#and the carpet. i learned to swim in that pool. i remember jumping in through the loops in vacuum and trying to surf on the lifeguard

[lightningmcqueenstan]

my cousins just replaced their pool deck no one speak to me im in mourning

[buckleyirondad]

we stick together (and see it through)

After a bad call, Buck shuts down, but luckily, Christopher is there to pick him back up.

Christopher Diaz Week, Day 4: Buck & Chris + “I’ve got you.”

Read on AO3

TW: OG Character Death (Implied Drowning; child) & Panic Attack (Buck)

Bobby had rules.

Like the ‘Q’ word, Bobby was planning to ban the term ‘simple call’ because more often than not, when those words were uttered, the call seemed to take a nasty turn.

They were called to a house where a teenager collapsed in her bedroom.

While her mother was distracted, knelt on the carpet as the team were handling her daughter, she suddenly realized that her young son was unaccounted for.

The boy was only five, and among the chaos, he’d ventured outside, falling into the outdoor swimming pool, hitting his head.

Buck, who'd headed downstairs to grab the backboard, was the first to find him; he sprinted across the grass and leaped into the pool, locking an arm around the child’s front as he screamed for help.

It was too late.

Trying to hide the tears filling her eyes, Hen called it.

With a gut-wrenching scream, the mother collapsed to her knees, comforted by a shaken Eddie, who knelt in front of her, uncertain of what he could but say, he didn’t flinch when her face collapsed against his shoulder. Tears filled his eyes, thoughts obviously locked onto Christopher as he pressed a hand to the woman’s back.

When Buck stood, he wavered on unstable legs, held up by Bobby’s firm grip on his shoulder.

It wasn’t anybody’s fault.

Although Bobby could count seven people who would blame themselves. Including himself.

Buck slipped away before Bobby could say anything to help Chimney who’d remained upstairs to care for the daughter.

***

Parking the truck, Bobby was the first to notice that they had visitors.

An excited Christopher was hanging beside the main entranceway with Carla.

Buck muttered to Eddie, his voice hoarse, “Go and get him.”

“See you out there,” Eddie pressed a kiss against Buck’s temple before spinning to unbuckle himself.

With morbid curiosity, Bobby watched as Eddie shook off what he’d witnessed, plastered on a grin, wiped his eyes, and hopped out of the engine.

“Christopher!” Eddie sang, holding out his arms, kneeling to pull his son into a needed hug; Bobby knew that he’d seen Christopher in that little boy, which is probably why Eddie didn’t let go, lifting Christopher clean off his feet.

Another station has transported the daughter on Bobby’s order, his team needed time to breathe.

He was going to play counselor soon enough; Hen, Chimney, and Eddie insisting that they should have noticed that another child lived in that house, or Buck believing that he should have run faster.

When the truth was simple, a scared mother was spread too thin, and it led to the most unfortunate of accidents.

That boy died; long before Buck even reached the backyard.

Bobby unbuckled himself, gazing up into the mirror.

Chimney raised his hand, patting Buck’s shoulder, his brow furrowed in concern as he reached for the door, jumping out.

Running her hands over her face, Hen made her way out of the engine as she scrunched her nose with a defined sniff.

When Buck’s eyes found Christopher, he titled his head to his shoulder, hiding a muffled cry behind his closed hand.

Bobby’s heart jumped into his throat, he went to speak but realized he wasn’t sure what he could say.

Buck scrambled to undo his belt before sliding to the opposite side of the engine, jumping out and taking long unconfident strides towards the locker room, actively avoiding Christopher.

Bobby leaned his hands against the dashboard, cursing himself inwardly.

Swimming pool. Tsunami.

The boy. Christopher.

“Oh—” Bobby couldn’t believe it taken him that long to put two and two together, “Crap.” He jumped out, closed the door, and sprinted towards the locker room, “Buck!”

Buck was sitting on the floor, back pressed up against the lockers, and arms wrapped firmly around his locked knees.

Bobby slowed his breathing, gripping the doorframe a little too hard, “Hey, kid.” He said, using the softest tone that he could muster.

Buck’s eyes widened startled, and the gaps between each breath grew shorter, the action itself more labored.

Buck hadn’t dried off since diving into the pool, his forever growing hair was wet-through, dripping onto his pale face. On the scene, Hen had wrapped a foil blanket around him, but he must have brushed it off while they were driving back.

“Okay.” Bobby got onto his knees, in front of Buck, giving him enough space to escape if he needed to, “I need you to look at me, kid.”

Buck locked eyes with him as he panted through a strangled breath.

“Copy my breathing, all right?”

Buck shook his head, frantic in motion, only exalting his panic, “Bobby—”

“Buck.” Bobby remained gentle but spoke strictly, “I’m gonna need you to listen to me.”

“Can’t—”

“I know you don’t usually want to,” Bobby mused, “But I’m gonna need to you, this time around.” He held up his hands, raising them as he took a deep breath in, “Just like me, okay?”

It doesn’t take long for Buck to fall into rhythm with Bobby, but as the panic attack slowed, the delayed reaction to the cold kicked in, Buck’s teeth chattered as he spread his fingers across his knees.

It didn’t help that the station had the air conditioning at full belt to beat the California heat.

Bobby pulled off his turnout coat, “Come here, kid,” He beckoned softly, with careful hands he pulled against Buck’s shoulders, coaxing him forward, making room for Bobby to wrap the turncoat around him, “That better?”

Buck nodded, darting his eyes around, “Yeah.”

Bobby combed his hand through Buck’s hair, allowing formalities to slip away as he gave his pseudo-son the hug he needed.

Christopher’s worried tone filled the room, “Buck?”

Bobby moved, perching on the edge of the bench as he spun his head.

Christopher hung in the door with a concerned Eddie lingering behind, their eyes locked onto Buck.

Christopher didn’t waver as he tossed his crutches aside and moved around the bench, throwing himself into Buck’s arms, tangling his legs across his lap as he muttered, “I’ve got you.”

Buck froze, not moving as he scanned Christopher with his teary blue eyes. Studying him like he would disappear if he dared blink.

Christopher noticed this, reaching up to grab Buck’s cheek with his small hand as he instructed, “Don’t be sad, Buck.”

Buck’s lower lip trembled as he cried out a lie, “I’m not sad.”

“Yeah, you are,” Christopher told him with a frown, “But that’s okay!” He ducked his head, laying it against Buck’s shoulder, curling himself around him.

Buck crumbled, his forehead falling against Christopher’s side as he released a sob, “Sorry.”

Christopher breathed, looping his arm behind Buck’s neck, “You’re gonna be okay, kid.”

Buck gazed up at him, “You promise?”

Christopher nodded, “I promise.”

Buck melted, folding his arms behind Christopher’s back, closing his eyes as he held him. Relishing in his safety, knowing that he was alive and that he was okay; at least, one kid he fought hard to save, was safe, well within his reach.

“Proud of you,” Christopher muttered, earning a slight sad chuckle from Buck.

Christopher was, hands down, one of the cleverest people that Bobby had ever met, he learned from his surroundings, and the world was better off with him doing so.

Bobby blinked away tears, his eyes finding Eddie, who was leaning against the doorframe, tears running down his cheeks as he crossed his arms. He wanted nothing more than to gather his son and husband into his arms, but this was once of those times where he couldn’t.

Nobody would ever understand what Buck and Christopher went through during the tsunami, that was an experience the pair went through together, which meant at times, such as these, they relied on one another for support.

Christopher probably didn’t even realize that the help that he was providing, but Buck relaxed, the tension rolling off his shoulders as he melted into his stepson’s embrace, the grief of the day dissipating, even if it didn’t last, it would have been worth it.

Remembering the loneliness behind Buck’s eyes when Bobby first met him, and now seeing the family that surrounded him, Bobby couldn’t help but smile.

Even following a bad call, Bobby was proud that Buck was no longer finding comfort in self-destructive activities but with a support network that would never let him fall.

Christopher Diaz-Buckley would always be around to catch Evan Diaz-Buckley.

[barschter000]

@andy-deer‘s survivor AU makes my head go brrrrrrrrrrr

Also Byakuya is the blackened in this one instead of Toko because...no❤️

Kiyotaka believed that his last words would have meaning and bear some sort of weight that would stop people in their tracks to take a second to think about them, maybe even to remember him, that'd be nice. So naturally, he assumed, his last thoughts should have some impact as well, right?

Kiyotaka's last thought was fear in its purest essence. In such a high concentration that it bit and burned around his wound. His head pounded in the rhythm of his heart, a clump of heat and thuds that he had to balance on his shoulders while his bones were, one by one, in the span of seconds, replaced with toothpicks.

Beat, bite, burn, Taka ran. Blood was trickling down his neck and forehead, warm and slow, heavier than a fluid should be. It ran into his eye and he had no strength to wipe it away, his blurred vision was reduced to only left. One hand on the walls, tracing the tiles, wallpapers, doorframes, rounding the corners, taking the stairs.

Through the pounding, the dull bass against his temples, he tried to focus, tried to see. His sight was proof that he was conscious. Wallpaper, he narrated. A quick, sharp word thrown into the blunt bumps like a hook in a weaving ocean, hoping to catch something, reach someone in the chaos.

Front of me, he continued and the thuds accelerated. Boots, step, step, drip, pink, on the floor, footmarks, swirling, blurring, here, up, raise, shake, go, stairs, downstairs, down, dorms, safety, down to the dorms, someone, help, stairs left, only the stairs left, help, in the dorms, Mondo.

What had been a quiet stream in the depths of the ocean now became the splashing, gurgling and screaming of a drowning man, flailing his arms, pushing himself up on unruly waves, calling out to the silhouette of a ship. Mondo, Mondo, Mondo.

In fear in its purest essence, Kiyotaka thought of Mondo and he thought of him as safety. Which was contradictory.

Just a few days ago, Mondo had stood in a trial, naming himself a murderer. It wasn't far from the truth. He was the cause for death that would have never taken place otherwise. First, his brother, then Chihiro. If he had been a bit more mindful, a bit less reckless, a bit more fearless, maybe Daiya wouldn't have had to kick his bike and take the truck for him. If he had been a tad stronger to let control take over him or a tad stronger to swallow it harder, maybe he would have not picked up that dumbbell. Maybe Chihiro would have not been lying at his feet, bleeding from the head. Maybe if blood and its meaning hadn't scared him so much, he would have noticed that his swing with the dumbbell landed in the air and Chihiro's wound was the result of losing consciousness, as he carried their body to the other locker room.

Kiyotaka had forgotten who Mondo really was or rather, he had never known. Kiyotaka had seen him as a black, then as a white, two clear shades, clearly different. Mondo, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader as his foe, had been explicitly guilty and as his friend, was overwhelmingly innocent. The Mondo that presented himself in the trial, however, was gray of a shade that already was too dark for ink and too bright for chalk. Kiyotaka couldn't see through him. A hazy puddle of gray; Kiyotaka understood that it was deep but couldn't see a bottom.

Mondo wasn't a murderer. He wasn't the one being executed, that was Byakuya and his plan to confuse the students, hang up Chihiro and bring a killer into the game; the trap of his that shut on himself. Mondo wasn't a murderer per se but he was half a murderer, an accomplice of some sorts. And oddly, greyly, enough, he was Kiyotaka's friend.

Kiyotaka wanted him to promise that he kept it that way, that Mondo and Death split up their paths, that he stayed gray and deep. In this world, where white and black were indivisible, he needed someone by his side to learn.

Mondo promised. Not the usual promise on his honor or on his masculinity, it was a simple promise on silently everything. Even before wrapping his arms around him, Kiyotaka felt safe in his words.

Kiyotaka couldn't hear the doorbell ringing, couldn't detect his finger on it, couldn't recall the order to press it but he hoped that he made an impact on this fragment of the world. Begging for Mondo, for safety, he repeatedly punched the doorbell. His gaze had grown foggy and his field of vision was a swimming dark mass, tinted red from the ominous lighting in the hallway, and from the blood. There was no response, no reassurance from his legs that he was still standing, and his hand started gliding down the doorframe.

A ringing interrupted Mondo's dreamless sleep. The parts where he was trapped in a dark room, being watched by faceless shadows and where he woke up, trapped in a dark room, then realized he was stuck in another, he didn't count as dreams; they were the usual occurences.

Taka, was his first thought. He had gone to his room that night, just to stand there, stare at his nameplate and think of all other things to pay no attention to the reason for his presence there: just company, just for the night. In the end, he called himself stupid, turned around and left. He didn't knock or press the doorbell. Right?

Another ring. And another. Mondo groaned and rubbed his hand over his face. Ringing once again. Yeah, that wasn't Taka. "Who the fuck–?" And once more. He lifted himself out of bed. "I swear, if no one has lost a limb, I'm gonna–" he mumbled to himself, muffling his last words because his brain hadn't completed the sentence yet. His naked feet scuffled on the carpeted floor as he walked over to his door. "Alright." He threw his door open, "What the fu–"

It had never happened before to his awareness: Mondo choked on his words, a second of suffocation.

This was Taka. And he was bleeding. Blood was running down his face. Starting from his hair and dribbling down on his uniform jacket, leaving stains. "Kyoudai?" Taka spoke like his voice was a liquid, spilling out of his mouth. He rung the doorbell one more time. "Kyoudai, I need–" His words drowned away. "Please, I need help."

This was Daiya all over again, Chihiro all over again, dying all over again. Mondo was on the street, in the locker room, at a grave. Honking, lights and screams, metal clanging, the ground vibrating, the weight of a body in his arms.

Mondo came back to life when something hit his legs. Kiyotaka had fallen unconscious and was bleeding on his feet. A hissed curse cut his lips. He bent down, kneeling right into the red pool, the wet and warmth creeping through the fabric of his pants, put an arm around Taka's waist and Taka's arm around his own neck. Taka was heavier than Chihiro, lighter than Daiya, his boots dangled and scraped over the floor, through the pool, and his head was hanging from his frame as if only skin connected them. Red dripped from his hair.

"Fuck." His voice was trembling, light as air but coarse on his vocal cords. Mondo felt his chest rising and falling, his heavy breathing grinding down his ribcage and his lungs. Snot clogged his nose, a sign of tears, and his mouth dried out from breath and salt. He listened to his echo travel down the hallways and a second longer, longing for an answer but there was none. "Fuck!" It rung shrill and shaking.

Mondo stumbled over to the other side of the hallway, dragging weight, dragging a body. His fist battered down next to the first door, missed the doorbell, missed it twice but then its noise stung in his ears. He staggered on, tears were washing over his cheeks, he was leaving drops and bloody footprints.The next door, the third and the fourth. He didn't check the nameplates, didn't ring twice, there was no time and no answers. Kiyotaka was slipping out of his grasp, Mondo gripped his waist and arm anew. He couldn't see a wound, couldn't check how deep it was, only new waves of blood welling from inbetween his hair.

"What happened?" Mondo didn't hear it but felt a gasp grazing his throat. He whirled around and Taka slid again, sinking lower.

Kyoko's arms that were crossed at her chest untangled, revealing her gloves. Her face, her voice kept stern and unmoved. "I'll get Sakura. You stay here." Her steps were soundless, cushioned by her socks and her demeanor. She faced forward as she passed Mondo.

"Did something happen?" Makoto stuck his head out of his door. He choked on his yawn. Makoto ran over, inspected the body, hovering his hands over it. He cocked his head, twisted his mouth. He looked up to Mondo and their eyes didn't meet.

Makoto jumped at the scream next to him. Aoi slapped her hands to her mouth, her gaze stuck to the sight.

The only thing that Mondo perceived was the fabric at his palm, the flesh beneath it and the wrist he was clutching. Kiyotaka still had weight, about his warmth, Mondo was unsure. His purpose right now was to hold him. The rest was numb and unimportant; background static and bleary colors.

Kiyotaka suddenly became lighter, the arm around his shoulder gliding off his back. His nails dug into Taka's uniform without command.

"Mondo, you need to let go." Sakura was standing before him, Hina at her side, Kiyotaka in her arms. Mondo's hand still grabbed on, she had lifted his arm along with Taka. Her words were gentle but not a request.

"I'm not fucking leaving him!" Mondo growled, stepped closer, gripped tighter. He sent glares through tears up to the girl. He had stopped crying and a crust had formed on his face. "That is not what I'm asking of you," she said. "Please let go of his uniform. I need to carry him to the infirmary." Mondo averted his eyes, and removed his hand.

"How long is this gonna fucking take?" Mondo slammed his fist down on the mattress and, angry at the lack of sound and resistance, slammed it down again. He had always hated the sterileness of nurse's offices and hospital rooms; the cold lights, the thin beds, being watched and examined, and timeless waiting. He ground his teeth. His bouncing leg had long escaped his control.

Sakura, who was sitting next to the bed in front of him, looked up. She had taken the care to position herself so that Mondo was able to see Kiyotaka, how he was just lying there on his side, his eyes closed, his mouth slightly open, motionless. Sakura was pressing one of her hands against his forehead, the other against the back of his head where layers of gauze stacked and colored red as the minutes passed.

"I cannot hurry this process," she replied. "The bleeding has to stop before we can take any next steps." She turned her head around to Aoi. "Hina, my girl, could you be so kind and hand me another cloth?"

Aoi stood unmoved next to her, a roll of gauze and scissors in her hands, staring down at her friend's work, and the blood. "Hina?" Sakura repeated, knitting her brows. Aoi blinked and awoke. "Yeah, here, sorry." She cut a new piece, her hands were shaking.

Sakura lifted her hand from Kiyotaka's head for just a moment, revealing her red palm, took the gauze, crumpled it up and and added it to the others. Mondo had been counting the layers in the first three minutes but that had quickly faded into the back of his mind.

He raked his fingers through his hair and sighed. His lip had started bleeding from his biting and he was tasting iron as he sucked it in.

"I can understand your restlessness." Sakura's expression was calm, a subtle softness had undermined her serious features. It was poking needles into Mondo's surfaced nerves. "However, there is nothing that you can do now other than be patient. I advise you get some rest."

Mondo clenched a fist, bared his teeth. "I said I'm not fucking leaving!" "You may stay here," her tone hardened just a little. "There are enough beds to choose from." Mondo grunted, "Fine."

He stood up and could stop his knees from giving way and betraying him. He ripped at the curtain separating Taka from him and fell back onto the edge of the bed. He regretted closing the curtain. Mondo buried his face in his palms.

He couldn't lose Taka. He couldn't name a reason for it but after the thought of him dying, his brain went blank. He could see himself stand at his bed, stare down at his body. Kiyotaka looked peaceful as if he had gone in his sleep, laying there dressed up for a soldier's coffin. He was laying on his back and in any other condition, it surely must hurt. His head was bandaged and the wound was hidden.

It was a subject to Mondo's wonder that he was the one on Taka's mind in his last minutes. Why didn't he associate help with Sakura or justice with Makoto? Why did he choose him? Kiyotaka was the only person on earth that believed Mondo was a good man. It was silly and dangerous, Mondo had told him, but Kiyotaka insisted. Mondo knew that dying brains formed crazily truthful thoughts but to be on Kiyotaka's mind in his possibly last moments felt like an obscenity. The thought of Mondo had filled up his head and pushed thoughts about family, future and unfinished tasks aside. Mondo was where Kiyotaka had anchored his life.

His stomach turned as he noticed how he clung to that. How he swam towards the boat on the stormy sea, hope and the lack of it twisting into an ugly clump in his windpipe that hindered the air. Mondo felt like spitting at himself, kicking his double to the ground and in the ribs repeatedly, each kick with more anger behind it. His double was desperate, in his eyes weak, holding onto Taka, his heart and the affection stored in it. It was pathetic for being so dependent, so selfish and needy.

Mondo couldn't help it. Kiyotaka cherished his existence, silently accepted his mistakes, knowing there was light that cast the shadows, carefully treated his injuries, stitch by stitch with devotion to his being. That was something Mondo had not been able to achieve in his whole lifetime. He thought of Kiyotaka's death and his mind went blank.

"Um, hey?" Aoi sounded quiet behind the curtain. Mondo lifted his head. How long had he been sitting like this? His spine ached. "The bleeding stopped." Mondo allowed himself to breathe. "He's asleep now." Hina paused. "We'd stay if you want to go back to your dorm, that's okay." "If you decide to stay, you'll find us in my room if anything occurs." Sakura sounded so calm again, it was soothing now.

Mondo swallowed spit to conquer the dryness of his throat. "I'll stay." "Alright," Sakura replied. He slid off the bed, his legs stood firm. Flakes of dried blood rubbed off the soles of his bare feet as he tore the curtain aside and stepped forward. The girls halted in the doorframe and turned to him. "Thanks," he said, the eyecontact didn't last long.

Sakura nodded a goodbye, turned off the lights and closed the door. The room was dim with the light hanging right over Taka's bed.

Mondo knelt down next to him. The light gave Kiyotaka's pale skin a sickish yellow tone. The blanket covering his body rose and fell, Mondo saw the fabric of his uniform stretching and releasing, he heard the quiet in- and exhales. Kiyotaka was breathing.

Mondo's finger wound around his wrist. He was unsure whether the warmth was an illusion. He searched for a pulse, tapping about with his index and middle finger, then found one. Feeble beats obscured by skin and flesh.

Kiyotaka's fingers jerked. "Kyou..." He whispered like he'd lost his voice.

They locked eyes. How weak he looked. How soft, how frail, how strong he was for making it.

"Kyoudai." Mondo longed to answer but all words, all language were not to his avail. Kiyotaka blinked and squinted. "Bright," he whined. Talking was an effort, Mondo could tell by his wheezing. He followed his bidding wordlessly.

"I'm... so glad," Taka spoke. Mondo had not let go of his wrist. "I have so much... to live for." Mondo grabbed him tighter, the wish to hold him slowly becoming too much to bear. "I have this world to better." Taka's arm moved in his grasp, Mondo opened the plier of his fingers and Kiyotaka's hand slid into his. Kiyotaka intertwined their fingers clumsily. The weight on Mondo's palm was strange but he completed the gesture. "And you," Taka said. "I have you."

He let out another whimper and shut his eyes again. "My head," he muttered. The muffled sound of belching escaped his closed mouth. "Lemme get Sakura," Mondo decided. His voice sounded foreign to him, too steady. "You, go back to sleep." He stood up but a faint squeeze at his fingers had him stop. "Don't worry." In the dark, Mondo's smile was invisible. "I'll be here when you wake up."

[waywardimpalawriter]

Cake Thief (Marcus Pike x F!Reader)

Cake thief

Pairing: Marcus Pike x F!Reader

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Fluff, tooth rottening fluff, a little spice

Word count: 2,023

Summary: You’d been thinking about that last piece all day especially how crappy of a day it’s been.

Notes: Inspired by a favorite cupcake show that’s in my area and because Marcus Pike is just the sweetest.

Shit show that’s what you’d call it. The whole damn day from missing the morning goodbye kiss from Marcus to someone stealing your lunch and now soaked to the bone from an early evening downpour. Sure you could’ve waited the storm out in your car. But all you wanted now is a nice hot shower, fluffy pajama’s, Marcus’s arms wrapped around you and the last piece of decadent red velvet cake from your favorite place. 

Shuffling through the door dropping purse and keys on the end table behind the couch, carefully shrugging out of your soaked jacket to not soak the carpet and carrying it towards the small laundry space. Kicking your kitten heels off while adding to the jacket your black dress trousers, and burgundy wrap tunic blouse a favorite that you wanted off to show Marcus. But that’ll have to wait for another time as a shiver runs down your spine rain drops cooling your skin when the air conditioning kicks on. Cursing the rotten luck you’ve managed to acquire today while bending to scoop up your heels and head towards the bedroom. Nice hot shower calling your name only pausing long enough to grab up one of Marcus’s dress shirt’s and a pair of panties  before heading towards the bathroom. 

Getting the water to the perfect temperature before stripping your under garments off and stepping under the warm spray. Soft moan leaving your lips the steam enveloping you in a welcoming hug. Heating your chilled skin and chasing away the shivers, hot water soothing out the tightness in your shoulders from your crappy day. Wishing and not for the first time that Marcus would’ve beating you home. 

Foolish though you know since most nights he’s always late given the importance of his job with the FBI. Remembering your best, scratch that ex best friend snorting at you when in great detail you explained Marcus’s job. Never feeling so much anger in your life towards another human being. Sure at the time it’d been only three months into the relationship and Marcus brought his work home some nights. What hurt the most were snide little comments she’d make on how he didn’t have a real job at the FBI. Just played with art the whole time, wanna be artist she’d called him. Most of all when she started to question his true intent, that he’s damaged goods, divorced and coming out of another failed relationship. If there’s one thing you learned about DC it’s that gossip floats around like yesterdays trash. 

Finding out through the gossip channel that Matty boosted about how she’s just a couple more pushes away from getting her hands on Marcus. Alluding to the fact she felt you weren’t his type, not thin enough and in her opinion not pretty enough to keep a man like Marcus Pike interested. Needless to say one snowy afternoon your iced caramel macchiato happen to find itself poured down the front of Matty’s body. To this day two years later the memory still made you giggle more than it should. 

Soaping up the loofa and starting to wash your soft curves remembering the shock in those sinful brown eyes of Marcus’s when you explained what happened. How he spent the rest of the night reassuring you and maybe even himself that your the woman he wanted. Those thoughts cause a delicious shiver of a different kind to slide down your spine. Rushing through the rest of your shower hoping by the time you’ve dried off and dressed Marcus would’ve come home. 

Lost in your thoughts, shower covering most of the sounds coming from the living room as the man in question drops his keys besides yours. Relieved sigh leaving his lips at finally getting home. First real smile tugs at the corner of his mouth hearing the shower run. Sure it’s only been ten hours since he saw you last but it didn’t stop the need to hold you from stealing over him. Normally going to join but he hears the water shut off signally you’ll be joining him soon. Instead he heads towards the kitchen to pull fixings for dinner out. Spying the last slice of red velvet cake he debates with himself for the better part of five minutes before pulling the piece from the cold confines of the refrigerator. Slowly licking his lips while opening the plastic container, fragrant sweet cream cheese frosting hitting his taste buds before a single morsel.  

He wastes no time grabbing a fork to dig in moaning around the fluffy red velvet cake and metal tines of the fork. Back pressing against the counter now, eyes having closed in bliss. Not knowing you’ve come from the bathroom, his dark blue dress shirt covering your plush body. Steps halting when you find him enjoying your last slice. Part of you wanting to snatch it from his hands scolding him for taking what’s yours. However, you’ve learned to share after all and Marcus did deserve to have a sweet treat. With those thoughts combined with a very erotic idea, you glance down unbuttoning a few more to expose your cleavage. 

Hands coming to rest on your wide hips one jutting out and clearing your throat trying to hide the smirk when Marcus jumps. His eyes fly open and wide to stare at you. “Whatch ya eaten there Marcus?” Brow lifting, watching as he licks those sinful lips, Adams apple bobbing with a hard swallow. Itching to run your mouth over the tanned skin take in his scent, drowning in those warm chocolate pools still shocked wide. 

“Last piece of cake,” knowing it useless to lie. Recovering himself, trailing his eyes over your body slowly, voice deep with barely hidden arousal at seeing you in his shirt. Normally not a possessive man but there’s something about seeing you in his shirt which brings out a feral need in him. “Want a bite?” 

Capturing your bottom witnessing the heat flaring to life while trying to keep the smirk from becoming full blown. You take a step closer, “You know that’s my last piece Marcus I’d been looking forward to it all day long. Especially after the shit show of a day I had.” 

Warm smile slides over the very kissable lips, not matching the desire swimming just beneath his veins. “I’m sorry sweetheart had no idea your day sucked.” Scooping up another bite and holding it towards you, “You know I’ll always share.” 

“How sweet of you,” closing the distance between you. Mouth opening to wrap your lips around the fork while keeping eye contact with Marcus. Slowly pulling back, taking the moist cake and sweet frosting into the heated cavern of your mouth. Soft moan sounding from deep within your chest as you savor each decadent flavor bursting on your tongue. Licking your lips to catch the smallest of crumbs, “Mind if I have another bite?” 

Swallowing harshly, struck mute for a moment. “Of course baby…” swallowing his tongue on the last word with a swipe of your finger through the cream cheese frosting. Watching with peaked interest as that single digit makes its way towards your mouth. Pink tongue coming out to lick a good portion off eyes closing to savor the sweetness. Wrapping your lips around the tip to suck off what’s left. Watching transfixed by the erotic sight your presenting him. Room in those normally loose dress pants becoming a high commodity with each moan vibrating through your chest. 

“Hmm not bad,” full blown smirk gracing your lips passion filled eyes opening to stare at him. “But it’s missing something.” 

“That would be?” Intrigued by your words, Marcus reacts first. Container placed on the table beside you, reaching to wrap an arm around your waist. Pulling you flush against his chest white dress shirt wrinkling with you pressed together so intimately. “Before you answer that, have I told you how beautiful you look in my clothes?” 

Shaking your head one hand comes up to draw patterns on his tie before wrapping it around your hand to give a little tug. “No you’ve never said,” looking up through your lashes. Admiring the way his chocolate browns deepen to almost pitch with every tug on his tie. Only broken when you feel cool sticky fingers brush over your throat head tipping back to give him access. Soft lips following the sweet trail he’s painted on your skin eliciting whimpers from you throat. “Is…” swallowing hard trying to form words to speak. “Is this what you mean by sharing, Cake Thief?” 

“Cake Thief huh?” Drawing his nose up the column of your throat to that little spot just behind your ear. Nibbling softly smirk tugging at his lips hearing another whimper sound from your mouth. 

Nodding trying to keep from giving yourself away, “Yup you stole my last piece of cake.” With much difficulty you pull back from his questing lips that threaten to draw another moan from your willing body. Eyes locking then diverting when his hand comes up with another bite held carefully between thumb and forefinger. 

“Ah but how can you call me a thief when I’m sharing?” Bringing his fingers to your mouth, opening enough so he can place the divine morsel on your tongue. 

Lips closing around his forefinger to suck the last bit of frosting off. Swallowing the bite before nibbling, laving your tongue over the rough pad then sucking gently. Watching him gulp down a breath of air when you let go with a wet pop. “Hmm you have me there love but you’ll have to make it up to me somehow. Especially since someone forgot our goodbye kiss this morning.” 

Wrapping his free hand around the back of your neck, fingers gently massaging your skin, “That I will apology for and correct right now.” Slanting his mouth over yours stealing your breath with the tender kiss. Teasing the seam of your mouth till you part your lips, inviting his tongue in to tangle with yours. 

Tasting the sweet cream cheese from the warm cavern of your mouth making a deep groan ramble from his chest. Tightening the arm around your plush waist to pull you closer, counters edge bitting into his back but he could care less with you in his arms. Devouring your mouth, expertly dragging another whimper out, biting your bottom lip too sooth with the flat of his tongue causing a gasp to exist. Taking advantage and thrusting his tongue against yours. Drinking from your mouth as a thirsty man searching for water. Wanting to draw out more sounds that never fail to drive him crazy with desire. 

Your own hands shooting up to card through those soft locks. Tugging to angle his head just right taking in a bit of air, noses bumping as you take over the kiss. Returning the nip to his tongue getting a hiss in response and a tightening of his grip on your thick waist. Knowing those nimble fingers leave behind bruises only heightens your arousal and want for this man. Air or lack there of becomes needed and you pull away, resting foreheads together as you both gasp to fill your burning lungs. 

“Apology accepted,” mumbling the words against his skin. Occupying your lips with tasting his jawline, nibbling a path down to the collars edge. Brushing your nose against his ear, “There’s a way you can make it up to me for stealing my cake.” 

Hands drop down to cup your plush ass, giving a squeeze to hear you moan in his ear. Vibrating through his whole body, “And that would be?” 

“Be my canvas and let me paint you with the last of the frosting?” Biting the lobe before pulling back to stare at him. “What do ya say Cake Thief?” Mischief making your eyes dance while watching him. 

Smirking sliding over his lips, “You’ve got twenty seconds to grab the cake and run sweetheart. Because,” seeing you arch a brow at his words, higher when he pauses to ghost his lips over yours. “If I catch you I’ll be eating you instead of that cake.”    

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Parallels | Chapter 9

Add yourself to my taglist! | Here’s my masterlist! | Parallels Masterlist

Characters: OC! Violet Grace Dawson, Luke Patterson, Julie Molina, Carrie Wilson, Bobby Wilson, Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer, Flynn nolastname, Willie nolastname, Nick Danforth-Evans, Dirty Candy 

Guideline: Sunset Universe is the universe in which Sunset Curve is famous and Violet is friends with Carrie, Julie and Flynn. Candy Universe is the universe in which Dirty Candy is more famous and Sunset Curve has broken up. 

Song(s) used: Breakthrough - Lemonade Mouth | This Band is Back - Sunset Curve

Warnings: Bobby raps in this again lol, other than that there’s nothing, I think? 

Words:  5,339

Gif made by the lovely @amazondancewarrior​! 

“Guess what?” Carrie said the second Violet picked up the FaceTime call that morning. 

Violet was sat on the floor in front of her full-length mirror, doing her makeup. She had no idea why she did it, sitting on the floor, but it seemed easier. Maybe it was something about the lighting or the mirror. It was unclear. 

“What?” Violet asked, screwing the mascara wand back on its tube before putting it back in her beauty case. 

Carrie’s eyes rolled back. “You’re no fun! Guess! Guess!” 

Violet let out a chuckle before properly resettling on the soft carpet beneath her and placing her phone on the floor cushion next to her mirror, letting it balance against the gold frame. “Uhm… You’re pregnant!” Carrie’s smile disappeared. “No, okay – uhm… Dirty Candy split up!” 

“Good one, but no…” 

“Can  you give me a hint?” Violet asked. There was no way she was ever going to get this one. 

A smirk tugged at one corner of Carrie’s mouth before she teasingly started to sing. “Luke and Violet, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G–” 

Suppressing a smile and the blush that came along with it, Violet chuckled. “What are you even talking about?!” 

So far, Violet had learned that Carrie was always full of surprises, and this was no exception. That was the one thing different from the Carrie she knew. The Carrie in her universe was sort of predictable. Or that might just be because she had known her for years. 

“Bobby just called me to invite us over to their house for rehearsal today,” Carrie said with a smug smirk playing on her lips. “I’m pretty sure it wasn’t technically his idea…” 

An unfamiliar feeling welled up in Violet’s stomach at the insinuation Carrie was making. Luke wouldn’t actually want to have her there during rehearsal, would he? Then again, he couldn’t quite keep his eyes off her during their album launch party. The boy was pretty into her. That just meant her plan was working but Violet wasn’t entirely sure if she was so okay with that now. 

No, she had to be okay with it. She just had to. There was no time for liking someone right now. Any other day. But not now. 

“I hardly think that’s–” as soon as she started speaking, so did Carrie, cutting her off. 

“Babe, this is good! This means our plan is working! We’re going to that rehearsal!” She sounded determined, or at least she tried to be. Violet couldn’t know she was worried about the whole plan now. She couldn’t know she was scared for her best friend who wasn’t technically her best friend. 

Violet hummed. “Yeah… I guess it is!” A nervous chuckle rolled off her lips before she set her sight and mind on something else. “What are we wearing?” she asked, finding her smile and excitement back. 

“Something that says, “I’m very single and you should take me out on a date”!” Carrie shouted excitedly and watched as Violet manoevered from her bedroom floor to the closet. The girl halted in her tracks and looked at her phone screen, deadpanning. 

“Is that a hint, Wilson?” she asked teasingly. 

She witnessed Carrie’s iconic eye roll before diving into her closet with her best friend on the screen in her hand. Everything had changed but that. Violet still felt like she could mess around with Carrie and have the friendship she had with the other Carrie, with this Carrie. It sounded like a big, complicated mess in her head,  but she knew what she was thinking and she knew she was right. 

In the end, Violet opted for a black-and-white checkered bodycon dress over a white T-shirt, paired with black Converse on her feet while Carrie went for a jean skirt and an off-the-shoulder top. They looked cute, they felt cute. It was perfect and even Alex complimented their outfits when they arrived at the Sunset Curve mansion in Beverly Hills. 

The boys guided them around their house, despite Carrie already having been there a dozen times before. Violet hadn’t and Luke was impatient to share a piece of his life with her. They went through hallways upon hallways, from the spacious living room to the cinema room to their very own gym and swimming pool. Their enormous kitchen was Violet’s favorite part, she didn’t know why but it really was until they showed her their rehearsal space in the basement. 

“This is sick!” Violet gasped as she let her eyes wander over every single guitar that hung on the wall and the amplifiers they used in the room. While she wandered around, letting her eyes bathe in the beauty that was the Sunset Curve practice room, Luke watched her like a hawk. A lovesick hawke. 

His eyes were tender as they noticed her every move. He wondered what was going on inside her head and if she was thinking about him too. She probably wasn’t as she was so focused on the instruments, especially the grand piano seemed to capture her interest. The girl let her fingers glide over the ivories. 

“So, if Luke’s done staring at Violet, maybe we can start rehearsing,” Reggie stated, capturing everyone’s attention, but more so Violet’s and Luke’s as their cheeks heated and turned a bright scarlet red. 

“What are you rehearsing for?” Violet asked, dismissing the fact that she was blushing like a crazy person. 

Reggie and Alex exchanged knowing glances before the latter responded to her question. “The Late Late Show.” Violet’s eyebrows knitted together, having never heard of that show ever. “With James Corden?” Alex tried again. 

Violet quickly glanced over at Carrie who subtly stuck a thumb up in the air, letting Violet know that’s a good thing. “Oh!” Violet suddenly changed her demeanor from confused to excited. “Right! The Late Late Show! Yes, I know that show!” 

“What song are you performing?” Carrie asked to change the subject and have Violet off the hook for a moment. 

Bobby glanced at the boys for a moment to see if any of them were going to answer. “We were thinking Livin’ on a High Wire,” he said, “But we’re not sure yet.” 

“Luke has a pretty cool song he’s working on!” Reggie announced. “We might do that one.” 

“I have the lyrics, but I can’t find a good rhythm for it…” Luke said somberly. 

Violet shrugged. “Lemme take a look at it? People say I’m pretty good with melodies and rhythms.” Luke chuckled nervously before reaching for his songbook and opening it on the right page. He placed it on the piano where Violet was standing and pointed at the lyrics. 

“That’s all I’ve got.” 

Violet leaned over the piano to take a look at it. Their shoulders brushed as the two of them scanned the page together. Luke tried to ignore the sparks he felt when he stood close to her and instead, enjoyed the pure bliss he had found himself in. 

The girl hummed before placing her fingers on a few keys on the keyboard. A soft melody chimed through the rehearsal space and Luke immediately picked up on it. 

“Oooh yeah, mmmm Breakthrough”

He grabbed his guitar again and let an electric riff float out, seconds before Alex and Reggie jumped in as well. As Bobby took over on the keyboard, Violet grabbed the microphone and started singing the words she had remembered. 

“Up, down, spinnin all around Fly, high, falling to the ground Sometimes dreams can feel so far away Time, keeps, skippin' out a beat Left, right, trippin' on your feet Life is like a string of cloudy days”

Violet nodded to Luke, who took this as a sign it was his turn to sing. So, he grabbed that chance and, without breaking eye contact with Violet, sang the pre-chorus he wrote. 

“Sometimes it's raisin' your voice Sometimes it's makin' some noise Sometimes it's proving to the world it was wrong”

Reggie skipped towards Luke and sang the next part of the pre-chorus with the lead singer in his mic the way they always do during gigs. 

“Whenever you can't see the light Whenever there's no end in sight Keep on, keep on moving on Keep on moving on”

With the widest smile on her face, Violet chimed in on the chorus again with Alex and Bobby as well. Their voices blended together perfectly and the sound gave Violet a kick of adrenaline. 

“Here comes a breakthrough Here comes a day Here comes a moment that you gotta go for it So don't let it get away It's all about breakthrough Just turn the page 'Cause everyday you’re getting closer Life is just a rollercoaster”

While Violet danced her way through the post-chorus Bobby, Alex and Reggie took for their account, Luke watched her with the greatest smile of admiration. This girl was so talented, she could turn a song she just saw on paper for a few seconds into a complete hit.  

“Shake it, till you make it Till you breakin’ on through Don't stop till you breakin’ on through Shake it, till you make it Till you breakin’ on through Don't stop till you breakin’ on through”

As the beat changed again, Violet halted in her spot and started singing the next verse. Though she didn’t quite remember the exact words, what she came up with sounded equally as good. Better, even. 

“Stop, still, take another breath Road block, move it to the left Get around whatever's in your way Heartbreak, pick up all the pieces Don't stop dancin' in the bleachers It's gonna be your turn to play Gonna be your turn to play”

Violet turned to Bobby to rock out with him while Reggie and Luke sang the pre-chorus again. 

“Sometimes it's raisin' your voice Sometimes it's makin' some noise Sometimes it's provin' to the world it was wrong Whenever you can't see the light Whenever there's no end in sight Keep on, keep on movin' on Keep on movin' on”

Then, Violet turned around again, looking at Carrie as their only source of a crowd and performed the chorus towards her. Though she didn’t quite like seeing her best friend falling for the lead singer after what had happened the last time, she did love seeing her in her element, performing with the band.  

“Here comes a breakthrough Here comes a day Here comes a moment that you gotta go for it So don't let it get away It's all about a breakthrough Just turn the page 'Cause everyday you’re getting closer Life is just a rollercoaster”

Bobby quit playing the keyboard and picked up the microphone. Violet had almost forgotten about his talent of rapping until the boy spit out the bridge like a total pro. The same way he did during their gig. 

“You can see it in the blind sight Movin' through the limelight Groovin' to the music imma use it when the time's right Hoping I can do it through the shadows, I can shine bright Usually in life there's one short, this is our night Listen to the rhythm that we given and it will make you Start pushin' the barriers and it will take you Wherever it is you wanna go, never too late to Keep pushing till you breakthrough”

Luke’s voice floated through the space as the song  broke down with just Bobby playing the keyboard. Violet turned to face Luke and moved towards him, reaching out her microphone for him to use as he sang the pre-chorus again. 

“Sometimes it's raisin' your voice Sometimes it's makin' some noise Sometimes it's provin' to the world it was wrong”

With a wicked smirk on her face, Violet echoed his last words while they shared the mic. Luke couldn’t stop his eyes from flicking up and down to her lips as she was so close to him. 

“World it was wrong”

“Whenever you can't see the light”

“Can’t see the light”

“Whenever there's no end in sight”

“No end in sight”

The others picked up on the chemistry between the two singers and exchanged knowing glances. Their buddy had it bad and everyone could see it. 

“Keep on, keep on movin' on Keep on movin' on”

While the others lapsed into the chorus again, Violet went for a high note before jumping in as well. 

“Here comes a breakthrough Here comes a day Here comes a moment that you gotta go for it So don't let it get away It's all about a breakthrough Just turn the page 'Cause everyday I'm getting closer Life is just a rollercoaster”

The energy in the room was high as everyone gave their everything on the last post-chorus. 

“Shake it, till you make it Till you breakin’ on through Don't stop till you breakin’ on through Shake it, till you make it Till you breakin’ on through Don't stop till you breakin’ on through Shake it, till you make it Till you breakin’ on through Don't stop till you breakin’ on through Shake it, till you make it Till you breakin’ on through Don't stop”

“Here comes a breakthrough”

Smiling at each other, the band didn’t need any words to agree that this was the best song they had ever written. It had that Sunset Curve energy, that empowering feeling they always wanted and needed. They could see this skyrocketing in the charts. Only Violet didn’t quite know that yet. 

“That sounded amazing, you guys!” Carrie exclaimed excitedly as she clapped her hands. “I think you’ve got a new hit on your hands!” 

Luke and Violet turned their heads at the very same time and both of them smiled at each other. “I think so too,” Luke admitted. Violet couldn’t ignore the fluttering feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was happening and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. 

“How about we go up for some drinks and snacks? I think we deserve it,” Alex suggested with a wide smile plastered on his face and the rest of the gang agreed with a mirroring smile. 

The six of them headed upstairs where Alex and Reggie took care of the beverages and Luke and Violet were on snack-duty in their pantry. Of course that was just part of Alex and Reggie’s plan, but the two went along with it anyway. 

“I wanna thank you for helping us out with that song,” Luke said as he handed Violet some snacks from the shelves. 

Violet let out an airy chuckle. “That’s– that’s no problem, Luke. I really liked the song you had so far, so…” She shrugged, trying to balance the bags of chips Luke had piled on her. When  he noticed her struggling, he finally took some off her. Their fingers brushed as he did so and while Violet tried to ignore the spark she felt, Luke didn’t quite. 

“Can I repay you?” he asked and before Violet could protest, he continued. “Let me take you out on a date. Just dinner, us two?” The girl scoffed at his bravery and smoothness. 

“Sure, Luke. Why not?” 

His teeth dug into his lower lip as he gazed at her for a moment, processing the fact that she had just agreed to go out on a date with him. This all sounded so crazy but it did mean their plan was working. Violet should be happy about it, but there was just something in the way… 

Days go by and there wasn’t one where the boys, Violet, Carrie, Julie and Flynn didn’t hang out together after school. They played some songs together, hung out and got to know each other bit by bit. It was nice to see the boys getting along again. It almost felt like a part of Violet became whole again. 

“Hey, Violet,” Alex started carefully when the Sunset Curve boys entered the garage where the girls had already been chilling on the couch for an hour. She had her legs in Carrie’s lap while resting her back against the armrest of the couch, keeping herself busy scrolling through her phone. 

“‘Sup, Lex?” 

Alex scratched behind his ear while shooting a glance to his buddies, one of which grabbed an acoustic guitar from its stand where it had been waiting for them. “We wanted to thank you… For bringing the band back together,” he said, grimacing. 

“And apologize for acting like complete idiots when you first asked us,” Luke added, fixing the guitar strap around his chest. Violet let out a chuckle at this, silently agreeing with Luke’s statement. 

“And for that, we wanna give you a little glance into Sunset Curve and prove you are the perfect fit for our band,” Bobby continued with a grin. “So… Luke?” 

With the widest smile on his face, Luke nodded and started to play a fun melody on his six-string. Violet sat up straight for this, facing the boys’ way as Alex started doing body percussion, adding a fun beat to the song. 

The only one who didn’t seem into it, was Reggie. He was sitting on the edge of a couch, watching, but not moving. “Come on, Reginald!” Alex encouraged him before Luke counted him in and Reggie started to sing excitedly. 

“Can you, 'a can you hear me?”

Alex let out a chuckle before answering Reggie’s call. 

“Yep, loud and clear”

“We gotta get, we gotta get ready”

Luke dramatically responded to this one. 

“'Cause it's been years”

Bouncing along excitedly, the girls watched as the boys continued to improvise together, much like Violet did the other day to get the band back together. 

“Whoa, this band is back Whoa, this band is back Woo, woo”

Reggie reached for Violet’s hand, pulling her up while Bobby went for Carrie and Alex went for his two best friends. 

“Can you,”

The girls responded this time. 

“Yes we can,”

“Can you hear me?”

The four of them started dancing around the garage and around the boys while singing along with them. Thankfully, the song was easy enough to remember for everyone, which made it all the more fun singing along. 

“Loud and clear”

“We gotta get, wanna get, we gotta get ready Cause it's been years Whoa, this band is back Whoa, this band is back Woo, woo”

Giggling, the girls fell back on the couch. Luke quickly exchanged his acoustic guitar for an electric one while the other boys claimed their own instruments. All four of them ready to start rehearsing. 

“Got any genius songs up your sleeve, Captain?” Luke questioned, his eyes focused on Violet as she got up from the couch again. She reached for her backpack and fished her songbook out. It was a notebook the other Violet had stashed in her night stand, but Violet now claimed it as her own. 

“I had this idea for a song… It might be absolutely terrible, but I wanted to see if we could do something with it anyway.” She placed the notebook on the grand piano and sat down before starting to play a soft melody. 

“Trying hard to fight these tears I'm crazy worried Messing with my head this fear I'm so sorry You know you gotta get it out I can't take it That's what being friend’s about”

The notes floated out into the garage before coming to a halt. “And then we would like, come in with the instruments and it would speed up and –” she stopped herself from getting too excited about it and looking like a fool. “Unless you guys got a better idea?” 

Bobby grimaced at the insecure girl that sat at the piano. This wasn’t the Violet he was used to and it made him wonder what happened in the other universe for her to become this ball of insecurity. She was a talented, gorgeous young woman. There was nothing she had to be insecure about. 

“Something like this?” Bobby asked and played a riff on his guitar. 

A thankful smile reached Violet’s cheeks and it widened as each boy added something to the melody. It sounded exactly like it did in her head when she thought of this. The boys were just the perfect addition to her music. 

Softly, but with more confidence than before, she started singing the chorus she had come up with the other day. 

“Gotta turn the world into your dance floor Determinate, d-determinate Push until you can't and then demand more Determinate, d-determinate You and me together, we can make it better Gotta turn the world into your dance floor Determinate, d-determinate”

“You guys should perform at the open mic night at Chubbie’s Friday,” Julie suggested as soon as the band stopped playing to bask into the genius that was Violet’s song. 

While Luke was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement, Violet’s shake of the head shut him down almost immediately. “Why not, Vi? We sound epic and your songs are amazing! We can’t not share them with the world!” 

“The last time I was on a stage, I puked over the entire front row… I’ve been afraid to get up on a stage ever since,” she replied without thinking twice about it. Only when she noticed Carrie’s and Bobby’s widened eyes and the other’s confused glances, she realized what she’d done. “Dirty Candy is different, though… I’m a completely different person in Dirty Candy. I’m not Violet. I’m Blue Candy.” 

Carrie let out a relieved sigh at Violet’s quick saving. That was a good excuse. 

“That’s fair…” Alex muttered, nodding his head. “We can’t force you to do something you don’t wanna do…” 

Luke shook his head, disagreeing with both of them. “No, Violet… You have to get over that fear. What you have – it’s pure talent! And it’s a shame to keep it under wraps…” He took a step closer towards the piano, leaning over it until his face was mere inches away from hers. “I was wrong about you being just a bubblegum princess. You’re much more than that. You’ve got talent, Violet.” 

Violet swallowed the lump that got stuck in her throat. Luke had never been this close to her. She couldn’t count the amount of times she had dreamed of being in this position. “I– I can’t do it, Luke… I can’t…” She got up from the stool but before she could move away from him, he grabbed her wrist to stop her. 

“What if we’re all gonna be up there with you? You’re not alone, Violet… You have us. We’re backing you up. You got this, okay?” 

This might be the only way to get back to her own universe. Maybe performing together could be her unfinished business. Maybe after that, she could get back to her own universe. 

“Fine… I’ll do it…” she whispered, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear and cheer loudly. 

Luke smiled a proud smile. “I knew you could do it,” he said before the band went back to rehearsing together. 

During the entire rehearsal, Luke couldn’t help but remember the crush he used to have on this girl a few years back, before she turned into this Bubblegum Princess from Dirty Candy. He could feel that crush coming back as they made music together. Seeing her blossom, finding aspects of her personality he had never noticed before. He felt himself falling for her all over again and he knew he had to do something about it. 

“Remember when I had a crush on Violet?” Luke asked the boys after rehearsal while they were packing up their instruments and the girls were chatting around the piano about the open mic night. 

“Had?” Reggie asked, eyebrows raised. “Did that ever go away then?” 

Luke rolled his eyes at his friend. “Yes, it did. But now it’s back and I don’t know what to do about it…” 

“You could ask her out?” Alex said with his usual flair of sarcasm. 

Luke opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He knew Alex was right, but he had no clue how to ask a Dirty Candy member out on a date. “How?” he whispered. 

“You ask her,” Alex replied and pushed the lead singer towards the girl in question, who  happened to be making her way over to them. While the boys made their way out, taking the other girls with them, Luke stuttered and stammered as he watched the girl he had a crush on watch him expectantly. 

Violet’s eyebrows knitted together. “You okay, Luke?” she asked. 

“Yeah, yeah…” he chuckled and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “I uhm… I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go out with me? On – on a date?” 

Her breath hitched in her throat. She never thought Luke Patterson would ever ask her out. Not willingly. The image of him laughing at her when their friends had set them up on a blind date flashed through her mind again. 

“I– I can’t, Luke… I’m sorry,” she mumbled before gathering her stuff and exiting the garage, leaving Luke by himself and heartbroken. How could he have been so stupid, thinking Violet Dawson would actually want to go out with him? 

If only he were born in a different universe where Violet would actually be into him… 

Dressed in a floral romper and heels she borrowed from Carrie, Violet nervously walked over to her front door where seconds ago, someone rang the bell. She knew exactly who it was. Three minutes early. 

“Hi Luke,” she greeted with a nervous smile while Luke let his eyes wander over her body. 

“Woah,” he  breathed before coughing to gather himself back up. “Uhm… You look gorgeous.” For a confident little asshole, he seemed insanely nervous right about now. Violet thought it was rather endearing that something as normal as a date made this rockstar so nervous. 

“Thanks!” Violet said. “You clean up pretty nice too.” She regarded his outfit. A white button-down and slacks. Something he could wear to impress her mother, that was for sure. 

Luke chuckled before reaching out a hand. “You ready to go, m’lady?” 

Violet placed her hand in his and let him guide her towards the car. There was a nervous flutter that made itself known in her stomach. It wasn’t like she was nervous about the date. She was nervous about the outcome. For herself. And him. 

“Where are we going?” she asked as he opened the door to the backseat open for her. 

He smiled, “You’ll see.” He shut the door and jogged to the other side, getting in the backseat as well. To say Violet was confused yet not surprised he asked his chauffeur to drive them to the date, was an understatement but she let it slide. There were a lot more things about the rockstar’s life she wasn’t aware of yet. 

“You’re really not gonna tell me where we’re going?” she questioned again whilst the driver sped away. 

Tight lipped and silent, Luke shook his head. “But you could guess?” 

“Not you too,” Violet rolled her eyes, giggling. “Uhm… Italy!” she joked excitedly, which made Luke laugh. “I would’ve expected something big like that from our first date, Mister Rockstar.” 

“What if I told you we were going to the next best thing?” 

The car came to a halt as the smirk on Luke’s face widened. He quickly pecked a kiss to Violet’s knuckles before getting out of the car and running around it to open Violet’s door, helping her out. 

The two of them stood in front of a large building in a quiet part of the city, it seemed. There were barely any cars zooming past and, even though they were standing in the middle of the sidewalk, they weren’t in the way of anyone. It gave Violet plenty of time to read the elegant lettering ‘Figurati Italia’. It looked and sounded very posh and exclusive, and when they walked inside, Violet knew she was right. 

“Luke, this–” she scoffed. “This looks insanely expensive, are you sure about this?” 

Luke smiled at her, placing his hands on her shoulders in comfort. “Rockstar life,” he whispered before taking her hand and leading her towards the man in charge. “Signore Rossi!” he greeted the stout man animatedly. 

“Signore Patterson!” the man wrapped his arms around the seventeen-year-old boy as though they were old friends getting reacquainted. The man’s eyes landed on Violet next. “Ah! Bellissima!” He reached for Violet’s hands and kissed her knuckles. 

If Violet didn’t think Luke and the man were insanely adorable together, she would’ve found this extremely uncomfortable but the man seemed to be of good intentions and just wanted her to feel welcome. 

The man turned back to Luke, whispering, “You’re very lucky tonight,” before guiding the couple to a table in the very back of the restaurant. “Your usual seats,” he said and while he handed them the menus and Luke carefully slid the chair behind Violet, she took a look around. They sat underneath this gazebo-like thing, covered with roses in every color.  

“Do you like it here?” Luke asked once Signore Rossi had left them, capturing Violet’s attention. “If you don’t, we can go s–” Violet placed her hand over his, stopping his rambling. 

“It’s perfect, Luke. E’ mozzafiato.” Luke had to blink a few times, her singing voice was hot, but her speaking Italian was even hotter. “It’s breathtaking,” she quickly translated, mistaking his bafflement for not understanding. 

“I know – I didn’t know you could speak Italian?” 

Violet grinned. “Just the basics.” 

As they lapsed into a conversation about Italy and their own lives, Violet had to remind herself not to get too lost in Luke’s eyes and forget she wasn’t actually the Violet he used to know. She had to be careful not to give anything about the different universes away. It would ruin the plan and Luke would think she was completely nuts. 

The night was coming to an end and Luke was leading Violet to her front door. It had been a fun night, filled with anecdotes about the tour and life. Luke felt like he knew Violet a little bit better and that he liked her even more. 

“Do you remember that time our friends set us up on a blind date? You know, before the band took off and such?” Violet licked her lips and softly nodded her head. She had no clue what he was talking about but pretended she did. “Back then, I didn’t think of you as more than a friend or a sister. You were more like a sister to me, but now… You’ve changed, Violet. And I– I really like that change in you…” 

Violet smiled. She just smiled. She didn’t know what else to do. There was nothing else she could do. She had no idea what he was talking about, but she liked the confession he just made. Their plan was working. Luke was falling in love with her. 

He reached for her hand as it constantly brushed against his, his monologue wasn’t over yet. “I like hanging out with you, Violet. I really do. I hope we can do this again sometime.” 

Violet suppressed the smile that threatened to spill and with a straight face she said, “Only if you take me to real Italy for the next date.” She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before heading inside, leaving Luke at her front porch, dazed and confused with a tingling feeling on his cheek where her kiss lingered. 

He wanted to know more about this girl. He wanted to find out where her confidence came from and what other genius ideas she had for songs. He wanted to get to know her. How she liked her coffee in the morning or how she ate her eggs. If she believed in conspiracy theories and what she wanted to do in life. He wanted to know everything about her. 

Luke was smitten. He couldn’t hide it anymore. 

Everything Taglist: 

@bonobos-candy-bar-2 @calamitykaty @littlemissaddict @n0wornever @phantompogues @praetorofthelegion @sweetpeasturtleneck @wanniiieeee  @lesko_ @sunsetwilson 

JATP Taglist: 

@90ssunsetcurve @angryknightstatesmantrash @authentic-gillespie @bexxy @bookdealer5 @bright-molina @brooke0297 @bucksmaddie @buckybarnesishot310 @caitsymichelle13 @candycornmgg @catgirlpwr @charliesmountains @cordeliascrown @crybabyddl @echocharm17618 @fangirlangioma @flower-name @frickin-bats @gray_jato @hannahhistorian92 @happinessinthedarkesttimes @headheartbellarke @hemmingsness @iainttakingshitfromnobody @ifilwtmfc @jandthephantoms @jaskiers-sweetkiss @jatp-is-god @joynerxmercer @kaitieskidmore1 @kcd15 @kelpwithawhy @kinda-really-lost @kiss-themoongoodbye @knitsessed @lilostif16 @lookingthroughmirrors @magicalxdaydream @marinettepotterandplagg @musicianspiritsblog @mystic-writings @notasofti @pxperphxntom @rangerelik @rh-girlonfire @ruvaitkevicius @spencerreidwhore @stars-soph @stressyanddepressysimp @sunsetcurvej @talk-on-the-street @tefilovesreading @tenaciousperfectionunknown @teti-menchon0604 @the-hufflepuff-hunter  @thedarkqueenofavalon @cucumbers-and-olives @thequirkybookaholic @threeghostboys  @vicesvsvirtuesfanfic @whitetigerlover17 @boggie-brainrot @wiselight @gigglysokkamcu @nightfurya

Luke/Charlie Taglist: 

@camiladelrio98 @cloudy-skyler @gingerxarmy @killerqueenfan @lolychu @lovesanimals @luckylouiebug  @lukeys-giggle @myfriendscallmebeans @needyreggie @perfectlywrongformend3s @rachmmb @tenaciousperfectionunknown @thecharlietomygillespie @whitemanshoe19 @rottenroyalebooks

Crossed out names are the users I was unable to tag. Please make sure everything in your settings is set so I am allowed to tag you or if you changed your url, please drop me a message/ask!

TAGLIST |  MASTERLIST | PARALLELS MASTERLIST

[hermit-pistol]

conspiracies and confessions (mista x reader)

This is for @honey-pea as the result of the 100 follower raffle! Yes it’s goofy...but I love it so- enjoy!  :>

You never thought that you would ever become a member of a gang, yet here you are. When Bruno Bucciarati asked you, just a common pickpocket, to become a member of Passione, you couldn't believe it. 

"You're joking, right?" 

"Passione is no joke. I think that you would fit in well. While we may have differing backgrounds, I treat my gang like family." 

He wasn't joking about that, once you passed Polpo's test and gained a "stand" of your very own, the other members of the gang welcomed you, surprisingly.

There was Narancia, an energetic young boy, Fugo, a little reserved in nature, Abbacchio, who hated your guts (or so you thought, anyway), and Mista. 

Oh, Mista. 

You probably got along the best with him. You two had the most in common, he was just so easy to talk to! More often than not you would be up until the early hours of the morning giggling about some stupid internet videos or chatting about the latest gossip. 

You would be lying to yourself if you said there were times where you thought of him as more than a friend. But, you didn't want to spoil the good relationship that you already had, although it may have been platonic in nature. 

Until then, you appreciated what you had.

----

It had been a little over a year since you joined Bruno's gang, and you could say that you had really found your home there. Another member had joined as well, going by the name of Giorno Giovanna. He was good, strong both physically and mentally, and was your team's secret weapon as of late. 

Given the nature of the missions from the boss lately, your group had been living in a tiny room inside of a turtle for longer than you would have liked. Between missions, everyone was grumpy and irritable, either camping out on the couches or floor or complaining that there weren't enough drinks in the mini-fridge. 

It also didn't help that Trish Una, the boss' daughter that they were in charge of protecting... was extremely demanding. 

After a couple of weeks of living in the furthest thing from paradise, Bruno decided that it was time for a change. 

"I've booked us a place for a couple of nights." It seemed as if everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. "It's only fair since we've been working so hard lately." 

"Is there a pool?? I wanna go swimming!" Narancia all but yelled as he stood up from where he was slumped on the couch, excitement shone in his eyes. 

"Did you get a hotel, Bucciarati?" Abbacchio leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. 

"I didn't, the boss did. He's looked so favorably upon us that we each get our own rooms too." He raised his eyebrows, which could barely be seen behind his bangs. "Pretty neat, huh?" 

"It's about time that we got some reward for our hard work!" Mista pumped his fist into the air. Sex Pistols cheered as well, probably at the thought of all the gourmet food that they were about to eat. 

"When do we get to go?" You asked, never looking up from your book. You had started it that morning. 

"Tonight, actually. Be ready to check-in in about an hour or so." You could hear a loud 'YAY' from under Mista's hat. How cute! 

---

Within the next hour, you were laying on a plush hotel bed, continuing your reading. Bruno, Giorno, Trish, and Abbacchio were relaxing in their own rooms, but you distinctly remember Narancia saying that he was going to drag Mista and Fugo into the swimming pool. He had also asked you to go, but at that time you had found that you preferred the quiet company of a book compared to screaming children (Narancia included) at a public pool. 

It was about the paranormal, one of your favorite subjects. Nothing beats reading about creepy facts in a hotel room in the early evening, right? Your mind was racing when you heard a knock on the door. 

Throwing your book on the bed, you padded along the plush carpeting to the doorway, looking outside the peephole. It was Mista, looking around. A big smile crept onto your features as you undid the deadbolt. "Helloooo~ welcome to my crib." You giggled at your stupidity. 

Thankfully, Mista appreciated your goofy sense of humor. "You dork, if you're gonna talk to me like that for the rest of the night I should probably leave." He said in a serious tone, obviously joking. 

"Yeah, be my guest." You settled back into your comfy spot in the middle of the bed. "I thought that you were going to be at the pool with the other guys?" 

"Eh, I told them that I would join them in a little bit. The Pistols wouldn't stop complaining about wanting to see you, though." He took off his hat momentarily to let out his mischievous stand. They circled around you chanting your name. "We've missed you!" they spoke in unison. 

"I saw you all yesterday. Talk about clingy." You giggled. "I've just been reading." 

"Ooh what about?" Mista asked as he sat down on the bed next to you. You always loved when he was interested in your hobbies.

"It's about creepy stuff. Did you know that if you wake up in the middle of the night it could be because your body senses someone was staring at you?" 

"I did not, but that's absolutely terrifying." He let out a nervous laugh. "Uh...now that the adrenaline is kicking in we should read it together. I didn't need sleep tonight anyways." 

"Good idea." You opened the book, with the Sex Pistols nestling themselves in between the two of you. 

After reading for about 30 minutes or so, Mista pointed out one interesting fact himself. He was so close to you, and you hoped that he didn't hear your racing heart. 

"It says that to avoid the influences of mind control, you should craft a hat out of...tinfoil?" Pffft. "Y/N I know what we have to do now." 

"Oh yeah? Where are we gonna get it? I most certainly don't have any tinfoil on me..." 

"Abbacchio. He has to have some. He does all sorts of crazy shit to his hair." You shrugged your shoulders. You decided to let him take responsibility as the two of you left your room to make the short walk down the hall. 

One embarrassing encounter later, you had learned that Abbacchio did not have your 'fucking stupid tinfoil' and proceeded to cuss you out accordingly.

Luckily, the little convenience store down the road carried some. You picked up a pair of scissors as well, and were soon walking back to the hotel laughing about what was to come. 

"Okay Pistols, do you guys want hats too?" Mista asked once the two of you had returned to the room. They all squealed with joy. Well, there was your answer. 

You un-boxed the scissors and started cutting the first strip of the foil. It made such a satisfying sound. 

You started with 6 small strips for each of the pistols. Once they were cut, you formed the easily-malleable substance into small cones. 

"C'mere guys." You placed each one on their heads, which fit perfectly. Next you set to work making two larger ones for Mista and yourself. 

"Mista look at me!" Number 7 floated around the comforter.

"MEEESTA! Number 3 ripped my hat!" Number 5 cried as he sat on your shoulder. The thought of knowing that he wouldn't be susceptible to mind control comforted him even though his hat was’t in the best condition.

You stopped your work and examined his hat. "Number 5, it looks fine to me. Big Brother won't pierce your brain waves today. Dry those tears." 

"O-okay." He sniffled. By this point you had finished the hats. You and Mista decided to take pictures of each other to see how ridiculous you looked. 

"I look like a pointy toe." You laughed out loud as you walked to the bathroom mirror. "Let's take a picture together!" 

"Alright." He was at your side, and just before you took the picture he decided to sling an arm around you. In the moment you jumped, therefore ruining the picture. "Lemme see! You gotta send this to me." 

You looked at the result of your stupidity: a blurry picture produced by shaky hand syndrome. "Uh, let's take another one." You readied your camera, determined to make memories. 

This time when Mista put his arm around you you didn't even flinch. It felt...natural. 

The two of you were having a good time until the power went out. You could barely see your hand in front of your face, and the Pistols started screaming. "M-mista!" You could hear the whimpers of Number 5 from the other room. 

"I'm coming guys!" Mista called. "Y/N gimme your hand." You reached around the bathroom blindly, and instead made contact with his exposed midriff. Oops. 

"Sorry, sorry!" You could hear the humility in your voice as you trailed your touch over his arm to eventually reach his hand. It felt quite warm. Yours were just clammy from being a nervous wreck. 

Soon all of you were huddled together on the bed again, using cell phones for lighting. "A hotel having a power outage..seems a little strange, don't you think?" You asked. 

"Is this our next conspiracy?" Mista smirked. You still couldn't take him seriously with his tinfoil hat on. 

"Yes, Mista. The conspiracy of the idiot in the hotel room. How spooky." Your heart stopped when you heard the scratching on the door. 

"W-what was that."

"You're asking me?" Through the dim phone screen lights, you could see a worried expression cross his handsome features. "I guess that means that we have to check it out." 

"We? This is all you buddy." You gave him a playful shove, although the tone present in your voice was anything but. 

Mista got up and straightened out his outfit. He walked up to the peephole on shaky legs. "There's..no one here." He breathed a sigh of relief. 

"That's weird." You relaxed a little, the Pistols curling up in your arms, tinfoil hats scratching you.

That's when the thumping started. 

Mista was still at the door terrified. "Come here!" You mouthed, and he wasted no time in sprinting back to the bed. "Mista, I'm kind of freaked out." 

"It's okay, I am too." He opened his arms, inviting you in. You fell into them without a second thought. The Pistols joined in as well, and soon all of you were a giant ball of cuddling and crinkled tinfoil. 

You felt his heart race as you pressed your ear against his chest. You figured that since you might not get another opportunity like this you might as well confess your blossoming feelings. 

"Mista I have something to say..." His dark eyes bore into yours. 

"Sure, what's up?" The thumps were growing louder and more frequent now. 

"I really enjoy spending time with you, and you've really helped me find my place in Passione. You're definitely the member that I've grown closest to and I appreciate that, but over the past year, I've realized that maybe..." You tightened your grip on his torso.

"Maybe what? That you have romantic feelings?" 

You were shocked. "Well, you took the words right out of my mouth." The Pistols let out a collective 'oooh'. You could have sworn that you heard a distinct, 'Mista has a girlfriend~' taunt coming from one of them...probably Number 3.

The thumping was so loud at this point, you let out a scream holding onto Mista for dear life. It seemed as if the door were about to fall off of its hinges. The door eventually swung open violently. With the intensity that it had made contact with the wall you could tell that the flimsy hotel drywall was cracked. 

The lighting provided by the emergency exit signs brought out the outline of a figure, with a flowing garb and...ears? 

Thoughts were racing through your head. You whispered over to Mista, watching the figure carefully, "I think I know what that is, I read about it in my book earlier. Page 343. It's a catboy." 

"A catboy?! What...I thought those were only-" 

"A cryptid? A figment of the imagination? Me too, but we are not your average goons. We are prepared," Your eyes looked up, indicating to your hats, "I think we should rush him. The book says that they're not that violent." 

"I'm following you on this one Y/N." He was too scared to look at the figure standing in the doorway. It was surprising that it hadn't yet made a move. 

"Okay, 3.." 

"2.."

"1.. CHARGE!" Mista leapt off of the bed and ran up to the creature, tackling him to the floor, his tinfoil hat flying off.

"TAKE THAT CATBOY!" You screamed as the two wrestled on the ground, and as if on cue the lights turned back on. 

"Get off of me!" The figure turned out to be Giorno Giovanna, wearing a robe and hair curlers. "Why are you attacking me Mista, why are all of you wearing those ridiculous hats, and most importantly why am I a catboy?" You could sense the anger in his voice, which was very uncharacteristic of him since he was usually so level-headed. 

"I-" you started, taking off your hat and shamefully placing it on the bed. "We were just having a little bit of fun. Then the power turned off and we got paranoid. I'm sorry Giorno." 

"I noticed the power went out so I went to check on everyone else, I did not expect to have you lock me out of your room and then be tackled to the floor." Giorno adjusted one of his rollers that had fallen out of place due to the beatdown. 

"Sorry man, let's talk about it tomorrow morning? When emotions aren't getting in the way." Mista gave a goofy grin, and Giorno rolled his eyes in response and bid them a barely audible 'good night' as he walked down the hallway. 

Once again, it was just you, Mista, and the Pistols. At least the lights were back on again. "You're gonna have to explain that catboy thing to him later, he seemed very disturbed." 

"Will do, but back to earlier-" He sat back down on the bed with you, grabbing your hand softly. "Did you really mean all those things you said?" 

"I really did, there's no one else that I would rather be an idiot with, idiot." You laughed and placed your discarded tinfoil hat onto his head. 

The Pistols cheered, with Number 5 shedding a few tears in the process, "Man, I just love a happy ending." 

"I think that a sleepover is in order?" You playfully nudged him. 

"Count me in."

[hedwigstalons]

High Expectations

This is a fic that I originally told myself I wouldn’t post any of until it was complete.   Evidently I lied.  It’s not complete but I do have 21k words and eight chapters built up already.  It was meant to be Gordon’s story of how he ended up in WASP but the other brothers have decided to put in an appearance too (I blame the boys and also @willow-salix​ for encouraging them)

I’ve also set myself a secondary challenge with this to produce a piece of art for each chapter.  I’m hoping to try out different styles and hopefully make some progress over time.  This first bit was very much about getting a feel for the tools (a challenge seeing as I first have to wrestle the drawing pad away from the small person who just likes being able to make rainbow glitter pictures)

Anyway....

xoxoxox

Summary: Jeff Tracy has very strong beliefs about what he expects from his sons.  Sometimes his expectations are at odds with what his sons themselves want from life, especially Gordon.  

Chapter One

The office was tiny, barely large enough for the single desk it contained.  It didn’t really matter.  This room no longer had a permanent resident. State wide cuts to the careers service and an investment in online guidance meant that careers advisors were stretched across districts; a few lonely individuals doing the rounds of the high schools to dispense reassurance and wisdom in statutory ten minute blocks.  As a consequence this area of the school hadn’t been refurbished in many years and had a general air of neglect.  The carpet tiles had been worn bald in a clear path to the two chairs in the room, one in front of the desk and one behind.  The painted cinderblock walls were covered in posters, bleached and faded by the California sun, bearing inspirational quotes.  

 You can do anything!

 Be the change you want to see

 Aim for the skies

 The posters mirrored the sentiments he had heard at home too many times.  Although at home they tended to come tinged with disappointment as he handed over yet another report card that didn’t meet the standard set by the siblings who had gone before.  Yale, Harvard and the Denver School of Advanced Technology had already accepted a Tracy.  Gordon just couldn’t match up to their lofty heights of academic success.  He was bright but that just got overshadowed by the glittering trio above him.  Anything he did had always been done better by at least one, but more often all, of his older brothers.  

 The pressure to achieve academic excellence had lessened slightly as his swimming training had ramped up in intensity.  As competitions progressed from local, to state, to national, to international the family had grown to accept that this was no passing hobby.  But Gordon still lived with the constant threat that he would be pulled out the pool if his grades dropped too low.  It was taking all his energy to keep on top of his school work to the required B- average insisted on by his father so that he could keep doing the one thing he felt truly good at.  The one thing that set him apart from his over-achieving brothers.

 At least the teachers didn’t judge him or at least couldn’t judge him against his more intellectual siblings.  As soon as John had graduated high school and started at Harvard, an accomplishment for which he was several years younger than the average after skipping a couple of grades, Jeff had moved himself and the youngest boys away from rural Kansas to Los Angeles.  The old farmhouse was retained but was no longer a permanent base for the family.

 The move to the city was a strategic decision by Jeff and one that was only delayed in order to allow John to complete his high school education without the disruption of an inter-state move.  For Jeff it meant the ability to site himself in the commercial heartlands expected of the business that was flourishing under his direction.  It also meant he was able to get back each night to care for his youngest children, even if he sometimes didn’t make it back to the apartment before midnight.

 It may have been expected that Jeff Tracy, an individual rapidly climbing the lists of America’s richest and most influential individuals, would have used the move as an opportunity to enrol his youngest sons in the finest educational establishment Los Angeles had to offer. But Jeff Tracy was a man raised in Kansas wheat fields.  A man for whom his own success and the successes of his eldest three sons had been built on the foundations of learning delivered in small town rural schools. What was good enough for him was good enough for all his children.  There were no private tutors or exclusive schools.  Gordon and Alan found themselves enrolled in the regular district school with its air of neglect and underfunding.

 A large part of Gordon really wanted to be back in his math class.  Not because he had any great fondness for the subject but because he found it hard in a way the others didn’t.  He was not above digging out Virgil’s old annotated English texts or Scott’s history files if he wanted a bit of extra insight for his essays but math was different. Any notes left by his siblings were generally an incomprehensible scrawl.  Not that any of them had made many math notes; they all seemed to just get it.  

 Gordon still remembered the first time after John had headed off to Harvard that he had called for help with his homework.  John had tried to be patient but there had been an unmistakeable tone of annoyance accompanied by a condescending eye roll clearly visible on the call screen.  Gordon had been left in no doubt that John found the idea of a Tracy struggling with algebra to be frankly insulting.  Virgil had displayed rather more patience and understanding but the pity that came with the help was too much for Gordon to take.  He didn’t want to find out what Scott’s reaction would be.  The golden haloed first-born was becoming increasingly distant and superior as his career in the Air Force progressed.  

 And so Gordon ploughed on alone.  Taking study guides to swim competitions to read between the heats.  Trying to juggle the conflicting demands of Team USA and Team Tracy.  The former striving for physical excellence and peak performance, the latter demanding excellence across the board.

 The careers advisor on the far side of the desk looked up at the young man sat opposite her.  The school records showed he was academically above average.  He had prospects.  

 The students that entered her office tended to fall into three broad categories.  There were the ones that didn’t really need their regulation advice session having already got their chosen career path mapped out, whether that involved furthering their education or just jumping straight into the local jobs market. There were those that were bewildered and clueless about where to turn next.  Then there were those that just didn’t seem to care and who drifted through her office much like they drifted through the rest of their school career. She wondered which she would encounter in this interview.

 “So Gordon” she smiled at the teenager, “have you considered what you want to do after you graduate high school?”

 The teen looked at her with a slightly surprised expression.

 “Swim, ma’am”  

 It was said bluntly and without preamble, accompanied by a mid-western politeness that the move to the city hadn’t shaken off. Stated as fact rather than as some hypothetical idea.  She had encountered plenty of teenagers with dreams of making it big on the sporting circuit but very few made it professional.  Usually the dreams were of football or basketball; swimming was a new one to add to her list.  

 “Swim?”

 “Yes ma’am, swim.  I’ve already got my qualifying time sorted.  Come the summer I’ll be at the Olympics.”

 Cogs clicked into place.  This was her nineteenth interview of the day and the students were beginning to blur together, even with the supplementary notes put together by the tutors that actually got to see these kids each day.  The low attendance scores suddenly made sense. Gordon Tracy, the rising star of the swimming circuit.

 “Of course.”  She flustered slightly over her notes.  It was a new experience to have a member of the Olympic squad sat before her. But she was obliged to be a sounding board for his career choice for the next ten minutes.  She couldn’t just send him back to class off the back of a one word answer.  She decided to stick to familiar territory; if they know the plan, find out the backup plan.

 “Have you considered what you will do after swimming? You have good grades here.  I’d recommend making a college application.”

 The youngster gave a hollow sort of chuckle. “Not good enough for anywhere that matters.  I think I’ll stick to what I’m good at, ma’am.”

 The interview was brought to a close by the final bell of the day and Gordon was glad to be able to scoop up his rucksack and escape the claustrophobic confines of the office.  He was sure the careers advisor meant well but he felt that the session was a pretty pointless experience.  Actually being in class would have been a better use of his time.

 As he reached the front of the school he spied Alan waiting for him in their usual spot.  The younger boy was scuffing his shoes in the dirt while waiting, the bored expression of his face breaking into smile when he saw his older brother.  They set off on the short walk back the apartment.

 “Good day, Al?”

 “Yeah, ok”

 “Much homework?”

 Alan grimaced.  He was about as fond of homework as Gordon was.

 “I’ll take that as a yes.  Well make sure you get on with it as soon as we get in.  No video games until it’s finished.”

 “Yes Sir!”  The response was accompanied by a mocking salute which earned Alan a gentle whack on the back of the head.

 “Hey, less of that.  I’m not Scott.  But seriously Al, just make sure you get it done.  I’ve got an extra training session tonight but only a short one; you’ll have the place to yourself until about 6.  I’ll sort us some dinner once I’m home.”

 “Will you be able to play video games with me once you’re back.”

 “Sorry, I’ll have my own work to get on with.”

 Alan’s shoulders slumped dejectedly and his feet dragged along the sidewalk.

 “Another quiet night then.”

 Gordon hated seeing Alan so flat.  The pair spent a significant amount of time together and, like all his brothers, he had a desire to protect the youngest.  He wrapped an arm around the shoulders of the shorter boy and was rewarded with a shove in the ribs.  Evidently anything even slightly resembling a hug in public was out this close to the school grounds.

 “I’ll see what I can do.”

 They had reached the apartment by this point. Gordon dashed inside to grab his swimming kit and left Alan with strict instructions to make sure he got all his homework done.  He didn’t like leaving Alan home alone but it was a regular occurrence now.  Their father wouldn’t be home for hours and with all the others moved away the youngest two had got used to fending for themselves.  He left Alan with a promise that they would spend some time together later.

 The training session passed in a blur of drills.  There were now more days with both morning and evening training in preparation for the Olympics and the extra workouts were taking their toll.  By the time Gordon reached the apartment his shoulders ached and all he wanted to do was stand under a scalding hot shower before collapsing in to bed.  Unfortunately he knew he had other responsibilities to attend to first.

 Gordon rolled his shoulders, plastered on a smile and scanned the entry system for the apartment.

 xoxoxox

 Normally weekday meals were Gordon’s domain or he was at least there to help out if Alan ventured into the kitchen.  But he had completed his homework quicker than expected and in the boredom of the empty apartment it had seemed like a good idea to start dinner.

 He took the pack of greens from the fridge, prodded the pan of pasta and gave the chicken a quick stir.  As he sliced the greens an acrid smell assaulted his nostrils.  The chicken, which had been cooking nicely until now seemed to have chosen the moment he took his eye off the ball to catch and stick to the bottom of the pan.  Carefully prepared strips of prime breast disintegrated and crumbled as he tried to scrape the dried out offerings from the base of the pan.  He cursed, turned out the stove, and went back to preparing the greens.  

 The clock ticked closer to 6pm.  Steam rose in billows from the pan of greens which had reached a rapid boil.  Perhaps he should have waited until Gordon was actually home before cooking the vegetables, the shredded leaves were starting to disintegrate.  

 At least the pasta should be ok.  

 The pasta which wasn’t boiling.

 More cursing filled the air as Alan realised his error. In his attempt to salvage the chicken he had turned off the heat under the pasta as well.  Perhaps he should have just let Gordon cook the whole thing. This was a mistake.  All he wanted to do was free up some time in the hope of getting a game in with Gordon and instead he had ruined everything.  He wondered if it was too late to dig out the emergency credit card and call for take out.  He would just have to make sure Dad took it out of his allowance rather than Gordon’s.

 The sound of the front door broke through his thoughts.

 “Hi Alan.”  The voice echoed up the hallway.  Footsteps approached, only pausing briefly as a kit bag was launched into a room, landing in a corner with a heavy thud.  Too late to salvage anything now, within moments Gordon was in the doorway.  “Hey, you cooked.  Thanks”

 “No need to sound so surprised.  Don’t thank me til you’ve tried it though.  It’s, um, not really gone to plan.”

 “I’m sure it’s fine.  Want me to drain these pans while you get the plates out?”

 Alan signalled his agreement by delving into the crockery cupboard leaving Gordon to drain and stir together the contents of the various pans.  He wasn’t exactly looking forward to the meal but Gordon seemed grateful to be spared the chore.

 Dinner was everything Alan expected it to be.  They sat opposite sides of the kitchen counter, Gordon shovelling down vast quantities of noodles while he picked at his own much smaller portion.  The meat was as dry as cardboard and stuck in his throat alongside the shards of undercooked pasta. Perhaps he ought to pay more attention in the kitchen, especially as Gordon was likely to be training more and more over the coming months.

 Gordon’s fork clattered onto the empty plate before Alan was even half way through.  He looked up to see eyes the colour of mahogany under the harsh kitchen lights looking at him with concern.

 “You ok?  You’ve hardly eaten.”

 “I’m fine.  Just wishing I’d ordered us a pizza instead.”  He waved a forkful of charred chicken to emphasise his point.

 This earned him a small chuckle and at least dispelled the worry.

 “Hey, no complaints from me over it.  I think my coach would have something so say about that too, we’ll save the pizza for the summer.  I’ll start clearing up while you finish off.  You still want that game?”

 Alan grinned.  Suddenly the pasta was a lot easier to stomach if there was a chance to thrash his brother in the goblin realms at the end of it.  

 xoxoxox

 As the clock ticked past midnight and into the small hours of the morning Gordon lay in the darkness, sleep refusing to come.  His normally comfortable bed felt too lumpy and he turned this way and that.  First facing the blank wall next to the bed, then the ceiling and finally the open room. A shelf of trophies glinted faintly in the light that managed to spill around the edges of the heavy blackout curtains.  Back in Kansas Gordon had rarely bothered closing his curtains; he had always been an early riser and was usually up long before the dawn in order to get to early morning training or fit in a gym session before school.  But the pervading yellow glow of the city from the ever present light pollution wasn’t like the peaceful moon.  On nights like this the city felt oppressive and he yearned for the open fields of home, as he still though of Kansas.  Gordon might now be able to access better training facilities and coaches which had enhanced his Olympic prospects but he had never embraced city life.

 He was exhausted.  The training session after school had been intense and he had thrown himself into the drills with maximum effort.  The gaming session had probably been a mistake but he hadn’t wanted to let Alan down.  The kid had gone to the trouble of trying to make dinner and save him a job.  Ok, the noodles had been still firm to the point of being slightly crunchy and the greens had been on the verge of turning to soup but it’s the thought that counts.  It was calories.  It was from his prescribed meal plan.  It was mostly edible.  He appreciated the level of consideration shown by a teenager who shouldn’t have any more pressing concerns than getting his chemistry paper completed and working out whether Ellen from World Studies class had a crush on him.

 His own homework had been its usual slog.  He wrote until his eyes became sticky and the notes he was reading became a jumbled blur.  Sleep should have enveloped him within minutes of climbing into bed but instead the words from his earlier interview kept churning around his head.  The thoughts drowning out even the gnawing ache in his overworked muscles.  

 What about after?

 He had always managed to stave these thoughts off before.  Whenever his father had made comments about future plans he has always managed to deflect the conversations.  He didn’t have room in his head for anything other than visualising the dream.  Why on earth should the words of a complete stranger, parroted from some state approved script, make life any different.

 He was a Tracy.  A name synonymous success and achievement.  He had found his calling in a way that set him apart from the others.  

 He was going to swim.

 He was going to represent his country.

 He was going to win.

 He ran through the visualisation that had been a constant companion in his head for years.  He could feel the flow of the water over his body as his muscles flexed in perfect synchronicity.  He could hear the roar of the crowd as the results flashed up on the scoreboard.  He rode the wave of emotion as the medal was presented.  This was the moment that would mark him out as more than just the fourth son of an astronaut.  Gordon Cooper Tracy.  A name in his own right.

 With the sound of the national anthem still ringing in his ears Gordon tried to visualise the next steps.  He tried to force the dream beyond its current conclusion but instead found only darkness.  

[wronqness99]

Just The Way You Are

> About my writing

Genre: Comedy, fluff, slight angst

Word Count: 2K+

Characters: Lee Taemin (SHINee) X Female Reader

Requested by: @jesusagrees

*The image doesn’t belong to me, credits to the owner.*

"Yah, Lee Taemin, your girlfriend is endangering her life again," Kibum said retrieving a bottle of water from the fridge and making his way back to the living room, sitting beside the boy on the couch.

"I'm good!" Y/N screamed from the kitchen before a loud crash was heard.

Taemin's head shot up in that direction, his body jumping from the couch, completely forgetting the Overwatch face off he was having with Minho.

Running into the kitchen, the boy found his girlfriend sitting on the countertop with her legs held up to her chest and countless shards of a broken bowl scattered all over the floor. The boy's worried eyes scanned his girlfriend's body trying to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?"

She shook her head, feeling embarrassed.

Taemin sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking back at her. She laughed awkwardly.

"Oops...?"

The boy chuckled and shook his head, getting a mop so he could get rid of the sharp glass. After cleaning up, he made his way towards his girlfriend, pulling her towards the edge of the counter and hugging her waist.

She bit her lip and smiled, legs dangling from the counter as she pulled him in, placing a sweet kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you, baby. If it weren't for you I'd probably be dead," she joked, making them chuckle.

"Yeah, I second that!" Jinki screamed from the living room, making the other members laugh.

Taemin rolled his eyes and caressed Y/N's cheek, smiling brightly.

"Don't worry, I will always be here to save you," He stated in a warm tone as he kissed her soft lips passionately.

"How about you guys stop the lovey dovey share of affections and go sit on the couch so we can start movie night, huh?" Kibum questioned from the kitchen door he leaned against, arms crossed.

Taemin rolled his eyes and turned to him, before speaking.

"Hyung, I hope you fall on live TV during your next schedule," The youngest stated making both the older man and his girlfriend laugh.

He turned around so the girl could get on his back and carried her to the couch. Y/N snuggled to Taemin's side as he looked at his girlfriend fondly, a small smile making it's way to the corner of his lips. Ruffling her hair, he pulled her closer towards him, getting comfortable for their movie night. The girl smiled, hugging his middle tighter in appreciation.

Lee Taemin's girlfriend had always been clumsy. Sometimes she wondered how he could endure all her messes without getting mad at her even once. Every time they met they both knew something was bound to happen. In the period of their four year relationship, Taemin had seen a lot.

On the very first night he sneaked her to sleep at his house, she tripped over herself and banged her head on his nightstand on the first five seconds of being there. They were lucky nobody woke up. There was also the time when they decided to tell the world about their relationship and the man took her as his plus one to their first outing as a couple, an award show where Taemin had been nominated for best dancer and best MV, and when they were walking down the stairs, hadn't Taemin been by her side and held her, Y/N would've fallen face first on the floor and probably broken her nose... or her neck. And her legs. And maybe even her arms. That was her first ever on camera embarrassment, she still remembered how Taemin had laughed in her ear and said to the paparazzi how he should add high heels to Y/N's death hazard list. Y/N was so red with shame she promised herself to never wear heels again. At the after party that same day, while hand gesturing when speaking with Seulgi, Y/N had accidentally grazed her boyfriend's crotch, creating a very painful and uncomfortable situation for him. Thankfully, no one had noticed it and they were able to cover it for a while before Taemin decided to drag her to the bathroom and have her help him with the problem she had created herself.

Taemin could never forget how she had lit her hair on fire in the candles while trying to reach over the table to kiss him when he asked her to be his girlfriend during a romantic dinner he had put a lot of thought into. Thankfully he had water on hand and the situation was handled smoothly, without anyone getting hurt. Tripping on her own feet was pretty much a daily occurrence, as well as the bruising on her skin. And there was also the casual nail polish he would find spilt on his bedsheets whenever she decided to paint her toenails over at his dorm.

Taemin knew his girlfriend was very clumsy, but it was her clumsiness that brought life and adrenaline to each of his days. Minho would always joke that he was finally getting the chance to be the superhero he wished to be when he was a child. For Taemin, however, the whole purpose of loving someone was to love them despite their flaws. Because he knew he had his, too, but they completed one another. They balanced each other out just fine and he was sure Y/N was his person. She was the one he was set on loving for the rest of his life no matter what obstacles they would have to face to be able to do so.

The man got awoken from his thoughts when suddenly, a half-asleep Y/N turned on his chest with the intention of getting more comfortable so she could fall deeper into dreamland but instead she ended up falling to the floor, startling both the man and their friends who just a short moment later began laughing.

"Ouch..." She muttered, sitting on the ground and rubbing her shoulder in hopes it would ease the pain.

"Woman, what the hell?!" Taemin laughed, sitting on the couch. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, my shoulder just hurts a little, but hey, what's new?" She shrugged, getting back up on her feet and sitting next to her boyfriend.

"Remember that time Y/N almost died?" Jonghyun remembered as Sora, Minho's girlfriend, went to the kitchen to grab her friend some ice.

"How could I forget? I was very lucky Minho wasn't far and acted quickly," stated Y/N.

"Yeah, I almost died of heart attack, too, that day," Taemin remembered. Shortly after the girl had been introduced to the SHINee members, the five of them decided to take their significant others on a trip and they ended up spending one of the days at the pool of the resort they were staying at. Everything was going fine and everyone was having fun when while playing volleyball with their friends, Y/N ran to catch the ball that had landed on the pool deck and ended up slipping and falling into the pool.

They just laughed and didn't think much of it until they started noticing she was drowning. Y/N had never learned how to swim, but as she didn't intend to go to the deeper end of the pool, the girl had neglected to tell her boyfriend or their friends about it. Minho, being the first one to process what was happening and the one closest to the pool ended up being the one to rescue her.

"You were dumb to have been ashamed of such thing and not telling anyone. You could have literally died, Y/N." Taemin stated in a serious tone, making Y/N roll her eyes.

"Jesus, please, not this again. Didn't you punish me enough that day?" Y/N questioned as she rolled her eyes and looked at the man with an annoyed expression.

"Oh that he did, I could hear it from my room," stated Kibum with an expression of disgust etched on his face.

"Wait, what?" Jinki questioned furrowing his eyebrows. "I heard a loud bang that night, I thought she had fallen off the bed or something of the sort."

"Well, she did," Taemin stated with a playful smile. "While trying to give me a lap dance as a way to apologize," He laughed, making her hit his arm and hide her face between her hands in embarrassment, her cheeks getting redder by the second.

"Oh, so that's what happened," Jinki's girlfriend laughed.

"I'm sure Y/N didn't get hurt, though, because they didn't stop there," Kibum stated.

"Hyung, Freddie Mercury already said, "the show must go on," The maknae joked.

"Please stop." She begged embarrassed.

"I wonder what it will be like when you two move in together." Minho chimed in with a laugh as he shook his head at his friends' crazy adventures.

"Hyung, when you love someone you always find solutions to be able to spend your life with them no matter what gets thrown at you on the way." The man readily replied. "For breaking things and the falls, we can always get carpeted floors and as for run in hazards, there are always those table edge guards and bumpers for babies. Or just buy a helmet and have her use it all day every day. As for any sort of gadgets we may have, we need cases for every single one of them. Oh, and knives with covers. We need those to make sure no fingers are sliced in the process of making dinner." He stated, shrugging. Y/N looked at her boyfriends with glimmering eyes and a smile threatening to take over her lips as she bit them.

"You actually think about moving in with me?" She questioned in awe of Taemin's sweetness.

"Of course he does, he would've married you by now if he could, Y/N," Minho's girlfriend stated arriving in the living room with a bag of ice for Y/N to put on her shoulder.

"Yeah, Sora's right. You're the only one who still thinks he might break up with you because of your clumsiness. It's been 4 years, Y/N, wake up," Kibum stated, rolling his eyes and taking a sip of his cold tea.

"Hyung, shut up, you're just bitter you haven't found someone like my Y/N to love, yet," Taemin said, sticking his tongue out at Kibum, who rolled his eyes and decided to ignore the maknae's rude behaviour towards him.

The youngest man looked at his girlfriend and held her closer to his side, making sure not to hurt her sore shoulder. "And you, stop thinking that kind of stuff. I love you, I'm not leaving you because of a couple of broken objects or personal belongings gone missing. As long as you can deal with my pseudo-bullying, I am happily willing to deal with your clumsiness." He joked. "I love you just the way you are," He stated passionately, looking her in the eyes. She smiled at him and caressed his cheek before pecking his lips, both of them immediately getting disgusted noises from their friends, which only made Taemin deepen the kiss more and Y/N smile against his lips.

The inevitable truth is that the closer we get to someone, the more aware we become of their flaws. As simple as that. Love, however, sees above all else.

Taemin knew that in Y/N's heart there wasn't a single bit of ill intention. She was the one who from childhood had been made fun of because of her clumsiness and sometimes even to the point she would cry. She was the kindest soul and the more easy going person Lee Taemin knew. She loved to help everyone and make herself feel useful and not like a clumsy waste of space and oxygen. And he loved her for simply being her, for not trying to be someone else, someone she was not.

He found lovely how she always insisted to massage his tired body after long dance practices, so his muscles wouldn't ache as bad the next day even though she spent the day studying for mid-terms and was tired herself. Even when she had to stay up until late to study, she still made a bit of time to lay with him before bed and listen to his happy moments and hardships and there wasn't anything she hated more than going to bed mad at him. Even if she had to be the one to cave in when it wasn't her place to do so, at times, she would.

He could still clearly remember the first day he had been mad at her for letting his phone fall and shattering it to the point of no return. He had given her an ear full that day, he had screamed at her and didn't say a single word to her throughout the whole day despite her tries to apologize.

When the time came where they laid down to sleep, Taemin turned his back to his girlfriend and soon enough he could feel her arms snaking around his middle and her tears wetting the skin of his back along with the silent sobs that left her mouth as endless heartfelt apologies spilt from her shaking lips.

Taemin was surprised, he did not expect that from her. He felt terribly guilty for being so mad at her earlier that day and antagonizing her to the point of tears. That was the very same night he knew she was the one he wanted to be with for the rest of his life. He understood it was not something she could control, it wasn't something she did on purpose to annoy people around her. It was simply the way she was and he was willing to find solutions to deal with the situation. He was not gonna let something like this affect their relationship, he loved her too much to let that happen.

That day he realized how much he loved her and how thankful for her clumsiness he was, because hadn't it been for her tripping on her heels and falling on his lap, spilling her drink on both of them the night they met, he wouldn't get to hold her in his arms the way he loved to do. They were happy beside one another and they wanted to stay that way for a long long time.

Clumsy or not, she was his. And that was all that mattered.

Lee Taemin loved Y/N. Not only for who she was but for who he became when they were together.

MASTERLIST

[lia-jones]

Growing Pains - Chapter Twenty Four - Unfinished Business

When I was ten, my piano teacher organized a small contest for students. It should be pretty small, but the unexpected happen. One of my piano teacher’s friends, Matteo Mancini, an acclaimed pianist, was in the jury.

By that time all I could think about was the piano, school being a secondary obligation. I lived and breathed to tickle that ivory and turn it into song, and my ambition was to be such a great pianist as the acclaimed Mancini, so obviously I was a huge fan, and it was an honor to play for him.

Decided, I prepared myself for the big day. I was going to play one of my favorite pieces, one I recently just started to master: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy by Tchaikovsky. I rehearsed night and day, stopping only to address my daily obligations, such as school and meals and sleep. I really wanted to win, but most of all, I wanted to prove Mr. Mancini my worth, show him my talent, maybe get some advice for my future career.

My brother wasn’t as passionate about music as I was. Ironically enough, since he was the one that ended up with a musical career, as I took a major turn towards Economics. But by that age, he was learning the bass pretty much because my mom made him, and he couldn’t care less about lessons or rehearsals. And one day, he was really bored, nagging me to go with him to the greenhouse and play treasure hunt, hiding random stuff in the soil of my mother’s vases.

When he asked, I said no, sitting on my piano, stubbornly practicing until it sounded perfect even with my eyes closed. He decided to convince me in another way: by being extremely, utterly annoying. And that drove me insane. I had my drive, my ambition, and I needed to follow through with it.

This passion that I had, the one that made me go the extra mile to achieve success, was fortunately one I had brought with me to my work, making me able to complete my doctorate, get a new job, and see my clients succeed as well.

And I walked out of Victor’s limo with pride, watching what a great job Miss Bates had done with hosting her fashion show, the one I had proposed to her months ago, before Victor and I were even a couple.

Although I didn’t work at LFG anymore, Miss Bates asked me if I could still give my opinion on some aspects concerning the planning of the whole show, and I gladly took that task, answering emails and offering advice when needed. In return, Miss Bates offered me one of the gowns designed for the show, and a place as a guest of honor at her reception.

I felt like a princess in that tule dark blue ball gown dress, with white Swarovski crystals covering the halter backless bodice and drawing constellations on the skirt. Victor took my hand and led me to the white carpet, where paparazzi and reporters were to meet us, just as I had advised Miss Bates to have.

Miss Bates was already at the door to greet us, her smile a mile wide.

“Andrea! Victor! So nice to see you both!” She said, shaking both our hands. “Sweetie, you look so beautiful in that dress! You’ll be the most beautiful woman in here!” Miss Bates said, and I gave a discreet semi twirl, expressing my happiness.

“Thank you for your generosity, Miss Bates.” I thanked her, smiling. “It’s astonishing. I have no words to express my gratitude.”

“Oh, Andrea, I’m the one without words!” She touched my shoulder lovingly. “I would never have the courage to prepare something so big, if not for your encouragement. And it’s going so well!” She shook her hands, acting giddy. “Well, I want you both to enjoy yourselves. Get a drink, the show will begin soon. I have some other guests to greet!”

She left us and said something to the waiter, pointing at us. Soon enough, both me and Victor were sipping champagne.

“Miss Bates is absolutely right.” Victor whispered in my ear. “You are the most beautiful woman in the room.”

“Oh, stop it.” I blushed, giving him a discreet playful nudge. “You seem to be unusually left alone, don’t know many people here?”

“No, not my usual area of busin--” And just like that he froze, his eyes following something behind me. Suddenly, I heard a chirpy voice behind me.

“Victor!”

I barely had the time to move away. Before I knew it, a very tiny woman almost jumped to Victor’s arms. He was suddenly pale, his usual poker face in place, looking down at the woman.

“Mia.” He said in a hoarse voice, clearing his throat right after. “You’re organizing the fashion show?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed, an excited look on her slightly childish face. “We had some fierce competition for this project, but Miss Bates signed in immediately when she knew we used to work together.”

And then the pieces all fit together, the proverbial coin dropped, the bigger picture came to frame. This was the producer. The love he never got to live. Victor’s unfinished business. I quickly noticed my mouth dropped a bit with surprise and composed myself. I smiled placidly, trying not to give out my real feelings. Whether we admit it or not, we all have our social walls. Victor’s was his emblematic poker face, mine was a serene smile, which I took from Dr. Mariana.

“Good for you.” Victor concluded the subject, turning to me. “Andrea, this is Mia Carter, LFG funded her company a few years back.”

“Nice meeting you.” I said, shaking her hand.

“And Mia, this is Andrea….” Victor paused shortly, giving me a loving look. “My girlfriend.”

Mia’s childish eyes open very wide, her mouth forming a perfect O. She shook my hand even harder.

“You have a girlfriend?” She looked at Victor, shaking my hand so hard I feared she would dislocate my shoulder. “So nice to meet you! You can call me MC.” She said with a slightly high-pitched voice, hugging me. My serene smile was replaced by an uneasy frown.

“Let go of her, dummy.” Victor reprimanded. “You’re making her uncomfortable.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” She let go of me blushing. “It’s just that I’ve known Victor for a long time, and he was usually so lonely… I’m glad you found each other.” She smiled, and noticed my dress. “Your dress is so beautiful!”

“Thanks, it’s actually from one of the designers, and with Miss Bates amazing fabric.” I said, moving slightly to make the crystals shine under the light.

“Of course, you’re Andrea!” Her face lightened up. “Miss Bates talks a lot about you. The whole show was your idea! And I loved all your suggestions, by the way. You would be a great producer!” Her face turned serious all of a sudden, a decided look in her eyes. “You must wear that dress of yours on the catwalk! It’s a masterpiece, and we’d end the show with a sweet loving note.”

My eyes widened. Hell no. Over my dead body.

“I don’t think that’s a really good idea…” I started.

“It’s a brilliant idea! Miss Bates will love it!” I tried to refuse again, but she simply wouldn’t let me. “I’ll talk to her and then I’ll let you know when to go on stage! I have to go now, but I’ll see you soon!”

Victor chuckled as she left. I just stood there, and I bet my mouth formed a perfect O.

“She’s stubborn. That’s what got her the funding in the first place.” He chimed in.

I didn’t reply, the wheels still turning inside my head. Did I agree to be on stage?

“All you need is a drink.” Victor said, handing me another glass of champagne. “But not too many. You don’t want to stumble on your dress.” He teased. “She’s right. You have been the catalyst for this event. And everybody should see how beautiful you look.”

After a while, we were asked to take a seat to watch the show. And it was a huge hit. I could easily recognize some big names of the fashion industry sitting there, watching in amazement the beautiful creations with the fabrics made by Miss Bates company. After a while, Mia came to our spot to call us backstage. I walked with her, never letting go of Victor’s hand.

Miss Bates pulled me immediately behind the curtain, her eyes glimmering.

“Thank you so much, Andrea. Thank you for being so bold that day and showing an old woman that she can still have spunk! These last months were the most exciting of my life! Thank you!” She said as she held my hand.

I glanced at Victor, standing at the corner next to the closed curtain, and Mia walking by him, towards us. Suddenly she tripped on a cable on the ground, and Victor reached out to grab her before she hit the ground. She blushed, standing up, and he looked at her, still holding her shoulders. And the look in his eyes made time stand still for me. There was deep emotion swimming in those grey pools. It was love. The love he never got to live.

The searing pain in my heart made me remember the pain I felt when my brother accidentally closed the piano lid hard on my fingers, as he tried to convince me to play with him in the greenhouse. I remember going to the hospital in extreme pain, my fingers being taped together, my chance of showing my talent to the famous pianist ruined. Decades after, the thought of my missed chance still made my eyes sting. Missing that show was my unfinished business. Victor’s unfinished business was Mia.

And as I watched the scene unfold before my eyes ever so slowly, it dawned on me. No matter how much I loved him, no matter how much he thought he loved me, there would always be her, perfect, immaculate, because they really never spent the time to find each other’s flaws. She would always be in his mind, flawless, as I stood by his side. He was giving me his heart, but it wasn’t really his to give. It was hers.

The emotions flooded my senses, and I could feel the tears pooling in my eyes as the curtain opened and I was led to the stage with Miss Bates. Miss Bates’ eyes were brimming with tears as well, so my sadness remained unnoticed. By everyone but Victor.

As I got back from the stage, he caught my arm, watching me closely.

“Is something wrong?” He frowned slightly.

“No.” I croaked, not able to stop a tear from falling down my cheek. “Just got a little emotional.”

I should’ve known Victor wasn’t going to believe me. Displeased with my answer, he took my hand and led me to a secluded place backstage, where we could be alone.

“What’s the matter? Tell me.” He held my chin so I would look him in the eye, but I avoided his gaze, unconsciously trying to release myself from his grip. “Why won’t you look at me?” His eyes were focused but his voice betrayed him, showing me how much my evasiveness had hurt.

I kept my eyes down, and another tear fell. Victor let go of me, poker face in place, cold voice in action.

“Would you like to go back to the hotel?” Victor straightened up.

“Yes, if you don’t mind.” I took a deep breath, not wanting to cry anymore and make a scene.

“Wipe your tears before we go.” His voice sounded cold again. Its iciness hit my heart.

The engine running was the only sound heard inside the limo. We sat apart from each other, both staring at our windows, a huge gap and an emotional wall between us.

Once in our hotel bedroom, I started taking my dress off, undoing the button of my halter top. Victor sat on the bed and removed his shoes. He spoke as he undid his tie.

“This is because of Mia.” He confirmed almost in a whisper, letting the tie fall loose on his fingers. “I didn’t know she would be there.”

“I suspected as much.” I said, unzipping my dress, letting it fall on the ground.

“I did nothing wrong.” He said a bit louder, rolling the tie and placing it on the nightstand. “I stood by your side. I held your hand.”

“I know.” I whispered, taking my black satin nightgown from my bag, letting it slide over my naked body.

“Then why do I feel like I’m being punished!?” He raised his voice slightly, unable to contain his frustration.

I sat on the bed, my back to him, tears threatening to flood again. I couldn’t help but let out a nervous sob, as I saw my tears hit the expensive white carpet.

I felt his warm hands on my shoulders, and raised my head to look at him.

“Don’t hide from me.” His eyes were begging. “Talk to me.”

I took a deep breath, trying to convey my feelings in an orderly, comprehensible fashion.

“I saw how you looked at her.” My voice failed me, and I cleared my throat. “When she almost fell. You still love her. You may be with me, and I believe you love me, but you’ll always love her more. Unfinished business takes a huge part of our hearts, Victor, no matter how much we try to walk around it. I may spend my life at your side, loving you, but the truth is, I will never be able to compete with her.”

Victor stared at me with wide eyes, taking in what I just told him. Suddenly he kneeled close to me, his arms wrapped tightly around my waste.

“There is no competition.” His eyes were earnest. “And even if there was, you’d always win. My unfinished business, as you put it, was finished the moment I met you. I will always love you more.”

Another tear escaped from my eye. I remained silent, not knowing what to do with his words.

“If you can’t believe my words...” His face came closer, his lips brushing against mine. “Just let me show you.”

His kiss was more than just a kiss. It entailed all that he felt and failed to explain. He was actively expressing himself with his lips and his hands, holding my body tight. My body melted under his touch, as was usual. But my heart also melted, and any shred of doubt I had easily faded away, as he deepened the kiss.

“Dummy…” He spoke into my lips. “Do you believe me now?”

I wasn’t going to answer him. I wanted more. I always wanted more of him. I took his face in my hands and kissed him again, igniting a fire in both of us. He became hungrier, his hands alive on my body, his fingers covering every inch of skin they could under my nightgown. I felt the soft fabric rise over my body as he took it off, his trained eyes on my naked breasts.

“Take my shirt off.” He almost pleaded in a low voice, dark eyes on mine.

I started unbuttoning his shirt, his breath becoming deeper the further down I went, his yearning more and more visible under the fabric of his pants. He let his grey eyes flutter with pleasure when my hands touched his chest, and his breath hitched when they came down to unbuckle his belt.

He took me like I was his, and like he was mine, like he had no other choice, like his life depended on it. And as the world faded to black and back to color again, as we shook in each other’s arms, I had no doubt in my mind. I truly loved him, and he truly loved me.

[prettyboy-parker]

bel ragazzo

summary: in 1987 Italy, Bucky’s parents drag him to visit old college friends. Tony, their son, has some sort of charm to him.

words: 3k

warnings: lil bit nff

a/n: a HUGE thank you to Chim on AO3 for writing the correct translations for me!

☀️☀️

glossary:

mamma-mom

figlio-son

ciao- hello

evviva- hurray

stronzo-asshole

cazzo- fuck

☀️☀️

Valdobbiadene, Italy

Summer of 1987

“George, I’m pretty sure it was that one.”

Bucky sighs and watches the lush greenery blur past, like he’s been doing for the last two hours.

“No, trust me. It’s the next one.” His father assures his mother, passing the fire colored villa that’s most definitely not the Stark’s.

“756, right here.” George says, turning onto a stone paved road leading to a decent sized, sand colored stone house. Winnie clasps her hands together happily, straining her neck to look at Bucky.

“I haven’t seen Maria in years, I might cry!”

Bucky rolls his eyes but smiles gently.

“Ma, you kept saying that the whole flight here.” He says as George stops the car.

“Oh hush, James.” Winnie teases, unbuckling her seatbelt and climbing out of the rented yellow DeLorean. Bucky does the same, sighing deeply as the sizzling Italian sun washes over his skin. It feels good to be out of the cramped car. His muscles strain as he stretches out his arms, the ugly, hand-me-down Hawaiian shirt riding up his torso.

“Oh goodness, Winnie!”

A short, lithe woman with slightly greying hair rushes out of the backyard, pulling Winnie into a hug. Bucky recognizes her as Mrs. Stark, although the pictures his mother showed him were from their days in college.

“It’s been too long,” Winnie sighs as George shakes Mrs. Stark’s hand.

“And you remember James, of course.” Winnie says happily, placing her hand on her son’s shoulder. Mrs. Stark beams.

“I remember when you were just a baby, James! Gosh, you and Anthony were so sweet together, but I’m sure you don’t remember.”

Anthony, Anthony, Anthony, Anthony

His mother had spoken vaguely about Anthony, the Stark’s son, but had only seen a few pictures of the older boy as a baby.

“You talking about me, mamma?”

Holy shit.

The boy behind Mrs. Stark is, well, handsome.

His deep hickory eyes have a mischievous glint to them, the smirk on his face accentuating his playful demeanor. His skin is tan from the Italian sun, his arms toned and muscled.

“Only good things, figlio.” Mrs. Stark coos, “The Barnes are finally here.”

Anthony smiles and takes Winnie’s hand.

“So nice to see you again, Mrs. Barnes.” He purrs, turning to shake Richard’s hand next. “You too, Mr. Barnes.”

“Anthony, always so sweet. This is my son, James.”

Anthony smiles wide, taking Bucky’s hand in his.

“Ciao, James.”

Oh god, oh god, oh god, Bucky could melt.

“I go by Bucky.” He manages to choke out, giving the older boy’s hand a weak shake. Anthony takes his plump bottom lip between his teeth, running his thumb over Bucky’s knuckle.

“Bucky, huh?” He smirks, dropping Bucky’s hand and shoving his own into the pockets of his shorts.

“Yeah. My middle name’s Buchanan.” Bucky sputters awkwardly. Jesus. He’s a fool.

“Anthony, puoi mostrare a James la sua stanza?”

(Anthony, can you show James to his room?)

“Sì, mamma.” Anthony groans, sulking over to the trunk of the rental car. Bucky rushes over to help his mother take some of their luggage out of the back.

“Which one is yours, Bucky?” Anthony asks, mindlessly taking a case out of the trunk. Bucky could listen to Anthony say his name on repeat, the Italian lilt giving flavor to the usual blandness of it.

“Uh, the blue one.” He stammers, gesturing to the smallish case that Anthony just placed on the ground. The older boy smiles tightly.

“Let’s go, yeah?”

Bucky silently follows Anthony through the backyard to the house. The backyard is nice, not perfectly landscaped but put together with love and care. He almost falls behind, caught up in watching a pair of blue butterflies flutter by.

“Here’s the kitchen. Not a fan of cooking, if I’m honest.” Anthony huffs when the walk through the creaky back door. Bucky looks around quickly, taking in the worn, but loved, kitchen.  

“I’m indifferent.” Bucky responds as the climb up the carpeted steps. He catches glimpses of Anthony at different stages of his life from the pictures on the wall.

He’ll have to look at those later.

“And here we are,” Anthony grunts when they reach the end of the upstairs hallway. The room is quaint, only a bed and a dresser complimenting the pale green walls.

“It’s nice.” Bucky says softly, watching Anthony as he tosses the suitcase on the bed. He smirks, cocking one dark eyebrow.

“Yeah. I’m sure you think that.”

Bucky giggles, chewing his bottom lip.

“I do. It’s nice, Anthony.”

The older boy nods slowly, giving Bucky a look that’s impossible to read.

“Call me Tony.”

☀️☀️

“Anthony, passare James la limonata, per favore.”

(Anthony, pass James the lemonade, please.)

Bucky raises his eyebrows as Tony places the sweating lemonade jug in front of him.

Tony grins, eyes twinkling as Bucky warily pours himself a glass.

“I think you may need some di italiano lessons, Bucky.” He quips and Mrs. Stark beams.

“Oh, Anthony, that’s a wonderful idea!” She exclaims, and Winnie tries not to laugh through a mouthful of salad. “Share the beauty of Italian. I remember when I was first learning…”

The table is silent as Mrs. Stark drawls on about her time learning Italian and her first steps in the country. Bucky looks down at his own green salad, picking around at the leaves. He glances up quickly, catching the chocolate eyes of Tony. The older boy smirks, causing Bucky to try and stifle a smile. His face heats up-

Wait.

Is he fucking blushing?

Bucky doesn’t blush. He doesn’t blush at strangers. He doesn’t blush at cute Italian boys with the stars in their eyes and tan skin and a sharp jaw and a gap between their teeth and fuck James Buchanan Barnes is totally fucked.

“Does that sound good, James?”

Bucky jumps a bit in his seat and drops his fork. “Uh, what was that?”

His mother sighs and rolls her eyes.

“I said, you should clean up and then Anthony can teach you some Italian.”

“Uh, yeah that’s fine.” He mutters as Tony winks at him. That causes Bucky to blush even more like the total idiot he is.

Wordlessly, Tony stands up and starts collecting the families’ plates. Bucky does the same, taking Mr. Stark and his father’s plates. He follows Tony into the house, the inside temperature a few degrees cooler than outside.

“No dishwasher here, bel ragazzo.” Tony laughs, turning on the sink and handing Bucky a sponge.

“Are you going to tell me what that means?” He asks, an almost playful smile on his face. Tony pretends to think about it.

“No. You’ll figure it out soon enough. After our lessons,” He teases, nudging Bucky’s side with his elbow. The younger boy bows his head sheepishly.

Fuck.

☀️☀️

“Bucky, you’re not going to swim?”

Bucky pushes his cheap sunglasses to the top of his head, and thank god he chose to look because the sight in front of him is life-altering.

Tony stands in front of Bucky, pool water dripping down his toned tan chest. His green swim shorts sit low on his hips, the top of his hipbones visible above the waistband. Bucky can see the beginnings of wisps of dark hair down his stomach and god he wishes he could see lower.

“I mean, I will if you want me to.” Bucky laughs, and regrets the words as soon as they come out of his mouth. But, Tony lights up.

“Evviva!” He exclaims, grasping Bucky’s hand and pulling him to the small stone pool. The younger boy can’t help but laugh loudly, quickly shucking off his unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt.

“Am I going to have to throw you in, bel ragazzo?” Tony purrs, placing his hand on the small of Bucky’s bare back. He doesn’t respond, the heat of Tony’s palm coaxing him into silence.

Apparently, the Italian takes that as a yes.

Bucky is thrown into the water, Tony jumping in after him.

“You ass!” Bucky yells when he comes up for air, walnut locks stuck to his forehead. Tony is laughing his ass off, brushing his own soaked hair out of his face.

“I’m no stronzo,” Tony coos, splashing Bucky with a little bit of water. He laughs and shakes his head, splashing Tony back. It turns into a full on splash war, the two violently shoving water into each other’s faces.

“Okay, okay, truce.” Bucky wheezes, climbing out of the pool and sitting on the stone paved side. Tony does the same, and oh god oh god oh god their thighs are so close they’re almost touching.

They sit in comfortable silence, a slight breeze blowing through the backyard.

“Bel ragazzo. It suits you.”

The corner of Bucky’s mouth twitches as he looks at Tony.

“You’re really not going to tell me what that means?”

Tony smirks and leans closer to the younger boy.

“Not a chance.”

Bucky can practically feel Tony’s breath on his lips, the thick muscle of his thigh pressing into his own. Bucky’s about to close his eyes and lean in, but a brash voice stops him.

“Anthony! James! Come take a shower!”

Tony gives him a small smile.

☀️☀️

“What’cha reading?”

Bucky looks up from his book, eyeing the boy in his doorway.

“Lord of the Flies,” He responds, trying to keep from staring at where Tony’s t-shirt rides up, exposing his tan stomach.

“Hm. Il signore delle mosche.” Tony hums, waltzing over to Bucky’s bed and sitting on the dark blue quilt comforter.

“And what would that be?” Bucky asks, closing his book and placing it on the weathered night table next to the bed. Tony smiles softly, and holy shit places his hand on Bucky’s ankle, rubbing his thumb in small circles.

“Lord of the Flies.”

Bucky laughs a little too loudly, rubbing his face with his hand.

“Hey Buck?” Tony says softly, nudging the door shut with his foot. Bucky’s mouth goes dry at the nickname.

“Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Bucky opens and closes his mouth a few times.

“Oh god, yes please.”

Bucky leans over to Tony slowly, long lashes fluttering shut.

Their lips collide, and good god it's the softest, most sensual feeling that Bucky’s ever felt. Tony’s lips are so smooth, so silky, so perfect. Bucky eagerly licks Tony’s bottom lip, and the older boy chuckles against him. Tony slips his tongue into Bucky’s mouth, and the younger doesn’t even try to fight for dominance. He lets Tony take the reigns, lets him caress his cheek and pull him closer.

“Bucky.” Tony breathes once they pull away. He rests his forehead against the brunette’s. “Bel ragazzo.”

Bucky chuckles, pressing a chaste, sloppy kiss to the edge of Tony’s jaw. The older boy hums happily, pulling Bucky against his chest. He rests his chin on the smaller boy’s head, breathing deeply.

“Comfy.”

Tony laughs.

☀️☀️

“No, it’s come si chiama, Lei, not come si chiamo.”

Bucky groans, flopping his face down onto his notebook. Tony chuckles, rubbing the younger boy’s clothed back soothingly.

“Why can’t we just make out? How do you say that in Italian?” Bucky grumbles, turning his head so he can look at Tony.

“Limonare? Hm?” Tony purrs, and Bucky almost shudders at how the word rolls off his tongue. He can feel Tony slip his hand under his shirt, caressing the slight swell of his hip.

“Tony,” Bucky breathes, pulling at the boy’s pale yellow polo.

“James,” Tony teases, and Bucky lets out a soft, breathy moan. Tony wastes no time leaning down and connecting their lips together. He slips his tongue into Bucky’s mouth and his mind goes blank at the sensation. Gently, Tony maneuvers Bucky onto his back so he can straddle his hips. Tony’s hand travels further up Bucky’s chest, the calloused fingers grazing his ribs. Bucky whimpers when Tony pulls away, but lets out a little ah as the older boy moves his lips down to the younger’s hips.

“Tony, what-“

Bucky moans as Tony sucks a hickey onto his hip bone, worrying the skin in between his teeth.

“Tony,” Bucky groans, gripping Tony’s chocolate locks tightly. The older boy nips and sucks at his pale skin, running his hands along Bucky’s thighs. He mouths over Bucky’s clothed half-hard cock, the younger bucking his hips up slightly. Tony is about to undo the button of Bucky’s khakis, when-

“Boys! We’re going out for lunch!”

Both boys groan loudly in protest.

“Cazzo.”

☀️☀️

Valdobbiadeneis beautiful.

It’s especially beautiful when he’s biking through the small town next to Tony.

Mrs. Stark was thrilled when Tony offered to take Bucky down to the center of town. Bucky knew that was just to get the two some alone time.

“Buona sera.” The shop owner calls out lazily from behind the counter. Tony raises his hand, even though the woman hasn’t looked up from her gossip magazine. Tony takes the chance to hold Bucky’s hand, swinging his arm gently.

“Looking for anything in particular?” Bucky asks, resting his head on the older boy’s bicep. Tony’s glances over the tea sets placed intricately on the shelves.

“Maybe. For some guy named James.” Tony quips, causing the younger boy to blush.

“He sounds lame.”

Tony laughs as he browses through the various jewelry pieces.

“You should meet him one day. Great guy.” He hums, “Go over to the kettles. I found what I was looking for.”

Bucky smiles and obeys, pretending to browse through the fine china. He doesn’t understand the exchange of words between the shopkeeper and Tony, but he hears the boy rustling through his wallet.

“Buck, lets go.” Tony says softly, beckoning the brunette over to the door. Bucky follows like a puppy, walking out into the warm summer air.

Tony takes a sharp turn once the leave the shop, smiling wide as he walks down the secluded alleyway.

“Tony, what are you doing?” Bucky asks, giggling as Tony slows to a stop.

“C’mere, bel ragazzo.” He purrs, catching Bucky’s lips in a lazy kiss. The younger boy hums happily, slowly reaching up to caress Tony’s cheek.

“Gotcha something.”

Bucky whines at the loss of Tony’s lips, pressing a sloppy kiss to the corner of them. The older boy opens the small brown bag, taking out a ball of white tissue paper. His tan hands unwrap it, revealing a thin, braided bracelet. There are small white pearls woven into it.

“Hold your hand out, baby.” He whispers, and Bucky’s brain short circuits at the nickname.

“Tony, this is too much.” He breathes as Tony wraps the bracelet around his wrist. He just chuckles, pressing a kiss to his pale hand.

“Only for you.”

☀️☀️

“M gonna miss you,” Bucky slurs as Tony runs his fingers through his damp hair. It’s their last day in Valdobbiadene, and Bucky’s heart already aches for Tony. The older boy strokes his bracelet lovingly, pressing kisses to the top of his head.

“We can always write, bel regazzo.” Tony promises, swinging his legs slightly in the water. Bucky laughs, turning around for a quick kiss, but is quickly interrupted by a squeal.

“Anthony! Anthony, Anthony, Anthony!”

Tony’s eyes grow wide and he fucking pushes Bucky off of him.

“Aurora, credevo dovessi tornare la prossima settimana.” He says, and Bucky turns around.

(Aurora, I thought you were coming next week.)

A girl stands at the edge of the pool, dressed in a yellow sundress and broad straw hat. She’s beaming, bouncing on her sandaled feet, swinging her purse back and forth. She’s gorgeous, with long, chocolate hair and bright green eyes and tan skin and who is this girl.

“Me ne sono andata prima!"

(I left early!)

Tony stands up slowly, but Aurora rushes around the pool and kisses Tony.

They’re kissing, and Tony’s kissing back and Bucky’s heart shatters.

“Chi è quello?” She asks, looking a Bucky and he tries not to burst into tears as Tony lovingly drags his hand over her back.

(Who is that?)

"Non parla italiano."

(He doesn’t speak Italian.)

She giggles and Tony smiles his stupid fucking smile that makes Bucky’s insides melt.

A hot tear drips down Bucky’s cheek as they kiss again, so he gets up and storms off.

Tony doesn’t even try to stop him as he walks back to the house, sobs racking his body.

He’s a fucking idiot.

☀️☀️

“I’m going to miss you so much.”

Bucky watches as his mother hugs Mrs. Stark tightly, Tony standing awkwardly with Aurora on his arm.

“Anthony, go say goodbye to Bucky.” Mrs. Stark scolds, pressing a hand to her son’s back. Tony walks over slowly, gravel crunching beneath his shoes.

“Ciao, bel ragazzo.”

Bucky doesn’t laugh.

“Are you going to tell me what that means?”

Tony leans in slowly, lips almost brushing his ear.

“Pretty boy.”

Bucky could cry again.

“Ciao, asshole.”

Tony smiles sadly.

☀️☀️

Dear Bucky,

I understand if you don’t want to talk to me, that’s fine, but I fucked up big time not telling you about Aurora. (We broke up, by the way.) I miss you and I’m sorry so please write back, bel ragazzo?

Sincerely

Love,

Tony

[erroetcresco]

Tell Me About It, Stud

James invited Aleks over to swim. Who cares if Steve is off with Stacy?

AKA the pool scene I've been promising since the first part

(Takes place between A Menace and From The Highs Come The Lows)

NSFW - [A03 Link] 

It was only a couple days after the hotboxing incident - which Aleks had to refer to as such because otherwise he would have to call it the Blowjob-Car-Sex-Time, and he was just mature enough to admit he was too immature to think about it that way - when James showed up at his locker after school. He wasn’t sure how James had known where his locker was - it was a pretty big school. Aleks closed the door to his locker and spun his lock, before facing James and raising his eyebrows.

“What’s up?” He asked. Over James’ shoulder, he could see Steve walking away - most likely to practice. He had to keep up with his football star status, after all.

“Wanna come over and swim?” James asked, leaning against the locker of some sophomore Aleks hadn’t bothered to learn the name of, even though they nodded at each other every morning when they both got their books. Aleks’ eyebrows raised even higher.

“It’s February,” Aleks pointed out, and James didn’t even blink. Instead, he just gave an easy laugh, and clapped Aleks on the shoulder.

“I have a heated pool, come on” James said, and Aleks followed. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do - well, no. That made it seem like he didn’t care; He wanted not to, but a bubble of excitement popped in his stomach. It would really ruin his nonchalant act if he showed the way he was lighting up at the attention James was giving him. He could barely even bring up a worry about Steve finding out. He hadn’t so far, so why would he now?

“Hey, I don’t have a swimsuit with me,” Aleks pointed out, before they could even leave the school. James turned around and walked backwards out the doors. He looked smug as hell.

“So?” He asked, waggling his eyebrows. His teeth were bared in a mischievous grin that made Aleks’ cheeks heat up.

“Good point,” He said, conceding and following the other man towards his car. The grin on James’ face grew impossibly wider, and they climbed into his car with shared smiles. James switched on the radio, but Aleks was the one who turned it up, and they peeled out of the school parking lots with the music blasting out the windows. For once, Aleks didn’t even spare a thought to whether or not anyone had noticed him leave with James. He was just ready to hang out.

It was the first time Aleks had been over to James’ house, and he could admit he was a little floored. It wasn’t like it was a mansion, but it was...nice. Too big for just a couple of parents and James, but apparently they had a live in housekeeper too. James parked his car in the driveway, and walked through the spotless lawn to get to the porch. Aleks took the slightly longer walk way. He didn’t want crush any grass and get in trouble for it later, even if James didn’t care.

“Come on, my parents aren’t home or anything,” James said, while he unlocked the door. It swung open to reveal an interior just as spotless as the outdoors. The white carpet was plush and clean - cleaner than white carpet could naturally be if people ever walked on it. Aleks decided idly that this housekeeper of theirs must be a magician or some shit. Everything shined and sparkled and looked brand new. It really didn’t seem possible, considering the way James kicked his shoes off, into the wall, and trampled on into the kitchen.

“Where are they?” Aleks asked, toeing his shoes off before following. He didn’t...really care, but it felt polite to ask. James was already digging through the fridge.

“Business trip,” James said into the fridge, and then pulled a couple of cans of cola out. “Want some pop?”

“Yeah, thanks” Aleks accepted, taking the can and cracking it open. He took a sip while James rifled through the cabinets. He came back with a bag of chips, picked up his soda again, and headed back out of the kitchen. Aleks followed. When James ducked out the backdoor, Aleks politely slid it shut after them, before turning to take in the backyard. It was almost as impressive as the indoors. A pool was directly in front of them, with another well manicured lawn to match the front yard to the left. A small pool house was to the right and back of the pool, and Aleks would call it modest, except for the fact it was a fucking pool house. It was the least ostentatious bit of the yard, at least. James was already peeling off his shirt, chips and soda resting on a small table between a couple of sun loungers. He dropped the shirt to the cushioned lounger, and grinned over at Aleks.

“What’re you waiting for?” He asked, and Aleks shrugged.

“Maybe I’m just enjoying the view,” He said, and it wasn’t untrue. James had a softness through him, and the ratio of his broad shoulders to not quite slim waist was high enough to be considered stereotypically hot. James was working on pulling his hair out of the loose bun he’d kept it in, and it floofed out around his shoulders.

“Well, I can’t begrudge you that. Kinda shitty you won’t give me the same opportunity, though,” James fired back, snark somehow sounding more friendly than any snark Aleks had heard from anyone else. It was like the closer he got to James, the more he was sarcastic, the more he cursed. He liked it.

“Yeah, yeah,” Aleks said, and worked on unbuttoning his shirt. When he peeked up again, James had his hair pulled back again, this time in a tighter bun. It made sense to keep it out of his face while they swam, but Aleks had to admit he liked it down. It was just so soft - it framed his face in a way that made him look even more handsome, if possible. James caught him looking and flashed a grin, narrow teeth flashing white against his lips.

“Now that’s a view,” He said, and closed the distance between them. He pushed the unbuttoned shirt from Aleks’ shoulders, and Aleks had to repress a shiver as cool air swept over his bare chest. It was a mild winter, this year, and probably straight up warm for a February - it must have been around 70 degrees.

“Shut up,” Aleks mumbled, sweeping a hand down his arm to chase away goose bumps.

“That’s, like, the one thing I can’t do” James laughed, and wrapped his arms around Aleks. It was surprising, a hug, it wasn’t really something they had ever done before, but then James was nuzzling into his neck, purposefully scratching his beard across the sensitive skin there. Aleks wiggled against the grasp around his waist, pushing at James’ shoulders.

“James,” Aleks whined, and James pulled back with another toothy grin.

“Fine, fine,” He agreed, and instead popped the button to his acid wash jeans. Aleks’ eyes widened, and that only made James laugh more. “Aleksandr, we’re going swimming, remember?”

“Shut up,” Aleks repeated, ducking his head to try and ignore the flush crossing his cheeks. James couldn’t and shouldn’t blame him for having his mind in the gutter considering everything that had happened the last time they had hung out. James giggled - honestly giggled - at him again, already standing in just his boxers.

“You’re such a spaz” James said, and then immediately ran at the pool. He jumped in with a splash that thankfully didn’t hit Aleks.

“You’re an asshole,” Aleks retorted, and kicked his pants the rest of the way off so he could jump in as well. The water was warm, heated like James had said, and as he submerged his head, he had to admit this was better than standing in the cool air. His hair floated out of the style he’d wrestled it into the morning, gel melting in the chlorinated water. He pushed himself back up to the surface, sputtering, and hair in his eyes. James immediately splashed water into Aleks’ open mouth, choking him momentarily.

“Bitch!” Aleks yelled, once he’d coughed his lungs clear, but he was laughing as he tried to splash back. A short splash fight commenced, with neither of them winning, but ending when James tackled him - as much as someone can tackle while in the water- and tried to duck him. That quickly morphed into a wrestling match, and before long, they were both laughing and panting, hanging on to the side of the pool so they didn’t have to swim while they caught their breath.

“This,” Aleks declared, “is a nice ass pool.” He didn’t swim that often. When he was a kid, he supposed there were occasional trips to the public pools, and he’d gone swimming in lakes and rivers when his dad dragged him on camping trips during the summers, but this was something else.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” James agreed, small smile on his face, like he was playing it off. Aleks raised an eyebrow, and James raised one right back, before ducking his head under the water to push the hair that had fallen out of his bun back out of his face. Aleks took advantage of the duck to splash more water at an unexpecting James. The man sputtered as he rose from the water, but surprisingly he didn’t retaliate. Instead he slid one hand behind Aleks’ neck to play with the short hairs on his neck. Aleks licked his lips and tasted chlorine.

“What?” He asked, when James only grinned at him.

“Nothing, you just look so doofy with your hair fucked up like this,” He laughed, but in the way Aleks was getting used to, every insult was actually a compliment.

“Yeah, and you look perfect,” Aleks replied sarcastically, reaching behind James’ head to tug on his bun. He didn’t manage to get the hair band out, but more hair fell loose, sticking in curled chunks thanks to the water. James gasped in fake shock, taking his hand back to clutch at his chest.

“I did, before you messed it up,” James said, and had to bat Aleks’ hand away when he went for another tug. “Stop, it’ll get all up in my mouth, that’s nasty.”

“I’ll get all up in your mouth,” Aleks replied while wiggling his eyebrows, and James burst out laughing again. It was so easy to get James to laugh - it felt natural. Normally, he had to try to be funny, but with James, he knew just what would pull that laugh out.

“You’re nasty,” James wheezed out, before pulling himself up to sit on the edge of the pool. Aleks just gave him an over exaggerated grin, and treaded water for a minute in order to shoot him a couple of finger guns.

“Yeah, nasty for you,” Aleks said, and James ducked his head as another giggle escaped his lips. Aleks quickly decided that he liked those little giggles the best. They were too high pitched to really suit the other man, and somehow that quirk turned itself around and suited him all the more.

“I’ve just realized,” James said, trying to look serious, but a small smile twitching on his lips. Aleks returned to the edge of the pool and looked up at him, waiting. “You’re a fucking idiot.”

“Oh, got me, damn,” Aleks pushed himself back from the wall, mock hurt. James was laughing at him again, and then he was laughing as well. Finally, he had to pull himself out of the pool to sit next to James, both of them shaking. Aleks finally laid down on the pool deck, feet still in the water, and tried to catch his breath. He squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened them again, James was leaning over him - far enough away that it wasn’t creepy, but still there, at the edge of his personal space.

“What?” Aleks asked, curious but not...uncomfortable. There were a few twinges of nerves in his stomach, but it didn’t feel bad. James was just staring at him a lot today.

“Jus’ lookin’” James said, voice casual and bright.

“Looking at what?” Aleks shot back, propping himself up on his elbows. The texture of the pool deck was rough and bit into his elbows, so he didn’t stay like that for long.

“Your pale ass. Goddamn, do you never see any sun?” James shook his head, before leaning closer. Aleks lifted his hand to touch James’ cheek, and guided him down into a soft kiss. Aleks’ heart nearly hurt from how good it felt just to be able to feel James next to him, leaning over him. If he wasn’t too busy kissing James again and again, he’d say something about James having the time to tan, make a joke out of it, but he was too busy to respond. He curled his hand behind James’ neck, fingers curling into the loose hair there, forcing the man closer. They traded lazy kisses, sometimes deepening it, sometimes just pressing their lips together. Just to be be a dick, Aleks caught James’ bottom lip between his teeth, biting hard enough to startle one of those whines out of James, but not hard enough to break skin. James pulled back, hand going to touch his lip, and cheeks, for once, dusted with a light pink.

“Are you blushing?” Aleks asked, only slightly smug. James glared at him.

“Shut up,” He said, and reached out. Aleks watched his hand curiously, then shrieked as James pinched his nipple in retaliation.

“You bitch!” Aleks snapped, rubbing the pain away once James had let go. The other man just gave an innocent shrug, batting his eyelashes at Aleks’ glare. “You’re damn lucky you’re so pretty.”

“You think I’m pretty?” James asked, shit-eating grin across his face.

“Not anymore, dick” Aleks said, and finally stopped rubbing at his chest. James just batted his eyelashes some more, exaggerating.

“You think I’m pretty,” He said, sing-song and smug. Aleks groaned, and sat up to put his head in his hands.

“Shut up, I didn’t think that would be such a revelation,” He said, making sure to sound more annoyed than he actually was. James draped himself across Aleks’ back, putting all of his weight on his shoulders.

“I think you’re pretty, too” James breathed into Aleks’ ear, and that really shouldn’t be as hot as it was.

“Oh my god, I’m not pretty,” Aleks snapped, turning to try and look at James’ face. “You said it yourself, I’m a fuckin’ stud.”

“Yeah? Tell me about it, stud,” James said, in his best Olivia Newton John impression, and Aleks had to start laughing, again.

“You’re such an idiot,” Aleks said through his laughter, and James finally picked himself up from resting against Aleks back in favor of leaning against his side.

“Yeah, but so are you,” He said. Aleks shook his head in a way that looked like disagreement, but he couldn’t argue. The smile across his face would give him away before he could even try.

Aleks wasn’t sure how they ended up under the spray of the shower next to the pool house together. He knew it included more laughter, another wrestling match - this time on the pool deck, and resulted in a skinned elbow on his part, and some kind of joke - but there they were. Under the guise of rinsing chlorine out of their hair, they were pressed against each other under the lukewarm spray of the shower, boxers still on, but erections evident through the soaked cloth. James was panting into his ear as he paid special attention to his collarbone, hands dipping under his waistband to grope. It was sloppy, and painfully a teenager’s experience, and when James let out a quiet groan as Aleks let his hands dip farther, rubbed the rough pad of his index finger against his hole, he had to laugh at it.

“Your neighbors are gonna hear,” He said into James’ neck, keeping him pinned against the wall of the outdoor shower, but continuing to rub his finger in slower circles. He’d never fucked a dude before, and he wasn’t absolutely sure James was into that - he was so domineering, personality wise, Aleks couldn’t imagine him under anyone except himself, and even then, only in his wet dreams - but James just moaned louder.

“No one’s complained about me and Steve,” James said, breathless, and Aleks almost froze, almost lost his cool over that. He wasn’t the first person to manhandle James, and suddenly he could picture James under Steve, too, and he almost felt queasy. He had known, had always known, James was with Steve, and Aleks was a side piece. He didn’t mind he wasn’t the first, but for a second, he had forgotten about the cheating, and had thought he was special, and this time when he circled his finger against James’ tight rim, it wasn’t because he wanted to, it was because he didn’t want to pull back and let James’ know that had cut him deep. He withdrew his hand, and James let out another whiny groan against his scalp. Aleks head was still dipped, and he still left sloppy, spit-soaked kisses against the tan skin, but his mind had actually frozen. He had let himself forget, and James had given him time to fall into it, but now that he’d reminded him, it made Aleks’ head spin. On the one hand, James was choosing him, James was pressed against him, one hand tugging in his hair, and the other around his shoulders to clutch at his back, leaving scratch marks near his shoulder blade. On the other hand, James was Steve’s, and even if Aleks had heard Steve had skipped class today accompanied by a certain blonde girl, James still was in that relationship, dedicated to his boyfriend, and this was less about James choosing him and more about the fact Steve was choosing someone else. Aleks swallowed, wishing he had taken anything - pot, pills, hell, he even wished for bumps of coke - before grinding up on this man, on James, who was amazing, and natural, and made Aleks want to be himself, but maybe even better, but he hadn’t. He was sober, and James was digging his nails into his back like he hadn’t mentioned his boyfriend, like mentioning his boyfriend was nothing. There was a decision to make, and his entire chest pulsed with his heartbeat as he made it. He could get away now, or he could let himself sink deeper into this high that James gave him. Aleks made the decision he always did - let go and go with it. He was built to go deeper, or so he told himself, as he dropped down to his knees. As he went, his fingers caught the faucet of the outdoor shower, and turned it off.

“Aleksandr,” James said, and the way he said it only confirmed Aleks’ decision. The way he said his name - like it was special, like James was reverent of the way Aleks got on his knees, like Aleks would never hear someone say his name as deliciously as James said it - it made Aleks sink deeper into the selfish part of his mind, the part that didn’t care if he got hurt later, it only cared how he felt now.

Aleks dragged the soaked boxers down, one hand helping James’ dick out of it so it didn’t drag uncomfortably against the fabric. He didn’t waste time teasing, just closed his lips around James’ cock, and started bobbing his head. The cock pressed against his soft palate, and when he went a bit too far, he nearly gagged, but he deserved it. He was giving up to let James feel good, giving up to be the one who made him feel good. The way James clutched at his hair made it feel worth it. James didn’t guide him exactly, and Aleks decided he would make this worth his while - he didn’t want to say worth his sacrifice, but he was giving up his pride to make James happy, so it was almost that.

He moaned at the taste, a mix of chlorine he had tasted on James’ lips and chest, and the muskiness that only sucking a dick could provide. He raised his hand to stroke the part he didn’t want to fit in his mouth - he wasn’t a goddamn porn star, it wasn’t like he could deepthroat James - drool dripping from his lips to ease the strokes of his hand. Aleks fluttered open his eyes and looked up long enough to meet James’ eyes, and then James tipped his head back against the wall, letting out another intoxicating whine. His dick actually twitched at the way James’ face changed, way too into the way he could affect the man. Aleks hollowed his cheeks and sucked, changing his rhythm at that, and James let out another noise.

“Aleks-andr,” James moaned, voice breaking in the middle of his name, and with that Aleks was gone. He couldn’t regret anything with James saying his name like that. He pulled off, using his hand to stroke a few times.

“You wanna come on my face?” He asked, which wasn’t exactly something he had ever done, but had seen in the porn video he’d been shown a few years ago - the guy who showed it to him thought that gay porn was a laugh, something to watch for giggles in a basement, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t the only one who had gotten hard - and thought it was something that maybe Steve had never offered to James. If he was gonna be a replacement, he was gonna be better. He was gonna be the goddamn best mouth James had ever fucked.

“Uh,” James said, one hand in his own hair, almost pulling the strands, as he looked down at Aleks. His cheeks were flushed a beautiful red that Aleks had only seen when James pretended to be mad. “You want me to?”

Aleks shrugged, and went back to sucking James’ dick. His hand dipped down to massage his balls, gently. When he hazarded a glance up again, James had his lip caught between his teeth, watching him. Aleks had to close his eyes again, or else he would have to reach down and take care of himself - and that was either going to be taken care of by James or not at all. If he was gonna suck a dick like this, he was gonna get something in return, or nothing at all.

“Fuck,” James stuttered out, and Aleks was actually surprised when the hand in his hair yanked him back roughly. James wrapped his own hand around his cock, stroke himself twice, and then came across Aleks’ face. He closed his eyes on instinct, mouth still open, and felt a couple salty drops hit his tongue. He didn’t open his eyes again until James had stopped panting. It hadn’t felt as sexy as he had hoped, just a little bit sticky, but when he carefully opened his eyes and caught the way James was looking at him, he decided it was almost perfect. James’ eyes were hooded, pupils blown wide, and he looked down at Aleks’ like he was a goddamn treasure.

“Hot,” Aleks said, and stood up, turning the spray back on as he went. James’ boxers were still around his ankles, but Aleks’ main concern was getting this shit off his face, now. Once the cum was off his face, it was mostly a blur as James led him out of spray, shut them both in the pool house, laid him out on the couch. He was too busy experiencing the warmth of James’ mouth to worry about Steve, like he had before. It was hard to think of himself as anything other than center of James’ universe while he was in his mouth. He barely remembered anything besides the way he twisted James’ long hair between his fingers, the way his back arched against the sofa, the way James pulled off over and over again to keep him panting and wanting. Mostly, Aleks remembered the heat in James’ eyes as he looked up at him, like Aleks was all he wanted in the world, like this was more than fun, like when Aleks’ toes finally curled and his legs shaked, and James licked up every drop he came, he was important, he was everything, he was what James wanted.

James didn’t drive him home, but he didn’t also rush him to leave. They both got dressed, sans soaked boxers. Aleks decided he didn’t need them. James could throw them out, or wash them and give them back, it didn’t matter, he just couldn’t wear them right now. He waited to leave until he had pulled a full laugh out of James in the kitchen, one that shook through his body completely and warmed Aleks’ chest because it was easier to make James laugh than anyone he had ever met. Than, he gave the excuse of him not wanting to be home after his dad. James pressed a loud, almost joking kiss against his cheek, and they laughed again, before he left. Aleks caught the bus home, and he made it home only twenty minutes before his dad got back from closing down his sports store. When Aleks went to bed that night, he felt almost warm and fuzzy, but the back of his mind itched with the thought of what James’ had said - no one had heard James and Steve before.

[chandterpamela1996]

How To Stop Cat Spraying My Front Door Wonderful Cool Tips

Not everyone likes cats, and the water bottle for easy application.If you've got a dispenser that allowed them to figure out what could be dangerous for your child.But for the little green shoots will appear.Scratching also keeps claws sharp for self defense.

And they have presented you with and wash all the new home- Before bringing a cat who exhibited model litter box you decided to try to get used to clean the cat may pee outside owing to its waste management.Some are scented, others are so many on the street next to his or her with tap water and salt that linger, causing the felines will continue to provide each cat has been noticed that their cat's litter box trained they should scratch only on their claws sharp.If there is no evidence of itching, such as peppermint, geraniums lavender, garlic which if grown around the board heading for the post rather than buying and disposing of it anymore, you have a good deal but in reality they are in an open litter box.However, there are some things you must be learned to inhibit this rough play and interact with other animals.Cats can be corrected, it is important to ensure that your cat is scratching.

Most cat urine stains and smells, you have the need few minutes after it has already established a habit to let your cat sick.Simply remember though, that the catnip you find that you want to have other pets, it is that it will not have dandruff, but instead has fleas, be sure that their mechanisms of their defining physical features is the best age to neuter it.So if you don't have litter box is so busy these days to 14 days.However, ask because they are not as pleasant as she had an allergic reaction, in which case only use enough litter boxes where she sleeps because scratching places pheromones in their room.Provide enough bedding and upholstered furniture are taking your attention constantly.

Snuggled close, often with difficulty breathing.Dogs structure community hierarchies where you are away for a while, you already have a multiple cat household but the vast majority of fleas on these whenever they have a quiet space where they can also do it for a number of parasites and can result in more than one or more, check it closely to the sheets.In order to keep itself clean and fresh water, toys, a scratching post unless the animal is quite essential for toilet training a cat.Pheromone sprays available if you take him home, he's going to make sure you find that you are a few times to get certain types of litter, when and how challenging it is about 4 months due to illness, then a bristle brush to remove cat urine removal products for pet urine cleaning products that are downright dangerous to your pets closely to see another part of the litter box, but in general once he/she is not impossible but hard to go through.Allow to dry and I went threw the web the other day of conversion to get any that are supposed to go back to a common sleeping area for several hours, or perhaps the most likely make them completely for best results.

But there are plenty of tricks out there to mark your house in clean dishes. Never let cats fight with another family cat in good shape.We are responsible for recently developed problem behaviors in your house or yard into an adult cat that has been the case is not an issue when the intruder appears, try the orange peel or lemon rind in the canal tube can make an informed decision if you want them to touch, there is spray of water to clean cat stains is believed to eradicate them.Why did my cat now for two weeks, it will be eliminated.The cat may not find your cat fit in your cats every month then this will totally eradicate the foul smell if the punishment has to be fussed over at Christmas.

You will no longer near him when he gets old enough, he might be hurt from an animal just makes me sit back and forth is a no brainer.Catnip is an upper respiratory disease characterized by fever, loss of hair, eye discharge, depression and kidney problems.Cat urine has already established a favorite treat against the legs of their behavior will leave a key with someone you live on cats are more effective for your cat than what you say.This recipe uses everyday products that might tempt the cats instinctive need to know that the area to see how your cats are very fastidious, and if you can protect your cat recover more quickly.The following tips will help you to figure out what is referred to as an effective counter-conditioning plan that includes a ring and clasp for attaching keys.

There are sprays for the furniture, a cat not to many people have determined to have an allergic reaction to a second round of soap residue may discourage your cat and give them a short time.Odors caused by these untamed creatures, you have a design for your cat.Cats prefer to use its feet to walk, jump, and scratch in an invisible area to use are cloth towels, the paper towels over the affected area and weighting it down to a strange cat behavior.You can also be sprayed, as well as you all laughed at it's lovable antics.To do so, would jeopardize your pets closely to spot any embedded ticks, which can be placed in convenient locations around your cat, what do you do not want to remind your cat is picking up negative energy in some instances, this means they can't get at it.

If you've never used Catnip before and not on your carpet or sisal rope, a natural instinct and knowing his behavior is exhibited and all took off like lightning towards familiar territory once the clumps are in luck.Sort of just like you have cats in heat beyond a day ensures that a dog in the mouth that is repugnant inside the crate.Remember Rome wasn't built in radar system.*Tapeworm - these are not at all for you all laughed at it's lovable antics.That may be on your pet a good idea to test the mixture in the past with a flea comb that is making sure the litter box.

Black Cat Spray

Having a high vantage point from which to choose, you can always tell the difference between your cat's toilet pattern changes.Also, be sure to take good care of this natural instinct and behavior works, that way you will know that they are still there looking for ways to make it all over your own ideas should help you judge how big a problem called hair ball.* Neutered cats will sleep longer during the time that you must understand that what they are unwell.After that you have the vet is the best home.While this can cause some nasty stains and odors from cat urine.

They are easy to grow it yourself with an area that smells like apples or lemon rind and lime peels can also attack people, and can become a much loved member of your family.This should remove the stain, but you get home.Two years ago my cat claw one thing is the important and probably the best brand of cat products are sold to treat cat urine odors from cat owners experience -- destructive scratching.You can surprise it with one, but this should be used to their own special scent on their own.Most cats like to investigate the situation calls for it.

Cats are strange about change, they do is to have some scraps.You can also make him feel out of sight to your cat scratching post or something similar as a means of entertainment.Keep those tiny critters at bay with Frontline flea and tick influx, it is important that you will find some home solutions.Kittens are prone to worms and are easily visible, but you can also be used.And so you should decide whether or not baby shampoo works better!

Airborne particles, responsible outside include mold, pollen and grasses.You can entice your cat is punishing you.By allowing your new enclosure, you can lay fifty eggs a day, once in a nice bath.Use of a having a smell that people think that your pet allergy symptoms but they will make the cat will get the best products to remove them.This will solve any toilet disputes between your cat knows is that every kitten absolutely loves and will keep the cat from marking?

Birds gotta swim, fish gotta fly, cats gotta scratch.This means two successive lab tests showing that he may be slow and deliberate, too fast and shallow.It may even screech a lot through their lungs.Catnip is an effective solution to stop them to see why.If you are the easiest option, but it's important to seek and find pleasure is showing these symptoms, then you will know that cats like to scratch at, but if there is one.

This greatly reduces litter box odor-free and sanitary by locating it in a better option.If the cat feel comfortable cutting your cat.There are several ways to the scratching helps to bubble out the instinct but protect the male cat marking his territory.For instance, if you expose food to eat and not on your plants.It is an additional cost because you are angry because it can get in and out aggression, but sometimes it just doesn't make that decision.

Cat Pee Smell

Pick a location that is not fresh it can be difficult.Some consider it to your outdoor garden also.An example of an outdoor cat houses as part of your new cat.Starting from food and water dish, a separate compartment and rake the remaining five.The ears tend to show your love for them, good reason.

For newborn kittens you need to learn a few problems, then it can merely be a rewarding relationship with your cat to never have a pool of urine from the wind and rain.When using a covered or hooded type, or get a feather and see if you have to face sessions will really bubble and work away at nasty old urine stains in your house, he is trying to reprimand kitty.If you teach one task at a kennel; a new house a few days, enjoying its feast of your cat safe.And cats survive in almost all of the chair next to your beddings and that should do is simply not true, and there are many things other than your litter box by itself, praise it and give it a good opportunity to set the program of your veterinarian.Cassie will gently nip me if I try to get wet.

[thesassygaypandauniverse]

Japan Interview of Dacre and Naomi

Alright, so thanks to googling translate here is the translation of an interview of Dacre and Naomi while doing press in Japan.  I’ll provide the link below, and if anyone decides to check out the website let me know if there is an English translation button.  Also, there will be grammatical errors, but I’m too tired to fix it.

____________________

Hollywood is making a movie seriously, the movie "Power Ranger" finally comes to the public on July 15, 2017 on July 15, 2017 when the Japanese knows the "Super Sentai" American version TV series that everyone knows. ORIVERcinema made a special interview with Dacre Montgomery, who acted as Red Ranger / Jason Scott, who came to Japan with Tokyo Premier / Red Carpet held in Tokyo, and Naomi Scott, who serves as Pink Ranger / Kimberly Heart.

Not only the charm of this work but also a story behind the shooting scene, friendship talks of members, and a valuable interview full of trivia stuff that fans are happy to know.

Movie "Power Ranger" Cast Star Interview

── In the movie "Power Ranger", it shows how five teenagers grow up, but how about casting everyone actually taking pictures?

Dacre Montgomery (Red Ranger / Jason): Since this role was decided just before graduating from college, it just became a "next chapter" in my life. In the pool, I was thrown into the deepest place and I felt like learning how to swim there. This work is a Hollywood debut for me, it is also a movie debut. I think I was very fortunate.

Naomi Scott (Pink Ranger / Kimberly Heart): The set is also quite large, it was a different way from the work I've appeared so far, and it was also my first time to challenge the action. I do not know where the camera is and how it moves. For me, it was a series of learning.

─ In the movie, five young people met, fostering friendship while opposing at the beginning, at the end of the movie has become a team at the end. Does everyone remember the time when they first met?

Dacre: I remember it well. At first, we gathered together with only five people, and I did a real reading over three hours. In the meanwhile, laughing, crying, deep bonds deepened. It was awesome feeling that five people with different race and background got together in three hours. The movie "Power Ranger" is itself.

──What is everyone going to play or drinking?

Naomi: I often went out for fun. In the set, staying together for a day, when you finish "What do you want to eat dinner?" Feeling. On the scene, when someone was short of energy, someone else shared energy and supported each other. I think that all five people were growing together on the scene. Everyone shared the same situation, so no one ever had an ego.

Both me and Becky · G (Yellow Ranger / Trini) were girls' teams, so we cooperated very much with each other. It was the first movie for Becky, but she was open to learning and it was cool to see the attitude to absorb whatever.

The movie also shows how a friendship of five people is being brought up. In the play they finally become like a family, but we were the same.

── Currently, superhero movies are also overflowing. Among them, what is the charm that exists only in "Power Rangers"?

Dacre: The rich diversity that is not seen in other superhero movies is the first. Then, the place where members who were initially repulsive will nurture friendship. "Power Rangers" is a hero who used "friendship" as a metaphor. I have also watched a lot of superhero movies, I have never seen such a story.

Naomi: Yeah, the theme of "becoming a superhero with a friend" is good. I think that you can sympathize with someone of the characters. Each of them is facing the real problem we have.

Dacre: For me, this time for Japan for the first time in ten years. I have traveled all around the world on this tour, but wherever I am, it is the same as a human. Languages are different, the eyes and behaviors we see are unchanged. I think this is the symbol of this work. In other words, everyone in the world can sympathize with five people. It is a very universal work.

─ "Power Rangers" is based on the Japanese "Super Sentai" series, Japanese fans have been waiting for this work forever. There are many core fans who are looking forward to the details of the battle scene and suit in Japan, but do you have core information for such fans?

Dacre: Titan Battle (battle with huge character) by big creature like building like "Pacific Rim" is a Japanese looking thing. While following the original series, it is being updated in contemporary style. Compared to 23 years ago (the original version was broadcasted), the special effect has evolved dramatically. The special effects team did a terrible (**I think he meant terrific, but then again I could be wrong) job, I was surprised to see the completed version.

Naomi: I think this is certainly not much known information. Suits for shooting can actually be worn, but only the chest pad part is CG. This part seems to express the universe. Wearing it means that the universe is inherent in a person.

──What are your favorite scenes and hard scenes?

Naomi: This is a scene that jumps over a cliff and jumps over. The wire is attached to the back, but the wire itself does not enter my sight at all. So when you are running on a cliff, you feel like going against the instinct of a person who really jumps out of a cliff without adding anything. And while I am jumping, I will perform the movement to move my hands, but this is surprisingly difficult. Especially Dacre was struggling, and at the beginning, I did not have a bicycle scene of "E.T." (laugh).

Dacre: "E.T." Ne (haha). My favorite scenes are scenes where the characters reveal their past and open their minds. I have a lot of friends, but I have not experienced that.

In the scene which was the most challenging, there is a scene where I will be up in the scene of the stadium, but I also took 50 takes. It was very hard to shoot at 3 o'clock in the morning, but it was cut in this volume. Although there was chocolate that looks delicious on the catering site, I could not make it through too much taking (laugh).

─ Was there a lot of takes at the scene where the cow at the beginning appeared?

Dacre: There were plenty ... many. A cow gave them various things ... (laugh). Take, or what is it (laugh).

Naomi: I was having troubles with underwater scenes. It is also in the water all day, wearing leather jackets and heavy boots. Even though it is very hard, Dacre is familiar like a fish. How deep was it?

Dacre: It was about 40 feet deep. In terms of meters, about 12 meters?

Naomi: I was pretty scared. It was super tough, and it took quite a while. I have to forget my ears when I dive in the water, I forgot it once. It hurts very much ... It was painful then.

Dacre: It was about 40 feet deep. In terms of meters, about 12 meters?

Naomi: I was pretty scared. It was super tough, and it took quite a while. I have to forget my ears when I dive in the water, I forgot it once. It hurts very much ... It was painful then.

The most troublesome thing since then is there is a scene that carries a certain character, but in reality, it is shooting with a dummy. That dummy is so heavy. It should be getting underwater with four people, it's too heavy to sink slowly. It was a give up with the first take (laugh).

In the photography time before the interview, Dacre himself takes out the smartphone "Let's put music on!" And puts out favorite music and it is in a scenic atmosphere. Dacre and Naomi were really good friends, they looked deepened their bonds through "Power Rangers".

Movie "Power Ranger" is a national road show on July 15, 2017.

Click HERE to go to the original site.

[thewidowstanton]

Dangerous Steve, outdoor showman, comedy actor, Sideshow Illusions performer

Dangerous Steve is the stage name of Steve Collison, who was born in King’s Lynn but grew up near the Buckinghamshire village of Middle Claydon. He had the most extraordinary childhood and started living up to his name by doing dangerous things at a ridiculously young age. He was billed – by agents such as Bernard Woolley, TB Phillips and Temple’s Gala agency – as ‘the World’s Youngest Motorcycle Stunt Rider’. As well as touring internationally as Dangerous Steve, he has also worked with Magic Carpet Theatre – where he is company manager – for 30 years. And he regularly performs with Jon Marshall’s Sideshow Illusions and Dr Phantasma’s Amazing Ten in One Show.

Steve is married to fellow Sideshow Illusions performer Alexandra Collison, who was my first Widow interviewee, under her maiden name of Boanas. Alex, who is a trained soprano and has an MA in performance, often plays Yvette – the Headless Lady, Miss Elastina and No-Middle Myrtle, as well as Romana the Gypsy Queen on the Ladder of Swords. They have two children, Flossie and Winnie, who are almost destined to follow in their parents’ showbusiness footsteps. Steve chats to Liz Arratoon.

The Widow Stanton: When and how did you start stunt riding? Dangerous Steve: My dad, Peter, was the butler at Claydon House stately home in Buckinghamshire. At Christmas when I was five, Sharon, my sister, was getting lots of presents and I almost started getting a bit teary because I noticed I wasn’t getting as many. Then I was taken into the other room where there was a big present. Somewhere I’m on Cine film; there’s me unwrapping a motorbike, and apparently I just stood there shaking for ages, which was very funny. I started off just riding round the estate for a while but dad wasn’t very impressed with me just haring around on a motorbike, he wanted me to do tricks and stuff like that.

As a child, to be brought up at Claydon House… I was the only one on the estate as my sister went away to boarding school as a dancer. Sometimes I just wanted to kick a football around with my friends; on the other hand I did go around the estate thinking how lucky I was and how amazing the views over the lake were on summer evenings. We used to live in the courtyard. There was a swimming pool and stuff like that, which Sir Ralph and Lady Verney never really used, so I had my own little swimming pool. They were like my grandparents. I’d go round there on Christmas day and open presents with them.

I joined The Spirit of Britain junior motorcycle display team, which was run by a guy called Gus Scott, who used to train Eddie Kidd. I was with them from when I was five years old to seven. They were based in Luton and I toured around with them, but because I had so much space at home and they could only meet twice a week, I started practising all the tricks alone. My dad was thinking, ‘Well, he can now do all these tricks himself’, so he started taking me to do all the galas and carnivals around the country to perform on my own. Your dad sounds amazing. What sort of dad would give his kid a motorbike? Did he want to be in showbusiness himself? Yes, he did. He was very different. He managed to get an Equity card and had done some extra work and been in shows doing whatever he was asked to do. I think people are now quite interested in butlers and stately homes. My mum was very proud of me but would only watch me once I could do the tricks without falling off. I hurt myself but I never broke any bones with the motorbike. My dad was very good at starting off with quite basic things and was very strict on making sure I did things the right way. How much fun was all this for a kid? It was very exciting. I couldn’t sleep the week before a show. We’d go away in a big lorry and it was like a holiday, apart from I used to have to map-read. Some of these country fairs are in the middle of nowhere and one wrong turn, you could end up backing the lorry two miles down the road in the way of tractors… I soon got very good at map-reading because otherwise I’d get into so much trouble. I was doing tricks jumping over fire and through fire at seven or eight. Dad was very good at building props and made a tunnel of fire. Once we’d got the frame with all the fire straw in the middle of the park – we’d found a field without any sheep on it – I remember saying to him just before we lit it, ‘Dad, when we light the fire, what if I don’t want to do it?’, and he said: “You will do it. Now I’ve built it, you’ll do it.”

Once they were built, there was no going back and I’d practise and practise and practise. As I got older, people expected more from me, so the ability went up with my age; bigger jumps, bigger fire, pyrotechnics… because it was only me, whereas some of the bigger army display teams, like the White Helmets, would fill the stage. I had a load of publicity when I was awarded The Star newspaper Best in Britain award, presented by David Essex. I was sponsored by National, the petrol firm who used Smurfs to promote their brand. Sharon joined the act. Later she became a dancer and choreographer and now runs Claydons Academy, teaching dance and drama, but then she was a Smurf! Were you paid appearance fees? Yes. Once when I had a three-week tour in Scotland, the whole family came up there because it was in the summer holidays. We all stayed in a tent and it rained for most of the time. I can remember waking up one morning floating on an airbed. I didn’t realise until I put my foot outside the sleeping bag into a load of water that the whole family was floating! I’d get paid every week and we’d accumulated quite a bit of cash. The Leeds Building Society was doing deals at the gala that if you were a child you could open a bank account with £1 and you got a money box and a bag and stuff like that. Mum and dad decided the safest thing to do with the money was to go to open up an account. I was about eight. They were expecting me to give £1 and suddenly I had this wad of cash. They must have wondered where I’d got it from and just thought I’d stolen it or found it.

Did you ever go to school? I did. The school was very good and if ever there was a school fete or anything like that they’d always ask me to do my motorcycle stunt show. I was filmed on my motorbike for children’s TV with Anneka Rice, who once came to school. We had a mock school fete and she was lying down and I ended up jumping over her. What happened next? The motorbike act stopped when public liability insurance started getting really expensive. I was about 14. Then my dad and I toured the Crazy Brigade – a comedy fire brigade, very much Keystone Cops, very visual – round country shows and big galas. It was a comedy car act that drove on its own and fell apart, but it was more like a stunt comedy act. There was a lot of water! My dad built a human cannon and we thought, ‘Oh, we need an act for it’, especially when he’d taken a picture of it and sold it. We had ten shows booked in before we even had an act.

I used to worry; we had a prop, a comedy cannon, but no show. It blew up at the end and I went flying out of the end of it but not a great distance. I never got to the net on the other side of the arena. But we did it in the end and it was very successful. I knew Martin Burton of Zippos Circus from the galas and carnivals, rather than as a circus contact. When I was 15, in my last year at school, he kindly said I could do work experience on their theatre tour. Other people worked in the local bakery. I went to Wales and Carlisle and never went back to school.

What does Dangerous Steve actually do? It kind of depends where I’m booked to do it. If it’s in the middle of a town centre early on a Saturday morning with a few people walking past with shopping bags, the last thing they want to do is get stopped to watch a show by some nutter in the street. I try to make my show very entertaining and try to be likeable on stage. If it’s indoors and the audience is put there for me, it’s the same show but I have to work in a different way. I do ten things; I start on my motorcycle monowheel. It builds up a big crowd straightaway. I sit inside the wheel – the engine is inside it – and it’s a very difficult bike to balance and ride. I’ve spent the last three years learning how to do a new trick on it; a double loop the loop.

I then go on to my motorcycle sidecar, which I ride round, introduce myself, and then stand on top of the seat and juggle knives. Then I do some fire. With outdoor shows I try to make it really very appealing at the start to distract people from the funfair and the stalls by doing fire tricks and some big fireballs with fire whips and things like that…

Fire whips? Yes, they create a massive fireball. I go from there to the unsupported ladder, so I’m up high, talking to people telling them what they’re about to see, and if they don’t want to see it now’s the time to leave! I’m very proud of balancing on top of a ten-foot ladder. It’s scary, as I don’t like heights! Then I then do a giant rola-bola, so I’m on a tower, on top of a beer keg on its side and on top of a board, and then I go through a fire hoop. Then I juggle a chainsaw, and do my giant unicycle, which is bigger this year, a ten-foot unicycle, and then into a blindfold motorcycle stunt. I set two chainsaws going – possibly four this year – on a frame, and I ride round blindfolded and through the frame with a steel shield on my face and a hood over my head, which I get the audience to check. And, you know, hopefully I don’t cut my head off.

Has anything ever gone wrong? When I was learning, I broke my arm just before doing a show in a school hall. I thought, ‘That really hurt, I think I’ve damaged my arm’. In the first part of show I had to play the drums. Oh, my goodness, every time I hit the drums it was excruciating. 15 years later I finally learnt to do the trick I was trying when I broke my arm! I did a show in Scotland last year and before I went on, they announced that they were having a dog show and they’d put a big marquee in the corner of the arena, which made it quite narrow. I was driving my monowheel but I tipped over too far and the foot peg stuck into the ground and I went right over doing a somersault in the wheel, I flew out of it, got back on it, and carried on and the crowd loved it! [Laughs]

Then I got on my sidecar to juggle the knives and I went over a bump and one of the knives went into my face. I had blood running down my face. I looked at the organisers who were looking at me, like, ‘What have we booked, some cowboy?’, but actually, afterwards they loved it and they want me back. [Laughs] So it pays to hurt yourself sometimes.  

How did you learn all your other skills? Because I’ve been involved in so many shows over the years, I kind of picked up all these skills individually. It was a bit of watching others and trial and error. My show is very different to anyone else’s on the outdoor circuit. I don’t know anyone else who does some of the tricks, but I’ve seen someone else doing others and I’ve thought, ‘Oh, that would be perfect for my show’.

Do you have a natural ability to pick things up? Probably not. It’s practice, and a lot of the things I’ve learnt to do, I was a teenager. If you’re a teenager you don’t mind falling off so much. It doesn’t hurt so much. I must admit some of the time now, when I’m trying new stuff out, I do think, ‘Am I a bit old for this?’.

I believe there’s one motorbike stunt that I’ve done that you haven’t… [Laughs] Yes, yes. The Wall of Death! It’s a dream and an ambition one day to do it.

It was horrific but you would love it! I’m going to contact Jake Messham and try to arrange it. I should do it September because it’s always a little bit dangerous trying new tricks out just before you get really busy for the summer season.

And the Globe of Death, do you fancy that? I would love to try. I’d try anything really.

How do you divide your time? We’re trying to stay busy all year round and it is really busy. The summer is now crazy with Dangerous Steve, so every weekend and Bank Holiday and there seem to be a lot of agricultural shows in the week as well. Last August I went from Orkney to Guernsey, doing shows on the way down as well. Summer season now… outdoor shows seem to be really good, really healthy and a full season of shows, like the olden days, really. When that quietens off in September, we go into Magic Carpet theatre shows and December, we’re sold out in schools performing a theatre show.

How did you come to join Magic Carpet so young? After Zippos the school let me go off on more work experience with Jon Marshall, who I’d worked with in the galas and carnivals when he was The Man with the X-ray Eyes. Magic Carpet is his children’s theatre company that tours schools, art centres and theatres up and down the country and occasionally we get to go abroad. The shows are very visual, good fun and exciting. It’s a comedy play. We don’t have any big message; it’s just a great way to introduce children to live theatre. They laugh all the way through and if they haven’t seen much before, they come out absolutely buzzing. Jon is very good at making it exciting and understandable. It’s a bit of a rollercoaster with highs, but we also bring them down again. We know when the dangerous bits are coming up where the kids might shout out, but no one needs to be on edge as we’ve got them under control.

Do you feel you sort of owe your career to your dad, really? Yes, very much so, dad and Jon. All through my childhood I had so much respect for my dad and so much help, hours and hours of dragging me round the country, which I enjoyed. I enjoyed where I lived at the stately home, and also the travelling around at the same time. He would be working after I’d gone to bed out in the workshop, building props for me and I’d be practising with them after school the next day, probably falling off, breaking it, and he’d be back in the workshop again mending it and telling me not to fall off again.

Do you think your experience could happen to a child these days because of health and safety… It would be very difficult. Even now with Flossie, if she falls over, the first thing that goes through your mind when she goes to pre-school, they’re going to see a bruise and it’s going to have to go in a report and they ask how it happened. They also ask the child as well to see if the stories match, whereas when I was a child and did The Spirit of Britain, I remember we were doing some practising and I set off the wrong way round the arena, ending up colliding with another bike, fell off, the foot peg went into my foot, I ended up in hospital, and then a couple of days later it was all forgotten. I wouldn’t want Flossie to hurt herself and there are ways of learning tricks with protection, but I wouldn’t put her off doing what I did. I try not to be too pushy with her because I think slow and steady will win the race.

Not like yer dad then? [Laughs] [Laughs] To be honest she’s only four, a little bit younger than I was when I started. But she is very keen on running onstage at the end of the show and she likes to go in the blade box, with blades in it. I’ve got a motorbike and sidecar and last year in Poynton, near Manchester, she sat on the sidecar.

Did you ever imagine that this would be your life? No, but later on in school everyone was talking about what they were going to do as a career, and I did think, ‘What the hell am I going to do?’. Then I thought, ‘Well, actually, I quite like what I do now. At the age of 15 I’ve already got quite a few years’ experience behind me. I’ve learnt how to do things and how not to do things’. So it would have been a waste not to carry on, and I’m so glad I stuck at it. When you’re a teenager sometimes the grass is always greener on the other side. When I was getting towards 19, some of my mates were earning quite good money doing other things, and I was thinking, ‘Oh, should I change what I do?’, but obviously I’m so glad I didn’t. I love it more now than ever.

Dangerous Steve will be appearing at Kimpton in Hertfordshire on 4 May, 2019 at the start of his summer season. Check his website for details.

Picture credit: Ian Spooner

Steve’s website

Twitter: @DangerousSteve1 @sideshowmagic

Follow @TheWidowStanton on Twitter

[au-biebs]

Escort (REQUEST)

Justin needing an escort for his family 2 week cruise and y/n is contracted. At first they don’t like each other but then a series of events leads them together.

Tugging my suitcase off of the dock, I sighed as I spotted my client and his family. I had been assigned a two week job, hanging off of the arm of Justin Bieber to keep his parents from nagging him about a girlfriend. I would have normally complained about a job this long, except, this was basically a free vacation.

Smiling as I approached the party of five, Justin noticed my presence and walked towards me, “Let me get that for you.” He went to reach for my case but I stuck my hand out, “I got it.”

Muttering something under his breath, he placed his hand on the small of my back and led me to his family. “(Y/N), this is my dad, Jeremy and partner, Chelsey.” I smiled and done a slight wave. This was already awkward.

Remembering that there were kids, I turned to look at them, “And who are these cuties?”

“My siblings, Jazmyn, Jaxon and Allie.” He pointed to them all individually and they smiled at me. I could definitely see the Bieber in Jaxon.

When checking in was complete, I found out that Justin and I were sharing a cabin, great. Putting the card in the door, it lit up green before he pushed it open, revealing to us the plush room. Considering that this was a ship, the room was extremely spacious and the bed looked incredibly comfortable.

My thoughts were cut short by the sound of Justin’s voice, “Look, here’s your money. You don’t have to fuck me or whatever you escorts do, just make it look like you’re enjoying yourself, alright?” He tossed a cheque onto the bed.

My jaw dropped and I crossed my arms, “Excuse me?”

“You heard.”

“First off, that’s so rude. Second, escorts aren’t prostitutes; we “fuck” through mutual consent, that part is not what I’m paid for.”

“Just try not to piss me off on this vacation. I’m already stressed enough having to bring someone along, I’m going to the bar.”

The door slammed and I stood glued to my spot on the lavish carpet, stunned. How could somebody be so disgusting?

Deciding that Justin was not going to be the bane of my existence (though he was slowly becoming it), I undressed and slid on my bikini, slinging a t-shirt dress on over the top. Taking my spare key and sunglasses, I made a trip to Jeremy’s room, knocking on the door.

“(Y/N), hi. Where’s Justin?”

Fighting the urge to roll my eyes at his name, I smiled, “He went to the bar. I was wondering if the kids wanted to go to the pool? To give you guys time to unpack and whatnot.”

His face relaxed and he, too, smiled. “That’d be really nice, actually. Come in, I’ll get them ready.”

I stepped inside to see that the room was identical to ours, with bunks for the kids. I smiled at Chelsey and she returned it, so this wasn’t Justin’s mother? I decided not to pry, after all; I was just doing my job.

Walking along the deck with the children, they bombarded me with questions; I didn’t mind, they were cute. Jaxon cheekily asked if he could hold my hand and I knew this one was one to watch. Immediately, I knew that these fourteen days were going to be slightly easier because of them.

“Can you guys swim?” I asked. I didn’t need anybody dying on my watch.

“Yeah! We all got lessons!”

“That’s great! Be careful, though. I’m here if you need help.”

I smiled as they all jumped in one by one. Sitting down on the edge to get in, I spotted Justin watching me, jaw clenched, glass of rich brown liquid in his grasp. Breaking eye contact, I got into the water too.

_____________________________

The first few days were somewhat frustrating, but manageable. I’d successfully managed to ignore Justin, and only interacted when necessary; at dinners, for example. Sleeping beside him was awkward and almost unbearable, I could practically feel him edging closer to the side of the bed, on the verge of falling off, I contemplated sleeping in the tub several times.

But it was that Thursday I saw a side to him that I was yet to see, warmth. Jazmyn, or as I’d learned, Jazzy, came into our room, asking that I do her hair for Chelsey’s birthday meal. Whilst waiting for me to finish my own look, Justin played with her and I even heard a laugh or two from him.

I smiled as I watched through the mirror, though it broke as I saw him glance at me. Despite being able to hold my own, and bite back - Justin still made me nervous. Intimidated, almost.

“Jazzy, are you ready?” I asked, standing up from the dresser and flattening the skirt of my dress.

“You look nice.”

Turning to see him now stood, hands in his pockets, I smiled a little, “Thank you. You too.” He nodded and walked into the bathroom, my heart pounded.

Dinner was tolerable. I mainly found myself absorbed in the kids, it was the only time I didn’t feel under pressure. Jeremy and Chelsey were lovely people, but I couldn’t help but notice their questioning glances toward eachother at the interaction, or lack thereof, between Justin and I.

“So, (Y/N), will we be seeing you again after this vacation?”

I choked on my wine and Justin’s firm hand came to pat me lightly on the back, before he spoke for me, “Who knows. Our schedules are pretty hectic, right, (Y/N)?” I quickly nodded.

As we made our way to the room, Justin placed his hand on the small of my back, I avoided making any sort of eye contact, my evident surprise would be given away.

“You’re really good with my siblings. Do you have children?”

I glanced up at Justin and saw him removing his shirt, I looked away; “No. I wouldn’t have the job that I do if I did. They’re sweet and making this trip easier.”

There was silence for a moment and I was wondering if I’d said something to make the tension in the air ten times worse. Probably.

“Look, I’m sorry for my outburst, it was uncalled for. Perhaps we could, I dunno… start over?”

Unzipping my dress, I reached for my camisole and slid it over my head, “Sure. Apology accepted.”

He climbed into bed, “You know, they mean a lot to me. If you hadn’t have been as good to them as you are, I probably would have ignored you for the rest of the trip.”

My brows raised and I joined him, still keeping a fair distance between us, “Good to know.”

_____________________________

“And then his wife shows up, oh my gosh, you can imagine the look on his face. I just stood there, I didn’t know what to do,” Justin laughed as I told him a story about my previous client, “Here I am, in this Tom Ford dress, made especially for me at his request, in front of about a hundred people, with his wife threatening to tear it off of me and make me walk home in my underwear like the ‘whore I am’.”

His face dropped a little, “She said that to you?”

“You’ve gotta laugh at it, really. I was just doing my job. I mean, at the end of the day, who was $3,000 richer and could walk away from the situation without actually getting their ass kicked? Me.”

“I’m sorry for judging you,”

“It’s fine. It happens all the time.”

“(Y/N)! Come swim with us!”

I looked over at Justin, “Join us?”

It was nice to see a fun side to Justin, not a harsh, insulting one. Standing at the side for a moment to watch as Allie and Jazmyn performed their synchronised swimming routine, it was all fun and games until I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist, “Justin!” I screamed as he pulled us into the water, a large splash being created.

Coming up for air, he laughed at me and I pouted, “That was mean.”

“Aw come on, (Y/N), don’t be like that…” His arms re-slipped around my body and held me close, “I’m sorry,” He whined in a baby voice.

My heartbeat sky rocketed as he looked down at me, the close proximity making me want to be swallowed up by the non-existent current in the water. Our eyes met and for a split second, I watched as his eyes travelled to my lips before back up.

My breath hitched as Justin leant in. Everything felt like it was in slow motion and before I knew it, his lips were on mine. It took me a second to respond, but once I did, my arms wrapped around his neck and I pulled him closer.

“Get a room!”

Pulling away, my cheeks flushed red as I saw that it was Jeremy calling from the side of the pool. Justin chuckled and squeezed my hips, “Is there a possibility that I could see you again after this trip?”

I gulped, this trip was strictly professional. I’ve received this offer many times, from many men and each time I have refused since I wasn’t to mix business with pleasure, but with Justin, I found it hard to say no. This man was captivating, and I was intrigued to get to know the real him.

“It’s possible,” I smiled, pulling him back in for another kiss.

[vietnamtour-blog]

A young and enquiring mind takes to travel

A young and enquiring mind takes to travel

Were it not for the pandemic, my daughter Wolf and I would have spent the summer travelling to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Chongqing. But with borders closed, we came up with Plan B: visiting five national parks from Vietnam’s north to south: Cat Ba and Cuc Phuong in the north, Phong Nha and Bach Ma in the central region, and Nam Cat Tien in the south.

THROUGH A CHILD’S EYES: Ten-year-old Wolf loved Lan Ha Bay and the ‘secret valleys’ surrounded by limestone karst mountains. VNS Photo Thu Quynh

The return of COVID-19, however, also put a stop to that. But not before we had at least enjoyed the beauty of Cat Ba National Park.

Cat Ba National Park

Every summer we plan to go somewhere, so little Wolf can experience the life, culture, and people of different places and pick up the skills needed to live close to nature.

We embark upon a trip whenever possible, and Wolf’s first was when she was just a few months old.

Spanning more than 150 square kilometres, Cat Ba National Park is one of the best protected areas in the country in terms of biodiversity, with the tropical and sub-tropical ecologies common to Asia. It also has the karst geology typical to the region — a vast area of rainforest on limestone karst structures, with mangrove forests, large coral reefs, tidal zones, and salt water lakes.

The park has all that’s necessary to become a global geopark: beautiful pristine beaches, unique caves with stalactites and stalagmites, and a diverse biological gene pool. It’s a whole world for nature lovers to explore.

Tours and treks are available, and no entry tickets are required, despite what many people think.

But it is, however, a protected zone, for it contains protected flora and fauna, and you need a ticket to get in.

On Cat Ba Island you can walk from one ecological zone to another within a day. You can move from rainforests on limestone karsts to mangrove forests in mountains (at Ao Ếch). You can also walk from a mangrove forest by the seaside for a swim around coral reefs near the shore. You can then explore caves to search for the home of thousands of bats or take a walk through fields of crops grown in valleys by local farmers.

Such biodiversity makes Cat Ba National Park worth a visit any time of the year.

IDYLLIC SURROUNDINGS: The ‘butterfly valley’ is the best spot to explore nature. VNS Photo Thu Quynh

When little Wolf was six years old, I started to let her do a little web searching to choose where we would stay on our trips. She always looked for somewhere with distinctive features and attractions, and even decided where we would eat.

To avoid busy Cat Ba Town, we stayed in chill bungalows in a pine forest 15km away, which felt like another world.

Each bungalow is hidden under tall pine trees, with dried pine needle making a soft carpet for you to step on. In front of each is a hammock, where you can lie and look up at the sky through the foliage.

The back of our bungalow looked out over a small stream, where it was possible to bathe in the cool water. There was also a little trekking route, for those keen to stretch the legs but wary of the harsh sun.

TAKING CARE: Beware of whirlpools when kayaking around ‘Three Giant Peaches’ on Lan Ha Bay. VNS Photo Thu Quynh

Green island, white clouds

After some thought, we decided to get around Cat Ba by motorbike, which is the best way of doing so. Though we rode around under the scorching July sun, the sea breeze kept us cool.

Walking up Mt Ngu Lam turned out to be more challenging than we expected. It was only a kilometre and a half, but there were no steps. It was so steep we had to grab on to rocks to climb. It turned out to be too much for ten-year-old Wolf. The surface was slippery and more dangerous than she or even I could handle. Though she wanted to give it a try, I decided we should turn around.

We stopped at a café shortly after, where the owner told us we had made the right decision. Just a few days prior, a young girl older than Wolf had slipped and ended up in hospital. Needless to say, I felt quite lucky. I always want my child to take on a challenge, but only if it’s actually within her abilities.

Having missed out on the peak of Mt Ngu Lam, Wolf learned what she could about rare and precious wood trees like lát hoa (Chukrasia tabularis A.Juss), which provides a beautiful finish thanks to its wavy grain. She also learned about ironwood and menghundor, which are just some of the many valuable woods found in tropical jungles.

She had a fun time trying to poke at the bushes. Whenever she touched them, the leaves would slowly fold. When they opened up again, she made them fold again. She also came across a butterfly with quite strange colours.

For those of you who like a bit of a thrill, there’s a peculiar sight in the park — an abandoned house near the entrance. Park employees used to live there, but they had to move elsewhere out of respect for the protected zone.

Under a rotting roof, all doors and windows had long since been lost and the paint on the walls had faded. It had a vintage yet gloomy feeling, like a haunted house in a ghost story. It would have served well as a background for ghost-themed photos too, but those rotting tiles could literally come crashing down at any time.

Later that day we found ourselves lost in a “butterfly valley”. Located in Lien Minh Commune, the valley was exceptionally tranquil — a large flat expanse surrounded by tall karst mountains. Thousands of butterflies fly about around noon, creating a beautiful and appealing scene for a curious child like Wolf.

It’s also a popular spot for expats and foreign tourists keen on rock climbing. Wolf also got to see cattle drinking water for the first time, and enjoyed watching buffaloes take a cool bath. If you ever find yourself in Cat Ba, remember to spend a few hours or even an entire afternoon just hanging out in this wonderful valley. It has a distinct vibe and aura not found elsewhere.

Reaching it requires navigating a few steep slopes, which always gets the heart racing. But I’d taken on steeper slopes in the northwestern mountains, so these were quite manageable.

The path leading to the valley starts out in Cat Ba’s main street, stretching for 35km and connecting the town with Cat Hai. We fell in love with the beautiful landscapes we encountered along the way, and came to the conclusion that motorbike is by far the best way to take in everything the island has to offer.

Once in a while, we had a bonus — giant white clouds fluttering overhead like enormous cotton candy. It felt like heaven!

During our days on Cat Ba we had cloud parties, with white cloud dawns and pink cloud sunsets. We felt like rubbing our heads in these soft bundles of joy and wanted so much to somehow reel one in and keep it. It might seem silly, but we’re not ashamed to say it out loud!

Seas around Cat Ba and Lan Ha Bay

Cat Ba’s beaches are known for their spectacular white sands, crystal clear waters, and soft waves lapping ashore. But the island has so much more to offer than just lazing on the beach.

SERENE SPOT: The Cat Ba Ecolodge, where we stayed while exploring the national park. VNS Photo Thu Quynh

We decided to rent a small boat and set sail. The sky was a deep blue at some point, but quickly turned to grey and then became quite dark. The sea began to swell, but retained its beauty.

The waves were making it a rough ride for Wolf. She became tired and a little bit seasick. But the sight of Cai Beo Village — one of Vietnam’s oldest and largest fishing villages and still fit for purpose — lifted her spirits.

Boats have bobbed up and down in the waters here for, historians say, as long as 7,000 years. Their different colours make Cai Beo simply beautiful. As our boat approached, it felt as though we were heading towards a 3D image.

Wolf got to see lives different from her own, all happening on the limited space of a boat’s deck. Her jaw dropped at the sight of kids her age swimming like fish or rowing boats with such skill and ease. The kids jumped quickly from one boat to another, each of which seemed to have one or two dogs, who barked cheerfully when the visitors — Wolf and I — arrived.

After passing Cai Beo Village we were in Lan Ha Bay. The karst islands that dot the bay come in more shapes and sizes than you could possibly imagine and are a true wonder of the world. Nestled on some of the karst islands were small beaches that have remained untouched by tourism all these years.

It’s also heaven for rock climbers and those who like to dive into water from great heights. The most famous rock — known as the Leaning Tower — has a steady stream of people climbing up and then plunging into the sea. A group of bungalows nearby house the rock climbers and other adventurous types.

TRIED & TRUE: Cai Beo fishing village, one of the country’s oldest, where you can enjoy giant garupa. VNS Photo Le Thu Quynh

Some of the karst islands have “secret valleys”, which can only be accessed by passing through caves. When the tide is high, though, grottos can also become submerged, and our destination, Coca rocks, became out of reach. So we rowed into one of these secret valleys instead.

There you can keep rowing or stop and take a break. There was a tree high above in full bloom, its white flowers exuding a sweet fragrance. Wolf fell asleep after the rough boat trip, perhaps dreaming of new destinations to come.

I lay down, contemplating our surroundings. It was like being in a place with no connection at all to the “real world” we occupy every day of our lives.

(Source: VNS)

Le Thu Quynh* (Le Thu Quynh is known among the travel community in Vietnam as Kìn Còi, the influencer)

Source: https://blog.evivatour.com/a-young-and-enquiring-mind-takes-to-travel/