#and have the rental company take their shitty old one back

[autumnhobbit]

this is now the third time the damn oven element has gone out with no warning in like a year.

[lethalchiralium]

Diamondback | [1]

a/n: i love this series and i haven’t even finished out the ending yet

warnings: Mentions of cheating, mentions of pregnancy (not reader), mentions of alcohol

summary: Pine, Arizona. You’ve touched down in Phoenix and driven up to a relatively normal sized city, more than ready to see your best friend and grossly underprepared for an interview you got twelve hours ago. It’s hard to tell if you’re ready, but now you have to be. It’s time to chase the light.

You weren’t surprised that the Hotshot Fire Station wasn’t located in town, but on a backroad that was in a patch of sand, surrounded by high mountains. Sand has already contaminated your boots and hair by the time you had exited the airport in Phoenix in the early morning. A manila folder sat in between your hands as you looked at the silver building, nerves dancing up and down your spine. The sun was bearing down on you, something that used to really be your friend. 

Change is good. Change is supposed to be good, right? So why am I nervous? Don’t be nervous. People can see when you’re nervous. Quit it. Quit it!

Swallowing a bit of your nervousness, you moved out of the sun and into the building. You opened the door and walked into what appeared like the front room - it was painted a soft beige, floor made of sealed concrete and decorated with mismatched couches and seats - you could hear the clink of workout equipment down the hall, the smell of air freshener was dull. 

This was so much different than your Firewatch tower in Yellowstone National Park; it was a two day hike to it, there was a babbling brook 50 yards away with a small campsite nearby as well. All you had was your radio, books, and binoculars to keep you company for two to four months out of the year, as well as an old laptop that was connected to very shitty ethernet. You had many years of firewatching under your belt, you had taken classes for fire science and wildfire safety, as well as EMT training just in case one of your fellow fire watchers had a medical emergency. You were well prepared for this job, to be a 141 Hotshot.

The 141 Hotshots were the second municipal hotshot crew to ever be formed and based in Arizona, holding up legacy of the Sandstone Mountain Hotshots, who had perished in a wildfire less than a decade prior - it was said that the Superintendent of the 141 had trained under the Superintendent of the Sandstone Hotshots only a few years before the tragedy, a man who you had read about before even thinking about becoming a Hotshot seven years ago, especially before your fiance forced you into fire watch. Wildfire firefighting work was grueling, you were very fit because of your work as a fire watcher, but this takes it to a whole new level.

“Y/N!”

You had stopped in the middle of the front room, eyes now focused on the sweaty and dirt stained face of your childhood best friend - Alex Keller. The man had been kind enough to lend you a room in his apartment and put in a good word to the well-respected Superintendent he had worked for for almost seven years. It had been a few years since you had seen him; you had only a backpack waiting in your rental car. You instantly opened your arms and let Alex hug you, not bothered by the sweat or dirt on him. 

He patted your back before releasing you, a smile on his mustached face. “I hope that dickhead didn’t cause you any trouble.” 

The dickhead he was talking about was your ex-fiancé, the man you definitely did not want to talk or think about. You rolled your eyes. “Alex, I’m fine.”

He gave a small huff before continuing, “Well? Did you decide?”

You held up your folder, to which the man smiled wider. 

“Good! I know Price is gonna like you.” He patted your shoulder before he nodded back towards the hallway he had come from. “C’mon, I’ll give you a tour.” 

“I don’t need a tour, I need to get to my interview-“ You blubbered before he grabbed your arm, pulling you towards him. “Alex!”

“I’m takin’ you to the interview, dingaling.” He chuckled, your apprehension slipped away and you then began to walk beside him. “So stubborn for no reason.”

“I like to think my stubbornness is a good quality.”

Alex gave you a look, you laughed at him. “Sure.” You opened your mouth to retaliate but he kept talking. “Anyway, I’m goin’ to Farah’s after my shift, you’ll have to fend for yourself. You know where I live, and the code to get in.”

You sighed. “I’ll be fine.”

He patted your back, smile still big. “You always are.” He then looked towards the large equipment you two were walking towards, seeing his fellow Hotshots working out or fixing their gear before he took your arm, stopping you from continuing. You looked to your friend as he spoke, “Are you sure you want to do this? It’s a lot different than just sitting in a tower and just watching a fire.”

“I was a Hotshot for a year, Alex.”

“Yeah, six years ago.”

You were about to retaliate to his argument when you heard your last name be called. You looked around Alex to see a genuinely handsome blond man, standing tall with his hands behind his back. Alex turned to look at the man, a hand then clapped your back. “Y/N, this is Assistant Superintendent Riley.”

Riley had a bored look in his eye, it made your skin bristle a little. He glanced to Alex before going, “Supe’s waitin’ on you, L/N.”

British? You glanced at Alex before he pushed you forwards, you immediately kept walking towards the door Riley was holding open. You nodded to him before walking into the office, watching as the man you were hopefully interviewing with stood.

Damn, what is with having pretty superiors?

“L/N, I’m Superintendent John Price of the 141 Hotshots, and you’ve just met my Assistant, Simon Riley.” 

“British?” You blurted out as you held out your hand.

John chuckled a little before he took your hand with a firm handshake. “Yes, Liverpool. Simon’s from Manchester.” He gestured to the seat across from him as you let go and you instantly sat down, then handed him your manila folder. He took it, settling down in his chair as you heard the office door click. Footsteps behind you instantly told you that Simon intended to stay for the interview, noticing in the corner of your eye that Simon now leaned against the wall, watching you. “So, I heard you were fire watch?” 

Your full attention was on John now, he had settled onto his arms on his desk. You nodded in response. “Six years.”

“Lonely up there.” Simon commented, John gave him a sharp look before gazing back at you.

“Keller said you were a Hotshot before. Why’d you quit?” You stared at John, noticing he hadn’t even opened your folder of qualifying classes and certificates. 

“Fiancé-“ You cut yourself off before continuing. “Ex-fiancé convinced me to do fire watch instead. Said it was less dangerous, which it is.”

There was a twitch in John’s eye. “Then why are you here?”

“For a job-“

“Don’t run around the question. Why would you leave a cushy job that I’m sure pays well in one of the most beautiful National Parks in the world?”

“To be clear, sir,” Your eyes narrowed. “My personal business as to why I decided to change my career so quickly is none of your concern. I can promise it won’t be a problem, I didn’t leave because I was forced or fired.” You glanced to Riley. “And I may have not been on a team for the past few years, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a team player.”

The Superintendent in front of you chuckled, your facial expression didn’t change but your chest tightened.

I’ve done it again. There goes my new job. Rest in peace my independence - I’m gonna have to move in with Mom. 

“You have all of your qualifications?”

A moment of shock stopped you from speaking, but you pushed through it, confusion flooding through your chest. “Uh, yeah. In the folder, fire science, EMT, fire safety training-“

“Where were you a Hotshot?” Simon’s voice made you look over to him, your answer instant, “Diamond Mountain.”

Simon whistled. “Up near Reno?”

You nodded as you looked back to John. “Was tough. No one liked me on the team except the Supe. Said I had potential.”

He had finally opened your file folder, flipping through the papers with almost blatant disregard for any of the information on the printed pages. He closed the folder after only looking through it for fifteen seconds, tossing the file back onto the desk. He settled on his elbows as he leaned forwards. “That Supe gave you flying colors when I called him.” Oh thank you, Breaker, thank you. Best Supe ever. “Said he was disappointed to see you go to fire watch so quickly.” You kept stoic, watching as John stared back. “You’re not gonna quit on me, are you?”

“No sir.”

“Not gonna run off when shit hits the fan? Or use this as a step to get to structure?”

“No sir.”

With one nod, John sat back in his chair.

“The crew’s going on a hike.” He nudged his chin towards the door. “Got running shoes, Firewatch?”

With a smile on your face, you nodded. 

Summers in your fire watch tower were hot and dry - you used to sit at the worn desk, a book you’ve read thousands of times under your fingertips, as you watched over the large fields of brush and the faraway whispers of dense forests in the heart of Yellowstone. The four fans about the small one room cabin were on high, trying to move air around and keep you from overheating. It was nice, calm - even when you were watching a wildfire one year with high distance binoculars. Something about relaxing in the cabin and being over ten thousand feet in the air - it gave you a sense of calm. After years of having to fight to prove yourself, somewhere you can just be yourself was dropped into your lap.

Your heart was in your throat, you supposed sand had lodged into your esophagus by the time the 141 Hotshots had hit the second mile of the ‘hike’. Alex was kind enough to stay behind with you, not saying a word as the jog up a steep terrain was about to throw you into the hands of God. Both Price and Riley were at the head of the single file line, it slithered through the well defined trail like a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake - poised and ready to strike. There was a soft jingle that came from Alex, the sound of his two necklaces, and there was only the chchchchch of shoes against loose gravel and sand. 

You were supposed to be up in that stupid one room cabin in Yellowstone by now, but here you were. Pushing yourself well beyond your now adjusted limits, you didn’t feel the need to entertain Price's statement in your head - you didn’t leave your ‘cushy’ job in Yellowstone for fun; you didn’t even want to go, but there was no way you were staying anywhere near Justin and that oddly sweet southern girl he got pregnant. You quite literally packed up three outfits, a couple pairs of underwear, and only took two pairs of socks and shoes. You had nothing else with you, anger pumped through your veins so intensely, that you wouldn’t dare go get the rest of your belongings without someone to keep you in check. 

“Don’t beat yourself up.” 

You looked to your right, seeing that Alex had slowed to your pace to talk to you. You then gazed back in front of you, seeing the person in front of Alex had a shirt tagged ‘Soap’. What the Hell kind of name is Soap? “I’m not.”

Alex chuckled. “Sure.” His elbow hit your arm, your head whipped to look at him. “It’s okay to be upset.”

You glared at him, eyebrows furrowed as you kept pace. “I don’t want to talk about it.” You pushed yourself further, closing the distance with the Soap Guy by a couple of feet. Alex was instantly at your side again. If you weren’t trying to be on your best behavior, you’d throw a punch directly in his smug face. He was right when he said Justin was bad news, and you were dreading the ‘I told you so’. “Can we do this later?”

Without even looking, you knew Alex gave you the look that he always gave you - you’re lying and I know you are, so I’m gonna wait until you’re not being stupid to talk about it. “I got you a key for my apartment, it’s coming in tomorrow. I didn’t really have time to clear my spare room, though.”

The sun was burning you, you regretted not thinking about sunscreen in that Phoenix airport store, you regretted not having better jogging gear, and you definitely regretted not packing your suitcase. You would have all of your hiking gear, but this job was quite literally a last minute decision you made in an airport bar. But did you regret this?

Your head looked out to the right, watching the scenery slowly change as you jogged behind the line of well-trained or in-training Hotshots. Golden colored brush, tall trees that you observed were pines, and an occasional cactus. You then looked back to Alex, his head faced ahead. He had truly grown into a handsome man, much more confident than that young adult you left in New Orleans six years ago. Sun-kissed skin and obviously gelled hair, a smile that seemed permanent; your best friend had done well for himself, you thought you had done the same. But your life had exploded into a million pieces, cutting into your not so delicate skin. You had to prove yourself, you had to do this to gain control again or everything might fall apart again.

You weren’t quite sure that you would actually regret this change, but anything was better than that one bedroom apartment in the Irish Channel in New Orleans, and with the witch of a woman who called herself your mother.

You turned your head forwards. “I’ll try to get out of your hair as quick as I can.”

“Don’t rush it.”

“Alex-“ You turned to look at him, but realized the group had slowed, you stopped on a dime. 

The blond looked at you, giving you another look but it was one you couldn’t read. His hand settled on your back, pushing you to stand in between him and the stopped Soap Guy. “We’ll chat later.”

The booming voice of John Price made you snap to attention, “This is what we have been assigned to preserve. Take a breath.” You took a breath through your nose, the air tasted nothing like Yellowstone - the air in the valley you stood above was bitter and gritty, but it felt clean. “Then look out onto these thousands of acres of forest, admire it.” Your eyes fluttered as you gazed upon thousands of acres of dense pine trees, fields of brush and grass, and mountains that danced through the landscape. A twinge of guilt trembled through your stomach, guilt that you had left your entire life for an incredibly dangerous job that can get you killed at almost any turn. Your eyes moved from the horizon to the bearded man, watching as he fixed the band on his watch without even a glance to it, his eyes on all of the crew you only had a moment to glance over earlier. You watched his eyes scan every single person’s face before his eyes landed on you, maybe just for a moment too long before he looked to Alex. 

“Breathe it in, because this will be one of the last times that you can look upon this sight without any negativity.”

It was truly a sight that stood before you. Breathing in air you’ve never had the chance to before, seeing the wonders of nature in a different place of America was incredible. Your lungs burned, you hadn’t had a fast-paced and tough hike since you were a Diamond Mountain Hotshot. It was good, you knew it was good for you - your eyes wandered back to Price.

“Because once I’m done with you,” His blue eyes landed upon you again, his voice sharp like a dagger as it sliced the sentiment into your brain. “all you’ll see is fuel.”

Okay, get yourself out of the gutter. He’s your boss, not a fucking treat to dangle in front of yourself! You literally just broke up with Justin, you cannot get the hots for your hot boss! KEEP IT TOGETHER!

He gave you a smirk before he started to jog towards you - then past you, then Riley behind him, and the crew followed. You waited for the Soap Guy to go for you to turn and go, but you noticed in the crew that you weren’t the only female - you didn’t catch that earlier when you went out to get your running shoes from your rental car. The only one who even looked at you gave you a smirk, she had almost black hair cut right at her shoulders, covered in tattoos. She was four people ahead of you, so it shouldn’t be hard to find her and hopefully make a friend out of Tattoo Girl. Your eyes then moved to the bold letters on the shoulders of the Soap Guy. You then saw him look over his shoulder at you.

What the fuck is with all of these guys being pretty?

“Say ye'r th' fresh meat. Alex said a lot o' guid things.” He had a wild mohawk and a charming smile, his fingers pinched the front of his shirt so he could somewhat fan himself.

“Scottish.” You remarked as Soap chuckled, following the person in front of you - you followed too, but he had moved to jog beside you like Alex. “Why do they call you Soap?”

The man looked over onto his back, tsking before giving someone ahead in line an invisible dagger through their chest. “Damn bastard wasn't suppose tae put that on mah shirt.”

Alex elbowed you again, you kept your eyes forwards now. The trail was becoming steep again, but it was easier to descend than to climb earlier. Your lungs were burning, but you were somehow pushing through. Adjusting and all that jazz. This shit is gonna suck with all the weight I have to carry during drills. Hopefully I get used to the heat quickly or else this might actually break me.

The Soap Guy cleared his throat, nudging you with a knuckle, you didn’t spare a moment to look at him. “Top secret!”

“He put Dawn dish soap in the dishwasher one night, and we came back to the station to a floor of bubbles. So his name is Soap.” Alex snickered, a smile grew on your face as Soap audibly deflated.

“So why aren’t you named Bubbles?” You kept your arms close to your chest as the route kept winding around, both men allowing you the worn gravel path as they opted for the sand and patches of grass.

Soap scoffed, “What, so I can be th’ ‘prettiest girl at th’ party’?”

A cackle of laughter came from the man you were following, another man with a nickname written on the back of his shirt - but he was conscious about the sun by wearing what looked like a well loved baseball cap. In big black letters in between his shoulder blades was ‘GAZ’, and Gaz kept cackling like a hyena. Soap took a couple fast strides forwards, immediately tugging Gaz into his sweaty armpit. The man screeched, Soap yelling some Scottish obscenities that you wouldn’t have been able to decipher if you tried. All Alex did was laugh, you watched as Soap now jogged next to Gaz, who was trying to get out of his hold. 

“That’s the Team Leaders for you.”

You spared a look to Alex. “Team Leaders? Them?”

Your friend shrugged. “For as stupid as they act now, they’re amazing in the field.”

“Good to know.” Your legs burned, chest roared in pain. You gazed out onto the landscape, now noticing that the silver dot in the distance was turning into the Fire Station. “I could use a drink.”

“I also feel that you need a drink.”

You reached out and smacked Alex’s arm, snapping at him, “That’s not funny.”

He glanced to you, grabbing your hand and squeezing it. “There’s a quiet bar in town, I’ll send you the address.”

By the time you had gotten into your rental car after being dismissed with the rest of the Hotshots, you were exhausted. Lungs hummed with a slight burn, your back splattered with aches. It wasn’t hard to know you needed a stiff drink, especially after changing career paths drastically and uprooting your entire life. 

You ditched going to Alex’s apartment as soon as you realized you really only had three outfits and barely any necessities to last you four days. Instead of going out to the nearest Walmart to get some new underwear and some shampoo that wasn’t Alex’s, you found yourself at the polished dark oak stool of a warmly lit quiet bar. There were barely a handful of souls in the small and cozy bar, it was well decorated and taken care of - yet you haven’t seen a bartender for twenty minutes. At least you were tired enough not to care, just glad you remembered deodorant when you had gotten back to your car. The bar had good air conditioning, softly blowing cool air around the black and gold themed bar. 

Your phone had been off all day, but now it sat in your hands, on and with non-stop notifications. You had instantly put on Do Not Disturb, upset about it. Hundreds of calls from your ex-fiancé, almost a thousand texts, begging for forgiveness, then blaming it on you, then apologizing. Next was the calls from his mother, his three sisters, his brother - all people you had considered family. All were either asking where you were or asking to talk, to have Justin explain. You wouldn’t dare listen to them, wouldn’t dare listen to their defense for a slimy cheater. You wished you could just shove one sentiment down their throats:

He’s a liar, pathetic, mean, and he’s gonna get what’s coming to him. I don’t fucking cater to him anymore. He’s gonna have to learn how to suck the energy out of someone else.

The only message you wanted to read was from Justin’s father, a man you respected deeply and one you knew despised cheating. In your bones, you knew that man would take your side, even if the rest of his family took your ex-fiancé’s. The only reason why you didn’t tap on the message was because a voice had broken you from your focus.

“Thought I told you to go home and rest?”

You looked up in surprise, seeing the familiar face of Simon… behind the bar. Your eyebrows furrowed, “I thought you were a Hotshot?” 

The blond shrugged in his white button up and black vest, resting his tattooed hands on his side of the bar. “Gotta have a year round job, had to pick up a shift for Lucy.”

You didn’t look away from Simon when you turned off your phone. “141 Hotshots aren’t year round?”

“God no.” He shook his head, pulling out a clean glass and a napkin, letting it settle on the bar in front of your folded arms before setting the cold glass in front of you. “We’re only mandatory for 90 consecutive days a year - I still need this cash for gas.”

A nod, you settled your phone in your lap. “Long Island, please.”

His hand was reaching for water, but it had stopped. He gave you a sharp look, a warning. “You almost passed out coming down the trail. My statement still stands,” He took the glass back, pouring water into it from the pitcher he retrieved only a minute ago. “Go home.”

Your phone buzzed in your lap. The pit of despair in your stomach got deeper. “One drink.”

He placed the glass of water in front of you. “Drink it, then go home.”

A straw was set in front of you, but you didn’t move your stare from the blond’s face. “I just moved across the country with the clothes on my back and barely enough money to rent a car.” You moved the glass off of the napkin, setting it a few inches away as you continued, “I’m moving into my best friend’s apartment because my eight year relationship ended ‘cause my fiance had to get his dick wet with another girl for an entire year.”

The stare of your Assistant Superintendent would’ve made you laugh if you weren’t waist deep in misery; his eyebrows furrowed just a little, his lips pressed into a thin line. His hand raised from the bar, grabbing another glass. 

“Not to mention his mistress is pregnant.”

He let out a grunt, moving away from you to grab the liquor. “One drink.”

The buzzing phone on your lap did nothing to deter your small smile. “Thanks, Assistant Supe.”

He turned around, a small chuckle escaped him as he said, “You can just call me Captain like everyone else.”

“Captain Riley,” You smiled, he gave you a glare over his shoulder. “Thank you.”

He turned back around, grabbing his bottle of liquor before returning to his spot from before. He began to make your Long Island Iced Tea, eyes kept on his work as he spoke, “Remember to be at the firehouse at 6am. This is your only drink tonight.” Ice cubes clinked the glass as they were dropped in. “You got a ride home?”

You shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”

Simon looked up from his work, meeting your eyes with a sharp gaze. “I’ll take you home.”

A flush ran through your chest, eyebrows raising as you blubbered, “No, I’ll be fine, I promise-”

His hand waved a little. “Just wait for me.”

You smiled at him. “Thanks, Cap.”

taglist: @all-good-things-have-an-ending @warners-wife @random0lover @as-is-above-so-below @peachesofteal @halfmoth-halfman

Copyright © 2023 lethalchiralium. All rights reserved.

[jodilin65]

SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 2000 That was different. We screwed earlier. I don’t think we would’ve if I hadn’t suggested it, but I wanted to see if he’d actually go for it early in the day and on a Saturday, or if he’d give time frames, which is kind of a turn-off to me.

I woke up early at 5:30 cuz of having to take a Benadryl last night at 8:30 for my fucking allergies. Right on time, too. I mean, I was scheduled for an all-day attack. This one came in spurts but was still bad enough.

He burned at the usual time of 7:00 and helped me fill out the doctor’s questionnaire to take with me for my no doubt waste-of-time appointment.

Mary’s been more cursed than me health-wise. They had to send a scope down her throat and up her nose. Yuck! She said they sprayed her with something that numbed her, and it wasn’t as bad as she thought it’d be, but still yucky. She’s been having pain in her throat and I guess she has a lump that needs to be biopsied, although the doctor says it’s probably non-malignant.

Later…

The red Mexican pickup drove by for the second or third time since I last mentioned it. Its music has been soft, but loud enough to get what they want and to achieve the purpose of buying those fucking stereos in the first place – for me, among others I’m sure, to be forced to notice it.

My inevitable, fated-to-be nightmare might be arriving in back before too long. I saw a U-Haul parked at the closest rental, attached to the blue pickup that’s lived there for almost a year now. To my knowledge, no one’s in the furthest rental, unless I just can’t see their vehicle and they’ve been driving in and out the opposite way. I think the closest one is moving, but Tom said to look at it logically: out here, it’s hard to get people to deliver bulk items like appliances, so he probably had to rent the U-Haul to get whatever they bought out here. But we got the washer, dryer and furniture delivered, I reminded him, and he reminded me that we’re living high off the hog compared to most people out here. Most people don’t have the kind of job and pay he does, nor do they have houses like we do or a well. This is true, but like I said, I still think they’re moving. Rentals turnover every few months to a year or two. The question is, is this when the music-blaring freeloaders move in? It’s only a matter of time, but so soon? It’s something God would do to me. It’s just so destined. I attract noisy people like honey attracts bees. For many months I’ve had a vibe about another house or two coming back there in September. However, my September house vibe has faded. Not enough to write it off, but enough to relieve me. When I say “relieve” me, I mean enough to give me another month or two, if not more, before the house(s) come. Any extra time I can stall and delay the trouble to come from back there is extra time I can live in peace.

I took a two-hour nap without any fans on. Just the air cleaner in the next room. Couldn’t do that in Phoenix, but again, how much longer can I do that in Maricopa?

THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 2000 I had to have Tom put my mouse back, cuz his wheel mouse was causing my computer to crash left and right. The phones were all screwy, too. We even thought there might’ve been a tap on the line, cuz of how fucked up things were, but the phone company says they’ve been having problems and it’ll be taken care of. But they always have problems. Every other week there’s a problem and it’s gotten really old. I can’t even play more than one or two games of bingo online without crashing or without things hanging up. That really fucks up my plan. I had planned to row during the two-minute commercials, but as always, whenever I plan something, especially when it concerns my own body, something or someone always has to interfere. Service is shitty no matter where you go, though, cuz people are so damn dumb. In the city, they just can’t keep up with the high demand for service, and in the rural areas, there’s not enough demand for state-of-the-art equipment.

Tom suggested it could be tapped (before the phone company informed him of the trouble) cuz of my calls to Bill. When I asked why they’d set up a tap for the three lousy calls I made to him and not the thousands of calls I made to others when I lived there, he said it was because I called out of state. It still made no sense to me, and I doubt there was ever a tap on this line, but even so, after all the shit I’ve been through with our backward laws and people, I don’t trust shit. I’m just so paranoid now that I leave written notes on the memo board, rather than spoken ones on the phone. As absurd as it may sound, they might even have this place bugged for all I know. They like to concentrate on investigating piddly bullshit more so than the things they should be investigating. I even hid a few things I don’t want to get into here for obvious reasons. Despite the fact that a search warrant seems so unlikely, you never know what the law’s gonna do, so I’m playing it safe this time. It’s not that I have a “feeling,” but the last time I really did have a feeling, I ignored it, and because of it, I ended up with those tapes being taken from me. I didn’t feel like they were taken from me, though. I felt like they were stolen from me. The whole thing reminded me of the way Dureen would clean out my room, throwing away whatever she felt should be thrown away, with no regard to my feelings or say about it. I went through similar enough shit from staff members at the places I was in, too. I’m just sick of being controlled by our so-called authority figures!!! First it was parents, then teachers, then shrinks, and now it’s blacks, Mexicans, cops and courts – aaaarrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!! When does it ever end?!

I will never trust another off-brand again. I hate blacks and I hate Mexicans, and I don’t see how anyone could go through the experiences I’ve had with them and not hate them. I’ve had problems with all but one black person I’ve ever had any kind of contact with, and problems with every single Mexican I’ve ever been unfortunate enough to cross paths with. Never again will I willingly, or by force, associate with another black or Mexican. Never! I’ll be damned if I’ll be suckered into their traps and be abused by them, only to have to end up going to jail and court for it! If you’re black or Mexican, you steer clear the hell away from me, or else!

Speaking of Mexicans, I’m getting the impression that this bullshit case has nothing to do with them. It’s all the blacks. Just the black bitch and me. A court clerk called me “Miss N” as she was handing me my papers. Well, that’s the bitch’s last name.

Tom said they have to drop it for a few reasons, and that it would’ve been thrown out back in June if I had just gotten the fucking subpoena. And by the way, the certified letter couldn’t have been a subpoena cuz we found out online that the subpoena was issued in April for a June court date, but the certified mail came in May. So, the reason I was arrested was cuz of the bench warrant that was issued and the reason I had to spend the night in jail is that the charges are felonies.

Anyway, Tom says they have to drop it cuz no one can prove I did what they said - the legal definition of stalking – following someone. Also, I’m entitled by law to be arraigned in court 10 days after being arrested, which was never the case cuz of people’s stupidity and inability to do the paperwork properly.

As far as my documenting their activities – I had a right to look out my own window, and the cops even advised us to keep records of their antics. He swears this will be over by the end of the year, but I won’t hold my breath. I still think it’s gonna be quite a battle, for quite some time, and that the burden of proof will be on me and not the blacks or the state. He said Mr. Biased wasn’t lying when he said it was dropped. He said it went to a grand jury cuz she pushed it, yet now she has nothing to do with the case anymore unless we go to trial. He was telling me how she probably had to go into court to push this thing 3 or 4 times and miss work over it.

Sorry, but that’s no consolation to me. I’m sure it was plenty worth her bother. She’d love to lose work on account of me, and even if it was a bitch for her, did she have to sleep on a cold, hard floor all night and pay hundreds of dollars cuz of the very people who antagonized her? No. Absolutely not. I’m the one paying. In fact, the blacks cost us another 7 bucks yesterday just for parking, and whatever the cost of the long-distance phone call I had to make today is going to be.

After getting up at 5:00 in the fucking morning, per orders of this fucking cunt, we headed to Denny’s, then to court. It was similar to what I went through in Springfield, only the room was smaller, there was a video monitor of those in the jail, and the friendliest sounding female judge I ever heard of. And naturally, most of the people being arraigned were young Mexicans destined for nothing but lives of destruction. One at a time we went up, were asked if our name was our true and legal name, asked if we understood the charges and had any questions, then were given papers with our next court date, after she entered a “not guilty” plea for us (that’s all that room did was not guilty). My next court date is September 7th at 9:00. I was given a number to call in order to obtain a public defender, but was told when I called that it wouldn’t yet be in the computer, so I need to call back next week.

Last night, Tom was trying to reassure me that I got what I wanted. Meaning, I wanted her to be scared and paranoid, and that’s why she pushed this thing. No, it isn’t. She’s not scared or paranoid. She pushed this thing cuz she’s a vindictive bitch who doesn’t know when to leave people the fuck alone.

Anyway, Tom said it was nice to take a day off in the middle of the week. He didn’t go to work at all yesterday. We went out and flew a bird kite I’ve had for quite some time, but the wind wasn’t very suitable for it. I took some nice pictures, nonetheless.

Today, I caught up on things like cleaning and changing the animal’s cages. I also got caught up on the sleep the blacks had been depriving me of. Shit, she’s been depriving me of more sleep here in this house than when we lived together! I slept for nearly 12 hours, that’s how exhausted she’s had me.

You know, one of the biggest reasons we moved out here was to get away from people. Yet these sick fucks are still with us! Just in different ways.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2000 I could’ve easily slept till 9:00 or later, but the blacks and Mexicans said I had to get up at 6:00. Couldn’t pull myself out of bed till 7:00, though. Tomorrow’s gonna be a bitch, having to get up at 5:30. Thursday I’m gonna sleep till I wake up naturally, even if that means sleeping till 10:00 or later, then having to back my schedule up once again for the doctor’s appointment next Tuesday.

Although there’s still more trash to remove and things to gather up, the yard looks the best it’s looked since we came here. Good. I’m sick of living like filthy, dumpy freeloaders. We keep setting the bird clock, yet it keeps quitting on us, so I give up. It’s just another one of our things that has to be broken. It keeps time just fine. It’s the birds that don’t chirp. Well, I was never much of a bird fan to begin with.

Tom gave me his wheel mouse and it’s the best mouse I ever had. Better than my old wheel mouse, cuz I can reach the buttons easier.

[sleepyrouge]

don't worry, baby

description: you get stranded all alone with your crush, resident frat bro, sero hanta, when your car breaks down during an impending hurricane

word count: 6.4k

title: don't worry baby by the beach boys

author's note: where i live, we get hurricanes a lot and there's just something so special about watching a hurricane roll in at the beach so i wrote a lil somethin' with that in mind also because i can't stop thinking about shitty frat boy w a heart of gold!sero

pairing: sero hanta x reader

content warnings: drug use, alcohol use, f!reader, thigh riding, mutual masturbation, explicit language, penetrative unprotected sex, light choking, creampie, little bit of plot w a little bit of porn (18+/mdni/ageless blogs dni!!!!)

all characters are in their early 20s

banner pics from pinterest

dark and gray pitiful smoke hung in the heavy air. you took a defeated swipe with your foot at one of the front car tires. your raven-haired road trip companion stood a few paces away from you, on the phone with a tow truck company. on the horizon, you could see the sky darkening-a hellacious storm readying to split the sky in half. sero hung up the call, walking the few paces over to you and using you like an armrest. you wanted to shrink away from him but stood fast, angling your gaze down at the grass underneath your sneakers.

“tow truck guy said he could be here in fifteen. he said he’d try his best to fix whatever’s wrong with ol’ bessie here, but he sent all of his mechanics home early on account of the hurricane.” you nodded your head sourly. you felt like a fool.

“‘m sorry for ruining spring break.” the smallness of your voice wasn’t aided by the wall of humidity that your breath had to cut through.

“you didn’t ruin spring break, babe.” hanta bumped your shoulder with his in an attempt to brighten your mood. “but if only someone would have warned you that your ten-year-old shitbox wouldn’t make it five-hundred miles to the coast.” he clicked his tongue in mock annoyance.

“hey! we’re on the coast!” you cast your eyes to the row of brightly painted houses and just beyond, a dark cerulean stripe under the light blue of the sky.

“on the way here, i counted five different faded billboards all advertising different golf courses named after jungle cats. there isn’t even a bar in sight. how can one shitty little down be dry and responsible for so much water waste all at the same time?” hanta sulked.

“i just wanted to take the scenic route.” you pouted, lower lip jutting out. you had this stupid, unavoidable crush on sero and you still didn’t know how you felt about drawing the short straw to accompany him in the other car on the way to your spring break vacation. the other car held the rest of your friends and some of sero’s frat brothers. you thought that driving down with sero would have just been easy. you were pals after all, crush notwithstanding.

“next time, just let me pay for a rental.” hanta smiled down at you and you had to look away from him. you couldn’t handle the idea of him thinking of you as a good friend that he would enjoy going adventures with. you grunted in acknowledgement of his words and crossed your arms over your chest. up the road, you could see a black tow truck ambling towards your poor car. silently, you hoped that there was nothing catastrophically wrong with your beloved car. the pair of you had gone through too much together for it to end up dying on the side of some country road. the tow truck pulled over onto the shoulder of the road behind your car and a short, older man in a baseball cap hopped out of the cab.

“y’all called about a tow?” the man addressed the pair of you, his eyes stopping to rake down your body. 

“yeah, think you can help?” sero asked, a hint of standoffishness in his voice at the way he noticed the older man looking at you. abruptly, you felt sero’s hand in your back pocket and he was pulling you into his side territorially. you barked out a nervous laugh and tried to cover it up with a cough. the man looked appraisingly at the two of you.

“all depends. why’d the car stop working?” the tow truck owner asked and you desperately tried to keep more laughter from bubbling out of your chest. it was uncomfortable, sero’s hand still being in your back pocket, but not necessarily unwelcome. you felt like you were in the twilight zone. you blamed it on the difference in air pressure. there was no reason to read more into sero’s actions than him just being protective over you. there was nothing more to it than it just being in his nature.

“there was a lotta black smoke and it kinda sounded….i dunno, bad?” you shrugged your shoulders, not having the words to properly describe the sound.

“pop the hood for me.” the man requested and you stepped around to the driver side and sero’s hand easily slid out of your pocket. you took a deep breath as you opened the door and pulled on the lever that made the hood pop up. the man pulled the hood the rest of the way up and yanked an oily shop rag out of his back pocket. sero watched on in silence. you stepped back next to him. sero’s hand stayed by his side. 

the two of you watched in silence as the man tapped around under the hood for a few moments, opening caps and pulling at hoses. he stuck his head out from under the hood, wiping his hand on the dirty rag.

“are you familiar with oil?” he directed the question to you.

“oil?”

“you know, cars need it to function. kinda like gas.”

“i know what oil is.” you furrowed your brows together, not enjoying being talked down to.

“are you aware that you have to put more in from time to time.” the man put the shop rag back into his pocket. you blinked at him. “i’m guessin’ not.” he muttered under his breath and started to walk back to his truck. “i’ve got some here that’ll work for you.” he called over his shoulder and you grinned up at sero, who had a look of relief on his face.

“oh, thank you so much!” you thanked him. the emotional standoff from moments earlier was forgotten.

“won’t even charge you an’ your boyfriend here for it.” the man grinned slyly and as if both of you were burned, you both took a step in the opposite direction of each other. it was sero’s turn to let out an uncomfortable laugh. you felt your heart pitter-pattering against your chest. the man finished pouring the quart of oil into your car and stepped back, resealing the bottle with the lid. “i don’t know if you two are from out of town or what, but we’ve gotta hurricane about to come through later today and i don’t advise drivin’ through it. now, it’s not supposed to be nearly as bad as the one we had last year, but a hurricane’s a hurricane and the smartest thing to do would be to just stay the night. lucky for y’all, the wife’s a realtor and had some beach house rental cancellations so i’m sure she could cut you a deal.”

and that was how you and sero ended up alone together in a tiny little a-frame beach house that still had decorations and board games from the nineties adorning it. the kitchen windows were boarded up, but the plate glass windows facing the beach remained unobstructed. you could have walked from the deck down on the beach if you had really wanted to. instead, after an agitating grocery trip with the raven-haired man, you stood on the porch of the house with your back pressed against the railing, pulling on a cigarette with a can of cheap beer clutched in your hands. you looked on as sero rolled a blunt on the plate in his lap. between the both of you, you had about an eighth to make do with. you took a sip of beer and tried to break your focus on sero’s long fingers.

“hey,” his warm voice broke you out of your reverie and you looked up at him to see him jerk his head upwards, motioning you over to him as his bangs fanned over his forehead. “i’m kinda busy here, can you…” he trailed off but you knew what he wanted without him having to ask for it, having been in this situation countless times before at the parties he would throw and you would both end up outside together. you stepped closer to him, holding your half-smoked cigarette between your fingers and watched as sero craned his head forward and puffed on it slowly. you held your breath, shaky hand bringing your beer can to your lips once again before offering it to hanta after pulling the cigarette away. you watched the fine sheen of sweat on his cheeks glisten as his head moved. you desperately needed to rally your composure if you were gonna make it through the night without incident.

“thanks, babe.” sero grinned up at you and you grunted out your response before turning your back to him in favor of watching the waves crash against the sand. this way, you stood a chance at keeping your longing to yourself. you noted the way the water was getting rougher and the way the worsening wind was blowing sand around down on the beach. you had never seen anything like it.

“do you think the power’ll go out?” you wondered aloud and turned back to face sero, now licking the brown blunt wrap to seal it up.

“god, i hope not. it’s too damn hot.” as if for emphasis, he wiped his hand across his forehead and messed up his hair and you pushed down the urge to reach your fingers out and straighten his hair. you took a long drag off of your cigarette before stubbing it out and placing the butt on the railing. you watched a bead of sweat glide down hanta’s neck. you thought about walking into the ocean and letting it swallow you up.

“are we gonna smoke that now, or what?”

“i thought you’d never ask.” he beamed at you, standing up, blunt between his teeth, and stretched his body towards the sky. you could hear his bones crack. it caused you to snicker. “need more beer.” he transitioned easily and slid open the door that led back inside. you followed as if you were possessed by him and ended up dutifully standing next to him at the refrigerator and taking the handful of beer cans that he handed you. you led the way over to the couch and tried to set each beer can down without too much of a racket. one ended up tipping over and knocking the others over onto the carpet beneath the coffee table. you heard sero behind you laughing just over the short flick of his lighter. he laid back against against the armrest, long legs laid across the arm rest on the opposite end.

“where am i supposed to sit?” you pouted, cracking open a new can for you and sero to share. one of your hands came to prop on your hip.

“c’mere.” he smiled childishly and made grabbing motions at you. your mouth opened and closed in embarrassment as you tried to figure out some way to politely decline. “oh come on, it’s freezin’ in here!” sero groaned theatrically and you had to agree with him. it was positively frigid in the house compared to the heat and humidity of outside. you sat down in the middle of the couch and laid next to him, inadvertently curling your body more into his to prevent yourself from falling off the side. however, the couch was old and your movement pushed you farther than you would have liked into hanta’s side. despite this, the couch was comfortable and he was warm and your nose was full of the scent of smoke and you had to suppress a contented little sigh. you felt the deep rumble of a laugh reverberate through sero’s chest and you looked up at him in false annoyance as he placed the blunt into your waiting fingers.

“comfy?” the wind whipped around the house outside loudly. it sounded like a freight train. the sky grew menacingly darker.

“yeah, ‘m comfy.” your lungs filled with smoke. “just hope the power doesn’t go out.” you craned your head to look out of the tall windows as you exhaled.

“what is it with you and the power going out?” you passed the blunt back to sero. “afraid of the dark or somethin’?” you shook your head and took a sip of beer. the few that you had drank right after arrival were starting to wear on you, loosening you up.

“not afraid of the dark. afraid of bein’ stuck in the dark during a hurricane.” you clarified hazily.

“don’t worry, baby. it won’t be that bad.” sero drawled and his fingers brushed against yours absently. it shocked you back into your right mind.

“you don’t actually, like, know that.”

“sure i do. it’s spring break. nothing bad ever happens on spring break.”

“except for my car breaking down and getting us stranded here.” you laughed into the smoke-filled room.

“nah, i wouldn’t even count that.” sero’s lithe body pressed against yours as he sat up to tap the ash off of the blunt and into his discarded beer can on the coffee table. he plopped back down easily and brought the brown wrap to his lips again, inhaling deeply.

“sero, are you-” you started to ask if you did, in fact, feel his hard dick brush into your side not even a full moment ago but the words died in your throat before they had occasion to live.

“am i what?” he questioned easily, passing the blunt back to your waiting fingers. he exhaled a smoke ring. you tried to focus on that.

“nevermind.” you ignored the heat rising in your chest and instead focused too closely on pulling off the blunt, letting your eyes flutter shut and envisioning smoke filling your lungs. smoke and silence hung in the air when you exhaled so long that you let out a dry cough when there was no air left in you. you picked up the can of beer you had left all but abandoned on the coffee table, lukewarm condensation mixing with the clammy perspiration on your hands. you finished the rest greedily as sero took the blunt from your hands. you settled back down against his shoulder, watching him out of the corner of your eye.

“you were gonna ask if i’m hard, weren’t you?” he had a lopsided grin on his face and you choked on your spit. he inhaled, right arm coming to rest behind his head.

“oh-yeah.” you answered, trying to play it off like you had already forgotten.

“i am.” his voice went straight between your legs. god damn him.

“cool.” you did your best to sound nonchalant and entertain yourself with picking at your nails. the wind was starting to pick up in earnest outside and giant globs of rain started pounding against the glass panes and making them rattle in their frames. the lights in the living room flickered once, twice. you shivered and weren’t sure if it was because of the chill from the cranked-up air conditioning or your proximity to sero. the sky darkened angrily over the beach. 

“hey, c’mere.” he repeated and you felt him looking down at you with heavy lidded eyes and all you could hear was static in your ears all of a sudden. his right hand reached over your shoulder to thread the tip of the blunt through the pull-tab of the discarded beer can and found its way to the side of your face. you found yourself fascinated by the red ring around the edge of his pretty eyes and were taken off guard by how close his face was getting to yours. you let your hand slither its way in between your pressed together warm bodies and your eyes shuttered themselves, head inching forward imperceptibly to meet sero’s. you waited to feel his lips on yours, held your breath as you felt the moment you had been craving approaching. instead, you felt his thumb on your chin pulling down softly. you let your lips part and felt the pad of sero’s thumb run over your lower lip before you felt his lips gently against yours, pushing warm smoke from his mouth into yours. after a quiet second, he pulled away to lay on his back again and it was only then that you exhaled, clearing your lungs, and looked up at him. he stared at the ceiling with that annoying smirk still on his face.

“what, did you think i was gonna kiss you?” he cut his eyes down to look at you. a scowl played on your face. you didn’t answer him. “mina told me you can’t cum.” he continued on in the silence and you choked on the spit you were trying to swallow.

“why the hell would she tell you that?” you grumbled, arms coming to cross against your chest. you hated how shitty and soft the couch cushions were, the way they made you slope down to press into sero’s muscular side without reprieve.

“dunno. i think she was drunk. it was when we were watching you makeout with that little blonde guy.” sero drummed his fingers against his chest. if you were rational, you would have gotten up to go bury yourself underneath a rock, but your body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. he snorted through his nose. “she said you were ‘in the midst of suffering through a consortium of bad dick.’”

“that’s a way to put it.” you threw your left forearm over your face and made a mental note to talk to mina later about what it meant to keep secrets. at the very least, she didn’t know and go blabbing about your crush on sero. 

“so how big is it?” sero asked and you could feel him rolling his body over so his chest was pressed horizontally into your side. your two bodies mirrored the way the couch was built.

“how big is what?” you asked in confusion and then in the space of a blink, sero was hovering over top of you. he was so close to you that his black bangs tickled against your forehead and one of his legs rested between your parted thighs to help him hold himself up. you worked your fingertips into the crack of the couch cushion to stop yourself from running your fingers down his torso.

“how many guys belong to the consortium of bad dick?” he asked simply. his warm breath tickled your nose. you thought you could get high on the mixing scent of his sweat and cologne. his thigh settled more in between your legs and you wanted to buck your hips up against him.

“uh, like seven, i think.” you drawled out like you didn’t know, but begrudgingly you had kept count of your conquests each weekend, none of them bringing you the release that you craved. you thought back to all the times the guy you were hooking up with would cum, roll over, and fall asleep. it was no big deal, you simply got acquainted with your hand-thoughts of sero running through your head while your man of the night snored next to you. sero tucked a piece of hair back behind your ear and cooed at you sympathetically.

“seven, like, since the semester started or in total?” he had a shit-eating grin on his face as he hovered closer to you, elbows caging your head in and not allowing to you look anywhere other than at him. you rolled your clothed core imperceptibly against his thigh, just hoping that it would give you some relief from the way his voice was making goosebumps pop up all over your skin. you felt your blood almost boil in embarrassment and arousal.

“i-in total,” you stuttered out, knowing that you didn’t have near the amount of experience as sero and his near revolving door of prospects. “just think there's something wrong with me.” you tried to laugh and diffuse the situation, disarm sero so he wouldn’t pick up on you trying to rut your hips more heavily against his thigh. you let out a shaky breath and dug your fingers into sero’s bicep when he dipped down and pressed a wet kiss against the junction of your neck and your shoulder.

“nothin’ wrong with you, baby,” he muttered hotly against your skin and then moved to the other side of your neck and repeated the action. “some guys are just assholes.” when his breath fanned against your skin this time, you didn’t have the self-control to stop the way your hips jerked against his thigh. he stared back down at you with the same intensity.

“and you’re not one of those assholes?” you raised your eyebrows and tried to disguise the way that it was getting harder for you to breathe. as if from another dimension, you heard the wind whip again outside and the power dipped off again for a few seconds before coming back on, bathing sero in gentle light.

“i’m absolutely one of those assholes,” he chuckled, pulling one of his hands down to stroke his fingers against your neck. “but i know how to get someone off.” he had a heavy look of mirth in his eyes as he pressed closer to whisper in your ear. “look at you for example, pretty girl, using my leg to get off and i don’t even have to do anything.” your eyes got wide and you laid stock still as if you had been shocked. sero nipped playfully at the sensitive skin just under your ear. “don’t stop on my account. only stop if you want to but i don’t mind.” he locked eyes with you and you couldn’t hold it in anymore, couldn’t send the right message from your brain to you body to hold your hips still. instead, you rutted your hips in earnest against the length of sero’s thigh, letting out a stuttering moan when your lower back landed on the couch again. sero drew his bottom lip in between his teeth and his hand came down to rest on your waist. you could feel his bulge resting against your upper thigh. you wanted to run your hand over it, to feel his length, but you were too worried to move your hands.

you repeated the motion over and over, keenly aware and annoyed by the four layers of fabric separating you from the sero. you wanted him more than anything, but, too afraid to let the words stumble from between your lips, you had to settle for rubbing your pussy up against his leg and keen at the way your underwear slid against your clit. sero rubbed easy little circles into your hips and kept nipping at the sensitive skin of your neck.

“do you remember,” he started, leaving a sloppy kiss on your clavicle and pushing his fingers up under the hem of your tank top. “that girl that ran out of the party last weekend?” his long fingers ghosted over your chest while he looked at you expectantly for an answer.

“the one that you had upstairs with you?” you breathed deeply. you focused enough to pull the memory from the haze of your mind. “yeah.”

“do you know why she ran out on me?” he had an evil grin on his face as his hovering hand moved back down to pull at the hem of your top. you sat up a bit to help him pull it over your head and let out a persistent mewl at the new friction you found. the hairs on your arms prickled in the cool air of the living room.

“don’t really wanna hear about you hooking up with some girl, sero.” you whispered, modesty on your mind for the first time as you tried to cover your chest with your arms. sero grabbed both of your hands in his, pinning them up over the armrest of the couch. he dipped his head down, nose raking over the valley of your breasts and against the cups of your bra before his warm breath was tickling the shell of your ear again.

“she left because i kept calling her your name. fucked her brains out though.” he finished simply, like he was proud of what he had done. his own length now rubbed relentlessly against the outside of your thigh. the two of you were a mess of sweat and limbs and labored breathing.

“that’s…great, sero. really.” you tried to sound unaffected by the information. did that mean sero had a thing for you, close to the one that you had for him? it was a point you didn’t have long to ruminate on before his hand that wasn’t holding yours hostage above your head was snaking around to your back and undoing the clasp of your bra. he let go of your hands to impatiently yank the thing off of you and throw it back over his shoulder. with a cringe, you heard your bra connect with the battalion of discarded beer cans on the coffee table. sero’s palms traced heavily your sides, relishing in the way you pitifully dragged your clothed core against his thigh. it was as if nothing else mattered except for the drag of your clit against his muscly thigh. he shook his head mockingly at you and leaned in close to your face again. a big wave rose in your stomach and threatened to push you off of a cliff.

“uh-uh, baby.” his hands wandered up to your breasts and groped lightly. “call me hanta.” his thumbs ghosted over your nipples, already hardened from the cool air. “han-ta.” he punctuated the syllable with a little kiss to the space behind your ear and you arched your chest up into his, still clothed in a t-shirt.

“you’re so fucking annoying.” you whispered at the ceiling, arms coming to snake around sero’s neck and fingers playing with his hair. you were so pitifully close to coming now that you couldn’t slow down if you tried. the dam was so close to breaking. you were trying to rail back in anyway you could against the emotions sero was making you feel. it was embarrassing.

“that’s bold talk for someone about to cum from humping my leg.” he chuckled, hands working at pulling his cock over the waistband of his shorts. you leaned up to see what he was doing, forehead brushing against his, and almost choked at the sight. you surmised that sero’s cock was big from some highly scientific glances you had made at his crotch, but nothing compared to seeing it like this in all of it’s glory. you wrapped your arms tighter around hanta’s neck as he tugged at the length of his dick, sinful moans falling from in-between his parted lips. you tried to pull him down into a kiss, which he had been denying you of, to get your mind off of what it would feel like to have him pushing himself deep into your cunt. instead of pressing a kiss to your lips, he pressed one to your cheek, mouth pulled into a line in concentration.

“why won’t you kiss me?” you hated the way you breathlessly whined-the way you sounded so needy. the dam inside of you was a centimeter away from cracking.

“because i know it’s annoying the shit out of you.” he breathed heavily against the side of your face and the sound of his indisposed voice was enough to shatter the dam completely, an absolute fire raging throughout your body as your hips stuttered, pulling you through your high.

“f-fuck, hanta, oh my god!” you breathed, not sure of where you were in that moment and not caring at all. your head had fallen back against the armrest of the couch. your hands tangled tightly into sero’s hair and pulled upwards, moving you so you could see his ministrations against his own cock. he groaned loudly, his head followed the path of your hand obediently. you felt more warmth pooling between your legs once again. 

sucking your bottom lip in between your teeth, your right hand abandoned its place nestled against sero’s scalp and came down to join his hand on his cock. your hand was on top of his, only going through the same motions that he was initiating himself, but it was enough to make him slot his head into the crook of your neck until he was biting and suckling so fervently at your skin that you were almost screaming at the pleasure he was making you feel.

“shit i’m gonna-i’m gonna-” he started urgently and was cut off by thick white ropes of his seed shooting against your stomach. you admired the way his cum looked against your skin and dragged a finger through it. you couldn’t help but to be captivated by it. coming back down to earth, hanta watched you intently and you were unaware of his gaze until his index finger joined yours in the mess on your stomach and he was dragging his finger up to your lips. he wiped the stripe of his own seed against your lower lip and watched with a fire in his eyes as your eyes connected with his and your tongue darted out to lick the mess from your lips. solidly, he gripped your chin in his long fingers and crashed his mouth down onto yours and bullied his tongue into your mouth. he liked what he found there, moaning into the kiss and taking your breath away. the two of you were an unrehearsed symphony of spit and limbs, neither of you being able to get close enough to other. hanta pulled away from you suddenly as if he had remembered something. a light blush flittered across the apples of his cheeks.

he sat up in between your legs and reached his arms up over his head, tugging his t shirt off of his body and wiping away the fluid that he had left on your stomach.

“sorry about that.” he grinned bashfully and dropped his shirt on the floor. he settled back on top of you and one of your hands situated itself in his hair and the other came down to explore the slight expanse of his chest. you wrapped your legs around his waist and settled farther into the couch, pulling him with you. you couldn’t believe that you were kissing sero, let alone like this, and mere minutes ago he had you peaking with barely even touching you. you kissed greedily down sero’s neck and relished in the hushed gasp he let out when your teeth barely grazed his skin. 

“y’ don’t know how bad i wanted this.” he whispered against your cheek as he trailed down to your jaw. you whined against his neck and felt him get hard against you again.

“you…wanted this?” you stared up at him with blown eyes.

“so bad.” he eyed you hungrily and you registered the onslaught of rain of the roof and the harsh charge of the wind outside passingly as it grew louder.

“wan-want you to fuck me.” you found the courage to whisper against hanta’s neck and then his fingers were drumming lazily against your lips has his hips jerked involuntarily against you.

“well now, i can’t deny the prettiest girl i’ve ever laid eyes on, can i?” he teased, kissing down your chest until he licked against one of your nipples. you whined, sheepish. sero started working at the button and zipper on your shorts. “this is still okay with you?” he looked at you with eyes containing momentary levity. you nodded your confirmation, needing more of his touch. he worked your shorts and underwear down your legs. you were relieved to be rid of your uncomfortably wet underwear. 

crawling back up your body. hanta worked one of his arms under your neck to cradle your head and his other hand found its way down between your legs. you let out a strangled moan, jaw going slack, at the feeling of his middle finger gliding through your slick folds. you panted out little breaths as his finger started lazily circling around your clit and exploring. your hands stroked down his back and through his soft hair. despite the pleasure, you felt a voice in the back of your head telling you that you ought not to feel this way, that you didn’t deserve this-especially not with hanta.

“sorry for uh, being so needy. fucking this up.” you whispered, eyes not meeting his. his finger stopped its slow work.

“what’re you talking about?” confusion danced through his dark eyes.

“i just-i feel like…it’s dumb that i like you this much.” you pressed your thighs closer around sero’s waist despite your words. he snorted against your skin.

“sure you’re bein’ dumb, but that’s not the reason, pretty girl.” he tilted your chin up with his other hand so that you were looking at him. “i-” he hummed, stopping to think of his next words. “i don’t know! i like you! wanna fuck you, wanna hold your hand, wanna fuckin’... dance on an elevated surface with you next weekend.” you blinked your eyes repeatedly, trying to process all of the information. “so you’re not dumb…just maybe a little bit though for not picking up on that.” sero finished with a self-concious laugh and started his ministrations against your clit again. your eyes fluttered shut and your back arched up into him. you tugged his head down for a kiss and it was easy, his warm lips moving against your own and it helped you settle your thoughts. 

his index finger travelled down to your entrance, swirling around lazily before coming back up to focus on your clit again. your breathing grew heavy against his lips. your arm slithered down between your chilly, sweat covered bodies and tried to press his hand closer to you.

“need more, sero.” you whined in his ear.

“what’d i tell you, baby?” he continued his evil pace against your clit. his fingers slipped against how wet you were. you wanted to crawl out of your own skin to find more blessed friction.

“please, hanta. need to feel more of you.” you didn’t care how you sounded-you were only driven by desire. he nipped at your lower lip through the smirk on his face.

“need me to fuck you?” his eyes burned into yours as he mocked your tone. abruptly, you felt his index finger enter you up to the knuckle. you arched your back, pressing your chest flush against his when he curled his finger up against your belly button. “fuck, you’re so wet.” he mused and didn’t waste any time in adding his middle finger. your jaw hung lax as you tried not to get overwhelmed by the stimulation. you did your best to meet his thrusts. nothing else mattered in that moment than hanta and the burgeoning wall of emotions that you were feeling. with his free hand, you felt him pulling his shorts and underwear down lower and then he was settling his body down flush against yours.

as he pulled his fingers away from you, you let out a whine that almost matched the wind outside in pitch but slowly, he pushed into you. all you felt was a heavy pressure in your lower half. you screwed your eyes shut and tried to focus on hanta’s hands running through your hair and cooing at you.

“that’s good, sweet girl. keep breathing, okay?” he instructed though his breathing was heavy and ragged. carefully he pulled out and pushed back in just as slowly. you nodded up at him through hazy eyes. he pressed his sweaty forehead against your own as he fucked into you deep and slow. hanta captured your lips against his own in a searing kiss when he finally bottomed out in you. there was nothing else in the world except for the heavy drag of his cock against your slick insides. god, you thought, the butterflies were incessant. sero fucked you just as smoothly as he talked, leading you to press your hips against his more persistently and beg for more of his touch.

“feel so good with you on my dick.” he muttered against your lips and his fingers splayed across your face to cradle you.

“wanna cum like this.” you couldn’t find it within yourself to care what was coming out of your mouth as hanta’s hips circled harshly against your own and his hips gave your clit the blessed friction it needed everytime he slid home.

“you fixin’ to cum for me, baby, huh? so fuckin' quick?” he picked up his pace and slid his fingers heavily down your jaw until his hand laid against your neck. he put steady pressure on the sides of your neck until you heard static in your ears and your eyes started fluttering towards the back of your head. the sensation was divine. it was, enough so, that when hanta let go of your neck to slide between your joined bodies to rub urgently against your clit, you started clenching around his cock relentlessly. the very next thing you knew, you were being bathed in the warm sensation of your orgasm. it was, what you hypothesized, sex should feel like. you were breathless and your body felt boneless as hanta kept fucking into you in search of his own release. you wrapped your legs tighter around him and your hands gripped his sweaty hair. you hissed at the slight overstimulation but you could feel his thrusts going more and more ragged. sero’s touch on your skin was enough to leave marks at this point. he hitched your leg higher on his waist, hitting a new angle up against your stomach mercilessly that had you crying out for him and digging blunt fingernails against the back of his neck.

presently, hanta’s hips stuttered twice against your own and you felt nothing but warmth coat your insides as his forehead dropped against your shoulder. you let out a chuckle through your own ragged breathing and sero turned his head to look at you, sliding his softening cock out of you as he did so.

“what’s so funny?” he asked, though he had a goofy smile on his face to match your own.

“i think the consortium of bad dick might be closed for business.” you leaned down to press a simple kiss against his lips. he threw a lanky arm over your middle and pulled you closer into his naked body. your heavy-lidded eyes took in the sight of him threading his fingers in between your own. the two of you drifted off to sleep while listening to the harsh pound of rain and the eerie whistle of the wind outside.

[jellorat]

My Schedule as a Barely Functioning Adult

This is what I am dealing with in the next few weeks:

11/23/22 - Take a load over to the new house, drive 1 hour to IKEA to pick up items we bought, drive back, and put them together. Today's complication was brought to us by IKEA not having things in stock the first time, and also giving us a reopened an half-assembled Alvari drawer with the wrong drawer slides in it, and going back and getting the wrong drawer slide AGAIN! I suppose one fuck up out of 10 years of purchases is decent odds, so I will allow it.

11/24/22 - Ignore Thanksgiving, and pack the house for moving. Maybe go to a restaurant and eat sad restaurant thanksgiving. Not sure what's happening with this. Wife is in charge.

11/25/22 - Ignore the holiday, pack the house and maybe take items over before movers. There is NO WAY we are letting them touch $600 Flu Vogs. Like who would risk that leather?

11/26/22 - Continue packing. Maybe take things. Maybe not.

11/27/22 - Even god got a rest day, so we plan on sitting in our cramped apartment, probably in bed because it will be the only place without boxes. We will do nothing! Because we are both old, and plan on being sore and exhausted.

11/27/22 - 11/30/22 Work. My job is a dumpster fire right now, and my boss and I have been entangled in a HR incident where she shared my medical issues to attempt to prevent a transfer to a different team. She's a total fucking shit, and it went so well that her boss is all over her right now, so things are tense. ALSO, pack for my wife's trip to Arizona for Electrolysis.

12/1/22 - Silently try not to panic at the idea of heading ot the airport at 0400 in the morning. Work the day, while being completely distracted, and trying not ot panic at my bosses complete incompetent shenanigans. (Hence the attempt to transfer in the first place.)

12/2/22 - Got to Airport. Support wife while she has to grow out her beard. Be anxious with TSA. Get to Arizona, get to Rental Car, get wife to electrolysis, and check into the hotel. Get back to my wife, and keep her company so I am at least there when someone says something shitty to her. Which is an ongoing theme.

12/3/22 - Get wife to all day electrolysis again. Say nothing except polite niceties. Big mask. Big mask!

12/4/22 - Get to airport, drop off rental, go through TSA, get back home, then drive back to our apartment. Realize it's all boxes, and not relaxing at all. Lay in a malaise of post Arizona funk, and be silently grateful our transgender asses don't live there.

12/5/22 - This should have been a post Arizona rest day, but nope! This will be the kick off of the final packing preparations. Moving are coming on the 10th. Call and confirm! Double check everything. Take anything that needs to go over, over, so the movers dont' have art and fragile things to move.

12/6/22 to 12/8/22 - Work in a shit show and look for new job posting at work so I can try and transfer again.

12/9/22 - Go to state capital to fight the unique transgender fight of trying to get my 30 year old marriage certificate amended to our new names. This requires an act of god, a 6th month wait for this appointment, and hoping all the name change court documents will be enough. Then! Drive back home, and take all electronics to the new house. We will take all TVs, and the four gaming consoles, plus two expansive computer set ups. We are talking endless monitors, KVM switches, and god knows what.

12/10/22 - MOVING DAY! Professional movers will come for boxes and furniture at 9am. We will anxiously watch and panic until all items are in the new house. Then we will probably unpack some.

12/11/22 - Unpack more.

12/12/22 - Unpack more.

12/13/22 - Not working, just laying in bad thinking thank god it's over and recovering.

I need an adult that is not me. This is the time I do wish I had a family to help. It's just my wife and I and we are also fighting executive dysfunction issues, and this is a lot for 3 weeks.

[neonponders]

👀 👀 👀 👀  Oh jesus oh lord. Deeper Than Skin is finished so I’ll enable another wip.

@ghostofjellyfishforgotten I hope you don’t mind me using your tags on this vampire!Billy / blood donor!Steve post as inspiration! Your brain is just too big for me not to pass up an opportunity to write vampire shenanigans.

Read on ao3 ~

🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹

Steve didn’t judge people who worked as donors—

Fine, as an adult with a better awareness and compassion, Steve didn’t judge donors. He might’ve said some shitty things to Jonathan Byers when he worked to make his family extra money.

Honestly? Steve admired that. Jonathan being underage and having the guts to figure out how to get into the donation clinic, and then to let…

Steve knew he was a coward in a lot of ways. He knew it when he called Jonathan a queer who enjoyed leeches sucking on him. He knew it when he lost to the punches Byers threw. For a skinny, half empty blood bag, the guy could really hit. And Steve knew it when he almost ran away from Nancy and Jonathan fighting off the rogue vampire who kidnapped little Will Byers.

But Steve didn’t run away.

Just like he didn’t run away from the couch he sat on with his mother while his father explained…a situation that left Steve digging deeper and deeper into the gap between fear and bravery. Maybe call it disassociation. Or confused shock.

“You what?”

Harrington senior never took well to being interrupted. But he sighed from across the coffee table and reiterated, “The family is in debt.”

“No. You. You’re in debt. This is your problem.”

The man certainly didn’t take well to having his own mistakes shoved under his nose. “This isn’t for debate. This is the way things are and need to be.”

“No,” Steve repeated like a broken record clinging onto its song. “This is your fault. Who’s made me work minimum wage jobs to teach me a lesson? Who’s refused to pay for me to go to community college? Who hasn’t let me work in their company? And who made the shitty gambles with your company’s stocks? You shoved me out, so it’s definitely not my problem—”

“The contract has already been signed.”

Now his mother shifted her posture on the couch beside him. “Excuse me?”

Steve’s father moved his blunt nails over the armrest of his wingback, fidgeting. At least something put fear into the old bastard’s heart.

“There’s nothing I could do. The market has been evolving ever since vampires gained their rights and opened up their decades and centuries old bonds—”

“Vampire legislation passed over a century ago,” Mrs. Harrington purred. Sometimes the worst anger was the quiet kind. “You have no excuse. You lost the game, and you sold our son. Is that what we’re to believe?”

“That’s not possible,” Steve intercepted. “Slavery isn’t a thing anymore. Even I picked that up in history. And I would have to be there to sign the contract! It’s my—”

“Steve,” his father silenced. “When enough money is involved, anything is bought. And you’re not like anyone else.”

Mrs. Harrington fumed, “Do not talk to him like he’s a prize pony!”

“Except to a wealthy vampire, he is.”

Steve could only sit in weighted silence for a moment. He always joked to himself that he’d be disowned one of these days. For being a disappointment. For all of his bad grades. For giving his friends alcohol and cigarettes. For only being able to get jobs that required no qualifications or experience level at all. For discovering he liked kissing boys at the grimy music venues Robin took him to. Maybe living at home for too long. Or leaving the smell of burnt pancakes in the air too often because he always struggled with the first one—

“Vampire?” he croaked. For some reason it hadn’t dawned to him until now but…shit.

Holy shit.

Steve wasn’t being sold off to be some billionaire’s secretary for life. He was being…truly sold. Like…goodbye, Steve, who likes spring nights and summer mornings. His favorite food is breakfast and he wishes he kept with the music lessons his mom paid for instead of being peer pressured into sports. Whose best friend was Robin Buckley because she was brave and funny and stuck with him during his ironic and a little bit terrifying queer awakening…

Hello, Donor 0235. Blood type O. Allergic to nickel and checks off all vaccination requirements.

“Steve’s not wrong,” his mother echoed like a voice deep in a cave, drawing Steve out of his thoughts. “He is the one to sign the contract. Not you.”

“He is still classified as our dependent and on our insurance,” his father refused.

“So being an adult means nothing in this country?”

“They have our family records, Annette!” he exclaimed. “There is a dual government in this country even if nobody below upper-middle class sees it. The human government had to cede a great deal because the vampire population is massive. And they’ve kept track of all the Sanguis families! Name changes, and two World Wars did nothing to save us—”

“The what?” Steve all but whispered.

His mother rotated her hips to face him. “We only have legends about how it happened. Paleolithic gods making deals, vampires crossbreeding humans to make a certain kind of blood donor, human evolution after symbiotic deals were struck—but that doesn’t matter. The point is that there are people in this world with abilities that preserve themselves against vampires. That’s why you healed in less than two days after that silly fight by the movie theatre.”

His father intercepted, “The genes skipped your mother but fell to you.”

Steve’s eyes widened as his mother confirmed, “To protect us, girls have been promoted in the family tree for generations. Through marriage, their names could change, and make them harder to track.”

Steve countered toward his father, “So this really isn’t your place to sign my life away. Like five times over.”

“I quite agree,” his mother turned back to the man she’d married. The man who was supposed to protect her and her children with his name and promising, growing business.

At least Steve wasn’t the only failure in the family.

His father massaged his forehead and defended, “As I said. Humans’ government is far easier to corrupt our way into forgiving any debt. The vampires, however, are inconsolable. The bastard would have my business, the cars, our house, and taken his time discovering Steve on his own if I hadn’t—”

Steve took after his father, but he was his mother’s son as they both stood up from the couch, furious that this man had thrown his own kid under a vampire’s bus—

“Get out of the house, Steve.”

His head whipped around at her. “I-What?”

“Get out of the house,” she seethed, but not at him. “I don’t care where or what you do. Go.”

Steve didn’t need to be told twice but he hadn’t managed to grab his car keys or his shoes before the house and his ribcage trembled with his parents’ arguing. He went in his socks outside and put the shoes on in his car.

Then…he didn’t know where to go. Running the hell away seemed like the obvious solution, but if vampires really had such a network, what was the point? And if he left, what would happen to his mom?

Steve drove on autopilot to the video rental store. Robin. All he had was Robin, who took the lollipop out of her mouth when the bell on the door twittered. “Hey, dingus, it’s your day off—Steve?”

He couldn’t really remember driving. That probably should have raised more red flags than he already had, but for now, the black and neon carpeting of the Family Video was blurring and swirling…

“I’m gonna throw up,” he heard himself say.

And Robin in that distant, echoing cave his mother had spoken from, “Outside! STEVE!”

[benedictsvestcollection]

Ever Ever After- A Whiskey x reader Modern Cinderella fic

Rating: T for some swearing mostly!

Warnings: Ummmm.... Mentions of death, fluff, sweetness and stepmom being a bitch. 

Word count: 2.3K

A/N: Tomorrow is @absurdthirst‘s birthday so this chapter is dedicated to you my darling! Happy early birthday!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

As soon as Jack and Ginger were in the back of the towncar and away from prying eyes, Jack heaved a heavy sigh. “I do not like that woman.” He growled as Ginger began typing away an email to Champ. 

He hadn’t stopped thinking about the way Miranda had spoken to you, her own step-daughter. The entire day, he had witnessed you being treated with such disdain and rudeness. 

“Your dentist is going to hate you when they find out you’ve been grinding your teeth so much today.” Ginger teased him, spying the way Jack clenched his jaw so much. Mad on your behalf. A woman, he barely knew but already felt innately protective of. 

“Who the hell talks to their family like that?” He asked her. “She was nothing but sweet and hardworking all day and they just… Spoke to her like that.” 

“Terrible people. They’re terrible people Jack.” Ginger told him simply, knowing he had asked a rhetorical question. But answering him nonetheless. 

Jack sighed, knowing she was right. “Do we have anything on the daughters?” He asked her, changing the subject. 

Ginger shook her head. “As far as I can tell, they’re just spoiled bitches.” She muttered. “But not aware of what their mom is up to.” 

“Like mother, like daughters.” Jack muttered out with a huff. 

“You like her.” Ginger stated matter of factly. “And not just in a ‘what a sweet girl’, or ‘she’s part of the mission’ kind of way.” She teased him. 

He merely grunted in response and shifted in his seat, readjusting his suit jacket. Glaring at Ginger while she smirked from her phone. She was right and he hated that she was. 

“I like her too. Just maybe not in the same way you do.” She continued on, smirk still on her face.

“You done Ging?” He muttered at her grumpily. “We have work to do.” 

~~~~~~~~~

You sighed in contentment inhaling your french toast, bacon, eggs and coffee at your favorite diner. You had cleverly booked your stepmother and sisters for a spa weekend. But in reality, it had been for you. A peaceful weekend to yourself with no work to do. So now, you were treating yourself to brunch at your favorite New York diner. 

“Well, well, well… Isn’t this a welcome sight for sore eyes.” Came a southern drawl over you. Warm like bourbon and comforting like a worn in fall sweater. 

You looked up to see warm brown eyes and a mustache smirk looking down at you in your booth. 

“Oh… Hello Mr. Daniels.” You stammered out at him, suddenly even more relieved that your stepmom and sisters weren’t around, let alone didn’t hang out in your area or they’d accuse you of ruining things by simply talking to him. 

“Oh please darlin’. Call me Jack. Mr. Daniels makes me feel old.” He grinned at you and slid into the booth across from you and ordered a coffee.

“I um… This doesn’t seem like the kind of place you would come to.” You told him nervously. 

“Why? Because I’m the CEO of a distillery?” He teased you. “Darlin’ I was born in Kentucky and went to school in Texas. I’m a cowboy through and through. A diner don’t scare me.” 

You blushed. Why was he here? If word got back to your stepmom and sisters… You didn’t want to think about what they’d do. 

“I need to go.” 

Jack’s hand flashed out and gently took yours. “You have to work on a weekend?” He asked you worried, almost. Like he somehow knew that you worked too much or something. 

“No actually, I just… I don’t get weekends usually so I have stuff I wanted to get done is all.” You shrugged. It wasn’t a total lie, you did have things you wanted to do. Laundry, cleaning your apartment and grocery shopping. But mostly, you were afraid you were going to get caught with Jack Daniels and you didn’t need that drama in your life. You had enough with your family. 

Jack nodded at you. “I understand, can I at least walk you home?” He asked you as he stood with you.

“I-” You were cut off by your phone vibrating in your jeans pocket. “Son of a bitch… Sorry.” You muttered at him as you scowled at the screen. Seeing your stepmother’s name demanding you answer. 

“Yes?” You sighed as you reluctantly answered the phone. Trying to ignore the way Jack was staring at and studying you intently. 

“I need you to go upstate and buy pumpkins.” She responded on the other end of the phone. 

“Pumpkins? Why?” You asked her with a huff.

“Because it’s fall and I want the offices decorated.” You could practically hear her rolling her eyes at what she thought was a stupid question.

“Okay…” You sighed at her once more. “How many do you want me to get?” You asked her. 

“Fifty. I want the office completely decorated for the season.” She told you. “Oh also, maybe get some hay bales too.” 

“Fifty?!” You asked her, jaw dropping in shock. Where in the hell were you supposed to put them? Being New York, you didn’t even have a car. 

“Stop repeating everything I say and just get there and do it.” She snapped and hung up on you.

“Yes ma’am.” You muttered at your phone sarcastically and then tossed it into your purse aggressively. “Well now I do have to work Mr. Daniels.” You grumbled. 

“Kind of difficult to not overhear that conversation.” He admitted softly, almost like he felt sorry for you. “You okay?” He asked you gently. 

“Yeah, I’m great. I have to give up my Saturday, somehow get upstate. Buy fifty pumpkins in various sizes and some bales of hay and get them all back to the office.” You muttered. “Guess I’m renting a car for the day.” 

“Well, she’ll pay for that won’t she?” He asked you, deep down already knowing the answer but wanting to hear you confirm it. 

You snorted. “Yeah right. I practically run the company and I’m living in a shitty studio apartment.” 

Jack frowned at that. “Well then darlin’. I wouldn’t be a southern gentleman if I didn’t offer to help you. I’ve got my Bronco out front and the day off.” He rumbled in your ear. “And don’t you worry, they won’t find out you were helped.” He promised you as he led you outside to his truck. 

“Mr. Daniels I can’t… Ask you to do that.” You insisted as you chewed your bottom lip anxiously. 

“You didn’t ask. I offered. And please… Call me Jack.” He reminded you as he opened the passenger door for you. “Please, I want to help.” 

Honestly, the idea of spending any kind of time with this handsome and charming man was appealing. Plus, you really didn’t feel like spending any of your hard earned money on a rental for a day when you had a truck being offered to you. 

“Okay. Thank you… Jack.” You finally relented with a small, shy smile at him as you climbed up into the passenger seat of his truck. 

He released his gentle hold on your elbow and smiled at you. “You’re welcome darlin’.” He smiled at you as he moved to the driver’s side and started it up.

An hour later, Jack parked his truck in the gravel parking lot. 

“Damn, pumpkin patches sure have changed since I was a kid.” You muttered, taking in the expanse of acreage. An actual pumpkin patch, gift shop, a moonbounce, pony rides and a hay ride. 

Jack let out a whistle and casually tossed his arm over your shoulder. “You said it darlin’.” He agreed and led you to the patch. 

“Haven’t done this since I was a kid with my dad.” You murmured wistfully. 

Jack paused for a split second when you said that. “I’m so sorry.” He rubbed your arm gently. 

You shrugged. “It’s okay.” 

“How uh… How did he die?” He asked gently. 

You wiped a tear from your eye. “Got sick suddenly. Doctor’s couldn’t really explain it. First they thought it was the flu because I got sick too. But he uh… Didn’t make it.” 

“You both got the flu at the same time?” He asked you, brows furrowed in thought. 

“Wasn’t the flu. The only explanation the doctors had was food poisoning.” You mumbled as you both began wandering the patch together. 

“But he… Didn’t make it.” He finished the thought you were internalizing. 

“And I did.” You mused bitterly. 

“Hey now… I won’t have you thinkin’ that way. It ain’t your fault that you both got sick and you didn’t die. I, for one am glad you’re here.” 

Tears were falling down your cheeks now. “He was my best friend and now he’s just… Gone.” 

Quickly, Jack pulled you over to a set of hay bales and faced you. “Loss is never easy to deal with darlin’. But you don’t have to grieve alone.” He reassured you, thumbs gently rubbing the inside of your wrists. 

“You’ve met my stepmom and sisters… Right?” You asked him with a garbled laugh. 

“Look at you, makin’ jokes.” He grinned at you before he instinctively leaned forward to kiss your temple. 

You froze at the sweet gesture, surrounded by his overwhelming scent before you gave in and sank into his arms. For the first time in over a year, you felt safe with someone. Actually cared for. “Thank you… Jack.” You mumbled into his chest.

“Anytime darlin’.” He promised you. “Now… I do believe that we have pumpkins and hay bales to blow on, your stepmother’s money.” He teased you. 

You laughed again and nodded at him. “Yeah… Okay.” 

“Now, you dry your eyes. I’ll go get a wagon for all these pumpkins we have to buy.” 

You nodded and started to browse the pumpkins as Jack went to get a wagon to tote around. 

“Ginger, I need you to look into the medical records or her and her father. Somethin’s off here.” Jack said over the phone. 

“It is awfully convenient that they both got sick and in the hospital. While the father died.” She admitted on the other end of the phone. 

“Not to mention that the stepmom took control of the empire after he died and she was deathly ill in the hospital.” He growled out. 

“Easy there cowboy. Now that we’re here we’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.” Ginger soothed him. “Now go back to your pumpkin date. I’ll look into this.” 

“Sorry about that darlin’. Was just informin’ Ginger that I wouldn’t be available the rest of the day.” He told you with a smile. 

“It’s okay.” You told him with a shy smile and placed two pumpkins in the wagon. 

The rest of the day proceeded with Jack dutifully toting the wagon around for you. Emptying it into his truck as it got full and they were paid. You bought hay bales, a scarecrow for the reception area and a bushel of apples. 

“You sure do love fall darlin’.” He teased you as you hopped into his truck and sighed. 

“I just... Figured since I was here, the apples are for baking and a couple of pumpkins for my place.” You blushed and shrugged.

It was after nine by the time Jack finally pulled back in front of your building. They had dropped off most of the supplies at the office. 

“Let me help you get this upstairs.” He insisted. “Otherwise you’re going to have to make two trips with this basket of apples and both your pumpkins.” 

“Jack I-” You started, not wanting him to do more for you than he already had. 

“Please… There’s somethin’ I feel like I need to tell you.” He explained to you gently. “Preferably upstairs and not on a New York street.” 

“Tell me… What?” You asked him anxiously. 

“It’s alright. Let’s just get upstairs.” He soothed you.

Nervously, you led the way into your small apartment and set your pumpkins down on your kitchen counter. “What… Uh… What’s going on?” You asked him.

Jack set the basket of apples down next to your pumpkins and placed his hand on your back. “Let’s sit down.” He suggested. 

“Jack I… What’s wrong?” You asked him, hands twisting together anxiously. 

“I’m not exactly the CEO of the Statesman distillery.” He told you simply, staring at you. 

“You’re… What?” You asked him, face scrunched up in confusion.

“Statesman is an independent intelligence agency and I work for them.” He explained to you. “I’m a spy.” 

“You’re a what?” You repeated to him. 

“I know this is difficult to absorb.” He explained to you. “I’m investigatin’ your stepmom’s dealin’ with the company.” 

“Oh so… You were spending time with me for a… Mission?” You asked him. 

“It started off like that, but… You’re very sweet and I’m lookin’ out for you.” He explained. “I’m tryin’ to help you. But I need your help too, if you’re willin’ to help me.” 

“Help you how?” You asked softly.

Jack moved closer to you. “I need someone inside the company, and you’re perfect.” 

You knew he meant for helping him but, him calling you perfect made you blush. “Perfect how?”

“Look, I don’t wanna pressure you into doin’ somethin’ without you thinkin’ or sleepin’ on it.” He explained softly, as he rubbed your wrists softly. “Why don’t you sleep on it and you call me tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, that might be best. I uh… Don’t want my family to find out about this.” You explained nervously. 

“I completely understand darlin’. You think on it, and let me know. Alright? No pressure, I promise.” 

You practically melted as he ran his knuckles gently along your cheekbone. You nodded at him and smiled shyly at him. “Okay.”

“Good night darlin’.” He murmured in your ear. 

“Good night Jack.” You returned as he finally departed your apartment and you considered his news and offer to you.

Tag list:

@absurdthirst, @spacegayofficial, @lilangeldevil006, @manda-but-not-lorian, @emmymarierivia, @din-djarin-protection-squad, @nope-itsnopi, @gothgirl1362-blog, @deafspaceperson, @auty-ren, @luminescentlily, @ahopelessromanticwritersworld, @babe-dont, @dreamgirl-6781-blog, @katialvi, @zoe-rachel-crisp, @cryptkeepersoul, @jaa1682-27, @katheriner1999, @promiscuoussatan, @paintballkid711, @marvelranger, @owljumper, @girlwithanewplan, @iellarenuodolorian, @lost-girl-inc, @f0rever15elf, @mrschiltoncat, @hillarymurray4, @seejayyou 

Sorry some of my tags aren’t fully working! XOXO

[mrsannventures]

This is one of those days again that I am thankful for the job that I currently have.

I am a bookkeeper/accountant for a chain of Montessori in Australia. I started working for my current employer in Nov 2017. Prior to this, I worked for a holiday home rental/real estate company based in the US (but they also had the same line of businesses in Canada, Europe, UAE, and Australia) as a Purchasing/Accounting Officer turned Assistant of the CEO/Owner.

Let’s have a story time first about my previous job because I think its one of the strenuous and stressful job I have ever worked in the course of my ‘career’. Its slightly understandable since I worked closely with the CEO, but not from the start. During my first few months at that company, I was just their Purchasing Officer. My main responsibility was to make sure that all items that we need for the holiday homes, from toilet papers to furnitures, are bought, paid for, and delivered. I do internal bookkeeping and other accounting related tasks for them too.

Then one day, one of our manager told us that the owner/CEO was in need of an assistant and they asked me if I would take on the job. Its not necessarily a promotion because I didn’t get any monetary appraisal out of it, but young me being the people pleaser that I am, agreed to do it.

To summarize my experience working with old boss, its was kind of a nightmare. It made me so stressed that I would even dream about my job. Its so bad that even on my days off, my boss would still call me. Imagine you’re in Boracay with the love of your life, then suddenly you’re bombarded with calls from your boss. He would make me order flowers for his wife, make me find where the nearest pharmacy in LA is, and work on legal papers for his businesses in UAE. On top of being his P.A., I still had to do purchasing jobs, and keep some of his staff in line, and talk to all the suppliers, and make sure his credit cards are paid for, checked, and reconciled!

And then, after working for them for a year and a half, I started asking for a raise, because I clearly deserved it.

I didn’t received anything, except for an email saying that I did not bring any money into the company. So the only way you could get a raise in that company is only if your sales are good. But news flash I am not on sales so how TF can I even?

After receiving that email, I resigned so fast that I didn’t even render 30 days, or two weeks, or even a day to turn over work. I felt betrayed. I was a freelancer so I didn’t have any contract that would compel me to turn over work. My boss, tried to talk to me and make a counter offer. But y’know, I never tried to entertain them again because it was clear to me how little they think about their employees, and I know I deserved better.

After I quit that, I didn’t have a plan or anything. I had savings but I guess that was enough for me to go on for a few months. Thankfully, my boyfriend now husband was there for me. He was actually the one who made me realize that I really need to quit because of how shitty I’ve been treated. He was also more anxious than me that I lost my job. But I was positive that I can get a new job sooner than he think.

I resigned from that job on the last week of October 2017. I applied for my current job on the 1st week of November 2017, got hired after 2 weeks, and I started working a week after I got hired.

So far I am very happy with the current job that I have. The salary is competitive. Monetary appraisal almost every year. ✨Flexi Time✨, I can start working early or late, as long as all your tasks for the day are done. I have work-life balance. I also don’t have to work if its holidays in Australia like today, but I still get paid and they dont deduct it from my leaves. Same with Philippine holidays, we can opt not to work and still get paid, or go to work and get paid double. Lol.

And one of the bestest thing about my job is my boss. She is so kind and understanding, that I can have leaves if I just want to take care of my child (like today because she’s got a fever). They also approved my 4-month Maternity Leave when I got pregnant in 2018, the expanded maternity leaves were not yet in effect back then. She also understands if we wanted to take a day off just because we feel like it and make us not feel guilty about it.

The company is very appreciative of everyone in the team especially this pandemic, and I feel thankful to be in this kind of working environment where one treats you like family.

[sgt-morgan]

Lucky Kentucky ch. 1

Chapter 2

Hello there, this is my new Rockstar!Bucky x Reader fic. It was heavily inspired by my love of seventies mega rockstars, Almost Famous, Classic Rock, and a little bit of personal whimsy. I hope you enjoy, and read responsibly.

⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ : cussing, sexy times, drugs, booze, smoking, objectification, fornication, liberation, and a litany of other sordid topics and traumas.

Your name didn’t matter, at least not so far as you could tell. They called you Kentucky, sometimes if they felt cheeky, Bluegrass. You liked it, the first band that gave you that name was some shitty college band out of Detroit. They were convinced they were gonna be the next Led Zepplin. They called it quits three years later, a good old fashioned Rock n’ Roll suicide, booze, women, and drugs. The finer things always gets the best amateurs. However, their lead singer had a way with words, he came up with the nickname. He also wrote a beautiful song about a girl named Kentucky, who he just couldn’t swing, some big named country superstar sang the song and the last you’d heard he had been writing for the best of the best since. This earned you your title, Lucky Kentucky. A bit on the nose for your taste, but it made perfect sense. You kept following the music, you went to a band in L.A., the day you left, they signed a record deal with Sony. The next was a little English girl and her backing band, her first tour of England with you landed her a tour of the US faster than they could say ‘Burbon.’

You are what is known in the music business as a road manager, so far as you could tell, this was the job you were born to do. You made schedules, you supplied booze and other artifacts, you got hotels, paid off paparazzi, packed busses, and shoved half out of their mind rock stars on to stages in more countries than you could count, you couldn’t imagine any better life. You were the best of the best, you were who the record company called when everyone else had given up. You were a fixer, and an incredibly talented one at that. You had a gift for taking a mediocre side show band, and turning them into headliners.

So when you got the call from Tony and Pepper that you had to fix The Howling Comandos, you were shocked. They were big time, nothing like your usual fixer upper opener that you could make insta stars. They certainly weren’t your crowd, but you always had a problem saying no to Pepper, Tony’s company manager. Tony was a talented mixer, and a gifted album technician. So when he started his own label, it blew up pretty quickly. The comandos were the first band he signed. They had won Album of the Year their first Grammy season without even batting an eyelash. So once business started booming, Pepper took over the paper work, and Tony did what he did best, Fucking around with a mixing board. You had met them when you started working with Natasha and the Widows, a Blondie style punk outfit. They had a pension for eating men alive. Eventually, it got in the way of their success, so you stepped in and saved the band from total destruction. You and the starks had been thick as theives since.

“Tony, you mean to tell me, that the Commandos, the biggest artists of the decade, need my help?” You scoffed down the line, checking the Widows out of the last hotel of their tour with Greta Van Fleet.

“Yes Bluegrass, I do. Barnes is going through some existential heart break shit ‘cause ole bitch called of the wedding, and fucked the Guitarist of their opener. He’s been all drugs, booze, and sappy shit since, and someone’s gotta get the mother fucker back on stage. I’m Loosing money here Kentucky, something’s gotta give.” Tony sounded livid, there were very few times where Tony was as frazzled as this, so you knew it was serious.

“Alright, but I have conditions.” You sighed, you thought you could hear the sound of Pepper weeping tears of joy, but you couldn’t be sure. “I want the Widows to open, I’m not done with them yet Stark they’ve got some potential that still needs to be tapped. I want Frankie on security, I want Wanda for wardrobe and makeup, I want Vision for my techie, and I’m taking Peter as my Head roadie.” It was a big ask, but if you were doing this, you were gonna need the best possible team.

“Jeez woman, rob the treasure chest would yah? You want all of them? You just asked me for the entire roster. They’re on other tours! I can’t just- HEY! Woman don’t you-“ you heard a slap and an ow, and suddenly you were with the one and only Pepper Potts- Stark.

“Kentucky? You have a deal. You can have the Allstars in three months, everyone’s tours should be wrapping up, that puts you just in time for festival season. You up to it?” Pepper sounded like someone had just kicked her puppy. So you knew, you were the only one that could save the day.

“Virginia? Count me in. Give me the three months to plan and connect with the team and I’ll make sure James Barnes makes it onto that bus.” You could practically taste her relief through the receiver. What had you just signed up for.

————————————————————————

You’d done it. Six months, 7 bus rentals, 75 hotels, 107 plane rides, 20 festivals, 95 shows, 89 cities, and roughly 200 people later, you had managed to construct the American leg of one of the biggest and longest tours you had ever seen. All it took was two months, and 23 bottles of Jack Daniels, and you had done it. Now all you had to do was meet the band, and have your first tour meeting.

You had never been so nervous to meet a group of men in your life. Normally, these meetings we’re pretty laid back and informal. Lots of getting to know you, and goofing off. This time, you were in charge of a multi-million dollar tour that could make or break the band of the decades d ruin your career. No pressure. Needless to say, you were fairly nervous.

You were relieved upon arrival that the first people to make it in were the people who seemed to be the most reliable. Vision and Wanda were quietly whispering  to eachother in the corner as always, their hands gently intertwined as they surveyed the rest of their new subjects. Frankie was standing off in another corner looking like an immovable brick wall. His sunglasses firmly in place on his nose, looking scary as always. Peter was off with the widows flirting with their drummer. You didn’t think it would end well, seeing as MJ was a bit of a hot head, and Peter was akward and nerdy, but to your surprise, they seemed to be getting along swimmingly. Natasha and Carol were staring at a book full of something, if you had to guess, it would be song lyrics of some variety, and to your shock and absolute awe, Peggy had saddled up to Steve Rogers. Steve was the guitarist of the Commandos, and he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying her company. Tony and Pepper were chatting with Clint and Sam the drummer and bassist of the Commandos, and Bruce Banner, your newly appointed second hand. James Barnes was nowhere to be seen.

“Well, well, good to see that most of you have arrived early!” You smirked walking to the head of the table with your big box of tour folders, Peter moving instantly to help you. “If I have not yet made your acquaintance, I am Kentucky, just Kentucky, you may call me Bluegrass or Lucky, but I will always prefer Kentucky. It has come to my immediate attention, that you sorry suckers were in need of a fantastic road manager, and here I am.” You survey the room as you spoke taking into account every face that you could see in the room and making sure everyone was following. “Now, where is James?”

————Some unnamed bar across town ————

Bucky’s head pounded. Wether it was from the booze or the pounding music he had no clue, but he could tell that it was far too early to be in this booth.

“You really went for it last night Barnes,” Bucky looks for the source of the voice to find that, Luke Cage, owner of the best bar in LA, was unloading boxes of tequila into his storage cabinets under the bar. “You shouldn’t have either, you’re late for your tour meeting.”

Bucky absorbed the information, and felt it melt out of his brain as if it were nothing more than an irritating ear worm. “How do you know about that?” He sighed running a hand down his face and slowly standing to grab his leather jacket.

“It’s sharpied onto your arm,” Luke chuckled pointing to Bucky’s right arm in just about the only clean space someone could fine. “Steve came in and did it last night before giving about a hundred dollars to let you sleep it off in that booth.”

“Of course he did,” Bucky scoffed, “the punk never knew when to leave well enough alone.” Bucky quickly slipped his sunglasses over his aching eyes, as he watched Luke slide a cup of coffee across the bar. “Goodbye Luke, your bar is the only thing I’m gonna miss about this town.”

“Goodbye Bucky, the free live music, and the fantastic tips are all I’m going to miss about you boys. I’ll tell Jess you said hello.” And with that final fond farewell, Bucky left Luke’s bar for the last time before he was trapped in a tour bus for six months.

The drive to Stark Records was as second nature to him as tying his shoes. He easily glided in between cars, making record time to his place of employment. He parked his bike next to a slot that occupied the sweetest little red corvette he’s seen in a good while. The tune in the reference catches his brain and he starts to whistle the chorus, wishing the artist formerly known as Prince was still around. He walked past Sharon, the desk clerk, giving her his customary wink and a smirk, stealing a sucker out of her candy dish and wandering into the meeting.

That’s when he saw her, the hottest piece of ass this side of the sunset strip. She looked powerful, she looked commanding, she was covered in tattoos and wearing the best looking little black number. She was saying his name. “Where is James?”

“Right here sweet thing, I hope I’m not too late to the party, I’d hate to miss anything that came out of that pretty little mouth.” Boy was it pretty, the full lips covered in a red shade that he could only seem to imagine smeared all over her moth as she panted his name.

“Ah, yes there he is. Hello, James. Just in time to-”

“James is my dad sugar, I’m sure we can think of something a little more clever for you to-”

“Alright then Junior if you don’t mind, I’m trying to conduct a meeting, and I will not be letting a drunken moron interupt my carefully planned work flow.”

Bucky’s jaw snapped shut as the people around him, some friends and some strangers, laughed at the clever lady’s little barb.

“Alright then, as I was saying, I’m here to help. I believe in the Peter Grant method of representation. The you-have-a-venue-you-want-it-filled-I-have-just-the-band-sixty-forty method.” She said, flipping her hair into a simple bun on the top of her head, which Bucky couldn’t find more attractive if he tried, “I have made hotel arrangements for every show, I have made bus arrangements, I have planned for added shows, and delayed dates. I have brought you the best opener I have, the best artists, roadies, security, and technicians I could scrape together, and most importantly, I have given you my time and my trust. I can make your touring life as easy and as simple as humanly possible, or I could ruin it. However, all I want is to get you out there, grinding again, reminding your fans the reason they love you. All you have to do, is let me work, and focus on the music. Can we do that?”

“Doll? I like the way you think.”

“Junior? It’s gonna be a long fucking six months.”

[colbybrocksmolder]

Arizona – Colby Brock x Reader PART 1/3

“Y/n!” Mike yelled into the car’s speaker. His phone was connected via Bluetooth.

“Hey, hey, hey, little brother. You guys actually make it out of LA before noon?” you asked, putting your phone on speaker. You were currently putting away all of the groceries you had purchased for Mike and his friends.

“We’re actually pulling into phoenix right now.” He answered, the rest of the boys in the car cheering. “With traffic, we’re right under an hour away.”

“Wow, and everyone sounds awake.” You laughed. “Are you guys coming straight here or are you going out? If you want, I can have some bomb ass Mexican food waiting for you.”

“Don’t make me drool in the rental.” Aryia said.

“We’ll head straight there.” Mike answered. “Just make sure to make some super white boy shit for Colby. He can’t handle spice.”

“Hey! My momma taught me better than that.” Colby reached forward to smack Mike. “I’ll eat whatever you want to cook for us.” He assured you.

“Oooo the new kid sounds like he has some country manners.” You laughed. “Don’t worry, sweetie. I won’t make all of it spicy.”

“Thank you.” Colby said, Aryia poking and teasing him for his blushy cheeks.

“We’ll see you soon.” Mike said, hanging up the phone.

A few years ago, you’d bought a huge house just outside the city and for the most part, you lived alone. More often than not, someone was crashing at your house, though. It’s how you liked it. Whether it was your friends, family, or your family’s friends…you liked having a place for the people you cared about to escape to. Mike made this trip a few times a year. Sometimes he’d come alone and sometimes he brought a few friends. The last few times he had dragged Kevin and Aryia along, but for the first time in a while he was bringing a new friend.

You heard the car horn in the driveway when Mike and his friends pulled up. You pulled the plates out and got everything set up for them to eat. When the door opened you ran to hug your little brother. “Put me down!” you laughed, Mike letting your feet dangle for a few more seconds.

“I don’t wanna. I missed you.” Mike pouted.

“It smells like heaven in here.” Kevin said, pulling you in for a hug when Mike finally let you go.

“Foods ready.” You said, moving to hug Aryia. “There’s even beer in the fridge.”

“You always spoil us.” Aryia said.

“And you must be Colby.” You said, moving to pull him into a hug.

“I am. It’s very nice to meet you.” Colby said, hugging you back. “And it does smell delicious in here.”

“Same to you! And thanks. Living out here, you get spoiled with good Mexican food.” You laughed, leading the boys back to the kitchen.

“I’m from Kansas.” Colby laughed. “I don’t even know what to look for in authentic Mexican food.”

“So you ARE a country boy.” You said, grabbing Coronas for everyone while they made their plates.

“Guilty as charged.” He chuckled.

“Mike, don’t put that on his plate.” You scolded him. He had put spicy serrano sauce on Colby’s food. “The last time YOU ate that, you cried and jumped in the pool.”

“Oh shit, I forgot about that.” Kevin busted out laughing. “I think I actually have that recorded on my old phone.”

You grabbed Colby’s plate and set it down on the counter, making him a new one with food you knew he’d enjoy. Colby laughed. “I need to see that video.”

“Here.” You handed him the new plate. “Nothing on there should be THAT spicy.”

“Thank you.” He smiled at you, grabbing a beer and heading to the living room where everyone else was sat eating.

After getting everyone settled in their rooms, the guys decided to go out and hit a few clubs. They spent the next two days doing pretty much the same thing. Hanging out at the house, drinking, relaxing, hitting up some clubs and bringing whoever they met back with them. On the third night they showed back up at the house at around 1 am. There were a handful of girls and a few of Mike’s local friends with them. Like usual, you were giving them their space. The boys had tried to drag you into their parties in the past, but you rarely joined them. You had another building in your back yard that you’d turned into an art space. You had all sorts of supplies. You could make jewelry. You could paint or draw. There was even a computer set up. Just your little escape.

You’d left the door and the windows open, letting the night’s breeze blow through. “Whoa” you heard from behind you.

“Hey!” you greeted Colby, turning back to work on the necklace you were making for Mike.

“This place is rad.” He said, walking around and looking at all of the obscure finished pieces and supplies. He had a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand.

“I’m glad you like it.” You laughed. “Why aren’t you in there relaxing on your vacation?” you asked, tying the final knot in the necklace.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you.” He stumbled towards the door.

“Colby.” You called, smiling over at the tipsy boy. “You aren’t a bother. Come sit.”

He hesitated at the door for a second. “You sure?”

“You’ll learn pretty quickly that I say what I mean.” You stood to hang the newly finished necklace up on a peg and sat back down. “Give me some of that.” You pointed towards the bottle.

Colby nodded, sitting down on the bench next to you and handing you the bottle. “Whiskey?”

“It’s my favorite.” You smiled, taking a decent swig from the bottle and handing it back. “Now are you going to answer my question?”

Colby just sighed.

“Here.” You started sorting through crystal pendants in a small box. “What is your favorite color?”

“hmmm.” Colby took another drink from the bottle. “Blue. And black.”

You grabbed a grey quartz pendant and strung it on a black suede cord. “This blue or this blue?” you asked, grabbing another container of stone beads.

“This kind.” He picked a light smoky blue.

“Perfect.” You said, starting to construct him a necklace of his own. “Now talk. What’s on your mind, country boy.”

He watched you work for a minute, trying to gather his thoughts. “I’m just different.” He sighed. “Mike is hands down one of the best friends I’ve made in LA, but all of them…they just.” He couldn’t find the right word.

“They cope differently than you?” you offered, looking into his soft blue eyes.

“That’s a good way of putting it.” He nodded, setting the bottle down.

You took another swig of whiskey, picking a few black beads to accent the stone ones he had chosen. “I’ve heard you’re quite the party boy yourself, though.”

“Can be.” He nodded, agreeing. “Sometimes it’s better than being alone. Sometimes it’s worse.”

“I feel that.” You agreed.

“They all came down here to hook up with girls and get blackout drunk.” Colby said, looking through a little box of things you had recently made.

“I saw you with that redhead last night. You seemed pretty interested in hooking up with girls and getting blackout drunk too.” You teased.

Colby blushed. “I uh…I didn’t sleep with her.”

“Colby, I wasn’t judging you.” You nudged him with your shoulder. “I was just teasing you.”

“She kind of invited herself to come back with us.” He said, turning to watch you work on his necklace.

“Well, we’re right next to a college town. There’s some wild kids living around here.” You held up two different beads to have him pick.

“I like those ones.” He pointed towards little black stones. “Don’t get me wrong, I do plenty of ‘socializing’” he laughed, using air quotes. “I just usually vibe with the person I’m taking to my bed. I haven’t really felt that with anyone in a while.”

“Well, I live alone for a reason.” You said. “I like people, I like company…Hell you guys are welcome here literally any time you want to come…but I feel you. I haven’t found anyone worth keeping around in a long time.”

“Mike said I’m jaded.” Colby laughed, taking another swig from the bottle.

“Mike just wants to cheer you up.” You smiled over at him. “He doesn’t like when people aren’t having as much fun as he is.”

“That’s true.” He nodded. “Your brother is a good dude. I’m glad he’s finally getting recognition with his music and stuff. He totally deserves it.”

“Well from what I hear, a big reason that is happening is you.” You said.

“Nah, it’s all him.” Colby shook his head.

“That’s not what he thinks.” You argued. “So, if you didn’t come down to the desert to party, what did you want to do down here?”

“Get the fuck out of LA.” He laughed. “A lot of amazing shit has happened for my friend Sam and I, but so many little shitty things have been just picking away at me.”

“Like?” you encouraged him to continue.

He sighed. “Everyone in LA wants to be your ‘friend’” he used the air quotes again, reaching for the bottle of Jack. “But the problem with that is you end up having more acquaintances than friends and if you let one of them in you take the risk of them completely fucking you over.”

“I could see that.” You agreed.

“Some people that I would have just sworn on anything that they’d be good people proved me wrong in the worst possible ways.” He sat, watching you work on the necklace. “Like, I had a friend…” he laughed, shaking his head and taking a swig from the bottle. “I shouldn’t use the word friend. I had someone spend two whole years telling me they appreciated me and that I was one of the only people in LA not to fuck them over…and the second they got a girlfriend they just switched. They started telling people things that I had told them in confidence. Shit that he knew I didn’t trust anyone with. His girl went and started talking shit about our whole friend group. Causing drama and treating fans poorly. And because we have a lot of the same fans, I can’t just call him out, you know? I can’t make a rant video telling people what a backstabber he is because then I look like the shitty person. I don’t even WANT to be the kind of person that throws him under the bus, I just wish he didn’t end up being a dick.” Colby sighed, letting his head fall back. “I just…I rarely get what I give. And it gets fucking old.”

“I can see why you and my brother get along so well.” You said, grabbing the bottle and taking a swig. “We’ve both been there. I think it’s just a little stickier for you because you have so many people watching you. If I want to tell someone to fuck off, I don’t have to worry that it’s going to be recorded or turned into a drama series on someone else’s channel.” You laughed. “And that isn’t really fair.”

“I don’t want to give up on people. It takes a lot for me to cut people out.” Colby said, leaning his head on your shoulder. “My mom keeps telling me not to entertain fools. I wish it was that simple.”

“I can already tell I’d love your mom.” You laughed. “First, that’s great advice and second, she’s raised a great son.” You messed up his hair with one of your hands. “But I agree. Nothing is ever that black and white.”

“Holy shit.” He said, lifting his head and looking down at his finished necklace. “That’s amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it.” You laughed. “Here” you slipped it over his head.

“Wait, this is mine?” he asked, turning the crystal in his hands.

“Duh.” You said, adjusting the length to fit him better. “I think it suits you.”

“Dude, how much do I owe you?” he asked, still in awe that you had just thrown it together.

“You don’t owe me anything.” You said. “Just try to get out of your head and have fun while you’re down here.”

He looked over at you with a soft expression. “Thank you.” He leaned in and gently kissed your cheek.

“No problem.” You smiled. “Let’s go inside.”

“You’re finally going to join the frat boy shenanigans happening in your house?” he gave you a smirk.

“That depends. How’s your beer pong game?” you laughed.

“I already spanked your brother and Aryia like 4 times.” He bragged, grabbing the bottle and standing up.

“Then I vote we aim for a 5th. Maybe even a 6th.” You stood, turning off the studio lights and heading inside.

“Y/N!” Aryia cheered, stumbling into Mike.

“You guys really aimed for ‘white girl wasted’ this trip, didn’t you?” you laughed, reaching for a Corona and sitting on the counter next to Aryia.

Mike walked up to Colby. “I wondered where you disappeared to.” He said, playing with the necklace that hung against Colby’s chest.

Colby blushed. “Is that a problem?” he shyly asked.

Mike shook his head. “I’m keeping an eye on you, though.” He laughed, walking back over to Kevin and a group of girls.

Aryia was telling you some wild story about a girl that tried to get naked in their Uber earlier when you turned and saw a girl hanging all over Colby. When she went to touch his necklace, he snatched it into his hand first. “I’ll be back.” He said to her, hurrying away and walking towards you and Aryia.

“You looked scared of that tiny drunk college girl.” You laughed, watching him take another swig of Jack and hop up on the counter next to you.

“She said she always wanted to sleep with a youtuber and then asked to wear this.” He adjusted the pendant to lay back against his chest.

“Oooo, big party fail. She’s probably too drunk to realize how trashy that sounded.” You laughed.

“Nope.” Aryia laughed. “She said the same thing to Kevin earlier and she was completely sober.”

The three of you started laughing, beer dribbling out your nose as you had just taken a drink. You started fanning your face, laughing even harder. “Paper towel!” you yelled.

Colby reached behind him grabbing the roll. “Here.” He laughed, ripping a few paper towels off and handing them to you.

“Thanks.” You tried to clean the beer out of your nose and off of your face.

“Mike!” Colby yelled. “Wanna see if your sister and I can beat you and Aryia at beer pong?” he asked, lifting his hands to challenge them.

“No fair! She hasn’t been drinking!” Mike whined.

“She’s had about half of this.” He said, raising the bottle of Jack.

“Wooooow, you trying to get my sister drunk?” Mike teased him, shooting him a fake glare.

You grabbed it out of Colby’s hand and took another swig. “You afraid, baby brother?” you asked, hopping off the counter and handing the bottle back to him.

“You kick my ass every time.” Mike laughed, moving to set up another game of beer pong.

Watching Colby relax and laugh while you absolutely destroyed the other two boys in beer pong made you happy you decided to join the party. “That’s three games in a row.” You teased them, turning to high-five Colby.

He threw his arm around your shoulders, giving Mike and Aryia a smug look. “You guys want to go another round?”

One of the girls that had been watching rolled their eyes. “You should let someone else play.”

“Grab a partner.” You said. “I bet you guys will beat them too.”

“I want to be on Colby’s team!” she quickly replied, trying to squeeze between you two.

“Nah, I’ve already got my partner.” He said, pulling you back from the table with him.

She rolled her eyes again. “I don’t know why you’re hanging all over THAT bitch.” She said under her breath.

“What?” Colby asked, knowing exactly what she had said.

“Colby!” Mike called, shaking his head no. Mike knew you could handle yourself.

“But she just…” he started, stopping when he felt you step away from him.

“Sweetie, listen here.” You said, staring the girl in the eyes with a smile on your face. “First, women being shitty to other women because they’re jealous of them is ugly. It’s not a good look. And honestly, it just lets the skeezy men that find it attractive off easy because they get to pick which disparate girl they want so they can hit it and quit it. You deserve better than the attention you’re attracting.” The girl’s face had gone ghost white. “SECOND, this is my fucking house. Everyone gets two chances. You just lost one. I suggest you grab a beer, find a friend, and have a good time because if your intentions were anything other than having a good time, I can order you an Uber.”

She had dropped her head and was staring at her feet. “I’m sorry.” She mumbled.

“Thank you.” You replied. “Now would you like to help me kick my brother’s ass in beer pong?”

Her eyes shot up to yours. “Really?” she asked with a skeptical look on her face. “You aren’t mad?”

“Oh, honey. You really are new around here.” You laughed, handing her a ping pong ball.

When you had spanked Mike and Aryia in beer pong for the 4th time, you left the girl and Kevin to play the next round. You walked back into the kitchen to grab a cold Corona from the fridge. “That was impressive” you heard behind you.

Colby had hopped back up on the counter, bottle of Jack still in his hand. “Making that sorority girl nearly piss herself or single handedly winning that round of beer pong?” you laughed.

“Well, both.” He chuckled, dropping down to stand in front of you. “But mostly the part where you turned that girl’s night around.” He pointed over at her. She was laughing, trying to chug the cup of beer Mike had just landed a ping pong ball in. Kevin was cheering her on. “She’s been a bitch all night and now look at her.”

You shrugged, taking a sip of the beer you had just opened. “I have my ways.”

“I saw that.” He moved a bit closer to you. “I really want to kiss you.” He said, smiling down at you.

“Yeah?” you asked.

“Yeah.” He stood there, refusing to make the first move.

“Well, you’ve got some choices to make, Kansas. Some things to consider.” You put on a pondering expression. “I live about 5 hours away from you, I’m quite a bit older than you, I’m stubborn, and my brother is currently staring at us.”

Colby tilted his head back and forth like he was considering everything you had said. “Yeah, it’s worth it.” He said, catching you off guard by smashing his lips against yours.

“Cooooooolllllbyyyyyyyyyyyy” Mike growled, trying to squeeze through the crowd that was watching them play beer pong.

“I’d run.” You laughed, pushing him away from you.

“SHIT!” He yelled, running around the kitchen island trying to dodge Mike.

“I told you I’d be watching you.” Mike said, not actually angry. This was more the ‘I’m a protective brother and I’ll beat anyone’s ass who messes with my sister’ formality.

“I know. And I’m probably going to get my ass kicked.” Colby squealed, running into the dining room when Mike lunged over the island. “But it was worth it.”

They were stood on either side of the table. “You sure about that?” Mike asked, moving to run around the table.

“YES!” Colby yelled, running out the back door of the house and around the pool, kicking his shoes off and chucking his phone in the grass knowing he’d eventually end up in the water.

You were laughing your ass off the whole time, Aryia and Kevin following them with you. “Why is Mike chasing Colby?” Aryia asked, not having witnessed it like Mike and Kevin.

“Colby kissed me.” You laughed, watching Mike tackle Colby into the pool.

“WHAT?!” Aryia practically shrieked.

“Mike said you two would hit it off.” Kevin laughed, taking another drink of whatever was in his cup.

“Really?” you gave him a weird look.

“Yup. He told me that before he even invited Colby.” He nodded at you.

“Don’t drown the boy!” you called out, seeing Mike pull Colby back under the water.

“Save me!” Colby laughed, reaching out for you.

Aryia took this opportunity to push you into the pool with the two boys. “Oh, you’re dead when I get out.” You threatened when you surfaced. “Mike!” you yelled, laughing.

Colby swam to hide behind you, his arms circling your waist. Mike was looking back and forth, staring at the both of you. “I don’t know if I like this.”

“Mike.” You laughed, swimming to hug your brother. “There’s not even a ‘this’ not to like.”

“He kissed you!” Mike chuckled.

“And? You’ve banged like 6 girls in my spare bedroom this year alone.” You laughed, kissing his cheek and swimming back to Colby.

“I’ll still kick your ass if you do anything stupid.” Mike pointed at Colby.

“Dude, your sister is way scarier than you are.” He laughed.

“Hey!” you smacked him.

“You may have chosen to be nice to that girl earlier, but you looked like you could have destroyed her.” He laughed, pulling you against him.

“My jeans are making it hard to swim.” You laughed, reaching for the edge of the pool to pull yourself out.

“Don’t leave me!” Colby pulled you back to him. “Oh, shit! I got this wet!” he said, pulling his necklace off.

“It’s fine.” You laughed, grabbing it from him. “It won’t ruin it. Kevin!” you called, handing the necklace to him when he walked to the pool’s edge. “Can you sit this on the table in there.” You pointed towards your art studio. You realized quite a few people had joined you in the pool. “I should go change into my suit.”

“Nah.” Colby smirked, his hands moving to unbutton your jeans.

“Wow, what happened to your country manners.” You laughed, batting his hands away and slipping your sopping wet jeans off.

“Jack Daniels happened.” He laughed, pulling his own shirt off and throwing it on the ground outside the pool.

“I’ll have to thank Mr. Daniels one of these days.” You quipped, pulling your own shirt off to join Colby’s.

Colby pulled you into a much softer kiss than your first one. “Do you come up to LA much?” he asked, as your hands were unbuttoning his own jeans.

“On occasion.” You smiled against his lips. “You’re gonna sink if you don’t ditch the denim.”

“I’m sure.” Colby said sarcastically. “That’s totally why I should take my pants off. It doesn’t have anything to do with you wanting to get me naked. Not at all.”

“What if it does?” you asked with a straight face, seeing Colby glance over at Mike while he stripped out of his black skinny jeans.

“I’d ask you if there was a lock on your bedroom door because I’m pretty sure Mike is going to try to suffocate me in my sleep.” Colby answered, looking back at you with wide eyes.

“He won’t.” you laughed, wrapping your arms around his neck. “And yes, there’s a lock on my door.”

“Mike said he’s coming back down here for a family thing in like a month.” Colby said, trying not to look directly into your eyes.

“You should definitely tag along.” You said, pressing a kiss to his lips.

“Yeah?” he asked, a bit breathless.

“definitely.” You smiled into the kiss.

When the boys were all packed up and getting ready to head back to California, you made sure to pack them a bag of snacks and force a few water bottles into their hands. “Drive safe, please?” you asked, Mike picking you up and spinning you around in another hug.

“We always do.” He answered, kissing your forehead. He looked over at the group of boys standing by the SUV. “You know, I really hope that works out.”

“What works out?” you asked.

“You and Colby.” He smiled. “I had a hunch you two would be good together.”

“Well, thank you for introducing us, then.” You laughed. “And yeah. I hope it works out too.”

“COLBY!” Mike called. “Don’t leave a girl hangin’.”

You shoved him, waiting for Colby to come say bye. “Don’t look so sad, Kansas.” You said, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“But I am sad.” He sighed, resting his forehead against yours.

“You can visit anytime you want.” You said, kissing him. “And I’ll come visit you guys before your next trip down, so it’s only going to be like two weeks before I see you again.”

“Really?!” he said, pulling you into a slightly rougher kiss. “Thank God.”

“Aww, it’s like you’re gonna miss me or something.” You teased, grabbing his hand and walking with him towards the other boys. “Between this one thinking my boring ass is cute” you said lifting your joined hands, “and Aryia barely coming up for air with that Charlotte girl all week…I think you guys are going to have to come down here a bit more often.”

“I agree.” Mike said, tossing the keys in the air and catching them. “Alright. We’ve have to head out.” He said, walking towards the driver side door.

“It’s always good to see you.” Kevin pulled you into a hug.

“You too.” You smiled, kissing his cheek.

“Charlotte lives in a dorm, so I may be crashing on your couch a lot.” Aryia laughed, pulling you into a hug.

“You don’t have to sleep on the couch, dork. There’s like 4 bedrooms you can claim.” You laughed, kissing his cheek as well.

“I’ll call you when we get there safe. Mike said he always forgets to.” Colby said, leaning down to kiss you one last time.

“Thanks.” You smiled up at him, fiddling with the necklace that was back around his neck. “I’ll see you soon, Kansas.” You said, turning to walk towards your front door.

PART 2

[buckyscrystalqueen]

The Difference: Part 5

Pairings: Mark Sheppard x Reader

Warnings: None??? Swearing must likely…

Word Count: 2,433

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“OK, no matter how stressful today has been, and no matter how rotten the boys were acting today, I am so glad we are finally here.”

“Hey, (Y/N)… what are these?” You sighed loudly to yourself as you finished unpacking the boys suitcases into the dresser in your Beach Club Resort room on the first night of your boys’ birthday vacation.

“What are what?” You called back as you zipped the suitcase closed and carried it over the closet so it was out of the way.

“Would you just come and look?” You huffed and headed into the bathroom, where Mark was giving the boys a bath before bed.

“What am I looking at?”

“What are these dots?” He asked as he stood Luca up and turned him around so his back was to you. You crouched down beside your boyfriend and looked at the forming spots on his back.

“Oh shit…” You groaned as you reached out and picked up Evan to see the same spots on his arms and chest. “Chicken pox. Explains why they were unusually ornery today.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I got them when I was ten and remember the misery vividly.” You sighed as you sat down on the floor. “Shit, and that means we can’t fly home…”

“Wait, I’m missing something here. Why can’t we fly home?”

“It’s a contagious virus that could kill newborns, babies in utero, and people with shitty immune systems. Most airlines won’t let you fly until you get a clearance letter from a doctor…”

“So Disney is the last place in the world we want to be stuck in…”

“And yet here we are.” You said with a slow nod. 

“Damn, we came all the way down here to sit in a hotel room…”

“Yea, about that.” You said as you pulled your phone out of your pocket to warn your sister. “Maybe we should see what Disney’s policy is on refunding tickets and see if we can get to a cheaper hotel suite with a kitchen. And see how far a grocery store is because we have nothing for meals and we can’t bring them out there. We need to call insurance and see if there’s a pediatrician in our network here to come check the boys out. And the twins have them, too.”

“OK, so let’s just stop to think about this for a moment.” He said as he held Theo’s hands so he would stop splashing water on the floor and on you and himself. “We have five days worth of tickets that we can use at any time.”

“Right.”

“And we have a paid hotel room for the next week at least.”

“In a child infested hotel…”

“OK, well I highly doubt that it’s contagious through doors, love. And I’ve had chicken pox as well so the pair of us can come and go as needed to get what we need. And I know I have like 2 months of paid vacation time, and I have double that in sick pay, same as you, and I bet it’s the same with Ben and Emma. So we can stay an extra week…”

“Honey, we just bought a house…”

“And I have the money to cover months of mortgages. Have you forgotten I’ve worked my ass off for thirty years for the government and have only had to essentially support myself all those years. Pretty sure I’m still ‘boujee’ as your sister so eloquently puts it.”

“My sister is an idiot.”

“And I’m still boujee.”

“Oh, my God please stop saying that word!” You laughed as you flicked his arm.

“So we extend our vacation a bit.” He said as he grabbed a towel off the counter to start getting the boys ready for bed. “We deal with the pox for however long, and then we celebrate surviving the pox.”

“How are you always able to see the bright side of things?” You asked as you got up to open the connecting room door to see what your sister wanted.

“So mom says that we can’t leave the hotel room.” Emma said as she walked into your room and quickly bent down to grab Thomas, who wasn’t starting to resemble a dot to dot yet. “Whoa! Naked baby.”

“Well I knew that.” You said as you handed her a clean diaper and his pj’s.

“Yea, but what you didn’t know is that it could take the spotless one almost a month after he is exposed before he finally shows spots. Don’t give me that look, Chloe doesn’t have spots yet either. Just Lilly. Hey, new naked baby. Wanna step up and dress your kids?”

“You are doing a great job of it so far.” You teased as you handed her Luca’s diaper and pj’s next. “OK, so we need to get out of the Disney Resort as fast as we can so no one else gets infected except our spawns, and find like an Air B&B or a condo rental or something. No, you get over here.” You said as you lunged and grabbed Evan before he could hide under the bed in all his naked glory.

“Why do we need to leave Disney?” Ben called out from his room, where he was watching a movie with his girls before bed.

“She thinks we are gunna infect people through wood doors.” You scowled at your boyfriend as he came out of the bathroom behind Theo, but he simply shrugged.

“OK, let’s think about this rationally.” Emma said as she headed back into her room with Luca on her hip so that she could see all the adults at once. “First of all, we have, what, two kids with the pox?”

“Four.” Mark said as he stepped to the side and showed you and your sister Theo’s side, hip, and leg. “Theo, Luca, Evan, and Lilly.”

“So we need to keep them around Chloe and Thomas as much as possible to try to drown them with the pox so that they get it sooner.”

“This is gunna be so bad.” You sighed as you looked over at your sister. “Do you remember how bad ours were because we were together?”

“I don’t think it works like that.” Ben said as you looked down, and picked up Theo when he hit your legs to be held.

“Well one way or another, we know that, from here, we need to either find some place to go that has some sort of kitchen set up or we need to buy more coolers to get some food in here. We have the coffee pots to make hot water for pasta and we can do sandwiches.”

“There are restaurants and room service as well.” Mark pointed out as you rocked your second youngest back and forth in your arms.

“True… but if we count my sister and Ben and the twins out of the picture for a moment, that means three times a day, one of us is going to have to leave the room, go down to the restaurant, stand in line to order three meals, and drinks, and whatever else we need just for our family, and come back up here while the other one is left alone with four kids who are trying to itch and who are screaming because they are sick. Mark, you know how the boys act when they don’t feel well.”

“Pretty sure I still have the scars.” He said as he put Evan and Thomas up on the bed and turned on the TV for them. “But you’re right.”

“So let’s call down to the desk and see if they can maybe spare an extra mini fridge and see if they can point us in the direction of a Walmart or something of the like.” Emma said with a nod as she carried Luca into your room to lay him down with his brothers since he was already fast asleep. “Maybe see if they can work with us on helping us move our reservation to a condo or something to ride this out for a while until we can go home because I am not getting into a car for a fourteen hour drive with sick kids.”

“You wanna go on the grocery store run, or do you want me to?” You asked Mark as you continued to rock your little mama’s boy.

“I’ll go.” He said with a nod as he got up to find his wallet. “Just make me a list.” You nodded and headed over to grab the pad on the bedside table as Emma called down to the desk to see what the hotel was able to work out for you.

“So much for couponing the crap out of our snacks.” You grumbled as you sat down on the king sized bed.

“We’ll figure it all out, kitten. Just a little bump in the road.”

“Well happy birthday to the boys and happy anniversary to us.”

“Hey, don’t write that list yet!” Emma called up as she hung up the phone. “The guest services manager is coming up to talk to us in a few minutes.”

“What, you think they are gunna kick us out?”

“They can’t kick us out because the kids have chicken pox.” Mark said as you kept writing the list. “It’s medical discrimination and if they try it, I will sue Disney company for every cent I can get.”

“OK, you’re not suing Disney.” You said as you turned on the bed to look at him. “Although… we could pay off the house…”

“Write your list, greedy.” He chuckled as he moved Thomas up toward the pillows since he had fallen asleep, too. You smirked and continued writing until there was a knock on Emma’s door. Almost at the same moment, Evan turned and puked all down your leg and all over the bed. You paused as Mark quickly grabbed him and ran him to the bathroom before he could throw up again.

“Wow.” A woman breathed in the doorway between the two rooms as your twin grabbed some towels and ran to your aid.

“Get the boys.” You said as you took the towels while Evan started to scream cry in the bathroom.

“Hi, I’m Julie Gallagher. I’m the guest services manager here at Disney’s Beach Club Resort. Alright, well I will make this as quick as possible. Unfortunately, we do not have another fridge that we can give you. But, we do have a two bedroom villa that is available…”

“Oh, no. We’re not looking…”

“No, I know.” Julie said with a nod as she cut off your sister. “Look, I’m a mother, too. I just went through chicken pox with my eight year old a couple months ago and it was miserable. And I could not even begin to imagine not only doing that away from home but going through it when you have more than one child. So please, let me sprinkle a little pixie dust on the situation to make you and them a little more comfortable. It’s the least I can do.”

“But… the blanket…”

“It’s fine.” She giggled with a shake of her head. “I’ve seen so much worse. Now, I understand you intended to add time on to your stay with us?”

“That’s the intention.” Mark said as he came out of the bathroom with Evan in just a diaper in his arms. “Least a week so that we can actually enjoy the vacation we planned for their birthday.”

“Well, I can do my part by keeping the room rate for the villa low for you. I’ll simply credit the payment for this room to the villa for this week, and that room will be credited toward week two. It’ll take a little finagling, and I need to clear it by the day manager but between us, her kid is the one that gave mine chicken pox so she owes me one.”

“Well thank you so much.” You said with the strongest smile you could muster because the smell of vomit was making you want to puke, too. “We really, really appreciate it.”

“Of course.” She said with a nod as she turned and called someone forward with a simple gesture. “This is Robbie and Todd, they’re going to help you with your bags. You’ll be in rooms 258 and 260.   The bed set up is the same as these and has a spacious living room so you have more room for whatever bed set up you have for the kids. And as far as a grocery store, if you can get through tonight, I know Amazon and Walmart deliver but Garden Grocer and InstaCart are, by far, the best.”

“Looks like we get no escape from the pox.” Emma sighed.

“Alright, so I’ll get out of your hair so you can pack up whatever you need to. Don’t worry about the bed, I’ll have house keeping come up in a couple hours to take care of it. And I hope your trip gets a little more magical, and if you need anything, and I mean anything. Please, don’t hesitate to call.”

“Thank you.” She nodded at the four ‘thanks’ and headed out the door so you guys could pack up.

“Is there anything we can take over first?” Robbie asked as he stepped forward to see into your room as well. It took you and your sister a half second glance before both of you started to scramble into action and started listing off what you needed at rapid speed.

“OK, these suitcases and the car seats. We can put the boys in the strollers.”

“These two, these bathroom bags, and Ben’s briefcase.”

“Mark’s and mine, too. And these coolers can go, this bag of toddler beds can go.”

“These diaper bags…”

“Oh, these two diaper bags. And this backpack.”

“Alright, we’ll start with that.” The bellhop chuckled as he glanced between Ben and Mark for help.

“You get used to it.” Ben said without even looking away from the screen. “Just wait until they start switching languages.”

“Are you gunna help or what?” You asked as you looked over at your brother-in-law.

“Fine.” He sighed as he got off the bed and started grabbing the car seats because they were not gunna fit on the carts.

“Alright, come on, buddy. Let’s lay down for a bit while I help Uncle Ben.”

“I’ll start packing again.” You sighed as you headed over to the closet to get the suitcases for the boys clothes back out.

[seriousfic]

oKAY, I got a few Redbox rental for my birthday, so I decided to pick up Spider-Man: Far From Home, skip all the Disney Channel Original Movie stuff, and see how it stacks up as a pure Spider-Man movie. Which is not easy, because they’re in full Marvel movie mode, and every two minutes there’s a wacky aside or a sight gag or something. It’s not even Peter making jokes, which would be in-character. It’s just banter about Happy’s password being Password and stuff. There’s not one wholly dramatic scene in this movie, it has this Epic Movie sense of humor where something ‘hilarious’ is always defusing the tension. Like, all that’s missing is Leslie Nielsen being the tour guide.

1. Mexico. Mysterio has used ‘Sandman’ (confusingly referred to as a ‘cyclone with a face’--and then Spider-Man never even fights him) to destroy a town. I gotta say--if Mysterio has the ability to pull off no-bullshit terror attacks... yeah, the Sandman is fake, but the damage is real... why not just do that? It seems like there are a ton of evil organizations who would pay him loads of money.

2. Also, Mysterio is really not shy about lowering the dome and showing his face. Wouldn’t a quick facial recognition scan, of the kind that you’d think Nick Fury would run all the time, ID him as Quentin Beck? And even if he’s going “hey, that’s my double, I’m from an alternate universe,” shouldn’t Nick Fury be a bit suspicious that the double of this mysterious new superhero is a disgruntled and unstable Stark employee?

3. By the way, I know the twist is that Nick Fury is really a Skrull and that’s why he’s so incompetent--telling Peter to take his mask off in front of fucking Mysterio--but Nick Fury left a Skrull playing him, so... who’s that on? You’d think any given Agent of SHIELD would do better.

4. First action scene. Hydroman attacks Venice and is defeated by Mysterio, with Spider-Man slightly assisting. He’s left his costume back at the hotel, so he does this while using a Venetian mask to disguise himself. Hilariously, he quickly takes this off to, yes, show us his face. (Also, I guess no one notices that Not!Spider-Man is wearing the exact same clothes and has the exact same body type as Peter.) He also doesn’t make any quips besides referring to himself as “really strong and sticky.” Being awkward is not a one-liner, movie. 

5. Also, others have pointed out that this Spider-Man seems more concerned about saving property than saving lives, and it must be said that for much of this fight, Peter is trying to stop a belltower from collapsing, with no sign that he’s buying time for people to evacuate it or anything. Sure, it’s a worthy goal and all, but I have to ask how much good patching a belltower up with webbing is going to do? It’ll dissolve in an hour and then where are you? Does he really think the authorities will be able to fix it up before then? Seems like he would be better served letting it collapse and attacking Hydroman to keep him from doing more damage.

6. You ever notice how movie characters always refer to sleeping pills and such as ‘a mild sedative’? Naut Fury shoots Ned/Ganke with a dart that instantly knocks him out, then calls it “a mild tranquilizer.” Christ, what would a strong tranquilizer do, put him in a coma for ten years?

7. Man, it’s weird how inconsistent this movie is with basic characterization. Peter turns down saving the world because Spider-Man being seen in Europe might give away his identity, but he’s also blase about taking off his mask in front of Nick Fury and co. And Tom Holland walking around unmasked really makes it obvious that his suit is a CGI effect that his head is awkwardly hovering on top of. I guess just putting someone in a costume is a lost art.

And I’m not even watching this on Blu-Ray. This is a DVD, because Redbox is shit and, even though their e-mail said the promo code was good for a Blu-Ray, apparently I can only use it for a DVD. Thanks, thanks for ruining my special day. Prats.

8. I know the whole EDITH thing has been meta’d elsewhere, but I just want to point out that Stark Enterprises has a ‘global defense network’. With drones and backdoors into every telecommunications company. Imagine if Microsoft announced that, oh, hey, we have a Panzer division. I guess Stark Enterprises is a PMC now? I thought they went into clean energy. Apparently they still make weapons, but now they... hoard them to use for their own purposes? Not creepy at all. Like, Marvel does realize they are writing an evil megacorporation here, right?

9. Oh, now we’re just getting aggressively stupid. Peter is met by a SHIELD agent who insists that he strip to change into an alternate, non-Spider-Man suit (so I guess, after an action scene where he’s in civilian clothes, now we’re going to get one where he’s in this spy costume. Yeah, I hate seeing Spider-Man in a Spider-Man movie.) I’m not sure why he has to do this now instead of simply putting the suit in his backpack. I’m also not sure why he has to strip in front of her. He doesn’t even try to go somewhere private to change and she doesn’t say anything like “Why are you taking off your clothes in front of me like a retard? Go around the corner or something, fuckwit.” It’s all to set up a scene where Peter gets seen by his (sigh) rival for MJ’s heart, who takes a cell phone picture, leading us to... well, leading me to wonder why they couldn’t have put a little more thought into staging this scene so it was slightly believable? Like he could have trouble putting it on in private, the female agent could go to check on him, and Random Non-canon Character could stumble in on them that way. But anyway.

10. With literally insane ease, Peter designates Brad a target and EDITH launches a drone strike on him. For various ridiculous reasons, Peter can’t just say abort, so he eventually distracts EVERYONE by saying there are baby mountain goats, webs the drone while no one is looking, and--that works. No one notices.

Man, that’s some fucking weaksauce.

11. I’m fast-forwarding a bunch, but we seem to spend a lot of time on Peter trying to get his friends out of harm’s way for the upcoming fight scene in Prague, only for them to end up in harm’s way. For the second action sequence in a row. It seems like he could’ve succeeded and then just been trying to rescue normal civilians instead of people he knows personally, but then I guess we couldn’t have Ned and Betty/Gwen providing odious comic relief every other moment. Like, shit, Marvel, if you like dumb jokes so much, why don’t you just get Mike and the Bots to riff your movie? That’s pretty much what you’re doing anyway.

12. Peter’s new costume has no fingers on the gloves, so he’s leaving his prints everywhere. And then after the fight is over, the first thing he does is unmask and go out to get a drink with an also unmasked Mysterio in a crowded bar (hilariously, it literally turns out to be full of enemies who mean him harm). Jesus, movie, does he care about his secret identity or not? 

13. Also, again, no quips from Spider-Man. And I thought the watchword for this corner of the MCU was that he was a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Now he’s fighting giant monsters? Yeah, even if it’s a con job, it’s a con job that could potentially kill millions of people. Doesn’t that seem like absurdly high stakes, considering? Remember the first Spider-Man movie, when the only stakes at the climax were Peter saving a bus full of kids and MJ? Would that really have been better if there’d been another five million buses the Green Goblin was threatening to drop?

14. We’re doing the whole “does Peter want to be Spider-Man or not?” story again. It’s weird how markedly inferior this take on that is to Spider-Man 2. This Spider-Man has a whole spy network and AI satellites backing him up (which doesn’t stop him from remarking that Mysterio is “the only one he can talk to about superhero stuff,” as if fifty people don’t know who he is). Maguire’s Spider-Man’s life was genuinely shitty because of his superheroing; he couldn’t be with the woman he loved! This Spider-Man... can’t mack on the girl that he inexplicably has a crush on out of nowhere. Not exactly the stuff of great drama.

15. Pause to point out what a naked plot device Tony giving Peter EDITH is. He couldn’t give it to Pepper? Rhodey? Steve? Like... anyone who’s more emotionally mature and experienced? It’s just a ridiculous conceit. Supervillains literally target Peter specifically because he possesses EDITH. Way to put the crosshairs on a sixteen-year-old boy, Tony ‘Depraved Indifference’ Stark.

16. “To my very wealthy crew!” Okay, so I guess Beck isn’t just doing this for the satisfaction of being a fake superhero, he sees this as enriching him and his henchmen somehow? How? It’s not like Captain America or Scarlet Witch are fabulously wealthy. I could see Stark as paying for their room and board and giving them an expense account, but that doesn’t seem worth going to the trouble of this whole Mysterio business for. Like I said, once you have the power to pull off fake/not-fake terror attacks, that’s a golden ticket already. Why couldn’t he do shit like Le Chiffre was doing in Casino Royale, playing the stock market with his fake catastrophes? 

16a. And okay, so you say the whole Mysterio thing was just to con EDITH off of Peter. If they’re already able to pull off these terror attacks, how much more can EDITH do for them? It’s like, you already have essentially unlimited resources as far as the story’s concerned--why do you need EVEN MORE unlimited resources?

16b. And is Mysterio going to be a real superhero or fake? Like, is he potentially going to fight Thanos or someone? Because if he is, the whole Elemental thing seems like an unnecessary risk. Just find some HYDRA guys, go to town on them, bang, you’re a superhero. And if you’re going to be a fake Avenger--well, what do you do when Thanos shows up? Call in sick?

17. So in his new, definitely Miles Morales suit, Peter has the ability to send out a destructive electric charge. A venom blast. He has a venom blast. Man, they’re not even trying to hide that this is white Miles Morales, are they? 

18. To damn with faint praise, I thought the drone swarm was a good ‘real-world’ explanation of Mysterio’s power set and the ‘nightmare’ sequence was a good use of them, although it’s just the usual hallucinatory imagery you’d expect from someone with an illusion gimmick, not something as groundbreaking as the Raimi movies offered. Coincidentally, this is also the one action sequence in the movie where Peter’s in his classic costume, and that’s only an illusion Mysterio puts over his dumb Night Monkey suit. 

I also think Peter being able to survive being hit by a train more or less uninjured--he just needs a few stitches!--is a bit much, but then, that happened in Spider-Man 2.5 as well. And there they made a big deal of Peter and Ock trying to avoid getting hit by trains, so arguably that was more egregious. 

And it’s weird to have such a self-aware, genre-savvy villain just assume Peter is dead. It seems like he could’ve at least sent someone to the next station to confirm his death, or even had someone waiting there, if his plan all along was to hit Peter with a train. (Also, I’m pretty sure train conductors stop the train when they hit someone, but maybe that’s only an American thing.)

19. By the end, Mysterio decides to drop the whole illusion thing to frame Spider-Man for the drones (Peter’s friends are also put in danger yet again. Three times in one movie! That’s basically every action sequence that really happens!). I’d think disorienting people with invisible drones would be an advantage you wouldn’t want to just get rid of, but he’s the supervillain, not me. Noticeably, this plan hinges on him dying and posthumously ruining Spider-Man’s life, so...

20. Also, I complained about this with Captain Marvel, but if you’re doing a two-hour movie with a supposed character arc for Peter, shouldn’t that have something to do with him winning? He pretty much only wins because the power of spider-sense which he arbitrarily received arbitrarily works for him after arbitrarily not working for a while... and if this is some kind of confidence-powered superpowers, I should note that Spider-Man 2 already did Peter losing his powers because of losing confidence and it depicted him getting them back much more effectively. This Peter I guess only needs a pep talk from Happy Hogan.

21. I mean, couldn’t they bullshit something about hacking EDITH--you know, Peter using his wits since that’s what supposedly makes him ‘the next Iron Man’--maybe turning the tables on Mysterio with a con job of his own, instead of just winning because he happens to have an illusion-proof superpower on top of a billion-dollar supersuit and a literal global defense network? Spider-Man has a global defense network, y’all. How can you lambaste Man of Steel for making Superman dark and broody and then think Iron Man Peter Parker is a good take on the character? Geez.

[snarkwriteswrasslin]

FFT: second one to know, adam page

Notes:

This is another fake fic title ask sent to me by @adampage​ on my old writing blog (which is now my main) It’s part 1 of a 2 part thing, so the second part will be posted right after this.

Summary:

Giselle and Adam are best friends. Also helplessly, hopelessly in love with each other. Giselle gets dumped by a shitty boyfriend and is left without a date to go home for the holidays. Enter Adam. 

Pairing:

Adam Page x OFC, Giselle

Warnings:

Uhh, none.

“Now princess, don’t get upset. I told you from the beginning when you asked me to… Do that.. That I might not be able.” Sean stared her down and took a few deep breaths. Just the prospect of her getting upset and making a scene and making him look like the bad guy.. When he saw her tearing up, he grumbled. “Don’t make a scene. We’re in public for God’s sake, have some class.”

Giselle stared up at him, a hand in her hair as she took a few long and deep breaths. When he told her to have some class, she gave a hollow laugh because suddenly, it hit her.. He was just saying that work was the reason he couldn’t make the trip to meet her family. In reality, he felt like he was better than her family. Better than her.

Suddenly everything he’d said to her became clear as crystal and she realized she was essentially nothing more than a plaything to him. She was a rung on the ladder of his career. Having her on his arm drew him attention, gave the illusion that he had his shit together and he was what a successful company needed.

“Have some class, hmm?”

“Giselle, don’t start. I don’t have the time or the patience for one of your tantrums. Now I’ve said I’m sorry. And you need to accept that. In relationships, we compromise.”

… no, I give and give and give and forgive and you do NOTHING… the thought as it hit her prompted her to finally say something.

“I don’t accept it. And what we have isn’t a relationship, Sean, c’mon..”

“It is?” Sean eyed her, a brow raised and an irate look on his face as her voice raised just a hint. Giselle stepped closer and she snatched at the necklace around her neck. “Go find yourself a new fucking toy to play with.”

She turned to walk away, intent on finding her friends or finding a quiet place and calling her mom to explain what happened -and hear her mother say those dreaded words, and as she did, he gave an amused chuckle. “Are you really breaking up with me right now?”

She tilted her head slightly and pretended to think it over. “Yeah. Actually you holier than thou piece of shit, yeah I am.”

“Just know that I set the bar. You’re never going to find anyone who can bring what I do to the table.” Sean called out after her but she continued to walk, shoving through the crowd as she focused on keeping herself reasonably together until she could find a quiet and private area to fall apart in.

She felt drained and yet, somehow as if a huge weight had been lifted off her. She wasn’t dreading his excuses or lies anymore. She wasn’t having to listen to his little casual remarks about her or her upbringing or her job or anything he liked to nit pick about.

“How the hell was I so stupid?” she wondered aloud, shaking her head sadly as she sank into a seat.  She bought her knees to her chin, listening to her flight boarding and yet not rushing to it immediately.

… I’ll get a later flight, it’s not like I don’t know what they’re all gonna say when I show up without Sean anyway… they all told me he acted like he was too good for me…

XXX

Hangman tensed as he watched the whole thing go down. He stood there a second or two, torn between going after her and going after her now ex boyfriend and throttling the guy.

“Don’t waste your time on him, buddy.” Kenny spoke up, nodding in the direction Giselle disappeared to instead.

“Yeah, go find Giselle, she looked really upset and they’re calling her flight now.”

Adam took off after his best friend rather than go pull her ex out of line for his flight and beating the guy senseless. He found her sitting in a lesser crowded waiting area, staring out the window and for a second or two, he worked on calming himself down.

… if she were with me that would never have happened… I’d never do that…

… well, man, here’s your shot… you gonna shoot it or stand here and think about shootin it all night…. That last thought spurred him forward and he made his way over to where she sat.

After a few seconds of just sitting there, he put his arm around the back of her chair, resisting the urge to comment on how soft the jet black curls were as they brushed his arm.

He cleared his throat, trying to think of just the right thing to say at the moment. She shifted to lean against him and wiped at her eyes, laughing and shaking her head. “I can’t believe I ever thought that guy was the one.”

Adam shrugged and muttered something about the way love makes people crazy sometimes because he couldn’t think of anything else to say that wasn’t the truth.

“Yeah well there’s crazy and there’s plain stupid, Hangman and I’m afraid that right now, I fall into that second category.”

“C’mon, hon, don’t say that. I happen to think you’re pretty damn great.” Adam leaned in, wiping at her eyes with his thumb. He noticed that the flight she was supposed to be getting on was already departing and he swore, quietly.

“It’s okay. I’ll just.. Take a day to pull myself together.” Giselle shrugged as if it were nothing, and Adam nodded.

“At least call your family. Tell ‘em.”

“Don’t remind me.” Giselle gave a weak laugh as she took a few deep breaths and then stood. “C’mon. I’ll walk  you guys to your flights.”

“We’ll walk them.”

Giselle eyed Adam and he stared right back at her. “I am not gettin on a flight and leavin you here alone.”

She bit her lip, starting to protest, but Adam plugged his ears. “I’ll stay until you get a flight. We can get a hotel room and have a sleepover or somethin’.”

“Okay, fine. But I’m gonna warn you now. I’m probably not going to be much company.”

Adam chuckled and gave her that grin of his as he shook his head. “I’ll keep ya entertained. Promise.”

Somehow, Giselle didn’t doubt it, but she still felt guilty, making him delay his own plans to return home. “You don’t… have to do this.” she tried again to protest, to talk him out of staying behind just because she was. But Adam wasn’t hearing it, pressing a finger into her lips and cutting her off mid sentence. They wandered over to where Cody and Brandi stood talking to Kenny and the Bucks, saying their last goodbyes before their flights departed.

Kenny flashed a knowing grin as he set sights on them. “Finally.” he mouthed as Hangman gave him a warning look and mouthed back, “Not right away, damn.”

Adam slipped his arm around her and despite herself, she leaned against his side, staring up at him. It didn’t surprise her at all he was doing this. Adam was just that kind of man.

“They’re calling our flights. See you around, Page.” Matt and Nick gave their friend a hug and Kenny eyed Giselle and Adam. “Don’t both of you have flights?”

“We’re catchin a later one.” Adam answered as Kenny chuckled and nodded, stepping up to hug Adam and using the hug to whisper to his friend, “ If you keep waiting on the perfect time, you’re gonna miss out, buddy.”

Adam nodded and then turned his attention to Giselle as their friends boarded their flights. Clearing his throat, he nodded to the parking lot. “If we want a hotel room, we might wanna leave now.”

“Yeah, true. I just hope we can find one.”

Her cell phone rang and she eyed her mom’s number, finally sighing and muttering “Best to just get this over with.” as she stepped away, answering her mom’s video call.

“Darlin? Why are you still in the airport, hm?”

Giselle honestly meant to answer her mother, but before she could, her mother was swearing under her breath and then sighing. And naturally, her mom went there.

“That guy of yours blew ya off. See, this is…” her mother started to say it but Giselle spoke up calmly, “Yeah, look. I missed my flight fighting with him and breaking it off between us, so if you’re about to say I told you so, get it over with because I am so exhausted, Mama.”

“Where are ya? You’re not alone, right? Because you don’t make the best decisions…”

“I’m with Adam right now. He missed his flight too, so we’re going to catch the first ones out in the morning I guess. What the hell do you mean I don’t make the best decisions? Nevermind, mama, don’t answer that. I… I’ve gotta go. I don’t want to argue with anyone else tonight, especially not a literal brick wall.”

She hung up and Adam chuckled quietly from behind her as he dragged his hands through his hair and eyed her in concern. “You okay, Ele?”

“My mama being herself, of course.”

“Yikes. Let me guess, they adored that jerk?”

“Oh, no, she hated him. Hindsight being what it is, I can’t hold that against her, but you know how she is… Treating me like a child no matter what I do. It’s a mess.. Can we just.. Go now? Please?”

Adam nodded, picking up her bag as he slung his across his shoulder and Giselle went to take the bag from him. He shook his head. Their hands brushed and Giselle stared up at him, biting her lip and staying totally silent for a few seconds.

“What’d she say that got you all wound up, hon?” Adam asked as they walked out of the airport and towards the rental car that luckily, she hadn’t returned earlier. Giselle sighed and looked up at him, giving a sheepish laugh. “She’s right, I mean.. I don’t make the best decisions.”

Adam stopped them in the doorway of the airport and looked down at her, shaking his head. “She’s not right. You just thought ya loved the guy. There’s nothin wrong with that.”

“I think she was referring to all my other so called mistakes. She gets like this when my sister comes home with all the grandbabies, starts trying to meddle in my life because it’s not EXACTLY what she wants it to be.” Giselle sighed and shivered in the cold. Adam held out his jacket and she eyed him. “It’s freezing out here, are you insane? You need that. I’m fine, the car’s not far.”

“Take it, woman. Stop being so damn stubborn!”  Adam chuckled, holding the jacket out again. This time Giselle took it, snuggling down into it, letting the smell of her best friend fill her nose because he always smelled so good and it always made her feel better somehow. She pressed into his side and peered up at his phone as he muttered, “There’s a hotel not even a block away. We’ll try there. You eat anything tonight? I’m starvin.”

Giselle’s stomach growled almost on cue and she shook her head sheepishly. Adam eyed her and she admitted with a shrug, “I was running behind. I thought I could just grab something when they came around on the plane.. Then get actual food when I found a hotel on my all night layover.”

“Woman, what the hell? Look, we’re goin to find an Applebee’s or somethin.” Adam chuckled, shaking his head at her as he put his arm back around her and they walked towards the yellow Challenger she’d been so excited about snagging when they all rented cars earlier in the week. Giselle put the keys into his hand and Adam unlocked the car, opening her door. As she went to lower herself into her seat, they brushed against one another and Giselle found herself just… Sort of staring at him.

She took a deep breath. It was that feeling she seemed to get a lot lately around him. The one she couldn’t quite pin down. The one that had her tingly all over.

Adam caught her gaze, fingers tucked beneath her chin to make her look at him. “Hey… it’s gonna be okay, darlin. What you did was the right thing.”

“I know. Honestly? It doesn’t really hurt. I’m… More disappointed in myself than anything. Like… how did I not see that about the guy?” Giselle shook her head and sighed, taking a few long breaths as Adam pulled the car out into traffic. They were pulling into the parking lot of an Applebee’s near the airport and he snickered quietly, realizing that she’d just really started to doze off. Reaching out, he tapped her shoulder and cleared his throat as he leaned in.

“Hey.. we’re here, Ele.”

Giselle sat up, rubbing at her eyes and stretching. Adam was getting out and walking around, opening her door for her and again, as she got out, she wound up standing close to him, the jacket he’d given her to wear beyond big enough to swim in. Adam laughed when he caught her staring up at him, making the joke that he had to have something in his nose and she shook her head, choosing to stay quiet.

“We goin inside, or?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Adam couldn’t help but ask again and Giselle shrugged, but gave a half smile. “I don’t honestly know right now but I think.. Maybe.”

Truth be told, she just felt relieved to an extent. It hurt, but at the same time, it didn’t. Then again, she reminded herself, this is just the night you finally had enough. There’s no telling how you’ll feel about this in the morning.. When it actually sinks in.

She tried not to think about it. Just like she fully intended to continue doing. She didn’t want to think about any of it, from how stupid she’d been to choose a guy like Sean to begin with, to just how blind she’d let herself become while she’d been with him, to how more than likely everyone -from her family to her co workers, could see right through him.

Adam nodded, staring at her intently while also trying not to do it. “That’s good, darlin. I mean it, you’re gonna be okay. You’ll see.”

“You say that like you don’t know what a mess I am.” Giselle hugged against him for warmth and Adam tensed slightly, arms tightening around her. His nose lingered in her hair and he took a few deep breaths. “You’re not a mess.”

“I kind of am.” Giselle argued. Adam shook his head at her no and she sighed. “Fine. I’m starving. Let’s just go in and get food.” it was her way of changing the subject because suddenly she was picking up on this heavy lingering tension and realizing that tonight was not the first time it had been present.

That it seemed to hang heavily in the air whenever she was around Adam.

Something Riho said earlier in the month, when they’d all gone out for Halloween, it came rushing back to her.

.. no, that’s not it… i mean, i am attracted to him but like… that’s all it is, it has to be, I’d know if it were more than that, right?… she thought to herself as they found a back booth and scanned the menu.

XXX

“ I will… Never try to eat that much again, fuck.” Giselle groaned as they stepped into the hotel room they’d just gotten. Adam’s lack of a laugh at her comment and the way she went about being overdramatic about it immediately drew her attention to what he was currently fixated on.

The room they’d been given only had one bed.

Giselle’s mouth opened and closed and before she could stop it, that feeling was back, fluttering through her insides, making her heart race a little. She dragged her fingers through her snow dampened hair and opened her mouth to say something but Adam had apparently been thinking the same because he blurted out with a shrug, “You take it, darlin. I’ll be fine, I’ve slept on worse than that couch thing.” he nodded to a loveseat that despite it’s upscale design, looked about as comfortable as a boulder.

Giselle started to shake her head, but Adam was grabbing a pillow and stopping in front of her, a hand lingering close to her hip as he stared down at her. “It’s fine. Take the bed.”

She didn’t argue - it wouldn’t have done a lot of good, Adam was a stubborn guy, she knew it from experience as his best friend, and she flopped onto the bed, letting out a long and slow breath.

“Are you sure? I mean..”

“Darlin, it’s fine. I’ll be fine.” Adam reassured her, even as he sank down and grunted because the little two person sofa gave… Nothing at all. The so called cushions felt like brick covered in black pleather.

And given the fight he’d been in earlier at the arena, it wasn’t the best feeling.

Giselle tried to settle into the giant King sized bed after wiggling out of her clothing, but watching him toss and turn and try to get at least a little comfort left her feeling guilty because what the sofa lacked in the way of comfort?

The bed was like a cloud covered in pale blue sheets.

After turning out the lights, she tried to go to sleep and she just… Couldn’t. Everything from the day so far was rushing through her mind only to fleet just as she’d try to grasp one solid thing, one tangible thought.

Until the most unexpected one of all crept in..

… You’re both adults and Adam is not comfortable over there… Sharing the bed… Nothing has to happen and you do feel really comfortable with Adam…

This was the one solid thought she grasped onto and as if she were on autopilot, it’s the thought that had her sitting up in bed and reaching for the switch to the lights. Adam grunted, shielding baby blue eyes from the harsh flourescent overhead lights because he’d been just about to finally fall asleep.

“Everything okay over there, Ele?” he called out.

The tone of his voice half asleep had her gasping quietly. She sat there a second or two, trailing her fingers lazily over the thin blanket on the bed. “No. It’s not. I…”

“Yeah?” Adam was on his feet and making his way across the room to her, sitting just at the edge of the bed, his back to her.

His eyes met hers and she swallowed hard, nodding to the bed. “We’re adults and watching you over there barely fitting onto that fabric covered boulder.. I’d just feel better if you slept on the bed too? Please?”

Adam eyed her. Everything inside him insisted that he should protest -especially given the way he felt about her and what she’d gone through earlier, but one look into those eyes of hers had him nodding. “Okay, fine.”

She smiled and patted the empty side of the bed and Adam pulled back the sheets getting in and getting as comfortable as he possibly could, all things considered. He tensed a little when she slipped her leg between his, an arm going over him as she cozied right up to him from behind.

“Adam?”

“Y-yeah, hon?” he stammered out, taking a deep breath, trying to resist the urge to roll over and just kiss her already, no matter how shitty the timing might be for it at the moment.

“Thank you for being there. Thank you for being my best friend.”

… Darlin if you knew just how much I wanted to be so much more than that… The thought came and Adam tried to push it to the back of his mind. After a few seconds, he answered quietly, “You deserved better anyway. As far as tonight, and bein your friend.. I want to because you’re an amazing person. You don’t have to thank me.”

“ I know,” she yawned, her cheek nuzzling right against his bare upper back as she moved even closer, “but I wanted to. Because I.. You don’t know how much it means to me. How much you kinda mean to me, Hangman.”

“Night, darlin.”

“Night, big guy.”

XXX

Adam woke up to the sun streaming in the windows and to discover that during the night, he’d rolled onto his back. And that apparently, Giselle draped herself across his body. He took a deep breath and watched her sleeping for a few seconds. He carefully reached out for his cell phone on the nightstand and when he caught sight of the fact that the sun was so bright for a very good reason, he sat up, rubbing his hand through his hair.

On the one hand, she was sleeping so well.. As upset as she’d been the night before, he’d honestly been afraid that she’d have a rough night full of tossing and turning.. On the other hand, they both had flights to get on.

… or A FLIGHT.. Because it’s not like you have anything in particular to go… the thought snuck in before he could stop it, and he shook his head at himself.

He leaned down and gently shook her awake. “Hey, Ele? We have exactly ten minutes to get dressed and get over to the airport for check in.”

Giselle shot up in bed, biting her lip as doing so as fast as she had led to the sheet wrapped around her upper body very nearly falling down. She blushed a little and Adam turned his head.

After grabbing the shirt she’d taken off at some point during the night and tugging it down, she tapped his shoulder and yawned. “I was sleepin so good. Parts of me are really dreadin this whole goin home thing..”

“Yeah?”

“Well.. I know how my mama is.”

She fidgeted and Adam felt his breath literally catching hold in his throat, found himself hoping despite it all that she was about to hint at what he felt like she might be.

Giselle took a deep breath and caught his gaze. “ I don’t.. Nevermind, it’s dumb.”

“No, no.” Adam tilted her chin, making her meet his gaze.

“You’ve probably got plans and the last thing you wanna spend Christmas doing is hangin out with me..”

… you couldn’t be more wrong if you tried… he thought to himself as he chuckled and eyed her, a teasing hint to his voice, “Ele, are you tryin to ask me somethin?”

“I was, yeah.. But it’s dumb. I mean you’ve already done this..” Giselle gestured to the room they’d spent the night in and she took a deep breath. “It’s just I… When you’re around, I feel better.”

… and maybe I just want to… i don’t know, give myself the chance I’ve been too afraid to take before and get to know you better….  She realized she’d gone silent and she added quickly, “We don’t have to tell them we’re dating or anything, I promise..”

Adam chuckled, staring at his hands as he pulled himself together. What she was asking was… a huge deal for him. And there was something a little different about her this morning, in the way she kept looking at him, and all the little touches.

She leaned against him and sighed. “Sorry.” - followed by an awkward but cute laugh. Adam chuckled and turned to the side so that he held her gaze. “You don’t have to be sorry. Yeah. I’ll come back with you.”

“Wait, huh? R-really?” it caught her off guard and she bit her lip, catching his gaze, feeling relieved when she saw that smile of his.

“That bein said, darlin.. We’re kinda down to 8 minutes.”

“Shit.. But I don’t wanna get out of this bed.” Giselle pretended to whine, pouting even as she looked up at him as he stood. She turned away quickly when she realized just how little happened to be covering his body.

Her cheeks heated in a blush and despite looking away, she may have peeked through her fingers, sucking in a sharp breath.

“It did feel really comfortable.” Adam sighed and gazed at the bed -and her, as he grabbed his discarded jeans and tee shirt. He’d just finished dressing when she slipped out from between the sheets, grabbing her own jeans, tugging them up her legs. It called entirely too much attention and Adam had to turn around completely.

Even that did no good because the mirror over the dresser gave him a view. He coughed and called out, “About done, Ele?”

Giselle tapped his shoulder and waved up at him, nodding to the door. “Yeah. We should get going now.”

“We should.”

In her hurry to get dressed, she’d grabbed one of the tee shirts he had out the night before. He chuckled and she looked down, palming at her face and quietly groaning before giving a mumbled “Fuck it. I have zero time to change. And it’s comfy.”

“Looks cute on ya too.” - it came out before Adam could stop it, making her blush all over again. They stood there, migrating closer and closer for a few seconds until finally, Giselle grabbed for her backpack.

“ You can’t say I didn’t warn you in advance. My family is a little.. Out there.” she told him with an amused laugh as Adam smiled back at her and held the door open for her, “I can’t wait to meet them.”

[hanniiesuckle17]

Single dad!au (Minghao)

okay

literally loves his son Joonwoo

named his son with a more korean name because of the mother

the mom died from complication of early child birth

very hard on Minghao

it was raining the day his son was born so he named him Joonwoo which means protection or rain

had no idea what to do

company kept the birth out of the media so no one knew about it except the boys and a few close friends of the group

including you

for awhile he was living on his own in a rental apartment and taking care of his newborn son

didn’t see the boys for six months

didn’t really see anybody for six months

the timing wasn’t great as well

seventeen had just had their second comeback after their debut (very nice era

soon Jun and Jeonghan moved in with him temporarily since he had to go back to work and so it didn’t look so suspicious

has a very close bond with his son

Jun is also very protective of him too

that boy has dealt with too many shitty diapers for anybody to mess with his nephew

fast forward to current time

Joonwoo is about three years old and it is getting harder for Minghao to manage being a single dad and being an idol

you were a very good friend of Vernons and around their mansae era became a makeup artist for the boys

you had met minghaos son a couple of times and always loved him

Minghao and you were friends but he was always busy taking care of joonwoo for him to get any closer to you

Joonwoo was now old enough that Hao could get away with bringing him to the studio with him but not a lot of the staff could watch him while he worked

so you offered to help him saying you loved spending time with his son

you only needed to really work before the boys filmed which was often but didn’t take long

Joonwoo was always very excited when ever he saw you

loved trying to help you do his uncles’ makeup

except his dads

just wanted to sit in his dads lap while you did his makeup

for a toddler Joonwoo had an incredible perception of adult concepts

he always seemed to know or understand when his father needed to go work and was quite the independent boy

minghaos life was child, work, sleep, child, work, child

not only did you watch joonwoo while hao worked but you would take him to your apartment twice a month so hao could get a day to himself

it wasnt until one day when joonwoo came back from your apartment and asked when he could go back to mommy’s house

minghao instantly turned away from his work at his sons words

mom?

y/n?

ever since his gaze started to wander to you

during practice he would see you with his son in your lap in the mirror and couldn’t help but smile at the sight of you playing with his son

while his son slept in his lap he would talk to you while you did his makeup

it would take him a long time to warm up to the idea of him even remotely having feelings for you.

it took all his energy +1 to make sure he didn’t seem tired for his son and to still spend time with him

 so when he realised he started to like you his first thought was 'not does she like me back'

it was 'fuck, down to two hour sleep now'

obviously you did like him

I mean you had seen him around the boys but just watching him with his son warmed your heart and made you fall for him

however knowing how stressful his life was you just enjoyed the little times you spent together through Joonwoo

once minghao was certain his feelings weren't just a phase he started to think about how to deal with them

after becoming a father he really had to wing it with whatever came at him

but he didnt want to do that with you

especially since you knew more about him than anyone else

1st step was kicking out Jun and Jeonghan

Jun was not happy about being taken away from his precious nephew so he had to be pushed out of the freaking door

next was planning exactly how he was going to confess

the only experience he had with girls was Joonwoos mom so he was kind of in the dark

decided to write a song for you

the next couple of weeks minghao asked you to come over and watch Joonwoo while he worked on one of the new songs for the album

he really just wanted to write with you in the room

the first time you were actually alone with minghao was when you were dropping his son off back at the apartment (you had a key dont worry)

you were surprised that The8 wasn't there but it was late so you just put Joon to bed

you went to the only place you knew he would be

you went to the practice room and walked in hearing music playing

I'm Thinkin 'about 

I'm Thinkin' about 

I'm Thinkin 'about

I'm Thinkin' about

I'm Thinkin 'about you

I'm Thinkin' about you

All I think about is you 

All I think about is you 

Petals falling without force 

힘없이 떨어지는 꽃잎은 

The two of us 

예쁘게 피었던 우리 둘 

All of its appearance 

그 모습 모두 한 폭의 유화 

Even the smearing and flowing down is beautiful 

번지고 흘러내리는 마저도 아름다워 

Time drops and drops. 

시간은 방울져서 떨어지고 떨어지고 

you saw Minghao dancing in the middle of the room his black hair falling in front of his eyes

Hao?

he turned to you shocked and scrambled to turn off the song

Sorry I didnt know-umm-did you hear that

you laughed and walked over to him

Yeah sorry. Is it for the new album

he looked down at his shoes almost embarrassed

No-it was for you actually

you were kind of shocked remembering the lyrics

You wrote that?

he nodded and looked up at you through his dark hair

by far the longest pause of his entire life

at least it felt like it

Hao......I think you are incredible

But.....

you smiled and took his hand playing with his long slender fingers

No buts. You are just incredible. I mean you wrote this incredible song. You are the best dancer I've ever seen. And you are an amazing father.

he knew you were being sincere

it was just who you were

all he could do was kiss yous

the kiss was sweet and soft

his hand went to your cheek while the other stayed intertwined with yours

the kind of kiss that leaves you breathless in the space apart

it was kind of unsaid but both of you knew you dating after that

he wanted to take it slow though because of his son

tried to hide it from the boys and Joon as long as possible

after putting Joon to bed you spent nights together

sometimes helping him with lyrics

sometimes doing.....other things.......

but most of the time you would just fall asleep on his couch just talking

honestly I think that's his favorite thing to do with you

minghao really doesnt get to have civilized conversations with people his own age

(Let's be honest ain't nothing serious going on in svt dorms)

you often fall asleep pressed against his chest with his arms wrapped around you

Joon found you one morning and you had to tell him what was going on

about a month later you told the boys and they were all happy for you since they saw how happy you made minghao

being the one who takes all of minghao's fire insta pics when his insta account gets released

about a year in when Joon was 4 you both decided you wanted to come out to the public

however it was more complicated since that meant showing the world his son as well

he was very scared about how the public would react so when he posted a picture on insta of you and his son in the dance studio he was very nervous and monitored the post with the rest of the boys

Carat had a wonderful reaction and small videos of The8 and Joon started to be posted on his insta

a week later Minghao went to a press conference with both you and his son and explained everything

thankfully most of the fans were extremely supportive and loved your relationship

minghao loved to show off both you and his son

lots of behind the scenes videos of the boys where you can see minghao with you on his lap doing his makeup

his son is always at fanmeets

private dance lessons in the practice room

moving in with him and basically nothing changing in your relationship

you guys still never end up sleeping in the bed because you always end up passing out on the couch

he liked it when you play with his hands and fingers

doesnt quite grasp the meaning of 'help'

he is still so used to being by himself so he has no idea what to do when he comes home at 11:30 and there is nothing to clean up and his son is already in bed and you are asleep on the couch

kind of just stands there for a moment and then realizes how much he truly loves you and carries you to bed

Literally I love this au I think I just bias wrecked myself

Masterlist

Requests are open! Feel free to message!

[pockets-of-peace]

It’s been a week

I’ve been resisting making improvements and repairs to our home since we moved in. It’s very nice for our budget but it’s still just an apartment, and it’s not my job to repair or maintain other than the basics. That’s why we’re renting. We don’t want the added expense of maintenance. When we decided to take on the bookcase project this summer we decided we’d go ahead and paint the downstairs. The current paint on the walls is the cheapest builder paint you can get. Flat matte. You can’t wash the walls. Even with the softest rag and a bit of dawn in warm water the paint just washes right off the walls. All of my walls look bad, and in some spots, disgusting. I’m tired of it. We’ve discussed moving a lot this year and ultimately decided against it. We signed our 4th lease in June. We’re going to be here a while. Time to paint. 

We’re one can down and one and a half walls painted. I got Behr, it’s a good brand, stain resistant, satin finish so it’s easy to clean, in a shade of white to both brighten the place up and make it so I don’t have to paint again before we leave. We’re going on the “one can and one wall at a time” method so I don’t have to move all of the furniture at the same time. 

Some areas are going to need sanding, some are going to need spackle, some will need both. The drywall is old and shitty. Some areas are going to need to have the paint completely removed and redone. It’s going to be a project. 

This week we finished that one wall the shelves are going to be up against, and I rearranged everything at least half a dozen times. Now. Side note. This is important. Our complex got new owners over the summer. They did not inform us that we had new owners - they never do this is at least the third set of new owners just since we’ve been here. But importantly, this set is willing to put money into renovating the property!! This is fantastic news!! The insides of the units have obviously not been touched in at least 20 years. The outsides, while decent when we moved in have steadily gone downhill. So the new owners have repainted the buildings and put on new roofs, on every building. They’re repaving the entire lot (THANK ALL OF THE GODS), and putting in new landscaping by the front entrance and around the office. They’re also redoing the insides of the units. I found that out when I had a meeting with the property manager a few weeks back about prolonged maintenance issues I couldn’t fix. She let me view one. They’re hella nice!! New flooring, better quality paint in not flat matte. All new appliances in the kitchens, with actual stone and grout back splashes. New light fixtures in the bathrooms, all new counter tops through the unit, ceiling fans in the bedrooms. They’re really nice. And since they really want people converting over they’re waiving all lease breaking and move in fees. All they’re asking up front is to meet the difference on the security deposit and pet fees if you have pets. 

We’ve talked about it. We were on the fence. We just got a brand new AC unit this summer and it’s taken our bill down about $150 a month. The ac units through the complex are another issue. They’re all very old and most are too small to cool a whole unit. They only replace when the compressor dies and can not be fixed. We’re loath to give up our new unit and smaller power bill. I have to add that it is important to note that while the property manager told me about waiving lease and moving in fees she did not once mention rent. Not once. Leading me to think they’re asking the same amount we’re not paying which GREAT!! Yes, please do make this place look like it’s worth paying $800 a month!!! 

So this week in the middle of my furniture rearranging crisis I thought I’d look the complex up on the apartment websites and see if they’ve put up new staging pictures. Maybe that could give me some inspiration on where to place things. Short answer - no. But I noticed that the rate of rent for the 1/1 bed/bath had gone up $200. So I flipped to the 2 bed units to see what ours is currently going for. They want $1035 a month for our unit now. I saw that and had a complete panic attack. That is $200 more than what we currently pay. The unit rent for the entire complex has gone up by $200. We’re not in a very good part of town. We live in a very old part of town. On our left is a very nice and desirable area full of rich people. On our right is an older part of town, the naval base we live by has been open since WWI but didn’t gain traction until WWII. The buildings, the houses, they’re older. More run down. The further you get to Cecil Field (the really old base) the worse it gets. We’re in a boarder area it’s not the slums, but it’s not the best either. More importantly, no one living in our surrounding area can afford to pay $800+ for a basic 1/1 apartment and over a thousand for a 2/1.5. Not even a 2/2; a two and one half!!!! The people that live here now are working poor and it’s obvious!!! What the fuck are they thinking?!?!?!

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she tried to talk me into moving over to a reno’ed one without telling me about the rent hike. So it was 3 am and I was in panic mode. I looked around to see what’s available in our area and it’s bleak. We’d have to downsize a lot of space for what we’re willing to pay. We’re already paying the max we can afford. We could pay less and go back to living in the ghetto. We don’t want Liam back in that sort of environ. We’re in a good spot. He’s 15 minutes in traffic from work. Liam is in a good school. We like where we are. We don’t want to leave. I looked into private rentals. It’s even worse. I was praying they’re only charging that for the reno’ed units. I took some meds to calm down and tried to sleep. I called as soon as I could that morning. 

Yes, they’re only charging that for reno’ed units. We were grandfathered in so our rent is unchanged. I’m going to keep on the project of painting and improving the walls little by little. We’re going to renew next June. But after that.... ? How long before they start to really apply pressure to transfer units? How long before the new owners realize they’re not going to get the sort of renters that can afford that? People that can afford that go to Collins or Orange Park the neighborhoods are so much nicer there. How long with this management company last? 

It’s going to be interesting to see where this leads. Interesting, and panic inducing. 

That wasn’t all I wanted to blog about but this turned out to be longer than I expected. 

[creek-cryptid-deluxe]

WARNING DRAMA AHEAD

(Which is crazy because I try to actively have a drama free lifestyle)

So, awhile back I wrote about some issues in a friend group containing A & Em. Summary: I chatted with Em about A unintentionally making me feel shitty for FINALLY accepting my limitations & making lifestyle & wardrobe changes to reflect that. Em said she'd talk to A because if I did it, A might feel attacked & get defensive.

Day before yesterday, Em dropped by to hang, help me put together a shoerack, and go to a local costume shop that does rentals and serves all the theater departments & dance companies in a 70 mile radius. This shop is amazing, been around since I was little, almost everything is hand made with amazing care and detail, and the decor in their shop is ever changing, detailed, and super fucking cool. ANYWAY, we got on the subject of A, whom I've only seen once or twice since talking to Em about it & seemed ok both times aside from getting legit pissed that I'm better at macrame plant holders than she is. Apparently A currently thinks I dislike her or like her less or something. So I asked Em if I should gently talk to her about it and see if we can reach an understanding. She said she thought it was a good idea h really, I don't like one of my friends thinking I dislike them. So yesterday I pulled together some courage and messaged her. The following is the conversation that occured:

Me: So, I've heard that you are upset and under the impression that I don't like you anymore or like you less or something. So I'm gonna clear the air, but I'm gonna be blunt and honest with you because I'm not down for lying. K? (And let me go ahead and flat out say, I don't dislike you or like you any less)

A:I've just been feeling some reservations toward me lately. Go ahead I can take blunt.

(Spoiler: she cannot take even sugarcoated gentle level blunt)

ME: So here is the deal. My illness is eternal and is only ever going to get worse. In fact, it is constantly getting worse in small, large, and sometimes interesting & unexpected ways. Sometimes it creeps on slowly, sometimes it hits like an anvil was dropped on me. Therefore I am constantly having to adjust my lifestyle, activities, wardrobe... EVERYTHING. Very recently, I realized that I have spent the last 3 years trying to live my old life and just cope so my quality of life has been SHIT. I've finally truly accepted the shithole that is my health for what it is and have started to truly make real adjustments to my lifestyle, hobbies, wardrobe, ect. Because I will never get better and live in about 400 sq ft (at best) that means when I realize something doesn't fit my abilities or needs anymore, I get rid of it. However, I always offer those things to the kids & my friends first before donating them. But here's the thing, when I offer these things to you, I get a load of questions & comments that end up making me feel like I have failed as a person for realizing what has taken me 3 years to realize. For example: when I told you that Julia's candles were my last batch ever, there were loads of 'have you tried...' and 'I'm sure you can find a way.' I know you mean well, but if I'm giving something up, I've truly tried ever avenue to make it work within my limits and it just doesn't. Even after I quit candles in May, I kept the stuff (which took up massive space) until August because I doubted myself and was reluctant to lose another hobby. But I need to face facts and be realistic. Same with the sweater. I am drastically altering my wardrobe for whatever the upcoming season is to fit the fact that I need my cane at all times now (POCKETS) and the fact that my clothes need to be comfy enough for me to get dressed every day not just days I'm leaving the house. I've lived in PJs for the last year and a half and it's not good for my mental health. So all things that don't fit that criteria or my new altered lifestyle must go. And it's going to be a constant process because I'm constantly getting worse. The jewelry making stuff, I genuinely forgot you wanted it because honestly i don't even remember what happened yesterday, so I'm sorry. (I had jewelry making supplies that I can't use anymore due to -15 hand strength, which I gave to Em.)

A: I'm sorry that I've been putting you down and making you feel shity. That's never been my intention. If I ask a ton of questions it's not because I don't understand the severity and challenges in your daily life. I ask so many questions because I often find unconventional wacky solutions to peoples problems all the time and if I can be in the slightest bit helpful in finding a loophole or a way you might not have seen, I thought that would be better than just saying "I'm so sorry to hear that" I figured you hear that enough but idk how often you hear people actually trying to find a way. Like the sweater example, I would have been happy to take you shopping for a fun print material the made you some pockets. Outside like a cool patchwork with awesome prints, or inside like a bond detective. But you were so quick to snap at me and explain your whole situation like I am not taking you seriously. I ask because I want to hear your needs and maybe just maybe be able to help out. But if all I do is make you feel like your grandma did then I'll do you a favor and stop inviting myself over to make you feel shitty. I'm glad Emma always knows just what to say.

Now at this point, I stopped replying. I was kind of shocked at her response. Like, I expected her to explain her intentions, despite me making it clear I knew her intentions were good, because that's what people do. I expected us to discuss how things should be moving forward so I don't continue to feel like a failure. I considered maybe mentioning somewhere in there that if I want help or advice or solutions, I'll fucking ask. But I did NOT expect those last couple sentences where she basically stomped her feet and said well since this isn't going how I want, I'm not playing with you guys anymore.

After careful thought, writing & editing over a 5 hr period, I sent this (which are screenshots from my notes because typing is rough, I wanted to convey what I wanted just right, and now you have to click on them to see the full thing. I'm sorry I've failed you, the reader of this normal convo turned melodrama, in such a fashion.):

She responded at like 2 am (when I was asleep) so I saw there was a response when I woke up, but given the history of her behavior in situations like this (conveyed via Em, who has known her MUCH longer) I decided not to open it just yet, as I'd like to relax and enjoy my day. This shit stresses me out. I don't do drama and tantrums. I don't tolerate it from my teenage Spawn, much less fucking adults. I get the feeling that the response is going to be just as melodramatic & tantrum filled. If this is how she handles her intentions not aligning with the result of her actions that were driven by said intentions, then she's in for a real shock when she leaves the cuddlebox of college and enters the real world. Your boss isn't going to care about how good your intentions were when you accidentally burned down the kitchen of the bakery you work in. They will just care that you burned down their fucking business.

Welp, may as well rip off the bandaid. For you, my dear reader, to have closure I will read the response. Back in a sec.

OMG IT WAS SO MUCH MORE DRAMATIC THAN I EXPECTED.

A:I understand. And I told you where I stand. I am the type of friend that instinctually tries to help those she cares deeply about. I'm not the friend to just sit and feel bad when there's something I can do. But I have been feeling for a while now unwanted and you have confirmed it by not saying anything then, just talking about it to my former close friend, and then throwing it in my face that you have been holding on to a box cuz of me. And like the adult i am, I don't see why I should change the type of friend I am just because some one is ungrateful for it. I'll go help someone else leave their abusive boyfriend's in the middle of the night. for the people I care about I'd do anything, anything except sit and do nothing while I'm told how much worse I make things when I try and help. I will just take my good intentions elsewhere. I have had the worst year of my life but I don't remember you asking me once anyway. I wish you the best buy obviously your life is better without me and my negativity in it. I truly am sorry I hurt your feelings and I never ever wanted to. I cherished your friendship more than you'll ever know and you can ask anyone. But because I can't see myself sitting by biting my tongue around you and waking on eggshells because I clearly can't see the bounty between helpful conversion and being a cunt. Since I respect you so much I'll go ahead and remove that stupid cunt from your life so you won't be put down again.

HOOOLY SHIT. I'm not responding to that giant fucking dramatic pity party. She legit needs to grow the fuck up. Good god.