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hugheshischier4313 · 3 days ago

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YOU MISS HIM DON'T YOU | Q. HUGHES

𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 | Quinn Hughes x fem!reader

𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 | Emotional cheating (not on Quinn), angst, fluff, oblivious!reader and Quinn, soft!Quinn, neighbors-to-lovers, reader x OC (Andrew, reader's boyfriend), alcohol, flirting.

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 | Months into your friendship with Quinn the two of you finally admit to what's been there all along.

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Based on a scene in Season 3 of Desperate Housewives (No spoilers in the writing. Bolded words are quoted from the show): “Don't tell me nothing happened. We’ve been fighting over this all week. You miss him, don't you?”

𝗪/𝗖 | 6.8K

𝗔/𝗡 | hi lovelies, thank you for being patient with me for the full fic of this idea. The lines indicate time jumps, they jump back and forth to different scenarios of reader and Quinn through the time they have spent together. I absolutely love these two and this idea and I couldn't find a perfect ending. I rewrote multiple endings and ultimately decided to just make a part two when I finally figure it out. Hope you enjoy, love ya!

It had been a wonderful night, the wine glass in your hand still full, the bottle sitting on the coffee table. The random episode of Bob's Burgers in the background forgotten, adding nothing more than a soft glow to the room. As you sat there listening to Quinn talk about his summer back in Michigan, you found yourself examining him. The way his eyes roam the room as he speaks, the smiles before he lets out a laugh and the way his hands run through his hair occasionally.

"You should have visited, even for just a weekend. You would have thought this was way more entertaining if you were there." Quinn teased as he finished his story. You pushed down the feeling of guilt as you smiled back at him, poking a finger into his shoulder. "I wouldn't have let you live it down if I had been there. So it's probably for the best," You teased back, but the truth was you had wanted to visit Quinn over the off-season, but when the time came, life had another plan.

_________________________________

"You should come down for the week. The sunrise and sunset alone would make the trip worth it. Imagine spending your week off by the lake, a beautiful sky for you to take pictures of. I can send you a ticket, just say the word." As the smile crept onto your face, so did the slightest tinge of pink. You had been putting away groceries when your AirPods had read the message out loud. Quinn had a habit of making fun of your love for the sky. Always calling you out, shrieking, 'The sky is so pretty' like you had repeatedly done (in a terrible attempt to match your voice). You swear you could hear it through the text despite him being over 2,000 miles apart.

When Andrew's call came through, you found your phone and typed the text about sending it. "Y/N! I got it, I got the promotion!" His voice came booming out, and the excitement was evident in his voice. "Congratulations, Andrew!" you reciprocated his excitement. "And what better time than before you have a week off. I was thinking of going away for the week, maybe Banff? I'll rent us the cabin we had when we went last time." He kept ranting, too excited to keep anything in, but his voice was drowned out by the thought of Quinn.

"I have to go, but I'll send you the flight information later tonight. I can't wait to see you." Andrews's voice didn't falter, almost like he was on autopilot, just rambling what he knew to say. They exchanged their quick goodbyes before he hung up.

As if to taunt you, the next sound into your ear was' NEW MESSAGE FROM QUINN 'Or even just for the weekend if you have other plans for your week off.' As you looked back down at the phone and saw the unset message, 'A whole week of sunset pictures? Count me in Q'; the thought of deleting it weighed heavily on you.

The truth was you had truly missed Quinn this summer. You had moved to Vancouver for grad school in the fall, and as luck would have it, Quinn lived in the apartment next to you. In the past 10 months, you had known each other; the only time you hadn't seen each other was when he had away games. And even then, when he returned, he made it up to you by devoting time to be with you. He bought you a postcard from all the cities he played in, and you had them displayed on your fridge. He signed all of them after the few glasses of wine you shared after one of his longer roadies.

You had (in your tipsy state) jokingly told him to sign one so you could sell them if he ever decided to be a jerk to you. And as he did, you knew you could never sell them; they meant too much to you. He had made a joke about writing nonsense on them to lower the value if you tried. Over the off-season, you found yourself religiously turning them over to look at his little notes, his penmanship holding inside jokes that you held dear to your heart.

As you stood there staring at the postcards on your fridge, thinking of the brunette, you couldn't help but feel the guilt in your chest. The nagging thought that your friendship with Quinn may not be as platonic as the two of you acted.

Why were you standing there thinking of another man when you were just on the phone with your boyfriend? You hadn't and would never cheat on Andrew, but the world seemed to disappear when you were with Quinn. Time slipped by faster, and you longed to sit on a couch with him again.

And at that moment, it had become apparent that you no longer had a choice; you had to choose between the two men, Andrew or Quinn? But then again, it wasn't really a choice between the men; it was a choice between right and wrong.

'Sorry Quinn, I can't this week. Take lots of pictures for me. Can't wait to see them when you're back.' Send. It was vague, and you knew he could send them to you whenever, but you also knew that, at least for this week, he couldn't be your primary focus. You needed to focus on your partner and his accomplishments.

_________________________________

As you had sat in a surprisingly unpopulated section of the airport for a Friday night, you haphazardly skipped through Instagram stories until you were faced with Quinn's private story of him on the boat with his friends. You had no reason, or right, to be this upset, but as you looked at the sunset on the picture's horizon, you couldn't stop yourself from hitting the call button.

The phone barely rang once before you heard his voice, and you let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding. "Hey, I was j-" His voice was laced with exhaustion as if whatever physical activity he was doing was still fresh. And you found yourself more clam than you had been in days. Oh, how you had missed his voice.

"Are you upset with me?" The words were rushed and tumbled out before you could comprehend the repercussions. You knew that now was not the time to be having this discussion. You were sitting in the corner seats at the airport, waiting for your plane to begin boarding. But it had been two days since that last message you sent, and you had heard nothing from Quinn.

You had been a little hurt when you spent all of Thursday waiting for a response from the brunette. He had never taken more than a few hours to respond to you, which is why you had given him the benefit of the doubt that Wednesday night after you sent the last message. But now that you had spent the entirety of your workday contemplating writing a new message, you were upset, and the Insta story had only added fuel to the fire.

"No, of course not. Why?" His voice was genuine and calm, a nice contrast to the loud background on both sides of the phone. You figured he was still on the boat with his friends. "Oh, I just figured you were upset since I haven't heard from you." You felt stupid for calling and continuing to talk despite it being obvious he wasn't alone. "But I'll let you go; sorry for calling." you hit the red button before you had time to overthink. Your voice had become weak, and you hated that you were taking time away from him and the time he had to spend with his friends and family.

You had the overwhelming feeling to cry, but you didn't know if it was because of guilt for Andrew or Quinn or because any doubts you had that Quinn was mad at you had disappeared. NEW MESSAGE FROM QUINN: 'Give me 10 minutes, I'll call you back'. The message held an inevitable dominance over it; there was no question that it was a conversation that had to happen, and it had to happen now.

_________________________________

Quinn had known about your boyfriend from the very beginning. He had seen you together, bringing boxes to the apartment beside his, and noticed you immediately. He wished he could say it had all been innocent, but the first thing he saw was how your legs looked in the tennis skirt you had been wearing. You bent down to pick up a fallen pillow as he exited his car in the parking garage. His eyes lingered on you, and he forced himself to turn away before you noticed. He swore he would offer to help you before he met eyes with Andrew as he stepped out of the parking garage elevator.

"I didn't mean to; it just happened. You were bent over, in a skirt, right outside my car; it was hard to look away when I didn't expect you to be there." Quinn had a slight pink tone to his features right now, and you were smiling, trying to suppress a laugh. You stood in the kitchen, pouring the margaritas into your cups.

"You mean the skirt I'm wearing right now? Is that why you mentioned it? Quinn, you could have kept that secret forever. I mean, you couldn't waterboard that information out of me." You were always more giggly when drinking, which was contagious to Quinn. "But since you didn't, I'm gonna use this against you for the foreseeable future." The laugh left you when you got back to Quinn's couch. "I'll try not to make any sudden movements that may catch you off guard," you teased as you stood before him and handed him his drink.

"It's not funny; I've felt bad about this for months." he tried to be serious, but the smile never left his face. As you nodded with a smirk on your lip, you turned from him after he grabbed the glass, "Y/N, I'm serious." He wasn't; he could never stay upset with you, even in a joking manner.

"I guess I'll just go back to my apartment then; I don't want to bring back any of your past shame." your body once again turned towards him as you leaned down over to hug him, "Bye, Hughes, I'll make sure to only wear this when you're out of town." He let out a sarcastic 'ha.' "You don't have to leave; I can control myself. I promise." he rolled his eyes and slowly got up to stop you.

"I don't know; I think the only logical answer is to wear your Drew sweats." You had pivoted and ran to his room before he could reply. You had bugged him countless times to try them on over the past months; you had just wanted to see if they were worth the hype because the black sweats had been sold out forever (and maybe, subconsciously, because of your past love for Justin Bieber). And every time he said no, you took this as your opportunity to try them and bug him simultaneously.

Being in Quinn's room was familiar to you. You had spent most days at one of the two apartments, and sometimes that meant laying in his bed watching TV after he had just returned from a string of away games or after a challenging game or practice. You had worn his clothes before, too; it was always in a platonic way, the first time you had locked yourself out after being out on a run when it started raining. You lost your key on the run, and the concierge was gone for the night. You had also spent the night; he let you sleep in his bed and took the couch.

As you ran into the room, you closed the door behind you and walked into the closet, closing that door, too. You had found the sweats and slowly walked out of the closet. There was no sight of Quinn, and the bedroom door was still closed. You walked towards the door, sweats in your hand, as you called out to him, "Q? Are you -" But you were cut off as he tackled you onto the bed next to you.

The two of you lay on the bed laughing before turning to face each other. The laughter died down, and you were smiling and looking at each other. The two of you lay there for a while, not saying anything until you broke the silence, "Your eyes are a different color every time I see you, but today I can see every shade in them." You don't know why you needed to share your observation with him, but it felt right. "You cut your hair." He reached out to tuck a strand behind your ear and play with the end of another. His voice had been so him, soft yet dominant. It was true; you had gotten a slight trim the day before and a few longer layers at the bottom of your hair, a small and simple detail that could have been missed. In fact, he was the only person to notice; none of your classmates or even Andrew, although over Facetime, had noticed.

The room felt heavy as you looked from his hand in your hair to his eyes again, stopping to look at his lips for a second. And when you reached his gaze, it was unreadable. "I -" A phone began to ring as Quinn was about to speak. You could see a shift in his demeanour as you continued to look at him. He got up to find the cause of the sound. "It's your phone." He walked it over to you before heading out to the living room again. The phone illuminated ANDREW CALLING.

You looked towards the empty doorway as you brought the phone up to your ear. "Hey you," your playful voice sounded forced, and the smile on your lips was even more so. "Hey, I have a surprise for you. The notification said it was in the lobby." This shocked you, not only because it was a surprise but because Andrew was never one for small gestures. It was always something big like him ordering 4 dozen roses to your desk after your fourth date. But he had never just sent you or given you something randomly.

Andrew could be a sweet guy; you worked together before he asked you to have dinner with him. You knew you were moving and had no intention of starting anything serious before moving to Vancouver, but he had been so persistent, and it felt nice to have a distraction with all the craziness of moving. But living in different provinces has brought no comfort to either of you. It felt like pen pals most of the time. You would call him a few times a week and talk for an hour before he had to go. There had been a few times where you could have sworn you heard someone else there, but the times you mentioned it, it felt like the fight had been more trouble than the issue itself.

And maybe subconsciously, you felt like a hypocrite. Your relationship with Quinn was platonic, but the number of times you were confused as a couple in public could be seen another way. In fact, you hated to admit it, but it felt like you communicated more with Quinn when he was away than with your boyfriend.

"There's something for me in the lobby of my apartment complex? Andrew, what did you do? It's 7pm?" As you started talking, Quinn walked into view, bringing your drinks and extending to you. "It's a surprise; you should go get it now; I'm assuming it's just on the concierge desk based on the picture." You stared up at Quinn as you listened to Andrew, "Okay, I'll be down in a minute, and I'll call you back once I have it." The phone call was quickly over.

"What did you order?" Quinn asked with a smile, used to all the packages you've received. A few that had been too heavy for you to carry on your own that Quinn had taken himself. Even when they hadn't been too heavy, he would carry them for you if he was there. "I'm not sure, Andrew sent it to me." You could have sworn there was a look on his face that was gone as quickly as it appeared. "You want me to go with you in case you need help?" there was no hesitation in your quick reply of 'yes.'

As the two of you walked down the hall, you were overly aware of the distance between you. It was no different than it had been in the past, but there was a particular charge. The words shared and unshared in the bedroom hung heavy. "So I never got to even put the sweats on," you joked while waiting in front of the elevator. "You can borrow them when we get back up if you want," his answer made your breath hitch. He had never let you try them on, much less borrow them.

He looked at you, letting you walk into the elevator first. The ride down was quick and quiet, but how you looked at each other made everything race faster. Your heartbeat quickened as you saw his slight deviation towards your lips before making their way back up. "Quinn," your voice came out as a low plea; whether it was to continue or to stop was uncertain. He stepped closer to you as the two of you stood in silence for a brief moment before the doors opened. As you stepped out, your heart felt heavy.

As you made your way towards the front desk, you saw the back of a man at the desk, but when you heard the voice, it made you freeze. Andrew he was in your lobby waiting for you, Quinn failed to notice your pause and ran into you. However, before you could tip forward, Quinn had steadied you with a hand on your arm and waist. Andrew called out when he turned around.

"Andrew! What are you doing here?" You didn't miss the look he gave the sight of the two of you or how his gaze only lingered on Quinn's hand on your waist as he walked closer. You unhooked yourself from Quinn to hug Andrew. The hug was stiff; he held himself higher, and his head hadn't moved from the position it had been in before. You figured he was still looking at Quinn.

"I wanted to surprise you; we settled a case earlier than expected, so I took a few days off." You had pulled yourself to his side, a view of both him and Quinn. They kept looking towards each other, completely ignoring you. "Well, Andrew, this is my friend I always tell you about, Quinn. He introduced himself the day I moved in, remember? He lives next door to me." Andrew smiled down at you as you continued. "Quinn, you remember Andrew." Quinn looked from you to Andrew before extending his hand. "Good to see you again, man." Andrew hesitated before shaking his hand.

There was a quick silence before Quinn grabbed his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen, excusing himself, "I have to make a phone call; I'll see you around," but before he could walk off, you gave him a side hug goodbye. You had done it a thousand times before, and feeling like you couldn't because Andrew was there didn't feel like a good sign, so you did it anyway. "I'll text you," you quietly said as you let go.

The next few days had been uneventful, showing Andrew around Vancouver. The hallway had felt unusually empty each time you passed, hoping to run into Quinn. A string of away games was starting that Monday, and when you came back from dropping off Andrew at the airport on Sunday night, you noticed the bag sitting in front of your apartment door.

The black sweats were inside with a note, 'I'll pick them up when I'm back. Enjoy :). ~ Q" He never asked for them back

_________________________________

"Hey," his voice was clear despite the pixilated quality of his Facetime call. He was wearing a white T-shirt, his hair was wet, and he had a look on his face you had never seen. "Hey Q," your pulse felt overwhelming as if anyone who looked at you could see it throbbing against your neck. "Are you having a good time back home?" It was a buffer; you didn't know what Quinn wanted to say, and judging by the look on his face, you weren't sure you wanted to.

"Andrew called me." His voice was blunt, direct to the point, despite the few seconds he stared at you, hesitating to continue. "He asked if I was sleeping with you." His eyes held yours while the rest of his face had no expression. "What?" The nervous laughter that filled the air around you was nothing more than a way to suppress the hurt and anger of this new confession.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Quinn. I don't know why he's been so paranoid lately. It seems like he misinterprets everything I mention to him as something else." For the last two months, you had known that Andrew suspected your friendship with Quinn was something more. He had brought it up the last time he was in Vancouver and again over the phone a few weeks ago (although it had been in retaliation to the question you had asked him about the girl with him in a video his friend had posted on their story).

"Did he misinterpret it, or did he just see what is obvious that you and I can't admit?" The question was loaded with truths that weren't meant to come out. The look that the two of you shared through the screen had only confirmed it. In a split second, months of ignorance had led to a confession when the two of you were thousands of miles apart.

His breathing was heavy; you could hear it through the phone; he had a look on his face that closely resembled his look when his team lost in the Playoffs. It was the look you saw in the mirror this morning when you had not heard from him. It was the split-second look he had in the lobby the day Andrew surprised you.

Everything playing in your head; all the nights he would knock at your apartment after a game with a box of food, the way you would pack him an 'after-game snack' consisting of oranges, a granola bar and a fruit snack (which he teased you about until you mentioned it was like they did in little leagues), the way your breath hitches every time he gets shoved or falls.

All the times, the two of you had gone for a drive when life felt too heavy, and you shared secrets you had never told anyone before. The way he took off your makeup when you had gone out one night or how he knows your coffee order for every cafe you go to. Quinn and you had been in the in-between since you first hung out.

"I mean, how long are we going to pretend like nothing is happening?" His voice was calm and demanding, with a hint of subdued anger or annoyance you hadn't picked up. "Quinn, I -" You were at a loss for words; nothing could genuinely capture how Quinn had made you feel.

You knew you were safe with Quinn around, not only in a physical sense but emotionally. The way he made you feel heard and seen. The two of you were floating in two separate worlds, but the weight that engulfed you was the same. You understood the complication of pressure and leadership; you understood needing to be the most prominent presence in the room, even if you weren't the loudest. You understood the pressure of wanting, no needing, to be the best for everyone else even if it tore you apart.

It was all those things and more that drove you together, the ability to soothe the ache the buildup of burden had left sacred on the two of you. When you felt a crushing weight on you, the only thing that could alleviate it was being around the man who had quickly become your best friend. Immediately, he knew whether you needed to just sit and cry while he comforted you or go for a drive so you could yell out lyrics or if you needed him to just talk about mundane things.

And you do the same; you knew by the way he left the ice, by the way, he knocked on the door, by the way, he walked down the hallway toward your apartments. You knew when to go over to him so he could catch the recaps, and you knew when to invite him to yours to force him to ignore the criticism. You knew that even after a winning streak or after a goal, he needed comfort, understanding the overwhelming feeling of the slightest reprieve until the next game.

And the honest truth was that you had pushed back any romantic feelings because you knew without a doubt he was your person. You had never been one for friendship with men, and when your friends asked about what you could have in common with a professional hockey player, you never knew what to tell them. Because from every book, movie, series and scenario you knew, as cliche as it was, the only quote that could describe what the two of you shared was, 'Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.'

"Y/N, please." His voice was barely above a whisper, a plea to say anything. "It doesn't have to change anything. I just need to know; I didn't mean to hurt you; I tried to give you space. I've tried to respect your relationship." He had been ignoring you to avoid hurting your relationship, and in the process, the two of you were the only ones who were hurt. "Quinn." There was only one way you could describe it: "You consume me." Despite the tears that fell, you stared at him through the phone, wishing he was there with you, wishing your plane was going to Michigan.

"Now boarding flight-" The announcement couldn't have come at a worse time; there was so much to say, and an airport right before boarding was not ideal. "That's my flight." You wiped your tears as you stared at the man on the screen. "Y/N, I'm sorry for bringing this up now; it's not my best moment." he was trying to cheer you up; he wanted you to know that everything would be okay. "Quinn, I don't know what to do," your voice was a quiet plea to understand what was to come.

"Given everything that was said and that we're in two different countries right now, I think we should take some time to digest. I know you're spending time with him, and I don't want you to feel overwhelmed. I think we should take the next week or two." your heart was breaking, but your mind knew that was the best option. And for the first time since the beginning of the conversation, you thought of Andrew, and the slight tinge of annoyance arose again.

Quinn must have noticed because he was quick to interject his following comment with the most sincere look, "But before you go, I just need you to know that you consume me too." He had his signature half smile as he continued, "You are the most amazing woman I have ever met. I think about you constantly. I think about you when I look at the sky, when I'm practicing with my brothers, when I go out with friends and when I lie in bed. I watch for you in the crowd during warm-ups. You've become one of my favourite people so quickly, and I'm so glad of all the apartments in the city, or even just in the building; you moved into the one next to mine."

You smiled as the tears fell; if there had ever been any doubt, you now knew for sure that Quinn was your person. "I'll be forever grateful that the universe brought me to you too." And with a quick goodbye and promise to reach out in two weeks, you were in your seat on the plane.

Your mind racing with thoughts of Quinn and the revelations that had come to light and then again to Andrew. You didn't know why, but your annoyance was morphing into slight anger, the idea that he had called Quinn and accused him of sleeping with you. What annoyed you more was that he had done that and hadn't mentioned it to you. He hadn't mentioned the idea of your friendship with Quinn being something more since that one phone call a little over a month ago.

You sat with that feeling for the rest of the flight.

_________________________________

"Okay, fine, you are mad at me! But name one thing that I have done to deserve it!" Andrew was standing on the opposite side of the room. His breathing was heavy as he ran a hand through his hair. "You called Quinn." your voice was laced with a hint of sadness and betrayal. The statement was simple and direct but held a meaning that both of you knew would change everything.

The argument had started with something so small: the two of you walking on eggshells the past few days and your passive-aggressive comments when he mentioned anything related to Vancouver. Over the past few days, you had tried to get Andrew to admit to calling Quinn; he wasn't stupid; he had connected the dots and was simply choosing to ignore it (which infuriated you even more). The days dragged on; waking up and getting ready in silence, spending the day exploring, trying to avoid long conversations at all costs, getting ready for bed with few words and getting into bed facing away from each other.

Andrew's response had taken a second longer than it should have. His hesitation made it clear that he was surprised by the direct approach, almost as if he hadn't thought you would say anything. "You're damn right I did, I've seen the messages, the glances, the pictures. What was I supposed to do? Pretend that nothing was going on?" His voice was slightly louder as his eyes narrowed on you.

"Nothing was going on. He never touched me." you raised your voice, but the words weakened. Your hands were flailing around, trying to emphasize your point. The tears behind your eyes aching to be let free. It was too much, and you knew the implications of your words. This time, however, Andrew didn't hesitate to answer; his reply, even louder than before, came out the second you were done talking. "And I wasn't gonna sit around and wait until he did."

The two of you stood there staring at each other, chests heaving, eyes full of emotion. You sat on the counter stool beside you before looking away from Andrew and placing your head in your hands, elbows propped on the counter. You heard his footsteps getting closer, and soon, Andrew was pulling out the stool next to you.

You glanced at him from your peripheral view; he was staring at the kitchen in front of him, a look of contemplation on his face. "Do you have feelings for him, Y/N?" you diverted your eyes back to the counter. The question caught you off guard, "Hmm?" you could feel his eyes on you again, but you couldn't gain the strength to look up. "Do you have feelings for Quinn?" Each word was emphasized by the slight pause he took between them.

Although you couldn't meet his eyes, you mustered enough courage to look up from your hands towards the kitchen. "I would never cheat on you, you know that." you shook your head as you said it, knowing it wasn't the answer he sought. "That's not what I asked." you wanted to look at him, to tell him he was all you wanted, that there was nothing between you and Quinn, but that wasn't the truth, and all you could do was continue the slight head shake you had started.

Andrew didn't say anything for a bit, but you could hear the sound of his movement as he repositioned himself on the stool and leaned closer to you. "Did you fall for him?" His voice was softer and more quiet, slightly above a whisper. You tried to speak, but the tears beat you. As the tears left your eyes, you looked towards Andrew. His eyes were glued on the fridge, his expression hurt, and his eyes held a slight gloss. "Oh god," he was avoiding eye contact with you now.

You stared at him a moment longer, trying to calm down, "Nothing happened." your voice was shakier than it had been all night, and the tone held no conviction. He turned his head slightly, the two of you locking eyes. "Don't tell me nothing happened. We've been fighting over this all week." He turned away before he even finished his sentence. Your tears continued, "You miss him, don't you?" The look on his face had hardened, but his voice remained the same. He knew the answer; it had been evident every time he called you, and you were alone or when he would try to call, only to be met with a text saying you were on the phone but would call him back.

You kept your eyes on him; the guilt weighed heavy on you. The implication of every choice you had made since the first interaction with Quinn ran through your mind. You couldn't put your thoughts into words or rationalize your feelings. "I'm sorry." It wasn't even a valid answer, but it was all you could think of. Your emotions were running too high, and you needed a breather. He leaned back on the stool and let out a breath, but a few tears trickled down as he did. "Damn" His voice was barely audible; if you hadn't been looking at him or if the room hadn't been so quiet, you would have missed it.

_________________________________

It hadn't been your intention to end things with Andrew that way. Despite all the issues the two of you shared, you didn't want to hurt him. When you talked everything through the following morning you both knew the relationship had been over longer than either of you cared to admit. It had been as civil as a breakup could be, and the guilt that had once overwhelmed you started to blur.

As you looked out the plane window and saw Vancouver, you felt the missing pieces of you start to come together. It was strange how life finds a way to bring you exactly where you need to be. Accepting your graduate program at The University of British Columbia led you to a weekend of exploring and apartment hunting in Vancouver. You had found your apartment complex by accident; you had been lost looking for another building when your eyes landed on it. The large winders on every floor practically shoved you into the lobby, and when you applied, only one unit was available for your expected move-in date. It had been a long shot, and somehow you ended up winning.

You could recall the sound of a car pulling into the attached parking garage as you pulled a box out of your trunk, unintentionally knocking down a pillow in all the commotion. As you bent down to pick it up, you could hear the car door open and close before hearing a few footsteps. They stopped as you located your missing pillow; as you stood back up, you turned to find the stranger but found yourself searching for Andrew after hearing his voice. As you stood there waiting for him to grab another box, you looked towards the elevator and saw the stranger standing there. You couldn't see his face; he was just a blur of brunette hair and a gray outfit as the doors closed, and although you couldn't make out all his facial features, you could have sworn you saw him give you a smile before the doors closed completely. And before you even had a chance, Quinn captured your attention. And unbeknownst to you then, you had made a lasting impression on him, too.

As you stared at the city, music in your ears, in the back of the Uber home, you could see every moment you and Quin shared. Every mundane moment, from knocking on his door in the morning with breakfast bagels and coffee to drunk conversations in the back of a car after a night out celebrating to sitting in either of your living rooms watching a movie with your commentary. It was like watching a montage scene, and it felt freeing because, for the first time, there was the possibility for something more. The feeling of longing had been hidden underneath your guilt, coming hand in hand, and now both were gone, instead replaced with something positive.

"Miss, you have a package." The voice of your building's concierge brings you back to reality. It was a relatively wide rectangular box; you hadn't ordered anything that would come in a box of that size, which fueled your curiosity even more. "Thank you." You smiled and offered a kind goodbye before walking to the elevator.

Without hesitation, another image of Quinn flew into your mind as the elevator doors closed. The first time you spoke was in the elevator up to your floor. He smiled, encouraged you to enter the elevator first, and asked if you needed help with your box despite carrying his bag. However, after declining his offer, he made no other effort to continue the conversation. The two of you casually glanced at each other as the doors closed, waiting for the movement to begin, but when it didn't, you looked over to the right side of the door and laughed slightly. "What floor do you need?" he asked with a slight chuckle. "Sixteenth, please." You returned his chuckle and smiled. You watched as he clicked the sixteenth button but no other. "Are you on the same floor?" You could hear excitement in your voice, but you pushed it down. "Yeah, guess that means we're neighbour neighbours" Once again, that damn smile felt contagious; he felt contagious.

When you reached your floor, you found yourself walking faster than usual to reach your door. It had only been a week; somehow, everything was completely different yet utterly the same. You walked into the apartment and set the package down on the counter, needing to know what was inside. Opening the lid, you are met with the most beautiful arrangement of your favourite flowers. There were different shades of your favourite colour, layering beautifully on each other, but what caught your eyes was the distinct blue rose in the middle, an envelope sitting directly on top.

The envelope had your name written on it with the handwriting you had come to memorize. Inside was a postcard from Michigan, "Y/N, I can't get you out of my head. Only two more weeks left before I'm back in Van, and I can't wait to see you again. I found this while I was out, and it reminded me of you. -Q" You held the card close to you for a second; it had the faintest mix of florals and Quinn's cologne. You looked at the fridge before deciding to keep the note in your room. It felt intimate, something you wanted to keep between you. Something caught your eye when you took the flowers out of the box and into a vase. Inside the envelope was a small plastic bag; you reached for it and found a necklace.

A delicate chain with a small pendant with a sun and a moon, and when you turned it over, your breathing hitched; there was a small 43 engraved. When you read the note, you assumed the postcard was what he had seen, but it was the necklace. He had seen a necklace encompassing the sun and moon, something you were passionate about, and he had added something personal. The engraving must have been something he did; the probability that it had been done in manufacturing was slim to none, making it all the more special. You put it on and never wanted to take it off.

You grabbed the postcard off the counter and lifted it closer to your chest before taking a close-up picture from your lips to showcase the necklace and postcard, "I'm thinking about you too. To the longest two weeks that will ever exist. To the sun and the moon and back." And as you hit the send button, you couldn't help but think about what was yet to come.

_________________________________

#hockey fic #hockey imagines #hockey oneshot #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagine #nhl oneshot #nhl blurb #nhl fic #quinn hughes imagine #quinn hughes #quinn hughes blurb #quinn hughes fic #quinn hughes x reader #qh43 #quinn hughes x y/n

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prettyfastcars · 1 year ago

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Skin and bones | Lewis x Reader

Summary: Family vacation was over, and it was time for all of you to go back home. Your mom and Lewis’ dad would go around the world, travelling some more. Lewis would go back to his glamorous, fast life and you’d go back to your quiet life in Paris. So whatever had been going on between you and Lewis this whole time, it all ends. Right?

Themes: stepbrother!lewis, smut, possessive!lewis, fluff

a/n: read part 1, part 2, and part 3 here ;)

“What do you think you’re doing?”

You came back from gathering wood for the bonfire expecting to find everyone setting up tents – since Lewis had the brilliant idea of going camping in the middle of nowhere in this dense forest – but you found no one. Except a devilishly handsome ‘stepbrother’ setting up one single tent.

“Lewis,” You spoke again, dropping all the wood near where you were supposed to have the bonfire. “Where’s my mom? And your dad?”

“They went back to the cabin.” He answered like it was nothing at all as he finished setting up the tent, shaking it to check if it was sturdy enough. It was.

You frowned. “What? But we planned to camp out here, all of us. This was your idea.”

“Relax babygirl,” Lewis stood up and walked over to pick up the wood you’d dropped. “They probably wanted some alone time before we leave tomorrow morning.” He winked at you before walking away again.

You winced not wanting to think about it for more than a second, “Okay, gross.” You wrapped your arms around yourself. It was beginning to get cold, the sun had just set and the forest was getting dark really fast. “So it’s just you and I out here? They just left me here with you and decided to walk back to the cabin for no reason?” Something didn’t add up.

Lewis was kneeling on the ground, setting up the wood to make a decent sized fire. Then he looked up, smirking at you, “They trust big brother to keep you safe, little sis.”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes. That whole bondage episode happened just two nights ago. Lewis had been less of an ass since. But you could tell some plotting was happening in that head of his. So this morning at breakfast he announced that you all should probably camp in the forest tonight since it would be your last night here at the cabin. The parents agreed of course.

So the four of you hiked up here in the afternoon and began setting up. After a quick dinner, you realised you would all need a bonfire to keep warm through the night, so you volunteered to go find wood for it. When you got back just now, the parents were gone and Lewis was being a smartass again.

“You convinced them to go back, didn’t you?”

You figured that’s the only way they would’ve left you here with him. Lewis had a way of… persuading people easily. All he had to do was stare at you with those soft, warm brown eyes and give you that innocent smile and there’s nothing one wouldn’t do for him. You knew because you’d been a victim of those pretty eyes yourself.

He finally lit the fire, and it caught perfectly, gradually growing. Lewis smiled at you again, a mischievous spark in those eyes of his. “I just told your mom that maybe this cold, humid weather would be bad for her occasional joint pains. And dad decided they should probably head back and be warm in the cabin.” He added, “They didn’t want to take the risk, you see?”

“Right.” So the game you two had been playing was still on. You shook your head at him. “Okay, what do you want?”

“To talk.” He replied quickly, standing up.

Gods… he really was one of the most beautiful human beings huh? His braids were not tied into a ponytail today, they were loose and nearly reached his shoulders. And he looked so warm with all the layers he was wearing. Part of you wanted nothing more than to just snuggle up to him and let him wrap those big arms around you to keep you warm.

“Talk about what, Lewis?” You forced yourself to look away from him as he approached you, the fire growing behind him. You looked down at your muddy shoes instead. “There’s nothing left to talk about. Tomorrow morning we’re all leaving. You’re going back to… I don’t know where. And I’m going back to Paris, and we won’t see each other all year–,”

He stopped you by grabbing you by the chin and tilted your face up so you looked at him. “Really?” He questioned, staring deep into your eyes. He leaned closer, but not close enough. “That night a couple of days ago can’t be the last time I touched you. I want more.” He confessed, and almost kissed you again.

But you pulled away, crossing your arms over your chest like that would act as a barrier between the two of you. “We can’t keep doing this.”

“Why not?” He leaned closer again, pulling you into him by the waist. When you avoided his eyes, he grabbed you by the chin again, “Look at me.” He demanded. When you did, he said, “Are you sure you wanna be done with me?”

No.

You placed your hands flat on his chest. His warmth made you sigh in bliss. Then with a shaky voice you asked, “What’s the endgame here, Lewis? Whatever we do, it’s gonna hurt our parents.”

He scoffed in that arrogant way of his which you loved despite everything. “We’re grown ups. We can do whatever we–,”

You cut him off, “Yes we are grown ups and it’s still taboo and wrong to fuck your mom’s boyfriend’s son!” You whisper-yelled.

He argued still, “It’s different for us! We didn’t grow up together or anything. Hell, I met you only a couple of years ago. Our parents aren’t married, it’s different.”

You had nothing to argue back with so you shut up and pulled away from his warm embrace. “Lewis… I don’t know what to say to you. Maybe we should just go back to our lives and–,”

He cut you off again, this time pushing you against the nearby tree. His strong arms grabbed you by the hips, his chest pressing against yours. You felt hot. And it wasn’t because of the layers that you were wearing.

He got really close to your face, his soft lips just inches away from yours and said in a terribly bitter tone which sent shivers down your back, “Go back to our lives, huh? So you mean to tell me that these past few weeks mean nothing to you?” He questioned in an accusatory tone. “You mean you’re gonna go back and forget about all this? You’re gonna go back and let other people fuck you and pretend you’re not gonna be thinking about me each time they fail to make you come like I do?”

His words shouldn’t affect you but just imagining having sex with anyone else seemed… wrong. You stared into his pretty eyes and your emotions were all over the place. You were sad, angry, you hated him, you craved him, you wanted him gone, you didn’t want to let him go.

“So what?” You asked, sarcastically. “What do you think is gonna happen here? We’re gonna do a risky, long distance thing? We’re gonna keep meeting behind our parents’ backs? We’ll lie to everyone? I’ll fly out to come see you race whenever I can and you’re gonna fly home to me during your breaks? And we’ll be happy together until we grow sick of sneaking around and come clean and tell everyone to just deal with it!?”

Lewis opened his mouth to argue, but then he closed it again. You did the same thing. Twice. You two just stared at each other because whatever you just spit out in a fit… it didn’t sound so bad, did it? Well, except for lying to the parents part.

He didn’t know what to say so he just said, “Get inside.” He pointed at the only tent that was set up.

You didn’t argue even though you saw what was coming. It physically hurt to walk away from him and to even think about all the miles that would be between you two come tomorrow.

You began overthinking everything as you took your muddy shoes off and got in the tent. It was more spacious than you thought inside. You saw the double sleeping bag and a familiar shiver danced down your spine.

You peeled off some layers and immediately got into the sleeping bag. And your mind began racing again as you forced your eyes shut. Say you and Lewis keep this madness up, what would happen when your parents would find out? Family dinners would get real awkward, that’s for sure.

But then, given who Lewis was, what would happen when the world finds out about you? Your parents’ relationship was well hidden from the media. But Lewis always had eyes on him. Now that you thought about it, maybe that’s why he wanted to come here in the middle of nowhere and not vacation in a tourist-y place. There were no cameras here.

–

You opened your eyes and found that you were snuggling next to something warm. You saw tattooed arms wrapped around you and you tried to hide the smile that formed on your face.

“How long was I asleep for?” You asked, placing a hand on his chest. You felt his strong heartbeats beneath your palm and smiled again, sadly this time. Fuck, you were gonna miss him.

“Just an hour or two. I guess you worried yourself to sleep.” He teased. “It’s okay though, it’s only around midnight right now so we have time to talk about everything.”

You sighed, pulling away to get a better look at him. He turned on his side, arms pulling you closer. You shoved your face into the crook of his warm neck and groaned loudly, “I hate you.”

He chuckled softly. “Oh do you?”

His hands slipped under your thin sweater and t-shirt, stroking your skin. He drew lazy circles at your lower back and side. You couldn’t think about anything. His warm, slightly rough fingers against your skin was the only thing that made sense. It was beginning to drizzle outside, you could hear the random droplets hit the tent.

Then you blurted out, “I don’t want to fight with you. But I don’t see how we can be together.”

Lewis was quiet for a while. You let your head rest against his shoulder, your fingers tracing the visible tattoos all over his hands. Then Lewis asked, “Do you truly want me out of your life?”

“No.” You answered with a sleepy voice.

“Then stop fighting this.” He stated, his hands wandering a little more, now sliding up to cup you through your thin bra. “Stop fighting me.”

You sighed, letting him touch you wherever he wanted. If this was the last time, you wanted to cherish each moment. “I don’t want to. But–,”

He cut you off with a kiss. Soft, sweet, his lips brushing against yours slowly. Like he was tasting you for the first time. “That little head of yours thinks too much,” He murmured, moving so he now hovered above you. You wrapped your arms around his neck, as you looked up at him. “Let me worry about everything. Just, stop fighting this.” He said before leaning down for another heated kiss.

You moaned and whimpered into the kiss. You needed him badly. “Okay,” You whispered against his soft mouth.

His hand touched you wherever he could, lingering at your breasts and taking his sweet time, caressing and kissing your skin. His other hand slipped past your leggings and cupped you between your legs firmly. You moaned and gasped into the kiss as his fingers teased your clit.

“Lewis, please,” You begged, desperately grinding against his hand. “I need you, please.” You whispered against his mouth.

Lewis chuckled. “Still wanna go back and pretend we never happened?” He teased. “Hmm? Think you’ll ever be able to look in the mirror and not think about how I kiss you?” He kissed down your neck, “How good my fingers feel inside you?” He slid two fingers inside you then, stroking you perfectly, just how you liked it and he had you whining and squirming under him in no time. “Answer me, little sis?”

“Fuck,” You whimpered, “You know I could never forget you.”

He smirked through the kiss, happy with what you said. Then he quickly lowered your leggings while you helped him by lowering his sweatpants, and he easily slid inside you without breaking the kiss.

You wrapped your legs around his waist as best you could. Your clothes and the sleeping bag got in the way but the two of you were too needy to care or stop.

Lewis moved in and out of you, slowly at first, then sped up once he found the right pace and angle. Your back arched off the surface each time filled you up completely, mercilessly thrusting into you hard and fast.

At some point he grabbed both your hands, laced your fingers together with his and pinned your interlaced hands down above your head. He finally pulled away from the messy kiss and stared into your eyes, lips parted and breathing heavily as he fucked you. He rolled his hips against you so well that you began tearing up.

You were gasping for breath, struggling to keep up and not come too quickly because you didn’t want this to stop. You never wanted him to stop.

“You can’t get rid of me, babygirl,” He mumbled breathlessly as he pushed deeper into you. “You can’t forget me,” He fucked you harder, as if proving his point. “You’ll always feel me,” He kissed your open mouth, shoved his tongue past your lips while he rammed in and out of you, “All over your skin, and in your fucking bones,” He growled, and your legs trembled around his waist, but he still thrust deeper into you, fucking you like there was no tomorrow.

You cried out in pleasure, your back arching as you felt a familiar warmth washing over you. Lewis growled and bit down on your shoulder while he fucked you relentlessly. You were sure that his bite left a mark but you didn’t care.

“Lewis,” You gasped, “I need to come, please… please,” You begged.

“Not yet, babygirl,” He whispered, kissing your cheek softly as if it made up for the way he pounded into you like you were a doll. “Don’t you dare fucking come yet.” His hand found its way to your front and he pressed his palm against your lower abdomen. “You feel me in here?” He asked, feeling his cock thrust deep inside you. “You think you’ll forget this anytime soon? Hmm?” His hand travelled all the way to your neck and he gently squeezed the side of your throat. He squeezed hard enough to make you lose your mind while he kept pounding into you incessantly.

“No…” You whispered against his lips. With a few more strokes, you felt his thrust becoming irregular, and felt his cock throb against your walls. You tightened around him, feeling the burning hot need to come. “Lewis, please I can’t–”

You came with a loud cry, unable to hold back.

Lewis came right after you, buried deep within you – growling under his breath. He remained on top of you, lowering some of his body weight onto you. You welcomed it, it felt nice. He was warm and you were a whimpering mess.

“Shh, it’s okay baby, it’s okay,” He whispered, kissing your face as he slowly pulled out and collapsed next to you in the sleeping bag. You were shaking just a little as he tucked your head under his chin and ran his soothing hand down your back. You placed your head on his bare chest, listening to his heartbeats again.

After a while of cuddling as you both caught your breaths, you said, “We have to leave in a few hours. We should get back to the cabin soon.”

He wrapped his arms around you, as if he��d never let go. He kissed the top of your head and said, “Stop thinking for a moment. Just be here with me, baby. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it.” He spoke so confidently, like he always did. “I’ve got you.”

You smiled and kissed the compass tattoo on his chest before placing your head on it. You didn’t want to worry anymore. Whatever happened, you two would deal with it.

#lewis hamilton #lewis hamilton x reader #lewis hamilton au #lewis hamilton smut #f1 #f1 fanfic #f1 imagine #stepbrother!lewis

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puckinghischier · 4 months ago

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i come to you with a blurb thats been in my head because i desperately need it rn 😭

like,,, idk if its been said before BUT imagine nico helping you study!! youre taking your master's or maybe you're finishing up a long degree! regardless, he's ready to help you with your flashcards and notes and books and he gives you a lil smooch and a chocolate when you get one right! but he's very serious about it being just one kiss!! you have to study after all!! but.....maybeeee....sometimes...he'll add in another and another and another just because you look so cute when youre focused <3 and when he feels you getting tired or burnt out after it all, he obviously gives the best cuddles!

“baby, just one more question, and then you get 10 minutes of couch cuddles until we start the next unit,” nico would encourage you, knowing how frustrated and tired you’re becoming.

“nico i don’t want to do anymore tonight, we’ve been at it for three hours already. can’t we just called it quits after this last question?” you’d whine, ready to just drop out altogether, tired of spending every free moment you have doing homework.

he knows he shouldn’t have caved earlier, letting himself get too carried away when he decided to give you three kisses instead of one when you managed to get ten questions right in a row. the result was a thirty minute make out session that neither of you wanted to cut short, but he fought tooth and nail to get you back on track.

he mulls the thought over, knowing you’re getting antsy and ready to pack everything up for the night, but also knowing how much you’ve been stressing over this test and wanting to help you go into it as confident as you can.

“give me five more questions and we’ll call it a night, deal?” he tries to compromise with you, knowing you’ll complain all day tomorrow if you quit right now.

you roll your eyes and groan at him, throwing a silent fit with the look on your face.

“okay, five more questions then we put everything away and i’ll lay with you on the couch and rub your back while we watch dancing with the stars reruns,” he offers, using your current fixation show against you.

you perk up at the offer, always having to beg and plead for him to even watch one episode with you because ‘why would i want to watch a bunch of washed up celebrities do ballroom dances poorly?’

“deal,” you decide to agree to his terms, readying yourself for a night of cuddles and ripped men with no shirts on.

chuckling, nico picks your flash cards back up and goes through the next five questions with you, smiling proudly when you get all five right.

“eeek! okay, now hurry up and help me clean the couch off, we have a rumba to watch!!” you’d cheer, excited to finally relax with your study buddy.

once the materials are all out of sight and you’re pressed against nico on the couch, you find yourself drifting off to sleep sooner than you wanted, your brain tired after all of thinking you made it do.

“what if i wake up tomorrow and forget everything we just went over,” you mumble into nico’s chest, feeling the rumbles of laughter that erupt at your question.

“baby, i don’t think you’re gonna forget everything. you’ll remember why bruno only gave derek and his partner an 8 instead of a 10,” he jokes, upset that he’s actually managed to get partially invested in this show.

“maybe if they converted the material into judges speeches delivered by bruno tonioli, then i wouldn’t even have to study. the initial delivery would be enough to stick in my brain for forever,” you groggily replied, nuzzling your head further into nico’s chest.

he shook his head and rolled his eyes at you, even though you couldn’t see him because yours were already closed. he knows you’re the smartest person he’s ever met, and you’ll do fine on this test and all of the future ones you have to take.

but he won’t ever let you forget that he helped, claiming he should get his own form of rewards for doing half of the work with you.

#alliyaps #i don’t like how i ended this #or really any of it at all #bc i fear my own studying fried my brain tonight #but i resonated with this ask deeply #so here it is #hockey #nhl #nico hischier #new jersey devils #nico hischer x reader #nico hischier fluff #nico hischier x you #nico hischier blurb #nico hischier imagine #nico hischier x y/n #nico hischier x reader #nico hischier fanfic #nico hischier one shot

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midnight1nk · 4 months ago

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EPISODE CONCEPT #4

What if... SMG3 had the courage to confess his feelings for the real SMG4?

[more below cut]

For context, this is part two of my Episode Concept #3 [link], which many have asked for! @starcrossed-prince this is for you! (this is somehow longer than #3, holy shit.) Now, without further ado…

I promise.

He could never forget the feeling of tangible pixels leaving his arms. What once skin and clothes turned into mere 0’s and 1’s.

Those eyes, the ones he was willing to sink in its depths for hours, they cried. Of apology, of bittersweet farewell. He promised a lot of things, and one was to never let Four cry.

But it was never your Four.

At the time, a thousand thoughts passed through his mind. That this was simply a nightmare, or he had gotten too drunk. Or he ate a Wonder Flower by accident. Somehow, some way, this can’t be happening. He wanted to deny it all, but he knew. Why deny the truth when he fading away in your arms?

Goodbye, Three…

“SMG3?”

Three jumped at the mention of his name, turning to Tari who looked back at him with concern.

Tari: “Oh, sorry. Just wanted to know if you’re okay. You’ve been staring at Lil’ Spot for a while.”

He blinked at her, and then looked down at the gray-feathered duckling nestle in his cupped hands. Ah, yeah, he was.

SMG3: “I was just daydreaming, that’s all.” [*looks around, recalling where he was*] “It really is a nice place. It’s not far from the Showgrounds, right?” Tari, smiles: “Yep, I always like to come down here, it helps me clear my head. Plus, I get to hang around with the duckies!” SMG3: [*nods and with a finger, he soothes the duckling’s head*] “You were right before, I could use the fresh air.” “Eh, Tari, a little help here?”

Three looked across the way to see a couple of yellow ducklings climbing all over SMG4, who was standing by the edge of the lake. All over on his arms, his shoulders, under his blue cap. As Tari ran over to help, Four trying to not let any of them fall while giggling, tickled by their fluffy feathers.

Three began to smile, and perhaps he could let his heart feel that missing warmth.

Have courage.

But the cautious part of him didn't let him. He should've known better, he apologized to his heart.

Not yet.

Four and Tari came back with the tamed ducklings lined up in their arms.

SMG4: “If I spent a little more time with these little guys, they're gonna think I’m their mom.” SMG3, hums: “You always did have a thing for being the center of the universe.” SMG4: “Hey, it's not like I do it on purpose.”

And yet, you managed to become mine. But Three kept that thought to himself.

Tari: “It's getting late, and I told Meggy I was making dinner tonight. I should probably get them back to their mother.” SMG4, handing the ducklings from his arms to hers: “Yeah, we should head home, SMG3.”

Three said goodbye to Lil' Spot before handing the duckling to Tari, who promptly went to drop them off and returned. While Four was distracted, folding up the picnic blanket, Three leaned towards Tari while keeping an eye on Four.

SMG3, whispered: “Tari, could you please do a simulation check?”

Tari looked at him, her concern reflecting once again. He has asked that everyday. Any chance he was with her, it was the same. The first few times, she tried assuring him, telling him, “It's okay, SMG3. There's no need, you’re safe now.”

But it never seemed to calm his nerves. As much as she wanted to protest, she knew that it wasn't an unreasonable exaggeration. Whatever the simulation did to him must've been really horrible for him not to tell anyone what happened. To think he was back.

Tari nodded and programmed a command on the floating screen projecting by her arm. A window popped up saying, No detection of simulation.

Tari: “All clear.” SMG3, letting out a sigh of relief: “Thanks. I owe you one.” Tari, letting out a small smile: “No worries, we’re your friends after all. Though, I wouldn't mind having one of your cookies again once you’re healed.” SMG3: [*chuckle*] “That I can do.” SMG4, swinging the backpack over his shoulder: “Alright, ready to go?”

SMG3 nods. After saying goodbye to Tari, SMG4 pushed SMG3’s wheelchair on the path towards the Showgrounds.

It’s been over a month since Three was freed from the simulation. The Crew wasted no time bringing him to the hospital. The rest, well, it seemed like a blur. To Three at least. The doctors and nurses, what they said, he never caught it. He was lucky that his friends were there to remember for him. Three wasn’t exactly sure what to feel. Should he grieve? Should he be grateful that the Crew found him and his son?

What he did know was the promise that he kept.

The Crew was naturally relieved to see he was in good hands, but anyone could tell that they were exhausted from the stress of the search. So, while Three was going through recovery, they took turns watching over him. The rest, who didn't have the shift, took the chance to rest.

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

One night, Tari and Saiko were walking down the quiet hospital hall, Saiko holding a gift bag and Tari a duffle bag with colorful patches all over it.

Tari: “Do you think SMG3 will like the card?” Saiko: “He’s a big softie on the inside, of course he will. Let's just hope we can pry SMG4 away from him.” Tari: “You can't exactly blame SMG4. I mean, don't you remember? He didn't sleep for days, or even eat. He was worried sick.” Saiko: “But he needs rest too, not just us. SMG3 is rescued, he should let us take care of it, if he wasn't so stubborn.” Tari: “Well, that nurse did say SMG3 would be better soon. Maybe we convince SMG4 this time.”

They reached to Three's room, but they found an unexpected sight when they opened the door:

Four fell asleep on the chair beside the bed, his head resting on Three’s lap like a pillow. A sleeping Three had a hand gently on Four’s hair with all the tenderness and quiet reassurance in the world. What was free, their hands were intertwined. It was certainly a rare sight, and they seemed so at peace with each other.

Tari and Saiko shared a glance, a gentle smile.

Tari: “Aw, that's so cute.” [*snaps a picture for the group chat*] Saiko: “C’mon, let’s them be.”

Saiko tiptoed into the room and left the gift bag on the nearby table. Peering at them one last time, she gently closes the door. They could always come back tomorrow.

There, what awaited in the gift bag, were reminders of home. A bomb from his cafe, a mini-plush of Eggdog, a record of jazz music. A homemade card, one side filled with heartwarming messages and the other a drawing of all the Crew with the Castle in the background, one of the best works Melony has ever done.

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

SMG4: “I bet I can drink a thousand cans of Monster Energy.” SMG3: “Nah uh! You’re lucky I can’t drink that stuff yet because I would’ve totally beaten you!” SMG4: “Oh, really? Well, I can’t wait to see you try.”

The two laughed as they reached the Castle. Eggdog greeted them at the door, happy to see his dads (And yes, I know what I said, shh) after Three's physical therapy session and jumped into his dad’s arms for a quick hug. Beeg4 slowly followed his brother, only letting out a pufferfish noise as a small “hello”. He isn’t usually the affectionate type. Four went to get Three’s customized cane leaned against the wall, and helped Three get to his feet. (The cane was a gift from the Crew but Bob was the one who added neat little secrets for Three to use. Though, Bob wants it to be off the record that it isn’t because he’s gone soft or anything.)

Ever since Four proposed the idea for Three to stay at the Castle, this has become second nature for them. They switched out the wheelchair with the cane at home so Three would be more comfortable walking around. Plus, he would usually hold Four’s arm to lean on. After his physical therapy appointments, Four would cook up dinner for the whole family. Or see if there’s any leftovers or takeout on special occasions. Three recently got the approval to eat solid food again, and Three couldn't be more glad. He was honestly getting sick of the same old soups day after day. Well, even if they tasted good. And they all sit at their usual seats at the table, not that they assigned seats or anything. It felt natural.

And today was pizza night.

SMG3: “Y’know…” SMG4, setting the pizza down: “No.” SMG3: “Oh, c’mon. You haven’t even tried it, you big baby.” SMG4: “And I already know that your ‘Ultimate Pizza’ is a disgrace to culinary art. To your tastebuds. Who the hell puts baked beans on pizza?” SMG3: “Well, Eggdog likes it.” Eggdog, helping set the plates: [*happy bark*] SMG4: “Oh, so now you’re bringing the kids into this? C’mon, Beeg, help me out here.” [Beeg doesn’t respond] [*acts dramatically, like someone stabbed him in the heart*] “I’ve been betrayed. Pleh.” SMG3, shakes head amusingly: “Shut up and eat, idiot.” SMG4: “Yeah, well, you’re stuck with me.” [*taunting*] “Forever.” SMG3: “Oh no, whatever should I… do.”

He… said this before, hasn’t he?

SMG4, mouth full of pizza: “Uh, SMG3, you’re good?” SMG3: “Yeah yeah, I’m fine.” [*eats his slice somberly, looking away*]

Four kept his gaze on Three. He wanted Three to tell him what was in his mind. He wanted to reach out and hold his hand. Comfort him. They have been there for each other at the worst of times. At each other’s worst.

There were two things they shared with absolute certainty: (1) they’re both stubborn, and (2) they would put up a brave face for the people around them.

Four did, when he discovered Three and Eggdog missing from the cafe. He would put on a determined smile, telling the rest of the Crew that they would rescue Three. But he supposed they could see right through him. That he was crumbling. Three was the one who saved him when he went insane and was possessed by the demonic keyboard. How could he not be frustrated at the fact that he couldn’t do the same?

Biting into his pepperoni slice, Four thought to himself, if only there was a way to take away all the pain Three was feeling right now. If only Three would let go of the front he has and let him show his pain in front of Four. To let Four be his safe space.

There isn’t much he can do, other than to let Three come to him on his own terms. When he is ready.

After finishing up dinner and washing the dishes, they all went to Four’s room. Eggdog and Begg decided to play Jenga, Three sat on the bed scrolling through his phone, and Four went back to editing videos since there was a lot of catching up to do. The record player was playing jazz music, the LP cover was signed “To SMG3”. Three bobbed his head while Four hummed the notes, admittedly it was a great disc that they could both enjoy. After a while, Three reminded Four to take a break from the screen, to which Four immediately complied and sat next to Three.

SMG4: “How’s your legs?”

SMG3: “Tired. But not as bad as last time. Could you pass the pills?”

SMG4, grabbing the bottle and handing it to Three: “Well, you are getting better in today's therapy session. Just wait a bit more.”

When SMG3 grabbed his medication, they briefly touched. It normally wouldn’t mean anything, but there was a tingle. Of curiosity, of warmth. The two lightly blushed, which they quickly brushed it off. They sat in silence as Three swallowed the pills.

SMG3: [*held his jaw by the hand*] “Do you know what I miss the most?” [*looks at Four, who nods as a sign for him to go on*] “Dancing.”

Three didn’t lie, it was one of the things he loved to do. That, and one other reason...

After some thought, Four stood up from the bed. Three didn’t even notice until Four stood before him. Four cleared his throat, a tint of pink on his cheeks, and held out his hand.

SMG4: “Wanna dance?” SMG3: [*puzzled, looking at the hand to Four and back*] “SMG4, I think we should get you some glasses.” SMG4: [*amusingly rolling his eyes*] “’It doesn’t have to be perfect.’ Isn’t that what you always told me?” SMG3: [*starstruck at the remembrance of this memory, lightly chuckled*] “And you dare to use my own words against me.”

Four helped Three up to his feet, his arms being his only support instead of the cane or wheelchair. At first, it was naturally awkward, being that Three is still recovering. Their dancing, if you would even call it that, was more of them shuffling their feet around the floor. They didn’t care.

Fly me to the moon Let me play among the stars

Slowly, they melted in each other’s embrace. Oh, how easily it was to be lost in the other’s eyes, pools of ruby and sapphire. Secretly, they wished they could be like this forever.

Let me see what spring is like On Jupiter and Mars

In the back of Three’s mind, alarm bells were ringing loudly. It isn’t real. He just wants to be friends. Somehow, Three ignored it all the moment Four gave him a smile.

In other words, hold my hand In other words, darling, kiss me

What Three didn’t know, Four was lost in his own mind. The romanticist that he is, he’s freaking out in the inside like a high school girl. It felt like a scene in the romcom movies he watches. But it was real. Three taught him how to give second chances. Perhaps there was a chance now.

Fill my heart with song Let me sing forevermore

Three ran his fingers on Four’s sleeve. It’s real. He’s real.

You are all I long for All I worship and adore

His shooting star, his sweet prince.

In other words, please be true

His hope.

In other words, I love you

As the song ends, the two came to a stop, but they didn’t part. Once again, they were lost in each other’s world.

SMG3: “…We’ve stopped.”

SMG4: “We did? Then, why is a room still spinning?”

Being so close to the other man, the tension was high. Have courage.

Even then, it wasn’t enough. He’s not your Four. Three cleared his throat, looking away before any temptation got hold of him.

SMG3: “I’m… pretty tired, SMG4.” SMG4: “Oh, yeah. Sorry.” [*reaching to hand Three his cane, hiding his disappointment*] SMG3: “Thanks anyway.” [*walks out the door, preparing to go to bed*]

SMG4 stayed where he stood, his heart skipped a beat. It felt like a dream. He danced with his… Well, ‘friend’ was never the right word for him to label Three. Partner? Maybe.

Crush. Yeah… that sounds about right. Ever since Four was saved by Three, he never looked at their relationship the same way. “Just friends” was the stability for the longest time. The “safe” term. And yet, it was selfish to wish for something more. So much so that Four had dreams of a domestic life with Three. Holding hands, to lean to his touch. To…

Four shook his head. Three didn’t seem ready, or even interested. It was just part of his imagination and nothing more.

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

The concrete halls were dark, cold by the touch. All was silent except for the dripping coming from an overhead pipe leak. Light shined through, daring the shadows to confrontation.

They didn’t think they’d be back, but here they were.

Mario, Meggy, and Saiko walked down the abandoned building, remembering their way to a specific room.

Meggy: “We’re getting close, guys. Keep your eyes peeled.” Saiko: “I seriously don’t see the point of us coming back here. Whoever did this is long gone.” Meggy: “Tari was telling me how SMG3 was, and… Look, whoever did this really messed him up. But they must’ve had some big plan for them to involve SMG3 in something. We gotta figure out what it was.” Saiko: “If you think it’s gonna help, fine. Like I said, I’m only here as backup.”

Finding the right door, they entered what was once the simulation room. The group split up and searched for any clues.

Saiko: “Looks like they didn’t come back here.” [*examines the monitor and finds a file of plans in creating the simulation*] Meggy: [*picks up the simulation machinery*] “It’s completely busted. Find anything, Red?” Mario: “No.” [*trips over a hidden box, spilling its contents*] “Ow, my ass.” Meggy: “Are you alright?” Mario: [*rubbing his head*] “Yeah.” [*looks at what he tripped over*] “Hey, I found SMG3’s clothes!” Saiko: “Clothes?”

Indeed, there was a pair of black overalls, a dark blue long-sleeve, and a familiar cap. Meggy picked up the cap, spinning it in her hands. Seeing the “M” emblem, she recognized it immediately. SMG3 wore this getup before the redesigns, and she knew why the “M” was attached.

Meggy: “The Youtube remote. They were trying to make SMG3 into a villain again.”

Mario and Saiko exchanged a glance, seeing the situation at hand. To force Three into a villain again…

Saiko: “You guys get out of here.” Mario and Meggy: “What?” Saiko: “The simulation machinery may be destroyed but it doesn’t mean another one can’t be built.” [*presents the file to them*] “That person’s going to come back and get their things, maybe continue with their plan. They already hurt one of us, it can’t happen again. You guys get out of here, I’ll take care of it.”

Mario and Meggy looked at each other before giving a nod. Saiko was right, the culprit always comes back at the scene of the crime after all. The two left, leaving Saiko alone in the room. She picked up a lighter and lit the file blueprints, watching these plans of cruelty burn to a crisp. She was lucky to buy one of Three’s bombs just for a moment like this. She lit up and ran out, letting the explosive destroy it all. The clothes, the plans. The building itself. Every single bit to a crisp.

No one messes with the Crew. No one.

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

“Three?”

SMG3 opens his eyes, widening as he recognizes his surroundings. The white void.

SMG3: [*heavy breathing*] “No, no, no.”

He turned his heel, ready to run, when he was stunned to see…

SMG3: “…SMG4?” SMG4: “God, you really are pathetic.”

Three is left stunned.

SMG4: “I mean, did you really think I had feelings for you? I’m only taking care of you because I feel bad.” [*walks over to Three*] SMG3: “I thought—” SMG4: “Oh, you thought? Please, get a grip on what’s real here.” [*harshly grabbed onto Three’s arm*] Villains don’t get happy endings.” SMG3: “Four, you’re hurting me. Stop it. Just stop!”

Suddenly, Four went limp, starting to fall over.

SMG3: “Four!” [*catching him*]

Three turns Four over to see his face half of it was pixelated, fading away.

SMG4?: “You… couldn’t keep your promise.” SMG3: “No… I… I’m trying. I really am.” Digital SMG4: “I got a chance to live, to experience love of all things.” [*his voice quickly distorting*] “And you ruined it all.” SMG3: “No, it’s not true. It’s not!” Digital Four: “Why, Three? Why did you have to be so cruel?”

In that moment, Four faded away, its code in the wind.

SMG3: “No, no no!”

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

SMG3: ”NO!”

Three jolted up from the bed. A hand clutching at his shirt, he felt like he couldn’t breathe. Four, who slept right next to his partner, also woke up.

SMG4: “SMG3. Three. It’s okay, that dream isn’t real. It’s not real.” [*his hands gently cradled Three’s face*] “Easy, easy, easy.”

Three finally came to his senses, grounded by Four’s reassurance. His heavy breathing settled until his panic was no more.

SMG4: [*his thumb caresses the other’s cheek*] “See? It’s okay. I’m here. I’m here.”

From the calmness and comfort of his hands, Three leaned into his touch. What he dreamed of, that wasn’t his Four. They stayed like this, the air becoming heavy. Until Three reached to grab Four’s hand from his cheek, but he didn’t shoo the other man away.

SMG4: “Three…” SMG3: “I can’t. Sorry…”

SMG4 sighed, once again unable to reach him. But there still had to be a way to help Three.

SMG4: “Hey, do you think you can sleep again?” SMG3: [*shakes his head*] “No.” SMG4: [*gets up from bed and grabs Three’s shoes*] “C’mon, I wanna show you something.”

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

Three had no idea where Four was taking him, but here they were: walking through the woods still in their pajamas, in hoodies, and shoes. They weren’t in a rush but Four was seemingly eager to show him this mystery. He looked at Four without the other noticing.

Me, the Crew, everything, it's an exact copy of the real thing.

The Four in the digital world was a mere copy. But even a copy could never show him what he was about to see:

Beyond the woods, there was a field of white flowers. Open to the beautiful stars above. The two sat down and looked at the view.

SMG4: “Whenever I get a nightmare, I always come here. I just happened to stumble upon this place by accident. But it somehow clears my head. Especially after… the ‘perfect’ incident.” [*small chuckle*] “I guess there are some things we can't get over.”

Three looks at him, hanging on to every word.

SMG4: “I care a lot about you, SMG3. More than you could ever realize. But it hurts to see when you’re trying to keep it all together. I know that feeling all too well. I can’t force you to tell me what happened in the simulation, but know that whatever happens, I’ll be here for you.”

Their hands got closer together. Their pinkies touched, they noticed but didn’t show.

SMG3: “I don’t know if you should. All the people I care about don’t stay for long. I’m unlikable, SMG4. I’m a villain and always will be.” SMG4: [*shakes head*] “You’ve changed. Besides, I like you. All of you.” [*their pinkies intertwined*] SMG3: “Four…” SMG4: “No, I’m not going to change my mind. I won’t leave you. Whatever you wish me to be, I will be it. A friend, a partner. Someone you can talk to. Anything.”

The air felt heavy once again, and everything became a blur. The silent wind passed through their hair. Have courage.

SMG3: [*gulping*] “…Then, let me ask: are you real?”

A free hand from Four held the other’s face.

SMG4: [*briefly looking at Three’s lips*] “As real as you want me to be.”

Whatever stopped him several times before, Four cut those ties loose. He leaned forward, his eyes slowly closing. He was patient and ready to see if Three would reject him. But Three didn’t and let Four close the gap.

A soft kiss, it was brief. It was tender. It was real.

Three kissed back, letting the other know he reciprocated. They parted for a moment, waiting for the other to make a move.

SMG3: “Then, be true for me.”

They went for a second kiss, this time with passion and longing. This. This cleared every doubt they had before. Their insecurities, whatever held them down. Three wrapped his arms around Four’s neck while other did the same, around Three’s back. If this was a dream, screw it, let them dream. This time, nothing was going to take it away from them.

A single tear rolled down Three's cheek. It's been a while, hasn't it?

SMG3, talking in between kisses: “I love you, Four. I always have.” SMG4, doing the same: “I love you too, Three. I wanted you for so long.” SMG3, parting from kiss: [*laugh*] “Oh? Did you now?” SMG4, turning bright red: “Uh.. c’mon, dude, don’t ruin the moment. It’s not my fault you’re attractive.” SMG3, mischievously leaning to Four: “Really?” SMG4: “Shit.”

Three nuzzled into Four’s neck, kissing all over and leaving Four laughing at how ticklish it was.

SMG4, bursting in laughter: “Three, s-stop!” SMG3, whispered: “Glad to know I wasn’t the only one who thought the same.”

Oh, how wonderful was it to listen to the sounds Four makes.

His shooting star, his sweet prince.

His Four.

After a while, the two catch their breath. They leaned onto each other, held hands, and looked back at the stars.

SMG4: “I promise I’ll be true for you.” [*gave Three's hand a squeeze*] SMG3: [*hums, returning the gesture*] “Well then, I’ll do the same for you.”

Three held many promises, one was to never let Four cry. Now, there was another: to be his truest self.

#smg4 #smg4 smg3 #smg34 #smg43 #smg3 x smg4 #ink episode concepts

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admirationandromantics · 3 months ago

Text

Going overboard, 7: Loss

Told you that you would get two chapters tonight! Actually felt so bad about the last chapter, but I promise, none of the others are that short. Personally, this one was the funniest one to write, playing around when Josh is at his worst (I promise I'm a good person), but I like having a bit of freedom with everything yk? Anyways, hope you like it, and get ready for chapter 8 tomorrow <3

The lights turn on, and Ashley’s crying. Chris is still intact. I let out a breath of relief.

“No, no, no get away” Ashley shouts. We all move closer, seeing the Psycho walking slowly towards them. Chris aims the gun, shooting him several times. For a minute, I forget about the fake bullets, and my hand covers my mouth to keep me from shouting. Josh laughs.

“Oh Chris, oh Chris Chris Chris Chris.”

“What the fuck?”

“Oh, you’ve heard of blanks before?”

“I mean, really?”

He takes off his mask, revealing himself.

“Josh?” Chris asks, confused and tired. Ashley keeps blinking, and Sam runs forward, getting her untied. Josh keeps laughing.

“Josh!” Sam exclaims, probably glad to see that he’s okay. I look down, and can't meet his gaze. This is not the Josh I know. He doesn’t stop laughing.

“Josh…” Mike says.

“Oh, oh, very good. Every one of you got my name!”

“And after all you’ve been through! Good, good-good-good. I mean, how does that feel? Right? How does it feel? Do you enjoy feeling terrorised, humiliated, panicked? All those feelings my sisters got to feel that night one year ago. Only guess what, they didn’t get to laugh it off, no, no, they’re gone.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed Josh, but none of us are laughing” Mike scolds.

“Oh come-come-come-come-come, why the long faces? Come on. It’s good to get the heart racing every now and then, right? And race they did, I mean, every one of you, just pitter-pat, pitter-pat! I hope you appreciated my little phantasmagorical spectacle! I mean, no detail too small, no opportunity missed.”

I walk over to Chris, getting him untied as well. I notice a camera some paces away. He fucking video-recorded all of it.

“It was such a delight to play the puppet master to all of you Pavlovian panic. And all that gore! I mean, it was gore galore! Fake bodies, I mean, god that shit was expensive. Oh, and no retakes, only double-takes! Hook, line and sinker for every little stinker!”

“Josh, why are you doing this?” Sam asks.

“Don’t even ask this squirrelly little runt. He’s got no clue, he’s out of his fucking tree” Mike yells.

“He’s off his medication” I state. “And he has been for a while.”

“Awe, come on you guys. Revenge is the best medicine!”

“You’re done!” Mike threatens.

“Mike, he’s sick” Chris adds.

“He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s gone way overboard, but he’s obviously having some sort of episode” I support, looking down at Chris.

“What, I do know what I’m doing, you guys are going to thank me when you become internet sensations.”

“What, what?” I exclaim.

“Oh you bet this is going viral ladies and germs. I mean, we got unrequited love, extreme grief, gore, blood. Oh so much blood! I don’t think there’s enough hard drives in China to count all the views we’re going to get you guys.” Mike shakes his head.

“What are you talking about, you ass-hat. Jessica is fucking dead!”

“What?” Everyone turns to Mike.

“Did you hear me?” he asks, walking slowly towards Josh. “Jessica is dead, and you’re going to fucking pay you dick!” he shouts as he hits him in the head, making him fall to the ground, eyes closed, and not getting up.

“What the hell Mike!” I yell.

“You stay fucking out of this!” he shouts back, pointing at me. “This fucker is going to pay, you hear me!”

I don’t say anything else. If he really did kill Jessica, then we can’t do anything else about it. We all make it upstairs, Chris has tied his hands, and I hurt just looking at him. I have to keep reminding myself that this is for everyone’s safety.

“What are we going to do?” Sam asks.

“Emily and Matt went to the radio tower for help” I say.

“When?”

“After this freak faked his own death” Chris adds.

“And they haven’t come back yet?”

Shit. During everything, I had forgotten about them.

“Well, one thing is for sure, this guy is not staying here” Mike states.

“So where should we take him?”

“The shed?” I ask. If he had a whole set-up there, it might be livable for a night.

“Okay, you coming?” Mike asks. I nod in reply.

“I’ll come too” Chris adds.

“We’ll wait here for Em and Matt” Ashley states.

***

We take Josh outside, the guys being harsh and brutal. I just look down, not facing either of them. As long as they don’t really physically hurt him.

“Guys, come on, seriously, this is crazy you know” Josh says, refusing to keep going.

“Shut up man, the only crazy here is you”

He looks over at me, pleading. “Come on, you love me, you care about me, you wouldn’t do this”

“Just till the morning, Josh, so we can get you some help.” Mike keeps pushing him, eventually leading him to losing his balance and falling. I grab hold of his arm, lifting him up again. But right when he’s on his feet again, he tries to run back to the lodge, causing Mike to shove him again.

“Good God” I whisper.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Locking you up, bro” Mike snarls. “So you can’t do anything stupid before we call the police in the morning”

“Come on, I didn’t do anything-”

“Are you serious?” Chris interrupts.

“You’re a goddamned murderer, is what you are” Mike interjects.

“I didn’t do it. Michael please, just listen to me man. I did not hurt Jessica.”

“Guys, we don’t know anything for sure” I add.

“Listen to her, she’s saying I didn’t do it”

“Josh, we don’t know anything, just keep silent till tomorrow, please” I plead.

He stays silent for a while, making it easier to get him to the shed.

“You’re just seeing what you want to see. You’re blind!” Josh yells.

“Stop talking!” Mike shoots back, throwing him down.

“Mike…” I yell, and Chris immediately follows. “Dude, chill”

Mike gets over him, holding him in place.

“It’s not my fault you suckers can’t take a joke”

Mike twists his hands, making Josh give a small whimper. “Oh, wait, did I hurt you? Did you just feel a little bit of pain?”

“Mike” I threaten. There’s no use acting like this when he’s obviously not in the right state of mind.

“Oh, I’m so soooo sorry” Mike continues taunting. Josh continues to shout, telling him to stop. Chris looks away, unsure about how to handle the situation.

“Mike stop it” I tell him, and he forces Josh up on his legs again.

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am that something happened to Jessica, but it wasn’t me, I swear I don’t know what happened” Josh explains. Something feels wrong, but I can’t wrap my head around it. When it happened, what was Josh doing? Chris finally interjects.

“Josh, do you really expect us to trust you after everything you’ve put us through?”

He starts laughing, maniacally. I can’t face him, can’t see him like this.

“Can’t we all just get along?” he asks in a child-like manner. Mike grabs him, and I don’t know what else he’s doing but it makes Josh scream. “We’re not dicking around.” Mike starts pushing him into the shed.

“This was not how it was supposed to go down, this was not, just not…” Josh continues rambling.

“You’re just a bunch of bullies! You can’t hang me out to dry like this!”

I sigh, tired and exhausted, like I’ve been all night. Josh keeps yelling, Mike pushing, and Chris seems completely shattered. He’d lost his friend too many times today.

“Not like you got the guts to do anything about it, huh?” Josh continues, pining Mike.

“Ohh, you’re the biggest coward there is” Chris chimes in.

“Uh huh? I did something! I made you believe in a world that I created, and I showed you parts of yourself you were too afraid to visit!”

“Would you shut up Josh!” I yell, everyone looking at me with surprise. “You tricked us, you manipulated all of us, your friends, me… And you did all of this while hiding behind some screens in a basement with a mask. Don’t you understand how fucked up this is?” My voice cracks, and I can’t help it. Anger, annoyance, betrayal. I was there, I could’ve helped him, he kissed me. He distracted me in the worst way possible just to shut me out yet again.

Mike turns back, taking hold of him and forcing him on a chair beside a pole. Josh continues grunting in protest, shouting at us. Both the guys tie the rope around, having to hold him down while doing it.

“Can’t tie him up if he just wiggles around!”

“Josh”

“Give me a little wiggle room!” His eyes are nothing like what they usually are. It seems like some type of spark has left them, which is now filled with a dark fog.

“Plastic ties, way more good for hostage situations…” Josh mumbles.

“What the hell is going on with him?” Mike asks.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen him like this before” I answer.

“It’s so difficult to see him like this” Chris adds.

“Ashley’s a dumb dumb…” Chris turns to him, asking what the hell he’s talking about.

“Well, I said you’re a dummy dummy!”

“Chris don’t listen to him, he doesn’t know what he’s saying” I plead. Josh starts making kissing sounds, teasing and pining Chris.

“You know what that sound is? It’s the sound of never kissing Ashley you pussy!”

“Stop!” Chris grabs a plank, already holding it in the air.

“Josh, please”

“You know, you might as well let Ashley sleep with Mike.” I look over at Mike, and he’s already looking around confused, unsure about the circumstances of the whole conversation and how it led back to him. I shake my head to him, urging him to stay out of the whole thing and don’t contribute to the fire.

“I mean, at least he has some notches in his belt. He’ll treat her right!” Josh shouts as he’s humping the air.

“You’re fucking pathetic Christopher!”

“I’m going to beat his fucking head off!” Chris shouts. I quickly grab the plank, dragging it out of his hands.

“Don’t listen to him, man, it’s not worth it” Mike tells him, hand on his shoulder. Josh shifts his target, looking over at Mike and starts repeating his name.

“What is it Josh?”

“What happened with Jess, Mike?”

“You know what happened”

“No, no I don’t. I’ve got a problem Mike-”

“No shit Sherlock” Chris whispers. Josh continues.

“I don’t remember killing Jess…”

“Christ”

“I mean, like, I feel like I would remember killing her, you know? She’s so soft… And she’s probably got like, a really tight bod”

“Shut your fucking mouth!” Mike screams, aiming the pistol at him.

“Woah, woah, woah, Mike” I carefully thread. “Put the pistol down.” He lowers it, staring at him with contempt.

“Josh, will you please just shut up?” I urge him, trying to persuade him.

“Only if you give me a little show.” My annoyance and anger cover the slight missing of him.

“You know…” he starts.

“You were a fucking obstacle in my whole thought-out plan”

“I mean, some of the thrill of it is being a bit spontaneous, right? And the only way I manage to get you out of my way was to literally fuck you senseless!”

I take a deep breath, this isn’t him, he would never say stuff like this. The other guys look surprisingly my way, Chris waving his arms in an awkward manner, not knowing what to do.

“And like, fucking we did! And when you figured it aaaaall out? There was no other thought that came to mind than to get you down and going and on and on and on…” he keeps chanting, and I lift the plank in the air and hit him. Hard.

“Shit, why the hell did you do that?” Chris asks. Mike just shakes his head, glad that the continuous mumbling is gone. Josh is knocked out, and Chris’s immediate reaction was to check for a pulse.

“I didn’t fucking kill him” I scold, but he just gives me a dirty look.

“You guys go back to the lodge, I’ll stay here” Mike offers. I shake my head.

“No worries, I’ll stay here with you. Maybe he’ll wake up in a better state of mind, and if he does, I need to apologise.”

“I’m going to leave him with the guy who pointed a gun to his head and the girl who knocked him out?” Chris asks, and we both nod.

“Fine, just don’t hurt him again, please?” he says as he makes his way outside, walking back to the lodge.

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sofs16 · 1 year ago

Text

ripples in our love

part 1: paddock day , part 2: our leclerc win, part 3: our love in photos, part 4: our home — next

not proofread and lots of text / paragraphs ahead:)

“are you sure you don’t want to come with me” charles asked as he was putting on his shoes.

“charles, i’ve been with you all year and break, have fun with your friends.. just not too much fun” you laughed, clutching your robe closer to your waist as a shiver went down your spine from the ac.

“but i love spending time with you, amour” he sighed, standing up, holding your face between his palms, and kissing you.

“what, you don’t wanna drink and be manly?” you raised a brow “i mean… i do…” he thought about it “go” you whispered with a reassuring smile. you weren’t one for parties and a part of you was worried charles was being restrained to hang out with his friends because of that, so you encouraged him to have a night out before the races.

“i’ll be back by 12” he kissed you for the last time and you giggled “you better come back home to me, leclerc” you scolded “of course, where else?” and then the door shut.

2am, that’s what the time was. you were sat on the couch in your shared apartment. it was 2 hours since you saw that nightmare of a post. you have been getting multiple texts by the minute.

a part of you wanted to be childish and run away, never facing him. but that wouldn’t be right at all.

you heard the keys jingling on the other side of the door and heard a grunt and stumble. you gulped but trained your eyes on the tv, not really watching the episode of gossip girl.

“amour! you’re here!” charles replied with a cheer in a sluggish manner. he frowned when you didn’t turn around to look at him, or greet him with a kiss or hug as you usually did.

“amour?” he mumbled, stumbling over the couch, clearly drunk. his eyes lit up once they saw your face and he trained to kiss you but you held his face in between your hands before he could. “are you thinking straight right now, charles?”

no nickname. the gears in charles’ head weren’t fast enough at the moment.

“of course, let’s go to bed” he smiled “charles, you kissed another woman” you said quietly, as if you didn’t want to believe it

“No! That’s crazy. I only love you. You only. You’re my everything. I dont like anyone else. You’re my girlfriend. I’ll make you my wife one day” he said against your chest, shaking his head

you found yourself to be someone who cries when they’re frustrated or overly happy. “let’s talk in the morning and get you into bed, ‘kay?” you helped him up as he tried his best to sober up.

unlike the many showers you had together, you left him to shower on his own, making sure he was balanced enough before shutting the bathroom door.

the shower sobered him up quickly. cold water tricking down his body as he revisited the events of tonight. oh how he had messed up.

he stepped out of the shower to see his favorite shirt out, though all his favorite shirts were yours, it was his that was put out. he walked out of the bathroom to find you setting down the trashcan beside the bed, just in case.

“amour, can we talk please?” he held your hand but you dropped it. “tomorrow charles, okay? let’s get you to rest first” you pulled the covers over him, made him take headache pills.

“you… are not sleeping beside me?” he asked as you made your way to the door. “not tonight, charles” you whispered, turning off the lights and shutting the door.

though he was overthinking that night, the alcohol helped him sleep throughout that night, unlike you.

he woke up and frowned at there being no dip on your pillow and side of the bed. he rubbed his eyes, taking his cellphone and that’s when he remembered it all.

he jumped up the bed and rushed in getting the door open, in hopes to find you. you were sitting at the dining table, staring at the floor below you, tiredness evident through your eyes.

“amour?” you looked up “do you remember it?” you asked and he nodded, taking the seat adjacent to you. “why” you turned to him, swallowing the lump in your throat.

“i- i don’t know. i swear- amour i thought she was you” “i’m fucking blonde, charles” you furrowed your eyebrows

“you know how i am after i drink” true “i don’t- i don’t know what to do, charles” you shut your eyes closed

“amour please, you mean everything to me, you are my everything. if i could take it back or if i had stayed at home with you that night, i would. please don’t leave me” he held your hand quietly. you couldn’t say anything.

silence greeted him.

“tell me what you are thinking. call me names, scream at me, i do not care— just let me in” he asked.

when he said that, he thought you would burn him to the ground and pick on every flaw he had, even hearing you say you wish you had never dated him. your words… were not that.

“i think…im thinking if i’m enough for you” charles was shocked. “i think about all the girls you could have who are prettier, more famous, kinder, and everything more than i am but you’re stuck with me” you groan in frustration as tears start to well up. “and i can’t help but see you with someone else and it hurts” there they were, tears falling too quick for you to see. charles had never seen you cry, truthfully. “it hurts knowing— you could just leave me and maybe even be with that girl you were kissing last night” you sniffled

“yn,” he said quietly, wiping your tears away “i don’t want to be with anyone else. only you. and i don’t care if they are the models of the year or what. you are the prettiest girl to me and- i cannot let you think that low of yourself. i am so sorry, amour. please, let me fix this somehow. anything, i will do anything”

“i think i need space and time, charles” you looked up to his face. he knew if it weren’t serious right now, you most likely would’ve made an avengers infinity stone joke you were thinking about it, but no words came out

“i- yes. i understand. i’ll go out for a whil-” “i mean, i’ll go back to the house in paris for some while” “what?” his heart sank. “it makes sense right now charles. i need space to think and plus, i was going to go there anyways for fashion week” you rubbed your eyes.

charles knew your relationship with your parents were wobbly as you moved away from france to live in spain. but going back to them? that was how bad this was.

“are you breaking up with me?” he wobbled. “no, i just- i don’t know! i need to think charles” you stood up “please, yn! you- you are the only one for me please do not leave me” he pleaded hugging you from behind.

he hugged that girl from behind.

“you were in this position when you kissed her” you said quietly and charles shuddered at the thought of being with someone who isn’t you. “i’m sorry” you nodded and made a beeline to your bedroom.

30 minutes later you came out with 2 suitcases in hand. it was real. you were leaving. “will- will you be at the gp?” he asked quietly. maybe a little selfishly, but you were his comfort especially during nerve-wracking times like gps. you shook your head no. and he nodded, in understanding.

“do you want me to drive you to the airport?” he asked and you shook your head again. “good luck charles” you sighed, kissing his cheek. you meant for the gp— but so many things were going through his head. ‘good luck living a life without me’ was one of them.

yn.charlesupdate

liked by 2,438 others

yn.charlesupdate No yn at the paddock. Oh we’re done for. view all 7,337 comments

lestappen12 what did you think? she just saw the love of her life kissing another woman 2 days ago…

ferr4ribae im tired. august 25, 2024

charles_leclerc

liked by 3,449,494 others

charles_leclerc P2 for you :) Shame for what happened to Lewis on the first lap, we were lucky to finish the race even with the damage we had. See you next year, Zandvoort.

view all 2,484,399 comments

charlesyn17 He really got guts to post this like he didn’t just CHEAT on yn.

chachahaa cant believe you cheated on yn. she treated you like a king. that’s what’s a shame.

checheco1 Lewis deserved that P2 after what you did to yn.

nightleclerc … i can’t keep defending you charles

alphmercedez i hope you dnf 😊

august 26, 2024

yn instagram stories :

viewers — 3,595,606

❤️ charles_leclerc liked

❤️ maxverstappen1 liked

❤️ landonorris liked

❤️ yourbsf liked

and 1,832,584 others liked this story

yns_love

liked by yn, and 473 others

yns_love yn actin like he didn’t just cheat on her… but ok mother we love& trust u and will stfu

view all 1,494 comments

august 30, 2024

yncharle

liked by 6,373 others

yncharle 2 races with no yn. charles p3. 2 weeks radio silence from yn. bye.

view all 1,474 comments

september 11, 2024

liked by charles_leclerc, and 10,484,484 others

yn 💌

view all 2,585,686 comments

leclerc_pascale Beautiful ❤️

⤷ yn merci maman 😆

⤷ ynlelllerc STOP 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹😭

landonorris You look cool in that 3rd photo 😎

⤷ yn cuz i am cool, landito! like u😊

⤷ carlossainz55 thats not true

⤷ yn dont be mean carlitos, youre cool too🫀

⤷ wagsgrid her interacting with the grid is so wholesome 🥹

ynsbeaut SHES BACK BITCHES!!

[liked by yn]

dior 🤍

charlesbae jesus did she buy the whole dior show?

⤷ yn GIRL IM NOT THAT RICH 😭 it was for fashion week 🤭

chachaaaa Are she and charles still together?

16s55love why is she just ignoring what happened.. she seems unbothered, did she even love charles :/

⤷ yn we’re handling this privately so please respect that and dont make such assumptions. and i do love charles, dearly :)

[liked by charles_leclerc]

⤷ ynscharles I CANT. THEYRE MY PARENTS YOUR HONOR

softwags._ will you be at baku?

september 12, 2024

sharlie brown 🫀🏎️

august 21, 2024

sharlie brown 🫀🏎️

Amour, I am so sorry and I hope you know I never meant for this to happen and you are the only one for me.❤️

y/n/n🤪🤍💒

thanks charles but i just need time, okay? :)

sharlie brown 🫀🏎️

Of course, yes. I will just be messaging you every now and then, would that be alright?

y/n/n🤪🤍💒

mhm. good luck on sunday, charles

sharlie brown 🫀🏎️

Thank you, belle. I will do my best for you❤️

[yn reacted ❤️]

.august 22, 2024

sharlie brown🫀🏎️

Hi belle❤️ If I am being honest, I am nervous for tomorrow and I wish you were here. I hope you are doing alright there. [yn reacted ❤️]

.august 24, 2024

sharlie brown 🫀🏎️

hello ynn! I got P2 in today’s qualifying though I hope I can turn it into a win tomorrow. We miss you here at the paddock

.august 26, 2024

sharlie brown 🫀🏎️

Hello amour❤️ Remained P2 today but unfortunately took Lewis out:/ I’m sure I’ll be getting an earful from the Mercedes fans but it is alright. I miss you and love you

.august 28, 2024

sharlie brown 🫀🏎️

Hello, love! Thank you for the story you posted. I hope you are alright and doing well there. Don’t over work yourself, please. I have just landed in Monza and as usual, the fans are crazy! I wish you were here to feel the love they share for you as well. I miss and love you

.august 31, 2024

sharlie brown🫀🏎️

hi love:) I am quite stressed at the moment since the car engine almost gave in during the last turn. I feel it is my fault… anyways, I do not know if you have been watching. I hope you are doing alright. I love and miss you ❤️

september 1, 2024

sharlie brown 🫀🏎️

P3 today. Disappointed to say the least because if I pushed more I could have won for you.I saw on twitter you are in fashion week already?Do what you love:) ❤️

forgot to say hi… Hi! I love and miss you

y/n/n🤪🤍💒 Don’t blame it on yourself, Charles. You can’t always be perfect or always P1 even if you want to. The most you can do is try your best next time and enjoy. You’re world champion and leading the world champion points now:) Fashion week is stressful but I can manage. Stay safe, Charles. I love you.

september 3, 2024

sharlie brown 🫀🏎️

Hello my love, thank you. I really needed that. I wish I had replied sooner but I have been sleeping a lot.. haha. You will do great, I know you will. I love you, amour and miss you more than you know😘

september 5, 2024

sharlie brown 🫀🏎️

Hello, beautiful! How is France?:)

y/n/n🤪🤍💒

hi charles:) france is good as always

sharlie brown🫀🏎️

Amazing photos! I miss you and love you❤️

september 10, 2024

y/n/n🤪🤍💒

would you mind if i went to baku this week and we talked?

#SOF: thoughts? :)

thank u btw for all the support in this lil series<3

@glow-ish — your tag! lmk if you wanna be tagged in the next part! feel free to also send in messages thru the ask box hehe

#f1 imagines #formula 1 #f1 fanfic #charles leclerc #charles leclerc fanfic #social media au #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc 16 #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc imagines #charles leclerc x female reader

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igglemouse · 3 months ago

Text

My day starts at three, yes, three a.m. That's all thanks to Flora bawling her little heart out in the middle of the night. That meant I had to get up and attend to her. First, a bottle to calm her down and second, a bath to clean her up. Mama is always here to save the day! It's exhausting, sure, I wish she would have waited at least another hour before waking me but it is rewarding!

By the time I am done getting her settled Pascal is just waking up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and stumbling into the kitchen.

"How long have you been up?" he asks yawning. I glance at him, wondering how he wakes up and gets straight to working out every morning. That takes a level of discipline that I know I do not have.

"For a few hours?" I ask with an arched brow, wondering if he slept right through Flora's crying. I know the answer to that, of course he did, he could sleep through an earthquake. "Flora was hungry and dirty and-"

"Ah umm, yeah. You know my body shuts down when it needs rest."

"Yeah, it really does," the man is an athlete and does need his rest. I can't fault him for that.

"So ummm," he reaches out, his hands taking mines with care. His touch is gentle but the look in his eyes are anything but subtle. It's clear what is on his mind and maybe that is so because it has been on my mind as well. "I was thinking-"

"I know," because with a sleeping baby and his very busy career we really need to take our chances when we get them.

And you can guess where that led...

I admit that session of ours was pretty intense. I'm not sure what got into him today but I'm very thankful of it although it has left me just a little tired after wards. Not too tired for Flora of course. She was napping all though that fortunately and she was just as happy to see me!

But mama is tired. I feel like I've had a full day and not even half of the day have passed. Time for a nap myself, let's see how much rest I'll be able to get before someone wakes me up.

As for Pascal he was messing with the gnomes who have been all over the place today. Ah yeah, I guess I forgot that it is Harvestfest but there isn't much of a celebration going on here. I don't have much of a family to invite over and neither does Pascal? Well, the three of us is more than enough I think!

I should add that he does also take care of Flora or rather that he tells me he will help out with her a little more and I make a deal with him that if he takes care of her during the evenings that I'll make sure a five star dinner is on the table. It might seem fair but remember cooking is no chore for me, I enjoy it, and this way I can hopefully find more sleep and be more prepared for when Flora decides to wake me up again at 3 a.m.

I think its a good deal for him too since he really wants to be a dad. That means being there for her and building a relationship with her and the sooner the better. It also just gives me space to do my thing, my cooking thing!

When he's done and ready for dinner I can't help but ask him how it went. Just the question alone brings a full smile to his face.

"She's really sweet," he beams. "No crying or anything, she really liked the bubbles I think but overall-"

"I guess she's going to be a daddy's girl then because she can certainly cry!" I suppose she saves that for me.

"I just didn't see much of it I guess but she didn't give me any issues!" Great news, honestly. I want him taking on a lot more daddy duties than he does now, I know its asking a lot of him, he has a career that asks him to sacrifice most of his time but in my mind that should come second to Flora.

He digs into this dinner before the conversation can continue but I can tell there is something else on his mind. Something far more serious or something is bothering him?

"So, what is the plan tonight?" I ask as he is practically inhaling his food. He usually savors it, my food deserves that respect, but tonight it's like he's late for something. Which is odd, if you notice, Pascal doesn't go out much.

"I want to take you out tonight," he says with his fork clinking against the plate, serving as a period to that statement.

"Oh? Where?" Again, I'm a little surprised. There's something off about this. "You could have mentioned this sooner? I wouldn't have cooked and oh, I'll need to call a babysitter-"

"Don't worry, the babysitter has been called, it's all been planned," he speaks so calmly which worries me further.

"What?" Is he talking about? "What plan, Pascal?"

"Will you come out to the park with me?"

And so despite the time that's what we do. Thankfully, it's quiet. There aren't many people around which doesn't surprise me since its a holiday night and yeah, it is late. I'm starting to also have some idea why we are out here, I can sense it in how nervous he seems, although I'll admit I expected a little more from the moment I'm predicting.

We settle onto the first bench we find and as I glance around I begin to have a flood of memories. "I kind of miss this place," I tell him, looking over to the spot of our first date. A simple picnic, here, at this park. I'm now very very sure at why he'd brought me here, I can't believe I almost forgot. I take a deep breath and try to play it cool and calm. "I'd have my stand right over there and even at night I would get a good amount of customers."

"I don't come here much," Pascal admits before looking around until he tilts his head upwards to the sky. "It's a little too public for me but it is a nice park," his eyes are locked to the heavens, locked onto the few stars that sparkle tonight.

"Do you know anything about astronomy?" I ask, breaking a quick silence, a throw away question to keep things moving.

"Nothing at all," he says with a laugh, "but I would always look up at the night sky as a kid and think I'd be up there."

"Huh?" I point up at the stars above, making sure I've heard him correctly. "You mean, a star in the sky or..."

"Figuratively, silly! I'd be one of those stars one day," he says but doesn't he know that he's already accomplished that?

But we do not spend the time talking about stars and my thoughts start to drift back to home, back to Flora. For a moment I forget why he's brought me here or rather, why I think he's dragged me here, and all I can think about is that she's there with some random babysitter. Some young woman who I suspect didn't listen to a word I've said when I had to hurry to give her my list of dos and don'ts and as time passes I grow impatient and want back home. Pascal tells me we have all night, but that's not true. What if the babysitter goes to sleep and... no no no, that won't do. "She is first now, she always comes first now," I tell him.

"Yes, I know that, but we still have a life to live and I just wanted to spend some time with you."

"There's nothing wrong with that but just a little more planning would be better. Just a heads up, maybe I could have called over a friend to babysit for her? I get so nervous knowing some complete stranger is taking care of her and-"

He silences me with a kiss...

And before I can properly react to it there he is dropping to one knee and pulling out a ring with a gem that is brighter than any of the stars above us..

Frida Varela - Next Episode 10.1 'Flavors of Home'

#The Sims #The Sims 4 #ts4 #Sims #Sims 4 #sims legacy #my sims #generation 1 #soot #sims of our time #pascal alcocer #frida varela #florencia alcocer

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greatqueenanna · 24 days ago

Text

Frozen 3 - What We Know So Far - 2025

(Note - official F3 concept art released during D23 2024)

Just as I’ve done in previous years, I will be compiling every new piece of information and article I can find regarding updates for Frozen 3. This project began in 2023 with the goal of preventing misinformation and rumors from spreading within the fandom while providing fans with reliable sources for new developments.

Eventually, I will compile a post or page dedicated to all of the sources, interviews, and articles we have so far in regards to Frozen 3 and its second part.

Aspects of this post will change when new information is revealed.

Shout out to the following blogs who also keep an eye out for new information regarding Frozen 3, and are the sources for many articles.

@frozen-snowflakesandsunflowers

@ericmicael

@frozensnetwork

@bigfrozenfan

You can find the older posts with links to news articles and other sources below.

2023 ║ 2024

What We Know Summary

Release Date: November 24th, 2027 Director(s): Jennifer Lee, Marc Smith Writer(s): Jennifer Lee, Marc Smith Producer(s): Peter Del Vecho, Jared Bush Song Writer(s): Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez Voice Actors Confirmed: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad

Story Summary: While specific details have not been released or leaked, we know that the story will be separated into two films, with the second part not having a release date yet. Both parts are being worked on at the same time, and are currently in early development.

The writers are currently looking into answering some lingering questions, including, but not limited to: more Ahtohallan and Nature Spirits lore, more explanation about Elsa’s powers and why Anna does not have magic, Anna’s role as Queen, Anna and Kristoff’s future plans for children, if Kristoff will be King, Kristoff and Sven’s past, what happened to Prince Hans, and more about the Frozen Heart concept.

However, it is good to keep in mind that none of these are 100% confirmed to be in the films, they are just some ideas that the film team are looking into.

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

Articles under the Read More.

Missed Article from 2024

In November, Head of the Walt Disney Animation Company Jared Bush, also Executive Producer of Frozen 3, gave a few more tiny details about Frozen 3 during a showcase at D23 Brazil.

Yeah, yeah, Frozen 3 is coming. And from what I've seen so far [of the film] I think people are going to be surprised. I can't give away too many spoilers, other than to say that Jennifer Lee is leading the charge and that the story and the direction that she's taking these characters, what they're going through, what they're going to go through, I think it's going to surprise a lot of people, but it's also going to deliver on everything that people love about Frozen. - Jared Bush, D23 Brazil

Articles from 2025

January

January 17th - Josh Gad confirmed in an interview with Entertainment tonight, shown here on TikTok, that the team has not revealed any story details to him.

---

January 26th - Josh Gad went on to explain how he feels waiting for the third film is a good thing, as it gives time for the writers to perfect the story.

There’s a reason the movie is coming out in 2027. And that is because no one wants to rush this. Everyone wants this to not just be a sequel or a money grab. They want this to be absolutely worthy of the story we set out to make in 2013 [in the first Frozen movie]. And we want to give audiences something that is worth the years of waiting and years of anticipation. And I know that they are actively working on that. And I know that they have a story that they are very, very, very excited about. - Josh Gad, People Magazine.

---

February

February 1st - Idina Menzel confirms that as of now, the films are still in early development, and that she has not seen a script yet. s

Idina Menzel Reveals She Hasn’t ‘Read Any Scripts’ for ‘Frozen 3’ Just Yet (Exclusive)

I think it's happening, but that's all I know. I haven't read any scripts or anything, but I look forward to reuniting with my entire Frozen family and getting in that creative space and getting to get in the studio and find Elsa’s voice again. Idina Menzel, Parade

#frozen 3 #frozen 3 news #frozen #frozen 4

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bed-buggier · 2 months ago

Text

Game Theory About Who Professor Victoria is

This evening, we just recieved one final TailsTube to close out the year, and within this episode was a cameo from a character many have speculated on for over a year now, and I believe this piece of the puzzle will help us solve SEGA's game of Where's Waldo

Professor Victoria

Or just Tori, has been a thorn in the community's side since 2022, where she first appeared in the official social media series, Tailstube, alongside various humans from Sonic Unleashed. Since then, she's made a cameo in the 3rd Sonic Movie and tonights episode. Many were quick to believe she had ties to the then upcoming Sonic Frontiers and its new addition to the cast, Sage, but this wouldn't be the case.

Her Many Appearances

Examining her first appearance, she's depicted not in the Sonic Unleashed style, but rather Yuji Uekawa's artstyle (note her smaller head and overall lack of western stylization). This style is so rarely used nowadays, instead Sonic Team opting to use their 3D models and on this rare occassion, it's only in merchandise. Why would SEGA randomly revive it for a random addition like this?

Her next appearance would be in the 3rd Sonic movie, showing up during Team Sonic's initial encounter with Shadow. This would both be the first time we saw the name Victoria associated with her, and act as a teaser for tonights TailsTube.

What's also worth noting is this is the 2nd time the films have acknowledged TailsTube, with movie Tails' desktop being pulled straight from the series. Clearly whatever they have planned for her expands outside the Sonic games.

and then there's today with the release of TailsTube #10, solidifying her as Prof. Tori: Historian and author, 2 aspects of her character that combined with the nugget of lore Shadow Generations gave us, has lead to me forming my crack theory of the evening.

Taped on the back of the cover to Gerald's Journal is a note left by someone simply known as T. Who is T? A new character? A returning Topaz from Sonic X? No.

It's Tori.

The Actual Theories

so, we now know Professor Victoria is a historian/author who may have or had connections to GUN, collecting material for past projects such as the Space Colony Ark and Project Shadow, depicted both in a artstyle SEGA doesn't often use and within the Sonic Movies, having some notoriaty to be on billboards. From my findings, I've boiled it down to three possibilities of when we could see her finally debut.

1. GUN member/Team Dark's Coordinators/Robotnik(?)

This seems like the most logical, with GUN having a resurgance in Sonic 3 and Shadow Gens. We also don't know what's up with GUN after the Eggman wars in Sonic Forces, where they went under following the doctors takeover.

Perhaps with Sonic Frontiers' successor, we'll see the remains of GUN researching the Starfall Islands with Team Dark leading a exhibition. It could be a way to explain what ties the Black Arms could have to the ancients that led to Shadow visiting Chaos Island, AND many have speculated that she just might be a Robotnik, particularly, Maria's little sister alluded to in Gerald's Journal, bringing it all full circle.

That said, we have yet to see much of any continuity in the games, and it's a element in Sonic's greater storytelling I'm not sure SEGA would integrate now when isolated adventures have been the series' bread and butter for years, give or take a small nod to the fans. Why mess with success knowing any game could be someone's first?

2. Remake/Remaster Side Campaign

This one I have little faith in, but there's a slim chance. We now know SEGA isn't against adding new story content to re-releases of Sonic games with Shadow Gens, so perhaps Tori will get her start in a new campaign?

Perhaps she was a author studying the mythology of Sonic's world before GUN, residing at Spagonia University with Professor Pickle, someone we saw in that TailsTube art collection. That then raises the question though: Why go through this much trouble for a simple port of a Xbox360 game? Putting her in movies and setting expectations this high? It doesn't make sense, but that's where my main theory comes into play.

3. Sonic Lorebook

Call me crazy, a schizo, desparate for answers, whatever, but I'm fairly confident SEGA's apology for the Sonic Encylcospeedia may come very soon.

For those unfamiliar, in 2021, SEGA released a encyclopedia for the Sonic series. What many hoped would be a answer to all the continuity errors over the years and a clear outline of the SEGASonic universe turned out to be just a booklet of game facts, modded screencaps of Sonic 06, and offhand lore tidbits like Infinite being dead and Marine possibly having hydrokinesis, something I'm sure we'll see explored soon big trust.

The release of this book left many with more questions than answers, but I think it and Sonic Frontiers are the first in a major domino effect.

With Frontiers, we saw its writer, Ian Flynn, go a little wild with callbacks to previous Sonic games. While one may see this as leaniance on SEGA's end with the game initially set to launch that same year for the series' 30th anniversary or Ian Flynn being Ian Flynn, I see both as the early groundwork for reinstating of the Sonic continuity. Combine that with what we know of Tori, the establishment of a lore management team in 2022 (who just recieved a artist with Evan Stanley), alongside relaunching Sonic Gens which explored the series' history with DLC that gives us the most overt crossover of the game universe to the movies, and you have a recipe for a broader audiences entry to one hell of a history.

I believe within the game universe, Professor Victoria will be a well known historian, researching gods and anomolies within throughout the galaxy and multiverset. Meanwhile for us, she'll be the mascot of the IRL Sonic the Hedgehog Lore Management Team, and will be our guide for the long awaited true encyclopedia of the Sonic the Hedgehog series; Every character, every historical event, every world. All explained and outlined for a general audience and fans consumption.

or I've gone mad because I still don't have a snug placement in my timeline for Team Sonic Racing idk

#sonic the hedgehog #Professor Tori #sonic movie 3 #tailstube

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randomrory69 · 2 months ago

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LORE ABOUT MY DANDYS WORLD AU!!1 BE PREPARED IF U WANT TO READ A LOTTA TEXT CUZ IT'S ABOUT A LOST UNAIRED EPISODE!!1! I made a small fanfic thingy idk and forgive me if it's cringe english isn't even my first language BTW :3 I also wanted to practice on drawing lighting. Also, in this AU Rodger is Teagan's husband, and toodles is their adopted child. Glisten is their biological child though- aND THEY'RE ALLLL HUMANS!!1!1 Rodger is the main character in this AU!

Chapter - 1

BLACKOUT PANIC.

*Rodger was inside his apartment with his family, while Glisten had went out to party at a random club as usual. He was sitting in the living room, reading the newspaper while Teagan was in the bedroom with Toodles. Rodger flipped through the articles. Looking for anything interesting.*

*he continued reading various headlines, most of them were about the more popular toons and the next shows that would be airing soon.. and some drama about them too. One specific headline caught his eyes though..*

"The dissapearance of the popular main toon Astro Novalite...?"

However, out of nowhere, the lights suddenly went out-

"What the.."

*He muttered under his breath before folding the newspaper and putting it onto the table. He had filled the electricity bills and it had been years since the generators in their complex had went off-*

*This wasn't supposed to happen.. But as a detective, he had to cure his own curiousity and find out what was going on.*

*He slowly went to his own bedroom, and put on his usual outside blazer, brochure and pants. changing out of his pajamas. He then went ahead to Teagan's room, knocking on it gently.*

"Sweetie? Can you open the door?..."

*He asked, before Teagan opened it slowly. Toodles was right behind her.*

"Come in Rodger, I was just about to ask you about this...thing..-"

*She mumbled her voice holding a bit of... Panic?.. Either was, Rodger stepped in, looking around the room- good thing they had purchased candles earlier, toodles was quite afraid of the dark.*

"Rodger Rodger!! Do you think someone is messing with the generators of our building?? Maybe- maybe a ghost?!! We gotta go investigate it!!...-"

*she interrupted excitedly, holding her dog plushie in one hand as she tugged down onto rodgers sleeve and grinned.*

*Rodger sighed quietly and ruffled her hair.*

"No toodles, there's no such things as ghosts... calm down. Maybe it's just because of the weather or equipment failure.."

"Although it is a bit strange. It's been... Years. Since a blackout. And the weather isn't even that bad lately, I mean it's just snowing.."

*She stepped closer to Rodger, now whispering silently to make sure toodles doesn't hear it-*

"you might want to check this out, honey- I'll keep toodles here, and make sure glisten is alright too... I called him a few minutes ago but he didn't answer."

*Rodger's eyes immedietally widened into slight panic and concern- oh right. Glisten. He almost forgot he was outside partying with those dumb stoner teenage friends of his- crap...-*

"Right- I uhh.. I was just gonna say that, I'll be leaving th-"

"RODGER I SAW SOMEONE OUTSIDE THE WINDOW!!!-"

*Rodger immedietally snapped his head towards the window, his heart beating a bit faster, toodles saw.. What-?*

"what is it toodles?.."

"I dunno!! It was.. tall-.. I don't even know if ot was a person it was VOID black-.. It left a trail too! Look!!"

"Toodles, maybe you're just overthinking. let's continue playing tea party, don't worry. Daddy is gonna go see who it was."

*Rodger immedietally looked outside at the direction toodles was pointing at-*

*Tonight.. Even the moon wasn't visible. It was pitch black in the sky. it felt eery and dark, and it was awfully quiet. He looked over at the fences and saw... Something.. Black- it was a slimy ink like trail of... something. He had to investigate this, ASAP. And also message and call Glisten.*

*though first he decided to call glisten, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed the number, pressing it against his ear..*

*he impatiently tapped his foot against the floor, waiting for a reply-..*

"He- he isn't answering. Teagan, do you know where he went?"

*Teagan shook her head, her expression a bit ashamed and dissapointed in herself- she was just as worried..*

"N-No... He only mentioned going out to a party with his friends... I'll try calling him, you go outside-"

*toodles looked back and forth between them in confusion and fear..*

"I saw that he went out with boxten.. We can try calling him as well!!"

*she paused before looking out the window again. She really wanted to go out with Rodger on his mission, but she was more afraid and worried about her older brother... She had to choose-*

"I'm gonna stay here with Toodles and try contacting Glisten. If we don't find him, then we will go outside to do something.."

*she paused, looking outside at the trail of the black substance outside their backyard..- speaking of looking outside, their home wasn't the only one with no electricity.. They could see that other toons rooms were dark too now, no light source whatever- except brightney and rudie's room...- then speaking of the devil, there was a knock on their door-*

"Helloooo??? Mr. Rodger??.. Are you there?? Open the door."

"you gotta help us Rodger you're a detective!! Also, merry Christmas!!!!!"

"Rudie how many times have I told you that it's n-"

":'(..."

"Okay, whatever. Just because you're obsessed with it doesn't mean others are as well rudie-"

*And by the time they had finished their bickering, Rodger quickly went outside and opened the door..*

"ah, brightney and .. Rudie. I thought i'd see you two here, perfect."

*he crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at the two. Toodles and teagan peeking over his shoulder-*

"And I was just going out to investigate what happened. I was leaving."

*Brightney looked at rudie with an annoyed glare then spoke again, her voice relieved.*

"Thank goodness!! We were here to ask you that. In the meantime, your family can come with us in the community hall next to the lobby- it seems there is still some electricity there, the elevators are working- and most toons are waiting there. Flutter, Poppy, Tisha, Gigi, Shrimpo and Cosmo are already waiting there while we- Ginger, Connie, Looey and Goob are looking for the others and the main toons..."

"AND ALSO, uhh- quick question. Have you seen Astro??.. I know that guy barely ever socializes or tells about himself to others- except sprout, dandy and cosmo- the point is-..."

*he took a deep breath, his voice sounding a bit shaky and guilty..*

"Hes-.. He's gone. Me and brightney tried to search for him in his apartment or dandys place- the kitchen, EVERYWHERE... it's been 2 days.. We need your help, Rodger.."

*Rodger looked a bit stunned and even more concerned by the sudden info dump, but he took a deep breath and nodded, taking a small glance at toodles and glisten-...*

"Alright alright-... I was going to investigate the blackout source anyways. I'll look for him on my way. Don't expect much because this isn't a paid mission alri-"

"ACTUALLYYY, it is a paid mission. Dandy said he'll be providing you with a handsome amount of 6K Ichor if you find Astro. And about the blackout... Dandy is going out to investigate that too. He's already at the generator's warehouse building."

*Teagan almost choked on her own spit, toodles eyes lightning up with excitement and Rodger being too stunned to even speak properly-*

"wait, wait. 6K ICHOR?!? That's.. Isn't that a bit-"

"Less?..."

*Rudie cut her off with a devilish smirk.*

"Dandy said he was willing to extend the pay up to 12 K ichor. Only if Rodger is able to find him within 3 days though."

"........"

"DAD YOU SHOULD DO THE MISSION!!! YOU CAN BUY ME MORE VBUCKS AND ROBUX IF YOU SAY YESSS!!!!"

"What the hell are vbu-"

"Deal."

*The room fell silent. Teagan had a uncanny feeling about this, since she never trusted dandy a lot but... 12 K ichor.. They could use that. Plus it was just a simple detective mission, nothing could go wrong-*

"Perfect. Teagan and toodles can head with us over to the community hall, oh- and also bring your pillows, blankets- food and candles there."

*Rudie smirked, crossing his hands behind his head and looking down at brightney with a "see? I told you hed agree" Looking grin.*

"Alright.. Well start getting our things... Rodger. Are you gonna leave already?..."

"Yes. Don't worry about me, just try to find glisten, honey. I'm gonna be gone and would be coming home late, perhaps."

*he added.*

"bye bye rodger... I wish I could come with you too.."

*toodles said in a sulky and sad tone.*

*Rodger leaned down and patted her head with a small smile.*

"It's okay Toodles, next time. You'll come with me next time. This mission is seemingly a pretty difficult one, but I'm sure you need to focus on your very own mission right now.."

*he smiled, but toodles looked a bit shocked-*

"M-my own mission??..."

"Yes sweetie, your own mission. For now your mission is to keep your mumma safe and find Glisten."

*Teagan smiled warmly at that and looked back at Rodger before he went out the door.*

"Don't come too late, darling."

*She said softly, before stepping closer to him- grabbing him by his collar gently and giving him a small smooch on the cheek.*

*Rodger's face immedietally burned a crimson red and he smiled back- before-*

"Ahem ahem."

*oh... Right.*

"Goodbye, dear. Take care, sweetie-"

*he said, his voice shaking a bit as he went outside into the cold, dark night in a rather quick and embarrassed pace-*

"Now that hes gone...-"

"I'll help you get your stuff, Teagan."

*she cut in between before stepping in. Teagan nodded in response and gratitude and lead them towards the insides. Toodles followed them both.*

Now it was time for Rodger to investigate that black sludge.. And also... Astro's dissapearance.

End of Chapter 1.

IF THIS POST REACHES 20+ NOTES I'M GONNA MAKE A PART 2.. MAN I'M TIRED-! THANK YOU FOR READING! THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME WRITING SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN THIS APP! :3

#BLACKOUT PANIC / OPERATION ICHOR AU #dandys world #dandys world humanized #rodger the detective #rodger dandys world #fanart #alternate universe #infection au #horror art #please reblog #please read #novel #dandys world AU #dandys world teagan #dandys world brightney #dandys world rudie #dandys world toodles #blackout panic / operation ichor au

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applebuttercringe · 3 months ago

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Pre-finale Arcane thoughts

I'm so glad we are getting more Arcane content tonight, I am so sad that we are never getting Arcane content ever again.

The writers have revealed that Act 3 will be the longest act by far, with the final episode being much longer than the average episode. It isn't specified how long, but it will be longer.

Despite this extra runtime, and the S2 pattern of getting multiple music video segments per episode, this Act has by far the least songs. Most of the songs have already happened. We only have 3 songs on the soundtrack that haven't happened yet. Then again that assuming the Blood Sweat and tears song will not make it into Arcane. This might be a good sign that they are going to use that extra time for more detailed plot. I know too much music was a big complaint of the first 2 acts.

Also there will be a Viktor song ♥️

I am hopeful for more Jayce and Viktor content, I am excited that they will have another confrontation and Viktors final transformation. I am of course sad about the figurative death of Viktors humanity. It seems from some leaks like the show will put immense emphasis on Viktor and Sky's relationship. It is still unclear to me if the Sky Viktor see's in the Hexcore is really Sky. From what we saw in S1 Viktor and Sky didn't have a very close relationship, we are only ever shown him brushing her off. His grief over her death is more a general guilt and grief of having taken a good persons life, not a personal loss because of a significant relationship between them. My interpretation is that Viktors visions of Sky are a manifestation of guilt. After finding out how much she looked up to him he wished that he had gotten to know her when he could. Believing she is with him now is a coping mechanism to avoid the guilt that he is grieving someone who he went out of his way not to give a chance. Maybe the show will take it in this direction, maybe she will be revealed to be the Hexcore controlling him, maybe they go all in on SkyVik as the new doomed romance.

I like Jinx and I look forward to the show furthering her recovery. If they do. Inevitable because of the death of Isha Jinx is going to spiral, we will get way more sad Jinx content. She will try and kill herself again, she will be absolutely destroying and isolating herself. It's the same thing we have gotten from Jinx for the entire show, she is just forever on the pain train. I am hopeful however that the show will focus on a recovery and that Vi and Jinx's relationship will stay intact despite Jinx's intense grief. I hope Vi will in some way be able to stay and comfort Jinx through the loss of Isha, and through Jinx's self blame. Both Vi and Jinx blame themselves for the death of their younger sibling (powder's emotional death) and perhaps they can both find solace in each other.

Caitlyn and Vi will get back together. Fingers crossed that we get a Cait/Vi sex scene. though honestly the hope is mostly for the memes. After their devastating breakup I am not sure how well the show will be able to just get them back together and make the relationship ok. From both characters perspectives the other has betrayed them in every way, gone against their deepest morals. Vi is in a close family relationship with Jinx, the woman who killed Caitlyns mother, after she promised she had no more sympathy for Jinx. Caitlyn betrayed Vi's trust and tried to shoot a child, then she attacked Vi and gassed the streets of her home. I really hope Arcane doesn't just gloss over this and get them back together. We know from the trailers that they at least argue about it, but most of the blame seems to be shifted to Ambessa, which is kinda weak.

Obviously we will get the Ekko/Heimerdinger Time travel plot. My only concern is that we will not get enough time for this. Even with the extra long act, time travel is an insane element to include this late in the story. Time travel as a plot point is infamous for creating massive problems for the story, it's almost never done well.

Overall I think episode 7 will start with a cold open flashback to Jayce's time in the Hexcore and show us both what happened to him that caused his turn against Viktor, I think this will be a flash forward to a future where Viktors commune has spread and the people don't really have free will. This flashback will also show us what happened to Ekko and Heimerdinger. This is where time travel will be introduced.

The next episode will focus on Jinxs grief, she will have another attempt on her life and be stopped by Vi. Vi and Caitlyn fight over Jinx's involvement in Caitlyns mothers death, but Caitlyn will see Jinx's grief and how it mirrors her own and come to the conclusion that war destroy all. Caitlyn and Vi will fight about Caitlyns involvement with Ambessa. Ambessa and Singed will be bringing Vander back to life as well as Viktor. Singed will strip Viktor of his remaining humanity so the "mutation" will survive. Viktor in some way will agree to this motivated by his witnessing how emotions tore down his commune and the betrayal of his best friend, accompanied by The Line song.

Jayce returns and finds out that Viktor is being resurrected, he once again wants to stop him in order to stop the Arcane from spreading. He will explain the Hexcores spread to Vi and Caitlyn to explain his action sagainst Viktor.

In the final episode they all team up to fight Ambessa, Jayce goes separately to fight Viktor. Ambessa will have revived Vander, except he will have lost his humanity and no longer contain Vi's father. This breaks Vi's heart, but she ultimately has to fight and stop him. Caitlyn and Ambessa will have a showdown that mirrors their training fight on the boat. This fight will take most of the episode and have a banger soundtrack. At some point in this Piltover v.s. Noxus battle Jinx will show up having made the choice to move forward and redefine herself, here we get the haircut and new design. Maybe she will rename herself.

I'm not sure how Mel fits in, her plotline seems so separate to the rest of the story. My assumption is she somehow makes it back to Piltover and confronts her mother about being the mystery child with magic powers. She will also side with Piltover against her mother. Being forced to fight against her daughter will shake Ambessa's resolve, as in her mind she is doing all this for her daughter.

I have the sinking feeling this will all end with the characters solving it with the power of friendship. It seems obvious that they will team up to fight Noxus, but there is no way they kill Ambessa, she is too profitable and promoted by Riot. Her status as a badass is being promoted on all the games and she has a tie in book coming out. I doubt they kill Vi or Jinx, too central. Caitlyn has to live to end up with Vi. Killing Viktor for a third time would be cheap. Jayce's arc hasn't led up to it.

I have a lot of ideas for cool things that could happen, and where it feels like the story is steering, But I can't see how these plot threads come together for a satisfying conclusion in just 3 episodes.

So much discussion about Arcane S2 ends with "but we'll see where it goes" this is the shows last chance to prove if it really was going somewhere with all of this, if the last few episodes were just set up to something great, like how so many people found season 1 act 1 boring/generic. or if the show is just fumbled. If these episodes suck then it will retroactively make these characters arcs all feel like they ended up going nowhere. In a heavily plotted show like Arcane where everything has always ended on a cliff hanger, where it finally goes will make or break the show. These character arcs and little animation details people have been obsessing over were either genius or a bunch of fluff that ended up amounting to nothing.

I am excited, a little worried. Mostly excited.

#arcane #arcane league of legends #arcane season 2 #viktor arcane #jayce talis #arcane jinx #arcane theory #vi arcane #arcane jayce #arcane predictions #predictions #arcane discussion #arcane caitlyn #caitlyn kiramman #caitvi

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nabi-unveiled · 1 month ago

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Signs I may be obsessed with THK...

1. Since it began airing I have reread the play and rewatched 10 Things, SIMM, and Hidden Agenda. There's an obvious war in how I'm spending my free time these days.

2. My children all know the characters' names and have been given the PG/CliffNotes version of the plot as bedtime stories. They refer to it as "The Burger Hitman Story", and they are placing bets on whether Style has a secret past. Sorry kids, I can't tell you until next week. He may. He may not. But know - I will scream out loud if major character assassination of my fave occurs due to poor writing. Note - I mean the literary kind of assassination and not the literal (although that would cause screams too).

3. We have went on a deep dive into Shakespeare and genre-based acting/production as a family. My kids are shocked that their peers "have never heard of the dude". Apparently, one of their friends thought Shakespeare was a brand of pickle generating this face from my middle child ->

4. I have it marked on my dashboard planner for the week and will be working ahead tonight so that I have time to watch it in peace without guilt as soon as it drops. It's not like I would go to sleep instead of thinking through all the possibilities anyways. I certainly didn't have a wedding on my bingo card for last episode.

#the plot doesn't match my bingo card #yes i have a ship bias #counting down hours #fadelstyle #the heart killers #i should get back to work

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oxpogues4lifexo · 7 months ago

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Keeping Up With The Camerons

TumblrTV

Keeping up with the Camerons

Episode 3 - Life Inside The Bubble Wrap

Previous Episode Here

Episode transcript (/ means cut scene, bold italics means narrator, bold means host)

Word Count: 12.5k

Shorter Episodes Here - 3K Words

Coming up!

“You even look at her and im gonna-“

“Dad I’ll be fine..”

“Because you’re my brother Rafe! And sometimes I actually give a shit!!”

“She hasn’t dealt with Rafes other side before and I really don’t want her to have to.”

“You care.”

They keep forgetting they’re on a show.. with cameras!

“Summer loving had me a blast..”

“Oh well oh well oh well oh.”

“You cover for me tonight, I’m seeing someone.”

“Who’s someone?”

“No one..”

“I’m not afraid to move you to the cut Rafe!”

“Cmon Bells you can’t keep nothing from me princess.”

Kooks. And Pogues. Two tribes. One island.

Or in this case..

The Camerons. Kildare. One family. The whole island.

I am your host Ryan Seacrest, and THIS is Keeping up with the Camerons!

This episode includes the bts footage the Camerons don’t know you can see, forgetting that there are cameras in every crevice of their life not just in the hands of my camera crew! (Written in pink)

NOT PROOFREAD

“You better behave..! You’re with my daughter today and I’m not afraid to fire you and do this show on my own! I swear to GOD you even look at her, Ryan, I’m gonna-“ Ward grabs ahold of Ryans blazer, pulling him in as he raises a fist.

Sarah runs over, yanking Wards arm away, “Dad! I’ll be fine.. I’m with Topper today remember!” She reassures him, but the name only caused even more outrage across his face.

“Topper..” He steps away from Ryan causing him to sort himself out, flattening his blazer and redoing his tie. Ward pulls Sarah to the other side of the room, “Honey.. As far as I’m concerned, that boys trouble. I don’t like him and I don’t feel comfortable-“

“I told you we’ll be fine! I’ve already called him and he said he’s picking me up.” She raises to her toes, placing a kiss upon Wards stubbled cheek, “I promise..” She smiles softly, going in for a hug as she rests herself against his chest.

He can’t help but melt into her touch, grazing her back with his palm as he kisses the top of her head gently, “Okay.. but anything happens and you call me okay?”

She nods as her phone begins to buzz, looking down at her pocket as she takes it out, “Oh it’s Topper!” She shakes her phone before skipping off outside.

“I mean it Sarah!!” Ward yells, earning a thumbs up through the glass door.

“So it’s not a very busy day! Me and Topper are meeting some other friends down by the beach to do a beach clean, and then after that I’m not really sure. I guess we’ll just have to see where the day takes us.” She smiles, shrugging her bare shoulders.

“And you and Topper are okay now?” Ryan asks concerningly.

“Yeah we’re fine. He told me it was about John B and I had to tell him he was just messaging about Ward. It’s the only reason we ever talk so once he understood that, we were okay again.” Her lips lifted causing her cheeks to redden, the straight lies that slipped through her teeth were hard to maintain, but she managed. For the most part.

Sarah went upstairs to get ready, changing into a pair of white denim shorts and a cream halter neck. Finishing up her makeup she gets a message.

She looks down at her phone, frowning at the name that appeared.

Bella B

The message read,

A second message came through, taking over the previous one. Except this time the name was different.

Top ❤️

Sarah sighs, clicking the little button on the side of her phone to shut it off before grabbing her shoes and running off downstairs.

“Dad I’m off!!” She calls but doesn’t wait for an answer as she takes herself outside.

“Right you listen to me.. I hear you treating my daughter like shit one more time and you won’t want to come back here again you understand..?” Ward spits, face to face with Topper beside his black truck that parked outside the garden of the estate.

“Mr Cameron I-“ The blonde boy raises his hands innocently, shaking his head as his eyes widened through genuine fear.

“Dad??” Sarah jogs over, once again removing Ward from yet another human. “I already told you we’re fine.” She grabs ahold of Toppers shirt, holding him protectively to her side as she reassures Ward for the second time.

“I just feel like he didn’t give you much of an apology sweetheart.”

“He did. You just weren’t there. We’re fine, see!” She leans up to kiss Toppers cheek, a small blush reddening his skin.

“I’ll be checking in with Ryan throughout the day! Behave yourselves!” He waves a finger at the two kids before slumping off inside.

Topper and Sarah both look at each other for a second before snickering, “Your dad’s so weird..”

“Weird because he cares?” They lift themselves into Toppers truck; Sarah turns to him with a slight grin, “And who was the one who got worried when I faked getting hurt after the storm hm? If I remember correctly Rafe said you were my bi-“

“Right yeah I got it okay. I’m sorry.” He raises his hands causing Sarah to giggle.

His hand finds her thigh, squeezing gently whilst they drive down the coast. The wind blowing Sarah’s sandy locks around with Toppers sat fluffy atop his head.

Topper goes round to Sarah’s door, holding her hand as he lifts her out the car. “Thank you..”

He smiles, her hand still tightly held in his as they make their way down the sandy path to the group of volunteers. “Are you okay Sar?” Topper tilts his head as a dip forms in his brow. “You’ve been quiet.”

“Not really.. I just..” She frowns, taking a minute as the frustration finally catches up with her after Topper reminds her of it. She tuts, “Just.. Rafe’s been so irritated all week and it’s really starting to get to me. Like normally I could ignore it because it’s just who he is but for some reason it’s just even worse this week and he always takes it out on me.” She avoids eye contact but the squeeze against his hand said enough.

“I never noticed it Sar I’m sorry. Why didn’t you say anything when it started?” His eyes widen, watching her face as she struggles to come up with a response. He pushes the strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear before placing a gentle kiss to her temple.

She shrugs, “I didn’t really notice it. But now all I can think about is Bella. What if-“

“Bella??” Topper stops her mid walkway, gripping her shoulders with a huge dip to his brow, “I thought-“

“I’m allowed to care Top..” She frowns, eyes lowering as she picks at his finger nails, “I mean.. it’s not her fault we don’t talk anymore!” Her shoulders slump and she takes a deep breath, frowning at her own words; avoiding eye contact as the cameras pan in on her.

“Whyre you worried about Bella..?” He picks up on her consciousness of the camera, taking her hand and pulling her away slightly, out of sight from Ryan; he waves them away whilst mouthing a ‘sorry’ in their direction. “Talk to me it’s okay..” He reassures, leaning down to her eye level as he pushes a strand of hair from her face.

“Just..” She looks around making sure no one could hear her except what she didn’t know was that the cameras were set up all around the island and everything was being picked up even if no cameraman was following them. “I didn’t notice Rafes attitude because it’s 24/7 and I kinda learn to ignore it but when it’s about Bella that’s when I feel like I should worry.”

“What do you mean??” Topper stands up, eyes widening.

“Hey just because me and Bella don’t spend much time together, doesn’t mean she’s not my best friend and I’m not allowed to care about her.”

“Ever since last night, Rafe’s been in such a bad mood and when I asked him about it he said Bella refused to come over today! That never happens!! Topper somethings happened..” She almost pleas, eyes squinting from the sun, as she reaches for his hand.

“For fucks sake!!!” Rafe slams around in the kitchen, not caring about the amount of noise he’s making.

Sarah was going to the kitchen for some breakfast, running in after she hears her brother screaming, “Rafe??” She stops beside the island where he was searching around, “What’s happened?”

“Get out the way..” He speaks calmly and quietly, standing over her as he reaches out a hand to gesture for her to move. His patience slipping away from him quickly.

She stares up at him, a frown pulling at her brow, “Excuse me??” Her head tilts in offence.

“Sarah, fucking move!!” He grabs her shoulders, pushing her aside firmly.

She turns to him, watching as he makes his way out the kitchen, frowning at his antics, “Rafe what’s going on with you?”

He clenches his jaw, biting his cheek as his hand meets his hair, “Why do you care??” He shouts, not bothering to stop.

Sarah squeezes her palms tightly, hesitant to her next words, “Because.. because you’re my brother Rafe! And sometimes I actually give a shit!!”

His body comes to a halt instantly, eyes squinting before slowly turning around, head tilted as his eyes lock onto hers for a moment before his shoulders drop, “Bella won’t talk to me, a’ight? She refuses to come over.” He rubs his hand over his face, “Happy now..?” He throws his hands up, speaking low and gravelly under his breath, not wanting to seem like he cares that much but the aggressive tone in his voice proved himself wrong.

“Wait what? Wait Rafe why not??” Sarah steps closer, the concern in her only growing the more he speaks. Her eyebrows dip as she awaits his response.

He squints, raising a brow as he bites a lip to hold himself back from losing his temper. He laughs, tongue running along his teeth, “If I knew Sarah.. don’t you think I would have dealt with it by now..??” He tilts his head against hers, eyes darkening as he threatens her with his stare.

She doesn’t buy it, watching his eyes, ignoring the look on his face calmly as if she’d been through this before. She frowns unconvinced, “What did you do to-“

He huffs, standing up and frowning so deep his eyes looked black, “Don’t you have shit to do??” His eye twitches at her lack of reaction.

“Whatever Rafe..” She rolls her eyes, pushing her shoulder into his arm as she shoves past him, “Sorry for caring.”

He stands there a moment, frowning and rubbing his eyebrow; confused as to why Sarah didn’t crack under the pressure of him and why she all of a sudden cares.

“I.. Sar that must be so recent! I was with them yesterday and they were perfectly fine? It could’ve happened last night.”

“Last night? What you didn’t go with them?” Her tone picks up, eager to get an answer.

“Uhh..” Topper hesitates, not realising why it was such a big deal, “No.” He scrunches his brows through confusion as he watches her face relax; eyes rest as her shoulders fall.

“Okay. Um. Well it’s not our business to deal with but I swear if it gets worse I am gonna call her! She’s never had to deal with Rafe’s other side before and I really don’t want her to have to!”

Topper doesn’t respond, just watches her with a gentle smile. It causing a frown upon Sarah’s face, “What?” She can’t help but let a small smile slip onto her blushed cheeks.

He shrugs his shoulders, “Nah nothing just.. It’s nice you still care..”

Little does Sarah know, or Rafe for that matter, me and the crew know exactly why Rafe and Bella aren’t speaking. They keep forgetting they’re on a show.. with cameras! (He chuckles at his own words) Last night and this morning we caught them on the phone together.

"Rafe..? Did something happen again.??" The girl whispers through the phone worryingly.

"I'm surprised you even answered after earlier..!" He frowns, laying back against has hands in the darkness of his room.

"Why wouldn't I Rafe? You could be my dad and l'd still find it in me to care about you. Thats saying something.." She reassures quietly, a slight laugh evident through her words.

"Uh.. I- I'm sorry 'bout earlier by the way.. I-"

"It's fine." She answers plainly, "I mean I get it right, want to be all perfect for the camera. You don't need a little leach everywhere you go. Ward told me he said to act different this week, I'll just wait it out I guess.." You could hear the disappointment across the phone even from far away.

"Bella.." He sighs, rubbing a hand across his face as his brows knit together, "You shouldn't have to-“

"It's fine Rafe.. Why did you call..?"

He takes a moment, wondering whether he should have called at all, feeling as though it's wrong to ask for her comfort after what he did, "Just.."

"Do you want me to come over..? I can if you need me to.."

He hits himself once again, digging his palms into his eyes before lifting himself against the bed frame, "No no.. don't get yourself in trouble with Callum, Bee.." He sighs, biting his cheek, "It's just my dad."

"That doesn't even surprise me Ray.. he's been a little stressed today.."

"A little?? Bella he screamed at me.. for coming on the boat earlier! That's why I was pissed off when we went out."

"Why didn't you say anything..?"

"I.."

"Rafe i'd rather you talk to me then take it out on me.. I'm always here for you.. You know that."

"I know, I know." He huffs, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sits up on the edge of his bed; resting his elbows against his knees, head in his hands.

"You didn't deserve that.. even if you were being an asshole.. you know that right.?"

Rafe hums, a silence filling the room. All that was heard were the quiet breaths from Rafe as he exhaled into his hands, "I uh.." He lifts his head, realising how unfair it is to expect anything from her anymore, "I'm gonna go okay..? Sleep well Bee I'll see you later alright?"

"Wait Rafe did you not want me to stay-"

He quickly presses end call, stopping the conversation before it went any further; exhaling deeply as he falls backwards against his bed. "Fuck!" He kicks his bedside table, causing a loud screech against the floorboards. He laid there the rest of the night, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling; contemplating the day he had just experienced.

“Hey Bells, you coming over before work?” Rafe bubbles, taking his towel off from his waist and chucking it onto his bed, followed by his phone.

Silence held across the line, causing a furrow in Rafe’s brow. He turns around to the phone again to make sure he did actually call her, “Bella?”

She sighs heavily, staggering a breath, “Rafe.. I- I dont understand you. And I’m too tired right now. Can you just leave me alone?”

“Bells I thought we were okay again??” Rafe pleas, placing himself on the edge of his bed, frantically running his hand through his greasy bangs.

“You always do Rafe. Every little slip up and you think an apology is gonna make it all better. You don’t care anymore and I get it okay? You don’t need me anymore, so I’m stepping back.”

His head jerks up as his eyes widen, grabbing the phone as he quickly jumps to his feet, “What? Bella I never-“

“Bye Rafe..” The phone line cuts, leaving the room deathly silent.

He stares at his phone, eyes darkening as he bites down on the corner of his finger. “Fuck sake!!!” He slams his phone onto the wooden floor, a piercing crack made out loudly through the echo of the large room. “Shit!!” He throws his hand into his drawers, knocking everything onto the floor. Glass smashing and bottle lids rolling around were the only sounds picked up by the camera before Rafe left the room.

“How’s Sarah doing today Topper? I mean seeing as the other day you said she’s not really the most comfortable around the cameras?”

Topper laughs, crossing his arms out of surprise, not even remembering the conversation himself.

Ryan had pulled Topper aside; the sun had fallen past mid-day leaving the beach a golden orange as the tide had gone back out. Toppers hair matching the hot sand beneath him.

“I mean she’s still not great with them. And I don’t think anyone would be if constantly being followed everyday. But she’s open to sharing anything and everything with you today. She doesn’t mind doing her part and participating but she won’t admit how much she hates it.” He chuckles, running his fingers through his hair as he glances over at Sarah who was swinging back and forth with Wheezie, waiting for Topper to drive them home.

“Well actually, she messaged me this morning Top, but why me? You know. It’s why I’m more worried about it because it means that it HAS to be about Rafe no? Has she spoken to you, like, at all?” Sarah questions, moving her attention down to her bright blue gloves as she carefully slides her fingers in.

“No, nothing. I get what you’re saying though Sar, I wouldn’t know why else she’d wanna speak to you. I can call her if you’d like? But I don’t think she’d tell me because, you know, I’m friends with him ‘n all. Your like.. you don’t even talk to him.” He hands her a bag, keeping his under his arm to give his hands the freedom to slide his gloves on too.

“She did say she doesn’t know who else to talk to about it.” Sarah shrugs, agreeing with Toppers previous statement, running her gloved hand through her hair to push it out her face.

“Exactly! It’s probably something she doesn’t want going back to him. You’ll tell me though right? What she says.” Topper watches her, awaiting the response as if it was the most important thing to him.

“I mean yeah of course but why?” She laughs, frowning slightly as her eyes follow up to his.

“What do you mean why? Shes my best friend Sar.”

“I didn’t know you two were so close?” She looks down at her gloves, not fazed by it at all she just was genuinely surprised.

“Is that.. is that a problem?” Topper realised how bad it sounded, stopping in his tracks as he grabs ahold of Sarah’s arm.

“God no! Topper of course it isn’t. I just thought you two were just friends of Rafe.” She takes his hand in his that gripped her arm, quickly moving him forward down the path.

“Nah we grew up together Sar, I care about her. Just want to know Rafe isn’t being a dick to her.”

Sarah smiles, enjoying his thoughts towards someone other than her, which for him is quite rare; secretly happy about the fact someone genuinely cares about Bella, despite herself not exactly being the best ‘friend’ to her in the past.

“Yo, you look thirsty!” Kelce walks up to them, cutting the moment short as he shoves a bottle of yellow-coloured liquid of something or other into Toppers gloved hand. “Have some of that, baby!”

“Okay so what’ve we got here huh?” Topper opens the bottle as Kelce laughs, rubbing his hands together with a guilty smile plastered on his face.

Sarah goes over to Wheezie, pulling her in for a hug as she steals her sunglasses. “Hey!” Wheezie giggles, taking them back and slipping her arm into Sarah’s.

Topper takes a whiff of the bottle, immediately wincing, pulling back the drink to give him some space from the stench previously corrupting his nostrils. “Oh my god!” He laughs, raising his brows towards Kelce which caused him to chuckle, nodding slowly as he tilts his head towards the bottle, urging him to take a sip.

“Okay okay..” Topper mutters, lifting the bottle up to his lips as he tilts his head back, taking a huge mouthful and coughing as the liquid hits the back of his throat.

“Oh yeah! Thats how you do it baby.” Kelce laughs, clapping impressedly.

Topper chokes out, leaning over to pass Sarah the bottle, “Man.. Come on Sarah!”

“Yeah come on Sarah!” Kelce pipes up, egging her on.

She smells the drink, laughing as Topper continues to catch his breath, “What did you do to this??” She giggles.

“Yeah he is not playing around!” Topper laughs, pointing at the bottle with wide eyes.

Sarah pulls it up to her mouth, gagging at the flavour but not stopping it from dropping down her throat. Being cut short by the cup being yanked from her grasp. She struggles to keep it down whilst reaching forward towards Wheezie, trying her best to grab the cup from her before it reached her- too late.

“Woah woah woah!” Topper jumps forward as he watches Wheezie take a long sip.

“Mm- mm..” Sarah shakes her head, pulling the drink out her hands. Kelce just stood by and laughing, enjoying the show. “Since when did you start drinking??” Sarah asks, concern growing inside her as she watches Wheezie swallow the liquid without any struggle.

“Uhm..” Wheezie flicks her hair off her shoulder, wiping the excess off her chin, “Since today!” She shrugs away Sarah’s worry.

Sarah laughs, her eyes rolling towards the boy, “Great going Kelce!”

The moments cut off by the instructor coming around the corner, “You guys got it under control?” He makes his way up the sand hill.

The kids rush to hide the evidence of alcohol, Kelce stuffing it in the cooler whilst Topper distracts. “Yes sir! It’s looking good, sir!”

Kelce shuts the lid quickly, “Just clearing the stretch out!”

“Just hydrating!” Sarah smiles innocently, snapping the band of her gloves against her wrist.

“Almost finished!” Kelce rushed to his feet in time to look busy.

The man nods, smiling to them, with a thumbs up, “Great job! Keep it up!”

“Thank you!” Topper nods, pulling back on his pink gloves.

“That was a close one huh!” Kelce chuckles, smacking the blondes back before walking off to grab a litter picker.

“So Sarah whatre you doing here?” Ryan walks over, a cameraman following just behind as they step to the side to not get in the way.

“Oh hi!” She smiles softly, taking off her gloves to give the man her full attention. “I’m just picking up the litter that was left by the storm a few days ago. You know, the reason filming was pushed back!” She laughs, rolling her eyes at her own words, raking her fingers through her golden strands as she pulls them back into a hand-held pony, letting some air reach her neck.

“Ah yes! I do know trust me.” He laughs along with her. “Stupid Agatha.”

“Its nice that your volunteering! All of you.” He nods to Topper and Kelce just off the screen pulling a small breathy laugh from Sarah’s mouth.

“Yeah.. Toppers good with that stuff and Kelce likes to seem like he’s helping! You know so people like him more.” She giggles to herself, Kelce overhearing and giving her a dirty look from afar. She smiles sweetly, but contrasting with the use of her middle finger, flipping him off which causes him to laugh, biting back from saying anything whilst the cameras on her.

She smiles, knowing she’s protected, crossing her arms and looking back at the camera. “Was there anything else you wanted to ask?”

“Sarah..!!” A small voice whines through the mic, just off the screen. A hand pulls at Sarah’s and her eyes widen the second they land on her sister’s pale form. “I don’t feel good..”

“Uh.. okay okay! Hang on!” She grabs ahold of her, wrapping her arm around Wheezie’s waist as she looks up at the broad man, “Sorry can we talk again later? Thank you!” She doesn’t wait for an answer as Topper had already realised the situation. He tells Kelce to find his own way home before jogging over and hooking an arm around Wheezie’s waist aswell; securing her from both sides as they practically carry her to his car.

The car ride back to their estate was nothing short of a quiet drive. The wind grazing their skins as the song ‘summer nights’ from the movie Grease starts playing quietly in the background. Wheezie lay her head on the backseat of the car as her arm held tightly around her stomach.

Sarah’s eyes dart to Topper, the song bringing her back to one of their first dates, where they made pizza and watched Grease under the moonlight of her garden. She blushes, her cheeks pulling as a soft smile makes it way onto her face. “Summer loving had me a blast.. summer loving happened so fast..” she mutters a few of the lines to herself, elbow leant out the window as she watches the houses fly by.

Met a girl crazy for me..

Topper watches her a moment, smiling at the mere sound of her angelic voice.

Met a boy cute as can be..

Wheezies lips pull, eyes crossing between the two of them; having heard every detail about that night through and through, she knows how happy her sister is right at this very moment.

Summer days drifting away to oh oh the summer nights

“Oh well oh well oh well oh-“ Topper shouts, deepening his voice to match the singer, tapping his palm against the driving wheel to the beat of the song; attracting Sarah’s eyes quickly as she can’t help but smile, cheeks reddening.

They switch back and forth, singing their gendered lines whilst Wheezie’s stomach began to calm, distracted by the joy radiating from her sister and her boyfriend.

“I never really see them together because they’re always somewhere else, but when I do it’s normally really gross. But that was really cute. I didn’t think they had those nice moments you know. Like I thought it was all just the kissing and stuff but it’s nice that he makes her happy! I like him..” Wheezie nods, a big grin spread across her cheeks as her eyes brighten.

Wheezie gagged and choked before letting go into the toilet bowl. Sarah gathered all of her hair into a hand whilst the other rubbed against her back. “Oh god..” She grabs a damp towel, sitting beside her on the edge of the bathtub as Wheezie pulls herself up.

“What have we learnt?” Sarah flushes the toilet as Wheezie’s breathing deepens, she takes a moment, sitting on her knees.

“Never.. mix vodka, with Crystal Light” She sighs, nodding along.

Sarah smiles, “Very good-“ Wheezie heaves again, jumping over the toilet as another load comes up. Sarah pulls up her hair again quickly, trying not to watch through disgust; coughs and sighs leaving Wheezie’s mouth as she looks up at her with reddened glassy eyes.

“Please don’t tell dad..” She breathes, eyes droopy and skin pale. Her mouth sat open as she wiped her lip with the back of her hand.

Sarah’s brows raise, a smirk pulling at the corner of her lips, “I won’t..” Wheezie looks up at her, “On one condition.”

Wheezie sighs, knowing what she’s asked for already, sitting back against her feet as she looks up at her, “What’s that?” She flicks her eyes at her, tilting her head through an annoyed tone.

“You..” She smiles, running her hands along her legs, “You cover for me tonight, I’m seeing someone.”

“Who’s someone..?” She teases, poking at her knee.

“It’s no one.. do you promise not to tell?”

“Only if you tell me who the someone is!” She smirks, bouncing on her legs.

“It’s.. a friend! I can’t tell you more than that Wheeze okay? But, please promise me you won’t tell Topper or dad! Or Rafe..!”

“Why not Rafe?” Her head tilts, not seeing the problem with him that everybody seems to have.

“Because he’ll freak out! Can you just.. promise?” She sticks out her pinky, eyes glued onto Wheezie’s as she pleas for an answer.

Wheezie sighs, rolling her eyes before connecting their fingers, “Fine. I promise!” They kiss their hands to lock the promise before Wheezie sits up again, chucking herself over the bowl and Sarah reaches for her hair.

“I don’t get everyone’s issue with Rafe? He’s always so nice to me. And Bella! Oh my god have you seen him with Bella?” She giggles, her hands splayed out in the air as she watches Ryan laugh to himself.

“Yes yes we have they’re cute aren’t they.”

“Yep! And he’s so happy with her. Its why I don’t understand why dads always having a go at him and why Sarah makes him out like he’s horrible!”

This interview was recorded a day or two after the episode was filmed, so Bella had the chance to watch it back and give her opinions as we didn’t get much time after the day had finished with the rest of the family!

“Poor girl. She’s so isolated from the family they don’t tell her anything. I genuinely didn’t know how little her and Sarah speak I thought they were like best friends! I’m glad she doesn’t know about Rafe though! She looks up to him, I think it’s cute. I don’t want her view of him to change. Her poor little mind could believe anything anyone tells her. He’d be made out like a monster if Sarah opened her mouth. It’s why I’m glad she didn’t!”

Sarah takes Wheezie upstairs to bed before running off to the front door.

“Woah Wheezie why do you look so pale?” Rose stops the girls in the middle of the stairs, a glass of white wine sat perfectly in her palm.

“Uhm..” She looks up at Sarah who was holding her up, eyes wide as she waits for her to answer.

“Oh, she swallowed the sea water!” Sarah rushed, readjusting Wheezie’s arm around her neck.

“Oh honey that’s awful, are you taking her to bed?” Rose strokes her cheek, placing a kiss to her forehead.

“Mhm.. yeah.”

“Okay.. well I hope you feel better soon honey!” She presses another kiss to the girls head before walking past them down the steps, her heels clacking down each one.

They both take a deep breath, looking at one another before giggling and proceeding up the stairs to her room.

On the way to the door Sarah walks past the balcony, overhearing a conversation.

“Where’s Bella, Rafe?” Ward questions strictly, arms crossed and eyes locked onto Rafe’s, that were staring into his fathers, confused about his question as if the man was stupid.

“She’s working today. So probably at work?” He frowns at the man’s idiocy, scoffing under his breath.

“Well she’s not Rafe, she never showed. I got a phone call from her manager. It’s why I’m asking you where she is.” He states, rubbing his beard as he leans forward on his knees, shaking his head as he waits for his son’s response.

Rafe’s legs spread as his arms are removed from behind his head, meeting together in his lap as his eyes widen, “She- she’s not at work.. wh- what.. what do you mean she’s not at work, where is she??” His hand finds his hair, pushing it out of his eyes as they squint into his dad’s expression; not understanding why Ward isn’t panicking like he is. His hands interlink as his eyes dart around the area, not being able to focus now this new situation has taken over his mind.

“Shit..” Sarah mutters, checking her phone as the message from earlier reads the time, 9:46. She looks up at the current time, 3:17. “Fuck what did i do..?? I should’ve answered..”

“Rafe I’m going to ask you this once more, and once again only. Where is she?” Wards voice was stern, signifying he’s not someone to mess with at this moment. Genuine concern coating his tone, however; the irritation more of a protective thing than a pissed off thing.

“Why do you think this has anything to do with me??” His brows furrow, sitting back as he lifts a leg ontop the other. The interrogation causing a sweat to break out on his forehead which he quickly covers by shaking down his curtain bangs.

Ward takes a sudden breath, exhaling deeply as he shuts his eyes for a moment, biting his lip to stop himself from screaming; staying calm through the situation as best as he possibly can. “Because, Rafe!! She’s YOUR responsibility! Which means that it’s your responsibility to make sure she gets to work when she needs to. You’re supposed to pick her up from her house, drive her to work, make sure she gets in properly, then call me and tell me she’s there! But you didn’t do any of that Rafe did you?” His eyes shoot to his sons, a guilty look coating his face as he lists off the things he’s expected to do. “I don’t expect much from you son, you don’t even work for gods sakes. So enlighten me, how is this not your fault?”

Rafes mouth sat agape, eyes glued to Wards as he just sits a moment, before his brain comprehends what he asked. “She ain’t talking to me dad!” He pleas, looking for a little sympathy. “She told me to fuck off, I was just respecting her feelings!” His eyes bulge, his big blues now piercing into his father’s, knowing he’s in the wrong but also not exactly knowing why.

Wards brows furrow, eye twitching, “Why isn’t she talking to you?” You could hear the impatience growing the more he speaks, just wanting to know where his little girl is and Rafe playing around isn’t getting him any closer.

Rafe frowns, laughing unbelievably, “Why is that imp-“

“Because it is!!” Ward snaps, hand slamming against the table; both Sarah and Rafe jumping out their skin. Sarah peaks around the corner, having not seen what was going on and only hearing it. She watches Rafe’s eyes widen almost instantaneously, feeling a little bad as she’s never had it bad even if she’d done worse. Her brows frown as Rafe nods slowly, hand running over his eyes as his fingers meet the bridge of his nose. “What have you done?”

His eyes scrunch shut, shaking his head as his palm smacks himself; Sarah wincing and looking away, her occupying herself by biting her nails to distract herself from her brother’s guilt.

Rafe bites his cheek, looking up at Ward before reaching his limit; knowing he’d done wrong was punishment enough, but being asked to admit it was killing him. “This is bullshit..” He spits, teeth gritting together as he fidgets, hands rubbing against his bare thighs over and over; the guilt building up quicker the longer he sits on it.

“I’m not afraid to move you to the cut Rafe! Your behaviour recently has been unacceptable and now you’re taking it out on Bella too? She’s more worthy of being a Kook than you ever will be!! Now-“

Rafe rips himself from the couch, palms squeezing against his eyes before ripping them away too. He stares at Ward, wanting to let everything he’s thinking out, wanting to scream in his face and tell him how he’s really feeling, how bad he messed up. But nothing comes out and his thoughts were reasoned with, “Go. Find. Her. Now!!!” Ward shouts, his finger shooting to the door as he pushes past his son’s struggling composure.

Sarah’s body jolts once again, squeezing her eyes shut at the loud noise; hands covering her own ears.

Rafe merely nods, chewing on his nail as he turns inside, walking away with his head hung low and hands shoved into his pockets.

Sarah pulls her hands away as the view of her brother meant the conversation was done. As she noticed him, he noticed her. She prepared herself for another dig, but instead all she got was, “I’m not in the mood for your opinion, Sarah.” He gravels quietly, turning back to his previous path out the door.

She frowns once again, opening her mouth to call for him before getting blocked by the sound of her father getting up. Before she was seen she bolted for the door, shutting it quietly and sneaking off out the gate.

“So Sarah since we haven’t had much time to talk the last few days, can we now ask you a few things?”

“Uhm yeah sure!” She sits down on the kitchen stool, placing her bottle of water if front of her whilst she fiddles with the cap. Ryan’s cameraman sets up a better camera shot just opposite her.

“So what kind of things do you do when you’re not volunteering? Is it just seeing Topper or..?”

“Mm..” She frowns, looking up at him with a gentle smile as her head shakes ‘no’. “Toppers nearly always with Rafe, it’s why when he is here to see me I give him all my attention. But when I don’t have plans, I like to go for bike rides! Or take Wheezie out, things like that! I’m not much of a big people person, I don’t have many friends to go out with often.”

“Aren’t there many parties you can slide into or are they not your thing?” Ryan leans his elbows against the marble countertop, watching her eyes as he had every intention to listen to her.

“Well there’s this party at the end of the week we’re all going to!” Her face brightens as she lets a smile tug at her lips.

“Your family?”

“Ohh no no! Sorry.” She laughs, “Me, Rafe, Topper etcetera.” She counts on her fingers, dragging out the names as if it were even a hard thought to come up with.

“Ohhh okay! Do you and Rafe get along then? I never seemed to pick up that vibe from you two, that you were very close.”

She shakes her head, a genuine laugh falling from her mouth, “God no! Me and Rafe don’t talk, but if I want to see Topper more than once a week then I have to put up with him.” She breathes, still laughing quietly as her finger circles the rim of her bottle.

“Have you always been distant?”

“Yeah pretty much.. it’s a shame though, I feel like if we gave each other the chance when we were younger, maybe there would’ve been something more now! But there’s no point getting upset over it, what’s done is done.” She shrugs off her previous statement quicker than Ryan had hoped, wanting to ask about it more but felt as though it was probably the wrong place and time. Her smile plastered across her face making it harder to believe she’s lying.

“Mm..” He nods along agreeingly, not really knowing where to take the conversation from here. “Well.. what about Bella?” His eyebrows raise, hand lifting to her as more hope beamed from this conversation starter than the last. “What happened between you two?”

“Umm..” She laughs nervously, stuttering as her focus moves down to her water bottle. She shrugs along with her words, “It’s my fault if I’m being honest! I let everything get to my head! We were best friends, like she was my sister kind of best friend, you know.. I screwed it up when I believed something her brother told me and ever since then I just haven’t been able to keep friends for long!” She sounded almost disappointed with herself, her voice low and hard to make out yet it didn’t stop Ryan from keeping the conversation going.

“What did he say? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I do kind of mind. I don’t want to say. But like I know it’s not true, I just.. still walked away.”

“Why? If you knew it wasn’t true why didn’t you bring it up to her or even just stay?” He kept his voice calm, soft and a little needy as he wanted the details but also wanted to not upset her by asking too much.

She sighs, “Because! I was scared that maybe down the line it would become true. And it would hurt more if I believed it’d never happen. So I just let it be a thing and I blocked her.”

“Does she know why you stopped talking to her?”

Sarah shakes her head, eyes not lifting from her bottle as she takes a deep breath, “Sorry can I go?” She doesn’t even wait for his response as she lifts herself from the stool and excuses herself to the bathroom; rubbing her eyes and blinking away her thoughts on the way.

The sun had set, sitting peacefully against the lands edge, the water still and the air cool. The quiet was broken by a few laughs and giggles.

“Wait are you serious? Rafe actually thought you’d believe that shit?” A tanned, dark-ish haired boy questioned, spread out on a hammock as his large hand came up to flick his hair out of his eyes.

“Yep! So I told him to leave me alone. God John B I need to get away from everyone.” The brunettes eyes widen, a lightbulb flicking on above her head as she leans forward, grabbing ahold of the boys thigh tightly, “Can I live here? With you??” She squeals excitedly, the thought actually becoming a want.

“Your brother would KILL me Bells! But you’d know I’d say yes if I could..!” He speaks softly, poking her nose with a gentle smile.

“No because imagine all the shit we’d get up to! I could finally be a Pogue again, and not have to worry about being ‘Little Miss Perfect’ all the time.” She rolls her eyes, leaning back against her arms.

“Hang on what’s that supposed to mean?” His brows furrow, a slight playfulness to his voice as he raises a finger.

She giggles at his reaction, rocking his leg back and forth with her hand, “You know I didn’t mean it..”

He squints his eyes, unbelieving of her words causing another soft laugh to grace her tongue, “Yeah okay maybe I did mean it. But hey I meant it in a good way! You get to do whatever you want! I’m stuck working a 9 to 5 job and have to look after my older brother all day every day! It’s so unfair!!” She whines, crossing her arms against her chest as she slumps back in the hammock, causing it to sway slightly.

“Okay.. I don’t mean to burst your bubble or anything but.. did you do EITHER of those things today?”

Her eyes shoot to his, piercing through him. She looked as though she wanted to murder him, which in his mind was completely not surprising in the slightest if it were true.

He chuckled, a smirk tugging at his lips as his brow raised, “I meant it.” He stated proudly, owning up to his words unlike her in the moment just before.

“Right!” She spits playfully, jabbing her foot into the crook of his waist which made his body jolt and a throaty groan fell from his mouth.

He plays it off as best he could, smirking as he squints at her again, licking his lips as a small devilish laugh corrupts his mouth, “Do that.. one more time.” He lifts a finger to gesture the number.

Her cheeks redden, a soft but fearful smile taking her lips as she giggles, “‘Kay!” She bubbles, kicking him in the side again but this time he’d prepared; tensing against her foot before grabbing ahold of her ankle and dragging her along the hammock so her face was now by his waist; legs in the air, leant against the tree behind him.

“Jesus..” She chokes, hand meeting her back as she slowly rubbed it whilst trying her best not to flinch. “You gave me hammock burn dickhead!!” She flicks his temple earning her a jab in the stomach.

Their eyes lock onto one another’s, both with a look of hatred. A moment of deathening silence falls before it’s interrupted by their sudden snickers. Their laughs almost silent as they were gripping onto their stomachs, Bella sitting up and grabbing onto the boys shoulder for support.

They both take a deep breath before one look at each other caused another outburst. Whilst they had their little moment, a small blonde haired girl joined the frame, slowly walking closer to the two as she hesitated her movements. “Umm hi uh-“

Her words shocked Bella, causing her to jump and almost lose her balance on the hammock, John b’s hand quickly finding her waist to pull her back up, his eyes darting past her frame to be met with another girl around the same age.

“Sarah?” Bella finally calms down, hooking her legs over the edge of the hammock as her expression contorts, “What, what’re you doing here?” Her eyes find John B’s as Sarah hesitated to speak. John B smiled slightly, getting the point across that this was a planned thing. “Oh..” Bella hops off the hammock, brushing off her shorts as she turns back to see John B once more, “Sorry I didn’t realise you had plans. I.. I’ll go!” She stutters awkwardly.

“Bells I’m sorry I should’ve-“

“No no don’t apologise! I should’ve checked beforehand!” She stops a moment, giggling after realising the situation, leaning forward ever so slightly so Sarah wouldn’t hear, “Have fun lover boy..” She winks, skipping past Sarah. He laughs, shaking his head as he rakes his hand through his hair.

“Bella?” Sarah calls, twiddling her fingers anxiously as her gaze is met by the other girls.

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah of course I am! Dont worry about me, you two have fun!” She smiles, waving Sarah away but it not working as Sarah steps closer.

“No Bella! I mean the text. I didn’t answer because-“

“Hey don’t worry okay? I understand you had an episode to film it was stupid of me-“

“No! It wasn’t. It really wasn’t, I’m sorry for not answering! What’s going on? Is it Rafe?”

“Uh yeah how’d you-“

“He’s being an asshole.”

“Ah!” Bella nods, “Got it.” Her and Sarah share a moment of gentle laughter, before the air grew tense again.

“What did he do?” She questions softly.

“Um..” Bella scratches the back of her neck, brows dipping, “He just.. I don’t know how to explain it!”

“It’s okay take your time!”

Bella pauses a minute, smiling at her ex-best friend’s gentle nature despite everything that happened between them. “Thank you.. um.. he just. He seems to have changed. Like he acts as if being friends with me has suddenly become a chore. Callum told me last night that Rafe said he doesn’t care about me and that he’s just doing what Ward told him to, to look after me. And I don’t normally believe Callum but when it comes to me and Rafe he’s never lied. There’s no reason for him to lie now, is there?”

“Well I mean.. Ward did tell him today that your his responsibility, but I do genuinely think he cares Bells. I mean if he didn’t, would he be going around slamming cupboards and screaming at everything living or not?”

She snorts, knowing that’s exactly the type of thing Rafe would be doing when he’s pissed, “Okay maybe a little..”

“Yeah just a tiny bit.” Sarah laughs.

Bella smiles, eyes glassing over slowly, “Thank you Sar. It means a lot.” She nods.

Sarah breaks into a smile, stepping close enough to reach out her arms for a hug. Bella frowns, waiting a second before smiling again softly, pulling her in. Their heads resting against one another’s. “I’m sorry he’s being like this..” Sarah whispers against her ear, pulling away to look at her properly, “Even I was worried about you and that’s when you know he’s being a dick.”

Bella giggles, nodding along, “Yeah see someone gets it!” They watch each other a moment, swaying slowly before Bella cuts the awkwardness, “Well thank you again, it was nice to be able to get some sort of answer. And I’m glad I’m not just overreacting!”

“Of course bells! And no you’re not, he’s been weird for a while. I told topper that this morning so it’s definitely not just you!” She laughs, tapping her hand reassuringly.

“Okay.. good!” Bella reciprocates the motion, them both sharing one last smile before John B coughs, “Oh right! Yeah sorry.” She laughs, nodding to him and mouthing another ‘sorry’ before walking away. She turns back once more to grin a, “Have fun lovebirds!” before leaving for good.

Sarah looks over at John B, not hesitating to go over and help herself onto the empty spot in the hammock, with the help of the boys hand pulling her up. She sits there a moment, watching his eyes, “Hi.” She blushes.

He chuckles breathily, tapping her leg softly, “Hey.”

She leans forward, placing a hand on his cheek as she presses a gentle kiss to his other. “Hi..” Her cheeks redden, her face sitting mere cm’s from his.

He grins, his hand finding her neck as he pushes her head back against his, lips finding each others for a slow deep kiss. Once he pulls away he pecks her nose, “Hey..”

She bites her lip, grazing her thumb over it as she lays back, them both watching the others eyes in a moment of silence.

The brunette sighs, pushing open the front door to her home as her shoulders fall. Taking a deep breath, she shuts the door quietly, walking through the dark room; trying her hardest to avoid her brother’s sight that was focused on the loud tv which played the movie ‘Baywatch’. Him and his friends drooling over the poor girls’ bodies.

She reaches for her bedroom door, “Where did you go?” Her brother’s voice cuts the tension condescendingly his eyes not leaving the screen.

Bella bites her lip, stepping backwards as she turns slowly, gripping her keys to her palm tightly. “Out.”

“You weren’t at work today.”

“Uhm.. mhm.” She nods fearfully, not knowing how he got that information and not being brave enough to ask and find out.

“Why? What was more important?” He spreads his legs, resting his arms on the back of the couch as he finishes off his can of beer before chucking it to the floor for Bella to clean up later.

The boys all kept their eyes on the tv because any movement from them would make the situation worse. Except for Topper who took a glance at Bella. His brow dipping when he notices her lip wobbling; her knowing that even if she told the truth, Callum wouldn’t believe her. “Um.. I-”

“She was with me and Sarah!” Topper spills quickly, snatching everyone’s attention instantly. Bella shakes her head at him but it was too late.

“Is that right?” Callum’s attention finally shifts, turning back to face Bella as he raises his brows.

“Yeah she-“

“I didn’t ask you.” He spits at Topper, eyes not taking away from Bella.

“Bella tell me the truth. Im just making sure you weren’t putting yourself in danger or anything.” She smiles, relaxing slowly at his words. Feeling more comfortable now he’s being caring again. “Wanna make sure no Pogues were talking to you today.” He reassures, but little did he know it did the exact opposite.

Her heart rate picks up as her breathing deepens, her inhales becoming longer and harder to do. She takes the biggest breath she could, nodding to herself as a form of comfort. “I.. I was taking a walk around the island. Just wanted to clear my head. I’m sorry I didn’t go into work today I just felt that if I did I wouldn’t have gotten anything done.” It wasn’t a complete lie, she did go round the island for a few hours.

“Your anxiety playing up again?” The concern in his voice warming her slightly, making her feel less stressed in the current situation.

“Yeah..” She agrees embarrassedly, keeping her eyes anywhere but on the others as it’s not something she brings up to people.

He nods, his thumb running along his nose, “So how was your chat with John B?”

The boys look up at her, her eyes widen as her fists clasp together tightly, “W- what?” She laughs nervously, trying to push it off.

He scoffs standing up which earns him Rafes attention. His eyes shooting up to him as he grips tightly to the back of the couch, ready to jump in if necessary. “You think I wouldn’t find out?” Callum tilts his head, his eyes dark as he steps closer to Bella, sucking in a breath as she struggles to find her tongue.

“I.. I-“

“Cmon Bells, you can’t keep nothing from me princess.” He grazes her cheek, a sweet but venomous smile stuck on his face like a mask, “He causing trouble?” He frowns, his voice that sarcastic caring tone that she despises.

“No..” She grumbles, frowning as if his question was obvious.

“What you talk about?” Callum watches her eyes that were glued to his, her fear pulling a smile onto his disgusting angelic face.

“Nothing..” Her eyes glistened, lashes batting to push away the evident tears. Not realising her holding her own breath, she releases.

His brows raise, eyes lightening as he chuckles deeply, “So you sat together in silence? Sounds fun.” He gives her a smile, a smile she would never believe but anyone else would.

She ignores his snarky remarks, her eyes shutting as she fakes a yawn, “Can I go to bed?”

His hands find her shoulders, gripping her skin so hard his nails were leaving indents, “Why’d you not stay?”

She frowns, shrugging the best she could under his grip, “Because why would I?”

He lets go, shrugging, realising she meant the words she said, “Just wondering.” He smiles genuinely, “Glad you’re here.” He taps her hand, forgetting everything that just happened.

She rolls her eyes, pulling away as she turns back around to head off to her room. Callum sits himself back on the couch, helping himself to another can as the little release of air fills the silence.

“Bella?” Her name cuts through the room, the blonde boy innocently calling for her knowing he shouldn’t but couldn’t help himself.

“Mhm..” She sucks in a breath, her head facing the boy again as she rubs her eyes, not to push away her tiredness but to hide the tear that had formed in the corner.

He smiled guiltily, “Sarah find you?” Keeping his sentences short to push the conversation on quickly.

It took a minute for Bella to comprehend, not knowing exactly how much her brother and the others knew about her day, “Huh?”

He frowns, “Sarah! She said she was gonna call you or something.”

She bites her cheek, quickly nodding, “Oh! Um yeah. She uh.. she..” Bella struggled to find a way to word their conversation, taking far too long.

Toppers brows furrow, his worry for her only growing as she stopped mid-sentence. “You okay?”

Her eye’s quickly refocus, darting to his, “Mhm yeah sorry. She just spoke to me actually.”

Rafe’s eyebrows raise, a smirk tugging at his lip, “Did you not just come from John B’s?”

“Yeah so?” Bella spits, eyes glassing over again at her best friend’s need to bring her down all of a sudden as if she was the problem.

Toppers eyes widen at the realisation of Rafe’s words, standing up suddenly as he shoots Bella a glare, “Is Sarah with that freak again??”

She panics, “What?? No! I-” She cant lie to save her life meaning the boys all saw right through, realising exactly what’s going on. They all remove themselves from the couch.

“Oh that shitty little fucker!” Callum snapped, reaching for the door and leaving, letting it slam loudly behind him with a bang which caused Bella to shriek.

“Callum don’t!!” She cries, tears streaming down her face as she runs to the door, pulling it open and watching her brother pull on his helmet.

Topper shoves past her, followed by Kelce. Her cheeks soggy and eyes puffy; the realisation finally sinking in of what she’s just done to all her friendships in this one moment.

She takes a deep breath, her fingers coming up to her mouth as she started nibbling at her finger nails.

Rafe came up behind her, placing his hand against her shoulder, causing her to again, flinch before calming as she sees it was only him. “Please get off me..” she pushes his hand off herself, walking past him back to her room.

“Can we please just talk?” Rafe pleads, eyes welling as he reaches for her again.

She stops, looking back at him with a dip in her brow, “No, I don’t want to talk to you!” She forces, her tone matter-of-factly. Her words cause Rafe to choke, “Rafe you just sat there and watched him speak to me like that. You always do! It’s like you don’t care anymore Rafe. Like being friends with me is a chore that you’d rather never do!” She explains, brows furrowed as another tear falls from her hazel eyes, meeting his with no emotion but pure distrust as she inhales sharply, “I’m giving you space.. can you not just appreciate that?” She asks softer now, knowing shouting at Rafe is going to get her nowhere, and she’d never want to purposefully raise her voice at him anyways.

“Rafe!!! We’re going come on man!!!” One of the boys shouts through the door, the two of them both glancing back.

He doesn’t budge, looking down at Bella with his watery blues, waiting for maybe something more from her. Hoping she’d finally crack and come back to him. She sighs, stepping closer before running outside and joining Topper beside his bike.

“I’m so sorry..” She mutters, gripping onto his shirt, breathing deeply again to stop herself from falling apart.

“Hey don’t be okay..? Just glad you’re okay..” He smiles, reassuring her as he pats her hand that rest against his chest.

She stares at him a little longer, mouth agape as if she were going to speak, “You okay?”

She nods, closing her mouth before opening it again, patting down his shirt that she only just scrunched up, “Just.. please don’t mention me! I mean I can’t- I-“

“Hey sh shh..” He takes ahold of her hands, pulling them up to his chest to hold them tighter, “It’s fine alright. I’m just gonna speak to Sarah. I don’t need to bring you into it all yeah? But then you’re gonna tell me what’s going on with you okay..?” He whispers, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers, placing a gentle kiss to her fists.

She smiles at his soft touch, her cheeks blushing without noticing, as she nods, “Okay..” He pulls her head into him to place another kiss to her skin before pulling on his helmet.

She goes back inside before pausing at the entrance. Looking right into the camera she snarls, “You’ve put cameras here too??” She looks around, eyes meeting every lens in the room, “When..??” She scowls, her brows knitting together through frustration before turning back around on her heel and heading for the door.

She jogs down to Topper and quickly hooks her leg over his bike, hands sat ontop his shoulders.

“Bells you sure?” He shouts through his helmet and she signals a thumbs up as she wraps her arms under his shoulders tightly.

Rafe watched a moment, frowning and shoving his tongue to his cheek. She always rides on my bike.. refuses to ride on anyone else’s, I’m the only one she trusts to ride with. So this was a stab right in his heart. He shoves his helmet on, waiting for Callum’s signal before they all road off down to the Cut. It wasn’t the longest ride as Bella and Callum already live on the edge of Figure Eight.

“Wheres your boyfriend?” John B grumbles, crossing his arms as he watches her eyes dip.

“I don’t know.” She frowns, “Does it matter? I’m thinking of breaking up with him!”

John B smirks, forgetting to respond as his eyes widen, just focusing on her features with a slight a blush to his skin.

She giggles, “Is that.. is that okay?” She smiles, running her hands over her thighs nervously.

“Uh yeah yeah of course! I mean.. if you did, you know, break up. What would that.. what would that-“

“Mean for us?” She interrupts softly, her cheeks reddening.

“Yeah..” He nods slowly, watching her lips curl into a smile.

“Well-“ “Sarah!!!!” A deep gravelly voice pierces through the air, singing almost, her eyes widening immediately.

“My brother..” She jumps off the hammock whilst John B tries to ‘act cool’, resting his head against his hands and whistling softly.

Rafe, Callum, Kelce and Topper all rode in to the yard. Sarah’s eyes not shifting from her brother as he climbs off his bike. John B turns to watch before his eyes catch onto something. “Bella??” His brows furrow as he pulls himself off the hammock, “What the hell are you doing?”

“I..”

“This isn’t about her, asshole. This is about you and your little friend!” Callum spits, pointing at the two of them.

Topper steps forward, pushing Callum back gently, “Sarah you said-“

“I know what I said Topper! And I’m sorry but.. we’re over.” She states softly, going to reach for his hand but he pulls away.

“That Pogue’s corrupting your mind Sar! He ain’t good for you. Just come home and we can sleep it off yeah?”

“No Topper! I mean it-“

“Sarah this is not happening!” Rafe walks over his eyes shooting to the younger boy, “What the fuck did I say about her and Bella huh? You don’t get it do you?? You need to be shown I’m serious huh?? You need me to teach you a lesson yeah?”

“Rafe don’t..” Sarah spits.

He ignores her, stepping closer and John B chuckles, preparing his fists.

“Rafe!!”

The small voice froze him, hitting himself in the head as he turns around to be met with the shorter girl. “Don’t do it.. please.”

“Yeah well I told you not to leave me and, Oh! People don’t listen do they sweetheart.” He laughs, stroking her chin.

“Bella I trusted you.” John B whines, the words alone causing Bella to wince. Her eyes immediately begin to pool as she looks up at him. “John B I-“

“Wait this was you?” Sarah comes over, her eyes darkened at the girl, her voice full of frustration.

“No I- well-“

“I thought you knew not to speak about this. You promised!”

“I know!!!” She cries, struggling for air as her eyes dart between the two, “Look I’m sorry!! I.. I don’t understand what you want me to do!”

“How about don’t get involved?” John B suggests hatefully, his eyes looking down on her with pure betrayal causing her heart to ache.

“I didn’t! I’m the one who told you not to do it!”

“But didn’t you get all smitten like a minute later and tell me to go for it if I could?”

She moans, biting her lip as she struggles to find her breath, tears streaming down her cheeks yet again.

“What??” Topper grabs ahold of her arm, pulling her attention to him as his brows furrow.

She holds her chest, “No!! I.. I never said that! I- I was trying to do the right thing okay??” She pulls away from Toppers grip, stepping back slightly as her being surrounded by bodies was making this feeling worse.

“Yeah well you failed didn’t you!”

Sarah frowns, grabbing John B’s hand, “John B stop..??” She tries to calm the situation, somehow being the only one to notice Bella’s struggle. Or being the only one to care for that matter.

Everyone’s eyes lock onto Bella, all shouting and screaming at her as her mind becomes a fog. She raises her hands to her ears to block out the overwhelming noise as her eyes squeeze shut in pain. All the voices mixed into one pool of words in her head, unable to make out who was who in her current state.

“We can’t trust you!!”

“You promised!!!”

“Bella who even are you?”

“I thought we were friends??”

It only gets louder, her hands now useless to blocking the noise; she rips her hands from her ears, throwing a look to everyone around her, their eyes all watching her which causes a lump to form at the back of her throat. “Okay!!! Okay, I get it okay?? I fucked up!!!” She whines through a croaky wobbly mess of a voice, “But I don’t- I.. what am I supposed to do?? Your all my-“

“Pick a side.” Her brother interjects plainly, his brows raising at his suggestion.

Bella frowns, scoffing at his words as she clears her throat, “What??”

Rafe watches her a moment, watching the way her eyes sparkled in the moonlight as a tear let its way down to her chin. He huffed, going over to Callum and grabbing ahold of his shirt, trying his damn hardest to reason with him, knowing his best friend would never pick in a million years.

Callum shoves Rafe off him, stepping closer to his sister as he plasters on a smile, the same smile from earlier, “I said. Pick. A. Side. It’s either us.” He points at himself, in a condescending manner. “Or them!” His fingers follows to the couple beside the trees, his eyes not shifting from his sister’s puffy ones. “It’s one or the other I’m afraid, you’re not a little princess who gets to have everything she wants.” He spits, standing over her with his hands shoved into his pockets. A grin forming along his face, enjoying every moment of this situation he’s created.

“Wait Callum??” John B finally realised the severity of the situation, feeling his heart hurt for her now he knows what’s really happening. To Callum it was never about him and Sarah. It was about Bella. It’s always about Bella. At this point John B didn’t care for the argument, all he wanted was Sarah.

Bella’s eyes search the area for comfort, or someone to reason with him or anything. Everyone staring at her blankly gave her the answer she needed as she bats her lashes and sucks in a deep breath. “I don’t care..” She starts, her voice deep and stern, eyes piercing through Callum’s, actually causing a slight sweat on his forehead, “..what side I’m on, as long as. You’re not on it!!” She spits in his face, shoving past him and going down the path to go home. Her facade quickly slipping away as her lips tremble, eyes squinting through tears.

Callum’s face tenses, fists scrunching as he chuckles, “Oh you fucking-“ Rafe steps in the way quickly, shoving him back slightly with a push on his chest. Kelce grabs ahold of his waist, holding him back from being able to move. All the boys knowing exactly what could happen if they let go. “YOU BITCH!!!” He screams, “I’m trying to protect you why don’t you fucking understand!!!!” He screeches through the dark yard, trying his best to wriggle free from the boys’ grips. Rafe turns his head to see Bella, heart physically hurting for her as he watches her struggle to find her breath, wiping her tears and walking away without anyone to help. He shoves his fingers into his eyes to hold back the tears.

Topper doesn’t even hesitate to run after her, pulling her in to his chest even despite her fight to push him away. He holds her tightly, stroking her head as he places multiple kisses to her temple, hushing her as she let go against his chest.

Everyone stood back and watched the situation die down as Topper slides his hand into Bella’s, taking her home and leaving his bike unattended.

“Why don’t you go talk to her? You just stood there and watched her cry! You never do that!!” Kelce states, all the boys sat around the living room, drinking in the dark whilst they review what just happened.

Kelce sat on the couch beside Rafe who had his legs splayed out and head against the arm rest, beer in his hand that hung off the edge of the seat. “Shut up..” He mumbles, shutting his eyes as his free hand squeezes the bridge of his nose.

Topper frowns, sitting up as he crosses his legs on the cushion under him, “No Rafe he’s right! We left her be because we thought you’d go and comfort her. Has she done something to you?”

His words cause Rafe to curse under his breath, sighing as he leans his head further back, dropping his hand to his lap, “No course not, she’s an angel..”

Kelce and Topper exchange a look, “Then what’s the problem??” Kelce argues, neither of the boys understanding why he’s being like this when his best friend needs him most.

He contradicts their thought, “She don’t need me anymore..” He gravels, swallowing down his beer in one to cover the obvious thoughts that he’s lying; not wanting to own up to the multiple mistakes he’s piling up.

“The biggest pile of bullshit Rafe!!!” Topper exclaims, reading straight through his lies (as would anyone if they knew Bella and Rafe) “She needs you more than you’ll ever know!! You’re just being a dick to her right now..” He sighs, running a finger along the rim of his bottle.

Kelce nods along, his eyes on Rafe as he raises a brow, “For no reason, may we say.” Him and Topper laugh at Rafe’s groan of a response.

He winces at their reaction, lifting his head as he furrows his brows, “For fucks sakes look I know her better than either of you ever will okay?-”

“Bullshit but okay..” Kelce laughs to Topper, rolling his eyes as he finishes off his beer.

He looks back at Rafe to see his eyes glued on him, “What was that?” He squints through the darkness, biting his cheek.

“N- nothing!” He chokes, burying his face in a slice of pizza.

Rafe sighs, resting back on the arm of the couch, his hand finding the back of his head as he fiddles with a strand of his hair, “I know when she’s done with me..” He sulks, earning him a groan and an eye roll from both his friends.

“Jesus stop projecting!!!” Sarah steps into the room, swinging her arms about at his stupid words. “You fucked up Rafe! And you hate yourself for it!! It’s so obvious, it hurts!!” She whines, causing Rafe to grunt in response to her ‘accusations’. “Go talk to her!” She rests her hands on the back of the couch beside his body, walking into the shot of the camera.

His brows dip into his eyes, throwing an arm over them, “Fuck off Sarah.. you literally cheated on my best friend. Why should I-“

“He did it first??” She utters, offence gleaming off her face as she frowns.

Rafe’s eyes shoot from her to his friend, sitting up quickly and furrowing his eyebrows, “What??” He watches Topper, his eyes widening as he avoids eye contact with the both of them.

“Mhm..” Sarah crosses her arms, a proud smile coating her face, “My friend Layla told me yesterday they hooked up- well my ex-friend. She said it’s because I was ‘taking too long’. So..” She shrugs, “I thought we were done!” She didn’t seem too bothered for someone who just found out their partner cheated on them.

Rafe’s expression contorts, “What the fuck bro??” He expresses, “You cheating on my sister for??”

Sarah watches in shock, a small smile tugging at her lip. “Bro I’ve never spoken to Layla before?? She’s lying Sar!!”

She crosses her arms over her chest, brows raising as she tilts her head slightly, “Prove it.”

“I-“

“I wanna go back to this Bella thing! You two clearly don’t care enough about this, just break up and move on!” Kelce sighs, slumping into the couch cushions as he drinks his beer.

Rafe grumbles, lifting himself from the couch as he runs his fingers through his bangs, “Nah I’m going to bed!”

The remaining three giggle to one another; Sarah joining Topper on the one seater despite the previous tensions.

Kelce groans as he watches them snuggle into one another as if nothing ever happened, shaking his head before grabbing another bottle and a slice of pizza.

“Life doesn’t stop when the cameras are on. And I’m sorry for any inconvenience I’ve made but I’m not putting my problems on hold just because you’re filming. If anything you should be putting on hold for me. But it’s reality tv. So neither of that happens and you unfortunately get to see it all.” Bella shrugs, forcing a smile through her glassy eyes.

Thank you Bella for that little nugget to end the episode with. Sorry we didn’t get much of a chance to pull anyone aside this episode, it was a drama-packed day. But maybe on the next one!

Thank you for watching and we’ll see you again soon to join Rafe and the others, let’s see if he can resolve this before the end of the episode shall we.

Next Episode Here

Thank you for being patient, I’m not sure about this one but thank you nonetheless for reading! Next one should come out quicker I promise!!

Masterlist

Taglist: @viawritesstuff @mymelodylvr @rafeinterlude @cerya @aariahnaa @42angelgirl @b1mb0slvt

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violetsareblue-selfships · 2 months ago

Text

Their Return

F/O: Caitlyn, Vi (Platonic for now) | Word Count: 1356 //takes place in like the first half of episode 8 (for those who've seen arcane ^^) but yeah (we're getting to like scene rewrites though that's not all this is ^^) anyways, i hope you enjoy it! <3

The initial sound of boots hitting the polished floor of Caitlyn's bedroom isn't enough to wake April. Not quite. She grumbles softly and rolls over, but her body stays at rest.

Caitlyn smiles briefly as she sees the messy hair peeking out of the covers. It's no surprise to her that she'd end up stealing her bed again while the two of them were gone.

She and Vi barely have a second to breathe before the door crashes open, the sound forcefully tugging April from her slumber. Her tired mind is too addled to keep up and by the time she registers what's going on, Caitlyn's father is tugging Caitlyn into a hug.

"Another stray, Caitlyn?" Her mother says, eliciting a memory that has April snorting softly behind her hand. Still, she says nothing as Caitlyn introduces Vi and then goes off with her parents for a private talk.

"Hey, Vi," April murmurs, sitting up a little straighter.

The sound of her voice breaks Vi out of her thoughts and she turns around, her eyes widening as she spots the map laid out in front of Caitlyn's bed. "…Hey. Mind if I..?" She gestures at the bed, sitting down when April shakes her head.

"Thank you," April says after a moment of silence, reaching out to lightly pat Vi on the shoulder.

"…for?"

"You got her back safe, didn't you?" April says softly. She can see the blood staining the wraps on Vi's hand and on her shirt. Something clearly went down, and sure, Caitlyn was injured enough to need Vi's assistance walking, but at least she's alive.

"…Yeah." Vi turns to look at her, leaning back on one of her hands. The action reveals the extent of red staining her shirt to the other woman's gaze.

"What happened?" She asks, reaching a hand out as if to touch her before withdrawing it.

"Got in a fight. Cupcake rescued me." Vi shrugs. "I'm fine now." She lifts the shirt enough to show the skin underneath, which bears no resemblance to how cut up it had been.

April nods, the concern leaving a little. "Cupcake?" She asks, her lips quirking up. Honestly, she should be annoyed, or jealous even, of someone giving her girlfriend such a cute nickname. But strangely, she isn't. She even finds it cute.

Vi's eyes widen, a hint of worry flickering through them. "I meant Caitlyn. Sorry, I know she's your, uh…"

April snickers at the expression on her face, cutting her off. "It's fine. Honestly, it's kinda cute. She is sweet like one, isn't she?"

Vi blinks at her before grinning at her. "Yeah, she is." She exhales with relief that April's not upset with her, and she stretches out on the bed, keeping her eyes toward the door. "So, what was with that stray comment earlier? You snorted."

April giggles at the reminder. "Oh, her mother just said something similar to that when she first met me. We were so young then… I got lost exploring the city, and Cait found me. We've been friends ever since," She says with a shrug.

"Mm." Vi smiles at the cute image that brings to mind. Somehow, it doesn't surprise her that they've known each other for so long. She tries not to feel jealous of that fact, of them having a normal childhood together where they weren't in danger.

The door opens before they have the chance to talk further. "We'll present our case to the council tonight," Caitlyn murmurs, seeming a bit shocked. April's eyes widen, surprised that her mother agreed to arrange that for them. Even if she's out of the loop a bit, it's a little unexpected.

She starts walking to the bed and Vi's eyes drop back to the map in front of her. "You did all this yourself?" She asks. "Without even going down there?"

April smiles at the awe in her voice, pride in her girlfriend's skills filling her heart. Caitlyn comes to sit on the bed, Vi rolling to the side to make room for her. "And I thought Powder could get obsessed…"

The question settles on the tip of her tongue, but April stays quiet. It's good that she does or she would've spoken over Caitlyn.

"What happened to her… it's not your fault." Caitlyn turns to look at Vi. April's eyes follow hers as much as she wants to keep staring at her. Sue her, it's been two days without her girlfriend. She's missed her.

Caitlyn lays down as well, her head resting on April's thighs. April moves a hand to brush a piece of hair out of her face. She lays back too, leaving all three of them staring at the canopy above Caitlyn's bed.

"When my parents were still alive, me and Powder used to share a bed like this, 'cept, maybe, half the size," Vi murmurs. "We played a game where we pretended to be bigger and bigger monsters."

As she speaks, Caitlyn turns a little so she can see her face. That look of fondness in her eyes should bother April, but as her eyes also land on Vi, seeing the almost fond reminiscence there as she keeps talking, she can't bring herself to mind.

She's always assumed that she would get jealous if this would happen. She's not blind. Caitlyn's nearly giving Vi the same look she gets. But somehow, it feels right.

Vi rolls to face them, the three of them making an almost perfect circle on the bed. April cautiously lays her head against Vi's calves, half-expecting to be pushed off. Vi keeps talking, seemingly unbothered.

At least, not by her. She talks about how the game would go too far and her sister would get scared, and that she'd pretend to scare her own monsters off to cheer her sister up.

"Then a real monster appeared, and I just ran away…" Vi shuts her eyes, the pain in her expression tugging at April's heart. "I left her."

Caitlyn reaches out to cup her face, and Vi takes her hand, practically nuzzling into it. April moves her free hand and takes Vi's, simply smiling sympathetically at her when her eyes open and regard her with confusion.

Vi scans her face before huffing softly and shutting her eyes again. She squeezes April's hand in a silent show of thanks.

The three of them lay there until Vi's breaths have evened out. They have plenty of time before the council appearance, so Caitlyn nor April wakes her up. She deserves the rest anyhow.

"April," Caitlyn murmurs after who knows how long. "I… About Vi." Her voice sounds unsure. It makes April smile.

"You like her." The words are stated simply, and she giggles as Caitlyn's eyes widen, a panicked look in them. She shakes her head when Cait seems about to defend herself, pointedly glancing at Vi, who's still peacefully asleep.

"It's okay, Cait." Her voice sounds warm. Like this knowledge doesn't change anything. Caitlyn blinks at her. "Seriously. You can like her too. It's okay."

"…really? You're not upset?"

April laughs softly. "No. Surprising, isn't it?" She can be rather possessive, especially when talking to Caitlyn one-on-one. Caitlyn nods. "I don't get it either. Maybe because it's her. I get it. She's… something else, isn't she?"

"She is." Caitlyn exhales softly, turning to press a kiss to April's leg. "So, what does this mean for us?"

April frowns at the worry she can hear in her tone. "I'm yours and you're mine. Just… you can see where this goes. I don't mind, Cupcake," She says teasingly, trying to stifle her laughter at the way the word makes Caitlyn go pink, her eyes practically shining.

"If you ever get uncomfortable about this, tell me. Alright?" Caitlyn asks, the concern in her voice making April's heart flutter.

"Alright. Now, rest. You have a council meeting to attend tonight. I'll wake you both early enough to get your thoughts together."

"Mm, okay… I love you…" Caitlyn murmurs, letting her eyes fall shut. She falls asleep to the sweet sound of those words being returned and the scent of her favorite person.

#self ship #self shipping #self insert fic #self insert fanfiction #self ship fic #self insert #si x canon #canon x si #canon x self insert #self insert x canon #my writing #sweet like a cupcake 💖🧁#i had no choice but to love you 💕☀️

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mulders-too-large-shirt · 2 days ago

Text

s6 episode 21 thoughts

ahhh. how’s everyone doing tonight?

it’s friday evening, i just took a long, hot shower, and i am deeply at peace. i am ready for some agent time.

it seems that we will be encountering a skeleton today! in fact, TWO skeletons!!! this is not that unusual for our friends, but there is something special about these ones. and i’m not sure exactly what that it. but we shall learn.

an episode called “field trip” is promising to me. because i love a field trip.

(post-episode thoughts: well. that field was tripping, wasn't it?

i have a feeling this is going to be one of those episodes i will enjoy breaking down and analyzing for years. one of the type where you notice a tiny detail in the background and it prompts a thinkpiece out of you. that sort of thing. however, mulder's bitchy opening comment put me in a bad mood (i thought we were PAST THIS?!), and then i was trying to figure out what was ACTUALLY happening to such a degree that it wasn't the most fun i have ever had on a first watch through. i think the value here will come more from character analysis through their deepest fears and desires than the plot itself. which i KEPT laughing at, even though it was presented with a dead seriousness. "mushroom", says the dying agent scully)

so- let's tear into this thing!

someone has mosquito bites and blisters. she does NOT want to hike in the woods a half a mile behind this guy. he says he’s sorry. i don’t buy it.

i saw this guy’s face and thought he was krycek for a second. and then another second. i had to get a better look at him in the light before i was able to proceed with what was really going on here.

she goes to take a shower. and she has a headache, so i’m expecting her head to kinda blow up at any point here now.

oh. she hasn’t blown up, but she is seeing yellow goop descend from the walls! and then it goes away……

and then she has a horrible vision of the goop being on her?!?!

she is clearly in great distress. her name is angie, btw. she asks the dude to just hold her…

oh!!!! cut to 2 skeletons, holding each other!!! outside in the dirt!!!

now wtf went down here???

was it a mistake to get all cozy with my nice lotion and then sit down to watch an episode about spooky scary skeletons? will i, too, be haunted by the goop?

intro time…. it’s the full thing, too!

we open at the FBI. mulder is messing around with his projector screen, LMAO. he is showing the skeleton pictures of angela and wallace schiff! they were a young married couple that went hiking in north carolina.

scully sits and listens to his lecture, surprised to hear that they are total skeletons after only being missing for 3 days. “i’d say predation, but the bones would be scattered” <- yeah. i love when you talk creepy!!!

“not to mention that these skeletons are not wearing any clothes” <- this is also true. not sure what relevance he sees here, but it IS true. is he implying that the clothes also disintegrated rather than someone taking them off?

she proposes a ritualistic murder, perhaps boiling off the flesh, but he says there was no evidence of anything at the scene. well. what does he think is going on?

“brown mountain, scully. that doesn’t ring a bell?” (she shakes her head no) “brown mountain lights?”

LMAO, she does not think this is alien time. “extraterrestrial visitors from beyond who apparently have nothing better to do than buzz one mountain over and over again for 700 years” <- YOU DON’T KNOW…. it might be a very special mountain to them!!!

“mulder, can’t you just for once, just… for the novelty of it, come up with the simplest explanation, the most logical one, instead of automatically jumping to UFOs or bigfoot or…?”

OH!!!! i mean, she was lowkey annoyed there, but his response pissed me off…

“scully, in six years, how… how often have i been wrong?” (she laughs) “no, seriously. i mean, every time i bring you a new case, we go through this perfunctory dance. you tell me i’m not being scientifically rigorous and that i’m off my nut, and then in the end, who turns out to be right, like, 98.9% of the time?”

(she stares at him, slightly open-mouthed)

“i just think i’ve… earned the benefit of the doubt here”

she watches as he walks away.

i thought we were PAST headass mulder after baseball date!! but apparently not. 98.9% of the time, the case goes unsolved. and nothing gets proven at all. so for him to take this as “being right” is incredibly arrogant. sure, we, the audience, may see the cockroach telemarketers, but they often only see little glimpses with slim to no conclusive evidence as to their actual existence. they just write up their reports to skinner and he shrugs his shoulders and they move onto the next thing.

this was response was deemed UNJUSTIFIED by juni. he could have asked for credit or trust in a way that was WAY more appropriate. even if she was a little annoyed with his alien talk- yes, that is what you get from him, and you can’t make a mulder leopard change his spots, scully- NOT worth that response. not worth being all "well, i'm always right and you're always wrong" (especially because this is not even typically the case)

hmm. i’m pissed off.

maybe we’ll finally get to learn why he’s being a little bitch.

(author's note: we did not, in fact, finally learn why he's being a little bitch. sad!)

it's skeleton investigation time. i am sure that was not the most fun car ride they have ever shared. i imagine tense silence.

scully points out that the connective tissue is still intact. she asks the coroner to pardon the obvious question, but is he sure that these are the right bodies? and he says they triple checked: the dental records matched perfectly.

mulder looks at their photos, and the coroner offers to write them some directions as to where they found the bodies. i can’t help but think there’s going to be some parallel between the arguing dead married couple and the arguing alive, though not yet married, scully and mulder

oh! she finds some yellow goop on the bones! doctor says maybe it’s swampy organic material. which doesn’t… really… make sense to me. but i don’t know much about swamps. i don’t think there’s usually neon yellow goop in them, though. probably swampy green muck, but not neon yellow goop. very different color schemes going on there.

she is puzzled by the goop. mulder goes to check out where the skeletons were found, and asks if she is coming- she says no. he seems taken aback by this. she is probably still pissed at him (i would be) and also now in goop analysis mode.

mulder hits some mushrooms as he arrives to the spot. in his blue sweatshirt. looking very casual. is he well?? what happened to his suits? a sweatshirt on a workday?!?!

ah! he finds the goop!!! and he sticks his fingers in it!! and sniffs it!!! this is not a good idea!!

omg!!! he sees wallace!!! and he runs after him!!! what is going on here?? did he get sucked into some alternate universe portal??

mulder sees wallace crawl into some sort of hole… he busts his flashlight out, and is he going to crawl in there??? yes, he is!

the stuff on the bones is NOT bog sludge!! scully ordered a test!! it’s… A DIGESTIVE SECRETION!!!

okay, impressive that she knows that just from reading the various ingredients, but i would expect nothing less from her. but still. is mulder crawling into some giant beast’s mouth?!

oh! there’s a plant digestive enzyme in there, too!!! not animal!! a big venus fly trap, perhaps???

NO! mulder DID crawl in there hole!!! into a giant cave!!! BRO!!! you have to think these things through!!! sighs.

well. he’s deep in the cave now.

the coroner says he’s seen this before, in skeletal remains of hikers lost many months earlier. so it didn’t seem weird at the time that they had goop on them and were just bones. but they were found not far from where the newest bodies were located!!!

scully goes to call him, begging him to answer his phone. and of course. he is in a cave. so he cannot.

she tells the doctor to forward the goop info to quantico for a FULL ANALYSIS. and also pretty please can she borrow your truck?

back to the cave. where goop drips freely. and he sees wallace!!! who says “you’re not one of them?”

girl, is wallace dead or not?!?! wallace says the skeleton is fake!! "they" put it there.

he says “they” abducted him and his wife, and took them aboard their ship. he claims they faked their deaths, but they kept angela, and he doesn’t know what to do.

scully arrives in the borrowed truck. in a nice blue trench coat. calling for mulder.

she also steps on the mushrooms……. girl… is it the shrooms??!

mulder says that they need to find a way out. wallace says it’s right behind him, and he asks what the hell is going on- that was solid rock a minute ago. wallace claims the aliens are in their heads.

ah! do the aliens approach? wallace says it’s them, and runs away.

scully, meanwhile, is looking in the same hole and calling for mulder, seeing his footprints lead right in there. but she doesn’t climb in. because she has common sense!

inside the cave, wallace tells mulder to not let the aliens see him. he notices that they should have found them- wallace has a big lantern. maybe they came for something else.

they journey in deeper, and find angie. wallace holds her close, while mulder tries to talk to her. and wallace tries to get some water, but it seems to have the goop in it.

she says she saw lights, and the aliens took them, and it all went black. mulder wants to know what the place they took her looks like. she says it was white, she was lying on a table, and she couldn’t move. and he asks if there were men there- she agrees. and he asks about tests. it seems too perfect.

he checks her neck, and finds a scar, right where scully had her implant. he says he’s seen it before. it’s almost all textbook. except for the skeletons.

“maybe they’re like the cattle mutilations you heard about” <- DID HE MENTION THAT OFF-SCREEN??? how does wallace know about that? is he tripping. but mulder says it’s not in the literature. and he would know!

mulder announces that they’re leaving now, even though wallace and angela both don’t want to. and the aliens come again. but he refuses to hide.

he walks into the light… and now he’s in his apartment?

scully wants to know why tf he left north carolina without telling her!!!!!! she is mad!!!! he says he’s sorry and asks if anyone knows she’s there.

what is going on….?

he lets her in. and sitting on the couch are the schiffs!

angela says “the aliens planted decoys so you would think we were dead” <- AND IT STILL SEEMS TOO CONVENIENT….

he says what he is about to tell her will change everyone’s lives forever: he found it. the truth. the schiffs were abducted by a UFO. and they recount their story- neck implant. etc.

oh. so she’s tripping now, huh? got it.

but he says there’s more, and leads her into a bedroom- that i didn’t think he owned??? unless he got rid of the waterbed and got a new bed to take it’s place instead of the classic couch??

he says “it doesn’t like the light”. and he grabs her arm as they look at a little alien. he says he abducted him. and it speaks to him. telepathically. she says she can hear him. and she looks very shocked. she’s crying.

and they leave the room, scully shutting the door behind her. “i don’t know what to say mulder. where to begin. i mean, you… you were right. all these years, you were right.” <- yeah. this is not happening.

what about the skeletons? she says they were fake. but what about the goo? it was nothing. it was bog sludge.

imagine scully calling a mystery pair of skeletons and a mystery liquid “nothing” and “bog sludge”. personally, it is difficult for me to do so!!! that is not my scully.

no. HE must be the one tripping and imagining all of this. i can’t picture this happening in scully’s high mind.

he rubs his forehead “that uh, that doesn’t sound like you, scully”

ahhh! another cut scene!!! he’s splashing his face with water, but nasty thick goop comes out of the drain!! and then it’s water again.

he says it doesn’t make any sense- angela and wallace’s story. none of it. and scully asks if she can believe it, why can’t he? but everything is melting away!!!!

SCULLY WAS GOOPED!!!!!!! LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO

(i don’t know how else to explain the way she CGI dissolved into yellow goo, but it was really funny)

he has a memory of being lost in the sauce!!!!!!! just like angela did at the beginning!!

scully comes back to the cave with the coroner, saying it’s empty. and more of that nasty digestive material is coming up from the ground!! it must be eating him!!!! and he’s tripping while he’s getting eaten.

there’s tracks going out now…. he says she must have missed him. and she sees a skeleton laying out in the grass.

MULDER??

a jump to analyzing the skeleton in the lab. she approaches mulder’s potential skeleton like it’s a wild tiger. and compares the teeth… it’s for sure him.

so now she’s tripping, too???

coroner says he’s sorry, and he knows it’s difficult. scully stares at the body. asks if the digestive secretion could have done this to him. focusing on the problem at hand while crying. that’s a dedicated doctor. maybe it’s a product of the vegetation.

she grieves and works. ah. scully. you have my heart.

but there’s no sign of the goop on these remains. she wipes his bones, and there is nothing. OH! the coroner is quoting her!!

“i just think we need to look for the simplest explanation” she turns at him…… “i’d say we’re looking at a murder. one with ritualistic overtones” <- oh, so they’re both haunted by their own words?!???

he says they’ll take care of the arrangements… and scully presents a report to skinner on mulder’s death. he says he appreciates the thoroughness of her work. oh, in death he has become the x file. x-751483.

scully is crying in skinner's office. he says it might be best for her to take some time off. “sir? you’re satisfied with my conclusions on this case?” “absolutely. i take it you’re not”

hallucination skinner is being quite gentle with grieving scully, who is not believing her own findings, saying her role has always been to provide “a rational scientific perspective to cases that would seem to defy ordinary explanation- a counterpoint to agent mulder”. skinner says she has done that. “have i? how many x files has my scientific approach fully and satisfactorily explained?”

no!!! please do not let his words make you feel self-conscious!!! you’re dealing with what cannot be explained, and you are explaining it the very best you can!! you’re doing amazing!!!

she wipes away her tears as he says it’s tempting to blame mulder’s death on the paranormal, considering the life he lead. and he promises they’ll get the bastard who did it.

ah! jump to her walking to mulder’s apartment. knocking on the door. frohike answers. there’s a whole group of people in suits. skinner included. who says he is sorry.

in the next room, she sees a casket.

LMAO. oh god. byers is asking how she’s doing, and langly comes up in a tuxedo patterned t-shirt. oh. some levity in these trying times. that got a good laugh out of me.

frohike offers her a drink to dull the pain, and she declines. he downs it in one sip. frohike :(

byers says they’ve launched their own investigation into his death. she is relieved she’s not the only one who is suspicious. but byers says they got ahold of her report, and they were impressed. they agree with her findings. she’s furious- she did NOT find that he was murdered!!! it was one possible explanation she proposed!

“what the HELL is wrong with everybody? you guys, there are unanswered questions here! am i the only one that’s asking them?”

she starts with a whisper, and then begins to yell, telling them that they of all people shouldn’t believe it, and something else is going on here. skinner is watching as she starts to shout. and then her head hurts!!! and the yellow goop!

skinner says she needs to go home and get some rest. “i’ll call you a cab” “where is mulder? what have you done with him?” <- OH!! she’s accusing SKINNER!!!

delicious scully and skinner angst. one of my favorite meals.

she’s screaming in his face!!! “where is he?! where’s mulder?!?” everyone looks on at her… there’s knocking at the door. frohike drinks straight from the bottle. she goes to answer. no one else moves.

it’s mulder!!! all the guests in his apartment disappear!!! she is so confused!!!!!!!

he says she was in the cave when the light came. and they took him. he was abducted. he says it was just like angela and wallace described. she tries to tell him that the couple is dead, and she found their remains, she found HIS remains- but he’s here.

he says the aliens brought him back. “from north carolina direct to your apartment door?” <- LMAOOOO

oh! he doesn’t remember getting here!! and neither does she!!

“why did you knock? this is your apartment. and you don’t seem the least bit surprised to find me here. and what about the schiffs?”

OH!! she realizes it’s a hallucination!!! “and either i am having it, or you are having it, or we are having it together”

the inherent connection implied by sharing a trip... yeah ❤️ to be so fully connected in life and in this not-quite-life realm. mmm. that's good stuff.

it has to be from that field… the wild mushrooms! the spores!!! she thinks their bodies are still in that cave, not in the apartment.

she thinks the schiffs were eaten by an organism- the same thing that is giving off this hallucinogen. maybe it needs to eat meat, and to lure people into the cave.

oh! another shot of them underground! “what if we’re still underground?”

BAHAHA, she gets gooped again.

ahhh!!! he crawls out of the dirt!!! and he pulls scully out!!! and they lay there!!!!!! coughing!!!!

they hand skinner their report. he asks how big the organism is.

it extends for at least ten acres. but it might be much larger. and they contacted fish and wildlife, local FBI, the health department, and a mycologist. they think their bases have been covered!!

the spores have a similar chemical structure to LSD!! and it makes you sleepy.

“it’s a rare day when the two of you sign off on the same report” <- LMAO, wait this is something to ponder… have they been giving him 2 different reports for each case for the last 6 years? oh, i know he HATES when he sees them coming because he has to do SO much reading.

aww. this makes me sad, though. i thought they worked together to come up with a collective report, even if they shade each other within it (“agent mulder’s claims cannot be substantiated”, etc etc). i guess i didn’t realize how much of a rift was between them despite all the history.

mulder ponders. how did they escape? “scully, how could we simply will ourselves out of a chemical hallucination?” “well, the fact remains, we did” <- ohhhh, he doesn’t buy it. they didn’t decompose at all. THEY NEVER ESCAPED! we’re still trapped. “this is not real”

he says he’ll prove it…. HE PULLS OUT HIS GUN AND SHOOTS SKINNER A TON OF TIMES??? and he bleeds the yellow goop!! and then HE GETS GOOPED!!

back in the cave…. they are being eaten by the goop! and mouthing words…… but a hand breaks through the surface. skinner is digging with his hands in a gas mask to find them!!!

oh my god… field trip… because they were tripping… in a field…

they yank scully up too, which had to be awful to film.

“mushroom”, she says, covered in dirt and thrown on the stretcher. “we found it” <- LMAOOOOO, i’m sorry, that’s just really funny out of context.

matching stretchers side by side in the ambulance…… and they hold hands.

the end.

hey. what.

what if we were partners and we fell in a cave and a mushroom tried to eat us and we hallucinated together? and then our boss and a bunch of other guys came and saved us and we held hands as they put us in the ambulance?

i’m sorry. i’m giggling. this was a very s1/s2 plotline.

shoutout to AD skinner for rolling up in the middle of a random field to dig his favorite agents out of the mouth of a carnivorous plant with his own hands. he could have let the field agents handle that. but he said no. i need to deal with these matters directly.

i wonder what all the other agents think of their connection. like a teacher with clear favorites.

you know what, we did get some insightful analysis here into taking their own beliefs too far. into seeing each other’s perspective. into being on the same team, and having unique strengths- she figured out they were hallucinating, and he figured out they were STILL hallucinating. but. you know. just the whole plot of it all.

yeah…. i’m gonna have to sleep on this one and gain a new perspective other than “the inherent romanticism of being consumed together” and other cliches.

okay, it’s been 2 days since i watched this episode. i think there’s more to enjoy in retrospect now that i have a concrete idea as to what was going on.

very interesting how the words they have always wanted to hear- both of them being told that their theories are correct- proved to be an aspect of the horror this time around. to be believed by the other would mean that it isn’t really Them. for scully to agree with his claims and toss aside her inherent scientific skepticism that she brings to the table would make her someone else. and interesting how she says something about how if she of all people can believe it, why can’t he? which just proves that it isn’t really her. that as much as he claims he wants her to see that he is right 98.9% of the time or whatever the hell he said at the beginning, it isn’t that simple.

and scully believing in the greater conspiracy of his death, screaming at the gunmen as they, too, abandon their inherent skepticism in favor of the simplest, most logical explanation. it’s not that she isn’t usually asking questions, because she’s a scientist, and therefore asking questions is her whole thing- but she tends to turn away from notions of grand conspiracy. except for when she does- at least in a hallucination- others try and tell her she is wrong. how strange. how frustrating it must have felt. for both of them.

for scully to believe in the aliens when mulder knows it isn’t making sense. for the gunmen to believe his death was a murder when she thinks it has to be a conspiracy.

hmm. much to ponder. i wonder if that glimpse into an alternate reality will, in some way, give them more sympathy to the other’s worldview. but somehow, i really doubt that.

getting to see scully lose it at mulder’s funeral was an excellent treat for the sick part of me that craves angst. and skinner telling her to go home; he’ll call her a cab- OOOOH. that hit different.

and scully realizing that they were hallucinating, but mulder being the one to realize that it was still ongoing- what does that say about them?! mulder’s solution being to stand up and shoot skinner- he is so impulsive, so reckless in the pursuit of knowledge.

i am very curious to hear what the people think of this episode. i think it will be better on a rewatch, when my confusion will be lessened, and i can parse out more symbolism that i really only could dip into here. this is the sort of thing that gets thinkpieces written about it, and you notice new stuff over and over again.

overall, i didn’t hate the episode, but it wasn’t a top tier one for me. i get that they have opposing worldviews, but the way that the writers keep going back and forth between whether or not mulder and scully even like being around each other this season is giving me tonal whiplash. i keep waiting for a resolution that hasn’t come yet.

and maybe it won’t come, and the tonal inconsistency makes sense to long time fans of this show because they’ve had 30 years to accept it. you can come up with headcanons in that time, and internal logic that gives rhythm to the rocking boat. when you know a show incredibly well, you can come up with your own ideas that make sense in a way they don’t entirely to new viewers- "oh yes, this is the s3 rift, we know it well, they just seem to hate each other for a bit" etc etc. but it leaves me, the new viewer, over here wondering which, if any of the plotlines will be resolved, or if we’re just going to have back and forth moments where they go from nearly kissing on a baseball diamond to snapping and snarling each other every other episode.

so. yeah.

some questions i still have as we approach the finale: hey, where’s spender? is he 6 feet under or still lurking about? what’s the deal with diana? did she just show up to spy on mulder for a bit, cause some internal strife between our agents, and then disappear back into the mist from which she came? and then we will never address this again? not even subtly?

mulder confessed his love- you remember that? where’s that love going? i believe he is telling the truth, and that he really does love her, but i’m wondering what makes a person so inconsistent in showing that. “you’re making this personal” “who’s right 98.9% of the time”, etc etc. some kind of love it is where you can be so careless with your words.

why is he doing all this? what is the reason? is there some secret background arc i’ve been oblivious to that is being hinted at and i’m missing it? i keep thinking the next episode will have some sort of explanation, but there isn’t one, and i have a sneaking suspicion that the season finale will answer absolutely no questions- i know it will end on a cliffhanger because 1. that’s what the season finales of this show do, and 2. because my laptop thinks i started watching s7 already and therefore i’ve read the episode description of 7x01 (despite doing my best to avoid this!!! blame the laptop, not me!!)

hmm. i guess those things i just spend the last paragraphs discussing are problems with the season and the wider show itself/its lack of tonal consistency, rather than problems of this particular episode (although it is a fine example of the problems i described). so i can’t blame all of my qualms with this season on this episode, but it IS a natural point of reflection considering there is only one more episode to go, and none of these questions have been addressed!

where’s marita? where’s krycek? where’s gibson?! i need to know!

so, a fine episode, plenty to analyze, but i’m still frustrated with the back and forth of it all, and i doubt that a mushroom trip will fix their relationship problems- but i’m open to being proven wrong.

huh. this writeup didn’t start long. it became it as i yelled at s6, though. and it’s not that i dislike s6, because i agree that the episodes in this season have been the best so far- there’s just no answer to the glaringly obvious outlier of this season, which is mulder being a dick! i can handle the angst, man! i promise! but it has to make SENSE! it’s not angst if there’s no reason for one person being mean to another! we just call that bullying where i’m from!

"mushroom", scully says, as she is plopped onto the stretcher. yeah. i'd let her borrow my truck any day of the week ❤️🍄

#i originally left that last paragraph in the tags but i must speak my truth. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!#so yeah. a fine episode. plenty to gnaw on for years to come which is always enjoyable.#it just became a place for me to complain about the wider arc of the show.#please let me know what you thought of this particular episode because i did get a little lost in my ramblings #also i’ve sneezed 7 times editing my notes. which has no relevance to anything but damn. that’s a LOT of sneezing?#i average 0 sneezes per writeup on a typical day. maybe i am allergic to their little cat fights.#juni's x files liveblog #6x21 #txf #the x files

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