#and i made gracie and julia sing

[slut-taylorsversionnn]

hihi so I was wondering if you can make an dating singer!tomblyth and it can be fluff or smut it which one you prefer to write!

yes love this idea! i definitely want to write a series about this one but here’s just a one shot of this idea!

summary: tom blyth attends one of y/n’s concerts and she sings an unreleased song she wrote for him. (based on the unreleased gracie abrams song “in between”)

i was backstage right before the concert. usually before shows i’m not that nervous because i just love to preform but tonight was a little different. tom had been to tons of my shows of course but tonight i had a little surprise for him. i wrote the song “in between” for him and he has no clue about it so i decided to sing it tonight!

“hey love, you’re gonna do great out there!” tom said to me.

“thanks baby, love you!” i gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek then winked at him and walked onto the stage.

the intro to one of my songs started playing and as i walked onto the stage the crowd started going wild. i made it through the whole setlist dancing and having a blast. i saw tom singing along the whole time.

“do you all have time for one more song?” i asked knowing the fans would love this. “so i’ve been working on this song for a very special person in my life, and he’s actually here tonight. tom this is for you.”

i started singing:

“there’s holy ground beneath them and sparks fly when they kiss. he hates it when she’s crying, he hates when she’s away. even at their worst they know they’ll still be okay.”

i couldn’t help but giggle as tom watched in awe as i preformed this song i wrote about him. this was the exact reaction i was hoping for, he was actually so adorable.

“he laughs at her eyes, at her smile, at the glasses on her face. she love how he talks late at night, when there’s no one else to say how she’s beautiful and funny and smart. Like nothing he’s ever seen. He’s good to her and she wants it more than everything in between.”

i obviously had to throw in some taylor swift references because tom truly was my london boy, lover, endgame, king of my heart, and peace. i couldn’t wait to hear his thoughts after the show.

i returned backstage and tom immediately ran to me, picked me up, and twirled me around.

“you wrote a song for me??!!!” he exclaimed.

“of course i did, you’re literally the love of my life, i wouldn’t be here without you tom.”

“i wouldn’t be here without you. how did you even manage to keep that a secret and when is it being released??” tom said. i loved it when he fan girled over me hehe.

“i’ll sing it for you whenever you want, i’m not sure when i’ll release it, who knows if the fans even liked it.” i shrugged. “i’m just glad you like it so much. and wasn’t it so accurate though?”

“for sure, the line ‘she loves how he talks’ you literally are always telling me how much you love my accent and how you could listen to it all day.” he said laughing.

“yeah and the line ‘he hates when she’s away’ you act like it’s the end of the world when you have to go away for filming and i’m on tour.” i said grinning.

“well you hate it too, and yeah it’s true i hate it so much when we’re apart. next time you’re coming with me to whatever filming location, i’ll make sure it’s in my contract.” he insisted.

“sounds like a deal to me.” i smiled.

“i love you so much y/n.” tom pulled me into another hug and kissed the top of my head.

“i love you so much tom.”

author’s note: this one is pretty short because i plan on writing a singer x tom blyth series so i didn’t want to use up all my ideas on this one shot. so don’t worry, more tom blyth x singer content is coming soon!! also send more requests for what you want to read ;)

[permets-2]

Happy Barricade Day from those of us at @aristosmusical ! Our 11′oclock number is called Who Is This Boy, a desperate and aching piece that narrates Patroclus’ ultimate decision to don the armor of his lover Achilles and fight in his stead. It also asks the questions of who they have each become after ten years of battle, if they still knew each other, and what it meant to see someone in a new light. 

And as Les Amis stans first and people second, @everydayatleast​ @courfeyracs-swordcane and I wrote a parody of Who Is This Boy about Enjolras and Grantaire’s final moments atop their barricade while in quarantine almost a year ago; we’ve been dreaming up reasons to produce it ever since. This year as we gear up for the release of the ARISTOS: The Musical album, we conscripted a few of our album cast members to sing the ExR Who Is This Boy for this year’s Barricade Day. Lyrics are below the cut! 

Grantaire: Grace Connallon Enjolras: Julia S. @alto-arietis​ Piano and Orchestrations by Aaron Reed Lyrics by Muse Lee, Ruby Chan-Frey, and Teddy Hall

ExR Lyrics in italics, original ARISTOS lyrics are normal! [GRANTAIRE] Who is this boy? His noise and his danger? We took the world by storm  ‘till your dark flag was torn Apollo had to be a martyr I’ve loved a boy I’ve watched his endeavors  But there’s a day he rose and took a lion’s pose And I learned we don’t have forever I’ve grown too brave for pretending But then the darkness meets your deathless gaze  It feels like this will be a bright forever Memory’s like a dream and I’m so close to waking Be serious, I’m wild Each word is a challenge And sunrise is falling Like the ashes of tomorrow [ENJOLRAS] Who is this boy? He stands and bears witness? Our new world is bright and tender in his eyes How can I permit this? [GRANTAIRE] Is this the boy Who no man can frighten?  Atop his barricade, amidst the mess he’s made And so like a child again Yet through the haze he is bending towards the sun  Like a bowstring yields to let its arrows blaze He’ll raise his flag and lead us to our freedom And it’s almost real and I can’t help the ache  And swiftly I’m falling through heavenly thunder He’s taking my hand as his eyes fill with wonder [BOTH] Who is this boy? Who is this boy? Who is this boy? I think that I love this boy

[falcqns]

an apostles redemption

Pairing: August Walker x OFC (Grace Walker)

Warnings: fluff, swearing, family angst, mention of nuclear weapons and firearms, facial injury, mention of anxiety disorder and anxiety attacks, implied smut

A/N: hope you enjoy!

chapter one | chapter two | chapter three |

Trust To Be Gained

A few hours later, as August was sleeping soundly in bed, Grace decided to give her family a call.

She hadn't spoken to her sister in two years, and she hadn't been to see her mom in a few months. She usually went and visited when August was on a mission, but she didn't go on his last one, at his request, which she understood why now. If she hadn't been home when she found out about Kashmir, she wouldn't have returned to Washington, which he wanted her to do.

Her hands shook as she pressed the call button, and held the phone up to her ear. It rang a few times, before she heard her mom's voice.

"Gracie! Where've you been sweetie? You haven't answered us in a while," Her mom began.

Grace took a deep breath, but explained. "I was going to call yesterday morning, but I forgot. August is alive, and here with me." She began, before her mother cut her off.

"Alive? How? He took a metal hook to the head!" Her mom exclaimed.

"He was hit with the hook, but it bounced off his face. He has a big burn on the side of his face, but he's recovering. He's starting to look a lot better," She explained. Her eyes fell on 'What We Owe To Each Other,' which was on the kitchen counter, where August had left it. "He's also going to be working to be a better person, and gain everyones trust back, including our family's."

"Do you trust him?" Her mom asked in a serious tone.

Grace sighed, and felt her eyes watering. "It's getting there. He seems sorry, and has been very emotional the past few days, and has done everything I've asked him to. I mean, I love him, and I want to help him," She said, a stray tear falling down her right cheek.

Her mother heard the emotion in her youngest daughter's voice and reassured her. "That's exactly what he needs right now. Your love. We both know that he loves you with his whole being, and will do anything to make sure you are safe and happy. He's going to be okay, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I do." She whispered, more tears spilling.

"Why don't you two come and stay for a few days. Julia is here, and she misses you so so much. I'd like to see you again too, baby. I think it would be good for the two of you, to get out of Washington," Her mom mentioned.

"I agree. I'll let Sloane know and we'll head out tomorrow," She said.

"Okay, good. I can't wait to see you," Her mom whispered, emotion present in her voice as well.

"Me too. Don't tell Julia though, I want to surprise her." She said, and she heard her mom giggle.

"Okay, love. Have a good night, and let me know when you're on your way, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, goodnight," She said, before hanging up.

She made a quick call to Sloane who agreed that family time would be best right now, and gave her permission to take him out of state.

She placed her phone and made the journey back up the stairs. Just as she made it to the top, the door to the bedroom opened, and a black wall came at her face. She quickly realized it was August reaching out to hug her.

"Oh, thank god," He whispered in her ear. She felt a small tear land on her shoulder.

"What's wrong, Auggie baby?" She said in a gentle tone.

"I woke up and you weren't in the bed or the bathroom and I got so scared. I thought you left or someone took you," He said, as his breathing slowed the longer he held her.

"No ones going to take me away from you baby, and I won't leave." she whispered in his ear, running her right hand up and down his spine, her other hand coming to rest on his hip. He nodded, and allowed Grace to lead him back to the bed. He laid down on his back, and pulled Grace into him, so her upper body was on his. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and smiled at her when she looked him in the eyes.

Grace reached her hand out and placed it on his jaw, rubbing her thumb along his stubble that disappeared into his scar.

"We're going to Virginia tomorrow," She whispered.

"Why? To see your mom?" He asked.

Grace nodded. "She misses me, and she misses you. She's not mad at you. Julia will be there too and she's not mad either." She reassured him.

August nodded, and pressed a kiss into her palm, before he wrapped his arms tighter around Grace, and they drifted off asleep.

The next morning, the couple woke up early, and packed for their trip. Grace packed her stuff, as well as Kal's, while August packed his, and emptied to fridge of anything that would go bad over the trip, and took it to the road. They both made coffee, and were on the road by 6:30 am, and headed to Virginia.

The trip was going to take 3 hours, and August wasn't planning on talking too much, instead allowing Grace to sleep. But as soon as they were out of their neighbourhood, Grace connected her phone to the car's speaker and began to play Babylon by 5SOS, which was one of August's favourite songs.

They continued to sing along to some of their favourite songs, and eventually put on a podcast when they hit the highway, so August didn't get too distracted. Grace eventually drifted off, as did Kal, who was spread out on the backseat of August's Tesla.

August continued to drive, until he felt his stomach rumble, and his car told him it needed a charge. He saw a sign for a charging station in a Cracker Barrel parking lot, and headed towards the exit. Grace was awoken by the sudden change in direction.

"Where are we going?" She asked, groggily. August smiled, and placed his right hand on her left thigh, his thumb rubbing the soft skin through her sweatpants.

"The car needs a charge, and I'm hungry, as I'm sure you are. The charging station is in a Cracker Barrel parking lot, so I'm thinking we go there for lunch." Grace smiled at him.

"I agree, wholeheartedly. I want some friggen biscuits." She said, which made August chuckle.

They pulled off into the parking lot, and got out. August turned the car into Pet Mode, and plugged it in. Kal was still sleeping, so he didn't even notice his mom and dad leaving.

They were quickly seated in the dining area, and began to look over the breakfast menu.

"I know what you'll be having, Auggie," She said. "Old Timer's Breakfast," Grace continued, and she descended into a fit of giggles. However, she didn't notice August throwing a balled up napkin at her head, which hit her square in the forehead.

"Hey! Rude!" She exclaimed with a huge smile on her face, while August had his head on the table, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

He lifted his head, which has a smile and a twinkle in his blue orbs. "You shouldn't have called me old then, love."

Grace shook her head, and continued to look at the menu.

Grace decided to have French Toast and biscuits on the side, while August decided to go with his wife's suggestion, The Old Timers Breakfast, with an extra order of biscuits, knowing Grace would probably eat his as well. Man, that girl loved biscuits.

Their food came shortly after, as they were one of the four couples in the restaurant. They didn't speak that much while they ate, August only looking up to glance at his wife, who was dancing slightly while she was eating, a tell tale sign that she was thoroughly enjoying her food.

They finished up, and headed back to the car, which was fully charged. Kal, who had not awoken the entire time, was startled when August opened the door, climbed in, and pressed the unlock button for Grace. Kal barked at his mom until she gave him some ear scratches, at which point he decided to crawl into the front seat to sit at Grace's feet.

"Kal! What are you doing buddy?" August said, leaning his head to the side to avoid contact with the dogs rear end. Grace, however, was laughing and helped the large Akita to where he wanted to go.

Once Kal was settled, August pulled the car out of the parking lot, and they continued to make their journey to Virginia. They still had an hour and a half to go, so Grace put on another podcast, but didn't drift off.

They had a conversation about how things were going to go in Virginia. Grace knew if she trusted August, so would her mom, so she didn't have to worry, but Julia (and most likely Erik) would be a different story. Julia would need time to warm up to him and trust him again, which both Grace and August understood, and were okay with.

Kal eventually drifted off once again, so August and Grace kept their voices down on order to not wake him.

Not that much longer passed, until August was pulling into Grace's childhood home. He had been here a few times before, when he was dating Grace, but hadn't been in a few months.

Grace noticed he was nervous, and reached out for his hand, which he gladly gave.

"It's gonna be okay, love." She whispered, and he nodded, before opening the door. He headed to the trunk to grab the bags, so Grace led Kal inside, and journeyed to the kitchen to find her mother, who was making lunch for everyone.

"Hi, mama," She said, and walked over to give her mom a hug.

"Hello angel,"Her mom said, hugging her daughter tight to her chest. "Where's August?" She asked, but her question was answered when August walked into the kitchen holding their bags. Her mom smiled, and they hugged as well.

"Wheres Julia?" Grace asked her mother.

"She's in her old room. Erik isn't here though, he went for a job interview." She said, and the three of them headed out of the kitchen. "Why don't you guys go get settled, I'm going to finish lunch, I just have to go and grab some stuff I forgot, okay?"

The couple nodded and headed up the first set of stairs, and into Graces room.

It wasn't overly large, about half the size of her and Augusts bedroom, but it was still a good size.  Grace had a queen bed that was in the middle of the room, with white bedding, and light pink and grey pillows. The light pink and grey theme continued throughout her whole room. Her walls were a eggshell white, and the baseboards were grey. her desk sat in the corner of the room, with a large hutch sitting on top. She had minimal wall decor, only her high school diploma and a few awards she won during school, which she assumed her mom hung up after she moved out, 2 years prior.

"Why don't I unpack, and you can go see Julia?" August suggested, while he sat the bags down, and walked over to Grace to wrap his arms around her. She smiled up at him, and pressed a small kiss to his lips.

"Okay," She said, before heading out of the bedroom, and up another flight of stairs to Julia's room. She knocked on the door, and heard a faint "Come In!" from Julia. She took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Julia was facing away from her, putting some washing into her dresser. When she heard the door open, she started to turn around.

"I could have come down Mo-," She began, but stopped when she saw that it wasn't her mom, but Grace standing there. "Gracie?" She whispered, as her eyes started to tear up.

"Hi, Jules." Grace said back, her tears forming as well. Julia dropped her shirt that she had been folding on the ground and ran over to her little sister, wrapping her up in her arms.

"Oh my god. I've missed you so much baby." Julia whispered in her ear.

Grace sniffled before talking. "I missed you too. Thank you for the package."

Julia released her, and led her over to sit together on the bed.

"Did Ethan get the postcard okay?" she asked, and ran her fingers through Grace's hair. Grace nodded.

"He said that he hopes you're doing okay after what happened, and that you're safe," She said. Julia smiled, and wrapped her arms around her little sister again.

"Did Mom tell you what we talked about on the phone yesterday?" Grace asked. Julia nodded.

"All she said was that August was alive and at home with you. I was a little worried and almost drove to Washington to make sure you were okay and safe, but Mom convinced me not to, which I now understand why," Julia said, her hand never leaving Grace's hair. Grace smiled at her.

"He's doing better. His face is healing, and he's working on gaining trust back. He'll start working with Sloane and the IMF to redeem himself but Sloane agreed that some family time would be good for him right now. I'm hoping to convince him to talk to his mom and let her know he's okay, but I haven't asked yet." She said. Julia smiled at her.

"I'm glad he's getting better. He tried to convince me to go with him, but I didn't know why, so I didn't go. It sounds like it wouldn't have been good if I did. What exactly happened?"

Grace smiled. "Auggie was in one helicopter, and Ethan was in another. Ethan was trying to get his helicopter out of the sky, and they ended up colliding. They fell into a crevice in the mountains, Ethan's helicopter fell, and hit Auggie's a few times. On the second time, a tube came out of the helicopter and sprayed Auggie in the side of the face with helicopter fuel. Then the helicopters fell out of the crevice, and dropped them on a cliff. They fought a little, and both ended going over the side, but were saved by a hook which was attached to one of the helicopters. Eventually they both climbed off of it and Ethan tugged on it, which caused it to come off the mountain and the hook hit Auggie in the forehead. It bounced off, but the force of the impact caused Auggie to fall backwards and he went tumbling down the mountain. He then told me that he ended up by the river, so he cleaned his face. He hid in a cave for a while, until he remembered that the Apostles had a safe house a few miles away, so he made his way over there, and attempted to sew up his face. The Apostles got him back into the country and back to me. He has since cut off all contact with them." She finished, and Julia's eyes were wide.

"How did he do on the stitches?" Julia asked with a smile on her face.

Grace giggled. "They were bad. I replaced them, but I'm kind of hoping you can look at them, since you're the nurse," Grace said.

Julia nodded. "Of course I will. Is he in your room?" She asked, and Grace nodded, before she led her to where August was. They found August in Grace's bedroom, on the floor, wrestling with Kal.

He looked up when the sisters walked in the room, and smiled apprehensively at Julia, who gave him warm smile back. He stood up, and sat on the bed at Grace's instruction.

"Julia's just going to check your injuries." Grace said, and peeled the bandage off.

Julia moved to inspect them. "They look good, really good actually," Julia said, reaching her hand out to give Grace a high five. She moved to inspect his burn. "His burn is looking better, but its going to be a long healing process. He may need burn treatment at a hospital but I think he'll be find without it. You'll have a scar, but it will be barely noticeable. Does it hurt at all?"

August nodded. "usually only when water hits it, or I touch it too much." He said.

"I've been putting burn cream on it to help with his pain. It tends to look a little red and angry in the morning but is fine once the cream is on it." Grace interjected, and pulled the cream out of the half empty bag on the bed. Julia took it and inspected it.

"This will definitely help with the pain, but I'd take him to a doctor to get a prescription cream, just to be on the safe side," Julia said, and reapplied the bandage onto August's forehead.

August nodded. "Thank you," He said, giving Julia a warm smile. "I also want to apologize for everything that happened,' He said quietly, not meeting Julia's eyes.

Grace and Julia shared a look, and Grace knew she wanted to speak to him in peace, so Grace left them, and headed down stairs to wait for her mom.

Julia took a seat on the bed. "I forgive you for what happened August. I may not know everything about you, and maybe it was because I never got the chance to know you well, but I want to." August smiled, his eyes still fixed on his sock covered feet.

"I'm very protective of Grace. I was 24 when she was born, and even though she wasn't my child, she felt like it. Our mom worked very hard to raise her after our dad died, and Rick and I were the only ones still living at home, so we would take over the role of parenting when Mom was working long shifts. When I found out she was dating you, I became scared." Julia whispered, and August finally looked up from his feet to meet her gaze. "When Ethan and I were together, he had told me about who you were, and what you did. He told me that everyone called you 'The Hammer', and you didn't take crap from anyone. Obviously, he didn't know you well, so I only got one side of the story."

August smiled small. "I love her with all my heart. I have since the moment I met her. I don't know what it was, but, when I saw her walk into the same elevator as me, it hit me like a ton of bricks. All I could think of was how beautiful she was, and how much I wanted to get to know her. I knew in that moment that I was so in love with her, and I barely knew her. I knew from our first date that she was going to be the one I marry, which is why I proposed so quick, and why we got married so quick. I wanted to protect her, and love her." He said, his voice breaking at the end, a stray tear falling from his eye. "I don't deserve her. She deserves so much more than me, but I thank God everyday that she loves me. When I came home from Kashmir and asked her to help me, she did without a second thought. She's held me every time I've woken up crying, every time I have an anxiety attack, and she's helping me to be better. I love her so much, and I want you to know I would never do anything to hurt her, I promise." He finished, looking up at Julia, who wrapped her arms around him.

"I see that now. I saw the way your eyes lit up with love when you saw her walk into the room, and how you kept looking at her for reassurance. Mom has told me stories of how her mental health wasn't the greatest a few months ago, so you dropped everything and took her to Disney World. She told me how you bring her little gifts from everywhere you go, and you gave her a burner phone so she can contact you on missions. I see it now, and I'm sorry that I didn't see that before. I hate that I missed out on so much of her marriage. I missed out on her engagement party, I missed the wedding, I missed everything. All because of my view of you." Julia said.

August smiled. "I plan on proposing again, so she can have the proper wedding she's always wanted, I just don't know when."

Julia immediately wrapped her arms around him. "I may not fully trust you yet, but I trust you with her. I trust that you won't hurt her." August smiled, and hugged her back, before Grace was calling them down for lunch. Julia immediately left the room, August following not far behind.

"Hey baby," Grace said, and pulled his face down for a kiss. August smiled.

"Hey angel," He responded, pressed another gentle kiss to her lips. Grace's arms went from his shoulders to his waist, and her mouth deepened the kiss. August's right hand came up to caress her face while the left settled on her waist, pulled her flush against him, and let out a breathless moan at the feeling of his wife pressed into him.

"Hey! When y'all are done eating each others faces, come and get lunch!" They heard a male voice shout. They immediately separated, and laughed when they saw that it was Rick, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, that faced the hallway.

"Hey Rick," August said, before following his wife into the kitchen.

"Hey, August! I thought you were dead, bro - HEY!" He exclaimed at Grace's fist coming into contact rather hard with his stomach.

[harryandmolly]

Complicit // 12

summary: Shawn is under more pressure than he’s ever known. He craves release and comfort, the simplicity of sex. He gets more than he bargained for.

warnings: language, NSFW (unprotected sex), the girl from Ipanema

WC: 8.2k

----------

Shawn bobs his head and chews at his lip. His smile is anxious, despite the elated, conspiratorial expressions on everyone else in the room. They know very well they have a hit on their hands. They’re too distracted by their own excitement to notice that the man who gave it to them isn’t all there.

Shawn finished Mia’s song when he got home from the premiere that night. The next day, without having slept a wink, he called the team to the studio. They didn’t change a single word or note before recording it. Teddy told him it’s the best song he’s ever written. Shawn thinks, for once, he didn’t need to hear it from someone else.

Shawn plows ahead, fixated on the idea of using the single as a surprise pre-album drop to boost even more interest. It has radio hit written all over it. He wants it out before the end of the summer. His label and Andrew came back to him with a new idea.

The song would make a gorgeous duet, they tell him. Bex is riding high on her album sales; featuring her on the single would be great for them both, the perfect crescendo. They could push back their breakup, originally planned for the end of August, to after Shawn’s album releases in September to capitalize on the public interest.

He readily agrees. Honestly, it’s a great idea. Bex’s vocals would be the perfect addition to the track. Releasing a single together now after going official for the first time on a red carpet at the premiere makes sense. It’s a solid strategy.

Shawn is vibrating in place as he listens to Bex’s isolated vocals that she recorded while rehearsing for her fall tour in London. They’re ready to be mixed with his. He knows he should be excited. This is going to work. It’s going to be the thing that pushes this summer over the top and makes every awkwardly photographed kiss, every instance of sneaking out of a hotel room in a cab so it looks like they stayed the night together, every night spent away from the woman he loves, all worth it.

But it doesn’t completely overshadow the fact that he’s releasing the song he wrote for said woman with his fake PR girlfriend.

Shawn drops his head into his hands and closes his eyes to focus. After a few minor tweaks, her vocals are perfect. To be fair, if he had to share this song with anyone, he would choose Bex. She’s an incredible artist and vocalist and he’s honored to share a track with her. But when he thinks about Mia turning on the radio in her Passat on the way to pilates with Silver, hearing it for the first time stuck in traffic on La Brea, he feels a little sick.

When the track ends, he sits up and pastes on a proud smile. Teddy glances at him. The rest of the eyes in the room follow. After a moment, he nods.

“It’s ready to cut. When can I hear a mix?”

+

Since the single would debut too close to the voting deadline for the MTV VMAs to qualify for awards, they decided to premiere the song live as the show opener instead. It’s a bold idea and probably would fall flat if not for all the “Shex” shippers that ravenously await any documentation of their relationship, but since they’re still the hottest couple of the summer, it’s just crazy enough to work.

At least, this is what Mia infers based on her knowledge of the situation and the fact that Shawn never mentioned he was working on something new. She figures compartmentalizing around her made sense.

Mia watches the VMAs with Peter on FaceTime. He took the night off from FaceTiming with Xander the TA and generously offered to bash the hell out of Bex’s red carpet and show looks if it would help, even though he knew it wouldn’t. Mia turned him down. He’s glad she did. Bex looks incredible and it would be hard to pretend she didn’t come to slay.

Shawn glows in a sharp white suit that Peter jokes must’ve been nicked from Silver’s closet. He looks tan and healthy and excited and he’s still doing his prayer hands and peace signs on the red carpet so for all that’s changed in the past few months, at least that hasn’t. Bex is in a gold minidress to complement him. They look like modern Greek deities. Peter mercifully decides not to comment.

She and Peter talk over the rest of the red carpet coverage with the exception of the stunned silence they fall into when Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas arrive.

“I still can’t believe you’ve had sex with her. She’s the one woman on the planet I’d bone,” Peter whispers reverently into the phone.

Mia relives the night in a welcome flash and hums through a smug grin. “I’m a lucky girl.”

She feels lucky right up until the spotlight falls on Shawn at the piano and he starts singing a song about a woman who makes him feel free, joined by the woman that represents everything that traps him.

+

The headlines haunt her. “So in love,” they extol, “You can see it in every moment of their performance.”

Song of the Summer! Shawn Mendes and Bex Debut New Duet Single at the VMAs

Bex and Shawn Mendes STUN With New Single in VMAs Show Opener

“Fuck off!” Mia shouts at her phone, not safe even from her Instagram explore page these days. She flings it on the bed and watches it bounce, hoping for a rash moment that it’ll take a dive off her mountain of pillows that still smell like him if she squints, and smash against the floor. It would save her from herself.

It’s not like she believes the headlines, obviously. It’s the mix of everything that’s come along with the song and her self-imposed exile from him that’s getting at her. 

It’s been a few weeks since she ditched her secret identity and only hours later asked him to leave. She’s been feeling twitchy. She’d love to blame it on the lack of dates she’s had recently, contributing to the lack of sufficient orgasms, but even she can’t kid herself on that front.

But the quiet hasn’t helped. August is always slow. Clients go on family vacations, not the kind they invite their domme to. She usually spends August in Italy with Peter, but he’s taking classes over the summer semester and is cozied up to his TA, so she and Pammy stare at each other for most of the day and eat Rice Krispies.

Despite her twitchiness, the idea of reaching out to Shawn still feels too much, too soon. She doesn’t want to call him again until she’s decided definitively how to move forward. Or if there’s anywhere to go at all.

Thank god she has Julia.

While many of her clients get busier in the summer with families or trips, Julia’s hefty international travel slows down in the summer, allowing her to hole up like she likes in her $50 million Bel Air mansion. 

Tonight, she’s coming out of her extremely luxurious cave and is inviting Mia with her for a rare outing. Despite the fact that Julia is openly gay, the media still doesn’t take an interest in any women she’s publicly photographed with, merely captioning them as Julia Granger and “female friend.”

The event in question is the LA Children Foundation’s annual silent auction. Julia knows Mia also appreciates the work LACF does and supports it financially, and so she invited her along. Mia, eager for company without a tail to wag, spends a full two hours thumbing through her outrageously large closet until she decides on a sky blue off-the-shoulder cocktail dress.

She forgoes the Frank and Ava necklace, just for now. She decides it’s too heavy for the occasion (in more than one way).

Strangers in the Night plays on vinyl. She swipes on Julia’s favorite deeply burgundy lipstick, knowing it’ll have her staring at her lips all night, which happens to be exactly what the doctor ordered on a night like this when Mia is so scattered she can barely pick out her shoes.

Gus stands in the doorway of the bathroom tonight, watching her with an odd sort of guarded affection, like he’s afraid if he doesn’t share his fatherly smile with her at all times, she’ll break down. She must look about as fragile as she feels. She resolves to buck up in the car so as not to let it affect her night with Julia. Gus plays a Dean Martin Spotify playlist and sings along to “That’s Amore.” She giggles and tries to harmonize.

Julia’s assistant Gracie is neat as a pin, waiting for her in the valet lane. Her legs are locked at the ankle and lengthened by a pair of Manolos Mia is sure Julia got her the last time they went to visit the flagship store in Chelsea. Her grin is wide and looks stuck on her face. Maybe her stranglingly tight ponytail is holding it in place. Mia dips her head and airkisses her cheek.

Gracie rattles on, prepping Mia for her boss’s mood. She had an irritating call from partners in Milan that had her on edge. Gracie’s been plying her with champagne for the last half hour since the start of cocktails. Mia nods patiently, wondering when and if Julia will realize how madly in love Gracie is with her. Maybe if Gracie ever decides to let the ponytail down and make Julia obey her for once, they can get somewhere.

Julia stands surrounded by a group of men in dark suits at the top of the stairs. Her hair is crimson and lying in soft waves down her back rather than up in the French twist she usually sports. It’s set off by her emerald cocktail dress and stunningly high black patent leather Brian Atwoods.

Mia squares her shoulders and waits patiently, with Gracie standing just behind, arms meekly crossed over her front. Julia seems to feel her presence. She turns her head, the chandelier of the hotel ballroom backlighting her aristocratic profile. Her voice trails off and her smile spreads slow and sweet.

“Gentlemen, that’s enough shop talk. My guest has arrived.”

They fall away. Their curious glances are quickly forgotten. Julia turns to face Mia as she strolls toward her, looking her up and down a little hungrily.

“You look lovely,” Julia breathes. They don’t touch, but the moment is charged and intimate even without a brush of fingers or lips. 

“Thank you,” Mia replies, a little hollow in its smoothness. Behind her, Gracie falls away with a sad smile.

Julia guides Mia around the perimeter of the pre-auction cocktail hour. They drink champagne with strawberries and whisper-giggle gossip updates about the characters they see at these events. Julia tells her about the affairs, the divorces, the bankruptcies and scandals that get trampled beneath the expensive footwear of the well-to-do, never to make it to the gossip columns. Some secrets are worth the price it takes to bury them.

The ballroom is sumptuously decorated, hung with lavish velvet drapings and glittering with dozens of chandeliers. Under her breath, Julia quietly mutters her distaste for the opulence of it, the tired tradition of spending as much on a fundraiser as what ends up being made from it. She voices her pledge to donate at least half as much as was spent on the elegant trappings, but is interrupted by a sparkling, loud laugh from beside one of the auction tables. Julia’s and Mia’s heads lift at the same time.

Bex appears taller in person, like she’s all leg. She’s in a glamorous red halter dress with a high bejeweled neckline and an alluring but still somehow appropriate slit up her thigh. Her hair is pinned up to show off her smooth back and the swallow-emblazoned hand that rests at the base of it.

He’s grinning at Bex as genuinely as Mia’s ever seen him. He’s in a dark green suit that makes his eyes look lighter, chestnutty even from fifteen feet away. His hand rests against her skin, unmoving but comfortably low. Mia studies it, waiting to see if his thumb caresses her in a silent, private hello. It remains there until he can feel her gaze. He looks up. His smile drops. Mia turns away.

She can see Julia is speaking to her, watches her smooth, rosy lips as they move, but she can’t hear. She tries to tuck hair behind her ear and lean in, blindly searching for focus, but it doesn’t help. She’s gone fucking numb.

Julia smiles a little nervously and tucks a hand around the side of Mia’s neck in a rarely public tender gesture. Mia blinks quickly and steps closer, pressing her hand into Julia’s hip.

“I’m here, I’m sorry,” Mia murmurs, dropping her eyes guiltily.

Julia doesn’t speak, just thumbs at the Van Cleef sapphire drop earring hanging from Mia’s ear and guides them through the loop of auction tables.

Shawn feels dazed. He can’t imagine how he even walked into a room without feeling her there. He feels like a once carefully tuned sensor in him is broken. Maybe it’s because even as he watches her from afar, he can see she’s not fully there.

Bex subs in for the rest of their inane conversation after he checks out to stare at her. She’s with Julia Granger, undoubtedly the second-most powerful woman in the room. To Shawn, Mia still ranks above her.

She looks a little… lost. Shawn’s never seen her look so out of place. Physically, of course, she blends right in the way a good courtesan should -- not overdressed, not under, not too loud, not too quiet, the perfect date. There’s something radiating anxiety from inside her. He wants nothing more than to cup her pretty face in his hands and make it go away.

He holds on to Bex a little tighter and laughs politely when he’s supposed to. He tries not to look at the escort formerly known as Penny for the rest of the night.

+

The driver doesn’t open the door for Mia right away when they park under the entryway of Julia’s palatial home. Mia glances at Julia, who’s smiling back warmly. She takes Mia’s hand and holds it in her lap.

“Was bound to happen sometime, I think,” Julia muses in a voice that sounds so much like Silver’s, Mia almost shivers.

“Hmm?” she croaks.

“I imagine your job to be one of the most dangerous I can think of. The truth is, you’re always operating right on the edge of love with every client. I’ve been with you long enough to feel it. It’s what makes you so excellent at what you do.”

She doesn’t look or sound remotely upset or disappointed, just resigned and, somehow, hopeful. She traces the lines of Mia’s palm, watching her muscles flutter with a wistful smile.

Mia’s lips are parted. It’s not often she’s blindsided by a client, especially Julia. She can read Julia like a fucking book; it’s the reason Julia’s always valued her so highly.

“So it makes sense, I think, that you fell over the edge with someone. Honestly, it’s amazing it’s never happened before. But that’s what makes you so fucking good at this job. You were able to put in so much of yourself, but never too much. Not until you met him.”

Mia squirms uncomfortably. Julia looks up from her palm and closes her hands around it. She lifts it to her lips.

“You must be so scared,” Julia breathes, shaking her head, “This changes everything for you.”

Mia’s eyes prick with tears, seemingly out of nowhere. She balks. Flight instincts flare hard in her gut and pump through her weary veins.

“Julia, I--”

“I don’t demand an explanation. That’s never how this was going to work with us. You may be one of my closest friends, but I was never one of yours. That’s ok. That’s what this is supposed to be. You’ve given me everything I needed when I needed it, and I’ll always love you for that, Penny. You’re a marvel of a human being and I’m honored to have experienced you. I hope you know I’d do anything for you at any time. I also hope, maybe someday, that we can be friends.”

Mia breathes through a sob. She claps her free hand over her mouth and struggles to regain some kind of footing. It’s a free fall and Julia is watching and waving.

Julia releases her hand at the exact moment her driver opens her door. She pauses for a moment, watching Mia scramble in a way she’s never seen.

“Can I kiss you?” she murmurs. Mia hesitates, then nods.

The kiss is soft and lingering, one of a million, but one in a million. When they pull away, Mia can breathe again.

“Aleksandr will take you home, he just needs your address. I meant what I said, Penny. Anything you need, ever.”

With one last heartbreakingly beautiful smile, Julia lets Aleksandr help her out of the car. Mia watches her walk away. She cries all the way home.

+

It’s just past dawn. All of Los Angeles is a shade of blue. The Studio City hills are a deep, earthy teal against the powder sky. The simmering palms tickled by the morning breeze around Mia’s back patio are cobalt. Even the wind itself is blue. To complement it all, she’s in an ice blue satin slip, padding around barefoot, counting her steps while she waits for an appropriate time to call.

5:43 AM is hardly an appropriate time to be doing anything but sleeping, but she’s almost sick with anticipation, so she hits the call button and waits. She knows she won’t get his voicemail. She just knows.

“Hey,” he pants groggily.

“Are you alone?”

She hears herself ask and frowns, unsure where it came from. He makes an aggravated chuckling sound.

“Yes, yeah, I’m alone.”

“Ok,” she whispers, propping herself up against the pollen-coated patio table. The silty feeling of it beneath her fingers is somehow calming, or maybe it’s the sound of his breathing as it slows.

“Mia?” he murmurs after a few moments.

Her brow furrows. She’s not used to the name anymore, and definitely not from him. If she were a shred more desperate, she’d ask him to say it again and again until she could play it in her head the way she can play “It Was A Very Good Year.”

“I’m here.”

He goes quiet. She doesn’t mind. Knowing he’s there is enough.

“Did… you bid on anything at that auction?”

His question takes her by surprise. She snorts and shakes her head.

“No. Julia did, she won a week at a spa in the Berkshires. She’s giving it to her assistant Gracie as a perk.”

She can hear him smile gracefully when he says, “That’s nice.”

The silence is as dense as the blue at the bottom of the canyon below her. She’d gladly swim in it if it meant more time. She’s beginning to think this phone call was unfair. She still has nothing to say to him. She can barely form words.

He sighs. “I miss you so fucking much.”

Mia squeezes her eyes shut. He always gives her what she needs.

“We can fix that.”

His pause is charged and hopeful. His voice sounds a little brighter, more awake when he speaks again.

“I have… kind of a crazy idea if you’re up for it.”

“Those are usually my favorite kind.”

+

After all that blue, Mia embraces the color.

It seems all of Rio de Janeiro is color. It’s vibrant even from several thousand feet as she descends through the clouds in her first class cabin after a 16 hour journey from Los Angeles. 

She got on the plane only a few hours after she accepted Shawn’s invitation to join him for his final festival of the summer. He’s set to headline the third night of Rock in Rio in front of some 80,000 people. It’s the biggest show of his career so far. And he wants her there for him. She didn’t even hesitate.

She speed-packed every sundress, bikini and pair of sandals she could find in fifteen minutes and frantically called Gus for a ride to the airport. Pammy came along in the car, destined for another visit with Gus and his family for a few days while Mia jetsets.

Shawn sends a car to pick her up. She cruises along the crystalline blue water, past craggy mountain peaks and through bright pastel favelas filled with life and food and music. The violent swing from her quiet Mia life to Penny’s vibrant one is more jarring than usual. She blames the long flight hangover for her unsettled state. But there’s no time to settle. She’s being whisked straight to the team’s rented villa in São Conrado to freshen up before heading to the venue.

It’s sunset as they wind up the mountains of Joatinga and Mia wonders how they’ll ever reach the top. They ascend through a sparsely populated neighborhood of chic, modern villas until they reach a cobblestone drive spiked with weeds that leads to the top of the hill. The villa at first glance is modest, flat-roofed and lined with lush tropical plants. The inside is sprawling, 8 bedrooms, eclectically furnished and decorated, with an infinity pool that seems to spill over the cliff and down onto Pepino Beach. She wants to wander, but the driver tells her they need to leave for the venue in 45 minutes.

Loud is the language of Brazilian nightlife, so she appears back in the foyer in a gauzy mustard yellow minidress and her clunky red platforms, shimmering as she walks with bangles up her arm and strings of beads around her neck.

Back down the mountain they go, descending from the balancing quiet to the screech of chaos that is Rock in Rio. Shawn has been at the Cidade do Rock since early afternoon. She can only imagine that he’s a spiky bundle of nerves sitting in the dressing room now. Her heart rate quickens as they draw closer through the maze of traffic to the artist and guest entrance. She recognizes all of a sudden that she might be as nervous as he is.

She’s escorted through security and the waves of people milling around deep in the bowels of the venue. She can feel the many, many thousands of people outside at the stage. The walls vibrate with their energy and their noise. The show is between acts -- another artist is next before Shawn’s headlining set. Mia doesn’t know who. She doesn’t even know if she’ll see him before he goes on.

Her escort pauses to take a phone call. She stands behind him, towering over him in her tall shoes, feeling more like a first time prostitute than when she was one. She tucks her arms behind her to hide her fiddling fingers. Her stomach swoops hard when the unthinkably large crowd cheers for something she can’t see. Mia swears her brain is about to short circuit when her guide leads her to a door, knocks, and positions her in front of it. He starts to walk away. She struggles with her Portuguese to protest, but the door swings open.

“Thank god,” Shawn breathes, yanking her inside by her awkwardly outstretched hand. When the door shuts behind them, the sound of festival chaos is mercifully muffled.

His eyes are darting, his hair is bouncy and free of paste, he’s sweating through a white t-shirt and wetting his lips. The piece of her she needs right now falls into place. She steps into him and tucks her warm hands around his clammy neck.

“There he is,” she whispers, resting her forehead against his. The breath he shakily releases against her lips smells like wintergreen. He drops his hands to her hips, his thumbs rubbing into the light floss of her dress’s material.

Mia’s eyes are closed. Her smile is perfectly tranquil as her heartbeat finally slows to normal. She plucks at some curls against his neck with her fingers.

“Are you bricking it?”

He chuckles and she likes the way his throat vibrates against her palms and through her whole body. His nose bumps hers.

“Completely.”

She nods, not enough to dislodge where they’re connected. She brushes the tip of her freckled nose against his until she can hear him smile. She pulls away to look at him.

He already looks slightly less manic than he did when she walked in. She’s helping. It’s as calming to her as it is to him. To Mia, there’s no drug like being able to relax someone.

“What are you doing in here all by yourself?” she murmurs, guiding him by the hand to the overstuffed couch. They sit together easily, like their last few encounters are a distant memory, like it’s late June again. Shawn curls an arm around her, she slips a leg over his and lets his hand wander up and down her slightly stubbly calf.

“I’m supposed to be meditating,” he grunts, “And… I wanted time with you when you got here. Alone. Not-- like, I mean, you know, just to see you, not-- I mean, not to just--”

“Hey, I know,” Mia soothes with a gentle smile. She read on him when she walked in that he doesn’t want to be fucked right now, he wants to be held. So that’s what she’ll do.

His shoulders relax a little when he sees the understanding on her face. She massages the guitar tattoo on his forearm and lets him press his nose into her hair.

“Also, I didn’t exactly tell anyone I invited you.”

Mia’s brows raise. Shawn slowly raises his head to look at her sheepishly.

“Interesting choice,” Mia hums, waiting for an explanation.

He wets his lips. “It happened really fast. I had the idea when we got out here but I didn’t know if you were going to call, but then you did and I just said it because I wanted you here, I need you here with me so badly, especially tonight. And I know all the stuff with Bex is still happening, with the single and everything it’s an even bigger deal than before and I knew Andrew wasn’t going to like it even if I just said you’re my friend, he’s really conscious of the image shit right now so I just decided to keep you… a surprise.”

Mia decides for now not to comment on the single and the “Bex stuff.” Instead she nods gamely and tucks her face into his neck for a kiss. The goosebumps she missed on him flare hot. He hums and cuddles her a little closer.

“Thank you so much, Mia,” he breathes, tangling his fingers in the ends of her salt-sprayed hair. She lifts her head to regard him. His sincerity makes her ache.

Mia sighs, like it’s all just inevitable, and she supposes it is, at least tonight. She pulls one hand up from the back of his neck into his silky hair and holds him fast for a kiss.

She starts slow, relearning the curve of his soft mouth and the way his pulse quickens under her fingers when she touches him like this. She listens for the little throaty noise of pleasure from his chest and continues a little deeper, massaging his scalp as she explores well-documented territory with her mouth and hands until they’re both gasping and grasping, high on it.

A knock at the door interrupts them. Mia sits back with her eyes wide and her lips swollen. Shawn wipes his mouth and clears his throat.

“Yeah?”

Andrew pops his head in. His expression changes from neutral to utter bafflement so fast Mia almost laughs.

“Wh--”

“Andrew, you remember Mia, right? You met at the 4th of July party.”

Shawn says it with such confidence that Mia and Andrew both stare at him in shock. Shawn doesn’t seem to care at all that Mia was introduced under a different name then, and left the party under disreputable circumstances after leaving him with a litter of hickeys up his neck, to Andrew’s horror.

Andrew blinks. “What’s… going on?”

Shawn stands and takes Mia’s hand. She gapes, but rises and follows as he heads for the door Andrew’s standing in.

“Don’t worry, we’ll stay out of sight. This doesn’t have to be a huge deal.”

Andrew’s face says otherwise. Mia schools her expression to what she hopes is a casual one and follows Shawn out the door.

The rest of the team is clearly confused by her appearance but no one bothers to question it, especially given how much calmer their leader seems in her presence. Zubin offers Mia a caipirinha while Tiff gets Shawn into his chelsea boots, black jeans and silky crimson sleeveless button-up. 

Mia is energized by the big group send off to the stage. Shawn keeps her close as they make their way through the maze of doors and corridors to the side of the stage, past curious gazes and busy stagehands. It’s the first time Mia actually gets a look at it. She gapes at the size of the crowd.

It’s what can only be described as a sea of people. Hell, it’s a sea of people that probably extends right out to the sea. She presses a hand to her chest in astonishment. Shawn takes the other in his.

“Hey,” he nearly yells, “About the song. You… you know I wrote it for you, right?”

Mia hesitates, then nods.

“I know it’s probably weird that I had Bex sing on the track,” he calls back. Mia winces. This is such an odd time for this conversation. He seems to see the thought on her face.

“No, listen. I just need you to know just because I sang it with her doesn’t make it any less yours. It’s for you, Mia. Every time, it’s always just for you.”

A guitar tech hands off the Stratocaster. He strings it over his shoulder and scoops her in by the side of her neck for a bruising kiss, hidden from the world but blatant and obvious in front of his whole dumbstruck team.

He pulls away with a smirk like she’s never seen before. For a moment, she’s paralyzed with the certainty of the notion that she’s about to see something unlike anything she’s ever seen before.

He climbs up from the bottom of the stage. The sea of people releases a volcanic noise. Mia covers her nose and mouth, watching him stride up to the microphone and cry a greeting into it. Somehow, the crowd noise gets even fucking louder. She stares in awe as he reaches for a guitar pick off the mic stand and starts playing her song.

She thinks she knows why she’s felt so off her own feet and out of her own head now. It makes sense in that weird, nonsensical, cosmic vibrational way. The uncertainty and the dazedness of the last few days has been leading her to a truth she can’t avoid anymore, the ultimate imbalance.

Mia is so fucking in love with Shawn.

Maybe it was spending an evening watching him be the purest, most distilled version of himself in front of 80,000 ravenous fans that made her realize they could only hope to love him as much as she does. Because it feels so obvious now. Irreversible, even. This is it.

This is the end.

+

He comes off stage grinning wildly, all gleaming teeth and glistening sweat as he takes her willing body into his arms and swings her into another all-consuming kiss. She laughs into his mouth. He revels in it.

The reveling continues into the cars. There’s a whole line of SUVs queued up outside the venue, most of which are heading into the city in search of nightlife. One, however, per Shawn’s request, is taking them back up into the mountains to the villa. Andrew shades them with a wary look but otherwise drops it. Better that they tuck themselves away in their private nest than be seen “canoodling” in a Brazilian nightclub anyway.

The reveling ends in the car. Mia and Shawn are the only ones heading back early, even though it’s nearly 2am. It’s almost eerily quiet. They cling to each other like there’s some kind of invisible threat nearby looking to drag them apart. Shawn keeps a hand running through Mia’s sweaty hair while she sits practically in his lap, trailing single wet kisses along his cheek and jaw, tastes of what they can have more of when they’re finally really alone.

The driver stays in the driveway until Shawn locks the front door behind them. Mia stares out through the open floor plan to the infinity pool, lit from within. The city glows beneath them, far below until it meets the ocean. Mia thinks it’s appropriate that they’re on the edge of something.

Shawn wanders up behind her, the clack of his boots deafening against the hardwood in the silent villa. His hands are gentle on her hips. His nose skims her jugular. He holds his breath.

“What do you want, baby?” she murmurs, glancing around them, “The pool? Or maybe the window?”

This house is insane -- she has no shortage of ideas for locations.

Shawn releases the breath low and slow against her neck. Her entire body goes stiff and goosebumped. He plants a kiss at the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

“Want you in the bed. Please.”

Mia mashes her lips together and sighs through her nose. She supposes if she’s going to let herself have this with him, it may as well be all the way. She lifts her hand to cradle his head as he nuzzles her.

“Ok. Take me.”

Shawn smiles into her neck. He turns her by the hips and slowly lowers to one knee. Mia is about to question him when she realizes he’s working the buckle on her left shoe and kissing the inside of her thigh. She smiles and combs through his sweet smelling post-show shower hair. He switches legs and muffles a little groan into her skin when she tugs at him impatiently. He leaves her shoes sitting by the sofa and stands, lifting her legs around his hips as he does. She goes easily, swinging her arms around him with a whimper as he leads her toward his bedroom.

It’s vast and mostly empty with one long floor to ceiling window against the far wall opening up over the cliff. The enormous bed sits in the center of the room. Shawn takes her there, bracing himself on a knee as he lowers her into its cushiony softness without letting up on her lips. Mia holds him down with her, but it doesn’t matter, he wasn’t going anywhere anyway.

There’s something in the way they move together tonight. It’s as hot and slow and lazy as the humidity in the tropical trees outside the window. Instead of tugging at the straps of her dress, Shawn plants kisses over them, teases the skin beneath before reaching back up for another taste of her mouth. Instead of pushing at his jeans, Mia slides her hands up the back of his shirt, enjoying the way he gasps into her mouth. 

They’re taking what they’ve always wanted but been afraid to ask for. They’re reaching past comfortability and familiarity into true intimacy. It makes Mia’s arm hair stand on end like from a static charge. She dives deeper, deciding she may as well drown in it.

She slows the kiss he’s working on, pointing her toes and dragging them up the back of his leg. He whines sweetly into her mouth, making her smile.

“You taste good, Shawn,” she tells him, voice all warm gravel. He smiles into her lips and kisses the corner of her mouth.

“What do I taste like?”

Mia sucks him back in with a hum to decide. “Wintergreen.” She takes another taste. “Honey.” And another. “And a little bit of bourbon.” She nips at his lower lip. He laughs and lifts his hand to cradle her jaw, running his thumb against her lower lip.

He bites his lip, watching her press kisses to the bad of his finger when a few weeks ago she would’ve sucked on it until she demanded he drop his pants so she could suck on something else. But it’s different tonight. He molds his mouth back against hers so he doesn’t say something fucking stupid like you taste like forever.

Slowly, Shawn works Mia’s dress up her stubbly thighs, letting his fingers stretch and wander the patterns of freckles and stretchmarks in her skin. He admires the soft cushion around her hips and tummy and the swell of her ass. He gives it a teasing squeeze and she bites his lip.

“Take it off, Shawn.”

He doesn’t need to be told twice. He rolls her on top of him and shimmies her out of her pretty dress. He doesn’t have time to look her over before she descends on his neck, running her nose and mouth over all the places she likes to leave marks.

“Please, honey. Wanna see it. How much you want me,” he croaks.

Mia breathes him in slowly, savoring. She reaches for one of his hands off her hip and intertwines their fingers against the bed. Watching his fingers caress hers, she swipes her tongue just below his ear, where his skin is the very softest, like velvet. At his intake of breath, she nips and sucks, easing into a rhythm that she matches with the slow grinding of her hips.

“Jesus, Mia. Baby, you’re incredible.”

The name. She still can’t get used to him using her real name. She bites him a little too hard and winces when he stiffens. She apologizes with a hum and wet kiss until he tilts his head needily to find her lips again.

“Fucking love kissing you,” he breathes, snagging her lower lip between his teeth again with a little smile, groaning as her hips find his again.

Mia knows she has to get him naked soon or she’ll have them both coming in their damn underwear. She doesn’t want that rushed foolishness tonight. Not tonight, not like this. She wraps an arm around him, wriggling it between his broad back and the mattress, and pulls him over her. He hovers on a knee, still lost in kissing her. She slides a hand up his chest and pushes him up gently, sitting up with him as he straddles her thighs. 

Mia lifts the hem of his shirt up until he takes over, stretching his enormous arms over his head as he sheds his shirt behind them. His arms drop and start to reach for her. She leans in with a soft moan, eyes fluttering shut as she buries her face in his chest. Shawn pauses, cupping the back of her head.

“Mi--”

He cuts himself off when she starts to plant kisses all over his chest, her hands wandering his sides and back as she pleases. He loves it when she takes what she wants, especially when it’s his to give. His big fingers massage her scalp softly, marveling at the way she mewls against his skin like she missed it. He tilts his cheek against the top of her head. He knows the feeling.

Mia doesn’t want to let go. He’s perched in her lap, holding her as she clings to him, patiently enjoying her tender exploration of his chest despite how hard she can feel he is in his jeans. With a shuddering breath, she pulls back to look at him. He smiles warmly and tucks some hair behind her ear.

“Wasn’t sure I’d get this with you again.”

Her eyes drift shut. She noses at his chin. He sighs happily, helping lower her beneath him again so she’s beautifully surrounded by him. He presses his lips to her cheek and breathes with her, watching her fingers trail up and down his arms.

“About tonight,” she rasps, clearing her throat and licking her lips, avoiding his big, pleading eyes, “You… I’ve never seen anything like that before. I’ve never experienced a performance like that. I don’t know if you know how good you are, but I need you to know that I think you’re fucking incredible.”

Her eyes are wide and earnest. Shawn wants to freeze this moment and bathe in its easy perfection. 

She thinks he’s incredible.

“I think I was better for you,” he tells her honestly. Mia keens, pulling him down by his hips. He’s still wearing too many clothes.

With difficulty, they shuck him out of his jeans horizontally and with their lips mostly attached. He slips a hand behind her back to unclasp her strapless bra so it falls away with the rest. Her panties and his briefs follow.

Their nakedness is familiar but their closeness is new and sweet and scary. He lets himself kiss her until his head feels close to bursting from oxygen deprivation, she traces little patterns against the broadness of his back that make him smile against her mouth.

Mia thinks, maybe, they might be making love. She’s not sure, she’s never tried it. She hopes it’s this good.

His cock brushes her thigh and he huffs, squirming against her. She runs the hand down his back to his ass, giving it a squeeze.

“You’re still my good boy, right?” she pants, breathless. Shawn groans, nodding weakly.

“Always.”

He releases her swollen lips with a pop. His eyes are bright, free of the glaze she often sees in them when they’re fucking. They’re fixed on her like if he watches long enough maybe he’ll get to see inside. Mia resists the harsh tang of panic in the back of her throat and breathes through it, letting him look at her.

The mood shifts palpably. Where there was lightness and teasing there’s now this gaze between them that feels so charged and vital, it’s like they’ve never seen each other before. Shawn is the first to break it, looking down at her body worshipfully, eyes going heavy as he drops onto his elbows to pray.

The tip of his nose is warm against her collarbone. His lips follow, just a brush at first, followed by wet, almost pleading kisses. He sweeps out toward her shoulder, then back down. He leans on to one arm, not content to worship only with his mouth. His fingers skate down to the curve of her hip, dipping in around the cut of her hip bone to toy with the tender skin just above the soft patch of hair between her thighs.

Mia is awestruck. Her body has been many things -- whipping post, object of desire, receptacle, but never an altar. He’s careful with her now in a way that doesn’t express his fear or curiosity, but rather deep respect and admiration. He knows what her body can do, maybe better than anyone. And he knows exactly how to venerate it.

He lowers his head further, focusing on the velvety insides of her breasts. He mouths at them, tasting, not devouring. His fingers, still occupied exploring undervalued territory, fall a little further down and right into the juncture of her thigh and pelvis. The skin is thin and sensitive, making her gasp with each light brush of his thumb. 

The next time he travels down it’s to the skin just below her navel and his fingers are brushing her swollen wet lips and she can’t fucking breathe and --

“Shawn,” she hears herself gasp. He looks up, startled.

“Please,” she pleads, “Please, I can’t-- I need you. I need to feel you, please, I need you inside me. I can’t wait anymore.”

Her voice is pitchy and strained, unfamiliar. Shawn leaves one final tender kiss on her abdomen and crawls back up her body. His hands are on either side of her head, her hair splayed out around them. She already has her hands all over him, occupying her nervous energy while he takes time watching her again.

“Ok,” he breathes, nodding slightly, “Yeah, honey. I’ll give you whatever you need.”

Without thinking, he drops his lips to her forehead. Her busy hands pause on his body. Her harried breathing softens. The desperation isn’t so desperate anymore. They both slow, becoming present.

When Shawn looks down at her again, she’s smiling warmly, spreading her thighs for him to settle between. He matches her expression, cupping the back of her head while his other hand wanders up and down her thigh.

“Are you ready for me?” he asks. It feels heavier than it shoulder.

Mia nods, draping her arms around his neck. She waits for him to come to her rather than pinning him down and taking. Shawn reaches down between them and lines up the head of his cock with her entrance. His forehead falls to hers. He presses in.

Mia squirms slightly with the comfortable stretch, getting used to the feel of him again, the fullness and total satisfaction of it. Shawn hums, gloved in her gorgeous wet warmth. Neither of them moves for a good full minute, instead breathing and kissing whatever they can reach. When Shawn shifts his hips, Mia’s responding mewl has his whole body on fire.

Her arms hang weak for once around him, letting him give and take. He starts deliciously slow, rolling his hips to grind into her, avoiding the angle that gets her mouthy and desperate, at least for now. Mia thinks in all the time they’ve been sleeping together this might actually be their first time in true missionary position. She thinks she really likes it.

His breath starts to come harder as his hips move faster. Mia’s syncs up with it, eyes snapping shut when she hears the slick squelch of her body’s reaction to his ministrations. She feels a brush of fingers against her cheek. When she opens her eyes, Shawn is there. 

He’s fucking beautiful. His cheeks are ruddy with the effort, his curls drying soft and frizzy as they bounce. His lips are red and swollen from all her attention. She’s never seen him look quite as gorgeous as he does right now. A noise from her throat has him groaning and lifting her leg up to hitch over his hip, reaching deeper.

“Oh Jesus, Shawn,” Mia whines, her back arching slightly. He pants, nodding as he holds her even closer, enthralled by the way her arms tighten around his shoulders. 

She trembles hard in his arms, clinging to this plane, the one that has her so deep in this with him she’ll never find her way out again. She scrabbles at his shoulders, nearly feral. Her toes curl, her body riots. She needs to come.

“I don’t… I’m not ready to let go,” she squeaks, all vulnerability. Shawn lifts his head from her neck. His jaw is set but his eyes are wide open and soft.

“Doesn’t have to be over yet. C’mon, sweetheart. Please come for me.”

Tangled in his sheets with the humid South American air coming in through the window, Mia lets go in spectacular fashion, thrashing beneath his able, willing body, nails digging into his back and neck, lips nipping and pressing all over his firm jaw as he groans through it.

When her body relaxes, Shawn inhales sharply and lifts her. Mia gasps, clinging to his shoulders as he settles on his knees, keeping her in his lap, still rocking his hips evenly. Slowly, she joins him, looping an arm around his neck and the other under his arm. She lays her cheek against his and lets his staggering heartbeat dictate the rhythm of their hips. From this angle, his pelvis bumps her clit with every precious rock of their hips.

“Yes, yes,” she chants wetly into his damp skin, eagerly pressing back into his hands on her ass as they keep her pace. They rock tighter, faster.

“Look at me,” he begs, nudging her with his cheek, pulling back slightly.

“I love watching you come,” he tells her, knowing from the cadence of her strokes and the pulsing of her pussy that she’s about to come again.

“Come with me,” she insists, fisting a hand in his hair. The tug is almost enough to make him lose it early.

Shawn grinds his hips harder, giving her everything he has left. With her eyes locked on his, she falls. He stumbles after with a shout, quickly muffled by her lips on his. Mouth to mouth, skin to skin, they rock in place until they can’t. Shawn tips them forward, still connected in every place they can be, cradling her between him and the bed. At her urging, he stays inside her until he’s hard again. Mia and Shawn make love until the birds get loud in the trees and the cool morning wind lulls them to sleep.

----------

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[blindrapture]

In his contrary and on reality, which Bichop Babwith bares to his whitness in his Just a Fication of Villumses, this Mr Heer Assassor Neelson, of sorestate hearing, diseased, formarly with Adenoiks, den feed all Lighty, laxtleap great change of retiring family buckler, highly accurect in his everythinks, from tencents coupoll to bargain basement, live with howthold of nummer seven, wideawake, woundabout, wokinbetts, weeklings, in black velvet on geolgian mission senest mangy years his rear in the lane pictures, blanking same with autonaut and annexes and got a daarlingt babyboy bucktooth, the thick of a gobstick, coming on ever so nerses nursely, gracies to goodess, at 81. That why all parks up excited about his gunnfodder. That why ecrazyaztecs and the crime ministers preaching him mornings and makes a power of spoon vittles out of his praverbs. That why he, persona erecta, glycorawman arsenicful femorniser, for a trial by julias, in celestial sunhat, with two purses agitatating his theopot with wokklebout shake, rather incoherend, from one 18 to one 18 biss, young shy gay youngs. Sympoly far infusing up pritty tipidities to lock up their rhainodaisies and be nice and twainty in the shade. Old grand tuttut toucher up of young poetographies and he turn aroundabrupth red altfrumpishly like hear samhar tionnor falls some make one noise. It's his last lap, Gigantic, fare him weal! Revelation! A fact. True bill. By a jury of matrons. Hump for humbleness, dump for dirts. And, to make a long stoney badder and a whorly show a parfect sight, his Thing went the wholyway retup Suffrogate Strate.

Finnegans Wake, page 242.

Context, as best as I can manage it: This is from the first chapter of Section/Part/Book II, this chapter also known as (and containing) The Mime of Mick, Nick, and the Maggies, a magical eternal pantomime reenacting, among other things, the war in heaven between the angels Michael (St. Mick) and Lucifer (St. Nick), before the audience of fellow angels (the Maggies). They contend for the right to inhabit the heart of humanity, here represented by Isa the impressionable and self-driven young girl. Well, not here represented, in that quoted passage or anything, I’ll get to that.

The part of Mick is played by the character Chuff, “the fine frank fairhaired fellow of the fairytales,” sort of a theatrical archetype, who in turn is played by Mr. Sean O’Mailey, and whose performance is admired by young Kev in the audience. The part of Nick is played by the character Glugg, “the bold bad bleak boy of the storybooks,” and that theatrical archetype is played onstage by Mr. Seumas McQuillad, whose performance is admired by young Dolph. The part of Isa is played by the character Izod, “a bewitching blonde who dimples delightfully and is approached in loveliness only by her grateful sister reflection in a mirror,” performed by Miss Butys Pott, and is admired by Issy. Kev, Dolph, and this particular incarnation of Issy feature primarily in the next chapter. I’m just setting up context here for that quote up there, still.

So this is a chapter of games upon games, played and replayed in plays by players and in sleep by our minds. The Mime is performed every evening to usher in the dusk, attended by a worldwide audience and fuelled by the prompts of that vital impulse that makes us alive. As the play’s programme goes, “Shadows by the film folk, masses by the good people.” The same good people that we also know of as fairies and fae here dance and rhyme a neverending story.

The chapter is fairly long but formally structured. After reading the Mime’s programme, “an argument follows” and starts the action proper. Glugg and Chuff meet, Chuff distrusts Glugg, Glugg is given three chances to guess the colour Izod is thinking of; he gives earnest and pretty clever guesses but gets them all wrong, so he’s cast away and the angels all dance around Chuff while Izod/Isa grows despondent in the gloam. In his exile, Glugg plots to write an uncompromising and remarkable piece of blackmail about “his guffer” and “gummer” (father and mother, and all they represent), which ends up sounding a lot like Ulysses-- but then a reverie of romantic poetry sends him a toothache of ecstasy, and Isa sends him a wire calling him home. She’s getting married to Chuff, see, and this is Glugg’s chance to stop things, because Chuff is kinda terrible for her. So he races back, he approaches the angels again, he is given three more chances to guess her colour, and he fails again, so he’s sent away again as the Maggies sing a hymn for Chuff and sunshine (with night falling shortly after). But this time, Glugg is still around. He’s low down on the ground, mocked by the party of dancers around him, and he’s seeking a new kind of revenge. Blackmail and poetry were too simple; his new plan is to clean up his act, shine his own light, be genuinely good as they all want him to be, and provoke Chuff into treating him as competition. So he rises, and he brings his worldly exile knowledge to the angels, telling them praise of father and mother but in a frank language they’re not used to.

And that is the context for the quoted passage. The text is telling us of Glugg’s new story, not penned but passed down orally from party to party. You could perhaps imagine him saying “Oh, I love God, he’s a perfectly ordinary man who swears and drinks and farts and is insulted and petty like the best of us. A man of the people, a feminist and well-versed in the ‘improper’ dialects of our language, who made us in his own image and is waiting patiently for our leaders to catch up to his values.” It’s a subversive story, a revolutionary and heretical take, but one speaking a language of What People Want To Actually Hear. (It might actually be damning God by faint praise, that may be the intent, but this is a book where that’s always going to be an open question. I think it’s fascinating to consider the reading where it’s meant sincerely-- “God is good because he’s ordinary, and by implication he has no use for any of the trappings you obsess over, your social power is founded on false principles!”)

What happens after this bit? I’m, uh, still figuring that out! I don’t have convenient Tumblr posts to give me these outlines; interpreting the Wake is slow when it’s done by hand. Partly why I would want to make these posts at all. But somewhere Glugg and Chuff have a proper confrontation, and somewhere Glugg gets a third and final chance to guess Isa’s colour, and somewhere HCE calls for his children to come inside, do their homework, say their prayers, and go to bed.

So anyway. All that being said. The reason I took a picture was just to capture “young shy gay youngs,” an excellent phrase.

[kekoaskorner]

A few weeks ago I wrote about their newest album Snow in my New Music category. So I was quite curious how Angus and Julia Stone sounded live and lucky for me Just Because made it happen. I was quite afraid that I wouldn’t like Julia’s voice since it’s quite mellow and usually I don’t like that kind of voice. Little did I know that I’d be a fan by the end of the night.

Isaac Gracie opened the night. He has a special voice and it was nice listening to him. However it seemed like he didn’t click with the audience even though he seemed super nice. Maybe it was just because the venue was too big for him.

Finally just after 9pm the siblings took the stage and I immediately was super impressed. They had a huge LED screen in the back where beautiful pictures were shown. In front of that screen Angus and Julia Stone had a totem which had LED lights included too. A smoke machine run wild with a lot of smoke coming off the stage. All of this created a mysterious atmosphere.

The two were accompanied by four other musicians coming together from all over the world. They started with “Baudelaire”  and “Make it out alive”. Then they directed a few words towards the crowd and I could see that they loved to be here and enjoyed being on stage. Next we heard “Cellar door” and “Heart beats”. By then I was in love with them. The artists created a beautiful atmosphere with their music, their stage and spreading the love all around Zurich.

Julia

Angus

The new song “Chateau” came on and I loved it! It is such a beautiful song and live it was even better. The voice of Angus is much stronger and deeper live and Julias is just incredibly beautiful. My worries that I wouldn’t like her voice were blown away in an instant. I enjoyed every song 🙂

Julia then said that she loved writing love songs which the next song “Wherever you are” is. In “Bloodhound” Angus took the lead with his raspy voice and I adored it. Their harmonies were incredible and you could sense that the two of them know each other since they were kids. All guitar lovers were made happy too with the wonderful guitars (including a banjo) Angus and the other musicians played.

Angus

Julia

“Private Lawns”,”Who do you think” and “Nothing Else” were the songs before the big big hit “Big Jet Plane”. Everyone seemed to know the it and sang along. Julia asked the audience to get out ours phones and light it up. This created and incredible sight to a beautiful song. They seemed to enjoy it as much as we do. Being at concerts as often as I am I mostly enjoy the concerts where the artist loves to be there too. So this was definitely one! For the next song “For You” Julia explained the story behind it. She was dating a guy for 8 years when they broke up. She realised later that she was still in love with him so she wrote this song on guitar hero (How adorable! :-)) and sent it to him in an e-mail.

If I talk real slowly If I try real hard To make my point dear, That you have my heart

It took him weeks to write back but eventually he did. It said “Cool song!” and attached was a random song he wrote which was a mix of metal and hip hop. My heart flew out to her.

Angus

Julia

Julia

The duo introduced the next song “My House” by saying:

We are in your house and you are kinda in our house

So this is what the next song is about. Such a lovely song and we had to help them sing the chorus which created a unifying atmosphere full of love. For the title track “Snow” they brought out the big guns. In the middle of the song it literally started snowing and it wouldn’t stop. What a wonderful idea! This seemed like the last song to me but they only disappeared for the encore and came back to sing 3 more songs. “A Heartbreak” and “Uptown” of their own songs. But they finished with a shanty called “Stonecutters” since they grew up with sailing parents and grand parents. I love those kinds of songs and it was the perfect end to a wonderful evening.

If you can make sure to check out Angus and Julia Stone live. Click here to check out their  tour dates!

Were you at the concert in Zurich or in Geneva? Let me know how you liked Angus and Julia Stone in the comments below.

  Angus and Julia Stone brought a whole lotta love from down under! A few weeks ago I wrote about their newest album Snow in my New Music category. So I was quite curious how Angus and Julia Stone sounded live and lucky for me…

[anoutlandishfanfic]

Part Two, Chapter Five: Raigmore.

Last time, on A Child of the Stones…

Jamie sent Claire and Julia (aka Faith) thru the standing stones of Craigh na Dun. Claire returned to her own time empty handed, believing Julia to have stayed with Jamie and died in the hours before Culloden. Upon being reunited with her husband, she discovers that Julia had not, in fact, done so. This is troublesome as Claire visited Julia’s grave at Lallybroch in 1968. Jamie asserts that no such grave exists, meaning Julia would return to her ancestral home and be buried there sometime between then (1766) and 1968.

How is this possible? Where and when had she gone?

You can find links to previous chapters here.

April 16th, 2007, 7:45pm; Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, Scotland. Nurse Katie Campbell.

“Abandoned toddler found in Cairngorms National Park by hiker. Unresponsive. Requesting immediate evac to Raigmore Hospital from St Vincent’s.”

The foundling had, of course, been granted permission and arrived post-haste in Inverness ten minutes ago in critical condition.

“She was wearing this?” I nudged the plastic bag containing the clothing the little girl had been found in, an audible squish coming from the soggy outfit. Homespun dress, knit sweater, and cloth nappy had all been hand made along with her crudely fashioned leather shoes.

“Aye, an’ a’ the top o’ Craigh na Dun, no less,” an orderly added.

I rolled my eyes. Granny Fiona had told my siblings and I stories of people and fairies that traveled thru the stones, but I’d never believed them to be anything but what they were: stories.

“Ye ken the standin’ stones o’ Craigh na Dun, don’t ye? ‘Tis an unlucky place, to be sure, Nurse Campbell.” he warned

The head matron snorted in derision behind me, “Dinna listen to Gavin, Katie, lass. He’s full o’ the auld tales.”

“Aye, that I be, Auntie,” Gavin grinned and shrugged, winking cheekily at her. “But who do ye suppose told ‘em to me?”

“Get on wi’ ye,” she shooed him away while trying her best not to smile.

…

11:30 pm

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, PICU for short, was quiet tonight. I sat and held her hand as I watched her irregular heartbeat on the monitor. The room was dark and silent around us.

A sudden creak of the mattress made me jump.

Still unconscious, it hadn’t been the child. I looked to the foot of the bed and my blood ran cold.

There, sitting and holding the little girl’s other hand, was a woman I had never seen before in my life. Her clothes were as strange as the child’s had been, a green bodice and skirt made up in an ancient fashion. A breeze that I didn’t feel stirred the curls around her shoulders and I knew in an instant that she wasn’t really here.

Before I could figure out what on earth to say, she turned to me and spoke. “Please,” she begged, her voice melodic and almost otherworldly. “Save my baby.”

I simply nodded, unsure of how to respond to a request from a ghost.

The figure bent over the child and placed a kiss on her cheek, tucking the little girl’s auburn curls behind her ears. With this loving caress from her mother, the child’s heart rate became stronger and her eyelids flickered.

“Her name is Julia,” the woman whispered as she stood. Then, looking at me, asked, “You’ll take care of her for me, won’t you?”

“I will,” I vowed without hesitation.

…

2:00 am

“Julia?” The head matron repeated dubiously.

I shrugged, realizing how strange I must sound, “Call it mother’s intuition, but I think that’s her name.”

“Ye aren’t a mam, lass…” A slow grin spread across the woman’s face. “Unless this is yer way of tellin’ me somethin’.”

“No!” I shook my head, warmth spreading across my cheeks. “It’s just that I feel a sort of connection to her. She doesn’t have anyone, you know?”

“Aye, I ken, poor bairn. Just dinna get too attached to the wee thing.” She patted my shoulder as I left the nurse’s station and headed to my car.

…

10:00 am

Bzzzz. Bzzzz. Pause. Bzzzz. Bzzzz.

I knocked the phone off the bedside table in my haste to silence it. Sliding halfway off the bed, I snatched it off the floor and glared at the screen.

Six unread messages. Three from the Head Matron, my boss, and three from Gracie, my best friend and fellow nurse at the hospital.

Good Lord, they knew I wasn’t on call, right? I was just there and would be again in a matter of hours. What was so important that it couldn’t wait four more hours?

I scrolled thru the texts on my lock screen, still able to read them in the order received.

9am- HM- Yer bairn is awake.

9:15am- Gracie- OMG she’s so PRECIOUS

9:30am- HM- Any chance ye could come in early?

9:40am- Gracie- paging baby whisperer

9:50am- Gracie- PAGING BABY WHISPERER!!! REPORT TO BASE ASAP

10:00am- HM- Need you STAT

“Shit,” I muttered as I hit the button to call my boss.

“How soon can ye be here?” were the first words out of her mouth.

I yanked on my scrubs and ran towards the door, “Be there in ten!”

…

Fifteen minutes later.

Julia’s screams welcomed me as I pushed open the PICU doors. Thankfully, she was our only patient at the moment and wouldn’t upset any other children, but the sound was quickly tying a knot in the pit of my stomach.

“Katie’s here!” Gracie’s shoulders sagged with relief as she announced my entrance.

“What have you tried to get her to settle?” I asked, looking over my shoulder while I quickly washed my hands.

She sighed, “More like wha’ havena we tried.”

I grinned and winked at her.

I had a good track record of calming young children down when our tried and true methods failed, earning me the nickname of Baby Whisperer. It was a bit of a misnomer, though, as I was as normal as could be with infants.

Julia sat upright in bed, her cheeks red with the exertion of screaming bloody murder. A frazzled nurse looked up as I approached, giving me a thankful smile.

I greeted the distraught child in a sing song voice while still a good distance from her. Her head snapped in my direction and I continued speaking, switching to Gaelic for something new to distract her.

“Much, a eudail, chan eil caoineadh.”  Shh, darling, don’t cry.

Eyes wide and suddenly silent, she stretched out her arms to me. I swept her onto my lap as I sat down on the bed. She took a deep, shuddering breath and melted into me.

“That’s the way.” I praised. Humming, I rubbed her back in gentle strokes until she was at last completely calm. I shifted her in my arms so she could see my face and smiled down at her, “You are such a brave girl, a leannan.”

Her dark lashes blinked slowly as she studied me, quite serious. A tentative hand reached out and patted my cheek as if in thanks.

I took it in mine and kissed it, warranting me a shy smile from the little girl who would quickly become my everything.

[jdimina]

Emmys 2017 Список номинантов с самыми интересными "техническими номинациями" - узнайте, чья музыка, вступительные титры и продакш-дизайн претендуют стать да бест в этом году :)

А вообще, конечно, номинанты такие, что сердце рвется на части - за кого болеть.

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Bob's Burgers • Bob, Act ually • FOX • 20t h Cent ury Fox Television and Bent o Box Ent ert ainment

Elena And The Secret Of Avalor (Sofia The First ) • Disney Channel • Disney Television Animation

The Simpsons • The Town • FOX • Gracie Films in association wit h 20t h Cent ury Fox Television

Sout h Park • M ember Berries • Comedy Cent ral • Cent ral Productions

Лучший дизайн фэнтези\фантастического сериала

The Handmaid's Tale • Offred (Pilot ) • Hulu • M GM , Hulu, The Littlefield Company, Whit e Oak Pict ures, Daniel Wilson

Penny Dreadful • Perpet ual Night • The Blessed Dark • Showtime • Desert Wolf Productions and Neal St reet Productions

Westworld • The Bicameral M ind • HBO • HBO Ent ert ainment in association wit h Kilt er Films, Bad Robot and Warner Bros.

The Young Pope • HBO • HBO Ent ert ainment, SKY, Canal+ in association wit h Wildside, Haut et Court TV and M ediapro

Лучший дизайн исторического сериала

The Crown • Smoke And M irrors • Netflix • Left Bank Pict ures in association wit h Sony Pict ures Television

FEUD: Bett e And Joan • FX Net works • Fox 21 Television St udios

The Man In The High Castle • The Tiger's Cave • Amazon • Amazon St udios

Stranger Things • Chapt er One: The Vanishing Of Will Byers • Netflix • 21 Laps Ent ert ainment and M onkey M assacre

Лучший дизайн комедийного сериала

The Big Bang Theory • The Dependence Transcendence • CBS • Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc. in association wit h Warner

Grace And Frankie • The Burglary • The Gun • Netflix • Skydance Productions

Mozart In The Jungle • Now I Will Sing • Amazon • Amazon St udios

Silicon Valley • Success Failure • Terms Of Service • Hooli-Con • HBO • HBO Ent ert ainment in association wit h

Transparent • If I Were A Bell • Amazon • Amazon St udios

Veep • Omaha • HBO • HBO Ent ert ainment

Лучшие достижения в интерактивных медиа художественного сериала

The Man In The High Castle: Resistance Radio • Amazon • Amazon St udios

The Mr. Robot Virt ual Reality Experience • USA • Universal Cable Productions, Here Be Dragons, Esmail Corp. and

The Simpsons - Planet Of The Couches • http://play.google.com • Gracie Films in association wit h 20t h Cent ury Fox Television

and Google Spotlight St ories

Stranger Things VR Experience • Netflix • Netflix and CBS Digit al

Westworld • DiscoverWest http://world.com • HBO Ent ert ainment in association wit h Kilt er Films, Bad Robot and Warner Bros.

Лучшие вступительные титры (заставка) к сериалу

American Gods • St arz • FremantleM edia Nort h America, Inc.

The Crown • Netflix • Left Bank Pict ures in association wit h Sony Pict ures Television

FEUD: Bett e And Joan • FX Net works • Fox 21 Television St udios

Stranger Things • Netflix • 21 Laps Ent ert ainment and M onPkageey22M assacre Productions

St ranger Things • Netflix • 21 Laps Ent ert ainment and M onkey M assacre Productions

Westworld • HBO • HBO Ent ert ainment in association wit h Kilt er Films, Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television

Лучшая оригинальная музыка к сериалу (score)

The Crown • Hyde Park Corner • Netflix • Left Bank Pict ures in association wit h Sony Pict ures Television

Rupert Gregson-Williams, Music by

House Of Cards • Chapt er 63 • Netflix • Donen/Fincher/Rot h and Trigger St reet Productions, Inc. in association wit h

Media Right s Capit al

Jeff Beal, Music by

Planet Eart h II • Islands • BBC America • A BBC St udios Nat ural Hist ory Unit Production in co-production wit h BBC

America

Jacob Shea, Music by

Jasha Klebe, Music by

A Series Of Unfortunate Events • A Bad Beginning • Netflix • The Sonnenfeld Company, What is t he Question?, Paramount

Television

James Newton Howard, Music by

Taboo • Episode 1 • FX Net works • Scott Free London and Hardy Son & Baker in association wit h Sonar Ent ert ainment

Max Richter, Music by

Victoria (M ast erpiece) • Doll 123 • PBS • A co-production of M ammot h Screen and M ast erpiece

Martin Phipps, Music by

Ruth Barrett, Music by

Natalie Holt, Music by

Лучшая оригинальная музыка к мини-сериалу, телефильму (score)

(Original Dramatic Score)

Fargo • Aporia • FX Net works • M GM Television and FX Productions

Jeff Russo, Music by

FEUD: Bett e And Joan • Pilot • FX Net works • Fox 21 Television St udios

MacQuayle, Music by

Five Came Back • The Price Of Vict ory • Netflix • Amblin Television, Scott Rudin, IACF Productions in association wit h

Passion Pict ures & Rock Paper Scissors Ent ert ainment

Jeremy Turner, Music by

O.J.: Made In America • Part 3 • ESPN • ESPN Films and Laylow Films

Gary Lionelli, Music by

Suite Française • Lifetime • Suit e Dist ribution Limit ed

Rael Jones, Music by

The White Helmets • Netflix • Grain M edia / Violet Films

Patrick Jonsson, Music by

Лучшая музыка вступительных титров

FEUD: Bett e And Joan • FX Net works • Fox 21 Television St udios

Mac Quayle, Theme by

Genius • National Geographic • Imagine Television and Fox 21 Television St udios

Hans Zimmer, Theme by

Lorne Balfe, Theme by

The Good Fight • CBS All Access • Scott Free Productions

John David Buckley, Theme by

Stranger Things • Netflix • 21 Laps Ent ert ainment and M onPkageey27M assacre Productions

St ranger Things • Netflix • 21 Laps Ent ert ainment and M onkey M assacre Productions

Michael Stein, Theme by

Kyle Dixon, Theme by

Victoria (M ast erpiece) • PBS • A co-production of M ammot h Screen and M ast erpiece

Martin Phipps, Theme by

Westworld • HBO • HBO Ent ert ainment in association wit h Kilt er Films, Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television

Ramin Djawadi, Theme by

https://plus.google.com/+YuliaDimina/posts/YfxdYExGcGg

[kekoaskorner]

Last year I saw Isaac Gracie supporting Angus and Julia Stone and enjoyed his set however the venue was too big. So when I heard about him playing the Papiersaal I knew I had to see him! Thanks to Loads of Music for sharing my passion and for keeping me company.

Isaac Gracie started shortly before 9 o’clock with “All in my Mind”. A solid rock song and I already realised that this gig as a headliner will be much better. After a quick tuning of the guitar and chat with the audience Isaac Gracie continued his set with “that was then” and “terrified”. And again Gerry – the sound tech – was suppose to tune his other guitar which he didn’t do but Isaac used the chance to talk to the audience. He was incredibly humble and sweet and we enjoyed a great gig.

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The slow songs were up next “all the burning lovers” and “love” made us listen to Gracie’s amazing voice. He can not only sing the grungy rock songs but also beautiful ballades. “Telescope” started slow but turned into an uptempo song. However if I heard telescope I think of Juliette’s song in Nashville. 😀 The two songs have nothing in common! But speaking of country music “one night” is a beautiful song perfect for a summer night. While the three lads on stage I could picture myself around a bonfire watching the stars listening to this song. A memorable evening and a special moment during the gig.

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A girl in the audience shouted “silhouettes of you” a few songs ago and Isaac Gracie finally granted her wish. To be honest with you – again – Isaac Gracie is a live artist. I adored the songs during the gig but listening to them now after the concert isn’t the same. The memory of the gig and how he sounds live make them great. Another slower song “hollow crown” followed. Finally the first chords of “death of you and i” were played – my absolute highlight of the evening! It starts like a good old western song. You can literally picture a cowboy riding his horse through the desert and the BOOM! It turns into a very loud rock song and Isaac Gracie is screaming the lyrics. After the chorus the song goes back to the western sound and changes again. With this song you never know what comes next and I seriously adore this song!

“running on empty” and “reverie” finished todays set. But of course Isaac Gracie came back and asked the audience what they wanted to hear and they shouted “last words”. Someone must have sneak peeked onto the setlist since he planned to sing this song as an encore anyway 🙂 However I loved how he spoke to the audience and was joking with his bandmates. A very humble and talented man this Isaac Gracie. He left the stage with two peace signs.

yes, peace out!

Have you seen Isaac Gracie live? Yes? Share your opinion with us and reply below.

Check out my latest gigs: Turin Brakes, Seven, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

The wicked @Isaac_Gracie ! check out @kekoaskorner 's review at @papiersaal ! :-) #indierock Last year I saw Isaac Gracie supporting Angus and Julia Stone and enjoyed his set however the venue was too big.