#after twenty years she finally has something she can get her multi-millionaire brother for a present and she is reveling in it

[jamiesfootball]

what do you think are some of roy’s favorite books or what would he be reading now?

So to fill this out a bit, let me predicate by saying that before Ted gave him A Wrinkle In Time, I don't think Roy was really a reader. Like, he maybe read Phoebe books (like he says, she's a proper nerd) but that was mainly because you're supposed to do that to help kids learn to read and shit.

I think A Wrinkle in Time was the first book they read together that was... more. Like, it began as, "You know how we have to read books for your homework? Well tonight, I have homework, so let's the two of us read it together, and we can get it over with, okay?"

Then of course Roy gets walloped by feelings, and things change. Bit by bit, Ted starts getting by the walls of Roy's heart, but I think that book did a lot of the work to get it started. It reawakened something in Roy, something in his dusty, closed up heart that wanted to feel things.

So after A Wrinkle in Time he picks up another book. Phoebe enjoyed the first book, so he'll try one of the other one's Ted got for the lads. He asks Sam which one he got. Roy borrows Sam's copy of Ender's Game and lends Sam his book in return.

(Turns out, Sam didn't care much for Ender's Game, though he understood what the coach meant by giving it to him. He enjoyed Roy's book though, and bought himself a copy.)

After Roy and Phoebe read Ender's Game, they both agree that one was a bit lacking after the first, so Roy decides to go off script -- he'll go to a bookshop and find something there.

He comes back home with ten books. Six of them are for Phoebe-time. The other four, well. Those displays they have up to get your attention? They caught his attention. And reading's never really been a thing he's done - it was always something you did to maintain your grades so that you could stay at the Academy. A goal to meet an end. Sure, some of the stories were good, but nothing he read really ever grabbed him back then - not like this other book.

But they've got these displays, and some of these displays he's already seen the movies for. He's already got a stack of books in his arms for his nerd-niece, what's one more for himself?

Then there's another one, in some 'Action / Suspense' display. He likes action and suspense. None of the books he read in school were very action or suspense. Maybe one of those.

Then in line at the check out - a murder mystery? Sure, he'll grab that. He liked the Murdoch Mysteries just as much as anyone else. He's seen Wallander.

Then at the counter while he's paying - "The fuck do you mean the Murdoch Mysteries were based off a book?"

So what do I think Roy likes? Mostly, the popular stuff. The stuff that's a bit easy to read. Easy emotional access and payoff. It's not that that's where his tastes will land forever, but he's just starting out. He's learning to let himself enjoy things that aren't related to who he is as a player. He's experimenting with genres. He's learning what he likes as he goes.

And yeah, he'd like to fucking talk about The Da Vinci Code with someone. Yes, he knows the book came out in 2003 and the movie in 2006, but he was busy winning trophies at the time so he didn't get to it, okay? Now do you want to talk about the Knights Templar or not?

[livelovesimallways]

"Prayed Up....." 🎵

(Previous)

(Previous following Dana's story)

Moses and I finally arrived home a couple of days ago after an amazing honeymoon. We spent nearly three months traveling, relaxing and enjoying the best parts of what make us...us. After taking some time for ourselves, letting our friends and family know we were back became top priority. While I reached out on my end, Moses was reluctant to do the same. He says he wants to, "protect his peace", which leads me to believe something serious is going on. Although I fully understand where he is coming from, avoiding things never helps. I just hope that, "protecting his peace", doesn't make a situation worse or leave people in the dark.

Later on that day.....

"So hold on...Let me get this straight...Sean was messing around with that Julia chick outside of Dana's rules? Deanna found out and told her?"

"Basically..."

"Damn...I wonder why she didn't tell me? It seemed like everything was going well. She even sent me their finished wedding plan." *sounding confused*

"Maybe it is for her. She probably feels like what's done is done. Shit, my moms used to get like that whenever my father got caught."

"Humph...I remember having those days myself. You're probably right. Now I feel terrible. Dana isn't the type to come crying about her problems either. She'll tell you, but won't get emotional about it. She keeps a lot bottled up."

"Yeah she's a good ass person too. She don't deserve that shit." *looks down then shakes his head*

"So was this why you were avoiding calls?"

"I mean it's part of it. Sean's been like my brother since high school, but him still doing dumb shit just ain't sittin right with me. I thought he was makin progress but, that ain't the case. I don't know if I want to be around all that. Too much potential to have me in some shit."

"In some shit like?...."

"Being put on the spot to cover, or getting questioned over something he did."

"But that only happened once right?" *narrows her eyes*

"You really want me to answer that? Shit, we both know not to ask questions we really don't want the answers to. You're gonna feel obligated to tell her and neither one of us is trying to stir up past things. She knows what kind of dude she has. Obviously we want better for her, but she's sticking beside him. There's no need to dig."

*sighs* "Fine...I'll leave it alone. What's done in the dark always comes to light anyway, so..." *her phone starts ringing, cutting her off* "Oh look, it's Nica, another person you've been avoiding. I'll put it on speaker."

A Few Days Later.......

"I'm just not understanding why you won't tell your sister you're pregnant? Like, I know it's not ideal, but you're in a good place. You're starting your career at that tech giant and you can stay here as long as you want. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Trust me, I've seen worse. The train wreck that is my father is a great example, and he's a multi-millionaire. You have a village: your sister, me and my family. You just have to embrace it. "

"Look...Mimi I get you're trying to help, but please leave it alone. That's not why..." *get choked up*

"Then what is it? I'm here for you, seriously..."

*whispers* "Fuck...."

"Damn...Umm...I didn't mean to upset you. You don't have to..."

"No, I do. Just please don't judge until you hear everything. The reason why I'm scared to tell her is because it's Sean's baby..." *tells her their entire history*

"Whew...That's a lot." *pauses for a few seconds* "Sleeping with your sister's man is foul as fuck, Dee. I get the whole college and first love thing before they met, but she's the one with him now...Has been for the past what, six years? And now a baby? You have to tell her before she marries this man."

"I know...I will..."

"This is crazy but, as much as I want to rant, I feel bad for you. He's manipulated this entire situation since you were eighteen. He was twenty-four and he knew to take advantage of your naivety. Now he says he loves you? He's full of shit and is using that as a way to keep you quiet and around." *pauses in thought* "Shit!..."

"What's wrong?"

"Remember a few days ago you were throwing up a lot?"

"Yeah?..."

"Well, I got scared and called Nica for advice. She had a rough first trimester so I figured she could help. I told her it was for you."

"Do you think she told anyone?" *extra concerned*

"I mean, it's possible, but that was a few days ago. I feel like if your sister knew she would've been knocking on the door. I'm gonna call Nica and check. But regardless, Dana's gonna find out sooner or later. You can't hide a baby bump and Sean's family has some strong genes. When the baby comes out looking like him..."

"Girl!...I get it. Can you please just call your sister for me? I'll figure it out from there."

To Be Continued......

Next

[aresaphrodites]

the night’s on fire chapter one

Summary: 

"the scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls." -edgar allen poe

Lies. Betrayal. Star-crossed lovers. Hope. Dreams. Tragedy. Betty Cooper is tasked with taking down Jughead Jones and the throne he sits upon. Nothing is ever that simple though and Betty soon finds herself in the middle of his world as she learns that not everything is always black and white.

Here we go, guys! :)

A few things before we start. This is a mafia au so Jughead is going to have his dark moments. I want him to be pretty ruthless since that's kind of what his entire character is here. This means that he'll be involved in the occasional murder, torture, and illegal crime activity. That being said, he will NEVER be abusive towards Betty. I just want to clear that before anyone asks or assumes or anything. He's a mean man but there's only person he'll adore above all else and that's Betty. However, he is going to be pretty rude and uncaring towards her in the beginning because that's just his attitude. It'll change.

I've been doing a little research so here's some vocab for you guys! The Boss (FP): Head of the entire organization and has the power to order anything from anyone in the organization. Think CEO of a business. Most Bosses of the Mafia are Multi-Millionaires or Multi-Billionaires, and are incredibly powerful, influential, extremely dangerous, and universally feared. Underboss (Jughead): Second in command in the hierarchy of the Mafia crime family. Groomed to become the eventual Boss. Capo (Reggie): In charge of the soldiers, can order them to do anything like murder, assault, witness intimidation, picking up cash, deliveries, etc. He is ranked high up in the Mafia hierarchy and takes care of most of the money. Solider (Joaquin + OC's): Grunts of the organization who do the majority of the work such as murder, assault, picking up cash, deliveries, etc etc.

In this story there will be mentions of drugs, prostition, and other illegal crime activity. I'll put warnings in each chapter for whatever is happening in that specific chapter.

In this chapter: Drug mention.

Thank you to @itstenafterfour for looking this over. Can't wait to work on this new story with you!

The title is from Hurricane by Thirty Seconds to Mars which this fic is loosely based off of.

That being said, I hope you enjoy!

The man screams out. They always scream during their last moments. Jughead wonders if maybe they scream because they know, no matter what they say after this point, there’s no going back. He isn’t going to let them live, he’s not going to let them “call their family for one last goodbye”. He’s not going to let them do any of it.

“Shut up,” he says nonchalantly as he drags the blade of his favorite knife across the man’s chest. “You knew this would come,” he tells the man, Jonathan, with a disappointed look. “I just need to know, when you decided to doublecross me, what did you think was going to happen? Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Did you think I’d let it go because of all the times you ‘were there for me’?” Before he can answer, Jughead takes the knife and jams it into Jonathan's leg. He screams and Jughead smiles sinisterly at him. He’s always loved whenever they scream; it’s his favorite part of all of this.

He twists the knife around, smiling wider with every yell and cry the man lets out.

His father had told him once when he was younger that he would grow up to be soft and sensitive; weak. At the time it might have been true. There was a point in his life whenever he was weak, when he was soft. As a child, he didn’t understand his father’s job and he didn’t want to. That changed as he got older, as he learned the truth behind the family business. His love for the family grew just as his need to please his father did. Imagine his dad’s surprise when he learned his son harbored a bigger bloodlust than he ever did. FP Jones was respected and he was feared, but not like Jughead Jones was feared.

“I have to make a message out of you,” Jughead sighs. “Which is incredibly unfortunate. You were one of my best men. If only you weren’t such an idiot.” He stands up straight, no longer leaning over Jonathan and pulls his knife out of the man’s leg, causing him to breathe in harshly through his nose.

“Fuck you,” Jonathan spits at him. Jughead just clicks his tongue at him before turning over to Reggie Mantle, his second in command.

Reggie stands in the corner of the room like he always does; tall, detached, and ready to comply. He doesn’t move a muscle until Jughead tells him to.

“Kill him,” Jughead instructs. “And make it good.”

Only then does Reggie move; smirking at his instructions as he walks forward towards Jonathan. Reggie’s just as ruthless as Jughead is and it’s the reason the two work together so perfectly. Jughead would be nothing without his partner.

He walks out of the room. He doesn’t care to see this part. Reggie will torture him a little bit before one big finale, usually a bullet between the middle of this eyes, and then he’ll get rid of the body and that will be that. Jughead’s used to it. He used to enjoy doing the killing himself, but now he was over it. If he had someone who could do the dirty work for him, why did he need to bother at all?

He leaves the basement and walks up the stairs back to the parlor. Joaquin DeSantos is sitting in one of the red leather chairs, legs crossed and looking all too relaxed. Joaquin was a kid, only twenty years old, but Jughead’s dad had taken him in when he was about ten years old. His parent’s had been deadbeats and if it weren’t for FP, he’d probably be dead. Joaquin was loyal and he was fierce, Jughead thought of him as a brother, but he was also careless. Jughead would see the way his eyes would wander when they were out in public; how they’d linger a little too long on the people his age that were out having fun, going to college, working normal jobs. Joaquin was a good soldier, but his heart wasn’t in it; not like Jughead and Reggie’s were.

“Bored?” He asks, startling the younger boy. “Should have helped Reggie out downstairs.” In all honesty, it should have been Joaquin doing the killing and not Reggie, since Reggie was a capo but they both knew that he didn’t have the heart or strength to do it. Joaquin was good for deliveries, picking up cash, the occasional assault, but not murder.

“I’m not bored,” the blue eyed boy bit back. That was another thing; the kid had an attitude. If he hadn’t been brought up as Jughead’s younger brother; Jughead probably would have beat the shit out of him long ago. He didn’t respect anyone unless it was FP and Jughead was getting real tired of it. “I’m just sick of sitting here and playing watchdog. It’s not like anyone’s going to barge in and ask where that douchebag went.”

He has a point. Even if someone did care about where Jonathan Ruiz went, they weren’t ever going to find him. Jughead lived in a mansion that was so far from civilization, it was nearly off the grid. It wasn’t exactly convenient, but it was necessary. He couldn’t have anyone trying to trail him. His father had been the one to talk him out of buying a luxurious apartment on the Upper East Side of New York and Jughead was thankful for it. There’s no way he’d be able to get away with murder, or any of this, in an apartment.

“Fine, you want something to do?” Joaquin’s eyes light up at the question and now he looks at Jughead with excitement instead of disdain. “I need you to go to Toni’s and pick up this week’s logs.”

Joaquin nods eagerly and is out of the parlor before Jughead can say anything else.

Toni Topaz is one of their associates, but she’s a hell of a lot more than that to Jughead. She’s one of his closest friends, probably the closest. She’s been in his life ever since she had beat the shit out of some pudgy kid for stealing his pudding on the first day of kindergarten. True friendships are forged over violence, he thought jokingly.

Jughead’s dad hadn’t been happy that his son had cried in front of everyone and had to rely on a girl to help him out, but Toni hadn’t judged him at all; not even when FP had yelled at his son and hit him over the head for making him come to the school over something so childish. It was the last time Jughead ever made that mistake.

Toni stuck up for him after that and then, when they got older, Jughead stuck up for her. The two were thicker than thieves and got into more trouble than they could handle growing up. After his mother up and left, taking his younger sister with her, Jughead spent a lot of time experimenting with hard drugs and partying more than his body could take. It had been Toni that had saved him from his own death one night when he went too far and he owed her his entire life.

FP had taken a liking to the strong willed girl and Jughead knew that she was the daughter he wished he could have. After Jellybean left with his mom, she cut off all ties with Jughead and his father. It had hurt FP just as much as it had hurt him, probably more, and Jughead knew that his dad never really recovered from it.

All in all, Toni was like family to them. Which was why she had offered to help them out as much as she could once she found out just how the Jones’ made all their money. She owned an mechanic shop out in Queens and had let a few of Jughead’s guys use it as a cover for a job. Jughead and Reggie owned a huge nightclub in New York City so they were covered. As for the other guys, as long as they kept up with the logs at Toni’s, it seemed like they were making a living doing honest work and there was no reason to suspect them of anything; and if anyone caught wind of it, there was no evidence to back it up.

There’s the loud bang of a gun and then the sound of a body hitting the ground and then nothing. Jughead stands and waits until he hears the sound of Reggie’s footsteps coming up the stairs.

“That guy fucking bled everywhere,” Reggie says in disgust. “Look at me!” Jughead turns around and sure enough, Reggie is coated in blood. It’s all over his clothes and his face.

“You better not get that shit on my floor, man! Why are you even up here? Get back down there and get his body out of the basement before he stinks up the entire house.”

Reggie just rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t step onto Jughead’s carpet so at least there’s that.

“Where the fuck is Junior?” Junior is what Reggie refers to Joaquin as, deeming him the younger version of Jughead.

“Out to Toni’s, we need to make sure the logs are good to go for this month.”

“Then get Reid and Michael down here,” Reggie tells him, referring to the other soldiers. “I’m not cleaning up this shit.”

Jughead goes off  in search of the two kids. He’s not as surprised as he should be when he finds them hanging out by the bar in the living room. Reid’s mixing drinks while Michael cuts up lines of cocaine. Jughead doesn’t mess with drugs anymore, but he’s not going to stop them from doing them. He can’t help the way his fingers twitch at the sight of the substance, though.

“Go help Reggie get rid of Ruiz’s body,” he tells the two kids. They jump in surprise at his voice and are quick to scramble themselves together before running off towards the parlor. He’s used to his presence scaring people and while it used to make him sad, now he lives off of it.

He decides that he’s done for the day and heads up the huge spiral case in the foyer, to his bedroom. It’s been a long day and he deserves a shower. He has a bit of blood on his hands, literally, and it’s starting to gross him out a bit.

He strips himself of all his clothes before turning the showerhead to its hottest setting and stepping under the water. It feels good against his skin as it releases the tension that’s been building up in his body. He’s quick to shampoo his hair before he begins to run his black loofa over his body. He’d never used a loofa before but Reggie swore it was life changing so he’d finally given in. It sure made shit easier that’s for damn sure.

After he’s done with the shower, he dries off and slips into a pair of sweats with a plain black t-shirt. As much as he wishes he could just go to bed, he knows he can’t just yet. He needs to make sure the logs are in order with Toni and then he needs to call his dad and fill him in on everything that happened today. He doesn’t know how he’ll take it. Jughead might be in charge while his dad is out of town, but FP still ran everything for now. Jughead’s supposed to run stuff like this by him, but he acted impulsively on this one. He couldn’t help it, though. Jonathan had disrespected him and the family in the worst way possible. Jughead had to teach him a lesson. You didn’t screw around on the Jones’ family and live to tell about it, especially not while Jughead was running shit. He didn’t regret a single thing he did today, but he knew he probably should have checked in with the Boss first.

He walks downstairs and sees that Joaquin is already back. However, he looks panicked and Reggie is glaring down at him. Jughead already knows that whatever happened at Toni’s wasn’t good.

“What?” He asks as soon as he gets in front of them. “Tell me what happened.”

“Don’t freak out,” Joaquin says and Reggis snorts and mutters a ‘yeah right’ under his breath. “Toni couldn’t give me the logs.”

“Why the fuck not?” Jughead snaps, his patience growing thin.

Joaquin mumbles something under his breath and Jughead leans down.

“What was that?” He asks. “I didn’t hear that. Speak up.”

“Thecopshavethem.”

The words come out quickly and jumbled together, but Jughead’s still able to understand them. Although he wishes he didn’t. He clenches his fists, trying not to lash out at the kid.

“Excuse me?”

“Speak up, Junior,” Reggie says, although he’s smirking so Jughead knows that he’d known about this beforehand.

“The cops have them,” he says louder and Jughead has to refrain from hitting something.

“Why the fuck do the cops have the logs?”

“Toni said that they started sniffing around a while back but she didn’t think anything of it, because it’s not like they had anything to go off of. Seems like not everyone was logging in their work hours though and the cops started looking at work hours versus pay grade and said it didn’t match up. She thinks they’ve been looking at us for a while now, ever since the drug deal in Brooklyn.”

Fucking Brooklyn. Reggie and one of the new guys, Mario, were supposed to go pick up some drugs from the Andrews’ clan. The Jones’ hardly ever did work with the Andrews’, too much bad blood between the families, but this one was a dire need for them. Everything was going good until it turned out that one of Andrews’ men was really a fucking nark. Reggie had the kid dead before he could even reach for his phone to call the cops.

They had gotten rid of the body, but it didn’t help that the guy wore a fucking wire so he knew everything that was going on and so did whoever his superiors were. They hadn’t caught them in the act though, so they didn’t have a case. Apparently they had enough though.

“I thought you took care of that,” Jughead says with a pointed glare at Reggie.

“Don’t look at me! It’s not my fault that Andrews’ men had a fucking nark on their side. Guess we should have known, huh?”

Jughead runs his hands over his face in frustration. In all honesty, this isn’t really that big of a deal. It wouldn’t be the first time someone’s had their eye on them, but it’s always a fucking hassle to deal with. It’s something that he shouldn’t have to deal with at all.

“Do we know which cop it was?”

“Keller.”

Jughead rolls his eyes. Kevin Keller has been a thorn in his side for as long as he can remember. Before him, it was his father that was always giving them trouble. Apple didn’t fall too far from the tree it seemed.

“I can take care of Keller,” Jughead says. He’s a soft cop. He wants to be on top, wants to prove to the world that he’s not as soft as he looks, but it’s a front. The kid isn’t a problem; he’s hardly a worry at all. “Anything else you wanna tell me?”

“That’s it.”

Jughead nods before walking off.

“Where you going?” Reggie calls out to his retreating back.

“To fucking sleep!”

His mood has diminished and he needs his bed. The world can wait.