#at least I'll be better by the time I visit my uncle next week though!! thank goodness for that

[brown-little-robin]

~

[tc-doherty]

Book One | Chapter Twenty-Three

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Tag list: @bloodlessheirbyjacques @magefaery @did-i-do-this-write @marrowwife

@muddshadow @outpost51 @full-on-sam @bluberimufim

@unclear-contributions @talesfromtheunknowable @guessillcallitart @flowerprose

@ashirisu @xarrixii @the-letterbox-archives

(ask to be added)

On the fourth day, they received their first contact from the outside world just after lunch – letters from the capital, delivered by a few large eagles who had been bred to the task. Patrice was surprised to find that she, too, had a letter. At least until she saw who it was from. Johan and Rothert had written it together. She didn't wait, but retreated to a corner of the dining room and popped off the wax seal.

Johan had written first.

"Hope everything is well at summer court. Have they taken you hawking yet? If not, they will – at least once a week. What about a guided walk through the grounds? Uncle had them completely redone after he and my aunt were married and is very proud of them. If someone hasn't suggested it yet, they will eventually!

"In less pleasant news, we've been looking into things here, but no one was around when your room was broken into. We know some who were at court at the time – all the heirs, and the duchess - can be ruled out. A lot of other nobles too, I won't bore you with the list. It seems like the break-in was done quickly. Someone must've been keeping watch on your rooms, but nobody remembers any lurkers. I thought to check with the royal library and see if anyone has looked at books about dragons. A tidy little group, since you made no few people curious. Neither Countess Elizabet nor Leroy are on it, but I've arranged to drop in on social gatherings of some who were. Hopefully I can tell you more later!"

After that, Rothert took over with his own letter. His handwriting was an untidy scrawl, especially compared side-by-side with Johan's much neater printing.

"Greetings! I hope the weather is better there than here, I wouldn't want to be trapped inside with that lot every day. It's been nothing but rain northwest of New Iber, but I'm making the best of it.

"I stopped by a certain trying Countess' estate for a visit. Meddlesome as she is, I doubt she's behind the theft. She found herself another, much more suitable, protégé and seems to be enjoying herself. Considering your continued friendship with people she finds undesirable, I believe she's left dragons behind.

"Leroy has more pride than sense, but he's got more lust than either. Let alone you, he's also forgotten his lady from the tournament and has spent the past few days drinking at bars and chasing a well-built merchant's daughter. I doubt he'll cause you any trouble in the future.

"I'm continuing to make rounds of the parties over this way, but no news yet. Admittedly, most of the people out here aren't terribly involved with the court but you never know who might've heard something. Wishing you the best!"

Patrice sighed and crumpled the letter into a ball before shoving it into her pocket next to the spirit stone. That neatly ruled out the three most offensive people she could think of, although in truth she hadn't really thought Leroy was behind it.

Felisjyta gave her a bemused look when Patrice returned to her seat at the table. "Bad news?"

Patrice shook her head and rested her arms on the table. "No news, more like. Did you get any letters?"

The Serzek knight laughed. "I don't know who in the capital would write to me. Errys got a few though." She nodded towards the other knight, who was studying three letters with an irritated expression on her face.

One by one she crushed them – with considerably more force that Patrice had exerted, and dropped them onto her plate to be taken out with the trash.

"Bad news?" Felisjyta asked again.

"Bad enough when I was just pretty!" Errys said, scowling. "Now that I'm respectable too, I'm afraid I'll get marriage offers from every unattached person in the city – and even a few from those who aren't!"

Princess Emilia was sitting only two chairs down from them, how could she help but overhear? She didn't look up from perusing her own letters but she laughed. "The best cure for that is marriage, dear cousin. If you have someone in mind it might behoove you to move a little faster."

Errys shook her head vehemently. "I've no interest in anything of the sort, not that they'll listen."

Patrice laughed. "At least you'll never have any trouble keeping a fire lit, if you get love letters every day."

Errys huffed and shoved her plate with the offending letters away. "Laugh all you want. I don't see you in any hurry to the altar."

"I am a dragon after all," Patrice said, using the same explanation she had when the maids brought the subject up. "Whether I'm interested or not, this isn't necessarily the best place for me to look for partners."

Errys gave her a loaded look. "Well, that doesn't stop some."

Patrice knew that Errys was referring to her mother, and to her own uncertain status, but she refused to take the bait. She did not respond.

"From what I hear, you spend a great deal of time with my cousins. Of course Johan is already spoken for but Rothert wouldn't be a bad choice."

Patrice shook her head. “I view them both as friends, that is true. But humans are confusing enough already. If I were to court a human, it certainly wouldn't be anybody attached to a royal family."

Emilia laughed. "Fair enough. I suppose a dragon like you would prefer a country like Serze anyway."

Patrice said nothing, although she couldn't help but glance at Felisjyta. When she turned back around, she saw that Emilia had done the same.

Thankfully, Felisjyta guided the conversation in a slightly different direction. "And what of you, princess?" She asked. "You're the heir, so shouldn't you be the one getting married rather than Lord Victor?"

"That's exactly why I'm not the one getting married," Emilia said. "Political arrangements are one thing, but my king-consort must also be good for the nation on a day-to-day basis. I'm certain I'll end up marrying for peace, or for war, but there are other factors that need to be considered as well. In that respect, my younger siblings make much better political offerings."

But as she said it, she glanced down at her brother and Rozhalea, and the look she gave them was not exactly friendly. It seemed that the princess did not like Rozhalea any more than anyone else, but she was either polite enough or wise enough to hold her tongue on the matter.

Patrice also looked at them. Although Rozhalea tended to ruffle feathers everywhere she went – at least in her experience – Victor seemed to get along quite well with his bride-to-be. They chatted and laughed together with the queen and their body language was quite open and relaxed. Well, she supposed, everyone was bound to be liked by someone.

Errys interrupted. "It seems none of us are particularly fond of this topic, perhaps we can discuss something else."

"Yes, perhaps that would be for the best," Emelia said. And the four of them chatted about inconsequential things until the queen stood to announce their next activity.

The next morning, Felisjyta was not in the cobblestone grove.

Errys was there, working through some complicated maneuver by herself. She answered Patrice's question without looking up or breaking concentration. "I haven't seen her, she wasn't even in her room. Want to work with me today?"

"Perhaps later," Patrice said. "I was hoping to find Felisjyta."

"Come back if you get bored," Errys said.

Patrice made a noise of assent and wandered back into the gardens. In truth, she didn't mind having an excuse to meander around. The ornamental plants were nothing like the untamed wilderness she was used to, but it still reminded her of home. In the carefully trimmed roses surrounding their usual practice space, she could see the beginnings of the massive, sprawling roses she was used to. Patches of well tended flowers surrounded ornamental trees on either side of stone pathways. In her home the trees had grown and flowers had spread, and the stones had broken due to time and weather. But now, seeing a garden like this, how it should be, the grounds she had always played in made more sense. Is this what it would have been like, had Iberia not come to a disastrous end? If her parentage was truly what she was beginning to suspect, could this have been her life?

The sound of hoofbeats spurred her from her thoughts. She increased her pace, heading in the direction of the sound, the cat moving silently at her side. It was not a great leap of logic to find herself headed for the stables again. As she rounded the corner of the manor that gave way to the stables and paddocks, a very mismatched set rode in from the estate beyond.

Rozhalea looked every bit the proper lady, perched delicately on top of a fine boned black palfrey. She wore a bliaut of patterned, shimmering indigo silk which – when contrasted against the black horse – looked stunning. Only the thick gathering of pearl necklaces at her throat, the gem-bedecked circlet decorating her shining red hair, and a minimal amount of embroidery showed that Rozhalea was not a Runerian noble born and bred. Her face was mildly serene, but Patrice could see her eyes were hard and anger showed in the slight lines around her mouth.

Felisjyta, riding Vasya at a distance far enough to be considered impolite, made no attempt to hide her fury, or her contempt.

Patrice leaned against the wall and waited. The cat, sensing her intention, curled up at her feet, the tip of his tail twitching as he watched the scene.

Rozhalea had no interest in loitering. She slid to the ground in a graceful swirl of indigo silk and tossed the reins to a groom who materialized from inside the stable before sweeping off towards the house. Her path brought her past Patrice, although there were quicker ways to return indoors.

"Felisjyta isn't very reliable, you know," she said. "It's possible only dragons would have enough patience to deal with her, but you could easily find better company among the Serzeks, and perhaps even the Runerians for that matter."

Patrice just looked at her, with all the impassive disdain a dragon could muster for humankind. Despite Felisjyta's warning that Rozhalea could be dangerous, Patrice simply could not bring herself to even pretend to respect the other woman. But Rozhalea had been prepared for her this time. She didn't even falter.

"Then again, if you have no interest in politics, there's simply no reason for you to be here at all." With that she passed Patrice and vanished through the nearest door.

The cat growled low in his throat, but Rozhalea was already gone. Her comments were nothing but air, since Patrice did not care about her opinion. Although she certainly didn't like Rozhalea's rude comments about Felisjyta, it wasn't worth it to reveal anger over something like that. She knew from previous experience that it would only serve to amuse the duchess.

Felisjyta had vanished into the stable to take care of Vasya, so Patrice continued to wait. She had no intention of going into the stable and causing a panic among the horses of less robust temperaments. Instead she occupied herself in trying to brush the ever present white and black cat hair off of her skirt. Today she was wearing a simple bliaut of finely woven red wool, so the cat's fur not only clung to her with enthusiasm, but both the white and black hairs showed clearly.

She dropped her fussing as soon as Felisjyta reappeared.

The knight's humor had not improved much. She was still scowling, and seeing Patrice waiting for her did not immediately change that expression. "I'm in no mood to be a proper teacher today."

"That doesn't concern me," Patrice said. "Errys already offered to teach me if I wanted, and it isn't as if I haven't skipped days before."

Felisjyta stalked off into the gardens and Patrice fell in line with her. She made no move to either talk or to take the knight's arm as she had been doing of late, but simply walked in silence continuing her earlier admiration of the plants.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Asked Felisjyta after they had walked together for a quarter of an hour.

"Why should I?" Patrice asked. "Your thoughts are your own. I am simply enjoying the exercise."

Felisjyta laughed and Patrice pretended not to notice that it was a little more forced than her usual joyful abandon. "I sometimes forget how differently you think than the rest of us. A human would be eaten alive by curiosity."

"Long lives breed patience," Patrice said, repeating a quote her mother had often used. "I will listen if you wish to talk, or walk in silence if you wish to think, or make idle conversation about the weather. It doesn't matter to me."

"Rozhalea doesn't like me being friends with anyone," Felisjyta said bitterly, "especially not her future sister-in-law. And she doesn't like my reluctance to get dragged into politics here." She fell silent for a moment, still scowling. "Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?"

Patrice nodded, and let herself fall into the conversational dance she had heard so many times. It had never really made sense to her, but now she thought she understood how talking about inane things might be useful. Humans didn't like silence, but if they weren't willing to talk about certain things, what else could they speak about except something pointless? It was support without needing anything in return. "I suppose, for now. I think it will storm soon again. It seems much like the other day before it rained."

Felisjyta let out a disgusted sigh. "Why is the weather here so nonsensical? In Serze it has the decency to follow set patterns and give us ample warning. Everything about Runerians is crazy!"

"You think the chaotic nature of their weather is reflected in the hearts of their people?"

At first Felisjyta was taken aback, but she soon grinned. "Everyone is shaped by the land they live in. If you have a stable country like Serze, it breeds stable respectable folk. If you have a crazy country like Runeria, well…" She offered her arm to Patrice, and Patrice took it. They naturally drew closer together walking in such a manner.

"You do realize," said Patrice, "I would not discuss such silly things with anyone else."

"Oh, I know," Felisjyta responded.

Patrice smiled. "Very well. Tell me, oh wise teacher, what wrongness this land creates in Runerians."

"Well you see, it's like this." Felisjyta gestured in the air with her free hand as she spoke, underlying her points. "This land and its weather are so unreliable, the people here simply have no room for traditions to take root. They always look ahead and always aim for progress, and that's certainly admirable. But they have nothing to fall back on, no traditions or stability they can all cling to."

"That's no way to live."

"Exactly."

They walked further into the gardens together, chatting about nonsense, black moods and enemies temporarily forgotten.

Index | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[punsmaster69]

12/JAN/20XX

"......."

".........."

"Okay, but it's not past my bedtime technically."

"it is definitely-"

"wait, friday."

"Midnight bedtime, babeyy!!!"

i glanced at the time.

"alright, you've got about thirty minutes before i hang up."

"Thirty five."

"ok. thirty five. but do you wanna spend that five minutes arguing about what time it is?"

"No."

"anything specific you called for this time?"

"Uhh..."

"Wellness check."

".....𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬."

"Wellness check."

"like they do for the elderly?"

"You ARE the elderly."

"nuh uh."

"As far as I'm concerned, you are."

"is there a level past elderly? 'cuz both your parents surely hit that one."

"..Both my-?"

"......"

"hm?"

"I guess he kind of is.."

"old?"

"My parent."

"Visiting him feels almost the same as seeing, like, Undyne and Alphys though."

"And I usually call him Asgore."

"you referred to him as 'dad guy' for a little bit."

"Then stopped."

"Every time I would, Mom would..."

"make 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 face."

"Yeah."

"Someone else comes to mind when I think of who my 'dad' is, anyway."

"he sounds cool."

"Yeah."

"great, even?"

"............."

"he'd be a better influence, y'know."

"He's more like my awesome uncle."

"true."

"Plus, it doesn't make sense to call him 'dad'. He doesn't have the hots for my mom."

"wow."

"those thirty five minutes went by so fast."

" 'night."

"NO-"

it didn't last long.

my phone started buzzing once again.

"Sans."

"frisk."

"You can't hang up on me for that."

"i did."

"Was I wrong?"

"i will again."

"Fine, okay, we don't have to talk about it."

"Eventhoughit'sdefinitelytrue-"

"Just don't hang up on me again."

"we'll see."

"You never did answer the wellness check."

"Are you well... Ness?"

i gave them a long stare.

"Come on."

"It was right there."

"a n y w a y."

"sure. i'm of the wellness. having much well."

"The best answer you can give is 'sure'?"

"you want me to list every symptom, dr. frisk?"

they pretended to hold an imaginary clipboard.

"Yeees."

"Tell me everything, patient."

"is that your impression of a doctor?"

"Yes it is. Now, are you good or not?"

"i'm good."

imaginary pen scribbling.

"Noticed one of your eyes has been back on."

"indeed."

"That's good, but why just the one?"

"𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 supposed to tell 𝘮𝘦 that, doc."

"Oh."

"Uh."

"..Well."

"It was the left one that does the magic glowy stuff, right?"

"yep."

"And that's the one that blew up."

"mhm."

"Whatever Papyrus said happened when you did your special attack... probably worsened that."

"So that's why. I think."

"thanks for the diagnosis."

"what do you suggest?"

"Hmmmmm."

putting their fingers together in thought.

"Nighttime phone calls where you spill all your weird skeleton secrets..."

"at really abhorrent times, got it."

"And a big fat kiss from Mama Goat."

"goodnight."

"AAA-"

they called again.

i rolled over the other way.

——

at least twice a week, usually about three in the morning or so...

i'll wake up.

for seemingly no reason.

sometimes i can get back to sleep if i lay there for long enough, but tonight was not one of those times.

while in there for some cold water and likely a light refrigerator raid, something surprising met me in the kitchen.

actually, met 𝘮𝘦 isn't quite the right wording, considering 𝗶 scared 𝗵𝗶𝗺.

sitting on our kitchen floor, cradling the basically empty milk jug, was my brother; long limbs folded criss-cross on the tile.

his troubled gaze focused on nothing in particular, almost trance-like.

"hey."

he snapped out of it.

if not for being a skeleton, i'd say papyrus jumped out of his skin.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP AT THIS TIME??"

"wonderin' the same of you."

"I ASKED FIRST."

"i'm gonna raid the fridge. get some water."

proceeding to do just that, light from the refrigerator spilled into the darkened room. papyrus narrowed his sockets slightly and turned away from it.

"you?"

"....."

tapping his fingers on the side of the milk jug for a moment.

"I DON'T KNOW."

his glance to the side, followed by slight tensing.. it was all too familiar.

i parked myself next to him on the cold floor.

unable to be bothered with washing up an actual fork, i grabbed a plastic one and opened a container of leftover pasta.

"what was it about this time?"

"......"

"puzzle mishap?"

"underground again?"

"mtt's show cancelled?"

"NO..."

"I BARELY REMEMBER ANY OF IT."

"but you remember a little?"

"THERE WERE-"

"AROUND ME, I WAS..."

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING EXACTLY, BUT I KNOW I DIDN'T ENJOY WHATEVER I WAS BEING MADE TO DO. I'M NOT SURE WHY IT WOULD BE..."

"VINES, OF ALL THINGS."

".........."

a part of me flickered with anger, but it fizzled out just as soon.

i sighed.

"just a weird metaphor, probably."

"you know how dreams are."

"I GUESS."

"..gotta ask."

"what's with the milk?"

"OH- UH."

"WELL IT.. THERE WASN'T THAT MUCH LEFT, AND I FIGURED I WOULD FINISH IT OFF, SINCE I WANTED SOME ANYWAY-"

"too much effort for a glass, huh?"

"IT'S NOT A LACK OF EFFORT!!"

"IT'S MORE EFFICIENT LIKE THIS. I DON'T NEED TO WASTE TIME WASHING A PERFECTLY GOOD CUP WHEN IT IS ALREADY CONTAINED WITHIN THE JUG."

"i dunno. sounds like you were being lazy to me. not wantin' to wash a cup, drinking straight from the jug..."

"IT'S 𝘕𝘖𝘛 LAZY."

"if you say so."

"think i could get a swig of that before you finish it off?"

"HERE."

"thanks."

"alright, you can have your comfort milk back."

"SO LONG AS MY BONES ARE ASSURED TO BE STRONG, I WILL BE AS WELL!"

"you're always strong."

"AND HOW DO YOU THINK IT GOT TO BE THAT WAY?"

"daily training."

"....YES, THAT. BUT HAVING PLENTY OF MILK FALLS INTO THE REGIMEN AS WELL!"

"including the rest of the jug."

"THIS IS A ONE-TIME THING!!"

"so this where its been disappearing to at random all this time.."

"NO."

raising the jug to his mouth.

"LIKE I SAID, ONE-TIME THING."

"uhuh."

"I HEARD YOU SPEAKING A WHILE AGO."

"i was on the phone."

"WITH WHOM?"

"frisk."

"AGAIN?"

"yep."

"ISN'T IT PAST THEIR BEDTIME?"

"nah, it's friday."

"AH, RIGHT."

"suppose it's technically saturday now."

"REALLY? WHAT TIME IS IT?"

"uhh, let's see..."

after being in the dark for so long, we 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 turned away from my phone screen light.

dimming the brightness, i showed him the time.

"IT'S FOUR ALREADY??"

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO BE DOWN HERE SO LONG."

"me either."

"let's get back to bed, huh?"

papyrus silently leaned against me.

"...ok. sleeping bags?"

"JUST THE COUCH."

"i'll grab our pillows."

[dorriostareyes]

Oh wow you've certainly busy! Wish I could say I've been nearly as productive, but the unfortunate truth is I've done just about nothing this summer. '^^

This Summer

Let's see, I uh was let off from my job due to the fact that covid regulations have slowly been loosening here in my corner of the world ans those regulations were basically the only reason that job existed. Though I was asked if I wanted to take up a different position within the same company so I will hopefully get the job after having gone through all the preliminary stuff.

I was supposed to work on learning to drive but that uh, hasn't been happening. I need to get on that before the cold weather hits. Driving is very important skill as terrifying as it is.

I've been steadily getting back into cooking! It's helping with eating healthier and I don't actually mind it all that much. Prepping the ingredients is a bit of a pain, but I can listen to music so it isn't that bad. I need to find recipes with more vegetables and cook those because I honestly dislike most veggies but I need to eat more of them.

I am also beginning to exercise regularly. Again, very slow. Going to the gym once a week, I'm going to commit myself to taking walks too, and maybe I'll try out yoga. Reading your reply reminded me of it actually! I've heard it does good for you and I have more than enough time in my weeks to spend on it. I just super hate any forms of exercise. I've never liked it, even as a kid, but it's important to keep myself healthy

More Recently

I hurt my back last week. I think it was because I made the not so smart decision to not stretch after working out. Not entirely sure, but now my back hurts and hates it whenever I try to stand or sit up straight. Not fun. I've been told I should try stretching to help with it.

Oh yeah, I've been designing a tattoo for someone. I've designed one before for my mother when she asked for something:

The one is I'm working on now is for a friend of a family member. The person has been a bit indecisive so I'm doing two versions and they'll choose one of them. It's fun actually! I like designing stuff like this and having guideline makes it easier to do. I want to learn more about drawing and get to place where I feel better about my knowledge and skill of it. Another reason to kill my procrastination tendencies!

My Uncle went to the hospital recently, but he's okay! Everything went fine and I've been talking to him a lot. Went to visit him last week for his birthday and it was good too see him home and doing better.

In General

Generally I'm just trying to figure myself out. My own anxiety and uh personality let's say has held me back a lot in life and I want to improve. I always thought I had a hold on my anxiety but I've been realizing that I just kind of...perservered through it? I don't cope as well with it as I want to, at least, and it's making things harder to do than they should be, like with driving. When I get the behind the wheel I worry so much about hitting somebody or wrecking the car and it makes it very hard for me to actually do any driving. That, and other stuff, it's actually getting in the way of my life and I need to do something about it, find a better way to work with it and not let it hold me back. I want to be more well-adjusted braver is what I'm saying XD

Ambition? Motivation? Drive? A life goal I guess is the next thing I've been trying to find. Something long-term to look forward to. Like art. I love to draw and I want to improve upon it, unfortunately I procrastinate way too much and almost have no motivation to do anything productive most days. Which is hindering finding a goal because I don't want to commit to anything and...yeah. But! I'm working on it! A lot of things with me are a work in progress sort of deal, but I want these things to happen. I want to change for the better. Be a better person. Live a better life.

Awwww kitties! I sometimes wish I could sleep that much lol

Thank you for answering btw! It's always nice to talk to you! I'm honestly not used to sharing information about myself with people because I'm pretty private and there's a small niggling voice at the back of my head telling me it's a bad idea to put any of this down for people to see, buuuut logically I know it's fine. Seriously, it's cool to read about all the stuff you've been up to. I hope to be that product some day! :D

Beau! Hello! How are you doing?

Hi! :D It's so nice to see you again! I really missed our conversations, can't wait for more of them to come soon! <3

This summer has been pretty busy for me. I studied almost every day - but it's summer, it's hot and my will to study was below zero, so I skipped a few days here and there, did other things, studied in the morning only and so on. Still no idea about the results, but when I get them, I will let you know :)

In the meantime, I still enjoyed my time by doing other stuff, like:

Cleaning

I love organizing things and since I finally had some time, I took the chance to:

Write a full inventory of the garage/storeroom where my family has been accumulating stuff for years

Buy a couple new storage racks for my apartment and move some furniture around. Still not over, but it's an improvement

Also, since my mother finally realized that yes, we have a lot of stuff indeed and we can rid of some of it, we went on a cleaning spree and cleaned:

The woodshed which had everything inside except for wood. There was even a sewing table!

The front garden of my house and that meant removing a shit ton of plants because my mother decided it was a great idea to plant them all together. She literally put two palm trees inside the vineyard. Those have been hard to tear down, but when me and my brother finally did it, the satisfaction was immense

We still have to move some stuff and properly clean the storeroom, but we have to wait for my uncle first: once he takes some furniture away, we will be free to keep going.

Keeping healthy

Since I went to the gastroenterologist and he told me to change my diet, I lost 7kg immediately and I feel WAY better. But it's still not enough: I plan to lose 7 more kilos, just to be in perfect health and to keep being healthy, even if I gain a couple kilos back in the future.

In order to do that, I kept (and try to keep) a schedule made of:

walking at least 6000 steps every day

spending at least one hour doing exercises and yoga 5 days a week

following the healthier diet suggested by the doctor, which is made of fresh fish and meat, fresh vegetables, almost no bread, gluten-free pasta, rice, couscous, no milk and no processed products. It was hard the first few days, now I feel bad when I don't follow this plan. I don't miss junk food and I still allow myself a treat once in a while. Also, since I am lazy, I cook once a day and double the amount, so I can eat for dinner and have a meal ready for the next day's lunch. This way, I'm always covered and I don't feel like resorting to junk/fast food (I also got rid of everything unhealthy, so it would be impossible anyway).

trying to get a better sleeping schedule: my alarm clock is set at 7:50 every day except for the weekends and I allow myself to get a 1-hour-long nap in the early afternoon. I also try to go to sleep around midnight, but still end up sleeping at 1am, so there's still room for improvement.

Writing

Studying was hard, but writing has always been great. And when I can have a schedule, it's even better :D

I started with two hours, every day. Right after dinner, when my mind was still fresh - and the weather gets cooler too. Then, around 10pm, I move on the couch and watch a few YouTube videos, before going to bed.

Some days, I didn't want to write a single line and had to force myself to write at least for one hour. But there were also days in which I wrote one or two hours more than planned. And now, I can write a few hours in the morning too and that means double productivity! :D Also, after sitting for so long in front of a screen, the exercise session in the late afternoon is even more enjoyable.

Small trips

I couldn't allow myself to take a longer breaks this summer. And that means I won't be able to visit Greece, so I took small trips to my uncle's farm and 1-day long trips to a few places.

In July, I visited Gaeta and Sperlonga (Italy). Those are two beautiful towns between Rome and Naples, with wonderful clean sea and beautiful sights. Sperlonga was especially cute, because the oldest part of the city is on a hill, so there are a ton of narrow streets, white-painted walls, corners decorated with seashells and painted tiles, tiny stairs and little plazas. It was nice.

In August, I visited Rovinj (Croatia): that's another little town, with a wonderful green sea. While we were there, we took a boat trip and visited the nearby fjord and wow, it was just like a postcard from a Norwegian fjord. And the trip was very enjoyable too: the boat owner offered us drinks and gave us interesting insights about what we were seeing.

I have two more trips planned for the next week: a water park tomorrow and a small cruise trip next week. Then, nothing else for now. Maybe will do something for Christmas and even New Year, but we'll see what offers we can find.

What about you?

What did you do these months? How did you spend your summer? How are you spending these last few days of August? And do you like to sleep as much as my cats like it?

[jeonggukkiss]

A Jeon Jeongguk fanfic, by jeonggukkiss.

Tough | mom!reader x ceo!dad!jk with a little bit of reader x yoongi | smut, angst, fluff, slow burn, slice of life ! au series

Warnings for this chapter: semi edited, nari cries :(( , y/n also cries, angsty chap, yoongi cries too D: , stalker-ish jk, graphic depictions of being chased by a whole security team, besties... im scared to tell you this... hella sad breakup, yoongi says fucked up shit when he’s mad, scary situations that requires y/n & nari to move houses, y/n experiences a panic attack, more to be added

Chapter 3

Main Masterlist

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2019

"Nari, please stop making a mess of your food." You sighed at the 3 year old, who was silently crying while trying to eat. You picked up an already wet napkin to wipe at her chin, silently praying she stops crying soon or else she'll be too sleepy for the rest of the day.

She tried to cover up a sob but you heard it clearly. Feeling guilty for scolding her, you picked her up and sat her on your lap while the television idly played.

"I'm sorry, baby, really, uncle Yoonie, Hobi, Namu and Jinnie can't come celebrate your birthday today, but, you know, at least Eomma's here." You assure her with a tight lipped smile as you rubbed her back and pushed back her hair that had fallen to her face.

"No leave E-eomma." She cries into your chest as she hugs you. Your heart broke seeing your daughter miss her uncles. You wanted to cry with her. But this was for the best. You pray that this was for the best.

It would have been better if Nari grew up without any knowledge, memories of them.

You vividly remember the fight you and Yoongi had. Last week while Nari was asleep.

"You shouldn't have told me you wanted something more if you're going to act all entitled about it!"

"Entitled?! We're in a relationship and have a daughter that's turning three next week! I'm not being entitled, I am practically acting like your girlfriend because I am! And I act like this, it's because I care about you, Min Yoongi!" You snapped at him.

"Then don't suffocate me if you care about me! And daughter?! Nari is not my daughter! Mind you, she's Jeongguk's for fuck's sakes! You're always so clingy and-and just so suffocating to be around with, don't you have a kid to take care of rather than wasting time rubbing your affection all over me?! Or are you too much of an annoying loner to do anything other than that?"

And in silence, you hear your heart break again. For the second time since 2 years ago. But this time, the pain was doubled.

"We should've just stayed as damn friends." He muttered as he looked down, breathing heavily. The whole room was filled with heaviness. Your heart felt heavy as well.

You curled your fingers, feeling the hot tears streaming down your face. You didn't want him to see how weak he made you, so you aggressively wiped them with your palms and sniffled quietly before you looked up at him.

"Yeah.You're right, I—you know what? I think it's better if we're strangers again from now on. Don't come to visit me after this or I'll leave and you'll never see me and Nari ever again. I did it once, I don't see why I can't do it twice." You kept your voice steady as you try to keep your tears at bay. He takes a moment to digest your words, then looks up and quickly shakes his head, finally realizing his mistake.

He walks towards you and wraps his arms around you, regret eating at his subconscious. He sobs as he nuzzles his head in your neck.

But you didn't react, even though you wanted to hug him tightly and never let go.

You're not a fool, you were not going to allow yourself to be a fool. You ignored the red flags the first time with Jeongguk. You weren't going to again, this time with Yoongi.

"Y/N, I'm sorry, I-I was just stressed about work and mad and — please don't leave me, please I-"

"The door's right there, Yoongi."

You haven't seen or heard from Yoongi ever since he went out the door. You then told the 3 other men — as nicely as you can — that they were not allowed to see Nari too. They were puzzled, hurt even, and wanted to protest but they didn't. They knew they had to respect your decisions.

Even if it hurts them. Even if it hurts you.

Your heart was still hurting, very much, but you did everything that could distract you. You always focused on Nari but sometimes even looking at her hurt you. Every time you looked at her Yoongi's voice crashed through your ear.

"Nari is not my daughter!"

You shivered and blinked back to reality, realizing that your daughter had fallen asleep on your lap, her tears were drying on her supple cheeks. You sighed and leaned back onto the couch, grabbing the blanket beside you and covering you both.

This has become a routine for you both, Nari crying because she misses her uncles, you comforting her while trying to hold back your tears, her finally falling asleep on your lap. And when she was asleep, it was your turn to cry.

You finally let out a few tears, trying to reign back your sobs to not wake up the little girl sleeping. Before, you had everything under control, everything planned. How you were supposed to raise Nari all on your own. Now you regret all your decisions.

You shouldn't have let them meet her.

You shouldn't have let them visit her, or take her out.

You should've just stayed away. You should've just kept your distance.

You should've never called Yoongi in the first place.

You cry harder, remembering everything the two of you did. How every memory you had with your daughter he was always somehow in them all.

You missed him, but you weren't going to act upon it.

So you built up the wall Yoongi had broken down, built it up twice as high so that not one person can climb over it. Built it up so strong, not one person can make it kiss the ground. Only you and Nari were on the other side of the wall. And that's fine by you.

You rested your hand onto Nari's back and shushed her as she whimpered in her sleep, probably dreaming of the man she calls appa again.

She had trouble sleeping at night, she had grown accustomed to the man she knows by now as her dad sleeping next to her, with her mom on her opposite side.

"How are we supposed to celebrate your birthdays now, baby?" You whisper as you stare into space, hand combing her hair as she sleeps soundly against you.

You had planned to take her out with Janyeon and Areum today but Areum said that Janyeon had daycare today. Which reminds you...

You have to apply Nari for daycare soon.

You were nervous, she had never been around that many kids, only with Janyeon. But Nari was smart, like really, really smart. She started to understand Korean and English words at 2 because you talk to her in both languages, sometimes you even mix them both in a sentence. Although she still blubbers, she's familiar with a few Hangul characters and English letters. You taught her shapes and numbers, and so far she's getting the hang of calling out the different colors around her.

She has shown great intelligence at her age. It made you think she's secretly Namjoon's twin.

You know she can handle anything education related, but you're nervous about how she'll cope with the sudden change of environment for her. Nari's a very open person to adults, since adults were the only people she was exposed to, you didn't know about children though.

You sighed as you sat up, carrying Nari with you as you stood, you walked to the bedroom to carefully lay her down on the bed. You tuck her in and start to contemplate your choices.

Either a, you call the helper that stays with Nari on times you went out and make her watch her for a few so you can go and apply Nari for next month's daycare program. Or b, you can just bring Nari with you.

But she's sleeping right now. Stupid, you thought to yourself.

You stood up and went out the room, walking down the hallway and into the small kitchen, sitting down at the dinner table, you picked up your phone out of your pocket and searched for the helper's contact.

"Yes, Eonni?"

"Hey, I'm sorry to be a bother but, I was wondering if you can watch Nari today?" You nervously pinched and played with your bottom lip as you talked on the phone.

"Today? Really? Isn't it her birthday?"

"Yes, but she's asleep right now so I think we'll be going out late this afternoon. I'll be quick, I just need to run a few errands."

"Oh sure, I'll be right down."

The good thing about your helper was that she was always one call away, she literally lived two floors above yours.

You wait for the helper, leaving some money on the dinner table, and draping your coat on your arm as you get your purse. When she came, you exchanged a few words and laughed before you went out into the cold Seoul morning.

You walked a few blocks, crossed a few streets, and saw the playground near the daycare Janyeon goes to. And just in time to see Areum walking out onto the sidewalk. Her gaze mets yours and after being surprised, she smiles widely.

"Eonni! Are you finally enrolling Nari?" She reaches you and wraps her arms with yours, walking the same direction with you. You nod and she squeals in excitement while you chuckle.

"I've been telling you since I saw how she pointed at Hangul characters! And did you know she speaks a bit of English!? You got a gifted one!" You playfully scoff while trying to hide your proud smile as you both walk into the daycare, kids running around and screams of happiness were heard in a few rooms.

She obviously got it from me, you thought. You didn't have a whole wall dedicated full of your medals and certificates of academic excellence recognition at your parents' house for nothing.

"Hello, welcome! Are you two enrolling?" A teacher notices your entrance and approaches you both. Your sister shakes her head as she points at you.

"I have my son enrolled here already, he's in class Sunshine 2, Go Janyeon. My sister here is planning to enrol her daughter." She says as the teacher nods happily.

"Oh! That's wonderful news! Let me assist you to our director, you're just in time, we have a new program this winter." She walks you both through the colourful hallways, stopping at the only room that looked more professional amidst the child-friendly design the whole daycare had.

"Just sit there and he'll be with you in a minute." She opens the room and points to the two chairs in front of a desk. You both comply and sit. After a few moments the director comes in.

And my, was he something.

"Good morning. Welcome to Seoul Central Daycare, or in our words, a galaxy that holds the brightest stars of the future. I heard you have a star to enroll here?" The director greets you both in a deep voice, with a smile as he sits onto the chair behind the desk.

He reaches for your sister's hand to shake it and then turns to you, stopping a bit to stare at your features, before reaching for your hand, shaking it slowly with a soft smile.

"Yes, I actually have my son enrolled here, Go Janyeon, if you know him." Your sister starts. She figured you would be clueless how to handle these kinds of situations, it was your first time handling something that helped shape Nari's future, so she had to talk and she took first charge of the situation.

"Ah yes, that cute one has the most stars this week on his goodie chart, the daycare teachers love him." The director chuckles before letting your sister continue.

"Actually, my sister here wants to enroll her daughter, she's three years old, and she's very gifted." She nods at you and you smile, again holding back the proud look you had.

"Oh? And her name is?" He turns to you and once he looks at you, he smiles again.

"Her name is Cha Nari, and I'm her mom, Cha Y/N, it's a pleasure to meet you sir..." You trailed off, not knowing what to call him.

"Park Seojoon, but I prefer Seojoon, if you will, and the pleasure is all mine." He sneakily sends you a wink before smiling. You felt your eyebrows raise in surprise and you awkwardly smiled, looking down a bit as you were caught a bit off guard.

Woah, that was smooth but why do I have the sudden urge to laugh, you thought.

"Gifted you say?" He asks you, his smile never falling. Your sister notices the exchange and catches on to what the director was doing.

She stands up quickly, making you both look at her.

"I'm really sorry, but I have to go to do important errands, I'll be back to pick up Janyeon later. You can handle it from here on out, right Eonni?" She asks you as she heads for the door. You nod and she smiles and winks at you before she's out.

You turned back to the director but he was already looking at you, a fond smile on his face. You blushed, embarrassed, and then you cleared your throat.

"She's a very smart girl. Last year, she started picking up on the Korean and English language, and she recognises some Hangul characters and English letters, she's very good at memorization. Right now, I'm slowly teaching her how to identify colors. She's a curious girl, and is open and enthusiastic to learn one new thing every day." You say in a faint smile, feeling proud of how Nari was progressing every day.

"I see, and when can I meet this angel if you are going to enroll her here?" He asks as he places his chin on his palm, staring at you in awe.

"Uhm, when she starts daycare? I guess?" You shrugged and smiled confusedly at him.

Why is this man flirting with me? I'm literally just trying to enroll my daughter. The voice in your head exasperatedly comments.

He chuckles and leans back, his arms reaching down his desk and he pulls out a pen and paper. He writes down something on the back of it before speaking.

"Here's an enrollment form, the school banking information is in there, Nari's information, a copy of her health records, an emergency contact, a copy of her birth certificate and other requirements are stated there, it's fine if you pass this form and the requirements on the day you enroll her. If you have questions, numbers are on there as well." He passes you the paper.

You picked it up from his hold and thanked him before folding it neatly and placing it in your white tote bag. You stood up, him following suit.

"Ms. Cha, I would like to meet you again, not professionally, if that's possible." He rounds over the table to finally stand in front of you.

Huh?

Your brain short circuited for a bit.

You still for a bit, staring at his chest. He was so tall, taller than Namjoon, you could say, your head only meeting just a bit above his chest. You looked up and saw his eyes already piercing yours.

You stare at him and your knees straighten up, feeling just a tad bit intimidated under his gaze.

"You don't think I have a husband?" You ask him in a fake joking tone with a raised brow, hiding the annoyance in your tone, he tilts his head to the side before chuckling softly.

"Cha Nari, Cha Y/N, same surnames, most mothers use their husband's name on their child but I figured already. And you came here with your sister when most moms come here with their husbands or no one at all. I think it's safe to say that I'm asking a single mother for her friendship." He smiles and holds out his palm.

You smile and nod.

Where...

Does he get the audacity?

You were not one bit swayed with his attempts to flirt. You're a tough cookie to crack. He's up for a challenge.

"You're very smart." You pressed your palm into it intending to shake his hand but instead he brought it up to his lips, kissing your knuckles softly as a farewell. You chuckle lightly, a bit repulsed by the director's actions.

I swear if I don't get discounts on Nari's school fees, I'm gon—

"Do you give all your clients this kind of greeting?" You interrupt your own train of thought with a fake high pitched laugh as he lets down your hand and walks beside you out into the hallway.

"Only you, ma'am. Hard to believe, I know, but I'm a very professional person." He winks down at you. You scoff and shake your head laughing. He then stops in front of a board that was filled with one by one sized pictures, you look closely and see that it was pictures of mothers, their names and their kids' names under the picture.

Pick-Up Person Board.

"Now don't be surprised. We have this board here for safety reasons, this board determines who picks up the child after school. If the mother wishes to change the pick up, she can request to add another picture. Do you mind if I take one of you today? Since you're already here." He proposes as he whips out his phone.

You nod and he told you to stand by the white wall next to the board. You fix your hair a bit and stand up straight. You smile at the camera for a few shots, he was adjusting every angle so your face was seen beautifully.

You genuinely laughed when he started to playfully angle himself and shoot like a photographer to a model.

"You're a natural, Ms. Cha!"

"Pssh! You! Are! Crazy!" You continued laughing at him while trying to stay still, but your face was all wrinkled in a happy giggle.

He's not all bad, I guess, comes commenting your conscience.

When he was done he stood up and you learned from his shoulder on your tiptoes, trying to view the pictures but his height was making it difficult for you. He laughs and shows you the pictures.

"You look beautiful, don't worry." He says as he swipes on the screen. You scoff again, his compliments having no effect on you. Turning off his phone, you both continue to walk.

You stop at the glass doors of the daycare and you turn to him. He smiles down at you in a fondness you can't decipher.

"I'll be waiting for Nari, and you, Ms. Y/N." He says as he opens the door for you. You laugh and walk out the door before turning to him again.

"Expect us to come soon, Mr. Seojoon." You wink, flirting back subtly just for the fun of it, before bowing and turning back to walk out the daycare grounds.

"Mhm, confirmed, she has you whipped." The guard at the side of the glass doors shifted his eyes between you and the man still staring at your walking form.

"Damn right, Wooshik, that woman is a living goddess." Seojoon speaks like he ran a marathon. No woman had that effect on him, not even the mother of his 5 year old son that he's divorced with.

"I'd say, when I saw her walk into the gates, I was shocked to find out she's a mom. I mean, she looks so young!" Wooshik adds as your walking form has disappeared further into the streets of Seoul. Seojoon leaned against Wooshik's guard desk and sighed.

"Her sister said her daughter's a gifted one. I think the kid's got it from her."

"Hyungs!" Called a new deep voice. They both looked at the direction the voice came from and waved simultaneously.

"Taehyung!"

Wooshik calls over the newcomer. The younger one came through the daycare's gates and stopped in front of them. He was carrying a grocery bag. He smiled and did their usual handshakes and hugs before going back to where he stood.

"You should've arrived sooner. There was a goddess who came by a little earlier before you." Wooshik nods his head at Seojoon, who was smiling at his phone.

"Goddess? Who?" Taehyung laughs as Seojoon practically swoons over his phone, fanning himself. He turns the phone to Taehyung, whose smile dropped and a shock expression now on his face.

"Her name's Cha Y/N. And she's by far the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life." Taehyung stares in shock at the elder's phone, he mindlessly drops the grocery bag he was holding

"Taehyung, you okay buddy?" Wooshik asks at the younger, who continues gaping at your smiling face.

"B-But— how? When?" He stutters out as he grabs a hold of Seojoon's phone. He studied your picture and swiped, seeing more of you, laughing and smiling.

"I told you, man, she was here earlier, enrolling her kid or something." Wooshik shrugged and turned to Seojoon.

"She was here to enroll her kid, and she said that the child's gifted, very smart from what I heard." Seojoon says, a smile never fading from his face. Taehyung nodded in silence, still and even more shocked. He picked up his grocery bag, and bid goodbye to his hyungs. Before he left though, he shouts by the gate of the daycare,

"Hyung! Do you think you can send me that picture?"

And then back in the dorm.

"I'm telling you, hyung! It's her!" Taehyung follows Jin around the place, screaming at the eldest as Jin tries his best to ignore him.

Everybody was wondering what's got into Tae, they had never seen him so panicky and loud unless it's his usual nonsense or something really important.

"Taehyung, she's gone. As far as I know, she left Korea. Stop believing lies." Jin simply and calmly answers the younger with a lie while he cooks. He knew what Taehyung is saying is true. But this is the best for all of them.

"Jin-hyung! Ugh! Why won't you listen to me! She—" A ding from his pocket cut him off. His eyes widen as he fumbles around, and picks up his phone.

"It's her! I'm telling you it's her!" Taehyung screams just as soon as the three other men come inside, Yoongi and Jeongguk still asleep. Jimin laughs and sits down on the dining table, waiting for breakfast to start.

"What are you on about, Tae?" Jimin asks as soon as Taehyung stands at the head of the table, looking like a CEO ready to start a board meeting.

Taehyung got out his phone and placed it onto the table.

"I found Y/N." He says as a matter-of-fact as the others went to look into his phone. Jimin gasps and picks up the phone.

"What the fuck?! Is this really her?!" He asks as he stares at the picture on his phone. The woman who was smiling beautifully at the camera. Namjoon and Hoseok looked into the phone and then looked at each other, a sheer panic expression painted on their faces.

Jin turned around and cleared his throat just as soon as Yoongi came into the kitchen, followed by Jeongguk.

"Why is it so fucking loud this morning?" Yoongi grumbles as he walks over to the coffee maker.

"It's Y/N!" Jimin shouts. Yoongi stills and almost dropped the cup in his hands. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Jeongguk's head perk up at the mention of the woman. Yoongi turned around, cup forgotten on the counter.

He, Jin and Jeongguk approached the table. And they all leaned over to look at Taehyung's phone.

Everyone in the dorm was stuck in silence as they stared at your picture, a beautiful smile painting your face as you stared at the camera.

Another message came in, it was from Seojoon again, and it was a video. Jimin clicked it hurriedly and your face popped into the screen.

"You're a natural Ms. Cha!"

"Psssh! You! Are! Crazy!" You laugh as you try to smile at the camera but fail as you giggled loudly.

Seojoon Hyung: Isn't she the most beautiful person you've ever seen? I'm in love >.<.

A small chuckle was heard in the room, breaking the thick tension and silence. They all looked up to see Jeongguk smiling coldly.

"She's still here." He says as he watches you laugh into the camera.

It was so strange for him to hear your voice again. He didn't know what he felt. Anger? Regret? Sadness? He couldn't tell. But he prays he never sees you.

He prays your paths never cross each other again.

Or else he might not be able to stop himself.

"Seojoon? The one that owns the daycare down south?" Namjoon asks as he saw the message. Taehyung nods.

"He said she'd enrolled her kid there."

"She has a kid now?!" Jimin screams in shock. Jeongguk laughed in an obnoxiously loud way and the whole room quieted.

"She's a mom now. Wow. Happy birthday to me then." He shrugs as he walks to the counter to get his morning cereal.

Yoongi's eye twitches in annoyance. Hoseok, Namjoon and Seokjin looked at each other warily.

But they knew they couldn't say anything, they had to respect your choices. Yoongi quickly whips out his phone as well and makes a quick text.

"Okay, uhm, let's just eat breakfast." Jin says as he turned off and took Taehyung's phone from Jimin and handed it to the owner.

"But Y/N—"

"Clearly doesn't want anything to do with us. Leave her be, Taehyung." Yoongi cuts in sharply. Taehyung bowed his head and Jimin shut his mouth.

They all missed you, wanted to see you, ask how you were doing. Jeongguk too, though he didn't want to admit it.

It's better this way.

Yoongi: Wear a mask every time you go out. Pollution is getting worse these days. It's safer that way.

You read the message Yoongi sent you and sighed. You picked up the mask you had brought with you and wore it, covering your nose and mouth with it.

It was the first attempt of his to reach out to you. But you were disappointed. You expected more from him. You weren't surprised though.

"Guys! I'm home." You call as you step into the apartment. Taking off your shoes and coat, Nari comes from her playroom screaming.

"Eomma!" She happily jumps at you and you catch her. You laugh as she fills your face with kisses. The helper follows behind her.

"Thank you for watching her, lunch next week? My treat." She smiles and hugs you warmly in response.

"Sure, Eonni, happy to watch her anytime. See you again Nari!" She bids farewell as she steps out of the apartment. You pick up Nari and walk to the couch. It was lunch time now and you hadn't cooked anything yet.

"Nari-ah, what do you want for lunch? Mommy hasn't cooked yet." You ask her as she runs around the living room.

"Chicken! Chicken! Chicken!" She screams as she runs around in circles. You laugh at her, knowing later she'll be tired and sleepy after she eats.

"Go grab your shoes and coat, baby. We'll eat out." You tell her as you got up to grab yours. She follows you to the coat rack and shoe rack, she steps on the baby step stool to reach for her stuff while you reach yours.

"Need mommy's help?" You looked down at her as you shrugged your coat on again. She shook her head and continued to put on her sneakers, only calling for your help to tie them.

You grabbed Yoongi's beanie that he left on the rack and put on Nari, and a black mask to cover her nose and mouth, solely because she gets allergies from the cold.

You strapped on her bag that was filled with her things and went out with her into the wintery Seoul.

You hold her hand as she skips along the sidewalk next to you until you stop at the chicken place you both go to. You led her in first and closed the glass door behind you.

"How many people?!" Shouts the waiter at the back at your arrival. It has always been like this, they cook in the back and you have to shout out to get their attention.

"Two please!" You shout at the waiter in the back as you waved at her, notifying where you'll be sitting.

There weren't too many people today, probably because the weather's freezing. But Nari enjoyed winter, she loved snow even though it caused her to sneeze all the time. She loves being out when it is this time of year.

"Here you go, the usual?" Your waitress comes with lemonade and glasses before asking. You nod at her with a smile and she nodded. It was only a while you had waited and next thing you know your food was here.

You and Nari ate noisily, she sat in her high chair next to you and played with the crayons the staff gave her. You both laughed and you comfortably talked to her how you would to your friends, it was your strategy to help her learn both Korean and English.

"Nari, what part is this?" You ask as you hold up a thigh part from the chicken platter. She giggles and grabs it from your hands before munching on it.

"Tae part." She laughs with her mouth full trying to say thigh but you stilled as you heard the words fall from her lips.

Tae. Taehyung.

You shook your head, it's probably a baby thing, saying things out of nowhere. You paid it no mind. You continued to eat like your daughter hadn't said your old friend's name that she doesn't have any knowledge of.

"Nari, do you wanna go to school? New experiences, honey. Learn new stuff and maybe even play more?" You brought up the subject as she sips her sippy cup where you transferred the lemonade.

"Play mommy?" She asks you as she looks up, her big doe eyes and lips glistening. She looks so much like Jeongguk. She was so beautiful.

You nod and brush her hair. She smiled at you with barbecue sauce all over her mouth. You laughed and wiped them off with a napkin.

Little did you two know that someone was watching you out the door as you both ate.

"It's her. It really is her." Taehyung whispers as he stares at you in awe, noting how much you've changed.

"She got prettier." Jimin gushes as he stares at your face, noticing how much you've matured in the last few years. Taehyung nods in agreement.

They had both followed you here. Jin sent them out to get take out for lunch. They were on their way to a dimsum shop but stopped when Taehyung saw the familiar color of your coat when you rounded a corner. All thanks to the picture Seojoon sent him.

And when you leaned back to call at the waiter, they finally saw her.

They saw Nari.

"Oh my fuck! Tae! There! That's her kid!" Jimin pushes the other as he jumps, pointing at the cute baby, face messy from all the barbecue sauce.

Nari looked up from her chicken and saw the jumping man outside the shop. She laughs cutely and you look at her confused.

"What's so funny, baby?" You ask her as you follow her line of vision to the outside, but nothing was there.

"Jump!" She says as she continues to chew on the chicken meat. You chuckle at her wild imagination as the waitress brought more rice.

You spoon fed her the rice, knowing she was just going to snack on the chicken and ignore the rice. Just exactly how Jeongguk does. She picked up his traits more than yours.

"Nari, after this, do you want to go to the park?" You ask her as she chews more. She nods and smiles at you, teeth stained brown from the sauce. You laughed and continued to eat.

"We have to tell Jeongguk." Jimin says to Tae as they went into the dimsum shop. Taehyung stares at him weirdly and falls in line.

"Why? They broke up years ago, Minnie. There's no point." Taehyung shrugs Jimin's proposal without a care, following the line to the counter as the shorter man follows beside him.

"But, did you see how old the kid looked? Probably about 3 or 2 years old." Jimin continues. Taehyung looks at him, curious about what the older man was trying to say. He cocked a brow and beckoned him to continue.

"What if it's his kid?"

Taehyung laughed loudly, startling the people in line with him. Jimin smiled apologetically and kicked Taehyung's shin lightly, making the younger stop from laughing.

"Jimin, don't be stupid. She can't be Jeongguk's daughter. If it was then she would at least reach out for child support." Taehyung says as he crosses his arms on his chest, looking at the shorter man.

"I don't even know anymore, Tae. You know what, let's just go order and go home." Jimin nods, shutting down the idea quickly as they rounded up the counter.

"Come again soon, you two!" Said the waitress as you and Nari walked out the restaurant, hand in hand. You waved and walked forward, Nari skipping alongside you.

As you rounded the corner towards the bus station, you suddenly saw so many people in front of the street you were about to walk, each having a different item in their hands. Cameras, lights, mics and reporters and many more surrounded the area and you pulled Nari up to carry her, scared to lose your daughter in the sea of people.

You pull both of your masks up and walk silently, trying to stay camouflaged in the crowd.

"Mr. Jeon! Happy birthday! May we have a minute of your time?!" You heard a reporter shout far behind you.

You gasped in shock and like your body had a mind its own, turned around to the other side of the wide street to see a man, clad in a formal suit and tie walking out the building, the reporters swarming the area as security tried their best to distance them.

Jeongguk.

He looked... pristine. Like a protected gem. His hair was slicked back as he nodded and smiled charmingly at the reporter, who tried hard not to swoon.

He looks up for a second, feeling something off, before he skimmed the area and then, all of a sudden,

His eyes met yours.

You squeak before hurriedly dashing off, trying your best to run with Nari in your hands. It was a good thing you weren't wearing heals today. Or else that would be the cost of your downfall.

"You! Hey! Who—" You heard him shout distantly but before he had the chance to run to you, his face was being shoved in microphones and cameras.

You ran and ran, feeling your knees burning from running while carrying Nari's weight with you. But you didn't stopped running.

It wasn't long until you heard multiple footsteps behind you, so you tried your best to confuse them with your directions, rounded all corners and avoided familiar crosswalks until you reached your apartment complex, noticing how the footsteps behind you seemingly so distant now, they lost you somehow.

You ran straight to the stairs, ignoring the people in the open elevator that stared at you. You placed Nari gently on the ground as you reached your apartment door.

You fumble with your pocket for the key and opened your apartment door. You ushered Nari gently inside and quickly followed, locking it and peeping through the peephole. You closed the curtains and turned off the light, you were suddenly grateful you put the shoe racks inside the house or else the people outside might know you're home.

Nari stared at you curiously, wondering why all of the sudden her mom had run back home when you were both supposed to be going to the park. But she just watched you, she's very smart to sense something was wrong and kept quiet.

You looked down at her and sent a panicky smile, putting up a finger against your lips as you signaled her to be quiet.

You then heard a group of distant footsteps from outside your door. You quickly looked into the peephole just in time to see a group of men looking around outside your door.

You stifle a gasp. With fear coursing in your veins, you quickly hold on to the lock of the door. You then see the tallest of them pull out his phone and look like he dialed a number, he didn't bring it up to his ear though.

"Did you find her?"

"My apologies, Mr. Jeon. We lost her. We also asked the building's staff if they had a tenant under the name..." You froze at his next words.

"Cha Y/N."

They knew you. They knew who you were. And they saw you with Nari.

They were trying to find you.

You distinctly heard the other voice on the phone sigh.

"That's fine. Seoul's not that big for me to search. And she can hide all she wants, I'm going to find her sooner or later." The person on the phone chuckles and the guard agrees.

"Yes, sir. We'll try our best to find her. We've already got the area scouted." Your eyes widen in shock. You looked down at Nari now silently playing with her dolls in front of you, not seeming to want to leave your side.

How were you going to go out now?

It was a good thing that your apartment was under your sister's name, Go Areum, it saved you at this scary moment.

You peeped the peep hole again and saw that the men were now looking at your door. You refrain from squeaking in fright as you remembered a person can only look through the peephole from the inside. You prayed silently to whoever was up there for a miracle.

"Kim Jisoo, you should leave before we get sued for trespassing on paid and protected properties. But keep the place under surveillance." Says the voice from the phone. You sighed in relief and continued to listen.

"Yes sir, follow through, boys." He says and ends the call. He signals the men to leave, making him the only one left in front of your door. He looked down the hallway.

"Cha Y/N, I know you're here. I'm going to find you." He silently says in the empty air, taking a moment to study every door in the hallway, before turning and leaving.

You sigh and finally slumped back to the wall. You breathe in heavily as you start to relax.

"I have to make a plan." You look at the floor before you look at Nari. You had to get her out of here, it wasn't safe for both of you to stay here now that Jeongguk knew your whereabouts.

Jeongguk was not going to stop, especially since he sent those men after you. He must've had a reason why he wanted to find you.

You shut your eyes as you thought of a plan to get Nari out the building without you coming out with her. You think and think until a plan finally finalizes itself in your head.

You pulled out your phone from your coat and dialled his number, even though it was against your will, you had to. To keep Nari safe.

"Yoongi oppa?"

"Y/N? How are you? Do you need anything? How's Nar—"

"Oppa, I'll answer your questions later, but please, I need your help." You shakily say as you feel your hand tremble from the nerves.

You glanced at Nari starting to lay on the floor again, wanting to sleep from being full and having her energy spent from all the skipping she did earlier. You held up your phone to your ear with your shoulder as you picked up Nari and laid her on the couch.

"Sure, anything, what is it?"

"Can you come by and pick up Nari, bring her to my sister?" You say as you went inside to your room and brought out a duffle bag. You started out by getting Nari's clothes, all her belongings.

"What!? Why? Are you leaving again? Y/N, if this is about our argu—" You sighed, cutting him off.

"No, this is far more important than our argument. Please, oppa, just help me." You were on the verge of crying as you rashly folded Nari's clothes into the duffle bag, making sure everything fit so you can pack more of her needs.

"Then— fine, I hate it when you're being secretive. What time should I come by? I'm in the studio right now so it might take me 2 hours?" You heard his fingers clicking a keyboard.

"Perfect, just as long as you come. Bring no one with you, make sure no one can recognise your face. Act subtle." You advised him as you started to pack a few toys that your daughter can't live without.

"Fine. Y/N?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

"I, oppa... Just— just come, please." You ended the call before your tears escaped your eyes. You sobbed as you then brought the duffle bag to the living room, packing up Nari's diapers and bottles. You squeezed everything inside the duffle bag.

You couldn't bring the wheeled luggage, it was too eye-catching. So this will have to do. You can bring the luggage out once Nari wasn't in the apartment.

You took your phone again and sent a text to Areum.

Y/N Eonni: are you free today?

AreumUgly: Yeah, what's up

Y/N Eonni: Meet up with Yoongi and take Nari to mom and dad's

AreumUgly: Why what's wrong, you were fine this morning

Y/N Eonni: I'll explain later , can you do that for me?

AreumUgly: Sure sure, just text me the deets.

Y/N Eonni: okay, thank you. I promise to explain everything later.

You finished packing the duffle bag, but you weren't finished with your plan. You checked into the living room to see if Nari was still sleeping, which she was.

You then went back into the bedroom, crouching under the bed and pulled out the box you promised to never open up again years ago.

"Just this time. This. Time. Only." You say to yourself as you open the lid and see what once was your obsession.

Hair products. Different dyes, tons and tons of large bottles of hair dyes. There were a few extensions, but that won't help you.

You looked at your healthy, brown hair and sighed. You had to completely change your hair since it was the only thing they saw of you.

You picked up a large bottle of bleach considering your waist-length virgin hair, a 30 volume developer, and an almost grey shade of lilac hair dye.

This was the best option.

Jeongguk knows how your hair looks in different shades of blond and red. But not this. You've never tried lilac.

"Just today. After this, you go back, Y/N." You warned yourself as you pulled on the gloves.

You changed into an old tattered shirt and looked at the time. You then started to bleach your hair, wasting no time as you hurriedly applied the product down and up the length of your hair.

It's true when they say old habits die hard. You were coloring your hair like how you would three years ago.

You coloured everyone's hair. The boys' more especially, they loved having their hair color changed ever so often. Your sister had also become your muse back then. You loved it when you were bleaching and dying a person's hair. It was your kind of talent.

After you had set the bleach in for 20 minutes in two sets, you then proceeded to color your hair in the dyes you chose. After letting that set for another 30 minutes, you went and rinsed. You weren't surprised with how well the color lifted on your hair, it was grown out and was free from chemicals. You blow dried and brushed your hair and looked into the mirror, observing yourself.

Honestly, you admitted you could've done better, the lilac wasn't that lively so your hair looked all smokey gray with just a tint of lilac. But vanity wasn't important here.

Escaping from Jeongguk was.

You brushed a hand through your hair, sighing as it laid in front of your eyes. You were trying to escape your obsession with hair dyes because you had almost fried all of your hair off from dying it too much all those years ago.

You went into the living room, seeing Nari still asleep on the couch, you didn't take off her coat since Yoongi was taking her out again. You put on a beanie on yourself, as the cold chilly winter air was starting to seep into the apartment.

It was 3 in the afternoon when Yoongi knocked on your apartment door. 20 minutes after his arrival he was out the door with Nari, the duffle bag on his shoulders. 30 minutes after his arrival, he and Nari were probably in his car and you were now packing the luggage, filling it with your clothes and more of Nari's needs, folding everything into tiny pieces for more space.

You got your white tote bag and checked to see if all the things in it earlier were still inside before you slung it over your shoulder.

It had all happened so fast.

After you were done, you changed your normal brown coat into a jet black one. You changed into black slacks and a gray turtleneck, before taking off the beanie and putting your hair into a low ponytail, letting your long fringes frame your face at the sides.

You knew Jeongguk still thinks that you hate your hair up considering how much the guards knew so much about you, of course he must've told them how you always looked like.

But you were one step ahead. Jeongguk may be a CEO, business wise, but you were a mother, streetwise. You were the smart one when it comes to being sneaky, well, you're actually just really smart in general.

You were closing the lights and were about to leave the apartment, luggage in tow, when you heard a ding from your phone.

AreumUgly: got Nari

AreumUgly: *photo attached*

It was a photo of Nari and Yoongi inside your parents' living room. Nari and Janyeon were sitting on each of Yoongi's thighs as your father had his arm over the man's shoulders and your mom was smiling in the back as she was holding up a pot.

AreumUgly: Eomma's cooking dinner when we got here, you should hurry

Y/N Eonni: On my way

You stepped out and locked the apartment door. You checked your surroundings before you walked, wheeling the luggage you had and went inside the elevator.

You got out of the apartment and made sure to act natural.

The sun was setting as you walked, giving you its remaining light to make you feel safe as the sidewalk was still a bit crowded. You waited on the bus stop, adjusting your mask as the bus rolled in.

You sit on the singular seat, not wanting to be next to people.

Every moment since you walked out your apartment, you were walking on your tippy toes, observing everything and anything before moving cautiously.

You were alert, more so than usual. Ever since you became a mom, you always have to be up on your feet.

You leaned your head onto the bus' window, watching the scenery outside. You wished your life could just magically go back to normal.

Just you, your daughter, and no Jeongguk.

But fate said none of that. Here you were, a newly dyed-haired single mom on her way to her parents' town, running away from her CEO ex-boyfriend who was the father of her 3 year old.

"Y/N! My child! Oh goodness! What happened to your hair?!" Your mom rushes to you as soon as you walk in the living room. She runs her hand through your hair, looking in disbelief at your now smokey lilac hair.

"Please sit down, Eomma, I'll explain everything." You pulled in your luggage. Yoongi noticed your presence and stepped in quickly, taking the heavy suitcase from you.

You thanked him quietly, you knew he was stealing glances at your hair, but he didn't question it.

"Eomma! Hair!" Nari screams as you step into the living room, rushing to you.

She pulled you down by your hand and started to run her hands through your soft silver locks, making you chuckle. You pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her forehead as you wrapped your arms around her tiny frame.

"You're safe now, baby. Mommy missed you, though." You pulled back and pouted playfully at your daughter, making her giggle and kiss your cheek.

You smiled tiredly and stood up as Nari went back to play with Janyeon in his room.

"What do you mean safe? Y/N, what's going on?" Your father asks you as you finally sit on the couch. You sighed and looked at the two toddlers, making sure they were busy with playing.

Yoongi sat next to you while your parents and sister sat in front of you both.

"Jeongguk, he knows I'm still here." Yoongi's brows jumped and he leaned in.

"How?" He asks softly, noticing how shaken up you were.

You feel your eyes glisten with unshed tears, and when Yoongi puts his hand on your thigh like he always does, that's when you burst into tears. He quickly wraps his arms around your shaking frame and comforts you.

"Nari and I went out to eat for lunch, then when we were walking, you know the wide s-street where all the large corporate buildings were?" You try to say as you hiccup, Yoongi's hand rubbing your back. They all nod and wait patiently for you to continue.

"There were press everywhere, apparently J-Jeongguk was there t-too, he saw me and N-Nari, so I picked up Nari and ran. He s-sent guards a-after us, so I-I ran through different streets and I avoided crosswalks, when I lost them, I ran b-back to the apartment, but they arrived as soon as I locked the d-door." You sobbed into Yoongi's shirt, feeling the man press a kiss onto your head as he shushed you.

"That's why you wanted Nari out of the building." Your sister says in realization. You nod and sniffle before continuing.

"One of his guards called him and they spoke literally in front of my door. He told t-them to have the building under surveillance. They were roaming o-outside my hallway when they mentioned my name." You slowly calmed down as Yoongi continued to ease your shaking body.

You wrapped your arms around his waist and leaned down to wipe your tears onto the sleeve of his shirt, knowing he wanted you to do it. That's how he knows you're calming down.

"Did they see what you looked like?" Your mom asks, making you shake your head as an answer.

"No, but they know my hair color and what my coat looked like." They all nod, now knowing why you had suddenly changed your hair, and why you weren't wearing your favorite brown coat.

"Oh my Y/N, you must've been so shaken up. Let me make you tea, okay? Try to relax. You and Nari can stay here as long as you need." Your mom stood up and kissed your forehead, you nod and watched her go to the kitchen.

You felt Yoongi's arms tighten around you, pulling you closer than before. You looked at him and saw him looking down on the floor.

"I'm going to kill that bastard." He says in gritted teeth.

"I'm bailing you out if you ever do." Your father quips angrily, making you and your sister let out a laugh a little. You leaned back as your father stood up as well, following after your mom to finish making dinner.

"I'll go check on the kids, you should calm down first, Eonni." Your sister says as she left you and Yoongi both on the couch, going into the kids' room and closing the door after.

Yoongi leans back with you, now resting on the couch as his arms are still wrapped around you. You sighed and closed your puffy eyes as he ran his hands through your hair, admiring how the color suits your complexion completely.

"Your hair suits you." He says softly. You smile and leaned closer till your forehead was now onto his shoulder.

"Really? I thought brown was my superior hair color?" You say in giggles, finally calming down as your breathing returns to normal. He airily chuckles.

A moment of comfortable silence looms over the both of you, before he speaks again.

"Am I forgiven though?" He says as he leans back to look into your red eyes. You studied his face a bit before nodding. He sighs in relief and smiles at you.

"But we're just friends now." As soon as you said those words his smile faltered. His brows furrowed and he looked at you before laughing.

"You're kidding. You're still my girlfriend, you're just getting back at me." He said and he shook his head, laughing airily again.

You felt your eyes glisten again, your silence making him look at you in all seriousness, disbelief and heartbreak written all over his perfect face.

"Y/N, no. Please no." He said as he saw that you were serious.

He felt his heart shatter into a million pieces.

You shook your head as tears fell down your cheeks once again.

His own tears cover his cheeks as well as he sobs, shoving his face into your shoulder as you both cry. He shakes under your hands, body rocking as his sobs escape him.

You pull him back, seeing his face red and blotched with tears. You wiped them with both of your hands before he caught yours in his, intertwining them.

"Y/N, please don't do this to me. I can't lose you. I can't lose both you and Nari. P-Please, I love you and I need you both. Y-You're my family, I—" His own sobs cut him off, making him bury his face into your shoulder again.

You shush him, crying silently as you comfort him the same way he did to you earlier.

"You were right, oppa, it's better this way." You comfort him, holding him as he shakes his head.

"I wasn't mad at you, baby, I was just s-stressed from work, I-I didn't mean to take it out on you, I didn't mean to say all those, I'm sorry, Y/N. P-Please, don't leave me." He cries into your shoulder.

"Oppa, I still love you even if we're not together. You're someone I know I can count on. I trust you. You're my best friend." You assure him as you rub his back, not wanting to cry anymore.

As much as it pains you to do this, you knew you had to. It would save you and Yoongi from future heartbreak. You love him, wanted to be with him and marry him, probably have more kids. You can see a future with him. But this was the right thing to do.

Focusing on Nari was your top priority. Maybe when the time was right, you and Yoongi could have a chance.

And if that time comes, you hope you're ready to love him with all of your heart again.

"Y/N, I love you. Don't do this to me." He begs you as he looks up from your shoulder, shaking hands coming to hold your face. You shook your head and smiled at him, feeling your heart ache.

"You know I love you forever, whether you're my best friend or my boyfriend or even my enemy, right?"

He nods and leans his forehead against yours, shutting his eyes as he cries silently.

"You know you're still an important person in my life?" He nods again.

"That will never change, Yoongi."

Your parents watched you both from the kitchen, your sister was also watching you both from the crack of the door.

They love Yoongi and treat him as if he was your husband, a member of the family. And seeing you both like this, it broke their hearts.

It broke yours.

"Eomma, sing?" Nari asks as you finally lay next to her on the bed in your old room. Yoongi lays on her other side as he drapes an arm around her torso, cuddling both of you to him.

He didn't want to drive all the way back home, your family also insisted he stayed here for the night. It was also technically still Nari's birthday, so you let him.

You scoot closer, wrapping an arm around her torso as well and you sighed. You closed your eyes and started to pat her thigh, lulling her to sleep just like every night as you started to sing.

"Hoping for more good days

If you believe me then say one, two, three

If you believe then say one, two, three

Hoping that everything will change when we say..."

You trailed off, waiting for Nari to say the next words. When you heard nothing, you opened your eyes and saw that both Yoongi and your daughter had their eyes closed. You smiled and kissed their foreheads before lying back down and closing your eyes.

"You're still the singer I fell in love with." Was the last thing you heard from Yoongi before sleep took over you.

Ring! Ring!

Came from your phone making you jolt awake. You looked at your wall clock near the door. 3:12 midnight. It seemed fairly dark outside, the moon was the only light coming from the window.

You were annoyed, disturbed from your sleep, because of being a light sleeper, it peeved you. You untangle yourself from the two sleeping people, grumbling as they were moved. You looked at them and saw that Nari was now all snuggled up into Yoongi's chest and Yoongi was hugging her.

Well, that's one good sight to see waking up. You smiled and leaned over to the bedside table.

You picked up your ringing phone without looking at the caller id, grumbling as you tried to wipe the sleep off your eyes.

"Who is this? Don't you know that it is very rude to call in the middle of the night? People have to sleep, you know." You snapped at the phone.

"Y/N? Is Yoongi there with you?" Jin's voice rang through your ears as he talked. You then quickly apologized and said yes.

"Y/N, listen carefully, if you're at the apartment, you have to leave now, Jeongguk—" Jin's voice got cut off as another contact was now calling your phone. You sighed in annoyance.

Why is everyone calling in the middle of the night?!

You click hold and answer before talking.

"Hello? If this is someone I know, I'm trying to sleep, can you gu—"

"I'm going to find you Y/N." An oh so familiar voice talks, cutting you off in complete silence. You almost dropped your phone in shock.

"Who are you? How did you get my number?" You tried not to stutter and remain calm. You knew who it was, you just wanted him to think that you didn't know any of his plans yet.

"Still naive you are, I see." He chuckles. Your nervousness was now replaced with anger, but you didn't let your emotions get the best of you.

You gripped your phone in your hands as you open your mouth to speak.

"Listen here, kid, I don't know who the fuck you are or what kind of prank call you're doing, I'm a mom and I could beat the literal fuck out of you if I wanted to but I'm smarter than that. If you ever try to harm me or anyone I love, you're gonna have to face me and my lawyer in court, dipshit. So stop calling me, you fucking weirdo." You snapped at the phone and ended the call before he had the chance to answer.

You looked at the screen and noticed Jin already ended the call and just sent text messages. You sighed in exhaustion, feeling the adrenaline flow out of you as quick as it came. You ignored them, planning to read and answer them all in the morning.

You laid back down on the bed, and as soon as Yoongi's arms wrapped over your torso, you quickly fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Jeongguk was in his room at the dorm, sitting on the chair of his desk as he stared at his phone in pleasant surprise.

Who would've known you had it in you to be a bad bitch?

He rarely ever heard you cuss before, he only saw you angry twice and it was a scary sight. When you were around them or when you two were alone, you have always been an innocent good girl.

Maybe he had underestimated his knowledge about you. He was the naive one to think that after all these years you wouldn't have changed one bit.

He was so wrong. He was now starting to doubt himself, doubt his plans to find you and bring you back. But he knew one thing for sure.

He wasn't going to stop. He was going to find you, no matter how long it takes.

And meet the little one that he so badly wanted to know who's the father of.

Author’s Note:

supportive reader:

AAAAAAA IT IS FINALLY TUESDAY SO HERE *gently puts chapter 3 onto your dashboards* ok so the next chapter will be in a more past timeline so no yearly flashbacks to Nari and Jeongguk's birthday ;(

but I hope you all enjoyed seeing Nari's past birthdays in the meantime :)

Jeongguk acting like this is creepy but uhm a bit hot? Wtf im so fcukedup anyways

so sorry for the unrealistic hair color scene i know that achieving a light lilac hair tone in one day is nearly impossible with virgin dark hair but since it's fiction i say whatever happens happens heheheehehheehheheheheheheeh

Also So Sad we aren't going to see YoonY/N anymore

:( or are we? O.o

Taglist: @imanerdychubbyqueen @softiegguk @fan-ati--c @theblueslytherin @tigolebittiez @mwitsmejk @babyrosieareroses @awseokjin @ppeachyttae @000123-sakuraland-000123 @mwitsmejk @placeoftime​ @singingmangoes @yvesismywife​ @rjsmochii​ please make sure your mentions are open so I can tag you!

send in an ask to be added to the Tough taglist!

HOPE YOU ENJOYED! LIKE AND REBLOG :)

[fangirl-ramblings]

Pairing: Arthur x gn!reader

Characters: Reader, Simon Pearson, Mary Linton, Arthur Morgan

Word count: 3306

Summary: You and Arthur have recently made your relationship official by moving into his tent...but is he really into you...or is he still holding onto his past?

Notes: SFW, Angst leading to fluff

After requesting several wonderful stories from one of my favourite writers and people, I was super honoured to have the chance to be able to write something for the super talented and lovely @littlestarofthewest -  Merry Christmas from your secret santa 😘😘

Also a huge thank you to @horsegirl1h (who helped me plot this out) @verai-marcel (for wrangling in all my stupid grammatical mistakes) & @mileycyprus-hill who took a quick look over this and gave me a much better character note on how to improve Arthur's feelings in this story and give me a far better title I could ever think of myself. Thank you all 😘

~* Tumblr Masterlist | Stories on AO3 *~

The First Shall Be Forgotten

You slowly opened your eyes, only to find the cot next to you still empty. It was fairly late when you'd finally taken yourself off to bed last night, but you had found yourself unable to keep your eyes open as you'd sat around the scout fire. Your hope of Arthur riding back into camp and joining you in lying down for the night had turned into a wishful dream of waking up with his strong arms wrapped around you, but it turns out it was just that - merely a pleasant dream. 

It was only a few months since you'd started dating, with most of that time spent being inseparable, but lately you noticed that Arthur was staying away from camp longer and longer. Yes - the events of Blackwater had changed the gang's luck and the likes of Dutch and Strauss kept giving Arthur more and more tasks to do, but you'd felt like that most of these jobs could be done well before nightfall. Surely Arthur wasn't avoiding you because he was bored of you already….could he?

You sat upright, shaking your head free of any more of those nasty thoughts, quickly making the decision that you should get dressed and help out around camp before Miss Grimshaw marched over to berate you for wasting so much time idling about.

There was a chill floating in the air this morning in camp and so you found yourself shivering as you looked around for your light jacket. Opening your shared trunk, you proceeded to pile a mixture of both yours and Arthur's clothes on to the cot in your quest to find your missing coat. Though you soon found yourself distracted as you lifted one of Arthur's shirts up, tutting to yourself as you saw just how worn and dirt stained they all were. You swore that that man would wear these offending items until they fell apart on him...and some were close to doing so, judging by how often they'd been patched up.

   "Ah, there you are," Pearson's cheerful voice booming from behind you, making you jump out of your skin, "I need a helping hand gathering supplies in town and was wondering if you could come along with me for the ride"

   "Me? Surely there's someone more capable about?" Although Valentine was only a short ride away, the idea of being Mr. Pearson's captive audience for that short length of time was not high on your list of priorities for the day. 

   "Well, I don't know if you noticed but we are stretched a little thin on the ground right now," his hands gesturing to the almost empty camp area in front of you, "Mr. Smith & Mr. Escuella are yet to return from Blackwater with young Sean and, as you well know, Mr. Morgan is still yet to return from wherever he has took himself off to. As for the girls..." you tried to stifle a chuckle as he trailed off to glance nervously over at where Tilly, Mary-Beth and Karen were currently sitting at their wagon, making sure they couldn't hear this conversation, "...I'd rather not ask them. Uncle told me of the trouble they got up to on their last visit into Valentine."

You couldn't help but burst out laughing at Pearson's fear of trying to keep three excited young women from creating chaos. "Sorry, sorry," you apologised, wiping your eyes as he looked at you with confusion, "Well...since you have no other options, I'll join you. I've been wanting to pick Arthur up a new shirt anyways." Spotting your jacket at the bottom of the truck, you quickly threw it on, leaving all the other clothes heaped on the bed, "Shall we go now then?"

"Goddamit, why does there have to be a train in the station?" you grumbled as Pearson pulled the horses to a stop at the crossing, which was blocked by one of the carriages belonging to the offending train. After being waylaid by the shop boy slowly loading the wagon with all the goods Pearson had chosen for camp - not that any of these ingredients would do much to improve his cooking, you cruelly thought to yourself - your head was starting to ache from listening to Pearson's constant tall tales. All you had wanted to do was get back to camp and sleep off your headache, but that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon, thanks to this stupid train.

   "I know what you mean, I was hoping to get back and make a start on preparing supper," Pearson sighed before suddenly cheering up, "But, hey, at least it gives me more time to tell you about my time at sea. There was this other time..."

Internally, you found yourself groaning, trying to zone out the older man as he recounted yet another story, that this time seemed to involve him somehow, inexplicably fighting a walrus -  single-handedly -  to save his crew.

You glanced around, finding yourself admiring all the different horses hitched up around the station...until a familiar sight caught your eye.

   "Hey isn't that Brutus?" you interrupted Pearson mid-sentence, gesturing towards the big, black Shire horse that Hosea had gifted Arthur a few weeks ago. Arthur had rarely named his horses after losing his beloved Boudicca in Blackwater and was more than content to just refer to this one as "Boy", but after overhearing Hosea called this giant a brute, you'd jokingly suggested the name Brutus, a name that had tickled Arthur and agreed it was the perfect name for this beast.

Put out a little by the fact you had rudely interrupted him just as the story was getting good, Pearson grudgingly glanced over to the direction in which you were pointing.

   "Er, it does look like it. So anyway after I killed the Walrus with nothing but my bare hands…" 

   'So this is where you've gotten to Morgan,' you thought to yourself, once again not listening to Pearson's story. 'Here's hoping you're on your way home too.'

Smiling to yourself that your lover would hopefully be by your side once more, you absent-mindedly found yourself scanning the crowd of people that was starting to thin out as they slowly stepped onto the carriages...until you saw him standing with his back to you.

A smile started to creep over your face as you recognised Arthur's dirty blond hair, broad frame and filthy blue shirt. Just the fact you could see how dirty it was from this distance made you glad that you'd made the decision to buy him a new one now, as that one needed throwing out, never mind a good wash. Anybody would think that man spent most of his time rolling around in the mud than riding a horse around.

With his hands on his gun belt, he shifted his weight to one side and the smile on your face was replaced with a look of confusion as a young lady was revealed to be standing next to him, deep in an intimate conversation.

Unconsciously scowling at her, you were unable to shake the feeling that you've seen her somewhere before, but for the life of you, you couldn't quite place where.

You squinted your eyes to try and focus your vision on her delicate features before a feeling of rage bubbled up from your stomach as she kissed Arthur's cheek, in a way that suggested more than just friendship.

"And I'll tell you - I used that walrus meat to feed a crew of 50...and not one of them complained the way you and the rest of camp do about my cooking" Pearson waffled on down your ear, distracting you from your thoughts about this mysterious woman and how you wanted to jump down and throttle her. Instead you suddenly had the urge to wrap your hands around the cook's neck. 

Turning to face him, you barked, "Maybe being at sea for weeks at end with no food makes people more appreciative of the slop you always manage to serve up - no matter the ingredients." 

You instantly felt regret as the words left your mouth and you saw the hurt in the older man's eyes.

   "Christ, I'm sorry Mr. Pearson. I didn’t mean to take it out on you..." You paused, thinking about telling him about what you just saw, but you doubted this old sea dog would give a damn about your love life and so explained "I just have a real bad headache and it's put me in a bad mood."

He nodded softly and turned away so you wouldn't see him wipe the sting of the tears from his eyes.

Feeling guilty from the hurt you just caused, you looked away to the source of your own pain, only to find Arthur had disappeared from the platform and the train was now pulling out the station. Had he gotten on board with his mystery woman? Gone off to start a new life with her and left you and the outlaw life behind him? These thoughts rattled around your head as Pearson told the horses to giddy up and the pair of you headed back to camp in an awkward silence.

Jumping down from the wagon, you helped Pearson unload the wagon - still with an uneasy tension in the air, before you tried to broker the peace between you both by offering to help prepare the next meal as a peace offering.

   "No, it's quite okay," Pearson patted you shoulder to show there was no hard feelings, "You go sleep off that sore head of yours"

You nodded appreciatively, finding yourself thanking him and apologising once more as you picked up the wrapped parcel containing Arthur's new shirt, and headed back to your tent. 

As you walked over, you rolled your eyes in annoyance at yourself as you caught sight of the mess you'd left behind this morning. Picking the mountain of clothes up, you threw them in straight at the trunk at the end of the cot, surprising yourself as you heard a loud clatter of something hitting the side of the chest and then dropping onto the floor.

Peering over, you saw that a few shirts and a pair of trousers had missed their target and were now scattered over the floor... alongside a wooden photoframe, laying face down on the ground, that definitely wasn't there before.

Picking it up, you recognised the image of a younger, but still very handsome version of Arthur standing on the left.

'You've always been a good-looking bastard haven't you?' half smiling as you took in his handsome features, 'No wonder you have a long list of admirers to spend all your time instead of me.'

Well before you and Arthur had started dating, you had seen this photograph before. You recalled picking it up from his bedside table back then too, in order to get a closer look of how attractive Arthur's always been.

But sometime between then and making your relationship official, Arthur must have removed it and hidden it out of sight from you. Just as you were about to ask yourself why, you spotted who else was in the picture.

   'No…no it can't be,' you thought to yourself as you stared at the beautiful, dark haired woman standing next to him in the image. But, as much as you didn’t want it to be, it certainly was. Looking straight back at you was a younger version of the same woman from the train station…the same woman who had ripped Arthur's heart out and tore it into a million pieces all those years ago when she called off their engagement - Mary.

Time seemed to slow down as your mind went into overdrive. Did he simply remove the picture as a thoughtful gesture so you wouldn't wake up to a younger Arthur and his ex-fiancee looking at you…or did he hide it because he still loved her and her alone? Were you just a stopgap - something to fill the emptiness in his heart until she came back to him? Is that the real reason Arthur had hidden the picture and not gotten rid of it completely? So once he had managed to win her back, he could toss you aside and place it once more on his bedside to stare lovingly at while he held her in his arms?

You hadn’t realise you were crying or just how hard you were gripping the frame until you heard the sudden sound of glass cracking and a mix of your blood and tears began to streak all over her stupid, perfect face. Standing frozen to the spot, you stared and stared at her image, slowly disappearing under the physical manifestations of your hurt and betrayal, until you heard Arthur bellow out your name as he rode back into camp.

   "Hey you. Boy, did I sure miss you while I was gone," he cheerfully greeted you as he strode towards you, "I tell you, there's some strange sights out there that I've been dyin' to tell you all 'bout."

   "Tell me?" you snarled, acting the wounded animal you currently felt like, "Don't you have other people you'd rather spend your time with?"

   "What? What's got into you?" 

Your heart panged as you saw the hurt cross his face as he saw how upset you were. 

"Listen, if this 'bout me spendin' so much time from camp recently, then I am sorry - but I did miss you somethin' fierce y'know" he assured you, placing his arms around your waist.

   "Just like you've missed Mary for all these years?" Just saying her name out loud felt like you had tasted venom on your lips and needed to quickly spit it out.

"Mary? Where's all this comin' from?" He flustered, averting his eyes downwards as not to meet your steely gaze. Upon seeing you holding the photograph, he exclaimed, "Christ alive, you're bleedin'. Here lemme fix you up."

"I'm fine," you snapped at him, pulling your hand away from his gentle touch. Any other time, this small act of affection - the big mean outlaw gently cradling your hand in his - would have made you melt on the spot, but today your inner rage wasn't having any of it. Instead you blurted out, "I saw you. At the train station…with her."

Realising he had been caught out and couldn't bluff his way out of this sorry mess, he sat down on the cot and tried to explain.

   "Okay, yeah, I was at the train station with her, but it really ain't what you think…"

   "I saw her kiss you."

  "You mean when she kissed my cheek? That was her sayin' goodbye. Her and her brother are headin' back East to find their father."

You sat next to him, the photograph still in your hands.

   "Still doesn't explain why you were with her in the first place."

   "No it doesn't, does it." He sighed, running his hand down his face. "I was on my way back to camp, ridin' through Valentine when I thought I'd check and see if there was any post. Lo' and behold there was just the one - a letter from Mary askin' if I could help with a small problem of hers."

   "So you must have been in contact with her if she knew you were in town."

He shook his head. "No. No, she'd recognised the girls after their last trip into town and wrote to me on the off-chance I was also in the area."

   "Why?"

"Her kid brother, Jamie, he'd gone and got himself mixed up in this weird cult up in Cumberland Forest. Christ, you shoulda seen them all listenin' on as this lunatic spouted some nonsense about turtles or somethin'," laughing, he patted his leg until he saw your stony expression still waiting for the answer to your question.

   "Get to the point please, Arthur."

   "You're right, sorry," he said as he nodded, "Jamie was the only one in her family who stood up for me and I owed it to *him*, not Mary, him -  to help get him away from those crazy fools."

You fidgeted slightly next to him. You wanted to believe him, but he seemed to be avoiding the main topic of conversation.

   "So say I believe you about your reasonings for helping her…why did you keep a picture of her?"

Silence filled the air for a second before he simply answered. "I shoved it in there so you wouldn't have to keep lookin' at it when we lay together...and I guess I forgot all 'bout it."

You looked away as more tears fell down your cheeks. Gently placing his hand under your chin, Arthur turned your face to face his, looking deep into your eyes he told you, 

   "You’re overthinking – I’m yours. That’s all I want to be.”

   "Prove it." You pleaded.

   "Okay then...this should show you she's nothin' to me now." He took the broken frame from your grasp and carefully removed the picture from the frame, lingering for a moment before crumpling it up in his hand and walking towards the campfire.

Though his stride was purposeful, you couldn't help but feel he faltered once more as he looked at the flames, but those fears disappeared as he turned to look back at you with a warmth in his eyes and a smile stretching wide across his face. Looking straight at you, his hand opened and the picture fell into the flames, where it lay for a few moments as it slowly rendered into nothing but a pile of ashes.

Making his way back over to you, he picked you up and spun you around his arms.

   "I'm all yours...are you mine?"

Bonus scene: Arthur's POV

He slowly removed the picture from the frame, partly being careful not to cut himself on broken shards of glass and partly because he wanted to make sure he was making the right decision. He was convinced that after Mary called it all off between them, he'd never smile, let alone love again. But then you'd walked into his life and brought light back into the darkness he'd found himself in.

But maybe there was a reason he'd held on to this photograph for all this time - a reminder of the good times that existed between them. Heartbreak has a funny way of erasing those memories, but seeing the woman you once considered the love of your life in person has an equally funny way of making those feelings rush back.

But no, the heartache he'd felt for all these years outweighed the fleeting moments of happiness he'd felt with Mary. And that kiss on the cheek to say goodbye that she'd given him at the train station? It certainly didn't give him butterflies like it used too. Looking at her image one last time, he crumpled it up and walked over to the campfire.

Though he had confidently strode over to flames, he once more had doubts he was right to finally let Mary go. Turning to face you, everything suddenly became very clear in Arthur's mind. Everything he ever wanted: someone who loved the group of people he considered family, as well as loving him for the man he was - despite his faults, someone who was willing to stick with him through thick and thin, make him laugh when he was down, and never fail to make him smile, that special someone he wanted to grow old with with...he already had that with you.

Without thinking, he opened his hand and let the battered photograph waft downwards, enveloped by the flames and turning to nothingness as he made his way back over to you, picking you up and spinning you around his arms.

   "I'm all yours...are you mine?"

[uwuesque]

🌿 phenomenal plant pics 🌵

So,,,, while this blog isn't all new and all fresh anymore, I still haven't done a lot with it yet. And alas, I figured I would show my dearly beloved plants to the internet because, let's be real, you can't have enough plants on your dash, can ya mister

Steffi

I must admit, she has arguably the most horrendous name out of all of them. But she's also been around the longest, I won her at a spoken word competition about two years ago when she was just a wee little pile of sorry leaves. Not Tryna Brag™ or anything though, but she's been looking like one healthy snack lately since she's started growing this weird stem with those tiny flowers. I still don't know what kind of plant she is, and maybe she doesn't either, but that's okay; she is loved and appreciated in this Good Christian Household nevertheless. There's a lot that indicates she's a spider plant, but it's still uncertain.

Gudrun

Now Gudrun, a broadleaf, is one of my more recently acquired chlorophyll companions. My aunt and uncle came over for a visit some weeks ago, marching through the door with two large blue intimidating IKEA bags loaded with precisely three almost equally large plants, which they claimed to not be in need of any longer. Without question, I couldn't resist to ask and got my little goblin hands onto two of them as quickly as possible. Gudrun, just like the others, has gone through quite a lot of troublesome times. She's a bit wonky and a little dried out at the bottom, but I hope I'll be able to nurse her back to health again soon.

Severus

Severus Snakeplant, the Boy of My Dreams. He moved in together with Gudrun, just as wonky and wobbly as her, so of course I'm hoping for the best for him as well. I feel like he does help quite a bit combating this characteristically stuffy, salty teenage bedroom air that keeps showing up every couple of days or so, however he could grow to be a much fitter and chonkier boy in the future.

Jakob B.

Jakob B., like Steffi, is quite an old fella here. He's moved to my room about two years ago too, and hasn't really grown or otherwise changed since then. He's a very good friend, an angel's wings cactus, and awful gorgeous standing on my window sill when the morning sun comes bursting out of its closet in all colours red and yellow and orange.

Fungus & Simone de Beauvoir

Fungus and Simone de Beauvoir, both of the classification as Ficus™, are still pretty new in here. Shortly before the lockdown started here in Germany, two friends of mine and I stopped at a hardware store on our way home and went to choose a Corona Plant™, for two of us to have something to take care of in the meantime, essentially. Mine ended up being Simone. The next day, when I told my sister about her, she immediately said she wanted a ficus as well, and thus, she gave me some money to go get her one too and let me keep most of the change as a loan for my heavy efforts in exchange. She then proceeded to boldly name him Fungus. She let me put him next to Simone for company, and so that he would be sufficiently provided with light for there is an east-facing window in my room. He's still a bit smaller and slender in comparison with Simone because he stayed in our kitchen for a couple weeks first, but he's already getting better.

Hannelore

And now, last but not least, a beautiful Silver teaspoons specimen: Hannelore. She's just moved over from our kitchen to my room today, and I am very happy about it, because she's just such a sweet succulent. Apparently, she's been doing quite fine with not a lot of water, so I'll water her every couple of days, I suppose. And since she's such a tall bean already, there is hope that she'll soon grow even bigger and more marvellous than she already is. UwU

So yeah, folks

That's it

That's my collection of plants

I hope you enjoyed, idrk how to end this so

Now to a quick message from our sponsor Raid: Shadow Legends. Raid: Shadow Legends is a-

[thekwanderer]

Today again felt like three separate days! It also was quite action packed. We started the day with another delicious breakfast of dosas and Indian parathas. I tried to eat a little lighter since I definitely over ate the day before. Bobby leaned in and his stomach is definitely feeling better since he got to India since there is little to no cross contamination. We met up with my friend Stephanie who went to college with me and her husband Patrick. They had gotten in at 2 am after their trip to only be turned away because the hotel had overbooked! They were troopers though and ate breakfast at the hotel with us. We then got ready for the Haldi ceremony! And as usual fashion, the groom's family was late (an hour to be precise).

The Haldi ceremony is when family members rub turmeric on the bride and groom. In this ceremony, they had mustard oil, yogurt, and turmeric powder and each person had two little utensils with some sort of green leafy plant tied on to them. You are supposed to dip the leaves into the oil, yogurt, and then turmeric and touch the bride and groom on their feet, knees, shoulders, cheeks, and then the top of their heads. It's meant to be a ceremony that helps the couples fertility. They even let the guests partake and it was fun smearing it on Anna and Rahul! After each person has their turn with the leaves, they mix together the rest of the ingredients into a box and mixed it into a paste. The family then proceeded to smear it on the bride and grooms' faces. After that was done, the family began to sing and guests danced around. Rahul's family were all wearing these beautiful pieces of clothing in a deep mustard yellow color. Anna wasn't sure of the customs so we didn't dress up.

After the ceremony, we took an Uber into more of the center city to a mall called Select CITYWALK. We got a chance to meet up with our friends, Ishan and Namrata, a couple who we meet up every week in Seattle for trivia. Worlds colliding! I brought Stephanie and Patrick along with us and we went to a store called FabIndia to get some traditional clothes. Bobby got a long kurta in a copper orange and I got a salwar kameez in blue with orange accents. It was fun trying on other clothes! However I started feeling a little sick that I deduced later that it some dehydration. We went Punjab Grill that everyone raved about! I wasn't able to partake, but the highlights were the grilled paneer, the grilled chicken tikka, and the black daal. We had a lovely time meeting up with Ishan and Namrata but we had to leave the mall since it was getting close to rush hour on a Monday!

At the hotel I wasn't feeling so well, but rallied for the wedding! I change into my new Indian threads, which are amazingly comfortable, and go see what's going on with the bride. What I loved about this experience is that I had a backstage pass to all of the preparation for the bride. There were about 100 people at this wedding and the bride only had 20 on her side. She asked us to be a part of her wedding procession. We were supposed to start the wedding at 7, but as we learned quickly in India nothing goes to plan and you have to roll with it. Luckily, the groom thought ahead and rented a hotel room and filled it with liquor for folks to partake in while waiting. Indians love their whisky so that was definitely in attendance.

I got to peek into the bride's area where she got ready. There was a professional woman who was the lead who had 3 assistants. Some of the first women at work that I've seen! Anna's hair looked like it took hours. She had not one, but two fake pieces of hair. One to give a platform on top of her head to attach the veil and one to make her bun more voluminous. Around her bun there fresh flowers that were quite fragrant but I'm not sure what they were (I'm guessing jasmine). Her outfit was pretty simple to get on. It was a top and skirt separate, but the skirt was super heavy at about 20 pounds and there was so much structure underneath the dress that it could stand up on its own. On top of her henna she also had bright red and gold bangles that went up half of her forearm. The original tradition is to keep them on for 13 months, but most modern brides keep them on for 13 weeks instead. But Anna and Rahul have already been married for a year, so no need to prove her devotion to him. Additionally she had on a bracelet with long dangling pieces that almost look like bells. Anna was supposed to wave these pendant things over single women's heads to ensure that they get married soon, but I didn't see her actually do that. Lastly, Anna had to put on a veil. It was a pink tulle like material, but it had to be folded in such a way and pinned. I'm not sure of the significance, but apparently it's a big deal because it took 20 minutes and the head attendant did it twice. Once ready, it was hurry up and wait! Simultaneously there was a big drum show to entertain the groom's side of the family while the bride gets ready. I didn't see any of it since I was waiting for the bride to get ready.

Finally, around 8:30, they are ready for us. We go downstairs and they bring out a canopy made out of flowers. Anna's two sisters are up front to hold the front two corners, but there are also 6 more of us holding up the sides of the canopy. We then walk out to the rest of the crowd in our little procession to Christina Perry's "1,000 Years" from the Twilight soundtrack which I get a giggle out of since I know Anna is not a huge fan of that movie. The music quickly switches to an Indian love ballad and we approach Rahul on the stage. He's wearing white and has a red turban on. Once they make it to the stage, after a flurry of pictures of course, Anna needs "some friends on stage". Of course, being the Wellesley women we are, we get on stage. They turn us away and ask for the men. It turns out that they need guys to help lift Anna into the air while Rahul is being lifted to put flower garlands on each other.

As that ceremony goes on, the DJ is already spinning beats. One of Rahul's cousins really wants to dance, and of course Bobby is the first to say yes. They jump on the dance floor, and because they look like their having so much fun, others join in. Sadly our dance party was cut short because they started the religious ceremony. There was another stage where everyone has to take off their shoes. It was a gorgeous platform, it was green and there were real flowers hanging from the ceiling next to a chandelier. Anna's and Rahul's families were on stage and the priest was reciting a mix of Hindi and Sanskrit which Anna and her father had two repeat. Anna did a pretty good job and even the aunties and uncles we were standing nearby were impressed. There is also a small fire that they stoked with ghee and Anna's family poured other things into like puffed rice. In this ceremony, Anna made 7 promises to the groom and they walked around the fire 7 times. It was very cool to see, however, strangely no one can tell us what the 7 promises are after the fact. So you'll just have to know that it was a religious ceremony. The ceremony traditionally went in for 7 days, it was shortened to 7 hours, but they did the ceremony in about one hour.

During the religious ceremony, Rahul's youngest aunt gave us a hot tip. It turns out that there's a tradition where the bride's friends steal the groom's shoes and hold them ransom until he gives them what they want. Anna's sisters proceed to steal one, and us as Anna's friends stole the other. We didn't understand the tradition very well since it was second hand knowledge, but we knew there were spies everywhere since Rahul's side outnumbered us at least 2 to 1 if not 4 to 1! We all stand in a tight circle and take out our scarves and wrap them around our hands so people don't know who had the shoe. Then, we walked to different corners of the wedding area to hide it! The time finally comes around where the negotiating began. Anna's sisters cave quickly to $50 each. The Wellesley women drove a harder bargain. We weren't happy with just money, we wanted more. After fierce negotiations, we landed on a pretty good deal. First, Rahul will treat us to a nice thanksgiving dinner on Thursday in Goa. Secondly, he will visit each of Anna's friends in their cities within the next year (Seattle, LA, Philadelphia, and NYC). And lastly, as a kickback to our informant, we said that Rahul had to take his aunt to a nice spa day.

After the main ceremony, dancing resumed and we ate a hearty dinner of Indian food. But by this time it was 10 pm on a Monday and the wedding was dying down. The day was an incredible experience that I don't think I'll have one of again. I was so happy that we made the long trip halfway around the world to see one of my dear friends Anna get married.