#about how it's the people who are the bossiest who want to be told what to do in the bedroom

[mattzerella-sticks]

Gotham War having the unintended consequence of convincing me that Batman would be such a bratty sub in the bedroom 😈

[bunbeeplays]

The Lemon Legacy: Generation 1, Chapter 31 - Extra Extra

This temporary version of the Let Them Eat Cake wedding band has one more rehearsal before the big day tomorrow! However, during a break, Moses gets a very interesting alert on his phone…

Moses: Uh, guys? Ty Harper just posted a feature about Penny and Miko’s wedding.

Drew: Tiff’s husband? I thought Penny said she didn’t want a feature on PlumBright.

Moses: Judging from the title, it looks like it’s not the kind of piece they would have run by her.

Moses: “Penny Pizzazz and Miko Ojo: The Disaster Before The I Do”

Ophelia: What?

Moses: “Self-obsessed blogger Penny Pizzazz recently proposed to mousy, irrelevant Social Justice Worker Miko Ojo. Why?”

Moses: "We all know Pizzazz's taste in clothing is horrendous, but who knew her taste in women was so dull? These two are a train wreck waiting to happen, but we love mess. We’ll bust out popcorn when Pizzazz inevitably leaves Ojo for someone way hotter and way more relevant.

"They’ve already started fighting, about something as silly as the guest list. A nobody like Miko bossing around Penny Pizzazz? Where does she get off?”

Drew: What? That was barely a fight! He’s one to talk, he’s married to the bossiest Sim in Tartosa!

Ophelia: I can’t believe this. What kind of person writes something like that?

Moses: Oh Watcher.

Ophelia: What? How could it possibly get worse?

Moses: Because it mentions what day the wedding is happening on… and that it’s happening here.

Ophelia: What? But we’ve kept it so under wraps! Penny and Miko had to make their own parents sign confidentiality agreements!

Moses: Ty claims he has an inside source.

Drew: Oh wow, whoever could it be?

Ophelia: There’s no way Tiff would go that low. Is there?

Moses: “Dumb bartender who couldn’t make a good wrench if you held a SimRay to his head?” Guess that’s Xander. He even insults the catering staff. But the lead violinist “overshadows” the other two “hacks” with her raw talent.

Drew: Gag me. Of course Tiff gets off scott-free

Moses continues to scan the article.

Moses: “Hector Laurent’s family has hosted weddings at La Coppia Serena for generations, and as owner has continued to keep the venue a success. Or, at least he tries, no thanks to interference from his nagging shrew of a wife.”

Ophelia: You’ve got to be kidding me! Tiff definitely told Ty to write that in.

Moses: “Our source states Mrs. Laurent is overbearing, argumentative, and takes every chance she gets to sabotage her husband’s legacy.”

Drew: The only person I’ve ever seen her argue with is Tiff!

Drew: Not that I wanted him to get dumped on too, but of course Hector doesn’t get any crap. Tiff’s such a suck-up, she’d never let Ty write anything negative about him.

Moses: Oh no. Hope you guys weren’t feeling left out. They mention us.

Moses: “Sources state that Pizzazz and Ojo, thanks to their lack of taste, have an inexperienced friend with a stupid name singing at the reception with the Laurents’ tone-deaf band instead of someone with an ounce of talent. Notable Newcomer? More like... Unknown Nobody."

Ophelia: I can’t believe this! Tiff used her husband as a mouthpiece to talk shit about every single one of us to the entire world! He wouldn't know half of this stuff if she hadn’t told him. We signed confidentiality contracts but of course Tiff’s mouth is too damn big to care!

Moses: Hey, I get that it must suck you were singled out but it could be worse. At least the article didn’t mention you by name.

Ophelia: Yeah, because Tiff’s so vain she can’t even let her son of a llama husband give me credit when he’s trashing my reputation!

Drew: Did you… want your name attached to this?

Ophelia: Of course not! But Penny’s going to post pictures and word’s going to get out the singer was me! Not to mention people will know you’re the band they called tone-deaf! That’s llamashit! How are you guys not mad?

Moses: I can’t speak for Drew, but trust me, I’m angry too. There’s nothing we can do about it now, though. It’s out there. Luckily, nobody takes PlumBright seriously.

Drew: Oh Drew is pissed. Tone-deaf?! Tiff’s gonna be completely deaf when I slap her upside the head!

Xander runs over from the bar, looking concerned.

Xander: Did you guys see the PlumBright post?

Drew: Unfortunately.

Xander: Dude, three people I went to high school with have texted me and asked if I could sneak them in so they could meet Penny. This is bad.

Ophelia: Penny’s fan base has some dedicated stans. You know people are going to try to come meet her!

Moses: We’ve got to tell Hilary and Hector the day and location got leaked. Maybe they can hire extra security or something.

Xander: Hey, hate to interrupt here-

Hilary: If you’re going to tell us about the PlumBright feature, we already know. Reporters and fans have been blowing up our phones for hours. Hector and I have been trying to do damage control.

Ophelia: Has anyone talked to Miko and Penny?

Hilary: I did, extensively. I assured them extra security would be hired and detain any trespassers within a 5 mile radius. I offered to move their date but they didn’t want to let the paps win. As of now, the wedding is still on.

Hilary: I still need to finalize everything. It’s going to be hard to get as much security as we need on such short notice, but we’ve done much more with much less. And hopefully we can get another violinist to take Tiff’s place.

Hector: Why would we need to replace Tiff?

Hilary: You can’t be serious, dear. Penny and Miko’s first demand when I called was to have Tiffany removed from the wedding plans. Of course they don’t want her anywhere near them anymore after what she and Ty did. I’m sure when the rest of the staff read it, neither will they.

Hilary: The only issue is Tiff isn’t picking up my calls.

Ophelia: I wonder why. Probably because she knows she’s going to get fired for breaching her confidentiality agreement.

Hilary: Trust me, once I’m done putting out fires, it’s the first thing I’m going to do.

Hector: Now now, let’s settle down. We don’t know for sure where Mr. Harper got that information.

Drew: Hector, with all due respect, are you woohoocking stupid?

Hector: Excuse me?!

Hilary: No, they’re right. You and Tiff are the only staff members in that feature that weren’t insulted. That’s far too convenient for my liking. And I highly doubt you would tell Mr. Harper I’m a ‘nagging shrew’, unless you want to sleep on the couch for the rest of your life.

Xander: Why are you still defending her? This thing says stuff that Tiff specifically said to our faces and behind our backs. She’s guilty. You’re going to stand by someone who said those horrible things about your staff, your own wife? Do you respect my sister that little?

Hector: Of course I respect my own wife!

Xander: Then start acting like it, you son of a-

Hilary: Enough! Fighting is getting us nowhere. We will deal with Tiff in the morning, since she’s not responding. Right now, we need to make sure everything goes smoothly tomorrow.

Hilary: I hate to ask this of any of you, but we're on a time crunch. If you can stay and help arrange more security for tomorrow, we'll pay you overtime.

Hector: Overtime? We'd be losing money on this if-

Hilary: I suppose that's your favorite employee's fault then, isn't it?

Ophelia: I don't need overtime. Penny and Miko are my friends. I'll do it so the best day of their lives isn't ruined by a mob.

Drew: I'll do it so I have more reason to rip Tiff to shreds the next time I see her.

The guys agree too.

Hilary: Thank you all. Let's get to work.

And so, that's what they spend most of the night doing. The four are able to research and find last-minute security guards that will keep the venue safe for the employees, Penny, Miko, and their guests. It'd be a real beautiful night if this wasn't how they were spending it.

[ageofkarme]

Karme didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but was the elvhen suggesting that he liked him because he looked like a big mouth fish? He really wasn't sure how to feel about that, but ultimately 'trouty mouth' reminded him of the kinds of nicknames Althea and her posse would make for him back in their Tower days.

"Ok, it can be like a fun experiment. You seem like a good–" Karme was going to say 'good guy' before Abelas got too excited by the take off. It made him laugh how he tried to use Karme's hands as if they were some sort of lever. "Hey I know you bossed me around to get in the ship, but I am the pilot. I have to stay in charge ... what should I call you?"

Maybe he was just too eager to get people to like him, or maybe Karme really did do whatever the bossiest person in the room told him to But letting someone so reckless board the ship would undoubtedly get Lady Juliana's side-eye of disapproval. Even so, Karme wanted to show the elvhen a good time. As the witch flexed his fingers and wrists, the ship's propellers and sails began to rotate as the engines revved. "This is advanced technology. Controls are more intuitive than literal, but every function of the ship is under my control. You want to go fast? Better hold onto something, this will be my first time going turbo. Who knows, the crown may put new airship laws into place after seeing us soar." With a wide smile, the Athena's Hand shoots off with incredible speed.

Upclose scrutiny brought Abelas to the conclusion that when Karme grimaced or frowned, it made his mouth look even bigger. It also gave him a sad little look that normally Abelas enjoyed on humans - but the fishy appearance managed to invoke some sympathy.

"I like it." Abelas complimented, "It reminds me of a trout or something, fish are neat, we can put a few balls in there later and see how many it holds before you start choking." A few curt nods were all Abelas offered beyond that because more than he wanted to appreciate how vaguely fish-like Karme might have appeared, he wanted to

"Wooooah!" Abeals shouted as the ship turned and he waited to get thrown upside down. It never happened though and he looked around, kind of amazed. "Faster- I want to go fast. Fast as you can! Hand to the pedal, trouty mouth. Lets go!" Abelas encouraged as he tried to figure out how Karme was doing this in case he needed to grab the witch's hands and make this thing go faster himself. Unfortunately, Abelas suffered from below-average intelligence.

[sainz-zayn]

Treacherous 01.

Treacherous (adj.)  guilty of or involving betrayal or deception.

Warnings: vulgar foreign language/ foul language, sexual and suggestive themes, betrayal/ betrayal between Johnjae, Illegal drug dealing, mention of blood and wounds, use of gun, smoking, mention of death/ murder, minor character death. This is my first time writing a kind of detailed smut and it`s badly written I`m sorry. I don`t know much about law but I tried since this is kind of Vincenzo au a little far from it but kind of like that and I`m amateur when it come`s to writing again I`m sorry. All Italian/foreign words came from google translate.

► Part 2

Word Count: 10.1k 

Disclaimer: All characters and events in this story even those based on real people are entirely fictional.

"Envious causes jealousy and jealousy causes hatred, hatred turns Treacherous causing sins to one another,"  you said letting out a sarcastic chortle.

 "Revenge, you said you want your revenge and I`m more than happy and dreadful to help you" his eyes are flaming and burning fire the beast inside him threatening to come out as anger forms and creeps inside him.

"I`m still not satisfied" you retorted emphasizing each word that is coming out of your lips. 

Takara Nakajima is one of the most corrupted Lawyers under Gongpyeong law firm has the dirtiest secret and dirt under their family`s name, the enemy of Ferrante`s. One of the cases you need to solve without any of your relatives knowing except for your one adopted cousin Johnny Jun Suh also distinguished as John Ivano Ferrante American/Korean, an Italian citizen.

"Where are you at 10:00 PM when the victim is rape?" His lawyer asked pacing back in forth waiting for the employer to answer.

"Again I will ask you where are you at exactly 10:00 PM when the victim is rape?" the lawyer questioned the employer again you can see that the employer is fidgeting his fingers and his eyes wandering the room one of the signs that he can be guilty.

"I-I`m home that night I didn`t do anything I didn`t put drugs in her drinks," the employer asserted.

"Objection your honor, Under sexual violence prevention and victims protection act, article 36 any person who dismisses a victim from employment or takes any other measure unfavorable to a victim, in violation of Article 8, shall be punished by imprisonment with labor. In the sexual violence prevention and victims protection act, article 8 No employer shall dismiss any victim or take any other unfavorable measure against him or her on the ground that he or she is the victim of sexual violence and this is what exactly what the employer doing now" you glance at the employer who is accused of doing sexual assault and attempted rape still contradicting what he has done.

"And let me ask one question please allow me your honor" you face the judge waiting for his approval.

"Let`s hear it" the judge simply said and you bow at him.

"No one, not even the police or anyone talks about you putting drugs on her drink, or perhaps you really did?" you ask the employer with anticipation waiting for him to reveal the truth and justice will be served.

"I didn`t, I said I didn`t! byeongsin saekki" the employer said and you glare at him for swearing.

"Your honor this footage from the witness will prove that he's guilty of the accusation that he`s getting" you fight back and you give the flash drive to them and insert it.

"Your honor we decline to accept this evidence!" the lawyer of the defendant said.

"It`s still evidence from the witness you have no choice," you said crossing your arms.

"Quiet! let`s watch the evidence" the judge proclaims making you all stop.

They watch the video of the girl being hauled in a dark place and how the employer does something very unpleasant and the video finishes again and now you still have the victory.

"Employer 5890 will be punished with imprisonment with labor for not more than three years" the judge announces and finalize it with the victim's family crying for winning the case. You walk out of the court with the cold aura you have going back to your office again.

"Congratulations Y/n or should I say, Chiara Allesandra Ferrante," the person said sarcastically you look at your mortal enemy worst of the worst Takara Nakajima daughter of Nakajima Hiroto owner of Nakajima Enterprises.

"Shut it Nakajima Takara" you rolled your eyes at her purposely bumping your shoulder to hers making her huff.

"Just accept it that you can`t win a single case without bribing the judge how pathetic of you Na.Ka.Ji.Ma" you emphasize her surname with a mocking tone making sure she heard it even though you`re not facing her.

"What did you just say? Apologize now!" Takara is a partner in the Gongpyeong law firm and one of the bossiest ones.

"Mi dispiace, patetico moccioso" you purposely said it since she`s Japanese and she won`t be able to understand that you say "I`m sorry you pathetic brat." you leave her with a teasing grin tainted in your lips.

"What did you just say!?" Takara said stomping her feet to the ground.

"Goodbye," you sing while walking away from her.

You open the door of your office startled by Johnny who is admiring your office, you promptly ran in his direction and hug him as tight as you could. Johnny Suh or John Ivano is not just someone who is adopted for you, you see him as an older brother and a best friend. He is one of the best lawyers in the country and also known worldwide, renowned, and acknowledge as John Ivano Ferrante. Raised by two Italian couples at the age of 3, his parents died in a car accident the cause is still not solved after years of striving for justice to be served. But there is one saying in the Ferrante clan; Never trust anybody because you can find faults and sin even in the most righteous person.

"Ivano!" you jumped to him making him carry you in his arms while you`re clinging to him like a koala.

"Johnny, just call me Johnny" he let out a breathy chortle removing you from his tight grasp shuffling your hair the height difference didn`t help at all.

"Don`t mess up my hair my hairstylist is not available right now, you know Ivano" you emphasize his name teasingly because he doesn`t like to be called Ivano in private unless you called him John.

"Then stop calling me Ivano I`m Johnny okay? want me to spell it out for you?" Johnny raised his eyebrows at you while crossing his arms.

"Fine, fine sorry" you grin at him and shove him off of your chair to sit in it comfortably.

"So? when did you come back? you should have told me you know" you rant at him opening your laptop to explicate to him the new plan that you two have been plotting for approximately 5 years.

"I just got here yesterday night, what`s with the change of plan?" Johnny asked, making his self comfortable on the couch in front of you.

" We can`t stick to the old plan it might affect the others if we continue it so I change it, here look" Johnny stood up from his seat to move to your table and check the new plan.

"Illegal drugs transaction to sexual attraction?" Johnny read it with a furrowed eyebrows analyzing all of the pictures.

"Yes, Nakajima has been selling and importing drugs tricking their clients to buy it by using sexual attraction it`s been going on since the 2000s there are 5 lawyers who fight for this case but Nakajima is always playing the game dirty" you explain to him solemnly, showing him different files and pictures.

"I did some research about them last week the drug dealing is still going on around, we`re still finding Tajimamori Yamamoto one of their oldest lawyer and the most trusted. In the year 1998 Tajimamori fight for the Nakajima case until in the year 2000, Tajimamori just suddenly disappear out of nowhere without any traces. He`s the ace card that we need to find" Johnny explains tapping his fingers on the table, eyebrows furrowed.

"We don`t have much time left, we need to finish this within 6 months we can`t afford to lose this time" you lean back to your chair pinching your nose bridge.

Once this case opens up and once you win the case the Nakajima will fall, Takara Nakajima, you better get ready.

"Revenge is a dish best served cold," you said while clasping your hands together.

"Va servito freddo, that`s the spirit Y/n" Johnny smirk and so did you, without Johnny, this thing will be absurdity and nothing.

"Since you win a new case today lunch is on me c`mon let`s go," Johnny said and you take your purse and clung your arms to his, flashing him a bright smile.

Johnny drives into a nearby restaurant pulling up his car to the parking area when your phone opens by itself with a vibrate. Sign that someone is calling you, you look at Johnny and he nods at you as a gesture to answer the phone. He still didn`t turn off the ignition so you stay in the car and answer the phone.

"Hello? who is this?" you stated through the phone pretending that you don`t know the person calling you.

"Hi, I`m the Information hacker that you`ve called last week I just landed in Korea, can you tell me where I can meet you? I`m in your office right now." the person answered you playing along with your silly joke.

"Oh yeah, I`m in a nearby restaurant I`ll send you the address please feel free to join us for lunch," you said politely to the phone and ended it, you send the address and you go in with Johnny.

"Is that the Information hacker?" Johnny asked with a little off tone in his voice.

"Yeah, I invited him for lunch" you answered him and he only nodded.

"Ms. Ferrante?" you and Johnny heard someone called your name and you stood up from your sit to greet the person.

"It was nice to meet you" you greet him and he gives you a smile showing his whites pearly.

"The pleasure is mine," the guy said back and you smile at him.

"My name is..." the guy was about to Introduced himself when Johnny hastily cut him off.

"Ten Adriano Rossi" Johnny said while wiping his lips with a napkin.

"How did you know him?" you look at Johnny curiously, gesturing Ten to seat with a jaunty grin.

"Don`t you recognize him? he`s ten!" Johnny said calmly.

"Ten lee!?" you exclaimed acting like you don`t know him and he smiled at you opening his arms for you to hug him.

"I`m still here you know?" Johnny cleared his throat and rolled his eyes at you and Ten.

"Okay, okay no more funny business and let`s proceed to the plan," Ten said.

Johnny explained all of the new plans to Ten including the outline of the goals, objectives, measurements, action steps, and responsibilities for each step and negotiation.

"Here`s the information that you need about Tajimamori Yamamoto, he`s seen last week at Osaka and Tokyo and he soon flies to Toronto, Canada." Ten spoke and he settled the brown envelope on the table making sure no one is listening or looking at your conversation.

"Also, yesterday I was hacking the system of Nakajima enterprises but when this confidential file suddenly showed up, I think it`s the record of the money they have been Illegally pocketing," Ten said, sipping the coffee from the cup. The serious look never fading from his face.

"We should keep all of this evidence in a private place where we can easily find it but no one can, once we puzzled this informations and evidence we can open up the case against them with solid evidence that can make them fall," Johnny responded.

Get ready Nakajima the person who will destroy you is already plotting your worst nightmare, Il karma è un boomerang, il mio amato nemico; "karma is a boomerang, my beloved enemy."

Johnny and Ten excuses themselves for a minute to talk about something more private leaving you alone to clear your mind, when renjun`s number pops up on your phone screen. You didn`t answer it at first maybe he was just gonna ask you to buy something on your way home, it`s the 5th time he`s been calling you and it`s like he doesn`t want to stop until you answer. So, you finally answer the phone.

"Y/n!? what the fuck!? I`ve been calling you!" Renjun said through the phone the stress and nervousness in his voice are obvious.

"Watch your language Renjun, what is this time?" you asked him with a stern voice.

"Y/n, you need to get home we have a problem it`s hard to explain just go home right now okay?" Renjun said and he quickly cut the call.

You texted Johnny that you will go home first and he replied "Drive safe" that`s enough for you, you quickly drive to your home it`s a minute drive from the restaurant to home but you could care less how fast you`re driving right now. You know Renjun more than anyone, by just the tone of his voice you already know that something is off. Getting out of the car, you open the door of your house with Renjun behind Doyoung while pacing back and forth biting the tip of his finger.

"What`s going on!?" you asked them, sitting on the couch with heavy breathing.

"Doyoung, Hyung accidentally hack our own system, and the tax evasion record of Tremblay corp is locked and can`t be open" Renjun explained while Doyoung is fully focusing on the computer his finger tapping it so fast.

"What!? Kim Doyoung!" you said his name a little louder making him face you.

"Eojjeorago!? If Haechan is not being an ass and if he didn`t annoy me earlier I wouldn't have accidentally hacked our system!" Doyoung said, asking you what do you want him to do about it a little louder than yours.

"Geuraeso mwo!? I was telling you about the codes but you keep shoving me off!" Haechan fight back and Renjun and you sit there pinching your nose bridge in unison.

"Yah! you two come here now!" you exclaimed a little higher and louder than usual, the two of them stand in front of you and you stood up from your sit grabbing your handbag. At first, you calmly smile at them before hitting them lightly with your bag making them ran away and you chase them.

"Kim Doyoung! Lee Haechan! get your ass in here!" you yelled at them and their playful laugh is only what you heard.

"Y/n, calm down!" Renjun yelled while the three of you, Doyoung, and Haechan is running around the living room.

"Wait, let me explain okay!? Mianhe" Doyoung stops running holding his hands to his chest breathing heavily with Haechan. While Renjun is just standing there his hands resting on his hips stifling his laughter.

"Fine! and you two Johnny and Ten!" you glare at them, Johnny gulps and so did Ten awkwardly scratching their neck.

"You said that you`re just gonna talk in private but why are you two here!?  you two went here first leaving me there!" you grab the pillow and throw it at them luckily they dodge it.

"Now explain" you sat back on the couch a sigh escaping your lips while rubbing your temple softly.

Doyoung explained everything about the system and how he can claim it back in just a few minutes and that`s enough to ease your worries. Of course, you trust Doyoung so much he`s like your sibling but losing all of the confidential files is different.

"Yun-o, this is the information we gathered about Chiara Allesandra Ferrante she`s also known as Y/n," Yuta said and he leaves the office when another person enters the door.

"Stop investigating her, you will get nothing" Johnny glares at Yun-o who is peacefully sipping the wine.

"Why? is it because she`s your cousin or maybe something else?" Yun-o dropped the envelope on the table chuckling at his response at Johnny.

"Stop putting any malice about me being protective to her will you? Jaehyun il ragazzo innamorato" Johnny tease him by calling him il ragazzo innamorato;"The lover boy"

"Well, stai zitto Ivano" Jaehyun tease back making Johnny glared at him again. stai zitto Ivano; "Shut up Ivano"

Jaehyun or Yun-o owner of Neo tech enterprises, one of the most successful men in South Korea, a pile of girls ready to get in his pants and ready to risk everything just for him. Jaehyun has a visual like Goddess if you`re gonna describe perfection many will use him as an example. Looks, style, professionalism, maturity you can see it all in him.

"I`m warning you Jaehyun," Johnny said seriously taking another sip of wine from his glass.

"I won`t do anything I swear" Jaehyun patted his best friend's shoulder going back to his seat.

"How`s the branch in New york going?" Jaehyun brought up the conversation about their joint company.

"It`s doing good, nothing bad so far but we might get ready we don`t know what will happen. I guess you know what I`m talking about since you`re investigating Y/n" Johnny responded, leaning to his seat with eyes shut. A lot is going on in his mind these days, and half of it is you.

"Well, we are well prepared for that. Just tell me whenever you need my help and by the way, I met Mr. Tremblay last week he seems like he`s in a hurry so we don`t have much time to talk" Jaehyun said staring into a space in his room going deep in his thoughts.

"Yeah, and I heard that his son is hitting on Y/n, his son is an amateur piece of shit," Johnny said letting out a "tsk" gulping down the wine he's drinking making Jaehyun sneer at Johnny.

"Jealousy, dude" Jaehyun tantalized.

"Shut up!" Johnny groaned.

"Ms. Ferrante you need to go with us!" The door of your office suddenly opens with a loud bang making you jolt in your sit and so did Kun.

"What!? this is absurd" Kun defended you holding your wrist preventing the officer from dragging you away.

"No, Kun it`s okay just call Johnny it`ll be fine," you said calmly before grabbing your bag, the police officer assisting you to follow them.

"I`ll come with you," Kun said keeping up with your pace of the walk.

Everyone outside the building is looking at you, sparing you one glance whispering to their partner's ears. Is gossiping a new trend now? it`s funny how people will talk about you and judge you easily when you just show them the part of you that you want them to see and they will act like they know the whole story of your life.

Arriving at the station the officer asked you to sit down so the interview will start.

"We`ll go straight to the point Ms. Ferrante, someone pointed out that you have been selling drugs and there`s one found in your car yesterday. We can finish this up if you cooperated with us" the police interrogated you, showing the evidence.

"I don`t sell drugs, I don`t do drugs, I never keep one," you said rolling your eyes.

"Then what is this then? a laundry powder?" the police ask sarcastically.

"Guarda, I`m not here so just you can tell and ask your not so lame jokes I said what I said, and can I possibly know who reported this bullshit?" you ask squinting your eyes at the officer, you`re not really like this but since you`re stress and for a woman who has a lot of works to do. This interview is a burden.

"Pick up, pick up, fucking pick up!" Kun grew impatient when Johnny is not answering his calls and messages after trying and trying Johnny finally answered the phone.

"Kun take it easy I`m with Jaehyun right now" and Johnny can feel that Kun has an irritated emotion written on his face right now.

"Yeah, you`re with Jaehyun right now while Y/n and I are in the police station right now uhuh," Kun said.

"Come here right now we need you" and then he ends the call waiting outside until the interview ends.

Hours have passed and the interrogating is still going on and Kun is still waiting for you. Johnny finally arrived, fixing the suit that he`s wearing he asked Kun where you are and he assists Johnny inside.

"John Ivano Ferrante, I`m Y/n`s lawyer," Johnny said full of professionalism.

They settled the problem after almost another 1 hour they finally let you leave. Out of curiosity and frustration wondering who decided to frame you. Of course, Takara is one of the options but maybe there is someone else.

"Can I ask who reported me?" letting out a hiss you ask the officer that arrested you.

"No" the officer simply responded to your question and Johnny holds your right arms. Johnny and you are ready to leave but you still want to know who it is so you turn around again.

"won`t you really gonna tell me?" you ask one more time and that`s enough for Johnny to drag you along with him.

"C`mon let`s go" Johnny drag you along with him but you keep removing his grip.

"One last question, please?" you look at Johnny with puppy eyes but it didn`t work so you stop it and stand straight walking out by yourself but before that, you punch his arms lightly enough for him to hold his arms before walking out.

"I hate you" and Johnny only smiles at himself like a fool before following you outside.

You walk outside and took a deep breath, you look for Kun only to see him leaning in Johnny`s car. You walk to him and he smiles at you.

"Thank you," you said at him.

"Kun, can you drive Y/n home for me? I gotta go somewhere," Johnny said giving Kun the key car. Sparing you a glance but you didn`t bother looking at him back, as if he`s not in front of you.

You go home with Kun the two of you use Johnny`s car and you`re worried about him you really do. The rain keeps pouring and it`s getting darker, more hours pass and you grew more worried the rain is getting heavy. You`re thinking how Johnny will get home in this weather, you lean your head against the windowpane the raindrops sliding outside of the pane when you see a glimpse of a familiar figure.

You ran downstairs as fast as you could grabbing a soft towel with you before opening the door. It`s Johnny, Johnny is soaked wet his hair sticking out in every direction possible, a cut in the lips, and bleeding knuckles. You look up at him with worried eyes and he smiled at you. You don`t know what to say but your next action makes him feel at ease, you hug him your chest touching his. The skin contact that makes him feel comfort.

"What happened?" you asked, you don`t know why you are tearing up when he`s the one in pain. He caressed your face softly and he still didn`t say anything. You invited him inside because it`s his home too. You hold his wrist guiding him in one of the rooms, you don`t know if it`s your room but you could care less until you put an ointment and bandage in his wounds. You make Johnny sit on the bed and handed him a towel while you go in the bathroom to get the things you needed.

You slowly applied the ointment on Johnny`s lips where the cut is while your hands are slightly shaking, not minding the tears that are brimming out of your eyes. You next hold his hands to yours softly and more tear brim in your eyes, you`re so weak when it comes to Johnny and you don`t know what to feel about it.

"I-I`ll do it," Johnny said removing his hands from yours before you grab it again.

"No! I`ll do it!" you said through your sobs, wiping your tears away.

"I can do..." you didn`t let Johnny what he was about to say because you know what it is.

"No! I`ll do it, you said you`re just gonna go somewhere but why do you have this cut and wounds in your body!? I hate it!" you said letting it out as your sobs get louder and Johnny only stayed silent. You covered his knuckles with a bandage softly while he let out a loud hiss.

"You`re strong but why do you let your body take all of this!? you know I hate it when something like this happens to you" you exclaimed tears are still falling from your eyes, you touch the cut on his lips again making him hiss.

The two of you stare at each other for a brief moment and Johnny brushes away the strands of hair that are covering your face when your emotion took over you. Your lips landed on his soft ones with your eyes closed he didn`t kiss back, you`re about to pull away when he holds your nape kissing you back. The two of you stay like that for a fleeting moment.

The two of you pulled away forehead resting on one another when the bedsheet cover suddenly moves revealing Ten with a teasing grin making you pull away from Johnny.

"Is it necessary to make out in my room?" Ten asked still wearing the annoying teasing grin on his face.

"S-shut up!" you said and you walk out of the room leaving Johnny and Ten alone.

"How is it?" Ten didn`t stop teasing Johnny so he grabs the pillow and throws it at ten softly before plopping down at the bed letting his body sink in it.

You open the door of your room and you straightly go to your bed burying your face at the pillow out of embarrassment, tossing around the bed messing it up.

"Did you just kiss your cousin? did you just kiss Johnny Suh? It`s okay, right? the two of us are not blood-related anyways so nothing to worry about yes? no?" burying your face on the pillow once again letting out a muffled scream.

The boys decided to have dinner all at once at home so they ordered food for all of you they start calling you, you just keep answering "Okay" so they decided to stop when your stomach makes a grumbling noise. You open the door of your room only to see Johnny`s fist in the air may be to knock? and you look down.

"A-about earlier" you`re about to apologize to Johnny when he cuts you off.

"It`s okay don`t flutter yourself," Johnny said with a smile and you go downstairs with him.

"Don`t Flutter? who said I`m fluttering myself!?" you scoffed and walk past him closing your eyes for a moment from embarrassment.

"Hey, wait up!" Johnny said grabbing your shoulders.

"Let me walk with you" he added.

The rest of you gathered in the dining room. Laughter, warmth, comfort, are filling up the whole room. Oh, gosh you know how much you miss this after almost a year of not being complete you on the times where you only have Renjun, Jaemin, and Haechan besides you.

"This pizza tastes delicious don`t you think so?" you nodded and giggled, your cheeks stuffed with pizza. All of you are laughing that you didn`t even realize who`s the person beside you, you stay silent for a moment before y`all turn your head once again to the person beside you.

"Mark Lee!" you exclaimed locking him with a tight hug.

"Dude, I can`t breath," Mark said tapping your back lightly and you back away.

"Sorry I got carried away" you beam at him and every one of them hugs him what a beautiful and pleasant event.  

"Announcement! we`re all having a party tomorrow so don`t miss out, I`ll tell y`all the location" Mark happily announced, and y`all cheered stuffing your mouth with food.

You excuse yourself to talk with Mark in private, the two of you sat in the living room looking around before proceeding to talk. Mark looks at you with confused eyes.

"So, what`s going on with Mr. Tremblay?" You asked Mark and now he finally understands.

"About that, he`s company is not doing well plus his son keeps asking me about you that I can`t even go on with a day without him asking me things about you since I sign a partnership with them," Mark answered with a sigh before pulling you into a hug and you rest your head to his arms.

"Is Takara invited to the party?" you ask him while you stare at the ceiling and he plays with your hair.

"Yes, she`s Invited" Mark simply responded.

"Can I ask you a favor for tomorrow?" you asked while looking back up at him.

"Sure, what is it?" you smiled at him for agreeing at first he didn`t buy the idea but there`s no way he can say no to you.

"Thank you, Mark!" you cheered.

"Papà! you should`ve decline! out of all people why Takara!?" you barged in your father`s office throwing a tantrum as soon as you go face to face with him.

"Don`t raise voice at me Y/n! I`m still your father" your father defends which makes you more frustrated.

"Papà! you know that we can`t have any connection with them when it comes to running a company! this might ruin my plan why did you let them sign the contract!" you can`t help but raise your voice frustration is creeping inside you and you can`t help but let it out.

"Trust me Y/n this will help you sooner or later you will realize it," your father said. How can he be so calm when you`re out here in front of him letting your frustration out.

"Cazzo! this is ridiculous!" you fight back.

"Watch your language Y/n!" you had enough and you don`t think you can go on with this conversation.

"I`m done okay? I`m done!" you left your father`s office angrily closing the door walking fast not caring if anyone is looking.

Your father just makes a contract of partnership with Nakajima`s that makes you infuriated early in the morning. How can he sign an agreement with them?

"Did I just mention the plan to my father!? No, don`t worry Y/n he won`t get it" you talk to yourself taking a deep breath before entering your car, you called Johnny and tell him to meet you in your office in an hour.

"Why did you call me here?" Johnny asked while leaning in the doorway.

"Nice timing let`s go and help me find a dress to wear" you dragged him with you.

Johnny keeps whining about how you can ask for Wendy`s help but you keep shutting him from talking, you tried so many dresses and he keeps saying no which makes you pissed off. You choose a dress a long one and a short one for an option you bought it, it was color red you choose the long one with a deep sidecut that shows the skin of your legs.

Arriving at the party it`s fabulous and it`s full of people around your age mid-20s and the ones in their 20s you spend the whole night drinking when this beautiful handsome man approaches you.

"Pleasure to meet you I`m Jung Jaehyun," He said offering his hands for you to shake it.

"Ciara Allessandra Ferrante but I`m more comfortable being called Y/n plus don`t act dumb I know you. I`m not a fool I know you hire someone to follow me and investigate me, I know by this time you know all of my plans but don`t worry I know you're trustworthy, and you`re friends with my friends." you took his hands to yours and you gladly shake it.

"Jaehyun? I`ve been looking for you" you heard a familiar voice and you`re completely sure it`s Johnny.

"Chill," Jaehyun said with a smile.

"Ciao Y/n I hope you will like my April fools surprise," she said slipping away the wine your holding.

Takara already left and the whole place gets full and crowded with businessmen, suddenly everyone becomes quiet when the news starts playing.

"Breaking news the well-known CEO and Founder of Phoenix corporation have been found dead at exactly 8:30 PM in his house there`s still no answer what is the cause of death" everyone gasp and you can feel a tear escaping your eyes.

"Papà, this is not real!" you said and you walk out of the party going to your dad but Johnny prevented you from doing so.

"Let go!" you said removing his grasp and he holds you tight to his embrace.

"Your father asked me a favor to not make you see him, he wants you to see him when he`s in the coffin" you didn`t hug him back but you keep crying.

"He`s still my father Johnny I want to see him!" you fight back pushing him through his chest but he won't budge. Of course, he`s stronger than you.

"Let`s go home tomorrow you`ll see him" Johnny whispered at you and you can see Jaehyun looking at you with pity in his eyes.

"You!" you point at Jaehyun.

"Me?" he answered.

"Yes, you who else?" you talk.

"I want you to join us I know that`s your whole point of investigating me anyway," you said sternly and they all look at you.

"What?" you rolled your eyes at them.

"Tomorrow we have something to do, we`ll make our first move of the plan starting tomorrow I can`t tolerate this anymore after what Nakajimas do to my father.

You throw the glass of wine you`re holding in the wall staining it red, your hands holding tight the table with fire eyes in your eyes throwing daggers anger, guilt, and sorrow that`s all you can feel right now.

"It`s hard to enter that place unless you`re a guess they will let you in mostly couples. So, we need you and Jaehyun to pretend like the two of you are a couple" Jeno spoke you`re about to complain but Johnny already did.

"Couple!? them!?" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, anything wrong with that?" Jeno questioned.

"Nothing" he responded almost whining.

The whole planning already finishes and you`re in your room with Johnny laying in your bed comfortably tossing around.

"I don`t get it out of all people in this house why you and Jaehyun?" Johnny complains while you dry your hair.

"There`s nothing wrong with that plus I think Jaehyun kinda look handsome" you try to test the water and how he would react.

"Yeah, right whatever do whatever you want"  Johnny rolled his eyes and you giggled at his response.

"Jealous now are we?" you teased.

"Me Jealous? no way" he said facing the other side of the bed.

"How about we date? I mean it`s not like we`re blood-related we can easily cut ties and we can announce it for the world to know after we make the Nakajimas fall. Sounds good yeah? no?" you ask him seriously and he faces you.

"Really? like for real? but I`m 2 years older than you thought" he said caressing your face softly.

"It`s not like we have a big age gap, why don`t we try it?" you talked scooting closer to him.

"I don`t see why not?" he replied and you smiled at him.

"Does this mean we`re official?" Johnny asks you.

"Yes, baby," you said teasingly.

"Call me that again," he said back.

"No way" you replied and he hugs you, you spend the whole night with Johnny and the two of you surely have fun. It`s doing okay until Kun decided to barge in your room without even knocking.

"We found Tajimamori Yamamoto he`s currently in Tokyo right now, Johnny we need to fly to Tokyo this might be the last chance that we have to find him," Kun said showing the taken picture of Tajimamori leaving his car.

"We`ll fly tomorrow morning we need Jungwoo to come with us, get everything ready" Johnny responds as you stay quiet.

"Go and pack your things, Kun I`ll book you a flight" you talk and Johnny looks at you before standing up.

"I`ll help you pack your things" you added and he gave you a peck on the lips.

"How many days do you think you will stay there?" you ask him.

"For at least 5 days or 7," he answered.

"Take care make sure you come back without any scars I don`t want to lose you like my dad" you softly said, caressing his face to your hands.

You helped Johnny pack his things and you already book them a flight that will leave tomorrow morning. You slept in Johnny`s room and you make sure to embrace him because you can`t see him personally for at least 5 days or 7.

You wake up without Johnny by your side instead you wake up with Doyoung and Haechan bickering outside the room door, you tried to cover your ears with the pillow but you decided that it`ll be better if you stand up and stop them.

"Finally you wake up! go and take a bath we have a lot of things to do today" Ten said pushing you to your room as you watch the house gets chaotic every second.

"Tax evasion, Illegal drug dealing, murder, sexual assault. We can sue them by using this plus we have Tajimamori as a witness" you explain, gripping the marker your holding too hard that it makes your palms white.

"I can`t hack the system of Nakajima the file that holds their tax evasion can`t be open I need to be somewhere close to them," Ten said along with Doyoung, all of you think of a way to hack their system.

"Tremblay, Tremblay corp! we can enter Mr. Tremblay's office easily since he`s in Canada I heard that he will be back this Saturday. Mark, you can help us right? you're the only one who is closest to him" you talk as you wait for Mark`s answer.

"Yes, that`ll be easy since his secretary knows me. After that, we can finally file the case and go on, but the only problem is that Jungwoo texted me that they`re having a hard time since they land in Japan. Tajimamori seems to notice that they`re following him" Mark let out a sigh and so did you.

"Can we stop this for a moment there`s nothing but a problem here since I arrived," Mark said which makes you slightly offended at his statement?

"What did you just say?" you asked him with a stern voice.

"Look, Im tired okay?" Mark groaned.

"Neither am I but did you ever hear me complain!?" you fight back.

"Everything is not about you! not everything revolves around you so please if you don`t mind I`ll excuse myself for a moment" Mark leaves the room frustrated, he doesn`t know what`s wrong with him but he knows it`s wrong to let out his anger and frustration at you when you feel just the same way as him. He`s not been himself this fast few days because of what happened to your late father who treats him like he is his own son.

"Y`all can rest if you want, you can leave too if you want to, just say it you all know that I`m not forcing y`all into this," you speak softly before leaving the room with a small smile but deep inside you`re hurt.

You took a deep breath after leaving the room you saw Mark in the living room, you tried avoiding his gaze scared that he`s still not in the mood to talk. He`s watching the TV and you stop in your track when you heard the news, you look at the TV and you can see Wendy`s house and they blurred the body, you know it`s Wendy just by the body you know it`s her out of all people why does the world decide to be cruel to you.

"No, no, not her please tell me it`s not her" you broke down in tears as Mark catches you in his arms, you fell to your knees as your sobs et louder while Mark tries to comfort you. Jaehyun watch what`s happening in front of him, he does feel bad for you. You ran upstairs and grab your keys going outside with others trying to prevent you from leaving.

"Y/n, stop!" Mark`s hold your wrist while you look at him with teary eyes.

"No, Mark I have to see my best friend please, please let go" you remove his grip and he stays quiet as he watches your small figure enter your car.

You arrived at the hospital where you see your best friend's cold and pale body.

"How can they be so heinous!? why do they have to kill you!?" you cry in front of your best friend`s lifeless body.

"Just let it out" you look at the person beside you and it`s Jaehyun, did he follow you? you wiped your tears away standing back up.

"Why did you follow me?" you asked.

"Because you`re not in the right condition right now and I know there`s a lot more going on in your minds" you look at him, his side profile is surely attractive and also comforting.

"Thank you Jaehyun I know I just met you personally last week but I mean it" you spoke softly and he smiled, facing you, he holds you by your shoulders crouching down a little making an eye to eye level.

"It`s okay, I know you for a year now because of the investigation thingy I hope that doesn`t make you uncomfortable that I brought that up," He said showing his attractive smile.

"Forget about the couple thingy that we have to pretend I already talk to Mark, just like what he said earlier we can easily enter Mr. Tremblay`s office so try to worry less okay?" Jaehyun tries to comfort you as much as he can. The two of you go around the town making you forget about everything, you wish you can be with Johnny at a time like this but you know he`s in Japan.

Three days have passed and you grew closer with Jaehyun, you expect Johnny to arrive tonight because they finally persuade Tajimamori to be the witness.

It`s past midnight and still no sign of Johnny so you decided to wait a little more until you just decided to go to bed and welcome him tomorrow morning.

"Babe? baby wake up" you slightly open your eyes because you feel someone poking your cheeks, your eyes are still blurry so can`t see the person clearly.

"Johnny?" you whispered.

"Yeah, it`s me sorry for waking you up I just need to hear your voice" you smile at his sweetness before going back to sleep.

"Go inside I`ll wait here," Mark said, looking left to the right to check if anyone sees you and Jaehyun entering.

"Doyoung, Ten? we`re in" you said connecting the device they gave you to the pc. They started doing what they have to do as you watch closely when you can feel the cold metal in your neck.

"Jaehyun, what are you doing?" freezing at your position.

"Nothing, it`s just so funny how you trust me so easily Y/n" He let out a chortle.

"What do you really want?" you question with your eyes close.

"I`m the one who should ask you that, you said you want revenge but your revenge is too boring why don`t we spice it up a bit hmm?" Jaehyun spoke while you stay still.

"What do you want me to do then? Kill Takara?" you don`t where you get that kind of braveness because these days you`ve been down.

"Exactly, how about we do that just the two of us?" Jaehyun removes the blade that threatening to cut your skin.

Doyoung and Ten finish what they`re doing and you leave the building along with Mark, everyone that there`s something very different from how you`re acting since you leave the building but they didn`t mention it.

"Make sure to keep your promise" you whispered at Jaehyun.

"I love you" Johnny whispered at you.

"I love you too," you said back.

"I want the world to know that you`re mine, you want that too baby?" Johnny said kissing your neck, softly marking you.

"Johnny please," you said with temptation in your voice.

"Please what baby?" Johnny asked you with a seductive voice.

"I want you inside me, I want you to touch me and make me feel so good" you whine making him let out a breathy chuckle at your eagerness.

"Will do princess" he answered.

That night you and Johnny take your time with feeling each other as if there`s no tomorrow for it.

After that night you have been very distant to Johnny and almost everyone in the house can perceive it. You want to distance yourself because you don`t want him to be hurt so it`ll be better this way, it`s better this way. You keep convincing your day every single day that almost every day you argue with him because that`s the only way you can push him away, you want him not to love you anymore.

Today you saw Johnny with a girl and you can`t help but get jealous but what can you do? he`s still your boyfriend. Of course, you will get jealous but why now when you`re pushing him away.

"I told you already she`s an old colleague! nothing more!" Johnny said with a pissed voice.

"Yeah right, an old colleague who loves touching you did you even see yourself earlier you just let her!" you fight back with a loud voice that the boys outside can hear the two of you arguing.

"What kind of boyfriend do that!?" you continued.

"Woah, then what kind of girlfriend accused his own boyfriend of cheating when it`s not even real!" Johnny retorted making you quiet because it`s true and you don`t have anything about that.

"See? I`m right you keep pushing me off! you can`t even look me in the eyes these days and it`s making me sick, thinking what I have done to make you act like this. It`s so fucking tiring!" he retorted as he slammed the door when he leaves your room.

Everyone keeps themselves busy as if they never heard the argument between you and Johnny. Yes, they`re shocked about the relationship between you and him but it`s not their business to interfere.

You cry yourself to sleep while Johnny gets drunk to sleep, tomorrow is the day where you`re gonna meet up with Jaehyun in the place where the two of you talked about.

"I don`t get it! she keeps pushing me away and it hurts! do you know what I`m fucking saying Jaehyun!?" He said drinking beer to beer nonstop as Jaehyun watch his friend get drunk not even stopping him but why?

"Just give her some time maybe she`s tired" Jaehyun responded.

"I always do that but why is it not enough!?" Johnny cried out.

"Envious causes jealousy and jealousy causes hatred, hatred turns Treacherous causing sins to one another," you said letting out a sarcastic chortle. 

"Revenge, you said you want your revenge and I`m more than happy and dreadful to help you" his eyes are flaming and burning fire the beast inside him threatening to come out as anger forms and creeps inside him.

"I`m still not satisfied" you retorted emphasizing each word that is coming out of your lips. 

"You drag me into this, this heinous sin that you`ve started is burning inside me. Now, everything doesn`t satisfy me anymore" you yelled the tension getting thicker and thicker. 

"Even though you`re gonna kill me you will get nothing, justice is in my palms in this accursed world," Takara intruded your arguing with Jaehyun, writhing her tied body on the chair. 

"Kill me!" Takara said shooting you a bloodshot glare that only makes your enjoyment alive as you slowly walk towards her with a gun in your hand. 

"Takara, Takara, Takara, you see this? this Russian pistol is what I`m going to use to kill you so don`t try me. Now, what part of your body should I shoot first? back of the head, chest, or maybe your mouth it`ll be more enjoyable that way honey. Oh, another idea maybe I should just strangle you to death" you give her face a few taps on her cheeks the leer in your eyes never leaving hers while she hitches her breath scared that any minute you can pull the trigger on her. 

"You have no conscience, do you?" Takara spoke again with a smirk forming on her lips making you more annoyed and tempted to kill her. 

"Of course I don`t, because you know what? It`s a pity the law doesn`t allow me to be merciful that`s what Javert said in Les Miserables and that`s literally me right now you Figlio di puttana!" you cursed breathily giving her a devilish grin making her slap you with her one free hand holding your face you glare at her, anger building up inside you. 

"Merde! do that again and I`ll kill you!" you hold her side to side eyes widening but Takara only laughs at you and you slap her too before you turn your back at her. 

"fuzakeru na! kill me so you can live longer and live in sorrow, happiness doesn`t exist in the world we`re born but the pain does" she shout with anger in her voice and now she reaches your limit.

"I know, want me to end your pain? then I will, I`ll make sure you suffer and Roth in hell! I will let you know what it feels like to be ripped every single day just like what you did to my best friend when she`s the only one who can understand me in this accursed world! you won`t be here if isn`t for your family`s greed, jealousy, and hatred towards mine!" You shout back pointing the gun at her turning back around to face her.

"A fanabla! Takara" you pull the trigger and shoot her straight at her chest making you fell on your knees with tears brimming in your eyes.

"Why am I even crying?" you wiped your tears away as you slowly stood up and spit to your side. 

"You want it, you get it. Ciao Takara" you laugh smirk is drawn on your lips as you walk out of the abandoned place with Jaehyun while whistling like a psycho.

"Nice shoot out there" you`re startled by Jaehyun`s voice you thought Johnny was the one using your bathroom but when you turned around you`re eye to eye with Jaehyun water droplets falling from his abs with a towel covering his torso down.

"What the fuck are you doing here!?" you said eyes widening.

"Using your bathroom obviously" he answered coming closer to you.

"and who permitted you to use it!? get out!" you pushed him away but he put his shirt back on luckily his wearing his shorts under his towel only to come closer dangerously close that you can feel his hot breath panning to yours.

You back away until the back of your knees hit the bed making you fall with Jaehyun hovering above you, you know this is wrong and you need to stop Jaehyun.

"Stop!" you keep moving away from him but before you can push him the door suddenly burst open with Johnny looking at the two of you his eyes screaming anger, jealousy, hate, and sadness he feels betrayed. He drops the bouquet on the floor grabbing Jaehyun by his collar.

"I trusted you, you bastard!" Johnny was about to throw a punch on Jaehyun when you stop him.

"Baby no it`s not like that, it`s not what you think it is" you plead, holding his arms.

"So, this is the reason why you`ve been so distant to me lately huh?" Johnny glares at you, this is the first time you see him this fuming mad.

"What the fuck!? of course not!" you defended.

Within a second he throws a punch at Jaehyun which Jaehyun gives back at him you tried to stop them but they are much stronger compared to you.

"Johnny please stop" you shout at them making them stop from gripping each other.

Johnny fixes his clothes giving you a painful glance before leaving, why the fuck are you crying when Johnny is the one in pain right now. You quickly follow him not giving a fuck about Jaehyun.

"Johnny please wait, listen to me please, just please" you plead as you grab a hold of his wrist there`s also a tear escaping his eyes which breaks you more.

"Stop! stop okay? I don`t need any of your explanation" he said coldly before shutting the door of his room.

You stand there dumbfounded with your eyes brimming in tears you go back to your room Jaehyun is trying to apologize but it angers you more, irritating you more, hurting you more.

"Get the fuck out of my sight!" you exclaimed as you push him away.

"I don`t want your apology, your sorry won`t fix anything okay!? now live me the fuck alone!" you`re livid and you`re in your pain. Why are you always the one receiving the pain?

Jaehyun doesn`t say anything anymore leaving you alone, you cried your eyes out. You lost your father, you lost wendy, you lost Johnny. What else do they want to take away from you? sometimes you just wanna sleep and get deep in it so you will never wake up in this realm.

"Johnny listen to me! what you saw there is nothing I swear please, just please at least talk to her. I`m sorry" Jaehyun rub his face using his palms out of stress and frustration while guilt is creeping up in his body.

"Quit with your bullshits! what do you want me to do? believe you after you deceive me by using Y/n? do you think I didn`t know that the two of you killing Takara? Well, fuck this because Y/n didn`t really kill her! It`s Kun" Johnny retorted. Well, Jaehyun is not shocked about Kun killing Takara since he`s an International agent. He glares at Jaehyun who`s speechless at his older friend's outburst.

"Okay, that shit is on me but don`t let it out on her for fuck sake Johnny the one you witness earlier is not what you think it is! I use her bathroom and decided to tease her not seduce her" A sigh escape Johnny`s lips throwing his head back out of mixed emotion.

"Get out I need some time alone" Johnny spoke without looking at his friend, he let his body fall on the mattress running his hands to his face.

You`ve been lying in your bed for a few hours now and so did Johnny making everyone worried and they didn`t even see a single glimpse of Jaehyun. You`re ashamed so ashamed to talk and face them, you`re the one who plans this revenge but you end up ruining it. Of course, you know it`s not you who kill Takara, you heard it from Johnny and there`s nothing more to deny it.

You really want to see him, you really want to feel him, you really want to apologize. Gathering your courage getting a little bit shameless you got up from your bed opening the door you flinch slightly when you see Johnny standing in front of you, his fist in the air maybe he's about to knock? there`s an awkward tension between the two of you. His eyes that full of love every day is now emotionless.

"D-do you want to come in?" you manage to let out but he didn`t say anything.

He cups your face landing his soft lips on yours pulling you back inside your room. He closes the door using his feet, you pull away from him avoiding his intense gaze. He softly touches your chin making you look at him before kissing you again this time it`s passionate and slow. You want him to stop, you really do but you can`t resist him. Within a moment you`re kissing him back too.

A soft moan escapes your lips as you and Johnny let your body fall on the mattress. Johnny hovering above you makes you feel small underneath him it awaken your inner desires. Johnny leaves traces of wet kisses on your neck making you yearn for his touch. He removes his shirt and so did you, throwing it somewhere in the room.

Tongues pressed together in a hot open-mouthed kiss as he kneaded your breast his other hands slowly making it`s way to your clothed core slowly removing it he rub your sensitive clit.

He stops for a moment before pulling away making you whine lightly at the sudden loss of contact. He removes his pants and boxer tossing it somewhere in the room again before positioning himself in between your legs, pushing in slowly his thrust is deep and slow making you moan in pleasure.

"I-I`m sorry" you let out breathily.

His thrust getting a little bit faster making you grip the sheets as he buried his face at the crook of your neck. You know this will be the last time you can feel him this close to you, the last time you can feel his love for you, the last time he will make you feel loved.

"D-don`t stop please" you stuttered out as tears fall from your eyes.

"Don`t cry you know it hurts me too" he kisses your tears away, his thrust getting sloppy as you can feel yourself about to reach your orgasm.

"Baby I`m gonna cum" you moaned gripping him tightly throwing your head back.

"Neither am I, cum for me," he said softly.

He goes to the bathroom to clean you up and getting a shirt in your closet which is his shirt.

"Is this the last time?" you asked him as he slid the shirt in your body before covering you with the blanket.

"Please, I`m sorry. I`ll do anything for you just please don`t leave me you know you`re the only one I have" you cried. You know you still have the others who treat you like their own sister but Johnny is different.

"Y/n our love it`s not just about holding on sometimes it`s about letting go too it`s treacherous if we love each other in this time it can lead to something else" He manages to speak despite of the lump forming in his throat. You sob in his shoulder clutching his shirt not wanting to let go.

"You need to rest, I want you to close your eyes until you heard the door close. Promise me to not open it" you nodded removing your grip on his shirt, you softly lay in your bed. Johnny kissed you on the forehead, you cry more when you can`t feel his warmth close to you anymore.

You heard the soft click of the door closing, you keep your promise you didn`t open your eyes. The memories you made with him flashes in your mind as you fall asleep.

Johnny stops midway before getting his luggage in his room "I love you" he whispered while looking at your room`s door. Proceeding to do his thing with tears brimming out of his eyes.

It`s currently 2:00 AM now and Jaehyun is accompanying Johnny to the airport.

"I`m sorry for what I`ve done I didn`t mean it as that" Jaehyun asks for forgiveness which Johnny gives back with a smile.

"It`s really not your fault and not Y/n`s fault I really have to do this" Johnny said but Jaehyun didn`t get it.

"Do you really have to leave?" Jaehyun asks once again Johnny nodded before leaving his friend alone the smile on his face quickly fades away as sadness took over it.

“I let go because I want you to hold on a little more longer I`ll promise to be back” Johnny said while tears slowly fall from his eyes, looking at the picture the two of you took together.

‘It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves’ - William Shakespeare

[thecagedsong]

Forgotten Light: Chapter 2: Taken

A/N: remember how I said this was beta? I realized that chapter 2 should have started halfway through chapter 1, before switching to Seth’s perspective. So there will be a bit of repeat with new content at the end, and i’ll post chapter 3 right after this. 

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11

Chapter 2: 

           The last hope that being fairy kind might protect Kendra from the curse evaporated when she turned to look at him with blank eyes.

For once, he was smarter than his sister, and it absolutely sucked. Kendra’s eyes flickered over his shoulder, and he lunged forward, pulling Kendra to the side with him.

“Hey,” Kendra protested. He ignored her in favor of glaring at Ronodin.

“Oh, this is interesting, when I got the update, I was sure you were going to turn the key, Seth,” the dark unicorn said. “But you had Kendra do it instead. Couldn’t bear it yourself so you let your sister take the fall?”

“She volunteered, you know how the magic works,” Seth glared, “Stay away from us.”

Ronodin glanced behind him, “We don’t have much time. Celebrant is coming. We need to get into that room.”

“What’s going on?” Kendra demanded in her bossiest voice, pushing him out of her personal space. Of all the things that had to stick around, it was that tone. He was never going to admit he was glad to hear it.

Ronodin spoke before he could. “Careful with the glove. What’s going on is that that we have a dangerous dragon hunting us and our only chance is to get the Wizenstone before he does.”

“Oh sure, because trusting the dark unicorn is so much better,” Seth said. “We can handle this without you.”

“You’re a unicorn?” Kendra asked, “You don’t look like one.”

“Dragons can take human form, and so can unicorns,” Ronodin explained, “Seth, we have no time. Kendra might have been able to figure this out with her memories, but don’t pretend to be any kind of riddle master without her.”

He seemed sincere, but so did everyone else that ever stabbed him in the back. Ronodin wasn’t wrong that riddles weren’t his strong suit.

“When I get the wizenstone, I’m going to have fun unmaking you,” Seth decided. He turned and pushed the door open, “Kendra, I’m your brother. He’s Ronodin, our sworn enemy. Don’t trust him. I don’t have time to explain —”

There was the sound of marching and Celebrant’s gold army arrived at the top of the staircase. The three of them rushed into the room, closing the door behind them.

It was dark, except a couple of magic orbs here and there. Most of the light came from the shining stone on a short table in the center of the room. White and glowing, it reminded him a little of the Occulus, but instead of being completely smooth and round, it had a bunch of sides that cast little rainbows. The polygon to make all other polygons jealous.

“That’s the wizenstone?” he said.

“It’s gorgeous!” Kendra said.

“Wait until you see what I can get you,” Ronodin said, making no sense. Seth was looking over the room. There had to be something, some trick. After the whole game, the prize just sitting in the middle of the room was too easy.

Indiana Jones style? Nothing happened until you removed the wizenstone, then the room came crashing down on you unless you figured out how to use it real fast?

“And we can’t lock the door from the inside,” Ronodin said behind him. “We have to hurry.”

“Who’s Celebrant?” Kendra asked.

“King of the dragons,” Seth replied, “Bad guy. Wants us dead almost as much as he wants the magic rock.”

“What Seth said, Love.”

Seth grimaced, but didn’t exactly have time to barf over Ronodin flirting with his sister. He’d explain everything after they kept the world from ending.

“You seeing anything, horse boy?” Seth asked.

“No, but Humbuggle is the greatest trickster in history. There has to be something.”

“What about you Kendra? Magic eyes see anything interesting?”

“Magic eyes?” Kendra asked. “It looks pretty?”

“Don’t worry Love, I’ll explain it later,” Ronodin said. “And she doesn’t have her abilities right now, the magic is still turned off.”

Seth glared at the unicorn, “Stop that. She hates you and loves your cousin.”

“Focus Seth,” Ronodin said, “He’s coming with the banishment rod, what’s in here to banish?”

“The table? The orbs?” Seth theorized.

“Such high stakes,” Ronodin said with relish, “All we can do is improvise. We’re so close to the action, and we can’t let him win. Probably not the orbs, the rod only works once, vanishing the table might have the desired effect.”

“Kendra said something about a demon guarding the stone, and the rod should be used on that,” Seth recalled.

“You know, it really sucks to have people talk about me like I’m not here,” Kendra said. “Unless you two are messing with me and I’m not really Kendra.”

The door opened and Celebrant walked in.

“Not a very impressive dragon,” Kendra said. When did she get such a mouth on her? Was she always this sassy?

Then again, she did literally tell this guy in dragon form to crawl back into his hole just a week ago.

“The sister forgot, interesting choice,” Celebrant said, baring his teeth in a way that was all predator. “But to more important things, none of you have attempted to claim the jewel?”

“Kendra was warned that the stone was guarded by a demon, hand over the banishment rod without turning anyone to metal, and I’ll give it a go,” Seth offered.

Something about that bugged him. Demons weren’t trolls, comfortable in their lairs forever, they only stayed in a single place when they were trapped, like Granulus and Nagi Luna. Humbuggle didn’t strike him as the kind to let a loose canon like a trapped demon mess around with his game.

“Ah yes, such little threats would scare you,” Celebrant said. His eyes landed on Ronodin, “What are you doing here?”

“Wouldn’t have missed it,” Ronodin promised, then shot Kendra a wink.

“Stop that!” Seth demanded.

“What matters is that we’re all here,” Ronodin said, “And the Wizenstone is right there.”

Celebrant narrowed his eyes, “I don’t trust you.”

“You probably shouldn’t.”

“Don’t try to stop me.”

“Hey, he’s the real threat here,” Ronodin said, pointing at Seth.

Celebrant shook his head, “None of you are threats. Thank you for opening the door and stepping aside.”

He took the rod off his shoulder and turned to Obregon, “Swear yourself to me once more.”

The dragon fell to one knee and started reciting an oath, while Seth desperately tried to think his way around this. He couldn’t overpower the dragons, none of his abilities seemed particularly useful, even if he had control over them. There was the demon.

Celebrant was satisfied and handed his servant the rod. Obregon accepted.

“Quickly now,” he rushed. Obregon strode to the stone, cautious for something to jump out and eat him. When nothing did, he reached out to take the wizenstone. The rock was big and clumsy, Seth might be able to snatch the rod while the dragon held onto it. Seth would use the rod to banish Obregon, then claim the wizenstone himself. It was a dumb plan, but it was his only plan.

Seth set into a ready-to-run position.

Obregon brushed the stone with his finger, then jerked away. He started to shake and cry out, then dissolved into little confetti pieces, armor and all. Only the banishment rod remained whole, clattering to the ground.

Kendra squeaked, backing hard into the wall. Ronodin seemed even more elated than before. Celebrant glared at the stone.

Seth was glad he had waited before charging forward. This wasn’t the opening scene of the Raiders of the Lost Arc, this was the ending.

“Your turn to try, Your Majesty?” Ronodin asked.

“Not yet,” Celebrant growled.

“I take it your golden minions can’t enter.”

“Only those possessed of themselves can enter this chamber,” Celebrant said, not looking away from the wizenstone.

Tregain burst through the door. “I’m not too late!” The prince’s eyes went immediately to the wizenstone, and he scrambled forward.

“Kendra,” Seth whispered, “touch Ronodin with the glove!”

Kendra glanced at the glove on her hand, while Ronodin glanced back to see what they were whispering about. Seth yanked her hand forward to press against his back. Kendra protested, the stone made confetti out of Tregain, the rod clattering to the ground once more, and nothing happened to Ronodin.

“Fascinating, the gloves don’t work in here,” the unicorn said, which drew Celebrant’s attention. Ronodin turned around covered Kendra’s gloved hand with his own, and gave her a smile.

Kendra blushed and shook everyone off her, edging around the room. “Look, until I know more, everyone just needs to stop touching me. Okay?”

“I don’t get it,” Seth said, “Is the demon the stone? I thought they were more…living. With faces.”

“Demons come in all shapes and sizes,” Ronodin said, “But a solitary pure crystal isn’t one of them. There’s an aura for those with eyes to see, the stone is absolutely the wizenstone.”

All shapes and sizes. Dwarves didn’t have the powers Humbuggle had, and as a whole were proud of their size. Humbuggle had shapeshifted into the man in the trial for the Key of Forgetting. Which meant there was no reason his real form had to be a dwarf.

Not Rumpelstiltskin, he was the Sphinx.  Riddle giver, and the final boss.

Seth dashed forward and grabbed the rod.

“Seth, are you sure?” Ronodin asked. Celebrant shushed him.

“All right Humbuggle, you can come out now!” Seth called walking to the other side of the room, away from the stone and the door. “I solved the riddle. Let me give you the answer! It’s really not fair that you only told stuff to Kendra, you know. She’s terrible at sharing important things, and then you made her loose her memory? Come right now, or I’m calling this spell unopenable. Magic can’t make something impossible!”

“Seth, you figured it out?” Ronodin asked, raising an eyebrow but staying put.

“Like I said,” Seth replied, “Kendra, who lost her memory, had all the answers. It’s impossible to solve it without her information, and impossible to solve before the door of forgetting. You can’t make an impossible prison, not even for this stone, or the magic falls apart. And I need to be able to tell you the answer.”

“Of course,” Celebrant said, eyes gleaming. “Little dwarf, come take the boy’s answer.” Celebrant walked forward, standing right beside the Wizenstone. That was unfortunate.

“For the record, you had plenty of shots, Kendra could have easily figured it out before forgetting everything,” Humbuggle said, appearing between Seth and the stone.

Seth slashed the rod down, but Humbuggle vanished before he finished shouting “Begone!”

The rod vibrated in his hand, pointing directly at the Wizenstone.

It disappeared like a coin in a magician’s hand.

“You fool!” Celebrant roared, marching towards him. Ronodin started laughing.

Humbuggle appeared again, between Seth and Celebrant, shaking his head, “Much, much closer than people have come in centuries. Just a tad too slow. And a bit too obvious.”

“Where’s the Wizenstone?” Celebrant demanded.

“Far away. Banished.” The demon waved a dismissive hand, “None of your business anymore. And if you feel bad, imagine how Tregain must feel. He’s been playing for thousands of years, and died right at the very end. Now that’s tragedy.”

“No one was ever meant to own the stone,” Ronodin said, grinning. Of course he would find this hilarious.

“I provided that hint in the poem,” Humbuggle said, “But Seth didn’t trust plain language and instead trusted the rushed words of his sister. If by some miracle he had banished me, I admit, my enchantments and connection to the stone would have been severed. It would have been his for the taking. Completely possible, and a totally fair use of magic.”

Ronodin shook his head, “Even you don’t own it. You just set up contests for others to try to win. Since it is in your custody though, you can use its magic for your games. Interesting way to be beat the dullness of immortality.”

“Enough out of you,” Humbuggle said. With a clap, the banishment rod was back in his hands. “Time for everyone to go home!”

“All your contests are rigged with the slimmest possibility of sending you away,” Ronodin insisted, “Sending the stone away is the most a contestant can actually accomplish.”

“No one likes a heckler,” Hubuggle grumbled. “Return!”

Ronodin vanished.

“Is it too much to hope you killed him?” Seth asked.

“As for you,” the demon said, eyes gleaming, “Better luck next time! Though don’t look so sad. Think about what you’ve managed to accomplish. The curse of Stormguard castle is over, Seth’s a hero, Kendra too, probably. Gloves have lost their power, though you can keep them as a little souvenir for playing. My added passages are undone. Those turned to metal are freed from their curse.”

Good, that would have been a lot of gravestone designing if his friends weren’t turned back to normal. Would the enchantment un-doing affect Knox in the quiet box? How long could Seth justify keeping him there? It’s probably still the safest place on this preserve.

“What about Jaleesa’s arm?” Celebrant asked.

Humbuggle shrugged, “She chose to break the rules knowing the consequences. I am all about action and consequence, it’s part of playing fair. The arm stays gone. Personal injuries are personal injuries.”

“Obregon?”

“He chose to claim the unclaimable. He and Tregain are dead and beyond the power of magic.”

One less dragon to try and gobble him up. How many did he have to kill before getting the title of dragon slayer?

“Kendra’s memory?” Seth asked, without much hope.

Humbuggle grinned, “She chose to lose her memory, knowing the outcome. A price has to be paid just to see the Wizenstone. Much less get as close as you did. Be happy the spell didn’t require both your memories.”

“As we’ve already said, all magic done can be undone,” Seth said, irritated, “How do I undo it?”

“Rules are rules,” Humbuggle sang.

“Those rules are crap. Just tell me the answer!”

Humbuggle shook his head, “You chose to send the wizenstone away. You terminated the contest with a draw. King and Queen are free. Life at Stormguard castle can move forward as it did before.” Humbuggle clapped, “Another parting gift, I’ll send you all home! I salute you, brave contestants. You truly surpassed expectations. You survived and ended the contest, and it’s ridiculous how few people are apparently able to do that.” Humbuggle raised the rod.

“Wait, we still have stuff to do here,” Seth said.

“You don’t really get a choice,” Humbuggle said, “Return!”

There was the quick sensation of being shaken before he landed with a thump on his bed back at Blackwell Keep.

Seth groaned. What a waste of time and energy! It wasn’t even possible to get in the first place, they should have just let the dragons go and kill themselves over it. All they got out of the experience was Kendra’s memory taken from her.

Kendra!

He jumped out of bed and rushed to the door, trying to remember the way to his sister’s room in the dark. He heard the faint sound of the undead, which meant he was back to being a shadow charmer.

Of course, the faint sounds of the undead were like a lower frequency pitch, only there because he knew what to look for, under the sounds of the festival night. He really hated festival nights. At least the barriers around the castle were up.

He made his way towards Kendra’s room down the hall. Going slowly, hands outstretched. There was the clanking sound of Mendigo running towards him.

“Mendio, stop,” Seth said, hoping to prevent a collision when he couldn’t see the puppet.

The puppet didn’t respond, and kept running towards him. This was different than Hugo’s free will, he wasn’t following Seth’s orders at all.

The clacking was charging towards him, and Seth flattened himself against the wall to avoid being run over. There was wind as Medigo brushed past, and a human arm.

“Mendigo!” Seth said, chasing after the puppet. They were heading for the front door, and Seth scrambled after them in the dark. “Someone help!” he yelled over the noise of the festival, “Mendigo is kidnapping Kendra!”

A dwarf and Brunwin the minotaur charged past him on the steps to the courtyard, and the three of them followed Mendigo and Kendra down into a door to a cellar. Seth was soaked immediately by the rain, but he couldn’t stop. He could see by the lightning, but that was almost worse, leaving him with blocks of vision missing as he stumbled over the courtyard flagstones.

In the cellar, Mendigo was weaving through rooms, Brunwin gaining on him, as the limberjack upended crates and barrels.

Seth had a brief moment of feeling like Mario as he jumped over obstacles, until finally Mendigo turned into a storeroom. There was a creaking sound, and Seth had just enough time to see the puppet vanish inside the barrel.

The barrel that had been stolen by a killer. They assumed the murderer had come from the barrel, but they had been looking at it all wrong.

Seth jumped into the barrel after her. But Brunwin snatched him out of the barrel before he landed, keeping him on this side.

 “Let them take me to Kendra!” he demanded, struggling against restraining hug. “Let me go! Let them take me to!”

  Tears ran down his face, and his struggles started to slow down as he got more and more tired. Seth tried to choke down the sobs so he could keep asking, keep demanding. He was the caretaker, he should be able to sit in a barrel if he wants. Then he was just crying, and the constriction turned into a real hug.  

           “Come on,” Brunwin said, “The ones who took your sister can’t take you as well, not now and not like this. Straighten your spine, young man. Come and explain what you know.”

           “But…” Seth choked out. “But…”

           “Kidnappers rarely kill, there will be another chance to rejoice in the blood of your enemies, retreat for now.”

           “Seth? What happened?” Grandpa Sorenson entered the storeroom, and Brunwin released Seth so he could hug his grandfather.

           “They-they got Kendra,” he said, wiping his eyes and nose on his sleeve.

           “Return upstairs,” Brunwin advised, “the boy wishes in his distress to be captured by his enemies as well.”

           Grandpa Sorenson nodded, and started leading Seth out of the cell.

           As Seth walked away, Kendra’s words before she lost her memory came back like a broken record.

           “I want you up front.”

           “Tell everyone I love them…I love you most of all.”

           “I don’t tell you enough, but I’m proud of you.”

           At least she wouldn’t remember what a let down he was.

[emberdragon240]

BFDI Done In Hermitcraft: Chapter 1: The Plank P1

(This is also on Wattpad if that’s your thing)

"I know, she was so scared over nothing! The bee wasn't even that big, and False was freaking out!"

"Really, Iskall?"

"Really, and yet she calls herself a badass."

"She is in a way, do you remember when she asked Bdubs if she was beautiful?"

Flashback to a week ago

"Bdubs, am I beautiful?"

"Umm, sorry, but no-"

*proceeds to get yeeted to the sun*

End of flashback

"Right, I remember that, and I still hate her!" Bdubs jumped into Grian and Iskall's conversation about how False was a complete asshole. She was so rotten, even Joe hated her, and that was very unusual for him to think of people.

"I swear, I'm gonna get revenge on her! I am honsetly so glad you guys are my friends, really!" Even though they didn't really know eachother, (almost) everyone was friends on the Hermitcraft island.

"You're my friend too, right, Mumbo?" Bdubs said as he grabbed Mumbo and started squeezing him with no mercy.

"Bdubs, stop!" Grian and Iskall yelled before there was a sickening crunch and their communicators buzzed with a death message.

*MumboJumbo was suffocated*

"Sorry about that," Bdubs said, clearly embarrassed at what happened. Mumbo eventually respawned in one of those respawn generators, only to get almost killed by Jevin pointing a sword at his chest.

"Hey! I just respawned!" Mumbo said, exasperated.

"Hey, don't blame me! Blame the stupid Tango here, it's his fault!" Jevin said as he kicked Tango in the face, making him let go as he flew into the ocean.

"Fine! I'll grab Cleo instead," Tango said before grabbing Cleo out of nowhere and yeeting her to Mumbo, which was a very close dodge.

"Yikes!" Mumbo said. She was also conveniently holding a sword, so it was a pretty close call. "What was that for!?" Mumbo asked.

"What? I'm just in the mood to hurt someone," Tango replied. He then found Keralis, which he kicked with absolutely no mercy. Keralis screamed his ass off as he flew, conveniently passing by Wels. He then landed on the ground face first in shallow water where Stress was doing something.

"Keralis! What are you doing there? There's a life to enjoy, so enjoy it!" Stress said in her cheering state. Keralis had a liking for TFC for some reason, so went to him and starting acting all lovingly. A little bit too lovingly, because TFC kicked him into the air as well.

"TFC, calm down," Joe said with papa bear mode set to low. "Kicking him that hard can have permanent side effects. He IS light-weight," Joe lectured as Keralis continued flying in the air once again and as he flew past Wels, not much happened, why am I mentioning this? Anyways, he eventually fell because of the laws of physics, and he fell right onto Zedaph, and as he got up, he noticed... blood. I think you can guess what happened from there. The scream was so loud it could be heard all over the island.

"Keralis is such a scaredy-cat," Cub complained. "He's so annoying. Scar, though, you're cool," Cub said to his friend and partner-in-crime-I mean, partner-in-business.

"So are you, Cub!" Scar complimented back. Meanwhile, Wels was still flying before crashing into a mountain at low speeds, so he didn't take too much damage from the crash. The weird thing though, was that Zedaph was just sitting there as if he took a nap with his eyes open. Wels shouldn't have been surprised, though, since he always acted as if he was on LSD.

"Zedaph! Wake up!" Wels shook Zedaph awake.

"What? Hi, Wels!" Zedaph said as he was jolted awake. Wels sighed before yeeting Zedaph behind him (seriously, why are the hermits constantly yeeting each other around?). Zedaph flew along, all in a excitement that you only feel when you're high until he fell onto Joe, barely surviving.

"Oh, hi Joe, my good old friend!" Zedaph greeted Joe tiredly and before passing out from his injuries. Meanwhile, Doc and Ren were sitting near Impulse with an angry glare. They still couldn't get over the whole Area 77 thing, so here we are.

"Ren! You're an absolute idiot!" Doc yelled at Ren. He did not get the reaction he was expecting though, because Ren's response was to slap him.

"Hey!" Doc yelled, surprised.

"Oh my god, your face feels so good to slap!" Ren said. He was not acting like himself today. He then went on a slapping spree. He was about to continue when Xisuma caught him in the act.

"Doc! Ren! Stop fighting!" Xisuma yelled at the two. "And Impulse, take a bath, you stink," X commented at Impulse who was just watching.

"Sorry," Impulse said.

"Isn't X bossy?" Tango asked Cub, who were both watching the scene.

"I know! He's like a bossy bot!" Cub tried to make a joke, but all he got were stares from Scar, Tango and Wels.

"Uh, you know, a bossy robot?" Cub tried to explain the joke which only got more awkward stares.

"Um, here's the thing; a robot that was built to be at it's bossiest," Cub tried to explain further which didn't help one bit, but everyone got tired of staring at him and decided to stare at the now setting sun. "I'd do anything to get away from him," Cub said. "Or False, or Keralis, or Impulse," then conveniently and suspiciously in time, out of some mysterious smoke, some kind of... creature? Came out of the smoke

"Well then, you're in luck!" The thing said, and it was obvious it was female. It seemed to be some kind of dragon hybrid, Ender Dragon maybe? And had a crop top with decked out armor on the bottom. She also had some kid of belt with fabric that would cover her private if she didn't already have pants on.

"Uh, how?" Cub asked. The girl who seemed to be in her 20

"They're creating the server of paradise, everyone," She continued. "It's called Dream Island. It's one square mile (2.5 kilometers for all you people outside of the US) of luxury. It has a 5 star hotel, a casino, six restaurants, robot servants, and the server's whitelisted, so the winner gets to chose who's allowed in, and who's not!" She described trying to sound all excited too hard.

"Ok, what does it cost?" Cub asked. If he couldn't pay it entirely, he might borrow some of his best friend's diamonds because that's what friends do! /s

"Not even a penny," The woman responded.

"Sounds like a deal! Me and my friend'll take it!" Cub answered excitedly.

"But what about about the rest of the people here? Don't they want it too?" The mysterious being asked.

"Well, I wouldn't give up that server for anything," Cub answered.

"Everyone here's thinking the same thing," she responded. "So you know what that means. We must settle this with a reality TV show- I mean, a contest."

Cue the intro

"So yeah," the mysterious woman who still hasn't given her name yet said, "whoever stays on this plank the longest wins."

"Go."

"Let's help each other," Stress said. She wouldn't let this contest affect her! Or at least she hoped so.

"Yeah!" Jevin agreed.

"Tango, wake up! What are you doing?" Ren asked Tango, who was clearly asleep for some reason.

"Uh oh!" Impulse said as he slipped off the bar, to which no one noticed.

"Get out of my way!" False said as she was pushing people into the pool of water underneath the plank with her sword. "I need my space!"

"Help me, Jevin!" Stress said as she was falling and close to becoming another one of False's victims. Being made of slime was pretty convenient in this situation though, as he was able to stretch and easily save her from the cold, murky waters of failure.

"Thanks!" Stress said.

"Let's form an alliance!" Mumbo said to the Architect team who all agreed with him, but it unfortunately fell over unwanted ears, as Bdubs heard over from the other side of the plank and was interested now.

"Did I hear an alliance is being formed? I've gotta join!" Bdubs said as rushed over, pushing Scar off the plank on the way.

"Can I be part-" was all Bdubs was able to say before they were all falling into the ocean.

"No." was the only thing Iskall said before they all fell into the water and had Dream Island out of their reach. While all of this was happening, Ren was still trying to wake up Tango.

"Tango, wake up!" Ren said while shaking him before he accidentally put him down too close to the plank and he started to fall. "Oops," but just then, Tango woke up and walked back up on the plank, pushing Ren off in the process.

"Ren! Don't ever-" Tango said before he realized what he just did. "Whoops,"

Final 6!

"Look, there's the evil False," Stress said to Jevin as she pointed at False. "She's still in,"

"Let's run her over!" Jevin suggested to False.

"Yeah!" She said, excitedly. This was only a harmless joke, she was gonna apologize later!

"Uh oh," Tango thought out loud as they started trampling over. The plan didn't work, however, and the two got kicked into the air by False.

"Hey, we're flying!" Jevin realized.

"You're right! Woohoo!" Stress confirmed, completely forgetting that what comes up, must come down.

"Uh-oh," Jevin remembered as they almost fell off the plank with TFC, but Stress managed to get a grip.

"Pull up," Jevin commanded Stress.

"I... can't!" Stress realized, getting ready for their fate. "Oh no! Tango? Zedaph? Help!" Stress cried for help. Eventually, Tango stepped on her hand, preventing it from falling any further.

"What is it?!" Tango asked, annoyed.

"You're stepping on my hand." Stress mentioned as Tango got off her foot.

"There, better now?" Tango asked.

"Yes, now pull us up." Stress said, but as Tango tried to pull the three up, he fell over and only had his feet on the plank now, the only part that still had a chance of getting the invite to Dream Island.

"Hold onto my other arm, TFC," Stress told him, who complied. Then the hugest dick on the planet towered over them as she started laughing in that cartoon villain sort of way.

"Ha, ha! I'm wearing non-slip shoes, so boo-hoo you weirdos!" False mocked them in her usual annoying way when Tango came up with an idea and kicked her over with one of his feet, but False grabbed onto Jevin to his extreme dislike before he came up with the idea to... lick her?

"Aaah, AAAHHH!" False screamed as she instinctively pulled away, but she instantly realized was a big mistake when she starting falling, falling, and eventually into failure.

"Nice work, Jevin! A job well done!" Stress complimented Jevin's great idea.

"TFC, let's swing!" Jevin said as they swinged back onto the plank, completely forgetting about Tango and Stress.

"Jevin, alliance, remember?" Stress reminded Jevin, who pulled Stress back up onto the plank.

"Stress! You're stepping on me!" Tango said.

"What?" Stress said before Tango fell. "Oops,"

Final 4!

TFC was the first to think and the quickest, as he pushed the unsuspecting Zedaph into the water, who seemed to be having another acid trip. He pushed a little too far, though, as he also fell into the dark, cold water. Now it was just Jevin and Stress left in the battle.

"Rock, paper, scissors!" They said in coordination. Stress chose paper, while Jevin chose scissors.

"Scissors beats paper, so I get to push you off!" Jevin announced, which surprised Stress.

"Wait, what!? I never agreed to that!" Stress said.

"Ok, here's the thing: when I win, I'll invite you to Dream Island." Jevin said, trying to make a deal with Stress.

"This still isn't fair, Jevin," Stress confronted him.

"Only one of us can will, after all," Jevin said while holding up

his middle finger instead of his pointer.

"Jevin, wrong finger." Stress reminded him.

"Whoops," Jevin said with an awkward chuckle. "But my point still stands."

"And that's where you're wrong," the mysterious woman popped out from a cloud of smoke once again. "You two both win!"

"We both get the invite?" Jevin asked.

"Not quite, you two actually get to choose teams for a more longer, larger competition for the invite to Dream Island."

[holdyourbreathuntilyouseelight]

The Bodyguard - Chapter 2

Summary: Magnus is a dancing popstar sensation whose popularity continues to climb. Alec, an ex-Secret Service agent, is hired on as a professional bodyguard in charge of Mr. Bane’s personal security by insistence of Magnus’ manager. Despite their initial differences, Magnus finds himself falling for Alec the more time they spend getting to know each other and relies on him for more than physical security as his safety gets threatened. Loosely based on the 1992 film The Bodyguard.

Rating: M

Genre: AU, Everyone is Human AU, Celebrity!Magnus, Bodyguard!Alec, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff, Friendship, Romance, Eventual Smut, Mutual Pining

Author: holdyourbreathuntilyouseelight

A/N: Thanks for reading and the feedback so far! For this chapter - mild trigger warning for a forced-on kiss - female to male. It does not last long, but please be mindful if you are sensitive to this type of situation.

Read on AO3. 

Previous chapters on tumblr: Prologue // Chapter 1

"Is this really necessary, Alexander?"

Alec grumbled under his breath at the use of his full name, not bothering to correct the star anymore. He clearly enjoyed pushing his buttons, so giving in and showing how much it annoyed him was only fueling the fire.

It was only two weeks into the tour, and Alec's prediction that he'd be met with resistance on his plans to keep Magnus safe from the one in question was proving true.

He liked to do a full sweep of every venue prior to letting Magnus roam free. Especially since it was clear Magnus had no regard for personal safety.

Alec continued his patrol, withholding the sigh he longed to release. "Yes, Mr. Bane. I take my job seriously."

"Is there anything you don't take seriously?" Magnus drawled, examining his nails. "I need to get started on my pre-show prep so I'll be ready in time for dress rehearsal. Are you almost done deactivating the bombs at least?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "You know, just because you think you're invincible and everyone worships you, doesn't mean you're right."

"Whatever. Can we hurry this up? I'm starving."

Alec chose not to respond, instead speaking into his wire. "Are we clear?"

"All set. Set him free." Raj chuckled, knowing the impatience of the pop star.

He turned to Magnus. "We're clear."

"Finally." Magnus complained, heading towards his assigned dressing room with his prep team in tow.

Alec followed and leaned against the wall outside of his room, pulling out the mini tablet he had. He opened up the venue map and checked each of his staff's positioning.

Magnus may not outwardly appreciate his efforts, but Alec wasn't going to let that weaken his meticulous professionalism. He had been hired to keep the man safe, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

Magnus let his team do their work, trying not to think about the tall man outside of his dressing room acting like he was going to be tackled at any moment.

He knew Raphael had his reasons for hiring Alec, but he had mostly been a giant pain in his ass. Magnus had not taken well to the modifications done to his home or that the Lightwood man seemed to be the bossiest person on the planet.

He remembered when he came home from a day of shopping to find his house transformed from when he last left it.

"Why are there bars on my windows?! What is this, Alcatraz?!"

Alec inhaled slowly. "Mr. Bane, we will be taking every precaution to keep you safe. That means your home needed some changes."

"This is ridiculous! RAPH!"

Raphael came back into the room, hanging up the phone. "Listen to Mr. Lightwood, Magnus. He knows what he's doing."

"I don't care! I should not need a damn retina scan to enter the front door!"

Alec didn't speak to his over-exaggeration, instead forcing his voice into a steady calm. "Mr. Bane… we've added extra security measures for a reason. The fact that you haven't had more issues with break-ins and over-enthused fans is shocking. Your social media is littered with ways for your fans to track you to this address. You had no security or surveillance system in place, your windows were a completely accessible entry point, and you had so many people running around, anyone could slip in, especially without any proper screening process at your front door."

Magnus had pitched a celebrity-level temper tantrum but Alec didn't budge. It was clear Magnus wasn't getting through to him, so he reluctantly let him continue to run the show and got used to not having his way. Even though he didn't usually keep his mouth shut about it.

After that, Magnus gave up on arguing about it, since even Raphael wasn't sympathetic to him. He made sure to be home for the next set of changes, and that he pushed Alec's buttons at every opportunity during the process.

Still, despite Alec's irritating ways, he knew his heart was in the right place. He may be a hired gun of sorts but the changes did make Magnus start to think about what he was doing. Sometimes, when he was about to post something to social media, he'd now review it. Even going so far to crop certain parts out or blur them to make it a little more secure.

He'd never tell Alec that, of course. He could just picture the smug look on the tall man's face.

Still, annoying though he may be, he at least was easy on the eyes. And Magnus very much enjoyed riling him up at every opportunity. His buttons were so very easy to push. Flirting openly with him was especially rewarding, as it usually caused his porcelain skin to change to a lovely pink hue.

A knock on the door made Magnus look up from watching Meliorn work on his make-up.

Alec's voice came through the closed door. "Mr. Bane, there's a Camille Belcourt here to see you. She says you're old friends. Do you have time to see her or should I get Raphael to set up a time tomorrow?"

Magnus swallowed, the few of his team members who knew his past well looking awkward, and he forced a smile. "I'll be all right. You guys go take a break. Get some nourishment. I'll handle Camille."

"One of us can stay…?"

He shook his head, waving them off. "Go. I'll find out what she wants and then send her on her way."

The group of them left, and Magnus turned in his chair. "Let her in, Alec."

The door opened and the tall brunette entered, a wicked smirk on her lips.

"Magnus. It's been too long."

Alec met Magnus' eyes, and Magnus gave a subtle nod, confirming that she was who she said she was. Alec closed the door behind the pair.

"Camille. What brings you to my dressing room?"

She waltzed over to him in what she probably assumed was a seductive manner, but Magnus wasn't buying it. "Aww, can't I stop by? Or was that privilege revoked when we broke up?"

"You mean when you cheated on me with your agent for nearly a year and then got caught?" Magnus replied coldly.

She pouted. "Still holding a grudge I see."

Magnus crossed his arms, huffing out a breath. "Yeah, I'm stubborn like that, I guess."

"Oh, Magnus. I know we both made mistakes…"

"Some more than others." he interjected bitterly.

"… but I was hoping we could catch up. Reconnect. It's been too long."

"Is this because I got invited to that big award show next week? Are you thinking I'll take you and get you some spotlight time?"

"Now that is a wonderful idea! I could make myself available…"

Magnus sighed. "Camille, just because your modelling career has hit a plateau, it isn't a reason for you to try to manipulate me into letting you back into my life."

Camille stepped closer, looping her arms around his neck, her eyelashes fluttering over her green eyes in an attempt to be sultry. "Magnus, I miss you. We had something good for so long. And your fans love us together. Please? Just think about it. What me and you together could mean… How much fun we had… I know you remember that." she taunted, leaning into him further.

Before he could reply, Camille had backed him against the vanity table and grabbed his face in her hands to kiss him eagerly.

Magnus lost his balance, arms flailing as he fell backwards, before he grabbed her shoulders and shoved her off of him, hard.

"Camille! Don't—!"

But she was forcing herself on him again, her tongue invading his mouth, and before he could do something like bite down on it to get her off, she was wrenched away.

"I believe Mr. Bane told you no." a low voice growled, and Magnus looked up as he wiped his mouth to see Alec with a tight grip around Camille's wrist.

She was dead silent, eyes wide at the dangerous tone, and Alec dragged her by the arm to the door with little to no remorse.

"You've overstayed your welcome, Miss Belcourt. Mr. Garroway will escort you out. And you will not be welcomed back on my watch."

Camille shot a glare back at Magnus before letting an angry Luke direct her outside.

Magnus was speechless, chest rising and falling. He didn't know what to say. Alec looked furious, like he was ready to punch a hole in the wall, and Magnus hadn't seen him in such a state before. He was normally quite pulled together.

"Are you all right?" Alec finally asked.

Magnus managed to find words, hugging his middle and watching the floor instead of meeting his bodyguard's eyes. "Fine. Um… thanks."

Alec nodded. "I apologize for barging in. I promise I wasn't eavesdropping, but I heard you cry out and well…"

Magnus nodded, not lifting his gaze. He felt mortified, not really sure how to talk to him now. He was always giving Alec a hard time about his extensive measures, and, still, at the first sign of Magnus' lack of safety, he was swooping in to his rescue. It was his job, he supposed, but Magnus could've handled it himself too.

Alec took a step closer, eyes roaming over Magnus' form. "She didn't hurt you, did she?"

Magnus shook his head. "No, no, I'm okay. Just… humiliated." he muttered under his breath.

Alec crossed the distance between them then, reaching a hand out to cup Magnus' face so he'd look at him. He lowered himself slightly so he was at eye-level.

"Hey. You have nothing to be embarrassed about, okay?"

"Well, for starters, I let her in here despite my better judgment."

"You just have a good, trusting heart. Sometimes, those that know it, take advantage of it. Especially when they're a person like Camille. But that isn't your fault, okay? I know I've preached taking more precautions about your safety since the second we met—"

"And you were right! I mean, even my hair and make-up team know Camille is bad news, and yet I still let her in this room alone with me."

Alec smiled softly at him, and Magnus found himself mesmerized by the sight.

"You want to see the best in people. That's not something to be ashamed of. But you also mean a lot to a lot of people, and your personal safety is important to honour too."

"I know. I'll try to be less… difficult about it."

Alec laughed, and Magnus couldn't help but break into a grin at the sound. That was new.

"It hasn't hindered me doing my job yet, has it?"

"True."

Alec rolled his eyes amusedly. "All right. I'll send your team back in. Dress rehearsal is in fifteen minutes and you still need a lot of work…"

"Hey!"

Alec grinned over his shoulder at him, and Magnus chewed his tongue as he tried not to laugh, unable to believe that Alec Lightwood had just made a joke.

But then his hair and make-up team returned with snacks and drinks for him, and Magnus was distracted with soothing their concerns that Camille was long gone.

He didn't share what had gone down during their absence, but they didn't look too worried. He figured that was because of the oddly giddy look on his face that Alec had imprinted on him before he left.

The show was a great success, as always. Magnus shone as bright as he always did in front of a huge crowd, every move he made followed by thousands of eyes and screaming cheers.

Alec directed the security that lined the stage as well as those that kept things clear backstage. He himself watched Magnus from the sidelines, always scanning the crowd for any signs of potential danger.

Thankfully, it was another uneventful night for danger and Magnus quickly cleaned himself up to go do the usual meet-and-greet outside for those lingering around.

Alec dutifully followed, the fan interaction always his most dreaded part of the evening. It was much harder to keep track of everyone and everything when they all were in such close quarters, desperate to get a handful of the star.

But he knew it was extremely important to Magnus and the fans and that it wasn't going anywhere any time soon, so he sucked it up and stayed tight to Magnus' side.

It was much harder to keep things organized when there were people leaping at Magnus and excitedly hugging him and reaching in their coats for their phones. These days, autographs were a thing of the past, so bulky phones came out for the two hundred selfies Magnus would take with his idolizers.

Still, it was hard not to smile seeing the way people would light up like all their dreams came true when Magnus gave them his undivided attention.

Magnus had a way with his fans—he maintained total eye contact, smiled so wide his eyes sparkled, and he listened to every word they said like they were telling him the most important thing he'd ever hear. He joined them in retelling of stories of his, became completely animated in his responses, and generally charmed them even more than they were already.

Each fan would leave, giggling with their companions and sifting through the many selfies he took with them to find the first one they'd post, and Magnus would embrace the next just as whole-heartedly and full of love as the last.

Even Alec couldn't help his entertainment watching the interactions, but he stayed watchful, making sure not to miss a beat.

Finally, things wrapped up and they headed back inside the venue to gather Magnus' things before heading to the local hotel. They'd leave for the next city in the morning.

"Well, tonight was a definite win for the books. I can't wait to lounge in a ridiculous-sized tub and then sleep with eighteen pillows." Magnus was babbling as they headed through the halls.

Alec tried to keep the amusement off his face but it was a hard feat. Working for Magnus was definitely a change of pace from his previous work.

Magnus led the way down the hall, rambling on about all the perks of getting the best suites at hotels and where his best stays were. It wasn't until he opened the door to his dressing room so he could gather the last of his belongings that he went silent.

Alec saw the blood drain from his face, his posture suddenly rigid, and he instinctively cut in front of him to barricade him from whatever horror he was facing.

The vanity mirror was covered in a series of polaroids, all taped in an arrangement. Alec stepped in the room further to get a closer look, but it was clear what the pattern was spelling out.

YOU'RE MINE

His eyes narrowed as he looked over the pictures. Most seemed to be candid shots—captured moments of Magnus walking down the street, stopping at cafes, even some from him around the house through what had to be his windows. Him rehearsing, eating dinner, even a couple where he was asleep on the couch.

"What the FUCK is THIS?!" Magnus finally said. Although he obviously meant to sound more malicious, it mostly came out hoarse from fear.

Alec pulled out his phone and started taking pictures immediately. He was trying to control the growing anger in the pit of his stomach. He had security staff everywhere. How had this person gotten in here?

Raphael had come by to see what the hold up was, as the car was waiting outside for them to go, and the smile melted right off of his face like candle wax.

"Do you want to tell him or should I?" Alec asked the silent man, his irritation not masked in the slightest.

"YOU knew about… about…. Whatever the hell THIS is?!" Magnus demanded, rounding on him now that he had a target.

Alec raised a hand in surrender and kept his cool. "Let's talk at the hotel. I'm going to get the police here to do a sweep in case there are any answers. And I'll need to speak to the director of this place to see if there is any surveillance near this room that might help us narrow this person down." He gestured at Luke. "Luke, please escort Mr. Bane outside and do not leave his side for a moment. Do a sweep of the car before getting in it too."

Magnus huffed and stormed away, looking hurt and betrayed, and Alec tried not to let it bother him. He knew his response was entirely valid. Alec had urged Raphael on multiple occasions to tell Magnus, to warn him so things wouldn't come as such a shock and so he could be more wary, but Raphael feared making Magnus paranoid for no reason.

After all, until tonight, they had only received a couple of ransom-like letters in the mail. It could've been a prank. And once Alec was hired on, nothing else came. Obviously the manager had hoped it was over and he wouldn't have to worry the star, but Alec knew obsessions like these rarely faded on their own.

Alec hoped that one good thing would come out of the display left for them tonight—there would be something useful found to track the person down and end things before they got worse.

Of course, luck would have it that things wouldn't be that easy.

The police came and went, promising to call if any evidence lead to something, but Alec could tell by the looks in their eyes they weren't too hopeful. After all, so many people had been in and out of that room that night. And if, god forbid, it was someone on Magnus' team doing such things, it would be virtually impossible to pin it on them from their DNA being at the scene alone.

Naturally, the surveillance stopped shortly before reaching Magnus' dressing room, so they didn't have much to go on there. It was designed to capture where regular guests frequented, rather than more of the backstage situations, due to privacy. Many stars ended up undressing and redressing backstage or in the hallways—to avoid lawsuits or uncodely conduct, they limited the survaillence in those areas during show nights.

Defeated, Alec headed to the hotel to meet with a furious Magnus and hopefully smooth things over.

By the time he arrived, it looked as though Raphael had explained everything—how long ago things started, the few notes they received and what they looked like, and how, despite taking things to the police, nothing had really come of it yet. It was why Raphael had wanted better security during the tour, hence his hiring of Alec.

Alec entered the room quietly, standing with his hands behind his back in a soldier's stance as Magnus paced back and forth in front of a forlorn Raphael.

"So this has been going on for months and you just decided it was better I didn't know?!"

"I worried about making you paranoid, affecting your comfort on stage and with fans… If it was just a harmless prank or something to rattle you with no real intention of going further, it seemed cruel to burden you with it…" Raphael explained, looking at the shag rug with his head hung.

"And what about you? What's your excuse?" Magnus snapped at Alec.

He exhaled slowly. "I would've told you myself, but I figured you'd assume I was making it up in order to make you more compliant with the changes I implemented. I wanted you to trust me as your head of security and was worried you'd rebel even further against the new things in place if I gave you a reason to."

Magnus grumbled under his breath. "Damn."

Alec raised one eyebrow in question.

"You're probably right. I wouldn't have believed you. I guess I needed to see it for myself."

Magnus straightened up from his moping position and crossed his arms.

"So… now that everything is in the open, what comes next? Should we… should we be cancelling the tour?"

Alec noticed he was looking at him now; normally he'd go through Raphael first, but he supposed he could understand why he was a little less forgiving of the man he'd known for many years keeping secrets.

"Well, truth be told, no. I think, with stalkers of this nature, the more you keep moving the better. Now, of course, with a music tour such as yours, all of your dates and venues are posted. But if those pictures tonight are anything to go by, they know where you live. I'd feel better knowing they don't know where you're sleeping each night, as your hotel stays are private. And I will continue to make sure we have maximum security at each venue. In fact, I may double it if the police don't give us anything substantial from their findings tonight."

Magnus nodded. He seemed to accept Alec's input on the subject.

"Also, the last thing we want to give this person is the attention from you they're craving. So not a word of this to anyone, okay? All we need is the media getting wind of it and it'll explode. Not even anything cryptic on social media that could allude to the situation we're dealing with. Attention and the spotlight on them is exactly what this person wants. We don't want them to know they've gotten to you."

"But they have." Magnus muttered.

"I signed on to be your personal bodyguard, Mr. Bane. I'm good at what I do. You don't have anything to worry about as long as I'm nearby."

"Good." Magnus said, nodding. "In that case, Raphael… I want you to call our next series of hotels. Make sure I am booked in a suite with a double bedroom. I want Alexander staying in the next room for the rest of the tour."

Alec's eyes widened but he didn't say anything.

Raphael nodded quickly, pulling out his phone to get started. Alec figured he'd do anything to get back into Magnus' good graces.

"For tonight, Alexander, you have your own room and I'll stick to just having a hired gun outside my door. You better enjoy it while it lasts because I'll warn you… I'm a bathroom hog." Magnus said, a sly smile on the corner of his lips before he headed into his en-suite.

Alec swallowed, not really sure what to make of the new arrangements, but unable to deny that his job was continuing to get more interesting.

Continue to  Chapter 3

[theartificialdane]

Galactica, part 253

Vows has been exchanged, but what happens next? Follow along as we have dinner, drinks, speeches and everyone is invited to ring in the new years with our favorite couples.

Thank you @veronicasanders for working on this with me, and thank you to everyone else for your patience <3

[Oh look at you my little girl! You were so beautiful up there.] Raja smiled, bending down so her mother could hug her, the two embracing each other tight, Mani barely making it to her daughters chest. Everyone else was leaving the room, getting carefully rushed out for cocktails by Raven’s bridesmaids, the entire thing running smoothly.

[I’m 43 mom.] Raja laughed, only her tiny mom still insisting on calling her and her brother small.

[Oh hush you, you will always be my little princess.]

[Of course.]

Raja didn’t know she could feel such happiness, the fact that Raven had said yes, the fact that they were now legally married still feeling like a dream. Raja touched her wedding ring, twisting it slightly, the metal a comfort, a physical sign of Raven’s love for her, and the promise they made each other.

Mani took a step back, dapping her eyes. [Dad would have been proud.]

Raja froze, looking down at her mother. [I-] They never really talked about their dad, Raja’s heart breaking every time she thought of him, the fact that he had been dead for 11 years not making it any easier, most of all because Raja wasn’t sure that her mother was right, wasn’t sure he would have been proud of her. Her and Sutan had spent so much time hiding so much of what they were from him, Raja never even getting the chance to introduce him to Raven, her dad never getting to walk her down the aisle, Raja never getting the chance to know if he would have accepted her love of girls.

Her train of thought was broken by her mother's gentle touch, Mani taking her hand.

[He would.]

[If you say so.]

***

“Everyone please move closer together.”

Fame rolled her eyes. “How many pictures do we need?”

“Let her have her fun, Famie Dear.”

Detox smiled, hosting Grace higher up on his hip, the little girl’s fingers in her mouth, her mom quickly tugging on her elbow so Grace could look good for the almost endless photoshoot. The photographer was catching the wedding party, making everyone get together for several combinations of group photos.

“I’m just saying. We didn’t have anywhere near this many pictures at my wedding.”

Detox snorted, almost dropping Grace, while Patrick rolled his eyes. They both knew Fame was lying through her teeth, Patrick and Fame’s wedding almost as grand as the one they were at now.

“Okay, maybe we did.”

“And you better own it, blondie.”

Fame smiled, running a hand down Grace’s back, the little girl as bright as sunlight, and Fame knew she would have every single photo from the day framed and put up at the farm. Of course she would. These people were her family after all, and the ones she loved most in the world.

***

“Does my makeup look okay?”

“Let me check.”

Raja leaned in for a kiss, and Raven pushed her away, a shriek leaving her, followed by a happy laugh. “Raja!”

“You told me to check!”

Raven shook her head, the two of them standing together for the several photographers they had hired, Sutan and Violet on each side of them, Raven insisting on the pictures. Violet laughed slightly, quickly stepping in front and opening her bag, pulling out a small mirror so Raven could see herself. Raven checked her reflection, happy with what she saw, but she was still slightly annoyed with Raja.

“Everything has to be perfect you bitch.”

“Excuse me, that’s Mrs. Bitch. I’m a married woman now.” Raja put her arm around Raven.

Raven rolled her eyes, but leaned into Raja. “Alright Mrs. Bitch.” Raven smiled, Mrs and Mrs Bitch. That would make great throw pillows the next time she redid their living room.

***

Bianca walked into the ridiculously over the top (true to form) cocktail hour, scanning the room for Courtney. She spotted her with Adore by a tower of sushi and strode quickly over. As she approached, she gave Adore a warning look and a “get lost” gesture. Adore kissed Courtney on the cheek and scurried away.

“Adore! Where are you-“ Courtney stopped talking as arms slid around her waist.

“I’m sorry,” Bianca whispered, lips against her ear.

After a beat, Courtney replied, “I know.”

“Baby…” Bianca fingered one of the delicate silver straps of Courtney’s dress, hot breath on her neck. “Please…”

Courtney turned around to face her.

“Let’s not worry about it right now, okay? It’s a party. Let’s just have a good time.”

Bianca searched Courtney’s green eyes. She seemed far away, defeated. Bianca tilted her chin up.

“Baby, I really am sorry. Truly.”

Courtney sighed, leaning her head against Bianca’s, wanting nothing more than to melt into her arms until all of her doubts faded away.

“Yeah, me too,” Courtney replied, giving Bianca a soft kiss on the cheek. “Let’s...can we talk more tomorrow, when we get home?”

“Alright,” Bianca agreed, relieved just to be holding her again.

Across the room, a young woman watched them, running her hands through her glossy cascade of blonde hair.

***

“Ladies and gentlemen, please give a huge welcome to our beautiful brides...Raja and Raven!”

A thunderous cheer echoed through the hall as Raja and Raven sailed into the room, giddy and laughing, arms around each other. As glowing and beautiful as ever, Raja pushed Raven out in front of her, directing the crowd to continue cheering for her as she basked in the applause.

Adore turned to Jinkx and giggled, commenting on how of course they’d had a wardrobe change for the party.

“Alright folks,” the DJ continued. “Let’s keep the love going while these stunning ladies share their first dance as married women…” He began to play Jessie Ware’s Desire, turning up the music while the brides took to the dance floor.

You're my desire And this, I always know You've been admired And do you see me glow?

Raven laughed, so happy they had found the time to go to the dance classes together. She allowed Raja to pull her closer, the other woman leading, in total control of everything that happened, and Raven couldn’t wait to follow Raja’s lead for the rest of her life.

***

Raven’s head was swimming, the night going so well, everyone pulling at her all the time, congratulating her, telling her how beautiful she was (which she already knew thank you very much), and how happy her and Raja would be (which she also knew). She was drunk on champagne, her dinner dress looked fucking amazing, her boobs had healed perfectly and Raven felt like a goddess. They were finishing up the meal, the speeches even making her cry a time or two, and Raven had started to look for Raja, so they could go change their clothes a third time. Raja had laughed the first time Raven suggested it, but she had been shopping for it for over a year, and there was no way she wasn’t going to wear each and every dress she had brought for the party. This was /her/ night, and she was going to look like perfection from every angle the entire time.

Raven was just about to signal Juju that they’d like to start getting ready to change again, when Raven noticed that Violet was only picking at her food, Sutan’s arm around her shoulder, but he was clearly caught up in conversation to his right, happily chatting away. Had Violet looked sad all evening? Why was she sad? Didn’t she realise this was Raven’s wedding?

Raven was just about to be mad, when she remembered what had happened the day before, Violet trying so hard to do the speech Raven had asked of her, and then suddenly disappearing, after Courtney pulled her from the podium. Had Raven even said anything? She tried to think back, but all she could think of was how mad she had been at her mom, yelling at Bianca over her girlfriend going rogue, and then, she remembered. Raja coming to her and telling her that Violet wouldn’t do the speech at the reception. Raven felt a slight twist in her stomach. Who had even told Violet that she didn’t need to do it, anyway? Raven knew she had most likely forced Violet to do it in a fit of inspiration. She had those, and sometimes she could be quite aggressive in getting her way. Had they asked Sutan to do the speech instead?

“Hey Vivi?”

Violet looked up, surprise clear on her face at being spoken to. “Yes?”

“Thank you for being here.”

Raven watched the total confusion, Violet clearly not understanding what she was saying, but then, she smiled.

“Thank you for having me.”

***

“Oh god this is so good!” Pearl laughed as she cleaned her plate for the third time, and Laila was in utter awe. She had never seen Pearl eat that much before, a warmth tight in her chest as she watched her girlfriend actually not only enjoy, but also finish the food in front of her. “Why did we ever leave yesterday?”

“You insisted on it.”

“I did, didn’t I?” Pearl smirked, and Laila gulped as Pearl caught her eyes, the other woman looking at Laila as if she was a prey animal. “I did.”

***

“Hello everyone.” Sutan stood up, Raja groaning, but her smile absolutely betrayed her. “I’m Sutan Amrull, and as Raja’s brother, and her best friend, I figured I had to say a few words today. I’ll try to keep it brief.” Sutan reached into his suit, pulling out a few cards. “But I promise nothing.”

The entire hall laughed, a few of them even booing, but it was all in good nature.

“Raja, Raven, I have had the privilege of seeing two people, as perfect as you, not only meet in this crazy world, but also meet at the exact right time. It’s no secret that neither of you have ever been low maintenance. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that you’re both the bossiest bitches around, but somehow, that doesn’t matter when you’re with each other.” Sutan smiled. “Life is short, and today you promised to stay together through sickness and health, and after almost a decade together already, I can’t think of anyone else for either of you.” Sutan lifted his glass. “To the brides. May they live forever!”

***

“Raja, today you married your- wait, wait, I told myself I wasn’t going to cry.” Fame took a deep breath. “Raja, today you married your best friend-” Fame began crying for real.

Everyone chuckled as she tearily finished her toast, allowing Patrick to take her hand and hand her a tissue.

“Thank you so much, Fame, that was beautiful,” Adore said from the stage, where her band was just finished setting up. “You mushy bitch.”

Fame laughed, wiping her eyes.

“Hey also, who’s ready to fucking party?” Adore asked sweetly, as the band began to play. “Dance, motherfuckers!”

***

“Dance motherfuckers” was the most aggressive way Trixie had ever been told to have a good time, but he didn’t mind it at all. He had a baby free night, and an excuse to rock out with the people he loved, even dancing a few dances with Fame. He was sweaty and giggly from the alcohol he had drowned during dinner and cocktails, and he would most likely regret it all tomorrow, Ivan in a new phase of his life, were annoying dad was the funnest thing he could think of, but as Trixie pulled Katya closer, he didn’t care at all.

***

Courtney danced with Alaska and Tati, twirling and laughing, finally letting go of some of the tension she’d been feeling all day. Once Adore had taken the stage, the real party had begun. They were mostly singing covers, with a few of Adore’s original songs tossed in, and Courtney was filled with relief for the opportunity to really move.

She noticed Violet over by one of the bars with Sutan and Karl, taking a prim sip of her champagne and appearing slightly bored. Catching her eyes, she shimmied over and grabbed her by the hand.

“Come dance with us!”

“Oh, I don’t know if I- You’ve already done so much for me-”

“Pleeeeease?” Tati added, batting her lashes and taking Violet’s other hand, Violet’s face instantly going bright red.

“O-okay.”

Giggling self-consciously, Violet allowed herself to be dragged onto the dance floor, following Tatianna like a little lost puppy.

“I figured you could use a break from the grown-ups for awhile,” Courtney whisper-yelled over the music.

Violet laughed, slightly giddy as Tati began to twirl her around, the other girl’s perfume pleasantly invading her senses.

“Thanks.”

“Anytime!” Courtney gave Violet a quick kiss on the cheek and continued to grind against Alaska happily.

Courtney watched Bianca out of the corner of her eye. She’d seen Celia gliding over, a little tipsy, and then the gorgeous blonde was sliding an arm around Bianca’s neck. She bristled slightly, letting out a relieved sigh as Bianca carefully detangled herself and sent Celia on her way, rolling her eyes at Jinkx and continuing their conversation.

Maybe she’d been too harsh with Bianca last night, Courtney thought guiltily. Maybe she’d imagined her girlfriend’s flirting as overblown, because of how annoyed she was to begin with.

Courtney looked back over to Tati and Violet, thrilled that her friend seemed to be helping the brunette loosen up. She flashed Violet a wicked smile, as she bumped hips with Alaska. Thank god for the dance floor.

“Oh look, our stunning brides are back!” Adore called into the microphone. “Please let’s give a huge cheer for Raja and Raven, who have changed for the third time tonight. Raven, your ass looks perfect.”

Raven giggled, waving and blowing kisses, as she and Raja sailed onto the dance floor to join their guests.

***

Patrick slid into his seat beside Fame, handing her a glass of champagne.

“Remember our wedding?” Fame asked, smiling.

“Of course.” Patrick smiled back and puts his hand on the table, letting Fame take it, their rings clinking together. Patrick was so happy to be there with her. He could tell that Fame’s sentimental side had been triggered by the surroundings. All tension from their Christmas vacation seemed to evaporate. “It was one of the best days of my life, and way better than this whole extravaganza, just a humble wedding of us, your dad’s mansion, close friends and family and around 6000 chickens.”

Fame laughed. She scanned the crowd, hoping to see her best friends looking as happy and content as she felt. There was a beautiful, dark-eyed woman by the bar who averted her eyes when Fame looked her way.

Fame leaned over to Patrick, whispering in his ear. “What do you think of the woman over there in the blue dress?”

Patrick swallowed, unsure if this was a test. “She looks...uh, very…”

“Let’s seduce her,” Fame continues, now smirking wickedly.

Patrick clears his throat, one eyebrow lifting.

“I’ll follow your lead…”

***

Juju re-entered the ballroom; she’d just spent nearly an hour putting her three youngest kids to bed, with no help from her husband, and she needed a drink in the worst way.

As if reading her mind, Detox sidled up to her with a martini, looking tipsy and very pleased with himself.

“So, where do you wanna go on vacation?”

“What do you mean?” Juju laughed, taking the drink and kissing his cheek, letting him guide her to the dance floor. Detox pointed to the side of the room and Juju noticed a few iPhones out, despite the security guards who had confiscated their own phones earlier.

“Matthew Sanderson, are those reporters?!”

“No, they’re freelance writers who happened to also have enough waiter experience to be hired as catering.”

Juju hit him and Detox laughed again.

“Come on little bee, don’t be mad! Better we get the scoop than those pretentious assholes from Vanity Faire.”

Juju huffed but lets him pull her in.

“You better take us somewhere real nice.”

“You, me, our demon kids and two nannies. Believe me, this night is going to cover your wildest dreams baby.”

***

“Who knew you’re more than just a good designer!”

“What do you mean?”

Violet yelled over the music, her and Tatianna still dancing together.

“You’re a really good dancer!”

Violet blushed as Tatianna complimented her, then said, “And you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!”

Violet wanted to slap her hands over her mouth, her eyes going wide. What the fuck? Had she really just said that out loud? But Tatianna just laughed, still dancing.

“Thank you! I understand why Sutan loves you!”

Sutan. Her Sutan. Her Sutan who didn’t know that she was angry with him.

“I have to go!”

***

“Max!!” Raven squealed as she spotted the tall britt, his almost white hair making him stand out like a lighthouse. “Max!” Raven threw herself at the photographer, happily wrapping her arms around him. “You have to take our picture! Please please please please.”

“Isn’t that why you invited me?” Max laughed, clearly enjoying Raven’s excitement, the two of them knowing each other extremely well from all the hours they had spent in Max’s studio, shooting Galactica collections. He was also one of a very select few of trusted people allowed to have a camera inside the ballroom.

“That, and the fact that you’re the most beautiful Brit in all of Manhattan, now take some pictures of me and my wife!”

“Tonight is your night, Mrs. Amrull.”

***

“I love this party!” Pearl laughed, her body swaying back and forth. The dinner had been dreadfully boring, her boss crying and Laila not budging on her ‘no sex at an actual reception’ police, but this party was the best ones Pearl had attended in years. She had even cheered from the first row for Adore’s band, the woman smiling at her when she danced to the music. “Laila! We have to watch the ball drop!”

“That happens on Times Square, you idiot.”

“Raven had a perfect replica made for the ball room so that no one had to look away from her and Raja’s New Year’s kiss. Now come on!”

***

“Can I have this dance?”

“You better.”

Raja smiled as she took Raven’s hand, the two of them walking into the dance floor, Raja gently grabbing Raven’s hip as they started to sway together to the tones of the song Raven had picked for their first dance. Raja was beautiful, and Raven couldn’t stop looking at her, her wife, her legally wedded, amazing, beautiful fantastic wife. Raven knew they were being filmed, her years as a model giving her an almost sixth sense for finding any and all cameras, but it didn’t matter, not when she had Raja with her, the other leading her like she always did, and like she always would. The guested started counting down, midnight and the near year coming closer and closer, the seconds ticking past.

“I love you..”

“I love you too.”

Raja smiled and leaned forward, the glitterball exploding as their lips met and the clock struck 12.

“Happy New Year.”

[spockandawe]

Starscream/Bumblebee?

NICE! NICE NICE NICE!

notp / not really / meh / I could / sometimes / maker, yes /my otp babbies

Who is the most affectionate?

Starscream probably wins the tactile affection race, but by god does Bumblebee win in terms of expressing his emotions in a genuine way. I mean, just look at Starscream. That boy. That boy. Honestly, I can even see Bumblebee getting a little -_- over how much Starscream refuses to show things openly and deliberately get more openly affectionate himself just to poke Starscream over the whole thing.

Big spoon/Little spoon?

Oooh, now… Bumblebee doesn’t have that problematic back kibble, and we don’t have a too-too ridiculous size difference. But I won’t lie, I am having real trouble seeing Starscream take a big spoon role when he has the option of being the little spoon instead. But! On the note of Starscream liking to drape himself over his partners. I invite you to imagine Bumblebee lying in bed with Starscream on top of him, totally pinned, totally outmassed. Just lying there staring at the ceiling going why this

Most common argument?

Everything? :V But I honestly see this being a pretty adversarial but still flush and caring relationship. Starscream does a self-sabotaging thing, and Bumblebee is like ‘cut that out.’ Starscream tries to retaliate disproportionately against someone like Windblade, who doesn’t actually want to screw him over, and Bumblebee is like ‘cut that out.’ Starscream lets himself get pulled into arguments with Optimus Prime that are likely to hit him in the megatron place (like in combiner wars), and Bumblebee is like ‘cut that out.’

Favorite non-sexual activity?

Oh, this question. Bane of my existence. They both love running Cybertron together! So much fun! What a delightful hobby! But honestly, Starscream is way loaded down with responsibilities and such and I’m pretty sure he’s being stretched thin in a lot of ways. And the moment people got used to Bumblebee being in charge, they were also putting a massive load on him and stretching him thin. Starscream feels like he has to keep his hands in everything, all the time always, that’s the only way he can be secure. And Bumblebee is just incredibly bad at saying no when an issue is framed like ‘someone is depending on you!’ Their favorite non-sexual activity is running Cybertron, because that’s one of the very few activities period in their life :P

Who is most likely to carry the other?

HA, okay. Starscream definitely. I… do not think Bumblebee could do the thing. But the thing is, I’m pretty sure it would irritate the heck out of Bumblebee. I’ve got plenty of short friends where they’re a little touchy about someone picking them up, and like, Tailgate doesn’t strike me as someone where that’s an issue. Bumblebee really does. I think Starscream wouldn’t be inclined to carry Bumblebee at all (and he still doesn’t do it much), except that it does irritate him, just on a petty enough level that Bumblebee can’t be like YOU NEED TO STOP without looking silly, and it’s not like stakes are high or Bumblebee is sincerely bothered, but my favorite language of affection is a back-and-forth of people needling each other.

Who worries the most?

WOW, this is a tight race. Starscream worries about himself most and Bumblebee worries the most about other people :V That’s not terribly fair. They’ve both tried to take on a lot of high stakes responsibilities that put them under a lot of stress. They’re both trying to do the best by the people under their command. BUT. Starscream is more willing/able to jettison stressors if he decides that it’s putting him at risk. He doesn’t lose track of himself in the whole thing. Which reinforces all the things Megatron has told him about how he’ll never be good enough, but hey. Bumblebee is just… so incapable of saying no, even when it’s stressing him to pieces. Nobody wins in this stress game :(

Who tops doms?

Bumblebee!!! The tiniest, bossiest, MOST ADORABLE DOM. Except for Tailgate. And Rewind. I have a thing for tiny, bossy doms, I think XD But anyways, Bumblebee is a total bossy boss, and he doesn’t exactly think Starscream is doing the best at taking the lead in… anything. Even if he thinks Starscream is trying, that doesn’t mean he thinks Starscream is doing a good job :P And Bumblebee is able to step into a situation and take charge and make things move. Plus Starscream likes feeling adored and doted on, and bumblebee probably would like being in a position of authority that doesn’t have such high stakes or so much stress.

I’m in the middle of a series where I get Starscream’s whole trine each individually crushing on Bumblebee (with an eventual reunion and even more eventual foursome) for a reason, hahaha. I would like to see Starscream domming Bumblebee too, because like… Bumblebee has plenty of reasons not to trust him, and knows how dangerous Starscream can be. Starscream is larger then him, more ruthless, more inclined to end things definitively. There’s a lot of fun in putting yourself at the mercy of someone like that, and also in knowing someone is looking at you that way, and you’ve that that emotional hook into them. Not to be exploited or abused, but in a way that gives both of you a thrill.

Who initiates kisses?

Bumblebee, but in this situation, it’s more a case of Starscream refusing to do the thing, just so he can make Bumblebee make the first move. More affectionate needling. Like ‘haha you always kiss me first, that means you care more’ ‘that isn’t how anything works’ ‘why do you always kiss me first tho’ ‘because you’re an impossible, self-sabotaging mess, that’s why’

Who wakes up first?

I… think we have two mechs here with sleep issues :P More hypervigilance flavored from Starscream, more too-much-fretting-to-sleep from Bumblebee.

Who says I love you first?

Bumblebee for sure, but it’s not like the kisses where Starscream is refusing to move first on purpose. Saying ‘I love you’ is like… it makes you vulnerable. It’s laying the stage for a sincere ‘lol u care more than i do’ instead of a teasing one, it’s opening a window for direct, abrupt rejection, it’s exposing a hole through your emotional defenses. Expecting Starscream to do that first, in any situation, is going to be… unlikely. Bumblebee is probably going to be a little leery of saying it, because Starscream can be kinda mercurial and sometimes reacts weird to emotional input and it can be hard to predict what he’ll do. But Bumblebee isn’t so hung up about exposing his True Emotions.

Though I will say that Starscream will be more, hm. Emotionally dependent on Bumblebee. Bumblebee is well-loved and has a large network of friends who adore him. Starscream does not have that thing, and it’s destroying him. Anyone who can win his trust in any meaningful measure is going to be a major emotional pillar, where Starscream will take serious damage if he loses them. That’s a nuance I think i left out of most of his other ships, but it’s especially important for Bumblebee, who has seen Starscream at his lowest points and is still sticking around.

[heymiss-miss]

I am a quitter

I believe in quitting but quitting for the right reasons. I know became a science teacher because, at two key points in my life, I decided to give up a dream, which in turn, changed the path that I took my life.

I remember as a child playing with my cousin, brother, and the neighbor kids. Even though we went to school all day, when it came to play time, we only did pretend school. And since I was the eldest and bossiest, I was always the teacher. My cousin often reminds me that when it was someone else's turn to play teacher, I would often decide to lose interest and further boss them around to play something else.

It was never a goal to become a teacher. Sadly, for a good part of my life, I thought that I was supposed to do "something more." Now that I am a teacher, I really hate my past self for belittling the job because it is hard, it is rewarding, and it has a huge impact. It was weird, I knew as a teenager and college student that I wouldn't have gotten where I was without the teachers I had in high school, but I still didn't respect the profession.

So becoming a teacher was never originally in my cards. When I was sixteen, I either wanted to be an artist or scientist. Polar extremes and people are still a little surprised when I say that I 'almost went to art school.'

Junior year in American high schools is very important. It is the second to last year and that's when you start taking the SAT and the ACT tests. At that point, you are also looking into universities so you can determine what subjects and scores you need to get for the various colleges. Since I either wanted to be a scientist or artist, I decided to take two AP (Advance Placement) classes my junior year. For those that don't know what AP classes are, they are first-year university-level courses that are taught at the high school level. The test is scored out of 5 and depending on the university, if you get a 4 or 5, you can get college credit.

So I took AP Biology and AP Studio Art my junior year of high school to hopefully help me decide the path to take my life. I had support from friends, family, and teachers for both paths, along with advice from people that were artists and scientists of the lifestyle of each career. I was a well-researched kid, but an indecisive one. So I decided that whichever exam I got the higher grade on would be my major at university.

The summer before my final year of high school, I got my results back. AP Biology - 5. AP Studio Art - 3 (a VERY average mark). AP American Lit - 2 (haha, no surprise).

I was heartbroken over the AP Studio Art grade. It said to me that I couldn't make it as an artist. Even with my art teacher telling me that he thought my grade should be higher and not to worry about it because it is subjective, I couldn't shake that feeling. So I gave up.

I do regret it in some ways. I do wonder if I could have made it. I get frustrated when I realize that I'm not as creative or patient to do art. I remember telling myself that I could always do art on the side, but that obviously hasn't happened. But on the flip side, the more I studied science, the more I feel in love with it.

So when I was seventeen, I locked into my head that I wanted to become a scientist. I looked at the top schools in the country to study biology (a pretty pointless activity because I ended up moving to New Zealand, but that's a story for another post). For six years of my life, that was my plan. Becoming a scientist was an internal part of my identity. It was the story that I told my extended family and friends' parents when they asked me how school was going and what I wanted to do in life.

Then, came my masters year and it was awful. Not awful in a sense that I regret doing it. I'm glad I did because it changed the way I think about science and also I made some wonderful friends. It was awful because of who I was that year.

I felt like that year of my life, I was just a walking ball of anxiety and depression. I was depressed from the isolation of lab work and the long hours I was working to collect my data. I was so scared that my experiments would fail and I would fail my masters. I hated that I didn't have control when I was doing research. My personality is not built for research.

On top of that, I thought a lot about my career path in science. I decided early on that I didn't want to go into industry because I didn't agree with the ethics of industrial toxicological research. Yes, they do the toxicological questions that are required and some extra. But they also avoid doing some tests to be able to later plead ignorance if a drug needs to be recalled.

The masters exposed me to the path of academic research and when I saw my postdoc friends worry about their jobs, it really put me off being a scientist. I remember the advice that I got in high school about how most scientists work on 1-2 year contracts, which may or may not get renewed because of grant approval. At sixteen, I thought that wasn't a big deal. But when I was twenty-two, that wasn't something I wanted to do. I realized that I was very much a home body. Moving to New Zealand was difficult and I was finally adjusted, so I didn't want to move again. I also thought about the other things I wanted to get out of life like a family and I didn't want to have to ask my future family to move around for me to chase my dream. A dream that I wanted less and less.

I kept trying to tell myself that it eventually it does get better because good scientists do find a permanent position at a university. But I saw supervisors spending of their time worrying about grant money and again a lot of time alone working in their offices. As that year went on, the more I realized that I didn't like my options and I was very unhappy with research.

Demonstrating the undergrad labs was the only thing I did look forward to that year. Well, that and my weekly bakes, which I started mainly to keep my sanity. I found that I loved sharing my knowledge of science and life advice about research. At that point, I started to flirt with the idea of becoming a teacher.

But to become a teacher meant I needed to quit a dream that I held onto for six years of my life. I remember balling my eyes out when I was processing that decision because at the same time I was processing my grief. I was giving up a part of myself and a path I thought my life was going on. I was also very scared to tell people my decision because I thought they would be disappointed in me. The saying, 'If you can't do, teach' was in my head a lot and I felt like a failure.

But in fact, I was generally met with positive feedback. My students were excited because they thought I was a good teacher. My friends were happy for me because they could see the toll research was taking on me and it was like ending a bad relationship. My family thought it was a better fit for my personally and were relieved that I changed my mind.

The only one that I fought with over my decision was my dad. He thought I was quitting because I thought it was too hard and that I was scared of failure. My dad always wants me to be the best and wants me to rise to the challenge. He had it in his mind that to be the best at teaching was to be a professor at a university. He thought the ultimate rise to the challenge was for me to get a PhD.

But what my dad didn't see was how unhappy I was with my life. He didn't see that I lost my bubbly personality during that year. He didn't see how withdrawn and short tempered I became. I didn't think I could do a PhD, but it had nothing to do with smarts or ability. I didn't think I could handle the unhappiness.

I was a quitter. But I quit for the right reasons. I was unhappy. I think it's weird that I can love a subject, but hate doing it. At times I do miss it because it was so exciting to be at the frontier of new information.  But at the end of the day, you need to do what makes you happy (and hopefully provide you with enough money to survive).

I absolutely love teaching and I know I wouldn't have gotten here if I didn't quit, it was never originally in my cards. I am really happy with the path that I have taken my life on because now that I am a teacher, it is great advice for kids when they are making the first decisions in their life path. It shows that your path is not set in stone and it is okay to change course. 

I am generally not a quitter. But I think at certain times, it is the right thing to do.