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27emailsicantsend · 2 years ago

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Chapter Seven: Oh? Oh.

March

And I've still got the Converse that I wore the day we met. I'm running out of reasons not to do it all again. So, if I showed up at your doorstep, would you turn me away? Or would you care to see a stranger whose eyes are still the same? Take me or leave me I'm going home, but I'd rather be going your way, so would you love me now? Take me back to when we were young again, darling. Would you love me now? After everything would you let me in and love me now?

-”would you love me now?”, Joshua Bassett

The weather in Salt Lake pushed dreary days into March. The snow was piled high, but full of dirt and dead leaves. The air still felt cold and unwilling. Ricky was desperate for a bit of sunshine, because he wanted nothing more than to be outside on his skateboard to think. The skatepark ended up being a lot less helpful than he wished; relentlessly reminding him of the time he saw Gina there. The time she first believed in him. It was like the ghost of her faded in and out on the steps every time he tried to make another glide down the ramp. As much as he wanted to shake the thought of her for even a second, he felt powerless to her.

It had been two weeks since Ricky and Gina did their full run through of “Rewrite the Stars”, but this was another memory that took precedence in his head. He couldn’t stop thinking about Jenn clapping softly at the end, saying their performance was "beautifully tragic”, and then Gina running off the stage after. Over and over again, the ghost of Gina was everywhere Ricky went. The coffee shop, the skatepark, his house, the school, the theater- he couldn’t erase the part of his life that made him better, even when she tried to run.

Surprisingly, Gina’s “disappearing act” wasn’t very convincing. She used to be really good at making herself sparse when she was upset, but Ricky began to notice her around more and more in March. She still refused to talk to him, but she wasn’t avoiding the groups he would hang out in either.

Ricky couldn’t blame Gina for that, though. His friends were her friends and she had every right to them as he did. It took their friends a little while to catch on that things weren’t well between the two of them, but from what Ricky gathered, neither Gina nor him had called it a break up.

Not until today, when Big Red asked Ricky to come over and play video games after school.

Ricky was sitting on Red’s basement chair, sipping on a Root Beer, when Red handed him a controller and asked, “you two are really broken up then, huh?”

Ricky didn’t know why Red’s question had caught him so off guard. If he was in their position, he would probably think the same thing. But there was that line in the sand... the one that he (and possibly, Gina) seemed to be the only ones to notice wasn’t there.

“I don’t know if we are, Red,” Ricky tried correcting him as he clicked some buttons on his controller.

“It’s been nearly a month and you two still don’t talk to each other. Normally, it seems like we can’t tear you guys apart. I’m pretty sure the last time I remember you guys being happy was.... the Sweetheart’s Dance?” Big Red reminded Ricky, before clicking the TV on with a remote. He flopped down in the giant chair next to Ricky.

Impressed with Red’s memory, Ricky asked, “You remember that far back?”

“Ricky, I’m your best friend. I notice”.

Ricky was touched.

“Wow... that means a lot,” Ricky commented, shaking his head. He was secretly glad Jet wasn’t there; Ricky knew he’d be keyed up hearing this conversation.

Red smiled. “A month just seems like a long time to not talk to your girlfriend over something. When Ashlyn and I were dating, our fights didn’t last longer than a week or two”.

“Not even when she was openly flirting with Maddox?”

“That’s just the thing, she was open about it Ricky. She was honest with me that there were feelings there. Maybe she wasn’t at first, but she came around. I was upset at first, sure, but in the end I understood. Not every couple is meant to be together,” Red replied, using his controller to gesture his thoughts.

“I know that. I want more than anything to be with Gina and I’m willing to make it work, in whatever way we need. But if she just doesn’t want to be with me anymore, I wish she would just say that. Honesty- like you’re talking about”. Ricky sighed heavily, reeling on what he had just said. The words felt unnatural and difficult to say. He never, ever pictured having this conversation about Gina. The only thing he could do next was stare blankly at his lap.

“Did she ever actually say that Ricky?” Red queried.

Ricky took a minute to think back on all of their conversations. The ring. The ring that had been haunting him since the performance. Why was she still wearing that? Ricky gave his back to Gina. That still didn’t make sense to him. He couldn’t think of a single time Gina had said she didn’t want to be with him. Ever. Even before they started dating.

I wouldn’t quit on us, if I wasn’t moving away, Gina’s voice echoed in Ricky’s head.

“No,” Ricky said, his thoughts spiraling out of control. Gina became his life force and now he was struggling for air. Every second he was reminded that he couldn’t just talk to her, hold her, was another minute closer to him feeling like he was going to go ballistic. His thoughts were becoming overwhelming; he needed to think about something else for a minute so he could clear his mind.

“Can we just... play some games for a minute? I need to think about something else,” Ricky clicked open the game on the TV.

“Sure, but can I just add one more thing?” Red asked sincerely. One thing Ricky appreciated about Red- he was always willing to speak his mind, but he did so tactfully.

“Go for it,” Ricky gestured with his controller, turning his head toward Red.

“Couples that are meant to stay together, will be together. Fate or whatever you want to call it. It’s why, no matter how hard it was, I was willing to let Ashlyn go. If we’re meant to be together, she’ll come back. If not, I’ll find someone new and better”. Red paused before adding, “that’s all I wanted to say. We can play now”.

Fate. The stars. Serendipity. These words seemed to have a chokehold on Ricky. Why did he have to wait for it to happen? What if fate wanted something else for Ricky? There was no one else he wanted. He wanted Gina. Even when he was dating Nini and Lily, there was this part of him that felt attached by some invisible string to her. It felt like their hearts were tethered by something stronger than the explainable.

Ricky went about his next week still pondering on everything that happened since the day of the “Rewrite the Stars” rehearsal and hanging out with Big Red. Every time he saw Gina, she still had her ring on. She was beginning to watch him more, from inside the classroom to theater rehearsals, he noticed her staring. She even said hi casually a couple of times as she greeted the rest of the group.

But it still wasn’t enough. She was still everywhere Ricky went, even only in his thoughts. He saw her pink converse every time he left the house, he saw her ring in each passing glance, and he even once thought he saw her at the coffee shop. He wondered if she knew she had a doppelgänger.

All of this thinking and reeling and hurting was starting to become too much for Ricky. On one particularly overcast day, toward the end of March, Ricky found himself in his room with his blinds closed. All he wanted to do was empty his head into his music. Ricky grabbed his guitar, music book, and pencil- ready to write. He pushed his sharpened pencil into the paper excitedly, led bits falling at the impact, but stopped immediately because his mind ran blank. It was the first time he hadn’t thought of Gina in weeks, but it was also the first time he hadn’t thought of anything. The one time he felt inspired to do something with all of his feelings- about Gina, graduation, his dad and Jenn- he came up empty.

Angry, he tossed his notebook (his pencil came with it too) at the wall. He placed his guitar down and set his head in his hands, too sad to be angry and too angry to be sad. Ricky gritted his teeth, as he began to pace around his room. He needed something. Anything. Anything to let the emotion out. It was consuming and enraging and he was shaking and sweating and-

And that’s when it clicked.

Ricky wanted to scream.

Ricky had thought about it in the past, but had never acted on it. Maybe it was because Zac told him to do it. Maybe it’s because it felt weird. Maybe it’s because it was a song he sang last semester when he was only starting to connect to his character. But this time, this time he felt ready to try.

So Ricky walked over to the window, fully pushing it open. A cold wall hit his face from the breezy air outside. He didn’t care who heard, he didn’t care how cold it was, he didn’t care if he sounded crazy. He wanted it to reverberate off of rooftops, for every bird to stop and listen for a second, for it to break through the clouds. Filling the air in his body from to stomach to chest, he reached his body outside and let out the loudest yell he could think of. Exhilarated and wild, Ricky went to his computer at his desk and started to play the song, “Scream” from High School Musical 3. He sang openly, feeling each morsel of his being connect with the lyrics:

The day the door is closed The echoes fill your soul They won't say which way to go Just trust your heart To find what you're here for

Ricky stood up before opening the door to his bedroom and stepping over the threshold, singing:

Open another door But I'm not sure anymore

It's just so hard

Ricky paused before pulling a cushion off the couch, tearing it to pieces. He threw the contents into the already lit fireplace:

Voices in my head Tell me they know best Got me on the edge They're pushin', pushin', they're pushin'

Ricky stared emptily at a photo of Mike and Jenn on the fire place:

I know they've got a plan But the ball's in my hands This time is man-to-man I'm drivin', fightin', inside of A world that's upside down

He was now in the kitchen, throwing down chairs, slinging hand towels off the oven, throwing forks and knives at the door, breaking the plates and glasses in the cupboard:

It's spinning faster What do I do now Without you? I don't know where to go What's the right team I want my own thing So bad I'm gonna scream

I can't chose, so confused

What's it all mean I want my own dream So bad I'm gonna scream

By this point he was fully invested in the song. Not taking a thought into his destruction. He sang the rest of the song as darted around the house, jumping on the couch, knocking over chairs, knocking a lamp off the side table, pulling clothes out of the hamper and strewing them everywhere as he looked for his orange sweatshirt:

I'm kicking down the walls I gotta make them fall Just break through them all

Ricky balled up his fist and punched a hole in the wall, his hand throbbing from the pain of a power he didn’t know he had:

I'm punchin', crushin', I'm gonna Fight to find myself Me, and no one else Which way, I can't tell I'm searchin', searchin', can't find a way that I should turn I should, to right or left, it-

It's like nothing works Without you I don't know where to go What's the right team I want my own thing So bad I'm gonna scream

Ricky sang as he unraveled every piece of the apartment, not caring about Mike’s reaction. He finally felt free- like all of the pent up energy had a release. Every lyric another confirmation of how he felt on the inside until he reached the end of the song:

I want my own thing I want my own thing I can't chose, so confused What's it all mean I want my own dream So bad I'm gonna scream

Even though Ricky had sang this song several times before, it was like the music had completely enveloped him this time. When it ended, he was surprisingly caught off guard. Ricky shook his head, bringing him back into the present moment. He was sitting back at his desk, in the same position he was at when he first played the song. He peaked his head out the door to see the house in the same condition it had previously been in. The song might have been a daydream, but the rest of his life felt like a nightmare.

It was time he decided what he wanted, once and for all.

Ricky picked up his notebook and pencil from the other side of the room and drew a line down the middle. On one side, he wrote “decided” and on the other he wrote “not decided”. Anything that was still not decided, he would take the time to figure out today. He was done being confused.

On his “not decided” column, he wrote:

-college

-what I’ll do after I graduate

-where I’ll live

When Ricky got to his “decided” column, he was only able to write one thing before his mind came up blank again:

-Gina

However this time, instead of staring blankly at the page and getting frustrated over having no other decisions again, he made a new course of action. He was going to get outside and ride it out, no matter what the weather. He put on his black converse and grabbed his skateboard, bolting for the door.

However as he was running, exhilarated and ready to decide, he nearly sprained his ankle at the foot of the door. It landed awkwardly on an object that had somehow made it’s way onto the welcome mat inside the apartment. Ricky thought it must have gotten kicked over when he or Mike had come inside for the night. His foot landed awkwardly on Gina’s pink converse.

And that’s when the floodgates opened. It was like Ricky had closed them to protect him from getting hurt, by Gina, by his family, by making a choice. He refused to acknowledge what has been there the whole time. Every moment he had with Gina, even before they started dating, avalanched their way into his mind. Slowly and discreetly, before pouring in- unstoppable.

Secret dates in coffee shops.

You’re a yes.

The days dancing and baking in the kitchen.

Serendipity.

Going over to her house every night to read her to sleep. All in due time. The fair. I’m not going anywhere. Me neither... at least not without you.

The promise rings. They’re promise rings. That way we promise to always come back to each other. All of the warm feelings Ricky couldn’t explain. I wouldn’t quit on us if I wasn’t moving away. Adventures in the woods. We’re a team. Real Campers Of Shallow Lake. I don’t do anything right the first time, Ricky. The night of Homecoming. I can’t believe I let Color Wars slip through my fingers.

The thoughts raced and raced and raced. Everything made sense. Every connection, every thought, every piece of the puzzle all started to come together. Ricky looked out the window and saw the sun bursting through the dark clouds.

He made the same break through.

“Oh”.

Ricky being ok if Gina went to New York and only caring about how he would stay in contact with her. Ricky not trying to control or manipulate the situation, even if he felt frustrated. He doesn’t always do things right the first time.

It was all Ricky could say out loud before grabbing Gina’s converse and running out the door. The houses and trees worked together to seamlessly blend in his peripherals as he picked up pace. The air whipped against his body, pushing faster to make it to his end destination quicker. The end destination was a couple neighborhoods over.

Ricky was sprinting when he realized what Gina meant to him. Every crash of his foot to the pavement was another reminder of what they did for each other. For so long he didn’t understand why Gina going to New York didn’t bother him- why he felt ok with long distance. He didn’t understand why being separated from Gina was hard, but he didn’t try to control or manipulate the situation. He didn’t understand why he and Gina worked so well together, being able to finish each others sentences and know what the other person needed without even asking. Until now. This perfect, beautiful metaphor for their relationship:

When Gina tried running from her problems, Ricky steadied her. When Ricky emotions ran wild, Gina steadied him. Gina was change; Ricky was stability.

Like converse to pavement.

Ricky ran and ran, the rain beginning to drip on his face in a light and refreshing way. He could feel the worry wash off him, because for the first time in forever, he finally knew what he wanted. As sure as the invisible string tethering them together, he knew.

His heart thumped harder in his chest as his breath showed in light puffs of air outside. The closer he made it to Gina’s house, the worse the weather became, but Ricky kept pushing through.

Cold beat across his face from the light wind and now heavy rain. He didn’t care. His surroundings were nonexistent now, a black backdrop with the light of her house shining at the end. He was going to get these shoes back to Gina.

He was going to get back to Gina.

Ricky finally reached Gina’s house, the rain dumping down on him in a thousand directions. He didn’t even take a moment to catch his breath- he only slowed down his running- refusing to stop until he accomplished what he came to do. Ricky jogged up to the front door of the familiar two story house and knocked loudly.

Silence.

He wondered if Gina couldn’t hear because of the storm outside. He knocked again even harder this time. Gina needed to know he was there.

More silence.

Ricky gave a sigh. Maybe she wasn’t there. He turned around, cold and defeated. Upset and frustrated, he began to make his way down the cement stairs, opening himself back up to the long walk home.

But then he heard a latch unlock the door.

Ricky spun around to see Gina, confused and bewildered. She was in an oversized shirt and sweatpants. A large headband holding back her hair in a top knot. She shook her head several times as if she couldn’t make sense of Ricky showing up at her door.

“Ricky?! What are you doing?! It’s pouring out!” Gina exclaimed.

“Oh,” Ricky said, panting as he looked Gina over. It was all he could muster out. Her confusion began to turn into... anger? Sadness? Ricky couldn’t tell.

“Oh?” Gina said, some water filling in her eyes. Ricky suspected that she was definitely upset.

“Oh”, Ricky said, more sure this time. “As in, ‘oh, that is why I’ve been feeling this way the whole time. That is why every time I’m with you, I feel this warmth in my entire body. That is why, every time I look at you, I’m reminded of comfort and home. That is why you push me to be better and carry me through my worst’.

“Gina, I’m in love with you,” Ricky confessed.

“Oh,” Gina echoed. Ricky began to wonder if they were going to do this all day.

“Oh?” He said, his sneaky eyebrow raising up again. Maybe his eyebrow was more keen than he gave it credit for.

“Oh. As in, ‘you came back’. I always knew you’d come back,” Gina said, tears now falling down her face. She didn’t need to say anything more.

“It’s why you left the shoes,” Ricky concluded her thought, breathless. He shook the pair of pink converse in front of her, splashes of water flying out.

Ricky couldn’t help it. Watching her cry, feeling as happy and as overwhelmed as he was, realizing it’s why Gina kept on her promise ring too- he began too cry to. Big, happy, beautiful tears. They masked themselves in the rain, but released all of the pain he had been feeling. Everything finally made sense. It was truly “all in due time”.

Ricky threw the wet shoes in Gina’s house and pulled her out into the rain. He began to kiss her passionately, over and over. Gina reached her hand up, pulling her hair now soaking wet hair out of it’s bun. They continued to kiss, releasing all of the tension and build up that had been fogging their lives.

Gina pulled slightly back from the kiss, putting her hands on Ricky’s face, and with tear-soaked eyes said, “I love you too, Ricky Bowen”.

They pulled each other in again, kissing until their lungs gave out.

Ricky finally spoke again- slightly yelling over the loud rain crashing on them and her house, “Gina, everything that I have done this last year was for you. It was always for you. You have dictated every move I have made in the best way. They were always my own choices, but I made them with you as my lighthouse. I never wanted to quit on us either. I’m not going to lose you. Not because you can’t walk away from me or because I don’t want you to go to New York, but because I want to make it work. I want to make us work. Because whether we try to or not, we will work out. We come back to each other every time”.

“Ricky!” She stopped him loudly over the rain, giggling.

“What?” He asked, a confused smile glued to his face.

Gina laughed even harder, her eyes squinting with glee as she said, “You got started”.

The couple were now fully bursting out in laughter, wiping away tears and water off of their own faces. They couldn’t stop laughing, even as Gina pulled Ricky’s face in again to kiss him.

Gina understood what Ricky meant, because he had one thing wrong this whole time: Gina’s love language wasn’t gift giving, it was words of affirmation. The song she wrote, the promises she made, the writing in the rings, and even the way songs affect her- it all made sense to Ricky.

Ricky was supposed to tell her he loved her first. That’s how she would know they were going to make their relationship work after graduation. That’s how she would know that he chose her back. That’s what she was waiting for.

Gina reached into her now soaking wet pocket and pulled out a small silver band. She took Ricky’s hand and slid the ring back on his pinky.

“How long have you been carrying that around?” Ricky shouted over the torrential rain.

“Since you took it off!” Gina yelled back, letting out her last few giggles.

Ricky wrapped his arms around Gina, picking her up and spinning her as they kissed one more time. After he set her down, Gina slid her pinky finger around Ricky’s. Their rings clanked together as she led him into her house.

Once inside, Ricky kicked off his water-soaked converse next to Gina’s... where they belonged.

He was finally home.

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Epilogue

Over the next month, the weather began to let up. The sun shined more often than not, giving Ricky a lot of time to spend outside with his friends and Gina. They savored their last moments together before the select few of them graduated.

The Greatest Showman wasn’t going to be until May right before graduation, so Ricky spent a lot of time with Gina rehearsing. He even helped write a new song for the show that Jenn took to immediately. All of the time on stage, being “Little Zac”, his passion for writing music, and having previous experience on TV made Ricky realize that he might want to do something involving the arts after he graduates.

Ricky finally told his dad that he was going to move to New York with Gina to pursue his dream of writing music for TV and stage productions. He also chose the option of trying to act in some of the shows that would use his music. He ended up giving Zac a call, telling him he was sure this was what he wanted to do with his career. Zac was so ecstatic to hear from “Little Zac”, that he pulled a few strings to make sure Ricky wouldn’t start off at nothing.

Broadway was creating a new play, The Chronicles of Narnia, in September and needed actors and music producers. Zac told them he knew a guy, Ricky Bowen, who could do both. Zac even said if they were lucky enough, Ricky’s girlfriend, Gina Porter would probably be willing to choreograph for the show too. And despite some hesitation from the producers, Zac was able to convince the producers to hire a couple of soon-to-be graduates to help with the show.

Mike reminded Ricky that he would be fine if Ricky left because now he had Jenn. They were going to get married that summer in July. Ricky would spend the first half of the summer in Salt Lake with Mike and Jenn, and after their wedding spend the second half with Lynn and Todd in Chicago. After that, he would get on a train and meet Gina in New York.

One late Saturday in April, before he and Gina went to rehearsal for The Greatest Showman, Ricky ran to his room to grab his skateboard. He was hoping to ride it that day. He went to pick it up from the side of his bed when he saw a notebook peeking out from the corner. It was opened to the page that had his list of “decided” and “not decided”. Ricky thought that it must have gotten kicked under there without him realizing it.

Ricky walked over to his desk and got out a pencil. Picking up the notebook and sitting on the edge of his bed, he scribbled out the undecided column completely. After that he added one more thing under the “decided” column. It now read:

-Gina

-What I’m doing after I graduate

“Ricky? You almost ready? It’s about time we go!” Gina called to his room.

Ricky grabbed his skateboard as responded, “coming!”

Once he made it to the front door, he slid on his black converse and crouched down to tie the laces on them. Gina giggled as she tapped his leg with her foot.

“Hey, we’re matching,” she noticed, her pink shoe peeking in the corner of his eye.

Ricky finished tying his shoe and stood up, giving Gina a quick kiss on the cheek before saying, “good”.

Gina grabbed her rehearsal bag with her dance shoes in it and held her right hand out, lacing it with Ricky’s. They began to walk to rehearsal, Gina’s dance bag in her open arm and Ricky’s skateboard in his.

Ricky thought about what Gina said before the school year. About how he was never the plan, but plans change. Maybe she was right- his plans changed. Even now, none of his life was part of the plan. Maybe before he met her, he was always going to be in Salt Lake. He was going to be fighting for a girl that didn’t want him back, unhappy with his dad, and alone with no friends but Big Red.

Ricky thought about how much he used to push change away. That new things were scary and they needed to be right the first time. That he would try to fit puzzle pieces where they were never meant to fit. However, Gina came in and changed everything in the best possible way. He never knew what to expect with her, but he willingly followed. He kept up with all of her paces.

Ricky finally realized that regardless of how many changes his life brought, he knew one thing with more certainty than anything else: Gina wasn’t a maybe. Gina was a yes.

#OCAP #Of Converse and Pavement #HSMTMTS #high school musical the musical the series #hsm #high school musical #rina week 2022 #rina #ricky bowen #gina porter #ricky x gina

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ex-umbra-art · 2 months ago

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After a year long of hard work and studying, I am pleased to present my concept art portfolio done at Synstudio OCAP : FrostBound Prophecy. I hope you enjoy!

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libraryben · 1 year ago

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The First Nations principles of ownership, control, access, and possession – more commonly known as OCAP® – assert that First Nations have control over data collection processes, and that they own and control how this information can be used.

#First Nations #data sovereignty

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27emailsicantsend · 2 years ago

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Fun fact: this is why in my OCAP fic I had rina read Chronicles of Narnia together 🥲 it’s a callback to my own childhood

the relationship between girls and the fantasy series they read when young is so special nothing comes close to it

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cxolanes · 4 months ago

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#ceo #GurpratapS.Boparai #Leadership #SuzlonEnergy

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secteur-vert · 7 months ago

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expfcultragreen · 9 months ago

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Remember, when you persistently ask a woman out and then freak out when she says no, and go cross country about it and camp out taking photos outside the houses of anyone in her scene.........thats "journalism", youre a "journalist"

https://web.archive.org/web/20130801225042/https://www.genuinewitty.com/2013/07/29/it-looks-like-torontos-anti-gentrification-battle-is-heating-up-feat-sigrid-kneve-ocap/

A silkscreened picture of a machine gun isnt legible as "seriousness about the issue not the literality of being armed" or even just "pop cultural" eh, its a free pass to maybe get your harshest critics shot by cops all legal style

"Scary stuff" i lived with the person who came up with the defend george street ones lmao

By the second raid even, the cops were like, we actually hate people who waste our time like this, lowkey its a known factor doing it just like fyi you know who it is coughitsgregrenoufcough

Like based on that and ime from being arrested for allegely assaulting a cop (on the way to george street) (it was a false accusation), and also getting ticketed by transit cops once, running away from a graffiti charge etc, there are a lot of filler guys on the force who arent actually as messed up as the ultrafash fringeoids on OR off the force (the ones who couldnt make it as cops are generally not esteemed by cops)

Like, we were all clowning on him for being a stalker and he just stalked harder about it...only people totally unfamiliar with the landscape of the issue listened to him

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hgcaps · 10 months ago

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Organic Capsules

HG-Ocaps ® organic is low pollution, focusing on natural production methods, and no polluting products such as pesticides, fertilizers, growth regulators, etc. are used in the production process.

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saiilorstars · 5 months ago

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Written in the Stars

Ch. 11. The Power of Ponds

• Previous Chapters • Sequel to Falling in Temptation • Avalon’s Masterlist

• 11th doctor x ofc

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @gloryekaterina @lenonizi @foxesandmagic

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

All was not well on planet Earth when Amy and Rory woke up, or rather woken up by Brian William's incessant pounding on their front door. They found their neighborhood was infested with small black cubes. It turned out it wasn't just their neighborhood - it was the city, the continent, the world! Thankfully, their granddaughter and her husband were there in a snap to start an investigation.

In the TARDIS, several cubes had been taken to be examined. However, no matter how much the Doctor studied them there was nothing to them. "All absolutely identical. Not a single molecule's difference between them. No blemishes, imperfections, individualities."

"What if they're bombs? Billions of tiny bombs," Brian made a motion of explosions in the air. "Or transport capsules, maybe, with a minirobot inside. Or deadly hard drives. Or alien eggs. Or messages needing decoding. Or they're all parts of a bigger whole. Jigsaw puzzles that need fitting together."

"Very thorough, Brian," nodded the Doctor, "Very, very thorough. Well done. Stay here. Watch these," he handed back Brian's cube to him, "Yell if anything happens!" He took Avalon's hand as he went for the doors. On their way, they stopped from needed equipment.

"Doctor, is this an alien invasion?" she had to ask. The sense of calmness in the middle of a cube invasion seemed pointless to her. She would rather just get straight to the point. "Because that's what it feels like - and my sister is thinking of living here again."

"It'll be fine," the Doctor assured but paused on his search for a moment to reconsider, "...okay, maybe tell her not to come out here yet. And why does she want to come back here again?"

"You haven't told him yet?" Amy had a smirk on her face when she and Rory caught up with them.

"Told me what?" the Doctor looked between all three with a serious face.

"Lena was considering moving in with her boyfriend..." Avalon rubbed the side of her neck while looking to the side, preferring not to see his reaction to that. Everyone knew how protective the Doctor was of his "baby sister", sometimes even more than Avalon and that was saying something.

"Why am I always the last one to know about this!?

"Because you react like that," Rory pointed.

"Well..." the Doctor started picking up the equipment and handed some of it to the trio, "...excuse me for caring a little too much about my baby sister. I mean, what if the guy's not even the right one? What if—"

"You've met him," Avalon reminded as he piled on some random objects in her arms, "Like several times already. You even said Tristan was a nice guy."

"Well, yeah, but that was before he wanted to move in with Lena!" the Doctor huffed and turned away, heading in haste to the doors.

"It's not even decided yet," called Avalon as she followed after him. They stepped into the Pond's living room where the TARDIS had been parked in, "She's considering it."

"Tell her we need to have a serious talk," the Doctor poked his head out from the hallway, "And by the way," he looked at Amy and Rory, "I'll be borrowing your kitchen."

Avalon turned to her grandparents with narrowed eyes, "Why is it that you must always put a wedge in my marriage?"

"That was all her," Rory nodded to Amy and made a smart exit.

"What?" Amy frowned, "I only said—"

"We're going to work on secrets," Avalon declared, "Lesson one: a secret is kept hidden until the appropriate time!"

"Sorry," mumbled Amy under her breath while Avalon turned for the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, the Doctor was already setting up his workplace on the counter and stove, "I'm going to cook up some cubes, see what happens."

"Right, I'm due at work," Rory pointed and went for the threshold when the Doctor called.

"What? You've got a job?"

"Yeah, of course I've got a job!" Rory shook his head, "What do you think we do when we're not with you?"

The Doctor stood straight and answered, "I imagine mostly kissing."

Rory considered the answer and shrugged. Amy rolled her eyes at the two, "I write travel articles for magazines and Rory heals the sick."

"My grandparents," Avalon chuckled and went to the Doctor to set the rest of the equipment down.

"My shift starts in an hour. You don't know where my scrubs are?" Rory asked his wife.

"In the lounge, where you left them."

Avalon dropped her equipment near the sink and noticed the Doctor watching Amy and Rory, probably startled by the domesticity he rarely saw in the TARDIS. Still, it seemed like this time he wasn't as impacted, "Ehh, the Ponds. With their house and their jobs and their everyday lives. The journalist and the nurse. Long way from Leadworth."

Amy sighed as she placed her part of equipment on the table, "We think it's been 10 years," she looked at him and Avalon, "Not for you two, nor Lena," she shrugged, "or Earth, but for us. Ten years older, 10 years of you. On and off."

"And look at you know, all grown up," smiled the Doctor honestly as he thought back to the first day he had met the three little girls in a backyard, and the nurse at a park.

His thoughts were interrupted by the bursting entrance of soldiers from the front door. In no time the trio were surrounded by soldiers from the entrance of the kitchen as well as from the backdoor. And then came poor Rory marched in by soldiers - with no trousers on.

"There are soldiers all over my house and I'm in my pants," he frowned with raised hands.

"My whole life, I've dreamed of saying that, and I miss it by being someone else," Amy mumbled and was promptly nudged by Avalon.

"You're one weird grandma," she declared, making Amy smirk.

"All these muscles, and they still don't know how to knock," a soft voice called in from the hallway, moments later a blonde woman coming into the kitchen in all calmness, "Sorry about the raucous entrance. Spike in artron energy reading at this address. In the light of the last 24 hours, we had to check it out and, uh, the dogs do love a runout. Hello. Kate Stewart, head of scientific research at UNIT. And," her eyes drifted to the Doctor with curiosity, "with dress sense like that..." she pulled out a small scanner and placed it over the Doctor's chest to view two hearts, "You must be the Doctor. I hoped it'd be you."

"You know each other?" Avalon looked up at the Doctor expectantly, assuming the woman had just been in the dark of his new face. Apparently there were plenty of people who didn't even know he had regenerated centuries ago.

The Doctor didn't know who to tend to first, but he figured it would be wiser to go with Avalon first considering they lived together. "No," he pointed at her, "No, not ever," and then he looked at Kate, "Tell me, since when did science run the military, Kate?"

"Since me. UNIT's been adapting," she informed, "Well, I dragged them along, kicking and screaming, which made it sound like more fun than it actually was."

"What do we know about these cubes?"

Kate walked further into the kitchen and inspected the place, "Far less than we need to. We've been freighting them in from around the world for testing. So far, we've subjected them to temperatures of +/-200° Celsius, simulated a water depth of 5 miles, dropped one out of a helicopter at 10,000 feet and rolled our best tank over it. Always intact."

"That's impressive," admitted Avalon and looked at the Doctor for his input.

"Well, yes," he agreed, "but I don't want them to be impressive. I want them vulnerable, with a nice Achilles's heel."

"We don't know how they got here," Kate shrugged, "what they're made of, or why they're here. "

"And all around the world, people are picking them up and taking them home."

"Like iPads have dropped out of the sky. Taking them to work, taking pictures, making films, posting them on Flickr and YouTube. Within 3 hours, the cubes had 1,000 separate Twitter accounts."

The Doctor distastefully said, "Twitter!" to show his disgust with the site.

"I've recommended we treat this as a hostile incursion. Gather them all up and lock them in a secure facility, but that would take massive international agreement and cooperation."

"You'd need massive evidence," Avalon concluded with a sigh, "Which you don't have..." Kate nodded in agreement.

"The cubes arrived in plain sight, in vast quantities, as the sun rose. So what does that tell us?" the Doctor looked around to his wife and companions.

"Maybe they wanted to be seen, noticed?" Amy offered the clearest observation possible.

"Well, more than that. They want to be observed," the Doctor pointed, "So we observe them. Stay with them, round the clock. Watch the cubes," he grabbed a nearby cube and tossed it in the air to catch it. "Day and night. Record absolutely everything about them. Team cube, in it together," he planted a kiss on the cube and grinned.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was having the worst time possible with his brilliant plan of watching cubes. At the moment he and the rest of the Ponds were sitting on the couch in the living room watching the cubes as planned. The Doctor was laying upside down and, frankly, to the brink of going mad, "Four days," he groaned and grabbed a cube off the table, "Nothing! Not a single change in any cube, anywhere in the world." He set the cube back in its place then shifted himself to sit upright with the others, "Four days! And I'm still in your lounge!" he pointed to Amy and Rory.

"You were the one who wanted to observe them, remember?" Avalon crossed her arms and leaned back on the couch, "So deal with it."

"Yes, well, I thought they'd do something, didn't I?"

"And you thought wrong, didn't you?"

"Avalon!"

"What?" she laughed and put her hands up in surrender, "You said, and I quote, 'we have to be patient'."

"Yes, you, you!" he pointed at her but after she narrowed her eyes at him, he changed the version and pointed at her grandparents, "Them, them!"

"Thanks," Amy rolled her eyes at him.

"I hate being patient! Patience is for wimps!" he threw his head back, "I can't live like this. Don't make me. I need to be busy."

Avalon couldn't take him anymore and threw her hands in the air, "Oh my God, just go do something, then!" she exclaimed, "We'll watch the cubes."

"Yes!" the Doctor cheered and jumped up from the couch, ready to do what ever he could to pass time.

"I blame you guys for this," Avalon said to Amy and Rory minutes later after the Doctor was gone.

'What? What did we do?" Rory looked at her in confusion.

"You guys let me marry him!" she mocked a frown, "I had partial memory loss - what kind of grandparents were you?" She mocked a scoff and stood up from the couch.

"What? Where are you going?" Amy watched her go around the couch for the staircase.

"I feel for a nap," she pretended to yawn then flashed a smirk and ran upstairs.

"Avalon!" both Amy and Rory called after her but received nothing but laughter.

~ 0 ~

One hour later, and a far cleaner house than before, the Doctor leaped over the back of the sofa to take place between Amy and Rory, "That's better," he sighed of relief, "Nothing like a bit of activity to pass the time. How long was I gone?"

Rory checked his watch, "Uh, about an hour."

"I can't do it," the Doctor's face fell, "No," he stood up and jumped over the back of the sofa again but stopped and looked back, "I'm short a wife - where's my ginger?"

"Your lazy wife took a nap," Amy made a face as she stood to her feet, "upstairs in her room."

"Oh, right, she has a room here..." it was then that the Doctor wondered if perhaps he could've done something more fun to pass the time with Avalon.

"You're welcome to visit anytime," Avalon appeared at the stairs wearing a smirk on her lips, clearly thinking the same as the Doctor.

"Oh, look who's up?" Rory turned to greet her sarcastically.

"I set an alarm for about an hour," Avalon went down the remaining steps, "Knew that was about the time this one," she nodded to the Doctor, "would finish up his little distraction jobs in that time."

"Yes," the Doctor reached for her hand and yanked her towards the TARDIS, "And now we're going!"

"What? Where?" she squealed with the force used on the yank.

The Doctor brought them into the TARDIS and came across Brian who remained sitting and watching the cube, "Brian! You're still here."

"You told me to watch the cubes," Brian reminded and stood up.

"Four days ago."

"Oh! Doesn't time fly when you're alone with your thoughts."

"You two can't just leave," Rory cut into the conversation and looked at the pair.

"Yes, course we can. Quick jaunt. Restore sanity," the Doctor snapped his fingers excitedly and pointed at them, "Ooh! Hey! Come, if you like."

Before either Rory or Amy could respond, Brian stepped forwards, "They can't just go off like that."

"Can't they?" frowned the Doctor, "Can't you? That's how it goes, isn't it?"

"I've got my job," Rory reminded him.

"Oh, yes, Rory, the universe is awaiting, but you have a little job to go to."

"It's not little," Rory snapped, slightly indignant, "It's important to me. Look, what you do isn't all there is."

"Look, he didn't mean to be rude," Avalon intervened, raising a hand to stop them from talking, "But it's fine, the Doctor and I can go off for a while, right?" she looked up at the Doctor for confirmation.

"Right," he kissed her temple then snapped his fingers to the others, "We'll be back soon. Monitor the cubes. Call us. I'll have the TARDIS set to every Earth newsfeed."

Agreeing, the three humans left the box. After the Doctor de-materialized the TARDIS from the Pond's, he turned to his wife with a sly smile.

"Where we off to, then?" Avalon innocently asked while gazing at the controls.

"I'll let you know..." He murmured as he pressed a few kisses down her neck, giving her chills on her skin, "...after we do something else..."

She giggled as he wrapped his arm around her waist and brought them into the corridors for that special distraction he had thought of.

~ 0 ~

Nine months would see the return of Avalon and the Doctor to planet Earth - and only to snatch Amy and Rory up for an extravagant anniversary gift. It would have gone far better if the 19th century hotel that served as the gift hadn't been the setting for a Zygon attack.

The next gift was an easier one, a simple wedding in the past of King Henry VII. But...

The travelers ran inside a highly royal wooden room, out of breath.

"Not good, not good!" Avalon declared and gave a hard look to the Doctor who'd found some fun leaping on the bed, "Are you kidding me!?"

"What?" He let himself fall on the bed then sighed, "Fine! Under the bed. Under the bed!"

They all scrambled to fit underneath the bed. Their chasers were hot on their trail and it would be mere seconds before they were inside the room.

"It wasn't my fault," grumbled Amy.

However, Rory quickly retorted to that, "It was totally your fault."

"Somebody was talking and I just said 'yes'!"

"To wedding vows. You just married Henry VIII on our anniversary!"

The door finally burst open again, allowing the chasers to come in. Henry VIII strolled around the room searching for his new wife. And, of course, the Doctor sneezed and gave their location away. Avalon dropped her head to her hands - why was her family this weird?

~ 0 ~

The anniversary celebration continued back on planet Earth, inside Amy and Rory's cozy kitchen with their friends. The Doctor stood by the threshold of the kitchen, overseeing the celebration. Avalon decided to stay up close and celebrate with her grandparents. Brian walked towards him, looking a bit upset, "How long were they away?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Brian."

"Because they're wearing totally different clothes from earlier," Brian pointed to the Ponds.

Seeing no way to hide the truth, the Doctor decided to just answer, "Seven weeks. I got sidetracked. A lot."

"What happened to the other people who traveled with you?"

The Doctor deterred answering a second since he knew the answer would not be a good one. "Uh, some left me, some got left behind, and some - not many, but - some died. Not them. Not them, Brian. Never them."

Avalon picked up two plates of cake from the table with two forks then headed towards the two with a bright smile, "I've got cake!" she beamed and handed a plate to Brian, "Grandpa," she loved to be able to say that to him. She had gained one new family member and he was the absolute sweetest!

Brian kindly smiled and took his plate, he still couldn't fathom the fact the woman was an extension of their family but he was slowly growing more and more fond of her. "Thank you, sweetheart."

"And we can share," Avalon leaned on the Doctor, already digging into her cake, "So, what are we talking about?"

The Doctor exchanged glances with Brian, unsure how to go about that topic. Brian could see the internal struggle within the man so he answered instead, "I'm just making sure he takes good care of you."

Avalon titled her head up to the Doctor and warmly smiled, "Oh, he's incredibly protective, grandfather. I'm always safe with him."

The Doctor placed a kiss on her curly hair and wrapped his arms around her tightly while she ate. He would never let anything happen to Amy or Rory - much less Avalon. She was his wife and he'd rather die himself before any harm came to her.

~ 0 ~

After the party was finished, the travelers remained together to clean up. The Doctor came to sit beside Amy who carelessly tossed a cube in her hands. He had been thinking of how best to approach the subject but in the end, he was still very nervous.

"Can we... stay here? With you. And Rory?" He said, preferring to stare at the cube in Amy's hands rather than her. "For a bit. Keep an eye on the cubes. However long that takes."

Amy poked at him curiously, chuckling. "I thought it would drive you mad."

"No. No no. I mean, I'll be better at it this time," he promised in an almost childish tone, "I...miss you."

Amy smiled and stood up, "It's okay, did you tell Avalon?"

The other ginger came in time to hear the question, "Told me what?" she looked at the Doctor.

"I thought...we could stay here?" He rose to his feet and shifted nervously as he waited for her response.

"Ooh, I like that," Avalon nodded and a sly smile spread across her face, "You can stay in my room," she winked.

Amy groaned and raised her hands while leaving, "Don't you dare!" she warned as she left the room.

Avalon laughed and came for her blushing husband, "You okay?"

"You love embarrassing me don't you?" he shut his eyes and hung his head.

"Maybe a bit," she shrugged and ducked to meet his lips for a kiss, "But I can apologize for that..." she assured and kissed him again.

The days passed and the Doctor kept true to his word in trying his best to live a semi-normal life without the TARDIS. It was difficult at times, but the Doctor thanked he had his wife to keep him from going crazy. She'd lived a long, human life so it was no problem for her to readjust again. For her, it was an opportunity to show him a different life they could live - a peaceful, safe life.

The Doctor admitted to himself it was one he could get used to - especially at times like the one he was currently in.

It was past midnight and he and Avalon were in her room. Nearly all furniture pieces were from Avalon's childhood home in Leadworth, except for the bed the two were laying in. It had been traded in for a bigger one to fit two people, cozy enough to snuggle in. At the moment, the two were closely laying together, with Avalon's head resting on the Doctor's chest. His hand was lazily playing with her ginger locks while listening to her read from her favorite fairytale book. He loved hearing her read, her voice had a knack for literature — she was a natural. Of course, due to the time, her voice was beginning to dwindle in emotion and speed. The Doctor had allowed her to continue reading until she could no more. When her words began slurring, he knew it was time to call it a night.

"Heeey..." Avalon manages to frown but not to lift her head, "...I was reading that..."

"And now you're sleeping," the Doctor shut the book and placed it on the nightstand.

"I'm not tired, you're not tired."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "You're not going to deprive yourself of sleep, love. Get some rest."

"You're not..." she yawned and closed her eyes, "...the boss of me..." she snuggled to him and released a small sigh before falling asleep.

"Of course not," the Doctor agreed in a whisper. He kissed her hair and pulled her blanket over her.

Of course, Avalon being Avalon, she wouldn't let him have it. Three hours later, her eyes opened up and she finally lifted her head up, "What time is it?" she mumbled, half expecting the to be gone.

He had a tendency to leave her during nights she needed sleep. He claimed it was simply for her comfort. Why share a bed with a man who didn't sleep? She should have an entire bed to herself! She understood he was just thinking of her and what was best, but she wanted him to stay with her...but she never admitted it out of embarrassment. So, when she saw the Doctor was still right beside her, she couldn't help set loose a wide grin.

"You're not gone," she quickly snuggled to him before he went anywhere.

"Hope you don't mind," he apologetically smiled at her. He was planning on leaving her to rest comfortably but she had clung to him during her sleep and he didn't have the hearts to leave her alone for the night.

"Not at all," she looked up at him.

"Planning on going back to sleep?"

"Mm, I don't know...let's read another story!" she exclaimed and moved to retrieve her book when the Doctor stopped her.

"Ava, it's 4 A.M.," he reminded and set her back on the bed.

"But I'm not tired," she softly complained, "Why do you want me to sleep so badly? Do you have someone to meet? Like another woman?"

"See? Deprivation of sleep is causing your mind to think of crazy stuff," he tapped her forehead, "I just want my wife to get some full rest."

"I don't want to," she shrugged and smiled at him, knowing how to distract him, "I had a dream about you."

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow, his attention already captivated.

"Mhm," she nodded, "It was about the first time we kissed, remember?"

"Kinda hard to forget," he breathed in just at the thought of that moment.

"Well, I do make quite an impression on men," she flashed a smirk that made him upset, "I've been told by several of them."

"Shh," he put a finger over her lips and quieted her down, "Let's not talk about..." he flapped hand to motion, "...that!"

Her smirk widened with his discomfort, "You mean my amazing kissing skills I used before you?"

The Doctor shut his eyes, trying to avoid any and all images of his wife kissing other men, "Shhh!"

"Cos you know, just because I only had 3 boyfriends before you doesn't mean I only kissed those three!"

"Ava, for the love of God, shhhhh!"

Avalon chuckled and draped an arm around him, "You know I like teasing you, fairy-tale man."

"No? I hadn't noticed," the Doctor had a hand over his face to avoid looking at her big smirk.

"I have to get back at you," Avalon continued and traded in her smirk for a dim smile, "Cos when I get to thinking of all the women who came before me...well..." she pulled his hand from her face, "...I get a little upset, and highly jealous."

The Doctor saw his opportunity to change topics and went for it, "All meaningless compared to you, love."

"Even your own late wife?"

"That marriage was under formal arrangements," he pointed at her, "completely out of my hands."

"And yet you still had children..." it was easy to tell Avalon wasn't playing anymore like she tended to with his past relationships. She fiddled with her fingers and kept her gaze from him, "...the marriage couldn't have been that bad."

"Let me put it to you in one question: Why do you think I left Gallifrey in the first place?" at that, blue eyes fell upon him, "I love my children, so so much...but I could not stand her. All the time it was bickering and bickering!"

"We bicker," Avalon reminded in a low whisper, her hands still fiddling together.

The Doctor scooted slightly from her to be able to roll on top of her, bringing their faces together, "But when we bicker, it's out of love," he whispered back to her before giving her a kiss.

Avalon seemed unsure of it but the second kiss she received put her doubts to rest. She took a long breath the moment the Doctor pulled away, "I'm glad to know where I stand..." she reached to touch his face, taking a moment to study his features, "You know, I think I was wrong about hope..."

"What exactly?"

"Maybe hope doesn't have to be an intangible force..." she tilted her head slightly and dimly smiled, "...it could simply be someone who's impacted your life so much that they become your hope - you." The Doctor was touched to hear that, his hearts beating wildly at the thought of her believing in him so much. She stared at him with her sparkly blue eyes which had foregone their tiredness. "You've changed my life in so many ways. How could you not be my hope? My future has never looked better."

"Well then, I promise to always keep your hope alive," the Doctor raised a hand as if he were making an oath, which actually he was, "and most importantly keep you happy."

Avalon blushed under his gentle stare and felt like the most important woman to him, "I thank you, fairy-tale man."

"I thank you for your hope, wife," the Doctor responded with that and a kiss that soon turned in dozens and dozens more.

~ 0 ~

"You two are impossible," Amy declared with arms crossed and a look of bewilderment as she watched Avalon and the Doctor competing in a WII tennis match, "How is it that you're married again?"

"You are a bloody cheater!" Avalon shouted at the Doctor, blatantly ignoring her grandmother's question behind them.

"I am not!" declared the Doctor with a huff as he turned to face his wife. He whacked his tennis racket to hit an incoming ball Avalon had sent just before she yelled at him.

"Yes" — Avalon thrust her racket to counter his hit — "you are! A big cheater! That set was mine and you know it!"

"That's not what the computer says," the Doctor flashed a smirk to her before using his racket again.

"Impossible," Amy repeated in the background as she resigned to have shouting in the house, "I'm taking a bath!" she called to whoever listened - probably Rory in the kitchen.

"You know, this is exactly why Fred Perry hates you," Avalon 'accidentally' pushed him in order to counter his attack on the television, "because you're a bloody cheater!" and when she hit the virtual ball she beamed as it went straight past the Doctor's, "HA! My set!" she jumped in excitement and turned to the Doctor.

"Okay, see that was cheating," he pointed at her.

"What?" she continued hopping and even jumped onto the couch, "It was not!"

"Yes, it was," the Doctor repeated and moved to grab her but she kept hopping and made it difficult, "You pushed me to hit the ball!"

"Strategies my dear husband, strategies," she stopped hopping to tap his nose.

"Cheater!" the Doctor managed to yank her off the couch and leave them face to face, a dangerous territory in their love/hate competition, "Why did I ever marry a cheater?" he touched noses with her and purposely flashed his charming smile.

Avalon was able to see over his shoulder the game starting up again and saw an opportunity to win again, "Well," her voice turned huskily while she neared his lips, "I do have some rather nice skills you're fond of...let me remind you of some of them..."

Barely brushing lips, the Doctor pushed her to the couch and spun around to strike the first ball in the game, "Ha! MY set!" he cheered.

Avalon fell with a thud on the cushions, stunned with the results of her seduction attempt. She blew the locks of hair that had fallen over her forehead then looked up at the Doctor with a glare, "How dare you!?"

"Sorry my love," the Doctor looked back at her, "I love you and we'll definitely get back to that," he pointed at her, "but this is my game and you were cheating!"

"I hate you!" Avalon jumped to her feet and got into position to give him one hell of a game, "And you're going to lose so badly," she warned just as the game set up again.

They spent another a two minutes playing while arguing when a cube hovered in front of them, freezing them in their spots.

"Doctor..." Avalon's eyes were wide.

"I know," the Doctor gave a small nod then narrowed his eyes at the cube, "Whatever you are, this planet, these people, are precious to me. And I will defend them to my last breath. Is that all you can do, hover? I had a metal dog could do that," the cube opened up one of its side to show a muzzle of a gun, "Ooh! Ooh, that's clever. What's that?"

"It's a gun!" Avalon smacked his arm, "What do you think it's for!?" she pulled him to the in time as the gun fired. They ran out of the room while dodging a second fire.

Once safely in the hallway, the Doctor peered into the room and saw the cube downloading information on the television. "Ooh, you really have woken up."

"Doctor!" Rory came running in from the kitchen, "Hi. The cube in there, it just opened?"

Amy was next to come running, but from the staircase, "The cube upstairs just spiked me and took my pulse!"

"Your cubes are losers," remarked Avalon with a small smirk, "Ours fired with a gun!"

"And it's surfing the net!" the Doctor added with excitement.

Brian ran into the house with about equal awe as Amy and Rory, "You're never going to believe this. My cube just moved. It rattled."

"Kinda of in the same predicament, Brian," Avalon gestured to the living room so he could peek in. Meanwhile, Rory went to attend to a call on the phone, "Do you think it's the start of the real invasion?" she asked the Doctor.

"Could mean anything, honestly," he shrugged.

"But if three cubes started in here, and another one at Brian's - would that mean that all the cubes have started moving?"

"Those are some very good questions," the Doctor looked at her with concern as he thought of her questions.

Upon hanging the phone, Rory returned to the group, "I have to get to work. They need all the help they can get."

"Let me come help out," Brian offered himself up.

"Take your dad to work night, brilliant!" Rory turned to Amy, "Okay, are you going to be all right here?"

She nodded and kissed him, "Keep away from the cubes."

"Alright," Rory took Brian and went off for the hospital.

"What the hell are you grinning about?" Avalon raised an eyebrow as she studied her grinning husband who'd remerged from the living room.

"Well, one," he raised a finger, "We're wanted at the Tower of London," he showed her and Amy his psychic paper to reveal a message, "And two," he leaned to Avalon with a smirk, "I won the last match."

"No you didn't!" Avalon angrily snapped and even made to move for the living room to check for herself.

The Doctor picked her up over his shoulder and headed for the doors, "Come along, remaining Pond," he called to Amy who laughed and followed him despite Avalon's angry shouts to be let down.

~ 0 ~

Kate Stewart led the trio down a hall inside the tower of London, explaining the reasons for her message, "Every cube across the whole world activated at the same moment."

"Now we're in business," the Doctor drowned the urge to clap his hands in excitement about it. He had loved his normal time with his Ponds but there needed to be some kind of action in the end, "You sent me a message to my psychic paper," he told Kate, "You know, I'm almost impressed. "

As they walked, Avalon and Amy were busy looking around the secretive base they'd been invited to. While Amy looked a bit worried, Avalon was more than impressed, "I must say, the secret base beneath the Tower was something I was not expecting," she flashed a smile at Kate, "I might use that in a book in the future."

"You write?" the blonde asked.

"No, but I plan to one day - this base can serve for a lot of purposes."

"Well make sure to write the part where the group gets invited into the base becuase they know too much,' mumbled Amy but was perfectly heard by Kate.

"Oh yes, and make sure to write that we have officers trained in beheading. Also, ravens of death."

"Ooh," Avalon thought about that while Kate took a lead down the hallway, "I think I just might. You know, I like her."

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded and hurried up after the blonde with them.

~ 0 ~

Kate had brought them into a room where the cubes were being monitored in small sealed rooms. They stopped by several of the casings to observe them, There are 50 being monitored and more coming in all the time. I don't know how useful it is. Every cube is behaving individually. There's no meaningful pattern. Some respond to proximity, some create mood swings."

"What's this one?" Amy pointed at a lone cube simply sat on a table. It seemed like it wasn't doing anything to her.

Kate knew otherwise and so motioned for her to go ahead and open its door, "Try the door."

Amy did as told and opened the door to the chamber, flooding the room with the Chicken dance, "Ooh..."

The Doctor plugged his ears with his fingers as the music blared. Avalon stared at him with genuine awe, "So that's how we can keep you quiet! Hey Kate, can I borrow that cube sometime?"

Next, Kate led the group into the lab room where her scientists/technicians were busy working away on the computers and other equipment. "This is the latest," she gestured to the computer screen in front of them.

The Doctor leaned forwards and used the keyboard to access its information, "Oh, dear. Systems breach at the Pentagon, China, every African nation, the Middle East."

"I've got governments screaming for explanations and no idea what to tell them. I'm lost, Doctor. We all are."

"Don't despair, Kate. Your dad never did," the Doctor glanced at the woman to find her staring at him in surprise, "Kate Stewart. Heading up UNIT, changing the way they work. How could you not be? Why did you drop "Lethbridge"?"

"I didn't want any favors. Though he guided me, even to the end. "Science leads," he always told me, said he'd learnt that from an old friend."

The Doctor smiled, "We don't let him down. We don't let this planet down."

One of the nearby technicians responded to an alerting beep, "They've stopped. The cubes. Across the world. They just shut down."

Kate frowned, "Active for 47 minutes and then they just die?"

"Not dead," the Doctor shook his head, "Dormant, maybe."

"But why go through all that trouble, then?" Avalon asked next.

"I don't know!" he exclaimed, clearly stressing, "I don't know. I need to think. I need some air. Who has an underground base? Terrible ventilation!"

Avalon exchanged looks with Amy then dashed off after the Doctor. Amy apologetically smiled to Kate before going off as well.

~ 0 ~

"The moment they arrived, I should've made sure they were collected and burned. That is what I should've done," the Doctor rubbed his face and deeply sighed to the two gingers sitting on either side of him.

They had moved to a wall sit on which overlooked the Thames - sort of peaceful, despite the looming dangers of the cube.

"Nobody would have listened to you," Avalon interjected and lightly shrugged, "I know I wouldn't have."

"You never listen to anything," shot Amy sarcastically.

"But you know I'm right about the others."

On that, Amy conceded with a shrug of her own, "Yeah, I suppose. There was no reason to back then."

The Doctor had been looking them back and forth, thinking of the future when Amy would no longer wish to be with them, "You're thinking of stopping, aren't you? You and Rory."

Amy looked away at the question, "No, no, I mean, we haven't made a decision."

"But you're considering it."

"Maybe. I don't know. We don't know. Well, our lives have changed so much. There was a time - there were years - when I couldn't live without you. Um, when just the whole everyday thing would drive me crazy. But since you dropped us back here, since you gave us this house, you know, we've built a life. But I don't know if I can have both."

"Why?" It was Avalon who asked the question, curious of the answer. She had been used to Lena's reluctance about traveling - her illness and the simple fact she wasn't made for it was enough. But Amy? Why would she want to stop?"

"Because they pull at each other," Amy answered carefully, "Because they pull at me and because the traveling is starting to feel like running away."

"That's not what it is," the Doctor frowned.

"Oh, come on, look at you. Four days in a lounge and you go crazy."

"I'm not running away," he insisted, "This is one corner of one country, in one continent on one planet that's a corner of a galaxy, that's a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond and there is so much, so much, to see, Amy. Because it goes so fast. I'm not running away from things. I'm running to them, before they flare and fade forever. It's all right. Our lives won't run the same. They can't. One day, soon, maybe, you'll stop. I've known for a while."

"Then why do you keep coming back for us?"

"Because you were the first," the Doctor put an arm around her shoulders and Avalon, and sighed lightly, "You two and Lena, you were the first faces this face saw. And you were seared onto my hearts. Ponds - and one Reynolds," Avalon silently rolled her eyes but let him have it for his sake, "You always will be. I've lost Lena long ago. Now I'm running to you and Rory before you fade from me too."

"But there's one of us who'll never leave," Amy tried her best not to sniffle, "And she'll keep you company long after we're all gone."

"Quiet," Avalon mumbled the order, never wanting to think of her family dead, "I don't ever want to hear that."

"What ever you want, spoiled granddaughter," Amy did her best sarcasm without crying.

Suddenly, the Doctor stiffened, something both women felt. "They got what they wanted," he whispered.

"What?" Avalon frowned at him, taking his sudden reactions as if he was mocking them.

"The cubes. That's why they stopped," the Doctor was having a moment of his own, even jumping and nearly knocking the women in the process, "Come on!" he ran back for the entrance of the tower.

He went straight back to Kate in a haste stride, "Kate?" he called and made the blonde turn around from a technician, "Before they shut down, they scanned everything, from your medical limits to your military response patterns. They made a complete assessment-" the lights in the tower went down with no warning, "...of planet Earth..." the Doctor pulled out to sonic the light bulbs, "...and its inhabitants. That's what the surge of activity was. Problem with the power?"

Kate was holding a lit torch in her hand and looking quite distressed, "Not possible. We've got backups."

"Then why aren't they working?" Avalon challenged, finding the action suspicious with the cubes.

The Doctor took them back to the chambers of the cube to get a look at what as happening. There, they found all cubes were counting down to zero, something the Doctor was able to give to Kate as a powerful reason for the cubes to be recalled and disposed by all humans. Thankfully, Kate was able to spread the word out and were getting the cubes thrown out of buildings. The Doctor had only one last thing to do: lock himself in a chamber with one cube.

Avalon, Amy and Kate stood outside of the chamber the Doctor was in, staring intently at the cube which was nearing zero. Avalon had her arms crossed and a look of clear disapproval, "Doctor, you don't have to be in there," she repeated for what seemed the tenth time, "I don't understand why you love scaring me like this."

"It's going to be fine," the Doctor gave her a thumbs up which did not make her feel an ounce better. It wasn't long before the countdown reached zero and when the Doctor prepared for the worst...the cube merely slid open one of its side to show nothing inside.

"What's happening?" Avalon asked quickly, sensing something worse would happen if the cube was showing 'nothing'. That nothing would turn into something in a surprise and harm the Doctor when he's off guard.

"There is nothing in here," the Doctor stood up, staring at the cube with a scowl, "Why? Why is there nothing inside? Why? It doesn't make any sense!" he left the chamber and went for thee technician rooms to see what had occurred outside, "Glasses, is it the same? Is it the same all around the world?" he gathered from the various screens in front of him.

"They're empty," Kate remarked, "We're safe. Right?"

"I don't think so," Avalon voiced her opinion, "because what if they're just playing us? This could be a decoy while the real attack happens with some other thing."

"All along, every action has been deliberate," the Doctor relayed, "Why draw attention to the cubes, if they don't contain anything?"

Amy, who had been staring at the videos while the others spoke, was the first to see the 'real action' take place, "Doctor, look," she pointed, alarmed.

The videos were all showing people gripping their chests and collapsing to the ground. The technician overseeing the monitors spoke up, "They're CCTV feeds from across the world, showing the same."

"People are dying," Avalon gasped in horror, "See! I told you!"

"They can't be dying," the Doctor disagreed, "How? How are they dying?"

Kate turned to the technician with an important task in mind, "I want information on how people are being affected."

"The cubes brought people close together. They opened and—" the Doctor couldn't continue when a sharp pain ran through his chest.

Seeing him fall onto a chair with a cry of pain, Avalon and Amy were at his side, "Doctor, what's the matter!?" Avalon wanted to help him but with his frizzy movements she couldn't lay a finger on him.

"Uh! Ah! I don't know!"

"Posters are logging a global surge in heart failure, cardiac arrest," the technician Kate had ordered finally gave an explanation.

"That's it. Ah!" the Doctor yelled, "Ah! Oh. Only one heart. Other one's not working!" he pounded on his chest.

"Okay! We need to get you to the hospital!" Amy declared and went to get him up with Avalon when the Doctor pushed them away.

"No no no no no! Just a second," he pushed his chair back to the desk, "Come, show me 10 seconds after the cubes opened. Show me the patterns in their electrical current. See?"

"No," Kate shook her head.

"Yes, the power cut. They sucked the power and then - aah! They're signal boxes! People - wham! Pure electrical surge out of the cube, targeted at the nearest human heart. The heart! An organ powered by electrical current, short-circuited. How to destroy a human? Go for the heart. Ow! Crikey Moses!"

"We need to get you out of here!" Avalon exclaimed.

Kate looked up from the monitor she was at, "Doctor, the scan you set running. The transmitter locations. It's found them."

"Oh, look at them all, pulsing, bold as brass. Seven of them, all across the world. (pounds chest) Ow! Seven stations, seven minutes. Why is that important? Ah-aaah! Ha ha ha ow! Ow!" the Doctor looked at Avalon and Amy, "How do you people manage one heart? It is pitiful!"

"I'm sorry, did you just really call me 'pitiful'?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, desisting in all movements to help him, "Are you really going down that road?"

"No, ma'am," the Doctor cleared his throat and shifted his attention to the monitor, still fighting the unbearable pain within his chest, "The wormhole. Bridging two dimensions. Seven of them, hitched on to this planet. But - but – but where's the closest one? Glasses, zoom in."

The technician zoomed in to the location and revealed a very familiar London building to the two gingers in the room.

"That's the hospital where Rory works," Avalon blinked, "We've got to get there now!"

~ 0 ~

In no time had they arrived at Rory's hospital. The Doctor tried leading the group with a hand over his chest, "How many deaths have been recorded?" he glanced at Kate beside him.

"We don't know. We think it could be a third of the population."

"Kate, I have to find the wormhole. But the attacks could still happen. Tell the world. Tell them how to deal this. The world needs your leadership right now."

"I'll do my best," the blonde promised and walked back.

Not a second later after she'd left did the Doctor fall against a wall with a cry of agony, "Agh!"

"Okay we need to fix you," Avalon declared and started looking around for something to help them.

"How long are you going to last with only one heart?" Amy sighed as she helped him stand with an arm around his shoulders.

"Not much longer," he started scanning the place with the sonic, "I need to locate the wormhole portal. Hello. Hello!" he found a young girl holding one of the cubes, "Oh, hello," he went up to her, "You are giving off some very strange signals."

The girl made no oral response and instead glowed a brilliant blue, startling the trio, "Oh my God," Amy blinked.

"Outlier droid monitoring everything. If I shut her down, I can," with the sonic's help the girl started swaying back and forth as she lost power, "Ah. It's all right. It's all right..." but his own strength was flailing, "Ava, Amy, I can't!" he slid to the floor, "I can't do it. I need both hearts. Ah! Aah!"

"Oh that is it!" Avalon huffed and stomped down the hallway, clearly searching for something.

"What's she doing!?" Amy narrowed her eyes as she studied the other ginger's movements.

Avalon returned to them with a defibrillator in hands, something the Doctor was immediately shooting down, "No! No, no, no, no, that won't work! I'm a Time Lord!"

"Yes," Avalon got on her knees, "you're a Time Lord with one working heart!"

"No, Ava!" He refused when she opened his shirt.

"Oh relax, it's nothing I haven't done before!"

"Hey!" Amy frowned at the implication, "Ew, grandmother, remember?" she pointed at herself.

"Shush, I'm saving my husband," Avalon snapped, "Clear!" and she applied the charge which instantly got results.

"Ooh!" the Doctor sat upright, feeling the blast of energy, "Welcome back, Lefty. Whoa-hoa! Two hearts!" he jumped to his feet and pulled Avalon with him, "Whoo! Back in the game. And Never do that to me again," he firmly pointed at Avalon who barely caught up with his radical movements.

"Okay, but then don't come whining to me tonight when I say no and go to sleep!"

"No, wait, not that," the Doctor immediately frowned, "Not that! I meant that!" He pointed at the defibrillator behind them.

"Sorry," Avalon raised a hand and walked off, "C'mon, then, portal awaits!"

"I hate when she does that," the Doctor huffed then noticed the distasteful face Amy had for him, "What?"

"Grandmother!" she pointed at herself again, "Ew?" would they ever understand neither she nor Rory ever wanted to hear what went on between him and Avalon in their bedroom.

~ 0 ~

They arrived at the lift where the Doctor's sonic had led them to. When the doors slid open, the trio peered inside to find a regulator lift.

"Oh, portal to another dimension in a goods lift?" Amy frowned at the sight.

The Doctor checked his sonic's examination results, "The energy signals converge here. Does seem a bit cramped, though," he stepped in followed by the two gingers. The back wall seemed to ripple attracting the Doctor's attention. He poked it and glanced at the two women, all sharing bright smiles, "Through the looking-glass, Ava."

"I loved that story," Avalon beamed as he took her hand.

"I loved hearing you read it to me."

Amy rolled her eyes, "Eugh!" she pushed past them and went through the wall first. She came to a spaceship which consisted of old hospital gurneys that held her husband and her father-in-law, "Rory!"

"Where the hell are we?" asked Avalon when she and the Doctor came through.

"We're in orbit. One dimension to the left," the Doctor shrugged.

Amy turned to them and pointed to Rory across the room, "Rory's unconscious!"

The Doctor reached inside his jacket's pocket and pulled out a small jar he handed to Amy, "Seborean smelling salts. Outlawed in seven galaxies."

Amy was hesitant to use such jar but took the chance and ran over to Rory. Upon getting a whiff, Rory sat upright with wide eyes.

"Rory, you're back!" Avalon excitedly hugged him.

"Amy, get them out of here," tasked the Doctor, "And you too, now."

At that, Avalon pulled away from her hug and turned to the Doctor, "No, what are you going to do on your own?"

The Doctor moved on to Brian's gurney and pushed it towards them, "Absolutely no idea. Get him through the portal," and he started helping them when someone fired at them. The Doctor looked back and saw a lone, bald man in a dark cloak and chapped, wrinkled skin.

"So many of them, crawling the planet, seeping into every corner," he was saying.

"What the hell is that?" Avalon stopped but was forced to continue out of the room by her grandparents. They returned to the lift and into the hallway while Brian was stirring awake, "Did we just really leave my husband behind?" she faced Amy and Rory.

"Of course not," Amy huffed at the accusation, "Don't you realize? We'd never leave him, nor you."

"Well..." Avalon crossed her arms, her eyes flickering between one grandparent to another, "...it's just, lately, I feel like you leaving the Doctor and the TARDIS means you'll be leaving me too."

"What?" Rory frowned, "How can you say that, Ava?"

"Because I barely see you anymore," Avalon dropped her arms to her sides in frustration, "and I try to act like it's all alright but deep down I don't want you to go. I like having my family/friends with me in that blue box."

"We need you to understand something for us," Rory came up and put his hands on her shoulder, keeping her still and looking directly at him and Amy, "Even if we do decide to leave the travelling it does not mean we are leaving you."

"Yeah, you're our granddaughter for god's sake," Amy shook her head, "How can you think we'd ever leave you?"

"I dunno..." Avalon played with her foot, "Cos when the Doctor talks about his previous companions he always says how much he misses them cos he doesn't visit them. He leaves them or they leave him. I don't want that to happen to you two."

"It's not," Rory declared with a sigh, "Because we are never going to let that happen. We stay and you'll come and visit us. And sometimes we'll come visit you."

"But we will always be a family," Amy finished.

"Promise?" Avalon whispered, believing herself to sound like a child.

"Promise," went both grandparents before hugging their granddaughter. When the moment was finished, they rejoined the Doctor and discovered the alien was still conversing with the mysterious man - one who apparently believed humans to be an 'epidemic' that needed to be stopped.

"What does he mean by 'Tally'?" asked Amy, still trailing the man with slight distaste, "What is that?"

The Doctor wasn't too happy to have his wife and friends back in direct danger. He knew he couldn't force them to leave and for the sake of time he didn't press, "Some people call it "Judgment Day" or "the Reckoning.""

Avalon glanced at him with surprise, "What? You don't know?"

"I've never wanted to find out."

"Before the Closure, there is the Tally," the Shakri declared, "The Shakri serves the Tally!"

"The pest controllers of the universe. That's how the tales went, isn't it?" the Doctor frowned.

"Wait, so you'r'e afraid of an exterminator?" Avalon snorted, crossing her arms and putting a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh, "What kind of bedtime stories are those?"

"Well you can talk," the Doctor turned to her, crossed she was making fun of him, "Your stories are no better. A wolf in your grandmother's nightdress?"

Avalon raised an eyebrow and stepped closer, "Are you making fun of your wife's favorite classic fairy-tales?"

"N-no," the Doctor quickly faced the Shakri again, "So!" he clapped his hands, desperate for a change of topics, "Here you are, depositing slug pellets all over the Earth, made attractive so humans will collect them, hoping to find something beautiful inside. Because that's what they are. Not pests or plague - creatures of hope, forever building and reaching. Making mistakes, of course, every life form does, but - but - they learn. And they strive for greater and they achieve it. You want a tally? Put their achievements against their failings, through the whole of time. I will back humanity against the Shakri every time."

"The Tally must be met. The second wave will be released," the Shakri moved to the keyboard and began typing.

Amy watched the actions in alarm, "What does that mean?"

"It's going to release more cubes to kill more people," the Doctor's eyes widened.

"The human plague, breeding and fighting. And, when cornered, their rage to destroy. You're too late, Doctor. The Tally shall be met."

Amy panicked when the man disappeared, "He's gone!"

"He was never really here," the Doctor dismissed as he moved to the computer, "Just the ship's automated interface. Like a talking propaganda poster. I can stop the second wave," he pulled out the sonic to use, "I can disconnect all the Shakri craft from their portals, leave them drifting in the dark space. Ah, but all those people who were near the cubes, so many of them will have died."

"I restarted one of your hearts," Avalon blinked, 'Could that work?"

"You'd need mass defibrillation," Rory said.

"Of course. Ah, beautiful. But, Ponds, Ponds, we're going to go one better than that," the Doctor pointed at them, "The Shakri used the cubes to turn people's hearts off. Bingo! We're going to use them to turn them back on again."

"Will that work?" Amy raised an eyebrow, sensing it too easy.

"Well, creatures of hope. Has to," the Doctor shrugged and worked for a couple more minutes, "30 seconds. Don't let me down, cubes. You're working for me, now," the ship lurched them to the side a bit, "Oh, dear," the Doctor got a glimpse of the computer and stepped back, tugging on Avalon's arm to join him as well, "All those cubes. There's going to be a terrible wave of energy ricocheting around here, any second. Run!"

The Ponds had no choice to follow, just barely missing the explosion behind them.

~ 0 ~

The only way to finish a day filled with explosions and an almost-invasion was to cook a nice dinner for the family in the evening. Amy showed Avalon a classic recipe that she had apparently picked up in the months of their absence and it turned out that the two actually made a good cooking team. It was a pleasant evening until the time came to leave.

"We'd better get going," the Doctor glanced at Ava to see if she would agree or not. If it was hard for him to leave the Ponds, it was ten times harder for her - they were literally family.

Thankfully, she seemed to agree as she nodded and stood up, "Right, lots and lots of things to do, um." She hugged Amy then Rory and went around the table to hug Brian last.

"Look," the Doctor settled his hands on the shoulders of Amy and Rory, "I know, you both have lives here, beautiful, messy lives. That is what makes you so fabulously human. You don't want to give them up. I understand."

"Actually, it's you they can't give up, Doctor," Brian said with 100% assurance, "And I don't think they should. Go with him. Go save every world you can find. Who else has that chance? Life will still be here."

"Why don't you come, Brian?" Avalon suggested, "It'd be really cool to have my grandparents and my great grandfather in the TARDIS."

"Nah," Brian patted her hand, "Somebody's got to water the plants." He then looked at the Doctor. "Just bring them all back safe."

"I will," the Doctor nodded, simultaneously reaching for Avalon's hand to squeeze.

Avalon couldn't help beam all the way to the blue box as she held her husband's hand and ushered her grandparents inside her home. She waved goodbye at Brian with the brightest smile and then disappeared inside.

A/N:

Ugh, there's only a couple chapters left before it's time to say bye, bye to the Ponds *cries*. It'll be the end of an era!

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27emailsicantsend · 2 years ago

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Chapter Four: Nighttime Adventures

December

I guess high school never ends. You sure got a lot to say, when you're talkin' on my name. You sure got a lot to say, but did you tell them everything? Oh, and when you dance with the devil, the devil's gonna dance with you. Oh, and when you play with fire, the flame's gonna burn you, too. Starting rumors, it's nothing new, yeah... She said, he said, she said.

-”SHE SAID HE SAID SHE SAID”, Joshua Bassett

Red was laying on his bed, throwing a hacky sack up and down lazily. Ricky ushered him home after getting shakes with the other theater kids. After giving Gina a quick kiss on the cheek (met with many teasing noises from the theater crowd), he told Big Red they needed to hang out. Ricky knew if he would have framed it as a “want”, Red wouldn’t have agreed.

So, when the two finally got back to his place, Ricky sat on the large chair in Red’s basement and demanded Red to tell him what happened. Red wasn’t hard to get to talk. He flopped backwards on his bed and came clean about what was making him so woeful at the restaurant.

“We broke up. For good this time,” Big Red lamented.

“How... how soon did this happen?” Ricky was hoping Red wouldn’t say what he was worried about him saying... Ricky was wrong.

“Right before Gina’s performance”. Really? Ricky thought. Ricky recognized how painful that must have been; Red watching Ricky make this large romantic gesture right after Red had just broken up with his girlfriend. The same girlfriend that he promised he wanted to be with for good over the summer.

“I- I- am so sorry, Red. I don’t-�� Ricky stuttered.

“Know what to say,” Big Red finished Ricky’s sentence. “It’s ok, I figured you wouldn’t. I just appreciate you being here”.

Ricky knew Big Red wasn’t saying anything vindictive, but somehow he still took Red’s sentiment a little negatively.

Figured I wouldn’t know what he had to say? Ricky wondered. Why do I struggle so badly with words? They’re just words.

“H-How did it happen?” Ricky was desperately wishing he could just be there for Red, but Red’s comment made his struggle to help more apparent. It was like his brain was full of a deep fog and helpful words were floating around, but every time his hands grasped for one, the words dissolved.

“Ashlyn,” Red sighed, holding the hacky sack this time instead of letting it fly. “She said she wanted to figure things out with me, with Maddox, and partially with herself. She said she couldn’t explore her feelings honestly in a committed relationship”. Red sat up, still looking glum as he gave the hacky sack tiny squishes with his thumb and forefinger. “I appreciate her being truthful, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t sting”.

Ricky sat on the bed next to Red, putting an arm around his shoulder. “You’ll find someone,” Ricky said before pausing. He remembered something that might be helpful for Red to hear, “all in due time”.

Red met Ricky with a “thanks” and then asked to play some video games. It was apparent Red was done talking which made Ricky relieved. He wanted to help Red where he could, but he knew he could distract Red easier than talk it out. Ricky knew that just being there with Red was what really mattered to him. Ricky grabbed a controller and tossed it to Red; both boys playing Halo for the rest of the night.

The next week was a weird, wonderful, scary, exhilarating, disaster. As much as Ricky knew Gina and him being public would cause a lot of tension, he wasn’t prepared for how much attention. People they didn’t know were acting like they had been best friends for years, he had tripled the amount of followers and comments on his social media and Gina had about quadrupled hers, they had to lock the entire school down for filming so paparazzi wouldn’t show up and take photos (this still happened with the original cast filming there, but it got worse when Ricky and Gina became publicly official), Ricky was receiving random “hate” notes in his locker, and neither Gina or he could walk around in public anymore without someone feeling the need to comment on their relationship. Ricky was right, Gina did receive a lot of comments about her being a “cheater”, but he also received comments about being a “homewrecker”. Ricky and Gina loved being able to hold hands and kiss freely around their friends, as well as date publicly, but their fantasies continually broke as the public crowd would often invade them.

Ricky knew he needed a break. His life had felt nonstop since the beginning of the year and he was about to collapse under the pressure. Zac insisted they walk around the halls and sing “Scream” together to help Ricky sort out his stress, but Ricky just thanked him and said he had other plans. He was going back to Chicago to see his mom.

Ricky invited Gina to come, but Gina also recognized that with the overbearingness of Dani, her tight schedule, trying to see Ricky when she could; she had rarely been around her mom, something she looked forward to so much since Ms. Porter had moved back. Gina figured this was a good opportunity to spend some time with her mom. So Ricky found himself on a solo flight to Chicago.

When Ricky finally landed, Lynn welcomed him with open arms. He told her how bad he felt about the last time he saw her... spending so much time wallowing over Nini and ditching her; he wanted to make it up to Lynn. So they spent Friday night and all day Saturday exploring the city like Lynn had originally planned last year. The pair took a lot of photos, ate way too much pizza, and Lynn even bought Ricky several new clothing items. Surprisingly, Ricky only got noticed a couple of times in public, and neither of the notices were met with hostility. They were compliments on Gina and Ricky as a couple, as well as asking if he knew if there would be another documentary again soon.

The entire experience felt surreal. Ricky hadn’t felt this at peace in months. It was like he had forgotten to breathe and now he was getting all of the fresh air the world had to offer, savoring every last bit of it.

When Lynn and Ricky got back to her apartment, they set down all of their shopping bags on the floor and headed toward the living room to watch a Christmas movie. They sat on opposite ends of the couch before Lynn flicked on the TV and began to scroll through different streaming channels. As she was scrolling, she nonchalantly asked Ricky, “so, what are your Christmas plans for Gina?”

Ricky felt all of that fresh air leave, suddenly unable to breath again from panic. Gina. Christmas. He had gotten so wrapped up in the insanity of November that he completely forgot about getting her a Christmas gift. Ricky remained quiet. As per usual, he didn’t know what to say.

“You didn’t get her one?” Lynn answered her own question.

Ricky looked into his lap and began to play with his fingers. He knew he needed to get her something, but his mind was coming up blank.

“Ricky? Why not?” Lynn didn’t ask this accusatorily, but more concerned.

“I-I don’t know. I wanted to get her a guitar because it’s something we’ve been doing together, but dad said no,” Ricky said, still fiddling with his hands.

“I think your dad was right on that one. Guitars are-”

“-Expensive, I know,” Ricky intercepted Lynn’s thought, feeling half-irritated. “And don’t ask me to get her a pick either. I’m not going down that road again”.

Lynn sighed and hit her thighs with her hands. “Ok,” she said as she shuffled her way over to Ricky’s side of the couch, placing an arm around him. “Then let’s get her something wonderful”.

“Like what? I tried asking my buddy, Jet, but he was absolutely no help. He just went off on some tangent about ‘love languages’,” Ricky gestured in frustration.

“Maybe Jet was right?” Lynn shrugged. “Do you know what Gina’s is?”

“I think it’s gift giving? At least, that’s what Jet and I deduced last time we talked”.

“And why is that?”

“Because,” Ricky blushed, thinking about his conversation with Gina after the documentary promo. His mom didn’t need to know every detail Gina said about the hat. “She knitted me a hat... and she got very excited when I gave her chocolates,” Ricky said the last part quickly. He knew Lynn would embarrass him over the hat if he spent too much time talking about it.

“A hat?! She made you a hat?! That is the sweetest thing ever, Ricky! Do you still have it? Can I see it?” Lynn gushed. Too late.

“No, mom. You can’t,” Ricky concluded followed by Lynn pursing her lips. “Let’s just think about what I could give her. Luckily, because it’s gift giving, as long as she gets a gift she’ll be happy, right?”

“Not necessarily,” Lynn rubbed her hand on his arm in a comforting way. She could tell Ricky felt frustrated. “Sometimes,” she pulled one of her hand-knitted blankets across both of their laps, “it’s about the meaning behind the gift. I really think the guitar could have been a good idea because of what it meant to you both. But you know your father couldn’t afford that”.

“Sometimes it feels like we can barely afford a box of cereal,” Ricky replied sarcastically. “I would get a job, mom, but everything Miss Jenn has us doing is keeping me so busy-”

“Ricky, hey, it’s ok” Lynn said calmly as she pulled his chin up with her hand, smiling sweetly at him. “I know you’re busy. I just mean, maybe we need to think a little outside of the box. What is something that is really important to Gina?”

Lynn moved her hand and Ricky looked down at the blanket, now fumbling with it instead of his hands.

Ricky responded, “Well... she likes dancing, singing, learning things on YouTu-” That’s it, Ricky thought. It was like Ricky was struck by the most brilliant idea he’d ever had. He knew exactly what to get Gina.

“What?” Lynn asked confused.

Oh, right, I’ve got to say it out loud, Ricky remembered.

“She knitted me that hat, mom! You know how to knit. Do you think you could help me make her something?”

“Well,” Lynn laughed, “we only have one day left together, so I probably couldn’t help you finish it. I could, however, teach you so you can finish it on your own time”.

Lynn and Ricky began to toss ideas around what to make Gina. They thought about also making her a hat, or maybe a cute ornament, or even a keychain, but Ricky wanted it to be something Gina could wear, so Lynn and he collectively decided on a scarf. She hurried to where she keeps her knitting supplies and let Ricky pick out the yarn. He chose the same colors Gina made the hat: maroon and burnt orange. Then, Lynn and he spent the rest of the night and the next day in scarf making lessons. Luckily, Lynn was letting Ricky take any supplies he needed home with him, so he felt like he could finish the scarf in time.

Ricky continued to work on the scarf on the plane, when he got home, and later on that night. Just as Ricky was finishing up his portion of the scarf for the night, he received a call. He looked at the ID, a picture of Gina making an adorable pouty face in a mirror.

“Hey cutie!” He answered, so excited to finally hear from Gina after not talking all weekend.

“Do you have a minute to talk?” Gina sounded worried.

“Of course? What’s going on?” Ricky put the scarf down instinctively, a sense of protectiveness starting to course through him.

“It’s Dani,” Gina said apprehensively.

Gina began to explain that Dani was making Gina’s life even worse. All week she had been making fun of her in the halls, making threats that she was going to destroy everything Gina owned, and try to get her kicked off of the dance team. Gina explained feeling so helpless in the situation, which only illuminated Ricky’s protective side. He was furious at Dani.

“Are you kidding me?? That’s not ok, Gina! No one should ever talk to you like that, regardless of the circumstances. I’m going to go find her right now and tell her to back off-” Ricky fumed.

Gina jumped in quickly to stop him, “-Wait! Ricky, don’t. It’s not worth it... I’m calling you because there is more. I think she’s making fake social media accounts to cause more trouble. I’ve already had three news sources asking to talk about my ‘lingering feelings’ for EJ and why I would ever choose someone like you. They said they got videos of me saying I was still head-over-heels for EJ and just want him. And I never, ever said that. Please Ricky, you have to believe me,” Gina begged.

Ricky did believe Gina. He didn’t believe that snake.

“How do you know it’s her for sure?” Ricky pressed, making sure they had the right suspect.

“Because one of them actually sent me a video and it was me during dance. I was talking to another girl about how I still had lingering feelings for you at camp and was wondering why I ever chose EJ. I think she cut the video and manipulated it to make it sound like I was talking about you both in reverse. I’m so sorry... I didn’t know this would happen...” Gina trailed off.

“Gi, you don’t have to apologize to me. I believe you,” Ricky reassured her. “Let’s keep living our lives the best we can for now until we can come up with a plan to get her to stop. Have you gotten something to eat? Any sleep? What do you need?”

“No, I’m exhausted. The problem is, I am so on edge over all of this, it’s making it hard to sleep. Ricky, I just want to be with you,” Gina requested.

“Be right over”. Ricky said, hanging up his phone and throwing on his coat. He was pretty sure he heard Gina say, “wait, what?” before he hung up, but he wasn’t going to let her talk him out of helping her. And Ricky knew she would try. He didn’t want her to feel bad for needing him.

Ricky walked up to Gina’s two-story house. It was white and plain, blending in with the surrounding homes. The porch light was on, reflecting some snow covered rocks below the main windows. Ricky grabbed a handful of them, wiping the cold moisture off of them onto his coat. He then went to the side of the house and unlatched the fence, making his way to the backyard where a balcony stood boldly above him. The balcony was connected to her room, another balcony on the opposite side of the house connected to Mrs. Porter’s room. He saw Gina’s light on and then her figure pacing around the room.

He took a rock in his hand and threw it at the window. It met the glass with a loud, “thump!”. Gina looked over but shook her head and continued to pace. Ricky threw two more rocks, thump, thump. He saw Gina walk over to a chair near the door and grab her coat laying on it. She walked onto the balcony, looking like a cozy winter dream in her coat and pajamas.

“Ricky? You’re going to wake the neighbors! What are you doing he-” she whispered loudly at him, now having approached the banister.

“I came to help you fall asleep!” Ricky’s volume matching hers.

Gina smiled as she rolled her eyes. He knew she wouldn’t be mad. He took her eyeroll as the signal to make his way up to her balcony. There was a large tree next to where she was standing, the perfect distance for him to get to her. So Ricky scaled up the tree, hopping over the edge once he reached her.

“You know I have stairs?” Gina said sarcastically, looking a little like Ricky with her raised eyebrow.

“Didn’t want to wake the neighbors,” Ricky said with a wink before making a cocky walk into her room.

Gina’s room was bigger than the average, but not filled tight. Ricky was sure this wasn’t just because of the size of the room, but also the little amount of items Gina had from moving so often. He looked happily around the room at her bed, filled with old stuffed animals, flattened pillows, and Rina, the monkey. He noted a chair in the corner, a large moon shape holding a fuzzy blanket. He saw some clothes piled around a laundry basket, the basket sitting right beneath a corkboard. On that corkboard was her ribbon from last Thanksgiving pinned to it. Ricky gave the ribbon an acknowledging half-smile.

Gina walked up to Ricky, wrapping her arms around his waist. He met her back with a tight hug around her upper arms as he rested his head on hers.

“So, how are you going to help me sleep?” she muffled into his chest. Ricky gave her a peck on the forehead, before giving her another tight squeeze.

“Just get into bed, you’ll see,” Ricky prompted.

Gina threw off her coat and excitedly ran to her bed, jumping on it before getting under the covers and propping herself up on one arm. Her smile was full of innocence and kindness; Ricky couldn’t shake how horrific Dani had been to someone as incredible as Gina. Ricky handed her Rina and then pulled the chair up next to her bed from the corner of the room.

“Do you have a favorite story?” Ricky asked.

“The Chronicles of Narnia,” Gina replied, eyeing her bookshelf. “But you can’t read that all to me in one night, Ricky”.

Ricky got up and examined the bookshelf, grabbing The Chronicles of Narnia off the second shelf. “Good thing you need sleep every night,” Ricky lovingly joked, sitting down in a chair. He saw Gina’s cheeks start to flush.

With a proud look on his face, Ricky opened up to page one and began reading. Gina snuggled in, hanging onto every word until eventually she fell asleep. After Ricky was sure she was sound asleep, he walked over to her and kissed her head- giving her a gentle whisper good night. He followed this by turning off her lamp and making his way quietly out the same way he came in.

***************************************************

The next two weeks leading up to play felt like a whirlwind for Ricky. Every day more and more tabloids began to reach out to Ricky and Gina, trying to discover more ways to publicize errors in their relationship. Ricky and Gina both knew it was Dani in disguise, but she seemed invincible. It seemed like every time they shut one of her accounts down, two more popped up in it’s place. Luckily, the only time they had to see Dani was at rehearsal for High School Musical 3, because dance was on pause until January. And Ricky thanked his lucky stars “Martha” didn’t have much of a role in the play, so time with Dani was limited.

Ricky also found himself trying to make ends meet with other aspects in his life too. He was trying to knit his scarf for Gina, be available for High School Musical 4 scenes, rehearse on his own time, and see Gina. Another lucky star he was grateful for was The Chronicles of Narnia, because he had an excuse to see Gina each night. Every night for those two weeks started the same: he would finish up a small section of the scarf, scale the tree outside of Gina’s house, and then read her to sleep.

After one particularly long day, a few days before the play, Ricky was putting on his pajamas after finishing another section of the scarf. He was planning on going over to Gina’s soon, but he received a knock at the door.

“Gina?” he said, puzzled to see her standing at his doorway. It was 10 at night, her pajamas were on and her hair was up in a curly, messy bun. She looked adorable with her nose being slightly pink from the cold.

“Hey,” she said, giving him a soft smile.

“Hey! Come in, it’s cold out,” Ricky said, gesturing quickly at her to get in the house. “I thought I was coming over to your house?”

“I know that’s the plan, but plans changed,” Gina said eagerly. Ricky could sense she was up to something and he was right. “Get your coat on, I’m taking you somewhere”.

Ricky laughed saying, “your wish is my command”. He took his coat off the rack, zipping it up when he heard his car keys jingle. Gina was shoving the keys in her coat pocket with a scheming grin.

“Hey now, where are you going with those, young lady?” Ricky teased.

“You’ll see,” Gina said slyly.

The pair walked outside before Ricky felt a little sense of panic. Gina had never driven his car before. She has her license, but this was his car. Red gave it to him when he got a new car, since Ricky drove it around so much. Red would kill him if it got wrecked.

“...are you sure you can drive my car?” Ricky hesitated.

“It’s an automatic, Ricky,” Gina countered, her voice dry.

“Right,” Ricky resolved.

Once he saw Gina get into the driver’s seat, he felt his worry ease up. Someone that pretty couldn’t be bad at driving, right? Ricky thought to himself.

Wrong. Gina sped fast down the road, not taking care for speed bumps, ran at least one stop sign, and she forgot to turn her lights on until about five minutes in when Ricky reminded her. But even Ricky surprised himself when he realized he wasn’t mad or scared- he was exhilarated. Driving fast, not being sure if they would hit ice, defying every rule society had made for cars, the adventure felt wild and new. He liked not caring what others thought and just enjoying the moment with Gina by his side. It was an enlightening, thrilling, rush that he didn’t want to slow down.

But, alas, the couple made it to their destination, which meant the joyride had to slow down temporarily. Ricky looked at their surroundings of where Gina had pulled up. He saw trees, dirt, and no other sign of living. They were outside a forest. Ricky started to get heavy Déjà vu from the Woman in the Woods.

“Uh... Gi? What are we doing out here, exactly?” He said, slowly unbuckling his seatbelt. Gina was already outside her car door.

“Afraid of adventure, Ricky Bowen? Are you a chicken?” Gina mocked outside the car, now standing in front of the passenger side.

“In your dreams,” Ricky said as he got out. He rushed over to Gina, aggressively tickling her waist. Gina giggled and squealed under Ricky. Once she was able to worm her way out of his grasp, she grabbed Ricky’s slightly sweaty hand (she didn’t say anything) and led him into the woods with a “c’mon!”

Gina found a path that was actually meant for night hiking. It had lights leading the entire way up, with signs in neon colors that made it easy to navigate. It was cold, but surprisingly not so cold Ricky couldn’t handle it. Or maybe the adrenaline was keeping him warm- he wasn’t sure.

Ricky and Gina headed up the trail together.

Most of the bushes and flowers were stick like, the last leaves hanging on. The trees folded around the couple, enveloping them like a heavy shadow. They heard an owl hooting in the distance, as well as the branches and spots of snow crunching under their feet. The two of them didn’t say much for awhile, as they walked together peacefully in silence. Being hand in hand with Gina made this adventure surprisingly easy for Ricky. His fear seemed to wash away each moment he was with her.

“Maybe this is what our characters felt like,” Gina remarked, finally cracking the silence.

“What do you mean?” Ricky could feel his brain scanning for any connection to the woods, cold, and Gabriella and Troy.

“Kristoff and Anna? When they went hiking in the woods it was cold. I wonder if this is what they felt like, Gina pondered.

Duh, thought Ricky.

“Isn’t it funny we get to be leads again?” Ricky smiled to himself.

“Ricky, you’re the lead every year,” Gina said, her tone dry once again.

“I just mean with you, Gi. It’s so nice getting to be leads with you again. It’s making my senior year worth it...” Ricky couldn’t bare to finish his thought. He’d been trying to bring up that he might not stay close to home for college. He’d been thinking about the adventures being outside of Salt Lake might bring, knowing he had never really explored outside of his own home until summer camp. Ricky still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, but every time he got close to talking to Gina about it, it was like his mouth was sewn shut. He just couldn’t get himself to speak... about any of it.

“...I’m glad,” Gina had waited a second before speaking, but when she did she stopped to look at Ricky, not releasing his hand.

“I’m a little worried about ‘Can I Have This Dance’, though”, Ricky said, thinking about how uncoordinated the practice attempts had been. Every time they practiced, either Ricky had two left feet again, Dani would try to intervene on Gina’s choreography (Gina got to choreograph this number), or Miss Jenn would stop rehearsal just as Ricky was starting to feel like he got the dance down.

“Maybe we should practice it one more time?”

“Out here?” Ricky said, his eyebrow once again positioning itself high on his forehead.

“Yeah, out here. No one else has been around since we started up this trail...” Gina noted, letting go of Ricky’s hand. She took her phone out of her coat pocket and set it on the ground nearby. She tapped it a few times before the music to “Can I Have This Dance” started to play. She stood back up, holding out her hand as she sang:

Take my hand, take a breath

Pull me close, and take one step

Ricky took a deep breath as he decided to trust Gina. The two began to dance along to the song, but Ricky couldn’t seem to trust himself. He began to fumble his footsteps, as Gina kept steady through the first verse. He stayed concentrated on his toes, watching his every move diligently.

When Ricky and Gina finally sang the line “wherever we go next”, Ricky took a major over step and almost messed up the entire dance. He had been paying so much attention to his feet, that they seemed to stop listening to him completely.

Gina took Ricky’s chin and lifted it up to her face. “Ricky, trust me,” she quietly urged him before the chorus. Maybe he hadn’t been trusting her. He tried again.

They continued to dance, with Ricky now refocused only on Gina’s eyes. He was able to gather his thoughts more clearly which helped him to finally grasp the movement of the dance. It was like he had been seeing the steps the whole time, but now he was finally using them.

Ricky was able to take the lead by the time Troy took the lead in the second verse. Around the end of the verse, Ricky saw a fleck of snow hit Gina’s cheek. He moved it away with his thumb and softly said, “snow” before the next bridge started.

The two danced and swayed around the forest, improvising moves around the trees and stumps in their pajamas and winter coats. It was like everything from the dance had finally clicked and they were moving together in harmony now. Every lift, spin, and turn were performed with grace; the dance elegantly twisting through the woods. The entire moment felt beautiful and simple, a metaphor for Ricky and Gina.

About the time the dance was ending, the snow began to fall heavier and heavier. It wasn’t rain. It was better. Richer, more vibrant, and more spectacular. The snow came down in large flakes, covering the bushes and trees quietly and quickly. Ricky placed his hand on Gina’s face, softly running his thumb back and forth across her cheekbone. He couldn’t think of a prettier sight as he watched the snow fall into her hair and down her face. Light snow dusted her eyelashes and nose, falling every time she blinked her large brown eyes. Ricky leaned in, his lips finding rhythm with Gina’s. It was soft, exhilarating, and wonderful as he felt completely connected to Gina. It felt like he had melted into one with Gina, thinking her same thoughts, feeling her same heartbeat, and letting gravity do the rest. In this moment, Ricky forgot about the rest of the world. Gina was what was right with his life and he never wanted to forget it.

********************************************

The night of High School Musical 3: Senior Year had finally arrived. Maddox and Ashlyn were helping each other get ready, Carlos was freaking out because he lost Chad’s basketball, Seb was trying help Miss Jenn calm down before the show, and Jet was combing out Kourtney’s hair.

Of course, Jet and Kourtney waited until the worst possible minute (as usual) to announce that they were now going to tell the world they were dating (”if Ricky can humiliate himself in front of the whole world, then I guess I can share my relationship with my favorite human” Jet said, standing protectively next to Kourtney). They shared their news right when Natalie gave the “ten minutes to opening” call.

Jet and Kourtney were a sweet couple to Ricky, but Jet was definitely a male-wife. If Kourtney asked him to jump he would say, “how high, what building, and do I need to bring anyone?” It seemed ridiculous to him that anyone could literally drop their entire life for their partner with a single bat of their eyes.

“Ricky?” Gina called him from backstage. She was on one side adjusting her microphone while he was on the other, running lines with Emmy.

“Yes, dear?” Ricky said, running over immediately to Gina.

“Will you go get my dance shoes? They’re in the dance room. I left them there after our dress rehearsal the other night. I know we only have a few minutes until we start and you and I are on stage fir-”

“-Absolutely. On it.” Ricky interjected, running out of the stage with no hesitation. He bolted his way toward the dance room, which sat at the end of the hallway from the theater. As he approached the room, slowing down his sprint to a walk, he began to hear a familiar voice.

“I know, Gina is so annoying. I’m hoping what we sent those tabloids will get rid of her for good,” the voice said coolly.

Ricky walked up quietly to the door, edging his way, so Dani hopefully wouldn’t hear him.

“Well, I don’t care that the play is almost here. I want her finished,” Dani hissed. Ricky thought about how she really was a snake. “She is taking up too much space on my stage! She literally got Gabriella, a part I had been working on for so long. I hope this article hits her where it hurts... yes, of course I made it up! You really think she would have done half of that stuff? Please. I just want her gone”.

Ricky wished he had been recording. This was firm evidence that Dani was the one who had been sending in those fake articles. Dani sounded like a villain, voicing the next steps to her evil plan. Ricky decided that if she was going to be the villain, then he was going to be Gina’s hero- serving Dani some justice.

He considered jumping in and catching Dani in the act, but Ricky realized that catching her would only be his word against hers. He checked his watch. He had about 2 more minutes until theater prayer circle. Dani walked out of the room, not noticing Ricky still pressed against the door.

Ricky skipped into the room, searching quickly for Gina’s shoes, realizing he didn’t ask her where they were. He thought that maybe in the process he might be able to find some incriminating evidence against Dani as well. Ricky saw some lockers stacked on the other side of the room, all without locks. He began to open the top doors until he got to the third one where he located Gina’s shoes.

As Ricky went to close the door, his eye picked up on a polaroid of Gina and him holding Rina, next to another polaroid of the entire cast. Ricky realized no one at school knew they were together during Gina’s time rehearsing for dance, but she still risked it anyway with photos like this. Ricky couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

Ricky quickly grabbed the shoes and raced out of the room, only to bump hard into someone- nearly knocking the breath out of him.

“Zac??” Ricky said, puzzled. While the school had been... decent about being around a celebrity constantly, the play was open to the public. He thought for sure Zac of all people wouldn’t be there. He was genuinely surprised to not see a bunch of fans gathered around Zac in the hall.

“Little Zac!! What are you doing here?” Zac asked excitedly.

“Uh... It-It’s opening night? I’m playing Troy? Your character?.... Remember?” Ricky wondered how Zac functioned sometimes.

“I knew that, Little Zac,” Ricky took back his last thought. “I just meant outside of the dance room. Isn’t the show starting in like, five minutes?”

“Right. Got to go!” Ricky started to run again.

“Hey, Little Zac!” Zac called out behind him.

Ricky didn’t have time for this.

“Yes?” Ricky said, slightly annoyed because he needed to go.

“Good luck out there. I’ve been really impressed by you. I couldn’t think of anyone else I would want to play Troy. I came to see you,” Zac revealed.

Ricky froze. A twinge of guilt hit as he thought about how he treated or thought about Zac. He didn’t realize Zac thought so highly of him. The whole moment caught him off guard.

Ricky turned around and gave Zac a quick “thanks,” before picking up his pace and running back to the theater. He rounded the corner to the backstage, nearly taking his arm off as he grabbed the door frame to swing him in.

“Told you guys he’d come back!” Gina exclaimed, before smiling softly at Ricky. “He always does”.

Miss Jenn ushered everyone into the prayer circle. Ricky handed Gina her shoes to which she neatly tucked under her right arm, and then used her left hand to lace her fingers with Ricky. Ricky used his free hand to grab Red’s on the other side.

Ricky turned his face to meet Red’s for a second, they both smiled at each other understandingly. Red seemed in slightly better spirits tonight. Ricky just hoped it would stay that way.

The show went even better than Ricky thought. There was a massive crowd due to fans of the documentary and the new movie coming out, so much so that many people had to be turned away because there wasn’t enough room in the auditorium. Ricky and Gina perfectly captured “Can I Have this Dance”, Ricky’s acoustic version of Right Here, Right Now made Gina cry on stage, and each person performed their character as though the part was made for them. Miss Jenn felt bad about turning people away for the show, so she told the theater crew she was adding an additional show during intermission. Dani also surprisingly kept to herself the entire night- probably because she was so worried about her own performance she didn’t have time to harass Gina. Overall, Ricky was very happy about how the show went.

After the show was over, Ricky went to talk to his dad and get the red roses that he had been holding onto to give to Gina. Ricky grabbed the flowers and thanked his dad with a hug, making his way to the green room where Gina would likely be reapplying her makeup.

Ricky’s intuition was right- Gina was sitting at a vanity, applying some lip gloss to her wide grin. She looked sophisticated, happy, and proud... the warm feeling Ricky had felt with her before was returning again. He just felt so good seeing her happy.

“Hey you,” Ricky said, wrapping his arms around Gina’s shoulders. She placed her hand on his, before Ricky reached his head around and gave Gina a kiss.

“Hi, Ricky Bowen... or should I say Troy?” Gina flirted back. She patted the roses. “What are these for?”

“My Gabriella,” Ricky said as he handed her the roses. He pulled up a chair and sat next to her.

“Thank you, Ricky,” Gina said with a satisfied head tilt, inhaling the scent of flowers in the plastic bag. She set them down on the vanity and began to reapply her lip gloss again. “Where to next?”

Just as Gina asked, Ricky heard a voice in the hallway. No- make that two voices? His head perked up as he sat in silence, trying to investigate where they were coming from. Gina could see that he was distracted by what was happening in the hallway. She leaned her head in a little to listen to the conversation was well.

“I’m sorry, Dani. We’ve been filming for nearly two months now, there’s not really a part we can give you,” Zac said, slightly irritated.

“But I worked so hard for this! You saw me up there, right?” Dani whimpered.

“What’s done is done. I’m sorry,” Zac settled.

Ricky gave Gina a suspicious look as he said, “I think the hallway?”

Ricky grabbed Gina’s hand before they ran out to where Zac and Dani stood. Zac looked frustrated and Dani seemed distraught. Ricky wondered how long Dani had been begging him for a part in the movie. Something felt like this hadn’t been the first time.

“Hey guys!!” Zac perked up before hugging Ricky and Gina. “Great job- both of you- I am so beyond impressed. I couldn’t think of a better Troy and Gabriella”.

“Thanks,” Ricky and Gina said simultaneously.

Vanessa Hudgens walked up behind Zac, a slight smirk on her face. Ricky had no idea she had been at the play this whole time. He saw her a few times on set, but he spent so much time trying to get away from Zac that he never really talked to Vanessa. He was touched they both came out to see Gina and him reprise their roles.

“Did you ask her yet?” Vanessa prompted Zac, nudging his arm with her hand.

“Ask me what?” Dani must have concluded that the question was about her.

“Not you,” Vanessa said- the tone coming off more aggressive than Ricky expected. “Her,” she nodded her head to Gina.

“Me? What about me?” Gina seemed puzzled.

“Well, you know how we have that one last dance number for the movie? The one where we are thinking we’ll need two choreographers because it has so many parts?” Zac asked Gina.

“Yes. Have you guys found another choreographer yet?” Gina asked, still clueless. Ricky knew where Zac was going with this though and he felt like he was going to burst from the seams; he was so excited.

“We want you to be the co-choreographer,” Zac said with a massive grin.

“Me?” Gina’s eyes widened as her face lost some color. She shook her head, as though it would snap her out of the fantasy. “Me?” She repeated.

“Yes! Will you do it? Please?” Vanessa pleaded.

“Are you kidding me?!” Dani exclaimed furiously. Ricky could see the red filling her face. “I have been begging for a month now to have a part in this and you give it to her? She’s not even the captain of the dance team! I am! The youngest one to date!”

“The youngest one to date because you blackmailed Gina for the part?” Zac asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Wha-What are you talking a-about?” Dani stuttered.

“You see,” Zac began, pacing around Dani, Gina, and Ricky. “I overheard Ricky and Gina talking about you when they were carrying in waters to the dance room one day. They thought they were alone, but I had just finished practicing a dance for one of our numbers, needed to use the bathroom, and was making my way back to the dance room. I didn’t go in, figuring it was none of my business, but Gina seemed upset so I made it my business. After hearing their conversation, I started to put pieces together and had a little chat with the dance teacher. She said she chose Gina for dance captain, but then for some ‘strange reason’, Gina gave it up and decided to take backstage? That seemed odd. Then I realized the entire conversation between Ricky and Gina was about you Dani. And you want to know what? Blackmail sucks and so do you”.

Ricky thought Zac would stop then because he took a dramatic pause, but Zac continued to talk and pace.

“But then, I thought, why not give you the benefit of the doubt? Maybe they were making it up or maybe I was overthinking the entire thing. Until I literally heard you confess what you’ve been doing in the dance room before this show.

“So, not only did you mistreat Gina for months and cause her to be overly exhausted at our movie rehearsals, but you also mistreated Ricky”.

Zac took one more pause and then gave Dani the same eyebrow raise Ricky does and said, “And didn’t you know Ricky’s nickname?”

Ricky could see the sheer panic in Dani’s eyes as she replied, “No”.

Zac’s face turned callous. “It’s ‘Little Zac’, meaning I have a responsibility to him and his name. You’re done, Dani”.

And with that, Dani stormed off down the hall.

Ricky had felt so annoyed with Zac for so long, that he was surprised how appreciative he felt for Zac. Maybe he wasn’t such a nuisance, after all.

Vanessa beamed with pride at Zac’s monologue. She turned to Gina and asked again, “so, will you co-choreograph for us? Please?”

“Absolutely,” Gina said with massive grin on her face. Vanessa squealed and gave her a hug before the two started talking nonstop about the details of choreographing the dance.

While the two girls chattered, Ricky walked up to Zac and gave him a sheepish “thanks”.

“No problem, Little Zac,” Zac said with a wink and arm tap.

“So...” Ricky lowered his voice so only he and Zac could hear. “How long have you been rehearsing that?”

Zac looked a little embarrassed but was willing to admit, “since after I overheard Dani in the dance room”.

“Did you at least watch the show?” Ricky asked, not surprised if Zac hadn’t.

“Of course I did! It’s called ‘Intermission’. I needed something to do while I waited,” Zac laughed. Ricky couldn’t stay mad at him, no matter how annoying he got sometimes. Zac felt kind of like an older brother. Ricky couldn’t help but laugh back.

Later that day, the theater crew for the play (excluding Dani, who understandably wouldn’t be there, and Miss Jenn, who was with Mike on their own date), went to the same Denny’s they had earlier to get some after-show milkshakes. A few people stopped the cast to get pictures and say hi, but the nothing that overshadowed their night out.

Ricky couldn’t help but think about last December, when he chose Nini over Gina. He felt a wave of regret for the past year and everything he and Gina had been through. So many times it felt like they would never be together, whether because of his choosing or hers. It was like the universe tried to throw every wrench it could into their relationship. But now, here he was, his arm around Gina Porter, clinking milkshake glasses with his best friends. His dad was in a good relationship, he had a chosen family, and somehow Zac Efron wanted to be his best friend? Ricky reminisced, feeling proud of last December’s show and how much it changed his life. He almost didn’t do that first show, but because of Gina, his life was entirely different in the best possible way.

Ricky watched his friends, happily relishing in the moment. He watched as Jet fed Kourtney a bite of his milkshake, Red talked excitedly to Ashlyn and Maddox (who Ricky felt like were going to date any time now), Seb fixed Carlos’ hair, and Emmy and Natalie were playing a game with the salt packets. Ricky kissed the top of Gina’s head.

“What was that for?” she asked, snuggling her head into his chest.

“I just can’t believe this is my life. I’m so happy”. And he really, truly meant it.

******************************************************

The next week, Christmas had finally rolled around. Ricky spent Christmas Eve with his dad and Miss Jenn playing games, watching movies, and eating more food than he cared to admit. On Christmas Day, Ricky went to Gina’s house. Unfortunately, Ms. Porter got called into work that day, so Gina was going to spend Christmas Day alone if he didn’t. Mike had Miss Jenn at his house, so Ricky didn’t feel too bad leaving his dad for the day.

Ricky gave Gina’s front door a few taps. She opened up the door gleefully. She was flaunting a matching t-shirt and shorts set of Christmas pajamas with gingerbread men dotting them. Her fuzzy slippers accented her slight bedhead (pulled back with a red hairband) nicely. Ricky couldn’t stop staring at how beautiful she looked.

Gina interrupted his daydream with, “so you chose the front door this time?”

“Neighbors don’t care during the day time,” Ricky sassed.

The two had made quite a bit of progress into the Chronicles of Narnia. Ricky was still sneaking over every night to read to Gina, so they were over halfway through with the book. Last night Ricky went over to read to her, but decided not to stay long since it was Christmas Eve and he assumed Gina wanted to be with Ms. Porter. Ricky was thrilled to be back with Gina again, finally seeing the Christmas pajamas she had been bragging about the night before.

Ricky and Gina spent the next few hours baking gluten-free Christmas cookies, watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (with Jim Carrey), and making paper snowflakes with kind messages to give their friends. Later on, while they were icing the cookies, they were listening to Christmas music. The song “Winter Dreams,” by Kelly Clarkson came on.

Ricky held his hand out for Gina, “Can I have this dance?”

Gina gave Ricky a dimpled half-smile as she placed her hand in his. Ricky spun her into his arms and then reversed her out, before readjusting her so that they were slow dancing in the kitchen. Ricky placed his hands around her waist, pulling Gina in close and then flopping her arms around his neck. She gently laid her head down on his shoulder as she played with her fingers in his hair. The two swayed back and forth like this for the majority of the song.

Once the song hit the second chorus, Ricky felt like he wanted to tell Gina how he felt about her. How warm she made him feel and how perfect and right every moment with her was. How every time she walked in a room, the room seemed to be showered with light and how she made even the dimmest ray of sun feel like it could brighten the entire Earth. How she made his darkest days feel like his brightest. How she had this ability to entrance him back to her over and over again.

“Gina, I-,” Ricky started to speak.

Gina lifted her head back to look at Ricky and pressed her lips softly on his. The room suddenly became quick sand, making him fall faster and faster within. He couldn’t steady himself from the rush he felt from her kiss. One touch from her was enough to make him lose focus.

“Yeah?” She asked as her face parted from his.

Ricky stared into her large, dreamy eyes. It was like they were swallowing him in. He couldn’t find the words to say. Again. He could only wonder what his inability to speak meant.

“I- I want to give you your Christmas present,” Ricky changed the subject. Gina seemed like she might have been expecting more, but she smiled as she nodded her head in agreement.

The two walked over to the fireplace, sitting down in front of it. Ricky handed her a misshapen package of Christmas paper and too much tape. Gina opened it excitedly to see a crooked scarf that matched the same hat Gina made him, which Ricky was now getting out and putting on his head.

“We match, see?” Ricky joked. Gina’s eyes began to water as she held the lump of scarf half-hazard in her arms. “I love it, Ricky Bowen. It’s perfect”.

Gina placed the scarf around her neck before she said, “I’ll be right back with yours”. Ricky gave her an “ok” in agreement as he waited patiently downstairs, batting the tassels on his hat like a cat.

Gina came back down the stairs about five minutes later, Ricky’s guitar in hand and a small blue package wrapped with a neat white bow.

“What’s this?” Ricky asked, equally excited and puzzled at what Gina could be up to.

“Well, remember all of the times I’ve been coming over and learning guitar? I wasn’t just learning for fun. You seem to understand people best through song... so I wrote you one,” Gina replied with a shrug.

Ricky’s heart played a disappearing act as he waited to hear her sing. Gina adjusted the guitar on her lap and began to strum a few chords. Gina then said, “This song is called ‘Never Let Go’” before she began to sing in a soft, melodic tone:

I’m wrapped in your arms,

tonight I hold tight, never letting go.

A feeling I can’t fight,

a soldier losing sight, it’s beginning to show.

I wished upon stars,

birthday candles left me scars, until I met you, oh.

You’re where I begin,

My favorite win, my stage at the show

So give me your hand,

I’ll take every chance, to never let go.

Ricky’s head felt empty, words felt useless- there was no matching what he just made for her. He found his heart again when he felt it in his stomach right as Gina exclaimed, “oh! And one more thing!”

Gina handed Ricky the small blue package. He studied it as his hand slowly pulled the ribbon off the box. Inside were two small silver rings, with leaves and branches engraved around the entire band. They seemed to loop infinitely. They seemed a bit... small? For his fingers.

“Gina, they’re great... but I don’t know if they’ll fit...?” Ricky hesitated as he stared at them.

“Ricky, read what’s written on the inside,” Gina nudged him with her head.

He picked up the small metal band and looked closer at the writing etched inside.

Pinky Promise

Gina, now on her knees, reached over to grab Ricky’s hand and gently slid the ring on his pinky. Then she grabbed the other one and slid it on hers.

“They’re promise rings. That we pinky promise to always come back to each other. I got the idea after the fair,” Gina explained.

Ricky studied the ring on his finger, now feeling like he was the one with tears. He rolled the ring around his finger again and again, admiring how beautiful such a small silver band could be. Simple, but beautiful.

“Is that ok?” Gina asked, probably trying to gauge Ricky’s expression.

They’re perfect. “They’re perfect,” Ricky echoed his thought out loud.

Ricky reached across the guitar and wrapping paper and gave Gina a long kiss in front of the fireplace. Sometimes it seemed like Gina knew him better than he knew himself. Gina was his serendipity.

#OCAP #Of Converse and Pavement #rina #rina week 2022 #hsmtmts #high school musical the musical the series #hsm #high school musical #ricky bowen #gina porter #ricky x gina

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annaktaylor65 · 1 year ago

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tuyet-thien · 2 years ago

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nhật ký ngày xưa

- 06/9/2009 [Người Đàn Bà Đi Nhặt Mặt Trời]

Người đàn bà đi nhặt mặt trời

Trên đống bỏ hoang của loài người

Màn đêm che lối

Tưởng rằng nắng tươi

Sương đọng trên lá

Ngỡ giọt nắng rơi

Có khi ngỡ ngàng vì nhận ra mình đã lầm đóm đóm với mặt trời

Đôi khi do lầm lũi trong một khoảng tối tăm, chợt thấy ánh sáng lập lòe ... vui mừng bấu víu rồi xem đó là mặt trời của mình

Nhận lầm ... có sao đâu vì ở hoàn cảnh đó mặt trời của ta là con đom đóm mà; quan trọng là ta chấp nhận "mặt trời" của ta

- 28/10/2009

Từ lúc nào, trên bầu trời mây đã hóa thành mưa rơi xuống trần gian

Từ lúc nào ...

- 20/11/2009

Nhớ lại lớp 12a4 năm đó, bàn đầu 3 đứa trai, bàn sau 3 đứa gái ... tên j nhỉ?

Hoàn, Hoàng, Điền

Hương, Thảo, Anh

Khung cửa sổ sao mà hẹp thế

Đi vào đời còn nhớ mãi không thôi

Nhớ ngày nào mưa trắng cả khung trời

... Ánh nắng tàn, ủ rũ những tàn cây

Nhờ con gió đưa mây về chốn cũ

Để được nhìn khung cửa sổ ngày xưa

- 01/5/2010 [Bạn Học Thời Xưa]

Dự một đám cưới; đi qua dự mới bik đó là đám cưới của thằng bạn học chung hồi cấp 2; bạn bè gặp nhau ... nhận ra nhau giữa muôn người; gặp lại em họ nó (thằng này cũng bạn học hồi cấp 2, về xem hình lúc học lớp 4 mới bik thằng này cũng học chung mình năm lớp 4); gặp lại vài thằng bạn khác, có thằng mình không nhận ra ... nhìn 1 hồi mới nhớ lại

Sáng nay đi ăn sáng lại gặp 1 thằng bạn hồi xưa học thêm chung năm lớp 9; nó cưới bé làm chung cơ quan cũ của mình; mình bik nó cưới và cũng bik bé kia cưới nhưng không ngờ là 2 chúng nó cưới nhau. Gặp lại nó mình không nhận ra nổi ... một phần vì lâu quá mới gặp lại, một phần vì nó thay đổi giao diện rất nhiều ... may mà cuối cùng vẫn nhận ra. Nó nhắc lại mình mới nhớ là thật ra mình và nó đã cùng học chung năm lớp 4

Long An có 1 mảnh nhỏ con con, Thị xã Tân An lại nằm trong cái mảnh nhỏ con con đó ... chạy lòng vòng 1 lúc tự dưng nhận ra mình quen quá nhiều người ở đây, Vậy mà hơn 20 năm mới nhận ra điều đó ... Hình như bây giờ mình bắt đầu lớn

- 02/5/2010 [Cafe]

Sáng 30/4: vì các chiến sĩ đã hy sinh quá nhiều nên lòng trĩu nặng

Hôm 29/4 đi trực đã bị dằn vặt vì sự hi sinh của các anh rồi nên 30/4 ... đuối

Sáng nay đi ăn sáng sau đó là cafe ... ôi cảm giác ngày xưa. Từ hồi đá banh lại bỏ hẳn cafe ... vào quán ngồi kêu nước, cà khịa mấy bé phục vụ, giở lời ong bướm. Ngồi giả lã tới tận trưa ... thấy lòng nhẹ lại, vui hơn ... ko bik là do chai Dr Thanh hay là do nói nhảm ở quán nữa

ps: nghe bài tình yêu tôi hát ... hát cho ta hay hát cho người

- 08/5/2010 [Bích Lệ]

- Em cứ ngồi khóc, khóc cho nỗi niềm không biết tỏ cùng ai. Thời gian lặng lẽ trôi, hằn dấu trên đôi mắt đang đong đầy lệ thắm ... khi cuộc tình trôi qua là bích lệ em rơi. Em vội vã giấu chúng vào trong mắt, giấu vào gối ấm, giấu vào góc phòng. Từng đêm trôi qua với những mộng mị không trọn vẹn. Từng hơi thở ngột ngạt trong lồng ngực như muốn vở tung ra, đôi vai gầy run lên, giọng lạc đi ... vẫn gượng cười vì tin rằng cười sẽ tốt hơn ... dẫu tin thế nhưng cuối cùng em vẫn khóc.

- Anh nghe, thấy, cảm nhận và bất lực nhìn ... bích lệ vẫn tuôn ... muốn an ủi, muốn ôm em, muốn em cười và mong nụ cười ngăn được dòng nước mắt, ngăn được nỗi niềm chôn giấu trong em nhưng bất lực nhìn ... vì anh không là gì trong muôn vàn nỗi niềm của em ... vì anh chỉ là ... chỉ là người thừa. Một chấm nhỏ - anh - nằm lặng lẽ trong bức tình thư em viết cho người yêu, vết mực rơi vô tình không thấy được tất cả tình cảm của em và người ấy nhưng giọt nước mắt của em vì sao lại rơi trên chấm nhỏ vô tri trong triệu triệu chữ ái ân.

Trên khóe mắt...

... còn lưu...

... dòng bích lệ.

Ai khóc? em hay tôi.

- 17/7/2010 [Du Lịch]

Đi thành phố HCM, lên ghe "cánh ngầm" ra biển; cảm giác đi cánh ngầm thật khác lạ nhất là khi mắc tiểu; đứng chờ tới lượt vào tolet rồi vào mới bik, dựa hẳn vào thành rồi ... tè, cứ dập dềnh, dập dềnh

Tới nơi hơn 5 giờ chiều, trời âm u nhưng anh em vẫn quyết định đi tắm ... hơi lạnh, đói, mệt nhưng vui, tắm biển xong về tắn lại rồi ăn cơm, rồi cafe OCAP I ... leo lên tận chóp núi, cafe xong lại ra bãi biển ngồi nhậu ... uống không nổi nên lủi về phòng nhắn tin

Sáng sớm sau khi ăn uống xong thì đi tắm biển, ngâm mình gần 2 tiếng đống hồ ... mệt ghê, về phòng tắm rửa, ăn cơm .... trên đường về ghé qua chợ Bà Rịa mua 1 cái móc có kết tên để tặng người khác, mua mục 1 nắng cho con Nhật, mua vòng tay cho 2 bà nội, ngoại. Về tới Long An mệt rũ người (kẹt xe ở khúc Tp HCM, về đc Long An cứ tưởng vở bàng quan)

đi chơi cũng vui

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wheel-of-fandoms · 1 year ago

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hm... you could implement X number of reblogs max... fairly easily?

Mutuals and Mutuals-in-law... Hm. I think would need a full "object capability" permission system. I think that could allow it (well, would just keep others from reblogging it, dunno about self destruct). Might be tricky even then? I am extremely not well versed in "ocap" systems and how to reason about them.

I know at least one person driving a serious effort to implement an ocap system on top of ActivityPub (Fediverse/Mastodon).

tumblr needs a setting where you can allow, but limit, reblogs

like "restrict this post to 30 total reblogs, because if it passes that point, it's straying off into realms where it doesn't belong"

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divorcelawyergunnisonutah · 2 years ago

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Divorce In Utah

To divorce in Utah, at least one spouse must live in a single county in the state of Utah for at least three months, with no breaks in that residency prior to filing for divorce. In Cases of Child Custody with a few exceptions, when child custody is a concern the child must normally reside in Utah with one parent, for at least six months prior to the divorce filing. In Utah, the divorce process begins when one spouse (the petitioner) or his or her lawyer uses the state’s Online Court Assistance Program (OCAP) to prepare the divorce petition, along with additional filing documents. The system is user-friendly, with instructions that are easy to follow. Utah’s court system warns against using documents obtained elsewhere, as they may not be acceptable. If you are confused about which documents are required or are unsure about any factors surrounding your divorce, then it is best to consult with a lawyer. Many lawyers offer free initial consultations, which can help you decide how best to proceed. After completing the required documents, the petitioners should hand-deliver or mail the documents to the county clerk’s office.

If you have retained an attorney, he or she will handle this step for you and will guide you in additional interactions with the court. After filing, the petitioner must serve the other spouse (called the respondent) with the summons, petition for divorce, and other associated documents within 120 days of filing. Respondents living in Utah have 21 days to sign the Acceptance of Service and give it to the petitioner or his or her representative to file with the court or file it with the court themselves. Respondents living outside Utah have 30 days to complete this process. • The petitioner may use FedEx, UPS, or the U.S. Postal Service to serve the respondent; if this method is used, choose a registered mail option that requires the respondent to sign for the documents. • The petitioner may have an uninvolved third party over the age of 18 serve the respondent and sign an Acceptance of Service. • A constable, sheriff, private investigator, or private process server can hand-deliver the documents and sign an Acceptance of Service.

The petitioner must then file a Proof of Service form with the court. This document states when and how the respondent was served and is completed by the person who conducted the service. If you used a third party to serve the respondent, they may file the Proof of Service on your behalf. A copy of the completed Proof of Service form and a Certificate of Service form should be mailed to the respondent, or to his or her lawyer. The original Proof of Service and Certificate of Service forms are then filed with the court.

Grounds For Divorce In Utah

There are a number of grounds for divorce in Utah, which include: • Impotency of the respondent at the time the marriage took place • Adultery • Willful desertion for more than one year • Willful neglect to provide the common necessities of life • Habitual drunkenness • Felony conviction • Cruel treatment resulting in mental distress or bodily injury • Incurable insanity • Prior to filing, the respondent must have been adjudged insane by appropriate authorities in Utah or another state • Competent witnesses must testify to the respondent’s state of incurable insanity • Irreconcilable differences • When spouses have lived separately under a Decree of Separate Maintenance for three years without cohabitation, in any state.

When The Respondent Cannot Be Located

If the petitioner cannot locate the respondent to serve him or her, or if the petitioner believes that the respondent is attempting to avoid service, then he or she must demonstrate that they have used “reasonable diligence” in attempting to serve divorce papers when requesting that the court allow alternative service. The judge will determine how best to proceed in serving the respondent using a variety of alternative methods.

Financial Declarations In Utah Divorce

After the respondent files his or her response, both parties must prepare Financial Declarations disclosing all income, assets, expenses, and debts. Utah divorce laws require that the following documents be attached when applicable: • Copies of financial statements backing up claims of income, assets, expenses, and debts outlined in the Financial Declaration document. • Documents that verify real estate value including any refinance documents, tax valuation, and/or appraisal documents; additional documents concerning real estate may be required on a case-by-case basis. • Two years worth of tax documents • 12 months worth of pay stubs and/or other evidence of income of any kind • Copies of any financial statements and/or loan applications that were either prepared by or used during the 12 months prior to the date of filing for divorce. • 3 months worth of statements for all financial accounts and retirement accounts, including any that were closed within or after those 3 months including but not limited to:  Checking  Savings  certificates of deposit  money market funds  brokerage  investments

Additional Issues Surrounding Utah Divorce

The court will require documentation surrounding other issues on a case by case basis:  Alimony  Child support  Child Custody and Parent Time – Parents may request a professional evaluation for child custody, or the judge may order a custody evaluation. The cost of the evaluation is typically split between the parents.  Property Division  Debt Division

If the parties are able to reach an agreement, the judge will sign the final divorce decree. If parties disagree, the divorce will go to trial. A pre-trial conference is required prior to trial scheduling; this is one more attempt to settle the divorce. If no settlement can be reached, then the conference will be used to determine which issues will be taken to trial. Trials can be complicated and expensive; additionally, they take time to come to completion based on details of the case as well as the court’s calendar. The judge will sign a final divorce decree only after all issues have been settled. In some cases, judgment may be set aside so that further litigation may take place.

How Long Does A Divorce Take In Utah?

In Utah, there is a divorce waiting period of 30 days between the date of filing and the date the judge signs the final divorce decree. Parties may request the court to waive the waiting period. Note that complicated divorces may take far longer than 30 days to complete.

How Much Will It Cost?

The cost of a divorce in Utah varies from one case to the next, with legal fees making up the bulk of the charges. The basic Utah divorce filing fee is $318. There are additional court fees for services, such as having papers served by a sheriff or constable, online court assistance, required classes for divorcing parents of children under 18, and the Utah divorce certificate itself. If you cannot afford to file your case, you may request a waiver by filing a Motion to Waive Fees and submitting documentation supporting a statement of financial difficulty. The statement of financial difficulty must include a detailed outline of your income and expenses, a description of property you own, and a breakdown of your credit and debts. A judge will review your request and determine whether to grant a waiver for some of the fees. There are certain Utah divorce fees which cannot be waived including:  The costs of having an out-of-state sheriff, constable, or private process server serve the other party with divorce papers.  Fees associated with serving the other party via mail.  Fees associated with having a legal notice published in a newspaper.  Fees for transcripts, copies, or postage.  Witness fees associated with your case.  Fees for having the county recorder record your divorce judgment at the conclusion of the case.

Special Divorce Laws In Utah

When parents of minor children divorce in Utah, they are required to attend mandatory divorce orientation classes and divorce education classes. Classes are also required in cases of temporary separation. While not mandatory, the state also offers a divorce education class for children, designed to help minor children understand divorce and work through common issues. When a Utah divorce is contested, mediation is mandatory. The mediation process is designed to help both parties work through their issues and come to an agreement. If either party feels unsafe with the mediation process or has another good cause to avoid mediation, he or she may ask the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) officer to waive the mediation requirement.

Dating After Divorce

Dating is at the forefront of many divorcees’ minds. 78% of the women have already started thinking about dating by the time the divorce papers are signed. 40% of women feel confident about dating after divorce, 68% feel excited and hopeful. 59% of divorced women meet dates on online dating websites or apps.

How Do I File for Divorce in Utah?

If you’re thinking of filing for divorce or dissolution of marriage as it’s referred to in Utah you might not know where to begin. Fortunately, Utah has gone to great lengths to assist individuals who wish to handle their divorce. This article provides basic information about who to file for divorce in Utah, but if you have specific questions, you should speak to a family law attorney in your area.

Reasons for Divorce

Like a majority of states, Utah allows both no-fault and fault-based divorce. In a no-fault divorce, spouses don’t have to prove that the other’s misconduct caused the breakup of the marriage, so these types of case are generally faster and less expensive. Utah provides two kinds of no-fault grounds: “irreconcilable differences” and living apart for at least three years under a separate maintenance order issued by any state. If you and your spouse can’t agree on an amicable divorce, you can file for a fault divorce, where you have to show that your spouse engaged in some type of misconduct that caused the marriage to fail.

Residency Requirement

To obtain a divorce in Utah, you or your spouse must reside in one county continuously for at least three months.

Preparing Your Forms

To get your case started, you must file several forms, including a divorce complaint. Fortunately, the state provides residents with a free online form generation service, which is maintained by the Utah State Courts. The Online Court Assistance Program (OCAP) allows users to input all their information and answer a series of questions. After completing the program, the system automatically produces all the forms you need to file your case. The standard forms include the following:  Cover Sheet for Civil Actions  Department of Health Form  Verified Complaint for Divorce  Summons, and  Parenting Plan (if there are minor children.)

Filing Your Forms

Once you have all your forms in order, you must file the originals with the appropriate county court, meaning the county in which you live or the county where your spouse resides. Utah law allows the filing spouse, known as the “petitioner,” to file by mail; however, the state recommends using registered mail to guarantee receipt of delivery.

You can also hand-deliver your initial paperwork to the county clerk.

Serving Your Forms

In Utah, as in every other state, you must serve your spouse with a copy of all your divorce documents. “Service of process” enables the other party to respond to the divorce complaint or file a counterclaim. Under Utah law, you have 120 days from the date you file your divorce complaint to serve copies on your spouse. Utah permits various forms of service, including hiring a private process server, handing over the documents yourself in person, and sheriff’s service.

Financial Disclosures

Like many states, Utah requires the parties to exchange financial information, including a list of all assets and debts. Under state law, both spouses must file a Financial Declaration. Each spouse must file disclosures after the respondent submits an answer to the original divorce petition.

File for Divorce

As you begin the process of filing for divorce, be aware that Utah allows for divorce based both on fault and no-fault grounds. You should also know that Utah’s courts impose a residency requirement on divorce proceedings; this means that either you or your spouse must have lived in the state for a minimum of three months prior to the filing date. When custody of minor children will be an issue in the divorce proceedings, your children generally must have resided in Utah for a minimum of six months before you can file.

Prepare Your Divorce Documents

If you are using a lawyer, your attorney will prepare your documents for you. If not, you may use the state’s Online Court Assistance Program (OCAP) to prepare the divorce petition and related documents; there is a $20 fee for using this service. Completed forms must be notarized by a notary public before they can be filed.

File Your Divorce Documents

Your divorce case is only open once you’ve filed all forms in the office of the court clerk in your home county and paid the filing fee of $310.

Serve Your Spouse

After filing your divorce petition, you have 120 days to serve this petition, a summons and any other filed documents to your spouse. Service can be completed via certified mail or by the sheriff’s department or a private company. Proof of service is required to have the court act on your divorce petition.

Wait for Your Spouse’s Answer

After being served, your spouse will have 21 days–or 30 days if they are out of state–to respond. If they do respond, both parties will have to submit a Financial Declaration form to each other outlining all relevant financial items. If your spouse does not respond, you can request that the court issue a default judgment which will grant you everything you requested in your petition. If your spouse agrees with all issues as presented in your divorce petition, they can file a stipulation instead of a response. At this point, the OCAP Divorce Stipulation questions can be used to prepare the necessary documents and proceed to a final divorce decree.

Complete Required Divorce Education Classes and Mediation

After your spouse has been given a chance to respond to your divorce petition, several steps must be taken before a trial will be scheduled. Many Utah divorce issues are resolved during this stage in the process, eliminating the need for a trial in front of a judge.

Complete a 90-Day Waiting Period

Utah law stipulates that judges must wait 90 days after the date that the divorce petition was initially filed to sign the final divorce order. This is true even if both spouses agree on all issues.

Take Part in Mandatory Mediation for Any Contested Issues

If your spouse responds to your divorce filing, Utah statute requires that both parties take part in a mediation session before a divorce will be granted. The parties are jointly responsible for locating and paying for a mediator.

Ask for Temporary Order if Necessary

Sometimes there are issues that must be addressed before the divorce order is final, such as who can use the marital home or who has custody of any minor children during the pending divorce. In these cases, either party can request that the judge issue a temporary order on the matter that will be effective through the final divorce decree.

Complete Name Restoration

If you had your name changed upon getting married, you can return to your pre-marriage legal name at this stage in the divorce process. To do so, simply include a statement along with your divorce petition to indicate the name change.

Go to Trial (If Necessary)

If you and your spouse are unable to reach an agreement about any issues in your divorce decree, the next step in the Utah divorce process is going to trial.

Seek a Child Custody Evaluation

If you disagree with your spouse regarding child custody or child support issues, you can request that a professional evaluator conduct a custody evaluation. During this evaluation, the evaluator will observe both parties and the children; the evaluator will then submit a report to the court on all factors that pertain to the child’s best interests.

Appear at Pre-Trial Conferences

You will be required to attend a conference prior to your trial being scheduled to make a final attempt to settle the case. If this fails, the trial date will be set and the list of issues to be addressed at trial will be determined.

Attend Your Trial

If you have hired a divorce lawyer, they can help you prepare for the trial, including assembling any documents and necessary evidence to be presented to the court. Arrive at the courtroom early on the day of your trial, dressed professionally and with any witnesses that you intend to call upon. Remember to treat the judge respectfully and never interrupt your spouse when they are testifying.

Consult an Attorney

You aren’t required to use an attorney in order to file for divorce in Utah. However, the legal issues surrounding divorce are often complicated, and you may face obstacles representing yourself if there are any complex matters such as child custody or division of significant assets. A qualified divorce attorney can help you navigate the process and help safeguard against critical mistakes.

Free Initial Consultation with Lawyer

It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Legal problems come to everyone. Whether it’s your son who gets in a car wreck, your uncle who loses his job and needs to file for bankruptcy, your sister’s brother who’s getting divorced, or a grandparent that passes away without a will -all of us have legal issues and questions that arise. So when you have a law question, call Ascent Law for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you!

Ascent Law LLC 8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C West Jordan, Utah 84088 United States Telephone: (801) 676-5506

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