#abbott bracket

[cdyssey]

Abbott Elementary S1-S2 Bracket

Hi all!

Welcome to the Abbott Elementary S1 and S2 Tumblr Bracket, where we’ll vote on episodes to see what the Tumblr's current favorite episode is. The thirty-five episodes are seeded based on iMDb ratings, and voting rounds will last an entire week. Since Round 1 has the most episodes of all, we’ll split that one into two weeks, so there aren’t 17 polls going on at once, lmao.

On this doc, you’ll find all the information you need to know about the rounds, as well as all the imDB scores, summaries, and original air dates of episodes! Meanwhile, this post will be continually updated with links to all the polls once they go live!

Hope you guys have fun!! Voting will officially start on 4/21/23!

- Maggie

Final Update (6/13/23): All poll data is now available! A winner has been declared.

Round 1, Pt. I:

Duration: 4/21/23 - 4/28/23

Since there is an uneven number of episodes, the highest rated episode and our #1 seed “Teacher Conference” is going to have a bye-week, which just means it’ll sit out on Round 1 until we can get the remaining choices to an even number!

"Art Teacher" (#35) vs. "Festival" (#2) → "Festival" (82%) [167 votes]

"Juice" (#34) vs. "Candy Zombies" (#3) → "Candy Zombies" (75.7%) [144 votes]

"Pilot" (#33) vs. "Work Family" (#4) → "Work Family" (74%) [123 votes]

"New Tech" (#32) vs. "Zoo Balloon" (#5) → "Zoo Balloon" (71.6%) [141 votes]

“Story Samurai” (#31) vs. “Mom” (#6) → "Mom" (81.3%) [134 votes]

“Light Bulb” (#30) vs. “Educator of the Year” (#7) → "Educator of the Year" (50.9%) [108 votes]

“Student Transfer” (#29) vs. “Valentine’s Day” (#8) → "Valentine's Day" (62.7%) [118 votes]

Round 1, Pt. 2:

Duration: 4/28/23 - 5/5/23

“Gifted Program” (#28) vs. “Holiday Hookah” (#9) → "Holiday Hookah" (83.2%) [137 votes]

“Mural Arts” (#27) vs. “Sick Day” (#10) → "Sick Day" (58.7%) [109 votes]

“Fight” (#26) vs. “Development Day” (#11) → "Development Day" (62.9%) [116 votes]

“Wishlist” (#25) vs. “Teacher Appreciation” (#12) → "Teacher Appreciation" (70.3%) [91 votes]

“Step Class” (#24) vs. “Fundraiser” (#13) → "Step Class" (62.4%) [117 votes]

“Ava vs. Superintendent” (#23) vs. “Read-a-Thon” (#14) → "Read-a-Thon" (70.9%) [103 votes]

“Principal’s Office” (#22) vs. “Desking” (#15) → "Desking" (62.8%) [121 votes]

“Attack Ad” (#21) vs. “Franklin Institute” (#16) → "Franklin Institute" (85.8%) [106 votes]

“Egg Drop” (#20) vs. “Wrong Delivery” (#17) → "Egg Drop" (68.4%) [98 votes]

“Fire” (#19) vs. “Open House” (#18) → "Fire" (71.3%) [101 votes]

Round 2:

Duration: 5/7/23 - 5/14/23

"Festival" (#2) vs. "Candy Zombies" (#3) → “Candy Zombies” (62.2%) [74 votes]

"Work Family" (#4) vs. "Zoo Balloon" (#5) → “Zoo Balloon” (58.3%) [60 votes]

"Mom" (#6) vs. "Educator of the Year" (#7) → “Mom” (69.5%) [59 votes]

"Valentine's Day" (#8) vs. "Holiday Hookah" (#9) → “Holiday Hookah” (77.8%) [63 votes]

"Sick Day" (#10) vs. "Development Day" (#11) → “Development Day” (54.3%) [70 votes]

"Teacher Appreciation" (#12) vs. "Step Class" (#24) → “Step Class” (55.6%) [63 votes]

"Read-a-Thon" (#14) vs. "Desking" (#15) → Read-a-Thon” (50.8%) [118 votes]

"Franklin Institute" (#16) vs. "Egg Drop" (#20) → “Franklin Institute” (74.3%) [74 votes]

"Teacher Conference" (#1) vs. "Fire" (#19) → “Teacher Conference” (82.9%) [35 votes]

Round 3:

A disclaimer about one of the Round 3 options: So Maggie effed up, lmao. When you have an odd number of choices for a bracket, you're supposed to give the highest ranking seeds a bye-round, which I did for the highest ranking seed! 😭 However, you're also supposed to take out as many as you need to get the first round to the closest power of two, which I didn't realize. Since Abbott has 35 episodes, for instance, the closest power of 2 would be 32, which means that three episodes needed to have a bye-week for the tournament to shake out perfectly. This means for this round, one of the polls unfortunately has a three episode option. However, after that, we'll be back on track for a smooth finish! Sorry for the mess-up!!

Duration: 5/21/23 - 5/28/23

"Candy Zombies" (#3) vs. "Zoo Balloon" (#5) → “Candy Zombies” (59.5%) [185 votes]

“Mom” (#6) vs. “Holiday Hookah” (#9) → “Holiday Hookah” (63%) [138 votes]

“Development Day” (#11) vs. “Step Class” (#24) → “Step Class” (59.4%) [69 votes]

“Read-a-Thon” (#14) vs. “Franklin Institute” (#16) vs. “Teacher Conference” (#1) → “Teacher Conference” (55.1%) [107 votes]

Round 4 [Penultimate Round]:

Duration: 5/29/23 - 6/5/23

“Candy Zombies” (#3) vs. “Holiday Hookah” (#9) → "Holiday Hookah" (#9) (65.3%) [49 votes] “Step Class” (#24) vs. “Teacher Conference” (#1) → “Teacher Conference” (67.6%) [71 votes]

Round 5 [Final Round]:

Duration: 6/5/23 - 6/12/23

“Holiday Hookah” (#9) vs. “Teacher Conference” (#1) → "Teacher Conference" (71.3%) [178 votes]

Cumulative Poll Votes:

3,447

Ultimate Winner:

"Teacher Conference"

[its-to-the-death]

Battle of the Gingers Bracket E Round 1

Melissa Schemmenti (Abbott Elementary) vs Ms. Frizzle (The Magic School Bus)

[whowantsnachos]

josh segarra is so pretty, like bro, how is this man real???

[besttvshowbracket]

ROUND 1A MATCH 1

PROPAGANDA

30 Rock: Shenanigans on shenanigans on shenanigans.

Abbott Elementary: none submitted but i have seen it and it is a very funny show!! wonderful representation of the american public school system while still being lighthearted

[webtoon-related-tournaments]

They were both submitted without propaganda.

EDIT: Yes you caught me, I put Ada instead of Morella, both in the name and in the picture. If she wins this round I'll replace her by Morella ig.

[school-of-all-time]

Round Two, Bracket 6

[ultimatemilvesbracket]

TESTIMONIALS

"she works so hard for those kids. and kindergarteners no less. good job babe, so proud of u and ur wife, melissa"

1) she's got it going on 2) she's all I want and I've literally waited for SO LONG???? 3) I know it might be wrong but I'm in love with Stacy's mom :/

[brotp-bracket]

[bracketsonbrackets]

Round 6- The Finals: Evan Buckley (9-1-1) vs Gregory Eddie (Abbott Elementary)

[fyeahcompetentwomen]

Barbara Howard vs. Joan Watson

Remember: don't vote on "who would win in a fight", but on "who, when given a task that fits her skillset and talents, would do that task better: more comprehensively, faster, with more pizzazz, with less collateral, etc."

Endorsements! "What is she good at?"

Barbara Howard, Abbott Elementary: She's a highly respected and revered veteran teacher at her underfunded school, able to metaphorically spin gold from dust so to speak - because that's the cards this school has been dealt. She's so skilled and loving at what she does that even as "just" a kindergarten teacher, grown adults who were in her class remember her and come to thank her for changing the trajectory of their lives, and the fully adult colleagues she works with look to her as their main support system, as the rock of their workplace, as the lighthouse in the storm.

Joan Watson, Elementary: Brilliant detective, was able to outwit criminal mastermind Jamie Moriarty

[namedafterflowerstournament]

Botanic Tournament : Honorary Mentions !

Explanations here

Round 1 Part 2 Poll 3

Explanations underneath

Fume-Shroom was submitted at the time I accepted mushrooms as honorary plants in the bracket

The original submission for Jacob Hill looked like this : "Jacob's ladder is a type of flower"

I didn't include it in the main bracket but technically the "hill" part of his name should have been enough to grant him a spot

[cdyssey]

ABBOTT BRACKET [FINAL ROUND]

Holiday Hookah (★8.2): Janine is convinced by a friend to go to a popular hookah club where she runs into unexpected colleagues; Jacob crashes Barbara and Melissa's traditional holiday dinner and in the process begins to learn the true meaning of Christmas. Teacher Conference (★8.7): Staff members head to the Pennsylvania Educational Conference; Gregory reluctantly attends after a disagreement with Amber; Jacob finds himself charmed by the Addington teachers. Abbott S1-2 Bracket

[bestsistertournament]

Propaganda Under Cut:

Evelyn Abbott (Mother of Reagan, Marcus, Beau + Baby): Evelyn survived the loss of her child and husband whilst raising and protecting her children. She gave birth to a child whilst being unable to speak. She did everything her power to look after her children and find them somewhere safe to live safely.

Carla Sunday (Adoptive Mother of Ruby + Foster Mother to Many Children): Carla has taken in and loved many children over the years, providing for them as little or as long as they needed. She adopted a foundling child Ruby who she loved as her own. She supported her in finding out who her birth mother was. When Ruby began to travel with the Doctor she made the Doctor promise to protect her.

[hotvintagepoll]

Abbott and Costello (Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man)—We tend to forget how funny Abbott and Costello are because their entire legacy has been submerged by Who's On First, but they were OG comedy/horror vets churning out so so many movies that both played into the Universal horror scares and also sent them up brilliantly. I think Costello is super cute :3 (abbott is there too but mostly im submitting costello lez be real)

Judy Holliday (Bells Are Ringing, It Should Happen To You)—blonde ditsy jewish funny lady extraordinaire, always doing silly voices and looking fabulous!

This is round 1 of the contest. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. If you're confused on what a scrungle is, or any of the rules of the contest, click here.

[additional submitted propaganda + scrungly videos under the cut]

Abbott and Costello:

Judy Holliday:

Link to Facebook video of "Just in Time" from Bells Are Ringing

sorry about the kids, this just has a good sample of all her cute ditsy silly voices in bells are ringing! :)

[besttvshowbracket]

ROUND 1A BRACKETS

30 Rock vs Abbott Elementary

Schitts Creek vs 31 Minutos

The Good Place vs Derry Girls

BBC Sherlock vs The Cuphead Show

The Mary Tyler Moore Show vs Torchwood

Voltron: Legendary Defenders vs Scrubs

MAS*H vs Supernatural

Parks & Recreation vs The Office

Arcane vs Wednesday

Total Drama vs Futurama

Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries vs It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia

Reservation Dogs vs Star Trek: The Original Series

Ghosts vs Our Flag Means Death

The Owl House vs Community

Horrible Histories vs Avatar: The Last Airbender

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency vs Black Sails

[cetaitlaverite]

Anything to Anywhere

Masters of the Air - John Egan x OC

masterlist is here <3

30. Joy and Agony

The siren was hurting Stella’s ears. The repetition of it set her teeth on edge. It was impossible not to be reminded of air raid sirens and the subsequent crash of bombs.

But this was no air raid siren. This was the siren she’d first heard while sitting on the floor of the back of a truck, handcuffed and blindfolded and shaking as she wondered just what was coming for her next. This was the siren which signalled new arrivals.

Stella stuck close to John as he led the way to the gates. Neither of them were expecting to see anyone they knew but there was little else to do but come to watch the new arrivals in any case. With one hand curled into the back of his jacket and the other clasped in his, Stella walked so close to John she accidentally stepped on the back of his boots on occasion, though he never uttered a complaint.

Men were already trundling down the path into the camp by the time they arrived, dirty and bloody and occasionally excited to be reunited with old friends, occasionally horrified to be welcomed into their new home.

Stella and John kept back from the crowds and Buck came up beside them, wordlessly slowing to a stop on Stella’s other side. He and John exchanged a glance but no words before turning their attention to the procession in front of them.

Not tall enough to see over the heads of the men crowded around the fence, Stella turned to survey John and Buck’s faces instead. The both of them were tall enough to see who was coming in, in spite of their distance from the front row, and both of them considered the new faces with only passing interest, not entirely convinced they were about to encounter a familiar face; they had been away from Thorpe Abbotts for long enough by now that it was unlikely they’d recognise a man even if he had come from the 100th.

“Anyone we know?” Stella wondered after a while. She’d taken to squinting up into the sky instead, bored by the entire affair.

“No,” John said. “Looks like we’ve still got the bunk to ourselves for a little while.”

“Yeah, it’s a real private suite in there,” Stella mused, watching one lone house sparrow circle in the air.

They were quiet for a few minutes more before Stella sensed the change in the air. With furrowed eyebrows, she turned her eyes back on John and Buck and found them both squinting as they stared out through the gates.

“What is it?” Stella asked, subconsciously straightening her posture as though readying for a fight.

“They’re opening up a separate truck,” Buck informed her lowly, “same as they did for you.”

“A private truck?” Stella wondered. “For only one person?”

Neither John nor Buck replied for a moment while they watched whatever was transpiring. And then: “It’s a woman,” Buck said.

All of the breath left Stella’s lungs. “What? What does she look like?”

“Short, thin, dark hair,” John described.

“Uniform?”

“RAF.”

“How short is short?” she demanded. There were only three other women in the world who flew for the RAF. Well, there had only been three when Stella had gone out on her final flight. Maybe they had recruited more since then and maybe one of them had been recruited to 161 on a fast track, just like Stella had, but maybe…

“Come here,” John said, reaching for Stella and gently tugging her towards him. With one swift movement he had her perched in his arms, benefiting from his height just enough to catch glimpses over the crowd. “Can you see?”

“Can we get closer?” she asked.

“Stay close to me.” Without another word, John set Stella back down on her feet and took hold of her hand again, then started to shoulder his way through the crowd, clearing a path for her to follow after him. When they reached the front he cleared a space for Stella and ushered her into it, then bracketed his arms around her against the fence, one on either side, to keep her separate from the other men. “Over there,” he told her, pointing with his right hand without uncurling his hand from the fence.

Stella glanced up at him and then followed his eyes, craning her neck to try to see around the stragglers at the end of the line.

It was a few moments before the men in front of the new woman cleared out of the way enough for Stella to see, but when they did she gasped, a mix of joy and agony, and shouted, “Lucky!”

Lucky didn’t hear her, didn’t answer to her nickname, but it was undeniably her. Tiny but defiant, resolute and determined even as she dragged her feet in the dirt. Her eyes were set sternly ahead of her, her lips drawn into a scowl, her hands clasped tightly together in her handcuffs and raised to shield her chest.

“Lucky!” Stella shouted again, louder. She turned to John and exclaimed, “That’s Lucky!”

“Your best friend Lucky?” John asked redundantly, even knowing exactly who she meant.

“My best friend Lucky!” Stella confirmed. She wasn’t sure whether to smile in her joy or scream in her horror. Whirling back around, she curled her hands into the fence and belted one more time, “Lucky!”

Finally, this broke Lucky’s haze. Her eyes swept the crowd, eyebrows furrowed, step faltering. She was looking the wrong way but she called, “Babs?” all the same.

“Other way!” Stella shouted, and now she really was smiling. “To your left!”

Lucky’s eyes swung to the left, right past Stella and John, but then they swung right back, lighting up in recognition. “Babs!” Racing over to the fence, Lucky’s face was split in a brilliant smile. “Babs!” she called again, laughing deliriously. “Babs! I thought - we all thought you were dead!”

“Nearly!” Stella replied, laughing equally as wildly. “So many times nearly! What the hell are you doing here, idiot?!”

Lucky scoffed. “Me idiot?! You idiot! I told you not to go down!”

“It wasn’t my fault!” Stella insisted, still laughing. “And you’re hardly one to be throwing around accusations!”

“I could not leave you stuck here alone,” Lucky replied, tipping her head back and laughing into the brilliant sunshine. “Babs,” she said again. “I cannot believe you are here!”

“Come in and we’ll talk,” Stella said. She bounced once in place, grinning at Lucky. “Oh, I’m so happy to see you!”

Lucky shared her grin. “You should not be,” she replied. “You are in big trouble.”

“Schneller!” barked one of the guards Lucky had arrived with.

Where only Stella and John could see, Lucky rolled her eyes.

“Schneller, Häftling!”

In one swift, forced movement, Lucky drew herself upright and swivelled to face the guards. “Jawohl!” she chanted with a brisk nod, clearly making fun of them, and was rewarded for her efforts by being grabbed by both arms, picked up, and thrown down the path towards the gates.

John swore under his breath.

Immediately, Stella was turning and pushing through the crowd, rushing for the gates.

By the time Stella and John got there, Lucky was having her handcuffs unlocked while one of the guards barked aggressive German at her. Whatever it was they were saying was of little consequence to Lucky, who knew just about enough German to get by, because she was looking instead at the camp laid out beside her, considering her new home curiously.

Stella and John stood back while the guards finished with Lucky, but as soon as they let her go Stella was pushing forward, making sure she got to her before any of the men could. “Lucky!”

Lucky turned, grinning again now, and met her halfway, throwing herself at Stella in a hug which must have hurt her viciously, because it hurt Stella and she’d had weeks to heal by now.

“Babs!” Lucky was exclaiming as she held on tightly and swayed the two of them from side to side.

“I missed you so much!” Stella said, holding on equally as tight.

“Everything was so sad after you left,” Lucky told her. “Nothing was fun. I was not even excited when I got a promotion because I was taking your place. No one should ever take your place.”

“I’ve been wishing you wouldn’t be promoted,” Stella said, holding on even tighter for the confession. “I can’t stand the thought of what happened to me happening to you.”

“Eh,” Lucky said, brushing the notion aside, “I am here now. Would not trade it.”

Deliriously and just a little bit sadly, Stella laughed, then gave Lucky one more squeeze before withdrawing. “Come see the barracks,” she said, taking hold of Lucky’s hands. “We can talk more privately there.”

Lucky shrugged. “Is nice?”

“Cosy,” Stella replied. “There are beds.”

Lucky grinned. “A bed! I have been dreaming of a bed.”

Stella kept hold of one of Lucky’s hands as she turned to lead her to the barracks, then grinned as she spotted John still waiting patiently for her. Squeezing Lucky’s hand, she paused only momentarily. “Guess what,” she said.

Lucky arched a brow at her. “What?”

“This is John.” With her free hand, Stella gestured to him, then smiled as she watched the two greatest loves of her life size each other up.

John was grinning, as was his way.

Lucky’s eyes were narrowed.

“John Egan,” John introduced himself as he closed the distance between them. He held out a hand to Lucky which she eyed suspiciously before relenting and giving it one firm shake.

“Everybody calls me Lucky,” she replied. It was comical how far back she had to crane her neck in order to meet John’s eyes, but even the huge height difference didn’t detract from her air of intimidation. “You are John with the jacket?” She inclined her head in Stella’s direction to indicate she meant the jacket Stella was wearing.

With a small laugh and a quick, amused glance exchanged with Stella, John nodded. “That’s the one.”

“Hm,” Lucky said. “I thought you would be taller.”

Snorting a laugh, Stella rolled her eyes. “She’s teasing,” she informed John, before reaching to take his hand and towing the both of them behind her. “You both already know just about everything there is to know about each other, so you can ease up on the stand off. You’ll be great friends, I know it.”

“You know nothing,” Lucky retorted.

From Stella’s other side, John laughed.

Contrary to when Stella had arrived, all of the other men were already waiting for them in the barracks when the three of them returned, likely having anticipated that their presence would be requested and required to make the acquaintance of their newest roommate.

When Stella, John, and Lucky entered, they all turned to them with wary, though mostly pleasant, expressions.

“This is my best friend, Lucky,” Stella announced as John shut the door behind them. “She flew in the Moon Squadron with me.”

“So many dirty men,” Lucky commented as she took them in.

John snorted.

Stella couldn’t help but laugh. “She’s Polish,” she explained. “You’ll get to know her and then you’ll love her, I promise.”

Quick introductions were made, in spite of the fact Stella knew Lucky wouldn’t retain any of the names, and then Lucky was taking a look around the room, letting her eyes linger on each of the beds.

Once she was finished, she turned to Stella decisively and declared, “There are not enough beds.”

Of their own accord, Stella’s eyes sought John’s. They exchanged a silent conversation before Stella turned back to Lucky. “We’ll share,” she said. “Or we can both sleep on the floor.”

“You’re not sleeping on the floor,” John protested immediately. “You two can share our bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

From over by the window, Buck scoffed. “You can take my bed, Bucky.”

“Or we can share,” John suggested.

Stella grinned. “I’ll be surprised if the combined weight of the two of you doesn’t break it.”

“What are you trying to say, Stels, huh?” John demanded, smirking.

“I will sleep on the floor,” Lucky announced abruptly. “Am used to it. I have been sleeping on the floor for weeks.”

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t sleep on the floor,” Stella pointed out. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“No one’s gonna sleep on the floor,” DeMarco cut in. “We’ll figure something out.”

This announcement seemed to come just as Lucky lost interest in the conversation. When Stella next looked at her, she had her eyes on Stella and John’s bed.

Instantly, Stella knew what she was looking at, and she grinned as she crossed the room to the bed. She faltered once she got there, because this rabbit had been the source of so much comfort during the worst days of her life. But he wasn’t hers. She’d been borrowing him. And now it was time for Królik to return to his true owner.

With a sad smile, Stella reached for the toy bunny and retracted him from beneath the blanket, then turned and held him out to Lucky. “He’s been missing you,” she said.

Lucky’s eyes were set on the rabbit. She was unmoving. Then all at once her bottom lip quivered and she sought Stella’s eyes with tears in her own. “You kept him?”

“Of course.”

“Even in interrogation?”

Stella shrugged one shoulder, smiling bashfully. She had never thought about not keeping him.

With a weepy smile, Lucky reached into her own jacket and withdrew a ratty old teddy bear, then held him out to Stella by his paw. “I took him with me,” she whispered. “For good luck.” She laughed softly, sniffling. “Not that he brought it to me. Little bastard.”

“He brought you to me, didn’t he?” Stella replied with a soft laugh of her own.

All at once, Lucky lurched forward and buried herself in Stella’s side, holding on so tight it was almost painful. “You are so stupid, Babs,” she was saying, “so stupid for hanging onto my stupid rabbit. So stupid.”

“You did it too!” Stella objected.

Lucky scoffed. “Well, I was not going to leave your bear behind. That would make me a terrible friend.”

“And I wasn’t going to leave your rabbit either!”

“Then we are both stupid,” Lucky replied, giggling along with Stella. “We both sold our souls for two childhood toys.”

Over the top of Lucky’s head, Stella sought John’s eyes. There was a question in them, wondering just what she’d had to exchange for her best friend’s childhood rabbit, but now wasn’t the time. Maybe she would tell him one day. But, equally, maybe she would not.

Lucky made herself at home after that, commandeering a seat at the table and elbowing her way into a game of poker. The other men clearly didn’t quite know what to make of her but they let her play quite readily all the same, explaining to her all the ways they’d fiddled with the rules to adapt it to their conditions.

From the corner by the door, Stella and John watched the game with matching smiles.

“I can see why you like her,” John said after a while of quiet.

Stella grinned, turning to look up at him and shutting her eyes into the kiss he pressed to her forehead. “She’s one of my favourite people in the whole world,” she told him.

“Who are the others?” John asked amusedly, dipping down to kiss the bridge of her nose, too.

“You,” Stella replied easily. “Just you and her. Bucky and Lucky.”

John snorted a laugh, rising back to his full height. “Haven’t heard you call me that in a long time.”

“Not since we first met,” Stella agreed. “It wasn’t even a year ago yet. How strange is that?”

John hummed his agreement with this sentiment. “A lot changes in a year.”

“A lot,” Stella agreed. “We were strangers and then friends, and then enemies, and then friends, and then lovers all in the space of less than a year.”

Grinning down at her, John lifted both of his hands and laid them on the sides of her face, smoothing her hair back. “We’re lovers, huh?” he asked, his eyes dancing.

“Well, we’re in love,” Stella replied. “Does that not mean we qualify? Or do only married couples count?”

“You wanna marry me, Stels?” John teased, ducking down again to press his forehead to hers. His eyes were crinkling with the impact of his wide smile, his whole face sharing in his joy.

Stella was grinning right back at him, suddenly so stiflingly aware of how in love she was that all the breath was knocked out of her. “Maybe one day,” she whispered, shy all of a sudden.

“Oh yeah?” he asked, now equally as quiet.

“If you ask nicely,” she confirmed.

John laughed under his breath. “You want me down on one knee and everything?”

“Absolutely. Otherwise how do I know you’re serious?”

“Oh, I’m serious,” John said, hooking their noses together. “Couldn’t be more serious.”

Stella smiled softly. “Then ask me when we’re out of here and I can tell you yes.”