#and him and Peyton were broken up at the time | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sockslikeautumn · 7 months ago

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Julian Peyton

Yandere golden boy beginning

Male original character x gender-neutral reader

SFW, 2.0k+ words, angst, addiction, trauma, reader, and OC are 18+!

Summary: Did you not wish for his suicide to happen due to wanting to offer proper help or because you didn't want to die selfishly?

Trigger warnings: Dead dove, do not eat for all warnings!

Suicide, suicidal thoughts, mentions of self-harm, depression, mentions of bullying, loneliness, academic pressure, guilt, implied addiction, implied turning yandere/obsessed, manipulation, victim blaming, trauma, abuse, implied childhood abuse, childhood trauma, child abandonment, child negligence, drug addiction, drug dealing, alcohol addiction, cigarettes addiction.

The reader has suicidal thoughts and trauma regarding some of these tags. If any of them trigger you, don't read!

As much as it seems, this isn't a self insert from me, Y/N is their own original character.

For any confusion, this is before he went yandere, became a golden boy, and why.

You are entirely responsible for what you consume.

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!

If you're conscious enough to live, at least at some point in your life you have thought of how quick and easy it would be to bring about your demise.

Grab a knife, cut the neck in half, or take a step off at the edge of a building. Simple and efficient. It's not as painless as some would wish, but it's the most reliable for someone in dire need.

When you have problems you aren't aware of how to solve, suicide just seems like the solution at the moment. Why keep going through the pain when you can just make everything stop and end in black there?

Julian was never one to think of committing suicide. It had crossed his mind before whenever hearing about a self-death headline but never to be the one at the edge of death.

His life was a simple chess game with the Devil to put it generously. He couldn't remember the names of his birth parents, only of the new son they had, he couldn't remember the last time his grandad taught him something but could decipher what drug he was using by the way he acted. It was never too obscure behavior and just made his grandad, Mason, spill honest secrets and opinions. Regardless, it hurt his heart to hear what a failure he was to him.

There never was a time of growing up to him. He was born, abandoned, and then perfected to act depressed for the rest of his life as it should be.

To cope with the loneliness, Julian found comfort in cigarettes. The smell of nicotine brought him back to a time when his grandad was still functioning and meaning someone to him. Someone special, someone valuable, and someone irreplaceable. Despite that, he should've learned from his mistakes that once you aren't meaningful to someone anymore, you become dispensable.

At the age of twelve, he couldn't remember what grades he had in school but could instead remember the various names of alcohol brands his granddad had. They were stored on the top shelf of the pantry and some were in the fridge, all decorated in rainbow colors. Back then, they looked magnificent since Mason always forbade him from touching them. Nowadays they stay piled on the floor of his grandad's bedroom, some empty and some bottles broken never to be cleaned.

Drugs were never an unfamiliar aspect of his life. The minute his grandad was gone, off to drink at a bar, he'd sneak into the basement where they were and gather whatever he could to sell. Julian never found out how his grandad had those, just that they appeared on Monday and were all used by Thursday. Mason was reckless if what he was doing was illegal, as long as the cops or Julian didn't rat him out, he'd be content letting his mind dwell on drugs.

It was no wonder why someone like Julian, who was socially awkward and unpleasant to look at, was bullied all his life in school. People either forgot he existed or made sure Julian knew others would forget if he stopped existing. Any time he made an effort to find new friends, they'd look at him in disgust upon smelling his dark cigarette clothes. There was no direct proof but everyone knew of Julian's addiction to cigars and that he probably used drugs on himself too. His blonde hair was always greasy paired with nerdy glasses that only highlighted his purple eye bags to others. Everyone knew he was a failure and that his life would end in failure no matter what.

You saw yourself as no different than Julian. He was a classmate of yours in school, sharing only a couple of classes. You never spoke with each other and never looked at one another. You doubted he cared anything about you but oddly enough... you seemed to care about him. There was just something pulling you to him, some undeniable force that made you feel emotionally connected to him. Maybe it was the pity, the empathy you felt for him, or... the way you thought he was similar to you.

You were someone who grew up in a rather loving family, unlike Julian. You had three young caring step-sisters, a father you never met, and a mother and stepfather. Although your parents' love was sometimes not present, your childhood wasn't the worst or the best. Your earliest memory was when your first adoring sister was born, when you had to take care of her and the same goes for the rest.

Your parents never were really involved in your life. They had to work plenty of hours to take care of your family tree and you had to take care of your sisters in exchange, watch them evolve, and be their guiding light. You never felt like an older sister, more like a parent who guarded them 24/7.

To make your parents notice you for once, your academics stood second in your biggest priorities. Night and day, day and night spent at your desk, unexpectedly was your friend group of friends small and so was your social life. Painful eye bags staining your face and skin pale as a zombie, people worried if you were dead or alive. The only reassurance you had for continuing was a promise for a better present time than your past in a completely new setting.

Despite always teaching your younger siblings to never bottle their emotions, it was only advice you hoped you could follow yourself. They were too young to understand your problems, the pressure, the loneliness, everything. Your parents weren't the ones you could freely open up to without feeling like a burden to their already busy lives. Your couple of friends looked up to you for advice and without anyone to usher you, who was there to tell you suicide wasn't the choice?

You never earlier put your head on suicide and always reassured your peers never to do it. It wasn't the right decision, there were plenty of other ways to go about it, you'd always say. But with always being the one to comfort, to collect their tears that soon poured into yours, you never thought you needed to feel comforted.

Many indifferent moons passed by your window at your desk, contemplating and crying in fear of losing your place in academics. Once you mustered up the courage to find the time and speak to your parents about your fate, they barely took a glance at your words. You put your heart into explaining what you wanted for your future, why you fought so hard, and that you wanted to make this family proud. Nor did they consider it, your mother took her time to carefully choose where to stab you next, calling you an ungrateful brat for not even thinking about your younger sisters.

That night, the cap broke off the bottle and your tears stained your face for hours. Their words clouded you, their words were becoming a reality to you. It felt childish to cry over nothing, it was childish no matter how you put it. How dare you even cry after acting so selfishly?

When the sun came, it settled in you how much you wanted to break your own rules and punish yourself. If you weren't to have a good destiny, what difference would ending it now have? All you've ever wanted was to be certain you'd have brightness along your path of life, to not end up marrying off to a rich man like your mother had to. All you've ever wanted was gratitude for your achievements from people who should've been giving it to you for free.

Those thoughts stayed long in your mind and long enough to realize how your mother was right. How selfish would you be to dedicate yourself to ending it now of all times? Who would take care of your family? Who else would provide for your own blood?

You were no one to decide on what and when your death would be. To be one would mean your soul would succumb to sinfulness and stay like that by all who knew of your existence.

Being a mother figure all of your life, you immediately knew what was happening with Julian. Over the years, he grew pathetic in trying to go against his bullies' self-harming suggestions. There were no tears smudging his dorky glasses anymore, no guilt on his face, anger, he just looked emotionless and numb. He, to put it simply, took the pain and walked away without trying to heal.

The day you finally decided to befriend him, the day his tormentors came to convince him, was the same day he wanted to make ends meet.

During lunch, you searched for him at his usual spot in school, on the rooftop. The whisper-like wind hugged your body carefully and to no avail, he wasn't staring at absolutely nothing on the bench, his bench you came to view it as. So many times he was caught bawling there he practically claimed it as his own.

Upon spotting his thin form at the edge of the rooftop in front of the railing, looking down at the ground and contemplating his life's choices, your heart felt devastated. To anyone it would be obvious what was going to happen, to you, it was clear who had to prevent it.

You couldn't let this happen to him, he never deserved anything in his life and if there was no one else to help him, it would be you. Either you put an end to his problems or put an end to the selfish life you wouldn't live for too long after.

His name echoed in his ears when you yelled out to him, was it his imagination? He turned his body around, his watery eyes landing on your blurry figure, and for the first time, he felt something other than nothing in his life.

“Listen, I've come here to help you, okay?” Your voice was soft as sunlight behind stormy clouds. Nevertheless, even with the reassurance, looking over your nervous body, he still felt out of place. Like an animal caged behind a railing as you cautiously stepped near him.

It took you slow breaths to at last muster up your words. “I know life may seem tough for you now but..” There was a smile on your face, it was forced and comforting at the same time. “We can both get through this, alright? We can both help one another in passing through this pain.” You were closer to him now, he could tell by seeing the sun reflect your skin golden. You were glowing and through his tears, he couldn't tell if you were an angel or not. “But I can't help you if you end it all now, I can't help you if you can't help yourself in what you truly want.” Julian eyed the ground under him again, a teardrop falling from his eye and landing beneath him.

It took several moments for his quiet sobs and sniffling to be heard by you. “W-why are you doing this?” Scratchy as it was, it felt good to finally hear his voice.

“Because I know what you're going through, I know how hard life has been for you and I want to make it better for you.” Julian's brown eyes couldn't help but wonder where you were standing, your delicate hand put out for him to grab. He felt every worry in his life disappear and could only focus on nothing but you. “Please, Julian, let me help you.”

Medusa's beauty referred to snakes acting as something they were not, would her touch also feel like scales belonging to filthy deceivers? Your hand looked preciously dainty and skinned with thin glass, a couple of visible cuts on the wrists. Your eyes captivated him, desperation or precise manipulation in them. Your aura, your soul, your everything had him infatuated in a matter of seconds.

As much of an alluring snake you seemed, he's learned his way around them and he was going to make sure you would be the last he's ever met. It would be the last time he'd ever wailed for someone and missed them to death.

Julian would certify he has collected every last remaining lie in your shedding skin, morphing it into whatever he wanted to believe, before ensuring you never leave him. Never leave, never abandon, never disappear from his life, and never not be fully dependent on anything except him.

Masterlist for Julian

For any confusion, this is before he went yandere, became a golden boy, and why.

I'm open to all constructive criticism, not bullying!

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glittter-vamp · 1 year ago

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Ohio Is For Lovers | J.B

CHAPTER 12

Joe Burrow x Reader Series.

Warnings: 18+ only. MDNI. Don't want to give to much away so please read with caution, if this chapter isn't for you, I completely understand 🖤

Word Count: 4.5K

Beeping is all you heard as you struggled to open your heavy eye lids. After attempting to do so for quite sometime you finally open them and notice you're in a lit room. You slowly blink a few times clearing up your hazy vision. You soon realize that you were in a hospital room. Confused you look down at yourself and see that you were in a hospital bed. Your head was killing you and so were your back and ribs. "Well look who's awake!" Someone says coming in through the door. "Hm?" You hum wondering who was the unfamiliar voice. "Relax sweetie, I'm your nurse Rebecca." A short redhead woman with short hair says. "What Happened?" You croak, your throat incredibly dry.

"You were in a car accident a few days ago and you were in a coma until just now. Now let me get the doctor and I'll come back to do some tests on you. Then we can talk about finally letting you see visitors and getting you to eat. "Visitors?" You ask confused as to why you weren't allowed any. "Yeah other than your immediate family you aren't allowed any visitors and you've had three people come and go, specifically our very own Cincinnati QB1. He's a character that one..." She winks at you checking some stuff on your arm and writing down something on a clipboard. "Would you like me to send your sister in? She went to the cafeteria I think." The nurse asks. "Please." You reply. "I'll be back, just relax, everything is going to be fine! I'll be right back." She says patting your knee gently.

You try your very hardest to remember what happened but all you remember was being at Joe's and then nothing else after other than waking up here. As you tried your best to remember the accident, your sister Jessica comes in. "Oh my gosh...honey how are you feeling?" She asks softly with tears in her eyes. "Like absolute shit...I can't remember the suppose accident I had and my body hurts like hell." You groan. "I'm sure you will remember soon but I'm just glad you're awake, you really scared us there for second." Jessie says sitting down next to you on a chair.

"Are mom and dad here?" You ask. "I...haven't told them you're here." Jessie says. "What? Jessie- Mom and Dad are in Costa Rica on that trip they've been talking about for years. They come back in two weeks, we can tell them then. Especially now since you're awake, it can come from you." Jessie says and you give her an unamused look. "Are you the only one of our siblings that's came to see me?" You ask and she shakes her head. "No they've came every now and then since they're farther away than me but your friends have been coming here a lot...especially Joe. He's been here everyday, when were you going to tell me about that? I thought you hated him after the drama online?" Jessie asks and you sigh. "It's... very complicated." You mutter.

"That's exactly what he said, but Peyton and Sasha filled me in." She snorts. "Of course they did." You sigh making a mental note to give your friends shit for spilling the tea to your older sister. The doctor ; who's name was Doctor Brown and the nurse soon come in and begin to test you on things and ask you a billion questions. "Now, for being in a coma for almost a week you're doing far better than we expected. I'm very happy with your improvements but due to the nature of the head injury we need to keep you here for a few more days to monitor that and run some more X-rays and CAT scans make sure we know what we're dealing with for all the injury's, you have some broken ribs and bad bruising due to the seatbelt and airbags." The doctor says. "Now...we might have some shocking news for you but we took blood tests while you were asleep and we found that you are pregnant miss Y/L/N." The doctor says and your heart drops. "Excuse me?" "What!?" You and your sister say in unison. "I had a feeling this was going to be big news due to how early you are so please just take it easy, the pregnancy wasn't affected by the accident and all seems to be well. You are a little over two months pregnant, 10 weeks to be exact. We are going to reevaluate some things now and come back later since you are pregannt we need to minimize any X-ray's and CAT scans due to the fetus. I'll give you some time to process everything, I'll be around making rounds so just ask the nurse for me if you need me." She says before leaving the room.

The nurse gives you a reassuring smile and leaves behind the doctor. "This has to be a fucking nightmare and I'm going to wake up any minute now." You say rubbing your face. "I...Well um, Let me go get you some food. Fast food okay?" Jessie asks. "Sure, a burger and a vanilla milkshake please." You sniffle. "You got it, I'll call your friends and let them know you're awake...do you want me to call Joe too? He gave me his number to keep him updated on you." Jessie asks hesitantly. "Uh...I need to talk to my best friends first." You say. "Gotcha...they also filled me in about Mariana. You knew I never liked that girl right?" Jessie says making you chuckle. "My food please." You say and she rolls her eyes leaving the room.

You then sat there thinking about how you were currently pregnant. You didn't know how that was possible, you had gotten your birth control after the first time you hooked up with Joe plus they check for a pregnancy before you get birth control and nothing was mentioned. It just didn't make sense... This could not happen. There was just no way. You hadn't realized how long you had been in your head until there was a knock on the door revealing your two best friends.

"Sleeping beauty is finally awake, Joe must of finally gotten through security and gave you that kiss huh?." Peyton jokes as he walks in first with some balloons. "Oh gosh, I knew I was going to cry." Sasha sniffles. " I love the two very different reactions from you both right now." You chuckle at your best friends. "We know you're still in pain so we'll leave the hugs for after you feel better." Peyton says trying the balloons to a chair. "How do you feel?" Sasha says coming over to hold your hand. "Like shit, my entire body fucking hurts." You sigh. "We're so glad you're awake, not being able to come in and see you fucking sucked." Peyton says sitting on the other side of you. "I don't get why they didn't let you in, I'm sure Jessie would of signed off on it." You scoff. "She tired to but it's hospital policy to only let immediate family inside of those who are in coma's" Sasha rolls her eyes.

"Yeah girl you should of seen Joe, we texted him about the accident and I swear to god that man got air lifted here, we live closer to the hospital than he does and he was already here when we got here." Peyton says. "Yeah he got pretty mouthy with the security and nurses, he was freaking out about not being able to see you and knowing limited information about you since he's not family. What really got him is that they weren't accepting the flowers he kept bringing you." Peyton snorts. "Was I admitted into a prison, what the hell type of hospital is this?" You say annoyed that the hospital was making such a big deal. Hearing that Joe was here everyday and trying his best to try and see you, made you get butterflies and feel giddy, it also meant a lot to you that he actually did care that much about you.

"I uh, have some...news." You say hesitantly looking at your best friends. "Please don't tell me you have to learn to walk again, I will hunt down that son of bitch who hit you. I know dangerous people, the cops aren't gonna know what happened to that piece of shit of that hit and run!" Peyton says getting heated in a second and you can't help but laugh. "Jesus calm down, I think I'm good on walking. I can move my toes and stuff." You say wiggling them. "Oh thank god, continue. Sorry, that was the Albanian coming out...sorry." Peyton calms down and you and Sasha look at each other in shock. "Anyways...say what you have to say." Sasha says to you urging you to continue. "Okay well uh...the doctor sorta just told me that I'm um...I'm p-pregnant." You bite your lip and Peyton and Sasha stand completely there frozen, for too long. "Well say something!!" You speak up. "Holy shit." They both say in unison. "Holy shit is right, I don't know what to do! I don't know if I should even tell Joe." You sigh laying your head back on the bed. "How far along are you?" Sasha asks trying to process this. Doctor said a little over two months...I don't know how this happened. We only had unprotected sex once before I got my birth control and I took a plan b right after." You sigh rubbing your temples. "Did you get your period after?" Sasha asks. " I spotted after I got my birth control but that's pretty much it...I know the birth control itself can fuck up your cycle so I just thought it was that." You bite your lip.

"How do you feel about this? This is some serious shit." Peyton asks. "I don't even know...I never even thought about having kids much less with Joe...you know what I've been through with him." You say muttering that last part. "You know you have choices and whatever that may be we will support you." Peyton says and Sasha nods. "Thanks guys..." You sigh. "But...just know that baby will be spoiled to the moon if you have it." Sasha smiles making you chuckle. "Knock knock!! I come with food!!" Your sister says coming into the room with your food. Sasha and Peyton pull the table that was on the end of the bed towards you and you thank them as your sister places the food in front of you. "Now...I know you just woke up but since you two are here, I'm going to go home for the weekend." Jessie says looking at you for approval as you eat your burger. "I'll be fine." You nod. "Yeah I'm sure once Joe finds the news out he won't leave her side anyway." Peyton winks and you roll your eyes at him. "Okay cool, call me if anything! Hope you feel better soon little sister." Jessie says kissing the top of your head before she says bye to everyone and leaves.

"Want us to call your boo?" Sasha teases and you give her an annoyed look. "Sure... but does anyone know where my phone is?" You ask looking around as you sip your milkshake. "I think it got damaged in the accident but I can go pick up a new phone for you tomorrow, I still have connections with that guy from Apple." Peyton suggests like no big deal. "I'll deal with it later but thanks.. oh god, someone please tell me you got in contact with my job." You say looking at them in horrror. "Your sister did, they said to not worry about anything and to take all the time you need." Sasha fills you in as she texts on her phone. "Okay I just texted Joe, wanna make a bet on how fast he makes it here?" Sasha says to Peyton making you roll your eyes. "20 bucks he makes it here in 10 minutes." Peyton says. "Deal." Sasha smirks sitting down. "You guys are so annoying and he lives across town." You shake your head. "You don't understand how your man drove the night of the accident." Peyton shakes his head. "He made Vin Diesel look bad." Sasha says making you laugh.

You two talk between the three of you. Them telling you that they hadn't reached out to Mariana about the accident which you appreciated because you did not want to see her. Before you know it the door of the room flings open and there was Joe out of breath. "You owe me." You hear Peyton say to Sasha who rolls her eyes. "We'll leave you guys alone...I'll come tomorrow around noon." Sasha says to you and you nod. "I'll bring you two breakfast cause I know Joe ain't going no where." Peyton says leaving making you snort as you look over to Joe who couldn't stop looking at you in complete awe. "Did you run?" You chuckle seeing he was still catching his breath. "Went up the stairs, elevators took too long." he says making you chuckle. Joe closes the door and walks over to you, you could see a lot of emotion on his face that he was trying to hold down. "I was told that you were out here fighting people because you couldn't come in." You raise an eyebrow at him and he chuckles. "I might of acted irrationally." He smiles. "You didn't have to do all that...I'm sure you have better things to attend too than me. "You shake your head. "You hit your head pretty hard huh?" He asks and you roll your eyes. "You know what I mean." You reply. "No I don't actually, I got a call from your best friends that the girl I love got into a car accident leaving my house and you were rushed to the hospital unconscious. How else was I supposed to act?" Joe finished, you could tell that the stress from everything finally made Joe snap.

"The girl you what?" You ask Joe in shock and he takes a moment to realize what he said. "I meant exactly what I said." Joe says clearly not caring about beating around the bush anymore. "Those are some big words for two people that haven't even dated Joe." You bite your lip not knowing how to feel about this. "Well that's how I feel and after all we've been through I'm not going to take it back nor do I expect to hear it back from you. I'm not going to keep lying to you or myself." Joe says making you take a deep breath. Before you could respond there was a knock on the door and the nurse comes in. "Sorry to interrupt but there's a few things I need to change out for Miss Y/L/N." The nurse says to us. "I'll step out, do you want anything from the cafeteria?" Joe asks you pretending like you two weren't just having a serious conversation. "Something sweet." You bite your lip and Joe nods before leaving the room, giving you one quick glance as he shut the door. The nurse checks you out more, making sure you were doing okay and asks some questions about how you're feeling. She also helps you to the bathroom.

As she was helping you with sitting back down on the bed on the Joe comes back in. "Everything okay?" Joe asks seeming alarmed that you weren't tucked in the bed like he had left you. "Better than we hoped! You'll be out of here in no time." The nurse smiles at you as she helps tuck you in and then leaves you and Joe. "I think she likes you." Joe mutters which made you snort. "Jealous?" You tease him as he sits down in one of the empty chairs handing you a plastic bag filled with sweets. "I'm not worried about it, she can't compete." Joe says cockily and you roll your eyes at him. "Why'd you get so much stuff M&Ms would of done okay." You shake your head. "I was talking to my mom while I was picking stuff out and paying, got distracted." He shrugs.

You really take a good look at Joe and you realize that he looked somewhat similar to what he did after your argument and him finding out Emily's baby wasn't his. "Have you slept at all?" You ask him. "Hm?" He hums. "Yeah, here and there." He shrugs like no big deal. "Joe...go home and rest." You sigh. "I can sleep here, beside you... just fine." He smirks and you give him a look. "Don't you have like spring training or something?" You eye him. "That doesn't start for another two weeks, but you get extra points for even knowing that was a thing." Joe smiles and you roll your eyes at him in annoyance.

Joe ends up staying for the rest of the night. Which you really didn't mind, you weren't a fan of hospitals so it was nice having him here taking your mind off things. Though the whole being pregnant thing was hanging over you like a cloud. You had no idea what you were going to do and how you were going to tell Joe...if you even decide to tell him. This was a guy who almost just had a baby with someone else and who you weren't officially dating. Then the whole deal with the tabloids finding out about this potential child and the other side of you that wanted that big career move and to get away from it all.

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Four Days Later:

Today you were finally leaving the hospital. After constant tests, some physical therapy and being under constant observation you were finally going home. Joe had stayed with you the entire time, only going home to shower and change clothes, every time he came back with a fresh bouquet of flowers. Sasha and Peyton also came by frequently bringing you two food and kept you company. You had told your siblings that you were fine and that you'd see them when you came out of the hospital and to not tell your mom and dad about the accident. You were very appreciative of everyone for being there for you but you didn't need your parents freaking out and dropping their trip. "Alright Miss Y/L/N...everything seems to be good. Now, would you like me to schedule you a prenatal appointment with the OGBYN you have in your file?" Doctor Brown says and you feel your heart start beating 10 times faster. Out of the corner of your eye you see that Joe slowly turns his head towards you. "Um, yeah sure." You quickly and awkwardly say to the doctor wanting her to stop talking about this but she doesn't take the hint. "Can...we have a minute please, Doc?" Joe says and you feel your heart drop, here we go you thought to yourself. "I'm finished here, a nurse will come soon to wheel you out." She smiles at the both of you. You two thank the doctor and immediately Joe turns to you.

"Is there something... I'm missing here?" Joe asks calmly which was kind of freaking you out and you build the courage to finally look at him. He looked confused and a bit upset. "I wanted to talk to you about this in a more private place." You say and he takes a deep breath. "We'll get you home and then we will talk." Joe nods. "If you want I can call Sasha or Peyton to take me home." You bite your lip trying to avoid a fight with him. "I'm not mad Y/N just... confused and concerned. I'll get you home, plus it's Wednesday morning, aren't they working?" Joe asks and you nod. The nurse comes and they walk you down in the wheelchair. Joe pulls his car around and he helps you get in since you were still sore and had a few broken ribs. 'Are you hungry?" Joe asks as he sits in the driver seat. "A little but I rather get home and order something." You say and he nods. You hated the tension you were feeling in the car. You had no idea how you were going to have this conversation with Joe. The majority of the ride was spent in silence. You could tell Joe was in his head as much as you were.

You finally make it to your apartment, happy to be home. Joe had tried convincing you to stay with him instead but there was just no way you were able to get up and down the stairs right now and he only had a half bathroom accessible downstairs. You notice a welcome back home banner & a basket sitting on your kitchen counter. You knew it was Sasha and Peyton who did all this since they were the ones that were coming in and out of here bringing your clothes and stuff. Joe helped you get on the couch carefully and you asked him to bring over the the basket. You notice that it had a lot of your favorite things, certain candies you like, new cute fuzzy slippers, new PJs, cute girly ice packs and hot water bottles, pain medication and a box clearly containing a new phone. Judging by Joe's reaction when you grab it, you could tell he was the one who got it for you.

The police had came to the hospital to ask you questions about the accident that you still couldn't remember and they had let you know that your poor car was a total loss and your phone had been damaged as well, leaving you with no phone. "You didn't need to get me a new phone but thank you." You say to Joe. "Don't know what you're talking about." He lies and you give me him a look which made him smirk. "Do you want to stay on the couch or I can help move you to the bed. I know you're tired since you barley slept at the hospital." Joe asks as you yawn. "My bed does sound nice but I'd have to shower first and that's going to be a hassle." You sigh.

"That's what I'm here for. We can get you cleaned up and you can have a nap while I go get us some food." Joe nods. "I should of probably taken my sisters offer to stay with her." You sigh. "Why?" Joe says rather defensively. "Because I don't want you having to deal with me. I'm like an adult child right now." You sigh. " Y/N you've helped me out at one of my toughest moments, the least I could do is help you out in one of yours." Joe says helping you up from the couch. "Since your dining chairs are plastic maybe you could use that to sit in the shower?" Joe asks following you to your room. "Yeah that works." You nod going to your drawer to get some clean clothes. Joe sets up the shower for you, thankfully your shower head was detachable so you should have no trouble showering. "Are you going to need help getting undressed?" Joe asks. "Uh sure." You nod awkwardly. You had a flannel shirt on since that was the easiest thing to get into and you unbuttoned the shirt and Joe helps you take it off wincing at the movements even though you were both being gentle. You look at yourself in the mirror and could see the bruising peeking out of the bandage around your rib cage. Joe then gently starts to take off the bandage which was the most painful process of all. "I'm sorry, I'm trying to be as gentle as possible." Joe says looking at you with eyes full of nervousness. "You're doing good, the pain medication is just wearing off." You give him a reassuring smile. Eventually you finally get undressed and Joe helps you get in the hot shower. "Are you going to be able to bathe yourself?" Joe asks handing you your soap and exfoliator. "I think I can manage with the important parts, go take a breather." You smile at him and he nods before closing the shower curtain "Call me when you're done or if you need anything." Joe says before leaving the bathroom.

You shower as best as you could, wanting to wash your hair but there was no way that was happening today. After about 30 minutes in the shower with Joe checking in on you every 5 minutes and freaking out when he heard one of your shampoo bottles fall, he came and helped you out and dried you off. He wrapped your bandage around again which was worse than when he took it off, both of you hated every minute of that process, you letting out every bad word in the dictionary. "Okay, okay we're done. Is that too tight?" Joe asks. "It's fine, thank you...sorry for calling you a motherfucker." You say making Joe laugh.

"It's okay." He smiles at down at you, you look at each other for a moment before Joe leans down and gives you a kiss. He was very gentle with it but it still held a lot of emotion from this past week. "I'm not mad that you didn't tell me by the way, I don't blame you." Joe says holding your face in his hands. "I'm scared Joe...this wasn't suppose to happen. I'm supposed to move soon to another state and start a new beginning...there's no way I can do this." You say breaking down. "You don't have too, whatever you choose to do I'll support it." Joe reassures her as he wipes her tears with his thumbs. "I'm really sorry Joe, I know this must fucking suck after what you've been through." You sniffle. "It's not your fault, shit happens and I rather go through this with you than anyone else. Whatever happens, I promise we're going to be fine." Joe says and you nod calming down. Joe then helps you get dressed after you calm down and helps you get into bed. "I'm gonna go get some stuff from my house before getting us food, I'm going to basically move in and there's nothing you can do about it." Joe says making you chuckle. Do you need anything before I leave?" Joe asks. "No I'm good, I'm just going to take my nap." You shake your head. "I'll be back soon, I left your phone on the side table." Joe says leaning down and giving you a kiss. "Take my keys to lock the door." You say to him before he walks out of the room and he nods.

That went better than you thought it would, now...you just had to think about what the next step was going to be.

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A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! The next chapter will be a lot heavier than this one so just a heads up. Thank you for reading! 🖤

#joe burrow imagine #joe burrow fanfiction #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow fic #joe burrow fan fic #joe burrow x you #joe burrow x y/n #joe burrow series

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starseneyes · 2 years ago

Text

Chenford REWIND- Lucy Chen / Tim Bradford - The Rookie - Season 4 Ep 8 & 9

I'm LOVING y'all's requests. Please keep 'em coming! The second I saw chenfordfan2386 request these two, I knew it had to be done. I'm a huge Peyton List fan, and I love episodes that dive deeper into our favorite characters.

SPOILER ALERT: If you like to live an un-spoiled life, this is not the post for you. I try to write these as though I'm seeing them for the first time, and will definitely spoil these episodes and include references to episodes previously aired.

Everybody ready and know what to expect? Great! Let's dive in.

Hit and Run

"I'm losing to Smitty?" "Oh, that's embarrassing."

I love how Tim is commenting on this discussion even as he's pretending not to be a part of it. Lucy looks up at him, a smile on her face like, "you're hopeless".

"You know what would really help? An endorsement from someone who is respected within the department."

Tim looks to Nolan, incredulous. But watch how his face shifts when he looks to Lucy. There's a subtle shift as she leans closer to him, trying to get him to give in.

"No. No. Don't drag me into this. No. I have never endorsed a candidate, and I never will."

Small detail, but I love it. Tim reaches for Lucy's camera first. He hands it to her before getting his own.

"Genny!" "Sergeant Bradford."

As soon as Genny approaches and hugs Tim, Lucy gets out of the way. She has no idea who this woman is, but Genny is making Tim smile and getting physical affection without hesitation. She has to be important to him, right?

"So, what are you doing here?" "I just wanted to see my big brother."

Look at the shift in Lucy Chen with this information! This isn't Tim's new gorgeous girlfriend he's never mentioned. It's his little sister!

"Oh! Hi! I'm Lucy Chen. I know that we just met but if you have any embarrassing stories from his childhood that would be..."

Tim gives a nice glare at Lucy and she shuts up... for now. C'mon, you know Lucy is gonna get that dirt!

"Because I know why you're here, and I've made my position very clear."

Take note, here, that Tim is speaking cryptically. Because, this is a tie back to the worst part of his life, the most broken parts of himself, and the source of so much of his trauma.

Lucy doesn't know how bad it was. Yes, after DOD he opened up enough to tell Lucy that his father "tuned [him] up on the regular"... but that didn't paint the whole picture.

And having his little sister here is going to re-open all those wounds that nobody, save maybe Isabelle, has ever seen.

This tops everything that ever went wrong with her. This is the foundational heartache that defined so much of Tim and how he lives his life. This is the place his nightmares were born and his need for stability and to protect his heart.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Why don't I do one of those ride along thingees? That way, we could have the whole day to catch up." "Yeah, see, you gotta get permission to do a ride along. It's a long process. A ton of paperwork." "Hey, you're a Sergeant, now, you can just approve it yourself."

Lucy knew what she was doing. Does she know exactly what will be discussed? No. But she can see that Tim's avoiding something he needs to face, and the psychology girl in her can't ignore it.

"Did Tim have any nicknames when he was a kid?"

I love Genny's look to Tim on this one. Like, "Is this person for real?"

"Oh, yeah, he tried to highlight his hair right before Prom. He ended up looking like Slim Shady."

I. Love. Lucy's. Positioning. She is literally turned completely toward him, this goofy grin on her face, drinking every second in.

There's a freedom in how she's talking with Genny, how she's watching Tim, and I think about later in the episode when she finds out he's not single... and how I'm glad she didn't know before this scene.

Because look at how happy she is. She's loving every little morsel, learning more about Tim. Yes, she's out for the embarrassing stuff, right now. But, don't you love even the silly facts you learn about the person you love?

"Oh, you know what, I think I have a picture of it." "Oh my god, yes!" "Genny." "What? You'd rather I keep this photo private? That's fine. Let's talk about Dad." "I have nothing to say."

He tries to catch eyes with his sister in the rearview mirror. He's still talking in short-code, not wanting to go further. While Genny knows all the details, of course, he isn't ready to be that vulnerable with Lucy, especially now that he's seeing someone.

Go with me... have you ever had a friend who kinda served as a placeholder for something romantic? I had a gay friend like that back in high school. We were super close and people thought we were dating, but neither of us had any interest in each other. We just did all the couply things together because neither of us had a person.

Lucy once realized she was doing it with Jackson, and I think after the events of 4x01, Tim realizes he was starting to do it with Lucy. Let's be real, he's been doing those things forever with Lucy. But, I think he started to notice and it scared the shit out of him.

His ex-wife was a Rookie with him. They were both officers. She was UC. And there are too many similarities there even if Lucy is a completely different person from Isabelle.

I firmly believe part of why Tim is seeing someone nobody knows about is because he wants to date someone separate from the station to convince himself that he can.

He needs to convince himself that there's nothing between him and Lucy, because he is in no way ready to face it.

So, of course he doesn't want to let Lucy into his heart and personal life further. He wants to keep her where he is since some part of him knows he can never push her back to where she was before the veils started to fall.

"Okay. What's your cell phone number? I'll text it to you." "Genny-"

Lucy is all smiles. Because she still doesn't get it. Lucy might've forgotten Tim's one sentence about his father post-DOD (for goodness sake, that scene had a lot going on). She was in a fragile mental state, and after Tim returned her ring, I wouldn't blame her if she forgot 90% of what he said.

"You are impossible." "I'm impossible? Lucy, who's more difficult? Me or Tim?" "Of course she's gonna pick me."

I cackled so hard the first time I heard this line that I had to rewind for the rest of the scene. How Melissa O'Neil kept a straight face is beyond me, but it makes it all the funnier.

"Because you are the most stubborn person alive. Which, by the way, is why you're still single." "First of all, I'm not. And second-" "Wait. What? You're seeing someone?" "This is insane. There's an armed and dangerous suspect at large. We gotta focus."

How long has he been riding with Lucy and said nothing about this chick? Now, we all know Tim likes to pretend that there's no personal business in that Shop, but this episode proves that particular rules is constantly in flux.

Lucy was doing a good job at staying out of the sibling fight and concentrating on her work... until she heard Tim wasn't single. He redirects and she holds up her hand. The wife equivalent of, "Alright, we've had this fight before, no point having it, again. I got it."

But Tim slides a look back at Lucy. He didn't meant to say anything about his new girlfriend in front of Lucy, but he's so comfortable with her, he forgot himself.

That's what it really boils down to. If it had been almost anyone else in the Shop, he wouldn't have been that transparent.

But he's comfortable enough around Lucy to say things without thought. And the last thing he wants to do right now is let her in more.

"What is your favorite show? Mine is House Hunters International." "Oh my god, the best."

Can we just take a moment to appreciate these future sisters-in-law bonding? Lucy and Genny definitely understand one another, and I have a feeling their kids are gonna grow up together with sleepovers, movie nights, and fun DIY projects. What? A gal can dream, right?

"Maybe I should just let it go, but that house was my childhood home. I don't wanna tear it down. I want another family to live there and make happy memories." "Of course! I moved out ten years ago, and when I think of home, I still think of my parents house."

Lucy is being conversational and compassionate. But she doesn't understand. Tim can't take anymore, and he pulls over.

Watch. Tim's. Hand. Eric Winter is an actor who acts all the way through his fingers and his toes. And you can really see it here with how his hand is suddenly unsteady on the wheel.

Because "home" is a hard word for someone who grew up in an unstable one. Genny was more shielded from it, even though she grew up around it. When you're the target of the anger and frustration... it's just different.

You think of the "house" and know it was never a "home". Not for you. Not for Tim. Tim grew up in a house. "Home" denotes a certain level of safety that was never afforded him.

No, he can't take another minute of this. He can't pretend that he's not mentally back there—just a helpless kid who did nothing to deserve what happened.

"What's wrong?" "Tim? Look, I know you don't feel the same way I do, but our childhood wasn't all bad."

Gosh. It's like talking to my little brother. I'm Tim and he's Genny, and the younger one was somehow so shielded despite growing up in the same house. There are legit tears in my eyes, because it's so darn hard. If not for my journals I kept religiously, I might question my own memory when talking to him.

"Stop. Alright? Are you really getting nostalgic over that place? What do you want? Some other family to just cuddle up under the broken plaster where dad slammed my head against the wall?"

We finally see Lucy, again. She's been cut out of this since they pulled over. But, we get to see her react. Because now she gets it.

There's so much for her to unpack, here about how this informs who Tim is, why he makes the choices he does, and how he's gotten so broken over the years. He didn't have a great foundation.

"Dad had a lot of demons." "Dad was a monster." "He's changed. You haven't seen him in 20 years." "The only thing that's changed is that the drinking caught up with him. He can't throw a punch, but he's the same guy underneath." "He's not, and you'd know that if you'd visit the hospice." "Not in a million years."

Tim hasn't glanced at Lucy once during this. It's not about her. But, in an indirect way, this shows, again, how close they are.

He's not censoring himself in front of Lucy. He's speaking freely about something very personal. Later he might re-think it, but in the moment he's comfortable enough for this scene to happen.

"Hospice?" "I had to move him out of Assisted Living last month. Dad's dying."

Hospice care in America is usually the end of the line. No chance of recovery. Make you comfortable until you pass.

And there's nothing anyone else can say at that moment. Tim's barely keeping it together, and it's been a long time since we've seen him this broken in the Shop.

But it really can work that way. One word. One memory. One reference that throws you back into the worst of it all. And suddenly, all the emotions you felt then but weren't allowed to show flood you to the point that you're barely containing yourself, and it was all so long ago you'd think the wounds had healed.

Tim needs to get his head back in the game. So, he wordlessly pulls back into traffic.

"When you were 7 years old he dropped you in Griffith Park with a compass and made you find your way home." "Which I did." "Tim Test."

How fast he looked at her. Lucy catches his glance and realizes how it hit. She didn't mean it to, but it hurt. Because that comparison to the person you want least to be like is agony... even if the words weren't intended to burn. They sear into your flesh and you start to re-examine yourself to see if there's a trace of them there.

You share the same DNA, but that doesn't mean you're the same. Your choices define you, and you have to believe that you can break cycles or else you'll break apart.

Lucy just equated Tim to his father. She didn't mean anything by it, but the barely breathed, passing thought is imprinted in Tim's memory, now.

"Uh, Tim, listen... your sister needs you." "Lucy-" "I realize that I'm overstepping here, but just hear me out. It's clear that you got the worst of it with your father, but she lived through it with you. Instead of arguing about how bad your dad was or wasn't, maybe as children of... of abuse, you would be better off supporting each other."

The way he looks away on "abuse" reminds me of how he reacted when she said he had a learning disability. These are not things Tim likes to think about or face. But Lucy has never seen them as a branding on his life, merely parts of who he is.

She doesn't label him to ostracize him or set him apart. She tries to help him understand how these things exist within him, but don't define him.

And, oh, my little brother was such a pill growing up. Such a pill. But he was also the first person to ever say I didn't deserve the verbal and emotional abuse I received. He was only 13, but it meant the bloody world. I was 17, and I truly believed I got what I deserved. I wish I'd never lived through it, but I'm infinitely thankful for my brother so I didn't have to go through it alone.

"Ready to go?" "Yeah."

Lucy wordlessly gets out of the way of the siblings, but Tim can't take his eyes off of her, and Genny noticed.

Come on. She's his little sister. Much as he said he wasn't single and has somebody, she has already clocked that there's something between these two.

"Look, I'm really sorry about today. I should have listened more." "I agree. But thanks for saying it. It means a lot." "I'm still not going to see him."

Tim put up a boundary, and that's healthy. It's so hard to set boundaries, sometimes, and I really do applaud Tim that he set his. He owes his father nothing. And much as Genny doesn't agree with it, she needs to learn to respect it.

Sure, Tim could benefit from some therapy and really processing through his trauma. Genny's not wrong in that. But Tim's not going to go unless Tim is willing to go, and berating him is no way to get through to him.

"If you're free this weekend, maybe we could go by the place, see what needs to be done, and you can give us an estimate." "Did you just say 'we'? As in you're gonna help?" "I checked out some comps in the neighborhood. We could get a million for that place easy. Plus, it shouldn't all fall on you."

I think it's marvelous that before Lucy told him to be there for his sister, he was already looking at comps. He was already thinking about it.

Lucy, in this case, echoed the best parts of Tim. Sometimes she helps him find those better parts. But, he's learning, again, how to listen to them on his own.

That's so much progress for his character. And it's so beautiful to watch him blossom.

"Could I have everyone's attention, please? I would like to formally give my endorsement for Union Rep to a man who has the backs of every officer in this station, John Nolan."

Did. You. See. Lucy!? As Nolan moves through the crowd hand-shaking, Lucy cocks her head at Tim. Tim cocks his head back.

Because she's proud of him. He just did something he's never done, that he said he'd never do, because he knew it was the right thing. Smitty would run the whole thing into the ground.

Tim took action to help the entire station, and he's opening himself up just a little more to the people around him.

And Lucy is such a huge part of that. She always will be. But... that's a story for another Meta.

Breakdown

AKA "The One Where I Cry The Whole Time"

"Well, Nolan says an open-concept sells better-."

Excuse me... I gotta cut you off right there because... Lucy Chen is in your childhood house? Lucy Chen is helping you with Demo? Lucy Chen is here instead of the person you're dating?

Tim... and I say this with all love... what the hell? You invited your coworker to come help you with this and thought we'd, what, not notice!? Your sister must be standing there thinking, "My big brother is in denial!"

"Do you remember how Mom used to make us pose by the window for every formal dance?" "Oh my gosh, my Mom did that, too. And I always had to have a wrist corsage." "Yes! Why was that ever a thing?"

Tim. Are you seeing this, Tim? This is sister-in-law energy. Clearly, you need to throw that lifeguard chick back to the ocean because the woman you're going to marry is right here... And you're the one who invited her.

"No. No more reminiscing. This is about fixing up the house and selling it." "Wait. Wait. Wait. Hold on. I mean, you guys are ending a huge chapter in your lives. You guys need closure." *Tim turns on the tool* "What?" "I said you need closure." "What?" "You're an idiot."

Huge. Married. Energy. Like, my husband and I do stupid stuff like this. And Genny is right there.

Also, let's talk about how far Tim and Lucy have come. Yes, Lucy has always stood up to Tim when he needed it. But this is downright flirty. Like, this is Girlfriend talk, not Sergeant's Aide talk.

"You guys are so lucky. I begged my Mom and Dad to have a sibling. They got me a turtle. Uh, it was cute, but a little smelly." "Cute and smelly pretty much sums up Tim's teenage years. You didn't miss much." "Wow. And to think I was actually excited when they brought you home from the hospital."

I love how freely Tim speaks to his sister in front of Lucy. Think about Season 1 Tim. He would never. But the fortified walls that once separated them have all come down. Thin veils are all that remains.

"What is it?" "There's something in the wall." "Oh, is it my Malibu Barbie? It's worth a lot, now." "No, it's metal... What the hell is a gun doing in our wall?"

This isn't Chenford, but it's so important to the story, and it makes me think of the previous episode when Tim talked about his Dad breaking the plaster with Tim's head... Looks like good ole Dad did a lot of repairs, so as kids, Genny and Tim wouldn't have even thought it strange. It was part of the cycle of abuse.

"We need to run ballistics." *aggressive head nodding from Tim* "Wait, you don't actually think it was used in a crime?" "It's our job to find out."

Tim looks to Lucy on this one. It's not hard for him to imagine his father the villain. He is too distracted by this weapon to think of anything else. Because thinking of Dad brings back up all those things he's tried to shove down and not face.

"Look, we'll be back as soon as we can." "But it's your day off. You said you'd help." "It won't take long. Come on, Chen."

Tim's in work-mode. But let's not pretend he's completely objective. Some part of him needs to know where this gun came from... to know if the Monster who raised him is even more of a Monster. Could there finally be some punishment for all the horrible things he's done?

But Genny's frustrated. She doesn't understand this part of Tim, and she's frustrated because for the last 20 years, Dad has been her responsibility.

She's been the one dealing with his medical care, with moving him from facility to facility, with visiting him and trying to be a caring daughter, all while not even living in LA.

They're not communicating. And they can't see this from the same viewpoint because though they grew up in the same house, they have different childhoods.

You might think, "that's impossible", but it's true. Some parents play favorites. Some parents dole out all the abuse on one child. Some parents are negligent toward one child and not the other.

It's very possible to grow up in seemingly the same environment and have completely different experiences. That's Tim and Genny. But she's tired of carrying the burden, and he's blind to his emotions clouding his vision.

"I knew you'd find some excuse to leave." "Genny. This is serious." "It's fine. Go."

Tim takes the out, but Lucy can feel the tension, and she's trying to mediate between her husband and sister-in-law.

"She's got a point. You could have called someone to handle this. You still can." "A good Sergeant doesn't create work for his officers. Even on his day off." "And it's not at all about the emotions this house is stirring up?" "It's just a house."

Because even Tim Bradford "Supercop" has blind spots. We see it in 5x12 (and, yes, that's all I'm saying on it) and we see it here. There are times when Tim can't be objective—and I'm so thankful Lucy Chen is there to keep him in check today.

"Ballistics came back on the gun we found in the wall." "That was fast." "Yeah, I mean, I had to buy a case of Girl Scout cookies from Derek's kid. You're welcome."

Married. We've seen Tim pull strings for Lucy, before, getting calls sent to him to help her with her checklist, and whatnot. Now, we see Lucy spending her own money to help rush ballistics on the weapon.

There's no guarantee that rushing ballistics would have gotten them back to Genny sooner. No, this is about getting Tim the answers he needs as fast as possible.

"Monica is not a solid alibi. They were having an affair. My mom didn't know, but I did."

Tim was 14. Just a kid. But he was protecting his mom. We had a babysitter, once, who left us outside a bar while they went in and got drinks. We had another who had a physical altercation with her husband in front of us and yanked us out of bed, riding through the night until we found a safe place to crash.

I distracted my little brother so he didn't realize what was going on. I didn't tell my Mom. I knew she had such a hard time finding babysitters with her hours, and we didn't want to add to her burdens.

It sucks being a kid who has to think like an adult. And that was Tim.

"Wait, wait, wait. You're going to question your father's mistress? ... You can't be the one to question her. We need to do this right."

Tim's objectivity is skewed, here, and Lucy can see it. Also, can we talk about how many times Lucy uses "we" in this episode? The gun "we" found. "We" need to do this right. She's using an awful lot of inclusive language, which is better for getting through to Tim, but also really telling. Even on their day off, they're a unit.

"You do it."

Tim points to her in a "you're right" movement, then hands over the case file. And can we just talk about the trust that these two have built up over the years?

Tim was her TO and he came down hard on every little mistake she made. Now, he has full trust in her abilities, including handling the most personal case that's ever come their way.

Tim Watches. Lucy Looks Back.

She knows he's behind her, watching everything. He's separated from it by the glass, but still there. And when his father's mistress rises to leave, Lucy casts a glance back at him.

Lucy's smart enough to know he's headed for the hallway, and she know his objectivity is nonexistent.

"Tim?"

It's likely been 20 years since she saw him. He was just a kid the last time they saw one another. And since he's in plainclothes, she has no idea if he's here because of his family or because he's a cop.

And I think it's so heartbreaking and tragic that Tim would face one of the hardest cases of his career personally without wearing the security of his uniform. We know he always has his badge on him, but this is different.

For so long, Tim has used his identity as a cop as his center. He doesn't have that protection today. He's a man... once a boy... hurting.

"She's covering for him." "Maybe, but we can't prove it."

There's that inclusive language, again. Lucy is letting Tim know that she's on his side, that he isn't alone, that they're together on this. For so long, Tim has operated as a lone wolf. He blocks out help, even from those who care about him.

But Lucy's here to let him know that he isn't alone. And she can only hope her message is getting through.

"Oh, man. Never thought I'd see your face, again."

No "My boy". No "I missed you". In his opening greeting, we get a stark look at what kind of man this is. We've had Tim and Genny's perspectives, sure. But, now we get to see the man for ourselves.

"Wow. Liver really did a number on you, old man."

Tim's distancing himself. He's protecting himself by trying not to think of this man as his father. Sure, lots of people say, "My old man" but it's not the same as "Dad" or "Daddy" or even "Papa".

When I first met my father, I called him by his first name. It took a while before I was ready to call him "Daddy". There's something sacred about that name... something Tim never had in a father.

"You always seem to have someone looking after you, even when you don't deserve it."

Oh, Tim. Because if you look back at Tim's life, he never seems to think that he deserves it. His friends try to be there for him, and he shirks from it. He pulls back. He shifts away.

"Because I saw you two together when I was 13." "Oh, crap." "For some reason that I still don't understand, I lied to Mom. I lied for you."

Because... he's still your father. And I totally get this. I totally understand that part of you that loves the person who's abusing you. That part of you that wants what you don't have and you half-wish that you can make them the parent you need.

You'll do anything for them because you think maybe if you do enough, they'll actually love you. They'll actually want you. They'll stop hurting you. You can have that relationship you always wanted. It's that hope that hurts so horribly because it's never enough.

Tim has tears in his eyes. He's facing the monster to try to get to the truth, because some part of him needs the answer. And if his hunch is right, he can finally see his father face judgment for something.

"Poor little Tim-Tim. What are you bitching about? You kept your mouth shut. You did good. Now, get over it."

"Good"? GOOD!?! You fucking psychopath of a human being. No wonder Tim ran as far as he could.

But, oh, I get this, too. Watching them do something you know is wrong and them expecting you to cover for them. They expect it. And anything less is betrayal.

"And so what if I did?"

Tim's father takes out his oxygen and stands. Watch how Tim braces himself when he does. He's ready for the punch.

"Get back in bed." "Make me."

He's asking for a fight—to prove that his son is no different than he is. Inviting him to take the first swing, to prove that he's a "man" in his father's eyes. But Tim looks away.

Little Tim would never have punched back. And adult Tim wants to be nothing like the man before him.

His father misses the complexity of that moment. He sees only a victory.

"Yeah. That's what I thought."

This line hit me really hard, but not for the reasons you might think.

See, as much as we fight to distance ourselves from those people... they still raised us. We still have them in us. It's a choice every day to be a different person and write a better life.

And the phrasing here sounds like Tim. Tim has a tendency to use "Yeah" as a singular statement and follow it up with another. His father is a part of him.

But that doesn't define Tim. Because every day, Tim has made the decision to be a better man in spite of the one who raised him.

"I brought Monica Ochoa back in." "Why? Because I knew there was more to her story. You couldn't see past the version that you wanted to see." "What'd she say?"

Lucy has always had Tim's back. But I also love that all it took for Tim to listen to Lucy was for her to tell him he was wrong.

There have been times she has called him out (so many times) that he didn't want to hear it. But he and Lucy have come so far.

"You brought me a present." "Think of it more as a push."

Oooooh, the shade. There's a show called Resident Alien, and when the main guy met the main girl's awful mother, he left her with "Smoke more" as a farewell. Same vibe, here.

Tim is letting his father know that, no, he won't end him. But he's not afraid to escort him to the end.

"Monica confessed." "Leave her out of this." "Frank was beating her. She fought back. She shot him. She was terrified, so she ran to you. You came up with the burglary story, helped her stage the house, then you hid the gun in case the cops got too close and you needed to frame someone else."

He's sticking to the facts, this time, instead of conjecture. He's looming over his father, this time, standing closer so he has to look down at him instead of across the room. It's different, this time.

"He was a brutal, abusive bastard. She deserves a medal for what she did." "He was an abusive bastard?" "What? You think I'm like him? I was nothing like Frank. I taught you what you needed to know, son. You're a man, now, because of me."

Toughen up, Rachel. Stop crying, Rachel. You're too soft, Rachel. You need a thicker skin, Rachel.

And somehow they can see it in someone else, but are blind to it in themselves. Because they have a justification for what they've done.

"I'm who I am in spite of you."

Yes. Tim. Bradford. Yes, you are. You looked at the Monster who tried to mold you to follow in his footsteps and said, "screw that". You chose to be your own man. You chose to end this horrible cycle of abuse. And now you get to say it to his face.

And the way his father has no response? It's perfect. Because you know some tiny morsel of what he said got through. Tim knows it, too. Look how he straightens a little... How now that he's said it aloud, he believes it himself.

"Goodbye, Dad. I hope it hurts."

It's the first time he's addressed his father by that name in the whole episode, and it's because he finally feels strong enough to say goodbye.

He'll never see that man, again, but this time he's said his piece and proved to himself that he the man he wants to be... not the Monster who raised him.

Tim walks out and closes the door. This is huge. Because last time he came here, he closed himself in with the Monster and he came alone. This time, he walked in and left the door open because he knew he had backup.

Tim knew Lucy was outside the door the entire time. She's had his back the entire episode, and this time when he came to face the man, he brought her with him. Some part of him knew he needed the support.

And this. is. huge. Tim Bradford takes care of his own problems. Tim Bradford doesn't ask for help. Right? No... Tim Bradford has isolated himself out of fear and trauma over and over and over, again. But today, he chose to let someone in—Lucy.

She heard all of that.

"You okay?" "No. He was protecting her. He never did anything to protect us, but his mistress? Broke half a dozen laws for her." "They picked her up. She's being processed right now. I don't think the DA is gonna prosecute your dad on his deathbed." "It doesn't matter. He'll get judged soon enough."

This whole episode, a part of Tim was hoping to see his father's judgment, to see him punished for the Monster that he was. This line right here shows he's accepted that it's out of his hands. And that's the way it has to be. He's releasing it.

Tim's looking away from Lucy... looking at memories she can't see.

When he does look to her, it's purposeful. He needs to say something.

"The Tim Tests? Those don't make me like him."

The way Tim's voice breaks here kills me. Because he's saying it aloud hoping he'll believe it, that he truly is nothing like that man. And hoping that she'll affirm it... because he'll believe her more than he'll believe himself.

Ever since Lucy mentioned the Tim Tests in the Shop, he's been thinking about it. He's been terrified that he mis-stepped and misjudged and maybe he messed up somewhere along the line. He's tried so hard not to be that man. But Lucy's words caused him doubt.

Because he cares how she sees him. No, they're not in a romantic relationship, here. He's dating someone else, so that's off the table. But, even now, mid Season 4, this is one of the most important relationships of his life. It matters how Lucy sees him.

He can dismiss the thoughts and opinions of so many others. But Lucy's is one of the few that counts. And he can't bear the thought of her thinking him a Monster.

"I know."

The first in a long line of "I know"s from these two. But watch how Tim's jaw clenches after she says it. He wants to believe it so bad, but some part of him isn't sure.

"You're nothing like him.."

Watch how he shakes his head along with her. He wants so badly to believe her, to know that she's telling the truth and not just what he wants to hear. Tim braces, pulling away. He leans away from her.

"Come here."

She echoes his words from 4x01 and puts her arms around him. he goes easily. No hesitation. He leans down to her, pressing his face against hers.

In this moment, he doesn't have to stand strong. The last time they hugged, he was the supportive one, tall and strong for her. This time, he's the one who needs to melt, and Lucy gives him the safe space to do it.

Just outside his father's room. A door separating him from the Monster. But in Lucy Chen's arms, Tim is safe.

"You're nothing like him."

And maybe, maybe, some part of him actually believes it since it's coming from her. The hug lingers. It's pure comfort. And it's exactly what she needs.

FAST FORWARD: Fans of 5x12 (like myself) might have been wondering where Tim got the snap shirt... this is a snap shirt. In fact, it might be the snap shirt. Someone with sharper eyes with mine might want to take a look. But it totally looks like the same shirt to me! (EDIT: It has been confirmed to NOT be the shirt, but at least we know Tim has snap shirts in his wardrobe prior to 5x12).

Moving on...

"Here. Let me help." "I got it. I'm good at cleaning things up on my own." "I know you are. I'm sorry I haven't been here to help more. I'm sorry I haven't been a better big brother."

You must be sitting here thinking, "Uh, Rachel. The last Chenford scene happened... why are you still writing?" Well, Chenford is nothing without Lucy AND Tim.

And who they are doesn't stop when they're apart. To truly appreciate this ship, I feel I need to look at both pieces in total as independent, beautiful characters. The Ship is nothing without them.

Tim has been so wrapped up in his own hurt that he's missed the burdens Genny has carried alone, as a result. But Tim needed the breakthrough that this episode afforded him.

"You're not that bad. When you're around." "Well, all that changes now. I'm coming to visit you every holiday. I'm gonna be calling you at least twice a week. And I will handle fixing up this place and selling it."

This is healing. No, it doesn't remove the scars or their phantom sting. But Tim Bradford spent so much time running away from his past that he missed the fact that he was also running from Genny. His little sister. Who really needed him.

"You should go home. Be with your family." "You're my family, too."

He needed to hear that. He is so worried that he screwed this up too much, that she would be too angry to love her big brother, still. And in four words, she soothed that fear away. You're still my brother.

"How about this? We fix and sell this place together, and then we'll both be done with it. All of it." "Deal."

Letting this go together is exactly what they both needed. Genny passes the broom to him, letting him share in the burden. And Tim gets right to work.

"Whatever happened with that gun?"

Tim doesn't even know where to start... so he keeps sweeping.

The growth that Tim is afforded by this pair of episodes is so needed. When we first meet Tim in the Pilot, he's a broken mess of a human functioning because he can lose himself in his work. He doesn't have to be a man when he's a cop.

Season 4 Tim has come around a lot, but he needed this healing to help him on his journey. He needed to finally be free of his father, not because he ran away, but because he faced him and released him and his hold.

Tim's healing has to come before he can be in a healthy relationship with Lucy Chen.

Look, I know what it's like going into a relationship when you're still dealing with un-healed trauma. Matthew and I had it on both sides. Yes, we fought through together. But, narratively, wouldn't it have been nice if the Universe had let us heal, first, so we'd be better for each other from the get-go?

The Writers afforded Tim and Lucy that opportunity. Does that mean Tim's trauma will never come up again? No. Does that mean Lucy's problems with her parents are a long-gone memory? No.

But whenever these two find one another, they will be healed enough not to destroy the relationship with their pain. When their traumas inevitably pop up, they can face them together from a point of some healing rather than completely raw agony.

Raw was Tim Bradford when we first met him. He has come so far. And he's a better man for it. Not just for Lucy, but for himself. He deserves healing and to find true hope.

Not the false hope that an abusive person will magically change their ways and be the parent he needed... but hope in the form of friendship, family, and a future. A truly beautiful future.

As ever, thanks for reading. Y'all are amazing, and I truly appreciate every Like, Re-Blog, and Comment. Can't wait to see ya on the next!

#Chenford #Lucy Chen #Tim Bradford #Melissa O'Neil #Eric Winter #Lucy x Tim #Tim x Lucy #The Rookie #Meta

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crowsandmurder · 9 months ago

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❛ you can take my clothes off for me. ❜ brooke to nathan pls

Smut starters // @story1ines // Accepting!

Nathan knew Peyton would kill him, if she ever found out. But, they were broken up, well for now anyway. Besides, Brooke hadn't been against the idea. She and Peyton had a fight or something. He hadn't really been listening. He knew he was going to hook up with a random cheerleader tonight, but he didn't feel like it being Bevin. Everyone thought he fucked whoever, but he needed to at least halfway be able to talk to them and Bevin reached this point, where she lost the few brain cells she had. But, he had been sitting on the couch with Brooke, and then they were in his room. She was very willing, and he had an idea.

Stopping kissing her, he grabbed the camera and he said something, reassuring her that he would get rid of it, and then he missed to lean over her. He definitely couldn't tell anyone about this one. Peyton would kill them both, but then he stopped thinking about Peyton altogether and smirked, because Brooke fucking Davis was in his bed, under him and the more he touched her, he could feel her arch up towards him and he ground his hips against hers, determined to make her moan for him, which she did.

Then, he heard her words. "Well, I could do that, but you have to take mine off too." His hand went to her bra and he expertly unhooked it, letting his hands move over her flesh their teasing the skin with a smirk, before kissing down her neck and biting down along the top of her breast, with a smirk. "No telling, so good luck with that." He knew it'd leave a mark.

His hand then reached up under her skirt, and he ran his hand over the fabric there and smirked. "Definitely no regrets from either of us." Pushing it to the side, he teased her flesh, not pushing his finger inside but teasing it and making sure to rub her heated flesh. "You know, I could always leave a mark with my mouth here too, if you're good." Finally, he pulled them down and her skirt and leaned back to look at her.

Fuck, she was hot. Did this really have to be one time? He was pretty sure that she was good at this. Down to his jeans and boxers, he smirked.

"So tell me, Brooke Davis, do you think you can get my clothes off? Like I said if you're good, I'll reward you. I don't want you to be good, because fuck that, I want to know how good you are, especially if we can only do this one." His lips moved to hers again in a searing kiss and he moved up on his knees again.

"Clothes...I have condoms. I'm a Scott."

#story1lines #✖ [Brooke]#V: I didn't care about anyone except myself [Pre Show]#✖ [Character: Nathan Scott]#✖ [NSFW]

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mcintoshevelyn · 1 month ago

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INTRODUCING EVELYN MCINTOSH: i think i'm burning alive, but nobody sees the fire.

FULL NAME evelyn grace mcintosh.

BIRTHDAY july 12th ( 35) .

BIRTHPLACE salt lake city, utah.

GENDER cis female.

OCCUPATION owner of firefly brewery.

BUILD athletic.

HAIR COLOR brown (currently).

EYE COLOR green.

HEIGHT 5’8

PARENTS hugo mcintosh ( father ) + wayne abrams ( biological father )+ patricia mcintosh ( mother )

SIBLINGS open half-siblings ( on the biological father's side )

PETS stellar ( black cat ) .

CHARACTER PARALLELS: meredith grey (greys anatomy), peyton sawyer (one tree hill), elena gilbert (the vampire diaries), charlotte york (sex and the city), fiona gallagher (shameless)

BIOGRAPHY

tw: abuse, infidelity, pregnancy, death

Evelyn was born on an ordinary Tuesday morning in the dead of winter to Patricia and Hugo McIntosh in the back seat of their shared 1986 Bronco. It was an interesting way to come into the world but the girl felt nothing short of love from either of her parents. Her mother, a waitress, and her father, a barber worked hard to provide for their little family, especially given the secret that Patricia held. You see when she met Hugo their romance was a whirlwind and they were engaged to be married within weeks of knowing one another but she was pregnant with another man’s child, Wayne Abrams. She had thought she had found the one with him but he was living a double life and she wasn’t going to settle despite loving the man with every fiber of her being. It was mere coincidence or pure luck that she found another so soon and that their romance was anything but out of a movie and Hugo was never the wiser when she came back a month later stating that she was pregnant with his child. They quickly married and seven months later Evelyn came to be.

Her childhood was simple and easy; she worked hard during school and then during the summers she would spend them with her grandparents. She was a quiet child, observing more than interacting and taking in everything around her. Of course, as time went on, she became more outgoing but still reserved. She was captain of her high school's dance squad, student council president, yearbook editor, and even valedictorian when the time came. Her life was how she envisioned it when she was younger and she had no complaints about anything. After high school came college and she went to the University of Utah for Nursing. She, thankfully, got a full ride there and her parents couldn’t have been more proud of the woman that they had raised and Evelyn couldn’t have been more excited for her future.

With a lot of sweat, blood, and tears Evelyn made her way through college with a breeze behind her. Five years total, she found herself being a registered nurse. She moved to Boston with her best friend to start their nursing career at Mass General. On her 24th birthday, she reluctantly agreed to go out with some co-workers where she met Kyle a bartender who worked at the bar they had decided to go to in the next town over. They hit it off immediately and before she could even think straight they were in a relationship. She had never felt like this before and it was everything that she had wanted and more. And it was perfect bliss for the first few months, and things changed. The lies he told were more frequent when she knew he was cheating and he made her believe that she was losing her mind. He started to talk to her friends about her crazy behavior defending his actions to them as if she were to blame. She had broken up with him too many times to count but with a sorry and bouquet of flowers, she was forgiving.

After one of their many break-ups and screaming matches, he laid his hands on her and left finger-shaped bruises on her arms from holding her down so she wouldn’t leave. She told herself that it was nothing and wore sweaters to hide them until they were gone. This happened quite often and it was during this time that she had gotten a message from someone claiming to be her biological father. They had talked and he introduced himself as Wayne and it was like she felt a piece that she hadn’t known to be missing out back into place. Their relationship was easy and she trusted him enough to tell him about what was going on with Kyle. They had spoken for hours on the phone and would often speak more than she even spoke to her parents. If there was one thing she knew it was that she was going to be saved. During this time, she was still dealing with an abusive Kyle and she refused to speak to her parents after finding out that they lied so Wayne was really the only one that she trusted.

He had found her an affordable apartment and got everything sorted for her while also helping her get a restraining order against Kyle. Her and Wayne still spoke pretty much every day until she just didn’t hear from him. She told herself it was because he was busy and so was she trying to work to save as much as she could to leave. It had been over a month since she had last heard from him when she found out that she had inherited his home and the bar he owned, The Firefly Brewery, in Briar Ridge, South Carolina. She received a call from a lawyer in Briar Ridge informing her of the news.

She quickly made her way to South Carolina to do what she needed to in order to get her name put on the house and bar. The next few months flew by and while it has not been an easy transition from nursing to owning a bar, she has made the best of it and is trying to keep the legacy of her biological father alive.

#story of a girl - biography.#tw: abuse #tw: death #tw: pregnancy

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novastories · 2 years ago

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On This Cold December Night

Title and chapter inspired the song “My Song For You” by Bridgit Mendler and Shane Harper.

Summary: Christmas looks a bit different this year for Aurora.

Disclaimer: This story is fictitious. All works are written by me and only posted here. Please do not copy, repost, or plagiarize on any other platform without my permission!

Warnings: Mild language? Mentions of a car accident? A bit of angst and fluff!

Wordcount: 8.2k

A/N: We have a Christmas chapter for once! These chapters get longer and longer every time I write a new one, so I hope you enjoy it! Made the moodboard myself! Like usual, timeline and ages are changed to fit the story, not the movies. Some of these storylines/backgrounds are based on what I write or imagine for my Top Gun DR. Thanks to my beta reader and editor @reginleight for putting up with this long chapter!

Previous | Next | Masterlist

Aurora always adored Christmas at the Bradshaw’s. Not only did she get to spend time with her family, but also the snow. She loves San Diego, but there was always something about the cold and snow in Virginia that she loved just a bit more, especially it being Christmas. But this year was a bit different.

She was glad that Christmas break was here, but she was not looking forward to going to Virginia for once. She didn’t want to have to tell Bradley about her semester, when he himself was already having a great last year of high school. She especially did not want to tell her dad what had gone down either. This year, they were meeting him in Virginia as he had just gotten back from another deployment and took time off to spend Christmas with them. Her mom and stepfather were staying in San Diego as they had baby Amelia to take care of, the little girl having already turned three. With that being the case, the two wouldn’t be able to make the flight this year to Virginia with the twins. That and the fact that their dad and stepfather did not get along.

While packing for the trip that she and her brother would soon be leaving to the airport for, Aurora’s mother steps into the twins' shared room. Her brother, Peyton had already packed and was hanging out with his friends before they were to leave.

“Almost done packing?” Penny asks from the door frame.

“Yeah, almost,” Aurora replies, stacking the last few items in her suitcase, before moving onto her backpack for the smaller stuff. While her daughter continues packing, Penny surveys the room a little, her eyes landing on a particular corner when she spots the broken fragments of a picture frame.

“You know, it may have been better to just throw the frame out rather than leaving the broken pieces for someone else to clean up in here,” Penny says, moving into the room to go pick up said pieces.

“What, is that supposed to be a metaphor or something?”

Penny sighs and throws the frame in the trash.

“Look, I get your upset and I get how you feel,” Penny empathizes, coming closer to Aurora. “But going to the Bradshaws will make you feel a lot better. And soon you’ll forget all about what happened and come back feeling better, and be stronger from it.”

“Yeah because hanging out with Bradley and his new girlfriend will be so fun,” Aurora replies sarcastically, throwing her laptop in her bag along with the charging cable.

“Apparently they broke up,” Penny shrugs, recounting what she’d been told “She wants to go to college without a boyfriend so she broke up with Bradley before Christmas so she wouldn’t have to wait until graduation. Carole said he was heartbroken but he cheered up when he heard you were going over there for Christmas.”

Aurora was silent as she sat on her bed.

“And at least now you’ll be able to see and talk to him.”

“Yeah well that makes one of us, because he hasn’t been my friend in a long time ever since he met precious Dakota.”

“You and I both know that’s not true.”

“Tell that to all the empty letters and the short phone calls he’s made to me. Every call or letter he wouldn’t stop going on and on about her and how she was the most perfect girl for him.”

“Rory...”

“No, I'm tired of talking about Bradley,” Aurora sighs. “I just want to get this trip over with and spend time with Peyton and dad.”

Penny sits on the bed next to her daughter and hugs her from the side. It’s enough to make one, solitary tear escape from Aurora’s glassy eyes before she could furiously brush it away.

“I’m sorry we can’t spend Christmas together.” Penny speaks, momentarily after seeing Aurora fighting to keep tears at bay. She felt guilty for not being there for her daughter as much as she should be.

“Mom, it’s okay. You definitely made up for it with the ukulele you brought me and the new journal, trust me.

“That doesn't mean I don’t feel guilty.”

“And you shouldn’t have to.”

“But I do.” Penny turns to face her daughter. “Ever since we’ve had Amelia, I feel like I haven’t been involved with your life when I should be.”

“It’s okay. I understand. Peyton even understands. I’m just glad we got to do a small Christmas dinner last night. And got to open our gifts.” Aurora turns to her mom and smiles at her brightly. Penny laughs and pauses to take a look at her daughter.

“You know every time you laugh and smile, you remind me so much of your dad.”

Aurora pauses at the sentence. “Is that a good thing?”

“It’s a wonderful thing,” Penny reassures her daughter. “That just means you are more and more like your father, which can be a scary thing, but you have the best qualities of him.”

“Like?”

“Like how strong you are, how you’re able to go through problems and either fix it or fight your way through it. A bit stubborn but I think you get that from both of us,” Penny admits.

They laugh and soon Aurora looks at her clock and realizes that she and her brother were leaving soon.

“I have to finish packing mom.”

“I know. I just wanted to come in and see if you needed anything. I’m glad we talked a bit before you leave,” Penny smiles, fondly pushing back some of Aurora’s hair.

“Yeah me too,” Aurora says, returning the smile.

“When you come back, we’ll go out shopping and we can talk more, okay? Just a girl’s day. Me and you.”

“That sounds great, mom. Thank you.”

Penny gets up to leave, but she pauses at the doorway. She turns to look back at Aurora with one last thing to say.

“Just when you see Bradley, hear him out first before shutting him down. You know he wouldn’t mean to hurt you.”

Aurora pauses at her words.

“We’ll see mom. We’ll see.”

—

When Aurora and Peyton had touched down in Norfolk airport, their dad greeted them with a big hug, and soon they were in the car, on the way to the Bradshaw’s. Peyton sat up front with their dad, talking about school, while Aurora sat in the back, looking out the window with her headphones on. Maverick throughout the trip tried to include her in it, but only got one word answers or was ignored. He knew something was wrong but didn't want to push her. He didn’t know about anything that happened at school, but Aurora knew she would have to talk to him soon before Penny said anything to him. They arrived at the Bradshaw’s in a manner of time, and as soon as Maverick put his car in park, Goose and Carole were already outside on the porch waiting for them.

“Uncle Goose!” cries out Peyton as he rushed into Goose’s awaiting arms.

“Oh my gosh, Pey you’ve grown tall! Unlike your father.” Goose jabs at Maverick. Peyton was already past Maverick’s height, 5 feet and 9 inches.

“Hey, I’ll have you know my height is just fine.”

“That’s what old men say nowadays ‘ey?”

Maverick and Goose start a bit of a shoving match while Peyton hugs Carole and Aurora just now getting out of the car. Her face is neutrally void of any emotion.

“Hey, little star!” Goose spots her. Uncle Goose had given her the nickname ‘little star’ in reference to her namesake, the Aurora Borealis. He started calling her that ever since he realized how much she loved stargazing and constellations.

“Come give your uncle a hug, or do you think you're too cool for me? Because I’ll have you know I’m very cool!”

“That’s what old men say nowadays ‘ey?” Maverick retorts back at Goose. Goose sticks out his tongue while Aurora slightly chuckles as she goes to hug her Uncle Goose.

“Don’t worry, we love you even if you are short, your dad on the other hand,” Goose whispers in her ear, Aurora biting back a smile. Aurora was not gifted with height like her father, as she stood at 5 feet exactly.

Goose gave her an extra squeeze before she went to hug Carole.

“Are you alright, angel?” Carole whispers in her ear. Aurora just nods and steps out of her arms, following along as they all begin to head inside the house.

“So where’s Bradley? It’s not like him to miss the twins’ homecoming?” Maverick asks as the twins come back into the kitchen after putting luggage away, now having separate rooms since they were older. Bradley was not one to be late with his best friends coming back to the East Coast, let alone not be there to greet them.

“Oh he went to go see his girlfriend, well I guess ex. He went to try and win her back. Emphasis on try,” Goose says rolling his eyes, showing obvious signs that Goose did not like this girl.

“But not without leaving homecoming presents for you two!” Carole exclaims excitedly gesturing to the items that were set behind her.

On the table was another Lego set for Peyton, one in which he was hunting for and didn’t have, and a flower bouquet. Carole explained that Bradley told them that these weren’t their actual Christmas gifts but wanted to give them something like he normally does when they’d visit. Unlike the usual tradition, however, he wasn’t there to give them in person this time. Peyton immediately goes over to pick up the Lego set and is rambling on about the set while Aurora approaches the table to look at the bouquet of flowers.

They were red roses and white tulips. They stood out and made the room shine brighter with its Christmas colors, but Aurora knew what they meant. Forgiveness. Aurora and Bradley knew the different meanings of flowers, thanks to Carole who tells them all about it. White tulips to make amends with someone who is important to you, red roses to help express affection of said amends and forgiveness. There was a note on it simply saying “Sorry I wasn’t there to greet you. Had important things to do.” It causes Aurora to roll her eyes and scoff at the note and flowers, walking out of the kitchen in a huff. Everyone turns just in time to see her leave.

“What’s wrong with her? She usually loves the flowers Bradley gives her.” Carole asks, concerned.

“Maybe she’s allergic to flowers now.”

Carole smacks Goose on the head for his antics.

“She’s been like that for a while.” Peyton responds, not looking in anyone’s eyes as he pretends to be interested in a scuff mark on the table he was sitting at.

“Why?” Mav says, concerned for his daughter.

“She wants to tell you. So I’m not saying anything.”

“Is this about the fight that happened in school?

“A fight?” Both Carole and Goose said in unison.

“I’m not saying anything until you talk to her. I’ve learned that Aurora will say something when she wants to. Right now. It’s best to leave her alone.”

—

Aurora sits on the front porch swing watching the snow fall slowly to the ground. She had so much emotions pent up inside her. She was angry at Bradley, upset with everything that had happened at school. Sad she’s not at home with her mom and sister. But she was also happy that she was in Virginia to spend time with her brother, father, aunt and uncle. She knew she had a lot of emotions trapped in her. But most of all, she felt numb. It was hard to describe the feeling, that she felt so many emotions that it left her numb. Her face said it all, ice cold. If her Uncle Ice saw her expression, he would say she looked like him.

She had her headphones in as she was listening to music and watching the snow fall to the ground until she saw a car approach the Bradshaw’s driveway. She knew whose car it was. The one person she absolutely did not want to see.

After parking, Bradley had gotten out of the car heading towards the house, face down as he was distracted with his phone. Aurora could see he had grown almost the same height as his dad. His hair was a bit shaggy, but wasn’t too long. He was a bit more built, she knew that was probably due to baseball training. As much as she wanted to run up and hug him, she just couldn’t. So instead, she opted for waiting, watching what his next steps would be.

His shoes finally hitting the steps leading up to the house, Bradley did eventually look up, face lighting up noticing his best friend on the swing.

“Well hey there princess!” Bradley brightly greets as he approaches her, arms open wide expecting her to get up and hug him. She looks at him and gets up, taking the headphones out of her ear. She walks to him, but then passes by him to reach the front door and go inside the house, closing it and leaving Bradley standing in shock. Did his best friend just act like he didn’t exist? She didn’t even hug him or even say hi. She just got up and left?

Bradley, who was still frozen in shock at what had happened, finally rushes into the house to look for her.

“Hey Rory!” Bradley calls. He spies her walking up the stairs to go to her room, he was about to go after her until a head peeks out from the kitchen.

“Oh, good! You’re home Brad Brad!” Goose cries out. “Come say hi to Peyton and Mav.” Bradley looks at his dad, then looks back to the stairs. Goose shakes his head and gestures to the kitchen silently telling him to get his butt in the kitchen and not to run after Aurora. Bradley sighs and walks into the kitchen, knowing he’ll be trying to talk to her later.

—

A few hours later, Aurora peaks out her door. It was getting close to dinner time, but she knew she still had another hour or so until then. Bradley had come to her door multiple times during the course of that time knocking, pleading with her to let him in so they could talk, thinking that the only reason Aurora was mad at him was because he wasn’t there to greet them. Little did he know that was the least of his worries. He kept trying to get her to open the door, but Aurora put her headphones in and just ignored him while she was reading her book. After some time passed, Bradley grew tired and instead hung out with Peyton. Aurora, after hearing the knocks had stopped, realized this might be the best time to go talk to her dad since she knew he was probably working on something in the garage. So in a swift manner Aurora came out of her room and quickly ran to the garage before anyone could see her.

“Oh hey little star,” A voice calls out as she enters the garage. She looks and sees not her father, but her Uncle Goose.

“Oh, sorry Uncle Goose. I thought dad was in here.”

“Nah, he went on a shopping run for your Auntie Carole. He said something to piss her off again and now he gets to pay the price.” Goose says to which Aurora laughs softly at.

“Oh well. Sorry to bother you, I’ll just head back-“

“Well wait a minute, come sit. Let me just finish this up and I’ll be yours in a bit.” He says with a wink and gestures to the couch that was set in the corner of his garage. Aurora tries to protest but is given a look that tells her that she shouldn’t argue with him.

She sighs and goes towards the area. The couch was set up next to two sofa chairs with a sort of memorabilia wall set up behind it. It was similar to something she’d seen back at her father’s apartment, a little living space he’d rented for when he was staying in San Diego. Her dad usually either stays there or at the Bradshaw’s when he’s not on deployment.

A wall covered with pictures, patches, and awards. She looks through it and easily spots a photo with the graduating Top Gun class of 1986, easily able to pick out her dad, uncle, and even her honorary Uncle Ice. Aurora lightly brushes the photo before looking at the rest on the wall.

She spots her dad in a lot of photos, as well as Carole and Bradley, but there was one photo that stuck out in general that she had to take into her hands in order to see the full picture. It was a photo of her and Bradley when they first met, they were hand in hand and sat on top of a piano. Aurora vaguely remembers the moment she met her best friend and smiles at the photo until she remembers that she’s mad at him and puts the photo back in its spot before scoffing at it.

Moving on from that photo and looking around more she sees a photo of her uncle and aunt, so happy and in love. Carole had tears in her eyes while Goose was holding her tightly as if letting go of her would make her disappear. They were looking into each other’s eyes, foreheads pressed together. She takes that photo into her hand and smiles at it.

“That photo was taken by your father.” Goose speaks up as Aurora turns around at the sound behind her. “It was the day I came back from my last deployment. Right before I hung up my wings.”

Goose approaches the couch and sits as Aurora looks at Goose.

“Do you ever regret not going back?” she timidly asks. Goose thinks for the right words before answering her.

“I miss flying with your dad. Heck I’m sure your dad says the same thing. I loved flying with him even though he got us in trouble a lot.” Aurora laughs at the thought of what chaos her father must’ve dragged her uncle into with him.

“But as much as I loved flying with your dad, I needed to come home to your aunt and Bradley.”

Gazing fondly at the photo held in Aurora’s hand, Goose’s smile was a little strained with his next words.

“We already had a scare before graduating Top Gun, and after that last deployment, I couldn’t leave them alone. You sacrifice a few things to get things right, but I don’t ever regret giving up my wings. Because I would do it over and over again in order to live my life with the family and watch you all grow up.”

Aurora thinks and sighs before putting the photo back in its place, coming over to sit beside her uncle.

“Alright little Mav. Talk to me.” Goose teasingly says.

Aurora pauses for a moment before admitting “I don’t know where to start.”

“Well then, let’s start at the beginning.”

With a deep breath, Aurora began talking about school and what had gone down. How what was supposed to be a great first year of high school, turned out to be one of the worst semesters she’s had. Her friends that she made in high school all turned out to be fake and were talking behind her back.

Her so-called junior boyfriend was only dating her because there was a bet going on saying that no one could get Aurora to go on a date. Also the fact that he was sleeping with her so-called best friend behind her back. Aurora was mad at not just the situation, but herself. She couldn’t believe that she had let herself be fooled the way she was. Her brother had gotten into a fight with her ex, but thankfully did not get into so much trouble since he was provoked, only having to serve detention.

As Aurora rambles, there are a few faces that Goose makes, showing he is listening to what was being said. He would add a few funny comments to lighten the mood such as “What an ass!” and “Hell yeah, way to go Peyton!” but other than that he would listen to her.

“So yeah. Now I’m here. Spending the holidays here, wondering how the hell I’m gonna survive the next few years of high school.” Aurora sighs. Goose looks at her as she finishes her story. Aurora could feel his gaze on her as Goose hadn’t said another word since his last comment of ‘Mav and I should go to the school and threaten to kick their butts’ to which Aurora shut it down right away.

“What Uncle Goose?”

“I’m sorry Aurrie. I know the first year of high school sucks, but it will get better.”

“You wanna know what sucks more? Having your best friend cut you out and not even talk to you because he's busy with his girlfriend.”

“More like ex.” Goose retorts back.

“Still! I’ve known him since I was four, Uncle Goose and he just pretends as if he didn’t just ignore me when I needed him the most!” Exasperated, Aurora tosses her hands up recounting the events of what had happened with him. “He hung up on me when I tried to talk to him on the phone because he was getting ready to hang out with her.”

Goose sighs. “I honestly don’t know what’s going on with him. Carole and I raised him better than that.”

“I know, Uncle Goose, you both did good. It’s just,” she pauses. “I miss my best friend. It really hurts that he’s pushing me away”

“Yeah I know kiddo.”

Aurora then thinks about something.

“How do you do it Uncle Goose?”

“Do what?”

“You and Auntie Carole? You two fight but you always find a way back to each other. You don’t push each other away, and even if you try, you both are always there for each other.”

He didn’t know which situation Aurora was referencing. Her breakup or Bradley.

“Ha, yeah your dad always said your Auntie and I are like soulmates.” He smiles at the thought of his wife.

“What do you believe are soulmates, Uncle Goose?”

Goose looks at Aurora who looks at him thoughtfully.

“I think a soulmate is someone you can be yourself around. Someone you can take comfort in and someone you can tell anything to,” Goose tells her sincerely. “They know you better than you could ever know yourself. Someone who accepts you for who you are. And despite some of their qualities, you’ll love them for who they are in return.”

Aurora then asks. “Do you think I’ll ever find my soulmate, Uncle Goose?”

He chuckles at her question. He kisses her forehead. “Of course, everyone has a soulmate. Romantic or platonic, everyone has that special someone.” Even though in his mind he knew Aurora had already found her romantic soulmate.

“What about mom and dad? Are they romantic or platonic soulmates?” she questions.

“Well their situation is a bit different. But I think it’s just a matter of the right person, wrong timing.”

“So you think they’ll ever get back together?”

Goose cackles. “Oh hon, I got a bet with your Uncle Ice and Auntie Carole about it! They best better in a few years.”

Aurora and Goose giggles as Maverick comes back in the garage from running his errands for Carole. He sees his daughter and best friend giggling away on the couch and he smiles knowing she found comfort in his best friend.

“What’s going on in here?” Maverick speaks up as Goose and Aurora looks at him.

Looking away from Maverick and at each other they grinned.“Nothing,” they reply simultaneously, breaking out into even more giggling.

Maverick shakes his head and squeezes himself between them.

“So, you wanna tell me what’s going on?” Maverick asks his daughter. Aurora then goes on to tell Maverick about what she told Goose, besides the conversation about soulmates. Before Maverick could say anything she tells him that he didn’t have to say anything since she felt better after talking with Goose.

Maverick smiles, gives her a kiss on the forehead and tells her to get ready for dinner. She smiles and gets up from the couch heading towards the door. As she reaches the doorway she pauses and turns to look at uncle Goose and her dad.

“Thanks for the talk, Uncle Goose. And thanks dad for understanding.”

“Anytime kiddo.” Goose smiles with a wink. She turns to run back into the safety of her room.

Maverick sighs.

“What’s with the sigh Mav?” Goose’s brow arches questioningly.

“Nothing. I just can’t believe she’s so grown up. Had a boyfriend and first heartbreak in just a couple of months. And I wasn’t there,” Scrubbing a hand down his face, Maverick’s gaze was still on the door where Aurora had just left through.

“You know you would be if you could.”

“I know Goose.”

They revel in silence for a bit until Goose speaks up and says, “Ya know she asked about soulmates?”

“Really? What was she referencing? Her breakup or her fight with Bradley?”

“Beats me. But I just hope they make up soon.”

“Yeah it’d be a real shame if you lost the bet between her and Bradley.”

“Jokes on you old man. They call me Cupid for a reason.”

“No they call you Goose because you quack a lot of nonsense,” Maverick snorts.

“That’s it. Bring it on Mav, I can’t wait to take out a short pancake.”

“Why do you always bring up my height?!”

Maverick and Goose jokingly wrestle on the couch as Carole walks in to tell them dinner was ready. She shakes her head and sighs. “Men.”

—

Bradley and Aurora barely spoke throughout the break. Bradley knew to give her space as soon as she didn’t speak to him for dinner that night, and it didn’t stop at dinner either. She didn’t speak to him most of the time she was at the house, mostly spending time with Auntie Carole in the kitchen, or at the floral shop. And when she was at the house, she hung out with her brother until Bradley came along then ran to the garage where Uncle Goose and Maverick were.

Maverick even took the twins to an airstrip, where they got to ride in a plane with their dad. They’ve been in a plane before with their dad behind the wheel, but he got to show them the ins and outs of the plane, as well as helping them learn landing and taking off procedures, something that they loved to learn when they were little. They had definitely gotten their love for aviation from their father.

In all honesty, Bradley felt like he was going nuts not talking to her, but he knew he was also going to have to talk to her soon. It was the night of Christmas Eve. Nobody had wanted a big party and instead they had all opted for family time at the house for spending Christmas. The adults were still talking at the dining table while Peyton was on the phone with his friend in his room.

Bradley took this as an opportunity to approach Aurora, who was out on the porch with her ukelele and her journal that her mom and stepfather gave her. With a single red rose in hand, he went outside to the porch dressed in his Christmas sweater and jeans. It was pretty cold outside, but the Bradshaw’s installed a small outdoor heater above the porch swing so he knew he didn’t have to bring out his winter coat. And so, when he stepped out onto the porch immediately he saw her.

Aurora also had a red sweater and leggings on. Her hair was in a braid in order to prevent any strands from getting caught in the instrument. She had a blanket over her legs, ukulele in hand strumming a pattern of chords. She was humming along until she’d pause, set the instrument down and jot something into her journal. She didn’t need to look up to know who had stepped onto the porch.

“So you gonna stand there and look dumb staring at me or are you going to sit down and actually say something?” Aurora spoke up, breaking Bradley out of his trance from staring at her. He takes a breath and walks up to Aurora and sits next to her as she makes room. She still had yet to look up into his eyes.

“Look, I’m sorry I wasn’t here to greet you when you came. I got busy with Dakota and I wanted to see if I could get her back.”

She sharply inhales.“Bradley, do you honestly think I was mad about just that?!”

“Is that not what you’re mad about?”

“Are you shitting me?” Aurora looks at him with a bewildered look on her face.

“Is that rhetorical? And when have you started cussing?”

“Gosh Bradley! If you had at least picked up the phone, you’d know that I’m mad because you’ve been ignoring me for 2 months!” Aurora exclaims.

“Yeah well, we’ve both been busy,” he states simply.

“Pushing me away was the worst thing you could do! If you had picked up the phone you’d know about my breakup and Peyton’s fight.”

Bradley looks at her while tears run down her face and she quickly wipes it away.

“Shit, I’m sorry Rory.” Bradley sets down the rose on the table in front of them as he turns to her.

“Yeah, well so am I. Gosh I’m so mad at you! You and not telling me things anymore, B. We’re supposed to be best friends.”

“We are best friends, I am still your best friend.” Bradley pleads.

“Really?! So you were gonna tell me about your car accident?! Or was that something you were gonna withhold too?” Aurora looks at Bradley making eye contact with him for the first time in a while. Bradley becomes silent and Aurora scoffs at his response.

“Yeah that’s what I thought.”

“How did you-“

“Did you really think I wouldn’t hear my mom and Auntie Carole not talk about it the night of?” Aurora questions him, baffled. “Mom thought Peyton and I were asleep when in reality we were sitting on the steps of the stairs trying not to cry about your car accident. Mom had to end the call because we were crying so hard since we thought we were gonna lose you.”

Bradley and Aurora sat in silence looking away from each other, watching the snow fall.

“Were you ever gonna tell me?” Aurora speaks up after a few seconds go by.

“Eventually.”

“Really?”

“I don’t know.”

“Damnit Bradley this is what I’m talking about! What happened to us?” she cried out.

“I’m sorry Aurie.”

She sighs and looks at Bradley as he turns back to look at her. She can see the scars on his face and neck, remnants from the accident. Bringing her hand up from her lap, her fingers lightly traced over each scar, Bradley staring into her eyes as she did so.

“Does it hurt?”

“Not anymore.” She cups his face, caressing the raised skin. Her eyes filled with tears and Bradley panics thinking he made her cry again.

“I was so afraid I was gonna lose you B,” she whispers softly.

“Oh, darling.” He brings her into a hug and she hugs him back tightly, arms wounding around his neck.

“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”

“I promise princess. I’m so sorry, I’ll do better to tell you everything from now on.”

Bradley holds onto her as if she was his lifeline. He focuses on his best friend, the girl who always had his heart, even if she didn’t know it as she cries holding on to him, making up for lost time from fighting and accepts his apology. They hold each other for a long time after that, as Aurora’s breathing slows and stops crying. It’s only after calming down does she then realize about the rose Bradley left on the table.

“Is that for me?”she says as they break from the hug and she picks up the flower.

Bradley blushes and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.“Well I couldn’t really come out and not give you a flower since I wasn’t here when I gave you that bouquet.”

She laughs and leans on him, flower in hand. He kisses her forehead as they both sit and watch the snow fall, wrapped in each other’s arms, probably the most relaxed in each other’s presence since this break had started.

—

Christmas morning came and the Bradshaws, Maverick, and the twins were sitting in the living room next to the Christmas tree, all wearing matching Christmas sweaters. Everyone in the house had also called who they needed, to greet whoever a Merry Christmas, from Penny to their Uncle Ice, and even Maverick’s and Goose’s old Top Gun instructor Viper, who they kept in constant contact with.

It was a perfect picture of Christmas morning, hot chocolate or coffee in hand, the kids sat on the floor while the parents watched them open their presents, and the fireplace was lit (after Maverick and Goose argued about who could light the fireplace, so Bradley and Peyton shoved their dads to the side and lit it themselves). Aurora opened her gifts and had already gotten an old polaroid camera from Goose, a fluffy blanket from Carole, a new phone from her dad, and a mug from Peyton that said “You’re a great twin sister…I guess” which was something he made from his pottery class at school.

Peyton loved his gifts that he had gotten which was a new Lego set (Goose), cellphone (Maverick), beanie (Carole), a bracelet that said “Twins Forever” (Aurora) and new basketball shoes (Bradley) that he was already up and getting another drink refill while the adults were already talking about the gifts they had gotten each other.

Bradley and Aurora look at each other with smirks, grabbing their presents that they got for each other. Bradley stands up and walks to sit next to Aurora.

Aurora smiles.

“You open your gift first, B!” she gives him a wink, prompting him to start unwrapping his gift, and gasping as soon as he sees it.

The first gift was a picture frame that contained three photos. One was the first photo they both ever took together, on top of a piano, hand in hand at four and eight years old. The other photo was of the twins and Bradley during the summer. Goose had taken a photo of the trio when they were racing each other on bikes laughing so hard, you can almost hear it from the photo. And the last one was another photo of the trio, from last summer when they were sitting on the porch, another photo Goose had taken when they were stargazing. Under the photo frame was a small box, Bradley opened it and it was a necklace. It had a plane pendant on the chain, and engraved on the side was “Always Flying Home” with the trio’s initials next to it. BAP. She knew Bradley would soon want to join the Navy soon and follow his dad’s footsteps. Bradley looks at her in awe.

“So do you like it, or are you looking at it like that because it’s super ugly?”

Bradley laughs and gives her a big hug.

“I love it, Aurie! Like a lot. I’m not taking this off.” He says as he releases her from the hug. Goose, Carole and Maverick break the moment, wanting to see the gifts. Bradley passes it around to have the adults get a good look at it as Aurora proceeds to open her gift from Bradley.

Peyton then comes back from refilling his drink just as she unwrapped her gift. The first one being a stuffed toy of a bunny. It was white, pink, and fluffy causing her to laugh in delight. Bradley was going on about how a bunny suits her personality and knew it was one of her favorite animals, with her favorite colors. She shakes her head in laughter and smiles at him.

“I’m gonna keep this forever!” She exclaims. Everyone in the room laughs as she opens her last gift. She opens it and reveals a box. Aurora looks at it, then looks back at Bradley.

“I swear if this is another paper wind up butterfly or a ring pop again B, I swear to -”

“Oh my gosh just open it!” Peyton exclaims, excited to see her sister’s reaction. She looks at her brother, suspicious of him as well.

She slowly opens the box, arms extended from her body, scared that something would come out, but nothing did. The adults laugh at her antics as she then peaks in the box and gasps. It was a beautiful silver charm bracelet.

“Everyone added a charm on it and engraved their initials on each charm, so you have a piece of everyone whenever you need us,” Bradley explains as he helps Aurora remove it from the box.

Carole said she chose the sunflower one, whereas Goose chose a goose charm since Maverick took the plane charm. Bradley said even Penny chose one for her, and that she picked the star charm.

“I chose one that had two hearts intertwined on it!” Peyton exclaims, proud of the charm he chose as he gave her a side hug.

Bradley helps Aurora put on the bracelet as she spies Bradley’s charm. He had added two. One was a princess crown and right next to it was a sword. Bradley looks into her eyes and grins at her.

“I figured that the princess should have her knight right next to her,” he says, still holding her hand.

Aurora blushes while Peyton groans and gags on the other side of her. She ignores him in favor of throwing her arms around her best friend. Bradley laughs and hugs her back. A flash goes off causing them to break their hug and look around to see Goose taking a photo of the moment, Peyton gagging in the photo and all. Bradley then takes Aurora’s hand again and kisses it, as Peyton was still acting up and the adults were laughing at his antics, not looking at the duo.

“I love it, B. I don’t think I’ll ever take it off,” she says as she brings her wrist up to examine the bracelet closer. Bradley glances at her and grins.

The excitement soon dies down as they start cleaning with the music record playing in the background. Bradley and Peyton go to collect the wrapping paper from the floor while the men set up the projector for their Christmas movie day, of course bantering on who gets to do what, as they normally do whenever they are paired together for any job together. Aurora goes to the kitchen to assist Carole in helping set up lunch. Aurora then looks out the window and sees that the snow had finally settled and turns to her aunt.

“I’m gonna go and get some air real quick!” she tells her, as she rushes out the kitchen and to the front door.

“Don’t forget a coat or turn on the porch heater!” Carole yells from the kitchen. Aurora rushes past Bradley and Peyton as they finish picking up the trash.

“C’mon let’s go make snow angels!” as she grabs her coat from the coat rack and runs out the door.

“What are we, 5?” Peyton yells after her.

“Mav, let’s go!” Goose exclaims from behind the two, hand on the back of the man whose name he just called out, and drags him towards the front door.

“No, but apparently he is,” Bradley mutters to Peyton. They snicker as they grab their coats and follow the three that went out the door.

Aurora was already making a snow angel, back on the ground and waving her arms as if she were doing jumping jacks. Goose was right beside her as Maverick was staring out from the porch, shaking his head at his best friend’s and daughter’s antics. The duo laugh at the sight in front of them and follow their lead and start to make snow angels as well, Peyton laying next to Aurora, and Bradley next to his dad. They start laughing while Maverick sighs at them, for once not being the irresponsible one in this situation. Carole comes out with Goose’s camera in hand and takes a photo of the scene in front of her.

Peyton then gets the bright idea to start a snowball fight, then all hell breaks loose. No one was safe as snow balls started flying left and right. Even Carole and Maverick had joined in after Carole had put the camera in a safe corner to record the moment. Because in this instant, if you can’t beat them, you might as well join them. There were no teams, it was just a flurry of snow flying everywhere.

Maverick then lifts up his daughter after she smashes snow on top of her dad’s head while he was kneeling to make a snowball causing her to scream in delight and laughs as he throws her softly into a pile of snow. Peyton then joins in, jumping onto Maverick’s back, but because he wasn’t expecting the weight, they both tumble onto the ground, next to Aurora.

The Bradshaws have their family moment as Carole and Bradley team up and take down Goose, ending up right next to Maverick and the twins also in the same manner. They all look at each other and laughed so hard, their stomachs and sides were hurting. With their adrenaline from the fight dying down, the cold and wet had begun setting in through their clothes causing them all to finally call a truce and head back inside before anyone could end up sick.

As they walk into the house, Carole and Goose first, Maverick, Peyton, with Bradley and Aurora still on the porch straggling behind them whispering and shoving each other, Peyton stops in his place.

He exclaims out “Wait, Uncle, Auntie! You have to kiss.”

They all pause their conversation and turn to look at Peyton. He gives them a look and points to the doorway that they all just passed through, and the doorway Bradley and Aurora were about to go through. Hanging on the doorway was mistletoe, all in its glory. The adults look at each other with confusion.

“Who hung that up?” Carole asks, curious.

“Maybe Santa.”

Maverick smacks Goose’s arm. Peyton looks at the adults.

“You have to kiss, it’s like the mistletoe law.”

Carole and Goose chuckle as Goose dips his wife down for a kiss. Maverick rolls his eyes, and looks at the duo who have yet to cross the doorway.

“No.”

“I didn’t even say anything.” Peyton exclaims

“Not you, them,” Maverick points at Bradley and Aurora. Both were blushing, either from the mistletoe or the cold.

“What do you want us to do then? Stay outside for the rest of the night?” Aurora sarcastically replies.

“You can cross the doorway, but no kissing.” Maverick states.

“But it’s the law!” Peyton exclaims.

“Screw the law, they’re not kissing!” Carole and Goose laugh at Maverick’s protectiveness towards his daughter and Bradley.

Bradley sighs and comes up with another idea.

“We can go through the back door while you get the mistletoe down, how’s that Uncle Mav?”

Maverick thinks about it. “Fine, but no funny business.” He gives them a threatening look.

The duo roll their eyes as they make their way to the backdoor.

“Who do you think hung up the mistletoe?” Aurora asks Bradley.

“I don’t know, maybe dad? He would come up with that idea.”

Aurora giggles at his response, and soon they approach the back door until she looks up and groans.

“What?”

Aurora points at the doorway and Bradley glances to see another mistletoe hanging. Bradley laughs and puts his palms to his face.

“We could just take it down, we don’t have to obey the mistletoe law,” Aurora nervously speaks up as she walks up to the doorway and reaches up to grab the plant, but because she was short she was struggling quite a bit. She was so focused on getting the mistletoe down, not even seeing the look Bradley was giving her at that moment. A look that showed love and adoration.

Bradley then decides in that moment to not think, but to just do. He gently grabs Aurora by the waist from behind her causing her to gasp and spin around now finding herself in his arms. Instinctively, she found herself clutching onto his arms in response. Their eyes meet, and Bradley glances at Aurora’s lips, as she looks back at him nervously. Was she about to kiss her best friend? Her heart began beating so fast, she wasn’t sure it was beating at all because at this moment all she could think about was Bradley, who was waiting for her answer, afraid that she would push him away. Slowly, she brought herself to give him a slight nod, and with that he leaned down.

Aurora meets him halfway, as she gets up on her tiptoes and their lips finally meet. His lips were a bit chapped from the cold, but Aurora didn’t care because they were warm. Her arms slowly go up Bradley’s arms and she wounds them around his neck. Bradley leaves his left hand on her waist, and the other slides to her cheek, cupping it and giving her more butterflies in her stomach, if that were even possible.

It’s as if the world went still for the first time. Frozen in a snow globe, and just for that moment, Aurora felt love and compassion from Bradley in that one action. Bradley held on to her, believing it was a dream, and he didn’t want to let go.

They both slowly part after their kiss, their faces red, from both the cold and the lack of air. They look into each other’s eyes, and all Aurora could see was the hazel eyes that she grew up with, full of happiness and love. Bradley gazes into her dark eyes and for the first time in his life, he was speechless. They both laugh at the expression they were giving each other.

Kissing her cheek, he whispers into Aurora’s ear. “Merry Christmas princess.” Aurora practically glowing at those words.

“Merry Christmas, B.” The two then separate, giving each other another warm smile, and as Aurora goes to open the door, Bradley reaches up to take down the mistletoe and pockets it in his jacket, as if to hide the evidence of the moment, but also wanting to keep a memento.

Aurora and Bradley walk a few steps into the kitchen where the backdoor was connected, and spot Peyton sitting on the kitchen counter drinking from his mug. He was facing the back door with a smile on his face as he saw the two walk in. He jumps down from the counter, walking towards them.

He whispers to both of them and says “Don’t worry, they don't know. They think you two were talking again so I won’t say anything.”

He winks at them, as the two release a breath they didn’t realize they were holding. They follow Peyton back into the living room as they hang up their coats.

“C’mon you three, you’re gonna miss the movie!” Goose calls from his seat on the couch, while Carole is sitting next to him, and Maverick is sitting in a sofa chair that was next to it.

The three rush to their usual spot on the floor, set already with the floor cushion Carole leaves out for them, along with the food and drinks on the coffee table, also courtesy of their Auntie Carole. Aurora sits in the middle of the two and settles in watching the movie in front of them until they hear Peyton whisper at a volume only they can hear.

“By the way, mistletoe is very hard to find. You both are lucky Auntie Carole works at a flower shop.”

Bradley and Aurora freeze at his words and turn to look at Peyton who had a mischievous grin on his face. The trio laughs as Aurora winds her hand in Bradley’s and leans on her brother. Maybe this Christmas break wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. She smiles at that and settles in her seat, ready to take what was coming because as long as she had her best friend and brother by her side, she felt prepared.

---

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