#Katherine (the one with the pink hair and also the one who’s mom is being flayed)

[hippydippydruid]

POV: you’re the town butcher and a bunch of kids just found you flaying one of their moms alive

[thegirlwhomoanedwolf]

Truth or dare

(Halloween party truth or dare)

*reader has plot of Elena

Damon x Reader

Warnings: 18+, slightly rough

It had been months...

months since (y/n) had been touched by a man. Her last intimate moment had been a gentle kiss with the person she swore she would never willingly touch. But things change and she would have never forgiven herself if she let Damon die without showing him how much she cared. She was prepared to grieve the man who had gotten under her skin, against her best efforts. She had realized a part of her would die with him.

Along with that part would be the guilt she carried. The way she would get excited when he would walk into a room. The sick feeling knowing she could easily have him if she just asked and how sometimes she fantasized about what he would do to her when she finally gave in. That didn’t compare to the worst of her crimes. There were times she had made sure Damon would hear her moans and cries as Stefan thrusted into her.

“Please harder,” she would beg her voice echoing throughout the boarding house. Always one to please Stefan did as he was asked. He didn’t care if Damon heard. He wanted him to know (y/n) was his and that he would never be able to experience the heaven that was being inside of her. If only he had known she screamed and begged hoping his brother was listening. Sometimes she even imagined Damon with flushed cheeks, his need for her burning through him like a fire he couldn’t put out. She would imagine him with his head thrown back and his eyes shut tightly as he stroked himself pretending he was the one responsible for her pleasure.

She would shriek “ Oh my god, please, I’m gonna cum,” when her fantasy had gotten her to her peak and even louder and raspier “ I want you to cum with me!” Her (y/e/c) eyes would slam shut as she thought of Damon stroking his cock faster and being pushed over the edge with her. Self hatred would wash over her afterwards knowing she betrayed Stefan but no one but her would ever know.

(Y/n) couldn’t help but feel some relief knowing the man she truly wanted could no longer plague her relationship or mind. Though as soon as her mirror image walked into his room with with a crimson colored bottle that was the cure, (y/n) felt more relived then she ever had in her life. That relief soon ended when Katherine happily announced that Stefan had given himself to Klaus to save his brother.

................................................

It was a cool fall day in Mystic falls. Four months after stefan left and made it clear he was not coming back. Damon Salvatore sat on his leather sofa reading from dust returned by ray Bradbury getting himself thoroughly into the fall spirit. His favorite time of year. The sound of the crackling fire place and smell of leaves falling outside was the perfect combination for relaxation.

“ Damon! Why aren’t you answering my calls I’ve been trying to reach you for hours?,” Carloline Forbes voice boomed, the door slamming shut behind her.

He looked at her pointedly “ Well maybe I put my phone on silent so I could have a relaxing day without someone needing my help for a mundane task any human could fufill.”

Caroline huffed, “ this is a big deal Damon, Tyler’s mom has the flu so now we don’t have a place for our yearly friend-o- ween party!”

Damon Laughed, “ friend-o-ween? That’s the best you guys could come up with?”

“ We made it up in middle school and it’s cute!,” she argued. “ please Damon no one else can have it at their house.”

He sighed “ fine.”

Caroline shrieked and jumped “yay! I’ll go get all the decorations!”

.................................................

What was supposed to be a relaxing day turned into hours of assisting Caroline in decorating the boarding house until it looked like something out of a movie. The lighting was dim. Orange and purple lights were strung throughout the house giving it a spooky yet enchanting glow. There were real pumpkins, fake pumpkins, spider webs, skeletons and other spooky decorations. It really was overkill but he did have to admit he enjoyed the finished result.

They stood finally finished Caroline grinning. “ This looks amazing. Oh! I forgot about the food! I’ll have Matt bring the snacks by before everyone else gets here. I have to start getting ready. I’m running behind! You better have a costume Damon!” She said so quickly it’d be hard to understand if he wasn’t supernatural. She left slamming the door behind her.

With an hour to go Damon walked upstairs deciding to take a shower before the party. He stripped his clothes and turned the shower on high heat enjoying the steam that filled up his large room. He decided he would just splash some fake blood on himself as a costume and his mind began to wander to (y/n) wondering what she might wear. He liked her sexy nurse costume but it probably had too many negative emotions attached to it after the last time she wore it. Damon felt guilty over what had happened but all he could think about right now was how badly he had wanted her that night. He could have thrown her in a school bus and fucked her for hours he had been so worked up from her anger towards him. His cock got hard at the thought and he moved his hand down his chiseled wet abs and gripped it.

He started to stroke it thinking of what he normally did, memories of (y/n) moaning and cumming. He should feel ashamed or grossed out by the fact it was because his brother was fucking her but he didn’t care. He could easily remember those sounds and pretend they were caused by him. He stroked himself even faster imagining the school bus fantasy. His arm supported him against the glass wall as the other twisted and began to stroke himself faster. He was so close he was going to

“Damon!,” Matt’s voice yelled from downstairs and Damon had never wanted to kill Matt more than in that moment. He lost the coiling feeling in his abdomen and shut the water off quickly. Pissed he quickly threw on pants and a white v neck.

Once downstairs he helped Matt set out all of the food besides the pizzas Caroline was ordering. If only he had showed up one minute later, Damon thought still extremely frustrated. He splattered some fake blood on his white shirt and face. Then put Caroline’s cheesy Halloween music on that she said he HAD to play.

The door opened and he got excited hoping it was (y/n) but to his disappointment blondie appeared with Tyler and witchy. Bonnie wore a black latex bodysuit with cat ears and Caroline was wearing a black lingerie nighty with animal ears as well. “ I see you decide to go as a slutty hamster,” he joked confused by her outfit.

“ I’m a mouse duh,” she said pointing to her ears the reference lost on him.

Bonnie looked at Tyler in his football jersey and Damon in “ blood” splattered . “ I see you two put in a lot of effort,” she joked.

“ if you want me to take it all off all you had to do was ask bon bon,” Damon joked back as she rolled her eyes.

Everyone moved to the kitchen snacking on chips and soda waiting for the pizza to arrive while Damon anxiously waited for (y/n) . The pizza delivery guy arrived before her much to his dismay and Caroline seeing the look on his face added “ It’ll be worth the wait Damon,” as she smiled. He ignored her not knowing what she meant and poured himself a bourbon as they all sat around eating pizza. When the door finally opened Jeremy came in first wearing a black hoodie as usual (y/n) following behind him.

Damon’s eyes bulged and he tried to stop another area from doing the same as he saw her costume. She was dressed like a playboy bunny and it was the least clothed he had ever seen her. Now he really was hating Matt because tonight was going to be torture until he could relieve himself.

.....................................................

A few hours later they all sat in a circle on the floor in front of the crackling fireplace, filled shot glasses in front of each of them as Caroline yelled. “ Okay never have I ever, so if you have take a shot! Also no lying.” “ I’ll go first! Never have I ever had a one night stand.” Damon and Tyler took a shot.

Bonnie went next, “ never have I ever kissed a girl.” Everyone took a shot besides Bonnie and learning this new fact about (y/n) was making it even harder on him. Especially since he was trying not to stare all night as is.

Tyler went next “ never have I ever slept with Damon Salvatore,” laughing as Caroline hit him and took a shot.

Matt went next following Tyler’s lead , “ never have I ever fantasized about Damon Salvatore.” Also looking at Caroline. She took a shot.

“ Wow I’m hurt Matt,” Damon joked and noticed out of the corner of his eye (y/n) taking a shot too. He thought he could explode right then. He clapped his hands getting everyone’s attention . “Alright this is dumb, lets do truth or dare, you know there’s nothing I won’t do.” He winked. Since it’s my turn I’ll go first he turned to (y/n) whose heartbeat immediately increased.

“ (y/n) ,” he said slowly. “ truth or dare?”

She figured he saw that she had taken a shot for fantasizing about him and knew he would probably ask about that so in this case dare was the safe option. “ dare.”

Damon smirked, “ I dare you to tell me what you fantasized about me doing.” Her face went red.

“ That’s not how it works Damon it has to be an actual dare,” Bonnie said trying to cock block him like usual.

“ Fine,” he looked at (y/n) who was still flushed “ Then I dare you to kiss Caroline.”

(Y/n) crawled over to Caroline on her hands and knees seductively. Her pink body suit showing off her ass with a cute little bunny tail on it. She sat in front of her moving her blonde curled hair behind her ear and passionately kissed her. Caroline wrapped her hands into (y/n)s hair as they moaned into each other mouths. They pulled away laughing and at this point all the men were slightly hard. (Y/n) crawled back to her spot next to Damon and glared at him. Worried what his dare would be after that so he picked truth.

She acted like she was thinking it over “ have you ever jerked off while thinking about me Damon?” She asked trying to embarrass him, making everyone but Caroline slightly uncomfortable. Only because she knew (y/n) and Damon just needed to bang it out already.

He kept eye contact, “ right before everyone got here I was thinking about you in your sexy little nurse costume. Oh by the way Matt thanks for interrupting right as I was about to cum.”

His answer was followed by a few ewww’s and Jeremy, Bonnie and Matt deciding it was time to go. Now it was Caroline’s turn and she was playing matchmaker “ (y/n) truth or dare,”

“ truth,” she responded nervous yet excited.

“ what is your naughtiest fantasy of Damon?”

(Y/n) froze debating on lying but new the supernaturals would easily be able to tell. Looking down ashamed she responded quietly, “ that he would jerk off while hearing stefan and I ... well you know.”

Damon couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t always stefan after all. Had she wanted him the entire time? Did this mean she was purposefully being loud? Was she always thinking about him when her and his baby bro did the deed?

Tyler interrupted his thoughts. “ Caroline truth or dare ?” He said quickly trying to move things away from (y/n) who was obviously embarrassed.

Caroline’s face lit up, “dare.”

“ I dare you to kiss me.” Caroline moved over to him getting into his lap kissing him their bodies pressing close together as Damon and (y/n) looked at each other awkwardly. Caroline let out a small moan and Damon coughed loudly trying to remind them they weren’t alone.

Feeling turned on from so many of the events that happened today and now knowing how long (y/n) had been wanting him physically Damon looked over to her yet again. “ truth or dare ?”

Her face was flushed from Tyler and Caroline’s show of affection and it reminded her how badly she needed intimacy. Damon was sexy all the time but now with his tousled hair and blood spattered shirt he looked rough and it was making her think about all the times he had gotten bloody to save her. How strong and rough he actually was. She wanted to be closer to him she hoped choosing dare would grant that wish. “Dare.”

He patted his lap “ come sit.” She crawled over to him and took a seat in his lap her back facing his chest and his arms wrapped around her tightly. She could feel the buldge underneath his Jeans and her core tightned feeling him pressed against her. He ran his nose along the inside of her neck and whispered “ your turn.”

She responded the need for him finally taking over. “ truth or dare Damon” she said in a husky tone her face turned towards him looking into his eyes, her need evident.

“ dare.”

“ kiss me,” she dared and without hesitation Damon pulled her face to his forcefully. They moaned into each other’s mouths and Damon wrapped an arm around her and the other in her hair after throwing her bunny ears off of her. Well aware of what was about to happen and in need of release themselves Caroline and Tyler snuck out unnoticed.

Damon pushed (y/n) unto her back hovering above her, their lips always connected. He pressed her body firmly into the floor grinding into her core enjoying as she bucked her hips up to meet his. He moved his mouth to her neck kissing it aggressively. “ I want you so fucking bad (y/n) ,” She trembled underneath him.

“ please Damon.” With that he sat back and ripped off her tiny pink body suit leaving her in a black bra and panty set. She sat up and kissed him pulling away to lift his shirt over his head. He picked her up easily sitting her on the leather couch closer to the lit fireplace. He stood in front of her and she fumbled slightly trying to get his pants off as quick as she could. Her eyes widened when she unzipped his black jeans and realized he was going commando and he was BIG. His large erection sprung out of his pants standing proudly in front of her face. He stepped out of his pants and was going to resume undressing (y/n) but that thought was forgotten about when she wrapped her hand around him and did and experimental tug.

She looked up at him her (y/e/c) eyes meeting his blue as she stuck her tongue out and slowly licked his tip a few times before wrapping her lips around him completely.

“ fuck (y/n) ,” he moaned as she went further down on him, bobbing her head up and down on his length. She began to use her hand stroking what couldn’t fit in her mouth. Damon wrapped his hand around her throat gently pushing her off of him knowing If she continued he wouldn’t last much longer. Using his grip on her throat he pushed her back into the couch and crawled untop of her kissing her passionately. His other hand reached being her back unclasping her bra and she gasped as the cool air hit the newly exposed skin. He began to kiss down her neck his fingers traveling to play with her over her soaked panties. “ so wet.” He moaned against her neck as she began to grind into his hand.

Damon moved lower sucking her nipple into his mouth gently nibbling on it as he slipped his hand underneath her underwear making direct contact with her clit. “Please Damon, I need you inside me,” she cried desperately wanting him more than she thought was humanly possible.

He lifted his head from her breast looking down at her. The need evident in her eyes and ripped her panties off of her. Hovering over top of her he grabbed his member and and ran it along her folds watching as her wetness coated him. Looking down at her biting her lip he asked , “ are you sure you want this?”

“ I’ll always want you Damon,” she replied the sincerity clear on her face. With that Damon slowly guided his head into her. He watched her face as she slightly winced and leaned down to kiss her softly. He moved back and slowly slid farther into her. He kissed the side of her face gently trying to remind himself she hadn’t had sex in months and stefan wasn’t as well endowed as he was. Her tightness was testing his will power but he didn’t want to hurt her.

“ are you doing okay?,” he asked moving his hand down to her clit softly rubbing her knowing it would help her adjust more easily.

She moaned her eyes shut tightly the feeling of him stretching her so far. “ yes,” she lifted her hips trying to show him she wanted more , “ I want all of you Damon.” With that he pulled almost all of her heat and thrusted back in completely connecting them.

“ yes!” She cried out feeling like they were made for each other. He pulled back again and thrust in slow and deep enjoying the look of pleasure on her face. He continued his slow thrusts rolling his hips into her filling her all the way. He sat back and watched as her folds gripped him tightly. The view bringing him closer to his release. Damon sped up his pace slightly pulling out mostly than thrusting back into her using more force than before. He could feel her pussy begin to tighten around him and moved to rest his forehead against hers.

“ I want you to come for me (y/n). ” He sped up his circles on her clit and thrust into her harder and harder his abs tensing trying to hold off his orgasm.

(Y/n) began to tremble underneath him, “ I’m close!” she exclaimed. Her legs began shaking uncontrollably the pleasure like nothing she had ever experienced before.

“ me too ,” he grunted on the edge “ I want you to come with me.” He thrust again softly whispering “ come on baby, come on my cock for me.” Feeling her walls start to pulse around him.

With that she cried “ yes! I’m cumming, Damon yes!”

“ Fuck (y/n) ,” he growled, her walls gripping him harder pulling his orgasm from him as he continued to move inside of her.

They lay there still connected the aftershocks traveling through their bodies. He kissed her before slowly pulling out and rolling off the couch onto the soft carpet in front of the fire place. He patted next to him. “ join me?”

She slowly moved beside him her muscles already sore from her incredible orgasm. He played with her hair as she asked him “ truth or dare?”

“ truth,” he responded not questioning her motive.

“ Do you love me Damon?”

“ I always have (y/n),” he paused “ do you love me?”

“ yes, I always will .” With that he brought her mouth to his sealing their love with that one special kiss.

[hauntcdfm]

˗ˏˋ —— ⋆ wait, did you just see who just walked through washington park? i swear it was livia valdez, what? you don’t know them? they look a lot like (camila mendes) but i heard that they are a (27/24) year old, (cis female|she/her) that has been in portland for (one year). apparently, they are also a (lycan) who works at (morbid records) as a (sound technician) and their reputation of being (energetic) & (stubborn) is noted by residents from all over the city but what can you actually believe when listening to the grapevine? don’t worry, we’ll be able to find out just who they really are when we see them in portland next.

FULL NAME: Olivia Katherine Hamilton

NICKNAMES: Liv, Livvy

DOB: December 13, 1994 ( Sagittarius ☼ | Leo ☽ | Scorpio ↗ )

AGE: 27 (24 when turned)

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single

OCCUPATION: Sound Tech, Morbid Records

ORIENTATION: Bisexual | Biromantic

GENDER: CIS Female

PRONOUNS: She/Her

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Scar across her neck from her bite. 

TRIGGERS: Death

PLOT SPECIFIC WANTED CONNECTIONs: 

EX BOYFRIEND: Shortly after being bitten, she met a vampire through work in New York, and they fell in love over the course of their time at work. He had been a vampire for a few centuries, and helped introduce her to the supernatural world and cope with the way things were now. They went from hating each other to something else, but the age gap proved too much, and he left her in the middle of the night. 

CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND: They grew up together, and Livia abruptly cut of contact after the death of her family and her turning. Now they’ve run into each other in Portland, and things are awkward. 

ROOMMATES (0/3): They live in a loft together that’s not entirely safe, there’s always something broken there and there’s always something chaotic happening (Think New Girl), it’s chaotic but she loves it. 

ABOUT:

Born the youngest of two daughters to Carlos and Ana, Livia was the moon to her sister Luisa’s sun. They were complete opposites, Luisa loved pink and painting nails, content with sitting and reading a book in the corner whilst Livia would be skating around on her roller skates singing the latest song stuck in her head whilst trying to play guitar. 

Her parents were loving and chaotic in their own way, their father was a mechanic who sang to the rolling stones at the top of his lungs whilst cooking them breakfast on sunday mornings. Their mom was an artist, most comfortable in paint splattered dungarees with a paintbrush twisted into a knot in her hair. 

Basically their childhood was filled with music, art and laughter, and Livia adored it. She loved her family, and loved their life. 

As predicted, Livia grew from a wild child to a hellion teen and her parents constantly dealt with people knocking on their door with complaints, “Your Livia did this,” and as she entered her twenties, it was brought up with laughter and jokes about how Mrs. Hendersons cat still suffered the trauma of her wild antics and pranks. 

Livia became a mechanic like her father, earning a job in the same shop as him and joking about how they’d open their own mechanic shop one day, a father and daughter empire. 

[DEATH MENTION TW] However, their idyllic life came to a halt when she came home from work later than her father. She had been delayed getting a package, shirts with a potential business names and her father and hers name on them, and her father had gone ahead of his daughter. 

When she came home, she saw her sister first, lying on the couch with her throat torn out. She found her parents in the kitchen, with her father crouched over his wife like he spent his last moments protecting her. 

Her stomach dropped, and the woman stood so quietly, so numb that she was unaware of someone approaching. The attack should’ve killed her, but she survived the bite to the throat and woke up the next day. [END OF DEATH MENTION]

In the wake of the death of her family, she withdrew into herself. She moved to New York, where she met a vampire who’d been around for a long enough time to understand what she had become. She was a lycan, and she needed to adjust to that. 

He began to help her adjust, and slowly she was trying to get used to what she was. Over time they also fell in love, something that didn’t last. Their age gap became too much, he felt there was too much life for her to experience and he didn’t want to hold her back so he left.

Alone once more, she moved to Portland where she got a job with Morbid Records. She comes across as social, and charismatic but is also pretty adept at keeping people at arms length, not quite getting too close to people for fear of getting hurt. 

[janeyseymour]

I’m Sorry

Jane Seymour went through life passively. Almost too passively. She often found herself apologizing for things she most certainly shouldn’t be apologizing for. 

Jane Seymour had always been quite a passive person. It made sense. In her past life, she was known as the loving and devoted wife. There was a reason for it. She hadn’t interfered with her husband’s affairs. The one time she had, she was quickly reminded of her predecessor’s fate. She quickly apologized for it.

Even when she was a child in her past life, she was very much a passive person. Growing up with nine other siblings, she was always the quietest and often perceived as the kindest. She held herself to this standard that she had been given, oftentimes getting the short end of the stick but never minding too much. 

As time went on living with the queens in their reincarnated state, she found herself falling into old habits again. Some were wonderful. For example, she had taken up needlework and embroidery again, something she had loved in her past life. Her skills were still just as wonderful and only improving. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for the other queens to curl up next to her as she worked. It also wasn't an uncommon occurrence for any of the queens, but specifically Katherine, to be walking around in something that Jane had added an embroidery to herself. 

And as time continued on, she had been labeled “mom friend”. Being labeled as this wasn’t a bad thing; no, the third queen was, in fact, overjoyed to be able to put her maternal instincts to good use. Some of the other queens, specifically Anne and Katherine, were in need of somebody to look over them, and Jane was more than happy to be that person for them. She was more than happy to speak up for her, who she lovingly referred to as, her children. The issue?

In this life too, she had become quite passive. After being reincarnated and given back her memories, she made a promise to herself that she would be bolder and more outspoken. In a way, she was bolder and more outspoken. She was more than happy to stand up for her children, telling others just how wonderful each of the other queens were. She was more than happy to do something small like go back through the drive thru window at McDonald’s for Anne because they didn’t give her the right amount of chicken nuggets. But, she refused to do any of this for herself. The show they were starring in now was a wonderful example of this. Jane Seymour was about to stand up for herself in the show, and she had even gotten comfortable with lashing out on stage at Catalina at this point. She was hidden behind her armor of sequins and make up though. But, the Jane Seymour the public saw on the stage was not the Jane Seymour that she was in real life. 

In real life, the third queen was much quieter, and happy to be so. She went through life quietly and flew under the radar most days, and this was received in interviews she had been forced to do for the show. The others were quite happy to use their voice to express their opinions and views on the world as well as post quite often to social media while the third queen could almost always be seen listening, nodding along, or just watching the chaos that had been posted.

She was scared. She was scared of what the world would think of her if she had voiced her opinion because in her past life she wasn’t allowed to do so. In her past life, her fate could’ve been the same as Catherine of Aragon’s, or worse yet, Anne Boleyn’s. Now, she knew that in this life she wouldn’t be beheaded, but she had seen some of the fire other celebrities had faced because they vocalized their thoughts. 

And so, even when cameras were off and there were no spotlights following her, she kept her head down when it came to vocalizing her opinions, and she often apologized for things she most certainly shouldn’t have been apologizing for. 

On most of their off days, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for the girls to be spread out around the house or the town. Catalina, Jane, and Cathy were mostly around the house entertaining themselves in various ways. Anne and Anna were almost always out, claiming they needed to see the world and discover the chaos they could bring to the world without being beheaded.

“Just don’t get arrested,” Jane called earlier as they walked out the door. “Again.”

“You know I can’t promise that Janey,” Anne cackled.

“I’ll try to keep us out of that much trouble,” Anna called over her shoulder as she closed the front door.

Katherine was unpredictable. Some days, she preferred to go out and complete what the six had lovingly nicknamed “The Chaotic Three”. Other days, she preferred to stay in and read with Cathy or watch television with Catalina. The days that were most often seen, though not by much, were the days where Katherine chose to curl up next to the blonde while Jane either read, watched television with Catalina, or worked on her embroidery. 

That day, Jane was working on yet another needlework quietly on the couch with Katherine, someone who she now referred to as her daughter, curled up against her.

“Mom?” Jane was very focused on this difficult work and was caught up in it, not responding. “Mom?” The pink haired queen tried again. Jane stayed silent again, this time her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth slightly in concentration. “Mom?” Nothing.

“Jane Seymour, your daughter is trying to get your attention,” Catalina sighed from the other side of the couch and not looking away from the program on the television.

“Oh!” Jane snapped up. “Sorry Lina.” 

“No need to apologize, just trying to help you out.”

She set the needlework on the side Katherine wasn’t occupying and turned her attention to the girl.

“I’m so sorry Kitty. I guess I just got a bit distracted with my embroidery. I’m sorry love. What’s up?”

“Mom, you don’t need to apologize.”

“I-” Jane was caught off guard. She didn’t need to apologize? “I’m sorry. What can I do for you sweet?”

“I just wanted to know what you were working on. You seemed really focused. It was kinda cool.”

“Oh, just another little something for you.”

“Wait really?” Katherine perked up. She loved the things Jane had added onto her clothing, often intricate patterns and flowers and other times small patches to cover the holes she had accidentally created. “Do I get to know what it is?”

“Nope!” Jane popped her ‘p’. “Sorry love.”

“Don’t apologize! I’m just excited to see it!”

There it was again. Don’t apologize. Surely, this was confusing. Why wasn’t she supposed to apologize for this? Surely, she was supposed to apologize for her wrongdoings, and keeping a secret from her beloved daughter was clearly wrongdoing. Nevertheless, she shrugged it off and continued on with her day.

The third queen was currently doing laundry, and wasn’t able to see where she was going when Anne, their local gremlin, had heelied into her and made her drop the basket.

“Oh sorry Anne! I didn’t realize you would be there!” 

“Jane, why are you apologizing? I hit you!” The girl with space buns cackled and began to pick up the clothes on the floor.

“I was in your way?” Jane stated this more as a question.

“If anybody was in anybody’s way, it was Anne,” Parr noted without looking up from her book. “You shouldn’t be the one apologizing.”

“Sorry Janey!” Anne quickly threw the rest of the clothing into the basket and handed it back to the blonde.

“You know Jane, you don’t need to apologize for everything.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

The found family was gathered around the dinner table on their night off when Jane and Anna had both gone to reach for the serving spoon at the same time.

“So sorry, so sorry. Go ahead Anna!” Jane pulled her hand back and allowed the fourth queen to serve herself first.

“That’s it!” The first queen half-shouted.

“What?” The third queen asked, rather confused. 

“All you do is apologize. Why do you do that? Most of the things you apologize for aren’t even your fault!”

“I-I-I” Jane stammered. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re doing it again,” Cathy mumbled.

“I just-” Jane began. “I don't know. It’s just something I’ve always done? I’m sorry.”

“Mom, you don’t need to apologize for that. We all have little things about ourselves. We just know that whenever you say sorry, you genuinely mean it, and a lot of the things you apologize for, you shouldn’t feel guilty over!” 

“Yeah!” Anne piped up. “Like, when something happens, if it’s something small and not your fault, don’t apologize! But like, if something is actually your fault, then it’s okay to apologize.” Jane sat there in wonder. Was that how it was supposed to work? She had always just apologized for everything. She figured the strange looks she had been given in the past were because people were upset with her actions and not because they were confused about why she was apologizing. Maybe she had been reading it all wrong.

“We’re not trying to gang up on you or anything. We just want you to know that it’s okay to not apologize for every little thing that might happen,” Catalina chided gently.

“I’m-” The rest of the queens groaned. “I mean, I’ll try to remember that.”

The next few days went by as usual. Things happened that Jane felt guilty over, but each time, the queen she was interacting with reminded her she wasn’t to apologize. The blonde was walking down the hallway to her room looking down at her phone when Anne whipped open her door and walked straight into the third queen, knocking her to the ground.

“Oh sorry Anne. Should’ve been looking where I was going I guess!” Jane stood up, slightly embarrassed. 

“Jane, I walked into you.”

“But I should’ve been looking where I was going instead of looking at this darn phone.”

“Jane! I walked into you! There’s-”Anne stopped in her tracks, a stroke of genius hitting her. “Nevermind.” She ran off in search of the other queens. 

“Okay. I’m sorry.”

That night after the show, Anne, along with the rest of the queens waltzed into Jane’s open bedroom. 

“Oh hey loves! I’m sorry I’m not downstairs tonight. I’m just a bit tired is all.” She turned down the television volume and turned her attention to the five in her room.

“That’ll be 25 cents please.” Cathy held her hand out expectantly. 

“I don’t have 25 cents on me right now Cath. I’m sorry.”

“That’ll be another 25 cents.” Kitty also held her hand out expectantly.

“Kitty honey, if I don't have one quarter, what makes you think I’d have two quarters?”

“Mom, it’s our new system! Every time you apologize for something that you shouldn’t be saying you’re sorry for, you have to put a quarter in...” 

“This!” Anne held out a large mason jar painted blue, white and silver, with Catalina’s handwriting saying “Jane’s Sorry Jar”. “We all made it for you! See! It was my idea!”

“Yeah! If you fill it up quick enough, we may even get to go on vacation!” Anna joked. Both Catalina and Cathy smacked her playfully.

“Well, hopefully she learns quickly and doesn’t fill it up fast enough for that,” Kitty laughed. “Although...” 

“It’s beautiful! I can see where all of you contributed! Anna, beautiful paint job! Kitty, I love the glitter! Cathy and Anne, nice splatter paint! It really looks like stars! And Catalina, your handwriting looks beautiful!” Jane grinned. “I’m sorry you went through all of this trouble for me though!” 

“That’ll be another 25 cents!” Anne giggled. “Maybe Anna was right. She might just fill it quick enough for a vacation! That’s already 75 cents she owes!” 

“I’m sorry, but I don't have quarters!”

“Well, do you have a dollar? Because you just apologized again,” Anna pointed out. The other queens looked at her. “What? I’m good with money.” She smirked.

“That- that wasn’t the point. But yes, I do have a dollar.” Jane pulled out a one dollar bill from her pocket and placed it into the jar. 

In the beginning of this new system, Jane found herself putting many quarters in the jar a day. Whether it was bumping into someone, or misstepping during a show, or even something as silly as drinking the last of the bottled waters in the house. As time went on though, the blonde found herself using the jar less and less. Yes, she still slipped up on occasion, but it wasn’t a bad thing. Apologizing for something she truly felt guilty over happened often, but she found herself apologizing less and less for things that weren’t her fault. The queens were happy to help the third queen even in such a small way. And Jane?

Jane had almost single handedly paid for a week's vacation with her many, many quarters placed in “Jane’s Sorry Jar” happily. 

[livesincerely]

I’m very sorry for all of the asks Madam Sincerely, but I’ve just recently gone on a binge of all of your fics, and I don’t think there’s any more questions on the ask game, so can I ask here: Do you have any ideas on future works that you haven’t started writing yet? If so, can we hear some? I was scrolling back through your tumblr to cheer myself up yesterday (my country’s gone back into lockdown) and saw you mentioned a few ideas, like the one in the SubDavey ask? Sorry, just curious <3

No need to be sorry, the asks are lovely! I’m sorry to hear that things have shut down where you are, I’m sure that’s incredibly difficult. Sending all the positivity your way 💕💜✨⭐️💕💜

The Domestic au is the QUEEN of inspiring random story ideas and dangling plot threads. There’s several floating around in the domestic au/ideas for later tags but if I was going to narrow it down to a handful of ideas that have a good chance of existing in the near-ish future, then I’d say 1) the Jack and Davey preparing for college fic 2) the Davey picking Race & Charlie up from the elementary school because Jack’s sick fic 3) the Race and Charlie needing a cuddle pile fic and 4) the bedsharing fic where Jack is struggling under the pressure of fighting for custody and needs some comfort.

I’m just in the mood for some stuff set in the high school/college era of that au, probably because ‘it’s beginning to look a lot like...’ has got me in the mindset. All of these would be one shots, just showing more landmarks in the boys’ history since ‘it’s so easy (too easy) to love you’ sort of just drops you right into the ocean as far as circumstances lol. And also, there’s a lot of family building that goes on before Jack and Davey get together that I’m very interested in exploring! I think Race describes it as ‘eight years of waiting for Jack and Davey to get their shit together?’ Yeah. So definitely lots of domestic au in the upcoming year.

I’ve talked the tiniest bit about ‘there’s you and me (and everyone else)’ and ‘a few letters off’ but after doing the first bits & bobs for each of them, I got distracted by other projects as I so often do, 😅 so I’ll talk about them here. Actually, I’m not even sure if these had working title ideas last time I mentioned them here, it’s been that long lol.

Anyway, these two fics are very similar, but just different enough to need separate fics. The first is a modern, high school au that features different examples of Jack and Davey being the accidental co-parents of their friend group while obliviously pining for each other. I’m thinking it will be individual scenes tied together by the theme; I’ll put the original idea post here and the bits & bobs here. Besides what I already talked about, I also think I want to include a scene where Albert and Crutchie are going on a first date (a pairing that is absolutely inspired by @agentsnickers, you’ve converted me) and they both separately approach Jack and Davey for advice on what to do/wear/etc. Like, a total ‘our-kids-on-their-first-date-get-the-camera’ type thing, plus Jack being an overprotective older brother and giving Charlie a curfew because he’s ridiculous.

“Be home by nine,” Jack says, a little surly. “Nine?” Davey asks, incredulous “They’re seventeen not seven. Eleven o’clock.” “I’m supposed to trust Albert with my baby brother at eleven o’clock?” Jack asks, scowling. “That’s just asking for trouble.” He says trouble in the sort of ominous tone other people reserve for imminent nuclear meltdown or battlefield heart surgery. “What do you think Albert’s gonna do, stick his hand down Crutchie’s pants the moment they walk out the door?” Davey says with a scoff. “It’s Albert.” “Ten-thirty,” Jack eventually offers. Davey nods, then looks back at Albert and Crutchie, who have been following this exchange like a tennis match and are both now a little pink in the face, and shrugs, trying to convey something like ‘pick your battles’. “Great!” Crutchie squeaks out, sounding absolutely mortified. “Great, ten-thirty it is, oh my god, Albert let’s go before theykeeptalking—“

Oh! And I want Davey to full name someone in the ultimate you-fucked-up-and-mom-is-pissed move. I even went and made full names for everyone just to be prepared 😊

Then, ‘a few letters off’ is the Jack-and-Davey’s-friends’-perspectives-on-the-nonsense-that-is-Javid fic. I’ve basically finished the Buttons scene, but I’m also hoping to include one each from the povs of Katherine, Crutchie, Racetrack, Spot, and Albert at minimum.

I’m thinking:

Katherine - catching Jack painting/drawing Davey while Jack tries to cover and deny

Spot - The aftermath of him and Jack getting into a fight with the DeLancey’s and him watching Davey fluttered worriedly around Jack, scolding him for being a reckless but still dabbing carefully at his injuries.

Racetrack - comes home to find Jack and Davey watching a movie, except that Jack’s fallen asleep halfway through, head in Davey’s lap, and Davey is adamant that Race doesn’t wake him.

Crutchie - watching Javid eating lunch together and noting how totally domestic it is: stealing food from each other’s plates, Jack gives Davey his extra fruit cup then swipes his milk carton and Davey doesn’t even say anything because it’s so routine, and how they’re able to move in and around each other effortlessly while eating and holding two separate conversations.

Albert - watching Jack and Davey flirt/bicker from the backseat on the drive to school.

And then some sort of culminating/getting together scene at the end.

There’s the infamous quarantine fic, which I waxed poetically about for all of two seconds and then never expanded on. (Here and here) The reason I haven’t done anything with it yet is because it will be a multi-chapter and between tie fic, take a shot fic, and now the domestic au holiday fic, I’m really at my limit for multi chapters at the mo’. But I do still want to do something with this once I finish tie fic and DAUHF, as take a shot knows no bounds and cannot be quantified by earthly means.

Then, as for the idea I mentioned in the sub!Davey post.... I think I’m going to be able to repurpose the general scenario/concept I was imagining for the final, E rated chapter of Tie Fic, so I don’t think the original idea will ever make it to a final cut. (I won’t say never because anything’s possible lol) But, I’m happy to put the bit I have here! Things don’t quite get E rated in this excerpt, but they’re definitely a solid M. This would’ve been an addition to the Tease series and I think this has been sitting in my drafts for almost as long as the letterman fic, and it hasn’t been edited in at least two years, so yeah 😅

00000

“I really wanted to work on my thesis proposal, that’s why I was in the library most of the day,” Davey says suddenly, pushing Jack down against the couch and straddling him, his voice light and conversational. “It was nice of you to check on me so often, though I’m sorry I wasn’t very good company. I was trying to stay focused, you know how it is.”

Davey looks at Jack expectantly, making it clear that he’s waiting for a response. Jack stares up at him, his expression equal parts confused, transfixed, and aroused. He swallows heavily, then nods.

“But I did warn you, didn’t I?” Davey continues, bracing himself with a hand on each of Jack’s shoulders, rolling their hips together as he presses closer. “That I had a lot of work to do? That this paper is really important to me and that I wanted to get a head start? That I really needed to focus and didn’t want to be distracted? I distinctly remember warning you about all of that.”

He nuzzles down the curve of Jack’s jaw, then nips at his neck. “But you didn’t listen,” he says against Jack’s pulse point. Davey smooths his hands down Jack’s chest, then back up to his throat, tugging at his collar. He unbuttons the first few buttons of his shirt.

“In fact, one could argue that you did the exact opposite of what I asked you to do,” Davey says, working his way slowly through the buttons on Jack’s shirt. “Trailing your fingers across my arm, rubbing a thumb across the nape of my neck, sneaking a hand up my shirt… I would call all of that distracting, wouldn’t you?” He finishes unbuttoning Jack’s shirt and pushes it off his shoulders, admiring his muscular chest.

Davey glances up sharply. “Answer me, Jack.”

Jack blinks himself out of his daze. “I-uh, what did you ask me?”

Davey leans forward. They’re so close that he can feel the warmth of Jack’s breath against his face. “I asked you,” he starts, wrapping his arms loosely around Jack’s neck, “whether you thought constantly caressing someone while they were trying to work would distract them.”

It takes Jack a long moment to respond. “Yeah.”

One of Davey’s hands trails up the back of Jack’s neck. “You agree that doing something like that would be impossibly flustering?” Davey asks in that same, unaffected voice—as if clarifying a statement for a news article—threading his fingers through Jack’s hair. “That it would thoroughly divert that person’s focus? That it would leave them feeling unbalanced, frustrated, and downright agitated?

He leans impossibly closer, so close that the barest tilt of his head would press their lips together. “That it would drive them so crazy that all they could think about was how desperately they needed to be fucked,” Davey growls out, and his voice low and rough.

“Christ, Davey,” Jack groans, his pupils blown wide. He leans up to kiss him, but Davey anticipates this and tugs sharply on his hair, holding him in place. “So, we’re in agreement?” Davey continues in his casual voice, letting go of the dark strands and pulling away slightly, ignoring Jack’s groan of disappointment, “that all of those actions would, in fact, be extremely distracting.”

He trails his hands lovingly across Jack’s shoulders and down his chest, his movements unhurried. He licks a hot stripe up Jack’s neck, then sucks hard at a spot just under his jaw.

“Considering both of these facts, I can only conclude that you were distracting me on purpose.” Davey presses a line of kisses along Jack’s collar bone, delighting in the moan that tears its way out of Jack’s throat. He scratches lightly at the tanned skin of Jack’s chest, then sucks a bruise just above his collarbone.

“Were you doing it on purpose, Jack?” he asks, then before Jack can answer, rolls his hips hard and slow against Jack’s, grinding their erections together. Jack’s hands spasm, then tighten, clenching hard against Davey’s sides. Davey continues his ministrations, circling his hips against Jack’s, teasing him with the friction. Then, just as Jack seems to catch on to Davey’s rhythm and starts to move with him, Davey stills. “Were you teasing me on purpose?”

Jack’s mouth opens and closes, his throat working furiously. “I-yeah.”

David hums in acknowledgment, then continues his slow perusal of his boyfriend’s chest. He nibbles lightly across his sternum, then draws the flat of his tongue across one of one Jack’s nipples. Jack arches into him but Davey pushes him back, using his leverage to hold Jack down against the couch cushions. He sits up, admiring the mess he’s made of Jack’s neck and torso.

Jack stares up at him, chest heaving, waiting for Davey’s next move.

....

Davey runs his hands down Jack’s stomach and between his hips, fingers brushing gently against the front of Jack’s jeans.

Jack lets out a guttural noise. “God, Davey, let me—“ he starts, one hand slipping back to kneed at Davey’s ass, the other inching towards Davey’s fly.

“No,” Davey says firmly, moving Jack’s hands back to his waist. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

00000

That’s all that comes to mind at the moment! Oh, and the Brooklyn Davey AU idea, but I got a different ask about that, so I’ll just link it. (Here)

@saysflora

[sixsclassic]

Where The Shadow Ends

Anne is in an unfamiliar park, seeing someone she hasn’t seen in years.

Inspired by the current season of Grey’s Anatomy, don’t worry no spoilers. I would recommend listening to the song that this story comes from. 

TW: mentions of suicide.

WC: 3, 057

It was a quiet morning, something so peaceful about the empty space of the world. The dawn had just barely broken and the dew was free on the grass, it was so peaceful, she loved it. The world was just waking up, the birds were now chirping, and life was beginning to start. People beginning their morning runs as she sat on the faded picnic blanket, she was waiting for someone. The park was still relatively empty as she glanced around her horizons, attempting to see if she spotted those pink locks. 

“Did you miss me?” a voice cracked behind her and she whipped her head around to see a small figure washed out by the rising sun. It was her little cousin, the one she hadn’t seen in a few years, and a smile instantly grew on her face. “Kat! You’re here!” she exclaimed, standing from the blanket and throwing her arms around her little cousin, who was barely fifteen. “Of course, I’m here. I’ve been waiting to see you, Annie.” the young teen smiled as Anne Boleyn grinned at her little cousin. 

They’d grown up together, her mother and Kat’s brother being siblings, so every holiday and family vacation was spent together. Kat was only two years younger than Anne was and they were joint at the hip through childhood, Anne famously coloring Kat’s hair pink for the first time and giving her the nickname of Kat since two year old Anne couldn’t pronounce Katherine quite right so she insisted on calling then baby Katherine, Kat. Though Kat was no longer a baby, the girl was almost Anne’s height, but she always said that she stunted her growth from all the Starbucks coffee that she drank. The young girl’s hair was a mix of her natural caramel brown as well as highlights of neon pink. Pink had always been Kat’s favorite color, ever since Anne could remember, whenever they’d have to wear pretty dresses, Kat would be in pink and Anne in green.

“I missed you so much.” Anne spoke, gesturing for her cousin to sit down on the blanket and the fifteen year old took a seat across from Anne. During their early teenage years, they’d started to grow distant as Anne had begun high school and started on the cheer team while Kat was still in middle school and was becoming a shy, guarded character. It was the opposite of what Anne had grown up with, since Kat was the most outgoing toddler that always spoke her mind, even one time telling their grandmother that she hated her pumpkin pie with all her heart. That was one thing that she always loved about Kat too, that she was so honest. 

“I missed you more, more than you could ever know.” Kat smiled, her hand swiping across the blades of grass, chuckling to herself as her hand got soaked from the dew. Her little cousin’s reaction caused a laugh to bubble in Anne’s chest, but only a cough was able to escape her body, causing Anne to hack into her arm for a moment as she cleared the cough from her system. Kat watched her as she did so, noting the cough and how Anne caught her breath from it a few moments after. “Asthma.” Anne informed Kat, on the question that Kat was silently asking her in her head. Something that Anne was also good at with her little cousin, was figuring out what she was thinking.

“Does that happen often?” Kat asks, her curiosity getting the best of her as Anne half shrugged, then copying Kat and moving her hand across the dew covered grass, noting how cold the dew was under her fingers even with the Sun rising and causing the air around them to warm up, the dew was still cold from the dusk before. “It comes and goes, especially with the pollen in the air.” Anne explains, pressing a hand to her chest, feeling herself breathe in unevenly. Her asthma was something that she had her entire life but it only became bad after getting walking pneumonia in ninth grade that left always on the verge of hacking up half a lung anytime she got remotely sick. It was her fault for not taking care of her body like she should’ve during high school.

“I grew out of mine, but I still have my inhaler.” Kat says, “Just incase I would ever need it.” Anne nodded in response, as she watched the expression that stayed on her cousin’s face, it was like she never aged, she guessed it was something that Kat’s mother’s genetics provided as she watched her own mother age rather quickly after having her and her two siblings, while Katherine’s mother passed on rather young and Anne wasn’t able to know her aunt as well as she wanted. “How’s Mary and George?” Kat questions, making Anne chuckle, she was taking her special talent of reading minds and speaking what’s on the other’s mind.

“They’re really good, George had a little baby.” Anne smiles, thinking of her older brother than recently became a father in the past few months and how much she loved being an aunt to little Georgie. “George George has a baby?” Kat asks, making eye contact with her cousin as her own smile creeps onto her face and it was the first in a while that Anne had seen Katherine smile and she nodded in response. “George Junior was born in January.” Anne responds.

At the announcement of the name of George’s child, it made Kat chuckle slightly, “Of course George would name his son after himself, he always said he would, but I never believed him.” Kat replies, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen him.”  

“What’s it been four years?” Anne asks, “Well I haven’t changed all that much.”

“Four… it’ll be five in December.” Kat replies, “Have you started university?”

“I did, I went at eighteen for psychology and then switched over biology my sophomore year. I’m graduating in December…” Anne spoke softly, “I just turned twenty-one.” Kat’s head dropped down as the fifteen year old looked down at her lap as she fiddled with her long sleeves of her sweatshirt, that sweatshirt she’d always worn. Anne hadn’t seen it in years, she had one more similar in her closet back at her parents’ house, it caused her too much pain to wear it, even with it almost being five years. Almost five years since Kat had taken her own life.

Anne remembered the day like it was a bad memory, it haunted her to this day. Every single moment of that day and the night before haunted her, she blamed herself for not being there for Kat when she needed her the most. Kat had started high school the year before and hated every single minute of it, she was bullied for being different, for being quiet. Then she started sophomore year as Anne had began her senior year and they were both very different people. Anne was the cheer captain and was getting ready for prom and to graduate while Kat was getting death threats, all things that she was hiding from Anne as well as the rest of their family. It killed Anne everyday following her death to know that what was happening was right under her nose, that maybe she could’ve done something to help Kat.

But in reality, there was nothing that Anne nor their family could’ve done to help Kat out of that place, she was so far gone in her own mind that she felt she was no longer needed there. And on December 1st, Katherine had taken her own life around two in the morning, no one was really sure until Kat’s father found her in her room the following room as he was trying to get all his children out the door and to school. He did everything he could to save his daughter, but she was already far too gone. Anne remembered getting pulled from first period and being taken the guidance office where her parents were waiting for her, her mother was trying to mask her own tears as they told Anne what had happened.

Anne couldn’t take news and ran from the school, sobbing. She kept running until she collapsed at the park, this park. All the memories came rushing back to her at once as tears welled in her eyes and she glanced at her little cousin who outstretched her hand for Anne to take. “Why did you have to leave?” Anne asks as she choked on a sob, causing herself break into a fit of coughs, now Kat was in tears as well as people continued to pass by them in the park, but no one was paying attention to emotional messes of the cousins.

“The world was too cruel for me; I wouldn’t made it through high school. Someone would’ve probably killed me if I hadn’t.” Katherine replies as she wiped her tears away with her thumb as she gently squeezed Anne’s hand. “I got to see my mom though and I got to hug her and talk with her. I never realized how much I needed her.”

“She’s here?” Anne asks.

“She’s on the other side… you’re not ready for that yet Annie. You can go back…” Kat replies as Anne’s vision of her started to blur. “You can go back Annie.”

 The vision of Kat faded out as Anne started to cough heavily again, feeling the covering of a mask over her lips preventing her from coughing out into the air of the room. “Kat?” she spurred out. Once her vision started to come back, she glanced around the room, noticing the hospital room that she’d spent the last eight days in. She hated hospitals with all her heart, especially after the pneumonia she had as a teenager almost killed her and kept her in the hospital for a week. She hated the smell; the food and the feeling of death surrounded these types of buildings.

Though this felt different from when she had been in the hospital last, she never saw someone like that before, then again, she still had Kat when she was in the hospital last. Her little cousin had come to visit her whenever she could after school and made sure that Anne had all her schoolwork during that week even though Anne did none of the world. “Ah good, she’s awake.” A voice spoke and Anne’s eyes darted across the room to someone entering her room in full protective gear, holding a tablet to her chest. She recognized the person as her doctor, Doctor Cleves. Her doctor had been with her since she was first admitted into the hospital with her serve covid symptoms that they believed would’ve gone away in a couple of days but with Anne’s pre-existing conditions, things only began to get worse once she was in the hospital.

“Look who’s here.” Doctor Cleves spoke as she turned the tablet around, to show Anne’s girlfriend, Cathy on the screen. Anne’s eyes studied the screen, she hadn’t seen Cathy in so long since Cathy wasn’t allowed to visit her in the ICU. They’d been together since freshmen year in college, it was the first serious relationship that Anne ever had, and she loved Cathy more than she could ever explain. She was hopelessly in love with her and was planning on proposing to her this year, in October so that they could both be done with school by the time they had a wedding to plan. But it was now June and those plans were halted to just being in Anne’s head as she laid paralyzed in her state of sickness.

She hated every minute of it, since she couldn’t see or touch her girlfriend, she wanted to be with her so badly, but her mind kept going back to Kat. It kept going back to the words Kat said before she woke up, ‘You can go back Anne,’ it left her confused, what did Kat mean by go back? Part of Anne wasn’t sure if that was just a dream, something that her mind had created to make her feel at peace a little bit with what had happened to Kat. “Bebe, it’s me it’s Cathy.” Cathy spoke through the screen, her eyes full of her concern.

“K-Kat. K-Kat. Kat.” Anne attempted to spurt out, making Cathy’s eyebrows scrunch, Anne would never call her Kat or anything remotely similar to her cousin’s name, even though the two shared the name, Anne had always had a cute pet name to call her. “Kat? As in little Kat?” Cathy asks as Anne blinked rapidly trying to give her girlfriend an answer.

“Did you see Kat, bebe?” Cathy asks, swallowing a deep breath as Anne once again repeated her rapid blinking. She wished she could’ve talked with Cathy in that moment as the room fell silent as Doctor Cleves checked Anne’s vitals and Anne felt that there was something she was missing as her heard the words echoing through her head. “She’s on the other side… you’re not ready for that yet Annie. You can go back…” Anne couldn’t understand why she kept hearing those words, as if, Kat was sitting right next to her, talking to her.

“A-Annie. It’s okay, if you’re ready to go. I don’t want you to hurt anymore. It’s okay, I’ll always love you, I’ll always be here for you and I’ll always remember you. You can’t ever forget that. I love you so much Anne Boleyn, go if you need to my love. I will see you where the shadow ends…”

 “You’re back…” Anne’s eyes snapped up, she was no longer in the hospital, hell far form it since she was back home in the park again with Kat beside her. Where she’d started, her heart sank as she realized that she wasn’t a dream. This wasn’t a dream; Kat was here to help Annie in her final moments. “I get to stay with you?” Anne chokes out as Kat nodded a bit.

“Forever, we’ll be okay together. I promise.” Kat replies as Anne hugged her cousin once again.

“I’ll have someone for you to meet in a few decades. I think you’ll really like her.” Anne says.

“Don’t worry Annie, I already think Cathy is amazing and I would’ve loved to meet in that lifetime. I think her and I would’ve been good friends. We’ll come get her, when she’s ready. I didn’t think you were ready yet, you wanted to stay with her.” Kat explains, “You could’ve stayed with her, why didn’t you?” The fifteen year old’s eyebrows scrunched in her confusion as she looked at her cousin for an answer.

“I was losing, I could tell. I saw you for the fist time in almost five years. I knew I wanted to keep seeing you, I didn’t want to lose you again. I wouldn’t have seen you if I wasn’t ready to go. You were my sign, I was already a lost cause when I went into that hospital room, I knew it, but Cathy wanted them to everything they could, but my body wasn’t strong enough.” Kat listened to the words of her cousin closely, “You didn’t come visit me ever in those four years, I could tell that something was different.”

“I liked to visit from time to time. I saw you graduate. I was so proud of you.” Kat smiles as a smile cracked on Anne’s face as well.

“I wish I could’ve seen you graduate as well. You were always smarter than I was.”

“That life wasn’t for me, I’m better here than I was there.” Kat replies, “My soul is happier without my body. Yours won’t be for a while though, you had a lot more life left in you if you hadn’t gotten sick.”

“You had so much to give the world Kat, I wish you could’ve seen you through my eyes.” Anne states.

“I don’t think it would’ve changed anything, there was so much going on in my mind, that I could never explain.”

“Well now you’ve got entirety to tell me everything. We’ve got all the time in the world.” Anne says, patting Kat on the leg as her little cousin stood and outstretched her hand to Anne. The twenty one year old stood and took her cousin’s hand. Soon Kat was leading Anne away from the park as the older of the pair kept glancing back at the picnic blanket, her heart racing as she thought about how she was leaving Cathy in this lifetime. How she wasn’t sure how long before she was going to see her once again? Was it going be ten years or sixty years, the idea of spending so much time away from the love of her life scared her, but it was too late for her. “Kat?” Anne asked, halting in her tracks as her cousin stopped as well as looked back at Anne.

“Yeah Annie?” Kat questioned as she looked back at the blanket where Anne’s gaze was locked onto. Kat could tell how hesitant Anne was about leaving the life that she had behind, leaving behind family members, Kat had struggled with the same thing as she was introduced to this afterlife by her mother, someone she hadn’t seen since she was a toddler. But it gave her peace seeing her mom once again and she’d welcomed a grandparent into the afterlife as well, her and Anne’s grandfather. Kat knew there’d come a day when Anne would join her, but she never thought it would’ve been so soon.

“How will Cathy know where to find me?” Anne croaks as tears began to flow freely from her eyes again as Kat gently tugged her to look in the direction in front of them. It was like the time of day had completely changed, Anne wasn’t sure how long they’d been there, but she’d met Kat at the part in the early morning. Now there was a darkness up ahead. She looked at it confused, but something comfortable washed over her.

“Either you’ll come find her or she’ll find you where the shadow ends.” Kat says as she led Anne through the eternal darkness.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #445

“you’ve got a lot of nerve, but not a lot of spine”

Have you ever created a fake internet persona for yourself? No. Do you enjoy going to weddings or showers? What is it that you like or dislike about them? Not... really. They're triggering for me. And I don't use "trigger" lightly. They legitimately, deeply affect me. It's part of the reason I've lost a lot of interest in being a wedding photographer. Is there a person in your life whom you support by showing up for the sports games, concerts, or other performances? This question, uh... sucks. Because I'm that awful aunt that doesn't go to her nephew's t-ball games while everyone else does. It's the heat that does it, but still... it shouldn't. How many video games do you have? A lot. We have a big case of them. Why did you take the last pill you took? My heartburn is especially awful today. Has a girl ever stayed up with you all night? A guy? A girl, uhhh... maybe? Idk. A guy, yeah. Do you think guys look good with makeup? Hell yeah. How long would you wait to become sexually active with someone you’re dating? That would just depend on how quickly we deeply bond in a relationship. I wouldn't go that far before I knew I was in love with them, though, so it definitely wouldn't be quick. Do you enjoy a good debate or prefer keeping the peace? klasd;jkla;jfklwdj I HATE confrontation, so I strongly prefer to keep that peace. Debates rarely ever stay civil, anyway. Can you ever see yourself and your ex back together? One, easily. The other... I wish. But it won't ever happen because I fucked that relationship up way too much. Are you thinking about anything that’s upsetting right now? Yeah. My PTSD is being really bothersome. Would you ever want to ride in a canoe? Yeah, sounds fun and peaceful. So long as I'm not rowing, ha ha. When did you last see an attractive member of your preferred sex? Did you speak to them? Do you think you’ll see them again? Two days ago. Yeah, 'cuz he was my personal trainer. I don't plan on quitting the gym, so I'll probably see him around there now and again. Have you ever tasted baby food? How about pet food? Save for when I was a baby, obviously, no. I once tried a guinea pig yogurt treat, ha ha. How many times have you had your heart broken? Once romantically, twice overall. Actually, no, four. Quite a jump, I know, but Teddy and Jason's mom both dying was nothing short of heartbreaking. Think of the person you fell hardest for. How many people has he/she been in love with, besides you? One, before me. I don't know about since. Find 5 people on your Facebook friends list, whose names begin with K. Who are these people, and how did you meet them? Katherine: an online friend. We met on YouTube. Kim: she's my stepmom. I met her through my dad, obviously. Kelly: a high school friend. We met in art class. Katelynn: was Jason's old friend's former girlfriend. We met through said friend when we all hung out together. Kieley: she's the wife of who I call my "big bro," a close gaming friend. We met through Sam, the aforementioned friend. Sometimes do you wish you lived in a fantasy world? Yeah, who doesn't? What would you say if the ex who hurt you the most told you they hated you? "I don't blame you" or something to that effect. Have any of your friends dated an ex/previous crush of yours? I don't think it's accurate to call her my "friend," but Jason's first girlfriend and I are friends on Facebook. I'd love to get to know her better and actually be *real* friends. One word to describe the last person you kissed? Strong. Has anyone ever cheated on their boyfriend/girlfriend with you? You could say that. Does your hair have layers? No, not anymore. Who was the last person you cried in front of? My mom. Have you done something recently that helped someone else, in any way? I don't know. Which Disney princess do you think is the most beautiful? Why? Probably Jasmine. I just think she's really pretty. If you’ve had a bad experience in a past relationship, did you find that you were scared to get into another relationship, in case the same thing happened again? I'm terrified to this day to start new romantic relationships. I had so many panic attacks about losing Sara when we first started dating. If you were going to buy a present for the person you love/like, what would you generally choose? Absolutely something Frieza-related. If you met the celebrity that you most admire, what would be the first thing you’d say to him/her? Probably just "oh my god, thank you" and start crying lmao. Is there something you generally always ask for help with? I'm sure there's something, yeah. When was the last time you cried? Today. Do you like sausage? Yep. Ever held a newborn animal? Kittens, yes. Do you know anyone with a dual citizenship? Uhhhh maybe? Have you been called a bad influence? Yeah. Like she had ANY room to talk. Do you get stage fright? Yes. Would you be excited or annoyed if your favorite book was being made into a movie? Both of my favorite books are also movies, and they're wonderful. Do you need structure in your life or do you prefer to just go with the flow? I require structure, for sure. Without it, my anxiety goes rampant. Change is something I do not cope with well. Post a picture of you from one year ago. No. Have you ever written a fan letter? If so, who was it to and did you receive a response? No. What trait(s) would you not want your children to inherit from you? My mental illnesses, primarily depression. I have A LOT of reasons for not wanting kids, and my poor genetic makeup is even one of them. I don't want to pass on all the shit I deal with. What is the worst place you’ve woken up? Waking up in a shitty bed at the ER while waiting to be transferred was never one of my favorite things... Are you the type of person who has to study to make good grades or does it just come naturally to you? Aha... I was lucky in that once I heard something in school, it had a tendency to stick. I didn't need to study very much at all - usually. When on YouTube, what types of videos do you mainly watch? Mostly let's plays. What was the last conversation you had with someone about? Sara and I were kinda fangirling over how cute Maieykio and Rumours are, ha ha. Do you have any currency that’s not your native country’s? No. Can you describe your father in one word? Complex. Do you still watch movies intended for children? Yeah. Hell, I probably tend to prefer them. Who is your favorite stand-up comedian? That's living, probably Gabriel Iglesias. What is your strangest phobia? Probably whale sharks. Which part of your state/province do you live in [upper,lower,middle]? I live on the eastern side. Who in your life can you count on the most? My mama. Would you rather eat your pizza cold or hot? It depends on what I'm up for. Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby? No, I'm not a fan. Last thing you drank? Pink lemonade. Have you ever thought you were going to marry someone? Sure did. The belief was clearly mutual. But I ruined that. Who are your favorite people to talk to when you’re down? Sara or my mom. Have you ever thought you liked someone, and then found out that you really didn’t? See: Girt. Describe the last dream you had that you can remember. It was actually... really fucked up, so the squeamish beware. I don't remember the details, just the shocking part: a little bird flew into me, and I thought it was a bug, so I crushed it in my hand. Heard and felt the bones break and it was just... ugh. It's nauseating to recall. I'm sick and tired of dreaming of only awful things. Any current family issues? Not any big ones that include everyone. The only "issue" that really exists in my family is how my mom feels like Ashley (my older sister) avoids her, and therefore Mom doesn't see the kids nearly as much as she wants. She feels very overlooked. Whose room of the opposite sex were you in last? When? Uhhh, probably my nephew's? Sometime when I visited my sister's house, idk. The last movie you watched with a friend? Elf, I think. Have you ever played with fire? Uh no, because I'm not keen on being burned. What industry do you want to be a part of when you’re older? Art, in some form. Who do you usually text the most? Since Sara and I started chatting mainly on Discord, definitely my mom. Have you ever been surprised with breakfast in bed? No. Llamas or sheep? Sheep. Have you ever seen anyone famous in the street? No. When do you plan on moving out? Whenever I'm in a long-term, stable, happy, and healthy relationship. I really don't at all think it would be healthy for me to live on my own. What’re you going to be for Halloween? I'd actually love to dress up this year seeing as I've really been feeling the holidays, but the money to like... make a recognizable costume isn't really with us. So I'll ust answer as if I had it, in which case it would be a handmaid from The Handmaid's Tale, but with fake blood splattered over my stomach region. Will you buy a cake for your next birthday? We always do for b-days. Do you like brownies? BITCH I love brownies. Have you ever dressed up as a witch on Halloween? Yeah, as a kiddo. Have you ever been to a masquerade? No. Do any girls like the last guy you kissed? Maybe, I don't know. Do you have a second mom? I have a stepmom, if that's what you mean. When a bee is coming close to you, do you stand still or run away? Ngl, I gtfo. Do you ever hang out with someone of the opposite sex? I haven't hung out with Girt in around a year. Really need to change that. When you go out to eat, what sides do your order with your food? Fries. What is your winter coat like? ... I actually don't know if I have one? Did you do well at fitness testing in grade school? I did fine. Are art museums interesting or boring to you? Interesting. Inspiring, even. Do you know how to use an ATM? ... No. :x How about write a check? uhhhhhhhhhhh... Are you Italian? Not to my knowledge, no. We don't know my dad's heritage. When was the last time you talked to one of your siblings? I commented on one of my sister's Facebook posts earlier. Are you interested in photography at all? Very much so. Do you own an acoustic guitar? I don't believe so? Ashley had one when she was waaaay younger, but I haven't seen it in forever. I think Dad might have it. Can you talk to your parents about anything without them judging or bickering at you? Because you said "bickering," no. Mom knows how to pick fights on a lot of things... Who was the last person you took pictures with? My sister when she came to visit a few months ago. What is the wallpaper on your best friend's cell phone? I'd be willing to bet it's either her and Jem or Frieza. Do you melt butter to put on your popcorn? No. We get the movie theater butter kind. Do you consider flirting cheating? Sure do. Have you ever been on probation? No. What is normally on your Christmas list (if you celebrate it)? A tattoo and meerkat stuff. Do you like KoRn? They're one of my favorites! When you were little, did you pick up worms? Do you pick worms up now? Ha, I did. I would sometimes dig just to look for them, especially if I knew Dad was going to take me fishing later that day. I don't like touching worms nowadays. Would you ever go see a stand-up comedian? Yeah, I think it would be fun. Do you have any best friends that you only know online? BEST friends, not current ones, anyway. I've met my current best friend. Have you ever gotten into a physical fight? Nope. Do you have a problem with swearing? No. What do you do when you see a spider? My reactions vary. If it's a tiny little thing, I tend to ignore it. In most cases, admittedly, I get my mom to come kill it. :x I really, really want to get on a level where I can just cup the spider and take it outside. I want a few types of spiders one day (tarantulas, jumping, and velvet), after all, so I really should get used to interacting with them. I know in my gut they're nowhere near as dangerous and scary as your head makes them seem, but it's so instilled in you (most "you"s, anyway) from a young age to stay away from spiders, so it's fighting almost like instinct. Do you have big dreams? Meh... When is your father’s birthday? Sometime in April. The 16th, I think? Maybe. Are you interested in anime? Yeah. They can have some great stories. Do you eat three meals a day? Most days. Are you part German? German and Irish make up most of my heritage, yes. Do you dream of being a porn star? Uh, I can confidently say no. Have you ever been on a farm? I have. What is your favorite type of muffin? Blueberry, I think. I like the moisture it adds to the muffin. What is the last type of salad that you ate? Just your normal one with iceberg lettuce and ranch. What do you usually put on your waffles? A layer of peanut butter and then some syrup. You NEED to try it. Would you rather have a cottage on the beach or in a forest? A forest! Name all the people that you talked to today. Online, through texts and in person. Mom and Misty are all, I think. Do you know a schizophrenic person? My half-sister. Did you ever watch Sailor Moon? If so, who is your favorite? I did. I don't think I had a favorite character. Name the last 3 people you kissed and list one nice thing about each one. Sara: she's very loyal. Girt: he's funny as hell. Tyler: he, uh, cares a lot, I guess? When was the last time you felt EXTREMELY depressed? Why is that? Yesterday, actually. I was passively suicidal just over... a lot of things. Would you ever dye your hair pink? I want pastel pink hair anyway.

[tabloidtoc]

OK, March 8

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Bruce Springsteen

Page 1: Big Pic -- as part of Coach's latest campaign Jennifer Lopez posed with a supersized pink version of their new Pillow Tabby purse

Page 2: Contents

Page 3: Contents

Page 4: Chris Harrison gone for good? The Bachelor host's future with the show remains uncertain after his controversial interview with Rachel Lindsay

Page 6: Since the start of his career Justin Timberlake has endured his fair share of scandals but after welcoming his second son with wife Jessica Biel over the summer and celebrating his 40th birthday, he is confessing that he feels immense guilt about the past and he won't be making the same mistakes in the future -- Justin's done some soul-searching and accepts that he's wronged a lot of people over the years with his own terrible mistakes and he says he's still a work in progress, but step one has been to stand up and admit he's hurt too many women -- in addition to a boozy night out with his Palmer costar Alisha Wainwright in 2019 and his part in the now-infamous Nipplegate incident with Janet Jackson at the 2004 Super Bowl, Justin recently came under fire again due to the documentary Framing Britney Spears which showed him exploiting his breakup from Britney Spears to help his solo career -- Justin's learned from his mistakes and has a lot more sensitivity about the impact of his actions on other people and that's the big difference between the Justin of today and his old, immature self and that self-awareness was evident in an emotional statement that he posted apologizing to both Britney and Janet for the errors in his ways -- his words drew praise from his wife Jessica who says he's come a long way as a husband, a father and more importantly, a human being

Page 7: Wendy Williams is on the prowl for a new man and he's got to be husband material and she is ready for a serious commitment -- Wendy's been staying up until all hours of the night checking out guys online and on exclusive dating apps and she wants someone age-appropriate, fun, kind, independent and of course has no history of cheating -- she's feeling very optimistic and even buying new perfume and clothes and jewelry for all the dates she hopes to have once lockdown lifts

* Texas native Matthew McConaughey is seriously considering throwing his hat in the ring to become the state's next governor -- he's been putting out feelers to see if he's got sufficient support and if enough donors are willing to write checks, he'd mount an aggressive run in 2022 -- he's already gotten the thumbs-up from his wife Camila Alves and their three kids -- at this point, he needs to see an actual path to winning because he's not interested in just making a protest statement; don't be fooled by his aw-shucks attitude, Matthew means business

* Now that Keeping Up With the Kardashians is coming to an end, the hunt is on for a new family to replace the clan and one reality pro is poised to nab the prize: Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna -- there's already been talk about Lisa picking up the torch and her family is camera ready, consisting of husband Harry Hamlin, and their daughters Delilah Hamlin who's dating Love Island's Eyal Booker and Amelia Hamlin who's dating Scott Disick

Page 8: Things keep going from bad to worse for Armie Hammer -- he was forced to drop out of his upcoming movie Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer Lopez after direct messages he allegedly sent to women in which he described himself as a cannibal and detailed disturbing sexual fantasies were leaked online -- Armie was also fired by his talent agency WME and now the disgraced star may get cut from his new film Next Goal Wins which has already been shot -- he's radioactive and everybody knows it and his completed but unreleased work is getting a second look as studios want to do damage control, and that includes another of his finished projects Death on the Nile where his part could end up on the cutting room floor -- he's a pariah now and it's hard to see how he's ever going to come back from this

* Jennifer Aniston has always had a spiritual side but these days she is taking things to a whole new plane -- Jen has surrounded herself with psychics and has been doing Goddess Circles with the same group of close friends for 30 years, but now she's taking courses to learn to heal herself and be her own guru -- BFF Courteney Cox has been a big influence and Jen's learned a lot from Courteney, who's had a long-term interest in mediums, astrologists and horoscopes, and she's trying to fuse it all together into her own brand of spirituality -- Jen's had a lot of time alone, which has only deepened her questions about the universe and how she can make the most of her life and she's determined to find the answers

* Princess Eugenie is over the moon after welcoming her first child, a baby boy with businessman husband Jack Brooksbank but now the new mom is torn about taking time out from her royal responsibilities -- Eugenie would love to take a long break from everything and focus solely on raising her son however she knows deep down how much she's needed, especially since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are showing no signs of coming back -- as she weighs her options, Eugenie is looking to her multi-tasking cousin-in-law Duchess Kate for some inspiration because she's impressed by how Kate is able to juggle her official duties while raising three young kids

Page 10: Red Hot on the Red Carpet -- stars captivate in enchanting puff-sleeve numbers -- Bel Powley, Aubrey Plaza, Lupita Nyong'o

Page 11: Kaitlyn Dever, Lucy Boynton, Margaret Qualley

Page 12: Who Wore It Better? Hilary Swank vs. Madeline Brewer, Bella Hadid vs. Devon Windsor, Alison Brie vs. Dua Lipa

Page 14: News in Photos -- Tayshia Adams and her fiance Zac Clark felt on top of the world when the visited the Empire State Building together

Page 15: Chrissy Teigen and John Legend were inseparable while out and about in Beverly Hills, Bill Murray and NFL player Larry Fitzgerald Jr. were among the many stars to shoot their shot during a charity golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Rita Ora performing on an episode of the U.K. show Dancing on Ice in Hertfordshire

Page 16: At the Australian Open Serena Williams came out on top during the fourth round, Bachelorette alum Jordan Kimball and fiancee Christina Creedon couldn't wait until they got home to enjoy Candy Pop popcorn's new Peanut M&M's flavor from Sam's Club in Houston, Heidi Montag spent the day hitting the slopes at Lake Tahoe

Page 17: Hailey Bieber starring in Beyonce's new Ivy Park x Adidas collection

Page 18: Brody Jenner had a blast snow tubing while shooting the second season of The Hills: New Beginnings in Lake Tahoe, Avril Lavigne stepped out with her new boyfriend Mod Sun for a romantic dinner in West Hollywood

Page 20: Justin Bieber looked like he'd just hopped out of bed in a sweater and checkered fleece pants in L.A., Robin Thicke in front of a piano in L.A.

Page 21: Steve Martin doubled up on face coverings on the set of his new project Only Murders in the Building in NYC, Michelle Obama on her new show Waffles + Michi, Cardi B spoiled herself with high-end goods during a day of shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills

Page 22: Brooke Burke romancing with boyfriend Scott Rigsby on Valentine's Day, Lucy Hale accessorized her look with her newest rescue pup Ethel in L.A., Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon masked up for a snowy outing in NYC

Page 24: For Galentine's Day Vanessa Lachey snacked on macarons and sipped on wine in L.A.

Page 25: Bella Hadid alongside models Mayowa Nicholas and Heejung Park in Michael Kors' new campaign for the Spring 2021 collection, Hugh Grant stepped out for some fresh hair in London, Sofia Vergara kept it casual during a visit to a pal's house in Beverly Hills

Page 26: Inside My Home -- Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley's Rocky Mountain retreat

Page 28: Marriage isn't easy especially during a global health crisis but for Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard divorce is not an option -- Kristen said she and Dax at the start of the pandemic were at a point in their marriage where they definitely needed a little therapy brush-up and every couple of years they're being very antagonistic towards each other and they don't want that so they go back to therapy and figure out how they can serve their team goal better and it's been incredibly helpful and even in the toughest times they always have each other's back and they're committed to being each other's biggest support systems -- while their relationship may never be perfect, they're happy and love each other and that's what matters most

Page 29: Now that Tom Brady has won his seventh Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has set his sights on the next prize: baby No. 3 with wife Gisele Bundchen -- they've been telling friends they hope to make an announcement by summer at the latest and Tom and Gisele have been super loved-up since leaving Boston and moving to Florida after the QB signed on with the Bucs and the change of scenery has worked wonders on their love life and put them in baby-making mode -- the duo, who recently bought a $17 million spread on Miami's exclusive Indian Creek Island, plan to build a luxury mansion there complete with a nursery and they hope to be all settled in when the new arrival comes -- they've never felt healthier or been happier

* Aaron Rodgers looked positively giddy when he revealed he had a fiancee, Shailene Woodley at the NFL Honors, but the QB is dreading the next step: bringing her home to meet his parents because it's no secret that Aaron's been estranged from them for years and the last thing he wants is for Shailene to get caught up in the drama -- Shailene wants Aaron to clear the air with his folks, but he's not ready to do that and he doesn't want to bring Shailene into a toxic environment

* It's only been two years since Miranda Lambert married Brendan McLoughlin but she's already itching for some alone time -- she's headed to Texas in April for her first concert in over a year and she's told Brendan he shouldn't come because it will be all work and no play but she really wants to get away from him for a while and after the pair's recent road trip together, Miranda is desperate for some space -- sometimes Miranda feels like she's living with a baby because Brendan whines and complains about life on her farm

Page 30: Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's romance is heating up fast, so much so that she's practically handed over the keys to her Calabasas estate and she loves having Travis sleep over and sometimes he'll stay the whole weekend -- he gets along famously with her children and Travis has been a friend of the family for years, so the kids have pretty much known him their whole lives and they'll do fun stuff together like hiking or playing video games and Travis loves making breakfast and showing off his pancake-flipping skills --Travis is spending so much time at Kourt's place that he's moved a bunch of his stuff in to make it easier for his kids Landon and Alabama with ex Shanna Moakler to visit him there -- everyone's convinced they'll be living together full-time before you know it

* Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were met with a flurry of well-wishes after they revealed they're expecting baby No. 2 -- the couple decided to wait until Meghan was safely into her second trimester to share the news and they only told a handful of family members before the public and they wanted to cherish this secret for as long as they could -- Harry and Meghan have been nesting at their Montecito mansion and have been busy prepping the nursery and making sure it's eco-friendly with energy-efficient lighting and they're keeping it as plastic-free as possible

* Love Bites -- Clare Crawley and Dale Moss reunited, Kit Harington and Rose Leslie welcomed a baby boy, Paris Hilton and Carter Reum engaged

Page 32: Cover Story -- Bruce Springsteen's private world -- he's an open book in his songs, but here's Bruce's untold story of his struggles with depression and regret -- he still has dark thoughts from time to time but therapy and medication have helped a great deal

Page 36: Stars' Cheating Confessions -- sometimes all you can do is beg for forgiveness; these celebs have all had to plead their case -- Donny and Debbie Osmond, Jude Law and Sienna Miller, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith

Page 37: David Letterman and Regina Lasko, Dean McDermott and Tori Spelling, Kevin Hart and Eniko Parrish

Page 40: Interview -- Elizabeth Olsen -- the Avengers star dishes about getting witchy again for Marvel's mind-bending WandaVision

Page 42: Golden Girls -- how these Golden Globes nominees get their award-worthy figures -- Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Lily Collins

Page 43: Kaley Cuoco, Michelle Pfeiffer, Amanda Seyfried

Page 44: Aadila Dosani's vegan recipe for Chickpea and Potato Soup

Page 46: Style Week -- Ashley Graham is the new global brand ambassador for self-tanning label St. Tropez

Page 48: What's Hot Right Now -- create a naturally gorgeous, flushed look with fashion designer Jason Wu's namesake makeup collection

Page 49: Haute hippie retro jeans -- take a trip back to the '70s with Revice Denim's ultra-cool capsule, Los Angeles Lovers -- Delilah Belle Hamlin

Page 50: Flower Power -- floral prints are spring's hottest trend -- rock the pretty blooms for a fresh, boho-chic look -- Kaia Gerber

Page 52: DIY Blowout -- these foolproof finds deliver impeccable hair right at home -- Drew Barrymore

Page 54: Entertainment

Page 55: Q&A with Mary Fitzgerald of Selling Sunset

Page 58: Buzz -- after months of playing it coy, these celebs confirmed their relationships on Valentine's Day -- Scott Disick and Amelia Hamlin

Page 59: Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker, Sharna Burgess and Brian Austin Green, Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker, Kendall Jenner and Devin Booker

Page 60: Sound Bites -- Halsey on not conforming to conventional beauty standards, Anderson Cooper on coparenting with his ex, Ashley Graham on the importance of self-care, Kate Winslet on feeling like a fish out of water in Hollywood

Page 61: Tom Holland on the plot of the next Spider-Man flick, Mila Kunis joking about keeping her family entertained during quarantine, Drew Barrymore when asked if she's ever been skinny-dipping, Madelaine Petsch on playing a teen in Clare at 16

Page 62: Horoscope -- Pisces Lupita Nyong'o turned 38 on March 1

Page 64: By the Numbers -- Riz Ahmed

[queencarolinemikaelson]

That One Time Caroline Forbes Lied to the Truth Circle

//klaroline au week// - day 7 - trope x trope best friend’s little sister x first time sex This is a long one, folks. NSFW. Enjoy!

xxx

There were many moments in Caroline Forbes’ life that led her to this excruciating moment.

God, dammmmit, how she wished to be literally anywhere else but here.

But she wasn’t anywhere else. She was here, and this was happening.

“Tyler after the football finals, in Junior year,” Elena stated.

“No, wasn’t it Matt? At that New Year’s party?” Bonnie chimed in. “Sorry, Bekah.”

“I’m well aware of Matt’s romance before me with not one, but two in this circle.”

“You know, Caroline,” Katherine said. “I don’t think I actually know this story?”

“Wait, I don’t think even I know this story, either,” said Elena.

“I don’t know if I want to know this story,” Stefan mumbled.

Bloody hell, bloody hell.

She could feel the honest truth forcing its way from her, she could not defy the sanctity of Truth or Dare! The mixture of honour and tequila in her blood wouldn’t allow it!

“What was the question again?” Caroline asked, feigning ignorance to buy a tiny bit more time.

“Who did you lose your virginity to?” the group chorused. 

It was a story Caroline had kept as close to her chest as her heart itself, for more reasons than she could count, the main of which were sitting in that circle right now.

In a somewhat out of body experience – maybe brought on by the quart of tequila in her system, or maybe just from the sheer mortification of it all – Caroline could see very clearly every moment in her life that progressed her on this path. Whence she was but a wee four-year-old, all the way to the 22-year-old she was now.

It all started when her father left her mother, admitting he love for another man. It rocked the little conservative town of Mystic Falls, and left the little Forbes family a little littler. But at the end of the day, Caroline loved her father, loved her step father, and loved that they were happy.

Then there was her mother. Elizabeth Forbes, while rightly distraught about the divorce, was self-aware enough to know that her relationship with Bill was not true love. So when her high school sweet heart happened to move back to Mystic Falls, two motherless kids in toe, Liz took it as a sign from the universe. Only two years later, Liz Forbes became Liz Salvatore, and Caroline gained another step-father and two brothers, Damon and Stefan.

Caroline supposed Damon deserved an honourable mention in this memory-lane-trip. Because, at seven years her senior, Damon was a built-in babysitter for the youngest in their blended family. And Liz and Giuseppe grew quite comfortable with that fact, thank you very much. But as soon as Damon got his first set of car keys, there was no way in Mystic Falls – or even in hell, for that matter – he was sticking around to babysit his 9-year-old sister?

Of course, once Damon would no longer babysit Caroline, the Forbes/Salvatore parents just had to find someone. After all, Damon wouldn’t do it – because “DUH I have a life? Why are you trying to ruin to it?” – and Stefan, well Stefan was old enough at thirteen to get himself to and from school and extra-curricular activities. But he was certainly not old enough to mind Caroline. So who better to ask than Elijah Mikaelson. He was polite, whip smart, gracious, kind and the most charming teen in town. Elijah’s role in this entire saga, however, was to come into play years later.

And of course, of course, Stefan played a huge part. Stefan was her other big brother, and he was her yard stick for something that was cool. And, more pertinently, Stefan chose to become best friends with another of the Mikaelsons, Elijah’s younger brother, Klaus. But she would get to Klaus later.

Caroline supposed, there wouldn’t be this story without the rest of the Mikaelson family, would there? Finn, Kol, Rebekah, and Henrik. Finn didn’t really play his part, as innocuous as he was. But the three younger Mikaelsons certainly did, and their mother, Esther. If it hadn’t been for them, the events of that weekend, that Caroline was so reticent to share, happened as a direct result of their existence.

Caroline knew she had to take some responsibility. She had organised tonight’s event. She suggested playing their old high school favourite game. She was there that night. And it took two to tango, after all. But god, couldn’t they just drop it?  

Which just brought her back to Klaus. None of this would be possible without Klaus.

Klaus was Stefan’s best friend, since nearly before Stefan was Caroline’s brother. The two had been inseparable their entire middle school lives, with not much changing well into their high school and college life. Klaus was smart, funny, and gorgeous, just like Stefan, and so of course they were quite the dominant pair strutting around Mystic Falls high.

Bloody Klaus. He always starred in the bits of her life she was most closed off about. He was the only one who saw her her bikini strap break when she was 13, leaving her chest completely bare. He’d quickly given her the giant pink flamingo he had been floating on, instructing her to use it to cover herself, while he grabbed a towel she could use. It was a moment that had completely mortified Caroline, but they had never mentioned it again.

He was also there when, at the age of 15, she had gotten tangled in the strappy sandals she was wearing to a party and fallen flat on the bitumen. He’d doubled over laughing, until she sat up dazed, blood running from a nasty, dirty cut on her face. His mirth had vanished and he rushed her to his house, which was much nearer than hers. She was his best friend’s little sister, of course he would look after her. That’s just what good people did. Caroline would never forget his 17-year-old fingers tenderly cleaning her wound, while she fidgeted distractedly. It was another moment they’d never spoken of again.

And of course, he played the starring role in the story they were trying to needle out of her right that very moment. It was a moment he had once again never mentioned again.

“So uhh... the question again…” Beetroot-red-Caroline squeaked.

“Come on, Caroline! Stop trying to weasel your way out of this!”

“A lady never kisses and tells,” Caroline said, positively willing the swelling in her face to go down. “Why are we playing this dumb game anyway?

“Caroline Elizabeth Forbes,” Elena said, sternly. “You will not sully the purity of the truth or dare circle!”

“You’ve been making all of us confess to our deepest darkest secrets for years, because of your insistence upon the integrity of this dumb game,” Bonnie chided. 

“Yeah, Caroline,” Marcel drawled. “You made me admit all the stuff I did with Charlotte, while my new girlfriend was in the circle. You can cough up one lousy virginity story.”

Caroline helplessly looked from her friends to her brother, who just shrugged sympathetically. Stefan loved his sister, but she did have quite the way of squeezing people’s deepest secrets out of them.

“You’ve made your bed, Care,” Stefan said, ruffling her hair. “What do you think, Klaus, think she’s gotta suck it up and give us a bit of a story?”

Caroline turned her imploring eyes to Klaus.

“Please, I really don’t want to share this story,” Caroline said pointedly, almost as if she was talking directly to Klaus. “It’s private, you know.”

The protests from the group were instant. Caroline was usually the first person to tell you that you had to be honest and truthful, especially in truth or dare. It was the rules and what a better way to have hilarious fun that making people spill their secrets.

Klaus didn’t know why she was so reticent to sharing her first time story. Tyler had been her boyfriend, nothing saucy to ruffle her beautiful feathers. Just high school sweethearts trying things.

“Guys please,” Caroline beseeched.

“Nope, no way Caroline, those puppy dog eyes will not get you out of this!” Elena said, stubbornly.

“Come on, Care, it can’t be that bad!”

“Tyler wasn’t a bad guy even if he did peak in high school!”

“You gotta tell us!”

“Car-o-line! Car-o-line! Car-o-line!”

Suddenly someone in the group started chanting her name, the same way they chanted U-S-A on game days.

“Car-o-line! Car-o-line! Car-o-line!”

More and more people joined in, until the whole group was shouting, “Car-o-line! Car-o-line! Car-o-line!”, and crowding in on her.

“Fine!” she shouted, a little more aggressively that she would have liked, but it had the desired effect of shutting everyone up.

“I will not tell you who it was with, because that is my business,” she said, pompously. “But it was at that Founders’ Christmas party senior year.”

Before anyone else could protest her caginess, or even respond, Caroline was up and gone.

“The Founders’ Christmas party senior year?” Elena said, confused.

“I wasn’t there when you guys were seniors,” Stefan said.

“Neither was I,” Katherine added, and a number of the Mystic Fall alum nodded their absentia. “Esther hosted it, I think? I remember Elijah complaining about how tense Mama Mikaelson was about it.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Rebekah said, her eyes flicking to Klaus, shrewdly.

“Wait, Klaus, that was the year were there, right?” Stefan said, his brow furrowing, trying to pull details from his mind. “My parents and your mom roped you into going home to stay with Caroline, and help your mom. Do you remember Caroline hanging around anyone?”

“Not to my knowledge, no,” Klaus said, with every ounce of cool, calm, collectedness in the world.

“Caroline was so mad our parents made her have a babysitter,” Stefan chuckled at the memory. “It was probably because she wanted to shag this mystery person without anyone being any the wiser.”

“And none of us were!” Elena said. “I can’t believe she never told us! Why is it such a secret?”

“Who knows,” Kat said. “But also who cares, she’s not here anymore. Truth or dare, Stefan!”

As his best friend chose dare, Klaus sighed in a bit of relief, but also in revelation.

Opting to take a moment to collect his thoughts, Klaus left the circle to get something stronger to drink than beer; a goodly amount of the bottom shelf whiskey to be precise.

He gulped it all in one go because he lied. He lied to the whole truth circle.

Klaus did remember someone hanging around Caroline that weekend.

It was him.

xxx

Four years earlier.

It was four years prior to that fateful night when Elijah’s role in the humiliation had starred.

Elijah was Caroline’s faithful – or fateful as this case may be – babysitter all the way up until she turned 12, and Elijah regretfully moved away from college. Caroline would miss him, as he had been minding her twice to three times a week for the past three years. But when he left, Liz and Giuseppe, fell into the trap many parents do with their youngest, and decided Caroline was definitely mature enough at the ripe old age of twelve to take care of herself after school.

Sometimes she would hang out with Bonnie and Elena. Sometimes she would have an after school activity. Sometimes Stefan would let her tag along to whatever he was doing. But most days though, Caroline took herself home, and hung out by herself until her brother, or parents came home.

It was a good, independent life, even if a tad lonely. Perfect for someone as old as her.

So, imagine when, in her final year of high school, after six whole years of being her own babysitter, Giuseppe and Liz were going to be away for a week on a business trip, turned mini-vacation, and they insisted on finding someone to stay with Caroline. As she was too young to stay by herself, for a whole week after all.

This offended Caroline on many levels.

She was eighteen, for heaven’s sake. She would have school during the day, she’d been a lone ranger in the after school hours for years. She wasn’t suddenly going to be terrified at night by herself?

And what was she supposed to get up to at night anyway? Sure, she was a party animal, and the best party planner her age, but there was absolutely no way any of the year would go to an illicit party at the Salvatore house. Caroline was the daughter of the town sheriff; that wrath was a fate no teenager would willingly bring on.

Caroline made these arguments loudly, infuriatedly, and petulantly. But nope her parents would not have it.

“You can look after yourself sweetie, we know,” they implored her. “But we just don’t want to be worrying about you all alone while we’re trying to relax.”

Caroline’s protests didn’t change, but neither did theirs.

They, of course, asked Stefan first.

“Please Stefan,” they said over the phone. “She’s your sister, and you love her.”

And Stefan did love her. Caroline was his favourite girl in the whole world, and he couldn’t wait until she lived in the same college town as he did so they could party their lives away together. But there was no way in hell he was giving up a weekend just to go home and mind his baby sister. Not this close to finals. Not when he almost convinced Valerie Tulle to finally go out with him.

And especially not because Caroline had text him before their parents even called him, and threatened the life of his Bon Jovi vinyl collection if he agreed.

So Stefan had politely declined his parents, citing a very imminent, very important, but also quite vague exam in his reasoning.

So, the Forbes-Salvatore parents half-heartedly ran the request past Damon.

“Please Damon,” they begged him. “She’s your sister and you love her.”

And Damon did love her, at least begrudgingly – it was hard not to love the bouncy ball of blonde. But there was not a chance that he would leave the office for an entire week, only to drive from New York to Mystic Falls to mind his younger sister.

And especially not when Caroline text him, begging to turn down their parents. She just wanted some alone time.

So he declined his parents – “Wall Street doesn’t just take vacations.”

Maybe if Elijah had never been he babysitter, Caroline’s mother and step-father would have left their search at Stefan and Damon. And given up the whole search as a bad job.

But no.

This was when Liz and Giuseppe even went as far as calling Elijah.

Luckily, for Caroline though, her former babysitter, as touched as he was that they still thought so highly of him, was busy in the first few months of a new job, so was unavailable.  

And after that, Caroline honestly thought she had won. Who on earth would they ask? She was 18! She didn’t need a baby sitter. No one in their right mind would agree to baby sitting an 18-year-old.

At least, that’s what she thought, until approximately three days before her parents were due to leave and Liz came in to where Caroline was studying to talk to her.

“So, Klaus is going to be here at about 5pm on Saturday, does that sound okay? You’ll be okay for the rest of the day?”

“Wait, what?” Caroline exclaimed, slightly thrown.

“Klaus is staying here while we’re away this week, remember? I thought I’d run it by him, given that Elijah was always so reliable, and he is, after all, Stefan’s best friend,” Liz said, seemingly baffled that her daughter didn’t know this information. “I told you all this last week?”

“Oh my god, what? No you didn’t?!”

“I did wonder why you didn’t put up more of a fight,” Liz mused. “Well, this isn’t up for discussion, Caroline. He’s basically just here anyway so we don’t have to worry about you here alone at night. Klaus is here for the week, and that’s final.”

And with that, Liz turned on her heel and went back to packing, leaving a tongue tied Caroline in her wake.

And so sat a truly grumpy Caroline that Saturday, waiting exasperatedly for her ‘babysitter’ to arrive.

When the knock at the door came, just after 5pm, as Liz had promised, Caroline pulled open the door a fiery look in her eyes.

“What on earth were you thinking?” she griped, without so much as a ‘hello’. “Did it not occur to you that I’m actually an adult? I don’t need a sitter.”

“Well hello to you too, love,” he drawled, giving her that wicked grin he always gave when he was stirring the pot. “I wasn’t aware that I was so unwanted in this household.”

“Don’t be cute with me, Klaus,” Caroline snipped, not having any of it. “Like, didn’t you even ask Stefan? Did it not cross you little mind to go ‘hey, best friend, your parents want me to babysit your adult sister for a week, why can’t you do it?’”

The final sentence Caroline put on her best mockery of his English accent, and flopped melodramatically onto the nearest couch.

“If you had asked that,” Caroline continued, now addressing the ceiling in the living room. “You would know that they did ask Stefan and he refused because I asked him to. I don’t want baby sitting! I just want to be able to use my house the way I want to for a change!”

Caroline felt her own frown so deep, so petulant, on her face, that she wryly admitted to herself, maybe she wasn’t as mature as she liked to think she was. But that wasn’t the point.

“I could have eaten whatever I wanted. Danced to loud, cringe music. I could have studied with no pants on! And now I don’t have that!”

Klaus just grinned his little grin, and picked up his bag.

“I’m sorry for ruining your no-pants plans, Caroline.”

Which was all he said before trying to dart upstairs to put his bag in the spare room.

“That’s your take away?” Caroline cried, dragging herself from the couch. “That I just wanted to wear no pants for the week? Nothing about the fact I can, as a matter of fact, look after myself!”

Klaus laughed at her, she really looked so completely stubborn and done with him already.

“Love, eat whatever, dance to whatever, wear pants, wear no pants, it’s all the same to me,” Klaus replied. “You can pretend I’m not here as much as you like. In fact, that might be the best outcome for us both.”

With that, and a wink, Klaus shut the spare room door in Caroline’s face, which only served to infuriate the Forbes woman even more.

With another giant huff, Caroline stomped back down the stairs, and flopped again on the living room couch again.

It was a few hours later when Klaus resurfaced.

In those hours, Caroline hadn’t done much more than sulk about her situation, but she also baked a cake, and started cooking dinner, feeling ever so slightly bad about her nastiness and petulance.

He was, after all, just being a good family friend, even if it did irritate Caroline’s personal preferences. And she liked Klaus. Of course she did, she’d know him forever. And it would be a little bit not awful to not have to be alone the entire week.

As he strode down the stairs, the garlic-y smells of a pasta sauce filled his nose.

If he were honest, Klaus had been wary of agreeing to this week. Rightly so, apparently. She was his best friend’s little sister, not exactly the top of the list of activities for a college student.

But soon after he got the call from Liz, and before he had a chance to talk to Stefan, Klaus received a call from his mother, Esther. And Esther told him, in no uncertain terms, he would accept Liz’s offer. Much like Caroline’s, Klaus’ protestations had fallen on unsympathetic ears. Esther’s insistence that Klaus came to stay with Caroline was just as much about her own personal gain. As a self-employed event planner and mother of six, Esther found herself with more to do than sense most of the time.

She was putting on the biggest event of the year for Mystic Falls, and with still three kids at home she thought she may forget to feed them amidst all the kerfuffle which was the week leading up to the Founders’ Christmas party. So, when Liz mentioned asking Klaus to stay with Caroline, Esther knew she would feel much better with an extra pair of hands on deck.

“During the school hours, Niklaus,” Esther said, sternly down the phone. “You will cook food for the fridge, and the freezer, so the kids can help themselves. You will run any errands I need of you. And you will do the school pick up and drop off.”

Klaus had, obviously, groaned, but was secretly glad for the excuse to say yes. He enjoyed going to Mystic Falls, because college sometimes became a little too much. It would be good to unwind a little. And even if his mother was going to be in her high-strung planning mood Klaus could vanish in the evening, because after all, he had an obligation to Caroline.

It would be a nice week.

“So,” Klaus said, leaning on the kitchen bench, feeling a little awkward. Sure he and Caroline had spent a small amount of time alone over their lives, but definitely nothing like this, and definitely not in a number of years.

“So,” Caroline mimicked.

“I suppose, I hardly even know much about you these days, sweetheart,” he said, flashing his signature dimples at her. “Your hopes, dreams, everything you want in life.”

Caroline just scoffed while stirring the pasta, though unexpectedly, even to himself, Klaus was delighted to see a slight blush, and just a feather of a smile settle on her face.

“Come on, Caroline,” he said. “I’m serious! You have to talk to me at some point. I am here all week, remember?”

“Uh! Don’t remind me!” she groaned. “Why did you agree to stay here anyway?”

“My mother is planning the Founders’ Christmas thing next weekend,” Klaus said, picking at some of the carrots Caroline cut for the pasta. “She demanded I agree to stay with you, so I can help her while you’re at school.”

“Why couldn’t she just ask you to stay with her and help her?” Caroline asked.

“I assume because she thought it would be a much more attractive offer for me,” Klaus shrugged. “Here with you is likely to be a lot calmer fro me than if I stay there.”

Caroline nodded, but was distracted from answering, as Klaus tried to nab a couple more bits of vegetable to snack on.

“Hey!” she chided. “That’s to go with dinner, keep your grubby paws off!”

Klaus laughed, and waited until she turned back to the saucepan on the stove, before grabbing a piece anyway and popping them into his mouth.

“I heard that,” Caroline snapped. “See, I’m already regretting you being here.”

From there, the rest of the evening was fine. Caroline was still mildly annoyed she had a babysitter, but, she reasoned, Klaus wasn’t so bad.

If the task had fallen to Elijah, Caroline would definitely have felt obliged to be a host the whole week. If it was Damon, he would have made her be his minion the entire time. If it was Stefan, the week would have been them having a semi-party every night, and Caroline would have gotten absolutely no work done.

So, if there was any outcome that required a babysitter, this was the best one.

Klaus gave her company at meal times, but gave her space when she wanted it.

Though, when school finished on Tuesday, a couple of days later, Caroline felt herself not wanting as much space as usual. It had been a long, boring day at school, and even though cheer practice after school had been fun, Caroline was still looking for a bit of interaction.

“Klaus,” Caroline called as she came in from practice. “Klaus, are you here?”

There was no answer.

Curiously, she nosed her way around the house, looking for her current housemate. There was definite evidence that he was around, his car in the drive for one, but there was not a sound nor a movement to alert her to his whereabouts.

“Ka-lau-ssss,” she said, exasperatedly. “Jeez, I finally start wanting you around the damn house, and now you’re suddenly Harry Houdini!”

“Oh, you want me now do you?”

Caroline jumped about a foot in the air, as Klaus spoke into her ear.

“What on earth is your game?” Caroline shrieked, punching him in the chest. “You’re supposed to be babysitting me! Not trying to kill me!”

Klaus just laughed at her – a habit that was becoming far too common, if you asked Caroline.

“Not trying to kill you, love,” he said, mirth still laced in his voice. “Just trying to entertain myself.”

“Can’t you entertain yourself by getting yourself off, like a normal college student,” Caroline huffed, still trying to slow her heart rate.

Though, her statement didn’t do a great job of slowing her heart rate, as she considered the substance of what she said.

“Been thinking about me getting myself off, sweetheart?” Klaus said, slipping a little flirt into his voice, before he could stop himself.

“No! I just… I was just saying… shut up!” Caroline spluttered, going an excellent shade of pink.

“Come on, love,” he goaded, still with that inexplicable flirt in his voice. “It’s not that disgusting a thought is it?”

His eyes were locked with hers, and she could feel herself crumbling a little under his gaze. He had kissed boys before, and done other things with them, but she’d never really explored much. And it was wildly inappropriate to wonder about her older brother’s best friend as a sexual being, but she definitely found herself doing it in that moment.

She had to shake herself a little after a moment, and unable to find the right way to answer to Klaus’ question, she ignored it.

“I thought we could have pizza for dinner,” Caroline said. “Maybe go for a walk or watch a movie? I’m still full of energy after cheer practice, I don’t want to just sit in my room and ignore you like I did last night.”

Klaus opted to allow for the change of subject.

“Have extra energy, love? I’m sure I can think of something we can entertain ourselves somehow.”

Well, almost.

Caroline rolled her eyes, hard, and stalked away from him.

“Fine!” she growled. “I thought it could be nice, but since you can’t keep your mind from the gutter, Klaus, I’ll just…. Entertain myself!”

Caroline by this point, was at her bedroom door, and managed to slam it in his face. And she felt quite proud of her timing, until she heard a hearty laugh from the other side of the door, and Caroline realised exactly what she said.

She groaned loudly to herself. Though was inconveniently still thrumming with energy from the day, just now with a second lot of energy joining the rest.

Later that night, it was Klaus’ turn to cook Caroline a silent apology meal. The same way she cooked for him the night he arrived.

He wasn’t sure what had got into him. Winding up Caroline was just such a delicious exercise. The shades of pink she turned, the entendres she inadvertently made, the adorably over the top facial expressions he elicited. It was just quite fun.

But after an hour of feeling a little pleased with himself about it all, he started feeling a little guilty.

She was an adult, and she was an exceptionally beautiful adult – although he’d never let himself admit that to himself before and never would again (she was Stefan’s sister after all) – but she was still young. It wasn’t like he was 1000-years-old and she just 18 – he was only two years older than her – but he didn’t know where she was on her sexual journey. Flirting her into knots when he was quite confident in his sexuality, and she not so much, just felt a bit ick.

Klaus decided as much fun as flirting with Caroline had been, he was going to leave that ball in her court, so to speak. If she wanted to flirt with him overtly, then he would pick up what she put down, but wouldn’t initiate it.

“Hey Klaus,” Caroline said softly, when she finally surfaced for dinner. “This isn’t pizza.”

She still had a bit of pent up energy, but was wary because of before. Although it felt surprisingly good to flirt with Klaus, she felt it was a bit of a dangerous line to toe.

“Well spotted,” he intoned, sardonically. “I thought we could partake in a well loved, alliterative tradition; Taco Tuesday.”

Caroline smiled a little brighter. If he wasn’t going to mention earlier, then neither would she.

“That sounds nice!” she replied. “I have some tequila upstairs if you want margaritas to go with it?”

“Caroline Elizabeth Forbes!” Klaus exclaimed, in mock indignance. “It’s a school night!”

She rolled her eyes in response, and flounced upstairs to get the bottles she needed.

When she came back down, she set to work on the cocktails for the two of them.

“You know Caroline,” Klaus said. “I still don’t know much about you anymore. Tell me about yourself.”

“What don’t you know about me? You’ve known me since you were like eight?” Caroline said, squeezing a lime.

“Be that as it may, I hardly paid you any mind while in high school, and now I don’t live here,” Klaus reasoned. “Have you made any decisions about what or where you’ll study?”

“Not really,” she began, before thinking a couple moments longer. “I’d obviously love to do event planning or management. It would really be in keeping with skills I already have, but on the other hand, why waste money on a degree in something I’m already basically professional at. Another thing that was interesting to me was broadcast journalism, but as mom so rudely, but very fairly, pointed out, I barely watch the news as it is. I could do nursing, though blood makes me a bit squeamish.”

As Caroline continued to chatter about what she might want to do with her life, Klaus watched her, and noted the fondness he felt toward her. It was nice listening to her.

“I’m just rambling though, sorry,” Caroline said, a little embarrassed of herself. “I’m always doing that.”

“Not a problem in the slightest, Caroline,” Klaus said, throwing her a genuine smile. “It is nice.”

Caroline smiled shyly back at him, and blushed a little. He sounded so sincere, and it was so at odds with her usual interactions with Klaus.

“Any other thoughts on your future?” Klaus asked.

“Not really,” Caroline said. “I know people think I’m so planned and structured. But I think I want to go with the flow for a while, work out who I am before I settle for anything.”

“That’s very wise, love,” he said. “And I believe our food is ready.”

“Perfect timing!” Caroline grinned. “Margaritas are too!”

“Shall we take our dinner in the lounge?”

“No way, you animal!” Caroline laughed, grabbing the margarita jug in one hand and the glasses in the other. “We are having party food, which means we dine in the party room!”

“The den, I take it?”

“Correct!”

With that, Caroline was off, leaving Klaus to bring all the dishes for dinner into the den, where Caroline was setting up some elaborate game for them already.

“Steady on, sweetheart!” Klaus laughed at her. “How are we supposed to eat and play beer pong at the same time?”

“Oh, Klaus, honey, this isn’t beer pong!” Caroline laughed. “It’s the greatest board game you’ll ever play. I’m prototyping a drinking game for when I go to college.”

“Silly me,” Klaus drawled. “Explain the rules while we eat. But tuck in love, before it gets cold.”

The two friends whiled away the next few hours playing Caroline’s game. Klaus had to hand it to her, the girl knew what made a good drinking game.

It was just after 11pm when they decided to stop playing. Even by that time, there was not a clear winner.

“This is why I am prototyping, Klaus!” Caroline said, swatting playfully at him. “So I can discover where there are holes in the game play. I obviously have to work on the point system more!”

Both of them were definitely well past tipsy, but not quite properly drunk yet. They were in that happy, buzzing period where everything was that little bit heightened. Jokes were funnier, jibes were more meaningful, and flirts were more sensual.

“I probably should go to bed,” Caroline said through her buzz. “Or I’ll regret this in the morning.”

“How could you regret such quality time with me, my love?” Klaus teased.

“Oh so I’m your love now, am I?” Caroline giggled. “Not just a plain old love.”

“You get special consideration for making me laugh,” Klaus stated, matter-of-factly.

“I get it,” Caroline said, as she sprung up from the couch. “There’s levels, am I right?”

“And what on earth do you mean by that, Caroline,” he replied, getting up to follow after her.

“Oh you know,” she said, as she began climbing the stairs. “Everyone gets ‘love’, right? The ones you like a little more get ‘sweetheart’. And then the best people get ‘my love’?”

Caroline stopped midway up the stairs to turn around and raise her eyebrows triumphantly at him. Klaus, stopped his ascent when he was just a step below her, and he was awfully close to her. But in this tipsy state, he didn’t much mind.

“That’s right, my love,” Klaus said, cockily.

She leaned in, her face so close to his, he could count the freckles on her cheeks. Even though she was a full step above him, she was just at his eye level. Her heavy eyes bored into his and Klaus could have sworn her eyes flicked to his lips. And he certainly would by lying to himself if he said his eyes didn’t flick to hers.

“That’s what I thought,” Caroline said, her voice as low as he ever heard it.

With her eyes still locked with his, a tiny, mischievous smile lit her face, and she began chewing on her bottom lip.

It was Caroline unlike he’d ever seen her before. Enticing, intriguing, exciting. And that was enough to make him want her. But add just a hint of the forbidden in the mix, and boy, did it make her that much more alluring.

She leaned in a fraction closer, and Klaus was sure he was about to feel the glory of her lips on his, when his phone started buzzing loudly in his pocket.

Caroline visibly shook herself, apparently regaining her composure much faster than he was able to.

“You should get that.”

The voice was still Caroline’s, it was still kind and melodic, but he couldn’t help but feel he lost something secret.

“Klaus, the phone,” Caroline urged.

Finally pulled from his trance, Klaus reached into his pocket to grab his still ringing phone.

“Hello,” he answered.

“Klaus!”

Caroline only heard a loud voice excitedly say Klaus’ name, and she already heard enough.

With nothing more than a gesture upstairs to her bedroom, Caroline was off to sleep.

She didn’t escape fast enough, before she heard the tail end of Klaus’ conversation.

“I’m busy,” he said. “Hanging out with the best people. Goodbye.” 

Hearing that made a warm glow spread through her.

It was still alight within her the next night when she and Klaus were sitting in the lounge watching a movie after dinner. 

“So, am I invited to the event this weekend?” Caroline asked, about 45 minutes into the movie.

“It’s the founders’ Christmas party. You are part of two founding families, Caroline,” Klaus replied, sardonically. “I think you have a weightier invitation than I do.”

Caroline just laughed.

“But in all seriousness,” Klaus said. “Mother made a point of saying just today to make sure you come along. You’ll be the only representative of the Forbes and Salvatore family in attendance this year apparently.

“I guess that’s right,” Caroline said, pondering. “I will be all alone!”

“You will hardly be alone, love,” Klaus said, chuckling at her dramatics. “Elena and Bonnie will be there.”

“No actually,” Caroline said. “Elena and Jeremy are going to some family reunion thing out of town, and Bonnie is will be visiting her cousin.”

“What about my siblings?”

“Come on, Klaus,” Caroline chided. “All of them will have their friends there. Plus, your sister is dating Matt, my ex. Not super keen to hang out with those two just yet, as much as I like them both.”

“Well, there’s nothing else for it,” Klaus stated, with a tiny wink. “You’ll have to be my date for the evening.”

“I’ll have to be your date, will I?” Caroline asked, a little coolly.

“Yes you will, my love,” Klaus teased.

Caroline laughed, her faux-cool exterior cracking.

“Fine, I’ll be your date, Klaus,” Caroline said, that flirtatious smile back on her face. “But only if you wear a suit, and court me somehow. And get me a gift, obviously. I don’t put out otherwise.”

“I wouldn’t dream of you putting out for me, sweetheart,” he replied, trying desperately to play it as cool as she seemed to be. “But I can definitely find a suit.”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” she replied.

At that moment, she hauled herself up from the couch, and began to pick up the plates in front of them, left over from dinner.

“Don’t worry about that yet, love,” Klaus said, covering her hand with his, and gently indicating to leave the chores for later.

Caroline flicked her eyes from their joined hands to his eyes.

“Stay,” he urged.

Caroline let herself be pulled back onto the couch, although this time she was far closer to Klaus than she had been, and he did not let go of her hand. And she wasn’t quite sure why, but she felt very comfortable to stay tangled up in him.

For the remainder of the film, neither of them spoke much, other than a bit of banter dragging the movie, but their bodies stayed close, and their hands locked. Every now and then Caroline would stroke her foot delicately along Klaus’ leg, or Klaus would draw circles with his thumb on her skin.

After it finished, they stayed in a similar state of sweet, both ignoring the complete insanity of what they were doing; just chatting, laughing, teasing.

And that’s how it was for the next couple of days. They spent every possible moment together; furtive glances, lingering touches, and enough entendre to keep both of them dizzy for each other. Though they still hadn’t taken it any further. While it was just implied attraction, it seemed much easier to deny.

When Saturday morning dawned, Caroline could hardly contain her excitement.

Now, she had been giving herself stern talking tos all week, because she knew once her parents were home, and Klaus left, things would go right back to the way they were. It would be like he was never there.

She knew that. She knew it would be that way, she knew it would have to be that way, she knew, no matter what this dalliance was, Klaus wouldn’t let it be any other way. And frankly, she wouldn’t let it be any other way.

But gosh, for the moment, it felt damn good to be so wrapped up in someone.

“Morning, my love,” Klaus yawned, as he came down the stairs the morning of the party. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah! Really well,” Caroline replied. “I was thinking of making pancakes for breakfast. Sound good?”

Klaus nodded his affirmative, before turning to put a pot of coffee on.

“What plans do you have for the day?” Klaus asked, just as the coffee machine began to whirr.

“Not really much, just breakfast, relax a bit, then I’ll start getting ready for the party at some point,” Caroline replied, smiling at him. “I have a very handsome date tonight?”

“Do you just?”

And boy, did she just.

Because later that day, as she descended the stairs, she nearly choked. For, standing at the bottom of the steps, with that god-damn perfect smirk quirking his lips, was Klaus, looking positively devastating in a crisp dark, navy suit.

“You scrub up well, Mikaelson,” Caroline praised, managing to keep her cool, and keep from actually choking.

“As do you, Forbes,” Klaus replied. “You are stunning.”

And she was. Her off-the-shoulder dress was the perfect package, for such a beautiful woman. Klaus honestly wasn’t sure how he was going to go back to Caroline being just his best friend’s little sister. Maybe he could never go back.

“I got you something,” Klaus said, handing her a long, thin box.

Caroline’s brow furrowed slightly, even though her eyes were wide, as she took the gift. She popped the lid of the box, and was met with a sparkling bracelet twinkling back at her.

“Klaus, it’s beautiful,” she said, in awe. “But I can’t accept this.”

“Come now, Caroline. This is that gift you demanded,” Klaus chuckled, taking the bracelet from her hand and beginning to attach it to her wrist. “Although, I still don’t expect you to put out, even though I met your demands.”

Caroline laughed out loud, remembering their conversation from days before.

“You really know how to make a girl feel special, don’t you?” Caroline asked.

“Only the very best,” he replied, winking. “But we best be off. Mother will have my bow tie, and the head above it, if we are too late.”

“Yeah, you know the bow tie? Weird choice.”

Before too long, the two of them were stepping through the doors of the Mikaelson Mansion – the scene for the party that particular evening.

Caroline really was in awe of Mrs Mikaelson and her unrivalled ability to put on a show. Everything was twinkling, or sparkling, the soft music playing in the background was classy but not the usual boring string music that normally played at this sort of thing.

“Niklaus! Caroline!”

The hostess herself swanned over to the almost couple the moment they were through the door.

“It is so lovely to have you both here.”

“Thank you for having me, Mrs Mikaelson,” Caroline said, sweetly. “This place looks amazing.”

“Yes, mother,” Klaus interjected. “You’ve truly outdone yourself.”

“Oh, stop it,” the older woman beamed. “I’m glad you two are here, now the grand total of young people is at about 15. I did so hope more of your classmates would come along, Caroline.”

“Me too,” Caroline sympathised. “But you know this time of year, just so busy!”

“Yes, yes, well, I suppose,” Esther said, as another few guests arrived. “I must be off, do enjoy yourselves, and say goodbye before you leave.”

With that, the Mikaelson matriarch was off, leaving Caroline and Klaus to the party.

The two of them walked deeper into the house, a little awkwardly. They had been cooped up all week, just the two of them, and now they were out in the open, not particularly sure how to interact.

“Maybe we get some drinks?” Klaus said.

“Yeah, as if they’ll serve us alcohol. We’re both underage. Your mom’s the host, my mom’s the sheriff!”

“We can have orange juice or coke, sweetheart,” Klaus chuckled.

“Hi you two!” a voice said, from behind them.

It was Rebekah, who was holding a bit too tightly to her boyfriend’s hand.

“Hi,” Caroline said back, tensing a little. She was over Matt, she had to remind herself. “You guys having a good time.”

“Yes!” Rebekah exclaimed. “Most of my friend group is here. Not many seniors though, just you and Matt as far as I can tell.”

“Yeah,” Caroline said. “Honestly, though, without Bonnie and Elena, I’m pretty fresh out of my best buddies.”

Rebekah laughed in response, and then launched into her thoughts on Caroline’s current routines about the cheer squad.

The two girls spoke for a while, Matt and Klaus making gruff males-who-don’t-have-much-in-common small talk, until the lights lowered further, and the stately classical music, gave way to more popular tunes played by a DJ.

“Oh my gosh, Matt! It’s our song!” Rebekah shrieked, as a fairly non-descript pop song began to play.

With that, they were off into the middle of the crowd, dancing joyfully. 

Caroline felt a little pang in her chest. Partly out of the loss of such an easy boyfriend, as Matt was. But more for the fact that she and Klaus didn’t have a song, and never would. Tomorrow, her parents would be home, Klaus would be gone, and their moment would be over.

She and Klaus stood watching the crowd for a few minutes, when the song changed, and a Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas began to play.

“Care to dance, my love?” Klaus asked, almost tenderly.

She smiled, and let him lead her into the fray.

He pulled her close, close enough to drive them both crazy, but still far enough away to maintain that increasingly elusive plausible deniability.

“Does that make this our song?” Klaus murmured to her as they held each other.

“Do we need a song?” Caroline asked, doubtfully.

He didn’t answer, but he did pull her fractionally closer, even as he cast his eyes downward for a moment.

They remained silent for the rest of the song, though as the next started, Caroline’s face cracked into a smile.

“You know what, yes,” she said. “That is our song. I’ve had a really great time this week Klaus, no matter what.”

“Me too, my love,” he said, softly.

“Why don’t we get going?” Caroline asked, as though making an internal decision. “We can play loud music back at the Salvatore mansion, and maybe make our fun.”

Klaus nodded briskly, and she strode away from him. Following after her at a slower pace, his heart sped up slightly at the thought of what Caroline maybe had in mind. His best friend’s sister she may have been, but Klaus couldn’t deny the way his body had been consistently reacting to her the past few days.

“You two leaving so soon?”

Esther caught them as they were right at the exit. Klaus hoped Caroline would have an excuse because he certainly didn’t know how to explain to his mother that he was leaving her party early, with a girl, to go back to the girl’s empty house.

“Yes, Mrs Mikaelson,” Caroline said, with sincere sadness in her voice. “I have been trying to be really strict with my curfew lately, being a senior and all. I’ve got to keep my nose down if I want to get into my first choice college.”

“If it’s for college, I suppose I can’t fault your commitment to your studies.”

“I can send Klaus back after he’s dropped me off, if you’d like?”

“Only if he wants to, Caroline,” Esther replied. “I have a feeling he only came today because you were interested. Niklaus will do what Nikaus wants, and nothing more.”

“Okay then, we better get going then,” Caroline said with a bright, charming smile. “Thank you so much for having us. You wait until I tell the girls at school what they missed because they had plans!”

Klaus bid his mother goodbye, and the two were off.

“You should win an academy award for that performance, Ms Forbes,” Klaus quipped.

“That’s because it’s not untrue!” Caroline said to him, as they both clambered into the car. “You’ve been a horrible influence on me! Since the start of semester, every week night, I’ve been in bed before ten, and every weekend I’ve been in by eleven. Admittedly, it’s only nine now, but still.”

“I didn’t realise I was in such proper company,” Klaus joked.

“Oh shush, I can party after I get into college, and I have no idea what I want to do, so I’m keeping my options open.”

“So, if I call on you for a party the moment you finish finals, I can be sure of party animal Caroline in full force.”

“You sure can, Klaus, and that’s a promise.”

Klaus smirked, as he started the drive back to the Salvatore house. He fully intended to collect on that promise.

“So, what do you want to drink?” Caroline asked, when they arrived back.

“Whatever you’re having love,” Klaus said.

“I don’t think I’ll have any,” she said, before winking. “I don’t need alcohol to have fun.”

“I’m sure you don’t, sweetheart,” Klaus said. “But it sure can help get the fun started.”

“Yeah, I know,” Caroline said. “But, I meant what I said to you earlier. I’ve been really bad this week. It’s been so fun with you, but I want to at least be able to look my parents in the face tomorrow and not have to lie about boozing all night tonight.”

“Right you are, love,” Klaus smiled. “Not an enviable task I’m sure; lying to the sheriff.”

“Do you want something to eat?” Caroline asked, striding into the kitchen. “The food at the party was lovely, but it sure was small.”

Klaus chuckled, he knew what she meant. Finger food was always the choice of snack for that sort of party.

“We came back to have our own party,” Klaus replied. “So party food is always a good start.”

Klaus was leaning against the kitchen bench when Caroline pulled out some ingredients to make grilled cheese sandwiches for them both.

When they polished off the sandwiches, Klaus looked at Caroline, his head tilted to the side.

“What now?” he asked her.

“Are you sure you don’t want a drink?” she checked.

“My eyes will be as open as yours, Caroline.”

“Do you want to watch a movie?”

“That could be nice,” he replied, though he noticed an unfamiliar, but exciting glint in her eyes.

“Or we could do something else,” Caroline said, as she pushed herself off the counter to looped her fingers though his belt loops and pulled him closer to her.

Klaus settled his hands on her waist, his mouth a little dry, and his heart pounded a somewhat faster. She was looking at him with such determination, and any resolve he pretending to have wavered.

And then she pressed her soft lips to his, and it completely crumbled.

When Klaus would replay that night in his head, as he secretly would many times in the years to come, he would always edit in a pause, where he showed some semblance of restraint, where he didn’t kiss back straight away.

But in reality, so lost was he in instant euphoria, he fell headlong into the moment.

He brought his hands up to cup her face, pulling it even closer than it already was. He tilted his head to the other side to open his mouth, and deepen the kiss.

For the intensity of the moment, it was still quite innocent.

After a few more seconds, Caroline pulled away, her nose and cheeks delightfully rose coloured, her pupils dilated.

She sucked her lips a little nervously, and looked at him through her long lashes. She ran her hands down his arms to interlock her fingers with his. Without saying a word, unable to get enough, he placed a few chaste kisses to her lips.

“Klaus,” she said, her voice laden. “Do you want to go upstairs?”

He softly, playfully, ran his nose up the side of her face, until his eyes met hers, he smiled faintly, and nodded.

Caroline used their linked hands to lead Klaus from the kitchen, up the stairs, stopping at her bedroom door.

“Are you sure, Caroline?” Klaus asked.

“Are you?” she replied.

“Yes.”

The word hung between them, signing away any plausibly deniability. But they were both too wrapped in each other to quite mind.

Caroline opened the door, and let him in.

For the first time since Caroline kissed him, Klaus was curious to the world beyond her. He had never been into her room before, in all the years he’d been in and out of that house.

It was tastefully decorated, of course it was, and had such an eclectic mix of trinkets and doo-dads from Caroline’s life. A photo of her, Elena, and Bonnie as young girls, a souvenir model of the Eiffel Tower, a figurine of Harry Potter, her Miss Mystic Falls trophy. It was such a study in Caroline, and he felt his heart clench at the thought that beyond tomorrow, he would no longer be able to study her.

As Klaus appraised her room, Caroline appraised herself in her mirror. She noted her extra flushed complexion, and her mildly smudged make up. She noticed her slender shoulders, and how striking she actually looked. She wondered how Klaus saw her.

As she gazed upon herself, she wondered if this was the right thing to do. She had always imagined having sex for the first time with someone she loved, or at least someone she was in a relationship with. Klaus was neither of those things.

Sure, she fancied him a bit. And had for a long time, but in the way girls tended to do about their older siblings’ friends. She’d fancied Damon’s friend Ric for a while as well, didn’t mean she wanted to sleep with him.

She wasn’t sure what it was about Klaus, but she wanted him.

Plus, she was sick of pretending. Half the people at school thought she’d slept with Matt, and the other half thought it was Tyler. Even Bonnie and Elena just assumed she had. They never really asked her, more wrapped up in their own drama. And it was always something she was too awkward about to correct.

With both Matt and Tyler, they’d done some stuff, but Caroline had never felt comfortable enough with them or with herself, to want to take that next step.

But with Klaus, boy, she wanted it. She had been aching for him all week. In a way she hadn’t before. And she may not have had sex, but she knew how to help herself out thank you very much – and she had.

The long and short of it all was, she was ready. She wanted it to be this way. It may not have matched the picture in her head, but it felt better. And that, more than anything, steeled her resolve that this was what she wanted.

She turned away from the mirror, and faced him.

“So,” she said.

“So,” he repeated.

He moved toward her, and placed his hands on her bare shoulders, gently rubbing his palm back and forward over the exposed skin.

She leaned up to catch his lips once more, this time a little more passionately than the last.

Klaus responded instantly, sliding his hands from her shoulders to begin exploring the curves of her waist, and butt.

Caroline began walking them backward, until they hit the bed, and she pulled him on top of her. Being horizontal with him, on her bed, amped up the ever rising excitement in her, and she couldn’t help the pushing herself up to alleviate some of the pressure.

“That felt nice,” she murmured to him, between kisses.

They remained in that position for a while, Caroline not particularly sure how to progress things along, but also not wanting to admit this to her lover.

Though, before too long, the increasingly impatient Klaus, sat up to rid himself of his button down shirt, before settling himself on propped elbows above her.

Caroline was in total awe of his body. In high school, Klaus had never had a dad-bod or anything, but has also never been particularly jacked. But the man above her now was toned and defined in an incredibly alluring way.

Before she could stop herself, Caroline was running her hands softly over his skin, trying to commit to memory every dip and crevice in his body.

“Sorry,” she said shyly, when she shook herself out of the stupor.

“I am yours tonight, Caroline,” he replied, his eyes hungry for her. “Explore all you want.”

Caroline smiled appreciatively at him, and briefly wondered if he knew what he was doing. But she brushed that off almost immediately. That was for future Caroline to fret about.

After a little longer exploring his body, Klaus began slowly running his hands down from her shoulders again, though this time, he caught her dress on the way down. It pulled down easily, and soon revealed Caroline’s perfect body to his eyes.

“You are a picture, Caroline,” he said, with a strangled note to his voice, as he took in the matching red lace strapless bra and panties.

Caroline smiled, a little abashed by the look in his eyes. Though buoyed by it also, Caroline reached for the zip of his pants, and undid it. Rather than awkwardly wriggle under him to make her attempt with her hands, Caroline laid back down and brought her flexible legs upward, locking her dainty toes into the waistband of the pants. She deftly manoeuvred the pants down his legs enough that he could simply shake them off himself.

She internally congratulated herself on that move. She’d seen it once in an adult movie she watched, and she was stoked that she managed to do it without it being completely awkward.

Now both almost completely naked, they resumed their kissing, though this time everything became a little more frenzied. Both of them were losing the little self-control they had, their skin rubbing together intoxicatingly. They only paused when Caroline rid herself of her bra, leaving her breasts to bounce freely.

Klaus immediately cupped with mounds with his coarse hands, further tightening the spring in Caroline’s abdomen. He honestly didn’t think he’d ever touched such perfect breasts before, and it was driving him wild.

Klaus changed positions and suddenly he was kissing himself down her body, before he went to place an open mouthed kiss on the apex of her thighs through her underwear.

“What are you doing?” she asked, a little alarmed by this turn of events.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Klaus replied, instantly looking guilty. All the girls he’d tried this on with had been like putty in his hands. “I thought you might like…”

“Umm, I guess,” she said, self-consciously, turning bright red. “No one has ever…”

She left the sentence hanging, and looked just about anywhere than at his face between her legs.

“I don’t have to, Caroline,” he said, trying to calm her unease. “But if you want me to, I’m more than happy to oblige.”

“Do I have… to um… I guess…” she said, stumbling for the way she could say what she wanted. “Will you want the same?”

“I don’t know who you’ve been sleeping with, Caroline,” Klaus chuckled, completely missing the guilty look Caroline’s face. “But I will not make you do anything you don’t want to do. And I won’t even hold your own pleasure to ransom for it. There’s no fun in that for me.”

“Oh, okay, I guess I…” she started, still not quite sure what she wanted. “Can you… umm… do your thing… for a bit, then we see?”

Klaus nodded. Though, before he went back to his task, he crawled back up her body, and kissed her lightly on the mouth, looking deeply into her eyes.

“You’re beautiful, Caroline,” he whispered. “Just relax, and make sure you tell me what you want. I’m not some high school jock solely interested in my own pleasure.”

He winked, and kissed her again, before adding in the most diabolical voice Caroline ever heard, “I’m very interested in your pleasure too.”

That was enough to halt her embarrassment, and have her spring coiling again. There was something particularly sexy about someone wanting her pleasure, as well as their own.

She caught herself briefly pondering whether Klaus would spoil her for boys her own age, but before she could explore that thought any more, the thought was whipped from her mind, as Klaus hooked his fingers into her strappy panties, left her bare in front of him, and placed his mouth on the heat between her legs.

It felt quite unlike anything she had experienced before

He kissed at her a few times, before he started flicking his tongue back and forward over her clitoris. It was fire. He slowly added one of his fingers into her, then two, pulling them in and out at an increasing pace. She couldn’t help the small whimper that escaped her mouth.

“Klaus,” Caroline asked, after a few minutes, her voice a lot more strangled with want than last she spoke. “I want you now, I think.”

Klaus had never heard anything sexier in his life, and he was all too willing to abide. He gave only a few more thrusts of his fingers, before he pulled them out, and finally pulled his own underwear off.

With both bodies now completely nude, the tension in the room buzzed up a notch.

Klaus settled himself back over her, and kissed her, hard.

Caroline could now reach his cock. And reach it she did. She took it into her hand and began to stroke up and down, imagining with each stroke that he was pumping into her.

“Condom?” Klaus asked, trying his absolute utmost to be responsible, when all he wanted to do was thrust into her, consequences be damned.

She scrambled from the bed, and went into her en suite, to pull out a couple of the little foil packets.

As she crossed back to him, he grabbed at her waist to pull her down onto him as quickly as possible, and he began attacking her lips again. They lost themselves in that for a moment before Caroline pressed the condom into Klaus’ hand.

He moved off her and onto his back, to tear the packet open, and remove the item. He reached down to roll the latex over himself, then rolled back so he was bearing over her once more.

Caroline’s breathing hitched with every breath, anticipation sizzling every part of her body. Klaus reached between them to grab his cock, and guided it toward her opening. He teased her a little with it, running the tip of his penis along her folds, until she mewled for more.

Delicately, Klaus began to push into her. He pushed slowly, centimetre by centimetre, until she fully gloved him.

“You feel…” she said, barely able to get the words out. “Amazing.”

“God, Caroline,” he said, nearly embarrassed at how desperate he was to move in her. “This is incredible.”

“Move, Klaus, please.”

Only too happy to obliged, Klaus pulled himself from her and slid back in, with more speed that the last time. Then he went again, quicker still.

Soon, Klaus was set in a steady rhythm, and Caroline couldn’t believe what she was feeling. She clung to him, and was astounded to feel herself wanting more and more. Her hands made their way to his muscular ass and gripped it. She found if she used her grip on his butt to push him further into her, they both let out moans of pleasure

She found her breathing grow a bit ragged, as she studied Klaus face, his brow furrowed, his mouth slightly open from the pleasure.

“Caroline,” Klaus said, his voice strained. “I’m going to come.”

She couldn’t help but gasp at the pure need in his voice, then again when she felt the twitch from his cock as he came into her.

They both lay there panting for a few moments, and Caroline couldn’t believe what had just happened.

He kissed her tenderly, before easing himself out of her. He got up and padded into her bathroom, to dispose of the condom, but was back as soon as he could. He felt the loss of her body instantly.

Caroline smiled shyly at him again, like she had earlier in the night.

“Sorry I didn’t…,” she said, once again not finding the right words. “You know… come for you.”

Klaus’ face twisted, a little bit in embarrassment, little bit in sympathy, but mostly in amusement for her innocent remark.

“Caroline, I would have been more offended if you had faked it,” he said, kissing her on the forehead. “I should be apologising for not helping you get there.”

“I don’t really know how to get there,” she admitted in a whisper. She never admitted it out loud before, and she was mortified with herself that she had then.

But Klaus smiled understandingly at her.

“I don’t think that’s uncommon,” he said. “And practice makes perfect, right?”

She laughed, and swatted at him. She was also a little bit in awe that he had made her feel comfortable about something that had brought her such anxiety.

“Also, again, you’re sleeping with the wrong people if they don’t help you practice.”

Caroline blushed, and covered it by kissing him. She didn’t know why she was too embarrassed to tell Klaus this was her first time, when she so obviously gave him pleasure. But she just decided it was too much to share, she didn’t know if she would be able to if she tried.

“How about I get us a snack, and then we kiss some more?” he said, playfully, as he sprung out of bed to find something to cover himself. 

When he left the room a minute later in nothing but a towel, Caroline relaxed back to stare at the ceiling.

Unsure of how to feel.

Her body was still buzzing in the after glow, and she thought, even though she hadn’t had one of those really loud, body shaking orgasms she had seen the few times she watched porn, she’d also read enough articles about first times to know that this one had been a pretty special one.

By the time Klaus was back, chocolate bars and cups of tea in hand, Caroline had regained her most of her faculties, and she grinned at him.

“Well that was fun,” she said, as he handed her one of the mugs.

“That it was,” Klaus replied, chinking his mugs to hers. “Repeat?”

“When?” Caroline laughed.

The mood shifted slightly, both of them immediately a little uncomfortable with the question that had been chasing them all week.

What happens next?

“I’m not sure,” Klaus said, looking down at the drink in his hand.

“Me neither,” Caroline replied.

They were an absurd picture, Caroline was sure; a young couple, sitting completely naked, in silent awkwardness, drinking tea from dainty china cups.

“I don’t want to pretend this never happened,” Caroline confessed. How could she pretend? “But I understand if you do. Because of… you know… Stefan, and I’m in high school, or whatever.”

Caroline lips were tight, and her jaw was set, Klaus knew it was hard for her to say, and he appreciated it. But honestly, he didn’t know what he wanted to do.

“We did complicate things a little, didn’t we?”

“Yep,” she replied, popping the p audibly.

“It doesn’t have to be complicated,” Klaus posited, an underlying question in his voice.

“It doesn’t?” Caroline asked, raising her eyebrow.

“The age thing isn’t weird, especially since your brother dated your best friend and you had to be okay with it?” Klaus said, remembering the awful time throughout their final year of high school and first year of college when Stefan and Elena dated.

“Oh yeah, because I could ever have made Elena realise it was totally weird for me,” Caroline scoffed. “I love her, but she has got no self-awareness, and frankly no concept of a world not revolving around her.”

“Yes, I can imagine if you told her about this… about us, she would go all hysterical at you, all distraught about how I’m the reason she and Stefan broke up,” Klaus laughed.

“You’re so right, she hates you, I forgot!”

“Yes, and Bonnie doesn’t like me much either,” Klaus noted.

“Oh my god, I wish she would get over that! You and Stefan played one prank on her, and she will never let it me, or anyone else, forget it!”

“I’m still not sure how Stefan has been cleared of all charges, and yet I am still in the dog house after three years!” Klaus exclaimed. “Speaking of Stefan…”

“Honestly, he’s a wild card,” Caroline said. “He’s usually pretty understanding, but sometimes is a totally over protective ass, you know.”

“I can imagine he would avenge your innocence in subtle ways,” Klaus said. “Like would drop into random conversations with ethical questions about dating their friend’s siblings.”

“Yeah, probably,” Caroline giggled. “Imagine Elijah! ‘Niklaus! I used to babysit that girl!’”

“Yes! And ‘you are far too brutish for a sweet girl like, Caroline,’!” Klaus added. “Oh and think of Rebekah.”

“How could you sleep with my brother!” Caroline cried, in a high pitched, mock-English accent, imitating Rebekah. “How could you sleep with my ex, Bekah, if we want to get into the weeds on the girl code.”

“Bekah and Matt have slept together?” Klaus asked, sharply.

“Oh come on Klaus,” Caroline chided. “Given the conversation we’re having, maybe we not judge your sister for anything she wants.”

“There’s the rub though, sweetheart,” Klaus said, sadly. “That’s how the judgement will happen.”

“Does it matter?” Caroline asked, trying not to sound hurt.

“I don’t know,” Klaus said, honestly. “But rest assured you won’t be my dirty little secret. I refuse to let something I enjoyed so much be something I feel guilty about.”

There was such conviction in his voice that Caroline could have cried. And she did have to take a few deep breaths to stop the tears from visibly springing to her eyes. 

“Okay,” she said, decisively. “We won’t tell people, but we won’t lie if asked. That seems okay right?”

“Seems fair,” he replied, as he put his arm around her shoulders and drew her closer to her, and placed a gentle kiss to her mouth.

“And leaves it open for something else in the future,” she winked.

“Now that,” Klaus said, genuinely smiling. “Would be my pleasure.”

Caroline smiled back at him, and kissed him again, feeling content with their conversation.

It wasn’t until the next afternoon, when Liz and Giuseppe returned home, and thanked Klaus for being company for Caroline while they were away, did Caroline fully comprehend the feeling of sadness that was mixed in with the contentment.

“I’ll see you out,” Caroline said to Klaus, as he grabbed his bag and headed for the door.

“Chin up, my love,” Klaus said, nudging her with his elbow. “We don’t need your parents thinking I’m a bad babysitter. They’ll never ask me here again.”

“I had a really great time this week,” Caroline said, earnestly, as he packed his bag into the boot of his car.

“As did I, Caroline,” he replied. “I am looking forward to when you’re in college, maybe you’ll join me and Stefan. It would be nice to have you around.”

Caroline glowed a little from the compliment.

“And in any case, perhaps, when you’re done with senior year, and that party animal you promised me comes out to play,” Klaus said, cheekily. “Maybe you will invite me for one of your events.”

Caroline grinned at him, before wrapping her arms around him for a hug.

“I’ll see you,” she murmured.

“Thank you, Caroline.”

And with that, he was slipping into the front of his car and was driving off, leaving Caroline to just wave at his tail lights as he went.

xxx

Let me know what you think!!!

[moghedien]

I can’t stop imagining a Queen Swap, but like, an in the universe of the musical Queen Swap. Like it’s 100x more meta than it needs to be and instead of just the actors swapping roles, it’s the actors playing their normal queens, who are playing other queens

and because I thought about this too much, I’ve already thought about who I’d want to play who and how that would go. I’d just have 1 for 1 swaps, with Aragon and Howard playing each other, Boleyn and Parr playing each other, and Cleves and Seymour playing each other. Everyone is in each other’s costumes but there are touches that reveal that they’re all not who they’re playing. Like “Aragon” has pink hair for some reason and maybe some of them forgot to switch crowns. Maybe there’s a secondary competition going on to see who can play who the best.

With the Aragon/Howard swap, this mostly comes from me wanting to see Howard do No Way and initially imagining a 3-way Katherine swap. But everyone goes into the Queen Swap expecting it to be a joke, and Howard as Aragon goes first because that’s the order and plays Aragon 100% earnest but also waaaaaay too over the top. She just overacts the entire time, to the point that it’s melodrama and it actually just startles everyone else more than anything. Like at the “Dissloution of the Monasteries” line, she actually breaks down and starts crying and Actual Aragon has to be like “please I’m not like this, Katherine.” Aragon starts off just having fun as Howard until she gets distracted at Howard playing her and then is just subtly trying to get this child to stop embarrassing her.

Then Parr is Boleyn, and maybe she and Boleyn planned to be genuine at first, but Parr ends up saying ever single Boleyn line a thousand times more sarcastic than it’s supposed to be, and it turns into the Self Roast of Anne Boleyn as Portrayed by Cathy Parr, and so Boleyn is like “ok fine we’re doing this then” and commits to being a better Cathy Parr than Cathy Parr the rest of the show

And then there’s Cleves/Seymour. The swap that none of the other queens saw coming. This entire Queen Swap idea revolves around me basically just wanting to see Cleves and Seymour to swap songs, ok? No one even pays attention to them leading up to the Queen Swap, really, but they have been preparing. They have rehearsed. They have made plans. They have conspired with each other. They are taking this way more seriously than they should, but when it comes time for the show, they just lay waste. Cleves has everyone in tears at Heart of Stone. In Get Down, Seymour somehow pivots all of her mom energy into straight up Daddy Energy (I won’t apologize for saying this) and has all the gay women in the room sweating. Aragon is terrified to do AYWD after the Cleves/Seymour destruction that came immediately before her turn because this was just supposed to be fun and they went entirely too hard. But also Seymour as Cleves sometimes slips into her Haus of Holbein accent and it’s 100% unintentional and she probably doesn’t even realize she’s doing it

[theladiesofmystic]

If they had a kid meme: Dorcas and Rill?

You know...I have conflicted ideas for a kid so lets make it harder for me as well as unnecessary long and turn it into triplets. At least it works as a tribute to the weird sisters. XD

Name: Win Cattwist Night Alette Cattwist Night Fairy Cattwist Night

Rill gets extremely bored and distracted when introducing herself with her full last name so they might not even completely know it. Gender: Female General Appearance: Almost identical. You can recognize Win by the pink hair, the preppy, chick clothing and the bright eyes that randomly change colors almost as much as Rill's. You can recognize Alette by the blonde hair and the fact that she is always dressed like a perfect greek goddess or an angel about to seduce you. You can recognize Fairy by the red hair she inherited from Dorcas and the witchy bad girl vibe.   Personality and Special Talents: After taking Dorcas's talent for prophecy and mixing it with the rocket fuel of Rill's chaos magic Win was born with her own special trait. She can see into the future as clearly as crystal, but no more than six minutes into the future to be exact. She constantly uses this ability...To be the most shameless and successful cheater in the world. She is a gambler and a betting girl who loves her games as much as any pure-blooded fairy-dragon. She has her own special collection: Having fun winning things that others treasure, no matter what they are, is her favorite thing in the world. So if you are specially happy about your new jacket/ sandwich/ boyfriend/ girlfriend/ family legacy? Just wait two minutes and Win will appear with a playful smirk, smoothly convincing you to game them away.   Alette absolutely basks in the adoration and worship of others. There is nothing funnier to her and considering that Dorcas's empathy and Rill's skill at bending reality transformed her into a walking, talking love potion, it is something she is used to receive 24/7. She usually acts awfully sweet and enchanting towards her fans (And she does have a literal fan club) whenever they are in a poem competition to see who can better describe her beauty or one of her friendly duels to the death for the honor of kissing her hand. Her favored hobby is mischievously breaking apart the most seemingly unbreakable couples by seducing one of them until they rather spend their days carrying her bags or brushing her hair a thousand times, no more, no less. She is the only one of her siblings who developed her own version of Rill's fairy wings and all of her associated powers so far.   Fairy is the undisputed leader of the trio. Pretty much the prime example of the bad girl stereotype, she is fated to be rebelling and doing whatever the hell she pleases for at least two or three centuries. Cunning, bossy and bitchy enough to keep even her sisters in check. Ironic considering her name, she is absolutely in love with her witch side (Maybe because it allows her to be a three headed shark in a small pond full of gold fishes.) While her siblings mostly rely on her unique powers she studies all the veins of witchcraft,, although the darker the better, with the same enthusiasm Rill has, only much better focused, and later adapts them to her own potential. She is the one who insisted for her and her sisters to study at Dorcas's old academy. That doesn't mean her favorite extracurricular isn't humiliating and topping all other students and teachers there.   Who they like better: Win: She greatly likes both of them although she might prefer Dorcas just a tiny, little bit because she can't look into the future of anything involving Rill which kind of freaks her out to this day (Still in development headcanon about why Rill acts the way she acts and why no one can see her future relevant here) Alette: Pretty surprising considering how crazily spoiled and pampered she is, Alette is also an absolute moms's girl who loves them equally and would work the asses of a million admirers off just for an approving smile from either of them. Her main and only complain is that they haven't declared her their favorite daughter yet. (Which is just rude as far as she is concerned)     Fairy: She is too cool to like her mothers. She treats Dorcas pretty much as the house pet or the family maid, bossing her around to the tenth degree, and has the distinction of being the only person who once managed to close a door on Rill's face so magically as to leave her outside the room for almost ten whole minutes. She respects aunt Prudence and aunt Pluma a little more. And she actually thinks aunt Agatha is the coolest person ever.   Who they take after more: Win: Rill

Fairy: No one takes responsibility for this one. Personal Head canon: Win: She behaves like the cool, lone wolf of the triad who is pretty chill doing her own thing but she actually talked to Dorcas once, asking her if it was possible to link her with her sisters like she was with hers so they would never be completely apart. Alette: She doesn't take any of her many suitors seriously but she has the BIGGEST celebrity crush on Lucifer and is pretty near dying from embarrassment every time Rill publicly mentions the “picture of Mr. Goat while he is not a goat” she keeps under her bed. Fairy: Truly in a terribly edgy, dark phase. She would literally summon Lovecraftian terrors to consume the world just because it would make for a fun weekend.  Also, her name? Dorcas suggested Rill that they should name her for something she enjoys and fairies are not only part of her own lineage but more importantly...Well...Rill's favorite treat to devour. Face Claim: Katherine Mcnamara. Win:

Alette:

Fairy:

@sistersweird

[oh-boleyn]

te para tres

words: 3809, language: english. jane & kat (kind of mom/daughter relationship)

author’s note: I wanted to keep multichapters on my ao3 but I actually kind of like this fic, and so I thought to post it here too! anyway it is also in ao3

tags: jane & kat - centric, kat is homeless, jane is trying her best, canon abuse/non con, tw abuse, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Families of Choice, Light Angst, pregnant!jane, sickness

part one: las tazas sobre el mantel part two: un poco de miel

la lluvia derramada

They take a taxi to the doctor’s office. The cold weather is not helping them to just walk or try any other route.

“Are you going to find out the baby’s gender?”

“Probably not. I want it to be a surprise.” Jane explains. “What do you think they’ll be?”

“I don’t know. I’m not good with guesses. Have you thought about names?”

“I would like to name them after a family member. It’s a family tradition I don’t want to lose.”

“Tell me names.”

“My father’s name is John.”

“Too plain.”

“Margaery.”

“I like it.” Katherine smiles.

“Edward?”

“Yes! It sounds like a prince's name, something out of Disney.” The teenager nods. “Who is Edward?”

“My brother.” Jane states. “He is my confidant, and he is there for me every time I need him.”

“Is he a good person?”

“Yes, he is.”

(…)

At first Katherine refused to search for her family, but she knows that unless waiting until eighteen was a goal, she should contact them, at least to get her job permission signed, or any document that releases them from being their legal guardians.

What she didn’t know was that her cousin, already in her late-twenties, would want to meet her.

She introduces herself as Anne Boleyn, and it would be a lie if Katherine said that she had never heard that name. They look nothing alike. Anne is shorter than her, has pale skin, green eyes and a round face. She is kind, but tense. Katherine can’t decide if she likes her or not.

Anne is way too enthusiastic for Kat’s liking.

Their first meeting goes rather political, but not as family is supposed to be.

Still, they decide to meet again.  

(…)

Jane never thought Katherine would love hair dye so much, but now for the second time in a row they were sitting on the bathroom, applying electric pink dye to the girl’s hair. Anna recommended changing brands, mostly to not ruin her hair. Cathy also stepped in suggesting that once a month was an alright amount of time, but that doing it less frequent is better.

Still, Jane buys two boxes. If she can give Katherine a sense of stability, she will. Even if stability means dying her hair the same day every month.

(…)

“I can’t remember baking cookies, like ever.” Katherine comments, breaking an egg.

“You are missing a lot.”

Jane looks bright, like the sun. For the teenager, she looks like the standard picture of some announce. Her blond hair is up in a bun, which is not messy but not immaculate, her blue eyes are sparkling warm. She’s wearing a lose overall, with a yellow shirt. Her bump clearly there.

“Do you bake often?”

“No, not really. I used to, when I was younger.” Jane explains. “Can you measure the sugar? I need a cup.”

“Sure.” Kat moves, doing her task. “Why don’t you? If you love baking so much, you should do it more often.”

“I just don’t have the time.” She takes the flour. “Now I do, but before, living with my ex and college. It was just a lot; I never had the time to do it all.”

“Do you miss it? Your life before?”

“No, I don’t think I do.” Jane smiles. “I have better things now.”

She gives Kat a kiss on the forehead as good as she can give the height difference.

(…)

Living with Katherine is not always easy.

She would zone out from time to time, sometimes almost hurting herself. It was hard for Jane to keep up with her, because the teenager would enter periods of dissociation without previous notice. Other times, her personality would almost change, becoming furious and angry, throwing hateful words at Jane and begging to be back on the street.

But lately, every episode ended up the same, with both of them curling on the sofa watching a movie, until Kat would finally go to sleep.

Jane thought a lot about how her baby is going to be in sixteen years. Most importantly, if her baby will love her. The teenager who was now under her care rarely expressed feelings with words. Judging by how she acted around, the older was sure that they loved each other.

Wondering what could’ve happened if they didn’t meet wasn’t something she was too keen on. Katherine was the person she never knew she needed. Helping her felt so natural, almost like destiny, and Jane couldn’t love her more. The teenager had made her way into Jane’s life, becoming her daughter in all but title.

Jane hopes Katherine will let her be around, wanting nothing more than to see her grow and live the happy life she deserved.

(…)

Jane’s family were visiting, and Katherine felt nervous to the core. She knew how much the older woman loved her siblings, and if they didn’t like Kat, she might kick her out.

It was impossible to think about it, but Katherine knew better than to get too attached, even if Jane was the kindest person to her in a long time, so was Culpeper, and it didn’t mean kind was good.

“How is my little princess?” Jane’s father asks.

He looks like Jane; both share the same blue eyes. The word princess makes Katherine flinch, but she tries to cover her emotions. She toys with the pink dress Aragon gifted her from the spring edition of the magazine, while trying to ignore all the people who get into the restaurant.

“Dad, let me introduce you to Katherine. Kat, they are my father and siblings.”

“Hi, I’m Edward and he is my brother, Thomas.” One of them announces. “And my sisters, Dorothy and Elizabeth.”

Katherine is both glad and nervous none of them try to initiate physical contact, not sure if that was Jane’s recommendation or just their way to let her know she is not welcomed.

“I’m Katherine.” She replies, trying not to sound rude.

“Shall we order? I’m starving.” Jane announces, resting a hand on her stomach.

(…)

“Was her family amicable?” Anne questions.

She picked Katherine from the restaurant, trying to give Jane and her family a moment to themselves.

“Yes, they were kind.” Katherine replied, making herself smaller on the car seat. “She has a brother, Edward. He explained every family detail to me so I wouldn’t get lost when they talked about their extended family.”

Elizabeth was almost asleep on the back of the car, which led to the teenager deciding to ride in the front seat.

“That is nice.”

“They are buying her a new apartment.” Katherine blurs out. “They already did.”

“They must have money.” Anne adds, eyes fixed on the road.

“Yes. It is a three-bedroom apartment, and she asked me to move in with her. Like, living twenty-four seven with her.” Kat continues. “I haven’t said yes yet.”

“Do you want to?”

That was a real, fair question and Katherine didn’t know the answer.

A part of her wanted nothing more to have the security and protection Jane offered, late nights watching movies, waking up and having breakfast, going back to school, graduating. But she wasn’t sure she was able to do that, if she was destined to have that kind of happy life. The idea that Jane might kick her out any moment was something she couldn’t erase, but still, she decides to take a chance.

“I think so, yes.”

(…)

“Why did father do that?” Jane questions Edward.

“Do what?”

“Buy me a new place.” The woman states as if it’s obvious.

“You are having a baby. His first grandson. Of course he wants the baby to have a room.”

“And why the room for Katherine?”

“Do you not want her?” He questions.

“I do, a lot. But none of you do.” Jane speaks hurtful.

“We want whatever makes you happy. And if adopting a girl from the street is that, we are going to welcome her as one of our own.” The brother gives his sister a smile. “We are family.”

“Do you think she will want to be a part of it?”

“Your family? Sure. Not so sure about Dorothy, she is not likeable.”

They share a laugh.

(...)

“Jane stop it! It hurts!” Kat says, trying to get the older woman away from her hair.

“Don’t apply so much pressure!” Cathy indicates.

Braiding hair is harder than what she thought it would be. Parr is giving the directions, while Jane is trying to keep up.

“Sorry sweetheart, but this is hard.” Jane excuses herself. “Is there not something easier to do? Like a beginner braid or something?”

“This is the beginner’s braid Jane. It’s just a French one.” Cathy says. “Look.”

She takes Katherine’s hair on her hands, and starts braiding it quickly. In a moment she finishes half of it, doing a tight ponytail instead of finishing the braid.

“See?”

“I hate you, Parr.” Jane half jokes. “You don’t have a baby bump in your way, it’s not fair.”

“Shut up and just admit you can’t do a braid.”

Kat laughs, watching her reflection. “You make amazing braid, Cathy!”

“Thank you!” Catherine replies. “Now, let’s give your cousin a hand with the boxes. Or you will end up moving next year with half of the stuff.”

(…)

Jane and Kat move into the new apartment on a Monday, and they have their first fight on a Tuesday.

“I don’t want to, Jane!” Katherine screams, to the top of her lungs.

“Katherine Howard, we talked about this, you are going to therapy. There is nothing to discuss.” Her voice is hard, stern.

“Don’t Katherine Howard me.”

There is a slam on the door and the poster Anne bought her falls from the wall.

Jane is speechless, Katherine has never been so aggressive before. Even when she was upset, she was usually calmer, quieter. She hated it; how afraid the girl would look if she got even the littlest upset. Getting mad could be considered an improvement, even if it was not gladly received by the older.

Anne Boleyn

Hi Jane! Is everything okay? Kat just texted me if I could come and pick her up.

Jane Seymour

Yes, it’s alright, we were just discussing therapy.

“Katherine, come here please!” She screams.

The teenager comes out of her bedroom with eyes full of tears. The old phone with the cracked screen her cousin gifted in her hand. Her knuckles went white from the pressure.

“We have to talk. I’m feeling upset, I won’t deny it. I am not kicking you out nor I feel different about you, but we have to talk.”

“If I say I will go, will you just stop?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to help you. Why don’t we prepare some tea, and then we can talk?”

Katherine nods, Jane walks to her and puts Kat’s hand on her stomach.

“The baby is saying stop being so headstrong.” Jane laughs lightly, the baby kicking Kat’s hand.

The warmth on the woman’s laugh makes the younger girl relax.

Katherine Howard

I’m sorry, I over exaggerated. Don’t pick me up, but are we still on for next week?

(…)

Something good about the new apartment is how much space there is for the couch. A big pale blue sofa lays on the middle of the room, opposite to the TV. Katherine would be lying if she said she missed sleeping on the couch, her own bed being much comfortable, and her room made her feel protected. It was something she once had for granted, but having a place of her own was one of the best things that ever happened to her.

As usual of their late nights, they are searching for a movie. Streaming was good, it obviously was, but they had felt into the tradition of looking, going through channels. They found the same comedy months ago.

Watching it again comes as a silent agreement.

When the movie is half over, Katherine calls. “Jane.”

The older does not react, sleeping peacefully.

“I think you are asleep, which is good. I don’t know how to say it really, but I am so grateful and thankful and a hundred other words. You gave me a life again, the chance to be a person, to have joy. And you didn’t have to, but you did.” She squeezes the woman a little, careful to not wake her up. “You are going to be the best mom. I love you.”

Jane tries to not blow up her cover, but the slight smile shines through.

(…)

“Anne is my cousin.” Katherine begins to explain. “She is twenty-nine, and she has a little girl, Elizabeth, she is three. Anne is blunt, maybe impolite. She speaks her mind more than I would even think to, but she is also a good person. She pushes and asks me things I don’t want to think about, and it makes me angry when she does it. I also get angry when Jane asks me things I don’t want to answer, or begs me to do things I don’t want to.”

“Have you talked about this with them? Calmly, trying to understand each other.” Her therapist interrogates.

“No, not really. Jane loves to try and talk things out, but I feel nervous about it, I don’t like to talk about feelings.” She explains.

“Do you not like it or don’t know how to talk about it?”

The question plants itself on Katherine’s mind. It has been so long since the last time she had to actually worry about something that was not only her survival that she is not sure for how long she didn’t think about feelings.

Maybe it was when they stole her first backpack, or maybe the first night on the street. It might have been before leaving her house. She doesn’t remember feeling anything with Francis. Not even with Manox. Maybe her feelings have never been there until yet.

She wishes she knew how to express how much admiration she felt for the woman who showed her that not everything was lost.

(…)

“Jane! Anna called me, are you okay?” Katherine asks, running to Jane’s side.

Anne is by her side, looking worried with her car keys ready.

“Yes love, just a fake alarm. The doctor told me about this, fake contractions are a thing.” Jane explains.

“I just freaked out, okay? Cut me some slack.” Cleves complains.

“It’s alright, I had those for like two months with Elizabeth.” Boleyn puts a hand on Kat’s shoulder. “In case you want, I can drive you to the hospital.”

“No, thank you, Anne.” Jane smiles.

Their relationship was polite, they were not friends, but cared deeply for Katherine and were willing to do anything for the sake of their girl.

“Can you take us home?” Katherine asks.

Anne nods.

Katherine takes a moment to consider what she just said. Home. Jane, the baby, the new apartment. It was home, safe, secure. She felt loved there, at ease.

She wished she could just hold onto it and never let it go.

(…)

Jane feels her stomach constrict into itself.

A contraction, another Braxton-hicks. Except that it feels more painful, and a sense of unease settles in her stomach. She is only seven and a half months, the baby shouldn’t be coming, so she keeps with her chores.

Katherine picks up something that is wrong far too late into the night, her mind deviant and without having the chance to focus onto anything, even if she tried every exercise on her list. But once she does, she thinks it might be too late. Jane is having contractions almost every hour, and refusing to go into the hospital.

“Love, I swear I’m alright, there are still six weeks to go.”

“Don’t do this, let me take you to the hospital, as a precaution.” Katherine pleaded. “We might be in serious trouble if you keep refusing, if there’s nothing wrong we will come back and sleep and maybe watch a movie! But please, can we go?”

The older one takes the teenagers anxiety as something more worrisome that what is happening to her. She doesn’t want to make Kat feel insecure. Knowing her almost-daughter is in constant fear of abandonment, she decides to obey, just for her peace of mind.

(…)

Things are clearly not okay.

Her blood pressure is too high, and she has started to dilate. The doctors are quick to give her two shots, one to try and relax her muscles, in an attempt to cease the contractions, and another one with steroids, trying to help the lung development of the baby. Before Jane realizes, there are at least three beeping machines hanging around her.

(…)

“Love, have you talked with my family?” Jane asked.

Her contractions were more and more frequent, almost switching to active labour.

Jane wants to cry, feeling as if she failed her child. The doctors didn’t want to give her much information except for the stable vital signs of the baby. That was not enough to calm her down. She tried to be calmer, to don’t let her stress affect the birth, but she was beyond scared to be successful.

“I did, your parents didn’t text me back yet. Edward says he is coming, he is picking Dorothy. Elizabeth will be here tomorrow, and Thomas sends his best wishes but he can’t come.” Katherine explains. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore?” Jane tries to laugh, but a contraction hit. “I won’t lie, this is painful. Have you called Anne?”

“Yes, she was free to pick me up when I texted her. I don’t want to leave you alone, though.”

“That’s really thoughtful, Katherine.”

“Jane?” The doctor questions. “Can I check how it is progressing?”

She nods. Katherine holds her hand tightly. He checks the machines, and quickly calls a nurse. The teenager squeezes her hand, and she does the same maybe a little harder than intended.

“We have to do an emergency c-section. The baby’s heart rate is growing faster and your blood pressure is not getting any lower.” He announces. “Do you have someone to be with you?”

“Me.” Katherine quickly says.

“Are you over eighteen?”

“Yes.”

The way she lies feels almost natural, and Jane wonders for a second if she ever had to do that before. Her mind can’t focus on it for too long.

“Kat, you don’t have to come.”

“But I want to, really.” She gets closer and whispers to her ear. “Please, you have helped me so much. I have seen the worst things, I think. Please.”

“No, Kat, you are too young.” Jane says, firm. “Is there anywhere near but not in the room she can stay?”

“She can wait in the neonatal unit.”

(…)

They leave her in a corridor with a bright white light that is driving her crazy. Nobody tells her any news, and Jane’s family are supposed to arrive in a couple of minutes but there is still no trace of them. She feels helpless, unable to do anything and clueless enough to be insecure.

But then a nurse shows up with a baby.

“The mom is alright, but taking a nap.” She explained. “She wanted you to be the second to see him. She said you knew his name.”

The chat they had just months before still on her head.

“Edward. His name is Edward.”

(…)

“He is really tiny. And red. Are all babies that red?” Katherine asks her cousin.

“The ones that I know, yes. Elizabeth was quite big, but still red.” Anne smiles, remembering. “She had to be in a lamp and receive plenty of solar light because the doctors said she was yellow, though.”

“I don’t think he looks yellow, at all.”

There is a silence, not uncomfortable, but not at ease.

“How are you feeling about Edward?”

“What do you mean?” The younger questions.

“I know how close you got with Jane. When George was born, I was so upset, I almost cried for days. It took me a while, but now I love him a lot, even when he gets on my nerves.” Anne took Katherine ‘s hand in hers. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m not sure.”

She didn’t have enough time to think about it, to process that now Jane was a mother. A real mother with her biological son. The space Katherine took was now belonging to Edward.

“I am anxious, a tad frightened and excluded, I won’t lie about it.” A feeling of being exposed started creeping up. “But Jane has been nothing but kind. I can’t feel bad about him when she loves him so much. I love him too, I know I don’t know him, but if he is a little like her, he is going to be a good guy, and God knows we need those.”

Anne smiled, and the teenager embraced her in a hug.

“I’m happy you think like that, Kitty.” She squeezes the girl. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Annie.”

(…)

“Jane, can we talk?”

Katherine is trembling, her voice not above a whisper.

To admit how much she adored the older woman was nerve wracking. She almost couldn’t remember how it was to have a mother, since hers died when she was so young. Mothers were probably like Jane. She felt protected, cared for, near her.

“Honey, I’m feeling tired. My legs are killing me. Is it really important?”

She wanted to say yes. To explain how important it was for her, how her life changed for the better since meeting Jane. How much it meant the fact that she felt seen.

“No, not really.”

(…)

Jane feels worse. The ibuprofen is no longer working and her fever is burning up. Not even the idea of going to see Edward can bring her out of bed. Her headache is just getting worse each time, and she feels as if she was going to throw up at any given moment.

Katherine was by her side, trying to help, bringing water and soup, ready for when her mother, or not mother, decides to order her to call for an ambulance.

And she waits.

But Jane never asks, instead Katherine calls when she seems to no longer recognize her voice.

(…)

The teenager is sitting outside the emergency room, in a hall without anybody near her.

Her mind is not there, though, and she feels as if she can almost watch herself as a third person would. Not sure of how much time has passed, she tries to focus on counting numbers, but it doesn’t work. The presence of a doctor doesn’t help either, not even when he tells her the dreadful news. It’s not until she calls Edward, the older, that she realizes what she is saying.

Internal organs shutting out.

Say your goodbyes.

Jane is not waking up.

[camillemontespan]

a week at aunt olivia and uncle leo’s [part two]

Part One here!

This will be more than a one shot or two shot. I’m loving writing this. Expect more!

@jovialyouthmusic @sirbeepsalot @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @moonlightgem7 @emceesynonymroll @pug-bitch @burnsoslow @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @pedudley @notoriouscs @dcbbw @emichelle @star-spangled-eyes @drakesensworld  @katedrakeohd @be-still-my-aching-heart @carabeth

Day 4

Lily devoured her bowl of Unicorn Wishes cereal. She had gotten up early specially so she could see Olivia before her kickboxing class and to ask her something important. Leo was sat beside her, also eating Unicorn Wishes. He was obsessed since being introduced to it when Lily arrived.

'Aunt Olivia...' she began in a hesitant voice.

Olivia looked up from cutting a banana to go in her smoothie. 'Yeah babe?'

Lily turned red. 'Can I have a play date after school?'

'Sure. Who?'

Lily looked down at her cereal and replied very, very quietly. Leo leaned close to her and said with humour, 'Lily? We're really old, we can't hear very well.'

Lily swallowed. 'Milo.'

Olivia's mouth dropped open. 'You mean the boy we spoke about at bath time?!'

Lily sank down in her chair. 'Yes..'

'Is Milo a boyfriend?' Leo asked, nudging her. 'Does he treat you right? Does he give you presents?'

Lily turned to him, her face lighting up. 'He gave me a LEAF!'

                      *************************************************

Olivia didn't know the rules for playdates so she decided to ring Drake and Camille.

The phone picked up but it took a while for one of them to answer. Instead, Olivia was subjected to what could only be a lovers quarrel.

'I can't get out of the clingfilm!' Camille hissed. 'Help me!'

The phone jostled. 'This fucking Vaseline..' Drake growled. Olivia heard clingfilm tearing and Drake groaning, 'Fucks sake, it's all over my hands!'

Eventually.. 'Olivia, hi!'

Camille was bright and cheery. Olivia snorted. 'Having fun?'

'What kind of sex hell did you get this move from?' Camille hissed. 'I swear I don't do nearly enough yoga to help!'

'That's what the vaseline is for, it helps.. movement,' Olivia explained. Leo chuckled, listening.

'Okay, what's up?' Camille asked.

'Lily has asked if she can have a play date.'

'Aww! Who with?'

Olivia sighed. 'Milo.'

'Milo? Milo... Oh the cute little guy with the long hair?! She wants to play with Milo? Adorable -'

The phone jostled again and Olivia was greeted by a pissed off Drake.

'Who the fuck is Milo?'

Olivia sniggered. 'Your daughters boyfriend.' She knew how protective Drake was of Lily and wished she could see his face right now.

There was a silence from Drake. Camille, on the other hand, was telling him to breathe.

Finally, he spoke.

'Nope. No boys until she's 21.'

Olivia rolled her eyes. 'He's four.'

'He's a boy.'

'He's four.'

'Still a boy, still a dick.'

Olivia laughed. 'Drake come on. He's a friend. Isn't it nice she has friends?'

'Sure, but not if they're boys!'

'Drake you're being ridiculous,' Olivia said. 'They're just going to play in the garden, watch TV and scream like banshees.'

Drake sighed. 'I just didn't expect this to happen so soon..'

'He gave her a leaf,' Olivia said, smirking.

'He gave her a fucking what now?'

                        ***************************************************

Camille managed to convince Drake that a playdate would be fine. He had just managed to calm down when Olivia realised that she had made plans for that evening. Book Club. Fucking Book Club.

'Okay no way, playdate is not happening!' Drake protested.

'Leo will be here, he can look after them!' Olivia said.

'Oh sure, Leo. The former manwhore looking after a four year old manwhore in training, great situation-'

'Is he bitching about me?' Leo asked his mouth full of Unicorn Wishes. 'Heh. Love you Drake!' he called.

Olivia held back laughter. 'Drake, Leo is so good with Lily. He can handle one other child.'

Leo fist bumped the air. 'Damn straight I can!'

Drake sighed. 'Fine. But any issues, call us. Anything at all, call us-’

'Bye, love ya!' Olivia said loudly, hanging up. She looked at Lily who was watching, her breath held.

'Milo can come over!' Olivia told her. 'Better get all dressed up!'

'I need to find him a leaf!' Lily shrieked, jumping down. 'Uncle Leo, help me find a leaf!'

                              *************************************************

Leo helped Lily pick a leaf that was a burnt orange colour and bigger than her hand. As he drove her to playgroup, she held the leaf in her hand like it was precious cargo.

She was wearing a yellow dress embroidered with daisies over a stripy red and white jumper and sparkly pink wellington boots. It wasn’t even raining; she just decided she really wanted to wear her sparkly wellington boots. Leo had let her pick her outfit herself and has taken a photo to send to Drake captioned, ‘Ya girl’s all dressed up for her boyfriendddd.’

Drake texted back saying ‘fuck you.’

Leo dropped her off at playgroup and smiled at all the moms who were checking him out. He was so different to their husbands; for one thing, he was a prince. 

Stacey ran over to him, grinning. ‘Leo!’ She then curtsied then thought maybe that was too much so held out her hand to shake his. Leo chuckled. ‘Hi, Stacey, right?’

‘Yes! Is Olivia still coming to Book Club tonight?’

‘I believe she is,’ Leo drawled, his mouth quirking up in the corner as he imagined Olivia at a book club with these mothers. 

‘Fantastic. Rachel’s bringing her famous lemon squares!’

Leo nodded, holding back laughter. Lemon squares. Olivia and lemon squares.

        **************************************************************************

Stacey dropped off Milo after playgroup.  Apparently, Milo had loved the leaf that Lily had given him and was now holding her hand as she dragged him over to where Leo was sat watching TV.

‘Uncle Leo, this is Milo! Milo, this is my uncle Leo. He’s the best.’

Leo raised a hand. ‘Hey kiddo. How ya doin?’

Milo blushed and looked down at the floor. He was shy. 

Olivia was finished getting ready for book club. She was wearing black leather trousers, a lace red top and thigh high black boots. ‘Wish me luck,’ she groaned, giving Leo a kiss. She chucked Milo under the chin and brought Lily in for a hug. 

‘There’s pizza in the freezer,’ she told Leo, ‘give them that. Maybe add some spinach on top so Camille won’t freak about the lack of greens.’

‘Love you Aunt Olivia!’ Lily cried. Olivia smirked. ‘Love ya too, babe.’

      ******************************************************************************

Olivia had only read four pages of the assigned book. She didn’t know what it was about so she had done a quick Wikipedia browse to get up to speed. It sounded awful but hey, she wasn’t much of a reader or a student really.  When she attended tutoring in the palace with Liam and Drake as a teenager, she was the one who sat in the back making spitballs and aiming them at Drake’s head. 

She arrived at Stacey’s house with a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. Olivia was not a cosy, cute, ‘bake a cake for fun’ kind of woman. She was never going to be that kind of person. She was daggers, murder documentaries and red wine. 

Stacey greeted her with enthusiasm and led her into the house. ‘So amazing you could come!’ she cried. ‘Ladies, Olivia’s here!’

Olivia was taken into the living room where four other women sat around the coffee table. On the table were baked goods and tea. Easy listening music was playing softly in the background. They were all wearing sweater vests, like fucking Bertrand Beaumont. 

Fuck. 

‘Hi everyone,’ she said awkwardly. Stacey grinned. ‘Sit down beside me!’

Olivia sat down and crossed her legs; one of the women looked at her boots in surprise. 

‘So, this is Rachel, Jemma, Katherine and Mandy.’

‘Hi Olivia!’ they all said in unison with fixed smiles. Olivia wondered if they were robots. Robots would be better. 

One of them poured her a cup of tea. ‘I’m Rachel,’ she said, giving Olivia a warm smile. ‘It’s so nice you’re here.’

‘It’s certainly different,’ Olivia said. She took a sip of tea and wished it was something stronger. 

‘I thought you were going to serve wine?’ she said. 

Stacey blinked. ‘Oh yes.. I have wine in the fridge if you prefer that?’

Great, now Olivia felt like a floozy. 

‘Um, it’s okay-’

‘I’ll have wine,’ Rachel said, jumping in. ‘Ladies? Wine?’

She was clearly trying to make Olivia feel more comfortable. Olivia could handle anything if she had a dagger on her person but when faced with social situations like this... she wanted to hide. She was grateful when she saw the bottle of wine being brought through. 

They began to discuss the book. Olivia sat in silence, murmuring the occasional ‘mmm’ in agreement. God, she was bored. This book sounded shit. The wine was going down quite nicely because all she did was drink instead of talking. 

‘What did you think Olivia?’

They all turned to her. She sighed. ‘Look, I’ll be honest. I haven’t read it. I went on Wikipedia earlier but that’s all. Sorry. Do I get an F?’

They all stared in silence until they let out peals of laughter. ‘Oh thank god!’ Rachel cried. ‘I only read one chapter, I’ve been bullshitting the rest!’

‘I asked my oldest son to tell me what it was about since he read it in school last year,’ Katherine admitted. 

‘I listened to the audio book..’ Mandy said, ‘but that was on the train to work so I’ve only gotten to chapter three..’

Stacey blinked in shock. ‘So none of you have read it?’

They all shook their head. ‘So why bother having a book club?!’ Stacey asked, her voice rising. ‘Why even meet? What can we talk about that’s not our kids?’

‘Dick.’

They all turned to Olivia who was reclining on the sofa with a smirk on her face. 

‘Dick?’ Stacey whispered. 

‘If you want, I can tell you about Leo’s dick but only if you talk about your partners,’ Olivia said casually. 

Rachel jumped up and down on her seat. ‘I want to hear about the prince’s dick!’

    **********************************************************************************

Lily and Milo demolished the pizza, slyly picking off the spinach. They were sat on the floor watching Peppa Pig and Leo was lying on the sofa with his laptop. This was easy. Taking care of kids was a walk in the park. Just let them eat junk, watch what they want and they’re happy. And he was looking after two of them! That was one more than Drake and Camille. 

Leo, Lily and Milo had danced around to 90s trance music in the kitchen. ‘No no, no no no no, no no no, THERE’S NO LIMIT!’ they had screamed as they danced, jumped and spun around.  Lily had never heard trance in her life but her eyes bulged as she shrieked, ‘this is the best music everrrrrr!’ 

The kids finished their pizza and then ran off to play. Leo changed the channel to put on something more grown up, say Deadpool for example, and settled down to watch. 

His peace was destroyed when he heard a piercing scream. 

Leo bolted up from the sofa and rushed into the hall where the screaming had come from. ‘Oh fuck!’ he cursed, running to where Lily was crumpled on the floor at the foot of the stairs. Milo was standing with his hands to his mouth, whimpering. 

‘What happened?’ Leo asked. 

‘She fell,’ Milo said quietly. ‘Tripped on the stairs..’

Lily was crying and Leo scooped her up, sitting down on the step with her on his lap. ‘Honey, where are you hurt?’

She pointed to her head where a small bump was beginning to form. Leo swallowed, trying not to freak. Okay, what helped bumps? A wet cloth? A bag of frozen peas?

A BAG OF FROZEN PEAS.

He hastily carried her to the kitchen, followed by a still whimpering Milo, and set her down on the kitchen counter. He rifled through the freezer until he found a bag of peas and he gently pressed them to her head. ‘There you go, this will help,’ he told her softly. Gently, he wiped her tears away with his finger.

Leo looked down at Milo. ‘Hey kiddo,’ he whispered. ‘Want some ice cream?’ 

Milo smiled wobbily and Leo grinned, taking out a tub of Ben & Jerry’s and two spoons. He set Milo on the counter too and the two kids started to spoon up ice cream for themselves. Leo watched them and sank down at the table, relieved that disaster was averted.

        ****************************************************************************

Disaster was not averted.

Drake had phoned to check up on them and asked to speak to his ‘favourite girl.’ Leo hoped Lily wouldn’t blow it and reveal Leo’s uselessness with children. She chatted away to him as she sat on the sofa with the bag of peas fixed to her head and Milo sat beside her, refusing to leave her side. 

He was a protective boyfriend. Much like her protective dad, who blew up when she happily said, ‘I fell down the stairs and now I’ve got peas and ice cream.’ 

Leo heard Drake bellow his name even when the phone was still pressed to Lily’s ear. Lily handed him the phone and whispered, ‘oops’ before helping herself to more ice cream. 

‘Lover boy!’ Leo greeted him, trying to mask his nerves.  He left the living room to stand in the hallway. ‘How’s the sexcation?’

‘She fell down the fucking stairs?’ Drake hissed. ‘What the hell happened?’

Leo winced. ‘She fell down the stairs yes, but it’s fine! I put a frozen bag of peas on her head and ice cream.’

‘I gathered that,’ Drake replied dryly. ‘How did it happen?’ 

‘Um... I don’t know.’

‘You don’t know?’

‘I was watching Deadpool.’

‘You were watching Deadpool when my daughter fell down the stairs?! What the fuck, Leo?!’

Leo was about to respond when the front door burst open to reveal a laughing Olivia and a hiccuping Stacey. Olivia threw her hands up. ‘There’s my man!’ she shouted, banging into the wall. Stacey pointed at him and hollered, ‘Mr Big Dick Energy!’ 

They were hammered. 

Book Club had clearly escalated. 

There was a silence on the phone until Drake growled, ‘Is Olivia drunk?’

[aloysiavirgata]

Korban

Title: Korban

Author: Aloysia Virgata

Rating: Teen

Timeline: Post The Truth

Summary:   Mulder puts his arm around her, drawing her head against his shoulder. “So do, uh, do you really believe it all? The Virgin Birth, the Temptation in the Desert, the literal rising from the dead?”

*** The room has been theirs for over two months. It’s a cash-in-paper-envelopes sort of place, where the mattresses sag and the windows are made of scuffed plexiglass. They spent Valentine’s Day here, a half gallon of Moose Tracks ice cream and used condoms in the plastic wastebasket. He wonders sometimes if she’s actually afraid of another pregnancy, or if it’s just the last layer of herself she can hold back.

He doesn’t ask, acceptance being a gift he can give.

For her 39th birthday, Mulder had managed a Carvel cake and a small bottle of good lotion. He made mushroom ravioli for dinner, with a side of overcooked peas. He narrated his preparations in a Julia Child voice while they drank  wine from a screw-top bottle. They ate the cake with plastic sporks until it melted into sludge.

He sang Happy Birthday to her again and she laughed, but her eyes were too bright. They sat bundled under the comforter on the concrete patio for a long time, watching everything but each other. Trucks thundered down the highway towards the weigh station, carrying milk and oil and Japanese electronics. Scully stared at the stars until her eyes swam. She fell asleep with her head tipped back beneath them, and Mulder carried her to bed. They began her 40th year in the shower, pliant and frictionless in the wafting steam.

Early spring now, heaps of dirty slush melted back into deep reservoirs beneath the warming belly of the earth. There are feathery leaves unfurling from fresh mulch, and whipped cream blossoms on trees. Teenagers loiter in the parking lot, smoking and drinking malt liquor. They wander to and from the fire department carnival, slouchy and giggling in the lengthening evenings.

Inside, little changes. The upholstery on the couch is still rough and nubby, a sort of gray ropey material that Scully softens with thrift store blankets. They have their feet propped on the scarred oak coffee table, Scully’s toenails painted pink with dollar store polish. A bottle of Manischewitz Concord Grape sits in the middle of the table, uncapped. On the wood cabinet TV, Nefertiti is wearing turquoise gauze and Revlon lipstick and a technicolor Moses shakes his fist.

Scully spreads a tea towel across her lap, picking at the loose threads on it. Her hair is choppy with long sideswept bangs, the color of the waxy chocolate Easter bunny by her foot. Their eyes are the same arresting blue.

Beside her, Mulder is sunken deep into the cushions, leggy and scruffy with a flop of bangs and a three day beard. In his big hand, he spreads his matzah with ham salad that resembles chewed bubble gum. Scully bought it from the deli attached to the Exxon station, along with the coconut lamb cake that stares at them with blank licorice drop eyes. It smells like cheap sunblock, a hint of the coming summer.

“Stop judging me,” Mulder warns it, poking its jellybean nose. The lamb remains inscrutable in a nest of Easter grass.

Scully swats his hand. “Leave it alone.”

He scowls, takes a bite of his food. “Oh, Scully,” he says in dismay. “This is really disgusting.” He opens his mouth and lets the bright pink mass fall into a napkin. He chugs a plastic cup of water.

Scully takes a bite of her own food, cupping her hand to catch the matzah crumbs. “My mom always made it the day after Easter. It’s no different than tuna salad or chicken salad.”

“It’s very different,” Mulder asserts, decapitating a yellow Peep. “It tastes like exhaust fumes and looks like something you’d jam a scalpel into.”

She crams a piece in her mouth, chewing it inches from his face. She huffs her breath at him after she swallows.

Mulder wrinkles his nose. “You make confession with that mouth?”

She crosses herself. “Bless me Father, for I am living in sin with an infidel.”

“I’m fidel,” Mulder protests. “Just to different things.”

“I know,” she says, and nudges his foot with hers.

“…son of Amram and Yochebel,” intones Charleton Heston from the TV.

Mulder picks up the bottle of Manischewitz. “Shot,” he says, taking a swig from the bottle. He passes it to Scully who does the same.

“Now that is disgusting,” she says, wincing. “Communion wine is better than this.”

“Yeah, it’s not great. But your Catholic asses harassed my people every time we tried to settle anywhere for more than a century or so. That’s not a stable foundation for outstanding viticulture.”

Scully, buzzy and puckish, whispers, “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.”

“Too soon, Scully. Unless this is the lead in to a bondage fetish.”

“Don’t have my handcuffs anymore.” She picks up two forks from the table. “You wanna eat this lamb?”

Mulder regards it with mild disapproval. “At least Passover food has a reason for tasting like shit. Bread of affliction and so forth. But you’re celebrating the miracle of the Risen Lord with ham paste and sponge chickens. You need to get it together, Dana Katherine.”

“Well excuse me, but I don’t usually do my holiday shopping at a place where I can also get an oil change.” She stabs the lamb in the ear with her fork, removing a large chunk of it. She steers it towards Mulder’s mouth, making an airplane noise.

He takes an experimental bite, the gritty icing thick on his tongue. “This isn’t the worst,” he allows, chewing.

“Imagine my relief.” She eats the rest of the ear, a treat she usually lost to her siblings. The coconut is dense and chewy, full of sense memory.

Mulder puts his arm around her, drawing her head against his shoulder. “So do, uh, do you really believe it all? The Virgin Birth, the Temptation in the Desert, the literal rising from the dead?” He knows it’s an unfair question, knows her faith is raw and shaken these days, but he wants to understand. He longs to see the structure she does in the universe, the benevolent architecture of the grand design.

She sighs, burrowing in. Does she? Did she ever? “It’s complicated,” she tells them both.

He kisses her murky brown head. “I know.”

Scully pulls off the lamb’s nose, the same pink as her toenails. She turns it over in her fingers, frosting stuck to the smooth shell of it. She polishes it on the tea towel. “I believe in God. I believe that He acted through Christ to show us a better way to live. I believe that the stories about Christ, whether literal or allegorical, have value and purpose. I believe they can guide one through a meaningful life. So it almost doesn’t matter, in a way, how precisely they’ve been recounted.”

Mulder eats the jellybean from her fingers, tasting coconut and her tea tree lotion. “So like… the real Resurrection is the friends we made along the way?”

She slaps him lightly, laughing. “Something like that, yeah.”

He cups his hand around the sweep of her jaw, thumbs the tender spot behind her ear. She blushes. After all this time, still, she blushes. It moves him profoundly, re-confirms her as the center of his small orbit.

She smiles like the sun.

Across the room, in the tacky splendor of 1956, Moses is scowling at Pharaoh. His loyalties are torn between those that rescued him from that drifting cradle and those who put him into it. Mulder thinks of his own son, safe in a household of strangers, drawn from his basket of reeds.

He takes a long swallow of his wine, eats another piece of the lamb.

[janeyseymour]

Escape- pt 22

pt 1. pt 2. pt 3. pt 4. pt 5. pt 6. pt 7. pt 8. pt 9. pt 10. pt 11. pt 12. pt 13. pt 14. pt 15. pt 16. pt 17. pt 18. pt 19. pt 20. pt 21. 

Jane Seymour has stayed with Henry long enough. Cue Catherine of Aragon and the rest of the girls to save her (Aramour)

Jane and Lina get married.

“Jane?”

“Lina!” the blonde snapped. “Stop trying to look at me. It’s bad luck!”

“Oh please. I can’t believe you believe in that stuff.”

“Close your eyes, and then I can give you Eddie.”

“You’re-”

“Close them, or I’ll just have Kat bring Eddie to you. And then, I’ll get the moms!”

“They’re closed! They’re closed!” The last thing Catherine needed was for both their mothers on top of Katherine berating her on their wedding day. She walked in and felt the room around her.

“I’m right here,” Jane laughed. Her eyes were closed too, but she could just picture her future wife blindly feeling around the room. “Here, I’m holding Eddie out. When you feel him, take him from my arms.”

“You’re a real pain in the ass. You know that?”

“I know, and yet you still love me enough to marry me today.”

“You’re lucky.”

“I know! Now get out!”

“I love you,” Catherine tried to get a sneak peek at her beautiful bride, but Kat was having none of it.

“Cath! Keep your damn eyes closed! Jesus.” She smacked a hand to her forehead. “You try to follow one tradition,” she muttered.

“I love you too Lina.” A devious smile spread onto Jane’s face. “But get the fuck out!”

“So,” Fred drew out. “Are you ready for this Catalina?”

“Dad, you know how long I’ve been in love with her,” Catherine replied as she walked back into the room with Eddie.

“I know. I’m ready for her to become an Aragon.”

“So am I.”

“I’m not quite ready for her to not be a Seymour anymore, but having her be an Aragon sure as hell beats her being a Tudor.”

“You can say that again,” Both Catherine and her father snorted.

“Having her be an Aragon sure as hell beats her being a Tudor.” John shook his head with laughter before going surprisingly serious. “Do I need to give you the talk?”

“I’m pretty sure I got the talk when I was like ten, so I’ll pass,” Catherine replied dryly.

“No. The ‘You hurt her, I kill you more than I’m going to kill Rob when they find that sick son of a bitch’ talk.”

“Give it to her!” Fred threw in.

“Dad!”

“No. You need to hear it. Go on John.”

“Look, my daughter is so in love with you. She has been ever since high school, whether she wanted to admit it or not. She never, ever looked at Henry the way she looks at you. Now, you’re also a mother to her child. If you are ever, and I do mean ever, anything like my father was to me, God help me, I will do things to you, and you will wish you were never born.”

“Do you really think I would ever hurt Janey or Eddie?”

“No, but I thought the same thing about Henry at first too. I knew he wasn’t good enough for my sweet girl, but he didn’t seem like he would harm her.”

“Here’s the difference though: Rob only loved her. I love her, obviously. But, I also really like her. And that is so, so important. I hope Eddie finds it too. The best thing you can do is find love in a friend.”

“Are you getting cold feet?” Margaret laughed.

“No, I am so ready to marry my best friend and show my son a great love and friendship.”

“You’re lucky honey.”

“I know.”

“Good. Don’t ever take that for granted. When Dad and I had our troubles, we knew that we always loved and liked each other. Always love Cath and appreciate her.”

“I will. Come on. I need to get married to her- my best friend.”

“Kat? Shouldn’t you be helping Janey get ready?”

“She’s pretty much ready. I just came to talk to you.”

“Oh. What’s up honey?”

“Can I hold Eddie?” Catherine handed the small boy over. “Are you ready to be married to her?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Don’t fuck this up.”

“I-”

“I’m serious. My mom,” Katherine paused and smiled the softest and most genuine smile Catherine had ever seen the girl show. “My mom,” she continued. “ has been through so much shit, and she still has come out of it with all the love and kindness in her heart. Don’t break that in her.”

“I’m not going to Katherine. If you remember, I’m the one who brought her to you.”

“I do.” Katherine nodded her head. “Thank you for that by the way. Now, are you ready to be like my step-mom?”

“I’m more than alright with that. Any child of Jane’s is a child of mine.”

“Good. Let’s get you married to my mama.”

“Jane, oh god. I wrote all of this stuff down, but it just doesn’t seem like enough. So, I’m just going to see whatever falls out of my mouth. You, you make me feel, it’s indescribable really. It’s the little things that make me fall in love with you more and more everyday. It’s when you get nervous and bite your lip and twiddle your thumbs in a way that you think is dorky. It’s your bedhead. It’s the way your eyes sparkle when you talk about something you love- specifically Eddie and Kat. Your dorky dance moves. It’s the way you crinkle your nose. The way you are with Kat and Eddie, and the way you love me. I thought I knew what love was when I was younger. My parents were hopelessly in love. They still are.” The hispanic pointed over at her parents and nodded. The small group gathered awed. “And uh, I met you. I watched you with someone else. And there were people who told me I was an absolute idiot to stay faithful to a girl who wasn’t even mine, not that you’re mine now. You’re your own person, and I respect that- but I hope you know what I mean. I was okay with it though because even then, I was pretty sure I knew that I was just waiting here for you.” She wiped at a few tears that had fallen. “And now, if you’ll have me, I will spend the rest of my days loving you, and I will let you love me.”

“Jane?” The minister smiled.

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to top that,” Jane giggled. “So, I’m going to keep it simple. Here we go: I love you, and I like you. I’m going to show you, Katherine, and Eddie our endless love. I will love you, and I will let you love me.” Catherine never thought so few words could be so perfect.

The two were finally wed, finally where they were meant to be, sealing off their marriage with a kiss.

“Fuck yeah!” Anne shouted before realizing what she exclaimed. “I mean,” she quickly tried to play it off.

“No. It’s a fuck yeah,” Kat’s tone was light. “They just got married! Fuck yeah!” She screamed the last sentence, getting a few strange looks from the brides’ families. Jane and Catherine could only shake their heads, somewhat embarrassed but also not caring too much. They did just get married after all.

“When I first met Cath and Jane, well, we all know the situation Jane is in. Cathy told us all to be nice to the two. When I found out everything about Jane’s circumstance, I really thought she was going to turn out to be a bitch. I was wrong. Wow! The one and only time the Anne Boleyn will admit she’s wrong, I know.” This caused the small group to chuckle, and to milk it more, Anne proceeded to bow. “But, I will happily admit time and time again that I was wrong about our dear and sweet Jane. She is the kindest, most caring person you will ever meet. So, to Catherine: don’t fuck this up. You’ve got the real deal. Don’t hurt her.” Anne eyed the hispanic suspiciously. “I’ve got my eye on you.”

“I know I’ve got the real deal Anne.” Catherine rolled her eyes playfully.

“To Jane and Cath! Can I get a massive hell yeah?” The woman with space buns (yes, even at a wedding, Boleyn had her signature space buns in) laughed as she raised her glass. She was met with possibly the loudest “hell yeah” she ever thought she would get, Officer Beale even joining in with a smile on his face..

“Alright listen up,” Anna started. “I’m normally not one to make any toasts or anything, but these two are pretty rad, so here we go. Cath and Jane were made for each other, and I will take no criticism.”

“No criticism needed. You’re right!” John laughed.

“So, to Jane and Cath!” The tall woman raised her glass and chugged what was left of her drink.

“And, as an additional wedding present,” the woman in red said mischievously. “I give you this.” She hugged the two brides.

“Anna hugged me!” Jane yelled. “Yes!”

“When you were in the hospital, I promised you I would give you a hug if you woke up. See this as me following through on my promise,” Anna whispered. Jane only hugged her tighter.

“Oh, and Cath?” the older bride glanced at her. “Don’t you dare hurt her.”

“I’m not going to!”

“Just making sure you know that I could have your ass kicked if you do.”

“No need for threats,” Jane muttered as she pushed her friend into her seat.

“So, for Jane’s side of the family, I’m Cathy, and I’m Catherine’s cousin. Cath called me one morning begging me to let her bring Jane to my house. Now, I had heard of Jane time and time again because poor Cath had been over here pining for Jane since they were sixteen. So, of course, because I’m a wonderful cousin, I said yes. I didn’t expect to get a best friend and sister out of that though. So, to Cath and Jane! And Cath? Don’t you dare hurt her.”

“What the hell Cathy?” Aragon laughed nervously. “You’re my cousin!”

“And Jane is much too pure for this world. Don’t hurt her.”

“So, I guess I should make a speech too?” Kat muttered as she stood and clinked on her glass. “I’m Kat, and I just wanted to say a few things. To the two brides: I hope this marriage brings you a long and happy life. You two deserve it more than anyone I know. I also want to say that even though I’ve only known both of you for a short amount of time, you two are family and always will be family. So, thank you mom and Cath.”

“Mom?” Margaret spoke up confused.

“Yes mom. She might only be a few years younger than me, but that doesn’t stop me from mothering her,” Jane explained.

“Any family of Jane’s is a family of ours. Welcome home sweetpea.” Margaret stood and hugged the pink haired girl.

“I can’t wait to see where this road takes you two, but I’m glad to be even just a small part of it. Here’s to you, and Eddie, and our entire crazy and dysfunctional family. But Cath?”

“Let me guess,” Catherine put a finger to her chin. “Don’t you dare hurt her?”

“Don’t you dare hurt her.” Kat’s smile disappeared, and a serious face appeared quickly before returning to a smile. “I love you two endlessly.”

“And we love you, my sweet girl.” Jane wiped a tear from her eye as she hugged her surrogate daughter.

“So Mrs. Aragon,” Catherine whispered.

“Yes dear wife of mine?”

“Nothing. I just love hearing you respond to Mrs. Aragon.”

“I love it too. I love you.” Cries rang through the house. “And, there’s our lovely baby.” Jane began to hoist herself up from the bed.

“Honey, stay here. Katherine told us she would tend to Eddie all night.” The older woman pulled her wife back down onto the bed.

“But,” the blonde began to argue.

“Listen, if he doesn’t stop crying, I’ll go. And then maybe...?”

“You’re ridiculous,” Jane tried to say sternly, but the smile on her face gave her away. “Yes, we’ll have sex.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter Mrs. Aragon!”

“Am I wrong?”

“Let’s just say, you have your wedding traditions, and I have mine.” The hispanic lightly smacked the blonde’s ass.

“Pervert.” Another cry from Eddie echoed through the house. “Go get your son. If he doesn’t calm down, just bring him to me.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Hello?”

“Cath? It’s Beale.”

“Hey. Did you-”

“There’s a lead,” the officer rushed out. “Someone saw someone who resembled him a few towns over from you.”

“Are you telling me we have to move again?”

“No. I couldn’t do that to you guys. Congratulations by the way. I would’ve come and said hello at the reception, but you two seemed so busy between your friends, parents, and that beautiful baby boy of yours.”

“Thank you,” Catherine said gratefully. “I would’ve come over, but I had my hands a bit full with Eddie.”

“That’s quite alright. Your wife-”

“My wife!” Catherine practically squealed into the phone before composing herself. “Sorry. I just really love that I can say ‘my wife’ and it’s Jane.”

“That’s quite alright. I used to feel the same way about my wife before she passed.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s quite alright. Jane came over and spoke with me briefly. She was so excited that day, and it was so good to see you two happy. Anyway,” Officer Beale stumbled over his words a bit. “I’m still in the area because of the sighting. I imagine he’s going to check out the big cities first, so I’ll be around there. However, if I’m wrong, I suggest that if you and Jane don’t already have one, buy a gun and learn how to use it. I honestly can’t believe I’ve not told you this already.”

“We’ll do that right away. If we take lessons though, we-”

“If one of your friends can't, I would be more than happy to watch Eddie. He’d be safest with me. Just let me know, and I can always come down.” The officer secretly hoped he would get to watch the young boy.

“I appreciate that sir. Once all of this is done, we’ll have to invite you over for dinner as a thank you. Jane’s a great cook.”

“When all of this is sorted out, that would be nice. I’ll keep that in mind.”

[everly-kindred]

Eve’s Diary - Entry #47

Synopsis: With Rose Grams released at school as the Hearty Party approaches, Eve’s week gets much busier! 

Words: 1,075

Date: 31st of January, 2027

Dear Diary, 

It has been a busy week, and now, thankfully, it’s the weekend! But I fear it may not get any less busy for me. For good reasons, though! 

I met some new friends! One of them is a girl named Hailey, who is actually one of the other first years I share a dorm with. I’d seen her about in the common rooms, but we hadn’t actually spoken until recently. She seems nice! I also met an older boy named Shaun briefly, and his white cat, Snowy. 

I finally had a success of sorts, also! In herbology, I managed to successfully plant mint, wolfsbane, wormwood /and/ nettle! I’ve gotten a bit better with plants, which makes me really happy, since it’s my best subject on paper at least! 

And then we had Defense Against the Dark Arts, which… I definitely had nightmares after that one. The professor brought a hag in, and we all talked about how hags like eating the flesh of children and stuff, and he let her walk around the class and she kind of stood over me and messed with my hat? I was petrified! Marigold tried to offer her hat up to the hag, but the hag sort of ignored her, I guess. Anyways, I ran out of that class as fast as I could, once Vikander unlocked the door, and went straight to my dorm! I figured, if I’m safe anywhere, it’s there… Maybe hags melt when they get sprayed by vinegar, like the wicked witch of the west? Was she the one that melted? Anyways, it’s nice to know at least that a lot of hags choose to have a more… uh… people friendly diet so they can sort of be a part of society. 

We had astrology, which I always have a hard time waking up for. Nora had to help me with the telescope because I kept getting distracted, and I swear I had that one song that goes, ‘catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day,’ stuck in my head the entire night. I would certainly love to catch stars like I dream about, of course, but yeah. 

We had a test in transfigurations and I… couldn’t answer even one question. I completely blanked. And now that I think about it, I think that was my first test at Hogwarts? So… I’ll need to figure out why I panicked and how to… not do that next time. And I heard in the older kids Transfigurations that Gallo borrowed Waldgrave’s wand and transfigured himself into a chicken!

This weeks Care of Magical Creatures was about pygmy puffs, so I got to bring Cornelius to class with me, which was really sweet. He’s been rolling around in fireplaces lately, I guess ‘cause it’s warm and maybe he likes the smell, but it’s made him look like a ball of soot! I’ve thought about giving him a bath and asking Bonnie to make his fur pink for Valentines, but… He seems so happy covered in soot, and it feels wrong to take that away from him. 

In Ghoul Studies, we talked about animal ghosts, how animals are companions and protect us in real life, and how our spirit guardians are manifested as our patronuses in their own animal forms. I wonder what my patronus will be… I wonder what it is /now/, because I know they can change as you change. 

We also had Dueling today, and played this game where we have to sneak up on someone and then they turn around and hex whoever they can spot, and the person we’re sneaking up on is called, ‘Grandma.’ Octavia Dechants was grandma, and she ended up getting into a duel with Bonnie, who made her scarf attack her and then turned her into a turtle. We had Magical Theory right after that, so I had to let Professor Reuter know she’d be late due to being transfigured, and he said she would’ve made a better peacock or something like that…

The most exciting news, though, is that the Owl Post finally opened up Rose Grams and Cupid’s Corner! I put in requests to send them to all of my friends, and then I started delivering them! I also delivered a bouquet of them and a plate of biscuits to the professor’s lounge with a note I had written, because I wanted to send grams to a lot of professors and thought that would be easier. Gallo helped me and let me into the lounge so I could do it! It looked really interesting in there. I did something similar for Cupid’s Corner for my friends - wrote a message for no one in specific, just from me to my friends, because there’s… So many of them! Which is so nice to say! 

Also, mum sent me a little enchanted stuffed rabbit with wings and a cupid’s bow and arrows, and he floats over my shoulder while I make deliveries. I’ve put on my most festive outfit for the occasion! 

I talked to Aures a bit, when I went to deliver her rose gram, and we talked about romance. I told her my mom had said I was a ‘hopeless romantic’ and that means I’m in love with love (I guess?) and Aures said she’d have to tell me about her parents, and then she… Well she mentioned that it’ll make things exciting when you can go to the Hearty Party with someone special, which… I suppose I /have/ daydreamed plenty of times about such things, but living at home with my parents for so long, I never thought it would actually be possible! And now it is I guess? Which is both exciting and scary.

I told Aures that I’d probably just wait and see if someone asks me, but not stress it either way, and that we could dance together when the Hearty Party comes. She said that if she asks someone, she’ll have gone to the dance all three ways - alone, having been asked by someone, and then having asked someone. And I told her if someone asked me, I could say the same! 

I’m not sure if anyone will ask me, though. Who knows. I don’t, for now, anyways. My dreams haven’t hinted at anything. Only time will tell! 

It is very late, so I suppose I shall go to bed now. 

Much love, Everly

About the Character: Everlina Rosemary Kindred is an imaginative Hufflepuff attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She keeps up with her magical journey through a series of diary entries, dream journals, and tarot readings, all documented for future reflection. Her diary is a small glimpse into her enchanted life, and her adventure into the wizarding world and all its splendors. If you’d like more information about Eve, visit her wiki page. 

About the Author: My name is Katherine! I am a 22-year-old Hufflepuff & Pukwudgie from Louisville, Kentucky. This page is my creative journey into the magical world, through the lenses of Second Life. Here I post diary entries, dream journals, and tarot readings all from my character’s perspective. If you’d like more information about me, visit my Flickr! 

Outfit Credits:

Hair - [monso] My Hair - Gabriella

Glasses - .random.Matter. - Rose Glasses - Gold

Bandaid - m i z u ru -  nose bandage

Headband (flowers) - Mossu - Fleur.Wreath 

Headband (hearts) - Bowtique - Cupid Heart Headband (Pink)

Flower-crown - +Half-Deer+ Blossom Baby - Wildflower Crown - Mix

Scarf - FATEplay Scarf - Evans - Badger

Top - Stories&Co. Reverse Vneck - Heart 

Skirt - `M.BIRDIE / Merry look-skirtA1

Bouquet - Ariskea[amour]. Roses Bouquet Pink

Bunny - MishMish - Cupid Bunny / Chocolate Chip