile. David couldn’t help his quiet laugh, half at the scene half at his own thought; “Well, thank f**k those aren’t hard drugs!” Andrew looked across to him whilst you continued to concentrate on your job. Feeling back on fine form in just seconds - he was sure that was still the effect of the needle. Eventually his doctor would stop prescribing this for the same reasons continuing to use hard drugs was bad - those tiny scars you kept running your fingertips over in sadness would be made by needles that did him good too. For now though, he liked this a lot more than he did pills. And he could involve you so much more. Andrew smirked at him, but again with that unsettling notion that gave David chills before, “Naw. She’s my last habit.”

 And right now, for Andrew, that statement could not be truer.

---

@dennismitchell @happyskywhale @wltz-bby #MendoTagSquad.