#and that two weeks ago one of them told me he didn't understand the papers i had been assigned to read

[cherrynika]

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[malum-forev]

Hi, for the bingo thingy, can you use “Can you stay?” for a chapter 3 of the Co-parenting ex husband Bucky fic? 😜🙈 (if you turn that into a sad ending again, I’ll ugly cry. 😅😘)

the wait is finally oveeerrr. I didn't expect to write this but it quickly turned into my favorite piece! Thank you for the love (especially after I wrote two sad parts loooolll)

Here it is! and you can find Pt 1 Here and Pt 2 here!

*Gif by @rainbowkisses31

(Y/n) crossed her arms and leaned her head back on the wall, waiting for the principal’s door to open. She couldn’t believe this, Peanut was in kindergarten for fucks sake! How was the principal already calling her in. A couple of teachers had given (Y/n) a heads up, to control the situation before it exploded. 

So, a week ago (Y/n) and Bucky had to have the talk with their five-year-old daughter. Not the birds and the bees, the whole: Your dad is an ex-assassin called the Winter Soldier, he was actually born in 1917 and the whole vibranium arm thing. 

Bucky sat Peanut in front of them. “P, I’m going to tell you something but you have to pay attention okay?”

Her big blue eyes turned into marbles and she nodded her head. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong baby,” (Y/n) assured. “We just need to talk about something that happened to Daddy because we want you to know it from us okay?”

“Where do I begin?” Bucky sighed, he never thought the most difficult person to explain this to would be a child. His child. Bucky never thought he would be able to have a child in the first place. He felt (Y/n)’s hand rub circles on his back and he relaxed into her touch. 

Bucky had warned her about this, how the Winter Soldier would always shadow him. Looming in the darkness. But (Y/n) had said she didn’t care, that their children together would understand what happened and the rest of the world can process it however they wanted to. And here she was, carrying out her end of the deal. 

“I was born a long time ago Peanut.” Bucky started.

P bursted into laughter. “I know that, silly goose. You have white hair! Like the pictures you show me of Uncle Stevie!”

(Y/n) bit the inside of her cheek to hide her laugh but she ended up having to hide behind Bucky as to not incite their daughter’s roasts.

“This is going well.” Bucky muttered.

“You don’t look like Steve, I promise.” She assured, running her fingers through the short hair on the back of his head. “Plus, I like your hair like this. Salt and pepper suits you.” 

But now, a week later, the two of them were called into the principal’s office. The glass door opened. 

“Good morning, thank you for coming.” He told (Y/n). “Should we wait for Mr. Barnes?”

“He won’t be joining us today.” She said in automatic but as she was walking into the principal’s office, a huffing Bucky came into view.

“Sorry I’m late.” Bucky took a deep breath, taking off his leather jacket and placing it behind one of the two chairs in front of the principal’s desk. He took the chair next to him out for (Y/n) to sit in before sitting down himself. 

“I know the two of you are very busy but this issue with your daughter needs to be fixed.” The principal started. “As you know, we are a very private school and we can assure you we’re talking to Billy’s parents as well.”

“Yesterday, Billy told your daughter that he knew who her father was.” The principal continued, making Bucky look down at the floor. “Billy’s older brother told him and showed him some videos on the internet.”

(Y/n) grew angry. “If this is Billy’s fault, then why are we here. James and I talked to you before P came to this school and you assured us it wouldn’t be a problem. We spend a lot of money on this school for this to suddenly become a problem.”

“The problem is that after this, your daughter threatened Billy. She said,” The principal took a look at the paper in front of him, a teacher’s report. “If you know who my dad is then you know you shouldn’t talk to me like that. When I tell him about you, he will squish you with his metal arm.” 

(Y/n) jaw dropped. Oh my god. 

She turned around to look at Bucky but he didn’t have the reaction she wanted. He sat there with a smug smile on his face and his arms crossed. 

“She’s defending herself.” Bucky shrugged and (Y/n) covered her face with her hands.

“You can’t just say that!” She laughed, they decided to get some coffee after the meeting with P’s principal. 

“Why not?” Bucky smiled. “I’m not going to tell off P just because of that stupid kid Billy who by the way, I would squish with my arm.”

“Good to know you’d turn Winter Soldier at the blink of Peanut’s eyes.” She rolled her eyes. 

“She’s my little girl! What else am I supposed to do?” 

“Something along the lines of: Peanut you can’t threaten people.” (Y/n) said, she didn’t think she would have to be explaining why threatening people is wrong to a hundred-year-old man. 

“I’m not going to tell her not to defend herself.” Bucky said. “She’s gutsy and headstrong, P takes after her mother.”

(Y/n) rolled her eyes. “I’m not headstrong.”

Bucky stopped in his tracks, taking (Y/n)’s shoulders in his hands and making her look at him. “I didn’t mean it like that, like it’s a bad thing- I love that about you. It was one of the things that drew me into you.” 

A smile developed on (Y/n)’s lips. “Who knew P’s heroic stunt would turn into a compliment shower. Not that I’m complaining.”

Bucky sipped his coffee, tucking her body under his arm and bringing (Y/n) flush to his side. “You want more? Let’s see, you’re insanely witty, you have a beautifully complex mind, you’re extremely hot and you have a thing for older men- which I much appreciate.”

She laughed, burring her face in his chest. It felt so familiar, it felt like home.

- 

It was two am when she heard the shriek. (Y/n) jumped out of bed and opened her bedroom door, trying to find Peanut. The moonlit stairs looked like a crime scene. Blood dripped from step to step all the way to the bottom, where Peanut lay screaming bloody murder.

She raced down the stairs and held her daughter in her arms.

“Mommy it hurts.” Peanut cried, bringing her hand up to a gash on her forehead. 

“I know it hurts baby, I know.” Tears flooded (Y/n)’s eyes but she couldn’t break, not in front of her bleeding daughter. “It’s okay P, I’m going to take you to the hospital okay?”

(Y/n) grabbed the first coat she could find in the closet and the nearest pair of shoes, she rushed to strap P on her car seat and drove to the hospital. 

Ring, ring. 

“Please answer Bucky, please.” (Y/n) had called her ex-husband from the car. 

“Hello?” Bucky’s raspy and sleep filled voice answered.

“Buck?” (Y/n)’s voice cracked, making Bucky sit up straight in bed in a second. “Something’s happened with Peanut, we’re on our way to the hospital.”

“I’ll be there in five.” Was all he said. 

(Y/n) paced outside the room, she could see her daughter sleeping on the white hospital bed through the cracks in the curtains. 

Two hands gripped her shoulders, one cold and one warm, making her eyes shoot up from the floor. 

“What happened?” Bucky asked, peeking into the room. 

“I don’t know what she was trying to do Buck- she got up in the middle of the night and somehow. I don’t know, she fell down the stairs and cut her forehead open.” (Y/n) spoke quickly, like if she processed the words she was speaking she would break. “She said something about wanting to sleep with the doll you brought from Wakanda- I don’t know.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Peanut is fine.” Bucky tried to soothe her. 

(Y/n) clenched her fists at her side and bit her cheek. Anything to stop her from crying. “If I hadn’t forgotten the stupid doll-“

Bucky took her face in his hands. “This was an accident, it’s no one’s fault.”

(Y/n) slowly nodded, trying to blink away the tears. 

Bucky’s eyes furrowed. “Doll, darling, look at me. I’m going to need you to say that. You know it was an accident right?”

“It was an accident.” She whispered, the pain becoming unbearable.

Bucky wrapped his arms around her, bringing her as close to him as possible. “You’re okay, everything’s going to be fine. I’m here, I’m here for you, for as long as you want me to be.”

That was it, what she needed to hear to break down. To be vulnerable. To know someone would be there to catch her if she fell. 

(Y/n) sobbed into Bucky’s chest for what felt like hours. And he was there, rubbing her back soothingly and whispering kind words into her ear. 

It was well into the evening the next day when Peanut was finally given the all clear from her doctors. Three stitches and an ankle sprain later, she was tucked into bed. 

“I need you to promise me you will never ever do that again.” Bucky brought the comforter up as he tucked Peanut in. 

“Promise daddy.” She smiled. “You wanna know something cool?”

“What’s that?” Bucky ran his finger against her cheek. 

Peanut sat up and pulled Bucky’s cap sleeve up to his shoulder. “Daddy and P are gonna match.”

Bucky’s eyes swelled with tears as he saw his little girl’s tiny hand rub against the scarred skin on his left shoulder. It was like all the pain and suffering suddenly turned into something good. With six simple words, Peanut made everything worth it.

“We sure are.” Bucky lips turned upwards. 

“She looks so peaceful, you wouldn’t imagine she’s a little tornado once those pretty eyes open.” Bucky chuckled lightly as he closed his daughter’s bedroom door. 

“We’ve been amazing parents for the past 24 hours, could I interest you in a glass of cheap wine that will definitely give us a headache tomorrow?” (Y/n) smiled. 

“You read my mind.” Bucky leaned his head back with closed eyes, he grabbed the baby monitor from the hallway credenza. “How about you go outside and I’ll bring everything out. You deserve a break.”

And what a break he gave (Y/n). Bucky just about held the glass of wine to her lips. He brought out the drinks, some snacks and started by bringing her legs closer to him. Massaging her tired calves. 

“I still remember when we bought the house.” Bucky hummed. “And now it’s been what- six years?”

“Do you remember when we wanted to buy that new build? Everything was so white and sterile.” (Y/n) laughed. “But as soon as I found this house, I knew it was the one.”

“Excuse me?” Bucky laughed, eyebrows raised. “If I remember correctly, I was the one who found the house. You were sad thinking we hadn’t found a home, and I was the one who begged you to come and see it.”

(Y/n)’s happy smile dimmed. “We were so happy when we first moved in, what happened?”

“I took you for granted.” Bucky sighed. “That’s what happened.”

“After Steve left, I think I just stopped wanting anything. Work seemed boring, life at home was scary, taking care of P was terrifying for me. For years I thought I would be alone in this world and then suddenly, you came and gave me more love than I deserved. Gave me a beautiful daughter.” Bucky opened his heart. “And instead of working on myself I decided to just stop, stop trying. And it was selfish of me to think that you would just ride along with me even though I did everything to push you away. I never wanted you to think I didn’t love you, God do I love you. Sometimes I’m truly scared of what I feel because I love you so much it hurts. It pains me to have had you and lost you.”

Bucky tried to get out a strong voice but it cracked. “And I’ll live the rest of my life loving you and regretting having lost you. Sometimes, I think it’s a form of Karma. Like the gods above don’t know every wrong thing I did wasn’t me so now I have to live with this deep regret. The kind that settles into your bones.”

“Buck-“ (Y/n) tried to comfort him.

“No,” He shook his head. “you’re too sweet for your own good and you’ll try and tell me it’s not my fault. But it is. I’m not telling you this so you have pity on me, I just want you to know that I fucked up. You were perfect and amazing and I didn’t know what to do with something so delicate.”

“And I’m saying this just so you know that I’ll always be here for you. I’ll always love you.” 

(Y/n) couldn’t take it anymore. She crashed her lips onto his. A kiss that would explain everything she felt. All the anger, all the sadness and especially all the love. A kiss that says: I love you too.

She rested her forehead against his, her breath shallow. “Can you stay?”

“Stay tonight?” He asked, his voice pained. 

“Please stay forever.” She whispered. 

Thank you thank you sooo much for the love! Hope you guys like it, if you do remember to like reblog and comment! I'll love you forever if you do <3

tagged: @kpopgirlbtssvt @shara-ne @namelesssaviour @aimeekatee @learisa @deadspeed @happinessinthebeing @multitargaryen @ajordan2020 @almosttoopizza @empollito @jbbarnesgirl. @uniquecroissant @mavrellover91 @angstysebfan @buckswhore-com @coffeebooksandfandom @azenpal @stanofmanythingslol @msknb-blog @intrepidacious @ladyloki3 @buck-fics @honeyglee @vileepponine @sebstanwhore @helium-queen @lokislady82 @crazygirlinthisworld @superforgottensoul @bibbidibobbidibucky @mdc-203081 @soobin-my-beloved @w1nter-wolf-barnes1 @jbbarnesgirl @redbloodedgurl

Hi hiiii This is part of my 1k Celebration, if you like this please be sure to look at the Bingo Card and ask for a prompt! Love y'all <33

And you can find the Bingo master list and what prompts are still available here!

[jerzwriter]

Thank you @liaromancewriter for this ask. Ethan x Kaycee, a kiss based on a place of insecurity. I know it was supposed to be under 1,000 words but, yeah... me. lol I hope you enjoy this

Book: Open Heart (Book 2 Timeline) Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Kaycee MacClennan) Rating: Teen Words: 2,300 Summary: A bright day turns stormy when Kaycee overhears an conversation that leaves her doubting herself. Can Ethan help her see the light? Or will the lights flicker out?

A/N: Participating in @choicesjunechallenge2024 - Didn't use one of the prompts, but this fic shows Kaycee bridging her understanding of their relationship, and a new place for the two of them. (It kind of fits lol)

Kaycee clutched a brown paper bag in her hand as she navigated Edenbrook’s packed halls. Normally, shift changes were her least favorite time of day. She may be a city-dweller at heart, but she was a firm believer that crowds belonged outdoors, far away from confined spaces. But today, the beguiling smile on the resident's face as she pushed her way through the throngs of visitors and staff alike told another story. Today, the crowd was providing her with a perfect cover. Today, it was her friend.

She and Ethan were official for three months, and both of them were exuding that energy and glow that only new love delivered. For Kaycee, the difference wasn’t very noticeable; typically jovial and full-of-life, only those closest to her noticed her extra rosy glow or the way her smile shined just a bit brighter.

The same couldn’t be said for Ethan, and the changes in him had the hospital rivited. Recently, there were reports of him greeting passers-by with a nod and a smile. As far as anyone could tell, he hadn’t made an intern cry in weeks. There was even a vicious rumor that he was spotted whistling down the hall after the end of a double shift. The man appeared to be... happy, and everyone clamored to understand why.

He hadn’t suffered a head injury, and if the staff’s favorite gossip, Naveen, was privy to the reason, he was keeping it to himself. The rumor mill, desperate to uncover the cause of the transformation, watched Ethan closer than TMZ tracked Taylor Swift. Ethan and Kaycee found it amusing, laughing about it when they were safely absconded in his condo, or nuzzled together under the sheets of Kaycee's bed. But amusement aside, it presented a challenge for the couple who hoped to keep the nature of their relationship under wraps at Edenbrook... at least for now.

But Kaycee hadn’t seen him for two days, the longest amount of time they’d spent apart since professing their love for each other. The texts and calls they shared over the 48-hour period were nice but not nearly enough. She was desperate to see him before he left work for the day, and the chaotic halls provided her with the perfect cover.

Most of the staff was too busy to notice her slip into his private office, and if they had, the Derry’s Roasters bag in her hand would be her excuse. After all, a resident picking up Ethan's breakfast order on the way to work wasn't out of the ordinary. With a quick scan of the area and a smile on her face, Kaycee opened his office door. Mission accomplished!

Alas, it couldn’t be that smooth. She stood at the entrance of his L-shaped suite, still undetected, when melodic laughter wafted through the air, stopping her in her tracks. What happened next, left her heart racing.

“Oh, Ethan Jonah Ramsey,” a sultry voice belted out. “You have not changed one bit!”

“Really?” he replied, Kaycee couldn't miss the smile in his voice. “Some would see that as a negative. If I am the same as I was a decade ago, that indicates zero growth.”

“Stop,” the silky voice continued. “You’ve grown plenty! It’s an attribute that you’ve managed to keep your sense of humor... and that gorgeous smile. There's no shame in that!"

A brief silence hung in the room then sound of shuffling papers was met with Ethan loudly clearing his throat.

“Well... I appreciate you stopping by today. I’ll look over the proposal in more detail and have my assistant follow up with you, but I’m afraid I do have a meeting in five....”

Chairs sliding over the tiled floor let Kaycee know she had to leave. Rushing out the door in a flash, she took refuge in the nurses’ station just outside Ethan’s office. Tossing her bag under the counter, she buried her face in a file to remain unseen.

Ethan exchanged goodbyes with not one but two women, just yards away, but the loud hum of conversations and announcements over the PA system left his words unintelligible. But one thing was obvious... he sure looked happy.

“Dr. MacClennan,” Nurse Sarah called out, and Kaycee quickly turned her way. “Dr. Tanka was looking for you.”

By the time Sarah finished relaying his message, Ethan was gone, but the two women had set up a temporary spot nearby. Perched over a laptop on the nurses’ station counter, Kaycee had a bird’s eye view to observe.

The younger of the two was around her age. With her curly hair, rounded face, and a flowing floral dress, she looked like a modern-day cherub. Her laugh suited her but also made it plain that she wasn’t the one who had been talking to Ethan.

When the other woman looked up from her laptop, Kaycee let out a gasp. She was exquisite. Thick, shiny, jet-black hair just begging to be touched flowed down to the small of her back, and her crystal blue eyes were dazzling, looking as if they could pierce anything in their path. Kaycee had no idea who the designer of her red power suit was, but the color perfectly matched the soles of her stiletto heels. Yes, Christian Louboutin looked amazing on her, andas Kaycee gazed at her own washed-out scrubs and unconsciously tucked her messy bun back in place, she wondered, had Amal Clooney moved to Boston and become a pharmaceutical exec?

Kaycee felt ashamed. Usually the picture of self-confidence, she felt herself unraveling. Something about this stranger’s beauty, effortless elegance, and charisma tugged at every insecurity she thought she had buried long ago.

“How do you know him?” The younger woman asked.

“Ethan?”

Kaycee seethed at the way his name rolled off her tongue. Ethan. Not Dr. Ramsey; the utter familiarity struck her sharper than a sword.

“We’ve known each other for a long time,” she continued.

“So you’ve worked together before?”

The vision tapped a perfectly manicured nail on the counter as she appeared to gauge how much she should divulge. With her lips curling into a smug smile, she turned to her colleague with a bravado Kaycee hoped to one day possess.

“Worked... Yes. We worked together... amongst other things.”

“Ooooh! You and Dr. Ramsey!” The younger woman gasped as Kaycee's stomach churned.

“It was a long time ago,” the woman waved. “We were both relatively new to Boston at the time. But let's say it was memorable.”

“How did you date him and let him go? If I had a chance with a man like that, I would have locked him down!”

“Well,” the raven-haired beauty laughed. “We were quite young back then. I barely wanted a commitment, but Ethan? A prison sentence may have been more appealing. Of course... that was a decade ago, and if magic can strike twice, I promise there will be a different outcome this time."

Kaycee was frozen still, terrified someone might have heard how hard she swallowed or seen the abject fear in her eyes.

“It seemed like he enjoyed seeing you," the young woman smiled. "Maybe you’ll get that second chance after all."

Kaycee welcomed the sounds their high heels walking down the hallway, still, she couldn’t pry her eyes away. She was so engrossed that she hadn’t heard her name being called... several times.

“Dr. MacClennan!” Harper barked. “Is there something important that I’m keeping you from?”

Kaycee swung around in horror. “Oh, no! No, Dr. Emery. I’m so sorry, I was just... uh...I was lost in my thoughts. What can I do for you?”

She liked Harper... admired her... but Harper was the last person she wanted to see right now. Her self-confidence already teetering, here was another reminder of who Ethan had before her. Another brilliant, beautiful and poised woman who had already earned the respect of her peers. She was everything Kaycee hoped to be when she grew up, and as their conversation wrapped up, she couldn’t remember the last time she felt this small.

Grabbing the bag from Derry’s from under the counter, Kaycee retreated to the empty diagnostic office. Pulling the muffin out, she began stuffing it into her mouth. Sorry Ethan, she thought, but I need this more than you.

After downing half of the carb-laden treat, she reclined on the sofa and shut her eyes. This mystery woman, Harper... they were both so much more than she was. All Kaycee could hear was the words of an acquaintance from long ago:

“Don’t date out of your league. When you do, you'll just spend your time worrying about how long before you’re replaced.”

The thing was, Kaycee never agreed with that sentiment, and even more, she never believed Ethan was out of her league. He didn’t treat her that way, and whenever they were together, with the aura of the magic they shared surrounding them, the thought never once crossed her mind. So why was she giving a complete stranger so much power?

She sat up in the darkened room and rested her weary head on her hands. Her shift officially started in just over ten minutes, and it was time to get herself together. She let out a groan as she tried to shake off the dark cloud that had enveloped her, just as the light switch flipped on and a worried Ethan looked her way.

“Kaycee? What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

Escape had been just a moment a way; now, she looked up at her love hoping he didn't notice the embarrassment in her eyes.

“I'm not hurt," she replied. "Not unless you count my ego."

“I’m sorry?"

Thinking of the best way to approach this, she handed him the slobbered-over, half-eaten muffin to stall for time.

“This was for you....” she snickered as Ethan held the object at arms length.

“Uh... thank you?”

“I shouldn’t have eaten it...”

“Kaycee,” he said, placing the offending muffin back on the table where it belonged. “What’s going on. What’s wrong?”

She took Ethan’s hand and leaned back on the sofa with a sigh and instructed her boyfriend to make himself comfortable. She relayed the details of her morning adventures: how she hoped to surprise him and spend a little time together before her shift began, but she stumbled upon him and Amal Clooney.

“I’m sorry, who?”

“The inncredibly hot pharma rep that was in your office,” Kaycee clarified.

“Angelique?”

“Angelique. Great,” Kaycee muttered. “ Sexy name. I feel like I should dislike her even more now.”

She told him the rest of the story and how she was ashamed of herself for becoming so worried, but she felt helpless once it began to consume her. Ethan placed a hand lovingly on her knee.

“Kaycee, if I wanted to be with Angelique, or Harper for that matter, I would be. But I don’t want them. I don’t want anyone except for you.”

“I know that,” she whispered. “And you’ve done nothing to make me think otherwise; but, sometimes, when I’m alone or when I’m confronted with two perfect exes within a ten-minute span, I feel like every insecurity I’ve had in my life awakens, and those voices tell me I’ll never be enough.”

Ethan scooted closer to Kaycee and as he wrapped a loving arm around her shoulder, she felt the tiny bits of self-doubt that were remaining begin to melt away; and when he kissed her forehead, they were tone.

“Kaycee, I wish I could help you with this, but unless I’m doing something to make you feel insecure...”

“You’re not!” She interuppted.

“Well, then, all I can do is reassure you. You’ll have to work on the underlying causes on your own, but I promise you, with all my heart....you have nothing to worry about. In fact, sometimes I wonder if I'm good enough for you."

“Seriously?” She asked with a look of disbelief. “You don't think you're good enough for me?”

“Uh, do you see how other people look at you? Do you even realize how much you have to offer? There are many times when I’ve wondered why you wasted so much time waiting on this old man to come to his senses... but in case I haven’t told you lately, I’m so glad that you did.”

“Yeah,” she smiled, running her hand along his cheek. “You are pretty lucky.”

“You better believe I am.”

Ethan brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, then placed a gentle buss on her lips. Their eyes met with a loving gaze, and he gave her another, then one more as her head tilted to the side and their lips came together so comfortably, there was no doubt they were meant to be.

Kaycee parted her lips and allowed his tongue to intertwine with hers. A rhapsody emotion washing over her as the tenderness grew more passionate, burning with a fire that defined all they had come to mean to each other.

Ethan reluctantly broke away with a smile. "Feeling better?"

“I sure am,” she beamed.

Ethan looked at his watch, then back to Kaycee with a seductive grin. “If I have your schedule down, you have ten minutes before your shift begins.”

“That’s right,” Kaycee smiled. “And how would you like to spend that time?"

"Isn't it obvious? Making out like we're between classes in high school. Are you in?"

"You better belive it," Kaycee laughed, pulling him into to another kiss.

When Kaycee walked out of the team's office ten minutes later, there was a smile on her swollen red lips and she didn't care about her disheveled scrubs. Amal Clooney had nothing on her. After all, she had Ethan Ramsey, and he had her, and they knew that was the only place they wanted to be.

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

Tagging others seperately.

[fizzing-imagines]

My mom's Billy | Billy Hargrove x Single Mom! Military! Reader

Notes: This is the ending Billy DESERVED, with some good therapy, a nice home and a family that loves him

Warnings: Mentions of abuse

Words: 4.1k

This was your first time in group therapy. It was highly recommend by your therapist to you, after having trouble connection to others. Her idea was that meeting people with similar experience to yours would help you. Two friendly-looking therapists happily greeted the group of eight, then introduced you. "We have a new face joining us today." Everyone looked at you, you could feel your face heating up. "Oh, uhm...Hi, I'm (Y/N). Uhm...my ex-husband abused me throughout our twelve year relationship. And uhm...I used to be a lieutenant in the navy, but I quit when my son Leo was born so I've been a housewife for five years. I work as a waitress now though." The female therapist of the two gave you an encouragement smile. "I, uhm, I left him a year ago. The divorce was actually finalised last week, so...now I'm here." You let out an awkward laugh, but the group also gave you an encouraging smile. A man with ocean blue eyes and curly, blonde hair stood out to you as he looked you up and down. His face was wrinkled, even though he didn't look too old to you yet. There was a stubbly beard on his face, a bit darker than his hair, and while his lips were full they were also chewed up. What stood out most were the hickeys on his neck.

"Thank you for sharing.", one of the participants told you. With a smile, you gave her a nod. "Have you thought about going back to the navy?", another participant asked you. Wow, these people were open. "I have, but I don't have a partner and my mother is too old to constantly take care of my son when I'm on deployment so that's off the table." It disappointed you, really. You loved your career and regretted letting your ex take that joy from you. "And daycare has gotten so expensive.", a man in the group said. "I have two young children, we have them in daycare." He continued talking about barely being able to afford having his kids looked after at a daycare, so the focus was finally off of you. But the meeting itself was nice, the participants were kind and understanding. Even though the man who checked you out in the beginner barely talked, until he was asked towards the end of the meeting. "Billy, you haven't shared today.", the male therapist said. "Anything you wanna say?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Not really, nothing interesting happened. Had a date, but she wasn't my 'forever person'" He put the last to words into air quotes. "Nothing else interesting happened, really." For some reason, he intrigued you. "Well, besides that this is your last session today.", the male therapist added. "Oh yeah, that too. My therapist said I've gotten a well-enough social circle to not attend anymore and I could really use the hour for more shifts at my job." Everyone said goodbye to Billy.

After group, you left the centre to get to your car. As you unlocked your door, you saw Billy walking over to your car. "Hey, (Y/N), wasn't it?" You nodded your head. "Well, since I'm not in group anymore I was hoping I could give you my phone number." Your cheeks suddenly felt hot - you haven't been asked out since you met your husband. It hasn't been a concept that was a possibility for you. "Listen, I think I get that it might be hard for you, so you don't have to give me your number." He took out a piece of paper and wrote something down. "But give me a call if you feel like going out on a date. I'd be happy to hear from you, you can reach me at any time of the day." You took the piece of paper from his hand and let out a quiet "Thank you." before he left to get into his own car. You yourself sat in your car for a good five minutes to process what just happened. Someone asked you out on a date? You really couldn't believe it. Eventually, you started your engine and drove to your mothers house to pick up your son.

After you got him into bed you sat in the living room and kept starring at the tiny piece of paper with Billy's number on it. You told your mother about it, and she encountered you to call him, but your brain had a blockage. But will it ever go away if you don't break it? The clock told you that it was already midnight, you questioned how you could sit there for hours with your own thoughts discouraging you. Slowly, you took your flipphone out of your pocket and dialed the number. After a few rings, you were greeted by a sleepy "Hello?" His voice was raspy, and you immediately felt bad for disruption his sleep. "It's...it's (Y/N)." The two of you talked on the phone for a good while, talking through details of what he wants to do where with you. Billy had good ideas, but you insisted on public places only. He was very understanding and suggested a nice restaurant downtown. When you said that you couldn't afford that, he said "Don't worry about money, I'll invite you for the evening." It made you blush a bit - you can't remember the last time you've been invited to dinner.

You two had a good date. Your mother looked after your son and let him have a sleepover at her place, meanwhile Billy picked you up from your house. He brought you flowers and showered you in compliments before even letting you step into his car. It made your stomachs flip up- and down, especially because you sort of accepted the fact that you'd never find love again. While it didn't have to mean that Billy has to be the one, it was nice to be wooed again. Dinner went just as well, you had nice conversations, went on a walk afterwards and he dropped you off at your apartment afterwards. "I'd like to see you again.", he said to you with a smile while standing in front of your entrance. It made your heart skip a beat and your cheeks heat up. "I'm free next Thursday, maybe we can get breakfast together?", you said while smiling at him. He took his hand in yours, said "I'll pick you up at 8:30." and kissed the back of your hand. You said your goodbyes and went inside your apartment. Once you laid in bed and thought about the evening, you couldn't help but grin until you fell asleep.

You looked forward to breakfast with Billy for days, and it went just as well as the first date. Billy took you out at least two times a week for the next month. What you loved most about it was that he never pressured you into any physical contact - the most he ever did was give you a kiss on the cheek. Everyone around you noticed how much happier you've gotten. It also rubbed off on your son, who turned from extremely shy and introverted to an extroverted ball of energy. Right now, you were at Billy's house, having a few snacks and talking about life.

"Billy, can I ask you something?", you said as you leaned your head against the backrest of his couch. "Anything.", he said with a smile. "You really don't need to answer if you don't want to, but since you know why I was in group...why were you?" You've had your suspicions after being at his place a few times. There were no family pictures anywhere, except one of him and his stepsister, and a few childhood pictures of him and his mother. "Was about time for that question, huh?" He let out an awkward chuckle while thinking of an answer. "My dad, actually. He, uhm, he first abused my mother and eventually me. And when my mother left, I became too much like him. I was a bully, and was a dick to my step-sister. But I eventually got out, moved back here and got help. So my sister forgave me at least, but she still lives in Indiana." You knew that he lived there for a while, until he had an accidentally and came back to California. "Billy, I'm so sorry..." you said while reaching out for his hand. He took his hand in yours and squeezed it once. "I'm okay now, (Y/N)." Even though he just told you what happened to you in his past, he still smiled at you. "He's miserable now, we put him in a nursing home in some shithole town." His thumb started stroking over the back of your hand as his eyes looked into yours. "Uhm, I actually had a question...about your ex and your son.", he said while looking down. Something told you that that question was uncomfortable to him. "Sure, what's up?", you asked. "Well, I know what your ex did to you but...what did your son experience?" Knowing what Billy went through with his dad, this was probably for his own piece of mind as well. "It honestly started when he was born. He screamed at him as a baby to shut up when he cried, then he started pushing him when he was running through the house. But once he punched him, I packed our things and ran away with Leo. Pressed charges the same day and haven't looked back." Now Billy was the one to squeeze your hand. "You did the right thing (Y/N), I'm proud of you." You smiled and scooted closer to him, letting your knee touch his. Somehow, both of you knew what the other thought about - he pulled you into a hug and held you tight to his body, while you wrapped your arms around his torso and rested your head on his chest. You could hear his heartbeat, take in his scent; you felt like you were home. Billy was the one for you, you knew that.

On the next date, you two kissed for the first time. The one after that, he asked to be your boyfriend. Of course you said yes, how could you not? But now there was a problem: You'd have to eventually tell Leo. While you did tell him that you've made a new friend and meet up with him a lot, you never told him that you're dating again. That was your mistake, because now you'd have to tell him. The biggest problem? Leo was afraid of men. He couldn't be near male teachers or any of his uncles, even male cashiers got a massive side eye from him. So his mom now having a new boyfriend, after his biology father abused him for his entire life? It didn't seem possible to you. But you did have to tell him eventually, so you sat him down on a Saturday after you two got ice cream.

"Leo, do you remembered my friend Billy that I have been seeing a lot lately?", you started the conversations with. Leo nodded his head, then took a lick of his ice cream. "Is he coming over?", he asked then. "Well, maybe. I actually have to tell you something else about Billy." Your heart started racing, and you honestly didn't even know where you were going with this. "You know when we talked about how daddies and mommies love each other?" He nodded his head once more. "Well, when daddies and mommies separate, it can happen that they meet someone else who made them as happy as the other mommy or daddy made them. But when the other mommy or daddy wasn't a good person-" You were interrupted by your own son. "Like Dean?" Leo never called your ex dad, he always called him Dean. "Yes, like Dean. Well, then the mommy or daddy might meet someone who makes them even happier." Your son continued eating his ice cream quietly. "And Billy is that other person who makes me even happier, and that's what I wanted to tell you, Leo." He remained quiet for a bit, trapped in his own thoughts, before he talked again. "So is Billy your boyfriend now?" He didn't scrunch his face in disgust or anger, which was a good sign. "Yes, sweetheart, Billy is my boyfriend now and I wanted to tell you so you could get ready to meet him someday." Once again, he thought about your words for a while. "Does Billy hit you like Dean did?" Unfortunately, Leo knew too much about abuse too soon. "No, Leo, Billy has never hit me or insult me. Do you remembered when we talked about how Mommies and Daddies should treat each other?" He took a big lick of his ice cream before answering. "That they always cuddle and kiss and hug each other, and that they never hit or scream at each other." You nodded in agreement. "That's right. And that is how Billy treats me." For the third time, he was inside his head and thinking something over. "My friend Lee, his dad has a new girlfriend and he says that she's his step-mother now. Is Billy my step-dad?" Oh, you were not prepared for that question at all. You actually expected a tantrum. "You can call him that if you want to. But you can also just call him Billy." Leo went on to ask when he was going to meet Billy, if he could cook for him with you, if Billy liked basketball as much as he does.

So the day came. On the following Thursday, you and Leo were making two different pizzas for the three of you. He insisted on making a funny face out of salamies on one pizza while you added mushrooms, olives and spinach to the other one. Once you put the food in the oven, your doorbell rang. "He's here!", Leo said while running up to the front door. "Mama, can I open it?", he asked you. As you were washing your hands it wasn't such a bad idea. "Sure sweetheart, be nice!", you said over to him. Your son opened the door and greeted your boyfriend with a wide grin. "Hello, are you my mom's Billy?", he asked. His question made you chuckle. "I am your mom's Billy. Are you your mom's Leo?" He loudly said yes before leading him inside and telling Billy to take his shoes and jacket off. "Mom's in the kitchen.", he said to Billy. "Leo, go wash your hands and change your shirt. Dinner is done soon." You could hear your sons footsteps running off while Billy came through the kitchen door. "That was quite the greeting.", he said with a chuckle in his voice. "He's uncharacteristically excited to meet you.", you replied while drying your hands. The two of you shared a quick kiss before the timer for the pizza went off. "He even made you smiling pizza."

Leo's and Billy's first meeting went extraordinarily well. In the evening, after your boyfriend left, he asked you when he would come over again. And it didn't take long until he asked when Billy would move in with the two of you. Six months deep into the relationship, Leo and you moved in with Billy. He had two extra rooms and a big backyard that he couldn't use all by himself. Your son loved it, and he loved Billy. At some point, he started calling the two of you "My mama and my Billy", which made your boyfriends heart melt. Billy and you got married two years later, you took Billy's last name and tried looking into how Leo could get it too. Eventually, it all resolved itself.

Billy was looking after Leo while you were at work. He picked him up from school and was making him dinner while Leo was doing his homework. However, math wasn't his strongsuit so he walked to Billy with his textbook. "Dad, can you help me with this?" Billy stopped in his tracks as he heard Leo call him dad for the first time but swallowed it down to not make him feel uncomfortable. He helped him with his homework and didn't let anything show until he was alone in the kitchen and cried some tears; happy tears. He continued lunch with your, and now his, son like he always does. Once you came home, he immediately pulled you into a tight hug. "What's gotten into you?", you said with a giggle. "Leo called me dad today.", he mumbled into the crook of your neck. Your eyes went wide in suprise and happiness, then you laughed. "Seriously? Billy, that's amazing!" You passionately kissed him on the lips as he was still squeezing you against his body.

Later that night, you checked in on your son after he went to bed, just to see that he was still awake and seemed upset. "Leo? What's wrong sweetheart?" You walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge of it. "I called Billy dad today and he didn't react...", he mumbled into his blanket. Oh. "Why does that upset you?", you asked him while petting his head. "Because I thought it would make him happy. And I never had a dad..." You opened your arms as an invitation for a hug, which he gladly took as he scooted closer. "Billy was very happy, but he didn't want you to feel weird about it.", you said to your as you hugged him. "He thought that you wouldn't want to do it anymore if he was too emotional." Leo hummed, a sound he started making when he thought about something, before asking "Can dad come in?" You smiled and told him that that was possible, then gave him a kiss goodnight and left the room. "Billy, your son wants to talk to you.", you said to your husband as you stepped into your shared bedroom. "Alright.", he said while getting up and leaving the room. You went into bed and waited for him to return, which was a good 20 minute wait. When Billy came back, he was quiet and quickly got under the blanket next to you with no words. "Sweetheart, you're awfully quiet.", you said to him while taking one of his hands in yours. "It's okay.", he mumbled while getting closer to you. "Our son just had some questions. But it's all good now." The way he said 'Our son' made your heart melt. "Father-son secret?" You smirked at your own words, Billy let out a small chuckle. "Definetly.", he replied before placing a kiss on your cheek.

Life went on for months. Billy was the father Leo never had, he was happier than ever. Billy finally had the family he always wanted. And you were planning on going back to the navy - that was until a tiny plastic stick with two blue lines came in the way. You've had your suspicions before, considering that this would be your second pregnancy. But how? Leo was nine already and so used to being an only child. Billy and you weren't going to get any younger either - at age 37 now, you'd almost be a senior citizen by the time your child graduates high school. So you did what you always do: Go to Billy.

"Bil.", you mumbled as you stood in the doorway of your shared bedroom, test in your shaky hands. It was only natural to him to see how terrified you were, so close to crying but swallowing it down for the sake of your son in the next room. "Come here.", he said while walking up to you. It was only then that he noticed the positive pregnancy test in your hands. "You know, I always wanted two kids." was all he said before wrapping his arms around you. "We'll manage."

He stayed true to his words. You gave birth to baby Leia and went back to the navy months after. Leo was ecstatic to be a big brother, not wanting to ever leave Leias side at any time of the day since the moment he first saw her. He went so far that he volunteers to bring her to bed on some days, and for whatever reason she'd always fall asleep when he did without fuzzing. And Billy, oh god, Billy was so happy to watch his daughter grow up. Of course he saw Leo as his own son, but he couldn't watch him grow up from the day he was born. Knowing your and Leo's past, Billy made sure that he won't be anything like your ex or his dad. During your second trimester, he went back to his old therapist to see if he truly was ready to be a father. When Leia was a year old, you and your family were send to Finland for deployment. Once again, your husband stayed true to his words: "We'll manage.". Leo was send to an english-speaking school while Leia went to a regular, finnish daycare. If you were going to live here, you want her to learn a second language while doing so. Billy, somehow, got to continue working as a mechanic while you were obvious caught up with the finnish navy. Everything was beyond perfect and felt like a fairytale. The four of you were send back to America after six years in Finland, but to Florida this time. Leia cried a lot when she had to leave, including the entire flight back and the first night in America. You couldn't blame her - she's leaving the place she grew up in. You promised her to go back to Finland during summer break, and while that cheered her up it didn't help a lot. Once again, Billy stuck to his words. "We'll manage.". He did everything he could to get Leia out of her head, helped her with schoolwork, went surfing with her, took her on daddy-daughter dates. She got better eventually and found many friends. You, on the other hand, felt bad that this would eventually be ripped from her again.

Four years later, you decided on a desk job at the navy in California. It took a lot from you to make this decision, but it was the best one for your family. You couldn't watch your daughter sit and cry for her entire childhood. California was the best decision for everyone, including your husband. He was happier, Leo was happier, Leia adapted after a few months. She loved California eventually, especially because her Dad could show her around so much more now.

"Dad, I have a confession to make." Leo made sure you weren't home. He was two weeks away from graduating high school, and already signed up for his future profession. But he told neither you nor Billy. "What's going on kid?", he asked while looking up from the newspaper he was reading. At this point, he needed glasses to even make out a single letter. "Mom didn't want me to, but I signed up for the marines and got in." Billy knew about your opinion in this. You didn't want your children to get into the military at all. It wasn't a taboo theme at home, but it was barely on the table. After what your ex-husband did to you, you couldn't bear to possibly have them go down the same road as you. "Why did you want to join?", Billy asked. He'd form his opinion based on his reply, he decided. "Mom saves so many people. I've always looked up to her, and I wanna be like her." Billy smiled at his sons words. "You know, I'm convinced that she'll be okay with it if you tell her like that."

You were. Leo went to bootcamp, your old bootcamp, where you dropped him off with a heavy heart. Billy and Leia came with you as well to send him off. "Stay safe, son.", Billy told him before giving him a tight hug. Leo promised to not die, and that was enough for him. Leia cried a bit while saying her goodbyes, and had to hold onto her father after hugging her brother. You were last, it was only logical to him. "I'll make you proud.", he promised you. "Leo, I' already so proud of you.", you said to him with a smile. "You'll do just as well. Bootcamp will be the best months of your life, promise." In motherly fashion, you gave him a kiss on his cheek before letting him walk inside.

Back in the car, Billy tried changing the topic as the mood was low. "Well, if my son comes after his mother job-wise, I hope my daughter comes after me.", he said to you and Leia.

"I was actually thinking about Infantry.", she replied.

[daidonzo]

Hey I saw u were taking writing prompts I was wondering if u could write Chishiya x sick fem Reader. I’m sick right now and it’s kicking my arse lmao.

Thank u hope u have a nice day/night

oh nooooooooooooooo!!!! i was also sick last week and it was a pain in the ass, i understand. :(

hope this makes you feel a bit better ♡♡♡

Chishiya was packing up his things, having changed clothes and almost completely ready to leave the hospital for the day, when he heard his phone buzzing.

'Doctor, I need you.'

It was a text from you, of course. He couldn't help but smile to himself thinking you must be in a really playful mood if you were referring to him as doctor. Your next message, a few seconds later, seemed to confirm that.

'Please, please, please. Come to my place to see me today.'

He raised an eyebrow. Begging out of nowhere was not like you. But you hadn't seen each other in a few days ― both of you had been very busy with work, and he had to admit he really missed you. You were supposed to meet on Saturday, three days from then, but he found himself walking towards your house, his body, his feelings for you, making the decision before his head could. He was excited.

He finally made it to your place. He raised a fist, and had just knocked on your door when he heard muffled coughing behind it, getting closer. Were you okay? He was not one to get easily agitated, but that didn't sound quite right.

You opened, and he could tell immediately what was wrong. You were sick.

Chishiya had always thought you were the most beautiful woman he had laid eyes upon: big, knowing eyes, that changed color depending on the lighting; shiny hair that always smelled like home, that he loved playing with distractedly when you would sit down to watch a movie, soft lips he would get lost in whenever he could.

And he still thought so, even know. But there was no denying; your pretty eyes were surrounded by dark, grayish circles. Your nose was red, irritated and runny. Your hair in a messy bun. You were holding a cardboard box full of paper tissues against you, and were still in your pajamas.

'Surprise!' Your tired smile told Chishiya you hadn't been able to get much sleep.

'Are you sick?' He asked, getting close to you and placing his lips on your forehead, both to kiss it and to measure your temperature. Yes, you were burning. You had a fever.

'Nah, I don't think so.' You snorted a laugh, stopping for a second to cover your mouth with your hand and cough. 'Aren't you supposed to be the smart one in the relationship?'

He chuckled at that. You were sick, yes, but having a cold didn't make you any less witty. If that was only a cold, which was what he wanted to check next. He couldn't help but feel slightly worried. He went inside your apartment, left his bag on the back of a chair and hanged his coat.

He turned to face you then.

'What are your symptoms?'

'No, no, no. I wanted you here as a boyfriend, not as a physician.'

'You did call me doctor in your message.'

You thought about it for a second, throwing yourself on your couch and rubbing your chin distractedly with two fingers, lips parted. You couldn't really breathe through your nose that well.

'I guess I did. Very well. My throat started hurting yesterday. It was like… tingly?'

'Okay.'

'Then in the night time I had a little bit of a fever, you know? Not much. I went to bed thinking I would be okay by the time I woke up.'

'And?'

'I woke up at four in the morning and I was so cold, and shivering. I have been taking this.' You looked around you until you found what you were looking for and gave it to him: a box of over-the-counter tablets.

He took it, opened the package and got out the prescribing information. He checked the ingredients and nodded. 'Pretty generic, but it will do the job.'

'I thought so. It was the only thing I had around. Kuina brought them last week after she made me go to that party and I had a hangover.'

'When did you take the medicine last?'

'About forty minutes ago.'

'Have you eaten? Can you hold food just fine?'

'I have eaten, but I'm not really hungry. And I haven't thrown up or anything.'

'Stomach issues?'

'Maybe a little bit, but I don't want to talk to you about them!'

You had another coughing fit, raising your voice after that last sentence. He sat by your side, wondering if his examination had gone a little bit too far. You looked like you thought it did, because there was a slight wrinkle between your eyebrows, and the corners of your mouth were facing downwards.

'Please, just be a normal boyfriend.'

'I'm sorry. I got carried away.'

'Occupational hazards, I guess.'

You were smiling again, which made him smile in return. He liked that about you ― you wouldn't hold grudges. Whenever someone honestly said sorry, whether it was him, a friend of yours, a family member… You would always forgive them. He lifted his hand so that it would rest on your jawline, caressing your cheek with his thumb, softly.

You were still farm too warm for his liking, but the medicine should start working soon.

'And what does a normal boyfriend do in cases like this?'

You didn't answer immediately. You stared at him through half lidded eyes, sticking your tongue out, something you did when you were concentrating and that according to you, you had inherited from you father. Chishiya knew he had given you free rein to ask whatever you wanted from him, but to be honest, he would have done whatever it was to please you, especially after seeing you in such a state, so he didn't particularly mind.

'I want to watch a movie. One of those shitty movies I like that you say lower my IQ. What can I say, I am a simple woman with simple pleasures.'

Chishiya chuckled. He thought of you as many things: smart, caring, sweet, adorable, beautiful in ever sense of the word, both inside and outside, brave, strong, charming, bewitching, endearing… But never simple. That was not it.

'Wish granted.'

He took the remote control and turned on the TV, giving it then to you so that you would choose what it was you wanted to watch. He also grabbed a blanket, wrapping you with it, enjoying how the second after he was done you cuddled against him, making him lift the arm that was closest to you so that he would put it around you. As if moved by invisible strings, his fingers started to travel their way up and down your back.

You finally chose something. Some American romantic comedy with bad actors, far too many plot-holes, and badly-timed jokes. But Chishiya loved it. How couldn't he, if it made you laugh?

About thirty minutes in, you had fallen asleep, your face on the crook of his neck. You were breathing noisily, possibly from the nasal congestion, but at least you were resting and, Chishiya checked by placing the back of his free hand on your forehead, the other one still holding you against him, your body was a much more normal temperature.

He would let you sleep, as much as you wanted. Then, he would make you dinner, because you had to eat something. Lastly, so that you wouldn't feel bad about not being able to watch the movie with him, he would put it again, remembering where it was that you dozed off.

He would take care of you. Not as a doctor, although he wasn't sure he could help himself.

But as your boyfriend.

[thatsnotmygunflash]

Okay @simpledontmeanpeachy this is like a week late but I finally got the inspiration I needed to write prompt 25 "It gave me great joy,"

I really fell in love with this and might add to it honestly (or someone else can if they want) it's set in a world where Barry grew up in the foster system and turned out way differently.

Len was nursing his first drink of the night at Saints and Sinners an hour before his crew was suppose to meet up for their weekly check-in when Hartley came waltzing in the front door. Len didn't bother to turn and look, taking a smooth sip of his beer as the young scientist came up to the empty bar.

"Rathaway, little early, even by your standards." Len said in observation. Hartley Rathaway wasn't the newest addition to his Rouges or even the youngest, but he was by far the smartest and most capable out of the lot. They had worked three big jobs together in the past year and a half and besides his sister, he was the only one Len felt gave it to him straight and pulled his weight enough for it to mean anything to Len. He wouldn't call them friends, but they were friendly. Not friendly enough, however, for Hartley to show up without an agenda.

"I wanted a chance to speak privately before the rest of the crew show up,"

"About?" Len assumed it would be business Hartley wanted to discuss but this must be something he didn't want the rest of the crew to know about yet.

"You heard about the new player in town, right?"

How could he not, when it was all anyone in the city wanted to talk about lately.

"The Chemist?" At Hartley's nod of confirmation Len tilted his chin down in understanding. "I've heard whispers, why?"

"He approached me last night, said he needed a little tech support, willing to pay more than well for my time too."

"Did you take the job?" Len had never cared about Hartley's freelance work before, unless it directly effected Len's own timetable, but they had never had issues with scheduling before. Len made sure of it.

"You're not asking the important questions, Snart."

"If you have something to say, Rathaway, say it." Len didn't enjoy the condescending smirk painted on Hartley's face and he definitely didn't like a single word that came next.

"He's planning on hitting the Federal Reserve, the same one you're planning on hitting in two months. Which wouldn't be a problem for you, if he wasn't planning on making his move next week."

"Next week." Next week. Next. Week. There was no way. The Chemist had just hit First National two weeks ago. He couldn't be that reckless, especially when the cops and the papers had painted him to be some kind of evil-mastermind. Len had been casing the Reserve himself everyday for four months, there was no way he would have missed another thief doing the same.

"Yep. He doesn't even have a crew either. Plans to do it all by himself. Seems like kind of a loner. Pretty though. And smart. Meta too, I think. Full package really."

"You think he can pull it off." Len didn't need the snort of agreement Hartley let out to let him know he was right. Hartley was not an easily impressed man, which meant this Chemist was someone to be on guard with.

"Oh, definitely. Especially with my help covering his tracks, but, because I knew he'd end up iced for fucking with your job, I convinced him to come here tonight to talk to you about joining the Rouges."

Hartley had told a man who enjoyed explosives where his entire crew was meeting tonight. The nerve of this kid.

"And you just expected me to be okay with that?"

"Well, obviously." Hartley scoffed, waving a dismissive hand in the air when he saw Len's icy glare. "I thought you'd agree it couldn't hurt to have other smart and pretty people around to look at. You should have seen his face when I told him I worked for you. It gave me great joy. Watching him go from obnoxiously cocky to painfully desperate just at the sound of your name. I think you have a fan."

A fan. A fan. The Chemist was a fan. Good lord.

"You better pray this works out in our favor, Rathaway, or it's your ass."

"I'm not worried." Hartley shrugged carelessly, his smirk turning into something like delight when the door opened behind them.

"And why's that?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Hartley replied, pointing a finger behind Len's shoulder.

"Wha-" Len turned to see who the new comer was, losing his voice and the ability to move when he caught sight of an unmistakably familiar face. Len couldn't believe what he was seeing. Barry Allen, the flirty barista from the coffee shop Len had been using as cover for his stakeouts of the Reserve was standing just three feet in front of him. The same Barry Allen that he had taken home with him five nights ago. The same Barry Allen that had not taken Len's one night stand policy well.

Barry gave a lazy wave, not bothering to hide the challenge in his eyes or the smugness coating his voice.

"Hey Lenny. Miss me?"

[my-my-my]

I wrote this GinRan story a few years ago, one of the first Bleach fanfics I wrote (I also had never written an Aizen fic at this point haha). I posted this on ao3 back in the day.

Click here to read on AO3.

TW: implied alcoholism, death

Characters: Ichimaru Gin, Matsumoto Rangiku, Kira Izuru

Rangiku tries to keep a routine as she mourns the loss of Gin, unfortunately for her, alcohol becomes her source of comfort.

Rangiku woke with a fine film of last night's alcohol in her mouth, a throbbing headache, but also a sense of numbness.

Her bedroom had various bottles scattered throughout, clothes strewn haphazardly and her makeup brushes needed to be cleaned.

Orihime said having a routine to follow is good…

She looked over the cat calendar she brought back from the World of the Living. It was two weeks since Gin died.

Her body shuddered at the memory.

But she had a routine to follow, and the first step was to take a shower.

She noticed Captain Hitsugaya had gotten a bit lenient on her. Maybe because she was actually doing her work for a change. Not that she could blame him, for once she preferred the silence of her office than everyone else's nosy questions.

They would ask about him. The would want her to talk about him.

Rangiku wanted to drink instead. The burning sensation would drown any of her words about Gin and their relationship. She wanted her words to disappear.

What was there to say?

Rangiku drifted between feeling angry at Gin, angry at herself, mourning over him, or a sense of numbness. As of late, the numbness went on autopilot.

Once she was done with her paperwork, she headed straight to the alcohol shop. Vodka was last night's menu; tonight, she would go for tequila.

But Captain Hitsugaya yelled at her before she stepped off the premises.

As he dropped a stack of papers into her hands, he told her, "I need you to deliver these files to the third division."

Her body felt like it was on fire.

"Why can't you get the third seat to do it? I'm heading home now, sir. If it's really that urgent, then you can deliver these yourself."

It was harsh and disrespectful, but Rangiku wanted to avoid the third division barracks. She didn't want to be reminded of Gin, and one person would be there and try to talk to her about him.

She needed the burn of tequila faster than ever.

Captain Hitsugaya shouted at her again. Her hangover crawled back. A headache that pounded to the sound of his yelling.

"Fine." She snapped at him and held the documents firmly in her hands. She flash stepped to the third division.

A part of her felt guilty for shutting out Izuru, but the comfort of alcohol was what she wanted, rather than hearing someone talk about Gin. He had been trying to talk to her for a few days now, but she couldn't stand the thought of talking about Gin. She didn't trust herself on what would come out.

She told herself that this delivery would be short, quick and as polite as possible. Izuru was more understanding than most in Soul Society. She also knew that he was one to talk about his feelings to those he was close to. Not that she could fault him for that, that's what was healthy, but their mutual point of conversation was not.

In a way, she was envious of him for that. And Momo. Once Captain Hirako was reinstated to the fifth division, they bonded over Aizen's treatment of them. How blindsided they felt. Momo didn't fully trust Captain Hirako, but he didn't blame her for that. There was a comfortable distance between them.

Now that she thought more about it. Shuuhei hand Kensei and Mashiro to talk about Tosen. Well, most likely Kensei, Mashiro didn't see all that interested in Shuuhei's feelings. But who did Izuru have? Who did she have?

Maybe it isn't so bad to talk to him?

She started to sweat. Her autopilot took her towards Izuru's office and without even realizing it, she was knocking on his door.

"My captain wanted me to give this to you." And she shoved the documents to Izuru's chest.

"Oh, uh thank you. I'm done for today, but is it ok if I send these back tomorrow?" He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, avoiding her eyes.

"Yes, that's fine. But Kira, since you're done work, why don't we grab a drink?"

That startled him. He had sworn that Rangiku had been avoiding him, but he wasn't going to say no.

"Should I invite Shuuhei and some of our usuals to join us?" Izuru asked, walking behind Rangiku.

"No, I just wanted to have a drink with you."

He hummed in agreement as they walked to the market.

It was awkward. The booth they had gotten seemed so much smaller than what she thought. Rangiku usually would have taken charge of the conversation, but today she just wanted to nurse the tequila in front of her. Izuru was silent too, taking small sips of his sake, yakitori skewers in between them.

"Do you think about why he did it?"

The question slipped out of her mouth before she had time to stop herself. Izuru placed his cup down, but he didn't look at her when he spoke.

"To be honest, I thought I knew him. But after everything… I don't know what to think anymore."

"Do you miss him, Izuru?"

"I do. Or maybe I think I miss the memory of him."

Memories are nice, but that's all they are.

But all they had now were memories of him. The memory of Gin the Child, rescuing her with persimmons. Captain Gin who teased Izuru mercilessly, but gave him the self-confidence he needed to be a vice-captain.

For the first time since the night after Gin's death. She cried. Izuru held her hands and steadied her shot glass to the table. His head was lowered, but splotches of tears dripped on to the table.

Rangiku squeezed his hands then let go. She began refilling his sake cup and her shot glass.

"For Gin."

And with tears in their eyes, they drank to the better times they had with him. 

Laughter, tears and alcohol. 

For once her words didn’t feel like it burned.

Thank you for reading!

[aladaylessecondblog]

Red Mountain Waffle House, pt. 4 ("The Hand")

Sadara kept the corprus thing under wraps. She told Jiub--but no one else.

"Well if that doesn't suck shit I don't know what does," he said through the cigarette dangling from his lips, "You okay? Gonna need me to shank you before you go crazy? When did you get bitten, a couple days ago?"

"A few months, actually," she said, "That's the strange part, I haven't had any symptoms. Not a rash or a boil or anything."

There was a pause. He flicked the cigarette, opened the baggie before him, and set it on the table.

"You got the papers?"

"Do I have the papers..." Sadara scoffed. "With the week I've had I don't think I'll ever forget them again!"

She handed over the bag and Jiub set them out and started rolling their weed into joints.

"Makes me wonder why we ever decided to come here, y'know. We could be doing pretty good just killing cliffracers."

"Yeah, and sleeping outside and in all conditions...I don't want to do that again. Ever." Sadara sighed, and checked on the ash yam stew on the stove, giving it a few stirs before coming back. "Like it wasn't bad, and this time we were choosing to do it, but..."

"But you're sick of it and want a permanent roof over your head. Even if it's just this shithole."

"Exactly. See, you understand me so well."

It was a friendship that went back to when they were both young and hungry. Easier to be poor when you had someone to watch your back and help you out when you needed it. And though they'd parted a few times due to one thing or another, they usually ended up watching each other's back again. Sometimes people thought they were dating, and she'd asked him once, but Jiub didn't seem interested. Didn't like girls, but didn't seem to like guys, either...

He was always good to pretend he was her boyfriend to put off the creeps, though.

"Yeah, maybe I'm a bit tired of it too, I'll be honest...fighting and scraping and trying to heal up from all the fights with cliffracers...like...I can buy healing potions and all, but who's to say we don't get got by a pack of them at some point?"

"So we work at a restaurant where we only get shit from people on two legs."

It wasn't THAT bad, really. The corprus monsters left her alone now, and why that was she couldn't figure out. Maybe having it made them think of her as just another one of them?

There'd be time to debate over it. She'd just have to keep an eye on it, and pray it didn't get any worse than it already was.

-----------------

"Hey, hey, Greg, how ya doing?" Jiub waved as the imperial walked through the door. "So you finally decided to join us in civilization?"

"Something like that," Greg laughed. He was a fairly jovial sort, and the one with a fairly large house (how he owned it inside the Ghostfence was a mystery to everyone) and thus the guy who held all the best house parties. To be friendly with him was always a good idea, even if they weren't entirely sure if he wasn't Sanguine's avatar or something. "You two gonna be free in two weeks? Say, Saturday?"

"What's happening saturday?"

"What d'you think's happening? We'll have ale and sujamma, but if you can bring a little green that'll be appreciated."

"Can't get ahold of any?" Sadara took his order for a waffle and some eggs and stayed at his table as Jiub went to work cooking. "Or you just want some to mellow out?"

"A little of both, it's been harder to get and Jiub's always had a way with the stuff. Oughta grow your own...or maybe you do already, in which case keep up the good work."

Sadara handed him the coffee and plate once Jiub was done cooking. "He's got a green thumb. Me...me, mine's pure black, inside and out. Except for that plant on the windowsill. The local cult leader seems to think I'm Nerevar returned because he was like that too."

"Is that so? Well, that guy's a bit isolated...he'll turn up to a party now and then, but mainly to--"

The door bell jingled and in walked a pair of ordinators. One of them same as Sadara had tossed out before, and she immediately tensed on sight of him.

"At least there's none of those things in here tonight," the mer said, "You'd probably welcome them with open arms."

She didn't respond.

Greg paid and left shortly afterwards, saying he'd give them specifics on when to turn up later. Sadara went over to the ordinators' table.

"And what will the two of you be having?"

The first one was muted, tired, and asked just for some sausage and eggs. The angry one glared up at her, "A Temple-fearing waitress would be a good thing to have, but obviously we're both out of luck now, aren't we?"

"To eat, sir." Her tone was icy, and she could see the temper broiling beneath the man's severe expression.

"Coffee, and eggs."

She took the order and walked back to her place. Shortly after, Ulen entered, and the ordinators tensed up.

"Ulen, it's good to see you again," Sadara said, "The sky looks like it's been threatening to rain all day, does that mean you expect to see..."

"Ah, not today, most likely," Ulen replied. "He has much to handle at home. Something has livened him up and we are all happier for it."

His gaze such as it was, turned to hers.

"YOU again," the ordinator snarled from the corner. When his food was ready a moment later, he was still seething. "I don't care if his money spends well, suppose the ordinators stopped coming here because you're obviously in with the Dagoths?"

"I'm not in with ANYONE," Sadara replied, "It's economics. They spend more than you anyway, it wouldn't be much of a loss."

"How DARE--"

"Can we not right now?" his partner said, "We're off duty, they're not violent, it's not worth the fight."

"The duty never ceases."

A groan.

Ulen didn't acknowledge them, and spoke instead to Sadara. "Your arm, it is healed?"

"Yes. Where did you--oh, right. He must've told you. Please tell me he doesn't have me watched."

"He DOES want to be sure his Nerevar doesn't come to harm."

"HIS Nerevar?" Sadara gave a laugh, and then not wanting to appear rude quickly added, "I'm sorry, it's just a ridiculous idea to me. Me, who's never been to Morrowind before the ship brought me here, and he thinks I'm the incarnate of Nerevar--"

"He thinks you're WHAT?"

The last sentence, spoken perhaps a bit too loud, had caught the ordinator's attention. He stood up so quickly his plate was turned over and clattered to the floor.

"The SHARMAT thinks you're Nerevar," the ordinator charged forward and grabbed her by the collar, "Now you've reached the point of outright heresy and that I CANNOT ignore."

"Get the fuck off me, you creep!" Sadara moved and kneed him in the crotch.

The ordinator let go, but slapped her with his right hand a moment later. "The Temple will know. And the Temple will do to you what they do to ALL those who think to call themselves Nerevarine!"

Sadara decked him then, and dragged him outside, hearing only a faint, "I tell him not to do this shit" from the ordinator's partner, who kept calmly drinking his coffee.

"I'm not Nerevar, but I'll damn sure kick your ass like I was!" She ducked a fireball from the ordinator and gave him another hit on the jaw. The fight that followed was confusing - she would recall afterwards getting cut by his blade, getting knocked in the head, sitting on his chest and punching his face bloody, but nothing more than that. What she did remember was going back inside to clean up.

Ulen came forward to heal the cut, and she thanked him. Gladly, the ordinator's partner left soon after, saying "he just gets like this" and both of them did not return to cause more trouble.

----------------------------------

A few days later, Sadara's black eye had come in in full bloom, and she had to get a pair of shades to cover it up. The mail tracking app said the package was due to be delivered today, and she went out to the mailbox to check.

Except there wasn't one package, there was two. One was definitely the sunglasses marked "Tiber Mart", but the other was wrapped in postal paper, tied with twine, and marked only with "A Gift" in the most cursive, flourished, show-offy handwriting possible.

She brought them both inside, and after checking that the sunglasses covered up her black eye well enough she looked to the other box. A Gift. What in the hells?

Sadara pulled the end of the twine and tore off the paper. The box was neat and expensive looking, but the scent was horrendous, and for a minute she considered tossing it out. The ordinators might've sent her a stinkbomb, or something poisonous, maybe...

Against her better judgement she opened the lid.

And screamed.

There, within the box, was the bloody, rotten, bonemold gauntleted hand of an ordinator.

[rodolfoparras]

Pinky promise I will write more for the concept of turning homophobic dude into your puppy and breeding bitch as soon as I have time. I also wanted to write you something for your birthday but I genuinely don't have time at all 😔

Since my co-worker is on vacation and we only work one shift (aka mine) I am swarmed the entire day and I have cried from stress nearly every day this week and I basically never cry. Also I had customer yell at me and threaten me two days ago and I was certain he would attack me?? He might've if another customer didn't walk in and it was for his mistake too. And when I tried to tell him that and offer to correct it, he got worse. Thankfully my manager is really nice and he told me I could've called him and police and that I should next time.

I really miss being here and every day and interacting with people but like...I barely see my dog because most of them home is spent sleeping. And the play I'm in is in like two weeks and I didn't have time or energy to properly learn my lines yet and we're supposed that have rehearsals before work next week and ngl I feel like throwing myself off of the building. (And I didn't even start with my final paper for college). Also I had bit of a cold and hell of a sore throat, I could barely speak and it hurt to swallow :((

There was so much I wanted to talk about and comment on but I literally don't have energy to type and I wish I could psychically send my thoughts to my phone. I hope you're doing better than I am though ✨🫶🏻 I'm on a hunt for less stressful job, hopefully something online so I can do it when I start college again this year (after two years).

(and side note but I love the idea of period sex but in reality because of my pcos and other problems, I am in way too much pain to do anything irl which sucks. But there are fanfics and roleplaying 😌 and the anon who mentioned this and said they have vampire thing are so real, me too bestie. And thank you for providing links of my husband, trans Simon is elite)

-🔮

Dw sugar bee!! You pop in whenever you have time!! And besides I appreciate the fact that you wanted to write me something sweet in the first place as we say down there it’s like you already did it so thank you lovey!

Sugar bee :(( that sounds absolutely horrible I’m so sorry angel customer service can be hell on earth especially down in the Balkans they really should have security work alongside cashier bc that’s what they do here you never know what can happen you know it’s okay to feel upset about it and cry it out just rmr that it was his fault and customers in general can be devils my cousin worked at a store for a short period of time and she says every time she passes it she gets physically sick bc ppl can be so nasty

And again like I said pop in whenever you can I understand you’re very busy rn and I hope things become less stressful so you can get some rest and spend time with your baby and of course to pop in here but I also have to say I admire you for balancing a job school and hobbies bc personally I wouldn’t be able to withstand this 😭

I also hope you get a much easier job so you don’t get burn out no offense but isn’t life crazy like you’re doing everything that’s expected of us have a job do school hobbies and you’re on the verge of getting burned out every day I am reminded of the hell on earth this is our society

Fanfics and roleplaying are definitely a good way to go about it! I mean might as well take the chance and have a vampire role play with your partner I mean who said that :/

[imzsuzsis-blog]

We broke up with Loki. I didn't want to put it anywhere, not even how we went, especially how it ended, and I wouldn't want to tell anyone about it because I would be a victim of teenagers again and I don't want that. I sat in the chair of my hotel room and didn't dare to open the envelope that Amanda gave me because it said whether I would have a son or a daughter in a few weeks. I stood up slowly, put the envelope back on the table with tears in my eyes, walked over to the beautiful big window here in Montreal, the windows are always so beautiful and big, I looked out and my heart started racing, what if I meet another good boy here, but I quickly took it off, now it's over my engaged relationship couldn't happen so soon, and I'm also pregnant, so I neglected it and headed for the door where...

,,What the hell??? Pato? You?"

"Am I the devil?" Hello to your ex? Lando..."

"Ok, sorry... But you know you surprised me... Wow, I didn't expect you... Until now only Osc came to me in the team..."

I looked at him as he looked at me with full eyes.

"You're either pregnant, or you've gained a few kilos..."

"The previous one slipped in, but I decided to keep it and raise it, I'm able to do it."

He came in and clapped with pure force.

"Damn you, I don't know you well, you always go to parties!!!! Fucking TikTok, X and Insta are full of this!!!!! You can't do it with a whore kid, stupid English, adopt him, raising children is not your fucking business."

"I'm not an adult, understand. I don't want to go to parties anymore, but fuck me. Max and Charles keep calling me to go, if I say no, they tell me that I'm slipping away from good guys, so I have to go!!!"

Burying my face in my palms, I started sobbing because I was telling the truth, they confronted me, I told them I was coming out and on top of that I told them that I was pregnant, and I thought especially about Charles that he would be ready to help, but he is not a party face and he keeps teasing me to party with him, but I don't I want to be with him, I want to be at home, and I want to be ready with his little room as soon as possible.

I watched Lando sitting on the bed and crying, there could be several reasons for this, they broke up with the guy he was dating according to the gossip papers, I yelled at him against my will again (this meant the end of our relationship back then) or that envelope on the table can make pregnant men cry because of the tension .

"Shall I look at what's in the envelope as a neutral party?"

"Pato, please don't... Amanda gave it to me, but I don't want to know the baby's gender until the birth."

I hugged him, he was crying a lot and his eyes filled more and more with tears, it was one of the most emotional moments in my life, I've seen Lando cry and even comforted him, but he's hard to comfort. Once, right after Miami, I was there at the first Miami Grand Prix, he was eliminated and cried all the way through the race.

"What happened to make you cry like that?"

"It turned out that Loki really cheated on me with a contemporary named Queer, they met online and secretly started dating about a week ago, he said, and he also dumped me."

"No..."

"I don't know his nickname and I don't care about the honest name of the fuck."

Until now, I knew that autistic people could be so easily deceived, but how so. He is tricked by a teacher and left with a wooden picture so that he knows how much he is waiting for the little bastard, there is no better adjective for this.

"Pato, before you say anything... I also read on the Internet that Lily is still upset about this."

"Hello, Oscar..."

"Sorry... Hello"

He sat down next to us and started stroking his back in circles, but the situation didn't get any worse than we thought.

"Pato one, he fell asleep... Two, is that envelope?"

I looked at Pato with a sleepy face and sad.

"Yes, but she said that she didn't want to know the gender until the birth, I think that's understandable."

He whispered to me because I already wanted him so damn much. I got up and went there very slowly, I opened my mouth and turned back girlishly.

,,Girl?"

"Come here..."

"Good, now I can't, he's sleeping on my shoulder, come here, half-witted."

I went there and he stopped, there was a pink ribbon in it and it said.

"Congratulations Mr. Norris, you will have a beautiful daughter."

Together with Pato, we broke into a soft girlish skirmish.

"We are organizing what will be the gender party."

"What the hell... Stupid idea, I didn't sleep, I just rested my eyes... Bullshit."

Pato quickly put the paper back in the envelope behind my back and giggled together with Oscar in a girlish way.

,,You know??? You're not complete, I swear, fuck you."

I turned around and washed both of them as best I could, picked up the envelope with an angry face and ran out of the room.

"Like, let's leave it."

I looked back, Lando was leaning against the wall and sobbing. I ran to him and wiped his tears from his face, but his eyeballs were red, his face was white like a freshly painted wall and his canines were sharp.

"Oh, who the hell are you a vampire?"

,,Yes and?"

He looked her angrily in the eyes and caressed the neck warmer.

"What's more, dude, you won't bite me!!!"

But when I said it, he turned away and started to calm down from behind...

"Not Peacher!"

He starts to pull away from me with his hands in his pockets and look in front of him.

"Good Andrey, do it if you think he's so bloody."

"I'm 90 years old, let me decide who I bite and who I don't!!!!"

He became even angrier and sneaked behind me again, but now I could feel his breath on my neck.

,,Stupid vampire…”

That was all I could manage to moan before he stuck his fingers in deep and I couldn't catch my breath.

"I'm a teenager, fifteen to be exact."

I continued until...

"Fuck Alex, I didn't mean to say sorry, I was just thirsty."

"Peacher, you're such a hothead."

"Shut up my sister or I'll be spit on by the Volturi again."

"I already planned after you got together with a northern demigod, you bastard."

I saw Lando standing in the corridor with a woman ten years older than him and they were arguing over Alex's body about something, I think in Latin because I didn't understand a word of it.

"Lando, what dog did you and this woman fight about?"

I started towards Carlos with a big smile.

"Peacher if that..."

"Shut up Andrey, he's one of my best friends."

"Blah, Blah, my brother, there is no such thing in the vampire world to make friends with a vampire human."

,,No problem. How am I here?”

I stood behind them and they were still arguing about something, but the whole thing was overshadowed somewhere, they were saying that vampires or what the hell can't be friends with humans or I'm a bitch.

———————————

I got up, could barely breathe, sat up in bed, propped the sheet firmly with my palm and drank. That fucking dream (memory) again, but I'm a vampire and it keeps coming up now and all the time. I thought I would look for a better Psychiatrist because the current one is not good, in fact it has worsened my condition, I told him about this, he said I am looking for a specialist who is also skilled in dreams, he had them, he said that I was looking for my past elsewhere and that it would be a long one. Nowadays, that's why I go to the library or antique shop a lot to solve it all, I still have to chew through a lot of books before I even know who I am or where I came from and what these dreams are that have been bothering me for a while.

,,Hallo? Danny? Again... You're right here at my door, I'm just going to grab a top, wait."

"Is that it again?"

I started freaking out, I was completely exhausted, last time I dreamed that I was kidnapped, now this, I don't know, they keep coming back and I hate these, everyone I talked to said that it's natural during pregnancy, just relax and they will go away in the third trimester.

"It was worse, my ex was involved and Pato is not here."

,,I know."

"What's more, Loki isn't here because of watching the house fire, and he started to think that our breakup wasn't true. I loved him and I hope one day he will be my husband."

I was sitting on the chair and the sentence was still in my head.

"She just covered herself up, we'll find out her gender later."

I'll be 19 weeks in a few days, you could try, I know maybe I'm too excited, but I'd still like to know as soon as I've made it this far.

,,What do you want?"

"Girl, but I wouldn't mind if it was a boy."

[nate-windsor]

the tidbits.

NAME: Nathaniel Windsor NICKNAMES: Nate AGE: 30 BIRTHDAY: April 27, 1994 OCCUPATION: currently unemployed NEIGHBORHOOD: Echo Acres SPECIES: werewolf, beta (born) LENGTH OF TIME IN LUNAR COVE: 5ish weeks

the bio but in bullet points.

triggers: reform camp, death, parental death and alluded to emotional abuse, violence, substance use, assault

Nate was born the only child to Margarget and James Windsor, a surname with a generational history in politics and positions of authority in Southern California. As you can probably imagine, there was a lot of expectation that came with that.

Nate was not the little baby prodigy they were hoping for: too curious, too outspoken, too "soft". He struggled to reconcile the son they wanted and the one that he was, and as a teen, he was shipped off to a reform camp to be straightened out.

Surprise, it was not at all like an extended summer camp, but rather a place intended to strip him of all the things that made him him. It was here, though, that he met @skyecarrington. Skye helped him, along with others, escape the camp. But when faced with the choice of setting off on his own or returning home, he chose home. Still, Skye gave him his number and told him to call if he ever needed anything

Upon Nate's return home, he did his best to go through the motions and be the Windsor heir that everyone expected him to be. He studied poli sci, he volunteered, he made speeches and earned the public's adoration. As it turned out, he was really good at charming people. It served him well.

He was super not interested in politics, though. He wasn't really interested in the future wife his mom had picked out for him either. So it was nothing short of fate when he met @daphnebishop. For him, he would have sworn it was love at first sight. She was bold in all the ways he'd been malleable, she was living color to his black and white life.

His parents hated it, of course. They did what they could to break them up, but no dice.

Eventually, they were married. It was the best time of Nate's life. He blossomed under her love, the kind of unconditional thing he should have always had and never did.

But good times never last and when Daphne learned of her sister's death, the real divide began. He lost her day by day to her obsession for answers he didn't believe she'd find. His parents were on him hard to rein her in and he begged her to just let it go.

But instead, she let him go. He woke up one morning to divorce papers and a sudden reappearance of that black and white life. He would be ashamed to admit that he lost himself in the heartbreak. For two months, he was little more than a recluse. He drank away his feelings, he didn't leave the house except to get more alcohol. It was during one such trip that he was jumped in an attempted mugging. When it became clear it was a 'him-or-me' situation, a shard of broken glass aimed at just the right spot saved his life.

It had unknowingly triggered a werewolf curse. The morning after the next full moon, he awoke naked in the middle of a field, dried blood under his fingernails with only bits and pieces of memory from the night before. Something told him to call that number Skye had left him with all those years ago. He'd heard about his death, had even mourned him in private. But still, something told him to call. Imagine his surprise when Skye picked up.

After brief discussions, Skye convinced Nate to come to Lunar Cove. He promised he would find what he needed there. And Nate, with nothing tethering him to California, and a desperate need to understand what was happening to him, made the move.

Now, he's just trying to figure out what life even is now.

the headcanons.

Nate can play the piano and sing surprisingly well. He also taught himself a little bit on the guitar through youtube videos, but he's way less practiced with that

You'll probably never see him in a t-shirt. For as down to earth as he is (especially if you've ever met his parents), he still dresses expensive. He loves long-sleeved dress shirts and button downs with the sleeves rolled to the elbow. But often, he'll add a basic little baseball hat to his outfits which really throws off the whole thing in an awww he's trying kind of way

....I felt like I had tons more hcs to add here when I was stuck at work all day and now that I'm here, I have zero thoughts. Soooo this will be updated!

[pynkhues]

"Surviving trauma doesn't make you an expert on other people's trauma" is how I'm paraphrasing your tag. But it's such an important point to me. I feel like not just internet spaces but also societal mental health conversation has been ignoring this for decades. I can talk about this extremely broadly because I think it's one of the problems with 12 step type of addiction treatments. But it's also especially popular in the realm of victims of crime and/or abuse of any kind. Surviving trauma only makes you an expert on your own personal trauma and healing. There is no universal cure for any trauma, everyone needs something different. And treating others requires a level of detachment that rarely exists in amateur survivors of similar trauma. Sorry for preaching about this in your inbox but your tags really reminded me how passionate I am about this. I've experienced people scolding me for abandoning support groups and group therapy types of things when they didn't feel helpful to me because they helped them and "I just didn't give them proper chance".

(x)

Don't apologise, anon! I totally agree, and I'm really sorry that you've had that experience with support groups and group therapies.

I've been thinking about this a lot actually since the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial and the horrific treatment of her during all of that, but it's been a pretty big factor in my life these days in general.

Like, look, this is kind of getting a bit in the weeds of my real life right now, but my aunt's very angry at me and my mum at the moment in a way that's been pretty exhausting. (Putting this below a cut because nobody needs to read this, haha)

My aunt is a victim-survivor of some pretty horrific domestic violence. It was many years ago now, and she's done a lot of healing and is in a better place overall, but the situation currently with my sister going through emotional and financial abuse, gaslighting and physical intimidation, with her ex-husband has I think brought up a lot for my aunt, and the result is that she's really trying to dictate the choices that my sister makes as she's going through this.

My aunt has been genuinely so supportive of my sister, but she's also been incredibly judgemental and critical. It's been a really challenging space for their relationship, and, by proxy, my relationship with my aunt, because she calls me (and my mum, who's her sister) up to try and influence my sister's decisions. We're in this current kinda stand-still over it because we're six weeks out from final trial in family court, and my ex-BIL has done something very threatening to my sister, and my aunt wants my sister to get an AVO. We tried to get my sister an AVO last year, and the police told her that until he put her in hospital, they wouldn't give her one. Now my aunt wants my sister to try again, and my sister's lawyers are saying no, because it looks like a play to the judge. They've been in family court for two years, and to try again this close to final trial may be legitimate but to a judge it'll read as a move that could influence her custody of her children.

My sister doesn't want to take that risk, her lawyers don't want to take that risk, and in my opinion, the worst result would be for her to try, have it on the record that she tried, get the same response she did last year that he hasn't put her in the hospital yet, and ergo get no AVO and a bad mark on her heading into court. On top of that - - AVOs don't do shit. They're a piece of paper that maybe bump you up a few spots in the queue when you call the police.

Anyway, my aunt's furious about this and it's become this huge thing where my aunt feels she knows better because she got an AVO, because she's been through this already, because none of us understand what she understands, and I'm like - - it's exhausting, and it's unfair. Their experiences are not the same by any stretch of the imagination, and I hate that a part of me keeps thinking that what happened to my aunt didn't end because of an AVO, it ended because he was a gambling addict and he was killed over an unpaid debt.

My aunt really is trying to do the right thing by my sister, and I love her for that, but there is this disconnect between survivor experiences that can cause an enormous amount of friction and complication, and I think we need to get better in general at acknowledging that.

[lucreziaq2001]

•TV show: "Criminal minds".

•Content warnings: Period-typical homophobia, mentions of conversion therapy (done through electroshock too), a young man leaving his girlfriend, who is not mentally ill, at a psychiatric hospital thinking he is doing it for her own good and his girlfriend not wanting to stay there, but being forced to.

•Some of the lines are almost the same that are in a scene of the "Cold case" episode this story is inspired by. I did modify them a bit, though. I didn't just copy and paste them.

•Both Russell Kearns and Brockview Hospital were in the "Cold case" episode this fanfiction is inspired by. Both the character and the place are just like they were in "Boy crazy".

•VERY IMPORTANT THING: This chapter and the next one were pretty upsetting for me to write, so if you find them upsetting to read, I understand. Feel free to skip them.

•Tags: @lex13cm, @golden1u5t, @avis-writeshq, @rynwritesreid, @chrrysgirl, @amerrymango, @marie-sworld, @iluvreid, @babygirl-garcia, @hugyourlungs, @strangermoonlove.

The bridge to Heaven

Chapter 14: A terrible place

In the afternoon of November 4, after picking up Emily from school, Ian asked Elizabeth to pick up Declan from daycare, then he forced Emily to pack a suitcase and put her most important things in it, and the couple left their house.

In less than an hour, they arrived in Philadelphia, at Brockview Psychiatric Hospital.

Standing by the door to welcome them, as if he already knew why Emily and Ian were there, was Dr. Russell Kearns, who after speaking with Emily for just a few minutes, already had a diagnosis that was as clear as it was terrible for the girl.

"The diagnosis is a sexual identity disorder" the man explained to Ian while two nurses took care, so to speak, of Emily "Here at Brockview, we teach girls with the problems Emily has to be attracted to men, like they should be".

"And what are you planning to do to her?" the young man asked mainly to be informed about it, since he had already made the decision to leave his girlfriend there.

"Therapy sessions with a psychologist, drugs and electroshock sessions, which is an excellent therapy" the doctor explained to him.

"I don't know anything about it, though," Ian replied, confused.

"You want the best for your girlfriend, right?" Dr. Kearns then asked him instead of giving him the explanation Ian was expecting.

"Yes, of course" the boy confirmed "But it's the first time Emily and I part ways in two and a half years".

"Don't worry, she's in good hands here" the doctor tried to reassure him "Just think that in a month, one of our former patients and her fiance are getting married. They came here to visit me about a week ago and they are one of the happiest couples I have ever met".

"Take me back home!" Emily shouted at that point as she was carried on a stretcher, with her hands and feet tied, into a room by two nurses.

"Emily, I'm doing this for your own good" Ian responded, even though he wasn't entirely convinced of what he was saying either.

"I'll dress like a woman! I'll do anything you want!" the girl told him, clearly desperate.

"These are the clothes she was wearing" Dr. Kearns told Ian, handing him a brown paper bag "After her treatment, Emily will only wear women's clothing".

"I don't want to stay here! Please, take me away!" Emily tried to beg her boyfriend, but it was no use.

"I'm sorry, Emily. I love you, but you forced me to do this" Ian responded, then he started to walk towards the hospital's door.

"No, please! Don't leave me here!" was one of the last things Ian heard Emily say, while he left her and a part of his conscience in that terrible place.

[liarian]

Was that his answer?

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17

The idea of borrowing a child sounded strange, but it was in fact what the teacher had asked them to do for the Developmental Psychology paper. His classmates had been discussing for a while which children under the age of two were available to them for observations and interviews while Katsuya absentmindedly watched the people coming in and out of the coffee shop.

"And if we don't find any, we just make it up."

"You think the teach won't notice?"

"Serizawa, wouldn't you have a cousin or nephew we could use?"

"N-no" Katsuya was startled when he heard his name. "It's just me and my mother."

The group groaned in despair.

"We seriously don't have anyone? What if we ask around the neighborhood daycare centers? Being a paper for college they can't turn us down."

It was a vain hope but ten percent of the grade was at stake. At least they wouldn't need the guinea pig for another few weeks. Katsuya would rather not think about it. Going to class was sometimes quite an ordeal. So many people everywhere always managed to make him nervous. The thought of having to interact with something as fragile as a child almost seemed like a nightmare.

Reigen's name on his cell phone screen distracted him from the conversation around him. It had been so many months since a single day had gone by without them even being together for a little while that not seeing him felt strange.

Reigen:

It was at my locker. 😳

[letter.jpg]

Katsuya clicked on the blurry image hoping it wasn't what he thought it was. It took barely seconds for the envelope to appear crisp on his screen. Katsuya frowned, how was he supposed to react? It had to be from the girl Reigen liked if the letter was important enough to send him a LINE. It wasn't like that was the first one he'd received.

Katsuya:

You hadn't told me you liked someone.

Reigen:

Eh????

I don't even know who it is 🙈

BUT A LETTER!!!!!

Katsuya nibbled on his thumbnail without looking away from Reigen's reply. He didn't quite understand what made this letter so different from the others. The only thing that had changed was Katsuya's feelings. Maybe he hadn't been able to hide them as well as he thought and if Reigen had noticed... Was that his answer?

"Serizawa, are you okay?" His classmate's voice snapped him out of his reverie. "Is that your girlfriend?"

The girl peeked over his shoulder, trying to peek into the conversation.

"He's just a friend." Katsuya blushed at the idea of Reigen being his boyfriend.

"It's been years since I've seen one of those!" The girl laughed at the sight of the letter before Katsuya could leave the screen black. "What is he, a high school kid?"

"He's about to finish his senior year" Katsuya replied defensively pocketing the cell phone.

As much as he hated leaving Reigen's messages on read, the answer was going to have to wait. Something about the girl's tone reminded him too much of how people used to talk to him when they wanted to make fun of him in high school. At least he had an excuse not to reply.

--------------

"Are you home yet?" Reigen asked as soon as he took his call. "How'd it go with the people at college?"

"Good. Better than I expected." Katsuya plopped down on the bed without bothering to change his clothes. He still needed to take a bath but that could wait. "The place was quiet but even so. Too many people."

"Hey, but that's quite the achievement! Who would have thought it a few months ago?"

"Only you would consider spending three hours in a coffee shop an achievement" Katsuya rolled his eyes. "Anyone can."

" Yeah, but you're not just anyone. You're you. Stop putting yourself down over what people consider normal."

"At your command, boss."

"Hey, are you liking making fun of me?" Reigen growled. "Well, just know I don't care. By this time tomorrow you' re going to be envious of me."

Reigen's histrionic laughter echoed in the room, even without his hands-free on. Trying to ignore the existence of the letter had been a mistake. Katsuya noticed a weight settle in his stomach. It was stupid to be jealous over something that had never been a possibility. No one knew better than him how great Reigen was. To think he was the only one to realize it was short-sighted. Reigen was his best friend, his obligation was to be happy for him.

[tngrace]

Blast From the Past

Ryan, Grace's ex, shows up in Cali. Needless to say things get out of hand quickly.

🏷 the discord: @dragon-kazansky @mrsjaderogers @bayisdying @cycbaby @askmarinaandothers @breadsquash

Bradshaws Masterlist

Grace & Bradley had been together for four years, engaged for one, and were only over a month away from their wedding when Kevin surprised Grace by saying he was coming to visit. He was going to be out their way for race week, and wanted to come see her before he'd come back for the wedding. 

Grace was excited but also suspicious because Kevin rarely made surprise visits. Once race week was completed, he showed up to stay for a few days. His first night over dinner she decided to question him. "Why are you really here Kev? You're gonna be back in a month for two whole weeks. What's going on?" 

"I can't just visit my lil sister when I'm already out here?"

"You can. But usually after race week you're ready to get home and see the girls." 

Bradley stays out of it, letting Grace grill her brother all she wants because she does make a point. Kev sighs as he sets his beer on the table and looks between them. "Fine. I did want to come visit but I also have some news."

"Let's have it." She feels Bradley lace their hands together under the table and she squeezes his, letting him know she's ok.

"Ryan showed up at the shop two weeks ago." 

"In Florida?!" Her hand unintentionally squeezes Bradley's tighter and she knows without looking his whole body has gone tense. 

"Yea. Apparently he looked me up. Was looking for you but wouldn't say why. Course I didn't tell him shit except to fuck off and that he'd signed the papers three years ago so let it go." 

"Did he?" Grace asks softly. 

"He left when I threatened to call the cops for trespassing. I dunno that he'll be able to find you. But I wanted you to be aware he was looking."

"You know she's safe here right?" Bradley finally speaks up. 

"I know. I'm not worried. I just don't trust him." Bradley gives him a nod at that. They change the subject, sensing Grace’s desire not to discuss him, and they end up enjoying Kevin’s time with them the next couple of days. 

Grace won’t admit she’s rattled by what Kev told her, but she’s also not going to let it stop her from living her life. She’s safe; she’s happy; she’s found her family, and she is only a few weeks away from her wedding. She is not going to let Ryan ruin that. She knows Bradley is more on guard when they go out, and while she understands, she also wishes she could get him to relax more. 

She realizes a week after Kevin left that it’s a good thing he’s more on guard because she’s completely caught off guard at work one night. It’d been a busy night; she’s floated between the kitchen and the bar all night. The Daggers had occupied the pool table corner all night, and she’d checked in with them on a break. She hears the kitchen door open and she just assumes it’s Bradley based on the footsteps. 

“What are you doing babe?” she laughs without turning around. 

“Glad to see I’m still babe.” The voice makes her freeze, the pan in her hand hitting the floor with a clatter. If the jukebox hadn’t been playing, she knows everyone in the bar would’ve heard it. 

“What are you doing here?” It comes out quieter than she wishes as she spins around and faces her ex. 

“Kevin didn’t pass on my message? I’m hurt,” he feigns hurt, his hand going to his heart.  

“Oh he did,” she hears growled behind Ryan. She lets out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding hearing Bradley’s voice. 

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” Of course Grace should’ve known that Baylie would’ve followed Bradley. She was just as protective as he was, and when Bradley had passed on Kevin’s message, the whole Daggers had been watching her more closely. 

“I don’t think this concerns either of you,” Ryan sneered. Baylie and Bradley both walk around him, Bradley putting himself between Grace and Ryan, as Baylie pulls her into a hug to make sure she’s ok. 

“I don’t think customers are allowed in the kitchen. So gonna have to ask you to leave.” 

“Not til I talk to my wife.” 

“Ryan just leave. There’s nothing left to say. We’ve been over for a long time. You finally signed the fucking papers remember? So just leave.” 

“Last I checked, she was EX-wife,” Jake says from the doorway, making sure to put emphasis on the ex. Grace peeks around Bradley to see Jake, Mickey, Javy and Reuben in the doorway. She knows if they’re loud enough, Ice, Mav and Slider will join them. 

“Not until we talk.” His voice was full of anger at their audience, and she knew he was a stubborn bastard. 

“I have nothing to say to you.” 

“I have plenty to say to you, bitch!” 

Bradley has to physically hold Baylie back at that.

 “Penny, my dear?” 

“Yes Jake?” she yells from the bar.

“Can we skip the bell?” 

Grace doesn’t like that gleam in Jake’s eye. She knows things are fixing to get ugly. 

“Jake, no!” She steps around Bradley and Baylie despite both of their protests. “I’m not the same young naive girl you manipulated and abused. You don’t get to walk into my place of business and start shit. Kev told you to fuck off and maybe you should’ve listened. You’ve got three seconds to get your sleazy ass out of my kitchen or I’m letting them throw you out. And if you ever set foot in this bar or kitchen again, I will throw your ass in jail faster than you can say my name. Get the fuck out Ryan and never come back. Forget you ever knew me.” 

Ryan growls and moves to lunge, but Jake grabs him. “You heard the lady. Out!” 

Javy grabs his other arm and they drag him kicking and screaming out of the bar. Jake still gets to dump him in the sand, Mickey and Reuben grabbing his feet once out of the kitchen. 

“Damn babe that was hot,” Baylie praises. 

Grace turns red, as she shakes her head. “I’m…”

“Don’t you dare,” Baylie tells her hugging her tight. “We should go file a restraining order,” she suggests to Grace seeing Bradley’s agreement. 

Once Grace pulls back from Baylie, she sinks into Bradley’s arm. “Bay’s right. The squad can clean up in here, and we’ll go do that right now. Should call Kev and suggest he do the same.” 

“I’m not leaving the cleanup to our friends.” 

“Yes you are,” Baylie says, the boys and Cin rejoining them. “We got this right?” They all nod their agreement, and Grace relents. She knows they’re not going to let her stay after that. 

“Alright fine. But yall really don’t have to.” 

Cin and Baylie pull her into hugs. “Go. We got this.” 

“Thank you,” she whispers. She lets Bradley tuck her under his arm as they head out. Thankfully they don’t see Ryan anywhere around as they head to the Bronco. “You ok?” He asks her once they’re settled.

Her hands are shaking as he pulls out and heads to the nearest station. “Yea… Yea… I just… I didn’t think he would do anything now. Hell, we've been separated for almost six years! I don’t understand.” She feels tears of frustration well in her eyes and she hates it. Hates that he’s still fucking with her life. 

“Hey… Hey it’s ok. We’re fine. Grace look at me.” He squeezes her knee as he drives. “It’s going to be ok. Why don’t you go ahead and call Kev?” 

She takes a deep breath and nods. The conversation goes about as she expected. Kevin wants to come out and kill the bastard, but Grace is able to convince him not to take anymore time away from his business since he’s bringing the girls in a few weeks for the wedding and staying for two whole weeks. She promises that Bradley and their friends have it handled and they’re going to get a restraining order at the moment. Talking to Kevin calms her some, and besides stopping by the house to get a copy of the divorce papers, they’re at the station within thirty minutes of leaving the Hard Deck. 

Getting the restraining order went easier than she expected, and she’s exhausted by the time they get home. Bradley sends a group text to update the Daggers and his uncles while Grace gets ready for bed. She’s asleep as soon as her head hits the bed, snuggled safely into Bradley’s side. It takes him longer to fall asleep; he’s going to kill that bastard if he shows his face again. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do to protect his girl. 

They’re lulled into a false sense of security over the next few days; Ryan doesn’t show his face again, and they assume he’s gone back across the country. Despite that, Grace is rarely alone, so that might have something to do with it. The retired Flyboys take up residence at the Hard Deck while Grace is there and the Daggers are still on base. And once the Daggers are free, someone is always glued to her side. She appreciates it, she really does, but she also hates how they’re changing their lives for her. Which is why after four days of no sighting, she’s able to convince the girls to pick her up at her house to go for her final dress fitting later in the morning, instead of being there as soon as Bradley leaves. 

She hears a car pull up outside, and while it’s a little early, she’s not surprised. She gathers up her things, heads out the door and locks it. “Good thing I was ready early,” she calls over her shoulder with a laugh. 

She expects to hear some laughter and teasing from the girls, so when she turns around and sees Ryan standing at the bottom of her steps, she freezes. Her hands clutch the keys tighter, and she turns to open the door once more, but he’s right there grabbing her wrist, stopping her. 

“Let me go!” She wrenches her wrist away and backs up. “I have a restraining order against you. You have three seconds to get away from me, or I’m calling the cops!” 

His hand jerks her phone from her, throwing it across the yard. 

“Ryan, you don’t want to do this. We’re over. Done! You signed the fucking papers. Go home!” 

“I signed them because you were costing me so much money!!!” he screams. She backs up again, but she’s quickly running out of room. “Every time I had to pay. Money! You cost me money! We were good baby, so good,” his hand brushes her cheek and she flinches. She’s praying the girls will be early now.

“Ryan. Leave. Just leave.” 

“It took me three years to fucking find you.” His hand grips her jaw, and she bites back the whimper. She refuses to give in to him now. “Three years!” His hand moves from her jaw to her neck, pinning her against the house. 

“Ryan,” she gasps as he squeezes harder. Her hands try to pry his hands away; she brings her knee up, but he backs away. “No I don’t think so bitch! You ruined me. Ruined my name all over town. You’re not even worth it! You weren’t good at anything, especially not the sex! But fuck if I’m letting you go now! If I can't have you then no one will!" 

His hand gets tighter, just as Grace hears a car door slamming. She hears voices, but she’s too busy trying not to pass out. 

“What the fuck?!” Ryan screams as he lets her go. Grace collapses to the porch, panting for breath. She just barely registers Baylie on Ryan’s back. In the next instant Baylie is around in front of him, punching the daylights out of him. She vaguely registers Alana’s voice somewhere and she slumps against the house working on her breath. 

Ryan falls down the steps as Baylie takes his knees out. He’s screaming and cussing, but he doesn’t stand a chance against Grace’s overprotective best friend. Grace hears bone crush as her breathing finally starts evening out. “Baylie. Don’t. He’s. Not. Worth. It,” she pants. 

Baylie doesn’t hear her though, and when Ryan goes to swing at her, Grace screams before she sees Alana taser him. Ryan flops on the ground before going still. Baylie gets another punch in, splitting his lip. Her hands are busted and bloody, and they’re just pulling the taser strings off, when another vehicle skids in. 

“GRACE!” 

She lets out a sob when she hears Bradley. He’s in front of her before she knows it, his hands gently pulling her into his arms. “I got you baby. I got you. You’re ok.” He murmurs it over and over, as he rocks her. Grace clings to him, burying her face in his neck. He glances over his shoulder to see Mickey checking over Baylie and Jake and Alana talking. Ryan starts coming too just as the cops arrive. 

Jake and Mickey step between him and the girls, Jake’s boot pushing him back onto the ground. Bradley is a little surprised to see his Uncle Ice and Uncle Slider pull in behind the cops. 

“What the hell happened?” Slider asks, running over to check on Grace. 

Baylie and Alana are already crouching beside her and Bradley and Grace finally uncurls from Bradley’s chest. Bradley is finally able to inspect the bruising around her neck, and Slider sees the instant the unleashed anger is begging to let loose. His hand settles on Bradley’s shoulder squeezing, effectively keeping him in place. Ice had joined them, after making sure Ryan wouldn’t come near them for the moment until they figured out what had happened. 

“We were coming to get her to go for the final dress fitting, and when we got here, the bastard had her pinned against the house by her neck.” Baylie is still fuming, but Mickey is rubbing her back and holding her close which seems to be working to calm her. 

Bradley growls until he sees Grace shrink into herself some more, and he takes a deep breath blowing it out. He pulls her back into his arms, burying his face into her hair just breathing her in. “She was safe. She was in his arms. Nothing like this would happen again,” he kept repeating in his head as he held her.  “I called Bradley then the cops, and Lucky girl just attacked,” Cin chuckles. “When he went to swing at Bay, I tased him.” 

Ice and Slider exchange looks. “B, Grace has to give her statement. Why don’t you go in and get the restraining order and we’ll stay with her.” 

“No. I’m not leaving her.” 

“I’ll get it,” Slider says, heading off an argument between Bradley and Ice. They rarely happened, but Slider still remembers B’s teen years when he took them all on at times. 

“It’s in the safe.” Bradley didn’t have to give the code, all his uncles knowing it. 

Bradley softly kisses Grace’s head. “Come on baby. Let’s get this over with.” He helps her up, tipping her chin up. He softly wipes her tears, his hand gently brushing over the bruise. He gives her a soft kiss before wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Baylie takes up her other side, Alana beside Bay. Jake and Mickey follow behind with Ice. Slider quickly rejoins them with a copy of the restraining order. 

Grace recounts what happens, Baylie and Alana offering up their parts. Bradley would tear him out of the cop car and beat him to death if Jake and Mickey didn’t have their hands on his shoulders and Ice and Slider weren’t standing between him and the car.  “Get him out of here,” Ice declares, feeling the rage radiating off his nephew once the girls are done with their statements. “And make sure they know we are pressing charges.” 

Grace sinks deeper into Bradley’s side and she’s grateful when Ryan is gone. “We’ll call the shop and reschedule,” Baylie offers. 

“Thanks,” Grace whispers. She turns to hug both of her friends tight. “Are you ok?” She asks Baylie. 

“More than fine babe.” 

“Should let Mickey clean you up,” she offers Bay a small smile. 

“Should probably stop fighting so much,” Bradley mutters. “But this time you get a pass.” He gives Baylie and Alana hugs for saving his girl. Bradley takes Grace inside to check her over; Jake and Mickey leave with their girls, the girls promising to get her another appointment soon. Slider text Whiskey to make the kids some food, while Ice text Mav to see if the hanger is unlocked so they can get the kids out of there for the night. With a solid plan in place, they depart as well. 

Bradley has Grace sitting on the counter in their bathroom checking her over. “You sure you’re ok?” 

Her hand reaches up to cradle his face. Her voice is a little rough, and Bradley has her drinking water to help. “Yea, I’m ok,” she promises. “It.. Yea I was terrified there for a minute, but… the girls showed up just in time.” 

She rests her head against his chest just listening to his heartbeat as his hands rubbed up and down her back. “I’m sorry,” she whispers causing Bradley to freeze.

“Grace… baby… you have absolutely nothing to be sorry about.”  His hands pull her head up and cradles her face between his hands. “This is not your fault. You didn’t ask for this.” He gently wipes her tear tracks before his hand gently cradles her neck. The handprint infuriates him to no end; he feels her hands lay over his, and he drags his eyes up to hers. 

“I’m ok. I’m right here.” 

He kisses her hard at that as he holds her close. The ringing of his phone breaks their kiss. “Hey Aunt Whiskey, you’re on speaker.” 

“Hey kiddos. I’ve got you some food, and your uncles have a plan for tonight. So let me in?” 

“Yes mam,” Bradley chuckles. He helps Grace down and they go back to the front door. Whiskey passes the basket of food to Bradley as soon as the door is open, and then she’s pulling her baby into her arms. “I’m ok,” Grace repeats as she sinks into Whiskey’s hold.

They slowly pull back as Bradley inspects the basket. “What’s all this for?” 

“You two are going out to the desert for tonight. You still have your key right B?” 

“To Mav’s? Yea?” 

“Ok good. Take that basket of food, yourselves and some clothes and get out of here. Oh and Mav says everything there is good to use.” 

“Wait. Are you saying…?” 

“Yes. Mav said go for it.” Bradley absolutely lights up at that, even though Grace is confused. Bradley hugs Whiskey tight. “Thanks Aunt Whiskey.” 

“Wasn’t my idea kiddo. Was all your Uncles.” 

“I’ll text them on the way.” He gives his aunt another hug and smile, before she hugs Grace and takes her leave. 

“Bradley what is happening?” Grace asks as he starts throwing some clothes into a duffle. 

“Mav’s letting me fly the P-51 without him!” 

“What? Seriously?” 

“Apparently.” He pulls her into a tight hug. “You wanna go flying baby?” 

He helps Grace up into the plane before joining her. He taxis out of the hanger, and they’re in the air before she knows it. It’s exhilarating and gorgeous, and it’s really amazing seeing Bradley in his element. She falls more in love with him every day, but there's something special watching him fly. They fly around for about two hours, both of them relaxing and forgetting the day. When they land, Bradley is not surprised to see Mav there. Mav helps Grace down and pulls them both into hugs, relieved to see and feel that his kids are ok. They head into the hanger to eat and relax, Mav providing plenty of stories as distractions to keep them from thinking about the disaster earlier. 

“With you? Always,” she smiles. She is terrified of heights and he knows it, but she also trusts him more than anything. They get to the hanger in about three hours, Grace facetiming Kev on the way. She reassures him that all is ok and that Ryan is in jail, but that she also can't wait to see him. She loves Bradley and her family here, but she would kill for one of her brothers hugs right now.

"Hey. Go enjoy flying for thr first time and I'll see you in a couple weeks ok?"

"Yea Kev. Will do. Love you."

"Love you too lil bit."

Bradley parks the Bronco out of the way once they arrive. He leads her inside, and while she’s been there several times with him, it’s the first time they’ve been there alone. Bradley checks the plane over; he’d called Mav on the way to make sure it really was ok, and he was elated when Mav gave his explicit permission once more. 

Ryan is in court the next week; he thankfully pleads guilty and they don’t have to go to trial. Now that he’s thankfully locked away and out of their lives, they turn their focus back to the wedding in a couple of weeks. It’s going to be the best wedding ever. 

[pbandjesse]

I'm sitting in Jess's new house!! That's so crazy!! It's so cute and I'm having the best time being with her on this new adventure. 

I had trouble falling asleep last night but once I was asleep I slept pretty well. I woke up at 7 with James but hadn't planned on getting up yet. James had gone and gotten gas for our car. And wrote me a very sweet note. They came and gave me a cuddle and we said goodbye. 

I would stay in bed for a while but eventually I got up. I got washed and dressed. I made sure my bag was packed. And then I decided to stop at the museum to get guac and flowers and then say goodbye to James again. 

So I did just that. I drove over there. And got my guac and had a really nice conversation with Meril. And she told me that Bob, the blacksmith, was packing up because he's leaving!! I'm so sad!! I would go inside and talk to him and he feels like the museum is pushing him out and I'm just so sad that he looked so sad. I hope to see him at the Ren fair. He said he had his season passes already. I'm glad. 

I would get flowers from Helen. I picked them all myself and tried to pick the best colors. I think I did an excellent job. 

I would hug on James for a bit. And they told me I better drive safe. And I would do my best but other people were being very very stupid. 

The drive should have been an hour and a half. But it was over two hours because while the drive was easy and fine all the way to Delaware, as soon as I went over the state line it was terrible. 

There was so much traffic that even though I was barely 15 minutes away it took me almost 40 minutes. It was just stand still. And there was a really dumb lady who wouldn't let me merge when there was space. It was super obnoxious. And then people were driving on the shoulder in a super unsafe way!! It was terrible and sucked and I was hoping to get to Jess at 1045 but got there at 1130 instead. Ugh. 

But then I was at the exit and realized that the sign had her town and Woodstown!  Which is where Brandon, my Jr high boyfriend his adopted brother and my senior high boyfriend lived!! I'm very familiar with that area. 10 years ago familiar but still! I was excited to see this area!

Her house is so stinking cute. Its brick and such a nice little size. It's a little closer to the neighbors then I expected but still really good size wise there too. I was so excited for the little tour. 

I gave her the flowers and she gave me a tour! And it's super cute. I understand the issues in the kitchen and bathroom better now. She also has no furniture. But it's so cute and I can't wait to see how it comes together!! 

After the tour we pretty quickly headed to a diner down the street for lunch. 

And I love a diner. It's my favorite thing. And it was a good New Jersey diner with accents and a salad bar!! 

We got fries and eggs and coleslaw and a pickle and I got a grilled cheese. And we had an excellent talk as it started to storm outside. 

We talked about the move and work and drama and saving money and I just felt great. Love being with Jess. I missed her very much!! And I'm just so happy for her. 

We would try to go to an antique store but it seems it is only open during the week. But that's alright. We went back to the house and started sorting her clothes. We made piles and I helped her make some hard choices. And while we didn't get rid of a lot she did try on a lot and we thought about outfits and work and got a lot of things hung up. This took two hours. And was fun but a little exhausting. 

We would chill for a little bit then tried to go out contact paper in the kitchen cabinets and that went poorly. We got one but the second one went so bad we had to throw away part of it and it was not fun. But we tried. She ordered more but I feel bad we couldn't get it done. Well try again tomorrow. 

We went out after that. First to the hardware store. Where I am convinced she will find a husband. Lots of guys our age working there.   And they seemed to think we were silly and liked the basket we were trying to color match. They cut a key for Jess and she bought me a bottle opener shaped like a lobster. And I enjoyed looking around. Jess lost me and sent some of the guys to come find me which was very silly. At the register I tried to get Jess to buy worms because she hates bugs and I was being annoying and the workers were like. Yes they are fresh!! Which I thought was hilarious. 

We would leave there and headed toward Salem. Which was super cute but very quickly falls apart. Like its historic and lovely and then you cross a light and it's broken windows and trash and abandoned buildings. It was wild how fast it happened. I'm curious about the town. But it was interesting to see. 

We went to an ice cream stand. We got mozzarella sticks and ice cream. And after we paid we went and sat on the picnic tables near the corn feild. 

We got to see farms and cows and sheep. It is a really beautiful area. And I'm just so excited to explore a new place with Jess. 

We stopped in Salem on the way back to check out a furniture sale. But nothing sparked joy. Except mirrors but what this house doesn't need right now is more mirrors. 

We came back here and I brought my blanket inside to show her and she said I'm getting so good at it and that made me feel nice. And we would just hang out we moved a table. We set up her computer in the guest room. And we would take a half hour lay down break. And then rejoined to watch a show and eat guac and chips. We also went through the fabric options for her couch and chose rugs for all the rooms. It was fun. 

As the sun went down we started winding down. I took a shower. And now I am in bed in the guest room. I am really tired but it's taken forever to write this because I have been distracted by the camp group chat because it's devolved into chaos because of nonsense. It's so silly but I can't help participate. But it has calmed down now. And I am really ready to close my eyes. 

I hope tomorrow we get a lot done. I hope you all have a great night. I hope you are staying safe. Goodnight everyone!!