#also luca felt we had to see her going to the toilet but not making out with Lee? what!!!

[storiesbyjes2g]

3.116 What if

One morning, I got up, determined to ease back into the SimTube game. I wasn't quite ready to make another video, so I opted to read and respond to comments, mostly apologizing for my absence. Scrolling and reading through them, I began to understand why my one video performed so well. The comments were predominantly from thirsty girls shooting their shots. It was kinda weird knowing women drooling over me fueled my success, but it got me paid, so... Sophia would have a field day with that one.

I heard her march downstairs, enter the bathroom, and turn on the tub. Minutes later, the toilet flushed. Then, the crying started. Though I loved and admired her tenacity, I couldn't take much more of her heartbreak. The treatments should have worked already. Was the doctor wrong? It felt like we were dealing with infertility, not low fertility. Suddenly, a heaviness accompanied by a random yet à propos thought fell on me. What if she wasn't the only one with a problem? What if I was the reason she hadn't gotten pregnant yet? As chilling as that thought was, it gave me a weird sense of hope. If I had a problem, maybe a doctor could fix it. I got up immediately and left the house as quietly as I could because I didn't want to Sophia hear me leaving while she was in there bawling her eyes out. I went to the hospital to get my fertility checked, and it turned out I too had low fertility. Of course I did. Nothing in my life was ever easy. The doctor gave me the same schpiel: try the treatments blah blah blah...artificial insemination yada yada yada...adoption and surrogacy womp womp womp. We were painfully aware of our options, but of course he didn't know that. I hadn't given up hope that we could birth our own child, but I knew Sophia wouldn't want us spending more time and money on those treatments, especially since we both needed them now. I told the doctor we would probably want to do IVF and asked if I could go ahead and leave a sample, and he said yes.

When I got home, Sophia was entertaining Chris Michaelson. We lived next door to them now, and he came to welcome us.

"Luca! Where'd you go?" she asked.

"Uhhh...I'll tell you later."

Seeing him under these circumstances reminded me Celeste had mentioned their children were adopted. I chatted and caught up with him for a bit, but when Sophia was out of earshot, I got down to business and asked him about his experience with adopting children. I hadn't realized Celeste was a trans woman, so they had always planned to adopt. Though their experience differed greatly from ours, I still enjoyed hearing about his life and the joy his children brought him. Time had flown by crazy fast, though. When I first met them, Orion, their daughter, was just a baby. Now she was in high school! And their son, Atlas, was married. I still felt as young as I was back then, but my birthday came barreling around the corner right behind Sophia's. Mama used to look at Less and I and jokingly ask us to stop growing. I totally understood what she meant now.

Speaking of Less, she texted me, inviting us to bar hop with her and some friends. First of all, since when did she have friends? Secondly, weren't we too old to be bar hopping like university students? Third, I didn't feel like being social. I had some potentially devastating news to share with my wife, and who knew if she would be up for it. Unfortunately for me, Sophia was nearby when my notification chime went off, and I made the mistake of groaning after reading the message. Naturally, she asked what was wrong, and I told her of the invite. She was in a good mood at the time and insisted I accept.

"Maybe that guy she was swooning about will be there," she said.

I did want to meet that schmuck and see what kind of spell he put on my sister. I also didn't want to ruin Sophia's good mood with my news, so I replied and told Less we'd be there. The tears could wait until tomorrow.

[estellaestella]

[Spoilers for BONES AND ALL below]

I think it helps to bear in mind, that being an outsider is one thing and feeling like an outsider is another thing. You can have a middle class, middle aged white man in middle America feel like an outsider, feel as though the job market doesnt want him, the country's mainstream culture doesnt reflect his tastes, etc, nevertheless his feelings of alienation dont change that he's a part of society that is most catered to in his country.

When Tim says Lee and Maren are outsiders that's actually pretty accurate, because their dietary needs make it necessary for them to keep moving, not put down roots, etc. In a law abiding society they are outsiders, it isnt so much about their perception.

But the bit that Timmy's talking about, about moviegoers feeling like they're outsiders, too...ummm, that's more about individual perception. Feeling like an outsider is a widely-shared feeling. A lot of us feel like outsiders in certain situations, but that doesnt make us feel any closer to one another. Mostly because different people's feeling of being an outsider are rooted in different things. And even when theyre rooted in the same things, they arent experiencing it in the same way*. It's rare for people to come together based on their feelings of alienation but it can be a catalyst for both good things (e.g. women's lib) and bad things (e.g. militia groups).

I actually felt the movie did a poor job of making us see Lee and Maren as outsiders. They didnt show them in contrast to enough normies imho. Frankly, there were too many eaters to make it feel like there was anything 'alternative' about them: they made up most of the cast list. M&L were even presented with the chance to band together/ socialise with other eaters, which was quite strange for a story about so-called monsters. They were wanted by their own kind but M&L chose to reject them.

Moreover, towards the end the film we see how M& L can hold down jobs and live regular lives. They're normies with no more than an addiction problem. Their enemy isnt cops or other people, M&L see more experienced eaters as their enemy. Maybe because along with being more knowledgeable about tracking and hunting, all 3 (4, if the cop counts) of them seem a bit unhinged 🤷. At this point, M&L arent even outsiders to normies - they've adapted enough to blend in. But their rejection of their own community disrupts their normie life, in the shape of Sully**. I think we're meant to feel the ending is tragic because their efforts to be normies doesnt get rewarded but I see Maren more at fault for botching up their happily-ever-after than Sully. So i didnt get to feel that tragic loss. The ending had so many holes in it that, for me, the film comes undone a bit at that point***.

*For example, a young disabled person who has to plan their days around the limited number of places and modes of transport that have disability access, isnt necessarily gonna bond over these limitations with an older person who faces similar issues with restricted mobility. (Btw people with mobility issues are truly marginalised, this isnt a matter of only perceived 'otherness'. Felt the need to point that out.)

**Book-Sully's need to pursue Maren kinda made sense but film-Sully's obsession with Maren felt forced and his appearance at the end was almost plot-convenience. If he felt threatened by her enough to track her for all that time then he should hv killed her the moment she started to live alone.

***like M or L having a hard time taking down S, given that L has taken out younger men and he had time to prepare before pouncing on S, and when we've been shown M has lethal biting powers. L being collateral damage doesnt fit with what else happens in the film. These are pre👏da👏tors who have taken down grown ups when they were tiny children.

"They're both outsiders and I think that's relevant to all of us..."

(It’s a Timmy quote talking about Maren and Lee.)

I’d be interested to hear some thoughts about this, if anyone is willing to share 🙏

[gracefulsunflower]

CONTRARY - FINN SHELBY X READER; PART 13

PUBLISHED: 27/05/2022

!!FIRST PART HERE!!

Part 1

MASTERLIST

READER'S POV

I had been here for about five days. I think. Assuming that the meals they had been bringing me were when they had their breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I hadn't killed any Italians, but I did maim the one who knocked me unconscious in Watery Lane, when he brought me my lunch the other day. Luca hadn't been too pleased when he found out, but he did agree that he didn't say anything about not maiming any of his men.

I was sitting on the floor, drawing on the wall with a piece of chalk Luca had given me. I would lose my mind if I was stuck down here with nothing to do. There wasn't even any windows. The air felt staler than bread that had been left out.

I heard the door unlock, and spun around on the spot. Luca was coming down the stairs, no tray full of food in hand.

"Is it breakfast already?" I questioned, feeling confused.

I had woken up a while ago, but I was sure that breakfast wasn't for a bit.

"Not yet," Luca informed me, coming to stand in front of me, putting his hands into his pocket, "For your good behaviour, ignoring that one incident, I've decided to grant you a wish."

"Let me go home?" I remarked, making him chuckle.

"Something more doable." Luca stated, looking down at me and waiting for my answer.

"Can — Can I be put into a room with windows?" I inquired, trying push the feelings of hopefulness away.

"Yes. We've got a room ready upstairs for you." Luca replied, "Your ma said you would want that."

I frowned. They already had me, why would they want her around?

Luca reached a hand out, and I ignored it, pushing off the floor and standing up, feeling a bit unsteady on my feet. He turned and lead me upstairs, into the living room, the room with the phone. Some men were sitting around the coffee table playing cards. I quickened my pace, wanting to get away from them.

He lead me to the corner of the room, then put a bit of pressure on a panel, stepping to the side then taking his hand off of it, making it swing back.

He lead me up the narrow staircase, and we ended up in a corridor of doors. He showed me my new room, the door second on the left.

He unlocked the door, both the deadbolt, which had been reversed so that the keyhole was on the inside, and the regular door lock, which had also been reversed.

"You gonna try to escape?" Luca asked lazily as he opened the door.

"No. It's not worth it," I replied, scowling.

If I did have a clear chance to escape though, I wouldn't hesitate.

"Bathroom's through there." Luca stated, knocking on the door to his left, "You share it with the room on the other side of it. That room happens to be my room. Don't worry, I don't like little girls."

I'd be stupid to take his word. He said no kids, but yet here I am, locked up at God knows where.

I walked into the room, looking around. The window had been painted black, from the outside, so I couldn't see out. I could see that it was cracked a tiny bit at the bottom to let fresh air through. To the left of the window, against the left wall, next to the bathroom door was a chest of drawers and a small mirror sat on top of it, along with a hairbrush and some hair ties, and ribbon.

There was a double bed with a plain white blanket and pillows in the far corner, a bedside table next to it. A small stool sat next to the beside table, a blue, soft looking towel folded up on it.

"I have razors in the medicine cabinet behind the mirror if you want to shave, however, I'll be expecting them all back in one piece. If not, I know a few of my men think that you're pretty enough." Luca announced, making my blood run cold.

I walked into the bathroom, and found a clawfoot bathtub in the left corner closest to Luca's room, a shower to my left, and a toilet to my right. I could see a towel on the rack behind Luca's door. In between the tub and the shower was a small cupboard which I assumed was the cupboard for towels. There was a sink in the right corner, opposite the bath. On the sink, I could see female shampoo, body wash, and conditioner.

"I won't let any of my men touch you, Mrs Shelby. Unless you give me good reason to." Luca declared, coming to watch me look through the medicine cabinet and grab a razor.

"I'll leave you to it." Luca announced, turning on his heel and walking out of the bedroom, locking the door behind him.

I dropped the razor into the tiled floor. I couldn't get to the window fast enough, dropping onto my knees and trying to look out of the tiny sliver that let in fresh air. I could see rolling green fields, and a road in front of us. It was a dirt road. The sun was only beginning to rise.

"Fuck!" I hissed.

I had no idea where I was. They were smart not to let me near a clock. If I had seen one when I woke up I could figure out where I might be, and how far away I was from Birmingham.

I tried pushing the window up, to no avail. I looked around the edges of the window. I could see dried glue coming out of the joints.

Fuck me.

I decided to go have a shower, feeling utterly filthy. I probably stunk worse than Bonnie after he finished a boxing match.

I walked back into my room, and grabbed my towel, throwing it over my shoulder then heading to the dresser. I opened the top drawer. Sundresses. I shut that drawer, and looked for other clothing. The other three drawers were completely empty.

Unbelievable.

I went back to the top drawer, and found a pale yellow sundress.

"It'll have to do," I decided, heading to the bathroom.

I started the shower, letting the water heat up as I went and grabbed the brush from the dresser. I picked up the razor, and locked both doors leading to the bathroom. I grabbed the stuff off of the sink and placed it into the shower, happy that I didn't have to smell manly. It'd feel weird, especially while I was in a dress.

I stripped off and hopped into the shower, brush and razor in hand. I didn't waste any time putting the conditioner into my hair, then pulling my hair up into a bun. My hair was knotted badly, but nothing the brush and some patience wouldn't be able to fix.

I began washing myself with the body wash, then lathering it onto my legs. I picked up the razor and started carefully shaving my legs, not wanting to nick them. I hated leg hair. I couldn't stand it, and I couldn't stand other people's leg hair touching my legs. Once, I made Bonnie shave his legs so he could sleep in my bed when one of our uncles had to sleep in his vardo. I chuckled at the memory, Bonnie being livid that I 'stripped him of his God given right to hairy legs'.

Once I was done, I shaved my underarms. I hated hair there, too. It was annoying. I washed the razor, then placed it on the small ledge in front of me. I picked up my brush, and pulled my hair over my shoulder, starting to detangle my hair at the bottom, then slowly working my way up. Once it was knot free I grabbed some shampoo, then applied that, then some more conditioner.

I cleaned under my nails too, having been surprised at how quick they grew without me chewing them. I'd have to ask Ezzie to paint my nails when I saw her next. I can't paint nails, I never did it enough to gain good ability.

I turned the shower off, then grabbed my towel and dried myself quickly, wrapping the towel around my body to shield myself in case anyone came into the bathroom. I wrung my hair out in the shower, then I stepped on my dirty shirt and used it to keep the floor dry as I shuffled along to the small cupboard next to the shower. I opened it, and grabbed the purple towel on top of the pile. I wrapped my hair up in it, then grabbed my under layers, putting them on then putting on the pale yellow sundress.

I dried my brush with the blue towel, knowing I'd probably use it again soon to pull my hair back somehow. I always pulled my hair back when I was in trouble, because no hair would fall into my eyes if I had to fight.

I put my blue towel onto the towel rack on the door leading to my room, then gathered my clothes and took them back to my room. I folded them up and placed them neatly on my bed. I unwrapped my hair from its towel turban, then started towel drying it. I could smell bacon cooking. They must be starting breakfast.

Once it was no longer overly wet, and just damp, I detangled it, then parted it in the usual spot, making sure to split it all the way down to the nape of my neck, then began braiding my hair. I walked over to the dresser and got a hair band, tying off the first one then beginning the second. Once I tied off that one I grabbed two blue ribbons, tying them around the hair bands.

I heard men chattering outside, so I peeked through the crack. They were walking away from the house. I counted ten. Arthur killed two at the warehouse. That means that there's three still here with me. I heard the locks click behind me, and quickly moved to my dresser, inspecting the ribbons on it.

The door swung open, and I looked at the man carrying the tray with my food. I recognised him as one of the men playing cards at the table.

I looked at the food on the tray. Scrambled eggs and bacon with toast on a ceramic plate, and orange juice in a glass cup. I tried to fight off a chuckle. He's obviously never plated up my food before. I had plastic plates and cups, and no utensils. Luca was smart like that.

He sat it on the bed, shutting the door behind him. I looked at him, sizing him up. Yeah, I'd be able to take him if push came to shove. I didn't know if I'd be able to take the other two, though. I'd cross that bridge when I got to it. I walked over to the bed, grabbing the glass of orange juice, then retreating to my spot in front of the dresser. I drank the orange juice in one go, feeling thirsty. He chuckled.

"You look prettier with your hair up," He mused, coming to stand in front of me.

He grabbed my hair, playing with the braids, then trailed his fingers down my bare skin to find the necklace Finn had given me. He fiddled with it, and I watched him. His eyes focused on my chest. It was inevitable. I did seem to have a chest that was on the bigger side.

My breathing became shallow as he started exploring my body with his hands, rubbing his hands up and down my sides. I grasped the glass and made sure my grip on it was tight.

"Such a pretty girl," He muttered, one hand trailing up my legs, brushing under the hem of my dress and continuing to move upwards as the other moved a thin strap of my dress off of my shoulder.

He leaned down to plant a kiss on my shoulder, and I nearly got sick as I felt something poking my thigh. He stood back up, moving to take off his belt, and I swung the glass as hard as I could onto his head, making him drop to the ground with a groan of pain, disorientated. I threw the glass at the door as hard as I could, effectively shattering it. I moved quickly, kneeling down and grabbing a shard of glass, but shrieking when the man grabbed my leg and pulled me towards him. I swung my arm backwards blindly, feeling the blade drive into him him somewhere.

He screamed in pain, then went quiet. I turned around, and he was holding a hand over his eye, which was pouring blood. I could see the glass sticking out.

I quickly checked his pockets, and found a revolver, and a car key. I grabbed my folded up clothes and boots, and ran through the bathroom into Luca's room. His door handle was normal. I strained my ears for any sound. None. I opened the door and went downstairs, kicking open the panel and found that there was no one else in the room.

I ran to the open window and climbed out of it with ease, not wanting to fuck around with locks. I couldn't see any cars, but I did spot a barn. I wouldn't have been able to see it from my room. I headed toward it, hoping that there was something to help me.

I pushed open the door, and found a car. I rolled the door right open, and tried the key in the ignition. It roared to life, making me smirk. I threw my clothes in through the window, and opened the door from the inside, hopping into the drivers seat. I pulled my coat around me, hiding the bloodstains on my dress, then reversed out of the barn, taking off. I sped down the dirt road, cheering when I hit a proper road. I followed it, and noticed some people in a field up ahead. I slowed down, making the woman look up.

Her kids started whispering to each other.

"Excuse me, miss, do you know the way to Birmingham? I lost my map a while back and I think I took a wrong turn," I rambled, "I'm meant to surprise my husband for his birthday tomorrow but now I'm scared I won't make it."

The woman gave a knowing grin, and raised her arm, "Thirty minutes in that direction, love. Straight shot."

I grinned, "Thank you!"

I pulled back onto the road and continued driving, feeling my heart slow down to its normal pace.

•••

THIRD PERSON'S POV

You pulled up in front of the betting den, and got out of the car. You noticed cars belonging to Polly and Arthur sitting there. You pressed the horn repeatedly, waiting until someone came outside.

Tommy opened the door angrily, ready to shoot whoever decided to waste his time, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw you.

"Merry Christmas," You remarked, throwing him the keys to the car and pushing past him to walk inside, taking off your coat.

"(Y/N)?" Polly asked in disbelief, you ignoring her as you walked to Finn's office.

He had gotten John's office, John's name still on the door. You knocked, and heard him yell 'fuck off'.

You swung open the door, revealing a dishevelled Finn. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. You shut the door behind you. You walked over to his desk, sitting yourself on top of it, noticing the white residue on the table top. He quickly moved to stand in front of you, inspecting you for any injuries.

"It's not my blood," You informed him, reaching up and wiping a finger on the outside of his nose, getting rid of the white powder still sat there.

"Can — Can I touch you to make sure you're real? I had dreams where you came back," Finn explained, lack of sleep and playing in the snow making the line between dream and reality near nonexistent.

You grabbed his hand, squeezing it. He let out a sigh, bringing your hand up to his mouth and placing a kiss on it. You were real. And you were back with him, and safe.

"Did anyone hurt you while you were there?" Finn asked, making you pale.

"No, but this morning one of them tried it on me. He didn't get anywhere, only groped me, but God Finn, it scared me," You admitted.

In the part of his mind that was still rational and not affected by lack of sleep and snow, he made a vow to track down the bastard and cut off his hands.

§§§

As you may be able to tell; I have a fixation with bacon and eggs lol

Love y'all ❤️

- Sunflower x

NEXT PART

Part 14

[peaceoutofthepieces]

chapter 34 (part II)

Fake Making-It

Social Media AU

part I

again, this isn’t proofread, because I literally wrote it all today, so sorry for any mistakes!

~^~

Lucas feels a little lost. He’s been looking around for what feels like hours, and he can’t find Sander. He hasn’t seen Robbe, either, or their friends Moyo and Aaron.

He isn’t sure if he’s looking for Jens.

He finds himself in the dimly lit bathrooms, and he sighs, lifting his beer to his lips and taking a gulp. He moves to the sinks and glances at himself in the mirror, brushing a hand through his curls. It’s a pointless attempt, trying to coerce them back into place. He gives up fairly quickly and takes another drink. His heart has sped up to the slightly uncomfortable rhythm of intoxicated.

For a moment he just stands there, bottle hanging by his side, and takes a few slow breaths. It doesn’t really do anything to steady his heartbeat, but it helps clear his head a little. This is when he finally takes notice of the humming.

He furrows his brows and spins around, eyeing the closed stall in the corner. Listening more intently, he realises the humming is a quiet singing, and he creeps closer to the stall and stares at the door. From here he can make out a few words, but he doesn’t have to to recognise the voice.

“Jens?”

The singing stops.

Lucas waits, and after a moment, he hears the slide of the lock and the door swings open. It reveals Jens curled up in the cramped space, sitting on the closed toilet with his back to one wall and his feet pressed to the other. He has his own beer cradled in his lap, with his other hand still holding the door open, and he’s staring at Lucas.

Lucas purses his lips to stop them from turning up in a smile. “What are you doing?”

Jens is blushing slightly. He shrugs. “There’s more people now. They were staring at me.”

“So you’re hiding, by singing?”

“I didn’t think there was anyone in here,” he grumbles.

Lucas huffs a laugh, smile coming out in full. “Obviously.” He leans against the door of the stall as Jens rolls his eyes, and tilts his head consideringly. “Why didn’t you come get one of us?”

“Didn’t wanna bother you. Couldn’t find Robbe.”

Lucas hums. “I can’t find them either.”

“No Sander?”

“Nope, up and disappeared.”

Jens sniffs. “On Valentine’s Day?”

“It’s after midnight now, so…”

“Still. Shouldn’t have abandoned you.”

Lucas takes a long breath, quiet enough that Jens doesn’t notice, the musician having resorted to staring at the wall again. He doesn’t want to talk about this. He doesn’t want to think about it. Not when Jens is right here. Now when they’re supposed to be giving him a good night. He swallows down his protests and reassurances and instead says, “It’ll be really weird if someone finds you in here.”

“Yeah, but now you’re here.”

“I think that probably makes it weirder,” Lucas points out, smiling again. Jens doesn’t respond, and he sighs, knocking his fist on the stall door before turning on his heel. “Come on.”

He hears Jens scrambling after him with a small sound of protest. “What? I don’t wanna go back out there.”

“So we won’t. Well, we’ll just pass through.”

“Where are we going, then?”

Lucas looks around at him and raises his brows, pushing through the door back out to the bar. “Wherever you want.”

Slowly, Jens smiles.

They weave their way through the crowd, Jens sticking close behind him, so close that Lucas can feel his heat. He’s almost sure Jens actually has a hand curled in the back of his shirt, can feel the knuckles brushing against his spine. He ignores it and leads them to the room they’d left their coats, and Jens releases him to fish out his phone. He messages Robbe, to ask where the hell he is and to tell him they’re leaving. Before he has even hit send, there’s someone calling his name.

Lucas shoots a quick glance in that vague direction and doesn’t see any of their friends. He takes Jens by the wrist and draws him towards the front door, speeding up when more calls come and Jens begins urging him on. Lucas keeps a firm hold on him and gets them to the door. They’re almost running now, and they don’t stop as they burst through the door and start down the street. Beyond that, they’re laughing. Giggling like girls, downright giddy. Lucas is glad they had abandoned their beers in the bar, because by now he’s sure they’d have spilled them all over the street and themselves.

It’s only when they’ve made it onto a new street that they latch onto each other and stop, trying to catch their breath. Instead they catch each other’s eyes and break into laughter again.

Jens lets out an exaggerated ‘woo’ of relief, still clutching at Lucas’s collar. “Nice save,” he approves.

“Oh yeah,” Lucas snorts. He’s still holding onto both of Jens’s arms. “Very well thought out on my end.”

“My knight in shining armour,” Jens mocks, completing it with a small bow. He almost trips as he does so, and it sends them into another fit of giggles as he flounders for Lucas’s hand. Lucas waits until he’s steady, heart hammering, and then quickly lets go.

They take another moment to catch their breaths and look at where they’ve ended up, and then Lucas raises his brows at Jens.

Jens looks back at him and swallows. “There’s a swingset and stuff by the skatepark. It should be dead this late.”

Lucas tucks his hands into the pockets of his coats and nods, finding his lips drawing up in a smile again. “Lead the way.”

They’re quiet as they make their way through the dark streets, still sticking close but no longer touching. Jens scuffs his feet every few steps, and Lucas wonders if he wishes he was skating. It seems, even now, like his preferred method of transport. He picks up the pace, and Lucas does his best to keep up with the other’s longer legs.

They make it to a small park, set up with a kids climbing frame and slide and, as promised, a swingset. Jens makes a beeline directly for it and sits on one of them, tucking his arms around the chains and digging his feet into the ground to start pushing himself back and forth.

For a moment, Lucas simply watches, smiling. He had wondered if Jens was actually taking a day off, giving himself time to chill, but he hadn’t seemed at all relaxed in the bar. Now, however, he does, swinging gently back and forth with his eyes closed and a small smile on his lips, uncaring of Lucas watching him. Then he opens his eyes and meets Lucas’s, and beckons him over with a flick of his hand.

Lucas goes. It takes a moment to get settled comfortably in the swing, and he wishes he’d just worn his denim jacket instead of the long black coat he kept for more formal occasions. He’d watched Jens’s eyes sweep over him at the start of the night, however, and that had reassured him of his choice.

He wraps his hands around the chains and kicks himself into a swinging motion. “This is pretty much exactly like the one Isa used to love at home.”

“Isa?” Jens questions.

“One of my friends from school,” Lucas explains, smiling wider. “We still talk. For some reason she used to think a swingset was a great place for serious conversation.”

Jens huffs, pushing himself to match the speed and height of Lucas’s swings. “Okay. Serious conversation time, then.”

“Oh shit. Walked into that one.”

Jens huffs again, shooting him a grin. “When did you get into designing? Or how?”

“Oh.” This is a much safer topic than Lucas had expected. “I don’t know. I always kind of liked art, but even that, I kept it mostly private, just doodling and stuff where no one would see. I kind of dulled everything about myself down like that. My fashion sense was just as good as yours, which…”

“Hey,” Jens protests, though he’s fighting a smile.

Lucas grins, shrugging. “Then, I don’t know, it didn’t feel like me. So one day I just started fucking around with some of my clothes. I bought this like, multi-pack of kids fabric paint and just went for it. It was a fucking mess.”

Jens laughs, loud and surprised. “But it made you think, hey, I just wanna do this for the rest of my life?”

“God, no,” Lucas snorts, and Jens laughs louder. “But it still felt...good. I made the mess look purposeful and turned it into this paint-splatter, tie-dye, rainbow thing and I wore it the next day and Isa’s friend, Engel, kept asking where I got it and then begged me to make her something when I explained and, I don’t know. Since then I just kind of started, making stuff for my friends, and it spiraled from there.”

“And now here you are,” Jens muses.

“With the biggest celebrity in Antwerp.”

It’s teasing more than it is genuine, and Jens scoffs and twists his swing around to kick at Lucas, resulting in a rough tangle of legs. Jens yelps and grabs onto the chains with his hands when he’s almost tugged from the seat. Lucas tosses his head in a laugh and almost tips backwards. They’re both probably a little bit tipsy. Not drunk, definitely not, but both had clearly been on their way. Jens possibly more so than him.

“How are you?” Lucas thinks to ask. “After everything today. Was the stressing necessary?”

Jens starts swinging again and thinks before shaking his head. “No, probably not. I mean it when I say it’s not why I do it, you know, the whole publicity thing. I didn’t decide I wanted to be a celebrity, I just love making music and I thought how cool it would be if I managed to do it for a living. But then when people actually like it...it feels good, you know? It feels like I’m doing something but also like, I don’t know, I’m understood. Like people like me for what I have to say.”

“Or it could be because you’re hot.”

This startles another laugh out of Jens. “Okay, objectify me some more, why don’t you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Dumbass.” Jens grins.

“Hey, we’re having a serious conversation,” Lucas protests, kicking out at him this time, unable to help grinning back. Jens mimes zipping his lips and Lucas nods approvingly. “When did you realise this is what you wanted to do?”

Jens doesn’t hesitate. “Always. Music is the only thing I ever felt really passionate about, I guess. For the same reason as you. It’s just my version of art that makes me feel like myself.”

Lucas drags his feet against the grass underneath him until he stops swinging. Jens has already stilled, and he turns his head to look at Lucas. “You always do that,” Lucas says. “Say things like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you understand. You say it so confidently. Like you know me.”

“Don’t I?” Jens asks, brow furrowed and still smiling slightly. Before Lucas can answer, he says, “If I don’t, I want to.”

Lucas swallows. His question comes out as a whisper. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Jens admits.

Lucas sways slightly, looking down at the ground even as he twists his body towards Jens, listening. Jens’s feet creep towards his own as he twists around, too.

“I just want to. I don’t know, I feel like you understand, too. I just like you. I want to know you and I want you to know me.”

It shocks Lucas into looking at him, and it also shocks him into silence.

Jens’s cheeks turn rosy, and Lucas guesses it isn’t from the cold. Jens laughs nervously and slides his feet, accidentally knocking into Lucas’s. “Sorry, that was probably weird. I’m just—I’m not used to getting to know people like you, Lucas, and it just, it feels good. I don’t think there even is anyone else like you.”

Lucas leans forward and kisses him.

It’s soft. Tentative. A drawn-out press of lips, frozen in a drawn-out second in time, all in the single breath caught in Lucas’s throat. Then Jens presses back, raises his hand to cup Lucas’s head, and time jerks back into motion.

Lucas instantly reaches up to grab his face, pulling him in, and Jens’s free hand comes to grip his wrist and hold him in place. Lucas’s heart batters at his ribs, grateful.

He’s not sixteen anymore. He’s had his fair share of kisses. It shouldn’t—usually doesn’t—make him nervous. But this, Jens, is something he doesn’t think he ever could have prepared himself for. Jens is careful and he isn’t. He’s experienced, knows what he’s doing, and yet he takes it easy, waits for Lucas to respond to every move before making another. His kiss is gentle and his grip is tight, lips warm and fingers cold. Lucas is less focused on the tongue in his mouth and more aware of the riot in his stomach, the beat of his pulse in his ears. Kissing Jens is nothing and everything like he expected, as surprising and beautiful as the man himself. Lucas can’t remember why he hasn’t done this before. He doesn’t know why he hasn’t been doing this, kissing Jens, forever. Or at least, since he first saw him.

Then Jens is shoving him away and Lucas almost topples off his swing, breath rushing out of him as his heart plummets.

Jens wipes his mouth and harshly says, “What the fuck?”

Lucas gapes. He tries to speak and only makes a wounded, croaky noise. He clears his throat and licks his lips before managing to ask, “What?”

“What the hell are you doing?”

Jens looks furious. Lucas doesn’t understand. “I—did you not want to? But you...you kissed me back.”

Jens laughs, and even that sounds angry. “So it’s my fault. No. Fuck that. Fuck you. Fuck.”

“Jens,” Lucas pleads.

“No, fuck, look. I don’t know, what’s going on with you and Sander but I—no. I won’t do this. Jesus, Lucas, why would you make me do that?”

Oh. Oh fuck. That’s why he’s never done this before.

“Oh, no, Jens, no. You’ve—it’s not what you think, I swear—“

“Whatever you have going on, figure it out, Lucas. But I can’t—I’m not that person. I’m not being that person. After I told you—fuck, I’m not a consolation prize.” Jens stands up abruptly, and Lucas follows, but Jens holds a hand out before he can step any closer. “Don’t,” he says sharply.

They stare at each other in a silent standoff, Lucas feeling his world crumble as he watches the same thing happen to Jens’s resolve. Jens’s hand falls back to his side, and he looks entirely sober now as he gazes at Lucas with glistening eyes.

“I thought we were actually friends,” Jens says, voice trembly. Lucas shakes his head, pleading. “But after everything I said, you’re just like everyone else.”

“Jens, please, just listen to me,” Lucas begs.

He steps closer and Jens steps back. “Why should I?” he demands. “What are you going to say? I don’t want your explanations or excuses, Lucas. I thought you were honest.”

Lucas feels like he’s openly wounded. Bleeding. Surely Jens can see that. Surely he knows that he’s wrong. But Lucas—Lucas can’t tell him. He’d promised. He’d promised his best friend.

“Well?” Jens pushes.

Lucas shakes his head helplessly, and Jens’s expression falls the rest of the way. “Just—can you let me take you home? You shouldn’t be out alone like this.”

Jens laughs, but it’s just a breath. Incredulous. He takes another few steps back, shaking his head. “Don’t. Just—just don’t.” Then he’s turning on his heel and walking away.

Lucas wants to go after him. He should. He knows he should. But he can’t. There’s no point.

There’s nothing he can say.

~^~

tag list: @allthewayornowayy @wedarkacademia @lockerfivethreefive @yellowballoon @gucciboner @nora-keinwitz @moonskam @painfully-oblivious @zoenneforever @akucecilia @hischbabe @evaksobbe @alittleemo @boring-side-effect @franboos @debussyatmidnight

next chapter

[herewegobacktomoon2]

Karaoke night

“Will they make it?” Maya asked concerned.

“They have very severe burns and all the smoke inhalation isn't helping, but you guys arrived just in time, so it hasn't compromised anything irreversibly.” Bailey said “We can't make promises but I'm positive about it”.

“I really hope you're right” Maya added, letting out a slow breath she didn't know she was holding.

“Luckily for you, I usually am!” Bailey exclaimed, raising her eyebrows in satisfaction, trying to lighten the mood  “Go home Bishop, if there's any significant update, I'll let you know”.

“Thank you Bailey”. She said, checking the time and seeing her shift was due to be over like an hour ago, so she opted for heading home.

She had tough calls almost every week, but some of them hit her harder than the others, and this one was one of them: they had arrived at the scene when it was already a three-alarm fire, because they couldn't put out the fire as it seemed to be originated by something that kept on igniting it every time they tried to use water or normal extinguishers. The problem was that when 23 arrived there first, their captain thought the fire started because of a short-circuit, which wasn't completely wrong, but what they hadn't noticed was that there was something more. They kept on using CO2 extinguishers, but that didn't seem to work. When 19 arrived, the situation was insanely bad: they still hadn't been able to rescue the couple inside of the house and nothing had improved. When Maya checked the structure, she noticed a slightly detached garage, which was linked to the building through a dangerous roofing containing asbestos but hadn't  been checked: the fire kept on reigniting because it was a metal involving fire, and that's why both water and CO2 were useless. Luckily, they had the right equipment to contain the situation, due to a training course they had done previously that week: while she contacted the specialized team for these kind of fires, they were able to put it out after a while, and she had to go in to help find the couple. When they found them, they were unconscious, but they still had a pulse: it was weak, but it was there. What moved Maya so much was how they had found them: they were two women, full of sooth and dust, one of them trying to cover with her body the other, trying to prevent her from inhaling too much smoke. They had rings on their hands, the same one, so they were probably a couple: obviously, it wasn't the first time she had to save a family, but that view made her think of Carina, her family. At the only thought of losing her, she felt sick, she couldn't breathe, but she had to focus back on the present, to be able to actively help. As soon as she was out, she jumped on the aid car and, while heading towards the hospital, using the update of her probably being late at home as an excuse, she called Carina, who had a day-off, just to hear her voice and let it soothes her.

While she was driving home, she replayed that image in her head, over and over again, and she felt her chest tighten, as if the car was closing in on her. Before stepping inside, she shook her thoughts away and took the keys. As soon as she opened the door, she was welcomed by the warmest smile she had ever seen.

“Ciao Bella! I missed you” Carina said, coming over towards the blonde, who didn't even bother to say anything, just going straight for a lingering kiss.

“I missed you too. A lot.” Maya finally added, looking the Italian in the eyes, before pulling her in a  tight hug.

“How was your day?” Carina asked, noticing that something was probably off, but willing to give Maya the time she needed to talk about it.

“It was tough, actually pretty tough” she replied, exhausted “but I'm finally here with you and that's all that matters right now”, she added, caressing Carina's face, kissing her softly.

“Yeah, I'm always here with you bella!” Carina stated, trying to reassure Maya, who still seemed a little off “if you want, we can call Andy and Vic and put off the party, so that you can relax”.

At those words, Maya's eyes went wide: how was it possible that she had forgotten about it?

“Mmm, it looks like someone forgot about the party here” Carina chuckled against Maya's lips.

“Yep, I know, I know. I'm hopeless.” the blonde said, smiling a little “Anyway, no, I don't want to postpone it. I think it will be fun. I only need to take a shower and I'm ready”

“Take your time, bella. Vic and Andy will be here in an hour.” the Italian explained

“Sooooo... that means you could join me?” Maya asked, not as flirty as usual, just needing to have her girlfriend close.

“Mmm, let me think...” Carina faked doubting her answer “As the snacks and everything are already set up, I think I can make the effort to join you” she added jokingly.

“Glad to know spending time with me is an effort, Dr. De Luca, how kind of you to let me know it!” she exclaimed, trying to sound offended.

“Well, that's the only effort I'm never gonna complain about, Captain Bishop.” she reiterated, in order to keep the mood light and easy, wishing to cheer Maya up a little.

“Mmm, that's a pretty good point, I have to admit” the blonde grinned softly, wrapping her arm around the Italian's waist, heading to the bathroom.

While they were showering, they were standing under the hot water, next to each other, Carina gently stroking Maya's hair, “Promise me” the blonde said, out of the blue “that you won't leave me”.

It caught the Italian off guard, but she immediately replied “Of course, I promise bella. Why would you think so?” she whispered, turning Maya's face towards her so that they were facing each other.

“The call, today... I couldn't help but think about you: that couple, their lives turned upside down in the blink of an eye... I can't lose you” her voice cracked.

“And you won't bambina, ever “ Carina knew she couldn't make promises, because life is unpredictable, but she felt the urge to reassure Maya and she truly believed her own words “Come here”.

They stood there, hugging each other until Maya's breath started slowing down. When they got out of the shower, hands still intertwined, they quickly got ready and within 15 minutes, the doorbell rang. “Hi Andy! Hi Vic! Hi...ehm...Michelle? Did I get it right?” Carina greeted warmly.

“Yeah, you're right!” Michelle smiled back “thanks for having me over without warning.” she added, looking around, trying to spot where Maya was.

Andy noticed her and gave her a look, before walking towards Carina and asking if her friend was okay, receiving a slight nod from the Italian.

A few seconds later, Maya walked into the living room, going straight to where Carina was standing, near the sofa, pressing a kiss on her cheek, looking at her with heart eyes.

“Oh C'mon guys, you're too cheesy. I can't with you two” Vic shouted, making everyone laugh.

“Shut up Hughes, or I'll kick your ass at the karaoke contest later, and also you don't want to be on toilet duty for next week, do you?” the blonde reiterated, raising her eyebrows.

“See?” Vic said raising her hands, looking at Carina “she is like that with EVERYONE.  She's an aggressive pitbull with us, then with you... it turns out she's a little puppy. What kind of black magic is this???” the younger firefighter added teasingly “And anyway, that's abuse of power, Cap.”

Carina couldn't help but laugh and so did Maya, even though she didn't wait to tease back “Good call Hughes. Two weeks on toilet duty, you're welcome.” she stated, getting a groan as a response.

“Ok, something is telling me that it's going to be a loooong night” Andy said, walking towards the table “Can we eat something, I'm starving!” she continued, picking up some bags she had brought with drinks and homemade tacos.

“These tacos smell soo good” Carina stated, helping Andy to serve the food, while Vic and Maya were setting up the TV, the audio and the sofa for the contest.

“Michelle prepared them, it's my tía's special recipe” she explained, inviting Michelle to join them.

“Oh thank you” You didn't have to!” Carina said “I'm sure they taste amazing.”

“I really hope so” Michelle shyly smiled “So...you are an OB/GYN at Grey Sloan?” she asked, out of curiosity.

“Yep, I've been working there for three years now.” Carina replied “It's an amazing job: every life is worth every problem you may run into, all the cryings and the misunderstandings” she continued, thinking about Teddy's child, Amelia's and all the other babies she was able to bring into this world. “What about you?” she asked back.

“Well, I'm a bit of a mess right now” she chuckled “at first, when Andy joined the academy, I wanted to do the same, especially when I heard about some friends of hers who were really hot, but I gave up before even sending my application, I wasn't cut out for the job.” she admitted “So I started dancing again and now I'm giving salsa classes for little kids, but it doesn't pay off for the effort. Kids are exhausting!”.

“I see your point, they are often hyperactive!” the Italian added “but I love dancing! A friend of mine has a school and I know she's looking for staff, if you want, I can talk to her about you!” she offered kindly, not catching the hint about the “hot friends” which actually was only about Maya.

“Are you serious??” she almost shouted “That would be amazing!!”

“Yes, I am!” she laughed “I'll talk to her tomorrow and let you know!”.

“Thank you Carina, you made my day.” Michelle stated, a wide grin on her face.

“What's all this euphoria about?” Andy asked, pretty confused.

“Carina just told me that her friend is looking for qualified staff for her dance school, and it may mean no more crying kids” she answered, still a bit shocked.

“Oh and no more me hearing about your complains! That would be revolutionary” she joked “This needs a cheer”.

“What needs a cheer?” Maya and Vic asked together, walking towards the kitchen.

“Your girlfriend is an angel” Andy declared “and I'm starting to think she has magic powers for real.”

“I told you!! She's from an outer world” Vic added vehemently, getting looks from Maya and Andy “Ok, that sounded a little bit too aggressive but you got the point! Anyway, I'm up for the cheer!”.

“So am I, even though I'm slightly confused” Maya admitted, walking to Carina and wrapping her arm around her “but I know your special powers so, I've no doubts it's well deserved” she whispered, making Carina blush and turn towards her.

“I love you” she whispered back, leaving a kiss on Maya's lips, as if they were alone in their bubble, but that didn't last for too long.

“Nope, not again under my salad.” Vic stated, pulling Maya away towards the couch “We have to play, but if you're in this mode we won't even start”.

“Just... out of curiosity: which mode are you talking about?” Maya furrowed her eyebrow.

“Are you seriously asking me that? You only have two: the “Bad bitch” mode or “the simp” one. I guess you'll figure it out on you're own which one I was talking about”.

“You're risking a lot tonight Hughes” Andy chuckled, knowing her friend.

“I'm speaking facts and you know that Herrera” Vic said, matter of fact.

After having some food and a few drinks so that everyone was a little tipsy, but still almost sober, they got settled in the couch and Vic explained the rules.

“So, the game works like this: Andy will be the judge and she will pick the songs. As soon as one of us knows the title, we have to get up and the first one who does it must say the title, the singers and sing a little part of it. One point only if we get everything right. Is everything clear?” She demanded.

“Yep, but... what are the teams?” Maya asked, looking at the younger firefighter but stroking Carina's hand who was sitting next to her.

“Oh yes, I had forgotten. Carina and I will be together, so Maya and Michelle, you two make the other team.”  Vic added.

“Wait, what? Why?” Maya groaned disappointed, causing Carina to laugh.

“Because we need you active and present, and if you're in the same team as Carina, you won't definitely be that.” Andy teased.

“Fine” Maya mumbled “Michelle: we have to win!”

“You bet!” Michelle immediately replied, squeezing the blonde's arm with no reason, causing Carina to crinkle her nose.

“You ready? 3...2...1...”

Music playing (Blank Space)

As soon as the first words were sang, Maya stood up and shouted “Me, me, I know it.”

“Ok, title and singer. Then you have to sing a part which is not the refrain”. Andy stated.

“Blank Space, by Taylor Swift.” she answered fiercely and then started to sing as a teenager driving in her car in the middle of the night “And I know you heard about me, So hey, let's be friends I'm dying to see how this one ends, Grab your passport and my hand...”

“Ok, ok, I got it, you know the song!” Andy laughed at her friend's enthusiasm, glad she was feeling better.

“Sorry, I got carried away” Maya admitted, turning to look at Carina, who was there, looking back at her with a loving smile.

“Ok, 1-0 for Maya and Michelle.” Andy remarked, making Vic groan. “Let's go with another one...”

Music playing (I like it)

Within a second, Michelle got up and started moving around “No me esperaba un golpe tan bajo prima” she said, starting to sing along with the song which she was weirdly used to listening to every time she broke up “I like it by Cardi B”

“That's not fair, what's all this camaraderie?” Vic mumbled “ you're the judge!!”

“I just wanted to piss you off a little” Andy chuckled “Anyway, 2-0 for Maya and Michelle”.

“Carina, we can't let them win!! I want you to be the most competitive you've ever been in your life!” Vic said, almost commanding it.

“Yes, I promise we'll win! I'm ready to kick asses” Carina stated, causing Maya to laugh a little.

“Here we go with the third one...” Andy said.

Music playing (she looks so perfect)

On the first note, Carina jumped off the couch “ It's She looks so perfect by 5SOS”, and she continued, screaming to the top of her lungs from the very first second until the refrain came “She looks so perfect standing there, In my American Apparel underwear, And I know now, that I’m so down, Your lipstick stain is a work of art, I’ve got your name tattooed in an arrow heart, And I know now, that I’m so doooooown”.

While singing, she got closer to Maya, feeling every word she was saying, causing the blonde to blush before she pulled her in for a soft kiss and a gentle stroking on her chin.

“Ok, ok, I'm not gonna complain because you got us the point but please come back to this world, cause we're still 2-1 for them, the judge is impartial and we need to win” Vic said, pulling Carina back towards her seat.

“Sorry, I got carried away too.” Carina admitted sheepishly, probably alcohol inhibiting all of her composure.

“Yep, you two should walk around with stones on your feet, you get carried away a little too often” the younger firefighter mumbled.

“Competitive Vic is quite a pain in the neck” Andy teased “not the normal one is something so different though”. Vic faked to get offended before Andy picked the fourth song.

Music playing (Chicago, All that jazz)

All of them were looking at each other confused, but Vic immediately got up and started dancing “Start the car, I know a whoopee spot, Where the gin is cold, But the piano's hot. It's just a noisy hall,Where there's a nightly brawl, And all that jaaaaaazz!”

“It's All that jazz from the musical Chicago by Catherine Zeta Jones” Vic shouted, out of breath “C'mon guys, you don't know it?????”

“I heard it but I didn't remember the title” Maya admitted “Anyway, how about the camaraderie now?? You're the only one which is into musical sooo...” she groaned.

“I guess now we're even.” Vic nonchalantly claimed.. “We can do it Carina!”

“You're unbelievable” Maya mumbled, before the fifth song started playing.

Music playing (Mirrors)

Before Michelle could get up, Carina was already singing, Vic already celebrating for the point while the Italian was once again getting closer to Maya, who this time was whispering the lyrics together with her girlfriend, not caring about the lost point.

“I don't wanna lose you now, I'm looking right at the other half of me, the vacancy that sat in my heart is a space that now you hold.” they both sang together, lightly swinging from side to side, with Maya's head buried in Carina's neck getting an “AWW” from Andy and the usual groan from Vic, who was secretly enjoying the scene which actually looked like a film.

“It's Mirrors by Justin Timberlake anyway”. Carina said, wanting to be correct.

After a few minutes, everyone got back in their seat, after deciding Andy should just opt for the shuffle play.

“3-2 for Carina and Vic now” Andy remarked. “Ready?”

Music playing (Numb)

Vic and Michelle gave each other a look, the song playing not really their genre and also Andy seemed pretty confused. Carina knew the song but was too worried checking in on Maya's reaction that she didn't even think about getting up to get the point.

Maya downplayed it very well, trying to keep the mood light so after saying that it was Numb, by Linking Park, she started singing as if she was at a concert. Nobody but Carina noticed the change in her eyes and with the excuse of having a little pause before continuing, she took Maya's hand and brought her to their bedroom.

“Hey bambina, are you okay? I know how much that song means for you...” Carina asked gently, caressing Maya's face.

“Yeah, I'm okay, it was just a moment, it hit me a little, but I'm okay, I promise” Maya admitted, looking down, searching for Carina's left hand.

Carina knew it was the song Maya used to listen to every day when she became aware of her father abusive behavior, she knew how much all the words showed how bad Maya was hurting and that even though she had come a long way, scars could easily start bleeding again.

“Come here” the Italian said, hugging the blonde as tight as she could, knowing that it would give her the comfort she needed.

“I love you so much” Maya said, pulling Carina in for another lingering kiss.

“I love you too”, she whispered back against her lips, before kissing her again.

Within few seconds, they were back in the living room, Vic giving Maya an annoyed look.

“What??” Maya asked.

“You're trying to bribe my teammate!!” Vic shouted, causing Maya to mumble.

“Maya, we need to win!! If we do, I promise I'll bring more tacos the next time!” Michelle said, taking Maya by the hand and pulling her towards her seat. Maya didn't even notice the little flirt, but Carina surely did and she didn't like it at all, but she didn't want to make a scene so she just started cursing the woman internally.

“Ok, 3-3...here we go” Andy reestablished the order.

Music playing (Born this way)

As it was hard to find a straight person in that house, they all got up but the very first one was paradoxically Vic, who even started dancing with the exact steps. “Born this way by the Queen of Queens, Lady Gaga” She shouted, in a very Travis' way, as she kept on singing it.

“What kind of joke is this?” Maya teased “You're the only straight person in here and you just stole our hymn!! That's not fair!!”.

“Take it up with Travis. This is the soundtrack to his workout sessions everyday, so I know every single note of this song” she admitted proudly “I think people could actually believe I'm Lady Gaga if it wasn't for the height difference” she joked.

“Oh yeah, because height is the only difference” Maya teased “Hughes, I love your naivete, it's so cute!” she added.

“Bishop, fuck you” Vic reiterated, throwing a cushion at her friend.

“Ok, it's getting serious now. 4-3 for Carina and Vic: these are the last two songs. Maya and Michelle, if you win this, there's the final battle”. Andy declared.

“We're ready” Maya replied, on the edge of the couch.

Music playing (Dura)

As soon as the music started playing, Vic understood it was some raeggeton music which she didn't know at all but Michelle undoubtedly would. In fact, within two seconds, the Latina got up, shouting “It's Dura, by Daddy Yankee” and started singing, probably a little too tipsy. “Cuando yo la vi, Dije, si esa mujer fuera para mí, Perdóname, te lo tenía que decir, 'Tás dura, dura”

While singing she got closer and closer to Maya, looking at her like she was addressing those words to her, but Maya didn't even seem to care or understand what was going on. In the meantime, Carina was watching the scene, trying hard to contain herself, before she heard Michelle whispering something in Spanish to Andy.

“Si no fuera que ella está con Carina, ya le habría pedido que tengamos una cita...esta tía esta demasiado buena. Deberías habérmela presentado antes prima: os conocéis desde la academia, no me lo puedo creer”.

Carina was pretty fluent in Spanish, so she understood everything: all she wanted to do was telling Michelle to stay the hell away from her girlfriend, but what she did instead was showing that Maya wasn't going anywhere.

While the music was still playing, she got up and sat on Maya's lap, starting to dance in a very flirty way: the blonde was now more than alert and she couldn't help but smile at the Italian, gently caressing her back and kissing her neck. If it wasn't for Vic again, they had (at least Maya) completely forgotten they weren't alone.

“What was that for?” Maya asked grinning to Carina.

“Nothing, just a little reminder” Carina smirked before kissing the blonde and then going back to her seat.

“This is the last song, I want you to be extremely concentrated” Andy stated in a serious tone.

“We got this” Vic said “We have to win” she added, talking to Carina.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Carina replied, sitting on the edge.

For this last song, Andy decided to take a little revenge on Maya: as she had won their last Taboo game, she wanted to give Carina and Vic a little help to get their last point and win the competition. She opted for an Italian song, but little did she know Maya had improved a lot...

Music playing (Anche fragile)

It was a fraction of second: Maya was already up, the lyrics hadn't even started but she had already said the title “It's an Italian song, it's Anche Fragile by Elisa”.

Andy and Vic were shocked, but not Carina, as it was her favorite song and she used to play it on repeat on their nights together, so she knew that Maya would have recognized it.

“Well, you have to sing it or you won't get the point” Andy declared, sure that her friend couldn't bring her self to speak a word of that “weird” language.

Carina chuckled knowing that Maya would have probably messed up all the words, but instead, she was caught off guard, as the blonde started singing it.

“Tienimi su quando sto per cadere, tu siediti qui parlami ancora se non ho parole, Io non te lo chiedo mai, ma portami al mare, a ballare...”  

Everyone's eyes were wide open at the unexpected event that had just happened and the Italian couldn't believe it either.

“Bella, you learned it!” she said, still a little moved from the gesture.

“Yes, I learned the whole song actually” she confessed, blushing a little.

“Thank you” Carina said grinning, pulling Maya in for a soft kiss.

“Ok Bishop, I must admit: you deserved it” Vic admitted, raising her hands “you practically sang a song in Italian, that was awesome! And it also shows how much of a simp you are!” Vic couldn't help but teasing.

“Shut up, Hughes” Maya shouted, throwing back at her the cushion from before.

“Oh crap, it's almost Midnight and I had said to Robert I would have been home by 23. I think we should go!” Andy said, picking up her stuff “Thank you girls, for everything, it was good fun and I really enjoyed it!” she added, heading towards the door.

“Yep, so did I, despite knowing that my Cap will put me on toilet duty only because I speak facts about how in love she is with her super hot Italian girlfriend” Vic teased again, getting a little smack from Maya “No, apart from joking, it was awesome! We have to do this again”.

“I'll think about it, very carefully” Maya teased back.

“Thank you for everything, really. Especially you Carina, about the work” Michelle said, making Carina to force a little smile “And thank you Maya, it was very nice getting to see you again” she added, caressing Maya's hand.

Before waving them goodbye, that's when Carina thought she should make things a little bit clearer: “Lo siento mucho, pero quería decirte que Maya ya tiene novia, así que deja tu alma en paz y empieza a buscar a otra chica. Sé que es muy guapa, pero también sé que es mi novia y quisiera que tu también no te olvidaras de eso. Entendido?” [I'm really sorry, but I wanted you to know that Maya has already a girlfriend. So, just give it up and start looking for someone else. I know she's hot, but I also know she's my girlfriend and I'd like that you didn't forget about it either. Got it?]

As those words let her mouth, Michelle's jaw dropped and completely embarrassed, she reached Andy who was waiting for her with Vic in the car.

When Carina closed the door, she turned around and she saw a very confused Maya staring at her: “So you know Spanish??” she asked.

“A little, I studied it at high-school and kept on practicing it with TV series” she explained.

“And why were you talking to Andy's cousin in Spanish” Maya asked again, still not figuring out what was going on.

“I just wanted to make things clearer and I thought it was the best way” she said, walking towards the blonde and wrapping her arms around her waist.

“And what did you need to get across that well that couldn't be said in English?” Maya chuckled, putting her arm around Carina's neck.

“Maya, you didn't notice, did you?” Carina wondered, laughing a little.

“Notice what?” Maya asked, now more confused than ever.

“She was flirting with you!! And I also heard her talking to Andy about you in Spanish, but unluckily to her, I understood everything”. She explained.

“Wait, really???” Maya couldn't believe it. She didn't acknowledged it at all, too busy admiring Carina.

“Yes, so I just wanted to let her know that she better stays away from you, if her intentions are flirting all the time!” Carina groaned jealously, making Maya laugh.

“Oh so, someone is jealous... it could be a good thing...” Maya smirked “anyway, you only preserved hr from putting effort in something she couldn't achieve. I'm madly in love with you and you only.” she continued, more softly.

“That's a good thing too.” Carina smiled brightly, resting her head on Maya's neck and pulling her closer to steal her one more kiss.

As soon as they pulled away from the kiss to catch some air, Maya whispered something that made Carina's heart skip a beat.

“E non nasconderti con le battute, non mi sconcentrare, Stiamo a vedere dove possiamo arrivare E ridiamo insieme che ridiamo sempre, sempre, sempre”

“I thought you only learned it by heart” Carina said, eyes getting watery but the will to smile much stronger than the one to cry.

“I learned it so that I could understand all the words and why it meant so much to you” Maya admitted, Carina's smile growing wider and wider.

“And I also wanted you to know another thing...” Maya added.

“Tell me” Carina replied, moved and curious at the same time.

“You know that line that goes “Senza tutta questa fretta mi ameresti davvero?” she asked, and after getting a light nod in approval, she went on “Well, the answer is yes, I'd love you even if the world would never come to an end, 'cause I'll never get tired of loving you.”

“Bella I-” Carina tried to speak, but her voice cracked a little “You're amazing. You're probably the best thing that has ever happened to me.” she added.

“Probably?” Maya asked, furrowing her eyebrows, trying to sound offended.

“Yes, because I know that what we can make together, our story, our love, will always get better, day by day. Us is definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me” Carina explained, caressing the blonde's jaw.

“Mmm... you get away with it for tonight Dr. De Luca” Maya teased.

“Did I?” Carina teased back.

“Yeah, even though I think that, as it is midnight, we should start making the best of our next day from its very beginning” Maya smirked.

“Well, if you put it that way...” Carina grinned, pulling Maya towards their bedroom, knowing that she would always find the solution to every doubt and fear of hers in those deep blue eyes, that spoke nothing but unconditional love, which she was wholeheartedly willing to reciprocate.

[sapiowoman28]

Try (Chapter 9): the filler chapter?

Pairing: mark x female reader x johnny

Genre: smut, fluff, undercover au

Warning: no smut this chapter, it's kind of a filler, mentions of mark screwing up, more context to Kun's behaviour, and yay! Y/N has a female friend who's a party animal.

Johnny woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. He got up immediately. He didn't trust Y/N to not start a fire in the kitchen.

"Hey," he hugged her from behind. He recognised the smell of her hair as that of the shampoo she used at the unit house.

"Hey babe." She turned and gave him a kiss, his eyes on the frying pan. Nothing burnt so far.

"You stayed at the unit house?"

"Yeah, Mark and his boys decided to hang there after the party. So i joined them."

"Mark talking?"

"Yes.."

"Great! I was worried you guys would stop being friends."

"Babe, nobody stays angry with me for long." Y/N bragged. Johnny giggled, holding her tighter, kissing her neck.

"Johnny, morning wood." she gigled.

"Yes...."

"I need you to have your breakfast quick. We have a call with Mina in 30 mins."

"Argh! I forgot!"

"Go shower! I want you to make a good impression."

"I always make a good impression."

"Omg did i tell you Taeyong has been talking to everyone about you? EVERY SINGLE PERSON at the party came up to me yesterday to ask me about my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend. I like the sound of that. Never get sick of hearing it." Johnny chuckled.

Mina was actually Mark's childhood friend. They met at the age of 7 in the neighbourhood playground and were inseperable since then. It was only when Mina had to pursue her degree in English Literature that she left for London to study. in many ways, their long friendship was like the one Y/N and Johnny had, though with a lot more booze, partying, fighting and generally stupid and impulsive behaviour.

Both Mark and Mina were always partying together back home and in London when he visited her. Each time they got drunk, a lot of things happened, not neccessarily good. That one time 2 years ago where he was there a month was the ultimate, and required a lot of therapy to fix both their heads, as well as 2 sets of very angry parents to placate because they really got into deep deep trouble.

Kun, who was one of the first few people Mark confided in, never let him forget that one month. Mark sometimes wondered why he told Kun anything in the first place.

Six months ago, when Mina came back to visit her parents and friends, Mark introduced her to Y/N and the two of them got on like house on fire. He almost regretted the decision instantly, when both of them ganged up on him. They were both different, yet similar, and Mina was always thankful with the therapy suggestion. She felt more measured, more grounded now.

Y/N adored Mina. She didn't always agree with the things she did. But she liked her a lot. They spoke often over video calls, sometimes even more than Mark and Mina. Mina told Y/N embarassing stories about Mark, and they both agreed he could be less of a slut, though Y/N never told her about the informants he secretly slept with.

Now, she wasn't going to tell her only female friend about the threesome either. Or what happened the night before. She wasn't so sure how Mina would react. With guy friends it was one thing. With girls, it was different. Ok, girls and Kun.

Y/N knew Kun had an irritating way of showing concern. But at the end of the day, he really cared and was only looking out for everyone. She felt bad about what happened at the unit house after the party. Neither Kun nor Lucas asked to be dragged into this. She was sure Kun was uncomfortable. Maybe she'd talk to Kun tomorrow.

Introducing Johnny went swell. He charmed the socks off Mina as she did with him. When Y/N and her started talking about make up and European fashion designers Johnny slipped off to do his own stuff.

Johnny was happy with his redefined relationship with Y/N. Five months now, and it was great. Truthfully she made him happy. He was nuts about her, and he never could stop thinking about her when they were apart. She loved him fiercely, and always had his back. He trusted her more than anyone else in his life.

He was very tempted to ask her to move in with him, but he also knew Y/N wasn't partial to the idea. She always felt a bit of space between them was what kept their passion for each other alive. That she had stopped seeing the other guys she was screwing was good enough for him.

And Mark? He seriously didn't care. It was just a physical thing. Y/N being Y/N was honest about it and he wasnt jealous one bit. Y/N had already said she was in it for the long haul with Johnny, and he knew she'd never leave.

But today, Johnny was waiting for Y/N. He saw a lovebite on her neck. It was a small one that was hardly noticeable. But it definitely was a lovebite. He was surprised she hadn't said anything. She never kept anything from him. So he wondered why she was not telling him what happened. now.

"Mina thinks you're sexy, babe." giggled Y/N after the call. She sat on his lap. Johnny grinned.

"She is wise." he said nodding his head. "How was last night?"

"Omg, Doyoung came, and Yuta and his girlfriend were fucking in the toilet, and Yuta and Jaehyun were fighting, and people were on drugs. it was a mess. and now we're getting a new guy called Jeno."

"Sounds like fun."

"No not really. Doyoung kept watching me whenever Lucas came to speak to me. He really doesn't want me to get close to Lucas."

"Well he can't control you. Nobody can"

"Well Doyoung thinks he can control me." Y/N rolled her eyes. "That's where the whole problem started. Actually the problem started even before that, when he gave Mark hell."

"Oh how's Mark?"

"He's good. I told him about Taemin. He understands now."

"That's good. I'm glad you guys spoke."

"Ok, what's wrong?" she asked. She sensed it.

"You haven't told me if you and Mark did anything naughty." he teased. She blushed.

"So you guys did. I saw a little lovebite on your neck.

"We made out." she admitted. "I was afraid to tell you."

"Y/N I promised you I'd never control you, princess. I don't have a problem with you guys making out. I just don't understand why you're afraid to tell me."

"I didn't want you to think I was having second thoughts about us." she said.

"I've never doubted you." he stroked her cheek. "I know you too well. You'll always be mine. Plus, Mark doesn't stand a chance."

She giggled.. "Thanks, babe. I love you so much Johnny."

"I love you too, princess." He kissed her forehead. "Wanna shower together?"

"If you carry me to the bathroom."

"Your wish is my command, princess."

[holdmypeer]

Party omo ^_^

Leah smiled politely and nodded. She had invited some friends over for drinks. She had finished her final expose and could now call herself a Doctor. She felt like she had earned the time off. But a friend of a friend had invited themselves and now she was trapped in the most boring conversation she had ever been in. Way too shy to speak up she smiled and she nodded along as Tobias kept telling a story she had lost track in about half an hour ago. “And you won’t believe what we saw then,” Tobias bubbled drunkenly. Leah just smiled again. She had no idea how to get out of the situation and as if it was not painful enough, she also had to pee. Badly.

She had been drinking quite a lot throughout the evening. Always having a cup of water next to her alcohol to keep hydrating. Usually, that was a good idea. But now she started to regret taking that much fluid in at all times. Leah shifted in her place on the couch as Tobias kept talking. Maybe she could just excuse herself. Release herself before the feeling got more pressing. And maybe even get out of this monologue for good. “Sorry,” she tried but her voice came out way too quite like a little mouse and Tobias didn’t notice her. Now that she had noticed her bladder it seemed like the urge got worse by the second. Nothing she couldn’t handle of course. 

Things kept going like that for the longest 15 minutes of her life; Leah kept shifting around in her seat and Tobias kept telling the same story. Finally, he paused for a moment. Leah had switched her pose that she was now sitting on the edge of the red couch. Her legs were firmly pressed together and her thoughts were focused on her need.

“Tobias,” she tried speaking up again. This time he noticed her. “I’ll just go… go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” He just nodded apparently lost in the memory of the fishing trip? Or whatever he had been talking about. Leah stood up, happy to finally be free. 

Reality hit her hard. She needed a moment to catch her balance. She had been drinking more than she had thought. She made her way through the people happy to finally get to the bathroom. She could feel how full her bladder already was, the fluid pressing to be released. She was halfway there as she heard someone call out to her over the music, “Leah, wait!” It was a good friend of her, Sara, who was at the party with her boyfriend Lucas. “Glad that I could catch you. Lucas and I will be leaving soon and we wanted to say thank you for the invitation.” Leah nodded. “He also got something for you. Just wait he’ll be here soon. Just wanted to get it.” 

Leah looked into the direction of the toilet. Another party guest was waiting before the door anyways. She decided that this had priority right now and stayed. “You didn’t have to get me something,” Leah said but Sara just chuckled “You’ve been so dedicated this semester, we thought we should give you a present. Just a smally small gesture.” Sara might have been even drunker than Tobias. She grinned down at Leah who had been getting a bit red around the nose. For a moment she even had almost forgotten that she had to pee. Leah pressed her thighs together trying not to shift in her pace too much while waiting on Lucas. 

She barely even trusted herself to stretch her tired muscles with her bladder this full. She was sure that one could even see the bulge her bladder had formed on her stomach. Lucas didn’t come around quickly. Of course. Sara spent her time trying to talk Leah into another drink. Or at least a shot. Leah, not being good at saying no, finally agreed to a shot and went shakingly with Sara into the kitchen. The two women drank some honey rum that did neither help to sober Leah up nor did it change anything about her bladder. 

Finally, after gruesomely long minutes and another shot later Lucas turned up, “Sorry that I let you wait but I just really needed to pee. I almost pissed myself, can you believe that?” Leah frowned. “But doesn’t matter. Here, that is for you” He gave Leah a small package with a pretty bow. She forced herself to smile, being barely able to feel happy at the moment as her brain just kept signalling Need to pee, Need to pee, all over again. Slowly she opened the box, her legs still pressed together tightly. It was a beautiful black pen with her name engraved in it reading Dr. Leah Sullivan. “You shouldn’t have…,” Leah began but got interrupted straight away “When my best friend gets a Doctor title this is the least thing I can do.” Sara pulled her into a hug. She just pressed herself close to Leah one last time before releasing her that Leah felt it. The small leak of wet, hot pee that had escaped her and left a damp stain in her underwear. “Thank you so much,” Leah said again giving her best not to look ashamed. It might not be visible yet but she knew that she had technically peed herself. How degrading,

Lucas and Sara said their goodbyes and Leah finally continued her journey to the bathroom. She could already feel her surroundings to start spinning, her head felt light from all the alcohol. This wasn’t very helpful in her journey not to make it obvious how hard it was to walk in a straight line, not trip, and not to pee herself. She finally got through the hallway and stood in front of the toilet. Of course, there was still someone in there and Leah had to wait. She was sure of that. She tried the handle anyways but was too busy keeping her legs together to really pay attention. She couldn’t remember when she had to pee that badly for the last time.

Five minutes

Leah shifted in her position. The small release she had felt earlier was gone and all that she could focus on was the relentless pressing of her bladder. She really wanted to hold herself and the wetness she could feel behind her legs did not help.

Ten minutes

Whoever was blocking the bathroom took forever. Leah began to shift back and forth trying her best to ease the urge. It felt almost impossible to keep all the liquid in. Any second it could be too late and the fateful moment would come when she would at least flood her underwear.

Fifteen minutes.

This was impossible. Leah was now moving around quite a bit. At least no one had tried to talk to her or lure her away from her place close to the toilet. She thought about knocking. Just telling the person in there to hurry up. But she didn’t want to be rude.

Sixteen minutes. 

Leah moved closer to the bathroom door again. Every small step took all of her strength. Accepting that her legs were anything but pressed together meant also accepting the possibility of an accident. She was so drunk, and tired, and she just had to pee! A small squirt escaped her forming a small dark spot right between her legs. It felt so good. All Leah wanted to do is let go and finally end this torture.

Seventeen minutes.

Knock Knock. “Hey, how long,” she had no other choice but to push her hands between her legs and hold her pussy. “How long will you” it was so hard to keep it in. Every second it got harder. By now she could feel the pulsating going through her lower regions “take in there?” she finally finished her question. Of course, there was no reaction. Leah tried pushing the handle down like she had tried when she first arrived at the door. The door she could swear had been locked. Without any resistance, the door opened and Leah finally moved inside. It was more wiggling and jumping than walking.

The sheer happiness of finally getting to the bathroom leads her to letting her guard down. She had just closed the door behind herself that a small stream was released against her will. Leah whimpered lowly. She was too drunk for this. Awkwardly she shifted forwards now fully grabbing herself. She could feel the wetness between her legs and knew that is was just a matter of moments that she would lose all strength. Slowly she opened her jeans button trying her best not to press on her stomach while doing so. The button jumped open but it was already too late. With a small whimper, some pee shot into her pants. The wetness spreading more and more. Like an invisible barrier was broken she just couldn’t hold it anymore. Leah tried to get her jeans off her hips and legs as the piss started coming out in a heavy and steady stream. Te liquid gushed into her pants and down her legs and even started splattering onto the floor. “No, no, no” Leah whimpered but there was nothing she could do to help the situation. She stood right in front of the toilet helplessly peeing herself. Too lost and drunk to at least sit down to get anything into the toilet. A big puddle had formed underneath her as she kept peeing unable to stop the flooding. 

As she thought she was done she got out of the wet jeans, directly putting them into the washing machine. Her legs and underwear were dripping wet. She grabbed a towel and dried herself still shocked by the violent accident. Gladly she had a dry pair of pants in the bathroom. But poor Leah hadn’t realised that her bladder wasn’t all that empty yet.

She had just closed the fresh pair of pants in the front as she pressed her bladder a bit. She didn’t really know why. Just a reflex to test her ‘empty’ bladder. Said bladder was still strained from all the holding and did not react well. Leah might have gotten rid of the most pressing part of what she had been holding but she was still not finished. The little push leads her bladder to fully give up and without a warning, a small but unstoppable stream was released. Leah cursed and tried her best to get out of the fresh pants but all help was too late. A stain had formed similar to the one on her jeans. Her bladder still releasing the same small but deadly stream further and further darkening her pants. Leah gave up. With open pants and no hope left she just pressed her bladder and pushed. More and more pee kept gushing out of her, running warm and wet down her legs. Leah moaned. It felt so good to finally release all of the piss she had been holding. She couldn’t help herself but shove her hands into her soaked pants slowly massaging her clit. It was so wet and felt so good. She kept massaging and the build-up was intense. Her head still spinning from the alcohol she let herself fall down onto her knees, into the wet puddle on the floor. Leah moaned and kept touching herself on the floor with her knees wet with her own piss until she felt the familiar tingling of an orgasm building up. 

A louder moan escaped her lips as she got herself to cum and the door swung open.

[michaelgrayyy]

One of us (8)

Michael Gray x Reader/ Peaky Blinders x Reader

Master list - https://michaelgrayyy.tumblr.com/masterlist

Aberama hangs out on the side of the car as we near our destination, the further into the countryside the more Michael seemed to sulk. You keep looking over at him feeling his eyes on you as you sit beside Bonnie facing him while Bonnie faces Polly. Polly gets out first followed by Bonnie, who turns to help you down and then you turn back to help Michael but decide against it seeing his expression. You step out onto the woodland floor looking around, it made you miss your cottage, you hoped you’d be able to get back there when this was over, whenever that was. 

“No! No, fucking way” you hear Michael complain from behind you and Polly meets your eyes, you stifle a giggle quickly covering your mouth and keeping your back to him. 

“You ever eaten Hedgehog Michael?” Aberama asks seeing his reaction and you can’t contain the giggle that leaves you. You look back at Michael who sends you a glare before carrying on.

“I’m getting back in this car” he states pulling a cigarette out to smoke 

“Michael, you’re number two on Luca Changretta’s hit list” she looks at me. “Well maybe three” she debates before carrying on. 

“Yeah and I’ll stay in a hotel, we’ll stay in a hotel right, y/n?” he says trying to get you to side with him but you just raise your hands showing him you aren’t getting involved.

“You stay in a hotel, I’ll know where you are, so will the people who take you there, so will the people who work in the hotel, and hotels don’t move around. They don’t even know where they’ll be tomorrow, they follow the Patrin and the crows.” Polly argues back to him, silencing him. He knows she's right he just hates to admit it. 

“And should anyone come for you, Michael, the Palmers and the Boswells will put up a fair fight” Aberama adds as Polly gets Michael medicine.

“Why are they talking as if you aren't coming with me, y/n?” he asks with a clenched jaw. Oh boy! 

“I’ve got unfinished business with the Italians”

“And I don’t?” he snaps back instantly pissing you off. 

“Right now, you don't.” you reply as Polly continues to go through his medicine looking between you both. 

“Your painkiller..” Polly says passing them to Bonnie.

“The healers up there, will heal you much quicker” 

“It's true, pretty sure I’d be dead without them healing me after getting me from Luca” I add trying to reassure him but Michael just looks over at you annoyed. 

“Fucking witches, the lot of them” Michael grumbles earning a chuckle of Aberama who shakes his head at him.

“Show some respect, Mr. Gray. They’ve agreed to welcome you on account of your blood” Bonnie replies to him, you shake you head at Michael as he glares back at Bonnie not responding. You walk away getting yourself in the carriage, with the help of the men at the steps, having heard enough of Michaels complaining. Soon Bonnie joins you and not long after Michael joins you as well, you blow a kiss to Polly as the door shuts and she smirks.

“Will you quit sulking. These people are risking their lives to protect you” you break the silence after so long having had enough of his moping. Bonnie looks over before quickly looking back out the window guessing this is heading for an argument. 

“Why are you coming with us if you aren’t staying?” he asks changing the subject.

“Because I thought you’d help you settle in, clearly that was poor judgment on my behalf.” you reply

“How are you going to get back to Small Heath?”

“Bonnie has a boxing match tonight, I’m going” you reply and Michael starts to work his jaw again so you turn the conversation to Bonnie. “You ready for your fight?” you call out to Bonnie who walks back over to sit down with you both.

“Sure am” he replies.

“Have you met Goliath yet?” he nods with a smirk. “Are you worth betting on?”

“Mr. Shelby seems to think so” he replies.

“Honestly, I can’t tell if Tommy is a genius or mad” you state. “But, I reckon you’re a good bet” 

It's not long till the cart is pulled up and Bonnie opens the door, telling you that you’ll need to start making a move back to Small Heath in an hour before he walks off to help the others set up their camp. This is only a temporary camp until they make it to their main base, a part of you felt a bit gutted you wouldn’t get to see it but you needed to get back. You turn round motioning for Michael to come with you as you step outside, he reluctantly follows you both walk over to a fallen tree. He sits down and you slowly lower yourself next to him closing your eyes as you do.

“Still bad isn't it?” he asks watching your movements. 

“I’ve had more fun” you respond. “Look, Michael I know you aren’t happy about this. But, please try and be nice to them, they are part of your heritage whether you like it or not and they are good people. This is better than you being shot again...we’ve already lost John” you plead with him and he softens ever so slightly before sighing.

“Alright, alright. I'll try, but I don’t like this.” he agrees mostly just trying to shut me up but I'll take it. “You and Gold’s son are awfully friendly” he tries to sound nonchalantly about it but fails miserably. 

“He did save my life by getting me away from Luca, that's a good way to become my friend in my book.” you reply with a shrug before looking at him as he looks ahead of him with a hard expression. “Are you jealous?” you ask with a  smirk. 

“It was just a question, y/n” he replies in a clipped tone and your smirk grows into a cocky smile.

“You are!” you exclaim with a little laugh.

“I’m just being cautious is all, not like you who just befriends anyone and everyone” he replies and your smile fades.

“Is there a reason you are trying to provoke an argument every-time you speak to me?” you question running out of patience with his mood. He doesn’t respond just pulls out a cigarette to smoke, he takes a drag before you reach over taking it from his lips and taking a drag yourself. You both let out a sigh as a peaceful quiet settles amongst you both.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I do miss the fresh air” he says breathing in and you laugh watching him puff on the cigarette.

“What were your family like?” you ask him and he pauses before realising you are talking about his adopted family. That’s how you pass the time until you need to leave, Michael tells you about climbing trees and playing games with his little brother, about the pies and cakes his mum would make and how he used to help his father around the house doing jobs like cutting logs and fixing up the sheds. You smile as he talks not seeing this side of him before, part of you wishes he never came back to Polly so he could still be there but then you remember the stories of him blowing up the village wishing well and the priest and you know he would have come sooner or later. 

Bonnie walks over to tell you its time to leave and you nod at him as he stands away so you can speak privately to Michael again, you lean over placing a kiss to him lips, you pull away looking him in the eyes with a serious glare. 

“You stay alive, alright” you tell him

“You too, no running at guns or getting kidnapped. Deal?” he replies and you roll your eyes with a smirk. 

“Deal” you agree as he kisses you quickly again before you get up off the tree walking over to join Bonnie. “Ready” you tell him as he nods.

“We’ve got a short walk until we get to where my father is picking us up, is that okay?” he asks looking at me apologetically. 

“That’s okay” you reply walking alongside him, feeling better for the fresh air. 

///////

Its a few hours later when you walk down the stairs wearing a emerald sparkling dress alongside, Polly, Linda and Lizzie ready for the big fight, Ada also joins as you go try find Finn in the crowd, you try to spot Tommy but he’s nowhere in sight. Looking back where the girls were you see they've also all moved, great, at least you know they’ll be in the toilet as you head that way. You walk in to see  Linda setting out a line beside Polly and Ada at the sinks, while Lizzie is across the other side. 

“Ah, good. Y/n, we’ve been looking for you, Lizzie’s got some news” Polly greets you as you walk in, Ada turns seeing you and smiles brightly at you before noticing your pained movements. 

“I’m pregnant” Lizzie announces.

“Oh, and who’s the father? Have you managed to narrow it down?” Linda comments before taking a line of snow at the same time you let out a little squeal walking over to Ada to give her a hug not being able to resist. She grins at you carefully hugging you back as she raises her eyebrows at you at Linda’s comment. 

“Yes. It's Tommy’s” Lizzie responds and you notice a glass of gin on the counter taking a swig.

“Congratulations. You’ve won the raffle at last” Linda remarks and you ignore her going over to give Lizzie a hug and kiss on the cheek. 

“Congratulations, Lizzie” you say sincerely as Linda rolls her eyes you just glare back at her. Lizzie, Linda and Polly head back in as you stay behind with Ada, she sits on the counter as she asks how you are not having seen you since you were taken by the Italians. 

“It makes you tougher” she says and you nod

“It’s the only thing it can do in this line of life” you reply as she agrees, you pull out a hip-flask of whisky passing it her after you take a swig. She fixes the rest of her make up before heading back out the door, you stay behind gathering yourself, just enjoying the peace and quiet before you have to go anywhere. Taking some of your painkillers alongside the whisky, walking outside ready to carry on watching the fight when you hear a gunshot followed by Tommy yelling in the hallway not far from you. You head off in the direction rushing not caring about the pain in your ribs, you round the corner seeing Polly up ahead being held by Tommy. He looks up noticing you and they both turn.

“What? what's going on?” you manage to say

“Arthurs dead. He’s dead” Tommy says coming over to you

“What no, he's not. Stop this” you say trying to shove past him “HE’S NOT” you yell out trying to hit out to get him away from you. He hold onto you until you stop fighting him, you push back from him walking back. He follows after you.

“Polly, go tell Linda” he shouts back rushing behind you as you run through the halls.  “We need to tell Finn” you call out to him before trying to weave your way through the crowd, its not use everyone is jumping around excited about the win in the ring, Tommy grabs onto you pulling you with him over to Finn. Finn smiles at you both patting Tommy on the back for his win, but Tommy grabs onto him pulling him close to whisper to him, you see his face drop as Tommy pushes him away towards Isiah. Tommy goes over to tell Lizzie before disappearing off again and you try get over to Charlie (old) in the ring beside Aberama and Bonnie but the crowd is too lively. Charlie see’s you struggling through the crowd and jumps out to come help you get through, he gets you to the side of the ring and you look over seeing Polly and Lizzie with a sobbing Linda.

“Arthur’s dead” you say to Charlie who looks at you in confusion before Tommy jumps up into the ring firing a gun in the air. He tells the crowd Arthur is dead before crouching down as he takes a breath, Charlie quickly rushes over up into the ring and you walk over to the girls, Lizzie stands up pulling you into a hug. 

///

The next few days pass by in a blur you find yourself permanently glued to the bar stool in the Garrison, joined mostly by Finn and Isiah. It’s not like your usual drinks where they’d try and pick up girls while you’d dodge the advances of men that didn't realise who you were, no this was just drinking with the intent of numbing it all. You don’t remember how but you some how end up sat in the family home beside a silent Tommy, Ada and Polly waiting for Michael’s arrival. You’re heart breaks even more when they tell you the plan, but you nod having guessed bits off it all along, but not wanting to believe it.You hear him walk in the door and see Polly walk over to greet him but you don’t move, just sat swirling the cup of Tea Ada made you. Micheal walks over to you squeezing your shoulder in comfort as he looks to Tommy. 

“Tommy, I’ve been trying to find the words” Michael says and you get up walking over to the drinks section.

“Don’t. Words don’t work” Polly cuts him off as you pour a glass of whisky. “Micheal we’re in a grave situation. But, Tommy has a plan. Instead of going to Australia you're going to go to New York.”

“Why?” he asks in shock

“Because the company has business to attend to in America” Ada responds, Michael looks over at you and then to Tommy, the only two not to speak to him yet. 

“Will I be coming back?”

“You’re train leaves in an hour Michael.” Tommy breaks the silence. “You made a choice. You knew I was going to be shot and you chose not to tell me” Michael looks over to Polly. 

“I chose my mum” he responds.

“When all this business is over, we’ll all be free to make our own choices” Polly says to him with tears in her eyes, you wipe away some of your own that have managed to slip.

“So is that it?” Michael asks looking at the back of Tommy. 

“You get the train to Liverpool then the SS Monroe. The boat sails tomorrow.” He passes him the tickets “Now you can go”. 

“Y/n?” he looks over at you and you bite your lip.

“Please just go” you plead wiping some more tears. “Please” you croak out and he closes his eyes in regret before turning to leave. 

[scoopsahoy]

i just read ur fic about getting pregnant with steve and was wondering if u could write one about the reader and steve struggling for a few years to get pregnant, and she has an emotional breakdown one night bc she doesn't feel like enough for him because it's been pushed on her that women's only jobs are to have kids and shes like "i cant even do that so how am i supposed to please you" and he comforts her and makes her feel better

ぺ  word count ⋰ 2.3k

✰  tw ⋰ none :)

❍  cw ⋰ swearing, mentions of sex

✐  masterlist

⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★⋆★

You sat on the toilet seat with your leg bouncing, anxiously waiting for the pregnancy test results to show up. This had become a new norm for you: getting pregnancy tests and anxiously awaiting the results. And you were sick of it.

It took a toll on you. Getting a negative result every single month for four years straight was stressful mentally and physically. You’d had a migraine for at least three and a half years, and no medicine helped. You were always nauseous and sick, which your gynecologist said was normal in your situation. You were always tired and sad, which affected your job and your relationship with Steve.

You knew he was just as tired of it as you were, and you knew he was probably exhausted from having to care for you all the time.

It had also taken a toll on your sex life. At this point, you two only had sex to reproduce. You rarely finished and always denied his offers to help you. You would always flip yourself upside down afterward to help the sperm enter your uterus.

You’d both been to the doctor multiple times to see which one of you was fertile. Steve was one hundred percent fertile, while you had less of a chance of getting pregnant that you should’ve had.

You’d been to multiple IVF appointments as well. It wasn’t Steve’s favorite thing in the world to go into a room alone and masturbate to porn to provide sperm samples.

At this point, he didn’t enjoy looking at other women to get off, so you had taken pictures of yourself to give him.

The first few times it was awkward for him afterward, but you assured him there was nothing uncomfortable about it.

You’d probably spent over ten thousand dollars on it, and it was heartbreaking each time it didn’t work.

At the end of the five minutes, you grabbed the test out of the sink, feeling a pain in your heart at the single line.

You tossed it back into the sink as you stood up, feeling tears slide down your face. Your back hit the wall and you slid down until you felt yourself land on your ass.

You pulled your knees into your chest, propped your elbows on them, and put your hands into your palms.

You couldn’t help but sob. You and Steve had been trying for four years to conceive. And, despite everything mentioned, none of it worked. This was one of your last straws, a wave of sadness washing over you.

You both desperately wanted kids, preferably two or three. But at this point, you’d be lucky to even have one.

Steve made it clear that in the end, if you couldn’t have children of your own, he’d be perfectly okay with adopting, or just not having any. And you agreed.

However, you had the longing to create your own child. Everything from the pregnancy, to giving birth, to raising that child from the moment they came out, until the moment they could care for themselves. You wanted that more than anything, but you’d be happy to adopt if you were infertile.

But sitting on the bathroom floor knowing that every effort you made — propping yourself upside down after sex, aforementioned IVF treatments, tracking your cycles, staying healthy, etc. — didn’t work, made your heart hurt.

You wondered if you were good enough for Steve, if you could really give him what he wanted. If he was genuinely happy with trying to have kids for years on end and being unsuccessful. You wondered if that was what he wanted, if he was still happy with you.

Your sobs filled the bathroom, making you glad Dustin wasn’t there.

Dustin was your younger brother, and currently, he was at the arcade. He knew about your struggle to have kids, and he usually tried to help, whether it was with the foods you ate, or getting you vitamins, making sure your mom didn’t keep her alcohol where you could get to it, etc.

You thought it was sweet how much he wanted a niece or nephew, always talking about babysitting them and allowing them into the party.

You always made sure he was gone when you took pregnancy tests. You loved him, but comfort wasn’t his strong suit. Sometimes it would work just because of the effort, but sometimes it would make you feel worse. So, you figured the easiest way to avoid that was to make sure he wasn’t there.

The rest of the party was also anticipating you getting pregnant. Max, Eleven, and Nancy all said they would help her with girl things like periods, dating, and other things boys didn’t understand.

And Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will, and Jonathan all said they would indoctrinate him/her into their Dungeons and Dragons campaigns.

It made you cry the first time you found out how excited they were to have a new member of the family.

But you hated making them wait. Dustin and Robin were the only ones who knew how long you’d been trying, so the rest of them kept jokingly bugging you about them getting a new DnD member.

When Steve got home from work, he found you crying on the bathroom floor. He looked in the sink, seeing another negative test.

He sat on the toilet seat, placing his hands on your knees. He didn’t say anything, he let you talk at your own pace.

“Negative again,” you said, your voice stuffy.

He nodded. “I know.”

“What the hell is wrong with me?”

“Hey, look at me.”

You pulled your hands from your face, revealing your eyes bloodshot and puffy, your skin soaked in tears.

He stood up and held his hands out for you to take. You pulled yourself up and he cupped your face. He wiped your cheeks with his thumbs, before grabbing a dry cloth and cleaning your face completely.

“Come here,” he said, pulling you into a deep hug. You cried into his chest, leaving tear stains on his shirt. He gently pulled you to the bedroom a few seconds later. You sat against the headboard, resting your elbows on your knees. He sat across from you, only a few feet away.

He gripped your hands as you continued crying. It was silent for a few minutes before he continued the conversation.

“There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“Then why can’t I get pregnant?”

“You know that’s not your fault.”

“Is it enough for you? Am I enough for you?”

He furrowed his brows. “What are you talking about?”

“If I can’t give you a kid. If I can’t get pregnant, despite everything we’ve done, despite every effort we’ve made... will I be enough? Won’t you want more?”

“Don’t. Don’t even think like that. Don’t say that. Of course, you’ll still be enough for me.”

You softly shook your head. “I don’t believe that.”

“Why not?”

“Because you said that all you want in life is children. You want at least one son and one daughter. And you want to name one of them Dustin, and one of them Robin. And you’ve told me that you want to have a hundred grandkids so you can spoil all of them. And if I can’t give that to you-”

“Stop. Stop talking.” He gripped your hands tighter. “I don’t care. If you can’t give me that, that’s okay. More than anything, I want you. I want you, even if we don’t have a hundred grandkids.”

You felt more tears fall down your face, hitting your legs. He tilted your chin up to look at him.

“Why?” you asked.

“‘Why’ what?”

“Why wouldn’t you want someone who could give you that?”

“Because I don’t want just anybody. I want you. I’d live a thousand lifetimes without kids if it meant I got to be with you.”

“But you want a family.”

“Baby,” he chuckled. “We’re already a family. You and me, we are a family. We don’t need a child to be a family. Hell, we can adopt a dog or a cat if we wanted to. And that would still make us as much of a family as people with kids.”

“But we both want kids. I want kids. I want to be pregnant, I want to give birth, I want to hold the baby after they come out. I want to celebrate their first steps, their first words, their first birthday. I want to do that.” He didn’t say anything. “How am I supposed to please you if I can’t even get pregnant?” you mumbled.

He furrowed his brows. “What?”

“I mean, we’ve always been taught that in marriages, in order to be a good wife and please your husband, you should have kids.”

“Who the hell taught you that?”

You raised your eyebrows. “School, my family, everyone. I’ve grown up hearing that in order to be a good wife to my husband, I have to give him kids and that’s how we’re supposed to please you.”

He shook his head. “I’ve never been taught to only expect kids from my wife. They’ve been feeding you that bullshit?” You nodded. “For how long?”

“All my life.”

“I’ve grown up learning from my mom that, even if I don’t have kids with the person I marry, I should find someone that I can’t live without. That’s you.”

“Steve-”

“Y/N, you don’t have to bear a child to please me. I am so madly, deeply, stupidly in love with you. There is nothing you can do to make me not love you. You hear me?” You didn’t reply. “Why do you think I proposed to you and married you?”

“You wanted to start a family, but not outside of marriage. Isn’t that why every guy gets married?”

“Nope. Not even close. I mean, that’s a factor, but do you know the real reason I married you?” You still didn’t answer. “I married you to be with you,” he said as he poked you lightly on the chest. “I married you so I could spend the rest of my life with you. Obviously, I do want a family, but, like I said, I’d go a million years without kids if it meant I got to be with you.”

You were only crying harder now. “Steve-”

“I am so fucking in love with you, Y/N. Do you want to know how long it took me to get that ring-” He pointed to your engagement ring on your finger, which was joined by your wedding band, “after we started dating?” You shook your head. “Three days.”

Your eyes got wide. “What?”

“Yep. Three days into our relationship, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. You know why I didn’t propose sooner?” You shook your head again. “We weren’t eighteen. That was the only thing holding me back. I had to wait two years to propose to you because we had to wait until we were adults.”

You looked down at your ring. “They let you buy an engagement ring at sixteen?” you chuckled.

“I guess so. I got it, didn’t I?”

You smiled. “I love you,” you whispered.

“I love you, too.” You squeezed his hands.

“Tell you what. Why don’t we take a break from trying? I mean, we’re only twenty-three. We have time. I know it’s stressing you out. Your head always hurts and you’re always sick. Let’s just wait a little while.”

You nodded. “That would actually be really nice.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Maybe we can have sex just to have sex, not to make a baby.”

“Absolutely.”

You looked at him and he gave you a small smile.

“I don’t deserve you,” you said, your voice cracking.

“I think I’m the one that doesn’t deserve you.”

You laughed softly. “And if we can’t have our own kids, we can adopt,” you said.

“Absolutely.”

“Take a kid or two out of the system.”

“Absolutely,” he repeated.

You got on your knees and hugged him, the two of you squeezing each other tightly.

“Did I mention that I love you?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure? Because I do.”

“I’m sure,” you giggled. “I love you, too.”

When you pulled away, he looked at you. “Don’t blame yourself, baby. Seriously. It’s not your fault.”

“I know.”

“Okay.”

You pulled him in for one last kiss before heading to the kitchen to start dinner.

—

You, Steve, Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Max, and Robin all sat in your dining room. For dinner, you made chicken burritos. The kids were all joking around and talking about the arcade when you decided to get their attention.

“So, me and Steve talked today,” you said, clearing your throat. They all looked at you. “I think... we’re gonna stop trying to have a kid for a little while.”

“What?” Lucas asked. “Why?”

“We’ve been trying for four years. I mean, we’ve done IVF-”

“What’s IVF?” Mike asked.

“In vitro. It’s artificial insemination.”

“We’ve done that about six times,” Steve said. “And it hasn’t worked.”

“Nothing we’ve done has worked. So, for now, we’re gonna take a break. I mean, it takes a toll on us.”

They nodded. “Okay. Whenever you get pregnant, that just means we can have someone else to play games with and invite to the arcade,” Lucas said. “Even if we’re older.”

Steve rested his hand on your thigh.

—

Laying in bed and being Steve’s little spoon as he slept caused you to start thinking again.

You didn’t realize it before, but you were more okay with waiting than you thought you would be. Sure, you’d be slightly older when you were pregnant — if you wound up pregnant at all — but you were fine with it.

Knowing that you were with someone like Steve, who didn’t care if you couldn’t have kids, was a relief. You knew you married the right person, and you knew your kids would be right about you two being soulmates.

[general-kenobi357]

Someday Soon-Chapter 1

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Fem!OC

Summary: The only goal Isabella Bailer has this summer, is to have a good time with her friends, the Pogues. But when they find a ship wreck after a hurricane their summer takes an unexpected turn. 

Note: So this is my first fic that I have actually properly finished and I am so excited to share it. I first posted it on Wattpad but I find that I don't really use that platform much so I wanted to post it somewhere I go on often. I hope you enjoy my twist on Outer Banks :) Also the I have written Iz to be as nondescript as I could so that you can imagine her however you want. 

Word Count: 10.5k (The first chapter is really long but later on the chapters get shorter.) 

🔅🔆🔅

We’re the Pogues, and our mission this summer is to have a good time, all the time.

The soft breeze brought the smell of the ocean to my nose while the sun shone brightly on my cheeks. I had to squint to see my friends through the bright rays. As the sun fell lower the day only seemed to get warmer, the beer in my hand brought a cool relief, after taking another drink a smile grew on my face as I listened to the conversation between Pope and John B. 

“That’s what, a three-story fall to the deck?” Pope asked, looking up at John B who was currently balancing on one foot on the edge of the roof. We were all hanging around one of the many mini-mansions that were under construction in Figure Eight. “I give you about a one-in-three chance of survival.”

“Hm” John B replied as he stuck a finger into the air pretending to check the direction of the wind. “Should I do it?”

“Yeah, jump.” Pope quipped, pointing a drill at him. “I'll shoot you on the way down.”

“You’ll shoot me?”

“Yep. Pow!”

“They’re gonna have Japanese toilets with towel warmers.” Kie told us shocked, as she emerged from the house that was yet to be finished. 

“Of course. Why wouldn’t they?” I inquired somewhat bitterly from my spot sitting next to JJ. Nothing Kooks did surprised me anymore, all they seemed to care about was their own vanity.  

“This used to be a turtle habitat, but who cares about turtles, I guess?” Kie asked, sounding somewhat defeated. I sent her a sad smile, wishing I had more power to change the way things were. 

“I can’t have cold towels.” JJ added sarcastically before we all directed our gaze towards John B. 

“Can you please not kill yourself?” Kie asked him sweetly as he continued to lean dangerously close to the edge of the building. 

“Yeah that would really ruin my summer.” I added, I had protested John B climbing onto the roof in the first place but once that boy got something into his mind, no one could change it.

“And don’t spill that beer. I’m not giving you another one.” JJ warned seconds before the can slipped through John B’s grasp and came crashing onto the deck.  

“Whoa! Oh, shit.” John B exclaimed as he attempted to regain his balance on the roof, I turned to look out at the ocean again, not wanting to see him hit the deck as well. 

“Of course you did. Smooth.” 

“A plus.” Pope commented as he leaned over the side of the deck before looking back at the group. “Hey, uh, security’s here. Let’s wrap it up.”

“Humpty Dumpty, let’s roll.” JJ called to John B while he hopped off of the scaffolding we had been sitting on, before turning around and offering me his hand to help me get down. “Sweetheart?”

“Thank you.” I replied, accepting the hand he held out as I jumped down onto the deck.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” John B agreed as he followed us down. 

“Gary, is that you?” JJ called out to the security guard as we gathered our stuff up. “It’s me. Gary, good to see you, man!”

“You’re just asking for it.” I told him as I shook my head trying to hold in my laughter. 

“Get ‘em! They’re comin’ your way!” I heard one of the guards shout from behind me as I followed Kie towards the van. “Hey! Stop!”

I spared a glance behind me as I exited the house and saw the guard catching up to JJ. 

“Not much of a hugger!” I heard JJ shout as he avoided the guard. 

As I ran down the front steps John B pulled up in the van, Kie hopped into the passengers seat as I climbed into the back leaving the side door open for the boys to jump in whenever it was they decided to show up. 

“Bus is leaving!” John B called out as he honked the horn. I peered out the back window watching as Pope started climbing over the fence, before promptly falling flat on his face. JJ hoped over next and helped him back to his feet. 

“Come on, boys!” Kie called.

I held out my hand for Pope who was struggling to get into the moving van. Once both boys were inside John B stepped on the gas and we all watched Gary hopelessly chase after us. We were all left in a fit of laughter after JJ was done teasing the poor security guard. 

🔅🔆🔅

The Outer Bank, Paradise on Earth. It’s the sort of place where you either have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes, one island. 

All right. So there’s Figure Eight, the rich side of the island. Home of the Kooks. So, guess where we don’t live?

And then, there’s the South Side or the Cut. Home to the working class who make a living busing tables, washing yachts, running charters. The natural habitat of… drumroll, please… the Pogues. 

That’s us. 

Pogues, Pogies, the throwaway fish. Lowest member of the food chain. Okay. So, the downside of the Pogue life is we’re ignored and neglected. But the upside of the Pogue life? We’re ignored and neglected, which means we do whatever we want, whenever we want. So, let me introduce you to the crew.

First up… JJ Maybank, my best friend since the third grade. He's about as local as they come. Latest in a long line of fishing, drinking, smuggling, vendetta-holding salt-lifers who made their living off the water. Best surfer I know. Just don’t tell him I said that. Mild kleptomaniac and a future tax cheat.

Next up is Isabella Bailer but we just call her Iz. A former Kook up until she was ten and her dad was caught embezzling money from his company and promptly arrested, her family basically lost everything. Shortly after that she moved in next door. Definitely the Mom of the group, she basically takes care of all of us, and when she’s not cleaning up our messes, she’s working with her Mom, cleaning houses for the Kooks. Iz is the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet until you threaten her friends then you better run the other way and hope she doesn’t find you. 

After Iz there’s Kiara Carrera, or Kie, as we call her. When she’s not saving turtles or listening to Marley, or getting a dolphin tattoo, she hangs out with us. I’m not really sure why though. So, she’s a rich kid, actually. Foot in both worlds. Her family owns The Wreck, this Outer Banks institution. Total cash cow with the tourists. You know, I’m not really sure how her parents feel about us. But I think we all have had a thing for her at one point or another. 

Finally we have Pope Heyward, the brains of the operation… finalist for the Lucas T. Vanderhorst Merit Scholarship. And the smartest person I know. Little bit of a weirdo. His father’s this legendary character, Heyward. Anything you wanted on the island, Hayward could get for you. Now, I’m not sure Heyward knew what to make of his oddball son, but it didn’t matter. He was a Pogue, just like the rest of us.

So, that’s my crew. And my name is John Booker Routledge. I’ve been living on my own for the past nine months in an old fish shack on the marsh. The Château, as my dad used to call it. Where is my dad? Well he disappeared at sea nine months ago, looking for a shipwreck. Who disappears at sea these days? I miss him. Any other possible guardians who could look after me, might be your next question? Well Mom split when I was three. Last I heard she was in Colorado and Uncle T who is supposedly my legal guardian is currently in Mississippi, building houses… 

Which means it’s just me right now, on my own, hangin’ with my friends. 

🔅🔆🔅

I swung lazily in the hammock that sat between John B’s house and my own as I watched the water. The sun was starting to rise higher and I could already tell it was going to be another long hot day. I was lost in my own thoughts until I felt the hammock dip to the side. Glancing up I gave John B a small smile as he tried to readjust the balance of the hammock. 

“You know I really hate this thing?” He told me still struggling. 

“I know it's ‘cause you don’t know how to relax.” I replied, teasing him as I shifted to help balance the hammock after the change in weight. 

“I’m gonna take it down one of these days.” He threatened, finally leaning back.

“No, I love this hammock, it's my favorite spot.” 

“I know I’m only teasing you, I’m not sure you would ever talk to me again if I took away your hammock.”

“You’re damn right I wouldn't.” I told him attempting to sound serious before letting out a laugh. We laid quietly for a few minutes before I spoke up again. “So do you have big plans today?”

“Um, yes.” He responded after taking a moment to think. “I get to go down to social services and talk to some people about how there are no responsible adults in my life.”

“Oh that sounds like sooo much fun.”

“I know right? You want to come with me?”

“As much as I would love that, JJ said he was going to take me out so I could practice driving the boat.” I had my license but I was not the best driver on land and I had barely ever driven in the water. 

“Oooh you and JJ alone on a boat?” John B asked, stretching out his words and wiggling an eyebrow at me. He loved to tease me about the very obvious crush that I had on JJ every chance he got. At his teasing I took the half empty beer he had brought out with him much to his protest. 

“No, number one, you and I both know that I will never be brave enough to make a move, number two, no Pogue on Pogue macking and number three I think that Pope said he was coming with us.” I rambled about the many reasons why what John B was suggesting would never happen before I downed the rest of the beer and handed back the empty bottle.

“Wow, thanks, I wanted to drink that.” He commented on the bottle in the grass beside us, I shrugged my shoulders as if to tell him he should have expected it after his teasing. “Also if I were you I’d go confirm that JJ still knew this was happening because he’s inside with a girl right now and they looked like they might be awhile.” 

“Seriously?” I groaned trying to cover up my jealousy with annoyance. I knew that I had no right to be jealous, JJ didn’t belong to me and I was far too scared to ever confess how I really felt, not that I could even figure out how I really felt. But it still hurt to see him with different girls all the time. “I guess I’ll go investigate.”

I quickly stood from the hammock before thinking, but it was too late. As I turned around and watched the hammock flip and John B tumble off onto the grass below. 

“Thanks for the heads up.” He grumbled as I helped him to his feet. 

“Sorry. I forgot how terrible you are at sitting in a hammock.” I said trying to cover the smile on my face.

“Yeah laugh it up, your friend just got attacked by a hammock, real funny.” He replied pretending to be upset as he dusted the dirt off of himself. 

“I mean it is kind of funny.” I called over my shoulder as I made my way back towards The Château to find out who was around. “I’ll see you later John B.”

I stepped onto the porch only to find Pope stretched out on the couch fast asleep. ‘I suppose he won’t be joining us.’ I thought as I walked past him into the house. 

In the main room Kie laid on the pull out couch blowing clouds of vapor above her. I sent her a soft smile which she returned before I turned the corner towards the bedrooms in the Château. 

Only one of the room's doors was closed so I figured that was where JJ was. I raised my hand to knock on the door but the sound of a shrill giggle stopped me. I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know what was going on so my hand retracted back from the door and I walked back towards where Kie was. 

I laid down beside her with a sigh. Kie shifted closer to me as we both just hung out. 

“I’m pretty sure it’s some Touron who’ll be gone by the end of the week.” Kie finally spoke up, I raised my head to send her a questioning look. “The girl in there.” She added pointing to the room JJ was in. 

“Oh.” I nodded laying back down. I stared back up at the ceiling, contemplating whether I wanted more details about this girl. “Was she pretty?”

“I didn’t get a good look.” She responded. 

“Huh.” I responded, unsure if she was telling the truth or just trying to make me feel better. “Are you working today?” I asked, wanting to change the subject before I thought about JJ anymore. 

“Um, yeah. I have to leave soon.” Kie responded, glancing at the time on her phone. “Did you want to come with me, I might be able to sneak out fries for you.”

“No, I better stay here. I think my Mom has a few things she wants me to do before the storm tonight.” I responded, I also still half hoped that JJ would want to hang out. 

“Okay, well I’m sure that I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said, smiling as she stood to gather her stuff. 

“Yeah, tomorrow morning we’ll all go out and check out the damage.” I responded, standing up as well.

“Love you.” She cooed, pulling me into a hug. 

“Love you too.” I responded, before we both let go of each other. She then grabbed her backpack and headed for the door. “Stay safe!” I called after her as she walked towards her car. 

After Kie had left I had made my way to the dock, which is where I was now sitting watching the stormy clouds that were forming out in the open water. 

“Hey.” Pope spoke softly, alerting me to his presence, before he sat down next to me. 

“Hey, I figured you were going to sleep all day.” I teased, sparing a glance at him. 

“Yeah, I guess I was more tired than I thought.” He responded with a smile. “It looks like it’s gonna be bad.” He added, referring to the dark clouds that were beginning to move closer. 

“Yeah I just hope it isn’t too loud, last year Emmy had nightmares all summer from the thunder.” I said, remembering how bad my little sister’s nightmares had gotten. 

“Well there aren't any thunderstorms in Agatha’s path so there shouldn’t be much thunder this time.” He informed me. 

“You are too smart for me, Pope.” I said with a smile.

“Speaking of smart things, we should bring in the boat before it ends up in a tree somewhere down the road.” He said, I looked over at the boat which had sat in the water by the dock all day, waiting for us. I was more than a little bitter over the fact that JJ had stood me up. “Iz?” Pope asked, pulling me from my thoughts. 

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, yeah let’s bring in the boat.” I finally responded before standing up to help Pope.

We were able to bring in the boat before Pope had to head home to help out his Dad and I walked back to my house to help my Mom before the storm hit. 

🔅🔆🔅

The next morning I woke up to the sound of someone clattering around in the kitchen. After getting dressed I walked out to see my Mom and Emmy at the kitchen table eating breakfast in the dark. 

“No power?” I asked as I flipped the switch knowing nothing would happen. 

“Nope.” My Mom replied as she walked past me to put her bowl in the sink. “And no water. I’m gonna pick up another tank of water from Heyward on my way home from work. Seems like the storm took out the whole island. Listen I know that you wanna hang out with your friends but I need you to take down all the storm shutters at some point.”

“Mom the day after a hurricane is a free day.” I argued, I knew better than to argue with her most of the time but I still had to try.

“I know and I’m not saying right this minute but at some point it would be nice.” She surprised me with her reply, most days I would get a lecture about talking back. 

“Are you feeling okay?” I asked checking her forehead temperature. 

“Yeah are you feeling okay Mommy?” Emmy parroted from behind us, one of her new hobbies.

“Yes, I’m feeling fine.” She said, swatting my hand away from her forehead. “I’m trying to be nice, this is your last summer before you graduate and I know you’ve been working a lot.”

“Okay…” I replied, still suspicious that this was some kind of trick. Quickly kissing her cheek, I grabbed my bag and kissed the top of Emmy’s head, jogging to the door I left the house before she could change her mind. “I’ll see you when you get home.”

I heard them both say goodbye as I closed the door behind me and made my way over to where John B and JJ were standing clearing branches off the HMS Pogue. 

“Mornin’ boys.” I greeted the pair as I helped them finish clearing off the boat. 

“Someone's in a good mood.” John B suggested as he made his way over to the side of the boat I was standing by. “You and JJ have fun?” He asked in a quieter voice. 

“Nope, he completely blew me off. I don’t even think he remembered.” I replied, biting the inside of my cheek trying to not show my disappointment. “But it’s fine, today is a free day and we are going to enjoy it.” I said putting a smile back on my face as I looked over to where JJ stood oblivious to mine and John B’s conversation. 

🔅🔆🔅

“Well, look who we have here.” JJ taunted as we pulled up to the Heyward’s dock. 

“We have a safety meeting. Attendance mandatory.” John B added pretending to speak into a walkie talkie. 

“I can’t. My Pop’s got me on lockdown.” Pope replied sadly. 

“Come on, man” JJ grumbled from his spot beside me. “Your dad’s a pussy. Over.” he commented speaking into his own pretend walkie talkie. I turned to look at him surprised as I hit his arm lightly. “What? He is?” JJ tried to defend. 

“Oh, I heard that, you little bastard.” Heyward scolded JJ.

“We need your son.” I said as I directed my attention to Heyward. “Island rules. Day after a hurricane’s a free day.”

“Who made that up?” Heyward demanded moving closer to the boat. 

“Uh… Pentagon, I think. We have security clearance.” I added, trying to come up with excuses. 

“Yeah, I have a card.” JJ tried to add to my story. 

“You think I’m stupid?” Heyward challenged. 

“I'll do it tomorrow. I promise. Tomorrow.” Pope told his dad, getting ready to get into the boat. 

“You think... No, no. Hell no. You doin' it right now.” Heyward told Pope as he hopped into the boat. “Bring your ass back up here.”

“I promise I'll do it tomorrow, Dad.” Pope assured his father as we started to float away.

“We’ll bring him back in one piece.” I called back to Heyward as we started to speed off towards Kie’s dock. 

🔅🔆🔅

After picking up Kie, Pope had taken over driving the boat and the rest of us were sitting around watching JJ attempt one of his many tricks that he had tried a million times but that never seemed to work the way he wanted it to. 

“You’re getting beer in my hair!” Kie reprimanded JJ. 

In an attempt to avoid the same fate as Kie I stood up from my spot beside her. But just as I got to my feet I felt the boat shift under me and jolt to the side throwing me off the edge. After a moment underwater I realized what had happened and swam back to the surface. 

“Jesus, Pope!” I heard Kie berate Pope. 

“You okay, JJ?” John B asked, I assumed he had also been sent overboard. 

“I think my heels touched the back of my head.” I heard JJ reply from the other side of the boat. 

“Kie, you okay?” John B asked, shifting his concern away from JJ.

“I’m all right.” Kie answered John B after a moment of pause. “Where’s Iz?”

“Over here.” I called from where I was treading water, a moment later I saw JJ swimming over to where I was. We made eye contact for a moment before he scanned that rest of my face with concern making sure I was good. I gave him a reassuring smile before looking back at our friends on the boat. 

“Guys... I think there's a boat down there.” Pope said looking out from the ledge of the Pogue. 

“Shut up. What?” Kie asked moving to look into the water. “No way.”

“No, no, guys. I'm serious. There's a boat down there.” Pope added confidently. “For real. “

“Holy shit, he's right. Let's go.” Kie said, getting ready to jump into the water.

We all dove down as deep as we could and sure enough a sunken boat was sitting below the surface. 

“You guys saw that?” JJ asks as we all come up for air. A chorus of agreement followed JJ’s question as we looked at each other shocked. “That’s a Grady-White. A new one of those is like 500 Gs, easy. That’s a primo rig.”

“Yeah. That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge.” John B informed us after we had all climbed back into the Pogue. 

“You surfed the surge?” I asked, concern filling my thoughts.

“What the heck John B?” Kie added in the same tone. 

“That's my boy. Pogue style.” JJ congratulated him, as John B nodded confirming what he had just said. 

“Wait, wait. Do we know whose boat that is?” Pope asked curiously, wanting to know more about the wreck. 

“No, but we're about to find out.” John B replied as he went to grab the anchor of the boat. 

“Dude, it's too deep.” JJ warned as John B made his way over to the edge of the boat. 

“Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ.” John B challenged as he readjusted the anchor in his grip. 

“Well, I'm not resuscitating you. I'm just making that clear up front.”

“That's fine.”

“Diver down, fool.” Pope said while giving John B a mock salute. 

“Diver down.” We all called as JJ pushed John B off the side of the boat. We all leaned over the side of the boat anxiously waiting for John B to come back up. 

“Should we go get him?” I asked the others in a concerned voice. It felt like he had been gone for ages at this point and I couldn't spot him in the murky water. Moments after I spoke John B broke the surface tension in a fit of coughs. 

“Oh, my God. That took forever!” Kie said, relieved as we all allowed John B some space to climb onto the Pogue. 

“I found this motel key.” John B supplied holding up the key while he got into the boat. 

“Great! We salvaged a motel key.” JJ spoke sarcastically as I inspected the key that John B had found. 

“Guys, we should report the wreck to the coast guard.” Kie suggested “Maybe we'll get a finder's fee.”

“Yeah, and not work all summer.” JJ added, hopefully as we speed off toward town. “Thanks, Agatha, ya batch.”

🔅🔆🔅

After an unsuccessful talk with the coast guard, as in we were completely ignored because they had no interest in what a group of teenagers had to say, we decided to head straight to the source and check out the motel. 

The boat slowed down as we got closer to the motel and began to take in the scene before us. It was a disaster, mattresses thrown on the lawn, windows broken, and trees that had been uprooted or close to it. I had to wonder how much of this damage was caused by the hurricane and how much was caused by a neglectful owner. 

“I thought the Château looked bad.” JJ commented from the front of the boat. 

“This place is a shitshow.” John B added. 

“Doesn't look like a place somebody with a Grady-White stays.” I said, confused as to why someone with such a nice boat would be staying somewhere so rundown.

“No. Looks like a place someone with a Grady-White would get killed.” Pope suggested.

“All right. Here we go.” JJ started jumping out of the boat ready to tie us to the shore. “This is your captain speaking. HMS Pogue comin' in for landing.”

“We good?” John B asked, standing beside me. 

“Yeah, we good.” JJ confirmed. 

“All right. Here goes nothin'.” I stated, while I tried to take the key from Pope’s hand, who had elected to stay on the boat with Kie as lookouts. 

“Hey.” Pope said seriously, while he held the key just out of reach.

“Yeah?”

“Don't let them do anything stupid.”

“Yeah, I’ll try.” I gave Pope a reassuring smile as he passed me the key, still holding a look of uncertainty on his face.

“Uh, be careful.” I heard Kie tell John B from behind me. “I mean it.”

JJ offered me his hand as I jumped out of the boat but I just ignored it, still a little mad that he had forgotten about me the day before. I made eye contact with him for a moment and saw a look of confusion grace his features before disappearing. I began walking away from the boat as JJ waited a moment for John B to finish talking to Kie. I listened to them talking behind me.

“Just be so careful, John.” I heard JJ tease as I started making my way across the front lawn of the hotel. 

“God, you're so weird.” John B replied.

“What was that about?”

“I don't know. Maybe she wants us to be careful?”

“Ever since she heard you're being threatened with exile, she's just been, like, <Oh! Be so careful, John B.>” JJ mimicked what Kie had told John B earlier as we started to climb the stairs to the second floor. “<Oh, just give me that John D already.> Just ask Iz she sees it too, right Iz?” JJ asked me. 

I paused for a moment when I reached the top of the stairs, turning around to meet JJ’s eyes

“Are you done?” I asked in a sour tone. 

“What?” He responded with confusion evident in his voice and the smile falling from his face. I rolled my eyes before turning around and beginning to count room numbers. “Why are you so mad at only me? What’d I do?”

“Dude.” I heard John B start saying. “You completely blew her off yesterday.”

I was curious what else they said to each other but their voices became muffled as I walked too far ahead. Stopping at the end of the hall in front of room twenty-nine. I turned to find the boys jogging towards me, John B gave me a small smile and JJ had a look that almost resembled remorse on his face. 

“This is it?” John B asked as JJ took the key that I was holding up in front of me. 

“Housekeeping.” JJ called out in a shrill voice knocking a few times on the door. 

“Should we try it?” John B asked, pointing to the key in JJ’s hand.

“No power. No security cameras. No one's gonna know.” JJ reasoned as he pushed the key into the lock. It felt like we could still get in trouble if we were caught but before I could voice my concerns JJ was already half way into the room.

“Huh.” I muttered, as the two of us followed JJ in. It was dark and smelled of mildew, definitely not the kind of place someone would stay if they had the funds to buy a Grady-White. 

“Check the bag. See if there's a name on there somewhere.” John B instructed JJ as I moved past the pair to open the blinds at the side of the room.  

“A jacket.”

“No name on the jacket?”

“No. It's a nice jacket, though.”

“Definitely over 50. He's got New Balances.”

I listened to their conversation as I walked across the small room into the bathroom. As I moved through the bathroom and rustled through the medicine cabinet, I heard the beeping of a safe in the other room. 

“Uh… JJ? Iz? You’re gonna want to see this” I heard John B call from the other room. 

Entering the room I looked at John B first who was looking over to where JJ stood with wide eyes. Following John B’s line of sight my own eyes widened as I realized what JJ was holding.

“Is that a gun?” I asked as if it could be anything else. 

“Put the gun back, JJ!” John B tried to reason with him. 

“This is a fucking spendy gatt, man. Just…” JJ said, eyes wide like a kid in a candy store. “Bam! Bam!” He mimicked the sound of a gun as he pointed it around the room.

“JJ, we’re not stealing anything.” John B told him for the hundredth time. 

“Just take a pic of me. Right here.” JJ pleaded with John B, but my attention had shifted to the sound of a rock landing on the window sill. 

I pushed past the boys as they continued arguing with each other, and looked out the window.

“Cops. Cops!” I could see Kie and Pope whisper yell while they pointed in the direction of the door. Turning around quickly I waved at the boys to get their attention. 

“Guys, the cops are here.” I told them in a hushed tone. John B moved towards the door to see if he could hear anything. “How are we gonna get out?” I asked them, feeling panic start to rise through my chest. 

“Out the window?” John B suggested as he pushed open the small window as far as it would go. 

With John B out first and standing to the right of the window, I followed quickly behind him moving to the left so that JJ could get out. In an attempt to keep us from being seen JJ pressed me against the wall of the motel, which meant that I was now pinned between him and the wall. My chest rose and fell unevenly as I squeezed my eyes shut hoping the cops couldn’t see us. As we we’re standing on the ledge I felt JJ’s hand grab on to mine and give it a reassuring squeeze. 

“Listen Sweetheart, I’m sorry I ditched you yesterday. I didn’t mean to forget.” JJ whispered to me, his head was right next to my ear and I could feel his breath fan out against my skin as he spoke. 

“As much as I appreciate your apology, I really don’t think this is the time JJ.” I whispered back terrified of every word that left my tongue. 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right, sorry.” JJ replied, shifting his weight slightly. 

“Guys! Shut. Up.” John B whisper yelled from where he stood on the ledge. 

As we both turned to look at John B I felt cold metal touch my free hand, startling me I pulled my hand back swiftly and as I did I heard a clattering as something fell from the ledge. 

“JJ, tell me that wasn’t what I think it was?” I demanded as quietly as I could. 

“Well you tell me what you think it was and then I’ll tell you it wasn’t.” He said and I could hear the smirk in his voice, shocking me that he could still be joking when we were about to be caught at any moment, I rolled my eyes at him. 

🔅🔆🔅

After our narrow escape from the motel, myself and the Pogues were headed towards town, discussing what we were going to do next. 

“The cops took everything like it was a crime scene.” John B stated still sounding shocked at what he had seen back at the motel. 

“Did you guys find anything?” Pope asked us curiously. My gaze shifted to JJ as I already knew what he had taken. 

“Did we find anything? No, I don't think so. Oh, yeah, we did.” JJ responded smiling as he held up the gun, and to my surprise a wad of cash. I let my head fall into my hands wondering how JJ could be so dumb.

“What the hell?” Pope asked standing, panic written all over his features. 

“Dude, chill.” JJ started walking over to where Pope stood. “Better than cops having it.”

“I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship.”

“Hey, hey, hey. Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh.” JJ said, grabbing Pope by the shoulders in an attempt to calm him down. “At least you have us, right?”

“I'm living the nightmare.”

🔅🔆🔅

After a trip to the marina and witnessing Scooter Grubbs get taken away by a coroner, we were back at the Château trying to figure out what to do next. 

“Okay. So, um... we didn't see anything.” Pope spoke up as he paced in front of us all. “We don't know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia.”

“Actually, Pope's right for once.” JJ stated, looking at us all. “See, I agree with you sometimes.” He assured Pope. “Deny, deny, deny.”

“Guys, we can't keep that money.” Kie piped into the conversation. “We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs. Otherwise, it's bad karma.”

“Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too.” I added referring to the gun JJ was still in possession of. 

“We gotta go dark.” Pope suggested. 

“None of it makes sense.” John B finally said, breaking his silence. “This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about. Same dude that's buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole. Shit, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas. We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than 40 bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden, he's got a Grady-White? Just sayin'.”

“So how does a marina rat get a Grady-White?” I asked, thinking out loud. 

“Prostitution.” Pope suggested making me laugh under my breath. 

“Okay...” John B stated, trying to move past Pope's comment. “Or maybe they're trying to fly under the radar, no aerial surveillance. They don't do that stuff during a hurricane. What does that mean? JJ?”

“They were straight smugglin'.” JJ finished John B’s thought. 

“Smugglin'.” John B confirmed. “And I guarantee there's a serious amount of contraband in that wreck.”

“For the record, if that is a smuggling ship with illegal contraband on the inside of it…” Pope said and I could tell he was thinking about all the terrible outcomes. “...it probably belongs to someone else.”

“Minor details.”

“They could come looking for it.” Pope warned. “Taking it would be catastrophically stupid.”

“Right. Well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time.” JJ reasoned holding up the money that he had now decided belonged to us. “All we need to do is figure out a way to get into the cargo hold of that wreck.”

“Until then, we just lay low. Just act normal.” John B added. 

“Right. And how exactly do we do that?” I asked. I still felt like Pope was making a lot of good points that the others were not listening to. 

“Kegger?” Kie suggested looking at the rest of us for confirmation. 

🔅🔆🔅

You can't understand the Outer Banks without understanding the boneyard. It's kinda like a three-layer burrito. There's us and our friends, the working-class derelicts. Then, there are the Kooks, the rich second-homers. They're mostly from poncey-ass boarding schools, just rich trustafarian posers. Our natural enemies. And then, there are the Tourons. Totally clueless. Here for a week on vacation with their families. Chum for the sharks.

Later in the day after the sun had set, the kegger was coming to life, basically the entirety of the island's teen population was in attendance and the beach was getting pretty crowded. Earlier on I had been hanging around with JJ, all had been forgiven between us and we were back to cracking jokes. 

Up until JJ spotted a girl he wanted to flirt with and I was left alone. Since then I had started chatting with a couple of Tourons who had taken one surfing lesson earlier in the week and now thought they knew everything about the sport. Desperate to make my escape I searched through the crowd for my friends. Just as I was about to make up an excuse I heard shouting from the water. 

“Sorry, I have to go.” I told the pair lamely. “I think that’s my friends calling me.”

“Okay. Bye.” They replied as I walked away. 

Much to my horror, once I had reached the shore it turned out to actually be my friends shouting, and the shouting had turned into a full out fight. I recognized John B in the water but the Kook he was fighting had their back facing me. I pushed my way through the crowd once I spotted Kie and made my way to stand beside her. 

“What the hell is going on?” I asked, looking at her face which was covered in fear. 

“Topper and John B started arguing and now they're trying to kill each other.” Kie answered, watching as the fight got worse. That’s when I noticed the Kook Princess, Sarah Cameron, trying to calm down her angry boyfriend. 

I used to know Topper when I was young. We had been friends but when I had moved to the Cut we lost touch. Now as he stood over John B I barely recognized him. He wasn’t the young boy I had once known, now he was a cruel person who thought he was better than others just because his parents had money.

“Hey, John B, don't make me drown you like your old man, all right?” I heard Topper challenge John B.

After that comment I had had enough and I was desperately looking around the crowd trying to figure out what I could do to stop them. I felt useless as I definitely couldn’t just jump in there, I had no idea how to fight. But we had to do something before Topper killed John B. 

As my eyes scanned the crowd I noticed JJ who was already looking at me. His once bright eyes looked dark and it seemed like he knew exactly what he was about to do. I shook my head as I tried to make my way over to him, but he was already stalking towards where Topper and John B fought. I had a feeling I knew what he was about to do but I didn’t want to believe it. 

I held my breath as I heard the crowd go silent when JJ clicked the gun's safety off. 

“Yeah, you know what that is.” JJ threatened as Topper pulled away from John B. “Your move, broski.”

“Come on. Chill, dude!” Topper responded, trying to reason with him.

“Put the gun down.” Sarah cried desperately. 

“Did you say somethin', Princess?” JJ asked, not taking his eyes off of Topper. 

“We're good. We're good.” Topper tried to tell him, raising his hands in surrender. 

“Kie! Iz! Can you check your psycho friend, please?” I heard Sarah screaming behind me pulling me out of the trance I had been frozen in. I took a few steps closer to JJ but I didn’t want to get too close when he had a gun pointed at someone. I had seen him get in fights before but never like this, this was different. I really thought that he might kill Topper and that terrified me.

“JJ.” I spoke softly so as to not startle him. He turned to glance back at me but kept the gun pointed at Topper who was looking back at us. “Think about what you’re doing.” I continued speaking calmly, meanwhile I could hear Sarah practically sobbing behind me. “You have to let him go.” I said, at this JJ nodded ever so slightly before pulling the gun away from Topper. 

“Okay, everyone, listen up! Get the hell off our side of the island!” JJ yelled into the crowd of people before shooting the gun into the air. 

The second JJ moved Topper was out of sight and Sarah wasn’t far behind. While Kie and Pope began to berate JJ over his actions I ran into the water to go check on John B. 

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked John B once I reached him, holding his shoulders so he wouldn’t fall back into the water. He mumbled back something incoherent as he swayed in my grasp. “Guys! Can you help?” I asked the three Pogues who still stood arguing behind me. 

With their help we got John B out of the water and closer to the fire that had been started a while ago. We all sat silently there for sometime before John B was able to get up again and we all headed home. 

🔅🔆🔅

After a sleepless night, we were all back together at the Château, I sat next to Kie as she lazily hit a pair of bongos that sat on the table between us and Pope. JJ was further away in the yard throwing god knows what into the grass. I stood up as I saw John B make his way over to us. Meeting him halfway between the main house and where the rest of our friends were I pulled him into a bone crushing hug. 

“What was that for?” He asked, chuckling while he looked at me. 

“I’m just glad to see you’re okay. I can’t lose you, any of you guys.” I explained making myself think back to last night. 

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” He joked trying to lighten the mood. 

“Yeah, I know.” I said the smile returning to my face. “Hey, by the way I saw the cop car driving away this morning, is everything okay?”

“Eh, it’s alright Peterkin stopped by, told me to stay out of trouble and to clean up the house.” John B explained as we made our way over to the others. “Look, I'm callin' it off. All right?” John B announced to everyone. “Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS.”

“And you believed her?” JJ questioned. 

“Yes, I believe her, JJ.” 

“An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop.” He added, trying to make his point. 

“All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out. It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun.”

“You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass.”

“Topper was gonna drown me?”

“Sure looked like it.”

“Alright, calm down.” I spoke up trying to get them to stop.

“Come on. They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win!” JJ started to raise his voice. 

“Look, it's okay!” Kie reasoned, also trying to help me calm them down. 

“No, it's not okay!” JJ argued, turning his attention to John B. “It is not! They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it. I know you do. And I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk.” JJ added pointing a finger at Pope. “ And you...I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother?” He asked Kie. “But us three.” He finished looking at John B and I. “We got nothin' to lose!” 

“I don't want to talk about this.” John B told JJ as he began to walk away. 

“So that's it?” JJ asked and I could tell he was losing hope in John B. 

“Just get out of my way, bro.”

“John B, listen to me. I have a plan.”

JJ telling us he had a plan? That was never a good start. 

🔅🔆🔅

We all gathered around Kie who was inspecting the tanks that John B had stolen from the Cameron's. JJ had tried to argue that we were going to return them so technically we were just borrowing them but I didn’t think the Cameron's would see it that way or the cops they would inevitably call if they found out. 

“This is empty. You took empty tanks? I…” Kie told John B sounding defeated. “Okay, this one's a quarter full. It's enough for one of us. Love it when a plan comes together. Does anybody know how to dive?”

“It's kind of a Kook sport.” JJ replied. 

“I... read about it.” Pope responded cautiously. 

“Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die.” Kie reasoned.

“Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?” JJ asked. 

“If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends.” Pope told him.

“Bends like, bend over and…” JJ asked, making me roll my eyes at him. 

“The bends kill you.” Pope said seriously and JJ straightened up.

“I can do it.” I finally said standing up at the front of the boat. “I went diving a few times with my dad when I was younger.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” JJ stated, a look of worry crossing his features. 

“I’ll be fine, it’s like riding a bike, you don’t forget.” I reasoned. “Right?”

“Let me do some calculations real quick.” Pope said while he looked through his bag for a notebook. 

“Are you serious? You’re gonna do some calculations right now?” John B teased Pope with a smile on his face. 

“Hey, let the man do his calculations, alright?” JJ told John B before glancing over at me again. 

“That boat's about 30 feet down. Okay.” Pope stated, thinking out loud. “So it'll take 25 minutes at that depth.”

“Twenty-five.” I confirmed half listening to him half focusing on keeping my hands from shaking, suffice to say I was a little nervous. 

“Which means you need to make your safety stop at about... ten feet. All right? For two minutes.” 

“Okay, ten feet, two minutes.” I confirmed, attempting to remember everything he was telling me. 

Kie suddenly stood up from her spot and jumped off the side of the boat, disappearing into the dark water. 

“What was that all about?” Pope asked, distracted. 

“I don't know, but I liked it. A lot.” JJ commented. 

“Anything else I need to know?” I asked, looking at the boys who were all very clearly still thinking about what Kie had just done. 

“All right. Yeah. Uh, when you... uh, when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold.” John B stated remembering where he was. 

“You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?” JJ told me, holding up a key and miming it in the air. 

“Yeah I think I know how a lock works JJ.” I told him sarcastically, as I took the key from his grasp. 

“Hey! I tied my T-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down.” Kie said finally emerging from the water. “It's where you need to do your safety stop.”

“Okay, thanks.” I responded giving her a smile before pulling the heavy tank onto my back. I could barely pull the straps tight because of how much my hands were shaking. Seeing me struggle, JJ made his way over to me and finished strapping me in. Giving a thumbs up as he took a step back. 

“Keep an eye on this.” Pope said, pointing to the console attached to the tank before handing it to me. “You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress.”

“Okay, how much do I need?” I asked. 

“Unclear.” He answered truthfully after a brief pause. “Breathe as little as possible.”

“Zen. Think Zen, you know?” JJ commented trying to get me to relax. He took my hand in his while I looked around at everyone. 

“Yeah. Got it.” I responded, moving closer to the edge of the boat. 

“Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so... better get a move on.” Pope said. I knew he was just trying to be helpful but it did not help me feel very Zen. 

I was about to pull down my mask from where it was sitting on top of my head when I realized JJ still had a tight grip on my hand. 

“I’m gonna need this.” I told him, holding up our interlocked hands. 

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that.” He said, awkwardly letting go of my hand and rubbing the back of his neck. “Be careful, yeah?”

“I’ll be fine.” I responded, but I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him of myself. “Diver down?”

“Diver down.” My friends all confirmed as I pulled the mask down over my face before jumping into the water. 

🔅🔆🔅

A couple of minutes after Iz had dove off the edge of the Pogue, the rest of the group sat waiting anxiously in silence for their friend to return. Well everyone but JJ who was currently pacing back and forth across the floor of the small boat, seemingly mumbling something under his breath about how Iz would be fine. The other Pogues watched, baffled as to how he could do things like this and yet still not realize how he truly felt about the girl who had just dove into the water. 

JJ and the rest of the Pogues were pulled out of their thoughts by the sound of sirens and the flashing lights of a police boat. 

“Shit.” Kie said, alerting everyone that the cops were pulling up next to them. 

“Guys, that's the police.” Pope said, the panic in his voice rising with each word. 

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me.” John B said standing up. 

“Yep, that's the police. Just act frickin' normal.” JJ confirmed what they were all seeing, meanwhile acting the least natural the Pogues had ever seen him. JJ never panicked. “Evening, officers.”

“How you kids doing?” Deputy Shoupe asked the group, passing a rope over to connect the boats. “You know the marsh is closed?”

“No. No. Wow. I didn't know that. Why... Why is it closed?” Pope asked, trying to look calm.

“Well, we're conducting a search out here. Boat went down. Seen anything?”

“No. No boats. No.” John B responded. 

“Where's your other friend you always hang out with? Who’s that, Bailer’s kid, uh, Isabella? She here?” Shoupe asked.

“She's working.” Kie lied. 

“Hm.” Shoupe hummed, not entirely convinced. “I'm gonna check your little boat out.”

“Yeah, hop aboard.” John B said, waving a hand. “You wanna check... uh, check her out.”

Meanwhile below the surface Iz had found what she was looking for and began unlocking the hold. 

After Shoupe had inspected their life jackets, he made his way to the front of the boat, putting his sunglasses on and looking out onto the water. From the back of the boat JJ also scanned the water, he thought that he saw something move beneath the surface and prayed that Shoupe hadn’t seen the same thing. 

🔅🔆🔅

After getting into the hold I found a small bag and took it with me as I swam towards the anchor of the boat so I could make my safety stop before heading back up. 

From my spot ten feet below the surface I looked up, noticing the shadow of a new boat and someone looking into the water. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment as if that would help me keep from getting caught before opening them and looking at the console in my left hand. There was less than thirty seconds of air left and I was panicking even more than before. 

Just in time the figure left and moments later the second boat disappeared. With my last breath of air I swam to the surface pulling off my mask as I took a huge breath of fresh air. 

“There she is!” JJ pointed at me letting out a sigh of relief. “Don’t scare us like that!”

“How'd it go down there?” John B asked as I made my way to the ladder on the back of the boat. 

“Did you find anything?�� Pope asked, pulling me up.

“Did I find anything?” I answered the question by holding up the small duffle bag that I had found in the hold. 

“Yeah, there we go! That's my girl!” JJ hollered scooping me up into a hug as John B took the bag from me. 

“Jeez.” I laughed as JJ let go of me again and Kie made her way to my side. 

“You okay?” She asked, a look of concern painting over her usual happy expression. 

“Yeah, I ran out of air.” I said trying not to worry her but realizing my words did the opposite of that. 

“You scared the shit out of me.” JJ said, snaking an arm around my waist. I knew he just thought of me as a friend but his actions still gave me butterflies, it was nice to know he cared. 

“Yeah, the cops were up here, but, uh... we took care of 'em.” Pope informed me. 

“Hey, guys? Guys, bogey, two o'clock.” Kie said, pulling us from our previous conversation. 

“Do you recognize that boat?” Pope asked.

“I've never seen it.”

“What are they doing here? The marsh is closed.” John B asked and I couldn’t help but smile at the irony of his words, after all we knew better than to be there and yet here we were. 

“Let's not stick around and find out.” JJ stated, moving to the front of the boat. 

“Should we wait on 'em?” Pope asked. 

“Are you joking?” I asked, helping start the boat up. “JJ, hurry up.”

“Guys, don't wait for me. Go.” JJ told us as he pulled the anchor up as fast as he could. 

“Go right.” I suggested to John B who was standing behind the wheel, thinking if we went further into the marsh they might not follow us. 

“Let's go!” Kie rushed as the boat turned behind us. “Hey, guys, they're following us.”

“This can't be good.” I said as JJ moved to stand beside me.

“Dude, you gotta go faster!” JJ urged John B as the boat began to gain on us. 

“I'm going!” He said while trying to maneuver the marsh that was filled with thick weeds. 

Looking back I noticed that one of the men had leant down and was now standing back up holding something I could quite make out.

“Uh, guys what is that?” I asked as everyone but John B looked back. 

“What the…” Pope started but the rest of his question died out at the sound of a gunshot. 

As everyone one dropped down to the floor of the boat I felt as if I had been pushed, there was a heavy weight on my chest.

“Holy shit!” I heard Kie mutter as I opened my eyes realizing that JJ was on top of me. This was now the second time in the past two days that I had been pinned between JJ and another surface. Had it been under different circumstances I might have been able to enjoy it. 

“John B, get down!” I heard JJ yell as I felt the vibrations of his voice echo through my own chest. 

“We're gonna die!” I heard Pope say hopelessly from beside me.

“Shit! Pope, move.” Kie muttered, I couldn’t see much but I thought I saw Kie walking to the back of the boat carrying something. 

“Get down, Kie!” John B yelled as the man in the other boat continued to shoot at us. 

Then the shooting stopped as the sound of the other boat died out. 

“Oh my god.” Pope sighed, sounding very relieved as everyone started to get back up except for JJ.

“JJ?” I asked, looking up at him. His face turned towards me, inches away from mine as he hovered over me.

“Yeah?” He asked, sounding completely oblivious.

“You gonna let me get up?” I asked, smiling.

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that Sweetheart.” He said standing before he offered me his hand. A look flashed across his face that I couldn’t quite recognize, if I didn’t know better I would think it was disappointment?

🔅🔆🔅

After arriving back at the Château we all gathered on the dock. To take a look at what I had found in the hold of the Grady-White. 

“What do you think it is?” Kie asked us. 

“Gotta be money, right?” John B responded with another question. 

“That or a couple of keys with street value from the low-to-mid-mils!” JJ added. 

“Can we please just open the bag?” Pope let out looking impatient. 

“Wow, Pope. That's a rare outburst of emotion.” John B teased as he stretched out the wait even longer. 

“Okay. You guys are literally killing me with anticipation.” I said in the same boat as Pope, urging them to hurry up. 

“Alright Sweetheart, calm down.” JJ said from beside me putting a hand on my arm to calm me down. 

“We almost died over this.” Pope added to our argument to open the bag faster. 

John B opened the bag pulling out a metal canister. After opening that too he let the contents spill out onto his hand. Disappointment rose up as we looked to see that all it was was an old compass. While taking a second look I thought that I recognized it from somewhere but wasn’t sure. 

“Oh, wow. Yup. That's about right.” Pope stated, standing from his crouched position. “Good job, everybody. We found a compass.”

“Dude, what? It's not worth anything.” JJ told John B who was staring at the compass in awe. 

“This was my father's.” Were the only words that left John B’s lips. 

🔅🔆🔅

After the disappointment of not finding much of anything after we all risked our lives we all headed home. Entering my house the sun was setting outside and it seemed empty. But my Mom’s car was parked just off the road and I could hear faint talking coming from the back of the house. I walked through the living room and kitchen, past the stairs that led to the loft which was my Mom’s room. Past my own room and the bathroom before coming to a stop in front of my little sister’s door. Leaning against the door frame, I saw my Mom reading Emmy a book by candle light, I assumed that the power was still out. 

Walking back to the main room I started to make myself a sandwich, realizing that I hadn’t eaten much of anything all day. Just as I was about to take the first bite. I heard Emmy’s door close and my Mom entered the room, holding a candle in her hand. 

“Hey, Honey.” She greeted me as she set down the candle. “How was your day?”

“Good.” I responded in between bites of the sandwich I had made. “Pretty uneventful.”

“Really?” She asked, almost surprised. “I saw Shoupe on my way out of town and he said that he saw your friends out on the marsh when they were doing their search for Scooter’s boat. He also said that you weren't there. Your friends told him something about you working, but I didn’t know you were working at all for a few days.”

“Oh really?” I said trying to figure out how to cover the real story up. “Um, Mr. Cameron came down and asked if I could pick up another shift. I guess his kids have been spending a lot of time inside since the storm so it was a bit of a mess over there.”

“He drove all the way down here?”

“Yeah well since the phone lines are down he couldn’t call.” 

“Huh, it seems strange he would come all the way down when he could just wait a couple more days for us to come over.”

“Yeah well it was really bad. I would have taken pictures if my phone wasn’t dead.”

“Oh no I don’t need pictures, I’ve met those kids and cleaned that house, I believe that they could make a terrible mess.” She said seemingly believing everything I was telling her, she paused for a moment before asking another question. “You don’t know why your friends were in the marsh do you?”

“Well” I started, thinking about what I could say that would get us all off the hook. “They were actually waiting to pick me up. Yeah. Cause I went up to Figure Eight with Mr. Cameron but I didn’t want to make him drive me all the way home. So they hung out in the marsh I guess while they waited.”

“How’d you call them?” Mom asked, picking apart my story. 

“Walkie Talkies.” I blurted out. “You know the ones that Heyward got Pope and I a few years ago? And that must have been why they were in the marsh even though it was closed. You know cause the walkie talkies only work for a certain radius, and the Cameron house is probably too far from here.”

“Yeah I guess so.” She said moving towards me to grab my now empty plate. 

“Thanks.” I said, as she put my plate in the sink. “I think I’m gonna head back over to John B’s if that's okay.”

“Of course just don’t forget to sleep at some point. You do still require sleep.” She told me. 

“I know, I’ll see you later.”

“Love you!” I heard her call after me as I closed the door and made the short walk over to John B’s where I saw him and JJ lounging on the porch. 

🔅🔆🔅

[janevx]

maybe| Yuta Nakamoto VI

XiYangenre: mafia au, angst, smut

Part 5

 At the morning Yuta was pissed of and Soyeon was scared. She was mad at herself, about what she did. He didn’t listen to him, he clearly said: Be at home before 10 p.m and here she is. Waiting for Yuta to come and talk with her.

— How did you sleep?

— Fine, thanks.

— I thought about this, so.. — He smirked  — You are disallow to leave home without me. You not gonna hang out with friends, honey.

— I understand and I’m sorry again. 

— By the way, be ready at 8 p.m, we gonna leave.

— Where?

— Mafia event, you know Taeyong likes to make parties and today is 4th anniversary since he had made NCT, so yeah. Big event.

— I don’t have any clot —

— You have, I bought you some.

 And with this he left her. She could see that he doesn’t show this, but he was really mad at her. His gaze tells everything. And this event. First real event together. She knew that she will have to act as good couple and lovely wife of mafia member. But she promised herself  — I’M GONNA STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM AS KILLER AND MAFIA MEMBER AND START THINKING ABOUT HIM AS HER HUSBAND.

---------------------

 Time passed really fast. She walked around home and spent a lot time in garden. She fell in love with their garden, what means that she gonna spend more time in this place. 

 Yuta bought her this dress:

 In his opinion this dress suits Soyeon very well and suits event. She feel a little bit weird. She doesn’t know a lot of people only a little Johnny, Taeyong and good Mark who really like Soyeon and she likes him back. How this people act? Behave? Any other girls? Are they mean? So many questions.

 When they drive in car to the place, Yuta noticed that his wife looks a little bit scared. He doesn’t know why, but wants to comfort her a little.

— Don’t be stressed. I’ll be by your side all the time. No one gonna hurt you, and if some new member gonna say to you something or whatever..Be sure I’ll know what to do with them.

— Thank you Yuta.  — She smilled  — It’s just all new. I only know Mark, who was nice to me and you know..

— You’ll meet a lot my friends, maybe you will like them?  — He smirked  — But remember, you are my wife and I’m not allow to anyone to touch you, got it, sewatheart?

— I got it, Yuta.

— Good girl.

 To the end of the way they stayed silent. It was nice. No stressful conversations and other shit what would make her more shy. They arrived and see a lot sports and expensive cars. Poeple greated with each other. Big restaurant. They walked in with smiles at their faces and see Taeyong, who smiled to them back.

— My best friend and his wife! C’mon!

 He hugged them and they talk a little. Then he had to talk with other gesuts, so they came to their seats. Everything looks so expensive in Soyeon’s eyes. Fot her it was hard to accept this.

 After 10 minutes everyone were at their places. There were a lot people, maybe 100 maybe 200? Taeyong looks really good. Red hair suits his face and scarry face. Outfit also looks expensive and good. He stood up, because he always gives a speach.

— At the first place, I want to say thank you for everyone for comming. Thank you guys! I know that for everyday I’m not that nice and I scream a lot, I know, but just the way I am, I geuss.  — Everyone laugh  — As you know today is 4th anniversary. 4 fuckin years with you! 4 years with my boys who are my family. Thank you for your hard work and for everything, I know that usually our work is hard and we know that in every moment we can die, but we sweared for us to this job. NCT still growing, we are really big and no motherfuckers gonna bother us. This fuckers are afraid of us, Yakuza, Triada, this little BTS fuckers and other gangs from South Korea, they are afraid of us. Thanks to Kun and Lucas, Triada and China are afraid of us. They did a really good job. They still do! Work hard for everyhting. But here is one guy who work the hardest. As you can know Yakuza is second the biggest mafia, we are first ofcourse.  — Everyone laugh again at his facial expression  — But my buddy who take care of Japan bussines is here, Yuta Nakamoto! He works hard everyday to make things right. Thanks to this guy Yakuza is afraid of us. Yuta mate, I love you! Also, thanks to rest like Taeil, Johnny, Jaehyun, WinWin, Mark, Jungwoo, Doyoung, Haechan, Hendrey, Ten, Yangyang, Xiaojun, Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, Jisung and Chenle! Ofcourse to others too. And now let’s just enjoy this night!

 Everyone claped for their boss. Soyeon too. But she was in schock. She was never imagined that Yuta takes care about Japan and made Yakuza scared. She heard about Yakuza since she was little kid and now she is married to guy who made them fear. She was kinda proud. Her husband works really hard.

 When everyone stoped clap Yuta stand up. Soyeon was curious why, but she just was waiting.

— I’m sorry that I take your time, but I want to say something. As you could see I bring her my wife.  — He smiled and touch her hand  — I want to invite everyone to our wedding in Japan. I’m send you info in next few days. Thanks for attention.

 Everyone clap again and were very happy for their “second” boss. Soyeon almost chocked. She didn’t know that they gonna do real wedding. 

 Yuta talks with Soyeon, but then with others members.

— So, Teail this is Soyeon my wife, Soyeon this is Taeil my friend.

 They shook their hands and smiled. She doesn’t want to take all Yuta’s attention so she leave him in conversation, but then next to her was Mark.

— Hello Soyeon! Congratulations for you and Yuta!  — His smile was wide

— Thank you Mark.

— How do you feel? Everything is ok?

— Fine.  — She smiled  — It’s different just, but everyone seems so nice.

 They talked about everything. She was happy that she found a friend in Mark, so she wouldn’t be that alone. Soyeon stood up and inform Yuta that she going to toilet, and Yuta only nodded.

 She walked in. She sat down and open her purse just to take pills for headache. She was about to get out, but she heard her name.

— You saw this Yuta’s wife?

— Yup, and I thought what the fuck is wrong with Yuta, he fucked half of girls in his friends clubs and now he is married, fucked up isn’t it?

— Exactly! He was fuck devil and now got married.

— Maybe he doesn’t love her. He fucked with Jungsoo month ago.

 Momentaly she felt a little stomach ache. She knew that he can do this, but she had a little hope that he didn’t.

— By the way, I thought god of sex would date some kind of goddes and here we are this.

— Damn, shut the fuck up.  —  She laugh  — You are jelous, right? She is fuckin pretty. Every girl here is jelous because of her look. 

— Damn it, yes, but we should act unbothered.

— Yes, she should know her place.

 Yuta told her many times that she should proved another women where is their places. She felt a bit of confidence so she left cabin and with smile walk trough the mirror. She corrected her lips and look into eyes of this girl. They look a little bit scared, that she hear everything.

— You don’t have to act unbothered, if you know that I’m pretty just leave this like this and let’s not behave like bitches.

 They nodded, say silent sorry and leave the toilet. When she was about to do the same, she saw a woman.

— It was kinda funny.

— Excuse me, but who are you? And yes, it was, thank you.

— Moon Jihyun, I’m Taeil’s wife. I know I look older, but fuck this that I’m three years older.

— Soyeon Nakamoto, Yuta’s wife.

— Don’t be bother because of them, this was Katherine Doyoung’s girlfriend and Minsoo, Ten girlfriend. They are just for some time I guess. Boys doesn’t like long term relatonships.

— Thank you for advice. I shouldn’t go out and said th —

— What? Nope! You did great! At your place I will do the same! You showed them their place and you did this with class, I like you.

— O thank you, that;s so nice! I like you too.

— C’mon, give me your phone number and maybe we can hang out together, are you in?

— Ofcourse, I am!

 She gave her phone number and together they came back to their seats. Jihyun did a little bit twist and change seats with Jungwoo, so now Taeil sits next to Yuta, and Jihyun sits next to Soyeon.

— I know. It’s always hard at the begginig. This full mafia family, but remember we all family right now. I will make sure to make more female nights, so we can know each other better and comfort. Belive me, not evey girl are bitches like this two.

— It’s nice from you, thank you! Thanks to you I feel more comfortable than before.

— No need to thank you. It was my pleasure to met you, Soyeon.

 Both of them were there till midnight. They decided to leave, because Yuta was tired and Soyeon have to go with him no matther what she likes it or not. They be in his card and he couldn’t stop smile.

— Somethings happend? You look so happy.

— No, I’m just glad that you feel comfortable and that you likes our noona Jihyun.

— I have question and I don’t know if I should ask you about this, because I did something wrong yesterday, but..

— Don’t be shy. Go ahead and ask me.

— Could we act like really marriage? I know that you likes another women and you had sex with them, it’s okay. But can you act like my husband? If yes I could finally look at you as my husband not as killer.

 At this words his jaw drop. Why she knows about women? After news that he gonna be hers husband he didin’t meet with any other girl. But it’s hurt him a little, that she think about him as some fuck boy, but also he was happy that she wanted to look at him as her husband.

— Ey, I haven’t met with any other woman since I met you.  — He smiled  — We can try, we should start act like marriage.

-------

 They were in their bedroom. Both in pajamas. Both smiling. Yuta even forget about what Soyeon did and was smiling. Soyeon was about to fall asleep, but Yuta catches her attention.

— Can I hug you?

— Ofcourse, you can.

 Both of them smiled, and Yuta put his arm around Soyeon and first time since very long time he falls asleep with smile on his lips. First time since very long time Soyeon feels again safe.

[adarlingwrites]

Absolution

Summary:

noun: formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment

The Capital Wasteland lauded the Lone Wanderer as a hero, a Messiah, a savior who’s willing to give her life for the Good Fight. Beyond the legends, the propaganda, and the mythification that surrounded her legacy, there is only one person who knew her bare soul. She gave him his absolution, and now he will fight for hers.

VI

September 19, 2277. It’s been two days since the incident. I still can’t figure out my mistress’ motivations for helping me with that sorry excuse of a trial. Perhaps she’s protecting her 2000 cap investment, but she took the money back from Ahzrukhal’s body when I shot him. Letting me be apprehended by the people would certainly mean losing an asset, but she can always hire other mercenaries to take my place as her bodyguard. Whichever is it, I don’t know. Things had calmed down in Underworld. Barrows decided that the Ninth Circle should be repurposed as an assembly area. Carol invited my mistress and I for lunch, and Greta said the food was on the house. Percy spent hours listening to Carol’s stories while I ate my meal in peace. I appreciated being able to sit down and eat. Ahzrukhal never granted me such a thing. By the time we left Carol’s Place, Percy was blushing and smiling ear-to-ear from the stories and compliments the ghoulette told her. Carol stood in the doorway, an arm around Greta, as she watched us leave for Megaton, mentioning something about saying hi to someone named Gob. Miss said that we are going to her house in Megaton. On the way, we made a detour to a scrapyard, the sun almost setting. “Hey, Charon, could you help me look for a handbrake?” Percy asks, bent over a fallen motorcycle that she’s stripping for parts, and I set my sight on the horizon, watching for threats and actively avoiding looking at her. “My contract entitles you to combat services. I’m afraid you have to look for it yourself,” I tell her, unmoving from my spot. I still refuse to look at her. “Please? Two pairs of eyes are better than one,” she asks. That word again. Please. I realize she’s not issuing a command. She’s asking me a favor. I see a pleading expression on her face, and I roll my eyes.

Grumbling as I marched over to help her look, I got on my knees next to her to look for the damn thing. When she laughed at my frustration, I finally allowed myself to look at her. Snowflake chopped my mistress’ dark hair to a very short bob, no longer the combat hazard that it used to be. When I tore away my eyes from her and started to really look for the item she mentioned, I found one just lying a few feet from us, and held it out to her with a flat expression. She looks at me, laughs, and tucks the handbrake safely in her sack of scrap. “Oops. Didn’t see that just there, sorry.” “Your eyesight could put us at a disadvantage in combat, mistr-.” Percy gives me that look again. I realize my mistake. “Miss.” Laughing and shrugging me off, she stands up and shakes the dirt off her knees. “Okay, maybe I can tolerate ‘miss’, Mr. Dreamboat. I still prefer Percy, though.” I can’t help but grumble and groan in exasperation, but the jokes are better than what I experienced from past employers when I unintentionally disobey an order. Far better. “I will endeavor to adjust to your preferences, Percy.” “Thank you. I appreciate the effort, big guy,” she replies, moving on to rummage through a toolbox next to an old, decrepit car. “It’s hard to unlearn all the habits you picked up from your previous employers, so don’t sweat it. I’m giving you a wide room for error. You are allowed to make mistakes, unless it gets one or both of us killed, of course.” “I shall do my best not to commit such errors, miss.” Then, I heard a laugh bubble from her throat again. “A skin mag? Really?” she mutters, perusing a pornographic pre-war magazine hidden underneath the tools. She looks over her shoulder and sees me waiting for her, and she seems almost bashful. “N-not that I was planning on keeping it,” she stutters, tossing the magazine aside. “What my employers do in their spare time isn’t my business.” Percy pauses, then throws her head back, laughing in relief. “Finally, I’m in good company,” she said, breezing past me to pick up and tuck the magazine in her pack. She goes back to rummaging through the toolbox with an embarrassed smile.

Then, we both hear it. Gunfire, and barks. Percy immediately drops what she’s doing and runs towards the noise.

Cursing, I followed close by, and a raider was shooting at a dog. A scavenger lies dead on the ground, the dog’s former master I presume, and another raider, with teeth marks on his neck. Not wanting to waste ammo on a lone raider, Percy retrieves her baseball bat from her pack and gives the raider a hard smack on the head, and the dog lunges in for the kill, sinking its teeth in the raider’s neck. I didn’t even have to move a muscle.

Then, the dog sidles over, whimpering, a gash on its side. My mistress immediately falls to her knees and pets the animal. “Charon. Charon are you seeing this? It’s a dog! An actual dog!”

I was confused by her enthusiastic reaction, then I remember that she’s from a vault. She probably saw them only in pictures. “Hi boy. You’re okay,” she coos at the mutt, running her small hands on its head and giving it a good pet.

“You lost your friend, did you boy?” The dog whines at her, almost as if it can understand the words she’s saying. “Hey, I lost my dad too. I’m still looking for him.”

At her remark, the dog licks her face. “Huh. Well aren’t you smart? I think I should call you... Dogmeat. Like that dog from an old sci-fi flick. Do you like that, boy?”

Dogmeat slobbers on Percy’s face even more. Then, he bounds towards me, sniffs me, and decides that my hand is worth slobbering on.

“Charon, I think he likes you too,” Percy coos, and the edge of my lip twitches upward. I let go of my inhibitions and pet the dog’s furry head.

“C’mon, let’s get home.”

Eyes were on us when we arrived in Megaton. The sheriff, a man called Lucas Simms, went over to greet my mistress, and asked about me and the dog. Percy tells him that we are her new friends. Simms tipped his hat at me, told me that I am welcome as long as I treat Megaton’s people right, then went on his way. Seems like a decent enough man.

Percy dug in her satchel for the key to her house, and when the door swung open, we were greeted by one of those old Mr. Handy robots from before the war. My mistress dumps her sack of junk near the door. The dog gives the robot a curious sniff before moving on and settling at my mistress’ feet.

“Well, this is home. It’s not much, but it’s a place to sleep in. What do you think?”

There’s a salvaged couch and a busted pre-war television set in the living room, a stove in the kitchen, and school lockers repurposed as storage. A shelf holds her cutlery and there is a lone sink near the fridge. No toilets or showers. The stairs don’t have any safety railings, but thankfully the area above has some. I’ve seen houses in a more sorry state, but the house had no windows nor other exits. Still very much a hazard.

“C’mon, don’t be shy, big guy. You’ll be living here with me until we sort your contract out,” Percy asks, sitting on the couch and kicking her boots off.

“I don’t like the look of this place.”

“Yeah I- huh?” Percy looks at me with wide eyes. I realize that I have been too blunt and insulted the house of the girl who patched me up after being ambushed by super mutants.

Dammit.

“There is only one entry and exit point. It’s unsafe in case of an emergency, such as a fire, or a home invasion,” I tell her and cross my arms, not daring to meet her eyes.

To my surprise, she nods. “Yeah. It freaks me out. I still haven’t asked Moira to help me drill windows.” I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“It’s still adequate shelter,” I tell her, but she moves on.

“Follow me,” she tells me, climbing up the stairs. There were two rooms, one that didn’t have a door on the left, and a smaller one with a door on the right. “I use the room on the right to store things, but you can have it. I’ll move the things tomorrow.. I think there’s also a spare mattress inside,” Percy tells me, opening the door, and some items come spilling out.

A bedroom? Under Ahzrukhal’s employ, I didn’t even have a bed. I didn’t even get sleep.

“Miss Percy, this isn’t necessary.”

“What do you mean?”

“I am trained to go without sleep. Providing me with a room would only be a waste of your resources.”

The mistress looks at me in disbelief. “Wait, are you saying that Ahzrukhal didn’t let you sleep? You just stand in that corner all night?”

“...yes. I only leave for meals and to relieve myself.”

Percy does it again, that gesture where she raises her hands in frustration. “Christ, no wonder you’re so grumpy. Just take the damn room, Charon. It'll give both you and me some privacy, and you’ll get some sleep.”

I didn’t get privacy from my previous employers too, save for the times I needed to piss or shit. My head is light from all the things Percy is granting me, but I’m still grateful.

“I- yes, miss. Thank you.”

Thanking Percy felt foreign on my lips. My employers never did anything for me to be thankful for. I can’t help but feel suspicious of this girl, but her smile hides no malice behind it. It’s baffling, but I decided that I still like being under her employ.

“Don’t sweat it. I’ll be right back. Just need to fetch some groceries and disinfectant for my suture kit from the store. I need to boil those tools soon...”

“I’ll accompany you,” I tell her, but she shakes her head. “I’ll be fine Charon. Now go on, make yourself at home. You can clean up in the sink then get some sleep.”

I nodded. As soon as the door shut, I walked to the sink and undressed. I can’t even remember the last time I took a sink bath. Then, I changed into a sleeveless white undershirt and gray boxers… the only spare clothes I own. I go in my room, turn on the lamp on a table in my room, and see everything in my room. There’s an assortment of junk, weapons, and armor.

Then, I see it. Power armor with a white paint job. The letters “USA” with a serial number next to it.

The straw that broke the brahmin’s back.

??? ??, ????

I flinch from a burst of snow, the metal of my armor feels frozen to the touch. The side has been cracked open, red staining the snow. My blood. I touch it and it stains my gloved hand. A .308 round tore through the metal. A pair of hands drag me to safety and I hear my orders from the radio. Get back up. Get back up or risk being taken prisoner. I can’t disobey an order.

Scrambling to my feet, I pick up my rifle. My legs drag me to the sniper’s nest, squadmates covering me, and I can taste iron in my mouth. I do not stop. I have been trained to withstand this. I looked for the tell-tale silver-white reflection, and when I saw it, I opened fire. The sniper uncloaks and lies bleeding face-first, broken on the floor. I see the red star on the nape of his armor, and he rolls on his back, and attempts to reach for the 10 mm on his hip, and I kick it away. He’s begging in a language I can’t understand, but I pay no attention to it. The only thing that matters is my orders. Aiming for the head, I shot him, and the helmet broke into pieces.

At the sound of my gun firing, I look at the soldier and see that there weren't any chunks of gore underneath his shattered helmet. Instead, I was looking at a woman’s face. The body wasn’t a man’s either; the sniper’s breasts heaved as she breathed rapidly, dark eyes wild. She’s underneath me, back pressed against the dirt, and I feel heat on my back.

It’s Percy.

“Charon.”

Every damn muscle in my body hurt like hell, and my head feels like it’s been split open. I look at my hands, rough and peeling, with no bloodstains. A small hand was on my bicep, and I heard the whine of a dog.

“Oh, thank God,” I hear a person gasp. It’s my mistress’ voice.

“Percy. What day is it?”

“It’s September 20, Charon.”

“What year?”

“2277.”

I let out a shaky exhale. My mistress beckons me, and I follow her wordlessly. Percy leads me to the couch, and we sit on the opposite ends of it. Dogmeat follows us too, putting his head on my lap. A look of worry is etched on Percy’s face. “That’s some nightmare, big guy.”

Just great. The first sleep I had in fuck knows how long, and I get a nightmare.

“Do you mind telling me about it?”

My jaw hardens. “If conversation is your order to me, I shall converse with you.”

“Hey, it’s not an order. If you don’t trust me enough to tell me yet, I understand.”

Relief floods through me. I grunted in acknowledgment. My mistress stands up and heads to the kitchen, and comes back with a plate of food. Broiled mirelurk cakes. “Um, here. I made these last night and reheated them. Please, eat with me.”

My eyes wander to my mistress. Her short hair is tousled, her eyes are still heavy with sleep, her face is clean, and she wears nothing but a black shirt and gray boyshorts. Now she’s serving me breakfast.

I think about the domesticity of the scene and decide to say nothing about it.

We finish our meal in peace, and she gets up to put the dishes in the sink. I busy myself with stripping and cleaning my shotgun, and my mistress busies herself with a book. Dogmeat eats his breakfast on a dog dish that Percy bought last night. It was a comfortable silence.

Then, she broke it.

“I need to say something,” she starts, looking at me with a firm expression. “Remember when I said that I was studying to be a doctor in the vault?”

I nod at her, and she clears her throat. “Part of my training is psychiatry. It's... how do I put it… the study of the health of the human mind. So, aside from keeping you physically healthy, I can also help with that.”

I let my mistress continue. An anxious look is on her face.

“And uh, I know the theory behind most of it, but I have no experiences providing those services to a patient yet. I need to properly diagnose you, but, you were screaming and saying some things in your sleep. I don’t think that what you experienced is a regular nightmare, big guy.”

I blink at her a few times.

“Charon, I think you were experiencing a traumatic recall.”

[harringtonheartache]

Daybreak | Part Five

Part Six

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Lab Escapee! Reader?

Summary: Part five of this fic. Trauma unburiable and comfort unfamiliar. 

Word Count: 2,200 +

Warning(s): Mild cussing, PTSD/trauma

A/N: Yay chapter five! Thank you to anyone who is reading (-:

While he had previously been roped into driving only Dustin to the arcade, Steve had now upgraded his chauffeur position and become responsible for driving all four kids back to their respective houses. Nine still sat shotgun - her spot was reserved at this point - and this time around she was left void of questions from the kid in the back. The boys (squished into three seats despite their headcount of a higher number) talked with one another at a slightly above reasonable volume. 

“If I had like, one more quarter, I totally would have beaten your high-score,” Dustin spoke. 

“No you wouldn’t have,” Lucas responded, the look on his face communicating just as much self-righteousness as his tone. 

“Okay, one of you out,” Steve said as he stopped the car in front of a house.

“One of us? Whose house are we at?” Mike questioned him, the darkness of the sky leaving it hard to see exactly where they were through the back windows of Steve’s car. 

“Technically Lucas’s, but as long as one of you gets out, I don’t care who I leave here,” he said.

Lucas, hearing his destination announced, ignored Steve’s attitude. He still had Dustin to argue with. “You wouldn’t have beaten my score,” he said. He ducked out of the car. “And you never will!” He said with a slick smile and a louder voice, shutting the door before Dustin could respond. His mouth hung open for a second, as his chance of shooting back was taken away from him at the closing of the car door. 

With every stop, the noise from the back got lesser and lesser. Will was the last to be dropped off (although he could have sworn his house came before Mike’s), and he gave a polite farewell to Steve and Nine. He was the only kid of the four who verbally thanked them, although they were all grateful despite their lack of expressing it upfront. “No problem, Will,” Steve said as Will climbed out of the back seat. “It was nice to meet you, Nina” he told Nine. She had almost forgotten she had a second name. “You too,” she said to him. 

Once Will had gotten about halfway up his driveway (Steve always watched to make sure they got inside okay), she spoke again. “I think he’s my favorite”. 

“What, not me?” Steve said to her, his eyes scrunching in a false dissatisfaction.

“Of the kids,” she clarified.

“Ohh,” He rolled his eyes, not aggressively, but rather to signify that he understood, or that he just got it. “Okay,” he said, throwing his head with a dramatic nature, his hair (messy but somehow still immaculate) bouncing as he did so. Nine chuckled at this, and it was only after she did so that he dropped the act and cracked a smile too. 

—

By the time the two arrived back at Steve’s house, the sun had completely set. He decided that entry through the backdoor was the safest bet, as it was less likely to alert the attention of his parents than it’s alternative. He guided Nine with his own movement. “This way,” he told her as they circled the house to his backyard. The night was quiet, their feet making soft strides through the grass. It was dark since the absence of the sun, but she could still make out his tall figure in front of her as for the serene moonlight that illuminated her view. Once they had made it to the concrete of the back porch, a new light showcased his silhouette: the ones that lit the pool. 

She paid it significant mind, uncertain and slightly curious of the body of water’s purpose, but chose not to ask Steve for answers. She was sure that he wasn’t fond of explaining things that seemed nothing but ordinary to him. They walked the curve of patio around the water’s edge, himself leading the way, three small steps up to the backdoor. “Shit, did I really leave the house key in-” Steve broke the quiet nature of the atmosphere, but only slightly as he said this in a whisper. He felt his pant pockets up and down, patting the fabric to feel for metal underneath. “I don’t know why I don’t have the house key on the same ring as the one for my car,” he continued with his soft-spoken ramblings. “Shit, okay I gotta go back,” he told her, spinning on the heels of his feet to face her with an apologetic yet lighthearted look on his face. It was humorous. Nine was standing below those three steps, as she hadn’t climbed them yet. She raised her eyebrows slightly, but only communicated a look with an understanding and untroubled essence.  

He took up the lead again, back to the car to retrieve the key that his misorganization placed there. She followed him, not because she was required too or even asked, but because she hadn’t even considered waiting there for him instead. Taking a few steps backward to give him room, she intended to follow him right back to the car. “Sorry,” he threw her a quick apology, although she didn’t think that he really needed to. 

She stepped without quite looking where she was going. The back half of her foot was met without ground, and the lack of balance threw her body backwards into the cold of pool water. Without much time to realize her mistake, a small yelp could be heard for but a second before she was submerged underwater. Steve heard it though, and turned swiftly to watch her disappear under the surface. The first splash in the deep end was followed by a second. He had jumped in willingly, and now directed himself to where he had watched Nine fall. His pool was deep. The lower end of it sunk to eleven feet to allow diving from the board above. Gravity’s victim kicked with no particular swimming stride at the bottom of those eleven feet, water filling her lungs as she couldn’t help but scream. The feeling of hands, strong but struggling against her movements, made her want to scream louder. As she was unable to put up a true fight, they gripped around her center, underneath her breasts but above her stomach. Arms tightly around her, she was pulled upward, and she inhaled sharply when her head broke the surface of the water. “Hey, hey I got you,” she was told. Her breathing was erratic, interspersed with coughs combating the water she had swallowed. “You’re okay, I got you”. With the voice’s second sentence of reassurance, her mind was able to fully realize who it was that had her within their hold. She stopped thrashing. Steve swam gently without lessening his grip, pulling her with him in the direction of the pool stairs. Her hands found the arm that wrapped itself around her upper half now, and she clutched onto it. ‘I’ve got you, you’re safe,” he said again. 

Steve could now touch the bottom of the pool, and Nine probably could too, but he still did not let go of her. Once reaching the stairs, he turned her around to help her to dry ground. Once she was met with the familiar feeling of concrete beneath her feet, she sunk, her body too weak from it’s unintentional swim to stand. Her left leg bent in front of her, as if she were sitting cross legged, but her right bent slightly further out rather than stacking on top, left foot to the side of her right thigh. Her hands, flat against the pavement in front of her, gave her support as she leaned forward somewhat. Steve, removed from the water as well, trotted over to a poolside chair to gather a towel. “Can- can I touch you?” he asked her when he returned with it in hand. Perhaps a silly question to someone whom he had just hauled from a pool, but one he made sure to ask. Breathless, she nodded. He wrapped the towel around her back, tucking it over her shoulders. His left hand did not leave her when he was done though, as he placed it lightly against her back. 

He now sat next to her, his own wet clothes leaving a pool of water next to the one Nine’s body produced. She closed her eyes, struggling against unwanted thoughts that filled her head like it’s own eleven-foot swimming pool. “You’re safe now, I promise,” he spoke. A promise he could now guarantee. His hand circled against her back soothingly. 

—

Returned to the true safety of his bedroom, Steve now shuffled through his closet for dry clothes to offer Nine. This time he fished out a sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. He turned around to hand them to her, taking notice of how intensely she was still shaking. “Hey, do you want to take a hot shower? Then you can change into these clothes,” he said. Her hands still gripped the pool towel he had given her outside. “I can wait just outside the door, no one will bother you,” he told her. She agreed. He walked her to the hallway bathroom, letting her inside and placing the clothes on the closed toilet seat. He folded them neatly, as his mother had done with the blanket he used for his bed on the floor. “You can use whatever you want in there,” he said, referencing the various soaps and shampoos that lined the hollowed segments of his shower. “Okay,” she told him. “Thank you,” she added, looking into his eyes completely. It was a sincere thank-you, one that held the weight of more than just gratitude for the granted use of the shampoos. “Yeah,” he responded softly, holding eye-contact with her beyond his response. He ducked his head as he stepped out of the bathroom, carefully shutting the door. Keeping his vow, he stood with his back against it as he waited for her. 

Her hair now smelled like Steve’s, and her body was dressed in a large sweatshirt that almost completely covered the shorts she was also given. The hood tucked nicely against her neck, her and Steve retreated to his room. “Do you feel better?” he asked once they were inside. “Yes,” she said, a small smile following her words. It was a genuine expression, but it still had a thread of sorrow sewn somewhere within it. “That's good,” he said. 

—

Sitting up with great speed, Nine gasped louder than she would have preferred as she violently pulled herself from sleep. After taking into consideration her surroundings, she decided to be grateful she hadn’t screamed instead. Sat slightly off-centered on Steve’s bed, she took panicked inhales and exhales, trying to remove herself from her brain’s idea of a dream. “Are you okay?” a voice in the darkness startled her a little bit more. Gazing over the bed’s end, she saw Steve, who sat up too, gazing right back at her. “Yeah,” she responded. “Just,” a pause, “a bad dream,” she finished. “Oh,” his voice spoke.

 “Do you want to talk about it?” he questioned. He had actually been awake for a few minutes, and the idea of conversation comforted him as he hoped it would her as well. Her breathe calmed, chest rising and falling with less rage. There was a pause before she spoke again; she was contemplating her own speech. “Back at the lab.. They would lock me in these big tanks of water. In my dream I was back there. They wouldn’t let me out.” A nightmare Steve had surely never endured himself. He sat silently for a moment, and Nine worried she had taken an invitation to discussion he had not truly intended for her to take. “Is that why it scared you so much? Falling into the pool?” he asked, connecting the day’s events with her confession of trauma. His voice was soft, perhaps as soft as it had been earlier when he had reassured her that she was safe. “Yes,” she said quietly. “My mind just brought be back to those tanks”.   

Silence fell as it had before, Steve’s inexperience battling with his kind and consoling nature. “I’m sorry,” he spoke again, not wanting to leave her too long without a response. “I,” he paused once more, contemplating words. “I can’t exactly relate to, or even imagine that feeling. That’s terrifying.” He shook his head in disbelief and sincere empathy.

No one spoke for another twenty seconds or so, but the silence was comfortable. A steady calmness settled over Nine just knowing that he was awake and sitting with her. “I won’t let them take you back,” Steve’s voice found itself in the room again. Nine had been focused on her hands as she provided her segment of the conversation, but with this assurance, she looked up to meet his eye in the darkened room. A smile graced her face, but not to reassure Steve this time. Since she had first staggered into Steve’s car, with every moment leading up to now, a feeling of true security had been increasing inside of her. It was with his last sentence this sensation of safety derived from being within Steve’s presence was finalized. He smiled back at her from the floor, that same calmness reaching him as well.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tag list: @ggclarissa @hyp-oh-critical @orchideax @we-are-band-sexuals @cpt-lamby @l0ve-0f-my-life @girlyisthatweirdkid @walmartrotisseriechicken

[thelovecore]

Hip Check /Steve Harrington\

Hip Check /Steve Harrington\

Reader is newer to Hawkins and teaches the kids how to play street hockey. Dustin makes Steve drive him to his first practice, but forces Steve to stay and meet y/n.

Steve Harrington x female reader

I really can’t stop writing for Steve. It’s a curse I’m very willing to live with. If you want anything with Steve, send me a request!

___________

“Hey Dustin!” One of the kids called from the street. Dustin sighed and looked over at Steve, who drove him to try and play street hockey with some kids from school.

“They seem nice.” Steve said, nodding towards the kids. They went back to shooting on the abnormally tall goalie. “Why is that goalie so big? You got Frankenstein in your class?”

“No. That’s the one kids older sister.” Dustin said. “And frankly, I think you should stick around. She’s pretty cool.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Steve asked, squinting at Dustin.

“Your love life is in the toilet and you should be meeting every girl alive to broaden your horizons.” Dustin said, grabbing his stick out of the back seat. “Stay.”

Steve sighed. He knew Dustin was right.

“Alright. But don’t make it weird, Henderson.” Steve said, getting out of the car and leaning on it.

Readers POV

“Hey Dustin!” I said as he walked over with a stick. My brother had told me Dustin was coming. The other kids said Dustin was weird and was weirder after his friend Will moved away. I immediately yelled at all of them and told them street hockey was for everyone.

“Hey y/n.” Dustin said.

“Is your brother going to play? I brought a few extra sticks.” I said, nodding to the guy leaning on his car nearby.

“Oh, he’s not my brother.” Dustin said. “He’s my friend Steve. My single friend Steve, who does not currently have a girlfriend.” Steve must have overheard this, because he was awkwardly looking down and kicking rocks. I lifted my goalie mask off my face and waved at him. He weakly waved back. Dustin smiled a large, cocky smile towards his friend.

“Wanna play? We’re about to just start some shooting drills.” I said. Steve looked over at me.

“Oh..no...I don’t know how...I wasn’t planning on it.” He said, shuffling his feet. I could tell why this guy didn’t have a girlfriend.

“I’ll teach you.” I offered. Now I just kind of wanted to mess with him.

“Oh, uhm, n-no thanks.” He said, glaring at Dustin.

“Suit yourself.” I said, grabbing a drink of water before pulling the mask back down. “Alright Dustin, let’s see this slap shot.”

Dustin shyly took a shot that bounced off my foam leg pads. He looked sad after that.

“That was good! Just make sure you move your hips into it when you shoot. Shift your weight from back to front.” I said. The other kids all showed him and he smiled a little. I could tell he felt more included.

Eventually we played a three on three game with the kids and Dustin was picking up pretty quickly. The other kids included him in plays and he eventually tucked in a goal behind me. The other kids cheered for him and told him good job.

“Good job Dustin, she doesn’t give up many goals.” A kid named Tony said.

“Great job Dustin. Keep practicing those wrist shots and you’re going to be scoring a lot more.” I said. The light from the day had started to fade, and the streetlights were about to kick on.

“Alright guys, enough for today.” I said, pushing the net into the front yard. “See you next week.” The kids all dispersed and Dustin came up to me.

“You’re a really good teacher y/n.” He said. I lifted my mask off and smiled.

“Thanks Dustin. You’re honestly pretty darn good for a beginner. You put a couple stingers on me.” I said, laughing. He laughed a little and looked over at Steve.

“Hey...uh...would you be able to say hi to Steve? He may seem like a total dork, but he’s really cool.” Dustin said. I smiled at the thought of messing with this kid again. In my brain I called him a kid even though he was definitely my age or even a year older.  

“Sure.” I said, walking over awkwardly with my leg pads still on. Steve looked progressively more nervous as we got closer. My brother walked home with his friends, so I had all the time in the world.

“Hey Steve, this is y/n. She’s an awesome goalie and teacher.” Dustin said, grinning ear to ear. Steve scowled at him before looking at me. I smiled at him and took my hand out of my glove and offered it.

“Nice to meet you Steve.” I said. He shook my hand and smiled.

“Nice to meet you.” He said. “Have you always lived  in Hawkins? I feel like I haven’t seen you around before.”

“We moved here last year. I used to live near Chicago. Go Blackhawks.” I said shyly. Why all of a sudden did I feel so shy in front of this doe eyed, nice haired, cute smile...ah crap. He is pretty cute.

“Chicago must be nice compared to here.” Steve said. Dustin had sneaked away with a walkie talkie in hand.

“Eh. It’s a lot more people, but that doesn’t mean the people are better.” I said. “I actually am kind of into this small town vibe. Everyone has been so nice to my brother.” I said. “And the kids around here are pretty interested in learning hockey, which keeps me busy. I work as a waitress normally and I sometimes use some of that money to buy extra sticks for the kids. Everyone deserves a chance to learn the game a little.”

“Wow...that’s really nice of you.” Steve said. He had taken off his sunglasses and we were really looking at each other. In our brief silence, we could hear Dustin behind the car talking into his walkie talkie.

“No, Mike, I’m serious. I think she’s the one. He’s talking to her now. She’s really nice. And I know he’ll think she’s pretty.”

“You’re NOT whispering, Henderson.” Steve said, turning red in his cheeks. I giggled a little and looked down at the ground, feeling my own cheeks go warm. I rubbed my arm and looked back up at Steve. I winced as I hit a spot that I had taken a shot and didn’t have pads.

“You okay?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, just a stinger. Might bruise, probably not.” I said, showing him the red spot on my arm.

“You’re pretty brave to play goalie. I would not want to block all those shots.” Steve said.

“I like goalie. I don’t know why, I just do.” I said.

“You look good doing it. I mean, like, you’re good at it not like, you’re good looking. I mean, you are good looking, just, ah, crap...” Steve stumbled through his words, rubbing the back of his neck. I smiled, not hiding the rush of blood to my cheeks or the pounding of my heart.

“I know what you mean, Steve.” I said.

“Do you...do you want to come get pizza with me? And Dustin, but I guess we could take him home first. Do you like pizza? Probably should have asked that first. It could just be me and you, unless that’d be weird. We can bring Dustin.” He said. I hope he was just as nervous as I was and not always like this.

“I want pizza!” Dustin yelled from behind the car. “Mike, they’re going for pizza!”

I laughed as Steve rolled his eyes.

“Let me take this stuff off. You just better be prepared to smell my sweaty stink while we eat pizza.” I said.

“I don’t mind.” Steve said. I went back to my car and took my equipment off, put on new deodorant and walked back to Steve’s car.

Steve, Dustin, and I went to where Steve said had the best pizza in Hawkins. We got to know each other and laughed at each other’s stories and jokes, and I gave Dustin some quarters to go play pinball.

“You were really good with the kids tonight.” Steve said. “You made Dustin feel really welcome to that group.”

“I try. I know what it’s like to not have a ton of friends, so I want everyone to feel like they have someone to turn to.” I said. “How did you and Dustin get so close?”

“We’ve...been through a lot together.” He said. “That’s a story for a second date.” He instantly went wide eyed when he realized what he said. I sipped my water and smiled at him.

“I’d like that a lot.” I said. “My offer also still stands, whenever you want to play hockey with the kids, I’ll teach you. Maybe I’ll even teach you how to hip check people.”  I laughed.

“I’d...like that.” Steve said, smiling.

“Mike, Lucas, they’re going on a second date!”

“Henderson!”

[sheeple]

The intern | 7: Game night and date talk

GIFS NOT MINE. THIS IS ALL FICTION. Genre(s): intern!au / fluff / mild angst Group(s): NCT / Red Velvet Pairing(s): Moon Taeil x fem!reader Summary: The new Elysion Publishings intern is the youngest they ever had. It’s not a problem until she grabs the attention of the IT guy. Warning(s): Age-gap of five years [Masterlist] [Mini masterlist]

My eyes scan across the houses, searching for a number 22 and a red brick house. The phone in my hand vibrates and I see that Mark’s calling. 

“Are you almost here?”, he asks the moment I pick up. 

“Hi to you too. I guess? I am kinda lost, so if you would be so nice to walk out the door or so, then I know where I need to be.”

Mark chuckles as I hear him shuffle around the house, a door opens and he stands outside. “Found you”, he says as I hear his voice behind me. 

I turn around and laugh. All this time, it was just under my nose. Or better said, behind my back.

We hug each other short and Mark lets me in, instructing me to slide off my shoes and hang my jacket on the coatrack.

“Lucas, this is (Y/n). (Y/n), this is Yukhei but he goes by Lucas”, says Mark as soon as we enter the living room at the tall boy on the couch, a controller in his hands. 

He pauses the game he’s playing and stands up, engulfing me into a comforting hug. It’s the kind of hug you would never refuse. His long arms wrap perfectly around your body and he would press your face in his chest. That kind of hug, the brotherly one.

I smile and hug him back, wrapping my arms around his back and give him a little pat. 

“So I heard you were all in when Mark told you I would be here too?” Lucas grins at me and I roll my eyes. Of course, the idiot told him.

“Mark just wouldn’t shut up about you, so I wanted to see for myself how wonderful the one and only Wong Yukhei himself was”, I answer while taking a seat on Mark’s couch.

“That’s not true!”, yells Mark from the kitchen, “I wouldn’t talk all the time about him. I talked about Hyuck too.”

Oh yeah, Lee Donghyuck, the other dork of the trio. I saw a couple of pictures of him on Mark’s Insta but other than that, I haven’t seen him yet. He’s pretty. A bright smile that resembles the sun, fluffy, dirty blond hair.

“How did the two of you even met. Because I don’t see any possibility that Mark approached you himself.”

I laugh loudly, throwing my head back and running a hand through my hair. 

“She works with my cousin, Wendy. She set us up for that date a while back”, says Mark as he walks back into the living room within his hands a tray with three glasses, a bottle coke, and bows with chips and watermelon slices. 

He lets himself fall on the other side of me, so I am sandwiched between the two boys. 

Lucas leans slightly back, his eyes big. “Wendy noona?! Does that mean you’re... like twenty-four or so?”

I chuckle at the panic in his eyes. “No”, I shake my head, “I’m just an intern there. If I’m right, I am as old as both of you, born in 1999.”

He sighs deeply, a wave of relief washes over his face before that permanent grin returns. “So, you two went on a date? How did it go?”

“As you see, pretty well. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be sitting here.” 

“But”, continues Mark with a chuckle, “we’re better off as friends. It was too awkward if it would be a relationship. And also, she likes someone else.”

“I do not!”, I protest while giving Mark a shove against his shoulder. 

“You so do. When I got your snap this morning, you weren’t in your apartment. So, I checked the map and did some stalking, you were at that IT guy’s place.” 

Mark grins as he sees the panic in my eyes before turning to Lucas. “She wouldn’t stop rambling about some guy at the office who works in the IT department. What was his name again? Taeyong?”

I groan and let my head fall back onto the backrest of the couch. “Taeil, not Taeyong. And I didn’t talk all the time about him.” 

Mark tuts his lips. “Not how it went, but okay, I’ll let it slide. This time.”

Lucas nudges me. “You have a crush? Cute!”, he exclaims, capping his hands enthusiastic together. “Tell me more about him.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Are we really gonna talk about boys?” 

Lucas nods as Mark gives me a glass filled with coke. I thank him with a slight smile before sipping, licking my lips.

“Okay, so. A couple of weeks ago I pissed off Wendy. At the time, I was at the IT guy’s desk to fix some problem on my Mac and he helped me hide from the angry Wendy that stormed towards us. Since then we kinda hang out together”, I shrug.

“How old is he?”, questions Lucas, his eyes filled with interest. 

“Ehm... let me think. He’s born in ‘94, so that makes him twenty-five?” 

Lucas and Mark both gasp. “He’s so old, (Y/n)!” 

“I know! You don’t have to tell me that.” I chew on my bottom lip while looking down. I lace my hands in my hair, gripping it tightly. 

“Are... are you okay?”, asks Mark concerned as he lays a hand on my shoulder. Lucas raises his eyebrows while leaning closer, waiting for me to speak.

“I─”, I let out a sigh, “honestly, no. I’m not okay. I am scared. There is this unfamiliar feeling inside my chest and I don’t know how to act upon it. I never felt this way in my life before and it’s stressing me out. It feels like I can spontaneously burst like every minute.”

“What do you mean you never felt like this? Did you never had a crush on someone or a boyfriend before?”

I shake rapidly my head. I was too busy with school and getting good grades. Of course, I had liked some guys in the past but not in a romantical way. The guys from my school were too... childlike and immature for my taste.

“I was too occupied with not disappointing my parents. Also, there’s no way any guy ever saw me more than a friend.” I let out a dry chuckle. “Can we please stop talking about this. I came here to game, not to cry and talk about my feelings.”

I grab a hand full of chips and throw it at Mark and Lucas. Lucas screeches and hides away, almost falling off the couch. We all laugh as Mark grabs the controllers of his Switch, giving me one and picking a game.

Wendy sprints towards me as she sees me walking into the office Monday morning, grabbing both my arms before dragging me away towards the toilet. 

“Spill it. You so were at his house!”, she almost screams in my face as Wendy takes place on top of the sink. 

“There’s no point in denying that, right?”, I question with a slight blush on my face and Wendy shakes her head. 

“Okay, fine. I stayed at his place. BUT that’s only because he had some alcohol and wouldn’t let me drive him home and then go home with the metro. It was ‘too dangerous’ according to him. It was not even midnight yet.”

I pace around the bathroom as I rant. “I also couldn’t let him go home alone, that wouldn’t be responsible of me. I slept on the couch, by the way”, I quickly add as I see Wendy’s face twist in pure joy. 

“So you guys didn’t do...”, she trails off with a smug look while doing the sign. 

I scrunch my nose in disgust. “Ew, what the... no! We didn’t do the devil’s tango!”

Wendy coos at my word choice and pinches my cheeks. I swat her hands away and turn around. 

“So, what did you two do?”, she questions. Wendy leans forward and looks at me with interest.

“That evening? Nothing? We were tired from all the walking around and chatting with his friends that we went straight to bed. The next day he joined me in grocery shopping.”

She sighs dreamily. “Sounds like such a nice date.” She flutters her lashes and folds her hands together, pushing them against her face.

As I want to snap back, a door of a toilet stall gets pushed open and a familiar face walks in. 

My face heats up as Wendy greets Seulgi. She’s one of Wendy’s friends who works at HR. Seulgi is also the reason that Wendy applied for a job at Ely.

“You know”, says Seulgi with a soft smile as she washes her hands, “he sounds like a really sweet guy, Moon Taeil.” She whispers the last part as she doesn’t want anyone other to hear it.

“How... no offence but how do you know?” My eyes are blown wide as the two girls snicker. 

“Wendy loves to rant about how cute the two of you are and how one of you has to square the fuck up.”

I groan and look at Wendy. She shrugs. “I was only stating facts.”

“Can I ask a question before I go forward with my day?”

I nod as Seulgi grabs both of my hands. “Why aren’t the two of you already dating? I bet you guys would look good together.”

I lick my lips. “Can I be totally honest with the two of you?”, I ask and they both nod at the same time. 

“I am scared of relationships. To be more precise, I’m scared of falling in love with someone and only to leave to go home. I just...”

“You don’t want anyone to lose someone dear to you”, adds Wendy as she slides off the sink and grabs one of my hands. “Don’t worry. I’ve seen the look in his eyes. He will never leave you, even if you’re on the other side of the world.”

I sniff, looking up to push away the tears in my eyes. 

“Are you crying? Come here, you big baby.” Wendy engulfs me in a hug and Seulgi joins soon after. 

“There’s also another thing...”, I say quietly as the let me go. “I’ve never been in a relationship.”

“YOU WHAT?!”

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 94

Chapter Summary -   The Skull Island tour has been long and tedious, taking a lot out of Tom. When he returns home, it is too much and his body tells him he needs to rest, which leads to him needing care, thankfully, his ex-paramedic girlfriend comes home to assist.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog​​ @jessibelle-nerdy-mum​​ @nonsensicalobsessions​​ @damalseer​​ @hiddlesbitch1​​ @winterisakiller​​ @fairlightswiftly​​ @salempoe​​​ @wolfsmom1​​​

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

Tom fell onto the bed and groaned. He could tell he was on the verge of being ill, his stomach felt odd and his head felt fuzzy. He had not drunk very much at the awards, but he suspected that the little he did drink after all the tiring travelling over the last two weeks and the now suspect stomach upset was not helping. Looking at his phone for a moment to see what the beep noise he had heard in the car back to the house was. He did not tend to check his phone in cars, he left it in a car one night and it cost him a good opportunity at a role in the time it took to get it back. He had to squint to see the words on screen.

Danielle - Delighted for you, you deserved it. The food is so weird here, I am scared to try some. I cannot wait to be home with you tomorrow, I love you and I am so proud of you. Xxx

He grinned on realising that Danielle had taken the time to text. Over the past few weeks, they did not talk often, mostly by text, but he ensured to contact her every day as he got ready for whatever the day held and before bed, she did the same, but usually added another text on days he was on tv shows or the red carpet to give him encouragement and her thoughts. It made him excited to check his phone after such events. To watch the Jimmy Kimmel show, she had to get out of bed after a day of work and with more work the next day, as well as spending her evening's correspondence with the Lucas man she was working with in America, but she did it willingly. Her words and the smiley face or x’s at the end of her texts and the ‘I love you’ at the end of her day made him smile goofily without fail any time he received one. It made the tiring days and the lonely nights in hotel rooms so much easier. They spoke twice, but time zones and workloads made it difficult. Danielle’s week of work was one of intensity and insane hours, especially with her other work too. He knew she would be reluctant to speak too because he would scold her for overdoing it. The only grace he had was because it was in Suffolk and she was next to his mother, he had Diana keep an eye on her.

Feeling drowsy and unwell, Tom kicked off his shoes and lay on the bed, not even taking off his pants and fell asleep lying across the bed, his head on Danielle’s pillow, inhaling her scent as he drifted off.

*

Danielle tried Tom’s phone again, but it was still turned off. Thinking he was driving, she sat in the airport café and waited a little while longer. Her flight had been fifteen minutes early, though she suspected that that was because it gave itself a little longer flight time to declare itself ahead of time on a lot of services, and it was a time of day where traffic in London could be a tad mad, so she knew there was a high probability that Tom was delayed. She had texted when she got to Orlando on the stopover for her flight, and again at Schiphol, but Tom never replied to her texts, so she could only assume that even if there was an issue with his phone, he would still come at the time they had arranged. But as it came to an hour after that time and he was still not there, she began to wonder what to do. She rang him one last time, but as soon as she heard the automated answering machine, she hung up. Part of her thought to get a cab, but considering she was only in the US for two days and only brought a small backpack, she decided the Tube was far more cost-effective.

It took a little over an hour to get back to Belsize from Heathrow, and the entire way, Danielle thought over the time that Tom had been on the press tour. It was doable, or so she thought anyway. Not fun, not ideal, but very doable. She had spent time with Emma, feeling as though it was as good as before the whole Christmas debacle and they arranged to go out another time soon. Herself and Nacelle had a great time at her house, even if she had to hide her clothes in Diana’s, much to her neighbour’s utter bewilderment when she answered the front door to see Danielle standing there with clothes in her arms, not even packed in suitcases, asking her to mind them for a few days. Nacelle met Diana, who apparently knew her mother from her days in theatre and the trio had dinner any time that Nacelle and Danielle returned to the house at a normal hour. The nights they did not, there was food waiting for them in the fridge.

Luke had informed her halfway through the first week that Tom was away that the photos of her on the internet had caused little reaction. Most assuming her to be Tom’s dog walker, but one or two tried to link her to being the girl Tom was seen with for dinner with his mother, but her makeup and hair had thrown most into rubbishing it. But the small few were adamant it was the same person and were declaring their love or hate for it accordingly. He also warned her that there were a few that were certain that he was still seeing Taylor, and nothing would waive them. Danielle was not in any way bothered by such accusations, if anything, it meant she and Tom were less likely to be on people’s radar for the time being, which suited her.

When she walked to the house from the Tube station, she frowned at seeing Tom’s Jaguar and her car both in the driveway. She opened the door and walked into the house. “Hello?” She noted Tom’s keys and suitcase. “Tom?” looking around, she realised Tom had done nothing of note since he came home. His laptop bag and his wallet were in the kitchen, as were his two new Empire Awards. “Tom?” She called out again, but again, there was no answer. She walked up the stairs and towards the bedroom. The door was slightly ajar and to be honest, the irrational part of her brain began to think of more and more outlandish worst-case scenarios, but she dismissed it and walked in slowly.

The room was in darkness and there was clearly someone in the bed. As soon as she entered, she got her reason for why he had not come to the airport. Looking at the figure in the bed, she felt herself feeling pity for him. There was a strong smell of sweat and vomit. Her years as a paramedic meant that though others would recoil, she only noticed because it was so strong. The first thing she did was went to the window and opened it slightly before then going to the bathroom to assess the damage. She cleaned everything that was required there and then put a fresh spray of air freshener inside. When that was done she left the room again and went downstairs. She put on a wash, knowing they would need to get the laundry sorted before going to the kitchen and making a rehydration drink for Tom, as well as bringing a few headache tablets. When she went back upstairs, she noticed Tom had not even stirred. Sitting on the side of the bed, she placed the drink and drugs on the beside locker before trying to wake him.

Her hand went to his sweat covered hair and brushed it off his forehead. “Tom, hey…” Tom groaned. “Hey, handsome.”

“Elle?”

“Hey.”

“What…what are you doing here? You’re not home until tomorrow night.”

“It is tomorrow night; my flight came in this evening as it was supposed to. Have you been sick since yesterday?”

“I came home from the awards, I felt like shit, then I…” He rushed off the bed and back to the bathroom and heaved into the toilet violently. Danielle followed him. “No. Out.” He ordered as he spat into the cleaned bowl.

“Not a chance, I am trained and desensitised to this,” She pointed out, getting a face cloth and dampening it before putting it to his forehead. “You’re run down.”

“You’re one to talk, you look like you could sleep for a week.”

“Running across one of the largest airports in the world for a connecting flight was not fun, but overall I am fine, I miss my bed.”

“I ruined it.”

“The bed?” He nodded sheepishly, “I’ll get clean sheets, you sit here for a moment,” She put down the toilet seat. Tom silently did as instructed.

It took only a few moments to change the bed, she also opened the window slightly so that the room would get some fresh air. It was raining, but not overly cold so it would not require her to put the heating on for longer. When she was done she brought the sheets down and placed them beside the washing machine before heading back upstairs, making sure the lights were off and the doors were locked as she did. It was only eight at night, but she was tired and Tom was sick, no one was going to get up again soon, she thought.

In the bedroom, Tom was almost like a zombie as he made his way back from the bathroom to the bed. “Come on,” She led him back. “No, stay standing for a second, I need to get these off you.”

“You just want me for my body,” He joked as she pulled off his pants.

Danielle couldn’t help but laugh, “We both knew that from the start.” She jibbed. “Drink this.” Tom did as instructed and though he hated the taste. She then helped him with his shirt and lifted the duvet up for him. “Are you tired?”

“Yes.” Tom groaned again as he fell into the bed.

“If you’re still ill in the morning, we’ll get you to the doctor, until then, we’ll catch up on sleep.” She smiled, getting into the bed next to him. Tom pulled her to him, even though he was still warm from his bug, Danielle curled into him. “I missed you.” She kissed his hand that was around her.

“I missed you too,” Tom kissed her shoulder.

“Get some rest, Tom.” Danielle was falling asleep as she spoke.

*

When Tom woke the next morning, he was relieved to feel better. Beside him on the nightstand was another one of Danielle’s toxic but effective rehydration drinks. He sat up and downed the mixture so that he would get rid of the last of whatever he was enduring. Turning slightly at the peculiar noise next to him, he looked to see Danielle asleep, her hair covering her face. Chuckling, he pulled it back and bit his lips together as he watched her snort in her sleep, he could not call it snoring, as that had a rhythm to it, but occasionally, whatever way she was breathing with her mouth open, she snorted. He looked at her guiltily, wondering how long she had waited for him at the airport. Had she rung his sister to collect her, gotten a cab or taken the Tube, he felt terrible for not even thinking to contact her. He noted she seemed to be a tad pale, he wondered if he had passed his illness to her. He could not recall if she had looked like that on her return the night before; only that she had tended to him, selflessly and lovingly. She would have been exhausted, but she made the bed with fresh sheets, smiling at him to not worry as she went to do so. Part of him wanted to wake her and thank her, to tell her he loved her for what she was and what she had done, but he knew she was tired, so he left her sleep, instead choosing to get a shower, knowing that he needed one desperately. When he was done, he was slightly shocked to see that Danielle had not even moved in the bed, instead she seemed to be snoring slightly now. Tom realised before that she usually did that when she was at her most exhausted. He went downstairs and looked around. He was startled to see there was no sign of Mac, then cursed for not remembering to collect the dog in his illness. He found his phone, which was dead, and put it on charge. Thinking for a moment, he went to put on the kettle but then thought against it, instead he decided that given the past few days, both he and Danielle deserved a treat, so he ran to the café down the street and got them both their favourite drinks and pastries before heading back to the house. He groaned as a photographer caught sight of him and for some reason thought him getting coffees was something of considerable note and proceeded to take loads of pictures.

When he arrived back, he went straight to the kitchen to see if his phone had enough charge to turn it on. “Hey.”

“Good morning, you look a lot better.” Danielle was standing at the kettle, waiting for it to boil, and loving smile on her face. He walked over and gave her a passionate kiss. “A very good morning then?”

“The best.” He held up the items he bought. “A gift, as my apology.”

“Apology for what?” She asked, taking the caramel latte from the cup holder.

“Not collecting you.” He stated meekly.

“What? Tom, you were sick, you don’t need to apologise for that.” She laughed. “I won’t say no to my favourite coffee and an apple Danish though, no matter what the excuse or reason.” Tom pulled out the two pastries and handed her one. “Thank you. So how are you now?”

“Hungry, what about you?”

“Same, I didn’t eat too much in New Orleans, the food was all gumbo’s and stuff and I just was suspicious of everything.”

“I was down South for I Saw the Light, the food is something you have to be careful with, it can have a huge kick to it and not have any sign of it.” Danielle smiled and nodded, Tom’s face fell. “The interview?” Danielle shook her head. “Elle, I…I’m so sorry, did they give you any feedback?”

“The assistant director is Lena Dunham.” Tom’s face filled with recognition. “She said no, so that was it.”

“Elle, it’s my fault…”

“No, it’s not. You held decorum and class after everything, if her friends or even she wants to get petty, then that is not our doing. I was talking to Lucas, he was asked to do a war film here, Normandy and in Ireland. He’s too busy but he told them about me, no interview or anything, it’s mine if I want it.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“Well gunfire, tanks, explosions and filth is the general gist of war stuff, so loads of headaches regarding safety, but it is being done with the help of a good friend of yours.” Tom looked at her. “Branagh.”

“He is an amazing man, honestly, one of the most incredible directors I’ve worked with.”

“I know. He wants to talk to me one on one to see if I can work with his idea. Apparently sometimes when a door closes, the sidewall of the house comes off. Branagh has a lot of influence, Lucas is his usual go-to man, but this redoing this safety thing is his only project this year, so he recommended me. If I can work this…” She smiled, “Jesus if I can actually get Branagh on my resume if I do this right…”

Tom pulled her to him, “You will, you are meticulous and intelligent, I know you will fly through this, wait and see.”

“He is in London next week.”

“Great.”

“I said I would meet him, but also that if possible could I bring my partner with me.” Tom looked at her blankly. “It was his wife I was talking to, when she asked who said partner was and relayed the message, he was elated apparently. So, fancy coming to lunch with me and Kenneth Branagh next week?”

Tom pulled her to him. “I will gladly accompany my beautiful girlfriend to her work meeting with the world-famous director next week.” He beamed. “Look at you Elle, less than a year in and you are getting all this done.”

“Visualisation. I thought it and look what’s happening; you, Mac, who we will collect after our coffees, my exams, my promotions, so to speak, it has to be deemed a promotion when you are a consultant for a huge studio,” Tom nodded in agreement. “Getting to work on Game of Thrones and now, having a business lunch with Kenneth fucking Branagh.”

“You are driven.” He kissed her again.

“I’m swinging with the big dicks now.” Tom looked at her in shock. “It’s an expression.”

“Irish people are nuts.”