#at 9:45 pm we started it and said well we can just see what happens

[dentpx]

If you’re wondering what happened to me my brother and I watched all of this video

In one sitting last night and the person was wrong about so many of their choices and it altered my brain chemistry again. There is nothing comparable to being in the top 100s and remembering you haven’t heard the dramatic “I cheated on you sorry” piano cover of “teenage dream” yet

[hangonimevolving]

The Horror Movie - Part 2

I actually am not a fan of horror movies. Just don't love the genre.

But, alas.... this fall, I found myself LIVING OUT a real life horror movie. No, I'm not exaggerating. And I'm gonna be honest here and say that even now, nearly 3 months later, even in my normal day to day life - every so often, I get a flash in my mind, a snapshot back to the horror movie I lived through. Photo snapshots, or short bursts of cinematic video clips, just to remind me that the world is different than it used to be. I am seeing a therapist about this (heh, here it is - I'm just gonna let it all hang out). She says I have PTSD. Like, the real thing, not just using that as a buzzword for being stressed out.

Okay, so what happened. I'm gonna tell you. Note: I am going to copy/paste this narrative from a few places, because I had to recount this story at least 3 dozen times - via text message, WhatsApp, emails, etc. to say nothing of more phone calls than I can count. So, I've written it many, many times and have it availabe to copy/paste. But I'll be adding in some info here wherever I feel is relevant.

My family has endured a living nightmare.  Around 10:30 am on Monday 10/28, my dad stepped out of his house for a morning walk in his neighborhood (normal for him).  But - as of 12:30, he hadn’t returned yet.  Dr. Spouse and I were at the grocery store on a rare/unique day off from work for him - we'd had a pleasant walk in our own neighborhood that morning, and we decided to be organized for once and go grocery shopping together b/c we had discussed some meal planning, and were getting excited about a health kick. I'd finally gotten back into running nearly ever morning for the last 6 weeks, and we were both doing well with diet and exercise.

But then, we get this call while I'm in the produce aisle, and any positivity/optimism - nay, any focus on ourselves - instantly evaporates. My dad only goes walking for about 45 mins usually, so my mom got concerned and called me to see if he’d turned up at my house or something.  Long story short - the day snowballed into a frantic search for him, with me, my mom, and Brijesh driving around our entire town looking for him.  We called the cops and they launched a full-blown Missing Persons protocol, complete with police helicopters, a K-9 unit, and a Drone Search unit, and about 10-20 deputies circulating in/around my parents’ house for most of that 24 hours.  

Note: "snowballing". That's how I summarized it in my emails to people. But here, I'm gonna elaborate. This "day snowballing" thing is a euphemism for an infinite, agonizing string of little heartbreaking and anxiety-flooded moments, each one horrifying in its own right. The first one is my initial reaction to my mom that maybe she was getting worried and worked up for nothing, and wanting to call the cops around 12:00 pm that day - okay, at that point, he had been gone from 10:30-12 noon, but perhaps he was somewhere perfectly okay and safe. At least, that's what I thought. After all, just a month before, he'd had an incident and had said he wouldn't take off on long walks like that anymore. I thought it was premature to call the cops and set into a motion a whole THING. It would leave a record, they'd be on some sort of list for senior citizen welfare checks... I didn't know for sure, but I felt like it would be a big thing and what if it was all for nothing? I wasn't convinced we needed to take that step at that point. But then, the trickle-truth started. She then admitted, they'd had a little tiff that morning and he'd taken off in a bad mood - intentionally. This IRRITATED me to no end. How immature. But, I told her, "give him a chance to make the right decision." Surely he'd learned from the other thing last month? But in the next hour or two, she shared that at home, she'd found his phone, Apple Watch, wallet with ID and all credit cards.... and that in their cash envelope they keep at home, there was only about $120 missing. Now - the light bulb was going on that he had done this intentionally. Alarm bells. It was only at this point that I told her, okay, let's call the police. My logical brain tells me, my initial hesitation to call the police was totally not an under-reaction. I didn't know all the facts initially, and even so - I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, taking his words at face-value that he wouldn't make irrational decisions about exertion. But I was wrong. We initiated the whole police thing around maybe 1:15-1:30, so we lost about an hour or so of time. Would it have made a difference? That's the part I keep circulating around.....

Another pearl in the string of anxiety of that time: Waiting at the bus stop in my car for Dey to come home from school at exactly 2 pm, and suddenly becoming aware of the whirr of helicopter blades high above my head - - throwing open the sunroof of my car to realize there is a police chopper in the sky, looking for MY DAD. Like, what.

(sidetone: it is at this point I'm gonna start peppering my blog post with weird pictures, many of which are screenshots from footage from the dash cam of my car. Weird snapshots that capture the bizarre horror movie that my mind keeps replaying)

Telling Dey to put on his seat belt, because today, instead of going home, we are going for a drive. "To where?!" he asks suspiciously, because this is not the norm for us. I am thinking on my feet, and have no plan - "UHHH, to Starbucks!" I blurt out. What?! I never go to Starbucks. But in that flash of a moment, I think - what if Dad is at Starbucks? We drive to Starbucks, but make a string of ridiculous pit stops and detours on the way, and the entire time I am convinced Dey is suspicious and on to me that something is going on - but my heart is breaking in real time and I don't know how to tell him from the driver's seat of my car that his grandfather is missing and might be dead. So we stop at Walgreens "to look for posterboard" (?!)

and we do a long and asinine "detour" to Starbucks (makes no sense based on the routing) through a nearby neighborhood "to look at Halloween decorations", and all kinds of things.

(Photo of some impressive Halloween decorations that we saw on this random drive. Random photo for this story though? yes. But it's part of the Horror Movie highlight reel that keeps playing in my mind, so I'm sharing it with you, and now you know too.)

We wind up eventually at Starbucks -but then, to my horror, I see that there are no fewer than four police squad cars outside of the Starbucks, and my heart flies into a panic. Have they found him?! Or worse, have they not? And what do I do with this child in my backseat if I'm about to get bad news?!!! I throw the car in park, put on the hazards, and tell him to stay right there because I'm gonna buy him a cake pop (?!) and then I LEAVE MY CHILD IN THE CAR while I run like a maniac into Starbucks, only to find two cops in there but no Dad.

I talk to them for a few moments, tell them who I am ("I'm the daughter of the Missing Person"... and inside, mentally to myself, "Oh my god, I'm the daughter of the Missing Person") and after a few moments hearing their plan, the places they've looked, the places they're gonna look, making sure EVERY single one of them has my personal name and phone number as well as Dr. Spouse's, and AirDropping a more recent photo of my dad to them than the one they have (HIS DRIVER'S LICENSE photo which is at least 10 years old and in which he is at least 30 pounds heavier and has dyed hair) - I get back to my abandoned child with a cake pop. He asks me what has taken so long, and again I'm just paralyzed. And right there, in the Starbucks parking lot, with a raccoon-shaped cake pop in my baby's hand, I have to find the words to tell him that I'm sorry I've been acting weird, and actually, there's something going on today.... and I tell him what has happened. And I cringe. And absurd thoughts fill my mind. Is he traumatized? Is he scared? Have I officially created a core memory for him where forevermore, cake pops will be associated with shock and grief?? It's possible.

(This photo has PRIME REAL ESTATE in the Horror Movie highlight reel. I can't stop seeing it in my mind. Literally within seconds of taking this picture, with my child holding this cake pop in his hand, I break the news to him about his grandpa's situation.... and life would never be the same. Can you hear that cracking sound? That's my heart)

This insertion of material ends with Dey and me driving back from Starbucks to our neighborhood to await Vev's return from school via the school bus, where I decide straightaway to tell him what's going on right there in the car, before weakly handing him his bag with his cake pop. Another child with cake pop trauma. I'm just sick.

*End inserted story, returning more or less to copied/pasted email*

As night fell and went to the wee AM hours and he still hadn’t turned up, we - our whole family - were preparing ourselves for bad news. Don't they always say "if you don't find them in the first 12 hours, the odds of finding them alive go down?" Or is it 24 hours? Or is it "find them during the day, because after night, it gets weird?" See, I don't watch those weird Law & Order/police/crime type dramas, so I don't know these things. Whatever. The point is, once Dr. Spouse got home from work around 5 pm, I was able to leave my house with him watching the kids, and go to my mother's house to be by her side.

I arrive to her home, to find not one, not two, but something like 6-7 squad cars in her driveway and cul-de-sac, and at least 9-10 police officers from various units and specialized departments coming/going.

(*oops, here we go, more inserting of details) Bizarre and irrational thought bubbles into my mind, a thought that makes zero sense under the circumstances - but I think to myself oh geez, they're wearing their boots in and out of the house! We are a shoes-off-in-the-house culture, it just jars me to see this. Of course, then my rational mind interjects: "WHO CARES?! THE FLOOR IS GONNA GET DIRTY, BUT YOUR DAD IS MISSING." Why are you wasting brain-space on the shoes?!" And I instantly feel sheepish, just to myself, in my mind. But then my defiant, defensive, confrontational mind goes "hey! She's only human! She's having natural reaction to seeing something out of the ordinary! Calm the fuck down, let her feel her feels!" I feel crazy. A whole internal conversation in the blink of an eye. We are weird creatures, we humans.

There are three who are standing around my mother as she sits at her breakfast table with her reading glasses on, looking over various forms they have in front of her. One officer, who happens to be a very tall, muscular African American man, is leaning against the table in his tactical vest and boots, with a giant black boxy-looking laptop open in front of him as he is typing a bunch of notes in. Several officers' walkie-talkies keep bleeping and beeping at random. I see two Caucasian or white-presenting Hispanic officers, one male, and one female, walking out of the house back to their cars and driving away - and it catches my eye at the last minute that their tactical vests say "K-9 unit" on them, and their vehicle is a large SUV with "K-9" emblazoned on the side. A late middle-aged short Hispanic officer in my mom's kitchen sees my eyes darting around and nonchalantly says "yeah, they're gonna send the units out right now with the bloodhounds to try and trace his scent. We took your dad's slippers, hope that's ok." My dad's brown, fuzzy bedroom slippers. I think to myself, what if he suddenly shows up at home and is irritated someone took his slippers. Weird thoughts again. Said officer also tells me that there is a Drone Search/Rescue unit in the air at the moment, along with the Helicopter Search Unit, and my irrational mind immediately goes "Wow, Vev would love that!" before my "shut your mouth" mind goes "whaaaat are you saying, this is terrible!" Egads, there's a whole symphony of voices up there.

The minute my mom sees me, she starts crying and I give her a hug - and immediately, I'm happy to be there for her, but I also feel it. The TRANSFER OF POWER. She had been somewhat composed and in problem-solving mode before I had arrived, but now that I'm there, I feel her tacitly hand over the torch of "HANDLING THE SITUATION," and I know that from this moment onwards, its gonna have to be me that is the spokesperson of the family, the one answering questions, the one steering the ship of whatever our next steps are going to be as a family. And, I am ready for it. I was born ready. Its fine. But also, dang.

I settle in a little, and my senses settle down into some sort of calm autopilot. I introduce myself to the officers who make it known to me that they're are from Missing Persons, and they explain what protocols have been set into place, what steps are being taken, and what the plan is going to be overnight to continue search and rescue. I tell them that I'd already seen and met some officers in town who were doing foot patrol, and they are glad to hear it. I share multiple updated pictures of my dad, I take an officer into my dad's closet in his bedroom and show him the type of clothing my dad ordinarily wears. They want to know what shirt that my dad was wearing that morning, and I don't know - and my mom doesn't either, and she's all broken up about the fact that she doesn't know. The officers (with only good intentions) ask me how come they don't have a Ring camera system installed at their house, and I have to sputter an explanation that is at once mindful of protecting my parents' feelings, while also kind of being honest with them about my own frustrations that my parents had vehemently refused my REPEATED ADVICE to do this very thing. I have to control my own frustration while answering questions like this, and its not much fun.

A detective walks me outside to the sidewalk, away from my mother, and it turns out he has to ask me some really sensitive questions and doesn't want my mother to be uncomfortable. I tell him I'm here for it, let's go - I'll answer anything you ask me. I can already tell what this is going to be about, and I am prepared to answer him without any hesitation. He asks me all the things one would wonder about in this situation. Does my father have a drug/alcohol problem? Is it possible he did, and we didn't know? Is it possible my father is having an affair? Is there another secret woman, a secret family, where he has perhaps run off to? A woman or family that would be complicit in letting him hide out there and evade discovery by the cops? Does my father owe anyone money? Is he in debt? Does he have a gambling problem? Is it possible there's someone out there who has a bone to pick with him and is holding him ransom? Does he have any other vices or secrets that would be worth considering as reasons for his disappearance? It's almost a relief to hear these questions and discuss it all with the detective, because the answers are easy. No, none of the above. My dad is a boring, cranky old man who struggles to use even basic technology. He wouldn't know how to find a mistress if a woman appeared in front of him and took his top off. He has zero debts and zero sketchy business deals going on. His problem is he is BORED and frustrated with his life, because inside his mind he feels like a much younger man who is trapped in a frail, aging body, and he's frustrated about it. And of course I feel for him. HOWEVER. He and I have always butted heads, and in recent years I have not been able to help feeling frustrated with him, because he is refusing to age gracefully, and he is taking out his own feelings on my mom and all of us, and it hasn't been much fun. He balked at retirement till it was way past the time to do so, and it got so complicated because he didn't pull the trigger on it at the time that it would have been convenient - instead, he waited till he was recovering from heart surgery, there was a global pandemic and a recession, and the real estate market got complicated. He missed the timing, in my opinion, and made it harder than it had to be. How do I say all this to the officer? DO I say it? My father has one problem, and one problem only. He is angry that he's getting old, and he thinks it's unfair. This is a man who is a doctor, and whose life work has been helping human beings with the natural problems of aging. And yet, he is acting like he thought it wouldn't happen to him. (*and oooh, sidebar - now I've officially devolved into just writing current thoughts and memories, not returning to email. I think I just have too much to say that hasn't been said)

At the precise time where I should be more soft, worried, empathetic and emotional about my family - I am feeling infuriated and my patience has run out. It's occurring to me that my dad has done this intentionally because he's just having a hard time dealing with himself, and I'm just super angry. He's putting us through the wringer because he can't get a handle on his own emotions, and I'm pissed that he's being immature and super unfair to us all. But. I can't say this. I keep it to myself.

By the way - its about 6 pm, now, and I just want to say that all this time, from the very start of like 12:15 pm - I've been in touch with my sister Rithers in Washington DC, and she's been involved in the situation the entire time by phone and text. And she's worried sick. Her husband K is worried sick. Her kids H2O and Nini come to know, and they're worried sick. My mom is worried sick. Dr. Spouse is at Threat Level Nine of anxiety. My kids are worried and also feeling my absence, because I've had to unceremoniously dump them afterschool that day, and it's outside of our norm and it just amplifies the gravity of the situation. They can feel the tension in the air, and it's super uncomfortable. This will get worse as time goes on. LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE THIS IS AFFECTING. I'm just building a dark storm cloud in my mind thinking of it, of all the people affected, and how his unhappiness and rash decision is now pulling so many people into a vortex of despair. And I'm balancing my calm, rational, take-charge and problem-solving personality and calm, problem-solving outer affect, with my inner fury that all of this has been caused by a Man-Baby having a Tantrum.

Anyway. Its about an hour or two of this controlled chaos of cops at my mom's house, before finally, they announce that they're all going to be leaving for the night - that certain departments are going to continue Search/Rescue overnight, but that they themselves would be resuming after sunrise in the morning. My mom and I say goodbye and shut the door, and then suddenly - it's just us. Silence. We don't even know what to say. Eventually she just goes, "let's eat dinner," and we both fix ourselves a bowl of rice and rasam and eat unceremoniously standing at the kitchen counter. I don't know if we even tasted our food. Afterwards, we get in my car, almost without talking about a plan, and start driving around. Just driving around. We go up and down the streets of her neighborhood, then out to the town center, then up/down some of the long suburban boulevards with sidewalks where people sometimes walk. We drive slowly through some strip malls, paying attention to some of the benches and bus stops in case he is resting or has fallen asleep somewhere.

We do the rounds at the three small and normally super-quiet hotels in our town, make inquiries at the concierge desks. Nothing.

We pull up to three separate (LOCKED FOR THE NIGHT) public parks, and I recall my Spartan Race training days and haul my 45-year-old, out of shape ass up and over several metal fences, and jog around in the dark with my iPhone flashlight on, hoping maybe I'll see this guy. No dice.

(I am leaving my elderly mother alone in a double-parked car outside a desolate, dark park each time I do this - which also helps my anxiety TONS. And it helps her anxiety tons to know that her beloved daughter who has left her husband and children at home is now running solo in the pitch-black night in desolate, dark parks. Lucky us.)

We go to a couple of gas stations that are still open, and talk to attendants, show his picture. But its the night shift, and anyone who was working earlier in the day is long gone now, The night shift folks are kind and promise to bring up the issue to their bosses and relief shift folks who come on after sunrise, and we thank them - but we know its all a really long shot at this point.

(Is that a random photo? Yes. Random phone number from one gas attendant, who was trying to be helpful and providing her the number of the station's general manager to see if we could get some security camera footage. Again, random picture. But it lives in my memory of the Horror Movie night, so here it is.)

By the way - I've got to pause and bring up a whole other thing here. We are alone in this. And yet, we are not alone. I don't realize it entirely in the moment, but we are not alone.

There is the Missing Persons report and press release, which begin a life of their own at this point.

I have shared the Missing Persons report and press release with a few WhatsApp groups I belong to. There is a Whatsapp group for fellow people of Indian origin who live in our suburban town, and I share it there. I share it with my mom's subdivision WhatsApp group. I share it on NextDoor. A PTA friend of mine texts me to say hi, unaware of this - and in our conversation, I say "hey, sorry, can't talk much, my family is dealing with an emergency right now," and I copy/paste the link. She flies into a panic - understandably - and asks, hey I know this is really personal and I'm sorry you're going through it, but I want to help, and I know many others do too. Do you mind if I share this? Do you trust me to share this in a way that might help your family? And I think to myself, fuck, what do I have to lose - and I give her the green light. CHIIIIIIILD - does she share it. Does she ever share it. She shares it to our entire PTA board, to the broader chat for important members of our elementary school community, and then she goes and shares it to my older child's middle school chat boards. Within about an hour of my first share - - the press release has now been read by over 6000-7000 people in my community, AT LEAST. And of course from there, likely more - people then shared to their church groups, their kids' scouting and activity groups, to their gyms, to their biking clubs, to EVERYTHING. EVERYONE KNOWS. And it is very, very overwhelming to think of that..... a part of me is cringing and dying.

But, also, a bunch of candles suddenly start flickering in the dark - - and I realize, there are total strangers out there who jump into action to try and help us. A biking club circulates my dad's picture, and every member of this 200+ member biking club is biking around town looking for him. People in my parents' subdivision each get on their Ring cameras, looking for evidence to help us - -AND ONE OF THEM FINDS a video of my dad walking down the street, and we FINALLY SEE THE FUCKING SHIRT HE WAS WEARING. We screenshot and send it to the cops, who are all excited to have a photo.

(Isn't that photo random? Random shirt from the Gap Factory Outlet website. This is the shirt my dad was wearing, that we saw on a neighbor's Ring camera footage, and then looked up on the Gap Factory Outlet website because my mom recognized it as "the shirt I bought him from the Gap Factory Outlet a few months ago!" Random photo. But again, it has a permanent place in the Horror Movie film reel).

THEN. Then, then, then. HERE they come. Here come my people. The ENTIRE board of our school PTA, my new friends, my new partners in crime. Remember the Suck Zone? The tornado that I got sucked into?! The hardest job I've ever worked for no money?! THOSE PEOPLE. The people who have been working it with me. THEY SHOW UP. EN MASSE. It is like an entire Marine Squadron metaphorically assembling on my lawn. They are suited up, in formation, READY. MANY of them - not one, not two - MANY of them - - drop everything they are doing that day, hit the pause buttons on their own lives, their jobs, their families, their kids. They GET IN THEIR CARS, and they start driving around. And they get their SPOUSES to drive around. And two of them call all the others and say "drop your kids off at our houses, we will watch them, and you go drive around, and you find Evolver’s dad." CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS SHIT. They did this for us. And a tsunami of gratitude just knocks me over, standing there in the kitchen.

One of my best friends - my closest friend in our town, and I'm gonna call her Aunt Lynchpin, b/c her name starts with L and my kids call her Aunt L - has left her husband at home with her two daughters, and is driving around nonstop looking for my dad. She has known what we've been going through the last few years, she knows the whole backstory. And she says "you are going to do WHATEVER you need to do the next few days, and we are here for you. If you call to ask me if I can help you or if you can do X, Y, or Z - I'm going to be upset. CALL ME, or show up here, and just say 'do this.' And we will do it. I am your family." I take her up on this like five thousand times over the next two days.

Last but not least - my two college besties that live out of state, Y-Clef and Bonez - we have been on the horn in our group chat on WhatsApp since long before everything devolved into a tailspin. We are all three navigating the woes of the sandwich generation right now, with aging/infirm parents, and we've been supporting each other through that for a few years now... so they were the first to know, and were a constant source of support via text throughout the day.

Anyway, back to me and mom..... after our rounds, we drive back home around 10-10:30 pm, and we both take showers and get into our pajamas. But then, we walk out to the living room, look at each other silently, and almost without discussion, go back out to the car - - and do it all over again. Driving around aimlessly, without a plan, without leads, just looking out the windows. It's very late at this point and the streets of our sleepy suburban town are empty, with zero cars. I can drive with my high-beams on for most of the time without disturbing anyone else, but it's all to no avail. No sign of my dad.

Around midnight or so, we return home. By my car's odometer, we have logged over 45 miles of driving in about 2 hours, just going back and forth within our own small town. We know we've covered everywhere there is to cover at that point that (we believe) is within walking distance, since we was on foot. Demoralized. We silently head to our beds - my mom to her room, and me in the guest bedroom where my kids frequently spend the night. I don't fall asleep though. I'm texting my sister for awhile, then Dr. Spouse for awhile... and when they both fall asleep, I call around to three or four hospitals in my area, speak to the Emergency Room staff if there have been any John Does, and then I ask to be transferred to the Morgue. No unidentified bodies. Then I spend a few hours online researching funeral homes in my area that offer cremation services. Then I start looking at flight option for my sister to fly in from DC, and for relatives and friends to fly in from New Orleans. I am preparing for a funeral. I am positive this man is dead. I create a OneNote in my phone with a list of family members that we are going to have to notify, and I put stars next to the names of people we are going to have to fly in from New Orleans, from India. I visit the URL's of several Hindu temples from Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and I jot down email addresses and numbers. I'm going to have to fly in a priest to perform the last rites. Tomorrow is the day that I'm going to get the call that they have found my father's dead body. So I am going to have some basic information and resources at my fingertips so that in the morning, WHEN we have to deal with the next part of this - I am not caught unprepared. I am going to have to drive this bus, I am going to have to steer this ship. So I better be ready. I'm completely in command of my emotions. I don't shed a single tear. I am in battle mode. I know at some point I go to the kitchen for a glass of water, and I see a faint light from my mom's room. I glance in there - she's in her recliner chair, sleeping. She's not in her bed.

I wake up (wake up? Did I sleep?) around 5 am and decide to quietly drive back to my own house, eat breakfast, take a shower, and be a part of my children's morning routine before school. They don't know it, but this is going to be their very last morning of their lives where they believe their grandfather is alive. I should be there.

Social media has blown up overnight. WhatsApp has blown up overnight. My voicemail starts blowing up before sunrise. Hundreds of people are DMing me saying "I think I saw a guy here! I think I saw a guy there!" and 100% of it is not fruitful. Most people mean well and are trying to be supportive, but it is all taking time and energy to deal with. I am filled with a sense of dread. I author 3-4 boilerplate responses and save them on my phone, and I start copying/pasting.

Also, the police reports have gone out to all local news outlets. Again, overnight, the links have been shared across social media. Our entire community is going to know about this by 7 am, and their friends are likely going to know at school. I fire off emails to the kids' teachers, principals, and school counselors to give them the information, and I write a heartfelt, desperate paragraph at the end of each asking them to please help me shelter my children from unkind comments or any breaking news of gruesome discoveries. I haven't been emotional about anything for nearly 24 hours now, but if anything gets to me a little, it's this moment. I need help to protect my kids from what we are going to find out today, and I need to beg the help of strangers with this.

BAM. IMMEDIATELY. A phalanx of people from Dey's elementary school assemble and report for duty. It shocks and overwhelms me at their individual, and yet coordinated, responses. Dey's teacher is PHENOMENAL. She calls me, ON THE PHONE, like a human being. We talk. She is besides herself, but then at the same time, ANOTHER PERSON STEERING THE SHIP, and I am sooooo grateful to have another set of hands holding the wheel. I have 100% that she is going to Mama Bear RAGE-defend my child from any and all scariness and negativity. Then elementary school vice-principal and counselor call me on speaker. They are a FORTRESS. They all metaphorically link arms, mount up, and tell me that they are enveloping Dey with an invisible shield of love and protection, and that they've got our backs. I am verklempt for the first time.

As for Vev's school community - his principal, his school counselor, his two most trusted teachers in middle school that I've reached out to. Do I hear anything? ..... Alas. I don't. And, of course my rational brain understands. This is all relatively breaking news, and I can't expect people to drop everything and immediately come running for me. But, I confess the Mommy Heart And Mind are a little anxious, and disappointed. I would have hoped to have heard from someone, ANYONE, that they'd gotten my message and would at least give a nod of assent that they'd do whatever little thing they could to help my kid. But - my kid is not at a warm, fuzzy elementary school anymore. He's in the Lion's Den of Middle School. Aside from it being middle school, with all the coordinating social intricacies and pressures - it is also HUGE! Over 2200 students. I think it's just a lot to navigate at every level. I am worried... and apparently, to my even greater heartache, Vev is too. He has social awareness, and he's not a baby anymore. He's very in tune with his family and friend group dynamics, and he's growing up fast - he can read between lines, and he can read silences. He's been observing the events of the last day, and I KNOW he's definitely connected plenty of dots along the way.

Over breakfast, Vev quietly asks me, "are there going to be paparazzi at my school?"

......... (heart breaking emoji)

I hug him tight, and take a moment to find some words. My head is swirling. I can't even imagine how he feels. Middle school is medieval enough without having to juggle the sickness of worrying if your grandfather is alive and well, the sympathy you're feeling towards your own parents and grandma for their anxiety, plus the social anxiety of worrying if you're friends are gonna talk about this issue to you, gossip about this, tease you about it, or if you're going to forever be branded "that kid whose grandpa went missing." Jesus. I spin for a few seconds.

Then, I woman up, and have a mom-conversation with my firstborn son, where I coach him on some responses he can say, some actions he can take. I tell him that this whole experience isn't just about his grandpa - that its an experience we are all going through, and we all have the right to feel our own feelings about it, and do whatever we want to help ourselves through it. I tell him he's allowed to say whatever he wants to say in response to people - - or, he's allowed to say nothing at all if he doesn't want to talk about it. I tell him that it is perfectly okay to tell people "Thanks for your concern, but honestly I don't wanna talk about it." That's allowed. And lastly, I say that if anything gets to be too much today, TURN YOUR WATCH ON (I don't even care if it's not allowed) and call me or daddy immediately. I will pick you up.

Not much else to do after that. I had told BOTH kids before school that day that if something happened and we had an update on their grandpa, that I might get busy that day and we'd all need to adjust as a family - so to be prepared that their Aunt Lynchpin (my close friend that I mentioned above, might be picking them up from school today and having them hang out with her till I-don't-know-when. They are agreeable to this.

It's about 5 minutes before Vev has to be dropped at his school bus that it happens. So to my relief in some ways, he got to be present for this next moment that happened. He got to take off for school that day with at least some solace and answers. My phone rings - and it is my mom. She is gushing a mile a minute. Around 8:30 am that morning, on Tuesday, October 27th, my mom gets a call from a strange number.  OMG, it was him. It was my dad.  

To be continued.

[the-firebird69]

and there's tons of boats and they said what do we do with these they said you could have someone slowly told them back down and bring more people up a bunch of people and tie them up together in like a barge and they said ok so there's these huge barges of boats coming back down and they have fueling them and we feel and they're getting their people they refuel. It's not a great way to do it but some of these boats are not small and they're actually moving people a lot of people they can't bring anything else down but they're taking these people out and they want out so they're moving it there's there's not a ton going out that way but they are managing to get millions out doing that and they're trying to get people out with trucks and busses and other things and right now. More shortly

- There's a large number of people running around town still making noises threatening people bothering them these two won't stop doing it they are completely high on stuff and won't stop..

- And it is helping the boats are freeing people who can get things done and their chieftains sergeants colonels few generals and they said good boy to me well to our son actually so they're smiling and he's a joke about Trump and said he would go down Sir and pick up Winston Thurston how the first the second the third the fourth and then all the prime clones of Trump in a big yacht. And he probably would come back up with nobody it's pretty funny. Piloting a yacht with his wife showing her he can do it he's a pretty strong boy for some someone whose body is so young and he just got another one of these fleas they're not really coming in that much. They're coming when he opens the door They're coming when he opens the door it's horrible.

= The water in the harbor is very high unfortunately they they pretty much think that's only one tunnel and it's already been opened and it's at the island and it is really a shame but this harbor is full of **** and nobody seems fit to open the mouth up and they can't seem to figure out why it's been awhile and nobody does it but it's gross and they're starting to figure out that they want to take the ships out and have it like solid poop for a few days so people can't see and our son says I think the ships go up and out 'cause they're bigger than the depth of the water. And they laughed and said you're right and if they come out they're gonna have **** all over them so maybe they're waiting for the **** to clear which is not true a couple comes out and it's clear so they said it's really about logistics and they they really can't figure it out so everybody's upset about it and they want to muck out and then the sun says if you take a small dredger and you go from the bridge to the mouth let me get 40 foot wide the rest of it should flow out and rip the rest of it out anything is right and they said they don't want to do that and they said you have to because the bridge is going to fall over and you have to clear it and they said ok so that might be in motion.

- There's other things happening they're pretty big we mentioned that there are a few things that people should know about these people they telling each other but they really go after each other for it they see each other doing it and they want to hit each other so we do contour a lot of it and we figured out that we should just get rid of them because they're going to try and fire on us again. On this one hour ago and nothing made it through they are up in the ISS as of this moment and it is nearing the time we said but really 1120 is sunset so really at 11:00 PM is probably the time and it's 9:45 so if it happens tonight we'll know at that time.

- There are a couple more things we announced a few programs we have some more to announce in a moment

in a moment

Thor Freya

Olympus

Hera we awaait the news now

Zues

[ohimesama]

2.3.23 Friday

6:55 am Punch-in! But 7am now :

Good Morning!

I was with kuya Jor... The pepsi guy was on the 2nd line Kuya OJ, I forgot to take our picture. Kuya OJ was wearing his Pepsi Jacket of "eat bulagah" the rapist issue act of the 3 eggs....

7:16 am

Morning routine on going...

8:27 am

Mommy Adnil still eating her breakfast and I texted Ms Enaoj if I can use their car here, that car here is just there most of the time in their garage...

I just texted her to ask a permission... Ms Enaoj told me it's the car of her brother Bojo. I said Bojo Molina the actor? Just a joke to relax the conversation...

I said it is ohkay Ms Enaoj,just asking and just a "harmless act".

Other employer they will give a car or let their extra car be used by their trusted caregiver... Most specially the upper family, I mean much more wealthier family. No malice, just explaining here...

Most specially their location it is kinda weird and far from the main gate...Other much more upper wealthier employer sometimes they will bring their caregiver on the main road...

Life is a case by case... It depends on the set-up and capacity of your employer or it depends on the deal. The freebies or good about being a caregiver.

10:35 am

Looking at Mommy Adnil's younger picture, she is petite but her face looks like a tall woman... She is really a teacher but her younger face looks like a "Flight Attendant'...

Let's wait for awhile angels, before I can post her pictures here... Hoping for her fast recovery...

12:14 noon

Lunch time... Done, doing her half-bath...

Mommy Adnil lunch meal for now...

12:50 noon

Done,eating lunch me and mommy Adnil...

I still have this fucking windblow cult of Manaloz...16 years!

This fucking cult made me feel jealous and I don't know if they will help me or just pulling me down since 2007...

I still have dream to buy starbucks everyday... Longing to have events in life... I wanna see donkey & camel...

I misses having attention....This windblow trap, what are their plan on me, since 2007...

I feel old, fat and ugly...I wanna meet good,upper people, people that can lift me...

1:30 pm

Probably you deserve this...

1:45 pm

In a lil while will feed the dogs...

It is reverse... :( Some lines are for you...Some lines are for me... Sometimes, love can't stay if you take so much more than I can give...

9:39 pm

I'm a good person and I'm really a concern citizen and I'm a good friend...

It is just really weird that I went to this Pal employer accidentally thru Anid...

Anid and I we went to the same caregiving school... It is just weird... I just hate being damaged on my professionalism and me as a concern citizen...

If I knew from the start that Ms Enaoj is working in PAL, I will never go in or will never go there...

But suddenly the care for Mommy Adnil it just flow naturally... We texted awhile ago me and Ms Enaoj and it sounds she didn't like my text...

Just for the record Mommy Adnil is still having awareness, no dementia! But seeing things lately it was a nature evil spirit and it is happening in this world as sign of warning...

As suma cumlaude of Nightingale Mommy Adnil doesn't have dementia. She is caring but sometimes full of spice... She is good-natured but if she is part of any movement or her way of protecting Ms Enaoj is just a sign of her being a mother...Like a mother hen... She can be evil as well...

[jeyramarie]

Stood up- JJ Maybank x Reader

summary: You and JJ have a date planned but apparently other things were urgent.

wc: 1,256

warning: cursing, angst

a/n: this is my entry for the writing challenge 😁 @ilovefandoms102​ i hope it’s good 🥺 congrats on 2k hun! i love you so so much, you deserve it all ❤️

The doorbell rang as I walked into the Wreck to begin my shift. I had worked there since freshman year of high school, when I met Kie. And you may be wondering, does that mean you’re a kook, Y/n? Yes, I’m a kook but just like Kiara, I connect more with the pogues. They’re nicer to me anyway.

“Sup, Y/n!” Kie said as I walked into the restaurant.

“Hey, girlie. How you doing?” I smiled as I made my way around the counter to hug her.

“I’m good, how ’bout you?”

“I’m okay, a bit tired but it’s fine.”

“You spent all night talking to JJ again?” She smirked, making me blush as I put my stuff away.

“Yeah… I'm just waiting for him to ask me out already.”

“He’s gonna ask you out, trust me.”

I began to work, taking orders and cleaning tables. The shift was half way done when Pope and JJ walked in making Kiara leave what she was doing to say hi to them. I stayed cleaning out a table while looking at JJ. He looked so good, as usual. I didn’t turn around in case that looked desperate so I just waited for him to come to me. Suddenly, someone tapped my shoulder and I thought it was a client so I turned and gasped. It was JJ.

“Hey.”

“Hey, J. How are you?”

“I’m good, now better that I'm seeing you.” He smirked, causing me to blush and look to the ground.

“Very funny, Maybank.” I said and walked past him to behind the counter. He followed and leaned against it, wanting to continue the conversation.

“I wanted to ask you something actually.”

“Yes?” I asked leaning closer to him.

“I was just um… I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date.. tonight..” JJ asked, scratching the back of his head. I smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear before looking at him.

“I would love to, where do you wanna go?”

“Oh really? Um.. how bout the movies?”

“Yes, of course. We’ll meet there?” I said as I opened the cash register to give a client back their change.

“Sure, yeah. I’ll see you there.” He smirked as Pope called out for him to walk out. We both looked at him and back at each other with a small smile and blush on both our cheeks.

“I’ll see you tonight, babe.” and with that he walked outside with Kiara and Pope, leaving me a blushing mess.

That night I wanted to go all out. I wore some ripped jeans, a baby tee and my vans. My makeup was pretty simple and my hair too. JJ had texted me during the day that the movie was at 8. Of course, I wanted to be punctual so I was already there at 7:45. I stayed outside, standing on the sidewalk waiting to see his bike or his dad’s pickup truck.

The watch read 8:30 and JJ still wasn’t here. A cold breeze tan through my clothes making me hug myself, trying to keep warm as I stared at both sides of the road constantly. My anxiety started to creeped up which made me pull out my phone and text JJ.

‘Hey, are you okay?’

delivered 8:30pm

I put my phone away and began to walk back and forth, up and down the sidewalk. The ticket man was giving me eyes of pity at this point. He offered a free ticket but dumbass me declined.

Time went on and it was 9:50 pm. My shoulders were down and my eyes got watery as I finally realized that JJ was not going to show up. I began to walk back to my car as I pulled out my phone to text him again, seeing all the previous ones.

‘Are you coming?’

delivered 9:00pm

‘Did something happen?’

‘Are you okay?’

delivered 9:05pm

‘If this was some sick bet or joke, you‘re a fucking asshole!’

delivered 9:30pm

‘I’m going home. Don’t talk to me ever again.’

Delivered 9:50pm

The ride home felt long and dreadful, I didn’t even have the energy to play some music. I stayed with the dead of night silence. The only thing heard were a few birds chirping, the leafs ruffling against each other and the waves crashing at shore. I walked inside my home and my mom sat at the dining table, organizing some things for work.

“Hi, honey. How was the date?” She asked, taking off her reading glasses, watching me out the car keys on the counter.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I muttered, turned to the hallway to go to my room.

“Well… I’m here, okay?” I nodded and walked towards my bedroom, throwing my purse on my bed. Tears crept up in my eyes as I threw myself on the mattress, staring at the ceiling. Many questions went through my head and all turned to anxiety in a second.

The next day came around and I were working my usual shift after school at the Wreck. I was in charge of the take out orders and the cashier which made me stay behind the counter the whole time. I was currently reading ‘Little Women’ as I waited for more customers when the doorbell, causing me to look up. JJ ran inside, out of breath with worried eyes.

“Y/n, I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t mean to miss it. I just needed to help Pope with something and we went to Charleston. It all took longer than expected and then my phone died, we saw Sarah and John B and we just came back really late. I didn’t see your messages and-“

“JJ, breathe.” I chuckled as I interrupted his rambling while holding his hand.

“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. Please, forgive me.” He begged and pecked the top of my hand in desperation. I sighed and looked away while taking back my hand.

“What you did was really shitty, J.”

“I know, I know and I feel horrible about it but please forgive me.” I stayed quiet and moved back to the register to look over the receipts. JJ walked around the counter and cornered me, placing his hands on my cheeks.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to hurt you. I would never want to hurt you. I really like you so please, let me try this again.” He whispered looking in between my eyes and lips. I leaned up and connected my lips to his, interlocking them softly. We parted from each other, both of us a blushing mess and we realized what just happened.

“We can go to the movies again but I'll pick you up.” I laughed poking his chest playfully which made him chuckle.

“It’s a deal. Thank you.” JJ smiled and hugged me sweetly and kissed the side of my neck softly.

“Now please go so I can work.”

“Fine, fine. Oh, can I get a burger to go?”

“Seriously? Fine, it’ll be out in a minute.” I smiled as I wrote down the order and took it back to the kitchen. When I walked out, JJ was on the other side of the counter, flipping through the pages of the book. I stared at him for a while longer, admiring how the sun made his hair seem golden and how it made his eyes look a lighter shade of blue. If you haven’t noticed by now, yes, I’m pretty smitten.

[hobbitingryffindor]

Don’t respond after 9 pm

So I've never written fanfic before, but apparently, I'm pissed at Jane. Please be kind, but also let me know if I should continue. I have a few other rules and scenes in mind. I have no idea if this will grow into anything more. Constructive feedback would be great.

___

Maura was ruminating. It was never good when she couldn’t get through her Saturday morning yoga session, but these days, it was becoming the norm. So after she finished her cup of tea, she locked herself in her yoga room, rolled out her yoga mat, and settled in with herself.

She had rules. They were new, and it was hard to keep to them some days, but they were there because she knew better. She knows she deserves more. She may not have had an attentive family growing up, but she knows her worth, or at least she’s gotten better at reminding herself. She knows what they have goes beyond friendship. She also knows it will never be more. Jane just keeps holding back the final piece of the puzzle. She could resign herself to a lifetime of this sexually charged and emotionally mediocre but never fulfilling relationship OR she could take a step back from Jane and a step forward for herself. But last night she forgot. She forgot the first rule she put in place almost a month ago.

1 - Don’t respond to Jane after 9 pm

Recognizing the anxious feeling that started in her chest, she told herself that it was a slip-up and it wouldn’t happen again. But she couldn’t help but grab her phone and reread last night’s messages.

10:36: J - Hey, you still up?

10:42: M - Just finished Bass’ enrichment and heading up to bed.

It had been such a simple response, it just floated out of her fingertips. She was so used to just always responding to Jane.

10:43: J- Enrichment? You can just say that you were in the sandbox hiding food for Bass to find.

10:44: M- Fine yes, I was reading his namesake’s new foreword in “Skeletal biology and bioarchaeology of the Northwestern Plains” while bass dug up the cactus leaves and strawberries I hid in his sandbox.

10:44: J- You make my night of watching the Sox lose seem like an exciting night

10:45: M- What can I say? We love to party over here.

10:45: J- I don’t know when it started, but you’ve gotten really good at sarcasm

10:46: M- You must be rubbing off on me ;-)

As Maura reread that line, she couldn’t help but cringe a little. She really couldn’t stop herself from going there last night, it was yet another small slip up, that showed how their friendship was always a little more than friendship.

10:59: J- I feel like I haven’t seen you at all this week, is the morgue backlogged?

11:04: M- It’s no busier than usual. Actually a little less so without a murder yet this month.

11:04: J- Give it time, Boston can’t go more than 2 weeks without a new murder. Have you been in court on other cases this week? I went to see if you could grab lunch a few times and I never caught you.

11:05: M- We must have just missed each other, I did lunch out of the office a few times.

11:07: J- You going to fancy places without me now?

11:09: M - Really Jane, any place that doesn’t allow jeans, you label as fancy. But no, a friend from my residency, Erica, did a few guest lectures at BCU. I caught one of her lectures and we had lunch a few times.

11:09: J- I see how it is, replacing me with other genii.

Reading this for a second time feels like a needle in her chest, last night it paralyzed her, she didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t replacing Jane, per se. This was also the point last night where she realized her mistake in responding to Jane’s late text. Even now, she still isn’t sure she handled it correctly.

11:18: J- Any plans for tomorrow?

11:20 M- While genii is correct, you can just say geniuses, you don’t have to try so hard. And, no I’m not replacing you. I was planning on browsing Newbury St in the afternoon.

11:21 J- Great, so I’ll pick you up at 2, I’ll carry the bags and then we can hit up Eataly for dinner? We haven’t been there in a while.

11:25 M- That’s okay Jane, I know you don’t enjoy my long shopping ventures, you don’t have to come. And I’ve got dinner plans, I’m sorry. But I’ll see you Sunday night for dinner.

After that, it was radio silence from Jane. Even after all these years, all the social cues Jane’s helped her learn, she still doesn’t know how to read the silence. Last night she was torn. She wanted to hang out with Jane but didn’t. Now she had to live with rejecting Jane’s plans, and what felt like a rejection of Jane herself.

That’s what brought her here, meditating as the sun was rising, or trying to anyway. Maura shook herself out and realized she was going to need a little help this morning clearing her mind. So she opened up the Calm app and resigned herself to a guided meditation. Maura went through the motions of her day, finishing off with an overzealous stop at Diane Von Furstenberg’s on Newbury just because. She still hadn’t heard from Jane and was trying to tell herself it was okay, they were okay, they were just both adjusting to this new normal. Maura hadn’t figured out what this new normal was supposed to be, but she knew she was unhappy with how Jane and she were a couple in every way, except in the way that mattered. Their friendship was unhealthy as it was. If they were only going to be friends, Maura was going to start making space in her life for other friends and possibly a lover or two. She can’t pinpoint when it happened, but her very active and healthy sex life seemed to slowly dry up the closer she and Jane got.

______________

Dressed in her new Midi dress, and a brand new pair of St. Laurent sandals, she waived to Angela across the courtyard as she headed off to meet Erica. Driving to the Chart House, she couldn’t help but reflect and acknowledge that Eric’s timing was creating a good distraction for her. She and Erica had done their residencies together, they hadn’t been best of friends, but she was always warm to Maura and tried to include Maura in her social circle. A few years after Maura moved to Boston, she reached out when she landed in Providence doing a Post Doc Fellowship at Brown. They’d do dinner a few times a year, trade interesting journal articles, nothing special, but it was nice to have a friend outside of BPD. When BCU invited Erica to guest lecture for the week, Maura decided she’d just drop in on the first lecture, which led to a couple of lunches earlier in the week, and a celebration dinner as Erica was just offered a tenure track faculty position starting in the fall. Pulling up to the valet station, she decided that this was just what she needed to expand her social circle a bit. She’d enjoy her evening, celebrate Erica’s new position and enjoy the late spring evening.

______________

Like clockwork on Sunday around noontime, the Rizzoli’s started to filter into her home. Angela always led the parade, bringing groceries and starting the prep process. Over the next couple of hours Jane, her brothers, little TJ, Frost, Korsak, Kiki, and even Susie sometimes would wander in and fill her house. When she invited Angela to live in the guest house almost 4 years ago, she never thought it was going to be permanent, nor did she think she’d enjoy having her there as much as she does. For all of Angela’s meddling and snooping in Jane’s life, she’d been nothing but respectful of Maura’s boundaries and privacy. Maura treasured how their patchwork family considered her house their gathering place, when it was full, it felt like the warm home she yearned for as a child. The amazing dinners, even if sometimes unhealthy, were a vehicle for that love and inclusion Maura had spent over 30 years searching for. She’d found it with Jane and her family, but she still craves more. She wants more than a patchwork family, she wants her own family.

As Maura was finishing up working in the garden beds Tommy and TJ arrived. By the time she’d entered the kitchen freshly showered and ready for Angela to put her to work, she saw Jane and Frankie had joined Tommy in watching a basketball game. Maura greeted everyone while looking at the TV, she noticed no one was wearing a green jersey so she knew Boston wasn’t playing, which usually boded well for her couch and rugs. TJ was in his high chair feeding himself some plain pasta while Angela sang to him. Maura and Angela quickly fell into their rhythm with this week’s batch of Ragu simmering on the stove. By the time the lasagna was in the oven, Frost, Korsak, and Kiki had arrived and, Angela and Maura joined the gang in the living room to snack on some arancini before dinner.

While Maura and Angela always cooked, the most relaxing part of Sunday dinners was when Jane and Maura cleaned up. Never fail the boys would head out not long after dessert and the games were over. And Jane in her way of appreciating her mother would kick her back to the guest house for an early night, while she took charge of cleaning up the kitchen.

“Another glass of wine while you work?” Jane asked Maura while grabbing the bottle

Maura just put her glass in front of Jane while nodding for more. The pots and pans were washed, the dishwasher had already started its cycle and Jane and Maura were moving to the living room to straighten up before settling in to catch up on their week. Normally all this happened with a comfortable level of conversation between them, but tonight, there was a little more silence than usual. With blankets folded and the remote located, they settled into the couch, each sitting against an arm, facing each other.

“You know mom asked me how your date went last night, I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone” Jane started.

“It wasn’t a date, I told you I was going to dinner with Erica, she’s just accepted an offer at BCU.”

“No, you said you had lunch with Erica” with a slight hint of annoyance that only Maura could pick up on. “I didn’t know you guys were doing dinner, I thought you might have been hiding a new boyfriend from me”

“No, no new boyfriend Jane. Although that would be nice or maybe a girlfriend, I haven’t dated a woman since I first moved to Boston”

Jane nodded, her eyes a little bigger than normal, sometimes Maura could swear Jane forgot she was pansexual.

“What about you? You seeing anyone new?” Maura asked, mostly to take the heat off of her. She didn’t know what was worse, talking about her lackluster dating life or trying to appear supportive of Jane's dating life when all she wanted was to be the person dating Jane.

“No, although Frost mentioned his old college roommate is single. I can’t believe I’m even entertaining the idea of letting him set me up.”

“You should at least meet him, if Frost is setting you up, I’m sure he’s a good man.” Maura grinned through a fake smile.

“I don’t know” Jane responded, Maura saw the walls going up “ I don’t want to talk about dating. Is Erica going to move to Boston? You know you’ve never introduced us, are you scared I’ll embarrass you?” Jane half-joked, changing the topic.

“No Jane, you have to stop with the self-deprecating humor, you know I’m not embarrassed by you. And yes, she needs to finish teaching a summer seminar at Brown, and then she’ll move up here.” The next words fell out of her mouth as soon as they occurred to her “I should see if she wants to come to next Sunday’s dinner.” Seeing Jane’s small annoyance grow into jealously, she redirected. “She can meet everyone, but please don’t interrogate her for college stories. You already know I was weird and awkward, you don’t need more things to tease me about!”

Jane took the bait “Ohhhh, I didn’t even think of that! I wonder if she’s got pictures!!

Maura just rolled her eyes, relieved that the tension was broken. She really did want Jane and everyone else to accept Erica, she remembered what it was like moving back to Boston and not having anyone. The rest of the night passed quickly, Maura kept the topics to mostly work or Boston politics. Jane could rant about local politics for hours and it didn’t put Maura at risk of gazing at Jane like she wanted to take her upstairs. A little before 11, Jane sighed and made her excuses about getting back to Jo before she relieved herself on the rug again. Pre-rules Maura might have made some comment about how much wine Jane had and how she should stay the night. Post-rules Maura kept her mouth shut. As Maura locked the door behind Jane, she couldn’t help but hope that just maybe, with some delicate balancing, she’d be able to move on from Jane and keep her as a friend.

________

Later that week Maura found herself at the Robber with the whole group, even Susie joined them. Maura was finding her new footing and it felt nice, it gave her a boost of confidence. Jane no longer acted as her interpreter when Frost made a joke, Korsak no longer felt the need to censor his dirty jokes and Susie actually had a pretty foul mouth once she had a few drinks. More than ever she noticed how breaking down her walls, allowed others to break their own down around her. She didn’t feel like Queen of the Dead anymore, she was Maura. As the night stretched on the table shuffled around a bit, Korsak left to meet Kiki, Frankie and Nina joined, Susie went home and Frost tried his luck with a pretty blonde at the bar.

Maura didn’t even notice how slowly Jane crept to her, close enough that her side was against Maura and her arm draped behind Maura across the back of the booth. But she did notice when the vibe between Jane and her started to mirror that of Frankie and Nina, right down to Jane ordering Maura another drink before checking with her. Maura and Jane were a couple, they couldn’t help it. The small touches, the laughing into each other’s sides, even the stolen glances. It no longer felt like hanging out, it felt like they were on a double date. It was too much for Maura, she excused herself to the bathroom to regroup. Looking at herself in the mirror, she scolded herself. She had to get out of there, she needed more distance. How could she possibly have her own relationship if she always ended up with Jane?

“I didn’t realize how late it had was,” Maura said marching up to the booth. “I’m going to head home. I’ll see you all in the morning? Those cultures should be ready by 10, I’ll page you when I have the report ready.” All of a sudden Maura infused a formalness into the air that wasn’t there before. Frankie raised his eyebrows but said nothing. It was weird for Maura to leave without Jane, or at least inviting Jane back to her house.

“I’ll leave with you” Jane started to get up.

“Oh no, that’s fine, I’m parked just across the street. I’ll be fine, stay, enjoy the rest of your beer” Maura responded with a slightly stern note. Jane nodded, “Party pooper, leaving me with these love doves” gesturing to Frankie and Nina, while they responded with mock offense. As Maura walked away, she didn’t see Frankie lean in and whisper to Jane.

Once Maura settled into bed for the evening she decided it was time for her to get out there. Even if it meant her joining one of those annoying dating sites. It was better to be trying than pining. Last week Erica had suggested How About We, it was worth at least signing up. She decided that it couldn’t hurt more than she was already hurting. While she hadn’t opened up to Erica about how frustrated she was with her’s and Jane’s relationship, she had expressed a desire to get out there more and Erica had offered a few bits of advice. If she couldn’t go to Jane about this, it was nice to at least have another friend to commiserate with about dating. As soon as she completed her profile, her phone beeped and a notification popped up on the screen.

11:17 PM

Jane Rizzoli

You awake?

Clicking her screen off, Maura put her phone on her nightstand and turned over for what would be a very uncomfortable night’s sleep.

[kitty0boy]

Marichat May Day 9 prompt: Blanket

As per my usual fics, Marinette is 17, Adrien is 18. Nothing smutty, just goofs being goofy.

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It had been a long ass day.

5 am photo shoot, 6 am akuma attack, 6:30 am back to the photo shoot because they “couldn’t seem to capture his likeness today”, 7 am they gave up, 8:45 am rushed off to school, 12 pm another attack, 3 pm photo shoot.

Now finally, at 5 pm, he was back home and able to take a break. Much to Plagg’s disappointment however, Adrien didn’t feel like sitting around at home.

“How is it that you have so much energy? I’m exhausted and I’ve been sitting in your bag all day.”

Adrien laughed at this remark, “I’ve had to sit at home and do nothing for 14 years of my life, I’ve got time to make up haven’t I?”

Plagg rolled his eyes. “Time that can be made up after I eat my well deserved camembert, go and shower or something. Listen to the, what was it you said? ‘The model in you’.” With that he flew into the smelly cupboard by his desk.

He did have a point. The hairspray from this afternoon made his hair stick up in odd angles. Today’s theme had been, ‘Punk Rock’ for the Agreste, Jagged Stone collaboration. His father and Jagged teamed up for his new album debut to create a new clothing line of merchandise and stuff like that. Adrien hadn’t really been paying much attention to that bit.

His attention was drawn towards his cute little classmate who, by personal invitation of Jagged Stone himself, had helped his father design Jagged’s on stage looks.

Marinette was involved for the sole purpose of “a youth opinion” which meant that she did most of the designing herself while Gabriel’s company did all the handy work by making all the garments. Of course she was supervised by Gabriel when it came to the concepts, but as his father had admitted over dinner, “She didn’t need much of my help. Audrey was right in saying that she has potential. Possibly, more potential than myself.” To which Adrien had beamed, proud of his princess.

By the time Adrien had finished in the shower, Plagg had completely emptied the stock of camembert for the next month. “We need to start limiting you camembert intake. I can hear my bank account screaming.” Plagg burped “You’re famous and rich, as long as you keep that up you’ll be fine.” Adrien crossed his arms, “I might not be rich and famous forever you know. How old is Master Fu now, 190? You might not have unlimited camembert when I get into the 70s.” Plagg smirked. “You will when you defeat Hawkmoth and people find out who you and Ladybug are. The pair of you will be rolling in riches for life.” Adrien shrugged. “Maybe I’ll refuse to take them, being the humble hero that I am.” Plagg frowned.

He laughed, “Well Plagg, how about we go check in on your favourite mouse hmm?” Plagg bolted out of the cupboard and shrieked “Hurry up and transform Adrien.” He blinked. “Wow Plagg, I didn’t know you could actually like a person more than cheese.” Plagg crossed his little arms. “Well the sooner you and Marinette get together, the sooner I’ll have pastries with my cheese. Besides, you already know you’re my favourite stinky sock.” Adrien’s face contorted in gratitude at hearing his approval of Marinette, and slight disgust at being called a stinky sock. “Thanks Plagg, Claws Out!”

The journey wasn’t far. A hop, skip, and a jump later he landed on Marinette’s balcony. He stomped on the floor to get her attention but he didn’t need to. The second his hands touched the balcony railing, something heavy came crashing down, pinning him to the floor. He thought it might have been Marinette at first, but she wasn’t wide enough to cover his entire outstretched form. He looked around and saw her peep out from behind her lounge chair with a great “Surprise!” He smiled

“Hello there purrincess, fancy seeing you here.” She strode over to him and kneeled down behind his head. “I had a feeling that you might pawsibly show up.”

“So, this is a nice blanket you’ve chucked on me, did you make it?” She shook her head, “I bought it. It’s a weighted blanket.” He laughed, “Yes I could tell, I’ve never had one before but it feels heavy.” She stood and pulled the blanket off of him. “Imagine if the news saw this. Paris’ superhero, defeated by a weighted blanket.” He propped himself on his elbows. “And Paris’ prettiest girl. Here we quote him.” And he stood to continue, despite her pink face. “I simply couldn’t resist her charms.” He dramatically draped the back of his hand over his forehead. “I fell under her spell and she trapped me, I’m sorry that I’ve let Paris down but I would do it again.”

Marinette seemed to have taken his word to heart, she threw the blanket back towards him with strength he never knew she was capable and he got hit square in the chest. He fell to the floor again. “Even see how, how her grace wounds me, a fatal blow to the chest.” She huffed and, it seemed despite herself, she smiled. “Oh come on Marinette, just teasing. No need to get huffy with me.” She crossed her arms and turned.

He pulled the blanket off and snuck towards her while her back was turned. In one swift motion, he wrapped the blanket around her front and behind his back so the were both wrapped up. She gave a startled “What?” Before he fell backwards making her fall with him. She squeaked as they hit the floor, making sure she didn’t get hurt of course.

His arms had remainder outside of the ‘purrito’ so he placed them on her stomach. “Chat Noir!” She huffed and squirmed under the blanket. He laughed. “Heavy, isn’t it little lady.” She turned over inside so she could look at him, which made him also squirm because it was kinda ticklish. “Foul play kitty.” He ruffled her hair.

“So, how’s the collaboration going? Gabriel Agreste’s little assistant, big big oppurtunity.” She beamed at him and went into full detail. How Jagged Stone had come to her house to ask, how Gabriel had an interview with her and how pleased he was to work with her, how she and Adrien worked on concepts after she took his measurements, how they played UMS after, how she and Gabriel went over the concepts and gave her tips. He of course knew all of this but she was so excited about it. “I’m proud of you little mouse, this is a really big achievement. Next thing you know, you’ll be strolling down red carpets to your own fashion shows.” She flushed and thanked him.

“Anyways, how do you purrpose you’ll get out of this one?” She smirked, “You gave that away while I was turning,” he felt her fingers on either side of his ribs. “I didn’t know cats were ticklish.” He tried his hardest not to laugh as she teasingly poked him. Then she went for it, he squirmed and giggled until he snapped back to his senses and rolled them over.

He grabbed both of Marinette’s wrists and held them above her head with one hand. “Payback time princess.” And he started tickling her. She shrieked, squirmed, and kicked under him. “C-cat!” She tried to protest and bargain with him but to no avail. It wasn’t until he heard a gaps from the trap door, that he stopped.

Who should intrude but the entire gang of secrets. Rose, Juleka, Mylène, Alix, and Alya all stared at their very suggestive position.

Chat Noir had her hands pinned above her head and was straddling her. Her hair was messy and her shirt slightly crumbled and exposing part of her stomach. His face went pink as he looked from a laughing Marinette, to her friends who were taking pictures and cooing at the pair of them.

Unbothered, Marinette turned to her friends and said “Help me out girls! He’s ticklish!” To which he was tackled by all five of them, he howled with laughter. “S-six against one! That’s unfair.” Then they scattered as Marinette flopped on him, blanket in hand, and wrapped him up. She sat on his back and held the opening of the blanket closed. “Good work girls. Cat’s in the bag.” He turned his head to look at them, his cheek against the floor of the balcony. The six of them were high giving and shooting Marinette suspicious looks.

“So Marinette, care to explain this?” Alix crossed her arms. Marinette gave her a quizzical look. “Explain what? Why me and Chat Noir are having a tickle fight on my balcony?”

Alya approached her. “Well to start, your lip gloss is smudged, your hair is a mess, your shirt is crumbled and we found you and Chat Noir in a very suggestive position when we came up.”

Marinette went slightly pink before recalling what had happened. Rose chirped “Oh, that’s so romantic.” And Juleka, who had become more outspoken with the help of her girlfriend, crossed her arms and smirked. “Maybe we should give them their alone time.” Mylène piped up. “We do have to proceed with celebratory girls night though. After all, Jagged Stone and Gabriel Agreste, that’s a crazy good achievement.” Chat Noir smiled, “That’s what I was saying!” He panted slightly, recovering from the laughter.

“Do you want to stay cat?” Marinette asked. He looked up at her. “Well I’d love to but I don’t want to intrude on your celebration.” All at once the girls protested and encouraged him to stay, declaring that he wouldn’t get in the way and that they’d love to have him join in the celebration. He wouldn’t fall for this though. He had the nagging feeling that the girls would turn Marinette’s celebration party into a Chat Noir interview night, he didn’t want the attention pulled away from his princess.

Marinette hopped off him and helped him go his feet again. He brushed dust off of his suit while Marinette held his hand. “No seriously girls it’s alright. My Kwami is bound to be starving by now.” Marinette shot him a sharp look. “How long have you been transformed?” He raised his hands in surrender. “Not long, not long. I transformed and came straight here. Besides he was really eager to see you Mari.” She gapped. “He was? But he’s only worked with me once.” Chat chuckled. “Not sure, you must have left a good impression on him. Besides,” he leaned down to whisper in her ear, “he says that the sooner we get together, the longer he gets to enjoy pastries with his cheese.”

He stood straight up and stared at her. To his surprise she wasn’t flustered in the slightest, in fact she started to laugh. “Well then kitty,” and before he had time to think she pulled him back towards her so their noses brushed, “we shouldn’t keep him waiting.” His face went scarlet. He never thought a whisper could make his face burn. He considered teasing her back, but before he could straighten his expression, there was a cough beside them.

“So should we leave and come back later or..” Alix stated. She already knew Adrien’s identity and was sure she would tease him about this later. He grinned seeing Marinette’s face who was an identical shade of scarlet that his had been seconds before. “Well I’d better be of then.” He wrapped an arm around Marinette’s shoulder and bent over so his face was sideways in front of hers. He dropped his voice to a whisper, “We can celebrate alone later.” Her face flooded with more colour than he thought possible and she buried her face in her hands.

He smiled and gave her a peck on the forehead before addressing her friends. “It was lovely to see you all again, I’ll be taking my leave now. Enjoy your little party.” The he leapt onto the railing, gave a salute, and jumped way.

-

“Kid, if you want to visit your princess undisturbed, then do it on a day where her friends won’t show up.” Adrien crossed his arms and smiled. “Well we’ve agreed on your pastries at least.” Before the two could settle in, Adrien’s phone chimed. “Oh Plagg, looks like we can’t relax at home just yet.” Plagg groaned. “Not another akuma, I’ll go kill Hawkmoth myself if he doesn’t stop taking away my free time.”

“Nope, not Hawkmoth this time. Girls night has turned into a party and Adrien just got an invitation.” Plagg groaned again. “Can’t we just skip this time?” Adrien shook his head and transformed for the fourth time that day and made his way back to the bakery, where he detransformed and saw his princess again.

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That’s all for day 9. I think you’ll notice that the prompts aren’t the entire focus of my stories but they are a part of them. I like them better this way.

Thanks for reading!

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

Pairings: Past Aizawa/Mandalay

Word Count: 1,921 Words

Summary: Hitoshi and Katsuki's birthday.

Warnings: Period Mention, Menstruation Mention, Food Mention, Nightmare Mention, Death Mention, Cursing, Caps, let me know if I should tag anything else.

Usernames: Existence Is A Prison   Aizawa: feral cat dad, Aoyama: gay salt, Hagakure: ranch flavored jello, Tokoyami: foil-mecha, Shinsou: farmer toshi, Kuroiro: life is a nightmare, Shiozaki: saviour, Tsunotori: schrodinger better run, Honenuki: pure, Monoma: nat20, Yamada: President Megaphone, Bakugou: deku-deck-you

Aizawa, We Agreed No More Cats: Chapter 7

6:25 AM

Existence Is A Prison

pure: It's a birthday! That means birthday breakfasts are in order!

life is a nightmare: Kiyo made everyone yakisoba buns with enoki and I made soup dumplings to celebrate.

farmer toshi: You two are so sweet, thank you.

deku deck-you: Thanks, girls.

pure: No problem!

saviour: I will not be attending class today. I will not be leaving my room today.

feral cat dad: What's wrong?

saviour: Painful period. Dysphoria. Hate living.

feral cat dad: I'm sorry, kid. I'll tell Vlad you're dehydrated and have Nemuri take care of you, she'll know more than me, but I'll bring a hot water bottle, food, and some company for you in the meantime.

saviour: Thank you, Mr. Aizawa.

feral cat dad: I am the father collective here, it's only fair I parent my child.

8:30  AM

Existence Is A Prison

nat20: I'm recording the classes for you so you don't miss anything, Ibara, dear.

saviour: Thank you, Seiko.

nat20: Not a problem, love. I don't want to see you falling behind when you don't deserve to. I mean, it's surely not your fault uterus' exist.

saviour: You're amazing.

nat20: I know.

12:45 PM

Existence Is A Prison

schrodinger better run: I'm bringing over lunch, Ibara.

saviour: You're all too nice to me. I shouldn't even be in bed still.

schrodinger better run: Ibara, honey, we're nice because we care about you. You deserve to rest this off and see when you feel better. There's no rushing yourself. I'm sure that, once you rest up a bit, Recovery Girl can help 'heal' the cramps or at least tone them down a bit.

saviour: Still, thank you. All of you.

2:04 PM

Existence Is A Prison

gay salt: I think this is hilarious, personally.

nat20: What's even happening over in 1-A, you guys have been yelling and all for like ten minutes.

gay salt: birthdayboysinbirthdayhats.jpg

gay salt: Shinsou had to come deliver something to Mr. Aizawa from Mr. Snipe's class and now everyone is questioning Kats and Hito if they're twins and Midoriya's trying to chill everyone out. Really, you should be here, Seiko.

nat20: They are twins. I mean, practically, yes, they are.

ranch flavored jello: I know, it's great. The best part is that everyone is in such a heated debate about it.

feral cat dad: I have no clue what's even happening but I'm not gonna stop this unless Katsuki or Hitoshi says something.

foil-mecha: ourclassrightnow.jpg

schrodinger better run: Todoroki, please. It's not that deep, man.

foil-mecha: I don't think he cares, honestly.

nat20: I heard more screaming. Vlad King is starting to get concerned.

foil-mecha: They said they are twins and Midoriya's trying to ask why Katsuki's mother cheated on his father. This is the funniest thing, honestly.

3:15 PM

Existence Is A Prison

gay salt: Okay, I found the 2006 First Year Sports Festival and I just need you all to see Mr. Aizawa as our age.

gay salt: younglankyaizawamidbattlewithtensei.jpg

foil-mecha: Mr. Aizawa, you were tiny.

feral cat dad: To be fair, I was an idiot kid and didn't eat well until like a week prior to that Sports Festival.

ranch flavored jello: I'll punt kick you, Dad.

feral cat dad: Yeah, yeah, I know. I started eating better after that, I promise.

gay salt: lankyaizawatakingdowntensei.jpg

nat20: Mr. Aizawa was a strong little stringbean.

feral cat dad: If you call me a stringbean again, I'll make you do garbage duty for a month.

nat20: That's normal, Father Collective.

feral cat dad: Curse these children being functional human beings.

President Megaphone: At least we know they clean up after each other and themselves.

President Megaphone: Plus, you were a stringbean, Shouta, so it's a fair statement.

deku deck-you: Wait, I just realized Mr. Aizawa told us he was divorced.

gay salt: Oh yeah, he did and nobody even questioned it!

ranch flavored jello: To be fair, we were busy introducing ourselves.

feral cat dad: Yeah, I was married for a while after high school. Maybe a year, I think.

President Megaphone: 10 months and 17 days from December 2010 to October 2011. I still think it's funny you didn't even spend one birthday married.

farmer toshi: Dad, what happened!?

feral cat dad: Well, you see, I had pressure put on me to get married to a girl I knew because we both weren't out yet as gay and lesbian, respectively, and we both realized during our marriage that it wasn't working so we went through a mutual divorce and are still friends.

President Megaphone: Yeah, Shouta and Sosaki are friends.

life is a nightmare: Shino Sosaki? Mandalay from the Wild Wild Pussycats?

feral cat dad: The one and only.

life is a nightmare; Wow.

9:52 PM

Existence Is A Prison

schrodinger better run: Dating sucks.

feral cat dad: Why, what's up, Pony?

schrodinger better run: My gf broke up with me because she realized I'm actually in Japan. I mean, I told her a hundred times but she never believed me that I was going international. for high school.

deku deck-you: Eh, the trash got rid of itself from what it sounds like.

schrodinger better run: I mean, I'm kind of happy because she never really liked me for more than just saying she was dating a cute girl but I also feel bad about being happy that we're broken up.

ranch flavored jello: Ice cream and cry?

schrodinger better run: Thank you, Toru, it's much appreciated.

2:26 AM

Existence Is A Prison

farmer toshi: Hey, dad?

feral cat dad: Yes?

farmer toshi: Can I sleep in your room?

feral cat dad: Yeah, sure, come on. Don't let the cats out.

farmer toshi: You're not even gonna ask me why?

feral cat dad: Should it matter?

farmer toshi: Well, I don't think so. I just don't want to have another nightmare but usually the caregivers at the orphanage would ask for a good reason.

feral cat dad: Well, you don't need one with me. Just don't let the cats out is my only request. Ai has figured out how to open the kitchen door and will get lost on UA grounds again.

farmer toshi: Kumo is staring at me while I open the door.

feral cat dad: Yeah, he's like that. Just ignore him, focus more of keeping Ai from making a break for it.

farmer toshi: Alright.

11:04 AM

Existence Is A Prison

feral cat dad: Alright, I was going through you kids' files during my free period and Tsunotori, your birthday is today.

schrodinger better run: Oh, I don't like celebrating my birthday. I haven't celebrated it since I was six.

feral cat dad: Why, what happened?

schrodinger better run: My cousin from my biological family made fun of my feet, we got in a fight, and I couldn't explain to defend myself so I got grounded and wasn't allowed to celebrate my birthday so I just haven't celebrated it since then.

feral cat dad: Is there still a day we can celebrate with you that isn't today?

schrodinger better run: I like celebrating my adoption date as my new birthday. October 7th.

feral cat dad: I'll put a reminder for that.

saviour: Wait, are you putting all of our birthdays as reminders?

feral cat dad: Perhaps.

7:15 AM

Existence Is A Prison

foil-mecha: I'm going to the convenience store before school for breakfast in class because I want sandos and energy drinks. Anyone else want? Say yes.

feral  cat dad: YES.

foil-mecha: Are you okay? You responded in like one second.

feral cat dad: I'm just realizing I like someone and I'm suffering.

gay salt: Please.

nat20: Yes.

farmer toshi: Two redbulls and anything with egg, please.

saviour: Fruit if it's there.

pure: Yes.

schrodinger better run: Yes, I'm so hungry.

life is a nightmare: Ham is preferred, please and thank you.

ranch flavored jello: Yes, food.

deku deck-you: Yes, please.

foil-mecha: Everyone will receive redbulls and sandos.

8:15 AM

Existence Is A Prison

foil-mecha: I got held up, there was a villain attack right outside the store when I got there. I'm with food and drink and on my way back.

feral cat dad: I've already written you a pass, it's taped to the wall just inside the gate, have fun delivering food to Hitoshi.

8:25 AM

Existence Is A Prison

farmer toshi: Tokoyami is a god.

farmer toshi: tworedbullsandthreesandos.jpg

nat20: Wow, he likes you.

foil-mecha: Oh, I got three for everyone. I just grabbed a bunch so everyone can pick.

nat20: Be careful at 1b, Mr. Kan is one of those 'bring something for yourself, share it with everyone' type of teachers.

foil-mecha: And I'll tell him to fuck off because us dorm kids didn't eat breakfast this morning.

deku deck-you: Yeah, our poor stove is dead.

ranch flavored jello: It wasn't my fault! I promise! I was just cooking and it died!

feral cat dad: To be fair, it is old. I think that thing's been there since I was in UA.

8:35 AM

Existence Is A Prison

nat20 has started a video chat

[Tokoyami opening door and Vlad King stops teaching and stares at him]

Kid, you're not my student. Your class is down the hall, are you lost? -Unknown

Hey, Pony, Kiyo. Here, pick three each and a drink or two. -foil-mecha

Young man, you can't just waltz into my classroom and hand unsolicited food to only two students. -Unknown

[Kiyomi and Pony are shown grabbing their sandos and redbulls from the large bag Tokoyami came in with]

You're right, I'm not. Ibara, Kageya, Seiko, come get yours too. I found a cool one I think you'll like, Ibara. -foil-mecha

Oh? What is it? -saviour

Well, I heard you say you like apples and melon. I found you a sando with both. -foil-mecha

I'm in love with you. -saviour

Sure, yeah Get your food, I need to get to 1-A. -foil-mecha

You should be in there now! This isn't your class! -Unknown

Sir? Sir. I really don't care. I have a pass from Mr. Aizawa and I'm literally about to leave. Our oven broke in the dorms so none of us ate breakfast this morning. I went to get us all breakfast and got held up with a villain attack. Kindly, sir, I think even Nezu would be unhappy if even a single one of us hero course students weren't eating breakfast this close to the Sports Festival. So, you feel free to carry on your lesson. Let just the five of your students  eat their breakfast. I promise, it won't disrupt you further than  it has. -foil-mecha

Fine. -Unknown

nat20 has ended the video chat

gay salt: I love Tokoyami. I do.

foil-mecha: My mothers and fathers didn't raise a carpet, I don't exist to be stepped on by authority figures.

nat20: Thanks, Fumi. I'm starving.

foil-mecha: Anything for my friends.

ranch flavored: ALL HAIL FOOD GOD TOKOYAMI

feral cat dad: Bringer of Energy Drink, Keeper of the Sando.

gay salt: We all love you, Fumi.

foil-mecha: What a time to be alive, being adored by my peers and teacher AND getting to tell off an annoying teacher?

feral cat dad: God, yes, sando time. Gimme.

gay salt: aizawaeatingasandolikeaferalcat.jpg

nat20: Thanks, I'm scarred for life having witnessed Feralzawa.

farmer toshi: I love you, Fumi.

foil-mecha: Seems that's everyone's sentiment this morning.

farmer toshi: I'll get a crush, fucker, don't tempt me.

foil-mecha: Alright, alright.

Taglist: @everythingisstardust 

[thatgoblin]

Small Town Affairs

Summary: Hazel is an Omega in the small town of Tin Springs, Midwest America. She's trying to live her life after breaking up with the local sheriff, John Walker, and his mate, Brock Rumlow. New people aren't something that happens often, but when a new pack comes to town her whole life goes from a small mess to a complete disaster in the best way.

Warnings: Domestic Violence, Assault, Sexual abuse, Himbo Bucky, Misogyny, will update as story goes.

Chapter 1

It wasn’t often that people moved to Tin Springs, population 803. We barely had enough people to need a high school and a junior high school let alone more than a general store and gas station. There wasn’t even a Walmart for nearly 20 miles. You had to make a special trip to the larger town of Conway that had fast food restaurants and strip malls while the closest we had was a Dollar General and a ‘home style’ restaurant that was closed after 9. We did have a few bars and a strip joint, but those were just outside of town. Far enough that most people didn’t count them as being a part of town. It was very much a dying breed of Mayberry towns that used to thrive till people moved for better jobs and schools or to just get out of that small town headspace.

So when what looked like a whole fleet of moving trucks drove down the main road, everyone was talking. Turns out there was some guy with the last name Rogers that owned land that belonged to his pack that he was moving his new pack onto. The family had basically moved away or died off by the time I was 18. Most of the townspeople thought the houses on the land would stay empty till someone bought the land up for farming or to build new houses on. No one ever did and the moving trucks were telling us why it wouldn’t happen. Everyone and their dog would be gossiping and talking about who the new people were, where they came from, why they came back now, but I just ignored the whispers and gossip as I checked out folks at the general store.

“Hazel, would you be a dear and stock the shelves before you leave tonight?” The store owner, Peggy Carter, asked from her office. It sat just to the side of the register, making it easy to keep an eye on things. Her prim English accent was very much out of place in the small midwest town, but it wasn’t as crisp as it used to be when she first moved to Tin Springs.

“Sure. I’ve got my keys so I’ll lock up for you too,” I said, glancing back at her before the bell above the door rang. “Howdy,” I greeted the customers before going back to tidying my area. They were just a couple of women that were grabbing last minute items for dinner, which was the usual crowd so close to our closing time. I knew their faces, but couldn’t recall their names. I’d seen them around town, but I didn’t exactly interact with people outside of my job.

“Did you see the paper today? John Walker’s up for re-election again,” one woman said as they meandered towards the dairy section. While they sort of tried to stay quiet, the store was empty at that time of day and with it being so small that the voices carried easily.

“I saw that. He’s got my vote for sure,” the other woman said. “You know, he’s been such a good sheriff and I don’t think anyone’s running against him. It should be an easy win for him.”

“Hopefully. Things are just fine as they are now, why change them?” The first woman said. “Though, it is a bit odd that he’s with another Alpha and not an Omega.”

“I know, but Brock’s a good man. Both of them are. It’s just too bad things didn’t work out with them and that Omega girl.”

I should be used to it by now, hearing people talking about me and my exs. When you date the county sheriff and the only garage owner in town, things aren’t exactly secret. Even if they didn’t know your name or face, they knew your business.

“You know, John always said she was a good gal, but just had some problems. His mother and I play bridge at the church on Wednesday evenings and she told me that he was heartbroken over their split up. Him and Brock adored her, said they wanted to have kids too. I do hope she’s getting herself straightened out,” the second woman said.

I could handle the whispers and looks I’d get from the older Omegas in town, but this was a new low. They weren’t even trying to keep it quiet anymore.

“Just so ya’ll know, we’re closing soon, so if you’ve got some trash talking to do, do it outside where I don’t have to listen to it,” I called, earning small gasps from the women. They hurried to the front to check out, keeping their eyes down as I glared at them. If they were dumb enough to talk about me in front of me, I was not going to go easy on them. They didn’t say another word as they left, leaving me behind to glare at their backs.

“You should learn to ignore them. People will always talk,” Peggy said from the office.

“The least they could do was be discreet about it,” I mumbled. “Besides, it’s already been over a year and you’d think people would let it go and move on.”

“Well, with the new people moving in, you might get your wish,” she said. I could only hope.

The rest of the evening went by pleasantly fast. Peggy left me in charge to stock the shelves after closing. We closed usually at about 8:00 PM, no one showed up after 7:45 PM on a regular day. So to hear the door jostle as someone tried to open at 8:10 PM was odd. Frowning, I put down the pasta to look over the aisle to see a man trying to peer in. He had dirty blond hair styled back into a faux hawk of sorts, and dressed in ripped skinny jeans and a tight black tee. There were a few cuts on his face, a bandaid over his nose, and what looked like hearing aids hooks around his ears, the man stood out like a sore thumb compared to the locals. Seeing me, he put on a big smile and waved.

My first instinct was to ignore him, but since he didn’t look familiar I figured he was one of the new people in town. They wouldn’t know the hours of any of the stores in town. I decided to at least let him know the store was closed. If anything happened I had a bat under my register and pepper spray on my keys in my pocket. Going to the front, I unlocked the door before opening it.

“Hey, sorry, we’re closed,” I said as the muggy summer air came rushing in. “We close at 8.”

“Damn it,” the man hissed as he pulled out a cell phone. “Is there any other place to get groceries around here? My pack and I just moved to town and we don’t have any groceries. We’ve been working all day to get stuff into the house and didn’t realize the time.”

“Oh, uh not really, sorry,” I said. “Dollar General closes at the same time and you’d have to go to the next town over for Walmart and that’s 20 miles away.”

“What time do you guys open in the morning?” He asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

“We open at 6:00 AM.” The way he looked when I told him was like witnessing a puppy being kicked. I could smell him, he was just an Omega. What harm could it do to let him in this once? Peggy had let a few people in here and there after hours, so what was one more? “Okay, so you can’t tell anyone or you’ll get me in trouble, but I can go ahead and let you in to shop. I’m just restocking shelves, so go ahead and get what you need.” Stepping aside, I let him in before locking the door behind him to keep anyone else out.

“Thank you so, so much. You’re a lifesaver, really,” he said as he grabbed a cart and proceeded to grab things off the shelf. I didn’t mind staying late, rent was going up and it was getting harder to pay, so a bit of extra time wouldn’t hurt. “I’m Clint by the way.”

“Hazel,” I replied as I went back to the shelves. Letting him fill his cart, I finished up my work before meeting him at the register. It was a lot of food, but then again how many moving trucks had showed up? “I really hope this isn’t just for you.”

“Naw, there’s 8 people in my pack. I’m hoping this will be good enough for at least dinner and breakfast, but there’s a few of us who can eat out a whole house,” Clint said with a chuckle as I scanned the items.

“Wow, that’s a lot. We don’t really have any packs at all around here. Maybe a handful, but it’s just three people at most,” I said.

“Oh yeah? We just moved here from New York. One of our Beta’s, Steve, used to live here. You might know him,” Clint said.

“Last name Rogers?” I asked, getting a nod. “Not personally. I know of the family and the land, but that’s about it,” I said with a shrug. “Alright, and total for today is $234.89.”

“Yup, sounds about right,” Clint said with a chuckle as he swiped a credit card. What did they do in New York that allowed them to buy that many groceries? Not to mention that was just for one night, I couldn’t imagine a full week’s worth. Maybe they should go to Walmart for groceries next time. “So is there anything fun to do around here?” He asked as I handed him the longest receipt I’d printed before.

“Eh. Depends on what you want to do. We have a restaurant that closes at 9:00 PM, a few bars around here, and a strip joint, but other than that there’s not much to be done unless you’re a fan of high school sports,” I said with a shrug.

“I’m going to have to give Steve a slap upside the head for bringing us to the most boring place in the world,” he sighed before looking at me wide eyed. “I mean, it’s just that it’s kinda slow compared to New York.”

“Don’t worry. I think it’s boring too, but like most of the folks that live here, it’s cheaper to stay than to move if you don’t have another job or family else where,” I said. “Sometimes the rodeo comes to the next town over and a lot of people go there.”

“Yeah, when he said this was a completely different place, I didn’t think he understood how all of us would find it so different,” Clint said as he started to load up the grocery cart.

“Here, let me help you take those out to your car. I’ll get the cart from you and you can head out,” I said, grabbing the keys to unlock the front door to let us out then relocked it.

“Thanks. You know, I guess small towns do have a lot of nice people willing to help out,” Clint said as he led the way to a black sports car.

“Sheesh, fancy,” I snorted as he popped the trunk.

“Yeah, it was a pain to drive it down the dirt driveway I have with my mate. I don’t want to part with her, but I also don’t want to ruin the undercarriage,” he said with a wince.

“That’s a bummer. There’s a car lot in town here, but I don’t know if they’d have anything your style,” I said, handing him a paper bag full of cereal.

“Howard, my mate, would shit his pants if I tried to go there,” Clint said with a chuckle. “He’s too posh to even think of buying anything pre-used. I’m pretty sure he’d have a heart attack.”

“Sounds like he’ll get comfortable real quick,” I said with a snort.

As we were finishing up putting the groceries in the car, there was a short honk and siren bwep before a sheriff’s car pulled into the spot next to Clint’s.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Clint frowned, unsure of what was happening, but I knew.

“Howdy friend!” A familiar voice called as a blond man with bright blue eyes and an irritating smile stepped from the patrol car. Dressed in his brown and khaki uniform, Sheriff John Walker approached us. “You must be part of the pack that just moved to town.”

“Uh, yeah. Just got in today,” Clint said, shifting his body again. “I’m Clint.”

“Pleased to meet you, I’m Sheriff Walker. Figured that since I saw you in town, I’d catch you real quick for an introduction,” the man said, holding out his hand for Clint to shake. Raising a brow, Clint shook the officer’s hand.

“Nice to meet you. You’ll probably be seeing the rest of my pack throughout the week,” Clint said before closing the trunk of his car.

“You’re on the Rogers property, yeah?” John asked, resting his hands on his hips.

“That’s the one,” Clint said with a nod.

“I think I went to school with one of the Rogers’ pack. Steve, I believe his name was. He was a grade above me. His family stayed in town a while before leaving. Didn’t think we’d see anyone come back to live on the property,” John said. I wanted to get away from this conversation as fast as possible. John hadn’t even addressed me, let alone acknowledge my existence. The last thing I wanted was for him to start shit with me in front of someone.

“Probably, I mean, he’ll be in town tomorrow to get all the paperwork fixed up with his mate,” Clint said. “But I should be going. We’ve been driving all day and everyone’s tired and hungry.”

“Alright, I’ll let you go,” John said with a nod, backing up to let Clint move. I kept quiet, trying to not look John in the eye as I moved the cart back to the sidewalk. “Have a nice evening, now,” he said, typing his broad brimmed hat to Clint.

“Thanks. See you around, Hazel,” Clint said to me with a tight smile and wave. I gave a short wave back before booking it back to the store.

Don’t follow me, don’t follow me, don’t follow me.

“Hazel, wait up,” John called as he jogged to catch up with me. I wanted to scream as I stopped at the front door to unlock it. “So, you’re talking to the new people now, huh?” He said as Clint pulled out and drove away.

“John, go away. It’s none of your business and this is not part of the agreement,” I hissed, getting the door open. Shoving the cart in front of me, I tried to shut the door in his face, but he’d stuck his boot in the way.

“Look, I’m just trying to keep an eye out for you, okay? Don’t get cozy with the new people. They might be interesting, but you never know what people are really like,” he said, pushing his way into the store.

“Ironic coming from you,” I snapped, glaring at him as I moved to the register. “I’m trying to close, leave.”

“Remember what I said,” John sighed. “Don’t trust those new people.”

“I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you and we both know it’s not far,” I snarled. “Now go away or I’ll short Brock this week.”

“Fine,” he said. “But just remember, I was the one that always looked after you. Even after everyone started those rumors about you, I stuck by you.”

“A lot of good it did me. Now go.”

John looked like he might say something else, but stopped himself. Instead, he shook his head before leaving the store. Quickly, I locked the door after him. Standing there, my hands shook as tears pricked my eyes. The asshole could always get under my skin. Just a damn look and I’d be nearly in tears. As much as I wanted to believe I was stronger now and could handle myself, that small interaction showed me that he still had a grip on my life.

Finished for the night, I headed home. There were no more encounters with anyone else thankfully, allowing me to relax for the night with a beer on my porch. My house wasn’t much, a one story two bedroom house that had a less than stellar paint job, but it was home. It was old, from the 20’s, but it was sturdy. I wasn’t there much but to eat, sleep, and shower anyways.

Sitting on the porch, one beer turned into two which turned into three. It was the fourth one that I finally felt like I could stop shaking completely. The last time I had seen John and talked to him was nearly a month ago. We’d been separated for almost a year and he was being his usual passive aggressive self just to push my boundaries. He’d come into the store and made a show of talking to me like I was a kid, letting everyone see he was the calm, collected Alpha that was trying to reach out with an olive branch to fix things between the unstable Omega who just needed some gentle handling to become a decent person.

I had nearly come unglued on him, but managed to keep my voice low and my eyes down. Peggy found me right after, sobbing out behind the store. No one, not even Peggy, knew what really happened between all three of us, but I wasn’t about to tell them and neither were John and Brock. We’d come to an agreement that they would leave me alone and not talk to me unless absolutely necessary and I’d stay quiet. As well as paying them off. It was nearly half of both my paychecks, but it was worth it if it meant they didn’t come into the store when I was there or tried to talk to me at all.

But John was starting to toe the line and push back. Brock kept his part of the deal, I was pretty sure he never really cared for me, but John was always obsessive. The deal was going to have to be revisited if John didn’t back off.

Done for the night, I tossed the bottles before heading to bed.

The last few days of the work week were about the same. Go to work, come home, go to work, come home. I saw Clint now and then who came in to grab a few things here and there, but that was it. He was nice and despite John wanting to tell me who I could and couldn’t see, it felt better to know that there was someone in town who didn’t know things about me without my permission.

While we weren’t best friends, we did send memes to each other when I was on break and he wasn’t busy. At one point he messaged me a picture of his shed full of cobwebs and wasp nests and asked if it was appropriate to burn it to the ground. I told him to be careful because there could be copperheads underneath or groundhogs. That led into me explaining what those were and learning that the man had lived 37 years thinking a groundhog was something made up by a city for a holiday and it was really just a beaver they were using.

It seemed that I would be teaching him, and probably his pack vicariously, what to look out for in their new homes. I still hadn’t met the rest of the pack, though I had seen one or two here and there around town.

Soon Friday rolled around. I woke up at about 4:30 AM. Friday would be busier than usual as it was a payday. I showered then dressed, sliding on jeans and a long sleeved shirt, I then made a pot of coffee before doing my makeup. Just enough to hide the bags under my eyes and a few marks on my neck that were visible above my shirt collar.

It was my regular dress for my job at the store, Peggy didn’t care too much so long as it wasn’t offensive. Which meant anything but plain clothing and no writing. After coffee, I fixed my hair so it didn’t frizz then grabbed my thermos of coffee. I locked up then headed to work.

The sun was peeking above the trees and clouds as I pulled into work around 5:15 AM. Peggy was already there when I walked in the back.

“Did you have any problems closing the other night? I forgot to ask,” She said as I stepped into the office to get my cash drawer for the day.

“It was fine. Had one of the new people stop in, Clint. The blond that comes by for snacks. He’d made it in just after we closed, but I went ahead and let him shop since they didn’t have anything at their houses,” I said, taking the drawer from the open safe.

“Houses? You mean they’re not all in one?” She asked, looking up from her book keeping.

“There’s not a big enough house for more than four people on their property. There’s like ten of them,” I said with a snort.

“Well I’m sure we’ll meet all of them at some point. We’re the only grocery store in town,” she said.

“Unless they need to buy in bulk. Clint nearly bought everything in the store,” I said, counting my drawer at the register.

“We can only hope. Next time you see them, let them know if they need more than a few things to get us a list and we’ll get them large amounts. We used to do that a lot when there were bigger packs in my hometown,” Peggy said. The woman was nearly 60 and had lived in England up until about 30 years ago, getting the general store from her uncle who had passed away. I was used to hearing the facts of ‘We used to do this in my hometown’ a lot.

“Will do.”

Finished with setting up, I unlocked the front door and turned on the rest of the lights at 6:00 AM. The usual rush of moms right after school starts as well as early rising elderly came in, making for the usual busy rush that Peggy would step in and help with at the second register. By the time 10:00 AM rolled around, things were tapering off. We’d have a lunch rush for those grabbing a quick something, then back to a nice slowness.

“I’m gonna take my break after this last person checks out,” I said to Peggy who nodded. I was starting to get hungry and I saw a bearclaw in the donut rack that had my name on it. A few cups of coffee could only hold me over for so long before I needed actual food.

Before I could clock out for a break though, two people walked into the otherwise empty store. They were part of the new pack, just the scent alone said that, and they were Alphas. Great.

“I got this if you want,” Peggy said softly as she caught the scent too. Peggy was a sweet Beta and she acted as a stand-in grandma for me, but I couldn’t just run at every Alpha that came in.

“I’m good,” I said, giving her a small wave and smile. It wasn’t long before the Alphas came to the register. One was taller, probably over 6’, with steely blue eyes and dark, earthy brown hair with a scruff on his face. He smelt of fresh rain and peaches with that Alpha musk. Dressed in an almost too tight tee with an extra sleeve and glove covering his left arm and hand, he looked out of place in the button up work shirts and plaid that was usually worn by the adult men around town.

The other was shorter, more tailored. His light brown hair had a bit of copper to it as it was swept back from his face as that held a neatly trimmed beard. His dark eyes stayed on the phone in his hand. He too was in a tee and jeans that were fitted tighter, making them look. . . Well almost foreign. A whiff of cedar and maybe smoke or tobacco swirled into the first Alpha’s scent. Both of them mingling and making something settle deep inside my belly.

Fuck.

“Is that all for you two?” I asked, holding back with every fiber of my being any scent or sign of them making me feel like a simple, needy Omega.

“That’ll be it,” the first Alpha said. It was standard groceries of meat, cheese, dried goods, condiments, basically anything to stock up a house after moving.

“Is your pack settling in okay? Clint comes by now and then,” I said, trying to make small talk. Usually I didn’t, but something about those two had me anxious. Not a bad anxious, but. . . I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“Oh, uh yeah. We’re getting there,” he said with a nod. “It’s different than what we’re used to.”

“What are ya’ll used to?” I asked, looking from one to the other.

“A lot more people and a lot less trees,” the second Alpha spoke up, his voice lilting into an accent I couldn’t place. “But it is lovely here. I quite like how peaceful it is without masses of people a hair’s breadth away.”

“Glad you like it,” I said, giving him a soft smile. “So are all of you from New York too?”

“A few of us, but not all,” the first Alpha said as he pulled out his wallet.

“Well, hopefully it doesn’t take you long to settle in. Today’s total is $87.56,” I said, tapping a few buttons on my keypad.

“Tell me, is there a nursery around? For plants that is,” the second Alpha asked, leaning onto the counter when I started to help pack up the groceries into the cart. “I am wanting to start a flower garden, but would like to see where the supplies are first.”

“A plant nursery? Um, there is one just west of the town. Just take the main road and it’s about ten minutes from town. It’s run by the Mennonites and they have a bunch of different plants to pick from. They’ve even got starter trees for fruits and some bushes for blackberries and the like,” I said.

“Thank you. I appreciate the information,” he said with a soft smile and a nod. I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“You’re welcome, if any of your pack needs anything just ask around. We’re all pretty friendly here,” I said as I finished putting the bags in the cart.

“I will keep that in mind,” he said, moving over to the cart to hold out his hand to me. “I am Helmut. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Hazel. It’s nice to meet you both,” I said, taking his hand. It was warm and soft, different than the work roughened hands I was used to. Helmut rolled his eyes at the other, elbowing him.

“Hey,” he grumbled, shooting him a glare. “Oh, uh, I’m Bucky.” A quick wave and awkward smile was all I was given as he quickly moved to push the cart away.

“He’s house broken, I swear,” Helmut said with a wink. I couldn’t help the honest to God giggle that came out of me. “Have a good day, Hazel,” Helmut said, smiling as he shook his head at Bucky.

“You too,” I called after as they left. It didn’t even occur to me that I was staring after them till Peggy came up next to me.

“You could always ask for a photograph. It would last longer,” she said with hum.

“Oh shush,” I said, waving her off. “They were just, ya know, nice. Most Alphas around here are curt and so loud and demanding. It’s a nice change to see is all.”

“Uh huh. Even if you weren’t letting them get a scent of you, you were definitely giving them eyes. I’ve never seen you do that for anyone. Not even when you were with ‘Those-Who-Shan’t-Be-Named.’ I think it’s cute and wonderful that you had that reaction,” Peggy said as she went to the other register so I could take a break. “Besides, when’s the last time you actually touched someone on purpose?”

“It’s nothing, I’m just being nice to new people is all,” I said, locking my register computer after clocking out for a break. Quickly, I grabbed the bearclaw before leaving the dollar and change for Peggy. “It was just a handshake. Besides, you always tell me to work on my customer service skills,” I said as I walked to the back door.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” She called after me.

[galassyalex]

overwrite

robot!albedo au word count: 1773

warnings: angst, character death

Log:

New role: Chief Alchemist of Mondstadt

“I’m so proud of you, Albedo! But as you know, I’ll be leaving Mondstadt with my husband. I need a favor from you. I want you to take care of my daughter, Klee You’ll be her older brother! We’ll be a family. I trust you’ll protect her and take care of her.”

New role: Older brother

New relationship with: Klee 

New main goal: Protect klee. 

>> Fast forward. Two weeks, 6:04 PM. Mondstadt gate. Log resumes. 

“No! Mom! Klee wants mom to stay!”

Klee is crying, this is a sign of discomfort, overwhelming and sadness. Running analysis. Analysis completed. Klee is sad because Alice, maternal figure, is leaving. 

“Klee, sweetie, mommy needs to leave for work, but your awesome brother Albedo will take care of you.”

Action noted: Hug. A “hug” is performed to comfort and usually bring happiness to both parties. 

“Go with albedo, Klee. Your mother and i should get going now”

New role: Caretaker

New task: comfort klee

Action performed: hug

>> Fast forward. Next day, 2:07 AM. Bedroom. Log resumes. 

“Albedo, are you busy?”

Klee has red eyes, a sign of crying. 

Klee’s hair is messy, a sign that she was sleeping.

Klee is shaking, a sign of discomfort and fear. 

Possible conclusion: Klee has woken up from a nightmare.

Course of action: comfort. 

“Did you have a nightmare? You can stay here if you’d like, sleep in my bed if you need to. I’ll be here watching over you.”

“Thank you ‘bedo, good night!”

Klee has fallen asleep. To ensure a good slumber, tuck her in. 

Action completed. 

New emotions learnt.

Commence night mode. 

>> Fast forward. Six months later, 3:16 pm. Lab. Log resumes. 

“Mister Albedo, another wonderful experiment. I-I’ll write down the results in the report!”

Sucrose is showing excitement. Positive emotion caused by a successful experiment. 

Tasks completed. 

New task: talk with Acting Grand Master Jean. 

>> Fast forward. 5:46 PM. Acting Grand Master’s office. Log resumes.  

“Albedo, I understand your request. But i’m afraid I’ll have to deny it.”

“Why’s that, master Jean?”

“It’s too risky, both the adventurer’s guild and the Knights of Favonius are not prepared for Dragonspine. Sending our chief alchemist on his own after only six months of acting is not a wise decision.”

“Then I believe the knights are not competent.”

“Albedo I ask you to not refer to the knights in such a way. I understand your displeasure but Dragonspine is simply too dangerous. You’re dismissed.”

Master Jean is frowning and rubbing circles on her temple. She seems to be upset at the remark made and also is under a lot of stress. Best course of action is to leave.

“Have a good day, Master Jean.”

Captain Kaeya is in the halls of the headquarters. 

New task: Talk to Captain Kaeya

“Good afternoon, Captain Kaeya”

“Ah, but if it isn’t mondstadts favorite alchemist, what is it that seems to trouble you?”

Captain Kaeya: seems to have taken a liken to me. Claims that people are “into me”. I’m unaware of the meaning of this expression. Is chatty and charming. Difficult to read. 

New task: ask for Kaeya’s support by complimenting him.

“I want to set off to Dragonspine, but Master Jean has denied me permission. She says the knights aren’t ready and I should not go alone. I ask for your help, since you seem to be one of the most skilled knights in this place.”

“Someone seems to be good at sweet talking. Tell you what, I have no specific team to lead but I’ll help you out. Some training should convince Jean you can do it. Plus, you can escape quickly with your Geo vision.” 

“Thank you, Captain Kaeya. I’m truly grateful.”

“Just Kaeya.”

“Captain Kaeya.”

“Kaeya.”

“Chivalry Captain Kaeya.”

“Okay now you’re messing with me. You truly are something.”

Kaeya seems pleased with the interaction.

Go back to the lab and complete the last tasks. 

“I’ll see you around, Kaeya.”

 >> Fast forward. 8:09 PM. Living room. Log resumes. 

“What would you like for dinner, Klee?”

“It’s Klee and dodoco!”

Dodoco is Klee’s doll. Dodoco is not alive. Dodoco can’t think nor move, dodoco cannot eat. This is a weird request. Conducting analysis.

Analysis complete. This is a normal thing for children. Go along with it. 

“I’m sorry. What would Klee and Dodoco like for dinner?”

“We want fish!!”

“Alright, would you like some rice with it?”

“Yes!”

“And lemon?”

“That too!! You’re the best Albedo!”

Klee has praised you, it causes a pleasant feeling. Respond.

“I’m not all that Klee, but thank you.”

Talking bad about one self is a common way to receive compliments. Yet it is a dumb one. 

Klee doesn’t seem to be paying attention anymore, children have short attention spans. Information recorded. 

New task: cook dinner 

Task completed. 

New task: serve the food.

“Klee, do you mind setting the table?”

“Okay!”

Giving children small tasks around the house helps their development. By having plastic tableware it avoids accidents. Good job. 

Task completed. 

“Let’s dig in.”

Klee enjoyed the food and also became happy talking about her day. It is now 9:00 PM, Klee’s bed time is approaching. 

>> Fast forward two years and six months. 2:08 PM. Lab. Log resumes.

“ALBEDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Klee has barged in. Check for damages. 

“Klee! Are you okay?”

Analysis started. Turn the subject around. Do it again. Pat her arms. 

Analysis completed, no damages taken. 

“Goal: Protect Klee” is unaffected. 

“Thank the archons you’re not hurt. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you did.”

“You worry too much, Albedo! Klee is a big girl now!”

This is a lie. Klee is 5 years and two months old. 

“What did you want to tell me?”

“Well! I went out to test my bombs and they’re a success!! I even added my own notes to mommy’s instructions! I can’t wait to show her! But I know I won’t be able too yet, so I wanted to show you since you’re the next best thing!” 

Klee’s ranking: Alice, Albedo, Kaeya, Razor, Amber, Sucrose, Lisa, Jean

Children are brutally honest.

Klee wants to share her bombs, you are currently busy.

Priority ranking: current experiment, Klee

Priority ranking: changed. 

“Haha, alright sunshine. Let’s go.”

“You’re not busy?”

“It can wait. Oh but first, can you give me the feather on your hat?”

“Sure!! What for?”

You’ve obtained Klee’s feather.

You’ve modified it successfully.

“I’m gonna let you test out your bombs more, and also conduct your own experiments. This will let me take care of you while we’re not together. If anything happens, tap it twice and i’ll be right there.”

“Woah! Thanks Albedo!! Now let’s go.”

Klee is happy. 

Goal. “Protect Klee” is affected positively.

I’m happy. 

>> Fast forward. Two days later. 11:08 AM. Lab. Log resumes. 

“Timaeus will be joining me in my journey in Dragonspine. Sucrose, I trust that you’ll take good care of the shop.”

“O-of course Albedo!” 

Sucrose seems to be pondering about something.

I decide to not pry, for it is none of my business.

“We’ll get going now.”

>> Fast forward. 1:26 PM. Dragonspine. Log resumes.

My sketch of the hillichurls dancing is complete. 

Peaceful time interrupted, the hillichurls seem to have noticed people and are now attacking them. Shame. 

It appears that Sister Rosaria was one of them.

“We met a girl in mondstadt, Sucrose! She said you were stuck with your research!”

“Then you must be the honorary knight, all of mondstadt is talking about you.”

They truly interest me. My research will benefit greatly with their cooperation. 

New relationship with: Honorary Knight

New relationship with: Paimon

New tasks: run tests with the pair. 

>> Fast forward, 1 minute. Dragonspine, Log Resumes.

“Paimon’s got a brain! But what is the seed gonna become?”

“Well if it turns into a fruit, then dinners on me.”

“Yay!! I’m holding you to it!”

“You seem to be able to look through Paimon easily.”

“Ah… let’s just say i have to take care of a child occasionally. One of the non-alchemy related disciplines i'm good at.”

Klee reminder.

Check on Klee.

Checking… 

Klee is with Razor, they’re hunting.

Klee is safe. 

“You okay there Albedo?”

“Ah yes, apologies. I just zoned out for a bit.” 

Commence tests.

Fight against slimes. Successful.

Potion. No notable changes.

Willpower. Failed. 

I’m hungry.

Cooking test. Average outcome, but they seem good at cooking. 

Vision test. Average.

Reaching the goal. Successful. Better than the average citizen. 

This brings new questions. Unlimited possibilities

Paimon interrupted. 

Commence intelligence test. Successful! 

“Thank you for your work, this is really useful. Come see me again tomorrow.”

“Bye Albedo!”

New task: clean up and organize today's research.

Task complete.

Check on Klee.

Klee is with Captain Kaeya, she’s braiding his hair. 

Klee is safe. 

Entering night mode. 

>> Fast forward. Next day, 11:45 AM. Dragonspine Camp. Log resumes

“Hi Albedo!”

“Hm? Oh, honorary knight, Paimon, why are you here? Never mind, catch.”

Action completed: give the sword to the traveler in an aggressive manner. 

“You into forging or what? Didn’t take you for the blacksmith type.”

Action completed: explained the origin of the sword. 

We ran some more tests, but we got ambushed by treasure hoarders. 

>> Fast forward. 6 PM. Dragonspine Camp. Log resumes

Klee notification: Klee has stood in front of the lab for 15 seconds.

New task: Spend time with klee

“I’ll do that later.”

Overwriting priorities…

Albedo priority ranking: Research, Klee.

>> Fast forward. One hour and thirty minutes later. 7:30 PM. Dragonspine Lab.

“I’m not making progress…”

Checking on Klee

Klee last location: Dragonspine

“What?! Why is she here?”

Now guiding too: Klee’s location

>> Fast forward. Ten minutes later. 7:40 PM. Dragonspine. Log resumes

There’s a backpack on the ground

Action completed: Lift the backpack

Klee: Pulse stopped two hours ago. Cause of death: Frostbite.

“KLEE!”

Action completed: yell

Goal: “Protect Klee” failed.

System status: Overwhelmed

Calling Alice

“Albedo? It’s so late here why did you- Is… is that Klee?!”

System status: unresponsive

“...”

“Albedo- you… you prioritize your research over klee? Why? Why? Why?”

“Main goal failed, commencing shutdown.”

“What?! No! NO! Cancel! Overwrite! Main goal! Go to mondstadt!! Please! Albedo! I can’t lose both of you…”

Action performed: Hug klee

Self destruction in 3… 2… 1…

“ALBE-”

Can’t fast forward. Log ended. 

you achieved the true ending | gaaaah it wouldnt let me copy the format from the doc so i apologize if its wrong

masterlist for thsi au

[bokutosbestie2]

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

This story is going to be fun!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Earlier before the party

Atsumu Pov:

" That was a fun practice guys! " I tell the team.

" Yea it was! Your spikes have gotten faster!! " Hinata said with excitement. " No need to tell me I know "

" OH SHUT UP," Sakusa said

" HEY HEY HEY!! NO need to get mad! " Bokuto yelled.

" Well anyways do you guys want to go out for dinner!! " Hinata looked at all of us.

" I'm down! " Bokuto said.

" I'll go I guess... just please wash your hands before you eat. " Sakusa said

Aww, I WANTED to go...

" Sorry, guys I can't go! I have to go help Osamu cater for a party. We made a bet a while ago and I lost... Now I have to go help him. " I rolled my eyes.

" Awww ok then Have fun! " Hinata and the others being to leave.

" Ok see you guys on Monday! " I yell at them as they left thru the doors. I packed my things and left the gym. I went straight to Osamu restaurant.

" I'M HERE!! " I yell across the restaurant

People were staring at me, they're probably admiring my looks.

Osamu's head pops out the back, he whispers to get over there.

" SHEEZ BE LOUDER NEXT TIME! " Osamu said mad.

" OK FINE I WILL! " I say annoyed.

" Ok put on an apron and HELP ME! "

" UGH, I DON'T WANNA!! "

" ATSUMU YOU LOST THE BET! "

" Ugh FINE FINE! "

The bell ring in front.

" Oh someone here! Atsumu you better start helping me! " Osamu left to the front counter.

" aTsUmU yOu bEtTer sTaRT hElPiNg mE! "

After 5 minutes Osamu came..

He didn't seem happy because he found me on my phone.

"ATSUMU HELP ME MAKE SOME ONIGIRI! I NEED TO TAKE THEM TO A PARTY AROUND 10! "

" OSAMU IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU TOOK UP THIS OFFER! "

" SHUT UP THERE A CUTE GIRL OUT THERE! " he loudly whispers.

" OOOOO OSAMU HAS A ~ Crush " I began to laugh.

" Whatever now move over so I can make her onigiri."

" Fine. "

After Osamu made the onigiris for the girl I can hear him get nervous when he hands the food.

" HAHA YOU GOT SO NERVOUS "

" SHE WAS CUTE and NICE! "

" COME ON STOP DROOLING AND HELP ME! "

" wow, Atsumu said something right for once? "

" I'M NOT GONNA HELP YOU! "

" Fine fine. "

We started making the Origiris, they were hard to make I don't know how Osamu does it all the time. A while has passed and it was about 9 pm.

Me and Osamu head to the building where the party was being hosted. The host of the party was Eita Semi, he used to play volleyball with Ushijima in high school. When we got there Semi was waiting for us at the back door.

" Hey, guys long time no see! " Semi says

" Hey, Semi! Thank you for letting me cater for the party! " Osamu said thanking him.

" Of course you have the best Origiris! I want everyone at the party to taste them. "

" Well, I can't wait for them to try! " Osamu said happily.

" And you how's volleyball. ". Semi points at me.

" Pretty good it's been fun! " I say happily.

" Good I'm glad you enjoy it. I miss volleyball sometimes but I'm happy with what I'm doing now. "

" Well just tell me when you want to play volleyball! We can bring the old teams back together. "

" HAHA let us do it one of these days, but for now let's get Osamu set up because the guest will soon come. " Semi begin to walk.

After talking to Semi we went inside to set up the catering. All of a sudden guests started to come in slowly. Around 10:45 there was a crowd of people especially Osamu area, there were loads of people asking for Origiris. I got bored so I decided to sit at the bar.

I sat there, some girls recognized me from MSBY. They were flirting with me and asking me questions about volleyball. More girls kept coming until I was circled by them.

" Atsumu you're so cute! "

" Hmm, not as cute as you! " I winked at the girls

" You should introduce us to your team they're all so cute! "

" Hmm, I'll think about it! They, not as cool as me tho just telling you now! "

The girls giggled.

" Oh my gosh we're dying to ask are you talking to any girls or DATING?! "

" No not anyone right now, but hey! One of you can be a lucky girl! " I smirked at all of them as they fell for my little trap.

I kept talking to the girls until I realized a couple arguing. I blocked out the girls so I can focus on the couple. All of a sudden I see the girl with a pink dress slap the man.

" Hey excuse me, ladies! I'll be back! "

" Awwww," they all said the union.

I walked over to the couple as I see the man raise his arm to hit the girl.

 Thankfully I was close enough to grab his arm in time. I notice the girl was completely out.. she was drunk.

" Don't you see she drunk?! "

" Hey man control your girlfriend, she can't let a man flirt. " the man says

" Yo get lost no girl would want you with your nasty personality! " the girl sticks her tongue out.

" Woah Woah, FIRST of all she isn't my girl and SECOND you CLAM DOWN! " I say as I let go of the man's arm.

" Now you're going to tell me what to do?! " the drunk girl says angrily.

" Well man, you saved me from this one! Have fun! " the random man hits my shoulder then leaves.

" Hey, you! "

I looked at the drunk girl when she shouted.

" Yea you, why is your hair two colors you look like an Oreo! "

" I do not look like an Oreo! "

" YES YOU DO! " the drunk girl says as she goes on her tippy toes to touch my hair. " Hey hey STOP THAT! "

" NO! " she pouts

" YES! "

" IM LEAVING! " the girl turned around.

" HEY WHERES YOUR FRIENDS? YOU SHOULD NOT be DRUNK AND ALONE! " I shouted through the noise.

" YOUR NOT My MOM! "

" COME HERE! " I shouted

This drunk girl was running through the crowd of people. Even if I didn't know her I couldn't leave her alone in this state, someone can take advantage of her.

I catch up to her and pulled her arm.

" Where are your friends? You need to go home your so drunk! "

" Friends? I don't know !! "

This girl...

" Come on think?! "

" Is this why he left me? "

WHAT IS THIS GIRL SAYING?!

Her eyes started watering..

" Why did he leave me?! I know I'm not the Best But I can be! I CAN BE THE BEST GIRLFRIEND HE HAD! " tears rolled down her face.

Now I understand why she this drunk. She must've drunk her feelings away.

" I don't know who you are but I promise you whatever happens it wasn't your fault. "

" Really?! " she says wiping her tears.

" Yes really! "

" you right he was a DI- "

" ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?! " I yelled

She just threw up all over the floor and herself. NOW I CAN'T LEAVE HER HERE ALONE!

" Sorry! " She says

" Eh EH it's FINE! "

"LET'S GO WE ARE LEAVING! " I say pulling my arm thru the crowd of people.

If Sakusa was here.. he would have passed away from the smell of throw-up.

" WHERE WE GOING?! " She yelled.

" HOME THAT'S WHERE WE ARE GOING! "

" Home?!"

We got to the doors I open them only to see people smoking.

I walked past the people to find my car.

Once I spotted my car, I and this drunk girl walk to it.

" HEY, ARE YOU KIDNAPPING ME ? "

" NO NOW GET IN THE CAR! "

" UGH FINE YOU SO MEAN! "

She got into the car as she pouted. I got into the driver's seat and started the car. Luckily Osamu house was only 10 minutes away. I drove to his house with this random drunk girl.

" Ok, we are here! "

" I DON'T WANT TO GET DOWN! "

" You HAVE TO! " I say as I get down.

She also gets down.

Once I open the door to Osamu's house The drunk girl ran inside.

" DON'T SIT ANYWHERE YOU HAVE TO SHOWER AND CHANGE! "

"NO, I DON'T WANNA! "

How I'm I putting this up..

I grab her arm to only bring her to the bathroom. I go to the guest room and get a shirt for her to put on.

" I Forgot to ask you what's your name Oreo hair? "

" I- IT'S NOT OREO HAIR! It's Atsumu! "

" Atsumu?! THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR! "

" What's your name? "

" L/N F/N "

" Ok then y/n GET IN THE SHOWER I'll be waiting in the living room. “

" UGHHH FINE YOU'RE SO MEAN I HATE IT! "

I closed the door as she shouted. I can't believe I brought a drunk girl home. When Osamu comes home he is going to ask so many questions.

10 minutes later.

" ATSUMU I'M DONE!!!! "

Y/n came out of the bathroom with my large shirt, running towards the kitchen.

" GOOD NOW DRINK WATER! I'll be sleeping on the couch you can sleep in the guest bedroom. "

" FINE! " she shouted.

I lay on the couch to get ready to sleep. Y/n on the other hand walked into the guest room and shut the door.

Osamu is going to have so many questions on why I brought a girl home. He is going to think I had a one-night stand.

I kept thinking but my eyes became heavier.

Around 3 am

Osamu pov:

" Atsumu I'm home! "

Uh, why is he sleeping on the couch, not in the guest room? Also, why is the guest room shut completely?

I walked over to Atsumu and smacked him to wake up.

" OW, WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! "

" Why ARENT are you sleeping in the guest room? "

" Well... I might have brought a... Drunk girl home. "

" ATSUMU DID YOU GUYS -"

" NO, NO SHEEZ OSAMU! "

" Oh gosh thank GOODNESS! "

All of a sudden the guest door opened.. I recognize the confused girl.

Y/n Pov:

Ugh, why does my head hurt... Umm, what bed am I on? WHAT SHIRT AM I WEARING?? UH UH, WHERE AM I?

As sit up straight on the bed, the only thing I see in this room is volleyballs and jerseys. I looked around the room and hear Loud whispers outside.

I get off the bed.

OUCH, MY HEAD HURTS!

I get close to the door, I opened it wide to only see the guy from the Origiris and Someone identical to him on the couch.

WTF!

I looked at them confused as they look at me bewildered.

Chapter 3

[waywardxwords]

Forever After All

Summary: Sam and Dean return from a long hunt feeling mentally and physically exhausted. You do your best to show Sam that you aren’t going anywhere, and that you’re in it for the long haul--for forever. Sam doesn’t believe in forever, but you hope--one day--you’ll make him a believer.

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Female Reader

Word Count: 2,376

Warnings: Fluff? No warnings, really.

You couldn’t help but steal another glance at the clock hanging on the wall of the kitchen. Tick…tock…tick…tock.

The beep from the oven made you jump—your hair on the back of your neck stood to attention and goosebumps flooded your arms. You brought your hands up to rub at the bumps. You walked to the oven and pulled the door down. You equipped your hands with oven mitts and reached in for the cherry pie.

As you closed the oven and hit the “Off” button, you looked around at the counter tops in the bunker’s kitchen.

Pie, a Greek salad, a pasta dish, steak, a burger for Dean, garlic parmesan mashed potatoes, and chocolate chip cookies. Because even though Sam would say he didn’t want any, you knew you would find him in the kitchen in the middle of the night to sneak one.

You knew you had overdone it, but you also knew the only way you could calm your brain was by cooking and baking. The boys had said they would be back at the bunker by 6:00 PM. It was 9:45 PM. The rational part of your brain knew that they were late all of the time—usually they would call, but still. Maybe they just lost track of time…

Before you could even process another thought, you heard the heavy door to the bunker open. You tried to contain your excitement and anxiousness, but you couldn’t help the slight skip in your step as you hurried to the corridor to catch a glimpse.

Both were vertical—neither looked seriously injured. They both looked like they could use a shower, but otherwise, you were calling this one a win.

“Hi,” you breathed. They both looked up and caught your eye.

“Y/N,” Sam breathed. “I’m so sorry I didn’t call. My phone got busted on the hunt, Dean’s too…and the spares were dead…” he trailed off as you took the few steps towards him. You reached on your tip-toes and threw your arms around his neck, your fingers intertwined in his brown locks. Hot tears pooled in your eyes and you squeezed them shut to try to will them to go away.

“It’s okay,” you sighed thankfully. “I’m just so glad you’re okay.”

You pulled down, your hands cupping his face tenderly on the way down. Your eyes danced between his back and forth to make sure he was really okay—you could always tell.

You reached for Dean next, grasping his shoulder with your hand. “Both of you—I am so thankful you’re both okay.”

Dean smiled a painful smile in your direction and nodded. “I’m gonna take a shower and get changed,” he said.

“Any patchwork needed?” You asked hesitantly. There wasn’t a lot you hated in this world, but cleaning and stitching their wounds was one of them. You had some medical experience, and Sam wouldn’t let you tag along for hunts, so to make yourself feel useful, you cooked enough food to feed a small army and stitched up their wounds when they came back from hunts.

Dean looked down almost to evaluate his injuries before saying, “Nah, just scratches and bruises. Thanks, Y/N.”

As he walked away, you called after him, “Oh! I made dinner—burgers, steak, potatoes…the usual. And pie!” He smiled over his shoulder.

“Don’t have to tell me twice. I’ll stop by and grab something after my shower,” he said as he walked into his room and closed his door behind him.

You turned your attention to Sam. His eyes grazed the ground below his feet as he shifted his weight, his backpack hanging loosely off one shoulder. “What about you, babe? What’s your injury situation?” You brought your hand up to his shoulder.

“Nah, I’m all good,” he breathed with a small smile. “I’m gonna go shower, too. I’ll be out in a bit.” He leaned forward to give you a quick peck. That was his way of saying he needed to be alone. You had stopped feeling the weight of disappointment when he wanted some space after a hunt. You understood, and you knew Sam loved you. It still just felt…sad.

“Sounds good,” you managed a small smile. You pushed your hands into your back pockets and walked towards the kitchen. You started to clean up the dishes and utensils you had used to make dinner.

Before starting, you unlocked your iPhone on the countertop. You opened Spotify, and clicked the top song on the list.

As the music started, you turned on the kitchen sink and rolled up your sleeves.

A cold beer’s got 12 ounces, a good truck’s got maybe three hundred thousand

You hummed along with the song as you put a dab of dish soap on the sponge, lathering the dishes in the sink. Your mind drifted—away from hunting, away from cuts and bruises, away from sadness. Memories of happy times—that time the hunt had taken you to the beaches of California, and Sam interlocked your fingers as you ran through the sand to put your toes in the Pacific.

You only get so much until it’s gone, Duracells in a Maglite

Or the time he had taken you out to a field to watch for meteors in South Dakota, and the night ended with the two of you dancing under the stars with music coming from the speakers of the Impala.

The thoughts made a smile pull at the corners of your lips.

A needle drop on a 45, are the kinda things that only last so long

You jumped slightly when you heard Dean clear his throat behind you. “Y/N, seriously, you’re the best.” He breathed as his eyes moved over all of the food you had spent the afternoon cooking. He swung by the sink and gave you a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing a clean plate from the drying rack.

“You’re welcome,” you beamed. “Enjoy it. I’m not super hungry but I’m happy to sit with you and eat!” You offered.

“Nah, it’s alright,” he piled his plate with a little of everything, and a lot of pie. “Dr. Sexy has a new episode on tonight so I, uh…” he thumbed towards his bedroom.

You laughed softly with a nod. “No problem, have fun.” You smiled as you turned back to the dishes.

When the new wears off, and they get to getting old; sooner or later, times’ gonna take its toll

As the chorus began, you couldn’t help but move your hips slowly with the melody; your lips moving along as you sang quietly to yourself.

They say nothing lasts forever, but they ain’t see us together

Or the way the moonlight dances in your eyes, just a t-shirt in the kitchen

With no make-up and a million other things that I could look at my whole life

Your breath hitched in your throat as you felt his arms snake around your waist. You closed your eyes at the smell of his shampoo and aftershave, the flannel that adorned his arms rolled up to his elbows. His head ducked and his lips found their favorite spot on the nape of your neck.

“You scared me,” you breathed as you dropped the sponge and shut off the faucet. You turned in his arms and dried your hands on your pants before placing them softly on Sam’s chest.

“Sorry,” he said softly. His words still felt heavy—you knew his mind was still racing with the outcome of that last hunt, whatever that was. But his eyes looked lighter; calmer.

“Don’t be,” you reached up and touched his face. “You okay?” Your eyes moved back and forth between his; as much as you loved Sam, while he wouldn’t lie to you, you knew he would fib from time to time to protect you.

“Yeah,” he sighed, but his eyes told you he wasn’t. He knew you could tell. He pulled you to his chest, his arms wrapped around your back tighter than they had before. His lips found that same spot on your neck once more.

“You wanna talk about it?” You asked quietly as you brought your hands up to his hair to twist the strands around your fingers; you knew well enough that the feeling of you playing with his hair was calming to him.

He shook his head against your skin, bringing his face up once more. “Not really.” You knew what that meant. The hunt hadn’t gone entirely as planned, and while you were thankful your boyfriend and his brother had made it out mostly unscathed, they most likely had lost a victim in the process.

“Okay,” you brushed the tips of your fingers against his cheek. “You want to eat something?”

He smiled at the array of food you had placed out on the counter top. “Not right now. Ya know, you don’t have to make a five-course meal every time we go out to hunt.” He chuckled.

“I know,” a sheepish grin pulled at the corners of your lips. “Busy hands, busy brain…it’s a good distraction sometimes.”

His brows creased a bit as his eyes grazed over your features with concern. He hated worrying you, but it was sort of part of the gig.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed as he moved to turn away from you. He rubbed at his forehead as he slowly walked by the kitchen table. “Seriously, Y/N. I’m just really sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” You gave him a moment but he didn’t say anything, his back still facing you. “Hey,” you moved, your fingers wrapped around his wrist and tugged. You weren’t nearly strong enough to make Sam budge—but he still turned towards you. “Talk to me, Sam. Please.”

He ran his hand down his face once more and sighed. “For this…” he waved his hand, his eyes followed around the bunker. “For bringing you into a life you never asked for.” He breathed.

You took a few steps to him and collected his hands in yours. “Hey,” you tried to catch his gaze. “Sam, look at me.” His eyes found yours—you could see the pain, the fear and the uncertainty. “You never asked for this life, either. That’s the thing about life. Sure, we can want things—but life tends to just happen, anyway.”

Sam closed his eyes as you brought your hands to his face, cupping either side of his face tenderly. “It’s different being born into this life and choosing this life, Y/N.”

“Here’s the thing, Sam,” your voice barely above a whisper, but you wanted to be certain he could hear it. “I didn’t choose this life, but I chose you. And if this life comes along with you, I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

His eyes closed again, almost as if he was disappointed. “Nothing lasts forever, Y/N.”

Your teeth grazed your bottom lip as you pondered. You wanted to do anything to make him know you weren’t leaving; that you wouldn’t go anywhere. You moved your hands to the collar of his flannel, pulling him to you as if he couldn’t get close enough.

Your lips were on his before he had a second to interject. He brought his hands to the hem of your tank top—his fingers moved quickly to grip your warm skin.

“Wait,” he pushed gently, his eyes still closed. “This doesn’t solve anything. I just…I want you to be safe.”

You smiled back at him, your fingers reaching up to his face. “I am safe, because you keep me safe. I’m not afraid, Sam. I don’t want you to be, either.”

Sam’s eyes darted back and forth between yours. His jaw tightened once, twice…and before you knew it, his lips were back on yours. His hands put pressure on your hips as he hoisted you on to the edge of the counter, just in front of the sink. You focused on not tipping backwards, but you knew his hands wouldn’t let you fall. He used his body to push between your legs, your knees separating. As your lips danced together, he pulled back momentarily to work their way down your jawline to your neck. His tongue moved strategically over your sweet spot—the one that made your eyes roll back and close involuntarily.

“Sam,” you breathed. “Sam, wait…” you used everything in your power as you flattened your hands on his chest and pushed slightly. He broke the suction with your skin and looked over you. “Listen, I am seriously enjoying this…trust me. But I really don’t want your brother to walk in on us in the kitchen. It might ruin food for him forever.”

Sam couldn’t help the laugh that fell from his lips. “I don’t think there’s anything in the world that could ruin food for Dean.”

You moved your head from side to side as you contemplated—he was probably right. “But still, can we take this somewhere else?” You couldn’t help the glint in your eyes or the way your teeth pulled your bottom lip into your mouth and bit down gently.

His lips widened in a smile. “We can do that.”

He lifted your hips off of the counter top and lowered you so your feet were back on the floor. Sam’s hand found yours, fingers locking together. You followed as he led you to his bedroom, closing the door and escorting you to the edge of the bed you had shared together for over a year now. As you sat, you watched him slowly unbutton the clean shirt he had just put on.

“Hey,” you breathed and reached for his hand. “Listen, I know you believe nothing lasts forever…” you looked down as you played with his fingers, your fingertips tracing small circles over the top of his hand. “But can you accept that you are my forever, and I’m yours?”

He broke his eye contact with you with a breath. A smile played at the corners of his lips. “For now, I can accept that.” He whispered.

“I’ll take it,” you smiled. Your lips returned to his, just as his hand cupped your face.

A love like that makes a man have second thoughts, maybe some things last forever after all

A/N: I really hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know if you have any feedback!

[bowl-of-shortness]

A Journal?

Overthrown AU

——————————————

Day 599

Date: X̴͉̪̓̀̿̒̄͋̎͘͠X̷̨͖̙̥͎͓̀́X̸̧͇̫͙̫̣͇̼͍̩̀̈͗X̸̛̺̦͇͙̐̃̎̅̐ (it’s scratched out)

Time: 6:00 am

Bright and early per usual, I threw on my favorite pair of boots and overalls before heading downstairs for breakfast. Mom made some hot chocolate along with pancakes this morning, a nice little treat, I having a feeling today is going to be pretty good! Pancakes and hot chocolate in the morning, yum.

Time: 7:30 am

Did some small work on the farm before the bus for school showed up, just pulled out some pesky weeds that were bothering the crops, I bet they feel a lot better now! Anyways, on my way to school. The bus ride is always a bit long since I’m all the way out into the country but I don’t mind. I just put some music on on my scroll and daydream about a characters adventure.

Today, this character is fighting an evil king that’s been terrorizing his town, by the end of the bus ride, he’s beaten the evil king and takes his place.

Time: 8:00 am

1st period started, I always struggle to keep myself awake in this class. My teacher just goes on and on and on in this monotone voice and it’s SO BORING UGH. I hate science class, at least 2nd period is fun.

Time: 9:15 am

Now THIS is one of my favorite classes, P.E. I get to run around and play stupid games with my friends, what’s not to like? We’re playing dodgeball today, and I’m gonna be the KING!

Time: 9:18 am

I think I accidentally just hit my classmate in the head. Oops... let me go make sure she’s ok.

Time: 10:00 am

Math. I’m decent at it. Nothing really to mention about it, just working on geometry.

Time: 11:30 am

WOO HOO! LUNCH TIME BABEYYYYYYY! I love this time so much because I get to eat food and talk to my friends, and also maybe daydream about what I was daydreaming about earlier. I love this time. This story is getting intense! The old rude king comes back to challenge the new king, he luckily loses and runs off with his tail tucked between his legs ha!

Time: 12:35 pm

Phew! One more class, My classes change everyday so unfortunately I won’t have P.E. Tomorrow :(. Anyways I’m in history right now, I also really love history, it’s so interesting hearing about and thinking about those time periods. I hope I get to live through a historical event some day!

Time: 1:45 pm

Sorry for not writing, I got caught up in harvesting this years corn for the farmers market. I always love the farmers market, so many things to do and buy. It’s also fun to see how much money my family and I can earn, maybe I can ask mom if we can buy a cake for pops. Ol’ pops isn’t doing so well, he got sick a while back and hasn’t been getting better, I wish I could help him...

Time: 3:30 pm

Once again, got busy. This time mom put me in charge of looking after pops, she said no to the cake. Pops seemed extra bad today, why do I have the feeling this day is gonna end terribly? Just gotta keep my head up I suppose.

Time: 6:00 pm

I’m outside right now, mom and auntie are fighting about pops. Auntie wants my mom to stop taking care of him, “he’s gonna die anyways” she says. I hate auntie, she’s a jerk. Gold digger just wants pops’ money. I think I’ll stay out here for a while longer, maybe go on a walk, there’s a nice breeze right now. At least that’s good.

Time: 7:45 pm

I’m back outside, not by my own will though. Auntie stuck me out here, said “if you like running off like that then you can stay out of the house.”. I hate her so much. Earlier I thought I heard rustling in the field, probably the wind, it’s starting to get cold and it’s picking up. I hope mom lets me in soon. This day started out so great, why did it have to go wrong?

Time: 8:00 pm

I saw something. Just now. Out in the field. It looked like a person I think, I couldn’t see it’s face cuz it had its back turned to me. Tall, all black, pointy looking things on its head (maybe a crown?), looks like it’s got a cape of some kind.

Time: 8:02 pm

Mom let me back in the house finally. She’s mad at auntie. Why do I have a pit in my stomach suddenly, like something really bad is gonna happen?

Time: 8:10 pm

That figure is still out there. I wonder what it’s doing, it’s just, standing there, and the meadow grass looks like it’s dying around it? Maybe I should close my window...

Time: 8:11 pm

It turned around and looked right at me with these bright green eyes. It’s just staring at me, I’m gonna text mom about it. This guy is creepy...

Time: ?

It smiled and laughed at me. I know. I know. I know. I need to tell mom, we need to leave now.

Time: ???

I can’t find them. I can’t find any of them, mom, pops, or even auntie. I looked back outside, the figure is gone, I feel like I’m being watched.

Time: ??!!!??!!?!!?!!???!!!?????

I heard screaming and came downstairs, they’re all ash now, I don’t want to breath. I don’t want to breath them in. He’s here. Oh gods he’s here. Inside my house. Him. Help me please. If someone reads this please help the rest of my village, please. I ran back upstairs, I heard him laughing.

Time: !

H el p—_ *the page is covered in ash and fingerprints*

[rosemarypasta]

monday afternoons ♡ 9

➤  pairing : oikawa tooru x female reader (karasuno manager)

➤  chapter warnings : slowburn (?)

➤  summary : You just recently joined the Karasuno boy’s volleyball team as their first year manager. As you grow closer to your teammates, you also unexpectedly grow closer to one of their biggest rivals, Oikawa Tooru

➤ chapter word count: 2355

♡ masterpost ♡

-ˏˋ chapter nine ˊˎ-

WEDNESDAY

4:45 PM

“Kindaichi, nice kill!” Iwaizumi’s voice boomed in the midst of the constant squeaking of volleyball shoes against the wooden floor. It was yet another busy afternoon practice session for Seijoh’s boy’s volleyball club for Iwaizumi Hajime. As the vice captain, he has a range of responsibilities to fulfill.

These responsibilities include keeping trouble makers in line.

“Kyotani! You’re late! Start stretching already!” Iwaizumi yelled at the second year student who came almost two hours late. The blonde buzzcut haired boy clicked his tongue at his senior but complied anyway.

Additionally, a vice captain should also help those in need.

“What’s the matter, Yahaba?” Iwaizumi approached his troubled looking junior who was staring at the volleyball in his hands. “Ah, Iwaizumi-san, I can’t seem to set the ball accurately enough in a high toss.” He muttered out of frustration. Iwaizumi being the resident wing spiker swallowed the lump in his throat as he attempted to find advice for the younger setter.

Of course, Yahaba’s worry can be eradicated with a snap of a finger if the club had one of the best all rounder players in the whole prefecture. Iwaizumi’s workload can certainly also be lifted if he had a reliable captain on his side.

If only Seijoh had such a good ace setter as their captain.

In reality, Seijoh did have one. Until that specific player, who happens to be the captain, decided to throw an emo fit suit for a thirteen year old boy going through puberty.

“I’m sorry, I know I should be asking Oikawa-san for advice but he’s just er…” Yahaba quietly said, confused on how to act around Oikawa with his sudden character change. “It’s fine, I’m sorry I can’t really help you with this but I’ll try asking that idiot when I can.” Iwaizumi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed at himself that he couldn’t help his junior.

As Yahaba shuffled away to practice his tosses, Iwaizumi caught the coach signaling him to come over. “Iwaizumi, are you sure you can’t do anything about him? We have a practice match after this.” Coach Irihata sighed, his eyes signalling to the brunette setter sitting absent minded in the corner of the gym. Iwaizumi closed his eyes and took a deep long breath before answering his head coach, “I’ll get him moving, don’t worry.”

Coach Irihata gave the vice captain a sympathetic smile. It has been two week since Y/N last spoke to Oikawa and his performance as a setter and human being in general has quickly deteriorated. Two to three days into the last two weeks, he was still acting normal though Iwaizumi has caught him spacing out a bit too much than usual but now that the two week mark has passed, Oikawa appeared to be a completely different person.

“Oi, Shittykawa.” The wing spiker huffed, kicking the setter’s foot lightly.

“What.”

“Get up.”

“You’re not my mom, you can’t tell me what to do.”

“I said GET UP” Iwaizumi snapped, kicking Oikawa’s foot harder than before. Oikawa rolled his eyes at his best friend but did as he was told.

Iwaizumi gathered the rest of the team towards Oikawa and him with his broad shoulders wide. “Alright everyone, we have Date Tech coming in a few minutes for a match or two so we better get straight sets okay?” Iwaizumi announced to the rest of the team. “Alright!” the array of high schoolers chanted.

“Whatever.”

4:50 PM

“Oikawa, it’s your turn to serve.” Matsukawa said as he handed the ball to his captain. Oikawa turned to the score board and sighed as it showed the ten point gap between his own team and Date Tech’s.

Oikawa walked over to the end of the court with the ball in his hands, bouncing it up and down before cracking his neck in an attempt to focus though all efforts diminished as high pitched screams filled the room.

“Oikawa senpai! Good luck!” A second year girl who Oikawa doesn’t even recognize screamed from the bleachers. The collection of high pitched squeals filled OIkawa’s ears. Iwaizumi smirked at himself, thinking that his girl-crazed friend would at least improve his mood by a little bit from hearing his female fans’ support but instead widened his eyes as he watched OIkawa click his tongue and gave them a death glare.

The court immediately fell silent from the unexpected gesture of the usually charismatic captain. Hanamaki and Matsukawa’s jaws dropped at the sight of him ignoring his fans he usually fawns over.

Oikawa took several steps back and proceeded to run forwards towards the court, throwing the ball up and slamming his hand hard at the ball.

“Out!” Sakunami, Date Tech’s libero yelled out a second before the ball slammed against the area beneath the white line that marked the court.

“Shit.’ Oikawa swore out loud as the rest of the Seijoh team swallowed the lump in their throats.

6:12 PM

Oikawa walked home under the quickly dimming sky with his hands in his pockets. His heart was far from content especially after losing to his opponent of the day. His phone was still in his right hand. His fingertips still had a sliver of hope for a buzz or two signifying Y/N’s texts.

“Quit following me.”  Oikawa stopped in his tracks to whip his head back towards the ace of the team who was five steps away from him

Iwaizumi walked over to his friend and put his dominant hand on his shoulder before hitting him on the head. “We’ve been going to the same train station for three years now, don’t get ahead of yourself, Shittykawa.” Iwaizumi growled.

Oikawa giggled, contradictory to Iwaizumi’s expectations. “What’s so funny? Have you finally lost your mind?” Iwaizumi raised his eyebrow at the boy.

“Nothing, it’s just that...Thank you, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa sighed softly, a bittersweet smile on his face.

“Ha? Are you thanking me for hitting you? Cause I can do a lot more after your shitty behaviour today.” Scowled Iwaizumi.

“I know I’ve been such a pain in the ass, I mean, more than usual, and surely if I were you I would’ve ditched my ass ages ago.” Oikawa started as Iwaizumi gawked at his unusual self awareness. “I know it sounds silly but hearing you call me that just made me relieved. At least someone in my life doesn’t hate me, y’know.” He continued softly.

“She doesn’t hate you.”

“She does.”

“You’re right.”

“Iwa-chan’s an idiot! You’re supposed to comfort me more. Boo!” Oikawa pouted, throwing a fake tantrum before starting to walk forward again towards the station.

Iwaizumi jogged to catch up with his best friend, whose head was tilted down once again. Though he couldn’t see his face clearly through Oikawa's obnoxiously big hair, he could tell his facial expression went back to the one he has had for over two weeks.

“What would you say to her if you get to talk to her again?” Iwaizumi started the conversation again after walking in silence for a handful of minutes.

Oikawa hesitated, fumbling his walking pattern for a second. “I don’t know. I just want to see her again. Am I bad?” He asked though it sounded more rhetoric to Iwaizumi.

“No.” Iwaizumi put his hand on the lighter haired boy’s hair and ruffled it.

“But you better have something to say.” he said under his breath, quiet enough for Oikawa to not notice at all.

THURSDAY

6:08 PM

“Goodbye everyone!” You exclaimed to the rest of the team before hopping off the steps of the gym. You ran your fingers through your hair as you began to walk towards the school gates. It has been a while since you walked back home yourself. Kageyama had an english test the following day so Daichi made him and Hinata stay back so Tsukishima could tutor them for a while. Though you insisted on helping them, Kageyama affirmed that you should go first before it gets too dark. Though Kageyama was never the talkative type, not hearing a second set of footsteps along with yours made you feel a little bit lonely.

You skipped your way to the gates, feeling oddly happy before your eyes unexpectedly caught sight of a certain school’s white jacket. Your legs stopped moving instinctively. With the turquoise text printed on the back of the jacket, you had no doubt that it was an Aoba Johsai student.

Though upon further inspection, you sighed in relief as you noticed the back of the person’s head was nowhere close to Oikawa’s hair style. There was just simply no way for OIkawa’s curls to stand spiked up like the boy’s hair.

You quietly began to walk again, not giving the student a second thought before he promptly called out your name with his unrecognized raspy voice.

“Y/N?”

“Y-Yes?” You turned your head slowly towards the Seijoh student. You didn’t know how he knew your name or what business he had with you but you already had a bad feeling in your gut about him.

“Ah, Um, please don’t be afraid, I mean I guess I would be if I were in your shoes.” He said as he scratched the back of his neck, lowering his head slightly. “You might’ve heard of me. I’m Iwaizumi Hajime.”

The hairs on the back of your neck stood up immediately. That name didn’t take you long to recognize. With the amount of times Oikawa brought him up in conversations, only an idiot would forget the Iwaizumi Hajime, despite never meeting him.

Though fear, quickly turned to anger. Your head started to heat up as you balled your fists, turning sharply to face Oikawa’s best friend directly.

“Look, if Oikawa-san told you to come here just ge-”

“He didn’t tell me to! I’m not here for him- well, I am...but whatever you have in mind, it’s not it.” Iwaizumi frantically said, his hands waving in front of him though he retracted them quickly, avoiding giving you the wrong idea.

“Please. Just let me explain.” He started to speak again, but this time much softer. You watched as his thick eyebrows drooped as the amount of hope slowly began to slip in between his fingers.

“Make it quick.” You crossed your arms and prayed that none of the Karasuno team would bump into you and Iwaizumi.

“Oikawa...He really does care for you.” Iwaizumi started, biting his tongue right after to avoid the cringe expression he was dying to show after saying the phrase he just said to you. “And I don’t want to overstep anything, well I guess I already am since Oikawa doesn’t know that I’m here, but I’m not lying Y/N. I-It’s amazing how you actually managed to tame that bastard, actually. I’ve never seen him act like this before in the whole twelve years I've known that idiot.” He sighed.

Your eyes widened at the things the stranger you just met have said. Tame? Acting differently? You didn’t know what he was saying and you hate yourself for even having a conversation with Oikawa’s partner in crime but your curiosity got the better of you.

“What do you mean by acting differently?” You tried your best to remain indifferent and unbothered though snippets of your true intention probably have slipped out in between your words.

“Where do I even start! Man, Matsukawa and Hanamaki have been going insane after seeing him like that for too long.” Your ears perked up at the sound of two more familiar names you recognised from Oikawa’s conversations. “Well, for a start, all life and light has been sucked dry from him. He has resorted to one word replies and sighs to everything compared to his usual sickening monologues he drops every now and then. He, the guy who checks the mirror as many times as he blinks, shows up to school without even brushing his hair anymore. He has abandoned his pride and joy, volleyball, completely now, not even being able to serve properly without hitting the net or out of the court.” By the time he had finished saying his last word, Iwaizumi was gasping for air which you admittedly laughed at.

“Trust me, I could go on and on and I’m even sugar coating all this shit I’ve had to go through ‘cause of his dumbass!” He sighed.

“Now, I’m not going to force you to do anything but please, could you hear him out just for a while at least?” He begged, the desperation evident in his eyes. You bit your lip as your gaze traveled from the third year to the ground.

Before you could open your mouth, a sudden ringtone filled the surroundings of the deserted Karasuno school gates. “Ah shit, it’s Oikawa.” He swore as he checked his ringing phone. “I gotta get going, he’s not supposed to know that I’m here. Y/N, I’m sorry if I crossed a line, you don’t have to give me an answer now, just think about it, ‘kay?” He calmly sighed after sliding his still ringing phone back into his pocket. You didn’t know how to respond so all you could do was nod and bid him farewell.

The moment you got home, you threw all your belongings to a corner of your room and jumped into bed face first. It was all too overwhelming. You didn’t know what to do or what to say.

To forgive or to not forgive?

Did you want to see Oikawa again? Of course you did. But could you take the truth he would reveal? You knew deep in your heart ignoring him and leaving him without even hearing an explanation was childish and unfair but you knew you wouldn’t be able to take the truth. It would hurt even more if you heard it from his mouth instead of Hinata’s.

You grabbed your pillow and shoved your face into it harshly, drowning all light and letting yourself seep into the comforting darkness.

“I just want all of this to be over.” You whispered to yourself.

next:  -ˏˋ chapter ten ˊˎ- 

previous:  -ˏˋ chapter eight ˊˎ-

tag list (open):

@hey-there-demonss​​ @bumbledunce​​ @teasbees-knees​​ @angrylittlezizi​ @hvneymun​

[aliypop]

To The One Before

word count:  1,697

Warning: Mentions of panic attack

A/N : Heres a bit of backstory to my character I hope you guys Enjoy it!

"Family isn't who you're born with: it's who you'd die for."   Alexandra Morgan was 13 when she first heard that phrase from her best friend, Ray Stantz, "My family is like a tornado, Ray..." she sighed, taking a bite of Ray's Hershey bar. Ray knew what it was like to have parents who were perfectionists, after all: he was the product of a housewife and a doctor. "One day, I'm going to leave that house, and I'll never come back!" she laughed standing, on top of the hood. 

 "You don't mean that do you?"

"With my whole heart..." she smiled, sitting back down with him. Ray smiled back, saddened by the fact that she would say such a thing. "But what about me.. And.. and our ghost club!" he asked as Alexandra kept ranting on about her plan to leave home. 

"I couldn't forget my best friend." she took him by the hand and squeezed it,

 "Beside's, who's gonna protect you from Carl.." her thick glasses-covered eyes looked at him, 

"Well, promise me this, Alexandra..." he handed her a stay puft marshmallow. "That we'll always be friends even in college." 

"Why college?" she examined the marshmallow poking at the sugary treat. "Because... why not!"

"No talking to boys or looking at them, and if you do- " Dennis, Alexandra's, father was as nervous as most dads were when dropping their daughters off to college, but he wasn't as nervous as her mother, 

" If you get homesick, you can always call, and you know we're only 45 minutes away, and I got you one of those calculator things and!" 

"JEAN, you're scaring the girl! Dennis sighed, "What we're trying to say is strive for perfection ... anything less and.." 

"You'll pull me right out of this science jazz..." she sighed: ever since Alexandra had been little, her father never understood her passion for physics and doing experiments. He always knew that women got their brains from the pantry, not books, but Alexandra was different. When most girls played with easy bake ovens, she made nuclear reactors using antennas from their old tv set and jumper cables. Her inspiration came from some kid in Ohio who made one using chicken dung. "That's my girl... and remember.." 

"No boys," she sighed pushing, her glasses up, "As if any will ever like me.." she sassed. 

"That's not true, sweetheart," Jean said, lifting her daughter's chin. 

"Mother, must I remind you I went to prom with Ray!"

"And you two were a lovely pair." 

 Alexandra sat in her dorm, isolated from the rest of the world, which was how she liked it. A book in her hand and a pencil in another, she was ready to finish the first semester of work. As she listened to the radio, she began singing along with the Jackson 5. Ray, however, was wandering around with his new best friend, Peter Venkman, a Missouri native with the charm of a con man. Both Ray and Peter had been walking by the dorms in which the two had been talking about Atlantis. 

"It was just my imagination, running away with me. " a voice sang as the two were slowly approaching the women's dormitory.

  "Alexandra..." Ray gasped, running towards the sound of her voice. 

"Ray?!" she poked her head out from the door: as she saw the two men standing there, she couldn't take her eyes off of "This is Peter Venkman he's my.." 

"Friend replacing me already, aren't cha." she joked as she invited the two inside. There had already been notes on her wall as well as books on her floor. "I see you got busy..." Peter remarked, looking at the way her eyes sparkled through her glasses and how her lips curled. "Didn't class just start.." he thought to himself as Ray read behind her theories of time travel. 

" Because I know you didn't mean that in an innocuous way, I'll respond with Yes," she turned to look at him as her heart nearly skipped a beat, 

"Nerd much?" Peter whispered as Ray turned around in shock, he knew that that was a phrase that Alex never enjoyed hearing.

"I prefer to say an intellectual, but perhaps you wouldn't understand." she scoffed. "I beg to differ."Peter walked towards Alexandra, as he got closer towards her,

 "You're just a know it all.." he smirked, "Or a narcissist .." he said in a whisper, looking down at her lips. Alexandra laughed, noticing how close they were. She had never in her life been this close to anyone, especially a man such as Venkman. 

 "My father warned me to stay away from boys, you know.." 

" Well, I don't see your old man around..." he pulled her close to him as the heat from her face radiated fog from her glasses.

 " I'll pick you up, say 8 pm." 

"Should I bring my books?" 

"Sure, but I doubt you'll need them." he winked. 

As years passed and Ray and Peter grew closer as friends, so did Alexandra and Peter. It was a cold New York December morning, and sitting by the window wearing one of Peters shirts was Alexandra. Hot tears streamed down her face as she held her term papers in hand. In all her academic life, she had never gotten a D: her world was crumbling, "Hey, it's three in the morning.." Peter then looked at the half-empty bottle of brandy that he and Ray usually would split. 

"Do I need to wake Ray..."  

Alexandra shook her head, unresponsive to his question. "Wanna tell me about it.." he then asked, sitting in front of her. "I'm going to fail.." she repeated in heavy breaths, her hands nearly pulling at her thick curls. Peter had semi-studied this behavior before but to see it happen in person terrified him. "Breathe." he held her hand, Alexandra nodded, as she only breathed faster, nearly hyperventilating. "That's not what I meant, but breathing is breathing..." he mumbled. As the sun began to shine, the two were eating pizza and talking about their families. 

 "Try having a father who is not even proud about his son going to college. 

"Try being a music prodigy by age six and science prodigy at 9." she laughed, "I have so many expectations set on me and..." she looked at Peter, who gave her a look she knew too well. Peter, although now a part of the parapsychology world he still was great in psychology. "You did it again.." 

"I don't know what you mean.." he smirked. 

"Oh, I could just!" she stood up, falling into his arms. "Kiss me.." he suggested, kissing her lips ever so sweetly. There were days when Peter was a gentleman, sweet and caring, but there were days when Alexandra would throw curses his way and wish she'd never see him again, days where she'd cry in Ray's arms, and all he could say was " Peter didn't mean it this time did he..." he asked watching her stuff her face with pizza and ice cream. "We broke up again.." she cried, "Because I got offered to teach at the university.."  

"That's good!" Ray smiled, "I mean, it's what you've always wanted, right?" he then stopped talking. It was true that Alexandra wanted to teach quantum physics and engineering, but to see Peter move on so fast when she told him the news only made it worse. 

 As time went on and Alexandra had gotten adjusted to her new life as a professor, her date life only sunk worse. 

"Alright, class, I'm Dr. Morgan today we'll be talking about the theory of Relativity.." Alexandra turned towards her class in which she heard the protest of groans. The year was 1984, Alexandra: was 31 years old and living in Manhattan. " I assume you took Dr. Spengler's theory class, or else you wouldn't be in mine." she glared at a few students over her glasses. To say that Alexandra's quantum physics and engineering classes were easy was an understatement.

 From her labs to her assignments, there was nothing easy about her not since, "Can I help you, Dr. Venkman.." she glared at him, nearly wanting to set him on fire. "Just looking for a few students who'd want to do a few paid experiments," he smirked. When paid was involved, it meant Venkman rather than the students. "Make it quick, Venkman.. " she rolled her eyes. As her lecture progressed, she noticed a pair of eyes staring at her, they were stern, a bit cynical, and they were listening to her rant about the theory of being in a paradox. 

"So if you were to see yourself uh.. " she kept looking at him as her mind went blank, and her heart nearly pounding. "You could ruin the structure of the world." the voice in the back responded.

Sitting at her desk as her students left, Alexandra took it upon herself to stay behind and work on her UPC or more so known as an ecto camera. As she heard heavy footsteps run past her classroom, she knew that it was

 " Ray?" 

"We got one!" he shouted, ushering her to follow him.

"Is it a 1 or 5?" she asked him, following him around to their lab. 

"She wasn't very friendly..." 

"So a five it i-" she stood in front of their door, watching as the dean removed their gear from their lab space. "Well, that's unfortunate ..." she whispered under her breath, looking up at the man who was in her class earlier. 

"What am I supposed to tell my mother.." he mumbled. 

"What are we going to do now!" 

" I say drill a hole through Peter's head.." Alexandra said under her breath as Egon smiled, "So you're a fan of trepanation too." he asked as both Peter and Ray tried to get her to switch the subject. "I always say that if done right, could cure a disease if done wrong, a lobotomy or death. " she shrugged her shoulders, "Although I wouldn't advise it on a hamster," she added. 

"Why's that?" 

"Makes them go crazy..." she laughed, looking at him, "I'm Dr. Alexandra Morgan." 

"Dr. Egon Spengler."

[ghostburs-blue]

Not So Fast, Lover Boy

Summary: y/n has a... mishap to say the least and Spencer + Derek have a lil competition going ngl

Warnings; I don’t believe there are any? Mostly fluff with a dash of angst and regret, just how I like it

Word Count: 4.61k

Part One

When you arrived at university, you had not expected to be roommates with a guy. Yet, here you were, standing in the doorway of room 402 facing the back of a very shirtless male. You stood there for a few seconds in shock, watching him pull down a grey sweater over his bare back. You, quickly realizing it was creepy, cleared your throat loudly, setting your bags down.

“What the fuck?” You exclaimed. The guy whipped around, face red and flustered.

“I- Uh- What are you doing in my room?” He managed to squeak out. Stepping closer to him and shutting the door behind her, Eden took a closer look at him.

Without a doubt, he was attractive. His messy brown hair looked soft, accompanied by a pair of chocolate-colored eyes that were filled with something she couldn’t identify. His fashion sense was odd, to say the least, but the sweater vest and dress pants combo seemed to work for him.

You snorted. “What are you doing in my room?” You exclaimed, confusion showing on your face.

The boy frowned, holding up a sheet of paper with some writing on it.

“Um- uh room 402? Everything’s right here,” He claimed.

Stepping closer, you took it from his hand. Your eyes quickly skimmed over the piece of paper, and you groaned. You handed it back, grabbing your phone.

Glancing at the time, it read 9:50 pm.

Grumbling, you quickly slipped your shoes back on, opening the door. The front desk at the dorm closes at 10. You were about halfway down the hallway when you heard the boy’s voice again.

“Where are you going?” He called. You turned to see his head sticking out of the doorway.

Walking backward, you responded, “I’m trying to get this fixed!” You turned and ran.

Huffing, the desk finally came into view. However, there was no one behind it. Glancing at the clock on the wall, you frowned as it read 9:55. They must have closed early today.

“Ugh!” You swore quietly, running your fingers through your hair in frustration. You turned to head back to the stairs when you noticed someone leaning against the wall in front of you, arms crossed.

He had a playful look in his eyes as he watched you pace back and forth.

With an almost bashful grin, you waved at him. “Hi!” you took a few steps closer.

Imitating your actions, he waved back. “Hi to you too,” he laughed, making your heart flutter. He glanced at a watch on his wrist. “So what are you doing at 10 pm at the help desk?” He asked, still smiling.

“Uh, there was a roommate mixup. I, how do I say this, got paired with a guy?” Your voice turned up near the end of the sentence, giving away your nervousness. “I was trying to figure it out as soon as possible but,” you gestured lamely to the empty desk, “It didn’t exactly… work out,” she finished.

The guy grimaced. “That sounds rough, I’m sorry,” he offered with a sympathetic look. Offering his hand, he said, “I’m Derek.”

You smiled and took it. “I’m y/n,” you responded, and Derek smiled back at you.

“Well y/n, it’s getting late and I should be heading back to my room. See you around?” He called over his shoulder as he started walking away.

“See you around,” you confirmed, turning to the elevator to head back.

By the time you got to your dorm, the mystery man was sitting on his bed. He looked up as you walked in, but you shook your head.

“No luck, they were closed,” you said solemnly.

“We could always try to make the most of it,” he stated, though it seemed like he was just trying to convince himself.

“We may as well,” you gave a little laugh and stuck out your hand. “I’m y/n.”

“I- uh, handshakes actually can carry a lot of germs and pathogens, it’s safer to kiss instead,” he stammered awkwardly. You gave a weirded out grin. “But, it’s Spencer. Spencer Reid.”

“If you insist, Spencer Reid,” you moved closer to him and planted a small kiss on his cheek before he could react.

Turning, you grabbed some pajamas and headed to the bathrooms to shower and get ready for bed. “I don’t know if you’ll be asleep when I get back, so goodnight just in case,” you murmured softly, shutting the door behind you. Spencer stared at the space you once were.

What is happening to me? he thought, confused. He shook his head, laying back on his bed with an arm draped over his eyes.

Some amount of time later, you walked back into the room, yawning a bit. It was 10:30 and you were exhausted from the day’s activities. You had been traveling all day to get to your college campus, and it was draining.

You smiled as you caught sight of Spencer asleep on the bed. He looked so peaceful like this, no stress or worry evident on his face. You noticed his phone next to him, so you quietly grabbed it and plugged it into the charger by his bed.

You did the same to your own phone, then carefully clambered under your sheets. You were asleep before your head hit the pillow.

The next morning, you woke up to an empty room. A flicker of sadness passed through your chest as you gazed at the unoccupied bed on the other side of the dorm. Shaking your head, you grabbed your phone and saw that it was 8:45. You headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day, limbs heavy.

Walking back to your room, you grabbed your makeup bag and a little desk mirror, placing it on the bed. Sitting down, you laid out your products and started applying them.

As you were finishing up with a little bit of mascara on your eyes, the door creaked open. You looked up, seeing Spencer walk inside and close the door behind him.

“Hey Spence,” you smiled at him. He smiled back.

“Hi y/n.” He walked over to his bed and took a seat. “I uh, I went to breakfast,” he gave an awkward smile and nodded.

You laughed. “I still have to go, just putting on some makeup before then, I guess,” you said, gesturing towards the products strewn about the bed. You turned back to the mirror, adding some gentle contour under your cheekbones.

“You know, you don’t need any of it,” Spencer mutters under his breath. You turn, confused.

“Did you say something?” You ask.

“I- I said you don’t need any of it. You’re pretty without it,” He says, a little more confident in his words. “Uh, the makeup industry is worth $532 billion and growing. Did you know that in the 18th century, a tan was considered a flaw?” He rambled, while you listened with rapt attention.

You chuckled. “Is this supposed to make me want to not put on makeup? Because I can assure you,” you paused, turning to give a small smile, “I’m not doing it for anyone besides myself.”

With that, you finished the rest of your routine, Spencer watching from the comfort of his own bed.

You broke the comfortable silence after a few minutes. “I’m going to go check with the dorm after breakfast. Maybe we’ll have some luck this time.” You packed all your makeup and stood up, grabbing your phone and making your way to the door.

You turned back as you stepped out into the hallway. “I’ll be back in an hour or two,” you said, shutting the door behind you.

Heading to the dining hall, you entered the large building with a deep breath. You knew practically nobody here yet and were a little scared of the sheer amount of people.

Grabbing a bowl, you helped yourself to some yogurt with fresh fruit and granola, and a glass of orange juice. You awkwardly stood by the food bar, scanning the room for an empty table to sit at.

“Hey,” a voice sounded next to you, making you jump and turn around quickly.

“Derek! You scared me,” you laughed, your hand resting on your chest. “What can I do for you?” You questioned.

He shrugged. “I noticed you seemed a little lost. Come sit with us,” he pointed to a table where his (seemingly) friends sat, watching the interaction carefully. You smiled.

“Yeah, why not?” You responded, heading over to him. You take a seat at the table, curiously looking around.

A girl at the table smiled at you. “I’m Belle,” she stuck her hand out. You took it, offering a grin.

“I’m y/n,” you responded. One by one, they all introduced themselves to you. The guys all seemed to be frat boys, yet obviously kind enough to accept you. The two other girls were beautiful, equally as nice. There was Blake, Max, Sam, Alexa, Belle and Julie. It was obvious they were more than well known at the university. To be honest, you felt a little intimidated. Alexa seemed to notice, leaning over to whisper in your ear.

“The guys aren’t as stupid as they look, I promise,” she says under her breath, causing you to laugh quietly.

“You sure about that? Blake seems to be a little confused about how to use his spoon,” you responded back, teasing.

From that moment on, it was like all of you had been friends for years. You got everybody’s numbers, were added to their group chats, everything. It made you smile, feeling included.

After breakfast, Derek walked you back to your guys’ dorms. You both got along well, and you could feel a great friendship coming along. You two had grown closer over the course of the walk, hands brushing. As you stepped into the dorm, he walked with you to the front desk.

“I’m going to, uh, see if I could change anything about my… the situation,” you stammered. He smiled.

“I’ll go with you. It’s okay,” he cut you off when you started to protest. You nodded, then made your way over.

“Hi Miss,” you started. The woman sitting there looked up at you. She looked young, no older than 25. She had blonde hair and a… unique fashion sense.

“Hi sweets, what can I help you with today?” She gave you a kind smile.

“I moved in yesterday and um, my roommate isn’t who it should be?” Your voice turned up slightly at the end of the sentence.

The nice lady gave you a confused look. “What do you mean honey?” She asked.

“I was paired with a boy, not a girl,” you let out with a breath. “I need a new roommate, or at least a new room.”

“Let’s see what I can get you, love!” She responded sweetly. She started typing, fingers moving rapidly across her keyboard. She frowned. “I’m so sorry, but all the rooms are full. Unless you have an adequate reason against it or he does anything to you, I can’t do anything honey, I’m sorry,” she finishes, a pitiful look in her eyes.

You offered a sad smile and shook your head. “It’s okay,” your eye drifted to the nametag she had on her patterned shirt, “Penelope. Have a good day!”

You turned to Derek as you both walked away. He grabbed your hand.

“Are you sure you’re good living with a guy?” He asked, concerned.

You laughed. “I’ll be okay. I’m a big girl,” you grinned up at him.

“I’ll walk you up,” he insisted, pushing the button of the elevator. Giving him a disapproving look, you let him take you up to your floor regardless.

Your laughter could be heard echoing down the hall, even in your room at the end of it. Little did you know, Spencer heard it too. 

You slid the keycard into your door, pushing it open slightly and standing in the doorway. You smiled up at Derek, throwing your arms around his neck and hugging him.

Spencer couldn’t help but notice how his hands lingered on your waist, almost unwilling to let go until you pulled away. After a second, you stepped inside and close the door. The smile stayed on your face as you padded to your bed and sat down.

You turned to Spencer, your grin fading a little bit. “There are no other rooms open,” you sighed, shaking your head a little.

He tried to ignore the slight butterflies in his stomach. “I- do you have a problem with it?” He asked, stuttering slightly.

You shrugged. “I mean, not really,” you responded, before winking. “Just don’t try to kill me.”

He nodded, smiling. “So, what’s up between you and Derek?” Spencer asked, gesturing towards the door.

You laughed. “Nothing’s going on. He’s just a friend who,” you paused slightly, “helped me out a little.” Your eyebrows furrowed. “How do you know Derek’s name?”

It was Spencer’s turn to shrug. “How can you not? It’s Derek Morgan. Everyone knows him.”

Your lips parted into an “o” shape, understanding what he meant. “So, what year are you in?” You asked, trying to start a conversation.

“I’m a sophomore,” he replied, his tone cold. He didn’t say anything else, which prompted you to speak as well.

“Oh, I’m a sophomore too!” You smiled at him.

“Why are you here?” He asked, sounding almost hostile this time. “Why weren’t you here freshman year?”

Your smile dropped. “I transferred here from another college. I don’t really know anyone else,” you replied.

Spencer gave you a brief nod.

The tension between you two was palpable. You decided not to ask about it and hoped it might be gone by tomorrow.

You couldn’t quite meet his eyes as you gave a small smile that you hoped didn’t look like a grimace.

After a few more awkward moments of silence, you stood up. “I’m heading to the library,” you announced, grabbing a textbook and your laptop.

“Have fun,” his voice sounded softer this time. You headed out the door without turning back.

You reached the library, quickly spotting Alexa sitting at a table. You walked over, smiling at her before placing your materials down and pulling out a chair.

Alexa grinned back, and you two started a conversation about a mutual class of yours. Before you knew it, it was almost evening and you two had gotten the majority of your homework and studying done.

You weren’t exactly jumping at the idea of heading back to the dorm to sit in strained silence until one of you either fell asleep or left. So, you agreed to dinner at the closest fast food restaurant together.

As you climbed into her car, she let out a squeal. You turned to her, confused.

“Let’s invite the others!” She exclaimed, and you nodded and grinned.

What was supposed to be a small study session turned into the 8 of you crammed into a small booth at a random burger place. You all laughed and joked around, forgetting about the stress of college assignments and adult life.

Somehow, you had wound up pressed into Derek’s side. You let your body relax against his, letting out a quiet squeak when his arm snuck around your shoulders. You looked up at him to see a glimmer of laughter in his eye, causing you to laugh and slap his chest gently.

Neither of you noticed the table fall silent, your friends pulling out their phones to capture the sweet scene.

Derek leaned forward and whispered something in your ear. You smiled at him, tilting your torso slightly to hug his firm body.

After the moment passed, Max suggested driving around town for a while, just to hang out. Sounds of approval echoed around the table, and one by one you all clambered into Alexa’s much too small car.

After about 20 minutes of driving, Belle spotted a small field on the outskirts of town.

Less than five minutes later, all 8 of you lay sprawled out on the cool grass, gazing at the stars above you.

Your head was resting on Morgan’s stomach, legs tangled with Sam’s. Every once in a while, you would reach up and point out a constellation you noticed. You had always wanted to be an astrologer, and learned everything you could about space and the stars for as long as you could remember.

At one point, you managed to roll off of Derek so that your head lay in the crook of his arm. Glancing at him, you frowned as you noticed that he was already looking at you.

“What?” you murmured quietly, so as to not disturb the others’ conversations. When he didn’t respond, you nudged him slightly.

“You look really cute,” he whispered, and you swore you could see the whole galaxy reflected in his eyes.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” you replied under your breath. His laugh tickled your nose and it took all the self control in the world to not kiss him right then and there.

After a while longer of dozing off beneath the stars, somebody suggested that everyone go back home to sleep for the night. Most of you had classes tomorrow anyways.

You grumbled as your human pillow stood up, causing your head to drop onto the cold earth. You glared at Derek from your position on the ground as he stood over you, grinning.

You took his outstretched hand and pulled yourself up, dusting off your worn out jeans and shaking the grass out of your hair.

Looking up, you noticed that the rest of your group was already close to the car, causing you to shout a loud “WAIT UP!” towards them as they laughed at you struggling to catch up to them.

You and Morgan were dropped off last at your dorm building, stumbling slightly and giggling as you reached the glass doors.

You frowned at the entrance, tugging on the doors. But, they wouldn’t budge.

Eyes widening, you turned to Derek.

“Derek, what time is it?” You whispered.

“Midnight, why?” He responded, confused. You let out a groan, slumping against him.

“You need your room pass to get in after 11:00 pm,” you sighed. “I don’t suppose you have yours?” You looked at him hopefully.

He shook his head. “No, I assumed we wouldn’t be out long,” he frowned.

You nodded. “Same,” you pouted. Then, your eyes lit up. “I can call Spencer!”

Derek frowned. “Spencer? As in, your roommate?” He asked, confused.

You grinned. “Yeah! He can open the door for us from the inside!” You laughed excitedly. He smiled, chuckling at your antics.

“Okay babygirl, I’m getting cold out here so hurry up!” He replied jokingly. Your breath caught at the use of the pet name, smile faltering slightly before you managed to replace it again.

Unconsciously, you stepped back against Morgan’s body. His arms instantly wrapped around your front, and he looked down on you adoringly. You blew him a cheeky kiss, pulling out your phone and bringing up Spencer’s contact.

You nervously chewed your lip as the phone rang next to your ear.

After a few seconds, a familiar voice asked, “Hello?” quietly. You lightly tapped Derek, letting him know Spencer picked up.

“Hey Spence!” You said into the phone, happy that he responded.

“Y/n?” He asked, seemingly confused.

You gave a small laugh. “Yeah… so I’m kind of locked outside right now?” You told him, voice turning up slightly at the end. After a gentle prompt from Spencer, you replied, “I didn’t think I would be out for so long, and the building closes at 11. I didn’t bring my room key, and neither did Derek,” you frowned.

Spencer was silent for so long you were starting to think he hung up on you. Just as you opened your mouth to question if he was still there, he let out a gruff, “I’m coming.”

You frowned as you flicked your phone off; why did he get so rude all of a sudden?

You pressed harder into Morgan’s firm body, and he pulled his arms tighter around you. You closed your eyes as a small smile danced onto your lips. You had to admit, it felt nice.

Not even a minute later, the door in front of you was abruptly pushed open. You and Derek stumbled apart, your heart already yearning for the comfortable warmth of his touch again.

Spencer stood in front of you, a small frown etched onto his features. “Are you coming inside or not?” He asked, tone cold and distant. You nodded slowly, grabbing Derek’s hand and pulling him in behind you.

You awkwardly walked to the elevator with the two of them. Turning to Morgan, you raised a lame hand and waved as he walked to his room.

The whole way back to your room it was dead silent. Finally, 10 minutes into it, you couldn’t bear the tense atmosphere anymore.

You walked over to Spencer’s bed, sitting down next to him and gently placing a hand on his thigh.

“What did I do wrong?” You whispered quietly. He turned to you, face pulled into some emotion you couldn’t recognize.

“You- you didn’t do anything wrong,” he replied, voice strained. You frowned.

“Then why are you acting like this? I’ve tried so hard to be nice to you but it’s- it’s just not working!” You exclaim, exasperated.

Spencer’s eyes soften as he gazes at your face. “I’m sorry, it’s all on me,” he murmurs, his hand tentatively settling on top of the one on his thigh. You looked up at him, seeing the sincerity etched into his skin.

Your hand rose slowly, cupping his cheek and running your fingers over the sharp bone.

“It’s okay,” you replied under your breath, a soft smile making its way onto your features. You gently lay your head on his shoulder, smiling to yourself.

And that was how you two spent the rest of the night, cuddling and talking. At one point, you fell asleep against Reid’s body. He gently lay you down on his bed, climbing in next to you.

Hesitantly, he looped his arms around your waist and placed a gentle kiss on your forehead. You reacted in your sleep, mewling slightly and pushing back onto him. Spencer let out a small laugh, tucking your head under his chin before he drifted off as well.

When you woke up the next morning, the first thing you registered was the unfamiliar warmth next to you. Turning slightly, you caught a glimpse of Spencer’s face pressed into your back, arms holding you tight against him.

You sit up gently, trying hard not to wake him up. However, your plan failed, Reid groaning as his eyes adjusted to the light of the room. You swore quietly, smiling at him.

“Good morning sleepyhead,” you whispered, and Reid could swear he felt his heart flutter in his rib cage.

“Goodmorning y/n,” he murmured, voice still raspy from sleep. You giggled, the sound reverberating throughout the otherwise quiet room. He grinned, but didn’t shift from his position on the bed. You frowned, nudging him slightly.

“Spence,” you whined. “I can’t get up without having to climb over you,” you complained.

As a response, he simply raised his middle finger in the air towards you. You gasped and slapped his back, full on laughing now.

“You dick!” You swore, though your tone was laced with amusement. He reached up and tickled your sides, causing you to squirm and collapse onto him.

Your breath hitched as you realized how close you were to Spencer. You willed your heart to slow down, scared that he would feel it trying to break through your.

Spencer cleared his throat, breaking your trance. His cheeks were flushed red, eyes darting around the room and refusing to land on you.

You slowly rolled off onto the floor, staying there until Spencer peeked his head over the edge of the bed, laughing at you.

You slowly pushed yourself off the ground, legs feeling like jelly. You grabbed his hand, pulling him off the bed too. He grabbed both your hands to steady himself, a little wobbly.

You both looked up at each other, hearts stuttering as you gazed into each other’s eyes.

“Your eyes are really pretty,” Reid murmured. You offered a small smile. As if by magic, you two leaned closer and closer until you could feel his hot breath fanning your lips.

A knock on the door caused you both to scramble apart, each of you taking a moment to catch your breath.

You sat on his bed, watching as Spencer walked forward, not bothering to look through the peephole before pulling the door open. You noticed his body language change the moment he caught sight of the person on the other side of it.

His arms crossed and he fell back into a protective stance. From where you were sitting, you saw Spencer’s jaw tighten, but still couldn’t see who was at the door. At least, you couldn’t until he stepped back.

Derek stood in the doorway, face brightening when he noticed you. You got up, confused.

“Derek? What are you doing here?” You asked, smiling wide. You quickly crossed the room and reached him, throwing your hands around his neck and hugging him.

You knew that Spencer had moved away from you, keeping a wide berth between him and Derek. However, you ignored it, still focused on Derek.

“Babygirl!” He exclaimed, grinning at you.

You laughed, responding with a small, “Hi, Morgan.”His eyes suddenly grew wide and he shifted away from you slightly.

Clearing his throat, he muttered, “I was uh- I was wondering if you wanted to get some breakfast with me?”

You strained to hear his words, and asked him to speak louder.

A little more confident, he straightened up. “I was wondering if you wanted to get some breakfast with me,” he repeated, then pauses. “Like… on a date.”

You should be happy. You should be jumping for joy, like any other girl would be if she was asked out by Derek Morgan. But all you could think of was the man standing behind you, watching the situation unfold.

But, when do you ever make the right decision?

You find yourself nodding, barely registering your mouth moving to say yes. Your attention focused back on Derek waiting in front of you, and you shook your head. 

“I- Let me grab my jacket before we go,” you reply, already turning around to head inside your room.

It took every ounce of your self resolve to keep yourself from looking at Spencer. One look into those beautiful hazel eyes and you knew you would crumble.

The moment you walked away with Derek you knew you had made the wrong decision. You wanted to scream, shout, curse the heavens for putting you in this situation.

As if you were in the passenger seat of your own life, you watch in horror as you climb into the car with Morgan. You laugh at his jokes, smile when he reaches over the console to grab your hand. You nod when he asks if pancakes were okay to order for the both of you at the local diner, fully knowing that you despised the sweet treat.

Your body might be in a tiny booth, eating pancakes on an alarmingly sticky table, but your heart lay next to a certain curly-haired boy, beating himself up for ever even thinking he had a chance with you.

God. What did you get yourself into?

very small taglist! : @pprettyboyreid @rachelssafespace