#We're still friends even if we're miles apart fic series | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fandomdaydreamer · 3 years ago

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The Lighthouse and The Ocean

Pt 17

The Chapel

Pairing: Pedro Pascal/OFC

Warnings: some dirty talk, I went overboard with the fluff

Summary: Pedro and Nini visit a wonderful place and meet very nice people and then they get married. Wait, what?

Notes: Also find this fic on Ao3 -here- or the series' Masterlist and Playlist -here-

Length: 9.2k

The Chapel

"Wait, don't I know you?" A large truck, loaded with a hell of a lot of broccoli had stopped next to us. The woman inside killed the engine, ripped her sunglasses off and emitted a little sound of amazement when she looked back and forth between us.

Before we got the chance to reply anything apart from a little awkward hand gesture, she spoke up again. "No way! That's Marcus Moreno and Fawn!" She exclaimed with a charming southern drawl, recognising us from the superhero and Tinkerbell adventure movies we had starred in. Not our best work, if I was completely honest.

"Hi, yeah, that's us!" Pedro responded while I was still waving like a douche bag, glad most of all things that I didn't feel like crying anymore whenever someone else but him looked at me too closely. The woman radiated pure friendliness and her face split into a wide smile while she kept chewing on a piece of gum.

"Ha!" She said before she stepped out, cleared her throat and started acting a lot cooler. "I mean, I do watch a lot of kid movies with my little ones. Including those two you made... every other day."

"And we're so sorry." Pedro offered his hand and her dog yapped at us excitedly. "I'm Pedro, nice meeting you." He introduced himself, relief about our rescue evident in his voice. "And this is-" his breath hitched when he put his hand on the small of my back.

"Nini. Pleasure." I shook her hand as well and she could act casual but she made a little adorable squeak and both Pedro and I cracked a big smile, happy we had found not only help but also a nice fan.

"I'm Jenny and this is Indiana. He doesn't bite." She gestured her thumb at the pupper that couldn't get its tongue back into its mouth and wasn't exactly the most threatening looking dog. Pedro had already been gravitating towards the bundle of happiness but he was gasping out loud at the sound of its name. "Jones?" He asked while the dog had already begun licking his hands before even properly meeting them.

"That's the one." "I love Indiana Jones!" "He really does," I confirmed while he was petting the black and white dog that seemed to be an absolute cuddle thief. The human puppy let out a delighted giggle and repeated its name.

Jenny adjusted her hat. "How did this happen? I mean... I'm a little star-struck, not gonna lie, I thought I had to go to Vegas to see some stars looking like a hot mess." She laughed at her own joke and gained more sympathy points by the second.

"I guess we do look a little lost," I said in good humour.

"Do you need help? What on earth are you doing in the farmlands?"

"Huh?" Pedro stopped petting the dog and only registered her question a second later. "Oh, our car broke down a mile from here."

"I broke it," I explained drily and with a shrug. "It needed fixing before that," Pedro added, finally making room for me so I could make friends with Indiana too.

Jenny listened to us with wide eyes. "I'll tow you to my fiancé's garage, no problem." "That's so nice, thank you!"

Pedro folded his hands over his heart. "We can't thank you enough for rescuing us, Jenny. We'd be fucked without you."

"Don't mention it. He'll fix you up in no time. Sí, vámanos! I'm sure the kids are gonna freak out." She invited us in and I wiggled my brows at Pedro, knowing already how great he was with children. I was guessing that they'd all be excited to meet each other.

Pedro opened the door for me and climbed in next. The seats were spacious enough to fit all three of us in the front plus the head of a smelly dog, for Indiana had already grown attached to the animal-friendly man who tried to escape the enthusiastic licks to his face.

We told Jenny everything that had happened to us before we had met her, talking in animated gestures and we were incredibly bad at letting the other finish their sentence. She made appropriate noises and short comments but other than that, she let us ramble during the entire rescue of our truck and the journey to the car shack.

We had been talking so much, there wasn't much left to say. There would have been an awkward silence if the radio wasn't emitting a carefree song. We listened to it in silence with Jenny occasionally looking at the two of us and shaking her head in disbelief. She didn't say anything though and just let the music play.

"That's a lot of broccoli." Pedro finally spoke up, eyeing the back of the truck.

"Yep. It's in season." Jenny replied and after a beat, started slightly drumming along to 'In The Summertime. She was clearly burning with the one or other question during our continuing silence. "So, you two were on a trip together?" She asked casually.

"Yes, to the west coast for the weekend between shooting." "How nice. How... romantic." She mused. Subtle, Jenny. Very subtle.

Pedro and I smiled at each other. "I agree, he surprised me with this plan. Best boyfriend ever." I said and he responded by taking my hand in his and simply holding it. Pedro had organised this trip out of the goodness of his heart and it meant everything to me. I regretted there wasn't a stronger word for 'everything. He had returned the goodness and light in my life by just being there when I most needed him and I couldn't believe my luck. He offered me the chance to take a real break here.

Both my companions grinned and Jenny slapped my thigh approvingly but didn't further comment. "Though Pedro didn't tell me where we were going, only 'pack your bikini' so, of course, I stole my costume." I hadn't brought mine in the first place but I couldn't care less about this situation.

"Borrowed." He corrected. "I'm afraid we're nothing but trouble for our director." He added and sounded less guilty than we were both supposed to feel.

"What kind of movie is it?" "Uh... not something you'll want to watch with your kids." Pedro thought aloud, squinting his eyes.

"Suspense." I avoided mentioning the hot and heavy scenes and thought it might have been the best guess anyway, judging by the way nobody knew what kind of atmosphere the director's cut will end up in.

"Yeah, Tilda Swinton is definitely too scary," Pedro confirmed while I was braiding my hair out of my neck. I secured it with the spare hair tie he had started wearing around his wrist lately and that alone was such a 'boyfriend' thing to do, I should have realised weeks ago that we had secretly started being a couple.

"It's poetic cinema and-" Pedro's eyebrows suddenly shot up and he interrupted himself to point at the landscape. "Look! Baby donkey." He exclaimed and my head snapped towards the small herd when his hand grasped mine. We cooed and Jenny chuckled.

Me too, girl, I thought. I was trying for the millionth time today not to burst out in tears at his adorableness. When I was with him, it was so easy to see beyond my own feelings and thrive on his happiness alone.

"You know, my youngest, Rosie, she loves Tinkerbell and my boy wants so badly to be part of the Heroics team. He insists he has superpowers too." Pedro nodded. "I'll have to tell him I will consider his application then." He replied in a serious business tone and Jenny seemed delighted. "Honestly, Pedro, that would be great. Silas is obsessed with 'We Can Be Heroes. He wants to watch it every time he can't go to sleep and it makes me cry and not in a good way."

Jenny seemed to be sharing my thoughts exactly. I giggled and pressed my lips together when Pedro gave me that sassy attitude whenever he felt too flabbergasted to scold me. "Hey, you didn't even watch it." He protested.

"I tried," I defended myself with wide eyes but I also recalled the way I had felt the need to sob at every shot and dialogue the film had offered until I had shut it off. It was just bad, except for the eggs in the sink part.

Pedro acted insulted. "Thanks, that's worse. It's a movie for kids, 'they're' supposed to like it, not you two." He replied with fake gusto. "Not like the Tinkerbell movie was a cinematic piece of art either."

"Yeah, it was bad too." I agreed even though I had enjoyed it. "But I was cute." Pedro made a face like he couldn't argue with that.

We took one last turn. "Home sweet home." Jenny suddenly said and Indiana began barking at the familiar sight as she drove into a farm lane and stopped near a street with a house painted in rich colours.

We stepped out of the car and watched the dog toppling out first to be greeted by a man who looked like someone had given a Mexican George Clooney a dirty overall and a shovel.

"Corazón, look who I picked up from the road."

Turned out Jenny and her fiancé didn't just own a garage but also managed an entire farm where they grew their products. They invited to show us around and we treaded down a weary path between their rows of salad and potatoes.

We were walking side by side, taking turns throwing a lump of wood for Indiana every couple of seconds. I took in this paradise surrounding us, smelling a bunch of fresh herbs as we walked through their lush green crops. "This is incredible. You build this life together?" Pedro asked, rubbing a leaf of basil between his hands and enjoying its aroma.

"My Jenny and I met at a convention for sustainable farming four years ago," Diego explained with a charming lilt in his voice. "We immediately took over this farm, first as business partners, and now we grow completely organic products together as life partners. Broccoli, salad, potatoes and over there on that piece of land behind the barn are corn and beans."

"It's wonderful," I told the couple, gazing across the fertile acres of land. I plucked a yellow flower from one of the many bushes around and smelled it before tugging it into my braid. The action had made Pedro smile and he brushed a strand of hair behind my ear as a gesture of compliment. I snuck my hand back into his in return.

Jenny gave us each a ripe tomato to try and it had a more intense and sweeter taste than I was used to. "Thank you. You know, farming is not just hard work but also politics. Fertilising causes so much pollution and we would all grow better, more nutritious products and crops with higher yield if everyone went organic." She said in an agitated way and Pedro and I listened attentively. "And don't get me started on the benefits it would have on climate change. We hope we can spread more awareness about healthier soil but our cause is ambitious when there are little to no restrictions on toxic chemicals."

"What you do is so important. People don't jump at the idea?" Pedro asked and she shrugged. "We help educate the local farmers. We believe we can save Earth through better farming and most of all, through having love for doing what we do." Jenny had reached a large plant and dipped the shell of half a coconut into its heart. "Here."

She gave me the coconut bowl, filled with clear water and motioned for me to try it. When I did, I thought I'd never tasted anything like it before and I made a sound of excitement, urging Pedro to taste it as well.

"Honey water from the agave plant. The only thing we can't export. It would go bad." Diego explained.

"Its tastes like-" Pedro smacked his lips. "Earth, like sweet rainwater, like all the love the people here have for their roots and their wonderful country."

"Oh, you're a poet." I put my arm around his waist and the others seemed taken by his words too. He acted humble but only for a second. "I did have a moment there," Pedro admitted jokingly.

We chatted until we had reached their main courtyard again to watch some of their friends and family members carry around the stuff they needed to build a stage and erect some kind of open-air tent with lampions and flags.

"Are you preparing for some kind of event?" I asked curiously, looking up when a few men pushed a large pole into the air and cheered after they had accomplished their task.

"Sí, we are finally getting married on Monday." Diego draped his arm around Jenny's shoulders affectionately and they shared a tender look. "Oh, congratulations!" Pedro and I said and I leaned into my boyfriend instinctively, feeling happy about so much love around us.

"Everyone's invited, lots of food and dancing, you should come party with us. It's going to be one big fiesta." He said while dancing and Pedro and I shared a flustered look, knowing we'd both like to accept on the spot. We loved a good party but Monday night wasn't good.

"We would, really." Pedro began, standing there with his hand apologetically placed on his tummy and I chimed in. "Yeah, but we have to be back by Monday evening already, bummer. We have a movie to finish."

"Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find us." Jenny winked at us.

"Thanks for the invite though," Pedro said with an added laugh. "We should tell Bill Murray there's a wedding he could crash, he'll jump on the opportunity." Bill was known for being a notorious ill guest at wedding parties he hadn't been invited to. Well, everyone needed a hobby. Diego opened his arms. "He can come too."

"What about them, what are they doing?" Pedro asked with a gleeful expression towards a field where a group of several children played between stacks of old tires and crates filled with vegetables.

"Oh them? They are playing pretend wedding, build some kind of chapel from scraps. I told them not to steal the table arrangements, dammit."

"Mi amor, let them have fun. Pedro, why don't you show me what's wrong with the truck? I'll fix you up." "Sure." Pedro squeezed my hip lightly before he followed Diego into his garage and they started a friendly chat in Spanish.

"Can I help you with something while the boys are busy?" I asked Jenny.

"You can come and make some agua fresca with me for our helping hands if you want." She suggested some light work for me and I was glad about the opportunity to help, otherwise, I wouldn't have known what to do.

Two glasses of the best lemonade I had ever tasted needed to be brought to the men and I carried a tray into Diego's shop, announcing myself with a small whistle that died as soon as I spotted Pedro.

I knew I had a weakness for cowboys, now I seemed to have an appetite for mechanics too. There was something distinctively masculine about the way Pedro carried himself with that oily rag and dirtied up hands and I blushed from only locking eyes with him again. Hot damn.

"Brought you some refreshments." I singsonged nervously and was met with a chorus of appreciation and even better, a kiss on the cheek from my thirst trap boyfriend. The sounds of culinary pleasure filled the room shortly after and indeed, the sweet iced drink with peach and basil was simply worth writing an entire column about in a trip advisor.

"Don't mind me, keep going," I whispered and looked around the auto shack. There were oil spills all over the floor, leaves that blew in from outside, stacks of old tires and thousands of tools neatly put onto shelves. In short, it looked like it had a competent owner. Pedro continued to tinker and debate with Diego in a garage that smelled of metal, saw dust and motor oil. It was that kind of place you'd trust them not to charge you eighty bucks for a filter replacement. Instead, you were most likely to get a discount just because they liked you.

I listened to their mix of Spanish and English but everything remained an incomprehensible obstacle for me. I had no idea what kind of technical issues our truck had and if I was completely honest, I was already bored by simply looking underneath the hood. Pedro seemed to just nod along in understanding and could assist with bits and pieces while they were elbow deep inside the car.

"Will you be able to fix it?" I asked the men, feeling quite useless.

"Yes, but that coil needs some cleaning and I need to get the multimeter, check if there's really a faulty. I'll be right back." Diego threw Pedro a much cleaner cloth, which he tossed over his shoulder. He swaggered away from the car. "We fixed the overheating problem." He told me with a grin after the other man had left.

"Hey, good job! I didn't know you were also talented in this field of work too." I circled the car, not really understanding what Pedro was doing but already slipping into a flirty mood. I screwed at a cap and rubbed the dust on my fingers away like I knew what any of those things did.

"You mean you think I'm hot and this is kind of a turn-on for you." Pedro flirted right back, reading me like an open book.

"Get out of my head!" I complained but started to get flushed when I examined him more closely. My brain set into a default dumb mode just from realising how attractive his roughed up look was... how those muscles underneath his slightly sweaty dark grey t-shirt were put to use. It made me weak, knowing that the man was well equipped for owning a certain macho thing but was also the embodiment of non-toxic masculinity.

Pedro let out a laugh. "I'm just trying to distract you from the fact that I have no clue, I'm just supposed to wipe the excess dirt off the coil." He confessed and showed me something that looked like some kind of plug.

"Is that the little bugger?" I asked.

"Yeah, wait, I thought you weren't interested." He said, knowing that talking about cars was one of those topics that caused me to immediately blank out of the conversation, like soccer or diet plans.

"I wanna know what's going on, I like to be on top of things."

A smile curled his lips. "I also like having you on top" Pedro replied nonchalantly while he continued cleaning it and I could feel the heat creeping into my cheeks when he locked eyes with me again. God, that had been so corny and clever and shouldn't have the power to make me this flustered. I knew I had the most unguarded hypnotised expression on my face when he spat into the cloth and rubbed at the coil.

"Careful there, if that's a pickup line." I pretended to warn him, speaking with a dry mouth. "I'm very easy."

Pedro raised his brows and his eyes widened dramatically. "Oh, is that so?" He stepped closer, wiping his dirty hands on the cloth and tugging it between his belt. He looked down at me and a purr rumbled from his chest as he studied my heated face.

"I thought I'd have to try harder, take you out tonight, wine and candlelight dinner and run you a bath afterwards but maybe you want to skip all those niceties?" Pedro tilted his head.

He truly wanted to spoil me like promised but it was such a defined plan and I had done nothing at all, couldn't believe I had deserved this. "Yeah, I don't know if I can take that much." I breathed out, losing the strength in my voice but not my greediness for affection.

"Yeah, but you'll be fine after you've accustomed to the size-" he murmured and I was about to interrupt his lewdness but he finished his sentence. "-of the luxurious beach house I rented... it has five bedrooms, you know." He continued, voice straining into his deepest, most seductive voice. "So many beds and I can be so indecisive."

He tipped his head down to examine my reaction closely and further play with my inability to respond. Did he have a plan and whatever it was, would he follow through? Did he have any ideas and if he did, how many? Too many questions, not enough answers, just him gazing at me with hooded eyes and a smirk that made me chuckle like a teenager.

I didn't remember the last time I had been so shy in his presence and tried to initiate such a careful kiss. We shared several until he began grumbling and pouting. "Shit, I can't touch you, you're wearing a white dress and I'm covered in dirt."

"That means I have the advantage here." I countered, sounding innocent but just going with an impulse without thinking. I just couldn't help myself, I had to kiss his jaw, move to the tiny hairless spot in his beard and dip lower towards his neck to lightly nip at his salty skin.

Pedro groaned deliciously, still not allowed to touch me. "Keep that up and I can't guarantee anything."

I felt like I had been too stressed lately and to be honest, I was yearning for relief. He was so sweet. My own rules and principles had kept us in line so far but the parameters had changed when he asked me to be his girlfriend.

I was willing to test the waters. Him looking like a mechanic awoke something primal in me that yearned for more filthy activities. His clothes were a little soiled, he smelled of sun and engine oil and a little bit of sweat and I felt like I could just sit on the hood, drop my panties and let him take me, rough and deep until he came hard and- "If you only knew what I'd let my boyfriend do to me." I whispered.

Pedro swallowed thickly. "He sounds like a lucky man." "Oh, he's certainly getting lucky tonight if he doesn't care to speed this up and turn this into a hard fuck inside that barn," I suggested shamelessly.

Pedro exhaled deeply and I would have categorised his expression as angry if I hadn't known it any better. "It's taking me every single ounce of self-control right now, I hope you know that."

"Too many kids around. Let's not risk traumatising them." I agreed.

"No, I know." He searched my eyes for a possible alternative but ultimately, he gave me one last sweet peck on the lips and stepped back afterwards. He clenched and unclenched his hands in a helpless manner around my curves before he groaned in frustration and went back to tinker around the car with a dramatic sigh. "Left the condoms in the suitcase anyway." He mentioned, not getting in the slightest what I had been insinuating.

Pedro cursed about something that obviously needed fixing and it looked like he was stuck with holding some kind of tube before it would burst.

I tilted my head, shamelessly checking him out while watching him move around. Didn't he just have the cutest butt? "You know, that makes me wonder..." I started over, determined to let the penny drop subtly.

"Hm?" He mumbled without letting the troubling pressure tube out of his eyes.

I tapped my fingers around the frame of the car, sneakily looking towards the exits to check if we were alone. "It's something you know I had a rule for and was always a bit hesitant about but now that we uh-" Oh shit, what had I gotten myself into, I didn't know how to tell him.

It was like watching the gears turn in his head when he searched my face for clues. "Wait, hold up." He insisted, truly intrigued now that I was blushing. "Go on." He leaned his hip against the car, still holding onto the motor with one hand.

I got my tongue in a twist. "I wouldn't mind- I mean, I would like- we can still if that's what you want but I had sworn to always, always use protection outside a committed relationship. But now that we're- I... want you to..." I wanted him to claim me because I was quite sure he was busy constantly changing my world.

His lips parted. "You mean-" Pedro's hand clenched so hard around the tube in the car, something burst and sizzled a loud sound of steam into the air and he tipped forward in surprise, catching himself just in time to quickly adjust whatever just broke. After he had frantically fixed it back into place, he looked at me and was still unable to close his jaw and I could barely stifle my laughter behind my hand in reaction to this slapstick moment.

I could almost hear Pedro's heartbeat thrumming in his chest after he had closed the distance between us again and I watched his pupils dilate after he had gotten close enough so I could see my reflection in them. I had been throbbing from the moment he decided to crowd me up against the truck. He let out a huff of breath into my face and held my chin between his thumb and finger just a little too forcefully. "Oh fuck." He whispered, not caring about leaving a stain of motor dust on my skin.

I was almost dropping into the dark lakes as I stared into his eyes. I had never allowed him to go raw and he had never asked, had accepted this preference without question. Pedro hummed deliciously. "All filled up, all mine." He thought out loud.

"Yeah?" A shiver ran down my spine and I trembled with anticipation. "Is that something you'd like too, angel?" I asked huskily.

"I wanted to do that since-" he didn't finish his sentence and swallowed thickly instead. The fact that he had desired it but had respected my boundaries only further deepened the infinite trust I had in him.

"When?" I inquired, eliciting another groan from him, this time from discomfort. "Since when?"

He grinned into the air in shame before he could look at me again. "Ever since we saw each other again." "After the read-through in New York?" "During it."

I gasped, not scandalised at all but Pedro sought to explain himself. "I had possibly started watching that Dutch series you starred in." He admitted, pronouncing its title wrongly but it was a lot more adorable this way.

"Oh?" My face lit up at this revelation. He hummed. "It's very... European." He had made an extenuation of a series that wasn't exactly G-rated. I had played an absolute man-eater and the series contained some scenes that had been extremely raunchy and had focused on only my pleasure. Those were the things I cringed about at night when I thought about the fact that my grandparents watched every single minute of my work.

But the thought that Pedro had watched it and had thought about me in that way excited me extraordinarily. "Pedro, did you-" I began and he knew of course, what I meant. He nodded guiltily, licking his lips. "So naughty." I mused and he had the audacity to huff out a laugh but the idea that he had fantasised about me gave me a massive boost of confidence. "Well, how does it feel to have learned the difference between my fake and real moans first hand?"

"Sweetheart, I know exactly what you like. Feels damn good to be the one responsible for the real ones." He caged me in against the truck with his hands placed beside my head and we were both breathing a little heavier.

"To be fair, I'm worse. I might have thought about you in that way when I watched Game of Thrones. Which was years ago."

He raised his eyebrows, looking more proud than shocked. Smug, you might even say. "So we're both a slut for sluts?"

"We don't slut-shame." I pretended to have morals and so did he. "Yes, no, let's bring back the word 'whore." He said and made me laugh at how mean that was.

There was a moment of heavy breaths and tenderness between us, the air was practically sparkling with electricity. "Say it." He challenged me softly, vulnerability laced in his voice.

"What?" "Say you meant it, are you sure?" Pedro asked huskily.

"That you're my boyfriend and that being in a relationship with me comes with extra privileges? That I want you to fill me up every fucking day so I'll always have you inside me?" I batted my eyelashes at him sweetly in stark contrast to this graphic narration and I knew the kind of effect it had on him when his knees got weak and his statue shrank a little. "Yes."

Pedro let out a growl, leaning in to kiss me but before his lips could touch mine a voice announced their return. "Found it!" Diego yelled into the room, entering with the multimeter and a little girl on his hips. Pedro and I immediately parted an appropriate distance from each other.

I snickered when he had to put both fists into his pockets to cover up a raging hard-on just after gesturing to my face where he'd left smudges on my chin and jaw.

Pedro cleared his throat and walked onto the other side of the car to assist the mechanic but not without winking at me one last time.

"The older kids won't let my mijita play with them again." He sighed, letting the girl down whose tears had stopped flowing after they had entered. She had been staring at me with wide eyes since.

They were already tinkering underneath the hood but her miserable sight stopped me from joining them. Only compassion for the sadness of another could have turned my mood around so quickly.

Some of the other kids were running past the shop and the little girl watched them have fun without her. She stayed behind with her dollie, staring at the empty door and a sniffle shook her tiny frame. Oh, didn't I know the feeling?

When she turned around and met my gaze again, she wiped her eyes with the jacket of her doll. She looked so left out and I decided to walk over to her and sit down on a bucket beside her. "Hi there. What's your name?" She looked up at me.

"Rosie." The older toddler continued to scrub the tip of her shoe across the dusty concrete floor. "You're Rosie? Your mama told us so much about you. I'm Nini."

"You look like a fairy." She said and I could hear Pedro chuckle behind me. Both he and Rosie's dad were smiling over at us before they continued chatting, obviously not talking about cars anymore.

"Well, I'm at least a tiny bit magic." I wiggled my hands in front of her nose as a tiny distraction while producing the yellow flower from my braid and giving it to her. "A pretty flower for a pretty flower."

We giggled at each other when she accepted it and I felt warm affection for this little girl who was so smart for a three-year-old.

"You sound funny." Rosie noticed and showed me a tooth gap when she smiled at my mix of British and Dutch accents. "Yes, I'm not from here, I'm from the Netherlands."

Her eyes lit up. "Neverland?"

I chuckled, feeling a rush of oxytocin cause tears to prickle at the corners of my eyes. "Well, it's a place far away from here, you're right about that." She pressed her remaining teeth onto her bottom lip and all worries seemed to have been temporarily forgotten. She made me realise how much I missed a connection to my baby sister, who was barely a year older than Rosie. I knew very few children but she was cute as a button and I had felt instant affection for her and a great deal of yearning.

"Why are you not playing with the other kids, Rosie?" "They say I'm too young to marry anyone." I blinked at her, thinking that yes, but so were all of them.

"Who says that?" "Silas is the priest. He decides who can get married." "That's usually not how it works," I said, frowning at the kid logic. "Silas is your brother, right?"

She tugged at the little jacket her dollie was wearing and fixed the buttons, averting my question. "Her jacket is loose that's why she always gets a cold." She let the doll blow into a handkerchief and worried over her patient before dumping her into a bed of leaves inside another bucket. It looked like she was putting her doll to sleep, draping a rag over her like a blanket and the flower to cuddle with.

"Oh, is that her bed?" I asked and Rosie nodded mutely. "You're pretty good at making stuff. I can make some things too, you know?" "What things?" She asked shyly.

"Like crowns. With flowers, normally. There's a bush of these yellow flowers outside, do you wanna make a flower crown together?" "For me?" "Yes, for you, so you can become a flower fairy." I stood up and offered her to take my hand and turned back to see Pedro watching us with a look of adoration in his eyes.

He joined us after he was done washing his hands. "You're very sweet with her, I didn't know you were good with children." "Me neither," I admitted in alarm, had whispering back while feeling Rosie tugging at my hand already. I had thought I really wasn't because the company of children usually felt overwhelming to me at best.

Pedro looked over my shoulder towards the commotion outside. "We have an hour or so to waste until Diego fixed the car, we could go see what the kids are doing. I bet the others would be happy to meet a magic fairy too."

I turned at a sound by the door. "Or a superhero," I suggested. "See?"

It hadn't taken long for two boys to gather in the doorway and whisper excitedly to each other. "You're going to have your hands full with that bunch in a minute. I'll take Rosie and maybe we can convince them to play together when we come and join you."

"Sounds like a plan." He squeezed my other hand in a gesture of a temporary goodbye and turned toward the older kids. "Hola," Pedro waved at them but the boys just stared at him with eyes so wide they should have popped out by now.

One of them gasped shakily before he spoke. "I know you from TV!" He said to Pedro but before he could give a reply, the boys had run off towards their friends again.

Pedro closed his mouth in confusion, looking back at me before mumbling out a slow. "Okay."

Like a swarm of piranhas, they came running and practically slammed into us before we could even properly exit the shop.

"Oh, dear," I commented, tugging Rosie behind me protectively before she could be squashed in their midst.

Pedro was excited to meet literally any kid and he was always happy to give attention to small humans. They all gathered around us, some talking in Spanish and some in English. Only little Rosie, who was the youngest, didn't speak a word and kept her distance and hid behind my dress.

"You're Missy's dad with the magnet powers!" The loudest boy among the kids yelled at Pedro and another kid pushed through the crowd. "Mama no me permiso a ver Star Wars." A girl told him monotonously, chewing at her sleeve.

Pedro tutted at the small child and crouched down to meet the kids' eye level. He gave her a reply that sounded encouragingly enough made her smile at him.

"And you must be Silas." Pedro addressed his most shaky fan "Yes?" "You guys look like a good team of superheroes. Who wants to save the world, hm?"

The kids cheered and ran off, tugging him along faster than his larger and slower frame allowed him to. "Will you be okay, baby?" He asked back.

"Yes, go and play! Go!" I pushed him away, giggling at the scene. Indiana ran after them, barking at the buzzing cacophony of screams.

"How about you and me, Rosie? Wanna play with me?" She nodded adoringly and took my hand to lead me towards the bush of Mexican sunflowers.

A newly-crowned Rosie and I walked towards Pedro and the group of kids and his eyes lit up when we joined them, admiring the fresh and expertly woven flower crown on her head. It was a skill I had learned from my mum and could really pride myself with. "Amazing work." He awed and I grinned widely when he told the little girl how pretty she was, booping her nose. She accepted the compliment but had to lean back when the dog sniffed at her head in curiosity.

Pedro reached to the side to pick something up from a large pumpkin and show it to Rosie and me. "Such a pretty snail, look Rosie. Ah, Nini no, you can't have it, there's a living snail inside." He told me when he seemed to recognise the magpie glint in my eyes.

Silas chimed in. "Not when you put salt on it." Pedro frowned at the kid. "Don't do that, that would kill it." "I know." "Seriously."

"It will throw bubbles and disappear into the air," Silas whispered to me and I raised my eyebrows, both horrified and intrigued.

"Interesting," I replied and I understood what Pedro told the kid and me, only because he had told me a couple of times as well. "Me preocupas ¿sabes? You wouldn't let him do that, would you?" I gasped. "Of course not!"

Silas raised his hands and gave a quick and snotty reply and Pedro laughed in my direction put continued to point at the kid, shaking his head at him. "Are you sure you're not a supervillain?" "Next time," Silas answered, scrubbing at his scraped knee.

"Already done saving Earth, how did it go?" I asked around and Pedro sighed. "Aliens with tentacles are very popular invaders. But we crushed them, right kids?" Pedro asked, earned approval and grimaced at me when he got up. "My back is killing me."

"Take it a little easier now, okay? I rubbed my hand across his back, kissing his shoulder. "Yes, ma'am."

"Then what's this?" I asked everyone, eying the poor but adorable construction of logs, stolen paper flower arrangements and a pile of crates. "It's our ermita. We were playing wedding before the aliens came." Another girl explained and Silas continued talking over the crowd dominantly. "My mom is marrying Juan's dad the day after tomorrow. ¿Verdad, hermano?" "Sí, hermanos para siempre." The boys made a complex secret handshake.

"We should get ready for the next wedding," Silas suggested to the other kids, ushering them inside the open chapel. "Normally we don't allow adults to come too but you're famous so I'll make an exception."

"That's very kind of you, thank you," Pedro said and I hid my expression behind a hand, linking my arm in his so we could both step aside and let the children play.

Silas grabbed a children's book from under the pumpkin and stepped onto the crates to gain height above anyone else, including Pedro. From up there, he could look down at us like we were his flock of sheep. "Yo soy el sacardote, I am the town priest!" The boy announced to his audience.

We stood as bystanders while two girls walked hand in hand towards their priest, grinning at each other. Silas said a few words in Spanish to the girls and clapped his book shut, provoking a laugh from Pedro.

"He is redefining the drive-through wedding." Pedro pressed out, controlling his laughter while the girls walked hand in hand between the ranks, twirling and bowing to each other.

"Yeah, that was the quickest wedding I've ever seen," I whispered to him while we clapped along with the other children and we giggled at the newly married couple that had started a clapping game. The next couple walked into Silas' chapel. This time, it was a furiously blushing but by miles, the bravest boy among the other boys. Alongside him walked a girl with uneven pigtails who wore a pretty sparkling shawl.

Silas repeated his previous words and the kids interrupted a couple of times when it took them a little longer to get through the ceremony and they kept talking back and forth.

"What are they saying, their vows?" I asked Pedro and he leaned over. "No, they're negotiating a dowry."

I made a sound of disbelief. "Kids these days."

Shortly after, the girl pressed a kiss to the boy's cheek and he practically ran down the aisle away from her and was met with more laughter.

Voices were raised when a girl caught my hand and brought me to her friends, dragging me away from Pedro while the same was happening to him. "You can marry him now, come." "Oh, my goodness. Pedro?" "Uhm... Oh, ok." Pedro was tugged down onto his knees and the last bride draped the sparkling shawl over his shoulders.

"What is happening?" I whispered to Pedro and he mouthed back. "Just play along." It was followed by an amused smile on his lips while the kids continued to decorate us with their accessories.

"Wait!" I said and made everyone look at me. A tiny cease of worry formed between Pedro's eyebrows. "Let me do this right, wait just a moment."

I looked around the rubble to find wire and an old and a bit dirty shower curtain but my dress was smudged by now anyways. The curtain's white and nearly translucent material was quickly woven onto the wire and bent into a crown for my head. Pedro was already laughing while the kids gathered around me to arrange my veil. "Not bad." My boyfriend and soon to be play husband said after I caught a broccoli in my hands, clutching it like I would if I had a bouquet of flowers.

"Marcus." Rosa's tiny voice announced herself and she tugged at Pedro's jeans to get his attention. He looked down at the sound of his wrong name and crouched so she could place her own, too small flower crown on his head. Pedro cooed at her and thanked her, promising to return it to her soon.

"Hey, Rosie, would you like to be our flower girl?" I asked the little one and suggested she'd throw some leaves in front of us and she nodded enthusiastically, grinning wide and happy that she was finally included in this game. Looking back at Pedro, I saw that his eyes had softened and I shot him a playful wink.

I had to admit he looked incredibly handsome surrounded by sparkles and warm yellow flowers while I looked like I had climbed out of a garbage disposal but Pedro seemed to see everything through a rosy glow while we walked down the aisle together. We nodded at every child present until we stood before our preadolescent priest.

I was almost in tears, trying to suppress the hilarity of being forcedly wed by a child reading from a book that was most definitely not a bible but a Bob the builder picture book. Pedro cleared his throat, folding his hands seriously and everyone went quiet, even the dog.

"We are in a church," Silas told us and then and yelled on the top of his lungs, screamed at us and into the field beyond, nearly loud enough to blast my eardrums. "DO YOU WANT TO MARRY EACH OTHER?"

I gathered my breath after the initial shock. "YES!" I yelled back passionately and not less hard. I had given Rosie the broccoli before Pedro took my hands in his and I gazed into his eyes.

"YES." He yelled into my face, loud enough that even the grown-ups were able to hear us. "Then, you are married now. Boom!" The boy shut the book with a loud clap and the children cheered while the group of adults clapped and whooped somewhere in the distance.

I hadn't seen who had shoved me a little closer to Pedro but I had anticipated his next move and tilted my chin up to inch closer to his mouth. My mind was flashing in a stream of colours when I met the soft kiss he placed upon my lips. The kids around us giggled when we lingered on it too long and so we had to part eventually. I was unable to open my eyes at first, fearing I'd grow even dizzier.

When I did, I thought that Pedro was sparkling, I didn't know how to describe him otherwise. He was one mess of light and love and warmth and beauty and everything sweet about living, wrapped up in one cute package. He was aglow, eyes filled with all our unknown chapters while wearing a heart that could easily melt my own.

Then he let out a laugh and stepped back to admire my outfit again with a smile that mirrored mine. He wiped his face. "Oh boy." He distributed his feelings of surprise, joy and confusion all over the place. Nothing about this game had a traditional order but nobody cared about convention.

"Rings." Rosie opened her empty palm to Pedro and he whistled. "Perfect, Rosie's got our backs. Thank you." Pedro mimed taking one and he made a show out of putting it on my finger. I pretended to fan my tears away with my newly ringed hand. Of course, Rosie had Pedro's imaginary ring as well and I put it onto his ring finger, feeling myself dissolve in his splendour and giddiness.

We celebrated along with the kids who danced around us. I couldn't have wished for a better wedding reception. Pedro and I had had plenty of opportunities to dance together without any music but it had never been as hilarious as doing it among children who played out a sped-up version of one entire night of celebrating.

"Do you want me to take a picture of you?" Jenny had walked over and had pulled out her phone. Of course, we agreed with another fit of laughter and showed our outfits to the cameras while leaning into each other. Silas was grinning cheekily behind us while still standing on the crates with his picture book. Pedro and I shared another, well-staged but not less sweet kiss.

The result was so absurd it seemed to be something that came straight out of a professional concept photoshoot. A slight colour filter across the photographs made it look dreamy and timeless. The laughter in our faces was so genuine and the children pulled such silly faces, I was convinced everyone would be able to hear the picture.

"It gets more chaotic the longer you look at it," I mentioned, instinctively sneaking my hand around Pedro's waist to reassure myself that he wasn't freaked out after the children's wedding game. He pulled me closer and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"They're insanely cute. I could send it to your email?" Jenny offered but Pedro had a better idea. "By all means, you could use those?" He looked at me for approval and I nodded. "As promotion for your cause, gain attention, say this was sponsored by organic farming and we got married between your vegetables." Pedro carefully set the flower crown back onto her daughter's head and thanked her again. Obviously, the pictures told the story that this hadn't been a real wedding at all but it didn't explain our kiss. I found myself not caring in the slightest. I wanted the world to see our kiss and cause a meltdown in our fandoms.

I hummed, plucking a stray petal from his locks and returning a smile that only seemed to grow with affection. "It's going to spread viral, we can just rip the pictures off the internet if we want them and anyone who-" I interrupted myself with a giggle. "Wants to send wedding gifts, let them go straight to the real married couple."

She gasped at the idea. "You would do this for us?" She tapped on her phone. "You sweet people. That's so nice and we could use the attention for our crowdfunding." She said and I made a mental note of it.

"By the way, we've got to thank you and Diego for all of your help and for fixing us up." Pedro pulled his wallet from his back pocket but Jenny jumped to action and closed his hands around it again. "Absolutely not, you've done enough and we were helping our friends."

"But-" "None of that." Diego insisted.

"We'll accept anything you want to offer if you come to the wedding reception." She urged us in a friendly manner.

"Oh, babe, now we have to." I grinned at Pedro and bumped into him to be more convincing.

Pedro let out a sigh. "Ella sabe que yo le voy a obedecer." He said, accepting the fact that he would do anything I'd say and he earned a heartfelt and brotherly clap on his shoulder from Diego, who could relate.

"Now excuse us, however great your hospitality is, my wife and I will have to continue our journey," Pedro said comically serious and I thought my heart had skipped a beat when he had called me his wife.

"Yes, you should go. It'll start raining soon." Diego worried but when I looked up, I could see nothing but blue sky and a few stray clouds. I frowned but guessed it was the farmer's superior knowledge of nature.

Pedro addressed the kids next who had gathered to say goodbye to us. "Don't get married too young." He reminded them and gave each a high five while I turned to the couple.

"Good luck with everything, in your marriage and mission." I hugged them both.

"You too!" "Drive safely," They said.

"It was fun meeting you guys, hasta luego." I added towards the kids and gave them my makeshift veil to play with.

"That was smart with your outfit, by the way." Pedro nudged my elbow and I grinned up at him before we parted to climb into our seats. "Thanks. I don't know, just a quick manifestation of my dream wedding outfit."

"Yeah." Pedro let out a breath. "Manifestation."

They all stood waving while we turned in their driveway. "Adiós!" They yelled and the children came screaming and running after our truck until we were too fast for them to follow.

~~~

The day slowly gave away to sunset and with the first heavy grey clouds, the trees began their conversation with an upcoming wind. It was an alluring whisper that invited the rain to greet the earth and the horizon became darker in a cinematically composed and threatening vista.

"Really looks like it's going to pour soon. Will we make it?" I asked, leaning forward to try and detect how fast the sky was drawing together.

Soon the first raindrops were falling onto our windows and eventually, it had started to rain so much, the wiping system had to be put on the highest setting so Pedro could still see the road.

Finally, we stopped in an open parking lot behind a secured gate that clearly indicated that we were in a rich neighbourhood. The dark and stormy Pacific Ocean was to our right and to our left stood a range of luxury houses with view on the ocean. The mix of modern and traditional fincas were hiding between palm trees that started to bent in the wind.

"Right, but we're here. You see that house?" Pedro pointed past the rain towards a large, white residence on the far end of that green hillside. "We can't park closer?" "I was told by the owner that we've got to walk up there." "Okay, well, it is a gated community, we could leave our suitcases and come back for them later, make a run for it now."

Pedro let out a deep exhale through his nose, gripping the steering wheel. He shot me one last look. "Last one there is a loser." And he dashed out, playing unfairly again, this time by being on the advantageous side of the car. "No!" Before I had even opened the door, he had already gained some distance and I yelled after him.

I ran through the rain with a large grin and caught up with him halfway up the hill, having the disadvantage of shorter legs but triumphing in the end by being fitter. "Ha-ha!" I blew him a raspberry.

"Fuck, I'm out of shape." He complained and I turned back, almost slipping on the wet path but laughing nevertheless. "Quit smoking, then!"

We were drenched in warm rain when we reached the house and Pedro caught up with me after had I stopped to look at the view. He grinned. "What are you doing? Come on!" He yelled, louder above the sound of the rain pouring down from an oddly coloured sky.

Pedro's chest was heaving and he squinted towards the speck of dim light piercing through the darkened storm clouds above the mountains. A cascade of water fell from a canvaced pink and orange sky onto the land that shimmered above a distinct shade of purple.

We watched the distant, beautiful shower with a smile on our faces. "Purple rain." Pedro marvelled into the wet air and his jaw dropped when he watched a phenomenon he thought only existed in his favourite song.

I laughed with my entire heart and soul, jumping through the puddles. It was an incredible gift and he really deserved to see something as special as this.

Underneath the purple rain, Pedro walked over to me until he was standing up close, where finally, he cradled my face in his hands. His kiss was a shelter in the storm while the droplets cascaded down our faces but it was so tender it should have stopped the world from turning on its axis. Instead, our kiss blurred into an impressionist masterpiece.

Part 18

Translation notes:

(sp): Sí, vámanos - (eng): Yes, let's go

(sp): corazón - (eng): my heart/sweetheart

(sp): fiesta - (eng): party

(sp): Mama no me permiso a ver Star Wars - (eng) Mum won't allow me to watch Star Wars

(sp): Me preocupas ¿sabes? - (eng): You worry me, you know

(sp): ermita - (eng): chapel

(sp): ¿Verdad, hermano?" "Sí, hermanos para siempre." - (eng): "Right, brother?" "Yes, brothers forever."

(sp): Ella sabe que yo le voy a - (eng): She knows that I will obey her

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mochidreambubble · 1 year ago

Text

From Golden Grove, Love Sunset Bird

[ongoing fic]

Ao3 link

Chapters on Tumblr ~ 1 2 3 (you're here!) 4

previous - next

{Cove was your new best friend, but your fairy pen pal was also basically your best friend. It makes sense but not to Cove, but... But why is it he thinks you could only have one best friend anyways?}

[some notes from me before I continue, or you can just scroll down to the new chapter after the linebreak.

Comes back in here with a wedding pretzel and b/w ice cream sandwich like I didn’t leave this fic for months-

Few things of note going forward:

Due to OLNF clearly still being in progress, I’ve decided to do more of the first game for now. Though, for every B&A chapter out, in future, there will be the same number of NF POVs/Centric chapters.

It’s a little sad cause I wanted to do alternative POV chapters but that would just put this whole fic on hold instead (I do have one more OLNF chapter after this, but next time it will be unlikely)

I’ve also decided not to do a linear timeline, which I think is fine cause I’ll be labelling each chapter title with the step anyways? So maybe don't expect the next chapter for the respective MCs to be in the same or the next step cause I’ll likely just go back and forth on what I feel like writing to make it easier. Unless it’s a narrative thing I wanna follow up on.

(Also due to recent developments…. Maaaaaybe I won’t be sticking to Cove/MC, at least not straightforwardly)

And done, onward to the new chapter]

Three: Beginnings & Always Step 1 ~ “Nobody said I only could have 1 best friend”

You’d like to think you don’t get into fights that often. Maybe with Lizzie sometimes , which Mom and Ma always sat both of you down for cause siblings only had each other and you should talk things out.

But this was different. Cove was crying, which made you cry. You cried harder when he yelled that you weren’t friends anymore. What did you even do ?

You thought Cove and you got on pretty well over this summer. It was super great to have a kid your age for once, and one who didn’t move away once summer break was over. In fact, thanks to Cove, a lot had happened in just these few months alone. You barely had the time to write to your pen pal.

It made you feel kind of bad especially since, across the summer, you had at least 10 different postcards from them. Mom had left them in a neat pile and a colourful ribbon to make sure not a single postcard could go flying off. Which was silly because you’re sure postcards can’t fly.

You were waiting for Cove to come over. Ma promised to let both of you decorate the cupcakes she was baking, but only after you’ve both finished your weekend homework. It was criminal (were you using that phrase right?) that teachers gave soooo much homework. It was only the third week of the new school term too. It may have been cooler but you could still smell the summer spirit in the air.

Mr Holden said Cove would be there by 3pm on the dot. You think that means that Cove will be there on time?

You had your eyes glued to the clock in your room. But you got a little bored just looking at it, so you ended up reading the postcards your fairy friend sent instead. Their summer adventures back home were made up of carnivals (right in the middle of the city! Where did they have the space for that?) and two visits to the zoo. If not, they were spending time with their mother, on short trips to the nearest beach. There were a bunch of stickers. In fact, two postcards were mostly just stickers and a cute drawing smushed in there. Maybe they were wondering when you’d write something back…

There was one postcard scrawled with crayons that caught your eye. It was sent to you not long after the one you sent earlier in summer break.

Is your green friend smiling now? Cove? I wanted to send you candy to give to your new friend. Candy makes me happy.

Mama laughed when she read your letter. Mama says Cove’s papa is funny. Mama also said sometimes Mamas and Papas do funny things for us. Because we are their babies. But we are not babies anymore, I dunno why she says silly things like this.

You guess this maybe was the postcard that came with a small box of hard candies. Mom took one look at the postcard and gift and told you it was likely because these were harder to melt. It was a little sticky because of how hot it still was, you bet. But not a goopy mess.

With a quick glance at the clock, you decided you still had time. It was almost 3pm. There was totally time.

You took a piece of paper from your special drawer. It had all your sparkly pens and colour pencils. Most importantly, your pretty paper. Instead of white paper with lines, it was the colour of the sea with starfish and coral at the corners.

Hello little fairy!

Sorry I took so long to write to you. I had a lot of things to do this summer. Cove is a lot of fun, but he’s still not very smiley yet. But I think he is magic!!! Like for realsies!!!

You decided to start by telling the story of Cove and the Amazing Alexander. Not about how Cove’s balloon popped at the end though. It was still too sad…

You were only getting started when you heard Lizzie yell super loudly from downstairs that Cove was here. You jumped off the final two steps, touching down with a smack as your two feet landed. Mom yells out to be careful when she hears the telltale sound of what you just did.

“I’m okay!” You tell back, but you hear mom sigh. She worries about the silliest things for sure.

Cove was waiting for you, by himself, cause Lizzie had already joined Mom in the kitchen. You don’t think he waited all that long but you still felt kind of bad…

With a skip in your step, you went up to him just as he stood up, a smile on his face.

“Hi,” he greets you softly, fidgeting with his glasses.

It wasn’t all that cold yet, but he was already sporting a long-sleeved shirt. Maybe it was just cause it had been a while since he could, since he got his cast off recently.

“Heya Cove!” Part of you wanted to hug him, but Ma and Mom told you to still be extra careful even though he could finally get his cast off, so you made sure you smiled extra sparkly for him. “Thanks for coming over to help with the decorating!”

“Yeah, it sounded… Fun.”

You grab both his hands to give them an excited shake, but before you can lead him to the kitchen, your mom calls out from the island counter, cleaning up with Lizzie and helping dry some dishes.

“Not just yet kiddos, I’ve just put them in the oven, so it’ll be a while. How about you bring Cove up to your room, hm? I’ll call you two back down when they’re ready.”

“Yeah, I’m just helping mom cause she said I could lick the spoon for icing,” Lizzie says in her sing-song voice.

Mom makes a big show of clutching her chest. “Defeated by icing, oh Lizzie, you’re leaving your mom out to frost-”

Lizzie gives out a huff as she rolls her eyes and you giggle. “Sure thing, mom! C’mon Cove.”

He probably knows the way to your room by now, but you like holding his hand. Cove still takes the time to look around even though your room hasn’t changed since the last time he was here.

Well. Not exactly because he spots the difference right away.

“Postcards?”

Oh. Right. You spent all that time with Cove this summer, but you never really did tell him about your fairy pen pal, huh?

You pat a spot in your room for him to sit as you gather them up. “Mmhm, it’s from my friend in Chicago!”

Cove’s mouth forms an ‘O’ shape as you hand over the postcards. “How do you become friends with someone who lives far away?”

“We’re pen pals!” You say like it answers everything. Cove’s face tells you all you need to now - he was confused and your answer didn’t tell him anything, which meant he thought it was bad and unhelpful. So you grab another pile of postcards and short letters, plop down next to him and begin to explain.

Like how and why you started writing to them, who they were and details like they’re kind of like Shiloh in that they only lived with their mom, they were two years younger, they lived in the city and their home was kind of tiny, they liked doodling and collecting stickers…

Cove was already on the latest set of postcards as you add on, “And they’re my best friend!”

It was like a magic spell was cast and turned Cove to stone because he freezes entirely.

“...Cove?” You turn to look at them, small bubbles of panic rising.

“Your best friend?” He was whispering so softly, which didn’t help that he sounded like something was stuck in his throat. His eyebrows were slowly forming a frown.

“Y-yeah, but…. Cove, what’s wrong?”

“B-But you said we were best friends!” He stands up with a shout, causing you to jump up too with a shock.

You did kind of say that, when Cove asked if you were friends during the sleepover but…

He was already starting to cry which made your heart fast and loud.

“Of course you are Cove!”

“But you just said I wasn’t!”

“I didn’t say that!”

He tosses the postcard all over and stomps his foot. “Yes you did! You said your pen pal was your best friend!”

You looked at him confused and unsure, but find yourself yelling back. “Yeah! Both of you are my best friends!”

“No!” He shouts again, crossing his arms. “You can only have one best friend!”

And the two of you became stuck in a circle of yes, no and crying because all of it made you confused and upset. Why was he so mad about this?

It became so loud that Mom came up to see what was wrong. You ran over to hug and tried to explain. You’re not sure she understood you fully but she was nodding, at least. She must have called Mr Holden or something because by the time she brought both of you back downstairs still hiccuping the tears back, he had dropped in a little while later.

He looked between you and Cove, sat on opposite sides of the sofa. You didn’t even have the energy to greet him like usual, even when he smiled at you. Mom had pulled him aside and started to whisper to him. Mom handed him a tupperbox of cupcakes - Lizzie still decorated them as she watched you from the stool she was using to reach the high counter, glancing from Mom to you and Cove.

“C’mon Cove,” He came back over and ruffled his hair. He looked away when he realised you were watching which made you feel pain and you could feel the tears again. He gets up and follows Ciff out without any issue, and for the first time since Cove moved to Sunset Bird, he left without you saying ‘Goodbye’.

But who cares, he was being stupid. Why couldn’t he understand that you could have many precious best friends if you wanted?! Both of them were important to you after all…

And you try and explain that to Mom once Cove left, and to Ma again. If both of them could understand, why couldn’t Cove…

It had been a whole day since the fight with Cove, but you still felt upset. Not even dance practice felt fun…

Lizzie was even being nice to you, offering to play whatever game you picked once you got back. It’s things like this that make you really love her, even if Lizzie was bossy most of the time. But it still bothered you, even as you played with her, that by the time the sun was setting on a what should be a happy Sunday…

“Hey, where are you going?” Lizzie stands up just as you do, as you run back upstairs.

You were on a mission now, you decided as you grab a bunch of letters between you and your pen pal. You simply yell out as you swing the front door open that you’re going to the Holdens, your Mom yelling back Alright but you had to be back for dinner soon.

You knock with your free hand, the other squishing the small stack of paper to your body. Mr Holden opens the door with a surprise.

“Hiya Mr Holden, sorry about yesterday.”

“Oh, it’s alright. It seems like my boy made you quite upset too. But, are you here to-”

“See Cove? Yep, can I?”

You watch as Mr Holden thinks on it for a little while, then nods. “Of course, kiddo. Do you remember where Cove’s room is?”

You nod. This would be the second time you would have been there, the first was after the first day of school you had together with Cove. It was super lucky, the two of you were in the same class and your seats were side by side.

You thank Mr Holden and he heads back to the kitchen counter after he makes sure you were fully inside. You walk to Cove room door, taking a deep breath. The door opens before you even land a knock, Cove staring at you in surprise when he realised you were there.

You expected him to slam the door in your face. Lizzie does that to everyone when she’s mad…

But he just… Stands there, not even looking at you, his eyes staring right at the floor.

“Hey Cove,” you manage to say, but it was so soft that you weren’t sure about your plan anymore.

“Hi.”

Oh, at least he greeted you back, right?

“Um… So uh, I was wondering if I could come in for a bit.”

He doesn’t look up, instead shuffling back in. He left his room door open, so you walk in and close it after. You liked Cove’s room, even if it felt kind of empty at the moment. You were helping him add more to his shell collection.

Once you were both in there, standing a space apart, the silence came back. You take in another deep breath.

“Sorry!”

“ ‘m sorry.”

Huh?

Cove finally looks up at you, eyes filled with tears again. “Oh Cove, please don’t cry I’m-”

“I’m sorry,” he’s already crying but he repeats his apology again. “I still want us to be- Be friends!”

“Of course we’re still friends! Best friends even!”

“B-But-”

You take out some of the postcards from your other bestie and start to talk. “A-And you can be their best friend too! I sent them a letter at the start of summer and they sent me so many postcards and some of them were asking about you!”

He looks surprised and rubs at his eyes to stop the tears. “You told them about me?”

“Mmhm! I promise you, they’ll like you too! And we can all be best friends together so… So uh…”

You start to fumble and ramble, about how it should be fine to have more than one best friend anyways cause you should be allowed to make your own rules. And that whoever made that old rule was stupid because Cove and you could do anything you wanted to anyways!

“And you can help me write the next one too! I was gonna write about what I did this summer and you were there for almost all of it so…!!”

He nods at last, and the postcards and short letters go flying as you rush to hug him.

Mom looks at the rather thick envelope with a smile.

“You sure you got everything packed up in here, kids?”

You look to Cove and he gives a firm nod. “Yes… Uh, we made sure to read everything three times so we got everything.”

“The whooooole summer adventure,” you nod seriously, your hands together motion in a wide circle as you tell mom.

Mom laughs and ruffles both your heads, Cove ducking a little. Your mom promises to get it delivered and you grab onto Cove excitedly. You already can’t wait to hear back!

[last note from me this chapter: my friend 'weebnt_b' read through the new chapter but they're kind of not feeling too good, so if you see any mistakes, please let me know!

#cove holden #our life beginnings & always #my fic #my writing #our life now and forever #From Golden Grove Love Sunset Bird fic #We're still friends even if we're miles apart fic series

16 notes · View notes

mochidreambubble · 2 years ago

Text

From Golden Grove, Love Sunset Bird

Ao3 version here

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Two: Now and Forever Step 1 Prologue ~ Pretty Smiles, Pretty Words

Dear Mermaid of Sunset Bird,

Sorry for making you wait so long for my letter. I really miss getting letters from you too, so know one of the first things I’m doing is writing to you.

It’s pretty right? I was nervous, since Mama said it’s so different from our last home in the city, but everything here feels like it’s right out of a storybook. I’m still just a tiny bit nervous. I left all my friends behind. I still have Mama, but…

Kids my age already have friend groups right? What if no one wants me to play with them…

I’m glad I have you at least. I wish you were here. I wish I could go to Sunset Bird! I want to meet you! I want to meet Cove! I know so much about him, but it’s different when you meet face to face!

Mama says I should think of this as an adventure, like in my favourite books, but

“Sweetie! Come over and take a look.”

You stop writing and stand back up from your crouch, clipboard securely in your arms again, your camera dangling from your neck, and you rush over to Mama’s side. You place your clipboard, the half written letter securely collapsed, and gently place it atop one of the carry on bags on the porch. Good thing too, as Mama starts insisting you explore. Tempting of course, as you’d bet you’d take some pretty nifty pictures. Mama also always has good reasons for suggesting things.

Maybe Mama just had magic, or could see the future. For it led to a mystery of a paper plane thrown your way. Gave you a bit of a shock. Mama considered it a mystery, one you were obviously up to ask for. It was just like your Stony Girls or Herlock Sholmes mystery novels!

You take snapshots of the forest path, the beautiful colours of fall. A crossroad, a choice to make.

A boy named like the season, the prettiest person you’ve seen.

A sparkly surprise from a very pretty girl!

You think there has to be some kind of record for meeting very pretty people back to back.

The boy, Qiu or Autumn - he said both were fine right? - was a funny kid but he was also a bit… Airheaded? No, not quite right. Scatterbrained? Who’s to say?

“Next time I’m not gonna tell you about it…”

Definitely. You were so totally not gonna tell him about lost pages. (A lie, of course. Not that you would know it just yet.)

Qiu smiles, in the way only someone who breathed and lived confidence could. Smug even?

“I don’t know about that,” He grins, hands casually supporting the back of his head. “You seem really nice. You’d help me out again. Thanks.”

The girl - with such a pretty name!! - Tamarack, made you really curious. She lived with her Omi and Opa - her grandparents. You never know what it was like to live without your Mama…

But she was so sparkly and bright you couldn't help but feel drawn to her. And she said she liked the earmuffs your Mama got for you! So she was a certified good bean in your book~

You tell your Mermaid Friend as much, as you huddle in your sleeping bag. You hesitate, for a moment, to tell them about the weird butterflies you get when you see Qiu. It’s different from the sparkling joy you know you have when you think Tamarack may be your first gal pal in Golden Grove.

It’s kind of confusing I guess. Maybe you have words of wisdom, oh Mermaid of the Sunset Seas.

(You decide to tell them after all.)

Anywhoosies ;3

Write to me soon! I miss hearing from you. Let me know if you want me to send you a postcard next time instead. I think I may find some pretty ones.

Love,

Golden Grove~ (Because yay!!! Mama and I officially moved in!!)

#our life beginnings & always #my fic #my writing #our life now and forever #qiu lin #tamarack baumann #From Golden Grove Love Sunset Bird fic #We're still friends even if we're miles apart fic series

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mochidreambubble · 2 years ago

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From Golden Grove, Love Sunset Bird

[ongoing fic] {I started a planned multi-chapped fic as well as others related in the same concept - but not necessarily in the same timeline/continuation. This was what started the chain of OL fics. See all related fics on Ao3 here, and for just this ongoing one right here.

The chapters are not exactly going to be linear - the chapters will all take place at each individual MC’s step, so due to the year and age differences, the chapters will not be happening at the same time depending on which MC’s chapter it is.

Both MCs will be using they/them and left, strictly because everything about the MC is so customisable, from their Name, Looks, and Gender - all of which can be changed at any stage so, really I left most of those details up to however you want to interpret/imagine them as. Frankly, it’s not the main focus of this fic. View the MCs however you wish.}

[Summary:

Letters, Postcards (and potentially Emails) that span across years.

Long distance friends spilling their hearts over paper.

From, Sunset Bird ~ Love, Golden Grove]

(you are here) First - Next One: Beginnings & Always Step 1 ~ Hilltop Beginnings

Lizzie thinks it’s so funny that your pen pal is six. Well, pen pal is a stretch, considering your city friend ( baby , Lizzie insists on calling them, they’re so young they’re basically a baby) mostly sends you postcards plastered with stickers and a few words written by their Mama . It hasn’t changed since you started sending them letters - your doodles and writing in as many different coloured crayons as you could manage - at the start of the year.

You met them through a creative type of program you saw a colourful poster for Friends As Far as the Eye Can See - Friends even across the Sea and you thought it sounded fun! Kids came and went at Sunset Bird, so you felt, it is pretty neat to have some kind-of friend that would still be your friend no matter what - summer going by wouldn’t be an issue cause so long as you kept sending letters, and they sent postcards, you were basically always connected!

Mom and Ma sat you down before you started sending them letters, a very long and very booooring lecture about stranger danger and what you could and couldn’t say. Both of them really hovered over your shoulder when you wrote your first letter. They seemed to relax when the first postcard from your pen pal arrived, it had a letter from their own Mama as well which was addressed to both of them instead (well, not to Mom and Ma exactly. It was for the ‘Parents’ so basically them).

Your moms said that your pen pal lived in the city. You’re not sure why a six-year-old was doing this, and you kind of agree with Lizzie that they were pretty smallish in age (not that you’d ever tell her of course). Unlike you, it turns out, this wasn’t their idea.

“Their mother signed them up for this. I guess she was hoping to give them a special friend,” Your Ma says as she brushes your hair and you when you ask if they knew - Mom and Ma always have all the answers after all! You let her fuss over your hair as long as she likes, you love it.

You wonder if they knew what was going on, Mom says they do as kids are always more mature and smarter than people give them credit for and she winks and both you and Lizzie. Mom and Ma’s friends liked to say Lizzie had a sharp wit (you don’t think Lizzie likes sharp things at all actually) and that you were uh…

“ A precocious child ,” Your Ma repeats those words when you asked. She makes a face like she doesn’t quite like that people called you that. You ask, because you don’t even know what that word means.

She smiles, but you can tell she’s smiling because you were slightly frowning. “It means you’re very mature, very grown-up, in a lot of ways. But you’ll always be my little baby.”

You guess you sort of understand what the word means now. Maybe? You don’t feel like an adult though. You still like to collect shells and make silly drawings and play all day, nothing like what your Mom and Ma do. But you do feel sort of kind of responsibility towards your far-away pen pal. Lizzie may be your older sister, but you were the older one between you and your pen pal. You felt like you needed to be cool? Or at least someone they could look up to, hopefully…

It’s summer right now and you finally have more time to play at the beach, so maybe you should tell them ‘bout some of the cool shells you’ve already found washed up recently? Or maybe about some of the tourists from places you’ve certainly never been to before? You just hope these were more interesting letters than the ones you wrote during your school days, where the most exciting stories seem to be about funky school lunches at the occasional field trip. Normally, you’d just write about your family…

“Come onnnn,” Lizzie huffs, dramatically slumping against your bedroom door. You forgot she’d been waiting for you. “We’re supposed to meet Shiloh at the playground since forever ago!”

You don’t want to tell her you don’t really feel like going. Shiloh is her friend; no matter how much you’ve tried to bond with Shiloh all the times you’ve seen him so far. You like to think you’re pretty likable (maybe?). You like talking to people and making new friends. You don’t really know why Shiloh not liking you bugs you so much.

“You go on ahead, I’m thinking about-”

“About what to write to your baby friend far far away ,” your sister sticks her tongue out, ending with another dramatic impatient huff. “Nevermind, I’m going without you.”

You feel a little guilty, especially since you promised to go with her. But you also want to finish writing your letter…

…

Which unfortunately goes nowhere. Your paper is getting crumpled with all the times you’ve erased your pencil scribbles. Slumping back down your chair with a sigh, you wonder if you should go meet your sister after all. But you’ve been staring at the now very crumpled paper that was supposed to magically be your letter for a long while now. The sun was setting…

But you were getting nowhere, so outside you go! You made sure to call out to you Mom and Ma you were simply going for a short walk. Mom tells you not to wander too far, and even though you know that super well, you made sure to yell back that you wouldn’t.

You take in a deep breath, the air salty. Without the sun high in the sky, it wasn’t super hot at the very least. You were ready to just hang around the curb outside your home and stretch just for a bit. But you spot someone, a stranger. He was sitting on said curb, slumped over with his head in his hand. With the stranger hunched over, you could only see the sandy colour of his ponytailed hair.

You stare long enough that he notices you.

You thought it was funny, at first. But the more you thought about it later, the sadder you felt. Cause the stranger, a dad it seemed, offered you a twenty-dollar bill to be his son’s friend. You knew very well that wasn’t how kids your age made friends. And even though it would have made you super rich, it didn’t feel right to take it. You didn’t mind meeting ‘Cove’, without that money bribe thank you very much. You think friends should be made without being paid to do so. Meeting new people made you super excited anyway. It would also be super fun to have another kid your age, next door even! Most kids your age lived super far away, and if not for school, you think it would be super hard to meet kids your age at all.

You agree to help the stranger-dad look for Cove. You found him on your hill.

Made you wish you were magic. You’ve never met anyone so sad.

Of course, you made a promise to make this boy with the prettiest hair and the sad frown smile. You felt like you had to.

……

Hello Fairy Friend

Is that ok? You gave me so many many mermaid stickers last time and called me your mermaid friend. So I wanted to call you something special too. You like fairies right?

I think I met someone magical today. His name is Cove, and I think he’s super special. His hair is green like the ocean in the morning. He’s my new neighbour, and I get bubbles inside me when I think about that.

Cove was really sad though. Nothing I say makes him smile. I wonder if I can get him to smile.

I feel sad for him. His dad wanted to give me twenty-dollars to be his friend. Moms and dads don’t do that right? Like, you mom didn’t give you money to send postcards to me?

Anyway! That’s it then! It’s my mission this summer to make my new neighbour smile!!!

Making new friends makes people happy, right? It made me super happy to be friends with you, even though you live so far away.

I wanted to do so many things and nothing at the same time this summer. But now!!! I have a plan!!! It is super great!!!

I’ll let you know if Cove and I become friends. Cause you’re my friend too, and I want you to know!

Okay, bye!!! Send me a postcard soon!!!!

From

Your Mermaid Friend!!!!

#cove holden #our life beginnings & always #my fic #my writing #our life now and forever #From Golden Grove Love Sunset Bird fic #We're still friends even if we're miles apart fic series

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mochidreambubble · 2 years ago

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Winter Wishes

[I originally wrote this for Xmas 2022. It also uses the pen pal premise from my other OL fics. Ao3 link here.]

{Winter party plans don't go as... Well. Planned. But that doesn't mean there won't be merriment and fun.}

You wait as you bounce back between toe and heel. Your Ma hasn’t said a word since you showed her the sparkly invitation. It had been personally delivered by the one and only Baxter - though not because he wanted to personally deliver it to you specifically . You saw him from your room window as he arrived in the late morn in some super fancy car (the driver came out to open the door for him and everything! Like in the movies!) and he had beelined for Qiu’s first, likely handing Tamarack’s and yours personally too just cause it was convenient that he was already there. Not that it was surprising he picked to go to Qiu first, or that he came all this way to hand the letter in person. The Boys Club was a tight unit, and while Qiu had extended the invitation to you…

You were initially excited to see him, as outside of Boys Club days where the invitation was extended to you, there were never really a lot of chances to just hang out with Baxter. So, maybe you were a little sad that him handing the invitation to you was just because he was in the area anyway. But you try and shrug it off, Qiu had more memories and friendship bonding stuff with him that you did not.

“Well, Baxter did come all this way to give you this invitation,” Your mom speaks up at last and you perk up from your rocky gaze on the floor.

“So I can go?!”

“Seeing as how Qiu and Tamarack were invited as well, so long as you’ll be going together-”

You tackle her in a hug before she finishes, then rush to the door. You made sure to grab your scarf and earmuffs and yell back to Ma, “I’ll go ask them right now!”

She calls back, though it sounded muffled by the time the door had shut. Maybe it was to not run, seeing as how snow and frost covered every inch of Golden Grove. Like in autumn, everything looked like it leapt straight out of the painted pages of your favourite storybooks. You still picked the comfy oranges and reds of the previous season to be your favourite, but winter in Golden Grove certainly beat out the dreary grays and stone of the same season back in the city.

You make your way as quickly as you can, your winter boots crunching as you first etch closer to Qiu's. It was always more of a gamble to see if Tamarack was home, cause even in the cold it be a coin toss if she was bundled up in quilts or back out in the forest out back. You play a little song of knocks on Qiu’s door and you hear some scrambling within the home.

“Mr Qiu Lin, what did we say about running in the halls?”

An airy laugh in response, and, “So long as I’m not tracking mud or running in socks, it’s ok?”

Qiu greets you at the door. There’s always this weird buzz of butterflies and warmth you get when you see Qiu. You haven’t told Ma about it, not really. “Hey there neighbour,” he still smiles with confidence and mischief, it always feels like days never quite go so simply when he does this. He tries to balance on one foot, hopping in place as he puts on the other red sneaker.

“Morning Qiu!”

“Morning? I’m sure it’s almost noon, silly.”

“That means it’s still morning. Do I need to get you a watch or something?”

Both shoes on, at last, he asks if you’re giving away what you’re getting him for Christmas, and you try your best to sound as mysterious as possible. The line of conversation continues, and to any outsider it may even sound like the two of you were bickering, but there wasn’t even a hint of animosity between the two of you.

“Speaking of Christmas, what do you think about Baxter’s winter party invitation?” You ask as you both make your way over to Tamarack’s.

“Of course I’m going. And hey, and told ya you’d get your chance to go over to his big house eventually,” He still has his smug smile in place, and between the strange butterflies and the laugh you’re fighting down, you still manage to roll your eyes.

“You haven’t always been right since we met I have you know, “ and you tap the notebook in his grip. “I think I have a track record for the number of times I had to save your pages Mr I don’t lose anything .”

“And that’s where you’re wrong,” he winks. “Thanks to you, I really haven’t lost anything!”

“ Qiu.”

He laughs as he slides over to the Baumann household door, knocking rhythmically as he always does. Granny answered the door. “Oh, hello dears.”

The two of you greet her simultaneously, as well as - as best two differently posed questions could make it out to be - ask her if Tamarack was in. She stops to ponder for just a second, eyes glittering. You always think everyone in Tamarack’s family, even the kind of scary Mr Baumann, seemed to have sparkles on them. “She’s still warming up from her morning escapades,” a word you note to either ask mom or look up in your dictionary later. “But I’m sure she'll be happy to see the two of you.”

Qiu and you both take a complimentary candy from the glass bowl once you’re in the Baumann’s cozy hallway and make your way to Tamarack, and as one of your guesses, was comfortably wrapped in a nice thick quilt and sipping hot chocolate. She almost spills the mug entirely when she sees the two of you, getting up in haste. You huddle in with her, and Qiu joins in, smushing you in the middle. You didn’t know what was so funny, but Granny had to rush off to get a camera. It gave the three of you a moment all to yourselves, and you ask her about the invitation.

“Ohhh. Oma told me about it, but I can’t say I feel like going,” she shrugs. It may have been months since she met the other members of Qiu’s Boys Club, and while it wasn’t that she didn’t like Baxter or Darren, she didn’t feel like she wanted to hang out with them as much. The most is if you said you were going to, which maybe convinced Tamarack to do the same once in a while.

“Qiu and I will be going,” and you see Tamarack’s eyes light as she reconsiders. “And it’s a fancy rich people party right? There’s going to be things we maybe don’t see at regular parties, it may be fun!”

The three of you discuss possible what ifs and could be, after Tamarack decides that she’d like to go as well - and nothing could make you happier as you didn’t like leaving Tamarack out of anything. Qiu explains that, sure , he has been over to Baxter’s quite a number of times, but never for the fancy parties. You personally think it be fun to go so you get the chance to dress up. You didn’t really have the chance to, maybe once in a while if you had to tag along to one of Ma’s work parties for things like the company’s Christmas or New Years gathering, but those were so boring . Qiu insists it was a grand affair , especially stressed in his noble fancy voice that never failed to make you and Tamarack laugh. He then insists that all of you would need the whole day to prepare, like in the TV shows, so it was only natural that…!

“We all sleep over at your place!” Qiu presents you like a grand finale and you give him a quizzical look. “Look, we can all stay over and spend the next day preparing at your place and all go together, it’s the perfect plan .”

He then admits it’s mainly because by this point, you’ve all stayed over at his and Tamarck’s place at least once, so by default, it was sort of your turn to host. But it should be perfect, since the idea was for the three of you to go together anyways. When you explain this all to Ma later, she could only laugh that, despite living next to each other, it apparently wasn’t close enough for the three of you.

All the grownups didn’t seem to mind, especially since this was the third time you were all having a sleepover.Qiu even tried to extend the invitation to Darren. Your little adventuring group of three dropped by to see if he wanted to join but before he could even say it was over at your place and that he was saying Tamarack was going to be there, you saw the face he made. Even if you and Tamarack were watching from the sidewalk, you could guess what the answer was. Tamarack didn’t really seem all that bothered, saying that just you three was the right amount anyways.

So when the night before the big party day approached, your room had two guests carrying fluffy sleeping bags and their belongings. You all broke the sleep early rule, of course. The moment you hear Ma’s door click shut for the night, flashlights came on and the cards and hand puppets came out. You all even managed to silently build a grand pillow and blanket fort, big enough for all three if you to sleep in side by side.

Once the games had stopped and the three of you lay there, not quite in the dark as your glow in the dark stickers illuminate the room, Tamarack giggles and asks if you think you’d meet your prince or princess at the party. “You know, the one ? Like people do when they go to these rich people's parties? Like a mysterious stranger who asks you to dance with them?”

You hear Qiu muffle a squawk beside you, and unsure what that was about but you shrug and turn to her. Truth be told, this wasn’t the first time Tamarack has asked you about dancing with mysterious strangers. Not since you told her you took dance classes. Not ballet like Qiu, but like Baxter. You weren’t in the same classes exactly of course, as Baxter was ahead of you, but it was one of the few things Baxter and you could bond over. Thinking about Baxter, it was always a little funny. He was always friendly, but there was something in your gut that told you he was kind of disappointed that you were there too, and he always tried to hide the sulk that would quickly disappear. You told your mom about it, and after a hug and a comfy place cuddled by her side, she explained that sometimes you couldn’t make everyone like you, no matter how hard you tried. Which you thought kind of sucked, since you saw Baxter as Mr Cool and Mysterious. Maybe this party would be another chance to be closer with him.

“Well?” Tamarack giggles softly as she gives your cheek a poke.

“I much rather dance with my best friends.”

You hear Qiu let out a breath and laughs as well. You nudge him to be softer. “Course you would, since we’re going to be the coolest people there.”

“Mmmm. But I guess I’ll ask Baxter for one too, since he invited me.”

“R-Really?”

“Ooooh, yeah. I guess you would want to,” Tamarack thinks aloud. “Cause you think he’s Mr Cool or something right?

“Y-You do?!”

“Awww Qiu,” Tamarack giggles. “I guess there’s some things I know that you don’t huh?”

“Hey! No fair!”

Half-way through sharing more “secrets”, your Ma comes in to ask you all to go to bed. Whoops, guess you all became too loud after all. Hilariously, despite all that speculation for the night for how the part would go…

»»————-　✼　————-««

Dear Mermaid Friend

I hope this gets to you in time just so I can say Merry Christmas!!

❄️🎄❄️

There’s a bunch of sticker packs I picked out for you, I hope you like them. Ma packed some homemade jam for everyone in your family too. Ma’s jam is the best, and you should tell me if you want Ma to send more over, not just as a Christmas present.

This year I’m probably going to spend Christmas cooped up at home if you can believe it! It’s been snowing pretty bad the past few days. I was actually invited to a fancy rich people party a few days ago. But…

Dun Dun Dun!! Suspense Music!!

On the day I was supposed to go, everything and everywhere got snowed in.

<there's a drawing of a huge sad face in a Santa hat>

Guess it wasn’t all that bad though, as I had Qiu and Tamarack with me! We just spent the day making cookies with Ma and playing board games and watching silly Christmas movies. I hope your winter days have been going better than mine. Wish I could hop on a plane to visit you in Sunset Bird but Ma says I’m still too small to do that. When do you think she’ll say I’m big enough? It’s not fair.

Wait. I remember you said you hated Winter most right? Cause your moms don’t let you play at the beach as much. Sheesh. I’ll never understand why you and Cove like the sea so much. Maybe one say when I visit, it’ll be like magic, you’ll turn me into a mermaid so I can explore the sea with you or something. Would that be fun!!

🌊🐚 🐬 🐚 🐬 🌊

↑ I made sure to get ocean themed stickers like those

Anyways, Ma said I could invite everyone over inst

“Sweetie, your friends are here!” Ma calls, and you stop writing halfway. Since the whole party at Baxter’s didn’t happen, you decided to invite him and Darren to spend the day over at your place instead. Darren took a lot of convincing, and what you thought was a rather stern look from Mrs Murray (Tamarack whispered to you conspiratorially how odd it was to see your teacher on winter break). As expected though, he stuck to Qiu like glue the whole time, oh well.

Baxter was genuinely delighted to have been invited, and Ma and the other adults said it was precious he dressed up all formal for the small party. He told the lot of you that he actually liked this more, as the fancy party was really his parent’s party and he usually found them boring so he was glad the snow came in and saved him.

Huh . Guess all grownup parties were just boring.

Tamarack’s grandparents brought over some really old, really big disks and your Ma brought out a really big CD player (they’re vinyls and a phonograph, she explains later). Turns out you got to dance with Baxter after all. You’re not sure how or why; Tamarack would tell you one fine day when it was just the two of you a few days after the party that she saw Qiu whispering to Baxter right before he asked you. Though soon after everyone danced with everybody, except Darren who shuffled exclusively with Qiu and Baxter but oh well.

And funnily enough, you got to visit Baxter’s big house that very winter after all. He invited everyone over again, everyone’s parents and grandparents too, for a Christmas dinner that was just him and his parents this time - no fancy dancing or partying involved.

Baxter got you new dancing shoes, and Darren - or more specifically Mrs Murray you were betting - got you those cool pencil cases that opened up to have more than one compartments. Tamarack a cute box for treasure and a secret compartment for notes, there were already some she had written just for you it seemed. Qiu gave you a notebook, matching his own. You felt like it belonged with the paper airplane in your keepsakes box, too precious to use.

All in all, it was a wonderful first Winter in Golden Grove.

#our life beginnings & always #my fic #my writing #our life now and forever #qiu lin #tamarack baumann #We're still friends even if we're miles apart fic series

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mochidreambubble · 2 years ago

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The Past will Always catch up to You (so Please come Home)

[A fic I wrote a while back which can be considered compliant to the first/main fic as the main detail that “the two OL MCs are pen pals” is still a thing within this fic (Tumblr, Ao3). You don't necessarily have to read it, but it sets up a groundwork of sorts. The divergent is that this had the OL1 MC paired with Baxter and the main fic is Cove/OL1MC. Can potentially still be within the same narrative as this can be a Baxter was just a summer fling that one summer kind of way and they ended up with Cove later, but can also be seen as Baxter is the Step 4 LI as well. Cove barely appears in this fic so what route/path this narrative is ultimately using is up to interpretation/preference.

(Except for the small detail that the OL2 MC has cranberry feature(s), can be just the hair or eyes, or both)

Probably not canon compliant to the main game though, since as of writing this fic the Baxter DLC has just started being in the works. (This fic happened because I’m too excited, also I love Baxter Ward)

Doubly so for any OL2 stuff too since. Well, we’re literally officially still in the prologue and I only have read the character posts the dev releases so…]

{Baxter Ward has always been a chill type of guy. At least he would be if someone from his past wasn't staring daggers into him.}

He’s not sweating because Baxter Alexander Ward would certainly not lose his cool at seeing someone from his mountainous hometown at some random seaside town dab smacked far away enough that it felt almost surreal.

Even if he was, it was most certainly not because said person sitting across him was boring right into his soul while they sipped on their boba tea, which had been sitting mostly full on the picnic table long enough that a small ring puddle had formed. The person drinking it was taking their sweet time, sipping ever so slowly and not breaking their gaze away from him, even as said condensation puddle was growing ever closer to their crossed arms resting on said picnic table.

Thankfully, his sweet summer beau had either not noticed or opted not to mention anything at all. Though he could bet it had more to do with how ecstatic they were instead as they and the person trying to melt you with their eyes were apparently acquainted. And they were in Sunset Bird in person. In fact, that may be too shallow a descriptor of the kind of bond they had. Both of them had been pen pals for years, ever since they were little.

Even before said person trying to murder you with their eyes even moved into that little house in the Cul de Sac in Golden Grove

There’s an uncomfortable but soft cough. Considering the tense silence, it may as well have been a slam on the table.

Ah, right. Baxter’s sweetheart had invited their childhood friend along. Said childhood friend, Cove Holden who Baxter considers may as well equally an attractive heartthrob (who could give Qiu a run for their moneY NO NOPE LET’S NOT GO THERE BRAIN) who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here right now, and frankly, Baxter couldn’t fault him for that. His sweetheart gently pats Cove on the back and he shoots an appreciative look their way. If Baxter were a possessive type of guy (and he’s most certainly not, thank you very much), he’d be rather jealous of the tight-knit bond between the two.

They were as close as the trio of childhood friends back home aND DAMNIT BRAIN

“The waves must be calling you huh,” The person sitting across Baxter breaks their steel gaze away from him at last, and it turns into a friendly and apologetic type of stare. Baxter couldn’t help but note it’s certainly not as saccharine as one reserved for a Miss Tamarack Baumann. If there was one weakness Baxter could always pinpoint about the person across from him was that they were always soft and forever looking out for the gal. Which was saying something because as far as anyone knew, they held both Tamarack and Qiu on the same level-

Ah.

He really just couldn’t help but think of… Of home after all.

Cove gives them a sheepish smile. “Sorry, it’s not that I didn’t want to be here, and it’s nice to be able to put a face to all those letters!”

“It’s just one of those days where the ocean is calling out to him,” Cove gets gently elbowed by his childhood friend. “Trust me, he wouldn’t be here if he actually wanted to avoid meeting you.”

And despite not knowing Cove for that long, he can vouch for that too. It took some level of observation, but the young man certainly looked more relaxed talking to them than to him, if Baxter had to compare both of their first introductions.

“It’s just,” Cove continues, a slight blush on his face. “The waves just look really inviting today.”

The two pen pals laugh. The one from back home has the politest smirk they could manage. “It’s alright Cove, I’ve been told people can only handle so much of me. People back home felt that I was too much, they even drove me out of Golden grove for the summer.”

They give an exaggerated sob, clutching their heart and another hand wiping fake tears away.

“I beg to differ,” The seaside townie snickers. “I’m willing to bet my entire shell collection they’re miserable without their local fae around them.”

There’s a groan in response. “Please tell me you don’t go around referring to me as some fairy-”

Cove laughs. “Not just some fairy for sure. For a really long time, I just knew you as the Fairy from Golden Grove.”

“It’s only fair,” There’s a twinkle in Baxter’s sweetheart’s eyes, and it’s butterflies all over again. It’s a reminder as to why he agreed to have a little fun with them on this lovely summer trip after all. “I mean, are you going to swear you don’t go around telling your friends you were writing letters to a Mermaid in Sunset Bird?”

The Fall Fairy raises their hand in surrender. “Okay, okay, so maybe that habit stuck around.”

And the two pen pals share a smile, one of years of stories and secrets Baxter was certainly not privy to.

“So? Does the fair Mermaid feel the same lull of the sea as their green-haired companion?”

“Just a little,” They sigh wistfully. “But I know that you and Baxter…”

They give Baxter a small smile, and he returns one in kind, more relaxed than the one he had affixed for the majority of the past few hours or so.

“Neither of you seem to gel with the beach life huh.”

Baxter finally speaks, breaking his self-inflicted vow of silence for the day.

“You’d know I’d willingly cross molten lava to spend time with you darling, but the ocean…”

The Fall Fairy makes a face as well. “And I love you and all, but it’s the sand I have beef with. How can you stand to be around so much of it when it's coarse and rough and irritating… And it gets everywhere!”

Cove snaps his fingers and beams. “I understood that reference!”

Baxter receives a sympathetic pat on the shoulder while the other forest mountain tourist gets a small smile thrown their way. “I could just sit here-”

“And put a stop to your summer goal of finally achieving surfing greatness?” The pen pal asks, clearly privy to all the other’s plans.

“Maybe not that ambitious,” Cove chuckles, the barest hint of mischief in his eyes. “I mean, unless you consider a record of only sticking to the board of a full 10 minutes every time-”

“Heeeeey,” Cove receives a gentle shove from his childhood friend, getting a stink eye for his comment. “I get that we all can’t be Cove Holden, but I’m not that bad!”

“I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your surf lessons, love,” Baxter assures them. “Go on. I’ll keep your friend here company, hm?”

Now that brings forth a look of surprise from his fellow Golden Grove townie.

His sweetheart looks between them both for a brief second, before nodding and gathering their stuff. “We’ll still be close enough to the boardwalk,” And they point to the portion of the beach in sight. “And if either of you ever feel like braving the sands and seas, you can come up to us, ok? Else we’ll be back soon.”

Baxter gets a quick peck on the cheek, and soon, it was just him and part of his past incarnate sitting across him. He keeps his eyes on the two Sunset Bird locals for as long as he can till they’re both bright-coloured human-shaped blobs in the distance.

The person across from him takes this time to fully drain their full cup, now playing with the straw as they create inharmonious sounds fidgeting with it and the cup lid.

“I guess,” They say at last. “If it was between the ocean and someone from Golden Grove, you still wouldn’t pick the ocean, huh.”

“You make it sound like I want to avoid anyone from…. From home.”

“Could have fooled me, Baxter.”

They have that look, the one that’s hurt but not filled with blame. It’s not one Baxter gets often from them. He wasn’t Tamarack or Qiu or Ren, and as far as he could recall, they weren’t that close.

“I’ve been busy with school.”

“Too busy to keep in touch with Autumn?”

It hurt. From the first time Baxter had pinpricks from hearing Qiu call the person sitting across from him pretty when they were kids (I knew him first you just moved here how did you already catch his eye) to seeing Qiu always always make time for them regardless of anything, everything.

Part of Baxter gets it. The eye-catching cranberry of their appearance, the peacekeeper and big heart, the openness to everyone…

He tries to keep it cool, under wraps. “I told you all before, I’m a bit too old to be hanging around you kids.”

“Gee,” They snort, looking away from him to gaze out to the beach, watching the other two of their afternoon quartet (and Baxter pretends to not be so relieved from the short reprieve from their gaze). “Didn’t realise being three years older made you an old man.”

He doesn’t know why. But he feels almost everything is bubbling to the surface. He wasn’t expecting to see anyone from back Home out in a beachy town, let alone a kid he used to play with. Specifically someone he knew Qiu held dear, someone who had a solid presence in the woodland wonder with the people around them.

“I’m surprised you didn’t drag your two best friends with you.”

“It’s just a week away, I’m sure they’ll survive,” He sees the smile, and Baxter can’t tell if they’re forcing it or how genuinely it rings. “And I don’t think Ma wants to watch over three teenagers, even if it is just for a week.”

They let the silence return. Baxter takes his turn to break it, quelling any break in his voice. “So. Will you tell them?”

He doesn’t need to specify.

“...No. It’s not my right.”

And I want you to talk to them again.

They don’t need to say it for Baxter to hear it.

“But it makes such a tale! How funny a coincidence this is.”

“I know right? And really, I should have known,” He hears a soft laugh, and they turn back to him again. “Who else would compliment a random stanger’s legs after dancing with them once at a party he crashes and then turn up five years later as their new neighbour?”

Ah. So they knew about that random chance encounter. It seemed so long ago…

“In my defence, they really do have nice legs and I can still recall that they were an exceptional dance partner. I’m only honoured they remembered me too.”

“Aw, come on Baxter. Give yourself some credit. There’s just something so memorable about a mysterious and handsome stranger.”

“Now I think you’re being dramatic, and that’s coming from me.”

They shrug, soft smile still in place. “I believe otherwise. Even I thought you were soooo mysterious and cool, you know.”

He gets a playful wink and deep down he just can’t even fault Qiu for falling so fast. Due to his own actions of putting distance between well, almost everyone from their little Boys Club (again, a hilarious notion as out of his three founding members, he was the only remaining actual boy so to speak), he can’t be sure if Qiu finally broke their vow on maintaining their sacred bond of friendship and just confessing to their long time crush. He could just ask said crush opposite him but…

“I’m honoured to have made such an impact on ‘mini’ you. But clearly, you’re the true master of leaving stronger impressions, considering you managed to form the image of a fairy from just faceless letters alone.”

“It was their idea to call me that!”

“Now now, I think it suits you.”

Woodland Fairy of Golden Grove. Even under the sweltering heat of the beach town, they managed to carry the heart of fall with them, their sheer amber shawl over their dark red swimsuit. Even in summer, layering seemed prominent for them.

There’s a roll of eyes and a pointed look, no bite thanks to the prominent smile. “Well thank you, kind sir. But it seems I’m still no match for you.”

“And you think that because?”

“If I say please really sweetly, will you at least give Autumn a call? It doesn’t even have to be right now. Just… Soon.”

“...I really don’t think-”

“Or, I don’t know, come home for winter break or something.”

“No promises,” And boy does their sad face make him guilty. “But, I'll give it some thought. I may have plans in the works with other classmates for winter break so...”

They clear their throat, trying to match his cool. “Of course. I’d expect no less from Mr Popular.”

They remain in silence until the beach town duo returns. He can only be grateful for their kindness in not questioning the tense mood. Nor his inexplicable anti-socialness for the rest of the week.

He does, however, accompany his sweetheart to say goodbye when their pen pal’s week in Sunset Bird comes to an end. Albeit from a distance.

“Write to me!”

“You know, I think you’re the only person who still wants letters despite how you could just call, or text or email-”

“And deny myself the penmanship of my fairy friend? I think not!”

There are hugs all round, till they got to him.

“Safe travels.”

“Thank you, Baxter. Have a nice summer break.”

See you soon.

…

»»————-　✼　————-««

Expectantly, he gets pelted with a snowball. Or several. Or dozens.

He gets hugs too. Tearful ones.

He’s covered head to toe in white from the barrage from all sides, and he finds himself laughing as he leans back onto the snowy ground. He sweeps off the snow and looks up to a hand extended to him.

Cranberry. A warm smile.

“Glad to see you, old man.”

“Well see, there was this annoying kid that wouldn’t let me be”

He takes their hand, yanking them down into the snow with him.

There’s a flurry of laughter from all sides,

“I’m home.”

“Mm hm! Welcome home, Baxter!”

(fin)

#baxter ward #franky second #our life now and forever #our life beginnings & always #jamie last #my fic #my writing #cove holden #we're still friends even if we're miles apart fic series

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